PWG 2014 Battle of Los Angeles Night 3 Review
1) Candice LeRae vs. Johnny Gargano - Second Round Match
Just like Night Two's opener between Candice & Swann, this was a great way to start the show as the action never slowed down. This one didn't last long, but they packed alot into the time they had. Some highlights were Gargano dropping Candice face first on the top turnbuckle, Candice hitting multiple highflying manuevers, and Candice locking Gargano in his own submission, the Gargano Escape. This one was on it's way to getting a higher rating, but the finish was a little controversial and took away from the match a bit. This was still a very enjoyable opener though. Fun stuff.
Match rating - ***
2) TJ Perkins vs. Ricochet - Second Round Match
This bout starts off with some referee shenanigans that had the fans chanting "three way dance" in reference to Rick Knox joining the match. THAT would have been fantastic. None the less, this one got going with some nice technical wrestling which was a change of pace for a Ricochet match. Although there wasn't much highflying here, there was a good bit of fast paced action
PWG 2014 Battle of Los Angeles Night Two Review
1) Candice LeRae vs. Rich Swann - First Round Match
This was tons of fun! The story here was Swann having a counter for nearly every one of Candice's moves since they were both involved in the triple threat tag match last night. Swann had some unique ways of getting out of Candice's signature manuevers such as landing on his feet when she went for a ballplex. This led to Candice having to dig deeper in her repitoire to find a way to pin Swann. She channeled her tag partner Joey Ryan by attempting a mustache ride, but Swann countered out. Despite that, Candice was able to pick up the win with a quick roll up. Action packed opening match.
Match rating - ***
2) Johnny Gargano vs. Chuck Taylor
With the history these two have teaming and facing each other, it was no surprise that they had a great match. It raged throughout the legion hall as Chuck threw Johnny into the crowd, but it ended up costing him as Gargano picked up Taylor and threw him off the stage into a pile of chairs. Chuck would recover however and hit a vicous suplex on the outside that dropped Gargano on the floor. The action in the ring featured alot of counters and was very entertaining. In the end, Gargano would lock Taylor in the Gargano Escape for the submission victory. Great match.
Match rating - ***1/2
3) Ricochet vs. Chris Sabin
This match was pretty different than what I expected. Both men are known for their highflying, but we didn't see much of that here. It was still an entertaining match though. Both guys pulled out all the stops to try to put away the other. Sabin hit an epic leaping piledriver
PWG: 2014 Battle of Los Angeles Night One DVD Review
For the first time in 7 years, PWG has expanded it's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament to three nights. An extra night of action means more competitors. Instead of the usual 16, there will be 24 entrants in this year's tournament. It's bound to be epic and I've finally got the DVD so let's get right into Night One of the most prestigious tournament in wrestling.
1) TJ Perkins vs. Bobby Fish - First Round Match
This year's tournament features an array of returns & debuts and this match is the perfect example as TJP is making his return after a year away from PWG while Bobby Fish is making his first appearance in PWG. These two have somewhat similar styles so I expected a good match up and that's just what we got. Fish got the first real advantage of the bout and began working over the knee of Perkins on the outside of the ring. Perkins would retaliate however and the two had an outstanding submission battle in the center of the ring which was probably my favorite part of the match. Well, it WAS my favorite part of the match until TJP came up with one of the most innovative pins I've ever seen as he bridged out of an ankle lock which put Fish's shoulders on the mat for the three count. Very good opening match that left me wanting to see these two face off again.
Match rating - ***1/2
2) Roderick Strong vs. Biff Busick - First Round Match
I've often referred to Roderick Strong as the gatekeeper of PWG and although Strong belittled that term in his promo after ELEVEN, this was another great example of that as Biff Busick was making his PWG debut here. I don't think there's a better opponent for a debutee in PWG than Roderick Strong because the guy simply can't have a bad match. Both of these guys hit hard
On July 26th, 2014, PWG celebrated it's 11th Anniversary event, aptly titled "ELEVEN". It featured Kevin Steen's farewell, the return of Frankie Kazarian, and the final chapter in the Young Bucks/Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae feud.
1) Tomasso Ciampa vs. Rocky Romero
Ciampa was at a bit of a disadvantage to start with because he had a bad case of sunburn and he didn't help himself out by missing a dive to the outside early and landing in the front row of chairs. Romero tried to take advantage of this early mistake, but Ciampa fought back in what was a very competitive contest. These two traded alot of strikes throughout the match and produced a solid opening contest. Ciampa picks up a big win over a PWG veteran, Romero.
Match rating - ***
2) ACH vs. Cedric Alexander
This was a highly anticipated match simply because of the buzz both guys have been creating as of late. The first half of this match was held at a pretty methodical pace although it had it's shining moments such as ACH crowdsurfing and Cedric hitting a dive through the turnbuckle onto ACH and nearly nailing a fan in the process. While this bout started off slow, it picked up with time and developed into the fantastic
ROH: Year Four Review
Samoa Joe/Mick Foley confrontation
The DVD opens with a segment between Mick Foley and Samoa Joe from "It All Begins" in January of 2005. Foley claims he has an offer for Joe to go to WWE and face Triple H for the Heavyweight Title. This leads to Foley saying that Vince called him fat and various other insults. Foley asks Joe what his goal is in life and questions whether or not he could make it on the big stage. This promo exchange between the two results in a brawl. Cool segment.
1) Austin Aries (c) vs. Colt Cabana - Steel Cage Match for the ROH World Title
Aries and Cabana started off with some straight up wrestling, however both guy soon began trying to gain the advantage by using the cage as a weapon. Cabana was the first to taste the steel and began bleeding while Aries would be busted up not long after. This was a solid cage match that had several
ROH: Ring of Hardcore DVD Review
1) Da Hit Squad vs. The Carnage Crew - Boston Massacre Match - Honor Invades Boston - 8/24/02
The two teams start brawling from the opening bell and barbwire is brought in after about 5 minutes of action. All four men end up bleeding courtesy of it. This was just a brawl for the most part. Not really any storytelling just four guys hitting each other with stuff. Two barb wire boards were brought into play near the end and one man from each team ended up getting put through both of them which led to the end of this match. Pretty sloppy brawl. Not much to it, but you'll be entertained.
Match rating - **3/4
2) Homicide vs. Steve Corino - Barbed Wire Match - War of the Wire - 11/29/03
I had only seen one barbed wire match prior to this and that was the infamous Terry Funk/Sabu match from ECW. Well, needless to say, this was way better than that one. Homicide and Corino told a phenomenal story here and I was on the edge of my seat the whole match. They came up with a lot of innovative ways to use the barbwire ropes against each other such as Corino hanging Homicide by his legs from the barbwire and Homicide nailing Corino with an ole kick in the corner only to get himself caught in barbwire. There was a table wrapped in barbwire that was broken when Homicide hit an exploder suplex on Corino through it. This was an amazing match that I'll never forget. The best barbed wire match I've ever seen. Classic.
Match rating - ****1/2
3) Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe - Steel Cage Match for the ROH World Title - At Our Best - 3/13/04
The intensity in this match was off the charts. Briscoe got busted open a few minutes in and he bled profusely throughout the match to the point that the blood began clotting. It was one of the most cringe worthy things I've ever seen in wrestling. These two beat the hell out of each other in this classic Steel Cage Match. The end came when Samoa Joe hit the muscle buster off the top rope which was just amazing to see. Awesome match. Bouts like this are what made early ROH so good and what gave the ROH Title so much prestige.
PWG - The Many Adventures of El Generico DVD Review
1) El Generico vs. Kevin Steen - Free Admission (Just Kidding)
This was the debut of both Steen & Generico in PWG. They were originally supposed to face The Aerial Express in a tag team match, but they didn't show so Steen & Generico ended up having to go one on one with each other. Steen seemed pretty happy about this as he went on the attack right away. Both guys were setting out to impress here as they pulled out all the stops to put on a great mid-card match. Alot of fun action here and as usual Steen was very entertaining with his trash talking throughout the match. Really good bout.
Match rating - ***1/2
2) El Generico & Quicksilver vs. Scott Lost & Chris Bosh - Beyond The Thunderdome
