Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla – DDT4 2013 – 12th January 2013

I’m rarely a fan of one-night tournaments. They always promise much, but the reality of talents working two or three matches on the same evening is that invariably the workers tire and the match quality suffers. But, that’s not really why I wanted to pick this up. Sure I had an absolute blast reviewing Mystery Vortex, PWG’s final show of 2012…but that’s not the reason either. I wanted it as this year’s DDT4 tag tournament also serves as the final major independent appearance of El Generico before he went to Florida to start his WWE developmental deal. PWG, moreso than any other promotion, has always been Generico’s home in the US. Sure he was huge in his home promotion in Canada. He was a big star for other companies too – most notably Ring Of Honor. But this is the company that has always accepted him, shown him the most love and given him the biggest stage to showcase his considerable talent. That’s why it’s significant that his farewell to the indies includes this date. It’s sure to be an emotional night as he enters the DDT4 tournament for a final time – reuniting with former friend turned bitter rival Kevin Steen in what should be an exciting and potentially explosive pairing. Other participants include PWG Tag Champions the Super Smash Bros., the Young Bucks, the Briscoes, Future Shock and more. We also get the second match in the #1 contendership trilogy between Sami Callihan and Drake Younger which should be interesting. Once again we join Excalibur in Reseda, CA for what should be an emotional evening.

Inner City Machine Guns vs Young Bucks
This is the first round of the tournament, and should be crazily fun. The Bucks are the experienced team, enormously successful veterans of PWG and (after losing to the Dojo Bros at the last show) will be looking to get back to the top of the pile with a win tonight. The Machine Guns are the pairing of Gabe-promotion talents Ricochet and Rich Swann. They aren’t among the favourites but are immensely talented fliers and have a wealth of experience in tag team wrestling (albeit not with their actual partner for the evening).

The Young Bucks take a disliking to Rico and Rich mocking their signature muscle pose and jump them before the bell. The Machine Guns fire back with simultaneous missile dropkicks, and it’s clear we’re getting started in a hurry. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY RICOCHET! CORKSCREW PLANCHA INTO THE CROWD BY SWANN! Within the first minute of the show there are chairs, fans and broken bodies scattered all over the building. Ricochet is so happy with he breaks out the spin-a-roonie, which Kevin Steen marks out hard for on commentary. In the end Nick has to poke Swann in the eyes to put a halt to the antics of the wildly popular Machine Guns. There’s an amazing moment when Swann SOMERSAULTS over Nick…only to have his face splattered with a brutal superkick from Matt literally as he sticks the landing. Nick has a toy guitar which he struts round the ring air-guitaring with. It also has a laser pointer it seems – and he BLINDS SWANN WITH IT! He then belts Rich with the toy as Matt distracts the referee in some of the weirdest cheating I’ve ever seen. Out of nowhere Swann hits the STAND ON HIS BACK Rocker Dropper and gets the hot tag to Rico. He gets some ridiculous hangtime on a springboard lariat which wipes Nick out. FOUR WAY SUPER KICK DUEL! CORKSCREW ENZI FROM RICH! ALL FOUR DOWN! MATT FLIPS RICOCHET ONTO HIS HEAD! SPRINGBOARD FROG SPLASH FROM NICK GETS 2! BACK FLIP DOUBLE CUTTER BY SWANN! STEREO RED STAR PRESSES FOR 2! Swann hits a standing super rana on Matt…SHOOTING STAR PRESS BY RICOCHET! Nick stops Swann hitting the standing 450. SO RICOCHET DIVES OVER THE RINGPOST INTO A SOMERSAULT PLANCHA AT HIM! STANDING 450…COUNTERED TO A SMALL PACKAGE! Matt pins Swann at 12:23

Rating - **** - For the second PWG show in a row the Bucks deliver an absolutely bonkers opening match. The things Ricochet and Swann can do in the ring are truly incredible, but I don’t think you can underestimate the contributions made to this match by the Bucks, who by their standards were very restrained and used very few of their trademark high spots. The Machine Guns were the superior fliers, so they got to showcase their stuff, whilst the Jacksons formed a terrific foundation for those two and also filled the quieter periods with fun comedy spots and some traditional tag stuff. An insane way to start the show that lit the touch paper underneath a packed and ravenous crowd.

Super Smash Bros. vs Unbreakable F’n Machines – PWG Tag Title Match
This is another DDT4 Round 1 match, but it’s been declared that the Tag Titles will be on the line as well, meaning the Smash Bros. need to win the tournament if they want to leave Reseda this evening with their belts. Their first task is to overcome the truly colossal team of Brian Cage and Michael Elgin (who in truth had a much more consistently entertaining year in PWG than he did in ROH).

PWG being what is, I’d like to point out that ‘Unbreakable F’n Machines’ is very much the censored version of name Cage and Elgin are going by. Stupefied starts with Cage and is soon celebrating as he backs the bigger man into the corner in a lock-up. ‘I’m going to humble you’ – Stupefied to Cage as he enters a test of strength with him. Unsurprisingly he fails to humble Brian…but we have ourselves an old-fashioned stand-off as he uses his quickness to escape before sustaining any serious damage. Elgin wants a test of strength instead…but Dos knees him in the face! Uno tags in and drops Unbreakable again with the ref-assisted neckbreaker. Both F’n Machines are sent into the crowd, in prime position for the RUNING MOONSAULT from Stupefied. Elgin responds by picking up both Smash Bros. FOR A DOUBLE ALABASLAM! Not to be outdone, Cage picks up Stupefied and starts doing reps with him, before tossing him over his head into the most effortless fallaway slam in pro-wrestling history. Elgin lifts Dos into a stalling superplex…and when he gets tired CAGE TAKES OVER! RELAY STALLING SUPLEX! Sami Callihan is on commentary marking out and even Player Uno appears to be applauding that! Somehow Stupefied recovers from that to hit a backflip kick, then a quebrada swinging DDT on Brian. TOPE CON HILO FROM UNO! It’s not a great landing for him though, as he appears to have dislocated his shoulder as he hit the deck. TORTURE RACK BACKBREAKER from Stupefied to Cage as Uno stumbles around on the floor trying to convince fans to help him put his shoulder back in it’s socket. His arm is literally rigid and useless by his side as Dos tries to fight off both Machines at once. GET OVER HERE TURNBUCKLE SUPLEX by the Smash Bros. even though Uno has one arm! RUNNING HIP ATTACK/450 SPLASH COMBO FOR 2! Uno would normally do a cannonball senton on that spot but is so injured he can’t do it. Stupefied tries to convince him to try Fatality anyway…which of course doesn’t work and Uno eats a spinning back fist from Elgin. DEAD-LIFT GERMAN ON DOS! OCEAN CYCLONE NECKBREAKER! DEAD-LIFT SPIRAL BOMB! Stupefied is dead, and the Unbreakable F’n Machines are the new PWG Tag Champions at 14:28

Rating - *** - This was probably a few minutes longer than it needed to be and there were some definite lulls. But, you can’t stress enough how fun the PWG experience is. Even in a slightly more routine tag match like this the wrestlers and fans are so passionate about the product that it becomes a blast to watch. The displays of strength by the F’n Machines really revved the crowd up, but it was the display of courage from Uno after sustaining that injury which was particularly memorable. I’d love to know if Cage and Elgin were always booked to win this or if they changed the result on the fly as a result of Player Uno’s arm injury.

Future Shock vs Dojo Bros
The third of the DDT4 first round matches is perhaps the most intriguing. Adam Cole is the 3rd member of the Dojo Bros (Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong), but tonight teams against them with his regular partner (in PWG, I know ROH split them up) of Kyle O’Reilly. Cole has serious momentum right now and is hot after winning BOLA 2012 and the PWG Championship at Mystery Vortex. Edwards and Strong had a good night at the last show too though, beating both the Young Bucks and the (now former) Tag Champions the Super Smash Bros. on the same evening. For that reason alone they have to be considered among the favourites for this.

As it’s his first show as new PWG Champion Cole is understandably in a rather confident mood. It’s immediately punished as he tells Roddy to ‘suck my dick’ and gets chopped so hard he falls out of the ring. ‘Suck his dick’ – crowd at Strong. Roderick obliges and gets down on his knees. Cole looks delighted…UNTIL STRONG CHOPS HIM IN THE DICK! O’Reilly tries to nurse his partner back to healthy by fanning his crotch which is almost as funny as the spot itself. Kyle and Eddie get in the ring to renew their rivalry – calming things down with an intense exchange of holds on the canvas. O’Reilly tries a kimura, but sees it immediately countered to the Achilles Lock…but that is countered swiftly too so we’re back at a stalemate. The first significant shot is fired by Edwards as he nails the Doi 555 into the sliding enziguri for 2. Strong then joins him in the ring and they have a contest to see who can mess Kyle’s chest up more with their respective signature chops. Cole tags back in, and comes in still selling the cock injury which is awesome from a psychological and a comedy perspective. Roderick takes advantage by faking another dick chop before landing one across the throat. He at last lands a jumping enzi kick from the floor which noticeably shakes Roddy up and gives Future Shock the advantage for the first time. O’Reilly gets 2 with a sweet little combo where he kicks out Strong’s knees then charges at him with a knee right on the chin. He doesn’t do that in ROH!

‘Old Asian men die all the time’ – Excalibur on commentary. That tangent sums this promotion up! In the ring Strong catches Kyle trying a running elbow to nail him with a cradle backbreaker. He makes the much-needed tag to Die Hard who marches both Cole and O’Reilly into the corner for a DOUBLE MACHINE GUN CHOP sequence! Cole tries to escape…but O’Reilly drags him back to use as a human shield! Backpack Stunner gets 2 on O’Reilly. CHOP TO THE FACE! That’s another nearfall, and Kyle is having to fight solo at the moment as Cole appears to be napping in the corner using the PWG title belt as a pillow. Rolling Butterflies from O’Reilly…INTO AN ELEVATED DOUBLE ARM DDT! OCEAN CYCLONE FROM COLE FOR 2! Future Shock line up Strong…WHO JUMPS OVER TOTAL ELIMINATION TO KNEE O’REILLY IN THE FACE! SUPERKICK BY COLE! Edwards then mows down the champion with a shotgun dropkick! DEATH BY RODERICK/LARIAT COMBO! Orange Crush Backbreaker countered…and Adam shunts Edwards into the ringpost for good measure. BUZZSAW KICK/CRADLEBREAKER COMBO! STRONG KICKS OUT! TOTAL ELIMINATION! EDDIE SAVES! TOPE SUICIDA INTO THE CROWD ON HIM! ORANGE CRUSH BACKBREAKER ON COLE! DOUBLE STOMP BY EDDIE! O’REILLY SAVES! Kyle and Eddie just slap the s*t out of each other…then BOTH fall out of the ring in a brutal double suplex spot. Whilst the fans recover from that Adam blasts Strong with the belt to win the match at 19:29

Rating - **** - This match was a terrific blend of the tight, stiff and brilliantly executed wrestling these guys produce in Ring Of Honor with the high spots, comedy and mayhem expected in PWG. I’m glad that they were given some time to shine as this was very much a slow burner – and much more of a ‘traditional’ tag team encounter than Bucks/Machine Guns or Smash Bros./F’n Machines. The crowd were understandably a little sullen early on, but were rewarded for their patience with an utterly spectacular closing stretch. Cole and O’Reilly are unbelievably fun as a heel team…whilst Strong and Edwards don’t waste time trying to play characters or play to the audience, they just straight up beat the sh*t out of their opponents (which of course the crowd love anyway). If there’s a better match all night we’re in for a hell of a show.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen/El Generico
This is the last of the tournament first round matches, with these two age-old rival teams vying for the final spot in the semis alongside the Young Bucks, the Unbreakable F’n Machines and Future Shock. The Briscoes don’t appear too regularly for PWG, and have a history of not producing their ROH best when in this promotion. They are a welcome addition to the stacked line-up for DDT4 2013 though, particularly as they stand across the ring from two of their greatest foes. The Briscoes/Steen-erico feud of 2007 was legendary. It got Steen and Generico full-time jobs in ROH and it became one of independent wrestling’s greatest rivalries. It’s not a match we’ve seen in any major indies since 2009 since Steen and Generico split. But now they are reunited – although not particularly through choice. They still hate each other. Steen is super-pissed because he just lost the PWG World Championship, and will have to play second fiddle to Generico this evening – since of course it’s the Generic Luchador’s final night in PWG. Can this once-great team get their sh*t together to allow Generico to leave Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla in one final blaze of glory? Or will their differences and personal issues make them easy pickings for ‘Dem Boys’?

Since the entrances are cut from PWG shows, we don’t get to see what appears to have been a streamer reception of epic proportions for Generico. Steen has his back turned to him and slouches in the corner looking completely uninterested through the whole introductions which is a nice touch. He barely even looks at his partner, bringing a hilarious ‘this is awkward’ chant from a few smart-asses in the crowd. Steen does, however, follow the ‘Code Of Honor’ with Jay Briscoe before nailing him with a brutal elbow smash…then Generico blind tags himself in! He runs the ropes with Mark, before ducking for cover as the younger Briscoe threatens to bring out the Redneck Kung Fu. Eventually he succumbs to the double team prowess of the Briscoes…and of course since he has a partner who has no interest in coming to his aid it’s tough going for the masked man. Mark gets 2 with a Froggy Bow. Steen eventually has enough and SLAPS Generico to tag him out. He then literally boots his own partner out of the ring before choking Jay into the corner. Steen-erico start to isolate Jay, although this sequence is more entertaining for the tense and unfriendly tags between them than the actual wrestling. We do get some vintage double teams though, as Generico hits the drop toehold and screams at Steen to nail the somersault leg drop for 2. Of course, Jay does eventually make the hot tag to Mark…who storms in with the Redneck Kung Fu. Splash Mountain Neckbreaker for 2! He sets up another Froggy Bow, but this time gets shoved off by Steen…right into the HALF NELSON SUPLEX from Generico! Brainbuster blocked…F-5 blocked too! Sharpshooter locked in, only for Jay to shove Generico into Steen to break the hold! Generico nearly Yakuza Kicks Steen too! They are all set to fight, only for the Briscoes to separate them and set Generico up for the Doomsday Device. The crowd are screaming in fear that it could be over…BUT GENERICO VICTORY ROLLS FOR THE WIN! It’s over at 11:20

Rating - *** - As a match this was kind of ‘just there’. But as a piece of story-telling this was really absorbing to watch. Steen and Generico have told so many stories, both as partners and enemies, over the years that it was compelling viewing seeing them forced together again for Generico’s swansong. Their begrudging teamwork was funny, their facials and body-language were acted out superbly. And that finish was absolutely superb. For as low-key as the match was, they had the whole building literally screaming out ‘NO’ as the Briscoes scooped Generico up for the Doomsday Device. They genuinely thought that was going to be it for Generico’s PWG career…so when he countered into the roll-up for the win the pop they got was outstanding. That’s how good Steen and Generico are. They don’t need opponents busting their asses (the Briscoes barely got above walking pace). They don’t need to be diving and flying into the crowd like Ricochet. When they are together they have a chemistry so engaging that those two simply telling the story that needs to be told is enough to pop a live crowd. They advance meaning we’ll have another emotional rollercoaster in the semi-finals!

Unbreakable F’n Machines vs Young Bucks – PWG Tag Title Match
With very little time for these teams to rest, we go straight into the semi-finals. For the second time this evening the PWG Tag Titles are on the line, and being defended by their second team of the evening too since Brian Cage and Michael Elgin overcame the Super Smash Bros. to become new champs in the first round. The Young Bucks have been dominant PWG Tag Champions (and multi-time DDT4 winners) before and will have their eyes on regaining that gold in this match. Will it be the raw power and popularity of the Machines or the speed and smarts of the Jacksons that wins out?

The Bucks know they’re in trouble with Cage…so try to use their rapid-fire tag approach to get the better of him. Brian has that spot scouted though, and simply drags Matt into the path of the top rope double stomp from Nick. The older Jackson retreats into the aisle and watches as the Machines hit a backbreaker/big boot combo on Matt. Backbreaker/flying elbow drop combo on Nick! ‘You want your f*cking machine to be well-oiled’ – Eddie Edwards on commentary. It takes both Young Bucks to toss Elgin out of the ring…and Nick is quick to seize the advantage to hit a SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! From there the Jacksons sensibly start going after Cage’s leg, and do a great job of keeping him on the canvas where he can’t use his phenomenal strength on them. Matt applies a Figure 4, and the Bucks being the Bucks he’s soon getting some illicit assistance from the outside as Nick starts pulling on his arm to gain additional leverage. Minutes later Nick lands a brutal slingshot stomp to the knee, and the crowd are visibly stunned at how dominating the Bucks have been. Even after over 5 minutes of constant abuse to his knee, Cage is still powerful enough to hit a DOUBLE SUPLEX on both Jacksons and lunge into the hot tag to Elgin. TOP ROPE FOOTBALL TACKLE FROM BY ELGIN! Black Hole Slam on Matt gets 2! Spiral Bomb blocked…but Elgin counters Nick’s slingshot faceplant to pick BOTH Young Bucks up! AIR RAID CRASH/FALLAWAY SLAM COMBO! Torture rack neckbreaker by Cage, although he’s still limping badly. It leaves Matt in the path of the corkscrew senton from Elgin for 2. NICK MOONSAULTS OFF THE APRON…BUT IS CAUGHT BY ELGIN! OKLAHOMA STAMPEDE INTO THE RINGPOST! In the ring Matt gets 2 with a springboard corkscrew cutter on a badly-injured Brian Cage. Buckle Bomb from Elgin COUNTERED with a rana…who start teeing off on him with a superkick flurry! Cage saves with a double lariat. DOUBLE BACK DROP DRIVER FROM ELGIN TO BOTH BUCKS! BACK FIST/DISCUS LARIAT COMBO! Cage tries a deadlift superplex, but struggles because of his knee then takes a low blow from Nick behind the ref’s back. More Bang For Your Buck blocked. STEREO DEAD LIFT GERMANS BY THE MACHINES! They’re not done! STEREO DEAD-LIFT SUPERPLEXES NAILED! FOR 2! But Cage is still limping badly…and soon eats a superkick to the face from Matt. Elgin tries the Spiral Bomb…but is countered to a flash pin – and the Bucks advance at 16:20. That also means they become 3-time PWG Tag Team Champions!

Rating - **** - This tournament produces another scintillating tag team battle and, amazingly, it was again completely different to the previous 4* matches in the first round. They went for a simple story, but executed it so well that the crowd absolutely loved it. The opening minutes were spent with the Machines dominating the smaller men. So the devious Young Bucks came up with a plan to win the match. First they went to high-flying (Nick’s springboard dive to the floor) – and then they went for legs of one of their larger opponents. The assault on Cage’s leg was precise, devastating and dastardly in equal measure. Whilst Elgin, who can be a bit of a charisma black hole, was more than capable of slinging ‘house on fire’ hot tag spots around once he finally did get in. The power versus speed combo moves at the end were staggeringly good – as was Cage’s attempt to at least sell that leg. He really didn’t need to even bother, but the fact that he was still giving it a go (albeit selectively) was something I very much appreciated. I’m torn between this and Dojo Bros/Future Shock for MOTN thus far.

Future Shock vs Kevin Steen/El Generico
The second semi-final sees Kevin Steen take centre stage in the Steen-erico drama. Of course it’s still Generico’s last show and, therefore, potentially Generico’s last match. But here Steen comes face to face with the man that stole his championship belt at BOLA 2012, then won it from him in the match he chose (Guerrilla Warfare) at Mystery Vortex in December. Will Steen’s desire to get revenge on Cole and his hatred for his partner become overwhelming, or will the fairytale continue and see Steen-erico advance to the finals for one last showdown with the Young Bucks?

Kevin Steen doesn’t even wait for Generico’s ring introduction to finish before he rushes across the ring to start attacking Cole. We get an immediate replay from Mystery Vortex as he hoists the new champion into the air to crotch him against the ringpost. Even when he gets back into the ring Steen is waiting to deliver devastating kicks to the spine. O’Reilly finally lends his partner a hand – sweeping Steen’s legs out from the floor. Future Shock try to isolate Steen, and Mr Wrestling is so stubborn that since he won’t tag out to Generico he is almost voluntarily taking some real abuse here. Adam starts to enjoy himself, pausing from the assault on his nemesis to chant ‘You’re Gay’ at Generico for no real reason. Even when Steen does get a chance to tag Kyle is on hand to drag the luchador off the apron and prevent it. HEADBUTT TO THE DICK! ROCK BOTTOM! Finally Steen batters his way past Cole and makes the consensual hot tag to El Generico. Cole stops Generico hitting a dive…so Steen GIVES HIM THE APRON BOMB! ‘This escalated quickly’ – Eddie Edwards. Kyle evades the Yakuza Kick and drops Generico right on his neck with a Saito suplex. OCEAN CYCLONE LUNGBLOWER COMBO! STEEN SAVES! Future Shock sense blood, but don’t keep an eye on Steen who sneaks in and blasts O’Reilly with a superkick. Half Nelson Suplex/Cannonball Senton combo nailed! Cole tries to use the PWG Title belt again…but this time Steen ducks it! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! BRAINBUSTER! IT’S OVER! The crowd celebrate as Steen-erico win at 08:45

Rating - *** - Given the fact that Future Shock already wrestled a 20-minute match in the first round, and Steen-erico now have to work three matches in the same evening you can understand why this one was disappointingly brief. The crowd seemed a little jaded too – perhaps a little burnt out after so much high octane tag team wrestling on this show. But these four certainly weren’t taking it easy. They packaged a whole lot into these 9-minutes. Cole continued to excel as a douchy heel, and we got a cool flip on the standard Steen-erico tag formula with Steen playing the babyface in peril. The Steen/Cole exchanges were money. I know PWG doesn’t always tend to book long term but if they’re smart they’ll put those two together in a rematch of their Mystery Vortex bout somewhere soon.

B-Boy vs Willie Mack
We saw these two cross paths in a super-physical four corner bout at Mystery Vortex. Now they collide in a singles encounter – and it’s sure to be just as rugged and unrelentingly violent as their exchanges last month.

Mack shoulder tackles B-Boy to the canvas…and after B-Boy retaliates with a slap to the face he just KILLS him with a leapfrog skull*ck. Boy doesn’t like that one bit and drills him with a sliding flatliner on the apron. He pokes him in the eyes for good measure, with the crowd now really getting on his back. Willie is having trouble seeing – although he blindly swings and catches his opponent with a brutal elbow right across the face. He tries a tope suicida…only for B-Boy to throw a chair into his face! Samoan drop…INTO A STANDING MOONSAULT from Mack for 2! Somehow B-Boy survived that and recovers strong to dive off the ropes into a spike DDT. Shining Wizard countered in mid-air to a flatliner by Willie. B-BOY MIND TRIPS MACK ONTO HIS F*CKING HEAD! Is he dead? Mack is motionless in the corner but receives no mercy from B-Boy who runs at him with the baseball slide facewash. On their knees they take turns teeing off on each other with elbow smashes. Mack finally counters one to win with the Chocolate Thunder Bomb at 09:07

Rating - ** - This was actually incredibly dull. Sure there were some stunning spots in there, but the whole match felt like 'big spot-lie around-stall-next big spot' on rinse and repeat...and it got very tedious to sit through. I like Mack, but B-Boy isn’t the right talent to put him in the ring with to get the best out of him. The novelty, exhibition ‘American strong style’ thing worked in 2003 but by 2012 is very played out – which is partly why B-Boy has faded away in recent years.

Sami Callihan vs Drake Younger – KO Or Submission Only Match
This is the second in what has now become a Best Of 3 Series to determine Adam Cole’s first challenger for the PWG World Title. Callihan won the first match at Mystery Vortex with the Stretch Muffler. That’s significant as you can only win this match by knocking our opponent out or making him submit. Does Drake have the submission skills to get the job done here – or is he solely relying on his ability to KO Sami? That’s a risky strategy if so because, as their first match showed, these two can fight through massive amounts of head-shots and physical abuse.

A horrific headbutt from Callihan gets us underway – with Younger really taken by surprise at just how hard he had his skull rattled there. He folds him in half with REPEATED powerbombs then mows him down with an elbow suicida when Drake refuses to stay down. RINGPOST BOMB NAILED! Younger is up at 8 but he’s already bleeding it seems. EMERALD FUSION ON THE APRON! Somehow Callihan gets right up after that so Younger flies at him with a cannonball off the apron for good measure. Roderick Strong is on commentary with Excalibur and he screams like a girl as Sami waffles Drake with the ring bell right in front of him. DVD OFF THE STAGE THROUGH A BUNCH OF CHAIRS! Still Younger won’t stay down! He throws chairs in Sami’s direction, but he’s only giving him weapons. CHAIR SHOT…NO SOLD! Drake just stands there and refuses to sell an unprotected chair shot! He belts Callihan right back with a chair of his own. Backbreaker through an open chair scores! Body slam into the SIDE of two chairs! SO SAMI PRESS SLAMS HIM OFF THE TOP ROPE THROUGH THEM! Perhaps Callihan has realised he can’t win this by KO, so he sandwiches Drake’s leg in a chair then starts smashing it with another chair. Figure 4 Deathlock applied…only for Younger to smash his way free with one of the many chairs now littering the ring. They start countering moves, until Callihan finally catches Younger for an EXPLODER THROUGH AN UPSIDE DOWN CHAIR! ‘F*ck that’ – Roddy Strong. Both guys take a healthy portion of the 10-count to recover from that spot, and when he comes up it’s Callihan locking in the Stretch Muffler. Somehow Younger counters to a CHAIR-ENFORCED RINGS OF SATURN! Younger is so beaten up he can’t walk properly now, so he rolls out of the ring for some recovery time – coming back with a traffic cone. ATOMIC DROP ON THE TRAFFIC CONE! NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR!  He tries a camel clutch…only for Sami to escape by standing up and Vader-ing backwards into a random pile of chairs just lying around. Callihan begs Drake to quit…and SMASHES him in the head with a steel chair when he doesn’t. NO SOLD! Callihan is swinging for the fences but Younger won’t go down! With one last surge of energy he charges at Sami and bludgeons him with repeated elbow smashes. Callihan is beaten unconscious – which gives Drake the win at 15:28

Rating - **** - This was a tough match to rate. Their first match was fun to watch, but completely inappropriate and ridiculous for it’s spot on the card. This one, however, was a fitting sequel. Having killed each other in a standard singles match in December, they understandably had to up the violence ante here – and they absolutely delivered there. I understand it this kind of wrestling isn’t to your liking, but you can’t deny that these two were killing each other to entertain the PWG fans and I respect that if nothing else. Unfortunately the finish was horrible. Really ghastly. I was tempted to drop the whole match down to 3* for it – although that wouldn’t have been fair since I gave their first match 4* and this was still better than Mystery Vortex. But how much of a pussy did that finish make Callihan look? He’s thrown Drake off stages, through upside down chairs and battered him with repeated, unprotected chair shots. In response Drake somehow managed to win with a comedy traffic cone spot and some elbows? The visual of Younger absorbing all the chair shots and running like a maniac at Sami throwing elbows was cool. But seriously…this was an awful finish. These two will get to do it all again though, as their series is now tied 1-1 meaning we need a deciding match to determine a #1 contender.

Young Bucks vs Kevin Steen/El Generico – PWG Tag Title/DDT4 Tournament Final Match
How fitting is this as a match for El Generico to say his goodbyes to PWG? These two great rival teams have contested some epic battles over the years…and it was after a spectacular clash with the Bucks at ROH’s Final Battle 2009 that Steen finally split their team and kick-started one of the most legendary feuds in all of independent wrestling. The Bucks are 3-time PWG Tag Champions, multi-time DDT4 winners and all-round veterans at cheating and manipulating their way to victories if their skillset isn’t enough to get the job done. Will they leave as champions – or will the Steen-erico fairytale have a happy ending and an unlikely PWG Tag Title victory to send Generico off to WWE with?

The Bucks attack Steen and Generico with the belts before the bell evenings, and we’re instantly brawling all over ringside. Generico fights back by stealing a woman’s purse and batting Nick around the head with it, whilst Steen Irish whips Matt so hard he flips over the turnbuckles and all the way out of the ring. Nick tries an idiotic flying headscissors off the apron only for Steen to move and watch him fly helplessly into the front row. Matt is elsewhere ramming a chair into Generico’s ribs. NICK HITS A TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE INTO THE CROWD! He brings Generico into the ring and repeatedly rattles his jaw with running knee smashes. Mr Wrestling tries to get into the ring to help his partner but is bashed back to the floor with a springboard dropkick. Nick hits the handspring backrake, and gets crazy heat for what appears to be the Gangnam dance too. Generico is taking a real beating on his last night now – completely isolated in the ring, well away from his partner and in serious trouble. He hits a TURNBUCKLE EXPLODER out of nowhere but he himself is convulsing on the canvas in pain. He does at last get the hot tag to Steen who rips into both Bucks in quick succession. GENERICO WITH A TOPE ATOMICO OFF STEEN’S BACK, OVER NICK JACKSON TO HIT MATT ON THE FLOOR! Crazy spot! In the ring Steen gets 2 with an elevated DDT on Nick. Sharpshooter applied. GENERICO WITH A SHARPSHOOTER ON MATT! The Bucks escape…SUPERKICK FLURRY ON STEEN! SUPERKICK FLURRY ON GENERICO! HE WON’T GO DOWN! The crowd are going nuts…but at last he does crumple – and still gets a shoulder up at 2! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA FROM NICK TO STEEN! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! GENERICO KICKS OUT! YES! SUPERKICK ON THE REFEREE! El Generico is motionless…and Steen COMES TO HIS AID! He stands between the Bucks and his partner! CRADLEBREAKER! YAKUZA KICK! TURNBUCKLE BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! But there’s referee to count the fall! Rick Knox (PWG’s popular senior ref) appears and gets to 2 before Matt pulls him out of the ring. THE REF SUPERKICKS MATT! Steen pulls Generico up and cheers him on. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! MATT ROLLS UP GENERICO! THE BUCKS WIN! It’s over at 16:35!

Rating - ****1/2 - I may be at risk of being criticised for over-rating this, but I really thought this match was a work of art. It was so perfectly booked I can’t even begin to describe. The journey these four guys took the crowd on was brilliant, and by the end they were genuinely getting some of the most nuclear heat I’ve ever seen. The PWG crowd is always pretty crazy…but even for them this was wild. In the first round Steen and Generico hated each other. But the Package Piledriver/Brainbuster combo they nailed to win the semi-final indicated that they’d somehow gotten on the same page. Meaning that, by the time we got to the final we got vintage Steen-erico. From minute one this was a complete war. The Bucks played the dastardly heels – first by attacking their opponents with the belts, then by picking Generico for the face in peril sequence. But the last five minutes were the pay-off and holy hell was it rewarding. The superkick sequence where Generico refused to die was awesome. It was unreal when he kicked out of More Bang For Your Buck. And the place just came unglued when Steen got back into the ring and finally cemented the Steen-erico reunion by standing between the Bucks and his fallen partner to defend his honour. The stuff with Rich Knox was terrific pay-off to that angle too. Honestly, if they’d have produced a more plausible finish (absorbing a Package Piledriver then pinning someone else??) I could even have gone higher on this rating. It wasn’t the best-wrestled tag match ever. In truth it was a basic spotfest and nothing more than autopilot for these teams. But pro-wrestling is all about emotion. You can be the best wrestler in the world, but if fans aren’t interested in seeing you then it means jack. Nobody wanted to see the Bucks as champions and DDT4 winners again. Almost everybody wanted to see Generico and Steen back together, and literally everybody wanted Generico to win his last PWG match. You can’t write for or script a moment like this match. That’s the beauty of pro-wrestling. It’s a business. But it’s also a form of performance art which can take a group of people on the kind of sporting emotional rollercoaster which no other ‘real’ sport can.

The crowd plead for Generico not to go, and for Steen to accept his offer of a handshake to finally end their feud. Steen teases leaving…then comes back to embrace Generico in what is genuinely a really emotional moment. It gets a standing ovation and draws a ton of streamers from the Reseda audience. The locker room empties (even Adam Cole), and the Briscoes hoist the man of the hour onto their shoulders for a lap of honour. The sheer happiness in the faces of some of the most respected guys on the whole indie circuit (Strong, Edwards, the Briscoes, Excalibur etc) shows you just how popular Generico is – behind the curtain as well as with the fans. Sadly PWG’s sound system is so bad it’s incredibly hard to make out Generico’s speech. He maintains character to the last – saying he’s going back to Mexico to look after orphans (literally, he starts naming orphans). He also calls PWG the best time of his life, and says he’ll come back ‘if [his] plane crashes’.

‘I would be nothing without you’ – Steen to Generico

Tape Rating - **** - Not quite as good as Mystery Vortex, but this was still a hell of a show. People raved about PWG’s 2012 – calling basically every show a ‘must-see’. The promotion is to be commended for continuing it’s momentum into 2013 in spectacular fashion. Not everything was perfect – for instance, I really didn’t care for Mack/B-Boy and the finish to Younger/Callihan absolutely infuriated me. But, the show is DDT4 – and the tournament absolutely blew me away. The quality of the field was extraordinary, and they really did live up to all expectations. The journey of Kevin Steen and El Generico came full circle, coming to an emotional and spectacular conclusion in the finals of the tournament. But there were so many great moments to go along with that. Player Uno’s incredible courage in fighting with a f*cked up shoulder. The unbelievable aerial assault we saw from the Inner City Machine Guns in the opening round. The technical wrestling clinic between the Dojo Bros and Future Shock. And, as much as their win was criticised in some quarters, the unbelievable skill, consistency and quality of the Young Bucks throughout the evening really impressed me. Seeing these guys enjoying themselves in their home promotion to start 2013 is wonderful given how badly they were treated by Ring Of Honor in 2012. This is another highly recommended show. I’ve enjoyed these last two PWG shows so much I went back and purchased Threemendous 3, plus Steen Wolf and Fear from the previous year. Look out for those reviews (plus I will eventually get round to Volumes 2 and 3 of the PWG Sells Out series) at some point

Top 3 Matches
3) Unbreakable F’n Machines vs Young Bucks (****)
2) Future Shock vs Dojo Bros (****)
1) Young Bucks vs Kevin Steen/El Generico (****1/2)
 

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