BRM Reviews PWG Matt Rushmore

[Big Red Machine]

PWG Matt Rushmore (10/19/2013)- Reseda, CA

OPENING SEGMENT- The show opened with Mt. Rushmore of Pro Wrestling (Kevin Steen, the Young Bucks, & Adam Cole) in the ring with Excalibur. They seem to have interrupted him or something. They then ripped open a plastic bag full of empty beer cans, which got them heat from the live crowd for some reason. PWG really should consider showing us the entrances and maybe giving us some commentary for segments like this so I don’t feel like I just tuned in in the middle of a segment and feel completely lost. Coel did manage to toss one up win the air and give it a superkick that sent it flying right into Excalibur’s face as he was standing in the corner across the ring. That was pretty awesome.

Then they start to cut promos. Steen says something that I couldn’t make out. The Bucks call Joey Ryan a “weak, feminine whore” and disrespect Excalibur. Steen gets into an argument with the janitor, Legion Larry, and winds up giving his broom an elbow drop, a la Ric Flair.
Excalibur says that they shouldn’t be disrespecting PWG and Joey Ryan because Joey is a founder of PWG and PWG made all of their careers. He also calls them out for disrespecting recycling. He says that while they were cutting their promos, he was texting with the Board of Directors and informs them that the Board of Directors have decided to make the Young Bucks match against Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae tonight a title match, and with Rick Knox as the referee, which got a huge pop. You’ve got to hand it to PWG with this one. It’s not often that an announcement that the Senior Referee will be the referee for a title match is met with a monstrous pop.
The heels intimidate Excalibur into leaving the ring (Cole tells him that if it wasn’t for Steen, the Bucks would “kick that stupid mask off of your face. Cole then said they would all win their matches and that he would prove that he was the one carried Kyle O’Reilly when they were a team. A good segment, but there were some times when I was completely confused about what was going on. I get that PWG is a great live experience, but would it really be so much work to show us fans at home the entire segment?

WILLIE MACK & B-BOY vs. P-P-RAY (“Pretty” Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas)- 5.25/10
This was your standard PWG tag match that doesn’t mean anything and they do way too much. Roderick even complained about it on commentary a bit. After one particularly poor looking spot, Excalibur decided to just call it like he saw it “B-Boy taken down by a hurricanra. Not very convincingly, though.”

KE VIN STEEN vs. ACH- 7.5/10
Steen came out with Ultimate Warrior tassels, and Excalibur told us that he had been “engaging in some pantomime.” Steen doing Warrior’s entrance seems like it would be hilarious. Unfortunately we’ll never get to see it, because, for some inexplicable reason, PWG doesn’t show the entrances.
At one point Steen goes over to a fan and tells him “I’m your father.” He goes to beat ACH up some more, then walks back over to the fans and adds “and I’m very disappointed in you!” AWESOME!
Steen also randomly called WWE developmental wrestler Sami Zayn a “damn bitch,” which really wasn’t cool. They’ve never even met, and yet Steen just seems to hate this guy. You’d think Steen would be happy with Zane for getting big by stealing El Generico’s moves, but apparently not.
Unfortunately, after the match, we got the most disturbing chant I have ever heard at a wrestling show: “TWERK STEEN TWERK! Another unfortunate event that took place after the match was Steen attacking ACH.

AR FOX & RICH SWANN vs. BEST FRIENDS (Chuck Taylor & Trent?)- 6.5/10
On commentary, Steen explains his reasons for turning heel and joining up with Cole and the Young Bucks.

BRIAN CAGE vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA vs. TONY NESE vs. DRAKE YOUNGER- 7.25/10
Crazy action the whole way through.

RODERICK STRONG vs. JOHNNY GARGANO- 7.25/10

PWG WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Young Bucks(c) vs. Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae- 6.75/10
The match starts with Candice, a babyface, jumping the heels from behind by giving them simultaneous one-handed ballplexes. That is a great spot… but it absolutely should not have been the first thing that happened in the match.
They also just shined Joey and (especially) Candice WAY too hard. They did tons of cool spots that would have been absolutely awesome later on in the match, but instead they just did them right in the beginning.
At one point Joey Ryan hit a ballplex on one of the Bucks (although he claimed it was a “vagina-plex”). The crowd was hot and bought into all of the nearfalls, the Bucks pulled out one or two cool new moves and found some new ways to set up for some of their old stuff, but this really could have been a lot more than it was.
I was also extremely disappointed at Joey and Candice’s teamwork. They have been enemies for so long and now PWG has this fantastic opportunity to tell a story about them having to work together despite having spent the past three years basically sexually harassing each other under the pretense of a wrestling match (by the way, the Boob-plex is the most ingenious move ever invented. You have my respect, Joey Ryan), and they didn’t do anything with it at all. Joey and Candice are just another tag team with matching gear and both wearing t-shirts that show a cartoon version of Candice having kissed a cartoon version of Joey on the cheek. Very disappointing.

PWG WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Cole(c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly- 8/10
Kyle hit Nigel McGuinness’ rebound lariat for a HUGE pop. Kyle worked over Cole’s arm while Cole worked over Kyle’s leg. The heel finish got great heat. Mr. Rushmore beat Kyle down after the match. Swann and Fox try to make the save, but get beaten down. Drake Younger then came out and tried to help but he got beaten down, too. Then a whole bunch of guys, including Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano, Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae came out and finally chased the heels off. Gargano cuts a promo on the heels and challenges Cole to a PWG World Title match.

A great show from PWG.


AWESOME COMMENTARY MOMENT:
1. “I’m just gonna take my pants off and choke him”- Roderick Strong

[cero2k]

Steen came out with Ultimate Warrior tassels, and Excalibur told us that he had been “engaging in some pantomime.” Steen doing Warrior’s entrance seems like it would be hilarious. Unfortunately we’ll never get to see it, because, for some inexplicable reason, PWG doesn’t show the entrances.

just wondering, do you actually not know why they don't show the entrances?

[Big Red Machine]

Steen came out with Ultimate Warrior tassels, and Excalibur told us that he had been “engaging in some pantomime.” Steen doing Warrior’s entrance seems like it would be hilarious. Unfortunately we’ll never get to see it, because, for some inexplicable reason, PWG doesn’t show the entrances.

just wondering, do you actually not know why they don't show the entrances?

I heard that it was because they use people's music illegally (which used to be standard fare on the indy's), and they don't want to get sued. Indies that are on PWG's level (in terms of main-streaminess, I mean) haven't really actually worried about this problem. ROH was still using music without permission when they were on regular PPV.

[cero2k]

Steen came out with Ultimate Warrior tassels, and Excalibur told us that he had been “engaging in some pantomime.” Steen doing Warrior’s entrance seems like it would be hilarious. Unfortunately we’ll never get to see it, because, for some inexplicable reason, PWG doesn’t show the entrances.

just wondering, do you actually not know why they don't show the entrances?

I heard that it was because they use people's music illegally (which used to be standard fare on the indy's), and they don't want to get sued. Indies that are on PWG's level (in terms of main-streaminess, I mean) haven't really actually worried about this problem. ROH was still using music without permission when they were on regular PPV.

yeah, pretty much. this is from PWG's FAQ page

Code: Select all

2. Why don't the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla DVDs have entrances? I really like the way ________ walks when he/she/it comes to the ring.

An excellent question, and a topic covered in great detail. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla DVDs do not feature ring entrances because of our contract with Highspots (our distributor) which states specifically that we cannot use music on our DVDs that we do not posses the license to. That means, like, every song.

[Big Red Machine]

just wondering, do you actually not know why they don't show the entrances?

I heard that it was because they use people's music illegally (which used to be standard fare on the indy's), and they don't want to get sued. Indies that are on PWG's level (in terms of main-streaminess, I mean) haven't really actually worried about this problem. ROH was still using music without permission when they were on regular PPV.

yeah, pretty much. this is from PWG's FAQ page

Code: Select all

2. Why don't the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla DVDs have entrances? I really like the way ________ walks when he/she/it comes to the ring.

An excellent question, and a topic covered in great detail. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla DVDs do not feature ring entrances because of our contract with Highspots (our distributor) which states specifically that we cannot use music on our DVDs that we do not posses the license to. That means, like, every song.

That's kind of odd. Highspots sells old ROH, IWA-MS and other DVDs and they used to use music they don't have the rights to.

[cero2k]

That's kind of odd. Highspots sells old ROH, IWA-MS and other DVDs and they used to use music they don't have the rights to.

i guess the difference is that ROH makes their own DVDs and HS just resells them, while HS actually produces the PWG DVDs

[Big Red Machine]

That's kind of odd. Highspots sells old ROH, IWA-MS and other DVDs and they used to use music they don't have the rights to.

i guess the difference is that ROH makes their own DVDs and HS just resells them, while HS actually produces the PWG DVDs

That could do it.