taylor vs

I need to remove the veil of PWG for the purposes of this review for just one second. Now I’m not going to say PWG has had a bad year relative to a lot of the other independent promotions out there. However, based on their own lofty standards earned through over 3.5 years of non-stop, high quality shows, 2013 hasn’t been their best year. Should you buy all of their DVDs from Highspots? Of course. But don’t expect to walk away thinking you just saw the second coming of Jesus Christ on a wrestling show. Going into the 2013 edition of the Battle of Los Angeles, I wondered what a tournament that has a reputation for being one of the best could deliver in an atmosphere such as this. Guys have a lot more trouble making a name for themselves , and over the last four years, BOLA has not been even the top two or three show for the promotion in a given year. Last year did have Adam Cole literally becoming a star in two nights, so that compensated for any deficiencies. This year saw some big-time debuts and the other half of Future Shock taking his spot as one of the scene’s best.

Kevin Steen and Chuck Taylor set the tone from the very first match. I hate myself every time I refer to a match as fun, but there’s no other to classify what these two did. It wasn’t about the moves. I guess these two figured other guys could go crazy and kill each other. These two could go out and have fun executing moves on a San Francisco Giants’ hat. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Kevin Steen package piledrive a hat. Then these two men went to do commentary and argued over who was the best. In a continuing running gag from earlier, when Excalibur was posed with the question of who was the better commentator, he poked them both in the eyes. This was a great way to start. Underrated moment of the match: Chuck Taylor pleading his case and saying he was smarter for having never conceived. I guess I should mention Kevin Steen won with the package piledriver to advance.

Un fortunately for BOLA, Night 1, the party almost ended in match number two when Tommaso Ciampa dropped Brian Cage while trying to hit a powerbomb on the floor. Cage appeared to land on his head and shoulder. Needless to say, things looked bad. Cage had trouble getting in the ring and seemingly wasn’t going to continue after not being able to execute a simple Irish whip. I was legit scared, and this is the quietest I’ve ever heard the Reseda crowd. It’s tough for me to evaluate whether or not he should have continued. I’m not a doctor. I’m not in the ring. I wasn’t even within 1,000 miles, but to me, independent promotions need to develop contingency plans or some sort of financially sensible way of working through these situations. When you watch  a documentary like League of Denial and have dealt with everything involving Chris Benoit, your perspective should change. I’m glad cage recovered and that this did turn out to be a slightly above average back and forth match which Cage won after a discus lariat.  Lots of German suplexes and no-selling. Very much a mean guys match.

I’m going to make a number of references to Sting based on some of the things that happened throughout the weekend. The most amusing aspect of the “Sting tributes” were in the next match as Willie Mack and Johnny Gargano exchanged t-shirts and wrestled the first part of the match in them. Both men looked absurd given the shape each is in. Gargano looked like a child. Mack looked like Fat Albert. I pretty much liked the first three matches exactly the same. Mack seemed to get winded toward the end (an all too familiar pattern with him) while Gargano really kept pace and carried things. Gargano won with his submission in a match, like so many others, was given a generous amount of time.

Roderick Strong and AR Fox is one of those matches that really can’t happen in a whole lot of places besides PWG, so I was ecstatic to see it happen here. I’d say my expectations were just about met with Fox using his speed and insane move set to keep pace with Strong hitting backbreakers early and often. I almost feel like Strong is in cruise control and can put together a good match without trying very hard. This tends to give them a lot of similar qualities. The problem is Strong has done just about everything there is to do in independent wrestling, and giving him fresh match-ups or new accomplishments can be a challenge for all the companies he works for. Strong won with his Orange Crush backbreaker, a move that Fox took like a champ. About what you would expect.

I was pumped up after the first half of the show to really dive into the second half. Little did I know that the next first round match was Drake Younger versus Joey Ryan. I’d say I’m lukewarm on Younger and as cold as Antarctica before global warming on Ryan. In a way, this was the litmus test for the weekend. If these two could enterain me and provide a memorable match, then this weekend was set up to be legendary. When you can break out some hard candy and LEGOS, that will help bring me in. The way they built up to Younger taking the bump into the Jolly Ranchers was honestly one of the things I remember from the weekend. That’s pretty incredible given everything I saw.  While Younger is known for the death match level work, it was Ryan who took a couple bumps in the legos. Drake’s Landing in the pieces led to a victory for Younger. No word on if ISW is going to sue for gimmick infringement (I’m sure they won’t given they wrote a tweet shortly after BOLA).

Anthony Nese made his debut at Ten. ACH was making his debut for PWG on night one. And may I just say, it’s great to see both guys get to work in this atmosphere. These two are the next evolution of professional wrestling with a freaky amount of athleticism and an incredible ability to move around the ring. Tough to describe this contest but they did deliver in a big way and in my mind, earned more opportunities to be flown to southern California. ACH won with his guillotine DDT, and just based off the fact that he picked up a win here, I’m confident ACH is going to get long-term run. My one nit pick is this I felt like this went about two minutes too long and lost a little bit of steam before the finish. Also, isn’t it funny how ACH almost immediately gets himself over everywhere he goes? I’m no booker, but when you see how people respond, I don’t see how you just don’t push him right away and consider making him a champion of some sort. How anyone could fail to grasp this is beyond me.

Regardless of what you think of Trent’s? first weekend in PWG, we should all  agree that the general reaction was mixed. I came down on the side of “It was one of his first weekends on the indies. He should get another shot.” I’m sure wrestling in New Japan, where the in-ring matters as much if not more than PWG, helped Trent? along because I truly felt the best match of night featured him and Kyle O’Reilly. Obviously, some of the credit should be given to O’Reilly as well, but they meshed really well. Trent? seemed to get his role a bit more. He was able to continue acting like a heel while also getting over in the right way with the crowd by also delivering in the ring. They really broke out the false finishes here with Trent? nearly winning with a count-out after hitting the Jig ‘n’ Tonic on the outside. O’Reilly picked up the biggest win of his career arguably by winning clean with a cross armbreaker. Tremendous effort by both guys. Even with a first round loss, I think Trent? earned more PWG trips.

Michael Elgin’s tendency to have the best match on the show was sorely tested in the final first round match of the evening against Rich Swann. This was interesting styles clash as you had the power and general freakiness of Elgin against the flashiness of Swann. Swann is pretty much over with the crowd for laugh simply based on his singing of “All Night Long.” I think this match would have been considered even better in a different position on the card, but this was still really strong. Swann is not at the level of Fox or Ricochet, but he’s been able to carve out a unique spot on shows thanks to his personality and energy. Elgin is one of the best in the world WHO CAN DO THE WORM!  I will never ever not mark out at that. I also liked the fun both men were having with various Scott Hall impersonations, from Swann’s taking of a survey to Elgin hitting a middle rope fallaway slam and then doing the pose. Elgin eventually won with his powerbomb combination but not before clotheslining Swann in the hardest way possible. Such a nasty way to go.

After eight good to great tournament matches, I knew it would be a struggle to get into the main event six man tag. Not to say it was bad, but I think the Forever Hooligans are flat-out overrated and TJ Perkins is best suited in the midcard or undercard. He’s not gotten enough wins to really be in this position. Rocky Romero, Alex Koslov, and TJ Perkins did the same spot you see in every Forever Hooligans match with the fighting and then hugging it out. Even Excalibur and Kevin Steen didn’t seem all that excited with the spot on commentary. They didn’t bury it, but there was definitely an under the breath comment by Steen and then some silence. Did I mention Adam Cole and the Young Bucks were involved? Well, they were, and the introduction of the PWG champions may have been the highlight of the show. These three are on another level from everyone else in PWG, and they dragged me into enjoying this match. Koslov got some of the crowd to chant “Russia.” Cole quieted them down and got Reseda to chant “Suck my dick.” I laugh every time no matter how offensive. The last few minutes were pretty bonkers and elevated this from a good match to something I could see rewatching down the road.  The personalities of the heels are definitely what gave this a main event feel despite the tournament taking presadence. The Bucks eventually hit a double superkick on TJ Perkins, leading to Cole immediately hitting Florida Key for the win.

I would argue that this was the best night one of any two night BOLA ever. Everything either met expectations or overdelivered. My one minor complaint might be that some of the matches went a bit too long, but on the plus side, everyone got to showcase themselves and could not complain about missed opportunities. This was a huge opportunity for 22 wrestlers (including the main eventers) to show why they belong and why the problem with independent wrestling isn’t with a lack of talent. They did that in spades. Not even taking into account night two, this is a must buy show and honestly on a list of favorites for the year by itself.

Grade: B+

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Taped from Reseda, CA

-Commentators: Excalibur, Rick Knox, Chuck Taylor, Kevin Steen, Johnny Gargano, Drake Younger

-2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Kevin Steen defeats Chuck Taylor by pinfall after a package piledriver/16:52/***1/4

-2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Brian Cage defeats Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall after a discus lariat/12:40/***1/4

-2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Johnny Gargano defeats Willie Mack by submission with GargaNo Escape/15:12/***1/4

.-2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Roderick Strong defeats AR Fox by pinfall after the Orange Crush Backbreaker/17:57/***1/2

2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Drake Younger defeats Joey Ryan by pinfall after Drake’s Landing/9:55/***

2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: ACH defeats Anthony Nese by pinfall after an implant DDT/18:58/***1/2

2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Kyle O’Reilly defeats Trent? by submission with the cross armbreaker/23:06/****

2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round: Michael Elgin defeats Rich Swann/14:45/***1/2

Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) defeat TJ Perkins an d Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov) by pinfall. Cole pins Perkins after a double superkick and Florida Key./19:50/***1/2

For more information on PWG and their upcoming shows, check out PWG’s website. To buy this and many other PWG DVDs, check out Highspots.com. In doing so, you will not only be supporting them but PWP as well!  Below is a list of contact information for both the website and me.

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