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PWG All Star Weekend 11 Night 1 took place on December 11th 2015. The show has only recently been released on DVD and can be ordered at www.highspots.com.
Onto results from the show which as usual took place in Reseda California.
Chuck Taylor defeated Mark Andrews
This was a really good opener. I'm not the biggest Chuckie T fan, but he wrestled a great match here. This was a good opener that didn't have a million near falls, but told a good story to start the show. Andrews started flying around the ring with hurricanrana's and armdrags, until Taylor tripped him and grounded him. Taylor hit lots of power moves including a nice butterfly suplex and a falcon arrow. Andrews got back into it by taking to the air, but Taylor would cut him off with more big moves like a pop up powerbomb. Excalibur joked on commentary that Taylor thought he was Kevin Nash. Andrews hit an awesome looking moonsault into a tornado DDT and a tilt a whirl into a bulldog. He missed a shooting star press and Taylor hit the Awful Waffle to pick up the win. Taylor wrestles very few singles matches in PWG, so it was surprising to see him get the win.
Ricochet defeated Marty Scurll
This was a good match pitting traditional wrestler vs high flyer. Scurll is one of the best kept secrets in pro wrestling and one of the most improved over the last couple of years. He is great at interacting with the crowd and getting a reaction by doing little villainous things. His Chicken Wing is so over that the crowd go nuts anytime he even hints at doing it. This was a great back and forth match. Ricochet was really impressive without going all out and taking to the air with all sorts of crazy dives. Sometimes Ricochet comes across like he doesn't care. He's that good, he can just sail through and it often looks like he's not bothering and is just there for the fun of it. He hit lots of nice strikes and his usual combos of moves. He got a great near fall when he hit a swinging revere Bloody Sunday. Scurll countered a benydriller by grabbing and twisting at the fingers of Ricochet before locking on the Chickenwing. Ricochet escaped and hit a combo of kicks followed by a Benydriller to get the pin.
The Unbreakable F'N Machines (Michael Elgin & Brian Cage) defeated The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards)
This saw three returns to PWG as Elgin returned for the first time in over a year and it has been two years since The Wolves appeared in PWG. This was a really hard hitting match that probably went too long. Cage tends to get exposed and look messy in longer matches. There was lots of hard striking. Cage & Elgin used their power. Once the Wolves started using their double team they were able to isolate Cage. Cage & Elgin isolated Edwards for a time. It was great to see Elgin & Richards renew their old rivalry. Edwards was hitting stiff chops, Cage hit discus lariats on both Wolves. Cage & Elgin hit stereo deadlift superplexes which almost broke the ring. Cage & Elgin almost killed Edwards to win this. Cage hit an F5, followed by a deadlift German from Elgin, then a wheelbarrow neckbreaker from Cage and finally an Elgin Bomb as Elgin pinned Edwards. It's great to see all these guys back in PWG.
Sami Callihan defeated Drew Gulak
This was a surprise Callihan return only a week or two after he left WWE. Gulak was in the ring and Callihan ran into the ring, took off his hood, the place went nuts, he hit a bicycle kick and we were off. The intensity of this was insane and it kept up until the end of the match. The brawled around ringside with Callihan chopping the hell out of Gulak. Back in the ring Callihan hit some face wash style kicks to Gulak as he sat in the corner. Gulak hit a piledriver and a backdrop driver that had Callihan land on his head. Callihan hit a Liger Bomb and transitioned into a Stretch Muffler, but Gulak escaped. Gulak had Callihan in an ankle lock, but he got to the ropes. Callihan spat at Gulak, which pissed Gulak off. This ended up with Callihan stomping on the head of Gulak and locking him in the Stretch Muffler to force him to tap out. After the match Callihan took the mic and said he was locked in a cage for two and a half years, but now the Death Machine is back. I don't know why this side of Callihan never came out in NXT, but it's great to see him back on the indies. Very few have the intensity that Callihan does. This was a great sprint.
Trevor Lee defeated Will Ospreay
This was an awesome match between two of wrestling's most incredible youngsters. Lee played the heel and went after Ospreay before the bell. Lee taunted the crowd by making everyone move at ringside only to throw Lee back in the ring. He teased a flip, but instead did a delicate forwards roll into a pin. The pin point accuracy of Ospreay is amazing. He is so smooth even when he does the riskiest of moves. He hit the Essex Destroyer (a flipping DDT), followed by a dive over the ringpost. He went for a handspring, but Lee caught him with the flipping cross body and pinned him with the small package driver. The finish was like something from a video game. The future of wrestling is in great hands with these two.
Kenny Omega defeated 'Speedball' Mike Bailey
This was incredible. This was the first time Omega has appeared as The Cleaner in PWG and he brought all the ridiculous over the top mannerisms and moves that we have come to know in NJPW, including the trash can. Speedball trapped Omega in the can and hit him with kicks. Omega then brilliantly targeted the leg of Bailey. And not just the leg, but the chin that Bailey kicks with, because why wouldn't you. Omega even stripped off the kick pad and bit the chin. Omega then one upped the chainsaw move that he has used in PWG and brought a toy chain saw into the match. Bailey came back and hit lots of kicks, while still selling the damage to his leg, which was really well done. Omega was closing in on a finish until Speedball countered the One Winged Angel into a reverse rana followed by the Shooting Star Knee Drop for an amazing near fall. Omega hit some vicious knee strikes and Bailey caught Omega with two roll ups that the whole crowd bought. Omega got the win with the One Winged Angel. Omega made Speedball look like a star here. This was awesome and one of the best matches of Bailey's career so far.
The Young Bucks defeated Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
This was a really good tag match. It was a strange match when you think about it being NJPW/ROH guys vs NXT guys in a PWG ring. Gargano hit a suicide dive as Ciampa had one of The Bucks on his shoulders. The Bucks worked over Gargano for a while until Ciampa got the tag and "checked the oil" of The Bucks. The match could have done without that. He and Ciampa had some nice double team. Matt caught Gargano as he went for his slingshot spear, and Nick came off the top with a Senton, which was a really cool spot. Gargano accidentally superkicked the ref and The Bucks brought a chair into play. The Bucks hit four 450 splashes on Ciampa, but Gargano broke up the pin. Ciampa cut off an Indytaker and Gargano countered into a Garga-No Escape. The Bucks did hit the Indytaker, but Gargano kicked out and turned it into the Garga-No Escape again as Ciampa hit an Air Raid Crash to Nick on the apron. Matt then rolled through the submission and pinned Gargano. People kicking out of the Indytaker completely kills the move and that hurt the ending of the match for me.
PWG World Championship
Roderick Strong defeated Matt Sydal
This was a fantastic championship match. Sydal & Strong are both arguably on their best ever runs right now and this was just a really well worked match with a classic champions vs challenger story. Strong controlled Sydal with lots of power moves. He just tossed Sydal around almost as if he was making moves up as he went along. Sydal hit all his usual offence as he got back into it. There were some great strike exchanges between them. Sydal incredible countered the End of Heartache into hurricanrana pin. Strong went for the Sick Kick, but Sydal instead hit a step up reverse rana. He missed a Shooting Star Press, landed on his feet and ate a Sick Kick. Strong then hit the End of Heartache to retain. This was a great match and a dominant win for Strong while making Sydal look good in the process.
After the match The Young Bucks and Strong attacked Sydal and fought off Joey Ryan, Candice LeRae and Mike Bailey, who Mount Rushmore 2.0 face on the second night of All Star Weekend. Super Dragon appeared and unmasked to reveal himself to be Adam Cole. The place obviously went nuts, making this a really cool moment. The story is that The Bucks didn't tell Strong Cole was joining the group, so Strong doesn't trust Cole. It's great to see that ROH & PWG have came to an agreement, because it makes everything more fun for everyone involved.
As always with PWG, the standard of wrestling is so high that even a passable match in PWG would be a great match anywhere else. The standout matches here were Lee/Ospreay, Omega/Bailey & Strong/Sydal. Overall it was another great show from PWG.
Coverage of Night Two is on, well, page 2!
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