Indy Wrestling Express

Thanks to Chad for another great PWG review!

RECAP OF THE 12/1/12 PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA “MYSTERY VORTEX” SHOW AT AMERICAN LEGION POST #308, RESEDA, CA, USA

By Chad Simplicio

A capacity crowd braved the wet, wintry weather that has been rolling over California for the last few days, to be among those who witness some significant events in the West Coast’s top indy promotion to close out the year. A couple of the talents scheduled to be at the show didn’t make their flight to L.A., so there were a few changes to the card.

1 - Roderick Strong & Eddie Edwards def. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) when Roddy & Eddie hit a team finisher on whom I believe to be Matt Jackson. A very strong opener w/ plenty of great tag team action.

2 - Sami Callihan made Drake Younger tapout to a modified version of his Kneebreaker/Heel Hook submission. Another strong singles match that saw Drake Younger get his head busted open during the match, and the series of headbutts didn’t help much either.

* Adam Cole comes out to cut an in-ring promo, holding Kevin Steen’s PWG Championship title. Kevin Steen came to the ringside area from the commentary table w/ Excalibur, and responded w/ a surprise of his own, since the card as a whole was generally a mystery. Their title match would be……..A GUERRILLA WARFARE MATCH.

3 - The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Stupefied) successfully defended the PWG Tag Team Championship, beating The RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime), who were continuing their slow heel turn. Great tag team match ended w/ SSB hitting the Fatality on Johnny Yuma, w/ Player Uno scoring the pin. Excalibur himself hit the ring after the match, telling the tag team champions that they would do one more match, a non-title match later that night against Roderick Strong & Eddie Edwards.

4 - Joey Ryan did his final PWG match to wrap up his indy bookings prior to joining TNA full time, but came up short against Scorpio Sky (TNA’s Mason Andrews) when eating a Big Fat Kill/Headscissors DDT/Ace of Spades combo. Joey Ryan talked about his time w/ PWG afterwards, and said that he would plan to come back whenever his TNA schedule allows him to do so.

5 - Crazy Fatal Four-Way after intermission. Willie Mack def. T.J. Perkins, B-Boy, & Brian Cage. T.J. Perkins had Brian Cage in a STF submission, but Referee Justin Borden only saw Willie Mack hit his Spike Piledriver finisher on B-Boy for the pin.

6 - El Generico p. Rich Swann w/ the Hallula Kick into a Modified Butterfly Suplex, ending what was the 2nd best match of the card.

SM - Non-title Tag Team Match. Eddie Edwards & Roderick Strong def. The Super Smash Bros when Eddie Edwards p. Stupefied w/ the Top Rope Double-Stomp, and he did plenty of those in this match. I wonder if those two earned a title shot, preferably at the 1/12/13 show back in Reseda.

M - Guerrilla Warfare Match for the PWG Championship between Kevin Steen & Adam Cole. 2 ladders, 8 chairs, an aluminum trash can, and a container of thumbtacks were used in this one. Adam Cole went through alot of painful spots—4 crotch rockets to all steel post corners of the ring, 4 powerbombs to the apron, then eating a huge slam to the stack of 8 chairs. In the end, “The Panama City Playboy” overcame all of that, hitting a huge Suplex on Steen to put him on the pile of thumbtacks, then hit a Straitjacket German Suplex for the pin, and legitimately win the PWG Championship.

A very strong card to close out the year, but their “Threemendous III” show last July was my top PWG show of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how far Adam Cole will go w/ the PWG title, and there will be plenty of opponents coming his way. As for what could be ahead for the promotion w/o Joey Ryan being there regularly, it shouldn’t be that hard for someone to come forward and fill the void, especially as we approach the promotion’s 10th Anniversary show in the Summer of 2013.

By Lee

This episode aired on Saturday, and was made available on the Ring Of Honor website ( http://rohwrestling.com ) for free today. 

- The show opened with a recap of last week’s Steen/Richards face off. Steen wanted a title shot, Cornette refused to grant it, but the champion had other ideas; “Bring your piledriver fat boy, I’ll shove your piledriver up your ass!”. Steen retorted but it was so censored that I couldn’t make it out. Davey responded to the response with a punch to the face. 

Thoughts: I missed last week’s show, but that looked like a good set up for Richards/Steen. Nice to see Davey showing some fire. 

Match 1: The Young Bucks vs TJ Perkins & Shiloh Jonze

Recap: Jonze and TJP got some offence in near the beginning, before the Bucks took over and worked over Jonze for a while. Business picked when TJP got the hot tag, which led to some cool spots, which continued when the rejuvenated Jonze tagged back in. Jonze went in for the kill on one of the Bucks with a diving move, but he met a superkick. More Bang For Your Buck sealed the fate of Jonze, as TJP was unable to make the save (he was down on the outside). 

Winners: The Young Bucks (pinfall after More Bang For Your Buck)

Thoughts: This was fun when it picked up down the stretch. The crowd weren’t into the new TJP/Jonze team, which could partly be due to neither of them getting any promo time, and partly due to the crowd being burned out since this was near the end of the taping (this was the last of about four episode taped in one day).

A video recap of the Mike Mondo/Matt Taven feud aired. 

Match 2: Mike Mondo vs Matt Taven

Recap: This one started hot as they traded strikes, before a Taven backdrop led ao an apparent anke injury for Mondo. The former Spirit Squad member rolled to the outside, removed his boot, before hobbling to the entrance ramp. Taven came out to tell him to get back in the ring, and Mondo proceeded to throw him repeatedly into the barricade; he was faking the ankle injury. Mondo continued to dominate back in the ring, then Taven ended up outside again. Mondo attempted a running senton from the apron, but Taven countered with a powerslam that brought the crowd to life. Another crowd pleasing spot was the brutal vertical suplex on the entrance ramp. They returned to the ring, and it looked like Taven had it won. Ultimately, Mondo dodged or countered (I couldn’t quite tell) a Taven dive, then finished him with a double arm DDT. 

Winner: Mike Mondo (pinfall after a double arm DDT)

Thoughts: If there was an award for “surprisingly good wrestling match of the week”, this would get it. Despite both guys being relatively unknown in ROH, the crowd really got behind it, they even chanted “that was awesome” afterwards. The powerslam counter to the senton was a very cool spot. Both men were impressive, they really upped their value in ROH with this one. 

- A video aired featuring footage from a press conference last week, which revolved around the “Border Wars” show in Canada. Kevin Steen interrupted and challenged for the world title. Cornette again said no, but Richards threatened to vacate the belt and leave for Japan if he didn’t book it. Cornette swore a few times, and confirmed the match for Border Wars. 

Main event: March Mayhem final four way: Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole vs Mike Bennett vs Tommaso Ciampa 

Recap: Lethal attacked Ciampa to start. Nothing much of note happened until Cole wiped out all three of his opponents with a diving cross body to the outside. The action really picked up with a great double elimination sequence; Lethal pinned Bennett after the Lethal Injection, then Ciampa knocked Lethal out with his running knee straight after. Only Ciampa and Cole remained, and Ciampa dominated for the most part, but Cole survived with various counters to the bigger man’s offence (the best of which was the superkick to avoid a third running knee in the corner). The finish came when Jay Lethal (who had returned to ringside as he was angry at Ciampa for knocking him out) inadvertently knocked the ropes, preventing Adam Cole from executing his diving cross body, so Ciampa capitalised with his brutal Project Ciampa finisher. 

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa (pinfall after Project Ciampa)

Thoughts: This was fairly pedestrian in the early going, but got really good from the double elimination sequence onwards. Ciampa and Cole worked the big guy vs underdog dynamic very well. Ciampa continues to impress me a lot, while Cole is doing his push justice with his solid work. 

- After the match, Ciampa was presented with a cheque for $24,000 (the prize for winning the March Mayhem tournament). 

Closing thoughts: This was a good episode, with storyline progression between Steen and Richards, a surprisingly strong match between Mondo and Taven, and an entertaining main event. 

I usually accompany my coverage of a show with a “The good, the bad and the questionable” review, but I think I’ve said all I have to say about this episode. 

Agree? Disagree? Let me know at indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk, or on Twitter @IWEnews

Adam Cole has a proving ground match booked with the Ring Of Honor world champion Davey Richards. Richards thinks he has already proven himself: 

Thoughts: Awesome. I’m pleased that the 10th anniversary show victory really has propelled Cole to the upper echelons of ROH. They should have a great match. 

- Lee

Due to technical difficulties, two matches were absent from the live stream of Ring Of Honor: Showdown In The Sun Day 2, which aired on IPPV on Saturday. ROH have uploaded both matches to Youtube for everyone to see: 

Kyle O’Reilly vs Adam Cole

Street Fight: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)

Thoughts: This is great for people (like me) who didn’t order the show, but is this a valid “make good” for the pay per view customers who were treated to an empty feed instead of the matches they’d paid to see? I’m inclined to say no. 

- Lee

NWA: Ring Warriors took place at the National Guard Armory in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last night. 

Wes Brisco defeated Francisco Ciatso 

Jesse Neal & Christina Von Eerie defeated Chasyn Rance & Santana Garrett

Robbie E defeated Stevie Richards

Cassidy Riley & Steve Madison defeated Kevin Sullivan & Gangrel

NWA Ring Warrior Grand Championship: Bruce Santee defeated Giant Titan

Billy Gunn defeated Vordell Walker

NWA World Tag Team Championship: Dark City Fight Club (c) vs The Red Devil Fight Team vs The Headbangers

- Dark City Fight Club won

Russian chain match: Chance Prophet vs Kahagas defeated Chance Prophet

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Adam Pearce (c) defeated Adam Cole

- Cole was the ROH wrestler handpicked by Jim Cornette. 

Source: 411Mania

Thoughts: Apparently the main event was a good one. If you attended the show, feel free to send a review to indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk

- Lee

Tonight’s episode of Ring Of Honor will feature Adam Cole vs Michael Elgin, in a “March Mayhem” qualifying match. 

Thoughts: Looks good. They really seem to be getting behind Cole, which is cool. 

- Lee

The next Pro Wrestling Syndicate show will take place in Rahway, New Jersey the 2nd of May. The following matches have been announced:

Sami Callihan vs Jay Lethal

Matt Hardy vs Colt Cabana

Jerry Lynn vs Marty Jannetty

Demolition vs The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake)

Maria Kannelis and Brittney Savage vs Jillian Hall and Reby Sky

Adam Cole vs Brian XL vs Samura Del Sol vs Zema Ion

Bret Hart will be appearing.

Thanks to Rob Hawkins for passing that along. 

Thoughts: Good stuff. I like how they provide a few legends, a bit of former TV talent, and some of the top indy guys. There’s something for everyone, and it exposes wrestlers to audiences that wouldn’t normally see them.

- Lee

THE GOOD 

Main event (Michael Elgin defeated Kyle O’Reilly in a Blind Destiny qualifier)

Great TV main event, that really showed how much these guys have improved since they arrived in ROH. The styles clash of Elgin’s power vs O’Reilly’s strikes and submissions worked very well. The only thing I didn’t like was the finish, when Elgin capitalised on Strong distracting O’Reilly to hit his final two moves. I don’t think O’Reilly would have lost any stature by taking a totally clean loss after such a strong back and forth contest. That said, it didn’t really take much away from a very entertaining, action packed match. 

Kevin Steen vs Adam Cole - Blind Destiny qualifier (Steen won)

I really enjoyed this one. The simple pre-tape promo set up that aired beforehand went a long way to get me invested in it (Cole cut a decent face promo, then Steen shone as usual). Cole wrestled very well in his first big TV singles opportunity, I feel this will have raised his stock significantly in the eyes of the TV audience. Steen was impressive, working his usual big-man-with-some-surprisingly-athletic-moves style to perfection. His Naruki Doi running senton to the corner is so awesome. 

Steen attempted to piledrive Cole after the match, but Eddie Edwards (Cole’s new partner) came to the rescue. The seeds for the Edwards/Steen feud going into Florida are planted.

Jay Lethal vs Kenny King - Blind Destiny qualifier (Lethal won)

A slick opening bout that probably would have been match of the night on any TV show put out by WWE or TNA. I really wanted to see King pull off the upset, that guy could be a star on his own, but alas, it wasn’t to be. 

Blind Destiny Challenge

The concept was that the winners of these qualifiers will go one on one with the world title triple threat participants (at Showdown In The Sun Day 1) on SITS Day 2, with the world title being on the line in whichever match featured the champion. Elgin will face Davey Richards, Steen will face Eddie Edwards, Lethal will face Roderick Strong.

This concept ensured that each match had meaning and big implications. It was a great way of selling a wrestling pay per view with wrestling rather than talking. 

Promos & PPV hype

Despite this episode featuring a ton of wrestling, they still fit in quite a few promos, and a significant amount of pay per view hype. Very well paced.  

Overall show

This was a great episode. It was focused on the wrestling, every match had a purpose, and the action was very good. It also hyped the upcoming pay per views effectively. Keep it up ROH! 

THE BAD

As I mentioned earlier, the only thing I didn’t like was Elgin winning his match after capitalising on O’Reilly’s distraction. That didn’t need to happen, but it wasn’t the end of the world or anything. 

THE QUESTIONABLE

Nameplates

Blank nameplate graphics kept appearing when people in the ring. Why? 

Agree? Disagree? Let me know at indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk, or on Twitter @IWEnews

- Lee

Tonight’s episode of Ring Of Honor is loaded, as it will feature three matches that will determine the participants in the “Blind Destiny Challenge”: Kevin Steen vs Adam Cole, Jay Lethal vs Kenny King, and Kyle O’Reilly vs Michael Elgin. 

Thoughts: That’s a potentially great episode lined up there, I look forward to it. My review will be up on Thursday or Friday, since ROH like to make it as hard as possible to watch their show online. 

- Lee

By Lee Goodfellow

Here is my review of last night’s Ring Of Honor pay per view, 10th Anniversary: Young Wolves Rising, which took place at the Manhattan Center (formerly the Hammerstein Ballroom) in Manhattan, New York.  I covered the show live, so you can read the full results, match recaps and my live thoughts HERE. You can also order the replay on demand over at Go Fight Live.

Warning, spoilers ahead!

THE GOOD

Co-match of the night: TJ Perkins & Amazing Red vs Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin

This was a very entertaining match, full of great action. Red and Elgin worked the little man/big man dynamic excellently, while TJP and Strong were as good as always. The powerhouse Elgin continues to impress.

I hope Red sticks around, he and TJP would be a great asset to the ROH tag team division. 

Co-match of the night: Kevin Steen vs Jimmy Jacobs

Last night I cited the above tag match as the clear cut MOTN, but it’s this bout that I’ve been thinking about the most today. They told an intriguing story, with Jacobs defying Corino’s wishes and going ahead with the No DQ match, to him crumbling with guilt after driving the spike into Steen’s face. Capped off with a fittingly brutal finishing spot (Steen F-Cinq’d Jacobs onto two upright chairs), this was a very well executed hardcore match. 

Like I said last night, ROH is one of the few places that still does ECW throwback hardcore matches well, using them only in the context of bitter feuds, with well orchestrated action. 

Main event (Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly vs Eddie Edwards & Adam Cole) 

This was the third best match of the night, but it wasn’t without it’s flaws. See “The Questionable” section for full details. 

Tommaso Ciampa vs Jay Lethal (TV title match)

This was pretty good, and got really heated near the end. Ciampa, like Elgin, is growing on me every time I see him. I think they should have pulled the trigger on him (Ciampa) and had him win the belt, rather than the time limit draw. That was pretty weak, especially considering how many of the TV title matches have finished like that on TV. At least they didn’t end Ciampa’s streak. 

The Briscoes vs The Young Bucks (Tag Team Championship)

This was good, but it didn’t quite live up to my admittedly high expectations. They had a great match on HDnet a couple of years ago (The Bucks’ last in their initial ROH run, if I recall correctly), and this didn’t quite reach the same heights. Still, good stuff, and the most over wrestlers on the roster got an entertaining, crowd pleasing victory.

Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs Kenny King & Rhett Titus

Solid tag opener, in which Kenny King and Charlie Haas impressed me the most. I’ve been a Kenny King fan since I first saw a match of his, I think he will be a big deal on his own one day in ROH, while heel Haas is a massive improvement over bland babyface Haas. I still reckon there’s money in his new persona. 

Homicide vs Mike Bennett

All I remember about this match is Maria. Let me go and check my coverage. 

…

Ah yes. Homicide’s CM Punk homage was a nice touch, and Bennett continued to be a great heel. It was a decent match. 

Kingston/Steen segment

Seeing Eddie Kingston bring the CHIKARA championship to ROH was cool, and they did a good job of setting up a potential feud between these two promotions. Only time will tell if it lasts further than the “Synergy” show. 

Overall show

It was a solid night of wrestling, not a bad match on the card, at a bargain price. Were there any match of the year candidates? No, but not every show needs to produce classics. A superior main event could have lifted this into greatness, but alas, that was the only match that I took issue with. 

THE BAD

Technical clashes

Audio calamity ensued every time they cued a replay, with the audio of the clip and the live audio running simultaenously. The worst technical botch of the night was when Steen’s entrance begain during the preview video for his match. I appreciate the effort, but they really need to fix this stuff. 

THE QUESTIONABLE 

Main event

This was a good match, that could have been great had it been half the length (it clocked in just short of forty minutes), and not been put in the main event slot of a show of such magnitude. It didn’t feel big enough for the occasion, which had a lot to do with nothing really being at stake, and the rivalries being far from boiling point (the Cole/O’Reilly feud only started a couple of weeks ago). The crowd tried to get into it, but every time they did they ended up fading away since it was drawn out so long. 

I also think Cole and O’Reilly suffered from suddenly being thrust into such a spot.  O’Reilly was ready, and the crowd ate up his impressive exchanges with Edwards, but they were near silent at times when he and Cole were locking up. Young guys need established guys to get them over in such big positions, they can’t do it with each other, the audience just doesn’t see Cole vs O’Reilly as a main event level match yet. 

All that aside, the match did deliver some great action, Edwards and O’Reilly have great chemistry (as do Edwards and Richards, of course) and the finishing stretch was very exciting (Cole, fresh from a tornado DDT to O’Reilly through a table, landed a crossbody on Richards for a shocking three count).

I wonder how much Cole will benefit from that massive victory. It wasn’t built up to at all (Cole hasn’t been pushed until the past few weeks), but it could still catapult him to the upper echelons of ROH. Kevin Steen interrupting the aftermath of the match and focusing totally on Richards didn’t do much for Cole’s cause. 

Agree? Disagree? Let me know at indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk, or on Twitter @IWEnews.

- Lee