PWG: 88 Miles Per Hour
March 7, 2004
Santa Ana, CA

Your hosts are Disco Machine and Excalibur.

Hardkore Kidd and El Jefe are in the ring. Jefe calls Kazarian and Slymm gay before bringing out the PWG champ Adam Pearce. He introduces his new main squeeze: Valentina. In 2004, she looked like a cross between Stephanie McMahon and Vickie Guerrero. Not a good combination. Now she looks A LOT better and you indy fans know her as Lizzy Valentine. Tonight, Pearce is going to get gangsta with Slymm and old school with Kazarian.

• “Black Tigers” Jeremy Lopez vs. Puma
  

Even though you have probably never heard of him, Jeremy Lopez has wrestled in promotions all around America including dark matches in WCW and WWE. You may remember Puma from his TNA appearances. Or hey, maybe you just know him from his PWG matches. That’s cool too. Lots of neat counters and holds on the mat to start. Black Tigers works a nice Mexican stretch which pops the 150 people in attendance. Puma focuses on the arm and when he tries the short-arm scissors, Black Tigers uses the only conceivable counter out of that hold and that is to lift your opponent in the air and slam him down on his back. He continues with the offense by delivering a double-arm suplex into a dragon sleeper. Puma catches Lopez charging into the corner for a hanging triangle choke. He follows up with a springboard tornado DDT for two. They fight over a superplex until Lopez kicks him off and grabs a double underhook. He spins around and delivers another double-arm suplex, holds onto Puma, and hits a Tiger Driver for 1-2-NO! Awesome. Gunn Slinger by Lopez gets another nearfall. Tombstone reversal sequence follows, as Lopez gets the tombstone for two. Lopez goes for what appears to be a Gory Bomb and Puma rolls through into a sunset flip for 1-2-3! (9:24) Solid stuff. **¾

• Bobby Quance vs. Tigers Mask
  

Tigers Mask is a masked Japanese baseball player in honor or disrespect even of the legendary Tiger Mask. Lots of hammerlockery from Quance to start. Tigers Mask utilizes the now famous and commonplace wristlock flip escape of Tiger Mask, but then takes an armdrag out to the floor. Tigers Mask takes an empty seat in the front row to have a taste of water. Before making it back in the ring, Tigers Mask spits in somebody’s drink. Eww! Quance tries to beat down Tigers Mask, but he strikes back with a jumping reverse kick. Tigers Mask shows us some beautiful dropkicks to put Quance in the corner for the Fastball Slap. Pretty cool. He runs around the corners and then baseball slides into Quance. Tigers Mask applies the Eastern Stretch, but Quance will not tap. Quance gets a desperation twisting back suplex. HERE COMES BOBBY! Clotheslines abound. Tigers Mask ducks a roundhouse kick, but takes a hurracanrana for 1-2-NO! Tigers Mask trips up Quance into the ropes for the 619 variation. Excalibur mentions several different random numbers, so I’m not sure what he calls it. Excalibur ~ “That’s the Japanese calling code for international calls!” Missile dropkick from Tigers Mask connects for two. He follows up with a tornado DDT and a superkick for 1-2-NO! Quance is a toughie! Tigers Mask goes for another tornado DDT, but Quance blocks it into a Northern Lights suplex for two. Quance slams Tigers Mask for the SHOOTING STAR PRESS! That gets the win. (9:51) Another great match and this time with no real noticeably botched moves. Quance continues to impress me. I wonder if he’s still in Iraq? ***

PWG Commissioner Paul T is on the mic! Down in Mexico, everybody respects NOSAWA. Here in the US when NOSAWA would go out to LA to find some ICP merchandise, nobody shows him any respect. Anyways, Paul T is managing these Japanese guys who evidently are big ICP fans. Stupid clowns. Nah, NOSAWA was actually the Juggalo Championship Wrestling heavyweight champion at the time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a JCW fan in the least bit. I just did a little research.

• NOSAWA & Mazada (w/Paul T) vs. The Havana Pitbulls

NOSAWA and Romero call each other gay dudes and then they switch out as Mazada and Reyes start the match. Let’s get physical. Both guys go to the mat and when Reyes goes for the Cross Armbreaker, Mazada hits the floor. They do some more mat stuff and then tag out to NOSAWA and Romero. Romero gets in a stiff kick, but NOSAWA dropkicks the knee to set up a Shining Wizard for two. Romero quickly comes back with a victory roll into an ankle lock. Nice. Mazada tags in and falls for the Lady of the Lake like everybody else. Just stomp one of these Havana Pitbulls in the face when they try that! Mazada rolls through a sunset flip from Reyes and dropkicks him in the face to take over. Reyes comes back with a rolling key lock and NOSAWA’s save brings in Romero. NOSAWA chops away and dropkicks Reyes in the back of the head for two. The tag team of Gurentai deliver some MCMG-esque double-teams like the drop toehold/legdrop combo and the camel clutch/dropkick combo. Sweet. Reyes doesn’t tag, but switches with Romero. Gurentai whip Romero into the corner and crotch him on the ringpost. Back in, NOSAWA delivers a DDT for two. Heel miscommunication ensues and Romero unloads on Mazada with chops. Springboard dropkick by Romero connects and now Reyes gets a legal tag. Mazada comes back with a tornado DDT into a front facelock. Romero kicks the crap out of Mazada to break that up. Mazada hits Romero with a hurracanrana out to the floor and then levels him with a pescado. Meanwhile, NOSAWA delivers a Michinoku Driver to Reyes for 1-2-NO! Reyes avoids a running boot in the corner and sets up NOSAWA for the CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS! It connects. Reyes covers for the three-count as Mazada runs into a Flying Armbar. Ha, great stuff. (10:50) Probably the least boring Havana Pitbulls match I’ve seen in PWG thanks to Gurentai’s attitude and such. ***¼

• American Dragon vs. Brad Bradley
  

Bradley’s size and power controls Dragon to start. After a much needed regrouping, Dragon comes back with chops. Bradley quickly sees what Dragon is trying to do and blasts him away with ONE forearm. Dragon takes a tumble out into the Elks Lodge podium. Bradley slams Dragon’s back into the ringpost and brings him back into the ring to work on said body part. Dragon sees an opportunity and trips up Bradley for some face pummeling. One elbow from Bradley though drops Danielson. Running face wash in the corner gets two for Bradley. Dragon gets in a European forearm and tries to wear Bradley down with a chinlock, but he’s overthrown with a SICK back suplex. That gets two. They trade some crazy shots on the floor. Back in, Dragon tries to put Bradley down on his back with a running knee to the gut. He follows up with a bunch of knee drops to set up the Swandive Headbutt for 1-2-NO! Bradley buries a knee and dumps Dragon out, but he hops back in the ring and drills Bradley with a baseball slide. To go to that next level, American Dragon hits Bradley with a suicide dive! Back in again, Disco Machine reveals to us that he attended Fall Brawl 1993. Danielson gets fired up with a running forearm in the corner. He charges again and gets NAILED with a Bradley clothesline. Cover, 1-2-NO! Bradley runs into a boot and receives a Flying European Uppercut. Claudio’s not the only guy who can do that. Bridging German suplex by Dragon gets two. He keeps Bradley grounded and applies a reverse headscissors and then pulls back on it for the submission. (9:20) Danielson made Brad Bradley look really good in there. Afterwards, he puts Brad Bradley over as being his toughest PWG challenge to date. Cool. ***

• Frankie Kazarian & Babi Slymm vs. Adam Pearce & Hardkore Kidd (w/Valentina & El Jefe)
  

So for added entertainment, Excalibur and Disco Machine do Laguna Beach-style commentary for the whole match. Slymm owns Pearce to start with big guy moves and press slams him out to the floor. He almost threw Pearce on Valentina! Back in, Kazarian and Hardkore have a turn. After some feeling out, Kazarian is all about the dropkicks. Hardkore Kidd puts on the brakes off a whip and nails Kazarian with a reverse elbow from the top rope. That gets two. Kazarian tries to flip out of the corner, but gets caught with a spinebuster instead. Adam Pearce decides to jump on the bottom rope to get Hardkore’s attention for a tag and winds up breaking the bottom rope. Doh! Who needs a bottom rope anyway? Pearce baits Kazarian around the ring and since he’s the first man in, he nails Kazarian with a double-ax handle. Just to be a jerk, Jefe chokes Kazarian with the bottom rope. Kazarian comes back with a springboard reverse elbow on Hardkore and tags Slymm. TOTAL ELIMINATION! Well, sort of. Slymm hits a clothesline instead of a spinning heel kick. Too Cool Elbow Drop follows for two. Slymm delivers a reverse neckbreaker to Kidd. He then trades loogies with Pearce from the apron. Valentina trips up Slymm to make him *your* face in peril. Pearce comes in and delivers a suplex for two. Hardkore slams Slymm for a Pearce flying elbow for 1-2-NO! Slymm hits a release belly to belly throw to kick start a false tag spot. Hardkore keeps Slymm grounded until Slymm fights up and hits a Sitout Chokeslam. HOT TAG TO KAZARIAN! Well, as hot as 150 people can get. Hardkore cools him down with a blow to the back to set up a Spinebuster by Pearce. That gets two. Kazarian slips out of a slam and grabs a choke of sorts. Hardkore backs him into the corner and then runs to try another reverse elbow from the top, but Kazarian kicks him in the back of the head on the way down. Cover, 1-2-NO! Slymm and Pearce brawl out to the floor while in the ring, Kazarian delivers BACK TO THE FUTURE to Kidd! Holy crap! That gets 1-2-NO! Hardkore rolls out and meets the other two as Kazarian delivers a tope! Kazarian grabs another ineffective looking choke on Hardkore. Pearce and Jefe try to splash Kazarian for the save, but Frankie ducks out of the way and Hardkore gets sandwiched. Back into the ring, Kazarian bicycle kicks Pearce into a Cobra Clutch by Slymm! Wave of the Future to Hardkore gets rid of him as Pearce’s arm drops three times for the submission victory. (14:23) So Babi Slymm has just beaten the PWG champ. Things start to look up for Babi Slymm as he becomes a solid PWG title contender. Kazarian reminds everybody that he’s still the coolest. All the heels agree that Slymm had an illegal choke on him, so Pearce gets some payback on referee Patrick Hernandez with a piledriver. Another solid match that moved things forward for this feud. ***

• Ebessan vs. Kuishinbo Kamen
  

Ebessan loves PWG! He tells a funny story about being taken by a ticket scalper at a WWE show. Pissed is hardly the word for it. This is a match you just have to see instead of me being PBP. It doesn’t really do it justice. Lots of slow moving transitions and moves kick off this thing. They dance around pose for the crowd. Ebessan chops and does his best Ric Flair strut. Kuishinbo goes for flying missile attacks and misses completely. Ebessan grabs a sleeper and Kuishinbo’s arm drops once, twice, but not three times! The bottom rope is still broken, by the way. The comedy ref and Kuishinbo both receive low blows via the middle rope. Ebessan does a fake dive and freaks them both out. Ebessan then crotches himself when he tries the Praying Rope Walk Chop. Kuishinbo hits Ebessan with a nice Asai Moonsault. Back in the ring, a rana out of the corner gets two for Kuishinbo. After some low blows, Ebessan hits a sitout DVD, but the ref has already been low-blowed. Shining Wizard by Ebessan! Still no ref. KAIUN TORNADO by Ebessan! Will that get the win? Cover, 1-2-NO! The ref’s balls start flaring up again and he can’t count to three. Ebessan takes an ear clap by Kuishinbo into a DDT from the ref! Kuishinbo delivers his own version of the KAIUN TORNADO for the 1-2-3. (9:04) Greatest comedy match ever? I guess. **¾

• Super Dragon, Disco Machine, Excalibur, Joey Ryan & Scott Lost vs. Topgun Talwar, Scorpio Sky, Quicksilver, Chris Bosh & Charles Mercury – Guerilla Games Elimination Match
  

This one could be the deal breaker on the show since it’s the longest match of the card. Looks to be about thirty five minutes. But hey, this is the one I’ve wanted to see. The PWG owners against the Revolution Pro guys. I’m kind of surprised it didn’t make the PWG Sells Out DVD. For this match, they said screw the bottom rope. Scorpio Sky and Scott Lost start the match. Scorpio launches Lost with a reverse monkey flip. Pretty cool. Ryan and Talwar trade a bunch of armdrag. Super Dragon blind tags Joey and they get into a tiff. Of course the RevPro guys are loving it and just stand back and let it happen. Charles Mercury tags in and that proves to be a colossal mistake for him. Excalibur and Quicksilver give it a go. Quicksilver applies an Octopus Stretch while Excalibur counters it into a backbreaker of sorts. Now Disco and Bosh tag. They do lots of indy stuff that leads nowhere. Mercury tags back in for a double elbow drop to Disco. The X Foundation take over on Mercury for a while. Disco catapults Mercury into a right hand from Excalibur. That puts Mercury down across Disco’s knees for a Double Stomp from Super Dragon! Mercury just gets abused by Super Dragon with not one but two Curb Stomps. Mercury goes to the eyes on Disco and then decides to mock his dancing instead of making a much needed tag. Since he doesn’t tag, the SBS and the X Foundation continue to dominate Charles Mercury. He finally sees how much of a bad idea it is to stay in the ring once he gets a spinebuster on Scott Lost and tags Talwar. That brings in the RevPro guys and Scott Lost has dropkicks for all of them. Quicksilver breaks up a Sharpshooter by Lost on Scorpio with an implant DDT! Talwar comes in and unloads on Lost in the corner with short-arm clotheslines. Desperation cutter by Lost gets him a tag to Joey Ryan. Mercury and Ryan head to the floor as they start up the series of outside dives on people. It ends with Talwar stopping Disco with a back suplex off the middle rope. It gets two. PSYCHO DRIVER attempt to Talwar fails. Talwar slips out and drills Super Dragon with a clothesline. DANGAH ZONE to Disco! Cover, 1-2-NO! It breaks down into a pier-ten brawl. Bosh and AXP get dumped out to the floor. I don’t know where Mercury is, but he’d be dumped out too right now. The SBS and the X Foundation all take turns doing their finishers to Topgun Talwar, ending with the PSYCHO DRIVER! Goodbye, Topgun. (26:38 – SBS/X Foundation: 5 RevPro: 4) Scorpio ducks Super Dragon and tags in Quicksilver. He catches Dragon for a spinebuster. Lots of nearfalls follow. Mercury gets his Rolling Northern Lights on Lost, but Disco breaks up the three-count. Super Fisherman’s Buster by Disco to Mercury gets 1-2-3! (29:48 – SBS/X Foundation: 5 RevPro: 3) Disco gets a Buzz Sawyer Top Rope Powerslam on Scorpio for 1-2-NO! Scorpio avoids the CHOKEBREAKER though and rolls up Disco with a handful of tights for 1-2-3. (30:43 – SBS/X Foundation: 4 RevPro: 3) Excalibur delivers a flying knee drop to Bosh for a nearfall. Tiger Suplex from Excalibur to Bosh gets another two count. Bosh slips out of a suplex and delivers Excalibur’s own DOUBLE UNDERHOOK PILEDRIVER! That gets rid of Excalibur. (32:52 – SBS/X Foundation: 3 RevPro: 3) Bosh and AXP yell out in unison “FUDGE THE PWG!” Well that lights a fire under the Super Dragon and the X-Foundation’s butts as they charge Chris Bosh and AXP with full force. Double Stomp to Scorpio’s head! Cover, 1-2-NO! Scorpio hits the FINAL ANSWER out of nowhere, but Dragon kicks out at two. Dragon avoids a leaping rana out of the corner and nails Scorpio with a springboard spinning heel kick for 1-2-NO! After Dragon delivers the Violence Party to Scorpio, he grabs a PWG tag belt that’s conveniently sitting in the corner and wallops Dragon with it for the DQ. (35:14 – SBS/X Foundation: 3 RevPro: 2) Before he leaves, Scorpio Sky makes sure Super Dragon is done by giving him his own PSYCHO DRIVER! Quicksilver runs in for the cover and that gets the win. (35:48 – SBS/X Foundation: 2 RevPro: 2) So it’s now down to the X Foundation versus Bosh and Quicksilver. Quicksilver’s too busy jawing with the fans over the pinfall of their hero and seems to forget about the X Foundation. Ryan backdrops him onto Lost’s shoulders for the inverted DVD/facebuster combo. That takes care of Quicksilver. (36:37 – SBS/X Foundation: 2 RevPro: 1) Bosh dumps Lost out and hits Extreme Bosh on Joey for 1-2-NO! Ryan flips out of the SCREWDRIVER and sets up Bosh for the Demolition Decapitation. I don’t think the X Foundation have a name for it, but that’s what it is. (37:19 – SBS/X Foundation: 2 RevPro: 0) Survivors: Joey Ryan and Scott Lost. That was almost forty minutes of non-stop action. Definitely the best PWG match I’ve seen so far in my four show reviews I’ve done for this company. Great booking too, as the match sets up the Super Dragon/Scorpio Sky blow off at the next show in the Guerrilla Warfare match AND a PWG tag title shot for Bosh and Quicksilver. ****

Final Thoughts: PWG scores again with another great show. With everything just under three stars and higher, you can’t possibly go wrong. Thumbs up for PWG’s 88 Miles Per Hour.