Written by: Jim
All Star Weekend 2 – Night Two
November 19, 2005
TJ Perkins and Human Tornado w/Jade Chung vs Alex Koslov and Ronin
This is Koslov and Chung’s PWG debut. I’m not sure what the deal was with Tornado, but he was very over the top in his antics. It got to the point where I just wanted him out of the ring so Perkins can carry the match. Easily the most annoying Tornado has ever been. Despite the dull match, Alex Koslov was instantly over with the PWG audience. The last time I can remember a debuting wrestler being this over was Kevin Steen at Free Admission (Just Kidding). While it was a step above night 1’s opening tag match, it’s still a far below average match for Perkins. Perkins has the Figure Four Deathlock on Koslov for the win, but the referee refuses to call for the bell since Tornado was the legal man. Tornado simply locks in a Camel Clutch on Koslov to pick up the victory. What is with giving Perkins the horrible endings this weekend? 1 3/4 Stars.
In a nice ironic twist, ROH’s Night of Tribute was held on the same night as this show. During that show (As we’d find out on the DVD release) Dave Prazak showed a digital picture of Jimmy Rave Pedigree’ing Jade Chung in a parking lot. Prazak claimed that Chung suffered broken cheeks and she was out of the professional wrestling business. Due to the time change, a few hours later, PWG holds ASW 2 Night 2 and Jade Chung makes her debut. Click here to enlarge
Jack Evans vs Joey Ryan
Thanks to their differing styles, Evans and Ryan had a fun little match. Despite being the Technical Wizard, Ryan’s mat work didn’t have much effect since Evans could contort his body into getting out of any hold. However, it’s Evans spotty style that gets him into trouble with Ryan finally going on offense. To keep Evans looking strong, they created a little story where Ryan couldn’t hit the Mustache Ride and was forced to keep covering Evans with his feet on the ropes. Despite Rick Knox catching him twice, he doesn’t notice the third time to allow Ryan the victory. At barely over twelve minutes long, it’s one of Joey’s shortest PWG matches up to this point. Even though it could have shaved off a couple of minutes, it didn’t drag as much as most of his matches do. Joey had now won seven of his last eight singles matches. 2 3/4 Stars.
Scorpio Sky vs Scott Lost
Lost attacks Scorpio during Sky’s entrance with the very chair Scorpio used on him on night 1. The beat down goes on for a long time before the opening bell rings. From there, it’s a match built around Lost punishing Scorpio and Sky just trying to fight through the pain. Near the end, Lost even uses the chair again to nail some painful looking blows to Scorpio’s back. Lost locks in the Sharpshooter and it’s battle between the ultimate submission hold and Scorpio’s pride. In the long fight to get to the ropes, Quicksilver and Dino Winwood runs out to cheer Scorpio on. Once Scorpio is within inches of grabbing the ropes, Lost pulls him back to the middle of the ring. Scorpio’s screaming in pain and Dino Winwood is crying, having to watch one of his best friends in so much pain. When Winwood knows Scorpio can’t get to the ropes, he throws the towel in to give Scott Lost the win. After the match, Quicksilver and Human Tornado berate Dino for throwing in the towel. I have to hand it to PWG, they were trying hard to create this epic sort of storytelling. The execution was heavily flawed, but I still appreciate the effort. These sort of emotional roller coasters are difficult to tell to an indy audience since they know it’s simply an angle. Still, this makes me want to fork over some money and buy the next chapter of their feud. And really, isn’t that the ultimate goal of this? 3 1/2 Stars.
Super Dragon and Davey Richards (c) vs Excalibur and Disco Machine – PWG Tag Titles
Disco and Davey’s early mat work is just stupid. This is supposed to be a blood feud with the most evil faction in PWG against the most violent tag team. Despite the early problems, this really heat up once Davey injures his knee. I’m really questioning whether Davey was actually hurt. Right after it happens, he seems super pissed off at Disco Machine in going after him (I’m not talking about with pro wrestling strikes, but just trying to grab and pull him to the floor so he can beat on him). If Davey was just selling his knee the entire match, even the biggest Davey hater has to be impressed with the selling. Like most SDDR matches, it goes on a little too long. That being said, it has the extra importance of bringing the Kevin Steen/Super Dragon back to the forefront when Steen comes out to distract the referee and Dragon in order to give his SBS partners a chance to win. Steen fails, but it’s enough to heat the feud back up. Despite not being the one who got the pinfall, this was the best Davey looked since SDDR started up. Even though he was injured, he kept fighting and didn’t always need Dragon there to save him. It started off rough, but it ended with another solid title defense (Albeit weaker than night 1) for SDDR. 3 1/4 Stars.
After the match, Steen attacks the tag champions. Davey gets a chair hitting his knee a few times and Dragon takes a Package Piledriver on a chair. I LOVE the story of this. It was the Package Piledriver on a chair that began the downward spiral for Super Dragon with Steen making him his bitch. Jason Takes PWG, the show it occurred at, was a major turning point in the feud with everything turning to shit for Dragon. Thanks to Dragon picking up a lot of wins lately with Davey Richards, I see Kevin Steen fearing that he didn’t kill Super Dragon, that he’s returning to his usual self. Steen needs to stop that momentum in order to keep Dragon down. Things are different though. Unlike post-Jason Takes PWG, Dragon finally has an alley that he can trust and beat the New SBS with in the form of Davey Richards.
Jimmy Yang vs Rocky Romero
For the “I totally just made this up, but it still applies” backstory of the match – Rocky Romero is preparing for his ROH World Title shot against Bryan Danielson in December. He wants to test his skills against the last guy who beat Dragon – Jimmy Yang. Unlike with the Danielson match on night 1, both guys here are babyfaces. As a result, there’s zero heat in this. Oh sure, they both all of their pretty moves and the fans are appreciative, but it just feels like an exhibition. It doesn’t help matters that Yang is the anti-James Gibson. I find Yang to be so much better in the short WWE matches compared to his longer indy bouts. Maybe his heart isn’t in it, but he’s botchy and isn’t the Yang greatness that you could find on Smackdown or Velocity. Still, I can’t hate on Yang too much and Romero is his usual quality self. Yang picks up the win after a Yang Time to a standing Romero. Good, but nothing special. 3 Stars.
El Generico vs B-Boy
Watching B-Boy’s singles matches is starting to become a chore. They’re always so long and the first half is just a time killer before the excitement beings with the wrestlers picking up their pace. Generico and B-Boy tries to add some comedy early on by talking on a couple of fan’s cell phones, but it’s about as funny as Human Tornado’s antics earlier tonight – not funny at all. With B-Boy’s win, this is now El Generico’s fifth straight singles loss. In fact, for all of 2005, Generico only won one singles match. Meh. B-Boy picks up the win after his “I’m only going to use this in the toughest matches only” Delikado, which seems a bit unnecessary. 2 Stars.
Chris Sabin and Frankie Kazarian vs Petey Williams and Hardkore Kidd w/El Jefe
El Jefe~! The only reason why I even bother to watch Hardkore Kidd’s matches. Petey’s back to wearing his Canadian gear, but he still worked the match as if he’s trying to be Canadian move free. Surprisingly, Kidd and Petey work well together. For most of the match, Kidd doesn’t even attempt any of his stupid high flying moves. However, it’s just as I’m ready to praise him that he does a springboard spot. Even though he’s botchy and generally isn’t too interesting, seeing Kidd work a big man style is a lot better than seeing a lackluster high flyer. Sabin and Kazarian takes turns playing the face-in-peril, but neither hot tag receives a major reaction. In the end, Kazarian nails his Flux Capacitor on Petey to get the victory for his team. For an undercard (And much shorter match) this would have been fine, but for as much time as it was given and the spot on the card, it wasn’t too special. 2 1/2 Stars.
Kevin Steen (c) vs Chris Bosh – PWG World Title
Before the match, Bosh gets on the mic to tell us about his last jerking off session. God came to his in a vision and told Bosh that jerking it was a sin, but he can make up for it if he beats Steen to win the title. If Bosh doesn’t win the belt, he’s going to hell. Bosh ends up getting his ass kicked for the majority of the match. Steen relishes in throwing Bosh against the wall, into chairs, onto the ring apron and giving him a loud chop that even Roderick Strong would think was too mean. In addition to taking months off of Bosh’s career, Steen spent a lot of time jaw jacking with the crowd. Sure, you could say Steen was being a “Cool heel”, but the entertained crowd responded by booing and making fun of him, so he kept his heel heat. Near the end of the match, Scott Lost and Joey Ryan run out. With Lost distracting the referee, Joey Ryan looks to super kick Kevin Steen, but instead kicks Bosh! Steen covers, but Bosh kicks out. 450 Splash by Steen, but Bosh kicks out. Finally, Steen manages to get the win following a top rope Package Piledriver. This match was a ton of fun and brutal. Even though the commentators make it clear that Lost meant to help Bosh, it’s unknown why Ryan would turn on Bosh. A huge improvement on their After School Special match. 3 1/2 Stars.
Overall
Similarly to the first All Star Weekend, night 2 is a step below night 1. While the action is a little disappointing, night 2 is loaded with importance. The Lost/Sky feud has a new chapter that upped the violence and has given Scorpio a reason to distance himself from Dino Windwood. Super Dragon has finally gotten one over on the New SBS thanks to help from Davey Richards. Super Dragon and Kevin Steen’s feud has heated up again with both men at their peak unlike their previous matches. The biggest thing is Joey Ryan’s turn on Chris Bosh that would set up a major angle for the next half year. They’ve even managed smaller important things to happen such as building Jimmy Yang up and debuting Alex Koslov and Jade Chung. From an in-ring perspective, this isn’t a must see show, yet there’s enough big things happening that you do need to see certain parts.
Worth Checking Out
Scorpio Sky vs Scott Lost
Kevin Steen vs Chris Bosh
Avoid
TJ Perkins and Human Tornado vs Ronin and Alex Koslov (Perkins deserves better and Tornado was off of his game)