Pro Wrestling Guerrilla “Giant Sized Annual #4”

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla – Giant Sized Annual #4
Sunday July 29th, Burbank, CA. Start Time: 6:05
Approximate Attendence: 400+ (legit)

Show opens (1 hour late) with an announcement by Comissioner of Food and Beverage, Excalibur, announcing that there is no food NOR beverage tonight despite the armory being in the mid to high 80’s all night long and completely sweltering. Also…the Briscoe Brothers were apparently too drunk to get on their flight and thus are not at the show tonight…Huge Boos from the crowd.

1. Ronin defeats Top Gun Talwar – Pinfall via DVD

Match #27 in a series which opening matches between the two which had absolutely no heat behind it due to the match happening for no apparent reason and neither guy having much to do now in the company. Top Gun actually managed to wrestle without really any comedy and the finish came on a brutal Lariat/DVD combo. *

2. Human Tornado defeats Tony Kozina – Pinfall via “Dat N*gga Dead”

Prior to the match Human Tornado called Candice LaRae to the ring and kind of squared things away with her as he said that she had some ‘big balls’ to try turning on him. That was a direct quote. Match was good up until the ‘go home’ when it got a little sloppy with a few missed spots. Tornado beats Kozina with a flipping backdrop toss into a face plant, aka “Dat N*gga Dead”. Candice and Tornado then left together after an awkward hug. *1/2

3. TJ Perkins & Matt and Nick Jackson (The Young Bucks) defeat Scott Lost w/ Jade Chung, Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson, & Bino Gambino – Pinfall via 3 simultaneous 450 splashes

Chris Bosh was scheduled to be in this match but was replace by Bino Gambino for no apparent reason. Crowd was not happy at all. Bino got near X-Pac heat to start the show. Best match of a disappointing 1st half as the action was pretty non-stop and smooth. ‘Bucks/TJ control the first half of the match with a lot of quick offense until the heels isolate “Mr. Instant Replay” (Matt) for a long sequence. Finish came when TJ and the ‘Bucks all hit simultaneous 450’s on their opponents for the win. The first win for the Youngbucks and no reason as to why Bosh no showed. ***

4. Davey Richards defeats Fergal Devitt – Submission via AT Lock

Fergal Devitt is announced as representing New Japan where he wrestles as “Prince” Devitt as a member of the C.T.U. This was Devitt’s 2nd PWG match as he was part of the losing side of a 6 man tag in his debut a year ago. Good technical match which saw Devitt get more offense in against Richards than expected, especially since much of the crowd had no idea who he was. Finish came Davey made Devitt tap to the AT Lock (keylock with head scissored). After the match Davey put over Fergal on the mic, which was odd since Davey had been working heel for several months, but hadn’t worked heel during the match. **1/2

5. Scorpio Sky defeat Joey Ryan in a “Street Fight” – Pinfall via small package

Most disappointing match of the show. Consider this was supposed to be a “street fight” it was a fairly tame match that didn’t have as much crowd reaction as would be expected. The level of “hate” just didn’t seem there as the weapons use and brutality was in short order. Match consisted of Joey working over Sky’s ribs for most of the match and controlling until a brutal backbreaker by Sky on an open chair. Lost and “Machine Gun” both ended up trying to cheat on Joey’s behalf with the latter back firing and Sky playing possum to pin Joey with a small package via the “heel special cheat” on the SDvsR video game. After the match the rest of The Dynasty left took turns working over Sky and his ribs. *1/2

***Intermission***

6. Austin Aries defeats Rocky Romero for his 2007 BoLA spot – Pinfall via Roll-up

Austin Aries challenges Rocky Romero for his 2007 BoLA spot, even going as so far as to put up his Salsa Collection (music…not tasty Mexican dip) on the line. Rocky accepts the challenge…but not the Salsa. Great match from these two as they needed to bring the crowd back into the show after a disappointing 1st half. Match got plenty of time and Rocky seemed to be in control for most of the match working over Aries’ arm. Finish came when Rocky set Aries on the top rope and went for a flying cross arm breaker. Aries then landed and rolled up Rocky with his arm trapped in the cross arm position for the win. Crowd was split as to whom they wanted to win as Aries is unquestionably the bigger “name”, but Rocky is clearly a bigger crowd favorite in PWG due to his outstanding work. ***1/2

** Promo** “The Final Countdown” hits and Danielson comes to the ring looking upset. He tells the crowd that he was screwed out of his title shot yet again and is pissed off and looking for anyone in the back that wants to fight. Of course that can only mean “Free Bird” starts playing and leads to…

7. Bryan Danielson defeats Necro Butcher – Ref Stoppage via MMA Elbows

Brutal “street fight” that made the previous night’s look like a pillow fight. Both men were bleeding the hard way as Necro was literally gushing blood at one point as a stream of blood nearly doused me from the 2nd row. Brutal match that took place all around the ring with several rows of chairs being involved. Necro managed to get out of the Cattle Mutilation but the ref stopped the match after Necro was seemingly knocked unconscious by a barrage of elbows to the head. A bit of a one sided affair in the 2nd half of the match as American Dragon pretty much killed Necro, but still a fantastic brawl. ***

8. El Generico & Kevin Steen defeat Roderick Strong & PAC to win the PWG Tag Team Championships – Pinfall via Package Piledriver/Brainbustaaaah combo

Great match that took place on the fly as the Brisoes no-showed and El Steen-Erico took their place as a nod to their recent success in RoH. Good back and forth with several pinfalls and Steen played Heel to Generico’s Face. PAC ended up taking the pin after a Steen Package Piledriver rolled into an El Generico Brainbustaaaah. PAC was carried to the back by Strong over his shoulder. It was touching. ***3/4

Steen-Erico celebrated in the ring until American Dragon walked to the ring with a huge head wrap on. Danielson “asked” Steen to leave the ring and proceeded to tell Generico that the fans paid to see a “main event” of Danielson vs Generico and if he was a true champion he would face him there tonight. Generico, after a slap from Danielson accepted, leading to…

9. Bryan Danielson defeats El Generico for the PWG World Title – Submission via Cattle Mutilation

Back and forth battle and great match from both men considering that each had fought earlier in the night and this was Generico’s 6th match of the weekend already. The crowd reaction/heat was phenomenal for this match as the crowd was torn as to who they wanted as champion. Good mix from both guys as it was an even contest up until the last few minutes when Danielson put Generico in the Cattle Mutilation for the 3rd straight time after he managed to escape the previous two. Generico submitted after minutes of resisting, but finally gave up. After the match Danielson claimed Generico had earned his respected and showed he was a true champion and offered him a rematch anywhere, anytime, all he had to do was ask. *Yes he was semi-heel while doing so* Danielson then thanked the crowded and cheered them on to 4 more great years. ****

First half of the show was okay but disappointing. The 2nd half more than made up for the show as this was the first double title change I think PWG has done at a single show. PWG has a long lay off as the next show is the Battle of Los Angeles Triple shot 8/31, 9/1, and 9/2.