PWG As the Worm Turns DVD Review

PWG finally releases their second show of 2010! And what a doozy!
-Taped from Reseda, California
-Your hosts are Excalibur and a cast of thousands
-Jerome “LTP” Robinson and Johnny Goodtime vs. Malachi Jackson and Ryan Taylor
Locals in the opening tag again I see. Lock-up with Goodtime and Taylor. They go through a mat wrestling sequence as Hero calls Goodtime Randy Savage and makes the obvious Koko B. Ware reference at Robinson. Goodtime hits a dropkick to the back of the head but misses a springboard elbow. Series of kicks by Taylor. Goodtime doesn’t get an O’Connor Roll but gets an armdrag. Fireman’s carry into a bridge by Taylor. Backslide by Taylor gets two. Reversal by Goodtime. Another reversal by Taylor. Sweet Moses. Jackson hits a stiff forearm on Robinson. Robinson off the ropes with an armdrag. Sunset flip by Jackson. Robinson bounces off the ropes but gets rolled up. Chops by Jackson. Robinson with a kick and a dropkick. Toehold by Robinson leads to a dropkick by Goodtime. Another dropkick, this time in the corner. Double teams by Robinson and Goodtime.  Kick to the back by Taylor but Robinson fights his way out. Dropkick on Malachi. Taylor comes in with a clothesline. Heat segment on Robinson as the announcers discuss White Man Can’t Jump. Not kidding. Even worse, it almost makes sense within the context of the match. Robinson hits an enziguri and makes a hot tag. Goodtime hits both his opponents before coming in the ring. He kicks Jackson out of the ring and hits a flying clothesline on Taylor. Diving back elbow. Facecrusher/backbreaker to the knee. Jackson saves the match. Goodtime tosses Jackson but gets kicked in the back by Taylor. Taylor tosses Goodtime and kicks to the back of the head. More kicks. Goodtime stomps him down. Falcon arrow gets two. Kick to the midsection. Taylor reverses. Goodtime reverses. Taylor hits a bicycle and a snapmare sliced bread. Taylor is flipped over by Robinson. Robinson reverses into a tombstone piledriver. 1-2-NO! Jackson hits a diamond dust. He misses a shooting star press. Goodtime lifts him and spears him in the opposite corner. Taylor throws Goodtime , but Goodtime tosses Taylor over his shoulder to the outside. Double stomp on Jackson and a dive. SPIRAL TAP BY ROBINSON! 1-2-3!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Jerome “LTP” Robinson and Johnny Goodtime/14:13/***1/2
-No one is enjoying the locals getting their shot more than I am, but I think it’s really time to start getting the opportunities deeper in the card and perhaps challenging for the PWG tag team titles. Goodtime and Robinson have delivered on many shows the last few months in various tag matches, so it’d be nice to see them start advancing. Obviously it’s tough with PWG’s schedule, but the fans have clearly started to embrace them as regulars and guys who can deliver the kind of matches that makes PWG one of the best wrestling companies going.
-Brandon Gatson vs. Scott Lost
Lost kicks Gatson in the mouth as Gatson flips during his intro. Lost continues working over Gatson on the outside of the ring. No feeling out process here. Series of punches and kicks. Gatson with a spinkick and a short arm clothesline. Innovative bodyslam and a legdrop. Gatson sends Lost to the opposite corner. Double knees as Gatson tries his handspring elbow. Legdrop by Lost. Headfirst into the turnbuckle. Superman spear. One foot pin. Camel clutch by Lost. Knee to the midsection. Gatson counters the Russian legsweep but is hit with a spin kick. Back to the camel clutch. Figure four on the midsection. Judo toss by Lost. Shoulder first goes Gatson. Lost applies the sharpshooter. Quite the visual. Lost kicks Gatson outside. Lost drops Gatson’s head on the apron before hitting a forearm.   Round kick misses. Gatson comes back with a flying clothesline. Neckbreaker by Gatson into a DDT. 1-2-NO! Gatson does a Flair flip and comes back into the ring with an acecrusher. Lost his an acecrusher of his own for two. Lost to the top and he hits an elbow for two. Flatliner also gets a long two count. Gatson on the outside of the ring. Lost dives and misses. Gatson takes a dive of his own and apparently hits a reverse DDT on the way down. Handspring clothesline. Lost hits a reverse elbow off the Irish whip. Series of counters before Gatson drops Lost face first for the win. Bit out of nowhere for that finish.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Brandon Gatson/10:34/***
-Roderick Strong vs. Chris Sabin
These two were supposed to wrestle in the first round of the 2009 Battle of Los Angeles, but a neck injury took Sabin out of the tournament. Strong and Sabin take turns working the arm to start. Sabin headlock followed by a shoulder tackle. Sabin misses a kick and gets rolled up. Strong just misses a chop. Sabin flees to the outside. He comes back in and yells at a fan. Sabin doesn’t want to get chopped. He shakes Roddy’s hand but kicks him. Armdrag. Sabin sends Strong outside. He holds up on a dive. Vertical suplex attempt on the apron. Strong ends up on the apron with Sabin. They battle for a bit. Sabin kicks Strong in the chest. Another kicks attempt but Strong tears him down face first. First chop happens outside the ring. Vertical suplex by Strong. Backbreaker. Series of kicks to the back. Gutbuster out of a submission backbreaker. Strong hits an elbow and forearm. Sabin charges with a knee in the midsection. Big kick with Strong on the outside. Wow. That was a field goal kick. Back inside. Chinlock into a roll-up. Choke in the corner. He teases a chop but rakes the eyes of instead. Sabin sweeps the legs and gets two. Sabin with a modified abdominal stretch into a roll-up. Chop by Strong. Another. Knee to the gut by Sabin. Irish whip into the opposite. Elbow. Strong with a kick to the brain. Series of clotheslines by both men. Sabin with a superkick. Strong bounces off and hits a sick kick. Yeesh. Chop exchange that Strong wins. Sabin does get a knee but Strong responds with a powerslam. Strong hits a charging clothesline. Knee to the head. Backbreaker. 1-2-NO! Gutbuster by Strong reversed into a hurancanrana. Strong tries a sunset flip but gets kicked in the face. Sabin charges and runs into a backbreaker. 1-2-NO! Strong goes for the stronghold that gets turned into a roll-up for two. Chop in the corner by Strong. He places Sabin on the top rope. Sabin shoves him off and hits a missile dropkick. Running kick. Springboard tornado DDT gets two. Sabin tries to lift Strong but he instead hits a forearm. Pair of kicks by Strong. Powerbomb by Sabin. Another huge punt to the head. Unbelievable. Sabin gets a roll-up for two. Strong tosses Sabin to a gutbuster. Tossing backbreaker. SICK KICK! 1-2-3!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating:  Roderick Strong/15:19/****
-Some might accuse of overrating the match. Maybe that’s possible but the finishing sequence is what really convinced me of the star rating. An incredibly stiff and athletic bout between these two. This was one match worth waiting an extra four months for.
-The Cutler Brothers (Dustin and Brandon) and Christina Von Eerie vs. Joey Ryan, Candice LaRae, and Brandon Bonham
Shouldn’t this have been the opener?  Lot of indy fans dig Von Eerie. Not really sure why. Interesting Ryan is in this match with the locals and the girls. Bonham does push-ups to start. He challenges Bonham to do the same. Dustin does more push-ups, so Bonham kicks him and surfs up. Literally. LaRae comes in and does push-ups of her own. Real ones. Ryan tags in and ever so slowly… he does girl push-ups. Poor bastard. Bonham back with a headlock. Shoulder tackle. Headlock by Dustin and a shoulder tackle. Forearm by Bonham leading to a tag. Ryan works the arm, but Brandon pokes him in the eye. Dustin tags in and gets punched.  Ryan threatens to punch Von Eerie, but he kisses her instead. LaRae comes in for girl-on-girl action. Ryan slams Von Eerie. Assisted shooting star press by LaRae. Dustin tries to press LaRare but the faces throw her into both Cutlers. Von Eerie with forearms. LaRae boots her and slams her down. Legdrop. Ryan forearms Von Eerie. Cutlers hold the ropes open and Ryan ends up on the floor. Heat segment on Ryan. Cutlers shows off just how they’ve gotten in recent months with a wide variety of double team moves. Ryan hits a rollaway suplex and gets a hot tag to Bonham. Big dropkick to Brandon. Big kicks to Dustin. Dive to the outside. Girls come in and battle. Facebuster by Von Eerie. Ryan and Brandon in next. Hurancanrana and dropkick by Ryan. Really? Ryan brings Von Eerie in and promptly gets kicks. Ryan gets a palm in her face. Ryan sends LaRae into Brandon. Boobplex by Ryan. Ballplex by LaRae. Ryan gets carried away trying to kiss LaRae. They both dive on the heels. Dustin and Bonham in. Bonham hits a boot in the corner. Double stomp gets two. Elbow by Dustin. Cutter. 1-2-NO! Cutlers double team Bonham. Ryan hits a hard right hand on Von Eerie. Crazy suplex/powerbomb combo out of the corner.  Brandon misses a lariat. Double clothesline. Tags to the ladies. They exchange forearms. LaRae backdrops her. Cutlers set up for their ridiculous spike piledrive. Ryan spears Brandon and dumps Dustin. Ryan tries the spike tombstone, but Von Eerie breaks that up. Cutlers hit a double team lungblower. Von Eerie gets a pedigree on Ryan and heads to the second rope. LaRae hits a Moustache Ride on Von Eerie for three. Hmmm.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Joey Ryan, Brandon Bonham, and Candice LaRae/16:29/***
-Not as good as the opener, but there was a lot of good stuff from the Cutlers and Bonham in particular. Remember when I said the locals need to be elevated? Perfect example can be found here as well with the Cutlers. Be interested to also see where this Ryan/LaRae relationship is headed too.
-Chris Hero vs. Alex Shelley
Weird to see how certain matches come in bunches. This match is happening at As the Worm Turns, and I’ll be reviewing their match from wXw’s first ever show in the United States in a few weeks. Crowd chants for both men as they shake hands. Shelley is nursing a back injury for both of these matches as evidenced by some sort of brace sticking out of his tights. Hero and Shelley do an extended mat wrestling sequence. Shelley finally hits a chop. Hero tries to respond but Shelley armbars him down.  Shelley pulls the arms back into a rather disgusting position. Shelley continues working the arm until Hero boots him in the face. Hero flips his out of the ring. He and Shelley trade positions. Hero kicks Shelley in the face. The entranceway collapses. How professional. Hero hits a forearm and kips up. First elbow of the match leads to a roll-up for two. Kick to the ear and a two count. Some members of the crowd chant “Same old shit.” Jerks. Shelley with shots to the midsection and a chop. Another elbow by Hero. Pulls Shelley to the center and gets two. Standing senton. Hero works the back with a submission hold. Kick to the head ends that. Hero punches Shelley in the face. Kobashi-like chops in the corner. Hero feigns shooting a machine gun. Only serves to remind me how much I miss Karl Anderson. Hero with chops that seem to fire Shelley up. Forearms and a roll-up gets two. Series of roll-ups by Shelley only get two. Series of chops. Hero applies a sleeper, but Shelley rams his opponent into the turnbuckle. Enziguri and shoulder to the midsection. Shelley hits a pescado. Doesn’t strike me as a great idea considering the shape of his back. Shelley climbs to the top and hits a kick. Reverse elbow in the corner, but hits a running kick. Shelley comes back with a clothesline and flatliner in the middle turnbuckle. Shelley rams the arm and rolls Hero up for two.  Chop by Shelley. Boot by Hero. Hero rams Shelley face first. Roll-up by Hero gets a long two count. Cravat is reversed. Shelley goes for sliced bread but gets kicked in the back of the head. Elbow to the head. Hero’s Welcome gets 1-2-NO! Another try at Hero’s Welcome but Shelley turns it into a backslide. Kick to the head. Another. Sliced bread #2. 1-2-NO! Shelley goes for standing sliced bread. Hero slaps him hard and hits a Hero’s welcome for three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Chris Hero/17:23/***1/4
-What started out as a slow contest with lots of mat wrestling turned into an excellent back and forth match, the kind we’ve come to expect from PWG. The scary part is I think a better match could happen I not for Shelley’s back injury. It was obvious how much his back bothered him, especially during the post-match promo when Shelley could barely stand. Hero puts Shelley over and challenges whoever the PWG champion is after tonight. Shelley gives a kid in the front row a free t-shirt.
-PWG World Tag Team Championships: The Young Generation Me Bucks (Matt/Max Jackson/Buck and Nick/Jeremy  Jackson/Buck) (champions) vs. Two Skinny Black Men of Low Moral Fiber (El Generico and Chuck Taylor)
Bucks attack the challengers even before the match begins. That was rude. Hiptoss on Generico and a double dropkick. HEAT! Kicks to the midsection of Taylor. Taylor tosses both men and hits a huge dive on Nick Jackson and his partner. Wow. Taylor sends Nick back in. Generico and Taylor double team Nick. Leg lariat by Generico. Taylor tags in and headbutts the midsection of Nick across two corners. Running forearms. The crowd actually finds a way to chant the team name of Taylor and Generico. More double team work by Generico and Taylor. Not a huge fan of these guys working together so easily considering their feud throughout most of 2010. Ten punches in the corner by Generico. Nick fights his way into his corner. Matt in and he fires away at Generico. Heat segment on Generico. Matt even does some mocking of one Matt Hardy. I firmly believe Matt Jackson could put Matt Hardy in his place by not getting fat and being the biggest flake ever. Excalibur has brought an interesting stat up throughout the night. If the Bucks win this match, they’ll have tie for most title defenses of anyone in the history of the PWG tag team titles. They would actually eclipse the team of Super Dragon and Davey Richards. Shows just where the standard of tag team wrestling was in this company. Jacksons do such a great job working a heel style, it’s incredible. Everything from their interaction with the fans to Matt Jackson’s handspring backrake works perfectly. Generico is also the perfect babyface foil. The way he garners sympathy throughout his heat segment by crawling and trying to fight his to his partner is tremendous. Generico hits a suplex on Nick and gets the hot tag. Taylor hits clotheslines and dropkicks on both Jacksons. Nick and Matt try the double team dropkick, but they get with a clothesline instead. Nick takes over, but Generico clotheslines him over the top and dives. Taylor hits a springboard moonsault on a standing Matt Jackson for two. Submission hold but Matt reaches the rope. Nick tears Generico hard on the apron and hits a twisting kick on Taylor. Double team neckbreaker by the Bucks. Double superkick on Generico. 1-2-NO! Double team soul butt and acecrusher. 1-2-NO! Nick hits a the running knee. Taylor hits a kick on Nick. Acecrusher by Matt. Michinoku driver by Generico. 1-2-NO! This is incredible. All four guys seem almost gassed. Taylor hits Soul Food. Half and half suplex by Generico. 1-2-NO! Generico hits a running kick in the corner. Omega driver by Taylor. 1-2-NO! Nick Jackson breaks the count. Taylor kicks Nick. Nick comes back with an elbow. Generico kicks Nick. Off the ropes. Nick hits the facebuster. Nick fives on Generico. Taylor gets speared coming off the middle rope. Moonsault/springboard senton combo gets two. More Bang for Your Buck attempt. Taylor rolls up Matt and nearly gets two. Jawbreaker. Generico has the running kick countered. Matt nearly gets two on Generico. Bucks get in each other’s face. Superkicks by the Bucks. Generico and Taylor come back. Running kick and the brainbuster on Matt. 1-2-NOOOO! Nick hits a superkick from the outside on Generico. Taylor and Nick legally tag in. They exchange shots. Kick by Matt on Generico. Generico hits a running kick on Matt and goes for the brainbuster from the top. More Bang for Your Buck on Taylor. 1-2-3.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL PWG World Tag Team Champions- The Young Bucks/18:23/****
-I don’t even know how to rate this match. All four men maintained an incredibly fast pace for all 18 minutes and change. Four stars is my best guess because of the pace and the fact that nothing seemed to be overtly botched. I can ignore the fact that Generico and Taylor were a team after feuding due to the incredible quality of the match, and the fact that Taylor walked out on Generico immediately afterward.
-PWG World Heavyweight Championship:  Kenny Omega (champion) vs. Davey Richards
Speaking of matches in bunches, these two would battle at Epic Encounter for Ring of Honor a month later. Richards kicks Omega right in the face before the match starts. They go to a stalemate afterward. Omega is wearing bullhorns and a shoulder pad during this brief introductory sequence. Knox makes Omega take the horns off. Richards and Omega keep up the fast pace as they go through a feeling out process. Richards tries a shoulder tackle but keeps hitting the pad. Richards changes the course and kicks Omega in the chants. Champion comes back with a clothesline and kicks Richards over the ropes. Big dive by Omega. Crossbody in the ring. The shoulder pad has come off. Omega sends Richards into the turnbuckle and fires away with forearms. Vertical suplex. Omega rakes Richard’s face with a forearm. Irish whip reversed by Davey. Omega comes back but gets hit with a kick as he’s tossed off the second rope. Another kick and a knee to the midsection. Richards with a series of holds focusing on various body parts. Kicks and a dragon screw leg whip. Reverse figure four leglock. Richards then threatens the life of a young child. Not kidding. Richards takes the bullhorns, puts them on, and heads to the top rope. Diving headbutt misses. Richards misses a dive in the corner. Richards powerbombs anyway and applies a cloverleaf…with the bullhorns still on. Okay, he throws them away and kneedrops them. Belly-to-back suplex and a figure four on the head. Richards continues kicking Omega. Turns into a chop battle. Richards does his flip off the ropes, but Omega hits a leg lariat. Polish hammers. Third one misses. Richards with rights and lefts. Omega ducks and dropkicks the leg. Facebuster gets two. Richards with a forearm. Omega goes for a dragon suplex, but he gets held. Omega hits a uranagi for two. Omega misses a springboard and gets kicked in the face. Omega does the same to Davey. Davey hits the flipping kick off the rope. Battle on the apron. Double kicks to the face. Richards lifts Omega, kicks him in the face, and Omega lands on the floor. Oh Christ. Davey does his Stupid Dive. Least the fans were smart enough to move and Davey made contact with his opponent.  More kicks to the upper body. Omega misses a leg lariat. Richards with a cross armbreaker, but it was right in the ropes. Exchange of shots. Omega tells Richards to stop, but Richards kicks the left arm he’s been working on. Uranagi by Omega. Dragon suplex. 1-2-NO! Richards rolls to the edge of the apron. Omega hits a springboard dropkick to the back of the neck. Croyt’s Wrath try. Forearm exchange. Irish whip. Richards tries to kick Omega, but it turns into an enziguri. German suplex reversed. Kick to the back of the head by Omega. Reverse rana by Omega. Richards hits a hard lariat. Both men are down. Forearm exchange. Both men are just about done. Neither man can take control. Kick to the midsection and a kick to the ace. Richards with another one out of a suplex postion. Unbelievable. Battle on the top rope. Richards with a German suplex. Omega lands on his feet. Double fists to the midsection. Northern lights bomb gets two. Falcon arrow gets two. Omega goes for a Croyt’s wrath from the top rope. Davey hits a snapmare powerbomb. Forearm in the corner. Running kick in the corner. German suplex. 1-2-NO! Kick right to the head. 1-2-KIMURA! Omega turns it into a pinfall attempt. Omega with a kick, but he runs into the corner shoulder first. Richards suplexes the elbow. Shooting star press. 1-2-CROSS ARMBREAKER! Omega counters into a cloverleaf. Richards counters that into a roll-up. Omgea kicks Richards in the back of the head. Richards gets two on a roll-up. Lariat in the face. Reverse rana by Omega. Croyt’s Wrath! 1-2-NOO! Richards turns into a keylock. Omega reverses into a roll-up. Cross armbreaker. OMEGA TAPS!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW PWG World Champion- Davey Richards/26:12/***1/2
-They actually did a version of this finsh at Epic Encounter III with Richards no-selling Croyt’s Wrath and getting the submission. It annoyed the piss out of me then, and it annoys the piss out of me now. Lots of no-selling overall from these two that came to bug me. Still a good match but it all got a bit mind-numbing at the end after all this great action.
-Richards cuts a promo about his journey through PWG. As much as he’s become associated with Ring of Honor and Japan, PWG really is where he got his start and became a name in independent wrestling. Just two months after making his debut in Ring of Honor, Richards actually won the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles and even went over Cima in the process. Incredible to think that after being fired by the company for no-showing a date in January of 2008 that he’s now the first man in PWG history to be a tag team champion, a Battle of Los Angeles champion, and now the world champion. Congrats to Davey. I have a feeling this won’t be Davey’s last world title win of 2010.
Final Thoughts: As the Worm Turns continues the run of really good PWG shows. I thought this was better than Kurt Russellmania. Last month’s show didn’t necessarily feel like a Pro Wrestling Guerilla show. Being back in Reseda and not having a lot of guest stars gave that feeling back. I have nothing below three stars and two matches at four stars. Another ridiculously easy recommendation from me. Probably one of the best indy shows up to this point.