Pro Wrestling Guerilla
Reseda, Calif. at the American Legion Hall Post 308 (attendance est. 275)
Report by Saul Stradlin

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returned to the American Legion Post 308 in Reseda, CA on Friday night in front of a crowd of 300 or so fans. Eddie Kingston and Necro Butcher were advertised for the event, but were unable to make it. The explanations were that Kingston had a court date, and Necro had to shoot scene for the movie The Wrestler.

1. Brandon Bonham beat Nemesis. Bonham was making his debut in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and has a stereotypical surfer look with long blond hair. Bonham ended up winning over the fans with an array of high flying moves. Really good opener that got the fans into the show, with Bonham getting the victory. After the match, the fans gave a loud ovation for both wrestlers.

2. Candice LeRae defeated Lufisto. Lufisto was making her PWG debut in this match, and was pretty over with the fans. The crowd was also hot for this match, and there were several stiff exchanges in this. Good match that went around 10 minutes. Several stiff strikes in this. Candice LeRae picked up the victory. After the match, Human Tornado came out and went after Candice, but Hero was able to make the save. Claudio ran in and attacked Hero, which led to:

3. Chris Hero beat Claudio Castagnoli. Hero and Claudio have faced off two times in PWG singles action. The first match took place in January 2006, and the second in December 2006. Both matches showcased their lucha styles. This match was a complete 180 from their previous encounters, as they had a very heat brawl that went around the building. At one point during the match, Hero landed on top of a fan in the first show, which caused the fan to fall backwards and ended up breaking the chair he was sitting in. Hero gets his third straight victory over Claudio in PWG after he reversed the giant swing. Post-match saw a brawl between Hero, Claudio, Tornado, Candice, and Lufisto.

4. El Generico and Kevin Steen defeated The Dynasty (Joey Ryan & Scott Lost w/ Jade Chung) to win the PWG Tag Titles. This match was originally scheduled to be The Dynasty vs. Kingston and Claudio, and Generico was supposed to face Chris Hero. Joey Ryan stated that when he found out about Kingston not being able to show up, he sent the entire PWG roster message on Myspace and issued an open challenge. That challenge was answered by El Generico, but because Joey can't read Spanish, he didn't know who Generico's partner was.

Generico's partner turned out to be Kevin Steen, who ran in through the back. This was an excellent match, that saw lots of dramatic nearfalls. The ending came when Super Dragon made his return and attacked Jade Chung, and gave her the Psycho Driver in the ring. Scott Lost would carry Jade out of the ring, Joey was left alone where Kevin Steen hit him with a Package Piledriver, and received a brainbuster from El Generico. Generico and Steen are now two time PWG World Tag Team Champions.

After the match, Steen got on the mic and proclaimed "It's good to be home, in PWG" which got a huge pop from the fans.

After intermission, Excalibur announced that the main event, which was set to be Necro Butcher vs. Human Tornado in an unsanctioned street fight, would now be Lufisto and Human Tornado vs. Chris Hero and Candice LeRae.

5. Los Luchas defeated Scorpio Sky & Ronin, and TJ Perkins & Hook Bomerry , and The Young Bucks in the DDT4 Qualifying Tournament Finals. This was a very faced paced elimination match. Lots of dives and unique high flying moves. Ronin and Sky were the first team eliminated when Perkins and Bomberry pinned them via cheating ways. Perkins and Bomberry were then eliminated by Los Luchas after they hit the Neo Flight (double springboard swanton bombs). It came down to Los Luchas and The Young Bucks, with Los Luchas getting the victory after Phoenix Star hit one of the Young Bucks with a reverse Angle Slam off the top rope and onto Zokre's knees.

6. Chris Hero & Candice LeRae defeated Lufisto & Human Tornado in a street fight. This match was an all out brawl that saw various weapons used in the match. I couldn't see most of the action from where I was sitting, but at one point in the match, Chris Hero stacked a bunch of chairs on top of Human Tornado (ala Necro Butcher) and did a front flip off the stage and onto the floor. Hero ended up pinning the PWG World Champion to gain the victory for his team.

After the match, Tornado, Lufisto, and Claudio attacked Hero and Candice in a wild post match brawl. The heel faction would attack Hero and Candice for several minutes, before they duct taped Hero to the ring ropes and knocked out several referees. Tornado and Lufisto took turns attacking Candice, and ripped out a chunk of her hair which caused her to bleed heavily. Tornado would grab Candice, hold her in front of Hero, and hit a Dat Nigga Dead (reverse capture suplex) on her as Hero watched on, which also sent Candice flying across the ring. Lufisto then went outside and brought a table in the ring.

Tornado setup the table in the corner, and Lufisto would end up putting Candice through it with a Gore. PWG commentator and former wrestler TARO, Commissioner of Foods and Beverages Excalibur, ring announcer Jon Ian, and several security guards ran in and made the save while a ring crew attendant was trying to cut Hero loose from the ropes. Another brawl erupted in the crowd between the heel faction and the PWG staff in the crowd and things quickly calmed down. Hero got on the mic, put over how tough Candice was, and swore that he'd get revenge on Tornado. Excalibur got on the mix and said that since he was the one who booked the match, he'd make it up to Hero in the future.

Final thoughts: The next show is April 5th in Reseda. The only match announced is a match featuring Hello Kitty vs. Kuromi, as part of a special presentation  if Gente California and Sanrio. No joke. PWG is actually going to run a match involving the Hello Kitty character.

Also, the four latest PWG DVD releases were available tonight. The High Cost of Doing Business (Evans/Danielson, Hero/Tornado mystery partner tag with the debut of Eddie Kingston), All Star Weekend 6 Nights 1 and 2 (featuing Low Ki's return, a crazy six person tag, Dragon Gate stars, and CIMA/Danielson II) and Pearl Habra (Generico/Ki, Hero/Tornado in a Street Fight, Strong/Rocky Romero 2/3 Falls) are now available at PWG's website at www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: