By James Caldwell, Torch Columnist

Pro Wrestling Guerilla presents: "Zombies Shouldn't Run"
August 6, 2005
Hollywood, California at the Los Feliz JCC
Report by James Caldwell, Torch Columnist

Alright, so it took me an extra couple of days, but here are the full results from last Saturday's PWG show in Hollywood. To make up for the delay, I included a few pictures provided by PWG photographer, Sean Michael Kidder.

(1) TJ "Puma" Perkins defeated Aaron "Jesus" Aguilera (w/El Jefe) at 10:40. Prior to the match, Aaron came to the ring for a Torch Talk...er...promo where he ran down PWG management and said there wasn't anyone in the back man enough to face him in the ring. The now unmasked TJ Perkins came to the ring to answer Aaron's challenge. Perkins didn't waste any time attacking Aaron as he flew off the top turnbuckle with a drop kick then sent Aaron to the outside. However, in the process of landing a furious opening attack, Perkins busted his nose wide open with blood spilling all over his body following a drop kick where he landed on the mat face-first. Perkins shook off the blood loss and Aaron shook off the opening attack before taking the offensive advantage with a sick powerbomb on the floor. After back and forth action, Perkins placed Aaron in the corner for a 450 splash. Perkins connected and scored a nearfall on a pin attempt, so Perkins went for a second 450 splash and scored the pinfall for the victory. After watching several of Perkins's matches in PWG - both with the mask as Puma and without the mask as Perkins - I can safely say this was the best Puma match I had ever seen. He's continued to develop as a worker and I expect to see more success from him with this match to build on. After the match, Aaron and El Jefe teased a break up - as they always do after Aaron loses - before hugging and walking to the back together.

(2) Rocky Romero defeated Davey Richards at 18:35. Rocky had his right shoulder taped in his first match in PWG since returning from a major shoulder injury. Davey went to work on the shoulder as both men exchanged counters and reversals in a strong technical match. Nothing flashy; just sound technical exchanges. Davey tried to take the upper hand with MMA-style take downs, but Rocky countered with some stiff kicks to the body and head, which momentarily subdued Davey's offensive attack. The action spilled to the outside where Rocky snapped off a nice huricanrana then followed up with a series of submission holds back in the ring. Davey escaped from a bow and arrow submission then went on the offensive with a powerbomb, tiger suplex, and standing vertical suplex, which all resulted in nearfalls. With the crowd into the back and forth battle, Rocky scored a sick enziguiri kick to the side of the head then locked in a body scissors submission hold where he forced Davey's neck to the mat. The crowd wanted Davey to fight out to keep the match going, but Davey eventually passed out to the submission hold awarding Rocky the victory. Fantastic technical match with Davey continuing to impress with his high-intensity approach and sound wrestling ability. After the match, Davey sold the pass out by having to be carried to the back by officials.

- Disco Machine and Excalibur came to the ring with the "apprentice," Ronin. Excalibur said Ronin was going to face a test to see if he was worthy of joining the SBS group, which also includes Kevin Steen. Excalibur said he would not call Ronin "Hello Kitty" if Ronin can prove himself in a match. That led to a chant of "Hello Kitty," which continued throughout the next match. Even though there is absolutely no resemblance between Ronin and Hello Kitty, the gimmick stuck. Excalibur said their scheduled opponents, Los Luchas, no-showed. The vivacious PWG Commissioner So Cal Val came to the ring and solved the mystery of who would replace Los Luchas by introducing the T.J. Hookers team.

(3) SBS (Excalibur & Disco Machine & Ronin) defeated T.J. Hookers (Top Gun Talwar & Hook Bomberry & Mr. Excitement) at 16:40. Top Gun and Hook, who normally team together, brought Mr. Excitement to the ring to answer the challenge. Top Gun, who is known for crazy and unusual activity, wore a purple thong to the ring over his wrestling gear. Yes, a purple thong. If that wasn't enough, Top Gun and Hook Bomberry's noses were covered in white powdery material that was played up to be cocaine. Top Gun even hit some "lines" during the match using the top rope. Prior to the bell sounding, as SBS looked on in utter dismay, Gun took off the thong and threw it to a lucky (or unlucky) woman in the stands. I'm surprised he didn't pull a Bret Hart and personally place the thong on her. Once the opening match shenanigans were over, SBS attacked the T.J. Hookers leading to a six-man brawl. Eventually, order was restored and Top Gun took the majority of the heel beat down. Once Top Gun tagged out, the action broke down again. Excalibur took a series of sick indy-style suplexes where he was dropped on his neck. Hook Gun took some stiff shots to the head as well where he could barely stand or walk. Eventually, Disco Machine hooked Top Gun for his chokeslam into back breaker finishing move to secure the victory for SBS.

- After the match, T.J. Hookers had to be carried to the back as Excalibur and Disco Machine congratulated Ronin on an impressive performance, especially considering Ronin clotheslined Hook as he tried to make the save on the final pin attempt by Disco.

(4) Joey Ryan defeated Claudio Castognoli at 9:05. Double C made his first appearance in PWG and wrestled as the babyface on a very rare occasion as his "European aristocrat" gimmick usually entails working as a heel. Considering Claudio's height advantage over Joey (6'4" vs. 5'10"), Claudio used the first few minutes of the match to work over Joey with some slow motion arm wringers as he reached down to Joey's level. After a few moments of working in slow motion, Claudio picked up the pace with a quick set of wristlock holds that were too fast for the eye, making them quite impressive. Claudio picked up Joey and set him up for a vertical suplex as he encouraged the fans to count along. Claudio held Joey for 30 seconds before dropping him to the mat in an impressive feat of strength. Joey recovered with some cheap heel tactics leading to Joey working over Claudio's neck and throat. The advantage went back to Claudio after he kicked out of a fisherman's suplex and landed a series of awesome European uppercuts. Claudio scored a sick and amazing "Arm & Hammer" move that resembled a bow and arrow slam. The crowd popped for the innovative move.

Joey recovered and set up Claudio for a top rope neck breaker - the Duff Drop - and connected for the apparent victory, but Claudio kicked out to the shock of Joey and the fans. Resolved to win, Joey went under the ring and pulled out a bag of powder. As Claudio leaned over the ropes to grab Joey, Joey threw the powder in Claudio's face. The referee was unaware of the underhanded tactic despite powder covering Claudio's face, so he awarded Joey the match when Claudio tapped out to a dragon sleeper submission hold. Joey celebrated the victory then the fans chanted, "Please come back" as Claudio left the ring. Very impressive debut by Claudio, who brought some innovative moves and a unique style to the match.

(5) Christopher Daniels defeated Chris Hero at 18:00 in a non-title X Division match. Prior to the match, Daniels took the mic and said he was not going to put the X Division Title on the line against Hero since he defeated him back in April. Daniels also reasoned that PWG was not giving him quality opponents to defend the X Division Title against. Daniels said he would not put the title on the line in PWG until someone earned a title shot. Hero took the mic and answered back that he was fine with the title not being on the line, but he was intent on proving his worth as a top contender. This basically boiled down to a storyline reason to create some non-title matches for Daniels, who everyone in the building knows isn't going to drop the X Division Title if he's defending the belt in PWG.

The match started with Hero taking the offensive advantage to prove his worth as a challenger to Daniels. Daniels took control after the initial flurry and went to work on Hero's neck. During their previous match on April 2, Daniels worked extensively and exclusively on Hero's knee after Hero injured the knee on the April 1 show. Daniels used a series of knock down clotheslines and drop kicks to the back of the head for his primary offensive attack along with some neck wrench submission holds for the ground attack. Hero came back with a sick missile drop kick from the turnbuckle then connected with a powerbomb. However, the momentary offensive advantage was not enough to subdue Daniels, who came back with a Death Valley Driver to further damage Hero's neck. Daniels made a cover and Hero appeared to break the pin attempt by placing his foot on the bottom rope at the count of two, but the referee did not see Hero's foot on the ropes. Realizing he escaped with a tainted victory, Daniels held his X Division title and celebrated before an infuriated Hero attacked Daniels. Hero left upset and, even as he was flat on his back from the knock down attack, Daniels smiled as he held his title. Solid match that continued the momentum from their previous outstanding match from April 2. However, the fans were a little restless at this point because the gym was an absolute oven and an intermission was desperately needed to step outside and get some air.

[Intermission]

(6) Super Dragon defeated Quicksilver at 24:42. Considering both men play babyfaces, this match was put together as a special attraction match featuring two top PWG talents. However, with Quicksilver usually being featured in PWG in tag matches with Scorpio Sky as part of the Aerial Express tag team, this was a major test for Quicksilver to be placed in a singles match against Super Dragon in the second half of the card. Let's just say Quicksilver delivered in a major way. Dragon certainly helped, but Quicksilver held his own in the ring. The action was intense and brutal with Dragon repeatedly slapping and chopping Quicksilver's head and chest, respectively, in successive fashion. Quicksilver fought back and laid out Dragon outside the ring causing Dragon to enter the stage where he appears lifeless leading to the "rising from the dead" comeback. One of the contenders for "spot of the night" occurred in dangerous fashion where Quicksilver locked in a grapevine submission hold on the top turnbuckle where he locked his legs around Dragon's head. However, the crowd pop-inducing portion of the spot came when Dragon fought off the submission hold then wrapped his arms around Quicksilver's body and delivered a sick flip over back breaker. Dragon went for his Psycho Driver finisher, but Quicksilver slipped out. However, Quicksilver could not avoid the Barry White Driver - Widow's Peak into piledriver - and Dragon made the pin for the win as the crowd jumped to its collective feet to applaud the match.

- Out for the second time, PWG Commissioner So Cal Val came to the ring to set up the next match, which was the PWG tag title matches. Val declared that she was banning all outside participants from the match then introduced Dino Winwood as her co-commissioner under the premise that Dino could handle the enforcement portion of Val's decision. Joey Ryan, the classic party pooper, ran to the ring and attacked Dino. Val called for reinforcements as Dino took a beat down, but Dino fought back and delivered a sick F-5 to Joey. Like a scalded dog, Joey rolled to the outside and crawled to the back after taking a power move from Dino for the second month in a row. Needless to say, Dino received a monster pop for his efforts.

- Human Tornado and El Generico came to the ring for the tag title match followed by Chris Bosh and Scott Lost. Bosh held a raffle drawing for one of his old boots, which was won by Indy wrestler Bigg E Biggz. Biggz simply threw a buck in the raffle for the heck of it and ended up winning. Prior to the match beginning, Bosh called his tag team the "greatest, horniest team in PWG history." They should have put that slogan on their new t-shirts. Bosh proceeded to blame Lost for losing the tag titles at the July 9 show. However, Bosh qualified his blame by explaining that Lost had sex for eight hours prior to the show and wasn't at full strength, so it was understandable.

(7) Two Skinny Black Guys (Human Tornado & El Generico) defeated Arrogance (Chris Bosh & Scott Lost) at 16:55 to capture the vacant PWG Tag Titles. After Bosh finished talking, Tornado and Generico turned around to talk strategy leading to a sneak attack by Arrogance. Generico took the heel beat down before scoring the hot tag to Tornado. Once the hot tag was made, the action broke down into four-man madness with Generico flying over the top rope onto both Bosh and Lost. Not to be out done, Tornado crashed into Bosh and Lost with a somersault dive over the top rope sending everyone crashing near my feet. After creating carnage outside the ring, all four men returned to the ring where Tornado scored with an impressive missile drop kick on Bosh. Lost attacked Tornado from behind and laid him out in the ring then took a traditional Asian umbrella with him to the top rope for a Mary Poppins-style elbow drop. Curious, but it was effective. However, Lost wasn't done as he performed the hands down spot of the night when he placed Generico on top of Tornado and performed a Sharpshooter on both men! It had to be seen to be believed, so there's a picture below. However, neither man tapped out as Lost could only hold the move for so long. Bosh returned to match action and took a head butt to the groin from Generico as Tornado recovered and scored a DDT on Lost. Generico took Bosh to the outside then Tornado connected with his trademark fisherman suplex over head face buster on Lost. Seeing that Bosh was out of the picture and Lost was subdued, Generico pounced on Lost and delivered his Brainbustah suplex for the pin and the win to capture the PWG Tag Titles. The crowd exploded as the referee's hand went down for the three count as Bosh could only watch from ringside. Just an outstanding tag match that the fans were on the edge of their seats for. All four wrestlers have such a strong connection with the audience that everyone was excited to see the outcome of the match. As Torch VIP Member Jubblegum said, "A Billion Star Match!"

Scott Lost with the dual sharpshooter

- After the match, Tornado and Generico celebrated as Bosh stared down Lost in dismay for losing the tag titles for the second time in two months. Instead of pouting, Bosh and Lost attacked the new tag champs and laid them out in the ring before leaving. An announcement was made that Tornado and Generico will receive the tag titles in an elaborate ceremony at the August 19 show.

(8) Kevin Steen beat A.J. Styles at 21:02 to capture the PWG Title. The anticipation for this match was very high because many people were expecting a title switch. Steen wasted no time going on the offensive attack working over Styles in and out of the ring. Styles came back with a flurry of chops to the chest followed by a nicely executed back flip drop kick that Steen initially avoided then walked right into two seconds later. Styles grounded Steen with a series of head locks before locking in a sick Indian Deathlock with a back bridge - the Kamagatame. Steen fought out and went on the offensive attack scoring some convincing nearfalls that took the air out of the arena because everyone gasped at the near realization of a title switch. Steen scored with his trademark moonsault, but scored a two count only. Frustrated, Steen went up top once again, but Styles answered with a sick bicycle kick to Steen's head. The fans saw the opportunity for the Styles Clash and Styles set up for what could have been an amazing top rope Styles Clash, but Steen hooked onto the bottom rope preventing the Clash. In succession, Steen rolled up Styles as a counter to the Styles Clash and scored a three count while holding onto the middle ropes for the tainted victory. The referee did not see Steen use the ropes and awarded the match to Steen. Jubilant, Steen took the PWG Title and screamed out in victory as Styles sat in the ring with a look of disbelief.

Kevin Steen with the tainted title victory

- After the match, Styles argued with referee Rick Knox for several minutes. Styles left in a huff of frustration as Steen hightailed it to the back to avoid a potential decision reversal.

Matches Announced for August 19 show
- Kevin Steen vs. Christopher Daniels for the PWG Title
- El Generico & Human Tornado vs. Chris Sabin & Petey Williams for the PWG Tag Titles
- Super Dragon vs. Samoa Joe
- Joey Ryan vs. Rocky Romero
- Plus Alex Shelley returns to PWG

Overall Show Thoughts: "All Star Weekend" Night One from earlier this year was one of the best pro wrestling shows I have ever experienced and this show came in pretty close to ASW. This show clicked from beginning to end and featured a great variety of different styles and characters to offer a little bit of everything for every type of pro wrestling fan. Every match from opening to close delivered as all the wrestlers worked hard to put on a solid performance in spite of the unbearable heat in the gym. It was just an absolute oven.

Many people questioned the decision to have Steen take the belt off Styles, but I believe Steen will be a strong champion. PWG has built up Steen over the last several months with Steen scoring impressive victories over Super Dragon and being involved in the top storyline as the Pseudo Dragon. Steen's first test against Daniels at the August 19 show should be a telling sign of whether Steen will be a successful champion. Steen lost to Daniels at the February 12 show at a time when PWG was beginning to push Steen against notable opponents in high profile matches.

James Caldwell writes from Southern California where rubbernecking has become a national pastime on L.A.'s freeways. Have a comment, thought, or feedback on the show? Drop James a line at jamescaldwell@pwtorch.com.

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