GCW Announces Extreme Title Defense For Joey Janela

It ain't easy being the self proclaimed "King Kong Bundy of AEW," but Joey Janela seems to pull it off in style, even while he's no longer working for AEW. He's also a champion at the moment for GCW, having held the GCW Extreme Championship since defeating Cole Radrick for the title back in October 2022. Now his next defense will see him go up against one of the most accomplished death match wrestlers on the independent scene.

And that defense will happen, announced by GCW on Twitter, on March 5 in Atlantic City, less than a month before Janela's annual Spring Break event WrestleMania weekend.

"ATLANTIC CITY UPDATE," the tweet read. "Just Signed for March 5th: Extreme Title Match. JOEY JANELA vs BRANDON KIRK."

A ten year pro, the 29-year old Kirk first gained notoriety for his appearances in both GCW and CZW back in 2015. After not appearing in GCW for over three years, he returned to the promotion in 2021 and worked regularly for the promotion in 2022, while also primarily appearing for Jersey based promotion ICW No Holds Barred. This will be Kirk's first GCW match of 2023.

This will be Janela's second Extreme Title defense since claiming the belt; the former AEW star successfully retained the title against Lucha Libre AAA's Pagano back in December. Janela and Kirk do have history, having faced each other twice in singles matches, with both holding a victory over the other. They last faced off in February 2018, in a match won by Kirk.