Pro Wrestling Guerrilla — “One Hundred” — April 12th, 2009
DVD review by Roy Reynolds
royreynolds@4sternstaging.com
+ Taped live from the American Legion Post in Reseda, California.
– Excalibur announces to the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla fans that if the Young Bucks are successful in their title defense tonight, then they will be taking the PWG World Tag Team Championships to Japan in Dragon Gate. Matt takes the microphone from Excalibur and mentions that their match at “Ninety-Nine” against Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns was one of the toughest challenges they’ve ever faced. Matt and Nick lay out a challenge to Dustin and Brandon Cutler for the PWG World Tag Teeam Championships.
â— PWG World Tag Team Championships: Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson [The Young Bucks] beat Dustin Cutler and Brandon Cutler [The Cutler Brothers] (10:11) via pinfall after the Bucks nailed the Cutlers with a double More Bang For Your Buck to retain their titles – Brandon and Matt work over one another’s arms to begin the match. Matt and Brandon shoulder block one another, which Matt eventually gets the better of. Matt tags in Nick. Nick picks up some steam by nailing Brandon with a springboard hurricarana. Continuing up momentum, Nick nails a headscissor on Brandon to the floor. The Young Bucks continue their heated offense with some beautiful-looking double team maneuvers. The Cutler Brothers fire right back up with some of their own. With the Cutler Brothers in control now, they take control of Nick in the corner. Nick finds himself in a rough predicament, as the Cutlers choke him with their training equipment. Nick fights back against the Cutlers with an armdrag. Nick makes the tag to his older brother. The Cutlers react in fast fashion by flipping Matt with a double team slam. That move only gets two. Matt nails Brandon with a Sliced Bread #2! Brandon gets taken out once more with a hurricarana from the top. Big elbow drop by Matt! One, two, no! Nick takes out Dustin on the floor with a sky twister press! Brandon with a lungblower on Nick. Two-count. After a big series of moves, all four men find themselves down on the mat. “This is awesome” chant from the crowd erupts. Double superkicks by Matt and Nick! Double More Bang for Your Buck! One, two, three! The Young Bucks manage to retain the PWG World Tag Team Championships in a little over ten minutes. As soon as this match was announced, I knew that everyone was in for a real treat. The Young Bucks and Cutler Brothers know each other inside and out, as they trained with one another, so it’s not surprising that these two tandems meshed extremely well. Probably the best opening independent professional wrestling match of 2009. Weird award to give out, but there it is. ***½.
â— Roderick Strong defeated Scott Lost (12:14) via pinfall with the Sick Kick – As Strong poses during his entrance, Scott Lost quickly moves on the attack with a big dropkick. Roderick fires back with some hard chops. Strong sends Lost to the outside and takes him out a few rows deep into the crowd! Strong clubs Lost while he’s laying back on some fans. Roderick looks to throw Scott into the ring post, but Lost evades the attempt by nailing him in the face with a swift kick. Stiff dropkick by Strong gets two. Roddy continues beating down on Lost inside of the ring with more chops. Double stomp by Scott out of nowhere! Scott with some heavy right hands to the face of Roddy. Lost works himself back into the match by sending Roderick to the outside. Lost attempts a Superman Spear into some chairs, but Strong connects with a big boot! Both men scramble to get back in the ring before the count of eleven. Lost connects with a vicious Superman Spear this time into some chairs! Inside of the ring, Scott covers for two. Lost tries squeezing the life out of Strong with his legs, but Strong manages to get to the ropes. Sharpshooter locked in! Strong somehow escapes the hold and cranks on the Stronghold! After escaping the Sharpshooter once more, Strong manages to nail Scott with the Sick Kick for the pinfall victory. Nice singles encounter here by arguably two of the best athletes in all of PWG. Innovative spots are what made this match quite enjoyable. **¾.
â— Bryan Danielson defeated Kenny Omega (22:47) via submission with a triangle choke – Bryan Danielson begins working on Kenny Omega’s arm from the start. After realizing that he was about to start feeling some serious pain, Omega switches the arm pad off of his right arm and switches it to his left one. Kenny finds himself getting frustrated and switches the arm pad once more for good measure. Danielson continues working on the arms of Omega, who wears facial expressions like a champ. After finding themselves in an eventual stalemate, Kenny Omega looks notably proud of himself for competing against the “best wrestler in the worldâ€. Danielson begins working on Omega’s knee, but takes one of his knee pads off to apply more pressure. Dragon works in a variety of submissions, but Kenny refuses to tap. Omega wants a test of strength to take place, so Omega and Danielson get down on the mat for an arm wrestling contest. Danielson wins with relative ease. Kenny then challenges Bryan to a thumb wrestling match, which he wins. After a legitimate test of strength, Omega and Danielson find themselves on their heads delivering chops! Quite a sight to see! Omega stops the match by grabbing a microphone. He wants a test of speed. With that, Kenny and Bryan hit the ropes. Omega looks to take advantage by hitting an enziguri, but is too tired to do so. Kenny doesn’t think that Bryan Danielson is human; he’s far too good of an athlete. Omega asks Danielson who he is. After a shocking revelation, Danielson reveals that his full name is John Jacob JingleheimerSchmidt! Omega stands confused, “Your name is my name, too?!â€. Danielson and Omega prance around the ring a bit, as the crowd sings the classic tune. Following all of the comedy, Bryan and Kenny get down to work. Omega nails the Hadouken for two! Eventually, Danielson reverses the Croyt’s Wrath into a triangle choke for the submission win. Quite possibly the best comedy match I have ever seen. Kenny Omega is hilarious and it’s no wonder why he’s the current PWG World Champion as of the time I am writing this review. Aside from all the comedy spots, though, Danielson and Omega also managed to put on one heck of a professional wrestling match. ***½.
â— Joey Ryan defeated Paul London (17:27) via pinfall after Scott Lost interfered, allowing Ryan to nail in a chair shot – Because this show was taped on Easter, Paul London has a chocolate Easter bunny in his hand. London is also sporting his signature space suit. As soon as the bell rings, Ryan charges at Paul. London catches Ryan with a dropsault and follows up the attack with a chocolate bunny shot to the head! London eats the chocolate debris. Paul picks up some more momentum by nailing Joey with some hurricaranas. Joey takes it to the outside and London looks to fly, but Ryan stops him with a spear! Joey controls Paul inside of the ring with a body scissors, but London eventually manages to escape. Joey sets up for another spear, but Paul dodges it and takes Ryan out with a beautiful tope to the floor! London and Ryan brawl on the outside for a few minutes. Paul tosses Joey into some chairs and follows things up with a dropkick to the skull! When London looks to do more damage, Ryan reverses the attack by throwing Paul into some chairs, as well. Ryan with a crazy spear that knocks Paul back to the outside! London looks to pick up the pace again with a spin kick. Exploder suplex by Joey connects! One, two, no! Joey sets up London for the Mustache Ride on the top rope, but Paul manages to throw him off. London misses the shooting star press! Twist of Fate by Joey for a one-count. London nails the shooting star press this time! Just when it looks like Paul is about to pick up the win, Scott Lost pulls out the referee by the legs. London takes out Scott with a corkscrew crossbody! Inside of the ring, Joey Ryan stalks Paul with a steel chair. Chair connects! One, two, three. One of my favorite matches on the “One Hundred†DVD. The wrestling was not exactly amazing, but it was more than evident that both, Paul London and Joey Ryan, were busting their asses off. Some of the bumps that London took in this match were absolutely ridiculous, to say the least. No wonder why Paul took so much time off to recover from injuries following this singles confrontation. ***¼.
â— Austin Aries, Human Tornado, and Chuck Taylor beat B-Boy, Scorpio Sky, and Candice LeRae (13:28) via pinfall when Aries nailed LeRae with a brainbuster – Austin Aries steals the microphone from Jon Ian during the introductions. Aries announces that LeRae is 245 pounds. If that’s true, then she is looking pretty darn good. Tornado and B-Boy kick off the match in the ring. Tornado and B-Boy exchange pimp slaps. Tornado makes the tag to Taylor and B-Boy makes the tag to Scorpio. Chuck and Sky roll around the ring for a while, trying to get one another’s shoulders down to the mat. None of the roll-ups get three, so the two men find themselves in a standoff. LeRae and Aries meet in the ring. After a few shots, Candice reveals to the audience that Austin Aries stuffs his trunks to make his package look bigger! Oh, snap! Aries doesn’t want any more from LeRae and tags in Taylor. Taylor wastes no time to pull out his signature grenade. Chuck drops it on Candice, which leads to a huge explosion! Somehow Candice survives the deadly weapon by kicking out at two. Human Tornado works on LeRae in the corner with some dancing kicks to the temple. Eventually, Candice is able to make the hot tag to Scorpio Sky. Scorpio works over Tornado with some stiff kicks. Chuck makes the blind tag and nails the Sole Food on B-Boy! One, two, no! Austin Aries tries kissing Candice, but he accidentally pecks Chuck on the cheek, instead. Clearly aggravated that Taylor got in his way, Aries rocks Chuck with a right hand. LeRae capitalizes by suplexing Austin by the balls! Oh, lord! LeRae nails a moonsault for two. Taylor attempts a baseball slide to the outside, but Sky lowers the bottom rope, allowing Chuck to crotch himself. Tornado takes out nearly everyone with a swan dive! While all the catastrophe is going down, Aries nails LeRae with a deadly brainbuster for the victory. A fun match, I guess. Other than the comedy spots, nothing here was too great, though. **½.
â— Davey Richards defeated Tyler Black (12:55) via pinfall with a small package – Funny how Pro Wrestling Guerrilla managed to book this match before Ring of Honor did. Tyler uses his size to his advantage from the get go to work over Davey early. Out of desperation, Richards spits into the face of Tyler, allowing him to start picking up momentum. Richards works on the body of Tyler Black by stretching and trapping him in some awfully deadly-looking holds. Black battles back and nails a clothesline, which is enough to send Richards to the floor. Tyler asks for the crowd to back him up and topes onto Richards to the outside! Back inside of the ring, Black nails a shooting star press! Two-count only. Richards fires back up again by nailing a dropkick, as well as a German suplex. Davey gets two for his efforts. Richards locks in a cloverleaf, but Tyler manages to get to the ropes. Richards and Tyler exchange stiff kicks. Black nails the Pelé Kick! Paroxysm! One, two, no! Tyler delivers a hard superkick to the head of Richards. Tyler follows things up with a powerbomb into the turnbuckle for two. Pretty sure Tyler’s finished off people like Nigel McGuinness with that exact move before. Richards works over the leg again and locks in a cloverleaf. Tyler escapes the cloverleaf, but quickly finds himself in a small package. One, two, three. These two could definitely main event any wrestling show. If this match had a storyline behind it and the two had a bit more time to work this, then there is no doubt in my mind that this bout could have easily hit the four star range. ***¼.
â— El Generico defeated Sonjay Dutt (13:47) via pinfall with a brainbuster – I could be mistaken, but I believe that this marked Sonjay’s first match back in PWG after being released from his TNA contract. Showing clear signs of continuing his heel ways, Dutt immediately goes after Generico after their handshake. It does not take long for the former PWG World Champion to get back on track, though. Generico with some deep armdrags. Dutt goes to the floor to catch his breath and Generico tricks him by faking a dive. Back inside of the ring, Generico nails a leg lariat for two. Dutt takes the easy way out by crotching Generico on the ropes. Dutt lucks in a deep sleeper hold, but Generico tenaciously battles out. Flying crossbody for two! Dutt wants some time on the outside, but Generico capitalizes by taking him out with a nasty dive. Back inside of the ring, Sonjay nails a tornado DDT for two! Michinoku Driver by Generico! Dutt no sells the attack and fires right back with a Yoshi Tonic! Nice sprint of moves there. Dutt misses a moonsault and gets caught with a half nelson suplex by Generico. El Generico does not hesitate to waste any time and nails a Yakuza kick. Generico kills Dutt with a brainbuster on the top turnbuckle! A spotfest for sure, but this was still enjoyable for me. Got to love El Generico and Sonjay Dutt. **¾.
â— PWG World Championship: Chris Hero defeated Colt Cabana (17:56) via pinfall with the Rolling Elbow to retain his belt – Chris Hero granted Colt Cabana a future PWG World Championship after he returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla just a day after being released from his WWE contract. Cabana tries working over Hero in the early going, but Chris finds a counter for nearly all of his maneuvers. Hero and Cabana break out some excellent work on the mat, which earns a standing ovation from the crowd. For whatever reason, one of the most vocal fans in the crowd sounds like a five-year old boy. Cabana whips Hero’s arm into the ring post and tries working over it. Apparently, Hero injured his arm while defending the strap against Austin Aries the night prior. Hero eventually builds up a comeback and takes out Cabana with a baseball slide to the floor. Hero’s Welcome connects! Seated senton! Two-count. Cabana digs in deep and busts out a Lionsault for two. A neckbreaker also gets two. Roaring Elbow! One, two, no! The crowd tries getting behind Cabana, as he looks somewhat out of it from the elbow shot. This time, Hero targets the back of Cabana’s head and takes him out with another vicious Roaring Elbow to retain his belt. Following the match, Hero shakes Cabana’s hand and puts him over on the microphone. This had the potential to be such a good match, as the backstory was there and everything. However, Hero and Cabana just weren’t clicking well at all. Cabana definitely showed some signs of ring rust, which is explainable, as this match took place shortly after he was released from his WWE deal. Hero, on the other hand, may have been hurting from his near twenty minute match with Austin Aries at “Ninety-Nine”, the night before. Disappointing for a main event match. **½.
– Of all people, Joey Ryan appears by the commentary booth to challenge Chris Hero. Ryan understands that Hero has been a great PWG World Champion, but there will always be a man that had the better reign. Obviously, Joey is referring to himself. Scott Lost accompanies Ryan inside of the ring to beat down Hero. Just when the Dynasty is about to nail the Extinction Agenda on Chris, Bryan Danielson and Paul London make the save. Before Ryan and Lost take off, Chris Hero insults the Dynasty for a bit and poses with the PWG World Championship. Hero thanks the PWG fans for attending their ninety-ninth and one hundredth shows, as the scene comes to a close.
– If it wasn’t already on YouTube, this promo could have probably been enough to buy this DVD, alone. What am I talking about, exactly? The first and final promo of the legendary tag team of the “American Dolphin†Bryan Danielson and the “Dolphin Master†Paul London. Together, they are the Hybrid Dolphins. Just watch the promo for yourself if you have not seen it already. Words do not do the segment any justice.
– Meanwhile, El Generico and Excalibur accidentally come across Kenny Omega and Chuck Taylor along the streets of Reseda, California, which results in quite a hilarious promo. Before trouble manages to go down, Colt Cabana makes the save for the masked men with assistance from a trusty steel chair. Also worth checking out.
A mediocre Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show with some pretty good matches. Honestly, I did not think that any of the bouts on “One Hundred” came close to hitting four stars, which may be an indication for some people to stay away from the event in general. However, it should definitely be noted that the comedy loaded onto this disc is absolutely unparalleled. Bryan Danielson versus Kenny Omega may go down as one of my favorite comedy matches of all-time. That promo with the Hybrid Dolphins at the end is simply amazing, as well.
In the end, it is hard for me to recommend or not recommend this DVD. In short, if you like what you’ve read in this DVD review and are a fan of comedy stuff, then why not spend twenty bucks to check this show out? If you’re not a fan of what’s written down here and would rather see more high profile matches, then pick up something else that better fits your fancy.
