Global Championship Wrestling has a large following in Alabama, however, they are still building one in Georgia. While standing in line waiting for the doors to open, we talked three college age guys about their wrestling preferences. They said they like Chikara because of its superhero comic style and its ability to be family friendly without being too childlike. This sounds to me like a lot of fun, and I will definitely check out their website to see if I can order any of the DVD's. We talked of other independent wrestling shows we attend, and our preferences in WWE and TNA. It was very cold last night, so most of the crowd waited in their cars until the doors opened.
The show took place in a church gymnasium. I'd venture to say the audience numbered at 40 people. I expected a larger crowd, however, I know at least two other promotions had shows that evening. It is also a holiday weekend, and many people are traveling.
Aiden Solo came out and gave a speech about how he was screwed out of the tag team championships, and that he was now a "solo" act. He said that he'd take on whatever backwoods redneck we had, and he asked the crowd to stand and say "In Solo We Trust" with the same reverence we'd given the national anthem. Jake Coal comes out and answers Solo's challenge. The little girl on the front row yelled at Coal to make Solo "cry like a baby". Someone yelled at Solo "You're no Mr. Perfect" to which his response was "I don't need to be Mr Perfect. Mr. Perfect's dead buddy." Cole wins this match with a body slam. The girl in front yells "You're a crybaby, Solo."
The next match was a tag team match. Zac Edwards and Abba Shongo against Drew Adler and Grisham. (If i've misspelled names, I apologize sincerely because sometimes it is hard to hear what is going on over cheering crowds.) I like Shongo because I found his character visually interesting, and he moved like a jungle cat rather than a person. Zac Edwards engaged with the crowd well. A lady calls out "You sir are an egghead" and he says "Of all the names in the entire world, you just called me an egghead." Egghead chants went on for the rest of the match. A little girl calls out to Zac Edwards "you stink" and then she says I'd say that to the guy in black but I'm too scared of him.Another audience member pointed out that Shongo's hairy bracelets and anklets looked like they were made of doll hair. She said "Some poor girl is crying because all her baby dolls are bald." That one in particular made me laugh. Edwards and Shongo win, however they cheated. Edwards was holding the ankles of their opponent while Shongo got the pin.
The next match featured Spiral from the Underground. His opponent was crowd favorite Steven Stiles. The action in this match spilled outside the ring a lot. We were sitting in the front row and we had wrestlers falling at our feet. The crowd is going crazy for Stiles, however their cheers are in vain. Spiral wins the match.
The fourth match of the evening was a tag team elimination match. The winner of the first match would face the current tag team champions, The Unlucky Charms. Their legitimacy as Tag Team Champions is questionable, and actually Full Throttle are the official "recognized" Tag Team Champions. The first team to enter is probably the silliest, most amusing team I've seen in a long time. They are called The BFF's and they hail from Gullah Gullah Island, which if I recall is a bright and colorful kids show that aired on Nickelodeon in the early 90's. They wear hot pink, and they prance around. They face the technically sound Full Throttle in the first match. One of the guys from the BFF's is running the ropes during the match, and he runs until he is dizzy. He falls to the mat, and it is clear he is out. His partner calls for water. While the referee is tending to the fallen wrestler, his partner throws water at the opposing team. The water ended up on the floor right outside the ring. Full Throttle wins this bout in a double pin situation.
Full Throttle goes on to face The Unlucky Charms, Damon Kristopher and Chris Knox. They are accompanied by their manager, The Wicked Nemesis. Wicked Nemesis really knows how to make the crowd hate him. He growls at small children. He yells shut up at the crowd as they cheer on Full Throttle. Someone yells "You're fixing to lose it." and he yells back "I'm going to lose it on you.". Full Throttle get in a few good hits, but finally the Unlucky Charms win by disqualification as Knox hits Joey from Full Throttle with the belt to break up a pin. Damon Kristopher continues beating up the guys from Full Throttle even after the bell rings. The Charms yell at the audience that they are the tag team champions before exiting the ring area. Full Throttle are still officially recognized as Tag Team Champions even though The Unlucky Charms have the belts.
During intermission fans could get the autographs of their favorite GCW Stars. Many of the wrestlers were selling pictures and other memorabilia. Ian, my five year old son got the autographs of Drew Adler and Jake Coal. Former WCW star Buff Bagwell was also signing autographs and talking with fans. Probably my favorite bit of intermission entertainment was the referee that walked by and danced for the crowd.
After intermission we were entertained by holiday karaoke from the BFF's. They sang their own rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Theirs was entitled "We've got all the Muscles in Town." Rob Adonis came out after their song and talked trash to them. He tells them not to lie in church because it is a lie that either of them has any muscle at all. He challenges them to a two on one match. He would call it a handicapped match, however he considers that an insult to the handicapped. Therefore, it should be instead called a handi-capable match. The match opens with Adonis in a headlock, Adonis counters off the ropes with shoulder blocks. The BFF's really sell the comedy spots in this match. Adonis wins this match with a big spinebuster. One of the BFF's does CPR to try and revive his fallen comrade.
Johnny Swinger accompanies Micah Taylor, the leader of the Underground, to the ring for the next match. Micah Taylor is one of those bad guys that's also easy to hate. He'll act like he's going to high five little kids and then jerk his hand away. The crowd made fun of his hair calling him a skunk. His opponent was a familiar looking masked wrestler who never made it to the ring. Micah and Johnny beat him up with chairs before the match even started. Then Micah goes on a rant. He says "Your parents lie to you your whole life. They tell you you can be anything you want to be. You can't because you'll never be Johnny Swinger or Micah Taylor." At this Buff Bagwell comes out to help the fallen masked wrestler. He proposes a tag match. He and his partner, the latino sensation Antonio Garza will take on Swinger and Taylor and this match will be the main event of the evening. The whole crowd starts chanting "Buff, Buff".
The next match was for the GCW Heavyweight Championship. Xander Stone from the Underground took on Mr. O'Hagan. I like Xander Stone's face paint. The crowd is clearly rooting for O'Hagan. O'Hagan has some good kicks. He won the match with a neckbreaker to retain the belt. O'Hagan high fives the audience after his victory. Xander Stone crawls away from the ring area, defeated.
The main event of the evening was a tag team match. Swingtime Johnny Swinger and Micah Taylor took on Buff Bagwell and Antonio Garza. Buff spends a good deal of time posing and showing off before the match starts. The bad guys bicker over who's going to start in the match as both of them believe they are top dog of their team. I am particularly impressed with the high flying style of Garza during this match. Buff Bagwell picks up the win for his team. After the match Micah Taylor grabs a mic, he calls one of the commentators into the ring. He tells him he has to dance the popular Korean viral video dance craze Gangnam Style. The whole crowd starts chanting Gangnam Style, so he dances. The crowd laughs and everyone has a good time with that. GCW is supposed to be back in Canton in December. More information about that show and other upcoming shows is available on their website.
The show took place in a church gymnasium. I'd venture to say the audience numbered at 40 people. I expected a larger crowd, however, I know at least two other promotions had shows that evening. It is also a holiday weekend, and many people are traveling.
Aiden Solo came out and gave a speech about how he was screwed out of the tag team championships, and that he was now a "solo" act. He said that he'd take on whatever backwoods redneck we had, and he asked the crowd to stand and say "In Solo We Trust" with the same reverence we'd given the national anthem. Jake Coal comes out and answers Solo's challenge. The little girl on the front row yelled at Coal to make Solo "cry like a baby". Someone yelled at Solo "You're no Mr. Perfect" to which his response was "I don't need to be Mr Perfect. Mr. Perfect's dead buddy." Cole wins this match with a body slam. The girl in front yells "You're a crybaby, Solo."
The next match was a tag team match. Zac Edwards and Abba Shongo against Drew Adler and Grisham. (If i've misspelled names, I apologize sincerely because sometimes it is hard to hear what is going on over cheering crowds.) I like Shongo because I found his character visually interesting, and he moved like a jungle cat rather than a person. Zac Edwards engaged with the crowd well. A lady calls out "You sir are an egghead" and he says "Of all the names in the entire world, you just called me an egghead." Egghead chants went on for the rest of the match. A little girl calls out to Zac Edwards "you stink" and then she says I'd say that to the guy in black but I'm too scared of him.Another audience member pointed out that Shongo's hairy bracelets and anklets looked like they were made of doll hair. She said "Some poor girl is crying because all her baby dolls are bald." That one in particular made me laugh. Edwards and Shongo win, however they cheated. Edwards was holding the ankles of their opponent while Shongo got the pin.
The next match featured Spiral from the Underground. His opponent was crowd favorite Steven Stiles. The action in this match spilled outside the ring a lot. We were sitting in the front row and we had wrestlers falling at our feet. The crowd is going crazy for Stiles, however their cheers are in vain. Spiral wins the match.
The fourth match of the evening was a tag team elimination match. The winner of the first match would face the current tag team champions, The Unlucky Charms. Their legitimacy as Tag Team Champions is questionable, and actually Full Throttle are the official "recognized" Tag Team Champions. The first team to enter is probably the silliest, most amusing team I've seen in a long time. They are called The BFF's and they hail from Gullah Gullah Island, which if I recall is a bright and colorful kids show that aired on Nickelodeon in the early 90's. They wear hot pink, and they prance around. They face the technically sound Full Throttle in the first match. One of the guys from the BFF's is running the ropes during the match, and he runs until he is dizzy. He falls to the mat, and it is clear he is out. His partner calls for water. While the referee is tending to the fallen wrestler, his partner throws water at the opposing team. The water ended up on the floor right outside the ring. Full Throttle wins this bout in a double pin situation.
Full Throttle goes on to face The Unlucky Charms, Damon Kristopher and Chris Knox. They are accompanied by their manager, The Wicked Nemesis. Wicked Nemesis really knows how to make the crowd hate him. He growls at small children. He yells shut up at the crowd as they cheer on Full Throttle. Someone yells "You're fixing to lose it." and he yells back "I'm going to lose it on you.". Full Throttle get in a few good hits, but finally the Unlucky Charms win by disqualification as Knox hits Joey from Full Throttle with the belt to break up a pin. Damon Kristopher continues beating up the guys from Full Throttle even after the bell rings. The Charms yell at the audience that they are the tag team champions before exiting the ring area. Full Throttle are still officially recognized as Tag Team Champions even though The Unlucky Charms have the belts.
During intermission fans could get the autographs of their favorite GCW Stars. Many of the wrestlers were selling pictures and other memorabilia. Ian, my five year old son got the autographs of Drew Adler and Jake Coal. Former WCW star Buff Bagwell was also signing autographs and talking with fans. Probably my favorite bit of intermission entertainment was the referee that walked by and danced for the crowd.
After intermission we were entertained by holiday karaoke from the BFF's. They sang their own rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Theirs was entitled "We've got all the Muscles in Town." Rob Adonis came out after their song and talked trash to them. He tells them not to lie in church because it is a lie that either of them has any muscle at all. He challenges them to a two on one match. He would call it a handicapped match, however he considers that an insult to the handicapped. Therefore, it should be instead called a handi-capable match. The match opens with Adonis in a headlock, Adonis counters off the ropes with shoulder blocks. The BFF's really sell the comedy spots in this match. Adonis wins this match with a big spinebuster. One of the BFF's does CPR to try and revive his fallen comrade.
Johnny Swinger accompanies Micah Taylor, the leader of the Underground, to the ring for the next match. Micah Taylor is one of those bad guys that's also easy to hate. He'll act like he's going to high five little kids and then jerk his hand away. The crowd made fun of his hair calling him a skunk. His opponent was a familiar looking masked wrestler who never made it to the ring. Micah and Johnny beat him up with chairs before the match even started. Then Micah goes on a rant. He says "Your parents lie to you your whole life. They tell you you can be anything you want to be. You can't because you'll never be Johnny Swinger or Micah Taylor." At this Buff Bagwell comes out to help the fallen masked wrestler. He proposes a tag match. He and his partner, the latino sensation Antonio Garza will take on Swinger and Taylor and this match will be the main event of the evening. The whole crowd starts chanting "Buff, Buff".
The next match was for the GCW Heavyweight Championship. Xander Stone from the Underground took on Mr. O'Hagan. I like Xander Stone's face paint. The crowd is clearly rooting for O'Hagan. O'Hagan has some good kicks. He won the match with a neckbreaker to retain the belt. O'Hagan high fives the audience after his victory. Xander Stone crawls away from the ring area, defeated.
The main event of the evening was a tag team match. Swingtime Johnny Swinger and Micah Taylor took on Buff Bagwell and Antonio Garza. Buff spends a good deal of time posing and showing off before the match starts. The bad guys bicker over who's going to start in the match as both of them believe they are top dog of their team. I am particularly impressed with the high flying style of Garza during this match. Buff Bagwell picks up the win for his team. After the match Micah Taylor grabs a mic, he calls one of the commentators into the ring. He tells him he has to dance the popular Korean viral video dance craze Gangnam Style. The whole crowd starts chanting Gangnam Style, so he dances. The crowd laughs and everyone has a good time with that. GCW is supposed to be back in Canton in December. More information about that show and other upcoming shows is available on their website.
No comments:
Post a Comment