Love and hate are often interconnected and interchangeable.
The standard face and heel dynamic of wrestling lends itself to this dichotomy. Fans’ emotional investment doesn’t end, barring booking malpractice, when they turn their back on or embrace the audience. That strong emotional investment can act as a rocket launcher, sending the fans spiraling in the other direction.
Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland are examples of what a well-executed turn can do for a wrestler the audience is already emotionally invested in. It can take an already-over wrestler and catapult them to new heights.
Mance Warner’s heel turn during his time in GCW hasn’t garnered the same plaudits as those previously mentioned, but he’s accomplished something similar in terms of crowd investment and how his career launched to new heights.
The Good Brother
Warner first wrestled for GCW in 2017, a one-off win against Ken Broadway, before becoming a regular in 2019. Warner proved himself elsewhere on the indie circuit, participating in bloody brawls across the country and winning gold. He earned runs with the top prizes of CZW and IWA-MS, promotions similar to his new home in GCW.
Warner would find some success early on as a singles wrestler. He made the finals of the 2019 Nick Gage Invitational and fought for the namesake’s world championship. His hard-nosed brawling style and penchant for ultra-violence made him an instant fan favorite in the depraved world of New Jersey’s finest wrestling promotion. The wildman persona captivated fans every time he stepped through the curtain, similar to the Funks or Jon Moxley. His desire to succeed and his willingness to spill his guts on the floor to ensure he did were self-evident.
Warner found something he didn’t expect in the shark-infested waters of pro wrestling: a family. Warner found refuge in The Second Gear Crew, a stable of wrestlers with similar goals to Warner who are just as wild and ready for war.
“So basically,” Warner said in an interview with Wrestling Inc. at the tail end of 2020 (h/t to Jamie Greer of Last Word On Sports), “at the end of the day man, it’s a group of a bunch of madmen who on the road, we get along, we party together, we go to all the shows together.”
“If s**t goes down,” he said, “we got each other’s back. It’s like you’re going into war, and you want people in the trenches with you that you know ain’t gonna sell you and aren’t going to f**k you over.”
The Pariah
SGC’s main representatives in GCW were Warner, 1 Called Manders, Matthew Justice and Effy. Effy cohorts Allie Katch, Sawyer Wreck and Dark Sheik would also associate with the group.
They quickly fit in as beloved members of the roster. They were able to move around the card, competing in everything from half-hour deathmatches to multi-team comedy-based tag bouts. Warner was successful in the tag ranks with Justice, winning the GCW tag titles during Homecoming Weekend in 2021 before losing them to The Briscoes a few months later at War Ready 2021.
Warner and the rest of SGC continued working up the card for the next few years. He earned many opportunities in GCW while never reaching the top. Like many wrestlers before him, Warner desired more out of his career in GCW. After losing a tag match against Jacob Fatu and Juicy Finau at Highest In The Room 2, Warner brutally attacked his partner, Effy, with a chair from behind.
With a chair shot to the back, Warner broke the hearts of both his SGC cohorts and the hearts of the GCW faithful who dutifully chanted “second gear” and cheered him on through every bloody battle. Effy summed up what Warner was giving up in exchange for a shot at the top spot.
“You want to go alone,” Effy said, bleeding from a head wound Warner caused with a power tool, “you want to succeed, it’s never happened for anybody.”
“…I love being Effy,” he said, “I love being a pro wrestler. I love Game Changer Wrestling! But if I lost all of that, if it all went away, at least I have people who would still love Taylor when Effy was dead, and Mance, you won’t have that ever again.”
The Contender
Warner’s first appearance post-turn came in the “Do or Die Rumble” at Aftermath 2023. He was the surprise final entrant, running in after the bell rang to eliminate Effy and steal an opportunity for a world championship match. Effy fought hard through a grueling 48-minute match, overcoming the shenanigans from then-world champion Blake Christian and his muscle Shane Mercer, only to be mercilessly thrown over the top rope to the floor. The crowd was completely deflated.
Warner’s heel turn catapulted him up the card, and his subsequent feud with his former friends cemented him as the #1 heel in the company. The visceral crowd reaction was reminiscent of the reactions Tomasso Ciampa got after his legendary betrayal of Johnny Gargano. The fans showered him with boos, expletives and suggestive hand gestures while he grinned from ear to ear back at the crowd.
Similar to the Money In The Bank contract in WWE, winning the Do Or Die Rumble gives the winner a shot at the GCW championship at any time. For the next few months, Warner would continue to target his former friends in the Second Gear Crew, turning blood brothers into blood feuds at the heart of GCW shows. Warner bided his time, waiting for the perfect moment to enact chaos.
The Champion
After Blake Christian relinquished the GCW World title due to commitments in Japan, GCW held a gauntlet match in the main event of Cage Of Survival 3 to crown a new champion. Thanks to sports entertainment shenanigans by then-GM Matt Cardona, the match saw three title changes. Once the dust settled, the face of GCW Joey Janela held the gold. The fans of GCW were ecstatic after suffering through a vanilla Blake Christian reign and were nearly treated to the same fate by Cardona’s heel group before Janella’s win. Now was the time to strike.
Warner cashed in his opportunity and won the belt in nine seconds. He stunned the crowd into silence, aside from a brief moment where he shared a romantic embrace with his now fiancée, Steph De Lander. Warner had dashed the crowd’s dreams again, but this time for the biggest prize in the company. He didn’t care what they wanted. He forced them to watch as he gleefully made their heroes suffer through excruciating pain. Fans watched them bleed and battle, but their heroes were ultimately unable to keep The Southern Psycho down for good. That’s what he wanted from the fans, as well. Warner wants them to suffer.
The Arrival
Warner’s win gave him the spotlight he earned and helped him showcase his development as a wrestler. He continued to prod the fans at every turn, eliciting visceral reactions when he walked into view. He worked the crowd like a conductor, weaving the fans’ boos and unrest into pure hatred. The Southern Psycho would showcase his excellent mic work and whip the crowd into a frenzy. He proclaimed his love for money and derided the audience.
Warner would defend the GCW title 27 times over the next seven months, becoming a workhorse for the company. He joined up with De Lander in Deathmatch Royalty, where he continued main eventing shows and fueling the fans’ vitriol. He became the perfect foil for GCW’s newest burgeoning top face, his former friend and SGC partner Effy. They main evented GCW’s biggest ever show in their second trip to the famous Hammerstein Ballroom. Warner passed the torch to his friend in a moment marred by Allie Katch’s unfortunate injury earlier in the night.
This run would help him land a spot in a national promotion. Four days after dropping the GCW World title to Effy, Warner debuted at the live episode of TNA Impact!, where he aligned with a returning De Lander. She revealed herself as the one behind the mysterious “23” vignettes. De Lander said she “won” the Digital Media Title in a divorce with the former title holder, PCO. However, the promo was a distraction, allowing Warner to attack Sami Callihan from behind.
Warner sees the step up to the bigger stage of TNA as the next logical progression in his career.
“I’ve been on the independent scene,” Warner said on the Battleground Podcast (h/t to Jeremy Lambert & Colin Tessier of Fightful), “I’ve had every world title there is to have. I’ve been watching TNA since it first started in 2002, 2003. So I’ve been a fan for the entire run. So the next logical step is, I want to level up. I want to see what else I can do. The only way to get better is [to] fight more people. So I go to TNA.”
The Future
His feud with Callihan was a great introduction for Warner to showcase what he’s about to new audiences. TNA retired the Digital Media Championship at the end of March earlier this year. The run with De Lander holding the title was fun, but the change let Warner set his sights elsewhere.
Warner immediately inserted himself into the TNA International Championship division, the belt created to replace the Digital Media Championship. Warner has wrestled twice for the new championship, coming up short in encounters with Steve Maclin and Jake Something. He continues to show his brutality and dark charisma in TNA. He also still regularly shows up at his old GCW stomping grounds to terrorize the fanbase.
The sky seems to be the limit for ol’ Mancer. The surroundings have changed, but Warner is ready to bring the pain and suffering wherever he goes.
“If it’s with weapons or not with weapons,” Warner said on the Battleground Podcast (h/t to Fightful), “I get in the ring and I fight. We can go in there and just chop, headbutt, punch each other. That’s fine, or I can get a screwdriver and a door and a table and just beat the heck out of you.”
“It is what it is.”
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