PWG: Bowie Review

Date: February 12th, 2016

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)

Commentators: Excalibur, Joey Ryan, Chuck Taylor, & Chris Hero

1) Chuck Taylor vs. Dalton Castle
This is Dalton Castle's PWG debut and he's already over just based off the hype his ROH run garnered. The Boys are with him, as well. Chuck is currently on the biggest winning streak of his entire PWG career as he has secured wins over Mark Andrews, Kikutaro, and even Trevor Lee in the months prior. These two are perfect opponents for each other so it's pretty fun and barely even lasts 10 minutes before Chuck rolls up Castle and sneaks the pin for the victory.

Match rating - **1/4

2) Chris Hero vs. Trent?
The hype around this match was tremendous so I was shocked it was only second on the card, but it's PWG so you know how that goes. Any match can steal the show. Trent fought from underneath most of the match and Hero is a great bully so it ruled. The huge turning point in the match came with Hero going for a moonsault only for Trent to run up and scale the turnbuckles and THROW Hero inside out from the top rope to the mat. UN FUCKING REAL. The crowd explodes and I jumped out of my seat. Hero kicks out at two and now he's trying to comeback. SPIKE PILEDRIVER OUT OF NOWHERE. After the beating Trent took, you figured that was his last flurry and this would be it, BUT NOPE. Greg kicked out and said fuck you. On not one, but multiple occassions. It almost went it to overkill however that ceiling is different for everyone. Hero wins after several piledriver variations.

Match rating - ***3/4

3) Sami Callihan vs. Jack Evans
Beer drinking contest. A sit down boxing match reminiscent of Necro/Kikutaro. And a number of other shenanigans are just some of the things that took place in this match. Jack did some crazy shit when the chairs were in the ring. This was just an overall cluster of random stuff. Jack sneaks the victory with a braun hold out of nowhere.

Match rating - **1/2

4) Adam Cole vs. Andrew Everett

Initially, I forgot to review this match when writing this review which probably gives it a bad rep however it was honestly pretty enjoyable. Both men are always fun to watch, but for totally different reasons so it was a solid mix. Everett got his flippy stuff in, Cole got his dickish stuff in, and it all flowed pretty well. Cole snags the victory.

Match rating - ***

5) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Trevor Lee
As we played the waiting game for Sabre to get his world title shot against Roddy, we got several dream matches that went under the radar. Doing them during this period probably also squandered what they could've been as Sabre's match with Akira Tozawa a month prior to this was just a solid three star affair and this was the same, but not even as good. Sabre did some good arm work on Lee and it was a fantastic heel/face dynamic with these two vastly different personalities however it really started to drag as time went on. After nearly 20 minutes of grappling, Sabre forces Lee to tap.

Match rating - ***

6) Mike Bailey vs. Evil Uno (Player Uno)
After three years away, the former Super Smash Brother returns to Reseda and he squares off with the newest Canadian favorite in the never ending PWG trend, Mike Bailey. This isn't the same Uno the fans knew and loved though. He's now dawned the Evil Uno persona and he shows no mercy on Speedball despite the fact that they are from the same home country. With that in mind, though, Speedball & Uno have faced off in the past, but this is the first time in PWG and they certainly made it a bang. Uno made his first big mark in this match by taking it to the floor and nailing Bailey with a vertical suplex on the unforgiving hardwood floor in the legion hall. The beating continued in the ring with a series of vicious chops and a tombstone piledriver FROM THE SECOND ROPE. Bailey being the underdog continued to kick out and fight back and it was a lot of fun. Definitely the pick up the card needed at this point.

Match rating - ***1/2

7) Roderick Strong (c) vs. Drew Galloway - PWG World Title Match
So, this show has been pretty average aside from Hero/Trent and a fun Uno/Bailey match. Considering that, I figured this wasn't gonna be too well since this was in the midst of the far too drawn out build for Sabre finally get his title match. Well, I was wrong because this ruled. I should've known not to doubt 2015-2016 Roddy. He's just so good and such a character and draws so much attention/heat. You can't take your eyes off of him. Roddy starts off with the mic and tells Galloway he's gonna kick his ass only for the Brit to thwart his attempt and boot him in the face. They fight around the legion hall with Galloway having his way with the champion only for Roddy to slide back into control in the ring. A fan calls Roddy mediocre which leads to a stand off with Roddy backing the fan up against the stage. Galloway dives off the apron to Roddy to break this up. It's things like that which make Roddy so good at this stage in the game. There's never a dull moment and he's flooded with boos and middle fingers the entire time. They battle back and forth in the ring. Roddy has The Young Bucks' tag team title belts even though they're not here. He uses them to distract the ref so he can nail Drew with the World title for a two count. The live crowd seemed to be half & half on the false finishes but Excalibur & Hero on commentary made up for their lack of enthusiasm by doing a phenomenal job. The finish to this battle, which got pretty physical along the stretch, was great as well with a fan once again shouting something horrible at Roddy which distracts him. Galloway boots Roddy, but all it does is wake him up and Roddy goes ballistic with his 5,000 moves in a minute sequence. He ends up by setting Galloway up for the End of Heartache, telling the fan to fuck off, and nailing it. Roddy retains. If the outcome of this would've been more unpredictable, this could've easily gotten into four star range.

Match rating - ***3/4

Post match, Adam Cole comes down to celebrate with Roddy. This turns into a beatdown on Galloway and Strong sets up his signature chair pyramid thing. Zack Sabre Jr runs down to make the save, but RODDY CATCHES HIM. SABRE REVERSES AND LOCKS RODDY IN A HANGING SUBMISSION. Before Sabre can twist Roddy's arm back and probably out of socket, Cole superkicks Sabre off of his stablemate. High drama stuff here. Roddy & Cole scatter to the floor and Roddy gets the mic. YESSS. This was so good. Roddy has a look of absolute disgust on his face which he aims at Sabre & Galloway in the form of words. This rant is ended with "next month, if you want some, Zack, come get some, you bitch." Sabre obviously accepts the challenge and their World Title Match is set for All Star Weekend 12.