Friday, September 6, 2013

PWG TEN Review

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla celebrates its 10th Anniversary with two big main event title matches!!

PWG TEN
Reseda, California 8/9/13

1.) B-Boy, Candice LaRae & Willie Mack vs. Peter Avalon, Joey Ryan & Ryan Taylor: ***1/2

Joey Ryan is making his return after being released by TNA. This was super-fun. These five guys & one gal went out there and put on an exciting match. As good as any opener you'll see here in PWG.

2.) Brian Cage vs. Anthony Nese: **3/4

This is the PWG debut for Anthony Nese, who's been tearing it up in Dragon Gate USA & Evolve in 2013. The match itself was good, but nothing really special. I've seen a few people mention this already (Excalibur & Kevin Steen even made reference to it on commentary) but Brian Cage seems to be putting on more muscle and I think that's honestly hurting his performances. It hasn't been as evident this year since's he's been teaming with Michael Elgin on the year's first four shows, but it really shows here in singles competition. Nese looked impressive but I think he would have been better off with a different opponent.

3.) The Forever Hooligans vs. The RockNES Monsters: ***1/4

Romero & Kozlov are no strangers to PWG but I think this is the first time they are teaming in PWG as the Forever Hooligans. This was a good match. Their were parts of the match that were rather uninteresting but but the latter stages were really good, and made for a solid match in the end.

4.) "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. AR Fox: ****

A great match here. It's amazing how good Elgin has become. At this point he's my pick for Indy Wrestler of the Year. He just keeps having Four-Star level matches everywhere he goes, and his match here with AR Fox, and ROH vs. Dragon Gate USA/Evolve Dream Match, is no exception. A ton of great spots with an incredible finish.

5.) Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor vs. Paul London & Brian Kendrick: ***1/2

The match starts in a chicken fight with Gargano & Kendrick on the shoulders of Taylor & London respectively. That sequence alone was just awesome. The rest of the match was a lot of fun. They managed to find a good mix of solid wrestling with comedy, and it made for a very entertaining contest.

6.) Kyle O'Reilly vs. TJ Perkins: ****

O'Reilly has been on a role as of late. On the last two shows he's scored singles victories against Sami Callihan and his mentor Davey Richards. He & TJ Perkins had a great match here. I find it incredible that these two wrestled a completely different style of match than Elgin/Fox, but it was equally as good. Really good stuff here.

7.) PWG World Title - Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - Adam Cole vs. Kevin Steen vs. Drake Younger: ****

This is the first of the show's double main-events. Their were some pretty comedic moments (Adam Cole falling though a chair when he tried to sit on it and then getting hit with a traffic-cone wearing Drake Younger) and some pretty brutal spots (Steen giving Drake a Package Piledriver through chairs and giving Adam Cole the Top Rope Brainbuster). It wasn't overly crazy, but very entertaining nonetheless.

8.) PWG World Tag Team Titles - Three-Way Ladder Match - The Young Buck vs. The Dojo Bros vs. The Inner City Machine Guns: ****1/2

First of all, I will say that this Ladder Match was not as good as the amazing Three-Way Ladder Match from Threemendous III last year, but still, it was incredible. People really shouldn't compare though, because this match on its own had some great moments. These three teams went balls-to-the-wall for a thrilling main event. The only negative thing I have to say about this is that the end felt kind of anti-climactic. Other than that, an awesome way to conclude the shows.

Overall: 9.5/10

What a great way to celebrate your Tenth Anniversary. The double main events ended up being really exciting and definitely worth seeing. The rest of the show was on the overall pretty good. While there was a bit of a slump after the exciting opener, it picked up with Elgin/Fox and the show got event better from there. I'd say this show ties All-Star Weekend 9: Night Two for PWG Show of the Year thus far, and it's definitely worth checking out.

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