This CHAOS COLUMN is a recap of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s All Star Weekend X from the American Legion Post #308, Reseda, Dec. 21st and Dec. 22nd. Both nights drew capacity crowds to the legion hall, although Friday Night could’ve been alot worse when a reported shooting incident happened a few blocks to the north. Saturday Night was alot calmer, and it’s been tweeted or facebook’ed that actor Shane West from “A Walk to Remember” was among the crowd that night. In all honesty, as someone who hardly watches TV or the Movies, I have no flippin’ clue of how good of an actor, or a person he is. Since Angelo Trinidad wasn’t available for ring announcing duties, Excalibur did the ring announcing as well as the DVD commentary.
NIGHT 1 – 12/20/13
* Before Excalibur could finish his opening speech, Mt. Rushmore (Adam Cole, Kevin Steen, & The Young Bucks) hit the ring. However, before they could start cutting a promo, Chris Hero ran in and cleared them out.
1 – Brian Cage p. Anthony Nese with the Discus Lariat in a strong opener.
2 – Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan def. The RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime). Great tag team action ended with Joey hitting the Superkick on Goodtime, then did a Suicide Dive onto Yuma while Candice hit the Moonsault for the pin.
3 – Drake Younger p. Tommaso Ciampa with a rollup into a Bridge cover in a good, hard-hitting match.
4 – Johnny Gargano made Davey Richards tapout to a series of submission holds, starting with the Garga-No Escape, then an Ankle Lock, and then the STF to finish off a great match.
5 – Best Friends (Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor) def. The Dojo Bros. (Roderick Strong & Eddie Edwards). This great tag team match ended with Trent p. Eddie with the Double-Chokeslam.
6 – Michael Elgin p. ACH with the Elgin Bomb in another strong match.
SM – Mt. Rushmore (Kevin Steen & PWG Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks) def. AR Fox, Rich Swann, & Ricochet. This fantastic, spot-filled semi-main ended with Matt & Nick Jackson p. Ricochet with the Steen-assisted Cutler Driver.
M – Adam Cole p. Chris Hero for another successful defense of the PWG title. Very even match that tipped in Cole’s favor after Referee Rick Knox took a bump. The other members of Mt. Rushmore rushed in, only to give the other referee–Patrick Hernandez–a bump when Cole couldn’t finish it off then. Eventually, both men used Hero’s “loaded elbow pad”, but Cole kicked Hero in the nuts, then hit the Panama Sunrise for the pin.
NIGHT 2 – 12/21/13
1 – Triple Threat Tag Team. The RockNES Monsters def. PPRay (Peter Avalon [TNA’s Norv Fernum] & Ray Rosas), and B-Boy & Willie Mack. Clusterfest of a match ended with Goodtime p. PPA with what looked like a variation of the Explosive Amnesia, with Goodtime going from the Top Rope for a stomp to the head.
2 – Tommaso Ciampa p. Anthony Nese with the Release Backbreaker to the Knees, or a Release Reverse Lungblower.
3 – Best Friends def. The Unbreakable F’n Machines (Michael Elgin & Brian Cage). Great tag team match ended with Trent p. Brian with the Double-Chokeslam.
4 – Chris Hero made ACH tapout to what looked like the Cravat submission. After Hero cut a promo, Steen ran in, and gave ACH the Package Piledriver.
5 – Dojo Bros. def. Rich Swann & AR Fox. This match ended when Roddy p. Rich with Eddie’s Top Rope Double-Stomp.
6 – Ricochet p. Davey Richards with the 660. Most of the wrestlers came out after the bell to give The American Wolves a fitting send-off after the two did their last PWG match–at least for now.
SM – Candice LeRae, Joey Ryan, & Drake Younger def. Mt. Rushmore. The wild & crazy trios match ended when Drake Younger snuck up to do a Crucifix Rollup on Steen after he gave Candice the Package Piledriver.
Shot Of The Night 12-22-13
M – Adam Cole p. Johnny Gargano with the Panama Sunrise to cap off the year as the lone PWG champion to hold the title in 2013. For what it was worth, it was a clean victory for Cole despite using a Mule Kick while distracting Referee Rick Knox, as the rest of Mt. Rushmore couldn’t run in to interfere, as some of the others from the back held them back. With this victory, Cole should have a mental edge on Gargano going into next month’s “Race for the Ring” Tournament Final at Wrestling Cares.
In all honesty, after the outcome of the weekend’s matches, I do not know who is worthy enough to wrestle the titles away from Cole & The Young Bucks, but only time will tell when 2014 rolls in. The earliest I can see The Young Bucks dropping the tag team titles is DDT4, and I can see Cole holding the singles title all the way up to “Eleven” (the 11th Anniversary Show). MOTW? There were, of course, alot of great PWG matches, but I’ll give it to the Candice/Joey/Drake v. Mt. Rushmore match, followed by the Cole/Gargano match, then the Cole/Hero match from Night 1.
For more photos, please visit my gallery here…
Final Show Of The Year… Dec 28th – AWS