Great Championship Wrestling ran their weekly show at Gr8 Sk8 Plex in Phenix City, Alabama Saturday night. It was a solid go home effort for their 2007 finale on December 15.
Attendance was 50, the lowest of any of my trips to GCW. But at least it was a vocal group of hardcore fans, so the place had some life to it.
The bitter irony is that this show was better than a lot of the stuff I saw during GCW’s days across the river in Columbus, when 200 was a bad crowd. Yeah, it the holidays and all, but this company need to figure out a way to get more eyeballs to view the product, because it deserves a far better fate at the box office. The young talent is developing to where they can hold their own and then some with veteran stars like Johnny Swinger, Sonny Siaki, David Young and Bull Buchanan.
It was quite a contrast to the 210 they drew last week. That show reaped the benefit of two birthday bashes booked in the adjacent party rooms.
Wicked Nemesis said he was seizing the open spot as ring announcer. It’s preposterous to have a heel manager in that role. Rest assured it’s a very temporary solution, as a new ring announcer will be in place for 2008.
(1) J-Rod & Tex Monroe beat R-J Connection (Randall Johnson & Reuben James) in 11:03. J-Rod stepped into the spot vacated by Frankie Valentine, who chose to stick with his hometown promotion, SECW in Villa Rica. R-J attacked the babyface team as they slid under the ropes, but J-Rod and Monroe cleared the ring. Some crisp work on the arm by J-Rod in the opening minutes. Good energy to his attack. R-J caught Monroe with a double team and took over. Referee Jeff McGowan is great at making it look realistic when he blocks the babyface from entering while the heels cheat. R-J’s stuff is looking stiffer. Monroe connected with an aerial move, but James managed to drag him to the heel corner. James hit a springboard back elbow and J-Rod saved. Monroe nailed a springboard blockbuster to lead into the hot tag. It broke down to four-way action. R-J hit a big combo move on Monroe but J-Rod saved. The heels collided on a double team attempt, and J-Rod rolled James up for the three. J-Rod has my vote for most improved Georgia wrestler of 2007.
Johnson and James argued. James ended up walking off on Johnson. Nemesis suggested that R-J Disconnection would be more apropos.
(2) Scotty Beach beat Devin Cutter (with Mason Cutter) via submission in 7:16. Beach got the usual high pitched squeals. Hooligans talk nonstop trash. Even with this pathetic crowd, they got heat. They’re developing a crazy edge that reminds me more of early Sheepherders than Highlanders. Devin picked on a "Meth head" sitting in the first row. Mason was putting another woman in the crowd through hell. Beach went after Mason, which set up a double team by the Hooligans. Devin resorted to biting Beach in the forehead. Hooligans are developing a crazy edge that reminds me more of early Sheepherders than Highlanders.Beach gave Devin the Beach Balls, but got cut off with a bolo punch. Good fire on the comeback by Beach. Devin tapped to the crossface. I guess Shawn Michaels broke the taboo.
Fresh off an unscheduled hiatus, the GCW Heavyweight Champion, Bull Buchanan addressed the crowd. Buchanan reminded the fans that when last seen in GCW, he was laid out by Michaels Inc. and sent to the hospital. Instead of getting a chance for payback, he got a plane ticket to Japan due to the manipulations of GCW Commissioner Scrappy McGowan. Buchanan said he spent his three weeks in Japan thinking about what happened in GCW.
A Michaels Inc. contingent consisting of Quentin Michaels, Cru Jones and Zero Tolerance confronted Buchanan from a safe distance. Michaels accused Buchanan of abandoning the fans. Jones said Buchanan was counting the lights the last time they met. He accused Buchanan of ducking out of their scheduled title match. Buchanan said let’s go right now. Jones said he already had a match for tonight. Buchanan said anytime and he could bring his boyfriends with him.
(3) Orion Bishop (with Wicked Nemesis) beat David Young in 10:15. Young made a good opponent for the up-and-coming Bishop. He countered Bishop’s power with a barrage of kicks. Bishop ate a Japanese lariat and backed off. Young tossed a charging Bishop through the ropes. Bishop was pissed. Bishop cheated on the test of strength and went to work on Young’s back. Bishop’s aggressiveness on offense is a major plus in his game. Bishop hit a fallaway slam followed by a Vader Bomb. Bishop covered with a two hand press, and Young got a foot over the ropes. Bishop applied a variation of the Dragon Sleeper. Escape and a knockdown enzuigiri by Young to spark the comeback. Young hit the Double Shot and Nemesis got up on the apron to distract McGowan. Bishop cracked Young across the back with Nemesis’ cane for the 1..2..3.
(4) Zero Tolerance (with Quentin Michaels) squashed Skinny Jimmy in 1:03. Tolerance is the guy that left Deathrow laying two weeks ago. He’s switched from a Russian strongman gimmick (Kodiak) to a massive bodyguard type in a suit coat and sunglasses. Fans were pitying poor Jimmy. Tolerance (previously Kodiak) pinned his bony ass with a devastating sitout powerbomb.
Santa Claus entered the ring. Nemesis said it took him three months to get mic time in this company, and he wasn’t having it. Nemesis called Bishop out. Just when it looked like Santa’s holiday season was going to end prematurely, Beach made the save with a steel chair. Beach told Santa he had been a good boy. Santa gave Beach a plastic beach ball. Beach said he wanted Santa as his partner in a match against Bishop and Nemesis next week. Beach vowed to make Bishop tap out.
(5) Mason Cutter (with Devin Cutter) beat Jonathan Davis in 7:38. With Davis leading the way, this was the best match of the night. For cutting-edge cruiserweight action, it was the best match I’ve seen in GCW. Really good chemistry. They were working a fast pace and hitting most everything. The returning Davis was sporting a Mohawk. Davis capped off a lightning quick opening exchange with an explosive flip dive on Hooligans. Back inside the ring, Mason dropkicked the knee and pounded away. Mason got his knees up on a standing moonsault by Davis. Mason used a high boot and went for a pin using the ropes for extra leverage. Davis came back with a satellite guillotine choke. Sweet move. Then a forward rolling cradle for a near fall. Mason cut him off with a lariat. Davis spiked Mason with a spinning headscissors and it was both men down. Big aerial comeback by Davis. He did the Jason Cross leg lariat to the outside. Mason went for german suplex, but Davis landed on his feet. Davis went up top for a moonsault, but Mason took his legs out. Mason hit the Warrior’s Way with Davis hung in the tree of woe (spot from the Ultimate X match at Bound for Glory) for a brutal looking finish.
(6) Cru Jones (with Quentin Michaels & Zero Tolerance) beat Sonny Siaki in 9:30 when Bull Buchanan’s helping hand backfired. Michaels was billed as “the delicate genius.” Jones did a muscle pose that got steroid heat. Jones said he was clean as a whistle. Siaki jumped out on top. Jones bailed out selling his arm and cussing under his breath. Siaki hung Jones in the tree of woe so he could grind his boot into Cru’s nutsack. Siaki connected with the one foot dropkick for a near fall. The tide turned when Jones stepped aside, and Siaki’s momentum carried him into the post. Jones said, “What I gentleman I am,” as he threw Siaki back into the ring. Jones used a cross armbreaker but no threat of a tap out there. Jones threatened to break Siaki’s freaking neck. Siaki smoked Jones with a superkick instead. Siaki went for his finisher, and Michaels got up on the apron to distract referee Randy Ray. Buchanan hit the ring and inadvertently plastered Siaki with a high boot. Jones gave Buchanan a lariat and pinned Siaki.
Siaki was hot at Buchanan, who said he was just trying to help. The argument turned into a fist fight. The opening match guys ran down and managed to separate them. But not for long. Siaki and Buchanan ended up fighting all the way back to the curtain. Pretty good pull apart but you can only get so much heat out of 50 people.
Nemesis announced a Buchanan/Siaki GCW Heavyweight Title match for 12/15 along with Puppet vs. Little Kato in a midgets hardcore match.
(7) A. J. Steele (with The Intern) beat Johnny Swinger (with Zero Tolerance) via DQ to retain the GCW Interstate Title in 18:30. Flawless psychology for working the body part, but the crowd was less than thrilled by the snail’s pace of the match. Swinger couldn’t cope with Steele’s muscle so he stalled. Lots. Steele wore Swinger to a frazzle with a Strangler Lewis side headlock. At 9 minutes in, Steele crashed and burned on a high crossbody to set up the key spot -- Swinger blasted Steele off the apron into a gutshot on the rail. Swinger worked the gut. At one point, Swinger apologized for breaking the rules. Swinger applied a bodyscissors choke. Steele reversed it to pound Swinger from the mount. Steele missed a splash (lapse of logic), and Swinger used the ropes for a two count. Steele made Swinger pay for a telegraphed backdrop. Steele did the 10 punches. Swinger took a wild swing and fell flat on his face. Swinger pulled out brass knucks. McGowan caught him. Swinger blatantly decked McGowan for the DQ. Swinger took a few lumps from Steele and bailed to the safe haven provided by Zero Tolerance. Not a strong way to finish the show. They've been using a lot heat booking, so I thought for sure Michaels Inc. would jump A.J.
NOTES: GCW plans to run Macon again in January pending the implementation of the GAEC’s new regulations on pro wrestling in Georgia. Rich Tate and I will be providing updates on that situation at www.georgiawrestlinghistory.com right through the public hearing on 12/18…Taylor McKnight will be the regular GCW ring announcer and will join Quentin Michaels as the co-host of the television show. Swinger joined Michaesl on commentary for last week’s episode… If you missed Roger Huerta’s victory over Clay Guida in UFC, it’s worth going out of your way to see. The replay is next Friday night on Spike…GCW released a statement acknowledging that Chris Stevens was done with the company. They parted ways due to schedule issues.
