Break It Down: PWG Speed of Sound

Speed of Sound on August 28th, 2009.

Opening Match: Brandon Gatson and Johnny Goodtime vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler
Goodtime uses some agility to get the better of Dustin. Goodtime lands a springboard legdrop and Gatson follows with a regular one. Brandon attacks Goodtime from the apron but he quickly tags out. Gatson connects with a flurry of punches on the Cutlers. Brandon hits a guillotine legdrop on Gatson and the Cutlers take over. Gatson spikes Brandon off a DDT and makes the tag. Goodtime hits a series of clotheslines and hurricanranas. He follows with a slingshot double stomp on Dustin and transitions into a headscissors on Brandon. Goodtime backdrops Brandon to the floor but gets powerbombed into the turnbuckles by Dustin. Gatson lands the sasauke special to the outside. Goodtime hits a leaping legdrop on Dustin for a two count. Dustin catches Goodtime with a splash mountain but Gatson is the legal man. Gatson hits a slingshot stunner on Dustin but gets german suplexed by Brandon. Gatson plants Brandon with some wacky move for a nearfall. Brandon connects with a running knee on Gatson and gourd busters Goodtime off the top rope. The Cutlers hit Six Second Abs on Goodtime and a spike tombstone on Gatson for the win at 13:18. Although a little disjointed at times, this was an enjoyable opener to kick off the show. The Cutlers have come into their own while Gatson and Goodtime are really establishing themselves. The recent influx of talented locals is exciting, especially because they are getting over and are fun to watch. **¾

Match #2: Shane Haste vs. Human Tornado vs. Charles Mercury vs. Jerome Robinson
Tornado kicks Haste off the apron and follows with a dive to the outside. Haste hits a nice leg lariat on Robinson and forms an alliance with Mercury. Haste hurricanranas Robinson from the top. Tornado connects with some kicks into the corner on Haste. Mercury interrupts shuffling kicks and falls victim to a top rope double stomp from Robinson. Haste catches Robinson with a spinning uranagi. Tornado hits a neckbreaker on Mercury but gets caught with a slingshot hurricanrana from Robinson. Robinson spikes Tornado with a flying tornado DDT. Haste catches Mercury with a superkick. Robinson reverses a tombstone attempt and spikes Mercury. Tornado hits the DND on Robinson and follows with a top rope DND on Haste for the victory 8:08. Haste made an impressive debut and we should be seeing more of him in PWG. The match was frankly a mess at times but the constant action was enough to keep the crowd into it. The finish was great and Haste bumped like a pro for it. However, this was too short and clustered to mean much. **¼

Match #3: Colt Cabana vs. Scott Lost
Cabana’s antics frustrate Lost early. It’s all fun and games until Lost connects with his corner double stomp. Lost spears Cabana into the corner and works in his judo throw. Cabana blocks a flying elbow drop and comes back with some bionic elbows. Lost catches Cabana off a flying asshole and german suplexes him into the turnbuckles. Lost connects with some kicks but misses a spear. Cabana takes the opportunity to hit the flying asshole for a nearfall. Cabana just drops Lost across the top rope for a two count and follows with a powerbomb for another nearfall. Lost finds an opening to hit the Big Fat Kill for the win at 12:18. That was pretty much your typical Cabana match but Lost made it a tad more interesting due to some impressive moves and reactions. I don’t necessarily like it, but I’m having a hard time finding much to say when it comes to Cabana’s outings lately. **½

Joey Ryan gets on the microphone before his match and puts over Karl Anderson. They are best friends and Ryan would love to hold the tag team titles with him. He challenges the Young Bucks to put their titles on the line and they deny the request. Ryan calls them chicken. Apparently, this infuriates the Young Bucks and they agree to put the titles on the line.

Match #4: PWG World Tag Team Titles: Matt and Nick Jackson © vs. Joey Ryan and Karl Anderson
Both teams trade control to start. The Young Bucks work over Ryan’s left arm in the corner to chants of “same old shit”. They hit stereo dropkicks to feed the crowd’s hatred of them. Anderson stops more stereo dropkicks with a double clothesline. Dynasty International mock the Young Bucks by connecting with stereo dropkicks and doing their pose. Matt is worked over until he escapes a suplex and makes the tag. Nick hits a springboard dropkick on Anderson along with a slingshot facebuster on Ryan. He finishes with a springboard moonsault to the outside on Ryan. The Young Bucks isolate Ryan, hitting their neckbreaker-backbreaker combination. Ryan catches Nick with a powerslam and tags out. Anderson levels Matt with a lariat and a gourd buster. Nick blocks a dive with a superkick but Ryan returns the favor. Anderson is able to land a dive to the outside onto the Young Bucks. Back in, Matt hits a standing sliced bread on Ryan but walks into a spinebuster from Anderson. Anderson misses a charge and Nick hits an ace crusher on Ryan. The Young Bucks land a swantan-leg drop combination on Anderson for a two count. Anderson powerbombs Nick onto Matt. Anderson spikes Matt with a DDT on the apron. Ryan hits a spear on Nick followed by a powerbomb for a nearfall. He follows with a spinning neckbreaker and a Pedigree for more nearfalls. Matt hits an ace crusher on Anderson. Ryan blocks a facebuster with a german suplex on Matt. Nick hits a tornado DDT on Ryan and everyone is down. Ryan blocks More Bang for Your Buck and connects with a superkick on Matt followed by a dive to the outside onto Nick. Matt hits a facebuster on Ryan for a two count. Anderson lands a missile dropkick on Matt but falls victim to two superkicks. The Young Bucks hit stereo superkicks on Ryan followed by More Bang for Your Buck to retain their titles at 20:45. This ended up being a lot more epic than I was expecting. After a relatively slow start, they finished with a long stretch of action that had everyone believing that Dynasty International could actually pull it off. Everyone was crisp and I think many people (myself included) tend to underrate Anderson at times. Additionally, when Ryan really turns things up a notch, he is capable of great matches. This is just a case of everyone being “on” and the match itself was a pleasant surprise. ***¾

Match #5: Street Fight: El Generico vs. Chuck Taylor
This match will determine the number one contenders for the PWG World Tag Team Titles (either Generico/Tornado or Taylor/Omega). Taylor attacks before the bell but gets clotheslined to the outside. Generico chases him into the ringpost. Generico attacks with a purse and follows Taylor into the men’s restroom. They battle in a stall and Taylor apparently receives a swirlie. Taylor controls back in the ring and props a chair in the corner. He headscissors Generico into the chair. Taylor misses a baseball slide and Generico lands a split-legged moonsault to the outside. Generico gets thrown backstage but dives across the bar to catch Taylor with a tornado DDT. Taylor responds with a garbage can shot. He beats up Generico by the announcing equipment while providing commentary. Generico catapults Taylor into the side of the stage. Taylor answers by diving over a table, off the stage, and onto Generico. Generico uses the wall to hit a tornado DDT. Back in, Taylor blocks a yakuza kick with one of his own but falls victim to a michinoku driver. Taylor drops Generico over two propped up chairs and hits a chair-assisted Sole Food. He applies a submission so a chair is choking Generico and connects with more garbage can shots. Generico puts the garbage can over Taylor and slams him with chair shots. He follows with a yakuza kick and a coast to coast dropkick for a nearfall. Generico sets up a table in the ring. Taylor catches him with a superkick and lays him on the table. Generico gets off and they battle up top. Taylor powerbombs Generico through the table and hits an omega driver on the table for the win at 17:32. The main thing that I liked here was that they used their surroundings and made the match feel like a legitimate street fight. If this was the feud-ender, I have to say that there was something missing for me. I felt like the match was more about the spots than the hatred these two had for each other. Still, there were enough amazing spots throughout the contest to make it worthwhile. The chair-assisted Sole Food and submission by Taylor come to mind. The atmosphere wasn’t totally there but this was a highly creative hardcore display with numerous spots that will make you look twice. ***½

Match #6: Bryan Danielson vs. Brian Kendrick
Danielson tries for an early Cattle Mutilation but Kendrick knows how to escape it. Kendrick starts to work over the left arm but runs into a dropkick. Danielson tries to work over Kendrick’s arm but is met with two nasty kicks. Kendrick takes over, showing some heelish qualities by just being ruthless. Danielson blocks a charge and connects with a flying knee. He follows with some kicks and a dropkick in the corner. Kendrick comes back with a leg lariat along with an enzuigiri. Danielson avoids a sliced bread by dumping Kendrick to the floor. He hits a baseball slide followed by a springboard plancha. Danielson continues the attack with a missile dropkick in the ring. Kendrick sends him into the turnbuckles but Danielson dodges another sliced bread and lands a superplex. Kendrick flips out of Cattle Mutilation but falls victim to MMA elbows. They trade pin attempts and Danielson locks in Cattle Mutilation. Kendrick puts his knees up to ease the pressure and then makes the ropes. Kendrick kicks Danielson low and rolls him up for the victory at 12:41. This was not what many were expecting in a good way and in a bad way. Unfortunately, the match didn’t live up to expectations as it wasn’t anything spectacular. On the other hand, Kendrick is now clearly defined in PWG as a sneaky heel. Everyone expected him to come out and have a match with Danielson based off of their respect for each other. That didn’t happen at all. I got most of my enjoyment from this match by watching Kendrick counter the majority of Danielson’s offense. Although the match didn’t live up to most expectations, it cemented Kendrick’s status in PWG. ***

Match #7: PWG World Title: Chris Hero © vs. Roderick Strong
They feel each other out early. Both men offer clean breaks. Hero connects with a chop. This offends Strong, who answers with many of his own. Strong wins a sick strike exchange. Hero elbows him off the apron and takes over, locking in some wacky submission that would hurt very badly. He lays out Strong with a roaring elbow. They trade shots on the floor and Hero maintains the advantage back in the ring. Strong blocks a charge and lands a missile dropkick. He follows with a leg lariat and a dropkick that sends Hero to the outside. Strong hits a forearm from the apron along with a falcon arrow. Hero finds an opening to connect with a roaring elbow. Strong avoids a flash kick and hits a backbreaker. He synchs in the Stronghold but Hero makes the ropes. Hero connects with another roaring elbow and locks in a stretch plum variation but Strong reaches the ropes. Strong catches Hero up top with a superplex. He follows with a backbreaker but falls victim to another roaring elbow. Hero hits a yakuza kick but Strong finds an opening to hit a tiger driver for a nearfall. Strong runs into a roaring elbow but answers with a yakuza kick for a two count. Hero hits two more roaring elbows along with a hangman’s elbow to retain his title at 23:05. I think I actually prefer their previous PWG match back at “It’s a Gift…and a Curse” as well as their ROH match at “Battle for Supremacy”. There was a lot of dead time in the beginning for me. I understand the concept of feeling out processes but I just wanted to see these two beat the hell out of each other and they should have gone straight to that. When these two went into hard-hitting mode, things got brutal. I also expected some better nearfalls down the stretch as Strong is usually great at creating some suspense despite his less than desirable record in title matches. The strikes were fun to watch (and hear) and they ended with a hot finishing sequence. Unfortunately, the match doesn’t have much more substance to it. ***

The 411: Speed of Sound is a consistent show that closes with four worthwhile matches. The tag team title match unexpectedly results in the match of the night while Generico and Taylor have an effective street fight to possibly end their feud. Kendrick/Danielson and Hero/Strong deliver under expectations but end up being solid matches that serve their purpose. This is another fairly easy recommendation in a year full of them for PWG.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]