Written by: Jim
The Perils of Rock N’ Roll Decadence
September 10, 2011
Brian Cage-Taylor vs Peter Avalon
The low key feud between the Taylors and Avalon continues. A simple match with Cage throwing Avalon around and Avalon flying around to keep Cage at bay. The crowd has become big Avalon fans. It was on a bit too long, but they at least had the crowd caring unlike at DDT4. Cage-Taylor picks up the submission win with a Texas Cloverleaf with the boot stepping on Avalon’s neck. An extremely rare win for the massively under appreciated Cage. 2 Stars.
Willie Mack vs Ryan Taylor
By this point, Taylor’s completely out of Mack’s league. It’s not just spots on the ladder either. Willie managed to get favorable reactions, his moves were hit well and he didn’t get bogged down by hitting the same move over and over. While I’ve been a fan of Ryan Taylor from the start, this was a terrible showcase for the kid. A lot of his strikes came off looking weak and the crowd made Taylor realize this. Clocking in at seventeen minutes, the match feels nearly twice as long due to the directionless story. This was Taylor’s chance to prove that Willie isn’t the only local to deserve a push, but he failed miserably. For his part, Willie was good, but there’s little he can do to help Taylor since the match is so long and Taylor’s offense looks like crap. I’m really digging Mack’s Human Tornado influences though. Willie rules, but this was easily his worst PWG match. 1 3/4 Stars.
RockNES Monsters vs Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros are the first of several new additions to PWG in the second half of 2011. SSB reminded me a lot of 2.0’s PWG debut at DDT4 2008. They’re sorta playing heels, but they’re also having a lot of fun so you can’t hate them. I wouldn’t call it being a cool heel though. Whatever it’s called, it’s extremely entertaining. SSB provides a lot of comedy, but also a lot of great tag team moves. Like always, RockNES delivers the goods with Johnny Yuma playing the face-in-peril. It’s strange. Goodtime is the bigger PWG star, but Yuma has been presented as the star of the team. Besides an annoyance at ignoring tags near the end, it’s just a really fun and fast pace match showing two of the better teams of the indies. In the end, RockNES manages to hit their tag finisher where Goodtime hits a Death Valley Driver on Yuma onto Player Uno. Great debut for SSB and ROH/CHIKARA’s loss is PWG‘s gain. 3 3/4 Stars.
Eddie Edwards vs TJ Perkins
The return of Perkins to a PWG ring for the first time since early 2009. Good ol’ DR returns to the commentating booth shaped like a table as well. I wasn’t as into Davey’s act as I was back in 2009. Perhaps he used up all of his good material then. Perkins and Edwards manages to have a fun match complete with titty slapping. Like all Eddie matches, they had to get in the dual super kick spot where Edwards doesn’t sell a single kick and somehow manages to be devoid of all facial expressions as well. My God I hate that spot. Thanks to Perkins style, he didn’t allow the match to get into crap territory like Roderick Strong and Edwards did at BOLA. Edwards wins with a roll-up to bounce back from his BOLA loss. Good match, but the live fans were completely overrating it (This is wrestling? 
) 3 Stars.
El Generico vs Rocky Romero
Speaking of returns, it’s good ol’ Azucar. Besides wrestling at BOLA 2010 and a few random shows in 2008, Romero hasn’t been a PWG regular since 2007. Romero’s awesome though. He has enough sense to play the heel character and keep playing it throughout the match. Whether it’s his hip swiveling dancing, trying to pull off Generico’s mask or playing to the crowd, he’s constantly trying to get heat. More than that, he spends most of the match working over Generico’s arm to set-up for the arm bar submission. Unlike the crap that is Eddie Edwards, Rocky is a smart worker. He knows what sort of character he’s playing and he’s telling a story. Don’t look now, but I think Romero’s playing the role of a wrestler. Generico may have been the most consistent PWG worker of 2011. Hell, Kevin Steen may get the attention for PWG in 2011, but El Generico may have been the real MVP. Generico scores the win after a top rope brainbuster after several unnecessary moments of fighting on top. Forget the haters. Rocky rules. 3 1/2 Stars.
The Young Bucks (c) vs The Dynasty – PWG Tag Titles
After two months of waiting, The Dynasty finally gets a shot at the tag titles. This is Scorpio’s first shot to regain the title he never lost over six years ago. This is where the Bucks lack of tagging late in the match can hurt their bouts. They told this awesome story of double teaming Joey Ryan with Scorpio so desperate to get in the ring that Rick Knox is forced to wrestle him to the ground to keep Sky from interfering. Yet, what’s the purpose of that when Knox ignores the lack of tags later on? By the end, the great early story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. PWG needs to either enforce the tag rules or officially make their matches Texas Tornado Rules. There was a lot of great spots though. Both teams channeled a lot of other wrestler’s moves to add a little bit of excitement. The moves I noticed were by RVD, Booker T, Karl Anderson, Scott Lost and The Cutlers. Like always, the Bucks cheat to gain the advantage and they win with More Bang for Your Buck on Scorpio. The Bucks may be amazing heels, but I’m begging them to follow the tag rules so we can see more stories. 3 1/2 Stars.
After the match, Kevin Steen runs out and attacks the Young Bucks to continue their program.
Kevin Steen (c) vs Davey Richards – PWG World Title
This is just the second time in history that the ROH World Champion has wrestled the PWG World Champion at a PWG show. The biggest criticism I’ve seen of this match is the annoying fan. Sure, the guy is annoying, but I feel he adds something to the match. Every time Steen takes a moment to yell at him, it gives Davey a chance at taking advantage of it. This moronic fan ends up creating a mini-story of acting like Davey’s unofficial heel manager. I dig it. I’m not a big fan of the ankle lock, but I dug both times Davey locked it in. The first time created the awesome sequence of Steen countering it with an ankle lock of his own, but Davey counters that into Steen’s Sharpshooter. The second time resulted in Davey hitting a surprise German Suplex. By the end, Steen is so frustrated that he can’t pin Richards that he decides to make a Davey loss even more humiliating for Richards. Steen’s mindset is that if Davey wants to pretend to be a MMA fighter, he was going to make him pass out with a rear naked choke. It’s a nice little slap in the face to Richards that means more due to the real life issue Steen has with the new Davey. In the end, Steen wins and gains a little measure of revenge against ROH. A big improvement on their Kurt Russellreunion match and I imagine they’re capable of having an even better match in ROH in 2012. 4 Stars.
After the match, The Young Bucks run out to attack Steen. Surprisingly, it’s El Generico who makes the save for his bitter rival. While Generico looks to hold out his hand to Steen, instead he points at the PWG Title. Before a match can begin, Steen low blows Generico. On the mic, Steen challenges Generico to a ladder match at Steen Wolf.
Overall
Despite a rough start, PWG ended up putting on yet another solid show for 2011. As it should be, the main event was the best match and things generally improved as the show went on. I see this event being more of a transitional show than anything else. The Kings of Wrestling era is officially over and we’ve seen several other wrestlers (Tozawa, Cutlers and Gatson) have left recently. As a result, PWG needs some new talent. For their debut, Super Smash Bros worked out well. I can see them becoming regulars for years to come. The return of TJ Perkins and Rocky Romero gives me hope for the midcard as well. At the same time, there’s some fine tuning to do. Ryan Taylor had been with the company for two years and he hasn’t moved up any. Worse yet, he had his worst match against a guy who has been on fire lately. Perhaps it’s time for him to take a break from the company. Brian Cage-Taylor is a guy who needs to be moved up past lowcard spot he’s filled since his debut. This show also serves as a rebound for several guys. Willie Mack, Kevin Steen and Eddie Edwards all bounces back from a loss at BOLA to keep them meaning something big to the company. It may be one of the lesser shows of 2011, but PWG still provides enough quality to make this worth checking out.
Worth Checking Out
RockNES Monsters vs Super Smash Bros
El Generico vs Rocky Romero
The Dynasty vs The Young Bucks
Davey Richards vs Kevin Steen
Avoid
Willie Mack vs Ryan Taylor