Excalibur is on commentary and Disco Machine is back joining him after one show away from the commentary booth.
1) Joey Ryan vs. TJ Perkins
After the dreadful Tuxedo Match at Album of the Year, I'm totally uninterested in anything involving Joey Ryan, but TJP is a great technician so I gave this one my full attention. I'm actually glad I did too because this was a very solid opener. Both guys worked hard and put together a solid match that featured a great kick exchange that earned a loud applause from the crowd. Just as this one was getting good, Joey rolls up TJP and uses the ropes to get the cheap victory.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Alex Shelley vs. Rocky Romero
Rocky had one of the best matches at Album of the Year with Claudio so I was really looking forward to seeing him face off with someone as technically sound as Shelley. The bout begins with multiple exchanges that resulted in standoffs. After this, things slowed down for a bit however it would soon turn into an intense submission battle that brought the audience to it's feet. These two are phenomenal at what they do and seeing them go at it in this technical/submission based match was awesome to watch. Great match.
Match rating - ***1/2
Shelley and Romero shake hands after the clinic they were just involved in. They discuss the DDT4 Tournament and tease a Motor City Machine Guns/Havana Pitbulls match. I really want to see that happen!
Backstage, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley cut a promo vowing to become the next PWG World Tag Team Champions.
3) Kevin Steen vs. Ronin - #1 Contender's Match
I really didn't know what to expect here. Kevin Steen is extremely talented whereas Ronin has always been just meh to me. So when this match got going and the two started trading vicious strikes, I was really surprised at how good it actually was. Steen did a great job selling the lariats from Ronin and it made him look very good in the process. Unfortunately, this match didn't have a clean finish as Joey Ryan decided to ruin another good match by interfering and nailing Steen with a chair. Solid match.
Match rating - **3/4
After the match, Steen gets on the mic and demands a No DQ Match with Joey Ryan at All Star Weekend V. The bout is reluctantly given to him by Excalibur after Steen threatens to hit him with a chair.
Kevin Steen is backstage now and cuts a great promo telling Joey to watch his match with Jack Evans on Night 1 of All Star Weekend V closely. Steen says Jack is his friend, but he's still going to hurt him. So we know what that means for Joey on Night 2. He's in for it.
We return to the ring and Excalibur & Dino Winwood have microphones. They announce the teams for the upcoming DDT4 tournament which brings out Davey Richards. Davey refuses to team with Roderick Strong and says he's got a partner of his own that he will reveal at the tournament.
4) Scorpio Sky vs. Top Gun Talwar
The story going into this match was that this wasn't the real Scorpio Sky and that someone just had his mask on. It visibly wasn't him because this guy was much skinnier. This match was pretty dull. I've never been a fan of Top Gun and after he stunk the joint out a few weeks prior in that Tuxedo Match, I've got no interest in him. Not much to see here.
Match rating - *3/4
5) Scott Lost vs. Chris Sabin
Now back to the good stuff. I've always been a big Scott Lost fan so when he's paired up against a top talent like Chris Sabin, it's always exciting to watch. Lost hung right with Sabin in this very competitive match and proved that he's on the same level as him. Some highlights include Lost spinning around the ring post and catching Sabin with a kick to the face. It was almost like a 619. Good match.
Match rating - ***1/4
6) Davey Richards vs. Shingo Tagaki
As you probably know, Davey and Shingo would go on to have an epic match for DGUSA a few years after this so seeing what I think was their first meeting here is gonna be interesting. I know I shouldn't compare, but I did. And compared to the classic they had in 2009, this was no where near it, however it was still a good match. There were several nice exchanges and you could tell Davey & Shingo had a chemistry. Very fun looking back on this one considering the matches these two would have in the future.
Match rating - **3/4
7) Human Tornado (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. Disco Machine
This one was all kinds of fun. From the in-ring action to the commentary, this was sports entertainment at it's finest. Yes, I said sports entertainment. Every match on a card can't be balls to the wall intense. Candice LeRae got inadvertently hit here several times by Disco Machine and he got ragged by Exaclibur on commentary for it which was hilarious. It's always fun hearing Disco call one of his own matches. Another cool moment here came when Disco suplexed both Tornado and Candice LeRae. Perfect mix of comedy and wrestling.
Match rating - ***
After the match, Tornado turns heel and hits his finishing move on Candice. Big moment as this would be the start of what would become one of the best feuds in PWG history between Chris Hero & Candice LeRae and Human Tornado.
8) El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels - PWG World Title Match
After some time away, Christopher Daniels returned to PWG to take a shot at the PWG World Title. Daniels cut a good promo beforehand that did it's job of getting me excited for this match which could be considered a dream bout. This one started off pretty slow, so much so that I wondered if it would ever pick up. Thankfully it did however and we got a great final 10 minutes from these two. Good match although I felt it could've been better if they would have produced a better first half.
Match rating - ***1/4
Overall thoughts: This was a better overall show than the previous event, Album of the Year, although it didn't have a match that was on the level of Generico/Richards from that event. The match of the night easily goes to Shelley/Romero, those two could have easily main evented this show. If you had to choose between this event and Album of the Year, I'd probably go with Album of the Year because although the undercard on that show is horrible, the main event is better than anything on this event, despite this event featuring a solid line up of matches. So, I guess it's up to you. If you want a solid wrestling card then I'd recommend checking this out, just don't expect to be blown away like you are sometimes by PWG.
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT along with this blog @ThePWTruth!
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