After the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles rocked the wrestling world in August, PWG returned on October 17th with it's "Untitled II" event. At BOLA, Roderick Strong took his feud with Kyle O'Reilly to a new level by planting him through some chairs thus taking him out of the tournament. That comes to head at this event as they face off in the main event for the PWG World Championship. Can Roderick Strong finally accomplish the one thing he hasn't been able to accomplish in his 8 years in PWG?
This event also features the PWG debut of Uhaa Nation, the returns of Brian Cage & AR Fox after they missed BOLA due to injury, and a guest appearance by Ronda Rousey in the crowd. So let's not wait any longer to get into the festivities!
1) Biff Busick vs. Tomasso Ciampa
After a year in PWG, Ciampa finally had his breakout performance at BOLA in an impressive bout with Michael Elgin. In my review of those shows, I said that I felt like this would propel Ciampa to the next level in PWG and after seeing this match with Busick, I think it's safe to say I was right. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but the show opened up with "CIAMPA'S GONNA KILL YOU!" chants ringing through my tv screen. Busick & Ciampa then proceeded to tear the house down in what was arguably one of the best opening matches in PWG history. I honestly think this ranks right up there with Steen/PAC and Bucks/Edwards & Strong. This was one of the most vicious matches I've seen recently and the crowd was super hot so it made this even more awesome. Some highlights include a brutal trading of strikes, a half & half suplex off the top turnbuckle, and Ronda Rousey chopping Busick at ringside. Busick has only been on 4 PWG shows, but he's already established himself, this match did alot for him and continued to raise the stock of Ciampa. Awesome opener!
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
PWG: Mystery Vortex 2 Review
1) Cedric Alexander vs. Andrew Everett vs. Trevor Lee
Here we have some fresh faces appearing in PWG. This was both Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee's debut in PWG and it was Cedric Alexander's first appearance in PWG since 2010. Since Alexander is the only one of these men to ever compete in PWG, the crowd was heavily behind from the start as "ALEXANDER!" chants flooded the legion hall. Andrew Everett got a decent response when he was introduced as well, but Trevor Lee being the least known competitor got a mixed reaction, including "Who are you?" chants. Regardless of what the fans thought of Lee before the match, it was all changed when these three guys tore the house down! Mid-way through the match the "Who are you?" chants turned into "TREVOR LEE!" and "THIS IS AWESOME!" Everett and Lee won over the PWG crowd while Alexander proved he's still just as great - if not better - than when he last competed in Pro Wrestling Guerilla. This was just an amazing opening match with alot of jaw dropping moments. Everett hit what was literally one of the highest dives I've ever seen, he was so close to hitting the roof, it was insane. This was just an all around awesome match with tons of action. I'm glad to
PWG: DDT4 2014 DVD Review
1) Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma) - First Round Match
The crowd was SUPER hot for this one. Especially for the Best Friends. This was an action packed opener that never slowed down. I often forgot how good the Rocknes Monsters are, but they reminded me of it here. Goodtime took a page out of Ricochet's book and dove over the top turnbuckle to the outside, UNBELIEVABLE! No matter how times I see that happen, I'll still mark out each time. Great opener here that saw the Best Friends debut several new antics including Trent sporting a kneepad with Chuck Taylor's face on it aptly called "The Chuckie Knee." They also brought their new secret weapon into the match, a trenchcoat! I normally am not a big fan of comedy in wrestling, but it's impossible to not like Taylor & Trent, this was fantastic. Fun, crazy spot fest.
Match rating - ***1/4
2) PPRaay (Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas) vs. Unbreakble F'N Machines (Michael Elgin & Brian Cage)
I never thought that a match that was this much of a mismatch could be so entertaining, but if anyone can make it entertaining, it's PWG. For those who don't know Elgin & Cage are literally twice the size of Avalon & Rosas so the Machines had an advantage to begin with. PPRay did manage to get in some offense here and show what they could do despite the size difference. There were some jawdropping moments such as Elgin doing some sort of corkscrew backflip off the top rope and Elgin powerbombing Rosas onto
