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Tales From The Pulpit: Random thoughts on PWG's BOLA 2008: N1 featuring surprise entrant Low Ki Mar 5, 2009 - 2:50:48 PM
Torch DVD review
PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2008: Night 1
November 1, 2008
By Sean Radican, Torch Columnist
Some random thoughts on PWG: BOLA 2008: Night1 :
-I'm glad Kenny Omega doesn't perform his "Japanese School Girl" act in ROH. Wow, it was terrible.
-Nigel McGuinness vs. Austin Aries was a good encounter, but nothing like their recent matches in ROH.
-I love tournaments, but these first round matches just aren't very exciting given the expectations I have looking at the names on paper. Low Ki vs. Strong was pretty darn good and I'd rate it at ***1/2.
-I enjoyed watching Mike Roe loving the Strong-Low Ki encounter from the front row opposite the hard camera, but I think he needs to update his wrestling shirt wardrobe, as his Kurt Angle WWE t-shirt is past its prime.
-I wish Joey Ryan were in TNA or WWE. I'd love to see more than him and right now he seems overlooked on the California independent scene. He's a really good wrestler who does a good job of playing his gimmick. He's got a persona made for TV.
-I'm glad PWG does live commentary, but I can barely hear the guest commentator when they come into the booth. I like Kenny Omega's videogame discussion. That was fun.
-Commentary was really lousy at times. The guest announcers were hard to hear when they came into the booth.
-Davey Richards vs. Bryan Danielson: Really good match. They went back and forth with stiff strikes. The match was dull at first, but they did a good job of pulling things together and the match got better and better as it went on. I liked Danielson's violent attack on Richards before submitting him with the cattle mutilation. I'd rate this match at ***1/4
-El Generico vs. Nick. Jackson vs. Masato Yoshino: There were some really nice three-way spots early that came to a stalemate. Generico and Yoshino worked together against Jackson for awhile and pulled off some really crisp double team maneuvers that had the crowd popping big. They did some nice nearfalls down the stretch. Yoshino eventually ended up submitting Jackson with a nasty looking submission and he tapped with Generico unable to break it up. I'd rate this match at ***3/4
-No DQ main event: Chris Hero vs. The Necro Butcher. Hero got on the mic before the match and asked the crowd if they wanted to see Necro wrestle, but the fans weren't down with that. Necro actually did some "wrestling" during the early stages of the match and the crowd dug it. I laughed when Hero went for a dive outside and did some extra rolls before going over the top and Necro just punched him right in the face when he landed on the floor. The wrestling stopped and Necro began attacking Hero with his traditional style of attack. Both men ended up brawling to the outside where Necro tried to suffocate Hero with a plastic bag. Hero countered and nailed Necro with a roaring elbow. Hero ended up hitting a blockbuster on Necro through a table that woke up the crowd after an otherwise dull period of brawling. Hero nailed Necro with a series of forearm shots before forcing him to tap immediately when he applied the hangman's clutch. Solid main event, but at 26 minutes, it dragged at times. I'd rate it at ***.
Overall thoughts: I'd recommend a purchase at $15. There are some good matches up and down the card. The semi-main event with Yoshino vs. Jackson vs. Generico steals the show. The footage looks great, but the commentary is hit and miss due to the lousy mic for the guest commentators that rotated in for each contest. Low Ki's surprise inclusion in the tournament was a big addition to the card as well and he had a very good hard-hitting contest with Roderick Strong.
Score: 6.5
You can purchase this release at highspots.com.
For more information on PWG, visit prowrestlingguerrilla.com.
Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com
Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
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