BG Says: PWG All Star Weekend, Night 1

After a 15-month hiatus from the SoCal scene I’m back with more PWG righteousness. I’m picking up right where I left off in early 2005. Eventually I’ll get to the original 8 shows that I never reviewed, but for now it’s time to play catch up.

April 1, 2005 – Los Angeles, California

Disco Machine and Excalibur tackle commentary, and as usual be sure to switch the audio channel over to hear them.

VS.

Hook Bomberry, Topgun Talwar, Ronin & Davey Richards VS. Excalibur, Disco Machine, Zokre & Phoenix Star
This match is significant as the earliest Davey Richards match I’ll ever see. This is his PWG debut. Talwar and Excalibur start. They lock up and Talwar grabs a wristlock. He bites Excalibur’s hand and drags him across the ring that way. Excalibur gets a roll up for 2. Talwar gets a sunset flip for 2. Richards and Disco tag in. They trade wristlocks and Richards hits a dropkick. Hook and Zokre tag in. Zokre puts on a headlock but Hook slams him to the mat by his mask. Zokre gets a sunset flip for 2. He hits a backbreaker and a hurricanrana. Star tags in and kicks both Hook and Talwar. Ronin tags in and gets hit with a hurricanrana. Star hits a springboard armdrag but Ronin comes back with a forearm and a big boot. Richards tags in and hits a bodyslam on Star. He hits an elbowdrop for 2. He kicks the back and tags to Ronin. Ronin hits a back elbow for 2. Hook tags in and hits a dropkick for 2. Talwar tags in and hits a basement shoulder tackle for 2. He hits a hanging inverted DDT for 2. Ronin tags in and gets kicked around by Star. Star tags all of his partners in so all the bad guys run in too. Our heroes dive onto their enemies on the floor, culminating in a big dive from Star onto Ronin. In the ring Richards hits an enziguiri on Excalibur. He hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Zokre hits a blue thunder bomb on Richards for 2. Ronin hits a nasty powerbomb and a DVD on Zokre for 2. Star hits a springboard hurricanrana on Ronin for 2. Hook hits a Michinoku driver on Star for 2. Disco hits the Chokebreaker on Hook for 2. Talwar hits a series of clotheslines and the Chipotlé on Disco for 2. Excalibur hits a German suplex on Talwar for 2 but Richards breaks it up with a shooting star press onto Excalibur for the win at 10:59. This was actually a step above these multi-man openers. Great way to start the show.
Rating: ***¼

VS.
Chris Hero VS. Chris Sabin
They knuckle up to start and then trade wristlocks. Sabin gets a headlock takedown and gets a sunset flip for 2 after some fancy flipping. Holy crap that looked great. Sabin goes back to the headlock but Hero comes back with a dropkick for 2. He Smotherses Sabin down in the corner for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a twisting double stomp for 2. Sabin returns fire with a springboard dropkick for 2. He puts on a chinlock and hits a dropkick to the back after dodging a chinbreaker. It gets 2. He stays on Hero’s neck with a standing neckbreaker. He hits another dropkick to the head for 2. Hero goes after Sabin’s arm by using it to suplex him across the ring. He hits a roaring forearm to the arm but Sabin comes back with a back heel kick and another neckbreaker for 2. Hero gets a roll up for 2. Sabin gets a roll up for 2. He hits a pair of legdrops to the back of the neck for 2. Hero hits the Diamond Dust to Sabin’s arm but his neck gets hurt doing the move. He hits a dropkick to the arm and a hammerlock backbreaker for 2. He drops a knee on the arm and puts on a half crab with the arm grapevined. Sabin gets to the ropes. Sabin blocks a suplex but his arm is too hurt to hit one of his own. He hits an enziguiri instead and then powers through the injury to hit a brainbuster for 2. He hits forearms to the neck and hits a swinging DDT for 2. Sabin goes for the Cradle Shock but Hero goes to the arm to block. Hero puts on the a cravat crossface and Sabin’s arm gives out at 14:48. The focus these two gave to their opponent’s injured body parts was great. The commentators did a great job selling the narrative of the match as well. Despite the fact that it wasn’t really exciting it got the crowd intensely engaged just by telling a great story.
Rating: ***½

VS.
Jonny Storm VS. Petey Williams
Storm hits a dropkick to start. He boots Williams to the floor and follows him out with a twisting plancha. He goes for a sunset bomb to the floor but Williams counters to a legdrop on the apron. Back in the ring Storm hits an armdrag and puts on an armbar. Williams puts on the head scissors but Storm counters to a headlock. Storm sets Williams up top and brings him down with a Japanese armdrag for 2. Williams returns fire with a German suplex for 2. He hits a dropkick for 2. He hits an inverted DDT for 2. He hits a backbreaker for 2. He hits a northern lights suplex for 2. He hits a back elbow and a vertical suplex. Storm comes back with a DDT. He hits a hurricanrana and a running forearm. He hits a facebuster and an enziguiri. Williams bails so Storm follows him out only to get caught in a hurricanrana on the floor. Back in the ring Williams hits a side Russian legsweep for 2. He gets a sunset flip for 2. They trade roll ups and Williams puts on the Sharpshooter. Storm gets to the ropes. Storm hits the Wonderwhirl for 2. Williams goes for the Canadian Destroyer but Storm blocks it and hits a hurricanrana for the win at 13:38. Most of the match lacked focus, although the bit that saw both men becoming intent on hitting their signature moves at the end being their downfall was a good time.
Rating: **¾

VS.
Kendo KaShin & Puma VS. Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero
Puma and Kendo have communication problems right off the bat. Kendo and Romero start but Kendo immediately tags out. Puma and Romero roll around on the mat until Puma comes up with a cravat. Reyes and Kendo tag in but Kendo immediately tags out. Reyes puts a hammerlock on Puma but Puma gets to the ropes. Reyes hits a clothesline and tags to Romero. Puma hits a dropkick and a bodyslam and tags to Kendo. Kendo chokes Reyes in the corner and puts on the Kayak. He floats into a camel clutch and tags to Puma. Puma hangs Romero in the Tree of Woe and unloads the kicks. He hits Romero in the crotch, or at least I think he did because the referee blocked the shot. It gets 2. Kendo tags in and hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Puma tags in and puts on the Gory Special. Romero counters to an armdrag and Reyes hits a cheap shot from the apron on Puma. Reyes tags in and hits a dropkick to the face. Romero crotches Puma on the post and Reyes puts him in a chinlock. Puma gets a sunset flip for 2. Reyes hits a leg lariat and tags to Romero. Romero kicks Puma around and puts on an octopus stretch. He rolls Puma up but Kendo has the referee distracted. Romero puts on a surfboard stretch but Puma counters to a mule kick. Reyes runs in and they hit a flying knee/clothesline combo for 2. Puma hits a roundhouse kick on Reyes and tags to Kendo. Kendo and Romero tag in and Kendo cleans house with European uppercuts. He rolls Romero up for 2. Puma and Kendo dodge dropkicks from the Pitbulls and put them in the rowboat hold. Kendo blocks a blind charge from Romero but walks into a hurricanrana. Reyes tags in and hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Kendo hits a low blow and tags to Puma. Puma rolls Reyes up for 2. Reyes comes back with a backbreaker and a spider bomb for 2. Romero tags in and misses a dropkick. Puma hits the Black Tiger Bomb for 2. What an insult! He climbs the ropes but Romero slams him down and climbs himself. He goes for a diving headbutt but Puma catches him in a cravat. Kendo forces Puma to tag out and misses his palm strike. Romero catches him with a roll up for 2. Romero dropkicks Puma into the corner and rolls him up for the win at 16:20. Kendo and Romero would face each other again the next night in the finals of ROH and New Japan’s Top of the American Super Junior’s Tournament. Romero (who fought as Black Tiger) didn’t have a prayer of carrying Kendo to something watchable there, as the crowd had already turned on him (fighting as Dragon Soldier B) for putting on a complete stinker against James Gibson. As for this match it occurs to me that it was filmed entirely with the hard camera. The match was helped a great deal by the fact that KaShin was only in there for a couple of minutes. The Pitbulls and Puma did a fine job of entertaining through the majority of the match, and it was good to see that KaShin’s conceit cost him the match.
Rating: ***¼

VS.
American Dragon VS. James Gibson
Dragon grabs a headlock to start. They knuckle up and Dragon puts on a wristlock. Gibson hits a northern lights suplex and goes after the arm. Dragon deadlifts him and sets him on the top rope. Gibson gets a headlock takedown but Danielson gets to the ropes and hits a back heel kick. Dragon puts on a chinlock but Gibson goes back to his headlock. Dragon sends Gibson to the floor and follows him out with a dive off the top rope. Back in the ring Dragon gets 2. He hits a snap suplex for 2. He chokes Gibson on the top rope and whips him across the ring with that very same rope. He puts on the Mexican surfboard and leans back for 2. He hits a kneedrop and puts on a half crab. Gibson gets to the ropes so Dragon drags him to the floor and unloads with kicks. Back in the ring Dragon gets 2. He puts on a chinlock but Gibson counters to a hiptoss. He misses an elbowdrop and Dragon goes back to the chinlock. They trade kicks and Gibson gets a backslide for 2. Dragon hits a European uppercut for 2. He sets Gibson up top and goes for a back superplex but Gibson counters to a crossbody for 2. Gibson hits a neckbreaker and a pair of forearms. He hits a short-arm clothesline and a second rope legdrop for 2. Dragon blocks a suplex and hits a running forearm. He hits a butterfly suplex for 2. He puts on a dragon sleeper but Gibson counters to the guillotine choke. Dragon suplexes out of it. Dragon sets Gibson up top again and hits the back superplex he was looking for earlier for 2. He climbs the ropes but misses the diving headbutt. Gibson hits a jumping knee and a brainbuster for 2. He puts on a cloverleaf but Danielson powers out. Dragon hits a dragon suplex and puts on the Cow Killer but Gibson gets to the ropes. Dragon calls for the airplane spin and gets close to 40 rotations. He dizzily dropkicks the turnbuckle and Gibson dizzily rolls up the referee. Dragon rolls Gibson up for 2. Gibson counters to one of his own for 2. He goes for the tiger driver but Dragon counters to a roll up attempt. Gibson counters that to his own roll up for the win at 20:52. Great technical match that was just a few shades below the epic they’d have in ROH a few months later.
Rating: ***¾

VS.

Chris Bosh, Scott Lost & Joey Ryan VS. Quicksilver, Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian
Arrogance’s pre-match racist tirade goes on forever, long enough that it gets its own chapter. Bosh and Quicksilver start. Bosh goes after the leg but Quicksilver comes back with a chinlock. Bosh grabs a headlock but Quicksilver comes back with a sunset flip for 2. Bosh gets a sunset flip for 2. Quicksilver hits a back elbow and puts on the 6 Seconds Magic. Lost and Sky tag in. Sky hits a hurricanrana and a clothesline. He hits a dropkick but Lost comes back with a dropkick of his own. Ryan and Kazarian tag in. Ryan fears Kazarian so he tags out to Lost. Lost hits a leg lariat and tags to Ryan, who now feels safer. Kazarian hits the Edge-O-Matic for 2. He hits a bicycle kick for 2. Ryan, Lost and Bosh hit a super low blow on Kazarian. Bosh puts on a hammerlock and tags to Ryan. Ryan hits a dropkick and makes an illegal switch with Lost. Bosh drop toeholds Kazarian onto Lost’s knee for 2. Ryan tags in and slams Kazarian to the mat by his hair. He hits a vertical suplex and tags to Lost. Lost hits the Superman Spear and tags to Bosh. Bosh hits a bodyslam and a fistdrop. Ryan tags in and goes for a doomsday dropkick with Lost but Kazarian absorbs Lost’s kick and hits a reverse hurricanrana on Ryan. Everyone switches out and the Aerial Express sandwich Lost with kicks. They double-team Bosh with kicks and legdrops. Ryan superkicks Quicksilver and Sky dropkicks Ryan. Lost kicks Kazarian around and sets him up top. The AXP cut him off but the rest of Arrogance run up and what we get is some serious circus shit out of the corner. Ryan and Bosh get launched to the floor and the AXP follow them out with stereo dives. Back in the ring Quicksilver gets 2 on Bosh. He hits a piledriver on Bosh for 2. Ryan hits a swinging pedigree on Quicksilver. Sky hits a hurricanrana off the top on Ryan. Lost hits a pumphandle piledriver on Sky and a German suplex on Kazarian. He climbs the ropes but Kazarian cuts him off with a superkick before hitting the Flux Capacitor onto everyone on the floor. Back in the ring Bosh hits Lost by mistake and Kazarian hits them both with the Wave of the Future for the win at 18:20. This was pretty sloppy but they busted out some crazy stunts so they get a few points for balls and effort.
Rating: ***

After the match Bosh, Lost and Ryan regain their composure and beat Kazarian down. Petey Williams and Chris Sabin make the save, showing TNA unity. Williams, who was unable to hit it in his own match, hits the Canadian Destroyer on Lost.

VS.
Christopher Daniels © VS. Alex Shelley [TNA X-Division Championship Match]
They feel each other out and Shelley puts on the head scissors. He rolls Daniels up for 2. More chain wrestling leads to a delayed vertical suplex from Daniels. Shelely blocks a blind charge but gets caught with an exploder suplex. Shelley hits a fisherman neckbreaker and puts on the Mark Nulty Special. He turns it into the Skull Fucker and gets 2. He ties Daniels in a knot and hits a dropkick to the face for 2. He puts on a cravat but Daniels fights back. Shelley hits a neckbreaker for 2. He hits a double knee strike in the corner and climbs the ropes. He hits a kneedrop off the top for 2. Daniels comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He hits a clothesline and a powerbomb. He hits the uranage but misses the triple jump moonsault. Shelley hits a superkick and the spike DDT. He climbs the ropes and hits a frog splash for 2. He goes for the Air Raid Crash but Daniels blocks and hits an enziguiri. He hits a blue thunder bomb for 2. Shelley gets a roll up for 2. Daniels gets a roll up for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. Shelley gets a sunset flip for 2. Daniels gets a final roll up for the win at 12:53. This was a solid, fast-paced match, but the action never cranked up to the point that it felt important. Given its placement on the card and the fact that it was for the title I expected more.
Rating: **¾

After the match Daniels gets on the microphone and talks about his career and how important holding a TNA title is to him. He’s so excited to be a title holder that he plans to defend the belt in PWG as much as possible. He asks that anyone in the locker room come out and challenge him for the title. Chris Hero answers the call. He talks about looking up to Daniels. He says that he believes he had a very good match against Chris Sabin and because of his victory he deserves a shot at Daniels’s title. Daniels accepts the challenge.

VS.
AJ Styles VS. Samoa Joe [Number One Contender Match]
This match is actually very important in the PWG universe because it was supposed to be the main event of the debut show. At that time Joe was the ROH champion and Styles was the NWA champion. Joe got injured and was replaced by Frankie Kazarian, who went on to become the first PWG champion. Now neither Joe nor Styles holds those belts and this match will be to determine who faces the PWG champion the following night. Joe wasn’t booked for night two so the outcome was never really in question. They fight on the mat to start and Styles bails. Back in the ring Styles hits a dropkick and a bodyslam. He hits a kneedrop for 1. He hits a vertical suplex and a backbreaker, wowing the commentators. Joe dodges a dropkick and Styles lands on his neck. Styles regains his composure and hits a hurricanrana. Joe bails and sweeps Styles’s legs on the apron. Back in the ring Joe hits the Big Joe Combo for 2. He puts on a chinlock and hits another legsweep. He puts on a half crab but Styles gets to the ropes. Joe hits a running knee in the corner and washes Styles’s face. That gets 2. Joe boots Styles to the floor and then rolls him back into the ring. Styles blocks an Irish whip so Joe casually beats him down and hits a double stomp. Yeesh. That gets 2. Styles goes for a roll up but Joe counters to the choke. Styles gets to the ropes. He hits the flipping inverted DDT and a leaping clothesline. Joe hits the STJoe for 2. Styles bails so Joe follows him out with a suicide dive. Back in the ring Joe gets 2. Styles slips going for a springboard but recovers in time to clip Joe’s knee and hit a dropkick to the face. Good save. He hits a leg lariat for 2. Joe hits a powerslam for 2. He hits a senton for 2. Styles hits a discus lariat for 2. He goes for the Styles Clash but Joe blocks and hits a lariat for 2. Joe hits a powerbomb for 2 and puts on the STF. Styles gets to the ropes. He hits the Pelé kick and puts on a torture rack. He powerbombs Joe out of the rack for 2. He hits an enziguiri and a roundhouse kick. He climbs the ropes but Joe crotches him and goes for the Muscle Buster. Styles counters to the Styles Clash for the win at 19:58. Watching Styles throw Joe around was a lot of fun. The match put their ROH matches against each other to shame and was just about as good as the stuff they did on TNA PPV.
Rating: ****

VS. VS.
Super Dragon © VS. Kevin Steen VS. El Generico [PWG Championship Match]
Steen gets in Dragon’s face at the bell. Generico tries to get in on the action but is shoved away. Steen shoves Generico to the floor and then slugs it out with Dragon. Dragon blocks an enziguiri but can’t block a leg lariat. Generico hits Dragon with a dropkick and Steen with a back elbow. He hits a standing moonsault on Steen for 2. Dragon dumps Generico to the floor and trades finisher attempts with Steen. He drops a knee on Steen’s head and then does the same to his face for 2. Dragon blocks a boot from Generico and hits a hurricanrana. Generico comes back with a leg lariat and Dragon bails. Steen hits a back elbow on Generico and counters a swinging DDT to a backbreaker. He hits a baseball slide on Dragon and pins Generico for 2. He chops Generico down and hits a double stomp to the back. Dragon hits a double stomp on Steen and throws him to the floor. He rolls Generico up for 2 and puts on the leggy nelson. He hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for 2 when Steen runs in with a double stomp on Dragon. Steen spits water on Generico and hits an enziguiri for 2. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. He sets Generico up top but Generico fights him off and hits a crossbody for 2. Dragon charges Generico but ends up spearing the post and Generico hits a swinging DDT on Steen. Steen and Dragon fight on the floor so Generico dives out onto them. He rolls Steen into the ring and hits him with a splash off the top for 2. Steen gets his knees up on a split legged moonsault attempt. Dragon hits Steen with a top rope senton while seamlessly also hitting Generico with a dropkick. He hits Generico with the Curb Stomp twice for 2. Dragon climbs the ropes but Generico cuts him off and hits the turnbuckle brainbuster for 2 when Steen saves. Steen hits the Air Raid Crash on Generico for 2. He climbs the ropes and hits a moonsault for 2. He hits Generico with his own big boot but misses a second attempt. Generico hits the big boot himself and follows up with an exploder into the corner. He hits a tiger suplex for 2. Steen comes back with the package piledriver for 2 when Dragon saves. Dragon kills Steen with a lariat and follows him to the floor with a topé suicida. He rushes to the top rope and hits Generico with a double stomp and a lariat. He follows up with the Psycho Driver for the win at 18:31. This was one of those lazy three-ways where one guy was on the floor at all times, but they did the best with that format that they could.
Rating: ***½

Highlighting the banana on the main menu will reveal the following backstage shenanigans
Jonny Storm talks about facing Petey Williams tonight. Williams couldn’t hit the Canadian Destroyer and that means nobody in PWG is going to be able to beat him.

James Gibson brags about beating American Dragon tonight. He’s got a lot of things to prove to everyone in the wrestling business. He calls himself the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the world, no matter where he wrestles.

American Dragon strokes his crazy beard and calls James Gibson lucky. He says he won’t be beaten again.

Puma and KaShin shove each other around and pull on each other’s masks. They try to hit wrestling moves on each other backstage but fail.

Frankie Kazarian says that if he can change and if the fans can change then everyone can change. He sounds totally drunk as he sends a message to his kid at home.

Petey Williams has accepted his loss to Jonny Storm. He’s sorry that nobody got to see the Canadian Destroyer. This was obviously taken right after his match because he promises PWG fans that they’ll be seeing the move tonight.

AJ Styles heard a fan say that Super Dragon will kill him. If Samoa Joe couldn’t kill him then Super Dragon won’t kill him. In fact he’s not going to let Super Dragon his a single of his crazy moves on him and he’s going to take the PWG title. Kevin Steen runs up and calls Styles his friend (despite being called a fag seconds before by Styles) and says that he agrees with Styles. He doesn’t think much of Super Dragon either, and he’s going to sue PWG for the abuse Super Dragon has put him through. He then steps in pee and poo and drinks a water bottle full of pee. That’s collateral. And Excalibur is getting sued to because his mask is dumb. Steen can cut a hilarious promo when he wants to.

The 411:  The average match rating for this show is well over ***, which makes it an easy recommendation. Styles vs. Joe is amazing and Dragon vs. Gibson isn’t far behind. The main event delivered as well as I imagined it would and Hero and Sabin busted out a hell of a fun match on the under card. Nothing to complain about here, as this DVD is a great night of wrestling.
Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]  legend