Break It Down: PWG All Star Weekend 8 – Night Two

Opening Match: Brian Cage-Taylor vs. Kenny King
They begin by trading control on the mat. After dodging each other’s strikes, they find themselves at a stalemate. King hits a uranagi and lands a standing moonsault. Cage uses the ropes to his advantage and uses his strength to hit a northern lights suplex. He takes control until King fights back with a cartwheel kick and a spinebuster. King connects with shotgun knees. A distraction by Chuck Taylor allows Cage to connect with a discus lariat. He tries a pumphandle slam but King just kicks him in the head. Chuck Taylor gets involved again and Cage suplexes King into the ring from the apron. They battle up top and King hits the Coronation for the win at 11:42. King really shined here and this was undoubtedly his best performance in PWG thus far. With that said, I’m not sure if he invoked enough of a crowd response to warrant any future appearances. They kept the match predominantly back and forth while holding the crowd’s attention, making this a decent opener. **¾

Match #2: Kevin Steen and Akira Tozawa vs. Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma
The RockNES Monsters attack before the opening bell, focusing their offense on Steen. Steen takes them down with a double clothesline and calls upon Tozawa to help him. Tozawa definitely helps him, punishing Yuma with a stiff kick to the back. Goodtime catches Steen with a slingshot dropkick but falls victim to a rope-assisted DDT. The Nightmare Violence Connection isolate Goodtime until Yuma makes the save with a plancha to the floor. Tozawa follows with dives of his own and throws Goodtime back into the ring. Goodtime plants him with a facebuster and makes the tag. Yuma misses a charge and Tozawa bicycle kicks the RockNES Monsters. Yuma actually lifts Steen for a samoan drop but finds himself in a sharpshooter. Goodtime breaks up the submission and collides with Tozawa. All four men are down. Steen and Yuma slip while battling on the top rope. The RockNES Monsters recover with an enzuigiri-ace crusher combination on Steen. Tozawa goes crazy on everyone until falling victim to a neckbreaker. Goodtime attempts a powerbomb but sends himself and Tozawa over the top rope. Steen and Yuma battle on the apron. Steen hits a package piledriver on the apron for the victory at 17:55. The team of Steen and Tozawa is just incredibly entertaining to watch, especially when they’re wrestling resilient opponents like the RockNES Monsters. There was a little animosity between these two teams after Steen’s actions at the beginning of the year and this match had an appropriate amount of intensity. The action became pretty hectic down the stretch, although there were times where they couldn’t keep the action flowing. However, if this is the last time that Steen and Tozawa will team for awhile, I think they went out on a memorable match. ***½

After the match, Steen apologizes to the RockNES Monsters for using them to make a statement. Goodtime shakes his hand and they hug. Steen tells Tozawa that everyone is going to miss him. Everyone in the crowd is on their feet and they start throwing streamers for Tozawa. The Young Bucks run into the ring and ruin the festivities. They threaten to attack Tozawa until Chris Hero makes the save. Steen vows to get revenge on the Young Bucks as they retreat to the back. Hero grabs the microphone and challenges Tozawa to a match later tonight. Tozawa shakes Hero’s hand and looks to have accepted the challenge.

Match #3: Willie Mack vs. Ricochet
Mack innovatively escapes a hammerlock and trades armdrags with Ricochet. They both attempt dropkicks and find themselves at a stalemate. Mack uses his strength to throw Ricochet across the ring. He hits a powerful scoop slam and adds a leg drop. Ricochet catches him with an enzuigiri and takes over. Mack avoids a corkscrew splash and connects with a running gamenguiri. Ricochet answers with a pele kick but runs into a popup forearm smash. He recovers with a flatliner and lands a phoenix splash from the middle rope. Mack hits a samoan drop and lands a standing shooting star press for a nearfall. He follows with a creative ace crusher but Ricochet spikes him with a hurricanrana for a two count. Ricochet comes off the top rope with double knees and hits a flipping senton. Ricochet lands a shooting star press for the win at 13:11. While they chose a more tentative approach to the first half of the match, the action down the stretch was extremely engaging and enjoyable. Mack’s strength was highlighted throughout the course of this contest and Ricochet had to utilize his agile offense to topple the big man. With the card changes that were implemented on this show, these two made the most of it by delivering a worthwhile match. ***

Match #4: Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky
The Cutlers insult the crowd before the match. Ryan sneaks in a few punches on Dustin and quickly retreats to the floor. Sky gets the better of Brandon in a fast-paced exchange. Brandon’s chest is still red from Roderick Strong’s chops on night one. The Dynasty isolate him until he flips out of a back suplex attempt and makes the tag. Dustin fallaway slams Sky into Ryan. The Cutlers work over Ryan, finding success with stereo shoulder blocks. Ryan hits a german suplex on Brandon and tags out. Sky snaps off a hurricanrana on Dustin and connects with a missile dropkick. Ryan takes out Brandon with a dive while Sky plants Dustin with a tornado DDT. The Cutlers hit Six Second Abs on Sky for a nearfall. Dustin hits a flatliner on Ryan but eats a flying knee strike from Sky. Ryan clotheslines Brandon to the floor. Dustin lays out the Dynasty with a double clothesline and all four men are down. Dustin hits a slingshot spinebuster on Ryan. Sky throws Brandon into the ringpost and applies an ankle lock on Dustin. Ryan superkicks Dustin while he’s in the submission and lands a dive to the outside onto Brandon. Dustin taps out, giving the Dynasty the victory at 16:35. Unfortunately, I have to say that the Cutlers looked off their game once again. There was just no urgency to their offense and it seemed like they were simply going through the motions. On the bright side, Sky impressed in his return to PWG this weekend and I think Ryan will be better off in a tag team setting. It’ll be interesting to see where these two teams go from here. **½

Match #5: Eddie Edwards vs. El Generico
Kevin Steen is on commentary and appears to be a huge Edwards’ fan. They begin with some chain wrestling and Generico snaps off a few armdrags. He connects with corner punches and hits a backbreaker. Edwards finds an opening with a chop and connects with a running baseball slide. He dragon screw leg whips Generico off the middle rope and starts targeting the left leg. Generico low bridges him to the floor and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Generico lands a flying crossbody and hits a blue thunder bomb. Edwards blocks a corner charge with a gamenguiri and lays in a series of chops. He hits a sit-out gourdbuster and a backpack chinbreaker. Generico fights off the achilles lock but Edwards is eventually able to synch it in. Generico gets fired up and hits an exploder into the turnbuckles. Edwards comes off the middle rope with a lungblower but eats a corner yakuza kick. Generico hits a half nelson suplex but Edwards responds with a superkick and a saito suplex. They exchange kicks and both men tumble over the top rope. Awesome exchange. They battle on the apron and Generico hits a michinoku driver for a nearfall. He goes up top but Edwards catches him with a hurricanrana. Edwards connects with a lariat, hits a powerbomb, and applies an achilles lock for the win at 20:28. These two have amazing chemistry together and Edwards was once again apart of a great exhibition. In fact, I think this match topped Edwards/Shelley from night one. Edwards did an excellent job of targeting Generico’s left leg throughout the contest and the finish made everything come full circle. Generico was as exciting as usual and Kevin Steen even contributed to the match with his entertaining commentary. The match was structured nicely and there were some awesome exchanges down the stretch. This was really all you could ask for from these two and they delivered in spades. ***¾

Match #6: PWG World Tag Team Titles: Matt and Nick Jackson © vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong
Aries takes out the Young Bucks with a heat seeking missile before the opening bell. Everyone brawls around ringside and into the crowd. Strong and Matt eventually make their way into the men’s bathroom. Unfortunately, no swirlies were delivered. In the ring, Strong hits a backbreaker on Nick and a fallaway slam on Matt. Aries follows with a slingshot senton on Matt and applies the last chancery. After he escapes the hold, Aries finds himself in the wrong corner and the Young Bucks work him over. Strong is able to enter the match and drops Nick onto the apron with a back suplex. Matt holds Strong in position while Nick just punts him in the head from the apron. The Young Bucks now isolate Strong until he connects with a flurry of strikes and makes the tag. Aries hits a back suplex on Nick and connects with a powerdrive elbow on Matt. Strong applies the Stronghold on Nick while Aries locks in the last chancery on Matt. They follow with a back suplex-neckbreaker combination on Matt. Nick superkicks both of his opponents and Matt powerbombs Aries into his knees. Nick lands a dive to the floor onto Strong while Matt hits a springboard ace crusher on Aries. Strong chops Matt into a brainbuster from Aries. Nick accidentally superkicks Matt. Aries connects with the IED on Matt and Strong adds a gutbuster. Aries punts Matt in the head but eats a superkick from Nick. Strong connects with the Sick Kick on Matt for a nearfall. The Young Bucks catch Strong with stereo superkicks and Matt hits a rope-assisted DDT for a two count. Aries interrupts More Bang for Your Buck and Strong hits his orange crush backbreaker on Matt. Strong and Aries lay out Matt with a doomsday missile dropkick for a nearfall. Matt sneaks in a crucifix on Strong and the Young Bucks retain their titles at 21:27. This was a much better showcase for Aries and Strong than their match against the Cutlers on night one. They received a chance to really show what they could do as a team and the result was a fantastic match. The Young Bucks proved to be the perfect opponents for Generation Next and both teams successfully delivered unique exchanges and unpredictable action. Since he signed with TNA, I’m not sure how available Aries will be for future shows. However, there are definitely a lot of interesting matchups for Generation Next and hopefully we’ll get to witness some of them. ***¾

Match #7: Chris Hero vs. Akira Tozawa
This will be Tozawa’s last match in PWG for the foreseeable future. They trade control early on and Tozawa is persistent on keeping hold of a side headlock. Hero finds knees on a senton attempt and Tozawa body slams him. Hero destroys him with a boot and takes over. Tozawa tries a suicide dive but eats an elbow from Hero. When Tozawa reenters the ring, Hero has a flash kick waiting for him. Tozawa hurricanranas out of a liger bomb and connects with a knee strike. He follows with a bicycle kick in the corner but Hero just slams him down to the canvas. Hero hits a cravate suplex but runs into another bicycle kick. Tozawa hits a german suplex and connects with a knee strike. Hero responds with a vicious Deathblow for a nearfall. He drops Tozawa on his head with a shoulder-capture suplex and hits a powerbomb. Excalibur: “This is like watching a real-life version of SAW.” Tozawa sneaks in a rollup for a nearfall. Hero connects with a roaring elbow and hits a saito suplex. Tozawa pops up and hits a saito suplex of his own. Hero connects with a roaring mafia kick for a two count. Tozawa hits another saito suplex out of nowhere and adds a german suplex. Hero falls victim to three more saito suplexes. Tozawa hits an arm-capture german suplex for the victory at 18:22. Essentially, this was their match at BOLA last year turned up a notch. Hero controlled throughout most of the contest, Tozawa found ways to fight back, and the crowd was with them the whole way. It was incredibly satisfying to watch Tozawa execute the string of moves that finally defeated Hero and I can’t think of a better way for Tozawa to make his exit from PWG. If you have been entertained even in the slightest by Tozawa’s stay in America, this is definitely a match to check out. ****

Kevin Steen comes out to check on Tozawa after the match. The crowd chants “please come back” and “we will miss you.” Tozawa asks for a microphone and thanks the crowd while crying. Hero gives him a hug and shakes his hand. Tozawa exits the ring to thunderous applause.

Match #8: PWG World Title: Claudio Castagnoli © vs. Low Ki
Low Ki catches Claudio with an armbar in the ropes. Low Ki lays in a few kicks but Claudio responds with a european uppercut. After another flurry from Low Ki, Claudio takes some time to regroup. Low Ki connects with a baseball slide and adds more kicks on the floor. In the ring, Claudio hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and takes control, focusing his offense on the back. Low Ki finds an opening to connect with a double stomp and adds a nasty kick in the corner. He reverses a giant swing into the Dragon Clutch but Claudio reaches the ropes. Claudio comes off the middle rope with a european uppercut and hits the UFO. Low Ki blocks a popup european uppercut with a double stomp to the arm. Incredible. He follows with a shotgun dropkick and hits the Ki Krusher for a nearfall. He attempts the Ghetto Stomp but Claudio uses his feet to block it. Claudio hits the Ricola Bomb for a two count and follows with a popup european uppercut to retain his title at 20:06. When Claudio is put into the ring against a much smaller opponent, a quality match usually results. Additionally, Low Ki is an incredibly unique wrestler and these two were able to deliver a terrific main event. While Claudio looked dominant, he seemed more focused on stopping any mountable offense from his challenger. Low Ki kept the action exciting with some great reversals and this match had no problems meeting expectations and maybe even exceeding them. I can imagine that it was incredibly difficult to follow Hero/Tozawa, but these two managed to successfully do just that. ****

The 411: While night one was a fantastic offering from PWG and earned a high recommendation, I thought that this show was even better. The pacing was improved and no match overstayed its welcome. I cannot say enough good things about the second half of this show. Eddie Edwards and El Generico had a great match, both title matches came through in a big way, and Akira Tozawa had a memorable farewell match against Chris Hero. There are even some highlights on the undercard as well. Night one might have had the best match of the weekend, but I thought that this was the overall better show. I wouldn’t think twice about purchasing this DVD.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]