Game Changer Wrestling vs. International Wrestling Syndicate
UnFnSanctioned
March 11, 2023
L’Olympia
Montréal, Québec

Watch: FITE+

The Results

  • Team GCW (Alec Price, Shane Mercer, Cole Radrick, Dyln McKay) def. Team IWS (Jeremy Prophet, Karl Jepson, JT Producer, Shayne Hawke) (16:08)
  • Jimmy Lloyd & Hardbody def. Amazingly Sweet (Alex Maze & Kristara) (2:15)
  • East West Express (Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne) def. Fresh Air (Junior Benito & Macrae Martin) (15:23)
  • LuFisto def. Sawyer Wreck (9:48)
  • Tabarnak de Team (Mathieu St-Jacques & Thomas Dubois) def. Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo) (13:06)
  • Beer Bash Match: Matt Falco def. 1 Called Manders (11:38)
  • Mike Bailey def. Gringo Loco (17:17)
  • IWS Women’s Championship: Melanie Havok © def. Allie Katch (14:43)
  • IWS World Championship: Benjamin Tull © def. Tony Deppen (12:36)
  • Fans Bring The Weapons: Nick Gage, Mance Warner, Rina Yamashita def. PCP Crazy F’N Manny, Green Phantom, Sexxxy Eddy (21:15)

There’s always a certain charm to promotion versus promotion shows that happen on one promotion’s home turf. Add in a rowdy Montreal crowd ready for blood, and you have a recipe for success.

The first three rows had to wear face shields, and small children were told to back away from the ring for the always gruesome Fans Bring The Weapons main event. Green Phantom and Sexxxy Eddy represented the heart and soul of the Syndicate in this war against Mance Warner and Rina Yamashita, the Game Changer invaders. It didn’t take long for this to descend into madness as Nick Gage and PCP Crazy F’N Manny joined the match to start the war. This was brutal from the opening bell, with about two hundred tubes smashed in the first few minutes. PCP Manny was pushed off the balcony by Gage and crashed through a mountain of previously broken tables.

The main event was a riot. There was chaos all over the building, and the violence escalated to the point where they cut the match short because Manny might have lost an ear. This was the best Nick Gage performance in a while, and he looked super motivated to be in there with Phantom, Eddy, and PCP Manny. They hit a home run with this main event.

The IWS World Champion Benjamin Tull is a very good professional wrestler and has been a staple of the Quebec indie scene for years. Tony Deppen is a proficient pro wrestler. They had a good pro wrestling match.

The East West Express versus Fresh Air was a fun opener featuring four young wrestlers. Junior Benito and “The Hotstepper” Macrae Martin have been prospects on the Ontario/Quebec indie scene for a couple of years and showed out. Wayne and Oliver continue to improve as a tag team and are quickly becoming one of the better tag teams on the American indie scene. Give this one a watch!

While Fresh Air can be considered the future of tag team wrestling in Canada, le Tabarnak de Team is considered by some as the current best tag team in the country. The two rough-and-tumble lumberjacks love a good brawl and had great opponents in Los Macizos. When not flipping off the Montreal crowd, Miedo Extremo continued his hot streak of being the best man in the match. He is always impressive in both tags and singles. Le Tabarnak de Team should be booked more in the United States. They looked great.

Speedball Mike Bailey versus Gringo Loco was as good as you’d expect. The match started slowly but picked up when they took to the air. With plenty of cool reversals throughout, the match showcased the strengths of both wrestlers. Mike Bailey is on a roll in all promotions he’s wrestled for, and he should have another great WrestleMania weekend. Unfortunately, Bailey’s Ultima Weapon didn’t connect like intended on the finish, as it put a bit of a damper on the match.

Also, on the show… Sawyer Wreck and LuFisto destroyed a bunch of chairs in their match. It was clunky at times. The Beer Bash match was a fine little brawl, with the highlight being the keg spots and the finish. Beer matches do nothing for me. Melanie Havok defeated Allie Katch to retain her title. Awful.

On the pre-show… Team IWS vs. Team GCW was a bare-bones eight-man tag that got the crowd fired up for the GCW vs. IWS dynamic for the rest of the night. The Jimmy Lloyd tag match was a quick squash, not much to it.

Overall Thoughts

This was a great show featuring the best of both GCW and IWS. It celebrated the past, present, and future of both the Quebec and American indie scenes, capped off with an excellent main event. I hope they do more of these shows in the future.

Match Recommendations

  • Fans Bring The Weapons: Nick Gage, Mance Warner, Rina Yamashita def. PCP Crazy F’N Manny, Green Phantom, Sexxxy Eddy
  • Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo) vs. Tabarnak de Team (Mathieu St-Jacques & Thomas Dubois)
  • East West Express (Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne) vs. Fresh Air (Junior Benito & Macrae Martin)
  • Mike Bailey vs. Gringo Loco