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Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Neon Knights
Loading...Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Neon Knights! As usual, please torture yourselves by following my Twitter account @JakeStPierre411.
Last time in PWG-Land, things weren’t quite as rosy as they usually seem. Mystery Vortex V came and went as one of the more forgettable PWG events in recent memory, with a few disappointing debuts and bouts that didn’t perform as well on paper as one would hope. But as I said in the conclusion to that review, you can’t win ‘em all, and there’s no reason to not be excited for Neon Knights. It’s been so long since I’ve read about this show that I really don’t remember what the card is, which should be a super fun change of pace from me knowing everything going in.
We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA… but for how long?
Your host is Excalibur. Pretty sure he’s doing this one solo the whole way through.
Adam Brooks vs. Brody King
While PWG usually has good taste in which newcomers they keep, I sometimes scratch my head at Adam Brooks’ consistent bookings. Not that the guy isn’t talented, but he’s never had a match in PWG that’s ever really set him apart. Small flyers in wrestling are dime a dozen in indie wrestling and it really feels like his matches with Will Ospreay in Australia are the only things really carrying him at this point. But the PWG brass obviously see something in him, so it’s only fair to give him a chance as he’s hardly bad. Brody King on the other hand is… a different entity altogether. He’s a very large, tattooed man who looks like a very large, more tattooed Corey Graves, albeit one with wrestling talent and a bit more of a heroin chic look to him. Which is ironic since I’m pretty sure he’s straight edge. Worth noting that he’s a late replacement for Matt Sydal here, a move I support as Sydal just doesn’t do it for me anymore.
The crowd is absolutely STOKED to see Brody King here, as he’s a SoCal indy guy. It’s neat to see PWG making more of an effort to book local guys in 2018, it must be said. He charges Brooks as soon as the bell rings, but Brooks uses his speed to get the upperhand on the much larger man. Brody starches Brooks with an overhand chop before hitting a FENIX SPRINGBOARD ARMDRAG~! HOLY HELL. Brooks dodges a dive, but gets swept face-first onto the apron for a TOPE CON HILO~! The crowd ADORES this man and in the earlygoings, it’s easy to see why. Big senton scores for King, but it only gets two. Brooks manages to build some offense, dropkicking him to the floor for a Lope… but Brody catches him and gives him a Uranage on the apron. Brooks tries a flash Schoolboy, but King has none of it. Brooks keeps going though, playing cat and mouse as he tries to maneuver around. Brooks lands a couple strikes and HOPS ALL THE WAY UP FOR A REVERSE RANA! That was seriously impressive. He heads to the apron with King who puts him up for something, but Brooks elbows out and gives him METEORA ON THE APRON~! FOSBURY FLOP! He keeps it going in the ring, planting Brody with a slingshot DDT for a nearfall. Brody eats a John Woo Dropkick, but Brody explodes out of the corner with a lariat and gives Brooks a Piledriver for a nearfall. HUGE DROPKICK IN THE CORNER FROM BROOKS~! LUNGBLOWER! King dodges a Tornado DDT in a messy spot, but they recover beautifully as KING HITS A CORKSCREW BLOCKBUSTER! GERMAN SUPLEX! BROOKS KICKS OUT! SECOND ROPE MOONSAULT MISSES! PANAMA SUNRISE FROM BROOKS! SWANTON! Adam Brooks picks up the win in 12 minutes. ***3/4 That was the impressive performance I was seeking from Adam Brooks, and I think I got even more than I bargained for. Call this an apology to the man, if you will. This was just fantastic and really, one of the best openeers PWG has put on in recent memory. These two did exactly the opposite of David Starr and Fred Yehi in January. Instead, they went out there to tear the house down, thus gaining both wrestlers future bookings in the process. It’s not the most cerebral match in the world, but when it’s this fun, there’s no reason for it to be. If you have a great sprint like this in front of a PWG crowd, you’re going to get (rightfully) showered with praise, and it worked fabulously for them. As it pertains to the individuals, Brody King is still a little rough around the edges to be fair. He got his paths crossed a bit down the stretch and needs a little work on his selling, but he’s a star in the making. He has the look in earnest, and with a bit more seasoning, he’s going to be unstoppable. His timing regarding when to do his big spots was picture perfect and he had a guy in there with Brooks who is as crisp as it gets and made for a great crash dummy. I love being proven wrong about wrestlers I’m on the fence about, because it means I get to watch matches like this. A great start to this show and I’m uber excited to see how both men progress in PWG as the year passes.
Dalton Castle vs. Joey Janela
When this was announced, it felt a bit random as Castle hadn’t been much of a presence at PWG in the past year and with the added caveat that he was ROH Champion (not that it means much these days) and thus can’t lose, it seemed a bit weird to bring him back. It’s not a negative at all though as he’s just as delightfully charismatic as he was a year ago and I’m oddly excited to see how he meshes with Joey Janela.
Castle legsweeps Janela and gives him a raspberry, and Joey responds as you’d imagine. He leaves Excalibur speechless in a very rare moment. Dalton stays calm though and tries to use his strength to get the upperhand, but his biggest offensive move is his back bridge on a break. Janela mostly does more comedy, but he uses it to get the upperhand because he’s GOOD AT HIS JOB. Wrestling comedy is best when it’s used to advance a match, and these two are pretty much performing a masterclass. It’s still goofy but it’s easier to suspend disbelief, ya know? Castle gets serious and a wrestling match threatens to break out as he puts Janela on the top rope, but Janela tries to counter into a Sunset Powerbomb. Janela gives up and instead gives him a CHEEKY NANDOS EYEPOKE~! Dalton is mad and he slaps Janela after putting his hands in his trunks, and he suplexes Joey around the ring for his eyepoking transgressions. Janela tries heading up top, but Castle knocks him stomach-first on the top turnbuckle and gives him a knee that sends him to the floor. ANOTHER RASPBERRY~! Janela ducks a clothesline and just drags him headfirst into the second turnbuckle, but it only gets a meager two count. Dalton rolls outside, but Joey follows him and FLIPS ONTO HIM from the top rope to the floor. Castle begins a comeback as he heads to the ring, and he flips Janela onto his stomach with a lariat. This one probably should have gone home after the comedy as its mostly ground to a halt. Janela dives off the second rope, but Castle counters into a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Janela hits a German Suplex and a Superkick gets him a two count of his own. Castle tries the Bangarang, but Janela counters out… only to be nearly caught with a Small Package. Uranage scores for Castle, who follows with something like a Sidewinder Suplex. Dalton heads up top, but Janela counters with a super Frankensteiner into a Figure Four, but Dalton finds the rope. Dalton gives Joey a barrage of knees in the corner, sending the Bad Boy to the apron, where Dalton grabs him for the EVEREST GERMAN all the way back into the ring. Another Jumping Knee misses for Castle, and he finds himself prone on the floor for a Bad Boy Tope Suicida. Package Piledriver scores but Castle kicks out. Double Stomp misses for Janela, and he walks right into Bangarang, giving Dalton Castle the win in 21 minutes. ** This one started off wonderfully as a midcard comedy match and they made great strides in that style, but the bloom disintegrated off of the rose once they decided to have a serious wrestling match for 15 more minutes. I like the guy a lot, but Joey Janela isn’t a guy who really has the juice to go 20 minutes. Maybe he does even, but Dalton Castle on autopilot isn’t the guy to do it with. It reminded me a lot actually of the Marty Scurll/Trent match last month where the guys involved just kinda went through the motions of a wrestling match… but neither of these guys are Marty Scurll or Trent Beretta, and it’s really hard to make a 20 minute match work when neither man is interesting enough to fill the time. Cut this match in half and tack a fun finishing stretch after the comedy, and we’d be golden. Instead, they forgot what brought them to the dance and had a vanilla ROH house show match.
Travis Banks vs. David Starr
David Starr – despite having the most tryhard Twitter account in wrestling history – managed to impress in what was otherwise a forgettable debut match against Fred Yehi at Mystery Vortex. He strung together some good sequences and made me think that he could really excel in a better thought-out context. Here, he’s up against one of the most solid guys on the planet in Travis Banks, who is almost impossible to have anything less than a good match with. The pieces are there, and I’m excited to see how David Starr performs after an underwhelming start.
Starr takes the mic from Christian Cole after he fails to do the Steve Corino nickname gimmick, and instead does it himself. Travis is nice enough to wait until he’s finished before jumping him, and he fires off a big trio of Lope’s! David catches him outside though after dodging a prospective third dive, and gives him Deep Six on the apron before diving out on top of him with a running Pescado. Starr tries to give Banks a cannonball into a chair, but Travis moves and gives The Product a big knee from the apron instead. The action spills back into the ring, where Banks knocks Starr silly with a Shotgun Dropkick and a Double Stomp to the back. Starr intercepts him on the second rope and hits Project Ciampa, followed by the Last Shot for a two count. Surprised he hasn’t made it his gimmick that he uses NXT guys’ moves. Maybe he’ll start twisting his goofy beard or doing a spinning back kick to really hammer it home. Banks unloads with a flurry of kicks to the back before superkicking Starr to the apron, but Starr intercepts him with a hanging DDT… only to RUN INTO A 540 KICK… INTO A REBOUND LARIAT! Starr traps Banks on the apron and gives him a nasty Flatliner into the ring, but walks right into Kiwi Krusher for a two count. Banks puts on Garga-No Escape, now making me feel a little mean for making fun of David Starr for stealing NXT guys’ spots. Starr escapes though and unleashes a chop in the corner, setting Banks on the top rope… but BANKS GIVES HIM AN AVALANCHE KIWI KRUSHER! Banks gets the duke in 10 minutes. ***1/4 Minus the comedy, this is pretty much the template Dalton Castle and Joey Janela should have followed the match before. Starr and Banks went out there and had a fast paced pro wrestling match and instead of going through the motions and killing time, they used their moves to advance the match and string something together. I give David Starr a lot of slack but the guy can go, and he did a fabulous job keeping up with the reliably high-octane Travis Banks. It was back and forth without sacrificing flow, and the sprint style means it was airtight in its pacing. You can’t really ask for a better midcard match on a show than this one.
Flip Gordon vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
This match also sort of puzzled me when it was announced, just because these two are… different. Flip Gordon is a newer guy who has managed to actually get over in ROH, mostly thanks to the fact that Cody and The Young Bucks took a liking to him and thus gave him a prominent role in their whole dog and pony show. It’s really worked wonders for the guy, even if he’s still a bit incomplete as a wrestler. And if there’s a guy on the planet to rein him in, it’s ZSJ, who’s about as reliable as it gets when it comes to delivering a good affair.
Flip kips down and up to dodge a boot from the Brit, and he gives Zack a headscissor to the floor. Zack seems to have dodged a dive, but he dropkicks Zack back to the floor and moonsaults out onto him. Zack has enough of that business, and grounds him long enough to wrench his neck a little bit and change his fortunes. Watching Zack stretch these poor fools will never get old. Zack actually outmaneuvers Gordon athletically, hitting the step-up Tornado DDT out of the corner right into a Guillotine. Flip slams his way out but Zack is still up to his feet first. Flip tries a DVD, but Zack’s grappling acumen is too advanced for these pro wrestling moves as he soon counters into a Guillotine. Gordon perseveres though and hits a sweet springboard Slingblade to finally get himself some separation. Flip heads to the top but takes too long, meaning Zack intercepts him. Flip is able to… flip his way out of trouble and use a few kicks to get Zack back to the canvas, but Zack climbs on him for a Kimura… only for Flip to counter by doing the DEAL with a Falcon Arrow, but somehow he only gets 2. Flip tries for a Pele, but ZACK COUNTERS INTO AN STF~! Flip manages to find the ropes before having to tap. Zack dodges a Dropsault from Gordon and puts on an Octopus, but Gordon counters into a reverse Finlay Roll. The ensuing Shooting Star is COUNTERED INTO A TRIANGLE, but Flip counters by deadlifting him up and putting him on the top rope. Gordon boots him to the mat and nails a gorgeous 450, but Zack kicks out. Zack tries the European Clutch, but GORDON KICKS OUT! SUPERKICKS! SPRINGBOARD ECLIPSE… COUNTERED INTO ORIENTEERING WITH NAPALM DEATH!!! Zack Sabre Jr picks up the win in 16 minutes. ***1/2 In some ways, this was reminiscent of Jay White’s PWG debut. Jay White wrestled Marty Scurll and instead of Jay White getting to show what he was made of, it was the Marty Scurll goof-off show that a lot of his less-important matches become. But that match and this one have a key difference; even when Zack Sabre Jr isn’t wrestling a big match, he’s still unbelievably fun to watch and creates something worth investing into. His style lends itself perfectly to any situation on a wrestling show, so he was at home here just stretching poor Flip Gordon to his heart’s content. I’d understand if someone didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t much of a showcase for Gordon, and it makes sense. Gordon didn’t exactly stand out like Brody King did in the opener. But as a match, I think this exceeds what Gordon is capable of when he just throws out his offensive splurges. There was a noticeable narrative to this match that simply isn’t there when Flip Gordon has to work against stiffs like Nick Aldis or even fellow flyers. We got to see a different side of him that we wouldn’t have if he just wrestled Generic Flyer #1 here. He did a good job of working from underneath, but in the end, Zack Sabre Jr is the better competitor. Was it a little lopsided? Sure, but not every match has to be a 50/50 trading of moves. I like variety and this was very different from everything else on the show so far, so it gets a hearty thumbs up from me.
Keith Lee vs. Matt Riddle
As of this writing, both men are either in WWE or WWE-bound, which has to be seen as a huge blow for the quality of independent cards. Keith Lee very nearly has the best match on every PWG show he appears on, and Matt Riddle is charismatic enough to sell snow to a ski slope. But there’s no reason to dwell on that considering we have a borderline dream match on our hands here. One of my small gripes with PWG is the lack of Matt Riddle singles matches as I think he has much more to offer than his team with Jeff Cobb, but it also helps make his singles encounters more special when they’re booked. And if you’re in a Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ring with Keith Lee, it’s difficult to not do something special.
Riddle tries jumping for a guillotine immediately, but Keith just swats him away instead. Riddle now tries a cross armbreaker after tying up, but Keith again just heaves him up and chucks him aside. Riddle changes his game up a bit, instead going for some high paced striking… only for Lee to explode out of the corner and POUNCE RIDDLE INTO THE LIVING DEATH~! Oh man. Lee follows up by just standing on Riddle’s torso, and a Mongolian Chop crumbles poor Riddle in the corner, busting his chest up a bit. Lee biels him into another corner and dishes out more of the same. Not quite as brutal as the chop he did to Angelico in PROGRESS, but then again that was a borderline felony. Riddle fires back with a Ripcord Jumping Knee, but Lee just swats him down with an elbow. Keith jaws at the King of Bros some more until RIDDLE HITS A FISHERMAN’S BUSTER~! Riddle follows with some kicks to the chest, but Lee catches one and just manhandles Riddle to the mat for a two count. Riddle stuns Lee with a high kick and jaws at him a bit before hitting a Pele, but Keith catches a knee and tosses Riddle back… but Riddle POPS UP AND GERMANS HIM! KEITH LEE POPS UP~! CHOP BATTLE! BICYCLE KNEE… HEADBUTT! KEITH LEE COLLAPSES ON TOP OF RIDDLE! RIDDLE BRIDGES OUT! Surprise surprise, this match is GREAT. Riddle tries another Ripcord Knee, but Lee headbutts him… right into BRO 2 SLEEP! GERMAN SUPLEX AGAIN! Lee kicks out. Lee tries an up and over, but RIDDLE CATCHES HIM INTO A BROSTONE!!!! LEE KICKS OUT~! Riddle loses another exchange of strikes emphatically as Lee just LEVELS HIM with a lariat, but only for 2. Lee heads to the second rope for a MOONSAULT! RIDDLE KICKS OUT AT ONE~! SPIRIT BOMB!!!! RIDDLE KICKS OUT!!! Lee heads to the top rope now, but Riddle pops up and prevents certain death with a Powerbomb… into a Knee! Lee kicks out. Riddle tries knees from the plum clinch… but LEE COUNTERS INTO GROUND ZERO! RIDDLE BARELY GETS A SHOULDER UP~! Lee sets Riddle on the top rope for an avalanche Ground Zero, but Riddle swats him to the mat for a DIVING BROTON! Lee kicks out. ANOTHER BROTON! LEE KICKS OUT AT ONE!!!!! SPIRIT BOMB!!! RIGHT INTO GROUND ZERO! Keith Lee puts Matt Riddle down in 18 minutes. ****1/4 It must be getting old to hear how good Keith Lee is at this pro wrestling thing, but it’s kind of difficult to not talk about it when he steals the show every time he wrestles. So imagine the praise I’m going to heap onto a Keith Lee match with Matt Riddle, who also tears the house down every time he gets the opportunity. It doesn’t take rocket appliances to do that math. This was absolutely everything you could have ever hoped and dreamed of when reading this match on paper. Both men’s styles complement each other tremendously, and the way they managed to weave that in with the simple cat and mouse story was wonderful. Riddle’s psychology in the earlygoings here was especially great, as he started off with the usual MMA submissions to try and wear the big guy down. Once that didn’t work, he ended up just going hell for leather with elbows and kicks and tried to wear him down that way. He couldn’t get anything going that way, so he just grew a pair and threw everything he had at Keith Lee in an attempt to put him down. And as Donovan Dijak and Jonah Rock can attest to, having a war of attrition with Keith Lee usually only means that you get hurt in the end. They blended the usual nutty Keith Lee match with the explosiveness of a Matt Riddle match, and while it might come as a surprise, those two styles made for an incredible fight. Seek this out, especially if you just know them from internet news or NXT. I’d wager to bet it’s a great introduction to both men.
PWG World Title: Chuck Taylor © vs. Trent?
This match is a rematch of one of the more memorable matches in PWG’s recent history, as the two Best Friends had a hilariously brutal street fight at THIRTEEN in 2016, stealing the show in the process. But unfortunately, this match is also the bout that saw Trent tear his triceps to bits, putting him out of action until about two weeks before the writing (August 12) of this review. Knowing that, I’m not sure what to expect here.
Chuckie takes Trent’s RPG Vice jacket and throws it to the mat before the bell rings, the jerk. Chuck gives Trent the clean break in Okada-esque fashion, but Trent puts him down with a shoulder tackle. Trent helps Chuck back up though, the pal even though he drops Chuck with another a few seconds later. Only this time, Chuckie T doesn’t want Trent to help him up. Chuck seems to reciprocate after a shoulderblock of his own, but Chuckie suckers him in for an attempted submission. They scramble to standoff, which ends in a Best Friends hug! Trent now uses that to try a Schoolboy, but no cigar. Chuck responds by not giving Trent a clean break in the corner. Trent tries a sunset flip and immediately after he lands, it’s pretty clear he’s blown out his tricep. He fires off a few chops though and hits the Sexy Chuckie Knee, and he’s doing all he can to not put any stress on that arm. Trent fires off an enzuigiri and sets Chuckie on the second rope so he can hit a cool baseball slide/German combo. Trent charges after the champion, who side steps and sends Trent into the post, bad arm first. Trent drops to the floor, and Chuckie follows him to think up some contraption on the floor. Chuck sets up the same chair tower in front of the stage as he did against Ricochet, and he suplexes Trent off of the stage onto it. Chuck brings him to the apron, but takes too long to execute anything, allowing Trent enough time to recover and Piledrive him on the apron. Trent brings him back up on the apron for another Piledriver. Trent’s injury has killed this match dead, the poor bastard. Everything is happening at a glacial pace and you can tell poor Trent is trying his hardest. Trent tries a third apron Piledriver, but Chuck sweeps him off and piledrives him through a chair on the floor. They throw forearms at each other for so long that they collapse in exhaustion, but instead of falling to the floor, they fall into a hug. Chuckie boots Trent in the face, and the challenger comes up bleeding. A few more boots follow, but Trent kicks out at one. Chuck fires off a Pop Up Powerbomb, and he brings Trent down with an ensuing Ligerbomb for 2. Chuck tries the Awful Waffle, but Trent counters into a Dudebuster for a nearfall. Chuck isn’t happy about it, so he crawls to his title belt in the corner, hitting Trent with it as Trent touches him. Snap Piledriver scores for Chuck, but only gets 2. Cradle Piledriver, but again Trent kicks out. Chuck grabs Trent and ENDS HIS LIFE by running him face first into the middle turnbuckle. Trent fires out with a lariat and hits the Dudebuster again, but Chuck kicks out! Trent grabs the title belt now and threatens to hit Chuck with it, but he ends up having a change of heart and gives it back to Rick Knox. Chuck uses that to low blow and Small Package Trent for the win in a long 26 minutes. **1/4 This one was a slog to get through, to say the least. Who’s to say how it would have turned out had Trent not busted his arm, but I’d say confidently that it wouldn’t have been on this level. Once that injury came, Trent’s entire left arm was rendered basically useless and the pace of the match slowed to a painful crawl, and not even in a self-indulgent Triple H way. Trent was probably not feeling like the birds were calling his name, and it must have been an anxious experience on Chuck’s part to work around such a significant injury. As such, the match quickly turned from an entertaining game of oneupsmanship and growing intensity to a clunky time waster. It’s not anyone’s fault and was obviously just an accident, so I feel as though penalizing the match anymore than I am is a bit unfair. It’s just that watching 26 minutes of Trent trying his best to push through the pain got a little uncool to watch after a while. Credit to the guy for toughing it out though and I’m excited to see him back in PWG soon now that he’s back in action.
