PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2008 - Stage 1 DVD Review
To start the show, Excalibur introduces all 17 participants in this year's BOLA tournament. The field is stacked for this tournament. Some of the competitors featured include Bryan Danielson, Low Ki, Austin Aries, Chris Hero, Nigel McGuinness, El Generico and many more. Nice way to kick the show off.
1) TJ Perkins vs. Chuck Taylor
And the first match of the evening pits TJ Perkins against a newcomer in PWG (at the time), Chuck Taylor. This was a fun match to open the show. I was interested to see how Taylor would fare against a technically gifted wrestler such as Perkins, but he held his own. Chuck even got TJ into a head scissors for several minutes where it looked like Perkins may tap out. However, TJ recovered and got out of the hold after several failed attempts. This was in the midst of TJ Perkins run as a heel so he tried to cheat and win, but it backfired on him as Chuckie T took the brass knuckles and nailed TJ with them for the win. The ref then saw them on Taylor's hands afterward and reversed the decision. Crazy finish, decent match. The most entertaining part of the whole thing was hearing Rick Knox rant on commentary about Perkins' cheating antics and the finish of the match. Enjoyable start to the show.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Kenny Omega vs. Brandon Bonham
This was Kenny Omega's debut in PWG and although I am familiar with him, this was my first time seeing Bonham wrestle. Omega is talented so let's see if Bonham can make a good impression on me. Going into this bout I expected it to be decent, but it turned out to be REALLY good. Much better than I originally expected. Although we didn't get too see Omega's amazing finishing manuever, Bonham pulled out a sick Canadian destroyer piledriver to finish off Omega! WOW! What a match and what an upset!
Match rating - ***1/2
3) Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness
After a great match that exceeded my expectations, Aries and McGuinness put on a match that met my high expectations here. With two phenomenal wrestlers like these two, I don't think anyone expected any less out of this match, it was awesome. From the early moments of trading holds to the stiff strikes that occured mid-match to the submission exchanges near the end - this was a phenomenal match. Some of the highlights here include Aries going for a dive, but Nigel catching him with an uppercut and the two men engaging in a vicious chop battle on the outside. The "holy shit" moment of the match however was when Nigel hit the Tower of London off the top turnbuckle onto the ring apron! DAMN! This was an all around awesome match, I loved every second of it.
Match rating - ****
4) Low Ki vs. Roderick Strong
Here we have two PWG veterans squaring off. Ki is a former World Champion, but Roderick made it to the finals of BOLA in 2007 so it might be safe to say that he has the advantage on this particular night. The two men start off with some catch as catch can wrestling on the mat then the battle spills to the outside. Man, I thought Aries and McGuinness were trading some vicious chops, but Strong and Ki took it to a whole nother level here. Just some brutal strikes on the outside here that left Ki with a red chest. The action heads back into the ring where it's pretty evenly matched, but Roderick takes control for a bit and goes for the gut buster, but Low Ki counters and DOUBLE STOMP ON THE LEGS! Wow! I've never seen that before, but it looked like it hurt like hell. These two both gave a good showing here and produced a very good match.
Match rating - ***1/2
5) Joey Ryan vs. Scott Lost
After watching the few shows before this one, I've became a fan of Scott Lost and he continued to impress me here. Considering these guys are tag team partners, I expected a very good match since they know each other so well. It started out with some exchanges on the mat, but turned serious when Lost slapped Joey then kicked him square in the head. The action was a little more vicious from that point on as it infuriated Ryan. Lost controlled most of the match although Joey was able to hit a dive to the outside and create some separation. The craziest move in this match was Scott Lost's suplex that sent both men over the top rope to the floor. Decent match with some good moments.
Match rating - ***1/4
6) Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards
The two start off with some outstanding technical wrestling. They lock up in a grecho roman knuckle lock and stay in that for several minutes exchanging various manuevers. The first part of the match was pretty even until Davey Richards got the first real advantage by slamming Danielson shoulder first onto the ring apron. Richards worked over Bryan's left arm/shoulder throughout the match with various submissions. Danielson mounted a comeback several times, but was never really able to get anything going. They got on the top turnbuckle and it backfired on Danielson as Richards hit an armbreaker off the top rope to the mat! Bryan refused to give up and somehow mounted a comeback using his vicious elbow strikes. He transitioned from those strikes into Cattle Mutilation for the victory! Great match!
Match rating - ***3/4
7) El Generico vs. Nick Jackson vs. Masato Yoshina
Before I get into the match, I have to mention Rick Knox doing the Young Bucks pose with Nick Jackson during the introductions - that was awesome haha. The match started off with a triple knuckle lock in the center of the ring, but soon turned fast and furious which resulted in a stand off between all three competitors. This was a fun match with some impressive maneuvers from each man. It was your basic triple threat match in that only two guys were in the ring for the majority of the time although they were able to put together some outstanding multi-man moves. Very enjoyable three way dance!
Match rating - ***
8) Chris Hero vs. Necro Butcher
Never did I think that I would see Necro Butcher go move for move with Chris Hero in a technical exchange, but this match saw that and more. Going into this, I had low expectations. Necro Butcher isn't known for putting on quality wrestling matches per say as he is more of a brawler/death match wrestler. He and Chris Hero are polar opposites, but they managed to put together a very entertaining match that was much better than I expected. The first ten minutes or so was spent in the ring as Hero brought out a side of Necro that I don't think anyone had ever seen. Necro held his own in a lengthy technical exchange with Hero until finally he took the battle to the outside where he is known for doing most of his fighting. Just as Butcher held his own in Hero's enviroment, Hero held his own in Necro's enviroment. Despite having multiple chairs piled on top of him, Hero managed to recover and hit a flying neckbreaker on Necro Butcher off some piece of equipment which sent both men through the concessions table. This garnered a "Holy shit" and "This is awesome" chant. The action spilled back into the ring where Hero put a trashcan over Necro Butcher and delivered a roaring elbow followed by a rolling senton. Butcher took a lot of punishment, but in the end Hero made him tap out. This was a surprisingly really good match. Out of all the matches on the card, I wouldn't have put this as the main event, but since Hero is champion, I can understand why they did.
Match rating - ***1/4
Overall thoughts: This was a very good show from PWG. It's definitely a step up from their previous show, All Star Weekend 7. The card was very consistent and featured a must see match between Aries and McGuinness. Aside from that match, Danielson/Richards and Bonham/Omega are both quality bouts as well. There honestly weren't any weak matches on this card. Although the opener is rated as a 5/10 - it's still entertaining and has a nice twist at the end. After a really good showing here, the stage has been set for Night 2 to be even better. I'd recommend checking this show out if any of the stand out matches that I listed above interest you because beyond those, the rest of the show is still very fun to watch. Solid from top to bottom.
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