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LOOKING AT GCW, THEIR LOS ANGELES SELLOUT THIS PAST SATURDAY & SUZUKI VS. GAGE

Game Changer Wrestling continued its recent sellout stream in several major markets this past Saturday night in Los Angeles, CA at the Ukrainian Cultural Center.  The show, which streamed live on FITE.TV, titled Highest in the Room, was packed, to the point that talents were swarmed by fans as they made their way to the ring. 

When Nick Gage made an appearance at the end of the show, it was like a smaller scale version of what used to happen with Atsushi Onita in FMW, where everyone wanted to touch and be around him, to the point that for a moment, as silly as this sounds, I was worried for Gage's well being as he basically pushed his way to the ring to confront and challenge New Japan's Minoru Suzuki.  Their back and forth set up the main event for GCW's return to the market on 10/23, which is one of the most ridiculously fun and weird dream matches in a year with a lot of fun and ridiculous dream matches across promotional borders.  Suzuki, the ultimate tough guy in that Haku-esque realm in and outside of the ring vs. GCW's beloved Death Match king.  If ever there were two polar opposites as to why they are seen as legitimately tough by the same audience, it is these two, but it'll be something that every GCW fans wants to see, and that's the key to making an attraction work.

GCW's show this past Saturday evening was an entertaining blue collar spectacle and once again, presented GCW as having a punk rock underground vibe to their shows.  Watching one of their events is probably the closest one could feel like stepping into CBGB when it existed in NYC to have that communal, "F*** everyone else, this is our sh**" feeling, but for professional wrestling.  The promotion presents the show as sort of a "Hey, this cool sh** is going down, want to come?" sort of underground party presentation where all are welcome and none give a damn about how anyone outside of the bubble perceives them.

Some will argue there could be more professionalism, like less cursing during commentary.  GCW and it's audience won't care.  Some could argue the matches aren't technically sound at times, but for everyone who would complain about that, GCW can rightly point to Minoru Suzuki vs. Jonathan Gresham on the show this past weekend.  Not to compare GCW to ECW, but in the 1990s, what made the latter stand out was a buffet of all sorts of different wrestling styles.  If you didn't want to see Malenko vs. Guerrero, well, here's the Rottens or Sabu.  GCW sort of walks that same line.  Good or bad, there's something for everyone and hey, if you don't like it, F*** off.  You have to admire that sort of punk rock spirit in a world where everyone goes out of their way to showcase the exact opposite. 

Now, if they can maintain that and find a big promotional partner or sponsor or backer, it should be interesting to see how they can grow the company beyond where it is now, but even if they can just maintain themselves as this underground place where acts go to get made or reborn and hold onto the grimy but fun aura of today's GCW, they should be able to do well for themselves, given how successful they have been on FITE and in selling out markets like NYC, Chicago and Los Angeles.  It's a product that might lose what makes it great if it was transplanted elsewhere in a larger venue (then again, perhaps not), but the venues they currently run take on GCW's identity with an audience so rabid, it's impossible not to be impressed by what's been created.

The main event of the show was the aforementioned Suzuki vs. Gresham which went about 20 minutes and was based around hold for hold submissions and wearing down the extremities of the other competitor.  From a purist standpoint, it was far and away the best thing on the show and could have easily gone for another 20 minutes if they had wanted given how strong it was.  Gresham may be, in terms of timing, footwork and being fluid in the ring, in the top 5% of all pro wrestlers wrestling today.  Suzuki was greeted as if he was a God coming down from the heavens by the audience.  This was a lot of fun to watch.

Comedian Ron Funches made his professional wrestling debut against Tony Deppen on the show.  The audience was the MVP here as they loved Funches and everything that was going on to a ridiculous degree.  That said, this was the type of match that will drive the "back in my day" pro wrestling veterans insane.  Funches came out with a Ric Flair-esque robe and worked as hard as he could with the right person to carry him through the match but obviously wasn't going to be looking like he was Flair in 1985.  Actor and comedian Paul Scheer accompanied Funches to the ring and during the bout, turned on him, leading to GCW wrestler Allie Katch, who was on commentary putting over how much she loved Scheer getting disgusted and angered, so she hit the ring and pulled a knife on him, chasing Scheer around ringside and to the back.  Nope, I didn't see that one coming either.    This was a spectacle and one the audience adored.

Underneath, Alex Zayne, who just departed NXT and Jordan Oliver, a former CZW star who is now a regular for MLW, tore the house down.  Unless something tragic or stupid happens, Oliver will probably be one of the most sought after performers anywhere within the next few years as he continued to get better and better as he's put on muscle.  Watching Zayne work, you can't help but shake your head and wonder what the hell WWE was thinking releasing him.

Alex Colon defeated G-Raver in a death match featuring a lot of blood, light tubes and ladders.  If you appreciate that style, this was the type of stuff you loved, especially ladders where light tubes replaced the steps.  Just some insane ridiculousness here before Raver passed out in a Camel Clutch.  If you aren't a fan of this, well, you still got Gresham vs. Suzuki on top!  Colon is a scary, scary man.

In another unique bout, Chris Dickinson fought and beat MLW's Jacob Fatu by DQ.  This was about two burly tough guys slugging it out and that's how this was portrayed.  Fatu used a wrench as a weapon to cause the DQ.  The idea here was that Fatu was out of control, laying out security guards until Juicy Finau came to the ring for the save.

2 Cold Scorpio, looking incredible in the ring for a 55 year old, defeated Effy with The Tumbleweed.  In a Six Way Scramble, featuring all sorts of crazy spots and dives, ASF defeated Arez, Gringo Loco, Eli Everfly, Jimmy Lloyd, and Everett Connors.  Atticus Cogar defeated Ninja Mack.  The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner & Matthew Justice & AJ Gray) defeated Starboy Charlie & Lucas Riley, & Nick Wayne.

GCW has number of events set up in the coming weeks, including their 10/9 return to Atlantic City with Gage challenging GCW Champion Jon Moxley in a Death Match.  Before they get back to the Garden State, they have two events in Queens' Melrose Ballroom on 9/23 and 9/24.  Jimmy Jacobs and Marko Stunt will be in for 9/23 while 9/24 features Gage vs. NYC stalwart The Grim Reefer, Minoru Suzuki vs. Homicide, Taiji Ishimori vs. Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne vs. AR Fox and an announcement from Matt Cardona, continuing his storyline in the promotion.
 

 

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