Tommy End vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

[9.0] "This was an excellent match. Man, Night 1 was of PWG's Battle of Los Angeles was swimming in great matches. First it was Jeff Cobb vs Ricochet, then it was Fenix vs Will Ospreay, now it's Tommy End vs Zack Sabre Jr. This was a nice mix of strikes and technical wrestling, with both men showing each and using it against each other. Sabre Jr would eventually beat Tommy with a painful looking submission, but Tommy End looked great in defeat. By November later that year, he would be working for WWE. ****1/4"

[10.0] "This is the type of wrestling that i LOVE. ZSJ and Tommy End in front of a hot crowd. This match had great technical wrestling, there was some great strikes and the sequences they did were amazing. Excellent performance from both guys."

[8.0] "A dream match I didn't know I needed until it came across my screen. This is how you do an MMA style match in pro wrestling. Start out with a modernized feeling out process where both men can show off their strengths and slowly build up the pace of the match in an almost strong style-esque match structure. There is a real amateurness to this match, which isn't a bad thing. The match feels slightly more gritty and emotional because of it. Take the final striking exchange, Sabre begins with long outstretched kicks from the ground while End reaches out to hit Sabre. Neither man's strikes are doing much damage but it's the point of doing damage, any damage to the other person as if like two brothers that dislike each other. All of that being said, the match definitely felt like it had some missed opportunities, I feel like there were too many rest spots in the final few minutes of the match when it really should be building up into a wonderful crescendo. Additionally, both mens wrestling psychology has vastly improved following this match. I would love to see these two rematch at some point in the future with the polish of a top end agent aiding in making the match even better than this one. But man, that finish was incredible, absolutely nobody can throw you into the most mind numbingly complex hold quite like ZSJ"

[9.0] "ZSJ's work on the arm was immaculate, End's combinations were stunning and both men's strikes were wonderful. Lots of great sequences and moments, awesome match. 9/10 - 4.5*/5*"

[8.0] "This was MOTN for Night 1 of the 2016 BOLA. These two are familiar with each other, and they did not fail to have a great strikefest. The match does have a story too, even if it isn? t a major one. What if Tommy End could beat ZSJ, who was PWG World Champion at the time. It did not happen, but he came close. The technicality, and strikes used in this match were brutal, and it was awesome to see that different kind of pace on this show. Very good match between these two! ****1/4"

[8.0] "Really good technical match, based on Sabre's submissions and on End's strikes, that was a great contest and it was really clear to see how much these two wanted to win it. Sabre is truly awesome, he is the best technical wrestler today. He did only incredible moves. ****"

[8.0] "This was a great match, very much a battle of striker vs. grappler, and it deserved much better commentary than it had. Excalibur and Chuck Taylor spent far too much time making jokes and inside references, none of which were funny."

[7.0] "This was a bit long and not quite to my liking, but they put forward a lot of effort and got the crowd going hard. The fact they made me believe Tommy End had a chance to win is a testament to their laudable efforts."

[9.0] "Awesome match from a great BOLA that is pretty underrated. This was Tommy's last singles match in PWG, so the result was pretty obvious, but Tommy really went out in a brutal fight with Sabre. Early on Sabre attacked Tommy's arm with disgusting precision bending it in every possible direction, and Tommy sold it pretty well, but kind of forgot about it when he went for his high spots. Both guys continuously impressed in this match as they showed great chemistry with their strikes battles and awesome sequences, each guy tried to get the edge on the other, but unfortunately for Tommy that injured hand would come back to bite him as it gave Zack the advantage to lock in a stretch for the win, ****1/2."

[9.0] "This had a different style to Ospreay/Fenix but I'd say this match was almost, if not just as, good. End's kicks are brilliant, Zack's submission work is godly and these two had very similar styles which definitely worked here. I couldn't really ask for a whole lot more from this match, two of the best going at it in a hard-hitting, yet technical contest. Hell yeah. (****1/2)"

[5.0] "This was ok but I'm afraid I can't see much hype about it. I think both guys are good at times but against each other they seemed to be so robotic, no real feeling in the match whatsoever. Some very nice technical stuff from Sabre but really nothing you can't see in many of his better matches. End was alright but his selling was very on-again off-again, even for PWG it was very noticeable. He did have a very nice moonsault to the outside though."

[8.0] "This was my favorite match of the night, not just for the skills on display, but also because of the emotional poignancy as this is their final (for sometime) singles encounter for two guys who started competing in 2002 and have trained together & fought each other for almost a decade. These hard-working gents also represent two different success stories in pro wrestling: a) The H Potter of pro wrestling hookers training in various Hogwarts around the globe and b) The straight square who reinvented himself becoming a tattooed intimidating satanist kickboxing freak. I thoroughly enjoyed watching these eager but poised rivals square-off one last time in, of all places, Reseda, CA. ("Karate Kid" allusion in a previous match. ? ) Excalibur/Chucky T did a fine job detailing what makes T End stand-out amongst his peers. ZSJ controls much of the match grounding on T End's left arm/shoulder after segments like heel-hooking a T End leap and PK'ing his left shoulder so the arm falls hard on the mat. But when Tommy breaks out he's a lightning-fast striker, those kicks, an unexpected lovely moonsault from the 2nd to the floor and his top rope double-stomps. The crowd was invested, and more behind T End, but noone boo'd when ZSJ Octopus'd tentacled himself around T End and stretched his arm/shoulders to submission"

[9.0] "Tremendous Match! I Love The MMA Elements in This Match. ZBJ & Tommy End Striking & Mat Wrestling are Awesome. My Favorite Match of The Night"

[6.0] "Sometimes I just can't stand Zack Sabre Jr. Tommy End, in his last singles match in America before coming to WWE, lays in some incredible kicks, some gnarly knees, a few powerful moves, and a wild moonsault to the outside, and what does Zack do? He doesn't fucking sell any of it. He just sits down and looks confused. Zack's selling can be quite bad sometimes, but I figured that like ZSJ/Hero matches, End's strikes would be so powerful that he'd need to sell them, but somehow he found a way to make Tommy look worse than he should've. His arm work was nice, though, and I did enjoy his snap dragon suplex, but those are about two moves in this entire match that were good from Zack while everything End did (including the SELLING OF ZACK'S OFFENSE) was quality. I had high hopes from what I heard, and the final minutes did pick up in intensity, but this match just was not as good as it maybe could've been. ***1/4"

[9.0] "They did some cool grappling in first few minutes, but after Tommy's Asai Moonsault this got going. They quickly hit another gear and last 6-8 minutes were just incredible. A lot of cool reversals and striking exchanges. I liked it a little bit more than Ricochet/Cobb to be honest. Great, great stuff. **** 1/4."

[8.0] "This was just so much fun to watch as these guys beat the shit out of each other and the crowd was very much into this. Loved the work done on End by ZSJ and he worked the left arm of End for the entire bout and End sold it well to his credit. The strikes by End were just fucking brutal. This is definitely one I would recommend and loved the finish as well. (***3/4)"

[8.0] "This RULED! Loved every second of just a great strike/grapple contest between two of my favourite European guys. I thought the submission play down the stretch was great, both guys showed awesome aggression and executed some quality counters - great stuff (****)."

[8.0] "This was very good. Tommy & Zack kicked the shit out of each other, and while there were some selling issues (both of them could've sold better for sure), this was still a lot of fun to watch. ***1/2"

[10.0] "Wonderful match, my favorite match of night 1 along with Will Ospreay vs. Fenix. Stiff, brutal strikes and good mat work from these two, who always work really well together. Probably Tommy End's best PWG match to date. ****1/2"

[9.0] "I really enjoyed this shoot fight style they had. End was going for strikes while Sabre did submissions. End looked like a star here and he should be treated as one in WWE. Great singles match to go out on ****1/4"