Break It Down: PWG Threemendous II

Some things just catch you by surprise. For instance, when I opened my word file containing my review of “The Secret of Guerrilla Island”, I was shocked to find that the file was corrupt. So the best I can do at this point is to provide some quick thoughts on the show:

1. Johnny Goodtime vs. Charles Mercury **
2. Chuck Taylor vs. Human Tornado **¼
3. Malachi Jackson and Jerome Robinson vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler **½
4. Kenny Omega vs. Roderick Strong ***
5. El Generico vs. Scott Lost **1/2
6. Davey Richards vs. Nick Jackson ***1/4
7. Necro Butcher vs. Joey Ryan **

Overall: This is the first PWG DVD of 2009 that I can’t recommend. Omega and Richards have a solid match held back by its antics while Richards and Jackson deliver good in-ring work accompanied by a smart finish. The problem is that anticipated matches like Taylor/Tornado and Generico/Lost did not come through. The main event could have ended the show on a high note but it ends up being a tedious Necro brawl (in my eyes).

Threemendous II on July 31st, 2009.

Colt Cabana and El Generico start the DVD with a promo backstage. Cabana hilariously walks Generico through cutting a promo on Kenny Omega and Chuck Taylor.

Opening Match: Brandon Cutler, Dustin Cutler, and Charles Mercury vs. Brandon Gatson, Johnny Goodtime, and Jerome Robinson
The heels attack Gatson in the corner and the Cutlers hit a shoulder block. Gatson answers with a cartwheel splash on Mercury. Goodtime enters with a slingshot leg drop on Mercury followed by a hesitation dropkick from Robinson. Dustin irish whips Goodtime and Brandon holds open the ropes, causing Goodtime to fall to the floor. Back in, the heels work over Goodtime. He connects with an enzuigiri on Dustin and makes the hot tag. Gatson enters and cleans house. Dustin stops another cartwheel move with a dropkick. Gatson comes back with a slingshot ace crusher on Brandon. Goodtime lands a dive to the outside onto Dustin and Mercury. Robinson uses Gatson’s back to launch himself to the outside with a dive. Gatson finishes the dive fest with a space flying tiger drop. Goodtime hits a falcon arrow on Dustin and a double stomp on Brandon. Mercury lands flying double knees on Goodtime but falls victim to a DDT by Gatson. Dustin catches Gatson with a flatliner. Robinson comes off the top with a splash on Dustin. Brandon kills Robinson with a german suplex and everyone is down. Gatson back drops Mercury to the outside. The Cutlers launch Robinson with a fallaway slam but get caught with a double dropkick from Goodtime. The Cutlers hit Six Second Abs on Goodtime and a spike piledriver on Robinson for the win at 16:48. That’s how you open the show. The match itself is even sweeter in this case because PWG received the chance to showcase some locals and it paid off. Everyone looked good and the crowd was unquestionably into the action. Gatson especially impressed as his appearance can be deceiving in relation to the agility he can show in the ring. Extremely effective way to start the show. ***¼

Match #2: Scott Lost vs. Alex Shelley
Lost attacks before the bell. He hits a suplex but Shelley catches him off-guard with a cross armbreaker. They trade submission attempts and Shelley drop toe holds Lost into the turnbuckles and proceeds to push him into the ringpost. Shelley starts working over the left arm. Lost catches him with a double stomp in the corner. They trade strikes. Lost botches his dropkick around the ringpost and spears Shelley on the floor. In the ring, Lost uncharacteristically judo throws Shelley and slams him against the ring apron. Shelley answers by skullfu…umm…skull”effing” Lost into the mat. Lost hits a pumphandle backbreaker but falls victim to a backcracker. Shelley flatlines Lost into the turnbuckles and connects with a running kick. He hits a nasty superkick for a nearfall. Shelley bends Lost’s arm across the turnbuckle and gourd busters him off the top. He follows with a flying double stomp on Lost’s arm. Lost hits a spin kick but Shelley reverses a spear into an arm submission. Shelley rolls up Lost for a two count and locks in a cross armbreaker. Lost counters it into a sharpshooter but Shelley makes the ropes. Shelley blocks a dive with a kick to the bad arm. He connects with a superkick but Lost fires back with an ace crusher on the ring apron. Lost hits a superkick of his own for a nearfall. Shelley blocks a Superman Spear and connects with a superkick followed by an air raid crash for a two count. Shelley drops Lost on his head and lands a frog splash for another two count. One more frog splash gives Shelley the victory at 16:14. This started out a little rocky but ended up transitioning into the match everyone was expecting from these two. Shelley went to work on the arm almost immediately and Lost seemed off his game in the beginning. These factors made me believe that we might not get the desired back and forth exchanges that these two are capable of. That all changed down the stretch, as they traded superkicks and generated some believable nearfalls. I also liked that the arm work wasn’t forgotten and it helped turn an average-starting match into a good one. ***

Match #3: Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Sabin
They do some chain wrestling to start. Sabin breaks up the fun with a chop. Danielson doesn’t seem too angry and shakes Sabin’s hand. Sabin hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but walks into a dropkick. Danielson gets swept off the apron and Sabin lands a springboard plancha to the outside. Sabin takes over back in the ring until Danielson is able to connect with a kick. He lays in some more kicks as payback for all of the chops. They have a strike exchange which Danielson wins. He locks in a surfboard and turns it into a dragon sleeper. Sabin hits a sliding dropkick on Danielson in the tree of woe. He goes for another one but Danielson catches him with a charging elbow. They both go for a crossbody. Danielson wins a chop battle and connects with many kicks in the corner. He hits a butterfly suplex but misses a diving headbutt. Sabin hits a rope-assisted swinging neckbreaker followed by a corner yakuza kick. He lands a hurricanrana from the top and hits a springboard tornado DDT for a two count. Sabin comes off the top but gets caught with a dropkick. Danielson connects with a running knee but gets speared off the apron. Danielson blocks a dive with a kick and hits a springboard dropkick along with a german suplex. He synchs in Cattle Mutilation and transitions into MMA elbows and then back to Cattle Mutilation for the win at 17:39. They told a good story of Sabin coming into the match with a chip on his shoulder and Danielson eventually overwhelming him in the end. Watching Danielson become progressively angrier is always fun and they had no problem laying into each other. This may not have been the show stealer some thought it could have been, but it was genuinely enjoyable the whole way through. ***¼

Match #4: Colt Cabana vs. Chuck Taylor
Cabana scares Taylor away with his antics. Taylor can’t body slam Cabana, so he pays Cabana a dollar to willingly allow him to. Taylor busts out a grenade but Cabana knocks it into the crowd. Thankfully, Taylor finds the grenade and it’s thrown under the ring. Cabana wins a test of strength and turns it into a bodyscissors. Taylor fakes a leg injury and small packages Cabana for a two count. They roll around in the small package position but no one can get the pin. Cabana ends up in a very awkward position with the referee and Taylor exclaims “stop it with the gay shit”. Cabana hits the flying asshole followed by a clothesline. Taylor responds with Sole Food and gets the victory during a pin attempt while holding the ropes at 11:08. Purely a comedy match with little in the way of meaningful wrestling. The comedy present was effective and if you’re a fan of either man, you’ll find this match enjoyable. There’s really not much more to say. **¼

Match #5: Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong
They both come at each other with yakuza kicks. They manage to avoid each other’s offense until Strong wins a strike exchange. He takes over until Richards comes back with some kicks and gains control. Strong blocks a charge but can’t avoid Richards’ handspring kick. Richards locks in a texas cloverleaf but Strong makes the ropes. Strong comes back by just slapping Richards and catching him with a dropkick. He follows with a gourd buster, backbreaker, and falcon arrow. Richards blocks a charge with a kick and lands a missile dropkick. Strong hits a powerbomb and locks in the Stronghold. Richards fights off a Gibson Driver and hits the Alarm Clock. He follows with a german suplex and synchs in a texas cloverleaf. Strong avoids a charge and hits a gutbuster. Richards comes back with a suplex but gets caught with a yakuza kick for a two count. Strong hits another yakuza kick followed by the Gibson Driver for the win at 12:24. There’s a reason why people rejoice whenever Richards and KENTA are in the same ring. Richards has much of the same dynamic with Strong as they are always intense with each other and their strikes always look nasty. This match never slowed down and some great reactions from the crowd gave it something extra. They did a lot in twelve minutes and I’d love to see what they could with more time. As it is, this was pretty much the best you can get out of a twelve minute match. ***½

Match #6: Matt and Nick Jackson vs. El Generico and Human Tornado
This is a non-title match seeing as Generico and Tornado have not teamed together for quite some time. Tornado and Matt trade holds. Tornado shows some unexpected mat skills and Matt tags out. Nick hits a flurry of offense on Generico but the crowd mostly boos him. Chuck Taylor on commentary: “I hate that little queer but that was impressive”. Generico catches Matt with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and Tornado adds a no-hands sharpshooter which Nick breaks up. Matt hits a standing sliced bread on Generico and the Young Bucks isolate him. The crowd is really against the Young Bucks, even chanting “same old shit” after stereo dropkicks. What do the Young Bucks do? They perform stereo dropkicks one more time. Generico fights off Matt long enough to make the hot tag. Tornado cleans house. Tornado charges at Matt in the corner while Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick on Nick. 2 Skinny Black Guys hit shuffling kicks as well. Tornado lands a dive to the outside onto the Young Bucks. Back in, Tornado spikes Matt with a Tornado DDT. Tornado dropkicks Matt into a half nelson suplex from Generico for a nearfall. Nick connects with a knee in the corner on Generico and dives to the outside onto Tornado. Matt hits a chinbreaker on Generico for a two count. The Young Bucks hit a moonsault-frog splash combination on Generico. Generico catches Matt with a michinoku driver and tags in Tornado. Generico hits an exploder on Nick into the turnbuckles but falls victim to a facebuster from Matt. In an awesome moment, Tornado takes out Matt with a diving pimp slap. Nick sends Generico to the outside and hits a slingshot facebuster on Tornado followed by a moonsault to the outside onto Generico. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Tornado but Generico breaks up the pin attempt. The Young Bucks connect with stereo superkicks on Tornado. Generico catches Nick with a yakuza kick. Tornado hits Matt with the DND while Generico hits a top rope brainbuster on Nick for the win at 19:49. Awesome tag team match. The Young Bucks really focused on embracing the hatred from the crowd and showed how versatile they can be as a team. As expected, once the match broke down it became incredible. There were many noteworthy moments down the stretch and the finish was red hot. The crowd was rocking after More Bang for Your Buck didn’t end the match and came unglued for the DND/brainbuster finish. Fantastic match and one would have to think a rematch for the titles is coming. ****

Matt congratulates 2 Skinny Black Guys on an incredible match but the Young Bucks still have the titles. Matt wants the rematch to happen next month. Generico agrees in Spanish and Tornado gives the thumbs up. Chuck Taylor attacks Generico and hits an Omega Driver. Taylor says that Kenny Omega and himself deserve a shot at the titles. Next month it will be Generico against Taylor. Whoever wins, their team will become the number one contenders.

Match #7: PWG World Title: Guerrilla Warfare: Chris Hero © vs. Joey Ryan
This is Ryan’s last chance to stop Hero from becoming the longest reigning PWG World Champion in history. They trade shots and Ryan goes low. Hero comes back with some elbows and takes over. They exchange slaps and Ryan sweeps Hero off the top. The crowd is slightly in favor of Ryan but still pretty split. Hero connects with his first roaring elbow but gets caught with a spear. Ryan walks into a flash kick. Hero hits a running powerbomb. The action goes to the outside where Ryan gets thrown into some chairs. Ryan catapults Hero into a chair propped on top of the ringpost. Hero’s head absolutely collided with the chair there and he’s busted open. Ryan now uses a chain to attack Hero. Hero uses the stage to propel himself into connecting with a roaring elbow. Another one rocks Ryan. In the ring, Ryan blocks an elbow with a sick garbage can shot. Hero’s right arm is now hurting and Ryan uses a chair to further his attack on it. Ryan uses the chain to tie Hero’s bad arm behind his back. He whips Hero into the turnbuckles and hits a suplex. Ryan hits a northern lights suplex for a two count. I like that the first pin attempt took place twenty minutes into the match. Hero connects with four nice yakuza kicks. Ryan gets plastered with a chair shot and is now busted open. Hero sets up a table on the outside and lays Ryan on top of it. Ryan stops Hero on the stage and the action goes back into the ring. Ryan gets in a few garbage can shots and throws Candice LeRae around on the outside. LeRae stops Ryan from hitting a top rope Mustache Ride. LeRae connects with a top rope double stomp on Ryan followed by a blockbuster from Hero. Hero connects with a nice kick-rolling elbow combination. Ryan finds an opening and hits a superkick. He hits a top rope Mustache Ride onto a pile of chairs for a nearfall. Hero reverses a tombstone attempt into a Hero’s Welcome. He wraps the chain around Ryan’s neck and hits a piledriver for a two count. Hero locks in the Hangman’s Clutch but has to turn it into a STF due to the pain in his arm. Ryan uses the bottom rope to break the hold’s grip. Ryan takes a page from Super Dragon’s book and hits a psycho driver. The move wasn’t executed 100%, but Hero still landed on his head. Ryan kicks LeRae and gives her a boobplex into some chairs on the outside. Hero kicks Ryan off the apron and puts him on the previously setup table. Ryan moves out of the way of a possible dive but can’t avoid a dropkick through the ropes. Ryan dodges a second dive and Hero goes crashing through the table. Ryan wraps the chain around his boot. Hero avoids a superkick and kills Ryan with a roaring elbow for a two count. Hero wraps the chain around Ryan’s neck and connects with two more roaring elbows for nearfalls. Hero synchs in a chain-assisted Hangman’s Clutch to retain his title at 43:17. Was this match overly long? Probably. However, there were too many nice touches of psychology in the match to count. First of all, Hero sold the arm masterfully. The way he incorporated the pain as far as restricting his moveset aided greatly in the success of the match. Another great part of the contest was that the brutality of it was really put over. Each man got busted open in a sickening spot and the initial garbage can shot to Hero’s right arm looked devastating. I also loved the fact that the first pin attempt happened at the twenty minute mark as it puts over that there is a real feud here. The only thing really holding this match is the length of it. There are points that feature a lot of dead time in between spots and the match could have realistically been shortened by about ten minutes. Still, there is a wealth of storytelling involved here and that is what makes this match a very good main event. ***½

Hero announces that he’s still the champion and there is no one in the back that can lace his boots. Ryan says that he told himself before the match that he would shake Hero’s hand afterwards. However, he says that he doesn’t like the way that Hero talks to the fans. Despite this, they shake hands. Hero has a change of heart and lays Ryan out with a belt shot to end the show.

The 411: Threemendous II is one of the most consistently great shows I've seen all year. From top to bottom, every single match is extremely enjoyable and worth checking out. Only one match didn't hit the three star level and that was an effective comedy encounter that did it's job well. I could run down each match and tell you why it's worth watching but that seems pointless here. Buy this show as soon as possible…it's more than worth it.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]