Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ‘Pearl Habra’ Results – 1.28.08

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla “Pearl Habra”
Sunday January 28th, La Habra, CA. Start Time: 2:30
Approximate Attendence: 275 – 325

1. Hook Bomberry & TJ Perkins defeats Youngbucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) – Pinfall via Roll-up

Opening match of the Round Robin Tournament for a spot on DDT4. TJ is playing a “face” while Hook is playing “heel”. Decent match as all four guys have worked each other numerous times around the SoCal Indy circuit. Finish came when TJ rolled up Nick and Hook held his leg down unbeknownst to TJ. After the match the ‘buck complained, TJ apologized and argued with Hook about the cheating. “TJ Hooker” received 2 pts for the win. I had no idea the series was being decided on pts and until it was announced, no one else did either. *1/2

2. Roderick Strong defeats Rocky Romero in 2 out of 3 falls match – 1) Rocky Submits Strong via Cross Arm Breaker, 2) Strong submits Rocky via Gorilla Clutch, 3) Strong pins Rocky via 2 consecutive Gibson Drivers.

Jack Evans as supposed to face Strong in the finale of their “Best of 3” series for #1 contender but of course Jack broke his face and was forced to back out. The match was then announced to be Rocky Romero vs Strong in what amounted to the 3rd match of their rivalry, the series was tied at 1 win apiece. This was also for the #1 contendership. Great match which started oddly as Strong attacked Rocky prior to the bell and Rocky ended up countering into an cross arm breaker in 10 seconds for the first decision. Stiff match as expected from both men. 2nd decision ends when Strong hooks Rocky in the Gorilla Clutch (inverted Cloverleaf with grape vine of torso) while simultaneously kicking Rocky in the back, Rocky submits and the match is tied at one fall apiece. Third fall goes back and forth several times with Strong brutalizing with chops and backbreakers and Rocky countering with kicks, knees, and submissions. Strong finally tries to finish Rocky with a fireman’s carry double knee gut buster and Gibson driver which Rocky barely kicks out of. 2nd Gibson driver finishes for the win. ***1/2

Post match Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson gives both men spinebusters and cuts a promo saying he is above “Curtain Jerking” with “jobbers” like Bino Gambino and is tired of being shunted down the card at the expensive of other “stars”. He is setting his sights on the PWG World Title.

3. Ronin and Scorpio Sky defeat Los Luchas (Phoenix Star & Zokre) – Pinfall via DVD

All three men have worked each other previous in various SoCal feds but this match started a bit sloppy and tentative. Both teams were working “face” and the crowd was a bit split as to who to root for. Scary moment happened as Zokre went for a head scissors on Scorpio Sky which was somehow botched and Zokre landed on his head. Match picked up towards the end and the finish came when Ronin hit the DVD on one of the Luchas and pinned him as Sky flew in with an Ace Crusher on the other one trying to break it up. *1/2

4. Human Tornado defeats Chris Hero in No DQ Match – Submission via Candice LaRae giving up for Hero

Brutal match which saw chairs, tables, garbage cans, and a chain used. At one point Tornado went for an “Open Hart Surgery” and hit nothing but table. Hero was brutalized with a chair, Tornado was slammed onto a dozen folded up chairs on the floor while Hero hit a flipping senton splash on him from the ring, and Tornado was hung and choked with a chain. Which is a shame considering MLK day was just a few days earlier. After extricating himself form the chain Tornado declared , “I’m free…I’m FREE”. Finish came when after targeting Hero’s injured leg with a chair he locks in a sharpshooter and Hero refuses to tap, but Candice LaRae tells the ref to ring the bell. I guess this feud shall continue, perhaps in a cage as a “Guerrilla Warfare Match” is eerily similar to this No DQ match already. ***

***Intermission***

PROMO

Joey Ryan, Scott Lost & Jade Chung come to the ring to call out Dino Winwood and Excalibur. They claim to know Davey Richards isn’t in the building again and he and Super Dragon have been “Ducking them” for months. They continue to run down Davey’s constant no-showing and Dragon’s declining wrestling abilities and shape, they then cite the case of the Aerial Express being stripped of the title after not being able to defend the belt a mere day after winning it. Dino and Excalibur agree and strip Super Dragon and Davey of the titles. They also go on to publicly “fire” Davey for his lack of attendance and award the titles to The Dynasty. Joey and Lost aren’t satisfied as they “came to fight” and challenge any of the previous 4 tag teams who just wrestled to a “tag title match” right then and there. The Youngbucks come out and we have ourselves a match.

5. PWG Tag Team Title Match: “The Dynasty” Joey Ryan and Scott Lost w/ Jade Chung defeat “The Youngbucks” (Nick and Matt Jackson) – Pinfall via backbreaker/Top Rope Elbow Drop combo

Decent match, but The Dynasty controlled a vast majority of it, and with good reason considering they were much fresher. Jade came into play and broke up at least one pinfall by the Bucks by distracting the ref. Finish came when Matt forearmed Jade Chung who had entered the ring and was caught by a Superkick from Joey Ryan. Nick was then caught in a backbreaker and elbow drop combo for the pinfall. After the match Jade laid there on the canvas as the new Tag Champs celebrated for a while until they realized she was knocked out. The ‘Bucks seemed more concerned than the Dynasty did about the injury. Good match, but a disappointment considering the original line-up and expectations. **1/2

6. PWG World Title Match: Low Ki defeats El Generico – Submission via Dragon Clutch
El Generico was clearly the underdog on this match up, but surprised everyone but staying completely serious and bringing the fight to Ki early on. Great match that was brought up to the stiffness of your usual Low Ki match, with Generico working more “snug” than he has in quite some time. several close pinfalls and Low Ki kicked out of the Half Nelson suplex, while Generico kicked out of the “Tidal Wave” and the “Ki Krusher”. Finish came when Generico tapped to the Dragon Clutch after a very good and long contest. ****

Overall Thoughts: Disappointing. 2 out of the 3 top billed matches never took place. Jack Evans was hurt, but was amply replaced by Rocky Romero, but the Tag Title match could not have been made up for. Davey Richards schedule + Super Dragon’s questionable health made it a necessity to get the titles off of them. The Dynasty should hold the belts for a while as it seems all of the other tag teams in PWG are comprised of local talent not quite ready to step up. As a show that was set up for a lot of local SoCal talent to shine, the tag matches were a bit disappointing as the tag matches weren’t quite as great as many knew they could have been and “Machine Gun” wasn’t even booked to wrestle. You could tell all 8 men really tried their best but things just didn’t click as well as you thought it would, luckily they all have another chance of shining at the next show in the “round robin series”. Being that this was only a 6 match show and 2 matches were “on the fly” this has to be considered an average show at best with only 2 (maybe 3) matches really standing out. While the rain, late start, and looming Royal Rumble all contributed to a “dead crowd”, the show had to be considered at least a bit of a disappointment. Next show was announced for Feb. 24th back in La Habra.