GCW
Jimmy Lloyd’s D-Generation F 2023
March 31, 2023
Ukrainian Cultural Center
Los Angeles, California
Full WrestleMania Weekend Event Schedule
Kicking off Friday’s Wrestlemania Weekend festivities will be the third iteration of Jimmy Lloyd’s showcase of GCW’s youth movement. Since the first edition in 2020, the show has displayed both charming misguidedness (a 24-minute semi-main event tilt between Starboy Charlie and Blake Christian) and curious prescience (early scrambles featuring the likes of Cora Jade and Top Flight). But, to me, the show has always been a welcome presence as a casual, early afternoon appetizer to whet your appetite before the coming onslaught of professional wrestling.
Who will stake their claim as your new favorite up-and-comer? Who will position themselves as a future “remember that guy?” Let’s take a look.
Matches to Watch Out For
Lately, West Coast Pro Wrestling has picked up a lot of well-deserved momentum as a landing spot for premier in-ring talent and high-profile foreign names. Under the WCPW banner, 22-year-old Titus Alexander is, simply put, the man. He’s been their marquee name ever since he ended Jacob Fatu’s lengthy and fearsome title reign. Equally adept in the air and on the mat, he recently made waves with his performances in the Battle of Los Angeles against the likes of Daniel Garcia and Konosuke Takeshita. He’ll defend his home territory against Cole Radrick. Based out of the midwest, Radrick spent some time as a fan friendly underdog grappler, practically swimming in his singlet. He’s taken a step up by adding deathmatch to his portfolio, beginning with an absolute classic against Orin Veidt early last year. Alexander won’t do glass shards with him, but Radrick will quickly remind everyone of the foundations he first built his name on.
If you’re familiar with the IWTV-sphere of independent wrestling, you know what Alec Price brings to the table. After Daniel Garcia’s outstanding run in Limitless came to an end, Price took the reigns. Concurrently, he won feuds against Chris Dickinson and Biff Busick to crown the “ace of Beyond Wrestling” and snagged the SUP Bonestorm title to insert himself as a major player in last year’s Southeast First season of Uncharted Territory. All of these scripted achievements aren’t the point — what matters is that, in all cases, he delivered as an in-ring marvel, a strong and confident promo, and a storyteller. For my money, Price is the best never-signed wrestler on the indies. I hope GCW audiences — where he’s often relegated to scrambles — get to see that soon. His opponent, Starboy Charlie, may have lost his initial shine as the underage acrobatic prodigy (Nick Wayne stole that gimmick), but he’s continued to develop into a more mature, well-rounded entity. This is the biggest opportunity either guy has to turn heads this weekend. Let’s hope they have chips on their shoulders.
The East West Express team of Jordan Oliver and Nick Wayne will get a warm-up run before their huge Spring Break bout with the Motor City Machine Guns on Friday night. Oliver and Wayne have both been in high-profile positions for a while, but their pairing has brought a lot of their potential to fruition. They have cool gear and skillsets that compliment each other well. Plus, the tag team setting has helped pull them away from some of the overindulgent trappings of their singles work. I’m really high on them as a team. In an independent scene seeing an influx of strong tag team talent, Wayne and Oliver stand to position themselves as major players. At D-Generation F they’ll take part in a four-way tag with some international flavor, facing off against Wasted Youth, Joe Lando and Danny Black of CPF, and the Best Buds pairing of Mei Suruga and Baliyan Akki.
Sandra Moone is coming off two strong outings against Vert Vixen and Masha Slamovich in the West Coast Pro Women’s title tournament. Kenzie Paige is slated to face Max the Impaler to crown the inaugural NWA Women’s TV champ at NWA’s upcoming 312 show, and has also held the New South title (yes, the one with the giant belt) for the past year. These two will face off at D-Generation F, and in a wrestling ecosphere that’s hungry for more talent on the women’s side, it may be wise to start keeping tabs on them now.
Where and How to Watch
Jimmy Lloyd’s D-Generation F goes down on March 31st at the Ukranian Cultural Center as part of GCW’s Collective shows at 11 a.m. EST. The show will stream live on FITE+.
Full Card
- Kenzie Paige vs. Sandra Moone
- Jack Cartwheel vs. Hunter Drake
- Starboy Charlie vs. Alec Price
- Titus Alexander vs. Cole Radrick
- Sawyer Wreck vs. Bobby Orlando
- East West Express (Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne) vs. Best Bros (Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga) vs. Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) vs. CPF (Joe Lando & Danny Black)
- Jimmy Lloyd vs. Bodhi Young Prodigy
