Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 1 2007

August 31, 2007
Burbank, CA

Commentators: Excalibur, Disco Machine, & Bryce Remsburg

Bryan Danielson comes out in corts* to start the show. He tells everyone that he cannot compete tonight, but he will be back on the next weekend.

*camouflage shorts

Excalibur and Dino Winwood then introduce the referees. What a different time this was when Bryce Remsburg could be flown out to California for refereeing purposes. All the other referees were also introduced. The tournament competitors came out after that. There are a ton of dudes in this tournament.

The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. Los Luchas (Zokre & Phoenix Star)
There was some flippy stuff and wacky spots early on. The Bucks ended up in the crowd, and Zokre gave them an Asai Moonsault. Back in the ring, Phoenix Star was cut off and then worked over. The teams just sort of randomly started going back and forth. They didn’t build to a hot tag or anything. Maybe they forgot? The Bucks eventually hit More Bang for Your Buck on both of them: 1…2…3! Nick even ate the MBFYB, as he did not roll away after his 450.

This match was not especially special, but they pulled off enough cool stuff that I enjoyed it. The match would have been significantly better if they built to a hot tag.
Match Rating: **1/2

Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match
Joey Ryan (w/ Jade Chung) vs. Chris Hero
There was a fair amount of gaga early on. Joey eventually managed to cut him off and then get the heat. Ryan looks beefy here. Hero hit a German and then made a comeback. Ryan got a nearfall with a superkick. Ryan connected on another superkick that sent Hero to the floor. Ryan then hit a tornado DDT to the floor. Hero came back a slingshot double stomp and a senton on the apron. Hero followed it up with a proper double stomp. Chung distracted the referee. Scott Lost gave Ryan brass knux, but then Hero chased Lost away. Knox finally just ignored Chung and counted the pin: 1…2…3.

Knox saw the knux in Hero’s hands and reversed his decision. Hero then decided to hit Ryan with the knux and kick him in the balls.

The timing of that shit finish was off, which makes the finish doubly annoying. Actually, since it was a poorly executed shit finish that booked Joey Ryan to advance in the tournament, it becomes a triply annoying finish. The action itself was not bad, but they did not do much to make me care about it. Hero did not go full-on goofball here, which probably held the match back from reaching the moderately entertaining potential it could have reached.
Match Rating: **

Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match
Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong
These guys had a lot of matches in 2007. They went back and forth for a while. Roddy finally got control after Aries got sent from the apron to the guardrail. Aries finally came back and hit the heat seeking missile. Back in the ring, Roddy cut him off again. Aries came right back with a DDT. Roddy blocked a frog splash, but Aries then hit a sunset flip powerbomb. Aries reversed an O’Connor Roll and hit a tombstone for a nearfall. Roddy prevents a 450 and hits a superplex for a nearfall. Aries punted Roddy in the head and went for the brainbuster, but Roddy reversed it into a small package: 1…2…3!

While this match had a theoretically sound structure and was well-performed on a technical level, it was missing soul and excitement. There was nothing to invest in, and there were only a few exchanges (all of them down the stretch) that interested me in any way.
Match Rating: **1/2

Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match
Jimmy Rave vs. Matt Sydal
This is Rave’s debut in PWG. Jimmy Rave on the indies without Prince Nana has never done all that much for me (except for some good matches in 2011 now that I think of it).

Rave cut off Sydal very quickly. Sydal came back and hit a Meteora. They botched Sydal’s leg drop driver spot that Melina stole in the WWE. Rave came back with a spear. Rave got a nearfall with a running knee. They botched something else, which caused Sydal to give Rave an awkward butt stomp. Sydal then hit the Shooting Star Press: 1…2…3

Oooof baboof. There was pretty much nothing redeeming about this. They botched a couple of things and did not invest me much at all. I’m relieved the right person advanced for the first time in the tournament though.
Match Rating: *

Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match
Alex Shelley vs. Tyler Black
Shelley was just running through Tyler for a while. Tyler finally came back with a running stunner. It was Tyler’s turn to run through Shelley. It also went on for a while. Shelley then made a comeback. Tyler blocked a diving attack and then made another comeback. Shelley hit a funplex. Shelley got the Motor City Stretch, but Tyler made the ropes. Tyler came back with the Buckle Bomb and a pair of boots. Red Star Press got Tyler a nearfall. They traded Motor City Stretch attempts. Tyler hit Paroxysm for a nearfall. Tyler hit a diving TKO: 1…2…NO! Tyler rolled through a failed Phoenix Splash, and Shelley then hit a Michinoku Driver and a superkick. Shelley got a third straight nearfall with a kneeling superkick. Shelley hit the Sliced Bread: 1…2…3!

While this match suffered from similar problems that plagued the Roddy/Aries match, I found it to be a more entertaining package overall. I think a shorter match would have been much better though. I have a feeling that’s going to be my reaction to a lot of the show.
Match Rating: ***

Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Doug Williams
Chris Hero’s sense of indie geek gear was still plaguing Claudio at this time. They were doing all mat stuff all the time at the start of the match. Claudio randomly gave him a Giant Swing. Doug sent him to the floor with a jumping uppercut. Doug went for a tope suicida, but Claudio caught him with an uppercut! More uppercuts were traded! ALL the uppercuts! They got back in the ring and traded even more uppercuts. Doug finally hit a couple of knees. They avoided each other’s finishers. Claudio reversed a pinning combination into a deadlift Ricola Bomb: 1…2…3!

This was easily the highlight of the show so far. The early technical portion was nothing to get excited about, but once the upper cuts started, it turned into a great time. I believe this was Douglas’s only trip to PWG, which is a shame. I honestly would not even mind if he came back now (2014) for a random match with someone who meshes with his style.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match
PAC vs. Jack Evans
I’m expecting a sound technical displaying emphasizing story telling instead of movez.

PAC dropped Evans onto apron on the back of his head. PAC was in control after that for a bit. Evans came back with his version of the Sasuke Special. They went back and forth in the ring after that. Evans went for the 630, but PAC got the knees up! PAC then went for a Phoenix 630, but Evans rolled out of the way. They went back and forth some more. PAC dropped Evans on his head with a springboard neckbreaker and then hit a nasty Tiger Suplex: 1…2…NO! PAC followed that up with British Airways: 1…2…3!

This match was light on substance but heavy on fun! That’s just fine with me normally, but it was definitely appreciated on this underwhelming show.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Kevin Steen & El Generico© vs. Typhoon (Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka) [PWG World Tag Team Championships]
Steen and Yokosuka, both in shirts, started the match. Generico got isolated first, and Typhoon worked him over for a while. Kid then got isolated by Steenerico, and he was worked over for a while. Kid eventually took down Steen with a headscissors. Yokosuka made a hot tag. Lots of back and forth action and movez. Steen got sent to the floor, and Generico ate the double team super ‘rana! Yokosuka then hit him with a super exploder. Kid hit Generico with the Dragonrana, and Steen shoved Yokosuka into them to break it up. Kid ate a superkick/half-nelson suplex combo, but he managed to kick out. Generico ate Jumbo No Kachi, and Steen ate a super ‘rana. Steen reversed a Dragonrana attempt into an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Steen then got a package piledriver, and Generico hit a brainbuster: 1…2…3!

This was a solid enough main event. Much like almost every match on this show, if they just down (or even eliminated) the opening portion that only served to extend the match for no real reason, this would have likely been even better.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I’ve done at 411mania.

Check out some of your favorite PWG wrestlers in free matches!
The Briscoes vs. The Hardys
The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Super Dragon & Excalibur
Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro) vs. Kevin Steen
El Generico vs. Chris Hero
The Young Bucks & Petey Williams vs. Paul London, Brian Kendrick, & Jay Lethal
The Young Bucks vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli
Low Ki vs. Super Dragon
Johnny Gargano vs. Eddie Edwards
Akira Tozawa vs. Johnny Gargano
Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Arik Cannon
Chris Hero vs. CM Punk
Bryan Danielson vs. Drake Younger
Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Cage
AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Colt Cabana
Akira Tozawa vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
ACH vs. AR Fox

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The 411: The last four matches redeemed this show, as the first half was very disappointing. There’s nothing on the show that is “must see,” but I’ll give it a slight recommendation overall. Onto Night 2!
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]