PWA Evolution
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
Century Casino, Edmonton, AB
Evolution is the final Edmonton show before the PWA’s 10th Anniversary show, which has been hyped for a while now. A couple of quick notes before we get started with the review, all of the match times are guesses. The ring announcer calls out how much time has passed in five minute increments, so anything more specific than that is just me guessing about how long it had been since the last announcement. Also, I took some pictures to include with the article, but unfortunately my camera and the venue lighting didn’t really play ball with each other, so they aren’t very good. I also didn’t write down the order of the matches while the show was going on, so a few of the matches might be out of order. Luckily the match order wasn’t especially important.
ANDREW HAWKES vs. DERYCK CROSSE
Deryck Crosse is introduced as “the Prince of Perversion,” which is a pretty awesome wrestling name. Nothing in his performance really made that nickname make sense, though. He apparently stole Hercules’ sunglasses from 1990, though. Hawkes, as usual, gets a big pop from the crowd and chants of “Hawkes!” The match begins with a flurry of aerial offence from everyone’s favourite Newfie before the Prince of Perversion gains the advantage and keeps Hawkes grounded with holds and elbow smashes. Eventually Hawkes gets back on the offensive and caps things off with a springboard DDT for the three count somewhere around the seven or eight minute mark. This one was a great opener, as it packed in a fair amount of excitement and didn’t overstay it’s welcome.
After the match, Hawkes gets on the microphone for a generic “I love you fans” babyface promo and then decides that he’s finally ready for a shot at the Cruiserweight Title held by Cam-ikaze. Cam comes out and accepts the challenge for the 10th Anniversary show in March. He also cuts a generic babyface promo. Stryfe and Dr. Kyoto interrupt the proceedings. Dr. Kyoto cuts a promo in Japanese (or complete gibberish, I don’t speak Japanese) which includes a pronunciation of “Andrew Hawkes” that is pants-pissingly hilarious. The gist of his promo is that Stryfe wants a title match. Promoter Kurt Sorochan decides that Stryfe can be added to the Hawkes vs. Cam-ikaze match if he can prove himself by beating Cam-ikaze one-on-one right now.
STRYFE w/ Dr. Kyoto vs. CAM-IKAZE
If Stryfe wins, he gets added to the Cruiserweight title match at the 10th Anniversary Show. This match was unspectacular, but decent. After some back-and-forth which Stryfe got the better of, Cam-ikaze made a comeback that culminated with a Michinoku Driver for the three count at around the five minute mark. This was an okay match, but the finish made the previous promo segment pretty much pointless. And it was fairly long by PWA promo standards, so rendering it moot is pretty weak. Also, Cam-ikaze really needs his mask back. His green tongue makes him look like he blew a goblin.
KING DUSTY ADONIS vs. ECLIPSE
Dusty Adonis is still rocking his king gimmick, and tonight he has a new crown and longer hair than before… then he takes off the crown and the hair is attached to it. This made me laugh really hard, because seconds earlier I had pointed out how funny it would be if the hair was part of the crown. Eclipse is dressed like a luchador and billed as being from Mexico, which is all well and good, but it creates certain expectations for his ring style. Whenever the opportunity arose for him to do a cool high-flying move, he did… nothing. Early on, after starting with some chain wrestling, Dusty got sent out to the floor. Eclipse teased a few dives, but ended up just elbowing Dusty in the face four or five times as he attempted to climb into the ring on every side. Once Dusty got back into the ring things improved. Eclipse hit the Eddie Guerrero somersault headbutt from the apron and a rolling thunder/elbow smash thing, while Dusty’s offence was highlighted by a pair of top-notch knee strikes (one was a knee lift shades of the Million Dollar Man, the other a knee trembler). The match finished at around the eight minute mark with Dusty Adonis hitting a fantastic swinging ace crusher after countering Eclipse in the corner. Another strong performance from the King, who has been involved in consistently good matches over the last few Edmonton shows.
T-BONE JACK SLOAN vs. RAVENOUS RANDY
Apparently T-Bone lost a stipulation match at some point and is now forced to wrestle in a clown suit until he wins. This is weird, then I see T-Bone come out in his clown suit and it’s really, really funny. T-Bone did a good job of selling the indignity of the clown suit, then channelled that rage into kicking the bejesus out of Ravenous Randy. Speaking of the Ravenous One, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do a move. He just gets beat up A LOT, and usually somehow wins anyway. This one follows that formula, minus the victory part. T-Bone eventually throws Randy out of the ring and pummels him, resulting in a double count out. Realizing that he still has to wear the clown suit, T-Bone snaps and attacks Randy with a ladder. The referees manage to break things up, which leads to Ravenous Randy challenging T-Bone to a ladder match for the PWA Mayhem Title (held by Randy) at the 10th Anniversary Show. This wasn’t the greatest match, since it was basically a squash without the victory element, but it set up what should be a thriller for the next show.
BRANDON VAN DANIELSON vs. SCOTTY PUTTY
Brandon Van Danielson’s gimmick hasn’t changed and thus still baffles me. “The Rising Outlaw” and his pedophile ‘stache climb into the ring to take on Scotty “The Body” Putty. Things get going at a fairly good clip, the first major spot being Scotty suplexing BVD onto the ropes. I’m not sure how they thought it would turn out, but by Putty landing BVD back-first onto the ropes instead of on his stomach, BVD ended up falling directly onto his neck when the ropes rebounded. Shortly thereafter, the Rising Outlaw dropkicked Scotty square in the balls, which we assumed to be revenge for the aforementioned neck-falling-on. The bout ended when Scotty attempted a shoulder block in the corner and slammed into the ring post. BVD immediately took advantage and slapped on a Crippler Crossface, resulting in a victory by submission somewhere shy of the ten minute mark.
Previously announced for the 10th Anniversary Show was a tag team match in which TNA’s Bully Ray and a partner of his choice would take on Brother Devon and a partner of his choice. Kurt Sorochan and Lance Storm entered the ring to reveal the choice’s that the former Dudley Boyz made. Bully Ray’s partner will be Dylan Knight, which isn’t a huge shock since he typically gets to work with the out-of-towners. He cuts a decent promo, gets some good heel heat, and passes the mic back to Kurt, a job well done. Brother Devon’s partner… will be Lance motherfucking Storm. The cheer in the room nearly drowns out Lance’s theme music, and “ECW!” chants break out. Storm and Knight face off, then Knight takes a powder while Storm poses and we all scream like maniacs. It turns out that, despite being from Calgary and having wrestled for 21 years, Storm has never had a match in Edmonton. Barring any more big names being announced as surprise additions to the card, this tag match will likely be the main event.
INTERMISSION
BRADY ROBERTS vs. GAMA SINGH Jr.
Brady Roberts has a surfer gimmick, complete with a lifeguard sidekick. The lifeguard has a whistle, and while not as irritating with it as Bill Alfonzo, I still loudly requested that he be killed after about thirty seconds. At one point, Brady whipped Singh into the ropes then held a hand, causing Singh to stop short. Brady then proceeded to gyrate his hips, provoking a “what the hell is he doing?” look from Singh to the crowd, followed by Singh slapping Roberts upside the head and everybody laughing. After about eight minutes of going back and forth, Singh caught Brady Roberts in a cobra stretch, which drew the interference of the lifeguard. The lifeguard failed to accomplish anything, however, as Singh just punched him and sent him back out to the floor, so the referee decides to let things keep going. Roberts charges Singh, who catches him with a flatliner then barrel rolls into the cobra stretch, securing the win via submission.
PWA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
SCOTLEY CRUE & BOBBY SHARP (Champions) vs. CHUCKY BLAZE & M
I was pretty into this match for the duration, which was unfortunately only about six minutes. The tag team champs, Scotley Crue and Bobby Sharp, were without the services of Dr. Kyoto. A random act of heelishness resulted in hilarity when M responded to Scotley Crue stomping on his entrance mask by incredulously shouting “Hey! That’s mine!” Unlike the supposed luchador Eclipse, Chucky Blaze and M actually fly pretty frequently, including a top rope lariat and a combination big splash/leg drop, which seemed to signal the end for the champions’ reign. Before the three count was reached, however, a handful of random heels ran in and attacked the challengers, ending the bout in a disqualification. Nightmare #2 and Gama Singh Jr came out to run the heels off. This should set up a rematch for the gold at the 10th Anniversary Show which will hopefully be given more time.
PWA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
CHRIS STEELE (Champion) vs. TEX GAINES
This bout also clocked in at around six minutes, which made for a disappointing main event. What there was, however, was a pretty engaging brawl between the two men, much of which took place out on the floor. An attempt to whip Chris Steele through the first few rows of chairs on the floor failed when one lady refused to get out of her seat. Steele hit the guard rail, but that was it. Tex controlled much of the brawl before the referee inadvertently allowed Steele to take the advantage. Referee Michael “The Fitz” Fitzpatrick tried to stop Tex from going back out to the floor to continue pounding Steele, who was recovering. Steele reached up and yanked the middle rope down, which snapped back up and canned Tex. The bout ended when Steele rolled out of the way of huge senton back splash off of the second turnbuckle, then drove himself into Tex’s midsection with a spear, which Tex wasn’t ready for. The sound of wind gushing out of his body was audible over the crowd noise. Steele got the three count and retained his gold, then cut a terrible, meandering promo that led me to believe that he had no idea where he was or how he got there. The promo felt ten times longer than the match.
Spot of the Night: There were quite a few contenders, but my favourite was Dusty Adonis’ swinging ace crusher on Eclipse.
Match of the Night: Brandon Van Danielson vs. Scotty Putty. The more I thought about it, the more I kept coming back to this match as my favourite of the night. They kept up a good pace, had an interesting finish, and lacked any glaring downside.
Overall: The undercard was good, with consistent quality and a nice, crisp pace. The co-main events would have been fine matches in early card slots, but as main events they were lacklustre.