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
so we got a variety of strikes and slams here. Roddy dominated a good bit of the bout, but Busick got his time to shine and made a good impression on new fans such as myself. I've only seen Busick compete a handful of times and this was another impressive performance from him. The most jaw dropping moment was seeing him do a crazy dive over the top rope which seemed out of the ordinary from a technician like him. Very impressive. Great match.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Cedric Alexander vs. Trevor Lee - First Round Match
Alexander and Lee blew everyone away in their debut three-way match with Andrew Everett a few months ago at Mystery Vortex II so I was looking forward to seeing them on opposite ends of the ring again. While this wasn't as mindblowing as their three way, it was still a damn good match with some fantastic exchanges. It's clear that these two know each other very well and it made for another great match between the two. Also during this match, I learned that Trevor Lee grapples with Kyle O'Reilly before shows which I found interesting because I'm a big fan of O'Reilly and a new fan of Lee. PWG commentary is always insightful and this was another case of that. Very fun match between the two North Carolina natives.
Match rating - ***1/2
4) Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae vs. Ricochet & Rich Swann vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian - PWG World Tag Team Title Match
What do you get when you put three of the best tag teams in wrestling today into one match? A fantastic action packed tag team bout. That's exactly what we got here. Every team got their chance to shine and the crowd was hot for everyone so this was alot of fun to watch. It was nice seeing Daniels & Kaz back in PWG hooking it up with newer talent like Candice, Swann, & Ricochet while seeing them go at it with Joey Ryan brought back flashes of the early days of PWG. None the less, this was a great triple threat tag team match that never slowed down.
Match rating - ***3/4
5) Tomasso Ciampa vs. Michael Elgin - First Round Match
For awhile now I've been saying that Ciampa has yet to have that big breakout match in PWG that he needs to propel him to the next level. Well that has now changed because he had that breakout match here with Michael Elgin. This bout really caught me by surprise because I wasn't that high on Elgin's recent run as ROH World Champ so I figured this would be decent, but had no idea it would end up being the best tournament match of the evening. This was a slugfest from the opening bell as both guys nailed each other with vicious strikes throughout the match. There were multiple breathtaking moments such as Ciampa hitting the Air Raid Crash on Elgin on the ring apron. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire final 10 minutes of this match as these two went all out. Awesome match.
Match rating - ****
6) AJ Styles vs. Brian Myers - First Round Match
Going into this match, I didn't really know what to expect. Brian Myers, formerly known as Curt Hawkins, has been mentioned several times on PWG commentary as being a huge fan of the company so I was pretty interested to see how he would do actually competing in the company. Unfortunately, this wasn't very good. It had it's moments, but I think a lack of chemistry caused this one to go sour. The botch at the end was atrocious and ruined what was a solid match. I was hoping for more especially since this was AJ's return match. None the less, I'm not gonna bash Myers too much because coming from WWE to the Indies is a huge transition and based on what I saw here, I think he could end up becoming a fairly big name in the scene. Just like how it took Trent a little while to adjust to wrestling on the Indies, I think it will take Myers some time to get fully used to the more physically demanding matches. But as for this match, it was solid until the ending which ruined the bout for the most part.
Match rating - **3/4
7) Kyle O'Reilly vs. Drew Gulak - First Round Match
This was the bout I was most looking forward to and I fully expected it to be the best match of the evening, but after Elgin/Ciampa tore the house down, they had a hard act to follow. This was still a very good match though. O'Reilly and Gulak started things off with some fast paced exchanges to wow the crowd before settling down into a more methodical pace. Gulak took the same route as Chris Hero did last month by trying to target O'Reilly's leg throughout the match. O'Reilly stuck to his usual gameplan of working over the arm in prep for the cross arm breaker and trying to knock his opponent silly with strikes. The striking made for some enjoyable exchanges as Gulak fired right back and we got a series of vicious headbutss between the two. While the strikes made their mark, the cross arm breaker earned O'Reilly the victory in what was a hard fought match up.
Match rating - ***3/4
8) Adam Cole & The Young Bucks vs. Chuck Taylor, Kenny Omega, & Zack Sabre Jr
What a match this was! As usual with six man tags in PWG involving The Bucks & Cole, this was so much fun. Superkicks, dragon suplexes, and we also saw the return of the Croyt's Wrath to Reseda! Beyond the action, there were some outside antics that were extremely entertaining such as Trent, who was originally scheduled to be in this match, hobbling down to the ring and stopping The Bucks from stomping Chuck's head into a chair. The other highlight here was seeing Zack Sabre Jr get his first taste of PWG action. He had a nice technical exchange with Cole early on that showcased his abilities very well. This one was absolutely crazy with tons of action and spots. In the end, Omega hit the Croyt's Wrath on Cole then Chuck Taylor followed up with the Awful Waffle for the win. Awesome match.
Match rating - ****1/4
Overall thoughts: This one gets an easy recommendation from me. All of the tournament matches were good. Ciampa/Elgin and the main event six man tag are the two bouts on here that are worth going out of your way to see and everything else will keep your entertainined so I'd definitely recommend checking this show out.
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow @ThePWTruth and @EthanPWT on Twitter! Also, if you want to order this DVD, head over to prowrestlingguerrilla.com!
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