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3/12 GCW ASTRONAUT IN ATLANTA, GA REPORT

I attended the first-ever GCW live event in Atlanta, at Center Stage tonight.  Having never been here before, it's pretty much the ultimate intimate wrestling theater as 99% of it is in the round and everything echoed off the walls at an insane rate.  They had a massive GCW merchandise table and if nothing else, the crowd intensity is just fun.  Despite having never been to a show, it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement as everyone was an immediate star coming out the way they were treated.  I had seats halfway up but decided to sit towards the upper level and by the end of the show, sat in the last row, just taking all the craziness in.

Some quick results and thoughts:

*AR Fox pinned Nick Wayne.  Wayne is REALLY young but wrestled like he was not.  AR Fox lives here and got a big reaction.  Fox's timing in the ring is insane, like at the level of Ricochet or anyone else on WWE TV right now, so it's crazy he's not on national TV.  They had a fun opening match with Fox getting the pin with a beautiful 450 splash.

*Gringo Loco pinned Ninja Mack.  A fan in front of me was all in love with Ninja Mack, saying he earned his way on the roster and was the guy to watch.  This was a mix of some back and forth technical wrestling that set the stage for them to then do some crazy flying.  Mack did a series of flips before leaping over the top to the floor, which was cool.  He then nailed an insane shooting star on the outside.  They ended up setting a door in the ring with some chairs and Mack was powerbombed through the door for the pinfall.  

*NWA Champion Matt Cardona defeated Action Mike Jackson.  Jackson is the old Jim Crockett NWA Promotions guy who popped up on Impact Wrestling awhile ago doing the deal where he's way more athletic and crazier than anyone expected and that's what happened here.  Cardona is now a heel who acts like even being in GCW is beneath him and the mic stuff was pretty damn good.  He mocked Jackson but was then later shocked when Jackson hit a big dive to the outside on him and later did the Undertaker rope walk before drilling Cardona.  This was a LOT of fun and could have gone even longer, it was so different.  Cardona got the pinfall with the Broski Boot.  Chris Dickinson chased Cardona out of the ring but Matt was grabbed and tossed back in by Mike Jackson.  Dickinson teased powerbombing Cardona but he escaped.  Fun stuff.

Tony Deppen pinned ACH with his feet on the ropes.  A lot of the GCW bad guys get cheered but not Cardona and not Deppen.  ACH had some cool offensive moves including some German suplexes.  They battled on the top but ACH was pulled down and smashed his arm across the top rope.  That let Deppen gain the advantage and he finally did the old Flair feet on the ropes deal for the pin.

There was a six man Scramble match with Alex Colon beating a bunch of people, including a masked Zenshi, Jimmy Lloyd and Jordan Oliver.  There was a Cowboy named Manders as well.  There was too much going on here for me to know what was going on except carnage.  The finish was another crash through another door.  Do they have a bulk account at Home Depot for this promotion?   Breathless insanity is the only way I could categorize this.   Some stuff looked good and some stuff looked off but it was like they were trying to do everything they could in the time they had, a crazy sprint from the first to final bell.

In what was billed as a showcase match for AR Fox's school, Rico Gonzalez & Ashe Bennett were wrestling Bobby Flanco & K Kanyon (didn't catch some of these names) was going fine with some fun athletic moves and a dive or two but Joey Janela hit the ring and ruined it.   Janela cut a promo on X-Pac in advance of their match at the Joey Janela Spring Break.  He said the reason wrestling is so great, that there is an AEW was all because of him.   It was just a TV promo for the Wrestlemania show.

Allie Katch defeated Jordynne Grace from Impact Wrestling.  I didn't get the Allie Katch thing but the audience loved her and saw her as "their" star.   The story seemed to be Grace would hit big power moves but Katch was able to bounce back and escape being defeated.  Katch would have moments of being on the offensive but then get cut off with a big Grace move including a DVDR but escaped a muscle buster.  She finally nailed a slingshot piledriver using the ropes and got the pin.  The place absolutely loved her, so there must be some storyline stuff I'm not privy to but the energy was fun.

GCW Extreme Champion AJ Gray pinned Effy.  I've heard of but hadn't seen either before.  The crowd loved them both.  The fan in front of me said Effy's gimmick is he's gay and kicks ass.  I asked what Gray's gimmick is and he said, he is a bad mother-f'er and kicks ass.   This was a hardcore match and yes, it did indeed kick ass.  They each had a cool, different aura to them.  At one point, Effy was placed under a door and smooshed under it as Gray crashed down on the door.  Lots of brawling outside the ring.  They tossed chairs at each other like they were Kevin Sullivan.  Effy nailed a scary suplex that saw Gray take a scary bump on his head.  Gray came back with a lariat for the pin but they embraced after.  Loved the intensity here.  It was like Terry Funk and Mick Foley with the story being two guys who respected each other were going to beat more respect into each other, if that makes any sense.

ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham defeated Blake Christian when they did a referee stoppage with the idea that Christian could no longer defend himself intelligently from Gresham's elbow strikes.  This was a fantastic match and the best thing on the show as a first-time GCW attendee.  So much great technical wrestling early on and the crowd was totally into it as Gresham is a local here and was treated like a returning hero.  I know Christian was in NXT and I've heard his name in reports, but man, as a flyer, he does some damn amazing stuff.  He hit an awesome springboard moonsault and some really impressive dives as well as a Spanish Fly.  Gresham hit a cool dive to the floor as well, but the majority of his stuff was strikes and technical wrestling.  After losing, Christian took the mic and thanked pro wrestling for helping him get through the worst parts of his life.

GCW Tag Team Champions The H8 Club, Nick Gage & Matt Tremont) fought The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner & Matthew Justice) to a double pin.  The finish was goofy since this was promoted as a death match but the action was anything but.  Gage's entrance is a site to behind as the audience is absolutely losing their minds for him.  It reminds me of watching Onita footage on YouTube when he was the cult hero in FMW.  Chairs, broken glass, doors, tables, a staple gun all utilizing.  At the end, Gage hit a Rhinodriver off the ropes through a table for the pin but at the same time, Justice (who literally could have walked into ECW, he was like the walking personification of an ECW wrestler) splashed Tremont and the referee counted the pins at the same time.  There were all sorts of challenges for the Joey Janela Spring Break Show to have them rematch and fight the Briscoes afterward.   That's great if I want to go to Texas, but not for me in Atlanta tonight.  Couldn't they have just had a clean finish and then do the promo?  I don't know.  I guess not!

It was an interesting experience.  I'd probably go back but I'd never want to sit ringside given the amount of chaos going on.  The last row suited me just fine.

It was very much a night at the matches with a lot of doors being broken and a fun, crazy way to spend the night, so thanks to GCW.

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