July 24th, PWG’s “Threemendous IV” (12th Anniversary Show) at American Legion Post #308, Reseda. Once again, PWG drew another capacity crowd into the legion hall. With WWE touring So Cal for a series of house shows over the next couple of weekends, it was no surprise that current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, & Kevin Owens–two PWG alums turned WWE Superstars–made the trip down to the legion hall after working a house show at the Rabobank Arena, in Bakersfield. As Mike D. mentioned in his results report, Dave Meltzer & Konnan, were also in attendance.
1 – The Team Tremendous / World’s Cutest Tag Team match was a great opener. Much to Joey Ryan’s dismay, Dan Barry & Bill Carr prevented any of the fans from getting the lollipop, “confiscating it as criminal evidence”. It had a great mix of comedy & serious wrestling, and the 2nd attempt by Team Tremendous to hit the Doomsday Sliced Bread hit home, with Dan scoring the pin on Joey.
2 – To me, the Johnny Gargano / Brian Cage match was a little underwhelming for me, although both men were able to hit their respective signature moves. Brian had to work his way out of a Garga-No Escape to eventually hit a pair of Discus Lariats, then a match-ending Weapon X.
3 – Fan energy picked up when Andrew Everett & Rich Swann had their match. Andrew Everett’s high elevation on his finishing Shooting Star Press almost knocked off one of the lighting fixtures over the ring.
4 – Trevor Lee & Tommaso Ciampa brought more energy into the capacity crowd. It was a very even match, right up to where Trevor hit his Small Package Driver for the pin.
5 – “Speedball” Mike Bailey had to overcome a handful of Elbow Strikes, and a couple of Cravat’s, then had to surprise Chris Hero with the Cradle Rollup to get the pin.
SM – Crowd really got hot when it was time for the Ricochet / Akira Tozawa match. As expected, the fans exchanged Godzilla-like roars with Tozawa, before the Dragon Gate star told them to STFU! Very even match, with plenty of false finishers, before Ricochet hit his Bloody Sunday Driver for the pin.
Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Super Dragon & The Young Bucks, minus PWG Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong–who was gunning for Jay Lethal’s ROH Heavyweight title that same night) cleaned house, essentially taking out most of the wrestlers that were on the card. Eventually, the AAA/LU duo of Angelico & Jack Evans came out, and went straight for the Jackson Brothers.
M – Very even tag team title match between The Young Bucks & the AAA/LU duo. Plenty of unique team moves, and a Superkick Party. A Meltzer Driver on Angelico on the floor set up the “More Bang for Your Buck” on Jack Evans, for a successful title defense. No further Mt. Rushmore beatdowns followed.
A very strong card overall. The preliminary matches were decent enough, but the last 3 matches on the card warranted their upper card/main event spots. I couldn’t tell how many AAA/LU fans were drawn in, but expect more of them next month at the annual Battle of Los Angeles tourney.
MOTN
1 – Ricochet / Tozawa
2 – Young Bucks / Angelico & Jack Evans
3 – Hero / Speedball
More shots from the show, click here