MoS Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 As the OP said later, "moving like Jon Moxley" is being generous, but yeah they are def going to wrestle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 Zack Ryder doing a deathmatch, I never thought I'd see the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 I do love that GCW makes some weird-ass choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 This seems like a rather decisive refutation of the "look at all the money Zack Ryder made in WWE" argument. I don't think a guy who's set for life would be signing up to do indy deathmatches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 Was anyone claiming he was set for life? Maybe he was being paid higher than his position on the card (and I kinda doubt even that), but set for life? I wouldn't take anyone seriously who made that statement. I thought it was a great bit of pro wrestling. Gage was talking shit about him on Twitter (which in retrospect was clearly setting this up), Cardona got the crowd to believe it was Mox for a moment, and the crowd reaction going from "OMG ITS MOX" to "HOLY SHIT ITS MATT CARDONA" to "WTF IS THE ACTION FIGURE GUY DOING HERE" to "OMG NICK GAGE IS GOING TO MURDER THIS GUY" was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 2 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: This seems like a rather decisive refutation of the "look at all the money Zack Ryder made in WWE" argument. I don't think a guy who's set for life would be signing up to do indy deathmatches. Lol match with Nick Gage is its own meme booking that a whole lot of talent and people who it doesn't make much sense other than for lolz do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rah Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 8 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: This seems like a rather decisive refutation of the "look at all the money Zack Ryder made in WWE" argument. I don't think a guy who's set for life would be signing up to do indy deathmatches. Isn't David Arquette worth 20+ million still? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 Supposedly Cardona's action figure hobby/business is lucrative. This Gage thing sounds like Cardona doing what he wants to do now, having fun, and giving no fucks because he's already made his money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Schneider Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 Moxley is also setting himself up for an Indy deathmatch, and he certainly isn't doing for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 I can understand a somebody who has spent a decade on WWE wanting to do something different. I can even understand Mox and Ryder wanting to do a big spectacle deathmatch against a big name. I don't understand why they would want to work Nick Gage specifically or work a deathmatch in GCW specifically. They aren't exactly going to be selling out Kawasaki Stadium doing this and they are going to be in the ring with a guy who they cannot trust to keep them safe. Doesn't make sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rah Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 For better or worse, Gage has a name that makes buzz. I don't think we'd give a hoot if this was against AKIRA or John Wayne Murdoch. I imagine this is a mix of doing something different as well as a way to stay relevant. Ryder/Cardona will probably always be the "woo woo woo" guy (much like Duggan is the "ho!" guy) so he'll always be marketable but he's probably looking for a way to still rake in the Benjamins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 Its damn near impossible for me to reason why anyone of sound mind would willfully compete in these type of matches, period. It makes even less sense when you've already proven yourself capable of making the same amount of money wrestling a standard match and doing all your low-risk signature spots. For Moxley or a Cactus Jack or whatever, I guess I can understand that there's a "return to my roots" thing, that they came up and built their name on hardcore matches and thus will always want to prove they still have the guts to wrestle gory matches. For Arquette, I think it really came down to him being an adrenaline-seeking, attention-seeking addict with a history of doing reckless and self-destructive things (I'm not sure if he's sober now, but he's been open about his drug addiction and alcoholism in the past). I could be ignorant about it, but I was not aware that Cardona has a history of these type of matches. It seems like a silly idea for him to "go against character" and prove his toughness for no real reason. I mean, are there indy feds out there that aren't hiring Cardona because he won't stick himself like a pig and bump on thumbtacks? Does he reason that this will make him more marketable somehow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 I would never choose to watch a Zack Ryder match normally but I'd watch this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 Speaking of deathmatch goofs, Angel o Demonio (the guy who threw a cinder block at the head of his opponent) died of complications from COVID. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 5 hours ago, DMJ said: I could be ignorant about it, but I was not aware that Cardona has a history of these type of matches. It seems like a silly idea for him to "go against character" and prove his toughness for no real reason. I mean, are there indy feds out there that aren't hiring Cardona because he won't stick himself like a pig and bump on thumbtacks? Does he reason that this will make him more marketable somehow? While I think it's questionable to trust your body to a bingo hall nobody like Nick Gage, I will say in Cardona's defense that he desperately needs to reinvent himself. The Zack Ryder "woo woo woo" shit is completely played out. Displaying a different side of his character/personality isn't necessarily a bad thing, and it might get promoters to see him in a new light. Similar to the dead in the water CJ Parker becoming Juice Robinson, Cody reinventing himself with the list of dream matches after Stardust, etc. (Different situations there, but same overall effect.) Case-in-point: This is the most anyone has talked about Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona in years. Even his AEW/TNA stints were met with apathy and crickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 For as much as "Nick Gage is unsafe" has become a talking point, has there been any serious injuries in his matches besides David Arquette? The only other serious injury I could think of is when he almost bled out, but that was a freak accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintthecrippler Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 I would also be very shocked if Ryder ends up doing anything more dangerous than a thumbtacks spot, MAYBE a (relatively) safe flat back on some neatly organized light tubes, similar to the one Devon Storm/Crowbar took this past weekend against Ricky Shane Page, where he might get small cuts but not get fully shredded or torn to ribbons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 I am watching some Ron Starr matches from the Los Angeles territory, and I am curious if anyone more familiar with that area knows how big the ring they used was? Because it looks freaking gigantic!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 In those days it was common to use boxing rings for wrestling, so that's probably what's going on here. They also usually sucked to bump on since boxing rings were designed to have less give, which was a lot of the reason older wrestling was slower paced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 5 hours ago, sek69 said: For as much as "Nick Gage is unsafe" has become a talking point, has there been any serious injuries in his matches besides David Arquette? The only other serious injury I could think of is when he almost bled out, but that was a freak accident. Nope. He was involved in some of the most insanely violent matches to ever happen on US soil, and the only real injuries (beyond what was expected) were a freak accident and a match involving a guy who was greener than goose shit. To say Gage is unsafe is to ignore the 20 years of deathmatches he's been involved in where the only injuries were the expected cuts and bruises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rah Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 Lio Rush announced his retirement today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 48 minutes ago, Rah said: Lio Rush announced his retirement today. Didn't he do this once before? He says he dislocated his AC joint in the AEW match and he can't put on a shirt or pick up his kid. Once he's healed he'll work his NJPW dates and then he's done. Stranger things have happened in wrestling, but I don't buy it. He seems like a pretty emotional, heart on his sleeve kind of guy, I'm sure he believes it right now......but yeah, dude is only 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 6 hours ago, Laz said: Nope. He was involved in some of the most insanely violent matches to ever happen on US soil, and the only real injuries (beyond what was expected) were a freak accident and a match involving a guy who was greener than goose shit. To say Gage is unsafe is to ignore the 20 years of deathmatches he's been involved in where the only injuries were the expected cuts and bruises. Bryan freakin Alvarez worked with him! That dude ain't getting in the ring with someone he doesn't trust It makes complete sense for Cardona to do stuff like this if he wants to shake his WWE rep. This will earn him some street cred, especially if the match is actually good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted June 10, 2021 Report Share Posted June 10, 2021 Cardona's working the heel gimmick for this absolutely perfectly, too. Calling himself an "ECW Original" and shouting out "the GCW Universe" lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 10, 2021 Report Share Posted June 10, 2021 Jeff Gaylord is the subject on this week's episode of Crime In Sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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