GHW
10/20
From the ECPW School in Lake Hiawatha, NJ
Refs: Slingblade Carl & Matt Bennett
Attendance: 40+

What's up everyone and welcome to another McReview here on the DOI. I posted a quick report of this show here . Like I said in that report, this was a fun little show, and I guess looking back, the number 1 reason why I enjoyed this show from some of the other shows on the indy scene was because it was different and not the same shit you see every weekend.

With that said, here's the review:

The show started off with Rockin' Rebel, Bison Bravado & Sgt. Smith (Rebel's Student) brawling all over the crowd. GHW officials had to break it up.
I always liked little segments like these. Sometimes it comes off corny, especially when the crowd isn't expecting it, but this worked here. It was funny hearing Bison scream at someone "Fuck a family show", after all the violence & profanity from all three wrestlers involved.

Cloudy d. Cheech
Not a bad match here, and these two delivered in the opening match of the night. I haven't seen either in a while, and it looks like both guys are working out a bit, although they don't have the look of your prototypical wrestler. Cloudy also looked gassed up halfway thru the match, as he was sucking more wind than a college girl could suck meat on Mardi-Gras.
Both of these guys, knowing each other well, were able counter each others offenses, which made for a more enjoyable bout. The end of the match saw Cloudy capitalize on knowing Cheech's offense, as he rolled Cheech up for the 3 count.
POSTMATCH: Some guy who looked like a poor-man's Kane came out and attacked both wrestlers. Cloudy & Cheech then teamed up to take care of the small red machine, putting Cloudy & Cheech on the same page.
The guy who did the run-in looked a bit bootleg, and it probably would've been better if he had a gimmick that looked more original. However, the idea behind it seemed good, as it allowed the wrestlers in the match, who are usually a tag team, to leave on the same page afterwards.

Pinkie Sanchez d. Ruckus w/CZW World Champ Eddie Kingston & Rayza
With the advertised Grim Reefer not in the house, Rayza was inserted into this match, making it a triple threat match, and turning a 7 match show into a 6 match show. Being a fan of shorter shows, under the less is more theory, I had no problem with this.
The crowd that showed up to this show were made up of three groups. They were either:
(a) Friends of the promoters/staff, and there to show support;
(b) Wrestlers or people in the wrestling business; or
(c) CZW/ROH/Internet Fans

When you have a crowd like that, most of your crowd is going to be popping for the internet favorite wrestler. That's what happened here, as the crowd was 100% behind Ruckus, while showing little care for the other two wrestlers. Every wrestler worked hard in this match, but whenever Ruckus was on the attack, the crowd was louder. During what was an ok match that had the crowd interested, Pinkie rolled up Ruckus out of no where. The crowd was silent, and not in a good state of silence. They were silent because they couldn't believe that the match was over that quick, and that Ruckus didn't win. While it's good to see the unexpected win, to make things more unpredictable, GHW didn't capitalize on that. Pinkie could've heeled things up here after his big win, but immediately afterwards...
POSTMATCH: Danny Demanto ran in and violently attacked Pinkie Sanchez with a lariat to the mouth. Danny then said he wanted Eddie Kingston right now. After some back & forth mic work, Demanto vs Kingston was up next, for the CZW World Title.
Going back to the original match at hand, the finish sucked, as it was out of nowhere. The match itself wasn't bad, but the finish left alot to be desired. Also, if you're gonna have the favorite lose, it would've been better to let Pinkie capitalize on his win. Instead- he got squashed like a little child by Danny Demanto, and all the heat (which in reality wasn't that much since the crowd was so silent, you could hear someone scratch their ass) went away, as Danny just made the match meaningless by destroying the victor. Perhaps Ruckus should've won, and Danny could've killed the other two guys, to show that he meant business to Kingston. Regardless, the promo work between Danny & Kingston was solid, and gave their match a story, which it previously didn't have going into it.

For the CZW World Heavyweight Championship
(c) Eddie Kingston w/Ruckus d. Danny Demanto in a Knock-Out (KO) Match
This was a very hard hitting match, and due to the mic work, it got over well with the crowd. Danny is losing weight and seems to be heavily eating tanning. I'm so used to making fat jokes about Danny, that I'd be remiss to mention that his skin color rivaled that of a Samoan. Maybe when Danny tans, they put him on a stick like a pig on a spitfire? Maybe that or he sits under the tanning lights. Either way, it helps his overall look.
Kingston, who didn't seemed too thrilled going into this match, as Danny said that his trainer Kevin Knight was a cocksucker, wailed away on Danny in the early stages. Maybe Kingston was feeling Kevin Knight pride in this match, as he pulled out some moves from the Kevin Knight student playbook, as he gave Danny Demanto two sit-out hiptosses of DOOM, followed by a dropkick to the back. Being under KnockOut rules, both guys brawled outside in this match. There was a dusty finish in this match, as Demanto layed out Ref Bennett with a pork grind line. Ref Slingblade Carl then ran in to take control. Danny then hogsplashed Kingston for the 10 count, earning the win. However, the first ref, Matt Bennett overruled the decision, saying that only he could call the decision. The match was then restarted, and Kingston immediately knocked out Demanto after some UFC Shonie Carter type punches.
POSTMATCH: Despite beating the shit out of each other, Danny berating Kingston, Kingston having his belt nearly taken away, both guys embraced in the ring. Both guys talked to each other and gave each other respect. No word if Danny told Kingston that he "luved him like a sister", but if he did, we'll make sure to report it once we get confirmation.

Good match here, but I'm not a fan of the "restart-the-match-immediately-then-have-the-other-guy-winning-2-seconds later." It makes the match seem so fake that way, which is a shame, as both guys hit each other pretty hard in the bout. Aside from the finish, good work from both guys here.

Bison/Rebel/Smith brawled again and had to be broken up by GHW officials. Matches after intermission saw:

Rockin Rebel d. Bison Bravado & Sgt. Smith
This match was a fight, as all three guys brawled all over the place. This was fun for what it was. Rebel threw Bison out of the building through a side door towards the end of this match. With Bison out of the way, Rebel then hit the Rebelizer on Smith for the pin.
A fun brawl. The brawls before this match gave the match more of a flair going into it, and everything was executed pretty well, brother.

Sterling James Keenan d. Davey Richards
Unlike the last time I saw Davey Richards advertised on a northeast show, (PWX) Davey was actually in the building. This was a solid in-ring wrestling match, with the crowd appreciative of both wrestlers. Both guys actually wrestled in this match, and let the strong-style stuff take place in the other matches. This made this match stand out that much more. Richards pulled out some Candido-isms in this match, as he mocked his opponent, even strutting around in Keenan's ring jacket. Richards wins this match with one of those fancy smart mark roll-ups which are all the rage these days.
Good wrestling match here, and definitely the best mat wrestling on the card.

MAIN EVENT
MATCH OF THE NIGHT
Monsta Mack d. Necro Butcher in what probably was the most violent match to ever be held in the ECPW arena.
This match was fucking wild, super stiff and full of pain. Monsta Mack was hyped for this match going into it, and delivered big time. Necro gave his all in this match, despite the small crowd, and whatever Mack was willing to give, he gave it back just as hard. Both guys hit each other as hard as they could in the ring, before jumping into the crowd where they threw trash cans at each other and threw chairs wrecklessly, and without abandon. The crowd in this match was split, with Let's go Necro & Let's go Mack chants. This match had the most crowd heat, and at one point, I've never heard such a small amount of people make a large amount of noise. While the crowd was happy, I don't know if Gino Caruso, the building owner, was so thrilled, as he was shaking his head during this style of wrestling being showcased from the type he promotes with his ECPW family promotion.
Towards the end of the bout, both guys just punched each other in the face as hard as possible. Both wrestlers would sit down in chairs and slug away until one would finally pass out from the pain. The finish saw Mack headbutt Necro in the face like a fucking bull chasing a red flag, knocking Necro out cold.
Not a "Wrestling" match in any sense of the word, but a great fight. Suspension of disbelief was there. In a rare occurrence for me, I was able to enjoy a wrestling match and get caught up in it, which is the biggest compliment a fan can give. I'm sure both guys needed tons of ice packs after the match, which really shows their dedication to what they believe in, as they beat the shit out of each other for 40 people and had a blast doing it.

Final McWord
The show started late, as several wrestlers arrived late to the building. The show scheduled for 7:30, took place at 8:30. No fans seemed to mind, as it has become accepted that indy wrestling shows have a habit of not starting on time.

The crowd size was up from the last show, and were really loud for some matches.

For a small & unproven promotion, I thought this was a fun little show. There wasn't any bad matches on the show, and the show flowed nicely. For only a 6 match show, I thought fans got the most for their buck. GHW is definitely pushing their "KO" concept and hard hitting style in their matches and it came off well. Kingston/Demanto & Mack/Butcher were two realistic wrestling matches. Keenan/Richards had a mat clinic. The first two matches had solid action and kicked the show off nicely. The Bison/Rebel/Smith stuff created a feud out of nowhere and put instant credibility later on. For such a quick & small show, everything went off pretty well and the only thing GHW could really ask for was a larger crowd.

Deranged, Alicia, Melissa Stripes, & both 7-11 & The Jersey Devil from ECW fame were among the luminaries in the crowd.

I thought the main event, while not your typical wrestling match, was one of the better things I've seen recently.

The show will be available on DVD thru RFVideo.com

Overall- a fun show, that showed you can do alot in only 6 matches.

GHW didn't announce any future plans, although it seemed like they'd be back for another shot. For more on GHW, keep it here on DOI or check out GungHoWrestling.com

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com