So, All Star Weekend 11 was this weekend and it was bonkers. Of course, the majority of us are going to have to wait a few weeks to see the festivities when the DVD comes out, so this post will be free of all match result spoilers. As you can tell by the title, there WILL be spoilers as far as returns and other happenings however I will keep all match results away so there will still be some sort of mystery.
Night One saw the surprise return of Sami Callihan who recently departed from WWE after a two year stay in NXT. The Callihan Death Machine wrestled his final match before reporting to Florida in June 2013 against Adam Cole in the form of a 60 minute Iron Man Match for the PWG World Title at "Is Your Body Ready?" Callihan spent only a year in PWG, but that year was packed with memorable moments including his BRUTAL series of contests with Drake Younger and a match with Kyle O'Reilly that has become known as the start of O'Reilly's rise to the top of PWG. With all that in mind, the reception Callihan got was astounding. He didn't just appear and leave, however. Callihan came to fight and he got one as he faced off with Drew Gulak in an unannounced contest. Welcome back, Sami!
The mid card of the evening was filled many noteworthy topics. From The Wolves return to Will Ospreay & Trevor Lee tearing the house down to Kenny Omega reminding Reseda why he is & always has been PWG at heart by bringing the chainsaw back, this time in physical form as you can see in the picture above. What a time to be alive!
It's pretty magical that on the same night that Callihan returned, so did his long time rival and the man he faced in his last PWG match, the longest reigning PWG World Champion of all time, Adam Cole BAY BAY! The Young Bucks took it upon themselves to attack Matt Sydal after his match with Roderick Strong and they would soon pay the price. The lights went out and Super Dragon appeared in the center of the ring. Or so we thought... the mask is taken off to reveal none other than Adam Cole in fine form. Cole, one of the original founders of the Mount Rushmore stable, would then officially rejoin the group, much to the chagrin of current World Champion Roderick Strong. You would think he'd be happy that the group has grown however, Roddy seemed to be very skeptical on the idea. We would see this come to fruition in a post match segment posted on PWG's YouTube channel.
Night One had the world talking, but PWG wasn't done. Night Two got thrust into action with Chuck Taylor & Kikutaro in a match that started, ended, then restarted. Kikutaro, who made his first PWG appearance since 2008, announced after the match that he would be moving to the US next year.
The night continued with a number of barnburning contests including the match that many fans in attendance voted as the match of the weekend, Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay. Not to mention, what may have been the last match in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla for Johnny Gargano as he and Tommaso Ciampa went to battle with Michael Elgin & Brian Cage. If this was the last time in Reseda for Johnny Wrestling, thanks for all the great matches in the past two years, go kill it in NXT like we know you will!
Then came time for the main event. A Guerrilla Warfare Match between Mount Rushmore 2.0 and Chris Hero, Mike Bailey, Joey Ryan, and the returning & beloved Candice LeRae. As you'd expect, the general consensus of this match was that it was pure chaos. Rick Knox, Justin Borden, and even Kikutaro played key roles in the contest that would feature a moment for the history books.
Last year on December 12th, Roderick Strong claimed to not be in attendance only to run down to the ring and attack Kyle O'Reilly after he had defended the World Title against Ricochet. This led to an impromptu Guerilla Warfare match where Roddy beat O'Reilly for the belt and sent him packing, not to be seen in PWG again. Until now. One year after that unforgettable night, Kyle O'Reilly descended upon Reseda with a vengeance. Not only did he return face to face with his nemesis Roderick Strong, he returned face to face with a rival that he's been linked to for years, Adam Cole. O'Reilly & Cole rivaled each other for over a year in PWG before their feud most recently spread to ROH, so seeing them stand face to face in the center of the PWG ring once again had to be special.
Needless to say, it was an eventful weekend for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. If you want to read the match results, those can be found
here. Also, as always, be on the look out for our full reviews of both nights of All Star Weekend as soon as the DVD drops!
