Written by: Jim
The 2nd Anniversary Show – Night Two
July 10, 2005
Dino Winwood and Quicksilver opens up the show. Quick’s okay after his chair shot from Bosh, but Scorpio Sky is nowhere to be found. Dino has yet to hear from him last night or today. As a result, he’s going to take Scorpio’s place in defending the tag titles tonight. So Cal Val comes out and I suddenly have problems understanding what’s being said on the mic. Maybe last night’s problems weren’t actually mic problems, but rather So Cal Val shrieks on the mic. From what I gather, she refuses to let Dino take Scorpio’s place since he’s just a manager. As a result, she strips AXP of the PWG Tag Titles. This gets a big ‘Bullshit’ chant. I concur. Well, last night ended with a ‘Bullshit’ chant, might as well open up tonight with one. Since Quicksilver is signed to wrestle, Val has found him a new opponents…
Quicksilver w/Dino Winwood vs Ronin
Ugh. I could do without seeing Ronin ever again. Sadly, his big push is still to come. Quicksilver has a pretty amazing talent. Quick may not be a Bret Hart or a Ric Flair, but he’s the horse whisperer of shitty PWG wrestlers. He had one of Joey Ryan’s best title defenses and he somehow makes Ronin look like a halfway decent talent. The match goes on longer than it should have for someone as high up as Quicksilver against a lowcarder like Ronin. Quicksilver gets the win after using Ronin’s own DVD. Fun opener, but couldn’t they have made Quicksilver sell a little from the chair shot last night? 2 3/4 Stars.
Davey Richards vs TJ Perkins w/Rocky Romero
Stemming from the issue back at Guitarmageddon when Richards unmasked Perkins. Perkins doesn’t even let Richards get in the ring during his entrance before diving through the ropes to him. They get over how it’s a grudge match with neither guy not letting their intensity shown enough. The fan reaction for Davey is fairly interesting. At first, they’re just as behind him as they were last night. However, as the match goes on, he plays a little more of the heel role. To me, it feels like PWG planned on him being a heel, but then he started to get cheers. So now he’s sort of a tweener. Davey’s anger over Perkins is carried over to Romero. They have a few interactions including Davey spitting at Romero. Perkins gets the surprise pin with a prawn hold. For what it was, it was good. Perkins was a good talent at the time, but you weren’t going to get a great match. It does add a little build to a Richards/Romero future match. 2 3/4 Stars.
Joey Ryan and Scott Lost vs Petey Williams and Chris Sabin
Seems like forever ago, but this was originally built up back at ASW Night 1 when Petey and Sabin formed an unofficial alliance with Kazarian against Arrogance and Joey Ryan. Shame it didn’t happen when Arrogance were still the champs. No idea why Bosh isn’t wrestling, but it’s still a pretty big test for Team TNA. Lost and Ryan hadn’t teamed together in over 13 months. Early on, TNA works over a fun spot with Scott Lost where he gets an Atomic Drop several times by both guys. It’s not long until all four men are in the ring battling it out. Eventually, Petey lays Lost out with the Canadian Destroyer to win the match. It’s not a bad match, but they go to four men chaos far too soon. Booking wise, I have to question it. TNA just defeated one half of the (Then) longest reigning PWG tag champions and the only two time tag team champions (Who technically never lost the belts), wouldn’t that make them the automatic number 1 contenders? It’s worth noting that the fans really wanted to see Bosh. It’s pretty clear that he’s so fucking over, but the other two are still normal heels. 2 1/2 Stars.
Ricky Reyes w/Rocky Romero vs CM Punk
Punk was advertised as a mystery opponent. To say he’s a better surprise than Kazarian on night one would be like saying Bret Hart was only a decent wrestler. To give you an idea of when this show aired, the night before was ROH’s Escape From New York when Punk tore the house down with Roderick Strong to successfully defend the ROH title during his Summer of Punk. Why is Romero out for two matches to be there for his boys, but PWG can’t find room to put him in a match? Ditch Ronin and throw Romero vs Quicksilver. That would have been a great match. A ROH style match with a lot of mat wrestling and zero comedy. Ricky works over the back for a little bit before ignoring it. Around the mid point, Punk survives the dreaded body scissors dragon sleeper that has garnered Reyes’ several victories. At the very end, things get really good as both men get their second wind with a flurry of kicks and forearms. Sadly, it leads directly into the finish instead of another 10 minutes. Reyes tries to victory roll Punk, but Punk Owen Hart’s that to get the pinfall win. This was pretty good, but I could have gone for an even longer match. 3 1/4 Stars.
Rocky Romero gets on the mic and announces that the previous match was probably CM Punk’s final match in PWG. Punk gives a very brief farewell address by thanking the fans and telling them to stay tuned for the second half of the show. With as little as Punk did in PWG, this is more than enough. I like that Punk found time to wrestle one last match for PWG before leaving for the WWE.
Kevin Steen vs Super Dragon – Number 1 Contender’s Match
So much different from their first PWG match together. This wasn’t about making Steen a star, but rather playing to the storyline. Since they hate each other so much, they don’t go for any BS collar and elbow tie-up, instead, they take turns seeing who’s the bigger man with forearms and slaps. Steen ends up dominating most of the match. Even though it’s not uncommon for Dragon to be on the defensive (Which is stupid in most cases) it makes perfect sense here. Steen has gotten in his head so much that he can’t even control the match. Near the end, he tries for a comeback, but after missing his twisting finisher from the top rope, Steen puts him away with a moonsault and a 450 splash. This was all about making it clear that Steen was in the lead of the feud. For the first time in PWG history, someone seemingly has Super Dragon’s number. Not as good as their Ernest P. Worrel match, but yet another good match between the two. 3 1/2 Stars.
2 Skinny Black Guys vs The New SBS vs Top Gun Talwar and Hook Bomberry vs Los Luchas – Elimination Match
Top Gun and Hook really needs a tag name. This is the first match that Generico/Tornado are officially called 2 Skinny Black Guys. Jon Ian announces that the winners will face Arrogance at the next show to crown the new PWG tag champions. I love the booking of Excalibur and Disco in this match. Most of the time, they just hang out on the apron and wait for their moment to pick up the scraps and eliminate a team. They eventually eliminate Los Luchas, but not before Los Luchas eliminate Bomberry/Talwar with their double flippy finisher. The first two eliminations are meaningless though. The real story is between 2SBG and SBS. They end up having a good last few minutes, although they should have been given more of the overall time to have the third fall. Tons of near falls with everyone gets in their moves. Generico manages to catch Disco Machine on the top rope to nail the top rope brainbuster to get the win. If there’s one issue, it’s that three different teams got a fall. Wouldn’t it have been better to give 2SBG a couple of pinfalls leading into their big title match at the next show? 3 1/4 Stars.
AJ Styles (c) vs Christopher Daniels vs James Gibson – PWG World Title
As much as I love Gibson, why is he in this match? He had a title match a couple shows ago and he cleanly lost. We could have had Rocky Romero vs James Gibson, which if it’s anywhere near as good as their ROH matches, would have been the best match of the night. Then again, I don’t want to see another singles match between Styles and Daniels in PWG. Really short match though, I would have been fine with it receiving another five minutes. It would have still been under 20 minutes. There’s the usual one-on-one fighting that most triple threats has, but when all three men are active, it’s a great fight. The highlight of the match was all of the unintentional double team moves. For example, Gibson would monkey flip Styles, whose momentum would send him flying into Daniels, giving him a head scissors on the way down. Not surprisingly, the one-on-one action between Daniels and Styles is awkward and sloppy at times. The finish is a thing of beauty though. Daniels has Gibson set-up for the Angel’s Wings. Styles sunset flips Daniels. The momentum of Daniels falling backwards sends Gibson flying in an unintentional butterfly suplex. Styles hangs on to Daniels legs and stands up right into the Styles’ Clash to get the pinfall victory. I may hate Styles’ title reign, but that’s a hell of a way to successfully defend the belt. Given more time, this could have been the match of the night. For what it was, it was an enjoyable title defense for Styles though. 3 1/4 Stars.
Overall
Maybe having two nights for the 2nd Anniversary wasn’t necessary. It’s not a bad show, but it can’t compare to the two 4+ star matches on Night 1. Super Dragon once again has the MOTN while Styles’ title reign continues to not steal the show. On the plus side, now that Styles pinned Daniels, that ends the only story that Styles had as champion. So the title reign is ready to be ended (Thank God). I wish I knew why Rocky Romero was here tonight without wrestling. Romero vs Quicksilver, Gibson or Punk could have all been great. Despite having yet another really good match from Super Dragon/Kevin Steen, they’ve had better ones. Sadly, there goes your main reason to check out this show. If you watch one 2nd Anniversary Show, make it night 1.
Worth Checking Out
Kevin Steen vs Super Dragon
Avoid
N/A (There’s just not much reason to watch the show though)