I’m not going to lie. The prospect of a one hour match on “Is Your Body Ready?” had me dreading watching this show. It’s pretty rare for me to feel this way about a PWG show because I consider this company to be my sanctuary. I assume Sami Callihan and Adam Cole were looking for a proper blow-off to their feud since it literally ended crappy. These two are capable of having incredible matches but either because of CZW’s tendency to not meet expectations or the handicap of a one hour match, they’ve never truly broken to that next level of classic match. The Ironman match featured some creative spots, including an exchange of nearfalls where Callihan got two falls as well as each man winning with a Canadian Destroyer. I also liked Cole trying to win falls by count-out as a means to kill some time. The wrestling was also perfectly competent but never reached into that “PWG main event gear.” Anyone who’s ever read one of my reviews should know what that means. Callihan and Cole had two major problems. They didn’t hit that third gear, but in a bizarre way, they also seemingly ran out of things to do at times. Give me editing powers, and I could make a four star 30-40 minute match out of what they did. Callihan started off quick, which may have been a mistake given that they seemed to struggle later on for what to do. Wrestling for 60 minutes is extremely difficult, and I’m not sure it’s worth attempting in today’s modern independent wrestling. Silas Young and Michael Elgin performed a miracle in their one hour match. Cole and Callihan performed an invasive surgery and barely escaped with an acceptable match.
Sidenote: I loved Cole hugging Callihan after the match… only to beat him down and tell him to suck his dick. The PWG champion is just on another level when it comes to heel work, and other companies would be wise to start taking advantage. Cole will be a star as a heel…I’m talking the type of guy who will be signed by WWE the moment they see that first heel promo.
Another reason Cole and Callihan had an impossible task? The match before featured the Young Bucks wrestling AR Fox and Samuray Del Sol. All four men opened the wrestling move playbook up and hit everything under the sun. Some amazing action. Things you’re not going to see in any other promotion. Matt and Nick Jackson have started using the crotch chop, which is pretty amusing and a total Young Buck thing to do. Matt Jackson also used a new version of the backrake as he first teased a dive but raked Fox’s back while Nick held him. Awesome. Lots of high-flying and an ending which you shouldn’t be surprised by… but man, did they go too long. I loved the match, but shave some time, and you’ve got a match of the year contender. As it turned out, this was just a very very good match. Good to see the Bucks win clean. Now some teams need to be built up for those tag team titles because the issues I brought up with another title reign are rearing their ugly head. A lack of challengers and lack of drama. At least the match quality is still right there.
The funny part about Kevin Steen and Drake Younger is it could have easily been the main event of the show. I also remember hearing about this match and thinking “Someone is going to get hurt or possibly die.” Want an example of the craziness? Kevin Steen hit three consecutive powerbombs. Number one was on the stage and nearly caused Excalibur to blow his voice off because of his screaming. Number two was the typical powerbomb against the ring apron. Number three was when both men were standing on the apron and Steen just dropped him. At least neither man seemed injured at the end of his contest. Also worth nothing there was minimal weapon usage except when Younger put Steen through about three rows worth of chairs on a driver of some sort. It’s too bad such a crazy match couldn’t have had a better ending. Adam Cole became involved and nailed Steen with his belt. Younger hit a Drake’s Landing (something that didn’t even play into the psychology of the main event at all nor was mentioned by the announcers). Honestly, within context, it makes the main event just a bit worse sine Cole showed no ill effects from being hit with a finisher. Younger defeated Steen moments later in an anti-climactic finish using a backslide. I liked what I saw far more than I expected I would despite some dangerous spots, but man that finish wasn’t good.
I guess the story of this show was matches going too long or having weak finishes. The effort and workrate were right up there with all the great PWG shows as exemplified by the Dojo Bros versus Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor. It’s borderline ridiculous that Gargano has never wrestled Edwards or Strong. I love the Dojo Bros as a team, even moreso than the American Wolves. Their styles seem to mesh better, and they have a bit better like personalities. Not as crazy as the later tag team match but still very good. Very fun ending sequence as Strong hit the Orange Crush Backbreaker for the win as Edwards double-stomped Taylor on the apron. By the way, Taylor really stepped up his game (as he tends to do in big tag team matches to be fair) and showed he belongs in the ring with guys like Strong and Edwards. This is the Chuck Taylor I wish we could see more often in places like PWG.
I firmly believe Kyle O’Reilly stole the whole of ASW in defeating Sami Callihan. He pretty much did the same thing with Davey Richards on this show. I’m happy Ring of Honor used O’Reilly in a tag team and is allowing him to explore a heel persona with someone like Bobby Fish who pretty much owns his heel persona. People can complain all they want about Davey Richards, but he generally does a great job putting wrestlers over or at least making them look good in defeat. How many guys would exit the ROH world title scene and go back to being a tag team so willingly? Richards made his protégé look as good as I’ve seen anyone make O’Reilly look. Lots of good wrestling and exchange of holds. This may have been my favorite match of the night as it turned out because of the quality wrestling and a finish that made sense. O’Reilly went for the cross armbreaker for almost the whole match, and when he wasn’t, he was working over the arm as Richards worked the leg. Their exchange of submissions made sense, but O’Reilly eventually won clean with his. Again, how many guys would so easily put someone over by submitting clean? This match also featured some great comedy with a “Rock, paper, scissors” chant when neither would put the other’s foot down. There was also some crazy kick exchanges, which are always fun with guys who know how to kick well. Very good match.
The night kicked off with another tag team match as Michael Elgin and Brian Cage wrestled the RockNes Monsters. I still think Elgin and Cage are better off on their own, but this was a fun way to start the show. Yuma and Goodtime went for suplexes and failed miserably. Cage and Elgin each performed stalling suplexes. I never got the sense that the Monsters had any chance. They feel almost listless and without purpose within PWG as they’ve done a whole lot of losing lately. Elgin pinned Yuma to win a good but inconsequential match. I would really like to see PWG actually use their locals in a position other than to job in the fly-ins. It’s also rough thinking about guys like Willie Mack and Ryan Taylor not getting positions on the show because as much fun as it is seeing indie’s all-stars, I also firmly believe PWG drops the ball by not showcasing the local SoCal talent.
The action is worth the price of the admission despite my issues with some of the finishes and matches going too long. The crowd is worth mentioning since they were into almost every match except the main event when even they seemed to lose interest in the final contest. I certainly enjoyed this as much as DDT4 and thought this was close to the quality of ASW 9. For a lot of companies, this would be among their best. For PWG, it’s almost ho hum. Still top shelf.
Grade: B+
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-Taped from Reseda, CA
Commentators: Excalibur, Rick Knox, Sami Callihan, Chuck Taylor, and Kevin Steen
-The Unbreakable F’n Machines (Brian Cage and Michael Elgin) defeat RockNes Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma by pinfall. Elgin pins Yuma after a spinning powerbomb./11:57/***
-Kyle O’Reilly defeats Davey Richards by submission with the cross armbreaker/19:29/***3/4
-Dojo Bros (Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards) defeat Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano by pinfall. Strong pins Gargano after the Orange Crush Backbreaker./15:15/***1/2
-Drake Younger defeats Kevin Steen by pinfall with a backslide/17:55/***1/4
-The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) defeat Samuray Del Sol and AR Fox in a non-title match by pinfall after More Bang for Your Buck./24:57/***3/4
-Adam Cole defends the PWG title successfully over Sami Callihan in a 60 minute Ironman match 6-5/60:00/**3/4
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