Monday, February 9, 2015

PWG: Fear Review

PWG: FEAR Review
This show has been out of print for quite some time however it's still available via digital download on Highspots. Once I found that out, I picked it up immediately. Although I HAVE seen the main event thanks to the Super Dragon compilation that was released recently, there are still a few matches on here that really interest me. Generico/Dick Togo in particular as well Wolves/ and Future Shock/ simply because those two teams only had a few matches in PWG and they were always good.

1) TJ Perkins & Kenny King vs. Brian Cage & Ryan Taylor
Prior to watching this event, I watched the show that preceded it, Steen Wolf, as a way of getting prepped for this one. Between the Fightin Taylor Boys match at Steen Wolf against RockNES Monsters and this one, I've come to realize how underrated the team of Cage & Taylor were. They hit a number of sick combo moves here, most notably a crazy catapult Canadian Destroyer has to be seen to be believed. As for their opponents, this was their first time teaming together to my knowledge and they did quite well. This was King's final appearance for PWG and it was certainly a good one. All the matches I've seen of his in Reseda have been solid. None the less, this was a great opening match that got the show off to a wild start as it earned the first "This is Awesome" chant of the evening.

Match rating - ***

2) Roderick Strong vs. The Amazing Red

This was Amazing Red's PWG debut and would end up being his only appearance for the company. I always thought he would fit well in Reseda so let's see how this goes. There was some nice technical standoffs to start the bout however it would turn into a power vs speed battle after the feeling out process. During Super Dragon's Q&A on the PWG forums (which I highly recommend checking it out), I read that Red got winded here because he wasn't used to working matches of this length. I noticed that a bit near the end although it didn't hinder the match that much, in my opinion. Solid encounter between these two.

Match rating - ***

3) B-Boy, Candice LeRae, Chris Kadillak, & Famous B vs. Joey Ryan, Scorpio Sky, Peter Avalon, & Ray Rosas
PWG has become known for having awesome multi-man matches so I was looking forward to this one. B-Boy was making his surprise return here after being away since 2009 so the crowd was super hot for him. There was a great moment near the beginning where Peter Avalon got tagged in and said "I WANT THE BITCH!" So Candice tagged in because of their past history and when she did, Peter said "No, I said I want the bitch!" and pointed at B-Boy. Epic moment which Peter paid for later on. Speaking of him, he took part in multiple sexual innuendos and awkward situations that happened here with Candice LeRae taking the brunt of them all thanks to Joey Ryan's entire team. While there were some enjoyable moments here, I got bored with this one several times as well. I felt like it went a bit too long.

Match rating - **1/2

4) Chris Hero vs. Willie Mack
I haven't seen the first encounter between these two which took place a few months prior to this match so I can't compare. However I can say that this was a kick ass match. Hero was making an unnannounced appearance here so the crowd was hot for him and on top of that, this was during Willie's peak in PWG so this was a recipe for greatness from the start. This match was exactly what you would expect when looking at it on paper - a slugfest. From the opening bell where Hero jumped Willie with a big kick to the head, this one escalated into a bout filled with strikes. Moments like Willie german suplexing Hero right on his head were absolutely epic considering you don't often see someone do that to Hero. This was a great match with several near falls and hot action all the way through.

Match rating - ***3/4

5) Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly) vs. RockNES Monsters
Cole & O'Reilly had tore the house down with The Young Bucks one month prior to this match in their PWG debut which led to them being brought back. This is a match I've been wanting to see for awhile considering how quickly these two would rise to the top. As of this writing, both Cole & Kyle have held the PWG World Title and seemingly taking an absence from the company due to ROH's restrictions on where their talent could work. With that being said, I was really looking forward to going back and seeing one of the few matches that I haven't already seen involving these two in PWG. Much like Willie Mack, the Rocknes Monsters were in their peak in PWG at this point, in my opinion and this match reflects that. The double team/combination moves that they along with Future Shock pulled off here were just amazing. Great tag team wrestling from start to finish.

Match rating - ***1/2

6) The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Super Smash Bros
From one quality tag team match to another. I'm writing this review a few days after I watched this match so I can't remember many specifics aside from the fact that this was a really good match. It didn't quite reach the level that I thought it would considering the names involved, but it was still a fun watch. It just felt like they lost steam during a few moments in the closing sequence and it kept this one from closing in on a four star rating. Well, that and the fact that The Wolves dominated the majority of it and SSB seemed to only get in their signature moves & nothing more. Still a good match, just wish it wouldn't have been so one-sided.

Match rating - ***1/2

7) El Generico vs. Dick Togo - Non Title Dream Match
This match took place during Japanese legend Dick Togo's retirement tour. It was my first time seeing him compete and damn, it made me wish I had discovered him earlier because this was absolutely awesome. With this being the first time these two men had worked together, I thought there may be some slip ups, but everything here was performed flawlessly. It was your perfect veteran vs young gun match up with Generico out quicking Togo to start only for Togo to return the favor. That battle of one upsmanship continued to the closing bell as we saw both men eat their opponents finishers on several occassions before Generico finished off Togo with a vicious top rope brainbuster.

Match rating - ****1/4

8) The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & Super Dragon - Guerrilla Warfare Match for the PWG World Tag Team Titles
When watching this event in full, it was my second time seeing this match as I originally saw it on the Super Dragon DVD that PWG released recently. I had no problem re-watching this one though because it was the definition of hype and it certainly lived up to it. As one of the Bucks said on Twitter, Dragon has an auora when he wrestles and this was the perfect example of that. This was a war from beginning to end and we saw Dragon hit a psycho driver on one of The Bucks off the apron through a table followed by a double stomp on a chair for the win. Epic match and an amazing moment with Steen & Dragon dethroning the Bucks and becoming the tag team champions.

Match rating - ****1/2

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT along with this blog @ThePWTruth!

No comments:

Post a Comment