Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla – Mystery Vortex – 1st December 2012

Whenever I’ve completed a year of Ring Of Honor reviews, I always try to take a little break and add a couple more reviews to my ‘Miscellaneous Reviews’ section. I always start with big ambitions and a big pile of DVD’s or tapes I want to review…and normally barely make a dent in them. It was my intention to catch up on a bunch of DGUSA shows, plus PWG Sells Out volumes 2 and 3. It was important to me that I got more PWG on my site as it’s an incredibly popular promotion and I’m always getting emails asking me to check out their stuff. The problem with the ‘Sells Out’ sets is that they are a massive commitment to review. Fantastic value for money, but a real project to review properly, and as I’m now less than 3 months from my wedding and have a whole bunch of things eating into my spare time, I just can’t commit to that right now. But when the 2013 DDT4 tournament was confirmed as Generico’s last PWG show, I knew I wanted to get that DVD – and since I was online and read a few strong reviews of this event I thought I’d chuck this show into my shopping cart too and take the opportunity to check out a couple of PWG’s most recent shows.

In a unique twist (even for PWG), they’d only announced one match on the entire show in advance. Everything else on the show was to be a surprise (hence the title of the show). The talent PWG have at their disposal is so deep it’s ridiculous though, so the crowd are always guaranteed a great night. PWG’s great SoCal talents like Willie Mack, the Young Bucks, Brian Cage and so on are joined by ROH guys like Eddie Edwards, Roderick Strong and Adam Cole, Gabe-promotion guys like Sami Callihan and Rich Swann plus more. This show also serves as Joey Ryan’s last PWG show. He’s been a top star here for as long as you can remember, but is now being forced to go thanks to TNA no longer allowing it’s talent to work here. We’re in Reseda, CA. Commentary, bizarre as always, will come from Excalibur and a host of guests throughout the evening.

Young Bucks vs Roderick Strong/Eddie Edwards
ROH might have treated them like sh*t, and they might have been horribly under-utilised in TNA – but one place the Bucks have always been booked like rock stars is PWG. They open proceedings this evening against the ROH pair of Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong (or the ‘Dojo Bros’ as they, along with Adam Cole, are sometimes known).

There is controversy early as Matt Jackson throws his shirt at Roddy, who catches it, smears it against his scrotum then throws it back – much to the fury of the Bucks. All four guys seem hugely popular. The Bucks initially get a lot of chants, but when Eddie tags in the crowd go nuts again. On commentary Kevin Steen rates the hardest hitting choppers he’s ever faced – with Eddie and Roddy both behind Go Shiozaki apparently. As if to prove him wrong the Dojo Bros (or Team Chop) pin Matt in their corner and absolutely massacre him with chops. The Bucks get their own back on Roddy with double team toeholds complete with lots of posing. In fact, they get so into their muscle poses that they don’t see Roderick and Eddie crouched behind them ready to unload more chops. TREE OF WOE BACKBREAKER by Roddy, into the sliding baseball dropkick from Edwards on the floor. That’s Nick out of commission for a while and it leaves Matt to trade shots with Edwards in the ring. MAFIA KICK out of nowhere from Nick to make the save! Matt teases a dive but opts for some second rope air guitar instead! The Jacksons try to isolate Edwards, using a combination of their signature fluid tag team combo work alongside some real cheap tactics like Nick raking the back, or grinding his face along the ropes. BACK FLIP BACK RAKE NAILED! The crowd go nuts for that, but it only gets 2. Nick MISSES the slingshot faceplant spot he always hits, and eats a superkick from Eddie as punishment. Hot tag to Strong who SUPLEXES one Jackson on top of the other! Cradle backbreaker gets 2 after an unholy flurry of strikes and kicks in the corner from both Dojo Bros. Matt Jackson is actually standing on the floor watching rather than help his brother, such is the brutality here! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY NICK! SLINGSHOT DDT ON THE APRON BY MATT! ‘This is f*cking amazing’ – Steen. Since he has to main event he is openly routing for them to finish now or botch! SUPERKICK DUEL FROM ALL FOUR! SCHOOLBOY PIN DUEL! STEREO SUPERKICKS BY THE BUCKS! More Bang For Your Buck COUNTERED TO DEATH BY RODERICK! Stronghold on Matt…and when Nick gets past Eddie with the slingshot faceplant Roddy puts him in the submission hold instead. All four guys look exhausted by this point. Enzi/Buckle Bomb combo from the Bucks….but Eddie saves Roddy from the double Tombstone and mows down Nick with an ELBOW SUICIDA! DOUBLE STOMP DOMINATOR ON MATT! Dojo Bros win at 14:53

Rating - **** - I guess this is why so many people rave about PWG. No real storylines to speak of here, just four of the best independent workers around tearing the house down. The crowd loved watching it and the wrestlers looked like they were having a great time in the ring. A frenetic and utterly brilliant way to start the show.

Sami Callihan vs Drake Younger
Apparently this is the first in a Best Of 3 Series to determine a #1 contender for the PWG Title (which is being contested tonight in the only announced match of the show when Steen defends against Adam Cole). Sami is a real player on the indies now, with fans raving about his work in promotions like PWG, DGUSA and Evolve. Drake is a CZW vet who, to his credit, always works hard and is always trying to work more places. I’ve never been that impressed with his work, but he’s been getting some strong write-ups for some of his more recent stuff.

These guys don’t take long to get going, with Sami knocking Younger into the corner and running through him with repeated bootscrapes. Drake somehow absorbs those and pops up for a belly to belly into the turnbuckles. This is all in the first thirty seconds by the way! Callihan boots Younger off the apron…and he inexplicably SOMERSAULT BUMPS onto the exposed wooden floor! Callihan tries to climb up the buckles…so Younger DROPKICKS HIM TO THE FLOOR! TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY DRAKE! CACTUS ELBOW WITH A CHAIR! He piles up some chairs on the floor, only for Sami to grab him and dump him on top of them with an exploder suplex. They fight back to the apron, where Younger splits his own head open headbutting Sami. PILEDRIVER ON THE APRON! In the ring he gets a 1-count with a bulldog, which the crowd (having just seen a piledriver on the apron) barely respond to. Callihan tries to hit some of his signature stiff chops only for Younger to wisely take him to the canvas and negate those with a MutaLock. He peppers Callihan with more frightening headbutts in the corner until Sami escapes and delivers a superkick to the leg. They get back to their feet and HAMMER each other with stiff strikes. Inverted Figure 4 Leglock by Sami as we approach 10 minutes of unrelenting brutality. When Drake escapes that Callihan does his best to snap his arm off with a vicious shoulderbreaker instead. Rolling Germans nailed, with Excalibur and Steen cracking multiple jokes about Kurt Angle being angry and drunk. Younger absorbs about six Germans, then shakes them off to hit a HALF NELSON SUPLEX! NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB…gets 2! STALLING BACK DROP DRIVER BY SAMI! But he is so exhausted he can’t follow up right away and Drake manages to crawl to the apron. Finally Callihan chases him…BACK DROP DRIVER ON THE APRON! Stretch Muffler COUNTERED to a cross armbreaker! Callihan counters that to a DEAD LIFT sit-out powerbomb. STRETCH MUFFLER! Younger gets to the ropes but is badly limping now. COP KILLA BY YOUNGER! FOR 2! COP KILLA BY SAMI…DRAKE KICKS OUT! Sami takes his head off with a flurry of lariats, which only piss Younger off more and he kicks out at 1! STRETCH MUFFLER AGAIN! Drake taps at 17:07

Rating - **** - This match was stupid, badly thought out, business-exposingly crazy, completely inappropriate for it’s spot on the card…but you know what? I absolutely loved it! If you’re a purist then I’d recommend you skip over this match as it’ll only piss you off. When I started writing reviews over a decade ago it was really important to me that I always remained a FAN first and a critic second. It’s something I’m fiercely proud and protective of and…yeah, as a fan this entertained the sh*t out of me. I’m not going to pretend it was big or clever. But nearly 20 minutes of two hard workers stiffing the crap out of each other, dropping each other on their heads for increasingly ridiculous false finishes was undeniably compulsive viewing. If I was the Smash Bros. or the RockNES Monsters (they’re on next) I’d be a bit annoyed, but since I’m not I had a blast.

Adam Cole interrupts Sami’s celebrations, posing with Steen’s PWG Title belt and drawing nuclear heat from the crowd with his heel act. That prompts Kevin Steen to leave the commentary table. He is surprisingly restrained…but announces that their title match later is now a Guerrilla Warfare Match. The pop for that is unreal, and Cole sells it like Triple H just saw Cactus Jack which only adds to it.

Super Smash Bros. vs RockNES Monsters – PWG Tag Title Match
As I said after Callihan/Younger, I really don’t envy these guys having to go out there now. But they do have the added drama of this being a title match, as the Smash Bros. defend their belts against Yuma and Goodtime. I’m looking forward to this as the SSB’s have been getting rave reviews for their work in PWG, and I was annoyed when ROH stopped booking them during the HDNet era. I look forward to seeing how they’ve progressed since then. Player Dos uses his Stupefied ringname in PWG it seems.

The Monsters try to sneak attack the champions…who are prepared and chase them around the ring with weapons, leading to a cartoonish collision between Goodtime and Yuma. Standing moonsault/fist drop combo on Yuma gets 2. Goodtime amusingly pulls the ropes up causing Stupefied to fall out of the ring, then dives after him with a SLINGSHOT SPLASH TO THE FLOOR! Bronco Buster by Yuma next, followed by a Boston crab in the ropes. Double backbreaker combo from Goodtime for another nearfall, although the fans appear to be reacting more to his beard than his wrestling. Stupefied makes a crucial tag to Uno and together the SSB’s hit a sidewalk slam/springboard elbow combo. Yuma distracts Uno by pulling his shorts down…allowing Goodtime to level him with a bicycle kick. ELECTRIC CHAIR CRADLEBREAKER BY UNO! SPEAR ON GOODTIME! YUMA SOMERSAULTS OFF DOS’ BACK TO THE FLOOR! Stupefied then catches Yuma as he jumps back in to hit a swinging facebuster! Rebound enzi/Russian legsweep combo gets 2 for the Smash Bros. ASSISTED REVERSE RANA BY THE MONSTERS! Player Uno barely kicks out there. Dos and Goodtime fall out of the ring, as inside Uno drags Yuma to the top rope. YUMA SUNSET FLIP BOMBS STUPEFIED ONTO HIS OWN PARTNER! Goodtime gets 2 with a frog splash! Somehow Stupefied gets up to hit a back flip kick on both opponents. CANNONBALL SENTON/450 SPLASH COMBO! YUMA KICKS OUT! On the apron Goodtime is literally chopping chunks of his own beard off…to THROW THEM IN STUPEFIED’S FACE! He’s so shocked Yuma nearly pounces to steal the titles right there! Uno saves with the Falcon Punch. FATALITY! SSB’s retain at 14:24

Rating - **** - What a cracking little show this is. The opening match and Sami/Drake were extremely spot heavy, so this was a welcome change of pace, without being any less exciting or entertaining. The comedy heel tactics of the RockNES Monsters were the perfect foil to the explosive offensive flurries of the champions. They meshed well to produce a match that never felt like it slowed down, never stopped surprising you and certainly didn’t stop making you smile, or jump out of your seat in amazement at what they were doing.

Joey Ryan vs Scorpio Sky
This is Ryan’s last PWG match, as TNA has now stopped all it’s talent from working PWG shows. He’s been a huge part of this promotion having been one of the SoCal group of workers who helped to open it up, and would go on to become both a Tag Team and Heavyweight Champion here. His opponent is a former tag partner of his, and ironically the man who also faced Scott Lost and Chris Bosh in their last PWG matches too.

The fans busy themselves chanting ‘Harold’ at Sky, referencing his appearances in Kane and Bryan Danielson’s anger management classes. He and Joey hug it out as the bell rings, with Excalibur totally impartially describing the situation between Ryan, PWG and TNA (‘they’re a bunch of dicks’ – Excalibur on TNA). Scorpio hits an early headscissors, then pops the crowd big as he hits the Chris Bosh cock punch for 2. The ‘Harold’ chants start pissing Sky off, so he takes it out on Ryan by biting his head. Joey finally retaliates with a pumphandle suplex, then pursues Scorpio out of the ring with a tope suicida! Superkick nailed for 2. He tries to go to the top rope only for Sky to catch him with a RUNNING super rana! Joey ducks a bicycle knee strike and hits a powerbomb. Bicycle Knee nailed second time of asking to leave both men down! Scorpio is up first and punts Ryan into the crowd with a brutal kick. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA NAILED! Both men are four or five rows deep in the crowd! As if that wasn’t enough, just as Sky tries to get back into the ring Joey grabs him for a MOUSTACHE RIDE OFF THE APRON AND THROUGH EVERY FRONT ROW CHAIR! Somehow Scorpio didn’t die on that, and when they finally crawl back into the ring it’s him that strikes first – dropping Joey with a TKO for 2. Joey gets right back up and gets his own nearfall with a superkick! Scorpio hits a reverse rana, then a JUMPING TKO to win at 11:48

Rating - *** - As a match this was possibly a step down, but that’s not really what this was all about. The crowd wanted to say their goodbyes to Joey, and that’s exactly what they got to do. Scorpio Sky hit his stuff crisply and athletically as he always does but, as is so often the case with farewell matches, the occasion was way more memorable than the actual contest. This was fine for what it was.

Such is the love this crowd has for Joey, he starts his farewell speech by telling them to go f*ck themselves, to which they reply with a ‘F*ck Ourselves’ chant. He gives an emotional speech about his history in PWG, then high fives as many fans as possible on the way out.

Brian Cage vs B-Boy vs Willie Mack vs TJ Perkins
Not much to say about this, other than it’s chucking four of the SoCal guys in the ring together, presumably to toss spots and head drops around like crazy to get more pops from this crazy Reseda live crowd. Mack is one of PWG’s top prospects and gets a lot of favourable write-ups. TJP, having been dropped by ROH and DGUSA/Evolve seems to be floating somewhat aimlessly around the indies at the moment. Presumably he’s chasing international bookings or a WWE/TNA deal, and therefore needs big performances to prove he deserves those. Cage is an absolute beast, but he can really move. He is surely on borrowed time before getting picked up for a developmental deal as he’s gotten so good, so quickly. B-Boy has been around for years. There was a time when he was a real hot commodity on the indies, but it has to be said his star has been on the wane for a while now.

Mack dropkicks Cage in the back of the head before the bell rings…leaving TJ and B-Boy in the ring to lug the sh*t out of each other. Cage and Mack literally move the ring as they thunder into the ringpost together. Brian comes back in, tries a submission move on B-Boy…but Mack is right there to boot him again. Clearly these two don’t like each other! Perkins somehow manages to trap Willie and B-Boy into a DOUBLE submission…then SUPLEXES CAGE whilst still holding the deathlock on Mack! POWERBOMB BACKBREAKER from Cage to B-Boy! Perkins again brings the submission, putting a Figure 4 on Cage then CATCHING B-Boy into a small package for 2. Stereo camel clutches by Willie and B-Boy on their opponents! Those two then stand in the middle of the ring and trade forearms until they collapse. SLINGSHOT BASEMENT DROPKICK from Mack to Cage, but before Willie can even celebrate he’s stumbling into an Ace Crusher from B-Boy to leave everyone down. TJP dives into a tope suicida…then sprints across the ring to dive the other side with a springboard dropkick! POWERSLAM ON THE APRON from B-Boy to Perkins! Cage hits the DEAD-LIFT superplex on him…SOMERSAULT PLANCHA AT WILLIE MACK IN THE CROWD! Perkins tries a blockbuster only for CAGE TO CATCH HIM BY THE NECK! DOUBLE SUPLEX FROM CAGE TO BOTH B-BOY AND TJP! Everyone wearily gets back to their feet…with Cage throwing TJ in Mack’s direction for a POP-UP SAMOAN DROP! Mack gets 2 with a standing moonsault. He’s so powerful he actually throws Brian Cage through the air with an exploder suplex. TJ unloads on B-Boy with rapid fire strikes…then walks into a jumping enzi from Willie. SHINING WIZARD nailed by B-Boy! He catches Perkins with a mid-air Ace Crusher then collapses to leave everyone down. There’s a unique atmosphere as all four guys have portions of the crowd routing them on now. The Mack fans LOVE him nailing B-Boy with a reverse heel kick, but are silenced moments later as Boy no sells it to drop him with a flying DDT. TJP puts Cage in an STF…but is helpless to prevent Mack hitting the CHOCOLATE THUNDER DRIVER on B-Boy to win at 13:07

Rating - **** - Once again this was absolute carnage from bell to bell. I think I’d realistically clock this at ***1/2, but the cumulative goodwill of it taking place on such a kickass show in front of the ravenous PWG crowd means I’ve bumped my rating up a little. B-Boy looked a little out of place and slow, but the other three guys tore the roof off the place. TJP in particular really surprised me with an awesome little showing. The way he used whacky submissions and counters believably and so entertainingly despite being surrounded by three bigger guys was really cool. I’m not his biggest fan but I thought he was the under-rated star of this match. It’s easy to be wowed by the surprising agility of big guys like Mack and Cage. They are superb talents, and both will have big futures (be it through WWE, TNA, ROH, Japanese bookings or whatever)…but yeah, I thought Perkins brilliant here.

El Generico vs Rich Swann
The only real beneficiaries from the ridiculous ‘indy company contracts’ dished out by ROH and DGUSA/Evolve have been PWG. They have good relationships with both parties, are able to book talents from both promotions and as such have become the company Ring Of Honor originally wanted to be – the melting pot for all the very best independent talents out there to come and perform. Here DGUSA’s Rich Swann collides with Generico, who has appeared for basically every promotion going in 2012 after scaling back on his ROH commitments.

Generico is the veteran here, and in a twist on his usual strategy, he looks to slow it down and trade wrestling holds rather than let Swann build up any momentum. He dominates Rich there, but makes a mistake in getting engaged in a rope run with him…and is promptly punished as Swann somersaults through the air and floors him with a dropkick. He tries mounted punches in the corner, and is duly countered into the mounted Hispanic punches from Generico. Swann doesn’t like that one bit and counters back before flooring the Generic Luchador with a big elbow for 2. Generico takes it to the mat again, working chinlocks and submission holds clearly designed to ground and slow down his explosive younger opponent. Even when Rich manages to escape Generico simply grabs him and hurls him sternum-first into the turnbuckles. Swann tries a flying headscissors, but Generico simply puts on the brakes and turns it into a pinfall attempt for 2. At last Swann catches him out of nowhere with a jumping enzi…SUPER RANA! RUNNING CORKSCREW MOONSAULT INTO THE FRONT ROW! STAND ON THE BACK ROCKER DROPPER! Rolling Thunder Frog Splash gets 2! Generico tries to catch him again…so Swann ROLLS UP Generico’s body into a DDT for 2! The two trade chops…until Generico drops Swann on his neck with a Michinoku Driver! Yakuza Kick COUNTERED with a corkscrew enzi! YAKUZA KICK ANYWAY! BLUE THUNDER DRIVER COUNTERED WITH A HEADSCISSORS! SNAP RANA…GETS 2! Handspring from Swann CAUGHT with a Blue Thunder Driver for 2! Yakuza Kick ducked…BACK FLIP CUTTER FROM SWANN! FROG SPLASH GETS KNEES! YAKUZA KICK! Swann is toast by this point, and is dead weight for Generico to lift into the ORANGE CRUSH! He wins at 14:52

Rating - **** - This was MOTN thus far for me. Great spots and counters of course, but the added depth brought to the match by Generico, who wrestled like a total ring general in there, made this a potential showstealer for me. This wasn’t Drake Younger and Sami Callihan throwing spots around like suicidal goofs. This wasn’t comedy heel fun by the RockNES Monsters. There weren’t four guys hitting spots then rolling away to recover. This was a fantastic straight-up, traditional pro-wrestling match. I loved the unique dynamic, with Generico (who is usually the smaller, faster guy) having to change his game, slow the pace and work the mat with Swann who was younger, smaller and quicker. After taking minutes of abuse, the place went nuts when he finally hit that explosive high spot into the crowd, and from there it was an absolute rollercoaster to the finish. I’m reviewing DGUSA shows from 2010 and early 2011 at the moment – and the improvement in Rich Swann’s work since then in this match was notable. The guy is crazily talented – one of my favourite workers on the indies today.

Super Smash Bros. vs Roderick Strong/Eddie Edwards
I’m not really sure why these two teams are pulling double duty, but I’m certainly not complaining. The PWG Tag Titles aren’t on the line, but I presume a win for the Dojo Bros would definitely put them at the front of the queue for a title shot at a later date?

Strong and Edwards are in no mood for SSB’s silly games. They DECIMATE them during their usual pre-match posturing and with that we’re underway. Stupefied eats combination strikes in the corner, then the urinage backbreaker from Strong. Uno saves his partner with a running headscissors, then drops Edwards with the referee-assisted neckbreaker. Backpack Stunner from Eddie to Uno gets 2. DEATH BY RINGPOST on Player Dos! The Dojo Bros steal Uno’s shirt, then sit him in a front row chair to take turns unloading ferocious chops on him. Having taken his shirt Eddie becomes a real dick and starts going after the mask too. Stupefied is helpless on the apron as the ROH pairing brutally beatdown his partner. Somehow Uno lands a flatliner on Roddy and makes the hot tag to Stupefied…who launches himself into a somersault plancha at Eddie in the crowd. Quebrada to inverted DDT on Strong. ANOTHER SOMERSAULT PLANCHA ON EDDIE! METEORA ON STRONG FOR 2! Dragon Suplex gets another nearfall on Roderick. Eddie, pissed off at eating those planchas moments earlier, rolls into the ring and pummels Stupefied. DOUBLE assisted shiranui by the Smash Bros! Boston Knee Party on Uno! DOUBLE FACE CHOP to counter Uno’s Falcon Punch! FALCON PUNCH/SUPERKICK DUEL! TIGER SUPLEX BY EDDIE! FROG SPLASH BY STUPEFIED! DEATH BY RODERICK! LARIATOOOOO! UNO SAVES! Stupefied hits the double backflip kick. ALABAMALUNGBLOWER! UNO WITH A MOONSAULT! EDDIE KICKS OUT! FATALITY! STRONG SAVES! EDDIE JUMPS OVER RODDY TO HOT A DIVING DOUBLE STOMP ON THE APRON! APRON BACKBREAKER FROM STRONG TO DOS! ANOTHER FLYING DOUBLE STOMP BY EDDIE! ORANGE CRUSH BACKBREAKER! ANOTHER DOUBLE STOMP! EDDIE WINS! It's over at 12:16

Rating - **** - Despite both teams having already wrestled tonight, this was the best tag match on the show. The spotty madness at the end was awesome. The Dojo Bros heeling up and being total assholes to Uno in the heat segment was also so much fun to watch…and how Player Dos/Stupefied was hitting such wild and frenetic dives 10 minutes into his second match of the night is anyone’s guess. It’s not like either one of these teams were holding anything back in their first matches, so the quality of this is really testament to the sheer workrate of all four involved.

SIDENOTE – We still have the main event – a Guerrilla Warfare Match for the PWG Title left, and this show has been phenomenal. What’s particularly nuts is that PWG aficionados don’t even rate this as the best show the promotion has produced all year. I’ve read that Threemendous III and lots of BOLA 2013 were both better. Crazy! Might need to pick those up!


Kevin Steen vs Adam Cole – PWG World Title Guerrilla Warfare Match
Guerrilla Warfare is PWG’s signature grudge match and is treated with the same reverence as a Fight Without Honor for ROH, a Cage Of Death in CZW, a Hell In A Cell in WWE etc. Steen spent 2012 on top of the independent wrestling world as World Champion in both PWG and ROH. Adam Cole earned this opportunity by winning the 2012 BOLA tournament, and then proceeded to steal Mr Wrestling’s belt, hence he comes out with it rather than Steen. Steen will be looking to punish the uber-cocky youngster…whilst Cole will be looking to cap a career break-out year for him with a title win here.

Steen comes straight to the ring and snatches his belt back from Cole after the challenger tries to waffle him with it. Hanging DDT out of the ropes scores and forces Adam to roll to the floor in pain. That doesn’t stop Steen who leads Cole around ringside, giving the intimate audience a close view of the beating he inflicts on him. Adam is repeatedly crotched against the ringpost – particularly significant since he’s so fond of shouting ‘suck my dick’. That’s followed by REPEATED APRON BOMBS and it leaves poor Cole flat on the floor looking like a broken man. We’re at five minutes in and it’s hard to see how Adam can win it from here. He’s so beaten up that Steen has all the time in the world to pull out a whole heap of steel chairs and a trash can ready to beat Cole up with. He tries to give him a suplex through an open chair…only for a desperate Cole to hit a TRASH CAN LID SHINING WIZARD! He drags a ladder from under the ring, clearly realising he needs to do something drastic if he is to defeat the dominant and destructive champion tonight. It backfires though, as Steen hoists him up and THROWS HIM straight through the ladder! He then SOMERSAULT LEG DROPS the ladder into Cole’s face! RUNNING SENTON THROUGH THE LADDER! Cole is once again reduced to desperately crawling out of the ring to escape, finally grabbing the garbage can lid for a second time and using it to blast Steen back. He brings a second ladder into the ring but again takes way too long and is POWERBOMBED THROUGH A TRASH CAN! He then brutally throws one of the ladders into Cole’s spine, causing him to scream in pain. Out of nowhere Adam hits the cradlebreaker. DVD THROUGH BOTH LADDERS! Steen kicks out! CODEBREAKER WITH A LADDER! F-5 ON THE LADDER! COLE KICKS OUT! He is still in the match, but Cole is barely moving now and Steen senses that the end is nigh. With the challenger motionless, the champion sets about stacking up some chairs. Just like Cole earlier though, he takes way too long and allows Adam to recover enough to nail him with the title belt. PANAMA SUNRISE…GETS 2! Adam starts bringing more chairs in, piling them up on top of Steen’s stack to make a CHAIR PYRAMID! He takes Steen to the top rope in front of them, but gets nut-shotted as he climbs up after him. Steen grabs Cole…AVALANCHE FISHERMAN BUSTER THROUGH ALL THE F*CKING CHAIRS! DANGEROUS! COLE KICKS OUT! The whole crowd are on their feet and in total shock! Steen has had enough, and stomps off to the commentary table where earlier in the evening he’d left a pitcher full of thumbtacks. STEEN DRINKS TACKS! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? COLE WITH A HEAD DROP GERMAN INTO THE TACKS! FLORIDA KEY! COLE WINS! COLE WINS! New PWG Champion at 20:54!

Rating - **** - Psychotic main event to end a total beast of a show. I don’t think this was the MOTYC some people touted this as (in fact, I don’t think it was as good as the Steen/Generico match from ROH Final Battle later that month)…but man alive how brutal was this? Kevin Steen is a machine. He is so good in matches like this it is genuinely scary. He’s a great wrestler, a brilliant tag team wrestler, a skilled technician…but when you put him in these big, hardcore stunt show matches he just blows you away with his performances, his innovation and his incredible willingness to sacrifice his own body for our entertainment. I wanted to get that down first: this was a GREAT match, and both guys deserve a ton of credit for it. The reason I’m not calling it an MOTY is that, if I’m being ultra-critical, I felt that they let the stunts and bumps define the match – rather than the story they were telling. During the Steen vs Generico Ladder War in ROH there was a clear story. Steen wanted to KILL Generico for what he did at Final Battle 2010. Generico wanted to survive, and wanted to win the World Title. Here the water wasn’t as clear. Cole was supposed to be the heel, and I get that he’s a douchy heel that we want to see beaten up by the anti-hero superstar that Steen is. But to me, they didn’t do enough in the match to establish Cole as a villain. In fact, they didn’t do much to establish him as anything other than a punching bag. That was fine. The crowd loved it in fact. But, with Cole booked to win the match, to me it makes Steen look weak if he murders Cole for 20 minutes, only for Adam to hop up and win in two moves. Like I said, it was MOTN, and a terrific moment to see Cole win a major singles championship. BUT, as good as it was, I think it could have been better in terms of protecting Steen and putting Cole over. That’s where it doesn’t reach the vaunted MOTYC status. But that’s absolutely NOT me crapping on this match. I loved it. But as a writer, it’s my job to justify why I rate one match over another. I know I’ll get heat for liking Steen/Generico at FB2012 more than this, so I thought I’d explain my reasons. Incidentally, how insane is Steen to work this match and Ladder War 4 in the same month? I really hope he eases up and doesn’t have anything too nutty booked for January!

Tape Rating - ****1/2 - This was the best show I’ve seen from any promotion in 2012. The fact that PWG fans don’t rate this as the promotion’s best show this year astounds me and makes me think that I need to see Threemendous III. I’m sometimes a little dismissive of PWG. Not because I don’t love the product…but I think some of the praise they get is a little excessive, and the way PWG is used to bash ROH sometimes annoys me. There is a world of difference between booking dream matches with the cream of the independent crop once a month versus running a weekly TV show with bi-monthly ppv’s and a house show circuit. I’m not bashing PWG, I’m just pointing out that it is a vastly different product to what Ring Of Honor is trying to achieve. That said, where I think they absolutely decimate every other promotion out there is the real vehement passion their product shows. The wrestlers work so hard. From first match to last, every worker is taking crazy bumps, diving into the crowd, swinging chairs and basically killing themselves to entertain people. In return, the live audience reward them with a raucous and incredibly frenzied atmosphere that is unlike any other show out there. You can see great wrestling matches in every promotion. PWG aren’t that different in that regard. But it’s that dynamism of the in-ring talent and ravenous hunger for the product from the live crowd that separates them from the pack. Honestly this was a terrific show. I don’t think anything reached MOTYC, but for consistent quality it was unrivalled amongst anything I’ve seen in 2012. From great tag wrestling, to comedy, to spotfests, to a brilliant little technical bout between Generico and Swann, to hardcore wars to…however you want to describe Callihan/Younger – there was something for everyone. I enjoyed this DVD immensely and it represented a stunning way for PWG to end 2012. I’ve got DDT4 2013, their first show of next year too, which I’m already looking forward to checking out

Top 3 Matches
3) El Generico vs Rich Swann (****)
2) Roderick Strong/Eddie Edwards vs Super Smash Bros. (****)
1) Kevin Steen vs Adam Cole (****) 

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