PWG: Sixteen
July 26th, 2019
PWG World Champion - Jeff Cobb
PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)
Commentary - Excalibur
This is PWG's 16th Anniversary show.
1) Trey Miguel vs. "Uptown" Andy Brown
Hell yeah. Awesome opener here. Miguel has become a consistent part of the PWG roster in 2019 and Brown is on his second? appearance, I think. Regardless, this was the perfect first match to get me back into the groove of PWG which tells me both these guys fit right in just fine. Good shit to start the show. Miguel wins with a meteora.
Match rating - ***
2) Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)
The former Super Smash Bros are making their first PWG appearance in 6 long years. Shout out AEW. None the less, I am big stoked on it and they more than deliver because this was everything I'd want their first match back to be. Aside from the DQ finish, that is. Yes, PWG had a disqualification. The first one since like 2005, I think? So I can't really complain especially when these two teams had a match coming up for AEW, you knew they had to be protected. This still delivered big time though. Justin Borden disqualifies the Best Friends when he catches Trent delivering a low blow, which was in actuality just him returning the favor to Uno, but Justin didn't see that. Great match despite this.
Match rating - ***1/2
3) Darby Allin vs. MJF
"PWG shouldn't have been birthed 16 years ago, it should've been aborted." -MJF
I never thought I would like MJF in PWG, but dear fucking lord after that opening promo, I LOVE MJF in PWG. He had the crowd so riled up, even myself at home was gasping. Darby Allin is the perfect first match for him here considering he's become the newest sensation in the promotion following his insane guerrilla warfare match with Joey Janela last month. This was the perfect dynamic and they killed it. Pre-match, MJF said he would beat Darby with a headlock takeover, but turns out, after all the back & forth, DARBY beats MJF with a headlock takeover. Insane pop for it, too.
Match rating - ***1/2
4) Bandido, Flamita, & Rey Horus vs. Black Taurus, Puma King, & Laredo Kid
MAMA MIA. This was vintage PWG classic trios action with mostly new, fresh names. Bandido is the most popular guy in the promotion right now and as we know because this show is a year old -- is on his run to winning BOLA and becoming the PWG Champion, so he leads the charge here in this bonkers trios, lucha rules contest. This was everything you would want it to be and then some. Some have called it one of the greatest PWG matches of all time. I'm calling it god damn amazing. Barnburning action from 6 of the best in the world <3
Match rating - ****1/4
Post match, they all get a standing ovation and take a photo together. Bandido responds to a Black Taurus chant by taking the mic and saying “Welcome to PWG” - real awesome moment here.
5) Joey Janela vs. Jungle Boy (w/ Luchasaurus)
Janela is coming off his first big PWG match/main event where last month at Mystery Vortex VI, he and Darby Allin had a guerrilla warfare match. Joey and Jungle Boy are also fresh off AEW’s set of Fyter Fest events. They have a great match here that sees Janela hit a psycho driver which I feel like is foreshadowing in the case of a potential Super Dragon return in the future. I feel like Janela would probably be one of Dragon’s top opponents if he was to have one more match. Jungle Boy fought from underneath for most of this, but definitely had his flurries. This didn’t reach awesome territory, but it was an insanely fun PWG style spot filled match. Janela wins with an elbow drop.
Match rating - ***1/2
6) Brody King vs. David Starr
These two are getting the co main event slot which is kinda wild when you think about it. It’s cool that they are getting this opportunity, though. Brody is the first home star that PWG has had from California in a long time and he’s already blowing up in other places so I can see why they’d be positioning him so high. And as much as I enjoy Brody, this one didn’t really do much for me. It had a small source of focus in David targeting Brody’s arm/hand which I enjoyed, but aside from that it just felt like spots with no real heat behind it. Still not the worst thing in the world, just not what you’d expect in this spot on a PWG card.
Match rating - **1/2
7) The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) vs. LAX (Santana & Ortiz) - Ladder Match for the PWG World Tag Team Titles
Now, I want to preface this by saying, this is not the craziest tag title ladder match in PWG history. I say that only because I feel like things are always compared to matches like the Threemendous III classic and that’s a super unfair comparison. So, yeah. Now that that’s out of the way - THIS RULED. It immediately had that chaotic PWG energy and all four men showed out and gave us a worthy main event on the 16th anniversary show. Santana & Ortiz did some stuff I have never seen them do before or even since. Wentz & Xavier, particularly Wentz, looked amazing. Wentz got most of the big spots in this match including the final one which was a running step up ace crusher to Santana sending him flying off the ladder which allowed Xavier to grab the titles and get the win for The Rascals. Awesome main event with flying ladders, chairs, and bodies everywhere.
Match rating - ****1/4
And onward we march to the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles....
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