The GCW World Championship reign of Blake Christian has come to a controversial end thanks to GCW General Manager Matt Cardona.

At GCW Take A Picture, Cardona appeared in the ring and spoke about Christian's title reign. The self-professed Indy God said that Christian was scheduled to defend his title against Joey Janela at GCW Tournament of Survival. That match will not go ahead as Christian would not make the event due to his participation in NJPW Best of Super Juniors.

As Christian would not make his scheduled title defense on June 1, Cardona announced that he had stripped Christian of the gold and that the title is currently vacated. Janela confronted Cardona and said the decision was wrong. Cardona announced that Janela would still get his title shot, but it would be in the Matt Cardona Gauntlet of Survival.



Cardona appeared at GCW Take A Picture in a sling as the former WWE Superstar recently underwent pectoral surgery. Cardona suffered the injury in April 2024 and is expected to keep him out of action for months. Cardona was appointed GCW's GM in May 2024 and has also been making waves outside of the ring.

The ninth GCW Tournament Of Survival event will take place on Saturday, June 1, from the Showboat Hotel Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Names promoted for the event include Big F'n Joe, Brandon Kirk, Hideyoshi Kamitani, John Wayne Murdoch, Shunma Katsumata, UltraMantis Black, Yuki Ishikawa. The show will be available to watch on Triller TV.