Colling It In The Ring: PCW Ultra Anniversary 2K18 1.19.2018

PCW Ultra starts off 2018 with a huge tag team main event that sees Johnny Ultra (Johnny Impact in Impact Wrestling) teaming with Sami Callihan to take on PCW Ultra Heavyweight Champion Penta El Zero M & the Great Muta. Plus, an ECW legend confronts Penta issuing a challenge for a future show! Other wrestlers appearing on the show include Flip Gordon, Joey Janela, Jimmy Jacobs, Rey Fenix, ACH, Shane Strickland and Brian Cage!

This is PCW’s first time doing an internet pay per view. The show aired live on Fite TV.

PCW Ultra Anniversary 2K18
Date: 1/19/2018
From: Wilmington, CA

Opening Contest: ACH vs. Rey Fenix: They do some mat wrestling but neither man can get a clear advantage. The crowd is 50/50 on who they are rooting for tonight. ACH has some taped up ribs, I should point out. They both do some handsprings but they don’t connect with anything. They both follow up with head scissors on the mat and have a standoff. The crowd seems to be really riled up although the action hasn’t been overly thrilling or anything. Fenix isn’t interested in a fist bump and gets in ACH’s face. Well, ACH actually cheap shots Fenix with a boot to the leg. ACH works over Fenix in the corner but Fenix fights back with chops. Fenix connects with a kick to the face and a Pele kick. ACH double stomps Fenix followed by a dropkick, which Fenix sells oddly. ACH drops an elbow, doing an MVP taunt. Fenix hits a springboard spinning back kick in the corner followed by a somersault cutter in the middle of the ring for a two count. Fenix flips off the top rope and hit a German suplex, followed by another one with a bridge for a near fall. Fenix works over ACH with several chops against the ropes. ACH counters a handspring with a German suplex and a lariat for a near fall. ACH continues to work over Fenix with chops against the ropes. Fenix is sent to the floor through the middle rope. ACH springboards off the middle rope to kick Fenix off the apron. ACH goes to the apron and kicks Fenix on the chest.

ACH rolls Fenix into the ring and goes to the top rope. ACH hits a frog splash but doesn’t go for the cover and instead sells his ribs. ACH slowly goes for the cover and Fenix kicks out at two. ACH forearms Fenix several times but is met with a few forearms. Fenix knocks ACH off his feet with a super kick for a near fall. Fenix drops ACH with a kick in the corner and puts him on the top turnbuckle. Fenix hits a sit out Muscle Buster but ACH kicks out at two. Fenix gets stopped on the top turnbuckle as ACH grabbed his boot. ACH springboards off the middle rope to flip and kick Fenix off the top rope. ACH stands on the middle rope with Fenix on his shoulders, but Fenix elbows free managing to hit a springboard hurricanrana. ACH goes to the floor and Fenix hits a somersault dive to the floor! ACH catches Fenix in the corner and nearly wins with an electric chair slam with Fenix’s arms crossed like a straight jacket. Fenix gets a rollup on ACH, but ACH breaks free and double stomps Fenix followed by a brain buster for the win. After the match, they fist bump to show respect. (***. It was okay, but nothing overly great or anything. Some of the selling was just over top with necessary flips on sells. Safe to say some of the stuff here would have pissed off Jim Cornette big time. It thought the action was solid enough and the crowd was eating it all up. Other people may enjoy this more than I did.)

Second Contest: El Mariachi Loco vs. Kikutaro: This appears to be a comedy match, considering Kikutaro is billed as the “king of comedy”. Comedy wrestling is usually tough for me to enjoy. I’m not going to give it an in-depth review. I don’t think this was designed to be anything good but rather a way to make the crowd laugh and cool them off from the opener for the remainder of the show. Kikutaro hits his “Go To Shit” which is basically a GTS, but to his opponents butt. This went on for far too long. If you really like comedy, this is for you. I fast forwarded six minutes and it still went too long.

Third Contest: Shane Strickland vs. Flip Gordon vs. Brody King: King starts the match nailing Gordon with a big boot and drops Strickland with a lariat. Gordon rolls to the floor leaving King to work over Strickland in the corner. Strickland head scissors King and Gordon kicks King. King goes to the floor after Strickland hits him too. Strickland and Gordon trade head scissors, but each time they land on their feet. Gordon comes off the top with a hurricanrana. King tosses Gordon with an overhead suplex. Strickland trips King off the apron and he drops to the floor. Strickland has grabbed a chair and sits King down by ringside. Strickland comes off the apron but is caught in midair and power bombed onto the apron. King rolls Strickland into the ring to keep control of the match. King works over Strickland with a forearm to the chest. Gordon has entered the ring and strikes King several times. King plants Gordon with a Death Valley Driver. King powerbombs Strickland onto Gordon for a two count on both men. King sends both opponents into each other and hits running clotheslines in opposite corners. King runs into a boot from Gordon and Gordon hits a springboard Sling Blade. King decides to bail to the floor.

Strickland nails Gordon with a slingshot Flatliner and takes King out with a hurricanrana on the floor. Strickland plants King with an ace crusher. Gordon messes up a springboard stunner, but hits it on Strickland. King plants Gordon with an elevated cutter. All three men are laid out. King misses wild strikes and is punched by both men. Strickland hits King with a kick on the apron but Gordon hits Strickland moments later. Shane yanks Gordon off the apron and gets dropped to the mat by King. Gordon superkicks King and hits the Samoan Pop. Gordon takes Strickland out with a suicide dive followed by a springboard 450 splash but King pops his shoulder up at two. Gordon kicks King’s manager off the apron and taunts him. Strickland nearly pins Gordon with a rollup from behind. Gordon backs Strickland into a corner and delivers a kick to the chest. Gordon connects with a Pele kick. King grabs Gordon trying for a German suplex but settles for a sit down powerbomb. King nails Strickland with a cannonball in the corner. King hits a Cradle Shock on Strickland but Gordon makes the save on the pin attempt. King puts Strickland on the top turnbuckle and Gordon kicks King from behind. Gordon attempts a springboard but sends King into Strickland. King has Gordon and hits a sit down powerbomb out of the corner. Strickland shoves King to the floor and kicks King from the apron. Strickland comes off the top hitting a Swerve Stomp onto Gordon. Strickland pins Gordon following the JML Driver. (***1/4. A fun triple threat match, though they got stuck in the usual routine of making sure one guy is on the floor in the early stages of the match. They worked well in there and Brody King is a guy I’d like to see more of.)

Fourth Contest: Brian Cage vs. Hammerstone: Cage is on the apron playing to the crowd when Hammerstone attacks from behind to get the cheap advantage. Hammerstone nails Cage with a boot to the face on the floor and tosses Cage into the crowd. Hammerstone whacks Cage over the back with a chair. Hammerstone smashes Cage in the face with a chair. Hammerstone tosses Cage into empty chairs, vacated by fans. Hammerstone brings the match back into the ring but runs into a boot. Cage nearly wins with a powerbomb. Cage clobbers Hammerstone with a series of short arm clotheslines. Hammerstone bails to the apron to regroup. Cage grabs Hammerstone to hit a delayed vertical suplex off the middle rope. Cage hits the move a second time for a near fall. Hammerstone forearms Cage followed by a cutter to a kneeling Cage. Hammerstone kicks Cage from the apron and comes off the top hitting a missile dropkick for a two count. Cage staggers Hammerstone with a leaping knee strike. Cage gets stopped on the middle rope and shoves Hammerstone to the mat. Hammerstone dropkicks Cage but Cage recovers to hit a Buckle Bomb. Hammerstone bounces out of the corner and hits a boot causing both men to be laid out.

Hammerstone dropkicks Cage in the corner and boots Cage as he charged towards the corner. Hammerstone tosses Cage with an exploder suplex into the corner. Hammerstone hits a running clothesline and knee strike. Cage comes out of the corner with a discus clothesline for a near fall. Hammerstone counters a suplex with an inside cradle followed by a forearm strike. Hammerstone hits the Nightmare Pendulum for a near fall! Hammerstone comes off the ropes with a dropkick to a seated Cage for a two count. Hammerstone drops Cage face first over his knee followed by a spinebuster. Hammerstone does HHH’s taunt for the crowd. Hammerstone goes for the Pedigree but Cage counters with a double leg slam. Cage hits an F-5 for a near fall. Cage has Hammerstone on the apron but settles for a kick. Hammerstone drives Cage down with a Pedigree and pins Cage clean in the middle of the ring. (***. There was some good action throughout this one as well. I kind of liked that Hammerstone used Triple H’s signature moves and finisher to win the match. I enjoy Cage quite a bit and they delivered a quality undercard match.)

Fifth Contest: PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Champion Douglas James vs. Ganseki Tanaka: James works over Tanaka early on in the match but his offense doesn’t last very long. Tanaka slaps James and comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. James kips up and slaps the challenger. James arm drags Tanaka a few times. Tanaka messes up a leapfrog by taking an actual bump, which was weird. James dropkicks Tanaka to the floor and hits a suicide dive under the middle rope. James hits a few uppercuts in the corner as it appears Tanaka is busted open from his mouth. Tanaka tosses James with an overhead suplex for a two count. Tanaka is for sure bleeding from his mouth. Tanaka delivers a shoulder ram in the corner. Tanaka chops James several times, but James comes back with chops of his own. Tanaka takes James over with a butterfly suplex for a two count. James comes off the ropes but is slammed to the mat, in an awkward spot. James dropkicks Tanaka on the middle rope and hits a codebreaker. They struggle to their feet and trade forearm strikes. James takes Tanaka over with a hurricanrana but runs into a boot. James superkicks Tanaka in the corner followed by a dropkick to a seated Tanaka. They begin to trade strikes from their knees. James hits a spinning back fist followed by a bulldog for a two count. Tanaka fights back with a brainbuster but James kicks out at two. Tanaka comes off the top with a diving headbutt managing a two count. James comes off the ropes to deliver a clothesline followed by a dropkick. James heads to the top rope and hits a frog splash for the win. (*. This was not a very good match. Tanaka is probably a student of Muta’s, thus getting a spot on the show. He didn’t perform very well and the action was rather lackluster. This was the first match that the fans didn’t seem to care about at all.)

Sixth Contest: PCW Ultra Tag Team Champions Warbeast (Josef & Fatu) vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Joey Janela in an anything goes match: Kevin Sullivan is in the corner of Warbeast, I wasn’t expecting that, honestly. Fatu and Josef attack the challengers before the bell as the announcer was introducing the challengers. All four men brawl on the floor for a few moments. Jacobs continues to work over Fatu on the floor while Janela misses a senton on Josef in the crowd hitting several chairs instead. Josef has gotten an oversized ladder and rams Janela in the ribs with it in the crowd. Jacobs tosses a chair into the ring but can’t keep momentum. Josef works over Jacobs at ringside after Jacobs was brawling with Fatu in the crowd. Josef and Jacobs have chairs and swing at each other. Josef knocks Jacobs down with a chair shot to the head. Janela takes Fatu and a comers man out with a suicide dive to the floor. Janela gets stopped by a valet on the top turnbuckle but sends her into the ring. Janela misses a clothesline and she hits a head scissors followed by a kick to send Joey into the corner. Janela knocks her out with a superkick. Janela tosses a chair onto the champs on the floor and sets a couple of chairs up near the corner. Joey has actually set four chairs up by the corner and has grabbed the valet putting her on the top turnbuckle. She counters a move and hits a Canadian Destroyer off the middle rope onto the chairs and Janela is taken out. Jacobs spears the valet to help his team.

Jacobs and Josef are in the ring with Jacobs looking for a piledriver onto the chair. Josef counters with a backdrop and Josef hits Jacobs with a spike to the forehead. Kevin Sullivan is attacking Janela on the floor, as well. Jacobs has been busted wide open. Jacobs pulls out a spike of his own and stops Josef in his tracks. Jacobs hits Josef a few times with the spike a few times. They are both busted open as they continue to trade spike shots. They both crash to the mat holding their foreheads in pain. Janela is working over Fatu with chair shots over the back and smashes Fatu over the head with the chair. Jacobs whacks Josef over the back with a chair. Janela slides a ladder into the ring and works over Fatu before sending him back into the ring. Jacobs looks to be losing a good amount of blood. Janela whacks Fatu over the back with several chair shots. Janela sets the ladder up after setting two chairs up in the ring. Janela whacks Fatu over the back with a chair before laying him onto three chairs and puts a fourth chair on his body. Janela climbs to the top of the ladder and leaps off hitting a double stomp! Janela has the cover but Fatu kicks out and gets up acting like a madman. Janela comes off the ropes but his met with a Samoan Drop. Jacobs whacks Fatu over the head with a chair but that doesn’t do anything. Jacobs decides it is better if he leaves the ring. Janela gets up and tries to fight off the champions after being ditched by his partner.

Janela delivers running forearms in the corners but is ran over by Fatu with a running lariat. Fatu plays to the crowd as Janela is laid out. Josef goes to the floor and grabs a table. Janela is picked up by the champions and driven through the table. Josef covers and pins Janela. (**1/2. It was an entertaining hardcore brawl of a match. They didn’t really do anything that was over the top or overly memorable. Janela hitting a double stomp off the ladder onto the chairs was pretty cool. I’d assume that this would lead to a Jacobs/Janela feud in PCW. They seem to be having several matches on the independents. A suitable match that probably went a little long, but it was different from other stuff on the show and wasn’t a chore to sit through.)

They’ve promoted the main event as being possibly the final US appearance for the Great Muta.

Main Event: The Great Muta & PCW Ultra Heavyweight Champion Penta El Zero M vs. Johnny Ultra (aka Johnny Impact) & Sami Callihan in a no disqualification match: Sami and Johnny get the early advantage attacking before the bell. Johnny brawls with Muta around ringside while Sami tosses Penta over the railing into the crowd. Sami and Johnny double team Muta with strikes against the railing. Muta sends Johnny into the guard railing while Sami decks Penta with a right hand. Sami tosses a chair at Penta to keep him under control. Muta works over Johnny with several strikes on the floor. Penta stops Sami with a super kick and smashes Sami’s leg with a chair shot. Johnny eye rakes Muta to stop his offense on the floor. Sami strikes Penta on the floor and Johnny comes over to get a shot in. Penta is sent chest first into a chair against the apron. Johnny spits on Muta but Muta stops him with a strike. Penta and Muta are against the railing when Johnny and Sami get a running start but they run into boots. Muta sends Johnny face first into the steel structure. They finally get into the ring to bring some order to the match.

Penta and Sami are in the ring where Sami spits at Penta. Sami is begging Penta to chop him against the ropes by opening his shirt up. Penta can’t pass up the offer and chops Sami. Sami looks like he regrets that decision. Penta taunts Johnny causing him to get in the ring but is quickly sent back to the apron by the referee. Penta comes off the ropes and kicks Sami on the legs. Muta gets tagged in and delivers a trademark elbow drop. Muta’s mask fell off but puts it back on and locks in an STF. Penta low blows Sami when he was tied up in the ropes. Penta prevents Sami from tagging out with a kick to the leg. Johnny kicks Penta from the apron and Sami takes Penta down with a clothesline before tagging in Johnny. Johnny delivers a leg drop for a two count on Penta. Johnny keeps a cobra clutch on Penta but isn’t able to get a submission. Penta attempts a sunset flip but Sami gets tagged in and kicks Penta for a near fall. Sami twists the left hand of Penta to keep him on the canvas. Johnny comes back in and controls Penta with basic strikes. They mistimed a short arm clothesline by Johnny. Johnny takes the time to mock Penta. Sami tags in and ties Penta’s mask to the top rope. Sami delivers a kick to Penta several times. Johnny ties Penta’s mask to the middle rope instead of the top rope. Penta was freed and Sami hits the middle rope groin first. Penta tries to tag in Muta but is cutoff by Sami. Penta nails Sami with a super kick and both men are down.

Muta gets tagged in as does Johnny with Muta delivering a few low dropkicks and a dragon screw leg whip on Sami. Muta locks in a figure four on Johnny, but Johnny reaches the ropes quickly. Penta tags in and kicks Johnny a few times on the lega. Penta is sent into Muta by Johnny and Johnny nearly wins with a rollup. Penta drops Johnny with a Slick Blade twice. Sami enters and kicks Penta but Penta comes back with a superkick, too. They trade a couple of kicks with Penta getting control. Penta plays to the crowd signaling for the end but is met with a double kick from Johnny and Sami. Penta is kicked in the groin by both opponents. Johnny hits Starship Pain on Penta but Muta breaks up the cover to make the save. Muta gets kicked in the groin by Johnny and Sami. Johnny and Sami have chairs and Penta gets up in the ring begging off. Johnny and Sami miss chair shots and Muta spits mist into their eyes. Penta hits a Canadian Destroyer on Johnny. Muta with the shining wizard and Penta pins Johnny with the Penta Driver. (**1/2. A fine main event that probably went as good as it could have. Muta is obviously rather limited, but he did the job well enough to pop the crowd. This was just the usual brawling and hardcore madness you’d expect.)

After the match, the lights go off and suddenly… ROB VAN DAM appears in the ring and confronts Penta! RVD grabs a microphone and says that he came here to give props to Penta for his match. RVD is looking to acquire the championship that he use to wear. RVD says that his first challenger as champion is going to be him! Penta doesn’t care and accepts the challenge. It honestly amazes me that RVD got such a big pop in 2018.

Final Thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised with how good of a show this was. There was only one lackluster match on the whole show and the fans were loud for the remainder of the show. I’m going to be checking out future PCW Ultra shows. This show made me a fan of their product. Recommended.

Thanks for reading.

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