I had been looking forward to GCW’s Joey Janela’s LA Confidential on November 16 for some time. The previous Joey Janela themed shows have been a lot of fun to watch on a screen, so I knew being there live would be something else. There is nothing like independent wrestling, and these shows have done a fantastic job of celebrating everything that is great and zany about it. There is a lot of wrestling in Southern California, so doing something different than anyone else is hard. GCW did it.
Great Sasuke over DJ Z [10’54]
This was only the third appearance for Great Sasuke in Southern California. He wrestled at the World Wrestling Peace Festival and another random independent show in 1996 then a Wrestle Reunion in 2012, so seeing him here was a rare treat. Originally Amazing Red was going to be in this match, but he had some flight issues and was replaced by DJ Z. I thought DJ Z looked really good in this, while Great Sasuke not so much. Sasuke is a legend, and it was fun to see him live once, but he has slowed down a lot and isn’t the Sasuke of old. Still, I thought they made the best of what they had and turned out a good match. Sasuke hit a top rope dropkick for the win.
Rating: ** 3/4
Tony Deppen over Jungle Boy [13’36]
I actually first saw Jungle Boy wrestle when he was something like 10 years old on a show Ric Drasin ran. He used to be a regular in Southern California, but aside from an AWS appearance when he was something like 12, he was mostly on smaller shows. He had moved up to Northern California and has been really getting a lot of hype up there. It was great to see how he’s grown as a wrestler. I thought Deppen had a really good performance in this too, and it was clear from the outset they wanted to steal the show. There were a few miscues towards the end, but otherwise this was great. I could see both wrestlers get a shot in PWG sooner rather than later.
Rating: *** 3/4
Brody King over Bob Holly [8’30]
This match saw King continuously taunt the veteran Holly as he ducked his chops. They eventually got into a pretty good chop battle, with both wrestlers delivering some pretty hard sounding hits. This was the second time Holly had been in Southern California lately, and both times he had pretty fun matches. King didn’t get to do a lot of his offense in that you’d normally see in his PWG matches, but he did well with the style of the match. King kicked out of an Alabama Slam and won the match with a lariat.
Rating: *** 1/2
.@Brodyxking vs @TheBobHolly at @GCWrestling_ #JJLAC pic.twitter.com/nu1a8pSyCh
— SoCal UNCENSORED (@socaluncensored) November 17, 2018
Penelope Ford over Human Tornado [19’00]
Human Tornado dominated most of the match and gave Ford a beating. She would occasionally mount a comeback only to get cutoff. Both wrestlers played their roles well, and Human Tornado has mastered making intergender matches come across so uncomfortable you are just waiting for him to get beat up. There were a few miscues but the biggest problem with this match was just the length. If they’d have cut maybe five minutes off it would have been much better. Ford won with a tornado DDT.
Rating: ** 1/2
Ethan Page over D-Lo Brown [11’44]
I like Ethan Page but wasn’t expecting much from this match. I was pleasantly surprised. Page and Brown worked really well together and put together a really fun match. Brown even hit a moonsault in it. There were even “you still got it” chants for D-Lo Brown after.
Rating: *** 1/2
Jimmy Lloyd over Kikutaro, Takashi Mimamino, Delilah Doom, Facade, Jake Atlas, and Chase Owens. [12’17]
This got a little sloppy at times but it was a fun spotfest that gave everyone in it a chance to showcase themselves.
Rating: ***
Fatu over KTB [6’30]
What a showing for Fatu. This was a fairly short match but Fatu looked fantastic. I haven’t seen a whole lot of KTB prior to this, but I thought he looked good. I wish some of the time for the Tornado and Ford match would have been added to this.
Rating: *** 3/4
Eli Everfly over Marko Stunt [11’50]
Finally a singles match between these two. DJ Z was originally going to be in this, but after he moved to the Sasuke match, they just made this a singles between Everfly and Stunt. Everfly attacked Stunt before the bell and the match started. They actually started a little slow and tried to build up to the high spots. At one point Everfly did a huge dive to the outside and Stunt got out of the way causing Everfly to wipe out on the chairs. The end saw Everfly hit a Canadian Destroyer off the stage through a door. Stunt hit his leg on the stage on the way down, breaking his fibula. The match was awarded to Everfly.
Rating: N/A (We have a policy of not rating matches where one wrestler is unable to continue due to a real injury.)
Nick Gage over David Arquette to retain the GCW Heavyweight Championship [17’56]
David Arquette has really trained hard to be a wrestler and had even been going to various independent shows just to watch. I’m not sure he knew what he was in for here though. Nick Gage has a ton of presence and such an aura about him. There was some brawling early then Gage put Arquette through a door. Gage brought out the light tubes, but out comes the injured Joey Ryan to make the save. He gets Gage to touch his dick so he can flip him, but then the Messiah runs in and tosses Ryan from the ring. The Messiah was a completely unexpected surprise that made total sense given his history with Gage and what a big name he was in Southern California wrestling in the early 2000s. From here the match gets crazy.
.@thekingnickgage tearing @DavidArquette up with a pizza cutter #JJLAC pic.twitter.com/Nry4kc7H5j
— SoCal UNCENSORED (@socaluncensored) November 17, 2018
Gage is hitting Arquette with light tubes. The Arquette hits a Diamond Cutter on Gage through light tubes. Gage is slicing Arquette open with a pizza cutter. At one point Gage has a light tube to Arquette’s forehead, and Arquette tries to get up or something and it appears the ligh tube cuts his neck. Arquette leaves the ring but then comes back. It looked like Arquette tried to fight Gage, but Gage tossed him down and pinned him. Arquette instantly got up and left. Outside of the ending this was great live. The atmosphere was insane for it. This was probably David Arquette’s best match.
Rating: **** 1/4
This show was a ton of fun and had an amazing atmosphere. I know GCW likes to do these in conjunction with big WWE pay-per-views, but I wouldn’t mind an annual show in Southern California. I’m not sure how the video will compare to the live experience, but Joey Janela’s LA Confidential is worth checking out.
