Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG’s The Many Adventures of El Generico – Disc 2

El Generico vs. Shingo Takagi
From Guerre Sans Frontieres. I’ve heard exponentially good things about this match. I don’t watch nearly as much Shingo (or Dragon Gate, pretty much) as I should, but I’m pumped.

Generico is no match for Shingo’s strength early, getting destroyed with a shoulderblock. Generico’s speed proves to be just as effective, though, with his armdrag combination. Shingo drops Generico face-first on the apron and hits him with a few chops. Generico gets out and tries to do his Tornado DDT through the turnbuckles, but SHINGO CATCHES HIM AND SUPLEXES HIM ON THE FLOOR! Shingo goes to work on Generico’s back in the ring. After a long while of getting the living shit kicked out of him, Generico begins to come back with a Tornado DDT! RUNNING MOONSAULT OUT OF THE RING! Crossbody scores for Generico, but only gets a 2 count. Generico follows up with a Michinoku Driver, but for another nearfall. Shingo rolls through a Sunset Flip and TURNS IT INTO A SPINEBUSTER! HALF CRAB! POP-UP DEATH VALLEY DRIVER FROM SHINGO!~! GENERICO KICKS OUT! Generico can’t Irish Whip Shingo because of his back, but salvages it with an EXPLODER INTO THE CORNER! YAKUZA KICK! HALF AND HALF! SHINGO HITS A BRAINBUSTER!~! YAKUZA KICK FROM SHINGO~! GENERICO FOLLOWS HIM WITH A YAKUZA KICK! BRAINBUSTER FROM GENERICO!~! SHINGO KICKS OUT!~! Generico looks for a Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but Shingo powers out with a few headbutts! HE COUNTERS A YAKUZA KICK INTO AN AVALANCHE DEATH VALLEY DRIVER! GENERICO KICKS OUT!~! Holy SHIT, this is even better than I was envisioning. MADE IN JAPAN FROM SHINGO!~! GENERICO KICKS OUT AGAIN!!! LARIAT FROM SHINGO…GENERICO DOES NOT GIVE A FUCK! LAST FALCONRY FROM SHINGO! Shingo FINALLY picks up the win in a sensational 22 minutes. ****3/4 This not only lived up to the hype, it punched the hype’s father in the mouth, fucked its sister, and lived on a $2,000,000 yacht on the hype’s dime. This was so good that I don’t think the English language has an adjective to fit it. It’s not very often a match’s false finishes cause me to bite multiple times, but Shingo and El Generico pulled that off effortlessly. This had psychology, excitement, and a game crowd; the combination that makes wrestling nearly perfect. I advise anyone with half a brain to check this match out because my words don’t come close to doing it justice…and to think a six man and Hero/Danielson had to follow this.

Reseda Street Fight: El Generico vs. Chuck Taylor
From Speed of Sound. For some reason, we’re jumping back a week to visit this match. Whatever works, yo. I love how Guerrilla Warfare doesn’t work here apparently. Maybe Super Dragon and co. decided that this was a light conflict between two slightly frustrated men and a Reseda Street Fight is a good enough label.

Generico goes crazy to start things off, even hitting Chuckie with a purse. Generico follows Chuckie T into the men’s bathroom, but things eventually get back to the ring. Chuckie gets a chair and sets it in the turnbuckles, but eats a Yakuza Kick to the back of the head. Chuckie battles back and sends Generico head-first into the chair, following up with a back suplex for 2. It spills out to the floor again, where Generico comes down with an Arabian Moonsault! Chuckie throws Generico through the curtain backstage, and goes to buy a drink…until GENERICO DIVES THROUGH THE SIDE FOR A TORNADO DDT OUT OF NOWHERE! Chuckie disposes of Generico and brains him with a trashcan. Chuckie goes up to the stage and steals Scott Lost’s commentary headset to inform the audience at home that he’s “beating the hell out of this dirty Mexican.” Generico finds himself on the floor, seemingly able to rest…until CHUCKIE DIVES OVER THE TABLES AND OFF THE STAGE ONTO HIM! Chuckie tries to follow up, but takes too long, as Generico hits his Tornado DDT OFF OF THE WALL!~! Generico hits a Michinoku Driver in the ring for a two count. Generico sets up two chairs for a Brainbuster, but Chuckie has none of it. CHUCKIE HITS A MAGNUM DRIVER ON THE CHAIRS! That only gets 2. Chuckie sets Generico on the chair Super Dragon-style, but Generico gets up…ONLY TO EAT A SOLE FOOD ON THE CHAIR! HE PUTS ON A FUCKING KOJI CLUTCH WITH THE CHAIR! Generico comes back and puts the trash can over Chuckie T, and hits it with the chair! Yakuza Kick on the trashcan! SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT COAST TO COAST WITH THE TRASHCAN! CHUCKIE KICKS OUT! Generico drags a table out and looks to give Chuckie a Brainbuster through it, but CHUCKIE GIVES HIM A POWERBOMB THROUGH THE TABLE! HE GIVES HIM THE SICKEST AWFUL WAFFLE EVER ON THE TABLE DEBRIS! That’s it in 20 minutes. ***1/2 There were a lot of really creative and vicious spots in here, but it seems like they did everything they possibly could to stretch a 15 minute match into 20 minutes. For every disgusting Awful Waffle onto a table, there was aimless punching, aimless walking around, or irrelevant moves that only served to pass time. I understand that this is PWG and so not everything has to be a ridiculously heated war, but this could have really used some intensity. However, I have a lot of good things to say beyond that criticism. Chuckie wasn’t that great of a worker at this point, but the spots gave him a little bit of leeway in that aspect. I was very impressed with the chair-assisted Koji Clutch, so kudos to him. Generico took a few mean bumps and came through with some wicked moves, such as the somersault Van Terminator with the chair. Even so, something was missing and it was very obvious from the start of the match. It was a very good spotfest, but it didn’t need to JUST be a spotfest. You can’t win them all, I guess.

PWG World Tag Team Titles: The Young Bucks (c) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen
From BOLA 2009. I’ve seen this match once and unfortunately remember none of it. I’m 20 years old and still have a shit memory, go figure.

Boy am I glad Kevin Steen wears a shirt now. He looked absolutely horrid in a singlet at this point. To his credit, Steen TEABAGS Matt to start things off. Everything that happens after that doesn’t really amount to anything significant. The Bucks get booed, the Bucks double-team, Generico dies for our sins. You know the deal. He eventually gets the hot tag, and Steen does his thing, getting an ENORMOUS pop off of a double clothesline and a cannonball. Matt grabs Steen’s leg from the outside, so Generico JUMPS OFF OF STEEN ONTO HIM! Air Raid Crash scores for Steen, but a Steen-ton Bomb finds knees like usual. Sliced Bread hits for Matt, but only gets two. Generico comes in, but runs right into a Casadora Facebuster from Matt. X-Factor scores for Nick, but he runs right into an apron powerbomb from Steen! Generico gives Matt an Exploder into the corner! HALF AND HALF ON NICK! FROG SPLASH FROM STEEN! NICK KICKS OUT~! Nick gets out of the Package Piledriver and distracts the ref while Matt crotches Steen. HUGE SOMERSAULT PLANCHA FROM NICK TO GENERICO! FLIPPING CUTTER FROM MATT! That only gets 2. MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!~! GENERICO DIVES IN LIKE SUPERMAN TO SAVE THE DAY!~! Steen gets out of a second one, but ref Patrick Hernandez ends up bumped. HALF AND HALF ON NICK! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! BRAINBUSTER! RICK KNOX COMES OUT TO COUNT! MATT SAVES THE DAY!~! POPUP POWERBOMB ON MATT…INTO THE SHARPSHOOTER! GENERICO PUTS NICK IN THE SHARPSHOOTER!~! MATT GETS THE ROPES! The crowd is going fucking crazy. Steen looks for a super Package Piledriver on Matt, and gives him a low blow, but here comes Generico! NICK FUCKING GERMAN SUPLEXES GENERICO ON THE APRON! 4 SUPERKICKS ON STEEN! STEEN KICKS OUT!~! 2 EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMER’S! The Bucks retain after busting up Kevin Steen’s nose in 22 minutes. ****1/2 Ya know, with this being a 2009 Young Bucks match, I was expecting to see a regular formula followed by a massive amount of falsies, but goddamn did they ever prove me wrong. This was what their Final Battle 2009 match should have been and a lot more. The crowd was ridiculous here, maybe in the top 5 of the wildest I’ve ever heard the Reseda fans get. Every hope spot sent the fans straight to their feet, and the fans that were already on their feet were jumping straight in the air. That alone should tell you how incredible this match was. I can’t say enough good things about it. It wasn’t as good as Shingo/Generico, but it doesn’t matter one bit at the end of the day. This is why we’re wrestling fans, people.

El Generico vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger
From Kurt RussellReunion. I can’t believe I’ve never seen this, but whatever. I have now.

It’s your usual fare early, even a GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! breaks out. Generico armdrags Liger out of the ring and feigns a dive to a good pop from the crowd. Liger takes control for a bit, and brains Generico with a rolling Capo kick. He locks in a nasty looking Camel Clutch afterwards, but Generico is too much of a man to give up. Generico hits a leg lariat that knocks Liger out of the ring and COMES DOWN ON TOP OF HIM WITH A DOUBLE JUMP ASAI MOONSAULT!~! That’s always a beautiful move. A crossbody scores inside the ring for a nearfall. YAKUZA KICK SCORES…BUT LIGER HITS GENERICO WITH A BRAINBUSTER! Liger KILLS Generico with a release German, but RUNS INTO A YAKUZA KICK…BUT LIGER LARIATS HIM OUT OF SHOES! Generico nearly fucking died on that landing, holy crap. Liger looks for a superplex, but Generico gets out and HITS THE SOMERSAULT VAN TERMINATOR! BRAINBUSTER! LIGER KICKS OUT!~! Wow. Generico looks for the Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but LIGER GETS OUT AND HITS THE LIGER BOMB! GENERICO KICKS OUT! BRAINBUSTER FROM LIGER! Liger finishes Generico off in 12 minutes. ***3/4 I’m usually not too optimistic about wrestling convention matches with guys the stature of Liger since I’m a dick and usually expect them to phone it in, but this was fantastic. The nearfalls were perfect, the action was fast, and Liger gave Generico a lot of offense to make him look credible. One of the more hidden gems on this DVD set so far, for sure.

We transition to DDT4 2010 where El Generico and Paul London are facing the Young Bucks in the finals for the tag belts. This is the famous match where El Generico became the first man to kick out of More Bang For Your Buck. The crowd goes fucking INSANE after Generico pins Nick Jackson with the Turnbuckle Brainbusters. London and Generico cut a promo after the match and London goes all over the place…”We don’t party with substances, we party with love.” London being fluent in Spanish, he speaks Spanish while Generico follows along with his astonishing lack of any language acumen. Jesus Christ London, must you insist on 10 minute promos? Although I do find it funny that this promo was longer than most of his WWE matches.

Guerrilla Warfare for the PWG World Tag Titles: El Generico & Paul London vs. The Cutler Brothers vs. The Young Bucks
From SEVEN. I’ve reviewed it before, but I want to watch it again.

The Cutlers jump the Bucks before the bell rings, but the Bucks get the upperhand. Peligro Abejas come out and HIT STEREO DIVES ON THE BUCKS! I really, really hate Brandon Cutler’s hair. Generico and London hit stereo crossbodies on the Cutlers, but the Bucks stop their momentum. Dustin Cutler hits a rebound spinebuster on Matt in the ring, and hoists his brother up onto the Bucks, but turns around into a Yakuza Kick from Generico. Brandon tries to suplex Generico from the apron, but LONDON DIVES OVER GENERICO TO SUNSET POWERBOMB BRANDON INTO EVERYBODY! The Bucks get pissed and just start braining bitches with chairs. I forgot that this was the show that had to have people sit on the stage. The place is PACKED. The Cutlers throw Paul London and Generico over the bar, but run into chairshots from Nick Jackson. I would describe this Sliced Bread #2 that The Bucks just did, but to do so would imply words do it justice. Generico looks to dive through the ropes and hit his Tornado DDT, but Dustin Cutler cracks him with a trashcan instead. The Bucks use an actual rake to give Dustin Cutler a back handspring back-rake! Brandon Cutler has some mean chicken-legs going on. The Cutlers go up to the stage and GORILLA PRESS NICK JACKSON ONTO EVERYBODY! They go and get a table, but Paul London recovers right as they set it up so he can put firecrackers on it! Generico Yakuza Kicks Nick off of the apron, but runs right into a corkscrew cutter from Matt. LONDON SUPERPLEXES MATT THROUGH THE TABLE! Brandon brains Nick with a chair after Dustin hits a clever pop-up low blow. They set up two chairs seat-to-seat and try to tombstone Nick through them, but Matt saves his brother. London DOUBLE STOMPS NICK’S FACE INTO THE CHAIR! Generico comes in, and London DROPKICKS NICK INTO A HALF AND HALF ON THE CHAIRS! NEARFALL! LONDON EATS EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMER’S! LONDO DIVES OUT ONTO THE BUCKS! DUSTIN EATS A YAKUZA KICK…BUT BRAINS GENERICO WITH A CHAIR ANYWAY! THE CUTLERS TOMBSTONE GENERICO ON THE CHAIR! GENERICO BREAKS IT UP! The Cutlers get another table but the Bucks stop everything after they set the table ip. The Bucks set Brandon on the table, and MATT KILLS DUSTIN WITH A SPRINGBOARD DDT ON THE APRON!~! 450 SPLASH THROUGH THE TABLE FROM NICK!~! LONDON BREAKS UP THE PINFALL AGAIN! London gets out of More Bang For Your Buck, and LONDON STAR PRESSES THE CUTLERS AND MATT ON THE OUTSIDE! GENERICO HITS NICK WITH THE TURNBUCKLE BRAINBUSTER! That’s naturally it in 20 minutes. ****1/2 Predictably, this was just as good as it was the first few times. They kept outrageous nearfalls to a minimum and instead let other wrestlers break up the pins, which works a lot better in a crazy spotfest environment. A smart spotfest is a good spotfest, so kudos to these six guys for not being totally brainless. If you’re a PWG fan, you’ve more than likely already seen this; if you’re just getting into PWG, I highly advise you to see this. It’s the main event on what I think is the second best show in PWG history and it doesn’t get worse on repeated views. A PWG classic, indeed.

El Generico vs. Ricochet
From The Curse of Guerrilla Island. In PWG legend, this is pretty much the match that MADE Ricochet in Reseda, so that has some hefty hype to live up to. I’ve seen it a few times, but none of those instances were very recent.

Ricochet gets a little cocky early, which pisses Generico off a bit. Ricochet eats his lunch for the first few minutes as well, hitting a beautiful slingshot hurricanrana that sends Generico out of the ring in frustration. Ricochet out-luchas Generico and catches him with a hard leg lariat for two. Generico begins his comeback in very aggressive fashion, a little more pissed than usual. RICOCHET DIVES OVER THE RINGPOST ON TOP OF GENERICO!~! METEORA! That gets a close two count. A swinging DDT scores, and Ricochet follows up with a standing SSP! Generico comes back with the Blue Thunder Bomb! Nearfall! A Michinoku Driver scores, for two! YAKUZA KICK…COUNTERED INTO A SMALL PACKAGE FROM RICOCHET! Generico kicks out at 2. EXPLODER IN THE CORNER FROM GENERICO! HALF AND HALF! Ricochet kicks out! Ricochet knocks Generico off the top rope and HITS THE PHOENIX SPLASH~! GENERICO KICKS OUT! Ricochet brains Generico with a back flip kick, and hits a REVERSE RANA! 630 SENTON!~! Ricochet wins in 18 minutes. ***3/4 I didn’t like this match as much as their sensational effort from Death to All But Metal, but I certainly see why it was so significant. Ricochet didn’t have the great reputation in PWG like he does now, and while he was well-liked then, this match certainly got him noticed by the eyes of many. I really liked the story of Generico getting disgruntled that the younger, faster Ricochet was eating his lunch, which paid off with Ricochet going over. This really is a good match, but if you want to compare the two Generico/Ricochet matches in a vacuum, their 2012 outing gets the nod from me.

BOLA First Round Match: El Generico vs. Claudio Castagnoli
From Battle of Los Angeles 2011. These two ALWAYS have stellar matches with one another, so I’m expecting something great here obviously. It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen some of these 2010-2011 shows, guys.

Sometimes I forget how fucking huge Claudio is. Claudio works his strength early, predictably. Generico taunts Claudio, who doesn’t feel like fucking around…even if he pulls out a Mongolian Chop. Claudio continues to use his strength to one-up the Generic Luchador, but that backfires as he PULLS GENERICO UP TO THE TOP ROPE AND TAKES AN ARMDRAG! Holy SHIT. Generico uses that shift in momentum to take control. Generico looks for a spinning headscissor, but Claudio stops that in its tracks with a backbreaker. Generico flubs a diving rana, so CLAUDIO FUCKING DESTROYS HIM WITH THREE DISGUSTING GUTWRENCH POWERBOMBS!~! Jesus. Generico battles back with a TOPE CON HILO! Generico looks to follow up by diving onto Claudio with something in the ring, but CLAUDIO CATCHES HIM AND HITS A TILT-A-WHIRL BACKBREAKER! Generico doesn’t die, and COUNTERS A GODDAMN UFO TO A HEADSCISSORS! YAKUZA KICK! BRAINBUSTER…COUNTERED INTO SWISS DEATH!~! GENERICO COUNTERS INTO A CRUCIFIX..FOR A CLOSE TWO COUNT!~! RICOLA BOMB COUNTERED…BUT CLAUDIO KILLS GENERICO WITH A LARIAT! Dear God. Generico cuts Claudio off up top, and gets out of a super Ricola Bomb. CLAUDIO COUNTERS A FRANKENSTEINER…NO, GENERICO COUNTERS THAT INTO A SUPER RANA! ROLL UP! Generico advances in an incredible 15 minutes. ****1/4 I don’t review his stuff much given that I don’t review WWE nor have I delved into this era of PWG shows, but make no mistake about it; Antonio Claudio Cesaro Castagnoli is a physical specimen who should be at the tip-top of everything in wrestling. Whether it’s the utterly amazing World of Sport type match with William Regal on NXT, or balls-to-the-wall sprints like this, the man is simply fantastic as an in-ring worker. Add on the best babyface in wrestling in Generico, and you have a very easy recipe for goodness. If you liked that new Sami Zayn guy against Claudio, you’ll love this. This was absolutely incredible.

Ladder Match for the PWG World Title: Kevin Steen (c) vs. El Generico
From Steen Wolf of course. I haven’t watched this in a while, so I’ll end the set by giving you something original. It’s the least I can do for the 2 readers I’ve got.

The holds these two trade in the earlygoing are something to behold. Johnny Saint would be proud. Generico dives out with a tope con hilo after a brawl. Ladders are introduced predictably, with Steen tipping one over on Generico just to be a dick. Steen goes on to just throw the thing on top of his former partner, but Generico quickly returns the favor with a lot more aggression. Steen knocks Generico over, thus putting the ladder vertically on the ropes. STEEN BACKDROPS GENERICO THROUGH IT! Steen KILLS Generico with an Irish Whip into a cornered ladder. Steen tries to climb one of the mangled ladders, but it collapses under him. Mr. Wrestling takes out his frustration on Generico, who catches him with a Michinoku Driver. He’s in control until he runs right into a mean superkick. MICHINOKU DRIVER ON AN OPEN LADDER~! HALF AND HALF ON A LADDER!~! Generico tries to get the belt, but Steen shoves the ladder and guillotines Generico on the top rope. Steen sets the smaller ladder horizontally on the bottom rope, and walks over it and Steen to get to the ladder for the belt! STEEN FUCKING POWERBOMBS GENERICO ON THROUGH THE SMALLER LADDER!~! Jesus. Generico follows Steen up the ladder, and eventually gets him down. EXPLODER INTO THE CORNER AND A LADDER! STEEN PULLS GENERICO OUT AND POWERBOMBS HIM ON THE APRON! GENERICO DIVES OVER A SET LADDER AND DDT’S STEEN ON THE FLOOR! Steen low blows Generico in the ring and tries to powerbomb Generico through the ladder outside, but GENERICO BACKDROPS HIM THROUGH IT!~! Steen recovers and sets the broken ladder on top of the smaller ladder wedged in the corner, but Generico avoids going through it. STEEN DESTROYS GENERICO WITH THE TURNBUCKLE BRAINBUSTER!~! The Young Bucks come out and decimate Steen with chairs to the knee. Generico slithers in and has no idea what happened, but he goes after the belt anyway. Steen and Generico fight it out on the ladder for the belt, until GENERICO FUCKING SUNSET POWERBOMBS STEEN ON TOP OF THE LADDERS IN THE CORNER!~! Generico gets the belt in 30 minutes. ****3/4 If you were disappointed by their Ladder War in ROH, I would like to redirect you to this masterpiece. This show is famous for this match and the following segment for a reason. However, the difference between a spotfest and this match is the hate Steen and Generico were able to convey. They didn’t go for the belts at first because they wanted to mess each other up, which is something most ladder matches miss; they don’t have the story or history behind them to explain the oddities contained in the match. This had the psychology and brutality to make this a near-perfect match and it lives up to its hype nearly 2 and 1/2 years later.

The Bucks come back out to challenge Steen to Guerrilla Warfare, until they realize he doesn’t have a partner. Cue SUPER DRAGON, in my favorite PWG moment ever. Seriously, I never get tired of watching this. The crowd is the loudest Reseda has ever gotten and it sucks Dragon only had a couple matches before he hung it up again. Super Dragon fucks shit up, and Kevin Steen realizes he has a partner for FEAR.

And…scene.

The 411: See Disc 1, pretty much. The one thing I will add is that none of these matches seemed same-y, believe it or not. Usually with compilations like these, the matches start to blend together because of you're seeing the wrestler's moveset over and over again with no real break. However, El Generico is such a damn good worker that he can switch things up when he needs to, and that might be the greatest part of this set in the grand scheme of things. The man is able to hit all cylinders and this DVD set is a prime example of that. A high recommendation obviously, but that goes without saying. If you want to see what all the hype has been about all these years, this is the perfect way to see.

Final Score:  10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]