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Posted March 9, 2017 by Jag Garcia in Entertainment
 
 

PWR Path of Gold: In Retrospect

Jake De Leon takes a beating

Photo by Paul Candelaria

PWR Path of Gold was a showcase of what the roster can do as whole. A match of 20 people giving it their all for a title shot at Wrevolution X. As the pieces fall into place, who goes over? Who comes out on top? Who just almost turned heel for a moment there? Let’s find out!

Evan Carleaux and McKata kicked off the show with an exciting first match. The two fresh faces from Boot Camp worked up Bayanihan Center with a series of holds and slams that showed a lot of potential to be serious contenders in the title scene. Carleaux displayed traditional heel tactics while McKata got a serious pop with his “Juan Cena” look. In the end, Carleaux won with a blind low blow to force McKata to submit.

Edwin Carleux locking in McKata

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Next was the special attraction between two international wrestlers, “Beautiful” Billy Suede and Blackzilla. Blackzilla suffered a groin injury after a bad bump in the first minute of the match, but later carried on by taking the action outside. Suede then proceeded to finish the match with a top rope enzuigiri splash. While the match ended on a down note, people showed respect for the masked heavyweight. Let’s hope for rematch between the two soon.

Delirium opened the main show with what was scheduled to be a tag match against a mystery team turned into a Path of Gold qualifier for the two. Dan Ericson and Dax Xaviera brought out shades of #DIY’s Cruiserweight Classic qualifier as the friends/tag partners try to outdo each other. Xaviera picks up the win with a roll-up to advance to the qualifier, and hugged it out with Ericson in celebration.

Next was a rematch between The Network’s Alexander Belmonte III and Rederick Mahaba, wherein AB3 would take Mahaba’s spot in the Path of Gold if he won. Belmonte capitalised early on by attacking The Intimate Warrior just as he was about to enter the ring, but The King of Schlong Style was able to recover to pick up the win with a Jaccolade-to-Triangle Chokehold to retain his spot in the Path of Gold.

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Mahaba then proceeded with a work-shoot promo, thanking the fans for their support in the local wrestling scene, and for putting him over since day one. He then proceeded to have the fans rally behind him as he aimed to win the Path of Gold match later. The promo felt raw, as Mahaba’s character is starting to slowly break away from comedy wrestler to a force to be reckoned with.

Main Maxx and Peter Versoza followed up with a rematch for the PHX Championship. The two powerhouses showed finesse as they showcased their strength and agility. Blitzkriegs and Karne Nortes were thrown until Versoza landed a Petegree to retain the title.

Wrapping up the first half of the show was an All Out War triple threat between Jake De Leon, The Apocalypse, and PWR Champion John Sebastian. JDL spent the first few minutes outside the ring after tricking the Wrestling Lord and Savior into dealing with The Apocalypse, carefully laying out weapons in and out of the ring. What happened soon after turned into pure carnage. Trays were dented, a Cannonball by JDL smashed an Orocan-enclosed Apocalypse. Sebastian, with the help of the Senyorito, gave the living nighmare a powerbomb on to the steel steps. De Leon was throwing everything but the kitchen sink only to be given a Death Bell by The Apocalypse, landing on cracked corn he intended to use. Sebastian capitalised by delivering a Killshot to Apocalypse, and followed it with a title-assisted Killshot to JDL to retain the belt.

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Then came the Path of Gold. A match in which 20 participants would be pitted against each other to come out the last man standing. Path of Gold is PWR’s answer to the Royal Rumble,where majority of the roster had the chance to shine. A spot fest of corner splashes, top rope dives, and all out brawls, the insane amount of moments is too much to call in such a few sentences. Chino Guinto, a crowd favorite to win, was the ironman of the match, having come in first until being eliminated in the final three. Bombay Suarez and Kanto Terror made surprise appearances, albeit being eliminated shortly. Ralph Imabayashi came out with a new entrance theme and displayed a cockier side, which seemed like a tease for a heel turn. In the end, Chris Panzer outlasted 20 other men to win the gold trophy and announced his goal to pursue the PWR Championship at Wrevolution X.

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Photo by: Paul Candelaria

Overall, PWR Path of Gold was a very solid show. PWR aims to hone their craft, and the matches ran like clockwork. Almost the entire roster had their time to shine and they owned up to it and delivered.

Like PWR Live: Bagong Yugto, the results still felt predictable. Heels reigned supreme as more than half the winners were such. Then again, it’s not as much a down, as the storytelling and action made PWR Path of Gold a compelling watch.

 

Quick Results

Evan Carleaux def. McKata

“Beautiful” Billy Suede def. Blackzilla

Dax Xaviera def. Dan Ericson

Rederick Mahaba def. Alexander Belmonte III to retain his spot in the Path of Gokd

Peter Versoza def. Main Maxx to retain the PHX Championship

John Sebastian def. Jake de Leon and The Apocalypse to retain the PWR Championship

Chris Panzer wins the Path of Gold to become #1 Contender for the PWR Championship in Wrevolution X


Jag Garcia

 
Jag Garcia is a wrestling smark and a lover of all things indie. As you are reading this, he's probably ranting about RAW while watching an art film with that band you've never heard of playing in the background.