2015 DDT4 Preview & Predictions



Photo credit: @BrianDaBrain

The 9th Annual DDT4 Tournament will take place on May 22nd as announced by PWG several weeks ago. As of this writing, it's only TWO weeks away! This tag team tournament has been a staple in PWG since 2007 with past winners including Roderick Strong & PAC (Adrian Neville), The Young Bucks, El Generico (Sami Zayn) & Paul London, and Chuck Taylor & Trent.

This year's tournament is especially interesting because there are only two teams with prior experience in DDT4. The first being Ricochet & Rich Swann, the Inner City Machine Guns, who competed in the tournament in 2013 & 2014 and made it to the finals last year only to be defeated by the Best Friends. The second & final team with prior experience in DDT4 is Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae, the World's Cutest Tag Team, who were eliminated in the first round of last year's tournament by Adam Cole & Kevin Steen.

The other thing that makes this year's tournament intriguing is that last year's winner's the Best Friends, Chuck Taylor & Trent?, aren't in the mix. And neither are the 2009, 2011, & 2013 winners The Young Bucks. This makes for a huge opportunity for everyone involved, especially all the new teams.

With all this being said, I (Ethan) decided to take a look at all the entrants in this year's tournament and give my insight on who I think has the edge as well as introduce everyone to some of the newer teams with a little help from Running Enzuigiri's Mark Anthony. On top of that, I've put together a small predictions panel with myself & a few friends giving thoughts on who will emerge victorious in the biggest tag team tournament in North America. 

Let's start things off with a glance at the eight teams who are entered into the competition.

Team #1 - Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr)

The first team announced for DDT 4 are the boys hailing from the 69th precinct, Dan Barry and Bill Carr, Team Tremendous. If you're not familiar with Team Tremendous, just think buddy cop film in a ring, these two are hilarious are oozing with charisma, but don't let that take away from their wrestling talent, these guys will surprise the hell out of you in the ring with moves you'd have no idea they could pull off like Bill Carr's Canadian Destroyer (Carr is a big guy!) and Dan Barry's Irish Car Bomb (YouTube that), they'll fit in perfectly with the PWG style and have faced 3 of the teams in this year's DDT tournament, so I'd say chances of them making a big debut and taking the whole thing are kind of good. This won't be the last time we see Team Tremendous in PWG, that's for sure.
- Mark Anthony

Team #2 - Biff Busick & Drew Gulak

Biff Busick and Drew Gulak came into PWG together last summer at the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles in the form of singles matches as well as their battle as a team against ReDragon. Gulak is still searching for his first victory in Reseda & Busick has only one to his record so I think them joining forces sees a good chance for both men to improve their win-loss record in the legion hall. Busick & Gulak have slightly more experience in PWG than several of the other teams in this tournament so I'd say, depending on who they face in the first round, there's a good chance we could see them make it to the semi-finals. Between both men's ability to manipulate their opponent's bodies into painful predicaments where they have no choice but to submit and Busick's vicious strikes, they definitely have the potential to go far in this tourney however their losing records make it hard for me to see them getting past the semi-finals. They are in dyer need of a victory though so I wouldn't sleep on them by any means.
- Ethan

Team #3 - Beaver Boys (John Silver & Alex Reynolds)

Photo credit: Devin Chen Photography

Here we have yet another team making their first DDT4 Appearance. The Beaver Boys have made a solid name for themselves in their first two PWG appearances this year by having good performances against the Best Friends as well as Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae. Their match with Chuck & Trent showcased their comedic side while their match with Joey & Candice really showed what they could do in the ring as they took the tag team champions to their limit. For a team who's yet to earn a victory in PWG, this is the perfect opportunity for them to gain some ground in Reseda and I don't see Silver & Reynolds giving anything less than 100%.

Team #4 - World's Cutest Tag Team (Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae)
Just based on a combination of history, talent, & stats - these two are your likely winners of the tournament. Individually, Joey, as a founder of the company, has been with PWG since the beginning and has participated in nearly every single DDT4 tournament with a variety of partners. Candice has been in PWG since 2007 and while last year was her first DDT4 tournament appearance, she has clearly grown alot since then as she & Joey had only been teaming for around 6 months at the time as opposed to how they've been teaming for nearly 2 years now. As a team, they're the reigning champions which automatically gives them an edge over all the other competitors. Plus, they have something to prove in that they ARE the Tag Team Champions, but they've never won the tournament and doing so would solidify their tag team expertise. I think all the aforementioned things combined with their possible determination to prove their worth, the World's Cutest Tag Team coming out on top is a high possibility. If The Young Bucks and veterans like Daniels & Kazarian couldn't beat them, who can?


Team #5 - Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett
These two might be the most dangerous team in this year's tournament. Trevor Lee has took PWG by storm in the past year and Andrew Everett recently made his return in a mindblowing performance against Ricochet. I think every other team in this tournament will be keeping a close eye out for this duo because although they've never teamed together before, they are long time opponents so they know each other well. Beyond that, the fact that Trevor Lee is involved is automatically something to look out for given his track record of defeating the likes of Kevin Steen, Adam Cole, Michael Elgin, & Chris Hero. If he can beat them in singles action, who says he and one of his best known opponents can't defeat some of the experienced teams in this tourney? Much less newer teams who have little to no experience in Reseda. I think it's safe to say these two will make it to the semi-finals, if not further. After huge victory after huge victory will Lee finally earn himself a rank in Reseda? It's only a matter of time before he does and I think this may be his best opportunity yet to do so. Either way, I expect some unbelievable matches out of these two in this year's DDT4. Matches against Love Gun and Inner City Machine Guns, please?

Team #6 - Monster Mafia (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)

These two have been ripping the Indies to shreds in 2015 in singles & tag competition. Beyond their big PWG debut, Alexander holds a number of top championships in promotions such as AIW & AAW plus Ethan has debuted in a prominent role for Evolve. This leads many to believe that they will take that momentum to Reseda and sweep this tournament. And hell, I'd say it's very likely. Ethan Page proved that he's a force to be reckoned with last month by baring his ass in front of the four horse women sitting at ringside. It's clear these two will do anything it takes to win, even cheap tactics. They have the ability and attitude to be extremely successful in PWG and we may see that come to fruition in this year's tournament. They're definitely a high favorite to win, just wait until you see the predictions panel later in this article.

Team #7 - Inner City Machine Guns (Ricochet & Rich Swann)

Aside from Joey & Candice, these two are the most experienced in this tournament. They made great strides in DDT4 the past two years by making it to the finals last year after being eliminated in the first round in 2013. All Ricochet & Swann have to do is take it one step further and they could be looking at their first DDT4 Tournament victory and possibly the tag team championships. With the roll that Ricochet's been on as of late and Swann making his return after a few months away, I think the Inner City Machine Guns have a good chance of winning the entire thing. Will Reseda singing "All Night Long" be the last image we see as the 2015 DDT4 Tournament comes to a close?

Team #8 - Love Gun (Chris Sabin & Matt Sydal)

Chris Sabin & Matt Sydal embrace after their victory over The Young Bucks at Black Cole Sun in December 2014.

Sabin & Sydal shocked everyone when they defeated The Young Bucks in their first match as a team last December at Black Cole Sun. This was followed up by a big win over the newest team in PWG, Monster Mafia. The simple fact that Sabin & Sydal defeated The Young Bucks proves to me that they could win this tournament. The Bucks have won this thing more than any other team in PWG history and beating them is no easy task. To top that off, Chris Sabin has prior experience in this tournament with Alex Shelley so he probably has a good strategy heading into this event. Can Love Gun take the next step in solidifying themselves as one of the best tag teams around today? I think they could very well do so in this year's DDT4 Tournament.

PREDICTIONS PANEL:

Mark (@seethekidwin)'s prediction: Monster Mafia

It’s springtime in Reseda and that can only mean one thing: time for the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament! Better known as DDT4, this year's teams are stacked and choosing one worthy of the tournament’s victory stands as quite the challenge. I will walk you through my conflict and into resolution with the two teams I feel have the strongest chance of being crowned victorious on May 22nd.
Love Gun is the ridiculously awesome combination of Matt Sydal and Chris Sabin, and the team who defeated the incomparable Young Bucks in December at Black Cole Sun. At PWG’s most recent event, Don’t Sweat The Technique, Love Gun went on to defeat Reseda newcomers Monster Mafia. You could say that Sydal and Sabin are on quite the roll heading into DDT4. But is it enough to get their arms raised inside the American Legion Hall?

Let’s talk about Monster Mafia some more. Although most recently defeated by Love Gun, the team has had the best crowd response out of all the newly introduced talent to the PWG roster. Ethan Page has been working the Reseda crowd into a frenzy with each performance. His heel tactics are so well executed and embraced that I can completely see us booing them to DDT4 victory. Honestly, is there a better team to dethrone the current beloved champions in Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae? Ethan Page and Josh Alexander stand the chance to be PWG’s most hated for such a thing. Sorry Love Gun, but Monster Mafia might have more to prove than you by taking DDT4 by storm.

Dylan (@afutureshock)'s predictions: Monster Mafia
Mafia beat Tremendous in the first round, allowing them to get the needed heat moving forward in the tourney. WCTT advance, Beaver Boys eliminated. Gulak & Busick can't get along, Biff walks out on Gulak leading to them being eliminated. Love Gun advance. Everett & Lee lose to Inner City, can't see Swann losing in his return (at least in the first round). Monster Mafia beat Love Gun. WCTT beat Inner City. Monster Mafia beat WCTT after Ethan Page pins Candice to win the titles.

Mark Anthony (@AnsoniiSan)'s prediction: Monster Mafia
My pick to win DDT4 is Monster Mafia. Ethan Page and Josh Alexander have been ripping through the indies lately, Josh has won multiple heavyweight titles and Ethan debuted in Evolve and is now in a high profile feud with Johnny Gargano, now they have a chance to make a huge splash together by winning this tournament. I think it's time for Joey and Candice to get in a real heel team vs face team feud, it hasn't really happened since they faced the Bucks and out of all the teams in this tournament, Monster Mafia is the best fit for that role and can have some extremely entertaining matches with WCTT.

Ethan (@EthanPWT)'s prediction: Love Gun

I saved my prediction for last, not because I'm the one organizing this article, but because I wanted to note that the other guys all picked Monster Mafia without spoiling anything. I completely understand the reason Monster Mafia is a favorite however, I'm going to go against the grain and keep with the thought process I've had since Sabin & Sydal beat The Young Bucks last December - Love Gun will win the 2015 DDT4 Tournament. From a momentum standpoint, they own big victories over The Young Bucks & Monster Mafia and I don't think those would have happened without big plans in store. Chris Sabin has been in PWG off and on since 2006 and has always been a reliable talent for producing great matches during his time there. As for Matt Sydal, his run in PWG in 2006-2007 was a lot of fun. Both men have something in common about their respective PWG tenures though, they've never won gold despite being two of the biggest names to compete in the promotion over the years. I think that Sabin & Sydal will get their payoff this month by winning the DDT4 Tournament & the tag titles. Beyond that, they are the only team that I see PWG putting faith in to take the titles from Joey & Candice because of their starpower. Monster Mafia is on the rise. That's something no one can deny. Their PWG run thus far has consisted of two matches that have showcased both their physical abilities, but also their charisma. I think that trend will continue and evenutally lead them to tag team gold later this year. For now though, it's time for Love Gun to rise.

Non Tournament Bouts
Aside from the tournament itself, there are two other matches on the card. First up is a singles match between the returning Johnny Gargano and the new sensation Speedball Mike Bailey. This will be a very interesting match up. It's Gargano's first bout in Reseda since December and I don't think there's any chance of him not coming back with something to prove. However, does he have more to prove than Speedball? I think this will be a hard fought contest and another impressive performance for Bailey, but I'm gonna go with Johnny Wrestling for the win.

The second non tourney bout is a big one. It's a PWG World Title Match between Roderick Strong, Brian Cage, & Chris Hero. I think that speaks for itself. These guys are going to beat the shit out of each other and it's going to be awesome. Brian Cage is coming off victories over Uhaa Nation last winter and Biff Busick last month while Chris Hero owns wins over Drew Gulak & Tommy End therefore both guys very well deserve this opportunity. Despite them having some momentum, I don't think they have as much as Roddy who has owned the legion hall in the past few months. From booting Kyle O'Reilly out the door by taking his PWG World Title to stopping Trevor Lee's tear through the PWG roster to delivering one of the best matches of his career against Zack Sabre Jr, the decade long Pro Wrestling Guerrilla competitor is hitting his stride and I don't see him being stopped. He has worked long & hard for this run and it's going to take a lot to put him away because Roddy has already proved he will do ANYTHING to keep the PWG World Title around his waist.

Final thoughts:
As you can see, there's a lot to look forward to on this event. After all, the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes yet again. PWG is on a role with their best run of shows since BOLA last year and I'm pretty sure this show will continue that. There are a lot of new faces on this event and I can't wait to see them continue to prove themselves in the Indie-mecca that is Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. The tournament could go many different ways, but one thing is for sure, we will likely know who the best tag team on the Indies is when all is said and done!

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow us on Twitter @TheTeamPWG!