Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG All Star Weekend X – Night 2

After a decent (if unspectacular by PWG standards) Night 1, Night 2’s card looks even better. The token six-person looks awesome, the main event is one of the biggest built stories in PWG this year, and The American Wolves have their final matches in Reseda. You can’t hate this promotion, guys.

We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA.

Your hosts are Excalibur and the regular commentary guys.

PPRay vs. The RockNES Monsters vs. Willie Mack & B-Boy
This is going to be good brainless fun.

Hilarious spot before the match, where Excalibur has trouble calling Willie Mack and B-Boy “The Realest Niggas in Professional Wrestling”, and when he eventually does, the place erupts. It’s a Pier Six brawl to start the match. He kills Yuma with a POOOOUNNNCCEEEE!~!, and B-Boy helps him kick some ASS. Fantastic start to this match. The Monsters come back and start taking control of B-Boy. B-Boy brains Yuma with an elbow, and PPRay comes in to get their shit in. Goodtime drops Rosas off of the apron, but Peter Avalon dives out with a tope con hilo! B-BOY DESTROYS ROSAS WITH AN ICONOCLASM FACEBUSTER ON THE APRON! MACK HITS A DOUBLE EXPLODER ON AVALON AND YUMA! B-Boy and Willie hit a Samoan Drop/Neckbreaker followed by a standing Mack moonsault for two. PPRay hits a Bicycle Kick into a Crucifix Bomb, but only gets two! GOODTIME FUCKING FREEFALLS OVER THE RINGPOST!~! X-FACTOR IN THE RING FROM YUMA! NEARFALL! Jesus Christ, that dive was RIDICULOUS. DOOMSDAY BULLDOG FROM B-BOY AND MACK! Another nearfall! SIT DOWN TOWER OF DOOM SPOT FROM WILLIE! GOODTIME COMES DOWN WITH A SPLASH ON RAY ROSAS! B-BOY HITS GOODTIME WITH A SHINING WIZARD! This is awesome. Rosas KILLS Mack with a Code Red! Yuma low blows Rosas, but runs into a leg lariat from Avalon. Goodtime gets Avalon on the top rope and the Monsters hit SUPER EXPLOSIVE AMNESIA! The RockNES Monsters pick up the win in 13 minutes. ***1/2 This was all action and barring some sloppiness, it totally paid off. I wouldn’t expect a team like PPRay or RockNES to get into a tag title program with the Bucks or anything, but they do this sort of thing perfectly. They’re good at going apeshit crazy in little spurts of time to hype the crowd up, and that makes a perfect opener. Bravo to all six men.

Anthony Nese vs. Tommaso Ciampa
I was slightly disappointed by Ciampa/Younger last night, so hopefully this one meets my expectations. Ya know, since every wrestling match has to please me and me only.

Anthony Nese starts straight up with a tope suicida. Ciampa comes back with a mean lariat, with the assist going to Rick Knox. Ciampa steals Kevin Steen’s “ram dude’s dick into the ringpost” move and makes sure Mr. Steen knows about it at the commentary booth shaped like a table. Nese comes back with a double jump quebrada into the ring for 2. Ciampa CRACKS Nese with a knee for two. Nese drops Ciampa on his neck with a top rope Frankensteiner and they go toe-to-toe with strikes in the middle of the ring. Spin kick scores for Nese, and HE JUMPS IN FROM THE APRON WITH A SPLIT LEGGED MOONSAULT! Nese HITS A ONE-ARMED BUCKLE BOMB TO THE BOTTOM TURNBUCKLE! RUNNING KNEE! CIAMPA GERMAN SUPLEXES NESE INTO THE TURNBUCKLE! Ciampa hits a Super Air Raid Crash and nearly eats the pinfall. Nese eats SHIT on a missed 450, and DIES after a lariat. Project Ciampa wins it in 11 minutes. *** Other than the succession of crazy spots during the finishing stretch, I didn’t like this one too much. It seemed disjointed and unfocused for two guys who I’ve otherwise been impressed with. Hopefully the two of them have a real breakout moment in the next year because they haven’t lit the world on fire in PWG like I thought they would.

Best Friends vs. The Unbreakable Fucking Machines
The Best Friends had a great match with the Dojo Bros last night, so I’m hoping they’ll be able to turn it up with a totally different team.

Trent and Brian Cage start, but Trent gets a little too eager to show off his strength. Chuckie and Elgin come in, and Chuckie gets his moment with the SLOW SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OF DOOM! Cage powerbombs Trent on the ringpost after Elgin kicks him outside. Chuckie tries to kick Elgin out of a delayed vertical on Trent, but ELGIN NO-SELLS AND BRINGS TRENT BACK UP! Elgin and Cage switch Trent off a couple times, and Trent finally falls after a minute or so. Elgin misses an ass drop to counter a sunset flip, and here comes Chuckie T! TOPE CON HILO ON CAGE AND ELGIN! He got a little more speed on that one, I’m happy to report. DOUBLE SWINGING DDT’S BY BEST FRIENDS! Elgin and Cage kick out. Trent eats a Bicycle Kick, but he comes back with a German Suplex, followed up by a Chuckie T Sliced Bread #2! Elgin hits a DOUBLE ALABAMA SLAM on Chuckie and Trent, but only for 2. Elgin powerbombs Trent onto Cage’s knees for a close nearfall! Cage puts Chuckie up top and looks for a superplex, but when Elgin comes up instead, Trent sunset powerbombs him! Cage goes up, but TRENT FUCKING GERMAN SUPERPLEXES HIM!~! SWANTON FROM CHUCKIE T!~! CAGE KICKS OUT!~! ELGIN KNEES THE SHIT OUT OF TRENT! CAGE KILLS TRENT WITH A DISCUS LARIAT!~! TRENT HITS A BACK PILEDRIVER ON ELGIN! SOLE FOOD ON CAGE! BEST FRIENDS CHOKESLAM!~! That’s it in an awesome 20 minutes. ***3/4 They very nearly lost my attention before that ricockulous last stretch hit, but man, they got it back and then some once it hit. I’m on the Best Friends bandwagon and I’m glad I was wrong about Trent, because the dude can go. And who doesn’t want good ol’ Chuck Taylor to get a spotlight? This match was fantastic 3/4 of the way with a little bit of a lull, which keeps it from getting the complete 4th snowflake. You can round up if you want, though.

ACH vs. Chris Hero
Hopefully Hero gives ACH a lot in this match because I have a feeling it might end up an extended squash like the Steen match.

Kevin Steen calls ACH “annoying cunty hobbit.” I wonder how much he means that since he’s said he dislikes ACH in real life. It’s your usual fare early, with a little more catch-as-catch-can than most indy dudes. They don’t get away from the GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! unfortunately. Chris Hero pulls out the best Norman Smiley impersonation in the history of Norman Smiley impersonations. “This isn’t the WWE,” says ACH, who then MOCKS Hero…and shit gets real. ACH comes out on top for a bit, hitting a bulldog for 2. Hero finds his way back on top after a bit. ACH begins a comeback and hits a Flatliner on the second rope. ACH hits a Slingshot Cutter for a two count and follows up with a Koji Clutch. ACH EATS an elbow for a close nearfall. Hero locks on a Stepover Hangman’s Clutch, but ACH gets the bottom rope after a few seconds. ACH kicks Hero outside AND HITS AIR JORDAN~! Frog Splash/Elbow scores for a close 2 count. HERO KILLS ACH WITH A ROARING ELBOW! ACH KICKS OUT! MAFIA KICK..for 2! SITOUT POWERBOMB! Another nearfall! ANOTHER MAFIA KICK! ACH KICKS OUT AT ONE!~! BACKDROP DRIVER! ROLLING MAFIA KICK FROM HERO! ACH KICKS OUT! HANGMAN’S CLUTCH! ACH taps at the 19 minute mark. ***3/4 Another awesome match in a line of them for this show. This one took a long time to really kick in, but they built it up pretty well. I’d love to see a match between these two that’s just balls out insane because I know they would absolutely destroy it. This was MUCH better than the Steen match back in October as Hero didn’t cut ACH off at every stop, so kudos to these guys.

Dojo Bros vs. AR Fox & Rich Swann
Oh fuck YES. Hell of a “last” match for Eddie.

The Dojo Bros Pearl Harbor Fox and Swann to start off. THE DOJO BROS HIT A FUCKING DOOMSDAY TOPE SUICIDA OUTSIDE!~! Swann EATS SHIT on a freefall from Roddy and Eddie. Jesus Christ. After that, Rich Swann keeps getting the shit kicked out of him. Seriously, this is a shitkicking of EPIC proportions and I love it. Fox eventually tags in and goes crazy with a missile dropkick on Eddie, a springboard somersault plancha on Roddy, and a frog splash on Eddie! Fox hits a Samoan Finlay Drop for a close 2 count. Fox takes a barrage of fucked up shit from Eddie and Roddy, but manages to kick out. CASADORA/ACE CRUSHER FROM SWANN AND FOX! RODDY SUPERPLEXES FOX ON TOP OF SWANN! POP UP LUNGBLOWER ON FOX! LARIAT! Fox kicks out! 450 ON EDDIE FROM FOX! Eddie moonsaults out to Fox, and SWANN REVERSES THE ORANGE CRUSH BACKBREAKER INTO A FUCKING RANA!~! RODDY KICKS OUT! DOUBLE STOMP DOMINATOR FROM THE DOJO BROS! FOX…saves, I guess. Eddie pulls Fox off the top rope INTO A FLATLINER! FOX MISSES THE LEG DROP ON THE APRON! DIVING DOUBLE STOMP ON FOX!~! SWANN GETS TWO ON A SMALL PACKAGE! SICK KICK! END OF HEARTACHE! DOUBLE STOMP FROM EDDIE! Eddie goes out with a win in 20 minutes. **** Barring the fucked up ref spot, this was absolutely fantastic. They never once lost my attention, even during the Swann heat segment, which earns points from me since some matches make me tune out during the downtime. Eddie and Roddy make a ridiculously awesome tag team, and I wish they could have gotten a chance to do some stuff in ROH instead of the uninspired Wolves reunion, but you have to take what you can get. In PWG, they routinely have incredibly exciting matches and this was no differnet. Fantastic.

Eddie cuts his farewell promo and Roddy leads the crowd in “Happy Birthday.” Damn, it sucks to see Eddie leave the indies because he’s in my top 5. Gots to get paid though.

Davey Richards vs. Ricochet
I was left a tad disappointed by Richards’ effort with Gargano, so I’m coming in with a little lower expectations. I hope to God I’m wrong because this should be fantastic.

It’s your typical Davey Richards beginning, including some Ricochet air guitar after approximately 3,505 back handsprings. Davey keeps control for a while. Davey gets in an Ankle Lock after years of restholds, but Ricochet gets to the ropes pretty hastily. They trade punches and kicks, until Davey EATS A REVERSE RANA…DAVEY LARIATS RICOCHET OUT OF HIS SHOES! Ricochet LANDS ON HIS FEET ON A GERMAN SUPERPLEX! Enzuigiri and Dragon Suplex score for 2. Meteora and a Standing SSP score, followed by a Regalplex for 2! A real SSP misses for Ricochet, and when he tries to hit a reverse rana, DAVEY CATCHES HIM INTO A TOMBSTONE! That only gets 2. Alarm Clock scores and he hits the double stomp! Ricochet kicks out! Stomps to the face! That is ridiculous. Ricochet gets out of the arm-trapped Cloverleaf. Davey looks for a super Tombstone (!) but Ricochet gets out and Pele kicks him. TOPE ROPE FRANKENSTEINER! 630 SCORES! That’s…it in 20 minutes. ***1/2 Wowzers, was this disappointing. They got 20 minutes and didn’t get past the opener’s quality. It was a GOOD match, don’t get me wrong, but man, I wanted Davey to go out witha MOTYC with a guy like Ricochet. In comparison to what this could have been, we got a damp squib. Like last night–this was good in a vacuum–but considering what the circumstances were and who was inside the ring, I’m left not really caring about it in the end.

Ricochet leads everybody in a “Thank you Davey” chant, and here comes Eddie. The locker room clears for the farewell too. Davey takes the mic and says that the guys in the ring and the crowd are the reason pro wrestling exists. Davey goes on a huge rant about corporate wrestling, but he makes good on not making it preachy. He thanks everybody and we fade out.

Candice LeRae, Joey Ryan, & Drake Younger vs. The Young Bucks & Kevin Steen
Candice and Joey tore the house down in October again the Bucks, so this ought to be the awesomeness.

It’s weird to hear Joey get huge pops in Reseda. Goes to show what happens when you use a guy correctly. Drake still gets the biggest pop of the show. Nick and Drake start things off, and Drake has no trouble taking him. Steen comes in and calls out Candice, a “bad ass bitch” according to Chuckie T on commentary. Ah, but it was a ruse. They use it to jump Drake and work him over. MATT POWERBOMBS CANCIDE ONTO EVERYBODY OUTSIDE! Steen powerbombs Joey on the apron. Joey now settles into the Ricky Morton role. Nick Jackson BOTCHES! For some reason, I feel okay when the crowd chants “You fucked up” at him. Drake gets the hot tag and comes in at the according temperature. Drake takes the back rake of death, but doesn’t stay dead for long. KNEE TO DRAKE! JOEY HITS MATT WITH A SUPERKICK! SPINEBUSTER ON STEEN! Candice misses a diving DDT, but Joey throws her into Matt for it after a bit. TOPE CON HILO FROM JOEY! SUPER MOONSAULT FROM CANDICE! SUPER LIGHT-FIXTURE MOONSAULT FROM DRAKE!~! SUPER KICK INTO A BALLSPLEX ON MATT! TOPE DDT ON NICK! MAGNUM DRIVER ON NICK FROM DRAKE! Steen looks to Package Piledrive Drake on the apron, but settles for a low blow. Joey stops More Bang For Your Buck on Candice, and CANDICE HITS A FUCKING TOP ROPE BALLSPLEX ON MATT! NICK SAVES! ASAI MOONSAULT ON JOEY BY NICK! BUCKLE BOMB/ENZI ON CANDICE JOEY SPEARS STEEN! DRAKE HITS DRAKES LANDING ON MATT! DRAKE EATS A SUPERKICK! Holy SHIT. Candice tags in but STEEN KILLS HER WITH A SLEEPER SUPLEX!~! POPUP POWERBOMB ON DRAKE! STUNNER ON JOEY! CANDICE HITS STEEN WITH A STUNNER!~! YES! Candice looks for a Reverse Rana on Steen, but Steen catches her and SHE EATS A SUPERKICK IN THE POSITION! POP UP TANDEM TOMBSTONE! DRAKE SAVES! DRAKE EATS A TRIPLE SUPERKICK!~! JOEY SUPERKICKS MATT! NICK ACCIDENTALLY SUPEKICKS MATT! STEEN PACKAGE PILEDRIVES JOEY! DRAKE PINS STEEN WITH A CRUCIFIX!~! Joey, Candice, and Drake win an incredible 20 minute match. Wow. ****1/2 This match is on par with the Bucks/Cole vs. Ricochet/Swann/Candice match from BOLA, for sure. I went insane multiple times in this match, which is extremely hard to do as a guy who’s seen plenty spotfests. Once the movez started, they didn’t stop for a second. They just kept going and going and I’m legitimately impressed they topped last night’s barnburner with this. I love how they picked Candice’s spots in this match too. They didn’t go overboard with the unbelievability factor, which is good restraint from a promotion that sometimes has trouble with it. That stunner on Steen was one of the best spots of the match in terms of crowd reaction. I’m also happy with the result, which hopefully means Drake can build up some momentum again after slightly trailing off. He’s the best and most over babyface PWG has and I’m still hoping he gets the title in 2014. He has his haters, but the guy works his ass off and deserves to be rewarded. This was just incredible all around and it’s what the weekend really needed to kick into high gear.

PWG World Title: Adam Cole (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
After a great main event last night, we get to one of the real draws of the weekend. Gargano was perhaps the MVP of BOLA and at Matt Rushmore, we saw him stand up against Mount Rushmore and challenge Cole for the belt. It’s a good, simple story and I’m ready for it.

Holds are traded, and there is BITING!~! involved. Gargano comes out on top early. Good psychology early with Gargano beating Cole at his own game of being a total asshole. Gargano is just bitching Cole out here, taking him out to the floor and beating his ass near one of the Fire Exits. Cole eventually battles his way into control back in the ring. After a barrage of awesome counters, Cole catches the sitting enzuigiri from Gargano and puts in the Figure Four. Cole EATS a lariat from Gargano after another crazy sequence of counters. Cole superkicks Gargano out of the slingshot spear and DESTROYS HIM WITH THE KNEE BRAINBUSTER! GARGANO SPEARS COLE THROUGH THE ROPES TO THE FLOOR! Gargano lawndarts Cole for a two count. He CRACKS him with a superkick for another nearfall! Here comes Mt. Rushmore, but Gargano takes them out! Cole superkicks Gargano’s knee out from under him, but GARGANO COUNTERS THE PANAMA SUNRISE INTO GARGA-NO ESCAPE! STEPOVER GARGA-NO ESECAPE! THE ROSTER CLEARS OUT TO DISPOSE OF MOUNT RUSHMORE!~! Cole bits Gargano to get out of it. SUPERKICKS FROM COLE! GARGANO HITS A SUPERKICK! HURTS DONUT FROM GARGANO! COLE KICKS OUT! Cole gives Johnny a low blow and HITS PANAMA SUNRISE…BUT JOHNNY GARGANO DOES NOT GIVE A FUCK! SUPERKICK! FLORIDA KEY! GARGANO KICKS OUT!~! FLORIDA KEY AGAIN! Cole retains in 25 minutes. **** Hell of a main event. They played up a good story in the beginning of Johnny having to play Cole at his own game, and while he succeeded for a bit, it didn’t really matter in the end since it was Cole’s game to begin with. Gargano is one hell of a worker and I have a feeling we’re going to see him light the world on fire once 2014 really kicks into gear. What’s crazy is these two can have an even crazier match if they really wanted to, but this was absolutely fine for a main event. Good storytelling, an exciting finishing stretch, and good crowd heat helped cap the show and weekend off perfectly.

Johnny takes the mic and says “Man, Christmas is gonna really suck now.” He puts over the fans afterwards because he’s such a good guy. He’s sorry he let them down, but he’ll be back. They’re the reason why he loves pro wrestling.

And..scene.

The 411: Now this is the PWG I expect every time out. Yes, Night 1 WAS a great show, but this is the blowaway stuff you hear people gush over. The six-person tag is a MOTYC, the main event is a great capper to a good couple show story, and--while Davey's last match was highly underwhelming--the Wolves went out with something to be proud of. Everything fell into place for Night 2 and I'm glad they rebounded from Matt Rushmore last time out. I highly, highly recommend the whole weekend for completion sake, because it's really not that much cash to shell out for the best wrestling promotion in the world.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]