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Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG All Star Weekend XI (Night One)
Loading...It’s been a long time since we had some new PWG to get our hands on. After the undoubted smash success of BOLA, PWG took a good 3 and a half months off to presumably cool down before what now appears to be a fuller 2016 schedule. And who can really blame them? 2015’s Battle of Los Angeles was one of the hottest things going in wrestling, and they lived up to the hype in such a gigantic way that taking a break almost had to happen. But that doesn’t mean PWG was going to slack in its first weekend back, and now we land at our first All Star Weekend since 2013’s ASW X that had some pretty great hidden gems. The PWG landscape has changed a TON since then though, and hopefully ASW XI will continue Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s hot-streak, now in BLU-RAY form!
We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA.
Your hosts are Excalibur and the usual rotating door of guests.
Mark Andrews vs. Chuck Taylor
Mark Andrews had a great weekend at BOLA, debuting along with Will Ospreay in one of the weekend’s most memorable matches. Sure, TNA is content with having him ride a skateboard and lose to geeks every show, but Matt Hardy is their World Champion and ultimately, that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Chuck Taylor is Chuck Taylor, and it’s really impossible to wrong with him as your opener.
Chuckie pulls off a remarkably smooth backflip to combat Mark’s, so tensions are high. Andrews is running a high-flying clinic on Chuckie in the earlygoing, so the Kentucky Gentleman gets a bit frustrated and drags him out of the ring by force. Chuck teases “throwing this British guy at you” to the fans, but Mark 619’s on him on the apron mid-Irish Whip… until Chuckie catches Andrews on a dive and gives him an Orange Crush on the ring apron! Chuck uses some power moves to keep the Welshman at bay, and HE DOES THE DEAL!~! with the Falcon Arrow, but much to the bewilderment of Excalibur, Andrews powers out. Andrews beautifully counters a suplex into a Stunner, which gives him a window to come back. Andrews again uses his speed to get the upperhand on Chuckie, hitting a standing corkscrew moonsault for his first real nearfall of the match. Chuckie fights back with Sole Food, but runs right into an Andrews dropkick. Andrews himself runs into a knee from Chuck, but Mark fights back again with a beautiful jumping Tornado DDT! Andrews looks for a diving rana, but Chuck CATCHES HIM and rolls into a single leg crap! Chuckie counters a pop-up rana with a disgusting pop-up powerbomb! Chuckie misses his moonsault though, and Mark drops him with La Mistica. A SSP misses for Andrews however, and Chuckie puts him away with the Awful Waffle at the 10 minute mark. *** Not much more you could ask for as an opener. These guys set a torrid pace from the get-go, told a good story, and did just enough to get the crowd going for the night to come. I was surprised by the way Chuck Taylor used his size to keep the speedy Andrews at bay, as I don’t recall that ever being a story for Chuckie, but that’s just more proof that he’s a great worker. And any sign of a push for the man earns a positive rating from me, so we’re off to a great start.
Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
Marty Scurll is another UK import that had a breakout weekend at BOLA, most notably in that crazy 35 minute Semi-final match with Zack Sabre Jr on Night 3. I’ve yet to see his Rev Pro match with Will Ospreay, if you guys were wondering.
Marty Scurll is not happy at Ricochet’s jovial inclusion of a Christmas hat in the introductions, so he wipes his ass with the hat and throws it into the crowd. Ricochet one-ups him in the most incredible way possible by using Marty’s umbrella as masturbation simulation, ala Jake Roberts and the snake. Marty is a bit taken aback by Ricochet’s familiar ring-gear, but Ricochet attempts to diffuse the situation. The crowd is trying their hardest to diffuse it as well, with a WE LOVE KAYFABE chant, something I am positive I have never heard before. “No you don’t, or you wouldn’t be chanting that” says Excalibur. They take turns biting each other within some basic technical wrestling, until Ricochet uses some flippy shit to combat Marty’s attempt at a Ricochet. Ricochet pulls off a spinebuster much to the chagrin of the Villain, followed by the People’s Moonsault for a two count. Ricochet gets too caught up posturing for a brainbuster, so Marty faceplants him mid-bicep kiss. Beautiful counter from Marty, superkick a hand-standing Ricochet to take control. Marty hits the PEOPLE’S GARVIN STOMP!~! due to his inability to pull off a moonsault. Ricochet follows Marty into a running Ace Crusher, which he uses as fuel to his comeback. Ricochet hits a variation of the Benadryller followed by a standing SSP which only gets two. Marty skins the cat to the apron, which proves the correct move as he later superkicks Ricochet in the face from the apron. Ricochet rolls through a chickenwing, but he eats knees on a standing SSP! Scurll KILLS him with a powerbomb for a nearfall! Scurll eats a superkick, but turns that into a lariat! Ricochet superkicks him back and hits a Northern Lights into a brainbuster for another two count! Ricochet goes up top, but misses the Phoenix Splash. Scurll CATCHES RICOCHET OFF THE ROPES WITH A CHICKENWING~! COUNTERED INTO VERTIGO! MARTY KICKS OUT! Marty gets out of the Benadryller and goes after Ricochet’s finger, and attempts to go for the Chickenwing again! Ricochet gets out of it and hits two kicks, and the Benadryller scores for the win in 17 minutes. ***1/2 This was just about as good as you would expect from these guys in the second match of the card. They started out pretty lighthearted and didn’t really wilt on that until the final 5 minutes or so, but even so they wrestled a very technically and psychologically sound match. They played a fun game of oneupsmanship throughout, and while they didn’t do enough to have a truly memorable match, there’s not much to complain about once that awesome finishing sequence hit. Great stuff from these two, if a bit subdued.
The American Wolves vs. The Unbreakable Fucking Machines
Three very notable returns for PWG here then. The Wolves have been in TNA since very early 2014 and have actually been one of the only talents they’ve managed to use properly, while Michael Elgin is apparently coming off his ROH exclusive contract to make his return. Given the ROH-PWG working agreement, I’m not sure that matters much anymore, but c’est la vie.
Davey and Elgin start off, which is pretty awesome. Davey fakes a handshake to draw Elgin into a wristlock, so Elgin shoulderblocks him out of the ring for his troubles. Brian Cage tags in, and Davey pusses out and tags Eddie in, who is wary himself of Cage. Both Wolves try to overpower Cage, who MACHINES them out of the ring, leaving them at a loss. Eddie hilariously screams his heart out trying to suplex Elgin, and once again Davey comes in to try and even it up. That doesn’t work either, and Elgin sends them both ringside after a double suplex. Eddie and Elgin duke it out with some very stiff strikes, and Elgin comes out on top eventually with a shoulder block. Eddie drops Elgin with a shining wizard, and tags in Davey who does not see the same success early on. The Wolves use their quickness to overcome the size advantage of the Machines, with some neat double teams that largely overwhelm Elgin and Cage. Davey puts in the arm-trap Cloverleaf, and after a big struggle, Elgin hilariously just kicks him in the head out of it. The 818 scores for Cage on Eddie, but it only gets two as Elgin comes back in. Elgin puts Eddie up for the stalling suplex, and continues to do so despite Davey’s interventions. Cage eventually comes in and puts Davey up, and the Wolves eventually come down for the stereo suplexes. Cage hits a standing moonsault on Eddie for a nearfall. Demolition Decapitation scores for The Machines, and Davey is forced to break up the pin. Eddie is somehow able to rana both Cage and Elgin at the same time, and he tags in Davey. Davey forces Elgin to DDT Cage, and he throws some stiff kicks at Elgin’s. Back handspring enzuigiri scores for Davey, but only for two. Davey puts Elgin in a Trailer Hitch, and he puts Cage in an Ankle Lock when he tries to save! Elgin nearly German Suplexes Davey, but Davey rolls through into an Ankle Lock! Eddie tags in and enzuigiris him into a German Suplex, and he nearly gets the pin on Elgin. The Wolves hit the Alarm Clock and look for the Powerbomb/Lungblower, but the Machines HIT STEREO FUCKING MACHINE SUPERPLEXES! Elgin actually hit a Falcon Arrow, but no one has mentioned the DEAL being done. All four men trade strikes in the middle of the ring until the Wolves fall to stereo Gorilla Press/Powerslams. Double lariats score for the Machines, but Davey is able to break up the pin at the last second. Davey rolls Elgin into a small package for Eddie, but Elgin kicks out. Davey runs into a discus lariat, and Eddie DIES FOR OUR SINS to eat the pinfall by way of an Elgin Bomb in 21 minutes. ***1/2 Now this was a great match, but could have been advanced pretty substantially had they cut a good 4-5 minutes off and just made this a balls-out sprint. That’s pretty much the thing Wolves are best at, and we’ve seen time and again Elgin’s capabilities in a high-pace match. The slow start was getting close to buzzkill territory, and some of the sloppiness down the stretch brought the overall product down a bit. That being said, I was not disappointed in the least by the Wolves’ return here, as they came back very motivated and showed a ton of personality and cohesion. As I said, TNA has actually made these guys into a pretty good part of their roster, and I think their improvements are very blatant. Elgin and Cage haven’t teamed in a while so their chemistry as a team was a bit rusty, but they came out determined to have a great match and they did. So aside from a few nitpicks, this was a very good match that could have stood to be a bit more compact in the end.
We cut to Drew Gulak standing in the ring, and who’s to show up but SAMI CALLIHAN of course.
Sami Callihan vs. Drew Gulak
Can’t say I’m not fearful of Gulak sitting on the mat with Sami’s leg in his arm for ten minutes, but I missed Sami’s goofy ass on the indies so I’ll take it any way I can get it.
Sami comes out a HOUSE OF FIRE, taking Gulak out of the ring immediately with a boot and following with a Tope Suicida! Sami beats Gulak all over the outside until Gulak matadors out of the way and throws Sami into a sea of chairs. Gulak just hoists up Sami and drags him all the way across the building to bodyslam on the floor. Sami lines Drew up for the boots in the corner after some more brawling outside, and ends up kicking his arm mid-lariat and hitting a disgusting slingshot spinning neckbreaker. Gulak piledrives Sami for a two count. Gulak puts Sami up top for a superplex, but Sami slaps the SHIT out of him and goes for a sunset powerbomb instead. Sami superkicks his knee, sending Drew down to the mat in Sami’s waiting arms for a Ligerbomb! Sami transitions right into a Stretch Muffler, but Drew counters into an Ankle Lock! Sami nearly passes out, but he eventually gets the ropes. Sami spits at Drew from the mat, which just makes Drew angrier, until Sami plants him with a Backdrop Driver and STIFF STOMPS TO THE FACE! The Stretch Muffler finishes things for Sami at the 10 minute mark. *** This was everything it should have been. They didn’t need to have some long, drawn-out, indulgent catch wrestling match. Sami came out with a chip on his shoulder, and dispatched of Drew Gulak in a short, intense match that played off of its spontaneous nature. Simple story, and a great statement for Sami Callihan to come back with. They wrestled how the story called for, and that’s all they needed to do. Good stuff.
Sami takes the mic after the match and says he’s been locked in a cage for last two and a half years. Sami’s out to prove that he’s the best in the world.
Trevor Lee vs. Will Ospreay
I think everyone who reads my reviews is aware of Will Ospreay at this point. He and Zack Sabre Jr are probably the two biggest stars to come out of England the past year or two, and for good reason. The kid has been wrestling for like three years, and already earned high, high praise from lowly little reviewers like me to Dave Meltzer. I don’t see how he can’t keep that roll going against Trevor Lee, who is no slouch himself.
Trevor immediately establishes himself as a heel, jumping Ospreay before the bell and flipping the crowd off, but Ospreay just goes to WORK with an insane barrage of flips that leave Trevor dizzy. This guy is a juggernaut. Lee soccer kicks him from the apron though after heaving him out of the ring. I think I can get to like heel Trevor Lee, especially as he brains Will with a deadlift German for a two counts. Trevor HEAVES Ospreay across the ring, tying him up in the ropes for good measure. “Y’all wanna see some fuckin’ flips?!” says Lee, as he rolls into a pin the best he can. Lee hilariously gets angry at a “Fuck TNA” chant, which will probably happen more considering he’s X-Division champ now. Ospreay lands a BEAUTIFUL springboard corkscrew plancha outside, followed by a sweet springboard ace crusher for a nearfall. Lee counters a flipping DDT with a flapjack, and he hits the standing double stomp for a two count! Ospreay gets out of a bunch of stuff and hits a MENTAL spinning kick on Lee that gets a two count. Ospreay goes up top and misses a Cancun Tornado, but HE KILLS TREVOR WITH A FLIPPING DDT! TOPE CON HILO OVER THE POST! LEE COUNTERS A BACK HANDSRPING INTO THE MOONSAULT CROSSBODY~! GOD’S LAST GIFT! Trevor Lee gets the win in 12 minutes. ***1/2 Every time I see Will Ospreay I’m amazed. I know that’s not a groundbreaking or surprising statement, as I’m fully aware my opinion is shared by many a wrestling fan, but it still stands. How he moves, how we KEEPS moving is just insane to me. He doesn’t stop at one high flying move then stop. He just keeps flying until his body just won’t let him, and it’s awesome. How that bodes for his knees in five years I don’t know, but you probably won’t see me complaining about a Will Ospreay match any time soon. Trevor Lee did a great job playing the heel here too, so much so that I’m actively looking forward to how he pulls it off later down the line. He was delightfully rude when cutting Ospreay off, and didn’t hesitate to engage with a crowd that was on board with booing him from the minute he started his shenanigans. I wanted to go an extra ¼ star, but it was just a tad too short. But for 12 minutes, it’s hard to get much better than this.
Kenny Omega vs. Mike Bailey
Sometimes, there are things you want more than anything in the world and never get. But then, there are things you’ve never thought of in your entire life, but once they happen, you realize that thing may have been what you desired all along and never even knew it. Kenny Omega vs. Mike Bailey is one of those things.
The introduction is the most gleefully insane thing I’ve ever seen in my life. “Poor 12 year old Mike Bailey has to hear this foul language.” after a Speed fucking Ball chant breaks out in the early goings. Omega paintbrushes Speedball with a slap, and he spits in his face to add to it. Speedball tries to throw some kicks, but Omega stays at bay and teases a Hadouken. Speedball himself teases a crane kick, but Omega uses his strength to look for the upperhand. Speedball’s kicks soon prove to be the stronger feature however, as he kicks Omega out of the ring and comes out with a BEAUTIFUL corkscrew plancha, landing on his feet! Omega stands in front of the ringpost and dodges a Speedball kick, which makes a sick sound on the ringpost. Speedball fights back and puts a garbage can on Omega’s head, and he RUNS ACROSS THE BUILDING to kick Omega down. Speedball rolls Omega – trashcan and all – into the ring and hits a corkscrew SSP for a two count. Kenny tries to throw the trash can at Bailey, but accidentally hits Rick Knox! He POWERBOMBS SPEEDBALL ON THE TIP OF IT and CHUCKS IT INTO THE CROWD before waking up Rick Knox to count the nearfall. That was the best thing I’ve seen all night. Omega locks in a Figure Four, and later resorts to biting Speedball’s calf. Omega wisely goes to work on Speedball’s leg. Kenny brings out the chainsaw and has some trouble getting it started, but SOMEONE ACTUALLY HAS A TOY CHAINSAW in the crowd because OF COURSE THEY DO. And it has goggles. OF COURSE IT DOES! He turns it on and SAWS SPEEDBALL’S FACE OFF~! Excalibur and Chuck Taylor’s admonishment of Rick Knox for this is incredible. Green Bay Plunge scores for Kenny, but Speedball kicks him back, but Kenny keeps going at his leg. Despite this, Speedball keeps going and hits a nasty 540 Kick and Salida Del Sol for a two count! Omega dodges the standing moonsault knee drop, and kills Speedball with a shinbreaker on the turnbuckle. Kenny looks for a top rope Shinbreaker, but Speedball counters into a sunset powerbomb and hits the standing moonsault knees for a two count! River Dance kicks from Speedball score, but again Omega goes after Speedball’s knee to stop the barrage. Omega runs right into a stiff crane kick, but dodges the shooting star kneedrop! He ate that crane kick though, Jesus Christ. HADOUKEN!~! CROYT’S WRATH COUNTERED INTO A REVERSE RANA! SHOOTING STAR KNEEDROP! OMEGA’S FOOT IS ON THE ROPE! OMEGA BRAINS SPEEDBALL WITH A DRAGON SUPLEX! Speedball gets out of the One Winged Angel, but eats a hard switch knee for his troubles! Spinning back kick right into a Rana Cradle! Omega kicks out! SPEEDBALL DIVES RIGHT INTO A SWITCH KNEE! ONE WINGED ANGEL! Omega picks up the win after 21 minutes. **** Another four star match for Speedball then. Seriously, this guy just keeps churning out showstealers at such a ridiculous rate and it’s hard to deny him at this point. He shouldn’t be taken seriously at all, but somehow he forces you to and his stuff is all the better for it. This wasn’t as good as his matches with Galloway, Hero or Strong, but this also told a different story and was pretty much a completely different match. Omega had the speed to deal with Speedball, but wasn’t as explosive with the kicks and whatnot, so he had to keep going after Bailey’s legs to keep himself afloat. He was never able to mount much offense though, and Bailey just kept going until Omega finally got the chance to put him down for good. The first half or so of this match might be a little too wacky for some to bear, but I thought it was perfect mainly because it’s PWG and this sort of stuff really only works in Reseda. These two are both really weird dudes and their personalities meshed just as well as I thought they would, and their wrestling meshed even better. Match of the Night so far by a good margin, but it’s kind of hard to imagine anything else considering who was wrestling.
PWG World Tag Team Title Match: The Young Bucks © vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
I think everybody at this point knows the deal with Gargano & Ciampa. They debuted during the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in NXT, and essentially became enhancement mainstays in the process. Not quite jobbers, but low enough on the totem pole to not be players. That doesn’t mean they haven’t had some good stuff down there though. Their match with Jordan and Gable last year on NXT TV was fantastic and one of NXT’s best non-Takeover matches of the year. The Bucks are The Bucks. People dislike them (which is hilarious to me) and people love them. It happens.
Nick Jackson hilariously pulls out the COCKY PRICKS!~! line that got Brad Maddox fired, and he even says “We’re gonna go FULL SAIL ON YOUR ASSES”. The Bucks then try for double superkicks, but Gargano and Ciampa ain’t havin’ it. The Bucks eat boots themselves, but soon Nick gets his bearings and runs wild on Johnny and Ciampa. DOOMSDAY TOPE SUICIDA from Tommaso and Johnny scores to big applause. They follow up in the ring with the Dudleyz WAZZUUUUP, but Nick comes in to save his brother from Tommaso’s thumb of doom. Matt uses Johnny’s arm to tell Tommaso to Suck It because he can. The Bucks just tag in for the simple art of telling Johnny to suck it in the corner, until they get too cocky and eat a double low blow from Johnny Wrestling. Johnny ducks a few Young Bucks attacks, and superkicks Nick on the outside before coming in with a slingshot DDT to Matt. Tommaso finally gets the tag and runs wild on the champs, just ragdolling Matt on top of the turnbuckle. Tommaso gives Matt a taste of his own medicine with chops, Suck Its, and running knees in the corner. He tries a fifth running knee on Matt, but runs directly into a superkick from Nick. BACK HANDSPRING THUMB IN THE BUM FROM NICK!~! They fight over whose mouth gets the thumb, but both Bucks eat it instead much to the delight of the crowd. DOUBLE THUMB IN THE BUM! THUMB IN THE BUM SUPLEX!~! TOMMASO GOES ASS TO MOUTH~! This is incredible. Johnny and Tommaso hit a nifty Flatliner/Superkick combo for a two count, and Johnny hits Matt with the rolling enzuigiri. Matt catches the slingshot spear though, and holds him in place for the Swanton/DDT combo! Headscissor/dropkick combo sends Tommaso out of the ring, and they have Gargano alone in the ring. Johnny ranas Matt into his brother though, and Tommaso hits Matt with Project Ciampa! Nick pulls Justin Borden out of the ring, and Johnny accidentally superkicks him and gets a HUGE POP! Nick superkicks Johnny and throws a chair into the ring, and he brains Johnny with a chair as he slingshots in! FOUR 450’S FROM THE BUCKS! Johnny saves Ciampa from certain death at 2. Johnny eats Early Onset Alzheimer’s, but he counters Matt mid Indy Taker and locks in Garga-No Escape! Nick moonsaults onto Ciampa, and comes in for the Indy Taker! Johnny kicks out and goes directly into Garga-No Escape! Air Raid Crash on the apron from Ciampa! Matt rolls up Gargano for the win in 14 minutes. *** I hate to be that guy, but in terms of the Young Bucks and their PWG matches, I’d have to notch this one down as a disappointment. Nobody ever really seemed on the same page the way they usually do during Bucks matches, and the finishing stretch largely fell flat. The Bucks are usually good about their roll-up finishes, but this one just did not work at all and you can tell the crowd didn’t really care for it either. It’s still a Young Bucks match, which means it has a starting benchmark of “fun”, but they didn’t really go too far out of their way to provide something memorable. The thumb in the bum stuff only works with certain fans too, so if you’re like me and enjoy stupid stuff in your PWG, your mileage may vary. If you’re Jim Cornette, there’s an aneurysm in your future. If you want to see Ciampa and Gargano mesh as a team, go watch their match against American Alpha because this one under-delivered. It’s still good of course, but there are Young Bucks matches lightyears ahead of this one.
PWG World Title Match: Roderick Strong © vs. Matt Sydal
Roderick Strong’s 2015 has been simply incredible, and there’s really not another word for it. He went from a bland gatekeeper whose best years were behind him, to a supremely entertaining dickhead heel with all the potential in the world as PWG’s top guy. And as soon as he had his match with Zack Sabre Jr at Don’t Sweat The Technique last April, my fears were immediately assuaged. He’d then go on to have an equally amazing match with Speedball Mike Bailey at Mystery Vortex III before eventually joining Mount Rushmore 2.0 later on in the night. Matt Sydal admittedly seemed a bit of an underwhelming name for a PWG main event, but I learned long ago not to doubt anything Roderick Strong does in this promotion. And it’s Matt Sydal, so there’s no reason to assume it won’t be awesome.
Roddy gets in a dickhead fan’s face for something after an initial chain wrestling sequence, but I’ve no idea what the dude said. Sydal’s speed is triumphant in the earlygoing, frustrating Roddy as the champ withdraws to gain his bearings. It’s freaky how athletic Sydal is as he flips all over Roddy with headscissors. His Fee Fi Fo Fum stomps chanting SHITTY LITTLE BOOTS is hilarious, but it annoys Roddy to the point of chopping Sydal’s sternum to collapse. Quick as a hiccup, Sydal flips out of a prone position and drops Roddy down for the standing moonsault for an early nearfall. Roddy uses nefarious means to break a Sydal submission hold, and a minute or so later he’s off doing backbreakers and whatnot. Sydal throws some leg kicks to wade off the champ, but Roddy folds him with a beautiful dropkick. Sydal makes the mistake of trading chops with Roderick f’n Strong, so Roddy predictably drops him down to his knees after getting the upperhand. Roddy follows up with a slingshot suplex, a move that needs to be used more. Roddy beautifully counters a tilt-a-whirl reverse DDT into a gutbuster, and again Sydal is in trouble. Sydal is persistent with the leg kicks, so Roddy gets angrier and just ragdolls him out of a suplex position. Sydal’s persistence pays off though, as he freezes Roddy long enough to drop him face-first with an enzuigiri. Roddy accidentally elbows Sydal in the grapes, but Sydal musters up enough strength to hit Roddy with a spinning wheel kick. Sydal goes up top for Meteora, but Roddy is fresh enough to catch him before he’s able to pull it off. Roddy looks for a Superplex, but Sydal pushes him off and hits a BEAUTIFUL Swan Dive Tornado DDT for a two count. Roddy catches a Jumping Knee and nearly hits the Leg Capture Backbreaker, but Sydal knees out of it… until Roddy drags him off the top rope and hits it anyway! Sydal back kicks Roddy in the jaw, but Roddy rolls through a top rope Frankensteiner into a sunset flip… BUT SYDAL COUNTERS INTO ONE OF HIS OWN FOR A NEARFALL! That was an awesome sequence. Sydal COUNTERS END OF HEARTACHE INTO A RANA CRADLE! RODDY KICKS OUT! God, his counters are amazing. Reminds me of that time he countered KENTA’s G2S into a Rana. Death By Roderick scores, but SYDAL DODGES A SICK KICK INTO A STEP UP REVERSE RANA! Shooting Sydal Press misses, and Roddy hits the Sick Kick and End of Heartache to retain the belt in 20 minutes. ***3/4 This isn’t the best match of the night, but I’m definitely comfortable calling this a more-than-satisfactory main event match. Unfortunately it had a few things working against it, as Sydal’s inclusion didn’t make for the most heated of matches and thus it seemed more like an exhibition than a main event. They worked to the high standard they’ve set obviously, but it wasn’t as exciting as many Roddy efforts if that makes sense. That being said, they overcame those issues with a very technically proficient, easy-to-watch match. Sydal’s speed was a good obstacle for Roddy to overcome, as some of his counters and more high-octane moves gave Roderick the most trouble. Roddy is still the champ for a reason though, and he used his agility and aggression to keep the belt. It’s pretty easy psychology, and they executed it as well as you’d imagine. This was a fantastic match nevertheless, and you won’t find me complaining about it aside from a few small nitpicks.
Mount Rushmore 2.0 comes out to celebrate with Roddy and attack Sydal in the process. Roddy takes the mic and says he’ll fight Zack Sabre Jr. when he wants to fight him. Speedball Mike Bailey, Candice and Joey come out, and Matt makes the mistake of kicking Joey in the dick! THE LIGHTS ARE OUT! Super Dragon appears to be in the ring, but IT’S ADAM COLE!!!! ADAM COLE IS BACK AND IN MOUNT RUSHMORE! KNEE BRAINBUSTER TO CANDICE! He presents Roddy the PWG Title belt, but Roddy is a bit wary of Cole’s presence in Mt. Rushmore. Nevertheless, the show ends with Adam Cole celebrating with The Bucks and Roddy.
Oh, but there’s a promo at the end! Roddy is a little angry that he wasn’t given notice of Adam Cole’s joining, but Cole tries to assuage his fear. The Bucks want him to replace the injured Super Dragon in Guerrilla Warfare, but Roddy does not trust him. Roddy isn’t convinced, but he doesn’t outright reject it, and now the show ends.
