by onlxn » Sun May 07, 2006 12:54 am
Looks to be a decent crowd here in La Habra Heights - 350, maybe. Show starts 20 minutes late, with the announcement that Los Luchas won't be here. I love those guys, but as no-shows go, could've been worse...
1) Rocky Romero beats T.J. Perkins with a German suplex hold (lots of nice mat stuff, as expected, but more stiff shots and intensity than you usually see from either guy in PWG; best either guy's looked here in a while, and certainly the best opener PWG's had in months)
2) Austin Aries beats Chris Sabin with a handful of tights (shockingly great comedy match, built around Aries's Savage shtick, double-axehandle to the floor and all; dragged a wee bit, but good fun)
Joey Ryan interview - Joey announces he's not defending the belt tonight, and instead wants a tag match. Weird. He introduces his partner, SCORPIO SKY (w/ Jade Chung). Good gay-ass heel fun, including a knock-knock joke:
Sky: "Who's there?"
Joey: "Your pal Joey. And he'll always be there for ya."
Joey calls out B-Boy, who in turn predictably introduces his partner, FRANKIE KAZARIAN. Frankie runs down the heels, including the comment that "Jade's screwed more black guys than Hurricane Katrina." Yikes! Dino comes out and says that the match is happening (which seems a bit obvious already), and...
3) B-Boy & Frankie Kazarian beat Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky; Frankie pins Joey after a B-Boy Shining Wizard (faces put heels in man-love positions, heels cheat to take control of Frankie, B-Boy kills everyone on his hot tag; very good for what it was, and helped heat up Joey/B-Boy, but they shouldn't have advertised the title match for tonight)
Afterwards, Frankie asks for a title shot, which pisses off B-Boy; Dino comes out and announces that Frankie is the #1 Contender. Afterwards, Scorp surprises Frankie with a STIFF chairshot to the head. Scorp then announces that he's going to do what Vince McMahon couldn't, and CUTS OFF FRANKIE'S PONYTAIL! Big surprise there. Tornado and B-Boy make the save, and this epic segment ends; would seem that we're still a few shows away from B-Boy's title win...
Steen and Danielson are out. Steen demands that Danielson sing "Happy Birthday" to him; Danielson says he will if Steen beats him, BUT makes Steen promise to leave PWG forever if he loses. Steen accepts. Ooh-key...
4) Bryan Danielson beats Kevin Steen with a Tiger Suplex into a crucifix (an intense, serious match, with the weird stip adding drama; like most PWG matches, a couple minutes longer than it should've been, but very good and certainly MOTN thus far)
Afterwards, Dino comes out and asks Danielson if he really wants the stip upheld. Great line from Steen: "If you take this away from me, all I'll have left is CZW, and I don't want that..." (breaking down)
Danielson polls the Steen-lovin' crowd and decides to let Steen stay, IF Steen sings "Happy Birthday" to Danielson while doing the Booty Dance. SILLYSTIPMANIA IN LA HABRA HEIGHTS!! Steen: "Between CZW and the booty dance... I'll take the booty dance." After some coaching from Dino, Steen complies, with a Worm thrown in to boot, and his PWG career is saved. This was all good fun, but another loooong segment, and the first four matches have eaten up over two hours already. Intermission now...
5) Super Dragon, Alex Koslov & Ronin beat Disco Machine, Nemesis & Bino Gambino (fun stuff, with SD cruelly mauling Bino; SD was awesome, and Bino was good too, but I think Koslov may have been the star of the match)
6) The Human Tornado beats "Classic" Colt Cabana with a small package (a sloppy, all-over-the-place, joyous comedy match, and I could watch these two fight forever; if you like silly fun matches at all, you should check this out)
Time for the main, which will still be an eight-man tag. Dino randomly draws names out of a mask for Cape Fear's partners. It's gonna be Arrogance and the Kings of Wrestling versus Cape Fear, Kevin Steen, and...
...fucking awesome...
SUPER DRAGON! SD and Steen are already tearing into each other, and this shit is on like TRON...
7) Arrogance (Scott Lost & Chris Bosh) & The Kings Of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) beat Cape Fear (El Generico & Quicksilver), Kevin Steen & Super Dragon; Bosh pins Generico after a Steiner Screwdriver (fun main, but not as hateful as I hoped, as Steen & Dragon largely got along; goddamn, the Kings of Wrestling are fun)
Really good show. No MOTYCs or nuthin', but every match was worthwhile and the card flowed nicely. More thoughts later...