Break It Down: PWG Guerre Sans Frontieres

Guerre Sans Frontieres on September 4th, 2009

Opening Match: Charles Mercury, Dustin Cutler, and Brandon Cutler vs. Malachi Jackson, Phoenix Star, and Zokre vs. Johnny Goodtime, Shane Haste, and Jerome Robinson
Mercury and the Cutlers attack before the bell. Goodtime, Haste, and Robinson all land dives onto them. Star and Jackson follow with dives of their own. Brandon stops Zokre with a codebreaker. Robinson lands a nice springboard corkscrew on Brandon but Dustin sends him to the outside. They work over Robinson until he catches Dustin with an enzuigiri and tags out. Zokre hits a springboard clothesline on Brandon and Los Luchas hit a blockbuster-backbreaker combination. Jackson lands a flying crossbody on Goodtime and Haste. Mercury hits rolling northern lights suplexes on Jackson. Robinson spikes Mercury by reversing a tombstone but the Cutlers military press him to the outside. Haste hits a nice go 2 sleep on Dustin and Goodtime follows with a fisherman buster for the win at 8:02. The locals shine once again. Even Jackson, who’s been pretty sloppy in past appearances, looked great here. The match did its job of capturing the crowd and served really well as an opener. I would have loved to see how crazy this could’ve gotten if it received more time. **¾

Match #2: Candice LeRae vs. Christina Von Eerie
Von Eerie attacks before the bell. They brawl on the outside and LeRae suplexes her on the floor. LeRae lands a missile dropkick and follows with a dive to the outside. Von Eerie pedigrees LeRae on the ring apron. Back in, LeRae lands a flying crossbody but Von Eerie starts going to work on her left leg. LeRae locks in an octopus stretch but Von Eerie breaks out by going back to the leg. LeRae hits a double stomp, hurting her leg in the process. Von Eerie answers with a lungblower. LeRae synchs in a texas cloverleaf but Von Eerie makes the ropes. Von Eerie misses a dive and LeRae victory rolls her for the win at 7:40. That was pretty harmless. I think they shocked most of the crowd with how stiff they were being. The crowd seemed to like it and the match didn’t overstay its welcome at under eight minutes. **

Match #3: Human Tornado vs. Scott Lost
Lost attacks before the bell. That’s like the theme of this show. They dodge each other’s strikes. Tornado pounces Lost and lands a dive to the outside. Back in, Lost blocks a superkick and connects with a gamenguiri. He follows with a nasty kick in the corner along with his judo throw. In a cool spot, Tornado reverses a bodyscissors with a chinlock. Tornado blocks a Superman Spear with a knee and back suplexes Lost into the turnbuckles. He adds a corner dropkick and shuffling kicks. Tornado spikes Lost with a tornado DDT. Lost catches him with a flatliner followed by the Big Fat Kill for the victory at 8:33. They packed a good bit of action into a short duration and managed to have some crisp back and forth exchanges. Lost has really been picking up steam lately, getting big wins and adding a lot to his moveset. Much like the opener, I would like to see what these two could do with more time. **½

Match #4: Karl Anderson vs. Roderick Strong
They have some nice, basic exchanges and neither can gain the advantage. Anderson offers a handshake but Strong answers with a knee. Strong wins a chop battle and back suplexes Anderson on the ring apron. Anderson responds with a gourdbuster. He tries to skin the cat but Strong connects with a kick. Anderson recovers and catches Strong with a leg lariat. They trade chops and forearms. They go for clotheslines at the same time and both men are down. Anderson powerbombs Strong into the turnbuckles but gets caught with an enzuigiri. They battle on the apron and Anderson yakuza kicks Strong off. He follows with a diving forearm to the floor. Back in, Anderson lands a missile dropkick. Strong comes back with a dropkick of his own along with a falcon arrow. He locks in the Stronghold but Anderson makes the ropes. Anderson hits a spinebuster and synchs in a boston crab. Strong tries to counter into a rollup but Anderson sits down with a pin attempt of his own for a two count. Strong goes back to the Stronghold but Anderson reverses it into a pin attempt for a nearfall. Anderson comes off the top into a neckbreaker. Strong hits a gutbuster followed by a yakuza kick for a two count. The crowd bought that one. Anderson levels Strong with a lariat. Strong connects with another yakuza kick for a nearfall. One more yakuza kick gives Strong the win at 17:20. This was stiff as expected, but a lot more intense than I thought it would be. Anderson put in another great performance and he is proving how underrated he currently is. They kept things pretty back and forth throughout the whole match. While it made for an engaging start, I found myself wandering during the middle portion of the match. Fortunately they brought me back with a red hot finishing stretch featuring numerous believable nearfalls. Very good match and Anderson should be brought in whenever possible. ***½

Match #5: Naruki Doi vs. Joey Ryan
Ryan catches Doi with a dropkick and starts working over his left arm. Doi kicks Ryan’s left leg out and begins to target it. Ryan sneaks in a pin attempt but Doi goes back to the leg. Doi locks in a figure four but Ryan is able to make the ropes. Ryan stages a comeback by hitting a powerslam. Doi rolls to the outside so Ryan follows out with a tope suicida. Doi ties up Ryan in the ropes and connects with a dropkick followed by a senton from the top. Ryan escapes Doi 5’s and hits a spear along with a powerbomb and a spinning neckbreaker. Doi backdrops Ryan out of a pedigree attempt but can’t dodge a superkick. Doi responds with a powerbomb and a flying elbow drop. Ryan reverses a tiger suplex attempt into a pedigree. He hurt his knee and can’t make the cover. Doi drop toe holds Ryan into the turnbuckles and hits a cannonball. He follows with Doi 5’s for a two count. Doi hits a sliding kick and calls for super Doi 5’s. Ryan tries to escape but ultimately falls victim to super Doi 5’s. Doi follows with a sliding kick for the victory at 15:19. They wrestled a technically smart match but there was just no spark to it. These two weren’t originally supposed to face each other (originally it was Doi/Lost and Ryan/Shingo). When the Ted Petty Invitational got canceled, the card had to be switched around. These two did not mesh well, but this match happening also opened up room for other awesome-sounding matches to occur. So I guess what I’m saying is that I’m okay with this being just decent if the next three matches come through. I appreciated the leg work and selling but I could not get into the action. **½

Match #6: El Generico vs. Shingo Takagi
Shingo utilizes his power advantage early. Generico catches him with a few armdrags. He’s unable to lift Shingo up for a bodyslam so Shingo shows him how it’s done. Generico sends Shingo to the outside with a leg lariat but gets tripped up on a dive attempt. Shingo misses a clothesline on the outside and collides with the ringpost. Generico tries for his DDT through the ringpost but Shingo catches him and lifts him up for a suplex on the floor. Awesome, unexpected spot. Shingo starts to work over Generico’s back. He’s really good at focusing all of his offense on the back. Generico ducks a clothesline and hits a tornado DDT. That sends Shingo to the floor, so Generico follows out with a dive. Back in, Generico lands a nice flying crossbody. Shingo blocks a corner yakuza kick but gets caught with a michinoku driver. Shingo powers Generico into a spinebuster and locks in a single leg boston crab. Generico makes the ropes. Shingo just throws Generico up into a death valley driver for a two count. Generico hits an overhead suplex into the turnbuckles. He follows with a corner yakuza kick and tiger suplex but Shingo responds with a brainbuster! He hits a corner lariat but Generico answers with another yakuza kick along with a brainbuster for a nearfall. The timekeeper actually rang the bell there. Excalibur on commentary: “wait for the f**king referee”. I love it. Shingo fights off a top rope brainbuster and hits a top rope death valley driver for a two count. Shingo connects with a nasty elbow and hits Made in Japan for another nearfall. He hits lariat but that just fires Generico up. He connects with some forearms but Generico answers with two yakuza kicks. Shingo just levels him with a lariat for a two count. Shingo hits the Last Falconry for the win at 21:42. This was absolutely incredible. Shingo was truly great at working over Generico’s back and Generico is one of the best around at taking a beating. The strong style elements of the match worked perfectly because everyone in the crowd went nuts when Generico would get fired up. The elongated finishing stretch is something that needs to be seen. There were many times where the match could have realistically been over and the crowd bit on all of the false finishes. There was even some unintentional hilarity with Excalibur freaking out on the timekeeper for ringing the bell on a nearfall. I never would have expected this to be my PWG MOTY so far, but it definitely is a nice surprise. ****¼

Match #7: CIMA, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley vs. Brian Kendrick, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson
Sabin and Kendrick trade armdrags. Sabin kip-ups after an exchange but Kendrick just stays slouched in the corner. Things like that show that Kendrick is coming along nicely as a heel. Shelley frustrates Matt with some sharp mat work. CIMA enters the match by double stomping Matt’s hair. Nick catches him with a hurricanrana. CIMA suplexes Matt while at the same time leaning back on a leg submission applied on Nick. The Motor City Machine Guns hit stereo dropkicks on Nick. They perform a triple team move on Nick that words cannot describe. CIMA connects with a flying double stomp. Matt becomes angry and tries to help his brother, but CIMA just tosses him to the outside. Nick hits a slingshot facebuster on CIMA and finally makes the tag. The heels work over CIMA. The Young Bucks throw about ten chairs into the ring. They distract the referee while Kendrick tries to hit a suplex. CIMA reverses and hits a suplex onto the pile of chairs. He follows with a double stomp on Matt and makes the tag. Sabin lands a missile dropkick on Matt. He dropkicks Nick off the apron. The MCMG use some double teaming to gain the advantage on the Young Bucks. The MCMG hit a doomsday missile dropkick on Matt. Kendrick breaks up another double team and Nick dropkicks Shelley to the outside. The Young Bucks miss More Bang for Your Buck on Sabin. Kendrick trips up CIMA on a dive attempt and connects with an enzuigiri. CIMA recovers and hits the Iconoclasm on Kendrick followed by a lungblower. Nick catches Shelley with a superkick and the Young Bucks hit their neckbreaker-backbreaker combination. They catch Sabin coming off the top and hit a swantan-legdrop combination. The Young Bucks hit a frog splash-moonsault combination on CIMA. Nick accidentally knees Matt and CIMA hits a saito suplex on Nick. The MCMG hit stereo superkicks on Nick and CIMA follows with the perfect driver. CIMA hits a superkick on Kendrick along with the Schwein and diving knees for the victory at 24:06. This was your typical Dragon Gate six-man tag and that’s not a bad thing. CIMA had the crowd into the match early with his various antics. Of course, when the match started to pick up the action was fast, furious, and fun to watch. The one thing holding this back is the lack of heat down the stretch. There weren’t many believable false finishes and a match like this depends on them. Part of the problem could be that the crowd was a little burnt out due to this following Generico/Shingo. Still, this match was a highly enjoyable spotfest that made twenty-four minutes feel like ten minutes. ***¾

Match #8: PWG World Title: Chris Hero © vs. Bryan Danielson
This will be Danielson’s last match in PWG. Some early mat wrestling sees both men go after each other’s left arm. Hero applies a cravate but Danielson quickly escapes. They trade wacky submissions, ending with Hero just slapping Danielson. Danielson responds by going after Hero’s ear to much applause. More mat wrestling follows with Danielson going after Hero’s left leg now. Hero backs Danielson into the corner and does not give a clean break. He lays in some strikes and knocks Danielson down with an elbow. Hero takes over. Danielson almost finds an opening with a barrage of forearms but gets caught with a flash kick. Hero connects with another kick along with a nasty elbow and some sentons. He lays in more shots but Danielson fires back with some kicks. Danielson looks to lock in the surfboard but just slams Hero’s knees into the mat. He lands a diving headbutt along with a flying knee strike from the apron. Hero catches Danielson coming off the top with an elbow. Danielson snaps off a top rope hurricanrana but Hero reverses it into a pin attempt. Danielson synchs in a triangle choke from the pin attempt but Hero makes the ropes. Hero roaring elbows Danielson off the apron. Danielson avoids Hero and tries a dive to the floor but Hero catches him with a chair shot on the way down. That busts Danielson open. Back in, Hero tries to open up Danielson’s gash further. He hits a running powerbomb and locks in the Hangman’s Clutch. Danielson perseveres through it and makes the ropes. He catches Hero up top with a superplex. They exchange strikes and Danielson gets a bridging pin for a two count. He connects with a running knee and synchs in Cattle Mutilation. He transitions into MMA elbows and covers for a nearfall. Hero fights back with a cravate suplex. Danielson connects with a roaring elbow of his own followed by a missile dropkick. Hero hits a roaring elbow along with a hangman’s elbow for a two count. Awesome moment as Hero lays in an elbow and Danielson just gives him the middle finger. Hero connects with a roaring elbow and a backdrop driver…but DANIELSON IS UP! Backdrop driver by Danielson along with a running knee. He proceeds to stomp Hero’s face in and transitions into a triangle choke. Hero powers him up for a powerbomb but Danielson holds on! Hero taps out at 42:01 and Danielson becomes the new PWG World Champion. It appears as though the best match of Hero’s title reign was his last defense. They started with their usual flawless chain wrestling. This portion lasted about twelve minutes but they kept it interesting by being creative with their counters and strategy. The match then got turned up a notch with it becoming more strike based. They didn’t hold anything back and all of Hero’s roaring elbows sounded vicious. There were some awesome moments from that point forward including the chair shot from Hero and Danielson’s fighting spirit spot down the stretch. The only small criticism I can find is that they didn’t play with the crowd more towards the end. After Danielson does his fighting spirit spot off the backdrop driver, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. They went to the finish right after it, instead of throwing in some more nearfalls which the crowd would have bit on. The fact remains that these two kept things engaging and interesting for forty-two minutes. I’m going to give this the same rating as Generico/Shingo, but if push came to shove, I would go with this match. Call this my PWG MOTY as of now. ****¼

A fan enters the ring and hugs Danielson. Paul London comes out and gives Danielson a dolphin balloon. Excalibur asks Danielson how he feels. Danielson says he’s a small town kid from Aberdeen, Washington and is humbled to be in the ring right now. He puts over Hero and the crowd thanks him. Danielson explains that he won’t be able to defend the PWG World Title. He hands the title to Excalibur and thanks the crowd. Danielson and Hero shake hands and hug. Hero takes the belt and puts it around Danielson’s waist. The locker room comes out and the crowd starts a “best in the world” chant. Hero asks if Danielson has any ideas as to how a new champion should be decided. Danielson does a survey to see who the crowd wants to be PWG World Champion and Rick Knox is the leading candidate. Brian Kendrick pops Danielson’s dolphin balloon and leaves with the Young Bucks. Danielson ultimately decides that the winner of the 2009 Battle of Los Angeles will become the new PWG World Champion.

The 411: Guerre Sans Frontieres is a show that ends with the best three match combination that I can ever remember watching. Generico and Shingo have a great strong style match that had the crowd going absolutely crazy down the stretch. An excellent six-man tag team spotfest follows that is only held back slightly by a burnt out crowd. Fortunately, the crowd comes alive for the main event. The PWG World Title match is not only historically important, it’s my current PWG MOTY. Don’t sleep on Strong/Anderson in the undercard either. Coming into this show, I didn’t have a match in PWG over four stars this year. Coming out of this show, I have two matches that meet the previous criteria. I feel like I say this a lot with PWG, but buy this show as soon as you can.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]