Cole Radrick became one of the breakout stars on the independent scene in 2022, not only standing out in scramble matches, but endearing himself to hardcore fans by competing in deathmatches.
Radrick's deathmatch journey in 2022 culminated at GCW Wasted Time in December when he challenged Nick Gage for the GCW World Title.
Speaking to Fightful's Jeremy Lambert, Cole reflected on the match.
"I had a realization, the second his music hit, ever since Backyard happened, me and him exchanged punches, the people that were there were very invested in it, Twitter went wild with it for a second. I knew at some point that Nick Gage match was going to happen. When I was in the ring when his music hit, I was like, 'Shit, okay, this match is happening right now. Let's go.' It was cool. That's an OG from back in the day, an OG in the deathmatch game and outlaw type of wrestling. It was such a cool experience to wrestle him, have a crowd in St. Louis that was up for it and excited and fired up. It was a lot of fun. Wish I would have won, obviously, GCW World Champ Cole Radrick has a nice ring to it, if you ask me, it is what it is," he said.
Cole has had a strong start to 2023, taking on the likes of Masha Slamovich and Tom Lawlor as well as competing in the GCW/JCW Jersey J-Cup.
For many independent wrestlers, no week is bigger than WrestleMania week when the wrestling world comes together for a variety of shows.
"The goal for Mania week this year isn't necessarily to wrestle as many matches as I can, but to wrestle as many meaningful matches as I can. Every match, I want to go out there with something to prove, something to show that over this past year, I feel that I've really grown as a professional wrestler and this year I want to show everybody how I've grown as a pro wrestler. It always starts with the next week ahead. I would like to wrestle Jordan Oliver at some point during Mania week. We've had a match in Chicago, we had a match in New Jersey. We hit the right side of the States, the middle, gotta hit the left side. That's a match I enjoy having. Jordan Oliver is a really good friend of mine, but I feel like in the ring, iron sharpens iron and that guy pushes me like no other. If I had to call somebody out, it would be him, but that's because he pushes me and it's a challenge," he said.
Oliver ended up winning the GCW/JCW Jersey J-Cup and is now the JCW World Champion.
As of this writing, Radrick is booked for GCW Jimmy Lloyd’s Degeneration-F against Titus Alexander and DDT vs. GCW against Yoshihiko.
GCW Collective events will air on FITE.
Elsewhere during the interview, Radrick discussed potentially running a second SpongeBob themed wrestling show. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Fans can watch the full interview with Radrick in the video above.
