wrestling / Video Reviews
Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Lemmy
Image Credit: PWG
Loading...The 11th edition of PWG’s All Star Weekend was a success, if a bit underwhelming compared to the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles. There was no bad stuff like the Gulak/End match though, and a lot of the incredibly fun wrestling that everybody expects from PWG like the MOTYC that was their Night 2 Guerrilla Warfare main event. So not even a month later, here we are again to follow up ASW XI, and pay tribute to Lemmy Kilmister who died days before the new year hit. So without furthur ado…
We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA.
Your hosts are Excalibur and whoever decides to join him.
Brian Cage vs. Chris Dickinson
Chris Dickinson is one of the more infamous names on the Northeast independent scene, having interrupted ten-bell salutes for fallen wrestlers and whatnot. He replaces an injured Angelico here against Brian Cage, who makes his return after a few very short matches at BOLA. Having only seen Dickinson once or twice – but seeing immediately that he’s a large, gassed up guy – I think I can surmise how this match is gonna go.
Dickinson is announced from Killah Hills 10304, which is great. Dickinson starts off hot and heavy, decking Cage with an enzuigiri, and giving him a backdrop driver out of the ring! HUGE PLANCHA OFF OF THE CORNER! Dickinson dives into a suplex position back in the ring though, and Cage battles back with a spinning full-nelson slam and a TOPE CON HILO! Dickinson is game to exchange some stiff chops on the outside, but soon falls victim to a powerbomb into the ringpost from Cage. Cage and Dickinson trade lariats in the corner until Cage gets the upperhand and drops the debutant with a short lariat. Dickinson hits Cage with a high kick, but Cage TILT-A-WHIRLS him into the ropes for the 818! Dickinson plants Cage on his head with a dragon suplex for his firsttwo count, and proceeds to work on Cage’s wrist as the pace slows down. Oklahoma Stampede scores for the Dirty Daddy for another two count. Meanwhile, Chris Hero ponders the strings on Chris Dickinson’s trunks, firing off “I’m afraid somebody would pull them down, then he’d really be the Dirty Daddy” as Brian Cage takes back control. Cage misses a moonsault though, and Dickinson puts on the Billy Goat’s Curse! Cage is able to stretch out to the ropes however. Cage fights back with a sloppy neckbreaker into the double down spot. Cage follows with a wheelbarrow suplex for a two count. Pumphandle Facebuster scores for Cage, but again Dickinson powers out. After a brief moment of hope for Dickinson, he eats a pop-up F5 for two! Dickinson fights back with a wheelbarrow suplex, accompanied by “that’s my move, asshole!” They both end up on the top rope, where Dickinson HITS AN INSANE SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA~! 540 KICK! DISCUS LARIAT FROM CAGE! Dickinson gets out of the Fucking Machine Superplex, and HITS A BURNING HAMMER! CAGE KICKS OUT! Dickinson hits a HUGE Deadlift Powerbomb to follow, but Cage counters another one into an Alabama Slam and a Discus Lariat. DICKINSON KICKS OUT AT ONE! SPIN KICK! Cage HITS THE STEINER SCREWDRIVER! That is it in a shockingly awesome 18 minute opener. ***3/4 The rating is slightly generous due to a few sloppy moves here and there, but as a complete package this was an incredibly fun match and deserves to be rewarded as such. Dickinson came in hungry with something to prove, and the final product more than validates his effort. They started off hot and heavy with some huge dives in the first couple minutes, but did a great job in the slower moments not to ease down so much that they lose the goodwill they built up. And then once Dickinson hit that maniacal super rana, things got serious, fast. One could criticize them for doing so much in the opener, but PWG has no time for “conventional wrestling wisdom”, which means we get fantastic matches like this to open a show. I hope to see Dickinson back soon because of this match, and we’re off to a great start.
Drew Gulak vs. Timothy Thatcher
I can’t say I’m tremendously excited to see Gulak wrestle another catchpoint guy, but he was fun enough against Sami Callihan in December that I’ll give it a try. As for Thatcher, he needs to be beyond second-match placement at this point, because he’s yet to have a less-than-awesome match since debuting last year.
I generally like the Catchpoint guys, but Gulak needs kneepads in like, a Cody Rhodes kind of way. The match begins and I’m sure one can guess how this one starts. Thatcher muscles Drew into a Bow-and-Arrow, much to the delight of the crowd. “I bet you Timothy Thatcher doesn’t pay any of his bills online” – Chris Hero. Thatcher runs a few knees into Gulak’s head, 2003 Brock Lesnar style. Thatcher is just tooling Gulak in the earlygoing here. Gulak counters a kimura into an ankle lock after a pretty awesome struggle, but Thatcher gets to the ropes pretty early. Gulak gives Thatcher a slap in mount position, which is a really really bad idea, and Thatcher soon proves my observation to be true. THATCHER DEADLIFTS GULAK UP BY HIS ARM, but Gulak gets the fuck out of Dodge and Germans Thatcher. Gulak goes crazy on Thatcher’s fingers, so Timothy powers up and CURB STOMPS Gulak’s arm to pay him back. Timothy Thatcher is so cool that I have a very real fear that he has a case of Bobby Lashley Voice. Maybe that’s the cynic in me. Thatcher goes after Gulak’s fingers, and snaps them right in front of the hard cam. “Do you think Timothy Thatcher’s been in prison?” – Chris Hero. Gulak comes off the second rope with a stiff lariat for a two count. Gulak is in control, but Thatcher mean-mugs him, which means death is imminent, as evidenced by the backdrop driver he gives to Drew. Gulak hits a piledriver out of nowhere, but Thatcher kicks out, only for Gulak to immediately lock on a cross armbreaker. Thatcher gets to the ropes, and in an incredible touch of psychology as to BRIDGE OUT OF A PIN because his arm is bugging him. Thatcher musters up enough strength for a gutwrench suplex, but he collapses in pain afterwards. Gulak hits a pretty sweet variation of the Regalplex for a fast two count. Gulak throws some disgusting shots to Thatcher’s face, and he throws a barrage of strikes at Thatcher, WHO FOLDS HIM WITH THE HEADBUTT! GULAK KICKS OUT! KIMURA! Gulak taps at the 17 minute mark. ***3/4 That’s what I get for my apathy towards Drew Gulak then. I understand those who aren’t really fans of the whole ‘no kneepads, grab a hold’ thing that these guys have going – because it can be pretty terrible in the wrong hands – but when that Catchpoint style is executed well, it can make for some pretty fantastic professional wrestling. And the best guy for the job is Timothy Thatcher, who manages to have amazing psychological wars every time he steps into the ring. He gets by without saying a single word, just using his facial expressions and body language to get his point across. And when you can do it as well as Thatcher can, it’s really hard to hold any perceived weaknesses against him. I loved how he used his strength and general intensity early on to get the upperhand, but Gulak’s cunning technique nearly got him the win after dissecting his arm through the middle portion of the match and using very quick impact moves to catch Timothy offguard. Thatcher resorting to bridging out of a pin instead of throwing up a shoulder is a piece of selling that can really make a good sequence great, and it stood out here. The psychology of Thatcher’s headbutt was really fun too, as he used it to pin Marty Scurll last month and it led to Gulak’s eventual demise, and the crowd knew it. This needed just a bit more ‘oomph’ to put it well over the top, but they still wrestled a tremendously entertaining chess match that has me excited to see where Thatcher is headed after this.
Sami Callihan vs. Trevor Lee
Sami returned from WWE at All Star Weekend XI in a pretty fun return bout against Drew Gulak, while Trevor Lee freshened up his act with some heelish tendencies against Matt Sydal and Will Ospreay the same weekend. I’ve always felt that Lee reminded me a bit of a more southern Sami Callihan, so it’ll be interesting to see their dynamic here.
They stare each other down as the bell rings, exchanging strikes and saliva in the early moments. Sami grabs a leg and they get tied up into the ropes, and Rick Knox is forced to separate them. Their actual wrestling sequences come to a stalemate early as well. Sami Bret Hart’s himself on the turnbuckle, but powers back up and bicycle kicks Trevor out to the floor, where he comes down with a Tope Suicida. He buries Lee with chairs on the floor, but Trevor bonks him with one in the ring and Mushroom Stomps him down for a two count. Sami catches an apron kick from Trevor, and drops the Caveman face-first on the apron to finally buy himself some times. Trevor eats a couple running boots from Sami, but battles back with a flying forearm. Sami hits a slingshot spinning neckbreaker for a two count to fight back. Trevor throws a pair of kicks, followed by a deadlift German for a two count. Lee catches a running Sami with the MOONSAULT CROSSBODY, but Sami is able to kick out. Words can’t describe the yelp I made when he did that in his debut at Mystery Vortex 2. Sami battles back though and locks on a modified Figure Four, but Trevor is able to find the ropes. Trevor gets tied up in the ropes, which allows Sami to brain him with a bunch of running boots. Liger Bomb scores for a nearfall, right into the Stretch Muffler. Lee taps at the 15 minute mark. **1/2 An okay match that hit its ceiling pretty quickly. Something about this didn’t click all the way, and it became pretty clear as the match wore on that they just didn’t have very good chemistry. It felt like a match that they called in the ring due to its general aimlessness, and they didn’t turn it up in the last moments either. This wasn’t a bad match, but it was a very dull one that didn’t have much of a purpose or urgency.
Jack Evans vs. Drew Galloway
Because I’m a moron, it took me forever to find the entertainment value in Jack Evans’ crazy mid-match promo character, so if you guys can be nice and pretend those sections of my BOLA reviews aren’t there, we’ll pretend I loved it the whole way through… kinda like Speedball. I cannot WAIT to see this match though, as Galloway is an awesome big guy and if there is one thing Jack Evans does well, it’s die by the hands of awesome big guys.
The crowd goes nuts when Jack Evans takes the mic, and Jack just ETHERS Angelo Trinidad. This is Jack’s most hilariously insane promo yet, as Jack gets red in the face describing the clout of his influence, which he uses to say Galloway is a waste of talent. So Jack figures it a good idea to challenge Drew to a danceoff, but Galloway ain’t having that shit. The bell rings after Galloway destroys Evans mid-handstand, and it is ON. Galloway puts his hat in the race for the dance-off with a SHIMMY before a chop that knocks Evans on his head. Evans can’t get Drew down with a dropsault, so Galloway murders him with a lariat for his troubles. Jack heads under the ring to get away from Galloway, but instead uses it as a vehicle to ambush the big man and get some control. He tries to dive on Galloway from the apron, but Drew CATCHES HIM AND CHUCKS HIM INTO THE RINGPOST! Galloway brings Jack to the apron, but Evans pokes Drew in the eye and comes down on top of him with a kick on the floor. Drew suplexes Jack into the turnbuckles, and brings him down hard with a crazy Bossman Slam! Jack gets Drew out of the ring and comes down on top of him with a corkscrew Space Flying Tiger Drop. Back in the ring, Jack again gets too cocky and takes a comical bump off of a right hand, and he soon EATS a running boot from Galloway that nearly ends the match. Galloway finds himself in the Tree of Woe, and Jack steps on his crotch… that is until GALLOWAY MUSCLES UP AND HITS A SUPER GERMAN! That only gets two. Galloway looks for a powerslam from the top rope, but Jack counters it into a super Tornado DDT! 630 EATS KNEES! FUTURE SHOCK! Drew picks up the win in 10 minutes. ***1/4 A bit short to have a higher rating, but for the 10 minutes this match lasted, it was incredibly entertaining. The best part about Jack going all Teddy Hart on people is that he’s willing to get the shit kicked out of himself for it, and putting him with a guy like Drew Galloway is a wonderful way to maximize the entertainment value. The bumps Jack takes to get everything he does over are both admirable and ridiculous, and it made for another fun outing this time around.
Mike Bailey vs. Adam Cole
This is the match I was most excited for upon announcement, as Mike Bailey had an incredible 2015 being the dorky babyface karate guy that just happened to be a fantastic worker, and mixing his weird personality with Adam Cole in the Panama City Playboy’s first singles match back is just money waiting to be printed.
Cole gets in Angelo Trinidad’s ear in the intros so he can tell the crowd that he wishes everybody in the crowd a terrible new year. Cole’s mocking of Bailey’s karate poses is hilarious. Cole wants a test of strength, and Bailey does it with a grin on his face. Speedball gets the trick though, and throws Cole outside only to miss a moonsault from the apron. He recovers though and kicks and chops Cole all around ringside. Speedball’s speed is a bit too much for Cole to take in the ring, but once they get outside again, Cole hits the wheelbarrow suplex on the apron to take control. Cole goes after Speedball’s leg, which Speedball defies with a pair of crane kicks, and a springboard moonsault from inside the ring to the floor. Salida Del Sol scores inside the ring for Speedball for a two count. Cole dodges the Shooting Star Knees and looks for the Panama Sunrise, but Speedball sandbags and hits a standing moonsault kneedrop! Cole kicks out, and fights back with a Fireman’s Carry Neckbreaker onto the knee for a nearfall of his own. Cole hits a nasty Busaiku Knee for a close two count after dodging a spinning back kick. Cole pulls out the SUCK MY DICK card, but Speedball hits a spinning back kick and a sky twister for a two count. Cole throws Borden out of the way and uses the distraction for a low blow behind Justin’s back, but Speedball is able to kick out. Bailey pulls out a Reverse Rana to counter a fireman’s carry, but Cole crotches him on the top rope and goes up there for a superplex. Speedball gets out though, and drops Cole to the mat and hits the Shooting Star Kneedrop! Cole grabs Justin Borden’s hand before the three count though! Speedball hits the Riverdance Kicks and the enzuigiri, following up with a spinning back kick. Cole superkicks Speedball out of his boot— err, kickpads though, and hits the Panama Sunrise and the Knee Brainbuster for the win in 14 minutes. *** Something about this match failed to really resonate the way most Speedball matches do. There didn’t seem to be much urgency about what they did, and the only real standout moments involved Cole’s arrogance as opposed to anything happening inside the ring. It was a good match – as is the main benchmark if you have two guys this talented – but something was missing.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Akira Tozawa
This is Zack’s first match back since winning BOLA, and I’m not sure there’s a better way to come back to Reseda than facing Tozawa, who made his long-awaited return in July in a great match against Ricochet. This is really one of those matches you don’t think about, but once you’re presented with the opportunity, you wonder why you haven’t seen it before.
The fans are MENTAL for this match, going a good minute with duel chants, basically forcing Tozawa and Sabre to sit down and wait it out. I know the Reseda fans are usually up for everything, but they’re rarely ever THIS psyched. “These people need to stop, the time limit will hit and no one will have done anything to each other.” – Excalibur. The crowd chants “Match of the Year”, so Tozawa, Sabre, and Rick Knox decide the match is over so they head to the back. But they run back out, Rick Knox losing his shoe in the process. The match finally starts, and Rick Knox counts a pin with one shoe in his hand. Sabre wastes no time tying Tozawa up in various knots. Tozawa manages to avoid any major trouble though. Tozawa is able to headscissor Sabre, who smoothly counters out… right back into a headscissor! Sabre kips out of the headscissor eventually and poses in arrogance, and we’re at a standoff. Tozawa challenges Sabre to a strike battle, and both men are game until Tozawa drops Sabre with a cheap right hand. Tozawa throws some Kobashi chops in the corner, and again folds Sabre with a cheap right hand. Huge senton scores for Tozawa, but only gets a passive two count. Tozawa yelling “Motherfucker” is something that I will never tire of. Both men fight for abdominal stretches until Tozawa knocks the Brit outside with a forearm, but Sabre catches a tope suicida in its tracks and finally puts in the stretch out on the floor. That allows Sabre to take the advantage as they bring it back inside, pulling off a barrage of different holds to psyche Tozawa out. Tozawa fights back with a few forearms, which causes Sabre to sweep his legs and lock on a swift single leg crab. Tozawa attempts a brainbuster, but Zack shoves him off, but not long enough for Tozawa, as Tozawa kicks Sabre out of the ring and hits two Tope Suicidas! Tozawa throws Sabre back in the ring and hits the Backdrop Driver for a two count, but Sabre counters a brainbuster into a guillotine. Tozawa heaves the Brit up anyway for the brainbuster, getting two out of it. Tozawa dodges a Penalty Kick, but runs right into an Octopus Stretch. They trade roll-ups for various counts, before Zack gets out and folds Tozawa with a running knee. Zack heads up top, but Tozawa catches him with an enzuigiri… so Sabre slithers out and kicks his knees out from under him. Sabre follows up with a dragon suplex for two, and Tozawa fights back with a German! Tozawa deadlifts Zack into another one for another nearfall. Tozawa kicks out of a bridging O’Connor Roll and elbows Sabre’s head off, but runs into a lifter. Sabre hits a diving lifter, BUT TOZAWA FLIES BACK WITH A SHINING WIZARD! Tozawa nearly falls to the bridged Prawn Hold, but Tozawa powers out at 2. They sit in the middle of the ring, throwing forearms at each other. They soon stand, wobbling each other with more forearms. Sabre paintbrushes Tozawa with a slap, but Tozawa MURDERS HIM WITH WITH A GERMAN SUPLEX! DRAGON SUPLEX FROM SABRE! PENALTY KICK! That’s it for Tozawa in 22 minutes. ***3/4 Admittedly a bit below both guy’s lofty PWG standards, but we still got something pretty damn great out of it. I loved both men’s improv with the crowd in the beginning, because there’s something entertaining about watching two elite in-ring guys having fun with a crowd like that. The wrestling itself was as scientific as you would imagine, with a nice little mini-story of Tozawa keeping up with the wizardry of Sabre Jr in the earlygoing. That evolved into Tozawa’s striking and overall speed being his trump card, while Sabre’s only answer for it was grounding the faster Tozawa and/or throwing lifters. Their suplex battles in the finishing stretch was really fun too as it eventually led to Sabre getting the upperhand and winning the match. So there was no shortage of fun psychology, even if the excitement factor kind of drifted in and out depending on who was where. If you like both men, this should appeal to you pretty easily and it’s a more-than-suitable co-main for the show. Great stuff.
PWG World Title Match: Roderick Strong © vs. Chris Hero
This is a fantastic main event if we’re being honest, with a very distinct build unlike the pretty cold Sydal/Roddy match from Night 1 of All Star Weekend XI. Hero used his promo after his successful Guerrilla Warfare victory to build this up, and did a good job in doing so by saying essentially that he was going to kill Mt. Rushmore once and for all, and taking the title from Roddy was his first step. Much hooplah has been made about Roddy’s sudden explosion of charisma and uptick in ring quality, and a similar claim can be made towards Hero who quietly was one of the best wrestlers of 2015. So throwing both men in a PWG ring seems pretty obvious, and in a main event spot there’s a lot to be excited for here.
Roddy has the mic as we fade in, but the crowd isn’t very interesting in letting him talk. Roddy doesn’t want Rick Knox to referee the match, telling him to “get the fuck out of here” as Justin Borden heads in. I LOVE how they’re setting Justin up as somewhat of a heel, even if there’s really not a character to back that up. It’s just circumstantial which makes it feel organic. Hero wastes no time dropping Roddy with a Mafia Kick, firing off multiple nearfalls in the first thirty seconds. Roddy dumps Hero out to the apron, and smacks him with a knee before giving him a nasty backbreaker on the apron. Roddy gives Hero another one, and maintains control as they head back into the ring. Roddy throws a few arrogant chops, which earns the champ a bicycle kick to the mouth. Hero is unable to follow up though, and we’re back to where we started. Roddy again pokes the bear, which causes Hero to just drop Roddy with a straight jab. Roddy battles back with a big dropkick and a chop that sends Hero to the mat. Roddy looks for the jumping knee, but Hero elbows him out of mid-air! Rolling Mafia Kick scores for a nearfall, and a big running elbow gets another one. Roddy goes INSANE with running forearms, eventually hitting a back suplex into a flapjack for a two count. Roddy hoists Chris up on the top rope for what appears to be a superplex, but Hero ain’t ready to go up, elbowing Roddy to the canvas. Roddy throws a kick back to Chris up top and attempts to punch him out, but Hero drops him down again and attempts a super piledriver, but Roddy ain’t letting it happen. Roddy goes back up again and finally hits the Superplex. Death By Roderick scores, and he nails the Sick Kick for a two count. Hero counters a double leg by rolling through and hitting a Snap Piledriver! Jumping Piledriver scores, but Roddy powers out. Chris goes for a running boot, but Roddy throws Justin Borden in the way and there’s your ref bump. Roddy hits Chris with a nasty Gibson Driver, and Rick Knox counts a nearfall, much to Roddy’s chagrin. Hero hits a step-up boot and looks for the Death Blow, but Roddy puts Rick Knox in its path and now we have no refs. Roddy hits a Jumping Knee, but Hero counters the End of Heartache into a Tombstone! Justin with an epic struggle to count… but it’s a nearfall! Roddy tries to hit Hero with the title belt, but Hero dodges and looks for a powerbomb, but Roddy brings the belt up with him and bonks Hero. Sick Kick scores, BUT HERO KICKS OUT AT ONE! TWO JUMPING KNEES! SICK KICK! Roddy retains the belt in 22 minutes. *** Not as great as I was hoping for, teetering on a disappointment if we’re being frank. There wasn’t much in the way of a story that they told, so they didn’t have much to fall back on when the match slowed up. The whole referee situation was fun enough, but it lacked the punch of what we usually get from Rick Knox segments. The match felt like it was more about the referees than it did Roderick or Hero, and the quality reflects that. It felt like a Ring of Honor house show main event, to give you a reference point. There wasn’t much urgency or intensity until the tail end of the match, and it only seemed to serve as a vehicle to further the crowd’s distate for Justin Borden and a placeholder until Zack Sabre Jr gets in there with Roddy again. So it was a GOOD match, don’t get me wrong, but don’t come into this expecting a barnburner.
Adam Cole comes out and celebrates with Roddy, and Roddy takes the mic and says he hates everyone in Reseda from the bottom of his heart. We cut to Zack Sabre Jr on the ring apron, and he takes the mic. “Hello Roderick. Hello Cocksucker.” Zack was disappointed he didn’t get his title shot tonight, but he understands. Zack says it doesn’t matter to him, as he’s gonna win the belt anyway and make both Cole and Roddy fuck off..
Cut to backstage where Roddy is angry at Zack, and Adam tries to calm him down. Cole thinks they started off with a rough patch, so he gives him a gift; a SIGNED 8×10 of him! Roddy gives him his ring-shirt, and we cut to both men dispatching of their gifts in less-than-charitable ways.
