PWG: All Star Weekend 11 - Night One Review

After months of waiting, All Star Weekend 11 began shipping this week and arrived at my doorstep exactly one day after the shipping date. On December 11th & 12th, PWG held their year end finale for 2015 in the form of these two events. If you keep up with social media, you've likely heard about all the craziness that took place however this is a review and I'm not spoiling anything right out of the gate. We're taking a look at this event with a clean slate as I've tried to avoid as many spoilers as possible by not watching the previews and such.

None the less, Night One is headlined by a PWG World Title Match that is 10 years in the making as Roderick Strong defends against Matt Sydal nearly a decade after their first much talked about meeting in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. A match that also took place at All Star Weekend, the 3rd edition, to be exact.

On top of that, you've got the return of long time PWG favorite Kenny Omega as well as the continuation of the British Invasion that began at BOLA with Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay, and Mark Andrews all back for their second set of PWG events.

PWG World Champion - Roderick Strong - Since: Black Cole Sun (December 2014)

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks - Since: Mystery Vortex III (June 2015)

Commentary - Excalibur, Joey Ryan, & Chuck Taylor

1) Chuck Taylor vs. Mark Andrews
Extremely fun way to start the show here. Chuckie T played the big man for the first time, like, ever so much so that Excalibur referred to him as wrestling like Kevin Nash. I wouldn't exactly go that far, but I will say it was a nice change of pace. The Kentucky Gentleman remained a fan favorite here despite throwing Mark Andrews around like a small child and even taunting the fans at some points. After a few months out of the PWG limelight early in 2015, Chuck is back as a regular and just as entertaining as ever, PWG just isn't the same without him. He hasn't been in the promotion for 8 years for nothing! Lots of back and forth action here, but in the end the Awful Waffle gives Chuck the win over Mandrews and draws a huge pop from the crowd.

Match rating - ***

2) Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll



Ricochet grabs a Santa hat from the audience to start this one off in a light hearted manner however it's only momentarily as Scurll grabs it, stomps it, and flips off the crowd. I guess his nickname isn't just a catchy moniker! Scurll continued this aggressive, cocky style throughout the match although Ricochet was still able to get his flashy offense in on the regular. The Villain caught him sleeping on a few occassions though and it made for some truly jaw dropping moments such as Ricochet springing off the second turnbuckle for a cutter only to get caught in the chicken wing submission IN MID AIR. I legitimately jumped out of my seat when that happened. Ricochet managed to escape and muster Scurll up and nail him with a spinning driver for a two count. The benadryller proved to be the best calling card for The Future of Flight just moments after this, as he hit the manuever and put down Scurll for the three. Really good match.

Match rating - ***1/2

3) Michael Elgin & Brian Cage vs. The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards)
A trio of returns in this tag team match as BIG MIKE and Davey & Eddie are making their first appearances in over a year. It was at All Star Weekend X in 2013 that The Wolves had their farewell and left for TNA while Elgin's departure was in an anti-climatic manner following the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles. All three men get good receptions before getting down to business with Elgin & Richards standing toe to toe to start things off. This was an intense moment that brough flashbacks of their meeting in the main event of BOLA 2012. It wasn't until things got underway that I remembered the history that all these man have in singles contest as Cage & Eddie have also faced off previously in Reseda as Edwards defeated Cage at Threemendous III in 2012. Despite all the backstory and sensational feeling here, the match felt like it lacked that special something to exceed from being just a regular tag match. They did all their signature stuff, but it felt like just that - stuff. The crowd's attention went in and out as did mine. The stiff, hard hitting action was there though, it just lost intrigue at points. Elgin & Cage pick up the victory in their return match after a flurry of huge power moves. THEM BOYS ARE FUCKING MACHINES!

Match rating - **3/4

4) Sami Callihan vs. Drew Gulak
Drew Gulak showed up unannounced and as he's standing in the ring, none other than SAMI FUCKING CALLIHAN comes running from the back into the ring. HUGE POP! There's nothing like a PWG return! Callihan takes the fight right to Gulak, sends him to the outside and hits a dive to the floor. This basically ends up being a prolonged squash as Gulak got some offense in however the crowd really wasn't buying it so it didn't get much of a reaction. Callihan hits most of his signature manuevers before forcing Gulak to tap to the Stretch Muffler in it's second attempt. Awesome moment in the form of Sami's return and after the match, he only has one thing to see "I've been locked in a cage for two and a half years, but the Callihan Death Machine is back!"

Match rating - **1/2

5) Trevor Lee vs. Will Ospreay
OOOOOOOHHH DADDY! We got the goods here. Trevor Lee jumped Ospreay before the bell in a moment that displayed a true shift in character for the Carolina Caveman. Excalibur suggested that the Mount Rushmore feud beat a little attitude into Lee and it must have because he was a pure prick in this match. I loved it. Lee took the fight to Ospreay and shut down his attempts at showing off for the Reseda audience who was waiting to eat up the unique offense The Aerial Assasin is known for. Lee jawed at Ospreay as well as the fans and took advantage of them both at times when he'd tell the fans to move only to throw Ospreay back in the ring and give the audience a middle finger for their troubles. Lee's offense was super crisp here, he hit one of the best bridging snap german suplexes I've ever seen for a near fall during his time in control of things Once Ospreay began mounting a comeback, these two delivered one hell of a closing half. I just loved everything about this match, really. It honestly shocked me because when you look at things on paper and take in that both these guys are only 22, you realize this could easily go overboard or get sloppy in execution, but this was damn near flawless. Everything was spaced out well and had time to breath which garnered the perfect reaction for the big spots/exchanges. AGH. I enjoyed the hell out of this. Match of the night.

Match rating - ****

6) Kenny Omega vs. Mike Bailey
My heart can't handle this. From Lee/Ospreay to THIS! A dream match with two of the most unique stars today, one from the past of PWG, one from the present, with Chuck Taylor on commentary?! I'm gonna die, but at least it'll be a happy final few minutes for me! I knew this was going to be golden as soon as Chuck yelled "PUT ON SOME SHOES, YOU PERVERT" towards Mike Bailey in the early going. BAH GAWD! This match really embodied all the things that I like so much about Pro Wrestling Guerilla. You had the comedy, antics, and entertainment, but you also had wrestling like you won't see anywhere else. Omega & Bailey end up fighting through the crowd and The Cleaner grabs a trash can which is put to good use by both men. Omega brings it into the ring and tosses it at Speedball, he ducks, and RICK KNOX GETS NAILED WITH THE PLASTIC TRASH CAN! Omega takes this opportunity to powerbomb Bailey on the trash can then literally throw it "sneakily" into the crowd. From this point forward, Omega went to work on the knee before bringing in a chainsaw. And yes, this time it wasn't the invisible chainsaw, it was in physical form. I fired the bad boy up and got Reseda out of their seats as he went to work on the head of Bailey before going back to the knee. The work on the knee got pretty vicious and almost hindered Bailey's eventual comeback as he hobbled across the ring amidst his running kick attempts. Speedball would end up biting himself in the ass when going for a number of knee drop variations as Omega had them all scouted. This gave us several cringy moments of Bailey landed knee first on the mat with full impact, once from the top rope, even. Omega goes for the Croyt's Wrath in the late moments of the contest only for Bailey to nail a reverserana for a close fall. After a heated exchange of kicks & knees, Omega hoists Bailey up and delivers the One Winged Angel for the victory. Highly entertaining match, but it didn't beat out Lee/Ospreay for me.

Match rating - ***3/4

7) The Young Bucks (c) vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa - PWG World Tag Team Title Match
Gargano & Ciampa's time in NXT is the target of Nick Jackson's pre match promo as he promises to "go Full Sail on your asses" before he & Matt attempt a double superkick. They're caught in the act and Gargano & Ciampa go on the attack to start things off. The match kicks off in chaotic fashion like most Bucks matches. This was your typical action packed Young Bucks PWG contest, but with Gargano & Ciampa not being huge top babyfaces and The Bucks being so likable, it was hard to get heavily into the match from a competitive standpoint so this basically came off as an exhibition. They revisited the Ciampa thumb in the ass spot from BOLA which was hilarious. Knox got pulled out of the ring at one point during a near fall and Matt threw at chair at Gargano's face as he was diving into the ring. Surprisingly, Gargano kicked out of the Indy Taker tandem tombstone piledriver and locked Matt in the Gargano Escape whilst Ciampa hit Nick with a death valley driver on the ring apron. Matt would roll out of the submission, however, and roll Gargano's shoulders onto the mat for the three count to retain the titles.

Match rating - ***1/4

8) Roderick Strong (c) vs. Matt Sydal - PWG World Title Match
Roddy is so good right now. The fans absolutely hate him and it shows as he gets into several confrontations at ringside in the early going. The match starts out slow which probably comes as no surprise considering these two know each other very well. Roddy uses his strength and brutality to keep the upperhand. Sooner or later, they go into some cool exchanges such as Roddy going for a backbreaker and Sydal flipping out into a dragonrana for a near fall. There was also a moment where Roddy went for a sick kick, Sydal followed him in, and came flying out with a reverse rana that slung Roddy across the ring. Hot final few minutes that brought a somber crowd back to their feet. Roddy ends it with a sick kick that plants Sydal on his head and the End of Heartache to retain the World Title.

Match rating - ***1/4

Post match, The Young Bucks come out to celebrate with Roddy and they superkick Sydal out of the ring. Strong gets on the mic and tells Zack Sabre Jr that he will fight him on his own terms, not Zack's. Out of nowhere, Mike Bailey, Candice LeRae, & Joey Ryan pour into the ring from the back to attack Mount Rushmore. They're three of the challengers in tomorrow night's Guerrilla Warfare match. Candice lands a ballsplex and Joey gets his iron dick spot. It looks like the babyfaces will stand tall until the lights go out. They come back on and it's Super Dragon? Or no? It's someone in a Super Dragon costume. He puts the mic up to his face as Bailey, Candice & Joey look confused. The words uttered could only belong to one man - "Suck my dick!"

ADAM FUCKING COLE IS BACK IN PWG! He returns 364 days after his last appearance at Black Cole Sun last December! Neckbreaker on the knee to Candice, double superkicks to Bailey & Joey. Reseda is on fire and does the "Adam Cole Bay Bay" line with the returning former World Champion. Roddy is looking on in the corner as Cole picks up his title belt. The four eventually pose together, but Roddy looks unhappy.

Backstage, Roddy says this is bullshit and that he doesn't trust Cole however he still trusts the Bucks. We also learn that Adam Cole is filling in for Super Dragon during Guerilla Warfare tomorrow night.