The best Chuck Taylor thing is his training montage from his best of (Tries His Hardest: The Chuck Taylor Story in case anybody wants to buy a lovely little shoot interview/match comp dvd):
Ahahahaha is Kobald just a tiny demon man who lives in garbage/sewers because he is amazing
+2
facetiousa wit so dryit shits sandRegistered Userregular
I don't know which is my favourite of the Chukie Tea 24/7 Hardcore Championship Matches
the one where he fights Triton Drew Gulak to the Mario underwater music, or the tragic news report about Drew Gulak being on a lost plane delivered by "Buck Baylor".
... apparently I like Drew Gulak?
"I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde
As we briefly touched on 24/7 Hardcore titles, let's have an update on DDT's Ironman Heavyweight Championship, also defended under 24/7 rules.
When last we talked about this particular title the 1000th champion had just been crowned, the champion was the Ironman Heavyweight Championship belt itself.
Sadly that didn't last long, here is the title change from the same show:
The basic gist is that that owner of DDT Takagi announced that he was going to seal the belt away forever at the next big show. The founder and original champion of the belt, Poison Sawada JULIE* (he of the mystical snake powers granted by the statues of Easter Island) took exception to this and gathered a group of people to challenge Tagaki in a multi man match. Before that match he spiked all of their water with a mystical potion, putting them under his control and giving them a measure of his snake powers (poison mist, hypnosis, the usual stuff).
Sadly they all came up short, which brings us to the point in the video where JULIE goes apeshit on Takagi.
The guy who beats the belt for itself? That is Jun Akiyama; kind of a puro legend, one of the last hold overs of the 90's guys and the only decent worker in All Japan now. He's there to challenge KUDO for the KO-D belt, he does not want to be Ironman champion.
*Back when he was Poison Sawada Black.
Everyone is different. Everyone is special.
+3
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
also internet wrestling fans are not the only ones to benefit from women's matches
there's also, you know, little girls who want to watch women wrestle
pages late (so many pages so fast)
but I watched fastlane with my friend's little cousin. She watches weekly and even enjoys the divas show. For whatever I might think of that show, she enjoys watching girls wrestle, and he said that when he saw her tuesday the first thing she mentioned was her disappointment in the length of the divas match monday.
I talked to him about it because I spent time thinking about it, thinking about what she was seeing (we joke that she is gonna become a wrestler but... it's something she could want! and I want her to be inspired by what she sees, not upset and doubtful that girls can wrestle or be given a stage)
I told him we have to show her some NXT wrestling and he said he talked to her father and he's gonna be getting her the network and my friend already told her to watch NXT. I just need to make sure she goes back and watches the best of the best.
Not really a sister promotion per se. KBB was it's own thing long before any kind of bond was formed with Chikara. In fact I'm 90% sure it's been around longer than Chikara has.
PwnanObrienHe's right, life sucks.Registered Userregular
One of my favorite CHIKARA matches, like all good matches, tells a story. In this case it's a story of The Swiss Superman and The American Dragon trying to murder the left knee of Jigsaw.
Not really a sister promotion per se. KBB was it's own thing long before any kind of bond was formed with Chikara. In fact I'm 90% sure it's been around longer than Chikara has.
Oh, I only found them when Chikara was gone and thought it was part of that.
there's so much stuff. I have old nxt on my other monitor but I keep having to pause to watch chikara
I need to hire a secretary to select my wrestling viewing for each night, set me up with the fastest and best ways to watch new shit and catch up on old. so much fun to be had.
a belt winning itself is the new best thing I've seen in wrestling
Former Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions
As of February 2015 there have been over 1,020 title changes for the belt, which has been won by numerous male and female wrestlers and non-wrestlers, including children, animals and inanimate objects.
Animals
Yatchan - A monkey
Cocolo - A miniature Dachshund dog.
Inanimate objects
Kitty-Chan - a stuffed 'Hello Kitty' doll
Mah-Kun - another stuffed doll, who defeated 'Kitty-Chan' for the belt
A baseball bat - lost the belt after being broken in half as a 'KO' decision
Three different ladders - each fell on the champion and a pinfall was counted, with some successfully defending the title by not being pinned during the time limit battle royal matches.
Chiririn - a chicken doll
Mr. Kasai - a stuffed Jun Kasai doll. Mr. Kasai has won the belt twice.
A Pro Wrestling Wave poster.
Ice Ribbon ringside mat.
A pint of beer.
A stick of yakitori.
A steel chair.
"Kōmyō", a painting by Akihiro Miwa.
The title belt itself.
Yoshihiko - An inflatable 'love doll'. Wrestlers treat it as if it actually was an active wrestler, and actually sell moves "done" by him/her, mostly high flying moves. For some moves, like outside dives, Yoshihiko is helped by one or more assistants, who throw him out of the ring, pull his foot on the ropes, etc. Opposing wrestlers make like those assistants are not there and are part of Yoshihiko. The original Yoshihiko was "killed" by an Antonio Honda knee drop, which caused its head to burst open, and was replaced by a second Yoshihiko, who was also a 'love doll', only modified to resemble the Great Muta. The second Yoshihiko was killed by Kenny Omega by a giant swing that sent Yoshihiko out of the ring, thus splitting his head open and revealing cotton stuffing. Later on in that match however, a third Yoshihiko came out resembling The Undertaker's old American Bad Ass gimmick, even using the same theme music. Following that match, the third Yoshihiko was shot to death by Antonio Honda. A fourth Yoshihiko, resembling Hulk Hogan, debuted shorty afterwards.
Akihiro, another inflatable love doll and the supposed sister of Yoshihiko. Made its debut on August 18, 2013.
Non-existent
Misutero - An "invisible wrestler" i.e. non-existent. Opponents sell moves of a wrestler who isn't there, and the title is held by nothing and no-one but the wrestlers and referees act as if they can see and pin the "invisible wrestler". Muscle Sakai "won" the title from this "invisible wrestler" by using a "ray gun" and "infrared visor" to shoot the "invisible wrestler", winning the belt on a KO decision.
PWG was founded in 2003 by six southern California wrestlers known collectively as the PWG Six: Top Gun Talwar, Disco Machine, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Excalibur, and Super Dragon. Their goal was to not only showcase southern California talent, which didn't really have great national exposure due to a lack of prominent promotions in the area and the general cost of flying them out to bigger promotions on the east coast, and to create a wrestling promotion that catered to the wrestlers. This wrestler-run-and-operated style allowed them to bring in a variety of top independent talent, as cards in the first years featured top names at the time such as local greats Samoa Joe and Frankie Kazarian (along with most of the PWG Six who were prominent in other promotions as well) and more general stars such as AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, Chris Hero, CM Punk, and Colt Cabana.
PWG has become a top promotion through the years thanks to a variety of reasons. Near the top has been an uncanny ability to find the next big independent stars before everyone else. Davey Richards, Adam Cole, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Ricochet, and others all made a name for themselves with spectacular showings in PWG, to the point where it has become a running joke that any major ROH storyline could be traced back to something PWG had already done months if not years prior. PWG has also become something of a farm system for the WWE, as all of the more recent big-time WWE signings from the states have spent time in PWG prior to being signed. William Regal has been known to frequent PWG shows to scout talent in recent years, and former Raw GM Brad Maddox has been spotted ringside at recent shows.
Which brings me to another point. This my sound like boasting since I'm a regular attendee, but PWG events are special. Unlike other major indy promotions, PWG only holds about 10 shows a year at most, with last year only featuring 9 (and three of them occurred on back to back to back nights). This has the effect of turning PWG shows into destination viewing, with tickets becoming almost impossible to obtain recently (if you want a reference, online tickets for this weekend's From Out Of Nowhere sold out in under 11 minutes). To add to this, PWG has managed to carve out a massive hipster influence in Southern California, to the point where recent shows have included appearances the likes of Gillian Jacobs, Rowdy Rhonda Rousey, Clark Duke, and other mildly famous people. Plus, it helps that the PWG faithful are incredibly willing to embrace every wrestler to walk through the curtain and perform for them, which creates a really special atmosphere (the only time I've ever been upset at the people in the building was during the debut of Trent?, which thankfully turned around by the end of ASW 9 and turned into love by the end of the 2013 BoLA).
And this is all to say nothing of the wrestling. Because, let's face it, the promotion wouldn't be nearly as popular if the wrestling weren't as good. PWG really has become a showcase for wrestlers, with every wrestler seemingly out to put on the best match on the show. The sparse amount of PWG shows also helps make each show, even each match, feel special. Honestly, I really can't do the shows any service by writing about them. You really need to see them to believe.
PWG also hosts two of the biggest tournaments in independent wrestling. The first is known as the Battle of Los Angeles, a single-elimination tournament featuring some of the best talent from around the world. Recently, the tournament has been used to showcase up and comers such as past winners Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Ricochet, along with guys who've come close such as Johnny Gargano, Trevor Lee, and Michael Elgin. The other tournament is known as the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, or DDT4 for short. While it doesn't bring in wrestlers on the level of the Tag World Grand Prix, it's still one of the biggest tag team tournaments in the world.
This is where I'll throw in a few disclaimers. First, you will need to understand that PWG is a wrestling-ass wrestling show. Because they don't run as many shows as other promotions, there really isn't much in the way of ongoing storylines, although when PWG wants to, they can put on some pretty entertaining stuff, such as the reign of Mount Rushmore during parts of 2013 and 2014, and they have a very good track record of referencing past events. Still, this isn't the promotion you'll want to watch if you want long-term storytelling.
Second, and this is more of a "if you go further back you'll see some shit" thing, but past PWG wasn't exactly the most politically correct promotion ever. Some of the earlier stuff is...well, rough would be a good way to describe it. I really don't recommend a ton from then, but this is just a heads up if you ever walk that path.
Anyway, let me introduce some of the main people in PWG:
Super Dragon - The man, the myth, the legend, the blackest man on Earth. Super Dragon hasn't actually wrestled in over 3 years now (when he fractured his ankle and decided against returning to active competition), yet he's still a major part of PWG as result of being its main booker. He helped put PWG on the map with an incredibly violent blood-feud with Joey Ryan, and throughout the years he's put on tremendous matches. Also known as the nicest human being in the world. If you want to read something by him, he did a wonderful Q&A on the PWG website a few years ago which you can find here. Pay special attention to one Kevin Steen joining in and asking the most ridiculous questions.
Excalibur - The only other member of the PWG Six still involved with running the promotion, the former Commissioner of Food and Beverage and current Liason to the Board of Directors also serves as the main play-by-play commentator for the promotion. Every PWG show begins with him in the ring warming up the crowd and reminding us that in Reseda, California, every week is Shark Week, and every day is Earth Day, which means that we RECYCLE!
Roderick Strong - The current PWG World Champion, Roddy and his shitty little boots will break your back and make you humble.
Candice LaRae and Joey Ryan - The World's Cutest Tag Team are the current PWG World Tag Team Champions. Candice LaRae is the biggest face in PWG by a mile, and began to team with her longtime rival Joey Ryan after he came to her aid during a beatdown by Mount Rushmore. If you want more intergender wrestling and guys and girls being placed on equal footing, then Candice is basically your god and this team should be your favorite. They're probably not though because these next guys exist.
The Young Bucks - The best tag team on planet Earth today, and it really isn't even close (also hi Kevin!). Everything this team does is a delight and don't let the haters tell you otherwise.
Chuck Taylor and Trent? - Another popular tag team (also hi Joey!), the Best Friends came about during BoLA 2013 and quickly became a crowd favorite, partly because the Kentucky Gentleman Chuck Taylor is second only to Candice LaRae on the PWG Face rankings and also Trent? is actually insanely good as a wrestler. Plus they have won a match by sitting on top of one another's shoulders, putting on a giant trenchcoat, and chokeslamming a dude.
Rick Knox - Fuck with Rick Knox at your own peril.
And here are some videos before I make some recommendations.
This is a good video showing off how bad early PWG could be, but it's also saved by the wonderful commentary of Excalibur and Disco Machine, who delighted in shitting on everything. Excalibur's commentary style has changed dramatically since then.
Perhaps the biggest feud in PWG history, showcasing how good PWG storytelling can be. Featuring Chris Hero, Human Tornado, and Candice LaRae, with special appearances by Cesaro, Eddie Kingston, Necro Butcher, and Lufisto.
Recent PWG has been incredibly good, so here's a few preview videos to get you hype:
As for some recommendations, PWG matches are much harder to track online, but with the relative sparse nature of the shows, that makes it easier to keep up with them. You can get downloads of most of the shows through highspots.com ($15 for more recent shows, $10 for older things). Of those shows, you should probably get the entirety of BoLA 2014, which is required viewing at this point and was probably the best show put on by any US independent wrestling-wise last year. Other good shows to check out include the past few DDT4s, both Mystery Vortexes (the conceit of Mystery Vortex is that the card isn't announced prior to the show, which makes the entire evening a surprise. There has never been a bad Mystery Vortex. Fact.), Eleven, and Steen Wolf (if you want to know how brutal the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn feud could possibly get).
Posts
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/06/13/winners-announced-for-re-create-a-wrestler-design-contest-from-chikara-project-rooftop/
And a PA poster got one of his entries picked.
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/06/13/winners-announced-for-re-create-a-wrestler-design-contest-from-chikara-project-rooftop/icarus-eric-andrew-koch/
Tumblr | Twitter PSN: misterdapper Av by Satellite_09
Steam Switch FC: 2799-7909-4852
"SHUT UP RICH SWANN!"
ineedmayo.com Eidolon Journal Updated
the one where he fights Triton Drew Gulak to the Mario underwater music, or the tragic news report about Drew Gulak being on a lost plane delivered by "Buck Baylor".
... apparently I like Drew Gulak?
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
@Blankzilla I will join you on this journey
You have my axe
They even have official, narrated videos that will catch you up on every season.
YES
When last we talked about this particular title the 1000th champion had just been crowned, the champion was the Ironman Heavyweight Championship belt itself.
Sadly that didn't last long, here is the title change from the same show:
Sadly they all came up short, which brings us to the point in the video where JULIE goes apeshit on Takagi.
The guy who beats the belt for itself? That is Jun Akiyama; kind of a puro legend, one of the last hold overs of the 90's guys and the only decent worker in All Japan now. He's there to challenge KUDO for the KO-D belt, he does not want to be Ironman champion.
*Back when he was Poison Sawada Black.
pages late (so many pages so fast)
but I watched fastlane with my friend's little cousin. She watches weekly and even enjoys the divas show. For whatever I might think of that show, she enjoys watching girls wrestle, and he said that when he saw her tuesday the first thing she mentioned was her disappointment in the length of the divas match monday.
I talked to him about it because I spent time thinking about it, thinking about what she was seeing (we joke that she is gonna become a wrestler but... it's something she could want! and I want her to be inspired by what she sees, not upset and doubtful that girls can wrestle or be given a stage)
I told him we have to show her some NXT wrestling and he said he talked to her father and he's gonna be getting her the network and my friend already told her to watch NXT. I just need to make sure she goes back and watches the best of the best.
Tumblr | Twitter PSN: misterdapper Av by Satellite_09
http://www.denofgeek.us/other/chikara/233121/the-death-and-return-of-chikara-a-comprehensive-guide
as if you did not already know
ineedmayo.com Eidolon Journal Updated
Oh, I only found them when Chikara was gone and thought it was part of that.
Tumblr | Twitter PSN: misterdapper Av by Satellite_09
He basically no sold ever being friends with Curtis Axel and then beat him up and celebrated over the remains of Rybaxel.
Because friendship is for losers.
Steam Switch FC: 2799-7909-4852
aw, wrestlefriends no.
yeah
there's so much stuff. I have old nxt on my other monitor but I keep having to pause to watch chikara
I need to hire a secretary to select my wrestling viewing for each night, set me up with the fastest and best ways to watch new shit and catch up on old. so much fun to be had.
Former Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions
As of February 2015 there have been over 1,020 title changes for the belt, which has been won by numerous male and female wrestlers and non-wrestlers, including children, animals and inanimate objects.
Yatchan - A monkey
Cocolo - A miniature Dachshund dog.
Inanimate objects
Kitty-Chan - a stuffed 'Hello Kitty' doll
Mah-Kun - another stuffed doll, who defeated 'Kitty-Chan' for the belt
A baseball bat - lost the belt after being broken in half as a 'KO' decision
Three different ladders - each fell on the champion and a pinfall was counted, with some successfully defending the title by not being pinned during the time limit battle royal matches.
Chiririn - a chicken doll
Mr. Kasai - a stuffed Jun Kasai doll. Mr. Kasai has won the belt twice.
A Pro Wrestling Wave poster.
Ice Ribbon ringside mat.
A pint of beer.
A stick of yakitori.
A steel chair.
"Kōmyō", a painting by Akihiro Miwa.
The title belt itself.
Yoshihiko - An inflatable 'love doll'. Wrestlers treat it as if it actually was an active wrestler, and actually sell moves "done" by him/her, mostly high flying moves. For some moves, like outside dives, Yoshihiko is helped by one or more assistants, who throw him out of the ring, pull his foot on the ropes, etc. Opposing wrestlers make like those assistants are not there and are part of Yoshihiko. The original Yoshihiko was "killed" by an Antonio Honda knee drop, which caused its head to burst open, and was replaced by a second Yoshihiko, who was also a 'love doll', only modified to resemble the Great Muta. The second Yoshihiko was killed by Kenny Omega by a giant swing that sent Yoshihiko out of the ring, thus splitting his head open and revealing cotton stuffing. Later on in that match however, a third Yoshihiko came out resembling The Undertaker's old American Bad Ass gimmick, even using the same theme music. Following that match, the third Yoshihiko was shot to death by Antonio Honda. A fourth Yoshihiko, resembling Hulk Hogan, debuted shorty afterwards.
Akihiro, another inflatable love doll and the supposed sister of Yoshihiko. Made its debut on August 18, 2013.
Non-existent
Misutero - An "invisible wrestler" i.e. non-existent. Opponents sell moves of a wrestler who isn't there, and the title is held by nothing and no-one but the wrestlers and referees act as if they can see and pin the "invisible wrestler". Muscle Sakai "won" the title from this "invisible wrestler" by using a "ray gun" and "infrared visor" to shoot the "invisible wrestler", winning the belt on a KO decision.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa1eio_wwe-noc-09-melina-vs-michelle-mccoo_sport
About 5:50 into the video. But watch the whole thing.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
This information will only break your heart.
Sigh...
Show me where to put my credit card to find out
PWG was founded in 2003 by six southern California wrestlers known collectively as the PWG Six: Top Gun Talwar, Disco Machine, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Excalibur, and Super Dragon. Their goal was to not only showcase southern California talent, which didn't really have great national exposure due to a lack of prominent promotions in the area and the general cost of flying them out to bigger promotions on the east coast, and to create a wrestling promotion that catered to the wrestlers. This wrestler-run-and-operated style allowed them to bring in a variety of top independent talent, as cards in the first years featured top names at the time such as local greats Samoa Joe and Frankie Kazarian (along with most of the PWG Six who were prominent in other promotions as well) and more general stars such as AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, Chris Hero, CM Punk, and Colt Cabana.
PWG has become a top promotion through the years thanks to a variety of reasons. Near the top has been an uncanny ability to find the next big independent stars before everyone else. Davey Richards, Adam Cole, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Ricochet, and others all made a name for themselves with spectacular showings in PWG, to the point where it has become a running joke that any major ROH storyline could be traced back to something PWG had already done months if not years prior. PWG has also become something of a farm system for the WWE, as all of the more recent big-time WWE signings from the states have spent time in PWG prior to being signed. William Regal has been known to frequent PWG shows to scout talent in recent years, and former Raw GM Brad Maddox has been spotted ringside at recent shows.
Which brings me to another point. This my sound like boasting since I'm a regular attendee, but PWG events are special. Unlike other major indy promotions, PWG only holds about 10 shows a year at most, with last year only featuring 9 (and three of them occurred on back to back to back nights). This has the effect of turning PWG shows into destination viewing, with tickets becoming almost impossible to obtain recently (if you want a reference, online tickets for this weekend's From Out Of Nowhere sold out in under 11 minutes). To add to this, PWG has managed to carve out a massive hipster influence in Southern California, to the point where recent shows have included appearances the likes of Gillian Jacobs, Rowdy Rhonda Rousey, Clark Duke, and other mildly famous people. Plus, it helps that the PWG faithful are incredibly willing to embrace every wrestler to walk through the curtain and perform for them, which creates a really special atmosphere (the only time I've ever been upset at the people in the building was during the debut of Trent?, which thankfully turned around by the end of ASW 9 and turned into love by the end of the 2013 BoLA).
And this is all to say nothing of the wrestling. Because, let's face it, the promotion wouldn't be nearly as popular if the wrestling weren't as good. PWG really has become a showcase for wrestlers, with every wrestler seemingly out to put on the best match on the show. The sparse amount of PWG shows also helps make each show, even each match, feel special. Honestly, I really can't do the shows any service by writing about them. You really need to see them to believe.
PWG also hosts two of the biggest tournaments in independent wrestling. The first is known as the Battle of Los Angeles, a single-elimination tournament featuring some of the best talent from around the world. Recently, the tournament has been used to showcase up and comers such as past winners Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Ricochet, along with guys who've come close such as Johnny Gargano, Trevor Lee, and Michael Elgin. The other tournament is known as the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, or DDT4 for short. While it doesn't bring in wrestlers on the level of the Tag World Grand Prix, it's still one of the biggest tag team tournaments in the world.
This is where I'll throw in a few disclaimers. First, you will need to understand that PWG is a wrestling-ass wrestling show. Because they don't run as many shows as other promotions, there really isn't much in the way of ongoing storylines, although when PWG wants to, they can put on some pretty entertaining stuff, such as the reign of Mount Rushmore during parts of 2013 and 2014, and they have a very good track record of referencing past events. Still, this isn't the promotion you'll want to watch if you want long-term storytelling.
Second, and this is more of a "if you go further back you'll see some shit" thing, but past PWG wasn't exactly the most politically correct promotion ever. Some of the earlier stuff is...well, rough would be a good way to describe it. I really don't recommend a ton from then, but this is just a heads up if you ever walk that path.
Anyway, let me introduce some of the main people in PWG:
Super Dragon - The man, the myth, the legend, the blackest man on Earth. Super Dragon hasn't actually wrestled in over 3 years now (when he fractured his ankle and decided against returning to active competition), yet he's still a major part of PWG as result of being its main booker. He helped put PWG on the map with an incredibly violent blood-feud with Joey Ryan, and throughout the years he's put on tremendous matches. Also known as the nicest human being in the world. If you want to read something by him, he did a wonderful Q&A on the PWG website a few years ago which you can find here. Pay special attention to one Kevin Steen joining in and asking the most ridiculous questions.
Excalibur - The only other member of the PWG Six still involved with running the promotion, the former Commissioner of Food and Beverage and current Liason to the Board of Directors also serves as the main play-by-play commentator for the promotion. Every PWG show begins with him in the ring warming up the crowd and reminding us that in Reseda, California, every week is Shark Week, and every day is Earth Day, which means that we RECYCLE!
Roderick Strong - The current PWG World Champion, Roddy and his shitty little boots will break your back and make you humble.
Candice LaRae and Joey Ryan - The World's Cutest Tag Team are the current PWG World Tag Team Champions. Candice LaRae is the biggest face in PWG by a mile, and began to team with her longtime rival Joey Ryan after he came to her aid during a beatdown by Mount Rushmore. If you want more intergender wrestling and guys and girls being placed on equal footing, then Candice is basically your god and this team should be your favorite. They're probably not though because these next guys exist.
The Young Bucks - The best tag team on planet Earth today, and it really isn't even close (also hi Kevin!). Everything this team does is a delight and don't let the haters tell you otherwise.
Chuck Taylor and Trent? - Another popular tag team (also hi Joey!), the Best Friends came about during BoLA 2013 and quickly became a crowd favorite, partly because the Kentucky Gentleman Chuck Taylor is second only to Candice LaRae on the PWG Face rankings and also Trent? is actually insanely good as a wrestler. Plus they have won a match by sitting on top of one another's shoulders, putting on a giant trenchcoat, and chokeslamming a dude.
Rick Knox - Fuck with Rick Knox at your own peril.
And here are some videos before I make some recommendations.
This is a good video showing off how bad early PWG could be, but it's also saved by the wonderful commentary of Excalibur and Disco Machine, who delighted in shitting on everything. Excalibur's commentary style has changed dramatically since then.
This is apropos of nothing. I just miss Chris Bosh so god damn much.
Perhaps the biggest feud in PWG history, showcasing how good PWG storytelling can be. Featuring Chris Hero, Human Tornado, and Candice LaRae, with special appearances by Cesaro, Eddie Kingston, Necro Butcher, and Lufisto.
Recent PWG has been incredibly good, so here's a few preview videos to get you hype:
As for some recommendations, PWG matches are much harder to track online, but with the relative sparse nature of the shows, that makes it easier to keep up with them. You can get downloads of most of the shows through highspots.com ($15 for more recent shows, $10 for older things). Of those shows, you should probably get the entirety of BoLA 2014, which is required viewing at this point and was probably the best show put on by any US independent wrestling-wise last year. Other good shows to check out include the past few DDT4s, both Mystery Vortexes (the conceit of Mystery Vortex is that the card isn't announced prior to the show, which makes the entire evening a surprise. There has never been a bad Mystery Vortex. Fact.), Eleven, and Steen Wolf (if you want to know how brutal the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn feud could possibly get).
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
(nah thank you so much, me and my friends are gonna have an indie marathon on Friday amd I'm gonna introduce them to Chikara and PWG)