2015 Battle of Los Angeles Entrants

This is a list of the entrants in the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles tournament thus far. PWG has been announcing them on their official Twitter account @OfficialPWG in the past week so stay tuned there for up to the second updates. I just figured it would be cool to have all them listed in one place with a little history on each entrant for people who need to catch up. I'll update this list as more entrants are announced.

1) Will Ospreay - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
2) Marty Scurll - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
3) Timothy Thatcher - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
4) Mike Bailey - 1st BOLA appearance
5) Chris Hero - 7th BOLA appearance ; finalist in 2010
6) Biff Busick - 2nd BOLA appearance
7) Mark Andrews - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
8) Brian Cage - 3rd BOLA appearance
9) Ricochet - 4th BOLA appearance and 2014 BOLA Winner
10) Tommy End - 1st BOLA appearance
11) Trevor Lee - 2nd BOLA appearance ; Semi Finalist in 2014
12) Pentagon Jr - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
13) Drew Gulak - 2nd BOLA appearance
14) Angelico - 1st BOLA appearance
15) Trent? - 2nd BOLA appearance
16) Andrew Everett - 1st BOLA appearance
17) Fenix - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
18) Rich Swann - 3rd BOLA appearance
19) Jack Evans - 4th BOLA appearance ; Semi Finalist in 2006
20) Drago - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
21) Matt Sydal - 4th BOLA appearance
22) Aerostar - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut
23) Zack Sabre Jr - 2nd BOLA appearance
24) Drew Galloway - 1st BOLA appearance and PWG debut

I'm also planning to do a detailed Battle of Los Angeles preview for this year's tournament just like I did last year so be on the look out for that within the next month or so!

Akira Tozawa, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, & more set to return to PWG!

As you probably already know if you follow PWG on Twitter (@OfficialPWG), the upcoming 12th Anniversary show, Threemendous IV, will see a number of returns (and debuts). The most notable being the former TNA World Tag Team Champions, The Wolves will be making their triumphant return to Reseda. Davey Richards has credited PWG for giving him his first big break back in 2005 and he was a noteworthy part of the Guerrilla for many years as he is a former World Champion, Tag Team Champion, AND Battle of Los Angeles Winner. His partner, Eddie Edwards, made his presence felt in Reseda throughout 2011-2013 and it's certainly exciting to know he's coming back. These two had their farewell at All Star Weekend X in December of 2013, both nights of that event are available on PWG's website.

On top of those two, Jack Evans will be making his first PWG appearance since 2008 and the Dragon Gate stalwart Akira Tozawa is going to be coming back as well. I think it's safe to say that international influence that PWG had in 2006-2007 is making a comeback and in a major way. You have Jack Evans & Angelico coming from the Lucha world, Akira Tozawa coming from Japan, plus Marty Scrull & Will Ospreay coming from the UK for BOLA. Not to mention the recent rise of the UK's own Zack Sabre Jr in Reseda. It's really a wonderful thing to see because in my opinion it continues making PWG the must-see non WWE promotion in America as the best of the best on the Indies as well as around the world are under one roof.

With this announcement from PWG comes one of my own. In order to prep for all these returns, I plan to start a column series called "PWG Profiles" where I will take a look back at the past of all the returning competitors. I already have one for Jack Evans in the works and plan to get to work on Davey, Eddie, and Tozawa profiles soon. I figure it will be a cool way for newer fans to learn some about what these men have already done in PWG in route to their return. I also think it will be a nice trip down memory lane for long time fans. So, as the weeks itch closer to Threemendous IV, be on the lookout for those articles! And most importantly, get pumped for a summer of awesome PWG action!

PWG Don't Sweat the Technique Review

On April 3rd, PWG returned with it's second event of 2015, Don't Sweat the Technique. It features the return of Zack Sabre Jr as well as the Reseda debut of Tommy End who hasn't competed under the PWG banner since 2006 when the promotion held a show in Germany. Excalibur & Rick Knox are on commentary to start the evening so let's get right into this highly anticipated event!

1) Brian Cage vs. Biff Busick
Apparently this match was supposed to go on later in the show however Cage had a flight to catch as he's been main eventing alot in Mexico recently so they are opening things. This one started off hot with Busick going for a running flip off the apron and CAGE CATCHES HIM IN MID AIR! I was marking out only moments into this thing! These two have clashed in various forms over the past few months so there wasn't anything you've never seen before here. Both men got their signature stuff in and the result was a decent opener. Not as good as past openers from Busick like he had against Mike Bailey and Tommaso Ciampa, but still a satisfactory contest.

Match rating - **3/4

2) Trevor Lee vs. Mike Bailey
WOW! These two very nearly killed each other. Lee starts off aggressive by charging Bailey. He's clearly wanting to get himself back on track after falling short in the main event last month. Bailey fights back and gets the audience all fired up with his standing kicks that he kept going for atleast 10-15 seconds straight. Speedball chants began ringing through the legion hall at this point.  One other notable moment around this time was Lee going for a german suplex and Bailey landing on his feet and nailing him with a kick to the head. After a nearfall or two in the ring, they end up outside on the apron and to quote Excalibur "SHIIIIIITTTTTT!" Lee goes for the german suplex he's been longing for, but Bailey ventures onto his shoulders. REVERSE HURRICANRANA ON THE RING APRON!!! Holy shit chants erupt. Mike Bailey isn't done though, he gets back on the ring apron and SHOOTING STAR KNEE DROP ONTO LEE ON THE FLOOR! He is officially over as hell in Reseda! Bailey goes for the shooting star press and Lee gets his knees up. Trevor Lee is up and SMALL PACKAGE DRIVERRRRRR! 1...2...3 - Trevor Lee picks up the victory over Mike Bailey in an absolute barnburner of a match.

Match rating - ***3/4

3) Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan vs. Beaver Boys (John Silver & Alex Reynolds)