Break It Down: PWG Death to All But Metal

Death to All But Metal on May 25th, 2012

Opening Match: B-Boy vs. Famous B
They trade control of a wristlock. Instead of kipping up or rolling through the wristlock, B-Boy settles for grabbing the top rope. He backs Famous B into the corner and lays in a few chops. B-Boy avoids a baseball slide and connects with a knockout kick. He follows with a brutal facewash dropkick, causing Famous B to fall through the ropes. B-Boy takes control until Famous B catches him coming off the middle rope with a dropkick. Famous B hits a pumphandle backbreaker and a rope-assisted butterfly backbreaker. Roderick Strong just became offended. Famous B lands a standing moonsault and transitions into a crossface. B-Boy is able to reach the bottom rope with his foot. B-Boy hits a huge michinoku driver into the turnbuckles. Both men are down. B-Boy rolls through a backslide attempt and hits an implant DDT for a nearfall. Famous B comes off the middle rope but falls victim to a sit-out powerbomb. He sends B-Boy to the floor. Famous B misses a fosbury flop but lands on his feet. He superkicks B-Boy and hits a DDT onto the floor. In the ring, Famous B lands a nice swantan for a two count. They trade strikes and B-Boy hits an ace crusher. He desperately throws a lariat that barely misses Rick Knox. Awesome. B-Boy hits an air raid crash for the win at 13:19. I haven’t seen B-Boy outside of tag team matches in quite some time and this was Famous B’s first singles match in PWG. In short, I thought they delivered a great opener. B-Boy excels in this type of contest where he can trade big moves down the stretch with his opponent matching him blow for blow. The crowd came alive at the right time as well. I struggle to think of much more that you could have wanted from this match and Famous B looked terrific, even in defeat. ***¼

Match #2: TJ Perkins vs. Ryan Taylor
They trade control on the mat and exchange kicks. A fast-paced exchange ends with Perkins grabbing hold of a side headlock. Taylor hits an atomic drop and connects with an axe kick. He follows with more kicks. Perkins hits a neckbreaker out of the corner and dropkicks Taylor from the apron. Perkins lands a rolling dive off the apron and connects with a springboard dropkick in the ring. They block each other’s kicks and Taylor lays in a roaring elbow. He dead-lifts Perkins into a splash mountain. Perkins responds with a quick hurricanrana. They trade pin attempts to no avail. Perkins hits a powerbomb and goes up top. Taylor bicycle kicks him but gets sent back down to the canvas. Perkins lands a 450 splash for the victory at 9:56. These two worked incredibly well together. However, unlike the opener, this match didn’t provide anything to really sink your teeth into. The fast-paced exchanges and all of the kicks would have meant a lot more had they been given time to slow the match down and flesh out the action. Still, this contest was effective for its spot on the card and I would love to see a rematch somewhere down the line, as Perkins and Taylor could easily top this encounter with more time given some of the exchanges seen in this match. **¾

Match #3: PWG World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Brian Cage
It looks like Cage has cut off the “Taylor” part of his last name for reasons unknown. Steen attempts a lockup but quickly realizes that he’s at a power disadvantage in this match. Cage wins a shoulder block battle and Steen retreats to the floor. Steen inadvertently picks up an Ole! sign and begins to eat it. Cage wins a test of strength, forcing Steen to stare at his numerous abs. Cage catches Steen on a crossbody attempt and slams him down to the canvas. Cage hits a backbreaker-neckbreaker combination followed by a basement flatliner. Steen reverses a suplex attempt and hits a corner cannonball. He becomes too preoccupied with a fan and Cage starts brawling with him around ringside. In the ring, Steen takes control by working over Cage’s muscles? It’s difficult to explain. Cage knocks Steen off the apron and lands a dive to the outside. Back in, Cage lands a lionsault. He attempts to suplex Steen from the apron into the ring but Steen fights him off. Steen reverses the leverage and suplexes Cage onto the apron. Cage gets his knees up to block a swantan and hits a torture rack neckbreaker. He is now able to suplex Steen from the apron into the ring. Cage connects with a discus lariat. Steen reverses Cage’s pin attempt into a quick crucifix to retain his title at 16:20. If any other wrestler besides Steen interacted with the crowd as much as he did in this match, it would be highly annoying. The early portion of this contest was entertaining solely due to the hilarity that came from Steen trying to figure out how to gain the advantage on someone like Cage. The match proceeded with some fun action until the rather abrupt finish. I thought they had another five minutes in them before the flash crucifix happened to end the match. Based on the nature of the finish as well as his name change, it looks like PWG has plans for Cage as a singles wrestler. I think he played his part well in this one-off title match. ***¼

Match #4: PWG World Tag Team Titles: No Disqualification: Player Uno and Stupefied vs. Matt and Nick Jackson
The titles were vacated by Kevin Steen and Super Dragon after Super Dragon was sidelined with an injury. The Super Smash Brothers defeated the Young Bucks in the opening round of last month’s DDT4. Stupefied knocks Nick off the apron and into the third row onto some fans. Nick responds by slamming Stupefied onto a propped chair. He follows with a leg drop from the apron. Uno back drops Matt onto some chairs. Stupefied comes off the apron with a knee strike on Matt. Uno slams Nick onto the apron. More brawling around ringside and in the crowd ensues. Dos climbs onto the stage and lands a dive over the equipment table onto the Young Bucks. In the ring, Uno slams Matt through a propped chair. The SSB pancake Nick with stereo chair shots. Dos attempts a springboard maneuver but Nick just hurls a chair at his head. The Young Bucks isolate Uno in the ring while thinking of inventive ways to keep Stupefied on the floor. Stupefied reenters the ring by pele kicking chairs into the Young Bucks’ faces. Uno alabama slams Nick into a backcracker from Stupefied. A table is setup on the floor. Nick connects with a charging knee strike on Uno and Matt adds an assisted sliced bread. Matt catches Stupefied with a nasty DDT onto the apron. Nick covers Uno for a nearfall and starts shoving Rick Knox. Stupefied tombstones Matt onto the apron and all four men are down. Both teams trade forearms. The Young Bucks tease superkicks and instead deliver stereo low blows. Stupefied escapes More Bang for Your Buck. Uno pushes Matt into Stupefied, who overhead suplexes him over the top rope and through the table at ringside. Nick fights off the SSB with kicks until Stupefied low blows him. The SSB hit FATALITY! on Nick. Matt pulls Rick Knox out of the ring and superkicks him. Matt low blows Uno about five times and bucklebombs Stupefied into him. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Stupefied. A new referee comes out but Rick Knox stops him. Matt throws Rick Knox into the ring. Matt inadvertently superkicks Nick and Rick Knox clotheslines Matt! The SSB hit FATALITY! on Matt to become the new PWG World Tag Team Champions at 19:18. This was a war. The Young Bucks have been apart of numerous weapon-based brawls over the years and they all end up being something special. This one was no different. There’s also something satisfying about watching a team like the Super Smash Brothers, who have been largely ignored on the independent professional wrestling scene as of late (barring a few EVOLVE appearances), ascend to the main event of PWG. Not only did they make an excellent debut against the RockNES Monsters late last year, but they won DDT4 and immediately went on to win the tag team titles in this match, which I would call the best match PWG has put forth this year. I think everyone knew that PWG would do the right thing and put the titles on the SSB, but the crowd still bit on the nearfalls down the stretch and the Rick Knox involvement may never get old. Everything about this match was on point and I think it’s definitely something to seek out. ****¼

Match #5: Peter Avalon, Ray Rosas, and Joey Ryan vs. Candice LeRae, Johnny Goodtime, and Johnny Yuma
Avalon immediately grounds LeRae and the male-female dynamic comes into play. The RockNES Monsters interject themselves and give Avalon a taste of his own medicine. LeRae and the RockNES Monsters land stereo dives to the floor onto their opponents. Avalon falls victim to a neckbreaker in the ropes from LeRae. Goodtime connects with a slingshot dropkick in the corner on Rosas. Avalon catches Yuma with a leg lariat and the heels isolate him. He hurricanranas out of a powerbomb attempt by Ryan and makes the tag. Goodtime connects with a double dropkick on Avalon and Rosas. He then monkey flips Rosas into Avalon. LeRae cleans house with clotheslines. She reverses the boobsplex into a victory roll for a nearfall. Ryan counters a tornado DDT by Yuma into a northern lights suplex. LeRae comes off the top with a flying double stomp to break up Ryan’s pin attempt. Ryan recovers with a pumphandle overhead suplex on Goodtime. Yuma hits the Sex Factor on Rosas. Avalon lays out Yuma with a corkscrew brainbuster. Everyone exchanges strikes and all six people are down. They do a really contrived tower of doom spot in the corner. The RockNES Monsters hit a double stomp-ace crusher combination on Rosas for the win at 13:27. I won’t harp on it too much because I’ve already expressed my complaints in previous reviews, but the Ryan/LeRae interactions have become tiresome. PWG is so good at being entertaining and humorous in other ways that continually rehashing this Ryan/LeRae rivalry that is quickly going nowhere seems like they’re selling themselves short. When LeRae wasn’t being degraded, the action moved along fine, although there were some rough-looking spots and the crowd never came alive. I think we have learned from this contest that Avalon and Rosas would be substantially more entertaining as a tag team. **½

Match #6: Michael Elgin vs. Willie Mack
Elgin is making his debut in PWG with this match. They trade chops. Elgin catches Mack during a leapfrog and hits a powerslam. Mack responds with a nice basement blockbuster. He connects with an enzuigiri but Elgin german suplexes him into the turnbuckles. Elgin hits a leg drop on the apron followed by a northern lights suplex in the ring. He’s able to hold Mack up for twenty-six seconds in a delayed vertical suplex. Elgin takes control until Mack comes back with a lariat and a high leg drop. Elgin connects with a gamengiri out of nowhere. Mack escapes a powerbomb and hits a northern lights suplex. Elgin answers with an impressive chaos theory and even keeps the bridge for a nearfall. They battle on the middle rope and Mack falls to the canvas. Elgin misses a top rope rolling senton. Mack connects with the MDX. Elgin blocks a slingshot dropkick and dead-lifts Mack into a powerbomb. Mack responds with a samoan drop and lands a standing moonsault. Mack lifts Elgin into the Chocolate Thunder Driver for the victory at 13:22. Was there any doubt that Elgin wouldn’t make an excellent first impression upon the PWG crowd by showcasing his power offense on Mack? Admittedly, Elgin is impressive when running through his offense on wrestlers much smaller than Mack. This was an enjoyable back and forth battle that kept Mack strong going into his title match against Kevin Steen while at the same time hopefully making Elgin a permanent fixture in PWG. My rating might be higher in some moods, but I’ll be curious to see how this match holds up on a rewatch where I know when Elgin’s feats of power are going to happen. ***¼

Match #7: El Generico vs. Ricochet
They trade control of a wristlock and Generico doesn’t look to be joking around early on. Ricochet snaps off a headscissors and connects with a dropkick. They exchange chops and Ricochet just kicks Generico in the face. Generico fights back with a leg lariat and connects with corner punches. Ricochet lands a standing 630 senton along with a slingshot senton. He traps Generico in a surfboard and continually rams Generico’s head into the middle turnbuckle. Ricochet takes over until he misses a tiger feint kick and Generico yakuza kicks him to the outside. Generico lands a dive to the floor and follows with a flying crossbody in the ring. Ricochet misses a knockout kick and falls victim to a blue thunder bomb. He recovers with a springboard lariat and an ace crusher. Generico attempts a michinoku driver but Ricochet reverses into a reverse hurricanrana. Generico overhead suplexes Ricochet into the turnbuckles. Ricochet answers with a pele kick and a tiger feint kick. He lands a top rope phoenix splash for a nearfall. They exchange strikes and Generico gets fired up. Ricochet halts his momentum with a tiger suplex. He fights off a top rope brainbuster and hits a reverse hurricanrana from the middle rope for a two count. They battle on the middle rope again. Generico tries to daze Ricochet but gets caught by an enzuigiri. Ricochet finds knees on a shooting star press. Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick and hits a top-rope brainbuster for the win at 21:46. Believe it or not, this was actually a grudge match some months in the making. In their first encounter, Generico became extremely frustrated with the idea that Ricochet might be a better incarnation of himself. In Excalibur’s words, Generico has to “face his mortality” by wrestling Ricochet. They continued that story in this match with Ricochet staying one step ahead of Generico throughout most of the contest until Generico was finally able to out-maneuver Ricochet and hit his top-rope brainbuster. Even without the backstory and small touches these two added to the match, the action was excellent as expected. On a show where both title matches had to happen before intermission due to travel conflicts, El Generico and Ricochet nearly stole the show in this main event. ****

The 411: Death to All But Metal is another fantastic show for PWG in 2012. The undercard had some nice surprises with a solid opener from Famous B and B-Boy as well as a great performance from Brian Cage in his title match against Kevin Steen. Michael Elgin also made a memorable debut. The main event ended the show on a high note as El Generico and Ricochet delivered quite possibly their best match together yet. However, the real gem on this show is the Super Smash Brothers winning the PWG World Tag Team Titles in an absolute war against the Young Bucks. I think it’s the PWG match of the year thus far and required viewing if you’re even the slightest fan of the SSB. Based on match quality alone, Death to All But Metal earns a solid recommendation.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]