PWR LIVE Bagong Yugto: In Retrospect

It’s the year of the Fire Rooster everyone! After an eventful 2016 that saw the debut of several new talents in their roster, PWR started 2017 the way they have always been known to do, with shockers and surprises both inside and outside the squared circle.

Bagong Yugto’s Event Poster

The crowd was greeted with the one-night only return of one of the pillars of Philippine Wrestling Revolution, Bombay Suarez, as he took on the talented Dax Xaviera in the event’s pre-show match. Suarez’s surprise appearance was well received that even his opponent couldn’t help but shake his hand in a show of respect and sportsmanship. The veteran Suarez, sporting a shorter haircut, was vintage all throughout, enticing the audience with his hardcore brawling style and even gave everyone a taste of extreme wrestling circuit CZW by igniting his own hand before chopping Xaviera with it (What PG?!). He then made short work of Xaviera by pinning him and starting the night on a good note.

Mr.Sy, the General Manager of PWR, then greeted the crowd, thanking them for their passionate reception and love for Philippine wrestling and, in another surprise that is not in the ring, acknowledged the presence of WWE scouts in the audience and hyped the next PWR event for next month. You know what this means guys, time to show how good Philippine wrestling is.

The action was, as always, well executed and hard hitting. The tag team match that stood out for me was MadVlad versus the Punk Dolls. Both teams were polar opposites in terms of gimmick and style and had the crowd very entertained, especially with the antics of Martivo of the Punk Dolls.

In one of the entertaining matches of the night, old rivals Ken Warren and Chris Panzer locked horns once again. Panzer, who is on a road to redemption, scored a clean win over The so-called Social Media Sinister after several back and forth maneuvers and impressive in-ring technicality. If anyone deserves to be picked by the present WWE scouts that night, it’s definitely these two.

Chris Panzer takes the fight to his longtime nemesis Ken Warren.

The Network was rolling, scoring a majority of their stable’s victories over their respective opponents (with ringside interference from each other of course). Too bad for their leader James “Idol” Martinez though, since the referee had enough of their shenanigans and banned his teammates from ringside. This move proved effective in helping the charismatic Crystal, who is so over the crowd, defeat him. Props to Idol though, he was still very entertaining despite being the heel and using several underhanded tactics, the audience still loved him.

Sandata versus The Apocalypse was not bad either. The smaller masked mandirigma showed no fear in the face of PWR’s most intimidating monster and even gave him a tough time, something that most wrestlers are unable to do. The fight even spilled to the outside for a brief moment. Ultimately, The Apocalypse proved too much for Sandata and was defeated after a hard fought battle.

The Apocalypse struggles to his feet after taking a shot from SANDATA outside the ring.

The longest reigning PHX champion Main Maxx squared off against his former friend and stablemate Peter Versoza in what I would call a bit of a one-sided match. Honestly, Main Maxx is one of my favorite wrestlers. I expected him to be unforgiving and brutal the way he always was, especially against a guy like Peter Versoza. However, The Perfect Ten’s recent change of heart may have proven to be his downfall, as he fell to the arrogant Versoza and was stripped of his precious PHX title. If Maxx wants his title back, he needs to dig deep down into his dark side and use this loss as a motivation as well to reclaim his crown.

Main Maxx vs. Peter Versoza

The YOLO twins are on a hot streak as of late, defeating the formidable Fighters 4 Hire in a shocking upset. MadVlad had a hand on it though, interfering on behalf of the YOLO twins and giving the seasoned fighters the humiliating defeat. You can definitely expect swift retribution from the F4H very soon.

In the main event of the evening, Jake “Senyorito” De Leon returned from his concussion to challenge the reigning PWR Champion, the self proclaimed Wrestling Lord andSavior John Sebastian in a hotly contested bout. Sporting a new weapon in his arsenal in the form of the Inasal Lock, JDL had the match won if not only because of ANOTHER INTERFERENCE from The Apocalypse, as he laid out both men, ending the match on an inconclusive note. With The Apocalypse letting his presence felt, we can expect to see him in the title picture in the near future.

John Sebastian retains while flat on his back.

My take: For the event to be marketed under the banner BAGONG YUGTO, a casual wrestling fan would expect to see major changes for PWR of some form, usually for the good and growth of the company.

1. Booking and Writing: This has been something that I have observed as a follower of PWR. While it’s true that the heels are more well received nowadays (take WWE’s Chris Jericho and AJ Styles for example), I noticed a pattern that the faces in PWR are on the losing end a bit too often. In every PWR event especially last year, 80% of the matches always have the heels winning. While it may be effective at first, it’s already becoming predictable. While it is true that booking is never easy, there are so many things that the writers can do to up the ante just a notch to keep their storylines engaging and shocking.

2. Venue: This was probably in coincidence to their BAGONG YUGTO title. Venue 142 Events place was a good choice in terms of head capacity and accessibility. Only problem is the huge tendency to run into the wrestlers backstage. Imagine if after a fight, one competitor was kayfabe selling an injury, only for you to see him a-OK and laughing with the guy that just beat his ass earlier in the men’s comfort room. That ruins the storyline doesn’t it? I’m not saying this happened last night, but rather just writing from the perspective of a casual fan.

Overall, PWR: BAGONG YUGTO was a good show. Their passion is there, their heart is there and Philippine Wrestling is very much alive. Until the next PPV event!

PWR: BAGONG YUGTO Results:

Pre-show match:

Bombay Suarez def. Dax Xaviera

Main show:

MadVlad (Mike Madrigal & Vlad Sinnsyk) def. Punk Dolls (Robynn & Martivo) via pinfall

Alexander Belmonte III (with The Network) def. Rederick Mahaba via pinfall

Chris Panzer def. Ken Warren via pinfall

Chino Guinto def. Ralph Imabayashi (with The Network) via pinfall

PHX Championship match: Peter Versoza def. Main Maxx (c) via pinfall

Crystal def. James “Idol” Martinez via pinfall

The Apocalypse def. SANDATA via pinfall

The YOLO twins (Yohan& Logan Ollores) def. Fighters 4 Hire (Joey Bax & Miguel Rosales) via pinfall

PWR Championship match: John Sebastian (c) vs Jake De Leon ended in a no contest

Pictures c/o PWR – Philippine Wrestling Revolution Facebook Page