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GCW “Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport”
4/4/19 - Jersey City, NJ
Last year in New Orleans, GCW ran this show under Matt Riddle’s name and it was a quirky mix of strong style and grappling that I enjoyed. This year, it’s featured under MMA legend Josh Barnett’s moniker and brings in a bunch of legit MMA guys to see how they fare in this format.
Rules are as follows: Only Subs, Knockout, Forfeit or DQ. Most other rules are grounded in MMA - so no deathmatch stuff.
Match 1: “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni vs Dominick Garrini
Baroni is looking and mugging to the crowd.. Garrini is all business in his BJJ gi. Now Baroni is crotch chopping. Baroni is clowning and takes Garrini down. Dominick wants him in his guard. Garrini is working on an armbar while Baroni is raining down punches. Baroni wants a time out. Crowd chanting “Phil Jabroni”. Garrini wants that armbar but Phil rakes the eyes. Ref Bryce is distracting, allowing Baroni to gets some shots to the back of the head in. Garrini is out cold and Baroni covers him for a fake three. Baroni spits and slaps the ref and continues clowning as Garrini is counted out. Post-match, the ref reverses the decision based on Baroni’s match conduct. What a weird match ruined by a competitor too busy heeling it up and comedy ref stuff that shouldn’t be happening on this show at all. Really confusing what happened here.
Winner (via referee reversal): Dominick Garrini
Match 2: J.R. Kratos vs Simon Grimm
Kratos is huge. Grimm tries to kick the big man down, tackles him to the corner, prompting a restart in the center. Grimm is outwrestling Kratos to start, dropping elbows where he can. Kratos slaps Grimm and takes him down, prompting Grimm to lock up his neck. They restart after going outside the ring. Back in the center, they trade slaps and kicks. Kratos with flipping slam and tries to submit Grimm with a head/arm choke. They get to their feet and Kratos unloads a huge shot that doubles over Grimm. A second shot and then he wraps up a rear naked choke, Grimm is fighting back, bloodying Kratos nose and slamming his way out of danger. Grimm with an armbar but Kratos slams out of that and hits a diving fist and makes Simon Grimm go limp. This was the kind of stuff I was hoping to see today. Great contest.
Winner (by TKO): J.R. Kratos
Match 3: Killer Kross vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Handshake to start. They trade a lot of Muay Thai kicks, trying to catch the others leg. Smith has the back early and locks in a rear choke but Kross is able to roll out of it. They trade palm strikes but Smith takes Kross down again. Kross squirms to work an armbar but Smith gets full mount. They trap their respective ankles but roll to the outside. Kross working another armbar but Smith rolls it to the outside again. Smith and ref Bryce Remsburg exchange heated words on the break. Smith traps Kross’ arm and they roll again. Kross is tapping! But it’s a restart because they are outside the ring. Kross dumps Smith on his head and gets a rear naked choke. They scramble through more strikes and submission attempts, Smith landing a bunch of knees. They are trading kicks and palm strikes again. Big kick from Kross and a backdrop. Smith kicks the knee out of Kross and follows up with soccer kick to the head. Another backdrop and Smith locks in a crossfire to get the tap. Awesome. What a fight.
Winner (by Submission): Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Match 4: Jonathan Gresham vs Masashi Takeda
Takeda brings a MMA and Deathmatch background to this fight. Gresham brings a ton of wrestling expertise. Super fast scramble from this pair to start. They grapple from hold to hold through reversals and neither man really holding an advantage over the other. Gresham gets put in a crab but he gets over the edge of the ring to prompt a restart. They scramble again and both fall out of the ring on their heads. They are slapping each other outside the ring. Takeda is bleeding from his forehead and grabs a chair. The ref finally restores control and they are back in the ring. Gresham traps a head and arm choke and Takeda is in trouble. Grasha, is targeting the bleeding eye. They are still trading holds and strikes. Gresham throwing kicks like a madman but one well-placed strike and a knee from Takeda puts the Octopus down. Takeda swarms and the ref stops it. This was FIRE. What great energy and intensity in this match.
Winner (by KO): Masashi Takeda
Match 5: “The Butcher” Andy Williams vs “Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson
It’s a standup war from the get go, strikes and kicks and haymakers for days. Williams with a power bomb and now trying to smother Dickinson. Williams is getting tired and Dickinson escapes, dropping bombs to the back of the head. The larger Williams powers back on top. Gutwrench suplex and goes for an armbar but the Dirty Daddy escapes, takes the back and struggles into a rear naked choke. Williams spits out his mouth piece and taps out. Wild match and a great showing.
Winner (by Submission): Chris Dickinson
Match 6: Frank Mir vs “The Beast” Dan Severn
Phil Baroni is out here to corner Mir…for some reason. Mir and Severn grapple and scramble to start. Baroni on the outside, screaming “he’s old” to Frank. Severn gets the takedown but Mir tries to work an armbar several times. Mir transitions to an ankle lock (the same one that tapped out Brock Lesnar) and Severn quickly taps out. This was slow and was really just a scramble between the two MMA legends and I still don’t know why Phil Baroni was there. It happened.
Winner: Frank Mir
After the match, Frank Mir says he’s training to go after Brock again.
Match 7: Timothy Thatcher vs Hideki Suzuki
These guys are warring over an arm lock and neck crank. Suzuki going for the leg, stepping on Thatcher’s hip at one point. Suzuki has Tim’s legs wrapped up and pops on a dragon sleeper. Thatcher escapes and works the neck some more. Thatcher’s murder face is In full effect while the cold expression of Suzuki keeps him tied up. Thatcher gets the ankle and is working on a half crab. Tim fights back and tries to turn the tide with strikes and seated kicks. Hideki with a stomp to the head and soccer kicks. Thatcher is groggy but pissed as he pops up into an enziguri and locks up the arm again. Suzuki escapes and they are trading blows in the center. Both guys are groggy as hell. Suzuki flurries with a back brain kick, a back breaker and a suplex. Thatcher is looks out and staring into space and the ref stops it.
Winner (by Ref Stoppage): Hideki Suzuki
Main Event: “The War Master” Josh Barnett vs Minoru Susuki
Last year, Minoru Suzuki was a last minute replacement for Low Ki. This year, he returns to collect another victory. After a brief feeling out period, Barnett tries to overpower Suzuki. Suzuki is defending from underneath a lot here. Suzuki escapes and starts working Barnett;s neck with a smile. They trade ankle locks and Barnett is turning purple. Suzuki slips in a rear naked choke, but is reversed into a deep armbar. Suzuki screams “never!” When asked if he submits. We’re back up and Barnett drops Minoru on the back of his head with a suplex. Suzuki traps both of Josh’s legs into a split knee lock. Barnett struggles to his feet, allowing Suzuki to his a series of knees and kicks. Strike battle in the center. Barnett with another suplex. Suzuki hits a knee that staggers Barnett. Suzuki going for a pile driver but Barnett slips out and locks in a deep STF-style choke. Suzuki’s arm won’t stay down for three. Teardrop suplex and Suzuki rolls outside the ring. Suzuki tries to get a chair. He drags Barnett outside the ring, knocks out the ref and blasts Barnett with a chair. Josh is pissed and drags Suzuki back in the ring and pummels Suzuki with kicks, stomps and strikes. Barnett is keeping Suzuki down with neck holds and suplexes. They are on their knees in the center, trading shots as the ref returns. Looks like Suzuki isn’t getting DQ’d? They are trading blows again, screaming at each other and barely on their feet. The time is running out. They go the last 60 seconds toe-to-toe throwing strikes. The bell rings. Everyone is chanting for five more minutes. The competitors oblige. Suzuki staggers from a head kick and spinning back kick but Suzuki bounces back up. A German suplex but Suzuki bounces back up. Barnett locks in a rear naked choke again and Suzuki won’t go to sleep. His look here is classic. Suzuki is biting Josh’s head and foot. They trade taunts. Suzuki battles into an octopus stretch but Barnett slips it. The bell rings again after they have each other locked into ankle holds. The crowd chants “let them fight”. It’s announced as a time limit draw to an unhappy crowd but they quickly turn to cheer for the efforts of the warriors in front of them. They shake hands and we go off the air. Wow. What a damn fight. Excellent story here.
Winner: Time Limit Draw
Overall, this show was pretty great. It could have used less shenanigans from Phil Baroni but the majority of these matches delivered and made the card feel like the kind of unique experience you can only see one show out of the year during Mania week.
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