Los Angeles, California
March 1st, 2019
The 200th PWG show celebration.
PWG World Champion - Jeff Cobb
PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Rascals (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)
Commentators - Excalibur & Rick Knox
As of this writing, I'm a solid year behind on reviews, but got my hands on this early so I decided to go ahead and dive into it!
1) Jake Atlas vs. Jungle Boy vs. Trey Miguel
Trey Miguel is debuting and Atlas & Jungle Boy are still cutting their teeth, but all three men rocked it here. This reminded me a lot of the highly regarded Trevor Lee/Cedric Alexander/Andrew Everett three way from Mystery Vortex II in 2014. Just three fresh guys going out to make an impression and doing so very successfully. Crazy multi-man matches are a PWG tradition so this was a great way to kick off a show like this. Jungle Boy wins with a crucifix bomb on Trey Miguel. Sad he only has a few more appearances before going full time for AEW.
Match rating - ***1/2
2) Puma King vs. Laredo Kid
LUCHA. And good lucha. Two more new talents here, Puma has been around a few shows longer than Laredo Kid, but both are still very fresh to the eyes of the PWG faithful and thus this match felt pretty fresh. Just a simple showcase for both guys that played well to their style. One of those matches that leaves you wanting more and wondering what could be if they had an actual story behind it and more time. King wins via submission.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
Chuck Taylor is the only person on this show who was also on PWG's 100th show back in 2009. That's crazy to think about. This match was way better than expected and saw the return of fans actually beloving Chuckie T after letting go of the small grudge that developed amidst his second reign as PWG Champion early last year. This also had a lot of action packed into it and made for some good near falls in the last few minutes. Aussie Open didn't particularly impress, but they didn't look out of place either. Best Friends win.
Match rating - ***1/2
4) Darby Allin vs. Brody King
Holy crap this was nuts. Darby Allin is a madman. A coffin drop off the balcony moments in set the tone for this bizarre match that would see Darby use a skateboard in a number of ways in attempt to put down the bigger Brody King. This was loads of fun and continued the high quality pace of the show.
Match rating - ***3/4
5) Jonathan Gresham vs. David Starr
I am SO glad that Jon Gresham finally made it to PWG. This match, much like the opening few, felt like the old days of PWG when cards had insane variety that delivered. This reminded me of the super solid midcard matches Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly used to have monthly. Just a pure wrestling showcase. Gresham worked the arm the whole match in magnificent fashion. Starr tried to keep up and wrestle Gresham's style of match, but just couldn't hold it together. The Octopus overcomes.
Match rating - ***3/4
6) The Rascals (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) (c) vs. Lucha Bros (Penta El Cero M & Rey Fenix) vs. LAX (Ortiz & Santana) - PWG World Tag Team Title Match
The crowd is molten hot. Lots of people praised this highly, but the rough finish ruined it for me and also compared to a lot of PWG classic tags, this doesn't even compare. However, it is very fun for what it is and not bad by any means. Plus the post match stuff, whether it be planned or unplanned, with LAX attacking, disrespecting, and taunting the champions RULED.
Match rating - ***1/4
7) Jeff Cobb (c) vs. Bandido - PWG World Championship Match
This entire show felt entirely like an old school PWG gig and this was the perfect main event to top it off. Nothing out of this world or even must see, but a super solid showcase for both guys throwing their best at each other for the PWG Title. Bandido has gotten some critcism for singles/main event level matches, but this match showed he can hang in something that isn't just a spotfest because this was extremely well paced and didn't feel rushed at all and the crowd was into all of it. Not many PWG matches have checked all those boxes recently. This match was also a call back to the 2018 BOLA Finals where Cobb, Bandido, and Shingo Takagi battled for the trophy, although as of this writing I haven't seen that highly acclaimed match yet so I can't really compare. None the less, this was sick and the post-match was too, with Cobb telling Bandido that any time he wants another shot at the title to give him a call.
Match rating - ****
Overall thoughts: Really enjoyable show here that's definitely worth viewing. There's really not any complaints whatsoever. There's no MOTY contenders, but everything is good to great and easy to digest. I think Jon Gresham is easily going to be the next breakout star in PWG and is without a doubt my pick to win BOLA this year. I've been singing his praises for years so seeing him get these opportunities really excites me. And after Darby Allin's performance, I could easily see him making his way to the top of the card sooner rather than later. Allin/King, Bandido/Cobb, and Gresham/Starr are the matches you need to check out, but I'd give the whole event a recommendation.
Don't forget to follow @TheTeamPWG on Twitter and also order your copy of PWG's 200 event here!
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