It was a grueling Saturday for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) World Champion Nick Gage. First, he competed in the Black Label Pro TURBO GRAPS 16 tournament on Saturday morning, then defeated Matthew Justice and Kody Rice in the first round of the NGI4 Tournament with GCW that night. Later that same night, he followed up by defending the GCW World title AND winning the NGI4 tournament against Mance Warner, Alex Colon, and Yuko Miyamoto, it was the final moments of the GCW event that changed the course of Gage’s career. Following his title defense and tournament win, Gage was attacked and left on the mat by a masked assailant, who turned out to be former Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) World Heavyweight Champion Rickey Shane Page.
Change the Game. pic.twitter.com/jVjF2PrwSy
— RSP リッキー・シェーン・ペイジ (@RickeyShanePage) September 22, 2019
But Rickey Shane Page didn’t just stop at taking Nick Gage out. He took Gage’s World championship belt, spray painted the initials R-S-P across the title, and took the belt with him as he exited the building. He later posted a video directed at the GCW World Champion.
Come get your belt, convict. pic.twitter.com/vR7uMnw6kS
— RSP リッキー・シェーン・ペイジ (@RickeyShanePage) September 22, 2019
“You know what,” he told Gage in the video. “I’m sick and tired of people asking me ‘When are you going to GCW? When are you going to GCW?’ I’m f**king here now! I’m here now!! I’m sick and tired of hearing people say you’re the best. I’M the best deathmatch wrestler IN THE WORLD. No other foreigner’s getting flown over and doing tours of Japan, going to England, doing deathmatches there. NOBODY. You can’t even get across BORDERS. So guess what I’m going to do, Nicky – guess what? I’m gonna take your belt – no, no, I’m going to take MY belt – and defend all around the world…something YOU can’t do. These people want to worship you like you’re a god? MDK, All F**king Day? Gang Affiliated? Weak minded people are gangs, Nicky. If you want your belt, I’ll be in Canada tomorrow. I’ll be in the UK on Tuesday, and I’ll be in Japan next week. COME GET YOUR F**KING BELT, CONVICT.”
On Sunday night, Rickey Shane Page appeared for Alpha-1 Wrestling in Hamilton, Ontario, and continued to trash talk Nick Gage before he flies out to the United Kingdom next week.
https://twitter.com/truenorthgraps/status/1175879267844001798
While Rickey Shane Page has technically worked for GCW once before, it was as an entrant in the Clusterf**k Battle Royal at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2 in New Orleans last year – he’s never actually competed for a proper GCW stand alone event. But his rivalry with Nick Gage has been bubbling for the past year, starting last January in IWA Mid South – at Guardians of Hardcore, RSP defeated Gage in a House of Horrors Deathmatch. That victory lead to RSP challenging Gage for the GCW World title – but not at a GCW event. Gage defended the title last February at Beyond Wrestling‘s Abbondaza. The feud was reignited that May, once again back in IWA Mid South, when they met in the finals of the IWA Mid South King of the Deathmatches 2018 tournament. Once again, Nick Gage came out the victor.
For the past year, RSP has done exactly what he’s said he’s done. He’s been a regular performer for Big Japan Wrestling in 2019, and since 2016 has been slowly invading the UK indie scene, starting with Fight Club: PRO and ATTACK! Wrestling. In the past year, he’s also worked with PROGRESS, RevPro, International Pro Wrestling (IPW), and Ireland’s Over the Top (OTT) Wrestling, bringing his American hardcore style to European and Japanese audiences.
It now appears that RSP is determined to humiliate Gage by defending Gage’s own title around the world, holding the title and GCW hostage for the time being. But its only a matter of time before The King of American Hardcore “Nick F**king Gage” catches up to RSP and they officially square off for the World title that Gage has managed to hold on to for 645 days now.
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.
