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| September 23, 2006
Great Championship Wrestling ran the third annual Fred Ward Memorial Saturday night in Columbus and drew the biggest crowd the GCW Arena has seen in over a year. It turned also turned out to be the final GCW show at the venue that has served as company’s home since its inception two and half years ago. A card brimming with gimmick matches lured 350 fans into the building for an entertaining show that was as eventful for behind-the-scenes developments as it was inside the ring. It’s likely that there rumblings emanating from Ward’s grave last night. Ward promoted wrestling in Columbus for over 30 years, from 1950 into the mid 80s. They didn’t do barbed wire bats and or ladders back in his day. It was a Ward wrestling show that original GCW owner Jerry Oates attended at age 5, sparking his dreams of becoming a professional wrestler. One can only speculate on Jerry Oates’ thoughts on all this. Ring announcer Billy Roper informed the GCW fans that Oates had retired and was not present in the building. Bill and Diane Hewes were introduced as the new owners of GCW. Bill Hewes said this was the dawning of a new era, and he was accepting the torch from Ward and Oates. Problem being, there was nobody there to do the passing. Hewes acknowledged that GCW was leaving Columbus. He said the next show would take place in GCW’s new home, the Skatearama in Phenix City, Alabama, with the weekly shows being moved to Wednesday nights. Hewes also sprung the news that WWE wrestlers would be appearing at the new venue. Hewes mentioned bringing in Sherri Martel, Honky Tonk Man and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (Hewes said “Hacksaw” Jim Reynolds but corrected himself). Whatever shortcomings this show may have had in the ring, effort wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t always pretty, but the entire locker room went all out to put on a good show. All of the key matches were given plenty of time. Clocking in at over 3 hours, it was the longest GCW show that the regulars could recall. The show opened with Quentin Michaels limping down the ramp wearing a neck brace. Michaels tried to opt out of his scheduled appearance as a wrestler in a six man match later in the show. Michaels claimed he was injured when Scotty Beach attacked him from behind last week (Michaels attacked Beach with a briefcase the week before). Michaels said the GCW website had broken the story of Beach’s arrest for assaulting him, but he was now out on bail because the judicial system stinks. Roper said no way was Michaels going to weasel out of it. (1) John Bogie beat Deathrow in a cage match with barbed wire bats (16:11) The cage match went on first to avoid a lengthy delay later in the evening. Match was set up when Deathrow laid out several wrestlers, Bogie included, with the bat two weeks ago. It was standard escape-to-win rules with the addition of barbed wire bats hanging from the top of the cage. They were taking their chances giving these guys 15 minutes, especially with Deathrow. Hailing from “The Institute for the Homicidally Insane,” Deathrow had barbed wire wrapped around his fist when he entered the cage. Truth be told, it was barb-less wire. Deathrow punched Bogie with the barbed wire. Bogie bladed but didn’t get much blood. Deathrow tried to open up the cut. Deathrow raked Bogie’s head across the cage, cheese-grater style. Deathrow beat on Bogie for a while. Deathrow tried for one of the bats, but Bogie tossed him off the top. Bogie hit a top rope splash for what would have been a three count. Bogie was the first to reach a bat, but Deathrrow ended up slugging Bogie with it. Bogie ducked and Deathrrow went headfirst into the cage. Deathrrow got color. Bogie did damage with the barbed wire bat. Deathrow took his turn at bat. Ringside fans chanted “GCW” when Bogie pulled off a headscissors. It ended with both men battling on top of the cage. Bogie got possession of the bat and punched Deathrrow with it. Deathrrow took the big bump off the top rope and Bogie climbed out. Ragged in a lot of spots, but it was a spectacle the likes of which this building had never seen, and the finish got over well. The show resumed with the Roper’s announcements about Oates and the new venue. The announcement about Oates’ retirement came as a surprise. The crowd honored Oates with a warm round of applause. The acquisition of the venue in Phoenix City had been announced previously, but it was thought GCW might run shows in both buildings. Roper introduced the Hewes as the new owners. This was an acknowledgement of what has been true for quite some time, and it was obvious from the reaction, that many of those in attendance were already aware that was the case. Hewes said Diane had fallen in love with the GCW fans. He announced ½ price tickets for opening night at the new venue. Hewes said the new facility had been completely rehabbed and with the new laser production, the fans would have no need to go to Stone Mountain Park. The announcement of appearances by WWE wrestlers got a pop. Whether those appearances will extend beyond legends remains to be seen. Hewes did say not to expect HHH. As to the switch to Wednesdays, Hewes said there were too many other things going on in Columbus on Saturday nights. From all reports, the booking by Quentin Michaels, who took over from Oates several months back, has lead to a livelier, more entertaining product. But with advent of the football season, attendance dipped to less than 150 in recent weeks. (2) Suicide beat Nooie Li in 7:05 What’s this? Cruiserweights doing a fast-paced technical style in Columbus? For a moment, I thought I had time traveled back to an NWA Wildside show. This match featured two talented Florida-based workers. Suicide was the heel with an ego. Suicide leveled Li with a lariat and made an arrogant cover. Suicide pressed the advantage, using a Muta-inspired power drive elbow for a near fall. With Li on the apron, Suicide went for a shoulder block and Li countered with a decapitation legdrop. Li hit a sweet springboard spinkick. Suicide hung Li in the tree of woe and delivered a basement dropkick for a near fall. Li came back to score a series of near falls, finishing with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Suicide connected with a high boot. Suicide went to the top. Li tried to cut him off with palm strikes. Li took the big back bump. Suicide won it with an impressive high elevation frogsplash. Given my druthers, I would have preferred to see a lot more of this match and a lot less of the first one. Roper said Bo Masters (heel ring announcer) was a no-show for their scheduled Tuxedo Match. Roper said Masters was scared. Roper promised that the match would take place at a later date. (3) Amy Young won a 5 woman battle royal to become the first GCW Women’s Champion (10:07) The other participants were Gina Marie, Trenisha, Sapphire and Devin Diamo. It was obvious that there were only three legit contenders involved. In storyline, Amy is David Young’s sister, so she was formerly aligned with his Bad Company heel group. She had a sudden, unexplained change of heart, and she’s now majorly over as a babyface. Marie is being booked as Young’s arch enemy. Marie has attitude. Based on her performance last night, WWE missed the boat by letting Trenisha go. She’s already come a long way with her skills. There’s got to be a place for a woman with the rare combination of size, athletic ability and ring presence. For now, at least, that place is in Japan with Zero-One. The other four tried to overpower the giant Trenisha. It didn’t work. Trenisha decimated the jobbers. Trenisha dumped Sapphire at 7:15. But she got distracted, and fell victim to a triple team elimination. Marie eliminated Diamo shortly thereafter, and it was down to Young and Marie. Young speared Marie. The fans got behind Young bigtime. The end came when Young hoisted Marie into a painful landing on the top rope and shoved her out to the floor. The GCW Heavyweight Champion, Chris Stevens came out to congratulate Young. (Congratulations were all Amy was going to get because there was no title belt.) Stevens was accompanied by Shaun Banks. Stevens said Amy had passed on the opportunity to run with greatness when she turned down his offer. (Stevens had appeared at ringside during a David Young match two week ago and tried to sweet talk Amy into going with him). Stevens dismissed the idea that he was interested in dating Amy. Said his standards were too high for trailer park trash like her. Stevens said he gave her another chance because he felt sorry for her, and she slapped his face. Steven said his mama and his wife never slapped his face and Amy wasn’t going to do it either. Stevens said David wasn’t there to save her. Amy slapped Stevens across the face. Stevens told Amy she had more guts than half the guys in the dressing room. Stevens raised her hand…and pancaked her with a spinebuster. Amy sold it like she was dead. Roper said it was disgusting. (4) Michaels Inc. (Scott Fantastic & Shaun Banks & Quentin Michaels) defeated Team Beach (Scotty Beach & Heath Miller & John Rodriguez ) in 6 man elimination match (14:50) Rodriguez replaced A. J. Steele. His partners had to drag Michaels down the ramp. As the introductions were being made, Michaels got on his knees and prayed in the corner of the ring. Heel or not, Banks got a healthy pop. The babyfaces put heat on Fantastic, who worked his ass off in this match. Fantastic pinned Rodriguez with a spinning roundhouse kick at 3:37. Michaels Inc. went to work on Miller’s leg. At one point, Miller got his hands on Michaels, but Fantastic saved his bony ass. Miller then pinned Fantastic with TKO at 9:11. Michaels gave Miller a sneaky kick in the back, and Banks pinned Miller with a DDT at 10:50. Beach started taking it to Banks. Beach applied a Boston crab. Scrappy McGowan caught Michaels interfering, and Beach caught Banks with a roll up at 13:50. Just as Banks was going to finally get his hands on Michaels, Banks and Fantastic ran back out. While Banks distracted McGowan, Fantastic KOed Beach with a stiff chairshot to the head. Michaels covered Beach for the 1-2-3. The heels tossed Beach out of the ring and celebrated. (5) Bobby Sanford defeated Legion “Freakin” Cage (with Gina Marie) in a ladder match to retain the GCW Columbus title (16:28) I wonder if it’s going to be renamed as the Phenix City title? As ladder matches go, this was pretty bad. For one thing, there was zero storyline reason for the match, so the best fans could hope for was a thrill-a-minute spotfest. They didn’t get it. Cage had a good match with Li his first time in, but he didn’t click nearly as well with Sanford. For another thing, the ladder was too tall and unwieldy, which resulted in a lot of clumsy transitions. Sanford’s intro totally rocks. He’s James Brown by way of Ernest Miller and it works. They opened at a fast pace. Crisp it was not. The action spilled to the outside where Marie popped Sanford. Cage slidekicked the ladder into Sanford and Marie pounded on him. Sanford rallied. Sanford catapulted Cage onto the ladder. Sanford made the first of several useless pin attempts, since the only way to win was to climb the ladder. Sanford did a baseball slide into one end of the ladder, sending the other end into Cage’s groin. Then, he did it again. Cage came back with a flatliner and took a TO to nurse his aching nuts. Cage tried to climb. Sanford whacked the ladder with a chair and Cage fell off. Stupid looking spot because Cage was standing on the second rung. Sanford laid Cage out on the ladder and executed a backflip splash. The ladder was a mess. Marie interfered again. Sanford whipped Marie into Cage, knocking him to the floor. Sanford climbed up, unhooked the belt and did the long drop to the mat. Huge pop for the finish. (6) Chris Stevens defeated Elix Skipper and Johnny Swinger in a no DQ triple threat match to retain the GCW heavyweight title in 15:11 The returning Skipper received a hero’s welcome as Young’s replacement. He got more of a pop than Swinger, who is being pushed as a babyface. Stevens ability is so respected here, (and for good reason) that he got 70/30 cheers, even as the lone heel in the match. Skipper and Swinger jumped Stevens. Stevens bailed and let the other two go at it. Skipper dove over the top for a sunset powerbomb on Swinger. Swinger hung on to the ropes. It was either that or death. Skipper escaped from Swinger with the Matrix move, but Stevens was there to take his head off with a lariat. Stevens seized the advantage with help from Michaels. They did a cool three-way where Skipper did a sunset flip on Stevens as Stevens was doing a powerbomb on Swinger. Skipper went for New School, but Stevens dumped him, and hit a belly to belly on Swinger for a long two count. They did the superplex/powerbomb three-way spot. Swinger came up bleeding from the nose. Swinger applied a crossface to Stevens. Banks and Fantastic ran out and posted Swinger. Skipper had Stevens set up for the Play of the Day, when Stevens’ buddies showed up. Skipper chokeslammed Banks and hit Sudden Death on Fantastic. But Stevens nailed Skipper with the belt. Stevens hit a powerbomb off the middle rope with an assist from Banks and Fantastic to score the pinfall. An action-packed main event by three quality workers. Stevens is the most underrated wrestler in the Southeast. NOTES: The Skatearama will continue to operate as a skating rink except when wrestling is scheduled…Cru Jones posted on his website that he’s out action with a torn ACL and was scheduled for surgery on 9/21…Rumor has it that A. J. Steele and Jason Cross will be working for the new Smashmouth Pro Wrestling in Macon rather than GCW…Hewes said Oates’ sister, Jan will continue her involvement with company handling ticket sales…Roper announced that the GCW training school is having open tryouts on 9/30. |
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