For those who don't know, PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerilla) is a wrestling company based out of Reseda, California. They normally have around 10-12 shows a year. PWG is the stomping grounds of many current WWE and TNA stars such as Daniel Bryan, Antonio Cesaro, Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Samoa Joe, and many others.This event in particular took place on October 22, 2011 and was headlined by Kevin Steen defending his PWG World Championship against El Generico (Sami Zayn) in a Ladder Match.
Excalibur is on commentary as usual for this show, with various guests joining him throughout the show.
1) Peter Avalon, Freddy Bravo, & Ray Rosas vs. Famous B, Chris Kadillak, & Candice LeRae
One hell of an opening match here. Four of the competitors in this match were actually making their debut in PWG in this match. The two that weren't new to PWG were Peter Avalon and Candice LeRae. Needless to say, all six competitors brought their A game and delivered an awesome opening contest. This was my first time seeing these six compete and one thing that confused me immediately was that Candice LeRae was the only woman in the match. I'd seen her name in matches with men before, so I was interested to see what she looked like and how she was in the ring. I expected a big, strong woman similar to Awesome Kong since she's a woman competing with men, but Candice is the exact opposite. She's an average sized female wrestler and she held her own in this match and then some against all male competitors. She uses a move called the ballplex where she suplexes the men by their balls. Cool shit. She definitely impressed me in this match. Another guy I particularly found impressive was Peter Avalon who was not only great in the ring, but in his character as well. He acted as if he was gonna do a spinaroonee like Booker T, but then flipped the fans off as soon as they got excited. Great heel move. Besides these two, EVERYONE in this match impressed me. It'd take me way too long to name all the stuff each person in this match did that impressed me. They used some innovative moves that I've never seen before such as a shooting star cannon ball into the corner.
High flying, fast paced action with a ton of spots and atleast 5 dives. Kevin Steen was on commentary which made this one all the more great as he is funny as fuck. Awesome match that garnered the first "This is Awesome" chant of the evening!
Match rating - ***1/4
2) TJ Perkins vs. Rocky Romero
The underyling theme that ended up being shown throughout the night was how much history is behind some of the matches on the card. For instance here, Romero and Perkins trained together and had their first match against each other in 2000. 11 years later, they are facing off again here in PWG. Romero and Perkins started off with some great technical wrestling, going move for move with each other. They then go to some highflying work with Perkins hitting a crossbody on Romero that ends up catching Referee Rick Knox as well. Knox is pissed with Romero when he hangs onto him when Perkins goes for a sunset flip, so Knox chopped the hell out of Romero which was hilarious. This was a really good match as expected with these two., they are both phenomenal athletes. These guys know each other extremely well so there were alot of great counters here. This match featured a good mix of technical wrestling and highflying which made it very fun to watch. The crowd was pretty split as "TJP" chants were met with "Let's Go Rocky" chants. Perkins has become known for putting on some of the best 15 minute or so matches in recent memory and this is another example of that. Really good contest.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Fightin Taylor Boys (Brian Cage & Ryan Taylor) vs. RockNES Monsters
The crowd was hot for this one from the start with "Let's Go Taylors" and "Rocknes Monsters" chants echoing in Reseda. Johnny Goodtime of the Monsters and Brian Cage started this one off. Cage tagged Taylor in and went for some double team moves on Goodtime, but soon payed for it as Goodtime pulled off an impressive submission hold on BOTH men. Goodtime and Yuma then got their chance to do some teamwork and they did so in tremendous fashion. The first big spot in this match came when Ryan Taylor threw Goodtime off the top turnbuckle back first onto the apron which was brutal to watch. The action got back in the ring and we saw some solid tag team work from both teams. Yuma finally got tagged in and came in like a house of fire sending Taylor to the outside. Shit really broke down here as Yuma fell back first off the top turnbuckle crashing onto Taylor. Following this Brian Cage picked up Yuma on the otherside of the ring and powerbombed him into the chairs! Holy shit! Goodtime came back to save his partner though by sending Taylor to the outside again and immediately running and diving out of the other side of the ring onto Cage. Goodtime then hit another big dive to the outside on the other side of the ring onto Taylor! WOW! Fast paced awesome action in this one. Goodtime then hits a hurricana ran that slams Cage into the ring apron. Cage being the machine he is, recovered quick and delivered a massive german suplex to Goodtime on the floor! The crowd began chanting "This is Awesome!" after all of that amazing action. The guys head back in the ring and the action continues. I can't even call some of the stuff they do, this was such an awesome match! I won't spoil the ending for you.
Match rating - ***3/4
4) Davey Richards vs. Willie Mack
These guys told a great story in this match as it was the PWG veteran, Richards, versus the PWG rookie, Willie Mack, who sat in the crowd at nearly every early PWG show around 2003-2006. Willie watched Davey compete and now he's competing against him. What a story. The match told the story basically of whether or not Mack could hang with the veteran, Richards. This was shown by the lock up near the beginning where the guys tested each others strength. Richards gets the early advantage, but Mack pushes back. Throughout the match, Richards delivered the hardhitting offense he is known for with various strikes, but Willie kept hanging in there. Richards also used some various submissions to ground the big man, but somehow Willie managed not to tap. Willie fought back with some offense of his own catching Richards off guard with a huge russian leg sweep. The guys went back and forth after this with neither man getting the clear advantage. I loved the story that was told in this match, it was great. This was an outstanding hard hitting contest that left Richards with a bloody mouth. After the match, Davey gets on the mic and puts Willie over huge. Richards says he remembered seeing Wille in the crowd when he first started wrestling in PWG. He goes on to say it's hard to get respect from fellow wrestlers when you started as a fan and that Willie has earned his respect. Richards then says that PWG isn't about him anymore, but that it's about guys like Willie, the Rocknes Monsters, the Fightin Taylor boys, Adam Cole, and Kyle O'Reilly. He called them "the Davey Richards' of 2006". He said no one gave him a chance, but PWG did and the crowd there took him in. He tells the crowd not to chant his name, but to chant for Willie Mack. Great match followed by a phenomenal moment. I feel that this was the match in which Mack really broke out.
Match rating - ***3/4
5) The Dynasty (Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky) vs. Los Luchas
Another phenomenal tag team match here. The lucha libre style was showcased very well in this match as the Luchas are a great team. Something else that is quite cool is that one of the Luchas trains in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu and Scorpio Sky had also recently made his MMA debut so it was interesting to see how those two would fare against each other. There was some great action here with all four men showing what they could do. Scorpio Sky did an awesome backflip out of the ring and went so high in the air it was unbelievable! Excalibur on commentary noted this saying "no one gets the height that Scorpio does". There's nothing much else I can say about this match besides that it was an excellent tag team match.
Match rating - ***1/2
6) Ricochet vs. Chuck Taylor
As I said earlier, there are many matches on this card that have history behind them and this is one of them. Ricochet and Chuck Taylor have a storied history competing against each other and this was another chapter in that rivalry. There was a fair amount of comedy in this match as you would expect from Chuck Taylor. He's always hilarious. This match was a change of pace from the previous matches as it was held at a slower pace for the most part. Ricochet got some fast paced offense in at times, but other than that the match was pretty slow paced. That's not a bad thing persay, but it's something worth noting. Really good competitive match here between two long time rivals.
Match rating - ***1/4
7) The Young Bucks vs. Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly - PWG Tag Team Title Match
And now it's time for the first of the two main events of the evening. They had one hell of a card to follow, but these two teams showed that they deserved to be in a match for the Tag Team Titles because holy shit this was awesome. So much amazing stuff happened in this match so I'm basically gonna do play by play on this one, but I won't spoil who wins. They start the bout off with fast paced action and some good team work from Cole & O'Reily. Not even five minutes in and we get our first dive of the match as Adam Cole hits both of the Bucks who are holding O'Reily on the outside. The Bucks soon recover though as they hit a Sliced Bread #2 on O'Reily ON THE RING APRON! Nick Jackson then hits a slingshot frog splash off the ropes onto Cole bringing the action back into the ring. Something else worth mentioning here is that Davey Richards is on commentary alongside Excalibur for this bout. Richards notes that he helped train and lives with Kyle O'Reily, so he was pulling for he and Cole in this match. This was also O'Reily and Cole's first ever match in PWG! Back to the action, once its back in the ring we get some great exchanges from members of both teams. The Bucks both go for suplexes on Cole, but he lands on his feet after both attempts which is an amazing feat in itself. Cole gets the hot tag to O'Reily and he runs and kicks Nick off the apron. Both Bucks end up back in the ring, but the strike master Kyle O'Reily fights his way out of a double team attempt and hits a DOUBLE dragon screw on BOTH Young Bucks! Wow, I've never seen that before! The action slows down a bit as the Bucks ground Kyle by keeping him in their corner and executing various moves on him targeting the knee to try and take away his striking abilities. The double team moves continue for awhile and one of the Bucks' turn and point to Richards in the announce booth saying "That was for you, Davey Richards" after kicking O'Reily. The Bucks are such great heels. Richards says the Bucks are taking Kyle lightly and that payback is gonna be a bitch and indeed it was as out of nowhere Kyle O'Reily catches Nick in a belly to belly suplex and finally gets a tag to Cole. Cole hits a HUGE double dropkick off the top rope onto both Bucks. Cole ends up on the apron with Nick Jackson and recieves a stiff elbow shot to the head knocking him off the apron. Nick goes for a dive, but Cole catches him and slams him back first on the ring apron! Damn. Matt grabs Cole from in the ring, but recieves a huge kick to the head. Cole hits a crossbody on Matt and gets the crowd fired up before slinging Matt into the corner and delivering a huge neckbreaker to him. O'Reily gets tagged back in, both men go for suplexes but repeatedly counter out. Kyle goes back to his striking game before finally hitting a big suplex onto Matt. Nick and Matt get back control however delivering multiple double team manuevers to both Cole and O'Reilly. They hit a facebuster on Cole then Nick cuts a backflip off the apron onto O'Reily while Matt hits a backbreaker onto Cole. Wow, the Bucks are so fast. O'Reilly gets back up and hits repeated slams onto Nick then DDT's him as Cole comes in and catches him in a german suplex! All four men down! Crowd begins a "This is Awesome!" chant. O'Reily and Matt are up first and begin trading strikes. Matt goes for a superkick, but O'Reily reverses and gets him onto his shoulders. Cole superkicks Matt who is on O'Reily's shoulders. O'Reily drops Matt down. Cole and O'Reily go for a double lariat, but Matt ducks and cuts a flip! SUPERKICK TO COLE. O'Reily superkicks Nick, Nick goes for one of his own, Kyle catches him, Matt superkicks Kyle, Cole superkicks Nick, Matt superkicks Cole, and Kyle comes running with a huge discus lariat clothesline! HOLY SHIT WHAT AN EXCHANGE. All four men down and the crowd erupts! Cole & Kyle begin trading strikes mid-ring with the Bucks, but the Bucks superkick Kyle and send Cole into the corner and deliver a kick to him. Matt Jackson then delivers a powerbomb to Cole, then somehow hangs onto him and muscles him up for another brutal powerbomb onto the mat, and then he hangs on again and picks him up, but this time he powerbombs him INTO THE TURNBUCKLE! The Bucks don't stop, they pick up Cole and hit a piledriver on him! Center of the ring, cover, 1..2... KYLE O'REILY BREAKS UP THE PIN! They throw Kyle out of the ring and go for More Bang for Your Buck. Cole gets the knees up! Nick goes for his part of More Bang for Your Buck which sees him cut a flip in the air off the top turnbuckle, but he notices Cole countered Matt so he lands on his feet! Kyle comes in from behind and hits a swinging DDT and hangs onto him and picks him up in the air for a brainbuster, Cole superkicks Nick in the head while Kyle is holding him in the air, and then Kyle hits the brainbuster! Kyle is still hanging onto Nick even after the brainbuster, Kyle hooks Matt into the guillotine chokehold!! Nick runs in and starts hitting Kyle in the face, but Kyle takes the hits like a fucking man and keeps the chokehold applied on Matt! Kyle even ags on Nick! Nick hits a brutal kick to the side of the head and Kyle still hangs onto the chokehold! Cole is back in and grabs Nick into the chokehold as well! Cole and O'Reily both drop down and have both Buck's locked in guillotine chokeholds with their legs wrapped around them in the center of the ring! DOUBLE GUILLOTINES! Nick somehow gets out of Cole's, but Kyle keeps Matt trapped turning his into a standing guillotine chokehold! And here comes Nick, superkick to Kyle and he finally breaks the hold! HOLY SHIT! There is blood on the side of Kyle's body where Matt had been bleeding from being choked so long. Matt stands up and you can see the blood coming from the mouth and nose. I won't spoil the ending, but oh my God, that was an AMAZING MATCH!
Match rating - ****1/2
8) "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen vs. El Generico - Ladder Match for the PWG World Title
Just when I thought I'd seen it all after that unbelievably awesome tag team bout between The Young Bucks and Future Shock, Kevin Steen and El Generico come out and steal the fucking show with this Ladder Match. I'm not gonna do play by play on this one because it'd be hard not to give away who won when I got near the end, so I'll just note some of the awesome things that happened in this match and what made it so great. First off, Chuck Taylor and Exaclibur are on commentary for this one. The history between these two dates back to one of the first ever PWG shows. For those who don't know Steen vs. Generico is one of the best feuds to ever grace the Indies. This was my first time seeing the two wrestle against each other and I was blown away. There were some physical matches throughout this night, but none of them were as brutal as this one. The bumps these guys took were insane. Steen got backbody dropped over the top to the outside of the ring onto a ladder leaning from the ring apron to a chair. Generico got backbody dropped onto a ladder in the ring that was leaning on the ropes and broke the ladder. Generico delivered a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder that sent Steen into/through two ladders! Insane shit that left me speechless and that isn't everything that happened in this match. That's just a little bit of the insanity. By the end of this brutal match, Generico's back was bleeding from taking so many shots from the ladder and being slammed on it so many times. At the end of the match when the winner grabs the title, it pulls off the vent in the roof that it was hanging on so he's holding up the belt with part of the roof hanging on it haha. Funny moment, but a seriously awesome physical battle. Match of the night and one of the matches of the year in PWG. This is definitely one of the best ladder matches I've ever seen and my personal favorite Ladder Match of All Time.
Match rating - *****
After the match, The Young Bucks run down to the ring and beat Steen and Generico with chairs. They toss Generico out of the ring quite quickly though. The Bucks target Steen by beating him repeatedly with the chairs. The Bucks get the mic and taunt Steen then go on to challenge him to a Guerilla Warfare Tag Team Match at the next show. They went on to note that Steen didn't have a partner and started laughing at him when all of a sudden the lights go out. Lights come back on and HOLY SHIT IT'S SUPER DRAGON. For those who don't know, Super Dragon is a veteran of PWG and of the Indepedent Wrestling scene in general. He hadn't been seen in PWG in years and he made his return. Dragon beats the hell out of the Bucks before he plants one of them with his insane modified version of a piledriver. Steen gets to his feet and grabs the mic and says "I DO HAVE A PARTNER!" So, at the next show (which was Fear), it will be Kevin Steen & Super Dragon vs. The Young Bucks in a Guerilla Warfare Match! Dragon leaves the ring as Steen is still down on his knees with the mic. Generico crawls back into the ring to a staredown with Steen. Steen says "I didn't know what to expect going into this match, but I knew one thing, I knew we'd tear the fucking roof down!" And they did just that, figuratively and literally!
Overall thoughts: Ladies and Gentleman, this is honestly one of the best shows I've ever had the pleasure of watching. That's including WWE, TNA, ROH, etc. This show was great from top to bottom. Normally with PWG, there isn't a bad match on the show, but with this show, there isn't any match that is "just okay or decent", every match ranges from good to fucking awesome. You also had a good variety here. You had spot heavy, high flying tag team action (the opener, RockNes Monster/Taylor Boys, & Tag Title Match), technical/submission based pure wrestling matches (Perkins/Romero, Ricochet/Taylor), you had hard hitting physical matches (Mack/Richards), and you had an absolutely awesome Ladder Match! It don't get much better than that.
I highly recommend picking this show up. It's recognized by many as the best PWG show of all time, which is why I decided to pick it up and It certainly lived up to my expectations. In fact, it exceeded them. If you've never seen PWG, I think this would be a phenomenal place to start.
Something that I'd also like to note is the storytelling throughout the night. Numerous people have told me "Indy wrestling doesn't tell good stories" and they've named PWG in particular. I challenge them to watch this show and tell me that it doesn't tell any good stories. Mack/Richards tells a phenomenal story, Romero/Perkins has a long history behind it as did Ricochet/Taylor. Generico/Steen is one of the best rivalries ever plus everything that took place after that match which set up the main event for the next show was brilliant.
In closing, buy this DVD. It's awesome. If you're looking for something different and in my opinion, better than most shows WWE and TNA put on nowadays, I'd definitely recommend checking this out. It's always refreshing to see something new and different. I guarantee that you'll love it.
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