A-Kid vs. Lucky Kid – The PWG directors failed at not bringing in either Billy Kidman or Sean Waltman (the former 1-2-3 Kid) in for special guest ref. But I digress. The streak of hot openers continues, and this Kids Only battle was just as hot for the hilarious crowd-belting puns as it was for the action. The brilliance? These Kids wrestled the match like it was Kane vs. Big Show-meets-Melanko vs. Saturn, and it pleasantly got over. There was a lot of good selling, not a whole lot of high-flying, surprisingly, and great facial reactions. The match went a bit too long and took a bit to get going, but, in the end, the crowd was invested. Spoiler alert: A.. kid won. – 3.25-3.5/5
–Brody King vs. Caveman Ugg – Real fun big hoss match that had more daring spots than the Junior Heavyweight opener. It was wild. Not everything was smooth, but Killian Dane’s “little” bro Ugg got over quickly and King — a favorite to take it all — moved around like a 300 pounder who punched a brick block with a questionmark on it. To win, Super Brody destroyed Ugg with signature Gonzo Bomb. R.I.P. Bedrock. – 3.25/5
–Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus – Horus has new music and it slaps. Not sure why, but the crowd was beggin’ Lee to take off his baseball shirt. Alright. He did and stopped “Naito-ing” around, not only showing off his impressive physique but going 2x faster rope-to-rop. This was a fast, fun lucha match and Horus is definitely one of the most underrated guys out there. I kinda wish he won and got the (much-needed) rub, and this maybe woulda felt next level. Still, it had everything you want in a first round match-up. After a pair of slick false finishes, Lee put Rey away with a second padless running knee. – 3.5/5
–Joey Janela and Alex Zayne vs. Blake Christian and Tony Deppen – Game Changer tag. While Janela puts out arguably the best WrestleMania Weekend shows every year with his annual Spring Break series, I just never became a huge fan of GCW. That said, a majority of the 600+ at The Globe last night ate this up. It was a car-crash of a match, an unannounced tornado tag where HFS high spots were a plenty. “The Sauce” Alex Zayne has a little Jeff Hardy in him, from his purple hair/industrial metal good looks to his moonsault-off-Joey’s-back onto the floor daredevil behavior. That spot finished with Janela wiping someone out with a DVD on tha apron. While Deppen is an absolute mad-man, raging all over the rink with incredible facials and sheer intensity, it didn’t take the crowd to take eyes to Blake Christian. This man has HOPS!! He got real high and had a certain bounce to him that wins dunk contests. The wildest spot, maybe, was a top rope springboard double foot stomp to the floor. It was too bonkers to describe. This match had zero logic, zero story and nor was it supposed to. Oh and the “200 pound” Joey was mostly great tonight as the match’s power guy (all the “Lulz”), hitting a tornado package piledriver that got great pop. This trainwreck served its purpose and profoundly did so. – 3.5/5
–Darby Allin vs. Black Taurus – Holy fuck, Black Tauruuuuus is awesome. At first glance he looks like one of those gimmick lucha guys from the WCW Nitro days. Also, had this match been in a other month it could have very well took place at Universal Horror Nights. Just sayin’. Well, this wound up a nightmare for Taurus, who broke out at PWG’s unbelieveable 20th Anniversary 6-man. All Elite’s Allin is only getting better by the match, and at this point felt like easily the strongest thing on the show. I absolutely loved that Darby attempted a second coffin drop after getting caught in the first one. That’s one way to tell a story. But the story here was how fuckin’ athletic and amazingly agile Taurus was for a bull his stature. He had a surplus of eye-popping springboard/top rope running moves and it was wild. Now, someone bring Tito back outta retirement so “El Matador” can finally get the opponent he deserves. (Allin won via figure four cradle, after goating Taurus). Great match. – 4/5
-Jonathan Gresham vs. Artemis Spencer – This kinda sucked. The PWG faithful definitely tried real hard to get behind the talent involved, but it felt like a low percentage of the audience. Arty got a great initial ovation; he looks like a lanky Drew Gulak and did some cool things. The problem with his size and high-spot attempts is that he always looked to the crowd after hitting a spot and not transitioning into the next move ala WALTER. It made the match really drag. Arty’s kicks also looked “Miz slow”, which isn’t good. At all. Gresham is a world class wrestler, but his style isn’t exactly the best fit at PWG and better served in New Japan (that’s a pretty good thing). Overall this wasn’t horrific, and the vicious Octopus stretch submission was solid. – 2.25/5
–Jeff Cobb vs. Daisuke Sekimoto – The match many had most anticipated since its announcement. For the most part it lived up to the hype, with both big guys exchanging intense, stiff shoulder blocks and chops. The crowd ate it up. If you like Ishii matches — with high brainbusters, insane suplex work, etc. — you’re going to love this. For the most part, I adored it but the single Tour of the Islands finish felt abrupt. Lesser men than Daisuke have kicked out of one. Still, this is must-see. – 3.75/5
–Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix) vs. Mexibloods (Flamita & Bandido) – Great lucha match that’s biggest roadblock was the Classic Lucha Six-Man between the ‘Bloods & Rey Horus and Black Taurus, Laredo Kid, & Puma King from Sixteen. Hard to top a 4.75+ (many say 5) match, but these four last night nearly did. The most amazing spot of spots saw a double Spanish Fly from Fenix & Flamita off the top of their respective partner’s shoulders. Jaw dropping! There were a number of other insane moments, and before they got there, Penta had a little fun with Bandido, getting under his skin and bullying him until the Mexibloods would later make Penta pay. There was a nice touch of gaga, but not too much; we’d see a little bit of Fortnite shakes a few too many “Cero Miedo” crowd calls (but not that I wasn’t responding myself ot anything…). Above all that we’d see a catapult Destroyer, lightning fast topes, a tope con helio, a ton of springboard moonsault and slingshot dives– the whole lucha shebang. Lucha Bros took care of family business in the end, hitting their signature footstomp/package piledriver combo while Fenix flew onto the apron draped in a Mexican flag (a spot they just did at the recent NYC AAA show). Not quite a classic, but an incredible match nonetheless. – 4.25-4.5/5
Overall = 3.5/5 Biblios.
@TravMoody
This was an overall real strong first night of the tournament. A great variety of matches with only one real stinker (that still wasn’t terrible). A dope main event, two other great/nearly great matches and lots of memorable spots. BOLA had a real fun night one! See you all tomorrow morning for the next report.
(Thank you @DDeMarco_ for the featured image!)