HF Reviews PWG

[Horrorfan_1986]

Based on a True Story
January 13, 2007

Scorpio Sky w/Jade Chung vs Frankie Kazarian - Loser Leaves PWG Match
This feud had been going on since May 2006. Major moments include Scorpio Sky cutting the hair of Kazarian, beating him in a First Blood match and help cost Kazarian a PWG Title match against Joey Ryan. The one thing that bugs me about these sort of blood feuds is when they wrestle early on. If you're Kazarian, you're fighting the guy who has cost you everything, now he wants to end your PWG career. Why would you lock up? To their credit, they get things right after the first couple of minutes by brawling in the crowd and mostly only doing high impact moves to each other. As expected, Jade Chung and Arrogance interferes, but it still can't put Kazarian away. After nearly twenty minutes (The last four or so just having Kazarian kick out of everything), Kazarian wins with the top rope Flux Capacitor. In the end, I dug the idea of the match, but the execution could have been better. Kazarian just isn't a good enough babyface to pull off this role. There's times when he's out right noselling with a blank expression and his kick outs weren't as impactful as they could have been. Still, it's a really good bout, just not the MOTYC that I've heard from some PWG fans. 3 3/4 Stars.

After the match, Jade Chung turns on Scorpio by attacking him. Scorpio's old buddy, Dino Winwood, runs out to chase her away. After several moments, Scorpio holds out his hand, but Dino goes in for the hug. Yes, they actually recreated the post-match event of Warrior/Savage from Wrestlemania 7 with Dino playing Miss Elizabeth's role. : Awesome moment, although it's impossible for it to be as emotional as Wrestlemania.

Colt Cabana vs Rocky Romero
Cabana begins the match by remarking how little and cute Romero is. Rocky responds by kicking Cabana hard in the ass, making him pay for the comment. Those early moments sums up the match nicely. Colt's in fun mode while Romero takes turns between not knowing what to do and then just kicking the shit out of Cabana. As far as workrate goes, it sucks, but I was thoroughly entertained during the entire match. You can't really go wrong with Cabana in a comedy match. For Romero, he did a fine enough job making Cabana regret some of his antics. Romero wins with a simple roll-up after ten minutes. 3 Stars.

Scott Lost, Karl Anderson and Bino Gambino vs Disco Machine, Nemesis and TJ Perkins
Does Karl Anderson not realize he's a big guy? Granted, he's only "Indy big", but he doesn't wrestle like one at all. He reminds me greatly of The Hardkore Kidd. If you have a major advantage to make you stand out from the average small indy worker, use it. Disco Machine gets to showcase his face-in-peril skills again. The guy may generally suck in singles matches, but the guy is pretty perfect for tag matches. Most of the match relies heavily on Scott Lost and him entertaining me with his spots. To TJ Perkins' credit, he delivered his reliable adequate performance he seems incapable of not giving. At nearly twenty minutes, the match lasts far too long with as little story as it had. Disco Machine nails his Chokebreaker to pin Bino. While it's not a great match, it was fine enough. The big development was this being the first of three matches that sums up the major story of the night. 2 1/2 Stars.

Kevin Steen vs Chris Bosh - Number 1 Contender's Match
Before the match, Bosh spices things up by challenging Steen to a "Suck My Cock Match". The loser has to suck the winner's cock. Steen agrees and after trading sexual explicit promos back and forth, he apologizes to a couple of kids in the front row. : I'm not sure what it is about Steen and Bosh, but they don't seem to have much chemistry together. It could just be that they're so similar (Cool type of heel that the fans love to hear what nonsense comes out of their mouth) that they need someone completely different for it to work. They have a hard hitting match that begins with a little humor. Steen unleashes the power bomb to the apron before finishing Steen off with the Steenalizer that sent Bosh head first into the middle turnbuckle. It's an okay match, but something just feels missing. 3 1/4 Stars.

Super Dragon vs Ronin
I love you, PWG, but you're fucking stupid for booking this. Who in their right mind would want to see Ronin in a 20+ minute singles match, especially against someone of declining health like Super Dragon? The match is billed as a "Teacher vs. Student" match, which is fine except for the fact that Ronin is in it. The only time the guy gets a reaction is when the crowd makes fun of him for looking like a Power Ranger. The only saving grace to this was Dragon's stiff shots at Ronin. Still, Ronin was on offense for too long with most of it not going anywhere (I'm looking at you side headlocks). Ronin finally picks up the win following three Death Valley Drivers. And with that, I weep. Congrats PWG, you made a grown man cry because Super Dragon lost. 1 1/2 Stars.

Cape Fear (c) vs Los Luchas - PWG Tag Team Titles
Speaking of masked men that sucked in PWG. Luckily, Cape Fear is there to balance out Lucha's suckitude. While the first half didn't do much for me, once they cut out any sort of storytelling and went with a spotfest, I started to get really into the match. Highlights into a running senton from in the ring to outside on top of Generico who was in a Mexican Surfboard. Luchas came close to winning the match several times, even convincing me that they had a chance. I suppose in kayfabe, Los Luchas knew that their best chance to winning would be to hit all of the big spots they could think of. That could be a story in itself. The finishing stretch is a little sloppy thanks to them, but I still really dug the match. Generico picks up the win for Cape Fear's first successful title defense after the Brainbuster on Zokre. While it's better than their title win at Passive Hostility, it can't compare to their last match against Strong/Richards at the next show. 3 1/2 Stars.

Joey Ryan (c) vs Human Tornado w/Candice LaRae - PWG World Title - Guerrilla Warfare Match
The culmination of a feud several months in the making. Tornado seemingly won the title back at Self-Titled, but Joey found a loophole to get the belt back. This is also the first Guerrilla Warfare Match without Super Dragon. Watching this match for a second time, the one thing that really stands out is how unsafe most of the bumps looked. Human Tornado in particular looked like he got his ass kicked. For some, that may be a turn off, but for me (And this isn't always the case for unsafe bumps in other matches) I find that those realness only adds to the drama. It's next to impossible to not sell well when you're actually in pain. The bumps themselves were just awesome, it really got over how much they both hate each other. The booking is well thought out as well. Since this feud was never just about Tornado and Ryan, they made sure to include all of the major parties. Arrogance tries to interfere, but are blocked by Cape Fear and Kevin Steen. Jade Chung tries to help Joey, but Candice LaRae stops her. Candice nearly stole the show with her performance. There was one point when Joey Ryan actually shoved tacks down her top and then drop kicked her chest! She gets her revenge by climbing a ladder all the way up and diving off to Joey, who was on the outside. Candice is just a fearless girl. Everything builds up to a bloody Tornado hitting the DND on thumbtacks to become the NEW PWG WORLD CHAMPION. Ryan's title reign that stretched over the course of three different year finally comes to an end. Regardless of how lame some of Joey's title defenses were, he at least ended it in style. The one great thing about Joey's title reign being so hated was that whenever he'd lose the belt, it would be an insanely huge moment. Little did anyone realize that Tornado's title win was really the set-up to his eventual heel turn. As far as I'm concerned, this is PWG's MOTY for 2007. 4 1/4 Stars.

Overall
Thanks to PWG having to cancel their second December 2006 show, it lined two major feuds to come to an end on the first show of 2007. Both Ryan/Tornado and Scorpio/Kazarian were the highlights of the show, just as they should have been. The matches in the middle tends to be good, but not something you should go out of your way to watch. The only real dud of the night was Super Dragon vs Ronin. Years later, I don't understand the logic in having Ronin go over. I suppose the show has a little bit of everything. Fun spotty wrestling with Cape Fear vs Los Luchas. A comedy match to bring the lulz thanks to Colt Cabana vs Rocky Romero. A blood feud coming to an end with Scorpio Sky vs Frankie Kazarian. There's some hard hitting action from Super Dragon. A garbage wrestling match with Tornado vs Ryan. Finally, there's the story that plays out all throughout the night. This is easily the darkest hour for the Dynasty since they came together. In four matches, they lost all four. Scorpio Sky is forced to leave PWG. Joey Ryan loses his PWG title, but Chris Bosh in unable to become the number 1 contender so that the Dynasty can bring the belt back at the next show. Their reign of terror is officially over. The new ultimate evil will be coming from an unlikely source. Hands down, one of the essential PWG DVD's you should pick up.

Worth Checking Out
Scorpio Sky vs Frankie Kazarian
Colt Cabana vs Rocky Romero
Los Luchas vs Cape Fear
Joey Ryan vs Human Tornado

Avoid
Ronin vs Super Dragon

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Roger Dorn Night
June 10, 2007

Going into the show, Bryan Danielson was recently injured in his Driven match against Nigel McGuinness. The speculation was that he'd be unable to challenge for the PWG Title tonight. Davey Richards comes out to nominate himself to take Danielson's spot. Bryan Danielson comes out with staples in his head, but still willing to work tonight. He's willing to add Davey Richards to the match to make it a triple threat though. Davey's scheduled opponent, Kevin Steen, makes his way out to complain about being forgotten. He wants in the match as well. Generico finally makes an appearance and is fine with defending the belt against all three men.

Bino Gambino vs Top Gun Talwar
A match that could main event any arena in the country. Gambino offers Top Gun some coke, but it's laced with something else that ends up burning Talwar. The rest of the match isn't interesting. It does make me wonder if Bino is really mentally handicap or if it's just his gimmick that you're supposed to question if he is. Gambino kicks out of the Chipotle, which gives away the fact that Top Gun won't be winning. Gambino wins with a weak looking Ace Crusher. Pretty lame way to start off the show. 1 3/4 Stars.

TJ Perkins vs Tony Kozina
An exciting mat based match that features very few bumps for most of the match. It gets to the point that whenever Kozina does something as simple as a hurricrana, the fans are going crazy at such a crazy bump. Late in the match, Kozina seems to have snorted up some of the remaining coke on the mat because he throws a dozen or more chairs on Perkins on the outside and then slingshots himself over the top rope and on to the chairs. Really scary moment with several officials checking on Kozina with Tony begging them not to stop the match. Perkins gets up and angrily throws Kozina back in the ring. For the rest of the match, Perkins is screaming about his neck. Kozina gets a few near falls before falling to a superplex. I really hope the injury was a work. Otherwise, Kozina is a damn fool for doing that insane bump and then continuing. Fun quality mat based match, but so scary. 3 Stars.

Human Tornado w/Candice LaRae vs Ronin
Ronin is taking the place of Super Dragon whose career is just about wrapped up due to injuries. However, this is one of the few times when having a guy like Ronin is a better choice than Dragon. Tornado's new heel attitude and his abusive behavior towards Candice has been building up over the last few months. In fact, Tornado prevents an opening ring bell forearm by Ronin by holding Candice in front of her. Candice takes the hit and rolls to the outside to sell. A surprisingly fun match follows with Tornado just getting his ass kicked or threatening Candice. The actual match between Tornado and Ronin is meaningless though. The real purpose is the end of the match when Tornado orders Candice to hit Ronin with a chair behind the ref's back, but she finally stands up for herself and decks Tornado with it. Ronin gets the easy win and the angle between Candice and Tornado sees it's first real change with Candice showing she can only take so much. Due to the nature of the match, it wouldn't have worked as well had the ultra serious asskicker, Super Dragon, have been in it. So for the first time in his career, I'm glad Ronin was booked in a match. Yay for storyline progression! 2 1/2 Stars.

Post-match sees Tornado ordering Candice back in the ring. Like a victim of domestic abuse, Candice goes back in despite the warnings of the crowd. As far as what happens, the visual shows it far better than I could type it.

*Image lost *

Roderick Strong and PAC (c) vs The Havana Pitbulls - PWG Tag Team Titles
Strong and PAC just won the vacant tag titles by winning the first ever DDT4 tournament (Defeating the teams of Super Dragon and Davey Richards, Muscle Outlaw'z and The Briscoes) after Cape Fear were forced to forfeit the titles due to Quicksilver's career ending concussion after a match with Davey Richards and Roderick Strong. Skip forward to the middle of the match when the story actually begins. Like he does all throughout his matches, PAC does a crazy dive to the outside, however; he ends up landing on his left foot badly, thus injuring it. This allows the Pitbulls to focus on the body part and to do so in quite the asshole manner. Strong is just dying to get in to help his partner. There's one moment when Rocky Romero gets cocky by shoving Strong off of the apron. Strong runs in and gives Romero a chop from hell. All Ricky Reyes can do is stare at Strong blankly for a few moments before yelling "Why did you do THAT?!" : It's at this point that the match is at it's best. Once Strong gets tagged in, PAC's selling of his leg becomes sporadic. He's not completely no selling it since he is grabbing at it from time to time, but he's still able to do all of his spotty moves. PAC gets the win over Romero with some sort of twisting shooting star press variation. It's still a good match, but it could have been so much better with better selling. 3 1/4 Stars.

Tyler Black vs Joey Ryan
Black's still a few months away from making his ROH debut, however; he's already worked and finished with WSX. Kind of a weird match with comedy, but it's not an overly comedic match. Best moment came when Joey did his running of the ropes for a minute or so (Joey would have aced that drill on Tough Enough) until he finally runs out of steam and needs his inhaler. Tyler Black steals it and plays a game of keep away, forcing Joey to chase him all throughout the building. Finally, Black puts the inhaler in his tights. As expected, when Joey finally gets his inhaler, there's the funny spot where he realizes he had just had his mouth on a object that was touching Black's junk. Joey was the star of the match though. Several times he called for a big move only to lock on a headlock. By now, it's not too special of a spot, but I seem to recall a lot of people loving such spots a few years ago. Basic story of the match is that while better, Black isn't any match for Ryan since Ryan is a cheater. Former PWG wrestler, Scorpio Sky, climbs the ring apron after Joey low blows Black. The distraction allows Black to nail his God's Last Gift for the victory. The match could have used a few minute being cut off, but it was fine for what it was. Gotta love Joey when he's full of antics. 2 3/4 Stars.

After the match, Joey Ryan demands Dino Winwood come out to deal with this Scorpio Sky problem. In case you're not aware, Scorpio lost a Loser Leaves Town match against Frankie Kazarian at the start of the year. Dino, still hating Joey, decides that while Scorpio can't actually wrestle for PWG, he can fight Ryan in an unsanctioned match at the next show (Giant Sized Annual #4). Joey agrees as long as Scorpio is forced to stay 100 feet away from any PWG show if he loses. Scorpio agrees as long as he's reinstated if he picks up the victory. It's booked. Granted, the booking of the match has some issues (Scorpio is done with PWG, why offer him a chance back in?), but it's a nice way to add more importance for the biggest show of the year.

Arrogance w/Jade Chung vs The Young Bucks
The Young Bucks' PWG debut. They're still wearing the trunks instead of the long tights. The Bucks manage to get in all of their spots without causing the match to become a clusterfuck endless kick outs or overly spotty (Such as hitting 450 splashes on someone's arm). There isn't much of a story, but it's refreshing to see the Young Bucks work such a simple match. Despite coming close a few times, Matt Jackson is forced to tap out to Lost's Sharpshooter. Without realizing it at the time, PWG just booked the perfect tag match for it's historical significance. The biggest team in PWG history (Arrogance) has it's final match against the debuting future biggest tag team in recent years. It's really kind of cool when you think about it. 3 Stars.

El Generico (c) vs Kevin Steen vs Bryan Danielson vs Davey Richards - PWG World Title
Someone forgot to tell Danielson that he was supposed to take it easy. Despite suffering a concussion and having three stapled on his head, he still hits his suicide dive to the outside, the flying headbutt and takes an Ole Kick from Generico. The guy just doesn't know how to not give it his all. Pretty straightforward match with very little action from all four at once. Davey's a complete asshole to Danielson and Generico. Davey pays for it by taking a Super Brainbuster to lose the match while Steen and Danielson just miss out on breaking up the fall. There's not much you can say about it other than it's as good as you'd imagine it would be without being great. Since Danielson didn't get pinned, he's still a rightful number 1 contender. 3 1/2 Stars.

[Youtube]tVUK_KxQQSE[/Youtube]

Overall
When it comes to June shows, you should always lower your exceptions. There aren't any great matches, but only one was a real dud. It does set-up Giant Sized Annual #4 nicely. Danielson vs Generico is ready to finally happen. Scorpio Sky's return match against Joey Ryan is booked as well. The big development was the debut of the Young Bucks and Chris Bosh's last full time match. At the time, I'm guessing even those three couldn't have known what a historic show this would be for them. As long as you're entertained, the June show accomplishes it's goal.

Worth Checking Out
The Young Bucks vs Arrogance (Historical significance only)
Bryan Danielson vs El Generico vs Kevin Steen vs Davey Richards

Avoid
Top Gun Talwar vs Bino Gambino

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Threemendous III
July 21, 2012

Joey Ryan vs Famous B
The story of the match was built around PWG celebrating it's 9th anniversary. Joey believes he's the top guy in PWG history and thanks to his current TNA angle, he's the hottest thing going today. As Excalibur reminds Joey, he's "The hottest act", but he's also in the opening match. So Joey works a match where he's overconfident and that allows Famous B to get in a lot of offense. For B, I love all of his kicks. They look good and there's a nice loud sound. Sadly, I don't know if Famous B was nervous or just had some problems tonight, but he looked off tonight. There were a lot of timing issues that kept him looking as impressive as he has in past matches. Despite some teases of Famous B getting the huge upset, Joey Ryan picks up the win after forcing B to tap out to the Tazmission. A little disappointing, but I still see big things for Famous B. 2 1/2 Stars.

Roderick Strong vs TJ Perkins
A match six years in the making. Can TJP avenge his Threemendous 1 loss against Roddy? Lolz, no. TJP's barely a midcarder in PWG, while Strong has remained the top of the lower main eventers since 2007. It isn't any secret that I'm not a fan of either guy in 2012. Truth is, I didn't find the match to be anything special. It was mostly just a series of moves without any real story. However, if there was one thing that made this match special, it was the fans. Strong and TJP had a HOT crowd, who were always reacting to the match. Great crowd, fine match. Strong picked up his second win over TJP with a killer backbreaker. 3 Stars.

RockNES Monsters vs The Fighting Taylor Boys
In one corner, you had the RockNES Monsters, who were pretty damn memorable because they were heeling it up for the first time in PWG. In the other corner, you had the super over Chuckie T, a guy who's absolutely perfect for PWG. Oh...and Ryan Taylor is in the match too. As much as I dug Ryan early in his PWG run, the guy has been putting on one disappointing performance after another. Even here, where everyone else was leaving an impression, Ryan just came off as a poor indy worker. The big story of the match was the new attitude of RockNES. They were coming in without tags, pulling down Chuck Taylor from the apron so he couldn't make a tag and even pulling referee, Rick Knox, out of the ring during a Taylor pin attempt. The new attitude made RockNES so much more interesting. RockNES picked up the win over Chuckie T with Yuma getting the pin with Goodtime helping him. The crowd chants "Bullshit" and thus, RockNES are virtual heels now. Fun little tag match even if Ryan Taylor continues to ride the coattails of his over tag partners. 3 Stars.

Brian Cage vs Eddie Edwards
On paper, this is a perfect match. Both guys were the last two scheduled unsuccessful challengers of the PWG World Title. So in theory, the winner can easily challenge for the belt again while the loser will be pushed down far in title contention. Then again, Eddie Edwards is in it, so all interest stops at the door. For the millionth time, it blows my mind that Brian Cage hasn't been signed by the WWE. The guy's a fucking machine and his dominance in the first half is what made this match interesting. Once again, the fans are way more into the match than they should be. It does help with the enjoyment of the match though. Edward, though, I just don't like the guy. He's just not very good. He lacks and personality and he comes off as such a scripted wrestler. It looks like he's having a planned match than having a "Real" fight. Luckily, Cage picked up the win with Weapon X. Good showcase from Cage, great crowd, but the match wasn't too special. 2 3/4 Stars.

After the match, Cage channels his inner Booker T in challenging the PWG World Champion, whether it's Kevin Steen or Willie Mack by the end of the night. The "N" word may or may not have been used. Great stuff.

Kevin Steen (c) vs Willie Mack - PWG World Title
This was a match all about Steen's poor mindset. Due to his fluke loss against Willie back at All Star Weekend 8 Night 1. So Steen jumped Willie before the bell and just punished the fuck out of poor Mack. They had a brutal match where both guys looked like they could have been seriously injured due to the angle of their bodies being bent. The great PWG Gods of angles, who apparently have fallen asleep over the last few years, returned with a very old school booking move. Rick Knox was knocked out and that brought out Brian Cage. Cage nailed a Torture Rack into a neck breaker to Steen and a discus lariat on Willie. While I loved the match just for that, my mark out moment would occur a few moments later when Steen nailed the Package Piledriver and it seemed obvious that Steen would win. Only, Willie actually kicked out! The fans erupted, my arms were shot up in the air and suddenly Willie Mack is a legit main eventer PWG now. After playing to the idea that the outcome was unknown for a bit, the match ended back in Steen having a poor mindset with his confidence. His top move failed to beat Willie. What can he do to win? Well, Steen channeled his inner Super Dragon and surprised everyone by pinning Willie Mack with the Psycho Driver. Perfect ending that keeps Steen looking strong, Willie Mack doesn't look bad and the Brian Cage/Steen feud is officially on. Most of the match was just okay, but everything from Cage's interference until the end was money. 3 3/4 Stars.

B-Boy vs Drake Younger
PWG's most controversial match of the year. I'm just going to bypass the no selling and just a match of movez~! criticisms. While those two things may be true, there's some great things about this match that are more important. Drake Younger's debut match for PWG is one he left a big impression and was memorable. Really, isn't that the goal of any debut match? The crowd in Reseda was loving the match. Near the end, some fans were losing their shit. There was a story of B-Boy being the subtle heel and punishing Younger so Drake has to fight from underneath. Similar to Willie Mack, Younger's purpose in the match was just to refuse to stay down and that got him over. Even though the two cuts on Younger's head were unplanned, it added to the drama and made Younger seem even more resilient. This felt like an old school B-Boy or Super Dragon match. The only difference is that it feels fresh since we're not seeing it on every show and it's finally not a boring long B-Boy match. This is not I want to see on every show, but I'll be damned if I didn't feel as if it was a positive to this show. For the second straight show, B-Boy had some use and helped get his opponent over. Shit on the match all you want (And there's plenty of reasons to dislike it), but there's more positive than negative in this. Younger should have went over though. 3 Stars.

Sami Callihan vs Michael Elgin
Once again, Elgin doesn't do anything for me inside of a PWG ring. He's got his act down, but it's a lifeless act in a land where everyone is so over-the-top. Callihan looked really good in the match, always yelling something or giving Elgin the finger. There's a little story of Callihan going after the knee of Elgin to set-up the Stretch Muffler. However, Elgin never sold the injury. While the crowd was into the match early on, they started to die down as the match went on. Despite a good effort, Callihan falls to the Buckle Bomb/Spinning Liger Bomb combo from Elgin. Callihan remains winless in PWG. PWG is backing the wrong horse out of these two guys. The match was fine, but I was never emotionally invested in it. 2 3/4 Stars.

The Young Bucks vs Future Shock vs Super Smash Bros. (c) - PWG Tag Titles - Ladder Match
The third ladder match in PWG history and the first time a ladder match has been with tag teams. Much like the No DQ match from the previous show, it's a crazy spotfest with the fans going crazy, the wrestlers performing dangerous stunts and the overall feeling is that the PWG tag titles feel important because of such a match. I'm not quite as much of a fan as others and I believe the No DQ match was slightly better. The big "Negative" of the match is that I have certain pet peeves when it comes to ladder matches. This match contained some of them. I'm just not a fan of setting up overly complicated spots while ignoring the goal of the match (To win). Since the Reseda building is so small, it's not a huge problem since my #1 pet peeve, ladder spots on the outside of the ring, wasn't possible. Various moments I loved - Nick Jackson channeling his inner Leatherface while he had his head in the ladder, Rick Knox coming out and diving to the outside on the Bucks and the whole Cole being stuck inside of the ladder spots. It's a crazy and fun match that is best when you shut your brain off and try not to figure out how the wrestlers can keep getting up after the deadly spots. These kinds of matches are terrible for selling, but they go a long way in making the division look special, important and the belts being sought after. SSB retain in their second straight MOTYC with PWG. 4 1/4 Stars.

Overall
It seems like every year, you can count on a PWG MOTYC occurring at their anniversary show. 2005 had the awesome AXP/Arrogance match. 2007 had Generico/Danielson. 2009-2011 had Chris Hero and anyone he stepped in the ring with. This time around, the tag team division finally got to steal the show again after having to take the back seat in recent years due to Mr. Ohno. The main event was a pretty killer match and is worth checking out the show just for that. As always, Mr. Wrestling delivers as well. The best part of Threemendous III is how much it produced for the rest of the year. Brian Cage vs Kevin Steen is the hot new feud over the PWG title. RockNES Monsters now doing their thing as heels. Drake Younger debuted in a huge way. Michael Elgin picks up his first win. SSB seem like a team that just can't be touched in 2012. There were a few disappointments on the show (Ryan/Famous B, Elgin/Callihan and Edwards/Cage), but I wouldn't say any of those matches were bad. It may not be a show of the year contender like SEVEN was a few years back, but it's another solid effort by PWG and their new attitude on creating angles.

Worth Checking Out
Super Smash Bros. vs Young Bucks vs Future Shock
Kevin Steen vs Willie Mack
Drake Younger vs B-Boy (Just because everyone has a strong opinion on this)

Avoid
N/A

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

BOLA 2012 Night 1
September 1, 2012

Joey "87%" Ryan vs TJ Perkins - First Round
As always, TJP doesn't do anything for me. Joey added a little fun to the match with his antics, personality and a little comedy, but this match lacked any real flow. I dug some of the moments where TJP was just too crafty for Ryan, but the match lasted too long for my tastes. Perkins picked up the win following his GTS variation (Fireman's carry into kicking his opponent in the face). Wasn't terrible. 2 Stars.

Roderick Strong vs Drake Younger - First Round
Just like in the DDT4 tournament, Strong's days of being a BOLA star, where he would only be eliminated by the eventual winner, have long since past. This was similar to B-Boy/Drake Younger where Younger's opponent was playing the subtle heel and directed most of his offense in just trying to hurt Younger. Besides messing with Drake's face a little bit with a fishhook and possibly knocking out a tooth (There was some blood), most of Roddy's attack focused on Younger's back. The two highlights being a power bomb on an open chair and a sick moment when Roddy throws Younger from the apron against the ring post where there wasn't any way Younger could protect himself. It'll be a miracle if Younger can walk when he's 40. Younger seems to me like a guy who grew up watching Puro, so all of his matches are built around him hitting all of the flashy moves he's watched. It makes for an exciting match, but one with little selling. For now, I find his matches to be a thrill, but I fully expect to tire of the style in due time. Roddy picked up the win after a gutbuster followed by a kneeling Gibson Driver (Thanks to all of the back work). Better than I expected. 3 1/4 Stars.

Eddie Edwards vs Kyle O'Reilly - First Round
Edwards: "I'm Davey's best friend!" O'Reilly: "Nah uh, I'm Davey's best friend!" *Rocky Romero from Japan* "Pfft...I'm Davey's best friend FOR-EVVVV-ER." In the ultimate tease, Davey Richards joins Excalibur in the commentator's booth shaped like a table, but he's not doing his Good Ol' DR gimmick. As a result, Davey isn't entertaining. As expected, Edwards and O'Reilly worked a match straight out of 90's AJPW classics vault. However, since neither guy understands what made those matches great, it's a gigantic failed execution. There isn't a lot of selling and with the action being back-and-forth, there wasn't even a story to follow. It's just a match where one guy would hit a strike and the other guy (Not reacting at all) would return with a strike of his own. If Edwards isn't going to team with Davey in PWG, he might as well leave because the fella doesn't do anything for me. Edwards wins after he knocks O'Reilly unconscious with a few well placed kicks to O'Reilly while locking in a single leg Boston Crab. 2 1/2 Stars.

B-Boy vs Brian Cage - First Round
B-Boy is a worst possible choice for Cage. On one hand, while B-Boy is basically a PWG legend and thus a win over him can mean something, B-Boy can only have good matches if they're tag, against an incoming wrestler (Drake Younger) or against a kid trying to been seen as someone other than an opening match guy (Famous B). Cage is already kind of established. So what he needs to further his career is good matches. A storyless match where both guys spend the entire match getting their moves in isn't going to help Cage. At this point in time, Cage needs to wrestle guys like El Generico, who besides being PWG legends, are also capable of getting a good match out of anyone. The crowd liked this more than I did. Cage picked up the win after an impressive counter into a Weapon X. 2 1/2 Stars.

Kevin Steen vs Ricochet - First Round
In case you're curious, this is the first round match I was most looking forward to when it was first announced. Fun fact, in the history of BOLA, the PWG Champion was involved in now four of the tournaments. Kevin Steen counts for three of those. This was a battle of power and size vs speed and high spots. Ricochet made an early mistake of pissing off Steen with a slap across the face. That began the long process of Steen making Ricochet pay. In 2012, Ricochet is the human highlight reel of professional wrestling. Practically everything the guy does is amazing looking. PWG continued to impress me as they played into the Steen/Cage feud by having Cage come out to attempt to cost Steen the match. Steen managed to surprise Cage with a Package Piledriver, but the distraction allowed Ricochet to come back and win with a reverserana and a Phoenix Splash. Maybe not quite as good as I imagine due to the over reliance of moves, but it advanced the Cage/Steen feud while creating a new challenger for Mr. Wrestling in Ricochet. 3 1/2 Stars.

Sami Callihan vs Willie Mack - First Round
A matter of respect. You'd think that this was a match in the midst of a grudge feud. Everything from middle fingers, slaps and spitting in each other faces (And ref's) occurs. Both guys acted as if they really wanted to impress and they did so. Late in the match, there's a little story with Callihan working over Willie's leg, but that gets stopped when Willie nearly wins the match when he counters a Stretch Muffler into a small package. After a highly aggressive match that included plenty of brawling on the action, Callihan picked up the win after three lariats. I mentioned earlier how Brian Cage needs to start producing great matches to earn a permanent spot in the main event, well Willie Mack is now delivering that. His two best singles matches in PWG came at back-to-back shows. 3 3/4 Stars.

El Generico vs Adam Cole - First Round
Fun fact: El Generico is the only man in PWG wrestler to be a part of every edition of BOLA. This match was all about showcasing Adam Cole's new heel persona. From the very moment the opening bell rings, Cole is showing that newly found attitude and it makes for a great match. More than just having the new attitude, Cole found ways to best Generico in nearly every exchange. Time after time, Generico would set something up, but Cole would simply counter it. The highlight of all being El Generico's top rope deal-io that ends in a arm drag, but Cole knocked Generico off of his feet and when Generico bounced on the top rope, Cole hit a German Suplex for the near fall. By the very end, Cole counters a match ending brainbuster into a small package to surprise everyone in advancing into the second round. Both guys worked hard and the end result is the match of the night. Welcome to PWG, Evil Adam. 3 3/4 Stars.

Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin - First Round
Davey has probably had the most unusual BOLA history. In 2005, he made his debut in a first round loss. One year later, he won the second annual BOLA. Then in 2007 and 2008, Davey went back to losing in the first round. Since then, Davey hasn't appeared in a single BOLA. This match would be one that would gradually lose my interest the longer it went, the more kick outs there were and the greater the number of strike exchanges. One of my biggest annoyances with indy wrestling today is the taking turns in strike exchanges. Guys like Sasaki and Kawada made it work because there was a reason for it. Come over to the States and you see Davey doing it for the sake of knowing it was cool looking when guys like Kawada did it. Unless you add the reasoning for it, both guys look like fools just standing there and waiting for their next turn to strike their opponent. The real pity is that the first half of the match finally gave me a reason to like Elgin in PWG. The guy showed a little personality with facial expressions, being a monster and his legendary full minute vertical suplex. The crowd may have loved all of the near falls, but why care about the story when you're given so many possible endings? It's truly a story of two little matches put together to make one longer one. The first half was fun, full of personality and felt like a simple, yet engaging story. The second half was everything people complain about Davey. Elgin wins after a buckle bomb and a spinning power bomb after two hundred near falls. 3 1/4 Stars.

After the match, Elgin feels the need to get on the mic and praise Davey Richards. And thus, everything Elgin did to make me enjoy this silent monster gimmick is lost. Way to go. For once, Davey doesn't cut some long promo praising his opponent. Instead, he keeps it simple and tells Elgin to win BOLA. What's this need with indy wrestling to always put over your opponent? He just tried to bash your head in with kicks, **** being nice to him. Be a man and gloat about your victory and call his mom a whore. Now THAT'S wrestling.

Overall
Typically, BOLA Night 1 tend to be unremarkable shows with a main event that is worth checking out. Everything else? Mostly skippable, even if it's not "Bad". PWG's return to the two night format for BOLA produces an above average Night 1. This was a night all about putting over the first time BOLA participates. In the eight matches, six first time BOLA wrestlers won their matches. The big plus is that the show played a role in some of the angles. Steen/Cage gets advanced while the start of the push of Adam Cole has begun. Cole's Evil Adam gimmick is an easy way to make him a lot more interesting than just being a random babyface without any purpose or direction. As always, Kevin Steen and El Generico carry the show and are involved in the two of the best matches. Surprisingly, they have some help in the form of Sami Callihan and Willie Mack. After a rough start, PWG's 2012 is becoming really exciting.

Worth Checking Out
Kevin Steen vs Ricochet
Willie Mack vs Sami Callihan
Adam Cole vs El Generico
Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin (If you loved their ROH match, you'll probably love this too)

Avoid
TJ Perkins vs Joey Ryan
Eddie Edwards vs Kyle O'Reilly

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

BOLA 2012 Night 2
September 2, 2012

Sami Callihan vs TJ Perkins - Second Round
This one had a nice little personal feel to it thanks to Callihan's bizarre nature. If there was one guy to get something good out of TJP, it was 'The New Whore'. So many of Sami's moves were modified to add an extra bit of pain. A body slam was thrown into the ropes to mess with TJ's legs. A kick to Perkins' leg also befitted from causing Perkins to fall and hit the back of his head. By the end, you had Sami countering Perkins' Go 2 Sleep variation right into the Stretch Muffler to pick up the win. 3 Stars.

Adam Cole vs Eddie Edwards - Second Round
Adam Cole became my new favorite wrestler with all of his antics for this new Evil Adam gimmick. The guy had so much heel charisma that I found myself laughing and having fun during an Eddie Edwards match. It's a miracle! It's amazing to think any company would book Cole as a babyface when he shows so much more personality as a heel. The comedy from Cole's SMD chant was the highlight of the match. The comedy did make for a lighter tone match and a bout that is more fun than good, but once again, this is an Eddie Edwards match. I don't care how you entertain me, just do it. Late in the match, Cole continued his story of being the master of counters that he started the previous night against El Generico. Cole managed to pick up the win after a superkick and a straight jacket suplex. I guess Cole calls it the 'Florida Key'. 3 1/4 Stars.

[youtube]upLSN1gzAMw[/youtube]​

Michael Elgin vs Brian Cage - Second Round
A battle of two of the more breakout stars in indy wrestling for 2012. For the second straight day, I was enjoying the first half of an Elgin match, but the longer it went, the more I lost interest. Unlike with Davey/Elgin, the problem wasn't overkill. Instead, it's the fact that they were given 20 minutes (Longer than any other second round match by several minutes), when they don't have the capability of entertaining me for that long amount of time. I really have to question the logic of giving an indy big man match such a long time. Elgin showed a little personality by hitting a 65 second vertical suplex on Cage. Things really died down once the inital appear wore off and it only recovered after a ref bump brought on a Kevin Steen F5 on Cage to begin the finishing stretch. The final few minutes of near falls was rather exciting with Elgin picking up the win after a power bomb, buckle bomb and his spinning power bomb, all in succession. Not bad, but this would have greatly benefited from going half the time it was given. 2 3/4 Stars.

After the match, Kevin Steen runs back out and attacks Brian Cage. That brought out the Young Bucks to pummel Kevin Steen. Rick Knox, who had been absent from this weekend thus far, ran out to break up the fight. While yelling at the Bucks, Knox is hit from behind by Brian Cage. Young Bucks teased hitting More Bang For Your Buck on Knox, but a chair wielding El Generico made the save. Knox got on the mic and cut a promo on the three heels and challenged them to a six man tag. From there, Knox pleaded to Steen and Generico to put aside their differences for one night and be his partners. Steen faked shaking Generico's hand before giving him the middle finger and leaving.

Ricochet vs Roderick Strong - Second Round
For whatever reason, I couldn't get into this at all. Maybe it's just wanting to get through this to get to the big six man tag or I was tired, but the match never even grabbed my interest for a moment. The crowd seemed to support my thoughts as their interest went up and down. After thirteen minutes or so of action, Ricochet wins with a nice looking shooting star press. This was easily the least I've been into a Ricochet PWG match since his debut at the 2010 BOLA. 2 1/2 Stars.

B-Boy, Drake Younger and Willie Mack vs Team Statutory
Team Statutory is Joey Ryan, Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reilly all working a 2006-2007 Joey Ryan sleaze gimmick. If you're a critic of Davey's, this is a match for you. Everything you hate about Davey is suddenly vanished with him working this comedy gimmick. Out of everyone, O'Reilly left the lasting impression with his cartoony sleaze gimmick. Where Joey Ryan has learned to make the sleaze gimmick seem like the real him, O'Reilly was so over the top with it. There's a lot of sexual jokes including all three heels having their trunks pulled down. When Davey received cheers when he pulled them back up, he instantly pulled them back down to garner that cheap heat. There's one particular spot with all three heels in the corner that earns a "This is Awkward" chant. After the sleep inducing match of Ricochet/Strong, this was an awesome way to get back into the show. After a hot finish of everyone hitting their big moves, Willie ends up pinning Davey with the Chocolate Thunder Driver. Easily one of the more fun matches in 2012. 4 Comedy Stars.

Sami Callihan vs Adam Cole - Semi-Finals
A surprisingly low key affair. They brought the heat with a spot where Cole made the mistake of spitting in Sami's face and Callihan made him pay for it with a series of never ending stomps in the corner. Once again, Cole is the master of counters when he managed to get his knees up during Callihan's trademark rebound splash. To add something new to his repertoire, Cole even stole Sami's kick to the back of the leg when your opponent is on the middle rope. It did, however; feel as if they were holding back a bit. Whether they were tired or Cole was trying to conserve energy for the main event, I don't know. The finish of Sami submitting to Cole's Figure Four felt a bit flat and I don't believe anyone actually expected it to be the finish. Good match, but I imagine they're capable of having much better ones. 3 Stars.

Michael Elgin vs Ricochet - Semi-Finals
A showcase for why PWG should be on indy fan's radar. You'll able to see matches featuring ROH talent against Gabe's guy. After a disappointing performance by both guys earlier tonight, they made up for it in this great little man vs big man bout. Elgin showed even more personality thanks to Ricochet bumping around for him as if he was a pinball. There's a great moment where Elgin calls for a 2 minute vertical suplex. Right about the 58 count, Ricochet kicks his enough to cause Elgin to go off balance for a Ricochet DDT. It's a logic spot that PWG had been building up for the entire weekend. It shows that Elgin had become a little too overly confident and that the exhaustion over the two previous matches has weaken him considerably. This match is all about Ricochet's bumping and moves though. He sustained a lot of damage by Elgin, but the longer it went, the more chances Ricochet got. Elgin finally managed to put Ricochet away with a middle rope Air Raid Crash followed up with his twisting power bomb. The first really noteworthy tournament match outside of the first round. 3 3/4 Stars.

The Young Bucks and Brian Cage(-Buck?) vs El Generico, Rick Knox and ???
A match three years in the making. This had a ton of meaningful little points that made it great. Just the long build-up alone would have made the match worth checking out. For Rick Knox, he was surprisingly fine in the ring. The haircut makes it difficult to determine how old he is, but based on his possible and age lack of any wrestling experience (Besides taking the occasional move by a wrestler), he didn't embarrass himself in the slightest. He hit a pretty good looking leg lariat, something that normally doesn't look good to me. I don't think I've ever seen the Young Bucks spot (Opponent holds a Buck leg and throws it at the other Buck to cause the Bucks to accidentally knock the other out with an enziguri/super kick) ever connect so well. Typically, the move looks terribly fake, but thanks to the speed and the sound, I loved it. All that being said, the highlight of the match didn't involve Rick Knox. With Knox out cold and El Generico exhausted, Kevin Steen finally came out, got on the apron and held his hand out to get the tag. In that moment, one of my favorite wrestling moments of 2012, you see Generico pause for effect. You can almost imagine El Generico thinking about everything over the near three years. Steen turning on him at Final Battle '09. Generico having his mask stolen. All of the blood in 2010. Steen being forced out of ROH at Final Battle 2010. Their epic ladder match. Steen's gloating over stealing Generico's title at World's Finest. Finally, Generico makes the tag and Steen cleaned house. Another thing I loved was that PWG gave me the exact finish I was begging to see. For one night only, we saw the return of the Package Piledriver/Brainbuster combo with Rick Knox then picking up the win. Perfect. Easily one of the best PWG matches of the year thanks to the special moments, the story and some surprisingly good action. 4 1/4 Stars.

After the match, Steenerico teases a handshake. Just as it looks like Steen will do it, he opts for his usual middle finger act. As Steen goes to leave, Generico stops him to return the middle finger gesture.

"Michael Cole" vs Adam Cole - Finals
This match only re-enforced my belief that the Elgin/Cage match was too long. The entire match lengths were Elgin was wrong during the tournament. How is it that in the three previous rounds, Elgin's matches were always the longest each time? Elgin isn't Bryan Danielson. He doesn't have that sort of endurance and stamina. It's not even a knock on Elgin. He's quite good in these shorter power matches. It's a matter of knowing your wrestler's limitations. Elgin was already sucking in air during the Ricochet match and he was doing it during the entire finals. Give the poor guy a break. : The match was good, but it's nowhere near as good as the Steen/Generico finals of last year. There's a lot of brawling and the booking of Cole continues to be good. I quite enjoyed Cole using his two main finishers that got him wins tonight (Florida Keys and Figure Four), but Elgin managed to either survive them or kick out. The main story near the end was Cole having to survive Elgin's powerful attacks long enough for Elgin to wear himself out. Cole wins with a few super kicks and the Florida Keys. It isn't anything special, but it's at least not as big of a BOLA finals dud as AJ Styles/Chris Bosh. 3 Stars.

After the match, Cole gets on the mic and rants about being called the future of wrestling. The BOLA trophy proves that he's the present. He then turns his attention on Kevin Steen. Steen leaves the commentary booth shaped like a table to cut a promo on Cole. Cole only allows Steen to say a few words before he kicks him in the nards and nails Mr. Wrestling with his own PWG Title. Cole leaves with both his trophy and the PWG Title. And thus, we have a new PWG Title feud while Steen is already feuding with Cage. Awesomesauce.

Overall
In some ways, BOLA 2012 Night 2 reminds me of a KOTR PPV. The best matches and the highlights aren't even from the actual tournament. Perhaps part of the reason is that PWG removed it's top two talents in the first round, so the next three rounds didn't have those surefire great matches. On the plus side, even if most of the tournament matches tonight (Save for Ricochet/Elgin) weren't amazing or anything, none of them were actively bad. Even a match like Strong/Ricochet is just a major disappointing and boring, but I wouldn't call it "Bad". The biggest appeal of the show is seeing Rick Knox wrestling for the first time with the one night reunion of Steenerico. The Steen appeal continues with the beginning of the Adam Cole. Thanks to Rick Knox, Cole's coming out party this weekend get pushed back to only the second biggest even of the weekend. The booking of Cole was really good though and I look forward to what Evil Adam's future holds for him. This BOLA holds up with some of the better ones, although the match quality of the tournament matches will remind you more of the weaker BOLA's like 2005 than the greats like 2008 or even 2011.

Worth Checking Out
B-Boy, Drake Younger and Willie Mack vs Team Statutory
Michael Elgin vs Ricochet
The Young Bucks and Brian Cage vs Rick Knox and Steenerico

Avoid
Ricochet vs Roderick Strong (A disappointing Ricochet match in PWG?!)

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
January 7, 2006

Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli
After having a great debut at Zombies Shouldn't Run, Claudio finally got his ass back in PWG. The first ten minutes is nothing but friendly European wrestling. They took several breaks to shake hands, each time you knew that one of them were going to turn on the other. The greatness kicks in when Claudio turns on Hero and really heels it up. I found this five minute period was the strongest of the match. Once Hero made his comeback, things got a little wacky with some comedy that didn't have a place in the match and some of Hero's moves. Claudio ends the match in style by low blowing Hero, but Hero still manages to get the win after being launched in the air and he hurricanrana's Claudio for the three count. They broke this match down to different periods nicely. A steady improvement on their end of the year Passive Hostility match. 3 1/2 Stars.

TJ Perkins vs Alex Koslov
A rematch of sorts from the eight man tag at Astonishing X-Mas. While this had some fun mat wrestling, it dragged on a little too much for me despite only being twelve minutes long. Unlike Hero/Claudio, they didn't tell a story so the entire match is just in first gear. A great moment was seen with Perkins kicking Koslov in the head hard enough to cause Koslov's hat to go flying off. Perkins won with a surprise cover of some sorts. Good, but it's lacking some basic drama. 2 3/4 Stars.

Top Gun Talwar and Los Luchas vs Disco Machine, Ronin and Nemesis
My God...Los Luchas suck so much. It seemed like every other move one or both of them did was either botched or sloppily done. The only exchange sequence I dug was Talwar vs Nemesis. Nemesis continues to be such a great new asset to PWG and a perfect wrestler for the undercard. Despite being a heel, the fans have warmed up to him nicely. Of course, that means Nemesis has to be pinned by Los Luchas after their double Senton finisher. 1 3/4 Stars.

Okay, so this marks the second annual (And last) show where the PWG fans got to pick the challenger for the PWG Title. Last year, Homicide won over the likes of Bryan Danielson and others to have a complete bore with Super Dragon. This year, Human Tornado won over Rocky Romero (Second place), Chris Hero, Scorpio Sky, Chris Sabin and B-Boy. Joey Ryan believes the voting was rigged, so he refuses to put the belt on the line. This brings Dino Winwood out to order Ryan to put the belt on the line AND the title can change hands on DQ/Count-out AND the special guest enforcer will be Scorpio Sky. You gotta love the Ryan/Winwood feud.

Joey Ryan (c) vs Human Tornado w/Jade Chung - PWG World Title
A huge improvement on the terrible Ryan/Kanyon match from Astonishing X-Mas. This was all storyline with Ryan sexually taunting Jade Chung and creating tension between Ryan and Scorpio Sky. Tornado's a great opponent for Ryan since he has the comedy (All of the nut shots), the fast pace and the big spots. The result is a really fun match that results in Tornado being sent into Scorpio Sky holding a chair (He took it away from Ryan) to allow Ryan the cheap victory. It's more or less the Michaels/Taker/Hart angle from Summerslam 1997, but done a little differently. After the match, you have Scorpio and Tornado get in a shoving match due to Tornado blaming Sky for the loss and Scorpio only allowing himself to take so much abuse before he pushes back. It's angle city, baby! 3 Stars.

A long promo follows, but the gist of it is that the returning Chris Bosh wants a title shot. Ryan refuses due to all of Bosh's recent losses. Dino Winwood books Bosh in a #1 contender's match against Scott Lost to settle that issue.

Chris Bosh vs Scott Lost
I love Arrogance. They're among my favorite indy tag teams. Both Bosh and Lost are equally responsible for the quality of Arrogance's matches. The problem with this match is that both guys are tag workers. They know how to put on a good tag match, but singles matches are different. That's been the problem with Bosh's singles push - he's just not as good on his own. The second half is all moves...pause...cover...pause...repeat. At seventeen minutes long, it drags and I'm not entirely into the story. That's the other problem with the match. Lost's a heel and Bosh is a popular tweener. Yet, they're still buddies. The fans may be on Bosh's side, but there isn't any real drama. It's now been since Zombies Shouldn't Run since we've last seen Arrogance in a 2-on-2 tag match. Anyways, Joey Ryan comes out at the end to distract a Sharpshooting Lost (He doesn't want to wrestle him), but also prevents Bosh from winning (Really doesn't want to face him). Ryan goes to super kick Bosh, but Bosh moves out of the way so Lost eats the kick. Bosh then wins with his closeline on the knee move. The angle interested me far more than the match. 2 Stars.

B-Boy vs Chris Sabin - 2 out of 3 Falls Match
This is now the third show in a row where they've met. B-Boy (During his peak) may be the single most irritating wrestler in PWG history. It's as if B-Boy believes he's the caliber of Ric Flair or Bryan Danielson. As a result, every one of his matches has to be long. Super Dragon is the same way, but he at least backs it up with some great matches now and then. I've never seen a great B-Boy singles match. He's a guy who would be tolerable going 10-15 minutes max. Yet, for this match, they go thirty minutes over the course of three falls. The only times there was some good drama was after the first two falls (Sabin with a roll-up and B-Boy with the Shinning Wizard). However, that drama is ruined by going back to a slow pace for long periods of time before the next fall. However, the very most irritating thing about this match is the finish. B-Boy takes the time to set-up six chairs (2 rows of 3 facing each other) and pulls Sabin to the top rope. Everyone is expecting this crazy superplex spot that would have been a hell of a way to end the match. No, Sabin just punches out and turns it into a middle rope Cradle Shock for the win. The chairs didn't serve any purpose. The fans hate that, I hate it and the more I think about this match, the more I dislike it. 1 1/2 Stars.

Super Dragon and Davey Richards (c) vs Cape Fear - PWG Tag Titles
The debut of El Generico and Quicksilver as Cape Fear. This is a great example of how to work a long match. In fact, it's ten minutes longer than B-Boy vs Sabin, yet it doesn't feel nearly as long. The reason for that is because there's a purpose for the time length and the match has a story. The idea is that Cape Fear is fast and loves to fly. They're faster than SDDR and they have more impressive dives. For SDDR, their best shot at retaining the belts is just to ground Cape Fear and slowly wear them down. The end result is a long match where Cape Fear barely gets a chance to fly. The story is backed up by the fact that when Cape Fear manages to pick up speed, they take over. Even the dominant Super Dragon struggles when Generico or Quick is diving from all angles. Yet, SDDR's great strategy is almost ruined by a moment of miscommunication where Davey walks right into a forearm by Dragon. Another positive for this match is the tag rules. Rick Knox enforced the rules from beginning to end. Each team had a moment where they had the match won, but Knox refused to count because the wrong man was covering. AWESOME! Each wrestler gets a special moment where they're able to kick out of a finisher, resulting in everyone looking great. In the end, Quicksilver kicks out of a Psycho Driver, so Dragon has to pull out the big guns and beat him with the Barry White Driver to retain the belts. This is SDDR's first match where I felt they were justified in having a long match. Not surprisingly, it's their best up to this point. Cape Fear may have lost, but in their debut, they came so close to beating the champs. 4 Stars.

Overall
Well, PWG has officially entered 2006. The beginning, the very middle point and the ending were all very good, but there's a lot of crap to sit through. The biggest problem with PWG at the start of 2006 is poor match making. They're not using some of their wrestlers to the best of their abilities. Take Chris Bosh for example. Great tag talent, but he just can't deliver much when he's working singles matches. B-Boy is watchable, but if you give him a long amount of time, he's the ****s. If SDDR/Cape Fear is added to PWG Sells Out Vol. 3, there wouldn't be a reason to buy this DVD. As good as Claudio vs Hero was, they had better matches in 2011. Tornado/Ryan was fun, but they had a legit PWG MOTYC in 2007. Angle wise, it is a good show though. The Bosh/Ryan feud has forced Scott Lost to be in the middle of it. Ryan now has a few title defenses lined up. PWG has begun the Scorpio Sky/Tornado program that would have some good twists and turns in it. Cape Fear began in a huge way. The short Sabin/B-Boy series is thankfully over. Meanwhile, after four months of successful title defenses, the SDDR dominance is becoming clear. As far as recommendations go, I'd only suggest picking this up when Highspots has it on sale for 5 dollars or spend the full amount if you're a big Kings of Wrestling, Cape Fear or SDDR fan.

Worth Checking Out
Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli
Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs Cape Fear

Avoid
Top Gun Talwar and Los Luchas vs Disco Machine, Ronin and Nemesis
Chris Bosh vs Scott Lost
B-Boy vs Chris Sabin

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

(Please Don't Call It) The O.C.
May 6, 2006

Rocky Romero vs TJ Perkins
Really good opener that showcases Rocky as the MVP of PWG that he’s become for me, but also that Perkins can be a surprise treat if he’s put with the right opponent. The main story here is that anything Rocky can do, Perkins can do too, sometimes better. No frills, just two guys going out there and performing some quality mat wrestling. My only issue is that the finish seemed to come out of nowhere. 3 1/4 Stars.

Austin “Macho” Aries vs Chris Sabin
Aries is dressed and acting a little like Austin Starr or A Double well before he worked the characters. The fans are just enjoying making fun of him for acting like Randy Savage. Aries, being the smart man that he is, plays to it, even hitting a double ax hammer from the top rope to outside of the ring. There was a lot of comedy and playing to the crowd in this. So the quality isn’t what you may imagine it could have been. Still, for the second match of the night, it’s perfectly fine. It does make me want to watch a regular Sabin/Aries match (See: serious). 2 1/2 Stars.

Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky w/Jade Chung vs Frankie Kazarian and B-Boy
Joey is rocking out the wife beater like he's Joey Ryan Atwood. This was supposed to be Ryan defending the title against B-Boy, however; thanks to Davey Richards injury, Ryan realized that champions are only required to defend their titles once every 2 months. So the match is changed to this tag match. There’s a ton of gay comedy between Ryan and Scorpio early on. However, after a few minutes it gets serious and results in a halfway decent match that was nonstop action. Although Ryan’s matches often are a drawback in 2006, this was actually entertaining. The post-match events sees Frankie (Who got the pin) and B-Boy arguing over who should be the number 1 contender. Dino Winwood rules that Frankie should be. On his way out, B-Boy is attacked by Ryan on the outside, while Sky goes after Frankie in the ring. Scorpio and Jade ends up cutting Frankie’s hair (Rumor has it that Frankie was fired by the WWE because he refused to cut his hair). Good match, but even more important post-match. 3 Stars.

Kevin Steen vs Bryan Danielson - Career vs Birthday Song Match
It's apparently Steen's birthday tomorrow, but no one has wished him a happy birthday yet. Before he's willing to wrestle, he wants Dragon to sing him happy birthday. Danielson instead offers to sing if Steen beats him. However, if AmDrag wins, Steen leaves PWG forever. I'm shocked we've never seen such a match at Wrestlemania. This was back and forth with comedy and serious wrestling. There's one fan who kept yelling for Steen to hit a moonsault, so it ends up being a minor story in the match. By time Steen finally goes for it, he gets crotch on the top rope. Pretty entertaining ending with both men hooking in Cattle Mutilations, but Dragon eventually gets the pin. Post-match sees Steen begging to not be fired. Steen "All I have left is CZW, and that’s a sad existence" Ha. This brings out Dino Winwood, but he refuses to decide if Steen has to go, he lets Dragon decide. Dragon lets Steen stay if he sings him happy birthday (Dragon's birthday is later that month) while doing a booty dance. Steen does the booty dance and saves his job. With the comedy, it wasn't able to be as good as you'd imagine Steen vs Dragon to be, but it's still Dragon vs Steen, so it's enjoyable. The real magic is Steen's dance though.3 Stars.

Super Dragon, Ronin and Alex Koslov vs Disco Machine, Nemesis and Bino Gambino
Lets see, I hate Ronin, Disco and Gambino. Meanwhile, I sometimes hate Dragon. Nemesis can be fun in short matches, but he's not someone I "Like" I guess? Luckily, I do like Koslov. Woo 1 for 6. This just went on for far too long (Just under 30 minutes). I dug a lot of Gambino on defense just because he did a great job of getting his ass kicked by the masked Russians. Yes, I believe that Ronin and Super Dragon are Russian. With how bad Ronin is, I firmly believe that he's Boris Zhokov. It makes perfect sense. He wears the mask to cover his face, but he still wears all red and sucks. Poor Bino though, he gets his ass destroyed for long portions of the match. While the winners are very predictable, the six men accomplished the goal of not being horrible. Still, I don't know who in their right mind would give these six a half hour to wrestle. 2 1/2 Stars.

Human Tornado vs Colt Cabana
Shenanigans galore. There's not much to say about this. It's exactly what you'd imagine. Light on the actual wrestling, but it's funny and quite enjoyable. It's Colt when he was still fun.

Arrogance and Kings of Wrestling vs Cape Fear, Kevin Steen and Super Dragon
Steen and Dragon (Super, not American) are here filling in for Los Luchas. I swear, Los Luchas (Either together or separate) are the only ones that misses more PWG shows than the Briscoes. It's okay, as much as I dislike Russian Dragon at times, I'll take him over Los Luchas any day. This reminds me a bit of the four team match at All Star Weekend 4 Night 2. There's a lot of guys and it keeps from being a story. The interactions between Russian Dragon and Steen is great though. The heels (I guess Steen isn't one in this match) ends up using a plastic cup on Quicksilver. You've never seen wrestling until you see grown men preforming moves on a cup to further hurt the wrestler under the cup. There's ton of chaos near the end when everyone just hits their moves. Scott Lost gets the win over Generico to help solidify Arrogance as being the number 1 contenders for Davey/Russian Dragon's titles. It was a fun match, but not the quality that it could have been. The lack of tags (Even before the chaotic ending) made the match lack some storytelling. 2 1/2 Stars.

Overall
Without any title matches or anything great, this isn't a must see show. However, what it lacks in quality, it makes up in importance. It's the beginning of the Kazarian/Scorpio feud, another chapter in the prologue to set up the Dynasty, setting up Arrogance's title win, lining up a couple more challengers for Ryan's title (Including the huge Threemendous cage match that will become a bigger issue later) and really just profiling some of the stars. Perkins looked good, Romero looked good as always and I even enjoyed the Ryan match. I bought this DVD for 5 bucks at Highspots, as long as you don't pay full price, it's worth checking out to fill in the gaps.

Worth Checking Out
TJ Perkins vs Rocky Romero
Colt Cabana vs Human Tornado
Frankie Kazarian and B-Boy vs Scorpio Sky and Joey Ryan (Especially for the storyline)
Kevin Steen's booty dance

Avoid
Russian Dragon, Ronin and Alex Koslov vs Bino Gambino, Nemesis and Disco Machine (It's not bad, but it's far too long)

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Pearl Habra
January 27, 2008

The Young Bucks vs TJ Hooker - DDT4 Qualifying Series
TJ Hooker are TJ Perkins and Hook Bomberry. This would be the first match in the DDT4 Qualifying Series round robin tournament. This was a pretty indyerrfic tag match with a lot of arm drags and roll-throughs. The only one who really left an impression on me was Hook Bomberry. He was the only one playing to the crowd through his comedic heel gimmick. The only time the Bucks played to the crowd was their 80's babyface cliche "Come on!" and "Let's go baby!". Perkins didn't even bother acknowledging that there was any fans in the building. The match was fine though, even if it could have had a few minutes shaved off. Finish revolves around a roll-up by Perkins and Bomberry sneakingly holding a Buck's legs to steal the victory. Perfectly fine opener. 2 3/4 Stars.

After the match, The Young Bucks complain to the ref about the cheating. Hook denies it though. Perkins claims he didn't see any cheating and wants to shake the hands with the Young Bucks. Hook tried to stop Perkins, but TJP just shoved him back. Perkins shakes the hands of the Bucks and now we have a story for the TJ Hooker team. Perkins is the honest babyface while Bomberry is the no good heel, whose hiding his cheating from his partner.

Rocky Romero vs Roderick Strong - 2/3 Falls Match - #1 Contender's Match
In what what become a theme for 2008, a wrestler (Jack Evans) no-showed, so PWG had to make a last minute replacement. In an unexpected bit of good luck, the Strong/Evans best of three series was tied at one a piece. Although Romero wasn't involved in it, he and Strong has had two matches in PWG history - both with one win. In case you're wondering, Romero was booked to wrestle Karl Anderson. Immediately, Strong caught Romero off guard with a sick kick. A Gibson Driver was reversed right into a Romero armbar, forcing Strong to give up within seconds of the match starting. The second fall was all about Strong being a dick and just trying to hurt Rocky. Roddy ends up winning with Texas Cloverleaf variation with kicks to the Romero's back. Rocky ends up tapping out. The final fall is just a back-and-forth battle with Roddy winning after two kneeling Gibson Drivers. There was zero playing to the crowd, but it was some great hard hitting action that reminded me a bit of their great All Star Weekend 5 match. Good stuff. 3 1/2 Stars.

After the match, Karl Anderson runs in and takes out both Strong and Romero. Anderson cuts a promo on how the creation of the previous match meant he was either forced to wrestle a jobber like Bino Gambino in the opener or just not wrestle on the show at all. Anderson lists off all of his accomplishments including making love to women on four different continents. There's only one thing Anderson wants now - the PWG World Title.

Los Luchas vs Scorpio Sky and Ronin - DDT4 Qualifying Series
Contrary to the mat based match of the first DDT4 Qualifying Match, this was a spotfest that was all about the MOVEZ~! Actually, that's a good thing as the match is far more entertaining in it's spotfest form than had they tried to work a traditional tag match. Early on, there's a really nasty botch by Zokre where a poorly done headscissors results in him falling hard on the side of his head. Scorpio blows my mind with a standing shooting star press. Late in the match, the spots moved to the outside with several dives right near the crowd. Fun ending sees Ronin nail his Death Valley Driver for the pin while Scorpio counters a break-up by hitting an Ace Crusher on Zokre. Ronin is so much better in tag matches than singles. Surprisingly good. 3 Stars.

Human Tornado vs Chris Hero - No DQ Match
A garbage match of epic proportions. Chairs, tables, steel chains and garbage cans were all used in this. One day, I imagine Chris Hero will look back at this match and feel he was so stupid taking some of the bumps he did. There was one where Tornado jumped over the top rope and landed on Hero's face. Another late in the match where Hero did a running somersault senton to the outside where Tornado was laying on a bunch of chairs. If nothing else, they made this feel like a blood feud and it's always great when you can believe an indy feud is real for those minutes a match takes place in. Really dig the ending with Tornado having a sudden flash of an idea and he delivers a couple of low dropkicks to Hero's knee. He follows that up with a garbage can shot to the knee. From there, he locks in a Texas Cloverleaf and Hero is screaming in pain. Eventually, Candice LaRae has to tell the referee to stop the match. Afterwards, Hero is practically weeping in pain as Candice and a guy helps him to the back. Yet another great chapter in this possible best feud in PWG history. Brutal and easily sets up a rematch since Hero didn't give up. Early PWG MOTYC. 4 Stars.

The Dynasty calls out Dino Windwood and Excalibur. Once again, PWG Tag Champion, Davey Richards has no showed a PWG event. This is now the third time Davey being unable to attend a PWG show has kept a SDDR/Dynasty match from happening. Dino Windwood and Excalibur have made the call to strip SDDR of the tag titles and award them to the Dynasty. Furthermore, Davey Richards has been FIRED. Since the Dynasty wanted to wrestle tonight, they've laid out a challenge to any of the four teams that already competed earlier.

The Dynasty (c) w/Jade Chung vs The Young Bucks - PWG Tag Titles
Okay, so it doesn't make sense to have one of the DDT4 Qualifying teams in a tag titles match, but that's what happens when so many people no show events. In theory, had Jack Evans not no showed, The Dynasty could have wrestled Roderick Strong and either Jack Evans or Rocky Romero. To my utter astonishment, these two teams had a great little Southern (Cali?) tag match. There was a little babyface shine at the start, but from there was a long face-in-peril segment with Matt. This all built up to a hot tag to Nick who runs wild. Then not so shocking is the fact that they ruined a great undercard match by not knowing when to end the match. The bout had more endings to it then Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. What was once a match I thought was a true hidden gem that showed how good the Bucks could be ended up being a match where I kept wondering when it was finally going to end. With the ref distracted, Jade Chung tried to interfere, but Matt elbows her without realizing it was Jade. Matt being distracted allows for a super kick and Dynasty to pick up the win with an elbow Demolition Decapitator. A real disappointment by the end. 2 1/4 Stars.

Low-Ki (c) vs El Generico - PWG World Title
This was a lot like Generico vs Bryan Danielson at Giant Sized annual #4. You have a legitimate top indy name testing just how much heart Generico has. The result is a highly physical match. Ki heeled it up just a little bit to help tell the Generico heart story. There's a great spot in the middle of the match where Ki would knock Generico out with a kick and have the ref do the ten count. Both times, Generico would get up though. Generico nearly had the match won with a top rope brainbuster, but Ki avoided it and hit the Ki Krusher. A Dragon Clutch then forces Generico to tap out. It seemed like Generico may have had his foot on the bottom rope, but that may have been an accident though. Anyways, absolutely loved the match this second time seeing it and the intensity holds up nicely. Personally, it's my pick for the best PWG match of 2008. 4 1/4 Stars.

Overall
Pearl Habra sums up PWG's 2008 pretty well. No shows forces the card to be altered at the last minute, but PWG still manages to put on a hell of an event. The two guys leading the charge would be Chris Hero and El Generico. This would remain the case for the next two years for PWG. Even though I hated the ending to Dynasty vs Bucks, this is an early example of the Bucks stepping up and help carry the tag division. Ironically, this was now the second time in just a few months that the Young Bucks would be the last minute substitutions for SDDR against the Dynasty. Whether you love or hate the Bucks, there's little denying just how much they've been there for the tag division. Even if neither match was anything amazing, Pearl Habra's worth checking out for the start of the DDT4 Qualifying Series. The creation of the series was a great an easy way to add some importance to the undercard. Without question, check out Pearl Habra for the two MOTYC's. On top of all that, we have the new angle of Karl Anderson trying to force his way into the main event scene. I'm not too crazy about the Machine Gun, but it's some sort of story. The only real downside to Pearl Habra is that PWG would allow Jack Evans and Davey Richards to fuck up plenty more shows in the future.

Worth Checking Out
Roderick Strong vs Rocky Romero
Human Tornado vs Chris Hero
El Generico vs Low-Ki

Avoid
N/A

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

¡Dia De Los Dangerous!
February 24, 2008

Scorpio Sky and Ronin vs The Young Bucks - DDT4 Qualifying Series
Man, early Young Bucks weren't very good. Nick Jackson's spot of hitting a 450 splash when Matt holds the opponents arm (Normally you see a double ax handle from the top rope) is one of the most ridiculous spotty moves ever. From there, they won't shut up with their 80's cliches of "Let's go baby!" and "Come on!". Have they watched any wrestling since the 80's ended? Pretty unspectacular match with a bunch of spots in place of a story. Once again, Scorpio Sky impresses me with an 180 dive (Think shooting star press) onto the other three guys. The ending of Ronin being rolled up by Matt is pretty abrupt. Weakest of the three DDT4 Qualifying series matches thus far. 2 Stars.

So since Pearl Habra, PWG World Champion had an injury and was forced to vacate the title. PWG created a little tournament where the two finalists will wrestle Roderick Strong (Since he was already the #1 contender) in a triple threat for the title.

Karl Anderson vs Frankie Kazarian - 1 Night PWG World Title Tournament
This is Kazarian's first PWG match since All Star Weekend 5 Night 1 last April. Interestingly enough, two of Kazarian's last three PWG matches involved Anderson. The first being an Anderson singles win back at Holy Diver Down. In typical PWG fashion, Kazarian was a last minute replacement for Austin Aries, who couldn't make the show due to his flight being canceled (Bad weather). The match was fine, but seeing Kazarian when you're expecting Austin Aries is a major downgrade. On the plus side, Kazarian had a couple of nifty spots including Anderson being slingshot into the ring with Kazarian hitting an ace crusher in mid air. Later, Kazarian was lifted up by his feet by Anderson, but Kazarian landed on his feet and in one quick motion, hit his Wave of the Future. Once again, the finish is abrupt with Anderson kneeling down during a roll-up attempt and Anderson held the ropes without the referee seeing him. Your basic Kazarian PWG match. 2 1/2 Stars.

After the match, the fans chant "Please come back" to Kazarian. Over four years later, he still hasn't. Can't say I miss seeing him in a PWG ring.

TJ Hooker vs Los Luchas - DDT4 Qualifying Series
TJ Hooker continues to be somewhat entertaining for me. This time around, there was a whole little sub-story with Perkins and Bomberry not being on the same page. For their second straight match, they did their middle version of the old Orient Express/TWGTT move where Perkins leapfrogs Bomberry and lands on the back of an opponent in the ropes. I can't say I've ever liked Los Luchas, but they have their wide assortment of tag team moves too to keep me interesting. Los Luchas win after Phoenix Star hits his Olympico Slam on Zokre's knees (Botched slightly). 2 1/2 Stars.

Candice LaRae vs Daffney
I could be mistaken, but this may be the first ever women's match in PWG history. Maybe it's because the show has been pretty uneventful thus far, but I quite enjoyed this. The ladies kept things really simple with holds and random submissions. To showcase Candice's relationship with Chris Hero, she locks Daffney in some very European-like trap holds. Unlike the average WWE Diva's match, this wasn't overloaded with botches. Maybe there were a couple of awkward moments, but it's easily better than what you'd see on national TV. Candice ends up picking up the win following a moonsault. 2 1/2 Stars.

After the match, Human Tornado runs out to attack Candice. Tornado chokes her for a bit with his Chris Hero t-shirt. Before Tornado can inflict any more damage, Necro Butcher makes the save.

Necro Butcher vs Human Tornado - 1 Night PWG World Title Tournament
Fun, this was. The first half of the match was just your typical wacky good hardcore fun. A lot of fighting in the crowd and everything built up to a time out when Necro enjoyed a beer at the bar while Tornado insisted that they take shots of a mystery clear alcohol. Back in the ring, Tornado made the single dumbest mistake you could ever make with Necro - he challenged him to a seated punching contest. This signal the start of the second half where it was more of a common garbage match. Tons of chairs and spots that seem so stupid to do. Is it any wonder that Human Tornado had to retire due to injuries? Tornado ends up winning after a huge Cancun Tornado (Flippy dive) on Necro when Necro was covered by a lot of chairs. The first match tonight that's really worth checking out. 3 1/2 Stars.

[youtube]5UAeA4Eusfc[/youtube]​

The Dynasty (c) w/Jade Chung vs Incoherence - PWG Tag Titles
Incoherence~! This is actually sort of a big match as Incoherence are the current CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas. Another Southern (Cali) style tag. The first few minutes was all comedy with Incoherence school boying Dynasty over and over. Dynasty brought the lulz by calling Jade Chung a lady boy. To my pleasant surprise, the heat sequence was done really well with Hallowicked playing the face-in-peril. Dynasty worked over 'Wicked's ribs while they provided distractions to the ref to ensure the ref didn't see when Delirious did get the tag. The only downside is that the SoCal fans aren't giving the Dynasty matches that expected hot tag response. After Delirious received the hot tag, everyone got in their big moves before the Dynasty picked up the win after Joey rocket launched Hallowicked right into an Ace Crusher by Lost. Awesome finish. They could have trimmed the match down a couple of minutes, but it's a huge step up from Dynasty/Bucks. 3 1/4 Stars.

In a backstage promo, The Dynasty cuts a promo on their next challengers - The Briscoes.

Human Tornado vs Karl Anderson vs Roderick Strong - PWG World Title
An endurance-type of a match where for ten minutes, everyone kept hitting big moves and tried to end the match in a hurry. Even though there's not much of a story in that, it does create a match with non-stop action.Strong tends to carry the match with all of his hard strikes while Tornado offers a few big spots and some comedy. Lastly, there's Karl Anderson, there to ensure the match does have a noticeable weak link. Despite enjoying the match, the finish is poorly done and ends the night on a bad note. With Anderson catching Strong in a big spine buster, The Machine Gun over sells and collapses on the mat. Tornado then attempts a Cancun Tornado, but Anderson moved just a bit to make the dive look like it didn't even connect. Of course, this was the finish. There was a small "Bullshit" chant afterward. A Tornado/Strong match would have been so much better. Luckily, this is the end of Karl Anderson's main event push in PWG. 3 Stars.

We conclude the show with one of the best backstage segments in PWG history:

[youtube]7NRAwMWhbUE[/youtube]​

Overall
This is what happens when you lose Low-Ki, El Generico and Chris Hero and replace them with Frankie Kazarian and Karl Anderson. The last show gave the fans two PWG MOTYC's and a solid undercard while ¡Dia De Los Dangerous! gave us one match that's really worth checking out. Luckily, PWG came to their senses. Karl Anderson's main event push was immediately ended (And wouldn't be seen again until 2009) while Kazarian would never return. The big positive of the show is Human Tornado winning the PWG World Title, thus making the Hero/Tornado feud feel even more important. In addition, you had a solid tag title defense by the Dynasty and promise of a big title defense at the next show. Already, The Dynasty's title reign is a huge step up from SDDR no showing event after event. The DDT4 Qualifying Series remains undercard matches that are hardly worth going out of your way to see, but it does give the undercard a purpose and the Hook Bomberry/TJ Perkins angle is intriguing. The only real reason to buy this show is if you want to see every chapter in the Hero/Tornado feud. Even then, this chapter is skippable since Hero isn't technically involved. Good for a B-show, but it's a major step down from the awesome Pearl Habra.

Worth Checking Out
Necro Butcher vs Human Tornado

Avoid
N/A (Very little reason to see the show either though)

 

[Castiel]

It's weird that I'm interested in seeing Candice vs Daffney a lot, two awesome females!

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

The High Cost of Doing Business
November 11, 2007

Dino Winwood and Excalibur opens up the show. Sadly, a couple of PWG employees are in jail tonight. Thanks to a drunken fight over which is the better way to cook a turkey (boiled or deep fried) PWG ring announcer, Jon Ian, and one half of the PWG Tag Champions, Davey Richards, are forced to miss the show. As a result, Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs Scott Lost and Joey Ryan will not happen.

Ronin vs Karl Anderson
Anderson is looking like Mike Knox (Circa 2006) or a pre-Luke Gallows Festus with his balding head with a little hair on it while wearing black tights. It's not a good look at all. Surprisingly, Ronin isn't that bad in this match. He manages to have a few moments without botching anything. In fact, the match was going fairly well up until the end when Ronin struggled to get Anderson up in the fireman's carry for the DVD. Anderson picks up the win following a spinebuster and a Boston Crab. With the match being a big man vs big man encounter, it was an unusual choice for an opening match. However, it was better than I expected. 2 Stars.

Claudio Castagnoli vs TJ Perkins
Claudio works the big man gimmick, but Perkins manages to embarrass Claudio with some Lucha based moves. Despite being a massive underdog going in, I started to believe that Perkins may just be able to get the win. Perkins locks in the Figure Four Deathlock, but Claudio's lucky to be near the ropes to force the break. Claudio finishes Perkins off by launching Perkins up and nailing him with a European Uppercut. For an undercard match, this was perfect. Short, but a quality match that didn't try stealing the show. 3 1/4 Stars.

The Dynasty w/Jade Chung vs The Young Bucks
The Bucks are still very new to PWG. They had debuted at Roger Dorn Night, losing to Arrogance in Arrogance's final match together. This is the closest thing they could get to having a rematch. The crowd humors themselves with constant "HOO!" chants since Ryan is looking very Jim Duggan-like with his long hair and full beard. Not to mention it describes Jade Chung well. The Bucks love over complicating the simplest of things. The simple spot of having your opponent by the arm and tagging in and out while doing some sort of move off of the top rope to the arm is too simple for the Bucks. Instead, they moonsault and hit 450 splashes on to the arm. : The match picks up at the end when everyone is hitting their moves and there's several near falls. Even though the Bucks are able to break up a pin attempt after the old X-Foundation finisher (Inverted FU into the facebuster), they fall to a top rope Demolition Decapitator. Maybe a little longer than it needed to be, but it had it's moments despite the Bucks greenness. Most of the quality came from Scott Lost and his moveset though.3 Stars.

In a post-show promo, the Dynasty pokes fun at Super Dragon and Davey Richards for not having the balls to defend their titles against them. Gotta love playing to the feud.

El Generico vs Roderick Strong
It occurs to me that this is their only singles meeting in PWG. I'm kind of surprised since both work PWG a lot in the past several years. For the first half of the match, Strong is just working over Generico's midsection. While he's not as creative as he was against Rocky Romero during ASW 5, Strong has some unique ways to inflict some pain. Even though he's not a great seller, Generico has some really good babyface fire for his comeback. Despite all of the effort to get the win by pulling out the big moves, Generico just can't get the job done. Thanks to Strong working almost exclusively on the back during the entire match, Strong gets the pin after a Gibson Driver. Pretty entertaining match from two of the better workers in PWG at the moment. With a little better selling, this could have been more noteworthy, but considering this is PWG and not ROH, it's more than good enough. 3 1/2 Stars.

In a post-show promo, Strong boasts about beating former PWG champion, Generico. He's ready to take the PWG Title from Bryan Danielson during All Star Weekend 6.

Scorpio Sky vs Rocky Romero
At one time, both of these guys were two of my favorite PWG workers. However, Sky was never the same after he turned heel in 2006 and Romero started to fizzle out around 2008. They have a competitive match with a lot of move sequences, but they're lacking in the story department. There's a lot of times when the guy getting the move is back on his feet before the one on offense. It's definitely not a bad match, but there isn't anything special about it either. Scorpio Sky gets the submission victory after hitting an Ace Crusher and turning it over into a Dragon Clutch. 2 1/2 Stars.

Chris Hero and ? w/Candice LaRae vs Human Tornado and ?
Both men were able to pick a partner of their choice. Hero ends up picking the one man he hates above all others bar Tornado - Eddie Kingston. Tornado believes his partner is even better as he introduces partner - Eddie Kingston. Kingston turns on Hero and we get a handicap match with Tornado and Kingston just beating the hell out of Hero. Looking back at this match, I can sense PWG trying to put Hero over as the future face of the company. Despite being two-on-one, Hero hangs in there. Once Candice LaRae starts helping out, there's times when Hero looks to have the match won. Near the end, Hero's energy is about spent when Claudio Castagnoli runs out and reaches for a tag. Believing that his Kings of Wrestling partner is there to save him, Hero tags him in. Claudio promptly turns heel and attacks Hero. : The bell starts ringing causing the match to end in a no contest (PWG credits it as a DQ win for Hero, but meh), but the three-on-one assault on Hero continues. Candice tries to cover her man, but Tornado just gives her the DND. This felt like such an old school classic angle, only with the twist of the brave hero (Heh...Hero is the hero) not being saved. I loved it all though. Kingston is just perfect in his Jake Roberts-like role of being a sick human being when it comes to his sexual advances towards Candice. If this was an inner city movie, Kingston would be the guy raping the girl before having his dick shot off at the end. With the Kevin Steen/Super Dragon fresh on my mind, this chapter of the Tornado/Hero saga reminds me greatly of that. You have the whole subplot of Hero's friends turning on him, resulting in Hero fighting alone. However, what's so great about the Hero/Tornado feud is that there's several major chapters you can begin with. Granted, it's best to begin with Tornado's heel turn at Holy Diver Down, but you don't need to see anything before this chapter to understand exactly what's going on and be interested enough to see what happens next. This is the sort of angle that sells a multitude of DVD's and it's deeply missed in PWG these days. 3 3/4 Stars.

In a post-show promo, Hero's more upset about Claudio turning on him than anything else. He promises that he'll get revenge on Tornado, that Candice will get revenge on Tornado.

Bryan Danielson (c) vs Jack Evans - PWG World Title
In one of the simplest and effective builds for a match, Jack Evans calls Danielson's style boring and that his high flying style is the future. Danielson wants to beat respect into Jack. I like it so much since it's so realistic. I can see people online having this sort of debate. You have a little comedy with Danielson dancing, Evans choke slamming Danielson and Danielson being unable to do the same to Evans. Once they have some fun, Danielson just stretches the hell out of Evans. Jack gets in some of his high spots near the end to try and make the viewers believe he has a chance to win, but he's not fooling anybody. That's the only real problem when you watch something like Evans vs a star like Danielson. You know Evans isn't winning, so there's not much drama to the bout. Still, it's a lot of fun whenever Danielson stretches Evans. Danielson wins after kicking Evans unconscious with his stomps to the head while holding Evans arms and then trapping him in a triangle choke. 3 1/4 stars.

Dino Winwood concludes the show in an empty board of directors office. He talks about all of the problems PWG had been facing with office members going to jail, wrestlers being stolen and the disastrous European trip. The entire purpose is for Winwood to utter "I guess that's just the High Cost of Doing Business" *Grins* I miss Winwood.

Overall
As far as B-shows go, this was pretty perfect. I wouldn't call any of the matches bad, while there are several good bouts. The Tornado/Hero saga enters a new chapter by introducing new faces making High Cost worth buying if you want to see the entire feud. Danielson delivers another solid PWG Title defense. Meanwhile, PWG builds up some issues for the start of 2008. SDDR vs Arrogance, Hero and Candice vs Tornado, Claudio and Kingston and Strong wanting another shot at Danielson. Even Ronin manages not to embarrass himself. Pretty good way to conclude 2007.

Worth Checking Out
Claudio Castagnoli vs TJ Perkins
El Generico vs Roderick Strong
Chris Hero vs Eddie Kingston and Human Tornado
Bryan Danielson vs Jack Evans

Avoid
N/A

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Express Written Consent
February 21, 2009

Scorpio Sky vs Zokre
Despite having issues with Zokre, I was glad to see him in a singles match. It'll be a better judge of how he performs. This is Scorpio's first PWG match since his injury. As I feared, Zokre is still overly spotty. However, the crowd seemed really into it and it helped my enjoyment out of the match. I wouldn't mind seeing Scorpio in some matches. He seems like he may have some talent. Zokre maestral cradles Scoprio, but Sky gets his foot in the ropes almost immediately. However, referee, Tony Romo never notices and counts to three. The fans are pissed off and starts a loud 'Bullshit' chant. Well, that's not a good way to start the show. Up until the fucked up finish, it was actually decent. With all of the spots, it quickly entertained the fans to open the show. One fuck up and all that was ruined. Eh, what can you do? 2 Stars.

B-Boy vs TJ Perkins
like two ships passing in the night, this is B-Boy's first match back and Perkins last one before his move to Florida. Excalibur claims that these two met many times back at the start of the decade, so I suppose it's a nice way for Perkins to end his PWG career. Early on, Perkins works over B-Boy's arm while Human Tornado, commentating, believes that Perkins has went crazy based on the red hair dye job. B-Boy gets in some stiff shots while still selling his arm. At one point, instead of hitting a DVD, B-Boy somewhat launches Perkins into the corner so that he wouldn't need to use the arm. Tons of near falls while Perkins keeps trying to make B-Boy tap out. B-Boy surprises Perkins with a Samoa Joe like choke to get the win. I really need to see more of B-Boy. While he's not nearly as good as his trainer, Homicide, he exhibits many of the same qualities that Homicide possess. Thanks to the solid arm work, the match went over very well. I would have preferred they cut out some of the near falls, but with it being the first match on the show that did a lot, it wasn't too noticeable. 3 1/4 Stars.

El Generico vs Kenny Omega
I believe Omega wasn't a full fledged heel yet. However, Excalibur brings up Omega's quest of trying to ruin Generico's orphanage dreams. Omega starts the match wearing a vintage Street Fighter shirt before Generico pulls it over his head and hockey fight punches him. Omega heels it up by going poking Generico's eyes. In fact, that's his main strategy. The comedy is taken out of the match as we get higher intensity moves such as the Beach Break. Kind of ironic to see one of Chuckie T's partners use one of Taylor's enemies moves. Omega shoves referee Rick Knox after thinking he got a three count. Knox ends up pushing Omega back, so Omega whips Knox to the ropes. Knox ducks a closeline and comes back off of the other ropes with a closeline of his own. Knox can't believe what he did. Top rope brainbuster scores Generico the victory. For a match that just seemed like it was going to be a comedy, they found some nice ways to being creative. Omega's eye poking strategy was damn near brilliant in it's simplicity. The Knox closeline was a great popping moment capped off with the rare top rope brainbuster. This was way better than I imagined it would have been. Despite losing in the first round of BOLA, I'd love to see Generico challenge Omega for the belt. 3 3/4 Stars.

Austin Aries vs Necro Butcher - No DQ Match
Before the match, Aries tries to convince Necro to not let the match end up in a brawl, to show off his wrestling skills. Tons of stalling before the actual match began. The highlight was of Necro putting a fan in a hammerlock and headlock while Aries tries to do the same to the announcer, but he reverses it on Aries. Aries gets down for an amateur wrestling start. Necro imitates doggy style, including punching in between thrusts. : The match finally begins and Necro even gets in some actual wrestling moves before the match breaks down into a brawl. Aries wraps a chain around his boot ala Joey Ryan at Threemendous II and delivers some stiff kicks including his punt. Some chair shots and a brainbuster on the chair allows Aries to pick up the win. Most of these Necro hardcore matches feels like the same. However, Aries (at the time) new character made it a bit more memorable. Aries managed to hit some great spots involving the chair and chain. For what it was, it was enjoyable. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it though. 2 Stars.

Chris Hero (c) w/Candice LeRae vs Human Tornado - PWG World Title
This is Tornado's first match back after his knee injury that occurred against Hero. Despite technically being a heel, the fans are more behind Tornado than Hero. The pair locks up and Tornado ends up on the outside. Hero fakes a dive, but just flips back in the ring. From somewhere, a mysterious voice is on a mic. COLT CABANA~! "Fired on a Friday, in PWG on a Saturday." Cabana was offered an opening match on the show, but declined it, wanting a title shot. Hero and Tornado both agree and the match is now...

Chris Hero (c) w/Candice LaRae vs Human Tornado vs Colt Cabana - PWG World Title
Early on, Hero and Cabana takes their turn against Tornado. Each time, Cabana is slyly walking behind Hero, teasing a turn. Tornado manages to duck causing Hero and Cabana to collide with each other. More accidental hits between Hero and Cabana. The match breaks down into nonstop action with each man getting in their moves. Hero knocks Tornado out with a roaring big boot. After the match, Tornado gets on mic and works up the courage to tell Hero and Candice the two words they deserve to hear from him..."My bad". : And with that, Tornado hopes that they can forgive him. Hero refuses the handshake though. Once Tornado leaves, Hero offers Cabana an one-on-one title match in the future. Cabana accepts and the main event of One Hundred is now booked. Maybe it's because of all of the excitement of the crowd and Cabana's shocking return, but I loved this match. Every wrestler in the match has loads of charisma to make their matches a little bit more memorable. It served it's purpose of turning Tornado face, setting up the Hero/Cabana match and showing signs of the future Hero turn. Cabana's return is a underrated shock of 2009. Hell, Cabana may have had the two best returns of 2009. 3 3/4 Stars.

Paul London and The Young Bucks vs Joey Ryan, Scott Lost and Karl Anderson
Besides wearing his infamous astronaut uniform, London is also wearing a WWF (World Wildlife Fund) tee. Early on in the match, London badly botches a hurricanrana. Excalibur quickly reminds the fans that London has barely wrestled in the past seven months. In reality, Excalibur is probably worried that London is going to be horrible and all of this would be for nothing. London takes a nasty fall on the outside thanks to Anderson holding the ropes open. This allows the Dynasty to work London over for some vintage face-in-peril action. Once Paul is able to tag out, Anderson hits a mean DDT on a Buck on the ring apron. The match breaks down to an exhibition of MOVEZ. The faces clear the ring to allow them to hit More Bang For Your Buck on Scott Lost. London follows up with a beautiful Shooting Star Press to give Team Orange the victory. Well, lets go over what I liked first. I believe this was my first time seeing Karl Anderson and I loved him. Much like CW Anderson, while they may not be official Andersons, they certainly show signs of the Anderson greatness. If he could bulk up some, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the big 2 gives him a call. The Bucks and Joey Ryan continues to be some of my favorite parts of PWG shows. While London did botch pretty badly early on, he managed to save face some and recover. Ring rust is a safe bet for what he showed. I will say that his whole pothead "Character" (I'm guessing that's more of who Paul really is) makes him so much more entertaining as a character than in the WWE. All that being said, the match wasn't too interesting for me as the main event. It would have been a great opener or possibly semi-main event, but it just didn't have the quality that a main event should have. It was fairly enjoyable, but possibly PWG's least interesting main event of 2009. I may end up watching it again so I can figure out whether I'd put it under the good or just decent pile. 2 3/4 - 3 Stars.

Overall
Despite how crazy some PWG fans were about the card (At the time), it wasn't the most interesting nor the best show of the year. To me, it feels like a B-Show. However, with all of the returns, final matches and debuts, I suppose it is very historic. It's a shame Bryan Danielson got hurt, I could have easily seen Dragon vs Perkins - 2 out of 3 falls being the best match of the show. All that being said, there was still three really good matches with one surprising me in it's quality. Come for the Omega/Generico and title match, stay for the rest.

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

One Hundred
April 12, 2009

The Young Bucks vs The Cutlers - PWG Tag Titles
If you've seen one Bucks title defense, you've practically seen them all. Brandon Cutler looks pretty good in this and both teams shows that they have some natural chemistry. It's slightly better than their DDT4 2009 match, but it lacks the best moments of their DDT4 2010 match. However, it's relatively botch free. The Bucks excel in this placement though. Their spottiness is perfect for opening matches just to get the fans into the show. 3 Stars.

Scott Lost vs Roderick Strong
I love how Lost jump starts the match whenever the opponent isn't paying attention. Really fun match with non-stop action. As always, Lost delivers some beautiful looking moves including a 619 around the post under the bottom rope to nail Strong. Roddy's selling of the Sharpshooter near the end is some of the best painful screaming I've seen in PWG. Some may not like the finish since it comes out of nowhere, but it ends the match on a huge high note. In wrestling, it's all about hurting your opponent enough so that they stay down for a three count, an out of nowhere yakuza kick is believable enough to knock Lost out for that long. At times you need finishes that doesn't have buildup. Behind the Omega BOLA match, this was my favorite Lost singles match from '09. 3 1/2 Stars.

Bryan Danielson vs Kenny Omega
These two knows how to bring the lolz, but what they don't know is how long to do it for. While I really enjoyed some of the gags, particularly the extra elbow pads, the match just went on for too long. Eventually, the laughs start to wane and I'm just left wondering when this match is finally going to end. What's really disappointing is knowing (To my knowledge) that this is their only singles match. It almost feels like a waste to have Danielson work the comedy match without giving the viewer the serious counterpart. Where was the serious match, ROH? 2 1/2 Stars.

Paul London vs Joey Ryan
I love Joey, but London made this match unwatchable. On one of his first moves (A baseball slide into a head scissors) London completely missed hooking his legs around Ryan's head and Joey forced to sell two feet pulling him over by a shoulder. With London still trying to work off the rust, this match was given too much time. 18 minutes was eight too long. I may go back to try and watch this again, but for now it's just a match that bored me enough into a short nap.

Scorpio Sky, B-Boy and Candice LaRae vs Austin Aries, Human Tornado and Chuck Taylor
If there's one thing that PWG excels at more than any other company, it's inter gender six and eight person matches. They're fun and rarely disappoint. As always, Candice LaRae impresses me so much. Whether it's running the ropes and in one motion locking in an octopus hold or taking all of the abuse that she did. While sloppy a time or two, Scorpio Sky also looked pretty good out there. For the heels, Chuckie T and Aries brought the comedy. If this match wasn't already a lot of fun, there's some good storyline implications with the short lived Aries vs Hero/Candice feud. 3 Stars.

Davey Richards vs Tyler Black
Davey was on such an unbelievable streak of good matches around this time that this is impossible to be bad. They added in a little amount of comedy to have it stand out, but when it came to put on the action, both men delivered a hard hitting match. One thing I can't stand (This goes for not just Black) is when they purposely over shoot the down opponent when on the top rope and roll through. It looks so contrived instead of countering the opponent moving out of the way in mid air. I dug Richards keep going back to the Texas Cloverleaf, but the surprise ending with the reverse small package ended the match on a slight disappointment. Still, it's a quality match and is the second best match of the night. 3 1/2 Stars.

Sonjay Dutt vs El Generico
After someone dragging Roderick Strong down to the worst match of Ninety-Nine, the only way I was going to watch this Sonjay match was with the commentary on. It's as if PWG realized that the fans would need an extra reason to watch the horrible Dutt that they decided to bring on the old school comedy duo of Davey Richards and Bryan Danielson to call the match. While Danielson is just alright, Davey absolutely steals the show talking about wrestling for Joe Blanchard and what Dick the god damn Bruiser would and wouldn't do. Generico tried his best to carry Dutt and managed to have a fun ending, but the only reason to watch this match is for the commentary. Since my rating would be drastically altered due to the commentary, I'll choose not to rate this.

Chris Hero (c) vs Colt Cabana - PWG World Title
Hero has such a horrible look at this point. His tights looks like he borrowed them from several jobbers in the early 90's. Once again, Joey Ryan is on commentary for a Chris Hero title defense. While Cabana brings the comedy early on, he smartly gets serious mid way in and it helps the match a lot. It's a shame he didn't do the same thing for his ROH title shot against Jerry Lynn at Homecoming II that took place just over a week later. With Hero's forearm/elbow injury that he suffered during his Aries title defense at Ninety-Nine, Cabana had an easy target. For whatever reason, Hero decided not to sell the elbow near the end so that he could deliver his usual 500 elbows in a bout. I love the elbows, but don't ignore injuries. As surprised as I am to say this, Cabana deserves the majority of the credit. When Cabana was expected to step up, he did. That being said, this is still Hero's weakest PWG title defense from 2009. 3 Stars.

After the match, Joey Ryan gets on the mic and talks about Hero just being a good champion while he was great. Scott Lost runs out from the back and attacks Hero. This leads to a two-on-one beat down until Paul London and Bryan Danielson run in for the save. Hero gets on the mic and berates the Dynasty before the show officially ends. What makes this segment so beneficial is that it begins the Joey Ryan/Chris Hero feud, puts the Hybrid Dolphins together and sets up the first DDT4 2009 match with the Hybrid Dolphins vs The Dynasty. This had more storyline implications than PWG has had in all of 2010.

The DVD closes with perhaps the single most talked about indy promo of 2009. A year later, it's still greatness.

[YouTube]FSh2s_lmthI[/YouTube]

Overall
One Hundred is a lot like a roller coaster. It begins high with the first two matches, drops for the original Hybrid Dolphin singles matches, but rises for the six person and Davey/Black, drops (Non-commentary) for Dutt again, but ends on a high note with a decent title defense and some great storyline building moments. I'd give it the slight edge over Ninety-Nine since I'm not a MCMG fan. It may not be among the best PWG shows of the year, but there's some real quality here, just be prepared to sit through some crap.

Worth Checking Out
Scott Lost vs Roderick Strong
Davey Richards vs Tyler Black
Sonjay Dutt vs El Generico (Commentary only)

Avoid
Joey Ryan vs Paul London
Sonjay Dutt vs El Generico (Match only)

 

[Postman Dave]

The god damn Hybrid Dolphins.

How London can say half that shit and keep a straight face is nothing short of heroic :

 

[Castiel]

"A year later" even 4 years later it's still amazing! Was Sonjay really that bad back then?