I'm finally home now as I spent longer than I intended in Los Angeles today before starting my drive back to Las Vegas.
It took me awhile to get to LA yesterday and by the time I got there and checked into my hotel (the Ho Jos which is about a block and a half away from PWG's Legion Hall) it was already 7:30. I walked over to the Legion Hall and was the last person in the front row line admitted into the building before the general admission was admitted. The first thing I did was go to the merchandise table and pick up a copy of last month's DDT4 which just got released a few days ago.
After buying a beer at the bar, I then found an open front row seat. I sat next to someone who also drives over from Las Vegas (I now know and speak to several other fans there who also live in Las Vegas but attend PWG on a regular basis.)
1) The first match was B-Boy vs Famous B. Billed from Beverly Hoods, Famous B with his agility got a good reaction from the crowd and after seeing him wrestle for awhile for NWA Hollywood I was really glad when he started wrestling for PWG last year. But as expected, B Boy got the victory.
2) TJ Perkins defeated Ryan Taylor in a good match. During this match the Las Vegan sitting next to me informed me that Ryan Taylor now also wrestles for the Las Vegas indy fed Adrenaline Unleashed. Adrenaline Unleashed does not advertise themselves as much as our other local indy fed Future Stars of Wrestling. But I looked them up after last night's show and saw that they are indeed a Las Vegas indy fed with Scorpio Sky, Ryan Taylor, Johnny Yuma, Johnny Goodtime, Pretty Peter Avalon, Hawaiian Lion, Allison Danger, Buggy Nova, Davina Rose, Eric Watts, and others on the roster and they are running all their shows this summer on Sahara. Guess what street I live on? Sahara. I think I will just take the double decker bus the Deuce that runs up and down Sahara to their shows this summer.
www.adrenaline-unleashed.com/3) PWG World Champion Kevin Steen defeated Brian Cage. This match went on early because Steen had to catch a red eye that night and it featured more comedy than your typical PWG championship match. Steen however was hilarious and I really enjoyed the match. One guy sitting a couple of rows behind me yelled out he hated Steen and Steen responded to him "Hate me? You should hate yourself. You're wearing a DX shirt you idiot." ;D Cage is ripped and Steen kept making references to his physique throughout the match. Steen finally won after Cage nearly got a 3 count and Steen suddenly rolled an unsuspecting Cage up for the win in a way to make it look like Steen got lucky to get the victory as Cage is one of the most popular wrestlers in PWG right now.
4) The next match was one of my favorite matches that I have ever seen in PWG's American Legion Hall. Because Super Dragon's injury is worse than expected, Excalibur announced at the start of the show that Appetite for Destruction had to vacate the PWG World Tag Team Championship and that tonight's previously scheduled no DQ match between the Young Bucks and Super Smash Brothers (who won DDT4 last month) would be for the PWG World Tag Team Championship.
If you buy the DVD for this show and only watch this match, it is worth it just by itself! Seeing the SSB catapult Matt Jackson out of the ring and straight through that table less than 10 feet away from me might be the first image that comes to my mind whenever I think of PWG 2012 (just like El Generico ripping the entire vent off the ceiling to win the PWG World Championship at Steen Wolf was my personal favorite PWG 2011 moment.)
The match ended when the Young Bucks were upset when they failed to get a 3 count and responded by giving referee Rick Knox a superkick outside of the ring. A couple of minutes later, the Bucks then appeared to have the match won when another referee came out to make a 3 count only for an angry Knox from outside of the ring reach through the ropes and pull that referee out of the ring right before he finished the 3 count. Knox then gave the Bucks a flying clothesline and the Super Smash Brothers proceeded to finish them off to become the new PWG World Tag Team Champions!
This match took place right before intermission because the SSB also had to catch a red eye. But the crowd at intermission was talking non-stop about this match. In the first 5 months of 2012, I have attended 3 PWG shows, a DGUSA show, a CHIKARA show, a ROH show, a PWS show, and a Smackdown taping and the Bucks vs SSB last night was my favorite match that I have seen live so far for 2012!
At intermission I got to talk to El Generico and I also bought his new black Ole! shirt. I meant to buy it last month in Chicago at Synergy, but instead I finally bought it yesterday in Los Angeles.
Also at intermission I saw Nigel McGuinness again which makes this at least the 2nd straight PWG show he has attended. I plan on bringing my LOW Nigel McGuinness card the next time I go to PWG in case he is there again and ask him if he will sign it.
5) After intermission, the RockNES Monsters and Candace Lerae defeated Joey Ryan, Pretty Peter Avalon, and Ray Rosas. Joey Ryan came out to his old Magnum theme for the first time at PWG since I think early 2010. On her way to the ring, Candace Lerae suddenly stopped
directly right in front of my front row seat and started gesturing to a fan and as a result I accidentally lost control of my beer and spilled some of it on the floor. ;D But most of beer stayed in its plastic cup and after I finished it I went to the bar during the match to get some napkins (and another beer since a little of the previous beer got spilled
and wiped off the spilled beer in front of my seat (I didn't want one of the wrestlers on their way to the ring or anyone else to slip on my beer.)
6) Willie Mack defeated Michael Elgin. This was Elgin's PWG debut and my second favorite match of the night. Elgin actually hit Chaos Theory on Mack during this match! Afterward the crowd shouted "Please come back" at Elgin (I believe Elgin will be returning to PWG) and "Next World Champ!" at Mack. IMO, it is quite possible that this was a match between a future ROH World Champion and a future PWG World Champion.
7) El Generico defeated Ricochet in their long awaited grudge match. El Generico and Ricochet were previous tag team partners in PWG as Ricochet was the replacement for Paul London in ¡Peligro Abejas! after London left PWG in early 2011. Back at Eight last summer, Ricochet spit in El Generico's face after they lost to Roderick Strong and Alex Shelley and their long awaited grudge match finally took place last night. I am not sure if I liked it better than their great match against each other at The Curse of Guerrilla Island back in October of 2010, but it was a really good match with El Generico winning via the BRAINBUSTAHH! on the top turnbuckle right in front of me.
Once again, PWG was worth every single mile on the road and every single cent spent on gas (but I still intend to avoid that gas station in Barstow charging $4.49 for a gallon of unleaded.
) The next PWG show did not have its date announced last night. If it is June (last year there was not a June PWG show but there just had been 2 PWG shows in May during Memorial Day weekend,) I may or may not be able to go since I am in Seattle one weekend in June and I am in Boston during another weekend in June. But I will definitely be going to PWG's 9th anniversary show in July!
and wiped off the spilled beer in front of my seat (I didn't want one of the wrestlers on their way to the ring or anyone else to slip on my beer.)
) The next PWG show did not have its date announced last night. If it is June (last year there was not a June PWG show but there just had been 2 PWG shows in May during Memorial Day weekend,) I may or may not be able to go since I am in Seattle one weekend in June and I am in Boston during another weekend in June. But I will definitely be going to PWG's 9th anniversary show in July!