PWG: Head Like A Cole Review

1) Trevor Lee vs. Keith Lee

The battle of the Lee's! It sounds appealing, but is honestly so skippable. Some good taunting by Trevor early on before this thing falls into stale territory. This is where my comment about this show having such mixed reviews comes into play. I saw some people give this the same rating I am, whereas some said Trevor Lee was the only good thing about this. To me, that's an outrageous climb considering the only thing I enjoyed about this Keith Lee's few shining moments. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, though so onward we go. Couple hot minutes near the end that ALMOST made up for the boring first half/mid portion. Keith Lee wins therefore I leave with a decent taste in my mouth. It's crazy how Trevor Lee went from the person I was most excited to see on PWG shows to more of a malcontent.

Match rating - **1/2

2) ReDragon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle)

NOW WE'RE TALKIN. Grappling at it's finest here with four men who do it better than arguably anyone else in the world. Nice stalemates to start between all four men, O'Reilly pairing off with Cobb and Fish pairing off with Riddle. Both teams do some isolation work and showcase their true tag team skills before things sorta break down. The Fish/Riddle work from early on leads to some intense work between the two that leaves Fish bleeding the hard way from his left (I think) eye. That turns up the intensity level even higher for the closing sequence of high power moves with both teams busting out everything to gain the victory. In the end, the Chosen Bros get the big win with the Bro to Sleep on Bobby Fish. They remain undefeated.

Match rating - ***1/2

3) Michael Elgin vs. Shane Strickland

Basic fun little big man vs spotty smaller guy here. A lot of people hate on Strickland, but to me they just take stuff too seriously. This was about as easy on the eyes as you can get. Strickland does flips and Elgin does power moves. It doesn't go too long and its straight & to the point. I'll take that over a drawn out opener like Lee/Lee earlier with no specific story that just goes long to hit the 15 minute mark and for no other reason, any day of the week. Elgin lays down Strickland with the Elgin bomb and walks out with the victory.

Match rating - **3/4

4) Adam Cole vs. Sami Callihan

The Panama City Playboy gets the streamer treatment and a massive ovation as this is his last PWG show before heading off to NXT. Five and a half years after debuting in Reseda, taking the promotion by storm with a long reign as World Champion, Cole is making his exit. And what better opponent than career-long rival, Sami Callihan? These two started in pro wrestling together back in CZW and brought their rivalry over to PWG in 2012-2013 in a series of bouts that ended with a 60 minute Iron Man Match at "Is Your Body Ready?" in June of 2013 for the PWG World Championship. This wasn't quite the same as any of the other meetings though as there was no bullshitting around. The two had a long staredown at the beginning of the match only for things to explode into a brawl filled with chair spots and stiff blows. In the end, Cole falls to his arch rival after getting caught in a cradle pinning combination. After the match, Cole gets one last "Adam Cole Bay Bay" before bowing out. Thanks for the memories, Adam.

Match rating - ***1/4

5) Mark Haskins vs. Lio Rush

I'm not quite sure why this is so high on the card considering there's no real backstory and neither of these guys have brought anything too notable out since debuting in PWG, but none the less, we are here and it's a decent little showcase for both men. Definitely better than the opener and Elgin/Strickland. Not much to talk about, though. Rush wins with a frog splash.

Match rating - ***

6) Penta El Zero M & Fenix (c) vs. The Young Bucks - PWG World Tag Team Championship Match

These two teams were involved in my pick for PWG Match of the Year thus far back in March in a three way tag match that saw the Lucha Bros win the titles. So, I'm pretty stoked for this and I'll say right out of the gate that it definitely delivered. It's not on the level of the aforementioned bout, but it's definitely a fine counterpart. Just these two teams doing their thing flawlessly in front of a hot crowd eating up every second. Penta & Fenix continue to break out new double team moves that I've yet to see from them in Reseda and The Bucks continue being the best at what they do. To most people's surprise, Penta & Fenix retain here after a crazy match.

Match rating - ****

7) Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Trent? - PWG World Championship Match

The Bucks & The Lucha Bros got the crowd warmed up nicely for this main event and boy, was it a barnburner. This feud between ZSJ & Chuck has brought us some awesome stuff so far and this was no different. This match got set up from that amazing tag match a few months back where Trent pinned ZSJ, earning the Best Friends a big victory. So going into this, ZSJ seems slightly vulnerable considering he HAS been pinned by Trent during this reign before. And them starting the match with Trent going for the same move that put ZSJ away and seeing the champion escape quickly & frantically to the outside makes it even more believable. Everything about this ruled. ZSJ is being a dick and torturing Trent. They do a lot of teasing and building towards stuff. Everything meant something. ZSJ's work on Trent's leg was a story that continued coming up through the very last second of the match when Trent went for a second crunchie and couldn't hold the weight. This was just fantastic stuff with a hot finishing stretch. ZSJ retains by tying Trent up in a precarious position following the failed crunchie attempt.

Match rating - ****1/4

PWG: Game Over, Man! Review

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr
PWG World Tag Team Champions - Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero M
Commentators - Excalibur, Chuck Taylor & Rick Knox

April 21st, 2017

1) Rey Fenix vs. Lio Rush
Fenix comes to the ring with his newly won PWG World Tag Team Championship. I guess Penta wasn't available tonight so Fenix is in singles action against Lio Rush and lorda mercy I was stoked for this. Two of the quickest guys to come around in recent years going at it in front of the hottest crowd? Triple yes. Anyway, this was definitely a treat to watch, Fenix & Rush played it smart by not going all out as if it were a top of the card match, which sorta disappointed me only because we may never see these two go at it again with Rush headed to WWE, but this was a suffice one time encounter and a perfect opener. My favorite Rush match since his debut in Reseda. He hit a damn spanish fly to the floor for christ sake!

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Adam Cole vs. Matthew Riddle
 
"Matthew Riddle going by the name on his birth certificate tonight, but of course, Adam Cole not going by his real name which is fat piece of shit." -Excalibur

Adam Cole is back, ladies. After a month off due to some sort of injury which caused him to miss Nice Boys and his match against Sami Callihan, the Panama City Playboy steps in the ring with more cockiness than ever. He mocked Riddle in every way shape or form, even making MMA jokes. It was good shit and made for an exciting vibe for the whole match. Once again, much like Rush/Fenix, this was one of those good while it lasted matches that never fully kicked into extremely high gear, suffice without a doubt, however.

Match rating - ***1/4

3) Jeff Cobb vs. Keith Lee
"Take your bets now on whether or not the ring survives this match." -Chuck Taylor
Chuck said it best, y'all. This was exactly what you would expect from Cobb & Lee - a slugfest. However, it did continue the trend of the night with it never really going into big match overdrive like you expect from PWG. It came pretty close though with these just two monsters throwing each other around in multiple unreal displays. I hope we see Cobb & Lee lock horns again because I feel like this is just a taste of what they can do. This was also the first time we've seen Keith Lee get to show his personality in PWG and it ruled.

Match rating - ***1/2

4) Kyle O'Reilly vs. Michael Elgin
Rematch from the finals of the 2013 BOLA tournament here and it's crazy to see the difference in where each guy is in their career from then to now. This was honestly really akin to their 2013 match except without the high stakes vibe and the fact that the crowd here actually was more into Elgin than O'Reilly, or so it seemed. The stiffness was equal or better than their 2013 encounter which makes sense considering both men's time in Japan and boy, it showed here. Just a straight slugfest with Kyle targeting Elgin's shoulder which they played off well. But in the end, Elgin planted O'Reilly with a buckle bomb and a sit out powerbomb to get the three count.

Match rating - ***1/4

5) The Young Bucks vs. War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe)
I've never been a huge War Machine fan so I was immediately kinda uninterested in this and considering the YB's just had one of their best matches this year last month in Reseda, it was hard to get invested in this. It started sorta slow and basic then built into a pretty heated final half with some nice sequences that actually pulled me into things. Bucks pick up a rebound victory after losing their tag titles at the last show.

Match rating - ***

6) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Dick Togo - Non Title Match
DICK IS BACK. Tonight is cool because the last time Dick was here, his opponent was EL GENERICO. AND the last time there was a Reseda Street Fight, it was between Chuck Taylor andddddd EL GENERICO. OLE BITCH. But yeah.  Dick's last PWG appearance was late 2011 when he challenged Generico for the PWG World Title in a HELLUVA match, no pun intended. That was more of a dream match between two fan favorites whereas this is Dick coming into a non title match with the top heel in the fed, currently. So the setting and outlay of the match was completely different. Zack was short, sweet, and dickish. This wasn't full of spots, it was all about portraying Zack as the asshole cheapskate World Champion. He worked over Togo's legs and took every opening to brutalize the veteran. It was a pretty stiff match, with Togo firing back with nothing but brute force to try to counteract Sabre's attack. The finish was brilliant as Zack pinned Togo with a Gedo Clutch as a double fuck you considering Togo & Gedo used to team together. Sabre with the cheap victory.

Match rating - ***1/4

7) Chuck Taylor vs. Marty Scurll - Reseda Street Fight
 
"I'm gonna kill this guy for real. MURDER!" -Chuck Taylor

Scurll with the villanious pre-match promo. Chuckie with the babyface fire. WE ARE LIVE, LADIES. This wasn't an overly brutal match and Chuck didn't damn near kill Marty like he did Generico back in 09 however this was certainly awesome. We saw Marty throw Chuck off the stage through a double chair pyramid, some ladder spots, a number of piledrivers, and thumbtack play. The closing moments to this match were some all time great, vintage PWG moments as Knox got laid out, so Justin came down. As Justin runs down to try to ref this thing, Chuck threw powder in Scurll's eyes and Scurll thought Justin was Chuck and popped fingers on both of his hands. Chuck then bodyslammed Scurll into thumbtacks and that man was BLEEDING. BUTTTTT JUSTIN CAN'T COUNT BC HIS FINGERS. The look on Justin Borden's face and his fingers all cramped up was the most priceless thing I've seen in a long time. The finish to the match itself was the icing on the cake with Chuckie going for the chicken wing on Scurll only to get dropped backfirst into the tacks and POP BACK UP AND LOCK IT IN AGAIN forcing Scurll to finally tap! Great main event.

Match rating - ****

PWG: Nice Boys Don't Play Rock & Roll Review

Nice Boys Don't Play Rock & Roll
March 18th, 2017

2nd show of 2017 and better than almost any show in 2016

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks

Commentators: Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, Sami Callihan & Rick Knox

1) Sami Callihan vs. Brian Cage vs. Keith Lee
Callihan was originally supposed to face Adam Cole tonight, but if I remember correctly, an injury kept Cole from competing so Sami got to interject himself into match on the card and he chose this opener. Keith Lee is making his debut here and I'll say right out of the gate, he's the next PWG breakout star. The things this big man can do is unreal and he got a chant literally 20 seconds into this thing, and for good reason. Cage & Callihan are known for having some stinkers, but they really killed it in this one and Keith Lee being involved also upped the anty. Just a great barnburner of an opener and the start of something special.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle) vs. O14k (Dave & Jake Crist)
This was your basic tag match here. Nothing out of this world, but nothing bad either. The Crist Bros had a few wow spots that got the crowd fired up however Cobb & Riddle were the clear favorite here. Several nice hot tags for them throughout the match and one little stalemate with everybody throwing kicks then hitting the mat from exhaustion. It looks like O14k is gonna pick up a win then the Chosen Bros fire back out of nowhere with the tour of the islands and a submission hold from Riddle and they chalk up another victory.

Match rating - **3/4

3) Trevor Lee vs. Lio Rush
This was soooooo close to being better than Lio's match against Ricochet last month. I have been waiting for Rush to have that one insane, unforgettable match in PWG and it didn't happen in his debut, and I didn't expect it to happen here, but it almost did! This was good stuff, Lee jumped Rush before the bell and just beat the hell out of him. He tried to get cheap victories by letting Knox count him on the outside and it was awesome. Lee literally slung Rush from pillar to post, inside out. It was good stuff. Rush fires back, Lee chops him down, Rush fires back, Lee chops him down. It gets a little competitive, Lee rolls up Rush in a small package, 1..2..--- RUSH REVERSES - 1..2..3.. FUCK THAT WAS A GREAT FINISH. Rush beats Lee at his own game in a huge upset. Loved that. Had this went a little longer, boyyyyyyy. Still a good one, though.

Match rating - ***1/4

4) Shane Strickland vs. Dezmond Xavier
Two more debuts here! I've seen Shane Strickland a couple times and he can definitely get rowdy. I've also heard the tales of Dezmond Xavier so I'm expecting something good out of this one. Unfortunately, it didn't quite reach the level they were going for or the level it could have. You could tell the butterflies were there and rightfully so, because this is a pretty large amount of pressure, but they damn sure put in their best effort and delivered some must-see exchanges that I had never even seen before, which is something that's hard to do in this day and age of flippy shit. It just didn't flow in some parts and there were a few hiccups, but this is definitely worth watching because Strickland & Xavier both brought some insane stuff to the table. Like, dear lord, this was buck wild at a few points. I'd like to see a rematch between the two in Reseda once they've settled down in the enviroment. But until then, Strickland remains on top as he plants Xavier with a driver variation that scared the hell out of myself as well as everyone in attendance.

Match rating - ***1/4

5) Leaders of the New School (Zack Sabre Jr & Marty Scurll) vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?)
This story is just getting started and when the turn of Sabre officially happened at Only Kings Understand Each Other, I was iffy despite the fact that the crowd did indeed go with it, but all bets were off when Sabre & Scurll entered the ring for this match and the boos were echoing. It is crazy to see Sabre take Roderick Strong, his greatest rival's role as the biggest bad guy in the company. But it's happened and it's great. Sabre is so easily a dickhead because of his natural cockiness and demeanor. The vicious side of him like this has shown in the past when he would get irritated with Roddy and jump at him and now as a heel, it is SO much more effective as he mocked Chuck with the title in the introductions and it was epic. So much old school team work from the Leaders in this, it made me fall in love with Sabre & Scurll more than ever before. Just fantastic stuff and arguably the best they've done in PWG. So many false hope spots for Trent to make the tag to Chuck. Chuck finally gets the tag and all hell breaks loose, it's super back & forth. Chuck & Scurll fight to the back as Trent & Sabre battle it out in the ring and to everyone's surprise, Trent pins the PWG World Champion when all is said and done. CRAZY. Chuck comes back to the ring and celebrates with his best friend, but Scurll comes back out to ruin the party. Sabre acts hesitant to join in on the beat down until Scurll slaps him across the face and seemingly manipulates him back into his villanious ways. Scurll powerbombs Chuck through some chairs and challenges him to a match next month. Chuck accepts and makes it a RESEDA STREET FIGHT BABY. 2009, whassup? Awesome stuff here.

Match rating - ****1/4

6) The Young Bucks (c) vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Penta El Zero & Rey Fenix - PWG World Tag Team Championship Match

"Everybody is cart wheelin' in Reseda tonight!" -Excalibur

THIS. WAS. THAT. PWG. SHIT. Best tag match in years, to be completely honest with you. I enjoyed this tons more than the highly beheld Rushmore/Ospreay, Sydal, Rico contest that Big Dave gave five stars. To me, this is your classic PWG tag team contest in every single sense of the word. That match and all the other matches these three teams have had with each other in Reseda over the past year or two have been fun, but none compare to this one. The opening exchange with one man from each team in the ring which gave us two different triple threat match ups, essentially, was super unique and awesome. The story of this being the last championship The Young Bucks still have after losing both the ROH & NJPW Junior Tag Titles gave this some extra story and incentive. Props to Sami Callihan on commentary for bringing that into consideration. This also even had some comedy in the early stages with Penta & Fenix doing the suck it and wearing the YB's gear, next thing you know all the times are doing each other's mannerisms and it's wacky as hell and the kinda stuff you only get in PWG. And on top of all of that, the spots in this match were absolutely nuts and somehow also innovative. We got a canadian destroyer on the fUCKING RING APRON from Ricochet to Penta for christsake. Not to mention, Sydal head scissoring Fenix from the apron to the floor, Ricochet's flying cutter on Fenix while Penta had him on his shoulders for a double team attempt, and numerous other batshit crazy things that took place in this match. The icing on the cake was the complete shocker of the finish that got the biggest pop since Sabre won the PWG belt as Penta & Fenix pin Ricochet to win the PWG World Tag Team Titles, dethroning The Young Bucks. UN-BE-LIEVABLE. Nick & Matt's reaction was priceless as they start throwing chairs in the ring and getting in the new champions' faces. Looks like we have another rivalry going into the heart of 2017 and I am fired UP.

Match rating - ****3/4

PWG: Only Kings Understand Each Other Review

February 18th, 2017

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks

Commentators: Excalibur, Rick Knox, Chuck Taylor, & Joey Ryan

1) Trevor Lee vs. Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes had one of my favorite performances in BOLA 2016 so it's good to see him on the first show of 2017. Trevor felt otherwise though, as soon as the bell rang he charged him with a fucking GERMAN SUPLEX OFF THE TOP TURNBUCKLE. LORTA MERCY. This crowd is rowdy and that popped the top off the building. A perfect start leads us to another super solid Rhodes match that held my interest the entire duration. Trevor did some taunting and referencing Cody's brother as well as his fallen father (which apparently got some heat backstage afterwards), but it made this one all the more intriguing to watch unfold. Cody was flying around in this one, y'all. But in the end, Trevor puts him out with the small package driver.

Match rating - ***1/4

2) Rey Fenix vs. Trent?
Holy hell, these boys went out and killed it. Trent set the tone for the match telling Fenix - "none of that Lucha shit" which of course only made the crowd want it more. It also made them pop harder when Rey Fenix did indeed bust out that lucha shit. Reseda feels super reinvigorated on this show, as do the wrestlers, and it's really sick. Trent is always a sleeper on PWG shows, having killer matches up and down the card that go unrecognized and this is another one of those. Some awesome spots, all well paced and timed out so it never goes into overkill. It's just right and it's great. He even gave Fenix a piledriver on the apron, at one point. This shit was bonkers. Trent gets the win when all is said and done.

Match rating - ***3/4

3) Unbreakable F'n Machines (Michael Elgin & Brian Cage) vs. Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matthew Riddle)
"Isn't it funny to you how Elgin & Cage's combined weight is still somehow lower than what WWE billed Andre the Giant as?" -Joey Ryan

The Chosen Bros became a thing last December. Cobb & Riddle started off their run as a team with a victory over The Young Bucks, the reigning PWG Tag Team Champions and the mecca of tag team wrestling in this day and age. So, even though Cage & Elgin are absolute beasts, they had to be a bit concerned heading into this one. They dominate the less experienced, but more successful team of Cobb & Riddle to start things out, but things eventually bust wide open and we get some insane exchanges. I'm not a big fan of the Elgin/Cage team however this was really freaking good. If I wasn't slightly biased with my distate for the Machines, this woulda probably got four stars. Really well put together and had me marking out on multiple occassions. Cobb & Riddle played their roles perfectly yet again and the pop for their victory was huge once again. Great match.

Match rating - ***3/4

4) Ricochet vs. Lio Rush
This is a dream match. It's crazy to think Lio Rush has only been wrestling for two years, but then again it's not too surprising considering his athletic ability and gymnastics are what he is known for and that's just a piece of what is needed to be successful in the biz. HOWEVER, he has that down pat so this was fun, but not much more. You got your acrobatics and such, cool counters & exchanges, not even that many false finishes though. Rush kicked out of the benadryller and the shooting star press, but it didn't get much of a reaction until he hit the ~FIGHTING SPIRIT~ only to be put away with one of Rico's spinning piledriver variations.

Match rating - ***1/2

5) Marty Scurll vs. Jay White
"Welcome to PWG, bitch." -Marty Scurll to Jay White before slapping him in the face

Much like Lio Rush has acrobatics, but no persona or drawing power, Jay White has grapplefuck, but no persona or character. So, this was pretty akin to Ricochet/Rush except this wasn't a dream match, instead just a newcomer versus a vet. White tried some new things to show some personality like taking Scurll's mask he uses in his entrance, but it wasn't the best attempt and came off sorta flat. Excalibur tried to build him up on commentary in instances like this and the crowd tried to react in kind, it just didn't click. For instance, when Scurll slapped White and hit him with the quote at the beginning of this review, White retaliated with a series of spaced out slaps to follow up which was a good babyface comeback, but there was no emotion shown in this so it had half the impact it could have. None the less, the closing exchanges were tight, got a little stiff here or there, White hit some suplexes, all that good stuff. Scurll taps White out to the chicken wing amidst his flurry.

Match rating - ***

6) Superkliq/Mount Rushmore/Bullet Club (Adam Cole & The Young Bucks) vs. O14k (Sami Callihan, Jake, & Dave Crist)
"Adam Cole, can he get that ample mid section over the top rope?" -Excalibur

The Cole/Callihan anthology continues in this random six man that sees the debuting Crist brothers alongside their mentor Sami Callihan. Alot of people hate O14k just because they are CZW guys, but I don't mind them. They aren't in the league of the Bucks, but they can put on an entertaining match. This was contested under tornado tag rules. Cole & The Bucks were introduced by Cody Rhodes which was GRAND. BC 4 LIFE BABY. Then they go into what was essentially a 15 minute sprint. Pretty enjoyable one, too, although the only notable thing that happened was the epic RKO out of nowhere sequence so watch this for that, for sure. Superkliq with another victory after annihlating the Ohio boys with like 40 superkicks.

Match rating - ***1/4

7) Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Chuck Taylor - PWG World Championship Match
For the first time in almost two years, the PWG fans are giving a mixed reaction to Zack Sabre Jr. This is almost weird to see. I'd argue that more people were cheering Chuck in this and Sabre's character began to evolve as this went on. More cockiness, more taunts. It was good stuff, but let me not get ahead of myself. This match kicked off with Chuck rolling Sabre up off a handshake then nailing him with a piledriver for two awesome false finishes that had everyone on their feet. Chuck's hunger for the title and Sabre's change in character were both displayed in fantastic fashion here. They sold a potential Chuck victory well only Sabre to choke him out in a triangle choke causing Rick Knox to call for the bell.

Match rating - ***3/4

After the match, Marty Scurll comes out and basically scolds the audience for cheering Chuck instead of Zack then nails Chuck with his umbrella. Zack joins in on the assault to a huge shocker of a reaction. Before it gets too bad, Trent makes the save and I'VE GOT GOOSEBUMPS LADIES. Sabre & Scurll flip off the audience as they exit and Trent tries to get them to come back in the ring. What a twist to start off the year.

2016 PWG Year End Awards

Keeping it short and sweet because I'm so behind.

Wrestler of the Year: Roderick Strong (2nd Consecutive Year)

Tag Team of the Year: The Young Bucks

Match of the Year: Roderick Strong (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr - PWG World Championship Match - All Star Weekend 12 Night Two

Newcomer of the Year: Jeff Cobb

Top 10 Matches of the Year:

1) Roderick Strong (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr - PWG World Championship Match - All Star Weekend 12 Night Two - ****1/2

2) The Young Bucks & Adam Cole vs. Ricochet, Matt Sydal, & Will Ospreay - BOLA 2016 Night Two - ****1/2

3) Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Kyle O'Reilly - PWG World Championship Match - THIRTEEN - ****1/2

4) Marty Scurll vs. Kyle O'Reilly - All Star Weekend 12 Night One - ****1/4

5) Chris Hero & Tommy End vs. Rey Fenix & Pentagon Jr - BOLA 2016 Night Two - ****1/4

6) Rey Fenix vs. Will Ospreay - BOLA 2016 Night One - ****1/4

7) The Young Bucks vs. Rey Fenix & Pentagon Jr - BOLA 2016 Night Three - ****1/4

8) Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Marty Scurll - Mystery Vortex IV - ****1/4

9) Chris Hero vs. Jeff Cobb - PRINCE - ****

10) Chuck Taylor, Jushin Liger, Jeff Cobb, Tommy End, & Cedric Alexander vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Brian Kendrick, Pete Dunne, Matt Riddle, & Sami Callihan - BOLA 2016 Night Three - ****
 
Top 10 Wrestlers of the Year:


1) Roderick Strong

#1 in 2015, #2 in 2014, #9 in 2013, #8 in 2012, #10 in 2011, #10 in 2010, #6 in 2009

2) Zack Sabre Jr

#2 in 2015, #10 in 2014

3) Will Ospreay

#9 in 2015

4) Marty Scurll

No previous rankings

5) Chris Hero

#3 in 2015, #7 in 2011, #4 in 2010, #1 in 2009, #1 in 2008

6) Kyle O'Reilly

#1 in 2014, #2 in 2013, #9 in 2012

7) Rey Fenix

No previous rankings

8) Adam Cole

#6 in 2014, #1 in 2013, #2 in 2012

9) Ricochet

#6 in 2015, #3 in 2014, #7 in 2013, #4 in 2012, #5 in 2011, #8 in 2010

10) Chuck Taylor

#5 in 2014, #4 in 2009

Mystery Vortex IV Review

December 16th, 2016

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks

Commentators: Excalibur, Rick Knox, Chris Hero & Chuck Taylor


Coming off another great BOLA tournament, Marty Scurll challenges his best friend, former partner, & fellow englishman, Zack Sabre Jr for the PWG World Championship at the 4th Annual Mystery Vortex in which every other match on the card is unnannounced and picked at random.





1) Candice LeRae vs. Trent?
The night begins with a return and god dammit, it's about time we saw Candice LeRae back in PWG. 2014 was her year and 2015 saw the slow decline of her & partner Joey Ryan, but she looks to restake her claim against Trent. A man who himself has been on a bit of a rough whim since going to war with former partner Chuck Taylor at 13 earlier in 2016 in a match that turned way more brutal than anyone ever expected. BUT none the less, we are here and this is a fun opener. Candice gets all her signature stuff in, Trent is the perfect douchebag to counteract the babyface appeal of a returning Candice. There's several close falls and sick exchanges near the end. Trent ends up putting Candice away by planting her with two scrunchies.

Match rating - ***

2) Trevor Lee vs. ACH
Alright, this show is offically seriously feeling too much like 2014. ACH is back and Trevor Lee lambasts his ass at the bell. Lee is aggressive and ACH is playful, but deadly. Not necessarily a memorable return for ACH or anything that will make you wanna see him become a regular part of PWG again, but this was enjoyable and as a massive mark for his initial Pro Wrestling Guerrilla run, I loved seeing him roll through one more time. Trevor Lee gets the predictable win with a small package driver. Woot.

Match rating - **1/2

3) Matt Sydal vs. Pete Dunne
Another pretty anti-climatic match here as the show reaches a mellowing pace. Sydal is fresh out of Japanese jail and Dunne is coming off his debut BOLA weekend. This was one of those matches where there was a cool exchange or two, but it never really built into anything noteworthy and never even really flowed that well. Definitely not what you'd expect from Sydal and one of the fastest rising and unique cruserweights. BUT ya can't win em all and this wasn't horrible by any means so aye. The closing sequence was pretty solid as they built towards Sydal finally hit the SSP with a bunch of reversals and false finishes. Sydal finally hits it and puts Dunne away.

Match rating - **1/2

4) Chris Hero & JT Dunn vs. ReDragon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish)
At first, it felt like this was gonna be the pick me up the show needed. Dunn & Fish had a fantastic opening exchange that felt like the start of a rivalry, as Excalibur even noted on commentary. Plus, we got a sick Hero/O'Reilly stand off that got a standing ovation from Reseda. But then this fell into going way too long and way too dull of a pace. 27 minutes was just too much and I lost interest half way through. I love all the guys involved, but this one just missed the marker for me. O'Reilly taps Hero out to get ReDragon the victory. It gets **3/4 for the opening half and the few good exchanges we did get out of this damn near dream line up.

Match rating - **3/4

5) Adam Cole vs. Chuck Taylor - #1 Contender's Match for the PWG World Title
NOW WE'RE TALKING BABY. Excalibur announces this as a number one contender's match and Chuckie T is ELATED and the crowd explodes with chants for the Kentucky Gentleman. Adam Cole is a bit pissed. This is made even worse when Excalibur turns to fat jokes when introducing him and ADAM COLE RUNS THROUGH THE CROWD TO CONFRONT HIM to which Excalibur responds "He is too fat to get through this small space" - Cole tries to attack Excalibur, Chuckie T comes up from behind and GRABS THE HEADSET. God dammit I love this. They battle for a little on the stage, Cole calls Excalibur a son of a bitch, and Chuckie hits a dive into the crowd. Things head back to the ring and it's just quality banter although it settles into quite the perfect heel/babyface #1 Contender dynamic. The crowd is super behind Chuck even though you can tell they kinda expect Cole to win. The support for Taylor is enough to make it feel like he has a chance, though, and in the end, he had more than a chance as he drops Cole with a third awful waffle for the win and the crowd EXPLODES. Awesome moment, hella fun match that brought this show back up to par.

Match rating - ***1/2

6) The Young Bucks vs. Jeff Cobb & Matthew Riddle
The momentum continues here with another vintage Young Bucks performance against two fresh faces in Reseda. Cobb & Riddle have both made their names in singles contests, but this is probably the biggest match for either in PWG thus far and this is their first time ever teaming together. They played off that story well all match with the Bucks outsmarting them, but Cobb & Riddle still showing some good team work. The Bucks isolated Riddle and built to the hot tag for Cobb who cleaned house. Then we got the big break down of crazy shit from everybody. In the heat of all of this, Cobb & Riddle pull out the surprising victory out of nowhere in this non title match. HUGE moment for them and I still can't believe it myself. The utter excitement and disbelief on their own faces after the victory was priceless. GOOD STUFF.

Match rating - ***3/4

7) Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Marty Scurll - PWG World Championship Match
To be completely honest with you, the era of PWG which I've fallen off on this current era in which ZSJ leads so I always seem to underestimate the potential of his championship matches and boy did it bite me in the ass this go round because WHAT A MAIN EVENT. Sabre & Scurll have crossed paths many a time over the past few years, including a meeting in the semi-finals of the 2015 BOLA tournament that underwhelmed many including myself, however this more than made up for it. On that night, the crowd was pretty exhausted as were the athletes themselves, on this night there was much more energy and a story to be told. Pure technicality and stiffness for 30 minutes between two best friends vying for the PWG World Championship and it never got old. The smoothness of these two kept you on your feet for it felt like any moment could be the moment a pinning combination counted to three or a lethal submission was locked in. And on top of that, even when things weren't moving at a fast rate, the strikes left you cringing and as the match crept on, the exhaustion showed as both men could barely stand. This felt like the most pure display of wrestling you could ask for and it ruled. Until the final few minutes, that is, where Scurll brought his umbrella as well as powder into play AND there was a ref bump. It didn't take away from the match, though, just gave it a different little twist and set up for the babyface to overcome the odds as Sabre would end up stretching Scurll in an ungodly hold that he couldn't escape thus forcing him to tap. Awesome match.

Match rating - ****1/4

Post-match, Scurll looks as if he's going to attack Sabre only to shake his hand just in time for Chuck Taylor, the new number one contender to emerge. And man, once again I wasn't very excited for Chuck/Sabre on paper, but seeing them two in the ring together gave me goosebumps, or moreso seeing Chuck that close to the PWG Title gave me goosebumps because he has been the unsung, beloved hero of PWG since 2008 and now he's getting a chance he's never gotten and god damn this is gonna be good stuff. Perfect way to close out the year.

2016 Battle of Los Angeles - Night Three Review

PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2016 - Night Three
September 4th, 2016

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks

Commentators: Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, & Chris Hero

1) Trevor Lee vs. Dalton Castle
This was pretty much what you would expect from these two. Easy on the eyes, but no real substance. They both can have awesome matches when placed with the right guy however on their own they're just two very entertaining, young characters so this came off just an enjoyable exhibition and nothing more. Lee did his "I'm a TNA superstar bit", Castle was Castle. It was fun.

Match rating - ***

2) Ricochet vs. John Hennigan
Hennigan stunk up the house on Night One against Matt Sydal however he actually came out of this looking very good. These two have faced off under different gimmicks in some epic matches in Lucha Underground so it's probably no surprise that this was super fucking solid. Ricochet gets the win to advance to the semi's.

Match rating - ***1/4

3) Cody Rhodes vs. Marty Scurll
God damn if I ever thought I'd be praising a Cody Rhodes performance on a set of PWG events, but he's been one of my top three favorites of the entire weekend. He brings a different yet altered style to Reseda and it works. The crowd is receptive to him and he delivers on his end. I never thought I'd say Cody is perfect for PWG because a lot of dudes come here after WWE and it's weird/rough however Cody has transitioned the best, in my opinion. Scurll was the perfect dickhead to put him against here as the crowd really got behind Rhodes which made the back & forth action feel super important. In the end, Scurll finishes off Rhodes and the breath comes out of the Reseda crowd. Rhodes makes a joke or two before leaving to echoing "Please Come Back" chants to which he responded "I will be back."

Match rating - ***1/2

4) Chris Hero vs. Mark Andrews
HERO JUMPS ANDREWS AT THE BELL BAH GAWD. So, let's keep this short and sweet, just like the match. Hero beats the absolute fuck out of Mandrews with all sorts of piledrivers, kicks & elbows. Andrews pops back on a lucky whim and pins the Knockout Artist to advance to the semi-finals.

Match rating - ***

5) Kyle O'Reilly vs. Mark Haskins
Last night, Haskins got to show off his high flying, junior skills during his match with Mark Andrews, with some of his hard hitting style shining through. On this night, he gets to showcase more of that hybrid style against the best in the world in that class and boy, it's great. Kyle is the perfect opponents for guys like Haskins & Riddle and while this wasn't as good as the O'Reilly/Riddle match from Night Two, it still was great. Haskins knocks off the former PWG World Champion when all is said and done in probably the biggest upset of the tournament after a solid ass match.

Match rating - ***1/2

6) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Will Ospreay
Sabre & Ospreay got 11 minutes and tore Reseda down with a hellacious sprint with the time they were given. This doesn't match their WrestleMania weekend battle for Evolve by any means, but it does it's job in stride. Smooth, innovative, and entertaining as fuck to watch as the two top Brits in the legion trade their best shots in front of a hot crowd. The trend of upsets continue with Ospreay knocking off the current PWG World Champion.

Match rating - ***3/4

7) The Young Bucks vs. Fenix & Pentagon Jr
Fenix & Pentagon basically have the same outfit on this weekend so it's a bitch to tell who is who. None the less, this ruled as you would expect. I've kinda came to the conclusion that basically any YB's PWG Match is gonna be 4 stars plus not just because of the crowd and their performance, but because of it being their home promotion and so much story behind pretty much everything that they do. Whether it be the referee interference saga, the shout outs to Kevin Steen mid match, or the call backs to old moves they haven't used in years, there's always some underlying factors that get me fired up. This match in particular was wild as hell. It's hard for me to pop super hard for these type matches anymore because I've seen them so much, but they almost made me do so on a few occassions. The absolute audacity of the Bucks to do a diving plancha over the top rope into a Meltzer Driver on Pentagon was fucking bonkers, as was this entire match. Bucks come out on top because they're the best in the world.

Match rating - ****1/4

8) Trevor Lee vs. Mark Andrews
On nights like this where there are a good 12 matches planned to happen, a lot of sprints are expected through the night and this was one of them. In fact, all the semi-finals ended up being sprints, and good ones, too! Lee & Andrews put on a super fun exhibition here with some cool moments including Andrews reversing out of the twist of the fate on the apron and countering into a double foot stomp. Really fun stuff, Lee drops Andrews on his head with a small package driver for the pin and to secure his first entrance into the BOLA finals.

Match rating - ***

9) Marty Scurll vs. Mark Haskins
Scurll jumps Haskins from the bell with his umbrella which was super fucking great. Scurll has really been the 2016 MVP of PWG, aside from that mehhhhh ass match with Callihan at 13, but we can overlook that :-) anyways, this was a really back & forth match that both guys did a great job of bringing the crowd into. With this being Haskins' debut weekend, no one even expected him to make it this far, but somehow, he & Scurll made the fans bite into believing he might could win here with Haskins fighting from under for most of the match. During Haskins' biggest comeback flurry of them all, Scurll finally synches in the chicken wing out of nowhere and lays this one to rest. The Villain to the finals!

Match rating - ***1/2

10) Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay
It's Ricochet & Ospreay so you know it's lit. I'd say this was basically a toned down version of their NJPW & Evolve encounters. They had less time to work with and were working multiple matches in one night so they couldn't go out and do too much, but they certainly did more than enough in displaying why they are the two single best high flyers in professional wrestling today. Ospreay defeats his predecessor to advance to the finals.

Match rating - ***3/4

11) Chuck Taylor, Jushin Liger, Tommy End, Cedric Alexander, & Jeff Cobb vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Sami Callihan, Brian Kendrick, Pete Dunne, & Matt Riddle
This was an absolute spectacle in every sense of the word. Excalibur said it best when saying he felt like this match was put together by all of these guys popping randomly out of a portal because of how many different personalities are in this thing. Brian Kendrick is returning, Jushin Liger is having his last night in town and asking Ciampa to stick a finger in his ass, Cobb & Riddle are having an amatuer wrestling showdown, Ciampa & Callihan's entire team have cat makeup painted on their face, there's slow motion sequences and all sorts of other shenanigans. This was an all around awesome time and is PWG in a nutshell and it was showcased just like it is every year in this multi-man tag that's become BOLA tradition.

Match rating - ****

12) Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay vs. Trevor Lee
Fun little finals line up here. This year's BOLA was weird in that there was no real stand out to win. Lee's hype has kind of died down. 2014 should've been his year, if any. Ospreay is on fire, but we've already seen him face Sabre earlier so you know he's not winning which put Scurll as the favorite. Unfortunately, his stinker of a match with Sami Callihan at the last show put me in meh mood on him despite his killer start to the year with that epic match against Kyle O'Reilly, but he's slowly been winning me back in this tourney. He continued to do so here as he & Lee end up double teaming Ospreay after an opening 7-8 minute exhibition spotfest between all three guys. Ospreay did a hell of a job of selling his exhaustion or maybe it wasn't even selling bc he looked physically worn and I can only imagine so after the hectic, demanding weekend he had. Lee & Scurll, the clear villains in this match showcased just that in a vicious double booting that led to Ospreay visibly submitting. Lee & Scurll then squared off one on one for the trophy that eluded them both last year where they met in a first round contest. Lee ends up accidentally taking out Rick Knox which allows Scurll to beat him with his umbrella to weaken him and then lock in the chickenwing which forces Lee to tap. Marty Scurll is the 2016 PWG BOLA Champion.

Match rating - ***1/2

POST MATCH
"Cody Rhodes, a man who was in WrestleMania, and made millions of dollars, quit that company to come wrestle here for THIS company."

Scurll was totally selfless in his celebration speech despite being a villain at heart. He put over PWG, Reseda, and the fans in stride, but also talked about his desire to be a pro wrestler at a young age and how much it meant to him. The new #1 contender then targeted his fellow Englishmen and longtime friend Zack Sabre Jr.

"Zack Sabre Jr, you may be my best friend, but..."

This leads to Sabre coming down to the ring and hoisting up the PWG Title to which Scurll responds by hoisting up his BOLA trophy. They meet in December at Mystery Vortex IV for the PWG World Championship to close out 2016.

2016 Battle of Los Angeles - Night Two Review

Battle of Los Angeles Night Two - September 3rd, 2016

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks

Commentators: Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, & Chris Hero

1) Tommaso Ciampa vs. Dalton Castle
"Is he just gonna do WWF moves now that he's a WWF guy?" -Chuck Taylor

Ciampa is an unexpected guest so the crowd goes wild. Jack Gallagher had to drop BOLA last minute due to flight delays so the Sicilian Psychopath stepped in a night early to add one more match to his final PWG weekend. With these two being polar opposites, it was a lot of fun. Ciampa has a sports entertaintment side to him though, so we got some comedy on his end which was cool. He started running through WWE moves from the pedigree to the spear and really just dominated this thing. Someone like Castle is made for fighting from underneath anyway. His comeback was awesome and including all his signature stuff from deadlift suplexes to the bangarang which would ultimately lead the Party Peacock to victory. Good opener, "Thank You Ciampa" chants ring out.

Match rating - ***

2) Mark Andrews vs. Pete Dunne
These two apparently had some killer matches in the UK. This was okay. Not nearly as good as the, in my opinion, overrated Andrews/Ospreay match from last year. I'm not dissing either match though because they are good debuting showcases for all involved. Dunne lived up to the hype of the Bruserweight and beat the hell out of Andrews all over the legion hall. Mandrews bounces back to get the win when all is said & done. Great back & forth action between the two near the end with several close falls.

Match rating - ***1/2

3) Sami Callihan vs. Cody Rhodes
Some people were underwhelmed by this, but it's actually my favorite match on the show up to this point. The reaction Cody gets is so cool and the dynamic of he & Sami is fucking awesome. Sami is a dark, underground WWE reject. Cody is a pretty boy, son of a son of a plumber. Sami beats on Cody, but Dusty's boy fires back and it's wonderful. The crowd was lit as hell for Cody's first big appearance outside of WWE so the atmosphere was great. This isn't some awesome match or anything however it's super super enjoyable, at least on my end.

Match rating - ***1/4

4) Chris Hero & Tommy End vs. Fenix & Pentagon Jr
PRAISE GOD THIS RULED. This is really everything you would expect it to be. These guys just went out and busted out all the marbles. Great Pentagon/Hero interactions which were built up to perfection. End gets his shit in one last time. Fenix & Pentagon continue to ensue absolute insanity with moves I never thought I'd ever see in my wildest dreams. Hell of a god damn match. So many different characters and personalities, all of which got their individual shine and meshed perfectly. I love wrestling.

Match rating - ****1/4

5) Trevor Lee vs. Kamaitachi
Killer spotfest. Both of these guys rip when they're on point, but have also been known for being sorta sloppy so I figured this would either be awesome or meh and it definitely ended up being the former. So much crazy shit packed into 15 minutes. Lee gets the win with the almighty small package driver.

Match rating - ***3/4

6) Cedric Alexander vs. Mark Haskins
Another fun spotty match here. Cedric is back in Reseda after a while away and I'm so glad that he's getting one more chance before he full times in the E because he's so fucking good and overlooked. Haskins really lucked up by getting him as his debut opponent because Cedric can't have a bad match and this was no different. Haskins taps out Alexander after a very solid 15 minutes to advance to the second round.

Match rating - ***1/4

7) Kyle O'Reilly vs. Matthew Riddle
More debuts! Riddle is in a high profile match in his first PWG appearance which undoubtedly says something about him. Facing Kyle O'Reilly in PWG right out of the gate is a statement and Riddle proved he deserved this chance by going toe to toe and grappling move for move with the former PWG Champion. Lots of limb work, strikes & submissions and all in all, just a fantastic display of this hybrid style of wrasslin. Not a MOTY caliber contest, but something you definitely want to check out. O'Reilly snags the win and looks to go for his second BOLA trophy.

Match rating - ***3/4

8) The Young Bucks & Adam Cole vs. Ricochet, Matt Sydal, & Will Ospreay
When the crowd starts singing "All Night Long" pre-match like it's 2013 all over again, you know this is gonna be good. Excalibur & Chuckie T are fired up on commentary, the Mount Rushmore/Bullet Club trio is acting as dickish & ignorant as ever, the three best high flyers in the world are on one team at their peak, this is god tier, ladies & gentleman. All the interactions leading up to the big explosion at the end that everyone was waiting for were golden. So much douchebagness from the Bucks & Cole. I love the way these matches are laid out with insanity being teased until things finally bust wide open. Big Dave gave this five stars and while I'm not giving five, I will say it's one of my favorite matches of the year and I thoroughly enjoyed the fuck out of it. On top of that, I will say they accomplished something great by delivering something different than your normal PWG mindblowing six man because some of the sequences here were so innovative that I can't even begin to describe them in text. Like, these guys are really outdoing themselves and just when I think it can't be topped, they top it. Just do yourself a favor and watch this match. There's a shooting star press Meltzer Driver for fucksake. A SHOOTING STAR PRESS MELTZER DRIVER. Get on it. The babyfaces win and Ricochet gives a speech to send the crowd home happy.

Match rating - ****1/2

2016 Battle of Los Angeles Review - Night One

PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night One - September 2nd, 2016

PWG World Champion - Zack Sabre Jr (since: All Star Weekend 12 Night Two - March 2016)

PWG World Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks (since: Mystery Vortex III - June 2015)

Commentators: Excalibur & Chuck Taylor

1) Marty Scurll vs. Pentagon Jr
I can't think of a more fiery way to start off the night. This could honestly main event a show anywhere in the world and it's the opener here at BOLA 2016. Pentagon hasn't been seen since his debut weekend in PWG last summer at this very tournament so the crowd is red hot for him. Marty mocks the Ciero Medo and pokes Pentagon in the eyes to get the first small advantage of the match. Pentagon fired back with a huge plancha to the floor, but a misfired chop that landed on the ring post cost him. Scurll, being the villain, obviously took a lot of shortcuts and that was the story here. Pentagon nails Scurll with a package piledriver for a false finish that brought everyone to their feet. Pentagon goes for another and Scurll counters into the chicken wing for a huge pop and the submission victory.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Ricochet vs. Jeff Cobb
COBB IS A gOd. And Ricochet is a king. So, what would do we have here? More greatness. I swear, Cobb gets stronger every match. He tossed Ricochet around legitamately like a rag doll here. That comparison is thrown around alot in pro-wres, but it's honestly the perfect comparison to how Cobb hoists Ricochet, and the majority of his opponents, around. Ricochet used his speed to keep himself in this thing however he also showcased some power with a powerbomb off the top turnbuckle. Just as Ricochet adapted his style, Cobb did as well by showcasing his agility with a handspring out of a hurricanrana in the opening moments. This was a really fun match, Ricochet escapes the tour of islands with a small package to sneak away with the win.

Match rating - ***1/2

3) Matt Sydal vs. John Hennigan
Aye aye aye. This draggged. BUT it wasn't as horrid as some have made it out to be. It was pretty generic then there was a weird/rough moment near the end which caused the ending to come off flat however it wasn't a complete and utter shitfest. Everything leading up to it was fine, just not flashy or impressive. Not much to talk about. Hennigan wins to the shock and displeasure of many.

Match rating - **1/4

4) Fenix vs. Will Ospreay
What. the. fuck. I may have to watch this again to believe some of the shit that I saw. This was absolutely unreal and probably more than you even expected from these guys. They both landed on their feet off a spanish fly attempt from the turnbuckle. Try to fathom that. There's a reason Ospreay was crowned the Best of the Super Juniors this year and this match showcases his aerial abilities on a new level. Fenix matched him in this acrobatic display that will leave you speechless. Ospreay wins with the same cutter that brought him the BOSJ trophy over in Japan. Will it bring him the BOLA trophy as well?

Match rating - ****1/4

5) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Tommy End
This was a weird one for me. Sabre & End have been two of my favorites over the course of the past year or two and seeing them face off in PWG has been a dream match of mine, but this fell flat. Not that what they did here was bad, it just lacked the story/emotion/feeling needed to get me invested. The grappling & striking was good throughout however there was no clear vision from my end and it felt like they were just throwing stuff out there. It was one of those, a few good parts, but flat as a whole matches. The champion, Sabre, wins via tap out.

Match rating - **3/4

6) Chris Hero vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger
What. A. Time. To Be. A. Live. This is a dream match for the ages. Chris Hero is in prime and Jushin Liger is still killer despite being over the hump. This is Liger's first PWG appearance since 2010 where he & El Generico tore it down at the inaguaral Kurt Russell Reunion event. This particular match here is one of which that I watched twice before reviewing and I'd say that says something about it. I will say right off the bat, though, that it's not some MOTY, OMG moment of a match, but that doesn't mean it disappointed. They worked a simple formula with Hero being the young, dickhead bully. Liger was the resilient, "you still got it" old man that didn't take any shit. They didn't go with anything complex, but they didn't have to because these two are elite. Simply seeing them work a forumla like they did was awesome and provided us with several gasp worthy moments such as Liger popping up immediately after taking a Liger bomb from Hero. This led to the finish with one too many blows to the head finally keeping the legend down.

Match rating - ***3/4

7) The Young Bucks & Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, & Dalton Castle
Fun trios contest to end the first night of BOLA. ReDragon were disguised as the boys and played their part as such until about mid-way through the contest. After that, Excalibur started referring to them as O'Reilly & Fish. Other than that, there's not much to really talk about here. Your basic YB/Cole PWG six man tag. Nothing all that special, but fun for what it is. Mount Rushmore-Bullet Club wins with a double Meltzer.

Match rating - ***