Written by: TJ Hawke
May 22, 2009
Reseda, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Hero, Scorpio Sky, Human Tornado, Paul London, Chuck Taylor, & Kenny Omega
Excalibur and Paul London are out to start the show. Unfortunately, London is injured and cannot wrestle. That tragically means the legendary London and Bryan Danielson tag team never got to wrestle a match. London apologizes and says he needs to be smart. The fans buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz for the American Dolphin, Bryan Danielson. He gets some birthday love from the crowd. London had a suitcase that apparently had Dragon’s gift. It was a new robe. Is this….is this real??? I think this is a shoot birthday gift! He also got some Four Horsemen merch. He then gave Dragon a very small cake. London brought out Chris Hero for the next gift. Hero announced that his tag partner (Roddy) is willing to be Dragon’s partner. Dragon accepts. Hero puts out an open challenge for his PWG World Championship. Excalibur then announced that Los Luchas were also out of the show. They’re being replaced by Dark & Lovely (Scorpio and Tornado). Excalibur then brought out Roderick Strong. London said he had a gift for him. He gave Roddy a bee mask and welcomed him to the hive. They all sang happy birthday to Dragon. This is one of my favorite segments in professional wrestling. history
Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament 2009 First Round Match
Hybrid Dolphins of The Swarm (Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong) vs. The Dynasty (Scott Lost & Joey Ryan)
The Dynasty jumped the Dolphins before the match. The Dynasty worked over Roddy for a while. He eventually tagged out to Dragon, but Lost cut him off with a superkick after a quick comeback. He eventually escaped though, and Roddy made an awesome comeback. The teams started going back and forth. Roddy used the Swarm Hold on Lost while Dragon applied Dolphin Mutilation on Ryan. Lost tapped out!
This was really good match, and it was a great way to start the show. Danielson and Roddy had instant chemistry as a team, and The Dynasty stepped up against a better team as they usually do.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Excalibur announced that the Motor City Machine Guns were getting a bye to the second round. The crowd was displeased.
Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament 2009 First Round Match
Dark & Lovely (Scorpio Sky & The Human Tornado) vs. Men of Low Moral Fiber (Kenny Omega & Chuck Taylor)
Omega and Tornado did a very nifty/fun segment to start the match. Omega and Chuck were having some issues and did the catfight spot. Tornado and Sky broke them up. IT WAS A RUSE THOUGH! They attacked Dark & Lovely! They worked Sky over for a bit. This heat segment probably went on a bit too long. Sky finally escaped, and Tornado made a comeback. Omega tried to do the red light spot, but Tornado gave him the pimp slap. Sky wiped out Omega with a ridiculous tope con HELLO. Omega Germaned Sky into some chairs. CROYT’S WRATH to Tornado. AWFUL WAFFLE: 1…2…3!
This match had a fun beginning and a great end, but the middle dragged too much for me. Overall, it’s still good match, but I think they could have had a great match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
PWG World Tag Team Title Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament 2009 First Round Match
The Young Bucks(c) (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. The Cutler Brothers (Brandon Cutler & Dustin Cutler)
The Bucks were the only opponents that I enjoyed watching the Cutlers against. So, I’m okay with this existing.
The Cutlers cut off Matt relatively early on and worked him over. Matt eventually escaped, and Nick made a hot tag. The teams started going back and forth. They did lots of movez. Matt eventually finished one of the Cutlers off with a wheelbarrow facebuster.
This match was fun with lots of good action, but I didn’t get invested as much as I expected. It’s startling to go back and see how bland the Bucks seemed as babyfaces back in 2009. Luckily, they basically turned heel by the end of the show.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Matt Jackson introduced Malachi Jackson, the future of wrestling.
Malachi Jackson vs. Phoenix Star
Malachi did lots of wacky flips and whatnot. There was not a ton of structure to the match. Malachi hit a shooting star press for a nearfall. Star came back and pinned Malachi with the Olympico Slam.
This was not much. Malachi very much proved to not be the future of wrestling in subsequent months.
Match Rating: *
PWG World Tag Team Title Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament 2009 Semifinal Match
The Young Bucks(c) (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. Men of Low Moral Fiber (Chuck Taylor & Kenny Omega)
The Men of Low Moral Fiber cut off Nick and worked him over for a while. I did not find this section to be especially interesting. Luckily, things picked up after a Matt hot tag. Nick got almost immediately back involved though to completely render the heat segment pointless. The Men of Low Moral Fiber got some genuinely good nearfalls on the Bucks. The crowd was steadily losing their minds more and more. The Bucks avoided the Golden Shower and then hit Omega with More Bang for Your Buck: 1…2…3
The crowd was NOT happy about that result.
This was a strange match. The Men of Low Moral Fiber did a very long heat segment, but the crowd had warmed to them so much that they no longer were interested in rooting for the Bucks. All the nearfalls that the Bucks survived did not endear them to the crowd at all. The match was super hot for a few minutes, but this was also a much longer match than it needed to be. This match was a mixed bag for sure.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament 2009 Semifinal Match
Hybrid Dolphins of The Swarm (Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
Neither team could get an advantage for a bit. Roddy and Shelley ended up on the floor. Dragon and Sabin hit stereo tope suicidas. The Guns cut off Roddy shortly after that and then worked over Roddy. Roddy took out both guns, and Dragon made a rather cold tag. The Dolphins then worked over Shelley. Sabin eventually made a hot tag, and the Guns applied stereo submissions. The Dolphins came back with stereo submissions. The Guns escaped though and had the momentum. The Dolphins came back. Sabin took a Sick Kick/German combo. Dragon then applied Cattle Mutilation. Dragon transitioned to the elbows, but Sabin escaped. The Guns looked to have Dragon finished, but Roddy made the save. Sabin hit Cradle Shock for a nearfall. He then went for a Frankensteiner, but Dragon rolled through and applied a triangle! Sabin tapped out!
I thought this match was just a shade short of great. It was a different match than the opener, which I appreciate given that we’ll see the Dolphins work three times tonight. I just wasn’t feeling the drama down the stretch quite as much I was meant to, which is definitely reflective more of my personal reaction. I can definitely see people calling this one great, and I wouldn’t think that was weird or unjustifiable at all.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Chris Hero(c) (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. Joey Ryan [PWG World Championship]
A second Joey Ryan match?
Joey answered the open challenge because he does not want Hero’s PWG World Championship reign to go longer than his “epic” reign. I actually think that’s a clever and organic way of making these two feud for the title.
They took their time. Ryan managed to get control. Hero started to fight back, but Ryan superkicked him into the crowd to put an end to that. Ryan went right back to working over Hero. Hero tried to come back by hopping on a turnbuckle but he fell ass over tea kettle to the floor from the top rope. Can’t tell if that was on purpose or not. It looked painful regardless. Hero started to come back after connecting on a big elbow. They started going back and forth. Hero eventually hit a rolling elbow that put Ryan away to successfully defend the title. The crowd was displeased. Did they want Joey to win? It didn’t seem like that.
Hero and Ryan put each other over after the match. Ryan then hit him with the belt.
I did not find a single moment of this match to be interesting. They managed to get the crowd somewhat interested in the match, which should be noted. They never managed to grab me though in the slightest.
Match Rating: **
PWG World Tag Team Title Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament 2009 Finals Match
The Young Bucks(c) (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. Hybrid Dolphins of The Swarm (Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong)
The Dolphins took it to the Bucks early, and the match turned into a brawl. The Dolphins got control of the match and then worked over Matt. Matt was finally able to tag out to Nick. The Bucks were making a big comeback, but the teams started going back and forth of course. The Bucks hit tope con HELLOS. The Dolphins came storming back though. Dragon could not put Nick away with the elbows or the triangle. Dragon then used some big kicks, but Nick survived. He then survived Cattle Mutilation. Nick avoided a tiger suplex, and Matt then finally escaped Roddy. The Bucks hit a million superkicks and then hit Dragon with More Bang for Your Buck: 1…2…3!
Dragon put over the Bucks after the match.
I loved this match, and it was a great way to end the tournament. The most interesting part for me was that my memory completely failed me, as I could have sworn that the Bucks had turned heel by the end of the match. After their semifinal match, I would have expected the Bucks to be booed by the crowd this entire match but that did not happen in the slightest. The match was even structure with them fighting behind almost the whole time.
Match Rating: ****
Final Thoughts:
This is one of my favorite wrestling tournaments. It wasn’t perfect, but every single tournament match was at least good. The Hybrid Dolphins worked perfectly as the makeshift team that makes a surprising run in the tournament, and The Young Bucks solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the world. I highly recommend picking up this show.