BRM Reviews PWG Mystery Vortex II

[Big Red Machine]

PWG Mystery Vortex II (3/28/2014)- Reseda, CA

CEDRIC ALEXANDER vs. TREVOR LEE vs. ANDREW EVERETT- 7.25/10
Standard PWG all-spots match, but it never felt like overkill and they did some really cool stuff I had never seen before. A fantastic opener.
Excalibur later claimed that the earthquake that hit Southern California this night was caused by this match.

“PRETTY” PETER AVALON & THE RockNES MONSTERS vs. WILLIE MACK, B-BOY, & JOEY RYAN- 5.5/10

RODERICK STRONG vs. ANTHONY NESE- 7/10

UNBREAKABLE F’N MACHINES (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin) vs. AFRICAN AMERICAN WOLVES (ACH & AR Fox) vs. INNER-CITY MACHINE GUNS (w/Rich Swann & Ricochet)- 7.75/10
“Fear the Mullet!” chants for Elgin. I hope these fans don’t see ROH Road to Best in the World: Night 2. If they do, they might stop cheering for Adam Cole completely. Actually, they shouldn’t be cheering for Cole anyway. Show them the tape, ASAP!
The match was your standard PWG spotfest that you know will not mean anything in the long run. I’m pretty much immune to it at this point. It was very entertaining to watch, but that’s it. My sense of wonder at it is gone, so I don’t really feel anything anymore.

CHRIS HERO vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA- 7.25/10
They told a nice little story with Ciampa not giving Hero the respect her should, and because of that, the match devolved into a slugfest. And, of course, Ciampa decided that he absolutely HAD to kick out of a finisher at one, just because.

KYLE O’REILLY vs. JOHNNY GARGANO- 8/10
It started to drag a little towards the end, but otherwise an awesome wrestling match. Also, for the SECOND STRAIGHT MATCH, we had someone kickout of a finisher at one. Can everyone PLEASE stop doing that. It has completely and totally ceased to be special anymore.

PWG WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Young Bucks(c) vs. Best Friends- 7.75/10
I F*CKING HATE THOSE MOTHERF*CKING YOUNG BUCKS! GRRRRR!
On commentary, Chris Hero showed his deep insight into professional wrestling by informing everyone that getting “that post up your ass… that is not a good thing.”

ADAM COLE PROMO- he puts out an open challenge to anyone “man enough” to face him for the PWG World Title. The challenge is accepted… by Candice LeRae… and I REALLY wish PWG would have shown us her entrance because the pop when Candice came out must have been phenomenal.

PWG WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Cole(c) vs. Candice LeRae- 7/10
Ah PWG… a magical place where a room full of people will eagerly chant the phrase “SUCK HER DICK!” Candice is wearing her old-school Game Boy attire, which totally rocks. And speaking of things that totally rock… VIOLENCE PARTY BY CANDICE!
Cole won the match pretty much cleanly, which made me extremely unhappy. This was Candice’s time. She is the most over babyface in the company, so why not put the belt on her? The fans all want to see it, and it would be a HUGE deal that would draw more attention to PWG.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Cole offers a hug, and for some reason, Candice doesn’t see a trap coming. She winds up getting forearmed, then superkicked by a Young Buck. Joey Ryan runs out to make the save with a steel chair.

A great show from PWG… but aside from the top two matches, I really just didn’t care about anything because I know that the results don’t matter at all. That is by far PWG’s biggest flaw: nothing matters.

AWESOME COMMENTARY MOMENT:
Excalibur refers to the maneuver of trying to break a mounted sleeper hold by ramming your back into the corner to crush your opponent as “the Fezzik.”

[Bulletclubfan2014]

PWG WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Cole(c) vs. Candice LeRae- 7/10
Ah PWG… a magical place where a room full of people will eagerly chant the phrase “SUCK HER DICK!” Candice is wearing her old-school Game Boy attire, which totally rocks. And speaking of things that totally rock… VIOLENCE PARTY BY CANDICE!
Cole won the match pretty much cleanly, which made me extremely unhappy. This was Candice’s time. She is the most over babyface in the company, so why not put the belt on her? The fans all want to see it, and it would be a HUGE deal that would draw more attention to PWG.

Well I agree with that but in PWG's defense this show had to be changed up due to the original main event getting cancelled because Drake Younger's wife gave birth and PWG seems to have had a plan in place for a while to put the tag titles on Candice and Joey and they may be the type of guys who once they put a plan in place it'll happen no matter what. Don't disagree it sucks she lost but at least there was a little bit of an excuse for it when u think about it

[cero2k]

PWG WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Cole(c) vs. Candice LeRae- 7/10
Ah PWG… a magical place where a room full of people will eagerly chant the phrase “SUCK HER DICK!” Candice is wearing her old-school Game Boy attire, which totally rocks. And speaking of things that totally rock… VIOLENCE PARTY BY CANDICE!
Cole won the match pretty much cleanly, which made me extremely unhappy. This was Candice’s time. She is the most over babyface in the company, so why not put the belt on her? The fans all want to see it, and it would be a HUGE deal that would draw more attention to PWG.

She's just filling the void that Drake left behind for the fans, but there is no way Candice gets single's gold while they just debuted the World's Cutest tag team. And at this point, Kyle and Elgin are looooong overdue a championship here, it had to be one of them.

A great show from PWG… but aside from the top two matches, I really just didn’t care about anything because I know that the results don’t matter at all. That is by far PWG’s biggest flaw: nothing matters.

Or biggest asset. PWG is not like any other promotion that have to rely into complicated storylines or point systems, they're out there to have fun and give their crowd an awesome show, every single show they have ends up being an amazing show, and that has made them one of the best sold promotions out there, if not the best, people buy tickets to stand up next to the restroom for 3 hrs to watch these shows, PWG gets people flyinf in to Reseda, they have movie stars going to their shows in the little sweatbox! I'm sure that if PWG wanted, they could outsell Chikara or ROH's usual spots

[cero2k]

Well I agree with that but in PWG's defense this show had to be changed up due to the original main event getting cancelled because Drake Younger's wife gave birth

so it wasn't because drake signed with WWE?

[Big Red Machine]

A great show from PWG… but aside from the top two matches, I really just didn’t care about anything because I know that the results don’t matter at all. That is by far PWG’s biggest flaw: nothing matters.

Or biggest asset. PWG is not like any other promotion that have to rely into complicated storylines or point systems, they're out there to have fun and give their crowd an awesome show, every single show they have ends up being an amazing show, and that has made them one of the best sold promotions out there, if not the best, people buy tickets to stand up next to the restroom for 3 hrs to watch these shows, PWG gets people flyinf in to Reseda, they have movie stars going to their shows in the little sweatbox! I'm sure that if PWG wanted, they could outsell Chikara or ROH's usual spots

Part of the reason PWG sells so well is that there are so few shows. If they were putting on as many shows a year as ROH or even DGUSA/Evolve, then they wouldn't all sell as well. The matches might all be great, but I don't feel any need to keep up with the promotion because the matches don't matter. I have no interest in them at all. I watch it if I can because the wrestling will always be good, but aside from Candice winning and the Young Bucks losing, I don 't have any reason to care about anything. I could go MONTHS without even caring if I know the results of a PWG show. Hell... I spent most of the past few weeks thinking that Best Friends were the tag champions! I would much rather watch ROH or CHIKARA or WWE where stuff all matters.

[Bulletclubfan2014]

Well I agree with that but in PWG's defense this show had to be changed up due to the original main event getting cancelled because Drake Younger's wife gave birth

so it wasn't because drake signed with WWE?

He cancelled the match due to his wife giving birth and he just happened to have done a WWE Tryout a few weeks prior and got signed from it is what I believe happened

[cero2k]

Part of the reason PWG sells so well is that there are so few shows. If they were putting on as many shows a year as ROH or even DGUSA/Evolve, then they wouldn't all sell as well. The matches might all be great, but I don't feel any need to keep up with the promotion because the matches don't matter. I have no interest in them at all. I watch it if I can because the wrestling will always be good, but aside from Candice winning and the Young Bucks losing, I don 't have any reason to care about anything. I could go MONTHS without even caring if I know the results of a PWG show. Hell... I spent most of the past few weeks thinking that Best Friends were the tag champions! I would much rather watch ROH or CHIKARA or WWE where stuff all matters.

I disagree, not everything in ROH, CHIKARA, and especially WWE matters. They constantly run matches, segments that don't matter at all. We've been seeing Rybaxel vs Dust brothers for three weeks now, has it mattered? nah. John Cena and the Wyatts have a 3-4 month long feud, did it matter at the end? nah, Bray didn't achieve anything, and Cena didn't achieve anything, he just jumped back to the title like always. Sandow won the MITB, lost it, started wearing costumes, does it matter? naah, worst thing is that they don't always have good matches to make me wanna see. It's kinda how Badnewz and myself said in the MITB results topic, the wrestling was good, but nothing really changed. And even the things that have mattered, they're things i can just read in your reviews and know about them, that's why when it comes to spending my money and time on wrestling, i rather put it in PWG's hand, because what PWG offers, is something that i can only get buy watching their shows and no other way.

[Big Red Machine]

Part of the reason PWG sells so well is that there are so few shows. If they were putting on as many shows a year as ROH or even DGUSA/Evolve, then they wouldn't all sell as well. The matches might all be great, but I don't feel any need to keep up with the promotion because the matches don't matter. I have no interest in them at all. I watch it if I can because the wrestling will always be good, but aside from Candice winning and the Young Bucks losing, I don 't have any reason to care about anything. I could go MONTHS without even caring if I know the results of a PWG show. Hell... I spent most of the past few weeks thinking that Best Friends were the tag champions! I would much rather watch ROH or CHIKARA or WWE where stuff all matters.

I disagree, not everything in ROH, CHIKARA, and especially WWE matters. They constantly run matches, segments that don't matter at all. We've been seeing Rybaxel vs Dust brothers for three weeks now, has it mattered? nah. John Cena and the Wyatts have a 3-4 month long feud, did it matter at the end? nah, Bray didn't achieve anything, and Cena didn't achieve anything, he just jumped back to the title like always. Sandow won the MITB, lost it, started wearing costumes, does it matter? naah, worst thing is that they don't always have good matches to make me wanna see. It's kinda how Badnewz and myself said in the MITB results topic, the wrestling was good, but nothing really changed. And even the things that have mattered, they're things i can just read in your reviews and know about them, that's why when it comes to spending my money and time on wrestling, i rather put it in PWG's hand, because what PWG offers, is something that i can only get buy watching their shows and no other way.

Of course Rybaxel vs. Dust-Dust matters. When they were "Goldust and Cody" they lost, and Cody was losing his confidence. They didn't just lose once: they lost a bunch of times. Now they are winning and Cody has his confidence back. They are winning multiple times to show that it's not a fluke.

Cena-Bray I agree with but at least it felt like it mattered at the time.
I'm not saying that the action isn't great. I just don't think the product is must-see.

[cero2k]

Of course Rybaxel vs. Dust-Dust matters. When they were "Goldust and Cody" they lost, and Cody was losing his confidence. They didn't just lose once: they lost a bunch of times. Now they are winning and Cody has his confidence back. They are winning multiple times to show that it's not a fluke.

Cena-Bray I agree with but at least it felt like it mattered at the time.
I'm not saying that the action isn't great. I just don't think the product is must-see.

a well fought battle with a clean decisive pin should be more than enough, yet we're getting this match over and over and over, nothing is changing.

nothing is really must see. 'must see' is something that really depends on what someone's interest are. WWE has only had one thing that was must see this year, Brock breaking the streak, aside from that, the last thing that was 'must see' goes back to Punk winning at MITB. ROH hasn't had a single 'must see' moment since generico/steen? maybe further back, maybe ever. and yeah PWG has never had a single 'must see' moment either, yet to me their product has become a 'must see' just because of how much fun it is.

[Big Red Machine]

Of course Rybaxel vs. Dust-Dust matters. When they were "Goldust and Cody" they lost, and Cody was losing his confidence. They didn't just lose once: they lost a bunch of times. Now they are winning and Cody has his confidence back. They are winning multiple times to show that it's not a fluke.

Cena-Bray I agree with but at least it felt like it mattered at the time.
I'm not saying that the action isn't great. I just don't think the product is must-see.

a well fought battle with a clean decisive pin should be more than enough, yet we're getting this match over and over and over, nothing is changing.

nothing is really must see. 'must see' is something that really depends on what someone's interest are. WWE has only had one thing that was must see this year, Brock breaking the streak, aside from that, the last thing that was 'must see' goes back to Punk winning at MITB. ROH hasn't had a single 'must see' moment since generico/steen? maybe further back, maybe ever. and yeah PWG has never had a single 'must see' moment either, yet to me their product has become a 'must see' just because of how much fun it is.

I definitely agree with you about "must-see" being down to personal taste, and for me, it has more to do with a confluence of storylines and actions/moments. And 8/10 match isn't "must-see" to be because there are so damn many of them. They're not that rare. The only things PWG has ever done that I would really consider must-see (though to be fair, there is a lot of PWG I haven't seen) are the Super Dragon return in 2011 and MAYBE some of the stuff in the Hero-Tornado feud. Not even Excalibur turning on Super Dragon.
As for ROH, in terms of "must-see" moments, I'd say they've had Steen turning on Generico, Steen ripping Generico's mask off, Steen's return at Best in the World 2011, Davey's Title win, Nigel's promo at Final Battle 2007, Nigel segment where he tries to vacate the title at the 6th Anniversary Show, Cide's Title win, Punk's promo at Wrestlerave 03, the ROH-CZW Cage of Death match, Dragon vs. Nigel at Unified, Punk winning the title... and that's just purely off the top of my head.

[cero2k]

I definitely agree with you about "must-see" being down to personal taste, and for me, it has more to do with a confluence of storylines and actions/moments. And 8/10 match isn't "must-see" to be because there are so damn many of them. They're not that rare. The only things PWG has ever done that I would really consider must-see (though to be fair, there is a lot of PWG I haven't seen) are the Super Dragon return in 2011 and MAYBE some of the stuff in the Hero-Tornado feud. Not even Excalibur turning on Super Dragon.
As for ROH, in terms of "must-see" moments, I'd say they've had Steen turning on Generico, Steen ripping Generico's mask off, Steen's return at Best in the World 2011, Davey's Title win, Nigel's promo at Final Battle 2007, Nigel segment where he tries to vacate the title at the 6th Anniversary Show, Cide's Title win, Punk's promo at Wrestlerave 03, the ROH-CZW Cage of Death match, Dragon vs. Nigel at Unified, Punk winning the title... and that's just purely off the top of my head.

see, and i don't really consider none of those as really must see with exception of the Cage of Death and the Unify match (plus some other matches). same with PWG, those i don't think where that must see, unless you know the history of Super Dragon. However, the ladder match from Thremendous III, InnerCity Machine Guns vs Fox and Del Sol for the first time, Steen vs Super Dragon, all those i would consider must see for PWG

[Big Red Machine]

I definitely agree with you about "must-see" being down to personal taste, and for me, it has more to do with a confluence of storylines and actions/moments. And 8/10 match isn't "must-see" to be because there are so damn many of them. They're not that rare. The only things PWG has ever done that I would really consider must-see (though to be fair, there is a lot of PWG I haven't seen) are the Super Dragon return in 2011 and MAYBE some of the stuff in the Hero-Tornado feud. Not even Excalibur turning on Super Dragon.
As for ROH, in terms of "must-see" moments, I'd say they've had Steen turning on Generico, Steen ripping Generico's mask off, Steen's return at Best in the World 2011, Davey's Title win, Nigel's promo at Final Battle 2007, Nigel segment where he tries to vacate the title at the 6th Anniversary Show, Cide's Title win, Punk's promo at Wrestlerave 03, the ROH-CZW Cage of Death match, Dragon vs. Nigel at Unified, Punk winning the title... and that's just purely off the top of my head.

see, and i don't really consider none of those as really must see with exception of the Cage of Death and the Unify match (plus some other matches). same with PWG, those i don't think where that must see, unless you know the history of Super Dragon. However, the ladder match from Thremendous III, InnerCity Machine Guns vs Fox and Del Sol for the first time, Steen vs Super Dragon, all those i would consider must see for PWG

If you are just considering awesome matches must-see, then ROH has had more than plenty. All of those PWG matches (aside from the ladder match) blend together to me. The moments don't.