GCW “DDT x GCW 2024” results (8/12): Vetter’s review of Mao vs. Alex Zayne for the DDT Title, Mance Warner vs. Joey Janela vs. Shunma Katsumata for the GCW Championship

By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)

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GCW “DDT x GCW 2024”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
August 12, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall

This show aired on delay and debuted on Triller+ Monday evening. This is the first show of three consecutive nights of GCW action in Japan. Dave Prazak and Emil Jay provided commentary. I’ll estimate that Korakuen Hall is about 85 percent full; not a sellout but a good crowd. I admittedly have only seen the DDT guys when they’ve been on GCW shows in the U.S.

1. Maki Itoh and Takeshi Masada and Marcus Mathers and Chris Brookes defeated Yuni and Illusion and Masha Slamovich and Yuki Ueno at 15:02. Itoh sang her way to the ring. I haven’t seen Yuni before; he comes to the ring in a pink suit. So, each side has three men and one woman. Mathers and Masha opened. Itoh entered at 1:30 to face Yuki Ueno, and he’s obviously taller than she is. He shoved her to the mat and she did her fake crying and the crowd booed Yuki. Masada got in the ring; Ueno knocked him down, and now Masada fake cried. So did Brookes. So, we’re getting the comedy in early. Now the ref started crying, too.

Maki’s team all ganged up on Yuni at 5:30. All eight began brawling. Brookes hit a senton for a nearfall. It now looks like Yuni is just wearing pajamas. Mathers entered and hit a stunner on Yuki Ueno for a nearfall at 8:30. Ueno fired back with a dropkick to Marcus’ face. Masha and Itoh tagged in and immediately traded forearm strikes. Itoh hit a running Facewash in the corner. Masha hit a Michinoku Driver on Maki Itoh. Illusion, a masked wrestler, hit a missile dropkick on Masada (think Takeshita with his long flowing hair) for a nearall at 11:30.

Itoh accidentally hit Brookes! She hit a DDT on Illusion. Yuni hit a moonsault to the floor on everyone at 13:00 Masha and Illusion hit stereo dives! Mathers hit a flip dive onto everyone! Brookes picked up Itoh and threw her over the top rope onto everyone at 14:30! Brookes hit a Praying Mantis Bomb (Jay Driller). Mathers hit a 450 Splash on Illusion, and Itoh jumped on Illusion for the pin. That was a fun match with a good mix of comedy early on and some high-flying action to finish. Well done.

2. “The Mothership” Allie Katch and Dark Sheik defeated “DDT Variety Team” Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda at 10:32. Prazak said this is Dark Sheik’s Japan debut. I don’t know these two DDT guys. Kazuki has long flowing hair and he danced and danced to club music. Honda is bald and serious. Kazuki and Katch opened and she ground her hips on him and flirted, and he wanted none of it! Sheik then battled Honda, and Honda called for a timeout. Honda pulled on Sheik’s hair and was in control. Sheik hit a spin kick, and Katch got back in at 4:00. Allie hit her running buttbumps and rolling cannonballs. She hit a double Northern Lights Suplex.

Allie hit some jab punches on Honda and some comedy before hitting elbow strikes and they were both down. Sheik hit a missile dropkick on Hirata, then a Destino for a nearfall at 6:30. Honda got on the mic and said he loves to play table tennis and he wants to teach his sport to them. Katch and Sheik put on the DDT’s glasses and they all danced. Honda hit some punches. Sheik hit a low blow punch, then a top-rope guillotine legdrop for the pin. More comedy than I prefer but the crowd liked this.

3. Kanon and Daisuke Sasaki defeated Jimmy Lloyd and Rina Yamashita at 12:35. We haven’t seen Rina in GCW in a few months. Sasaki always strikes me as the Japanese version of Raven. Kanon and Sasaki attacked before the bell and all four fought to the floor. Lloyd hit a huracanrana, then a dive through the ropes onto Kanon. Rina threw chairs at her opponents, and she gave Sasaki a hair-mare across the ring at 2:30. Kanon and Sasaki worked over Rina in the ropes and ripped at her face. Rina suplexed Kanon.

Lloyd got a hot tag and hit some superkicks on Kanon. He slammed a chair across Kanon’s back. Rina hit a German Suplex on Kanon! Kanon clotheslined her. Sasaki powerbombed Rina out of the corner at 8:00 and he dropkicked her as Kanon held her upside down. She grabbed Kanon in the groin! Lloyd hit a neckbreaker and some Broski Boots on each opponent. Kanon hit a powerbomb on Lloyd. Lloyd hit a stunner and the Radio Silence leg drop on Sasaki for a nearfall at 11:00. Lloyd missed a moonsault. Sasaki put Lloyd in a Crossface, but Rina made the save. Sasaki hit a top-rope elbow drop onto an elevated Lloyd for the pin. Good action.

* A video package aired of Matt Hardy’s GCW debut in Cleveland on Aug. 2.

4. Tetsuya Endo and Yuki Iino defeated 1 Called Manders and Gringo Loco at 14:48. This is Manders’ Japan debut as well. Yuki has a buzzcut and is a bit more muscular, while Endo has shaggy haircut similar to Naito. Endo and Loco opened with basic reversals and neither man got an advantage. Iino and Manders then locked up at 1:30. Manders hit a shoulder tackle, then he bodyslammed one opponent on the other, and he hit a loud chop on Endo. Loco hit a guillotine leg drop as they worked over Endo. Loco hit a delayed brainbuster or a nearfall at 4:00. Endo and Manders traded chops, and Manders dropped him stomach-first across the ropes.

Loco hit a top-rope moonsault for a nearfall at 5:30. Endo hit a springboard flying forearm on Manders. Yuki tagged in and hit clotheslines in the corners on each opponent. Yuki and Manders traded chops, and Yuki hit a Samoan Drop at 8:00. Manders hit a clothesline and they were both down. Loco and Endo traded forearm strikes on the ring apron as the other two fought on the floor; Loco and Endo traded blows while ‘chicken fighting’ on shoulders. Loco hit a clothesline, causing Endo to hit a Poison Rana on Yuki at 10:30! Loco hit a flip dive to the floor.

In the ring, Manders hit a Bulldog Powerslam on Endo for a nearfall. Endo hit a handspring-back-spin kick on Manders, then an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall at 12:30. Loco hit a top-rope Spanish Fly on Endo for a nearfall. Manders missed a moonsault! Loco missed a corkscrew moonsault. Yuki hit a spear on Manders. Yuki hit a spear on an upside-down Loco. Endo spun Loco off his shoulders to the mat for a nearfall at 14:30. Endo hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press on Loco for the pin. That was really, really good.

5. Effy vs. Danshoku Dieno ended in a draw/double DQ at 9:49. Dieno came through the crowd and he kissed men on his way to the ring; he came down the longer seating side of Korakuen Hall, and I can see the seating is more full than I originally thought. Dieno went to the commentary table to kiss Emil Jay, too. Funny. He has a blond haircut similar to Okada. Effy dropped to a knee at the bell and offered Dieno a bracelet. This should be all comedy. They locked up and teased kissing. They began grinding against each other. A man wearing a suit got in the ring and shouted at them to wrestle, and the crowd booed him.

They did some more gay humor with Effy rubbing his face in Dieno’s groin, then shoving his butt into Dieno. Dieno lowered his wrestling trunks for more gay humor. They began kissing one male referee after another. Scarlett Donovan finally got in the ring but they had no interest in kissing her, and they hit a team suplex on her at 7:00. Funny. (Poor Scarlett!) A referee hit a stunner and a standing moonsault on Effy! Finally a ref called for the bell for what I presume is a double DQ. Certainly not my style of match, but they achieved what they wanted to do here… it was certainly memorable.

6. Mance Warner defeated Joey Janela and Shunma Katsumata in a three-way to retain the GCW Heavyweight Title at 18:25. Shunma came to the ring with a bat with weapons on it. Mance jawed at fans in the front row. Janela has been sick and he looks thinner (in a good way!) Mance and Joey shoved Shunma to the floor and they brawled. Joey hit a diving forearm. Shunma hit a missile dropkick on Mance at 3:00, and Mance was already bleeding from the forehead. Shunma hit a flip dive onto both opponents. In the ring, Shunma went for a Swanton Bomb off a ladder, but he crashed onto a folded, horizontal ladder at 5:30.

Joey dumped a tub of LEGOs on the mat. Mance whipped a chair at Shunma’s head and I hate that. He slammed Joey onto the LEGOs and got a nearfall. Shunma powerbombed Mance across several open chairs at 8:00. Mance hit a decapitating clothesline on Shunma. Mance hit a low blow uppercut on Shunma. He handcuffed Shunma and hit the bat across the top of his head. Mance got a wrench and used it in Shunma’s mouth. He used a staple gun on Shunma’s forehead, then he stabbed Shunma with a screwdriver at 12:00. He CLOCKED Shunma with an unprotected chairshot across the top of his head, as Shunma was still handcuffed.

Mance set up a table in the ring. Joey threw a chair at Mance, then hit a German Suplex on Mance. Joey hit a top-rope elbow drop onto Mance, who was lying on the table, at 15:00. Shunma splashed onto both of them, and all three were down. Shunma stole the handcuff key from Mance’s pocket and finally got a ref to unlock him. Joey hit a brainbuster on Shunma. Shunma stood on top of a ladder in the ring and splashed onto Joey who was on a table on the floor. However, back in the ring, Mance hit a DDT and pinned Shunma. I can really do without those chairshots to the head, and the use of screwdrivers to the head. It was what I’ve come to expect from GCW brawls.

7. Mao defeated Alex Zayne via forfeit (due to injury) to retain the DDT Title at 8:18. Putting Zayne in the main event seems to make sense, as he has fought here in a few past tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and he’s incredibly over in Japan. A feeling-out process early on. Mao refused a handshake and instead offered a middle finger. Zayne hit double knees to the back and a corkscrew senton for a nearfall at 3:00. Zayne hit his flipping axe leg drop to the back of the head, and they brawled on the floor, with Mao hitting a series of chops.

They went over to the short stage. Zayne did a moonsault off the stage and landed on his feet but he clearly jammed his knee upon landing. They got back into the ring, and Zayne was really selling a knee injury. The action came to a halt as Zayne used the ropes to get to his feet, but then he collapsed at 8:00. The ref called for the bell, as this is clearly a legit injury.

Final Thoughts: The Loco/Manders tag was the reason to tune in. The main event was off to a good start. I’ve always been a huge fan of Zayne so hopefully he’ll be okay, but he clearly was unable to continue. The eight-person opener was a blast and well worth tuning in for. The GCW tour continues with two more live shows. I admittedly don’t know what the lineups were, so I don’t know how Zayne’s injury will impact the rest of the tour. So happy to see some seasoned wrestlers get to make their Japan debut here.