Written by: Jim
Cyanide: A Loving Tribute to Poison
December 11, 2010
Willie Mack vs Peter Avalon
First chance seeing Willie Mack in action. Looks wise, he looks like shit. Even ROH would pass on him due to his look. Imagine Koko B. Ware…these days. As it turns out, Mack is fucking incredible. So agile for a large guy and throws in a lot of entertaining power moves. I’ll be curious to see if he can manhandle other men on the PWG roster since Avalon weighs 150 pounds if he’s holding a twenty pound weight while soaking wet. Mack’s power bomb finisher (Something ‘Chocolate’) is a pretty devastating looking move. Thanks to looking so good and having the crowd behind him, I imagine Willie Mack will do just fine in PWG. Solid opener. 2 3/4 Stars.
Roderick Strong vs Chuck Taylor
Strong is just so lost in PWG these days. He hasn’t been relevant since 2009 when he battled for the PWG tag titles twice (Including in the finals of DDT4 tournament) and the PWG World title twice (Once again, including in the finals of BOLA tournament). He spent 2010 just killing time being in one big match after another without any sort of angle or purpose. I wouldn’t be against seeing Strong take some time away from PWG. Bring in someone like Austin Aries or even Jimmy Jacobs to fill the role of the big indy name that PWG can use in virtually any match. Pretty disappointing match though. Strong and Taylor didn’t seem like they had any chemistry together. I loved Chuckie T’s early shenanigans, but once they were done, the match just stumbled along. Meh. 2 Stars.
The Cutlers vs RockNES Monsters
Second match for Johnny Yuma in PWG, but the debut of RockNES Monster together in the company. RockNES Monsters has the same feel of Goodtime and LTP teaming, only Yuma/Goodtime naturally have a lot more chemistry together. Plenty of cool looking double team moves that makes me not miss seeing LTP team with Goodtime. It’s your standard locals brawling, no tags, spots heavy PWG tag match, but unlike with the Bucks, it feels fresh. I dug it, but I get the impression the fans in attendance dug it more. 3 1/4 Stars.
Joey Ryan vs Brandon Gatson
Debut of the Hollywood Submission Marchine persona of Ryan. The fans were more than happy to boo Ryan early on, but Gatson’s terribleness caused the fans to turn on Gatson. A lot of solid arm work by Ryan, but Gatson ignores it to hit all of his big spots. My God, I hate Gatson. Ryan picks up the win with a second attempt of a Kimura with a body scissors. Ryan’s new gimmick is an instant win and he manages to drag a good match out of Gatson. 3 Stars.
The Young Bucks vs The Fightin’ Taylor Boys
Bucks in super strut mode is pretty fun. The problem here is that both teams are heels. Since Bucks are playing up their TNA gimmicks, they’re the automatic heels over the Taylors. As a result, Ryan Taylor, probably the only guy in the entire PWG locker room that had been able to only get heel heat is now cheered. *Sigh* Really fun match if you’re into the Bucks formula. There’s the obvious flaws in lack of tags, no selling and too many kick outs. However, if you watch enough Bucks matches, sooner or later you just need to learn to stop caring. Ryan Taylor is looking comfortable in Reseda, he’s feeling like a normal PWG guy instead of just a local. 3 Stars.
Kevin Steen vs Akira Tozawa
After watching this, I may have to rank Steen as being better than Hero in 2010. As awesome as Hero’s matches were, Steen’s character adds another great dimension to his matches. Similar to Tozawa vs Hero where it’s all about a brutal fight with Tozawa proving he can hang in there against one of indy’s best. I wouldn’t agree with Steve’s claim that this was the MOTY, but it’s pretty great for what it was. The problem is that we already know Tozawa can put on an amazing match. Part of what made the Hero match so special was that Tozawa had his first real breakthrough “I’m going to fucking tear down the house” performance. Swap the matches and watch Steen one first, I wouldn’t be surprised if you enjoy it more than the Hero match. 4 Stars.
¡Peligro Abejas! (c) vs Kings of Wrestling – PWG World Tag Titles
To my surprise, London looked pretty good in this. He reminded me a lot of indy or early WWE London where he was one of my favorites. Even through there was a lot of fighting with all four guys, it wasn’t quite the spotty mess (But still kinda fun) that a Bucks title defense was. I’ll be willing to say it’s the best normal two-on-two Abejas’ match. It’s not quite up to par with KOW’s best of 2010, but it’s certainly yet another reason that they were the best team of the year. I love that they had the match set up a big title match between Claudio and Generico and possibly adding more fuel to the slow burn KOW feud. 3 3/4 Stars.
Overall
The undercard felt like a normal PWG show of good, but nothing spectacular. However, the last two matches made the show worth checking out. PWG has been on a row ever since SEVEN and this only continues the trend. As for the undercard, it was about spotlighting new wrestlers, teams or gimmicks. You can’t go wrong with having a show built around the future.
Worth Checking Out
Akira Tozawa vs Kevin Steen
Danger Bees vs KOW
Avoid
Roderick Strong vs Chuck Taylor (What happened to the show stealing PWG star Roderick Strong?)