Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) announced the return of the Acid Cup tournament, in tribute to early indies pioneer Trent Acid, after a four year hiatus on Wednesday night, and it will be airing live at 7pm EST on IndependentWrestling.tv (IWTV) on Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20 as part of their new streaming agreement with IWTV. On Thursday morning, GCW revealed the 16 entrants to the second edition of the Acid Cup, with previous winner, AEW star Joey Janela, providing commentary for the two night tournament. With no audience in attendance due to the current COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the event will be counting on fans to support the wrestlers involved. GCW has set up an Indie Gogo page where 100% of the donations will go to the wrestlers performing at the tournament. Donations will be accepted throughout the duration of both nights.
The undeniable face and “franchise player” of GCW. The King of American Hardcore and leader of the “gang affilaited” MDK (all f**king day), Nick Gage held the GCW World title for 722-days until his feud with current champ Rickey Shane Page derailed his reign. Easily a favorite to win the tournament – unless RSP makes his presence known and continues to be the barbed wire thorn in Gage’s side.
Atticus Cogar went from promising indie prospect to one of GCW’s most hated individuals, when he aligned with GCW World Champion RSP and his 44.OH faction in their quest to destroy Nick Gage. If he gets help from any of his stablemates, he could go far.
One of GCW’s breakout discoveries of 2019 continues to light a fire on the US indie circuit and remains one of GCW’s most explosive talents on their roster. With his high octane offense, Blake Christian could be a dark horse to win the whole thing.
Allie Kat has emerged as one of the top women’s wrestlers in the country, willing to fight men and women alike. With the pioneering that women are doing in the industry right now, the tenacity of this feline-obsessed grappler could see her outlast the 15 men in this tournament and find herself winning the Acid Cup tournament.
Also a member of the Major League Wrestling (MLW) roster, young upstart Jordan Oliver has proven that he’s as irritating as he is talented. He recently brought his indie stable, Young Dumb N’ Broke (YDNB), to GCW and if they follow him to the tournament, they’ll probably do everything in their power to propel him to a good showing.
“The Different Boy” in GCW has been arguably the company’s most versatile performer the past few years, rising from a young deathmatch wrestler to working with just about anyone GCW brings in. This could be his big year and winning the Acid Cup would be a great jumpstart to 2020.
Very few had the past year that the “Dirty Daddy” had on the US indie scene. 18-year pro Chris Dickinson had a tremendous 2019 as the MVP of Beyond Wrestling and their first two seasons of Uncharted Territory, not to mention his body of work with GCW, Bar Wrestling, and Japan.
Matthew Justice has conquered the Midwest, as the reigning Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) dual champion, holding both the AIW Absolute and AIW Intense Championship. A big man with unbridled athleticism and grit, he’ll be looking to do some damage in the Acid Cup.
KTB missed out on the 2016 Acid Cup tournament, but he was still on the card – at the time, KTB was the reigning GCW World Champion and defended his crown against MASADA. This time the longtime GCW regular will be entering the field himself and looking to prove he’s still a major threat in Game Changer Wrestling.
Pinkie Sanchez is a veteran of the first Acid Cup in 2016 and made it all the way to the finals. He outlasted Drew Blood, Matt MacIntosh, and Steve Scott in the first round four-way, then beat Mexico’s Laredo Kid in the semi-finals, before losing to Janela in the final match. He’ll be looking to win the whole thing this time around.
1 Called Manders has come along way in just over two years in the business. The “Cornfed Cowboy” is a regular with Iowa’s SCW Pro Wrestling (where’s he’s the Heavyweight Champion), but in the past year has exploded working with the likes of GCW, Black Label Pro, AIW, Glory Pro, and a whole host of other top US indies.
Shane Mercer has had a great year as well, moving from being just a regular with IWA Mid South to working across the nation with GCW, Beyond, Black Label Pro and others. He went viral last year when he was caught on tape using an entire section of bleachers as a weapon, but his freak strength is just part of an arsenal that includes great athleticism as well.
Lucky 13 is a 16-year pro from New Jersey who is best remembered for a six-year run with Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he was a 2x CZW World Tag Team Champion with Nation of Intoxication with Danny Havoc and Devon Moore. Lucky 13 also held the Hardcore Hustle Organization (H2O) Heavyweight Champion for 287-days last year and this past weekend won the H2O Hybrid Championship. He’ll be looking to follow up that momentum with a tournament win.
Another prospect that is gaining attention is Benjamin Carter, whose turning heads with the likes of ACTION Wrestling, AAW Pro, Scenic City, SCW Pro, and others. He was originally scheduled to make his GCW debut at Jimmy Lloyd’s D-Generation F show over WrestleMania Week until all events were cancelled, but now the young stud will be looking to impress in the Acid Cup.
Cole Radrick is a 22-year old who has been honing his craft with IWA Mid South, Rockstar Pro, Paradigm Pro Wrestling (PPW), Black Label Pro, and others. The current reigning PPW Champion, he’s held the title for 118-days, taking it from another GCW regular in AJ Gray. He made his GCW this past November at Chopper City in the Ghetto in Philadelphia.
The second member of YDNB, Ellis Taylor will join Jordan Oliver in looking to make sure the brash young faction takes home the trophy. Taylor usually teams with Charlie Tiger as YDNB’s resident tag team (who currently hold the Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment (AWE) Tag Team titles), but he’s going at it in singles action to help bring the Acid Cup title to the stable.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can watch both nights of GCW The Acid Cup 2 on IWTV at 7pm EST on Thursday and Friday.
