PWG: LEMMY Review

Date: January 2nd, 2016

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

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

Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Hero, & Drew Gulak

The first show of 2016.

1) Brian Cage vs. Chris Dickinson

"I wonder if Chris Dickinson and Rick Knox share the same barber." - Excalibur

Cage was originally supposed to be facing Angelico here, but a minor injury kept the beloved luchador from competing on this particular weekend. SO, Cage got a new opponent in the form of the debuting Chris Dickinson. Dickinson and Cage have met before in Dickinson's home promotion in Rhode Island, Beyond Wrestling however this is obviously their first match together in Reseda. They pretty much went out and busted out all the marbles here. It took a second to get going, but once it did, it was quite the match. Cage & Dickinson dropped each on their heads numerous times with spots that will make you cringe and basically just beat the hell out of each other. Best Cage match in AWHILE. This ended up being my favorite match of the night! Bring Dickinson back!

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Timothy Thatcher vs. Drew Gulak

Apparently Drew Gulak is now known as "The Sergeant" and he's also clean shaven so there's that. Jeez, this show has been weird so far. BUT I LOVE IT. I also loved this match. I enjoyed way more than I originally anticipated. These grapplefuck style matches are typically hit or miss for me and with Gulak being my least favorite of the Beyond four, I was worried this would come across as a dud for me. Well, it didn't because it was really good. Essentially everything you'd expect from these two though, just done very well. The finish was awesome as they did a call back to the past few Thatcher matches where he won with a head butt. He hit the same headbutt of nowhere here only for Gulak to kick out. Thatcher locked him in an armbar immediately after, though, which forced him to tap.

Match rating - ***1/4

3) Sami Callihan vs. Trevor Lee

 I'll just say it right off the bat, this fell flat for me. The opening staredown and struggle gave me high hopes, but this ended up feeling like just an exhibition. Aside from a few good spots here or there that got a decent pop, this wasn't anything worth seeing. Callihan wins with the Stretch Muffler after Trevor submits in pretty abrupt fashion despite being near the ropes.

Match rating - **1/2

4) Jack Evans vs. Drew Galloway

"I need a cigarette." - Jack Evans

YES. This was so much fun. Jack got on the mic to run his mouth which is always quality. He challenges Drew to a dance off and starts doing his thing. Jack is doing a handstand when DREW NAILS HIM WITH A BASEMENT DROPKICK! Game over! Jack does a lot of flipping and being cocky while Drew does the power game. It rules. There's a nasty german suplex off the top rope spot that turns Jack inside out as well as a moment where Jack hits a spinning DDT on Galloway off the top turnbuckle. Galloway wins with his signature DDT, Evans took it like a champ.

Match rating - ***

5) Adam Cole vs. Mike Bailey

 PWG is known for delivering first time ever dream matches and this is another one of them as Cole has his first official singles match since returning to PWG. Bailey is the perfect counterpart for Cole so this was bound to be good from the start. Cole is the arrogant, pretty boy while Bailey is the quirky karate kid, if you will. So, this could've very well been a classic, but it ended up just being an exhibition for what these guys could do together. It's enjoyable from start to finish with all the counters, cool exchanges, and false finishes you'd expect however it doesn't have any real drama or tell a huge story so it comes off as just your basic super fun PWG match, which isn't a bad thing, it's just that you automatically expect more.

Match rating - ***1/4

6) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Akira Tozawa

"Well... Rick Knox's shoe has come off." - Drew Gulak

Another international dream match. Sabre & Tozawa get "Match of the Year" chants before they even lock up so they leave momentarily before coming back to get this thing going. This match was really worked more in Sabre's style than Tozawa's. ZSJ worked him over on the mat seemingly targeting the upperbody with a variety of submissions holds, so much so that it almost came off as just him showing off. They go into the finishing sequence which features an awesome fighting spirit/Dragon Gate-esque exchange, some sick suplexes, and ultimately a penalty kick that drilled Tozawa in the chest and would put him down for the three count. Much like Cole/Bailey, this was extremely enjoyable, but don't expect the MOTY candidate you'd think would take place when you see this match on paper.

Match rating - ***1/4

7) Roderick Strong (c) vs. Chris Hero - PWG World Title Match

 Roddy gets on the mic and tells Rick Knox that he isn't reffing any of his matches. Knox leaves and Justin Borden is out to ref tonight's main event. Roddy & Hero go at it right from the bell with Hero getting the advantage and beating the hell out of the champion. The crowd reaction during this entire match was weird. They hate Roddy, but don't want Hero to win because ZSJ is who they want as champion. SO, that threw a monkey wrench in this one down the stretch, but it's still good stuff. Roddy drops Hero backfirst on the ring apron and gets the upperhand. Hero fights back with a ton of elbows. Roddy goes for a jumping knee and gets caught with a flying elbow in mid-air which was pretty gnarly. Really hard hitting stuff here as you'd expect from these two. Justin ends up getting knocked out which leads to Knox coming down. Roddy immediately questions his officiating. In the midst of this, Hero goes to blast Roddy with an elbow, but misses and HITS KNOX! OH MY GOD. Roddy hits Hero with two sick kicks (I think) and goes for a cover. 1..HERO FIRES UP! This is Hero's last itch attempt at a win and he eats three sick kicks and a end of heartache to be put down.

Match rating - ***

Adam Cole comes out after the match to celebrate with Roddy, hesitantly. Roddy tells the crowd that he hates every single one of them before Zack Sabre Jr walks out. He makes jokes about Roddy sucking Cole's dick and says that whenever Roddy decides to man up and give him his title shot, he's taking the belt and kicking Roddy & his shitty little boots out of his fucking town. YEEEEE!

Backstage, Roddy & Cole are having an argument. Cole says he has something to help patch things up and it's a new year's gift. Cole hands Roderick a 8x10 of himself and Roddy hands Cole the shirt he wore to the ring earlier. The camera pans out and when they both walk off, they both destroy the other's gift.

"We're gonna be friends, Roddy, we're gonna be real..good..friends." - Adam Cole

Photo credit goes to Mikey Nolan. Credit for the Lemmy logo goes to @MorrisKombat. Thanks for reading!