The Magnus Analysis- PWG Free Admission
Posted by Magnus Donaldson on 01.15.2008
Highlights include a classic Christopher Daniels vs Jack Evans match and the debut of Kevin Steen and El Generico
This is another classic Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show from 2004, featuring the company in it’s early days. This is around the time the company began to move in the direction that it has today, with El Generico and Kevin Steen arriving, a few more fly-in’s (although not as many as you get today) and a mix of outside talent with great local talents.
One issue I should point out right from the beginning though is that the first three matches on the DVD have no audio, so you have no choice but to listen to the commentary of Disco Machine and Excalibur.
Match 1
Disco Machine and Excalibur vs Los Rojos Locos
Los Rojos Locos are the Ballard Brothers under masks, as they had been fired in the last show that I reviewed and have been wrestling under this gimmick ever since. A decent opener, although nothing to write home about, about what you’d expect from these two teams. But still some fun, high flying lucha style action in this match. Disco Machine and Excalibur would win this when Excalibur hat the Tiger Driver ’98 on one of the Rojos Locos to get the three count- **
After the match, Supa Badd and Top Gun Talwar ran in and attacked Los Rojos Locos, and unmasked them to reveal the Ballard Brothers. They are ran off by Human Tornado.
Match 2
Puma vs Tony Stradlin
Tony Stradlin is now in WWE Development, and I really haven't heard a lot about his run up there, while Puma is unmasked and known as TJ Perkins. This was a solid bout overall, nothing special or exciting but not bad at all. Mainly mat based action here, with Puma putting some high flying moves to use as well. Tony Stradlin would win this match to continue his winning streak (which was all for nothing since he went to WWE) with a School Boy pin very similar to Johnny Saint's version- **1/2
Match 3
Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero) vs Hook Bombery and Apollo Kahn
This ended up being a solid enough tag team match, but a lot like the other matches so far on the show, there was nothing that stood out about it. The wrestling was solid, with strong matwork, and at times the match felt like something you'd see in Pro Wrestling NOAH, but the problem was that it lacked excitement and there was no real reason to care about any of the four involved. But it was a decent enough match overall. The Pitbulls won with their tag finisher, the Cuban Missile- **1/4
Match 4
PWG Title Match- 'The Future' Frankie Kazarian (c) vs Super Dragon
The first very good match of the night, as this was a fun, enjoyable title match. There was a bit of everything here, with high flying, technical and hard hitting wrestling, and the match built well leading into some big near falls at the end. Kazarian hat both of his finishers but could not get three, and Dragon had a nasty Snap Psycho Driver that Kazarian somehow kicked out of. This however would be Dragon's night as he reversed a pinning combination into one of his own to get three, and become the new PWG Champion- ***1/4
After the match, Kazarian teased walking out with the belt, but came back with it and gave it to Super Dragon, who celebrates with the belt.
Match 5
'The Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels vs Jack Evans
The absolute showstealer. Just a brilliant, entertaining match between two charismatic wrestler who clicked well. We got a bit of comedy through some mind games by Evans (mainly regarding Daniels lack of hair), but Daniels was unphased and threw a few insults back at Evans. Daniels had a sound strategy of working over the back throughout the match, with Evans fighting back with his usual array of innovative high flying offense. Evans went for a crazy 630 Splash with an extra twist, then Daniels hat a Chokebreaker and hat the BME for three. A smart, logical finish after the work over the back early on, and overall a strong match- ***3/4
Match 6
'The Generic Luchador' El Generico vs 'Mr Wrestling' Kevin Steen
This is the debut match of these two in the promotion that made them huge stars on the indy scene. The result was a great match that showed the potential both men had at that point, and got them both over with the crowd. It was a bit of a spotfest I will admit, but a very fun one. Generico used all his usual high flying offense, while Steen overpowered Generico with his high impact offense. Steen however got cocky, since he had the match won with the Package Piledriver but pulled Generico up. He went for a second, but it was countered, with Generico hitting an Exploder into the corner, a Release Half Nelson Suplex and the Brainbuster for three- ***1/2
Match 7
'American Dragon' Bryan Danielson vs Scott Lost
This is shortly before Bryan Danielson went into his beard phase. I've always thought Scott Lost is underrated and would be a great fit in ROH, and this is one of the matches that shows his great in-ring skill. A great display of technical wrestling, and while Dragon was clearly superior in that department, Lost threw in a few high flying moves that helped him keep up with Dragon. At one point Dragon threw Lost into a rubbish bin, and he was only just able to make it back in time, but probably wished he didn't when he got Aeroplane Spinned for around 17 spins on the outside of the ring. Lost came close to victory with the Sharpshooter, but Dragon was eventually able to made Lost tap to a Head Scissors submission hold- ***3/4
The 411: Overall this is a great show, although not an outstanding one. There's no MOTY candidates, but four matches out of the seven are ***1/4 which tells it's own story. The rest of the matches were average but still there was nothing all that wrong with them. A good recommendation for this event overall.
