PWG's first show of 2017, and it was a good one. The last PWG DVD I watched, which was the show prior to this, Mystery Vortex 4 was "ok", but just lacked that excitement that PWG always delivers. So when I put this one in I wasn't sure what to expect. Of course I knew it would be good, but I didn't want to set my expectations too high again. If I remember, a week or two before the show happened PWG lost their ring in a fire, so they had to use a different ring and the ropes were LOOSE AF. You could tell some of the high flyers weren't very comfortable working with such bouncy ropes, but they made due.

Cody Rhodes vs. Trevor Lee
This match was really good pitting two TNA superstars one on one. There weren't really any crazy spots, just a solid fun opening PWG match. I guess prior to the match Trevor Lee said "Fuck Dusty Rhodes" or something, and that struck a nerve with Cody and requested that does not make it onto the DVD. He tells everyone to not use Dusty to get heat and forgot to bring it up to Trevor.

Rey Fenix vs. Trent
This was by far the MOTN for me. Both guys delivered to the best of their abilities, and despite the floppy ropes, Fenix did all of his flippy spots. They even had a very brutal apron spot that got everyone on their feet chanting "Holy Shit". I always see a ton of hype for Trent, but I have never been totally blown away by him, but he definitely made his name known in this match and put on a classic. There was also some great comedy in this when Trent told Fenix "No lucha shit", causing Fenix to do lucha shit, and Trent returning the lucha shit as well . 

The Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matthew Riddle) vs. The Unbreakable F'N Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin)
I'm just going to put this out there right now, Matt Riddle gets a TON of praise for his ability, especially due to only being a professional wrestler for around a year, so I give him that, but I really haven't seen anything from yet that makes me think "OH MAN THIS GUY IS INCREDIBLE!" As I said, he hasn't been wrestling much, so he's great given his experience, but I feel people hype him up WAY too much. That being said, this was a really good "big hoss" match, and even had a stalling suplex "trade off" spot with the Machines holding Cobb up. The Chosen Bros are WAY over with the PWG crowd, so that's cool, but I'd rather see Cobb do more solo stuff since that guy is a beast. It's insane how big Cage and Cobb are.... yet some of their moves are total cruiserweight moves! 

Lio Rush vs. Ricochet
After seeing Lio Rush in person recently I was stoked for this match. Rush is definitely the "next era" of high flyers, especially since he is still in his early 20s and already doing all the insane moves that he does. Plus this was his PWG debut, and was already over with the crowd due to his great work in ROH. I've grown tired of the whole Ricochet vs Ospreay "run through the spots" matches, so this was a really great change up and much welcomed. I feel Ricochet has really done all he has in PWG and is just there to be a "showcase" guy that will put on fun matches with no need to win or lose. Anyways, this match was a ton of fun, not AS flippy as I expected it to be, but just enough to make me mark out like a mark. Rush is just too damn good for his age and experience. 

Jay White vs. Marty Scurll
This match surprised me. If Sanitarium always refers to Roddy Strong and Cedric Alexander as the most bland wrestlers ever, I'm scared to hear his opinion on Jay White. He's just there. He isn't bad, just... there. No really memorable appearance or moveset, but can deliver when he has to. This was his PWG debut, and seemed pretty over with the crowd in his own way. The reason why this match surprised me was because it was a lot more enjoyable than his other matches, he actually showed some personality. At one point he put on Scurll's "witch doctor" (or whatever it is) mask and was taken over by the villains powers...

OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist & Sami Callihan) vs. The SuperKliq (Adam Cole, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Second best match of the show. This was OI4K's debut. I wasn't sure who the guys were on Callihan's team, but their names were familiar. Turns out its the team formerly known as "Irish Airborne" from ROH back in mid/late 2000s. Really fun match though, with everyone in top form. I am stoked to see more work from OI4K since those brothers have gotten DAMN GOOD since the last time I saw them. They've always had talent, but this was beyond what I remember them being. There was a super awesome "ace cutter" spot with Adam Cole playing the role of Randy Orton that had me laughing pretty hard. If you hate spotfests, or the Young Bucks, you'd likely hate this match, but if you like that stuff then definitely check it out!


PWG World Title Match
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Chuck Taylor
This match was another one that surprised me! I've usually only seen Chuck Taylor work comedy matches, but this one was WAY more serious than most of his work. Even Zack Sabre Jr. was taken out of his comfort zone and was forced to put on something that wasn't just a submission match (and I love ZSJ's style, but it does get tiresome at times). These two melded quite well, and the match was much better than I expected a match between Chuck Taylor and ZSJ to be. Sabre was definitely working heel in this match, and turned complete heel in the very end after the match. 


Definitely a solid PWG show, and a huge step-up from Mystery Vortex IV, but it doesn't help that that show took place after BOLA 2016, which was phenomenal. I'd highly recommend this!