By James Caldwell, Torch Columnist

Pro Wrestling Guerilla presents: "Bicentennial Birthday Extravangza" Night Two
July 10, 2005
Hollywood, California at the Los Feliz JCC
Report by James Caldwell, Torch Columnist

The Big Story: A.J. Styles successfully defended his PWG Title against Christopher Daniels and James Gibson in a high-intensity main event match. CM Punk made his return to Southern California as the mystery opponent for Ricky Reyes and Punk's return did not disappoint. Also, Kevin Steen finished off the weekend with another victory over Super Dragon in a brutal grudge match.

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- Before the opening match, Quicksilver and Dino Winwood came to the ring. Quicksilver and Scorpio Sky captured the PWG Tag Titles from Arrogance the night before, but Scorpio Sky was nowhere to be seen after taking a vicious beat down after the match that included Scorpio losing his mask and plenty of blood. Quicksilver said he had not heard from Scorpio since last night's victory and didn't know where he was. Quicksilver was upset with Arrogance for denying the Aerial Express their opportunity to celebrate after finally winning the Tag Titles. Dino Winwood, AXP's manager, said he lost his beard last night and was going to take Scorpio Sky's place to defend one-half of the tag titles and the honor of his beard. PWG commissioner So Cal Val came to the ring with other plans in mind. Val said Dino is a contracted manager, not a wrestler, therefore she could not have Quicksilver and Dino defend the belts. Val made a very unpopular decision by announcing that she was stripping AXP of the tag team titles since Scorpio Sky was not in attendance. Quicksilver and Dino were very upset as was the audience. The opening cheers for Val quickly turned into boo's as Val said there would be announcement later in the show regarding the status of the tag titles.

(1) Quicksilver (w/Dino Winwood) defeated Ronin at 9:45. Despite stripping AXP of the tag titles, So Cal Val placed Quicksilver in a one-on-one match against Ronin in a hotly contested opening match. Ronin was making his first appearance in PWG since wrestling during All Star Weekend on April 2 and it was Ronin's first singles match in PWG. Both men put together a strong effort exchanging stiff chops early on with Ronin taking an advantage over Quicksilver with stiffer chops. After a back and forth exchange, Ronin went for his Death Valley Driver finisher, but Quicksilver slipped out and scored a Michinoku Driver for the pin and the win. This was another in the line of highly successful opening bout matches in PWG.

(2) TJ "Puma and Pinoy Boy" Perkins (w/Rocky Romero) defeated Davey Richards at 14:25. Puma came to the ring without his traditional mask since Davey Richards stole it during a triple threat match at the June 11 show. Puma came to the ring first with Rocky Romero in his corner followed by Davey Richards. Richards was holding Puma's mask in his hand as he walked to the ring. Davey put the mask on as a sign of disrespect leading to Puma flying through the ring with a suicide dive sending Davey crashing into a row of chairs and unsuspecting fans. The bell sounded and the match moved inside the ring where Puma laid into Davey with stiff right hands to take out his anger against Davey for last month's unmasking. Davey weathered the initial flurry from Puma and took over with brutal kicks to the head. The mid-point of the match was sloppy with some missed spots during a few sequences. Both men worked hard to keep going. Towards the end of the match, Puma and Davey ended up atop the corner turnbuckle to set up a superplex. However, Puma decided to throw Davey off the turnbuckle to the mat. Davey lay on the mat for a few seconds before popping up to his feet to jump back on the turnbuckle. Davey and Puma repeated the knockdown then Superman comeback three more times before Davey went for a superplex, only to have both men lose their footing and nearly fall off the turnbuckle to the floor. Thankfully, both men recovered before going into the finishing sequence where Puma rolled up Davey with a bridge pin for the win.

- Prior to the third match, Joey Ryan and Scott Lost came to the ring without Chris Bosh. Joey said Bosh was taking the night off and wasn't in the arena. Joey, taking Bosh's place for the scheduled tag match against Petey Williams and Chris Sabin, reminded fans of the legendary X-Foundation tag team that Joey and Lost created before Arrogance was in vogue. Joey called out Petey and Sabin and said the only other time Petey and Sabin work better together is when they're taking turns kissing Jeff Jarrett's ass to keep a job. That prompted Petey and Sabin to come to the ring with malicious intent to make Joey eat his words.

(3) Petey Williams & Chris Sabin defeated X-Foundation (Scott Lost & Joey Ryan) at 13:25. Petey and Sabin worked on Lost for the initial babyface advantage before Joey's chickens--- heel tactics took over to give X-Foundation the advantage. Petey took the majority of the heel beat down as Sabin looked on from the apron for a much-needed tag. Eventually, Sabin took the tag and the action broke down into a four-man brawl featuring standard PWG tag team action with wrestlers connecting with potential finishing moves with a person from the opposite team breaking up a pinfall attempt. Petey Williams teased a Canadian Destroyer only to have Lost back drop out of the move. Petey teased another Canadian Destroyer only to have Joey Ryan superkick Petey to the mat. That brought the unofficial Canadian Destroyer tease count to five times over the course of both nights. Towards the end of the match, Scott Lost held off Chris Sabin in one corner of the ring while Petey Williams held off Joey Ryan in the opposite corner. Both men in advantageous positions went for a corner whip, only to drop the opponent for a Sharpshooter attempt. Petey and Lost stared at each other from a few feet away while holding the Sharpshooter move. The fans roared as the showdown ensued until both men released the hold and got to their feet for a double clothesline. All four men lay motionless in the ring as the crowd applauded the well-executed spot.

Once action resumed, the match progressed to the finishing sequence where Joey Ryan flipped Sabin over the top rope to the floor. Joey assumed Sabin crashed and burned on impact, but Sabin landed on his feet and stared down Joey's feet. Petey set up the Canadian Destroyer on Lost then dared Joey to superkick him to break the hold. Joey charged Petey, but Sabin yanked an unsuspecting Joey Ran to the mat from outside of the ring. That gave Petey the opportunity to connect with the Canadian Destroyer, causing the crowd to erupt after waiting two nights for the finisher. Petey made the academic cover on Lost for the three count and the victory. The match was paced nicely and all four men together a solid effort. Scott Lost stood out with very crisp and well-timed offense that just looked very smooth. Solid effort all around.

(4) CM Punk defeated Ricky Reyes (w/Rocky Romero) at 17:30. Ricky's opponent was listed as the dreaded mystery opponent and turned out to be none other than CM Punk. Punk received an enormous reception and looked to be in phenomenal shape. This was Punk's first appearance in PWG in nearly one year with the last appearance occurring on August 14, 2004. The first segment of the match featured very crisp and very smooth mat-based wrestling with Ricky and Punk exchanging fluid counters of counter moves that showed how much the wrestlers knew each other. Very nice to watch. After featuring mostly mat-based wrestling with wear down holds to set up the middle and ending potions of the match, the action picked up with Ricky laying into Punk with stiffer kicks than Punk was delivering, causing the fans to rally behind Ricky. After more solid wrestling, the finishing sequence followed the same pattern of counters to counter moves with Punk reversing a pin attempt with a quick roll up for a three count. Just a great match to watch live.

- After the match, CM Punk took the mic and thanked the fans for their support. Punk heralded the second half of the show featuring the best in So Cal wrestling. During intermission, Punk signed autographs for an endless line of fans and said he was genuinely excited about heading to WWE.

(5) Kevin Steen defeated Super Dragon at 27:05 in a #1 Contender's Match. Super Dragon came into the match looking to avenge last night's resounding six-man tag match where Dragon took a Package Piledriver from Steen to end the match. The match action was brutal, intense, and all over the place as there were several sequences outside of the ring including Steen throwing Dragon into the wall as if Dragon was a lawn dart. Steen connected with two Kevin Nash-Rey Mysterio style tosses before teasing a third one. Steen asked if the fans wanted to see the third lawn dart toss and the fans approved of a third blow, so Steen played to his heel persona by dropping Steen and shooting the middle finger to the fans who wanted a third. Steen sent Dragon back into the ring where he dominated with devastating offense while mixing in some trash talk with the fans ringside. While on offense during the latter portion of the match, Steen took his t-shirt off after refusing to wrestle without the shirt for the last several months. Steen said it was too hot in the arena to wrestle with a shirt on. That was indeed true because it was like an oven inside the arena because of the dry So Cal heat and no air conditioning. After Steen took his shirt off, Dragon took the offensive advantage and worked on Steen with some nice mat wrestling holds and pinning combinations to subdue Steen. After working over Steen with two Curb Stomps and his traditional seated Cross Armbreaker submission, Dragon sent Steen to the outside. Dragon went for his traditional suicide dive, but Steen caught Dragon in mid-air and threw Dragon clear across several rows of chairs. Dragon was never the same after that. Steen connected with a Package Piledriver, which Dragon kicked out of, only to follow up with a perfectly executed 450 splash for the pin and the win. Very brutal match that went over very well with the audience and certainly stood out as a potential Match of the Night candidate.

[Intermission]

- Prior to the next match, ring announcer Jon Ian announced that So Cal Val had decided on the fate of the tag team titles. Speaking for Val, Jon announced a #1 Contender's match for the sixth match of the card with the winning team taking on former PWG Tag Champs, Arrogance, at next month's show. With Scorpio Sky unlisted for next month's show, it became apparent that Quicksilver and Scorpio Sky were not going to have another opportunity to regain the tag titles.

(6) Two Skinny Black Guys (El Generico & Human Tornado) defeated Los Luchas (Phoenix Star & Zokre) and HookGun (Hook Bomberry & Top Gun Talwar) and SBS (Disco Machine & Excalibur) at 25:50 in a #1 Contender's elimination match. During ring introductions, El Generico was confused as to why a pasty White guy like himself would be part of a tag team named Two Skinny Black Guys. Tornado explained that he just needed to go along with the name, which Generico agreed upon. With eight men looking for an opportunity to capture the tag titles, the action was out of control throughout. The first elimination came at the hands of Phoenix Star and Zokre, who eliminated Hook Bomberry and Top Gun Talwar when they connected with their traditional double springboard aerial attack from opposite sides of the ring on Hook. Following HookGun's elimination, Los Luchas was eliminated when Excalibur connected with a Shawn Michaels-style top rope elbow drop, but not before Phoenix Star took a Pounce from Human Tornado in a great moment. Prior to their elimination, both Phoenix Star and Zokre looked very crisp in the ring executing some tough mat-based and aerial combinations. Solid tag work. After abusing Excalibur and Disco Machine with simultaneous dance step and kick to the groin combination moves in the corner, 2SBG took the advantage with Human Tornado taking Excalibur out of the match with an offensive attack outside of the ring. Meanwhile, Generico took Disco Machine to the corner turnbuckle and perched him up top. After taking time to balance and prepare for the difficult spot, Generico connected with a sick brainbustaaah suplex sending Disco's head straight into the top turnbuckle. Disco crashed to the mat in convulsions before Generico made the pin for the win.

- After the match, Tornado received several bottles of water to hold a water bash with Generico in order to play to the ending of the June 18 AWS show when he collapsed in the ring from dehydration. In traditional Steve Austin beer bash style, Generico and Tornado smashed water bottles together for a toast before Tornado guzzled two water bottles atop the corner turnbuckle. Tornado smashed the water bottles together, spewing water inside the ring and outside the ring onto fans. Tornado and Generico danced to cap off the victory. Awesome post-show celebration.

(7) A.J. Styles defeated Christopher Daniels and James Gibson at 12:30 to retain the PWG Title. Despite being the second shortest match on the card, the action did not disappoint as all three men packed in some great spots and combinations while working on the tail-end of a strenuous three-day weekend of wrestling for all three men. There were some moments where the action was strictly one-on-one with the third wheel outside of the ring or in the corner, but not very much of the time. Early in the match, all three men connected on an amazing spot where Gibson caught Daniels in the corner and monkey flipped him onto A.J. Styles, who connected with a sick huricanrana sending Daniels flying to the corner. Daniels shook that off and connected with a nice somersault plancha over the top rope onto both men after Gibson and Styles fought to the outside. Back in the ring, a traditional staple of triple threat matches occurred when Gibson took both of his opponents to the mat from the corner turnbuckle with the Tower of Doom. The finish came when Styles came up from behind Daniels and Gibson, who were locked in a front-to-back grappling position, and flipped Gibson out of the ring before catching Daniels in position for the Styles Clash all in one swift motion to deliver his finisher. Styles rolled Daniels over and pinned him for the victory to retain the PWG Title. Quick-paced match that delivered some nice combination spots to take the show home.

Matches for next month's show on Saturday, August 6
- PWG Title Match - A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Steen
- PWG Tag Title Match - Arrogance (Chris Bosh & Scott Lost) vs. El Generico & Human Tornado
- TNA X Division Title Match - Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Hero

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