PWG Mystery Vortex 7
August 1st, 2021
Los Angeles, California - The Globe Theater
PWG World Champion - Bandido (since 12/19/19)
PWG World Tag Team Champions - VACANT
Commentary: Excalibur
THE FIRST PWG SHOW IN A YEAR AND A HALF.
1) Tony Deppen vs. Jack Cartwheel
Deppen is introduced as “the man who is responsible for the show being delayed” and proclaims to the crowd after the bell rings that he had to shit and there was no toilet paper so that’s what took him so long. I can’t think of a better way to start PWG’s first show in almost two years. Cartwheel is over as fuck despite this being his PWG debut. He IS from the general area, though, so that’s probably why. He hates a beautiful set of dives which also was such an apt way to start this return for PWG.
This was honestly a blast of a match. PWG is graded on such an entirely different weird scale for me so be warned if you are used to my other reviews and haven’t read any of my PWG ones. Although, since I’ve reviewed PWG regularly it’s been like 3 years so who knows.. how I rate this stuff may have changed too as I’ve become a lot less generous with the infamous snowflakes. None the less, yeah, these guys went out and killed it to start the show, busting out all kinds of flips and spots and working the exact style of match that PWG is known for. Deppen is such a good heel, but it wasn’t really about that and if anything Jack Cartwheel was the star here as he was flying all over the place. When all is said and done, Deppen wins a super fun opener in just over 10 minutes.
Match rating - **3/4
2) JD Drake vs. Brody King
Drake and King are all business and that’s clear from the jump as they don’t take their eyes off one another during the introductions. They begin by trading chops in an exchange that ends up going to the floor and around the ring and it’s so badass. They beat the absolute shit out of each other and Brody sits Drake in a chair outside and STARTS BARKING AND THE CROW DOES TOO HAHAHA I LOVE IT.
Brody hits a crossbody to Drake knocking him out of the chair and yells ..
“WELCOME BACK, PWG!”
This started off hella strong and felt like it could be a high end ***3/4-**** contest, but unfortunately for me it fell into the PWG formula from here for the most part. They get in the ring and hit moves for a while with no real feeling behind them. Which is fine. They’re big boys and they kick ass. I just couldn’t help but want more considering how this bad boy started off cause lorddd they were laying it in and looked MAD. Anyways, Brody wins off a stiff lariat. But this won’t be the last time we see him tonight…
Match rating - ***
3) Arez vs. Demonic Flamita
I was hopeful for this because I’ve enjoyed Arez’ work in GCW, but things truly didn’t seem to click here. There was some cool stuff here or there, it wasn’t enough to make this match one I’d recommend though. I’m not sure if it’s because they’ve not worked together before or if the new environment for Arez just wasn’t clicking. Either way, something was up. Despite that, there is just enough cool stuff in here for it not to be a dud, it’s just not cohesive whatsoever. I do think Arez deserves another shot in PWG, I’ve seen some who think otherwise, but I know he is capable of much more. Flamita gets the W here.
Match rating - **1/4
4) Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty
It’s Lee Moriarty’s PWG debut here. A man who became the star of the Indies during the pandemic period going against Jon Gresham who has continued to reach new heights as a competitor in the past 4 years. This was the match this show needed and everything one could hope for from a match involving the two. A focused technical contest with a lot of grit and physicality down the stretch. Gresham focuses on the arm and things start slow, but build to a fever pitch of submission & pin attempts based around that arm work on Moriarty. Not to mention the insane backdrop suplex where Gresham dropped Moriarty off the top rope directly onto the targeted arm. Just good, good shit all around. Gresham resorts to strikes when Moriarty refuses to give up or stay down for three and it’s repeated running elbows that finally earns Gresham the win despite some great counter attempts from Lee.
Match rating - ****
5) Aramis & Rey Horus vs. The Lil’ Rascalz (Myron Reed & Trey Miguel)
It’s Myron Reed’s PWG debut, but the rest of these guys are no stranger to the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ring. This is a fun enough sprint. Reed looks cool and did enough for me to say I think he deserves to come back, especially considering the tag division in PWG seems to be paper thin as of this show. Admittedly, they don’t do anything here we haven’t seen a hundred times before and the finish has a little mis step, however, it’s still the perfect little match for a niche crowd like PWG. Plus, the finish did rule once it went into gear. Aramis & Horus get the victory in a match that was the perfect thing to follow up Gresham & Moriarty’s clinic.
Match rating - **3/4
6) Evil Uno vs. Orange Cassidy
OC in PWG is still sorta crazy to me. I just always viewed him as a CHIKARA guy so seeing him in another prominent indie is slightly weird. But that’s old ancient talk. These two are television superstars now, especially OC. So, seeing them here in 2021 is sort of a big deal. Evil Uno is PWG legend at this point, having been an active member of the promotion for almost 10 years despite a few years away in the middle. But anyway, this ain’t a history lesson. These two have a nostalgic match playing off both of their schticks. The crowd is super into it, arguably more than they have been into anything all night. That made everything here feel much bigger than it probably seems on paper or would have otherwise. So yeah, this was fun. Orange hits the beach break on Uno for the win.
Match rating - **3/4
7) Bandido (c) vs. Black Taurus - PWG World Championship Match
This is Bandido’s first title defense since he won the title in December of 2019 since Covid would shut everything down soon after. These two really just throw bombs from the jump. At first, I wasn’t really gripped by it, then they went so nuts, it was hard for me not to be. Some of the stuff Bandido & Taurus pull out down the stretch here is just absolutely bonkers and made this feel like a true PWG main event. After a bunch of crazy spots and near falls, including a code red on the damn floor, Bandido retains the Championship. This wasn’t as good as Gresham/Moriarty for me, but they were also two totally different style matches and this is definitely the type of match you’d expect on a PWG show, so, yeah. I’d say this was a W.
Match rating - ***1/2
The highlight of this entire show comes post-match as Black Taurus & Bandido share a moment in the ring. Flamita runs in and jumps Bandido from behind. Taurus doesn’t help and actually joins in, effectively forming an alliance between the two. The lights go out and when they come back on, the legend of PWG, Super Dragon is in the ring. Dragon isn’t here for the save, though, he joins in on the beatdown of Bandido which leads to Brody King showing up. King takes out Flamita, but is eaten up by Dragon and Taurus which leads to the second return of the night… Tommy End/Malakai Black. If you thought the place exploded for Dragon, wait til you hear this fucking pop. Absolutely bonkers. Malakai clears out Flamita & Taurus in awesome fashion with some sick looking kicks. He comes face to face with Dragon and Dragon flips him off then nails. God damn that ruled. Super Dragon is back and so is Malakai Black.
Dragon, Flamita, & Taurus bail out through the crowd as Black grabs a mic in the ring. He gets some welcome back chants and asks Brody where he will be on September 26th. King responds to Malakai - “I’ll go wherever you go, my brother.”
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