-It feels like I’ve seen this show before or something.
-Taped from Reseda, CA
-Your hosts are Excalibur and his followers who are ready to ‘Rise”
Match in Five Words or Less: Reborn Indeed
Match Highlights: Feeling out process. Shoulder tackle by B-Boy. From behind and an armdrag by B. Into the ropes. B with some clubbering blows. Into the corner and B-Boy hits a hard chop. Into another corner for a chop. Three more chops and an elbow to the crown of the head. B-Boy up and over. Guillotine by B. Baseball dropkick and a kick to the side of the head. Chop exchange in the corner. B-Boy places a thumb into B’s eye. Right hands by B. Forearm by B-Boy. Dropkick as B is prone along the bottom two ropes. Cover for two. B-Boy hog ties the arms and legs of B. Bow and arrow like submission. Leg kicks by B. Headbutt by B-Boy. Whip but a charge misses. Boot out of the corner. B catches him with a dropkick. B blocks three straight right hands and hits some of his own. Pumphandle backbreaker. B-Boy dumped but then he brings him back and spins him for a butterfly backbreaker. Boot to the midsection and he drives B-Boy with his shins. Standing moonsault. Crossface. B-Boy reaches the bottom rope. DVD INTO THE CORNER! FAMOUS B… SWEET JEBUS! Famous B ducks a clothesline and gets a backslide. B-Boy double underhooks B and hits a DDT. B placed on the top rope. B shoves him. B-Boy catches him with a Ligerbomb. B tosses his opponent over the top rope. Dive misses. He recovers and hits a superkick. B-Boy lifts him. DDT ON THE FLOOR! Swanton bomb! 1-2-NO! Slap in the face by B-Boy. Elbow pad comes off and a forearm. Leg lariat by B. Kick to the side of the head by B-Boy. Superkick by B. A second one. Leaping acecrusher by B-Boy. He almost does the same move to Rick Knox. Both men are down. B-Boy hits a disgusting air raid crash to pick up the win in a grueling opener.
Match Analysis: It’s incredible to think this was the damn opening match of the show as these two guys went all out and delivered an excellent start to the show. B-Boy has talked a lot about being reborn on various social media outlets. Well, it showed here. He had a very good match with one of the young guns of the So Cal area. B is someone PWG should absolutely be looking at for future pushes, and B-Boy is someone who could do really well working with some of the younger talent in the promotion.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: B-Boy/13:22/***1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: He Wins A Match?
Match Highlights: Some mat wrestling to begin the contest. Uppercuts in the corner by TJP. Snapmare and a solid kick to the back. Taylor with a snapmare and kick of his own. Taylor hits an armdrag. Quick headlock takeover. Lightning fast sequence there. See what I did? Huh? Kick and dropkick miss for Taylor. Head stand by TJP but Taylor hits a Manhattan drop. Axe kick sucka. 1-2-NO! Taylor stretches TJP’s arm out. Trailer hitch. Slap to the face. Uppercut by TJP. Turns into an exchange. Boot by TJP. Off the middle rope and Taylor gets a kick. Neckbreaker by TJP. Springboard dropkick as he holds onto the ropes. Cannonball off the apron. Springboard dropkick gets two. Kick exchange. They begin slapping each other. Forearm by Taylor sends TJP down. Gutwrench into splash mountain. 1-2-NO! TJP goes for a backslide. Taylor comes from behind. Off the ropes and a dropkick. TJP leaps back in the ring and gets a rana for two. Superkick by TJP. Exchange of nearfalls. Bicycle kick countered as TJP hits a powerbomb. Bicycle kick by Taylor. Gordbuster by TJP. 450 splash. Match over.
Match Analysis: it’s rare to see a match in PWG not get ten minutes, but they packed a lot of action into this one. Fun back and forth action for all ten minutes. The fact that these two men can deliver in the ring is almost never in doubt. The problem is their personalities and charisma. Will they ever get a chance to showcase beyond just doing moves in a ring? Taylor is not nearly as established as Perkins, but this match felt like a battle of two guys who were mirror images of each other.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: TJ Perkins/9:57/***
Match in Five Words or Less: Mr. Wrestling Versus The Machine
Match Highlights: Steen touches Cage’s abs. Immediate shove out of a lock-up. Boot by Steen and into a headlock. Shoulder tackles go nowhere. Cage sends Steen out with one of his own however. Steen fans himself until he sees “OLE!” written on it. Steen bites the sign off and slowly makes his way back into the ring. Steen calls for a test of strength. Guess who comes out the winner of this. Steen bites his hand. Clubbering blow and more biting in the corner. Strikes in the corner. Cage catches Steen! Bodyslam. Backbreaker into a neckbreaker. Steen rips at the eyes. Dropkick to the knee and flatliner by Cage. Vertical suplex blocked. Steen manages one of his own. He poses and yells at the fans for a failed chant. Cage gets his boots up out of the corner. Cage climbs but gets crotched. Steen hits a cannonball. More interacting with the crowd. Clubbering blow to Cage. Cage sends Steen’s head into the apron. Boot and a forearm. Steen posts Cage. Steen drives the left arm of Cage into the post. Back first into another ring post. Clubbering blow and they head back in the ring. Elbow to the trapeze muscle. Forearm exchange. Steen kicks Cage in the quad. Punt to the leg. Right hand to the abs and Steen hurts himself. Running senton. Steen whips Cage into the corner. Shoulder tackle. Kick in the butt. I swear this happened. Cage with a boot to the midsection. Springboard dropkick knocks Steen outside. Tope on helo! Somehow Cage overshot his target. Springboard moonsault gets two. Headbutts to Steen. Brainbuster on the ring apron! Cage sent back in the ring. Steen covers for two. Steen climbs up top. Swanton is met with knees. Cage hits a neckbreaker out of the Canadian backbreaker position. 1-2-NO! Steen blocks a vertical suplex back in the ring. Cage hits an enziguri. Suplex over the top rope on Steen! 1-2-NO! Discus lariat! 1-2-NO! Steen counters into a crucifix pin and gets the victory.
Steen puts Cage over after the match and calls him a machine.
Match Analysis: Super enjoyable match between these that made sense for where it was on the card. Not a ton of false finishes but they did a solid job of keeping the action engaging. Steen can do no wrong at this point as even in the midcard, he’ll be entertaining. Cage is a beast and seemingly ready to find his stride within this promotion. A PWG world title match really shouldn’t be the third match on the card, but I understand given the circumstances of Steen and two of the people in the next match.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL PWG World Champion-Kevin Steen/16:21/***1/4
Match in Five Words or Less: *Kevin Steen Primal Scream
Match Highlights: Due to Super Dragon’s injury means we need new tag team champions. The belts were held up, and these are the logical number one contenders. Nick Jackson is sent three rows deep almost immediately. Brawl extends in and around ringside. Nick slams Stupefied onto a chair and then hits a leg drop. Uno back drops Matt through a chair. Stupefied back drops Nick on the apron as Matt nails Uno in the back with a chair. Stupefied leaps off with a knee to the face. Back suplex by Uno on Nick on the apron. Stupefied drops Matt back first on the apron. Nick misses a dive as Uno simply walks away. Uno drinks a beverage but takes a chair into the apron. Nick clears some chairs out of the way. Stupefied leaps over one of the tables on the stage to everyone else. Sweet Moses. Uno with another chair across the spine of one Matt Jackson. Back in the ring. Matt goes to work on Uno in the corner and then fires away at Stupefied. Uno slams Matt through a chair in the ring and they pose. Nick is met with duel shots to the midsection. Two more chairs are introduced. Conchairto across the front and back of one Nick Jackson. They drop Uno through a chair. Nick tosses a chair into Stupefied’s head. Wow. That sucker landed perfectly. Nick with stomps on Uno. Chair shot to the midsection. Stupefied gets another chair tosses in his face. Double stomp by Nick on Uno. Then he hits an asai moonsault on Stupefied. Dropkick by Matt on Uno leads to a two count. He chokes Uno with his shirt. Uno tosses the shirt back and tries a comeback. Matt cuts him off. Whisper in the wind using a chair. Right hands and stomps by Matt. Handspring back rake attempt. Chops out of the corner by Uno. Elbow on Nick. Back rake on Matt. Kick to the midsection. Bucks grab the chairs. They hit themselves in the face. They recover and Uno. Stupefied comes back in the ring and hits double flip back kicks. Running forearms in each corner. They switch. Double team backcracker on Matt gets two. Stupefied brings out a table. Nick saves his brother. Stupefied sent into the post shoulder first. Nick hits the running knee on Uno. Superkick by Nick. Sliced bread by Matt. Matt hits a DDT on Stupefied on the apron. Nick covers and gets two. Nick hits a facebuster. Uno hits a falcon punch. TANDEM SPIKE PILEDRIVER ON MATT RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE RING! Sweet American Jesus. All four men stagger to their feet. Double low blows to the SSB. Matt sent into his brother who’s on the top rope. Stupefied hits a running knee on Matt. Uno shoves Matt into A BACK BODY DROP THROUGH THE TABLE ON THE OUTSIDE! Nick sends his brother out of the ring so he can’t get pinned. He does quite well for himself until a low blow from Stupefied. FATALITY! 1-2-NO! Matt Jackson superkicks Rick Knox to break the count. Guillotines on SSB by Matt. Low blows on Uno in the corner. Matt powerbombs Stupefied into his partner as Nick hits an enziguri on Uno. Matt covers. Another referee comes down. Rick Knox pulls him out. Matt dropkicks the other referee. Matt superkicks his brother. Knox clothesline Matt. FATALITY! NEW BY GOD CHAMPIONS!
Match Analysis: it’s very rare to get memorable moments like this in independent wrestling, but this was an absolute crowning achievement in the careers of the Super Smash Brothers. It’s talked about so much about the prestige of other independent tag team championships, but I have always believed these PWG world tag team titles are the most important because of the hard work put forth by the Young Bucks. This was such an incredible back and forth match with so many wonderful twists and turns. This was one of my favorite matches of 2012 and absolutely holds up on DVD. Death to all but Medal is worth the purchase for this match alone.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating:NEW PWG World Tag Team Champions-Super Smash Brothers/19:17/****1/2
-You might be wondering why both title matches came before intermission. Due to SSB and Steen having to take red eye flights back to Canada for an important show in Quebec, PWG had to essentially reorganize things. Hence one of the best matches of the year happening before intermission. Good luck to the final three matches.
Match in Five Words or Less: So Sleazy
Match Highlights: Avalon appears ready to do vile things to LaRae. And seriously, why are Ryan and her in the ring together again? Yeesh. The Monsters sexually harass Avalan to start. Again, I swear to you all this happened. The heels corner LaRae. Yuma uses her as a battering ram. Monsters team up to take Ryan outside of the ring. Triple dives to the outside. LaRae drops Avalon’s neck across the middle rope and gets two. Elbow by Rosas blocked. Forearm by LaRae. Yuma hits a double sledge. Rosas sent into the corner. LaRae hits a forearm. Running knee by Yuma. Springboard dropkick by Goodtime. Rosas hits an atomic drop. Heat segment on Yuma by Team Sleaze. Rana by Yuma on Ryan. Low dropkick by Goodtime. Follow-up to the side of the head. Avalon sent into Rosas in the corner. Dropkick on both men after he armdrags both men out of the corner. O’Connor roll on Avalon. Into the corner for a monkey flip as Rosas ends up on top of Avalon. Goodtime puts LaRae on his shoulders and it’s clotheslines for everyone. Ryan prevents the backpack dive. Boobplex turned into a roll-up. Shove but a forearm by LaRae. Ballplex reversed. Ryan pie faces her. LaRae put on the top rope. Ryan asks who wants a moustache ride. Right hand exchange with Ryan and Yuma. Backslide but Yuma goes for a tornado DDT. Northern lights suplex. LaRae hits a double stomp to break the count. Rosas hits a splash. Enziguri by Avalon. Forearms by Goodtime on Ryan. Ryan hits an overhead pumphandle slam. Rosas and Yuma enter. Kick and foot facebuster. A second one. Avalon hits a twisting brainbuster. LaRae hits a stunner. Low superkick by Ryan. Superkick on Goodtime but Goodtime comes back with a bicycle kick. All six people are down. Goodtime tags in. Rosas sweeps his legs. Everyone heads to the corner. LaRae ballplexes Avalon and Ryan. Mushroom stomp into the acecrusher. This is good enough for Yuma to get the three count.
Match Analysis: This was okay tag team match to come out of intermission with. Nothing too outstanding here. RockNES Monsters feel stuck in a giant holding pattern and really need something to freshen themselves up a bit. LaRae needs some other girls to up against so she’s not always in the ring with Ryan. It would also be nice to see Ryan and Avalon elevated as some sort of tag team too. Probably the weakest of the match so far.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The RockNES Monsters and Johnny Goodtime/13:30/**3/4
Match in Five Words or Less: Biggie Battle
Match Highlights: Lock-up goes to the ropes. Elgin chops him. Mack responds. They exchange more chops. Headlock by Elgin. Shoulder tackle goes nowhere. Back elbow by Elgin. Elgin catches Mack and powerslams him. Into the corner for a series of forearms. Elbow to the back of the neck. Series of ducks and a leaping running shoulder tackle. Another strike exchange. Elgin whipped in the corner. Running splash by Mack. Knees to the spine. Running neckbreaker gets two. Leaping kick by Mack. Elgin gets his boot up and German suplexes Mack into the corner. Pair of nearfalls. Clubbering blow across the chest of Mack. Leg drop across the chest. Right hands by Mack. Elgin hits a shoulder tackle. Northern lights suplex for two. Stalling vertical suplex! Mack hits a big kick. Dropkick by Elgin. Series of clubbering blows to the chest. Chinlock. Mack with a kick and a forearm. Elgin hits a kick. Mack hits a clothesline, one legged dropkick, and swinging bodyslam. Leaping leg drop gets two. Mack hits a superkick on Elgin. Pele kick by Elgin. Mack hits a release belly-to-belly suplex. Clubbering blows and a forearm by Elgin. Mack hits a back elbow. Elgin hits a CHAOS THEORY! 1-2-NO! Elgin goes to the top rope. Double sledge by Mack. Elgin headbutts him down. Twisting senton misses. Running forearm to the corner by Mack. Whip to the corner. Running clothesline. Springboard dropkick but Elgin catches him in the sunset flip position. 1-2-NO! Deadlift powerbomb! 1-2-NO! Samoan drop by Mack and then into the moonsault press. 1-2-NO! Chocolate Thunder gets three.
Match Analysis: Willie Mack continues building toward a PWG world title match with Kevin Steen in this contest. This was a very good match for both guys as they showed what they could do and had a rare power battle. It’s not very often you see these sort of power matches on the indies but this helped to diversify the card significantly. Elgin has put on some great performances across multiple indies, and it continued here in PWG. Good match here.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Willie Mack/13:24/***1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: Third Time Is The Charm
Match Highlights: These two have met twice before, once in PWG and more recently in Evolve. Feeling out process. Shoving match ensues between the two men. Shoulder tackles go nowhere. Generico chops Ricochet and tells him to come off the ropes. Ricochet chops Generico twice. Ricochet rolls over. Armdrag by Generico. Headscissors and dropkick by Ricochet. Right hands in the face. Kick to the chest. Chop exchange. Ricochet kicks him hard in the corner and chokes him. Generico shoulder tackles Ricochet. Generico fakes a moonsault and hits a leg lariat. Forearm. Ricochet sent head first into the turnbuckle. 10 punches in the corner. Chop. Snapmare into a cover. Another strike exchange. Leg sweep and standing reverse senton by Ricochet. To the outside with a forearm goes Ricochet. Generico sent into the ring post. Back inside quickly. Springboard using his knees and a splash. Solid kick to the chest followed by a chop. Snapmare and swinging kick. Kick in the face. Open hand chop by Generico. Abdominal stretch turned into a bow and arrow. Ricochet drives Generico’s head into the mat and then dumps him. Kick sends Generico down. Kick to the back. He places his leg onto Generico. Quick roll-up for two. Forearms from Generico followed by a chop. Forearm by Ricochet. Taunting kicks. Hard forearm by Ricochet. Whip across and a discus lariat. Ricochet misses an enziguri. YAKUZA KICK OUT OF NOWHERE! Tope con helo. Cross body off the top rope. 1-2-NO! Kick misses. Generico hits a blue thunder powerbomb. 1-2-NO! Running shoulder tackle by Ricochet. Springboard clothesline gets two. Punches by Generico. Ricochet hits a leaping acecrusher from behind. Back elbow by Generico. A second one. Ricochet hits a clothesline. Reverse rana! Jesus H! 1-2-NO! Generico hits an exploder into the corner. Yakuza misses. O’Connor roll misses. Ricochet with a rolling kick into Generico’s neck. Running knees. Yakuza misses. 818! Phoenix splash! 1-2-NO! Forearm exchange. Ricochet kicks Generico. Shot to the throat. Slaps by Generico as they go into the corner. Yakuza misses. Ricochet grabs a waistlock. Full nelson suplex. 1-2-NO! Top rope brainbuster blocked. Ricochet goes down to the apron. Rana off the top rope! 1-2-NO! Again, Generico goes for the top rope brainbuster. Headbutt sends Generico down. Then he runs into a kick. Wow. Shooting star press met with knees. Yakuza kick! Top rope brainbustah! Generico wins!
Match Analysis: What a spectacular match for these two men as they were really the only guys who could possibly main event given the two championship matches that happened earlier in the night. Just a fun way to cap off the night. Generico is definitely one of those guys who can have a great match with anyone, but Ricochet has improved so vastly that he’s able to deliver as much as Generico. Ricochet is so much more confident than he was previous, and I would argue this was the best of the three matches between these two men.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: El Generico/20:58/****
The Verdict: This was not as good of a show as DDT4, but really that show sent an absurd standard that can’t be met by any other indy show. I walked into the hall thinking it would be a solid PWG B show. I walked out thinking this was an easy thumbs up show that delivered above expectations. Fantastic work up and down this show. PWG is the best wrestling company in the United States for a reason. Nights like these are why.
For more information on PWG and their upcoming shows, check out PWG’s website. To buy this and many other PWG DVDs, check out Highspots. Below is a list of contact information for both the website and me.
Contact Pro Wrestling Ponderings!
E-mail: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pwponderings
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pwponderings
Youtube: www.youtube.com/pwponderings
Contact ME!
E-mail: jcusson07@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepwpeditor
Well, the Monsters got out of their holding pattern with a heel turn at the next show, so good for them. This was a REALLY hot show, for a B show.