By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “The New Face of War”
Streamed on FITE.TV
July 18, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan at Shinkiba 1stRING
The room seems packed with 300-500 fans. Lighting is good. GCW owner Brett Lauderdale provided solo commentary as the show started. This show aired on Fite+ on a delay (airing later in the same day it occurred), which allowed for editing out breaks between matches to clean up debris.
1. Gringo Loco defeated Jimmy Lloyd, Kikutaro, Dragon Libre, Minoru Fujita, and Terry Yaki in a six-way scramble at 7:05. Kikutaro has competed in ROH in the past; he wears a cartoonish mask. I saw Libre recently and he wears a mask similar to Laredo Kid. My first time seeing Fujita; he has short blond hair and looks a bit like Sanada did (until Sanada’s recent transformation.) Yaki is the thin, Black high-flyer from Georgia with some brown streaks in his hair. Loco came out last. The three GCW guys ‘paired off’ at the bell. Lauderdale pointed out that Gringo Loco just wrestled at AAA’s Triplemania in Mexico barely 24 hours ago, as Loco squared off with Yaki, then Kikutaro. Loco hit a flip dive to the floor onto everyone at 6:00.
Lloyd hit his piledriver move on Libre, and he passed Libre over to Loco, then Lloyd dove to the floor on everyone. That allowed Loco to hit his spinning powerbomb out of the corner to pin Libre. That was very unselfish of Lloyd to essentially give Gringo Loco the win. Good opener.
2. Daisuke Masaoka defeated Shane Mercer in a hardcore match at 9:33. Barbed wire boards and a ladder have been set up in the ring. Mercer is the muscular guy I always compare to Brian Cage because he can keep with the smaller high-flyers. Not sure if I have seen Daisuke before; he has his hair styled straight up in a blondish mohawk. No commentary as the match began, which feels weird. Mercer almost immediately powerbombed Daisuke onto the barbed-wire board in the corner. They brawled to the floor. In the ring, Masaoka hit an Air Raid Crash onto an open chair at 6:00, and he rode on the ladder as it fell down onto Mercer.
Mercer hit a swinging powerslam for a nearfall. He picked up Masaoka in a gorilla press and launched him onto people (plants!) in the crowd at 8:00. It never ceases to amaze me his strength. In the ring, Mercer hit his Moosault And Battery/second-rope fallaway slam for a believable nearfall; I thought that was it. Masaoka got a sunset flip with a pin out of nowhere. I liked that; I saw all those weapons and cringed but it was a good match without getting disgusting.
* Brett Lauderdale returned to commentary and was joined by Jimmy Lloyd in the booth. The second match had no commentary at all.
3. John Wayne Murdoch and “Los Macizos” Ciclope and Miedo Extremo defeated Mammoth Sasaki, Toru Sugiura, and Tomoya Hirata at 9:06. I don’t know the Japanese team at all. Sugiura has blond, wavy hair last seen on a young Barry Windham. Everyone grabbed light tubes in the first minute. The Japanese team began working over Ciclope. Ciclope and Sasaki each pulled out pizza cutters; Ciclope used it on Sasaki’s forehead. Yuck. Murdoch hit a piledriver. Toru hit a Michinoku Driver on Murdoch for a nearfall at 6:00. Miedo stabbed Toru with a saw. Yuck. Toru dove through the ropes onto everyone. Sasaki began hitting Hirata. Cilcope hit the Doomsday clothesline on Hirata for a nearfall. Miedo then hit a piledriver to pin Hirata. Too many exploding light tubes for my tastes.
* Several Japanese guys hopped in the ring and beat up Los Macizos.
4) Rina Yamashita and Masha Slamovich defeated Sawyer Wreck and Charli Evans at 12:58. I don’t usually point out the ref, but here is Scarlett Donovan, so it’s cool she got to go on this tour, too. Charli is much shorter but she does a lot of hardcore matches. During the Scenic City Invitational tournament in Tennessee on Saturday, the commentators mentioned that Sawyer was basically flying out to Japan right after the show. (Likewise, John Wayne Murdoch was on that show and is now here.) Charli and Masha started, but Rina and Sawyer entered at 1:00. They got chairs and banged them together. Rina bodyslammed Charli onto a folded chair.
Rina hit a DDT on Sawyer onto the debris in the ring. Sawyer tossed Rina into a barbed-wire board in the corner at 7:00 and got a nearfall. They all grabbed gusset plates and jabbed them into their own foreheads (gross!) then they brawled some more. Yuck. Charli slammed Rina face-first into the mat for a nearfall at 10:30. Rina hit a Trash Compactor slam. Sawyer hit a chokeslam. Charli hit a running knee to the side of Rina’s head for a nearfall. Did I mention that all four are bleeding? Rina hit an Air Raid Crash on Charli onto a pile of chairs for a believable nearfall. Rina then nailed a Razor’s Edge on Charli onto the pile of chairs for the pin. Yuck.
5. Blake Christian defeated Shigehiro Irie to retain the GCW Heavyweight Title at 9:13. I always compare Irie to Shingo Takagi and EVIL for being a bit bigger and thicker. Good reversals to open. Blake set up for a dive, got the crowd fired up, but then stopped and did a crotch-chop. Blake hit the Fosbury Flop to the floor at 2:30, drawing a huge pop. Irie hit his rolling cannonball in the ropes at 4:00. Irie hit a crossbody block as Blake was in the ropes, sending them both barreling to the floor. In the ring, Blake nailed a handspring-back-stunner for a nearfall at 6:30. Irie hit a fallaway slam for a nearfall. Blake hit a mid-ring Spanish Fly, then a springboard 450 Splash for a believable nearfall at 8:30. Irie hit a decapitating clothesline for a nearfall. Blake nailed his Rollins-style Stomp to the head for the pin. So good but I really hoped this would be much longer!
6. Masashi Takeda defeated Joey Janela in a death match at 17:41. I don’t know Takeda because I don’t care for death matches, but he has scars all over his body. He has short blond hair. There were lots of light tubes, exploding glass, and chair shots. Both men bled. Janela powerbombed Takeda onto a light tube bridge, so the glass shattered everywhere, at 3:30. Janela hit a suplex off a ladder onto light tubes at 11:00. Takeda eventually slammed Janela and scored the pin. If you like lots of glass and debris and senseless violence, this match is for you.
Final Thoughts: GCW shows can be such a mixed bag. Last weekend, they had a stellar show with no light tubes to be found. This show was filled with them. While I tuned in for Irie vs. Christian, the hardcore stuff was just a bit too much for my tastes.
I’ve wondered this for a while, but why isn’t Shane Mercer a bigger factor in GCW? He looks great, his matches are always good, but he’s never at the top of the card or in my major storylines.
This show aired on Fite+. There are two more shows to come, but I might just tune in for the Blake Christian and Gringo Loco matches.
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