The PWG Thread

[STITCHES]

For sure! Not trying to be Mr. Indie Guy or anything either. I've watched all of my PWG DVD's several times over and haven't been this excited about pro-wrestling since I saw my first ECW PPV back in the 90s. Even just the highlight reels are a good time. And Barbarian Overlords fucking destroys. They're like Soundgarden on a laced joint.

[supersonic]

ASW12 snowflakes

Meltzer's live ratings of Night 1:

Chuck Taylor vs. Trevor Lee ***1/2
Chris Hero vs. Evil Player Uno ***3/4
Drew Galloway vs. Trent Beretta ****1/4
Roderick Strong vs. Mark Andrews ****
Marty Scurll vs. Kyle O'Reilly ****1/4
Adam Cole vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. ****
Young Bucks vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal ****3/4

Night 2 ratings courtesy John Carey:

Chuck Taylor vs. Marty Scurll ***1/2
Mark Andrews vs. Evil Player Uno ***1/2
Drew Galloway vs. Trevor Lee ***1/2
Chris Hero & JT Dunn vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal ***1/4 (mixed reports having this as best ASW12 match)
Trent Beretta vs. Adam Cole ***3/4
Young Bucks vs. reDRagon ****
Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. ****1/4

[ROHFan25]

For sure! Not trying to be Mr. Indie Guy or anything either. I've watched all of my PWG DVD's several times over and haven't been this excited about pro-wrestling since I saw my first ECW PPV back in the 90s. Even just the highlight reels are a good time. And Barbarian Overlords fucking destroys. They're like Soundgarden on a laced joint.

You should try watching Evolve and NXT Specials. Both are superior to modern day PWG IMO. The one thing I will give PWG is that when they do things right, aka Cole/O'Reilly returns...there is nothing that can match them. The problem I have with PWG will always be the same. A lot of the matches go way too long and the finishes/kick outs are so unrealistic that it takes enjoyment out of the match for me.

ALso, Barbarian Overlords are fucking incredible.

[STITCHES]

Evolve has been awesome. And I do enjoy some NXT. I often watch that stuff and remain baffled as to why guys like Finn Balor aren't already on the main roster, but I'm sure there's some behind-the-scenes reason for that.

I agree with you on the false finishes and match longevity to a point. There are some that seem to drag after a while. As much as I love Chris Hero (and his style of matches), the BOLA 2015 final match was super lengthy after 4 discs worth of wrestling. By the time I got there, I didn't have the attention span to watch the entire match. But I don't think that's always the case. Brian Cage vs John Silver was a little too short, IMO.

But I just look at the roster and think, "Where else am I going to see Pentagon Jr vs Zack Sabre or Davey Richards vs Willie Mack?"

[Tars Tarkas]

Evolve has been awesome. And I do enjoy some NXT. I often watch that stuff and remain baffled as to why guys like Finn Balor aren't already on the main roster, but I'm sure there's some behind-the-scenes reason for that.

I agree with you on the false finishes and match longevity to a point. There are some that seem to drag after a while. As much as I love Chris Hero (and his style of matches), the BOLA 2015 final match was super lengthy after 4 discs worth of wrestling. By the time I got there, I didn't have the attention span to watch the entire match. But I don't think that's always the case. Brian Cage vs John Silver was a little too short, IMO.

But I just look at the roster and think, "Where else am I going to see Pentagon Jr vs Zack Sabre or Davey Richards vs Willie Mack?"

I love the longer matches in PWG. Giving matches time to breathe and develop is almost always a plus in my book. I personally LOVED the BOLA 3 way Final in 2015. It was such an epic tournament and it needed an epic last match to cap the weekend and I think they delivered. I hope PWG continue doing exactly what they are doing. They are absolutely knocking it out of the park consistently.

I need to get back into Evolve though. It looks like they are putting on the sort of shows I would love as well. I intend to have a big buy soon on the blu-rays I am missing and having a catch up. The roster looks great and from the match reviews it's clear that they are also on fire. Regarding your above post Stitches, it's clear you are watching both Evolve and PWG. Would you say that Evolve is matching PWG for match quality currently?

Also how did the Zack Sabre Jr vs Roddy match compare in Evolve to the PWG one? For me the PWG match they had in 2015 was a MOTYC. Just awesome.

[JTCole]

Finn is probably moving up right after Mania. He stayed in NXT to help build the brand.

[DXvsNWO1994]

Finn is probably moving up right after Mania. He stayed in NXT to help build the brand.

Wrong thread?

[JTCole]

Finn is probably moving up right after Mania. He stayed in NXT to help build the brand.

Wrong thread?

I was responding to STICHES, should have quoted him. He thought it was a political thing.

[STITCHES]

Finn is probably moving up right after Mania. He stayed in NXT to help build the brand.

Wrong thread?

I was responding to STICHES, should have quoted him. He thought it was a political thing.

...I did?

[STITCHES]

I love the longer matches in PWG. Giving matches time to breathe and develop is almost always a plus in my book. I personally LOVED the BOLA 3 way Final in 2015. It was such an epic tournament and it needed an epic last match to cap the weekend and I think they delivered. I hope PWG continue doing exactly what they are doing. They are absolutely knocking it out of the park consistently.

I need to get back into Evolve though. It looks like they are putting on the sort of shows I would love as well. I intend to have a big buy soon on the blu-rays I am missing and having a catch up. The roster looks great and from the match reviews it's clear that they are also on fire. Regarding your above post Stitches, it's clear you are watching both Evolve and PWG. Would you say that Evolve is matching PWG for match quality currently?

Also how did the Zack Sabre Jr vs Roddy match compare in Evolve to the PWG one? For me the PWG match they had in 2015 was a MOTYC. Just awesome.

Haven't seen either ZSJ vs Strong match yet, actually. I'm looking forward to seeing ASW, though. PWG might be the only wrestling company to regularly tempt me with new DVD purchases every paycheck. x_x

[Tim]

First of all the first Zack/Roddy match in PWG was near 5 stars live, on DVD a it was about 4.5ish for me. The match they had last weekend wasn't as good, but still great, and the atmosphere was the best I have seen in that building of the 40+ shows I have attended. I have never seen their Evolve match, so I can't compare that one.

Secondly I love the longer matches... if they are between people who are capable of having good long matches. The Dalton Castle vs Chuck Taylor match from Bowie was a perfect example of a match that went way too long for it's own good.

[STITCHES]

Every match on DDT4 2015 was incredible. That might be my favorite card so far. Not a single weak match on the DVD.

[DXvsNWO1994]

Finn is probably moving up right after Mania. He stayed in NXT to help build the brand.

Wrong thread?

I was responding to STICHES, should have quoted him. He thought it was a political thing.

Ah, I see. Nevermind then...

[Tars Tarkas]

Every match on DDT4 2015 was incredible. That might be my favorite card so far. Not a single weak match on the DVD.

Interesting. That show really polarises fans. Some really hated it and thought it was PWG's weakest show in ages. Some though really enjoyed it. I personally loved it as well (though would put it behind BOLA Night 2 as I thought that was probably PWG's best show last year) but check out the two reviews here to see how much people disagree on this show.


http://411mania.com/wrestling/guerrilla ... ddt4-2015/

http://411mania.com/wrestling/views-fro ... ddt4-2015/

It probably did not help that there was a camera malfunction which meant only the hard cam was available on some of the matches. For me though I loved the longer matches and thought it was a great show overall.

[STITCHES]

Going to read these when I get home for sure. I'll get in trouble for sitting and reading two wrestling DVD reviews back to back instead of managing my print shop (oh shit, son!).

But while I'm on my ten...
You remember Sabu vs Taz @ Living Dangerously 99? There was a part where I think Sabu suplexed Taz onto a table suspended between the ring and the guard rail, the impact of which cut off the nearest camera. That was gold, in my opinion. Not even the camera crew are exempt from the mayhem. That's kinda how PWG always seems to be. When Trevor Lee was beating on Ricochet and then turned to fly over the turn buckles, over the ring post and over like 5 rows of fans, I was rewinding that shit 5-6 times over. First time I saw Beaver Boys vs Team Tremendous, I couldn't stop laughing (Silver & Barry fighting on their knees and Chris Hero's commentary on Gallagher and Silver is hilarious). Anything with Ricochet and Schwann was awesome. Anything with Lee & Everett was awesome. My ONLY complaint on the card is that, yeah, Monster Mafia could have been more imposing. But beyond that, I'm floored to hear anybody doesn't like DDT4 from last year. Maybe those two dudes @ 411 Mania are even more spoiled than I am.

[Tars Tarkas]

Well one of the two 411 reviewers loved it as well but the other absolutely HATED it and gave it an overall score of 2.5, which is just absurd in my opinion.

[STITCHES]

Okay. Read them both just now. I can see where the frustration is coming from. Nothing the second reviewer said is really deniable. Yes, it's contradictory to clip a high flyer's wings and then present a spot loaded aerial offensive comeback later in the match. Yes, it's anti-climatic to wrap up the night with a small package. Yes, overt sexism against the token female babyface can be a cheap gimmick for a heel. Yes, Busick & Gulak looked underwhelming against Ricochet and Swann. But considering these are traveling indy wrestlers that participate in multiple companies against different talent all the time, I expect the "story" to be a little more on-the-spot and improvy. They gotta build a relationship within minutes. It's not like they've got a 2 month long feud with TV appearances, promos and PPV's. These guys gotta produce something interesting within 20 minutes or else. So, considering that, I don't see any long term issue with these criticisms. In fact, I didn't even really notice or care about these things until they were pointed out. And even then, I'm still probably going to watch DDT4 2015 again and get caught up in the energy and excitement of it all nonetheless. I don't know. Some people hate on Slayer's "Reign In Blood" also yet it's still a classic. Can't please everyone.

[Mike0284]

[DXvsNWO1994]

So in some pretty sad news, it seems like "Speedball" Mike Bailey got in trouble at the border (hence why he wasn't at Evolve this weekend). Apparently the rumors going around on Twitter is that he's been barred from entering the U.S. for five years which, if true, means no more Mike Bailey in PWG....

[AndyDiaz]

So in some pretty sad news, it seems like "Speedball" Mike Bailey got in trouble at the border (hence why he wasn't at Evolve this weekend). Apparently the rumors going around on Twitter is that he's been barred from entering the U.S. for five years which, if true, means no more Mike Bailey in PWG....

Extremely gutted by the news. Hopefully something gets sorted soon, or just anything to lessen the 5 year duration. Bailey was quickly becoming on of the pillars for PWG in the current day. Sad to see this happen.