As the wrestling year is winding down I thought I would get in one more show review before I focus on end of year lists until Wrestle Kingdom. This will be a less in depth review than some of my others but I thought you might appreciate it nonetheless.
Night 1
Brian Cage vs Flash Morgan Webster
Webster is taking the place of Travis Banks, who had passport issues. This was a good way to kick off the show, with Cage getting his shit in, as is customary. There were a couple of issues at the beginning but it came together as it went on. Webster picked up the roll up victory to continue Cage's recent losing streak. ***
Adam Brooks vs Mark Haskins
I believe this was only the second time I have seen a Brooks match so I was intrigued to see what he's got. It was another good match. It wasn't without its issues but it was fun. It featured a destroyer on the apron too. Haskins picked up the win with a scorpion deathlock. ***
Joey Janela vs Trevor Lee
Joey Janela is a lunatic so this was always going to be fun. They had more of a traditional match than I had anticipated. It was really good though. Lee is incredibly underrated and Janela is a wrestling chameleon. Janela picked up the flash victory. ***1/2
Jonah Rock vs Keith Lee
Big lads. There is a spot near the start of this where Lee does his 'Bask in my glory' thing, gets kicked in the stomach, and says 'I've gotta stop doing that shit'. It made me smile. This match was great. It featured some absolutely outrageous displays of strength from both men as well as impressive athleticism. They did the spot where they both go for the cross body, which is a common enough spot, but what made this different was how much they bounced off each other due to the impact. Lee won after catching Jonah and hitting the powerslam jackhammer. I recommend this one. ****
Flamita vs Rey Horus vs Sammy Guevara
This match was fucking rapid. There was so much going on here that you can't take your eyes off it for one minute for fear of missing something neat. It was like watching three guys who are in the Matrix. Damn, that was an aged reference. Was it a spotfest? Yeah, but it was an incredibly entertaining one. ****
Ricochet vs WALTER
This was excellent. It's just two of the best wrestlers in the world right now putting on a showcase of what they can do. Ricochet has the speed and WALTER has the power. It's simple but it's effective. Ricochet continues to work heel in PWG and it adds a nice extra layer to his work. He ended up winning with a sneaky quick pin. It was the best match on the show so far and is more than worth anyone's time. ****1/2
PWG Tag Titles - Lucha Brothers vs Chosen Bros
It's main event time. Here we have two teams that have had great years in PWG. I think both teams are undefeated in traditional tag matches in 2017. This was a great main event but it didn't quite get to the, admittedly high, level I was expecting. It was still a good showcase for those involved, though, and it was good to see the Chosen Bros pick up the win to finish the year undefeated in PWG. ****
Overall Grade - A
This was a fantastic first night of action. The match quality built throughout the night, and the last four matches are an outstanding run of quality. I could say this for most PWG shows, but this is highly recommended viewing.
Night 2
Adam Brooks vs Jonah Rock
The Australasian wrestling scene is as good as I've ever seen it right now, which is good to see as the more wrestling hotbeds there are the better. Jonah has grown on me and I like what I see from Brooks. This was a fun way to start the show. Jonah won after hitting a massive top rope Liger bomb followed by a brainbuster. ***1/2
Young Bucks vs Mark Haskins & Flash Morgan Webster
They work the first portion of the match as comedy, except for Haskins, with Webster trying to get Nick to give the give DX crotch chop. Nick replies by telling him 'I'm not allowed to do that anymore you mark'. Haskins and Webster also force the Bucks to Too Sweet each other, to which the crowd chants 'You sick fucks'. There is a spot where Webster blocks a superkick by wearing a motorbike helmet. In addition to all the shenanigans there was also a really good wrestling match to be found here. This was a fucking blast to watch to be fair. If you hate the Young Bucks or think wrestling should always be serious your mileage will vary greatly to mine. The Young Bucks won with stereo sharpshooters, of all things. ****
Joey Janela vs Marty Scurll
This was yet another entertaining match from this weekend. This one was more about the character work than the wrestling, not that the wrestling was bad. They worked a match that was half wrestling, half brawling and it worked out well. Scurll won after throwing Janela off the top rope into some set up chairs and applying the chicken wing. ***1/2
Zack Sabre Jr vs WALTER
This was the match that I was looking forward to the most heading in to this weekend but even I didn't anticipate how good it would be. They start off by trying to outwrestle each other but after WALTER chopped a hole in Sabre's chest they both decided to just beat the living shit out of each other. What follows is 20 minutes of the most well structured brutality you could ever wish to see. It is easy to forget that Sabre Jr is such a good striker because he is more known for his technical prowess. The intensity that both men showed here was a joy to behold and the finish, where Sabre went for the European clutch but ended up bridging into a sleeper, was very well executed. This was a top 10 match of the year for me. *****
Trent? vs Rey Horus vs Matt Sydal
This was a match that got changed after Travis Banks couldn't make the show. It was fun but it didn't have the consistent quality of the triple threat from Night 1. Trent has had a really good year and he rounds it off with a win. ***1/2
PWG World Title - Chuck Taylor vs Ricochet
The last PWG match of the year is upon us. Chuck's unbeaten run, and title win, has been great fun to watch and it seems somehow fitting that a newly heel Ricochet was the one that ended it, even though he many people expected this to be his swansong in PWG. Overall this was a really good main event that was given plenty of time to shine but never quite managed to be a truly great PWG main event. I don't think it reached the heights of Taylor's title win against Sabre Jr but it is still well worth checking out. ****
Overall Grade - A
A five star match and two four star matches on a six match card is pretty good going by anyone's standards. PWG started off this year quite slow by their own standards but BOLA and these shows have meant that they head into 2018 at the very top of their game.
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