[9.0] "A very famous match in indie wrestling and GCW history that is still an all timer despite the overdone run ins for the finish. Cardona embraced this with gusto and his white outfit turning red is a sight to behold."
[7.0] "This was a pretty good match, although with a match like this, it's hard to rate. Nick Gage is easily the biggest star in GCW, he just has a connection to the fans that most people don't have. Matt Cardona is the opposite of Gage because he is a heat magnet, something that has carried over to his run in NWA. I'll give Cardona a lot of credit, he took a lot of abuse in this match, being hit by various light tubes and even being rammed into glass. The heat that Cardona had when he won the match as well as the GCW Championship was just insane. With all the drinks and garbage being thrown in the ring, it reminded me of when Hulk Hogan turned heel and formed the NWO with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. I would have given this match a higher rating, especially with the crowd lifting this match up, but two things took place that dropped my rating. First was when Gage had Cardona against the ropes and was cutting him open with a pizza cutter. Now if this lasted a minute, I wouldn't mind it. It felt like 5 minutes went by before they went to do something different. It wasn't just the pizza cutter either, broken pieces of light tubes were used as well. It went long enough to where I felt a bit uncomfortable. The second was the finish, which I'm not even going to explain other than it was overbooked. As someone who doesn't watch GCW, I wasn't that invested, but I know that pertains just to me and not the GCW faithful who watch all the shows. That being said, I respect the punishment they put themselves through and the crowd loved it. ***1/2"
[8.0] "This was first GCW match that I watched and to be honest, it was more impressing than I thought it would be. Crowd fucking hates Cardona, it's not hard to understand why, and despite the fact that I have very low opinion of Nick Gage, he worked the crowd very well here. Match was insane, so much lighttubes, and it's crazy to think how much has Cardona evolved since leaving WWE. It was '06 ONS if Cena won scenario. Overbooked as hell, but I like it. I was entertained."
"(9.0) GCW's most defining moment of the decade. Absolutely brutal stuff and enough spaced out to be believable, Cardona taking most the punishment here. Gage is actually very calculated in exactly the risks he takes and how far to go, resorting in the pizza cutter far more often because of how much control he has over that and the inability for things to go wrong. Some of the nastiest shots in all of wrestling with Cardona's back just absolutely eviscerated. It's disgusting. The crowds disdain for Cardona and chants of "Fuck Zack Ryder" off the jump. This is ECW One Night Stand 06 levels of heat, and perfectly mirrors the John Cena sidekick character he's largely been up to this point. Cardona's offense also looks great, it's just polished enough to piss off the crowd even further. If this match didn't have a cluster fuck interference in the final stretch (also reminiscent of ECW ONS 06) it would be perfect. The image of Cardona getting the 3 count, doing the HBK title holding moment, trash pelting the ring, and the dejected Nick Gage fan boy ring announcer dejected and announcing Cardona as the winner is just the icing on the cake. Just excellent stuff from two guys who are made for each other. Long live the GCW Universal Title!"
[7.0] "Whether it's hilarity from commentary essentially lauding Nick Gage as the contemporary Mr Rogers, a decent, civic-minded upstanding citizen, or the man himself's unique ability to create memorable antagonists, NG is an all-time American indie-scene antihero. A blue-collar fuck-up vs a corporate tool, this can be the birth of another indie feud-of-the-year. The match is Very enjoyable schlock. It's no-surprise Cardona bleeds much more from accident, going-through a glass table was his own offensive maneuver, than everything Gage threw-sliced at-through him, lightubes, pizza-cutter, etc. It's overbooked for-sure, but this was a Scene. 3 2/5"
[8.0] "This match was kind of genius, it was my personal introduction to deathmatches and I thought it was really unique, good character work from Cardona."
[3.0] "The overall storyline was really well done, but this match itself is pretty terrible. It is not good as either a wrestling match or a death match (particularly coming after the far superior Drew Parker vs. Alex Colon death match). The finish was also horribly overbooked. That said, it was cool to see Matt Cardona buy in so heavily to the death match style."
[8.0] "Clearly an UFO. That wasn't the best deathmatch I've seen but giving the thing that I saw Cardona in it was unreal. Anybody has taken the bet to see Zack Ryder in that kind of match. The dude took his beating here. Glass, pizza cutter, neons. He took the shit seriously. The Showboat booing him over and over as Gage was the savior. The final minutes were a bit odd but the final stretch was clearly a great plot. You'll never see another bout like this. That was just unique."
[10.0] "This might not be the best ever deathmatch in terms of violence or brutality or whatever the death match fans seek. I'm no death match guy so it is very difficult for me to assess but based on my limited knowledge, I can rank this as the MOTN and a hell of a brawl. It was a bloody fight fueled by hatred and enmity. The in-depth story-telling power made it very consistent and engaging. The ring psychology was on-point too. The story presented here was a death-match pro against a more naïve yet arrogant competitor in the deathmatch scene. The common assumption would be that Nick would unload at the cretin due to the bad blood at due between each other. He did that exactly and beat him to the pulp, relishing as he ached and screamed in excruciating pain. He examined Cardona's battered and bruised figure like a sadist and rightfully so as Cardona messed with the wrong bastard. One thing, I absolutely admire about Nick is that he might not be the most innovative deathmatch wrestler but his offense is straight down nasty and effective. It adds that realism to his matches and strengthens the foundation of in-ring psychology. The cold-blooded rivalry and its fallout was vividly showcased here with Nick giving no regards about the restraining order that avoided him from weaponizing the pizza cutter. He was ruthless and more so very callous in his demeanor towards the chicken shit. Another point that I would like to mention is the inclusivity of fans as they would hold the chair as he would smash Matt's head into it and also when he tried to chicken shit out, the fans stopped him from escaping. That is some high level loyalty there. The run-ins were a bit stressing but it lead to something which makes it bearable. It was the unexpected betrayal that led to Nick's perplexing and shocking defeat to a dweeb (kayfabe) like Cardona. It makes logical sense too as Nick had it under-control and was evidently going to win. The post-match heat was incredible and nuclear levels of heat. The match overall was hardcore and I thought it was fantastic. The drama level was exceptionally high and made it very investable even after the stalling that Nick did that allowed Cardona to have his few minutes of comeback sequence or glory. The pace was amazing as there was never a dull moment for its whole entirety such was my interest level in the match (the run-ins can be a wee exception but it was acceptable). It was a fiery contest and for most part one sided but that added to the essence of it which made it even more captivating. The atmospheric intensity and energetic vibe was at a very high level. Overall, a war of a match. Magnificent work. ****3/4"
[4.0] "This match is bad but I won't blame it on Gage or Ryder. Commentary was atrocious, constantly talking about how only a complete loser would lose to Ryder and that Gage shouldn't end up losing under any circumstances or were making dumb jokes to pop themselves. Also RSP ran in, turned face and then turned heel again in five minutes. Finish also came out of nowhere. Just an embarrassingly overbooked affair and GCW should be happy that people only saw the post match"
[10.0] "extremely crafted deathmatch here. nick gage is great as usual, with everything he does emitting tremendous crowd approval. star of this match though is Cardona. He's fucking great, everything he does, everything, ellicits such an extremely negative reaction from the crowd and props to him for rising to the challenge and not seeming out of place in a deathmatch with Nick Fucking Gage. Really good shit and an ending that's overbooked to hell but fits the story they were telling."
[9.0] "Extremely well-built match. Nick Gage is basically the antithesis of Cardona, and ex-WWE midcard guy who rarely even had No DQ matches, let alone deathmatches. Gage beats the shit out of Cardona, makes him bleed, gets the crowd hype, and everything Matt does gets huge heat. The action is standard but well-paced and had an ideal dynamic. The run-ins were great, especially the Jericho fake-out and the RSP betrayal to cost Gage the match. Cardona gets big props for taking deathmatch bumps and bleeding from the pizza cutter, staining his white shirt red, and the finish sequence was punctual and immensely heated. People were throwing FULL cans of beer at him for winning the title, the dude had unspeakable hatred for beating Gage, and he sells the win like the Boyhood Dream before flipping the crowd off and cutting a backstage promo full of WWE-isms. Insanely good angle with a solid match to back it up. ****+"
[8.0] "Matt in der Death Match Welt ist ungewohnt zu sehen. Er kam mit Handschuhen was ein wenig an Steve Corino bei IWA Mid-South erinnerte. Hat nicht genützt er hat so stark geblutet das glaubt man ja nicht. Kleine Empfehlung für The Major Pod Network da sieht man eine Szene wo Matt und Chelsea Green im Hotelzimmer sind und die Decke ist voll von Blut. Selbst als Matt da Tape auf der Stelle hatte blutete das weiter. Eine der Funny Szenen war wo Nick den Stuhl nahm und die Vitrine mit den ganzen Wrestling Figuren zerstörte. Pizzaschneider (Domino Pizza hat es nicht gesehen) und Leuchtstoffröhren kamen auch zum Einsatz. Matt hat es hier allen gezeigt er kann mehr als nur Main Stream, 8 Death Match Punkte."
"7. 5/10 is my rating for this match. This match was pretty slow the first minutes but later it was way more exciting with some extreme spots. I never expected matt Cardona to watch him wrestle a death match."
[8.0] "Something between hardcore and deathmatch. It was good to see Cardona in a match like this one. After being sliced with pizza cutter he started crying like a little girl. Holy shit, that was hilarious. But honestly, he is one tough dude. He was selling great tonight and the finish was superb. Just a seconds after he won the match and became new GCW champion, the crowd went nuts. People were throwing all kinds of shit inside the ring. Great storytelling and plot twists. I recommend this one."
[10.0] "A Great story was told of Matt being the pussy and getting advantage early. tides turned when he took the spear through the glass, and Matt got to bleed. then the Jericho tease, the 44OH and RSP stuff along with RSP costing Nick Gage works great. Fun overbooked mess. THE HEAT WAS PHENOMENAL"
[9.0] "Was there live. It was incredible. Maybe a little confusing with the 44. Oh stuff. Cardona can HANG & went above and beyond! Nick Gage is still the God of this SHIT... Cardona can have his moment though..."
[8.0] "Not the best in ring match and a lot of overbooking by the end, but to be honest it's one of the summer matches. The atmosphere and everything built around was awesome. There is nothing more to see the fans, their reaction and all the tweets. Really great job!"
[6.0] "Almost all points given for the way Cardona worked the crowd. Gage did his job well too, in fact this was the best of the admittedly few Gage matches I've seen. Wish they would have chosen one interference trope at the end instead of trying to have it both ways with two."
[7.0] "In meinen war das alles ein großartiger Angle. Von der Ankunft Cardonas, wie man ihn als totalen WWE Typen aufgebaut hat, der mit Deathmatch Wrestling nichts am Hut hat bis zum Match. Man spielt kurz sein altes WWE Theme, er kommt mit Handschuhen und bringt die Crowd richtig gegen sich auf. Das Match selber ist ganz gut, wobei ich halt kein Deathmatch Wrestling mag und es daher nur am Rande verfolgen werde. In den ersten Minuten lebt es davon, dass man wartet bis Cardona den ersten harten Spot nimmt bis er dann letztendlich durch die Glasplatte fliegt. Er fängt sofort an zu bluten und steckt auch danach ordentlich ein. Hut ab, dass er so ein Match durchzieht und aus dem Run kann man einiges rausholen. Der Eingriff sah zwar ziemlich lame es aus aber es lief eh auf den Low Blow von RSP hinaus, der letztendlich die Niederlage von Gage einleitet. Die Heat danach war unfassbar, es fliegen gefühlt 1000 Flaschen und Becher. Als Match ordentlich, als Angle großartig."
[7.0] "As a match this was basic death match stuff, a little slow, big pops off of a lot of posturing and playing to the crowd, blood, and a bunch of breaking glass. As an angle, and a piece of booking though this was really good. I haven't really followed GCW, Gage, or Cardona, but this match made me feel invested in all of them through the commentary, the crowd reaction, and the angles intermixed. Great way to get the belt off Gage and make feel earned before having him go on to lose to Jericho on a bigger platform, and give Gage a feud in GCW on the other side."
[4.0] "wow, this was kind of... boring. It's nice to see Matt can kind of hang in the deathmatch genre, but i've seen far, far better. The result was incredibly bizarre too, I get why they overbooked it to high hell and protected Nick, and this is definitely getting ran back once the Jericho/Gage thing is done I feel, but this felt pretty bog-standard. Rating: **"
[10.0] "I had an absolute blast watching this match. You could easily pick it apart and find faults but wrestling is at its best when you're just riding the vibes and everything is clicking, and it was for me with this. Not often that you can get an atmosphere and heat like the kind Cardona did here, and Gage is obviously a big part of that."
[10.0] "They got me. I really thought face RSP was back. Simply can not trust someone from Ohio. This was fun and pure spectacle with an insane finish and a great visual of visceral anger from the crowd. Its hard to tell where they are going from here but there's nod doubt to me this ruled. Ton of respect for Cardona for going full deathmatch."
[10.0] "4. 5 Stars - Fuck This was so good. This realistically is like a 3. 5 Star match in ring but the booking in this was fucking flawless and it accomplished so much in 1 match for the company , its honestly some best booking I've ever seen from GCW or in indy wrestling in last couple years since the OTT Starr vs Delvin vs Walter matches. this started great with Cardona playing his old WWE theme, he comes out as a complete shit bag and is the antithesis of what this promotion is with his shitty WWE inspired gear but white in the attire is always great for a death match. Gage is a fucking god and especially with the heat in this match, he could crowd surfed all the way to the ring. The ring intros were great with the obvious bias being in Gage favour with the lazy intro for Matt. The in ring wasn't really anything special and props to Matt for hanging in that environment and taking all that punishment. Gage played his role well as the never say die babyface and going after with his all intentions. The overbooking here is something the really juice of this match and something you rarely see with it enhancing the match. The Judas fakeout with the entrance is genius with Gage upcoming match against Jericho. Then to play off the feud that GCW had been built up through whole year with 440H vs Gage and having them come in was great. Let Gage kick some ass, the RSP swereve was genius as he turns on 44OH and allows Atticus, whos getting a big push in the company as the leader, you keep RSP the despisable heel and gives Matt someone to tag on the promotion, give the mega heat and makes Matt the biggest heel on the indies and keeps Gage from a bad loss and still mega babyface. Wonderful booking."
[8.0] "Really fun stuff between Gage and Cardona, this was the most anticipated match of the year in Game Changer Wrestling and in my opinion it delivered to the hype. Again, it depends on what people like and what their expectations were but I had a great time watching this main event. I can understand why some people didn't like the overbooking at the end but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the Rickey Shane Page betrayal and Cardona's victory, seriously look at the atmosphere in the room when Cardona wins, it was a heat worthy of John Cena at One Night Stand 2006. The match has its flaws of course as Cardona has no business being in this type of match in the first place but you can't fault the guy's involvement in this match, he didn't come in to make a show and create a shocking moment, he really gave it his all and took some nasty bumps. The two of them worked well together and just for the surprise and the crowd, I loved it."
[5.0] "Even for Deathmatch standards this was pretty mediocre. Yes, Cardona has "heat" or at least drunk smarks wanting to boo him out of the building, but if you're comparing it by the kind of crazy, death-defying shit we've seen a guy like Gage do, this was pretty meh, lots of the basic spots you've seen from him before and then some, a lot of domination and punishment before the convoluted ending happens. I get it, you want to protect Gage from losing here, but if you have to jump through so many hoops of having a group beatdown and a betrayal at the same time for the sake of trying to sell the fact that Gage was screwed, then maybe you've booked yourself in a corner and need to revise things. Alright for the genre but this was more of a angle than a actual full match."
[7.0] "Auf dem Papier schon sehr interessant und die Matchstory ist gut umgesetzt, wenngleich Cardona nicht die beste Besetzung für diese Rolle ist. Wie es sie es im Match erzählen, ist schon sehr passend. Allein der Entrance zeigt schon, in welche Richtung das nun geht. Nice. Das Wrestling ist ziemlich überschaubar, aber man steigert gut die Deathmatch-/Hardcore-Action und legt storytechnisch da ein passenden Hauptaugenmerk, welches schlichtweg funktioniert. Dann kommen wir jedoch zum Overbooking in der Schlussphase. Der Jericho-Tease war rückblickend effekthascherischer Blödsinn, der dem Match mehr geschadet als geholfen hat. Der Eingriff von 44OH! schon passender, aber mit dem doppeltn Twist auch an der Grenze des Erträglichen. Dass man es nicht "clean" durchzieht, ist verständlich, aber das war dann doch zu viel und hat für mich zu stark das Spotlight auf die RSP/Gage-Geschichte gezogen, dabei passiert hier ja doch etwas Größeres. So bin ich nicht mehr bei glatt gut (8P), sondern schlicht sehenswert (7P)."
[4.0] "You've heard this a million times and I know it's a boring argument to bring up but I just don't enjoy death matches. Yes, there have been matches of this style that I've found acceptable and this certainly wasn't the worst; Cardona did an awesome job playing the heel and got some great reactions from the crowd but it's just really not my cup of tea. And when a deathmatch fails to illicit any kind of emotion, it's hard for me to find things to praise about it. **1/4"
[6.0] "In terms of death match wrestling booking it's a satisfactory bout and nothing more, the importance of the match is due to the result, the overbooking and the rest. Bell to bell a good fight, nothing more."
[9.0] "Is the match itself worth a 9? Not really, as a match it's a ***3/4 for me. But I view it more as an angle, and it's defnitely a 9/10, maybe even a 10/10 angle. Cardona did surprisingly well in a deathmatch, and Gage was as good as always, but what makes me put a rating so high is all of the overbooking in it, and that's rare that my rating improve because of overbooking. First, Jericho's music hit and someone rushes the ring, it was a nice bait. Then, the main thing, 44Oh! comes to the ring and they start beating Gage up, and RSP makes the save in a very surprising way. They beat up 44Oh! , but then RSP hits a low blow on Gage while Gage was going for a face wash and reveals to all of us that he is still the same old son of a b*tch. Cardona hits Gage twice with lighttubes, hits a Rough Ryder and, like about 10 persons called, won the GCW title under a shower of bottles. It was unreal, a masterclass from GCW. RSP and Cardona, who were already hated, are now the public ennemies of the GCW fans and Gage is more than ever a hero in defeat. If we take everything into consideration, my rating goes from ***3/4 to ****1/2."
[10.0] "You deserve it for every single fucking year since 2011 that they disregarded him, forgot what he did for the business, thought he was a joke. Matt Cardrona is no joke. He is only GCW World Champion"
[10.0] "Perfect match and I really do not like this type of violence in general. Cardona is the perfect heel for 2021 GCW, and Cage is over enough so the crowd creates a completely different atmosphere."
[5.0] "I am really sad writing this comment. I watched live a match that is a shame for GCW. The match itself was correct, Gage dominated Cardona a lot, what is logical since Cardona is new to deathmatch, and since Gage was really angry. The using of lighttubes was good, they built well some spots and Cardona played well his role. However, too much interferences downsided the match when it was really good, they did a face off between Gage and Cogar, but for nothing, since Gage lost the title to Matt Cardona. Then the brawl between RSP and 44. 0H! was completely nonsense, for me watching H2O on regular basis, and seeing what happens there with 44. 0H! . Then, Cardona won. Yes, in his first match in GCW, in his first deathmatch, he just took a win over Nick Gage for the GCW World Championship. I don't even know if I am gonna continue to watch GCW, it makes me think about what happened to Impact. **3/4"
