GCW and Jersey Championship Wrestling are bringing back the Jersey J-Cup this weekend, a legendary event to the indie pro wrestling scene.
The 2023 Jersey J-Cup will take place this Saturday from White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ. The first session will begin at 2pm with the opening round, and the second session will begin at 8pm with the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals. The event will air live on FITE TV.
The opening round of the Jersey J-Cup will feature the following matches: Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham, Tony Deppen vs. Lio Rush, Arez vs. Komander, Starboy Charlie vs. Joey Janela, Billie Starkz vs. Charles Mason, Alec Price vs. Blake Christian, Jordan Oliver vs. Impact World Tag Team Champion & NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion Alex Shelley, plus the six-man J-Cup Scramble with Cole Radrick, Jack Cartwheel, Marcus Mathers, Yoya, Dyln McKay, and Dante Leon.
The winner of the tournament will be crowned the new JCW Heavyweight Champion.
The Jersey J-Cup, also previously known as the Chris Candido Memorial J-Cup Tournament, was launched in 2000 and ran every year until 2011, and then again in 2014. Previous winners include Low Ki, Reckless Youth, Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus and Chris Dickinson, among others, while past entrants include Bryan Danielson, AEW TNT & ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe, Homicide, Shark Boy, Amazing Red, Mike Quackenbush, AJ Styles, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, and ROH World Tag Team Champion Mark Briscoe, among others.
JCW was re-branded as GCW in the summer of 2015. GCW CEO Brett Lauderdale recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to promote Saturday’s big event, and commented on the goal of the J-Cup’s return.
“We’re mixing together some very established stars at the top of their game with people who aren’t as well-known–yet,” Lauderdale said. “The J-Cup’s history is not to be slept on. Twenty years ago, it was the J-Cup that gave Super Dragon, CM Punk and Samoa Joe their first big platform on the East Coast. This is something that has a legacy, and we hope to restore it to the position it once had.”
Lauderdale’s partner in the J-Cup project is Adam Abdalla, who co-owns JCW with Lauderdale. Abdalla commented on GCW and JCW bringing back the J-Cup, noting that they hope to give other tournaments around the world a run for their money.
“It’s been a nine-year hiatus, but the J-Cup was the signature East Coast event for the original iteration of Jersey Championship Wrestling, which was the predecessor to GCW,” Abdalla said. “Brett and his partners at the time eventually purchased the company and changed that into GameChanger Wrestling. When Brett and I purchased the IP of JCW two years ago and brought back JCW to be the East Coast sister promotion to GCW, the first thing we said we would do is bring back this tournament. We want to give some of the tournaments around the world a run for their money.”
Janela, who was born in Hazlet, NJ and is billed from Asbury Park, said he’s ecstatic about the return of the J-Cup. Janela plans to deliver must-see moments whenever he is in the ring, and he’s thrilled to have the home field advantage when he faces Starboy Charlie in the opening round.
“I’m probably the most New Jersey of Jersey wrestlers of the past chunk of years,” Janela said. “There’s Liv Morgan, and she is excellent and she rides with Jersey on her back, but I am Jersey through-in and throughout. You will see me on a Monday down in Point Pleasant at the Tiki Bar drinking frozen margaritas and having a good time. I am a Jersey guy, so it’s great to be part of the Jersey J-Cup. It’s going to be the best of the best of independent wrestling. It’s going to be grueling for whoever makes it to the end, but it’s going to be an awesome day of wrestling.”
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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