Game Changer Wrestling Is Changing The Game

Dan Scotti
Sep 7, 2018 · 9 min read

Due to the hype surrounding GCW’s two shows in New Orleans during Wrestlemania weekend, I interviewed GCW’s co-owners, Brett Lauderdale and Danny Demanto, GCW Extreme Champion Tony Deppen, as well as the producer of the show’s vignettes, Giancarlo Dittamo, and former WWE superstar James Ellsworth.

Wrestling’s biggest weekend of the year is just around the corner, and piledrivers or not, the hype is unreal. For the uninitiated, Wrestlemania weekend has become a hotbed for indie dream matches. ROH, Progress, and even WWE/NXT put together cards that have fans excited. Nearly all the weekend’s action could be described as “can’t miss.” But the shows that have everyone talking are being run by Game Changer Wrestling. Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2 promises to be better than the original. The Bad Boy gets the opportunity to face his dreamiest dream opponent in The Great Sasuke. More on that card in just a second. GCW didn’t just stop there. They’re kicking off the weekend with Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport, a show where each contest must be decided by KO or submission. The eponymous former UFC fighter steps in the ring with the notoriously stiff, Low Ki, in a fight that Jim Ross would undoubtedly call a slobber knocker. Each of these cards, though, are chock full of slobber knockers, dream matches, and bouts you never knew you needed. The aptly-named GCW is changing the game of professional wrestling, and they’re doing so for the better.

Pro wrestling is an industry that is often reluctant to change. For every Ultimate Deletion or Will Ospreay/Ricochet GIF, there’s a curmudgeonly veteran tweeting about so-and-so killing the business. GCW lives to be different. Co-owner Danny Demanto attributes that desire for differentiation to getting them where they are today. “We wanted to book the stuff that fans want to see, and stuff fans never knew they wanted until we delivered it to them,” says Demanto of their current product. GCW had quietly been putting on killer shows in New Jersey. It was last February, after their show, New Face of War (which featured a Pumpkin Patch deathmatch among others) that co-owner Brett Lauderdale realized that they deserved a spot in the Mania weekend lineup. “I knew [GCW] was still mostly unknown on a national level, so we would need a ‘hook.’” Fortunately for them, GCW mainstay, Joey Janela, was making a name for himself taking big bumps and not giving a fuck. It was a natural fit to run a Bad Boy-themed show called Spring Break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=D8r3ISK6dfc

GCW’s co-owners emphasized the importance of collaboration and teamwork when putting these shows together. After Brett had come up with the idea for the first JJSB, he pitched it to the team, and they debated as to whether or not it was viable. “I didn’t ‘know’ wrestling fans would go for it, but I always think as a fan. Given the format, I thought to myself…well I’d go to that,” Lauderdale told me. But after discussing it as a team, the guys decided it could work. The next day, he reached out to WWN (the governing body that coordinates the Wrestlemania weekend schedule) about getting a time slot, and they worked out a deal. Soon enough, they’d find out it did work.

What about the first Spring Break, besides this terrifying gif, was so special? Why was it different than any other indie show that ran Mania weekend? It was a party. A party with wrestling. There were dream matches, nostalgia, violence, and an invisible man! It’s a perfect summation of pro wrestling and an even more perfect summation of GCW. There was something for everyone. Eddie Kingston basically stabbed Matt Tremont. Lio Rush and Keith Lee did flips and shit. Oh, and WCW’s Mortal Kombat-inspired Glacier made a cameo too. It might not have had everything you ever wanted, but it had everything you didn’t know you needed.

one year later |

The biggest difference between JJSB1 and 2 was time. [The first] was planned and pulled off within 7 weeks. We knew the moment it was over that we would be rolling right into New Orleans for part two.

— Danny Demanto

The hype for Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2, much like Wrestlemania, really kicked off right after the Royal Rumble. If WWE runs on the Road to Wrestlemania, GCW has had a highway billboard at nearly every stop. The Monday following the event, GCW released their first vignette that revealed Janela would get his ultimate dream match against former Japanese legislator/legendary wrestler The Great Sasuke. It’s something that Janela later uncovered an Instagram of his from several years earlier, that was a pipe dream that he never thought possible. It set the pace for what kind of show this would be. Sure, it was going to be a party. But it would be like the Moroccan Christmas Party in The Office, only without the intervention. It didn’t stop there because they’d keep that hype rolling with the Matt Riddle calling out Low Ki to a fight at Bloodsport. With each week and each vignette, GCW kept raising the stakes. Indie standout David Starr convinced Mike Quackenbush to have one of his final matches against him. If you haven’t seen it, make sure to watch this dope announcement below to really get the gist of just how hype all this hype is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcJqQf5zTro

But who on earth would even think up some of these matches? Does Janela throw darts at a board with the names of 90’s wrestlers on it? “These matches are all basically a team effort,” Brett Lauderdale told me, “it’s not any one person (including Joey) that ‘books’ these shows. We all throw out ideas, argue, and debate. Eventually, we agree at what seems best and most realistic.” Ok. There goes that dartboard theory, for now. Danny Demanto believes that the #1 reason JJSB is what it is because of the teamwork. “There’s four of us putting in full-time hours to make these the biggest shows at Mania weekend,” Demanto explained. It seems to be working for both fans and the talent. Spring Break and Bloodsport could both make a case for the cards that indie fans are most excited about. Even former WWE Superstar, James Ellsworth, now back on the indies, is looking forward to Spring Break. “GCW did reach out to me, and I’m very happy they did about wrestling Riddle,” Ellsworth remarked. He’s not alone. Lauderdale mentioned that Pierre Carl Ouellet, part of the former WWF tag team the Quebecers, can’t wait for the show. “He texts Joey and Danny multiple times a day talking about hyped up and ready he is for the event.”

https://twitter.com/PCOQuebecer/status/978000725623103488

Their teamwork extends beyond planning shows. The vignettes, made by Giancarlo Dittamo, are also subject to the same set debates and collaboration. “Usually it’s Joey having an idea and me coming up with the ‘pop.’ Or it’s the other way around. Once we figure it out it’s just like ‘yup that’s it!’ Sometimes someone else on the team chimes in, ‘Hey Scott Hall should be the genie!’” It’s resulted in some pretty memorable promos that words won’t do justice, so just take a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g0W9GhO--k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnOHgXoLpk

Giancarlo Dittamo’s work to promote these shows has received praise across the Internet. Despite being a freelance producer, he’s an integral part of the way GCW has changed the game. He grew up watching WWE in the late 90’s and knew he needed to be part of the business in any capacity. He didn’t go to film school, but that hasn’t stopped him from developing a truly unique, emotion-driven style to tell stories. “You’d be surprised how little wrestling I consume. I watch a lot of garbage television and movies,” Dittamo told me. He’s not really sure where he draws his inspiration from. “Of course if someone tells me to check out a ‘cool movie’ that they think I’ll be into I’ll check it out. I never had any of those classes where they make you watch movies and dissect them.” Much like Brett and Danny, Giancarlo looks at it through the lens of a fan and thinks about what they would want to see, hear, and feel while watching his vignettes.

All this hype doesn’t come without its pressure. Giancarlo admits that he’s guilty of coming down to the wire with releasing each announcement, but he feels he works better under pressure. “It gets everyone else on the team biting their nails, but by the second or third announcement, they got used to it.” He feels the real pressure comes with synchronizing the posts across social media to be up at the same time. On top of that, Dittamo is always hesitant that the next hype video won’t be able to top the one before it, but they haven’t run into that problem yet. “We’ve been really fortunate, and every announcement seems to feel bigger and bigger, week by week. I am so grateful for that.”

Members of the GCW roster are just as excited about the event. GCW Extreme Champion Tony Deppen loves being part of what Brett & Danny have put together.

I have a lot of things that make me love working for GCW; whether it is the passion of their fans, the dedication that Brett and Danny have been putting into GCW over the past 2–3 years, or just the atmosphere that surrounds their shows. But my favorite thing that I have enjoyed most about working with GCW over the past year is their positive outlook, and their mentality towards the wrestlers when it comes to their matches. It is never, ‘Hey well, don’t do this, or don’t say this.’ Instead, they tell you to be you. The first time i returned to GCW after a year of absence, I went up to Brett and asked him, ‘What do you want me to do?’ He simply responded with, ‘Kill it and be you.’ Something about that clicked with me so hard. I immediately went out and turned my volume back up to 12; which was nice because I felt like my volume went down to about 5. I just didnt feel like myself, or what that got me to where I was currently at for the few months leading up to that. But it was such a refreshing thing to be there and just be me. Not concerning who may stab me in the back, or like I was walking on pins and needles. It was just fun, and we all had a common goal of just making every show the best possible show; no mailing it in on these shows, you either show up and shut up. That is when the best comes out in me, and it has been nothing but an extremely fun ride so far, and it will all culminate at the biggest party of wrestle mania weekend; and that is Joey Janela’s Spring Break.

— Tony Deppen

A New Tradition

I think Spring Break is becoming a Wrestlemania weekend tradition for independent wrestling fans to look forward to every year, it’s a very different, unique, and fun show.

— James Ellsworth

GCW’s story is an inspiring one. Two years ago, Joey Janela worked one show Wrestlemania weekend in Dallas. He sold one shirt and didn’t have enough money to eat food on his way home. Now, he’s main eventing arguably the biggest show Mania weekend that isn’t being run by WWE. It’s an odd time frame, but one year and nine weeks ago, GCW was still relatively unknown. They knew they belonged, they saw an opportunity, and they took it. As Bloodsport and Spring Break 2 are just days away, it’s safe to say that they’ve created a new tradition. Other wrestling promotions can learn from their innovation and success. “Sure, you can just copy the formula ‘Wrestling Promotion’ presents ‘Wrestler’ + show name, but I’m hoping Spring Break inspires more thinking outside the box when it comes to promotion and producing events. And ultimately more people to be creative in our community,” says Giancarlo Dittamo.

Next year, GCW has the pleasure of having Mania in its home state of New Jersey. Danny Demanto assured that as long as Joey doesn’t sign his name to a contract that prevents from doing it, there will be Spring Breaks for years to come. It’ll be easy to start fantasy-booking, but one has to wonder if GCW already has anything up their sleeve. “Of course we’ve already started talking about next year’s Mania…the possibilities are endless.” — Brett

Want to watch Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport and Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2? Buy them on demand here at Fite TV.

And So Fourth

A Collection of Unpopular Opinions on Unpopular Culture

Dan Scotti

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I type like 103 WPM, but that doesn’t mean any of it’s actually good

And So Fourth

A Collection of Unpopular Opinions on Unpopular Culture

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