By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “You Only Die Once”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
August 14, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Shinjuku Face
This is the third and final show on the Japan tour this week. It aired on delay here in the United States later that day. Dave Prazak and Emil Jay provided commentary. This is a dark room and I can’t see the crowd at all so I’m not going to estimate the attendance. This is the second straight night in this venue.
1. Masha Slamovich defeated Marcus Mathers in an intergender match at 15:18. Masha carried her JCW Title belt. Masha applied a headlock and slowed Mathers down early on. Mathers hit a flying forearm in the corner. She hit a doublestomp to his chest at 3:00. She tied up Mathers’ left arm on the mat. She hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 4:30. He got up and hit some hard chops. Masha hit a doublestomp on his back. Marcus hit an enzuigiri and they are both down. He hit a springboard clothesline, then a Helluva Kick and his kip-up stunner for a nearfall at 8:00.
Masha hit the Trash Compactor piledriver along her back. They got up and traded hard forearm strikes. (Few women look more believable in intergender matches than Masha.) She tied up both of his arms behind his head and he screamed in pain; she switched to a sleeper at 11:00, but he escaped and got a nearfall. Mathers hit a pair of superkicks. They fought on the ropes, where Mathers hit a second-rope stunner at 12:30. He hit a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. He stomped on her head and started to jaw at fans that were booing him.
Masha hit a second-rope Falcon Arrow for a nearfall at 14:30! Nice! She missed a roundhouse kick and Mathers hit a Superman Punch. However, Masha hit a spin kick to the head, a Shining Wizard, then a piledriver for the pin. A really good match, and a strong showing for Mathers on this three-show tour.
* A video package aired from the first day of this tour in Korakuen Hall.
2. “The Mothership” Allie Katch and Dark Sheik defeated Shoko Nakajima and Kaya Torribami at 10:14. Shoko wears traditional leathers and furs and she was in the U.S. earlier this year. I don’t think I’ve seen Kaya before; she wears black and a mask. Sheik is dressed like old-school Captain Marvel. Katch and Shoko opened, and Katch belittled Shoko for being so short, and she overpowered Shoko in a knuckelock. Katch hit a double clothesline at 2:30. Sheik enteed and hit a slingshot senton on Kaya for a nearfall. Shoko hit a dropkick on Sheik at 5:00, then a huracanrana, then a flip dive through the ropes on Sheik.
In the ring, Sheik hit a spin kick to Shoko’s head. Shoko tried to pick up Katch but couldn’t budge her. Katch hit her piledriver for a nearfall, but Kaya made the save. Shoko hit a Frankensteiner on Katch at 7:30. Kaya hit a missile dropkick on Katch, then an enzuigiri. Kaya applied a modified Rings of Saturn on Allie on the mat, but Allie stood up and hit a Death Valley Driver. Sheik got a hot tag, but Shoko attacked Sheik, causing Sheik to miss a top-rope guillotine leg drop. Sheik hit a German Suplex on Kaya. Sheik hit a spin kick on Kaya and a Michinoku Driver for the pin. Solid match.
3. Tetsuya Endo defeated Gringo Loco at 14:54. Endo appeared earlier on the tour and I noted he has shaggy uncombed hair like Naito. They took turns playing to the crowd at the bell. Standing switches to open and they traded armdrags. Endo went for a huricanrana but Loco rotated and landed on his feet. Endo hit a Sasake Special to the floor. In the ring, Endo hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall at 3:00, and he tied up Loco on the mat. Loco hit a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall and he tied up Endo. Endo hit a Frankensteiner at 6:30.
Endo hit a top-rope flying clothesline for a nearfall. They traded forearm strikes on the ring apron, and Endo hit a Lungblower to the chest. They fought on the top rope; I think Loco was going for a Spanish Fly, but either way, they both crashed to the mat. They went to the top rope again and this time they both splashed stomach-first to the mat, and Loco got a nearfall at 11:00. Endo hit a Pele Kick in the corner. Endo hit a top-rope Spanish Fly! He put Loco in a Torture Rack and spun him to the mat for a powerbomb and a nearfall at 13:00. Endo missed a Shooting Star Press. Loco hit a moonsault. Endo hit a Poison Rana, then he rolled up Loco for the pin. (I would argue that one of Loco’s shoulders was clearly up.) That was a great match.
4. Rina Yamashita defeated 1 Called Manders in an intergender match at 13:20. Manders has a significant height, weight, and overall size advantage over her. They got chairs and banged them against each other. Rina intentionally fell backward onto two folded chairs (I guess to show how tough she is?) She got Manders to do it too, then she jumped on him for a nearfall! The trickery! They rolled to the floor and traded chops. They got back in the ring and Manders was bleeding from his forehead. She rammed a chair between his legs in the corner, then she swung another chair at that chair to push it into his groin at 5:00. He dropped Rina stomach-first on the top rope but sold the pain in his groin.
Manders bit at Rina’s forehead, and she had a trickle of blood from her forehead, too. He hit a stiff kick to her spine at 7:00. Rina took control and she brought a table into the ring. Manders set up for a Bulldog Powerslam, but she hit a second-rope tornado DDT through the table and got a nearfall at 9:30. Rina slid some chairs that had cut-apart cans glued to them! She put one on his chest; she went for a frog splash but he turned the chair around so she landed on the cut-open cans! Ouch! They traded chops while on their knees, then while standing. He hit a headbutt; she hit an enzuigiri. Manders hit a left-arm clothesline for a nearfall at 12:00. She hit a low blow uppercut, then a Razor’s Edge across two open chairs for the pin. Not my style of match but this was hard-hitting.
5. Andreza Giant Panda defeated Joey Janela, Danhausen, Effy, Broski Jimmy Lloyd, and Kikutaro in a six-way scramble at 9:05. Panda is in an oversized air-filled mascot outfit and is clearly there for comedy purposes only. Panda got in the ring and it seriously must be 12-15 feet tall. The five wrestlers each took turns trying to strike Panda but were unable to do any damage. This is just all comedy as no one can do any damage to this air-filled balloon of a mascot. Panda finally deflated at 4:00 and left the ring so maybe we’ll have an actual match after all.
Danhausen poured his jar of teeth down Effy’s mouth and kicked it out. Janela and Lloyd traded superkicks. They did a five-way Tower Spot out of the corner. Danhausen ‘cursed’ Kikutaro, who collapsed at 6:30. He cursed Effy, who started to spasm. He began cursing everyone until they started acting like The Walking Dead. So, yes, still all comedy, as they all were now dancing to MJ’s “Thriller.” Panda got back into the ring behind them, and also was dancing. Dumb-funny stuff. The Panda again beat up everyone. Panda splashed onto Joey and Jimmy and pinned them both. Well, that happened… I’ll give Prazak credit for fully embracing all of this on commentary.
6. Mance Warner defeated Takayuki Ueki to retain the GCW Title at 21:04. I don’t think I’ve seen Ueki before; he is wearing a police vest but no shirt over his hairy chest. Mance argued with fans as he came to the ring. Warner attacked from behind to begin the match. Ueki hit a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Mance beat him up with a small tire iron. Maki Itoh came out of the back at 5:00! She handed Ueki her pizza cutter, which he used on Warner. She then got in the ring and used the pizza cutter on his forehead. They went to the floor, where Mance repeatedly slammed Ueki’s forehead into the ring post at 9:00. Needless to say, both were bleeding.
They brawled into the crowd, then back to ringside, and Mance got a chair from under the ring, as well as a table. They sat across from each other on chairs at 12:30 and traded punches. They stood up and kept punching each other. Ueki suplexed him onto an open chair for a nearfall. Mance chokeslammed Ueki onto an open chair but only got a one-count. They both charged at a table set up in the corner and it appears Mance’s head struck it; I wouldn’t have been surprised if both sold being slammed against it.
Ueki hit a top-rope frog splash onto Mance who was lying on the table for a nearfall at 16:00. Mance hit a second-rope superplex onto an open chair at 17:30. Ueki hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Ueki hit a chairshot over the head. He slammed Mance stomach-first onto a folded chair for a nearfall. Mance hit a second-rope DDT onto a pile of folded chairs for the pin. Not my style, but this was a good brawl. Both bled but it didn’t get too gross with either blood or weapons.
Final Thoughts: Japanese fans got a good taste of what GCW is about over the course of the three shows. Some really good wrestling, some comedy, some raunchy stuff, and some hardcore action. Endo-Loco earns best match and was among the best matches of the tour. Masha-Mathers earned second.
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