I just got home awhile ago after driving through the desert all night after going to this show- my 8th consecutive PWG Anniversary show.
One of the things I immediately noticed upon arriving to the Legion Hall is how many of my friends (over half) who are PWG regulars who I like to talk to at the shows were not able to be there tonight. PWG is just really difficult to get into these days with their less than 1 minute ticket sell outs and I actually was originally shut out too as I couldn't get a ticket in the less than 1 minute time they were available when they went on sale last month. But I was still fortunately able to make this show because a friend of mine who works at PWG contacted me about a mutual friend of ours needing to sell his ticket because he had to go to an event in Missouri. Otherwise I might have missed this show too.
if you want them before the DVD is released, I posted results and a few thoughts below
In the opener, Adam Cole pinned Brian Cage (replacing Tommy End) via a brainbuster to the knee.
Roderick Strong defeated Timothy Thatcher. Even though he has been the top heel in PWG for about 2 years now, I was surprised Roddy didn't get more streamers as this was supposed to be his farewell PWG match and wrestlers making their final PWG appearance (i.e. Scott Lost, Kevin Steen) usually get covered in them. And one of the few streamers that was thrown was absolutely the worst thrown streamer I have ever seen- it hit the wooden beam attached to the ceiling and went right back down toward the person who threw it.
Jeff Cobb defeated Trevor Lee in a good match. Lee continues to do a great job as a heel in PWG by stressing how he is currently a TNA superstar unlike his opponents. I am interested in seeing how Cobb does in BOLA in September.
In the last match before Intermission, Chuck Taylor defeated his Best Friends tag team partner Trent. This match turned into almost like an unannounced guerrilla warfare match as chairs, ladders, and thumbtacks were used in the ring and I was not expecting that from this matchup as the match didn't have a stipulation attached to it and this isn't the type of match Best Friends usually wrestle in PWG (the only thing I can think of- but granted I am exhausted from driving home all night so I might be forgetting something- that comes close from either one of them in PWG is the Reseda street fight between Chuck Taylor and El Generico back in 2009 when Taylor and his tag team partner Kenny Omega were feuding with El Generico.) Afterward was Intermission and Excalibur actually had to tell the guys cleaning up the ring to sweep the thumbtacks into a pile and not just sweep them out of the ring and onto the fans walking past the ring.
After Intermission, "The Villain" Marty Scurll- I wore my Scurll shirt to this show last night- defeated Space Cat Sami Callihan.
As Space Cat, Callihan came to the ring with the nursery song Pussy Cat Pussy Cat as his entrance music and he wore a cat mask and even kept the cat mask on when the match started until Scurll unmasked him and Callihan was then shown to have painted whiskers on his face. The Space Cat gimmick really got over with most of the crowd as many of them chanted "Meow, Meow" and made clawing motions with their hands during this match.
The match itself was great and won by Scurll. I hope Scurll once again advances far in BOLA (last year he got as far as the Semi-Finals before losing to eventual winner Zack Sabre Jr.)
The next match between Death by Elbow and PWG World Tag Team Champions the Young Bucks was originally listed as a non-title match but Chris Hero did a good job convincing the Bucks to put their championship on the line by pointing out that the Bucks are in Japan so much that the titles don't get defended often in PWG and thus suggesting that perhaps we might see a title change tonight. Although I was skeptical about a title change as I looked ahead to BOLA where JT Dunn isn't even listed for the shows but the Young Bucks are listed for the shows, there were some moments such as some very convincing near pinfalls where I started to think perhaps the Bucks would drop their championship last night. A really good match of elbow strikes vs superkicks. Bucks win to retain, definitely one of my favorite tag team matches of 2016 so far.
In the main event, PWG World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. retained over Kyle O'Reilly. Afterward, Roderick Strong appeared and demanded he get his rematch right now. Last year, ZSJ vs Strong shortly after Wrestlemania 31 was my favorite PWG match of 2015 and ZSJ vs Strong 3 months later at EVOLVE in July 2015 was my favorite EVOLVE match of 2015 so it was great getting to see an impromtu match between them last night. The match featured lots of outside interference (the Bucks and Cole trying to help Strong win the title and Scrull and O'Reilly coming to the aid of Sabre Jr) and ZSJ retained.
Afterward, Strong gave his farewell speech to the crowd in a very emotional moment. PWG last night celebrated its 13th Anniversary and Strong pointed out he has been in PWG for 11 of those 13 years. Strong also mentioned it was PWG where he met his fiance MMA's Marina Shafir. Very few wrestlers (perhaps El Generico?) accomplished as much in PWG as Roderick Strong and he is going to be missed as he reportedly leaves for NXT.
After the show,I got my cards autographed of Marty Scurll (he even included a cool umbrella drawing next to his name) and Beretta (Trent's new Roppongi Vice card.) I am glad I was able to find a ticket to this show because it was great to finally see PWG again (my first show since the 2 All Star Weekend shows last March.) Now I am going to get some sleep before going to see the movie Jason Bourne tonight (I am hearing great things about the car chase on The Strip- a sequence that they actually shut The Strip down for 3 days to film earlier this year in January which after New Years is a slower time for Las Vegas.) Looking forward to going to BOLA in September!
