I drive up on the drive-in movie theater in Brownsville, PA. This was the closest that GCW has ever been to my home and it was a very special event as it was “Shotzi Blackheart’s Drive-In From Hell”. We would have a spooky or otherwise Halloween coded event at a real drive-in. They had the old school concession stand, where I got a slushie in a Hocus Pocus cauldron. There were VIP seats and bring your own seats general admission, which was where I was, and you could see perfectly.
We had a spooky shed set up in front of the ring and the entrants to the opening scramble made their way to the ring and as the event went on air everyone was introduced. The loudest reactions were for Felix Koz, Blizzy Blake and Zach Thomas.nThis crowd seemed to be more of a local indie wrestling crowd than a GCW crowd. Some of the people that got the best reactions were Gory, Facade, Dani Mo and Juni Underwood, who are from Pittsburgh or have wrestled extensively in the Pittsburgh area, in Juni’s case. The other people who got big reactions throughout the night were people that had been or currently are on national TV, like The Blackhearts (Lio Rush and Shotzi Blackheart), Megan Bayne, and Priscilla Kelly. Felix got the crowd into the event with his polka dancing and Blizzy left them in awe with his high flying maneuvers. However, in the end it was Kavron Kanyon that got the win.
In what was the best traditional match of the day, Juni Underwood faced off against Leon King. I have been a big fan of King since the first time I saw him wrestle and this was a good match to show off his skills. This was my friend’s first time seeing Leon King wrestle and she said that she loved everything about him. Leon is flashy and arrogant, but also very athletic. This was a fantastic back and forth match, with Juni having fun with the crowd and King playing the role of the egotistical arrogant foe. In the end, Juni got the win with a very impressive Flamingo Driver. Make sure to keep watching both of these wrestlers as their stocks continue to rise.
The former GCW tag team champions, Busta and the Brain, Jordan Oliver and Alec Price, defeat the former Chikara wrestlers Legion of Rot, Hallowicked and Frightmare, with UltraMantis Black in their corner. The Busta and the Brain were just too quick and too young for the spooky veterans to keep up with.
In what would be the first hardcore match of the night, Vipress defends her GCW Ultraviolent Championship against Dani Mo. The Ultraviolent Championship is usually held in Deathmatches, but Pennsylvania has silly rules, so we get a really good hardcore match. This is the most fun that I have had watching a Vipress match in a really long time. Dani appears to have improved their hardcore skills with being at JCW and really seemed to be enjoying the match. This is a fast paced match, that incorporates both wrestlers’ athletic ability, along with the weapons. Vipress gets the win, much to the crowds dismay, after throwing powder in Dani’s eyes and hitting her with a piledriver.
The most hated person of the night, Flyin Ryan O’Neill, comes out with his Flyers jersey on for his match against Sturdy Sal. This was a very entertaining match. Sal put up quite a good fight against Ryan, but was not enough to keep down the high flyer. Both of these wrestlers could be stars for years to come.
The next battle is a 3 on 3 match, between Atticus and Otis Cogar, along with their cousin Christian Napier against Gory, Facade and Tara Zep. There is a rivalry between Gory and Facade (who at one time were called Flippin Ain’t Easy) and The Cogar Brothers. This goes back to their times in Pittsburgh promotions like PWX and IWC. This was a crazy match the went all over the ringside area and even had Tara jumping off the haunted shed. Atticus gets his revenge by putting his skewers into Tara and then VNDL48 hits a triple team move on Facade. This was a really fun match for long time indie wrestling fans from this area and a match that keep the VNDL48 momentum going.
We have a Trick or Treat Match between SLADE and Priscilla Kelly and I am very concerned for Kelly. SLADE comes out with Amy Rose and it seems like they are getting closer. Priscilla Kelly takes to the air to try to combat Slade’s power and overall craziness. She attacks Amy Rose, which is not a smart move, as SLADE comes from behind and choke slams her into a coffin and brings her back to the ring for the win.
In what was the most insane match, which says a lot as we have just seen a SLADE match, Jimmy Lloyd faces Connor Claxton in an exploding bat match. This match started with them shooting fireworks at each other and ended with them hitting each other with exploding bats, that caught on fire whenever they hit something. This match was not safe for anyone in the drive-in area, but it was really fun and a good time was had by all.
In the main event we have the host of the event Shotzi Blackheart, along with Blackheart Lio Rush (the Blackhearts) face off against Janelasus, Joey Janela and Megan Bayne. The Blackhearts looked to be really happy to be there, riding to the ring in a cart, as Janelasus waited in the ring, dressed as The Flintstones. Lio’s character is so much fun and everyone enjoys it. This was a door match, so there were so many doors sacrificed in this match. I love how Bayne just shows off her strength throughout the match. Lio and Shotzi are working very well as a team. Everyone is going through doors to the crowd’s approval. Megan shows off her strength again by throwing Shotzi and Lio over her head at the same time. Janelasus then hits a Yabba Dabba Doomsday device. Shotzi comes off the evil shed with a senton bomb onto Joey, they get him back to the ring. Lio hits a frog splash for the win. Shotzi gets on the mic to send everyone home happy and asks the crowd if they would like GCW and her to come back again next year, and the crowd is in favor.
This was a very fun stand alone show. It did not involve any storylines and really existed in a spooky realm onto itself. I did not stay for the double feature, but heard it was excellent and the best way to see horror movies.
The next GCW show will be at Pop’s Nightclub in Sauget, IL for “Dead on Arrival” on Friday, November 6. Announced so far for this event is Shotzi Blackheart against Nixi XS, Megan Bayne versus SLADE, Mr. Danger and Nino Extremo against VNDL48’s Otis Cogar and Christian Napier. Along with Busta and the Brain and Marcus Mathers versus Unsigned and Don’t Care (Anakin Murphy, Aaron Williams, and Gary Jay), Vipress and Gabby Forza challenging KJ Orso and Sam Stackhouse for the GCW Tag Team Championships, and Hollyhood Haley J vs Rachel Armstrong.
