#Preview : PCW ULTRA Presents Mind Crawler

Finally, PCW ULTRA returns for Mind Crawler on June 14, after a two and a half month hiatus of shows following the Wrestle Summit at the end of March.  Wrestle Summit ended with shock, as Shane Strickland controversially lost his PCW Ultra Championship to the masked goliath Mil Muertes, with interference from Warbeast.  The show concluded with Strickland pulverized and humiliated, and Mil Muertes joining forces alongside Warbeast’s Samoan Werewolf Jacob Fatu and the Almighty Sheikh Josef Samael.

Mind Crawler will present the start of a new era for Warbeast, as its members enter the show holding both the PCW Ultra Championship and the Tag Team Championship, in addition to the DEFY Tag Team Championship.  Josef and Fatu added DEFY’s prestigious Pacific Northwest titles to their collection at the Wrestle Summit when they defeated the One Percent in a title versus title warfare.

With a hoard of gold, Warbeast will invade Mind Crawler as the most discernible force to be reckoned with on the West Coast potentially.  Additionally, over the last couple of months, dark money has made its way to Warbeast’s Josef and Fatu. They have unleashed their dominance as hired wrestling mercenaries carrying out an international agenda to invade the east coast’s Major League Wrestling (MLW) and plant their seeds of chaos.  

Despite comprising two different agendas, their roles in Warbeast and the Contra Unit have similarly left behind a trail of destruction on the larger wrestling world of both the east and west coasts.  With PCW Ultra’s champion Mil Muertes now standing alongside them, Warbeast enters Mind Crawler with an aura of intimidation that will permeate the senses of those who must stand to face them. Here is our preview for  PCW ULTRA as they present Mind Crawler.

Photo / PCW Ultra


PCW Ultra and DEFY Tag Team Championships


But will Warbeast’s intimidation factor be enough to get under the skin of Pentagon Jr., a man who proudly proclaims “zero fear” in the face of all competitors? Josef and Fatu square off against the Lucha Bros, Rey Fenix, and Pentagon Jr., as both the DEFY and PCW Ultra Tag Team Championships are on the line.

The Lucha Bros are one of the most celebrated and in-demand competitors in both tag team and singles action all over North America.  They have a track record of title wins representing some of the most elite championship belts from some of the most popular promotions in the wrestling scene today.

However, Warbeast’s Josef and Fatu enter this matchup with a most impressive undefeated streak of well over 800 days as PCW Ultra Tag Team Champions.  This makes them the longest reigning title holders in Southern California wrestling history. Certainly, they will not easily give up their streak as they come closer to nearing an even more eye-catching 1,000-day winning streak.  

Furthermore, there is much incentive for Warbeast to ensure their new era with Mil Muertes is one to be taken most seriously.  Defeating the Lucha Bros, one of the most talented tag teams today, while defending two tag team championships from two of the most popular promotions on the west coast would certainly raise their status to even greater heights.  

But the Lucha Bros may also have gold on their mind as a means to redeem their painful loss of the AAA Tag Team Championship to the Young Bucks recently.  Losing their rematch for the titles at AEW Double or Nothing further rubbed the pain in further. Walking away from Mind Crawler with two extremely prestigious championships, while going down in history as the team that broke SoCal wrestling’s longest winning streak, would be one way to reclaim lost glory from recent misfortune.

Both tag teams are entering this match with a whole lot to lose and so much to gain.  Expect this to turn into all-out war, especially as “all violence is legal” stipulations go into effect. As in most matches involving Warbeast, chaos will certainly spread throughout the venue as the competitors are likely to battle it out on the concrete, within the crowds of spectators and wherever else the violence drags them.  

PCW Ultra Championship


In the main event, Mil Muertes will be defending his PCW Ultra Championship against Sami Callihan.  It may seem odd that Callihan is going into this match as the more favorable among fans, given the usual thuggish nature of his cutthroat competitiveness.  In normal circumstances, Callihan is regarded as both repulsive and feared by competitors and fans alike.

https://youtu.be/Jmu7rZZgnCI


But when even Callihan has ethical issues regarding the way in which Shane Strickland was severely and controversially beaten and robbed of his PCW Ultra championship by Mil Muertes and Warbeast at Wrestle Summit, it perhaps makes him the lesser of two evils.  It also speaks volumes about the sickening nature of Warbeast’s lust for violence when a thug such as Callihan enters this match holding the moral high ground.

Callihan is not a decent man nor a gentleman in any light, and he would likely be the first to proudly proclaim that.  But perhaps he is the right kind of bully for this match, which some fans want to see. This is especially true if it means Muertes might endure necessary payback and punishment in light of the way Shane Strickland was violently robbed and beaten to the ground at Wrestle Summit.

Perhaps it matters little regarding who dishes out the payback to Muertes, as long as he has a taste of his own medicine by any means. Respect or resent Callihan, he may just be the perfect challenger to carry out this task.

PCW ULTRA Mind Crawler
Photo / PCW Ultra


PCW Ultra Light Championship


Jake Atlas will be defending his PCW Ultra Light championship against Trey Miguel.  This high stakes matchup is the first time these two competitors will be pitted against each other in singles competition.  Jake Atlas is quickly becoming one of the most recognized junior weights in the North American wrestling scene today. He is raising the bar for agility-focused chain wrestling to a new pinnacle.  He makes some of the most difficult maneuvers in wrestling look effortless in the manner that he appears to defy physics.

But Trey Miguel is also on the rise and may prove to be one of Atlas’ toughest challengers.  Trey is an established star on Impact wrestling with a decade of experience in his mid-career.  He deploys a style of cruiserweight wrestling that also resonates a sense of power and strength over strictly pure agility.  He has earned a collection of championship titles in his ten-year career from independent leagues such as Wrestle Circus, Rockstar Pro Wrestling and American Luchacore.  

In pro wrestling, it is often said that your in-ring performance can only be as good as your opponent.  These two competitors are certainly worthy of bringing out the best in each other as they will likely be taken to their limits.  It goes without saying that this match will be an absolute treat to spectate.

PCW ULTRA Mind Crawler
Photo / PCW Ultra


PCW Ultra Women’s Championship

The PCW Ultra Women’s Championship is on the line, as Jordynne Grace challenges Tessa Blanchard.  This will be Tessa’s eighth title defense in what has already proven to be an impressive championship run thus far.  Tessa is perhaps the most renowned female star to step foot in PCW Ultra history.

Both her and Grace are not only top stars among female competitors in today’s North American wrestling scene but are also two of the toughest.  Both competitors demonstrate an impressive capacity of strength in their own right, in both physique and in-ring abilities.

It just so happens that these two both faced each other in singles competition a few months ago in Impact wrestling, which saw Grace narrowly consolidate an impressive victory over Tessa.  This may allow Grace to enter Mind Crawler with extra stream and momentum on her side. With the PCW Ultra Women’s Championship on the line this time, and a recent loss against Grace, Tessa may be going into this matchup feeling more vulnerable than in previous bouts.  


Non-Title Matches

Brian Pillman Jr. will also be making his PCW Ultra debut as he will take on former PCW Ultra Light Champion Douglas James.  TJ Perkins will also be returning to PCW Ultra to face off against Australia’s Adam Brooks. It is another matchup on this card which is sure to be a spectacle of sheer athleticism and agility among two amazing cruiserweights.  Finally, the One Percent (Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs) will be taking on Ace Romero and Schaff in tag team competition.

Schaff is quickly becoming one of the most popular heavyweights in the Pacific Northwest wrestling scene, especially in DEFY.  While the One Percent and Ace Romero are established names in California’s wrestling scene, this will mark Schaff’s debut in the SoCal region.  Known as the “Baddest mother*****r in professional wrestling” among his enthusiastic fans in the northwest, it will be interesting to see what sort of impact he makes among fans in his PCW Ultra Debut on June 14.  

This is another stacked card with lots of top stars from the independent scenes. PCW Ultra’s Mind Crawler is a must-see spectacle for some of the best wrestling to come from the west coast.  If you are in the SoCal region, you can watch PCW ULTRA as they present Mind Crawler live in Wilmington on June 14 at ILWU Memorial Hall. Unfortunately, unlike previous shows, word on the grapevine has stated that this show will not be on Fite.TV nor any other live streaming service.  But it will be available to watch on http://pcwondemand.com two weeks after the live show.

Micah Shapiro, a native of Seattle, a father, and a husband, holds a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, and is a war and history junkie with a fascination for the dramatization and narration of human conflicts (obviously, pro wrestling fits that spectrum very well). He avidly watches independent pro wrestling as an escape from the daily anxieties of life in general, and his logistics day job. Though a typical hermit, sometimes he'll actually leave his house to go to DEFY's shows. Besides pro wrestling and global conflicts, he enjoys BBQ'ing (his specialty is Turkish Aleppo-pepper chicken kabobs), playing adventure and RPG video games, board games, painting war game miniatures, and reading science fiction, horror and fantasy novels.