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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG All-Star Weekend X Night 1

February 28, 2014 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG All-Star Weekend X Night 1  

December 20, 2013
Reseda, CA

Commentators: Excalibur, Rick Knox, Kevin Steen, Joey Ryan, & Chuck Taylor

Mount Rushmore was about to start the show with a promo, but Chris Hero showed up and ran them off. Cole was the only one to escape being hit. This is Hero’s first PWG appearance in two years. Hero wanted to do his PWG World Title match right now. Cole teased that he would but then went to the back.

Brian Cage vs. Anthony Nese

Cage looks like a cartoon character. Muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles. These two had a super average match back at TEN.

Nese sent Cage to the floor and then hit a Fosbury Flop. Cage apparently has a groin injury. Shortly after that dive, Cage cut Nese off and then worked him over. Nese started to come back. Nese went for a dive, but Cage caught him (sort of) and hit a suplex on the floor. That was a cool idea but labored in execution. They got back in the ring, and Nese finally started his real comeback. Nese hit a variation of Made in Japan: 1…2…NO! Nese ate a buckle bomb, but Nese came right back with a Code Red. Cage came back with the discus lariat: 1…2…3.

Despite these two absolutely trying to have a better match than the one they had back in August, I still ended up being somewhat underwhelmed by the action. This was a good effort, but the execution was lacking.
Match Rating: **1/2

Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan vs. The RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime)

Candice was supposed to have a match with Adam Cole on this show, but Chris Hero’s return put a stop to the fun.

The Monsters used some rudo tactics to get the initial advantage. That did not last long though, as Candice made a comeback. She hit Goodtime with the tope suicida DDT. Ryan then hit Yuma with a spear and Goodtime with a tope suicida. The Monsters eventually isolated Ryan and then worked him over briefly. Ryan sent Yuma to the floor with a superkick. Candice made a big comeback. The Monsters came back and sent the heroes to the floor. Goodtime powerbombed Candice into Ryan. The Monsters went for their finish, but Candice kissed Goodtime to distract him. Goodtime then ate a superkick from Ryan and a moonsault (sort of) from LeRae: 1…2…3

This match definitely left a similar impression as the opener. There were a lot of cool moments, but the match did not come together as a whole. It felt like a poor version of the Joey/Candice match with the Bucks from Matt Rushmore.
Match Rating: **1/2

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Drake Younger

Drake quickly hit a senton plancha. Ciampa came back with the Project Ciampa, but Drake rolled to the floor before Ciampa could pin him. They brawled a lot on the floor. Drake gave him a DVD on the apron. Drake got a nearfall with a frog splash. Ciampa came back with the Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Drake hit a Tiger Bomb, but Ciampa hit a release dragon suplex in response. Ciampa hit the Drake’s Landing: 1…2…NO! Ciampa hit a middle rope Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Out of nowhere, Drake got a jackknife pin: 1…2…3

Fruit Roll-Ups suck. This was clearly an effective match in terms of getting the crowd into it, but they did not do much to grab me. It probably would have been much more enjoyable live.
Match Rating: ***

Johnny Gargano vs. Davey Richards

This match only happened once before (in 2011 for Beyond Wrestling).

There was some gaga early on, but Davey eventually cut him off when he reversed the Gotcha! Spear into a DDT. Davey was in control for a while. Gargano eventually hit a slingshot DDT and then made a comeback. Davey came back with a buzzsaw/bridging German combo for a nearfall. Gargano hit a superkick, but Davey blocked another one and got an ankle lock. Davey hit a Penalty Kick but then missed a diving headbutt. Gargano got the GargaNO Escape. They traded ankle locks. Davey hit a tombstone for a nearfall. Gargano came back with a powerbomb, an IED kick, and the Lawn Dart: 1…2…NO! Gargano hit a superkick and Hurt’s Donut: 1…2…NO! Gargano Escape! Transitioned into an ankle lock! Step-over GargaNO Escape…and Davey taps out!

Oh come on, a Davey Richards speech?!?!?!? One man cannot lack this much self-awareness. How did he and Gabe not end up being partnered forever? Davey said it was his last weekend in PWG before Orlando. Davey put over Gargano and PWG. Blah blah blah.

I enjoyed this match a fair amount, but it definitely suffered from the Davey singles match formula. I was not the first person to point this out, but it’s very similar to the issues with many Kurt Angle matches in the last few years where certain sequences become cliché.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. Dojo Bros (Roderick Strong & Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards)

Both teams had great ring introduction mannerisms. The Dojo Bros won the battle.

Chuck was worked over for a while. It was amusing. Trent? made a nifty comeback. Roddy was then worked over. Eddie then made a good comeback. Best Friends hit stereo tope con hellos and then hugged each other. The Best Friends ran though EEEE. Roddy and EEEE applied stereo rolling submissions. Trent? ate a Sick Kick/Code Red combo: 1…2…NO! Woah, that was awesome. The teams went back and forth. EEEE then ate the BEST FRIENDS DOUBLE CHOKESLAM: 1…2…3!

This match had a lot of fun moments, AND the match came together as a whole pretty well as far as I am concerned. I think this would have been a great opener.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Michael Elgin vs. ACH

This is at least the third time these two have had a match, but it’s the first one that I’ve seen.

Elgin got control of the match after giving ACH a buckle bomb on the floor. Elgin was dominating the action for a while. ACH hit a crucifix driver out of nowhere. Elgin missed on a corkscrew dive, and ACH hit Sabin’s finisher. Elgin hit the Fucking Machine Falcon Arrow (HE’S DONE THE DEAL!): 1…2…NO! Elgin hit a Buckle Bomb, but ACH reversed the Elgin Bomb into a reverse ‘rana. ACH then hit the Cram for the Exam: 1…2…NO! ACH got a weak nearfall with a frog splash. Elgin gave ACH a Buckle German. ACH hit the Flash Kick. Elgin rolled through a super ‘rana and hit a powerbomb/backfist/Elgin Bomb combo: 1…2…3

I have no idea what happened, but I definitely just watched two of the most enjoyable wrestlers on the planet have a boring match in the hottest building in America. I know their ROH match was considered great, and I cannot help but feel that there was something going on behind the scenes that prevented this match from being great.
Match Rating: **

Mount Rushmore of Wrestling [Kevin Steen & The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)] vs. Inner City Machine Guns (AR Fox, Rich Swann, & Ricochet)

On paper, this match does not interest me all that much. Steen wearing Young Bucks gear makes it better though.

Ricochet did a lot of back handsprings, which was grand. Fox quickly hit Lo Mein Rain onto the rudos. Steen and the Bucks hit stereo apron powerbombs. Inner City came back with stereo tope con hellos. Ricochet hit the People’s Standing Moonsault. Steen and the Bucks worked Ricochet over for a while. He managed to tag out to Fox, but he got cut off and then worked over as well. Fox eventually tagged out to Swann. Swann made a nice comeback. Cue movez from everyone. It was good. Nick’s superkick on Fox was the best. Fox went for a tope suicida, but the Bucks gave him a double superkick after he cleared the ring. Ricochet hit his triple jump shooting star to the floor. Steen gave Fox a stunner, and Fox took a standing moonsault bump for it. Nick ate a bunch of finishers, but he avoided a 630 from Ricochet. Ricochet then ate a catapult tandem tombstone from Steen and the Bucks: 1…2…3!

Despite seeing a number of PWG trios matches over the years, it’s hard for me to get sick of them. I would have preferred for the Bucks to have at least one title defense this weekend, but this was a great match on a show that desperately needed it.
Match Rating: ****

Adam Cole© (w/ Mount Rushmore of Professional Wrestling) vs. Chris Hero [PWG World Championship]

Cole tried to win via countout early on, but Hero obviously made it back into the ring. Cole remained in control though. They brawled on the floor for a bit. Hero got a good nearfall back in the ring. Hero was building some momentum. Cole came back with a superkick and a knee brainbuster. Hero hit the Cyclone Kill for a nearfall. Cole awkwardly no-sold a cravat suplex and hit a saito, which Hero no-sold and hit a rolling elbow for a nearfall. Cole got a nearfall with the Florida Key. Ref bump blah. Hero got a phantom pinfall with Hero’s Welcome. Hero pulled out the loaded elbow pad. Cole caught him with a kneeling superkick for a phantom pinfall of his own. Cole got the loaded elbow pad and put it on his foot. Hero then ate a loaded superkick, as a new ref came out: 1…2…NO! Cole gave the new ref a load superkick for sucking. Hero avoided Panama Sunrise and nailed Cole with a knee. Steen ran out and ate an elbow. The Bucks overwhelmed Hero for a bit, but Hero hit them with elbows. He then hit Cole with a big elbow: 1…2…NO! Cole then superkicked him in the dick and hit a super weak Canadian Destroyer: 1…2…3

Hero cut a promo after the match. All you need to know about it was that he flipped out when some fan took a shot at Norman Smiley. Hero then got the crowd to chant for The Big Wiggle. Highlight of the show.

I just was not into this match at all. These two do not click especially well in the ring, and they didn’t seem to be trying to tell an interesting story in the ring. The booking of the finish was also annoying for a company that runs ten shows a year at most.
Match Rating: **3/4

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I’ve done at 411mania.


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The 411: This was an okay PWG show. Given the ASW name and roster for the show, I was fairly disappointed in it overall. Other than the possible exception of the trios match, there was nothing really remotely special on the show, and it's not like we have not seen dozens of versions of that match in PWG. I was bored by a lot of this show and do not really recommend it.
 
Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]  legend

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