PWG 2011 DDT4 DVD Review

–Taped from Reseda, California

-Your hosts are Excalibur and his wolfpack

-2011 DDT4 Quarterfinal Match: Brandon Gatson & Willie Mack vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

Match in Five Words or Less: Dynamite

Match Summary/Analysis: This is the third straight year the Bucks have opened the DDT4. Matt and Nick talk about how awesome TNA has been to them. It’s just funny to hear them talk about great the company is now. Gatson ends the talking by diving OVER Willie Mack and hitting the Bucks. Willie Mack uses his speed and agility. Gatson in and hits a pair of Thesz presses on Matt Jackson. With FIRE! Nick sweeps Gatson’s leg. Matt dropkicks Gatson three rows in while not spilling as much beer as you’d think. Heat segment. Matt Jackson does a Matt Hardy impression while coming off the second rope. Now really, who’s the fool in that situation? Matt then screws up by almost allowing Gatson to make a hot tag he wasn’t supposed to. See what happens when you mock Matt Hardy. You turn into Matt Hardy. Gatson finally hits an STO on Nick. Stunner on Matt. Hot tag. Nick nails his brother with a knee. Mack with a series of charges. One misses and Matt tries his backrake but it comes back to bite him in the ass. Nick trips. Sasuke special. Samoan drop and standing moonsault by Mack. Series of reversals lead to Matt getting a victory roll for two. Double team neckbreaker/uranagi for two. Mack gets his knees up on Bucks’ attempted double team. Double team blockbuster for two. Nick superkicks Gatson off the top rope, and his arm gets stuck. Superkick on Mack leads to Matt getting the pin. A dynamite opener where Mack and Gatson looked very impressive. Book them as a team more please.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Young Bucks/11:28/***1/2

-2011 DDT4 Quarterfinal Match:  American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) vs. RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma)

Match in Five Words or Less: Johnny Yuma Broken In Half

Match Summary/Analysis: I know I’ve made jokes about Johnny Yuma, but there is a very real chance he could get his head caved in this match. After taking the Steenalizer at the last show, I’m not sure how much the little fella can take. This would be the debut of Eddie Edwards in PWG. One kick by Richards sends Yuma outside. I take back what I said. Kick his head off.  Richards tortures Yuma for fun in the ring. Yuma gets the Wolves outside the ring leading Goodtime hitting a dive. Yuma maintains control in the ring. Edwards tags and takes an armdrag. Double team by the Monsters.  Edwards starts the chop party. Richards with a kick. Brief heat segment on Goodtime. RockNES Monsters double team Richards. Richards easily hits a vertical suplex on Yuma. Hard slam. Richards sends Yuma head first into the top turnbuckle. Kick by Edwards. Double dropkick. Half crab by Richards turned into a Boston crab. Edwards helps his partner. Continued destruction of Yuma.  Yuma gets into a strike exchange with Eddie Edwards. Not his best move since he just ate a kick in the face. Rolling soul butts. Edwards and Richards kick each other in the leg. Enziguri on Edwards by Yuma. Hot tag to Goodtime. Low bridges Richards out. Series of moves on Edwards. Gutbuster into a backbreaker for two. Goodtime dropkicks both men before doing the deal on Edwards. BUT HE KICKS OUT! They isolate Edwards, but that fails. Vicious chop on Yuma. Dragon screw legwhip on Goodtime. Richards rolls over and applies an ankleock. Roll-up for two. Richards charges with a forearm and kick. Backdrop suplex. Kick to Goodtime. They battle on the top rope. Enziguri by Richards. Goodtime rolls over and hits Edwards. Yuma with a headblower? Frog splash by Goodtime but he clutches the ankle before making the count. Forearm exchange between Richards and Goodtime. Edwards hits a kick from the outside. Double stomp misses. Kick to the back by Goodtime. Alarm clock. Superkick by Edwards leads to the German suplex by Richards. Cover by Edwards. 1-2-NO! Double backcracker. Edwards applies a half crab. Very long but rewarding match. Both teams played their roles well. Would have been nice to see the team that qualified in a match actually make it beyond the first round though.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: American Wolves/20:54/***1/2

-2011 DDT4 Quarterfinal Match: The Cutler Brothers (Brandon & Dustin Cutler) vs. Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli [PWG World Champion] & Chris Hero)

Match in Five Words or Less: Slower

Match Summary/Analysis: We had a battle of high flyers in the first match, a mix of styles in the second, and now just a battle of power in the third match. Dustin and the world champion start. Feeling out process with some posing between moves. Brandon and Hero bring it back to wrestling. Brandon gets the advantage, and a double team of Hero takes place. I guess this is a heat segment. Neither team is a heel in the strictest sense. Claudo press slams Dustin Cutler. Ridiculous. Hero with a vicious kick to the arm. This is a far slower paced match than the previous two. I think for the better. Claudio angrily throws Brandon out of the ring. Clothesline on Dustin. Hard forearm by Claudio. The beating continues. Claudio SQUATS Dustin before hitting a gutwrench suplex. Dustin flips out and makes the tag to Brandon. He shows far more agility than I’ve ever seen out of him. Acecrusher on Hero for two. Chaos ensues as Brandon and Dustin try to finish Hero off. Pair or roaring elbows by Hero.  Jumping knee by Claudio on Dustin for two. CHOKESLAM! 1-2-NO! Double diving knee. Tope suicida by Brandon. Dustin hits an ex factor for two. Claudio hits a pop-up European uppercut. Dustin didn’t go nearly as high as others have in the past. Big swing into the dropkick by Hero. Brandon walks into a vicious elbow Hero. Cover. 1-2-NOOOO! Double kicks get three and the KOW advance. Not the best match of the first round but a good slower paced bout to round things out. Brandon and Dustin are starting to differentiate their styles. Brandon doesn’t look as big, but his speed has picked up. Claudio is a beast, and Hero is just… awesome. As usual.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Kings of Wrestling/15:22/***1/4

-2011 DDT4 Quarterfinal Match: The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen & Akira Tozawa

Match in Five Words or Less: LOUD SCREAMING

Match Summary/Analysis: Tozawa wrestled the Briscoes in the first round last year, but that was before his awesomeness consumed wrestling audiences everywhere. Crowd is way behind Tozawa as you might expect. Tozawa starts out with Jay. They both wrestle. Tozawa screams. The hits start coming as Tozawa takes control. Running knee. Steen time. Steen with some clubbering and a chop. Some biting in the corner. Briscoes double team. Briscoes go for their double beel, but Steen bites Mark’s ear. Cute. Double back suplex. Tozawa is more entertaining outside the ring than a lot of guys in the ring. Steen tosses Mark in his brother. Tag to Screaming Tozawa. Crowd screams back at him. Tozawa says… and I quote… “Shut the fuck up!” He’s the best. Jay spinebusters him. Dual tags to Steen and Mark Briscoe. Chops and a leg lariat by Mark. Running kick. Exploder. Springboard dropkick. Tozawa quickly in. Forearm exchange. Screaming of course. Steen and Jay put an end to that. Crowd goes apeshit. Steen and Jay immediately clothesline each other. Tozawa and Mark scream at each other again. Clothesline by Mark leads to a cover by Jay. Steen catches Jay in a powerbomb. SHINING WIZARD! 1-2-NO! Tozawa tossed. Briscoes work over Steen. Tozawa breaks up the doomsday device. Springboard doomsday SHINING WIZARD! Steen and Tozawa win a very short but very good match given the time.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Kevin Steen and Akira Tozawa/9:45/***1/4

-2011 DDT4 Semifinal Match: American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

Match in Five Words or Less: Eddie Edwards Gets Over

Match Summary/Analysis: Crowd wants Davey to mess the Bucks up. Pretty obvious who the crowd wants to win, and it’s not the Bucks. Quick two count out of a series of moves. Bucks do their pose. Why don’t the Wolves attack? Quick shoulder tackle and the Bucks pose again. Wolves take advantage. Bucks powder, pose on the apron, and eat kicks to the back. Double tope suicidas. Decimation of Matt commences. He comes back with some kicks on Edwards. Chop for both Bucks by Edwards. Nick Jackson in, and Edwards uses an inverted Indian deathlock. Matt Jackson breaks the hold in a vile way. That was just wrong. Davey responds on Nick. Still doesn’t make what happened right. Heat segment on Davey. Davey tries to fire back with forearms. Nick superkicks him. Matt tries some jabbing techniques. Blind charge misses. Davey kicks Nick in the chest. Reverse of a German suplex leads to Edwards hitting a running knee and coming in legally. Edwards with an aggressive attack. Double arm suplex for two. Rana on Matt. Superkick on Nick. Alarm clock countered but the Wolves still manage to hit the superkick/German suplex combo. Edwards powerbomb on Nick. Lungblower by Edwards. Davey sets up for the piledriver. Superkick reverses. Matt hits it for 2.9. Unbelievable. Strike exchange. Kick party by all four men. Davey applies an anklelock. Matt with a reverse rana. Davey with a clothesline. Crowd is unglued. Sweet Jebus. Edwards rolls through into a crab. Low blow by Nick Jackson. More Bang for Your Buck fails. Davey German suplexes Matt off the top rope. Double backcracker. 1-2-NOOOOO! Edwards single leg crab. Davey and Matt go elsewhere. Nick rolls Edwards up and gets the win. Other than the finish, this was an incredible match between two of the best teams in the world. Edwards gets a “Please come back” chant. Guess we’ll be seeing more of Eddie Edwards in PWG. I endorse that. This was nearly as good as their match in Ring of Honor in St. Louis last July.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Young Bucks/16:09/****

-Davey gets on the microphone and also wants Edwards to come back to PWG.

-2011 DDT4 Semifinal Match: Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero) vs. “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen & Akira Tozawa

Match in Five Words or Less: TOZAWA!

Match Summary/Analysis: Steen goes after the Kings even before the match begins. Steen and Tozawa are now The Kings of Sexual Intercourse. Guess we all know what that means. Tozawa kisses Steen before heading outside. Steen and Hero have a Kurt Russellreunion to start. Make a wish by KOW. Another one and Steen might no longer be the king of sexual intercourse. Steen drives Claudio in the corner arm first. Tozawa and Steen with double chokes. Shot to the back. Claudio is angry. Uh oh. Chop and Tozawa hurts himself. Continued chops. Off the ropes and a shoulder tackle. Hero in and we have a BOLA reunion. Tozawa spits. Hero breaks out the violence party with some spitting of his own. Heat segment on Tozawa. Claudio sent outside. He recovers with a European uppercut as Tozawa goes for the dive. Tozawa takes quite the beating as I weep for the fact that these two teams can’t wrestle more often. Or that Tozawa can’t have more matches with Claudio or Hero. Tozawa actually goes for a hip toss on Claudio. Not his best move. KOW gets a little cocky.  Tozawa starts hulking up. They battle for a backdrop driver. Tozawa drops him right on his head. Steen hot tag. Chops and a lungblower. CANNONBALL! Charge misses. Back elbow. Swinging DDT as the crowd wants him to kill. Flying kick and dive by Tozawa. A second one. And why not? A third off the apron. Strike exchange by Claudio and Steen. Superkick by Steen. Clothesline by Claudio and they’re both down. Pop-up European uppercut on Tozawa. That was elevation. Claudio calls for the end. Ligerbomb but Steen breaks the count. Hero hits a stalling piledriver. 1-2-NO! Knees to the head. Tozawa hits a German suplex. 1-2-NOOOO! Pair of scissor kicks. Hero hits an elbow. 1-TOZAWA UP! Forearms in the corner. Runs into a knee. Kick IN THE FACE! Moonsault misses. La Mahestral GETS TOZAWA THE WIN! Another really good match. Tozawa gets his win on Hero back. Second best match of the night to this point.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Kevin Steen and Akira Tozawa/16:46/***3/4

-Joey Ryan Invitational Gauntlet Match: Brian Cage-Taylor vs. Ryan Taylor vs. “Pretty” Peter Avalon vs. Candice LeRae

Match in Five Words or Less: Go Away Joey

Match Summary/Analysis: Joey Ryan cuts a promo before the match, and I don’t care. There’s a shock. This segment = show stopping cold. He does have an announcement. His one-on-one championship match against Claudio Castagnoli will come at the next show. Ryan wants a warm-up match, so as this match indicates, this is a gauntlet match. Winner wrestles Joey Ryan. The order of the match listing indicates the order, We get a battle of Taylor boys to start. I’m just going to evaluate this as one match to make life easier. Some good clean fun from the brothers by marriage. Impressive vertical suplex by Brian over the apron. Excalibur and Joey Ryan make Chris Benoit jokes. Wow.  Cage hits a powerbomb on his knee. Exchange in the middle of the ring leads to a pair of hard boots to the face followed by a cravatbuster and three. Peter Avalon charges right after Ryan Taylor. What a scumbag. Taylor applies a crossface, which leads to more Benoit jokes. Avalon hits a nice twisting fishermen’s buster for two. Lariat by Taylor. Go 2 Sleep. Avalon holds the trunks off an acecrusher for the victory. Candice LaRae comes out. Joey Ryan superkicks Avalon in the face. LaRae covers and wins the gauntlet. What an unbelievable waste of time this turned out to be. The Taylors and Avalon wrestled extremely well, but it felt badly placed on what’s been a great show so far?

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Candice LaRae/15:51/**

-Joey Ryan talks some more. LaRae says she can make Ryan tap out. Ryan makes a Fight Club reference. IN 2011! Ryan puts his number one contendership on the line.

-Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Championship Number One Contender Match: Candice LeRae vs. “Hollywood Submission Machine” Joey Ryan

Match in Five Words or Less: Better Than I Thought

Match Summary/Analysis: Ryan goes down in the guard. Quick series of roll-ups for two. At least she’s trying.  Ryan hits a hard clothesline. He performs a rather disgusting act with his hand and asks if anyone wants a moustache ride. LaRae with a call back to Human Tornado as he kicks Ryan in the nuts. Dive into a swinging DDT ON THE FLOOR! Boobplex by Ryan back in the ring. LaRae hits a superplex off the top and gets a nearfall. Ballplex. Reverse rana off the top. 1-2-NO! Moonsault misses. Ryan superkicks her but lifts her up at two. Quick arm submission and LaRae taps. I enjoyed this for what it was, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy watching Joey Ryan anymore.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Joey Ryan/9:05/**1/2

-Just for the record, I was far more interested in the prospect of Candice LaRae wrestling Claudio for the PWG title in April than Ryan.

-DDT4 Final Round Match: “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen & Akira Tozawa vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

Match in Five Words or Less: Insanity

Match Summary/Analysis: No entrances required. Brawl around ringside initiated by Steen and Tozawa immediately. A bell is rung somewhere, but Rick Knox does a whole lot of standing in the ring for the first few minutes. Steen manages a frog splash off the apron on Nick Jackson. He later powerbombs him on the apron…twice. OW! Matt harpoons Steen with a chair to save his brother from a third powerbomb. Doesn’t matter. Steen gets him instead…two times. Steen screams at the crowd a lot, and the people ask him to kill. Moonsault misses as Nick hits Tozawa with a chair shot. Bucks work over Steen’s knee. Matt uses an actual rake on Steen. Tozawa in with fire! Apparently, he was a gardener in another life. He must have been the most entertaining gardender ever. Bucks set chairs up on the floor. Double draping DDT on the chairs. Back to work on the knee. Tozawa is taken to the back. Steen comes back on his own. Back drop by Nick on the apron. Chair shot to Steen. Bucks gloat over Steen. Steen is busted open.  Decimation of the knee continues. Sharpshooter by Nick. Hero and Excalibur run through every name of that move in the books. Steen spits blood at Nick before grabbing the rope. Tozawa comes back just in time to break up More Bang for Your Buck. Steen gets the sharpshooter. Nick tries saving his brother but gets spat at again. Multiple times. High kick. GERMAN SUPLEX! Matt crawls to the ropes just in time. Tozawa pulls Steen to the corner and makes himself legal. Pair of suplex on Matt. Nick has to break the count. Kick in the corner. Steen samoan drops both Bucks. Package piledriver into the SHINING WIZARD! 1-2-NO! Nick nails Tozawa with a dive. Steen goes for the sharpshooter. Superkick by Nick. One by Matt. Another by Nick. One more by each brother. 1-2-NO! Bucks continue superkicking. Tozawa in for the save again. He’s not even striking them in a coherent way. Double superkicks. More Bang for Your Buck gets a clean for the Bucks. Are…you…kidding…me? Wow. After all that, the Bucks win. Crowd is SILENT! Then the “This is bullshit” chants start. And you know why? Because PWG messed up. The wrong team won. Period. This match was designed specifically in such a way for the faces to win. And the heels win clean. Why did the Bucks need to win their second DDT4 or even compete in the finals for the third time?  

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: 2011 DDT4 Winners- Young Bucks/20:24/****

-The Bucks cut a babyface promo after the match to further muddle the issue. If you’re going to try and give them “heel heat,” why are they sucking up to the Reseda crowd after being jerks the whole night? This is schizophrenic.

Line of the Night: Tozawa telling the crowd to shut the fuck up.

Finish of the Night: Tozawa getting the pin on Hero was an incredible moment. The pop was enormous and paid off their BOLA match tremendously.

MVP: Akira Tozawa for so many reasons. In the best matches. Has the most charisma. Is the most over. Already won two awards.

The Verdict: I feel a PWG column forthcoming because I’ve got a lot to say about the company based on this show and some of what’s happened since. For now, I want to put over DDT4 as one of the best indy shows of 2011. A lot of great matches combined with incredible action will make any indy fan go ga ga. Tozawa and Steen maintain their reign of awesomeness. Candice LaRae redeems what would have otherwise been a bad segment. Eddie Edwards may have become the latest indy star to become a PWG regular, and the local teams all looked good, albeit all in losing efforts. Could the booking, particularly in the final two matches, have been better? Yes, but don’t let that completely soil what was another amazing PWG show.