wrestling / Video Reviews
Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG All Star Weekend 14 (Night 2)
Loading...We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA… for almost the last time!
Your host is Excalibur. He’s been doing a lot of solo commentary work lately.
Trevor Lee vs. Flash Morgan Webster
Trevor Lee is pretty much a designated curtain jerker in PWG these days, but he still wrestles that sort of match so well that it doesn’t bug me much. I’d probably say the same of Morgan Webster who really shines in these sorts of opening match situations, and he should play a good babyface foil to the outwardly heel Lee.
Lee pulls out the Pearl Harbor job on Webster before taking the mic for himself to give his intro, all while just putting the crap out of Flash. Trevor reiterates that he’s going to be PWG Champion by the end of the last Reseda show, and lets the crowd know that he’s the one who beat Kevin Steen on the way out. He laments that he has to face Webster after beating the people he’s beaten, and he nearly gets taken out with a Small Package because of it. Flash tries suplexing Trevor to the floor, but Lee bites his fingers to break out of it. Lee uses Webster’s helmet to distract him and get some control back. Webster climbs onto Lee for a guillotine, but Lee muscles out of it… only for Flash to down him with a Moonsault Press. Flash shitcans Lee and dives out on top of him with a Tope Con Giro. He tries the Guillotine again in the ring, but Lee bats him off and hits the big Mushroom Stomp for 2. Flash backflips out of an Everest German, but he counters an Orange Crush into a Rana! DESTINO! Trevor kicks out. Webster heads to the top rope, but Lee intercepts him. Flash ends up fighting him back down and avoids a low blow, but Lee counters a Guillotine into an Orange Crush for the win in 10 minutes. **3/4 This one wasn’t as spirited or cohesive as Trevor’s outing against Rey Horus the night before, but an incredibly game crowd helped will it to become a good opener regardless. I’ve never found Webster to be much more than a generic high flyer bolstered by the reputation of British indies, but he’s actually been really fun to watch in these small sprints here in PWG. He’s not spectacular, but he can work at an impressive clip when the time calls for it and like I said before, the crowd really put this one over the top. Can’t say I’ll remember that the bout happened when I wake up in the morning, but it did its job just fine and it’s been rewarded as such.
Joey Janela vs. Robbie Eagles
The Bad Boy had quite the underrated little scrap against Jonah Rock on Night 1, but he’s got a whole new style to prepare for in Robbie Eagles. Eagles himself debuted on Night 1 in a three-way, but gets to show his stuff as a true singles competitor for the first time here. Not who I’d debut him against as Janela’s matches generally rely on schtick and dumb bumps to get over, but I’ve seen wackier things happen. And it’s not like Joey hasn’t been improving since debuting in PWG either, ya know?
Janela actually shows some technical chops in the earlygoing, going hold for hold with Eagles as they jostle on the mat. Janela loves Australia, so he wants to shake Robbie’s hand as a result. That obviously isn’t a good idea, and Eagles eats a boot to the gut for his idiocy. Spinning wheel kick scores for Eagles, but only gets a one count. Joey chucks Robbie to the floor, and follows him out with a Tope Suicida. Robbie hits a sliding knee to Janela in the ring though, sending the Bad Boy to the floor for a Suicide Senton ala Homicide. Robbie tries a Sliced Bread on the apron, but Janela counters and TOMBSTONES HIM ON THE APRON! TOMBSTONE ON THE FLOOR~! Joey tries for the countout, but Robbie makes it in… RIGHT INTO A PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! ROBBIE KICKS OUT! BACKPACK DRIVER FROM ROBBIE! JOEY KICKS OUT! Robbie follows with the Andrade knees in the corner but only gets 2. Janela blocks an enzuigiri but eats a second one, but comes right off the ropes with a REBOUND LARIAT! They starch each other with slaps and it devolves into a slugfest, but Janela eats a few kicks and a Sliced Bread… into a Shiranui! Janela kicks out again. Janela heads up top and tries for an avalanche Package Piledriver, but Robbie fights out and prevents certain death. Janela settles… FOR A SUPER BRAINBUSTER! It’s over in 15 minutes. ***1/2 A tale of two halves this match. For the first several minutes I started fearing for Robbie Eagles’ PWG career. Nothing he did seemed to be landing, and it didn’t look like there was any in-ring chemistry with Janela to compensate. Both men were just a little off with their timing and the match looked like it was going to have a lot of trouble getting out of the stalled first gear they seemed to settle in. But once Janela started with the Tombstones, this match turned around in a big fat hurry. All of a sudden, Joey and Robbie had defined roles and something to work towards. The crowd had a big spot to finally sink their teeth into. Robbie was going to have to fight like hell to get out from under the weight of the Piledrivers, and now everything he did had a purpose. The crowd didn’t buy the countout, but the nearfall from the Package Piledriver was an incredible bit of timing. In that couple minutes, this bout became worth watching and investing in, and that’s a credit to both men being able to stick it through and use their talents to work things out. In a lot of ways, this is the most impressed I’ve been with Janela, who (in the second half of the match) did a very good job of working on top rather than taking punishment to get over. He worked with urgency and looked like a guy who was more than a wildcard niche act, which I think works well for him in a match like this as well as the big picture. So kudos to these two for bailing themselves out of a deficit and working their asses off, because this turned into a hell of a match by the end.
Sammy Guevara vs. Taiji Ishimori
Ishimori had quite the nice little debut last night against Bandido, a fun Lucha style spotfest that seems to have helped Bandido even more in the eyes of PWG fans. Guevara is a good guy to put against him as this isn’t liable to be a match out of his wheelhouse, and it’s incredibly difficult to not look crisp against Ishimori.
Guevara makes the mistake of flipping Ishimori off, and Ishimori dropkicks him to the floor as a result. Ishimori unfortunately slips on a springboard, but Guevara takes advantage and works him over. Guevara dropkicks Ishimori to the floor now and SPACEMANS OVER THE POST onto Ishimori. Ishimori dodges a Shooting Star and hits his Tombstone Gutbuster, but only gets 2. Curb Stomp scores for Guevara but only gets two. Another Shooting Star from Sammy eats knees, and Ishimori rolls into a Crossface. Ishimori hits a running knee and hits the rolling DVD, and a basement superkick for two. Guevara hits a C4 and a basement superkick of his own. Superkick and a Shooting Star that nearly kills Ishimori wins in 9 minutes. *1/2 There isn’t much to talk about here, because neither man actually did anything of substance. Ishimori’s lack of charisma showed more than it usually does, and Sammy’s lack of knowledge on how to properly land a finishing dive (he nearly blew out Fenix’s knee with a 630 a few months back) left a further sour taste in my mouth. Ishimori offered almost nothing, to the point where he didn’t even bother to take his shirt off, and Guevara really isn’t good enough to salvage that with crisp ringwork. Sammy seemed like he had a pep in his step too, but Ishimori didn’t even have enough in the tank to play the hits and go home. That locals four-way from March was pretty bad, but those guys tried their asses off and really worked to make an impression It failed, but they tried. Here, I sat through nine minutes of a TNA Xplosion match that had no reason to be as poor as it was. I really do my best to not complain about a wrestlers’ effort, being a goober behind a keyboard and all, but Ishimori had nothing to offer on this night in that regard… and it really kinda kills my enjoyment of a PWG show when I see stuff like that.
After the match, Sammy takes the mic and cuts a weird promo, kinda going in between heel and never-say-die babyface to say that he’s injured but tries super hard. He says he’s not going to wrestle again in PWG until it’s for the World Title, and the crowd laughs him out of the building. LITTLE DO YOU KNOW. He tells the crowd to go fuck themselves as we fade to the next match.
PWG Tag Titles: The Rascalz © vs. Violence Unlimited
King and Bateman really stole the show last night against RingKampf in one of my favorite PWG matches of the year thus far, and it went even further to make Brody King a breakout star of 2018 after his electric interactions against WALTER. It’s a bit odd that they’d give he and Tyler Bateman a title shot off of that loss, but it’s not exactly out of the ordinary for PWG to just do wacky things for wacky things’ sake. The champions giving them that shot have risen to the top in record time in PWG though, winning the belts last night in their second match (collectively) in a bit of a shocker. But the former Scarlet and Graves have looked spectacular in those two outings and seeing them add a fresh voice to the PWG title scene is a-okay with me. This is a very different match for them though.
Excalibur – because he’s great at his job – explains the title shot situation, given that this match was booked in advance and had always been said to be a title match if Wentz and Xavier won the previous night. Good enough for me! Bateman and Wentz start things off, and Wentz uses his flippy doos to get the early advantage. Bateman makes him pay with some technical acrobatics of his own, but Dezmond Xavier tags in and downs him with a dropkick. That brings in Brody King, who walks through all of Xavier’s attempts at offense and gives him a step-up Frankensteiner to the floor! Wentz tags in now and tries to run wild, which doesn’t pay off as Bateman comes in to eat his lunch with a flurry of double teams. Bateman does that spot where he rips off his vest after a chop, only to get chopped HARDER which is just great old school sort of stuff that you don’t see too much. King tags in and chops Wentz to death, dedicating it to his partner. Xavier tags in and helps Wentz out though, and they clean house with some tandem offense to even the score for a moment. They chop down Brody King with kicks and chops and stomps, forcing the big man to roll to the floor for a respite… only for Wentz to follow him out with a big step-up Plancha off of Xavier’s back. Bateman cuts Xavier off when he tries to dive and instead hits a springboard Plancha to Wentz, but Xavier eventually recovers and hits a beautiful twisting Space Flying Tiger Drop. King dodges a 450 from Xavier, but he falls victim to a double team that nearly sees his shoulders pinned. Violence Unlimited respond in kind with some double teams until Xavier nearly kills himself trying a Reverse Rana on Brody. Welp, now I can at least say I saw Eli Everfly do a better Reverse Rana than someone! They recover well enough though until Brody stops the assisted Shooting Star with an elbow to Xavier. Xavier dodges a Tandem Elbow and hits Bateman with his crazy step-up Ace Crusher, and the Assisted Shooting Star gives The Rascalz the win in 13 minutes. ***1/2 The noticeable slip-up at the end with the Reverse Rana seemed to sting a bit too hard as the match wound down, but overall, this was still a ton of fun for what it was. I actually came away more impressed with Tyler Bateman than Brody King in this go-around, as Bateman has a fun personality that’s just subtle enough to not overwhelm, but prominent enough to make his mark in a match and come off as more than just “Brody King’s partner.” Last night he came off a bit non-essential but he worked his ass off here to disprove that, and I think it should be mentioned. Wentz and Xavier again looked fabulous – barring the aforementioned botch – as the uber-cohesive flyers, and they’re really at home in this PWG environment. They have an always-running motor and can explode at the drop of a hat, which means that they can make you forget about a slow portion of a match in a split second with some of their tandem offense. I think they’d be best served to slow down just a tiny bit to allow these larger guys to base them a bit better, but they’re already so damn great and it pains me to even offer a small nitpick like that after watching a match of theirs. Maybe not as drop-dead awesome as Wentz and Xavier’s last two outings or the Violence Unlimited debut from last night, but a worthy midcard title match with some great moments in it.
Bandido vs. Rey Horus
Doesn’t take rocket appliances to see where this one is probably headed, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be excited for it. Bandido isn’t a finished product by any means, but has tons and tons of potential and has really done a lot for himself in his limited PWG dates thus far. Horus is very reliable and will no doubt give Bandido some familiarity in style, which gives us a very promising recipe for success.
The beginning of this match strongly resembles Lou Thesz’s greatest hits, as you’d imagine. Bandido hits a Tope Suicida out of nowhere, barely giving the crowd enough time to not die. Bandido follows up by Military Pressing poor Horus into the ringpost. Horus recovers in the ring though and gives Bandido a PESCADO RANA, followed by a beautiful Tope Con Hilo. Bandido takes advantage of Horus’ lackadaisical follow-up though and hits a Fosbury Flop! Horus fakes out Bandido by sliding out of the ring and right back in, allowing him enough time to hit a leg drop as Bandido follows him inside. Bandido ducks a lariat in spectacular fashion and hits his wacky GTS variant, and deadlifts Horus into a LIGERBOMB for a two count. They’re right back at it until they run into stereo dropkicks. They trade chops ad forearms until Bandido floors Horus with a superkick, but Bandido RUNS INTO A SATELLITE DDT~! BANDIDO KICKS OUT! SPANISH FLY! BANDIDO KICKS OUT! I love that fucking DDT. Both men head to the top, where BANDIDO HITS A SUPER MOONSAULT SLAM~! Bandido is your winner in 12 minutes. ***3/4 This was just a delightful piece of Lucha and really, one of the highlights of the weekend. Bandido is at that point where he’s not too Americanized, but has just enough of the style to make his otherwise wacky Lucha tendencies land even better with the PWG audience. He’s not even really as acrobatic as guys like Fenix or Flamita, but he’s so damn fast and agile that he moves like lightning. He’s more grounded, but is just as impressive from an athletic standpoint. I’m incredibly excited to see how his game evolves now that he’s broken out. Rey Horus looked fabulous here too though, it must be said. He is really an unsung hero of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s undercards over the past several months, and this bout is a shining example why. He is never going to be the best guy on the card but if you want him to give you an exciting sprint of a match, he never fails to deliver. He’s really underlooked when it comes to hype and accolades, but I guess he was the one who signed that Lucha Underground deal, wasn’t he? Either way though, this was clearly Match of the Night thus far and one of the more entertaining flying exhibitions I’ve seen from PWG in a while.
Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher
These two were married to the hip in the summer of 2016 it seems like, as they had a middling feud in EVOLVE, the booking of which had a hand in really harming Thatcher’s standing on the scene for a while. They had some really good matches here and there though, and I don’t see why that would change with both men having improved a good amount in the 2 (!) years since.
Thatcher works for an early anklelock, but Riddle kicks him off and separates. Riddle tries one of his own, but Thatcher rolls into a Fujiwara that forces Riddle to get to the ropes. Thatcher walks through some Riddle upkicks to lock in a Half-Crab, and uses that to transition back to the Fujiwara. Riddle counters into a Cross Armbreaker, so Thatcher goes back to the Ankle Lock to break. Riddle explodes into a gutwrench, suplexing Thatcher back. Thatcher is able to counter into a Suplex of his own though, getting a one count out of it. Riddle dodges a rolling Belly to Belly and sends Thatcher to the corner with a jumping knee, and he starts building a head of steam with running elbows. Beautiful Exploder scores for Riddle on the follow-through, and a Broton after that. Thatcher ankle-picks Riddle though and fires off some elbows in his guard to get some separation, but he eats a Ripcord Knee anyway. Thatcher fires back with an Enzuigiri and hits his Belly-to-Belly, sending Riddle across Reseda. Butterfly Suplex lands for Thatcher but only gets him a nearfall. Thatcher looks for a Choke, but Riddle counters out and lands the Bro 2 Sleep, right into a German for a nearfall of his own. Thatcher catches a kick to the chest, but gets rolled into a Powerbomb and a running knee for another Riddle two count. BROSTONE scores for yet another nearfall. Danielson elbows now for Riddle, but Thatcher counters into a Fujiwara! Riddle rolls out, but right into a Choke! Riddle rolls out of that, and the Bromission gets him the win in 12 minutes. *** Perfectly fine midcard action from these two and a suitable comedown from the nuttiness of the match preceeding it. They implemented good psychology with Thatcher’s insistence on the ankle lock and later the Fujiwara, carrying the earlier grappling portions with enough urgency to make them worthwhile. They also built really nicely to using strikes and kind of made them a turning point in the match with Riddle’s kicks and knees, which is always appreciated in smaller midcard bouts like these. These guys could wrestle this match in their sleep, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun to watch as they have really interesting chemistry together on the mat.
PWG World Title: Keith Lee © vs. Jonah Rock vs. WALTER
I find it incredibly difficult to complain about this being our main event. Keith Lee’s title reign has actually been a bit of a drag as his win against Chuck Taylor was hardly a barnburner and his match against Hangman Page could sell sleep to a narcoleptic, but it’s not as though he’s regressed. In fact, he had one of PWG’s best matches of 2017 against Jonah Rock at the last All Star Weekend so there’s history here to help. The other opponent in WALTER is probably my favorite wrestler going at the moment, and I’m super excited to see how he adapts to this triple threat environment.
Walter and Keith jaw at each other in the center of the ring, giving Jonah an opportunity to jump the champion and get a head start. He runs into a running Banzai Drop from Walter though, proving that strategy a temporary positive. Lee and Walter show down again and go at it, ending in Lee tossing Walter to the floor and setting up for a dive. Jonah intercepts him and hits a Tope Suicida on Walter instead, but Lee staggers up and hits a TOPE CON HILO! Walter catches him with a boot as the action spills back into the ring, and he puts Keith in a Boston Crab. Jonah tries to chop Walter out of that hold, and Walter HAS NONE OF IT and chops poor Jonah to the living death. Walter and Lee go at it with chops now, and they go WILD until Jonah intervenes with some chops of his own… only for Lee and Walter to team up and get him out so they can finish things off. Lee and Walter slug it out SOME MORE until Lee tries Ground Zero, but Walter tries to counter into a Sleeper. Jonah tries a Sleeper on Walter, but Lee pounces them both and HITS WALTER WITH THE SPIRIT BOMB! Walter kicks out. Jonah hits Lee with a Half Nelson Suplex, but Walter catches him standing up with a Sleeper, and later on a German Suplex. Lee tries Ground Zero on Jonah, but WALTER GERMANS THEM BOTH~! Lee and Walter chop Jonah down and fight it out, and Walter SHOTGUN DROPKICKS EVERYONE! Jonah low blows Walter and tries to Schoolboy him, but can’t get the win. He even low blows Keith Lee to get rid of him before hitting Walter with a Brainbuster. Jonah tries another low blow on Keith Lee, but eats Ground Zero… for 2! Keith heads for a moonsault, but Jonah intercepts him and Ligerbombs him for a two count of his own. Jonah heads up top now, but Walter boots him down and HEADS UP TOP! WALTER SPLASH! KEITH KICKS OUT AT ONE~! LARIAT FROM WALTER!!! WALTER is the new champion at 14 minutes! ***3/4 While I would hardly say this is the most memorable match these three men have had in a PWG ring, I can’t exactly say I didn’t love it anyway. There are few things in the wrestling business better than watching WALTER kill fools, and as a result, I loved his interactions with Jonah Rock here. In fact, I’d even say that I found the usage of the less-over Jonah in this match to be borderline genius from a psychology standpoint. Jonah – while having been a consistently entertaining part of PWG cards since his debut – has not quite caught on with the PWG audience like WALTER or Keith Lee have. In some ways, I feel the crowd somewhat resents Jonah for not being as good as Lee or WALTER, which is unfair but the way the it went nevertheless. Here, these three men used that crowd reaction to their advantage and made Jonah Rock the heel of the trio, meaning we got a lot of really interesting exchanges that I didn’t anticipate coming in. Jonah was not presented as an equal to his two opponents, and he reacted in a negative way by resorting to cheap tactics and low blows to try and usurp them. He was thrown around and made to look like a goof, so he lashed out. Cause and effect! That sort of psychology does wonders to help a fledgling guy like Jonah Rock fit into a niche a little easier, rather than limp along into whatever he was doing previously. Add that on with WALTER’s offensive flurries and Keith Lee’s agility, and there was something to offer on a lot of fronts. I value that a lot, especially since these three could have gotten away with just dropping bombs until a finish happened. This show has been a bit of a mixed bag, but the main event delivered wonderfully in my estimation and I am massively interested in anything WALTER does as PWG Champion.
Keith takes the mic and says he failed Chuck Taylor, and says he failed at his one job to uplift the company. He loves PWG and he loves everyone here, and he’s failed all of it. Keith hopes that WALTER can be the champion that time did not allow for Keith Lee to be. This isn’t about WALTER or PWG; this is about the fact that three fatasses just got into the ring and ran like champions. Keith Lee demands that WALTER do what he couldn’t, because he’s a bad motherfucker and he believes in WALTER. He says if he gets the opportunity comes around, Keith Lee is coming back for him, But until then, be the best representative he can for PWG. That was one of the best promos I’ve ever heard in a PWG ring, holy Christ.
Immediately after Keith’s exit, Sammy Guevara runs out and confronts WALTER before bitchslapping him. He walks right into a very uncomfortable sounding chop as a result, and the weekend ends there.
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