GCW Cage of Survival 2 Results and Review

GCW had a second night in Atlantic City and this time it was streamed live on 6/4/2023. They were at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, and they had a good deal of people in the crowd. I wasn’t sure what to expect after the matches we saw on night one of their double header. I reviewed GCW Tournament of Survival 8, and wanted to follow up with this one as well, so here we go, the results and review of the GCW Cage of Survival 2.

Maki Itoh defeated Janai Kai

I’m a huge Maki Itoh fan, she’s so cute, and ruthless. She’s also gang affiliated! A solid opener, with Itoh using her head a lot to get moving forward. Janai Kai had some nice kicks overall, but it was Maki Itoh after hitting a sweet DDT. Itoh got a good deal of praise from the fans here, and I loved it. Good opening match.

After the match Steph De Lander and Matt Cardona came out and started talking about how they are indie gods. Itoh was in the ring, and just waited for the duo to come through. Itoh got on the mic and refused to bow down to the royals, and had some words to say, which were very cute.

Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander defeated The Kirks (Brandon Kirk and Kasey Kirk) in a tag team match

The people were firmly against Cardona and it was loud in the building. There were several chants going at various stages of this match, which started a bit slow. After a slow start, this match got moving, and we see he reason why Cardona is so fun to watch. Steph De Lander is good too, don’t get me wrong. In fact, all four of these competitors showcased some good overall wrestling. We had a nice mixed wrestling match, and the crowd was into it, as was I. Cardona would get the pinfall after Steph De Lander used a title belt to knock out Kasey Kirk. Good stuff, fun match!

After the match, out came Maki Itoh and Nick Gage! Maki Itoh hit Matt Cardona with a bundle of light tubes! It was a rush, and Cardona was bloodied badly. That was a great way to end things, and I hope they have a match sooner than later, perhaps a tag match with Maki Itoh, fun stuff.

El Hijo del Vikingo defeated Ninja Mack

Two high flyers battled it out in a lucha libre style match, and if you’re a fan of the style, you were in for a treat on the smaller stage. El Hijo del Vikingo gets a lot of attention, in a lot of matches that are with tens of thousands of people in attendance, so it’s nice to see him on the indie scene. This was perfection to me, with everything you could expect from a lucha libre match. There was a little bit of modern wrestling thrown in, but it was a lot of lucha flying through the air, and impressive moments. There were so many close calls too, this was one hell of a match and perhaps my favorite match I’ve seen in a very long time. Vikingo’s 630 Splash gets the win, and it was absolutely breath taking, you owe yourself to watch this one, wow.

East West Express (Jordan Oliver and Nick Wayne) and Mike Bailey defeated Alec Price, Jack Cartwheel, and Jimmy Lloyd in a six man tag team match

This six man tag was fun, lots of action overall. I liked how things broke down overall. This match had a great deal of back and forth, modern wrestling, and really getting the crowd going. East West Express was very impressive, as was Mike Baily. Don’t get me wrong, the other guys threw down too, but it was most memorable seeing the East West Express, except for Jack Cartwheel which was just fun. Overall a good match, nothing too fancy, good back and forth, nice tags, quick reactions, and the crowd made this an enjoyable romp.

Los Macizos (Ciclope and Miedo Extremo) defeated Soul Meat (Tomoya Hirata and Toru Sugiura)

This was a brawl, with a lot of light tubes. While I’m sure that these guys can throw down, and there were flashes of good wrestling, it had a lot of brawling. The brawling wasn’t bad, mind you, but don’t expect much of a wrestling match in the traditional sense. Miedo Extremo injured his shoulder, so he was limited in what he could do. However, Ciclope, Tomoya and Toru did a lot of the heavy lifting at times. The end had a broken door and a broken pane of glass, with a top rope slam, in one chaotic match overall. It was hard hitting, and definitely tough on the guys.

El Desperado defeated Joey Janela in a Death Match

A back and forth battle from these two. This death match had some wrestling, mind you, but it broke down to weapons, and things of that nature. Blood flowed from both competitors, and they kept fighting back and forth, brawling for the most part. This was a good deal of fun, and the two work well together. Janela really impressed me with his toughness in this one, as Desperado really threw down some good moves and chops overall. A giant ladder and a huge stomp from Janela was impressive and had to be mentioned here.

Blake Christian defeated Masha Slamovich and Rina Yamashita for the GCW World Title

Fans of death match wrestling are going to eat this one up. It had half a cage around it on one end, and a scaffold on the other. There were light tubes, glass panes, doors, and much more. There was a lot of back and forth with this one, and it was hardcore throughout. There wasn’t a lot of wrestling here mind you, as much as it was a brawl and punishing moves. The crowd was going nuts for Rina at various stages, and the ring was covered with broken glass, barbed wire and more. After an insane sidewalk slam off of a scaffold through 3 doors, Blake Christian ran out and cashed in his title shot, getting the win here.

Overall Thoughts

This was a great night of wrestling, with a good mix of wrestling styles. I enjoyed it greatly, and will be watching more GCW as they keep putting out quality products on FITETV. Fun stuff here, and wow, just wow, great stuff if you ask me.

GCW Tournament of Survival 8 Results and Review

Well, here we go a review of GCW’s Tournament of Survival 8 that occurred on 6/3 in Atlantic City at the Showboat Hotel. This is available through FITETV plus, and if you watched it live you were in for a treat. I didn’t catch up to it until today, so I am late. I will also be reviewing GCW Cage of Survival as well, but first things first, let’s talk about this one and how it went down. I’m not going to list the place of tournament matches, ie which round, and stuff, but rather I’m going to just put the winners and losers as they came through, because this was a tournament, you should see some repeats.

Nick Gage opened the show on the mic, and the crowd was very hot for MDK. They brought out the trophy that the winner will get, and it’s awesome. What a trophy for the winner of the tournament!

These are all death matches folks, so if you’re not a fan of them, you won’t like GCW Tournament of Survival, as it is extreme, but not in the ECW way, but rather in the GCW way. Lots of fun overall for those that love this style of wrestling, and not so much for others that don’t like it. I’m on the fence, and we’ll see how much I think of it as we get into the action.

Ciclope defeated Green Phantom and Miedo Extremo

Well, between glass tubes breaking, chairs smashing, and random slaps and chops, there was some wrestling found here. I was surprised with how some of the wrestling went down, especially from Ciclope and Green Phantom. Miedo Extremo wasn’t bad either, but I noticed Phantom and Ciclope the most. Ciclope would get the win here, but not without some battle wounds. Ciclope hit a frog splash through some glass on Green Phantom, while Miedo Extremo may have been injured and dropped out of the match midway.

Toru Sugiura defeated Joey Janela and Tomoya Hirata

I was initially impressed with the sheer amount of wrestling was found in this match to start things off. The Japanese wrestlers did some chain wrestling, mat wrestling, and random moves before the light tubes started, and things got out of control. There were some nice moments that had men flying over the top, through the ropes, and back and forth. I liked that this wasn’t just a brawl, it had some good wrestling in it too, even if it got extreme at times.

John Wayne Murdoch defeated El Desperado and Matt Tremont

This was more of a brawl, then the other matches thus far. These three fought a battle of brawling, with few moves overall. There were a lot of slaps, chops, and fists, and there was a lot of glass. There was even a net of barbed wire that got utilized. Matt Tremont took a serious bump with a sheet of barbed wire. El Desperado seemed a little out of his element, but he fought back, and did a few moves. At the end of the match, this was a John Wayne Murdoch win, but not without getting a beat down in the process.

Rina Yamashita defeated Kasey Kirk and Sawyer Wreck

Sawyer Wreck is my new favorite indie wrestler. She’s so awesome in this match. She used her height advantage to really take out Kasey and Rina at times. The other women are tough as nails, though, as they fought back and brawled a little. This wasn’t a complete wrestling match, as much as it featured a bit of brawling. I didn’t mind the brawling at all, there was some nice moments, but mostly just extreme stuff here. Rina hit a splash mountain onto light tubes that were placed on Sawyer Wreck’s stomach! This was one hell of an ending, and tough call for Kasey and Sawyer, good stuff overall.

Blake Christian defeated Alex Price, Gringo Loco, and Jack Cartwheel in a four way match

This was an amazing change of pace from all the death match stuff. The match was back and forth with every competitor getting some action in. I’m always impressed by Gringo Loco, among other familiar faces. Every man in this match got a chance to shine, and it was a good lucha style, modern match, with a  good mix of moves and reversals. It wasn’t extreme, it was a good modern match, and I was chanting along with the crowd, well at least in my head. Blake Christian would get the win, but this was a showcase of talent overall. He was definitely great here.

John Wayne Murdoch defeated Ciclope

This one was insane! A quicker pace, and a lot of action, brawling throughout, and light tubes, glass, and chairs, I was not sure I’d have liked this one, but the match showcased some great pacing. A destroyer onto a barbed wire table wasn’t enough, nor was a knee through glass, it was a submission! That’s right, a submission cost Ciclope this one, and well, it was a fun five minute or so match.

Rina Yamashita defeated Toru Sugiura

This one was brutal as both competitors brawled and carved through a brutal death match. Toru was busted open early, and Rina had to battle back after he had control of the match for a while. Believe it or not, there was some nice wrestling at some point, towards the end of the match. I loved that, including suplexes, and bridges, with nice pinfall near falls. A splash mountain onto light tubes and a table got this victory for Rina, which was stellar.

Rina Yamashita defeated John Wayne Murdoch in the finals of tournament of survival 8

The ring was lined with light tubes, and they shattered when each competitor was irish whipped into the ropes, which started this brutal final. Don’t expect a lot of wrestling here, this was a brawl and utilized every bit of plunder available. Rina was a bloody mess at one point, and it was hard to watch, but she is stronger than nails, because she kept fighting back. At one point John Wayne Murdoch got tossed off a scaffold through a pane of glass, he also got hit with a huge splash off the scaffold! It wasn’t enough to win, but it was a sight to see in the finale! After a splash mountain on a pile of glass and table, Rina would pick up the hard fought victory, and get the trophy too!

After the match there was a little celebration, but it turned into a beat down with a trio of Japanese wrestlers coming to attack her. I didn’t recognize a guy in a mask, but he splashed Rina, and then attacked further. Nick Gage and others came to make the save, and that was that for the show.

Overall Thoughts

If you’re a fan of death matches, this was a great night for you. This was a great night of death match wrestling, and it featured a lot of battling. There was a nice four way lucha style match at one point, but other than that, the tournament was fun, and fought hard with everyone involved. I liked this a lot, and am glad I saw it. I recommend checking this show out if you’re a fan of hardcore wrestling, plain and simple.

Black Label Pro Fancy Wrestling 2 (2023) Results and Review

Well, before I get to the GCW review, I wanted to try something different, and well here we are, at a different event. Black Label Pro Fancy Wrestling 2 took place on 6/3/23 and it was live from Crown Point Indiana. It is available for streaming on FITE, and well here we go, results and review of the night of wrestling.

The FITE tv stream kept getting cut, and it would say NO SIGNAL, making the start a little difficult to move forward with, but it came back.

Latinos Most Wanted (Koda Hernandez, Sabin Gauge) defeated Twist and Flip (Darren Fly and Nate Kobain) in a tag team match

This match had a lot of athleticism on display. The guys here were throwing in some good moves left and right, fast forward, and dropping some power moves here and there. There was nice tandem offense, and some great modern wrestling. There were unique reversals, and nice saves, with some fan interaction as well. A good spotty opener, with Latinos Most Wanted getting the victory. I liked the pace of this one, fast, and clean.

Brogan Finlay defeated Hunter Drake and Rico Gonzalez in a triple threat match

Triple threat matches are wild sometimes, and this was chaotic at times. There was a lot of back and forth here, with all three men getting the upper hand. I was surprised by how quick these guys were, and smooth at times. I was also impressed with the pacing, as the guys really knew how to slow it down a little here and there, but then go full steam ahead with power moves, reversals, and suplexes. Fast paced, and nice to see, a good second match, with Brogan Finlay picking up the victory.

Tom Lawlor defeated Eli Isom

Tom Lawlor has been on the indies for some time, and I have seen him wrestle in a lot of matches. I like his style, and think he’s ripe for a bigger audience. I mean if Matt Riddle can make it, so can he, right? He came out with a wig on, and it was funny to see, but I wasn’t sure what the story behind it was. Eli Isom put up a good fight against Lawlor, and this was not a one sided affair, though I thought it would be. This was a much slower, match, and Lawlor was dressed in tuxedo tights. This was a slower match than expected, and while it was hard hitting, and had a few moments, I found my mind wandering during it.

Calvin Tankman defeated Myung-Jae Lee

Calvin is a big guy and he definitely threw his weight around against Lee. Lee is a much smaller, yet interesting character overall. I found him to be interesting, and this match was a little faster paced than the previous encounter. Lee put in a little work, but it was Tankman that steamrolled him and won the match. Not terrible, but not great either.

Mance Warner defeated Steph De Lander in a hardcore match

A pretty standard hardcore match, with some chairs and a door. After some time things broke down from brawling and Mancer stopped the matched to get engaged, and then rolled up De Lander and won the match. Blink and you’d have missed it. I have no idea what to tell ya outside that this was a little fun overall, and well, Mancer wins with a roll up in a hardcore match. Steph De Lander is awesome in my book. Mancer is always a fun wrestler to watch too. This was cool.

Dan The Dad, Ryan Clancy, Trik Davis, and Victor Analog defeated by DQ Alice Crowley, Levi Everett, and Naturday Saints w/ Frank the Clown in a eight man tag match

This was an odd one for me. The teams weren’t on the ring for tags, they were just coming in and out sporadically. That being said, this match was good for what it was, a constant barrage of brawling and moves going back and forth overall. There was some great deal of back and forth here, with everyone getting their moves in, and some cluster moments with up to 5 to 6 people in ring at once. Eventually things broke down and the ref got beaten down, and the match was a DQ. A couple people saved Dan The Dad from getting further beat, but this ended in a DQ. Not bad, not great, kind of a mess of a match.

Trevor Outlaw defeated Matt Brannigan

A fun match was found here, with some good back and forth. A triple titty twister, I kid you not, was involved in this match and it was funny to watch. Outlaw would get the win with a good amount of low blows. It was funny to see how it all went down, and the match was ok at best. Nothing too crazy to write home about. It had some interesting spots, but mostly it was forgettable.

After the match a giant of a man came in and chokeslammed Matt Brannigan, and that was interesting.

Kevin Ku defeated Mike Bailey

A battle is what this was, an interesting fight between two competitors. It was a mix of wrestling and brawling, but mostly wrestling. It reminded me of the ROH Pure matches. Mike Bailey was impressive  here, and Kevin Ku wasn’t bad at all. This was an interesting back and forth match, and I was thinking that Bailey had it in the bag. After some amazing kicks, and some back and forth action, it was Kevin Ku that would pick up the victory here. Ku hit a suplex pin combination that was just a treat to see, and pulled out a hard fought win.

Bang Bros (August Matthews and Davey Bang) defeated Miracle Generation (Dustin Waller and Kylon King) in the BLP Tag team title match

A good back and forth tag team match was had here. I liked the tandem offense that the teams had, but I also appreciated the pacing. I thought that the guys did a good job putting together a solid tag team affair, with all the modern trappings of wrestling today. Not overdone at all, there was a great deal of back and forth, with some nice close calls and near falls. Stereo 450 splashes and the win came through for the Bang Bros, in a good solid match.

Miyu Yamashita defeated Rachel Armstrong

A hard hitting women’s match was found here with a good deal of back and forth. However, it was Miyu Yamashita that would get the win, after some brutal offense. Armstrong put up a decent fight, but it was Miya that seemed to have a counter, and be ready for the next moves. This was a solid 11 minute or so match, without any fluff if you ask me.

Cole Radrick defeated Billie Starkz in the BLP Heayweight title match

Billie Starkz folks, what a tough woman! Cole Radrick isn’t half bad, I’ve seen him wrestle a few times, and he can go too. I liked him in a death match, and am surprised to see him in a regular matchup. Billie and Cole put on a show of back and forth wrestling, with both getting some nice moments in, with solid power moves, chops, lariats, and more. I thought Starkz had this several times, but it was Cole Radrick with the pinfall victory after a succession of power moves. Sweet finish, good match.

Overall Thoughts

This was a long night of wrestling, over 3 hours of action. I liked a majority of it, though some of it was a little boring. I didn’t know everyone that was wrestling, but I liked a great deal of the action. I was surprised by some of the competitors, and was especially stunned to see some of the matches end the way they did. I definitely recommend checking this show out on FITE plus. I can’t say it was the greatest, but it didn’t suck, that’s for sure. I will be watching out for more Black Label Pro in the future.

AEW Rampage 6/2/23 Results and Review

This is the first time I’m reviewing AEW, so that’s something to consider. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly was an interesting night. Let’s see what happened overall, and review the results.

El Hijo Del Vikingo defeated Dralistico, and Komander in the AAA Mega Title 3 Way Match

If you’re a fan of lucha libre, then you’re going to love this match. I loved it, I’m a big fan of lucha style, and these 3 threw down some amazing moments. They threw around some flying moves, and it was fun to see each one respond, and reverse some of the moves. This is the second match I’ve seen from Vikingo and it was incredible, he is truly one of the best in the business. This was an absolute stunner to open AEW Rampage, wow.

Backstage we got an interview with Jeff Jarrett and his crew. Mark Briscoe came out at one point, and argued with Jay Lethal. Aubrey Edwards came out too, and started choking Karen Jarrett! Fun little interview segment.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Action Andretti in the NJPW World Television Title Match

Zack Sabre Jr. is slowly becoming one of my favorite wrestlers. He has a way of putting together some amazing technical moments, it’s just fun. He can control a lot of the match from a wrist lock to a power move, and it was up front in this match. Andretti, I’ve never seen before, and he tried to quicken the pace of the match, but Zack Sabre Jr. kept reversing things.

Willow Nightingale defeated Emi Sakura in the NJPW Strong Women’s Title Match

A solid back and forth affair occurred here. Willow showed off her strength, and Emi was quick and hit a lot of chops, and slaps. The chops were loud, and the crowd was into this one. I was impressed by Emi here, as she wasn’t just letting the champ run her over. That’s not to say that Willow didn’t mount some offense, she threw down some interesting moments, and this match was very fun to watch.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Lee Moriarty in the ROH Pure Title Match

I’ve never seen a ROH pure title match, but this was interesting. There’s a lot of rules that need to be followed to go forward with this one, and it was interesting to see a pure wrestling match. These guys just did pure wrestling, with a bit of back and forth throughout. I thought that the match was good overall. Shibata won this fight, because it was a great  one, and wow, what a win.

Overall Thoughts

AEW once again delivers a wrestling only program, and this time all title matches. I was impressed with the flow, and the work from each competitor. I didn’t find anything really wrong with tonight, and really loved to watch the matches. This was a great hour of programming, and really was pure wrestling with little filler, and no major story line continuation, with the exception of the small interview segment that pushed another story. Other than that, this was a great show, and fun night of wrestling, I loved it.

WWE Smackdown 6/2/23 Results and Review

Another week, another Smackdown goes down in history, and it looked like a sold out crowd to me. This week’s show had some highlights, and some low lights as well, and here is what I thought about the ongoing stories.

Austin Theory and Pretty Deadly defeated The Brawling Brutes in a six man tag match

This was a lot of fun, with a great deal of back and forth, as well as trio moves. The crowd was into it, and were even chanting Sheamus at one point. I was impressed with how much fun this was overall. Lots of back and forth, lots of reversals, and some great finishing moments. Austin Theory impresses and Pretty Deadly is also great, I loved the Brutes too, good stuff, great opener if you ask me.

The OC defeated Hit Row in a tag match

Under 3 minutes is all you get from this, and honestly, it wasn’t that good. Yeah, it had the OC and had AJ styles out there, and there was a few good moves, but without a longer showing, I just got bored. I don’t know why they have such boring, short matches sometimes, but I guess that’s WWE for you.

Zelina Vega defeated Lacey Evans in a money in the bank qualifying match

This wasn’t great. Less than 3 minutes, and mostly a beat down on Vega before her comeback and the victory. I love Evans, but she is not getting much of a push anymore. Before this, I was the Grayson Waller show, which I hated.

La Knight defeated Montez Ford in a money in the bank qualifying match

This was a fun match, with some good back and forth between the two. La Knight got a lot of reaction, and Ford also got that too. The crowd was definitely torn, split down the middle in terms of reaction. It was a good match, and even though it was under 10 minutes, La Knight goes over. Good match.

The Bloodline Explodes

After the matches, we had a Bloodline story explosion. It featured Solo hitting Jimmy with a spike, and that’s it. Roman doesn’t accept the Usos now. The show ended there, I went to bed.

Overall Thoughts

Ok, so this was a par for the course type of show. It was ok at best, and it pushed the Bloodline story a little. The matches were ok, with only a couple being really worth checking out, which is the opener and the men’s qualifying match. Other than that, this show was a bit on the boring side. I just didn’t really get into it.

GCW Lifestyle 2023 Results and Review

Finally catching up with GCW Lifestyle, which aired live from Las Vegas. It had a somewhat raucous crowd, and it started fast. There were already people in the ring at the time of the show beginning, and away we go with the action and my thoughts on it. This event happened on 5/26/23 and it was from the Silver Nugget Casino.

Alec Price defeated Billie Starkz, Damian Drake, Jimmy Lloyd, Matt Vandergriff, and Sam Stackhouse in a Six way scramble match

From what I gathered, this was a match where anyone can be in the ring at any time, and the majority of the back and forth was one on one with different talent in the ring fighting. That being said, this was fun, with a lot of brawling, and some great moves overall. Sam Stackhouse stood out to me as a huge wrestler, and Billie Starkz was rad with her move set. The rest were good too, and everyone had turns with their specific offense, making this a fun romp under 10 minutes. Alec Price got the pinfall victory with what looked like a mule kick off of someone’s knee. They called it a surprise kick, good stuff for sure.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jordan Oliver

I’m a fan of Zack Sabre Jr. as he’s one of the most complete technical wrestlers I’ve seen. He faced off against Jordan Oliver, whom I’ve seen in MLW before. Oliver surprised me with his offense against Zack Sabre Jr. I was astonished that Zack didn’t just bulldoze Oliver in this one. Of course, I would type something like that and recall Zack focusing on Oliver’s shoulder and arm with some stellar technical wrestling. Despite some great offense from Oliver, it was Zack Sabre that pulled this one out with one hell of a submission, with an armbar backwards that jus pretzeled Oliver. Great back and forth, and another Zack Sabre Jr. win.

Maki Itoh defeated Sandra Moone

Maki Itoh impresses me again. Sandra Moone is no slouch, but Itoh is just so fun to watch. Moone put up a good battle against a fast Itoh. The crowd was firmly behind Maki Itoh, and it was interesting to hear them riled up. Moone hit some nice offense, and Itoh would get her shots in, including an interesting falling headbutt that I marked out for. Maki Itoh gets the win here, but not without having to take on some Sandra Moone’s offense. A good women’s match for sure.

After the match Itoh got beat up by Steph De Lander and Matt Cardona, until out came Nick Gage. This is going to lead to a match, I’m sure. It just hasn’t happened.

Joey Janela and Sawyer Wreck defeated Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander in a tag team match

With mixed tag matches you often don’t see the men fighting women, but not the case here. They are all fair game, and it’s not half bad. Janela and Wreck started this one fast, hitting a lot of chops, and good offense overall. The tables would turn a bit, though, and things would be tough for both teams. Cardona and De Lander had some serious heat, and the two had a good amount of offense. De Lander speared Janela through a door at one point, which was rad! Another door was set up, and the two teams fought to stay from getting through it, but out came Maki Itoh and Nick Gage and helped Wreck and Janela, which let Sawyer Wreck chokeslam Matt Cardona threw a door! Then she picked up the pinfall victory, which was fun to see. Fun match!

Blake Christian defeated Dark Sheik

I’ve never seen Dark Sheik but wow, what a performer. She really put on a show against Christian. Blake was able to thwart some of her offense, but it wasn’t easy. Some good back and forth offense was found in this one, and I found it to be fun overall. Sheik’s top rope spinning heel kick was rad, as well as some of her other offense. Christian’s reversals, and moves were cool too, but he didn’t have an easy time with this match. Blake would hit a curb stomp and then choked out Dark Sheik, and that was that. Good match, fun stuff, about 17 minutes of action, fun!

Bussy and Mance Warner defeated Los Macizos and John Wayne Murdoch, Jack Cartwheel, Starboy Charlie and Titus Alexander in a six man tag team three way match

I admit, I was falling asleep at my desk when watching this one. It’s not a terrible match, but it’s overbooked so it can be rough around he edges. Everyone should get a Mancer t-shirt. In the end, it felt like a fast one, and it had some good innovative offense, lucha style,  and modern style mixed. An ok match overall.

El Hijo del Vikingo defeated Gringo Loco, and Komander

The trio here put on an amazing display of lucha libre. This was a purely lucha libre match with everything out the window Each person threw down some amazing moves, and it was incredible to see the wrestling style that each one had. At one point , even though they were high flying, Vikingo ran Komander through a door. Vikingo would hit a 630, I kid you not, a 630, on Gringo Loco for the win. I was impressed, you should be too.

Rina Yamashita defeated Cole Radrick in the GCW Ultraviolent Title Match

Fans of death match wrestling will enjoy this one. This was a back and forth hardcore match with light tubes, doors, glass windows, chairs, and brawling to boot. This was steady, paced well, and had a lot of blood for those that like that. Modern wrestling fans may not be big on this one, as it is brutal to say the least, but if you’re a fan of hardcore wrestling and independent wrestling too, this is a good match to check out. There were some nice moves, and action, so it wasn’t just punch kick, fun match to end the night.

Overall Thoughts

I love GCW and am looking forward to seeing them in person. Until then, I have to watch them on FITE and I suggest everyone get a subscription to it. This was a lot of fun, good pacing, fast matches, slow matches, and some hardcore action too. I definitely recommend this one, so check it out on FITE and see GCW wherever they go, they put on fun times.

AEW Dynamite 5/31/23 Results and Review

Well, I had a couple of days off from work so I decided to wait before reviewing all of the things I missed in wrestling. So here we go, let’s play catch up so that we can enjoy a little bit of wrestling and banter, for all two of you readers.

Blackpool Combat Club defeated The Lucha Brothers and Bandido

There’s a lot of trios matches in AEW, which I don’t mind, but it is apparent that they really like them. Not only that, we got some luchadors up front, which is always cool in my book. El Chapulin lives with the awesome outfit from one of the lucha guys, Bandido. A fun opener with a lot of back and forth action, and some great tags. This was a lot of fun with some great high flying moves, and some reversals from the Blackpool Combat Club. Smart moves, psychology was there, and well, the BCC just gets the win, but it wasn’t a pushover matchup in any way. Fun is how I’d describe this one, as the crowd was into it as well as I was.

Jay White and Juice Robinson came out, and I was falling asleep so this was meh, just an interview segment. It’s ok I guess. FTR came out and the four men started to brawl, and set up a match I’m sure, but I was so tired that this wasn’t that grand for me. I’m sorry, I just think this will lead to a great match next week with Ricky Starks.

Swerve Strickland defeated Big Bill and Trent Beretta in a triple threat match

Big Bill was mopping up at one point, truly using his size to throw the others around. I found it interesting overall, as he was being booked like a larger wrestler, slow and methodical. Swerve and Trent didn’t just roll over, mind you, but they were definitely having to deal with the bigger man. I found that psychology to be good, and interesting overall. A double suplex impressed me, and the crowd went wild too for it, making this triple threat a lot of fun to watch. Swerve would get the pinfall after some nice counters, and seizing the victory with an interesting finisher and crucifix pin. Fun stuff.

Don Callis and Takeshita get booed out of the building, in a promo. It wasn’t bad. There will be a match with Kenny Omega I’m sure.

Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy defeated Gates of Agony in a tag match

The team of Gates of Agony had this match sewn up for the most part. They threw around their opponents left to right, and then some. I couldn’t believe how much attention was paid to the beatdown that was going on. Cassidy and Allin scored a pinfall after the coffin drop, and some previous fast offense. However, the Gates of Agony delivered a beat down throughout, and I was personally impressed with how it went down. It was a fun match.

Sting came down with a bat, and the crowd went nuts.

Kris Statlander defeated Nyla Rose in the AEW Women’s Title match

I gotta admit, the women’s division in AEW impresses a lot. This was a hard hitting match, and both women put in some work, getting some hits in and moves that you don’t usually see with women’s wrestling under 5 minutes ala WWE sometimes. I found this to be great fun, with Statlander escaping, because Nyla Rose is no joke as a competitor. A good back and forth match, with some nice maneuvers. I liked it a lot. A 450 splash and Statlander got the victory, in a hard hitting match.

Adam Cole and Dr. Britt Baker defeated Chris Jericho and Saraya in a mixed tag team match

A nice back and forth match here. Saraya wrestling is cool, and Britt Baker is always fun to watch too. Jericho and Cole hit each other hard, with some heavy chops, and great overall back and forth. Baker even got some offense on Jericho! That was fun to see, and the crowd was all over it. Cole and Baker would get the win, but it was not an easy battle, there was a good amount of back and forth here.

Overall thoughts

A good night of Dynamite if you ask me. It had a little bit of everything you could ask for in a wrestling show. It had a lot of fun, and some good wrestling. They also announced some fun matches for next week as well. This was just a fun night of wrestling, and definitely had me enjoying every bout.