Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
“Matt Rushmore”
October 19, 2013
Reseda, California

We are back in familiar Reseda, California for the latest Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show!

We open with — A PROMO. The Mount Rushmore of Wrestling is in the ring with Excalibur and its filled with heel-y shenanigans and wrestling nostalgia including a mock nWo promo. Awesome.

B-Boy & Willie Mack vs. PPRay (Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas)

Pretty Peter and Ray Rosas open up acting all heely.  Crowd digs it.  Starts off a little slow until Big Willie and Rosas have a good exchange that results in Rosas getting pounced out of the ring.  Crowd gets real hot for this opener early.  B-Boy received a FANNY PACK OF DOOM shot to the head.  Final stretch of the match was fast paced.  Best parts of the match were Willie Mack, the hot crowd, and a drunken Roddy Strong on commentary.  Not a bad match, just didn’t get into it while sitting in my living room.  *3/4

Kevin Steen vs. ACH

Kevin Steen comes to the ring in ULTIMATE WARRIOR TASSLES.  Unfortunately, Steen refuses to shake the ropes.  ACH however, does, and pays for it as Steen jumps him early on.  Steen gives the face the early beat down and that would be the theme for most of the match.  Steen would beat ACH down, babyface comeback, thwarted by Steen.  Rinse, repeat.  Eventually, Steen would hit the Package Piledriver for the win.  Post-match heelishness as Steen Package Piledrives ACH another three times.  There is a much better match to be had between these two in a better program.  Hopefully, we see it down the road.  Pretty safe match here, really used to re-establish Steen and to establish the faction, a theme we’ll see throughout the rest of the show. ***-

Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. AR Fox & Rich Swan

Before the opening bell, we have a philosophical debate.  What exactly does the fox say?  Then a little D-Lo Brown and some Lionel Ritchie later and NOW, they start.  This match is full of comedy and high spots.  Crowd really got into it.  Chuck Taylor pins AR Fox after an Awful Waffle.  Not a bad match, just didn’t have much rhyme or reason to it.  However it was entertaining.  ***-

Brian Cage vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Anthony Nese vs. Drake Younger

EVERYBODY GETS THEIR SHIT IN!  Overall, pretty mindless, spotty, and botchy.  Drake wins with the Drake’s Landing.  I can’t say I wasn’t entertained.  I was.  Just tough to grade a match like this because it is, what it is.  **1/2

Johnny Gargano vs. Roderick Strong

A lot of silky smooth technical mat work early on.  Quickly, they get into a heated match.  Crowd is mixed.  Roddy works his backbreaker magic throughout the match.  Also, CHOPS N CHOPS N CHOPS!  Gargano showing that ALL HEART mantra he’s got going for him.  A ton of near falls and reversals.  Gargano gets Strong to tap out to the GargaNO Escape.  A very good match.  ***3/4+

The Young Bucks vs. Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan

Kevin Steen comes out with the Bucks and has his very own purple Young Bucks vest.  Yes, it was very tight, yet, stylish.  Match starts with Candice giving the Bucks a double dick driver move thingy.  Joey Ryan does a flippy thing to the outside.  Faces come out hot.  It should be noted right around now, Kevin Steen on commentary is glorious.  Faces seem to be thwarting the heels at every spot, only for the heels to escape.  Bucks get the win after hitting More Bang for Your Buck on Candice.  This was a pretty solid match.  Crowd really got into it, moreso than the usual Reseda hype.  Candice really #StoleTheShow.  ***1/2+

Adam Cole (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly

O’Reilly earned this title shot by winning the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles.  He’s very over as the babyface here.  Early stage of the match is your token lock up and dance complete with test of strength and unnecessary chain wrestling with near falls.  Sleazy Kyle makes a return early in the match much to the delight of everyone.  Cole works over O’Reilly’s knee for most of the first half of the match.  O’Reilly can’t mount a comeback and eats a lot of big moves from Cole.  In the latter stages, Riles finally starts to get the edge on offense and puts Cole in submission after submission only to be stymied.  O’Reilly will get Cole in a cross-arm breaker, which is how he won BOLA and OUT COMES THE HEELS.

Outside interference from The Bucks.  O’Reilly takes out The Bucks.  Cole hits the Panama Sunrise on O’Reilly after he comes back in the ring.  O’Reilly reverses after the pin attempt with another cross-arm breaker.  Kevin Steen hits the ring, breaks up the hold.  Referee Rick Knox tries to take out Steen but is put out of his misery.  Steen hits a Package Piledriver on O’Reilly and a new referee hits the ring as Cole pins O’Reilly to retain the title.  There is a much better match to be had between these two in this environment for the title.  The match had “run in” written all over it and it took away from it as I was expecting it the whole way.  ***1/2

Fans chant “THIS IS BULLSHIT!” as the heels do post-match heely things to Riles.  Swan and Fox run down to the ring, get escorted out by the Bucks.  Drake hits the ring and gets superkicked by The Bucks.  Faces come out in droves with chairs and the Heels bail.

Gargano grabs a mic and is pretty damn hammy in his promo.  He sets up Cole vs. Gargano for PWG All-Star Weekend.

Overall, a pretty tame show as nothing stands out.  This show is here just to establish the new heel faction and nothing more.  Laced in between the Mount Rushmore matches are some underwhelming, thrown together matches.  The Gargano-Strong match was…strong (no pun intended, seriously), but it wouldn’t be among the best the promotion has to offer this year.

  • The Buzz:  Matt Rushmore?  More like Meh Rushmore…AMIRITE?!?
  • Match of the Night: Johnny Gargano v. Roderick Strong

Order the show at http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/merch/2013/dvd0145.html.

Next up is PWG ALL STAR WEEKEND X on December 20 and it’s a LOADED show (as usual).

  • Chris Hero returns to PWG to take on Adam Cole for the PWG Title on Night One.  The winner of the match will wrestle Johnny Gargano for the title on Night 2 while the loser will face ACH.
  • More on Night One: ACH v. Michael Elgin, Mount Rushmore (The Bucks and Kevin Steen) vs. AR Fox, Ricochet and Rich Swan and Johnny Gargano vs. Davey Richards, if Davey is healthy and available, it could be his last appearance in PWG.
  • Night Two features Mount Rushmore vs. Candice, Joey, and Drake, Davey vs. Ricoche and AR Fox & Rich Swan v. The DojoBros.

Should be a fun weekend with a lot of big time matches!

Photos:  Some rights reserved by Anton Jackson