RADICAN’S PWG DVD REVIEW SERIES
DDT 4
MARCH 11, 2011
RESEDA, CA
BY SEAN RADICAN, TORCH COLUMNIST

(1) The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. Willie Mack & Brandon Gatson in a DDT 4 2011 First Round match. This was a very good opening match. Mack is really impressive for the weight he carries. Gatson & Mack hit a heart attack blockbuster on Matt, but Nick broke it up. The finish saw Nick hit a superkick on Mack, which allowed Matt to cover him for the win. (***1/4)

(2) The American Wolves (Davey Richard & Eddie Edwards) vs. Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime in a DDT 4 2011 First Round match. This was Edwards’s PWG debut. Yuma looked like he wanted nothing to do with Richards to start the match. Once the action heated up, the match got very good. Richards worked over Goodtimes’s ankle during the match. At one point Goodtime hit a frogsplash for a 2 count, but sold his ankle after the impact. The Wolves eventually hit a powerbomb/backbreaker combination of Goodtime. Then Edwards submitted Goodtime with the Achilles lock. (***1/2)

(3) Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. The Cutler Bros. (Dustin & Brandon) in a DDT 4 2011 First Round match. Dustin took down Claudio with a flying shoulder tackle, but Claudio fired back with a clothesline and posed for the crowd. Both men tagged out, which brought Hero and Brandon into the ring. Brandon got the upper hand on Hero and tagged in Dustin, who nailed him with an elbow in the corner. The Cutlers then lifted Hero up and tossed him into the turnbuckle. Hero fired back and Claudio blind-tagged himself into the match. Castagnoli caught Dustin with a European uppercut, but only got a 2 count. KOW continued to work over Hero while tagging in and out of the match. The crowd chanted for both teams. Dustin tried to fight back, but Claudio nailed him with a huge powerslam that has to be seen to be believed. Brandon broke up the pin and Claudio brutally tossed him to the outside.

Claudio dead-lifted Dustin and nailed him with a gut-wrench suplex. Dustin finally nailed Castagnoli with a slam. He finally tagged in Brandon, who ran wild. Brandon countered Hero and nailed him with an ace crusher for a 2 count. The Cutlers then hit six second abs on Hero, but Claudio made the save. Hero took out both Cutlers with rolling elbows moments later leaving all three men down on the mat. The crowd clapped as Hero tagged in Claudio. Castagnoli nailed Dustin with a jumping knee, but only got a 2 count. Castagnoli then hit a chokeslam, but Dustin kicked out. Dustin hit Castagnoli with a falcon arrow as Brandon took out Hero with a dive through the ropes, but he kicked out. Castagnoli followed up with a pop-up European, but he was too worn out to cover him. Castagnoli hit the airplane spin on Dustin. Hero nailed him with a dropkick while in the airplane spin. Brandon got on the apron as Castagnoli covered Dustin, but Hero nailed him with a rolling elbow. Claudio then covered Dustin, but he kicked out. KOW then nailed Dustin with a bicycle kick/rolling elbow combination for the pin. (***)

(4) The Briscoes (Mark & Jay) vs. The Nightmare Violence Connection (Akira Tozawa & Kevin Steen) in a DDT 4 2011 First Round match. Big chants for Tozawa, who started the match with Jay. Tozawa took down Jay and nailed him with a running boot and they came to a stalemate. Steen tagged into the match and went at it with Jay as the crowd chanted Steen’s name. Steen went at Jay’s eyes and bit his nose. Jay fired back and whipped him into a running boot from Mark. The Briscoes continued working over Steen and nailed him with a pair of running boots in the corner. They went for a double hip toss, but Steen bit Mark’s ear. Steen then charged at the Briscoes, but they took him down with a double slam. Steen fired back and tagged in Tozawa, who ran wild on Jay much to the delight of the crowd. Tozawa then turned to the crowd and said, “Shut the f--- up.” The crowd seemed unfazed as they continued to chant his name.

Jay fired back and nailed Tozawa with a big slam that left both men down. Both men tagged out. Mark got the better of Steen with a leg lariat. He followed up with a big suplex and the crowd applauded. Mark followed up with a springboard dropkick, but Steen managed to roll to his corner and tag in Tozawa. Mark and Tozawa screamed at each other after nailing each other with chops. Steen and Jay then broke it up and the crowd went nuts. Steen made the tag and nailed Jay with a powerbomb, but he kicked out. Tozawa followed up with a shining wizard, but Mark broke up the pin. The Briscoes set up Steen for the doomsday device, but Tozawa broke it up. Steen and Tozawa then nailed Jay with a springboard shining wizard doomsday device for the win. (***3/4)

Match thoughts: This was a really good tag match that packed a lot of action and nearfalls. It was a lot of fun listening to the crowd react to the match, especially to Tozawa, who is over huge in PWG.

(5) The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) in a DDT 4 2011 Semi-final match. The Young Bucks posed for the crowd early in the match with the Wolves standing behind them. Edwards and Richards lit them up with chops and kicks. The Bucks went to the apron and did their pose, so Edwards and Richards kicked them off the apron and nailed them with a pair of suicide dives and the crowd howled in support. The Wolves went to work on Nick and Davey nailed him with a big missile dropkick for a 2 count. Nick fired back at Eddie, but ended up taking a huge top. Eddie then lit up Matt on the apron with another chop and he spilled to the outside.

The crowd chant for Edwards as he tied up Nick in an inverted Indian death lock. Matt broke it up with a flick of the finger to Edwards’s lower region. Richards tagged and tied Nick upside down in the corner. He charged at Matt, but stopped and nailed him with a low blow for some pain back. Nick managed to fire back and tag in Matt, who shouted out Hogan before hitting a big leg drop to play into the anti-TNA chants. Richards tried to fire back, but Matt tagged him with a big slap to the face. Davey and Matt exchanged blows, but Matt took Richards down with a big superkick.

Richards caught Matt with a big kick. He then tagged in Edwards, who caught Matt with a missile dropkick. He kicked out Matt’s leg and nailed him with a shining wizard, but Matt kicked out. Nick tried to interfere, but Edwards suplexed him into Matt in the corner. He followed up with a tiger suplex on Matt, but only got a 2 count. Nick broke up a powerbomb on Matt, but Edwards fought back. The action broke down and the Wolves hit a superkick/German combo on Matt, but Nick broke up the pin. Edwards followed up with a Liger bomb on Matt, but he kicked out at the last second.

Nick broke up a DDT attempt on Matt with a superkick. He took out Eddie with a dive and Matt hit a tombstone on Richards, but he kicked out at the last second and the crowd went nuts. The fans pounded the mat at ringside and chanted for Richards after the nearfall. Richards and Matt traded blows. Richards nailed Matt with a handspring kick, but Nick took him out right away with a kick. After all four men went at it, Richards caught Nick in the Achilles lock, but Matt broke it up with a reverse hurricanrana and all four men were down as the crowd went nuts. Edwards and Matt got up first and exchanged blows. The ref got distracted, which allowed Nick to hit a low blow on Eddie. The Bucks went for more bang for your buck on Eddie, but he got out of the way. Richards nailed Matt with a big German suplex off the top. Edwards and Richards hit a double team powerbomb/backstabber on Matt, but Nick broke it up. Edwards then applied the single leg crab on Matt as the crowd went nuts, but Matt caught him with an inside cradle for the three count. What a match. (****1/4)

After the match the crowd chanted for Edwards to return to PWG. Richards got on the mic as the fans changed for Edwards. Richards talked about Super Dragon taking him under his wing and making him what the fans see today. Richards said this is the first time the west coast has seen Edwards in PWG. The fans went nuts and chanted for Edwards. Richards asked the fans to treat Edwards the same way they treated him. The fans then chanted for Edwards to come back as Richards left him alone in the ring to soak in the applause.

Steen asked that he and Tozawa be announced as the Kings of Sexual Intercourse before their match with KOW.

(6) The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero) vs. The Nightmare Violence Connection (Kevin Steen & Akira Tozawa) in a DDT 4 2011 Semi-final match. The crowd chanted for Steen and Hero to kick things off. Hero took down Steen and went to work on his leg. Castagnoli then tagged in and the KOW made a wish with Steen’s leg. They did it a second time and continued to work over Steen. Castagnoli went to work on Steen’s arm, but Steen fired back and shoved him shoulder-first into the turnbuckle before tagging in Tozawa, who lit up Claudio with kicks in the corner and then choked him with his boot. Castagnoli no-sold a chop from Castagnoli. He then no-sold a second and third chop. Tozawa then bounced off the ropes, but Castagnoli took him down with a shoulder tackle.

Hero ordered Tozawa to get to his feet. Tozawa spit in Hero’s face. Hero fired back and put the boots to Tozawa in the corner. Hero taunted Tozawa and then spit in his face. Tozawa managed to send Claudio to the outside and he went for a tope, but Castagnoli caught him with a leaping European uppercut. KOW continued to work over Tozawa. Castagnoli guerrilla pressed Tozawa and dropped him onto a boot from Hero. Hero nailed Tozawa with an elbow from behind, but Tozawa kicked out. The crowd tried to rally behind Tozawa, who took a running boot to the head while on his knees from Hero. Hero hit another kick on Tozawa and taunted him.

Tozawa fired up after Hero nailed him with a punch. He flipped out of a suplex and eventually nailed Hero with a backdrop suplex after two failed attempts. Tozawa made the hot tag and Steen ran wild on Castagnoli. The crowd went nuts after Steen hit a cannonball in the corner on Castagnoli for a 2 count. Steen hit a swinging DDT off the second rope. Tozawa and Hero ran into the ring and Tozawa sent him to the floor and nailed him with a dive through the ropes. Tozawa hit a second dive through the ropes as the crowd went nuts. The crowd chanted for Tozawa and he eventually hit a flip dive off the apron to take out Hero once again.

Castagnoli and Steen went at it the middle of the ring. Steen Nailed Castagnoli with a superkick, but Castagnoli fired right back with a clothesline and both men were down. Steen got up first and tagged in Tozawa, but he ran right into a pop-up European uppercut that silenced the crowd. Hero hit an assisted Liger bomb on Tozawa, but Steen broke up the pin. Hero nailed Tozawa with a big piledriver, but he kicked out at the last second. Hero began hitting Tozawa with knee strikes to the head, but Tozawa fired back with a German for a nearfall. Tozawa lit up Hero with slaps. Hero nailed Tozawa with a kick, but Tozawa fired right back with a kick of his own. Hero hit a huge rolling elbow, but Tozawa kicked out at one and lit up Hero with forearms. Hero hit a rolling kick and went for a moonsault, but Tozawa got out of the way and rolled him up into a cradle for the win. That was amazing, especially the last 10 minutes of the match. (****1/2)

Match thoughts: I don’t know how the crowd has stayed so hot throughout the night, but they were red hot for Tozawa how and the atmosphere was incredible as he made his comeback at the end. Hero looked to have him finished so many times, but Tozawa just kept on coming. The finish was really well done.

Joey Ryan came out and said he is the most powerful man wrestling in southern California. The crowd booed him. Ryan said he could have been in the tournament. He said Karl Anderson was doing fine in Japan, so he wouldn’t come. Ryan said he called the retired Scott Lost to join him, but he was enjoying his retirement, so he wouldn’t be coming. Ryan announced he would be facing Claudio for the PWG World Championship at the next show. Ryan said he felt the need for an exhibition. He said he had created the first ever Joey Ryan Invitational Gauntlet match with the winner getting the privilege of tapping out to him.

(7) Joey Ryan Invitational Gauntlet match: Brian Cage-Taylor vs. Ryan Taylor vs. Peter Avalon vs. Candice LeRae. Taylor and Cage-Taylor started the match. Cage-Taylor got the upper hand and worked over Taylor’s back. Taylor fired back and nailed Cage-Taylor with a slap. Cage-Taylor fired back and suplexed Taylor back into the ring from the apron for a 2 count. Taylor avoided a charge in the corner and nailed Cage-Taylor with a missile dropkick. He then followed up with a big suicide dive. Cage-Taylor fired back and powerbombed Taylor on his knee for a nearfall. Both men exchanged blows in the middle of the ring and Taylor caught Cage-Taylor with a twisting neck breaker for the first pin. Avalon ran to the ring and jumped all over Taylor.

Avalon hit an ace crusher on the ring apron on Taylor. He followed up with a moonsault off the apron. Taylor fired back and drove Avalon face-first into the mat. He picked up Taylor and drove him face-first into the mat. He then executed a third face plant and applied the cross-face, but Avalon got the ropes. Avalon ducked a clothesline and hit a corkscrew neckbreaker for a 2 count. Taylor fired back with a big clothesline, but Taylor countered him with a rollup holding the trunks for the elimination.

LeRae was out next to face Avalon, who humped the mat in anticipation of her entering the ring. Ryan ran in and nailed Avalon with a superkick. LeRae then covered Avalon for the pin. I guess it was no DQ. LeRae was declared the winner by Ryan. (**)

Ryan got on the mic and taunted LeRae on the mic. LeRae asked for the mic. She told Ryan he looked ridiculous. She told Ryan she could make him tap out. Ryan got back on the mic and said he didn’t look ridiculous. He said he looked like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Ryan said if she could make him tap out or beat him, she should cave his title shot.

(8) Joey Ryan vs. Candice LeRae. The crowd chanted “next world champ” at LeRae. Ryan got down and asked for some amateur wrestling, but LeRae rolled him up for a nearfall. Ryan then kneed her in the face and the crowd booed. LeRae fired back and locked Ryan in from jungle. Ryan struggled, but got the ropes. Ryan shoved LeRae down to the mat and the crowd booed. Ryan continued to toy with LeRae. LeRae fired back and nailed Ryan with a kick to the lower regions in the corner. She then followed up with a swinging DDT through the ropes to the floor.

Ryan beat the 20 count, but LeRae maintained control and locked him in another submission on the mat. Ryan raked LeRae’s eyes, but was not DQ’d. He then grabbed LeRae’s chest and nailed her with the boobplex. Ryan went up top, but LeRae cut him off and nailed him with a superplex for a nearfall. She set up Ryan and nailed him with the ballplex. She went up top and nailed Ryan with a leaping reverse hurricanrana for another nearfall. She went up top again, but Ryan avoided a moonsault. He then nailed her with a superkick, but pulled her up before the three count. Ryan then locked in a keylock submission for the win. (**)

Match thoughts: This was a good break from the DDT4 tournament action. LeRae pleased the crowd with her offense and Ryan did a good job getting heel heat from the crowd. Some of the moves took a long time to set up, but this was fun overall as an angle.

(9) The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. The Nightmare Violence Connection (Kevin Steen & Akira Tozawa) in the DDT4 2011 Tournament Finals. The match started with both teams brawling at ringside. Steen backdropped Nick into a bunch of chairs at ringside. He followed up with a frogsplash off the apron and the crowd applauded. Nick came back a few moments later and nailed Steen with a chairshot to the back. Both teams continued to go back and forth on the outside. Steen took control on the outside. He whipped Matt into the ringpost. He then powerbombed Nick into the apron twice to the delight of the crowd. The crowd wanted a third, but Matt made the save with a chairshot. Steen fired back and powerbombed Matt onto the apron and the crowd roared. He lifted Matt up and powerbombed him on the apron again and the crowd went insane.

The crowd chanted “Kill Steen Kill” as he nailed a top rope legdrop on Matt back inside the ring. Steen set up for a moonsault, but Matt got out of the way. Nick wiped out Tozawa on the outside by throwing a chair. Matt did a handspring and got an actual rake to rake Steen’s back in the corner. Tozawa fired up and went after Matt. He sent Matt to the outside, but Nick tripped him. The Young Bucks then set up Tozawa on the ring apron and DDT’d him onto a chair off the apron. A ref took Tozawa to the back, which left Steen alone in the ring.

Matt began working over Steen’s leg. Nick went up top while Matt held Steen’s leg up and nailed it with a doublestomp. Steen ducked a charge and sent Matt into Nick. He then set up Nick for the package piledriver on the apron, but Nick countered with a back body drop. Steen got sent into the ringpost on the outside and came up bleeding. The crowd chanted for Steen, who simply couldn’t overcome the numbers game at this point. Steen fired back on Nick with a big chop, but Nick dropkicked his injured knee right away. Matt applied a leg lock on Steen while Nick taunted him from the outside. Steen spit blood into Nick’s eyes, so Nick nailed him with a big right hand. Matt released the hold and continued to pound on Steen.

The Bucks set up Steen for the more bang for your buck. Tozawa then ran in out of nowhere and wiped out the Bucks. Steen applied the scorpion death lock on Matt in the middle of the ring. Nick punched him, but Steen wouldn’t let go. Nick nailed Steen with a big kick and he still wouldn’t let go. Tozawa then nailed Nick with a big running kick. Steen sat back even further on the hold, but Matt finally got the ropes. Tozawa dragged Steen to their corner and tagged himself into the match. Tozawa fired back on the bucks. He hit a series of German’s on Matt, but Nick broke up the pin and the crowd went nuts.

Tozawa nailed both Bucks with a bicycle kick in the corner. Steen then lifted them both up on his bad legs and Samoan dropped both bucks. Steen nailed Matt with the package piledriver. Tozawa followed up with a running kick, but Nick broke it up. Nick took out Tozawa with a dive over the top. Steen applied the scorpion death lock on Matt again, but Nick nailed him with a superkick. The Bucks nailed Steen with a ton of superkicks, but he kicked out at the last second. The crowd chanted for Steen. Who sat up in the middle of the ring. The Bucks took turns nailing him with superkicks. Steen flipped them off. They then hit a double superkick, but Steen kicked out again.

Tozawa ran into the ring and ran wild on the Bucks, but they cut him off with a double superkick. The Bucks then hit more bang for your on Steen with Tozawa for the pin. (****3/4)

The crowd chanted “this is bulls---“ after the match at the Young Bucks. With the win, the Bucks earn a shot at the tag titles. The Bucks took out Steen with a double superkick after the match. Matt got on the mic and ran down the crowd. Matt said it’s been a long time since they had actually had the opportunity to wrestle. He said PWG is their home. He said their success is PWG’s success. He said they made it to TNA because of what they did in PWG. Matt said London & Generico had the belts that put them on the map. He said London needed to put down his joint. Matt then told Generico to spend a day in the gym. The crowd began chanting “ole.” Matt said they want Paul to not smoke before the match. Matt dedicated their win to Dixie Carter, which made the crowd very angry.

Match thoughts: This was an amazing match. Steen going at it alone set up an amazing sequence with Tozawa coming back from his injury and running wild on the Bucks. The finish of the match was great with Steen refusing to stay down and Tozawa making another comeback. This match had a ton of drama and was a fantastic conclusion to one of the better shows I’ve seen all year.

Overall thoughts: (9.5) Every match in the DDT 4 2011 Tournament was good to excellent. You’re simply not going to see a show like this very often on the independent scene where the crowd is into each and every match. The Joey Ryan Invitational brought things down and gave the fans a chance to fire up and really add to the atmosphere of what was an incredible main event.

Tozawa’s performance in the tournament was awesome. The fans love him. I loved his interaction with Mark Briscoe during their match. Both men screaming at each other and getting separated by their partners was one heck of a moment during the show.

The KOW vs. The Nightmare Violence Connection and The Young Bucks vs. The Nightmare Violence Connection are two sure-fire MOTYC’s. Both matches delivered great tag team action. PWG brings in the best talent from all over the world and when everything clicks like it did on this night, you have something really special on your hands.

The Wolves vs. Young Bucks match was also excellent. The crowd really appreciated seeing Eddie Edwards for the first time in PWG and were begging him to come back after the Wolves lost to the Bucks.

The show long storyline with the Young Bucks marching through to the finals with a cheap rollup victory over the Wolves was entertaining. They’ve really got their heel characters down and the crowd was all over them during the main event and while they were cutting their post-match promo.

I highly recommend purchasing this DVD.

You can purchase “DDT4 2011” at Highspots.com.

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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