Cole & O'Reilly began in PWG as a team and took part in many outstanding matches including the classic Threemendous III Ladder Match in July of 2012. From that point on, Cole & O'Reilly competed primarily in singles action and came into their own respective characters. Cole would win the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles and become the PWG World Champion, a title which he held longer than anyone in PWG history, until none other than the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles Winner Kyle O'Reilly defeated him for that belt in May of 2014.
On this particular show, Adam Cole faces Cedric Alexander while Kyle O'Reilly defends his PWG World Championship against Ricochet. Going into this event, fans in attendance didn't know what to expect as it wasn't billed as the two men's final appearances in the company, so let's forget about that for a moment as we get into the happenings of this event.
1) Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano, & Bobby Fish vs. ACH, AR Fox, & Rich Swann
Man it's been awhile since we've had a six man tag opener and I'm certainly glad to see it return. Especially considering who is invovled here. This was the perfect way to get the event going as the finest aspects of PWG was displayed. Crazy wrestling and comedy. A santa hat played a significant part in the match as well as a Nike hat. Of course, the man wearing both was none other than Stone Cold ACH who seems to have a thing for wearing various items in the ring as we learned in 2014. Overall, this was a very fun opening match with alot of action and hilarious moments.
Match rating - ***1/4
2) Adam Cole vs. Cedric Alexander
I think this is the lowest on the card that Adam Cole has ever been. Considering he debuted in the co-main event slot of Steen Wolf in 2011, I think I may be right. None the less, it doesn't matter where he is on the card, the Panama City Playboy delivers and he did so here, even with a messed up shoulder. His introduction is something well worth mentioning as he made Excalibur read a note that confused Cedric Alexander for ACH and also told the audience to suck his dick. VINTAGE ADAM COLE! Cedric answered the middle finger and pelvic thrusts from Cole with a running dropkick in the corner to get this one going. That set the pace for the entire match as things were pretty quick the entire time with Cole showing no signs of injury. This was just your typical action packed PWG match. I hoped for more, but considering Cole is injured, we got alot more than I expected.
Match rating - ***
After the match, Adam Cole gets on the microphone and goes out of character for the first time EVER in PWG. He notes that he was supposed to have surgery earlier in the week, but refused because he wanted to come wrestle at PWG. He used that to announce that he wouldn't be in PWG for awhile which led to him thanking the fans and saying the best times he's had in wrestling were in Reseda where he formed Mount Rushmore with The Young Bucks & Kevin Steen. Cole shouts out Kev, who in his words is beating up all the corporate wrestlers now. Cole says he wouldn't be who he is if it wasn't for the PWG fans before leaving. Great moment. Thanks for all the memories, Cole! Hope to see you back sometime before you eventually get signed to WWE!
3) Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee
Many of Trevor Lee's recent singles matches haven't been alot to talk about. Yeah, he's hit some sweet moves and things however aside from the debut three-way, he's yet to produce a very memorable encounter. That was until this match. Chris Hero just beat the living shit out of Trevor, but he kept coming back. We saw Lee embrace a side of himself we haven't seen before as he struck back at the Knockout Artists with kicks and elbows of his own. He was no match for Hero although his efforts certainly got the crowd behind him. One of my favorite moments was the stand off between the two where Hero kept striking Lee only to recieve a middle finger for his troubles. I've heard some people say they didn't enjoy this match, but I honestly thought it was Lee's best singles encounter thus far in PWG. The first one that told a bit of a story, that's for sure. Great match with another sneaky victory by Lee.
Match rating - ***3/4
4) Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
This is the other match on the card that I've heard mixed reviews on. In my opinion, it was a nice throwback to early PWG as three of the four people in this match have been around since the very beginning of the promotion while Candice came in fairly early on herself around 2007. It wasn't fast paced or spotty, it was more of an old school style match in one sense, then again, I doubt an old school wrestling match would feature so many sexual references as this tag bout did. Only in PWG. These two teams had a more entertaining wrestling encounter at BOLA in the form of the three way with Ricochet & Rich Swann, but I still didn't mind this one. It's not something I'll go back and watch again, but it was entertaining while it lasted.
Match rating - **3/4
5) Brian Cage vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Biff Busick vs. Uhaa Nation
How did the ring not break during this match? Especially with Biff & Tommaso bouncing off the same side of the ring at the same time repeatedly. Speaking of that, I loved how they began this match with Biff & Ciampa taking out Cage & Uhaa just so they could pick up where they left off at the last show by trading strikes and.. hugging? Yes, Ciampa still wanted a hug. From Busick, Cage, and Uhaa. Things worked well until he got to Uhaa as he got a belly to belly suplex for his troubles. This match was pretty much just an exhibition for all four guys with no real story or anything. Just move after move after move. I was hoping for a match as good, if not better than the Cage/Ciampa/Nese/Younger fourway from Matt Rushmore, and while we didn't get that, we still got to see these four huge dudes hit each other with all their signature stuff which was certainly fun to watch. Crazy match.
Match rating - ***1/4
6) The Young Bucks vs. Chris Sabin & Matt Sydal
"WE HAVE WITNESSED THE BIRTH OF A NEW TAG TEAM!" That's the best phrase I can think of to describe this match as it's what Excalibur proclaimed after Sabin & Sydal shocked everyone by defeating The Bucks. It may seem odd to think two guys who have been around longer than Matt & Nick couldn't win, but consider The Bucks' record and recent hot streak, it's hard to think they'll ever lose. Especially considering that Sabin's record against The Bucks in PWG hasn't been that great as he & Shelley fell to The Young Bucks on several occassions back in 2009. This go round, Sabin teamed up with Sydal and found success. They displayed alot of awesome double team moves and proved themselves to be a viable tag team. Every time they kicked out of one of the Bucks' signature moves, the crowd popped like crazy. In the end, it was a shooting star press/neck breaker that put away the greatest tag team in PWG history. It shocked me just as much as everyone in attendance. I'm stoked for what the future holds for this newly formed tag team of Sabin & Sydal! Awesome match as you would expect.
Match rating - ****
7) Kyle O'Reilly vs. Ricochet - PWG World Title Match
These are quite possibly the two finest workers in North America and they proved so once again here by executing a flawless match. It was during this match that I realized how far Ricochet has come since he first came onto the scene in 2007. He went from being solely a flippy guy to someone who can hang with a technician like O'Reilly. This match was just quality pro wrestling from start to finish. It wasn't a spotfest, it wasn't necesarilly a technical showcase, in my opinion it was just an extremely solid wrestling encounter that is delivered with perfection. Some notable moments include multiple striking exchanges, a hurricanrana off the top rope from Ricochet, & Kyle catching Ricochet in a triangle choke out of a shooting star press. Fantastic main event, Kyle retains, much to the surprise of everyone in attendance.
Match rating - ****
After the match, Kyle gets on the mic and proclaims "I fucking love PWG!" The crowd responds with "We love you!" chants. Kyle says it's time to address some rumors when RODERICK STRONG ATTACKS HIM FROM BEHIND. Roddy wants a title match and gives Kyle ten seconds to answer him. He stops counting at three and goes to pick Kyle up and plant him through a stack of chairs, but KYLE FIGHTS BACK! Roddy runs out of the ring as Kyle grabs the mic. Kyle says he can't give a match, but he can give him.. GUERRILLA WARFARE! OH MY GOD! Chris Hero proclaims "HOOOLY SHIT!" on commentary as this battle gets underway and O'Reilly dives out onto Roddy.
8) Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong - Guerrilla Warfare Match for the PWG World Title
This was fucking insane. I had watched the preview for this show prior to seeing it and even read spoilers however I still got hype as shit when things kicked off here. The atmosphere of the legion hall transcended into my living room as I watched this. I wasn't a big fan of the match these two had at Untitled II, but they rectified that here by having what I personally believe is a high end candidate for PWG Match of the Year. The feud between these two has been building since July and it exploded here and it was awesome. They literally beat the shit out of each other here, it was crazy. Roddy getting his shoulder cut open after being slammed into a chair propped up inthe corner just shows how hard they were working here. It felt like a real fight as these guys pulled out all the stops. Another moment that resonated this was Roddy clipping O'Reilly's legs out from under him off the apron, deadlift catching him, and outright throwing him back first on the ring apron. Beyond those moments, we saw O'Reilly brainbuster Roddy through a chair contraption, Roddy take the top ring rope down and choke Kyle with it, Kyle suplex Roddy off the apron through a table, and Kyle wrap a chain around Roddy's head and do the signature Danielson stomp to the face. Amazing, intense match that perfectly emodied Kyle's time in PWG as he gave EVERYTHING he had just like always. In the end, Kyle passes out while in the strong hold and the ref calls for the bell. After 10 years of working in PWG, Roderick Strong becomes the PWG World Champion and proclaims to the crowd "Fuck every single one of you motherfuckers!"
Match rating - ****1/2
Overall thoughts: I think it's clear just based off the ratings that this is a show worth checking out and you'd be correct. Not only are there three four star encounters here, but it's also the end of an era as I mentioned in the opening paragraphs. Since this show, PWG has brought in alot of new talent to fill the void that Cole & Kyle left. Beyond them, this also features one of only two of Uhaa Nation's PWG appearances. Overall, this was an awesome show. Hero/Lee highlights the undercard and the three main events are worth going out of your way to see, especially O'Reilly/Strong.
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT & @ThePWTruth!
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