-Taped from Reseda, CA
-Your hosts are Excalibur and whoever decides join the commentary booth shaped like a table
Match in Five Words or Less: Avalon Lives…Maybe
Match Highlights: Kevin Steen is out to talk to the crowd and announces he can’t defend the world tag team titles. The microphone of course begins malfunctioning. Crowd wants Steen to kill the tech guy. Avalon attacks from behind and then begins nailing right hands. Series of clubbering blows by Avalon. One chop by Steen sends Avalon down. Forearms. Knee by Steen. Pair of dropkicks by Avalon. Leg lariat takes Steen down. He teases a spinaroonie but flips the fans off. Running senton by Steen. Spinaroonie and a spinning leg drop. Crowd chants “Steenaroonie.” Short clothesline. Hard chop in the corner. He takes requests from the crowd. Thumb to the eye by Avalon. Another ridiculous chop by Steen. He kicks him to the outside. They take a tour of ringside. Avalon posts Steen. Steen just obliterates Avalon. He bites Avalon. Open-hand slap right on the nipple. Avalon fails at a cross body…twice. Steen takes him up and over. Forearm and a third cross body attempt works. Steen sends Avalon in the corner. Baby cradle into a suplex. Steen continues interacting. Double stomp and sitting flatliner gets two for Avalon. Stomp and a right hand. Pumphandle neckbreaker. Avalon’s chest needs to be seen to be believed. Yeesh. Steen tosses Avalon back in the ring. Inside cradle almost gets three. Cannonball misses. Avalon ducks. Steen almost hits the ref. Low blow by Avalon followed by what I can only describe as a tea bag. Rana blocked. Steen hits the F-5. Package piledriver. Good night Peter.
Steen puts a barely conscious Peter Avalon over for not dying…basically. Steen says it takes a real man to attack someone from behind. Steen hints at wanting a rematch with El Generico for the world title.
Match Analysis: Based on the way this card shook, Avalon was likely an extra guy who Steen volunteered to wrestle in the opener. Steen beat the holy hell out of him for our entertainment. This was just a Steen showcase. Avalon admirably took the beating.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Kevin Steen/9:00/**
Match in Five Words or Less: Man Versus Machine
Match Highlights: Quick shoulder tackle by Cage. Headscissors by Rosas. Sweep of the leg. Hip toss blocked into an armdrag by Rosas. Leaping hurancanrana. Dropkick through the ropes. Slides out but Cage comes back in. Dropkick in the ankle. Dropkick from the floor as Cage is on the bottom rope. DDT on the apron blocked. Back body drop on the ring apron by Cage. European uppercut. Right hand and forearms by Rosas. Clothesline by Cage-Taylor. Rosas sent into the top turnbuckle. Rosas with a kick in the gut, elbow to back of the head, and a spear. Cage catches Rosas on the top rope with a forearm. Stalling vertical suplex. Camel clutch. Back elbow off the Irish whip. Into a chinlock. Jawbreaker by Rosas. Running boot. Cage catches his feat and hooks a standing cloverleaf. Rosas grabs the rope. Another uppercut. Sunset flip but Cage picks him up. Crucifix around. Cage overhead slams him. I mean, he dumped him. Backbreaker. He holds it and tile a whirls him. Rosas hits a swinging DDT. Series of clotheslines by Rosas. Springboard back elbow. Cage rolls to the outside. Spring senton to the outside. Cage rolled in the ring. Diving headbutt across ¾ of the ring. High back drop by Cage. Into the set-up for Weapon X. Yoshi tonic reversal by Rosas. Open-hand slap. He screws up going to the top rope. Cage drops him right on his head. I mean right on the dome. Jesus H. Rosas elbows Cage. Series of counters into a swinging DDT by Rosas. Snap brainbuster gets two. Cage lawn darts him. Discus lariat to the back of the head. This is enough for Cage to pick up the win.
Match Analysis: Rosas certainly had his moments of sloppiness, but he has the potential to be a really good high flyer with some polish. Cage has steadily been improving and could be moving his way up the card pretty soon. While not a great undercard match, they worked hard and had some interesting sequences.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Brian Cage-Taylor/8:48/**1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: Joey Ryan Is Not Funny
Match Highlights: Ryan is out in a robe, sans moustache. He makes fun of the Reseda fans with soaps and razors. Sexist remarks about ladies are made. This is seriously some of the most low rent heel schtick I’ve seen in years. He takes off the robe to reveal a very Andy Kaufman looking outfit. There ya go. That explains the parody. Doesn’t make it funnier. LaRae comes out and immediately takes him down. Right hands. Ryan sent outside. Tope suicida. LaRae maintains the advantage. Tope DDT to the floor. Ryan ducks a sliding dropkick and back suplexes LaRae into the apron. Ryan manhandles LaRae. He shoves Patrick Hernandez. Low blow by LaRae. Ballplex. LaRae comes off the ropes with a rana and applies an octopus. Russian legsweep. Sort of a stretch laydown stretch plum. Swinging neckbreaker. LaRae climbs up to the top rope. Ryan slaps her in the back. LaRae hits a terrible looking rana. Just terrible. Moonsault misses. Charge met with a boot. Superkick on Ryan. He runs around the ring a lot. Cocky cover. Sunset flip gets a nearfall. Headbutt in the corner. Ryan yells at her and then slaps away. LaRae powerbombs him. Two count. Slaps in the back. Boobplex countered into a roll-up for two.
Match Analysis: Ryan parodying someone who’s been portrayed in a million movies was probably not the best course of action. I was tired of seeing these two wrestle before this match. Now I’m REALLY tired of these two wrestling each other. This was just an awful match with all kinds of missed moves and nothing action wise to keep my attention. This match basically failed in almost every possible way.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Candice LaRae/7:55/*
Match in Five Words or Less: Twitter War!
Match Highlights: If you follow both men on that wonderful social media platform, you’ll know why these two men are wrestling on this show. Some very interesting chain wrestling to start as they exchange submission holds. Kick to the kneecap followed by one to ribs. Shoulder tackles in the corner by Sky. Some out and out biting. Sunset flip by Perkins. Into a reverse pendulum swing. Pair of uppercuts. Knee to the midsection. Sky with punches in the corner. Perkins drives Sky’s leg into the top turnbuckle so he’s in the tree of woe. Hesitation dropkick. Chinlock. Sky German suplexes Perkins into the corner. Good gravy. Back suplex into a two count. Perkins hits a chop. Kicks to the midsection. Sky hits a leg kick. Backbreaker and he holds it. Bow and arrow. Sky drives his legs into Sky’s neck. Guillotine choke. Knees to the midsection by Sky. Triangle choke in the ropes. Perkins tosses in the ropes. He hangs on and ducks a dive. Leg lariat on Perkins. Tope con helo. Perkins doesn’t catch him at all. Both men are down. Joey Ryan checks on his DDT4 partner. Perkins kicks him in the head. Sky a hits a rana as Perkins is on the top rope. Perkins hits a superkick. Enziguri by Sky. Both men are down. Perkins up and over. He hits a neckbreaker. Sky gets a boot out of the corner. DDT. Running knees in the corner. Sitdown powerbomb. Springboard whatever misses. Perkins applies what I can only describe as a Regal stretch. Kicks to the shoulder. Armbreaker. Bicycle knee by Sky. 1-2-NO! Pair of forearms. Sky hits a knee in the midsection. Counters. Sky hits a Laurinitis crusher. Dragon sleeper. Perkins apparently verbally submits.
Match Analysis: I think people have become so used to the tapout that when they didn’t see it, they were thrown off. This was a good match that represented both men’s careers. There was a point during the match when they were just wrestling, and some sort of ruckus was taking place in the crowd. Even Excalibur and Kevin Steen were discussing it on commentary. Nothing represents both their talent and inability to truly connect with the fans than that moment right there. This match also got a little snug in addition to everything else. Hmmmm.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Scorpio Sky/16:20/***
Match in Five Words or Less: Super SMASH
Match Highlights: This was supposed to be a four way for the PWG tag team titles, but Super Dragon’s injury prevents that. Bucks jump the gun and attack both teams. The heels, all two of them, manage to work over the four babyfaces. Stupefied forearms Nick Jackson hard to the floor. Nick with a series of boots as various wrestlers charge him in the corner. Big dive misses. SSB and the Monsters hit a series of moves in the corner before sending Matt into his brother. They ram his groin area into Nick. Then… oh, that’s nasty. Bodyslam by Uno on Matt. They pose. Kick to the midsection. Stupefied is sent off the ropes by his partner and he hits a dropkick. Vertical suplex followed by an elbow drop by Uno. He claps Matt’s ears and takes him to the Monsters’ corner. Goodtime with a series of chops in the chest and back. Big boot sends him down. Chop and a tag to Yuma. Legdrop by Yuma. Springboard leg drop by Goodtime. Nick trips coming in the ring. Love that spot. Nick decks the Smash Brother. Lariat and enziguri. Double stomp by Matt. Nick dives on the Smash Brothers. Goodtime wants to come in despite having a chair around his neck. Springboard splash by Nick. Nick tosses Yuma’s head band back in his face. Right hands to both Bucks. Nick sent into his brother. Flying hip attack. Goodtime dropkicks Nick. Matt hit off the apron. Atomic drop and a stomp down. Enziguri. Falcon arrow gets two. Back elbow by Nick. Stupefied ducks a lariat. Matt grabs the middle rope and sweeps Stupefied’s leg. Heat segment on Stupefied. Bucks cut the ring and make sure to take out the other three wrestlers. Low dropkick by Stupefied. Double rana on both brothers. Uno enters with a clothesline. Jumping knee on Matt. Neckbreaker on Nick. Big flurry on Matt. Chop. DDT/flatliner combination. Chinbreaker by Nick. Uno catches Matt. Double stomp by Stupefied gets two. Bucks sent outside. Stupefied tripped by the Monsters. Yuma and Goodtime hit tope suicidas of their own. Tope con helo over Uno by Stupefied. Yuma tossed inside. Goodtime saves his partner and they crotch Stupefied. Double dropkick on Uno. Bucks block the Monsters from double teaming on Stupefied. Swinging DDT as he has to walk across people. Series of incredible counters and moves that I literally can’t even begin to describe. Needless to say, the fans go bananas and enjoy every bit of it. Double team DVD on Stupefied by the Monsters. Uno chops Goodtime in the corner. Goodtime placed on the top rope. Matt hits a release German suplex. Stupefied splashes him. Matt rolls him up and gets three. Enziguri into the acecrusher by the RockNes Monsters. Double team DVD but Matt gets the knees. Up. Uno clotheslines Goodtime over. Double superkicks by the Bucks. More Bang for Your Buck countered. Uno applies a gory special. Acecrusher off the top by Uno. The Super Smash Brothers finally pick up their first victory in PWG.
Match Analysis: If you shut your eyes and pictured this match in your head, I’m sure you came up with something similar. Some incredible timing and double team moves from everyone involved. It’s a testament to the Bucks ability to act like heels that they were still booed despite wrestling what amounted to a handicapped match for most of the time. I love what these three teams bring to the table, and almost any match they put together will be as good if not a little better than this one.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Super Smash Brothers/17:50/***3/4
Match in Five Words or Less: Wait For The Bell
Match Highlights: Koslov dropkicks O’Reilly before the bell rings. These guys are just being rude now. Hard series of chops. O’Reilly kicks Koslov thrice. Back and forth with chops and kicks. Eventually, they go to a stalemate. Koslov tells him to stop and gets the crowd, at least some of them, to chant Russia. Series of kicks and a legsweep. Atomic drop. A second one followed by a rana. Tope suicida met with a forearm followed by a DDT. O’Reilly’s head sent into a chair. They make their way to the bar. Koslov spits beer up. O’Reilly kicks the cup away before chugging alcohol of his own. Flapjack into the side of the ring. Surfboard in the ropes. Vertical suplex. Series of right hands to the top of the head. Chinlock. O’Reilly rammed chest first into the corner. No one since Bret Hart has done it better. Another whip sends O’Reilly back first. Russian legsweep. I get it. Koslov puts his hat on and performs his dance while also kicking O’Reilly in the head. Another chinlock. Elbows to the back. Sunset flip by O’Reilly. Exchange of roll-ups and nearfalls. Kicks from O’Reilly. Uppercuts and kicks. Kick to the back by O’Reilly. Half nelson suplex drops Koslov on his head. Kick blocked. Shove and an enziguri. Cross body. Back in the ring. Frog splash gets two for Koslov. Suplex blocked. O’Reilly hits a running forearm. Running kick. Koslov placed on the top rope. Back suplex off the top rope. 1-2-NO! Into the cross armbreaker. Forearm exchange. O’Reilly with a kick to the back of the head. Koslov hits a superkick. Boot out of the corner by O’Reilly. Guillotine choke. Northern lights suplex but O’Reilly comes back with the guillotine choke. DDT as Koslov tries countering out. O’Reilly gets his a first singles victory as Kozlov taps out.
Match Analysis: These two put on a solid wrestling contest to come out of intermission. Solid exchange of holds. If there’s one thing this show has proven is a lack of storylines can sometimes lead to good solid matches feeling you leaving empty because there’s no reason for it to exist. Yes, O’Reilly picked up his first singles victory, but what does it ultimately mean within the context of PWG, and where is it going to go?
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Kyle O’Reilly/13:54/***
Match in Five Words or Less: Uh Oh
Match Highlights: Feeling out process ensues in this rematch. Mack hits a flying shoulder tackle. Forearm in the corner. Running splash. Snapmare. Running knee drop followed immediately by a second. Waistlock. Kicks to the knee and a clubbering blow to the back. Strong decides to work the knee. Mack sent head first into the turnbuckle. Back to the knee. DDT and he rolls into a cover. Mack puts on the brakes and hits a back elbow. Big boot by Strong. Strong lands on the apron. Mack rams Strong’s back into the apron. Facebuster into that same apron. Back in the ring. Strong makes Mack chase him. Mack kicks Strong into some chairs. Strong drives Mack’s spine into the side of the ring. Cover for two. Kicks to the back. Shoulder tackle and chop in the corner. Series of chops. Mack responds in kind. Enziguri by Strong. Vertical suplex blocked. Mack counters into one of his own. Dropkick by Strong. Clubbering blows. He spreads Mack out. Running shoulder tackle. Waistlock. Forearms. Mack begins firing back. Enziguri. Both men down. spinning leg lariat by Mack. Single leg dropkick. Samoan drop. Kip up and a standing moonsault. Whip across. Strong boots him coming in. Exploder connects. Running clothesline. Springboard dropkick. Elbows by Strong. Mack with some of his own. Bearhug. Strong fights out. Into a cravat cutter. Kick and an enziguri. Drunk slam. 1-2-NO! Stronghold but Mack quickly goes to the ropes. Back and forth with punches. Strong back suplexes Mack on the side of the ring. Back in the ring for a two count. Forearm exchange. Both men are jarred. High knee by Strong. Mack catches Strong and drops him into a side powerbomb. Mack heads to the top but Strong stops him. Headbutts. Strong hits an enziguri. Superplex. Into the gutbuster. Sick kick. 1-2-NO! Roaring forearm. Heel kick by Mack. Island driver. Mack wins.
Match Analysis: There was something missing from this match, some sort of spark, but it was very noticeable, as if both guys were blown up at the end. Both guys seemed to be lacking in energy by the end. Mack is clearly being positioned for a potential world title match, but he’s got to go from point B to point C. He’s already shown himself to be better and more dedicated than guys like Brandon Gatson, Jerome Robinson, and Brandon Bonham. However, to being in the elite class means at least three things. That means having the stamina to go 20 minutes. That means keeping the crowd into the match. Most important, that means meeting the high high expectations of PWG. This is not some fly by night indy company. This is a destination. Mack is a super likeable guy with a great amount of charisma. To go from being a fan to a wrestler is a great story. I want to see the story have a happy ending with Mack beating whomever for the PWG world title. But that comes with a catch. The reality for anyone in PWG is that the bar is raised very high. With the exception of Ring of Honor, no North American company has a higher standard for in-ring quality. This is a fact.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Willie Mack/19:39/***
Match in Five Words or Less: It Will Never End
Match Highlights: Generico and Edwards are in the ring for their world title match. Crowd is chanting “Si!” Kevin Steen comes out as the bell rings, and he wants his rematch right now. Edwards and Generico agree. Crowd clearly wants it. Yakuza on Steen right away. Edwards superkicks Generico and hits a tope elbow on both men. Dropkick off the top on the champion. Hard chops across the chest. Off the ropes and a pair of armdrags. Steen blocks an armdrag and strikes him. Dropkick by Generico followed by a leg lariat on Edwards. 10 punches in the corner. Edwards gets a knee off the middle rope. Lungblower followed by cannonballs on both men. Chops in the corner on the champion. Strike exchange. Steen drops Generico down hard and blows snot on him. Spitting from Generico. Big boot. Steen takes him up and over. Edwards takes an elbow but enziguris on Steen. Backpack slam gets two. Running forearm. Steen hits a superkick. Shoulder tackle by Generico. Laurinitis by Steen. Hard kick to the back. Steen bites Generico’s face. Punt to the back. Edwards sent shoulder first into the post. Clubbering blow to the back. Biting by Generico. Low blow by Steen. Low bridge by Generico. Low bridge on Edwards too. His wrist gets caught in the ropes on the way down. Ouch. Generico tope con helos both men. He sends Steen back in the ring. Cross body gets two. Blue thunder powerbomb on Edwards as he comes back in the ring. Edwards hits a chop and messes up a rana on Steen. Enziguri. Over the top suplex gets two. Steen kicks out of a Boston crab. Back and forth. Steen hits a powerbomb. Sharpshooter but Generico grabs him in the half and half. Steen backpack sentons Generico onto Edwards. Cover on Edwards gets two. Boot by Edwards. Off the middle rope with a lungblower. Generico half nelsons Eddie into the corner. Edwards sets him up for a suplex. Steen grabs them both and takes them over. Jesus. Forearm exchange amongst all three men. Running chop on Generico. He follows with a yakuza kick. Steen samoan drops both men. Generico out of a package piledriver and hits a half nelson suplex. Yakuza and Edwards hits an enziguri. Half nelson on Steen. Double stomp by Edwards gets two. Into the single leg crab. Generico hits a top rope brainbuster on Edwards. Steen pulls him out and powerbombs Generico on the apron. In the ring for a cover on Edwards.
Match Analysis: To start, it needs to be said that this was a very good wrestling match between these three men as you might expect with three really talented in-ring performers. However, the ending was one of the most clichéd three way endings you’ll ever see with one guy hitting a finisher on the other. Then the third guy pulls him the executor of the finish out of the ring and gets the victory. If this was any promotion besides PWG, I feel like people would be annoyed. Also, as much as I love Generico and Steen, I’d really like to start seeing different people involved in the main events. It feels like these two have been involved in some form against each other for the last year. If I was having a five star quality steak everyday, I’d eventually get tired of it. Same principle applies here.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW PWG World Champion-El Generico/15:36/***1/2
The Verdict: This was not my favorite PWG event off all time. I’d say this is the closest to a thumbs down I’d be willing to give a show since The Secret of Guerilla Island. However, there is just enough for me to justify this purchase, thanks to the action in four of these matches. Not exactly the best show of all-time, but if this were any other indy, this would probably be considered one of their better shows. It’s a testament to the high standard PWG has established for themselves.
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SSB’s FATALITY! finisher is cool.