GCW MDK Fight Club (4.16.26) review 

 

April 16, 2026 

 

WRESTLEMANIA WEEK REVIEW #8 

 

We’re at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas. I’m not convinced I should be doing back to back shows with death matches on them but Death Vegas just fucking ruled, so here we are. During Gage’s match on the last show I suggested he just host a show instead, so he can do his entrance and then relax and watch other people maim each other. Well, shit, that’s exactly what this show is.  

 

SLADE vs. Dr Redacted  

This is no ropes, barbed wire death match. Gage tells these two to “fucking kill each other”. SLADE gets busted open immediately. I think Redacted held his head and Redacted’s hidden blade (hehe) stabbed SLADE into the head from his wrist tape. It’s a gusher folks.  

SLADE, the sick fuck, suplexes Redacted into the wire and he just goes through it to the floor. FUCK. The bumps in this are not clean at all, but you can understand it with the barbwire everywhere. SLADE chokeslams Redacted off the apron through a door covered in barbwire and that’ll do it. **½. I had fun here, but barbwire is not condusive to a good match. It really, really sucks to work with it and everyone has to be super careful not to fuck themselves up.  

 

We get a long break while they put the ropes back up. About an entire quarter of the show. Then, AFTERWARDS, they bring out Megumi Kudo and play a career retrospective on the big screen. You couldn’t have done this while you were sorting the ring out?  

Megumi Kudo is one of my favourite professional wrestlers of all time. Not even kidding around. Exceptional wrestler. Great at the same shit everyone else was great at but then went and rocked hardcore style. If you ever watched FMW, you’ll know exactly how important she is to the history of pro-wrestling.  

 

Charli Evans vs. Vipress vs. Rina Yamashita 

The ladies bring flowers for Kudo and Yamashita is still covered in blood from the main event of Death Vegas. As we start this we have only one hour left on this show. What a bizarre experience this has been. The approach to this is surprisingly lame. Yamashita is just coming off a brilliant, blood-soaked match so you can forgive her for taking it easy here. A lot of the match is clunky and mistimed. Evans is the only one who makes an effort to improve matters. Vipress takes it with a piledriver, the only thing she really landed all match. Yeah….this wasn’t good. * 

 

Toby Klein vs. Otis Cogar 

This was billed as non-title, but Cogar looks to be putting his belt on the line. Klein looks quite badly deteriorated. I don’t remember the last time I saw him. I would estimate 2005?  

The match is very sluggish. Mostly involving punches and them stabbing each other in the head. The finish is a chair shot, which busts the side of Klein’s head open, and blood immediately starts gushing out of it in horrific fashion. Ewww. * 

 

Bear Bronson & Mr Danger vs. Masato Tanaka & Hayabusa 

So, Nu-Hayabusa is RAICHO, who started his career into his 30s but got semi-decent working for Zero-1 and switched to this tribute gimmick.  

Mr Danger has incredible high flying stuff. His moonsault to the floor is SO high. I’m less convinced by him in the ring but sometimes you can wow people with the flips, and they don’t notice anything else. Hayabusa does very little here. Mostly absorbing heat.  

I won’t go into why I think doors being under the ring is stupid, but GCW finally bought a god damn table and left it under the ring. We get some unprotected chair shots (it IS Tanaka) and then the match just falls apart in a string of leg slaps. We get a second table (cue the George Bush picture) and Mr Danger puts Hayabusa through it with a springboard 450 splash. I popped, ngl.  

 

It’s so weird how Hayabusa has just been a cosplay punching bag in this though. One Falcon Arrow and one 450 Splash later and Hayabusa wins. This was a prime late WCW Randy Savage turn from Hayabusa. He did almost nothing but still won. The match was a bit of a mess at times, but it had amazing high spots. **½  

 

The 411: 

A really short show with almost nothing worth seeing on it. The bookends were both decent pro-wrestling matches but for Nick Gage to host an almost completely forgettable show is so weird. When I’m looking at this show on my show list at the end of this weekend, I will probably forget what’s on it. Compare that to Death Vegas, a much, much better show and there’s no real comparison at all. The only thing I may remember is that Megumi Kudo was here! 

 

Show Ranking:  

NJPW Death Vegas 7.5 

Wrestlecon Supershow 6.3  

Dragon Gate USA: Gate of Sin City 5.8  

Progress 5.6  

Hybrid x PWU Midnight Xpress 4.1  

MDK Fight Club 4.0  

CCW High Rollers 3.4  

Podermania~! 3.1

 

Best Matches:  

Tremont & Gage vs. Takeda & Yamashita vs. Desperado & Kasai (NJPW Death Vegas) ****¼  

Zack Sabre Jr vs. Fuminori Abe (NJPW Death Vegas) ***¾  

Mark Davis vs. Masato Tanaka (Wrestlecon Supershow) ***¾  

Man Like Dereiss vs. Michael Oku (Progress) ***½  

Manders vs. Thomas Shire (Hybrid/PWU) ***¼  

Bandido vs. Galeno del Mal (Wrestlecon Supershow) *** 

Ben K & Hyo vs. Aero Panther & Fight Panther Jr vs. Jordan Oliver & Alec Price (DGUSA) *** 

 

Number of coffees drunk; 4