PWG Sells Out – The Best Of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Volume 1


These PWG Best Of compilations are UNBELIEVABLY good value. I think they’re around $20 at point of release (although you can probably pick them up cheaper now) and for that you’re getting 3 DVD’s (with the kind of production values you just don’t get with most independent promotion’s DVD releases) and over 9 hours of PWG’s best matches. As someone that tends to keep up with what they’re doing storyline-wise online, but never really gets enough time or money to spend investing in their releases and watching their product, this is an awesome way of checking out what SoCal’s premier indie wrestling company has to offer. Basically PWG netted themselves a nationwide distribution deal with this release, putting some of the biggest highlights of their back catalogue in stores across America (and indeed across the world as single disk incarnations of this package were subsequently released in numerous other countries). There’s no match listing on the back cover, instead a list of the stars that have passed through PWG that casual wrestling viewers in a Walmart or whatever could pick up and immediately recognise from WWE or TNA (i.e. CM Punk, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, James Gibson etc). In my opinion it’s a MASSIVE gamble, in that you’re basically giving up selling your old DVD’s (as you’re releasing their money matches in one big ass $20 set) to try and attract new fans. But, for wrestling fans, it’s a fantastic package and, even if I never intended to watch it, I can recognise what a huge gamble and ballsy move this is for PWG…and was always going to pick up this DVD set. So yeah, lets journey through PWG’s vault of old material here, joining those recognisable names above, along with other big names on the independent scene like Bryan Danielson, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Super Dragon and more.


Each of the three DVD’s actually has a loose theme – although to be honest, it's pretty much chronological too. Disc 1 showcases all of the “big names” in some of their best PWG matches. Disc 2 presents the very best of PWG/the indie scene’s talent showing off what they can do, whilst Disc 3 is meant to highlight international talent in PWG although it's mostly a load of Pac matches. Lets get going…


Anyone who follows the PWG product on a regular basis knows the deal with their commentary. It can be pretty silly, and has a bit of a cult following. If it annoys you you can turn it off. If you fancy a bit of a giggle (albeit a slightly distracting one) whilst you’re watching, turn it on. Sometimes they’re boring as hell, but other times you will be in stitches.


Samoe Joe vs Bryan Danielson

The Musical (April 17th 2004) – This one feels like a LONG time ago now. Samoa Joe was still ROH World Champion at this point, and it takes before their classic Ring Of Honor battle at Midnight Express Reunion (still for my money, their best match together). You’ll immediately notice that whilst the production values on this DVD package are SUPERB, PWG’s actual live event production, particularly at these older shows, is pretty average. The crowd is VERY sparse, the ring is in atrocious condition, and lighting is poor. That said, I’m sure it won’t detract from these two high quality performers putting on a good match.


These guys know how to work the mat and they show off their skills as the commentators discuss the field of puppeteers. Since the show is called The Musical they decide to stop wrestling and break into a little West Side Story dancing instead. Danielson ties Joe up in the ropes and dropkicks the arm, and celebrates that small victory with a little more dancing. Half crab from the big Samoan in response. ‘Red Lobster has all you can eat crab’ – Disco Machine. HUGE chops traded until Joe headbutts Dragon down into the corner. Japanese stranglehold from Danielson in response, applied with such intensity that it gives him the first significant advantage of the match. Joe slams his way free of a cravat and we start all over again. Dropkicks from Danielson but Samoa Joe steps aside as he lines up a tope suicida. SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT DIVE TO THE FLOOR! But Joe is so heavy Danielson really struggles to get him back into the ring to capitalise on that big move. He tries to heave him in and gets SUPLEXED OFF THE APRON! They continue to fight on the plush, carpeted floor of the theatre this event takes place in. Ole Ole Kick sends Dragon sprawling into the front row. Back in the ring the punishment continues with a big running bootscrape in the corner. Danielson is out on his feet, but keeps getting back to his feet to front up to the barrage of strikes that come his way. Joe genuinely hammers him so hard he nearly scores a TKO victory, and when Dragon does finally rally, Joe goes low and sweeps out the legs (damaged during that suplex to the floor previously) from under him.


Samoan Crab locked in once more has Danielson desperately looking for the ropes. But Danielson’s tenacity and fighting spirit frustrates Joe, causing him to make a mistake and try to go to the top rope. Dragon catches him up there in unfamiliar territory and scores with a superplex as we approach 20 minutes. Headscissors Crossface locked in – a move with the commentators explain has won Dragon matches in PWG before. Powerslam into the cross armbreaker brings it right back into Joe’s favour. He focuses on the damaged back of his opponent, but Danielson comes from nowhere with a diving European from the second rope. Judo DDT then the Benoit headbutt, leaving both men down. SLAPS EXCHANGED! Both men tumble to the floor through fatigue. Despite being physically exhausted they stalk around ringside, dropping huge strikes on each other at every turn. Dragon scores with an Ole Ole Dropkick at 25 minutes so Joe hoists him up for ANOTHER suplex onto the floor. Joe goes for a CACTUS ELBOW…AND MISSES!! I can’t remember seeing Joe ever do that before. Desperate for the win now, Danielson goes after Joe’s leg…only to run into the ST-Joe that levels things up again. More strikes…Cattle Mutilation blocked. ROARING ELBOW! Joe kicks out at 2. Less that two minutes left in the time limit now. Joe up and into a LARIATOOOOO! Joe goes for the Samoan Crab again with less than a minute to go…but Danielson is in the ropes. CHOKE! TEN SECONDS LEFT! DRAGON HOLDS ON! Time limit expires at 30:04. This is a draw…and Ricky Reyes (remember him?) comes out and puts the boots to Danielson before we can have 5 more minutes. I think this is some kind of heel turn for Reyes (who as part of the Rottweilers was feuding with Joe in ROH at this point). Danielson seems pretty annoyed by these events…calling Joe a paedophile World Champion (referencing the infamous Rob Feinstein incident)…


Rating - **** - It’s Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe wrestling for half an hour…it was always going to be good. Was it the best match they’ve ever had together? Probably not, but it was still a hell of a contest and the 30 minutes flew by. Great story of Joe working the leg and back injured with the big suplex to the floor…with Danielson playing the underdog and repeatedly coming back despite taking an absolute beating.


I think this is some kind of heel turn for Reyes (who as part of the Rottweilers was feuding with Joe in ROH at this point). Danielson seems pretty annoyed by these events…calling Joe a paedophile World Champion (referencing the infamous Rob Feinstein incident) seems cheap though.


Super Dragon vs CM Punk

The Reason For The Season (July 10th 2004) – This one pits PWG’s biggest in-house talent against probably the biggest star to have come out of the independent scene in a LONG time. As someone that’s seen a lot of Punk’s ROH work, and portions of his stuff from IWA-MS and FIP, I’m looking forward to checking out some West Coast stuff.


Both guys seem to be super cheerful during the intros, releasing streams of profanity in various directions. Punk starts off like a classic dick heel, ducking out and avoiding the strikes of Dragon wherever possible. That lasts for a couple of minutes before he acts cocky one time too often and has to absorb a volley of brutal kicks. Credit to him though, he stands tall and exchanges chops with his opponent. He grounds the contest to keep SD at bay, but when he goes for some trademark bootscrapes Dragon knows what is coming and has it scouted. It’s a clever game by CM Punk, working the arm and generally keeping the match slow-paced and on the mat to ensure Super Dragon can’t hit any of his trademark offence. Dragon at last hits a couple of double stomps for 2. Violence Party strikes in the corner then the boot scrapes for 2. He works Punk’s leg, a move which quickly yields results as Punk goes for a springboard dropkick and collapses off the ropes holding his knee. But Punk still sweeps Dragon to the mat…for a Curb Stomp! This is Dragon’s home promotion so the fans do NOT take kindly to that. Not content with one, Punk winds up and hits SD with a second Curb Stomp. The fans start to get on board with it (since it’s a cool move after all)…at which point Punk refuses to do it again and works a chinlock. What a jerk! Finally he does hit a third Curb Stomp to a motionless Dragon. Out of nowhere Super Dragon nails a spinning lariat which sends Punk crashing back into the corner. He looks to score with more chops and elbows so Punk goes to the mask. Elbow Suicida to the outside by the PWG part-owner. Back in the ring and it’s receipt time as Dragon hooks Punk up for a BRUTAL Curb Stomp. Punk tries to crawl away so Dragon does it again. And still Punk tries to escape Dragon. TURNBUCKLE CURB STOMP! Senton Bomb gets Dragon a 2 as the clock ticks past 20 minutes. Psycho Driver blocked and Punk kicks SD down to the mat for another nearfall. Pepsi Twist gets 2 as well. Now they trade 2-counts until Punk again has to take desperate measures to evade the Psycho Driver. He comes from the top rope with a leg drop. They fight in the turnbuckles before SD blocks the Pepsi Plunge and scores with a double underhook superplex. Shining Wizard from Punk. He looks for a second…PSYCHO DRIVER II! Dragon wins at 27:15.


Rating - *** - Not that this was bad, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting a tad more from this one. It was a very long match that never really seemed to accelerate through the gears. There were some cool spots and sequences, and Punk really nailed his heel role. It just struggled to shake off the big indy star “dream match” tag, and they seemed to wrestle the whole thing in exhibition mode. Good, but nothing great.


Adam Pearce vs Frankie Kazarian – PWG Title Steel Cage Match

The Reason For The Season (July 10th 2004) – I believe this main evented The Reason For The Season. Adam Pearce is defending champion. Kazarian (who I’ve always liked in TNA) is big on the SoCal scene and, I believe, was embroiled in some kind of feud with Scrap Iron at this point. Indeed, commentators are saying this is a Loser Leaves Town match too. Most of the wrestlers have taken the time to film animated graphics for the DVD menu. Pearce (along with CM Punk for obvious reasons) hasn’t, and they seem to have selected the oldest picture they could possibly find for him. He seems about 70lbs lighter and has twice as much hair.


In a profanity-laden promo (PWG loves the swearing apparently) the champion refuses to get into the cage with ‘that f*cking homosexual’ Frankie Kazarian. Eventually Frankie gets fed up and chases him around the ring to beat the piss out of him. He seems to be on a personal mission toss Adam Pearce through ever chair in the building. They fight outside into the dark night where between the lack of lights and the amount of fans pursuing the action it’s impossible to see what’s going on. Finally they brawl back through the building and Kaz manages to get his opponent into the cage. I’ve started my watch from there, although I didn’t hear an official bell. Frankie hits a superplex on the bloody champion. He tries to escape…but Colt Cabana runs in to stop him, tossing him back into the ring where Pearce is waiting with a chain. I assume those two Chicago natives are in league with each other. Babi Slymm runs Cabana out of the arena but it’s too late for Kazarian who is quickly covered in his own blood after repeated chain shots to the head. Apparently the cage is ‘rusty and urine soaked’ – PWG commentary is bizarre. Pearce powerbombs Kaz then begin to climb the cage. Frankie hauls him back…FLUX CAPACITOR! But Kazarian is so worn down he can’t capitalise. Piledriver blocked and Frankie catapults Pearce into the cage. PWG’s crappy cage nearly falls apart with that impact. Version of the Tazmission applied (Kaz-mission??), looking to choke out Pearce who is dripping blood now. Low blows from the defending champion, then the JUMPING PILEDRIVER! Kazarian kicks out at 2! Wave Of The Future gets Frankie a 2. Chair shots from the challenger, then the Wave Of The Future into the chair for another nearfall. Pearce drops Kaz on his neck with a German suplex. Flying elbow drop from the top rope gets 2. Kaz tries to springboard into a back elbow but slips off…and inexplicably Pearce sells it in one of the ugliest spots in the history of time. Jumping Piledriver by Kaz but still it’s only good for 2. Jumping Piledriver again…STILL Pearce kicks out. Kazarian gets him up for a THIRD PILEDRIVER! It’s over at 20:24. Kazarian is the new PWG Champion, Pearce is fired.


Rating - *** - Not the worst cage match ever, although that horrific botch at the end really hurt my enjoyment of it. I think my lack of knowledge of the feud and the lack of crowd heat also played a part too. I think in the context of the culmination of a year long feud this match may well have had more emotional significance. As was, it took me, as a newcomer to the PWG product, a long time to get into this one. I thought the graphic finish with Kazarian repeatedly piledriving the bloody Adam Pearce until he had nothing left was really good. I liked the way they used the cage as a weapon and didn’t go for too many contrived escape spots. In other words, it FELT like a grudge match should. Which is a good thing. My problem was I didn’t fully understand the grudge they were actually involved in!


Jack Evans vs Christopher Daniels

Free Admission (Just Kidding!) (13th November 2004) – Again, as this DVD is supposed to be showcasing PWG as a home for lots of well known pro-wrestlers, as a recognisable figure throughout TNA’s run, Daniels obviously has a lot of fans who may be interested in seeing some of his other work. Jack has a decent following in his own right and is well travelled both in the US but also through Japan and Mexico. If Chris Daniels can work a decent ground game around Evans’ usual high-flying stuff this one could be a terrific little match.


This is the same year as Generation Next got started, as evidenced by a guy in the front row wearing a t-shirt which Daniels points out. Fallen Angel goes for an early snapmare and gets frustrated as the cocky Evans lands on his feet. Despite his cockiness, Jack is largely schooled in the early minutes, until landing on his feet out of a hiptoss and nearly snatching victory with a schoolboy pin. He then makes a bald joke which even Daniels has to laugh about. The opening period is more about the two guys sharing jokes with the fans rather than actually wrestling. Jack again is kept grounded by Daniels working the arm, but out of nowhere nearly steals a win with a rolling pin. He hits a couple of dropkicks, then lands a SPRINGBOARD CORKSCREW PRESS to the floor! But Evans makes the mistake of going for one springboard move too many, trying to fly back into the ring and getting caught with a powerslam from the veteran. He follows that with a trio of body slams which obviously take their toll on Evans’ back. Stalling vertical suplex next, and at 10 minutes Jack is at a severe disadvantage. But even when he can’t get Daniels up for a suplex, he still finds a way to land on his feet and nail a springboard moonsault press for 2. ROLLING TILTA-WHIRL BACKBREAKERS BY DANIELS! F*cking immense spot which pops the crowd like mad and leaves Jack flat on the canvas again. Boston Crab applied, then a brutal surfboard to keep stretching out that spine. Evans scores with a satellite headscissors, but is now so beaten down that he hardly gets up any quicker than Daniels. TWISTING RED STAR PRESS gets 2, as does a standing somersault senton. Jack tries to counter a powerbomb by landing on his feet, only for Daniels to fly at him with a jumping enzi kick. Angel’s Wings is blocked though, and Evans manages to pitch Daniels to the floor for a SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Both guys struggle to beat the 20 count to get back into the ring. Handspring elbow from Jack, then a springboard knee strike for 2. Feeling the fatigue now, both start going for pinning combinations, then collapsing in a heap on the canvas again. Corkscrew enzi from Evans…450 PHOENIX SPLASH MISSES! Backbreaker from Daniels into the BEST MOONSAULT EVER! Daniels wins at 20:28


Rating - *** - Kudos to the veteran Chris Daniels, as he just carried Jack to one of the best singles matches of his career. It wasn’t easy (particularly after the 15 minute mark when Evans was visibly running on empty) but he held together a great story and gave Jack a platform to show off his high spots. At this stage in his career Evans was still quite green, meaning there were a few mis-steps, a couple of sloppy moments…and anytime he tried to actually wrestle with the Fallen Angel he looked a long way out of his depth. But this wasn’t a total carry job. He’s an exciting wrestler and popped the crowd well with his trademark crazy dives. I’d love to see these two work a singles match now (in 2010) – I imagine the improvement on this would be pretty spectacular.


Super Dragon vs Samoa Joe – PWG Heavyweight Title Match

All Nude Revue (12th February 2005) – I’m curious to see how this one goes down. When he’s on his game, Super Dragon is a phenomenal worker, but his match with Punk earlier on this DVD was marginally disappointing. If these two let it all hang out and work their traditional, hard-hitting, heavyweight style, this one could get tasty. Joe is challenging Dragon here.


Dragon sprints across the ring to hammer Joe with forearms. ELBOW STRIKES! You can literally hear how hard both these two are hitting. Joe halts Dragon’s charge with a legsweep then flows into the chop/kick/knee drop combo for 2. FACEWASH in the corner! Super Dragon hits back with a spinning heel kick in the corner…TOPE CON HILO! Back in the ring Joe blocks the Curb Stomp and tries to curb the aggression of the champion with a bear hug. That doesn’t work, so he descends to his level. ST-JOE…ELBOW SUICIDAAAAAA! Dragon seems to be knocked out and only just manages to get back to the ring before losing the match via count-out. Kawada kicks by Joe and Dragon is basically limp. Joe almost has to deadlift him into the powerbomb/STF combo. Dragon refuses to tap, connects with Joe’s elbow with one HUGE elbow smash, only for Joe to take him right back down again with a powerslam. TOP ROPE SPINNING HEEL KICK TO THE NECK gets 2. This time Joe looks to have been worn down enough…CURB STOMP! DOUBLE STOMP! Joe still kicks out at 2. They battle in the corner where Dragon lands a BUTTERFLY SUPERPLEX! Not enough to win it though, and the challenger comes back with a RUNNING DVD FOR 2! E HONDA SLAPS! ELBOW SMASH FROM DRAGON! Joe goes DOWN! PSYCHO DRIVAAAAAAAAAA! JOE ROLLS TO THE FLOOR! Dragon tries desperately to get him back into the ring, only to be killed with a PALM STRIKE FLURRY! Both men are woozy, but Dragon rolls in just before the ref’s count hits 20 to win via count-out at 13:50. A Super Dragon impersonator (I think it was Kevin Steen if my memory serves me right) then does a run in and beats down the champion


Rating - *** - I was going to go 4* on this simply because I love this kind of match (even though it gets widely criticised for meaningless neck drops, stiffness etc) and loved watching these two beat the sh*t out of each other. That finish was just a killer though. It left me feeling really disappointed.




AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe

All Star Weekend Night 1 (1st April 2005) – Rather weirdly, the DVD lists this match as having taken place at All Star Weekend 4 on November 18th 2006, which isn’t true at all. Having checked the record books, on that night AJ defeated Rocky Romero (I’d love to see that match) whilst Joe wasn’t even booked. Still, I own the inaugural All Star Weekend DVD’s – they’re a great couple of nights of wrestling, with this match, as I remember, being one of the better matches. I’m looking forward to seeing how it holds up. Of course, we know Joe and Styles have no shortage of classics together from ROH, TNA and elsewhere across the world. Should this one be included amongst those?


#1 Contendership to the PWG Championship is on the line. By this point it’s noticeable that PWG has invested in some lights instead of using the house lighting. Styles tries a shoulder tackle, but it physically looks like he runs into a wall as he bounces off Joe without making a dent. Switching approach quickly, he lands a jumping heel kick then a knee drop for 2. Backbreaker nailed, but Joe’s weight is such that it seems to hurt AJ’s leg as much as it does his back. Joe has Styles’ usual dropkick spot scouted, and holds the ropes to watch Styles fall on the back of his neck. Then he comes in, and THEN Styles nails that dropkick! APRON LEGSWEEP from Joe! That apparently busts AJ’s nose as it starts pouring blood. Unrelenting, Joe nails a rolling legsweep inside the ring then a vicious Boston crab WITH knee in the back of the head. Climbing knee strike in the corner…BOOTSCRAPES! Styles’ nose is going to look like Michael Jackson’s by the end of this apparently. BIG BOOT sends AJ falling to the hard wood floor in a depressing heap. He fights back in, only to be peppered with the E Honda slaps and kicked from pillar to post as Joe continues his vicious mauling. AJ looks for a roll-up, but is locked into the Choke. He rolls into the ropes before Joe can really lock it on though. He has a glazed look on his face, but Styles nails the Quebrada DDT to buy himself some breathing room. He hits a flying lariat in the corner, but goes for the same move a second time. Smartly, Joe counters this time to catch him in the ST-JOE! ELBOW SUICIDA NAILED! Styles goes for a springboard move, and SLIPS! Joe sells it as a chop block whilst AJ staggers around a little dumbfounded…which works in context of a match where he’s had seven shades of sh*t slapped out of him. His period of offence, once again, is brief…as Joe drops him with a powerslam then a senton splash for 2. DISCUS LARIAT gets AJ a 2. Joe kicks him away as he goes for the Styles Clash…LARIATOOOOOO! AJ barely kicked out that time. STF locked in on a bloody and exhausted Styles, who guts it out again to make the ropes. PELE KICK! HELICOPTER BOMB…GETS 2! AJ decides he just wants to slug it out with the Samoan. Bad move…E HONDA SLAPS BY JOE! JUMPING ENZI BY AJ! He climbs the ropes for the Spiral Tap but is caught. Muscle Buster…COUNTERED TO THE STYLES CLASH! THREE COUNT! AJ becomes the #1 Contender at 19:58


Rating - **** - Best match on this DVD thus far. I remember liking this match first time I saw it, but this time it REALLY blew me away. Had it been in front of a better crowd (not in terms of lack of appreciation, they were just painfully quiet, and this really needed a raucous, pro-AJ crowd to get over) this could have moved into MOTYC territory. I loved the approach they adopted to letting Styles work his TNA house show mode. Rather than have him play it safe on offence, they had the story of the match be Joe killing him absolutely mercilessly. Obviously that meant all he had to do was take a savage beating (the bloody nose, unfortunately for him, aided that) and pop up now and then to hit his trademark spots. These two are so good that, even with the quiet crowd, the last five minutes were MONEY. Even the botch on the ropes spot sort of played into that context. I wish Joe had no sold it though and made it look like AJ slipped through fatigue. Still, awesome match, and surely one of the outstanding matches of this entire set.


AJ Styles vs James Gibson – PWG Heavyweight Title Match

Guitarmageddon (11th June 2005) – By this point AJ, having become #1 Contender in our last match, had actually become PWG Champion (although his PWG belt is hidden under his NWA World Title belt, probably showing where AJ’s priorities really lie). Here he defends against James ‘Jamie Noble’ Gibson, in the midst of his amazing stint on the independent circuit in 2005. He tore it up in Ring Of Honor, eventually defeating CM Punk to become ROH World Champion, but during that time ROH never got round to booking this one.


AJ gets on the mic to point out that he’s NWA World Champion as well as PWG Champion, and appears to put the NWA Title on the line too (it’s hard to tell since he’s so redneck). Both are respectful and a little tentative from the bell, seemingly very aware of the threat their opponent poses. First strike goes to Styles who knocks Gibson over with a shoulder barge. Jamie immediately prevents the champion from quickening the pace by taking him over into a deep side headlock. He really clings to that basic hold, desperately trying to keep the explosive AJ off his feet. Styles finally muscles him into a swinging back suplex to break the hold…then goes to a couple of arm wrenches on an arm which Gibson had heavily taped coming into the match. Hammerlock suplex nailed for 2. Big kicks the arm next, then an armdrag into armbar, leaving AJ completely dominant at this stage. Nip up rana sends Gibson to the floor but he stops Styles as he goes for a baseball slide, then drills him chest-first into the apron. Neckbreaker from the challenger, then he puts AJ in a tree of woe to stretch his neck out against the bottom turnbuckle. That’s all set-up for his Guillotine Choke (which I mistakenly called the Trailer Hitch for the whole time he was in ROH). He takes AJ down again with a rear chinlock, and as Styles tries to hook the arms for a crucifix, Gibson counters to a GUTBUSTER for 2. Grounded headscissors applied next, continuing the theme of Gibson keeping Styles on the canvas as much as possible. Spinning heel kick from nowhere floors Jamie, but as AJ tries to follow it with an enziguri, Gibson counters with a LEG SCREW! TRAILER HITCH! (The actual one, not the Guillotine Choke). But since Gibson hasn’t worked the legs enough, Styles has the strength to counter out. SLINGSHOT QUEBRADA DDT…BLOCKED! Gibson grabbed the ropes and sent AJ down onto his neck again. But he runs straight into the PELE KICK! Both men down! Gibson grabs the ropes to block the Styles Clash. Both men to the apron. AJ WITH A BRAINBUSTER ON THE APRON! HOLY SH*T! That sounded disgusting! It isn’t enough to beat Gibson though, he kicks out at 2. SPIRAL TAP MISSES! German suplex gets Jamie a 2. Knees to the neck from Noble, but Styles toughs those out and rises to hit the obligatory AJ Styles dropkick…and both man are down again. Discus Lariat…blocked! TIGER DRIVER…COUNTERED TO A RANA! ROLLED THROUGH BY GIBSON! ROLLED INTO THE STYLES CLASH BY AJ! He retains the title at 20:22.


Rating - ****1/2 - I’ve seen some really low ratings of this match dotted around the internet, so I’m assuming my rating of this one is drastically at odds with what most people thought of this one. Personally I thought it was absolutely immense. Gibson’s run on the indies that year was just so good. He tore it up in ROH, and it’s great to see him gracing other promotions with that same phenomenal workrate and ability. This one told a tremendous story, with Gibson being afraid of Styles’ athleticism so constantly grounding him and working him like a motherf*cker. AJ tried to work an arm but never did so with the precision and ability that Gibson could, and eventually abandoned that in favour of his usual brand of explosive, hard-hitting high spots. The whole thing culminating in a finishing sequence which literally has to be seen to be believed. A great match which makes me miss Gibson (he’s basically retired now and works a comfortable Road Agent role with the WWE – well deserved as he tore his body apart working the indies that summer, and didn’t have a whole lot left in the tank afterwards), and makes me miss watching AJ Styles on a regular basis.


Weirdly on a PWG DVD, we then get commercials for Ring Of Honor sister promotions SHIMMER and FIP, as well as the Best Of CM Punk in FIP. On to Disc 2…PWG’s in house talent. It’s worth pointing out that, by this point, I’ve turned the commentary off. Honestly, it’s not as distracting as some say it is, but it’s not as entertaining as others say it is either. The main problem I have is that, with the commentary on, the sound of the crowd, the wrestlers, the striking, the canvas etc is so distant and quiet that I wasn’t connecting with matches enough. I switched it off halfway through the Super Dragon vs Samoa Joe match and haven’t turned it back on..


Scott Lost/Chris Bosh vs Quicksilver/Scorpio Sky – Masks vs PWG Tag Title No DQ Match

The Second Annual PWG Bicentennial Birthday Extravaganza Night 1 (9th July 2005) – Kudos for Chris Bosh for having the funniest animated video on the menu screen of anyone thus far. This match pits defending champions Arrogance (Bosh and Lost) against the challenging duo of Quicksilver and Scorpio (who dresses a lot like the Mortal Kombat character), collectively known as Aerial Xpress. They are apparently putting their masks on the line for the privilege of getting the shot here.


Lost and Quicksilver start us off, and despite the No DQ rules, get things going with a back and forth technical battle. Sky and Bosh in next, and it’s more of the same. Bosh demonstrates a nice ability to pin Scorpio from anywhere, but the masked man replies with a couple of AWESOME sequences, one involving a double stomp to the back INTO a hurricanrana. Scott Lost in to counter a dropkick attempt from Sky into a mid-air gutbuster. Unfortunately he spends too much time congratulating himself on that ‘sick ass sh*t’ and actually does get dropkicked in the mouth. Stereo kick combo from the AXP get 2 on Lost, who fires back with a dropsault on Scorpio. He gets a boot to the ‘lower groin’ as Quick tries to leapfrog him, before Bosh sneaks in from behind to drop him with a backbreaker for 2. Snap fisherman suplex gets Bosh another nearfall as Arrogance start to isolate an opponent for the first time. Lost misses a standing moonsault but manages to bring Bosh in to cut off the tag, even after Quick had connected with a standing moonsault of his own. Bosh goes for a camel clutch, and breaks it when the opponent gets to the ropes, which seems odd in a No DQ Match.


Drop toehold/gutbuster combo from the champions gets 2. SNAPMARE DRIVER from Quicksilver allows him to get a hot tag to Sky. Unfortunately Lost levels him with yet another gutbuster and cuts his momentum disappointingly short. Bosh goes for an Ocean Cyclone on Quick…but Scorpio saves with a CLIMBING SHINING WIZARD! BRIDGING SPEAR BY LOST! SHARPSHOOTER! Quick makes the save with a clothesline. Dropkick/Ligerbomb combo from the AXP gets 2. Neckbreaker driver from Quicksilver sends Bosh running for cover…so Quick gives chase with a SUNSET FLIP BOMB TO THE FLOOR! The challengers line up stereo dives to the floor…but get mixed success as Scorpio wipes out Lost, but Bosh evades Quicksilver so he connects with nothing but wooden floor. He has to be helped to the back after that. Ace Crusher into the DRAGON CLUTCH on Bosh! But Joey Ryan interferes to kick Sky in the face. AXP’s fat manager to hit a FATTY POWERBOMB on Joey. CROTCH PUNCH on the fatty by Bosh. Bosh then encourages Lost to rip the mask from Scorpio’s ‘black face’. That’s a nice message to put out on your nationwide DVD release! Northern lights suplex/backbreaker combo gets 2 for Arrogance. Sky manages to crotch Lost by sending Bosh into the ropes…RUNNING SUPER RANA! SCREWDRIVER BY BOSH! FOR 2! Scorpio then drags Lost into a flash pin to win the belts for his team at 26:53.


Rating - ** - There were some awesome spots in there, but this was just SO long. The gulf in quality between these four men and the likes of James Gibson, AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson was staggering. Like I said, some of the moves they could do were amazing, but in terms of pacing, psychology and story-telling this was a total mess. It was a No DQ Match for no reason, the lack of a clear story throughout the match made the whole thing feel like a tedious succession of spots. Arrogance, as the heel team, were completely devoid of charisma and ability to keep the crowd interested (which surprised me since people always speak very highly of Lost and Bosh). Obviously I’ve no knowledge of the story going into it so the whole fat manager/Joey Ryan sequence was lost on me too. I don’t want to give the impression that this was an awful match because it wasn’t. But it was approaching 30 minutes and, for all the fun highspots, FELT much longer than it actually was.


Unsportingly Lost and Bosh decide to beat the snot out of Scorpio after the match and steal his mask anyway.


Ricky Reyes/Davey Richards/Joey Ryan/Scott Lost vs Super Dragon/Jack Evans/El Generico/Frankie Kazarian

Battle Of Los Angeles 2005 Night 2 (4th September 2005) - The line-up of talent in this match is absolutely immense. I’m interested to see Dragon and Richards on opposing sides as they’d go on to become tag partners. To those that follow ROH far more strongly than PWG (like myself), as of 2010 all of these have appeared for Ring Of Honor at some point or another. I’m not sure what the premise is behind such a random assortment of guys teaming up. Maybe they all got eliminated from the BOLA Tournament itself. That sounds right in my head!


This just under a year before Davey Richards debuted in ROH. He looks noticeably younger. Generico starts with Ryan, who gets one of the most vocal responses from the PWG crowd of anyone thus far. He gets boo’d constantly. Obviously he and Generico milk that for maximums Boo vs Ole crowd interaction. Kazarian and Reyes in next, drawing nice applause for a terrific back and forth sequence. Evans and Lost in next for another neat segment that ends with Jack hitting a corkscrew enzi and sending Lost outside. Richards tags…and he DEMANDS that Super Dragon get in there with him. Dragon absolutely TOASTS him with vicious elbow smashes! Davey finally manages to shake those off, only to run into an STF instead. Dragon is such a vile man, he actually allows Richard to edge closer to the ropes, then grabs his outstretched arm and turns it into a stranglehold. Violence Party in the corner…but Richards comes out swinging with KAWADA KICKS! CHOP TO THE FACE BY DRAGON! He orders Generico into the ring to stretch Richards over the knees, then scales the ropes for a DOUBLE STOMP! Generico goes for a springboard dropkick, but Davey steps aside and gets a much-needed tag to Scott Lost. He turns things around with a big shoulder tackle in the corner, before bringing in pantomime villain Joey. The crowd actually seem to hate Ryan so much they actively cheer Reyes when he tags in next. Evans in with BACK FLIP KICKS for all his opponents, then a somersault neckbreaker for Joey. Ricky clobbers him before he can go for a trademark lunatic dive to the floor though. DDT from Evans, and he gets a hot tag to Kaz, who shoves Lost into a backbreaker from Dragon. Kazarian stacks Richards and Lost in the corner to dropkick them both. DIVE TRILOGY FROM DRAGON, GENERICO & KAZARIAN! Evans knocks Richards outside…SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP! Ryan superkicks Evans, then hits a tope suicida of his own! Bridging Spear from Lost to Generico…DOUBLE SHARPSHOOTER ON GENERICO AND EVANS! Kazarian saves! COBRA CLUTCH SUPLEX ON RYAN! YAKUZA KICK ON LOST! Kazarian takes lost to the top for the WAVE OF THE FUTURE! Reyes breaks the fall there. REAR NAKED CHOKE on Generico, but Evans saves! Reyes powerbombs him out of his shorts. POWERBOMB/LUNGBLOWER COMBO by Reyes and Richards. Dragon drops Richards on his head…HE NO SELLS! DRAGON LARIATOOO GETS 2! Davey hits back with a tiger suplex. SHOOTING STAR PRESS MISSES! Dragon hoists him up for the Psycho Driver…AND JACK COMES OFF THE ROPES TO USE IT FOR A SKIPPING A GENERATION MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! PSYCHO DRIVER! Dragon wins at 19:47!


Rating - **** - That was a blast. Say what you want about story-telling and psychology (and I already did earlier in this DVD after the Arrogance/AXP match), but when you have this many guys hitting awesome spots and keeping a live crowd on the edge of their seat then, sometimes it hardly matters. Super Dragon was solid gold whenever he was in the ring, with his bullying act on Davey Richards a definitely highlight of the match. Jack brought his usual box of high spot tricks as well, and a good time was had by all.


Super Dragon vs Kevin Steen – Guerrilla Warfare Match

Astonishing X-Mas (18th December 2005) – These two had been rivals in PWG for some time. Like I said earlier, I think that Super Dragon impostor who invaded the ring during the Samoa Joe match was Kevin Steen. Anyway, they’re settling their differences here in a Guerrilla Warfare Match (which is PWG’s signature “blood feud” match, much like a Fight Without Honor in ROH etc).


Steen doesn’t wait for Dragon to get to the ring and sprints up the aisle to get the fight started. CHAIR PUNCH (that’s a punch whilst holding a steel chair) by Dragon! Their brawl literally wipes out an ENTIRE section of chairs within seconds – it’s a stunning visual. PWG doesn’t get the biggest crowds, and it looks like every single one of them is running away in terror as the two men come to their side of the ring. Steen hoists Dragon up onto his shoulders to throw him through a stack of chairs which had mysteriously remained in their original positions. He tries to throw Dragon back inside, but the masked man comes flying right back with an elbow suicida. Steen then shunts him into the wall…only for Dragon to come back again and absolutely NAIL him with a chair. Somersault leg drop on the wooden floor by Steen, which looks like it hurt him more than Dragon! FACE CHOP EXCHANGE! Dragon tears down the entrance curtain and throws the whole structure at Steen, then suplexes him over to produce another sickening thud on the hard gymnasium floor. They enter the ring for the first time, via the merch stand where Kevin Steen picks up a replica Super Dragon mask. CURB STOMP ON DRAGON! NO SOLD! CURB STOMPS ON STEEN! That’s plural. Steen rolls away from a table on the floor Dragon wanted to put him through…so Dragon comes up with a SPINNING HEEL KICK OVER THE TABLE! Second attempt, and this time Mr Wrestling cuts off a tope suicida attempt.


SUPLEX OFF THE APRON AND THROUGH THE TABLE! STEEN-TON BOMB! Dragon kicks out at 2. He slaps Steen in the face then propels himself off the top with a senton bomb for 2. CURB STOMP ON A CHAIR! DOUBLE STOMP ON THE CHAIR! STEEN KICKS OUT! Annoyed, Super Dragon retreats to one of the grottiest looking store cupboards on record and returns with a bucket full of thumb tacks. POWERBOMB IN THE TACKS BY STEEN! By this point both guys are getting a lot of support thanks to the sheer violence we’re witnessing. Steen makes a pile of chairs. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER ON THE CHAIR STACK! Still just 2! Sick of this, Steen decides he’s had enough and walks out, heading to the same supply closet of doom (what kind of gym is this??) to pull out a barbed wire board. He sets that up on 2 chairs, only for Dragon to counter the ensuing powerbomb attempt to leave both men down. To the top rope where Dragon grabs Steen…DOUBLE UNDERHOOK SUPER-F*CKING-PLEX THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE! AND STEEN STILL KICKS OUT! Dragon leads him to the apron…PSYCHO DRIVER THROUGH A TABLE ON THE FLOOR! That looks to have won the match for Dragon…but he pulls Steen’s shoulders up at 2. To the supply closet OF DOOM again! He returns with a bucket of…handcuffs? Violence Party with the hands cuffed. STEEN SPITS IN HIS FACE! UNPROTECTED CHAIR SHOT! HEAD DROP PSYCHO DRIVER ONTO TACKS AND BARBED WIRE! Dragon wins at 29:54


Rating - ****1/2 - I could probably say a few things about overkill, needless kickouts or whatever. But that was just an unreal grudge match that really does need to be seen to be believed. I’ve not seen too many entire PWG shows, and I’ve definitely not seen anything from this feud before. This was such a vicious, and violent match that the hatred oozed off the screen and into my living room for first bell to last. Sure there may have been some lulls whilst they set spots up, a few wildly unbelievable kick outs or whatever. But it never felt like this was a stunt show, it felt like two men who desperately wanted to hurt each other, so to that end I can look past all the visits to the supply closet OF DOOM, and a little bit of overkill on the finishes. To anyone who can look past PWG’s lowered production values, somewhat dingy high school gym setting, weird commentary and small crowds…this was a phenomenal match to draw in new fans.


Super Dragon/Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong/Jack Evans – PWG Tag Title Match

Hollywood Globetrotters (March 4th 2006) - I know he always gets a hugely mixed reaction amongst wrestling fans, but I really enjoy Super Dragon’s work. So for guys like myself, who don’t follow PWG or the west coast scene all that closely, this is a really exciting match. I think this is the same month that Strong and Evans worked a stunning match with the Briscoes in ROH. They are the challengers here.


Roderick (with his lower right leg heavily taped) and Richards get us under way with some surprisingly intense mat work. Davey rolls Strong into an early anklelock, but fortunately it’s on the left leg so does no additional damage to that injury. Strong drives Richards’ elbow and wrist into the canvas…but Richards hits right back with a bridging kick. Dragon and Evans in next…with Jack acting so cocky that he is BEGGING for a slap. He uses his agility to counter and escape Dragon’s early holds and struts around the ring…into a B*TCH SLAP! He tries a few kicks, but turns his back on Dragon who sweeps his legs and locks on a vicious STF. Handspring elbow countered to a back suplex for 2. Richards puts Jack in a tree of woe, then distracts the referee whilst Dragon stands on Evans testicles. Jack desperately tries to return fire…but Dragon hardly feels them and rakes the eyes. SICK double submission hold by the champions, which draws Roderick into the ring to help his ailing partner. At last Evans manages to BACK FLIP into a kick on Richards then make a tag. Unfortunately Dragon blindsides Roderick, and within seconds it’s the other half of the challenging team that is taking a beating at the hands of Dragon and Richards. Chop from Roddy…countered with an immediate thumb to the eye by Richards who then takes him out of the ring to whip him into the apron. Chop/kick combo strikes from the champions. Dragon continues being a bastard to not just his opponents, but the fans too, trapping Strong in the corner…then rolling him into a side headlock as one excited fan screams for him to unleash the Violence Party.


Roddy tries to roll to the apron to escape the advancing Dragon, only to be booted in the head by Richards, then stomped to the floor. He does manage to recover with a superplex on Dragon then makes the tag to Evans. DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD FLYING HEADSCISSORS ON RICHARDS! STANDING PHOENIX SPLASH FOR 2! Handspring elbow nailed this time, but Davey swats aside the springboard knee attempt and drops him with a DDT. Dragon in…and he Mexican surfboards Jack rather than give the fans the Curb Stomp they want. Stranglehold surfboard from Richards…AND A DOUBLE STOMP FROM DRAGON FOR 2! Evans is dry-heaving after that! SO NOW HE GETS CURB STOMPED! Roderick in to chase Richards around the ring with chops. Springboard dropkick from Davey knocks him back, but he still lands a cradle backbreaker for 2. ASSISTED STANDING 450 SPLASH gets the challengers another nearfall. They manage to stack both the champions in the corner for a POWERBOMB DOUBLE STOMP! Richards blocks the Ode To The Bulldogs, meaning Jack inadvertently double stomps his own partner in the head. STANDING SSP/DOUBLE STOMP COMBO for 2! Psycho Driver, COUNTERED WITH A REVERSE RANA BY JACK! SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH TO THE FLOOR! RICHARDS WITH A SHOOTING STAR PRESS INTO THE KNEES! DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! RICHARDS KICKS OUT! DR DRIVER! Evans saves with a somersault neckbreaker. He goes for a 450 Phoenix Splash and is CAUGHT by Dragon! POWERBOMB LUNGBLOWER COMBO! The champions retain at 32:53


Rating - **** - That was awesome! Not that I wasn’t expecting it to be good because I was, but that was great in a totally different way to how I had expected. I’ve never seen the Strong/Evans team outside of ROH before, and there they never tended to get booked in long matches (outside of that Briscoes match which was still around 20 minutes). I wasn't expecting this one to be the longest match thus far on the compilation at all. But you know what? It really worked. Super Dragon put in another superb performance as an unrelenting dick here. He started off by almost no-selling the threat that Evans poses, to the point that he almost went easy on him, declining the trademark violent strikes he usually unleashes in favour of big stretches, testicle stomps and whatever. He then progressed to refusing to dish out his big moves for the additional pleasure of pissing off a crowd who were clearly desperate to see him beat the sh*t out of Evans. I was always expecting the hot last 5 minutes these four men produced. They all have a vast array of neat spots, so they were always going to be capable of a great end to the match. I just wasn’t expecting 25 minutes of terrific tag team wrestling first. Richards and Dragon came out as vicious, dominant champions, but the Generation Next team hung in there despite both taking immense punishment, and ultimately came desperately close to snatching victory. I know I’m giving a lot of matches on this DVD the 4* treatment, but this was definitely one of my favourites thus far.


Joey Ryan vs B-Boy – PWG Title Steel Cage Match

Threemendous (16th July 2006) – Ahhh B-Boy…I haven’t seen him in years! He’s never been my favourite wrestler, but he’s always good for a bit of hard-hitting, head dropping fun. Here’s he’s challenging Joey Ryan for the PWG Championship…inside a steel cage which is loaded with weapons.


Ryan immediately tries to climb the cage to escape, but is discouraged by B-Boy throwing a chair at him. Boy no sells some forearms from Joey, then floors him with a single elbow smash. Fans encourage B-Boy to spill Joey’s blood, but the champion goes low to prevent him swinging a chair. Boy toughs the nut shot out and back suplexes him into position for a chair shot…then an Irish whip into a ladder. He tries to surf the chair into Ryan’s face, but Joey (who is now bleeding) hides behind the referee then punches to low blow B-Boy again. Into the cage the challenger goes, and pretty soon he starts to bleed too. Joey gets a steel chair…and uses it to take a seat whilst applying a chinlock, to the annoyance of a crowd who already him. Eventually he does start bringing the chair down over B-Boy’s head, proudly showing off his bloodstains to the hardcam after doing so. Next it’s really nasty looking LADDER shots to the face, only for B-Boy to come back with a flying knee strike off a chair. A fired up B-Boy HURLS the ladder into Joey’s face before whacking him with the chair again. That one sends blood flying so far that the camera man has to start wiping it off his lens. RUNNING DVD ONTO A PILE OF CHAIRS gets 2.


Satellite Crossface locked in and Ryan taps out…but the ref is down having apparently been knocked sideways by a flailing limb whilst B-Boy locked it in. Table set up in the ring…but Ryan counters B-Boy’s attempted frankensteiner into a powerbomb through the table for 2. Now Joey Ryan and the referee start fighting. B-Boy takes advantage with a Go 2 Sleep…but obviously the referee is now down after fighting Ryan. A new ref comes in to count the fall…and Joey takes advantage by fleeing through the open door. B-Boy gives chase, and walks into a tornado DDT from the ring steps to the floor. Even after that, and a chain-wrapped fist to the head, Boy comes up swinging with a brainbuster on the floor. We’re at 20 minutes now and this is really starting to drag. We have a table set up at ringside…so B-Boy decides to prop a semi-conscious Ryan between two folding chairs instead. TOP ROPE DOUBLE STOMP through the chairs! Inexplicably, Joey starts climbing the cage to get back into the ring…RIGHT NEXT TO THE OPEN DOOR! Why would ANYONE do that? B-Boy gives chase and gets elbowed off the cage and through the table.


After another lethargic pause, Joey drags B-Boy back into the ring for a 2-count. Ryan climbs the ladder next, but gets shoved off…then gets up again (???) to elbow B-Boy in the neck. He climbs the ladder, but B-Boy climbs the cage to hit an Ace Crusher. The problem with this is match is, even the high spots take AGES to set up and look absolutely sh*t. Boy props Ryan’s head between the rungs of the ladder…THEN DOUBLE STOMPS A CHAIR DOWN ONTO IT! Surely the match should now be over…but Scott Lost runs in to drive B-Boy into the pile of chairs. Human Tornado comes in to save, but Scorpio Sky and Chris Bosh run in to beat him down. Davey Richards and Quicksilver arrive as Tornado drops Ryan on his neck. TORNADO WITH A SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OFF THE CAGE AND UP THE AISLE! B-Boy climbs the cage…Superfly Splash through Ryan, through the table. RYAN KICKS OUT! The fans went wild when they thought the title had changed hands. Jade Chung (I think) and some blond girl brawl in the ring. JOEY THROWS THE BLONDE INTO THE CAGE! CHAIR GO 2 SLEEP by B-Boy…but Jade breaks the fall. Go 2 Sleep on Jade Chung! Ryan soaks a rag in ether…and chokes B-Boy out with it. It’s over at 34:48…finally.


Rating - * - Terrible match. Really tough to sit through. I’m giving a star because there was some legit nasty bumps out there, and it’s not like they weren’t trying…but what they produced was just terrible. Steen and Super Dragon earlier put on a masterclass in ‘grudge match’ wrestling. The hatred for each other was evident in everything they did. NONE of that was apparent here. It was unbelievably slow (whoever booked this to go 35 minutes is retarded), completely nonsensical in it’s execution (bizarre ref bumps, a strange referee fight, stupid table bumps etc), the key high spots looked lame (for instance, B-Boy nearly slipping off the turnbuckle setting himself for his double stomp, then taking an age to set himself whilst looking scared out of his wits – hint, if you can’t do it…DON’T F*CKING TRY when you’re in the main event). The finish was overbooked to f*ck…and in the end they had to ship in Human Tornado to provide the only truly memorable moment of the whole match (other than violence towards women). This was obviously geared to the more sports-entertainment style market. I get that, I get why it was included on the DVD. But, I have to be honest and say I hated that.


CIMA vs El Generico

Battle Of Los Angeles 2006 (3rd September 2006) – This would be the semi-final stage of PWG’s annual BOLA tournament. The Battle Of Los Angeles shows are traditionally one of PWG’s hottest selling DVD sets of the year. They go all out on talent (as is evident by booking Dragon Gate’s CIMA here) and let a number of top name guys go out and tear the house down.


Audio is weirdly low for this match, so I’ve flipped commentary back on for it. Both men, already weary from previous battles in the tournament, are a little tentative locking up, and spend the first 60 seconds circling each other. They go to the mat, but it’s hugely even there with both men working their way to headstand position then slapping each other in the face. CIMA appears to be carrying a couple of injuries from prior rounds into this match, most noticeably a sore leg and back. Nerve Hold by Generico, then the split-legged moonsault for 2. Lungblower from CIMA, but he stays down clutching the leg before finally struggling into a cover for 2. A little kid gets on CIMA, who heels up on the crowd before putting an abdominal stretch on Generico. The ‘Mexican’ gets to the ropes, only for CIMA to punt his arm away. Full Nelson applied next, as CIMA continues to use basic, but effective holds to wear down his opponent. Generico gets in a dropkick which sends him to the floor…and the crowd scatters as he lines up a SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! FOLLOWED BY THE DIVE THROUGH THE TURNBUCKLES SWINGING DDT! Generico re-enters the ring with the flying body splash and gets 2. Yakuza Kick misses though, and CIMA scales the ropes for a double stomp/missile dropkick combo. Generico goes for a slingshot, but is caught with an Ace Crusher from CIMA for 2. Guillotine choke from CIMA…COUNTERED TO AN ORANGE CRUSH FOR 2! Yakuza Kick misses again. VENUS PUNCH! FACE-FIRST ICONOCLASM! MAD SPLASH…BUT GENERICO GETS THE KNEES UP! YAKUZA KICK! HALF NELSON SUPLEX! CIMA KICKS OUT! Generico goes for the turnbuckle Brainbuster, but CIMA counters with a tornado DDT from the top. SCHWEIN! GENERICO KICKS OUT! CIMA’s angry facials at this point are hilarious! SCHWEIN AGAIN! CIMA advances to the finals at 19:00


Rating - **** - Far from a perfect match, with both men looking noticeably fatigued, but for sheer workrate, they deserve this rating. Things started slow, but picked up well. Both men were popular, but CIMA carried a crucial early portion of the match by working his heel Dragon Gate character. And even with their tanks closer to empty than they were to full, they still provided a classic Dragon Gate style finale with wild nearfalls and big spots coming at you from all sides. You can’t help but wonder what these guys could do if they hadn’t already worked several matches in the spell of 3 days.


Pac vs El Generico

All Star Weekend 4 Night 2 (18th November 2006) – I thought it was supposed to be the last DVD in this collection which had all the international talent, but once again here we see El Generico in action against a visiting foreign wrestler. Pac is a standout from the British wrestling scene, famous for his high-flying ability – skills that have made him a regular with Dragon Gate. I remember this one got lots of buzz around the internet around the time of this show so lets see whether it lives up to the hype.


Both men offer clean breaks in the first minute. Pac is sporting a nasty bruise on his head, I’m guessing from competition the previous evening. Generico seems to want to keep Pac on the canvas, but the British athlete busts out some EXCEPTIONAL counter-wrestling and continually pops back to his feet from any position. Dropsault gets Pac an early nearfall. IMMENSE headscissors trilogy from Pac, but he goes for a springboard move to the floor and gets dragged down by Generico…into a rugged elbow smash. ASAI MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR SECOND TIME OF ASKING! Yakuza Kick blocked and Pac hits a nice snap rana for 2. But he tries one athletic move too many, and gets caught with a spinning back suplex as he attempts a handspring elbow. Split-legged moonsault gets 2 for the Generic Luchador. Pac looks to quicken the pace, but this time Generico counters him with a tilta-whirl backbreaker for 2. HANDSPRING SWINGING DDT out of nowhere from Pac and both men are down. JUMPING ENZI TO THE FACE…STANDING BACKFLIP SENTON! Pac gets 2. He goes to the ropes…SECOND ROPE SHOOTING STAR LEG DROP MISSES! HALF NELSON SUPLEX FOR 2! ‘This match rules’ – crowd. Pac blocks the Brainbuster with a HURRICANRANA for 2. CROSS ARM SIT OUT POWERBOMB BY GENERICO! He tries to climb the ropes…ROPE RUN REVERSE RANA BY PAC! RED STAR PRESS! GENERICO KICKS OUT! CORKSCREW SHOOTING STAR PRESS…INTO GENERICO’S KNEES! YAKUZA KICK! TURNBUCKLE BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Generico wins at 16:26


Rating - **** - F*cking hell was Pac on in this match or what? He is a terrific high flying wrestler, but he NAILED everything. Normally with the exceptional high flying wrestlers you still get the occasional mis-step or hiccup…but this was absolutely flawless. Of course it had some faults as a match, but you couldn’t help but be impressed by the brilliance of Pac’s performance here. I don’t think he’d had much exposure in the US before PWG booked him so this had to be a star-making performance. Credit to Generico for holding things together for his high-flying adversary to steal the show. We’re used to seeing Generico be the guy flying all over the place, so it was a unique change of pace to see him work the more grounded, heavyweight style. He held up his end too…but this was, undeniably, Pac’s night.


Pac gets handshakes and ‘please come back’ chants as he leaves. After that amazing performance we’re on to Disc 3…which is supposedly international talent, although really it seems to be an excuse to throw in a few more Pac matches. CIMA is here again, and AJPW Junior Heavyweight (and former WCW Cruiserweight) star Kaz Hayashi. Other ‘international’ talents include Bryan Danielson and the Briscoes who I guess count thanks to their NOAH experience and appearances on ROH ppv. Plus Kevin Steen and El Generico who are Canadian (Mexican).


Joey Ryan vs Human Tornado – PWG Title Guerrilla Warfare Match

Based On A True Story (13th January 2007) – Ryan still holds the PWG Title we saw him just about emerge with after that Cage Match with B-Boy on the last DVD. During that match we saw Tornado (who had his own problems with The Dynasty – Ryan’s heel group alongside Bosh, Lost and Scorpio Sky) interject. Now he’s getting his shot at the unpopular PWG Champion


I’m going to own you like it’s 1850’ – Ryan to Tornado. That’s really tasteful! That blond chick from the Joey/B-Boy cage match was Candice LaRae, who manages Tornado apparently. Ryan goes straight after her, distracting Tornado and allowing Chris Bosh to attack him from behind. Joey then gets hardcore with a body slam, followed by a knee drop. I turn commentary (featuring Colt Cabana) on again just in time to here one of them discuss the merits of throwing a dart into Tornado’s eye. Tornado, his eyes still dart-less, whips Ryan into the crowd. Moonsault off the apron nailed by the challenger. Ryan hits back with a BEER BOTTLE TO THE FACE! Tornado immediately starts bleeding everywhere, and in one move Joey has turned the whole thing in his favour. He takes a seat for the seated chinlock, then uses the chair for a Raven drop toehold, continuing to bloody up the face of Human Tornado. Cabana discusses the difference between the Jew-‘fro and Tornado’s black man afro as Ryan angrily invites some of the fans heckling him into the ring. Tornado manages to tree of woe him into a garbage can…for the dancing stomps! DOUBLE KNEE DROP INTO THE TRASH CAN! He brings a ladder into the match…and sets Ryan up on it. But Joey moves…SOMERSAULT SENTON INTO THE LADDER! He spins into an enziguri kick on Joey, but lands legs-first on the same ladder and does almost as much damage to himself. PEOPLE’S ELBOW ON A CHAIR from Tornado. That gets 2!


He climbs a ladder…but gets distracted by a disco ball (seriously), allowing Ryan to shove him into the ropes. Joey hurls the ladder into Tornado’s face, splattering blood all over the canvas. He piles chairs in the middle of the ring, setting up for a superplex into them. Cabana is shilling Chicago chiropractors for both their opponents. In comes Jade Chung with a purse full of thumb tacks…then gets into a brawl with Candice LaRae. RYAN THROWS TACKS AT CANDICE! DROPKICK TO THE TACKS TO THE TITS! ‘It turns me on a little bit’ – Colt. The wrestlers fight on the top rope…RYAN BACK BODY DROPS TORNADO FROM THE TOP THROUGH A TABLE ON THE FLOOR! Tornado looks basically out of it, but rather than pin him, Joey decides to drag him through the crowd onto the stage at the back of the building. He sets up another table on the floor next to that. Tornado counters him…AFRICAN DESTROYER OFF THE STAGE, THROUGH THE TABLE! Meanwhile in the ring Candice is climbing the ladder…FLYING PRESS AT JOEY! With Joey down, Human Tornado pulls out a barbed wire board. That gets set up in the corner, and both battle over who gets to use it. Joey wins…PUMPHANDLE BACK SUPLEX INTO THE BARBED WIRE! Tornado has some horrific gashes on his back now. Scott Lost and Chris Bosh try to run in…but El Generico and someone else (either Steen or Quicksilver) I didn’t see steam down the aisle to cut them off. POUNCE INTO THE TACKS! TORNADO DDT INTO THE TACKS! DND INTO THE TACKS! TORNADO WINS! Ryan’s 13 month championship reign is over!


Rating - **** - Match was around 35 minutes, I messed my timer up slightly. I was only going to give this 3*…but I took the rating up, almost entirely based on how much FUN that one was. I slated the Ryan/B-Boy match because it was tedious, predictable, slow and boring. You could NEVER call this one predictable or dull, so I felt I had to reward it. Admittedly, we started pretty slowly, but they cranked up the violence, worked INTELLIGENT spots (not random cage climbing right next to an open door for instance), used the silly overbooked stuff to enhance the entertainment value (Titty Tack Dropkick!!!)…and you’ve got to give it up for anyone who takes unprotected, shirtless back bumps into barbed wire. A unique twist on your typical grudge match, you had elements of hardcore, elements of sports entertainment…a great inclusion for the casual fan.


Pac vs Kevin Steen

Holy Diver Down (24th February 2007) – This disc is basically the Pac disc. After his impressive showing at the tail end of last year (which we saw an example of with the El Generico), he started getting booked in a more regular basis with PWG – to such impressive results that three of the seven matches on this final DVD feature him. He’s giving up a lot of size and strength to Kevin Steen, who would become one of 2007’s top independent stars thanks to his feud with the Briscoes in ROH.


Steen goes STRAIGHT into a headlock on the canvas to ensure Pac can’t try anything aerial. This building looks almost identical to the Murphy Rec Centre in Philadelphia. Steen holds onto that headlock for 2+ minutes, desperate to ensure Pac doesn’t have a chance to build any momentum. Finally the Englishman manage to worm free and hits a lightning fast armdrag. But he descends to Steen’s level and tries to work mat holds…which Steen is able to power out of. He rolls away from a knucklelock and STOMPS Pac in the face. Pac responds by going lucha for an armdrag, then a headscissors. He tries to complete a trilogy of athletic moves…but Steen coverts it to a big backbreaker and leaves him grounded again. We go to the ground, where Steen takes time out from pummelling Pac to browse a load of DVD’s purchased by a front row fan then make friends with a nearby baby. SPRINGBOARD flying headscisors from Pac, then a dropsault. But he MISSES a standing corkscrew moonsault, putting Steen in the ascendancy again. And with that ascendancy…he pulls Pac’s hair so hard he rips chunks of it out. He gets caught going for a kick…but flips out. LARIATOOOOOO BY STEEN! HEAD DROP GERMAN SUPLEX! FOR 2! Pac just took two absolutely psychotic head bumps within the space of about four seconds. But still he keeps coming back, this time with a headscissors from the second turnbuckle! And he sidesteps Steen’s response, sending him to the outside. CORKSCREW SHOOTING STAR PRESS TO THE FLOOR! Back inside, he hits a running quebrada inverted DDT for 2. He backflips away from Mr Wrestling again, but this time gets caught and POWERBOMBED ON HIS HEAD! Seriously…his skull just ricocheted up off the mat! Somehow he’s not dead though and hits a judo DDT floated into a front choke. Steen won’t tap. REVERSE RANA! He looks for a tiger suplex, but of course, Steen is miles too big for him to do that. He hangs Pac on the turnbuckles for an elevated DDT. Steen to the top…Pac goes for a rope run frankensteiner, but STEEN COUNTERS WITH A TOP ROPE AWESOME BOMB! Ridiculously, they go to the top rope again. Steen goes for a potential lethal avalanche Package Piledriver…COUNTERED IN MID-AIR TO A SUPER RANA FOR 2! CORKSCREW SSP! PAC WINS! 21:53 is your time.


Rating - **** - Obviously all the plaudits will go to Pac for another sensational aerial performance, but it’s no wonder Steen was called back to Ring Of Honor for another run six weeks after this. He gave Pac a superb platform to be a superstar there. He made him look like a HUGE threat from the very first second of the match when he went to two minutes of headlock out of sheer fear at the potency of Pac’s aerial arsenal…and he was the general of the match from then on. For 15 minutes he beat Pac down, with the Geordie import restricted to occasional bursts of offence before being shut down again. He even added to Pac’s mystique whilst getting his ass kicked, by muttering things like ‘he’s not human’ off camera. Both man had a clearly defined role here, and both were carried out superbly.


Steen continues putting Pac over after the match, ending a heartfelt speech by calling him the ‘best high flier you’ll ever see’.


Pac vs Kaz Hayashi

All Star Weekend 5 Night 2 (8th April 2007) – Since Kaz went back to Japan after his run in WCW ended, he’s quietly gone about becoming one of Japan’s top junior heavyweights. But having done so largely in the All Japan promotion as opposed to NOAH or New Japan who’s junior divisions get a lot more press, he’s maybe slipped under the radar a little more than someone like a KENTA or an Ishimori or a Prince Devitt. This match should be noteworthy in Japan too, as it’s AJPW’s Hayashi against Dragon Gate’s Pac.


No handshake from Hayashi, who looks all business for this one. No clean break from him which doesn’t endear himself to the Californian crowd. He still gets a nice round of applause for an impressive headstand out of a grounded headscissors worked by Pac. Kaz locks on an early Fujiwara Armbar and sends Pac scurrying for the ropes in a lot of pain. Quick as a flash, Hayashi goes to a leglock next, almost lulling Pac into a false sense of security with his lethargic movements before darting in to shoot the leg. He works Pac’s arm again, but Pac has come from the British scene, and would have crashed and burned a while ago if he didn’t know at least SOME counters to a basic wristlock. Having escaped that, Hayashi steps aside from his charge and DRILLS him shoulder first into the ringpost. PWG appear to have invested in some guardrails by this point. I know this because Kaz just slingshotted Pac chest and shoulders first into one. Back inside he hits a shoulderbreaker for 2. Kicks from Pac…only for Hayashi to shunt him over and lock on a Crippler Crossface. Pac’s arm is hurt now, and after stringing a few kicks together, he finds himself flat on his back again after a Codebreaker from Hayashi. Next it’s a drop toehold into the bottom rope, followed by a quebrada to the exposed back. Crippler Crossface again, with Pac finding it much harder to get to the ropes second time around. He lands a headscissors which sends Kaz outside…and that’s a window of opportunity for such a gifted acrobat. RUNNING MOONSAULT…HAYASHI MOVES! PAC LANDS ON HIS FEET…AND GETS SUPERKICKED! Despite having his jaw seemingly knocked loose, Pac manages to hot shot Hayashi into the guardrails to leave them both struggling to move on the hard floor. Tiger Suplex countered to a roll-up for 2. AIR RAID CRASH gets Hayashi another nearfall. Pac hits a superkick, so Kaz gives him a KICK OF DEATH! Both men down again! TILTA-WHIRL SPLASH MOUNTAIN nearly wins it for Kaz. Pac returns fire with his Tiger Suplex for 2. Hayashi catches him trying to scale the ropes. SECOND ROPE SPLASH MOUNTAIN BOMB COUNTERED TO A RANA FOR 2! SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Hayashi kicks out again! Nearfall sequence…nobody wins. TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER! ROLLED INTO THE HAYASHI CUTTER! It’s over at 20:18


Rating - **** - That was a great junior heavyweight battle. Once again we saw Pac struggling to string together his traditional high flying moves against a dominant opponent, but this felt completely different to the Pac/Steen match. Steen desperately kept Pac on the mat out of fear of what his high flying could do – a defensive strategy. Here Hayashi was aggressive, and very much on the offence from the early going. Far from concerning himself with Pac’s skills, he WANTED to be in control and pick his opponent apart. He was the aggressor for most of this match, and ultimately he was too much for Pac, who was never able to string his high flying moves together as he would have liked.


CIMA vs Bryan Danielson

DDT4 2007 Night 1 (20th May 2007) – I believe 2007 was the debut year for PWG’s now annual DDT4 (Dynamic Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament) event. Obviously as that’s a tag team event this match doesn’t form part of that tournament. This is right after Bryan Danielson had returned from taking the first portion of 2007 off to rehab the shoulder injury he suffered defending the ROH World Championship in Chicago.


The first minute sees both men offer somewhat cocky clean breaks to their opponent. Test of strength next, with CIMA able to drive Danielson down to the mat. Monkey flips traded, and they’re STILL holding on to that knucklelock. Danielson lands the first significant strike with a big European uppercut in the corner, and uses that blow as a cue to start working CIMA over on the canvas. Meanwhile on the floor Stalker Ichikawa (a somewhat goofy but lovable comedy character from Dragon Gate who looks like a Clockwork Orange Tellytubby) appears to have volunteered his service as timekeeper. Clearly remembering that uppercut in the corner, CIMA declines his own second opportunity to give a clean break to Dragon, instead deciding to punt him in the exposed leg. Half crab just moments later, and the former Open The Dream Gate Champion appears to have opened up a significant injury on the former ROH Champion. Danielson gets CIMA off of his leg with more effective European uppercuts…but then goes to the same strike once too often and nearly falls victim to a swift backslide pin. Ass dropkick from CIMA puts American Dragon on the mat again…and once more in prime position for him to work the leg some more. Mexican surfboard from Danielson, who seems particularly annoyed when CIMA bites him to break the hold.


Shortarm scissors from Dragon, then a stomp to the shoulder which has CIMA screaming in pain as we approach 15 minutes. Danielson is in control now, and clobbers his opponent down to the canvas again after verbally berating him. Lungblower out of nowhere from CIMA! He gets Dragon outside to hit a springboard pescado. Danielson returns to the ring and Sayama flips into a cradle backbreaker. SWANDIVE HEADBUTT to the shoulder gets 2. With ten minutes remaining in the time limit both men are a little more desperate for the victory, and trade nearfalls back and forth before collapsing in a heap. Venus Punch by CIMA, then the Iconoclasm. Cross-legged Michinoku Driver gets 2. He goes for the Mad Splash but ends up sailing into Dragon’s knees then rolling out of the ring into prime position for a tope suicida. Venus Punch again, but this time Danielson counters the Iconoclasm into the Crossface Chickenwing. SNAP GERMAN SUPLEX for 2. CATTLE MUTILATION! CIMA makes a rope as we enter the last five minutes of the allotted time limit. He blocks Danielson’s superplex, but jumps wildly off the top ropes and nearly ends up in Cattle Mutilation again. Superkick…SCHWEIN! Dragon kicks out at 2! VAN CIMA-NATOR! He goes for the Schwein again…COUNTERED TO MMA ELBOWS! CIMA kicks out of the ensuing pin and we’ve got 2 minutes left. SLAPS! Danielson hits a back superplex as we enter the final sixty seconds. CATTLE MUTILATION WITH 30 SECONDS TO GO! CAN CIMA HOLD ON? TEN SECONDS LEFT! Time limit expires! 30:00 draw


Rating - **** - That’s Danielson’s second 30 minute draw on this DVD set. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote in my assessment of the Joe/Dragon draw (and as my review of this set is now approaching it’s 16th page, it’s not like scrolling up is an easy task either now!)…but this one was pretty similar. You could tell it was going the distance from the early going, and it had the usual problems of wrestlers killing time, plot devices that didn’t go anywhere…and, in similar fashion to Punk/Super Dragon earlier, a hint of “indy dream match” exhibition mode. Luckily these two are both such high calibre wrestlers that this is still a terrific watch, even with all those things I just listed counting against it.


Roderick Strong/Pac vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe – DDT4 Final

DDT4 2007 Night 2 (21st May 2007) – So yes, this is the final of the Tag Title Tournament, meaning the winning team become PWG Tag Champions. On the one hand you have current ROH Tag Champions the Briscoes (who aren’t always super popular with the PWG crowd as they have a bit of a history of no-showing on the west coast) against a seemingly makeshift duo of Strong and Pac. Roderick and the Briscoes are no strangers to each other, having shared a series of terrific tag team matches (also including Austin Aries) over the ROH Tag Titles in the summer of 2006.


A brisk exchange between Mark and Roderick gets us underway, but the crowd falls into an excited hush as soon as Pac tags in, leaving you in no doubt who they want to see. Pac and Jay trade explosive hurricanranas, before Briscoe takes Pac’s head off with a clubbing clothesline. Strong in to trade chops with the older Briscoe…but Jay draws him into the Briscoe half of the ring, before drop toeholding him into the ropes and into position for a cheap kick from Mark. Stretch Plum applied, but Roddy uses his knee to batter his way out of that. Pac in to nail a dropsault for 2. Pac’s explosive offence has done it’s job in turning the match in the favour of his team. Standing corkscrew moonsault gets 2. Jay hits back with a flipping neckbreaker out of the corner and gets a tag to Mark. Who brings the REDNECK KUNG FU to both opponents. Tiger Suplex from Pac cuts his momentum short though, then Roderick back body drops his opponent into a 450 Splash. Sick of Pac’s flying, Mark powerbombs him into the turnbuckles. SPRINGBOARD DOOMSDAY DEVICE NAILED! Strong saves for his team. Briscoe Biel sends Pac through the air but still isn’t enough to put the match to bed. Jay drops him with a backbreaker, and holds him in position for Mark to follow up with a split-legged moonsault for 2. HANDSPRING QUEBRADA SWINGING DDT scores for Pac, and there’s his window for the hot tag to Strong. He flips Pac into a 450 senton bomb for 2. Gibson Driver blocked though, and the Briscoes drop Strong with a bulldog/flatliner combo. Pac saves the splash mountain neckbreaker, but gets put into the rails by Jay, who then hits the turnbuckles to join Mark in a guillotine leg drop/sidewalk slam combo for 2. BACK DROP DRIVER by Strong, then a second rope Phoenix Splash from Pac. He ducks the Springboard Doomsday Device second time around and turns Jay into the reverse rana. Springboard corkscrew splash from Mark instead…but he gets up and turns his head into a SICK KICK by Strong. SHOOTING STAR PRESS ON JAY! And Pac made sure he kicked Mark on the way down too! Roderick evades Mark’s springboard Ace Crusher and comes off the second rope into another Sick Kick for 2. The FIP Champion is dropped with a DVD from Jay. DEATH BY RODERICK on Mark! 630 SENTON BY PAC! CORKSCREW SHOOTING STAR PRESS TO THE FLOOR! STRONGHOLD! Mark taps at 19:21 – Pac and Strong are PWG Tag Champions!


Rating - *** - Lots of fun as a big splurge of tag team offence. But, it was very apparent that this was the finals of a tournament, with both teams having wrestled previously. Everyone seemed just a split-second slow, and all they did lacked the usual precision and snap that we’ve grown accustomed to them having. The comparisons between the Strong/Evans and the Strong/Pac team are obvious and easy to make – so I’m glad this was acknowledged with Pac using Jack’s finishing move at the end there.


Roderick Strong/Pac vs Kevin Steen/El Generico – PWG Tag Title Match

Giant Sized Annual #4 (29th July 2007) – This was scheduled to be Strong and Pac defending against the Briscoes in a rematch from the DDT4 Final…but the Briscoes have cancelled their appearance at the last minute (I told you they tend to bail on their west coast bookings). Kevin Steen interjects to point out that the Briscoes have been getting beaten up by the ‘hottest team in America right now’ – that being himself and the PWG Champion El Generico (who defeated former partner Human Tornado for PWG’s top prize only a month after Tornado had won it from Joey Ryan). He demands their title shot since they’re not here…


Generico starts with Strong and it’s even, and the pace only quickens when Pac tags in to trade armdrags with him. Steen rolls from a knucklelock into a face stomp in exactly the same manner as he did in his singles match with Pac earlier on this DVD. Generico/Strong again, with Roddy countering the PWG champion’s attempted slingshot manoeuvre into a backbreaker for 2. Mr Wrestling comes in to work Pac again, looking a lot more aggressive with the Englishman than he did in their singles match. Generico in with a split-legged moonsault before holding Pac in position for Steen’s somersault leg drop. He goes for a tilta-whirl backbreaker, but it’s countered in AWESOME fashion into a satellite headscissors by Pac. Unfortunately, Generico is positioned between Pac and his corner…so when he runs to make the tag to Strong, Generico is able to scoop him up and hit the tilta-whirl backbreaker second time around. SHOOTING STAR SHADOWS OVER HELL ON STEEN! This time Pac does get the hot tag to Strong. Half nelson backbreaker on Generico gets 2. But Generico blocks Pac’s attempted handspring into the swinging DDT, and lines him up for a LARIAT from Steen for 2. Pac fights the Package Piledriver and flips Mr Wrestling into a reverse hurricanrana. RUNNING MOONSAULT to Generico on the floor. In the ring Strong hits Death By Roderick. 630 SENTON! Steen kicks out! YAKUZA KICK! STEEN MOONSAULT ON PAC! GENERICO FLYING SPLASH! Pac kicks out at 2. STRONG BACK BODY DROPS PAC INTO A DRAGONRANA ON GENERICO…STEEN SAVES! RUNNING PESCADO BY GENERICO! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! BRAINBUSTER! Generico pins Pac! New champions at 18:22


Rating - **** - Hardly rocket science, but a good heat segment on Pac, plus an exciting period of high spot exchanges at the end. Plus it had one of the hotter crowds of the DVD as well. Far from perfect, but it was undeniably entertaining from first bell to last.


And we go straight into our next match as a bloody Bryan Danielson strolls to the ring. He wrestled Necro Butcher earlier tonight…but reminds everyone that the scheduled main event for this show was supposed to be him challenging for the PWG World Championship. One thing he learned from being ROH World Champion for over a year was that ‘sometimes you have to fight when it doesn’t feel good’…so even though they’ve both been through wars tonight, he wants his title match


El Generico vs Bryan Danielson – PWG Title Match

Giant Sized Annual #4 (29th July 2007) – Danielson just outlined all I could about this match. This is PWG’s 4th Anniversary Show, and this was scheduled to be the main event before things were rearranged. Now both men, despite having had gruelling matches earlier in the evening, have agreed to fight again with the top prize in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on the line.


Danielson gives Generico a slap…and he agrees to put his championship on the line. Crowd is red hot as Generico clotheslines Dragon out of the ring. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Generico tries to re-enter with a missile dropkick but Danielson counters with a powerbomb. It’s odd to see the challenger to a World Championship actually schooling the champion on what it means to be a World Champion – but in the context of these two men it makes for a great dynamic. Mexican surfboard by Dragon, who has dominated the match since it came back into the ring. Generico tries to slap Danielson…who slaps him back with such force that it takes him off his feet. Springboard crossbody gets Generico a 2. Dragon with the Sayama flip but Generico catches him on the spin with a Blue Thunder Driver. Rope run into the tornado DDT scores…but Dragon completely no sells it to hit a Saito suplex. He goes for the Benoit headbutt only for Generico to get the knees up and land a Yakuza Kick. Half nelson suplex gets 2. BRAINBUSTER! DANIELSON KICKS OUT! Generico takes it to the corner…but Danielson wriggles out of the Turnbuckle Brainbuster and comes back to nail the back superplex. Cattle Mutilation locked in on the tiring El Generico! He refuses to tap so Danielson starts kneeing him in the face! MMA ELBOWS TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! CATTLE MUTILATION AGAIN! IT’S OVER! Danielson wins the PWG Championship at 11:34


Rating - *** - Entertaining little match, which would probably been a little better if you’d watch the show in full and had the advantage of having seen the Danielson/Necro match from earlier in the evening. Still, the crowd was fired up, and a title change is a nice way to round out the compilation so it’s nice inclusion.


Tape Rating - ****1/2 - Although only two matches actually made it this high on the ratings, PWG Sells Out is absolute must own stuff. The sheer volume of high quality action is unbelievable. The Californian promotion have gone for broke and put on an absolutely immense compilation that deserves to be in your collection. From Steen and Super Dragon’s grudge match masterclass, to the silky technical perfection of Gibson and AJ, to the dazzling aerial antics of Pac to a chick getting thumb tacks dropkicked into her cleavage…this really does have everything. In truth, not EVERY match will be to your liking. There were a couple on here which REALLY didn’t appeal to me. But PWG have really tried to appeal to as many fans as possible. If you like WWE/TNA style sports entertainment over-booked mayhem…it’s on here. If you like hardcore…it’s on here. High flying is on here. Mat wrestling is on here. Great Tag Team wrestling. Whatever your tastes, I promise you there’s plenty here to enjoy. Do yourself a favour and get this one in your collection now. And save yourself some time and pick up PWG Sells Out 2 (which I’ll review sometime between now and the end of the year) as well…since the value for money you’re getting with these is phenomenal


Top 5 Matches

5) AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe (****)

4) Pac vs Kevin Steen (****)

3) Super Dragon/Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong/Jack Evans (****)

2) AJ Styles vs James Gibson (****1/2)

1) Super Dragon vs Kevin Steen (****1/2)

 

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