Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG All Star Weekend 8, Night 2

I know, I’m doing random 2011 PWG shows out of order and if you’re some kind of nitpicker who likes show reviews in order, you aren’t getting too far with me. I’ve been getting a CRAP TON of money coming in lately, and since I have nothing else to do with it, I’ve decided to invest further in PWG considering I enjoy the hell out of them. I’ll actually review the PWG shows from 2012 in order, although you can check out the undoubtedly better, less curse-filled, and less cynical reviews from TJ Hawke and Ryan Rozanski of the same shows, including this one.

We are TAPED from Reseda, CA. Excalibur and whoever decides to join him are your hosts. I did not buy Night 1 due to me being insanely careful with what I buy DVD-wise, so I got the best out of them I hope.

Kenny King vs. Brian Cage-Taylor
Unfortunately, the Barbarian Overlords (buy their album!) weren’t on PWG’s menu music yet so the old music is still there. The ring announcer screws up early and does a good job playing it up.

Brian Cage-Taylor looks very, very different here compared to now. Cage plays to the crowd early, but chain wrestling doesn’t get anywhere. Jumping Kick misses for King, discus lariat misses for Cage, and they’re at a GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! King gets in a big flurry of offense and puts in an armbar. Man, Cage comes back in the most dickish way he can. He hits a chop that hurts me to call. Jesus. King starts coming back and hits a great flurry of offense, ending in a spinebuster for a two count. Chuck Taylor interferes and nearly helps Cage get the win, but no dice. Chuckie T interferes again and helps Cage get a two count on a deadlift superplex. Taylor’s next attempt at interfering fails, as Kenny King hits a sloppy Royal Flush for the pin in 12:46. *** This was pretty much the perfect opener, as it blended comedy and excitement to help the crowd prepare for what’s obviously going to be a killer show. Chuck Taylor was hilarious at ringside as well.

Nightmare Violence Connection vs. The RockNES Monsters
If you’re not aware, the Connection is Kevin Steen and Akira Tozawa. They have a cool name, but it’s no “2 Skinny Black Guys of Low Moral Fiber.”

The Monsters storm the ring to brawl with the Connection. Steen makes Tozawa tag in comedically. They isolate Johnny Yuma and beat the piss out of him. That changes quickly as Goodtime comes in hot, but Steen just punks him out before anything can happen. Goodtime slugs Tozawa in the stomach so Tozawa FUCKS HIS SHIT UP. You do not fuck with Akira Tozawa. Steen and Tozawa are SO entertaining here, it’s crazy. Goodtime makes his comeback and we have dives galore! Double tope suicida from Tozawa! Tozawa comes in as order is restored and hits a brutal Backdrop Driver. Steen tags in and Johnny Yuma hits a Samoan Drop on him. Yep, Johnny Yuma just did that. Steen bitch-slaps him after and puts in a Sharpshooter. RUNNING KNEE FROM TOZAWA ON YUMA IN THE SHARPSHOOTER! KNEE ON STEEN FROM GOODTIME! DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE WITH TOZAWA AND GOODTIME! Jesus Balls, that was a sequence. The Monsters hit Explosive Amnesia but Tozawa breaks it up and fucks some RockNES shit up. How can you not love this man? Tozawa ranas Goodtime out of the ring and STEEN HITS A PACKAGE PILEDRIVER TO YUMA ON THE APRON! That gets the academic pinfall in 17:55. ***3/4 Words can’t really explain how purely entertaining this was. You don’t always need closely psychological wrestling to entertain and this match backs said claim up. And like I said, how can you not love Akira Tozawa?

After the match, Steen puts Akira Tozawa over and gives him a nice little farewell. Oh, those Young Bucks attack them. Chris Hero saves to the delight of the crowd and Steen vows revenge on those dastardly Bucks. Hero takes the mic and puts Tozawa over like gangbusters as well. Hero challenges Tozawa in “Engrish” for later on tonight. The crowd is delighted as Tozawa accepts.

Willie Mack vs. Ricochet
Ha, talk about different. I dislike the fact that Willie Mack is a Juggalo. But he’s not one of those ignorant dipshit Juggalos, so no harm done. Awww man, Willie doesn’t have his caveman beard.

I think it’s awesome that Ricochet is from Kentucky. I don’t know why. Willie Mack breaks a hammerlock in a really unique way, running in circles until Ricochet flies off. They trade armdrags, dropkicks, and we get a GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! Willie hits an INSANE deadlift choke suplex, thereafter taking control. Ricochet hits a disgusting enzuigiri on the ground, then he hits a graceful standing moonsault for a 2 count. Willie Mack makes his comeback by destroying Ricochet with a running kick. Ricochet retaliates with a SECOND ROPE PHOENIX SPLASH! Mack comes back with a Samoan Drop and HITS A FUCKING RUNNING SHOOTING STAR PRESS! RICOCHET KICKS OUT! Mack catches a springboard from Ricochet but RICOCHET RANAS MACK ON HIS HEAD! NEARFALL! Man, this is getting awesome. Ricochet builds momentum and picks up the win with a Shooting Star Press in 12:10. ***1/2 Started slow, but son of a BITCH did they make up for it down the stretch. Some of the nearfalls were tremendous in the last five minutes. You could tell Willie Mack was something special.

The Cutler Brothers vs. The Dynasty
Believe it or not, I’ve never seen the Cutlers in action. Let’s hope I’ll be impressed.

The Cutlers say they’ll be more successful than the Megapowers. Well, I would hope so. Dustin eats several punches from Joey Ryan, who slips to the outside after the last one. Scorpio Sky tags in and tangles with Brandon, who eats a soccer kick to the chest. Brandon nearly makes a tag to his brother, but Joey Ryan prevents that and leaves Scorpio Sky to beat on him some more. Brandon does get the tag soon after to Dustin, who CATCHES A BOTCHED SPRINGBOARD from Sky. The crowd was ready to boo, but stopped when that happened. Despite that spot, this match is very, very dull. The Cutlers make a Randy Savage joke because they’re idiots (remember he died shortly before this show) and they get called on it. Joey Ryan tags in Sky finally, who hits spinning DDT for a close two count. Sky eats a superkick and kicks out of a really sloppy double team from the Cutlers. Scorpio Sky puts in a kneebar on Dustin, who taps in 16:38. ** This was painfully boring. To say I’m impressed with the Cutler Brothers would be a lie. They showed me nothing in the way of charisma or excitement and the Dynasty didn’t set the world on fire with their carrying abilities. Not a good match.

Eddie Edwards vs. El Generico
In a funny little snafu, Highspots screwed up the entrance by putting Generico’s name under Eddie Edwards and vice versa. Haven’t seen that on a PWG DVD before, but oh well.

A feeling out process doesn’t accomplish much early as no one really gets the ultimate advantage. Generico eats a chop from Edwards, who kicks Generico into the tree of woe and baseball slides him in it. Eddie goes to work on Generico’s knee like a champ, which Kevin Steen voices his love for on commentary. Generico does an awesome, awesome job of selling his knee by not being able to slingshot to the outside. You don’t see that on indy shows too often. Blue Thunder Bomb from Generico gets a two count. Edwards makes his comeback and hits machine gun Kobashi chops and a back facebuster for a close two count. Awesome knee psychology in this match, as there’s a sequence between the two where Generico tries with all his might to prevent the Achilles Lock but still falls victim to it. Eddie Edwards is doing awesome here playing a badass, dickhead heel in a way. Exploder in the corner from Generico! SUPERKICK FROM EDWARDS! YAKUZA KICK FROM GENERICO! SUPLEX OVER THE TOP! Generico hits a MICHINOKU DRIVER ON THE APRON! HUGE LARIAT FROM EDWARDS! ACHILLES LOCK! Generico taps in a great 20:50. **** This was an awesome, awesome match. They incorporated some logical psychology that they kept going throughout the entire contest, which makes it better than your average indie match. I’m not sure this has such high marks from anyone else, but I’m a firm believer of in-ring storytelling and this one had it in spades. Tremendous.

PWG Tag Titles: The Young Bucks © vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong
The Young Bucks were still in TNA by this point, worshipping the company. I like that, not the forced cocky heel act they’re doing today. It worked for Cactus Jack and it works for the Bucks, although that’s a horrible way of putting it. Austin Aries is your TNA World Champion. Crazy how the time goes.

Austin Aries starts hot with a…heat seeking missile. Oh, I kill me. Matt and Roddy FIGHT INTO THE MEN’S ROOM. And Kevin Sullivan cries. The bell finally rings as Aries and Nick fight in the ring. The Bucks try to do some cocky shit, but YOU DO NOT FUCK WITH AUSTIN ARIES. I know it’s usually you can’t headscissor Austin Aries, but 1) I don’t like stealing material from other reviewers unless 100% necessary and 2) YOU DO NOT FUCK WITH AUSTIN ARIES. Austin Aries locks on Last Chancery in his corner, but Nick Jackson gouges his eye to break it. Roddy tags in after Aries nearly has to play Ricky Morton, but he doesn’t have much luck with cleaning house as he falls to a running kick in a headscissors. Aries nearly gets the tag, but he is swept off the apron by Matt. Roddy is getting the shit raked out of his back in this little heat segment of his. You will only see that written in a wrestling column/review, my friends. Aries tags in and gives the Bucks back and chest rakes and a SUPER BACK RAKE!~! Matt tries to put in Last Chancery on Aries, but STRONG CATCHES HIM IN THE STRONGHOLD MID-BRIDGE! Nick prevents a double team brainbuster by superkicking Strong, and after an attempt to counter, Aries eats one too. Matt looks for a brainbuster, but he takes too long and GenNext hits a chop brainbuster! Nearfall! GenNext builds up a huge head of steam, but ARIES EATS A SUPERKICK MID-HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! SUPERKICK/DDT COMBO! Nearfall! SUPLEX BACKBREAKER FROM RODDY! DROPKICK/POWERBOMB! Well, this totally just got awesome. Out of nowhere, Matt crucifixes Strong for the surprise pin in 18:16. The crowd thinks that was bullshit, but I loved that finish. It gets the Bucks over as sneaky, crafty heels…especially when they dart out of the ring immediately afterwards. ***3/4 I wasn’t as enamoured with this match as I had hoped I would be, but despite my slight disappointment these four still put on a great match that popped the live crowd numerous times. They didn’t really turn it up until the tail end of the match—which hurt it a tad—but they still worked their asses off, so it’s not for lack of effort.

Chris Hero vs. Akira Tozawa
So I guess THIS is Tozawa’s farewell match. I’m down. Oh, and if you haven’t, get Chris Hero’s shoot interview with Smart Mark Video. It is fantastic and I’m not even done with it. Totally made me a fan of Chris Hero the man, which I cannot say for Davey Richards, who’s horrible shoot interview made me hate that smug prick.

The ref has trouble getting the streamers out of the ring, so Excalibur and Chuckie T (I love that man) heckle him. Hero looks for an STF right off the bat, and he scrambles with Tozawa on the mat until they break. They fight over a headlock, which Tozawa puts on at every opportunity. Tozawa builds up more momentum with a senton. This crowd is molten for this guy, but seriously, how can you not love Akira Tozawa? Tozawa looks for a running splash in the corner, but Hero KILLS HIM WITH A BITHYCLE KICK! Tozawa looks for a tope suicida but HERO KILLS HIM WITH AN ELBOW IN MID-AIR! Christ on a stick, that bitch is dead. Tozawa barely gets in before he’s counted out, but he runs right into a low dropkick. Tozawa is taking a shit-kicking in this match. Man, Tozawa is dying right now but he ain’t gonna quit. Tozawa takes multiple kicks to the head but he COUNTERS A LIGERBOMB WITH A RANA! BITHCYCLE KICK! Hero hits an elbow to get control back. Hero hits a Cravat Suplex, but TOZAWA HITS A GERMAN SUPLEX! Two count! Sitting Busaiku Knee! CYCLONE KILL FROM HERO! NEARFALL! REGAL-PLEX! POWERBOMB! KICKOUT! This match is so, so awesome. SAITO SUPLEX DUEL! DISCUS YAKUZA KICK! KICKOUT!! Hero takes THREE Saito Suplexes!! HE’S UP AFTER THE THIRD! ARM CAPTURE GERMAN FROM TOZAWA!! Tozawa picks up the win in an absolutely phenomenal 17:35. Tozawa gets an awesome standing ovation after the match and he takes the mic. He says, “I can’t speak English.” and the crowd says “That’s okay. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!” says Tozawa. Akira gives a tearful thank you and flips off the crowd to their delight. He and Hero embrace as Tozawa leaves in the most fantastic way possible. ****1/2 I had heard great things about this match, but I still didn’t expect it to be quite this great. Tozawa plays an absolutely amazing babyface, as his comebacks are believable and he has the undeniable charisma to pull everything off without it looking phony or telegraphed. This is about the closest to a real come-from-behind win you’ll see in wrestling, which makes it such a good, emotional match to send such a great worker like Akira Tozawa out on. With this kind of story and emotion, there was no way they could screw such a good thing up. Excellent, excellent stuff.

PWG World Title: Claudio Castagnoli © vs. Low Ki
Oh hell yeah. This is the good shit, but how they’re going to follow Hero/Tozawa is the most interesting part.

Claudio overpowers Low Ki into the ropes to begin, so Ki decides he’s going to put on an armbar in the ropes. Low Ki hits a stiff as shit kick, so Claudio WASTES HIM with a European Uppercut. Claudio eats a few elbows in the corner so he bails after the referee pulls Ki off of him. Ki goes outside with him and takes him around ringside, kicking him out of a few different chairs. Ki taunts Claudio with HEY so Claudio gets pissed, hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and gives out a HEY of his own. Claudio hits a few backbreakers and keeps working on Ki’s back as the crowd emphatically tries to rally the Warrior up. Claudio clobbers Ki with a lariat to stop his comeback. Claudio hits a 20 REVOLUTION GIANT SWING. Low Ki escapes from a bearhug and hits a SUNSET FLIP GHETTO STOMP to the face! Claudio catches a kick and looks for another Giant Swing but LOW KI COUNTERS INTO A DRAGON SLEEPER! UFO from Castagnoli! Low Ki counters a Swiss Death by STOMPING CLAUDIO’S ARM in mid-air! Ki Krusher! Claudio kicks out! Ki headbutts Claudio off the rope but misses a Ghetto Stomp and Claudio hits a Ricola Bomb. KICK OUT! SWISS DEATH! Claudio Castagnoli pins Low Ki clean (!) in 20:09. ***1/2 They had a good match, but they didn’t do as well as I thought they could. Yeah, there were cool counters to moves that got me going, but they didn’t follow through with anything worthwhile besides a couple of good nearfalls. It probably suffered from following the last segment, but even then the crowd was still up enough for another barnburner. Instead of a barnburner, they got a good match. There’s nothing wrong with a good match, but they have the ingredients for a spectacle in a spot where a spectacle was anticipated. I understand that this may be a great match to someone else, but it was a lot of sizzle and no steak to me. And I like steak.

The 411: Never mind that this is one of the better PWG shows of 2011, the two Akira Tozawa matches are what this show was about and it should be watched immediately by anyone who says they're independent wrestling fans. I don't care if this is from a year ago or from last night, get it. And get it on DVD too...the MP4 version I got from Highspots sucked something fierce.
Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]