It's PWG's first event of 2015 and also the beginning of a new era. An era without Kevin Steen, Adam Cole, or Kyle O'Reilly - three men who were mainstays in PWG over the past few years. It's an era led by 10 year PWG veteran, Roderick Strong as he capped off 2014 with a World Championship victory over Kyle O'Reilly on his way out of the door. Roddy's first opponent/title defense comes in the form of a relatively new face in PWG, Trevor Lee.
Speaking of new stars, this event features alot of them. With the aforementioned names being kept away due to contract stips & injuries plus Joey Ryan, Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano, Chris Sabin, & Andrew Everett over in the UK, many people wondered who would fill the void. PWG soon answered that question by bringing in three of the hottest properties on the Canadian scene in the form of Mike Bailey and Monster Mafia (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander). On top of that, New England/CZW standouts, The Beaver Boys make their debut. This event also features the PWG return of Drew Gulak who brought his technical prowess to Reseda over the summer.
1) Biff Busick vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey
I was really pumped for this. I recently bared witness to Bailey's work in C4 and was blown away plus these two have been killing it on the east coast by having epic matches in both CZW and Beyond Wrestling. Despite the fact that I knew Bailey would kill it, I was curious how the audience would respond considering his unique choice of ring gear. Regardless of what they thought during his entrance, when the bell rang, he wowed the audience similarly to the way Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett did last March. When he hit some of his signature moves that are unqiue to him, the crowd popped hard and so did I. I think it's safe to say that Speedball has a bright future in the Dub G even though he lost here. He faces the man I compared him to, Trevor Lee, at Don't Sweat the Technique which is a week away (as of this writing). None the less, great opening match here that I would have loved to see go longer. Hopefully they have a rematch in the future.
Match rating - ***1/4
2) Cedric Alexander vs. Tommaso Ciampa
These two had a killer match last fall in Ring of Honor so I'm looking forward to what they can do in the PWG setting and... they tore it down! It's not a must see encounter but they had the same chemistry they had during their ROH match. Some pretty innovative stuff here as well. It was just full speed, hard hitting action all around. They did slow it down for a portion of time though which I was glad of because the last two PWG shows featured matches involving these two that were just spot after spot after spot. So much so that they came off as exhibitions and while those are enjoyable, I'd rather see a more well paced match. Solid bout here.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. Beaver Boys (John Silver & Alex Reynolds)
I've seen some fucked up things happen inside a PWG ring over the years. Whether it be the sleaziness of Joey Ryan or Tommaso Ciampa sticking his thumb up Chuck Taylor's ass. But I don't think I've ever seen a more perverted match than this. And that's not a knock on this match because I found it pretty funny. I won't even try to describe the things that took place here because I would sound like an idiot. I'll just quote Trent and you'll get the jist of it - "YOU CAME ON MY BEST FRIEND!" This action was followed by the introduction of a rag and also led to Chuck setting off a grenade in Alex Reynolds' tights. Vintage Best Friends stuff here which is always fun. After the shenanigans in the first half of the match, we got to see what the Beaver Boys could do athletically in the form of an action packed closing sequence. John Silver's explosiveness won the crowd over in his favor while the antics of Reynolds' got the crowd on his case. They primarily worked as heels here which I thought was a good thing considering there's not really a clear cut heel team in PWG at the moment since Mount Rushmore split. It may have been just because they were facing Chuck & Trent, but either way, I look forward to the Beaver Boys' match with Joey & Candice next month although I have a feeling it will be even more vulgar than this!
Match rating - ***
4) AR Fox vs. ACH
In 2013, AR Fox ripped PWG shreds by having a MOTY candidate nearly every time he stepped in the ring. In 2014, Fox started off doing the same by teaming with ACH, but missed ELEVEN and BOLA due to injury however ACH picked up where he left by creating many memorable matches & moments. For all these reasons, I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it fell flat and ended up being my least favorite match on the card which truly surprised me considering the track record these two have. I'm gonna cut them some slack though because ACH had the ROH PPV coming up and had a huge match against AJ so I'm sure he didn't want to go all out and risk an injury. Plus Fox has been banged up alot the past few months. Despite all that, they still got all their signature shit in so I'd say Dragon DID get his money's worth out of them because I'm sure alot of the new fans that came to the show were drawn by something Fox or ACH did in the past and they got to witness most of those manuevers live here. As for me watching at home and the replay value, this was close to a dud as they basically just went through their respective schtick's. Hoping for more from both in the remainder of this year as I'm a huge fan of them.
Match rating - **1/2
5) Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak
First off, it's nice seeing Drew Gulak back in PWG. With O'Reilly gone for the time being, I feel like someone such as him MIGHT could take the role that Kyle had of being the best pure hybrid wrestler on the roster. First it was Davey, then it was Kyle - who's next? Only time will tell. This match was pretty good although I don't think it was quite on the level of Gulak's previous efforts from BOLA. This was very well executed though as we saw Gulak target the leg of the veteran in Hero early on and repeatedly go back to it during the match. For instance, Hero went for a moonsault and Gulak moved and caught him an ankle lock. Things like that are what made this match great. While Hero is known for his technical abilities, I'd say he played more of the role of the striker here while Gulak was the technician. So with that being said, this was a nice striker vs technician match up and definitely a change of pace from anything else on this show.
Match rating - ***1/2
6) Ricochet vs. Matt Sydal
I'll say right off the bat, this was the Match of the Night for me. I had heard alot about this encounter from my buddy @seethekidwin on Twitter who was live in attendance and it certainly lived up to expectations. The two had some fun early on, even dancing before the bell as the infamous "All Night Long" chants rang through the legion hall. Ricochet & Sydal soon got down to business though and things got hot & heavy quick in the form of a meteora off the ring apron from Sydal and a fast paced exchange similar to that of Ricochet/Del Sol from All Star Weekend 9. One thing I did love about this match though is that once again, it wasn't full speed the entire time like nearly every match on Untitled II and several matches on Black Cole Sun. It was extremely well paced and played to both men's strengths. Don't let that throw you off though because there were many mark out moments and nearfalls here just like you'd expect from an outstanding PWG encounter. Early MOTY contender for sure, awesome match.
Match rating - ****1/4
7) The Young Bucks vs. Monster Mafia (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)
The show was really on a roll at this point. Ricochet/Sydal was unbelievable and then we got two of the best tag teams in the world going at it in front of an EXTREMELY HOT crowd. I knew this was going to be magic as soon as things got going and Nick Jackson introduced himself and his brother as "Dave Meltzer's favorite tag team" while pointing to him at ringside. This match got going with The Bucks jumping Page & Alexander only for the Mafia to fight back which garnered boos from the audience. I think the debuting duo did win over the audience though because they busted out some awesome double team manuevers that I personally have never seen before despite being somewhat familiar with their work. My favorite had to be Alexander holding up one of the Bucks as Page ran and spun him into a spin out powerbomb from Alexander. Meanwhile Page kept running and dove out onto the other Jackson brother. It was almost too much to process at times and I loved it. Monster Mafia definitely impressed and I'm stoked to see them face Sabin & Sydal. As for The Bucks, they continued to innovate here as we saw Nick hit the outside and distract Page with repeated "Suck it's" which allowed Matt to rake the back of All Ego. The most memorable moment of the match came in the form of The Bucks hitting The Meltzer Driver with, in the words of Chris Hero, "GRANDADDY METLZY!" sitting at ringside. Amazing moment, show stealing match.
Match rating - ****1/4
8) Roderick Strong vs. Trevor Lee - PWG World Title Match
This match was a pleasant surprise. Although I'm a fan of Trevor Lee, I admittingly was curious how he would deliver in a main event World Title Match. And just like he has on every show since debuting, he showed vast improvement. The other reason I was skeptical on this match is because of how Roddy's last few singles matches (barring the Guerrilla Warfare) have been. They've basically just been action, action, action, action, finish with no story. This one was different. They took their time and I know I've said this multiple times on this show, it was well paced. I'm not sure how long this one went, but I'd say it was around 15-20 minutes and I really enjoyed it. They incorporated some sick counters & reversals down the stretch and produced some great moments such as Lee going for his now signature roll up which brought the crowd to it's feet only for Roddy to kick out. They did a remarkable job of making people believe that Trevor had a chance of winning which definitely added to the match. Really good main event and the best match Lee has had since debuting in PWG.
Match rating - ****
Overall thoughts: PWG kicked off 2015 in phenomenal fashion. I'd argue that this was the best show since BOLA last summer. Black Cole Sun featured three four star matches just like this one, but as a whole, this card was better in my opinion. Then again, there is one match that I consider a dud here in Fox/ACH. Either way, this is still a show I'd highly recommend. All the newcomers impressed and Ricochet/Sydal, Bucks/Mafia, and Roddy/Lee are worth the $15 alone. If this is a sign of things to come for PWG in 2015, I'm pumped, well even more pumped then I already was because after all, it's PWG!
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT & this blog @ThePWTruth!
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