(6) Super Dragon defeats Quicksilver at 24:37. Good match. Dragon immediately went to work on the left leg, and he tied up Quicksilver's legs. This was slow early. Quicksilver applied a cross-armbreaker. Dragon hit a spine kick and a shoulder tackle. Quicksilver came back with a headscissorslock. Dragon hit a doublestomp on the back. Quicksilver hit a nice dive over the top rope to the floor, landing in the chairs, at 4:30. On the floor, Quicksilver hit some chops and forearms. In the ring, Quicksilver was still in charge, nailing a basement dropkick to the back of the head, and he was being cocky, in a babyface way. Quicksilver went for a springboard move, but Super Dragon caught him with an open-hand slap to the face.
Super Dragon unloaded some chops, forearms, and a hard backhand slap to the face. He choked Quicksilver. On the floor, Dragon hit a hard chop at 8:00. In the ring, they traded more chops, and Dragon missed a Kawada Kick in an awkward moment. Dragon hit a nice back suplex, and he tied up the left leg. He applied a butterfly submission hold on Quicksilver's arms, but Quicksilver made it to the ropes. Super Dragon tied Quicksilver in the Tree of Woe, and did the 'Oh Canada' groin stomp. Super Dragon applied a Figure Four at 15:00, and the crowd let out a Flair "Woo!" Quicksilver made it to the ropes.
Quicksilver hit a snapmare driver for a nearfall, then a nice springboard forearm for a nearfall. They fought on the top turnbuckle; Super Dragon hit a headbutt, knocking Quicksilver down, and Super Dragon immediately hit a senton splash, and they were both down at 19:00. Super Dragon hit a German Suplex and a buttefly suplex for a nearfall, and the crowd rallied behind Quicksilver. Quicksilver hit a reverse headscissors takedown for a believable nearfall at 21:00.
Quicksilver hit a flip, off the top rope, to the floor, drawing a "holy sh--" chant. He rolled Dragon in the ring and he got a believable nearfall. They fought on the top turnbuckle, and Super Dragon hit a sideslam for a nearfall. The crowd was hot! Super Dragon nailed the Psycho Driver/modified piledriver for the pin. This match started slow, but was awesome in the final minutes. ***1/4
SoCalVal introduced Dino Winwood as the new PWG co-commissioner. Joey Ryan attacked Winwood and tried to bodyslam him! Dino somehow hit a Death Valley Driver!
(7) Human Tornado & El Generico defeat Scott Lost & Chris Bosh at 16:53 to retain the tag titles. Bosh got on the mic and said that Lost got pinned in their last match because he was too exhausted from having sex all night. The heels jumped the faces, but the faces hit simultaneous dropkicks and cleared the ring. Generico and Lost started, with Generico hitting his cool variety of armdrags. Human Tornado got in, and he hit a nice headscissors, then a hard spinning enziguri for a nearfall. Generico chopped Bosh.
Bosh avoided a Mafia Kick and he hit a low blow at 4:30. The heels began to work over Generico. Lost hit a spin kick for a nearfall. The heels made some illegal tags. Lost pulled Generico to the floor, and he gave him a suplex on the floor. Bosh hit a nice headscissors takedown to the floor on Genrico. He tossed Generico into the chairs, and he slammed Generico's head repeatedly against a wall! In the ring, Lost missed a spear, and he landed on the floor. Generico made the hot tag to Human Tornado at 9:30, and Tornado hit a Monty Brown Pounce on Lost. Bosh hit a backbreaker over his knee on Tornado.
Generico hit a moonsault on Lost, who was tied in the ropes. Generico then went to the top turnbuckle and he hit a moonsault to the floor on Bosh! Human Tornado immediately dove over the top rope onto the heels, deep into the crowd, at 11:30, and the crowd chanted, "PWG!" In the ring, Human Tornado hit an inverted DDT on Bosh. Lost hit a top-rope elbow drop on Tornado for a nearfall. Lost put the two faces on top of each other, and in a cool spot, he put them in a double sharpshooter, and the crowd popped.
Genercio hit a basement dropkick on Bosh, then he nailed the Mafia Kick in the corner at 15:00. Tornado hit a Plant DDT on Lost for a nearfall. Generico hit a flip powerbomb on Bosh, and all four were down. The crowd sang the "Ole" song to rally Generico. Generico hit a brainbuster on Lost, and Human Tornado covered Lost for the pin. Another very good match. ***1/2
(8) Kevin Steen defeats A.J. Styles at 18:56 to win the PWG heavyweight title. Good match, but not the best on this card. Steen attacked Styles, hitting a European Uppercut and a shoulder tackle. Styles hit a flying forearm off the apron to the floor. Styles hit a spine kick on the floor, then some field goal kicks and stiff forearms. In the ring, Styles hit a backbreaker over his knee, then the big standing dropkick to the face for a nearfall at 3:00.
Styles applied a Muta Lock, cranking on Steen's head, then he twisted Steen's knee. Steen choked A.J. in the ropes, and he hit a neckbreaker on the second rope for a nearfall. He repeatedly kicked and punched at the back of Styles' neck, and he shouted a warning, "stop hitting my knee!" Styles fought back with the Kip-up Rana, but Steen immediately took control again, hitting a nice back suplex for a nearfall and a flip guillotine legdrop for a nearfall at 10:30. Someone began chanting "overrated" at Steen, so more fans began chanting "Mr. Wrestling."
They traded chops and forearms, and Styles hit an enziguri. Styles hit the Phenomenon/backflip-into-inverted DDT, and Steen bailed to the floor. In the ring, Styles hit a pumphandle back suplex, then a pumphandle backbreaker for a nearfall. Steen went for the Package Piledriver, but Styles escaped it. Steen wrapped A.J. around his back and he hit a sideslam for a nearfall at 15:30. Styles came back with a nice standing neckbreaker. Steen pulled the ref down on top of him as a shield, but then he hit Styles with a low blow.
Steen hit a Gorilla Press Gutbuster over his knees for a believable nearfall. Steen nailed his top-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall. Steen was sitting on the top turnbuckle when A.J. nailed him with the Pele Kick at 18:30. Styles hooked Steen for the Styles Clash, but Steen reached out and grabbed the ropes to escape; Steen immediately rolled up Styles, held onto the ropes for leverage, and scored the pin to win the title. ***
Final thoughts: Running time 2 hours, 49 minutes. There is a lot to like about this PWG show. Romero-Richards was great, Daniels-Hero was strong, and the tag title match was hot. I thought Super Dragon vs. Quicksilver started a bit too slow, because they knew they had a long match, but it really finished hot. The main event was good, but not as good as the above mentioned four.
I stated my main complaint at the top. It would be nice to have the entrance music before and after the matches. It was really too bad the show ended so abruptly right after Steen's title win. The title switch hadn't even 'sunk in' to viewers before the show was over. By not showing the footage -- not making a 'big deal' out of the title change, I think PWG has conditioned fans to not care about title changes. (But another one of PWG's problems is that the title belts are hot potatoes. Seriously, how many teams held the tag titles this year in PWG?)
PWG has some strong wrestling, and they had a standout year. I wish they would add some serious commentary and invest money to improve the lighting of their ring. But the wrestling is great, the crowd is hot and knowledgeable and into all the action, and the shows are enjoyable to watch.
This show earned a big 'thumbs up' from me. Purchase this DVD at
http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com or the tape at
http://www.smartmarkvideo.com for $15.
Chris
You can read all my reviews of PWG and other indy promotions at http://www.pwtorch.com