Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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Holy Diver Down – February 24, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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Chris Bosh & Scott Lost vs. Motor City Machine Guns

Mentioned on commentary is that Quicksilver is still out due to a concussion, but no status is provided for the Tag Titles.

Very good tag match that was brought down by tag legality issues and going a bit too long. MCMG were the obvious stars as the match, as if there would be any other expectation. They were crisp, brought the pain, worked on limbs, dropped bombs, locked on submissions, and honestly dominated this.

If there was a missed universal storytelling continuity, it’d be Chris Sabin playing the Ricky Morton role once Arrogance got the heat. As Jade Chung used a piece of clothing to choke Sabin, it’d have been a nice nod for Alex Shelley to be in that spot instead, with Chung still pissed about what happened during their time in the Embassy. Now sure, Sabin comes across in the ring as much kinder than Shelley, so that’s probably the reason for him selling.

Once Shelley hit an assisted standing Shiraniu, the result wasn’t in doubt. So once they got double small packages for Arrogance, it came as no surprise. MCMG were simply on top of the world at this time, and it’s a shame it won’t being showcased in a feud against Paul London & Brian Kendrick at the time.

Rating: ***3/4

PAC vs. Kevin Steen

Excellent match here with Steen dominating early. PAC took 2 scary head drops early, one a lariat and then an immediate trip to Suplex City courtesy of Steen. There were numerous other bombs PAC took, including the pop-up powerbomb and a draping DDT off the top rope. Had PAC sold his neck a bit more after that DDT, this would’ve taken this into potential MOTYC territory. Doing so would’ve fit into Steen’s package piledriver finisher, which would’ve been a great story to tell.

This was no squash match though, as PAC got in his bombs as well, spectacular ones at that. A reverse hurricanrana, a Quebrada that turned into a tornado DDT, even a Sky Twister to the outside. No matter how much punishment he took, he took advantage at every opportunity to use his incredibly acrobatics to damage Steen. Not even Steen countering a Super Hurricanrana into a Super Powerbomb was enough to keep PAC down.

The finish couldn’t have been any better. In something I’d never seen, PAC had a shooting star SENTON for a near-fall. He then wasted no time and finished off the former PWG Champion with a standard Sky Twister, pulling off a huge upset in one of the defining matches of his career. This was sensational.

Post-match, Steen puts PAC over heavily, revealing how much respect he had for him throughout 2006 and lobbying for months to get him into PWG. Steen says that when PAC becomes a big star one day and makes money, remember the guy that got him an opportunity. I wonder if either one of these guys ever made money and became stars.

Rating: ****

PWG Title Match
Human Tornado vs. El Generico


Very good main event that was kept at about a dozen minutes which I appreciated, allowing both to just go for bombs on each other. Tornado was noticeably cockier than usual, a higher level of arrogance than he had shown before. This seemed strange considering that the two were occasional tag partners. He was totally fine with giving Generico the shuck and jive low blow early to hammer this home.

Generico wouldn’t be denied though. Perhaps due to Quicksilver’s uncertain status, the Generic Luchador wanted to ensure he left this evening knowing he’d have a title reign to continue. Nothing would stop Generico, who pulled one bomb after another including a somersault plancha, half and half suplex, a Dat Nigga Dead of his own, and two Yakuza kicks before upsetting Tornado with a top rope brainbuster for a shocking title change.

In contrast to Steen earlier on the card, Tornado opts not to show respect, declining to congratulate his friend and just leaving a sore loser. I’ll certainly take Tornado as the top heel over Joey Ryan without any hesitation whatsoever. Perhaps there should’ve been a Generico vs. Tornado feud in hindsight.

Rating: ***1/2

PAC vs. Kevin Steen gets all the love, but the other two matches are worth seeing, including a shockingly historic main event. Recommended.

Up next – Album of the Year
Matches will include:
Rocky Romero vs. Claudio Castagnoli
El Generico vs. Davey Richards
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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Album of the Year – March 10, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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Due to Quicksilver’s concussion, Cape Fear are stripped of the Tag Titles. They will be up for grabs in the first ever DDT4 tournament in 2 months.

Rocky Romero vs. Claudio Castagnoli

This was a battle of countering. While Romero would repeatedly go for cross armbar submissions, Castagnoli used his height advantage to get easy rope breaks. Romero failed to target a specific arm, which was arguably his downfall. He needed to take away Castagnoli’s devastating uppercut arsenal. As for Castagnoli, he never found a major advantage either, so it came down to his strength advantage, dumping Romero on his head with a trip to Suplex City, blocking a desperate adrenaline-rush kick, and hitting a discus uppercut for the victory. Good stuff that would’ve been better with more focused limb work and selling.

Rating: ***1/4

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. Davey Richards


This match never reached a high gear, making it quite disappointing considering it went over half an hour. There was still good stuff in here, including Generico dominating the first several minutes and causing Richards to take a few powders. Once Richards got control, he dominated the rest of the match while also jaw-jacking with the audience for whatever reason.

The finishing stretch had some good scouting and counters, including Richards turning Generico’s Yakuza kick into a calf-shoulder suplex into the corner. Generico would knee the gut of Richards when the challenger went for a terrific Shooting Star Press, and finally moved to hit his trademark Yakuza kick and Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but Richards rolled out. During one of these points Richards also went for a desperate inside cradle counter for a near-fall. But once Generico hit an Apron Brainbuster, having already taken Generico’s regular finish, that was the ballgame.

Rating: ***1/2

Up next – 70|30
Matches will include:
Alex Shelley vs. Rocky Romero
Chris Sabin vs. Scott Lost
Shingo vs. Davey Richards
El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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70|30 – March 24, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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Alex Shelley vs. Rocky Romero

Submission counters lead to 2 stalemates, with no advantage until Shelley landed a kick on Romero’s head. What looks to be a sustained, relentless advantage for Shelley, that being a unique Super Jawbreaker, turns out to be the end of his domination. Instead, Shelley’s slow approach to keep it up allows Romero to gain control with a kick of his own. But that turns out to be short-lived for Romero, as the two exchange control with various counters.

Romero wins a test of strength, allowing him to apply a shoulder submission. But his insistence on kicks to Shelley’s hamstring is costly, as he eats a brainbuster. Shelley’s selling of his left limbs is impressive as both get back up. He even couldn’t hit a graceful Quebrada, climbing one foot at a time on the middle rope instead of jumping, and also using the right leg to deliver a Super variation of a kick similar to Liu Kang’s Flying Dragon.

Romero gains brief control but is cut off with a gutbuster. Not even a cross arm breaker submission is enough as Shelley is too close to the ropes, and then counters another one, turning it into the Border City Stretch in the middle of the ring. This is excellent stuff as Romero keeps rotating until he gets a rope break.

The excellent counters just keep on coming, resulting in a highly dramatic cross arm breaker. But instead of the drama being in Shelley avoiding a tap out, it was in avoiding Romero from locking it altogether. Romero avoids a Shiranui but goes to the well too often with the cross arm breaker, allowing Shelley to counter it with a pinning near-fall. This classic concludes when Shelley hits a Reverse STO and forces Romero to tap out to the Border City Stretch.

Post-match, Romero challenges Shelley and a partner to face the Havana Pitbulls in May, to which Shelley obliges that the Motor City Machine Guns accept for the upcoming DDT4 tournament. Both men are selling tremendously and just exhausted.

MCMG have a backstage promo afterwards, ready to come for the vacant Tag Titles.

A fucking excellent match that deserves compilation inclusion, topping PAC vs. Kevin Steen as the company’s best contest of 2007 so far. Absolutely tremendous counters and submissions, with incredible selling to boot, including in the post-match promo. Must-see.

Rating: ****1/4

Joey Ryan interferes in the Ronin vs. Kevin Steen match, hitting Steen with a stupid chair shot to the head and drawing a DQ on Ronin. Steen is pissed but he’s earned a PWG Title shot by default. He quotes Owen Hart and wants to earn his title shot, not have it handed to him. Steen says he’ll kill Jack Evans coming up at All Star Weekend V Night 1, and asks for a match on Night 2 against Ryan. Excalibur & Dino Winwood grant his request to make it a hardcore match.

In a backstage promo, Steen warns Ryan to watch the match against Evans. He says despite liking Evans, he will beat the shit out of him, and imagine what will happen to Ryan, who he hates. The events ever since the historic title change from Steen to Ryan at Chanukah Chaos (The C’S Are Silent) will finally come to a head.

The authority figures have some special announcements. Low Ki will be debuting on All Star Weekend V to take on Davey Richards and Samoa Joe! OH FUCK YES~! For the DDT4 in May, Teams inserted into May’s DDT4 are the Briscoes, Kings of Wrestling, Richards & Roderick Strong, but before the announcements continue, Richards interrupts to the crowd’s disapproval.

Richards rejects teaming with Strong since they already won the Tag Titles before, instead saying he’s selected a mystery partner. Speed Muscle is then revealed to be in the tournament.

So that’s the Briscoes, Speed Muscle, Kings of Wrestling, Havana Pitbulls, Motor City Machine Guns, and Richards with a mystery partner. Not too bad of a tournament.

“Scorpio Sky” returns in a mask and defeats Top Gun Talwar.

Chris Sabin vs. Scott Lost

Good match with a cheap finish. Sabin dominated early until Lost countered a corner move with a boot the face and follow-up gutbuster. Sabin teased a comeback outside after getting back-scratched by Jade Chung, only to eat a twirling feet strike from Lost off a ring post. Sabin would muster a comeback thanks to a Fisherman Buster, while Lost would get control back minutes later with an Ace Crusher. After Sabin hit some corner dropkicks, his inside cradle got turned over thanks to Chung, resulting in a win for Lost.

Rating: ***

Shingo vs. Davey Richards

Shingo dominated early thanks largely to a sleeper hold swing, After a few minutes, Richards manages a knee to his gut to get control, although he’s still getting too sidetracked by the crowd jeers. Richards seems very much have made a decision to be a dick everywhere since forming the No Remorse Corps with Strong in ROH; perhaps their failure to win the Tag Titles a few weeks back with him against this very opponent and Naruki Doi are why he rejected teaming with Strong again in PWG.

Shingo’s comeback gets cut off when he goes to the top rope after a powerslam, as Richards hits a Superlex hurting both men’s back. Richards causes Shingo to get fighting spirit during some kicks, with Shingo finally mounting a comeback with a Fireman’s Carry Spinebuster along with more bombs. He even counters the handspring elbow of Richards, hitting a torture rack pancake for a near-fall.

Richards regains control after blocking a pumphandle move, hitting an Enziguri and Falcon Arrow for a near-fall. He also cancels a Shingo comeback via a DDT, then goes for a Shooting Star Press. That doesn’t pay off as Shingo avoids it and hits a spinning Gut Wrench Bomb for a near-fall. He shrugs off a boot to the face and lands a lariat for another good near-fall.

Richards lands a low blow out of referee Rick Knox’s vision. Shingo then taps out moments later to the Kondo Clutch in a bit of a messy finish. Good match weighed down by the finish.

Rating: ***

Human Tornado intentionally puts Candice LeRae in harm’s way to hit the Dat Nigga Dead and beat Disco Machine. He then hits one on her. This wouldn’t hold up today, but it’s tolerable at this point in Tornado’s heel run.

Christopher Daniels is back to his 2002 attitude, unimpressed by El Generico and using the same hand mannerisms. What was the point of his arrow paintings around his eye a decade ago?

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels


Daniels is quite irritable to Generico’s early dominance, throwing a temper tantrum on the outside. Generico still maintains control thanks to numerous arm drags and not succumbing to any Daniels strikes. When he gets a wristlock submission, Daniels gets irritated again by its positing him for pin falls. Daniels did not seem prepared for Generico bringing submissions to the table.

Daniels finally cut off the champion by evading and tossing him to the outside. Daniels displayed no hesitation, scoop-slamming Generico on a chair and striking him with another one outside the ref’s vision. This allowed Daniels to work on Generico’s back, perfect to prepare for the Koji Clutch, and marginalize the champ’s signature moves. He turns up the misery he feels inside by stepping on Generico’s face for a couple near-falls, just showing complete disrespect.

Daniels was able to prevent a comeback, hitting another vertical suplex and then mocking the champ’s back pain. After also stepping on his back, Generico mounts a comeback with various strikes and near-falls. However, that ends when the Fallen Angel simply punches his face and goes back to being a miserable prick. I wouldn’t have minded an ultimate heel battle between Richards and Daniels at this point in PWG.

Generico finally cuts Daniels off with a reverse DDT, although has too much back pain to immediately capitalize. Once they’re both back up, Daniels has no answer for Generico’s offense, opting to take a powder. But Generico wastes no time, hitting a Twisting Plancha instantly to the outside. Generico gives a chair shot receipt to the back in front of the ref, who doesn’t care due to the antics of Daniels so far.

Generico keeps selling his back as he stays in control, which is appreciated. Daniels then cuts off Generico’s tightrope attempt, hitting a Reverse STO and applying the Koji Clutch for a false finish. Daniels is displeased by the Blue Thunder Powerbomb being a near-fall, but doesn’t waste time. They have a strike exchange that ends with both collapsing when Generico hits a big boot.

I love Daniels blocking the Yakuza kick, only for Generico to sandbag the Angel’s Wings and hit a leaping tornado DDT. Both are exhausted at this point, giving their all for the company’s top prize. Generico slowly prepares Daniels for a Turnbuckle Brainbuster, which allows Daniels to scoop toss him and go for a crossbody, but that’s turned into a near-fall pin. They have a great near-fall when Daniels hits an STO. Generico scouts the BME and Arabian Moonsault, finally finishing Daniels off with the Yakuza kick and s standard brainbuster. Kick up the pace a bit more and this would’ve been a classic.

Rating: ***3/4

Strongest recommendation of PWG’s early years thanks to a classic and near-classic.

We now arrive at one of the greatest events in PWG history. Period.

Up next – All Star Weekend V Night 1
Matches will include:
Roderick Strong vs. Rocky Romero
Human Tornado vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Jack Evans vs. Kevin Steen
Kaz Hayashi vs. Alex Shelley
Low Ki vs. Davey Richards
El Generico vs. PAC
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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All Star Weekend V Night 1 – April 7, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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Rocky Romero vs. Roderick Strong

Romero went for an early advantage flurry but Strong weathered it twice thanks to chops and other blows. He intelligently scouted Romero’s second spinning head-scissors attempt, blocking it to avoid another Romero cut off. Strong brings the heat with his chops, being welcomed by Romero for more of it, and the strike exchange proves to be a mind game for Romero to cut Strong off and toss him down on a leapfrog attempt.

But Strong doesn’t succumb for very long, getting a comeback thanks to a press-up power slam. For once in the match it’s a sustained heat, with Strong bringing the pain and backdropping Romero on the apron, but Romero positions himself to land on his leg instead. Strong ensures some back pain is delivered via a Gorilla Press Toss onto a guard rail. Strong keeps the pain coming, remaining focused on Romero’s back as the crowd gets behind the NJPW Dojo trainee.

Strong’s refusal to accept a potential count out victory almost costs him when Romero gets a near-fall. Romero sees an opportunity to apply a cross arm breaker counter when Strong blatantly chokes him, and that’s an excellent hope spot as Strong quickly gets a rope break and goes back on offense. Romero comes back after a submission attempt, getting Strong back in the cross arm breaker for a quick rope break. But Romero can’t sustain a comeback, eating a suplex and cutting off Romero once again.

At this point the crowd broke out in dueling chants, very deservedly so for the intelligent story this match is telling. Romero blocks a Super Fall Away Slam by Strong, finally getting a real comeback. Although a struggle, Romero stays in control and gets the cross arm breaker back on, but Strong once again gets a quick rope break. Strong regains control, hitting a backbreaker and putting Romero in the Liontamer.

Strong takes too long to apply a Tiger Driver, allowing Romero to deadweight it and position Strong into an ankle lock submission, but Strong yet again gets a quick rope break. Romero holds onto his heat, booting Strong in the corner and landing a leaping DDT. However, Romero is too fatigued to keep it going, getting cut off when Strong stomps his foot and then delivers a boot for a near-fall. Strong takes too long to set a Super Gut Buster, and Romero taps out Strong instantly with a cross arm breaker than landed in the middle of the ring. Very good stuff that sold how deadly Romero’s finisher was if the ropes weren’t so quickly nearby.

Rating: ***1/2

Human Tornado vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Before the match, Candice LeRae foolishly accepts Tornado’s apology for his prior actions, only to get bitch-slapped and called a “stupid bitch.” I’ll be avoiding this angle as much as possible going forward. Castagnoli declines Tornado’s offer to degrade LeRae, who gets shoved into a ring post. What a God awful fucking angle in 2007, and much shittier a decade later.

Tornado uses Castagnoli’s humane concern to get an easy cheap shot before the match officially begins. Castagnoli cuts off Tornado to get control, hitting a delayed vertical suplex. Castagnoli applies a wacky, contrived leg grapevine and cravate submission combo, showing he had plenty of room for improvement after being declined by WWE a few months earlier. Tornado hits an eye rake to gain control, driving Castagnoli out of the ring via a body-scissors counter.

Tornado keeps Castagnoli outside by tossing LeRae onto him. Who exactly thought such a blatant domestic violence storyline was a good idea in the first half of 2007? Who thought it would make PWG not come across as insensitive carny trash aimed at the lowest common denominator? The match is getting skipped now.

Matt Classic vs. Kikutaro

Classic is “replacing” Colt Cabana, who was unable to appear due to weather. As expected, this was a perfectly acceptable comedy match with Kikutaro almost manipulating Classic and the referee to grapple. Kikutaro pretends to event want an arm wrestling contest to gain advantage, and then rolls the ref too much that he gets physically driven back for it. Kikutaro gets vengeance though when he kicks ropes into the groin of both the ref and Classic.

Classic’s arsenal is a sight to behold, putting on a clinic for all to study and admire, bringing a vintage approach rivaling that of Bryan Danielson a decade ago. The technique, the blows, and his choice of being a rules stickler truly brought tears to my eyes as he desperately tried to overcome Kikutaro’s shenanigans. Perhaps the highlight of the match would be the bearhug Classic placed on Kikutaro, proving to be a truly dramatic false submission finish. But Classic could only take so much, hitting a low blow of his own, then the ref eats one too and all 3 men involved in this match collapse!

The referee is too sore in his groin to finish counting to 3, which causes Classic to shove him. The ref shoves him back and Kikutaro takes advantage to win this sensational MOTYC.

Rating: ***

Jack Evans vs. Kevin Steen

Glorified squash for Steen, as he dominated and Evans only got sporadic comebacks that were never sustained. This was fine to get Steen over, but by no means anything memorable as the message of the match got loud and clear at end, Steen choosing not to end it with the Package Piledriver and instead wanting one more big blow.

Rating: less than ***

Kaz Hayashi vs. Alex Shelley

Hell of a match as expected. Shelley’s early work on Hayashi’s right arm would never really come into play, as the former WCW veteran instead had more control segments for submission work or just trade bombs. Hayashi would substantially target Shelley’s left knee, relentlessly weakening in hopes of taking away the Shiranui. Perhaps it worked, for when Shelley hit the Shiranui, Hayashi’s bump was very pedestrian instead of high-impact that most opponents would be forced into taking.

Despite tremendous cut offs and locking on the Border City Stretch, Shelley was outmatched by the more established Hayashi. Once Hayashi hit his various Final Cuts, there was no turning back. One can only fathom what a tremendous Cruiserweight Title program this could’ve been had WCW avoided death 6 years earlier…

Rating: ****

Low Ki’s PWG Debut
Low Ki vs. Davey Richards


This was surprisingly the Davey Richards Show as he dominated most of it, shining and getting to play the default heel as usual in 2007. While Ki would win as expected, Richards was tremendous in cutting off the more successful, experienced Ki throughout the contest, and at no point did this match deliver a kicking exchange as anticipated like these two had against KENTA in the past.

While Richards dominated and Ki isn’t the most sympathetic seller, this was never a squash. Ki stayed in it thanks largely to Richards trying to build his stock through trash talk, as well as Ki’s habits of striking kicks and locking on submissions from anywhere. In honesty, Richards lost this match more than Ki won it. Perhaps if Richards actually went for a finisher instead of trying to use his mouth to come out of this with more attention, he’d have gotten the biggest victory of his career up to this point.

Rating: ***3/4

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. PAC


After some even stuff, PAC would gain the advantage and cause Generico to take a powder and regroup. Several minutes would pass in the match until Generico finally cut PAC off effectively via a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Generico would capitalize on his advantage, delivering various strikes and slams to disorient the high-flying challenger.

PAC had hope spots and would finally get one thanks to a spike hurricanrana, but would miss a Standing Moonsault Senton, allowing Generico to cut him off with a lariat. Whatever Generico had in mind as he climbed the top rope would be for moot, as PAC capitalized and hit a Super Hurricanrana. A strike exchange would be won when PAC hit a Blue Thunder Powerbomb and Phoenix Splash for a couple near-falls. Only about 10 minutes in and both are exhausted.

PAC blocks a Half-n-Half Suplex and goes for a Handspring Swinging DDT, only to eat a Rotating Powerbomb. He’d then avoid a Yakuza kick to hit a Reverse Spike Hurricanrana, only to then eat a running boot from the champion. After driving Generico to the outside, PAC went for a Sasuke Special and almost turned it into a Scorpion Death Drop as they fell down. Back in the ring, PAC hit a Shooting Star Knee Drop for a near-fall, and this is getting potentially spectacular.

PAC tops himself with a Dragon Rana, and the crowd is loving this shit. After both get up from exhaustion, Generico avoids a strike and executes a corner exploder suplex, Yakuza kick, and Half-n-Half Suplex for another wonderful near-fall. The match kicks up a notch when PAC counters a Top Rope Brainbuster into a Body-Scissors Bomb, then hits a Sky Twister for a fantastic near-fall. The match really is difficult to predict now.

Generico avoids a Super 720 Senton Splash, causing PAC to take a hell of a bump. This should pretty much end it for PAC if Generico can recover. The champion goes for the pin but it’s not enough yet. The battle goes to the apron, and a Half-n-Half Suplex on it is only good enough for another great near-fall. PAC tries shoving Generico off at the finish, but after a Yakuza kick, he’s no choice but to eat the Top Rope Brainbuster for the finish. Excellent main event.

Rating: ****

Quality matches all over the card that are very different. Strongly recommended.

Up next – All Star Weekend V Night 2
Matches will include:
Kevin Steen vs. Joey Ryan
Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli
PAC vs. Kaz Hayashi
Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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All Star Weekend V Night 2 – April 8, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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Hardcore Match
Kevin Steen vs. Joey Ryan


Good plunder match to finally put this issue to rest stemming from Chanukah Chaos (The C’s Are Silent). Only about a dozen minutes, Steen dominated early when he interrupted Ryan’s story time promo attempt, unloading fury on him and taking it to the outside as well. Ryan would gain some heat when Steen took too long to set up a diagonal guard rail platform, hitting the potential future Hall of Famer with a plastic garbage can, and then deadlifting Steen onto that guard rail to counter a Package Piledriver attempt.

However much pain he was in, Steen was resilient with anger, not allowing Ryan to sustain momentum and even running up the guard rail to deliver a blow. Having not learned from taking too long earlier, Steen would take too long to insert a chair and chain into the match, allowing Ryan the opportunity to superkick him. This led to Ryan punching Steen with the chain and choking him with it as well, but Ryan didn’t seem driven enough either.

There isn’t much to complain about here, as it was just meant to be a good but not great conclusion to this program, hence why it was so early on the card. But the segment of the match involving Ronin and Karl Anderson did nothing to enhance the match, and in fact felt very low-rent and unnecessary. It didn’t exactly devalue the match either.

Once Steen quickly enough set up 2 chairs to deliver a Package Piledriver on them, that was the ballgame. This went exactly the length it needed to without ever feeling like a forced epic, and that’s very much worthy of praise.

Rating: ***1/4

Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Another quality match on the card as would be expected. The first couple minutes were equality-establishing chain wrestling, then it got good when Shelley targeted Castagnoli’s neck to soften it up for the Shiranui and Border City Stretch. However, while Shelley would land many blows, counters, and various submissions, he never got a sustained strategy on display to that body part.

That Castagnoli would win was a surprise as it appeared Shelley had his number, but he was resilient. The most shining example of Castagnoli’s resilience was when Shelley hit a Senton, only for the future Cesaro to suck up his pain and exhaustion, very quickly capitalizing as Shelley was seated to deliver a basement uppercut to the neck and shoulders. This softened Shelley up later for the Alpamari Waterslide and Ricola Bomb, but those would just be near-falls. Shelley ate too many uppercuts after a dozen minutes or so, no longer having enough to engage in a strike exchange, and succumbed to a springboard uppercut from Castagnoli for the minor upset.

Rating: ***1/2

PAC vs. Kaz Hayashi

Hayashi played the default heel, not even agreeing to respect at the beginning of the match. He was quite vicious, targeting PAC’s right shoulder after it struck a ring post and delivering a shoulder breaker. Hayashi was relentless as a submission artist in this one going after PAC’s upper body, and also tremendous in cutting off any comebacks including hitting an Ace Crusher.

Hayashi also seemed to go into WCW alumni tribute mode, hitting a Quebrada and then applying the Crippler Crossface. I would not have minded seeing a Neville vs. Chris Benoit match, that’s for sure. Once PAC reached the ropes, he finally managed a remarkable comeback with a leg lariat and head-scissors, then followed up with a dive to the outside. However, Hayashi evaded that and hit a superkick, only then eat the top of the guard rail to make the match even with both men on the outside.

Back in the ring, PAC retained control, delivering blows and bombs, although the Tiger Suplex attempt was blocked, allowing Hayashi to go for a near-fall pin, superkick, and Air Raid Crash. No matter what, PAC just couldn’t maintain very lengthy control, even with various counters. For every few moves PAC would hit, Hayashi had more either in quantity or devastation to cut him off.

The highlight of the match had to be Hayashi’s Splash Mountain Powerbomb for a near-fall, and PAC was incredibly in trying to evade it. PAC managed to hit a superkick and then a successful Tiger Suplex for a near-fall. But once again, that wasn’t enough. PAC took too long on the top rope, so Hayashi shoved him to get crotched, only for the Super Splash Mountain Powerbomb to be countered with the Hurricanrana for a near-fall, bringing back memories of Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio from Bash at the Beach 1996.

PAC learned his lesson and hit a Shooting Star Press for a good near-fall, and at this point the crowd was getting legitimately engaged. He FINALLY has real momentum, blocking numerous cut-offs and counters. They had a very engrossing near-fall exchange, but PAC made the final mistake. A Standing Shiranui would be turned into a Tombstone Piledriver by Hayashi, who then hit the Final Cut for the victory.

The submission work early was mechanically good but not very engaging, and this picked up once the bombs were being thrown. PAC’s improvement in recent months is quite noticeable, and working with a WCW alumnus like Hayashi will only help in that regard.

Rating: ***3/4

Samoa Joe’s Final PWG Match
Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe


Quite the poetry that Low Ki would be Joe’s ROH debut opponent, and now serves as his final PWG opponent.

This couldn’t measure to Glory By Honor, but damn was this still an excellent match. The early strikes and evasions were marvelous to see, along with Ki getting on the ground but keeping on the defensive. This is the type of match I’d like to see Joe attempt to have in WWE, although I imagine someone like Matt Riddle would need to be signed to pull this off as Ki will probably never sniff the opportunity again.

The work on the outside was really good, with Ki cutting off the Ole Ole Kick and then Joe delivering it the second time they were outside, paying off that particular tease. That wasn’t the only tease either, as Joe went for a musclebuster only for it to reenergize Ki, who snapped on a cross arm bar submission in the ropes.

While Ki was on top of the underground in 2002, that wasn’t the case here 4.5 years later. Joe managed to survive an extended heat segment by Ki, including a shotgun dropkick in the corner, somersault front face kick, and Ki Crusher for a tremendous near-fall. Ki thought he had his Zero-One contemporary figured out, going for a top rope Dragon Sleeper, but Joe cut it off, delivering the musclebuster for the finish that had been teased earlier.

A decade later, it’s a bit surprising this would serve as the final PWG match in Joe’s PWG career considering the hot-and-cold relationship the federation has had with TNA, as well as his brief free agency period in 2015. However, this was a fitting swan song against one of his greatest opponents, one that will always be a staple in his career.

Rating: ****

Strongest recommendation possible for 4 very different quality matches, closing out with what turned out to be a historic swan song.

Due to PWG’s style of booking, Samoa Joe would never come close to the staple that he played in ROH. But he did leave some footprint in the company, delivering some great matches in the first few years of the company. His farewell against Low Ki marks the 10th PWG match of his to get at least ***, and with that in mind, this review ends with a tradition only seen in the vintage ROH journey so far.

Samoa Joe’s Ten Greatest PWG Matches
1. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson – The Musical ***3/4
2. Samoa Joe & Ricky Reyes vs. Bryan Danielson & Christopher Daniels – The Reason For the Season ***1/2
3. Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon – The Secret of the Ooze ***3/4
4. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson – Uncanny X-Mas ****
5. Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon – All Nude Revue ***3/4
6. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles – All Star Weekend Night 1 **** (Joe’s greatest PWG match)
7. Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Steen – All Star Weekend II Night 1 ***1/4
8. Samoa Joe vs. Davey Richards – Astonishing X-Mas ***1/2
9. Samoa Joe vs. Rocky Romero – All Star Weekend IV Night 1 ***1/4
10. Samoa Joe vs. Low Ki – All Star Weekend V Night 2 ****

An annual tradition begins to crown new Tag Champions, along with a singles dream match that anyone who followed the indies in 2006 is simply salivating over.

Up next – DDT4 2007 Night 1
Matches will include:
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kings of Wrestling
CIMA vs. Bryan Danielson
Speed Muscle vs. Chris Bosh & Scott Lost
PAC & Roderick Strong vs. Super Dragon & Davey Richards
El Generico vs. Kevin Steen
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

DDT4 2007 Night 1 – May 19, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/fo ... f=2&t=1459
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ends agreement with TNA Wrestling
By Silverback, PWG Staff Writer

Los Angeles, CA - Generally, the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com) news releases have been light-hearted yet informative, however that will not be the case on this occasion. Since our humble beginnings in July 2003, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has booked employees of TNA Wrestling to appear on our shows, in what can only be considered a successful relationship for all parties involved. Both companies experienced tremendous growth during this time period, admittedly with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla aided infinitely more so by TNA Wrestling than the other way around, and the relationship between the two companies has been affable. On April 24, 2007, TNA Wrestling presented Pro Wrestling Guerrilla with a contract that would prevent TNA Wrestling employees from appearing on DVDs sold through or distributed by any third parties. Because this would include long-time partner Highspots.com, as of May 3, 2007, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has severed all ties with TNA Wrestling.

Since February 2004, Highspots.com has been a major contributor to the success of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, by helping us to increase the popularity of our company through Highspots.com production and distribution of our DVDs. Since TNA Wrestling presented us with the contract on April 24, we have considered every possible solution, from opting out of our contract with Highspots.com, self distribution of events featuring TNA Wrestling employees (both of which, to their credit, Highspots.com was agreeable with), to releasing DVDs without the matches of TNA Wrestling employees through Highspots.com. Each solution, except one, was either financially irresponsible, meant higher costs for the fans, or would greatly compromise the quality of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla as a whole. Therefore, we have been forced to end our business relationship indefinitely.

Because of this situation, TNA Wrestling employees Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley will not be appearing at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's DDT4 Tag Team Title Tournament on May 19 & 20. We at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla would like to apologize to Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, who along with Frankie Kazarian, were not simply employees, but part of the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla family. We would also like to apologize to Samoa Joe, Low Ki, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels, whom we had booked for upcoming Pro Wrestling Guerrilla events. We would also like to thank Homicide, Austin Aries, Petey Williams, and all those previously mentioned for their hard work and professionalism as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla wrestlers.

And most importantly, we would like to apologize to our fans, who have come to enjoy seeing TNA employees both at our live events and on our DVDs. Your appreciation and support gave the TNA employees a chance to wrestle at a level they often time are unable to. We hope you can understand that this was not an easy decision to make, but we did what we feel was best for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla now, and in the future. Later today, we will provide updated information regarding the DDT4 Tag Team Title Tournament, including the last team, more non-tournament matches, and the final DDT4 first round matches!
Tag Titles and DDT4 Quarterfinal Match
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kings of Wrestling


Nowhere near the show-stealer from Final Battle 2006, this came as a bit of a disappointment, although still turned out to be good, just not as special as one would’ve hoped. The tag legality adherence was almost completely on point, just a minor blemish at the very end that would’ve made zero difference for the result of the match.

Unlike in ROH, there were no clear-cut babyfaces in this one, with the Briscoes even trying to be heel at some point, Mark mocking Claudio Castagnoli as he needed a hot tag. But KOW would also bait the Briscoes on the outside after both landing feet-first with front cartwheels. In the end, it came down to the Briscoes beating KOW to the finishing punch, landing the Springboard Doomsday Device on Chris Hero to win this and advance to the semifinals.

Rating: ***1/4

Dream Match
CIMA vs. Bryan Danielson


Excellent match as expected. The match started with mat work early, with Danielson specifically targeting CIMA’s left leg. CIMA would eventually gain the advantage when he blocked an Enziguri and kicked Danielson’s right leg after placing it on the middle rope, the Hall of Famer assuming it’d be a clean break even after not breaking clean himself early. However, CIMA would spend the rest of the match targeting Danielson’s left leg, and in this case that didn’t turn out to be a backfiring strategy. Deep into the match when Danielson countered with a backbreaker on his left leg, it neutralized him.

I really appreciated the false-finish teases in this one for the big signature moves such as the Cattle Mutilation and Air Raid Crash, then the appropriate, dramatic scouting being put on display for those same moves later in the match. It resulted in a fantastic atmosphere as these two showed that personality and storytelling are all that should be needed to tear the house down. A great example would be CIMA’s Iconoclasm. After Danielson drove CIMA to the outside and hit a suicide dive, he climbed to the top rope rather than back in the ring. It turned out to be a trap as CIMA went for the Iconoclasm again, with Danielson using the positioning to lock in his Crossface Chickenwing. CIMA’s facial expression in this submission was tremendous as he teased having his hand drop 3 times.

Danielson’s Cattle Mutilation minutes later would be another phenomenal false finish, the Los Angeles crowd biting into it and then trying to will CIMA back in once he reached the ropes. But Danielson made the mistake trying to use it as a counter, as CIMA now had it scouted for some false finish pins and then hitting the Air Raid Crash. The match at this point got a standing ovation when Danielson kicked out, which was blameful on CIMA’s part since he failed to pin the Hall of Famer with the appropriate authority.

Another great example was CIMA hitting the Springboard Shotgun Missile Dropkick and then going immediately for another Air Raid Crash. Danielson turned it into a crucifix pin, perfectly setting his potential fellow Hall of Famer for elbows to the head, resulting in another fantastic near-fall, both men exhausted after the kick out. On the other hand, Danielson brilliantly made sure to take CIMA out with a backdrop suplex before going for the Cattle Mutilation again in the final seconds, but it would be futile when he turned CIMA over for a near-fall and the 30-minute time limit expired.

This was a brilliant match, with CIMA intelligently selling his left shoulder after having it targeted with various submissions, including an Omoplata Shoulder Lock. The standing ovation in this dream match was well-deserved, as this was a splendid piece of business that lived up to huge expectations. There definitely better be a rematch at some point.

Is this PWG’s greatest match to date? It is not – it’s the #2, topping Motor City Machine Guns vs. Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs. A very brief moment when Danielson stood still and glanced backwards before a taking a Lungblower keeps this from equaling, let along topping the gritty unpleasantries and excellent tag psychology of Super Dragon & Davey Richards vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels. Nonetheless, this is PWG’s MOTY for 2007 up to this point, topping Alex Shelley vs. Rocky Romero; if this gets topped, that’ll be extremely surprising.

Rating: ****1/4

Tag Titles and DDT4 Quarterfinal Match
Speed Muscle vs. Chris Bosh & Scott Lost


Quality heel vs. heel match here with Speed Muscle at first rubbing their shit in Arrogance’s faces. That would be reciprocated later when Arrogance mocked their hulking pose. Bosh also gave a receipt for Speed Muscle’s dirty tactics when he gave Naruki Doi his JCVD low blow; this was in retaliation to Speed Muscle hitting Lost in the groin earlier but pretending that they had been hit low.

Ultimately, no matter how dirty Arrogance could get, they couldn’t measure up to the more successful Speed Muscle, not even with Jade Chung trying to help out when Doi outsmarted her. With her and Lost taken out of the equation, that left Bosh alone with the speedster Masato Yoshino, eating his signature moves and then admitting defeat while in the Soi Naciente. A shame we never got Yoshino vs. Danielson.

Rating: ***3/4

Joey Ryan defeats Ronin to be the first participants in the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Not a blow away first entrant, but already hyping up 3 months in advance? That’s how to get those shows over as the WrestleMania weekend of PWG. In the post-match, Scorpio Sky returns for the first time since his defeat to Frankie Kazarian at Based on a True Story, and Ryan says he failed Arrogance and has already been replaced. Ryan then blames Sky’s departure for him later losing the PWG Title that night to Human Tornado, calling his former stablemate a worthless piece of shit. Sky gets the final heat. Way to really make that Loser Leaves Town match mean something 4 months earlier.

Tag Titles and DDT4 Quarterfinal Match
PAC & Roderick Strong vs. Super Dragon & Davey Richards


PAC replaces Jack Evans. Can’t say I’m disappointed that there was no rematch from Hollywood Globetrotters. In what sounds like pure kayfabe, Excalibur & Disco Machine on commentary claim Evans fled the country after impregnating an American.

This was just as disappointing as Hollywood Globetrotters, but in a different way. While that particular match is just spotfest nonsense that is erroneously considered as amazing masturbation material by those who should know better, this just fell apart after the 2 big heat segments. It was surprising for Richards to be the first to have to sell, but not so much once it was PAC’s turn.

Everything looked to be going good until the last several minutes. There was no mega unpleasant exchange between SD and Strong as would’ve been expected; one knows that those two could’ve gotten UGLY with each other and it would’ve been beautiful. Instead, it appeared SD suffered an injury, although there’s no report on a quick search of one. He laid around heavily and only did an occasional spot in the closing minutes. It’s a good thing PAC & Strong took this victory, as SD & Richards advancing to face Speed Muscle could’ve been a fucking styles clash disaster based on SD’s performance.

Rating: less than ***

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. Kevin Steen


Good close to the show with Steen dominating the match both physically and verbally, coming across as the total star that he’d later come to show on a mainstream level. With that said, this had no business being the main event of the evening over the CIMA vs. Danielson dream match, and it shows the fear bookers have in ending shows with draws or non-finishes. This never came close to the drama of that classic, as the Steen vs. Generico saga had yet to reach the legendary status it holds a decade later.

Mechanically, the only complaint in the match was Steen hitting the Turnbuckle Brainbuster for a near-fall. That move should ONLY be treated as a near-fall in the absolute, most epic match imaginable, something to end a legendary rivalry, culminate a deep-seeded personal grudge, or signal a possible change and changing of the guard in an iconic title reign. This match had none of those factors going for it, and the pop for Generico kicking out of his own finisher couldn’t match the heat in CIMA vs. Danielson earlier on the card. At least Generico finished Steen off with the Package Piledriver, that way they didn’t marginalize both of their finishers.

Rating: ***1/2

CIMA vs. Danielson is on the first Sells Out, but the other 3 quality matches are worth seeing. Strongly recommended for a dream match that may end up being PWG’s MOTY for 2007.

Up next – DDT4 2007 Night 2
Matches will include:
Speed Muscle vs. PAC & Roderick Strong
El Generico vs. CIMA
Joey Ryan vs. Bryan Danielson
DDT4 Final
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

DDT4 2007 Night 2 – May 20, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

Image



Tag Titles and DDT4 Semifinal Match
Speed Muscle vs. PAC & Roderick Strong


Just as fun as Speed Muscle’s quarterfinal match against Arrogance. But in this one, it wasn’t about who could out-heel the other, but instead Speed Muscle trying their damnedest to overcome their thrown-together opponents. In a surprise, PAC & Roderick Strong seemed much better at throwing bombs, forcing submission work out of Speed Muscle to try neutralizing them.

Ultimately Strong’s rag-dolling became too much for Speed Muscle, as Masato Yoshino just got tossed and slammed around at the end. Naruki Doi was out of the equation after getting the same treatment, with PAC having just enough left in his tank to keep Doi at bay after Strong’s Tiger Driver. Also smart in the finishing stretch was PAC’s selling on a successful 450 Splash, which had been countered earlier in the match with knees to the gut, still sore on the successful attempt several minutes later. Only PAC’s botch on what looked like a Sasuke Special puts a blemish on this, but he went to work immediately with a Corkscrew Plancha rather than sulk on it.

Rating: ***3/4

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. CIMA


Good match although heavily disappointing, coming nowhere near their classic the year before, as well as nowhere near CIMA’s dream match 24 hours earlier against Bryan Danielson. This failed to ever get to a dramatic pace that’d earn a standing ovation, and with damn good reason. CIMA this time was just a dick, perhaps realizing he’d have to play dirty and go for Generico’s groin after having failed to defeat Danielson. He definitely took advantage of the fact that the referee didn’t wanna end this with a DQ.

On the outside, Generico decided to provide a receipt by headbutting CIMA’s groin, making this match far more even from that point on. While CIMA would get plenty of deadly moves on the champion, including the Air Raid Crash, none of them were delivered with the precise authority to win the company’s top prize. This showed in the lack of electrifying for the crowd when Generico kicked out of that established finisher. Perhaps the other reason this lacked the signature drama of the year before is that nobody believed a special attraction would win the title, which is surprising coming at the time of Takeshi Morishima’s ROH Title reign.

The finish was smart but lackluster, as Generico finished CIMA with 3 consecutive Brainbusters, going for a pin-fall on each one and the third being the charm. Once again, no huge standing ovation, putting the final piece of evidence on display that this failed to meet justifiably high expectations.

Rating: ***1/4

Joey Ryan vs. Bryan Danielson

It’s the battle of the 2 champions that dominated 2006, thus arguably being a dream match (despite it already happening in 2004)!

This match was perfectly plotted for its most appropriate story. Danielson dominated earlier by being the vastly superior technician. Ryan baited Danielson into a mid-match handshake to get a cheap shot and then dominate, specifically targeting Danielson’s left arm, a brilliant strategy since that left shoulder put Danielson on the shelf to kick off 2007.

Ryan was ultimately no match for Danielson, no matter how aggressive he attempted to be. Locking in the Cattle Mutilation was a futile move, and even more so when he tried it again. Going for the Crossface Chickenwing? Even more pathetic. Once Danielson got the elbows to Ryan’s head and then locked on the Cattle Mutilation, it was all over, with Ryan wasting no time in giving up.

Rating: ***1/2

Tag Titles and DDT4 Final Match
Briscoe Bros. vs. PAC & Roderick Strong


An excellent main event and close to the weekend and tournament. It looked like this would break down to the typical indy tag team bullshit when there was a tag legality blemish; instead, from that point on went up another level, in the meantime not allowing that kind of blemish to pop up again. The Briscoes played the default heels, and it was ingenious to have them advance to this tournament final, for no team was more highly-regarded throughout the underground a decade ago, plus there were the ROH Tag Champs.

When PAC hit a Shooting Star Press that also hit the Briscoe in the back of the head, it looked like a mistake that it was a near-fall as the crowd was in a frenzy. How exactly could that be topped? Here’s the answer to that question:

Gutbusters from Strong to Mark. PAC hits a 720 Splash on Mark for another insane near-fall. Strong then puts Mark in the Liontamer while PAC keeps Jay at bay with a Sky Twister to the outside, leaving Mark no choice but to tap out. Such a submission finish not only kept the crowd atmosphere up to its frenzied par, but also was brilliant in Mark selling the pain his torso was in on both his front end from the gutbusters, and now the back end with his spinal cord taking severe damage.

Fucking awesome main event, and for a tournament that was far from perfect, a terrific way to cap off what would become an annual tradition.

Rating: ****

Strong recommendation for this one even though the main event is on the first Sells Out compilation. Something for everyone on the undercard.

A new annual tradition’s beginning has concluded. And now, another era also in the tag team realm begins. It’s time for the genesis of what has come to be known as a Superkick Party across the globe.

Up next – Roger Dorn Night
Matches will include:
Tyler Black vs. Joey Ryan
Young Bucks vs. Chris Bosh & Scott Lost
El Generico vs. Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards vs. Bryan Danielson
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

Roger Dorn Night – June 10, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

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Davey Richards kicks off the show offering to take Bryan Danielson’s spot in the main event for the PWG Title, citing that Danielson had to get head staples after a match against Nigel McGuinness last night in Philly. Danielson arrives and says 3 staples in his head won’t sideline him; this is a wonderful look just 2 weeks away from the 9/11 of pro wrestling. He offers to face both him and El Generico for the PWG Title. Kevin Steen arrives and wants to make it a four-way match since he’s already facing Richards. Seems obvious that Danielson wasn’t trusted to have a one-on-one main event against Generico, explaining this angle to merge the 2 singles matches. Dino Winwood arrives followed by the PWG Champion Generico, who accepts the four-way challenge, which doesn’t please Richards. He gives Generico a low blow and drills him with a DDT, vowing to take the title tonight.

TJ Perkins vs. Tony Kozina

All mechanics and nothing special, with both legitimately vanilla midgets having to overcompensate for their lack of charisma and personality. It was this point that I finally figured out what Perkins visually is: a poor man’s Paul London.

Highlights include Perkins pulling the apron carpeting back to neutralize a baseball slide, as well as Kozina stacking chairs on Perkins on the outside and then idiotically hitting a slingshot senton, harming his neck in the process. The lowlight would be a shitty apron DDT by Perkins on Kozina.

Kozina’s neck would be the story for the rest of the match, with admittedly good hope spots and comebacks, but it’s fucking Tony Kozina, so can who really get engaged by him, even with a Hurricanrana off the apron? At least the ending made sense with Perkins going over, but it was anticlimactic, coming nowhere close to a frenzied finish that so many others working this same type of match would’ve mustered up.

Rating: ***

Tag Titles Match
PAC & Roderick Strong vs. Havana Pitbulls


Sloppy match overall here hurt even more by Ricky Reyes being just as exciting as Perkins and Kozina earlier on the card. While the structure was fine, nobody bothered to build up a meaningful hot tag, although it’s difficult to care enough about rooting against a non-personality like Reyes. PAC’s left leg being a target was a good strategy, and it explained why Romero didn’t get forced to take a full rotation near the end for a Reverse Hurricanrana. Not a memorable first defense for the champs.

Rating: less than ***

Tyler Black vs. Joey Ryan

Another nothing special match on this card. Such “highlights” include Black running around with the exhausted Ryan’s inhaler and having none of the comedic charisma of Bryan Danielson if he was doing this same spot; Ryan’s trunks being pulled down and revealing a thong; and Scorpio Sky appearing to help Black win via distraction and set up a post-match angle that in no fucking way measures up to the broken Loser Leaves Town promise ROH would book 4 years later. Winwood books a hardcore match between Ryan and Sky for the future, with Sky banned permanently in all facets from PWG if he loses as the condition per Ryan, but a victory would ensure his full-time reinstatement.

Rating: less than ***

Young Bucks’ PWG Debut
Young Bucks vs. Chris Bosh & Scott Lost


Poor officiating brought this down a notch as is common on the underground, but this was otherwise a splendid first impression from the Bucks, although their biker short trunks certainly were not. They dominated most of the match, catching Arrogance off-guard when they attempted sneak attempts during intros. The Bucks brought in all kinds of cool moves as they’re known for a decade later, with so much control that Jade Chung had to distract the ref so Bosh could low-blow one of them.

The Bucks tried to get too cute at the end with Stereo 450 Splashes against the former Tag Champs of the company, resulting in both being missed and Matt tapping out to the Scorpion Deathlock. These Jacksons may have some money in them, as they’re definitely comparable to the Hardyz. Need a ring gear change, though.

Rating: ***

Bryan Danielson cuts a promo outside, stating that he suffered a concussion last night. Now that’s a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful look for him and just 2 weeks away from the 9/11 of pro wrestling. How the Hell could we all be so foolish to think it was wise for him to not only work with a concussion, but also do so after flying across the continent?

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards vs. Bryan Danielson


Good main event here with tag legality adherence throughout to the very finish. Watching Danielson perform a Backdrop Superplex and diving headbutt sure wasn’t quite so pleasant coming right after his outdoor promo. The real star of the match was Richards playing the top heel and being obnoxious. At one point the champ was in peril, each of the challengers taking a turn on him.

Richards managed to avoid Generico’s Half ‘N Half Suplex, but left himself open at the end to a Yakuza kick after being too exhausted from hitting a Shooting Star Press on Steen. With Danielson also too dazed due to his concussion from hitting a suicide dive, Generico capitalized on Richards with the Turnbuckle Brainbuster.

While Danielson honoring this booking is professionally admirable, everyone knows it was an incredibly dipshit decision to have made in hindsight. But fuck the morality, fuck his well-being. This match would’ve been better off without his participation, as it never reached the fever pitch that it promised to be on paper. Let this also be a lesson to any aspiring wrestlers that may read this: when you take stupid fucking risks, you risk being able to honor your committed bookings in the short-term, and also shortening your career like Danielson.

Rating: ***1/2

Steen cuts an outdoor promo challenging Richards to a proper singles match for a PWG Title shot, pointing out that Richards last tonight after being such a little shit earlier. Hovering airplanes interrupt, causing Steen to cut an amusing rant on Southwest Airlines.

The historic debut of the Young Bucks is on their PWG compilation, so unless one must see the main event for completionist reasons involving its 4 underground stars, stay the Hell away from this show.

History’s about to go down again, and the shit’s gonna hit the fan for the anniversary show.

Up next – Giant Size Annual #4
Matches will include:
Necro Butcher vs. Bryan Danielson
PAC & Roderick Strong defending the Tag Titles
And anything else of note that might just happen too…
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by maxx_powerz »

2008 emo heel Perkins is my favorite version of him, it will be interesting to read if it holds up well but I remember him having a great ASW match with Generico and a great BOLA match with Danielson that were actually entertaining and had heat.
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

Giant-Size Annual #4 – July 29, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

Image

The Briscoes no-showed due to being too intoxicated for their flight (kudos at least for keeping kayfabe true based on their ROH direction in New Jersey,) causing their 2/3 falls match against PAC & Roderick Strong to be scrapped. Kevin Steen vs. Necro Butcher is also scrapped, as is the PWG Title match between El Generico and Bryan Danielson.

Dream Hardcore Match
Necro Butcher vs. Bryan Danielson


The match that prevented me from giving up on wrestling many years ago, and it’s still clear to see why. Anyone that loves Brock Lesnar’s 2017 sprints needs to see this, as it was hot, quick, heavy, and instantly focused. Danielson was pissed about losing out on his PWG Title match tonight so he took out all his anger on Necro, who was ultimately mismatched even in his own environment.

Perhaps if the referee had obliged for this to under Falls Count Anywhere rules, Necro would’ve overcome the technically superior, highly-irritable Danielson, but that wasn’t meant to be. Both busted each other open, with Danielson targeting Necro’s gash to force more bleeding, while Necro tried relying on crazy bumps on the outside. That wasn’t enough though, for Danielson wouldn’t be denied on this night. No matter what submission Necro would survive, Danielson was taking his fucking scalp, and did so with elbows to the head, forcing the ref to throw the match out. An incredible spectacle.

Rating: ***1/2

Tag Titles Match
PAC & Roderick Strong vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen


Just a fantastic tag match belonging in the same conversation with the junior tags that regularly stole the show in NOAH. The challengers got the job done here with the obvious strategy, which was to pick on the smaller PAC when the opportunity presented itself. Steen in particular even trolled Strong at times; if there was something missing to put this over the top as the best match in PWG history, it was Steen’s failure to look for some type of obvious retribution on his loss to PAC at Holy Diver Down.

The best spot in the match would be Strong lifting PAC overhead to deliver a Frankensteiner near-fall on Generico, just absolutely beautiful and sensational. Undoubtedly, PAC was the star in this one, delivering all the truly memorable highlights including a 450 Splash Elbow Drop and Shooting Star Knee Drop. But once Strong ate a Yakuza Kick, that left PAC open to the Package Piledriver and follow-up Brainbuster. Oh yeah, this adhered to tag legalities, showing that there’s no excuse to failing to be true professionals in the realm of tag team wrestling.

Rating: ****1/4

But this show wouldn’t be closed out by arguably the greatest match in PWG history. No, it needed the greatest match in the company’s first 4 years to close out the anniversary show.

PWG Title Match
El Generico vs. Bryan Danielson


It would be 4 complete years, but PWG finally delivered a MOTYC. Danielson wouldn’t be denied his scheduled title match, bandaged from the fight against Necro and citing all the multiple duties he pulled as ROH Champion. The front office that arrived didn’t say shit, as Danielson just slapped Generico to kick the match off in front of this raucous audience.

Danielson dominated the first several minutes, not going for technical moves, but just blows, blows, blows to the fatigued champion. It looked like this would be a complete squash, totally understandable with this being Generico’s 6th match in 48 hours with a coast-to-coast airline flight along with this ROH/PWG colleagues, and 3 of those matches ranging between ***3/4 and ****1/4 already. But he would not go down without a fight, making a comeback at the slightest chance.

But this was Danielson’s night to close out on top. After numerous Cattle Mutilations and elbow shots to the head, Generico had no choice but to actually tap out. Perhaps this was soothed by having just won the Tag Titles. No matter what, it was the smart choice since the rematch would be money and Danielson made it clear in the post-match that he’s open to it at any time. Danielson does the rah-rah speech but it feels like a diet version compared to his verbal work in ROH.

This was just sensational with a tremendous crowd emotionally involved in this. Instead of worrying about seeing incredible action and highlight reels, the crowd was divided, actually giving a shit about the result of the match, yet so happy to get the advertised main event. The counters, Generico removing Danielson’s bandage, Danielson’s relentlessness, this had it all and delivered more in about 10 minutes than so many wannabe classics do with double or triple the match length. Absolutely must-see.

Rating: ****1/2

A fantastic triple main event, including a classic tag match and the greatest match in PWG’s first 4 years to close out such a historic event for the company. Grab the 3 matches that matter on the various compilations and enjoy. Also be sure to compare Generico’s performance on this card to Paul London’s at ROH’s One Year Anniversary Show.

How to try topping tonight? With the biggest weekend of the year and making it a triple-shot of course.

Up next – 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 1
Matches will include:
Los Luchas vs. Young Bucks
Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong
Tyler Black vs. Alex Shelley
Doug Williams vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Jack Evans vs. PAC
Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by maxx_powerz »

I like the whole show to be honest. The lack of crowd interest hurts Davey vs Devitt and Aries vs Romero, but I thought the work in both was compelling enough to make up for it, and the Young Bucks & TJP vs Dynasty trios was a lot of fun with a great finish. The Aries match in particular I thought was great. He had just quit TNA and was working with the type of intensity he usually saved for ROH.
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by KingOfHinor »

Thank you guys for the list, forgot how great some of these were.
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 1 – August 31, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

Image





PWG Champion Bryan Danielson kicks off the show, sporting an eyepatch, announcing that he’s unable to compete in the tournament due to the injury sustained at Manhattan Mayhem II. He says he’ll be available to compete on October 14 though.

Apparent Lucha Rules Match
Young Bucks vs. Los Luchas


Decent opener between quite some green upstarts. This was plagued not just by there being no established lucha or tornado rules (to explain the come-as-you-please lack of tag legalities), but some mistiming from Zokre in a couple spots involving Matt Jackson. There were some highlights to cherry-pick and use in future, much more seasoned matches of course, including a pop-up spear in the corner, as well as an instant Somersault Plancha to the outside.

The best highlight, and one that I’m surprised has seemingly not become a massively copied staple over the past decade, was Zokre locking on a Gory Special, Phoenix Star using the positioning to deliver an Angle Slam, landing on Zokre’s knees to deliver a double-team Gut Buster. That would be a tremendous idea if Roderick Strong ever gets to the main roster to reform his tag team with Danielson. Oh yeah, the finish was the spotty fun with the Bucks winning thanks to consecutive top rope splash variations.

Rating: less than ***

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament 1st Round Match
Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong


Another quality chapter to this rivalry, although this wasn’t coming close to their classic earlier in the year at Supercard of Honor II. Rather than target the back of Aries, Strong aimed for his ribs perhaps to offset the core and set up for the obvious Gut Buster. The first time Aries teased a comeback, Strong turned into a strike exchange, cutting him off in the process. It would take the Stroke for Aries to cut off Strong, followed by his trademark suicide dive. But the highlight would be something I haven’t seen anyone else do before or since, which was Aries countering Strong’s O’Connor Roll by turning it into a Tombstone Piledriver.

Perhaps the work done on the ribs of Aries came the difference-maker; while he managed to hit the Quebrada and other moves involving abdomen bumps, Aries was cut off when going for his signature finishing combo. That’s the best explanation for why Strong was able to suddenly finish him off with a small package upon going for the Brainbuster. These two could sleepwalk their way to a *** contest.

Rating: ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament 1st Round Match
Tyler Black vs. Alex Shelley


Disappointing match on paper, as this lacked the intensity of Aries vs. Strong. This also lacked Shelley’s mean streak that was on display in their tag classic the prior year at All Star Weekend IV Night 1. He used his experience to dominate on the mat early, but none of his submissions had the sizzle one would be conditioned to have expected from him by this point.

Black pulled out some spectacular moves without much of the special timing to make them dramatic that would go on to define his ROH and WWE tenures. A Running Stunner for a near-fall and Super Ace Crusher are the two best examples of that. The latter in particular was a major missed opportunity to be the hottest near-fall of the entire match had he been selling a sore body part, struggling to reach Shelley to make the pin.

Shelley’s Shiranui for the victory was ugly and once again got the appropriate midlevel reaction. His post-match promo was strange also, putting the roster over and giving a conditional farewell speech should his plane crash the next day and he can’t get back for Night 3.

Rating: ***1/4

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament 1st Round Match
Doug Williams vs. Claudio Castagnoli


This felt very much like a mid-card match on SmackDown with a stupid concrete bump from Williams thrown in. It never reached a high gear to be expected from two of the finest European imports of the 2000s. Instead it seemed to be mostly a low-level strike exchange with some Williams domination thrown in, minus the major body part targeting that made up so many of his ROH classics earlier in the decade.

Castagnoli’s Ricola Bomb for the victory was yet another sudden 1st round finish, except this time the crowd seemed even less crazed than earlier on the card. These two can do a lot better than this glorified TV filler three-snowflake special.

Rating: ***

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament 1st Round Match
PAC vs. Jack Evans


Another match that felt like TV filler. This high-flying dream match still delivered the spectacular moves, but not before Evans had control early on the match. PAC would cut him off by sweeping him and forcing an apron bump. They’d exchange more acrobatic moves, with the highlight prior to the finish being Evans pulling out his Sasuke Special.

It’s debatable that the match should’ve ended when PAC hit Evans with a Super Slingshot Neckbreaker, as it was the audible match peak for the crowd. However, the follow-up Tiger Suplex and Sky Twister was quick enough to not drag the crowd volume down, and this definitely feels the show-stealer for the night.

Rating: ***1/2

Tag Titles Match
Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka


Excellent main event that elevated this from being utterly forgettable. This was a pleasant surprising in adhering to tag legalities, as this easily could’ve exploded into a mess like the undercard tag match did. In this one, Steen used his heavier frame to avoid selling for the Typhoon tandem, but the challengers would use each other’s bodies to gain the advantage.

Dragon Kid’s Springboard Hurricanrana was a nice false finish, still showing that 17 months later, the trios masterpiece from Supercard of Honor was still fresh in the minds of the American indy audience. This had the usual signature spots seen from these four at the time, but it ultimately came down to Typhoon making the fatal mistake. That mistake? Relying on Dragon Kid to try overcoming Steen’s size, as the Hurricanrana counter was rolled through to be countered back into the Package Piledriver and follow-up Brainbuster. As mentioned, a splendid conclusion to the card.

Rating: ****

Recommended for a great main event and two undercard gems that were vastly different, that being another chapter in the Aries vs. Strong rivalry, and the high-flyers PAC vs. Evans dream match. In particular, the main event is a terrific resource to show indy wrestlers that there IS a formula to doing nonstop moves while appropriately adhering to fundamental tag team psychology.

Up next – 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 2
Matches will include:
Davey Richards vs. Nigel McGuinness
Dragon Kid vs. Susumu Yokosuka
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 2 – September 1, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

Image



Battle of Los Angeles Tournament 1st Round Match
Davey Richards vs. Nigel McGuinness


Easily the match of the night, and rightfully so since this was the only singles encounter of their careers. With Richards not yet a main-eventer on the top indies yet, he played the underdog, seeing many of his early strike attempts being easily blocked by McGuinness. Why didn’t Richards just aim for lower body shots then?

There was a stalling moment that killed the pace in which McGuinness got smooches from a female at ringside, and Richards thought he could make it happy after getting the middle rope blatantly jerked into a low blow shot. After that, it became the story of Richards trying so hard to evade the various lariats of McGuinness, and he managed to kick out of one from the top rope, as well as a Tower of London. Once the rebound lariat was successful though, that was the ballgame. Gabe Sapolsky certainly has to regret not booking this sometime in 2008 as McGuinness was on top and the improvement of Richards became significantly more noticeable.

Rating: ***3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament 1st Round Match
Dragon Kid vs. Susumu Yokosuka


Others may get a bit more out of this one since it was obviously more spot-oriented. The main story seemed to be similar to their tag together 24 hours earlier, with Yokosuka doing everything possible to avoid Dragon Kid’s Springbaord Hurricanrana. Everything built to Dragon Kid eventually hitting it and that was it. While a good match, there’s not much to recap and analyze since it didn’t violate any critical fundamentals, but also didn’t blow anyone away like CIMA vs. El Generico did 363 days earlier.

Rating: ***1/2

Buy this cheap for the 2 quality matches, as this was a lousy show with one of the most tasteless angles to ever take place, one that’ll be recapped later on when its saga includes must-see matches.

Up next – 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 3
Matches will include:
Joey Ryan vs. Roderick Strong
Matt Sydal vs. Alex Shelley
PAC vs. Claudio Castagnoli
CIMA vs. Shngo
Necro Butcher vs. Nigel McGuinness
El Generico vs. Dragon Kid
The semifinals and final of the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournament
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Re: Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 3 – September 2, 2007
Taped from Los Angeles, CA

Image



Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Joey Ryan vs. Roderick Strong


Understandably worked just like a one-segment TV match, considering whoever reaches the final has to pull triple-duty tonight. That’s not a criticism at all, as this was perfectly executed with Strong generally dominating unless Jade Chung bailed Joey Ryan out. As has seemingly been the case for her, there’s been no acknowledgement whatsoever of her history with Strong in ROH, which is disappointing. Something as simple as “I saved your skank ass from slavery and you hook up with these Arrogance pieces of shit, you fucking bitch?” would make for nice continuity. Her attempt to help Ryan out eventually backfired, as Ryan wasted time trying to win an argument against the ref with her, allowing Strong to hit the Tiger Driver and Liontamer for the victory.

Rating: less than ***

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Matt Sydal vs. Alex Shelley


Quality matchup as expected, and yet again no reference at all to their ROH history, instead showing respect at the beginning. Sydal surprisingly was able to go toe-to-toe with Shelley, showing off his improvement from the past year or so in Dragon Gate. But Shelley had him scouted on multiple occasions, first by evading an Enziguri midway through.

But the killer came at the end, and if the indies were treated with more respect by WWE, this match could’ve been pointed to as one scouted by Randy Orton; years before he would do so to Evan Bourne, Shelley here countered Sydal’s Shooting Star Press with an Ace Crusher, bringing the crowd to its feet. A follow-up Tiger Suplex and Cross-Legged Brainbuster was just the cherry on top for Shelley to advance.

Rating: ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Quarterfinal Match
PAC vs. Claudio Castagnoli


First time matchup here with Castagnoli dominating most of the way due to his size and strength advantage. In this one, PAC channeled his work against previous larger opponents to look for bombs when the opportunities struck, with the biggest being when he had Castagnoli outside. That allowed PAC to leap outside via a Somersault Plancha and in mid-air turn it into a head scissors to gain control.

Castagnoli still regained control, but PAC was determined on this night, perhaps due to Dragon Gate officials being present. He managed to pull off the upset by cutting off a corner uppercut, turning a Moonsault Press into a Tornado DDT, and finishing it off with the Sky Twister. Huge upset here even with PAC beating former PWG Champion Kevin Steen earlier in the year.

Rating: ***3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Quarterfinal Match
CIMA vs. Shingo


Easily my favorite match of the night so far, as this had some heat in it due to tensions between Typhoon and New Hazard. However, what elevated this so far was that it had noticeable selling, as CIMA targeted Shingo’s bandaged right elbow. After working on it for a few minutes, Shingo did a fine job of paying it off, grimacing when using that limb to deliver a chop rather than switch to his left arm.

But it would be CIMA’s experience in the pin variations that became the difference-maker. While Shingo was elevated in kicking out of the Air Raid Crash, it was enough to put him down for good the second time CIMA locked a variation pin on him, after having failed to put him down with a modified La Majistral cradle minutes earlier. PAC’s got his work cut out for him against CIMA in the next round.

Rating: ***3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Quarterfinal – Hardcore Match
Necro Butcher vs. Nigel McGuinness


Short and sweet with the best crowd atmosphere to far thanks to Necro being a viscerally connecting star. He tried getting the advantage early by attacking McGuinness during his entrance and turning it into a hardcore match, but the former Pure Champion just targeted the hardcore legend’s bandaged right knee. This came into play later as Necro did a great job of selling. He managed to knock McGuinness down a few times with clotheslines but couldn’t get the momentum to turn them into lariats.

Necro was doomed when he couldn’t deliver a backbreaker on a chair, his knee buckling. This allowed McGuinness to suplex him onto it, with the damaged right knee landing perfectly on the edge of the chair. Splendidly worked and one has to wonder if Nick Gage could ever come into BOLA and steal the show as well as Necro did here.

Rating: ***3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Quarterfinal Match
El Generico vs. Dragon Kid


Excellent close to the quarterfinal round as this had some spunk to it. Dragon Kid decided to surprise Generico at the beginning with an immediate leg lariat, causing Generico to eventually get so frustrated he decided to play a bit dirty and knock him down from behind. Dragon Kid seemed to think he could Generico’s Yakuza kicks due to his shorter stature, but that didn’t go quite as planned, although generally he had a solid answer for almost everything Generico threw at him.

The scariest part seemed not to fuck either competitor up, as Generico’s Top Rope Brainbuster was countered with a Stunner that saw Dragon Kid bounce off the top rope and take a bump too. But Dragon Kid simply didn’t have enough when Generico kicked out of the Springbaord Hurricanrana, getting cut off with a Yakuza kick on the top rope and being put down with the Turnbuckle Brainbuster. Would love to see a rematch.

Rating: ****

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Semifinal Match
Alex Shelley vs. Roderick Strong


Definitely not as interesting as their ROH matches, once again not recognizing their history there on this evening. However, this was still very good as par the course so far on this card. Although it’ll get a high rating, this lacked something extra special to really dig in and analyze. Perhaps the best story told was that Shelley couldn’t put Strong down with anything, not even the Shiranui, which get a great reaction when Strong kicked out of it.

Instead of aiming for a submission to put down Shelley, Strong just used consecutive Tiger Drivers to get the job done, not allowing Shelley any time to recover from the first. Perhaps that’s the story of desperation for a night in which the finalists have to pull triple-duty – get the job done quickly and by any means necessary, even if trademarks spots have to be arguably spammed.

Rating: ***3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Semifinal Match
CIMA vs. PAC


Good showing from PAC here to earn him a Dragon Gate invitation afterwards. He did his best to avoid CIMA’s Schwein, spiking the legend on his head a couple times. The first was with a DDT, the second was CIMA’s fault as he didn’t rotate enough on a head-scissors, getting dropped on his head. Once again though, there’s not much to dig into this match, and the fact that looks like it was intended to be a sequel of sorts to CIMA vs. Generico a year earlier, comes up a bit disappointing, To state the obvious, PAC simply was not on Generico’s level yet for crowd connection and building drama. The finish really told that when he botched a top rope move that got saved when CIMA finished it with a Super Schwein, probably taking the match home early to rest his neck before the final.

Rating: ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Semifinal Match
El Generico vs. Nigel McGuinness


Easily my favorite match of the night, as this focused on two great characters colliding, adding drama to this on the level of an ROH main event at the time. McGuinness even got some minor heel heat, which fit in well as he targeted Generico’s left shoulder with various strikes and submissions. The real story was centered around their signature moves though, such as McGuinness evading a Yakuza kick, instead taking advantage of Generico’s failure to scout the corner headstand kick.

However, Generico would prove to have that scouted later, hitting an instant Yakuza kick to cut it off, while also avoiding lariats throughout the match. McGuinness stayed focused on Generico’s left arm to cut him off, but his overreliance on the rebound lariat attempt came back to bite him, as Generico finished him with a desperate schoolboy pin. These two definitely need another round, but in an ROH ring.

Rating: ****

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Final – Elimination Match
El Generico vs. CIMA vs. Roderick Strong


An excellent finale that stood out over most of the prior tournament matches, as this never stopped and saw some quality scouting throughout. It started with a bunch of strike exchanges to have all three down early, but managed to turn into CIMA gaining the advantage when he tossed Generico off the top rope and then hit a Frog Splash on Strong.

I couldn’t believe Generico tooks his signature spots to the apron, hitting a Yakuza kick and Brainbuster on Strong on that section. But CIMA would intervene as Strong recovered, hitting an uppercut and then an Apron Air Raid Crash for a tremendous pop. Back in the ring, Generico tried to find the fighting spirit, popping up immediately after a Brainbuster, but succumbed to the Schwein.

Strong wasted no time reinserting himself when Generico got eliminated, having a hot finale with CIMA. CIMA couldn’t be denied on this night though, fueled after losing in the prior year’s BOLA finale; not even Strong kicking out of the Air Raid Crash was enough. CIMA just stayed determined, hitting a Package Cross Armed Powerbomb to finish off Strong.

Post-match, PWG Champion Bryan Danielson presented CIMA with the BOLA Trophy, teasing a rematch between the two for the title. CIMA closed the night with a classy speech and his Typhoon stablemates present, vowing to return to PWG as soon as possible.

Rating: ****

Although the card can get a bit monotonous due to its format, this gets the highest recommendation, especially since the best matches weren’t raved enough to get placed on compilations. A stellar card that had the best come at the very end, which is what every show should strive for in its pacing.

Up next – Schadenfreude
Matches will include:
Scott Lost vs. Davey Richards
El Generico vs. Jack Evans
Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong
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