By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
The tone for ‘Joey Janela’s Lost in New York’ was set the moment that Wheatus performed ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ live for the arrival of Nate Webb for his opening match with Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF would use his entrance as chance to badmouth both Wheatus and the fans, heeling it up as the resident CZW World Champion. Webb would jump MJF to begin, hitting a tope con giro within seconds of the bell ringing. As the match spilled to the top of the ramp, MJF would use Brendan B. Brown as a shield to initially block Webb, whilst also giving Brown a forearm across the chest when the singer tried to fight back. MFJ would target the arm of Webb when the match returned to the ring, including stamps to the hand, before a spinning kick by Webb led to a countout tease. Webb landed two clotheslines and a discus lariat as both men returned to their feet, whilst a TKO and a reversal of an Alabama slam into a piledriver scored Webb a nearfall.
A double foot stomp to the arm saw MJF try and target the limb again, following up with a Fujiwara armbar. However, the ref would take a bump moments later and the match would descend into chaos as both men tried to do the Los Guerreros fake chairshot finish, with the ref unable to tell who did what to whom. MJF would use a tug of war over a chair to bump the referee once more and kick Webb in the dick, but Brown would hit the ring for a DDT onto a chair and a really nearfall! A spinout facebuster had Webb in control, but MJF would block a chairsault with his feet, putting Webb down for the three count. A great teased finish with Brown’s involvement, and a really fun way to begin the show.
Kyle the Beast would be out offering up an open challenge next, with a small guy in the front row called Marko taking the opportunity. After informing KTB that he was old enough to wrestler as he was ‘old enough to fuck your mum’, the match started at a fast pace as Marko avoided a clothesline with a back flip, hit a jumping rana, a tiltawhirl lungblower and a rolling senton into a rana at ringside. A tope con giro attempt was caught by KTB, who dumped Marko with a fireman’s carry slam, allowing him to exert his strength on his diminutive opponent. With occasional flurries of offense from Marko, KTB would biel him from one corner to the other, land a huge one handed spinebuster and a big release German suplex. Marko would blocked a superplex attempt and land a jumping rana, though his next aerial move would see him slip and actually catch KTB with a headbutt to the lower back by accident.
The wild aerials continues as a sequence of reversals saw Marko standing on KTB’s chest, turning it into a high angle lungblower, whilst a flip tope to the outside would continue the onslaught from Marko. A jumping rana attempt would be blocked by KTB, with a nearfall after a powerbomb and a sitout powerbomb that used the bottom rope for additional impact. A rana driver and a 450 by Marko earn him a very close fall, but after some back and forth in the corner as KTB looked to try and use a superplex, the Beast would pick up the win with a moonsault slam from the second rope. A spectacle that as much as anything else, but one well worth checking out for some insane spots.
Stokely Hathaway would make his way to the ring with Wheeler Yuta in tow, with some back and forth shenanigans between the two men and the ring announcer leading to Hathaway announcing that the man was fired. This saw the arrival of the Sandman (making the most of his entrance), a kendo stick shot for Hathaway and Yuta stealing/sharing the contents of his now ex-boss’ wallet.
Perhaps having seen what Marko did in the second match, Teddy Hart and Chris Dickinson tried to outcrazy every other match on the show. Having used a step up enziguri to attack Hart as he had just completed a moonsault in Jim Neidhart’s honour was low by Dickinson, and began a torrent of offense that included a piledriver on the ring apron in the first minute or two. Hart would attempt to fight back after slipping out a suplex and nailing one of his own, but a superkick halted his brief comeback. The two men would trade strikes in the ring before Hart uses a nifty leglock takedown to break a foot choke, yet they were soon back to insane bumps – a clothesline on the apron saw Hart took a huge spill to the outside, followed up with a gourdbuster on the ring apron by Dickinson. Not content with just that, Dickinson then dumped Hart head first on the ring apron from the suplex position.
Hart would fire back after blocking Dickinson’s attempt to suplex him out of the ring, hitting a stunner, a modified piledriver in the ropes, a springboard into a moonsault and a hammerlock DDT. The risks of Hart’s offense came back to hurt him as a split legged moonsault would be blocked, Dickinson then using a gutbuster across the top turnbuckle shortly afterwards. A top rope frankensteiner by Hart would see Dickinson roll through and apply the Sharpshooter to a lot of boos from the crowd, but Hart managed to fight his way to the bottom rope. The moves off of the top continued with a Dickinson German suplex, but a second attempt was avoided and eventually a jumping flip piledriver – one that looked like it had next to no real impact – was enough for Hart to win. A bit of a mess of spots all rolled into a match that did very little for me.
With Haku attending Jim Neidhart’s funeral, Nick Gage’s opponent in his GCW Heavyweight Title match was unknown, but as the lights dimmed, Sabu’s silhouette could be seen amongst the camera flashes. His arrival received a huge pop, and the match pretty much immediately headed to ringside after some early punches were traded. Sabu would throw a couple of chairs at Gage as well as trade Irish whips into the guard rail, whilst another chair throw in the ring saw Sabu take aim at Gage’s stomach with unerring aim. A chair would be used by Sabu to launch into a corner forearm, though Gage soon turned the tide with a block to a second attempt, a running back elbow and a facewash. Gage would eat a chair to the face as he came off of the top rope, which allowed subsequent use of the chair to add impact to a legdrop and as a means to balance a door (alongside a second chair) that was destroyed by Gage getting top rope legdropped through it. A makeshift table would also be involved in the finish as Sabu would slip on the top turnbuckle, allowing Gage to hit a piledriver off the top through the wood for the win. Post-match and pre-mid show break, Gage thanked the fans and Sabu. A short match but one that did the job it needed to do considering the late notice of Sabu’s involvement.
A ‘Grab the Brass Ring’ ladder match (earning the winner a match of their choice at Spring Break 3) between Jimmy Lloyd, Eli Everfly, Gringo Loco, Tony Deppen, G Raver and Orange Cassidy was always going to be a wild affair, and one that it hard to do justice on paper. Cassidy would have the early attention as he was too lazy to put up the ladder, trying to balance on the edge of it instead to grab the ring. Early highlights saw Deppen land a dropkick to the ladder that took out both Lloyd and Loco, whilst a stacked set of two ladders laying across the turnbuckle allowed Raver to hit a back senton on Cassidy whilst falling into a double foot stomp on Deppen in a unique spot. As the men began to fight to make their way to the top, Cassidy would end up highest on the ladder and touch the ring…only to head down as he thought this was enough for victory! Loco would drop Deppen across the ladder with a Gory bomb, whilst he would then hit a cutter on Lloyd using falling off of the ladder and the ropes to spring back to nail his opponent.
The obligatory dives to ringside followed shortly afterwards as Deppen hit a suicide dive, Cassidy landed a springboard twisting press, and Loco a step up plancha. One of the nastier spots happened next as Lloyd caught Everfly and darted him into a table that didn’t break. A top rope falcon arrow through the table by Loco on Deppen was topped moments later by a Chocadriver (at least that is the name I heard) that saw Lloyd continue his attempts to kill Everfly as he took him off of the ladder and through a table. Lloyd would trade ‘mists’ of OJ with Cassidy, before a BRAINBUSTAH on Raver that saw Lloyd dump his opponent head first on the top of the ladder was enough to allow him to grab the ring and pick up the victory. Some unique spots, some ridiculous spots, and a bit too much set-up at times that took me a little out of the match.
A refreshing change of pace followed as Ethan Page fought Penelope Ford in a match that was apparently for Page’s soul in an ongoing Game Changer Wrestling storyline. Page would treat Ford in a derisory fashion, easily throwing her out of a side headlock and tapping her on the head, though he wasn’t smiling so much after a jumping rana and a suicide dive turned into a DDT at ringside. A brutal backbreaker saw Page reverse a top rope crossbody attempt, though Ford would use her backflips later on to escape Page and hit a stunner for two. A cartwheel elbow halted Page on the top, but Ford’s attempts to join him saw her dumped with a top rope bodyslam and nailed with a big swanton bomb for two.
Page looked pissed at this point, and Ford almost stole the win with a rana after reversing a powerbomb setup. Page would land his powerbomb seconds later, but when this wasn’t enough, a Texas cloverleaf into a modified STF was enough to give him the win via submission. Page keeps his soul…for now. A fun match that worked as a perfect tonic following the craziness of the previous contest.
With Joey Janela’s battles against great stars of yesteryear, part of the intrigue comes about based on whether they can still go. Upon his arrival, Jinsei Shinzaki looked in good shape and the two traded reversals with a flip to escape by Shinzaki to show he still could move around the ring at the tender age of 51. Shinzaki would use a leg grapevine and nerve hold to try and keep the match grounded initially, whilst a huge superkick dropped Janela hard to the canvas. Janela’s first real opportunity to control the contest came after he blocked a Vader splash with his knees, hitting a superkick of his own and landing a suicide dive. Coming back into the ring, Shinzaki would use his trademark praying rope walk into a chop, though it was Janela who almost picked up the win moments later with a superkick.
Janela missed a moonsault and Shinzaki would again hit a move from his playbook, the top rope shoulderblock. Shinzaki ended up kicking out a little late on a stiff DVD by Janela following some strikes and a stunner, forcing the ref to hold the count just a tad. He would also manage to kickout after a double foot stomp by Janela, before some grappling on the top turnbuckle led to a chokeslam that earned Shinzaki the win. It was a little slow to get going and Shinzaki is naturally limited, but it worked because Shinzaki was able to do his highlight reel stuff for an audience that won’t have seen him live in at least five years.
If ever there is a match that rounded off this stage of Matt Riddle’s career in the US in a more fitting way, a match against someone like PCO just helped to encapsulate the world that Riddle is leaving behind. PCO’s rejuvenation on the independent scene at the age of 50 has been nothing short of spectacular, and the two men would trade many, many chops to start the main event. Riddle would eventually break the exchange with a jumping knee and Pele kick, whilst an exploder suplex into the corner and back senton earned him a two count. It is PCO’s strength and agility that amaze, and he would dump Riddle from a triangle choke into a sitout powerbomb, following up with a top rope senton of his own. Riddle would briefly regain control by pulling PCO off of the top (and onto the apron) by his singlet straps, but as the match returned to the ring, PCO grabbed a nearfall with a Michinoku driver and a rolling elbow.
Sometimes forgotten due to his feats of athleticism, Riddle is a powerful man and he would hit a Go2Sleep, a German suplex with a bridge and a powerbomb as he sought to defeat his opponent. However, a top rope senton would be blocked by PCO’s knees, though both men would soon be down after PCO was sent to the canvas with a top rope German suplex. Music would hit the PA system as Destro, PCO’s colleague, headed down to the ring and used jump leads to shock PCO back to life! A chokeslam and a moonsault – one that saw PCO fly halfway across the ring – were enough to hand Riddle a loss on his way out. A match with PCO is all about the high spots more so than the move to move work, and this one didn’t let the fans down whatsoever. If this is the way Riddle signs off on home soil, then he did it in style.
Overall, Game Changer Wrestling offered up a strong show from a promotion that only continues to grow in terms of interest and fan engagement. Though not all of the matches were good per se, they all offered something that would interest the audience, even if just in terms of proverbial ‘car crash watching’. As a man who has less time than ever to watch wrestling, it speaks volumes for me that I go out of my way to check out the GCW show whenever I am able.
