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GREAT MAIN EVENT HEADLINES PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA "ELEVEN"

By Mark Carpowich on 2014-07-29 08:00:55

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla celebrated its 11th anniversary over the weekend with an event aptly titled “Eleven.” As always, the work was good across the board, with an absolutely blow-away main event that saw the promotion crown new tag-team champions. It also marked the farewell of former PWG champion Kevin Steen, who of course is reportedly headed to WWE shortly. The show kicked off about an hour past the announced 8 p.m. bell time, which made for a long night inside of Reseda’s sweltering American Legion Hall, but was worth staying through the end.

The opening bout saw Tommaso Ciampa go over Rocky Romero in what was a good but not great match that probably ran a few minutes longer than needed. It was a good warmup for the match that followed, however, which saw ACH and Cedrick Alexander battle in a very, very good bout that, had it not been for the main event, would have easily been the best match of the night. Both guys worked hard and showed a ton of charisma. Lots of near falls and high spots – the match was really well paced and was just great to watch. Excellent showing for both guys, with ACH taking the win.

We then had the evening’s first tag-team affair, a match featuring Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?) against ROH champion Michael Elgin and Johnny Gargano. Originally advertised as the Unbreakable F’n Machines (Elgin and Brian Cage), the change was made several days prior when Cage was injured and was no longer going to be able to compete. This was a fun match, with lots of comedy spot but also some great work. Gargano and Taylor in particular were excellent as opponents, teasing some unresolved feelings from having teamed together in the past. Best Friends walked away with the win.

The final match before intermission had “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen taking on Trevor Lee. Steen of course received the streamer treatment before the match. He played along and made snow angels in what quickly became a mountain of streamers in the ring, but then got down to business and pretty much totally squashed Lee, at one point rechristening himself “Mr. Powerbomb” after powerbombing Lee on the apron on all four sides of the ring. Lee took the victory, however, with a small package out of nowhere. Afterward, Steen cut a great promo about how El Generico had left PWG to work in a Mexican orphanage, and had recently called Steen and asked him to come help the kids, who have grown out of control. So this is why Steen claims to be leaving PWG. We’ll remember this when we see you in Tampa…. Anyway, Steen thanked the promotion and the fans, and it was intermission time.

Brian Kendrick and Frankie Kazarian competed in the first match after the break. Kazarian told the crowd more than once how much he’d missed them since his last appearance, which was probably five or so years ago. Both guys worked hard, but for some reason the match wasn’t quite as good as it probably could have been. Kind of funny to hear competing “Let’s go Frankie/Let’s go Spanky” chants. Kazarian won the match, then cut a promo afterward putting over PWG.

Next up was a number one contender’s match between Roderick Strong and Adam Cole. Really good match, with Cole playing the dirty heel to perfection and Strong fighting resolutely throughout. Great finishing sequence that ended with a Strong victory.

Kyle O’Reilly then defended the PWG championship against Chris Hero in a match that did not come anywhere close to fulfilling its potential. First of all, Hero appears to have added quite a bit of extra weight around the middle. Not that every guy in PWG has six-pack abs, but Hero just didn’t look like he was in the best of shape. Second, the match was painfully slow at times. I’m not sure if this was a conditioning issue with Hero, but either way it went on far too long, with O’Reilly finally getting the win. Afterward, Strong hit the ring to congratulate O’Reilly, then laid him out to set up their upcoming title match. Hero, who had collapsed into a fan’s chair at ringside the moment his match ended, got back into the ring, threatening to finish O’Reilly off but instead encouraged him to get fired up and fight back against Strong. Kind of a weird promo, but after Hero’s years of excellent work he probably deserves a pass on this.

The late hour, the heat inside the building, the disappointing title match – lots of factors were in place that could have taken away from fans’ excitement for the main event, which paired the Young Bucks and the World’s Cutest Tag Team (Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae). Thankfully, however, the room was electric during the entire match, which from start to finish was an absolute barn-burner. Tons of crazy spots, which is pretty much the norm for any Bucks match. Ryan and LeRae were also at their best here. Pretty scary moment when Candice took a piledriver on the floor, which busted her wide open. I mean, wide open, as in, there were actual pools of blood on the floor. The match also featured some wild spots featuring thumbtacks, chairs, a table, and Gummi Bears (yes, you read that right). Candice eventually rolled back in and picked up the victory for her team with a ballsplex (made even worse after having dumped tacks down the front of her opponent’s tights). Huge pop for the title change, really a great live moment that hopefully will translate well on DVD. Just an incredible main event, by far the best match I’ve seen in the three years I’ve been attending PWG shows…which, when you consider who else has competed in this building, is really saying something.

After Joey and Candice left, Steen and Cole came to the ring to console the Bucks. The four Mount Rushmore members embraced, but after Steen had turned to acknowledge fans outside the ring, Cole got on the mic and said, borrowing from Shawn Michaels, “Kevin, we love you, we’re sorry.” Steen turned around and was superkicked by all three of his partners at the same time, who then left him in the ring. Steen eventually got back up and exited to a lively “Thank you Steen” chant.

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