GSCW Review - February 1st, 2003
By Benjamin Tomas

GSCW 2/1/03 American Legion Hall Newhall, CA

I arrived early and was ushered in to fantastic seats, right in the corner where I love to sit. The staff was extremely courteous, and made sure all fans there were having a good time. I got to sit with my pal Bean, and for a lot of the show with Martin and some guy named Joey.

To kill some time, Lucky and Supa Badd exchanged valentines. OK, they really hated each other, but Badd did his push ups and was over huge after beating down Lucky.

The opener had Zokre, Chippy, and Infernal vs. Silver Tyger, Phoenix Star, and Scorpio Sky. I'd like to mention that Scorpio has really come far as a wrestler since the days under Blade's swing set. He is very crisp in the ring, and I have to give him props. All the luchadors hit good spots, including a few great dives at the end. Infernal somehow managed to roll up a hurt Tyger to let the rudos take this one. Great way to open the show and get the fans going nuts.

Hardkore Kidd cut a promo, which was inaudible due to the NoCal Idiots. Thanks, assholes.

Larry Rivera introduced a guy who read the card. He mentioned the Disco/Loony vs. Melissa/Nikki match. After the 10-bell salute to the space shuttle victims and the Sheik, Melissa and Nikki came out and wasted 10 minutes of my time setting up a match, which was already announced.

Bo Cooper came out to wrestle Joey Ryan. Bo tried to play hometown hero, but the smarties would have none of that. Instead, they screamed, "Joooooeeeeeooooohhheeeoooohhh" at the opposition. They had a decent encounter, but when Bo took the upper hand, Joey cheated by using a steel chair in full view of the referee. The shot busted Bo wide open, and he bled huge from the forehead. The "Technical Wizard" then ran from the ring, as Bo was left with a legitimate beef with management.

At this point the NoCal fans were still disrespectful, yelling shit like, "He's calling a spot!" I do not care which part of the world you grew up in; a jackass smartie is still a jackass smartie.

Frankie Kazarian wrestled Mr. Excitement. I have seen Mr. Excitement a few times, and have no concept of what his gimmick is. He pulls his pants off and gets a pop, but what is he? Kazarian is awesome. He truly is the "King of Hip." This was a good match, and both guys looked solid. The big finish of the Revolution is awesome to see live, and Frankie proved himself to be "The Coolest Person Here."

The monkey Steve Rizzano took on Al Katrazz in the next encounter. Al was wearing his prison outfit, and he looks better all thuged out in Hardkore Inc. Rizzano looked like a sick love child of Buddy Rose and Steve Corino, but it was no surprise. Rizzano was greeted by SoCal fans with a, "You can keep him," chant directed at Rolo's marks. This match was not good, but Al was trying to make the best of it. Crayz ran in for no reason, and got beat up. I hope this leads to more of Crayz in GSCW, as he is a good brawler. Katrazz did hit a great flying shoulder block in the match, a great spot.

Next was the mixed tag match that was announced before the build up. I really loved seeing Melissa in the ring again, as she is my favorite female in all of wrestling. She is a solid wrestler with a solid background who loves this great sport. Loony Lane is her polar opposite. There were 2 things making this match good. The first was the way Disco beat the hell out of the girls. The second was the way Loony's skirt stays above her waist the whole match. I remember a UPW special a few years ago where Bassman tells her the problem with the skirt. Since she hasn't fixed it, I assume she likes to shoe her goodies. The two women from APW made Loony give up after Disco chased their manager out of the building. This one was entertaining as hell.

Scott Lost took on Lil' Cholo. This was the typical great Cholo match. Lost looks good since coming off that huge hand injury. The two of them wrestled a great match, and if not for the finish, I'd have given it MOTN props. It ended after Cholo couldn't get in the ring after a shot from a ladder. Cholo lost by count out, but retained the lightweight title. Next show in a Cholo/Lost ladder match. I can't wait.

After a short intermission, Bobby Quance wrestled Excalibur. Excalibur said he was there to represent Super Dragon, but he might as well represented Smelly for all the topnotch wrestling he did. Excalibur showed his wrestling to be as rusty as the weight room in Roland Alphonso's house in this encounter. Quance dominated the early going with a string of dragon screw leg whips. Quance also hit a few great roaring elbows. Excalibur finally got back in the match with a bit of offense culminating in a giant brain buster. Bobby won via the shooting star press.

B-Boy, "The Punisher of the New Age" wrestled Jardi Frantz in the MOTN. They started out with some good hold for hold technical wrestling and mat work. B-Boy hit a roll of the dice, and a bit later Jardi hit a big nail in the coffin. B-Boy finished it with a massive knee to the face after Jardi kicked out of the cross special brain buster. Post match, the NoCal guys hit the ring and beat up B-Boy. Later, the SoCal guys hit the ring to even things up. It occurred to me that this was the APW b-team, and we sent ours to counter it. Is SoCal all cruiserweights? Where were the big guys? It looked to me like SoCal was just represented by the guys who Rev Pro fans love, and not the whole scene. I'd hate to think a Rob Black subsidiary was the representative for SoCal to the world. There was one heavyweight in the ring, and it was Rizanno. What more can I say? I'd love the invasion if it were more representative of SoCal as a whole.

After the ring cleared, Hardkore Kidd came out and talked about how Morgan and Modest ran from APW like it had crabs. I'd like to personally add that no SoCal fed has killed a guy who paid to train with them. God knows Rob Black (a part of Rev Pro now) has tried. That's all I have to say about the "invasion."

Hardkore Kidd beat D to retain the GSCW world title. D tried to act crazy and avoid the Kidd, but the match happened anyway. They fought a bit on an even scale, but in the end Kidd took the 3 with an Alabama slam followed by a seated choke slam. Decent title defense.

The main was a bit disappointing. Sabu clearly phoned this one in. He has wrestled Messiah on a number of occasions, and this time wasn't that great. They teased a lot, but there was no air Sabu, which was what I wanted to see. Sabu also totally blew a top rope 'rana. The pre cut table was so Nitro, and it just all was to no avail. The B-Boy/Jardi match should have been the main. It wasn't that the main sucked, I just wanted to see Sabu on an "on" night. I saw Nosawa backstage, and was told to kayfabe everyone on that, as he was a big surprise. The joke was on me, he wasn't a surprise at all, though I waited all night to see him. Sabu won after putting Messiah through that table.

All in all, I had a good time. I know this review sounds a bit negative, but it is not my intent. I had a fun time, and GSCW is a great fed. I just think that after the Dragon/Quance match last show, expectations ran too high. That match was too awesome for words, and it was a tough act to follow. Props to GSCW for a fun night out, and I cannot wait for the next show. I just wish it were in OC.

Thanks for reading,
Benjamin Tomas