GCW World Heavyweight Title

The GCW World Heavyweight Title is the premier title in GCW.

Title History

No.	Wrestler	Date	Event	Won From
1	Octavian	4-22-01	Warpath	Tournament
2	Rich 'The Renegade' Rollins	5-20-01	Shockwave	Octavian
3	The Jhub	6-18-01	Dangerous Games	Rich Rollins
4	Shane Lane	6-22-01	Meltdown	The Jhub
5	Rich 'The Renegade' Rollins	7-29-01	Annihilation	Shane Lane
6	John Reed	8-20-01	Heatwave	Rich Rollins
7	Octavian	9-30-01	FallOut	John Reed
8	Tristain Mayhem	12-23-01	Christmas Chaos	Octavian
9	Jason Dread	1-27-02	Rampage	Tristain Mayhem
10	The Jhub	3-28-02	Meltdown	Steven Caldera
11	Badger Benandanti	4-28-02	Warpath	The Jhub
12	Octavian	5-26-02	Shockwave	Badger Benandanti
13	Twisted	7-27-02	Dangerous Games	Battle Royal
14	Toxic	7-27-02	Evolution	Twisted
15	Jason Dread	4-6-05	ACWF VI	ACWF VI
16	LeStatt Knight	7-28-05	Dangerous Games	Jason Dread
17	Michael Stevens	11-27-05	NC-17	LeStatt Knight
18	Dawn McFarlane	3-26-06	Rampage	Tournament
19	LeStatt Knight	6-26-06	Warpath	Dawn McFarlane
20	Lia Ambrosi	12-23-06	NC-17	LeStatt Knight
21	Bryan Mayhem	4-5-07	High Stakes	Lia Ambrosi
22	Lia Ambrosi	6-3-07	Warpath	Bryan Mayhem

Synopsis

1. The GCW World Title was first awarded to the winner of a tournament at the first ever GCW Pay-Per-View event, Warpath. The tournament included John Reed, The Jhub, Steven Caldera, Octavian, Toxic, Thirteen, Paladin, and Toad. A consolation bracket was also created to determine the first United States Champion. Octavian defeated The Jhub in the tournament final to become the first ever GCW champion.

2. The month after Warpath, GCW put together a match to blow the Warpath tournament out of the water. The main event of Shockwave was a triple threat iron man match involving the champion, Octavian, the returning veteran Rich Rollins, and Establishment henchman Khan. The Jhub, somehow left out of the match, provided commentary. In the end, The Jhub and Steven Caldera orchesrated a scheme to screw Octavian and put the title in the hands of Caldera's enforcer Khan, but Rich Rollins spoiled the plan and managed to steal the title away from the new Establishment for his first GCW title reign.

3. Dangerous Games presented a huge battle royal to decide the next number one contender to the GCW title. In the meantime, Steven Caldera had given a shot to his new Establishment leader, The Jhub. Rollins defended his title valiantly, but Caldera abused his power and got physically involved in the match, and in the end the Renegade fell to the tandem of Caldera and The Jhub.

4. Four days later, Shane Lane, winner of the Dangerous Games battle royal, exercised his right to receive a title shot and challenged The Jhub. Lane was no favorite with the fans, but new Commissioner Mr. Danger, intent on removing the title from Establishment hands, managed to swing the match in favor of Lane, who managed to capture the title from The Jhub just weeks after entering GCW.

5. Shane Lane proved to be a menace to the title, and Caldera knew he had to lose it immediately. The shot was originally intended for Luke Hanson, but Caldera amended it to include Hanson, Octavian, John Reed, Rich Rollins, and even himself to make sure the title changed hands. In the end, it was Rollins with the secret agenda, enlisting the help of his old rival Kurt Richards to help him win the title, shocking Caldera and all of GCW.

6. For the first time since GCW's inception, Steven Caldera didn't have his Establishment group to control the direction of the company, opening the door for underdog John Reed, brother of one of Rollins' former rivals, stepped up to attempt to take the title back for a representative of GCW instead of Rollins' CWU. Reed managed to upset the veteran Rollins and take the GCW World Title.

7. Reed's first challenger was the intense former champion Octavian. Reed was a bright young star, and gave Octavian quite a match at FallOut. However, Octavian proved that Reed perhaps had risen too fast, cleanly defeating him in an intense and bloody bout that saw Octavian win his second world title, a reign that would prove to be historic.

8. Following FallOut, Octavian found himself challenged by rising star Tristain Mayhem. Mayhem's style conflicted with Octavian's to the point that the feud became more intense than anything in GCW history. However, Octavian proved that he was the real deal and the greatest GCW champion in history with successful title defenses against Mayhem at Devil's Night, and in a cage match at NC-17, as well as a defense against Toad on Meltdown. Mayhem managed to get one last shot at the title courtesy of Steven Caldera, who was still at odds with Octavian. The match also included Jason Dread and Badger Benandanti, who were concluding their own intense feud. The fatal fourway saw Badger eliminate himself and Dread from the match in one big move, tipping his hat to Mayhem and clearing the way for Mayhem to finally defeat Octavian. Christmas Chaos saw the conclusion of one of the most impressive title reigns in GCW history.

9. Mayhem was a popular champion, and set a record by becoming the first double-champion, winning the tag titles with friend Jennifer Krug. However, Mayhem's on-air antics became too extreme, and he began focusing more on his tag title reign than his world title reign. Jason Dread saw himself as the next big star and earned a shot at Mayhem at Rampage. At the show, the two enagaged in an epic battle, but Steven Caldera saw his chance to regain control of the GCW title, helping Dread defeat Mayhem and reforming the Establishment. Mayhem left the company shortly thereafter, and Dread took Mayhem's place as the premier talent in GCW.

10. Jason Dread defended the title valiantly for 60 days before accepting a surprise challenge from The Jhub on an episode of GCW Meltdown. Caldera agreed to allow The Jhub a shot, but it would be in a handicap match including Caldera himself. However, Commissioner Mr. Danger amended the rules to allow The Jhub to capture the title by pinning either man. The Jhub miraculously managed to lock Caldera in the Sharpshooter in the match, causing Caldera to submit away Jason Dread's title! Dread, angry that Caldera had lost him the title, turned his back on his boss, earning him a beat down from the Establishment. However, The Jhub took his second title reign into Warpath.

11. At Warpath, The Jhub and Badger Benandanti wrestled in a contest between the two most popular wrestlers in GCW history. But Badger shocked fans everywhere, selling out and enlisting the help of Steven Caldera to defeat The Jhub and capture his first GCW title.

12. Badger soon proved that his betrayal was a rouse, turning his back on Caldera at Shockwave. Badger had accepted a match with Octavian and The Jhub, a deadly match made deadlier by The Jhub's proposal to make it his trademark ACWF match. The match was the most unique contest the title's ever been decided in. All three men were bloody and battered, but Octavian made history, beating Badger for the title and besting The Jhub in his own match for his third title reign, another record for the Italian Stallion.

13. GCW closed for a time after this, but reopened a few months later. Octavian was stripped of the title by a changed Caldera, who then offered it to the winner of an open 20-man battle royal. The match saw many talents step up, including veteran Twisted and 19 year old prodigy Toxic. Toxic nearly had the match won, but the crafty Twisted managed to eliminte Toxic and win the GCW World Title in a shocker.

14. Twisted never had the chance to defend the title as the company closed for good. Caldera then opened X-Wrestling a few months later, and offered Twisted the first shot at the GCW title, resurrected as the XW World Title, against the man who would have challenged him for the GCW gold, Toxic. However, at XW's first Pay-Per-View event, Evolution, Toxic shocked the world by defeating the crafty veteran Twisted, becoming the youngest world champion ever at 19. Toxic would be the first and only XW world champion as the company closed, ending the GCW title's history.

15. Six men fought for two months for the right to compete in ACWF VI after GCW's reopening. Toad, The Jhub, Jason Dread, Octavian, Twizzy and Mike Hardy competed in the most amazing match in GCW history, but in the end Jason Dread managed to pull out the victory and earn his second title reign.

16. LeStatt Knight posed as Jason Dread's best friend and ally for months, but at Warpath stabbed him in the back for a shot at his title. Dread was up for the challenge, and the two met in this 'I Quit' match at Dangerous Games. The brawl destroyed the entire ring area, but in the end LeStatt proved he was willing to go to any length to become champion and forced his friend to say the famous words.

17. After over one hundred days of terror, and two crushing defeats against the challenger, LeStatt Knight met Michael Stevens for the third and final time at NC-17. The match was one of the bloodiest affairs in GCW history, resulting in both men being hospitalized. But in the end, it took four Inferno DDTs from Michael Stevens, but the challenger finally defeated the indestructible champion to capture his first World Title.

18. Shortly after capturing the GCW World Title, Michael Stevens was injured at the hands of Johnny Borealis. As a result, President Caldera vacated the title and put it up for grabs in the annual Rampage tournament. Dawn McFarlane, Shadow, Rich Rollins, Seymour Almasy, Virgil Ambrosi, Jayce Bradley, Vivica Valentine and LeStatt Knight qualified for the tournament, but in the end it was McFarlane wrestling her way through the tourney to become GCW's first female World Heavyweight Champion.

19. As the first female World Champion, Dawn McFarlane was successful, yet had difficulty gaining respect. Critics took harsh shots at her for her limitations and infrequent title defenses. McFarlane set out to prove herself to the world, taking on the most dominant champion in history in LeStatt Knight. McFarlane put up an intense fight, earning quite a bit of respect for her abilities against LeStatt. But in the end, the size and power of Knight won out, and he captured his second World Title.

20. Knight narrowly escaped losing the title to McFarlane in her rematch, and then successfully defended against Vivica K. Valentine. But Dies Irae was relentless in their pursuit of the title. After McFarlane earned another rematch, Lia Ambrosi defeated 29 other wrestlers in winning Dangerous Games. The result was a triple threat match between Knight, McFarlane and Ambrosi at NC-17. The match was a showstealer, as Ambrosi and McFarlane challenged each other even as they fought against the champion. Though Knight was heavily favored to retain, Lia Ambrosi proved her abilities on wrestling's biggest stage, pinning Knight in the center of the ring to capture her first World Title.

21. Ambrosi held the title for some time, garnering more and more respect as one of the world's most talented wrestlers. However, GCW veteran Bryan Mayhem, after six years with the company, won a battle royal on WorldWide to earn his first ever GCW Title shot. The two met in Las Vegas in an intense match, with Lia throwing everything she had at the monster Mayhem. But Mayhem's size was too big an obstacle to overcome. Mayhem finally manhandled Lia into a pinfall, and after many years of waiting, finally capturing the biggest prize in the game.

22. Ambrosi quickly declared her intention to obtain a rematch with Mayhem, but Mayhem continues his dominance of her for several weeks. Mayhem tore through the competition on a wildly successful and dominant reign, before finally meeting Lia once again at Warpath. Again Mayhem dominated the match, but Lia proved herself worthy of the shot by mounting a successful attack. Eventually Lia managed to topple the big man with an insane slam off a ladder, and three counts later she won back her World Heavyweight Title.

Trivia

Most Title Reigns- Octavian (3)

Longest Title Reign- LeStatt Knight (180 days)

Shortest Title Reign- The Jhub (4 days)

Youngest Champion- Toxic (19)

Oldest Champion- Twizzy (32)

World Title Decisions Involving Steven Caldera- 7