I would say you VCT is working.
We replace a broken VCT and with the broken one when you open the throttle on idle you can't hear anything but with a working one there is a very noticeable click.
The car was an r33 with a hks 2835 pros with no VCT it was a dog low down, once it hit 4000-5000rpm it just pick up aheap of power and was very untuneable due to the huge change in such a small rev range.
so my guess is your VCT is working, best way is to just unplug it take it for a drive, see how it drives, plug it back in and see if it is any different.
And yes a block cat wouldn't help the flow out of the exhaust so could possible be that, BUT i really thinking there is nothing wrong for the amount of boost you are running.