This is an event that I've been wanting to see for a long time. PAC (Adrian Neville)'s work in PWG is ALL superb so when I saw him in three matches on these two shows, I was sold immediately. On top of that, I read that there were two four star affairs at these events between Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) & CIMA and Kevin Steen & El Generico. Those were my drawing factors to this show which I ended up picking up in a 9 disc anthology. Plus there's a ton of Dragon Gate talent here in the form of Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, CIMA, Stalker Ichikawa, & Don Fuji. I sure do miss the days where Dragon Gate & PWG had a great working relationship and I'm sure this show will only make me miss it more. The only real negative I could find going into this event is that Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley were originally scheduled to be a part of the tournament. The line up is stacked as it is, but I can only imagine how much more awesome it would've been with them involved. None the less, let's prolong it no further and get right into the first DDT4 tournament!1) Don Fuji vs. Stalker Ichiwaka Z
These are two Dragon Gate talents facing off in the opening match of the evening. I had no knowledge of either man going in however they did a good job of keeping me entertained. It was a comedy match for the most part although there was some nice action here as well. Fun start to the show.
Match rating - **1/2
2) The Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero)
On paper, this is a quality match. Unfortunately, it didn't really live up to the expectations that some may have for it. It was a solid contest, but with the names involved, I expected a bit more than what we got. I just couldn't get into the match. Maybe it was just me. Regardless, this was a solid outing between the two teams. Briscoes pick up the win to advance to round two.
Match rating - ***
3) TJ Perkins vs. Bino Gambino
Meh. That's the best word to describe this match. I think it was just added to the card to fill time and keep TJP somewhat relevant. In the shows prior to this, he hasn't been involved in anything noteworthy and Gambino certainly hadn't either so this bout didn't have much going for it from the get go. It was a decent encounter though.
Match rating - **1/4
4) Havana Pitbulls (Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes) vs. Trailer Park Boys (Josh Abercrombie & Nate Webb)
This match was EXACTLY what the show needed at this point. In all honesty, I didn't expect it to deliver on the level that it did. The Trailer Park Boys were added to the show last minute due to Sabin & Shelley being unable to make it and with this being their first time in PWG, I wasn't sure how they would fare. They certainly proved me wrong by delivering a really good performance. Romero & Reyes delivered the great effort which they are known for and it made for one hell of a match. I really enjoyed this one. Good tag team match.
Match rating - ***1/2
5) Bryan Danielson vs. CIMA
DREAM MATCH! That's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this on the card. As I mentioned before, it was also one of the main reasons I wanted to see this show and it definitely lived up to expectations. Danielson controlled the pace for the majority of this match as we saw alot of technical wrestling and submissions throughout the entire 30 minute duration of this match. Speaking of that, this match went to a 30 minute draw and I think it's safe to say that it felt like the quickest 30 minute match I've ever watched. It was so good that it felt like your basic 15 minute match and that's saying something. They kept me invested the entire time which is something some wrestlers struggle to do in a 10-15 minute match much less one that goes half an hour. Based on how fantastic this bout was, I wouldn't mind seeing a 60 Minute Iron Man match between these two. None the less, this match was awesome and left me wanting to seek out the rematch that they would have a few months later in PWG.
Match rating - ****1/4
6) Muscle Outlaws (Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino) vs. Arrogance (Chris Bosh & Scott Lost)
Back to tournament action here as PWG's own Arrogance takes on the debuting Muscle Outlaws from Dragon Gate. Scott Lost & Yoshino had an extremely fast paced exchange to start off which would set the tone for this match as both teams traded momentum throughout the bout. The Outlaws would get the advantage for a few minutes then Arrogance would use sly tactics to get back on top. The good thing about this was the fact that we got to see both teams ability to work together put on display. The closing sequence featured several near falls and some great action. Doi & Yoshino advance after making Bosh tap out to a submission. Good match & debut here for Doi & Yoshino. Can't wait to see them again on the next show.
Match rating - ***1/4
7) Joey Ryan vs. Ronin
While this was one of the only matches on the card that had a backstory, it was also one that I was least interested in. I'm not sure why I wasn't because Joey is good at what he does and Ronin has surprised me on the past few shows. I guess they just don't stand out. Regardless of that, this was a pretty good grudge match that saw Joey Ryan rip off Ronin's mask which allowed him to get the win. Solid match.
Match rating - **3/4
8) Super Dragon & Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong & PAC
I was sold on this one from the moment that I saw that PAC & Dragon would be in the same ring together. Bumps galore is all I could think about. On paper, PAC is pretty out of place with the other competitors in this match. Davey, Dragon, & Roddy are some of the hardest hitting guys around while PAC is a highflyer. This shined through here as PAC took a serious beating at the hands of Dragon & Davey for a good 10 minutes or so. They isolated PAC and it paid off because they really wore him down. However, once Roddy got the hot tag and PAC had time to recover, things turned into chaos. We saw PAC hit a spike hurricanrana on Dragon, Davey german suplex PAC off the top rope and turn him inside out, Dragon hit PAC with a clothesline that planted him straight onto the back of his head - it was the insane stuff you would expect from these four guys. Great match, the best tournament match of the evening.
Match rating - ***3/4
9) El Generico vs. Kevin Steen - PWG World Title Match
This is a match between Steen & Generico that I never knew happened until I started browsing through old PWG show line ups. It's not as talked about as their other encounters and I'm pretty surprised because this was the same high quality stuff that you would expect from them. And as usual, they did some unique things to set it apart from their other matches such as hitting each other with their own finishers. Seeing Steen hit the top rope brainbuster on Generico and Generico hit the package piledriver on Steen was crazy! Speaking of crazy, Steen went off on a fan during this match was hilarious to see always. I don't want that to take away from the action though because it was the real highlight here. Steen beat down Generico for a large portion of the match aside from a few minor comeback attempts. The momentum really shifted when Steen went for a second running clothesline in the corner and before he get hit it, Generico ran out of the corner and caught him with a helluva kick out of nowhere. From that point, these two went into survival mode and begin hitting each other everything they had which led to what I mentioned earlier, both men using each other's finishers. Really good and forgotten match in the Steenerico rivalry.
Match rating - ****
Overall thoughts: This was a great first night of the 2007 DDT4 Tournament. The two non tournament matches (CIMA/Bryan and Steen/Generico) are the best bouts of the evening however all the tournament matches were good in their own right. None of them reached four stars, but considering that all the teams have to go at it again tomorrow night, I can understand not going all out here. Regardless of that though, all of them reached three stars or higher so that means they're worth checking out along with this whole show. With that being said, I recommend picking up this event if you haven't seen it.
Night 2 Review:
1) Top Gun Talwar vs. Stalker Ichikawa Z - Open The Owari Gate Non-Title Match
From the time I found out that the title was for the best comedic wrestler around and both men started growling at each other, I knew this would be absolutely hilarous and that's exactly what it was. Ichikawa's match on Night One was funny however this one was even better. My favorite moment was Talwar shoving Ichikawa headfirst into a pot which was, in Excalibur's words, "filled with hot dog water that's been reheated." Hilarious opener.
Match rating - **
2) The Briscoes vs. Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes
The Briscoes effort on Night 1 was a bit underwhelming whereas the Havana Pitbulls delivered one of the best bouts of the evening. On this night, both teams put forth their A game and delivered a great tag team match. There were too many highlights here to name, but the finish is one that has to be mentioned. After a dramatic series of near falls, Mark & Jay climb to their respective turnbuckles and Jay hit a frogsplash on Rocky which was immediately followed by a shooting star press from Mark. Awesome finish to a very good match.
Match rating - ***1/2
3) Kevin Steen vs. Ronin
These two faced off in a match a few months prior that really caught me by surprise. Steen seemingly brings out the best in Ronin. This wasn't any better than their first encounter although it was just as good. Just a slugfest between two big guys. Solid match.
Match rating - **3/4
4) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino vs. PAC & Roderick Strong
I don't think PAC ever had a bad match in PWG. He absolutely kills it every time and this was just another example of that. Seeing him go at it with Yoshino & Doi was awesome and seeing Roddy in there was great as well. These two teams put on a fantastic display of tag team wrestling that shows why PWG has always had one of the strongest tag team divisions in the world. This was also a great clash of styles as you had a perfect blend of highflying and hard hitting action.
Match rating - ****
5) Human Tornado (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. Don Fuji (w/ Stalker Ichikawa Z) vs. TJ Perkins vs. Bino Gambino
When I first saw this match on paper, I figured it would either be a horrible clusterfuck or either an extremely entertaining match. It ended up being the former as this one had me cracking up for the entire duration of the match. Excalibur & Disco Machine on commentary really pushed this one over the top with their commentary. From saying Ichikawa took Fuji's "premedicated testicles" before the match to discussing the number of women Ichikawa slept with and how he just stands in a "position of permanent arousal", it was comedy on commentary at it's finest which PWG does better than any other promotion - probably because they have pretty much no limits haha. The in-ring action here was nonstop and featured it's fair share of funny moments as well. Super fun stuff.
Match rating - ***
After the match, Don Fuji & CIMA jump Stalker Ichikawa Z and bodyslam him on the concrete floor. I don't know why they did that, but it was pretty funny.
6) Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Nate Webb & Josh Abercrombie vs. Davey Richards, Super Dragon, Scott Lost & Chris Bosh
This was your basic PWG multi-man match from the early days. It had solid action throughout and a fair share of comedic moments such as Dragon's frustration with Arrogance coming into play as he kicked his own partners during the match. I didn't enjoy this as much as the four-way, but it was still decent for what it was.
Match rating - **1/2
7) The Briscoes vs. Roderick Strong & PAC
After a fantastic tournament full of awesome matches, we've finally gotten to the finals. Can these two teams top their previous efforts and more importantly, which duo will walk out with the gold? Let's find out! To answer the first question, they indeed were able to top their previous efforts. In fact, I'd venture to say this was the best match of the tournament. Not by much though because there were several other fantastic bouts. PAC had been going at full speed all weekend however he really busted out his stuff here. A shooting star press/knee to the back combo on BOTH the Briscoes, a number of insane corkscrew dives, a 630 off the top turnbuckle - PAC's performance here left me in awe, like always. From his flying to his selling, it all ruled. Roddy and The Briscoes brought the goods as well here though. I don't want to outshine them because they did just as much to make this bout what it was as PAC did. Awesome final round bout to close out the tournament. Roderick Strong & PAC come away victorious and are the new PWG World Tag Team Champions!
Match rating - ****
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