I know it’s like a broken record, but once again PWG delivered an excellent show with Game Over, Man. PWG has set the bar so high in terms of show quality, that while occasionally another independent promotion will have a shows as good as one of their shows, no one is able to sustain this level of quality month after month. It really feels like so far this year the promotion has stepped it up a notch with new additions and fresh matchups that have really worked out raising the bar.
Ring announcer Christian Cole came out to the ring about 3 minutes before the 8:00 pm belltime and announced Excalibur to start the show. Excalibur was in the ring at 7:59 pm. PWG has been notorious for late starts over the years, but this was actually the second straight show that started on time.
Excalibur did his opening promo, and mentioned how Legion Larry caught someone drinking Smirnoff ice in the parking lot, and coincidentally the bar now has a limited quantity of Smirnoff Ice. Someone interrupted his promo, which lead to Excalibur berating him and stating that he “probably only celebrates Earth Day once a year.” That lead to “fuck that guy” chants from the crowd.
Lio Rush defeated Rey Fenix [18’16]
They start off with a handhake attempt and Rush kicks Fenix, which causes Fenix to declare that rush is “no amigo.” This was pretty much non-stop fast paced action from the start. There were a lot of dives and aerial moves from both guys. There was a sequence in the middle where Fenix hit a 619 that was followed by Lio doing a stunner and then the Austin middle finger salute. Lio then hit an RKO and did Orton’s pose. There was also a Spanish Fly on the ring apron that was pretty crazy. Lio looked legit shaken after a double stomp from the top rope by Fenix. Fenix won via a frog splash in a fantastic opener.
Rating: ****
Matthew Riddle defeated Adam Cole [13’50]
At the start of the match Cole was on his back with his feet in the air and told Riddle he is “in his world now.” Cole flipped Riddle off and Riddle jumped past it into an armbar. The match was pretty even with both wrestlers trading offense. This was really solid but nothing too spectacular. Riddle won with a Bro-mission.
Rating: *** 1/4
Jeff Cobb defeated Keith Lee [19’06]
If there was a match that was making the ring crew sweat about the ring breaking this was it. The crowd was chanting for a test of strength at the beginning, but Cobb wasn’t feeling it and went for a headlock. Keith Lee just lifted him off the ground and walked around with Cobb having his headlock applied still. Cobb hit a release suplex on Keith Lee. I doubt Keith Lee has been tossed around like that much in his career. Lee got in his fair share of tossing Cobb around too. This was really good, and the ring didn’t break. Cobb hit the Tour of the Islands for the pinfall.
Rating: ****
Michael Elgin defeated Kyle O’Reilly [20’22]
Mark Haskins was originally supposed to be in this match but he wasn’t able to make it so he was replaced by Kyle O’Reilly. This was a hard hitting match that had a really slow build to it. Elgin was doing a great job of selling his arm, and was even hitting one armed German suplexes on O’Reilly. It took awhile for this to really get going, but once it did it was really good. Elgin won with the Elgin Bomb.
Rating: *** 1/2
The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) defeated War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson) [21’30]
This was my match of the night. It was a lot of fun to see the Bucks go up against a team that was so much bigger than them and see their flashy style versus War Machine’s power. I actually watched their match in New Japan last week and I thought this was a lot better than that match. The Bucks won with a counter roll up.
Rating: **** 1/4
Zack Sabre Jr., defeated Dick Togo [23’09]
The story of this match was Zack Sabre Jr. working over different parts of Dick Togo’s body. There was tons and tons of working over body parts. It actually got a little too slow at times. Also, Togo would do a good job selling but then forget he was injured shortly after. An example that comes to mind is Sabre really worked over Togo’s ankle, and Togo sold it like he couldn’t even stand. A couple minutes later he’s doing a tope con giro. It was a good match, but not a great match. Sabre won by pinfall with a bridge.
Rating: *** 1/4
Chuck Taylor defeated Marty Scurll in a Reseda Street Fight via submission [18’41]
This was a Reseda Street Fight match. Marty Scurll came out to the ring with a trash can filled with umbrellas. There was a lot of crowd brawling in this. They fought near the announce table, and Taylor built a two-story chair pyramid and tried to throw Scurll from the stage, but Taylor ended up going through it. The referee, Rick Knox, got knocked out, and Taylor pinned Scurll but there was no referee to count. While Taylor was trying to wake the ref Scurll got a handful of powder but Taylor knocked it back into Scurll’s eyes. At the time referee Justin Borden made it to the ring. Not realizing who it was, Scurll got a hold of Borden and snapped his fingers on both hands. Taylor dumped out thumbtacks and slammed Scurll into them, but because his fingers were broke the ref couldn’t do the three count. Taylor then did Scurll’s own Chickenwing submission on him to get Scurll to tap and pickup the win. The finish came off really well and this was another great match.
Rating: ****
As I mentioned at the beginning, this was another great show by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. While there were really no match-of-the-year contenders on the show, every single match was really good to great. I highly recommend picking up Game Over, Man when it comes out on Blu-ray and DVD.
It is available for pre-order now at PWG’s site or Highspots.com.
