Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG Mystery Vortex 2012

Reseda, California
December 1, 2012

Commentators: Excalibur, Kevin Steen, Rick Knox, and Joey Ryan

The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. Dojo Bros (Roderick Strong & Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards)
Steen referenced Masaaki Mochizuki on commentary early on (in regards to hard choppers), and he incorrectly said that he had never been in PWG. Mochi was on the first show of 2012! I do not know why I feel the need to point it out, but there it is. Turns out Steen said Go Shiozaki. He has in fact never been to PWG before. As usual, I am the fool. The teams went back and forth for a while. EEEE was eventually cut off and worked over for a while. EEEE obviously was able to tag out to Roddy. Roddy then made an awesome comeback, as he is wont to do. The crowd ate this the fuck up. The Bucks came back and the crowd was fucking molten. The teams traded superkicks and schoolboys. EEEE wiped out Nick with a tope. The Bros then killed Matt with a double stomp/Dominator combo: 1…2…3!

This is one of the best openers I have ever seen. The crowd was just molten for the whole thing, and both teams worked their asses off. The Young Bucks showed why they are the best team in the world, and the Dojo Bros showed why they could be one of the best teams.
Match Rating: ****1/4

Drake Younger vs. Sami Callihan
I’m not the biggest fan of either of these guys (especially Drake), but I enjoyed their two big CZW matches from 2012. At the very least, they’ll try incredibly hard here.

They were throwing bombs to start the match. Drake hit a piledriver on the apron. They got back in the ring, and Drake hit a…bulldog for a one count. Something about that made me laugh. After going back and forth for a while, Sami managed to get the advantage by going after Drake’s left knee. Sami hit a bunch of German. Drake came right back with a bunch of head-dropping suplexes. Sami hit a saito on the apron. They traded submission attempts. Drake hit the Drake’s Landing out of nowhere for a nearfall. Sami then hit a Drake’s Landing for a nearfall. Sami got the Stretch Muffler on the previously injured knee. Drake was forced to tap.

Despite these two killing each other, I found this to be pretty boring. There’s a chance that you will be one of the many fans that enjoyed this greatly though. At the very least I appreciated that Drake’s injured leg lead to the finish.
Match Rating: **1/2

Adam Cole came out to mock everyone. He was trying to bait Steen into attacking. Steen didn’t fall for it, and he instead announced that their match would be a Guerrilla Warfare match. Cole looked less than pleased at this news.

Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Stupefied)© vs. RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime) [PWG World Tag Team Championships]
SSB rose up in 2012 and took the big push the Monsters seemed on the verge of getting out from under them. SSB grabbed the proverbial brass ring and established themselves as one of the best teams in the world in 2012.

SSB did some gaga to get the advantage. By “gaga,” I mean wrenches and posing. The Monsters managed to cut off Stupefied and work him over for a bit. Uno managed to tag in, but he also quickly got cut off and then worked over for a while. Stupefied managed to tag in, but Goodtime cut him off. Uno speared Goodtime to the floor. Yuma hit a dive. This match is not very good. Uno got cut off again. THREE heat segments. SSB finally came back. Stupefied hit Yuma with a 450 for a nearfall. Goodtime cut off part of his beard and blew it in Dos’s face. Yuma then got a nearfall with a schoolboy. Uno hit Yuma with a Falcon Punch, and SSB then hit the Fatality: 1…2…3.

This was not good. The Monsters dominated the great majority of this match, and it was not interesting to me at all. The finishing stretch was fine, but they had already lost me by that point. SSB worked the match like they would have to have a second match on the night or something…
Match Rating: **1/4

Joey Ryan vs. Scorpio Sky
“Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to witness Joey Ryan’s final match for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla…until he gets fired by TNA,” – Excalibur. Sadly, this turned out to happen. I cannot even enjoy Joey’s “last match” where he brings down PWG, because he got fired by PWG before I managed to watch this show.

Sky faced Chris Bosh and Scott Lost in their PWG retirement matches. So, stuff. They hug before the match. The fans chant “Friendship!” Sky got control of the match and methodically controlled the match. “Who would you rather have calling your match? Me or Tazz?” Ryan hit a tope suicida. Ryan then got a nearfall with a superkick. Sky hit a super hurricanrana. Spear and powerbomb from Ryan. Bicycle Knee from Sky. Sky then hit the tope con hello. Ryan came back with a NASTY Mustache Ride from the apron through some chairs. Ryan hit his head hard on the floor. Fuck. That was stupid. Back in the ring, Sky hit a TKO for a nearfall. Ryan then hit a superkick out of nowhere for a solid nearfall. Sky hit a reverse rana and the Big Fat Kill. TKO: 1…2…3.

Ryan gave a very enjoyable speech after the match. Excalibur gave him a hug in the ring.

This was a match. It was moderately enjoyable. Ryan was pretty over in his “final” PWG match, which elevated the match above the standard Ryan affair. Ryan needs to be in a tag team going forward in PWG.
Match Rating: **1/2

Willie Mack vs. TJ Perkins vs. B-Boy vs. Brian Cage
Mack and Cage never resolved their issues, which meant they started brawling on the floor right away. That did not last too long though, as all four men eventually started trading movez. It was quite fun, as everybody seemed to be trying to impress. TJP, in particular, came up with some impressive stuff. More movez! TJP hit a tope suicida on Cage. Mack blocked a dive from B-Boy. TJP then got involved, but B-Boy killed him with the snap powerslam on the apron. Cage hit B-Boy with the Fucking Machine Suplex and then Mack with a TOPE CON HELLO! BRIAN CAGE IS GETTING HIS SHIT IN! Cage then gave TJP and B-Boy a suplex at the same time! HE’S GETTING HIS SHIT IN! More movez were traded. It was fucking grand. This show desperately needed a fun match like this. Mack gave Cage the Chocolate Thunder Bomb: 1…2…NO! Mack and B-Boy traded strikes. B-Boy hit a great diving DDT. TJP reversed a Weapon X into a STF! B-Boy set up for a Shining Wizard on TJP, but Willie Mack caught him with a Chocolate Thunder Driver: 1…2…3.

Fun. I love fun. You love fun. I loved this match. You’ll love this match. Great work from everyone involved. It’s really a shame that PWG did not use TJP more before he signed a contract with TNA. He’s one of the most talented wrestlers in America today.
Match Rating: ***1/2

El Generico vs. Rich Swann
Obviously, this turned out to be El Generico’s last singles match in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

They went back and forth for a bit until Generico got control. Generico worked him over a bit; it was not especially inspired. Swann came back and hit his corkscrew tope con hello. Swann hit a spike DDT for a nearfall. Generico got a nearfall with a Michinoku. Swann reversed a bunch of Generico’s movez and hit a spiked hurricanrana for a nearfall. Generico reversed the Lethal Injection into a BT Bomb: 1…2…NO! Swann came back with a rolling Ace Crusher, but Generico then got his knees up for the frog splash. Generico then hit the double underhook vertical suplex into a powerbomb move that clearly needs a name: 1…2…3!

The structure of this match was pretty basic, but it was obviously quite fun. I enjoyed this far more than Swann’s PWG debut match against Roddy. Swann is a fun wrestler, but his singles almost always feel like they’re missing something. I’m very glad PWG mostly used him as tag team guy, now.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Dojo Bros (Roderick Strong & Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards) vs. Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Stupefied)
The Bros jumped the champs before the match. Uno briefly came back, but he was quickly cut off and worked over. Stupefied managed to tag in, and he made a fantastic comeback. It involved a tope suicida, two tope con hellos, a springboard DDT, a moonsault into a DDT, and a Meteora. The teams went back and forth. SSB hit EEEE with the Fatality, but Roddy saved the match. The Bros came back. Stupefied ate a Orange Crush backbreaker and a ghetto stomp from EEEE: 1…2…3!

I enjoyed this much more than the first SSB match of the night. The Dojo Bros are a very fresh team, and I’m PWG started to showcase them a ton after this match.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Kevin Steen© vs. Adam Cole [Guerrilla Warfare match for the PWG World Championship]
Cole won BOLA and then stole Steen’s belt. Thus, we have this match. Steen ran through Cole quite a bit. He made sure that every section of the crowd got to see Cole take the apron powerbomb. He did it four times. A lot of weapons were brought into play. Cole briefly came back, but Steen used a ladder to get the advantage right back. Steen got a nearfall with a pop-up powerbomb on the trash can. Cole came back with a FU onto the side of a ladder. Steen came back with a F5 on the ladder. Steen set up some chairs, but Cole back with a low blow and a Panama City Destroyer: 1…2…NO! Cole constructed what Excalibur called a “pyramid of chairs.” Cole seemed to be setting up for a superplex through said pyramid of chairs. Steen gave him a low blow and then a super fisherman buster through the pyramid: 1…2…NO! “This match is why I’m leaving,” – Joey Ryan. Steen went to Excalibur and got a pitcher of thumbtacks. Excalibur begged him not to use them. Steen SPAT thumbtacks at Cole! Superkick from Steen! Superkick from Cole! GERMAN FROM COLE INTO THE THUMBTACKS! Florida Key: 1…2…3!

While PWG rarely books storylines for their shows, a lot of their big matches obviously contain storytelling. Personally, I loved the story of this match. I thought the match was all about Cole surviving Kevin Steen and proving himself tough enough to outlast one of the best brawlers in professional wrestling. Steen’s inability to put Cole away caused him to take the eye off the ball (so to speak); he went for thumbtacks in an attempt to maim Cole, but he should have just kept throwing bombs at Cole. Cole survived and put Steen away with the Florida Key. No one has managed to kick out of the Florida Key yet. This was a great main event.
Match Rating: ****

Now that I’ve finally watched every PWG show from 2012, it’s time to make a couple of lists~!

Top PWG Shows of 2012
Threemendous
Death to All But Metal
Kurt Russellreunion
Mystery Vortex
BOLA Night 1
BOLA Night 2
DDT4
Failure to Communicate
World’s Finest

Top PWG Matches of 2012
Super Smash Bros. vs. The Young Bucks vs. Future Shock, Threemendous
Super Dragon, Kevin Steen, & Akira Tozawa vs. El Generico, PAC, & Masato Yoshino, Kurt Russellreunion
Super Smash Bros. vs. The Young Bucks, Death to All But Metal
The Young Bucks vs. Dojo Bros, Mystery Vortex
Kevin Steen vs. Adam Cole, Mystery Vortex
Kevin Steen vs. Ricochet, Battle of Los Angeles Night 1
Michael Elgin vs. Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards, Failure to Communicate
El Generico vs. Ricochet, Death to All But Metal

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I’ve done at 411mania.

Watch some free matches featuring PWG wrestlers (in non-PWG matches, sadly):
Akira Tozawa vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Sami Callihan
Sami Callihan vs. Masato Yoshino
RVD vs. Sami Callihan
Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli
El Generico vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Jigsaw vs. Nick Jackson
Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi
El Generico vs. Samuray Del Sol
El Generico vs. Player Uno
The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
The Young Bucks (Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) & Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal, Paul London, & Brian Kendrick
El Generico vs. Chris Hero
The Young Bucks vs. The Kings of Wrestling
El Generico vs. Davey Richards
Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin

For more information on PWG, check out their:
Facebook
Twitter
DVD Store
Youtube Page

The 411: This show reminded me of Failure to Communicate in that the show structure was a bit off, as there were some low points that interrupted the high quality action that PWG is known for. However, that's really a nitpick about a very strong show that everyone should check out. The opener and main event were two of my favorite PWG matches of the year. Go to the PWG website to buy this show.
Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]