GCW Presents ‘Ready to Die’
Taped February 4, 2020 from 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan
Streaming on FITE.tv
February 5, 2020
Back in for the second night of GCW in Japan and we’re Ready to Die! After last night’s show and the Veidt/Takeda main event, the title of this show is more than fitting. I’ve been trying to stay away from social media spoilers but after yesterday I had to go online and get updated on Takeda’s condition after the scary-as-hell knife board spot. Although he wouldn’t be able to compete on the second night’s event it was heartening to see that GCW and the fans in Tokyo quickly rallied around him for his benefit and aid. This was the same mentality that was behind the huge outpouring of love and support for G-Raver after his injury at last year’s 2 Cups Stuffed, which was the first time I got to witness the very real sense of family that surrounds the GCW culture. If I’ve learned anything from GCW events it’s that they’re always looking to top what’s been done previously, which would be a difficult challenge after last night’s show but by the looks of the Ready to Die card, they were more than up to it. Even though it’s Wednesday night I’ve put aside the big-league ratings war to focus on the far more interesting wars that would take place on this show.
Results-
Match 1: Kikutaro defeated Chinsuke Nakamura
Match 2: Shigehiro Irie/Yuji Okobayashi defeated KTB/Chris Dickinson
Match 3: Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy fuckin’ Lloyd defeated Drew Parker
Match 4: (Trios match) Takashi Sasaki/Violento Jack/Toru Sugiura defeated Orin Veidt/Shlak/Kenji Fukimoto
Match 5: Masato Tanaka defeated Matthew Justice (Match. Of. The. Night!)
Match 6: Alex Colon/Danny Havoc defeated Toshiyuki Sakuda/Isami Kodaka
Match 7: Ryuji Ito defeated Matt Tremont
On Commentary: I’ll tell you right here, Kevin Gill deserves everyone’s respect. When he’s on his own he brings the Joey Styles 90’s ECW energy and he’s versatile enough to pair up with different commentary partners throughout the evening; it was great to hear him with Brett Lauderdale during the Tanaka/Justice tour de force and later with Orin Veidt during the final two matches of the evening.
Apart from Takeda, the majority of names that blew us all away last night at Live Fast, Die Young would be making their second appearance on Ready to Die, and I think the sentiment with all involved was that they’d outdo everything that was done on Night 1. They damn sure did, too. Both tag matches on the card were solid and unpredictable, and it’d be a disservice to everyone in America if we don’t get to see KTB and Dickinson team up again back here in the homeland as well as Alex Colon and Danny Havoc (who continues to impress me and everyone else upon his return to the GCW ring). Kikutaro let us all know he plans to bring Chinsuke and his brilliant not-quite-Nakamura self to Tampa, which will be something to watch for at the Collective in April. Jimmy Lloyd remains one of the sickest young men I’ve ever seen but he’s damn sure stepped his game up into a solid lucha-style wrestler since I first laid eyes on him, and for God’s sake let’s have another match with him and Drew Parker (as fucked up as this one was)!
The match of the night absolutely goes to Justice/Tanaka. On paper it was a dream bout to begin with, but seeing the match play out in the ring was a complete treat for us old-school ECW fans. This took me back; it was that kind of match that would have fit perfectly on any ECW PPV card in 1998. It’s also fun to have trios matches on both night 1 and night 2 as opposed to the scramblefuck matches that have gained popularity here in the States; over the past 48 hours I’ve been introduced to so much Japanese talent that I previously only had the slightest idea about. Now I know how damn good these guys are; much obliged to GCW for continuing to put over the local talent everywhere they go.
You know, you hear so much about and see so often the respectful, quiet Japanese wrestling crowds, and it’s so much fun to see them getting wild and having just as much of a good time as us rowdy and unruly Americans at GCW shows. As a fan it’s really inspiring to see them so knowledgeable about US wrestlers, even right down to the chants. How great is it to see how wrestling fans are all united by something we love so damn much?
Fam and fans, there’s only just one more night of this insanity! Hopefully you were smart and ordered the 3-day package from FITE.tv but I’ll forgive you if you didn’t; there’s still time to get in on this if you’ve missed a show. Order now and let’s find out together what kind of crazy shit the outlaws will get up to on their last night in Japan!