GARGANO IS BACK BUT IS THE BLACK AND GOLD?

Storm returns from a chaotic Winterfest with new World Champion Johnny Gargano. Johnny Wrestling shocked the world by beating Adam Cole at Winterfest for the top title and he left the entire Black and Gold in the lurch. There’s no question he’s much more popular than Cole was and we heard that loud and clear. Gargano said he is excited for what’s next and, since the GAW Classic starts next week, he knows he’s got some stiff competition in his future.

The first match of the night sees redDragon return without their Black and Gold colors to face down Gallus. It was a confusing night for all involved to be sure, no one had any idea what the alignment of any of these men actually was. Fish and O’Reilly got the win with an O’Reilly guillotine as Fish beat Mark Coffey on the outside. The real story was after the match. Fish sent Coffey back in the ring and Wolfgang went to check on him. It seemed O’Reilly was going to as well, but instead redDragon assaulted Gallus from behind with steel chairs. Adam Cole came out to berate the Brits. According to Cole, the Black and Gold experiment failed and now everyone has to earn their way in. Gallus, apparently, has not so redDragon finished them off.

Elsewhere, Lacey Evans explains she made the decision early in her life to represent the United States and she will make that decision again as she goes after the US Title. Meanwhile, Bianca Belair believes she still has a claim to the US Title because Deville was disqualified in their match weeks ago.

Charlotte Flair takes on local Academy prospect Emily Glaucester in a match that was far more competitive than it had any right to be. Glaucester’s MMA background served her very well against the Queen as she was able to avoid the Figure 8 for a long time while getting in a few big shots at the same time. But Flair was too much for the rookie on this occasion, finally locking in the Figure 8 for the win. After the match, the punishment continued as Flair forced young Glaucester to pass out in the dangerous hold.

Backstage, Swerve Strickland anointed himself the godfather of all cruiserweights.

In the main event, Moustache Mountain step into the ring to take on the debuting Rascalz. The legendary indie unit make their way to GAW for the first time and brought with them their fantastic style of tag team wrestling. This was a tremendous match, well worth watching if you haven’t seen it, but it finally ended when Zachary Wentz hit his half-nelson driver on Trent Seven to finish the marathon match. The GAW Classic begins next week with group announcements and the first group match!