[5.0] "A pretty generic but still acceptable indy show featuring quite a few future indy legends. Hero vs Claudio was just a bunch of bland and pointless grappling exchanges. They occasionally showed appropriate energy and desperation in their 'normal' exchanges, but they mostly still remained in 1st gear, working through really basic exchanges and spots without any real desperation. Definitely not an exciting opener. **1/2. Shiozaki vs Stone had really basic exchanges to start, but they both eventually got better impact in their attacks and began working at an engaging pace. Solid match. **3/4. Acid vs Pac was a mindless but pretty fun spotfest, and by far my MOTN. Both men took some impressively nasty bumps, with some of Pac's in particular being *really* brutal. All their aerial attacks and daredevils stunts were excitingly chaotic (with Pac's naturally looking the best), and the chairs were used in a variety of convincingly painful-looking ways, too (which is quite rare even for hardcore matches). ***1/4 - ***1/2. Sydal vs Generico was good. They did some pretty funny goofing around early on (playing off how the ring caved in during Hero vs Claudio) before bringing out their speedy, agile, and powerful moves. They both hit some pretty creative and very smooth spots and sequences. ***1/4. Williams vs Ares had some very bland and artificial-looking technical exchanges, plus some unfunny attempts at comedy. Pretty boring overall, even as they brought out slightly better exchanges in the 2nd half. **. Richard vs Kid was decent. They had some nicely physical and intense exchanges. They even had a pretty good crowd brawl, producing some good spots in the process despite their relative lack of selling. They had a few bits of miscommunication but mostly held the match together and kept it quite engaging. I wish Kid had tried to match Richards' power and energy a bit more. ***. Fleisch vs Saito was alright. Saito was a solid all-rounder but mostly a non-entity outside of his impressive but brief flurry of attacks towards the end. Fleisch had some nice high-flying attacks and bumps, but he disgustingly crushed his jaw into the stage steps after an overshot shooting star press. That was awful, but he impressively managed to keep going and was smart enough to "work" (in air quotes because there was probably little 'working' required) the jaw injury into his performance. Their chemistry was off at a few other points, too, but they still had some solid interactions. **3/4. Rhino vs Nigel was pretty disappointing since it was mostly just a big, bland crowd brawl for the entire first 2/3rds, with only a handful of moderately decent weapon/prop spots during that period. Nigel showed some good power and intensity at points, especially towards the end when he brought out his big signature strikes, but Rhino's lack of effort or creativity meant there was a clear cap on what heights Nigel could achieve on his own. **1/2"
[8.0] "Was für ein Turnier. Einzigartig und es fand nie in dieser Form statt. Zum Opener und zu El Generico vs Matt mehr im Guide jeweils im (***1/2) Bereich. Auch sonst gab es teilweise gute Matches, 8 starke Punkte."
[9.0] "The King Of Europe Cup started with the first round, which provided a variety of quality wrestling. Hero/Castagnoli was a fantastic opener, a smooth technical showcase for two closely acquainted partners who even managed to improvize through a ring break to finish their match. Shiozaki/Stone was a slower battle, finding its groove through strong style strikes exchanges. PAC/Acid felt incredibly stiff, as a seemingly groggy and careless Trent Acid threw PAC in reckless spots that rattled the youngster who still managed to win the crowd over with great selling and a strong comeback. Sydal/Generico is a match I didn't like much at first, but I admire how they did everything right to capture the crowd, from the extremely inspired comedy at the beginning, to the more athletic middle where their offense blew away the newly exposed crowd and a spot-on finish that played to the crowd masterfully and finished the job. Williams/Ares was centered around Doug Williams, who started well with mind games and outwrestled Ares until he caught him with a small package, which would be the central storyline of the tournament. Davey/Zebra surpassed my expectations, as they brought the intensity up and brawled around the building wildly, including a demented balcony elbow drop, and eventually slowed down to reach the logical conclusion. Saito/Fleisch isn't as cool as it could be, due to wonky chemistry, but the crowd woke up when Jody Fleisch almost killed himself by botching an SSP outside, picking up a little steam for the finish, despite the sloppiness induced by Fleisch's injury. Nigel/Rhino had a big time feel, but was wrestled at Rhino's pace, making it slower and more basic, while still providing crowd brawling with ECW style highspots, Nigel's environmental offensive strategy and a hot finish that puts Nigel as the clear favorite front-runner of the tournament. The tournament started spectacularly, with only a few down spots and wrong winners, promising a strong night 2 to come."
[7.0] "Hero vs Claudio was ok, but both guys can put on much better matches. **. Stone vs Shiozaki - I thought was a pretty good match. ***1/4. Pac vs Acid - There were a few nasty botches, but you cannot deny that this was a great and pretty entertaining match. ***1/2. Generico vs Sydal was average. **3/4. Ares vs Doug was ok, but not great. **. Richards vs. Zebra Kid was good but the camera work during the brawling in the crowd was atrocious. ***. Fleisch vs. Saito had some good action, and fair play to Fleisch for carrying on after the SSP botch, but honestly it did affect the match and Fleischs performance. ***. McGuinness vs Rhino was a great hard hitting main event match. Also the camera work during the brawling in the crowd was a lot better. ***1/2. Overall there were no bad matches on the show, and the show is a fun watch, seeing all the guys from different parts of the globe wrestling each other."
[6.0] "Im Großen und Ganzen "nur" eine solide Show. Mit Pac vs. Trent Acid und Jody Fleisch vs. Ryo Saito gab es für meinen Geschmack gleich zwei Totalausfälle. Darüberhinaus war schlicht und einfach kein Match dabei, welches wirklich als Must-See betitelt werden kann. Die besten Matches des Abends waren wohl der Opener und das Match zwischen Ares und Doug Williams, dicht gefolgt von Nigel vs. Rhino mit jeweils *** 1/4. Dennoch kann man sich Night One des King of Europe Cups defintiv gut anschauen."
[8.0] "Claudio vs. Hero: 6/10, gewohnt gute Submissions, schönes Lucha und absolutem Holy Shit Moment mit dem durchgebrochenem Ring, trotz dessen beide einen spannenden Opener aufs Parkett zaubern. Shiozaki vs. Stone: 7/10, verhaltener Beginn mit ein paar Submissions, danach geht es außerhalb des Rings hart zur Sache und die Finish Phase im Ring ist ebenfalls total spannend. Pac vs. Acid: 5/10, das Match beinhaltet krasse Spots (einige auch vermasselt), aber die meisten wirken total backyard, und nein, kein "Awesome" Match, wie die Live Fans es chanten, hier wird aus mehr Moves ausgekickt als in einem Death Match. El Generico vs. Sydal: 7/10, auch hier verhaltener Comedy-Beginn in dem die Ring-Story des Openers aufgegriffen wird. Danach legen beide aber los und es geht Nonstop bis zum Finish, nur leider etwas kurz. Ares vs. Doug: 6/10, schönes Match indem Ares sehr viele, sehr gute High Impact Moves raushaut, und Doug dennoch den Sieg einfahren kann. Kid vs. Richards: 8/10, total stiffes Match mit vielen geilen Holy Shit Moments, bis dato MOTN. Fleisch vs. Saito: 6/10, fast reines Spot Match, bei dem Fleisch erneut eine Gefahr für sich selbst darstellt und die Stufen küsst, WIESO macht man nach so einem Move weiter? Nigel vs. Rhino: 8/10, Nigel like I've never seen him before. Wusste gar nicht dass er diesen Style mitgeht. Zweitbeste Match des Abends. Insgesamt bekommt die Show von mir keine 10, dafür waren Fleisch und Acid fehl am platze, aber gut ist die Show definitiv, 8 Punkte."
[6.0] "Die beiden besten Matches sind Hero vs Claudio und Sydal vs Generico mit je ***, Stone vs Go, Zebra vs Davey und Nigle vs Rhyno sind alle gut mit **3/4. Fleisch delivered mal wieder halbherzig, versaut aber nicht so viele Spots wie häufig (**1/2). Gleiches Rating bekommt auch Ares vs Doug mit ihrem Comedy Match. Warum man Acid als Wrestler bezeichnen will verstehe ich nicht, der Mann scheint unter Drogeneinfluß zu stehen und arbeitet komplett unsicher und versaut die Stunt Spots. Ganz grausam und peinlich."
[10.0] "Sehr gute Show. Sehenswert sind vor allem El Generico vs Matt Sydal, die eine geniale Story um den kaputten Ring gebaut haben. Und natürlich Saito vs Fleisch mit einer absolut kranken Shooting Star Press von Fleish."
