February 27th, PWG’s “Out of Nowhere” at American Legion Post #308, Reseda. (Detailed info. from my POV–back row, stage side–since the results have been already posted.) Another capacity crowd–about 600-700 PWG fans, crammed into the legion hall, including Dave Meltzer.
* On Biff Busick making “Speedball” Mike Bailey tapout to the Rear Naked Choke
Biff did a great job neutralizing the “Speedball”, with stiff strikes, and submission holds, including a great counter-move that led into his finishing submission. Mike did some incredible aerial moves to back up his nickname.
* On Cedric Alexander p. Tommaso Ciampa
Good match between the two. Cedric set up his finishing combo with 3 One-Legged Dropkicks in the corner.
* On Best Friends def. The Beaver Boys
A great mix of comedy & serious wrestling. Once John Silver & Alex Reynolds were able to get something going, they showed something special, including John showing some incredible strength in his relatively small, blocky frame.
* On ACH p. AR Fox
This was a great back-and-forth match between these two, even if neither men were able to use their full bag of aerial tricks.
* On Chris Hero p. Drew Gulak
This was obviously the most technical match of the night, with Hero going for Gulak’s left ankle, and Drew going for Hero’s left knee. Hero did 2 Piledrivers to score the pin, then he “did some chiropractic work” to “realign Drew’s neck to revive him”. Great stuff.
* On Ricochet p. Matt Sydal
IIRC, there were a few fans in the crowd that called Ricochet by his Lucha Underground name, Prince Puma. This was a great back-and-forth match, with plenty of counter-wrestling and chain-wrestling.
* On The Young Bucks def. The Monster Mafia
To me, Ethan Page & Josh Alexander adapted well to the PWG scene, after a pair of IWL matches with Matt & Nick Jackson. With those “New Era” matches under their belts, the chemistry between these two teams showed throughout this match.
Shot of the Night
* On Roderick Strong p. Trevor Lee
This was about as clean as it could be, with Roddy playing the monster heel. From my POV, the Orange Crush backbreaker wasn’t dead-on, but it was still effective enough for the successful title defense.
Overall, it was a great PWG card. The crowd was into it throughout the night, and the wrestlers gave it everything they had. However, it is very unlikely that I will not make it to the next PWG show on 4/3, because of WonderCon Anaheim that weekend, even though European stars Zack Sabre, Jr. & Tommy End are scheduled to be on that card.
MOTN: Young Bucks v. Monster Mafia, then Roderick Strong v. Trevor Lee, then Ricochet v. Matt Sydal
