PCW Ultra Tuff Luck 3/16/2018

PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Champion Douglas James defends against Jordan Devlin and a third man that wasn’t originally involved, Shane Strickland. PCW Ultra Tag Team Champions Warbeast defend against La Familia in a all violence is legal match. Plus, PCW Ultra Heavyweight Champion Penta El Zero M defends against former champion, Rob Van Dam.

PCW Ultra presents Tuff Luck
Date: 3/16/2018
From: Wilmington, CA

Opening Contest: Hammerstone vs. Brody King: The fans are chanting “Triple H” towards Hammerstone because he is basically a carbon copy of the Game. He uses the Pedigree, too. King avoids a strike in the corner and begins to work over Hammerstone with chops around the ring. King tosses Hammerstone across the ring but Hammerstone fights back with strikes and a spine buster for a one count. King delivers a forearm strike and chops in the corner. King drops Hammerstone gut first over the ropes before connecting with a dropkick to knock Hammerstone to the mat. King continues with a cannonball splash in the corner for a one count. Hammerstone staggers King with a dropkick and forearms King from the apron. King connects with a forearm strike to knock Hammerstone off the apron to the floor. They are both on the apron trading strikes until Hammerstone has King on his shoulders and hits a Death Valley Driver on the apron. King counters a hurricanrana attempt managing to hit a powerbomb onto the apron. Hammerstone is laid out on the floor after hitting the back of his head on the apron.

King rolls Hammerstone back into the ring and gets a two count. King tries for a powerbomb but Hammerstone counters only to be met with a cutter. Hammerstone kicks King in the corner and tosses King into the corner with an exploder suplex. Hammerstone waits and connects with a running clothesline in the corner. Hammerstone delivers a running boot but King gets up to deliver a clothesline and a piledriver. They both get to their feet and begin to trade strikes. King dumps Hammerstone to the apron but is met with a kick. Hammerstone comes off the top with a dropkick to stagger King. Hammerstone almost wins with an inside cradle. Hammerstone plants King with a cutter for a two count. King gets kicked on the top turnbuckle by Hammerstone. King shoves Hammerstone off the middle rope but is met with another kick. Hammerstone takes King off the top rope with a superplex for a two count. King spikes Hammerstone with a brainbuster for a two count. King delivers a powerbomb and a lariat off the ropes for another near fall. Hammerstone gets out of a suplex and delivers a forearm strike. Hammerstone hits a pendulum slam for the win. (***1/4. A solid start to the show between two hard hitting guys. Hammerstone may look a lot like HHH, but the guy can deliver in the ring and the crowd showed that appreciation.) After the match, Kevin Sullivan, Sheik and Fatu enter the ring to attack King. Hammerstone just left the ring while King is being beaten down. King stands up but proceeds to walk out of the ring.

Second Contest: Eli Everfly vs. Chris Bey: They both miss various strikes until Bey delivers a boot to the midsection. Everfly slaps Bey and is met with a slap. Bey dropkicks Everfly but moments later Everfly takes Bey down with an arm drag from the apron. Everfly takes Bey down with a head scissors. Everfly delivers a 619 to the midsection and a slice bread onto the apron! Everfly kicks Bey and takes him out with a springboard dive. It looked like Everfly hit his leg on the guard railing. Bey avoids a springboard with a kick. Bey delivers another kick and a sit down powerbomb for a two count. Everfly spin kicks Bey on the top turnbuckle. Everfly chops Bey a few times on the middle rope. Bey spikes Everfly with a rolling cutter for a two count. Everfly kicks Bey from the apron and connects with a tornado DDT followed by a short DDT for a two count. Everfly gouges Bey’s mouth to keep the advantage. Everfly spits on a fan and taunts them before going to the top rope. Bey kips up and kicks Everfly. Everfly eye rakes Bey and bites his nose. Eli hits a double underhoook Canadian Destroyer for the win. (***1/2. It wasn’t a very long match, but they did a pretty good job in there and I was entertained. That was a crazy finisher, too.)

Third Contest: Flip Gordon vs. Garza Jr. in a number one contenders match for the PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Championship: Gordon comes off the ropes but Garza tells him to stop. Gordon does the same thing and Garza drops to the mat. Flip does a handstand and head scissors Garza to the mat. They tell each other to stop. Gordon kicks Garza twice sending him to the floor. Gordon flips off the middle rope to take his pants off. Garza rips his pants off on the floor and Gordon takes him out with a suicide dive. Gordon hits a senton splash back into the ring for a two count. Gordon chops Garza in the corner and soon hits a standing moonsault. Gordon gets superkicked in the corner when trying to do a headstand. Garza taunts the crowd and works over Gordon with a chop and superkick. Garza sends Gordon to the floor and delivers another superkick. Garza drives Gordon groin first into the ring post and delivers another superkick to an upside down Gordon. Garza attempts a lazy cover managing a two count. The fans are taunting Garza, which they are calling him a bitch in Spanish.

Garza forearms strikes Gordon in the corner and several kicks. The referee stops Garza from running into the corner. The referee gets shoved away but Gordon is up and clotheslines Garza a few times. Gordon springboards off the middle rope to hit a slingblade. Gordon hits the Samoan Pop and a standing shooting star press for a two count. Garza drops Gordon with a few clotheslines and a spike piledriver for a near fall. Garza headbutts Gordon to the mat for a two count. Garza comes off the ropes to deliver a running boot strike. Garza heads to the top rope but Gordon springboards to deliver a kick and hits a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Gordon kicks Garza and attempts a springboard but Garza delivers a superkick managing a near fall. Gordon plants Garza with a springboard stunner for the win. (**1/2. The action was solid but it didn’t come across like a number one contenders match. The comedy didn’t really seem to fit the context of what was on the line. The finish felt like it was kind of abrupt, too.)

Fourth Contest: Kikutaro vs. Swoggle: I quite honestly have no interest in this match. It’s likely going to be nothing but comedy and feels like a cool down match considering the next three matches are all title matches. I fast forward to the end. Kikutaro won the match following a GTS to Swoggle’s ass. After the match, Swoggle delivers a stunner. Moving on…

The next match was supposed to be a singles match between Douglas James and Jordan Devlin. However, Shane Strickland, the former champion, comes out and the match is made into a triple threat match.

Fifth Contest: PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Champion Douglas James vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Shane Strickland: They all hit arm drags and leg sweeps at the start. They then attempt stereo dropkicks leading to a standoff when nobody connects. Strickland sends James to the floor. Devlin dropkicks Strickland and takes James down with a double knee strike and a standing moonsault. Devlin sends Strickland into James to hit a neckbreaker on James, who then DDTs Strickland. Devlin keeps control of the match by dropping Strickland with a forearm strike. James stops Devlin with a dropkick and takes Strickland down with a head scissors. James boots Strickland over the middle rope followed by a cutter for a two count. Devlin dumps James to the floor but gets kicked by Strickland. Strickland nails Devlin with a kick to the face. James fights back with a superkick to Strickland’s midsection. Strickland superkicks a seated James on the apron and double stomps Devlin. Strickland double stomps James off the apron to the floor. James was hanging upside down with his feet on the bottom rope.

Strickland and Devlin are fighting on the apron where Strickland is able to double stomp Devlin on the apron. Strickland baseball slides dropkicks James into the railing. James takes Strickland out with a suicide dive to the floor. Devlin has recovered and comes off the top to connect with a top rope moonsault to the outside. Devlin forearms James a few times in the corner before hitting a backstabber. Strickland boots Devlin followed by a double under hook slam for a two count as James breaks up the cover. Strickland is met with a knee strike and superkick from James. James hits a lung blower and a running knee strike for a two count as Devlin breaks up the cover attempt. Devlin and James trade strikes with James getting the better of it. Strickland kicks both men but Devlin is able to tornado DDT Strickland only for James to nail Devlin with a clothesline. James hits a twisting vertical suplex on Devlin for a two count. James runs into an elbow from Devlin and is kicked away. Devlin dropkicks James across the ring. Devlin elbows James and delivers a double stomp. Devlin plants James with a brainbuster for a two count.

Devlin heads to the top rope but James stops him with a kick. James hooks Devlin for a superplex but Strickland comes over and that leads to a German suplex/superplex combo! Strickland knee lifts James and delivers a knee strike on James for a two count. Strickland hits the GML Driver on James and wins the title. However, James had his boot on the rope. Devlin is pissed because he saw that but the referee didn’t. (***. A solid three way and the finish certainly should lead to a match between Strickland and Devlin. I’ve been liking what I’ve seen out of Douglas James and hopefully this leads to him getting a bigger role in the company. It seems like whenever someone is inserted into a match they win the title, so the winner here isn’t much of a surprise for me.)

Sixth Contest: PCW Ultra Tag Team Champions Warbeast (Almighty Sheik & Jacob Fatu) vs. La Familia (Damien 666 & Bestia 666) in an all violence is legal match: They waste no time brawling on the floor. Sheik uses a kendo stick on Damien, who hits him with a strap. Sheik works over Bestia with the kendo stick, too. Bestia and Fatu trade strikes in the ring. Bestia delivers a running knee strike for a two count. Sheik and Damien are fighting in the crowd. Fatu plants Bestia with a nice Samoan Drop and a springboard moonsault for a two count. Sheik and Damien continue to hit each other with weapons Bestia staggers Fatu with a kick before dropkicking him to the floor. Bestia comes off the ropes but Fatu catches him on a suicide dive attempt. Damien works over Sheik in the corner with strikes. Sheik has a spike in his hand and comes off the middle rope but Bestia knocks Sheik to the floor. Fatu is superkicked a few times and is clotheslined over the top to the floor by Bestia. Damien uses the spike on Sheike with numerous jabs causing Sheik to be busted open. Damien whacks Sheik over the back with a steel chair. Brody King enters the ring and big boots a chair into Damien’s face.

King handcuffs Damien and delivers several strikes while Fatu superkicks Bestia in the crowd. Damien is being beaten down with spike shots. Sheik digs the spike into Damien’s forehead and the referee has called for the bell. (*1/2. Fatu is impressive for his size, which isn’t a surprise considering everyone in that family has been quite impressive over the years. The match was just a brawl with usual weapon shots and whatnot. There wasn’t much substance to it.)

Main Event: PCW Ultra Heavyweight Champion Penta El Zero M vs. Rob Van Dam: Penta attacks RVD before the bell and beats him down to the mat. Penta had nailed RVD with the championship on the forehead. Penta sends RVD into the ropes and delivers a kick to the chest. Penta dumps RVD to the floor and keeps control by kicking the challenger. Penta tosses a chair into the ring and has a chair on the floor where he jabs RVD in the midsection. Penta continues to kick RVD several times and sends him back first into the guard railing. Penta kicks RVD on the head against the railing. Penta chops RVD against the railing and plays to the crowd. Penta attempts another chop but hits the post. RVD hip tosses Penta over the railing into the crowd. RVD springboards off the railing onto Penta, who was laying on a few fans. RVD lays Penta gut first over the railing and comes off the apron with a spinning heel kick. RVD comes off the apron to splash onto Penta before bringing the action into the ring. RVD goes for a cover but only manages a two count. RVD wedges a chair in the corner and trades blows with Penta. Penta leg kicks RVD and sends him face first into the wedged chair in the corner. RVD takes Penta down with a rollup for a near fall. Penta stops RVD with a superkick a couple of times and comes off the top rope delivering a double stomp for a two count. RVD nails Penta with a spinning heel kick in the corner. RVD comes off the middle rope to hit a Destroyer for a two count.

Penta tries for a backstabber but RVD counters delivering a kick to drop Penta. RVD hits a split legged moonsault for a two count. RVD nails Penta with a step over heel kick. RVD goes to the top rope hitting a crossbody. Penta accidentally dropkicks the referee in the corner. RVD has an inside cradle on Penta but there’s no referee. RVD checks on the referee but Penta low blows RVD and the lights go out. Penta hits the Penta Driver and wins the match. (**. The match was okay for what it was. RVD hit his trademark spots and that’s probably what the fans wanted to see. The finish felt a little flat. If RVD is going to be used he should be used on the undercard because it doesn’t look like he can work a main event level match.) After the match, RVD acts like he’s going to shake Penta’s hand and then sidesteps him, but remains in the ring. Penta plays to the crowd and leaves the ring.

Final Thoughts:
I’d say this was an overall enjoyable show for a show that lasted just under 2 hours and 20 minutes. The undercard was the best part of the show as the final two matches didn’t deliver too much entertainment for myself, at least. Coming out of this, I’m interested in seeing more of Chris Bey, Eli Everfly, Hammerstone, Douglas James and Brody King.

Thanks for reading.