By Alex Kalil
Deathmatch wrestling. The most controversial form of wrestling today. The best metaphor for deathmatch wrestling I ever heard was from Chris Jericho in an episode of Dark Side of the Ring when he compared it to the blood and gore style of horror movies. There are people that will love deathmatch wrestling until the day they die and call it the greatest form of wrestling. At the same time, there are people who will look at deathmatch wrestling as the lowest form of wrestling or not even wrestling at all.
My history with deathmatch wrestling started like many American fans with the hardcore style of Extreme Championship Wrestling or ECW in the 90s. After ECW went out of business in the early 2000s, CZW was formed from their ashes to take up the void left by them and gave fans in the US an even more violent and bloody style of wrestling. CZW brought glass panes, light tubes and much more into wrestling and much like ECW, fans seemed to love it or hate it. As the years went on, CZW all but faded into the background for a new king of ultraviolence to arise: Game Changer Wrestling or GCW.
Like ECW and CZW before it, GCW highlighted not just the violence of pro wrestling but also many high flyers and lucha style wrestlers that would otherwise be overlooked by other major promotions. Many wrestlers that are in WWE and AEW today got their first chance to wow audiences in GCW. The main draw for GCW however, was still the deathmatch style of wrestling and was my main reason for attending their debut in Detroit, MI on Sept 2nd 2021.
When it comes to deathmatch wrestling, I fall somewhere in the middle of both fandoms. I don't love deathmatch wrestling or think it is the greatest form of wrestling. Nor am I like so many fans that look down at deathmatch wrestling as some kind of outlaw mudshow. I enjoy the occasional wild brawl and some of the things that the wrestlers think of as a means to inflict pain are clever and downright sadistic. So naturally I had to see and experience this kind of violence live for myself.
Accompanying me in this journey into the ultraviolent bubble was my good friend and co-host of On Top of Old Smoky (Listen, rate and subscribe), Luke and his excitable and loveable girlfriend, Jamie. Arriving at the venue, Jamie went to the merch table in order to meet and give flowers to her favorite of the GCW roster, Effy, an openly gay and extremly popular wrestler in GCW. Effy was ecstatic to receive the flowers and was very happy to meet a fan and take a picture with her.
The show was a typical "house show" as GCW was going to Chicago for a huge weekend of shows alongside the AEW All Out PPV. So right away going in, we were not expecting a blow away show but we were still in for some fun. The opening 6 man match was every opening match at every indie wrestling show ever. It got the crowd up and excited and even had the hometown hero, Rhino there for the big pop. The highlight for me was seeing ROH and indie wrestling star, Tony Deppen come out in a Ron Artest Indiana Pacers jersey. (Malice at the Palace anyone?). Great heel heat for the Detroit crowd. After the opener, we got a nice match featuring Allie Katch, a great up and coming female wrestler and an angle between Jimmy Lloyd and G-Raver, two men that have made a career of being deathmatch wrestlers.
Match 4 finally gave us what we wanted: a deathmatch. Rickey Shane Page or RSP vs. Alex Colon, another man that has made a career of being a deathmatch wrestler and has the scars to prove it. This match did a great job of being something different because all match RSP won't use the weapons or give the fans the violence they wanted. He would shatter the panes of glass or throw weapons out of the ring to massive boos from the blood thirsty fans. This was brilliant. RSP was denying the fans what they wanted to see. A perfect heel move. Even better was the finish. Colon tries to get RSP in position to use a pane of glass with barbed wire on it (yes, you read that right) only for RSP to tap out to a basic chinlock, end the match and quickly run away from any further damage. Incredible! In one match, RSP showed the whole crowd a totally different way to work a deathmatch while getting heat for himself and it worked!
We won't be denied our true deathmatch long as two matches later we got one, this time featured Bobby Beverly vs. AJ Gray. One of the true highlights of this match was watching the man in front of me rapping and dancing along to AJ Gray's theme of "O Let's Do It" by Waka Flocka Flame. This fan, who I later found out was wrestling YouTuber, Xeryus was having the time of his life just on the entrance of this one wrestler. It was amazing to watch. This match was a true deathmatch. Both men broke out the light tubes and went to town on each other. Glass all over the building, flying into the crowd, both men bloody and battered. It was a sight to see. Also a scary and very real moment as AJ Gray sliced his hand up badly and had to tape it up to finish the match. Deathmatch wrestling is called so for a reason. This match was worth the price of admission alone. But we had more to come.
Next up was Effy vs. Eddy Only in a pretty nothing match to be honest but the biggest takeaway from it from me was the reaction to Effy. The fans loved this man and who he was. In a different era, an openly gay wrestler like Effy would not only be booed by a deathmatch crowd but by mocked and made to look like a fool. But not here, not in GCW. These fans loved Effy and everything he represented. They cheer this flamboyant style and mannerisms especially when he used his sexuality to annoy his opponent. It was uplifting to see wrestling fans so openly accept someone that a lot of people in this country won't just because of what his sexual orientation is.
The main event of the evening was the match I wanted to see most just because of who was in it. On one side was Gregory Iron, a wrestler with cerebral palsy who is a heel in GCW by claiming time and time again, he is a role model and an inspiration for wrestling with his disability. Only in wrestling, folks. His opponent was the most famous deathmatch wrestler today, Nick F**king Gage. Before he even came out the crowd was rabid for him to appear; chanting his name, gathering at the entryway just for the man to walk through the curtain and then... GONG!
Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" hits and the crowd lose their minds. Gage comes diving through the curtain and is swarmed by the fans. Chants of "MDK" and "Nick Gage" ring out. Gage has to fight his way through the crowd just to get to the ring. Never in my 26 years as a wrestling fan have I ever experienced something like this! It is like being part of a rock concert where the lead singer of the band joins in the mosh pit with the fans. The energy is so real and palpable you can almost see it in the air. Seeing Nick Gage enter and walk to the ring is easily one of the top 10 moments of seeing wrestling live.
After Gage entered the ring, the "match" started. It was all Gage. He brutalized and beat Iron silly. Iron was bleeding all over the ringside as Gage took his time to walk him around to every side of the building to show fans up close and personal how bloody he was and how Gage was beating him silly. And the fans never stopped cheering him as he did. They wanted to see Gage do his thing. It didn't matter that it was a one-sided match. It didn't matter that after interference from Iron's teammates, Iron was able to steal a win on Gage because as soon as the match was over Gage and his team made sure to get one last shot on Iron to send the crowd home happy. This was a Nick Gage for Nick Gage's fans and every one of them got what they wanted: violence.
It was strange and bizarre watching this show live. The fans never tried to be annoying or smart alecks. They wanted to see this show. It didn't matter if this show was "underwhelming" to the people watching on Fite TV. For the people in that building on that night, this show was like a wild party. The energy, the love, the passion by the fans and the people in the ring was real. They loved being there and loved being a part of something. Maybe GCW isn't the best thing to show a non-wrestling fan. But if you ever want to have an experience and witness something special and memorable, GCW and deathmatch wrestling is worth seeing live at least once.
For more of thoughts and opinions like this, follow me on Twitter @AlexKalil
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