wrestling / Video Reviews
Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Head Like A Cole
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...It’s yet another quick turnaround for PWG then, as they’ve nestled quite nicely into a monthly routine this year. This show is most notable for – at least in the near future – being Adam Cole’s last PWG show. He’s about as much a PWG legend as there can be, so giving him the Steen treatment of having TWO PWG shows named after him (the first one being Black Cole Sun in late 2014) seems apropos. There’s a lot of great stuff beyond Cole’s farewell though, as he get to see the clash of the Lee’s, the PWG return of Mark Haskins, and Trent? challenges Zack Sabre Jr. in what should be a belter of a main event. So let’s not waste any more time…
We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA.
Your hosts are Excalibur and the gang, minus Chuckie T unfortunately!
Trevor Lee vs. Keith Lee
Keith Lee made his second PWG appearance last month in a great hoss fight against Jeff Cobb, while Trevor has been a bit more lowkey this year in terms of his PWG appearances. But that changes tonight, as much like Big T and Booker T in WCW, these two gladiators will fight over their surname in a pro wrestling battle!
Trevor tries to jump Keith as the bell rings, but instead he backs off and tries to negotiate a TNA Tag Team Title run with Keith as the Lee Brothers. He says he can make Keith Lee a TV star, as long as he lays down and gives Trevor the win. Trevor gets frustrated when Keith won’t lay down, and soon all that shoving and prodding comes back to bite him. Trevor walks away from a potential Keith Lee dive, but Keith follows him outside and keeps on him, preventing Trevor from doing just about anything with him. Trevor is able to get some breathing room by posting the big man before giving him quartet of soccer kicks from the apron. Trevor works over the bigger Lee inside the ring, working over the shoulder he posted to get the control in the first place. Keith starts making his comeback, a furious barrage of moves capped off by a running tackle to a kneeling Trevor. Trevor backflips out of a German and throws a pair of kicks, but Keith ducks a Superman Elbow and hits a rolling elbow for a close nearfall. Keith measures for the Spirit Bomb, but Trevor rolls to the apron with all his might. Keith tries a pop-up Spirit Bomb, but Trevor counters into a Frankensteiner instead. That earns the Caveman a Mongolian Chop, but Trevor counters another pop-up INTO A HUGE STOMP! That earns Trevor his first legit nearfall of the match. Keith hits a Ron Simmons-esque Spinebuster before the POOOUNNCCEEEEEE, but Trevor is just able to find the bottom rope. Keith goes to the second rope for a moonsault, but Trevor moves out of the way and BACKFLIPS INTO A DEADLIFT GERMAN~! KEITH NO-SELLS… RIGHT INTO A FLIPPING CROSSBODY! KEITH KICKS OUT! GOD’S LAST GIFT! KEITH KICKS OUT AGAIN! Trevor throws a barrage of kicks and uppercuts but WALKS RIGHT INTO A SPIRIT BOMB! Keith Lee picks up the win in 16 minutes. ***1/2 In terms of what I liked most, this was kind of the opposite of last month’s Jeff Cobb/Keith Lee match. There, I was really looking for a big closing stretch to get over the hump as everything before it had been damn near close to perfect for what they were trying to do. This match though had a bit of trouble getting off the ground during the middle portion. It felt a little cut and paste, not giving me much to sink my teeth into story-wise. But once they turned up the heat, this match got awesome in a big hurry. Trevor Lee has always had that talent really, just being able to explode into mad flurries of moves in a split second without warning. And that talent saved this match from being just okay, as both men milked the nearfalls and counters to perfection and led into the finish beautifully. Unfortunately, the stuff leading to that just went on too long and keeps the snowflake rating at bay. Hell of an opener though, for sure.
The Chosen Bros vs. reDRagon
This match marks reDRagon’s first match in PWG since their disappointing outing in Chris Hero’s last match at Mystery Vortex IV. The Chosen Bros – while admittedly superior in singles roles – have been a consistent treat in 2017, so I don’t anticipate feeling the same apathy for this match.
Cobb and O’Reilly start things off, and they work a fun little sequence of amateur vs. MMA. Neither man is able to get a distinct advantage here though. Cobb gets a Matt Hughes-esque takedown into guard, and the Hawaiian soon just lifts Kyle up out of his guard and tosses him about. That prompts Kyle to tag in Bobby Fish, so of course here comes Matt Riddle. Riddle threatens a cross armbreaker, but Fish finds the ropes before any damage is done. Kyle tags back in and goes after the King of Bros’ arm, keeping him near Fish for a tag. Riddle and Cobb trade Karelin Lifts on Fish, but Cobb is definitely the more impressive of the two in that respect. Fish falls victim to Cobb’s dope spinning Back Suplex, followed by a Broton from Riddle… who then just missiles a forearm into Kyle’s face to knock him off the apron. Unfortunately for Riddle and Cobb, that allows Fish a split second of time to come back and tag O’Reilly in. Kyle cleans house on Cobb, really making his life hell with combinations of strikes and submissions. He slaps on a kneebar, which prompts Cobb to boot him in the face until Kyle’s forced to break it up. Cobb staggers his way to Riddle, who tags in for a Bro 2 Sleep and German on Kyle for a two count. Kyle goes toe to toe with Riddle, hitting a thrusting knee that puts Riddle on Queer Street. Fish tags back in and tries the Choke, but breaks instead for some nasty kicks and an Exploder into the corner. Fish ducks the Pele, but Riddle ROLLS INTO A LIGERBOMB in a fantastic, fantastic sequence of counters. Cobb tags back in and looks for Tour of the Islands… but HE TURNS IT INTO A SUPLEX! He deadlifts Fish up for a nasty Pumphandle Suplex. Cobb hits his awesome pop-up German, but Fish kicks out. Fish and O’Reilly try a double kick on Cobb, but Mr. Athletic just runs through it and hits a double shoulderblock. Riddle hits the Bro 2 Sleep, right into the Tour of the Islands on O’Reilly, but Fish breaks it up. Fish suplexes Cobb ONTO Riddle, and we’ve got stereo submissions from reDRagon, as Kyle puts a guillotine on Riddle and Fish slaps a kneebar on Cobb. RIDDLE FISHERMAN BUSTERS KYLE ON FISH! Cobb lawndarts a bloody Bobby Fish into a Matt Riddle knee, and that’s it for reDRagon in 16 minutes. ***3/4 I don’t think a lot of people remember just how good reDRagon was in their heyday – despite it only really being a couple years ago – so I’m glad to report that this was a wonderful reminder. They don’t usually have the most exciting matches like say, the Young Bucks or Fenix & Pentagon, but that’s not their milieu. They specialize in very grappling/fight oriented offense and as such, they meshed superbly with Matt Riddle and Jeff Cobb who are cut from a similar cloth. I thought Bobby Fish especially had a phenomenal showing here, selling like a total champ and giving the proper receipts when he made his comebacks. Fish has never really done too much for me in a solo context, but the man is a damn great tag team wrestler and that was readily apparent here. The four men also told a great story with that aforementioned grappling skill, as neither team was quite able to get the tide turned too heavily in their favor. The momentum could be shifted by a single strike or throw, so you never quite knew where this was headed. That sort of psychology – the unpredictability of the match’s structure – actually made for one of the more refreshingly entertaining tag matches in recent PWG history. The strikes were stiff, the moves were crisp, and the chemistry between all four men was as compelling as you’d hope. I loved this match, really.
Michael Elgin vs. Shane Strickland
Some of you will recall my total apathy towards Shane Strickland after his debut a couple months ago, and that still remains. I said in that review (available here on 411Mania~!) that he came off to me as an inferior AR Fox clone rather than a legitimately talented high-flyer like Will Ospreay or Lio Rush or Fenix. He doesn’t impress me as Killshot in Lucha Underground, and he doesn’t have much magic without the mask either. But fortunately for him, the crowd loved the match so it’s not like my opinion has much weight in that regard. That being said, he’s up against a wrestler in Michael Elgin who specializes in throwing around skinny dudes like Strickland, so I’m a bit more excited for this match than I would be if there was… well, anyone in the ring with Strickland other than Big Mike. And hey, I hated Speedball Mike Bailey at first and now I miss him on PWG shows more and more every day, so let’s not count young Shane out yet.
Strickland is taller than Elgin, which is kind of a hilarious sight if we’re being honest. As one would expect, Shane twists and turns to keep Elgin on his toes until Big Mike clobbers young Strickland with a shoulder tackle. Elgin dodges a Strickland dive, so Shane tries to old Chris Hero somersault to the floor, only for Elgin to boot him out of a headstand for his troubles. Strickland springboards right into a Ligerbomb for an early two count. Elgin just starches Strickland with a lariat as he slows the pace down, followed by a reverse Alabama Slam for a nearfall. Strickland gets mouthy with Elgin, throwing some stiff slaps his way to make a little bit of headway after the shitkicking he’s endured thus far. Strickland sends Elgin to the floor with a dropkick, and follows immediately with a Spaceman dive. Strickland hits a rolling Ace Crusher for a good two count of his own. Elgin dodges a double stomp and just ragdolls poor Strickland around with some German Suplexes, before dropping him on his neck with a nasty rebound German. Strickland slips on a springboard, but Elgin jumps on him to cover it, doing THE DEAL with a Falcon Arrow for 2. Strickland counters a Tiger Driver with a Rana for 2, but Elgin folds him with a lariat… so Strickland does the Ishii sell and uses his last bit of energy for a double stomp! Strickland hits a 540 Kick and finally gets Big Mike up for a suplex, going up top for a double stomp that gets a nearfall. Strickland puts Elgin up top for a super Frankensteiner, but Elgin sandbags him, hits Splash Mountain, a Buckle Bomb, and eventually the Elgin Bomb puts Strickland away in 13 minutes. ** I was actually into this match in the earlygoings, as Strickland was doing a good job using his wacky – if light and unimposing – offense to keep Elgin at an arm’s length from completely murdering him… and then it just devolved into a painfully generic “my turn/your turn” match that I’ve seen Shane Strickland have millions of times. And this match didn’t really have the heat or crowd support Strickland’s match with Dezmond Xavier had, so it’s hard for me to really say much positive about this one after about the 3 minute mark. Now to be fair, Elgin wasn’t exactly out there going for a great match either, and it does take two to tango. It actually felt like Strickland was trying harder to really make something of this, but he doesn’t really have great timing or the knack of putting together matches to overcome Elgin’s autopiloting. So I don’t mean for this to come off like it was ALL Shane Strickland’s fault, as he was obviously working very hard here and it would take a fool to not recognize that. But as Shelton Benjamin or Billy Gunn’s careers show, athleticism and/or effort isn’t what makes a great pro wrestler.
Sami Callihan vs. Adam Cole
This is just about as fitting an Adam Cole farewell as you’re likely to get, as he and Sami Callihan have years and years of history both in and out of PWG. They had a pretty pedestrian first matchup at the 2012 BOLA, but Sami’s “farewell” match at Is Your Body Ready in 2013 – an unbelievable 60 minute Iron Man match – was against Adam Cole. So it’s only right that Cole has to go through Sami on his supposed goodbye, right?
Cole gets the streamer shower upon his introduction, probably his first legitimate face reaction since like 2012. They do the Guida vs. Huerta staredown before just going hell for leather, throwing superkicks and lariats until Cole hits the Last Shot out of nowhere… and Sami kicks out at 1! They throw punches and punches until they drop each other with simultaneous Bicycle Kicks. Sami sends Cole to the outside and just LAUNCHES HIM with a Lope into a poor girl holding a pitcher of beer like it’s her child. Sami takes him around the ring with chops and kicks and whatnot. Sami measures for a wacky run from the curtain to the far side of the ring, but that showboating earns him a superkick from the Panama City Playboy. Sami takes a front buckle that would make Bret Hart crack a smile, stroke and all. Cole measures up for the Cole Train, but this time it’s his showboating that backfires as Sami flips him into the corner for a barrage of face washes. Sami follows up with a hard lariat for a two count. Cole fights back with a pair of Shining Wizards for a complementing pair of nearfalls. These guys are going HARD, a pace that surely has to take its toll on Cole’s rotund figure and struggling arteries. Cole gets too cute with his showboating again, so Sami knocks him around with a Backdrop Driver and a Sliding D for two. Sami goes to the floor to pick up a pair of chairs, and he throws an intimidated Cole one for a DUEL~! Cole knocks the chair out of Sami’s hands and both men try to send each other through the remaining chair with suplexes, but Sami PUTS HIM THROUGH IT WITH A LIGERBOMB! RIGHT INTO A STRETCH MUFFLER! COLE GETS THE ROPES! That was a nasty bump. Sami puts the mangled chair on Cole’s leg and smacks it with the good chair a couple times, before going up top to basically murder him. Cole is able to stop him before any more damage is done, and he superkicks Sami out of midair! PANAMA SUNRISE! LAST SHOT! SAMI KICKS OUT! LAST SHOT AGAIN! SAMI KICKS OUT AGAIN! SMALL PACKAGE TRADE… AND SAMI WINS! Adam Cole leaves PWG with a loss in 18 minutes. ***1/2 While it wasn’t a patch on their Iron Man match – which was a near five star match if I remember right – this was a damn good way for Cole to move on from the company that he’s had some of his finest moments in. This was worked at a very torrid pace, which made sense considering the context and who was involved. Sami knew this was Cole’s last match, so he wanted to come out swinging and ruin his going-away party with a quick and decisive victory… only Adam Cole is one of Sami Callihan’s most well-known opponents, so it didn’t quite go down that way. Sami has a very obvious gameplan to each of his matches, and the way Cole scouted it the whole way through was a very good psychological touch. It was a brawl, and that’s what it should have been. Furthermore I loved how, even though the crowd’s support was firmly in Adam Cole’s favor, neither man changed their personality. They came into this match with their character intact, and instead opted to use the crowd’s uncommon love for Adam Cole as an advantage. Sure, Sami used weapons and tried to destroy Cole, but Callihan would do that to anyone. They knew their characters and worked them to perfection in this context, leading to a much more interesting dynamic than if this was just another Cole vs. Sami match. I think this could have been something legitimately great with a little more cohesion and selling down the stretch, but that’s merely a nitpick when you think about how fun this match was as a complete package. Like I said, this bout is 100% worthy of being Adam Cole’s last in PWG, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Mark Haskins vs. Lio Rush
Mark Haskins makes his PWG return after an incredibly solid performance in the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles, even though he was out with a career-threatening injury for much of that time. He was slated to face Michael Elgin at Game Over, Man! last month in what I think would have been a phenomenal matchup, but was unfortunately forced to pull out at the last minute. Lio has had a bevy of consistent performances since debuting in February and considering Haskins is one of the most consistent wrestlers you’re liable to see anywhere, this ought to be not only an interesting clash of styles, but a rock solid match as well.
You can probably ascertain how these two start things off, using their quickness to try and gain an early upper hand. Rush dodges a pair of Haskins Tope’s and hits a bottom rope Asai Moonsault on the floor. Rush starts screwing around with showboating, so the super focused Mark Haskins capitalizes and finally hits his Tope Suicida to a flustered Lio. Haskins uses that shift of momentum to go after Lio’s arm. Lio fights back with an Ace Crusher and measures for a dive, pretending to put the brakes on before shuttling outside with a Tope Suicida of his own. Haskins counters Lio’s rolling kick into the Star Armbar in a cool spot, but Rush scurries to the ropes. Haskins tries a Rings of Saturn this time, but Lio is able to roll out with a nearfall. Lio goes up top, but Haskins pops up and elbows him to the apron before Lio can try anything. Haskins follows him and tries a brainbuster on the apron, but Lio holds on for dear life and tries the Spanish Fly on the apron ala the match with Fenix. HASKINS HITS A DVD ON THE APRON! ROLLING MAGNUM DRIVER IN THE RING! Rush kicks out! Haskins tries another rolling Magnum Driver, but Lio swats him away and hits a C4. Frog Splash gives Lio the win in 16 minutes. *** While this match was hardly something I’ll remember after a couple weeks given its exhibition-like vibe and lowkey nature, it’s a testament to both men’s talent that this felt nothing like its 16 minute runtime. They worked a solid, simple match that pitted both men’s different forms of quickness against each other, and the match turned out to be pretty fun as a result. There was a lack of explosiveness and excitement to really give this encounter a bit of sizzle, but their styles meshed very well regardless and they gave me something I think any wrestling promotion worth their salt would want on their show.
PWG World Tag Titles: Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero M © vs. The Young Bucks
This of course is the return match after Fenix and Pentagon won the tag titles at Nice Boys back in March. They didn’t pin the Bucks to win however, so this was a natural match to follow up with. Very reminiscent of New Japan booking in that way really. These four had an unbelievable match at BOLA last year, so it’s going to take a cracker to even touch that standard. But if any pair of teams can do it, it’s these two.
The Bucks want a Texas Tornado SPOTFEST~!, but Penta tells them to go fuck their mother. It sounded way cooler in Spanish. It’s a Pier Sixer to start things off, with the Bucks getting the early advantage with a Nick Jackson Spaceman dive onto the Lucha Brothers. Matt goes up top for an Orihara Moonsault, and The Bucks are in firm control. They try the Elite Terminator dive, but Fenix and Penta roll in with stereo Ace Crushers. Penta hits Nick with a Slingblade before dropkicking him to the outside for a huge Tope Con Hilo, followed by a TORNILLO to the outside from Fenix. Fenix traps Matt in the corner so Penta can build up a chop sans his glove, but he ends up just giving Matt a Too Sweet to the eyes! Penta suplexes Matt into the corner, but Nick saves the day with a big collection of moves on both champs! Matt recovers and helps his brother double stomp Penta, before Nick rolls into a Backstabber on a hung-up Fenix. Fenix and Penta hit a Super Collider on the Bucks, followed by Penta giving his brother a Casadora Facebuster, splashing onto the Bucks. Penta necks Nick with a hanging DDT, but walks right into a swinging DDT from Matt… only for Fenix to recover and hit the challengers with a double DDT of his own! Hilariously inane spot as both teams end up accidentally giving their partners a Destroyer, and it soon devolves into a FOUR WAY SUPERKICK! They soon add chops into the mix and we get a FOUR WAY ALOHA ARN before they all collapse. Nick dodges a Fenix double stomp on the apron and gives him a German, but Penta catches him with a Package Piledriver on the apron… only for Matt to DDT Penta to the floor. They bring the champs into the ring for a Superkick Party, the spot that put them away in the BOLA match. Fenix and Penta respond in kind, but the Bucks are able to power out. Simultaneous Package Piledriver/Tope Con Hilo from the Lucha Bros scores, and Nick eats another one in the ring for a nearfall. Double Stomp/Package Piledriver helps Fenix and Penta retain their belts in 14 minutes. **3/4 I don’t know what went wrong here, but this was hardly even a patch on their spectacular match at Stage 3 of last year’s BOLA. It lacked the usual pinpoint cohesion of a Young Bucks match, the sudden sense of danger of a Pentagon match, and the spark of a PWG spotfest to the point where this is quite easily one of the least memorable efforts I’ve ever seen out of either team. And even crazier, we were treated to one of the rare times The Young Bucks don’t deliver. This match was filled to the brim with your usual comedy schtick from the Bucks, but none of it seemed to land. It was worked at an awesome pace, but never seemed to escalate. There was sloppiness and a pretty noticeably indifferent crowd as the match wore on, which is so unlike any match I’ve ever seen from either team (in PWG nonetheless) that it almost seems like a novelty. That’s especially disappointing given that 9 months beforehand, we got one of the most memorable matches of the BOLA 2016 weekend out of this tandem so it’s not like this came down to a lack of chemistry. Even the best teams have off days unfortunately (see the Bucks vs. Gargano & Ciampa from All Star Weekend 11), and this appeared to be one of them. Ya can’t win ‘em all I suppose.
PWG World Title: Zack Sabre Jr. © vs. Trent?
This is probably Trent’s highest profile singles match in PWG yet, coming off the heels of the ongoing Best Friends vs. LDRS feud that has consistently been some of the most entertaining stuff PWG has put out in a minute. Trent has slowly but surely built his singles resume with amazing matches against guys like Chris Hero, Drew Galloway, and even his own best friend Chuck Taylor over the past year. Now he gets to really get the chance to show his criminally underrated skill in a main event capacity against the reliably great PWG champ, and I’m quite excited to see it.
They start out trading strikes and uppercuts as Zack tries to get the jump on Trent, who is more than willing to fight back. Trent tries a flash Cradle Piledriver, but Zack escapes immediately from certain death. Trent follows him to the outside with a pescado as we see one Shayna Baszler in the crowd. Trent suplexes Zack on the floor and tries a suplex as they get back into the ring, but Zack quickly slithers out and goes after Greg’s arm. Zack tries some running uppercuts into the corner, but Trent counters into the Scott Lost stomp to create some separation, and he’s able to get some offense in with a Swirly Pop DDT. He puts Zack up for a Superplex, but Zack grabs the bad arm, slips under, and kicks his leg out from under him to send him careening to the mat. He goes after Trent’s leg now, wrenching it to his heart’s content as Trent has no choice but to lie down, tied in a knot. Zack toys with him a little bit, throwing a pair of disrespectful kicks to make his challenger mad. Trent hobbles up and belts him with a slap, so Zack picks his ankle and puts in a leglock to teach him a lesson. Trent is able to duck an elbow long enough to hit a Half and Half Suplex on Zack, allowing him some time to recover. Zack counters a Cradle Piledriver into a Guillotine, but he immediately hits a Half and Half of his own, followed by a PK. He tries to leglock again, but Trent finds the ropes almost immediately and rolls out to the apron. Zack goes all Tanahashi on Trent and gives him a Dragon Screw through the second rope… but Trent hits a flash Piledriver on the apron! Trent slowly starts building some offense against the champion, but his leg is really hurting his momentum as he can’t follow up. Zack can merely crumble him with a pair of leg kicks, but Trent doesn’t stay down too long. Trent misses an enzuigiri but is able to counter the European Clutch with a close O’Connor Roll nearfall. Zack pops back up and goes back after Trent’s leg, wrapping it up in the ropes so he can dive out onto it… but he gets too busy jawing with the crowd and Trent hits a super Belly-to-Belly! Sexy Chuckie Knee scores, RIGHT INTO A CRADLE PILEDRIVER! Zack kicks out. Zack gets out of the Dudebuster and locks in a flying Triangle, right into another Kneebar… COUNTERED INTO A BRIDGING PIN FOR 2! EUROPEAN CLUTCH FROM ZACK FOR 2! OCTOPUS… COUNTERED INTO THE DUDEBUSTER! TRENT CAN’T CAPITALIZE! ZACK KICKS OUT! PK FROM ZACK! LARIAT TO A JUMPING ZACK FROM TRENT! DUDEBUSTER… BUT ZACK HAMMERS TRENT’S KNEE! ZACK DESTROYS TRENT’S KNEE WITH A SUBMISSION! Zack Sabre Jr retains his belt in 24 minutes. **** This match was just fabulous, and furthermore the great main event this show desperately needed. Some Zack Sabre matches follow this formula, with Zack just working a wrestler’s limb as the focus of the match until his opponent makes a big heroic last gasp before ultimately getting beaten. Some of those matches are let down by his opponent’s lackadaisical selling and general unfaithfulness to Zack’s otherwise rock solid storytelling. There was NONE of that here, as Trent sold everything Zack put him through like a total pro and really made this match a memorable outing for both men. He proved to me that he’s a truly elite pro wrestler, and he was an excellent babyface to Zack to dissect. Zack himself was a phenomenal heel, just sadistically tearing Trent’s knee apart at his heart’s content. He toyed with Trent arrogantly at points, and when Trent would quite justifiably fire back, Zack just took him down and put him through more hell for DARING stand up for himself. He wasn’t a bad guy because he yelled at the crowd or whatever. He was a bad guy because he was a complete and utter prick to his opponent and even better, he had the skills to back it up. When you put such a gloriously performed character in with a natural babyface like Trent, you get a match of a certain quality. But like I alluded to earlier, I was over the moon with Trent Beretta’s performance in this match. He was the star of the show and if New Japan has a head on its shoulders, they’ll give him a push now that he’s a singles guy. And to think, this match could have been one of the best of the year had they worked a little longer towards the finish! I just can’t say enough good things about this match honestly.
