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| The man. |
Yeah, I know, the "Next" on the Chikara entry was for SHIMMER, but I can't do the promotion justice because I haven't seen enough footage to really get into it. Sorry, it's not that I'm not interested. In fact, I have a DVD at home that's coming up very shortly on my queue. Anyway, moving on...
Promotion: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
What Happened in 2011: If there was one story that carried PWG through 2011, it was the Young Bucks reigning terror over the company and the efforts of bitter rivals-turned-allies of convenience Kevin Steen and El Generico to stop them. It was mostly Steen early on, as he and his fellow King of Sexual Intercourse, Akira Tozawa, were the only ones standing in the way of the Bucks claiming a guaranteed title shot via the DDT4 title. The Bucks were ruthless, intentionally injuring Tozawa to the point where he was carried to the back. Steen fought off the Bucks valiantly until Tozawa made his heroic return later on, but it wasn't enough. The Bucks would take the tournament, and then at Card Subject to Change III, the Tag Titles from Generico and stand-in partner for erstwhile fellow ¡Peligro Abeja! Paul London, Ricochet.
Of course, the Bucks couldn't leave well enough alone, harassing Steen whenever they could. Despite all that, the murderous Canadian zoo aficionado captured the PWG World Championship in an impromptu match against Claudio Castagnoli at EIGHT. That reign would come to an end at Steen Wolf, when Generico defeated Steen in a ladder match. Afterwards, the Bucks picked the bones, attacking both former and new Champion until who would come out but Super Dragon. The long dormant founder and ace of PWG had finally recovered enough from his injuries and had enough of the Bucks' petulance. At FEAR, he teamed with Steen and took the Tag Titles away from the Brothers Jackson in Guerrilla Warfare. Is that war over? I'm not sure it will be until the Bucks are chased from SoCal for good, but one can bet that they'll think twice before fucking with Dragon and Steen again.
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| The last two legends standing Photo Credit: Christine Coons |
PWG's 2011 MVP: I'm tempted to pick the Young Bucks, but honestly, while their antics over the year have been overlooked by people who only want to view them for their raw deal in TNA or The Handshake Affair, I don't think they were as important to PWG as Kevin Steen was. The man went out, had awesome matches every card and used the spotlight he had on him from his ROH angle to illuminate to the wrestling world that what he was doing in PWG was more awesome than words could really describe.
What's Gonna Happen in 2012: In the last couple of years, PWG has been pretty lean on storyline material, instead focusing more on one-off shows, dream matches and the like. Again I stress that's not a bad thing, but it makes the landscape pretty hard to predict, especially for that one big long term feud or story they end up running. Will it continue to be the Young Bucks? Will Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky rise up to be the challengers for the newly crowned Tag Champions, self-christened as Appetite for Destruction? Is there going to be a new major feud springing up that no one knows about? The future's uncertain in that regard.
That being said, it doesn't look like they'll be slowing down in terms of throwing out balls-to-the-wall epic matchups. The first match they announced for 2012 was a six man tag, featuring a mash up of the Kings of Sexual Intercourse and Appetite for Destruction (Dragon, Steen and Tozawa) taking on the trio of Generico, PAC and Masato Yoshino. Minds will be blown.
There's also usually one or two SoCal native neophytes who rise up and take the ball. While Brandon Gatson was the last one in 2010, his disappearance in 2011 was kinda disheartening. That being said, there are a few candidates for that shooting star run, with Willie Mack being tops on anyone's list.
Five to Watch in 2012: The RockNES Monsters - The Johnnies Goodtime and Yuma, a team that formed early on in 2010, spent '11 getting seasoned in big matches against big opponents. They're a frenetic, electric team and one that I think has huge potential to break out even further in '12. Whether they gain the Tag Titles at some point is irrelevant as long as they continue to get showcase matches against established teams.
Akira Tozawa - It's unknown how long his American excursions will last in '12, as he had to return to Japan pretty early on in '11. That being said, he's a fan favorite in Reseda, and I'm not sure I have to explain why. If he sticks around for most of the year, I think a series between Tozawa and Generico for the PWG World Championship would not only make sense, but it would be an epic display of awesome wrestling.
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| Mack, inviting the haters to kiss his ass Photo Credit: Christine Coons |
Super Smash Bros. - The Canadian gamers have made their mark in their native land as well as in Chikara and Beyond Wrestling. They've finally made it to the Left Coast, where they were put into bigtime matches against teams like the American Wolves and the RockNES Monsters. Some say that PWG's Tag Championships hold more prestige than the singles title, and while I don't necessarily believe that to be the case, I do think they're among the most honored tag belts in the country. If the Smash Bros. are here to stay, they've got a good shot at being in some high profile feuds and getting a crack or two at the straps. Remember, this is where fellow Canucks Steen and Generico got their breaks in the lower 48. The Guerrilla is kind to Canadians.
Pretty Peter Avalon - Every so often, a skinny little prick comes along who's so good at making the crowd hate him that no matter what the guy looks like, he's going to get a reaction. While he's gotten more exposure in front of the NWA Hollywood crowd than the PWG crowd, I feel like Avalon's got that going for him. I think if he's allowed to have time to do his thing, he'll be among the most hated men in Reseda by this time in 2012.
Three Things I Want to See in 2012: 1 - More women's wrestling/intergender wrestling. PWG has always had the women tangle with the men, as Candice LeRae and Christina Von Eerie have been opening atomico match staples for two years. LeRae is the only one of the two who remains, and she's still as much a part of the company as any of the men. With Chikara, ACW and Beyond blazing trails for the obliteration of the gender barrier, I think PWG would be best served to follow suit. It's clear that even though there is a distinct sense of humor in the promotion's atmosphere that they have the cache with indie fans that the efforts of mixing the boys with the girls would be taken a lot more seriously. How awesome would it be to see Portia Perez return and face off against Tozawa, Ryan, Avalon or Chuck Taylor (a guy who needs to come back to Cali and SOON)? Or what about Allison Danger, Davina Rose or other native SoCal women? Hell, bring a SHIMMER star over once a card if that's the case. Either way, I want to see the women tangle more with the men in Reseda, and I don't think it would look out of place at all if it crept up the card more.
2 - iPPV. Seriously, of all the companies out there that are doing it or could do it, PWG would probably do the most business. Seriously, am I the only one that might pay double for them to do iPPV? Don't laugh, I'm sure I'm not.
3 - Lucha guests! PWG has been great getting puroresu guests to come over to their cards. The Japanese guest star credits have been numerous and luminary. That being said, they're so close to Mexico that it almost doesn't make sense that they're not bringing in more lucha libre guest stars. If it's because they're difficult to deal with (knowing what I know about Chikara's dealings with guys like Skayde, that's wholly believable), then fine, I can understand, but that doesn't mean in my heart of hearts that I don't think they could pull at least one guest star a year from South of the Border... although it does seem like they listened to the plea here before I even made it because Mascarita Dorada was just announced for KRR 3.
Next up… DGUSA/EVOLVE!
Steen Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography
