Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Sells Out, Vol. 1 (Disc Three)

Well, it’s safe to say that Disc 2 of PWG Sells Out was one of the better individual wrestling DVD’s I’ve ever bared witness to, even with a stinker lodged in there. On Disc 3 of this set, we look at the international talent PWG has brought in over the years, and a few more homegrowns. Safe to say I’m pumped.

Guerrilla Warfare for PWG World Title: Joey Ryan (c) vs. Human Tornado (w/ Candice LeRae)
From Based on a True Story on January 13th, 2007. I heart Candice, but I may heart Joey Ryan more. HAHA no, I’m just kidding. I DO heart Joey Ryan more.

Joey cuts a hilarious promo before the match saying he’s going to own Tornado “like it’s 1850.” Candice looks adorable as usual. Joey bails to attack Candice, which allows Chris Bosh to come out and help attack Tornado. Ryan takes control of Tornado now, and taunts him along the way. We head outside the ring, where Tornado whacks Ryan in the back with a chair. Tornado sets up a table on the outside, and Ryan with a moonsault off of the apron. Ryan KILLS TORNADO WITH A BEER BOTTLE TO THE FACE! That allows a bloody Tornado to be taken over by Joey. Joey boots Tornado in the face, and does that thing where he sits in the chair and chinlocks Tornado, and he even drop toeholds Tornado onto the seat, copying the exact same spot from Ryan/B-Boy. And even CLOSELY mirroring B-Boy/Ryan, Joey fucks with Rick Knox. Instead of getting in a full-blown brawl with Knox, Joey goes and gets a garbage can. Tornado starts coming back, and he sets Joey up on the top rope and puts him in the TRASH CAN TREE OF WOE! CORNER BOOGIE ON THE TRASH CAN! Tornado takes Joey out of the tree and COMES DOWN WITH A HUGE DOUBLE KNEE ON THE CAN! TWO COUNT! Tornado goes out and gets a ladder to throw into the ring like a sack of potatoes. Tornado scoop slams Joey on it, but MISSES A SENTON BOMB ON IT! Tornado doesn’t let it faze him too much, as he drops Ryan with a dragon whip-esque kick. Chair Assisted People’s Elbow! Only a two count. For some reason, Tornado climbs the ladder, but Joey pushes him off and crotches him on the ropes. Since Tornado is apparently hung like a horse, it doesn’t faze him…BUT A LADDER TO THE FACE DOES. Jade Chung comes in and gives Joey some thumbtacks, and Candice LeRae attacks her! Joey throws thumbtacks down Candice’s shirt and DROPKICKS HER IN THE TITS! What a fucking dick! Joey goes up top, seemingly for a Mustache Ride, but instead he DUMPS TORNADO OVER HIM THROUGH A TABLE! Joey goes up to the stage (we’re in Reseda again), but Tornado GIVES HIM AN INSANE CANADIAN DESTROYER THROUGH THE TABLE!~! In the ring, Candice climbs the ladder and JUMPS OFF ON JOEY! Tornado goes on the stage and magically finds a barbed wire board! He brings it in the ring, but takes too long as Joey Ryan meets him in the ring. Tornado dodges a superkick and almost drop toeholds Ryan onto the board, but JOEY RYAN PUMPHANDLE SUPLEXES HIM ONTO IT! There’s a disgusting gash on Tornado’s arm. NEARFALL! Scott Lost and Chris Bosh re-enter, but Cape Fear comes out and fights them off! POUUUNNNCCEEE INTO THE TACKS FROM TORNADO! DND ON THE TACKS! Tornado ends the Joey Ryan PWG title reign of terror at the 35 minute mark. ***3/4 This was a super fun match, but this would have been so much better had it been shaved down by about 10 minutes. There was a lot of standing around in the earlygoing, which would have been prevented had they had less than 30 minutes to work with. However, when they turned it on, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. It mirrored the B-Boy match a little too much with the Chung/Candice involvement and a few spots were taken from it, but everything else during the final 10 minutes or so were gold. Awesome stuff for the most part, but the rating suffers from an unecessarily long length.

PAC vs. Kevin Steen
From Holy Diver Down on February 24, 2007. Oh shit yeah. I’ve heard good things about this one.

Steen feigns a handshake and locks in a headlock. He keeps this hold in, in order to ground The Man That Gravity Forgot. Pac gets out and starts working over Mr. Wrestling’s arm, but can’t get him up for a surfboard. He still maintains an armbar as Steen rallies his way up, overpowering Pac into a front curb stomp. Pac tries for a Quesadora, but Steen KILLS him with a backbreaker. We head to the outside, where Steen tributes a chop to a “Mexican baby” as Disco Machine puts it. We head to the ring, where Pac hits a SPRINGBOARD RANA but misses a standing Phoenix senton. That allows Steen to hit a flipping leg drop, for a 2 count on a hilarious teabag cover. Steen takes a couple of shots from Pac, but HE LARIATS HIM RIGHT ON HIS HEAD! GERMAN SUPLEX RIGHT ON PAC’S HEAD! Jeezus Christ on a stick. Pac comes back with a diving rana, and then he sends Steen to the floor. Pac climbs the top and COMES DOWN ON STEEN WITH BRITISH AIRWAYS~! Pac sends Steen into the ring and hits a QUEBRADA TORNADO DDT! KICK OUT! Pac nearly connects with another crazy Rana, but Steen drops him with a sick powerbomb for a close two count. Pac puts in a guillotine on Steen, but Steen lifts him up. Pac KILLS HIM WITH A REVERSE RANA! Steen comes back a Pele enzuigiri and a disgusting rope hung DDT! Steen goes up top and REVERSES A RUN UP RANA BY PAC WITH A SITDOWN POWERBOMB! NEARFALL~! Steen goes up top again, but PAC REVERSES A SUPER PACKAGE PILEDRIVER INTO A HURRICANRANA! TWO COUNT! SHOOTING STAR SENTON! NEARFALL! Pac goes up top again and gets the win with British Airways at the 22 minute mark. After the match, Steen puts over Pac as the best high flyer that he’d ever seen. He talks about how he told various promoters how Pac was the simply the most amazing wrestler he’s ever seen. He also tells Pac that when he’s a big star and making a lot of money, remember how Kevin Steen got him his bookings in the US first. FORESHADOWING!~! ****1/4 Another unbelievable display from Pac here, as Steen played a perfect power foil to Pac’s insane aerial prowess. Steen sold extremely well for the smaller guy, and in turn killed him with some of the more brutal moves you’ll see within the confines of a regular wrestling match. If you’ve ever heard anyone gush about Pac and how great he is, they’re right. He’s that good, but so is Kevin Steen. And trust me, despite the “overrated” claims you’ve heard lately, Kevin Steen is one of the best around. Awesome stuff here.

Kaz Hayashi vs. Pac
From All Star Weekend 5 on April 8th, 2007. If the Kaz Hayashi name sounds familiar to you, it’s because Mr. Hayashi was a member of the Jung Dragons in WCW during their ultra shitty days in 2000-2001.

Hayashi smacks Pac in the chest with an overhand chop early, opting not to give the Geordie a clean break. Hayashi targets the arm after, dropping strikes on Pac’s shoulder and soon putting in an armbar. Hayashi starts going after Pac’s leg now, but then goes back to his arm in probably the most pointless minute of wrestling I’ve seen so far. Sorry, but that kind of crap bugs me. Why would you work a dude’s arm for 3-4 minutes, go to his leg for a couple of minutes, and just go back to his arm? It’s wasting time that could be used to build up the match. Whatever I guess. Pac takes Hayashi down with a headscissors, but when he tries a Superman spear in the corner, Hayashi throws him violently into the ringpost shoulder first. After a little beating around the ring, Kaz brings Pac back into the ring to continue working on his arm. Pac starts coming back, suplexing Hayashi for a 2 count. Hayashi halts Pac’s momentum with a jawbreaker however, and he goes back to work on the Brit. Hayashi drop toe holds Pac across the second rope, and moonsaults onto him, then into a crossface. A Hayashi brainbuster gets a two count as the crowd desperately tries to rally Pac up. Pac sends Hayashi to the outside and misses a corkscrew plancha, but lands on his feet…and meets a STIFF superkick from Hayashi! Pac one-ups the AJPW star by launching him face-first into the guardrail. We head back to the ring, where Hayashi drops Pac with another super kick and an Air Raid Crash, but for a two count only. Pac decks Kaz with a superkick, but Hayashi repays him with a nasty Buzzsaw kick. Hayashi survives a strike battle and hits a Splash Mountain for a deep two count, but Pac comes back with a Tiger Suplex for a 2 count. Hayashi cuts off Pac on the top rope and looks for a super Splash Mountain, but Pac counters with a slick Frankensteiner and a Shooting Star Press for a two count. Hayashi dodges a Falcon Arrow, but eats an enzuigiri. They reverse a bunch of pins for a few nearfalls, but Hayashi eventually comes out on top with a tombstone piledriver and a Final Cut for the win in 20 minutes. **3/4 Super, super underwhelming match. I know this DVD set is full of matches mostly devoid of story but the thing is, those matches were never intended to have one. Kaz Hayashi worked Pac’s arm for upwards of 10 minutes and nothing come of it. Nothing. Nothing in the finishing stretch even involved his arm, despite Excalibur desperately trying to tell the story for them. Nothing they did really meant anything down the stretch either, as none of the nearfalls were remotely convincing and most of the other stuff was too indy to really matter. It’s not like they didn’t try, but they sure didn’t impress me like the other Pac matches have so far. One of my least favorite matches on the set.

CIMA vs. Bryan Danielson
From DDT4 on May 19th, 2007. It’s a Bryan Danielson match…of course it’s gonna be good.

Danielson starts off by giving the Dragon Gate star a clean break, and CIMA gives him the same treatment after teasing otherwise. GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! after a tiny bit of run-of-the-mill technical stuff. They battle over a test of strength for a while until CIMA finally gets Danielson to bridge down. Danielson breaks the clean break segments by uppercutting CIMA, who doesn’t immediately retaliate to that obvious sign of disrespect/racism. Bryan shows a bit of personality before Indian Deathlocking CIMA, doing a little Rick Rude gyrating. I’m still laughing over his “It looks like someone slapped you in the face with a Fruit Roll-Up or something” remark to Kane. Understand that I’m writing this the day after the October 8th RAW, so it’s still fresh in my mind. CIMA gets out and puts Danielson in a single leg crab, but Danielson makes the ropes. CIMA now starts targeting Dragon’s left knee with a fakeout Figure Four, but Danielson escapes and drops CIMA with a stiff European uppercut. Bryan gets hung up on the bottom turnbuckle, and CIMA DROPKICKS BRYAN’S FACE INTO THE SECOND TURNBUCKLE! CIMA puts in some kind of wacky Lucha hold, getting a two count out of it. Danielson retaliates with a running Kitchen Sink and a surfboard, which allows him to take control of the match after being dominated for a bit. Danielson targets CIMA’s arm with a short-arm scissors and later, he just stomps on it like a douchenozzle. CIMA looks to get a flash pinfall on Danielson, but Bryan kicks out easily and resumes his work on CIMA’s arm. Danielson decks CIMA with a couple of stiff strikes, so CIMA responds by spitting in his face, a Backstabber, and an awesome double jump pescado to Danielson outside of the ring. They head back to the ring, where Danielson counters a bulldog with a backbreaker, and a swandive headbutt gets two. CIMA buys some time with a backdrop driver and hits a 2K1 Bomb! A CIMA frog splash finds knees and when CIMA falls to the outside, Danielson takes him out with a dive. CROSSFACE CHICKENWING BY DANIELSON! CIMA gets out and Danielson puts in Cattle Mutilation! Nothing of it as CIMA gets to the ropes. Superkick and Schweinn get two for CIMA. After another exchange, Danielson latches Cattle Mutilation on again. CIMA rolls through out of a rollup but the 30 minute time limit expires. ***1/4 Not for lack of effort, but Jesus H. this was underwhelming. One thing I hate about draws is a lot of time the wrestlers are too transparent in letting the fans know that “Hey, we’re going for THIRTY MINUTES” and they just ruin the excitement of the match. This was just pure exhibition mode too, with no real heat or story to speak of. Another bit of disappointment here, I’m afraid.

PWG World Tag Titles: PAC & Roderick Strong vs. The Briscoe Brothers
We’re still at DDT4 2007, and this is the final match for the vacated tag titles. This ought to be a sick match, as The Briscoes are in their prime here and were the best tag team in the world at this point.

Pac and Jay take each other down with hurricanranas, and after a isolation scare, Roddy tags in and takes Mark down with a Kitchen Sink. Jay tags in a bit later though and decks Roddy with a dropkick. The Brothers down Roddy with a double shoulderblock, and Jay puts in a stretch plum. Pac flips out of a backdrop from Jay when he tags in and nails a dropsault for a 2 count. Jay plays Ricky Morton for a while, taking a Sky Twister from Pac right on his head. Roddy tags in, but Jay buys himself some time with a flipping neckbreaker. Mark gets the hot tag and cleans house with redneck kung-fu, but Pac takes him out with a Tiger Suplex. RODDY BACKDROPS PAC INTO A 450 ON MARK! BUCKLEBOMB ON PAC! SPRINGBOARD DOOMSDAY DEVICE! Roddy saves. Pac is playing Ricky Morton now as Jay locks in a straitjacket Camel Clutch. BACKBREAKER/CORKSCREW MOONSAULT BY THE BRISCOES! Shit that was cool. Pac starts making a comeback and HITS A HUGE BACK HANDSPRING TORNADO DDT! That allows his team to regain control, as Roddy hits a slingshot Falcon Arrow. Control doesn’t last long however, as Mark runs in and DEM BOYS HIT A SIDEWALK SLAM LEG DROP ACROSS THE DISTANCE OF THE RING! BACKDROP DRIVER ON JAY BY RODDY! PHOENIX SPLASH FROM THE MIDDLE ROPE BY PAC! KICKS ALL AROUND! PAC DUCKS THE DOOMSDAY DEVICE! REVERSE RANA! Jesus Christ. SICK KICK FROM STRONG! This match is fucking crazy. SHOOTING STAR KNEEDROP/PRESS COMBINATION ON BOTH BROTHERS! NEARFALL~! That was so cool. Roddy takes Mark down with a second rope dropkick and he and Jay lay into each other with chops. Risky Business misses for the Briscoes as Mark’s SSP finds knees, and Pac cuts Jay off from the apron. 720 SENTON FROM PAC!~! JAY FINDS THE ROPES! STRONGHOLD! Jay Briscoe taps, giving Strong and PAC the PWG Tag Titles in 20 minutes. ****1/4 This had absolutely no story whatsoever, but hot damn it was exciting. It’s just a splurge of a bunch of cool double teams and moves, basically the norm for a 2007 Briscoes match. I just never tire of watching PAC either and in my not-so humble opinion, he’s a bit more fun to watch in tag matches because he doesn’t usually have to latch onto a story and run with it. He can just flip and do all the cool crazy shit that people expect. That’s basically why this match is so good. Yeah it’s a spotfest, but it’s not a usual bad indy (*COUGH*AERIALXPRESSARROGANCE*COUGH*) spotfest, which there too many of in wrestling. You can’t get much more top-of-the-line than this.

PWG World Tag Titles: Roderick Strong & PAC (c) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
From Giant Sized Annual #4 on July 29th, 2007. Oh man, can you say “fuck yes”?

Generico and Roddy start off with some tentative technical stuff. Generico takes Pac down with his armdrag combo and tags Steen in. Pac uses his speed to get out of trouble with Steen and tags Strong back in. Generico settles into a familiar role of Ricky Morton, kicking out at 2 after an SSP. Nevermind, Steen tags in and Steenerico isolates Pac. Roddy breaks up a pin after a Tilt A Whirl backbreaker. SHOOTING STAR KNEEDROP ON STEEN! Strong and Generico tags in and takes down Generico with a clothesline for a two count. Strong COUNTERS A CASADORA INTO A BACKBREAKER! HUGE LARIAT FROM KEVIN STEEN ON PAC! TWO COUNT! REVERSE RANA ON STEEN! SICK KICK! 450 ELBOW DROP FROM PAC! NEARFALL! MOONSAULT ON PAC FROM STEEN! SUPERFLY SPLASH! NEARFALL! Roddy BACKDROPS PAC INTO A RANA ON GENERICO! STEEN SAVES! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER/BRAINBUSTER! Kevin Steen & El Generico win the PWG Tag Titles in 18 minutes. **** This was another killer spotfest between two great teams. The last 5-6 minutes are fucking GOLD! If they would have used the first segment of the match more wisely (such as build up a little bit of an underdog story with Pac or Generico, something of the like) then we’re legit talking about 1/2 a star more here. As it is, you still get an uber-exciting match, per the course for these guys.

We go right into Bryan Danielson coming out after the match. He tells Kevin Steen to leave as his problem does not concern Mr. Wrestling. Danielson’s head is bandaged up after a match with Necro Butcher. Steen leaves and Dragon says that the advertised main event is him vs. El Generico. Danielson and if Generico wants to be a real champion, he has to beat the best.

PWG World Championship: El Generico (c) vs. Bryan Danielson
Here we go!

We start off like a house on fire and GENERICO WASTES NO TIME WITH A DOUBLE JUMP MOONSAULT TO THE OUTSIDE! El Generico heads back to the ring only to be dropped with a powerbomb in midair by American Dragon, transitioned into a single leg crab. Danielson puts a surfboard in, and this crowd is MOLTEN for everything. Generico springs off the top rope with a crossbody and rips off Danielson’s bandage! Blue Thunder Bomb gets 2. Danielson knocks Generico down after an exchange of strikes, but Generico dodges a diving headbutt! TWO YAKUZA KICKS! HALF AND HALF SUPLEX! Nearfall! GENERICO COUNTERS CATTLE MUTILATION! 2 COUNT! BRAINBUSTER! TWO COUNT!~! Danielson blocks a Turnbuckle Brainbuster and HITS A HUGE BACK SUPERPLEX! NEARFALL! CATTLE MUTILATION!~! GENERICO GETS THE ROPES BUT DRAGON PUTS IT ON AGAIN! HUGE FUCKING KNEES TO THE HEAD! TIGER SUPLEX! TRAPPED ELBOWS! CATTLE MUTILATION FOR A THIRD TIME! Generico taps in a hot 11 minutes. **** This is the best 11 minute match I think I’ve ever seen, as a combination of energetic wrestling, a subtle story, and a monster crowd made this one of the more special matches you’ll see in this small window of time. There’s not much to say other than that, plus that this was probably the most energetic way to cap off a classic DVD set.

The 411: Disc Three is a lot more of the same; some amazing wrestling, held down by a couple of disappointments. Unlike Disc 2, there weren't any outright bad matches, though Hayashi/Pac just did not click with me and CIMA/Danielson wasn't all that either. You probably will like those matches more than I do, but everything else here is pretty great, from the Joey Ryan match (God forbid he's in a good match, right?!) to the Briscoe's lone appearance on the DVD set. As a whole, this DVD set is a definite 10 (the article rating is for the disc itself), even with some shit piled into it. It's just ridiculous value for your money and it says a lot to PWG that they're willing to put their best matches out at such a low price. Look out for PWG Sells Out 3 this month, and buy PWG Sells Out II!

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]