Game Changer Wrestling
Ransom
March 5, 2023
The Showboat
Atlantic City, New Jersey

Watch: FITE+

The Results

  • Alec Price def. Carlos Romo, Gabriel Skye, Gringo Loco, Jimmy Lloyd, Yoya (7:31)
  • Mike Bailey def. Shane Mercer (14:42)
  • GCW World Tag Team Championship: Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) def. Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo) © (8:45)
  • Masha Slamovitch def. John Wayne Murdoch (6:35)
  • Maki Itoh, Rina Yamashita, VENY def. Billie Starkz, Janai Kai, Sawyer Wreck (18:56)
  • JCW Championship: Jordan Oliver © def. Blake Christian (7:58)
  • GCW Extreme Championship: Joey Janela © def. Brandon Kirk (13:38)
  • Bang Bros (August Matthews & Davey Bang) vs. Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Mance Warner) vs. Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) vs. YDNB (Charlie Tiger & Ellis Taylor) went to a no contest (10:44)
  • Steel Cage: Allie Katch def. Charles Mason (25:30)

The invasion by Montréal’s International Wrestling Syndicate was the best part of this show. Ahead of next weekend’s IWS vs. GCW show on the Syndicate’s turf, some of the craziest wrestlers from Québec hit the ring to start the war early. Canada’s best tag team Le Tabarnak de Team (have fun translating that) led the charge with The Green Phantom and Sexxxy Eddy joining the fray. This all led to “Speedball” Mike Bailey turning his back on GCW and joining his fellow countrymen by hitting Jordan Oliver with the remnants of a door. The entire GCW locker room spilled out from the back to run off the invaders. This was a very good invasion angle but it’s a shame the crowd didn’t recognize the IWS wrestlers. A hot crowd could’ve made this one of the best GCW angles of the year. Nevertheless, this added some heat to that Montreal show.

Go Canada!

They aired a well-produced Allie Katch and Charles Mason feud video package. GCW delivers on these videos, especially before a big feud-ending match. Much like the AEW, they do indeed tell stories. The match, however, was a fairly uninspiring steel cage match. The work was sloppy at points and very slow for being a grudge match. The dramatic elements with Effy, Parrow, and Billy Dixon did not add much to the drama, and the crowd didn’t give a shit. The finish had Mason smiling while being choked out by Allie. You might think this was great if you’ve enjoyed this feud and have been invested in it but I never connected with it. This wasn’t good, but they got good color when running the blade, so that’s cool.

We are closing in on twenty years of the Motor City Machine Guns and they are still going strong. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin proved why they should be considered one of the best American tag teams of all time in this very exciting sprint. Los Macizos have been a constant highlight of Game Changer shows during this run as Tag champs. Shelley and Sabin are still so crisp in the ring. I’m excited to see what they do as GCW Tag champs. I hope they wrestle with East West Express at some point down the line.

The JCW Championship match was getting pretty good but ended too quickly. I think Blake has found the sweet spot mixing his douche persona with short high spot sprints – which is better than super long matches full of taunting. That being said, the finish was a little flat. Christian got himself intentionally disqualified by using a chair (the title match is sanctioned under JCW rules). 

While it was disappointing that the advertised Mike Bailey vs. Drew Parker match did not happen, Speedball vs. Shane Mercer was a bit of fun when it got going. There have been better Bailey matches recently, but this seemed like a simple match set up for the aforementioned invasion angle.

Masha Slamovitch vs. John Wayne Murdoch was very short but effective in heating up Masha before her big GCW World title match against Nick Gage on March 17th. It wasn’t as good as the deathmatches the day before but had some cool brutal spots. The glass pane not breaking on the finish looked gnarly but added to the chaotic nature of the bout. The Masha/Gage pull apart later in the show was great. Their title match on the 17th should be a lot of fun.

Also, on the show… The signature GCW scramble wasn’t as good as the night before but it was still an alright start to the show. Alec Price looked great and Gabriel Skye looked impressive. The women’s trio match was alright. There was a period where Janai Kai and VENY wrestled each other and I think that could be a really cool singles match. The GCW Extreme title match was more of a comedy match with some sturdy doors and shopping cart hijinks. The four-way tag before the invasion was decent, Manders and Mancer going around kicking ass will always be a fun time.

Final Thoughts

Not a good show. The angles on the show were a lot better than the matches. It really felt like a “road to” show with a bad main event. Motor City Machine Guns winning the belts was cool and the only match I recommend mostly for the title switch. They can’t all be winners.

 

Match Recommendations

  • GCW World Tag Team Championship: Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo) © vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)