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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG European Vacation – Germany 2007

August 27, 2014 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG European Vacation – Germany 2007  

October 28, 2007
Essen, Germany

Commentators: Excalibur & Disco Machine

Ken’Ichiro Arai & Lupin Matsutani vs. T-Bones (Bad Bones & Thumbtack Jack)
I am not at all excited about this match, but I’m counting on the wXw crowd carrying the proceedings.

T-Bones had a lot of success early, but Jack was eventually cut off by Arai and Lupin. Jack eventually caught Arai with an enzuigiri, and Bad Bones then made a hot tag. Jack hit a dive. Bad Bones stood back and let Lupin make a dive for some reason. Bones then hit the Deadman suicida. Back in the ring, T-Bones hit stereo drivers: 1…2…3

There were a couple of weird moments in the match, but it was enjoyable enough overall. I’m not really into Thumbtack Jack at all though. He seems to inhibit all of the weakest qualities of Chris Hero without any of the charisma.
Match Rating: **1/2

Gauntlet Match
Chris Hero vs. Wesley Croton vs. Marc Slater vs. Diego Latino
Hero and Croton started the match. Apparently Croton is a student of Hero. It was not very interesting. They eventually started trading heavy strikes, but the crowd was definitely not totally invested. Croton got control and worked Hero over for a bit. Hero came back with a lot of elbow strikes. Hero eventually applied the Seated Cravat. Croton tapped out.

Slater was next. They traded chops. Then they traded elbows. Hero was building momentum, but Slater cut him off and then worked him over. I think Slater is another student. That probably means Latino is also a student. Slater hit a lariat for a nearfall. Hero came back and hit a double stomp and then a cravat-plex. Hero then hit a big boot and applied the Hangman’s Clutch. Slater tapped out.

Diego was the last one to enter the gauntlet. Oh my gawd, Diego removed his mask and revealed himself to be Steve Douglas. This is very significant. I would imagine. Hero and Douglas brawled on the floor. They eventually got counted out, but they continued to fight.

They got back into the ring, and then Human Tornado ran in to attack Hero, too. Another student ran out to save Hero. He is a member of Swiss Money Holding. I learned that his name was Marc Roudin

This gauntlet match was not all that entertaining. The action was uninspired, and the match basically only existed to lead to a Roudin/Tornado match and to continue the Hero/Tornado feud. I just did not find this to be entertaining in any way.
Match Rating: *1/2

Roudin challenged Tornado to a match.

Marc Roudin vs. Human Tornado
Roudin was running through Tornado to start the match. Tornado eventually cut him off with a back suplex onto a turnbuckle. Tornado worked him over for a while after that. They brawled in the floor and behind the bar. Tornado was still mostly in control. They got back in the ring. Tornado went for a shot to the nuts, but Roudin revealed a cup protecting them. Tornado remained in control though. Roudin finally started a comeback, but the crowd went mild. Roudin got a couple of nearfalls. Tornado came back and hit a diving tornado DDT. He then hit the DND: 1…2…3!

Much like the gauntlet, this match was fairly boring and not at all interesting in the ring. The non-PWG guys on these European Vacation shows have not impressed me at all.
Match Rating: *

Kevin Steen and El Generico were in the ring. Steen explained that Generico could not wrestle tonight. American Dragon came out and said that Generico should still wrestle. Dragon shamed him until Generico agreed.

Bryan Danielson© vs. El Generico [PWG World Championship]
Generico was wearing track pants. Dragon went for the injured shoulder early and often. Dragon was in control, and he worked over the injured arm for a while. Generico finally came back with a suplex to the floor and a somersault plancha. Back in the ring, Dragon came back with a leg lariat and a bridging German. Generocp came back with two yakuzas. Half-nelson suplex! That got a nearfall. Dragon avoided the brainbuster and locked in Cattle Mutilation. Generico survived, but Dragon then rained down the elbows: 1…2…NO! Generico came back with a brainbuster: 1…2…NO!!!!! Fantastic nearfall. Generico called for the turnbuckle brainbuster, but Generico reversed it into a diving reverse Divorce Court. Dragon started to kick his head in and then locked in the Cattle Mutilation. Generico was forced to submit.

Dragon announced his inclusion in the next 16 Carat Gold tournament after the match.

This was a fantastic title match. The wXw crowd is notoriously awesome, and they proved that in spades here. The character dynamic between these two was fantastic, and it’s a shame that the matchup was not more common during their years together on the indies.
Match Rating: ****

Austin Aries vs. Emil Sitoci
They were going back and forth a lot. Sitoci eventually got control and then worked A Double over. This went on for a very long time. Aries finally came back and then hit the heat seeking missile. Back in the ring, Sitoci came back with a lariat for a nearfall. Aries hit the corner IED kick for a nearfall. Sitoci avoided the 450. Aries rolled through a snapmare driver attempt. He then hit a brainbuster and locked in the Front Chancery. Sitoci tapped out!

This turned into a fun little match down the stretch.
Match Rating: **3/4

Joey Ryan vs. Are$
Ryan has had two good matches on this tour. I think that streak will not continue right here. Ryan cut a promo before the match. He says chops are not allowed in this match. He made some more rules for the match.

They did an absurd amount of stalling at the beginning of the match. They did some gaga with dropkicks and Ryan needing an inhaler. Ryan got control of the match after he started going after Ares’ left arm. Ares took control after punching Ryan in the face (which went against Ryan’s rules for the match). Ares worked Joey Ryan over for a very long time. They traded eye pokes. They traded low blows. The referee got an eye poke and a low blow, as well. Ryan then made a big comeback. The crowd politely responded to it. Ares came back. Ryan hit a superkick for a nearfall. Ryan hit a spear and a folding powerbomb for another nearfall. Ryan got a pin with his feet on the ropes, but the referee saw it. Ares then got caught doing the same thing. Ryan then did the same thing…again. Ares then got caught holding the tights. Ares then pushed the referee so he could low blow Ryan. Gibson Driver: 1…2…3

This match was excessive in the worst possible way. A few of the bits they did in the match got over, but overall, this was just absurdly long and boring. Some independent wrestlers need to have more restrictions put on them.
Match Rating: 1/2*

Super Dragon & Davey Richards© vs. Kevin Steen & PAC [PWG Tag Team Championships]
This should be a fine way to end a disappointing show.

In the biggest upset of the weekend, Super Dragon tagged into the match before Kevin Steen. He beat the shit out of PAC and slapped Steen. Steen and Dragon then brawled on the floor. PAC hit everyone with a Fosbury Flop. Davey got worked over for a while, which was a fresh dynamic for this general feud. Davey was eventually able to tag out to Dragon who then cut off PAC. PAC was worked over for a while. PAC eventually managed to flip his way free, and Steen then made a hot tag. Steen did a tope con hello on Dragon. Davey hit a standing SSP on PAC. PAC avoided a super German and reversed a Psycho Driver attempt into a reverse ‘rana. Frog splash from Steen on Dragon: 1…2…NO! The teams continued to go back and forth for a long time. PAC hit British Airways on Davey, but Dragon made the save. Dragon gave PAC the Splash Mountain Driver: 1…2…NO! Steen got dumped to the floor, and Davey then took him out with a tope suicida. Dragon hit PAC with a Liger Bomb for a nearfall. Dragon and Davey then gave PAC a powerbomb/backstabber combo: 1…2…3

This match did not have the same flow that the Steenerico/Davey/SD matches had on the first two nights of the tour. I’m not blaming PAC at all for that, but something about the dynamic here did not lead to an especially closing sequence. Regardless, this match was fun enough and leagues better than the majority of matches on this show.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I’ve done at 411mania.

Check out some of your favorite PWG wrestlers in free matches!
The Briscoes vs. The Hardys
Daniel Bryan vs. Tommaso Ciampa (from 2011)
Johnny Gargano vs. Drew Gulak
The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Super Dragon & Excalibur
Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro) vs. Kevin Steen
El Generico vs. Chris Hero
The Young Bucks & Petey Williams vs. Paul London, Brian Kendrick, & Jay Lethal
The Young Bucks vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli
Low Ki vs. Super Dragon
Johnny Gargano vs. Eddie Edwards
Akira Tozawa vs. Johnny Gargano
Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Arik Cannon
Chris Hero vs. CM Punk
Bryan Danielson vs. Drake Younger
Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Cage
AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Colt Cabana
Akira Tozawa vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
ACH vs. AR Fox


For more information on PWG, check out their:
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The 411: There are literally only two matches worth watching whatsoever on this show, and I cannot recommend the show as a result. The whole tour was a disappointment; it’s a shame this tour is probably not possible for PWG now because there is a ton of untapped talent in Europe.
 
Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]  legend

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TJ Hawke

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