Monday, February 15, 2016

PWG: All Star Weekend 12 Preview

After much anticipation, PWG has announced the full cards for both nights of All Star Weekend 12 which will take place next month on March 4th & 5th.
 
NIGHT ONE:
 
 It was only a matter of time before this match happened and I'm personally looking forward to what should be a unique contest. (Much like all of Chuck Taylor's matches). Will the fact that Chuckie T referred to Trevor Lee as "fucking dumb" just two or three months into his PWG tenure give Lee some incentive to bring the unbridled fight to The Kentucky Gentleman? Or will we see a playful contest with both men's personalities on display?

Drew Galloway is coming off a failed attempt at wining the PWG World Title and Trent is coming off a loss to Chris Hero in a great match at BOWIE. Needless to say, both men need to rebound, but only one can do so here. These two have faced off previously in other promotions such as EVOLVE so it will be interesting to see who is able to pull out the win in Reseda.

 DREAM MATCH ALERT. This is a match that I've been wanting since Marty Scurll stepped foot into a PWG ring. Hero is still in the midst of one of the best runs of his career and Scurll is on fire as one of the driving forces in the British Wrestling resurgence. Both men are versatile in submissions & technical wrestling, which is what I'm hoping this match is based around. However, if Hero wants to put this thing away as quick as possible, we may see him turn to his strikes which he undoubtedly has an upperhand over Scurll on.

In a non title match and pick your poison contest of sorts, Roderick Strong faces friend of Zack Sabre Jr, Mark Andrews in route towards their meeting on Night 2. Mandrews is someone that the fans always enjoy watching, but I fear there won't be much excitement in this match from Andrews. These two are vastly different competitors. Roddy is hard hitting, action packed, and straight to the point while Andrews is flashy and exciting to watch. With Strong being pissed, like he almost always is, I don't see Andrews standing a chance as Roddy marches towards one of the biggest matches in PWG history. 

Roddy is facing one of Zack's friends, therefore Zack is facing one of Roddy's friends. That leads us here to a rematch from the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles where Zack Sabre Jr stunned fans by defeating Adam Cole in his first singles contest in PWG. Cole would make his PWG departure a few short months after this loss so he never got his chance for revenge...until now. Beyond that, being in cohorts with Roderick Strong almost promises this to be intense as you know Cole will not only be out for a victory, but also out to maim the #1 Contender to the PWG World Title.


ANOTHER dream match here as Kyle O'Reilly sees his first official match back in PWG since December of 2014. O'Reilly is a hybrid wrestler mixing MMA & Pro Wrestling much like Tommy End mixes Jui Jitsu & Pro Wrestling. This is an extreme clash of styles that I think will make for almost a shoot style match with loads of awesome striking. This is certainly going to be a spectacle to behold and may be the match I'm most excited about on Night One. Phew, this is gonna rule! 

The main event of Night One is the first match back for PWG World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks as they return from Japan. In their comeback, they face some foes they've been rivaling in Japan, Ricochet & Matt Sydal. Ricochet & Sydal have been teaming for around 6-8 months, but this will be their first time competing as a duo in PWG. Despite that, both men have had numerous partners in Reseda over the years and they also have one other thing in common, they've never held Pro Wrestling Guerrilla gold. In my opinion, this is a prime opportunity for both men to change that. Mount Rushmore 2.0's first big match of the weekend comes here as The Young Bucks defend against Ricochet & Sydal in what promises to be a barnburner!
 
NIGHT TWO:
Party Marty. The Kentucky Gentleman. It's gonna get wild, ladies & gentleman! Facing Chris Hero on Night One in what will undoubtedly be a clinic, this match will allow us to see the charismatic side of Marty Scurll that sets him apart and accentuates his wrestling ability. I have no clue what shenanigans these two are going to pull although I'm sure it's going to be something to behold.
 
Player Uno, one half of the Super Smash Bros, is back in PWG after over two years, but he's not the same man anymore. He's not even Player Uno as you probably already know, he's Evil Uno. In his return, he took the fight to Mike Bailey in the most vicious manner possible and I have a feeling Mark Andrews is going to get the same treatment. What a rough weekend this is gonna be for Mandrews as he faces Roderick Strong on Night One then has to face Evil Uno here on Night 2, lord help him! 
 
Much like the Galloway/Trent match on Night One, this is a contest where both men are trying to get back on track. Trevor Lee has been sort of drifting for the past 6 months, but this could be his chance to get back into title contention. The same goes for Galloway who has been positioned very well since debuting in PWG. With Roddy/Sabre finally going down, the singles matches on all these shows are very important in determining who will be challenging for the PWG Title in the coming summer. 
 

 One hell of an opportunity for Trent? here as he faces Adam Cole for the first time. This could honestly be seen as a virtual #1 Contender's match considering the track record Cole has had since returning to PWG. He owns victories over Mike Bailey & Andrew Everett, among others and is undoubtedly in line for a title shot since he never even got a rematch when he originally lost the title in the summer of 2014. Trent? is getting his first singles run since his first few shows in PWG and this weekend and this match in particular will be a huge determining factor as to what's next for one half of the Best Friends.
 

Depending on the outcome of Night One's main event, this COULD end up being a PWG World Tag Team Title Match. BUT, the match is happening regardless and that's something to get stoked about because it's a very fresh contest. The only two people in this match that have touched previously are Chris Hero & Matt Sydal who met in 2014 in the Battle of Los Angeles. Other than that we've never seen a Hero/Ricochet, End/Ricochet, or Sydal/End pairing which is pretty shocking when you considering how long Hero & Ricochet have been in the promotion and the marketing value of all the aforementioned matches. These two teams are vastly different in style, but the bottom line is that they're all amazing wrestlers, so I have no doubt that this will tear the house down.
 
OH. MY. GOD. The tag team feud that has dominated the East Coast of America & Japan has finally come to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. It's shocking to think that it never happened since O'Reilly & The Bucks were major parts of PWG for many years, but with O'Reilly being primarily a singles competitor during his run prevented this from ever taking place. Bobby Fish will be making his first appearance in Reseda since his short lived run with the promotion in late 2014 and what a phenomenal way to come back. These two teams delivered the Match of the Year for ROH for two years in a row in 2014 & 2015, just imagine what they're going to do in front of the best crowd in wrestling. Hold on to your seats, folks!
 
This is it. The match the entire weekend has been built around. A rematch from arguably the best match of PWG in 2015. A boiling feud comes to a head as the most popular man in PWG goes toe to toe with the villainous champion, Roderick Strong. Fans have wanted this match more & more as time went on and when Sabre won the 2015 BOLA Tournament, it was set in stone only for Roddy to add more fuel to the fire by taunting ZSJ and making he & the fans wait. As lame as it was to have to wait on this to finally happen, I have to say it added even more anticipation to this contest and will in turn make it even more special. This is probably the biggest match in PWG since Cole/O'Reilly in 2014 or the Steen/Generico days and I have a feeling it could easily match or surpass what those two feuds delivered to us. It's gonna be special and I can't wait to see what I feel will be the crowning of a new World Champion.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Ethan. I just stumbled upon your blog today. Real good stuff. Would you have any interest in writing for www.socaluncensored.com We could use a good writer who follows PWG closely. email me Jay(dot)Cal(at)socaluncensored(dot)com

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