Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and IWA Mid-South are both in need of some Tag Team Champions, and their searches both look to end a week apart from each other. Brian Streleckis looks at these two big tournaments and other activities within Illinois and California.

In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, the previous World Tag Team Champions were El Generico and Quicksilver, collectively known as Cape Fear (because they both wore capes). They won the titles in December from Super Dragon & B-Boy and held them until February 10th, following a successful but chaotic defense against Roderick Strong & Davey Richards. Though victorious, Quicksilver (another masked competitor who popped up in Wrestling Society X as “El Hombre Blanco Enmascarado”), suffered a class two concussion, so Cape Fear had to vacate their titles (El Generico set out on his own and won the PWG World Title on the next show). So now, PWG, mainly Commissioner Dino Winwood and Commissioner of Food & Beverage Excalibur, are set to crown new champs May 19th and 20th in West Hills, CA in the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament (or DDT4). The tournament consists of eight teams. Two of the original teams were set to be the fantastic tandem of Roderick Strong & Jack Evans and the possibly more fantastic Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. Unfortunately, Evans has been called to Japan again, and the Guns are gone due to PWG and TNA severing all ties last week. Some replacements have been made, and the first round is – from the looks of things – set in stone.

Night One – Saturday, May 19th

DDT4 – Round One:

Josh Abercrombie & “Spyder” Nate Webb vs. The Havana Pitbulls
Never mind the fact Rocky Romero and Ricky Reyes have severed ties in ROH. The Havana Pitbulls, veterans of the So-Cal indy scene, still look to win some tag team gold elsewhere. They were originally set to wrestle Shelley & Sabin in the first round, but are now set to take on IWA-MS vets and WSX’s Trailer Park Boyz Abercrombie & Webb, making their PWG debuts. Based on PWG’s press release, the Trailer Park gimmick seems like it will get carried over. Though that was fun, PWG may not be graced with Abercrombie’s much better 80s sleaze ball character, featuring gear reminiscent of the Sparky Plugg days. Webb, a high flyer not afraid to get hardcore, has also competed in CZW in the past and played a small role in the ROH-CZW feud, including the Cage of Death blow-off. This should be fun, even if we were promised Guns and are now getting 40-Ounces.

The Kings of Wrestling vs. The Briscoe Brothers
PWG has been meaning to have Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli wrestle current ROH and FIP Tag Champs Jay & Mark Briscoe for a while now, but have been unable to pull it off due to the Briscoes no-showing for one reason or another. They just might make it this time, and hopefully in good health. These two teams have already wrestled in ROH, first on December 22nd in a solid match, then on December 23rd in a damn good one that stole the “Final Battle 2006” event.

Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino vs. Arrogance
Scott Lost and Chris Bosh are the PWG veterans here, having held the tag titles for two lengthy reigns. They might have their hands full in the more athletic debuting Dragon Gate duo of Doi & Yoshino. These two were part of the Blood Generation group, teaming together in their significant visit to ROH last year, but have since gone on to form the nasty Muscle Outlawz faction. Something of interest was that Bosh went over to Dragon Gate last summer and aligned himself with the Outlawz. Old news, or something they might hint at in the throws of competition? Who knows, but I think this match looks mighty good.

Super Dragon & Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong & Pac
Pac, replacing Jack Evans, teams up with the No Remorse Corps leader who he wrestled for the FIP Heavyweight Title in the beginning of March in Liverpool to make it a world title. They’re matched up against the much more established team of Super Dragon & Richards, who teamed up on a whim in the fall of 2005, held the PWG Tag Titles for about eight months, and in the process made them into world titles following a European tour in February 2006. The two broke apart following Richards winning the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles and Super Dragon turning to B-Boy when he wasn’t around. Now they’re together again following Super Dragon taking some time off due to injuries.

Non-Tournament Matches:

PWG World Champion El Generico defends against Kevin Steen
These two have teamed up together and wrestled each other several times since they started in wrestling together in Canada, and they even debuted in PWG against each other in November 2004. Steen, who last held the PWG World Title in 2005, is getting this title shot following his victory over the dastardly Joey Ryan in a No DQ Match last month. These two could very well tear the house down again.

Bryan Danielson vs. CIMA
The American Dragon looks to come back with a vengeance in May between this weekend’s ROH shows (after initially not set to come back until June) or these PWG shows the next weekend. Kudos to PWG for being able to get this dream match (at least for me) set up before anyone else.

Hair vs. 2007 BOLA
Joey Ryan vs. Ronin
Ryan has been getting under Ronin’s skin since getting involved in a #1 Contender Match between Ronin and Steen on March 24th. Ryan’s ally, Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson, has also been causing trouble for the big man in red who’s winning streak secured him a spot in the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles. Ronin is now willing to put that spot up for grabs so he can get his hands on Ryan. In return, Ryan is going putting his flowing locks on the line, which can’t be good for his magnificent Magnum PI look.

Career Long Grudge Match
Don Fuji vs. Stalker Ichikawa Z
More Dragon Gate goodness. I have learned that these two have been rivals for a long time. Fuji is the take-no-crap power guy, while Ichikawa is a comedy character whose gimmick is that of a weakling. I know nothing else about these guys, but what I’ve heard of Ichikawa sounds pretty damn funny.

Also included:
Disco Machine vs. TJ Perkins, the two commissioners, and Top Gun Talwar

Night Two – Sunday, May 20th

The DDT4 Semifinals and Finals take place, in addition to these non-tourney matches:

El Generico vs. CIMA
This is a rematch from match these two had in the semi-finals of the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles. Their first match was quite exciting and dramatic, really drawing in the crowd and considered the best match of the tournament. Personally, it’s one of the best singles matches I’ve seen El Generico in. If El Generico still has the PWG World Title, he’ll defend it here.

Bryan Danielson vs. Joey Ryan
A few years prior, Ryan considered himself a “Technical Wizard,” earning the scorn of PWG fans by getting cheap wins over more technically gifted wrestlers in 2005. This match with Danielson should be pretty good, probably with some strong character work from both.

Kevin Steen vs. Ronin
A rematch from the #1 Contender Match previously mentioned, with Steen possibly putting the PWG World Title on the line if victorious on the 19th.

Plus more with the Human Tornado and a bunch of the names from the 19th, some of which may be guys eliminated from DDT4.

The next weekend, in Midlothian, IL, IWA Mid-South decides the holders of their Tag Team Titles, which have been vacant since early September. The last champions, two large death match guys named Deranged and Brain Damage (collectively known as Vulgar Display of Power), had to give up their titles after Brain Damage retired following injuries from a violent attack perpetrated by rival death match dudes, the BMFers of Bull Pain and Mean Mitch Page. Having finally scheduled a time to decide new champions, IWA-MS will also take this time to honor a longtime friend to the promotion and someone who knew something about tag team titles, the late Chris Candido. IWA-MS has been meaning to hold a tag tournament in Candido’s honor, hoping for something better than what TNA did in 2005, and now they have the chance. Sixteen teams, some of whom are already a part of PWG’s DDT4, will take part in the IWA-MS Candido Cup on May 25th and 26th.

Night One – Friday, May 25th

Candido Cup – Round One

Ian Rotten & Mickie Knuckles vs. Tracy Smothers & Ricky Morton
Ian has been teaming up with his student Mickie for probably two years now, if not more. Mickie is a heavyset girl who has proven her toughness by wrestling men as well as women, as well as taking part in death matches. As much as some (or most) people may not want to hear it, she has followed in Ian’s “King of the Death Matches” footsteps by winning IWA-MS’ first ever “Queen of the Death Matches” tournament in November. She’s still a good wrestler, tangling with the likes of Daizee Haze and Mercedes Martinez, she likes to hit hard, and is currently the IWA-MS Women’s Champion. The “Hardcore Royals” are matched up against the “Smokey Mountain Thugs” of Smothers and his old buddy Morton. With Robert Gibson involved in helping teach young guys now in the WWE system, who better for Morton to team up than an old friend who helped raise bail money for him. Unfortunately for fans, this match seems due for some changes: this past weekend, Ian suffered a torn cornea at a show for IWA Deep South, and will be out for some time. At the show set for this Friday in Plainfield, Ian is will be replaced by Axl Rotten, so I suspect a similar substitution, in addition to some old-school shenanigans as Mickie tangles with Morton and Smothers.

The Iron Saints vs. The Havana Pitbulls
Vito & Sal Thomaselli, long time staples of IWA-MS, cut their teeth on the west coast, so they should be familiar with Reyes and Romero. This looks to be one of many hard-hitting matches (at least because of both teams).

The North Star Express vs. 2.0
I’ve mentioned the North Star Express before briefly. They’re two cocky young guys from Minnesota (trained by Arik Cannon, I believe) who have risen up the ranks as heels in IWA-MS while also appearing in Chikara as faces. The team consists of Ryan Cruz (who looks like Matt Hardy) and Darin Corbin (who looks like the kid from Problem Child grown up). Corbin actually held the IWA-MS Heavyweight Title briefly a year ago, during a weird “hot potato” stage for the title. 2.0 is the Canadian duo of Jagged & Shane Matthews, who I’ve also seen in Chikara. They’re also cocky young heels who scream and complain a lot. Should be one of the more light-hearted matches.

The SATs vs. All Money is Legal
This match is brought to us by Philadelphia-based promotion Pro Wrestling Unplugged, which is also where the Backseat Boyz have been all this time. Based on what I’ve seen and heard of them recently, the SATs of Jose & Joel Maximo have improved a bit since they were the talk of indy wrestling in 2002 and 2003 for their high-flying spots (and not much else). All Money is Legal, I believe, consists of K-Murda & K-Pusha, both trainees of Homicide. I’ve only seen this team once.

Arrogance vs. Low Ki & Homicide
Bosh & Lost made a pretty good impact when they debuted for IWA-MS at the 2006 TPI. Whereas they’re in for a workout with Doi & Yoshino, they’ll be in for a potential massacre with the two “Rottweilers,” both former ROH World Champions.

The Basham Brothers vs. Dysfunction & Silas Young
Dysfunction, a sometimes-hardcore wrestler, and Young, are known as “Milwaukee’s Finest.” Unfortunately, I’ve seen very little of both, and the only times I’ve seen them team up have been on Joey Eastman’s annual comedy wrestling show “Totally Tool Wrestling,” where they performed as “The NEW New Rockers.” Not much background from me on this, but I’m sure you know enough about the Bashams, right?

BLK OUT vs. Davey Richards & BJ Whitmer
Sabian and Joker will represent the BLK OUT faction in the Candido Cup. The teaming of Richards and Whitmer (a longtime IWA-MS veteran, having won the World Title and the 2002 TPI) seems like an odd one at first… and I would agree. Still seems like a tough-as-nails team, and this match could surprise people.

Cheech & Cloudy vs. Super Dragon & El Generico
Cheech & Cloudy, AKA Up In Smoke, have impressed me based on their Chikara work, and have also been regulars in CZW over the last year. El Generico was supposed to team up with Kevin Steen for the Candido Cup, but due to some other commitments, Super Dragon is taking his place to form a second team of PWG representatives.

Night Two – Saturday, May 26th

In addition to the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals of the Candido Cup, Night Two is also set to have Chuck Taylor defend the IWA-MS World Heavyweight Title against the Necro Butcher. Taylor’s been able to make it past a slew of challengers, from Colt Cabana and Jay Lethal to Low Ki and Drake Younger, but now the young man who likes to yell out kids and punch old people in the face (he says so himself) has his biggest challenge yet. He could squeak by and continue to frustrate most of the fans (some of them like his shtick), but that can be hard when you have an angry mountain man on the opposite end of the ring.

All cards are subject to change, and additional information can be found on the PWG and IWA-MS web sites. Enjoy the tag action. I have no idea what I’ll be writing about next, but there are some live show later this month and next month that I hope to attend and report back on.