Break It Down: PWG The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

Posted by Ryan Rozanski on 07.21.2009

El Generico begins his journey to re-open his orphanage.

My name is Ryan Rozanski and I'm going to be reviewing some indy wrestling here on 411mania. I used to write for The Cool Kids Table where I had a Ring of Honor column. I just wanted to thank 411mania for this opportunity and with that, let's get started!

I wanted to start with a Pro Wrestling Guerrilla review because there hasn't been one on the site recently. For those that haven't checked out PWG, it consistently brings quality wrestling with a high entertainment value. You can buy PWG DVDs on their site, Highspots, and even now on Ring of Honor's website.

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies on January 10th, 2009.

Opening Match: Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. Phoenix Star and Zokre
Zokre hits a springboard crossbody on the Cutlers followed by a springboard dropkick by Phoenix Star. The Cutlers look a little sloppy early on but the crowd is being pretty forgiveable. Dustin uses exercise equipment to choke Phoenix Star and the Cutlers take control. Phoenix Star hits a beautiful code red and makes the tag. Phoenix Star and Zokre land stereo lionsaults. Phoenix Star lures Dustin to the outside and lands a springboard dive followed by a dive over the ringpost by Zokre. A double team backbreaker on Brandon gets a two count. The Cutlers hit their finisher (called "The Six Second Abs" on commentary) on Phoenix Star but Zokre breaks up the pin attempt. Phoenix Star lands a cool variation of an ace crusher for a nearfall. Dustin is launched into a spear. Phoenix Star hits an olympic slam onto Zokre's knees for the win at 11:29. This ended up being a pretty good opener. Some awkward and sloppy moments in the beginning of the match were ironed out and they had some good nearfalls going towards the end. Although it's going to take awhile for me to tell them apart, I think the Cutlers made a decent debut here. **½


Match #2: Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins
Aries gets on the mic before the match and compliments Perkins' fashion sense. Perkins dodges the powerdrive elbow and tries one of his own to no avail. Perkins escapes a last chancery attempt and retreats to the outside. Perkins takes control as Danielson admits to being a supporter of Ralph Nader on commentary. Aries comes back with some stiff strikes but misses the corner dropkick. Aries is finally able to hit the powerdrive elbow for a two count. Perkins escapes a last chancery again. He nails Aries with a superkick and follows with a frog splash but Aries reverses the pin attempt. Aries hits the corner dropkick and tries for the 450, but Perkins pushes the referee into the ropes. Perkins locks in a cross armbreaker but Aries reverses into a last chancery with knees mixed in for the victory at 12:43. I wish Aries would have played up his new character more, as crowds seem to be getting into him. The match was solid, if a bit disjointed at times. Perkins didn't work the arm enough for the cross armbreaker to mean much towards the end. **½



Match #3: Bobby Quance vs. Joey Ryan
This will be my first time seeing Quance. Considering Quance is a navy seal, Excalibur wonders on commentary whether Quance might kill Ryan, forgetting the rules of professional wrestling. Quance asserts his dominance on the mat, taking Ryan down in various ways. Ryan gets some shots in on the outside and lands a dropkick back in the ring. Quance hits a northern lights suplex and rolls to his feet to land polish hammers. Excalibur ruins the ending to "The Wrestler" on commentary by saying that Rourke dies in the end because he finds out that The Cat is his father. They trade forearms and Quance uses his momentum to hit a half nelson suplex followed by a spinning kick for a nearfall. Quance hits some kind of spinning suplex for a two count. Ryan lands a spinebuster but Quance counters the Pedigree with a cross armbreaker. Ryan hits a spear and Quance answers with an olympic slam. Quance synchs in an ankle lock but Ryan fights out and lands a tope to the outside. Quance tries to immitate Shawn Michaels with a superkick but Ryan dodges and hits one of his own. Ryan semi-hits a Stone Cold Stunner for a two count. Quance hits a Rock Bottom but misses the Earthquake drop. Quance misses a baseball slide but spins into a headscissors. Back in, Quance misses a shooting star press and Ryan lands the Pedigree for a nearfall. Quance misses a kick and falls victim to another Pedigree, giving Ryan the win at 17:52. The match was a showcase for Quance, who looked good for not being in the ring for four years. The WWE finisher fest was fun and they had me biting on some of the nearfalls. Overall a fun match and I would totally support Quance coming back if he ever had the chance. ***


Match #4: Bryan Danielson vs. Scott Lost
Lost attacks before the bell, interrupting The Final Countdown. Lost takes control with a running knee in the corner. Lost spins around the ringpost and dropkicks Danielson in the face. Danielson fights out of a bodyscissors and slams Lost's knees off of a surfboard. They exchange holds on the mat and Lost kills Danielson with a knee to the face. Lost sends Danielson into the crowd, knocking down a fan and his beer. Lost lands a superman spear over a group of chairs in the crowd. Back in, Danielson lands a running lariat followed by a sprinboard knee. He follows with a tope to the outside. At this point, they're acting like it's their job to disorganize the chairs in the crowd. Danielson hits a backbreaker onto a chair and follows with a knee drop from the apron. Back in, Danielson hits a missile dropkick and locks on Cattle Mutilation. Lost wisely escapes MMA elbows and lands a few kicks for a two count. Lost hits a diving elbow and goes for MMA elbows. Danielson gets caught up top and then superplexed. Lost synchs in a sharpshooter. Danielson counters a kick with an ankle lock turned into a german suplex. Lost hits a superkick but doesn't connect with the superman spear. Danielson murders lost with a running kick, followed by a tiger suplex, MMA elbows, and Cattle Mutilation for the victory at 16:41. These two held nothing back as far as stiffness was concerned, which made the match more entertaining in a way. Lost is more than qualified as a singles wrestler and Danielson was his normal, terrific self. Very good encounter here. ***½


Match #5: El Generico vs. Chuck Taylor
Taylor gets angry early, I'm assuming because of the lack of clean breaks from Generico. Generico hits a series of armdrags and punches in the corner. Taylor uses a kid from the crowd to block a dive from Generico, who as a promoter of orphanages, could never hurt a child. Taylor uses another child to gain the advantage back in the ring. Taylor tries to kill Generico by irish whipping him into the apron twice. Generico finds an opening and lands a dive to the floor. In an awesome spot, Generico allows a previously used child to chop Taylor. Generico lands a flying crossbody for a two count followed by a michinoku driver for another. Taylor hits a yakuza kick and Generico can't answer with one of his own. Generico blocks a dive from Taylor and hits a brainbuster on the apron for the win at 15:18. This took awhile to get going, but it ended up topping my expectations. They sprinkled in a few genuine comedy spots among some solid exchanges and it resulted in an enjoyable match. I'm glad Taylor is getting over with the PWG fans as he is one of the extremely talented non-ROH guys on the indies. ***


Match #6: PWG World Tag Team Titles: Matt and Nick Jackson (c) vs. Davey Richards and Roderick Strong
The Young Bucks use some teamwork to get the advantage to start. Richards changes this with some sharp mat wrestling and a spin kick to Nick. Richards and Strong hit Nick with a double shoulder block without any remorse for Nick's well being...get it? Both teams trade the advantage until Richards and Strong ultimately isolate Matt. Matt fights off a superplex and hits a legdrop, allowing him to make the hot tag. Nick cleans house and lands a spiraling dive to the outside. The champs hit a spear-frog splash combination for a two count. There is a godly kick exchange followed by a Strong backbreaker and a sliced bread from Matt. Nick hurricanranas Richards into a powerbomb by Matt for a nearfall. Richards hits two Alarm Clocks on Nick followed by a gutbuster, german suplex, and yakuza kick all to no avail. Richards locks in a Texas Cloverleaf on Nick accompanied by a Stronghold on Matt. Nick finds knees on a 450 attempt. Richards tries to rollup Nick but Nick reverses into a small package to retain the titles at 19:23. There wasn't a moment that this match wasn't fun. As expected, the finishing stretch was a wild ride and every kick landed in this match looked and sounded brutal. The Young Bucks have looked terrific recently and Richards visibly improved. Great tag team match and a superb main event. ***¾

The 411: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies is a consistently solid show the whole way through. Every match received a good amount of time and it paid off. Quance makes his first pro wrestling appearance in four years and puts on an enjoyable match with Joey Ryan. Danielson and Lost beat the heck out of each other and it was a lot of fun to watch. Speaking of enjoyable and fun, those are the best two words to describe the main event. Oh, and the promo at the end of the DVD...I'll just leave that to the viewer. I can give this show a recommendation due to it's consistency. Nothing will blow you away, but you'll have a lot of fun watching the show.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]