PWG’s annual tag team tournament ends with the end of an era!
-Taped from Reseda, California
-Your hosts are Excalibur and TBA
-Excalibur comes out to warm up the crowd as he always does. He sends out a message of recycling and makes reference to Mother’s Day. He advertises all the teams and does get the math right despite heckling from the crowd.
-DDT4 Quarterfinal-PWG World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)(champions) vs. Jerome “LTP” Robinson and Johnny Goodtime
Bucks went through three teams last year. I’ve always found it to be one of the odder phenomena that the belts get defended throughout this entire tournament. Bucks start quickly by nailing the challengers with the titles. Double team on Goodtime. Bucks won’t even let LTP on the apron. Dropkick by Goodtime on both Bucks. LTP in as a house of fire. Advantage doesn’t last for the faces. Nick with a series of headbutts on LTP. Heat segment on LTP. It is made clear that the first round matches are already booked, but the second round has yet to be determined. LTP hits boots on each Buck. LTP hits a SHINING HURANCANRANA! Goodtime with a series of back elbows and clotheslines. Gutbuster into a backbreaker. Sweep of the leg and a mushroom stomp on Matt. Chops on Nick. Sweep of the legs on Nick. He pushes off Nick and sends Matt into his brother. Falcon arrow on Nick for two. Chops by Matt Nick accidentally superkicks his partner. LTP hits a DDT. Goodtime hits a German suplex. 1-2-NO! Matt breaks the count. Nick dropkicks LTP off the apron while Matt has him locked in a headscissors. Nick teases hitting Goodtime but moonsaults LTP. Goodtime counters a double team and locks a small package. 1-2-NO! Matt dropkicks Goodtime. LTP pulls Nick outside. 818! Off the top. Running bulldog into a guillotine. Splash by Goodtime. FROG SPLASH BY GOODTIME! 1-2-NO! Nick pushes Goodtime off the top rope well into the crowd. HOLY SHIT! LTP is powerbombed by Nick as he tries a headscissors. Nick hits a double stomp and then leaps to the outside. Leaping acecrusher by Matt. Superkick by both Bucks. They hit another one at the same time. 1-2-3!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL PWG Tag Team Champions- The Young Bucks/9:15/****
–One of the most incredible openers I’ve seen in a long time. This may have been even better than the opener at Threemendous II. My jaw literally dropped about three times. Whew, I need a breath already.
– DDT4 Quarterfinal: El Generico and Paul London vs. Scott Lost and Chuck Taylor
Taylor and Generico’s rivalry is renewed in this match. Lost is almost bald. London is… I don’t even know what to say about him at this point. He’s wearing a hat, a bandido, and sunglasses. He’s also got a megaphone. He looks in slightly better shape than Titannica and the DG USA shows if nothing else. Lost and Taylor attack before the bell since the Bucks had so much fun doing it. They clear the ring. Taylor completely misses a dive. Generico and London double up on Lost. London hits a high crossbody for two. More double-teaming. Irish whip in the corner. Backbreaker by Generico. He continues working Lost over. Taylor pulls the leg. Lost hits a sitting flatliner. Heat segment on Generico. Generico turns a vertical suplex into a small package. Lost comes back hard with a lariat and the vertical suplex he tried earlier. London grabs his megaphone and says something I can’t understand. Generico comes back with clotheslines. Back elbow blocked. London tags in blindly and sets off… a siren? Crossbody on both men. Backdrops for everyone. Leg lariat on Taylor. Excalibur gets a good line about fans running away. Generico with a huge clothesline on Lost. Lost hits a big kick, but London hits a dive anyway. Soul Food reversed. Michinoku driver reversed. Soul Food hit. Taylor with a hand grenade. London hits an atomic drop. Swinging DDT by Generico. Superkick by London gets two. Kick to the midsection and a spinning round kick by Lost. Superman spear doesn’t work. Lost gets a flying acecrusher anyway. Taylor hits an asai moonsault for two. Lost comes off with a huge elbow. Generico breaks up the count and hits a jawbreaker. Taylor flies off with an enziguri. Omega driver attempt on London. Miscommunication by the heels. Generico hits a brainbustah. London comes off with a shooting star press. 1-2-3!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Paul London and El Generico/10:14/***1/4
-These two teams wisely slowed the pace down a bit after the incredible opener. Lost and Taylor never did seem to make much sense as a team in this tournament, but they had an entertaining little match. London didn’t screw up a single move and looked the best he’s looked in PWG. A positive sign I’d say.
– DDT4 Quarterfinal: Roderick Strong and Ryan Taylor vs. The Cutler Brothers (Brandon and Dustin Cutler)
Strong has not only made it to the finals of every DDT4, but he’s gone with three different partners. And he won the tournament in 2007 and 2008. Chris Hero makes fun of the way the Cutlers and Strong talk. Brandon and Strong start. Test of strength turns into a Japanese stronghold for each man. Shoulder tackle by Brandon. Strong kicks him in the chest, ducks a clothesline, and hits a leg lariat. Big chop. Taylor in with chops of his own. Running European uppercut. Brandon hits an armdrag and a dropkick. Dustin kicks Taylor in the midsection. Armbar. Taylor flips his out and hits a sitting dropkick. Strong in with chops. Double team leads to a big Taylor kick. After a pair of kicks, Dustin comes back with strikes. Taylor grabs the arm and turns into a grounded octopus. Dustin lands on his feet during a belly-to-belly suplex. Brandon sweeps the leg. Heat segment on Taylor. Dustin tries a push-up chokeslam. Strong has seen enough and dropkicks him right in the face. Awesome moment right there. Taylor hits a springboard kick. Strong lights Brandon up with chops. Huge strikes in the corner. Brandon with a punch. Strong responds with a big leg lariat. Elbow by Cutler. Strong with a jumping knee. Backbreaker gets two. Cutlers hit a double team lungblower. An issue with the legal man leads to the Cutlers getting two. Strong kicks Brandon and hits an enziguri. Saito suplex by Taylor. Running kick by Strong. Round kick by Taylor. 1-2-NO! Dustin hits a knee. Cutlers lift Strong and send him right into Taylor. Hero gets a Backseat Boyz joke in. Ouch. This took place before Trent Acid’s passing for the record. Taylor gets out of an attempted double team lungblower. Gutbuster by Strong. Kick by Taylor. Sick kick by Strong. 1-2-NO! Strong sends Dustin out and hits a pescado. Brandon and Taylor go back and forth. Brandon gets Taylor up for the… uh oh. Dustin runs in. TANDEM SPIKE PILEDRIVER gets the win for the Cutlers.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating:
– DDT4 Quarterfinal: The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) vs. Kamikaze (YAMATO and Akira Tozawa)
Hell yes. One of the matches I’m most looking forward to this year. Yamato in Reseda is also a sight I’ve wanted to see. Know how Shingo loses his last name when he comes to the states? Tozawa lost his first name. Excalibur says Yamato is the Brave Gate challenge in an appalling error of tongue. At least he corrects himself later by saying Yamato is the Dream Gate champion. Mark and Yamato have a ferocious feeling out process. Front facelock by Yamato. Jay and Tozawa tag in. Pace picks up. Series of elbows. Tozawa goes nuts with a kick and belly-to-back suplex. Double team by Kamikaze. Bodyslam and a standing senton by Tozawa. Clubbering by Jay. Chops. Tag to Mark. Kick to the back. Forearms by Tozawa and a headbutt. Into the corner goes Mark. Yamato chokes away. Forearm exchange. Yamato with a low blow, and he mocks Mark. Cravat by Yamato. Shots to the midsection by Mark. Briscoes hit a double team shoulder block. Chop exchange by Jay and Yamato. Ref gets low-blowed. Jay gets low-blowed. Yamato gets low-blowed. That’s not good. Referee no sells. Brainbuster by Mark. Yamato applies a headlock and Tozawa comes in once again. He screams really loud and goes nuts on Mark. Chinbreaker on Tozawa. Jay hits a spinebuster. Boot to Yamato. Dropkick to Tozawa. Bodyslam. Mark hits a twisting senton for two. Inverted triangle. Mark does a bit of cheating behind the referee’s head. Reverse elbow by Jay. Mark with a punch and gutwrench suplex. Sunset by Jay. He depants Tozawa. He hits his bare ass on Jay. Hot tag to Yamato. Series of chops. Spear on Mark. Facebuster on Jay. Huge kick. Brainbuster. 1-2-NO! Tozawa wanted three. TOPE SUICIDA! Chops by Yamato on Jay. Irish whip but Jay counters. Flatliner into the second rope. Big boot to the face. Mark with redneck Kung Fu. Leapfrog into the leg lariat. Mark hits a clothesline in the corner and manages an avalanche acecrusher for two. Double team splash mountain neckbreaker attempt fails. Yamato applies the sleeper on Mark. Turns into a sleeper suplex. 1-2-NO! Series of elbows by both members of Kamikaze. Exploder by Yamato. Everest (slow) German suplex by Tozawa. 1-2-NO! Tozawa leaps to the top. Jay stops him briefly. Tozawa continues going for headbutts but fails. Briscoes hit a double team elbow drop. Yamato breaks the pin. Mark hits a superkick and clotheslines Yamato out. Jay hits a falcon arrow for two. Briscoes call for springboard Doomsday Device. 1-2-3!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Briscoes/14:59/***1/2
-I’m positive these two teams can go out there and have a four star match if called upon. Unfortunately, when you’ve got two teams who’ve never met meeting in just the first round of a tournament, it’s hard for them to give everything they’ve got. Would be nice if a rematch could happen down the road. Not holding my breath considering ROH and Dragon Gate don’t like each other much.
-PWG World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)(champions) vs. The Cutler Brothers (Brandon and Dustin Cutler)
Three times these teams have met in Pro Wrestling Guerilla, and three times the Bucks have come away with victories. Bucks are serenaded with “Fuck TNA” chants before the bells. Brandon starts out by doing push-ups. Nick stands bemused and doesn’t have the same success. Bucks get into with one of the drunker Reseda fans. Nick even tears his shirt like Hulk Hogan. Things finally settle down. Nick works a headlock on Dustin to start the actual match. Back suplex by Brandon. Nick goes back to his corner. Matt and Dustin in. Matt with a kick to the midsection. Brandon hits a shoulder tackle. Kick to the gut and a headlock by Dustin. Bucks work over the arm. Double team press slam. Dustin hits a standing vertical suplex. Nick kicks Dustin, headbutts him in the midsection, and hits a facebuster. Matt knocks Dustin off the apron and punches away. Matt does some push-ups to mock his opponents. Nick pulls away at the hair. Double team backflip and dropkicks. Matt dropkicks Brandon off the apron. Matt fires away with rights, but Brandon is getting fired up. Bucks double team to regain the advantage. Matt knocks Brandon. Nick comes off the apron the apron once again. Dustin gets the hot tag. Dustin flips Nick over his back and gets a low blow on. Fireman’s carry takes Matt out. Big clothesline on Nick. Tope con helo! Quite the sequence. Nick begs off. Dustin hits a rebound spinebuster off the ropes. Nick works out of a toss. Matt hurancanrans both Cutlers. Double team legdrop by the Cutlers. Nick is tossed into his brother. They flip Nick down into his seated brother. Double team splash mountain gets two.Spinning round kick by Nick. Matt and Dustin in. Dustin catches Matt. Nick hits a running knee in the corner after an Irish whip. Dustin immediately powerbombs Nick on to his brother. Nick no sells and hits another running. Spinning kick by Nick. Matt with a headscissors. Nick superkicks him again and dives on Brandon. Matt hits a modified facebuster for two. Dustin works out of More Bang for Your Buck. Cutlers for the piledriver. Nick clotheslines Brandon out. Superkick by Nick. Matt hits a spike piledriver on Dustin. 1-2-NO! Brandon sends Nick over the top. Nick goes for a DDT. He manages to fight over the Cutlers for a moment until a double team lungblower is hit. MATT WITH A SWINGING DDT ON BRANDON ON THE APRON! JESUS CHRIST! Punch exchange by Matt and Dustin. Nick has a superkick caught.Bucks hit one on Brandon. Dustin with a clothesline on the champions. Matt spits in his face. Both men grab hair. Double team lungblower again by the Cutlers. TANDEM SPIKE PILEDRIVER! 1-2-NO! NICK BREAKS THE COUNT! All four men punch away in the ring. Cutler send Matt to the floor. Dustin lifts Nick up. Brandon goes to the top but Nick kicks him down. MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK ends it.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL PWG Tag Team Champions/The Young Bucks/19:08/****1/4
-Another four star match for the tag team champions. Best match for the Cutlers in PWG as they narrowly lost yet another match to their rivals. I’m a bit sad the Cutlers weren’t actually the ones to eventually take the belts since they are a regular team and have worked their way up the ladder in recent months like no other team has. A fantastic match and to this point the MOTY in PWG.
-DDT4 Semifinal: El Generico and Paul London vs. The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe)
Generico has been involved in a number of classic matches with the Briscoes, mostly in Ring of Honor with Kevin Steen. London and Mark have a feeling out process, and no one is able to gain an advantage. Generico and Jay’s turn. Shoving match turns into a headlock by Jay. Armdrags by Generico. Ten punches in the corner. Mark tries to interfere. London breaks that up. Generico and Jay get into a slapping contest. Boot and a spinebuster by Jay. Heat segment on Generico as the Briscoes exhibit more heelish tendencies in this match. Generico flips out of the way of a Jay Briscoe boot. Tag to London. Series of kicks by London on both members of the Briscoes. Big boot to the face by Jay regains the advantage for his team. He stands on a prone London .Jay with a splash in the corner. Mark continues working London over. Jay Briscoe uses more heel tactics such as knocking Generico off the ropes. Double shoulder tackle by the Briscoes is attempted, but London dropkicks both men. Enziguri on Jay. Generico hits a crossbody on Mark. Kick by Mark. Generico with a blue thunder powerbomb for two. Yakuza kick is countered by a boot. Michinoku driver gets two for Generico. Mark with a spinning kick. Jay turns a press slam into a DVD. London breaks the count. All four men in the ring. Clotheslines in the corners. Uranagi by Mark. Boot by Jay. Springboard doomsday device countered into a victory roll by Generico. This gets the win. Cool ending.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: El Generico and Paul London/11:25/**3/4
-It’s always fun to have the Briscoes use heel tactics, particularly against a quality babyface like Generico. Although the ending did sort of come out of nowhere, it made sense within context and provided a nice quickie finish to a match that needed it.
-Chris Hero vs. Brandon Bonham
Almost relieved to see a singles match after the parade of tags. Mat wrestling to start. Hero turns the volume up with a series of chops and boots. Bonham clotheslines him out and hits a tope con helo. Hero is up first. Bonham with numerous strikes outside the ring. Hero responds in kind. Back and forth with vicious shots. Bonham with a backbreaker before sending him down stomach first into the canvas. Stiff kick to the chest. Chop in the corner. Hero re-applies the cravat and hits a series of knees. Cravatbuster gets two. Shot to the back. Kick in the face gets two. Series of shots to Bonham. Bonham briefly comes back, but Hero hits a slam and standing senton. Strike exchange as this is almost a battle of who can hit harder. Powerslam by Hero gets two. Hero continues attacking Bonham outside the ring. Off the apron with a dropkick. More chops from both men. Saito suplex by Hero. Bonham gets both feet up. Off the ropes. Twirling DDT by Bonham. Shoulder tackle and a clothesline by Bonham. Backdrop. He puts his head down and gets kicked in the head. He quickly comes back with a leaping enziguri. Bonham struggles to get Hero up for a move. Instead, he hits a forearm. Olympic slam gets two. Hey, I got no other name for it everybody. Back elbow in the corner. Bonham with a shot. He climbs to the top rope. Hero with a vicious punch. Hanging cravat in the center of the ring. He sits down and gets a two count. Another cravat but Bonham gets out of it. O’Connor roll attempt doesn’t work. Elbow by Bonham. Exploder. 1-2-no. Backslide by Hero gets two. Bonham goes for the Canadian destroyer. Turns into a sunset flip. Hero comes high with a powerbomb for two. Hero uses his left elbow a couple times. His right hand is clearly hurt… but he still manages to punch Bonham in the face, Bonham with a leaping kick. Hero’s welcome gets two. Hangman’s elbow misses. Kick to the side of the head by Bonham. Charge and Hero hits an elbow. Elevated Hero’s welcome gets three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Chris Hero/19:51/**3/4
-I know a lot of people are probably to give this a higher rating because they hit each other really hard. I’ve got two major problems with this match. The first is that I didn’t believe for a single second that Hero was losing here. The guy is a top level PWG guy and someone who is logically going to get a return match at some point. Not a chance Bonham gets the upset. The second problem is related to the first. How does a match with so much predictability get nearly 20 minutes? Combine that with a match that basically featured nothing but strikes and you’ve got a major disappointment.
-Chris Hero cuts a promo in what has become an unfortunate tradition. He says nothing of consequence.
-DDT Final- PWG World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick)(champions) vs. El Generico and Paul London
After 18 months, it all comes down to this. Back in August 2008, the Cool Kids Table was still around and Pro Wrestling Ponderings wasn’t even a glimmer in Kevin Ford or myself’s eye. I guarantee every WWE championship has changed hands at least five times since the Bucks won these belts against Age of the Fall. Gabe Sapolsky was the booker of Ring of Honor two years ago. Now he’s the V.P. of Dragon Gate USA. The Young Bucks were just a couple Hardy Boy knockoffs two years who happened to have success on the west coast. Now they’re known worldwide as one of the best tag teams in the world.
The Young Bucks go back and forth on the microphone with Generico and London before the champions decide to leave and volunteer to be counted out. Rick Knox says the match must end in the ring. Challengers work over the champions outside the ring. Bit of an anti-climactic start I’d say. Complete chaos as Nick Jackson gets an El Generico mask put on his face. Bucks take over this brawl as things work their way back in the ring. Nick hits a facebuster on Generico and hits a moonsault on London. Spear by Matt Jackson. Bucks work over Generico in their corner. Not as much as you’d think for this match. Matt sneaks around and beats up London outside the ring. Generico with an open-handed chop. Nick rakes the eyes. Matt sends London spine first into the turnbuckle. Nick toys with Generico. Generico hits an exploder on Matt in the corner to turn the tide. London with a shoulder to the midsection. He slides between Nick’s legs. Double stomp to the nick. Matt and Nick try their double dropkick. London dropkicks Nickbut run into the knees of Nick. Generico low bridges Matt and dives outside instead of hitting a swinging DDT. London hits a facebuster. Nick doesn’t appear to get the shoulder up, but the referee counts two. Nick appears to be injured. Guess this plays into what happened last year. Neckbreaker on Nick. London goes to work on Matt. Generico goes after Nick. Low blow and he heads to the back with his brother. London and Generico are confused. To the back they go. Bucks saunter back out. Generico and London charge after them. Running yakuzas to Matt in each corner. Shootinf star press by London! 1-2-NO! Nick puts his brother’s leg on the ropes. Nick is sent face first into the post. Big yakuza again. BRAINBUSTAH! 1-2-NO! Nick is fighting with London outside the ring. He comes back into go after Generico. Outside the ring he goes. Series of superkicks on London. London sends Nick’s foot into Matt. Another pair of superkicks. 1-2-NO! Matt tosses the megaphone to Nick. He nails London and wants to be disqualified. Knox refuses to let him take any shortcuts. Bucks send Knox off the ropes. KNOX HITS A DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE ON THE YOUNG BUCKS. GENERICO HITS A BRAINBUSTAH! 1-2-NO! Nick eats boot on the running knee. London dives on Matt. Yakuza kick in one corner. Yakuza kick on another. Generic misses a splash. London to the top, but Matt sweeps the leg. Double superkick on Generico. More Bang for Your Buck! 1-2-NO! GENERICO KICKS OUT! The crowd, which was quiet before, is on their feet now. Another try. London hits a low blow on Matt and kicks Nick in the face. TOP ROPE BRAINBUSTAH! 1-2-3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEW CHAMPIONS! THE YOUNG BUCKS TITLE REIGN IS… OVUHHHHHHH!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW PWG Tag Team Champions-El Generico and Paul London/14:50/****
-An amazing flurry in the end elevated this to a four star match. This will go down as one of the lasting images of the year in independent wrestling. Paul London came through with his best performances since being released from WWE. He flat-out excelled in all three matches. If Nick Jackson didn’t suffer a head injury, this would have been less awkward and maybe just that much better. Major props to him for recovering and finishing what was the most epic match of the year. The kings are dead. Long live the kings.
Oh, and the 2010 PWG MVP race was settled tonight for sure. The Young Bucks had three four star matches in one night and this tournament wouldn’t have met nearly as much without their long title reign and ability to get heat with the fans of Reseda.
-Paul London cuts a very emotional promo after the match, and I hope he really has found his passion for wrestling. These PWG tag team belts mean something, and they’ve got so much to live up to.
Final Thoughts: A consistently great tournament that featured three four star matches (all starring The Young Bucks) and a number of three star matches. Was it as good as last year’s tournament? I’d have to say no. But last year set some impossible standards. Highest recommendation for one of the best indy shows of the year so far.
