By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S PWG 2014 BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES
AUG. 29, 2014
RESEDA, CALIF.
BY SEAN RADICAN, TORCH COLUMNIST

(1) Bobby Fish vs. T.J. Perkins in a 2014 BOLA First Round match. Perkins is substituting for the injured Brian Cage in the tournament. They did some mat wrestling early and came to a stalemate. Brad Maddox is sitting in the front row, which is somewhat distracting while trying to watch the match. Things finally got heated and both men began trading kicks to the back and the fans fired up. Perkins told Fish to sit down for a kick to the back and he looked at him like he was nuts. Fish finally sat down and the fans applauded. Instead of kicking Fish, Perkins went up top and surprised Fish with a dropkick when he got up and turned around. Perkins tied himself up in the ropes, so Fish slid under him and pushed him from the floor back into the ring and the fans went nuts. They went back and forth and the action spilled to the floor. Fish tied up Perkins’s leg in a chair and stomped on it. Perkins went for a kick inside the ring a short time later, but Fish checked it and continued to work over Perkins’s knee. Perkins tried to fire back, but Fish wiped him off with a diving cross chop off the ropes. Perkins sent Fish to the floor with a missile dropkick to the back and nailed him with a huge tope through the ropes and the fans went nuts. Perkins and Fish fought up top, but Perkins sent him to the mat. He went for a frog splash, but Fish got out of the way. Perkins sold his knee after flipping over Fish in the corner. He eventually went for a cross-arm breaker, but Fish countered it into one of his own. Perkins then tied up Fish’s legs and went for a STF, but Fish countered it into a knee bar. The fans fired up and chanted for Perkins to tap, but he ended up getting the ropes. Fish ended up nailing Perkins with several knee strikes to the gut. He then hit an exploder into the turnbuckles on Perkins, but only got a 2 count. They went back and forth. Fish eventually countered a tiger suplex and went for a knee bar, but Perkins bridged onto his head and got a pinning combination for the win. Wow!

Winner: T.J. Perkins

Star rating: (***1/2) – This was a fantastic way to kick off the tournament. Fish worked over Perkins’s leg for most of the match and they had some great back and forth exchanges with Perkins doing a good job of selling his knee. Perkins’s counter of Fish’s knee bar submission attempt into a bridging pin at the finish was fantastic.

I wouldn't want to be Busick at this very moment.

(2) Biff Busick vs. Roderick Strong in a 2014 BOLA First Round match. These two have meant before in Beyond Wrestling when Busick & Gulak faced Strong & Edwards in a fantastic hard-hitting match at “Point of No Return” in 2013. This is Busick’s PWG debut. The fans chanted for both men before the opening bell. Some fans tried to start a CZW chant, but were drowned out in boos and a PWG chant started. Both men went at it on the mat early and they both ended up rolling into the ropes and the ref ordered them to separate. Strong shoved Busick and he nailed him with a big boot and a running European uppercut. Busick then hit a big blockbuster off the ropes and the fans went nuts. The announcers called New England a black hole of independent wrestling. WTF!? The action continued at a rapid pace until Strong managed to snap Busick’s neck under the bottom rope with a sling shot. The action spilled to the floor and the fans chanted, “Chop that hoe” and Strong obliterated Busick with some sick chops. They went to a chop battle in the middle of the ring a short time later, but Strong knocked him down with a huge dropkick for a 2 count. Busick tried to mount a comeback at one point, but Strong yanked him out of the corner by his foot and dropped him down into a back breaker for a 2 count. The fans chanted for Strong and he posed for them, which allowed Busick to obliterate him with a running European uppercut followed by a sick tope con hilo over the top to the floor that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Busick went for a sleeper, but Strong drove him into the corner and eventually hit a pop-up lung blower for a 2 count. The fans chanted for Busick and Strong looked upset. Busick mounted a comeback and hit a huge European uppercut for a near fall. Busick applied a sleeper hold once again and then hit a judo throw while turning it into a side choke. The fans fired up and Strong got to his feet. Strong got the ropes, but Busick held on. Strong eventually tossed Busick to the floor to break the hold. They ended up back in the ring and Strong nailed Busick with a series of blows capped by a huge pop-up back breaker for the win.

Winner: Roderick Strong

Star rating (***1/4) – The match was good, but I was expecting more out of these two. Strong dominated a lot of the action and Busick mounted a comeback late only to fall short. I really didn’t agree with the announcers burying New England independent wrestling.

Trevor Lee is a manly man.

(3) Cedrick Alexander vs. Trevor Lee in a 2014 BOLA First Round match. The fans chanted for both men before the opening bell. This definitely a showcase of the best the Carolinas have to offer. The fans chanted, “Both these guys” during the opening stages of the match. They then started a loud chant for both men. The pace picked up and Alexander ended a big exchange with a huge dropkick and Lee dropped in a heap in the corner. Alexander hit some big chops in the corner and the crowd did the Flair woo as Alexander strutted across the ring. Lee fired back and hit a big running kick to the head from the apron on Alexander. They went back and forth and Lee hit an insane looking kick to Alexander’s head. Lee actually landed on Alexander’s back coming down from the dropkick, which looked crazy. Lee began clawing away at Alexander’s face and the fans got on his case. Lee hit an impressive gut wrench suplex and rolled right into a mounting pin for a 2 count. The fans chanted for both men with Lee still in control. Alexander mounted a comeback and nailed Lee with a kick to the face from the apron. The fans fired up as Alexander followed up with a springboard clothesline. They had a sloppy exchange, but things picked right back up, as Lee hit a huge kick to the head and a German with a bridge for a 2 count. Lee held on and went for another German, but Alexander went behind him. Lee countered it into a pinning combination for a 2 count. Lee followed up with a leaping double stomp for a 2 count. They went back and forth and Alexander hit a spinning kick and a flat liner variation for a 2 count. They went back and forth and Alexander caught Lee by surprise with a big dropkick in the corner, but Lee hitting a spinning sit out powerbomb for the win.

Winner: Trevor Lee

Star rating: (**3/4) – Something just didn’t click here. Neither guy sold much and they had some athletic and innovative exchanges at times, but the crowd just didn’t react to what they doing in a big way at times although they were into the match. It felt more like they were exchanging fast-paced maneuvers than having an actual fight and the finish came out of nowhere.

(4) PWG Tag Team Champions Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. The Inner City Machineguns (Ricochet & Rich Swann) in a Three-Way match. LeRae & Ryan got a huge pop during the formal introductions. The fans then sang “All Night Long” and Ricochet danced around before the opening bell. Ryan gave his lollipop to a man wearing his shirt in the crowd. The fans chanted “You’ve got herpes” at the fan after he took the lollipop. Ryan wanted to tag in LeRae, but Daniels jumped him from behind and put the boots to him. Ryan cut him off and tagged in LeRae. He lifted her up and tossed her into a hurricanrana on Daniels. The fans sang “I want Candice” as she worked over Daniels. Swann tagged himself into the match and ended a fast-paced exchange with a nice dropkick on Daniels. Ricochet ended up hitting the people’s moonsault on Kazarian to a huge pop. Kazarian and Daniels showed some heel tendencies flipping off Ricochet and Swann as they worked over Ryan with a combination of maneuvers. Kazarian taunted Ricochet and he slapped him, which allowed Ryan to roll him up for a 2 count, but Kazarian got up and wiped him out. Ryan finally cut off Kazarian with a pump-handle exploder and tagged in Candice, who ran wild. She rolled up Daniels for a 2 count and he got up and punched her right in the face and the fans booed. Daniels went for the last rights, but LeRae countered it into a hurricanrana. LeRae tagged in Swann, who ran wild on Daniels and then Kazarian. Ricochet and Swann nailed Daniels with a series of maneuvers capped by a standing SSP, but Ryan broke up the pin.

The action broke down and Daniels took down Ricochet with a STP and the fans fired up. The action continued at a fast pace as they moved towards a big dive sequence. Ricochet and Swann wiped out Kazarian and Daniels with a pair of stereo dives over the top to the floor. LeRae then walked the ropes with the help from Ryan and took Ricochet to the floor with a hurricanrana and the fans went nuts. The action continued at a rapid pace with everyone hitting big moves. LeRae finally hit a springboard inverted hurricanrana for the pin.

Winners: Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae to retain the PWG Tag Team Titles.

Star rating: (***3/4) – The action was fantastic here. Kazarian and Daniels looked much more comfortable in the ring than I’ve seen them look since they left TNA showing a slight heel edge and it helped set up a nice dynamic in the match. The match settled down nicely with some heat segments before they went home with a strong series of dives to the floor and big exchanges in the ring before LeRae got the win.

Elgin did this at BOLA? Yup!

(5) Tommaso Ciampa vs. Michael Elgin in a 2014 BOLA First Round match. Ciampa got a mixed response during the formal introductions. Elgin got a good pop when he was introduced. Both guys went at it right away exchanging blows. Elgin nailed Ciampa with a big forearm as he came through the ropes. Elgin then pulled him through the ropes and walked him around on the floor in the vertical suplex position before dropping him down to the floor. Elgin went right to the top rope after tossing Ciampa into the ring and nailed him with a corkscrew senton for a near fall. Elgin deadlifted Ciampa into the vertical suplex position once again, but Ciampa grabbed his testicles. Elgin finally broke free and they began exchanging forearms. They continued to go back and forth and Elgin bounced Ciampa off the ropes right into a German. Elgin hit a huge knee to Ciampa’s gut, but he only got a one count. Ciampa finally ducked a pair of clotheslines from Elgin and hit a running DVD into the corner. Apparently they broke a section of the ring during that spot, as the fans chanted “Broke the ring.” They ended up on the outside and both men exchanged some big chops. Elgin went for a backfist, but ended up connecting with the ringpost when Ciampa ducked. Elgin cut off Ciampa and went up to the second rope and moved along the ropes. He ended up going for a tumbleweed on Ciampa, who was hanging over the middle rope, but only grazed him. It was insane to see because I’ve never seen Elgin do that before. Elgin hit a big sit out spinebuster on Ciampa, but he managed to kick out at 2. Elgin went for a dead-lift superplex off the apron on Ciampa, but he blocked it and nailed Elgin with a kick that sent him over the ropes to the apron. Ciampa flipped off the fans and set up for a deadlift vertical suplex from the apron to the floor.

Elgin managed to block it and they ended up going back and forth on the apron. Ciampa finally hit an air raid crash on the apron and the fans fired up. Ciampa tossed Elgin into the ring and hit several elbows and went for the rings of Saturn. Elgin rolled through and they went back and forth, but Elgin hit a huge forearm and a spinning backfist. Elgin hit a buckle bomb, but Ciampa no-sold it and hit a lariat. Elgin got up and went for a clothesline, but Ciampa hit an air raid crash over his knee for a near fall. That was nuts. The fans chanted “Ciampa’s gonna kill you” as both men recovered. Ciampa placed Elgin up top and signaled for something big. He went for an air raid crash, but Elgin slid under him and spiked him on his head out of the Razor’s edge position. Holy crap! Elgin then followed up with the Elgin bomb, but Ciampa kicked out at the last second. Ciampa rolled under the bottom rope and the fans chanted for Ciampa. Elgin went for the deadlift vertical suplex off the apron, but Ciampa slid under him and hit project Ciampa, but Elgin kicked out at the very last second and the fans went insane. The fans chanted back and forth between it being a three count and a two count. The fans then broke out into a “This is awesome” chant. Both guys began exchanging forearms from their knees. Both men then got to their feet and began exchanging slaps to the face. Ciampa caught Elgin with a big knee, but Elgin fired back with a series of backfists and a huge lariat for the win. Good lord what a match.

Winner: Michael Elgin

Star rating: (****1/4) – This was a heck of a match. Elgin pulled out all the stops throughout the match trying to put Ciampa away. Ciampa didn’t get in much offense during the first half of the match, but they had some insane exchanges late in the match that really built the crowd heat leading into an incredible finish. Go out of your way to see this match. It was a war!

(6) A.J. Styles vs. Brian Myers in a 2014 BOLA First Round match. The fans chanted for the Bullet Club during the early stages of the month. The announcers mentioned Myers was a long time PWG fan while he was in WWE and it was a dream of his to wrestle in PWG. Myers hit Styles signature drop kick off the ropes during the early going and posed for the fans, but Styles fired right back with a dropkick of his own and the fans fired up. Styles began working over Myers with some big back breakers. Styles appeared to be setting up for a vertical suplex from the apron, but Myers tripped him off the turnbuckles. Both men eventually went back and forth exchanging strikes after Myers had dominated the action for a long period of time. Styles finally decked Myers with a Pele kick and both men were down on the mat. Styles went on the attack and eventually flipped Myers over out of the suplex position before nailing him with a neck breaker. Myers finally hit a big sit out body slam, but he only got a 2 count. Hero called it the Norman Smiley body slam. Styles went for his signature kick and strike combination, but Myers countered it into a nice face buster for a 2 count. Styles fired back a short time later and countered Myers before hitting a suplex into the turnbuckles. Styles set up for a springboard, but Myers shoved him to the apron. Myers slid under Styles, but he nailed him with a kick and flipped over Myers into an inverted DDT on the floor and the fans fired up.

Myers nailed Styles with a spinning kick to the head and went up top and hit a twisting elbow drop for a near fall. They battled up top and Styles set up for a superplex to the floor, but Myers fought it off. Both men eventually tripped to the mat, but Styles held on to Myers legs and applied a Boston crab for the win. Well that was awkward.

After the match, Styles dropped Myers with the Styles clash and the fans applauded. The fans chanted for another Styles clash, but Myers begged off and tried to too sweet styles. Styles too sweet’d Myers and gave him a hug before nailing him with a dropkick and another Styles clash and the fans went nuts.

Winner: A.J. Styles

Star rating: (**1/2) – There were some good exchanges here, but the match dragged in spots, especially when Myers was in control on offense. I can’t remember the last time I saw two chin locks in a PWG match. The finish was downright awkward, but Styles sent the fans away happy by giving Myers two Styles clashes after the match.

This is about as tame as things got between O'Reilly and Gulak in their first round encounter.

(7) Drew Gulak vs. PWG Champion Kyle O’Reilly in a Non-Title 2014 BOLA First Round match. A group of fans got on Gulak’s case during the early going. The fans then chanted that Gulak needs knee pads. They did a crisscross spot and Gulak went for a rollup, but O’Reilly got one of his own. O’Reilly then got a rolling cradle for a two count. The intensity picked up with both guys locking hands and trading headbutts. O’Reilly finally ended the sequence with a suplex out of the knuckle lock. They went back and forth until O’Reilly obliterated Gulak with a kick to the chest as he came off the ropes. O’Reilly got the better of Gulak during a mat exchange floating over him and hitting several knees and elbows to the ribs before finishing the sequence with a running knee to the ribs. O’Reilly began working over Gulak’s arm, but Gulak countered and eventually hit a dragon screw on O’Reilly leg. Gulak caught O’Reilly in a leg submission. Gulak glared at O’Reilly after he tried to forearm his way out of the hold. O’Reilly continued to try to forearm his way out of the submission, but Gulak stood up and fell backwards to add leverage to the submission. They began exchanging forearms, but Gulak grabbed O’Reilly’s leg and took him down and eventually got a combination arm/leg submission, but O’Reilly got the ropes. The announcers mentioned Gulak didn’t look star struck in his PWG debut. O’Reilly took down Gulak with a combination of strikes and the fans applauded. O’Reilly went for a dragon sleeper, but Gulak went after his leg. O’Reilly tried to shove him off, but Gulak held on and turned O’Reilly over into an ankle lock.

O’Reilly fired back with a German, but Gulak got right up and hit a running lariat to the back of O’Reilly’s head and covered him for a 2 count. O’Reilly nailed Gulak with a vicious high kick to Gulak’s head, but Gulak fired back with a clothesline. O’Reilly absorbed a kick and hit a pendulum lariat. O’Reilly went for a pin attempt, but Gulak kicked him in the head and O’Reilly stumbled and fell to the floor. O’Reilly got back into the ring and looked very upset. They began exchanging slaps from their knees. Both men got to their feet and continued to exchange slaps. They went back and forth off the ropes and O’Reilly caught Gulak with a headbutt. Gulak grabbed his hands and fired back and hit a vicious headbutt and both men collapsed to the mat. O’Reilly went for a cross-arm breaker, but Gulak countered it into an ankle lock. O’Reilly tried to kick his way out, so Gulak tied him up in a standing sharp-shooter variation. O’Reilly struggled, but got the ropes and the fans went nuts with both men down on the mat. They battled up top and O’Reilly slammed Gulak’s arm down to the mat from the top rope. O’Reilly grabbed a Fujiwara arm bar, but Gulak countered it and hit a leg capture suplex for a 2 count. O’Reilly countered out of a piledriver attempt into a triangle. Gulak lifted up O’Reilly, but let him go. O’Reilly then kicked Gulak right in the head. O’Reilly then nailed Gulak’s arm with a big kick to the arm and then the head. He hit a brainbuster for a near fall and applied a cross-arm breaker for the win.

Winner: Kyle O’Reilly

Star rating: (***3/4) – This was a really good technical wrestling match. They had some brutal hard-hitting exchanges and the headbutt spots were hard to watch. The counter sequences out of submissions were really well done with O’Reilly working over Gulak’s arm throughout the match and Gulak working over O’Reilly’s leg. The fans gave Gulak a lot of crap during the match, but he had a really good performance and the crowd really got into the match down the stretch.

Nick Jackson took the mic during the formal introductions and did an awesomely obnoxious introduction for The Young Bucks. The Young Bucks then posed and Cole played air guitar while the fans applauded.

(8) Mt. Rushmore (Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson & Adam Cole) vs. Low Moral Fiber (Chuck Taylor & Kenny Omega & Zack Sabre Jr.). The Young Bucks threw some crotch chops before the opening bell, so Omega returned fire by toweling himself off downstairs with one of The Young Buck’s ring jackets. The fans chanted for Sabre to pleasure Cole during the opening moments of the match, but he didn’t oblige them. Sabre went right to work on Cole’s wrist and twisted it around before stomping down at it at a nasty angle and the fans gasped. Sabre tied up Cole’s leg and then went to work on his wrist again. Cole backed him into the corner and offered a clean break, which was a big shock. Cole got mad at Sabre for his ability to counter him and shoved him, so Sabre tied up one of his arms and set the other arm up and nailed it with a big stomp. The fans went nuts with Sabre putting on a clinic in the ring. Sabre applied a bow and arrow submission before launching Cole to the mat. He went for a punt kick, but Cole rolled out of the way and tagged in Matt. Cole ended up jumping Sabre from behind as he squared off with Matt and The Young Bucks cleared the apron. Sabre countered a double team attempt from The Young Bucks, but Taylor tagged himself into the match. Taylor went for his slow motion senton off the apron and Matt got his knees up, but Omega held Taylor and Sabre came in and pulled Matt’s legs down and Taylor connected with the senton and the fans went nuts.

No caption needed for this picture. Just look and enjoy!

Taylor got cut off and Nick began working him over a short time later. The action picked up with neither team getting a sustained advantage. Omega got the tag and ran wild on The Young Bucks much to the delight of the fans. The fans fired up after Omega cleared the ring. He set up for a dive on Cole, but The Young Bucks got on the apron and nailed him with a double superkick. Holy crap! Sabre cleared the ring and set up for a dive, but Cole dragged him to the floor and hit a wheelbarrow face buster into the apron. Taylor got isolated in the ring and took a combination of maneuvers from the Bucks and Cole to wipe him out. Nick tossed chairs into the ring as Matt distracted the ref. Matt out Taylor’s head in the chair, but Trent ran down with a chair to make the save. Cole kicked Trent’s injured leg. Taylor then fired up and ran wild on The Young Bucks and Cole. The action continued at a rapid pace as The Young Bucks and Cole hit a triple team dropkick spot on the apron on Sabre that sent him flying into the crowd. Sabre got isolated in the ring as The Young Bucks and Cole used short cuts to work him over. They hit a triple back rake on Sabre in the corner and the Bucks threw crotch chops, which drew a holy s---t chant from the crowd. Sabre finally mounted a comeback against The Young Bucks and wiped them both out before tagging in Omega, who ran wild. Omega ducked a frog splash from Nick, who hit Matt instead. He then powerbombed Cole onto The Young Bucks and the fans went nuts. Taylor wiped out Cole and Nick with a huge flip dive over the top to the floor.

Sabre made a blind tag before Taylor hit his dive and he nailed Matt with a series of running forearms in the corner. Sabre countered Matt and got a cross-arm breaker. The fans went nuts, but Cole made the save. Cole and Sabre began exchanging forearms in the middle of the ring. The action broke down and The Bucks set up for the Meltzer driver, but Sabre countered it into an arm bar on Mat. Matt lifted Sabre up and the Bucks hit a powerbomb/kick to the head combo on Sabre in the corner. There’s just too much going on to describe at this point. The fans were split chanting for and against the Young Bucks. Everyone began exchanging superkicks and the fans went nuts. Sabre then ran into the ring and got an arm bar on Matt, but Nick nailed him with a 450 off the top. Omega cleared the ring and hit Croyt’s wrath on Cole, but the Young Bucks dragged the ref out of the ring. Sabre set up for a dive on Nick, but he pulled the ref in front of him and Sabre nailed him with the dive. Nick had the biggest s—t eating grin on his face afterwards. Cole connected with Panama sunrise on Omega. The Young Bucks and Cole then hit a triple team Indy Taker on Omega, but Trent dragged the new ref out of the ring. Trent wiped out the Bucks with chair shots on the outside. He then nailed Cole with a huge chair shot and the fans went nuts. Sabre nailed Cole with a running boot to the chest. Omega hit Croyt’s wrath on Cole. Taylor followed up with the awful waffle. Trent put on the ref’s shirt and counted the pin for the win and the fans went nuts. That was an insane match.

After the match, Omega got on the mic. Omega said it was that time of year when he returns to the U.S. and what better place to return than PWG. The fans went nuts and chanted for Omega. He said he was missing friendly faces and family. The fans started the Generico ole chant. Omega told the fans that the people that had moved on from PWG have not forgotten the fans. Omega said he looks at the NXT roster and thinks he could have great matches with those guys, but PWG has the best roster in the world. Omega thanked the fans and said he hoped to see them tomorrow.

Winners: Kenny Omega & Chuck Taylor & Zack Sabre Jr.

Star rating: (****1/4) – This was a fantastic match that got a little crazy as it went on, but in a good way. Sabre is amazing to watch in the ring and the way he effortlessly frustrated Cole with his counters and submission attempts during the early going won the fans over. There was a long heat segment in the middle of the match with The Young Bucks and Cole working over Sabre for a long period of time and then things got purely insane down the stretch. The highlight of the match was The Young Bucks popping up onto the apron as Omega was about to go for a dive on Cole and they nailed with a double superkick as he came through the ropes. This match is well-worth checking out.

Overall thoughts: (8.0) – This was a really good start to the 2014 of BOLA. The undercard was solid with Fish-Perkins, Busick-Strong, and the Three-Way Tag match being the highlights of the first half of the show. The show really came alive during the Ciampa-Elgin match, which was excellent. The second half of the show was strong as well and ended with a killer Six Man Tag match between Mt. Rushmore and Men of Low Moral Fiber.

The opening match between Fish and T.J. Perkins set the tone for the show. They had a really good first round BOLA match. Busick-Strong followed with another good match, but I was expecting it to be better. Something seemed to be missing to take it to the next level.

Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan defended the PWG Tag Team Titles against Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian and A.R. Fox & Rich Swann in a really good match that bordered on excellent at times. Kazarian & Daniels appeared to be much more comfortable in this match wrestling with a slight heel edge. I’ve seen them as babyfaces elsewhere this year and they just don’t seem to be comfortable playing that role.

The show got really good with a killer first round match between Elgin and Ciampa. Elgin pulled out all the stops during the first half of the match and was dominant until Ciampa mounted a comeback. The match broke down into an all-out war with both men going back and forth in front of the rabid fans in Reseda.

The only down note on the show was the first round match between Styles and Myers. Myers never really looked comfortable in the ring with Styles and the match dragged along until the finish, which appeared to be a botched attempt at Styles grabbing Myers in a submission hold as they fell off the top to the mat.

The last two matches were among the best on the card. Gulak-O’Reilly was an excellent hard-hitting technical wrestling match. The headbutt spots were uncomfortable to watch, but both men worked really hard and had a good back and forth match based around mat wrestling and countering submissions. The fans were all over Gulak at the beginning, but he appeared to win them over by the end of the match.
The main event Six Man Tag match was fantastic. The action was chaotic and if you enjoy matches with fast-paced action, you’ll love this match. Sabre was incredible during the early stages of the match showcasing his technical wrestling, which is top notch. He outclassed Cole during the early going and it was a blast to see the crowd react to Sabre’s style of wrestling. The match featured a long heat segment on Sabre, but got really good after that when the action broke down and both teams went back and forth. People are likely to be split on their reaction to the finish of the match with Trent putting on a ref’s shirt and counting the final pin, but I didn’t mind it since it fits in with what PWG presents.

This show is well-worth checking out. There were a couple of matches that weren’t great on the card, but just about every match delivered and there were some killer matches up and down the card in front of a molten hot crowd that made for a really easy viewing experience. Thumbs up!

You can purchase PWG “2014 BOLA: Night One” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting Highspots.com. For more information on PWG visit ProWrestlingGuerrilla.com.

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