We are just days away from Game Changer Wrestling’s biggest weekend of the summer, Homecoming weekend; and this year’s Homecoming is extra special as GCW is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary.
Homecoming weekends of the past has had some crazy moments and surprise appearances. JBL appearing in GCW, Lio Rush returning to independent wrestling, Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander making their entrance in an Ecto-1 straight out of the movie Ghostbusters. Those are just a few examples of past events.
In this article I will be previewing the eight matches announced for Part 1 of Homecoming. A second article for Part 2 will be released shortly after (likely tomorrow).
Homecoming weekend will take place this upcoming weekend, with Part 1 taking place on Saturday, August 23rd and Part 2 on Sunday, August 24th. The events will be held at The Showboat in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and both shows will stream live on TrillerTV+.
GCW World Championship Match: Effy (c) vs. KJ Orso
Seven months after winning the GCW World Championship, Effy is entering The Showboat for what will be his 31st (according to Cagematch.net) title defense. He’s going to be stepping into the ring with the former Fuego Del Sol, now KJ Orso. Orso has been on fire (no pun intended) since losing his mask to Atticus Cogar at Spring Break 9. His near perfect record in GCW since that night has proven he’s a major threat to the championship.
Even though Effy has been a fighting champion since winning the title, he’s going into this match a bit banged up. He hurt his knee in a title defense earlier this month against Crowbar, and had his knee taped up in his match this past weekend against Willie Mack.
You’d have to expect Orso to target this weakness on the champion. Orso has shown how dangerous he can be (example: his I Quit Match against Sam Stackhouse in Dallas), so we could be seeing a new champion walking out of Atlantic City. This is, if his old rivals don’t get involved. I just don’t see Effy losing the championship yet.
Prediction: Effy retains the GCW World Championship
Joey Janela, Matt Tremont & ??? vs. VNDL48 (Atticus Cogar, Otis Cogar & Christian Napier)
It’s surprising to see Atticus Cogar in a trios match this Homecoming weekend. Following the events of Bash At The Ballpark in Brooklyn, NY, you would expect Cogar to be in a three way against Charles Mason and Effy for the title, but here we are.
Cogar is teaming with his family, his real life blood, in VNDL48. Him, his brother Otis Cogar, and cousin Christian Napier are set to take on GCW Ultraviolent Champion Matt Tremont, Joey Janela and a mystery partner. Tremont has been on a tare since winning the GCW Ultraviolent Championship earlier this year. Drew Parker tweeted earlier this week that Tremont is doing the best work in his career right now, and many would agree. He’s teaming with Janela, who can’t seem to get past his hatred for Atticus. Janela has cost Atticus the championship in his match against Effy in Dallas last month. A hatred that dates back to Atticus’ falling out with the company several years ago.
Before we look at the possibilities of Tremont and Janela’s tag partner, let’s talk about the unit that is VNDL48. Atticus Cogar has proven how dangerous he is on his own, but now he has his blood by his side. Otis Cogar has proven he’s just as dangerous, if not more, than his brother. This year he made it to the finals of TOS, where he lost to one of his opponents in this match, Matt Tremont. The unknown factor in this group is Christian Napier. We haven’t seen much of him in GCW yet, which might be a bad thing for his opponents.
Another unknown factor in the match is, who is the mystery partner? Tremont and Janela were originally slated to have 1 Called Manders on their side. Manders is currently on a crazy run as wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion, and touring the world. That leaves Janela and Tremont without a partner. Who do they turn to? There’s plenty of options in the wrestling world, but with everyone that GCW can bring into this match, why not look inside the roster. There’s a saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, so imagine the shock if Charles Mason’s music hits. Just saying…
Prediction: VNDL48 win
Garage Beer Championship Match: Matt Cardona vs. Shotzi Blackheart
The battle of the Indy Gods now has some added gold to the feud. The Garage Beer World Championship is on the line as Matt Cardona faces Shotzi Blackheart once again.
What is the Garage Beer World Championship? No idea. It seems like another made up championship that Cardona has had created. Speaking of made up championships, Shotzi Blackheart has recently stolen Cardona’s Internet Championship. Maybe that title will also be on the line. Anyway, let’s get to the feud.
A few months ago, the two started going back and forth on Twitter after Shotzi Blackheart called herself the new Indy God. This seemed to piss off the self proclaimed Indy God himself, resulting in him taking a trip to Shotzi’s property and running over her arm with her own tank. Yes, that’s I sentence I just wrote.
Even with a cast on, Shotzi Blackheart came out the victor in their Garage Beer Rules Match in Dallas. But it didn’t end there because Cardona attacked her following the victory. The feud took it’s way to New Jersey where Team Cardona (Cardona, Smart Mark Sterling and Tommy Invicible) defeated Team Shotzi (Shotzi, Matt Tremont and Deonna Purrazzo). Now the two make their way to Atlantic City.
My hopes for this match are extremely low. This is quite possibly one of the worst feuds currently in independent wrestling. I do hope we see a good match and an end to this feud so Shotzi can move on to better things in GCW. Anyway…have you seen she’s facing Megan Bayne in Detroit next month? That should be awesome.
Prediction: Matt Cardona wins
GCW World Tag Team Championship Match: YDNP (Alec Price & Jordan Oliver) (c) vs. Los Desperados (Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel)
More championships are on the line as YDNP, or Bustah And The Brain, or whatever else they’re called this week, defend the GCW World Tag Team Championships against Los Desperados (but not the Los Desperados team with Arez in it).
Alec Price and Jordan Oliver have been on a hot streak lately. Last week they added two more sets of tag team championships, the JCW (Juggalo Championship Wrestling, not to be confused with Jersey Championship Wrestling) Tag Team Championships and the Xcite Tag Team Championships, to their bags. After a rocky start, the chemistry between these two as a tag team is undeniable.
They’re facing the challenge of Gringo Loco and Jack Cartwheel. If anyone has seen any matches from these four guys, they would know that this match will be fast paced and have plenty of high flying action. I expect this one to go nuts, and I also expect Price and Oliver to retain the titles.
Prediction: Price and Oliver retain
Masashi Takeda vs. SLADE
Let’s make our way to the first of three deathmatches on this show. Masashi Takeda vs SLADE.
SLADE is coming off a trio of insane matches in GCW. It started off at Cage Of Survival 4, where he had a weekend stealing deathmatch against Bear Bronson. Some people, including me, are calling this match one of the best independent wrestling matches of the year.
He then teamed with Charles Mason against Manders and Effy in Connecticut, in what ended up being a crazy brawl around the venue. SLADE then found another tag team partner in Bear Bronson, where they competed in a deathmatch against Dr. Redacted and Mr. Danger in Rutherford, New Jersey. He has a bunch of momentum going for him right now. Which leads to him entering Atlantic City in what might be the biggest match of his career.
Masashi Takeda is making his way stateside in this rare appearance in the United States. Takeda hasn’t competed in a GCW ring on US soil since 2023. He’s faced, and defeated, some of the top names in GCW, and has even held the GCW Ultraviolent Championship. Takeda has also held many championships in Japan. If you look at his near 20 year career, it’s safe to call him a deathmatch legend.
This match is gonna be brutal, and not in a bad way. Tune in to see this spectacle. That’s all I can say.
Prediction: Masashi Takeda
All Star Deathmatch Scramble Match: John Wayne Murdoch vs. Ciclope vs. Lil Sicko vs. Bear Bronson vs. Mr. Danger vs. Bam Sullivan
A few days ago, GCW announced this all star deathmatch scramble match with the six participants being former GCW Ultraviolent Champion John Wayne Murdoch, Ciclope, Lil Sicko, Bear Bronson, Mr. Danger and Bam Sullivan.
This match is going to be a mess, in both a derogatory and non derogatory way. I don’t see Lil Sicko, Mr. Danger or Bam Sullivan picking up the victory in this one. That leaves John Wayne Murdoch, Ciclope and Bear Bronson. Bronson has been quite on a roll in GCW and independent wrestling in general. I see him continuing his momentum into Day 2 of Homecoming where he faces his dream opponent Matt Tremont in what is one of the most anticipated matches of the weekend.
As for Murdoch and Ciclope, they’re both facing off one-on-one on the following night in a deathmatch as well. Their focus in this scramble match might end up on eachother, costing either of them the victory, and causing some bad blood into Sunday.
Prediction: Bear Bronson wins
UltraMantis Black vs. Dr. Redacted
The third of three deathmatches announced for Homecoming Part 1 sees UltraMantis Black taking on Dr. Redacted. This is a match that was originally scheduled to take place on July 5th in Connecticut, but Redacted pulled off due to injuries.
The GCW crowd, and in particular The Showboat loves Dr. Redacted. He’s stepping in there with the 23 year veteran UltraMantis Black. It’s pretty crazy that not only are we still seeing UltraMantis Black lacing up his boots, but also competing in deathmatches. This match is gonna be wild, as you would expect with any Dr. Redacted match.
Prediction: Dr. Redacted
Drew Parker vs. Marcus Mathers
Another match that was originally scheduled to happen at a previous date is Drew Parker versus Marcus Mathers. They were originally scheduled to face eachother earlier this year in Rochester. Now they’re squaring off for the first time ever. It seems like both men have wanted this match for many years now. With that in mind, both men are likely gonna give it their all in this contest. With all the madness that is scheduled to happen on this show, this match could end up being a hidden gem.
Prediction: Drew Parker
PWPonderings 
[…] In this article I will be previewing the five matches announced for Part 2 of Homecoming. More matches are likely to be announced following the fallout of Night 1. You can check out my preview for Part 1 HERE. […]
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