The Collective
Effy’s Big Gay Brunch
Saturday, April 10
11:00 a.m.
The Cuban Club
Ybor City, Florida

Buy tickets
Streaming: FITE
Streaming: GCW: The Collective 2021 Bundle (FITE)

NOTE: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, wrestlers may be removed from shows due to positive COVID-19 tests or exposure, so cards may be different than what is previewed below.

It’s BIGGER, IT’s GAYER, IT’S….. BRUNCHIER???

Is that even a word? Can I even get away with saying that? It matters not for this is my article and I make the rules. We are heading toward WrestleMania weekend and there is a lot of wrestling you can dive into. You probably shouldn’t dive into all of it, but if you’re like me you’ll overload yourself and feel your sanity drip away from you as if your mind was a leaking faucet.  A mixture of high, interesting, unique, and dare I say at times dubious quality will all be presented. I have my own personal feelings about this weekend happening and being so loaded in a pandemic in a state that has shown it gives zero fucks about the lives of people (personal opinion and observation of course.) Nevertheless, the weekend is happening and while I have my reservations there is no doubt that I have my picks, my selections, my chosen few shows that I have locked in on and am prepared to partake in. Effy’s Big Gay Brunch is one of those shows. A celebration and expression of LGBTQIA+ wrestling makes its return and I for one am here for it. A show I am preparing to watch covered in my plushies, with copious amounts of breakfast food in front of me, and maybe a mimosa or two if I’m feeling froggy.

I don’t need to remind you of my background, my orientations, my preferences and identity. It is well established I am Transgender/Bi-Sexual. It is well known I am supportive and an advocate for better representation and acknowledgment of my community in the pro-wrestling sphere. It should come to no surprise that the moment this show was announced, even with a pandemic raging, I would have a feeling of FOMO. I want to be at this event badly. I regret that I am unable to attend. To express the wise words of Liz Lemon “I Want To Go To There”. I want to go and cherish this safe space, this celebration, this feel-good gathering. I want to put on a cute red skirt and blacktop, get my hair did, be cute as fuck and sit in the crowd and take several hours of this joyous occasion in. I cannot, but I can at the very least hammer out a thousand words plus about the show to do my best to sell you on it. I’m not a salesperson. I don’t know how to pitch, but I’ll do my best.

Effy is incredible, and I don’t mean that in simply a pro-wrestling sense. He’s a good wrestler no doubt, but until I hear otherwise he comes off as a genuine person who supports good causes, means well, and seems to be a positive to the business that sometimes I forget indeed has them. His first go at putting on a Big Gay Brunch meant the world to me and touched my heart in a warm manner. You might remember I wrote about it after all. (Insert link here). This may very well be the show I am most looking forward to because of this. I have stated, and hold to, wrestling is for everyone but this show may not be what everyone wants to gravitate toward. Wrestling is a buffet of tastes and choices, and I can already tell some will pass over this without even considering reaching for the spoon.  Please consider at least having a sample.  This show is a celebration, this show is a showcase, this show just as the first show is important, necessary, needed. All that stated, there is one big thing this show will have over the first show.

No disrespect to the first show where the in-ring action was solid, but this is going to be several steps up. This isn’t just a celebration, this is a show that wants to stand out during Mania weekend with some great wrestling. There are several matches that stand out easily to me and I think no matter what your tastes gravitate toward can find you feeling satisfied for partaking. For my personal tastes, I am looking forward to Edith Surreal versus Devon Monroe. Edith Surreal, as I have stated, is one of my personal favorites and an inspiration to me. Devon Monroe is a charismatic long talent who has caught my eye this year and I can’t wait to see how he continues to grow and expand. These two in the ring will no doubt click and put on a display that could steal the show and rank highly on the weekend.

Parrow will have a Twink Tag Gauntlet. I thought about taking off from work by telling my boss I had to watch a Bear destroy a good chunk of Twinks but then stopped myself realizing this would just raise further questions. Parrow is incredible and I hope more eyes continue to gaze upon his magnificent. Dark Sheik versus AC Mack should not be slept on either. Nor should, MV Young versus JD Drake. Seriously, this whole card should not be slept on. Set your alarm clock to a few minutes before and wake up in time to enjoy it. This is going to be a show that offers proof, although no proof really should be needed, that LGBTQIA+ talent on the independents rule, rock, and deserve greater platforms and chances than we are sometimes allowed. If they can’t get booked on enough shows, they’ll just book their own and do their best to steal the weekend, and our hearts. Lord knows they have stolen mine.

The main event will be Effy versus Ace Perry who attacked Effy during his match against Billy Nixon at Big Gay Block. A rare bit of backstory for WrestleMania weekend that is noticeably lacking from a huge chunk of matchups. While it may not be much to go by, it’s still an appreciated tidbit to give some extra juice to the main event. The delight that is Polo Del Mar will be hosting the show and no doubt will bring sizzle and sensation to the late morning/early afternoon affair that only Polo Del Mar can. I’m already getting giddy just thinking about this show and am regretting I’ll have to watch it on replay.

The FOMO is real. This is perhaps the one show I desperately want to be at live. I may even still put on a cute outfit when I watch it, and eat a huge plate of waffles as I do so. One day I will make it to a Big Gay Brunch. One day I’ll be screaming my head off for much of this talent live and in-person whether it be at this Brunch, or at various independent shows I hope they pop up at. I want this show to succeed commercially and critically. That is out of my range of capabilities, but the talent is there to have a chance at doing so. This is going to be a fun wrestling show. This is going to be a good wrestling event. I know there will be naysayers and teeth gnashers when it comes to the mere existence of an LGBTQIA+ show. 

That noise can’t drown out my excitement, my giddiness, my pure happiness at its existence. Effy’s Big Gay Brunch commences service at 11 A.M on Saturday. Please consider tuning in and watching LGBTQIA+ talent make the weekend theirs and show you all we are here, we belong, we won’t shut up, we won’t sit down, and we do matter in this wrestling industry. Promoters, insiders, reviewers, columnists can all get with the times, or be left behind. Either way, it’s happening and not a damn thing you can do about it. Brunch fucking rules, but it rules even harder when it’s BIG AND GAY!