PWG All Star Weekend 11 Night 2 Review

After reviewing Night 1 of PWG All Star Weekend 11, I now review Night 2 of All Star Weekend 11 that features a crazy ass Guerrilla Warfare match in the main event, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay tearing down the house, two classic matches between Chuck Taylor and Kikutaro, and much more.

Chuck Taylor vs. Kikutaro

Making return to PWG in this match is Kikutaro. Before the match, he gets on the mic and says “cut the fucking music” even though there was no music playing. I love Kiku. He talks about being very happy about being back in PWG. He says that he and Chuck Taylor are going to “do pro wrestling” and offers his hand to Chuck. but instead cheap shots him to start the match. After Rick Knox calls for the bell, Kikutaro lifts Chuck Taylor up for a bodyslam, but is countered in mid-move as Chuck Taylor pins him in five seconds to get the victory. That was the entire match. ****1/2

Post match shenanigans: Kikutaro, who had the microphone the entire time, wanted a rematch and begs Chuck for one more match. Chuck wants to get paid more, and agrees to be given a raise from $20 to $30.

Chuck Taylor vs. Kikutaro

The rematch of their first epic encounter of the night starts off with Kiku going again for the same trick that cost him the first match, and is countered the same way he was before. This time he was able to kick out of the pin. This was an epic match with tons of brutality and super serious wrestling. It did a great job telling a story, it developed characters very well, had top-notch psychology, didn’t expose the business, worked the crowd, and respected the business. Rick Knox got hit in the testicles during the match, further adding to the brutality of this contest. Kikutaro also hit a brutal looking Go2Shit on Chuck Taylor that thankfully didn’t kill him. Chuck was so crazy for taking that move and risking serious injury. These two guys proved that pro wrestling should be viewed as serious business. This was even better than their previous match from 10 minutes before this one, played off the spots from the previous match, and built up to a hot finish. This match should’ve been considered a serious MOTYC for 2015. ***** match here.

Post match shenanigans: Kikutaro got on the mic and thanks Chuck Taylor for the match. He cuts a very articulate promo and announces that he’s moving to the United States next year. That’s the greatest news ever. Mount Rushmore 2.0 attack Kikutaro from behind and kill him. Roderick Strong then cuts a short promo.

Adam Cole stomping Kikutaro

Marty Scurrl vs. Timothy Thatcher

This match started off slow, with Marty Scurll doing random antics with the crowd as Timothy Thatcher remained stoic the entire time. They have a pretty methodical match, with Thatcher being more hard-nosed in his approach whereas Thatcher was more cocky and obnoxious. During the match, some unfunny fan yelled “Its past your bedtime, Justin” to referee Justin Borden, and Marty Scurll instantly told the guy to shut the fuck up. With that, Marty Scurll instantly became my new favorite wrestler of all time. Thatcher does a series of three straight deadlift gut wrench slams on Scurll, which got a really good reaction from the fans. Thatcher got the win after hitting Scurrl with a headbutt. It would’ve looked better if Thatcher leg slap wasn’t so noticeable. The match was alright, I honestly thought it could’ve been better though as it didn’t seem like it ever got going, and the pacing felt weird. I just couldn’t get into this for whatever reason even though I’ve become a huge fan of both these guys after watching their stuff in recent months.

Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano vs. The Unbreakable Fucking Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin)

Just like the night before, Brian Cage and Michael Elgin toss around their opponents and show off their strength and power. They did a spot where they both did a pair of stalling suplexes on both Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa while handing their opponent to their partner in mid-stall during the suplex. Gargano & Ciampa would do a bunch of quick double team attacks on the stronger team. Michael Elgin did some cool combos, including a spot where he 3 German Suplexes on both Gargano & Elgin, before hitting a double German Suplex on both guys at the same time. Cage and Elgin work so well together as a tag team and have such awesome offense. It’s really fun seeing them tossing guys around and destroying smaller opponents. There was one spot where Cage and Elgin caught Gargano as he was going for a dive, and threw him into Ciampa as he went for a dive of his own. Ciampa and Gargano did a bunch of leg slaps in this, which sorta hurt the match. The Unbreakable Fucking Machines get the win in a pretty good match. They’re a really awesome tag team.

Ricochet vs. Mark Andrews

When you see this match on paper, you pretty much expect to see two guys doing a bunch of flips, tilt-a-whirl spots, head scissors stuff, and more flips. It started off fast, then it slowed down at one point with Ricochet trying to work over Mark Andrews, who would go then get the pace going again. There were some sloppy and botched moments when Ricochet tried to take Andrews’ tilt-a-whirl head scissors attempts. I’m not sure if Ricochet has had a lot of experience being a base for other high flyers, so that could’ve been a reason for the sloppy moments in the match. Ricochet also continues to do a bunch of awful leg slaps when doing kicks, but besides that this match was pretty good. After a noticeable botched spot, they recovered nicely and ended up pulling off some crazy shit to finish the match with Ricochet getting the victory. This was a fun sprint that felt as if it went about 10 minutes (too lazy to check or care) and the better of the two matches Ricochet had in PWG that weekend. Mark Andrews continues to impress and is one of the best high flyers in the world right now.

Trevor Lee vs. Matt Sydal

This match had a slow pace to it for awhile but was pretty fun, with Trevor Lee being an asshole heel and Matt Sydal making comebacks from time-to-time. That was pretty much the story of the match. Trevor Lee was the asshole heel who would toss Sydal around, and Sydal would bust out fast paced, high flying offense. Plenty of leg slaps from Matt Sydal in this one as well. They do a cool spot where Sydal landed on his feet after going for a beautiful looking Shooting Star Press, Trevor Lee tosses him in the air for a Popup Powerbomb attempt, but instead Sydal countered it and hit a snap rana on Trevor Lee. Finish saw Matt Sydal hitting Trevor Lee with a running reverse rana, going to the top to hit a Shooting Star Press, only to have it countered by Trevor Lee who got his knees up, rolling up Sydal into a small package for the pinfall victory. The match was pretty enjoyable, and Matt Sydal was pretty on point. Trevor Lee is pretty good as well. Only downer of this match: leg slaps.

Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay

As I mentioned in my review of Night 1 of All Star Weekend 11, I’ve been really into watching European wrestling. It became the reason why I got interested in indy wrestling again. Will Ospreay is one of the guys that made me a fan again. Kenny Omega was a great opponent to book him in a match with, as the two meshed really well to put on a really awesome match. Ospreay would bust out a lot of high flying stuff, and was really crisp when hitting his spots. Kenny Omega did an imaginary chainsaw spot with his arm. I honestly don’t find imaginary comedy spots funny, but again, these fans seem to eat that sorta shit up for some weird reason. The finishing stretch of this match was pretty awesome. Lots of counters and exciting sequences in this. At one point, Ospreay went for a handspring move off the ropes, but was caught in midair by Omega who hit a Doctor Bomb after he was caught. Omega gets the win with the Bicycle Knee/One-Winged Angel combo on Ospreay. The match was really good and got the best reaction from the crowd so far. Good stuff here.

Post match shenanigans: Kenny Omega cuts a promo putting over PWG. Pretty cheesy and cliche stuff, but the fans eat up and give him a huge ovation.

Guerrilla Warfare Match: Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, & The Young Bucks [Nick & Matt Jackson]) vs. Joey Ryan, Candice LeRae, Mike Bailey, & Chris Hero

The Young Bucks about to destroy Mike Bailey

Before the match starts, Mount Rushmore 2.0 comes out and Roderick Strong cuts a promo. It leads to them attacking Angelo Trinidad and Rick Knox before the baby faces came out to start the match. Everything is chaotic at the start, as the action was taking place all over the venue at the start of the match. Eventually they stop brawling all over and start doing spots in the ring, as well as dive sequences. There’s one spot where Adam Cole is holding Joey Ryan (who did a terrible acting job during this spot, as he put up no fight whatsoever to save his dick) so that the Young Bucks could put thumbtacks in Joey’s trunks and superkick his nuts. Hopefully this means Joey won’t do that “Dick Move” spot in PWG again. Mount Rushmore 2.0 also delivered a triple team superkick on Justin Borden, which the fans loved. I don’t know why the fans hate him so much, and honestly, I don’t really care. The Young Bucks, with the help of Adam Cole, hit a Double Indy-Taker on Candice LeRae & Mike Bailey to the outside after having taken out Joey Ryan and Chris Hero. After doing that, they turned their attention towards Excalibur at the commentary table on the stage of the American Legion. He ended up doing a front flip off the stage and getting in the ring to confront Adam Cole. Excalibur would try to hit Cole with a Tiger Driver ’98 after hitting him with a Lioncock punch, but Roderick Strong hit a jumping knee on Excalibur to save his partner, leaving only Adam Cole and Roderick Strong alone inside the ring. The lights would go out, and when they came back on, Kyle O’Reilly would be standing in the middle of the ring, face-to-face with Adam Cole as the fans go nuts

Adam Cole faces off against a returning Kyle O’Reilly in PWG

Kyle proceeds to take out Mount Rushmore 2.0 by himself. Eventually more weapons come into play, as chairs, a garbage can, a ladder, and a table. Kikutaro would come out and deliver an elbow pad with thumbtacks on it to Chris Hero, but would get a double superkick from the Young Bucks for his troubles. Rick Knox would run back out to the ring in the middle of the match, along with Joey a little later after being helped to the back earlier. They worked together and delivered a Doomsday Device on Matt Jackson. Excalibur would also come out for a return in the match and hit a Tiger Driver ’98 to help give the babyface team the win. This wasn’t the most violent Guerrilla Warfare match I’ve seen, but this was a really great spectacle. While there were so many cool spots in this that I can’t really list, I will say there were plenty of entertaining things in this match that made it fun to watch. I wouldn’t say its better match than the Young Bucks & Super Dragon vs. Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee Guerrilla Warfare match from BOLA 2015, but this was a better spectacle that featured ladder, tables, chairs, and crazy spots to go along with a strong storyline behind this that made for an electric atmosphere.

Post match shenanigans: The babyfaces are in the ring celebrating. Excalibur, Chris Hero, Joey Ryan, Kyle O’Reilly, Candice LeRae, Mike Bailey, and Rick Knox all cut promos and we have ourselves a giant lovefest. Excalibur talks about how Mount Rushmore 2.0 is going to be destroyed in 2016. After this, we go backstage with Mount Rushmore 2.0 who are upset about their loss. Roderick Strong says Zack Sabre Jr. won’t be getting a match against Roderick Strong. Despite their loss, they walk away satisfied knowing that they still control all the titles in PWG and hold all the power because of that.

Final Thoughts

Getting the negatives out of the way first, Scurll/Thatcher wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. When I saw the match on paper, I expected it to be my favorite one on the show, but I was kinda disappointed in it for some reason. The amount of noticeable leg slapping/hand clapping wrestlers do when striking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those “EXPOZIN DA BIZ WTF!!!!!” people. Honestly, I think the whole “exposing the business” shit is fucking retarded because the people crying about it are still trying to sell shitty entertainment as reality. Like, I think the imaginary chainsaw shit Kenny Omega did on this show was lame, but fuck what I think, the fans loved it. But like getting back to my stupid point, I think we can all agree that leg slapping just looks stupid and is something that wrestlers everywhere need to work on.

The fans were amazing in the Guerrilla Warfare match and went nuts for Kyle O’Reilly’s return making for an awesome moment, even topping the ovation they gave Adam Cole from the night before. The way they exploded when Excalibur involved himself in the match was also a great reaction. While it wasn’t the most violent Guerrilla Warfare match I’ve seen by any means (has anything been able to top Dragon/Steen or Tornado/Joey yet?) it was still a wonderful spectacle. The spots were well done, and nearly everything got a reaction. It really felt like less of a match and more of an extended segment with tons of crazy spots, which sorta gives it a lot of appeal. It was different, unique, and something that no other promotion could probably pull off. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay was the match best match of the weekend, and both guys were the MVPs of the weekend, along with Mark Andrews, who had a really fun match with Ricochet. Chuck Taylor vs. Kikutaro put on two classic matches back-to-back as well. The Unbreakable Fucking Machines are awesome, and Trevor Lee vs. Matt Sydal was pretty fun. This was better than Night 1, and the Guerrilla Warfare match made it a better show overall. PWG releasing their events on Blu-Ray is great, as the quality is vastly superior to DVD. Check this show out, especially on Blu-Ray.