Game Changer Wrestling (GCW)

[10.0] "Wether you like it or not GCW has changed the landscape of profesionnal wrestling and helped put so many talents on the map. They consistenly push the envelop and innovate when it comes to wrestling. Thanks for everything you have done."

[6.0] "[6.0] GCW right now is the most prominent independent promotion in the United States right now with a heavy cult following. They are more prominent right now than CZW is now which is the OG Deathmatch promotion. Shows are really fun to go to if you want deathmatch action and an alive crowd. Many journeymen and women go through GCW to elevate themselves. You will also see newer wrestlers trying to make a name for themselves. I just wish match quality was a bit better and they were more consistent but overall GCW is a fine little indie."

[8.0] "Fun "cult" promotion that carries a similar spirit like 90s ECW in a sense that they offer a mix of nearly everything modern wrestling has to offer. Hardcore wrestling, deathmatch wrestling, puroresu, pure wrestling, high-flying, feuds, drama, comedy. Watch 2 or 3 full shows on Triller, and the product will most likely convert you into a fan, if you enjoyed IWA-MS, ROH or PWG in the 2000s. The wide variety makes it incredibly easy to ignore the parts you don't enjoy (for me, that's ultraviolent wrestling). Also a great roster of many interesting young talents and great guests. The only thing negative I can say, is that great match cards end up disappointing way too often, while the most random of matches turn out to be quite great, on a positive note. If GCW was more consistent in terms of quality outputs, they'd be THE 10/10 independent promotion in the US."

[10.0] "Game Changer Wrestling may undoubtedly be the best independent promotion in the United States, and possibly the world. Anyone, who's anyone in independent wrestling wants to work in GCW. This is THE promotion in Independent Wrestling today."

[10.0] "Game Changer Wrestling is an awesome promotion that was founded upon the blood and the ultraviolence of deathmatch wrestling and continues to deliver awesome deathmatches to this very day at their annual events such as Tournament Of Survival, The Nick Gage Invitational, Homecoming, Art of Wargames. I would love to see GCW come to Fargo one of these days as chuds like myself love deathmatch wrestling in Fargo and want to see deathmatch wrestling happen in Fargo more frequently."

[4.0] "GCW has been on a downwards spiral for as long as I can remember now. I liked them in the pandemic but now their shows are just such slogs to get through. They've made some very controversial decisions behind the scenes that I can simply just not forgive. It feels like they've been trying to become the indie version of ECW, but it only looks like the Walmart version of it to me, at least for the last few years."

[8.0] "While I do have issues with the Cogar brothers being World Champion and Ultraviolent Champion respectively, for the most part I enjoy Game Changer Wrestling quite a bit. There's never been a show from this promotion that I've outright hated, and I adore roughly 90% of the people on the roster. Can the booking be improved a bit? Certainly but I feel there's always room for improvement. Definitely a worthy successor to ECW."

[5.0] "There was a point where GCW was easily the top independent promotion and had interesting feuds. It has lost a lot of its appeal as it as relied on meme talents and bad wrestlers unable to ascend higher to fill out the roster. Their major shows are typically catastrophes and they appear unable to get it together."

[7.0] "after being a fan for around 2 years, I can give an honest review. gonna ramble probably and I might scramble my thoughts up. im not a writer nor the best with words, sue me. first off, gcw isn't a pretty product. not a knock on them, even they know that. but its a place where wrestlers can try some new ideas and not feel restricted. theres a reason why released wwe wrestlers come here when theyre trying to start fresh and rub the wwe character off. hell Matt Cardona built his whole new character off it lol the audience even loves to see wrestlers fuck up as they know theyre getting a raw experience. my only actually complaint is that they had a solid couple months where they didnt show death matches (at least it felt like that long) and I just couldn't get excited. I always saw gcw as carrying on the deathmatch scene they way it was always supposes to so seeing none killed me. they seem to be over that period though. they have three sets of shows. Big events (listed on this page under the popular events), the shows they host in cities they frequent (think highest in the room, ashes to ashes or the coldest winter. not shows like big gay brunch or bloodsport) and the newer cities they/cities they dint have a string presence in (although id say there crowds are hot in alot of places.) theyre ranked in that order. they each have there charms to em. will say though they have less variety in there cards for the newer cities/not strong presence cities. sometimes in the events in cites they frequent too but I chalk this top to people not being able to make it and them working around it. I will say that id recommend checking out the deathmatches they show. great variety and they have been alot smarter with who to show in the DM scene. Like Danger, JWM, Parker, Sullivan, Bulldozer Treemont, Bronson. Redacted, Otis Cogar like they have a solid rating door. they have feuds going and really do try to make some stories out of them. some are good (stackhouse v KJ, Effy v Mance, Katch v Mason) while others are just there or fall victim to over ambitious ideas. I personally would rate an 8 for GCW for being home to favorites of mine but I like to think they are a right between 6 and 7. where any good sustainable indie promotion should be. I honestly dont think theyre ever worse than a 5 though. I read worse reviews and get the criticism as some are valid. it just reminds me that gcw is a promotion I learned to love."

[5.0] "A promotion that is helping keep the indies alive and well but not a good promotion whatsoever. The match and show quality is usually really poor and leaves a lot to be desired and their death matches are always sloppy and an uncomfortable watch."

[6.0] "Man, GCW is hard to rate. When it's good, it's fucking amazing; when it's not, it's fucking horrible. And recently it's been mostly, well, not good. I think all of this begins and ends with Brett Lauderdale. Sometimes he'll put together these absolutely wild matchups where it's like "Wow, I didn't know I need to see that but now I need to see it". Sometimes it seems like he has absolutely no idea how to actually run a business. They had a deathmatch with a planned fire spot and it occurred to literally NOBODY working for the company to have even one fire extinguisher on hand ringside. Bruh. Lots of other unsafe shit like that. Ask Sabu, if you could. You can do deathmatch wrestling while also making it safe. Lauderdale also doesn't seem to be very capable when it comes to long-term booking. Blake Christian was champion for an entire year and I can't remember a single one of his matches, despite watching a lot of them and knowing I enjoyed all of it because Christian is a fantastic wrestler. The problem is, it was literally just him showing up and defending the belt against, y'know, whoever. No rhyme or reason, no running storyline from show to show except "Blake Christian is a bastard. Isn't he such a bastard? " (and then they had to just drop it entirely because Christian decided to go do BOSJ for a month instead lmao). That's almost every match in GCW. (almost) Lauderdale pulls names out of a hat. And while it's usually *good*, it's rarely *very good*. And so many no-contests and fuck finishes, good lord. The exception is deathmatches, where the wrestlers virtually always put on a good show, provided the crew haven't accidentally set up some sort of literal death trap for them. I also want to point out, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention this, how GCW's tagline is "The Last Outlaws" while they hold WWE-sponsored events and are the only "unaffiliated" indie fed in America that WWE will let their talent work with. It just puts a bad taste in my mouth. Like, I don't care if it's WWE or AEW, you just can't call yourselves "The Last Outlaws" while also promoting one of the mainstream companies. Sorry Brett, you need to pick one."

[5.0] "I'm not going to deny that there's plenty of good things GCW has done, but at a certain point, it kind of gets lost in the sauce. flanderization is a real phenomenon, and I feel like it's really set in for GCW over the last few years, allowing for newer feds like DPW and West Coast Pro to catch up and potentially even pass it by."

[10.0] "GCW is one of the greatest professional wrestling promotions today. No matter who you are or what kind of wrestling you like, they have something incredible to watch. Comedy matches, graps, joshi style catch wrestling, high flying, technical ring psychology, deathmatches, gimmick matches, and an incredible crowd that adds so much to the experience. Most people who dislike GCW get their opinions from old man Cornette and haven't spent the time to watch a show. If the complaint is about deathmatches or excessive blood, I ask you: Does the UFC have excessive blood? Blood isn't an issue in a deathmatch, since the point is to see how far the two will push themselves, similar to a strong style match where talent works stiff. In any other match, blood adds realism. If you are a pearl-clutching wrestling puritan, I encourage you to look at the work of the greats of the past: Flair, Hogan, Abdullah, Piper; you will find endless examples of color that wasn't needed for a match (or promo), and realize that this is nothing new, and it is not damaging the publics view on professional wrestling."

[8.0] "GCW is one of the most unique promotions out there. It's raw, unpredictable, and thrives on giving fans something different. It's not always polished, and not every show hits the mark, but when it works, it captures a kind of energy that's hard to find elsewhere. Definitely not for everyone, but if you're into chaos and creativity, GCW delivers."

[7.0] "At one point felt like the second coming of ECW, but since then has had a few misses that have soured my feelings on this company. Unfortunately many of the shows are a crap shoot and could go either way of being good, okay or just bad. Hopefully they can get their stuff together and rise back up."

[3.0] "For a while GCW was the top of the indies in the USA, as well as the top deathmatch promotion in the USA. However sometime around the end of the carousel room era & first Hammerstein shows the decline really started. As a promotion that really reinvented itself by focusing on death matches it seems there was been much more of a decrease in focus on doing frequent deathmatches outside of shows were they are expected like NGI or their Japan tour main events, not only that many of their deathmatch regulars either left, had issues or got fired. Leaving only a small collection of "regular" deathmatch figures. During the peak GCW also offered a lot of variety bring in their more regular talents but also lots of Indy talent & foreign talent. For a while now GCW shows mainly consist of the same people of which aren't exactly the most interesting to get into unless you're a big GCW fan. Some people will act like promotions signing talent has prevented GCW from not booking more variety and engaging talents or spotlighting people you've never heard of from the middle of nowhere America into being on so many radars, I think that plays a small part I don't think this is the case, its also not like GCW hasn't been on good terms with many promotions that will allow their talent to do some shows. Unfortunately I don't really see this issue changing much anytime soon. Previously there were also strings of events with at least 1-3 interesting matchups or something engaging/noteworthy, now it's lucky to get 1 per month let alone per show. Even Bloodsport is becoming more of a wwe showcase than a place that wants to present some sort of Japanese shoot style & a love letter to martial arts in America. For the moment I can't give GCW a good rating, in the past it would have been between 7-10, even the original JCW was fine enough, but the current GCW just doesn't do it for me anymore."

[10.0] "Death match heaven. Raw. Real. Intense. This is the place. And Scarlet Donovan is my favorite refler. Her raising Giulia's arm was one of the most electric moment in my life. I came here just to say that. Her and Red Shoes. You see red- you know what's coming. She's seen things. All the things. With unflinching humanity. That's character. She's GCW's Willow from Buffy. Alyson Hannigan. It takes a while to notice how hot she is in a stern worried best friend's big sister sort of way. That is all. GCW!"

[7.0] "Some of the cards are a lot of fun and it's always a good time especially when they don't bring in someone known like Matt Cardona or Sean Waltman. They still do the deathmatch for the sake of doing one and I'm ALWAYS going to be on board with that. Watching two or more people stand around and wait to bit hit with light tubes and get their heads stapled to a door is skilled and exciting. It's great because they have some fun concepts like the Backyard Wrestling show every July 4 that's in someone's literal backyard. Getting rid of Kevin Gill was a great move but they're still lacking in a lot of important areas."

[4.0] "Some of the cards are a lot of fun and it's always a good time especially when they bring in someone known like Matt Cardona or Sean Waltman. They still do the deathmatch for the sake of doing one and I'm never going to be on board with that. Watching two or more people stand around and wait to bit hit with light tubes and get their heads stapled to a door isn't skilled or exciting. It's a shame because they have some fun concepts like the Backyard Wrestling show every July 4 that's in someone's literal backyard. Getting rid of Kevin Gill was a great move but they're still lacking in a lot of important areas."

[6.0] "When people think of "indy wrestling", they often think of GCW. It's your typical ultraviolent wrestling alternative when they do that kind of things, but it's also the super duper goofy alternative of wrestling. The fact that guys like Nick Gage and Joey Janela are top representatives of this company doesn't really speak well for it. I usually really enjoy it when great technical wrestlers face off in a main event, but other than that, it's a company that thrives on morbidity and bloodlust in general."

[3.0] "Utterly astonished that Game Changer Wrestling is this highly rated. In their promotional material GCW try to create the impression that they are some sort of spiritual successor to Extreme Championship Wrestling in terms of being a defiant rebellious promotion this I feel is false. GCW promote the lowest common denominator of wrestling most notably the death matches which are only designed to appeal to masochistic virgins who piggyback on their parents WiFi to watch. Promotions such as this exist only to make a mockery of the Wrestling business, need further proof of this? check out their "invisible man" match."

[4.0] "It's pretty garbage in my opinion and I do not typically enjoy this but one of the most redeeming qualities is Bloodsport and a few of their Death Matches. Other than most of the Bloodsport shows, it's a pretty disappointing company with not too many good wrestlers to its name but still a pretty poor poor company. I do like Matt Cardona in GCW though and I feel he really helped put the company on the map."

[6.0] "GCW's unrelenting tour schedule is something that could be envied by minor league promotions. What ultimately hurts them is the the absence of a TV deal (and that's probably not going to change given the nature of some of their more extreme matches.) Just the same, Nick Gage managed to become an indie figurehead, Matt Cardona has enjoyed a career renaissance, and other talents like Mance Warner and Matthew Justice enjoy better visibility thanks to their success here. They're definitely the top "AAA-Independent" level promotion in the game today. They have the touring presence to be considered a semi-national league, but their World Title has yet to reach the necessary level of prestige to warrant such a consideration."

[4.0] "I used to be quite a big fan of GCW and a lot of the talent they would showcase, but as time went on it was clear that they couldn't capitalize on their momentum. Sort of like the modern day version of PWG and ECW, it is a show all about the glory of wrestling and the insanity and silliness that comes with it. I ccan respect that, and it is clear that GCW is somewhere that wrestlers enjoy being and having freedom to do basically anything, but it is a show that I watch out of curiosity and I'm often disappointed or just dumbfounded with what they are booking or the ways their matches go."

[2.0] "At one point, GCW had all the hype and momentum needed to build on. When I first heard about them, I was excited too. All they had to do, was capitalize on the big names coming in. But when all eyes were on them, they delivered an unprofessional circus with terrible booking and glaring production issues. They've fallen off because they haven't been able to address the various problems holding them back. I don't think working for this promotion adds to one's resume as much as it takes away from it."

[7.0] "They have a lot in common with ECW, and they're not afraid to bring up undiscovered talent, and make them appear huge! It feels correct, somewhere in the middle of satisfactory and good but some of their larger shows have gone flat, and I'm not convinced they have what it takes to be consistently good."

"Such a refreshing company in todays era, the truly king of independent promotions, anyone can appear at their shows, plus also lots of good and innovative ideas. Really hoping they can expand to more places in the world, what a good company this is. Everyone should watch it."

[9.0] "The true company to take ECW's place, GCW is the third biggest company in the US. They put in some of the most entertaining shows if the modern era, building stars while featuring the current and the past. Sometimes they do get ahead of themselves and come off as annoying but they still put on quality content."

[6.0] "Innovative promotion with great ideas like Bloodsport, Spring Break, Big Gay Brunch but not well run. Not a big death match fan and some of their stunts have backfired and hurt their own wrestlers and fans. Has had a lot of good wrestlers like Mox, Janela, KTB, and Deppen putting on good matches but most of the time it just does not work for me EDIT: I have watched more of it and admittedly it has grown on me. Shows have a lot of talent and think that they do put on a lot of good shows."

[9.0] "GCW is the premier independent wrestling company right now. Brett creates cards with some of the biggest names in the industry. Out of any promotion on the scene, GCW does the best job including a variety of styles. You can watch top-tier deathmatches, lucha style, technical wrestling, etc. They have a great staple of younger wrestlers, like Jordan Oliver, Blake Christian, and Alec Price. GCW has run shows all over the world in the past few years, running in venues like Hammerstein Ballroom and Korakuen Hall. GCW is the place to be on the indies."

[7.0] "I respect what GCW is doing as a promotion in terms of finding good talent to rely on and putting out consistently good cards. They do variety of styles marketed to each audience within the wresting world. I think they CZW 2.0 but improved in a lot of ways. One of the better independent promotions in America at the moment. It's not my cup of tea in terms of quality and style, since they do cater to their indie-favored audience."

[7.0] "Overall a really impressive setup with the crowning achievement being a very talented roster some of which frequents AEW. The camera quality is excellent but they could do with switching up the angles more frequently, the episode I watched had an over the top view the majority of the show only changing when talent was in close proximity to some of the camera crew. It would also benefit this promotion to work on their sound equipment. Most promos were faded or hard to hear and the commentary team openly admitted to not hearing each other from time to time. The crowd energy was electric even for a crowd of probably under 40. Some additional time and planning could be gone into booking venues or expanding their ring size. There were a few times that due to the location of the barricades and stoutness of the ring talent had little to now room to perform spots and it raised higher risk of injury. Overall well booked matches and talented performers a solid show."

[6.0] "GCW does a good job of matchmaking (i.e., pairing the promotion's regular workers with exciting matchups against workers from other promotions). I've never regretted attending a GCW show, and - in general - you get bang-for-your-buck with any of their shows in major markets (I can't speak for smaller market shows they run). To the extent they do longer-term stories and angles, they have to rely on social media a lot. So if that's not your thing, it's hard to keep up. I very much enjoy their willingness to book different styles (incl. lucha, deathmatch, and super-indie)."

[7.0] "They're always running matches with people I'm interested in and respect as workers, so they must be doing something right. I can't comment much on their history as I'm a fairly new follower of their work, but for now, they've always reminded me of why I love wrestling once I've lost patience with most other promotions. I also appreciate how often they put on intergender matches."

[4.0] "Years ago this would get a 7 from me was a fun alt-indie promotion now it's about a 2. More negatives now than positives today, I respect that Brett turned JAPW into being this generation's answer to having the closest thing to ECW. However, ECW's talent pool and sheer creative were just far greater and better than anything GCW could ever put together"

[10.0] "I love GCW. I dont know if its possible for any wrestling promotion to be what the original ECW was, but GCW definitely lives on in the spirit of ECW. They have a vast array of talents & styles on the roster. The shows are often varied much like ECW was. Wether its technical wrestling, Lucha Libre, hardcore, deathmatch, scrambles, comedy, womens wrestling, inter-gender GCW has it all & more. I sincerely hope that GCW is around for a long time to come."

[10.0] "I like them a lot. They're the alternative to the alternative. While I'm not crazy about everything they do, I like the fact they're always willing to do something different. My chief complaint about them is that it's expensive to follow them after a while since 100% of their content seems to be iPPVs or PPVs. It'd be nice if they created some sort of streaming subscription similar to what NWA is doing on FITE.TV EDIT: I've upgraded my rating since they've improved production greatly. Sharper images, replays, split screens, and custom graphics."

[5.0] "Some mid promotion. Overrated for sure with some cringe stories like fake covid test. Still some great star are coming for wrestle for it."

[3.0] "A super indie, for all the positives and many, many negatives that that title entails. Some superb matches and some of the best workers in the world can be found here if you're willing to dig through a lot of nonsense, bullshit, and garbage presented by untalented, unworthy "talents" that belong nowhere near a wrestling ring. Watch at your own peril."

[9.0] "Always fun and consistent, showcasing a huge variety of talent, from the violent deathmatches to the highest of flyers. They run too many shows for my liking (especially over WM weekend), but that's more of a personal thing. I'm a huge deathmatch fan, and any company that features them is a big thumbs up from me. Doesn't hurt that their deathmatch division is full of some of the best in America - full of variety. Rina, Kasey, Hoodfoot, Tremont, Effy, Slade, Sawyer, JWM, Ciclope, Miedo, and Gage - all of them bring something to the table and they kill it every time."

[6.0] "GCW is a very hit or miss promotion, from time to time they put truly amazing shows and the Bloodsports is a very innovative a good concept, but most of the time their shows quality vary from average to meh, and even some incredibly horrible shows sometimes. That being said, they have a lot of good things like their crowds that always plays their role well on every show, the diversity and variety of matches and angles and some big names from different promotions all over the world appearing regularly, so you can at least say there's always something big happening to keep you interested in following the product in a regular basis. I'd almost say they're the american DDT if not for the fact that DDT have an amazing and more talented roster, but they're not too far."

[5.0] "GCW used to be on the top of its game and the best indy promotion in the world, and then it turned into A... I hate to quote Jim Cornette but outlaw Indy mudshow and A bit over the top. Joey Janela is an idiot. For ages they had Mox as champ despite being in AEW, and not defending it as much as you'd expect. The Hammerstein show was the beginning of the end, Mox VS Gage being painfully average was the last straw. GCW hasn't been good since 2021 or so, plus there's A lot of shows so its hard to keep track. 5/10"

[6.0] "I enjoy watching their death match heavy shows. They always deliver on those. What I really disliked is the build up to the Hammerstein show. All these part timers like Jarrett coming in and then going over the likes of Effy really hurt their momentum. This should have been the crowning of the gcw roster, yet they were cast aside for wrestlers way past their prime and drawing power. There also were a lot of directionless events lately, just for the sake of putting on a show. Events like TOS and NGI you really don't want to miss though. And while it's true they have something for everyone, to me it feels like catering to too many people hurts their identity. Get back to the drawing board and remember what put you on the map in the first place."

[9.0] "GCW has something for everyone. It's a great change of pace for me. I just appreciate the roster being violent for my entertainment."

[9.0] "Since the show at Hammerstein, GCW has gone a little bit off track, but not enough to deter me from rating the company highly. I hopped abord the GCW train at around the time of You Only Die Once in 2021, so fairly recently, GCW has its ups and downs. Its downs are oh-so-very-fucking-bad. Its highs however are phenomenal, and GCW as a whole contributes to some of the best indie wresting available at the moment. Whether you're a deathmatch fan, lucha fan, or technical wrestling fan, there's something for everybody at GCW, regardless of poor production quality or occasional botches."

[9.0] "GCW is truly one of the most interesting promotions in the world today, given the different types of matches you can have on one card. They do technical wrestling, deathmatch wrestling and lucha libre, to name a few styles. Not only can they provide these styles, they present them well. A super diverse roster, I have fun watching every event of theirs. Great at building stars too."

[6.0] "The best deathmatch company in America, but barely. They rarely do deathmatches anymore and when they do, they rely on imports from Japan and have struggled making any new homegrown deathmatch stars. Their regulars have all either plateaued or regressed dramatically. They definitely run too many shows with little to no story throughout. Their production is pretty bad most of the time, which is inexcusable for the #1 indie in America. Kevin Gill is horrible on commentary and really keeps me from watching unless it's must-see. A lot of GCW's appeal is less about the matches and more about the live environment. Nick Gage's run is over, their two champions (Jon Moxley & Alex Colon) aren't even on half of their shows. At it's peak, GCW was must-see from top to bottom but a lot of it now feels like filler and coasting off previous success. They haven't gone full CZW yet but they are approaching CZW levels of bullshit."

[3.0] "They run too many shows and don't have much of a direction. Mox is available? Just make him champ even if he can never drop the belt. PPVs have consistent audio issues? Run three a week and make it so people have no reason to pay attention to every show. Everyone complains about commentary? Never change the commentary. The pick me of deathmatch wrestling & a company where good matches happens in spite of the cards booked"

[8.0] "GCW is basically CZW on a great night showcasing some of the best hardcore / deathmatch wrestling i would give a 10 however some ppv's have 0 hardcore / deathmatch matches which makes it a boring card espically when the promotion is classed as a hardcore company. They try and add shoot fighting and mma which is stupid and has no need to be in the hardcore / deathmatch scene we want blood weapons and good old wrestling not mma or shoot fighting."

[2.0] "Pandemic did a number on the appeal of this company. Booking the same boring dorks over and over again and losing all the creativity that made them popular. I get most companies suffered during this but from the shows to possibly faking covid tests everything sucks. I like carny ass promotions and matches but the fun just isn't there. After the debacle in Hammerstein you'd think it would humble the promoter and main talent but nope. Just made the vibes around it worse"