Check out my past PWG reviews, of a tag title tourney 2 months before this show here: Night 1, Night 2. This show is PWG’s 4 year Anniversary show, with ‘Giant Size Annual’ meaning anniversary show. The Briscoes were supposed to be on this event facing Strong/PAC in a 2/3 falls match, but they no showed. Thus the card got changed around, so instead of Briscoes vs Strong/PAC (for the tag titles) and Danielson vs Generico (world title), we have Danielson vs Necro (non title) and Generico and Steen vs Strong and PAC (tag titles) as the main event matches.
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For a spoiler-free review of the show, check the summary section at the bottom.
1. Ronin vs. TopGun Talwar: This does not look good on paper. It starts with Talwar getting all aggressive and hitting a Pescado. Back in he runs wild with some headscissors, before Ronin cuts him off with a forearm. Ronin works him over for a bit. Talwar comes back with some stuff. They do more stuff. Talwar gets a few DDTs for 2. Lariat out of nowhere from Ronin sets up his DVD finisher, which gets 3.
Winner: Ronin.
That was mediocre. No one was a clear heel or face, so there was nothing here apart from the moves and general Ronin sloppiness. This wasn’t horrible, just very un-inspiring.
**.
2. The Human Tornado vs. Tony Kozina: Kozina starts aggressively. He hits a ton of stuff, including a weird DDT on the apron. Tornado catches him off guard and backdrop suplexes him on the apron. That was sick. Tornado works him over. He has some pretty nice looking punches. Kozina comes back with a Russian leg Sweep. I wonder if he’s Russian or not. Tornado reverses a super Frankensteiner into a powerbomb, but they botch it and Kozina lands nastily on his head. After a few nearfalls HT picks up the win with Dat N**** Dead.
Winner: Human Tornado.
Decent match. It was a little too exhibitiony for my liking; the story was Kozina’s aggressiveness costing him, but that wasn’t used much. Both guys looked pretty good, and there’s not much else to say about this.
**1/2.
3. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) & TJ Perkins vs. Scott Lost, Bino Gambino & Karl Anderson: Ah, the Young Bucks. This should be very spotty. We start with Bino and TJ doing some fast stuff. One of the YB tags in and runs WILD on Anderson. For the next few minutes, the faces run wild with a load of crazy sequences and moves. One of the YB gets cut off by Bino, and it’s time for the Rudo work over period. After a while, the YB comes back and makes the hot tag to his brother.
The other dude comes in and cleans house. Superkicks and all that stuff. TJ does this weird thing on the ropes and sends Bino to the floor. The faces do a triple dive sequence, and this is crazy! Back in we get some more nearfalls and such. The action slows down a bit and we have a heel miscommunication. That leads to all 3 faces going up top, with all 3 heels lying on their backs in the ring. Oh my. TRIPLE SIMULATANEOUS 450’s!! Fuck!!! 1 2 3!
Winners: The Young Bucks and TJ Perkins.
That was a lot of fun. It was very spotty and not very story driven (as expected), but the faces coming out on top due to the heel’s unfamiliarity with each other was a nice touch. The Young Bucks’ stuff – while being perfectly executed – looked pretty stupid at times, and that’s about my only gripe with this. Fun, near non-stop action.
***.
4. Davey Richards vs. Fergal Devitt: They start with a feeling out process. Fergal reverses all of Davey’s usual stuff. Davey gets pissed and goes nuts on Fergal with strikes. Davey works over Fergal for a long while. He hits lots of aggressive moves, which works due to Fergal embarrassing him early. Fergal makes a comeback, and gets a few nearfalls. Both men trade nearfalls for way too long. The fans aren’t very into this. Eventually, Davey hits a tombstone, and puts on the Kimoura Lock for the tap out victory.
Winner: Davey Richards.
Pretty good match. The story was really interesting – Davey was the So Cal vet, and Fergal was trying to do anything to embarrass him at making a name for himself at Davey’s expense. All the wrestling was smooth, but the match went on WAY too long. Towards the end of the match, the fans couldn’t care less about what was happening, which was no fun.
**1/2.
5. Scorpio Sky vs. Joey Ryan – Street Fight: They brawl around to start. They go to the floor, where Sky hits a crossbody off the apron. Joey gets control and suplexes Sky on the floor. Back in Joey works over Sky. He hits him with a belt and chain. He sets up a chair, sits on it and puts Sky in a chinlock! I love it. Sky comes back though, and hits a backdrop suplex on the set up chair.
The finishing sequence start and we get all the usual nearfalls. Joey gets help from Scott Lost who hits Sky with a massive kick to the face, but it only gets 2. Sky hits a super rana which sends Ryan to the outside. Karl Anderson comes out, but Sky hits him with an Ace crusher. Sky being clever, lies down and pretends Karl actually did hurt him. Ryan comes back in the ring, not suspecting Sky is playing possum. Rollup from Sky! 1 2 3!
Winner: Scorpio Sky.
That was pretty average. It followed the same formula as all street fights do, so it wasn’t much I hadn’t seen before. Not a bad match, but not very inspiring.
**1/2.
*Post match Joey kills Sky with a chair.
6. Austin Aries vs. Rocky Romero: They start with some fast exchanges. Both men reverse each others’ stuff for a while and have a standoff. Both get more aggressive, until Aries takes control with one of his signature combos. Aries works over Rocky with some more of those combos and such. Rocky comes back, sending Aries shoulder first into the ringpost. He works over Aries’ arm. Aries comes back after a while, and we have the finishing sequence. Rocky hits some moves in the finishing sequence, but seems to have forgotten about Aries hurt arm. Aries hits the kick to the head and brainbuster for 2. Rocky takes Aries up top and goes for his rana into armbar move. He hits it, but Aries rolls through and gets Rocky in a rollup! 1 2 3!
Winner: Austin Aries.
Good match. The story was both men were even at the start, so both tried to step it up to get control on their opponent. Aries was successful there, dominating Rocky with all his trademark combos. Rocky realized he was in a bad spot, so he started targeting Aries’ arm. When Aries came back (in the finishing sequence) Rocky didn’t stay on the arm enough, so when he went to it (at the end with that armbar thing) Aries had enough strength to counter and pick up the surprise win. Not real problems or anything, very solid match.
***1/4.
*Pre match Dragon cuts a promo, saying because the Briscoes no showed the card was re-arranged, so he doesn’t get his title shot tonight. Usually he enjoys being at PWG, but now he’s pissed off. So if there’s anyone in the back who wants to fight, come out now!
7. Bryan Danielson vs. Necro Butcher: They strike and wrestle a bit. This is fun. Dragon gets Necro on the mat and starts ripping at his face. The sickest thing ever happens, when Dragon rips at Necro’s face, and Necro’s forehead starts PROFUSELY bleeding. What the fuck? Dragon just busted Necro open with his BEAR HANDS. This is sick. Now, for the next 5 minutes, both men go to the outside and beat the LIVING HELL out of each other. Necro bloodies Dragon with chairs, but Dragon regains control with a backdrop onto a pile of chairs. Back in Dragon dominates Necro. Jesus this is stiff. CATTLE MUTILATION from Dragon! Necro gets out of though. PUNCHES FROM NECRO! He kills Dragon for like a minute, then Dragon kills him with a German! MMA elbows! Dragon elbows Necro’s head 35733873 times, and the ref calls for the bell.
Winner: Bryan Danielson.
Awesome match. The story was really good – Dragon was pissed off about not getting his title shot, so he took his anger out on Necro in an all out fight. Dragon still stayed the smart wrestler he is though, catching Necro off guard with wrestling holds during strike exchanges, etc. Look around all you want, but I don’t think you’ll ever find a stiffer, more believable fight anywhere than this. The hate, intensity and sheer brutality of this makes it must see, ignoring the fact that it’s not the best wrestling match or anything.
***1/2.
*Pre match Steen cuts a promo, saying instead of the Briscoes we’re gonna see Strong/PAC defend the titles against the team that’s been beating the Briscoes up and down the East Coast, him (Steen) and PWG World champ, El Generico.
8. PWG Tag Titles: PAC & Roderick Strong (c) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen: Normal feeling out process to start. PAC and Generico exchange some arm drags and such. Both teams are pretty equal in the early going. Steen and Generico start to work over Strong, but he makes a comeback with a backbreaker on Generico. Strong and PAC take control on Generico. PAC hits some standing flips and knee drops. He comes off the ropes, but Generico hits a leg lariat. He tags to Steen, who takes control on PAC. PAC makes a comeback on Generico with a SWEET tilt a whirl backbreaker into hurricanrana reversal, but it’s not long before his momentum is cut short by an El Generico Quebradora. Eventually, a SHOOTING STAR KNEEDROP on Steen gives PAC the momentum he needs to make the tag to Strong!
Roderick comes in and CLEANS HOUSE with his awesome hot tag. PAC goes for his flip-flip-flippy-ma-do DDT on Generico, but Generico catches him, throws him off his shoulders and Steen KILLS PAC DEAD with a lariat! 1 2 NO! That was awesome! Pumphandle neckbreaker from Steen kills PAC again for 2! PAC on Steen’s shoulders Reverse rana! Big boot from Strong! 1 2 Generico saves! PAC throws Generico out and hits a dive! Gutbuster from Strong on Steen. 450 ELBOW DROP FROM PAC! 1 2 NO! They set some more stuff up. Super Samoan drop from Steen! Top rope Moonsault! Superfly splash from Generico! 1 2 NO! Generico and Strong trading forearms Strong turns back body drops PAC into a STANDING DRAGONRANA on Generico! 1 2 Steen saves! Steen throws Strong out and Generico dives onto him. Steen grabs PAC PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! Flips him up BRAINBUSTER FROM GENERICO! 1 2 3!
Winners, and NEW PWG World tag team champions: Kevin Steen and El Generico.
Excellent match. The story of this was so great. PAC and Strong were confident off their recent success (eg winning DDT4), so they didn’t step it up as much like at DDT4, when they were the ultimate underdogs. Also, Steenerico never tag in PWG (another reason for Strong/PAC to not take it so seriously), but do tag together loads in ROH (‘other promotions’ noted by commentary) and IWS, so they are a really strong team. With the roles sorted, the story of this was based around Strong/PAC’s length of matches. All of their successful matches didn’t go very long, and in those matches they tried to end it as quickly as can, and that worked. Here, they couldn’t end Steenerico quickly, and in the end it was Steenerico having more stamina and a better long term strategy that got them the win. That story was built gradually over 2 months (ie over DDT4 weekend), which was really, really awesome.
And of course, the wrestling was superb. It was a little slow in the earlier stages, but that was all building the story of the match going long and Steenerico’s greater stamina, so I was fine with it. The finishing sequence was one of the best things I’ve seen all year, with perfect timing throughout and some of the most creative shit you’ll ever see (STANDING DRAGONRANA). Just tops the DDT4 final for PWG tag match of the year, so far.
****1/2.
*Post match, Bryan Danielson comes out, with a bandage on his head from his war with Necro earlier. He gets on the mic and asks Steen to leave, for this is business between him and Generico. He says the advertised main event for this big anniversary show, was him vs Generico for the PWG World title. He says he was a world champ for over a year (ROH), and sometimes, when you’re a world champ, you have to fight, when you don’t feel like you wanna fight. He says if Generico wants to be considered a real champion, he has to beat the best, and Dragon says we do it tonight!
The fans chant “RING THE BELL!†as Generico calls for Dino Winwood. Generico starts talking to him, but Dragon interrupts, saying “you don’t talk to him, you talk to me!†He then slaps Generico! The ref comes in and rings the bell, as everyone goes nuts!
9. PWG Title: El Generico (c) vs. Bryan Danielson: Generico goes nuts on Dragon with forearms to start! Dragon hits a big uppercut, but Generico clotheslines him over the top! Generico hits a moonsault to the outside! What a start! Dragon catches Generico off the top with a powerbomb, then applies a single leg crab! Generico struggles and reaches the ropes. Dragon slaps Generico around, saying “come on champ!†He stands on Generico’s face. Dragon works over Generico more, with some holds and kneedrops on the mat.
Generico comes back with a top rope cross body! He rips off Dragon’s bandage and slaps him in the face! They trade strikes, and Generico hits a tornado DDT! Backdrop Driver from Dragon! They trade forearms and big boots in the center of the ring, and it’s awesome! Dragon floors Generico with a big forearm. It gets 2. Helluva Kick from Generico! Another one! HALF AND HALF SUPLEX! 1 2 NO! They exchange some fast shit BRAINBUSTER from Generico! 1 2 NO! How did Dragon kick out?! Generico can’t believe it.
They have an intense struggle up top while Generico tries to hit his turnbuckle brainbuster. Dragon gets out, and hits his Backdrop Superplex! 1 2 NO! CATTLE MUTILATION Dragon keeps it on for ages, but Generico crawls and reaches the ropes! Dragon applies it again! Generico won’t tap! Dragon gets pissed, and starts KNEEING Generico in the head! Generico hits a slap, but it does nothing. TIGER SUPLEX from Dragon gets 2! MMA ELBOWS! CATTLE MUTILATION! Generico fights it, but is forced to tap! New champ!
Winner, and NEW PWG World Champion: Bryan Danielson.
Awesome match! The story here was so basic, yet so effective. Both men were tired and pissed off at having to wrestle another match that night, so they just wanted to put each other down as quickly as possible and get it over and done with. This lead to both men unloading BOMBS on each other the whole way through, and it was fucking awesome. The emotion here was off the chain; Generico was the ultra babyface in a huge struggle to retain is title against Dragon, putting his pride and title on the line for the business and to be deemed a true world champ. The finish was awesome – Generico was done, but still didn’t give up and kept fighting (eg the weak slap) until he completely had nothing left, and had to tap. The insanely hot crowd throughout made an awesome atmosphere too. Like the previous match, this tops CIMA/Dragon from the DDT4 weekend for best PWG singles match of the year.
****1/2.
*Post match, Dragon puts over Generico on the mic. He puts over PWG and how great they’ve been over the past 4 years, as the fans chant “PWG, PWG!†to close out the show. Great moment.
Overall Thoughts: This was an excellent show. Regardless of match quality, this show felt really big and important, which is exactly what was needed seeing it’s an anniversary show. The undercard was pretty hit and miss (hit: Aries/Romero, miss: Ronin/Talwar), but you must buy this show for the outstanding triple main event. Not only was each match very good – outstanding, each match flowed so well into the other; Danielson coming back at the end of the night and tearing the roof of the place with Generico was amazing. PWG has been on a tear as of late, and this show is no exception.
Overall Score: 9/10.
The Inside Pulse
Summary
1. Ronin vs. TopGun Talwar – ** (Decent, nothing special)
2. The Human Tornado vs. Tony Kozina – **1/2 (Okay exhibition)
3. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) & TJ Perkins vs. Scott Lost, Bino Gambino & Karl Anderson – *** (Fun, non stop match)
4. Davey Richards vs. Fergal Devitt – **1/2 (Way too long but still pretty good)
5. Scorpio Sky vs. Joey Ryan – Street Fight – **1/2 (Pretty good but generic)
6. Austin Aries vs. Rocky Romero – ***1/4 (Good match)
7. Bryan Danielson vs. Necro Butcher – ***1/2 (Awesome realistic fight)
8. PWG World Tag Team Titles: PAC & Roderick Strong (c) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen – ****1/2 (Great story told and loads of awesome wrestling)
9. PWG Title: El Generico (c) vs. Bryan Danielson – ****1/2 (Phenomenal match, awesome story and a ton of emotion)
Overall Thoughts: This was an excellent show. Regardless of match quality, this show felt really big and important, which is exactly what was needed seeing it’s an anniversary show. The undercard was pretty hit and miss (hit: Aries/Romero, miss: Ronin/Talwar), but you must buy this show for the outstanding triple main event. Not only was each match very good – outstanding, each match flowed so well into the other; Danielson coming back at the end of the night and tearing the roof of the place with Generico was amazing. PWG has been on a tear as of late, and this show is no exception. 9/10.
