Break It Down: PWG DDT4 (2010)

Excalibur is in the ring to welcome us to the show. He thanks the crowd for coming to the show on Mother’s Day. He tells the mothers in attendance that Legion Larry has a special offer for them. He goes through the teams that will be competing tonight and it appears that the Briscoes showed up. That makes two consecutive shows for them. Excalibur has a hard time figuring out whether to announce the Young Bucks or Generation Me, but ultimately decides on the Young Bucks. Regardless of their name, the Reseda crowd hates them.

Opening Match: First Round: PWG World Tag Team Titles: Matt and Nick Jackson © vs. Johnny Goodtime and Jerome Robinson
The Young Bucks attack Goodtime and Robinson with the title belts before the opening bell. Nick puts on Goodtime’s mask and double stomps his arm. Goodtime fights back with a double dropkick. Robinson slingshot hurricanranas Matt and armdrags Nick to the floor. Nick trips Robinson from the outside and catches him with a kick. The Young Bucks isolate Robinson until he plants Nick with a hurricanrana and makes the tag. Goodtime cleans house and hits a gutbuster-backbreaker combination on Nick. He stomps Matt to the canvas and headscissors him into Nick. Goodtime pulls Matt into a superkick from Nick. Goodtime spikes Nick with a tornado DDT and Goodtime adds a german suplex. Nick dropkicks Robinson to the floor and follows out with a moonsault. Goodtime gets his knees up to block a frog splash from Nick and rolls him up for a nearfall. Robinson blocks a dive from Nick and connects with a 619 on Matt. He follows with a rolling senton on Matt and Goodtime adds a frog splash for a two count. Nick sends Goodtime into the crowd as Matt catches Robinson with a powerbomb. Nick connects with a double stomp on Robinson and lands a dive to the floor onto Goodtime. Matt hits a springboard ace crusher on Robinson. The Young Bucks connect with four superkicks on Robinson to retain their titles at 9:17. I usually don’t rate matches under ten minutes highly. I usually find that they feel too rushed or the action doesn’t have enough time to come together. However, this match is a definite exception. The action was incredible from bell to bell. The fact that the crowd bought some of the nearfalls down the stretch is a testament to the Young Bucks’ ability. Goodtime and Robinson held their own and will continue to be a solid team in the coming months. This was the perfect opener and a tremendous way to start the tournament. ***¼

Match #2: First Round: Scott Lost and Chuck Taylor vs. El Generico and Paul London
Lost and Taylor attack before the bell. It worked for the Young Bucks. Excalibur just said my last sentence after I typed it. Taylor misses a plancha to the floor. London catches Lost with a crossbody and Generico follows with a backbreaker. Taylor trips Generico from the outside and Lost hits a flatliner. Lost and Taylor work over Generico. London tries his best to help out from the apron, even yelling at Lost through his megaphone. London blind tags into the match and uses the siren on his megaphone to get the attention of his opponents. He lands a flying crossbody and cleans house. Generico clotheslines Lost to the floor and London follows out with a dive. Taylor catches Generico with Sole Food. He tries to bring out a grenade but London foils his plan. Generico hits a tornado DDT on Taylor and London adds a superkick. Lost connects with a spin kick on London and catches him with an ace crusher. London falls victim to a lionsault and a diving elbow drop. Taylor blocks a yakuza kick from Generico with an enzuigiri. Lost accidentally double stomps Taylor in the corner and walks into a brainbuster from Generico. London lands a shooting star press onto Taylor for the win at 10:16. Much like the opener, I felt that this match was able to accomplish a lot in a short duration. I’m glad that the hatred between Generico and Taylor was showcased and continuity is always nice to see. London worked in a few comedy spots without them becoming overbearing. The antics with his megaphone were actually comical and he definitely won the crowd over. The wrestling quality was also present and I have no complaints. ***

Match #3: First Round: Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. Roderick Strong and Ryan Taylor
Strong gets the better of Dustin and catches him with a leg lariat. Taylor chops Dustin and looks at Strong for approval. Strong catapults Brandon into a kick from Taylor. Dustin trips Taylor from the floor and Brandon adds a guillotine leg drop. The Cutlers start to isolate Taylor. Brandon chokes Taylor, causing Strong to enter the ring and connect with a dropkick. The Cutlers catch Taylor with stereo shoulder blocks and maintain control. He connects with a springboard thrust kick on Dustin and makes the tag. Strong punishes Brandon in the corner and finds success with a dropkick. He follows with a backbreaker but falls victim to a wheelbarrow lungblower. Taylor lays out Dustin with a saito suplex and a barrage of kicks. The Cutlers lift Strong and just throw him into Taylor. Strong comes back with a gutbuster on Dustin and adds a big boot. He tries a plancha onto Brandon but gets thrown into the ringpost. The Cutlers hit a spike tombstone on Taylor for the victory at 12:11. Compared to the previous two matches, this contest was considerably slower. There was a longer heat segment and the finishing stretch was more tame. These qualities aren’t necessarily bad things as this match prevented crowd burnout while still providing solid action. Considering the roll that the Cutlers have been on, I don’t think many people thought a makeshift team was going to beat them (even if Strong was involved). Overall, this was a solid tournament match that allowed the Cutlers to shine while giving Taylor the rub for teaming with Strong. **½

Match #4: First Round: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Akira Tozawa and YAMATO
Mark and YAMATO trade control on the mat. Tozawa catches Jay with an enzuigiri and hits a saito suplex. Kamikaze follow with stereo dropkicks. The Briscoes eventually answer with stereo shoulder blocks on YAMATO. The referee accidentally gets kicked after YAMATO throws Jay’s boot at him. YAMATO and Jay trade low blows. Tozawa unleashes a flurry of offense on Mark but runs into a spinebuster from Jay. Mark catches Tozawa with a springboard senton and the Briscoes work him over. Jay tries to setup Tozawa for a move but pulls down his tights. Tozawa responds by catching Jay in the face with a jumping hip attack. Chris Hero on commentary: “Tozawa is such an asshole”. Tremendous. YAMATO tags in and spears Mark. He gourdbusters Jay, kicks him in the face, and hits a brainbuster. Tozawa, still with his tights down, lands a dive to the floor onto Mark. Jay flatlines YAMATO into the turnbuckles and connects with a yakuza kick. Mark comes off the middle rope with a back elbow and unleashes some karate offense on YAMATO. He hits an ace crusher from the middle rope on YAMATO. Mark falls victim to a sleeper suplex and an exploder. Tozawa adds a hesitation german suplex but misses a diving headbutt. The Briscoes hit a diving elbow drop-side slam combination on Tozawa. Mark superkicks YAMATO and sends him to the floor. Jay hits a falcon arrow on Tozawa. The Briscoes follow with a doomsday device for the win at 14:57. While the trend of solid first round matches was continued here, I have to admit that I was a tad disappointed. While Tozawa received a chance to display some of his signature stuff, YAMATO was kind of an afterthought. The Briscoes wrestled their usual style of match and didn’t really adjust. Tozawa fit right in, bumping around and bringing some comedy. YAMATO didn’t get the opportunity to look like a killer and that’s the role in which he excels. Looking at the quality of both teams, it’s easy to see how this match was still worthwhile. I just think Kamikaze would have been better suited wrestling the Young Bucks or London and Generico. ***

Match #5: Semifinal Round: PWG World Tag Team Titles: Matt and Nick Jackson © vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler
Nick is wearing a TNA shirt, which Excalibur interprets as Total Nonstop Atheism. Brandon does some pushups as an intimidation tactic. Nick gets into it with a drunk fan at ringside. Nick grounds Brandon by holding onto a side headlock. Brandon eventually back suplexes out of it and they tag out. Dustin utilizes his power advantage against Matt. Both teams trade control and showcase some double teaming. Nick hits a slingshot facebuster on Brandon and the Young Bucks isolate him. He catches Matt with a wheelbarrow lungblower and makes the tag. Dustin throws Nick up into a low blow and sends Matt to the floor. He follows out with a dive. Nick falls victim to an impressive slingshot spinebuster from Dustin. Matt hurricanranas both of the Cutlers but gets caught with a leg drop. The Cutlers pick up Nick and throw him into Matt. Dustin sends Nick into a powerbomb from Brandon. Nick catches Brandon with a spin kick and connects with a running knee on Dustin. He superkicks Dustin and lands a dive to the floor onto Brandon. Matt plants Dustin with a wheelbarrow facebuster for a nearfall. Nick saves Matt from a spike tombstone by clotheslining Brandon to the floor. The Young Bucks hit a superkick-tombstone combination on Dustin for a two count. Nick tries to fight off the Cutlers on the apron but falls victim to a lungblower. Matt lays out Dustin with a DDT on the apron. All four men are laid out on the floor. In the ring, the Young Bucks superkick Brandon but walk into a clothesline from Dustin. The Cutlers catch Matt with a lungblower followed by a spike tombstone for a two count. Everyone trades punches. Nick stops another spike tombstone attempt. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Dustin to retain their titles at 19:06. If there’s one thing I appreciate about every match these two teams have had, it’s that they continually try to create new exchanges and raise the bar. Their previous two encounters in PWG resulted in extremely fun sprints. They received much more time here and did wonders with it. The slower beginning portion allowed for the crazy action down the stretch to be more satisfying. The Cutlers looked strong throughout the entire contest and showed that they don’t always have to be heels. This was their best encounter yet and I cannot wait for their upcoming Guerrilla Warfare match. ***¾

Match #6: Semifinal Round: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico and Paul London
Mark and London give each other clean breaks but don’t look too happy with each other. Jay and Generico start getting intense with each other as well. Generico snaps off a few armdrags but the Briscoes start double teaming him. London just dropkicks Mark off the apron and follows out with a plancha. Jay and Generico trade slaps. Jay ultimately hits a spinebuster and the Briscoes work over Generico. London tags in and connects with a series of kicks. Jay catches him with a boot and the Briscoes now isolate London. He blocks stereo shoulder blocks with a dropkick and makes the tag. Generico lands a flying crossbody onto Mark and adds a blue thunder bomb. He follows with a michinoku driver but gets caught with an enzuigiri. Jay powers Generico up into a death valley driver. The Briscoes catch Generico with a uranagi and a yakuza kick. Generico ducks a doomsday device and rolls up Jay for the victory at 11:13. Unlike Kamikaze, I feel that Generico and London are the right opponents for the Briscoes. I loved how the match started, with both teams getting intense with each other. London stopped his antics and it was a breath of fresh air. They followed with a heat segment but for some reason, the match ended abruptly with a finish that came out of nowhere. Especially with the quality of the previous match, the ending here was disappointing. However, this match still started and progressed nicely, which counts for something. **½

Match #7: Brandon Bonham vs. Chris Hero
The action begins on the mat, where Hero predominantly controls. He unleashes a flurry of offense in the corner. Bonham fights back and clotheslines Hero to the floor. He follows out with a dive. They trade strikes at ringside and Bonham hits a backbreaker in the ring. Hero responds with a rolling neckbreaker and a flash kick. He takes over until Bonham catches him with a tornado DDT. Bonham connects with an enzuigiri and hits some kind of an olympic slam. Hero applies a cravate and just drops Bonham on his spine with it. Bonham recovers with a cutthroat exploder but falls victim to a powerbomb. Hero just punches Bonham in the face and hits the Hero’s Welcome for a nearfall. Bonham goes for a corner dropkick but runs into a roaring elbow. Hero hits another Hero’s Welcome for the win at 19:47. This was clearly designed to put over Bonham for being able to hang with Hero. While Bonham definitely looked tough for being able to sustain Hero’s strikes, I have one problem. Throughout the entire contest, I never thought that Bonham could win. I wish that he would have busted out some of his signature moves and created a few nearfalls. Hero played his role well and if anything, Bonham came out of this match looking resilient. For a near twenty-minute contest, I just would have liked to see more suspense to really put Bonham over. ***

Hero says after the match that he still hasn’t received his rematch for the PWG World Title. When he wins his belt back, he’ll gladly give Bonham a title shot. They shake hands and the crowd chants for Bonham.

Match #8: Final Round: PWG World Tag Team Titles: Matt and Nick Jackson © vs. El Generico and Paul London
Matt tells Generico that just because he has a new partner, it doesn’t mean that the result will be any different. London calls the Young Bucks “rotten apples”. Generico and Human Tornado beat the Young Bucks before. So did London and Brian Kendrick. Essentially, Generico and London are a combination of two successful teams. Enough of this logic, let’s get to the match. The Young Bucks try to walk out but Rick Knox isn’t having any of it. Generico and London bring the Young Bucks back to ringside. Generico scoop slams Nick on the floor. Matt dumps London across the apron and slams Generico onto the floor. In the ring, Nick hits a slingshot facebuster on Generico and lands a moonsault to the outside onto London. Matt spears Generico and the Young Bucks work him over. He overhead suplexes Nick into the turnbuckles and makes the tag. London back drops Matt to the floor and double stomps Nick. He goes for a dropsault onto Matt but finds knees. Generico lures Matt to the floor and follows out with a dive. London plants Nick with a facebuster. Nick doesn’t kick out of a pin attempt and may have been knocked out after the previous move. This is an eerie coincidence when thinking about last year and how close three counts caused the fans to turn on the Young Bucks. Nick low blows Generico and the Young Bucks retreat to the back. Generico and London follow and take them back to ringside once more. In the ring, Matt gets caught with two yakuza kicks and a shooting star press. Generico connects with another yakuza kick and hits a brainbuster for a nearfall. Nick throws Generico to the floor. The Young Bucks catch London with four superkicks. Nick hits London with the megaphone but Rick Knox isn’t calling the disqualification. The Young Bucks try to clothesline Knox…BUT HE COMES BACK WITH A DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE! Generico hits a brainbuster on Nick for a huge nearfall. London double stomps Nick and lands a dive to the floor onto Matt. Generico yakuza kicks Nick twice but misses a plancha to the floor. The Young Bucks connect with stereo superkicks on Generico and follow with More Bang for Your Buck for a two count. London low blows Matt and dazes Nick up top with a spin kick. Generico plants Nick with a top rope brainbuster to make London and himself the new PWG World Tag Team Champions at 14:50. This is a tough match to rate for a multitude of reasons. Nick clearly got hit pretty hard off the facebuster and everyone retreating backstage for the second time caused an awkward moment. However, any wrestling fan has to give Nick credit for finishing the match in the way that he did. Speaking of the finishing stretch, it was awesome. When Generico hit a brainbuster after the Rick Knox clothesline, I thought the building was going to explode. Honestly, this match isn’t about star ratings. It’s about the moment when Generico and London win the titles. I’m happy to say that it felt like a special moment and in my opinion, that’s what counts. ***¾

London thanks Generico after the match and puts over the titles. London says that while he partakes in some extracurricular activities, winning the titles is the most natural high he’s ever had. He thanks the crowd and gets a little emotional. He wishes everyone a happy Mother’s Day and the new champions head to the back.

The 411: DDT4 (2010) is an incredibly consistent show. I gave six out of the eight matches at least three stars. That is more than enough to earn a recommendation. Another aspect of PWG that you have to consider is the fun factor of the shows. London was actually comical throughout the night and the Young Bucks delivered three extremely entertaining matches. You also have the historic moment of London and Generico finally dethroning the Young Bucks. Quality wrestling with the right intangibles coming into play. That sounds like the standard PWG show to me.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]