PWG Failure To Communicate
Joey Ryan vs. Ryan Taylor
Another Joey Ryan match = another bunch of nothingness. Seriously, Joey’s matches this year in PWG have been by far the least enjoyable stuff in the company, bar B-Boy. Watched 5 minutes and skipped the rest because Ryan Taylor is shit, and Joey has never done much for me, but this year is on a whole other level. These matches literally have nothing to them. Best thing about this was Steen and Excalibur talking about tv shows on commentary and paying no attention to the match.
*
Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin
I really liked the first two thirds of this, with Elgin having an answer for everything Eddie did and kind of controlling it. The thing is though Elgin is really dull in control, and the match got better once Eddie made a comeback. After that though it drifted off into moves, moves and more moves. Eddie is a guy who comes off as genuinely likeable imo, and that sometimes helps his matches, and that was the case here despite him having the tendency to get too movesy. Really couldn’t care less about Elgin and the last third of the match, but this was better than the Davey/Elgin PWG match
***
RockNESS Monsters vs. Famous B & B-Boy
Yeah, I skipped this. Have no intention of ever watching a B-Boy match ever again unless Kawada decides to wrestle in PWG and faces him because he’s genuinely abysmal. Don’t care for RockNESS either this year.
Sami Callihan vs. Davey Richards
Wow. Genuinely shocked at this. It was actually really good for the majority. Starts off with strikes as I expected, but then both guys start going after the legs and it’s really good. Davey actually sells the leg for a bit before getting the advantage back and then he starts going after the leg, and it’s only when he gets really cocky and into it with the fans that Callihan gets his comeback going. They start hitting strikes and stuff, but that’s expected because it’s what both guys do, and I’m fine with it as long as they don’t forget about the limb work, and they never completely forget about it here which surprised me so much. Callihan kept going for the stretch muffler and apart from one part where Davey randomly goes after an armbar for no reason after working the leg, he goes back to the leg on more than a couple of occasions. If both guys don’t sell it too well occasionally, at least they go back to the submissions. Some genuinely terrible moments in the finishing run aside (Davey completely no selling a backdrop suplex and a lariat was really cringe worthy, and if it wasn‘t for that I might even rate this higher), this was really enjoyable imo and the leg work played into the finish which really adds to any match it happens in for me. Maybe it‘s because I expected something really bad, but I liked this a lot. Great crowd by the end too, and Davey’s best match in a long time.
***¾
Roderick Strong vs. Rich Swann
First time seeing Swann since I don’t watch any of the DG products he’s on, and he seems pretty good. Strong is just great here though. He’s so fucking good in his current PWG veteran role. He destroys Swann’s back and mid section and batters him with chops all over the place and it really is so much fun to watch. Swann sells it really well and gets some comebacks and hope spots in but Strong is always there to cut him off. Some parts looked kind of sloppy, but nothing that could really take much away from the match. Sick finish and another great Roderick midcard match.
***1/2
Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack
Cage looks fucking huge here. Anyway, match isn‘t good. Just two big guys hitting each other hard and with high impact moves, but neither of these guys (especially Cage) can have a good match without someone great in there with them, so it ends up just being two guys hitting random moves instead of a good ‘big man’ match. Callihan legit made me laugh a few times on commentary though so it was worth watching for that. Dull.
*½
Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega & El Generico
So. Much. FUN! Loved this. Omega came off as so much fucking better than almost everyone on the roster btw, excluding guys like Bucks and Generico. It's the way he carries himself, his mannerisms as well as his fluidity in the ring and his ability to string a combination or sequence together so much better. His time in Japan really has done wonders for him because he came off as a superstar in the PWG roster that the fans were amazed to see back in the ring. Starts off comedy based, the arm wrestling thing was awesome. Great control segment on Generico by Bucks, as if anything else was ever possible. Transition into the hot tag ruled completely. Finishing run is absolutely fantastic, awesome sequences and transitions, great selling by Generico, Bucks getting cocky costing them, some really good near falls and it never goes into overkill and finishes just at the right time. Finish is awesome as hell to boot. Brilliant tag match, and the best of the year, liked it more than the ladder match and the Guerilla warfare match. Loved it!
****¼+
Kevin Steen vs. Ricochet vs. Michael Elgin
Three guys hitting spots is really all this was and I didn’t care for it much. A few neat spots here and there mostly from Ricochet who was great as always. Why did Elgin have to wrestle twice? WHY? Steen/Ricochet match would have been so much better it’s unbelievable. This was just a bunch of meaningless stuff for the sake of it with nothing to elevate it. Steen didn’t even do any character stuff like he usually does and instead would just come in every once in a while and hit stuff. Same with the other two guys apart from the great start with Ricochet taking it to the big men after they pushed him aside.
**
Two great mid card matches and a brilliant tag semi main event aside, this was a weaker offering from PWG, but I still enjoyed myself when the matches were bad because, well, it’s PWG, and the crowd and commentary more often than not make up for it, so I can at least tolerate the matches and sit through them. But anyway, the tag match was superb, and we had another great Roderick veteran style match, with (imo) a great and surprising offering from Davey and Callihan (mostly Callihan). So, this show kind of made me like Callihan a little bit more if that counts for anything.