PWG 2013 Battle of Los Angeles: Night One Review

A Six-Man Tag and Eight First Round Matches highlight Night One of PWG's annual tourney!

PWG 2013 Battle of Los Angeles: Night One

Reseda, California 8/30/13

1.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – Kevin Steen vs. Chuck Taylor: ***

Wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but it turned out to be very hilarious. A fun comedy match, which is nice to see because I don't think we see comedy matches in PWG too often. Their were some very funny spots involving a San Francisco Giants Hats and them fighting over who has better commentary with Excalibur. In the end, Steen would get the win and advance to the next round.

2.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – Brian Cage vs. Tommaso Ciampa: ***1/4

This match was highlighted by a scary spot where Ciampa went to powerbomb Cage on the floor, but Ciampa couldn't get Cage up all the way and dropped him on his head. The usually rowdy in Reseda went quiet very quickly. It was really frightening, but somehow, Cage found a way to get back in the ring and continue the match. Not sure if that was the best decision, but they fought it out and eventually Cage got the win to advance.

3.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – Johnny Gargano vs. Willie Mack: ***1/2

They try out each other's shirts at the start, which results in a funny visual, given their significant size difference. This was actually a pretty good match. Gargano looked very solid and Willie put on a performance that was one of his most memorable in PWG in awhile. Good stuff here. Johnny Gargano advances.

4.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – AR Fox vs. Roderick Strong: ***1/2

Another first time matchup on this show. Can't go wrong with either guy. A pretty good match here. Nothing really over the top (as one might think) but nonetheless, very solid. Strong gets the win and advances.

5.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – Joey Ryan vs. Drake Younger: ***

These two had a match at Quintessential Pro Wrestling a few months back. I feel like this match was the better of the two. It ended up involving hard candy and legos being used (ala Thumbtacks), which is something I thought I've never see in PWG. Fine match here. Drake Younger advances.

6.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – ACH vs. Anthony Nese: **3/4

This one features two young rising stars from both Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA/Evolve, respectively. The match itself was decent, but for some reason, I thought like this could have been a lot better. I think Nese suffered a knee injury during the match, so that might have contributed. ACH wins in his PWG debut and advances.

7.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – Kyle O’Reilly vs. Trent?: ****

Here we easily have the Match of the Night. Trent? has really come a long way on the independents since being let go by WWE and this match shows that in spades. Kyle O'Reilly looked great here as well. O'Reilly would get the win and advance.

8.) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match – “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann: ***1/2

The final first round match. I think Rich Swann is channeling his inner-Scott Hall and Chris Jericho here, which is pretty hilarious. Once again, we get another first time matchup that was very good and solid, but nothing really great. I like both guys a lot so I enjoyed this one. Elgin advances.

9.) Six-Man Tag – Adam Cole & The Young Bucks vs. TJ Perkins & The Forever Hooligans: ***1/2

This, for now, is the last PWG Match for TJ Perkins as he's under contract with TNA where he  portrays Manik. An entertaining Main Event. Maybe they could have made this a little bit shorter time wise, but it was still a fine match. Cole & The Bucks get the win.

Overall: 8.0/10

This was a surprisingly weak show from PWG (in contention with DDT4 2013 as the weakest PWG show of the year), but the fact that this show was still a pretty good show just further emphasizes the quality of PWG shows in 2013. Their is nothing really must-see on this show, but every match is at least good. You can wait on getting this show, but since it's a two night weekend (and for the sake of being complete), I'd say it's a good pick-up.