Hey Fightful! I’m KOSS, and I’m back for my first official PWG review! I find it fitting that my first official PWG review for the site is for PWG’s first show of 2018! This show is Mystery Vortex V. Mystery Vortex is a big part of PWG history, with the first Mystery Vortex taking place in 2012. The concept of Mystery Vortex is simple; nothing is announced beforehand. That’s right, PWG announces when the show is, and that’s it. No talent, no matches, nothing. Occasionally they’ll announce a main event (such as the Marty Scurll/Zack Sabre, Jr. PWG Title defense from last year’s Mystery Vortex), but other than that, these shows are a total….well, mystery. Mystery Vortex has often been a great show to debut/return talent, and this show is no exception.
Moving forward, I’ll also be changing my handling of the matches. What a match review will consist of is my thoughts of the match itself and the wrestlers in it, followed by a recounting of the match, as well as any random thoughts I have, and anything funny I hear from commentary, and then I’ll give my thoughts on the match once it ends, as well as my rating. However, do note that I won’t give away every move or spot that occurs, as I really do want people to go and buy these shows for themselves, and see these great matches.
Alright! With that out of the way, let’s get started on Mystery Vortex V!
Match #1: David Starr vs. Fred Yehi
This is both men’s PWG debut! I’ve seen a good amount of David Starr. He mostly wrestles in places like RevPro in the UK, and places like BEYOND here in the states. He also had a TV match with Josh Woods in ROH that was sneakily good. Starr is a really hard hitting, technical styled wrestler. Also, he is the king of nicknames. Fred Yehi wrestles primarily in WWN/EVOLVE, and he holds the record for longest FIP Championship reign in history at 562 days. I’ve heard a lot of Yehi, but I’ve actually never seen him wrestle before, because I’m not a huge fan of EVOLVE. This match didn’t get a lot of love from people who were at the show, so I’m interested to see how I like it.
David Starr’s nicknames from his introduction: The Cream in your Coffee, Your Favorite Wrestler’s Favorite Wrestler, The Jewish Cannon, The Physical Embodiment of Charisma, The Most Entertaining man in Professional Wrestling, The Bernie Sanders of Professional Wrestling, Mr. Americanrana, Davey Wrestling, (Excalibur says his phone starts to fall asleep, haha!), The 104 Minute Man, The Main Event, He’s Really Good At Twitter, King of Taunts, The Product.
Wow.
Excalibur says that’s the last time he’s ever doing that to Chuck Taylor. The crowd is dueling chants for Starr and Yehi to start. We have some grappling to start, with Yehi getting the advantage.Yehi says he’s going to shove Starr back into his mom’s womb, and the crowd reacts with half hearted cheers and confusion, Hahaha! Chuck Taylor calls Starr’s body hair disgusting. Yehi takes Starr down with a Snap Suplex. Some clunky grappling leads to a stalemate.
Yehi counters a Sunset Flip, and stomps the crap out of Starr’s hands, and then hits a jumping chest stomp. Starr rolls to the outside, and Yehi tells Starr AGAIN that he’s gettin’ shoved up his mom’s womb, leading to another half hearted pop and a lot more confusion and cringing. Yehi says Starr’s gonna become an Egg once again, and I think people in the crowd are laughing at how terrible his insults are. Starr teases going for a dive, but then just goes through the ropes and stomp’s Yehi’s hand. YEHI HITS A HUGE EXPLODER SUPLEX ON THE WOODEN FLOOR! That looked GROSS. Yehi hits a really nice grounded dropkick. Starr hits a Back Body Drop into the corner! That was really neat. The crowd is remarkably quiet for this match. Yehi hits a Dragon Suplex! Yehi’s suplexes look really good, but man, his strikes/clotheslines leave a lot to be desired. Yehi hit a duo of Backstabbers, and then a sliding dropkick! STARR HITS A NASTY BACK ELBOW, AND THEN HITS A RUNNING OVER THE TOP ROPE CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR!!! Yehi grabs Starr’s wrists, goes onto his back, and hits some really lame looking kicks. Starr hits a huge lariat! Yehi hits a big dropkick! Starr hits the Knee Brainbuster! Superkick to the back of Yehi’s head! Starr goes for the Straight Jacket German, but Yehi counters into a rollup! Starr counters the rollup with a rollup of his own! Yehi counters with the Koji Clutch! Starr counters the Koji Clutch into a rollup for the 3!
Winner: David Starr
Well, I can see why people thought that wasn’t very good. It felt very, very slow until the last 3 minutes or so. If they worked that speed for a whole 9 or 10 minute match, that would have been very fun. Unfortunately, this was a dud. It wasn’t a bad match, just an uneventful one. Starr was on the next show, Neon Knights, in what was described as a fun, stiff fight with Travis Banks, so I’m glad to see him get a second chance, but Yehi has not. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does not come back, and to be honest, I wouldn’t be torn up by it, he really did not impress me.
My rating: **½
Match #2: Joey Janela vs. Flash Morgan Webster
This should be interesting. These are two risk takers with fun offense. Both men are coming off of mediocre matches from the last PWG shows, All Star Weekend 13, Nights One and Two. Joey had a okay match with Trevor Lee on Night One, and a dud with Marty Scurll on Night Two (which was because Scurll was more intent on being comedic than being a wrestler). Flash had a perfectly fine match with Brian Cage on Night One, and once again, a dud on Night Two, teaming with Mark Haskins against The Young Bucks (which again, was because the Bucks were more intent on getting their comedy over than the wrestling. That’s my issue with Bullet Club today, most of the members are more focused on comedy nonsense than their wrestling. But that’s another story for another day, perhaps). I know these two are very good, so hopefully this turns them around.
Flash is literally wearing a Union Jack suit, and it’s making me crack up and I really don’t know why. The crowd is loving both men. I know PWG is gonna put Joey Janela in a Guerilla Warfare match someday, and it’ll be pure insanity. Excalibur calls this a rematch of the Revolutionary War, but I’m like 95% sure Morgan is from Wales, but since his tights are Union Jacks, I’ll call a spade a spade. Flash dodges a superkick, and then Janela dodges a bicycle knee. Joey accepts a cigarette from a fan, and a lighter from another fan. Joey put the cig in his mouth and asks for a handshake from Flash. In typical Bad Boy fashion, Joey kicks Flash in the dick! Being the Bad Boy he is, Joey goes out of the ring and grabs a chair. Justin the ref takes it away, but since he’s Justin, the crowd hates him for it. Joey and Flash exchange Suicide Dives! Flash hits a Tope Con Hilo! Flash hits a huge Bicycle knee to Janela! Flash gets his helmet and crashes into a chair-sitting Janela! Flash hts a HUGE Reverse Rana! Flash legit has one of the best headbutts in wrestling. Flash hits a really nice Middle Rope Moonsault Press! JANELA HITS AN APRON DEATH VALLEY DRIVER!! JANELA HITS A MASSIVE PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! That move looked INSANE. Flash hits a Swanton to Janela’s back! JOEY HITS A TOP ROPE BRAINBUSTER!!!! Joey looks in the Crossface and Flash taps!
Winner: Joey Janela
This was totally solid. It wasn’t blow-away amazing or anything, but this was MUCH better than the last match. The comedy was quick and, most importantly, funny, and the finish was BRUTAL. This was two guys going out there having a solid, fun match. I can’t complain.
My rating: ***¼
Match #3: REY FENIX vs. Sammy Guevara
Now THIS is right in my wheelhouse. This is gonna have some ridiculous high flying. Guevara is a fast rising star in PWG and the US/Mexico, and FENIX is one of the best high flyers in the world, and one of my favorite wrestlers today. This is gonna be a lot of fun.
FENIX has some really neat Venom inspired gear. Sammy just goes and flips FENIX off, ha. FENIX HITS A WILD SUICIDE DIVE!! FENIX goes for a Springboard, but Sammy European Uppercuts him and then hits a huge Fosbury Flop! SAMMY HITS THE 630 SENTON!! FENIX KICKS OUT!! Sammy’s 630 is easily superior to Ricochet’s, to be quite honest. Sammy sits down in a fan’s chair, and then FENIX hits a huge Springboard Crossbody to the outside! FENIX hits, genuinely, one of the best Swanton’s I’ve EVER seen. The height he got was RIDICULOUS. FENIX and Guevara trade ridiculous dives, this match is AWESOME. Guevara hits a belly to belly, and then the Moonsault-Moonsault-Shooting Star! Fenix crotches Guevara on the middle rope, THEN HE HITS A ROPE WALK HURRICANRANA WHERE IT LOOKED LIKE GUEVARA LANDED RIGHT ON HIS HEAD AND BROKE HIS NECK. OH MY GOD. FENIX DECAPITATES SAMMY WITH A SUPERKICK. FENIX’s Superkicks are absolutely amazing. FENIX hits a crazy move where he gets Sammy around into a Muscle Buster, then spins Sammy around and drops him. That was crazy.
FENIX GOES FOR A TOP ROPE MOONSAULT, LANDS ON HIS FEET BEHIND GUEVARA AND HITS A GERMAN!!!! FENIX is so amazing. FENIX goes for a top rope Spanish Fly, but Sammy pushes him down, and hits a 630 Senton RIGHT TO FENIX’S KNEES, AND FENIX KICKS OUT AGAIN! I think that may have injured FENIX, that looked really bad. They do a weird top rope move, and I really don’t know who did what. Sammy hits a Shooting Star, and pins the former PWG Tag Champ!
Winner: Sammy Guevara
WOW. That was a spectacle. Sammy is really, really good, and FENIX is one of the best in the world, without question. And these two went out and had a KILLER match. If you like high-flying, this would be right in your wheelhouse. I hope FENIX is okay, as he looked to be in a good amount of pain after that 630 to the knees.
My rating: ****
Match #4: Keith Lee vs. Zack Sabre, Jr
Two of my absolute favorite wrestlers in the world going one on one? Sign me up! Keith is coming off of a FANTASTIC match with Jonah Rock that really flew under the radar for a lot of people, and Sabre is coming off his 5 Star match with WALTER. I’m super excited for this one. Sabre works really great with big monsters like Lee, and Lee is awesome when he’s pushing around small guys like Zack. I’m hype, let’s get into it!!
Keith Lee is a future PWG Champion. You’ve heard it here first. During the intros, ZSJ goes right up to Lee and shoves him, sealing his death warrant. Official PWG ref Rick Knox thinks someone has it out for ZSJ, since he’s been booked against WALTER and Keith Lee, one after the other. He’s not wrong. ZSJ tries to do some fancy grappling, but Keith goes NAH and shoves him down! That made me laugh. ZSJ tries again to get fancy, but Lee just flips him to the ground. I could watch ZSJ try to be fancy and Lee immediately shoving him off like nothing all day. Lee gets ZSJ into the corner, and looks like he’s gonna hit the big overhead chops, but doesn’t. ZSJ then sticks his chest out, daring Lee to do it. Why? Do you want to die, Zack??? Something about Zack that I absolutely love is that he sticks to his character at all times. Even when he’s wrestling people much, much bigger than him, like WALTER or Lee, he’s still a cocky douche. He never acts like he’s scared of someone bigger or badder than him, and it’s a tiny detail like that that ZSJ one of the best in the world. ZSJ tries to do a roll-through knee bar, but Lee just NAHs it and grabs the rope. Sabre is slowly, steadily working Lee’s legs. Excalibur and Rick Knox are doing a great job of explaining ZSJ’s game plan. ZSJ gets Lee down into the kneebar! I could watch ZSJ work a body part all day. He’s so unique in his attacks. Lee floors ZSJ with a forearm, and hit a body slam, and immediately grabs his knee, which basically paints a huge, bright red bullseye on it for ZSJ. ZSJ is back to work on Lee’s knee.
A really nice bit of storytelling is that early in the match, ZSJ was kicking Lee’s knee, but Lee was shrugging it off, and going ‘You Serious, Bro?’, but now, ZSJ is kicking the knee and Lee is recoiling in pain. God, this match is really fun. ZSJ gets too cocky and slaps Lee, which pisses Lee off and he murders ZSJ with elbows. Lee gets a massive Spinebuster to ZSJ! Lee goes for a Middle Rope Moonsault, but ZSJ rolls out of the way and hits some PK’s! Lee gets ZSJ up for Ground Zero, but ZSJ counter into a hanging guillotine! ZSJ is slapping the crap out of Lee! He locks in the Octopus Stretch, but Lee counters into Ground Zero! Lee gets the win!
Winner: Keith Lee
That was a fantastic match. These two told a fantastic story, and it paid off incredibly well. Sabre cut at the much larger Keith Lee’s knees, but in the end, Lee was just too powerful to be taken down. Both of these men are incredible wrestlers, and they produced a great, great match.
My rating: ****¼
Match #5: Marty Scurll vs. Trent?
It really is a shame that when I see Marty Scurll announced for something, my first reaction is “Oh, great” instead of “Yes! Scurll!”, but Marty’s continuing focus on comedy and gimmickry ever since his joining of the Bullet Club his quickly shot him downwards my list of favorite wrestlers. Which, again, is truly a shame, because when he keeps his nonsense to a minimum, his matches are quite good. However, the opposite could be said for Trent. Trent is one of the most underrated wrestlers today. He’s such a fantastic wrestler, and an even better seller. In No-Rules matches, he always takes the biggest bumps. Trent is the kind of guy you could stick onto any show, and he’d fit in, and have one of the best matches. Hopefully, this match is light on the shtick, but I honestly doubt it, and I’m really not looking forward to this.
Marty doesn’t have a mic, so at least there’s that. OH DAMMIT, HE GOT THE MIC. Fast forwarding. A fan immediately tells him to shut the f*ck up, and I couldn’t agree more. Trent flexes in his intro, because he’s a heavyweight. Excalibur struggling to name members of CHAOS is hilarious. He manages to get Trent, Chuck Taylor, Okada, Gedo, and then goes ‘and then I think Yoshi-Hashi?’ Ahahaha! Scurll goes for a shoulder tackle, but since Scurll is a Junior, and Trent is a heavyweight, it does nothing! Trent goes for the shoulder tackle and Scurll goes down. Scurll goes for a bodyslam, but since Trent’s a heavyweight, he can’t do it. Okay, this has gotten old quick. The shoulder tackles were fun, now get back to the wrestling. Trent’s headband falls off, so Scurll puts it in his tights, puts it back onto Trent’s head, and then hits a side kick. Trent hits that beautiful Tornado DDT! Trent nails that awesome rope-hung sliding German! Love that move. Trent goes for an Apron Piledriver, but Marty escapes to the floor, and swipes out Trent’s feet, AND TRENT’S BACK IS WRECKED ON THE APRON. THAT LOOKED NASTY. Marty does the turnbuckle pad, gets caught, and as Knox puts the pad back on, he gets rolled up, but the ref doesn’t see it. Mhm. This match is doing absolutely nothing for me.
It wouldn’t be a Bullet Club Marty match without his lame, overly long chickenwing taunt. Trent hits an Apron Piledriver! Trent accidentally takes down the ref, Marty uses the powder, Trent hits Crunchy and wins.
And once again, a Marty Scurll match underwhelms. At this point, I just wish PWG wouldn’t use him, because other than popping the crowd with cheap comedy and BTE references, his matches are by the numbers and not interesting. And this certainly lost my interest. The wrestling wasn’t bad, it was just boring.
My rating: **
Match #6:
PWG World Tag Team Championship:
The Chosen Bros. (Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle) ©
Vs.
RINGKAMPF (WALTER and Timothy Thatcher)
Now THIS is a match!!! This is four guys who are all very similar, with a lot of grabbing, striking, and suplexes. This is the Chosen Bros. first Tag Title defense, and this is the PWG debut for the team RINGKAMPF, and this is Timothy Thatcher’s return to PWG after about a year and a half, with his last match being at THIRTEEN, losing to Roderick Strong in Roderick’s last PWG match before going to WWE NXT. Since then, Thatcher’s done a lot of work in Europe, primarily in the UK and Germany. RINGKAMPF is a team I’ve wanted to see in PWG for a while, so I’m really hyped up. Let’s get into it!!
Jeff Cobb is the only man wearing knee pads. At Mystery Vortex IV, the Chosen Bros teamed for the very first time, beating the Young Bucks. A year later, they’re defending the PWG Tag Titles. Pretty cool. Thatcher and Riddle start off. Thatcher’s EVOVE Title reign was controversial because of how terrible most of his matches, but I always thought he was really good in PWG. His match with Chris Hero at BOLA 2015 was really, really good. In come WALTER and Cobb! Yesssssss! WALTER is much taller than Cobb. This has been exclusively grappling thus far, but I certainly can’t complain. WALTER and Cobb are trading shoulder tackles! WALTER tags in Thatcher. Thatcher is working Cobb with stiff uppercuts, but Cobb powers Thatcher to his corner and tags Riddle! These two are trading strikes! Blind tag by Cobb, and Riddle hits a bicycle knee! Bros. are working Thatcher in the corner. Cobb tags Riddle and Riddle works kicks on Thatcher, but Thatcher counters a Broton into a sleeper! Riddle tags Cobb, and they hit the German/Chest Kick Combo! Thatcher is being PUNISHED by Riddle. Thatcher hits enzuigiris to the Bros, and tags WALTER! WALTER is cleaning house! WALTER is killing the Bros with Lariats, Big Boots, and Suplexes! WALTER decapitated Cobb with a lariat. WALTER tags Thatcher in, and he immediately takes out Riddle. Everyone is fighting everyone! Thatcher is beating down Cobb. RINGKAMPF hits two Butterfly Suplexes to Cobb. This is a fun match. Thatcher comes in and applies a Single Leg Crab, and stomps the back of Cobb’s head. WALTER KILLED MATT RIDDLE WITH A BIG BOOT, OH GOODNESS!!
Cobb goes to tag Riddle, but Thatcher takes Riddle off the apron at the last second! That got me, I groaned out loud, ahahaha! WALTER hits a shotgun dropkick and a Powerbomb to Cobb! COBB GETS THE HOT TAG TO RIDDLE!! RIDDLE TAKES IT TO WALTER!!! BRO TO SLEEP/GERMAN SUPLEX COMBO BY RIDDLE!! BROTON TO THATCHER AND WALTER!! Riddle is roundhouse kicking RINGKAMPF! RINGKAMPF is destroying Riddle! This match is amazing. COBB HAS WALTER IN THE ELECTRIC CHAIR!! DOOMSDAY KNEE BY THE CHOSEN BROS!!!!!! Rocket Launcher Bro To Sleep to Thatcher! Chosen Bros retain!!!
Winners, and STILL PWG World Tag Team Champions: The Chosen Bros!
This was AWESOME!!! This started off slow with grappling, but as it went on, it got more and more physical. All four guys meshed incredibly well, and there was never a dull moment. The Chosen Bros. started off their reign with a banger of a match, and I hope RINGKAMPF come back soon. They’d be a very welcome addition to PWG’s Tag Division.
My rating: ****½
Main Event:
PWG World Championship Guerilla Warfare Match:
Ricochet ©
Vs.
Chuck Taylor
And here we are at the main event. Ricochet defeated Chuck for the title last show via nefarious means. Now, Chuck is looking to regain what he lost. And to make it better, this is in Guerilla Warfare, which means there are NO RULES. Chuck is great in no-rules situations, and Ricochet is great at pretty much everything. I’m excited.
RICOCHET HITS CHUCK WITH THE BELT BEFORE THE BELL! Chuck goes to the back and grabs a garbage can. Ricochet hits a front dropkick and then BLASTS CHUCK WITH THE CAN IN THE HEAD ONCE….TWICE…..THREE TIMES! Chuck is down in the corner. Ricochet PUTS THE GARBAGE CAN ON TAYLOR AND HITS THE VANTERMINATOR! Chuck goes to the back….AND HE HAS A LADDER! Chuck sets a chair up in the corner. RICOCHET IS BACK BODY DROPPED INTO THE LADDER IN THE CORNER!!! Chuck gets back body dropped into the ladder, and then he gets thrown into the chair in the opposite corner! Ricochet is beating the crap out of Chuck in the crowd, throwing chairs at him. Ricochet is setting up a devious chair structure while also throwing chairs at Chuck. Now Chuck throws a chair at Ricochet! Chuck is adding to the chair structure! Chuck drags Ricochet up onto the stage where the commentary table is! Uh Oohhhhhh. CHUCK AND RICOCHET GO THROUGH THE TOWER OF CHAIRS!!! Chuck has a table!! Chuck sets the table up on the outside. CHUCK PUTS RICOCHET THROUGH THE TABLE WITH A TOPE CON HILO!!!! Wow!
CHUCK TAYLOR DID THE DEAL AND HITS THE FALCON ARROW!!! RICOCHET KICKS OUT!!! NO ONE KICKS OUT OF THE FALCON ARROW!!! The two are trading chops! Chuck hits Sole Food! High Knee by Ricochet! Lariat by Chuck! Ricochet hits a dick kick and a belt shot! Ricochet nails the Benedryller! Chuck kicks out! Chuck hits the Awful Waffle! Ricochet kicks out! WE HAVE THUMBTACKS!!!!! RICOCHET HITS A POP-UP POWERBOMB ONTO CHUCK INTO THE TACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHUCK TAYLOR HAS THUMBTACKS IN THE BACK OF HIS SKULL, OH MY GOD. Ricochet drags Taylor across the tacks, and lays him in them. RICOCHET GOES FOR THE 630 SENTON BUT CHUCK MOVES, AND RICOCHET GETS A BACK FULL OF TACKS!!! SNAP PILEDRIVER!! AWFUL WAFFLE!! CHUCK TAYLOR WINS!!!!
Winner, and NEW PWG World Champion: Chuck Taylor!
PWG always does No-Rules matches right. This was no exception. Besides the Chair Pyramid (I HATE it, it takes too long to set up, and the bump through it looks bad 9 times out of 10), this was a great no rules match. And Chuck is once again PWG champ! Can’t complain!
My rating: ****¼
After the match, Chuck puts over the WWE-Bound Ricochet, and Ricochet puts over PWG and their fans, and calls it home. Everyone who was on the show comes out and pays respect to Ricochet. Ricochet gets emotional, says he loves the PWG fans and what he goes and does next is for them. Excalibur comes to the ring and announces Ricochet’s name in PWG for the last time as he and the roster hug.
Long Live King Ricochet!
Overall Show Rating: 7.5/10
This was a show of ups and downs. Yehi/Starr and Scurll/Trent were big downs, but the title matches and Lee/Sabre were huge thumbs ups. And Ricochet’s emotional goodbye was a big thumbs up. Would I recommend this show? Yes. The title matches, plus Keith and Zack easily make this show worth its price. And with Ricochet’s goodbye, this is certainly a buy for people who like to own important PWG shows.The ups of this show easily outweigh the downs.
And that’s it! Thanks so much for reading, everyone! I hope to write about PWG again very soon, whether it be a preview, a review, or maybe something else entirely! I’m KOSS, and to cap it off, I’ll say it one last time: LONG LIVE KING RICOCHET!
Buy Mystery Vortex V here: http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/merch/2018/dvd0188.html
Support PWG by buying a DVD here: http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/merch/
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