PWG Sells Out 2: The Best Of Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla Volume 2
This review has been a long time coming. I had a blast reviewing the first ‘PWG Sells Out’ and a couple of other PWG shows I’ve done recently…and have gotten a lot of requests to get this review done. Truth is, I’ve been keen to get around to it as well, but with ‘real world commitments’, ROH reviews, my on-going WWE ppv project plus, you know, watching wrestling to enjoy it rather than critique it, it’s actually been tough to find the time to commit to a meaty 3-disc, 9 hour set such as this. Having said all that, I’m here now and, to quote an early PWG show title, I am very ‘adequately prepared to rock’. As with the past set, this is a veritable who’s who of the independent wrestling scene from the last decade with the likes of AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Colt Cabana, Low Ki, Kevin Steen, Davey Richards, El Generico, Chris Hero, Matt Sydal, Nigel McGuinness, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Necro Butcher, Jack Evans, Super Dragon, Alex Shelley, CIMA, Pac, the Young Bucks and more all making appearances. Don’t expect every match to be a classic. Don’t expect to get through this whole set in a single sitting. Don’t expect the commentary to be particularly tasteful either for that matter. Let’s head to SoCal once again for another raid on Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla’s sizeable vault of wrestling classics…
Frankie Kazarian vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles – PWG Heavyweight Title Match
Are You Adequately Prepared To Rock? (October 4th 2003) – Kaz is defending the title here, defending against two men he’d go on to share plenty of ring-time with over the coming decade. By this point Daniels and AJ were no strangers to each other either, having already wrestled countless times.
We JIP, although I don’t imagine we’ve actually missed any action. It sees Styles and Daniels joining forces to take it to the defending champion before tossing him out. Frankie returns with a slingshot DDT on AJ after he gets distracted fighting the Fallen Angel. Daniels goes for Angel’s Wings early, but gets pasted with a jumping enzi by Styles…who then gets dropkicked in the face by Kaz as he sets up for the Styles Clash. AJ leaves the ring with a somersault plancha on Daniels…soon followed by Kazarian and a RUNNING TOPE! Back in the ring he hits a running bulldog/clothesline combo to wipe out both opponents again, but can’t retain the title at that juncture. Suplex neckbreaker gets 2 for Styles, only for Frankie to retaliate with a somersault leg drop to the back of his head! Flatliner/DDT combo by Daniels only for him to grow frustrated by his inability to pin either opponent. Pumphandle gutbusters for both opponents by AJ, but he’s so beaten up now he slumps to the ground alongside his rivals. Daniels goes for Angel’s Wings on Kaz, only for Styles to flip OVER HIM into the Phenom DDT – taking down both Daniels and Frankie! DISCUS LARIATOOOOOOO from AJ to Daniels! Kazarian puts a choke on Fallen Angel, but doesn’t even come close to a submission before Styles drops him straight onto his neck with a hammerlock back suplex. BME misses for Daniels, allowing Styles to hit him with the GERMAN/GOURDBUSTER combo! Wave Of The Future blocked by AJ, so Frankie hits him with a bicycle kick instead for 2. ANGEL’S WINGS! Styles dives in to break the fall! STYLES CLASH ON DANIELS…AS FRANKIE HITS AJ WITH WAVE OF THE FUTURE! Awesome, if slightly contrived finish, allowing Kaz to retain at 13:17
Rating - *** - If you enjoy three talented guys throwing their signature spots around without much rhyme or reason then this was certainly the match for you. Even back in 2003 these three athletes were great fun to watch and, in truth, were playing it pretty safe here. It was a pretty standard triple threat spotfest, albeit one which built to one of the coolest finishes I’ve seen in some time.
Super Dragon vs Joey Ryan – Guerrilla Warfare Match
An Inch Longer Than Average (November 15th 2003) – The Guerrilla Warfare match is PWG’s ace in the hole, ultimate grudge match feud ender. On PWG Sells Out Volume 1 we saw Super Dragon battle Kevin Steen in one of the most violent matches in PWG history. That was actually in 2005, so this one pre-dates that by a couple of years.
The fight gets started with Joey Ryan getting into a fight with fake Super Dragon in the aisle, before the actual Dragon attacks him from behind. They tease a chair duel…until S-Drag CHUCKS THE CHAIR INTO JOEY’S LEGS! That was awesome! We go to a mat super-stiff mat wrestling exchange, where once again it appears that Dragon has an advantage which prompts Joey to leave the ring and sweep his face into the apron. UNPROTECTED CHAIR SHOT TO THE FACE! Ryan crumples in a heap and still hasn’t recovered by the time Super has hooked him up for a CURB STOMP ON A CHAIR! Not content with that, Drag then works a headscissors with added chair shot to the stomach! Joey hasn’t gotten out of the blocks yet and is now being chased around the ring and brutalised. RUNNING BUCKLEBOMB into an STF, again with an added chair shot for extra violence from the vicious Super Dragon. Joey bashes his way free with another chair only to be mauled again with the Violence Party. STEEL CHAIR VIOLENCE PARTY! Ryan has bailed now, nearly out on his feet but apparently still coherent enough to get a chair up as Dragon flies at him with an elbow suicida attempt. A ladder is propped up in the corner of the ring, with Joey being the first to use it by belly to belly suplexing Drag into it for 2. Moustache Ride (then called the Duff Drop) COUNTERED into a flying double stomp! Dragon is straight back to the top rope, this time DOUBLE STOMPING A LADDER into Ryan’s face! He puts a table between the ring and the guardrail then goes upstairs again! The crowd boo when Ryan rolls away…so Dragon hits him with a TOPE CON HILO! Double stomp misses this time, and Joey counters with a SPEAR THROUGH A LADDER for 2! Excalibur has stopped commentating on the match and is instead commentating on what animal cracker he pulls out of the box next. Only in PWG folks. Ryan hits a German suplex on Super, only for the Dragon to wildly flail a chair over his own head to rock him. It comes back to haunt him as Ryan knocks the chair to the ground then drops him onto it with a northern lights suplex. German/dragon suplex combo from Super Dragon for 2. ‘Joey Ryan is as stupid as he is gay’ – Excalibur.
SPRINGBOARD UFO KICK gets 2! Psycho Driver III blocked…and in turn Ryan comes close to hitting Dragon with his own Psycho Driver II in turn. CHAIR SHOT TO THE ARM blocks a lariat from Dragon – and when he rolls to the floor Ryan chases him out for a NECK DROP PUMPHANDLE SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Nearly 20-minutes into this psychotic spotfest, Joey breaks out some psychology and starts working Dragon’s arm! He wraps it around the guardrail, then takes him back into the ring to Con-Chair-To it before applying a Fujiwara Armbar. When Dragon doesn’t tap out to that Joey brings a table into the ring (although he makes a real hash of it and is ripped to pieces by the commentary team). He takes so long that he has to use a HEAD DROP GERMAN as a transition spot, and looks absolutely exhausted as he leaves the ring again to bring in yet another table. One of them has been positioned to form a platform over the top turnbuckles, and Joey takes Dragon up there for a MOUSTACHE RIDE THROUGH THE OTHER TABLE! It doesn’t break that well, so poor Dragon has a horrific landing to endure before kicking out. He’s also still selling the arm which is pretty cool. Joey has dragged him to the top rope again, but this time he grabs the top rope to block a Moustache Ride to the floor. Ryan lands badly and is positioned on a table on the floor. FLYING SENTON BOMB THROUGH THE TABLE ON THE FLOOR! They’ve teased that spot all match, but it’s not the end. Joey kicks out at 2, so Dragon pulls him back to the corner for an ARM SELLING VIOLENCE PARTY! LARIAT WITH THE BAD ARM! BOTH MEN DOWN! Super Dragon leaves the ring to retrieve a segment of guardrail, and is STILL selling the arm! AVALANCHE SUPERNATURAL DRIVER THROUGH THE GUARDRAIL! You’d think that would be it too…but it’s still not. Dragon stacks a table, a ladder and the guardrail in the middle of the ring. PSYCHO DRIVER III THROUGH EVERYTHING! IT’S OVER! Finally Dragon wins at 31:42
Rating - *** - I can honestly say I’ve never had a harder time rating a match than this. On the one hand it’s a ridiculous, overly-long, completely self-indulgent mess as these two guys chuck suicidal spots around like confetti. The crazy thing is, this wasn’t even the main event of the show it was on – it was like the fourth match. But despite how retarded the whole thing was, you have to say it was tremendously exciting from first to last. Both men were incredibly courageous and took some brutal bumps, sacrificing their bodies in the extreme to entertain the fans. Their desire to f*ck themselves up for our entertainment is something you can’t help but respect. And, in the second half of the match we actually got a cool little story going with Dragon physically dominating Joey – who devised the strategy around his opponent’s arm and came close to beating him as a result. S-Drag’s selling of the arm was freaking amazing too (even after Joey had completely forgotten about it). In the end you have to call this a car crash, but a hell of a fun one to watch.
Frankie Kazarian vs Bryan Danielson – PWG Heavyweight Title Match
An Inch Longer Than Average (November 15th 2003) – The deal with Kazarian’s 2003 run as PWG Champion was that he was the local guy, positioned as PWG’s Champion – and they wanted to hype him as being as good as all these major indy talents at the time. We’ve already seen him defeat AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels in the same match, and now he has American Dragon to contend with. These guys were the main event on the same show as the Dragon/Joey match we just saw. I’m willing to bet the crowd doesn’t have much energy for this…
This is right after Danielson returned from his extended tour of England. The crowd are, unsurprisingly, totally silent as the two wrestlers probe for weaknesses on the mat in the opening minutes. Kazarian holds his own with Dragon but it’s noticeable that Bryan is spending much more of his time on offence than the champion. He also seems to have significantly more counter/escape options than Frankie. One thing Kaz has in his favour is his size, so at five minutes he starts trying to ride the challenger in front facelocks. He’s also, in theory, quicker – and showcases that as he starts ducking and nipping up into various offensive positions. He snaps Danielson down into a neckbreaker (of sorts) before again going back to the front facelock to grind down the neck. SLINGSHOT DDT nailed, doing more damage to that body part! He tries to work a cravat…so Dragon crotches him on the top rope then BATTERS him off the apron with a vicious running elbow. Having brought the stiffness and viciousness into play to beat the snot out of Kaz, Danielson decides to start picking apart the arm. Hopefully Frankie was watching Super Dragon’s arm selling earlier in the show. Bryan does an awesome job decimating the arm, beating his opponent down to such an extent that he starts demanding the ref attempt to count out for a TKO victory (even though he’s not sustained a head shot). The attack on the arm is so tenacious that he’s able to cling to it and even completely nullify Kazarian’s attempts at offensive manoeuvres such as body slams. The champ is desperate and just looking to escape with his title now, so goes for flash pins. Unfortunately they fail and he gets stuck on the canvas in an anaconda vice. The challenger only relents in his assault on Frankie to go MENTAL at a fan – screaming at him to get into the ring for a fight. The distraction allows Kazarian to land a wild superkick. He hits an ocean cyclone suplex for 2, but comes up clutching his injured arm and shoulder. Wave Of The Future blocked INTO A ROARING ELBOW! DIVING HEADBUTT TO THE SHOULDER! CATTLE MUTILATION! Somehow Frankie COUNTERS to a Kaz-mission (Katahajime), and when Bryan rolls through that he goes straight into WAVE OF THE FUTURE! There’s some arm selling there too, and perhaps the delay is what allows Danielson to get a foot on the ropes at 2. The crowd is f*cking DEAD for this. Dragon hits a diving uppercut out of the corner to block the Flux Capacitor and leave both men down. HEADBUTT DUEL! Frankie kicks the sh*t out of Bryan’s face! FLUX CAPACITOR! Frankie grabs his arm in pain, but covers for the win at 22:31
Rating - **** - Main eventing PWG shows must suck. The crowd had already been beaten into total silence by the likes of S-Drag/Joey earlier in the night, so by this point they were completely silent and in no mood to sit through a Bryan Danielson 20+ minute technical clinic. And that’s a shame because it was a great match and a reminder that, even as far back as 2003, American Dragon seriously was one of the best wrestlers on the planet. An eye for detail is something he’s always had, and he led Frankie through a really gripping mat-based battle here. The opening minutes weren’t just filler, and they had a real purpose as Bryan looked to use his new European skills but found himself thwarted by the size and speed of the PWG Champion. Just when Kazarian looked to start dominating the neck (to set up for his finishers) Danielson upped the ante again, destroying the arm with skill and precision. He didn’t sell it as well as Super Dragon, but Frankie did a good enough job selling it that you believed it was a factor right the way through to the finish. In front of a crowd that actually cared, or popped for their false finishes I think many people would have received this match far better. Unsurprisingly most consider the Guerrilla Warfare Match to be THE stand-out match from the Inch Longer Than Average show…
Frankie Kazarian/Joey Ryan/CM Punk vs Adam Pearce/Super Dragon/Colt Cabana
Pimpin’ In High Places (December 13th 2003) – Although this seems like quite a thrown together match, there were actually quite a lot of feuds running through this. Adam Pearce was in hot pursuit of Kazarian and the PWG Championship, whilst obviously we’ve already seen the extent to which Dragon and Joey Ryan were feuding when they met in a Guerrilla Warfare Match earlier in the year. To those combustible elements we also have perennial friends/rivals CM Punk and Colt Cabana added to the mix. Punk has a past with Pearce and Super Dragon too.
Super Dragon teases starting with Punk, but heels out by tagging Pearce…so Punk retorts by bringing Pearce’s rival Kazarian into play. Eventually we settle on Colt and Joey starting, so they can show some of their ‘technical wizardry’ on the canvas. Excalibur is talking about flying humans ‘like kites’ on commentary, such is the weirdness of PWG. ‘Taro, why don’t you slit your own wrists?’ – Excalibur. Cabana’s combination of bewitching wrestling techniques and shenanigans mean that both Kaz and Ryan can’t get the better of him. Dragon is still avoiding getting into the ring with Punk – who instead has to settle for ‘forcing Adam Pearce to give him a blowjob’ – Disco Machine. The babyface team try to work over Scrap Iron’s arm, but he manages to escape Frankie’s clutches and make a hot tag to Dragon who absolutely brutalises him with shots. Instead it’s the heel team working over the PWG Champion. There’s some ugly ass counter spot, where Kazarian flips out of a Dragon monkey flip into the GROINS of Cabana and Pearce before making a hot tag to Punk. More botching next as Colt and Pearce botch a catapult/lariat combo…although S-Drag saves the sequence seconds later by splatting into Ryan’s stomach with a double stomp. The drunken commentary is probably better than this match. Ryan blocks the Curb Stomp so gets the VIOLENCE PARTY instead! Joey is stuck in the ring with the heels now, and sustains serious damage – including the IRON CLAW from Cabana. He finally battles into a hot tag after dropping Dragon on his head with a German suplex. Kazarian and Pearce finally come together, with Frankie locking in the KAZ-MISSION! Pearce escapes and the two rivals crash into each other in the middle of the ring attempting crossbodies. It means that Dragon has no choice but to get into the ring with CM Punk…and they BATTER each other with elbow strikes. LARIATOOO by Dragon drops Punk on his neck! PEARCE IS BACK DROPPED TO THE FLOOR – on top of an unsuspecting Dragon. TRIPLE SUICIDE DIVES by Punk, Kazarian and Ryan! Punk drags Dragon back inside the ring, missing a Shining Wizard only to connect with the DEVIL LOCK DDT for 2! Cabana saves his partner, and plants his great friend with a cradle snap suplex. MOUSTACHE RIDE ON CABANA! SUPERNATURAL DRIVER FROM DRAGON TO JOEY! Frankie and Pearce go at it again, but as Adam drops the champ with a powerbomb Punk SPRINGBOARDS OFF HIS BACK INTO A SHINING WIZARD ON SUPER DRAGON! Cabana drops Punk with a kryptonite neckbreaker, then scoops him for a DOOMSDAY DEVICE…BUT PUNK COUNTERS TO A REVERSE RANA ON COLT! Ryan and Dragon battle on the turnbuckles before Pearce shoves Joey to the floor. FLUX CAPACITOR from Kazarian to Dragon! WAVE OF THE FUTURE ON PEARCE! Adam’s manager drags referee Rick Knox out of the ring…so Kaz gives him a pescado. JUMPING PILEDRIVER ON THE TITLE BELT BY PEARCE! He pins the PWG Champion at 24:58
Rating - *** - In many ways this was the embodiment of what Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla is all about. It was completely self-indulgent, at times completely brainless…but undeniably fun from start to finish. Inside the ring the wrestlers are clearly having a blast, on commentary the guys watching are having a riot cracking jokes, and the fans were enjoying themselves too. You could skip the first half of the match and miss nothing (besides some truly strange commentary sound-bites) but the action really picked up in the second half as everyone chucked spots at each other. Pearce and Super Dragon are such experienced and entertaining heels that they pretty much held this one together from a character perspective. In truth this was only included as a way to get CM Punk on the DVD to capitalise on his WWE fame…and the reality is Punk’s PWG portfolio isn’t particularly great.
Super Dragon/Bryan Danielson vs Joey Ryan/Scott Lost
Tango & Cash Invitational Night 2 (January 25th 2004) – The Tango & Cash Invitational was a two night tournament to crown PWG’s first ever tag champions. Lost and Ryan were regular tag partners as part of the ‘X-Foundation, so were amongst the favourites to win the whole thing. However, they have tough opponents tonight in the form of the indie dream-team of ‘American Dragon’ Bryan Danielson and Super Dragon. Will the tag team experience of the X-Foundation of the class of the world-travelled, main event seasoned Dragons win out?
There are as many empty seats as there are fans for this show, which is a shame. The match begins with Dragon and Danielson bullying a guy in the crowd (who had presumably said something offensive to them) rather than concentrating on their opponents. When he does concentrate on the match Bryan makes a mockery of the ‘Technical Wizard’ nickname Joey Ryan was sporting at this point in time and completely OWNS him on the ground. There’s also an amusing segment where Lost sneaks in to cheap shot Danielson, so Dragon also enters the ring and viciously puts the boots to Joey too. The X-Foundation join forces to start working over Danielson’s arm. It works to an extent, and also leads to a fantastic shoot-wrestling exchange between Bryan and Lost on the canvas. Scott actually comes straight out of that into a sweet MMA-influenced ground and pound trade-off with Dragon too. It’s clear the Dragons are looking to use their experience and martial arts skills to get an edge on the tag team specialists – but Lost and Ryan more than hold their own. They tear into Dragon with a double stomp combo and actually beat both opponents out of the ring and about three rows deep into the fans (seriously, knocking fans flying). Bryan goes APESH*T at a chair to much hilarity and it actually ends up distracting Joey, allowing S-Drag to return to the ring with the SPRINGBOARD UFO KICK! Danielson decides he wants to target Ryan’s knee and wrenches it in the ropes, holding it exposed to a FLYING DOUBLE STOMP from Dragon! A bum knee brings an added dimension to the usual Curb Stomp spot too. The Dragons are bullying Joey worse than that fan now, combining leg work with an array of cringingly stiff strikes. Joey legit looks like he wants to die during the Violence Party but somehow absorbs every one of Super’s disgusting attacks to dropkick him in the face. VIOLENCE PARTY BY JOEY! And he is LOVING receipting Dragon there. BITCH SLAP BY DRAGON! LARIATOOOO! NO SOLD! LARIAT BY JOEY! BOTH MEN DOWN! Tags all round, bringing a rejuvenated Scott Lost into the match for the first time in over ten minutes. He lands the Superman Spear on Danielson before they trade enziguris until neither can stand anymore! FLYING ARMBAR TAKEDOWN BY BRYAN! SUPERKICK from Lost to Dragon! Ryan is tagged back despite a heavy limp and somehow manages to scoop S-Drag up for ROLLING GERMANS! He then gets 2 with a pumphandle suplex, although it took Danielson’s interventions to break the fall. Moustache Ride countered into a MISSILE DROPKICK/SENTON COMBO on both members of the X-Foundation! RUNNING BUCKLEBOMB from Dragon to Joey, although he then forgets he and Bryan have been working his leg all match by putting him in a Crossface. ‘Work his leg you pussy’ – fan to Dragon. Super takes Joey to the top, only for him to be countered into a LIMPING MOUSTACHE RIDE for 2! Despite the leg he hooks up Danielson as Lost climbs to the top for the Extinction Agenda! ROARING ELBOW/LARIAT COMBO on Lost! CATTLE MUTILATION! Scott Lost is done at 22:40
Rating - **** - Best match on the DVD so far, and if the finish hadn’t have been so sudden and unexpected we’d have been talking an extra half star taking it into MOTYC territory. Such an awesome contest, pitting the vicious striking and technical skill of Danielson and Dragon against the resilience and tag team fluency of the X-Foundation. In the end Joey and Scott just found they couldn’t halt the unrelenting violence of their opponents and ultimately succumbed to defeat. Danielson was absolutely awesome in this match – with all the major elements of strategy and limb work coming from him. Even though the finish was a little sudden, it was undeniably Bryan who set it up with that crazy flying top rope armbar takedown on Lost minutes earlier. The Dragons would go on to lose in the finals of the tournament to Homicide and B-Boy – who in turn lost the belts to the X-Foundation at the next show.
SIDENOTE – The next match on the set comes from The Musical, which is actually the starting point for the first PWG Sells Out. It has been good to see plenty of material from PWG’s first year of existence (it was founded in July 2003) which we didn’t get in the first ‘Sells Out’ volume – even if not all of it was particularly amazing.
Chris Bosh/Quicksilver vs Super Dragon/Excalibur – PWG Tag Title Match
The Musical (April 17th 2004) – Fast forward a couple of months and we now have Bosh and Quicksilver holding PWG’s Tag Title. It doesn’t mean Super Dragon isn’t still in hot pursuit though, as he now partners with another SoCal veteran (and PWG’s resident commentary wise-cracker) Excalibur.
Bosh looks SO young here. He starts on the apron as Dragon goes straight for the Psycho Driver III on Quicksilver (who was apparently nearly paralysed by that move on a previous show). Super absolutely dominates the hapless Quicksilver on the mat. On commentary we have Excalibur (commentating on his own match) calling the PWG fans a ‘bunch of gays and retards’. He also offers some inside information that he worked in new gear for this match because his old gear ‘stunk’ and put off opponents. And he also rips the piss out of Bosh for botching a fireman’s carry takedown. A double stomp/backbreaker combo by he and Dragon once again have poor Quicksilver beaten down. I’m not sure Quick has executed a single offensive manoeuvre yet…and he now gets REPEATED Curb Stomps for his trouble. Excalibur confirms that his team were trying to inflict as much punishment on Silver as possible, rather than beat him at this juncture. They are focusing on Quick’s neck and back with Chris Bosh watching helplessly from the apron. Out of nowhere he hits the Silver Slice on Ex and rolls into the crucial tag to Chris. Hilariously, Quicksilver invades the ring illegally moments later to double stomp Excalibur then do a Super Dragon pose. You know S-Drag is going to murder him for that later. Sure enough Dragon does get the tag and lays waste to both opponents with his strikes…until Bosh scoops him up for a SPRINGBOARD HART ATTACK with Quicksilver for 2! Silver Flash Driver gets another nearfall, largely due to Excalibur distracting the referee. Maximum Bosh nailed after a flurry of Super Dragon-esque double stomps. Why are the challengers going out of their way to piss Dragon off? The dangerous masked wrestler is still on the ground though, in the path of a moonsault from Silver. Dragon is apparently so pissed off that he spurns the chance to tag in Ex to hit Bosh with a tiger suplex instead. Screwdriver countered by Excalibur into a German suplex/brainbuster sequence. The challengers ascend to opposing turnbuckles for a flying elbow/senton bomb combo for 2! Violence Party on Bosh, and Excalibur drags Quicksilver off the apron as he tries to stop Dragon hitting a flying double stomp. Ex looks for the Tiger Driver but sees it countered by Bosh into a back suplex backbreaker. Dragon and Silver into the ring, with S-Drag countering the Silverado with a butterfly submission then hauling his adversary up the ropes for a BUTTERFLY SUPERPLEX! PUMPHANDLE HALF NELSON SUPLEX BY BOSH! UFO KICK BY DRAGON! SILVER FLASH BY QUICKSILVER! ‘I know the outcome of this match’ – Excalibur on commentary. In the ring he and Dragon mow down their opponents with TANDEM LARIATS! TIGER DRIVER ’98 from Ex to Bosh! MOONSAULT DOUBLE STOMP OVER EX’S KNEES for Quicksilver! PSYCHO DRIVER! We have new champions as Excalibur pins Quicksilver at 21:58
Rating - **** - This was surprisingly restrained and formulaic for a PWG main event level tag match, and it was all the better for it. I’m not saying there were huge layers of psychology and story-telling here, but I appreciated that they slowed down a little and really built up to the pay-off of the big spots at the end. I enjoyed Dragon and Excalibur acting like dicks to Quicksilver, and in return it was fun to see Quick being an asshole right back as he stole Super Dragon’s moves and poses. That played into the finish where the challengers made him pay with a brutal climactic sequence.
AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson
Battle Of Los Angeles 2005 Night 2 (September 4th 2005) – Since the majority of the material from PWG Sells Out 1 was taken from the 2004-2006 period, we’ve jumped forward well over a year from the last match and this is our only match from 2005. It is a semi-final match from the inaugural BOLA tournament pitting these globally respected, world-travelled, incredibly talented indie superstars. They’ve wrestled each other in multiple promotions so will be hugely familiar with each other. AJ had the easier run to this stage of the tournament, working around 20-minutes total whilst defeating Jack Evans and Kevin Steen. Danielson had spent twice as long (over 40-minutes) in the ring overcoming Ricky Reyes and Christopher Daniels.
We’ve skipped Danielson’s entire beardy phase on the indies, and this is right before he returned to ROH to win their World Title. Having already endured some tough battles to make it this far the pace is understandably slow at the outset and sees Styles working exceptionally hard to live with Dragon on the canvas. AJ has an extensive amateur background himself and it’s really enjoyable watching them tussle and jostle for leverage at every turn through the opening minutes. Bryan is the first guy to make it nasty as he DRILLS Styles with a headbutt in the corner then mocks his arms-stretched pose for additional heat. Instantly the shoot-wrestling stuff becomes even more intense as AJ pops up looking to make Dragon his b*tch. He succeeds…SO BRYAN KICKS HIM IN THE FACE! AJ has had enough of Danielson’s mind games so sprints through him, tackling him into the ropes and down to the mat. They battle shoulder blocks in the middle of the ring, really getting the crowd into proceedings as they ponder who is the stronger, and who has a better muscle pose. It’s all a set-up for the inevitable AJ Styles dropkick but it was incredibly fun at the same time. STYLES SUPLEXES DRAGON TO THE FLOOR! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA…but poor AJ barely connects with American Dragon and lands with a horrific thud on the wooden floor of the building. His knee is bothering him apparently and it drastically slows his offence, albeit with Danielson still knocked silly and unable to return fire anyway. Eventually Bryan hits a diving European uppercut, dropping Styles to the canvas where he can start thinking about working the legs – first by stomping them out of a Mexican surfboard position. He tries to be a heel, but the crowd love him so roundly applaud that. The Phenomenal One isn’t done yet though, and is still a dangerous proposition on the canvas as Bryan tries to work him there. Having already hobbled AJ, Danielson now targets the back by repeatedly whipping him into the turnbuckles. Eventually he does it so many times that Styles COUNTERS to the Phenom DDT…which injures him in executing it so they both go down. DISCUS LARIAT VS ROARING ELBOW DUEL! Danielson looks for the Crossface Chickenwing…only for Styles to counter into a HAMMERLOCK DRIVER! He dropped Bryan pretty much directly on his head there, and capitalises seconds later with the pumphandle gutbuster. Styles can’t climb up the ropes for the Spiral Tap quickly enough and is caught on the top for the FLYING ARMBAR TAKEDOWN! Having mangled AJ’s leg, back and neck he is effectively defenceless, and Danielson takes full advantage by locking in the Backlund-inspired CROSSFACE CHICKENWING! COUNTERED TO THE CATTLE MUTILATION BY AJ! Oh sh*t, Styles is f*cking selling that knee too! Danielson COUNTERS to his version of the Cattle Mutilation! Bryan wants a back superplex but has it reversed to a crossbody blocked in mid-air to leave them both winded and struggling to recover. On their knees they crawl towards each other and engage in stiff strike warfare. They take turns landing on their feet out of German suplex attempts (AJ still selling the leg), so Bryan scoops him up for the AIRPLANE SPIN! AJ COUNTERS TO A SMALL PACKAGE! HE WINS! It’s all over and Styles advances at 20:00
Rating - **** - Of course I expected this to be good, but it actually surprised me on a number of levels. As part of a tournament, and in a situation where Danielson had already worked one 20+ minute match on the same evening I was sceptical about how much they would cut loose. They did work at a significantly slower pace than some of the matches I’ve seen between them, but it was such intelligent work you’d hardly notice. The opening portion saw them testing each other on the ground since Bryan is a world-renowned technical wizard and AJ has a fair amount of amateur experience to call upon. Realising he couldn’t dominate Styles on the mat like he can so many of his opponents, Danielson started devising alternate strategies to slow down his bigger and more explosive opponent. He worked limbs at will, seemingly being able to counter anything AJ threw at him into something which seriously damaged a body part. And in amongst all that excellent limb work we actually had some STRONG selling by Styles, and some fantastically timed and executed comebacks. In the end Styles survived the onslaught from his opponent and caught Danielson out as he attempted to showboat to the crowd with his Airplane Spin. One mistake equals defeat when you operate at the elite level that these men do. A third Bryan Danielson gem on Disc 1 of this compilation – and he still has three more matches later on in our PWG Sells Out 2 journey.
Scott Lost/Chris Bosh vs Quicksilver/El Generico
Beyond The Thunderdome (March 18th 2006) – To give you their team names, this is ‘Arrogance’ versus ‘Cape Fear’ (an awesome name for a team) but I thought I’d stick to their individual names for those who weren’t familiar with the duos. Cape Fear were an extremely popular duo, but have their work cut out against the veteran duo of Bosh and Lost – who had been teaming together for years at this point. Lost started teaming with Bosh after the break-up of the X-Foundation.
Scott Lost tells Bosh to focus on their match and stop cutting promos on Joey Ryan and Super Dragon. Generico’s physique is almost unrecognisable from Sami Zayn in 2014. He jumps Lost before the bell to get us started, driving him out of the ring with a lucha armdrag flurry. SLINGSHOT CORKSCREW PLANCHA! Bosh and Quicksilver in next, with Quick producing an AWESOME somersault pinfall counter to a standard leapfrog spot. Silver Slice scores as well, allowing Cape Fear to start isolating Bosh. It’s all change after Chris hits a neckbreaker over the knee on Generico though. Lost is on hand to follow it with a corkscrew roundhouse strike and immediately Arrogance are the dominant team. Silver tries to springboard in to his partner’s aid, only for Lost to shove Bosh aside and catch him with a MID-AIR GUTBUSTER! His ribs are already hurting, so it’s an entirely idiotic move by Quicksilver to attempt a standing moonsault seconds later. He is rightly punished with more of Lost’s knees deep in his abdomen. Superman Spear piles yet more pressure on Silver’s midsection as well. Arrogance get a nearfall with the cutter/gutbuster combo…before Quick hits back with the inverted Slice on Lost. Hot tag to El Generico who sprints into the rope run tornado DDT on Bosh. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! He went way back into the crowd on that, and recovers quickly enough to dive back in with a springboard crossbody. Split-legged moonsault/backbreaker combo by Cape Fear! TOP ROPE CRISTO by Silver…countered into a FLYING DOUBLE BACKBREAKER by Bosh and Lost! Superman Spear…into the NORTHERN LIGHTS BACKBREAKER COMBO! Arrogance are decimating Quicksilver’s ribs. And still he manages to kick Scott in the head, leaving him hanging in the ropes for Generico to hit an ASAI MOONSAULT! CRADLE SCREWDRIVER ON LOST FOR 2! Bosh blocks the half nelson suplex into a Stunner, so Quicksilver gives him the SILVERADO then sprints into an ELBOW SUICIDA ON LOST! Scott recovers in time to save Chris from the Turnbuckle Brainbuster…LOST AND QUICKSILVER SUPLEX EACH OTHER OUT OF THE RING! GENERICO BACK FLIPS OUT OF AN AWESOME BOMB INTO A DROPKICK! YAKUZA KICK! BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Cape Fear win at 14:59
Rating - **** - One of the shortest matches on Disc 1, but also one of the best. This was flat-out awesome from the first minute until the last. Arrogance destroying Quicksilver’s ribs with every spot was fantastic, whilst Generico produced some spectacular offensive flurries. As far as tag team spotfests go this is one you definitely want to check out.
Matt Sydal vs Roderick Strong
All Star Weekend 3: Crazymania Night 2 (April 9th 2006) – Sydal really wasn’t a particularly prominent or regular worker in PWG in his pre-WWE days, so his inclusion here means this is either a GREAT match, or (more likely) an attempt to boost the ‘star power’ on PWG Sells Out 2 by adding ‘Evan Bourne’ to the line-up. Independent wrestling fans will know that these two have a great deal of history together, as Sydal was recruited to join Generation Next (of which Roddy was a founding member) in 2005, and had spent large portions of 2006 chasing Roderick and Austin Aries for the Ring Of Honor Tag Titles.
He was never fat, but it’s amazing how much leaner Roddy is in 2014 when compared to ’06. He uses that extra size to his immediate advantage as he muscles Matt to the ground in a test of strength. In response Sydal gets to showcase his speed by repeatedly out-manoeuvring Roderick on the canvas. In fact, that’s how most of the early exchanges go as Strong looks to over-power his smaller opponent but is continually thwarted by Matt’s flexibility, intelligence and athleticism. Sydal makes a mistake trying to shoulder block Strong…but doesn’t pay for it as Strong instantly makes an error in return by running the ropes with Sydal and getting utterly destroyed with Matt’s fast-paced armdrags and headscissors takedowns. Sydal goes for his climbing knee strike spot in the corner, but is knocked away (Strong is familiar with his moveset)…and tries a pescado instead. STRONG CATCHES HIM AND THROWS HIM INTO THE CROWD! Outside the ring isn’t a friendly environment for the smaller man, and he gets chased around the ring being pummelled by ferocious chops and getting his back driven into the side of the ring. This is Strong’s kind of match now and he takes his opponent down, stretching out the back in a variety of submission holds. Since it’s PWG he’s much more light-hearted than his ROH persona and is encouraging fans to count along as he starts running through his different backbreaker variants. He only makes it to two before Sydal COUNTERS to the Slice! BACK SUPLEX ONTO THE APRON! I’m not sure if that is officially included as part of the backbreaker count but it leaves Matt on the ground outside the ring writhing in pain. It’s all he can do to block an attempted piledriver on the floor as Strong pounces on him like a shark smelling blood. PRESS SLAM THROUGH ROWS OF OPEN CHAIRS! Matt’s back is seriously bruised by this point.
He tries an ill-advised crossbody and you can almost hear the crowd groan at the stupidity of it. He is rightly dispatched with a huge fallaway slam. Strong got such distance on it that when he tries to put the Stronghold on Sydal is already in the ropes. Matt tries to trade strikes with Strong…and gets CHOPPED to the floor, collapsing to the ground with his legs still trapped in the bottom rope. Amazingly, he starts bridging out of pinfall attempts, which is a cool ‘f*ck you’ visual but does sort of demean all the back work Roddy has utilised thus far. Pop-up dropkick into an enzi strike, with Sydal quickening the pace and driving Strong out of the ring. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! At this speed Sydal has a clear advantage and it’s shown as Roderick looks for a succession of strikes in the corner only to see them countered into a climbing Wizard then the standing moonsault for 2. Here It Is Driver blocked…Death By Roderick blocked too! AIR RAID GUTBUSTER! GIBSON DRIVER! Sydal kicks out, so EATS torture rack backbreaker! Strong disrespectfully and dismissively kicks at his fallen opponent only for the defiant Sydal to get to his feet and strike back. Half nelson backbreaker blocked as Matt goes for flash pins…neither man can get the advantage! DEATH BY RODERICK…COUNTERED TO A NECK DROP HURRICANRANA! FOR 2! Roderick is lifted into the corner, but blocks the Cyclorama and the standing frankensteiner…THEN FLIES OUT OF THE CORNER WITH A TOP ROPE SICK KICK! FLYING TORNADO DDT BY MATT! SYDAL PRESS! Sydal wins at 19:55!
Rating - **** - Not a whole lot of selling going on, but this was still a flat-out awesome match. 2006 was the year the top tier independent promotions really started taking notice of Sydal, and it was thanks to exciting thrill-ride encounters such as this. Sure he made no effort to sell Strong’s work on the back, but in the grand scheme of things that is such a minor quibble. The over-arching story here was great. Strong was more experienced and bigger, so looked to bully his inferior GeNext partner. Matt had to absorb some serious punishment, but ultimately won the match because he was able to suck Strong into working a fast-paced, spotfest rather than a methodical ‘work the back’ typical Roddy match.
Super Dragon vs Necro Butcher – No DQ Match
Battle Of Los Angeles 2006 Night 2 (September 2nd 2006) – This was a first round match in the 2006 BOLA tournament, and was an obvious dream match pitting two of the most violent workers on the indies against one another. The No DQ stipulation means rules are thrown out of the window and there are no restrictions on how these two can hurt each other.
Necro is bleeding before the match even starts. We begin with a SUPER STIFF strike exchange. Dragon is the first to drop, rolling out of the ring to flee the Butcher (who now has a fat lip to add to his bloody forehead). Leaving the ring was never going to be in Super’s best interests, as he soon finds out with a CHAIR SLAM ON THE FLOOR! CHOOSE DEATH BACKBREAKER ON THE FLOOR! And the crazy thing is Dragon starts fighting back even whilst he has a chair wrapped around his throat! CHAIR SHOT TO THE F*CKING HAND! Dragon then stands over Necro, taunting him that he now can’t punch him in the face! Butcher tries a single punch and collapses in pain, and as he lies on the ground Dragon SENTON BOMBS A CHAIR ON HIS HAND! That is so horrific that the crowd is still recovering seconds later when S-Drag suplexes him into a pile of chairs and barely reacts to that. Grounded headscissors worked by Dragon as the early pace starts to slow, although the awesomeness continues as he starts PUNCHING THE BAD HAND! Necro’s response is to counter into MOUNTED ELBOWS! They are brutal but even they hurt his hand, so Super peppers him with KAWADA KICKS. STRAIGHT PUNCH TO THE FAAAAAAAAAACE! Both men collapse, Dragon presumably unconscious, whilst Butcher sells the hand. It gets worse as Butcher legit throws a chair straight into his face as well. He starts moving fans aside to set up a table right amongst them but finds himself absorbing vicious close-range headbutts from Dragon before he can use it. NECRO BACK DROPS HIM ONTO THE STAGE! I think he was supposed to go through the table, but instead S-Drag landed knees and ass first onto solid floor. Butcher tries to recover with a Necro Bomb through the table, but it gives way under them and they both collapse in a heap. After two consecutive ugly botches Necro looks frustrated and rips apart the broken pieces of table to clock his fallen opponent with.
NECRO BOMB ON THE STAGE gets 2 (it’s falls count anywhere too). Dragon sells that by rolling around in chairs, tossing them everywhere as fans run for cover. The one-handed Necro Butcher is back in the ring, wielding a chair as a weapon and waiting for him. CHAIR SHOT TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! SUPER DRAGON THROWS A CHAIR BACK AT HIM! GANSO BOMB ONTO THE EDGE OF A TABLE! That was another obvious f*ck up, but in truth the botch was twice as brutal. SUPERNATURAL DRIVER INTO THE TABLE…GETS 2! Again, the table didn’t break, it looked like sh*t and was all the more violent for it. Dragon tries to set Necro up for a double stomp into an open chair, but Butcher tosses it up the ropes into his face. OPEN HAND STRIKES BY NECRO! NECRO-CAN-RANA NAILED! When S-Drag gets up from that Butcher drops him south onto his neck once again, this time with a lariat. After every strike, to his credit, Necro really does sell the hand an arm well. His weakened punches now have no effect, and Dragon retorts with a LARIAT ACROSS THE FACE! Seriously, he smashed Necro right across the nose. VIOLENCE PARTY! KAWADA KICKS! NO SOLD! VIOLENCE PARADE BY NECRO! SUPER DRAGON STOMPS HIS F*CKING FACE IN! CON-CHAIR-TO NAILED…except this time the chair is wrapped around Butcher’s throat, and Dragon swung the chair with such force that he actually fell out of the ring executing the move! CURB STOMP ON A CHAIR! GETS 2! Necro has very little left, and isn’t defending himself as Super Dragon hauls him to the top. RUNNING PSYCHO DRIVER III THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR! ARE YOU INSANE? Dragon wins at 25:59, but in reality Necro is the real winner for not being paralysed after that suicidal finishing spot!
Rating - ****1/2 - This is one of those matches where it’s almost pointless giving a rating. There is no value to a star rating system against matches like this. They are hugely divisive (people either love them or hate them), and how on earth to you assign a rating based on skill and technical merit to a match where two guys set out with the solitary, very obvious goal of beating the everloving sh*t out of their opponent? This wasn’t pretty, or clever…but it was one of the most brutal, violent and horrifying matches you’ll ever see. This wasn’t brutal like two guys diving off ladders in elaborate, pre-planned stunt bumps. It wasn’t even classical death match wrestling with light tubes and plenty of blood, guts and gore. This was pretty much a real, authentic bar fight – except the two men were willing participants and happened to be inside a PWG ring rather than the local tavern. Sure there were some obvious and nasty botches, but that actually worked perfectly well in the context of the match. Here we had two guys who from the opening bell were full on punching each other. Not pulling punches, visibly rattling each others jaws. Why on earth would they care if the table didn’t break just right so a spot ‘looked pretty’. In many ways, the spot in the corner where Dragon hit two incredibly ugly spots on Necro into a table which just wouldn’t break was the embodiment of the entire match – disgusting, nasty and uncompromisingly uncomfortable to watch. Although it’s a very different match, I sort of compare watching this to the first time you saw the Mankind/Undertaker Hell In A Cell Match. You’re in awe of the violence, you’re in shock at the brutality…and you’re openly questioning ‘how far is too far’. Watching these two beat each other to a pulp can hardly be counted as a classic MOTYC-level technical masterpiece, but it was a spectacle I couldn’t take my eyes off.
Kaz Hayashi vs Alex Shelley
All Star Weekend 5 Night 1 (April 7th 2007) – From an unbelievably barbaric encounter as part of the 2006 BOLA we go to action between two internationally-renowned junior heavyweights at 2007’s All Star Weekend. Hayashi was well-established as a top gun of AJPW’s junior scene by this point, and isn’t exactly lacking in American experience either having spent several years in WCW. At this stage Shelley was an established part of the Zero-1 roster as well as appearing regularly for TNA making this an inter-promotional dream match of sorts.
Shelley is wearing his Zero-1 tights, which may be entirely coincidental, or may be to make the point that he’s looking to make a statement at the expense of one of AJPW’s top juniors. It’s a very intense but respectful opening period with both guys looking to notch their guns by getting an advantage over their opponent on the mat. Alex has always been imperious when it comes to chain-wrestling and he looks right at home as he floats from hold to hold, slowly gaining an edge over Hayashi in that environment. Kaz realises he is in trouble, so tosses his opponent into the lights then slides into a close-range dropkick to the ribs. Shelley hits a leg lariat on Kaz…who NO SELLS it and hits a spinning heel kick to the face. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY SHELLEY! That’s the move he needed to assume control, and he capitalises by going to work on Hayashi’s arm. Of course he’s able to fluently transition between an assortment of submission stretches, and he breaks those up by repeatedly executing suplexes modified to deliver maximum impact to the arm. Kaz is under pressure and responds with a dragon screw in the ropes. SHINBREAKER OFF THE APRON TO THE GUARDRAIL! Hayashi has turned the match on its head, and celebrates that fact by screaming in Alex’s face as he cranks onto a spinning toehold. Shelley makes the ropes and angrily gets to his feet to hit a STUNNER! Kaz no sells it and dropkicks the knee though, so Alex’s comeback is perilously short-lived. ASAI MOONSAULT with Shelley’s leg tangled in the ropes! Hayashi’s no selling no extends to the arm Shelley had worked on as he no sells it to hit a heel kick/skin the cat combo in the corner. Shelley tries it as well, only to be DROPKICKED TO THE FLOOR! Shelley jumps off the top rope and lands on his feet (yeah, he’s not selling either) to superkick Hayashi in the face. TREE OF WOE NECKBREAKER nailed, and followed by an inverted Shellshock for 2. Kaz hits back with a handspring enzi, only for Shelley to GERMAN SUPLEX HIM ON HIS HEAD! NO SOLD! BRAINBUSTER BY KAYASHI! NO SOLD! HEAD DROP GERMAN AGAIN! NO SOLD! BRAINBUSTER! BOTH MEN DOWN! They go to the top rope, with Shelley hitting a FLYING JAWBREAKER! He half sells the knee as an after-thought, but needn’t have bothered as Kaz doesn’t sell his move at all before mowing him down with a Shining Wizard. Air Raid Crash COUNTERED with a crucifix driver into the BORDER CITY STRETCH! Kaz escapes that only to be superkicked into Sliced Bread #2. It puts him in position for Shelley’s frog splash which gets 2. Back to the no selling, as Kayashi ignores another superkick from his opponent to land the Air Raid Crash. Hayashi Cutter wins it at 21:20
Rating - *** - This was a good match, and a lot of fun to watch, but in many ways it left a sour taste in my mouth. I hate being a critic who moans about selling, I really do. And for the most part, I can look past (and even enjoy) the odd instance of no-selling. What I am a sucker for, however, are well-told stories in wrestling matches. Which is why I don’t get why wrestlers will spend minutes at a time working over limbs or body parts if they know they have absolutely no intention of selling it later. This one lasts over twenty minutes and I wonder how much of that time was actively wasted with pointless working of body parts which both men wilfully ignored to chuck spots around. And, to make things worse, they also included an (admittedly super-entertaining) insane, head-drop extravaganza of no-selling, almost rubbing it in your face in a way which says ‘f*ck you, we don’t need to sell’. It had a genuine cross promotional dream match vibe (which is probably why this is included in the set in the first place), and both men are so talented that you can’t help but be entertained as they smoothly moved around the ring and through the gears together. But everything felt very shallow, and at 21:20 of in-ring time you really need a little more substance to go along with your style. Both guys are capable of much better.
Low Ki vs Samoa Joe
All Star Weekend 5 Night 2 (April 8th 2007) – Ah yes, the ROH rematch that never was. The match that Gabe cockteased us with for years but never pulled the trigger on. Clearly whatever reservations Gabe had about booking these two together weren’t shared by Super Dragon and the rest of the PWG booking team as they’ve booked this for one of their biggest shows of the year. These two have been rivals for years, and never hold anything back when they get into the ring together. It will hurt Joe that Ki won the match most still consider to be their definitive bout (the Fight Without Honor at ROH’s inaugural Glory By Honor event), and he’ll be looking for revenge tonight in PWG.
There are no pleasantries exchanged, and both start the match in fight poses and circle the ring throwing strikes. Ki tries to ensnare the big man in some submission holds and succeeds in getting him off his feet. Perhaps surprisingly Joe gives him a clean break after getting to the ropes. Palm strikes exchanged, before Joe FLOORS Low Ki with a jumping knee strike! He tries to follow in only to be wrapped up in more probing submission attempts by his smaller adversary. Joe has had enough of Ki’s tactics and simply powers him to the ground in a knucklelock. You don’t need to be a genius to realise he has a size advantage, but we see just how significant that can be as his sheer power enables him to trap Ki in a cross armbreaker. Low Ki escapes and hits a chop with such force that Joe nearly drops to his knees trying to catch his breath! More chops from Ki…BUT JOE RUNS THROUGH THEM! SLAP DUEL! JUMPING ENZI BY JOE! Ki refuses to go down…so gets knocked all the way to the floor with a running shoulder block. JUMPING KICK blocks the elbow suicida though. They tee off on each other outside the ring with plenty of fans cringing in disgust at the ferocity of their strikes. Ole Kick COUNTERED with an elbow smash! Realising he has nothing to gain from slugging it out with a much bigger man in the dangerous ringside environment Low Ki brings the fight back inside and looks to negate the size differential with a grounded headscissors. Joe has to leave the ring to recover from that, and Ki gives chase by flying off the apron. He gets caught and SPEARED INTO THE RAILING! Now Joe does get to hit the Ole Kick – and does so with such force that he BREAKS THE METAL RAIL! Misawa-style facelock applied, a move we saw Joe utilise so successfully against Kenta Kobashi in Ring Of Honor.
Having survived the early onslaught of the first ever ROH Champion, Samoa Joe now looks to punish his great rival. He methodically stalks him around the ring taking great pleasure in brutally striking him at every turn, be it through chops, boot scrapes, kicks or anything else. Ki looks for the Ki Krusha out of desperation only for Joe to easily fall into the ropes to block. MONGOLIAN CHOP takes Joe off his feet! He gets up and DECKS Ki with a running elbow smash! Muscle Buster COUNTERED TO THE HANGING DRAGON! FLYING ELBOW! NO SOLD! CAPO KICK! Joe still doesn’t go down! MACHINE GUN CHOPS! Ki channels Kobashi in an effort to beat the Samoan! TIDAL WAVE gets 2! He keeps kicking at Joe, who gets more and more annoyed with every shot. PALM STRIKES…DUCKED…KICK TO THE HEAD BY KI! Still Joe isn’t worn down enough for the Ki Krusha though, and he splats the New Yorker into the mat with the ST-Joe seconds later. Powerbomb/STF sequence attempted, but Ki has seen it before so tries to counter! CROSSFACE INSTEAD! The fans are evenly split as Joe hops up to the second rope for a FLYING KNEE STRIKE! That looked utterly disgusting and still only gets a 2-count for the ‘Samoan Submission Machine’. Sleeper suplex countered with a judo throw…into the JOHN WOO DROPKICK! TIDAL KRUSH! KI KRUSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! JOE IS IN THE ROPES! ISLAND DRIVER…FOR 2! Excalibur points out on commentary that Joe only uses that on rare occasions now. Ki blocks the Muscle Buster with a DRAGON CLUTCH! JOE KICKS HIM IN THE FACE! MUSCLE BUSTAAAAAAAH! IT’S OVER! JOE WINS! 24:16 is your time.
Rating - ****1/2 - I understand most will think I’m over-rating this. Despite me personally believing this was a better match than Glory By Honor in 2002, there is no way this will replace the Fight Without Honor as their defining match together. These two are so different, yet mesh so well, in such a brutal and engaging manner. The reason I actively preferred this to Glory By Honor was that this had so much more history and depth to it. Back in 2002 it was simply two hard hitters going to war and looking to beat the crap out of each other – and did so in very memorable fashion. But this one was so much more than that. The tables were turned in that the 2002 match saw Joe coming to the east coast to make his ROH debut…whilst here it was Low Ki facing Joe as part of his PWG debut weekend. Just as Joe looked to make a statement at Ki’s expense years earlier, Low Ki had exactly the same agenda in this one. He dominated the opening exchanges, using his speed and precision striking to gain a clear advantage over a man who’s skills were perhaps on the wane after two years as ROH World Champion and over a year in a more entertainment-based promotion like TNA. But Joe came back, and just like Ki he had his own motivation driving him on. He was desperate to avenge the Fight Without Honor defeat and on ‘his turf’ (the west coast) he took the fight right back to the World Warrior – using his imposing size to pick him apart. Such was Joe’s desperation to avenge the loss that he actually broke the guardrails trying to kick his face in. Ki responded again – using Kenta Kobashi moves to gain the advantage much as the great man had done in one of Samoa Joe’s most famous matches…and from there it was an even sprint to the finish. Joe reminded us how important their 2002 match was by using the Island Driver (his main finisher back then, but not something used too often by 2007), whilst Low Ki succeeded in doing what he couldn’t at Glory By Honor: hitting Joe with the Ki Krusha. In the end Joe managed to hit a definitive finishing move on Low Ki and scored the win to avenge the loss of five years previous. Like I said, I don’t expect many to agree with this rating. Those expecting a repeat of 2002, where they just stiffed the snot out of each other for sixteen minutes, were always going to be disappointed. Wrestling has moved on since then, Joe and Ki had moved on since then and any attempt to recreate their iconic original match was always going to end in disappointment. I found this to be a subtle, layered and creative sequel that still also found a way to maintain an amazing degree of unrelenting violence and physicality. This one is must-see in my opinion.
Necro Butcher vs Bryan Danielson – No DQ Match
Giant Sized Annual #4 (July 29th 2007) – The final two matches on PWG Sells Out Vol. 1 are also taken from this event, and show the climactic moments of that show as Kevin Steen and El Generico overcame Roderick Strong and Pac to become PWG Tag Champions…only for their celebrations to be interrupted by Bryan Danielson, demanding (and winning) his promised PWG Heavyweight Title shot from the Generic Luchador in an impromptu main event. Danielson had already worked one match that night too – and came to the ring bloody and bandaged as a result of this showdown with the Necro Butcher. From memory I seem to recall ROH really dropping the ball with Bryan/Necro when they did it, but I’m sure PWG will have no hesitation doing this ‘independent dream match’ justice.
Necro smirks as Danielson squares up with him looking to trade strikes. Bryan realises that probably wasn’t the best idea too and he TAKES NECRO DOWN! I’m talking full on amateur wrestles the Butcher into the dirt whether he wants to go or not. He drops a knee to Necro’s head which really pisses him off…and Butcher gets up to punch him in the stomach with such force that Bryan has to back all the way to the far corner. SICK HEADBUTT DUEL…until Bryan has zero interest in getting stiffed to sh*t by a big, beardy bad-ass and shoots him to the ground again. He also starts clawing at the permanently wounded forehead of Necro – causing him to bleed everywhere. Necro is POURING blood! I’m guessing those headbutts split his forehead. The sight of his own blood seems to spur him on, as he drags Dragon to the floor and starts tossing chairs at him. Danielson is busted open too now. Chair slam on the floor softens Bryan up…and behind his back Necro pulls out a PLASTIC BAG! He suffocates American Dragon with the bag, only for Danielson to hit back with a BACK DROP DRIVER ON A PILE OF CHAIRS! Bryan starts tossing chairs STRAIGHT INTO HIS FACE! Back in the ring he hits the diving headbutt as a set-up to the CATTLE MUTILATION! Butcher escapes with some close range headbutts and drives Bryan away with a vicious eye rake. VIOLENCE PARADE! BRYAN COUNTERS WITH A GERMAN! MMA ELBOWS! BRYAN WINS! It’s over at 09:25!
Rating - **** - Danielson rightly gets a lot of plaudits for his incredible technical and pure wrestling ability. But his brawling often goes massively underrated (particularly by those who have only watched him on extensive basis since he joined WWE), and here he really got to show off what a fantastic down and dirty fighter he can be. By this point Necro was established and incredibly over as one of the most violent and brutal workers on the independent scene. Such was his reputation that even ROH, a promotion built around technical wrestling rather than death matches and hardcore stuff, were desperate to get him on their roster (and did so with the Age Of The Fall angle in September). Remembering that PWG wanted to put their title on Danielson later in the show, this match was an AMAZING way to make him look like the top guy in the company. Earlier in the DVD we saw Super Dragon absorb incredible punishment and take over 25 minutes to beat the Butcher. Bryan outwrestled him, out-struck him then straight up out-brawled him to win in less than ten…and did in such a way that didn’t damage Necro’s credibility either. Fantastic sub-10 minute fight…
Matt Sydal vs Alex Shelley
Battle Of Los Angeles 2007 Night 3 (September 2nd 2007) – This one is a quarter final in the annual BOLA tournament. Shelley defeated Tyler Black in Round 1 (having not originally been booked for the show), whilst Sydal overcame Jimmy Rave. Interestingly it pits the creator of ROH’s Generation Next group (Shelley) against Sydal, who eventually replaced him in it.
Sydal was weeks out from joining up with WWE developmental by this point and is carrying significantly more muscle mass than the earlier match on this DVD against Strong. He happily works the mat with Shelley in the early going, despite being the perceived ‘weaker’ worker in that area. He winds up being so proficient that Alex has to bite his way out of a bow and arrow stretch. He is dominant in the early going, eventually going for an over-confident headscissors and getting countered into a violent wheelbarrow suplex from Shelley. He instantly slows the pace, stretching Matt’s neck with chinlocks then snaps his head back with repeated tree of woe dropkicks. Sydal aborbs a jawbreaker and retaliates with repeated enzi strikes…only for Alex to flip him through the air with a running clothesline! Having taken a real beating Sydal starts looking for flash pins and is split-seconds from victory. Shelley blocks the charging lariat in the corner Matt always hits, then drags him out with a gutbuster. Sliced Bread #2 COUNTERED to a QUEBRADA SLICE for 2! Flatliner into the buckles from Shelley, but before he makes it to the top rope Sydal takes him out with a SOMERSAULT STANDING SUPER RANA! Cyclorama blocked…Shelley’s crossbody also blocked…ALEX COUNTERS THE STANDING MOONSAULT WITH A KICK TO THE FACE! Jack-knife Powerbomb, into a SUPERKICK which Sydal sells with a back flip! FROG SPLASH gets 2 for Alex! Matt explodes back with a kick to the face, and this time does hit the standing moonsault for 2. SYDAL PRESS COUNTERED WITH AN ACE CRUSHER! TIGER SUPLEX! CROSS-LEGGED BRAINBUSTER NAILED! Shelley advances at 12:41
Rating - **** - It’s less than thirteen minutes, but this pretty much rocked from start to finish. It never felt overblown or lazy (like the Shelley/Hayashi match we saw earlier) with everything being executed at a breakneck speed, and every move having a real purpose. Sydal started the match looking to make a statement – smirking and bragging to the crowd as he tried to outwrestle Shelley, who is a world-renowned mat technician. That became his undoing as he was caught out being cocky, had his head and neck destroyed by Shelley and, even though he was able to trade high spots with his opponent down the stretch, eventually he succumbed to Shelley’s ability to counter his moves and destroy the neck.
Sydal gets a standing ovation and ‘thank you Sydal’ chants, so I presume this was actually his last PWG date before joining up with WWE.
Kevin Steen/El Generico vs Super Dragon/Davey Richards – PWG Tag Title Match
European Vacation 2: England (October 27th 2007) – Annoyingly I had plans to go to this show but had to back out at relatively late notice for personal reasons. Everyone raved about this match, so I’m looking forward to finally seeing it. We have the defending champions, Steen and Generico, taking on Steen’s old rival Super Dragon and his semi-regular partner Davey Richards.
Dragon walks across the ring and slaps Generico in the face before he’s even taken his cape off, then retreats to his corner leaving Davey to deal with the situation before the introductions. Generico starts with Richards, and quickly impresses by countering or avoiding all of his usual kick spots. It forces Davey to get innovative, and he busts out a grounded reverse heel kick which connects where his normal sequences couldn’t. Richards has to do all the fighting for his team in the first five minutes, with mixed results. Finally Dragon gets a tag, absolutely DESTROYING GENERICO IN THE CORNER! It’s the Violence Party, but with added choking, and ending with him tossing the Luchador through the ropes, through a camera man and through a ringside table! He then hauls Generico out into the crowd, seeking out the fan that he’d been intimidating earlier (who had moved to avoid him), then putting Generico on top of him. SPINNING HEEL KICK THROUGH GENERICO AND THE FAN! SUPLEX ON A TABLE! SENTON BOMB ON THE TABLE! The table refuses to break, but El Generico is pretty much dead anyway – particularly since S-Drag wasn’t in the greatest of shape at this point. He returns Generico to Davey inside the ring who uses more traditional means to brutalise their hapless opponent. ‘Tag now or he’ll just stop you’ – Steen to Generico as Dragon slowly advances behind him. DIVING HEADBUTT TO GENERICO’S BALLS from Davey! There’s an amazing near-miss tag sequence in here too, where Steen blows a snot-rocket at Richards to get his attention, Davey stands up and spits in Kevin’s face from close-range…then as El Generico moves perilously close to a tag he spears through the masked man and KILLS HIM with mounted forearms. Dragon is equally forthright with a HEAD DROP DOUBLE ARM DDT!
Finally Generico crawls through Davey’s legs and gets the crucial hot tag to Steen. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA from Steen to Super Dragon! MICHINOKU DRIVER ON DAVEY! Package Piledriver blocked, but the pumphandle cradlebreaker isn’t and it gets a close nearfall. Dragon tries to save his partner…but Generico runs in to attack him! RUNNING CORKSCREW PRESS TO THE FLOOR BY GENERICO! Dragon returns to the ring and murders Generico’s momentum with a tilta-whirl backbreaker. He sets up the Curb Stomp, and STEPS ON GENERICO’S FACE as he does! RUNNING STO from Richards! Torture rack gutbuster by Steen. Steen misses the moonsault, but LANDS ON HIS FEET! LARIATOOOOOOO BY DRAGON! HALF NELSON SUPLEX FROM GENERICO TO DRAGON! ALARM CLOCK BY DAVEY! POWERBOMB BY STEEN! Everyone is down in a heap and the crowd goes wild! Generico dodges the charging Super Dragon, causing him to fall out of the ring…then climbing the ropes for a TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT PRESS TO THE FLOOR ON DAVEY! THROUGH THE TURNBUCKLES TORNADO DDT ON THE FLOOR takes out Dragon! STEEN-TON BOMB! SUPERFLY SPLASH…Richards kicks out! Brainbustah blocked, as is the Package Piledriver. Davey drags Steen back into a stranglehold as Dragon DOUBLE STOMPS HIS RIBS! TOPE CON HILO FROM DRAGON TO GENERICO! Richards sunset bombs Steen into the SUPERNATURAL DRIVER! SHOOTING STAR PRESS BY DAVEY! GENERICO SAVES! Dragon drags Generico outside...PSYCHO DRIVER III ON THE F*CKING FLOOR! SHOOTING STAR PRESS AGAIN! Richards wins at 24:42
Rating - ****1/2 - This is one of the finest examples you’ll see of tag team wrestling on the American independent scene during this time period when spot-packed, uber-physical bouts really created something of a tag team resurgence. In 2007 Steen and Generico were tearing it up in ROH with their legendary feud against the Briscoes, so it should surprise nobody that they were doing equally high quality things in PWG, a promotion they’ve always felt is their United States home. You could spend a great deal of time discussing the inevitable spot-for-spot warfare that broke out down the closing stretch, but what separates this match from so many is how damn entertaining the START of the match was. Super Dragon was at his despicable best, and the bullying tactics demonstrated by himself and Davey towards El Generico were fantastic to watch. Literally from the first second Dragon tagged in and hauled him into the corner for one of the sickest Violence Parties you’ll ever see, you knew their tactics for winning back the PWG Tag Titles here – F*CK Generico up. And that played all the way through to the finish, with the angry Super Dragon finally succeeding in his desire to destroy Generico: hitting the Psycho Driver on the floor. I did think the first five minutes were a little superfluous and could have been trimmed, but that feels like a minor quibble.
Bryan Danielson vs Low Ki – PWG Heavyweight Title Match
All Star Weekend 6 Night 1 (January 5th 2008) – I seem to recall that this was actually the first match of the show. Low Ki (possibly) wasn’t scheduled on the events initially, but crashed the opening of the show and demanded to challenge his long-time rival (remember, these guys had wrestled a number of times even before ROH) for the PWG Championship.
Have PWG flown Bryce Remsburg in to referee for them? Ki makes a point of offering Bryan an early clean break, rather than cave in his chest with a chop. To the mat next where they are, as usual, pretty evenly matched. Danielson teases giving Low Ki a clean break in return for earlier…then PASTES him with a European uppercut! Amusingly, Ki pops up ready to trade strikes with his opponent…only for a smiling American Dragon to hop under the ropes avoiding him. They go to the canvas again and this time Danielson grinds his fist into Ki’s face to gain the advantage. Ki has seen enough – CHOP FLURRY NAILED! He then rides Bryan (legitimately riding him around the ring) working a body scissors and rear choke simultaneously. The challenger has now done some serious damage to the champion, as indicated by Low Ki easily getting the better of Danielson in another mat wrestling exchange then suplexing him into the top ropes. They go to the floor in a savage chop/uppercut duel, before Dragon brings us back in to stomp the arm. That’s the window for him to start attacking the arm, causing fans to howl in disgust as he modifies a chickenwing by STANDING ON BOTH ARMS! Low Ki tries to retaliate with a couple of chops, but now it’s him that’s injured, his main offensive vehicle (his strikes) that have been weakened, so Bryan is easily able to dust them off and put him on the deck again with an eye rake. Judo DDT (with the arm captured) nailed, followed by a DIVING HEADBUTT TO THE ARM! Crossface Chickenwing blocked, before Ki mows Bryan down with the RUNNING CAPO KICK! Machine Gun chops by Ki (with the good arm), then kicks after Dragon looks to wrench his arm again. TIDAL WAVE gets 2! He works a bear hug, but of course, that uses the bad arm, so Bryan is able to counter with a BUTTERFLY SUPLEX CROSS ARMBREAKER! Ki gets to the ropes there, so Danielson sends him out of the ring with a running dropkick TO THE ARM! Elbow suicidea BLOCKED with a jumping roundhouse kick. GHETTO STOMP TO THE BACK as Danielson hangs limp in the ropes! He peppers the champ with kicks, but is so beaten up that he slumps to the ground still nursing his bad arm. Phoenix Splash attempted…but again, he’s so beaten up that he just lands on his back next to Bryan – who offers no sympathy and locks in the TRIANGLE CHOKE! WITH MMA ELBOWS! Somehow Ki BRIDGES out into a pin for 2, escaping Danielson’s clutches in the process. DRAGON SUPLEX gets 2! CATTLE MUTILATION…KI ROLLS THROUGH! MMA ELBOWS! KI KICKS OUT AT 2! Back superplex blocked, with Ki shoving Bryan back into a tree of woe. WARRIOR’S WRATH TREE OF WOE DOUBLE STOMP! KI KRUSHAAAA! BRYAN KICKS OUT! DRAGON CLUTCH! WITH MMA ELBOWS! BRYAN TAPS! Ki wins at 26:08
Rating - ****1/2 - I love watching these two in the ring together. Outside the ring they clearly have very different personalities, but when they step through the ropes together their dedication to the perfection of their craft always shows. The opening minutes here were a lot of fun. It felt exactly as it should have – old rivals of great skill, respecting each others abilities and probing for weaknesses whilst looking to avoid making a costly early error. First Ki used his striking to get the advantage, then the match swung in favour of Bryan when he used his cunning strategic brain by picking apart Low Ki’s arm. But Low Ki survived all of Danielson’s signature finishing moves (he countered the Cattle Mutilation, blocked the Crossface Chickenwing and kicked out of the MMA Elbows) and after subtly targeting Danielson’s back and midsection all match – finally eeked out the victory with his double stomp savagery, the Ki Krusha this his much-vaunted Dragon Clutch (all of which work the back). The botched Phoenix Splash aside, this was a wonderful match. Not all of it was overly exciting, and it was fought at a very slow pace at times. But, as I’ve said multiple times, I’m a sucker for a match which tells a great story – and in that respect these two were both masterful here. I’d not heard much about Low Ki’s PWG run, but the two matches on this disc, against two of his great rivals from ROH, have both been outstanding.
CIMA vs Bryan Danielson
All Star Weekend 6 Night 2 (January 6th 2008) – Disc 3 begins with this match, the evening after Bryan lost the PWG Championship to Low Ki. These two met back in 2007 and went to a time limit draw so people had been clamouring for a rematch and a clean finish. Winner gets a PWG Title shot
Lengthy, duelling chants for both guys as they trade pleasantries. Danielson looks to agitate the Cima fans by stomping his knees out of the Mexican surfboard position. The Dragon Gate star has an obvious speed advantage so it should surprise nobody that Bryan spends minutes holding him on the ground, stretching out limbs and looking to slow him down at every turn. When the pace does finally quicken we immediately see Cima seize control, dragging Dragon to the ground then wrenching his neck. That’s the focus of Cima’s offence, looking to soften up the neck for his battery of finishing moves that target that area. He places the neck against an exposed turnbuckle bolt then dropkicks Danielson’s ass – driving him forward into the metal. The neck has become a serious problem for Danielson, so he launches into a major counter-offensive by viciously attacking the arm. Inside a single minute he’s managed to snap Cima’s arm between his legs, deliver a hammerlock back suplex, stomp it into the canvas then mount him into a wristlock/armbar combo. HANGING wristlock in the ropes! Cross armbreaker next, with Excalibur speculating on how many of Cima’s finishing moves Bryan has negated with this strategy. In a really cool moment, Bryan busies himself snapping the arm over his own shoulder, only for Cima to go back to the neck by using a sleeper to drag him into the ropes. DOUBLE STOMP TO THE NECK! TOPE SUICIDA! And despite an apparent (albeit selective) inability to use his left arm, when he gets back into the ring he also finds a way to double stomp the stomach. REPEATED FACE STOMPS by Bryan! TRIANGLE CHOKE! Danielson looks for his back superplex only for it to be countered in mid-air, meaning once again Cima has managed to drive him hard into the mat on his neck. PERFECT DRIVER gets 2! And Cima actually sells the arm afterwards. Schwein blocked…into a high-speed pinning exchange. Danielson pops up first to tiger suplex Cima into the CATTLE MUTILATION! Cima escapes, hangs Bryan in the ropes and hits a HANGING DOUBLE STOMP TO THE NECK! TOKAREV! SCHWEIN! BRYAN KICKS OUT! Redline Schwein COUNTERED to the back superplex! Both men down! MMA ELBOWS! CIMA KICKS OUT! CROSSFACE CHICKENWING! Cima inadvertently levels the ref as he flails in the hold, and the crowd erupt in cheers as Cima rolls backwards into a pin. Bryce Remsburg (who replaced Rick Knox when he got floored) counts the pin, but doesn’t see Cima tapping out at the same time. Effectively we have a simultaneous pin/tap-out draw at 26:35. Dino Winwood does try to give them five more minutes, but Bryan declines because he’s ‘fed up of being screwed around by PWG’.
Rating - **** - They probably could have sold their respective injuries a lot better, the early pace seemed particularly slow and the finish was an exceptionally poor way to end things. But these were two of the very best workers in the world at this point and even though they didn’t appear to be at their best this was still a great match. In many ways it combined everything you love about both men’s respective styles. Danielson looked like a machine when he was destroying CIMA’s arm, and in turn a couple of the spot flurries CIMA produced in the last few minutes were really awesome. The PWG Sells Out 1 match was better, with a much more satisfying result (even if the record book ultimately shows them both as draws)…but this was a solid sequel.
Low Ki vs El Generico – PWG Heavyweight Title Match
Pearl Habra (January 27th 2008) – I believe this wound up being Low Ki’s only defence of the PWG Championship. He sustained a serious injury in Japan and eventually had to to vacate the belt. Given Generico’s ability to absorb an ass-kicking, and Ki’s ability to dish one out, this one could be brutal.
Low Ki opts not to give Generico an early chop, and instead backs off in Generico’s signature ‘Ole’ pose. Generico doesn’t make the same decision and clatters into the PWG Champion’s chest with a rather flimsy chop. Unsurprisingly Ki’s response is to cut him in half with a brutal kick to the ribs. Generico’s pale chest is quickly turned a violent shade of purple from repeated, violent chopping. The challenger gets brutalised with strikes and coupled with (what I presume is) some pretty serious sunburn his upper torso looks painfully red and sore. He realises being a standing target for Ki’s strikes is doing nothing for him, so cranks up the pace to score with a couple of armdrags then a backbreaker. The champ didn’t like that at all, and suplexes Generico over the top rope with such velocity that the luchador does a full somersault in the air before crashing to the canvas. Bite Of The Dragon applied in the ropes, with the side of Generico’s right pectoral muscle actually bleeding from the multitude of chops Low Ki has delivered. STANDING DOUBLE STOMP to Generico’s already mangled chest gets 2! Such is the force of this brutal beatdown that Low Ki thinks he can win by standing knock-out. Somehow El Generico gets back to his feet and drives the champion out of the ring. Low Ki BLOCKS the through-the-ropes swinging DDT with a kick to the face! He pelts Generico with countless kicks in the corner, stopping only when referee Rick Knox asks him to break…which in turn distracts him enough for the plucky Generic Luchador to hit a blue thunder driver. Ki retorts by kicking him square in the back of the head and chopping him some more. DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD crossbody from Generico! Dragon Clutch blocked…Brainbustah blocked…MICHINOKU DRIVER INSTEAD! Half nelson suplex blocked though, with Ki driving Generico’s wounded chest into the turnbuckles. As he recovers from that he eats the Tidal Wave for 2. YAKUZA KICK! HALF NELSON SUPLEX! Ki kicks out, but you won’t notice that as the camera zooms in on the frightening welts and bruises all over Generico’s torso. Low Ki runs him through with the shotgun dropkick. Ki Krusha blocked, with Generico perching Ki on the top rope for a FLYING TORNADO DDT! Brainbustah countered with a CAPO KICK TO THE ASS! KI KRUSHA! FOR 2! DRAGON CLUTCH! Generico taps at 22:58
Rating - **** - Low end 4* for this. I can’t deny that it was fun to watch (particularly when Ki was remorselessly beating his opponent to a bloody pulp) but it was just a little slow, one-sided and at least five minutes too long. Generico’s comeback spots, when they finally did come, were extremely exciting though. It was Ki’s first defence so it never seemed that likely Generico was going to win but it still had it’s moments. Ultimately the story of Generico’s defiance in the face of Low Ki’s unrelenting brutality was enough to carry this…just.
Kevin Steen/El Generico vs Roderick Strong/Jack Evans – PWG Tag Title/DDT4 Final Match
DDT4 2008 Night 2 (May 18th 2008) – Steen and Generico entered the second annual DDT4 as reigning PWG Tag Champions and would defend the belts throughout the tournament. This is the final, with them facing long-time tag partners Roderick Strong (who won the 2007 DDT4 with Pac) and Jack Evans. The challengers have spent less than 20-minutes total in-ring time to make it this point (defeating the Scorpio Sky/Ronin team then Los Luchas in the semis), compared to the champions, who have taken almost half an hour in beating Richards and Dragon, then El Blazer and KAGETORA.
Steen steals Jack’s do-rag and blows his nose…so Strong PRESS SLAMS JACK AT HIM! SUPLEX 450 SPLASH on Generico gets 2! Back suplex/blockbuster combo gets another nearfall as the Generation Next combo start at full speed. Mr Wrestling hauls Evans out of the ring for the APRON BOMB, as on the outside Generico storms through Roddy with the somersault plancha. The champions try to isolate Jack, hitting him with the backpack double senton drop for 2. Split-legged moonsault squashes the smallest man in the match too, after Roderick takes a nasty spill off the apron. Evans misses the double stomp/standing moonsault combo…STANDING 450 SPLASH INSTEAD! LARIAT BY STEEN! Evans dials up the flexibility, flipping around on the apron repeatedly before dropping Generico with a springboard double knee strike. Strong gets a tag and hits a half nelson backbreaker on Generico. SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP BY JACK! Death By Roderick…NO SOLD! SICK KICK gets 2! SPRINGBOARD TORNADO DDT by Generico! STEEN-TON BOMB! YAKUZA KICK ON EVANS! SICK KICKS FROM STRONG TO BOTH OPPONENTS! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER ON JACK! Strong THROWS Generico at his own partner to break the fall! RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY GENERICO! Did he just land on his head? GIBSON DRIVER ON GENERICO! SKIPPING A GENERATION 450 SPLASH ON STEEN! NEW CHAMPIONS! GeNext win at 10:46!
Rating - **** - I liked this considerably more than the 2007 DDT4 final. There PWG booked the final to go almost 20-minutes and the competitors all looked fatigued and half a step slow. Here they only had ten minutes, which meant they could afford to go full speed pretty much from the opening bell. Jack was absolutely outstanding and hit all of his super-flexible dive spots as cleanly as possible. Steen and Generico were excellent as they looked to bully Evans, and the blitzkrieg of spots down the home stretch was fantastic to watch. Not a whole lot of psychology or selling, but I had a blast with this.
Human Tornado vs Chris Hero – PWG Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Guerrilla Warfare Match
Life During Wartime (July 6th 2008) – Tornado went from being one of the most popular babyface performers in the company to one of the most over heels. His run at the top of the company during this period got a lot of attention on the internet and really helped differentiate the PWG product from the stuff that their rival independent promotions were doing at the time. Here he faces long-time enemy Chris Hero in a grudge match with his PWG Championship on the line.
We have an explosive start to the match as Hero dropkicks the cage door into HT’s face as he refuses to enter the ring! Cravat Buster on a chair follows next as the cowardly champion struggles to make any impact. Tornado finally retorts by throwing a chair in Hero’s direction, then belting him in the head with it. He chases Candice LeRae (his former manager, now accompanying Hero) around the building as she looks to comfort the challenger. He beats Hero into a table propped up against the ring…then climbs onto the stage. RUNNING SOMERSAULT SENTON MISSES…TORNADO GOES THROUGH THE TABLE! The champ is down, so Hero starts filling the ring with chairs. At almost eight minutes they make it into the ring themselves for the first time (accompanied by a camera man for some extreme in-ring close-ups). Fireman’s carry slam onto a row of chairs gets 2 for the challenger, who then scales the ropes to miss a FLIPPING CHAIR SHOT! Hero himself lands on the same pile of chairs as a result of that. Tornado starts attacking Hero’s knee, which is apparently a long-term injury for him. Since HT came into the match carrying a serious knee injury himself it soon means that both of them are walking around with a pronounced limp. A trash can is brought into the ring, but before either of them can use it Human hits a backbreaker – on his own bad knee – causing both of them to collapse. He recovers sufficiently to beat the can into Hero’s head with a chair! TOP ROPE ELBOW DROP THROUGH THE TRASH CAN! Chris emerges from the can absolutely pouring blood, and wielding a chair like a shield trying to protect his face. As he tries to crawl away H-Tizzle chair shots his knee for good measure! They take turns pasting each other’s knees with the mangled remains of the garbage can – eventually slumping into opposing corners apparently unable to stand.
Hero is up first and swings a chair into HT’s legs with such force that he falls over himself. He folds a chair around the bad knee…but before he can take advantage Tornado tosses a chair into his knee – dropping the challenger into a tree of woe. STEEL CHAIR DROPKICK TO THE KNEE! Hero can’t limp out of the corner before Tornado gives him a LEG SELLING House Party! Hero no sells and KNOCKS HIM OUT with a rolling elbow! Both men down! Hero is up first, limping around the ring grinding his opponent’s head into the cage. Rolling Elbow into the HERO’S WELCOME gets 2! Hero pulls him back up, and tries to give him his own DND finisher! Tornado low blows his way out of that. DND ON HERO…who was carrying a chair and inadvertently brained referee Rick Knox in the process! Claudio Castagnoli runs in to help HT, giving Hero the RICCOLA BOMB! Another ref runs in, can only count to 2…before Double C lays him out with a European uppercut. Claudio decides he’ll be the ref instead (it’s Guerrilla Warfare), as Tornado gives Hero the DND THROUGH OPEN CHAIRS! FOR 2! Despite a fast count! Necro Butcher runs in to help Hero by tossing Castagnoli into the cage then hijacking his ref gig! Hero opens up some chairs in the corner. CRAVAT-O-CLASM THROUGH THE CHAIRS! CLAUDIO SAVES! Necro tosses Claudio out of the front door and locks it! Candice LeRae is in the ring now, jumping into HT’s arms to kiss him. Tornado spurns her advances (drawing tasteful ‘you’re a faggot’ chants)…before they start rolling around on the ground making out. She stands handing him chairs to beat on Chris with, then holds his head against a chair. IT WAS ALL A PLOT! She low blows Tornado as he goes to the top rope! AVALANCHE DND FROM CANDICE TO HUMAN TORNADO! HERO’S WELCOME! Hero wins at 35:47!
Rating - **** - Having not seen any of the feud that preceded this match it’s difficult to go higher on the rating. In isolation it was an extremely fun, bloody and hard-fought grudge match which left you in no doubt as to the level of animosity between the two combatants (albeit I could have done with them doing a better job selling the knee injuries they made such a big deal out of in the first half). However, to fully understand and appreciate the involvement of the likes of Claudio, Necro and Candice in the conclusion you really needed to see the rivalry that came before. This felt like watching Steen/Generico at ROH’s Final Battle 2010 without having seen any of the epic, year-long feud that built to it.
Kevin Steen/El Generico/Susumu Yokosuka vs Young Bucks/Pac
All Star Weekend 7 Night 1 (August 30th 2008) – Yes, this is happening. Steen, Generico and the Bucks always rock it when they lock up, and this time they are joined for trios action by Dragon Gate star Yokosuka and phenomenal British high-flier Pac. This one should be wild.
Steen gets in a pre-match slap on Pac and celebrates wildly. Jimmy Jacobs is on commentary and has no idea which Young Buck is which. It’s Matt that starts, using his speed to get the better of Yokosuka. Nick tries to do the same with Steen but gets stiffed to pieces…bringing Pac into play. Kevin has no interest wrestling the Englishman it seems! Pac starts on FIRE, and produces an amazing hurricanrana counter to a tilta-whirl backbreaker attempt. Standing corkscrew moonsault scores for 2! The Jacksons land the stereo backflip dropkicks as their team look to isolate Generico. BACK DROP 450 SPLASH from Pac and the Bucks! Steen eventually forces his way into the match, and makes fun of Pac before shoving him off the apron whilst Yoko puts Matt in a cobra clutch. Knee drop/somersault leg drop combo from Steen and Susumu gets 2! Steen finds time, whilst beating Matt down, to leave the ring and start licking a ringside fan. You didn’t misread that in any way. Eventually Matt is able to catapult himself off Generico into a standing Shiranui on Yokosuka…then drop Generico with an INVERTED CODE RED! Nick and Pac storm the ring. CRAZY DIVE RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY PAC! CRUCIFIX DRIVER from Nick to Steen! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY NICK! APRON BOMB ON MATT! Steen-ton Bomb gets knees, and as Steen struggles to recover Pac drops him with the SHOOTING STAR KNEE DROP TO THE HEAD! Standing corkscrew SSP from Pac to Yoko for 2! Susumu puts Pac into the turnbuckles with an exploder! AVALANCHE FISHERMAN BUSTER/SUPERFLY SPLASH COMBO by Generico and Yokosuka! Nick saves with the slingshot facebuster on Generico for 2! Matt drops Steen with a spear, before Pac scales the ropes for the SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Generico saves, so eats a HANDSPRING MOONSAULT DDT! Steen picks up Pac and Nick for a DOUBLE SAMOAN DROP! HEAD DROP HALF NELSON SUPLEX FROM GENERICO TO NICK! JUMBO NO KACHI ON MATT! STEREO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS BY PAC AND NICK! Package Piledriver blocked into MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! Pac to finish things off? RED ARROW! He wins at 18:45!
Rating - **** - As you’d expect given the talent involved, this was wild. Pac and the Young Bucks were amazingly fluid as partners (presumably they’d not teamed much at all) and I loved the way they started modifying each other’s movesets so they could perform them as a three-piece. Yokosuka was a little under-utilised, which is a shame, but that’s a very minor complaint. The Steen/Pac heat continued all the way through the match, and paid off at the finish when Pac (who’d been bullied by Mr Wrestling throughout) was able to beat him.
Austin Aries vs Nigel McGuinness
Battle Of Los Angeles 2008 Night 1 (November 1st 2008) – Both of these two were in TNA by the time PWG Sells Out 2 was released, which probably explains the inclusion of this match on the set. They had a couple of amazing matches in Ring Of Honor a few months before this (the Rising Above ppv at the end of 2007 then at 2008 WrestleMania weekend), so they should be extremely familiar as opponents by this point. This is a first round BOLA match.
McGuinness goes straight for the arm, but finds his initial attempt thwarted by some lightning-quick chaining from A-Double. They stay on the ground, and when Austin attempts his usual headscissors escape dropkick Nigel counters him with a GROUNDED PILEDRIVER! Aries has to leave the ring to recover from that. He realises he needs to work a quick pace, and returns to the ring working much faster – hitting the Power Drive Elbow for 2. Nigel headstands in the corner…so Aries walks to the other corner and hangs out! McGuinness blinks first, sprinting at Austin and getting caught with MOUNTED KNEE STRIKES! Before he can convert it to the Last Chancery Nigel leaves the ring…then sprints out of the way to avoid the Heat Seeking Missile (which knocked him out in ROH last year). A second attempt is countered with a European uppercut! Finally Nigel has succeeded in beating Aries down meaning he can start working the arm in earnest. Shortarm McLariat misses, but the kick/lariat combo in the corner finds the mark instead. A-Double looks to be fighting with one arm and rapidly weakening as he is peppered with an assortment of stiff strikes. IED from nowhere to counter another headstand in the corner! ARM-SELLING HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Aries chases McGuinness around ringside chopping him, but takes too long climbing up the ropes and gets caught with a TOWER OF LONDON ON THE APRON! Nigel then rattles his forearm into the ringpost for good measure! LONDON DUNGEON! Jawbreaker Lariat countered…Crucifix Driver countered. LAST CHANCERY! But Aries can’t hold it because of his arm! He also can’t hit the Brainbuster! He does manage to get a clothesline up (with his good arm) to block the Jawbreaker Lariat again, and this time does hook in the Last Chancery…although his weaker arm means he is powerless to stop Nigel getting to the ropes. He drives the shoulder into the turnbuckle! LAST CHANCERY COUNTERED TO THE LONDON DUNGEON! Aries taps at 14:44!
Rating - **** - Here we had two fantastic professionals, who knew and understood their role on the card, didn’t throw too many spots around at all and still produced an absolutely gripping little match. I absolutely loved the familiarity spots between them, which were sprinkled all through the match. You had Aries stopping Nigel working his arm in the first minute, then Nigel blocking the headscissors escape dropkick, then Aries refusing to be suckered in by the usual corner headstand routine. The tease on the Rising Above/Heat Seeking Missile dive was sheer genius, and it meant when Aries did eventually hit that spot (whilst selling the arm amazingly), the place went crazy. Amazing performance from both men who were possibly at their absolute zenith as workers in this period.
Low Ki vs Chris Hero – 2008 Battle Of Los Angeles Final
Battle Of Los Angeles 2008 Night 2 (November 2nd 2008) – After having to vacate the PWG Championship due to injury, Low Ki returned to the company with a bang during the annual All Star Weekend shows. He was immediately entered into the 2008 BOLA as he looked to charge back into PWG Title contention, and made it all the way to the finals by defeating Roderick Strong, Masato Yoshino and Nigel McGuinness. If that route to the final sounded difficult, Chris Hero’s was even tougher. He survived a No DQ war with Necro Butcher in Round 1 and then had to battle past Scott Lost and Bryan Danielson to make it this far. He was the reigning PWG Champion at this point, so Ki will know a victory not only wins the BOLA tournament itself but will guarantee him a shot at the title in the immediate future.
You’ll immediately notice that the ring is broken, and they prepare to fight with only the top rope surrounding it. The pace in the early minutes is predictably slow, with neither man wanting to make a costly error as they battle both their opponent and crippling fatigue. Hero draws a loud chuckle as he arches his legs high into the air to reach the top rope for a rope break. It takes the best part of five minutes for them to stop chain wrestling on the ground – and as you’d expect it’s Ki who loses patience first and drives home a big kick. Hero isn’t averse to trading strikes of course, but even he can’t keep pace with the World Warrior, who knocks him down then KICKS HIM IN THE FACE! That strike has apparently broken Hero’s nose, and blood pours as Ki pulls him out of the ring for a brutal dropkick on the floor. Low Ki has no sympathy, and has a glimmer of a smile as he mounts Chris to start PULLING AT THE NOSE! ELBOW STRIKE BY HERO! Followed by a cravat neckbreaker for 2. The PWG Champion starts stretching Ki out on the mat which serves both to wear him down and to prevent him from placing any more strikes on his battered nose (seriously, blood and snot is pouring out of it like a tap). Much of his offence is now targeted on Low Ki’s neck, preparing him for any number of his finishing manoeuvres. Cravat Buster is blocked though, as Ki sends a volley of kicks back in the champ’s direction. CAPO KICK TO THE FACE! RUNNING ENZIGURI gets 2! Hero uses the lubrication of his own blood to escape the Dragon Clutch, then counters the Ki Krusha into a Cravat Suplex. Hangman’s Clutch locked in…only for Ki to bite his way free! Roaring Elbow chins Ki again, but he still won’t stay down for three. Hero’s Welcome COUNTERED TO THE KI KRUSHA! Hero kicks out, so is rolled into the DRAGON CLUTCH! COUNTERED TO THE CRAVAT COUNTDOWN FOR 2! HANGMAN’S CLUTCH…COUNTERED TO THE DRAGON CLUTCH! SHOTGUN DROPKICK! DRAGON CLUTCH! Hero taps, and Ki wins BOLA at 18:57
Rating - *** - An undeniably violent match, but the whole atmosphere felt very weird and off-putting. I’m presuming it was a long night of wrestling because the crowd watched the whole thing in absolute silence (which really harmed things). Both Ki and Hero looked absolutely exhausted before the bell even rang as well. When you couple that with the bizarre ringrope set up as well, it was just a strange environment for a wrestling match. Hero deserves plenty of credit for toughing out fifteen minutes with Low Ki AFTER having his nose violently broken, and the string of counters in the last minute were phenomenal. But unfortunately they never reached the levels you might have expected of them had they not already fought in three previous gruelling matches over the two nights.
Tape Rating - ***** - PWG Sells Out 2 is even better than the original. Although I’m not sure I enjoyed any match as much as Steen/Super Dragon from Volume 1, the sheer unrelenting consistency of Volume 2 makes it the better choice. There isn’t a bad match to be found in this entire, epic, 9-hour compilation. There is plenty of brilliant wrestling from truly world class performers, and several matches which will drop your jaw in disbelief. I can’t recommend this highly enough. If you can find it anywhere you need to pick it up asap – alongside ‘Sells Out’ Volumes 1 & 3
Top 5 Matches
5) Scott Lost/Chris Bosh vs Quicksilver/El Generico (****)
4) Low Ki vs Bryan Danielson (****1/2)
3) Low Ki vs Samoa Joe (****1/2)
2) Kevin Steen/El Generico vs Super Dragon/Davey Richards (****1/2)
1) Super Dragon vs Necro Butcher (****1/2)