PWG Death To All But Metal 5/25/2012

Written by: Jim

Death to All But Metal
May 25, 2012

B-Boy vs Famous B
Never before have I wanted to see two men team more solely because of how easy their tag team name would be. “Famous B-Boy” explodes~! This was sorta a coming out party for Famous B. It’s kind of tough making someone into a star when B-Boy hasn’t mattered too much in years. Yet, Famous B looked like a star and he and B-Boy somehow got the crowd to start a “This is awesome!” chant in the opening match. Mark my words, Famous B is going to mean something in PWG. They tease Famous B picking up the surprise upset several times, but a desperation Ace Crusher and Air Raid Crash gives B-Boy his first singles victory since Express Written Consent in early 2009. This is how B-Boy should be booked. A reasonable time length and the sole purpose of trying to make his opponent look good. 3 Stars.

TJ Perkins vs Ryan Taylor
The biggest compliment I can give TJP since his return to PWG is that he’s the first guy to make Ryan Taylor look good in a singles match. Normally, Taylor’s God awful in singles match. The match isn’t anything special, but it’s fast pace, features a lot counters and they had enough common sense to not attempt to steal the show by going into finisher overkill. TJP wins after hitting Taylor with a gutbuster from the top rope and finishing him off with a beautiful 450 Splash. An enjoyable little match. 2 3/4 Stars.

Kevin Steen (c) vs Brian Cage – PWG World Title
I’ll say it right now, some people will hate this match since it’s mostly just Kevin Steen’s wacky antics. Me, on the other hand, loved it. Let’s face it, Brian Cage was not deserving of a title shot. What was the biggest singles victory of his career? Ray Rosas? The comedy allowed for me to have fun. Most of the comedy was even built around how awesome Cage looks and allowed for him to get in his moves. Take whenever Steen was arguing with a fan. It had a storyline purpose since Steen allowed the distraction, which meant Cage was going to go on the offense. There’s also a sequence in the match where Steen is hitting every muscle on Cage’s body. Not only is it a way to pimp how well built Cage is, but it was part of a story of Steen Cage’s body as a bunch of little targets. The best part is that Steen didn’t beat Cage decisively. Instead, Steen merely counters a weak cover by Cage after Steen was hit with a giant discus lariat. Cage beat Cage. Now, suddenly a guy who didn’t deserve a title shot has a little legitimacy. So you’re not only setting up Steen/Cage 2, but that match can be completely different since Steen won’t need to add so much comedy since it’d be a grudge match. This was a hell of a productive match. 3 1/2 Stars.

The Young Bucks vs Super Smash Bros – No DQ – PWG Tag Titles
Due to Super Dragon’s injury, the PWG tag titles were declared vacant. The biggest criticism this match can receive is the lack of selling. This is a full on spotfest and it never pretends to be anything else. If you had guys not selling attacks, you will hate this match. That being said, if you’re going to have a spotfest, go balls to the wall and do whatever you can to steal the show. The Bucks and SSB did exactly that. Moment after moment, the viewer is shown an incredible spot after an incredible spot. They make it clear that they’re having a war and both teams are willing to risk their well being to leave Reseda as tag champions. And really, isn’t that what you want any title to be about? Something so important? One of the nicer things about the crazy spotfest is that it’s SSB’s biggest match in PWG thus far and they ended up having their best match as well. For storyline purposes, they had Stupefied lay out of the ring injured for a little bit to allow for some two-on-one beating. Despite being a massive heel, Nick Jackson, came out looking damn good by kicking both of SSB’s ass for a bit after Matt Jackson is killed after being thrown through a table. Finally, the long and epic feud between The Young Bucks and referee, Rick Knox, was once again highlighted after Knox took a Buck super kick, but paid the Bucks back by delivering a closeline. Finally, everything built up to SSB winning with their trademark FATALITY! And thus, the SSB’s rise to the top has be reached. As long as you go into the match expecting a spotfest, it’s a hell of a fun match. PWG‘s first MOTYC. 4 1/4 Stars.

RockNES Monsters and Candice LaRae vs Joey Ryan, Ray Rosas and Peter Avalon
Yet another chapter in the Joey Ryan/Candice LaRae feud. At this point, these two may have the longest standing feud in PWG history. At the start of the match, you have Peter Avalon trying to molest LaRae, however; RockNES were there to save their partner. So, how do they save LaRae? They basically rape Avalon in the middle of the ring! We even get a case of sodomy when Yuma sticks his thumb up Avalon’s ass. Oddly, that’s the highlight of the match and the match becomes quite dull afterward. The crowd become quiet and nothing the men could do could get a response. In fact, it’s only Candice’s spots and the spots that were set-up by something involved with her that received any sort of heat. With RockNES’s depush, this was not the sort of reaction they needed to get back into the good graces of Super Dragon and company. The babyfaces win after a Mushroom Stomp/Ace Crusher combo to Rosas. Even though the crowd didn’t care, I quite liked using Rosas and Avalon as Ryan’s lackeys. 2 1/2 Stars.

Willie Mack vs Michael Elgin
The PWG debut of Michael Elgin. Truth be told, I wasn’t impressed with Elgin in his debut. I really don’t know if he’s a good fit for PWG. If you look at most of the successful acts in PWG history, they all have one thing in common – they had a lot of personality. Take Chris Bosh for example. Whether you think he was a talented wrestler or not, he was packed filled of personality. Personality is what gets you over with the Reseda crowd. Would a guy like Akira Tozawa have been nearly as popular had he not had his screaming gimmick? I don’t believe so. Elgin’s silent assassin gimmick would probably work for most companies, but he’s just sorta boring in a PWG ring. The match is built around establishing Elgin as a monster with Willie Mack having to endure and slowly fight back. Everything builds up to an impressive spot where Elgin dead lifts Willie into a power bomb. Willie picks up the big win after a sick looking Chocolate Thunder Driver. After the match, the crowd once again chants “Next World Champ”. Glad Willie won. Hopefully Elgin shows more personality is he continues to be booked in PWG. 3 Stars.

El Generico vs Ricochet
A match nineteen months in the making. Back at Cursed of Guerrilla Island, Ricochet and Generico tore the place down with a great match. Shockingly, the crowd was more pro-Ricochet than Generico. That caused Generico to show far more intensity and aggression than he’s used to. Then in 2011, Ricochet and Generico tried teaming up, but they had too many conflicts, leading to them splitting up with Ricochet not showing Generico any respect. So many great things about this match. For one, it’s completely different from their original match. This time around, it’s not an indy dream match where Generico slowly shows signs of being a heel. Instead, Ricochet is a bully, but he’s still always one step ahead of Generico. It got to the point where Generico only got the win because Ricochet thought he had the match in the bag, but Generico had enough smarts to get his knees up during a senton. A big kick in the corner and a top rope brainbuster later, Generico won. Another thing I dug was that Generico acts so different around Ricochet. We’ve seen Generico in plenty of grudge matches, but Generico looked so much angrier than than in other programs. It’s almost as if Generico is jealous of Ricochet, so even if Ricochet is acting like a bully, Generico hates him for other reasons than just that. Anyways, Ricochet ended up putting on a hell of a performance. All throughout the match, he was delivering one awesome kick after another. With Generico winning and evening the series at 1-1, it makes Generico/Ricochet 3 seem likely. Can you say semi-main event at TEN? A quality match with an even better story. Personally, I thought it was even better than their first. 3 3/4 Stars.

Overall
After being a little down on PWG in 2012, this show helped picked me right up. The Super Smash Bros’ road to becoming the top team in PWG has been reached. While it took two years, PWG has finally realized that Brian Cage can be a star. So we have the start of the Steen/Cage program. At least for the time being, we saw the end of the Generico/Ricochet issues. And to top it all off, you even had B-Boy trying to make a star out of Famous B. I imagine the debut of Michael Elgin will excite people far more than it did me, so there’s that as well. For the first time in 2012, there aren’t even matches that you should actively avoid. Sure, the six person match was a little disappointing, but it’s not like anyone had high expectations for it. After the harsh loss of The Kings of Wrestling and Akira Tozawa last year, it looks like PWG is finally starting to find it’s stride again. A really good show for a B show.

Worth Checking Out
Famous B vs B-Boy (Just to see a star in the making)
Kevin Steen vs Brian Cage
Super Smash Bros vs The Young Bucks
El Generico vs Ricochet

Avoid
N/A