On Sunday night, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) returned in a big way, with PWG Mystery Vortex 7. It was PWG’s first foray back into live events since their December 2019 event, PWG The Makings of a Varsity Athlete, over 18 months ago. The Covid pandemic shut down live events in California, and fans of the West Coast indie promotion have hungered for PWG’s eventual return to The Globe in Los Angeles. On Sunday night, PWG returned, and judging by the social media buzz that occurred, they returned in a big way that saw many PWG debuts as well as some shocking returns. NOTE: This article will not spoil any match outcomes, but does include spoilers for some returns.
The Card:
- Tony Deppen vs. Jack Cartwheel
- JD Drake vs. Brody King
- Arez vs. Demonic Flamita
- Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty
- Aramis & Rey Horus vs. Trey Miguel & Myron Reed
- Evil Uno vs. Orange Cassidy
- PWG World Championship: Bandido (c) vs. Black Taurus
The Debuts
Jack Cartwheel made his debut with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on Sunday night in the opening match, where he faced Tony Deppen. Cartwheel has been one of the rising young stars with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) over the past few months and has also competed for the likes of Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, Supreme Pro Wrestling (SPW), and others.
PWG has a history of introducing new lucha stars to a U.S. audience, and on Sunday, Arez made his long-awaited PWG debut, facing Ring of Honor‘s Demonic Flamita in singles action. Like many Mexican luchadors, Arez has been competing since he was a teenager, and the 14-year pro is only 29 years old. He’s spent the bulk of his career wrestling the various Mexican independents, but he’s had runs with AAA Lucha Libre and has been slowly working his way into the U.S. indies since 2016, where he’s competed for GCW, Major League Wrestling (MLW), Warrior Wrestling, and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Since 2018, he’s also appeared for IMPACT Wrestling when the company holds tapings in Mexico.
Livin the dream. #PWGMV7 pic.twitter.com/CsSL9HnjHP
— cozy superkick ♻️ (@cozysuperkick) August 2, 2021
Lee Moriarty emerged as arguably the breakout star of the pandemic year of 2020, becoming an indie superstar with the likes of GCW, Warrior Wrestling, Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), Enjoy Wrestling, and many more, capturing the IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship and Enjoy Cup this year. He’s also made appearances for both IMPACT and MLW. Moriarty has all the tools to be a major star in this industry and one would expect him to be announced for his first PWG Battle of Los Angeles this year. He made his debut with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla this past Sunday in a huge match-up with ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham.
With the reigning PWG World Tag Team Champions (The Rascalz) now in NXT as MSK, PWG will be looking to crown new tag team champions soon. On Sunday night, the two remaining members of the Rascalz indie unit, Trey Miguel and Myron Reed arrived to face PWG tandem Aramis & Rey Horus in tag team action. While Reed has appeared in PWG before, it marked the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut for “Hot Fire” Myron Reed. The reigning and 2x MLW World Middleweight Champion has been a standout on the East Coast for a few years now and is a regular with MLW as part of the Injustice stable with Jordan Oliver. Could the last two Rascalz make a case that they will defend the PWG World Tag Team titles in a Freebirds rule? Or will PWG simply strip the duo formerly known as Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz and determine new champions another way?
The Returns
It was mostly a show filled with many of the top stars from PWG in it’s past few years, with PWG World Champion Bandido facing IMPACT’s Black Taurus in the main event, plus the likes of Brody King, Tony Deppen, and others. But there were a few big surprise returns as well. Evil Uno and Orange Cassidy were big surprises, although both had worked for PWG in the months leading up to the shutdown so it wasn’t entirely out of the question they may return. But the two big ones were monstrous. Following the World Championship match, Demonic Flamita attacked his former tag partner Bandido, only for the lights to go out. When they came back on, the legendary Super Dragon was in the ring, who assisted Flamita in his beatdown on Bandido. It’s been five years since Super Dragon was last seen in a wrestling ring when he returned at PWG BOLA in 2015 to assist The Young Bucks and Roderick Strong. Before that shocking return, he hadn’t been seen since 2012. It’s been six years since we last saw Super Dragon wrestle and now he seems primed to make at least one more run.
Super Dragon is back. #PWGMysteryVortex7 pic.twitter.com/eEg8ygZsP5
— Jess (@itsomgjess) August 2, 2021
But Super Dragon wasn’t the only one to return in the final moments. Brody King ran to the ring to assist Bandido, and the leader of VLNCE UNLTD in both ROH and NJPW did not come alone. His backup was none other than recent AEW signing Malakai Black. The former Tommy End was a huge surprise to the audience, who hadn’t seen him in a PWG ring since PWG BOLA 2016. It all appears to be leading to some kind of a violent confrontation featuring some semblance of Super Dragon and Demonic Flamita against Malakai Black and Brody King.
TOMMY END #PWGMV7 pic.twitter.com/23rTijcRL9
— Jess (@itsomgjess) August 2, 2021
PWG Mystery Vortex 7 will be available to watch on-demand in the coming months. PWG returns to action next on September 26, 2021, with PWG Threemendous VI. For more information, check out their official website.
September 26. Threemendous VI. pic.twitter.com/TfgsMV2YQP
— PWG (@OfficialPWG) July 27, 2021
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