Reseda, California
PWG World Champion - Ricochet
PWG World Tag Team Champions - Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle)
Commentary - Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, & Rick Knox
First show of 2018 and the entire line up is a MYSTERY. Let's rock.
1) David Starr vs. Fred Yehi
"Welcome to Mystery Vortex V, sorry, I already shit on David Starr." -Excalibur
Two debuts here and two equally long introductions. I've known of a David Starr for a minute so it's sick seeing him finally get a shot in PWG. Neither man can get an advantage early until Yehi hits an exploder suplex on Starr on the floor that put things into motion. This went 18 minutes which normally can be bad for PWG openers, and while it wasn't PHENOMENAL, it wasn't a trainwreck either and they kept my attention for most of the match thanks to the personality of Starr, among other things. Some time definitely could've been shaved off to make it better, but this was really fine how it was. Yehi locks in a koji clutch, and Starr reverses out of it into a pinning predicament to get the win.
Match rating - ***
2) Joey Janela vs. Flash Morgan Webster
"This has bad news bears written all over it." -Chuck Taylor
I've been super iffy on a lot of the recent PWG debuts, but Flash hasn't done me wrong yet and after nearly getting killed by Janela here, I don't see that changing. Dear Lord, this was nuts. From a death valley driver on the apron to the most impactful package piledriver I've ever seen, Janela gave Flash a BEATING. Flash did get some spots in though including putting on his helmet for a dive on the floor which was funny. But in the end, a brainbuster off the top rope that will make your toes curl is what would put him away. Janela with the victory here.
Match rating - ***1/2
3) Rey Fenix vs. Sammy Guevara
These guys came out of the gate with a fever pitch and it was so SCARY. The danger of the Janela match transferred over to this nutty spotfest that saw a 630 senton only two minutes in and neither man able to stand at the five minute mark which was received by a standing ovation. These two threw literally everything out there and more. The finish was sort of weak, but you can't fault them after the craziness that ensued in the duration of this jawn. Guevara gets a huge victory over the former PWG World Tag Team Champion.
Match rating - ***3/4
4) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Keith Lee
Another big match for Keith Lee here. Sabre has been downspiraling in the win/loss column since losing the PWG World Title, but he's still a former champion and garnering heat from the crowd. Sabre is cocky and targets the leg of Lee. This was a pretty basic match, but solid for what it was. Zack went for the octopus hold only for Keith to reverse into his finisher for an abrupt three count. Not the blowaway match you'd expect from this dream pairing, but decent enough.
Match rating - ***1/4
5) Marty Scurll vs. Trent?
Thank the good lord that Trent? won this and thank the good lord this is over with. Based off other reviews, I'm not the only one who thought this was a stinker. Some people had a small amount of hope heading in though, and I had none. I hate to sound so negative but Scurll is on auto-pilot for this entire thing like he is a lot of lower level matches and it's so boring. Trent? did everything he could and was the saving grace of this. Scurll throws powder in his eyes off a Rick Knox distraction and Trent? is somehow still able to hit him with a crunchie for the win. 20 minutes of meh with some okay stuff (from Trent) thrown in.
Match rating - **1/4
6) Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle) (c) vs. WALTER & Timothy Thatcher - PWG World Tag Team Title Match
"Ringkampf is very business like whereas Cobb and Riddle.. a couple of characters." -Excalibur
First title defense for Cobb & Riddle - I think?? This is a hell of a damn line up too. The team of WALTER & Thatcher is so legitimately.. scary. I don't know what else to say about it. But yeah, they clobber each other for 10-15 minutes then go into a hot little finishing stretch that doesn't overdo it. Cobb & Riddle retain after a hard fought match that left Cobb with a bloody nose.
Match rating - ***1/2
7) Ricochet (c) vs. Chuck Taylor- Guerrilla Warfare Match for the PWG World Championship
The final chapter has arrived. Kicking off 2018 in emotional, yet brutal fashion with this match. This wasn't on the level of violence like past GW matches such as Callihan/Younger or Bucks/Candice & Joey, but it was certainly a fitting and very fun main event. The last few moments with Chuck's back being punctured by thumbtacks and Ricochet's too (which blew my mind because you never see him do spots like that) were just gruesome. There were tables, chairs, and ladders as well so they gave you a little bit of everything and in the end, Chuck moved out of the way of a 630, sending Ricochet into tacks, and followed it up with an awful waffle to REGAIN the PWG World Championship for the second time.
Match rating - ***3/4
And now here come the water works. Post match, shit gets real as Chuck, with tacks & blood all over his back, tells Ricochet how proud he is of him and how far he's coming since he trained him over 15 years ago. They shake hands and Ricochet gives his official goodbye speech and says sometimes he's considered a Dragon Gate guy, but PWG is home. He talks about his debut match against Claudio Castagnoli in 2010 and the boys come out to pay respects. It's crazy seeing Ricochet say goodbye because it seems like just yesterday the torch was passed from Generico to him, but that was over five years ago. Awesome send-off for the King and one of the best wrestlers to ever grace a Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ring.
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