Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

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supersonic
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Project Rewatch - PWG: The Good Shit

Post by supersonic »

Same style as my ROH rewatch.

Are You Adequately Prepared to Rock?! - October 4, 2003

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PWG Title Match
Frankie Kazarian vs. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels


Fans of NWA-TNA will love this. To me, it felt like an above-average X-Division match or something I'd see currently on Superstars. Good but nothing special, even with some great spots from time to time.

Rating: ***
Last edited by supersonic on Sat May 13, 2017 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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An Inch Longer Than Average - November 15, 2003

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PWG Title Match
Frankie Kazarian vs. Bryan Danielson


A fine sample of Danielson being a dickhead, and Kazarian did the best he could to sell his arm injury - in fact it was phenomenal. What brought the match down from being a classic though is that Kazarian doesn't have the charisma to get the crowd begging for him to make a comeback, and that lack of charisma also became very glaring once it was his turn to get the heat on Danielson. Danielson, as usual, was on fire during his heat segments.

Rating: ***1/2
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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Tango & Cash Invitational Night 2 - January 25, 2004

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Tag Titles Tournament Semifinal
Joey Ryan & Scott Lost vs. Super Dragon & Bryan Danielson


Note to pro wrestlers: stop trying to fool anybody in that you'll fight a fan head-on if he comes into the ring. We all know your fellow carnies will come out and gang up on him because you're not real fighters. You're fake fighters. Knock it off with getting in their faces too. They're your paying customers and aren't harming or genuinely offending anyone with their vocal opinions.

With that out of the way, this was a fun match and had some nice psychology mixed in. What stood most to me is that the ref didn't waste time and energy telling guys to wait for a tag; in addition, there was not one moment of forgetting who was legal.

Rating: ***1/4
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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The Musical - April 17, 2004

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Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson

"You're the pedophile world champion!" - Bryan Danielson after being ambushed by Joe and Ricky Reyes in the post-match

That above statement should tell you how interesting this entire segment was. From the opening several minutes, which had some highly entertaining shenanigans by both the wrestlers and commentary team, you knew you were in for something special with this one.

Once the match got down to business, the commentary team did as well. What followed was 20+ minutes of just some fine pro wrestling, including great strikes and submission work. Not a MOTYC, but certainly the greatest match PWG had hosted up to that point. Damn good match to go with their ROH stuff.

Rating: ***3/4
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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The Reason For the Season - July 10, 2004

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AJ Styles vs. Rocky Romero

A solid match that felt like an undercard showcase for NWA-TNA. Didn't have the pacing to make it anything special, and there didn't appear to be a truly engaging story to make up for it either.

Rating: less than ***

CM Punk vs. Super Dragon

I sincerely apologize to everyone I argued with in defending this as a good match. Despite storytelling efforts, this was BORING. This was I skipped about 2/3 of the way in, otherwise I'd have fallen asleep. Anytime I am put to sleep or don't finish a match to avoid falling asleep, that is a confirmed failure for the match.

Samoa Joe & Ricky Reyes vs. Bryan Danielson & Christopher Daniels

A damn good tag match with simple storytelling that would have been WAY better with Low Ki or Homicide in Reyes's place. Easily a top three match in the career of Reyes. Joe was just a great prick bringing a retaliatory side out of Danielson. Went a little too long, but that happens quite often in PWG (keeping it from being a flawless promotion even today.) I also didn't notice near-falls being counted on the wrong men, which I appreciate.

Rating: ***1/2

Go through the F4W newsletter archive to find Vinny's review of the cage match if you want one so bad. I'm not bothering.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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The Secret of the Ooze - August 14, 2004

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PWG Title Shot Match
Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon


This match caught me off guard with the way it was laid out - I was expecting Joe vs. Kobashi lite to be honest. But this match was still damn good and I may enjoy it more with future viewings.

Joe was great being an absolute jabroni in this match (his gimmick throughout the year for PWG) and SD played the underdog babyface yet again, in a match that was far more exciting than his match the month prior against CM Punk. Joe's cocky demeanor got him to make the match a bit longer than it should have been, trying to make SD his bitch and stick it to the fans. But SD played his role fine, scratching and clawing to stay on par with Joe.

I think if this match had taken place during the current PWG golden age in front of the Reseda crowd it'd have ended up being a MOTYC. I did like the countout victory for Joe, showing he didn't care how he won. It also proved his point that SD couldn't survive the punishment dished out.

Rating: ***3/4
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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Use Your Illusion IV - October 23, 2004

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PWG Title Shot - 60 Minute Iron Man Match
Joey Ryan vs. Super Dragon


Joey Ryan. Super Dragon. 60 Minutes.

I had to see it to believe it, but this was an excellent Iron Man match, surpassing Benoit vs. HHH done that same year. This was far from perfect, just a tad notch below the Aries vs. Danielson 2/3 falls match, but this was a HUGE pleasant surprise.

Both men held nothing back (a positive and a negative), trading holds and strikes like they were headlining a major PPV. Like a juggernaut, SD was able to get a 3-0 lead midway in the match, but Ryan used tenacity and intelligence to bring the match to a tie, playing off of the legwork earlier in the match.

As the 60 minutes came to a conclusion, Ryan made a puzzling decision (both kayfabe and non-kayfabe). He was letting SD get counted out, which would give Ryan a 4-3 lead and likely the victory. But he interrupted the 20 count, and then gave SD a fucking SWINGING NECKBREAKER OFF THE TOP ROPE ONTO THE FLOOR. I'm sure that bump was fucking worth it for both men.

The match went into sudden death overtime (much better decision than 5 extra minutes), and SD won after multiple Burning Hammers (including one on the floor) despite Ryan's tenacity. But it was Ryan's stupidity near the end of the 60 minute regulation that cost him the match, the bragging rights, and the shot at the most important prize in the company.

Rating: ****
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by JigsawVs.Jason »

love your reviews supersonic, but I disagree with you on youz take on PWG: to me personally they've become the best company of the world only by 2010, didn't care too much for anything prior to 2006 in PWG ;)
"If anyone complains about how today's pro wrestling isn't as good as the past and isn't watching New Japan, their opinions have no validity." ~ Dave Meltzer
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by supersonic »

What I've watched so far has been pretty mediocre.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by JustSkiff »

05/06 were the best PWG years.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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Free Admission (Just Kidding) - November 13, 2004

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Jack Evans vs. Christopher Daniels

A fine first-time encounter and much better than I remembered. Daniels spent the early majority getting the heat on Evans, gassing him out and working on the back, but Evans found the heart to battle through the injury. In the end though, all the work as well as the experience and conditioning advantage gave Daniels the victory. A damn good debut for Evans.

Rating: ***1/2

Kevin Steen vs. El Generico

A double debut here, originally scheduled for both men to face Aerial Xpress, but they were unable to appear. What followed was an awesome introductory exhibition of what these two can do. Steen was hilarious, Generico played sympathy like a motherfucker, and the rest is history. REALLY looking forward to the tag against Aerial Xpress that happened on the following event.

Rating: ***

Scott Lost vs. Bryan Danielson

Another damn good indy main event for the Danielson collection. He was tremendous here showing that he was just flat-out better than Lost, but Lost was willing to stoop to dirty tactics to get the heat. Some pretty amusing spots during the climatic portion of the match outside the ring, but ultimately Danielson proved his obvious superiority.

Rating: ***3/4
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by TelkEvolon »

JustSkiff wrote:05/06 were the best PWG years.
El Oh El.
"Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new names. They want to divorce themselves from their predecessors."

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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by SteenMark23 »

JustSkiff wrote:05/06 were the best PWG years.
Great years, but nothing in PWG's past touches 2010-present.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by JustSkiff »

I'm sorry I miss variety and not having every match have 1000 near falls.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by SteenMark23 »

JustSkiff wrote:I'm sorry I miss variety and not having every match have 1000 near falls.
Well, I would agree that PWG in terms of storyline advancement (and just storylines in general) were better back then but I think if you compare the quality of shows from then and now it just doesn't come close.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by JakeStPierre »

Absolutely no way PWG was better back then. Not even with storylines. You had scrubs like Top Gun Talwar and Quicksilver then compared to guys like Willie Mack & Brian Cage now. Not even close.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by JustSkiff »

Top Gun was one of the funnest wrestlers there were, and I probably miss him almost as much as I miss Bosh.

Also I would take Cape Fear or Aerial Xpress over the Fighting Taylor Boys.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by Jeremy »

Quicksilver wasn't too good at first, but really started to get good in late 2004 and even if he retired now, he had a fun run with Generico and a bunch of fun singles matches.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

Post by JakeStPierre »

I will say one thing...The Taylor Boys never had a match as piss-poor as Arrogance/AXP from the Second Anniversary Show. I'd rather watch the mediocre Taylors/RockNES match from Threemendous III than any AXP match if they're just gonna indy up and not make any effort to actually work.
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Re: Project Rewatch: PWG - the good shit

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Uncanny X-Mas - December 18, 2004

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Chris Hero vs. Austin Aries

This was a very good technical match mixed with some great Xmas-themed comedy dialogue. The taller Hero was able to outwrestle Aries and work on the left leg to get the victory via a modified cloverleaf submission. Good stuff all around.

Rating: ***1/2

Aerial Xpress vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

Fun exhibition style tag, nothing more, nothing less. The seeds were planted here for what was to come many, many years down the road for both Steen & Generico across the indy scene.

Rating: ***

Brian Kendrick vs. Colt Cabana

Another fun comedy match and superior to the one they had several months later in ROH. This had comedic skilled technical wrestling and the sports-entertainment portion of the match was well-done thanks to Cabana.

Rating: ***

PWG Title Shot Match
Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson


Add this to the collection of great matches between these two. They don't bother playing off of their feud earlier in the year, instead just having a great match based on strikes and technical wrestling. Joe ultimately wins when Danielson arrogantly gives him an airplane spin, somehow convincing himself that it wouldn't wear him out and quickly leave him ripe for picking once Joe recovered.

Rating: ****
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