1) Scott Lost vs. Mikey Nicholls
Here we have the debuting Mikey Nicholls taking on PWG veteran/co founder, Scott Lost. I had never heard of Nicholls prior to this, but he certainly impressed me in this match. This bout was everything an opener should be. It got the crowd hot and got the show off to an exciting start. In the end, Lost hit an ace crusher on the apron followed by a superplex to finally put away Nicholls after several near falls. Good opener!
Match rating - **3/4
2) Hook Bomberry vs. Scorpio Sky
These two were mainstays in the tag team divison at this time however their respective partners, TJ Perkins and Ronin, aren't on the show so they are facing off in singles action. This match really wasn't anything special. The opener was very good and unfortunately these guys weren't able to follow it. The commentary kept me entertained here though because Excalibur and Dino were hilarious as always. For instance, Hook got crotched by Scorpio and Excalibur said "Hook clutching his shrunken testicles, or possibly split. There might even be 4 of them now." And Dino responds with "Oh, so individual strips like grilled chicken?" Only in PWG. Average match, fun commentary.
Match rating - **
3) Candice LeRae vs. Joey Ryan
The rules in this one were that Candice could win by pinfall, submission, OR simply by bodyslamming Joey Ryan. Nice change up considering we've seen these two face off several times prior to this. Much like the previous match, this wasn't anything special although I was still entertained.
Match rating - **
Scott Lost comes to the ring at this point in the show and reveals that it's his birthday before introducing former partner and former Battle of Los Angeles winner, Chris Bosh! Bosh cuts a good return promo before proclaiming "FINALLY, Chris Bosh has come back to PWG!" Scorpio Sky interrupts the festivities and calls out Bosh on never giving fans the farewell match they deserved. Sky challenges Bosh to a match at the 5th Anniversary show and he accepts. Great seeing Bosh back!
4) Davey Richards vs. Brandon Bonham
This was a great veteran vs newcomer match up. Davey kicked the shit out of Bonham however Bonham fought back and returned the brutality. It was pretty competitive with the story being whether or not Bonham could hang with Davey. I liked how they booked the finish as a time limit draw considering Bonham is undefeated. Davey puts over Bonham after the match and shakes his hand. Solid match, big moment for Bonham.
Match rating - ***
5) Austin Aries vs. El Generico
I was looking forward to this match more than any other bout on the card and luckily it delivered. It may not have went as long as I expected, but it was certainly enjoyable while it lasted. These two worked very well together and had alot of unique counters for each others signature moves such as Aries going for the corner dropkick only to recieve a Yakuza kick from Generico. Good match!
Match rating - ***1/4
6) Jack Evans vs. Chris Hero vs. Necro Butcher - #1 Contender's Match
The PWG roster was extremely diverse in 2008 and this match is the perfect example of that. You have the technician/knockout artist in Chris Hero, the spotty highflyer in Jack Evans, and the deathmatch wrestler/brawler Necro Butcher. It's a wild mix yet it worked and made for a crazy fun match. There was alot of action outside the ring with Jack Evans springing off a table and nailing Necro with a kick on the stage, Chris Hero hitting a moonsault off the apron onto Evans & Necro Butcher, and Evans hitting a 450 splash off the top turnbuckle to the outside on Necro. Hero even got into it with PWG World Champion Human Tornado who was on commentary during the match. This led to Tornado coming into the ring with a pipe and attempting to screw Hero out of the match, but it backfired as Hero ended up picking up the victory. Very fun main event that garnered "This is awesome" chants.
Match rating - ***1/2
The insanity between Chris Hero and Human Tornado continued after the match as we got two separate brawls between them. One immediately after the match and one after Hero cut a promo challenging Tornado to a Steel Cage Guerrilla Warfare Match. Awesome way to build towards the next show.
Overall thoughts: There's not really anything on this show worth going out of your way to see however I would recommend picking this up if you're planning to get Life During Wartime (the 5th Anniversary show). PWG did a great job building up that event with this show. From Chris Bosh's return to the next chapter in the Chris Hero/Human Tornado unfolding, this is something worth checking out prior to watching Life During Wartime. But if you've already seen Life During Wartime or aren't planning to watch it any time soon, I'd say you can skip this event.
Follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT and this blog @ThePWTruth!
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