TORONTO — With Demand Lucha announcing a ladder match main event for the Premier Championship between the reigning champion, Gringo Loco and his challenger, Jack Cartwheel, I had to be there. Cartwheel was able to end Loco’s lengthy reign and become the new Demand Lucha Premier Champion.
Parkdale Hall in Toronto’s west end has quickly become one of my favorite venues in pro wrestling and it was a year ago when I went to my first Demand Lucha show, which was also my first indy show ever. The weather was a lot different last year with a snowstorm pummeling Toronto, and that show was headlined by Gringo Loco successfully defending his title against Delirious.
Loco has held the Premier Championship since May 2022, defeating Carter Mason for the title at Luchapalooza 2022.
“The promoter Jordan [Matthew Marques] here at Demand Lucha was always surprising me with my opponents. It was like, I kept getting better and better and better,” Loco told SlamWrestling.net after the loss. “We had some lucha matches, we had Delirious. My god, dude, I used to grow up watching him. There were so many memorable moments this year that, there are too many to count. In every match, I gave it my all, literally some of the best independent wrestlers in the world coming to Demand Lucha, to face me for the belt. It’s been one hell of a year.”
He defended that title many times, but last night was different as the title hung above the ring in a ladder match. The action was intense from the moment the bell sounded and both Loco and Cartwheel left it all in the ring.
I won’t try to recap everything that happened, but I will tell you a few of my favorite spots from the match. Loco power-bombed Cartwheel onto a ladder less than a minute into the match and he also dropped him with a Bass Drop from the top of the ladder. However, Cartwheel had the jaw-dropping moment of the night when he cartwheeled across the ring and dove to the floor putting Loco through a lucha-DOOR sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Gringo Loco as the Demand Lucha Premier Champion before his ladder match against Jack Cartwheel on December 14, 2023, in Toronto, Ontario, at Parkdale Hall. Photo by Joseph Casciaro
The match ended when Cartwheel trapped Loco under the ladder and climbed to the top to retrieve the title and become the new Premier Champion. Following his victory, Cartwheel helped Loco out from under the ladder and the two showed their respect for one another.
“Everyone who knows anything in the lucha libre world right now knows who Gringo Loco is and knows what he’s capable of and it just happened to be that today I was the better man than him and to be able to end that reign from him,” Cartwheel said post-match. “It just means that the stakes are that much higher, that mine has to be just as good, if not better.”
Loco also spoke about his loss and how it feels to lose the title after a year on top. “I didn’t come in tonight expecting to lose, but I think it is an exclamation point of the year that I’ve had in Demand as a champ for a year. And I think to pass the torch to somebody like Jack Cartwheel, it’s just so fitting. I know how on fire he is and how much potential he has in the ring. It’s the perfect candidate to take it from me. So, he beat me tonight, he was the better man, and I go home completely content with what happened tonight.”
There is a rematch clause for Loco in the future, but he said he is unsure when he will be cashing that in and he wants to make sure he is at the top of his game. But, even with losing the title, Loco wants to be back in Toronto. “The Toronto fans are very appreciative and they understand wrestling, how it’s supposed to be understood. It’s just an overall great atmosphere and I just love coming back to Toronto in any capacity.”
Jack Cartwheel as the new Demand Lucha Premier Champion on December 14, 2023, in Toronto, Ontario, at Parkdale Hall. Photo by Stephen McGill, who can be found on Instagram and Big Cartel.
This title win meant more to Cartwheel than people may realize, he has family connections here in Toronto and some of his relatives were in the Parkdale Hall crowd.
“I had an uncle and an aunt here today, it was really cool to perform and win and just have a show in front of them for them,” said Cartwheel, who lives in California. “So, they don’t have to talk in the family group chat anymore. They saw what I do, they understand now and they were able to see just how interesting and cool it really can be.”
Both these men were loved by the Toronto crowd, there were “Bass God” chants and a group of kids held up a “Cartwheel Nation” poster. Cartwheel wants to keep building those Demand Lucha crowds and get as many eyes as he can on Demand.
“The cartwheels are all about breaking the norm and bringing forward attention so I hope that as a champion I can push the company forward and just bring more attention to the company and what it means to be a champion here,” he said. “There were tons of little kids here throughout the whole show and I want to make sure that continues so that people, kids and families can feel comfortable coming here and having a good time watching wrestling.”
Here are the rest of the results:
- “Wild” Stallion Kid defeated “Son of a Cyborg” Ethan Dux with a Flying Headbutt
- “Nurse” Nova Kane defeated Space Monkey and FredDIE to win the Openweight Championship
- TNA World Champion, Alex Shelley defeated Vaughn Vertigo
- “Arc Angel” Divino defeated Ultimo Maldito with a 450 Splash
- Kevin Blackwood defeated “Wild Child” Jody Threat with help from Haley Dylan
- Los Medicos defeated La Rebelion
- Jack Cartwheel defeated Gringo Loco in a Ladder Match for the Premier Championship
Demand Lucha (demandlucha.com) returns to Parkdale Hall on Jan 18 for Plancha Tendencies featuring Jack Cartwheel, Gringo Loco, Kevin Blackwood, and a former WWE NXT superstar to be announced on Dec 21.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll have a feature on the wild “Arc Angel” Divino vs Ultimo Maldito bout down the road.
TOP PHOTO: Jack Cartwheel as the new Demand Lucha Premier Champion on December 14, 2023, in Toronto, Ontario, at Parkdale Hall. Photo by Stephen McGill, who can be found on Instagram and Big Cartel.
