DVD Review: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla 121605 results & thoughts
By Chris Vetter
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returned to the Sweatbox in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 16, 2005, for "Astonishing X-Mas." This venue is similar to an elementary school gym. The crowd here is between 300 and 400, and they are always hot for PWG action!
Lighting is mediocre. The ringside fan cam looks much better than the hard cam. Announcing is handled by a pair of wrestlers, Disco Machine and TARO. No Excalibur on this release.
* Commissioner Dino Winwood, dressed as Santa, entered the ring and gave away cheap gag gifts. Fun stuff.
(1) Scott Lost defeats Alex Shelley at 16:39. Very good opener. Lost wore a black singlet. Shelley opened with some quick mat holds and good mat reversals. He sneezed on the mat; moments later, Lost rolled onto that spot, and he was disgusted. Funny. Shelley applied a headscissorslock and did some pushups at 3:30. Shelley was in control, applying a Japanese Stranglehold, then a spin kick to the head, and the crowd popped. Shelley placed Lost's head between his knees at 7:30, and Shelley rammed Lost's face into the mat repeatedly.
Lost came back with a standing neckbreaker, a basement dropkick, and a sleeper. They traded chops on the floor, and Lost hit a dropkick. In the ring, Lost hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 11:30. Shelley hit a superkick, and they were both down. Shelley hit an enziguri, then a basement dropkick to the head. Lost hit a spear, and he went for a hurricanrana, but Shelley turned it into a powerbomb. Shelley hit a brainbuster and a frogsplash for a believable nearfall at 14:00.
Lost came back with a top-rope superplex, and the crowd was hot! Lost hit a top-rope elbow drop for a nearfall. He went for a Swanton Bomb, but Shelley got his knees up to block it. Lost applied a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, and got his knee in Shelley's lower back. Shelley scrambled toward the ropes, but Lost pulled him back to the center of the ring, and Shelley tapped out. Good match. ***1/4
(2) Quicksilver & Top Gun Talwar defeat Nemesis & Ronin at 11:38. Good tag match. Nemesis wore a mask and a black & white outfit. Talwar wore a red singlet, with a thong over the singlet, and he's goofy. Ronin and Talwar traded chops and quick moves, and Talwar applied a Fujiwara Armbar. The announcers say that Nemesis debuted just one month ago; it's my first time seeing him. Quicksilver faced off against Nemesis.
Nemesis ripped the Santa hat off Quicksilver, and the crowd booed him! There was lots of silliness here early, and the crowd was enjoying it. Talwar hit a shoulder tackle on Nemesis. Nemesis came back with a backbreaker on Talwar at 5:00. The heels briefly worked over Talwar. Talwar came back with a Sky High slam on Nemesis, and Talwar made the hot tag to Quicksilver. Quicksilver hit a nice hurricanrana on Ronin for a nearfall at 7:30.
Nemesis hit a swinging neckbreaker on Quicksilver. Talwar hit a Tornado DDT on Nemesis. Quicksilver and Ronin traded stiff forearms, and Quicksilver hit an enziguri. Quicksilver then dove to the floor, barely clearing the top rope. Ronin hit a neckbreaker on Talwar, then a standing powerbomb on Quicksilver. Nemesis hit the Shock Treatment/sit-down Torture Rack on Quicksilver at 11:00. All four brawled in the ring. Quicksilver hit a Michinoku Driver on Ronin for the pin. **1/2
(3) Colt Cabana defeats Scorpio Sky at 12:38. A strange match; it was just 'off.' This is face-face, and Cabana appears to be a bit bigger than Scorpio. Sky worked on the left arm, and they traded standing switches; some good comedy here. Cabana hit a hard shoulder tackle that sent Sky to the floor at 4:00. Sky hit a nice dropkick in the ring.
Cabana hit a bodyslam and some chops, and he was in charge. Sky got tossed to the mat, and he clutched his knee, and I think he hurt it legit. Cabana kicked and twisted the leg for a minute, then he applied a Figure Four Leglock. He pushed Scorpio's shoulders to the mat and got a surprising pin. Disappointing, and I'm a fan of these two. *3/4
(4) Roderick Strong & Jack Evans defeat El Generico & Human Tornado (w/Jade Chung) at 23:18. Excellent, excellent tag match. Evans and Tornado did a 'dance-off' to open the match, and the crowd enjoyed this. Tornado hit a shoulder tackle and a dropkick. Strong tagged in at 5:00, and Generico hit him with some chops and armdrags. Strong chopped Tornado. Strong flipped Evans in the air, and Evans did a 450 splash down onto Tornado. Nice. Evans hit a spin kick on Tornado. Strong hit a back suplex and a butterfly suplex. Evans hit a standing corkscrew moonsault!
Tornado hit an enziguri on Evans for a nearfall at 8:30. Generico tagged in, and he worked over Evans. Tornado hit a neckbreaker over his knee, then a reverse suplex, dropping Evans on his stomach. Strong tagged in and he hit a Mafia Kick to Generico's back. Strong hit a backbreaker over his knee on Generico for a nearfall at 12:00. Strong unloaded more chops, then a delayed vertical suplex, as the crowd counted to 30! Strong tossed Evans onto Generico for a nearfall. Evans hit a handspring-back-elbow, then a springboard spin kick for a nearfall. Generico went for a springboard move, but Strong blocked it and he nailed a backbreaker at 15:30.
Human Tornado made the hot tag, and he hit a Pounce on Evans! Tornado nailed a hurricanrana on Strong over the top rope to the floor. Tornado then dove over the top rope, deep into the crowd, on Strong, at 17:30. Evans hit a 450 Splash to the floor on all three! Back in the ring, Human Tornado hit a neckbreaker on Evans as Evans was tied in the Tree of Woe, for a nearfall. Strong hit a pumphandle backbreaker. Generico nailed a Mafia Kick in the corner on Strong! Evans hit a Reverse Rana on Generico at 20:00!
Generico came back with a half-nelson suplex on Evans for a nearfall. Strong nailed another backbreaker! Evans hit a hurricanrana on Generico. Strong hit his Gorilla Press Gutbuster on Generico. Strong flipped Evans in the corner, and Evans landed feet-first on Tornado. OUCH. Evans went for a doublestomp off Generico, as Strong held Generico across his shoulders, but Evans slipped. Evans tried to cover for it, and he hit a standing corkscrew moonsault on Human Tornado, for the pin. Despite the botched finish, this was still very, very good, and the crowd was hot. ***3/4
(5) Joey Ryan defeats Chris Kanyon at 25:13 to retain the PWG heavyweight title. Really disappointing. I was a huge fan of WCW-era Kanyon, but here, he seemed out of shape, sluggish, and his in-ring stuff was slow and plodding. Ryan is a solid heel and the crowd is usually all over him, but there was little Ryan could do here. Ryan grabbed the mic before the match and said, "Tonight, the Joey Ryan era begins!" He asked the crowd who wanted a "mustache ride."
The crowd was all over Ryan early as they traded basic standing switches and armholds. The announcers joked about how they don't call much action in the matches. Kanyon got a backslide for a nearfall at 4:30. Ryan took a timeout to use his inhaler, and the crowd booed him. Kanyon hit a backbreaker for a nearfall. Ryan hit a suplex on the floor at 8:00. Ryan whipped Kanyon into a fan at ringside. In the ring, Ryan choked Kanyon in the ropes. Kanyon came back with a delayed vertical suplex. Ryan blocked a Kanyon Cutter and he hit an enziguri for a nearfall at 10:30.
Ryan applied a sleeper, then he hit a German Release Suplex. Kanyon hit a second-rope Famouser at 13:30, and they were both down. Kanyon hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall, then a powerbomb that had zero force behind it. Ugh. Ryan hit a standing powerbomb for a believable nearfall, then a second-rope spinning Pedigree for a nearfall at 17:30. Ryan hit a Tornado DDT to the floor. Kanyon hit a Flatliner for a nearfall in the ring. Ryan hit a Superkick for a believable nearfall.
Kanyon hit a second-rope Flatliner for a nearfall, but Ryan reached the ropes. Ryan pulled out some brass knuckles, hit Kanyon in the face, and got a believable nearfall at 22:30. Kanyon hit a drop-toe-hold onto an open chair for a nearfall. Kanyon hit the Kanyon Cutter (Diamond Cutter), but he was slow to make the cover. Out of the back came... Mortis! Mortis hopped int he ring, and Kanyon attacked him. Ryan got a rollup with a handful of tights for the pin. Wow, that was bad, and just way too long. *1/2