Pro Wrestling Guerilla "Use Your Illusion IV"

Pro Wrestling Guerilla "Use Your Illusion IV"
October 24, 2004
Los Angeles, California
150 Fans
With Commentary by Disco Machine, Excalibur, and TARO

U.K. Kid vs. Tony Stradlin

After some "feeling each other out" moments and some occasional submissions, Stradlin does the "skin th cat" spot only to have a dropkick meet him in the face. Both men go back and forth throughout the match, with a notable segment being U.K. Kid ducking a Rolling Elbow and instead getting rocked with a step-up enzugiri. After both men briefly take the match outside, U.K. Kid sits down on a sunset flip attempt, hooks Stradlin's legs, and wins the match.

Analysis: This one felt really average, mainly because both men seemed a bit rough around the edges: they had a sense of what they were doing, but they lacked direction. They could wrestle somewhat well, but need to hone their talent. The mat wrestling was a bit underwhelming, the occasional stiffness was simply mediocre, and it was just a very cookie-cutter opener. **˝

Puma vs. Top Gun Talwar

After some basic submission wrestling, Puma starts the flash-and-flare with a dropkick to the back of Talwar's head while Talwar is sitting. Top Gun also brings in some stiffness to help liven the match up. After a good hurricanrana-through-the-ropes onto Talwar to the outside by Puma, both men get a few nearfalls on each other before Puma dodges the Danger Zone and locks in a Cross-Legged Boston Crob to get a tapout win.

Analysis: Although still average, this was marginally better than the first match. The mat-wrestling in this one served no purprose to me, and I felt it was used for no other reason than to stall for time and didn't bring anything or mean anything to the match. The entire thing simply felt like it had little meaning and an even smaller purpose, but it was o.k. Just a big "meh, next one please" to this one. **˝

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Championships Match: Arrogance (Scott Lost and Chris Bosh) (c) vs. The Aerial Express (Quicksilver and Scorpio Sky) (with Dino Winwood and SoCal Val)

There's a funny-as-always Arrogance promo before the match, and this seems to be the debut of the "Arrogance" name. After some quick mat wrestling, the Aerial Express hit a back-kick/front-kick combo. Bosh catches Sky with a lowblow and holds the pose for comedic effect. After some nearfalls by Arrogance, Scorpio Sky is isolated but able to tag in his partner after a gigantic Spike D.D.T. to Scott Lost. There's a few crowd-dives and more nearfalls, and an "everyone takes out everyone else" spot is thrown in there for good measure. The ref gets bumped and Babi Slymm does a run-in for Arrogance, but accidentally takes out Lost in error. And even though the ref was taken out by Lost, the ref attributes Lost's attack to a mistake and instead disqualifies the Aerial Express due to Babi Slymm's interference.

Analysis: That was a cheap finish, but it served a purprose. Though it took some time for me to get into this match, I was decently involved by the end, which is good. The starting point to the midway point of the match felt just a bit lackluster, but once both teams started busting out the big moves and double-team attacks, everything else got better. The match was pretty solid wrestling-wise and had a good storyline woven into it, so it earns a good-match ranking. ***

Pro Wrestling Guerilla Heavyweight Championship Match: "The Future" Frankie Kazarian (c) vs. Ricky Reyes

Both men stick to submission wrestling until Frankie hits a slingshot D.D.T. for 2ľ. After Frankie gets caught with a spinebuster, Reyes leads the match, and there's a few almost-wins. Babi Slymm does another run-in, only to get "blinded" once again and hit The Birdman on Frankie, thinking he was Ricky Reyes. Reyes pins, but only gets 2ľ, and then he's nearly killed with a nasty, brutal piledriver that also manages to get only 2ľ. Though Reyes gets in one more nearfall following a Tombstone Piledriver, Frankie soon hits three Wave of the Future's, with the final one able to put Reyes down.

Analysis: I liked it for its slow start, gradual but methodical build, and solid finish. I felt a bit bored by their groundwork, but still thought it was solid. The only real detractor I have is that both men felt a bit too sloppy at times. There was some nice selling and bumping, Kazarian was good in his role, and though Reyes felt a bit too bland for my taste, the match gains my approval with some solid ringwork, crisp spots, and good nearfalls. ***

"Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney, Hallowicked, and Jigsaw vs. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush, Icarus, and Gran Akuma

After some good chain wrestling by Hallowicked and Quackenbush, both teams are soon hitting double team maneuvers and crowd dives, with crazy spots aplenty. Gran Akuma is isolated, and double-teamed as well. There's a cluster-****, of course, with plenty of pins. After more nearfalls and even more insanity-fueled spots, Hallowicked and Quackenbush get into a rollup exchange, with Hallowicked getting in a quick pinfall for a surprise win.

Analysis: Honestly, it's a CHIKARA six-man tag. You know how they are. The stuff they do really can't be described, as it's one of those "see it to believe it" things. Without a shadow of a doubt, these guys are bat-****ing-crazy with some of the spots they pull, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Leave it to CHIKARA to have so much craziness make so much sense- I felt like every crowd dive, every multi-man spot, and every "what the hell was that" moment always served a purpose- it certainly had the "wow" factor, but beneath the good and highly entertaining spots was sound logic. I felt it was just a bit on the spotfest side of things, but they did build up to some of the more insane moves, even though they all worked a lightning-fast pace. I really enjoyed this one. ***Ľ

Iron Man Match: Super Dragon vs. Joey Ryan

Both men establish a firm and rough hatred by continously slapping each other, then they mat wrestle for a while. After some stiffness thrown in by Dragon, he hits a somersault senton through the second rope to the outside and onto Joey to kick-start the match. There's loads of stiffness between the two, especially from Super Dragon, and after teasing the Curbstomp once, Dragon nails the Curbstomp and rolls it into a Bow and Arrow Lock. Joey Ryan gets back in control with a running neckbreaker, then keeps control with a variety of submissions designed to take out Dragon's legs. Dragon nails Joey with a Rolling Elbow, then follows it up with a Double Stomp and the Badunkadunk (all while slowly climbing the ropes and doing his best to protect his injured leg) for 2˝. Both men nail some sick spots, the highlight of which is Joey Ryan's pumphandle backdrop on Super Dragon into a turnbuckle, and after some extremely close near-falls, Super Dragon hits the Psycho Driver II/Supernatural Driver for the first fall after more than thirty minutes into the match. After some more near-falls and sweet spots, Super Dragon nails a Phoenix Splash to go up two falls to none. Super Dragon is then more than happy to give Joey a present: a Curbstomp right onto the arena floor. After rolling Joey back inside the ring, Dragon goes up top, hits a flying double stomp to the back of Joey's head, and scores another pinfall, giving him a big lead of three falls to none.

Super Dragon quickly showboats and even does the Flair strut, but gets caught in a small package and suddenly pinned. Super Dragon can barely believe it and has trouble getting a handle on his anger, and Joey is able to hit the Violence Party on Super Dragon and follow it up with a Duff Drop for another pinfall. Super Dragon responds with a suplex that sends both men off the apron to the floor, but both manage to crawl into the ring at 18. After a mini-Violence Party by Super Dragon, Joey Ryan locks on a Figure Four and Dragon taps! In the absolute mark-out moment of the night, Joey Ryan nearly kills Super Dragon with a Duff Drop off the second turnbuckle onto the floor! Holy ****ing ****! Super Dragon took the Duff Drop completely on his neck, and the angle looked completely vicious, like Dragon's neck must've been snapped in half. It's another one of those "see it to believe it" things, because that was just brutal. Joey manages to roll Dragon back into the ring, but the time expires before he's able to make a pin! The ref decides that they're going into sudden death overtime, and both men start German Suplexing each other. Both a Tiger Suplex and Lariat by Super Dragon only get 2ľ, then Joey even manages to kick out of the Psycho Driver! Super Dragon responds with another absolutely brutal segment: a Psycho Driver to Joey onto the arena floor. Dragon rolls Joey back into the ring, pins him, and takes the 4-3 win after about seventy minutes.

Analysis: This was brutality incarnate, and it proved a lot to me. It was an astounding match. My main doubt going in was that both of these men wouldn't be able to wrestle an entertaining match for one whole hour. I mean, it's Super Dragon and Joey Ryan. Give them a twenty minute match and you'll get a good contest, and a great one if they're against the right people. But, in all honesty, I felt these two would only be able to wrestle a good match for thirty minutes, max, not the seventy they wrestled in this one. I just felt that they would run out of things to do after the half-hour mark. How wrong I was. These two kept me captivated and entertained for over an hour. There's no way around it: I was completely wrong in thinking that Super Dragon and Joey Ryan couldn't wrestle a one-hour match. They started out slowly and methodically, which was a bit of a departure for both, but they chain-wrestled so well that I didn't mind at all. And, of course, once they grew into their "element", the match never let up in regards to stiffness, raw intensity, and killer segments. Everything was planned expertly, and built up very well- there were plenty of finisher teases, and both men sold the bigger moves increasingly well over time, with many of the latter mark-out moments having both men lying flat on their backs and unable to move. Nothing was ever ignored, such as the early-match submissions ending up being a crucial aspect in the final minutes of the match, which only begins to describe the very specific, methodic psychology that fueled both men. Overall, this was a high-octane, brutal, epic, and great match that had a whole hell of a lot going for it and needs to be seen. ****

Final Thoughts: With only six matches, it's tough to call this one. The first two matches were marginal, the third and fourth matches were good, the fifth match was a CHIKARA match through-and-through, but was still a good match and was nice to see in a P.W.G. ring, and the main event was nothing short of an epic classic. The show warrants a purchase just to see the Super Dragon vs. Joey Ryan match. The P.W.G. Championship and Tag Championships matches were good, solid matches that I liked, but I both felt that they lacked a certain quality that I had come to expect. The CHIKARA match was really fun and a joy to watch, so I've got no complaints there. The Iron Man Match was one of the best P.W.G. matches I've ever seen, to be completely honest. So, the rating of this one gets a bit tricky. Without the main event, I'd consider this a solid show that was just a bit dissapointing, but still good. With the main event, it gives the show a better overall feel and a bigger recommendation. The whole show appeals more to fans of P.W.G. than anything else, and if you're into P.W.G., this'll be a great addition to your collection. If you're new to P.W.G., there are better "starting points", but this one is still good, since the Iron Man match will probably make you an instant fan. For anybody in-between, this is still a solid show that's well worth picking up. While it may not have a "something for everybody" feel like other P.W.G. shows, if you're a fan of what this one has to offer, you'll like it a lot.

Overall Rating for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla "Use Your Illusion IV": ***Ľ