Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG Sells Out – Volume 3 – Disc 1

 

Are You Adequately Prepared to Rock?
October 4, 2003

Super Dragon & B-Boy vs. The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)

This match initially really repulsed me on first watch for how dull it was. I decided to give it a second look, and I found it much more entertaining the second time around. It is not even good (despite the great effort), but it is very solidly worked. The California crew gets some shine, the Briscoes do an obligatory heat segment, and then the match ends with a lengthy back-and-forth sequence. None of this did much to grab me, but it was easy enough to watch. SD and B-Boy won after Jay ate a Shining Wizard and a Psycho Driver. (**1/2)

 

Zombies Shouldn’t Run
August 6, 2005

Super Dragon vs. Quicksilver

This match was so surprisingly interesting and exceptionally executed that I immediately re-watched it to pick up on some of the smaller details of the match. Super Dragon obviously had the slight advantage early because of the size difference. Quicksilver then used a big tope con hilo, and that actually gave him the advantage.* Quicksilver got a little too proud of himself though, and Super Dragon was easily able to swat away a springboard attack to get control of the match. Super Dragon dominated Quicksilver then for a while in a fashion that only Super Dragon can. Quicksilver required a spinebuster into a turnbuckle to even things up again after a lengthy beatdown. Both guys then get desperate and lean on big movez to try to keep the other one down. Quicksilver foolishly goes for a Cristo on the top rope, and Super Dragon reverses that into a diving backbreaker. A Barry White Driver from Super Dragon concludes this excellent match that surprisingly leaned on character work, storytelling, and held back on the action. A fantastic match. (****1/4)

*SO many times dives are used and then the person who took the dive immediately cuts the “diver” off. It drives me up a wall that wrestlers have just made it habit to do it that way.

 

Battle Of Los Angeles
September 2, 2006

Arrogance(c) (Chris Bosh & Scott Lost w/Jade Chung) vs. The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) vs. Strong Style Thugs (B-Boy & Homicide) [PWG World Tag Team Championship]

This was an odd match. They kept going back and forth between giant brawl and regular triangle tag/following the rules. The match would have probably worked a bit better if they just stuck to brawling the whole time. Regardless, this was some harmless fun and easy to watch. Arrogance stole the pin on Mark after Homicide gave him the Cop Killa. (***)

 

All Star Weekend
August 7, 2007

El Generico(c) vs. PAC [PWG World Championship]

They told an interesting story for the first two thirds of the match. PAC was a step faster than Generico, and he kept getting the advantage as a result. Generico then had to step up his game, and he had the advantage for a little bit. PAC’s speed is then what evened them up again, and they finished the match with a spectacular back-and-forth sequence. This was one of their better matches ever in terms of blending story and excitement. You can even argue that PAC’s speed was his own downfall as he took one too many high risks and knocked himself out on a 720 attempt. That made him easier prey for Generico, and he murdered PAC with a half-nelson on the apron (and then finished him with a turnbuckle brainbuster). (****1/4)

 

Battle of Los Angeles
September 2, 2007

Claudio Castagnoli vs. PAC

This was a quarterfinal match in the 2007 BOLA. They had exactly the kind of match you would think these two would have, and the exact kind of match these two *should* have. Claudio used his size and strength to control PAC, and PAC used his speed to keep the match competitive. Claudio, as always, was an absolutely incredible base for the high-flying offense that PAC could do, and it made everything PAC did look especially spectacular. PAC eventually won with British Airways. (****)

 

European Vacation – Germany
October 28, 2007

Bryan Danielson(c) vs. El Generico [PWG World Championship]

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. Generico was not scheduled to wrestle due to injury, but Bryan came out and baited him into doing his title rematch right then and there. Bryan then relentlessly targeted Generico’s injured left arm throughout the match. Generico needed a desperation vertical suplex to the floor and a crazy dive to make the match competitive again. That was not enough though, and Bryan eventually made him submit with Cattle Mutilation. Great story. Great action. Great character work. Great match. (****1/4)

 

Life During Wartime
July 6, 2008

The Dynasty (Scott Lost & Joey Ryan) vs. Kazma & Miyawaki vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)

It is interesting to see this kind of match with the Bucks in 2008 before they fully took off and later mastered this kind of match. This was a bit sloppy and the timing was not great, but it was still a ton of fun. The Bucks eventually got the win after a backslide on Joey. (***1/4)

 

Express Written Consent
February 21, 2009

Paul London & The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. The Dynasty (Karl Anderson, Joey Ryan, & Scott Lost)

This match was okay, but it is impossible to talk about it without first acknowledging how terrible London looked in the match. It was his first match in six months, and he looked incredibly rusty. He was working his ass off though and got more comfortable as the match went along. The match picked up as well, as it went from a near-disaster to an incredibly exciting contest that had the crowd rocking. London and the Bucks after More Bang for Your Buck and a SSP on Lost. (***1/4)

 

We then got the legendary promo from Paul London and Bryan Danielson, the tag team that never happened.

 

We also got the vignette where Chuck Taylor and Kenny Omega attacked El Generico in the bathroom, but Rick Knox made the save.

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

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