Despite the fact that I don’t really have the time to watch nearly as much wrestling as I would like to, whenever there’s a show at Center Stage in Midtown Atlanta, I typically make a conceited effort to go, regardless of the promotion that manages to book the venue. It’s simply one of my favorite venues to watch live professional wrestling at; it’s a small, intimate venue that lends itself perfectly to watching wrestling, tickets are usually reasonable, there’s no bad seat in the house, and because of its size, Center Stage is perfect for yelling at performers and knowing that they can probably hear you.
A friend of mine gave me the heads up that GCW (Game Changer Wrestling) was coming to Center Stage, a week before a TNA show that I had earmarked, and since I don’t like to leave my house too much I quickly pivoted to plan on going to GCW instead of TNA since I’ve watched TNA (when it was still Impact Wrestling) at Center Stage before, but more importantly, that I’d never seen a GCW show in person before.
GCW is primarily known for their hardcore style, proclaiming to be the successor to ECW, with bleeding performers and penchant for weapons, primarily fluorescent light tubes, but they’re also known for putting on entertaining shows. I’ve only seen one of their pay-per-views, as well as hundreds of random video clips and I’ve always found them entertaining, but the fact is they’re still like 4th or 5th tier in the current standing of notable promotions out there. The fact that they still call themselves independent wrestling is amusing, but they’re also nowhere near the big leagues, but regardless, they still put on entertaining shows, and I was looking forward to it.
To cut to the chase, GCW was an awesome show and a fun experience. Leaps and bounds better than MLW, not nearly as polished as TNA, but nowhere near as raw and amateur as any of the indy shows that I’d been to in the past. There were no major names with WWE/AEW/TNA experience beyond guys like Joey Janela, Fuego del Sol and a rando booking of Jimmy Wang Yang, and Matt Cardona was only shown in video packages and highlights. Nick Gage, the supposed heart and soul of the promotion, I don’t even know if he’s even still alive, or incarcerated or whatever, but he wasn’t there either.
In a way, I felt like it was better that way, since there were little to no preconceived notions on any of the talents I got to see. In a way, it felt very refreshing to come into a show with hardly any knowledge of any of the talent, because it was like a rare chance to feel like a new fan again, to be amazed or surprised at the various levels of talents to which there was plenty of, on the GCW roster.
So the guy that captured my imagination the most was Jack Cartwheel; obviously with a name like that, it was obvious that cartwheels were going to be a part of what this guy did, but to what extent was unknown. I figured he probably did the top-rope cartwheel DDT that Jake Atlas put on the map during his time in NXT, but as his match against Fuego del Sol progressed, it turned out to be so much more.
Cartwheels to celebrate. Cartwheels to evade clotheslines and other attacks. Cartwheels to get in and out of the ring, jumping over the top rope, coming off of the top. There’s a reason why cartwheel was in his name, and as much as I admittedly thought his whole persona was lame as shit, and assumed he was going to do the job, seeing as how Fuego was the guy that came from a Top-3 promotion, as the match soldered on, and Jack Cartwheel kept spamming more and more cartwheels, he began to win me over. I began yelling out for more cartwheels, and for the rest of the night, I was yelling at other guys I had little to no clue to whom they were, to do cartwheels.
Jack Cartwheel is a perfect example of a wrestler who appears to be aware of how silly his gimmick is, but has committed to it 100%, owns it and lives it, and spams it so hard, that it’s hard to not get won over by his sheer commitment and dedication to his gimmick. After his match, which he thankfully won btw, all I wanted was to see more cartwheels. More Jack Cartwheel!
Otherwise, like I said, the GCW show as a whole was fun and entertaining. The lineup was a little wonky, and I can comfortably say that after the Jack Cartwheel vs. Fuego match, the card kind of went downhill, not just because I was so high on Jack Cartwheel, but because the paces of the match started to get slower, relying more on hardcore and danger spots, and by the time the main event rolled around where it was GCW Champion Mance Warner vs. some old bald guy who bled like a stuck pig and could barely move, the night had come to a crawl.
But overall, GCW was an awesome show. If their journeys bring them through Atlanta again in the future, I’m definitely on board to go see them again, especially if they’re booking Center Stage. And hopefully, Jake Cartwheel will still be on the roster then, and if he’s not, I certainly hope he’s in a better promotion, making good money and getting cartwheels even more over.
