Women's Tourney/Golden Gate Tournament June-Aug 2022

After years of rumors, signings, and showcase matches, Warrior Pro Wrestling officially kicks off its women's division with a one night tournament to crown the companies first ever champion. The tournament will consist of all current women under Warrior Pro contract plus a few well known outsiders from familiar organizations. The tournament will be elimination with the Brackets and first round match-ups as follows:


Della Wyatt vs Lizzy Jett
Pam from Human Resources (STRUGGLE) vs Fiona Walsh

After weeks of news without specifics regarding this years Golden Gate Tournament, Warrior Pro Wrestling finally announced both the blocks and the dates for this years affair. Notable- besides the fact that this is the latest that the tournament has taken place since its inception 4 years ago- is who isn’t participating this year. All three former winners have been ruled out, though for different reasons. John Logan is still recovering from his post match attack from Colossus Rhodes, Doc Wyatt is busy defending his belt against Vic Baron on Night One (more on that in a bit), and the winner from the past two years- Machine Gun Mayhem- is no longer under Warrior Pro contract.

In a bit of breaking news, multiple sources confirmed that Machine Gun’s contract ran out at the end of 2021 and he has been operating as a freelancer ever since (though to date he has only appeared on one show, Lucha POWER back in early June). This of course means we are guaranteed a first time G2 winner, who will go on to main event Warriorversary 4.

A Block Summary
This block could really be anyone’s guess. Red Masterson is probably the favorite here but he has been recovering from injury. Meanwhile Jimmy Hawkins has been a house on fire lately- including a huge win over Markus Winter at the last PPV- and might finally be ready to make the leap to the next level. Outsider Tupac Machine is a legend in the Tri-State area, and both Super Mohan and Jack Gold have been impressive down in Mexico. Trey Taylor will play the underdog, though the typical tag team specialist scored an upset over Byron Worthy recently and could be a bracket buster if he isn't taken seriously.

B Block Summary
This would seem to finally be Rampage Hunter’s year to get to the finals, but the Belt Collector drew a buzz saw of a block. Both Markus Winter and Byron Worthy have made their names in past tournaments, and Winter was a hair shy of going to the finals last year. Brick Casey, who’s last tournament was 2019 and has been slowly transitioning to a trainer in the Baron Wrestling School, could be the dark horse of the entire tournament. At just under 7 feet this former WfoW champ could run the table if his body holds up- a big if these days. The most shocking inclusion might be WPW President Lefty McDaniel entering himself into the tournament. We havent seen Lanky lace up his boots in over a year, will be interesting to see how much he can still go.

There was one spot yet to be announced, as TIPWF will send the winner of a future match between Boss Ross Foreman and Lil Lariato.


As was the case last year, the first night of the tournament will include title defenses as a way to kick things off with a bang:

Night One Card July 14th at 5:30pm PT
Night One Tournament Matches (TBD)
Tag Team Championship: Music City Wrecking Crew (c) vs Gears of War
World Heavyweight Championship: Doc Wyatt (c) vs Vic Baron (In a Steel Cage)



Warrior Pro Wrestling also announced a very special Warrior Grounds for tomorrow, which will feature a main event of the retiring Cowboy Johnston teaming with Red Masterson in the main event. The card will also feature another tag match with implications, as the Grim Reapers face the Reed Brothers with the winner earning a match against The Beat Alls at Super Hyper Turbo’s big July 4th show next week.

Riot vs Tower (w/ Brick Casey)
Reapers vs Reeds (winner faces Beat Alls at Super Hyper Turbo July 4th show)
Della Wyatt vs Lizzy Jett- Tournament Rematch
Red/Cowboy vs Bay Ballerz


The internet buzzed with the news of Red and Cowboy teaming up one more time. Here were some of the highlights from the Warrior Pro roster, including Cowboy and Red...

Cowboy Johnston:


Red Masterson


John Logan


Brick Casey


Austin Baron


Doc Wyatt

Its finally here, the event that kicked off Warrior Pro Wrestling back in 2018- the 5th Annual Golden Gate Tournament gets started this week with a huge Night One card. Both men’s titles are on the line, with the Main Event putting the Doc vs Vic trilogy match inside a Steel Cage. As for the tournament? Both blocks will be fighting for a spot in the Finals, with a World Title opportunity on the line at Warriorversary 4.

The G2 follows its typical block scoring rules- two points for a win, one for a draw. Tie breakers are settled based on head to head record. Block winners will meet at the finals for a show at the World Champ at Warriorversary. All nights will take place at Gorilla Hall with the Finals moving outdoors to Moffett Field Arena.

The action kicks off THIS THURSDAY (7/14) at 5:30pm ON TWITCH




A Block

Red Masterson vs Trey Taylor
Red’s lone tournament was two years ago where we was a hair short of making the finals- this year he sits as the block favorite, taking on first time tourney participant Trey Taylor. Can Red start the tournament on a strong note or will we get this whole thing kicked off with a bracket busting upset?

Tupac Machine vs Super Mohan
Two vets from outside Warrior Pro battle it out to see who can get an early leg up in the block. Tupac is a known submission expert, but he’ll have to catch the faster luchadore first. This should be a fun contrast in styles to help establish the winner as a newcomer to be taken seriously.

Jimmy Hawkins vs Jack Gold
This could be a dark horse vote for match of the night pitting two young high flyers against one another. Hawkins has been holding onto the label of “rising star” since he joined the promotion- getting off to a good start will go a long ways towards shedding his label as an underachiever in these tournaments. Jack Gold returns to his old stomping grounds for his first G2, hoping to take the next step in his own career. Expect this one to be blazing fast with a hot finish.

B Block

Brick Casey vs Byron Worthy
B Block kicks off with Brick Casey’s return to regular action for the first time in over a year, taking on Byron Worthy. For Brick, this is potentially his last shot at a real world title run. For Worthy, it could be the start of many. The story here is whether the former NCAA champion wrestler can get the 400 pound man off his feet and keep in off of them. If “Prime Time” can do that, he’ll have a shot at jumping out of the gate with a win. If not, the powerful vet could be taking his first step towards the top of the block.

Markus Winter vs Boss Ross Foreman
Boss Ross one his spot in this tournament by proxy, but he’ll have to fight this match himself. The recent Big Gold Buckle Winner brings an impressive resume of strength and power, something Markus Winter is no stranger to himself. The Last Viking almost won his block last year, but he’s going to be fully recovered from his recent shoulder surgery if he wants any chance to repeat that success.

Lefty McDaniel vs Rampage Hunter
The Warrior Pro President was a surprising entry in this years tournament, with his wrestling schedule severely cut back to allow him to fulfill his front office responsibilities. He’s going to have a full plate on night one, facing the man many favor to win the entire tournament. Lanky will need to use his quickness to avoid Rampage’s obvious strength advantage. The boss is a heavy underdog in this one, but stranger things have happened in the opening night of G2’s before.


Tag Team Championship: Music City Wrecking Crew (c) vs Gears of War
A renewed rivalry from two of Japan’s most popular foreign acts as GoW and MCWC face off for the first time in the States. Their head to head record is almost dead even in Japan, so expect a physical, hard hitting affair against two all time great tag teams.

World Heavyweight Championship (Cage Match): Doc Wyatt (c) vs Vic Baron
These two have been feuding all year, with both men claiming a win over the other. The third fight will take place in a cage, where we’ll get a final decision on who the better man is. Despite their differences outside of it, inside both men share a similar fight style. Both extremely technically proficient, with deadly submissions and a “win at all costs” mentality. Its anyone’s best guess who walks out on Thursday…

Night Two is almost upon us, and with that the tournament starts to get a feel for who’s going to be contending in each block. After doing a fair amount of media damage control, Lefty McDaniel assured a group of reporters that the production issues that plagued night one have been resolved. Still, rumors persist that iWe/La Guerra owner David Harley remains outraged and has offered a “response” in the coming days...


The action kicks off TOMORROW (7/21) at 5:30pm ON TWITCH


Night Two Preview:

A Block

Jack Gold vs Trey Taylor
Jack Gold will be looking to turn his night one victory into a full blown winning streak against Trey Taylor, who gave Red Masterson all he could handle. This one could go either way, and should be a good opener to get the crowd fired up.

Super Mohan vs Jimmy Hawkins
Both Mohan and Hawkins will look to avoid an 0-2 hole by shaking off a close loss last week. Expect this one to be fast paced and all action, with the potential for MotN honors getting doled out right here.

Red Masterson vs Tupac Machine
Two popular picks to win the bracket both took care of business last week, and will try and secure what could be an important tie breaker win. Red will need to look sharper than last week if he wants to beat the veteran cruiser weight, while Tupac will need to avoid that monster lariat the big Texan is always looking to dole out.


B Block

Byron Worthy vs Markus Winter
Both part of of the same graduating training class, Byron Worthy and Markus Winter have had more than a couple battles in the ring over the years. This is likely to be a close physical match, with Markus looking to establish himself at the top of the table while Worthy tries to keep from digging a hole.

Boss Ross Foreman vs Lefty McDaniel
Lefty’s shocking upset was one of the (many) story lines from night one, and he’ll have to have a repeat performance if he wants to survive the clubbing style of Boss Ross Foreman. Boss Ross will look to bounce back from last weeks loss where he dominated most of the early match, and to do that he will have to avoid Lefty McDaniels dangerous “Left Handed Scissors” cutter...

Rampage Hunter vs Brick Casey
Brick Casey and Rampage close out block action with what is sure to be a brutal slugfest. Rampage is very nearly in must win now mode, but he’ll have to go through Warrior Pro’s biggest obstical in order to do it. Both men know each other extremely well- Rampage was trained by Brick- so expect no surprises, other than maybe a cameo from Brick’s new tag team partner Logan Axlerod at ringside.

Tag Team Championship: Music City Wrecking Crew (c) vs Gears of War
Moved from Night One, we’ll finally see old rivals renewed as the Wrecking Crew take on top contenders Gears of War for the first time outside Japan.

We’re heading into the mid point of the tournament, where we begin to see separation between the contenders and the pretenders. This is the week where the bottom part of the bracket gets lopped off, and we start to understand who truly has a shot at the finals. All of this is back dropped by two outside promotions STRUGGLE and iWe/La Guerra, who seem to be planting the seeds of a promotion war right in the middle of what has already been a news worthy G2.



The action kicks off THIS THURSDAY (7/28) at 5:30pm ON TWITCH


Night Three Preview:

A Block

Super Mohan vs Jack Gold
Mohan has dazzled in the first two weeks of the tournament, but it unfortunately hasnt resulted in points on the board. He’ll get a shot to stay alive via a familiar opponent in Jack Gold. The last time these two met was in a Lucha POWER ring it was fireworks, and a Jack Gold victory. If “Perfection” Jack is able to repeat the results, he’ll be in the driver seat for a trip to the finals and effectively eliminate Super Mohan. A loss keeps the La Guerra lucha in the hunt and opens the door for Mohan’s new rival to claim sole ownership of the top spot.

Jimmy Hawkins vs Red Masterson
Masterson has seen a slate of quicker foes in this tournament, and the results have been mixed so far. With both Jack Gold and Tupac Machine sitting with two (and potentially three) wins, Red will need a win here to keep pace. Jimmy Hawkins faces the same dilemma, making this match an unofficial must win for both men. This match has the best odds to end up Match of the Night.

Trey Taylor vs Tupac Machine
Tupac’s road forward looks murky, despite two early wins. With sources saying La Guerra owner David Harley again expects to bring… representation… to the building its probably safe to assume the STRUGGLE veteran will have another uphill battle on his hands. That could be good news for Trey Taylor who, despite being competitive in his first two matches, stands winless and on the brink of elimination. Expect a highly technical wrestling match between these two, and expect controversy before its all said and done.


B Block

Byron Worthy vs Boss Ross Foreman
Byron Worthy is coming off one of the best matches of his career and will face off against the dangerous Boss Ross Foreman. Foreman has struggled to finish matches, controlling both of his first two fights early before failing to close things out. That leaves him in a precarious situation, as “Showtime” will be looking to build off of last week’s stunning win over Markus Winter. Another win positions Worthy at the top of the bracket with an important tie breaker, while eliminating Boss Ross. A win for the current Big Gold Buckle holder would create a mess in the middle of the block where it could become a free for all.

Rampage Hunter vs Markus Winter
Few would have assumed that by week three, Rampage would be wrestling for his tournament life- and yet here we are. His opponent, Markus Winter, is the worst case scenario to get Rampage back on track. Winter’s loss to Worthy means he’ll need a win to keep pace with the top of the bracket, while a loss would send him towards the bottom with a couple of rough tie breakers. Desperation fuels the best matches, and this one could produce a classic.

Brick Casey vs Lefty McDaniel
Two shocking undefeated wrestlers face off for control over the whole block. Brick, who has looked closer to retirement than a title shot just a few weeks ago now looks like the man that in his 20’s was a World Champion. Meanwhile “Lanky” Lefty will look to three peat his Giant Killer status by taking down one of the biggest men to ever step into a Warrior Pro ring. This is easily the match with the greatest implications to the overall tournament.

Night Three proved to be the fulcrum to separate the pretenders from the contenders in each block. Almost half the field was eliminated, with the remaining matches set to be high intensity going forward...

To view the show in its entirety, check out the replay here:






For full recaps of all the matches plus the post show press conference, scroll on down...



Super Mohan vs Jack Gold


Recap:
Super Mohan came out with extra protection for this one, flanked by members of ZDM against the undefeated Jack Gold. It didn’t prove to matter. Gold fought a smart match, avoiding the outside and preventing the personnel advantage to ever really come into play. The whole ordeal seemed to actually distract Mohan more than anything, and the La Guerra vet ended up getting nailed with a 24 Karat Lotation- effectively eliminating him from the tournament and keeping Jack Gold undefeated.

Winner: Jack Gold
Rating: ***




Jimmy Hawkins vs Red Masterson


Recap:
A hellova back and forth match between two men trying to keep pace in the standings. Red came out more focused, but Jimmy Hawkins remained sharp, using his speed to avoid the big lariat and keeping the big cowboy off balance. Red definitely seemed to favor his shoulder- the same one that caused him to miss 4 months, and the same one Tupac wrenched so hard last week he couldn’t get back into the ring in time. Hurt shoulder or not, Jimmy Hawkins didn’t care- and a pair of thunderous superkicks kept him in the hunt for the block, while eliminating Red (due to tiebreaker rules).

Winner: Jimmy Hawkins
Rating: ****




Trey Taylor vs Tupac Machine


Recap:
Sensing more shenanigans, Tupac brought with him this week an ally in Black Tiger Mask- a fellow member of B.A.R.S. The match started off as a good back and forth technical affair, with both men looking for submissions. Then all hell broke loose as Super Mohan and ZDM stormed the ring and but a beat down on Tupac, all while Black Tiger Mask seemed reluctant to get involved. But, similar to last week, Tupac survived the beating and fended off Trey’s attacks, eventually wearing him down before finally putting him away to remain undefeated and eliminate Trey.

Winner: Tupac Machine
Rating: *****




Byron Worthy vs Boss Ross Foreman


Recap:
Byron picked up right where he left off last week, pushing the pace, taking his opponent off his feet and moving the match to the mat. Boss Ross, who has to be kicking himself for wasting opportunities the last two weeks, never really got a hold of this match- Byron wore him out till an opening presented itself to sink in the 1-3-1 trap submission for the win. With that, Worthy kept his name in the running while eliminating the TIPWF enforcer.

Winner: Byron Worthy
Rating: ***




Rampage Hunter vs Markus Winter


Recap:
Maybe the best match of the tournament so far, potentially the best match of the year so far… didn’t have an ending to the live audience (though the full match can be viewed on the linked VOD up top). Both men needed a win to avoid elimination, and both men fought with desperation. This match was all offense and no defense, as both sides tried to absorb the others big move and come back with something bigger. One would think this would traditionally give Rampage the advantage, but this G2 just hasn't been good to him, and after surviving everything The Last Viking could throw at him, two straight Spine Bombs proved too much. The result unceremoniously eliminated many peoples pick to win the entire tournament, while Markus kept pace with a top heavy block.

One thing of note was a curious sequence where Triple J leaped to the apron to distract the official… for Markus Winter’s pin. The distraction created a moment of confusion between manager and client that seemed to resolve itself by the end of the match- but for the second week in a row both men were deep in conversation as they exited the ring.

Winner: Markus Winter
Rating: *****




Brick Casey vs Lefty McDaniel


Recap:
The main event saw a match up of unlikely undefeated wrestlers as Lefty McDaniel tried once again to take down another giant foe. The results were much different this time however, as Brick Casey, who appears to have jumped into a time machine, never presented the opening Lefty needed to nail his deadly cutter. Instead, Brick used his superior size to wear down and eventually finish off his opponent with a thunderous standing clothesline.

Winner: Brick Casey
Rating: ***



After the show, as the media was waiting for wrestling interviews a super heated Rampage Hunter stormed out and trashed the podium, smashing tables and throwing chairs. A small army of security came out to restore order, and it seemed Rampage might take on all of them before Brick Casey- a former mentor- walked out and seemed to talk him down. With all the madness, it was then announced that the press conference would be canceled for the week.

With the G2 temporarily shifting to the weekend for at least this week, we get one more week closer to finding out who will come out on top in each block. With 2 weeks left and half the field eliminated, this week should narrow down the field to the final short list of contenders heading into next weeks Block finale.

As it stands now, Block A is currently a two man race between Tupac Machine and Jack Gold, with Jimmy Hawkins needing some help to claw into the picture. Wins by both Gold and Tupac set up a winner take all match next week. A Flyin Jimmy win over Tupac keeps him alive and creates a web of tie breaker conversations that we’ll save for next week. B Block is less straight forward, with four of the six wrestlers still having a shot at the block. All of that is worthless though if Brick beats Markus Winter- a win that would secure the veteran’s trip to the Finals. If Markus wins, he and Brick will join the winner of Byron vs Lefty next week to determine who claims the B Block.



The action kicks off at a special time THIS SUNDAY (8/7) at 8am PT ON TWITCH


Night Four Preview:

A Block
Tupac Machine (STRUGGLE) vs Jimmy Hawkins
Under normal circumstances this would be a match to get excited about- two wrestlers from different generations and stylistic backgrounds fighting for a shot at the tournament lead… except this has not been a normal G2. Tupac’s rivalry with Super Mohan/La Guerra has brought chaos to his matches, though it has yet to cost him any results. The brash young rising star would love to change that, though time will tell who gets past Warrior Pro’s lazy ring security and what impact it ends up having on the match itself.

Jack Gold (Lucha POWER) vs Red Masterson
Masterson’s loss last week means he can only play the spoiler this week against the red hot “Perfection” Jack Gold. Red would seem to have the advantage on paper, but this tournament has appeared to ilustrate two weaknesses in the big Texan- his shoulder definitely isnt fully healed, and smaller, quicker wrestlers give him problems. If Gold can continue his streak he’ll sit one win away from glory, while a loss would be a moral victory for the black hat.

Super Mohan (La Guerra) vs Trey Taylor
This one is all for pride, as both men have put on entertaining matches with frustrating results. Mohan especially has been involved in some of the best matches of the tournament, but one has to wonder if his feud with Tupac has distracted him in the ring. Regardless, this should be a hard fought and entertaining match that will give one of these men an well deserved win.


B Block
Rampage Hunter vs Boss Ross Foreman
B Block kicks off where A Block ended- with two winless wrestlers trying to save some pride. Rampage especially has shown a level of frustration in this tournament we have yet to see from the typically cool headed former champ. We’ll see how that translates in the ring, as he faces Boss Ross- a man that should conceivably be 2-1 and at the top of the bracket. But The Foreman’s late match strategy has been a curious one, resulting in not putting opponents away and leaving the door open for comebacks that ultimately cost him. Expect a short, heavy hitting affair for this, with a high potential for a knockout.

Byron Worthy vs Lefty McDaniel
Both Lefty and Byron still have a puncher’s chance, but they’re going to need some help to get there. The winner will need Brick Casey to lose out his remaining matches in order to have a shot. But this matchup right here will have to be the immediate concern- since both men have been wrestling at an extremely high level so far. Lefty’s early wins were a bit of a shock given his growing age and low activity over the last year, while Worthy’s success seems to be the next step in a talented young prospect. Lefty has done well this tournament against bigger opponents where he has a quickness advantage, but he wont have that against “Showtime.” If he can keep some distance and use his length he might have a shot, but if this match goes to the ground, its Worthy’s match to lose.

Brick Casey vs Markus Winter
This is our first “Block Clincher” match of the tournament. If Brick wins, he would wrap up the Block a week early and be one step closer to a title shot at Warriorversary. Meanwhile Markus Winter sat one win away from the finals last year, and one would have to think manager Triple J is going to have The Last Viking mentally ready to avoid a similar fate this year. Is winter really coming? Or will Brick close the door on the next generation of stars for one last run at glory?

Only one way to find out...