PWG All-Star Weekend 14 Night One 4/20/2018

PWG World Champion Keith Lee takes on Hangman Page in a non-title match. PWG World Tag Team Champions Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb defend against the Young Bucks and the Rascalz. Plus, much more.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla presents All-Star Weekend 14 Night One
Date: 4/20/2018
From: Reseda, CA

The show starts off with Trevor Lee cutting a promo saying that PWG has been going downhill since he left. He decided to take a break from his million dollar lifestyle and return to the place that made him. Lee promises to leave PWG World Champion and the crowd seems to like that comment. Lee has to start with a guy like Horus before getting back into the main event. Lee proclaims he will be champion.

Opening Contest: Rey Horus vs. Trevor Lee: Horus almost wins right at the start with a snap hurricanrana, which was nicely done. Horus comes off the ropes with a heel kick and Lee bails to the corner. Horus delivers a spinning clothesline and leaping forearm in the corner. Horus connects with a seated dropkick for a two count. Horus hits a springboard hurricanrana and that sends Lee to the floor. Horus yanks Lee down to the mat from the apron by his hair. Lee sends the referee into the ropes and that crotches Horus. Lee goes to the apron and nails Horus with a running kick. Lee plays to the crowd on the middle rope. Horus is able to return to the ring before the count of ten. Lee sends Horus hard back first into the corner leading to a near fall. Lee puts Horus on the top turnbuckle but gets elbowed off the middle rope. Lee stops Horus with a back rake and does a squat before delivering a back suplex. Lee continues to beat on Horus with strikes in the corner. Lee tosses Horus across the ring for a two count.

Horus almost wins with a backslide but Lee delivers an uppercut. Horus decks Lee over the middle rope and hits a springboard crossbody for a two count. Horus takes Lee out with a somersault dive to the floor. Horus smashes Lee with a chair in the face. Horus goes to the top rope but comes off and settles for a standing Spanish Fly for a two count. Lee reaches to one of the fans for support but gets dragged back in. Lee uses the ropes to choke Horus, but Horus nearly wins with a counter rollup. Lee forearms Horus and delivers a standing double stomp for a near fall. Lee gets kicked by Horus in the corner and Horus plants Lee with a DDT for a near fall. The fans thought that was three. Lee trips Horus and uses the ropes for leverage, but the referee saw that. Lee argues with the referee and boots Horus. Lee has Horus on the middle rope but Horus sweeps Lee’s legs causing Trevor to hit the top turnbuckle. Horus hits a spinning wheelbarrow driver off the middle rope for the win. (***1/2. So, that was one of the better openers I’ve seen in quite some time for the independent shows I’ve been reviewing. Horus is someone I haven’t seen a lot of, but he delivered a great showing here. Lee is growing on me the more I see him outside of Impact Wrestling.)

Second Contest: Taiji Ishimori vs. Bandido: This is Ishimori’s debut in PWG. They have a basic start with standing counters before Bandido takes Ishimori down to the mat and keeps control for a few moments. They do a few more counters and do kip ups. Taiji tries a step up hurricanrana, but Bandido lands on his feet. So, Ishimori decides to deck him with a lariat instead. Bandido does a headstand and head scissors Taiji, but Taiji comes back with a kick much to the delight of the fans. Ishimori delivers a few headbutts and keeps Bandido on the mat before delivering a leg drop. Taiji has Bandido between his legs and spins around wrenching on his neck. Ishimori goes to the apron and comes off the top with a Thez Press. Taiji is pumped and plays to the crowd. Ishimori runs into a boot and Bandido plants him with a DDT. Bandido hits a twisting dive over the top to the floor. Bandido kicks Taiji from the apron and comes off the top with a crossbody. Taiji quickly gets up delivering a pump kick. Bandido has Taiji on his shoulders hitting a GTS for a near fall. Ishimori delivers a handspring spinning kick.

Ishimori hits a double knee strike in the corner followed by a double stomp for a two count. Taiji switches from a tombstone into a lung blower for a near fall. Taiji forearms Bandido a few times but Bandido delivers a pop up cutter for a two count. Bandido misses a splash in the corner and Taiji delivers a fireman’s carry followed by a kick, but Bandido comes running back with an uppercut. They are on their knees trading forearms and overhand chops. Bandido takes Taiji down with a head scissors and gets a cross arm breaker locked in. Taiji gets to his feet and powerbombs Bandido for a two count. Taiji slams Bandido and goes to the top rope. Taiji misses a 450 splash but rolls through and Bandido delivers a superkick. Bandido attempts a moonsault but Taiji gets his feet up and drops Bandido over his knee for the win. (***1/2. Taiji is 35-years old? I never would have thought that. These guys made it look effortless to perform the moves and kept the fans engaged. It’s just two guys wrestling a fun match.)

Third Contest: Violence Unlimited (Brody King & Tyler Bateman) vs. Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & Walter): Bateman and Thatcher kick off the match with both men focusing on mat wrestling. They are able to get brief moments of control until they are in the ropes leading to a rope break. Thatcher takes Bateman down and controls the left leg, but Bateman delivers a few kicks. Thatcher doesn’t mind the kicks and puts the half crab on anyway. Thatcher continues to beat on Bateman with kicks and a knee strike for a one count. Bateman gets control on the mat and they gouge each others hand and eyes. They then pop up to their feet and have a standoff. Walter gets tagged in and Brody also gets tagged in. Walter misses a chop as King is able to duck under it. King chops Walter and they begin to exchange chops with neither man budging. Walter comes off the ropes and they collide in the middle of the ring a few times. Walter boots King coming off the ropes and drops King to the mat. The fans are heavily behind Walter.

Walter continues to deliver chops on King but Brody fights back with chops of his own. Brody walks the ropes, but Walter yanks him down and delivers a knee drop. King continues to get worked over by Thatcher in the corner with stomps. Thatcher tries a suplex but King counters with a backdrop. Bateman gets tagged in and forearms Thatcher from behind. Tyler also decks Walter on the apron but is soon met with a clothesline from Walter on the apron. Thatcher takes Bateman over with a gut wrench slam before tagging in Walter. Walter performs the same move for a two count. Walter chops Bateman after he takes off his shirt and now they are exchanging chops. Walter drops Bateman with a chop and the fans are enjoying the beating very much. Thatcher works over Bateman delivering more strikes on the mat and overhand palm strikes. Thatcher delivers another forearm strike for a near fall. Walter boots King off the apron and hits a sit down splash on Bateman. Walter and Bateman go back to trading chops, which Bateman is just never going to win that exchange. Bateman avoids a kick from Bateman and is able to finally tags in King.

Brody enters and cleans house with a clothesline and boot on the other team. King delivers a slingshot arm drag to send them both to the floor. King takes them out with a somersault dive over the top to the floor. Brody knee strikes Thatcher and along with Bateman delivers a clothesline/leg sweep combo for a two count. Thatcher drops Bateman following a leaping kick and continues to deliver uppercuts. Bateman elbow strikes Thatcher and drops to the mat. Bateman and Thatcher collide with clotheslines but Thatcher takes Tyler over with a back suplex. Walter and King get tagged in and they collide on clothesline attempts. King clotheslines Walter but is met with a boot. King comes off the ropes with lariat to drop Walter. King and Walter begin to trade chops because they are insane. Walter staggers King with a loud chop to the chest. They proceed to exchange a flurry of chops and the crowd erupts. Walter takes King over with a German suplex and an overhead butterfly suplex for a two count. King takes Thatcher over with German, but Thatcher quickly gets wrist control.

Thatcher blocks a lariat attempt and gets an arm bat on King. Walter has a sleeper on Bateman. King spikes Thatcher with a piledriver and boots Walter in the corner. King cannonball splashes Walter after a kick from Bateman. Bateman spikes Thatcher with a brainbuster for a two count. King has Thatcher, but Thatcher is able to get wrist control. Walter tags in and boots Bateman off the apron. Walter clotheslines King to the mat and decks King with a lariat for a two count. Walter gets met with a headbutt from King and a clothesline in the corner. Walter comes back with a jumping dropkick and plants King with a powerbomb for a two count. Walter and Thatcher both get sleeper holds locked in. Thatcher takes Bateman down with a suplex and Walter clubs King several times. They both have choke holds on the mat and King submits. (***1/2. Jesus, this has been a great start to the show. This is a style that you don’t see very often, or at least it seems like it. Aside from King diving to the floor, there weren’t any big spots. It’s just a hard hitting match and the fans were buying into near falls because they were beating the crap out of each other. I appreciated this match.)

Fourth Contest: Sammy Guevara vs. Robbie Eagles vs. Morgan Webster: Sammy superkicks Eagles and then stomps on Webster for the early advantage. Webster knee strikes Sammy and Eagles comes off the top to dropkick Sammy to the floor. Eagles arm drags Webster followed by a hurricanrana and a spinning heel kick. Sammy gets knocked off the apron and Eagles delivers another dropkick to a kneeling Webster. Webster arm drags Eagles off the middle rope and gets a choke hold before getting a two count with a rollup. Webster hits a senton splash on Eagles before decking Sammy off the apron, again. Eagles drops Webster with a few kicks and plays to the crowd. Sammy pulls Eagles to the floor and sends him into the crowd. Sammy gets back in the ring but Webster dumps him over the top to the floor. Webster gets tripped by Eagles and pulled out and Eagles takes Sammy out with a flipping suicide dive. Webster dives over the top to take Eagles out with a dive, too. Webster gets yanked off the apron but Eagles and they do it to each other several times. They get to the apron and trade strikes. Webster has a choke on but Sammy knocks them both off the apron. Sammy takes them both out with a corkscrew dive.

Sammy rolls Webster into the ring and goes to the top rope missing a shooting star press. Eagles kicks both men and dropkicks Sammy before hitting a dropkick/bulldog combo for a two count on Webster. Eagles looks for a backpack stunner on Sammy, but Sammy avoids it. Sammy hits a neckbreaker on Webster, who then DDTs Eagles. Sammy almost pins Webster after a standing shooting star press. Sammy gets chopped by both opponents and now they are just trading strikes in the middle of the ring. Webster headbutts both men and takes them over with a reverse hurricanrana. Sammy kicks Webster in the corner and gets dropped to the mat. Webster plants Eagles with Angels Wings for a two count. Sammy hits a flip DDT for a two count as Eagles made the save. Eagles slaps Sammy and almost wins with an over the shoulder sit out slam. Eagles is stopped by Webster with a right hand but knocks Webster off the middle rope. Sammy gets up and chops Eagles to stop his momentum. Eagles tries for a sunset powerbomb but Sammy lands on his feet. Webster takes Sammy out and Eagles hits a standing slice bread on Webster. Eagles misses a 450 splash and Webster gets a choke hold on Eagles but Eagles doesn’t give up. Sammy comes off the top with a shooting star press and pins Eagles. (***. The finish bumped up the entertainment a little bit for me. The dives and whatnot have been done aplenty on the show and thus it lost steam in this match. They didn’t really do anything much that stood out, but the finish was exactly what they needed to get a pop from the crowd.)

Fifth Contest: Jonah Rock vs. Joey Janela: Early on, Rock shows his power advantage by shoving Janela down and hitting a standing crossbody to avoid a running strike. Janela shoulder blocks Rock off the his feet followed by a running forearm. They begin to exchange chops with Janela getting dropped to the mat. Janela comes off the ropes with a running boot to knock Rock off his feet. Rock plants Janela with a Samoan Drop. Rock dumps Janela to the floor and follows his opponent delivering strikes. Rock press slams Janela into the crowd! Rock brings Janela back into the ring connecting with a scoop slam and a senton splash. They begin to trade chops and headbutts, which Rock gets the better of. Rock back elbows Janela and then argues with the referee. Janela tries to fight back with chops but Rock responds with some of his own. Rock drops Janela with a straight right hand. Rock staggers Janela with a chop on the top turnbuckle. Joey fights back with strikes and takes Rock off the middle rope with a sunset flip powerbomb for a two count. Janela uppercuts Rock in the corner and delivers a running kick. Janela tries to lift Rock up on his shoulders but falls flat on his face.

Rock drives Janela down to the mat face first for a two count. Rock gets the crowd behind him and runs into a superkick. Rock forearms Janela but Joey comes back with a strike. Rock delivers a lariat and drives Janela down to the mat with a brainbuster. Rock heads to the top rope but misses a frog splash. Janela is able to hit a Death Valley Driver but Rock is able to pop his shoulder up at two. Janela heads to the top and takes Rock out with a moonsault to the floor! Janela nails Rock with a double stomp but Rock kicks out at two. Joey goes back to the top rope but Rock is able to stop Janela with a kick to the face. Rock goes to the top rope and takes Janela down to the mat with a superplex. Rock drives Janela down with a sit down powerbomb for another near fall. Rock hurries to the top rope again and hits a frog splash for the win. (***. I’m digging what I’ve seen from Jonah Rock in PWG. Janela plays the crazy underdog role very well and they had a fine undercard match. It was a good cool down match. They didn’t do anything too crazy and still had a quality match.)

Sixth Contest: PWG World Champion Keith Lee vs. Hangman Page in a non-title match: Page wants to shake hands and Lee accepts the offer. Page has a tan but not on his back, which is hilarious. The fans are chanting “tan” at Page as the match is stalling a bit. They avoid each other with counters and Page tries to sweep Lee, but misses. Page avoids a lariat and Lee sidesteps a superkick attempt. Lee decides to give Page a welcoming to PWG and wants him to bask in his glory. Lee takes Page over with a hurricanrana after running the ropes. Lee forearms Page against the ropes, but Page fights back with a strike of his own. Page dumps Lee over the top to the floor and dropkicks Lee. Page tries for a shooting star press off the apron, but is caught and Lee backdrops Page on the floor! Lee rolls Page back into the ring and they trade chops with Lee knocking Page off his feet. Lee forearms Page and delivers a scoop slam. Lee almost wins following an elbow drop. Lee continues his offense with strikes in the corner. Lee tosses Page across the ring and plays to the crowd. Page kicks Lee on the apron and attempts a baseball slide but Lee decks Page. Lee tries for a powerbomb on the floor, but Page gets on the apron and kicks Lee. Page lays Lee onto two chairs and hits a shooting star press off the apron!

They get back into the ring and Page clotheslines Lee in the corner. Page clotheslines Lee a few times but gets dumped to the apron. Lee comes off the ropes but Page hits a slingshot somersault lariat for a two count. Page leg sweeps Lee off the apron and connects with a suicide dive. Page goes to the top rope and takes Lee out with a moonsault in the crowd. Page brings Lee back into the ring and gets on the apron. Page misses a lariat and gets slammed to the mat. Page counters Ground Zero and almost wins with an inside cradle. Page superkicks Lee on the mat and Lee rolls to the floor. Lee yanks Page off the apron and delivers a powerbomb onto the apron. Lee knocks Page off the apron with the Pounce, which sends Page into the crowd. Page gets back in the ring and trades strikes with Lee. Page comes off the ropes with a big boot. They being to deliver overhand strikes and Page drops to his knees. Lee plants Page with the Spirit Bomb, but Page kicks out at two! Page stops Lee on the middle rope with a powerbomb of his own. Page dangerously drops Lee with a piledriver for a near fall. Page goes to the top rope but misses a moonsault. Lee tries for another Spirit Bomb, but Page counters with a reverse hurricanrana. Lee plants Page with Ground Zero and wins the match. (***1/2. That was a great showcase for Adam Page in PWG and Lee is an incredible talent. Admittedly, I hadn’t seen much of Lee’s work prior to 2018 and he’s doing very well for himself. I can’t imagine him working anything close to this style in WWE, though. This kind of match proves to me that Adam Page is capable of delivering a great match in a singles role.)

Main Event: PWG World Tag Team Champions The Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz): Riddle and Xavier start off the title match with Riddle taking Xavier down to the mat and controlling his arm for a moment. Riddle whips Xavier to the mat with a couple of gut wrench suplexs. Xavier lands on his feet to avoid a German suplex. Riddle forearms Xavier several times and they trade pin attempts. Xavier avoids a leg sweep and they both avoid kick attempts. Wentz gets tagged in and so does Nick Jackson, which the crowd loves. Wentz takes Nick out with a springboard corkscrew crossbody. Nick comes off the top to arm drag Wentz followed by a dropkick and the fans show their appreciation. Xavier enters and kicks Nick and Wentz hits a standing shooting star. Cobb enters and slams both Xavier and Wentz with ease. Cobb holds Wentz to allow Riddle to deliver a kick and Cobb hits a German suplex.

Riddle forearms Wentz and Cobb connects with a forearm strike. Cobb takes Wentz down with a swinging back suplex. Wentz gets his knees up to block a senton from Riddle. Bucks enter the match and Nick dropkicks the champs. Xavier is held and met with wheelbarrow ace crusher from the Bucks. Wentz is kicked off the apron by the Bucks, too. Riddle enters and kicks the Bucks a few times to get control of the match. Matt blocks a kick and holds Riddle to allow Nick to superkick Riddle’s barefoot. Nick dropkicks Cobb off the apron and the Bucks deliver a kick to Cobb on the apron. Bucks put duel sharpshooters on the Rascalz in the middle of the ring. Cobb and Riddle enter to take the Bucks over with German suplexs. Riddle drives his knee into Matt’s ribs followed by a kick to the lower back area. Riddle continues to beat on Matt with a strikes on the mat. Riddle elbow strikes Matt several times until Nick delivers a superkick. Cobb decks Nick and Riddle hits the Bro To Sleep on Nick. Cobb has Matt on his shoulders, but Matt breaks free and sends Cobb into Riddle in the corner. Matt takes Cobb down with a slice bread. Xavier gets tagged in and pummels Cobb with strikes. Rascalz beat on the champs with dropkicks in the corner and a double stomp to Cobb for a two count.

Cobb sends the Rascalz into each other and drops them with a double back suplex. Cobb misses a splash in the corner and is kicked by Nick. Nick tags himself into the match and hits a crossbody/dropkick combo on the Rascalz followed kicks and a bulldog/lariat combo. Nick roundhouse kicks Xavier and Matt dives to the floor to take the champs out. Nick tries for a face buster but Wentz counters with a kick to send Nick to the floor. Wentz and Xavier hit stereo dives to the outside onto the other two teams! Riddle kicks Xavier and knee strikes Wentz. Riddle sends Nick’s kick attempt into Matt and gets an ankle lock on briefly. Wentz and Xavier take out Riddle and then are met with superkicks from the Bucks. Bucks superkick Cobb, too. Cobb blocks the Meltzer Driver and along with Riddle they spike the Bucks with double piledrivers! Cobb has Matt on his shoulders while Riddle goes to the top to deliver a knee, but Matt lands on his feet. Matt superkicks the champs and the Bucks accidentally superkick the referee which causes the crowd to freak out!

Cobb has the Bucks and hits a double German suplex. Riddle and Xavier begin to trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Riddle powerbombs Xavier and delivers a knee strike. Wentz comes in with a choke hold, but Riddle places him in Cobb’s arms for a powerbomb. Cobb missile launches Wentz into a knee strike from Riddle, but there’s no referee for the cover. Riddle has the cover but Nick breaks up the cover at two. Nick begs off from the champs and Matt delivers a double low blow from behind. Matt has Riddle and the Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver but here comes Rick Knox to count the cover and then flips off the Bucks! Bucks are freaking out and the fans love it! Matt has Knox with a full nelson but Nick superkicks Matt on accident! Knox superkicks Nick! Wentz dives off of Xavier’s back to hit a dive to the floor. Riddle knee strikes Xavier and Cobb tries to launch Xavier into Riddle, but Xavier clotheslines Riddle. Xavier tries to counter Tour of the Islands, but here comes Wentz with a double knee strike on Cobb and they win the tag titles! (****1/4. I mean, that was just incredible by everyone involved. Rick Knox involvement wasn’t expected and it was great to play that into the issues he’s had with Bucks over the years. Xavier and Wentz have been getting a lot of attention on the independents in 2018 and I think this could be a defining moment for their careers in 2018. Bucks are absolutely stars and this performance helps everyone involved. I’m curious to see how Xavier and Wentz perform given such a quick title reign into their PWG careers. This was a fantastic main event.)

Final Thoughts:
An incredible show by PWG with nothing being bad on the show. I’ve said a couple of times that AAW is the best independent company, and I still think that’s the case since they have storylines and better presentation. However, in-terms of in-ring quality and just guys killing it in the ring, PWG is top notch and this whole show was great to watch.

Oh, and there’s a second night of it.

Thanks for reading.