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Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG THIRTEEN
Image Credit: PWG
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It’s been a couple months since I last visited PWG, and a LOT has happened in those two months. For one, BOLA happened and blew the socks off the entire wrestling world in a way I’m not sure even the most liberal of PWG fanboys (as in, me) could have imagined. I thought – and still believe – that last year’s BOLA is the height of PWG’s greatness thus far and it’s going to take something magical to even touch 2015… but that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Lost in the hubbub of BOLA, the Cruiserweight Classic and such, is PWG’s thirteenth anniversary. The last couple anniversaries have been overshadowed pretty heavily by the major tournament that followed, but with a robust card in store this time around, a major farewell, and BEST FRIENDS IMPLODING, there’s some news to be had here. So let’s not waste anymore of our time…
We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA.
Your hosts are Excalibur and the usual suspects.
Adam Cole vs. Brian Cage
I don’t mean to begin this review negatively, but given this was supposed to be Tommy End vs. Adam Cole, one can’t help but feel slightly sad that dreams didn’t come together. But Brian Cage as ever is a loyal PWG stalwart, so there’s not too much to whine about.
Cole makes sure to tell Angelo Trinidad to address him as the strongest man in the ring right now. Cole wants to back that up in earnest before the match really gets underway, and so Cage gets on his knees to assist Cole in his efforts. But as even the most sheltered of wrestling fans know, getting on your knees for Adam Cole is liable to end only one way. Cole fortunately keeps Cage’s mouth empty as the Machine pulls him into his crotch at will. Talk about a plot twist. Cage curls Cole about ten times before sending him soaring with a fallaway slam. Excalibur compliments Cole’s less utterly disgusting physique, but remembers that it’s because of pneumonia and doesn’t chalk it up to his fitness. Cage takes Cole around the ring, giving him suplexes and chops before powerbombing him into the ringpost. Cole doesn’t quite stick the landing as he escapes a superplex, but recovers anyway and superkicks Cage’s knee out from under him. Cole hits a “Sparkly Wizard” as Chris Hero calls it. Cole attempts a Figure Four, but Cage gives him a no-handed Monkey Flip. Cole perseveres anyways and superkicks Cage in the knee before finally locking in the Figure Four. Cage just boots him in the face to escape, and makes a comeback with a couple clotheslines and a Flatliner. Cole tries a delightfully obvious low blow, but Cage has it scouted and counters into a Pumphandle Facebuster for 2. They trade superkicks until Cole is able to get the upperhand and hit a Shining Wizard for 2. Cole looks for the Florida Key, but settles for a regular German, a superkick, and finally he hits the Florida Key for a nearfall. Cole measures for Panama Sunrise, but Cage counters into an Alabama Slam and goes on to get a nearfall from an F-5. Cole rolls out of Weapon X and gets the anticlimactic win with a rope-assisted O’Connor Roll in 12 minutes. ** I’m not quite sure what was going on here, but this match seemed incredibly thrown together and thus didn’t have much resembling a coherent structure or escalation. If we want to be blunt, this read to me like they just went out there and called it in the ring instead of proficiently stringing together a proper PWG opener. I commend Brian Cage selling his knee throughout, but considering it didn’t come into play at all near the end, it’s hard to really reward the match as a whole. This is definitely one of the weaker PWG matches of the year without much in the way of substance, but even so it’s hardly offensive.
Roderick Strong vs. Timothy Thatcher
The WWE-bound Roderick is wrestling his last advertised match for PWG tonight, while this marks Thatcher’s first appearance since Lemmy way back in January where he had a tremendous outing against Drew Gulak. Thatcher hasn’t quite set the world on fire with his output this year for whatever reason (even though I think his match with Matt Riddle at EVOLVE 66 was a near MOTYC) but he’s yet to have a subpar showing in PWG, and coupled with Roderick Strong saying goodbye, I’d imagine there’s at least something in store here. Plus, I might be the world’s biggest Tim Thatcher fan and thus my journalistic integrity may take a hit.
It doesn’t take a genius to surmise how this match starts off given who’s wrestling. Thatcher nearly pulls off an early gutwrench, but Roddy has it scouted and searches for a Bow-And-Arrow. Justin Borden tries to make Thatcher break, and Roddy uses that as an outlet to cheapshot Thatcher’s knee and gain his first serious modicum of control. Thatcher mean-mugs, so Roddy decides it’s a good idea to keep chopping Thatcher who replies accordingly with a lifter. Roddy is still able to keep his head above water, throwing some meticulously placed stomps. Roddy sets Thatcher across the top rope for the Nakamura knee, followed by an attempt for a superplex. Thatcher resists and shoves Roddy off the top, and just climbs off the ropes and throws Roddy around with a gutwrench suplex for 2. Thatcher tries a Butterfly Suplex, but Roddy counters with a gordbuster that faceplants the EVOLVE champion, followed by a pancaking back suplex. Roddy puts Thatcher up, and is finally able to superplex him. Death By Roderick follows, but Thatcher rolls out of a pin into a Fujiwara Armbar! The two trade strikes in the center of the ring, before Thatcher EATS A CHOP ACROSS THE FACE! HEADBUTT BY THATCHER! FUJIWARA ARMBAR! Roddy rolls out and hits the Sick Kick! He folds Thatcher with a pair of jumping knees, and that gets the pin in 11 minutes. ***1/4 Considering this match’s position on the card, it’s hard to ask for much more than what we got. In many ways, it’s your typical Tim Thatcher match and as such, mileage may vary for your average viewer. For me, I welcomed it with open arms and appreciated how he meshed with Roderick. Roddy didn’t show the frat boy dickhead personality he’s usually given us in his PWG outings, instead opting for a more old-fashioned Roderick Strong match, focusing on machine-like attacks and keeping going even when the pace slowed. I thought they did a good job getting over how out-of-his-element Thatcher was, as the speed and athleticism of Roderick Strong was hard for Thatcher to contain. And thus, that quickness gave Roddy the victory in an admittedly abrupt manner. That, and a few areas of small-but-noticeable clunkiness causes my rating to plateau where it is, but even with that I thought this was a great amount of fun for what it was.
Jeff Cobb vs. Trevor Lee
Jeff Cobb is by far the biggest story coming out of the last PWG show, as he had a sensational showing against Chris Hero that quite literally may have gotten him bookings all over the world, perhaps setting the stars to align for Cobb to be one of the breakout stars of 2016, along with Matt Riddle and Will Ospreay and co. Trevor Lee has been selling himself as a delightful heel with a strong TNA loyalty, and considering TNA continues to… well, exist, that’s always going to have a certain level of entertainment value. Put these two together and it’s quite hard to miss.
Maybe it’s just me, but you can already tell how much more confident Jeff Cobb is by just looking at the guy. Trevor makes sure to tell Jeff that he’s in the ring with a TNA superstar, which draws the ire of the crowd. Cobb isn’t sure what to make of it, so he just plays the straight man. He faceplants Lee out of a simple tie-up, leaving the former X-Division Champion in shambles. Trevor shoves Cobb, who responds by throwing Lee around like a little bearded child. Lee lambasts Cobb for trying to make a name for himself and tries to brag about beating Kevin Steen before SLAPPING Cobb, who throws him around some more. He manages to top himself with a standing moonsault and a standing shooting star press, of which Joey Ryan pleads Cobb to stop on commentary out of embarrassment. Cobb takes Lee out to the apron and tries a Gorilla Press, but Lee wriggles out and hits a BROTHER NERO~! Twist of Fate on the apron! Trevor tries to ragdoll Cobb across the ring, but ends up on the wrong side of a toss from Cobb… who runs right into a Mushroom Stomp from Trevor! Trevor tries a takedown, but that proves foolish as he falls victim to the rolling gutwrench suplexes. Lee flips out of a German and hits a Superman Elbow, but Cobb hits his beautiful switch-up German Suplex. Trevor hits a CRAZY sunset powerbomb from the second rope and looks to start building momentum, sliding out to the apron for a PK… AND THEN A TOPE OVER THE RINGPOST! Lee hits another pair of Superman Elbows, but nearly falls victim to Tour of The Islands! SHOOTING STAR CROSSBODY! COBB KICKS OUT! I see that move every time Trevor Lee wrestles and it still amazes me every single time. Trevor tries to follow up with God’s Last Gift, but Cobb shoves him off… only to eat a low blow from Trevor who distracts Rick Knox. Cobb deadlifts to counter a small package, but Lee knees out… and DIVES RIGHT INTO TOUR OF THE ISLANDS! That is all at the 12 minute mark. ***1/2 This wasn’t as much of a spectacle as the match with Chris Hero was at PRINCE, but it’s quite plain to see that Jeff Cobb will continue to fit right into the PWG fold. He does power spots that Michael Elgin and Brian Cage quite simply cannot, and backs that up with a multitude of innovative moves that are able to back up the flashy displays of power. His stamina is a bit of an issue as Excalibur noted on commentary, but it doesn’t hinder the match to any actual degree and one could argue that it enhances the realism. As ever, Trevor Lee was a tremendous heel foil and quite possibly the perfect opponent for a guy like Cobb, who can just throw the scumbag heel across hell and creation at his will while his opponent converses with the crowd in between time. That sort of built-in psychology carried this match and nicely complemented all of the awesome offense Jeff Cobb displays. This one is pretty hard to fault.
Chuck Taylor vs. Trent?
Quite simply the day that I don’t think even the most bitter, negative, and terrible of wrestling fans could ever hope to come. Gone (momentarily) are the talks of hogs, and the popping of dogs. The only thing these two men will be concerned about wiping is their own blood, sweat, and tears… and it won’t be sitting or standing; they may be lying six feet under. So with millions of eyes watching – and God forbid Jerry Lynn – we witness the implosion of BEST FRIENDS~!
Joey Ryan begins with the line of the night, saying “I think me winning the Battle of Los Angeles is like Mabel winning King of The Ring 1995.” Chuck Taylor offers a handshake, but the crowd and even the commentators want a hug. They tie up, and immediately Trent tells the world “I hate doing this!” as Chuckie gives him a clean break. Trent drops Chuckie with a shoulderblock, but helps him up immediately as Excalibur teases a Chuck Taylor title shot as my heart flutters. They do an athletic feeling out process, and beautifully work themselves into THE HUG~! CHUCK RAKES TRENT’S EYES~! Are we seeing DUSTIN in the American Legion? Trent guillotines Chuck over the top rope and looks for the Tope Atomico face-rake, but Chuck moves and hits the slow-mo Tope Atomico! Trent rolls out to the other side and dodges a plancha, and THROWS A CHAIR IN CHUCKIE’S FACE. “Best Friends don’t need rules, okay?” I love Trent Beretta. Trent piles chairs on the floor and suplexes Chuck on them! Trent pulls out steel chairs and sets them seat-to-seat, reminding a guy in a Best Friends shirt that, and say it with me, Best Friends don’t need rules. Chuck fights back and gives him a suplex on the apron and a POWERBOMB ON THE STEEL CHAIRS! Excalibur harps on the “hard left” this match took. Chuck goes under the ring for more, and he brings out a ladder! Chuckie sets the ladder up, but runs into a drop toehold on the seat of a chair and a Half-and-Half for 2. Trent sets Chuck on the propped ladder in the second rope, but Chuck moves and sweeps Trent’s legs out, DESTROYING THE LADDER! Chuck tries to powerbomb Trent into the ladder, now propped up in the corner, but Trent gets out and hits the Dudebuster! They trade shots in the center of the ring until TRENT BACKDROPS CHUCKIE INTO THE LADDER!~! CHUCK MISSED! Jesus CHRIST. GOBSTOPPER! Chuck kicks out. We almost witnessed the Death of a Gentleman. Trent has a nasty welt on his back as he goes under the ring and picks up a bag… FULL OF TACKS~! You’d have seen this coming if you’d have watched the Best Friends with Drew Gulak. Excalibur with a tremendous line; “That is foresight! That’s the difference between manslaughter and Murder 1!” Trent sets Chuck up top for a superplex, but Chuck fights him off… only until TRENT GIVES HIM A SUPER FRANKENSTEINER INTO THE TACKS~! SEXY CHUCKIE KNEE! CHUCK KICKS OUT! Trent rolls Chuck into more thumbtacks and looks for a Gobstopper into the tacks… BUT CHUCK SENDS HIM FRONT-FIRST INTO THE TACKS! PILEDRIVER INTO THE TACKS! Chuck Taylor keeps the streak alive in 17 minutes. **** I know it’s difficult for a lot of people to look past Chuck Taylor’s persona and evaluate him purely as a professional wrestler, so sometimes it’s nice to be so emphatically reminded of just how talented the Kentucky Gentleman is when it’s time to get going. With that being said, in terms of ring psychology and character work, I’d be remiss if I said Trent wasn’t on his game one hundred percent. That’s not to demean what Chuck did in the match however, but Trent’s sudden psychopathic rage at a simple eye-rake provided a wonderful – if abrupt and bizarre – pallet for Chuck to play his heroic babyface. I know a lot of people won’t like how tongue-in-cheek this escalation of violence may be, but at the end of the day, the two men treated it seriously and turned it into a logical fight so that’s how I’m going to treat it as well. And as a brutal, hardcore affair between two increasingly frustrated friends, this was really a tremendous match for a number of reasons and these two really lived up to my unrealistically lofty expectations for their faceoff
After that war, both men hug as millions of fans sigh in relief.
Sami Callihan vs. Marty Scurll
Marty Scurll has probably been 2016’s MVP if we’re talking strictly PWG, as he had a sensational match with Kyle O’Reilly in March before having another showstealer against Mark Andrews in May. But based on Callihan’s output thus far in PWG, I’m not too confident this will be of the same calibre. I understand that his run before leaving was really fantastic (his Iron Man match with Adam Cole was so, so good) but he’s yet to produce anything even remotely touching the level of even some of his weaker pre-WWE efforts. But hey, what do I know?
Sami Callihan is Space Cat all of a sudden, which screams of middle school LOL RANDOM to me but it’s PWG and it’s REALLY hard to not get stuff over. Scurll tries to grab the mask but settles for trying a handshake, which he uses to stomp on Sami’s foot and rip the mask off, revealing cat whiskers because Sami Callihan don’t half ass SHIT. That earns Marty a boot to the head and a few chest rakes. Scurll blocks one and SNAPS SAMI’S CLAWS~! Eat your heart out PETA. Sami hits a step-up lariat to the outside, following with a pump kick to the chest from the apron. Scurll takes advantage of Sami posturing to the crowd with a superkick from the apron, but Sami does the same but instead of a superkick, it’s a Lope! Marty battles back with his “just kidding” superkick, and a back suplex on the apron. Sami sets Marty on a chair and chops him, but Marty heads back to the apron, only for Sami to drag him back outside and give him a chest rake! They both miss chops and hit the ringpost, and Sami cannonballs Marty into the crowd. Back in the ring, Marty grabs the cat mask to distract Sami long enough for an eyepoke, followed by a short dropkick to the back of the head. Marty ties Sami up on the ropes and fakes a surfboard, but instead stomps Sami’s knees into the mat and sends Sami outside. Marty then decides to go after the arm. The crowd hilariously starts up the Globo Gym Purple Cobras chant much to my delight. Sami outsmarts Marty on the “Just Kidding” superkick, but Marty catches a Bicycle Kick and drops Sami with some wacky butterfly maneuver. Sami battles back with various cat maneuvers, and sets him up for the Face Erasers in the corner. He takes an absurb amount of time setting up for a second one which nearly backfires, but he’s able to recover with a Death Valley Driver and an Emerald Dram for a two count. Marty elbows out of a suplex, but Sami drops him down and puts him in a Tongan Death Grip. They trade strikes in the center of the ring, and eventually drop each other with stereo big boots. They do the Taker/Lesnar sit-up spot before Scurll hits a crafty low-blow, but Sami battles back with one of his own. Marty hits a superkick, a knee, and a powerbomb for 2 followed by a nasty lariat. Sami counters a suplex into a PACKAGE TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER! Marty is able to kick out! Scurll rolls a running Sami into a cradle, right into the Chickenwing! Sami escapes and jabs Scurll, followed by a knee and a powerbomb for two… right into a Crossface! Scurll’s hand almost drops three times, but Marty rolls out and superkicks a defiant Callihan to death! Sami spits at him and flips him off, so Marty snaps his fingers! SUPLEX RIGHT INTO A CHICKENWING! Marty wins at the 22 minute mark. *** This was getting dangerously close to being too ridiculous for me to take seriously just because Sami had a hard time taking it seriously himself, but it eventually morphed into a fun little fight down the stretch. What I don’t understand about Sami is that he’s so ridiculously great at playing an antagonistic badass with no quit in him, but he drags down matches with various antics and expects that to reap the same rewards he did when he was a reliable showstealer. I hear he tore the house down with Cody Rhodes at BOLA so I’ll keep the whining at that, but it’s kind of frustrating. As for the match, like I alluded to earlier it’s really a tale of two halves. The first several minutes were fun enough comedy-wise, but didn’t hold a candle to their great finishing stretch and it shows in the star rating I think. Had they actually built up tension throughout the match and kept things a bit tighter, we’d be talking Match of The Night potentially. But hey, the live crowd was more than happy to get invested in this so my critiquing can only go so far, and I really did enjoy the last several minutes when they turned it up. Your mileage may vary, but I thought this was a really good match that had eons of potential to be so much more.
Chris Hero asks The Young Bucks to defend their titles in the match tonight since they’re always off in Japan. Matt Jackson takes the mic and proclaims his happiness at being back in “this dump in Reseda”, before showing off he and his brother’s brand new gear that a fan so eloquently describes as “it looks like Shawn Michaels threw up on you!” Matt says they’re a fighting tag team – “The Young mother-f’ing Young Bucks” – and it’s officially a title match!
PWG World Tag Titles: The Young Bucks © vs. Death By Elbow
JT Dunn and Chris Hero had a great showing as a team at All Star Weekend XII against Matt Sydal & Ricochet, so it’s hard to complain about the matchmaking here. Selfishly I’d still kill to see Heroes Eventually Die get the Young Bucks match, but that’s kind of out of the picture at this point and I have a pretty succinct feeling I won’t be disappointed by these four.
Excalibur’s commentary before the bell rings here is delightfully negative. Nick and JT Dunn trade superkick and elbow attempts before Nick is able to coerce Dunn to put his leg down… only for an animated “Suck It” from the younger Buck. Dunn is unable to get Nick down for a sunset flip, so the greatest “Suck It” sequence of all-time occurs before Chris Hero comes in and just jabs Nick into the pinning predicament. Matt spits on Hero, who jabs him too for good measure, and Death By Elbow starts to take control with a Hero senton to Nick. Hero catches a double superkick from the Bucks and hits them both with a Bicycle Knee, but the Bucks recover enough to catch a slingshotting Dunn with Early Onset Alzheimer’s before Hero sends both Bucks outside with a variety of kicks and knees. Hero measures for a dive, but the Bucks move and give him Early Onset Alzheimer’s as Hero does the Misawa roll to the apron. The Bucks summon the spirit of Kenny Omega before diving out with stereo Tope Suicidas to Dunn and Hero. The Bucks use that to take control of Dunn in their corner. Matt hits a gloriously over-the-top running eye-rake to a Camel Clutched JT Dunn. JT Dunn tries his hand at Suck It’s, so Nick crumbles him with a roundhouse kick. The Bucks hit the Powerbomb/Enzuigiri followed by a dropkick/Cannonball combo on Dunn, but Hero breaks the pin… only to eat a superkick as he tries to powerbomb Nick. Matt accidentally makes his brother a victim of the Headscissor/Dropkick double team, and Dunn gets the tag to Hero! Hero gets going on Matt with knees and kicks before hitting a rolling neckbreaker. A Bicycle Kick from the big man gets 2. Nick recovers, but Hero tries a wacky move on both Bucks… which earns him a pop-up rana from them. Dunn catches Matt with a rolling cutter, followed by a rolling Mafia Kick from Hero for 2. Matt looks for the corkscrew Ace Crusher off the top rope, but settles for hitting a Shiranui off the chest of Dunn. Nick superkicks Hero from the apron, followed by the slingshot X-Factor on Dunn and rolling out to moonsault onto Hero from the apron! Nick hits a Swanton on Dunn for a two count. Nick tries the 10 Punches on Dunn, but Hero lifts him out and KILLS HIM WITH A PILEDRIVER! LAUNCHED INTO A GERMAN FROM DUNN! Hero and Matt trade elbows and superkicks respectively, and eventually Dunn and Nick join the party. They hit each other in a circle almost, and the Bucks hit elbows! SUPERKICKS FROM DEATH BY ELBOW! PARTNER ASSISTED REVERSE RANA BY DUNN! SUPERKICKS FOR DEATH BY ELBOW FROM NICK! Nick and JT are the first ones up, and they trade strikes until Matt pulls Dunn out of the ring for A DOOMSDAY SUPERKICK ON THE FLOOR~! The Bucks measure Hero, who is a heap on the side of the ring, but Hero fights back with elbows to both Bucks… only to eat Early Onset Alzheimer’s! INDY TAKER FROM DEATH BY ELBOW! NICK BREAKS THE PIN! ELBOW PARTY ON MATT JACKSON! Matt dodges a stereo elbow and Nick distracts Justin Borden for a low blow! HERO CATCHES NICK MID MELTZER DRIVER~! JUMPING PILEDRIVER! BACKSLIDE GETS THE WIN FOR THE BUCKS! Matt retains the titles for his in 22 minutes. **** As a general rule, wrestling events are always improved by the presence of Matt and Nick Jackson. Many have told you how horrible they are, how business-exposingly spotty they are, and how they make a mockery of this super serious, never-to-be-lighthearted wrestling business. That’s fine, and to each his own. But one thing that objectively cannot be denied, is that they present themselves as stars, and the crowd and the companies they work for treat them as such. The crowd was as invested for this match as they have been for anything all year, and that’s because of The Young Bucks. And make no mistake about it, JT Dunn and Chris Hero held up their ends of the bargain in a glorious manner. I love how all four immediately established the juxtaposition of superkicks and elbows and used those to turn the tide at various points of the match, and its climax of Chris Hero resorting to a superkick to stick it to The Bucks was a fantastic cap on that little bit of psychology. Otherwise, you could say that this was a match you’d expect these four men to have. It was never boring, always active, and had a spectacular finishing stretch. It’s really nothing new for The Young Bucks, but they always manage to make that formula work like magic and thus, I see no reason to change it. Add on two very game opponents in Death By Elbow, and you have yet another excellent tag team title defense in PWG.
PWG World Title: Zack Sabre Jr. © vs. Kyle O’Reilly
This is a main event I was salivating over immediately upon announcement, as Kyle O’Reilly is one of the best in the world, and Zack Sabre Jr. is… well, Zack Sabre Jr. These two had a great match at BOLA 2014 but were slightly hindered by that being a Night 3 and not in a main event slot. With that in mind, I’m expecting this to be something special and neither man has ever been one to let the fans down.
Kyle’s shoulder being taped from the fantastic Bullet Club/Jay Lethal angle in ROH is a nice touch. It doesn’t take rocket appliances to figure out how these two start things off. Sabre goes after Kyle’s ankle in the early goings here, before transitioning into a wacky submission that O’Reilly is able to break relatively easier by finding the ropes. Kyle unloads with an elbow out of frustration, and he and Sabre are soon trading elbows and lifters respectively. Kyle isn’t having that and shoots a double leg, mounting Sabre and throwing palm strikes before rolling into an ankle lock that Zack is able to break. Kyle uses that to introduce some work on the left leg of the champ, Figure-Four’ing the leg and wrenching it down before some SLEAZY KYLE~! Kyle locks on a kneebar, but Zack is able to find the ropes without much resistance. Zack dodges a corner kick and kicks Kyle’s knee out from under him, dropping him on his shoulder and working him over on the mat. Kyle throws some leg kicks from the ground, so Sabre just STOMPS HIM IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD. Zack follows immediately with a headscissor, twisting the challenger up at will. Zack wraps Kyle’s legs up and we see SLEAZY ZACK~! before Zack goes back to twisting him up. Kyle counters a headbutt into a front facelock, but Zack uppercuts out of it and we’re trading strikes again… until Kyle hits his big combo ending with a legsweep. He tries the rolling Butterfly suplexes, but it turns out to be too much of a toll on his shoulder, so instead he goes for a dragon screw. Kyle takes too long to follow up, so he ends up in an Octopus Hold in the ropes! Kyle counters by wrenching Sabre’s bad leg, and sweeps him on the apron! Zack tries to get out of Dodge, but Kyle hits a running knee off of the apron! Kyle follows up with the Misawa missile dropkick, but his shoulder is too hurt to follow him, so Zack GIVES HIM A PK! Zack measures Kyle in the corner for the running uppercuts, but Kyle collapses after one in pain… so Zack stomps him in the head! Zack tries going after the shoulder, but Kyle rolls into a kneebar…that Zack counters into a cross armbreaker…BUT KYLE COUNTERS INTO AN ANKLE LOCK! Zack counters out of it, AND EATS A SAITO SUPLEX! HALF AND HALF FROM SABRE! Kyle counters a PK with a DRAGON SCREW IN MID-AIR! They sit in the middle of the ring and trade strikes, and they eventually find themselves upright until Kyle hits a beautiful Bicycle Knee! Zack counters a brainbuster into a Kimura on the bad arm, but Kyle counters out and puts in a standing arm triangle… into a shoulder capture suplex! Zack knees out of a Regalplex, but Kyle perseveres and snaps one off anyways for 2. The fans go insane with dueling chants, and Zack nearly gets the win with a bridging Prawn Hold. KYLE CATCHES A RUNNING UPPERCUT INTO A BACKSLIDE! LEG KICKS FOLD ZACK! Zack looks for a European Clutch, but KYLE COUNTERS INTO A REAR NAKED CHOKE… COUNTERED INTO A CROSS ARMBREAKER… INTO A TRIANGLE FROM ZACK! KYLE GETS THE ROPES! Sabre starts kicking at the bad shoulder, BEFORE MURDERING HIM WITH STOMPS! KYLE STOPS KNOX FROM ENDING THE MATCH! THEY TRADE ELBOWS! PELE TO THE ARM FROM ZACK! REBOUND LARIAT… COUNTERED INTO THE OCTOPUS HOLD~! ZACK WINS! Zack Sabre Jr retains his title in a phenomenal 24 minutes. ****1/4 As anyone with a brain would expect, this was a fabulous technical wrestling match that firmly lived up to the hype. Kyle coming in with the taped up shoulder, stemming from the Bullet Club destroying it on ROH TV, only for Zack to get aggressive in going after it was an obvious storytelling route to go, and since both men are experts at that sort of thing, it worked in spades. Kyle’s selling is probably best in the world when you factor in his facials, his body language, and how he carries himself with a worked injury. His match with Jay Lethal directly after the aforementioned angle was absolutely incredible and he did more of the same great work against the Technical Wizard. I loved Zack getting a bit more snide and dick-ish in his demeanor in going after Kyle, especially after small things like Kyle throwing Inoki-esque upkicks at the wounded leg from the ground. Zack is at his most entertaining when he shifts gears and snaps on his opponents, because most fans just expect him to maintain composure and twist people up in ridiculous ways. It makes it that much cooler when he flips out because it adds different elements to a match. So while he didn’t work as a total heel, he had just enough of an edge to counteract Kyle’s splendid sympathetic act. I was a huge fan of Kyle’s desperate jabs at the leg of Sabre in order to keep his head above water, but in the end that wasn’t enough and Sabre picked up the win. Like I said, this was a phenomenal piece of technical wrestling and as scary as it sounds, I think these two have an even better match in them!
Roderick Strong attacks both men after the match! He doesn’t want the show to end like this, and he wants his rematch… and it’s on! This is how he won the title from Kyle!
PWG World Title: Zack Sabre Jr © vs. Roderick Strong
Here we go!
Roddy starts with a jumping knee, several running forearms into the corner, and a back suplex flapjack! Sabre counters End of Heartache with THE OCTOPUS HOLD! Roddy counters into a turnbuckle Doctor Bomb and Death By Roderick! SICK KICK! Sabre kicks out! JIM BREAKS ARMBAR FROM ZACK! HERE ARE THE YOUNG BUCKS! EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMER’S TO ZACK! Buckle Bomb/Enzuigiri combo hits, and RODDY SUPLEXES ZACK NICK INTO A 450 ON ZACK! HERE IS MARTY SCURLL AND KYLE O’REILLY! CHICKENWINGS ON THE YOUNG BUCKS! SUPERKICK FROM MARTY! PK ON RODDY! RODDY KICKS OUT! This is awesome! The Bucks take out Marty and Kyle with superkicks, and they all four brawl to the back! Roddy and Sabre are alone again, trading strikes in the middle of the ring. Sabre uppercuts his way out of a jumping knee, and here comes Adam Cole! Jumping Knee from Roddy… gets two! Adam Cole makes his way into the ring, and he and Roddy start toying with Zack who fights back with elbows! RODDY ACCIDENTALLY HITS COLE WITH A JUMPING KNEE! ZACK PINS RODDY WITH A EUROPEAN CLUTCH! Zack is able to retain his title in 7 minutes. ***3/4 I’d be willing to say that this is the best 7 minute match I’ve ever seen with pretty certain confidence. PWG has always had a tremendous track record when it comes to these crazy impromptu match-ups. In fact, the match Roderick Strong won the PWG Title in was an impromptu Guerrilla Warfare match and it was GREAT. You can even go all the way back to the incredible Bryan Danielson vs. El Generico match at the 4th Anniversary Show if you want to. And while I don’t think this match quite measured up to those two in terms of sheer quality, it makes all the storytelling sense in the world and I think PWG brass has to be commended for that. Roderick found his most success cashing in on weakened opponents, like he did on Kyle to win the belt. So from his point of view, it makes perfect sense to try and do that with Zack… only for it to backfire. It helps that there were smoke and mirrors with the various interference spots, but they all made perfect sense and led to a feel-good ending with Zack overcoming the dastardly Roderick to keep his title. It was fast and furious, the crowd was haywire, and I even loved the psychology of the continued miscommunication between Roderick and Adam Cole. So while I’m not sure this is how most planned it, this was a tremendously fitting final match for Roderick Strong either way you slice it and I’m surprised they were able to fit such quality in such a small timeframe.
Roderick takes the mic and says “Man, I fucking love wrestling.” He said it’s been 11 years for him in PWG, but he wants to call out The Young Bucks and Adam Cole before he goes any further. They tease turning on him just like Kevin Steen, so Zack gets in the way… but they end up hugging instead! Roddy asks the bartender for a beer, and he calls the rest of the locker room out too. Seeing Timothy Thatcher in street clothes is a fuckin’ mind-trip, man. Roderick thanks the crowd for helping him evolve as a wrestler two years beforehand, and says the biggest thing PWG ever gave him was his fiancee, who he points out on the stage. Roddy raises his beer to the fans, and Zack leaves the belt with Roddy. He even gives the Bucks a shout-out with a limited edition t-shirt. Excalibur shows us out, and says this thirteen years wouldn’t have been possible without Roderick Strong, and end scene…
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