This past Friday night I went to see an independent wrestling show. It was called Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and was held in a small gymnasium in Los Angeles. I almost didn’t make it at all, as I kept missing the little street I was supposed to turn on, and when I finally did find the street I wasn’t sure it was where I wanted to be. Dark, no people, no apparent building – what was I doing? Quite by accident I passed a driveway that was lit at the end of it, and there were people milling about. I took a chance and drove on in, and am I glad that I did so. What a great time I had.
The show started late, about 40 minutes late, to be exact. There were eight matches scheduled. Let me say right now that the main reason I went at all was because Christopher Daniels was going to wrestle. Yes, that’s right, “The Fallen Angel” himself was going to be about a half hour away. How could I stay home? I had wanted to see him in person for a long time and was really quite surprised when I heard that he would actually be there.
But I was in for another surprise. Well, several more in fact. While I did know many of the names, most were new to me. Wow, is there some good talent out there! I hate to sound so shocked, but other than the WWE, I haven’t been to any other shows live. Wait, that’s a lie. I went to Las Vegas once to see the WWA (World Wrestling Allstars), and saw Jeff Jarrett, Brian Christopher, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell – you get the idea. Those men were all well known. On Friday well over half of the athletes were known primarily to the staunch following who attends these shows. I quickly saw why they keep coming back.
It was no shock that the show opened with some words about the death of Eddie Guerrero and a 10-bell show of honor. And of course, the “Eddie” chants. Then it was time to play. I’ll mention each match, although I didn’t make a lot of notes, because I got caught up in things and would forget to write something down. The first match was a tag team contest between Excalibur and Disco Machine against TJ Perkins (Puma) and Rocky Romero. This was a good way to start off, as the quartet not only showed off their talents, but also provided us with a funny and entertaining match as well. Excalibur and Disco were the eventual winners.
Chris Sabin and Petey Williams faced off next. Williams is good on the microphone, as he immediately started off telling us that he is sick of his Destroyer image. He said he was tired of playing that role, in fact, “F**k Canada!” This was particularly amusing considering you could hear his Canadian accent. These two guys worked great together, and during their match there was a lot of applause from the appreciative crowd. Of course, people kept asking for his Canadian Destroyer finisher. Williams won the match, but both men did a great job.
The third match brought out “The Fallen Angel” to meet “The Future”, Kazarian. These two were also funny, as they went through a pantomime before the match started about what each would do to the other. Also, Kazarian is very concerned about his hair, so the shaved-headed Daniels made a little fun of that. I made not note one during this match; rather I just sat back and enjoyed it. Great work on both sides, and even though Kazarian got the nod this time, Daniels was as strong to watch in person as I thought he’d be.
Another tag team match next, with Davey Richards and Super Dragon against Ronin and B Boy. Not to sound like a broken record here, but yet another good match. These guys are good, I tell you. I especially liked B Boy. After the Richards / Super Dragon victory, Richards came back to the center of the ring and dropped to one knee, looking up. As he left he took the mic and through tears said, “Thank you, Eddie,” as he made his way backstage.
The fifth match had El Generico going up against Jack Evans. This Evans kid is something else. He reminded me of Jeff Hardy. He is so flexible and controls his body in much the same way. And was he over – quite a fan favorite. El Generico is no slouch either, and there were “That was awesome” chants after their match. You know what? I didn’t write down who won, and I can’t remember! (Wow – what a journalist!) Super match, though.
Let me say now that I finally began to see a theme here. After the fifth match, I realized that five of the wrestlers had masks. There would be another two before the night ended. Nothing newsworthy here, just wanted to point it out.
Another ‘dragon’, “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson this time, wrestled Jimmy Yang. I’m actually getting tired of saying that this was another good match. They did a bit where Danielson (who is trained by Shawn Michaels, William Regal and Tracy Smothers) held Yang on his shoulders and spun around some 30 times. When he finally put Jimmy down, Yang was so dizzy that he attacked the turnbuckle – funny stuff. Two more good athletes here, but I must say that Yang was my favorite. He’s worth seeing, guys.
Chris Bosh, Scott Lost and Joey Ryan went to war with Quicksilver, Scorpio Sky and Dino Winwood in this six-way tag team match. Even though the evening was getting late, this fast-paced and fun contest did not allow for boredom.
To close out the night, Kevin Steen defended his PWG Championship against Samoa Joe. This match seemed to be a bit slow, but only because PWG has so many smaller guys who are just so quick, and Steen and Joe are a different type of wrestler from that. This was a really hard-fought and physical contest, which had Steen retaining his title, but not for lack of trying by Joe.
What a good night! Let me point out here that there were no guardrails of any kind between the ring and the fans. If it seems remotely possible that action will take place out of the ring, people start moving out of the way, and for good reason. Wrestlers were flying all over the place. Also, there's not a lot of protection out there, either. Those blue mats used for gym class were the only things laid out on the floor, sometimes only one of them. The wrestlers did not always make it to those mats – ouch!
I would not only go back to another PWG show, I would suggest that if you are in the area of Los Angeles you check it out. Yes, the hour got quite late. I’m close and got home after 1:00 am. That aside, well worth the time.
Moving on to the more somber part of this column, the final goodbyes to Eddie Guerrero. Under the circumstances and with very little time, I thought that the WWE did a super job with their two tribute shows. I didn’t really pay much attention to most of the matches on Raw, probably because the whole thing was so very new and painful. I cried with all nine of the men and women who shared their stories and feelings at that difficult time. But a few things really stand out in my mind.
First, the entire WWE roster standing together on the stage – the looks on their faces. The Big Show, crying and laughing at the same time when he came out for his match. So was I, big man. How really tortured Kurt Angle looked. The absolutely FABULOUS match between Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels, and the two together afterwards.
But the biggest Raw moment was after John Cena won his match. I couldn’t figure out why he wrestled with the Eddie shirt on – he never does that. When he pulled it off and laid it down in the middle of the ring I, and I’m sure most of you, knew what would come next. As he put his Championship belt across it and left the ring, well, even through my tears, that is an image that I will always have.
On to SmackDown!, and their show. Remember that both shows were done on the same night, so things were still extremely emotional. Batista driving out the low-rider and putting his belt on the hood of it was just an continuation of what Cena had done, and my tears started again along with Dave’s. As with Monday, they stopped very seldom that night. If possible (or maybe because I could pay more attention) many of the wrestlers seemed even more fired up than for Raw. Matt Hardy and Heidenreich are two that come to mind.
Then there was Chris Benoit against Triple H. I knew who would win. Benoit wrestled his heart out for his best friend, and after his victory he and HHH stood together and then hugged, both crying. There was no Raw against SmackDown!. There were no feuds. There was just the pain of losing a good friend in a business where that sad fact is all too common.
But who am I kidding? Without a doubt the match that Chavo had with JBL almost defies description. The emotion that he poured into that contest from start to finish was amazing. When he did the first Eddie move, I knew what was to come. I waited for The Three Amigos. I waited for the Frog Splash. Chavo was on fire. He was the main event that night, without question. He and Eddie wrestled that match together, there is no other way to put it. Afterwards, when both men had given all they had and then some, it seemed as if they both said their final goodbyes. And so will I.
Eddie, I will never forget you. Thank you. RIP. For the rest of you,
Be safe and God Bless,
VIVA LA RAZA
Barb.
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