1) Brian Cage vs. Anthony Nese
These two faced off a few months prior at TEN in a very good bout. For that reason, I was looking forward to seeing them go at it again. In their previous match, Cage got gassed in the long run, but it looks like his conditioning was better this time around. They put on a match that was every bit as good as their first encounter, if not better. Great match! Rick Knox on commentary said it best by stating that this was the opening match, but it could have been a main event in any other promotion in the country. Very true. Also brings to light how stacked this show is.
Match rating - ***1/2
2) Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae vs. RockNES Monsters
This was your basic action packed tag
team match. It's not anything that will blow you away, but it's still a very fun match in which the action never stops. Not much else can be said here except that this was a good tag bout. Normally I'd give a match like this 3 stars, but the PWG crowd always adds to matches because of how hype they are so I'm gonna boost the rating a bit. Very entertaining.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Tommaso Ciampa vs. Drake Younger
Oh man, was I stoked for this one! These two guys are as physical as it gets so I expected a stiff brawl and that's exactly what we got. Younger and Ciampa fought through out the arena trading strikes and even slamming each other into the wall. Drake also hit an insane dive off the stage, but Ciampa caught him and threw him to the floor behind him. The craziest move in the match had to be Drake delivering a death valley driver to Ciampa on the apron. Badass match. If you like stiff, physical battles then this is the match for you.
Match rating - ***1/2
4) Johnny Gargano vs. Davey Richards
Gargano is one of the fastest rising stars in PWG and Richards is the veteran, what a match this will be. This match featured alot of technical and submission wrestling from both men although they encorporated a few strikes into their offenses as well. It was very competitive until the last minute as the two exchanged submissions until finally a modified version of the Gargano escape earned him the victory. Fantastic match.
Match rating - ****
5) Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. Eddie Edwards & Roderick Strong
Taylor & Trent just keep getting better and better as a team. I've really been enjoying them since they formed so this was enjoyable. Edwards and Strong put in a great performance as well like usual. This was a really good tag team match. Not much else I can say.
Match rating - ***1/4
6) ACH vs. Michael Elgin
I'm a fan of both guys so I was looking forward to this, but unfortunately it ended up being the weakest match on the card. It started out quite good, but it slowed down and dragged until the final five minutes or so where they really picked it up. The ending sequence was great, but aside from that this was nothing more than a solid encounter. Which on normal standards is good, but PWG standards is a whole nother level. Decent match.
Match rating - ***
7) Kevin Steen & The Young Bucks vs. Ricochet, Rich Swann, & AR Fox
Ah these six man tags are always so much fun. Ricochet, Swann, and Fox have been putting on classics every time they step into a PWG ring in tag action so this one had high expectations. And it definitely met those expectations. Just a batshit crazy awesome match. This was also where Steen debuted his fancy matching ring gear with The Bucks, so hilarious. I never get tired of seeing them mock DX and the clique with their hand gestures either. As for the action, it was insane as expected. Triple powerbombs on the ring apron, tons of superkicks and dives, all that good stuff. Best match of the night.
Match rating - ****1/4
8) Adam Cole vs. Chris Hero - PWG World Championship Match
There was alot of hype around this encounter which really added to it. This was Hero's first match back in PWG since being released from WWE and he certainly hadn't lost a step since being gone for two years. He gave Adam Cole one hell of a fight, but in the end the odds just weren't in his favor. Alot of controversy near the end with refs getting knocked out and Steen & The Bucks interfering. Despite all of that, the nearfalls were epic and I don't think the ending hurt the match at all. In fact it may have added to it a bit because everyone thought Hero would win after delivering roaring elbows to every member of Mount Rushmore only for Cole to kick out. Fantastic main event match.
Match rating - ***3/4
Overall thoughts: As always there is something worth seeing here. Gargano/Richards, the six man tag and Cole/Hero were the best matches of the night. Just awesome stuff. The only weak match on the show was ACH/Elgin and it picked up near the end so it can't be considered bad, just a bit underwhelming. Everything else ranged from good to awesome. So like normal with PWG, I'd recommend checking this show out. You've got three high quality matches, two great matches, and a solid tag bout. Overall, a great show!
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