The sixth edition of PWG's anthology sets just made it's way into my DVD collection. It covers the final 8 shows of 2006 including the 2006 BOLA tournament as well as All Star Weekend IV along with the first 2 shows of 2007. This is the first show in the compilation and it's the first night of the 2nd annual Battle of Los Angeles Tournament.The historical significance of this show is big as it's Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's debut in the legion hall in Reseda that has become so synonymous with amazing wrestling in recent years thanks to the folks at PWG.
Disco Machine & TARO are on commentary for the evening with Rick Knox & Bryce Remsburg taking care of refereeing duties. The line up is loaded, so much so that Disco & TARO are saying this is the biggest set of shows in PWG at the time. The fact that Chris Sabin and Colt Cabana are facing off in the opening contest just goes to show how stacked things are. And to think Bryan Danielson was supposed to be invovled prior to injury. He would have perfectly rounded out this line up that also originally included Mark & Jay Briscoe. So, enough talking about it, let's see if this could live up to expectations.
1) Chris Sabin vs. Colt Cabana - First Round Match
This was a pretty fun opener. It's hard to go wrong with anything these two did in 2006 respectively so it's no real surprise that they put on an entertaining contest here despite it being fairly short. Cabana did some comedy however he didn't over do it. Sabin got most of his signature stuff in including my personal favorite, the running stalling drop kick in the corner. I don't think this was the best match that Sabin & Cabana could have as it ended rather abruptly after the two traded pinning combinations although it was a decent start to the show.
Match rating - **1/2
2) El Generico vs. Delirious - First Round Match
Delirious is making his PWG debut here and who better to do it against than a man who could easily be considered "Mr. PWG", El Generico. Both men have vibrant gimmicks/characters so that made for an interesting contest to say the least. The bell rang and Delirious went nuts like always which led to Disco & Taro, who were recording commentary after the show at the time, blaring a horn and strumming a guitar to compliment the insanity that Delirious displayed in his signature opening schtick. It was pretty hilarious, I had no clue what was going on at first, I thought an alarm had went off in the building or something! The match gets oing after the shenanigans settle down although they would continue during the bout with Delirious grunting at Generico and sticking his tongue out in a vulgar manner at a female in the crowd. Generico & Delirious go through some stuff then Generico ends in HOT fashion with three helluva kicks and a half & half suplex for the victory. That sequence got the crowd on their feet and rightfully so, Generico's stuff never gets old. The comedy and the final sequence were the only real notable things here.
Match rating - **1/2
3) CIMA vs. "M Dogg 20" Matt Cross - First Round Match
Before he was Son Of Havoc in Lucha Underground, he was M DOGG 20! This was a huge match for him at the time and an equally unique match to look at today in 2015. With both of these guys competing regularly on opposite sides of the world in prominent roles in their respective companies, it's likely we'll never get to see Matt & CIMA in the same ring again which makes this cool to see. It was pretty straight forward and to the point with M Dogg flurrying early on before the veteran in CIMA regained control and fired back. They trade momentum in the final few minutes which saw MDogg hit the Sasuke Special to the outside and a hanging body press off the ring post to the floor. CIMA would fight back as said before and end up finishing things off with the Schwein. Short and sweet encounter.
Match rating - **3/4
4) Kevin Steen vs. Matt Sydal
I think there was a good amount of anticipation heading into this after Steen & Sydal had an exceptional match a few months prior at All Star Weekend 3 -- *clears throat* *in TARO voice* CRAZYMANIAAAAAAA. So, I haven't seen their match from that event, but it really doesn't surprise me that they killed it. With that being said, I'm pumped for this. On paper it's the perfect power vs speed match. The bell rings and Sydal & Steen get into an argument with a fan that claims Steen's emblem on his gear is a cheap copy of Sydal's symbol. This leads to Steen mocking the pose on the top rope. Bryce Remsburg even got in the action as well. Steen would end up using the jokes to earn himself the advantage by catching Sydal off guard. There were some nice exchanges here like Sydal going for a standing moonsault, Steen moves and lifts Sydal up for the package piledriver, Sydal counters & sweeps the legs and nails the standing moonsault. Aside from a few cool exchanges like that, this wasn't anything special despite being a solid bout.
Match rating - **3/4
5) Dragon Kid vs. Quicksilver - First Round Match
I've been on a Quicksilver kick as of late. Along with Scott Lost, I feel like he's one of the most underrated guys in the early days of PWG. It's a shame he had to retire, but it's what was best for him so hey, good for him. Atleast we've got super fun matches like this to look back on. The chemistry between Dragon Kid & Quick wasn't there to begin with as it was clear DK was getting used to him as well as the PWG ring. However, once they got going, they busted out the goods in the finishing stretch and it ruled. One another noteworthy happening saw Dragon Kid do a moonsault outside the ring on nearly land a woman. He put his hands up in apology, but according to Disco he wasn't asking if she was alright, he was telling her she was alright because he's a chiropractor on the side. The banter is real!
Match rating - ***
6) Roderick Strong vs. Rocky Romero - First Round Match
As you know if you've seen any match between these two, it was intense from the get go. This was actually their first encounter in PWG and would be the start of a pretty great series of battles between the two that would venture into 2007. Roddy spit in Romero's face during the introductions and that would set the tone for a hard hitting, stiff match. There were several rough exchanges on the mat before the strikes started flying when Romero had a mount on Roddy and began throwing what looked like a mix of palm strikes and slaps. Not many of them connected due to Strong squaring up, but it made this feel like a real fight. From there stinging chops from Roddy began flying along with stiff elbows to the jaw from Romero. They end up on the apron and Roddy drops him back first on it. This leads to him targeting Romero's back with a camel clutch and multiple back breakers among other things. Rocky would fight back however and it was epic as he threw a fiery flurry of slaps & strikes towards the Elite Athlete. In the end, it would be the stronghold that would put Romero as his back pain finally became too much to handle. I liked how they went back to that for the finish. Best match on the night here, but only a taste of things to come between the two.
Match rating - ***1/2
7) Excalibur, Human Tornado, B-Boy & Homicide (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. Joey Ryan, Scott Lost, Chris Bosh, & Petey Williams (w/ Jade Chung) - Non Tournament Match
The fourth member of each team was a mystery going in although some fans who got there early saw them come into the building because in the words of Joey Ryan, they have no lives. I liked the pairings here. I didn't expect Petey to be on The Dynasty's team, but he can be a good dickish heel so hey, here we go. Homicide was the perfect fit on his team in that he's the perfect loveable face. Joey & B-Boy tease going at it to start then Joey bows out and tags in Scott Lost. That's fine with me! B-Boy & Lost had some great exchanges through the duration of this one, the first being here. Basically every one gets a few minutes in here then Human Tornado gets isolated by the Dynasty after a dive on the outside that led to his injured shoulder being targeted. This heat period led to a nice hot tag to Homicide. All hell broke loose after this. Just a bunch of action to close the match out. Petey ends up turning on Joey after some slight miscommunication. He nails him with a Canadian Destroyer with for a nice pop. Excalibur takes advantage and gets the pin for his team. This was a decent multi man with a fun closing sequence. It's really nothing special. The build towards the hot tag was nice, I just feel like this shouldn't have lasted over 20 minutes like it did. It caused things to drag a bit although they didn't really go extremely overboard.
Match rating - ***
THE BRISCOES HIT THE RING! What the fuck? Disco & TARO said that they attacked Dino Winwood before the show started, but that wasn't shown on the DVD for whatever reason. They get into a heated brawl with B-Boy & Homicide. Rick Knox and Bryce Remsburg along with a crowd security guy try to separate things and fail. Chairs are brought into play and the inagural PWG Tag Team Champions B-Boy & Homicide run Mark & Jay out of the ring area. Homicide then nails the security guy with a sick chairshot to the head. This was a nice build towards the triple threat tag match on Night 2 with both The Briscoes and B-Boy & Homicide challenging Scott Lost & Chris Bosh for the tag team titles. Good cliffhanger.
Overall thoughts: Decent is the best word to describe this. It's not bad however it's not great either. I'd say it's a good little show though because there's nothing on here that bored me to death aside from a few moments in the main event. Every match is solid and/or fun with Roddy/Romero being the best of the night. If you're like me and are a PWG fanatic, you'll enjoy this because it's PWG and it's fun even when there aren't any blow away MOTY candidates on the show. If you're just a casual fan who loves the newer stuff, you may find this disappointing because there aren't any *great* matches here. I'll be back in a few days with my review of the 2nd night of the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles. Thanks for reading!
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