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Break It Down: PWG DDT4 (2012)

June 4, 2012 | Posted by Ryan Rozanski
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Break It Down: PWG DDT4 (2012)  

DDT4 on April 21st, 2012

Opening Match: First Round: Brian Cage-Taylor and Ryan Taylor vs. Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma
They start brawling before the opening bell. Goodtime dropkicks Cage to the floor but gets dropped face-first onto the apron. Taylor takes out Goodtime with a dive. Cage blocks a dive attempt from Yuma. Goodtime headscissors Taylor into some chairs and sends Cage into the ringpost. Cage catches Yuma on a plancha attempt but Goodtime knocks them down with a fosbury flop. These two teams wasted no time. In the ring, the Fightin’ Taylor Boys just kick the hell out of Goodtime. Yuma tornado DDTs Taylor but Cage sends him to the outside. Cage hits a delayed vertical suplex on Goodtime and the crowd chants “get your shit in” at him, which I find hilarious considering that this is a one-night tournament. Cage lands some ridiculous springboard moonsault onto Goodtime and the crowd loses their mind, as they should. Yuma attempts a satellite headscissors but gets caught by a basement dropkick from Taylor. The Fightin’ Taylor Boys isolate him until he hits a fisherman suplex on Taylor and makes the tag. Goodtime plants Cage with a german suplex and a falcon arrow. The RockNES Monsters hit a mushroom stomp-neckbreaker combination on Taylor. Cage german suplexes both of them in an awesome moment. Taylor manhattan drops Yuma and Cage nearly murders him with a discus lariat. Goodtime bicycle kicks Taylor and double stomps Cage. The RockNES Monsters hit the Weapons Grade Bolognium on Taylor. Yuma escapes Weapon X and the RockNES Monsters hit an enzuigiri-ace crusher combination on Cage for the win at 13:08. Rick Knox put it best on commentary when he said that you could go into a match involving these two teams with expectations about what you’re going to see and they’ll show you completely new combinations and counters. This was a fantastic opener that accomplished a lot in thirteen minutes. PWG is one of the few places that showcase the RockNES Monsters and the Fightin’ Taylor Boys and that’s becoming more of a mystery after each passing show. Cage was also incredible in this match. ***¼

Match #2: First Round: Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky vs. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly
Ryan powerbombs O’Reilly and Sky follows with an olympic slam. The Dynasty add a backbreaker-spear combination. O’Reilly fights back with kicks. Cole comes off the middle rope with a leg lariat on Sky. Future Shock take control with some entertaining tandem offense. Sky leaps to the middle rope to hurricanrana Cole to the canvas. The Dynasty work him over until he flips out of a back suplex and makes the tag. O’Reilly hits a double dragon screw leg whip and connects with a double missile dropkick. Cole takes out the Dynasty with a dive to the floor. Back in, O’Reilly hits a superplex on Ryan and Cole adds a top rope splash. The Dynasty lay out O’Reilly with a chinbreaker-samoan drop combination. Cole enzuigiris Ryan and O’Reilly hits a shoulder-capture suplex on Sky. All four men are down. Both teams exchange punches until Future Shock find success with stereo superkicks. Ryan superkicks Cole and Sky crucifixes O’Reilly for a nearfall. Cole fights back by superkicking Ryan and Future Shock follow with Ride the Lightning on Sky for the victory at 11:36. My favorite part of this match might have been in the opening minute when the Dynasty tried to finish off O’Reilly as quickly as possible. That kind of strategy is something you don’t see a lot in tag team matches. This was a decent showcase for both teams but the action down the stretch featured a bit too much mindless striking and excessive superkicks for the sake of superkicks. Still, the crowd reacted positively and this contest served its purpose pretty well. ***

Match #3: First Round: El Generico and Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan and Roderick Strong
This is undoubtedly an “only in PWG” type of match. This is also Callihan’s debut in the promotion. Strong and Mack begin with some chain wrestling. Mack almost snaps off a hurricanrana and connects with a running enzuigiri. Callihan catches Mack with a corner lariat and Strong helps him suplex Mack. Callihan lays in a few chops but Mack eventually fires back with an enzuigiri. Generico connects with a leg lariat on Callihan. Mack tries to pay homage to Human Tornado with shuffling kicks but Strong attacks him from behind. Generico comes to Mack’s aid and they connect with stereo shuffling kicks. Callihan and Mack battle on the middle rope. Callihan can’t hit a sunset bomb, so he superkicks Mack’s left leg. Strong and Callihan isolate him until he pounces Callihan across the ring and makes the tag. Generico lands a flying crossbody onto Callihan as Excalibur and Kevin Steen make fun of Nick Gage on commentary. Generico hits a blue thunder bomb on Callihan, who responds with a bicycle kick in the corner. Mack catches Callihan with the MDX but gets plastered by an enzuigiri from Strong. Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick on Strong and hits a half nelson suplex on Callihan. Callihan answers with a dead-lift saito suplex. He bicycle kicks Generico into an olympic slam from Strong. Generico overhead suplexes Callihan into the turnbuckles. He attempts another corner yakuza kick but Callihan superkicks him into a backbreaker from Strong. Awesome. Mack elevates Strong into an ace crusher. Generico follows with a brainbuster for the win at 17:02. Maybe this match was just novel because there’s no other promotion where these four could come together to have a tag team match, but I thought this contest tore the house down without doing too much. Generico and Mack were highly entertaining to watch fight from behind while Strong and Callihan had this excellent dynamic where Callihan would strike people into backbreakers and slams from Strong. I also loved that this match played to everyone’s strengths, as there were moments in the action where each man’s distinct style helped his team gain the advantage. I cannot say enough good things about this match. ***¾

After the match, Callihan says that he did not come to PWG to lose one match and be done. He calls out Kevin Steen and accepts his open challenge for the PWG World Title later tonight.

Match #4: First Round: Player Uno and Stupefied vs. Matt and Nick Jackson
Stupefied headscissors Nick and follows with a hurricanrana. Matt comes off the top rope with a double sledge but gets punched in the stomach. The Super Smash Brothers do their signature pose and maintain control with some double team maneuvers. Uno hits a nasty chinbreaker on Matt but gets caught by a dropkick from Nick. The Young Bucks work over Uno until he hits a flatliner on Nick and makes the tag. Stupefied lands a flying crossbody onto Matt followed by a springboard moonsault. He dropkicks Nick off the apron and hits a dragon suplex on Matt. Uno hits an assisted sliced bread on both of his opponents. Nick spin kicks Stupefied and enzuigiris Uno. The Young Bucks lay out Uno with stereo superkicks. Dos matrixes to avoid stereo superkicks but gets caught by them when he attempts his pele kick. Nick connects with a flying double stomp on Stupefied and lands a dive to the floor onto Uno. Matt hits a springboard ace crusher on Stupefied, who eventually responds with a reverse hurricanrana. Stupefied overhead suplexes Nick into Matt in the corner. The SSB hit a wheelbarrow backcracker on Nick for a nearfall. Uno and Matt trade forearms. Matt low blows him behind Rick Knox’s back. Stupefied comes off the top rope but falls victim to a powerbomb. The Young Bucks hit their tandem tombstone on Stupefied for a two count. They connect with stereo superkicks on Uno. Stupefied reverses the finlay roll portion of More Bang for Your Buck into a crucifix for the victory at 14:44. The SSB have done nothing but impress with their run in PWG thus far but this was the first time that I can remember the crowd collectively getting behind them to pull off the win. This was also quite an upset, as the Young Bucks have only lost one match in the past three DDT4 tournaments. In a time where tag team wrestling seems to be put aside, the SSB have gone largely unnoticed and it’s no surprise that PWG saw their potential. This contest was just as good as the previous match but in an entirely different way. The Young Bucks and the SSB are two unique teams and they received a chance to showcase their offenses here in front of an electric crowd. ***¾

Match #5: Semifinal Round: Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma vs. El Generico and Willie Mack
Generico backs Yuma into the corner and dishes out some street talk. Yuma mocks Generico’s ole chant and then has to apologize to the crowd as they didn’t take well to the mockery. Generico chops Yuma and throws up a west side hand signal. Mack baseball slides Goodtime to the floor. Generico hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Yuma but finds himself in the wrong corner. Goodtime catches Generico with a slingshot leg drop and the RockNES Monsters isolate him. 2 Husky Black Guys fight back with stereo dives to the outside. Back in, Mack hits a nice ace crusher on Yuma followed by a samoan drop. He lands a standing moonsault as well. Generico misses a corner yakuza kick and falls to the floor. The RockNES Monsters hit the Weapons Grade Bolognium on Mack for a nearfall. Goodtime double stomps Generico and the RockNES Monsters hit their enzuigiri-ace crusher combination on Mack for a two count. That move won them their first round match. Goodtime connects with a flying double stomp to the back of Mack’s head and lands a dive over the ringpost onto Generico. Mack hits a steiner screwdriver on Yuma in the ring for the win at 12:19. This was probably the weakest match of the show thus far but it definitely had its strong points. Generico tapping into his west side persona early on was a lot of fun and even in defeat, the RockNES Monsters came away from this contest looking strong. Part of that was receiving a lot of chances to showcase their offense down the stretch and unfortunately, the crowd didn’t bite on some of their nearfalls, which hurt the action. However, a flashy combination of moves from Goodtime and a sick finish brought everyone back. ***

Match #6: Semifinal Round: Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Player Uno and Stupefied
Uno and Cole show each other sportsmanship until Uno blindsides him with a headlock. O’Reilly attempts an early cross armbreaker attempt but Stupefied quickly reaches the bottom rope. O’Reilly catches Uno with a dropkick. Stupefied hits a slingshot senton on Cole and adds a back suplex. Cole powers him into Future Shock’s corner and they work him over. Stupefied hits a tornado DDT on O’Reilly and the Super Smash Brothers follow with a springboard elbow-side slam combination. The SSB isolate O’Reilly until he gets into an intense strike exchange with Uno. Both men fall to the canvas after Uno connects with an enzuigiri. Cole and Stupefied trade strikes and land dives to the floor. Back in, Cole hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker on Stupefied, who responds with double knees from the top rope. Cole blocks a dive from Uno. Future Shock nearly murder Stupefied with kicks. They follow with a knockout kick-brainbuster type combination. Uno lands a moonsault onto Cole as the crowd erupts. Cole enzuigiris Uno and O’Reilly follows with rolling butterfly suplexes. Cole hits a wheelbarrow german suplex on Uno for a nearfall. There’s some crazy exchange that involves Stupefied double stomping Cole, which causes some domino effect of moves. You do the play by play. Stupefied hits a backbreaker on O’Reilly and Uno adds an inverted DDT. Stupefied avoids Ride the Lightning and connects with a double pele kick. Uno follows with a double back suplex. Future Shock apply stereo guillotine chokes. The SSB try to counter with stereo northern lights suplexes but Future Shock hold on. The SSB are able to make the ropes. Stupefied catches O’Reilly with sliced bread from the middle rope. The SSB hit FATALITY! on O’Reilly for the victory at 19:39. One thing that I’ve liked about this tournament thus far is that every tag team match has been different in some way. This was your more traditional tag team match that had a slower build to a hot finishing stretch. As expected, with nineteen minutes at their disposal, these two teams killed it. Perhaps the reason why DDT4 is such a consistently awesome tournament is that the wrestlers treat each match like it’s their only match of the night. It would have been understandable if Future Shock and the SSB toned things down because the SSB still had a match later on the show. They did the exact opposite and delivered an excellent contest. The main event of Kurt Russelreunion 3 was fantastic, but I think this match is my new PWG match of the year so far, especially because of the implications it had for the current PWG landscape. ****

Match #7: PWG World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Sami Callihan
They start brawling before the opening bell. Callihan goes up top but Steen knocks him to the floor. They exchange loud headbutts. Steen puts on a fan’s Super Dragon mask and continues his attack. Callihan throws him into some chairs and lays in clubbing strikes across the face. Steen powers Callihan into the ringpost. Callihan misses a chop and his hand collides with the ringpost. Steen crotches him on the ringpost and puts on his jean jacket. Steen has went for a few different looks during this match so far. He takes control in the ring until Callihan connects with an enzuigiri and hits his rope-assisted slingshot splash. Steen gets knocked off the apron by a lariat and Callihan lands a dive to the outside. Steen answers with a powerbomb onto the apron and hits a corner cannonball in the ring. He finds knees on a swantan attempt and Callihan hits a saito suplex. Callihan connects with a sliding forearm smash. They battle on the apron and Steen hits a michinoku driver. He follows with two more powerbombs onto the apron. Steen hits a sleeper suplex for a nearfall. Callihan spits at Steen, so he hits a package piledriver to retain his title at 13:12. Callihan delivered another strong performance and he had a great debut considering the situation that he was in. Callihan was in the ring with Strong, Generico, Mack, and Steen – and he still managed to garner a solid reaction from the crowd. Sure, the crowd might have gotten behind him more if he went in there and squashed Peter Avalon. Instead, Callihan was in two high-profile matches and I think he came through. The clash of personalities here was a lot of fun and while no one bought Steen losing the title, it was an entertaining ride for thirteen minutes. ***¼

Steen admits that he doesn’t fully hate Callihan anymore. In fact, he likes him a little bit and hates him a little bit. Steen proposes a rematch down the line and the crowd chants “please come back” at Callihan.

Match #8: Final Round: El Generico and Willie Mack vs. Player Uno and Stupefied
Generico gives Stupefied a clean break. Mack and Uno have a more disrespectful exchange. The Super Smash Brothers work together to suplex Mack. He responds by blasting Stupefied with a dropkick. Generico hits a backbreaker on Stupefied and lands a split-legged moonsault. 2 Husky Black Guys mock the SSB’s pose with west side hand signals. They isolate Stupefied until he connects with an enzuigiri on Generico and makes the tag. Uno lands a dive to the floor onto Generico. Mack and Stupefied follow with dives of their own. Generico adds a moonsault. In the ring, Uno hits a swinging flatliner on Generico. Mack connects with the MDX on Uno along with a slingshot dropkick. There’s a string of moves that would be impossible to do play by play for and all four men are down. Generico yakuza kicks Uno on the apron. Stupefied overhead suplexes Generico off the apron and onto Mack on the floor. In the ring, the SSB hit a wheelbarrow backcracker on Generico for a nearfall. Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick on Stupefied, who hurricanranas out of a brainbuster for a two count. Mack hits a samoan drop on Uno and lands a moonsault. Generico attempts a top rope brainbuster on Stupefied, but he counters with a reverse hurricanrana! The SSB hit FATALITY! on Generico to win DDT4 at 18:08. These two teams tried a lot of crazy stuff and while not everything went according to plan, the crowd was on fire for the Super Smash Brothers’ victory and that’s what matters. The reverse hurricanrana and FATALITY! to end the match was an incredible sequence and I’m happy that PWG is investing in the SSB. I think that I repeat a lot of people’s sentiments when I wonder why they aren’t book elsewhere. This wasn’t as epic as the finals from last year, but both teams had a very long tournament and they delivered a strong match to end the show. ***½

The Young Bucks attack both teams after the match until Kevin Steen makes the save. Matt talks about DDT4 being the Young Bucks’ tournament and Steen tells them to come after the tag titles whenever they want. The Young Bucks leave and Steen praises everyone in the ring…except Generico. 2 Husky Black Men and the SSB shake hands to close out the show.

The 411: I always say that I value consistency and literally every match on this show is worth watching more than once. I know that I recommend pretty much every PWG show, and while last month's effort (World's Finest) earned a recommendation, it might have been a show that some people skipped if they don't buy many DVDs. However, DDT4 should be at the top of your list. This was a tremendous show and there's not much more to say except that PWG is awesome. Oh yeah, and the Super Smash Brothers are awesome too. High recommendation.
411 Elite Award
Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]  legend

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