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Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2016 (Final Stage)

October 23, 2016 | Posted by Jake St-Pierre
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Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2016 (Final Stage)  

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There’s a good chance that the first two nights of this year’s Battle of Los Angeles have been two of the best shows of PWG’s thirteen year history. Night One had an incredible amount of four star efforts, including one of the sleeper matches of the weekend in Jeff Cobb vs. Ricochet. Night Two is lauded by many fans as either the best PWG show ever or one of the best professional wrestling shows they’ve ever seen period. And with a show with two matches as drop-dead great as Heroes Eventually Die vs. Fenix/Pentagon and Bullet Club vs. Ospreay/Sydal/Ricochet, it’s hard to disagree. But we have one more night of wrestling left, and as with every recent BOLA, this one is going to be a doozy. Last year, the finals ended with a 40 minute marathon between Chris Hero, Speedball Mike Bailey and Zack Sabre Jr. Will this year be the same?

We are TAPED from the American Legion in Reseda, CA.

Your hosts are Excalibur, Chuck Taylor and Chris Hero.

BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Trevor Lee vs. Dalton Castle
These two have been the most low-key of all the tournament participants so far, so seeing them in the opening slot isn’t really surprising. Both guys have the personalities to start a show off right, and considering the volume of wrestling we have on this show, they have their work cut out for them.

Trevor Lee makes Angelo Trinidad introduce him as a TNA Superstar, which would only work at this point if I.R.S. was his manager. Excalibur brings up Chuck Taylor’s TV job for TNA, and Chuckie remarks that he hadn’t been paid. I love doing manual labor and not seeing the money for it a month and a half after it happens. Trevor sends Dalton outside and mocks his strut, but turns around to find an angry Dalton Castle clotheslining him to the outside for the real strut and a Lope! Max Landis is ringside and looks like someone put him in Create-A-Wrestler and left their eight year old sister to finish him. Dalton makes a comeback with a Teardrop Suplex, followed by a T-Bone. Trevor tries a jumping something from the middle rope, but Dalton catches him and chucks him back with a suplex for 2. They trade attempts at a deadlift German until TREVOR BACKFLIPS INTO A DEADLIFT GERMAN! That was a beautiful spot. Trevor moves the fans for something, but fakes them out… only for Dalton to hit his spinning rana on the floor. Trevor fights back with a rope-hung Brother Nero and a running punt from the apron. Trevor hits the flipping crossbody, but Dalton BRIDGES OUT AND HITS A DEADLIFT GERMAN OF HIS OWN! Dalton hits two more, and Trevor is forced to head to the apron. Trevor counters the Bangarang into a Gutwrench, but Dalton escapes with one of his own. Dalton yells FUCK TNA but Trevor hits a Canadian Destroyer! That’s it for the Party Peacock in 14 minutes. *** A lot of the early moments were pretty non-descript wrestling-wise, and that amounted in a fair bit of tedium for a decent fraction of the match. Their respective gimmicks and/or charisma ended up redeeming that in a pretty significant manner though, as Trevor’s pro-TNA gimmick is uber-entertaining and there’s not a wrestler in the world more equipped to complement him than Dalton Castle. So a fun opener, with a fun battle over suplexes, but nothing I’ll remember in a week.

BOLA Quarterfinal Match: John Hennigan vs. Ricochet
Hennigan had one of the least memorable matches of the tournament so far with Matt Sydal on Night One, but it wasn’t offensive or anything. In fact, I thought it was pretty enjoyable and was brought home too soon more than anything. And for me at least, Sydal isn’t really all that as a singles worker. On the flip-side, he’s facing Ricochet who had one of the best tournament matches so far on Night One against Jeff Cobb, and a man Hennigan has had some tremendous matches with in Lucha Underground.

Hennigan tries to start a We Will Rock You rhythm, but the crowd shuts it down immediately. Not quite up to the beauty Adam Cole brought to that song at BOLA 2012, but it’ll do. These two have a GREAT sequence ending in a standoff that brings the crowd to its feet. Hennigan shoves Rick Knox out of the way for an opportune low blow to Ricochet. Ricochet battles back with the somersault into a DDT, sending Hennigan to the floor for a beautiful Fosbury Flop! Ricochet misses an enzuigiri but recovers with a snap Regalplex for two. Hennigan uses his speed beautifully to dodge a running Ricochet in the corner, and follows with a BEAUTIFUL DOUBLE JUMP CHUCK KICK! Ricochet finds himself on the apron where Hennigan HITS A ROPE-HUNG NECKBREAKER ON THE APRON! Hennigan catches him with a Chuck Kick proper, followed by his running knee. He looks for Starship Pain, but Ricochet moves and hits a nice rolling lariat. Hennigan hits a cross chop to the throat but Ricochet battles out… ONLY TO RUN INTO A C4! Ricochet stops Starship Pain and rolls into a Victory Roll for a close 2. Hennigan throws Rick Knox in the way of a spinning enzuigiri and hits another low blow, followed by Moonlight Drive! The crowd is PISSED and think that’s it, but Ricochet kicks out! Ricochet stops another Starship Pain attempt, but Hennigan throws him off and attempts it… only for Ricochet to move! Switch Knee scores for Ricochet, but Hennigan gets out of a Benadryller… only for RICOCHET TO CATCH HIM IN A FIREMAN’S CARRY BOMB! 630, and Ricochet advances in 13 minutes. ***1/2 After what a lot of people thought was a bad performance in his debut, John Hennigan came correct in his second outing. I actually thought Johnny was tremendous in this match, and if he can keep up this sort of standard, I wouldn’t be opposed to him coming back to PWG in the future. He’s one of the biggest guys in the tournament, but moves with such speed and fluidity that you wouldn’t notice it. He’s so agile that he can make what are normally pretty routine moves look like feats of athleticism, which against Ricochet, is a pretty hard thing to pull off. But the man pulled it off here and had a pretty great little match because of it. They came out of the gate swinging for the fences and did a wonderful job gradually ramping up the impact of their moves, quite a hard thing to manage in a 13 minute match. So while Hennigan’s debut left a lot to be desired for some, I thought he made up for it in spades here.

BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Marty Scurll
Cody pulled out of the surprise of the weekend last night, having a tremendous outing against Sami Callihan of all people in his much-hyped debut for PWG. He gets progressively better with every outing, and against Marty Scurll it’s hard to not keep that progression going.

Brandi Rhodes is back for more ring announcing, which Marty Scurll hilariously flips his lid at. Marty starts the match by smacking Cody in the back with his umbrella, and a nasty Brainbuster in the ring for an early nearfall. “I gotta get me a super sweet babe to be my ring announcer” declares Chuck Taylor, as Brandi Rhodes squares up to Marty Scurll… which allows Cody recover for a stalling gordbuster! Marty fights back by going after Cody’s arm and a hilarious Stardust basement dropkick! Marty even more hilariously patronizes Cody with a mini-promo in the ring, which pisses Cody off enough to start a comeback… only for Marty to hit a superplex… that Cody counters with a flash small package for two! Marty hooks Cody up for SHATTERED DREAMS! The crowd chants “SHE WANTS KIDS”, which doesn’t faze the Villain. Brandi tries distracting Justin Borden, but that only makes Marty do the JUST KIDDING SUPERKICK to the groin! He posts Cody so he can take his boot off and throw it backstage, but that allows Cody to recover for a springboard missile dropkick! Cody looks for an Alabama Slam, but Marty counters out and hits one of his own for two! Marty tries to follow up, but Cody hits a Beautiful Disaster and his BEAUTIFUL double jump plancha! Scurll eventually comes back out on top though, and he targets Brandi who he asks for a kiss! Brandi feigns doing it, but that comes back to haunt her as Marty turns his cheek and locks lips with her! Brandi is incensed, so she slaps him, sending Marty in the ring just in time for a Moonsault Press from Cody! Marty escapes the American Nightmare and snaps Cody’s fingers! Cody catches him with Cross-Rhodes, but Marty kicks out! Rhodes accidentally takes out Justin Borden, allowing Marty to hit a low blow and advance with a schoolboy in 12 minutes. ***1/2 Cody Rhodes hits the PWG audience with another tremendously fun outing, although not so much on the wrestling side this time around. This match was really one of the more old-school of the matches you’ll see in BOLA, with a white meat babyface in Cody Rhodes fighting valiantly to prove himself against the asshole heel who does anything he wants, cheats like a bastard, and generally doesn’t find very many things (like a man’s wife, for instance) off-limits. Cody did a good job of timing his biggest moves, selling, and generally playing the babyface character and as such, the match came out very entertaining. In conclusion, I’d say this weekend has been a very successful one for Cody Rhodes as he came in with tons of hype and fanfare, and absolutely validated all of the high expectations people had for him in a way I didn’t think he was capable of. But he came with his working boots on, and upped his stock in the eyes of many a fan, including myself. There really isn’t much more you could want out of it.

The crowd tells Cody they want him back, so he leaves his BOLA boot with a fan as his insurance policy to come back…

BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Chris Hero vs. Mark Andrews
Chris Hero has had probably the best weekend of any of the tournament participants so far, having a show-stealer with Jushin Liger on Night One, and a MOTYC on Night Two teaming with Tommy End against Pentagon Jr. and Fenix. Andrews helped welcome the debuting Pete Dunne in style on Night 2, but faces a much larger bruiser here…

Chris Hero doesn’t wait for the bell to try and kick Mark out of his boots! He follows with a HUGE Ligerbomb, but Andrews kicks out! Hero is frustrated already, and gives him a nasty elbow for another nearfall! Andrews starts mounting some offense, hitting a sweet moonsault Tornado DDT that sends a reeling Hero to the outside… and Andrews hits a beautiful Tope Con Hilo into a rana that nearly ends badly for Hero as the big man slips on beer and necks himself. Andrews tries a diving rana, but Hero catches him and MURDERS HIM with an arm-capture piledriver! Andrews dodges the Death Blow and goes HIGH for a reverse rana! That was awesome. Andrews fights back with a fast Violence Party, but Hero follows him with a disgusting elbow. Hero looks for the Electric Chair elbow, but ANDREWS PINS HIM WITH A VICTORY ROLL! Mark Andrews pulls off a huge upset in 6 minutes. ***1/4 One of the shortest matches you’ll ever see in PWG, but they packed one hell of a wrestling match into it. It was your basic “huge bully destroys young guy” story, but considering the huge bully is one of the best wrestlers in the world and the young guy is one of the best sympathetic babyfaces, you got something worth your while. Hero is at his best when he can just kill small dudes at will, especially when there’s this satisfying a payoff at the end of the road. Andrews pulling off the upset is easily one of the biggest pops of the weekend, which shows you what the power of simple wrestling psychology can do. I’m all for ridiculous moves and whatnot, but sometimes telling a story like this is the right thing to do. I thought Andrews was awesome, I thought Hero was even better, and while I was kind of rooting for Hero to finally win BOLA, I thought this was a tremendous piece of booking.

Hero is furious at the loss and immediately destroys Andrews with a rolling elbow. Hero looks at his hands and realizes what he’s done, and the crowd isn’t happy. He tries to leave, but says “fuck it” and pie-faces Rick Knox before MURDERING MANDREWS WITH A PILEDRIVER OFF THE SECOND ROPE~! Fat, grumpy heel Chris Hero is going to be so awesome.

BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Mark Haskins vs. Kyle O’Reilly
I’m surprised that this match hasn’t happened before somewhere, but boy am I glad it is here. Haskins had a really fun debut against Cedric Alexander last night while Kyle O’Reilly had a somewhat controversial win over the debuting Matt Riddle (for the record, I’d have put Riddle over too, but it’s not my promotion) in a tremendous match. This is yet another glorious piece of matchmaking from PWG either way, and should be quite the memorable mat clinic.

I love the continuity of Kyle O’Reilly’s “shoulder injury” from Ring of Honor. It’s one of those things that isn’t all that necessary, but it’s still welcome just because it’s an easy plot device and makes for better matches in theory, plus it keeps the Cole vs. O’Reilly feud in your mind as ROH heads toward Final Battle. Kyle locks on a Cross Armbreaker early, but Haskins is able to find the ropes. Haskins fights back by stomping Kyle’s arm into the mat, using that to transition into some more armwork. Kyle fights back, dropping the Brit with a Kitchen Sink followed by a sliding knee to the ribs. Kyle goes after Haskins’ leg now, methodically working him over. Haskins battles back with a couple dropkicks and leg lariats, but Kyle stays afloat using his strikes and a legsweep. Kyle tries a standing Arm Triangle (Braun Strowman represent), before turning into a capture suplex for a two count. They both rise and go hard with strikes, trading running jumping knees until Haskins runs and locks in a Stretch Muffler… that Kyle counters with a Triangle! Haskins pops up, and they both end up down with stereo pump kicks. Haskins runs into a Backbreaker from Kyle, right into a kneebar! Haskins BRIDGES INTO A PIN that gets a close nearfall! That was great. Kyle hits a Pumphandle GTS and MURDERS HASKINS WITH A LARIAT~! HASKINS KICKS OUT! Haskins escapes a Brainbuster and ROLLS INTO THE SHARPSHOOTER! He wrenches back… AND KYLE TAPS! Mark Haskins pulls off a huge upset in 15 minutes. ***3/4 Like Haskins’ match last night with Cedric Alexander, this had a slight aura of ‘exhibition’ (a bit less than the Cedric match though) surrounding it which prevents me from wanting to go higher in the snowflake department, but otherwise I thought this was tremendous. More than anything I thought they did a fabulous job counteracting that by upping the intensity with almost every segment they did in the match, thus making everything they did seem purposeful. If Kyle threw really stiff shots, Mark replied with some of his own and then attempted to outmaneuver Kyle by nearly pinning him out of a kneebar. Then after that, Kyle brains Mark with a lariat since he knows his grapling isn’t working. It’s easy psychology, really. Stuff like that really works to a wrestler’s advantage if they can do it correctly, and you’re not going to find very many wrestlers better at doing it than Mark Haskins and Kyle O’Reilly.

BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay
These two have wrestled a hundred times this year, but never had the opportunity to do it front of a Reseda crowd. They had one of the best matches of the year during Wrestlemania weekend and while most of the attempts to follow it up have come short, they’ve had some crackers anyway and look to add another chapter here.

Ospreay starts immediately with a dropkick, followed by an insane Tope Con Hilo and a RED ARROW! Zack kicks out, though. Zack tries to escape, but Ospreay follows him with a big moonsault to the outside, but misses a 450 inside the ring. Will catches a running Zack with a backslide, followed by his twisting kick for two. Ospreay tries to springboard, but Zack catches him and puts his head in the bottom rope and punts the rope! Zack finally uses that to get some semblance of momentum. Zack defiantly lets Will chop him before taking him to the mat and STOMPING him in the back of the head. He declares that it’s SABRE TIME before locking in a wacky submission that Ospreay eventually is able to break. Ospreay is able break free of Zack’s clutches and hits the back handspring enzuigiri. A Phenomenal Forearm scores, but Zack kicks out at one. Zack springs up for a Tornado DDT, but Ospreay springs out of it… only for Zack to get the knees up on a standing SSP! Zack tries a wacky submission, but Will upkicks out and looks for a back handspring casadora… that ZACK COUNTERS INTO A TIGER SUPLEX! Zack locks in a Dragon Sleeper variant, but Ospreay wiggles out. Sabre throws a hard forearm, which causes Ospreay to stiff him back, so Zack STANDS ON HIS HEAD AND TWISTS HIM. I love this man. Zack looks for a a Dragon Superplex, but Ospreay escapes and JABS HIM IN THE FACE! CHEEKY NANDOS! OSCUTTER… COUNTERED INTO A DRAGON SLEEPER! CRUCIFIX… COUNTERED INTO A SHOOTING STAR! IBUSHI DOUBLE MOONSAULT MISSES… BUT HE HITS IT! PHOENIX SPLASH COUNTERED INTO A TRIANGLE! EUROPEAN CLUTCH FROM SABRE… COUNTERED INTO ONE FROM OSPREAY! Ospreay picks up the win in 11 minutes. **** So no, this wasn’t as awesome as their Wrestlemania Weekend encounter, but boy did they still come up with an outstanding match. This new thing of Zack Sabre Jr just getting pissed and destroying people has made his matches even more fun to watch. He couldn’t do that with Tommy End because… well, Tommy would have murdered him and ate him for brunch, but here with a slightly cocky and hard-to-stop youngster like Will Ospreay? It’s perfect and actually made for a really fun little mini-story within this utter sprint of a wrestling match. Ospreay’s ridiculous speed and general volume of moves made Zack have to adjust on several occasions, and that allowed for some of the most entertaining portions of the match not even being Ospreay doing insane flips. Some of it just involved Zack twisting Will up in sadistic ways or beating the shit out of him for daring to challenge the great Zack Sabre Jr. Will’s strategy of starting off hot and keeping the pace turned out to be a correct one, and the finish paid that off in a very satisfying manner. So while yes, this was a ridiculously fast-paced match, it also had a fair amount of psychology attached to it which makes for less mindless, more linear watching.

PWG World Tag Team Titles: The Young Bucks © vs. Pentagon Jr & Fenix
These four were separately involved in two of the best PWG matches of the year last night, and so the natural progression is to put them together in what has the potential to match both of their previous efforts. Have I ever mentioned how much I like PWG?

The crowd goes BANANA when Angelo Trinidad announces this as a title match. Nick tells Fenix to suck it after getting dropped with a shoulderblock, and fights right back with a beautiful armdrag into a BIG staredown! Pentagon and Matt Jackson find themselves face-to-face in the midst of a Cero Miedo vs. Too Sweet battle. Matt pokes Pentagon in the eye and does some Lucha of his own, but Pentagon pays him back with some of his own, followed by a few Slingblades! Fenix and Pentagon destroy Matt with a double team flurry, so Nick comes in to stop it with the X-Factor/Moonsault combo on the challengers. Pentagon eats a dropkick/Big Kev combo, but Fenix saves his brother and hits Nick with a duo of Frog Splashes that Nick eats while throwing the middle fingers. The Bucks fight back, sending both men to the floor with an apron superkick on Fenix and a headscissor/dropkick to Pentagon. Fenix ranas Matt into an accidental dropkick from Nick, before superkicking Matt into a Pumphandle Driver from Pentagon. Nick saves and scissors Fenix to the outside, but Pentagon saves with a Tope Con Hilo! Matt follows with the Tope Baseball Slide, but Fenix drops him and hits a HUGE TORNILLO that hits Pentagon! VINTAGE BUCKS WITH THE BIG BOY MOONSAULT! DOUBLE BACKRAKE ON THE OUTSIDE! Fenix and Pentagon throw some superkicks, but the Bucks give them their receipts before Matt gives Fenix A DDT ON THE APRON! PENTAGON MURDERS NICK WITH A PACKAGE PILEDRIVER ON THE APRON! Matt and Pentagon are the only two standing of course, and Pentagon attempts a Package Piledriver but Matt escapes and hits a Pop-Up Powerbomb! “Don’t steal my friend’s moves!” Package Piledriver from Matt, but Fenix superkicks him out of it! Superkick from Nick… but FENIX HITS A DOUBLE HANDSPRING STUNNER! WIDOW’S PEAK/PACKAGE PILEDRIVER TO THE BUCKS FROM PENTAGON! SPRINGBOARD 450 FROM FENIX! MATT KICKS OUT! Fenix moonsaults on top of Matt from the apron but Matt CATCHES HIM FOR A TOPE CON MELTZER DRIVERRRRRR~! EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMER’S ON PENTAGON! Meltzer Driver on Pentagon… BUT FENIX PULLS OUT JUSTIN BORDEN~! HOLY SHIT! STEREO 450’S FROM THE BUCKS EAT KNEES! SMALL PACKAGES GET TWO! SUPERKICKS FROM THE BUCKS! STEREO SPITTING FROM FENIX AND PENTAGON! MACHINE GUN SUPERKICKS!~! The Bucks retain the belts in 15 minutes. ****1/4 It’s really hard at this juncture to explain why I love Young Bucks matches. I’ve pretty much been doing it non-stop for three years at this point and have said almost everything in regards to superlatives or hyperbole regarding their talent. They are a very, very divisive tag team and they know it. They wrestle a certain style of match that either sends fans into fits of excitement or fits of rage. They’re either geniuses or spotmonkeys. I’m personally of the opinion that they – along with The Revival – are the best tag team in the world and every match they wrestle, no matter the opponent, goes a long way to proving that. Be it their match with Death By Elbow, their Ladder War performance, their superstar reactions everywhere they go, or their banner weekend here at BOLA… they are doing something right. And when it comes to doing something right, you can’t do much better than the match they wrestled against Fenix and Pentagon Jr. This is admittedly one of those matches where I can’t magically grab a story out of what they did, but I don’t need to. I have an open mind when it comes to wrestling, and sometimes 15 minutes of non-stop spot warfare just does it for me. Instead of wasting time with a heat segment that went nowhere, their opening spots consisted of ridiculously fun exchanges between all four men, peaking at the Matt Jackson/Pentagon sequence. I even loved the segment with all four men stealing moves from Kevin Steen, as it both provided some comedy and a fair amount of Holy Shit moments. After that, it was pure madness as you would expect, but done with such gusto and smarts that everything peaked at exactly the right time, and at least helped the match in terms of logical progression. So no, it’s not the Young Bucks doing something different. Their formula works, especially against opponents like Pentagon Jr and Fenix who may be the MVP’s of the weekend when it’s all said and done. Spectacular stuff.

The fans throw money into the ring and Fenix takes the mic to thank everybody. Pentagon takes the mic and apologizes for his bad English and just cuts a promo in Spanish, which from what I can tell is basically just putting PWG over. The Bucks blindside them though and TAKE THE MONEY that the fans threw into the ring! That’s so great.

BOLA Semifinal Match: Mark Andrews vs. Trevor Lee
Mark Andrews is in the first semifinal of the night, the poor bastard. Trevor Lee has had eons more rest compared to his Welsh adversary, and considering the cover of the Stage Two DVD the result is in little doubt. Although, they are both two of the more mind-boggingly underused wrestlers on the TNA roster so there’s gotta be something resembling a common bond here.

Mark knows he’s on borrowed time, so he comes out swinging and nearly picks up the win with a hurricanrana early, but Trevor drops him with a lariat and gives him a foursome of backdrops on the apron. Andrews nearly gets the win with a backslide, followed by an enzugiri. Trevor goes for Orange Crush, but Mandrews counters it with a Stunner! Trevor sends him to the apron for the Brother Nero, but Andrews sandbags and double stomps him! Trevor staggers back into the ring, but runs right into a Tornado DDT! Andrews looks to keep his momentum going, but runs right into a MUSHROOM STOMP from Trevor! Trevor looks for the backflip into the deadlift German, but Andrews moves and hits a Reverse Rana and a Tope Con Hilo! Trevor tries the Shelton Benjamin vertical up to the top rope but Andrews stuffs him and looks for the Shooting Star… but Trevor gets his knees up and wins with the Small Package Driver in 9 minutes. *** This was about what you’d expect it to be given the context of Mark Andrews nearly dying at the hands of Chris Hero a few matches beforehand, but it worked. It provided some psychology and general urgency that wouldn’t have been there otherwise, and some of the moves and hope spots had more oomph as a result, i.e. any of the rollups Andrews used to try and steal the match. It isn’t the most exciting, but it didn’t need to be. It made Mark Andrews look like a huge fighting babyface, while providing Trevor Lee a vehicle to have a somewhat easy cruise into the finals.

BOLA Semifinal Match: Mark Haskins vs. Marty Scurll
One could say Scurll got the better road to the semifinals here, as I’d rather be slapped by Brandi Rhodes than Kyle O’Reilly. Either way, I’m thinking this one is going to be quite adequate.

Scurll attacks before the bell again, but it nearly backfires as Haskins gets a nearfall on a flash small package! Scurll dodges a Tope, but anyone who knows Mark Haskins can tell you that’s a bad idea, as Mark dives out on the other side with a Tope Suicida. Haskins stuffs a Lope from Scurll and superkicks him, but Scurll fights back and tries to dive out onto him with something, but Haskins hangs him in the Tree of Woe on the apron for a slingshot dropkick! Scurll catches Haskins coming in though with a Dragon Screw through the ropes! He takes Haskins to the apron and sends him to the floor with the Just Kidding superkick, following that by working on Haskins’ pre-existing bad leg. Scurll takes too long following up on Haskins, who runs him down with a dropkick! Haskins’ leg gives out on a suplex, but he is able to persevere with a suplex right into a single leg crab, but Marty finds the ropes. Scurll and a fan have words, which allows Haskins to recover and stuff a superplex and send him to the mat with a trio of elbows! He misses a double stomp, which proves to be a bad idea as Marty superkicks his knee and powerbombs him! Haskins fights back with a flurry of knees, but Scurll fights back with a reverse suplex and a FALCON ARROW INTO A CHICKENWING! Haskins fights back and stomps Marty’s arm into the mat, before rolling into a Fireman’s Carry Facebuster! Marty fights back with a superkick to a seated Haskins, and both men are down. They rise, and Haskins eats a few chops before throwing some leather of his own. Haskins rolls through a waistlock and hits a slingshot dropkick before hitting Meteora for 2! Scurll floats through several different holds into a Chickenwing, but Haskins escapes. HASKINS COUNTERS A LA MAGISTRAL INTO THE STAR ARMBAR! SCURLL GETS THE ROPES! In a great touch, Scurll tapped immediately after getting the ropes. Haskins spends too much time arguing with Justin Borden, and Scurll hits his wacky butterfly suplex deal for a nearfall. Scurll measures for the Chickenwing, but he eats an elbow from Haskins and almost a Sharpshooter… but Scurll kicks out of it and nearly eats the rolling DVD… but he SNAPS HASKINS’ FINGERS! Haskins looks for an O’Connor Roll… RIGHT INTO THE CHICKENWING! Mark Haskins taps in 15 minutes. ***3/4 Matches like this are where Mark Haskins shines. He’s never the most cerebral or calculated wrestler, so when his matches turn into knockdown, drag-out fights, his talents become the most apparent. He’s great at blending aggression with your archetypal babyface sympathy-garnering, which makes you want to root for him more because, while he’s sympathetic, his comebacks are going to be more high impact than your typical babyface. He doesn’t say quit easily, and in a fatigued state he’s still able to maintain a shockingly high workrate to complement that. None of his performances in this tournament have quite matched the level of his incredible matches with Will Ospreay or Tommaso Ciampa in PROGRESS, but he’s been outstanding all weekend long and may have ended with his best performance. Scurll worked splendidly as the carefree heel, who was in control for most of the match and only found himself on the defensive when he got too big for his britches. It’s the sort of blend between weasel and dominant that makes his character work, and it made for a compelling story against Mark Haskins in what was overall a great semifinal matchup.

BOLA Semifinal Match: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet
You had to know this was coming. After turning the internet on its ass in June after a gif of the opening sequence from their Tokyo BOSJ match blew up and drew the ire of Vader, both men have sparked heated debates in many a wrestling forum, all the way to legendary wrestlers’ podcasts either decrying it or praising it. It even turned into a Ospreay vs. Vader match, which then turned into Ospreay completely and uttely BURYING Vader in a Highspots shoot interview he did with Rob Naylor. And it’s only fitting that the sequel would happen in Reseda, where their styles are beloved more than almost anywhere else in the world.

It’s insanity from the opening bell, with Ricochet catching a handspring from Ospreay and turning it into a Blue Thunder Bomb, followed by an inverted Fosbury Flop and a springboard clothesline! Ricochet hits a nasty punt to the head out of nowhere, in firm control early. Ricochet throws a few kicks, prompting Ospreay to call him a cunt. To his credit, Ricochet apologizes before running his face into the turnbuckles and hitting a Black Tornado slam. Ricochet looks for the People’s Moonsault, but Ospreay moves and hits a crazy rolling upkick that sends Ricochet into the corner. Ospreay hits the PIP PIP CHEERIO MOTHERFUCKER forearm before hitting a Tope Con Hilo! Ricochet looks for a Benadryller, but Ospreay dodges and hits the Cheeky Nandos kicks and a running SSP, right into a twisting elbow drop for two! Ricochet dodges the Oscutter, but misses his rolling enzuigiri. Ricochet COUNTERS AN OSCUTTER INTO A REVERSE RANA! OSPREAY USES A SECOND WIND TO HIT ONE OF HIS OWN! Ospreay starches Ricochet with a pair of forearms, but Ricochet is able to fight back with a beautiful back handspring kick, INTO A NORTHERN LIGHTS, INTO A BRAINBUSTER! ESSEX DESTROYER FROM OSPREAY! Twisting Kick.. but Ricochet kicks out! Ricochet counters the OSCUTTER INTO VERTIGO! FOR TWO! BENADRYLLER COUNTERED INTO A CUTTER! OSCUTTER! Will Ospreay advances in 10 minutes. ***3/4 In this position, this was never going to be a patch on the Tokyo match, but given the context and circumstances they did their damndest to provide a barnburner. A part of me agrees with Dave Meltzer in that, I’m not sure it was wise to use these two’s big rematch as a surprise in a tournament, and their position in said tournament almost surely harmed the quality of the match. That being said, it’s PWG and they can get away with doing stuff like this. And there’s no guarantee they’re going to be able to nail down either man for a date in the near future, so why not get some extra views by putting Ospreay and Ricochet here? The semifinal position immediately gives the match higher stakes, so whoever wins and loses matters… and it’s not like this was a disappointment. Sure, a match between these two fresh is going to be better, but given that this was these two men’s second matches of the night, they came out with an incredibly athletic, admirable effort. The more I see Will Ospreay (and Ricochet to a lesser extent) wrestle, the more convinced I am that there’s not a wrestler in the business as athletically gifted as him. Couple that with the callbacks from their Tokyo match, and you’ve still got a damn good athletic exhibition, which is all I really wanted.

Tommaso Ciampa, Sami Callihan, Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne, & Brian Kendrick vs. Jushin Liger, Chuck Taylor, Cedric Alexander, Jeff Cobb, & Tommy End
What’s the use in me even attempting to give this match an intro?

Kendrick, fresh off the performance of his career in the CWC, is the big surprise here in what had to be a crazy moment live. Excalibur is speechless on commentary at the mere thought of this match. Everyone on Team Ciampa has cat whiskers painted on… except Brian Kendrick. Tommaso fixes that shit in a hurry, however. Tommaso and Chuckie T start, and it’s fantastic. Tommaso fires off the “BROTHER DUSTIN! I knew you’d come!” Chuckie isn’t having it, just saying “If you stick your thumb up my ass again, I’ll kill you.” Spacecat Sami Callihan tags in, and he calls out Liger! “This has gotta be an LSD dream for Jushin Liger at this point” – Chris Hero. Liger tries taking the mask off of Sami, who balks at the idea and startles Liger… who of course, is not one to be outdone. Liger finally rips off the mask, but there’s still cat paint! Scratches from Callihan… but Liger scratches back! Cedric and Kendrick are in now, in a battle of the CWC competitors. Kendrick had the better match with Kota Ibushi, for the record. Kendrick admonishes Cedric for slapping his thigh, saying he’s “KILLING THE BUSINESS!” Cedric starts coming out on top, so Kendrick tags out to Matt Riddle… and HERE COMES JEFF COBB! HUGE AMATEUR EXCHANGE~! I’d pay for a 90 minute match between these two. Riddle tries a Cross Armbreaker, right into a Triangle… so Cobb heaves him up to escape. Riddle tags out to Pete Dunne… so here comes Tommy End! Dunne hits Go to Europe, followed by a release suplex for two! Tommy destroys Pete with a push kick and a Bicycle Knee, so Pete bites his fingers! Tommy battles back with with a jumping knee, and Dunne escapes to tag in Tommaso… and of course, here comes Chuck Taylor. Chuckie misses a moonsault press, and Tommaso bends him over and lodges his head in the second turnbuckle! Jushin Liger won’t have that, and he SACRIFICES HIS ASS FOR CHUCK TAYLOR. Tommaso rears (lol) back, but realizes that it’s Jushin Liger, and can’t bring himself to do it. Liger is insistent though, and TOMMASO CORNHOLES LIGER! BUT LIGER NO-SELLS! THE LEGENDARY ASSHOLE OF JUSHIN THUNDER LIGERRRRRRR~! I’ve had to pause this match 3 times now. HERE COMES TOMMY END! THUMB IN THE BUM FROM TOMMY END! CEDRIC LUBES UP THE THUMB! IT’S A CORNHOLE TRAIN!~! CASUAL THUMB IN KENDRICK’S ASS FROM CHUCKIE! BRUISERWEIGHT THUMB IN THE BUM~! LIGER LEADS A CONGA LINE! HE SENDS EVERYBODY FLYING! I have tears in my eyes. I can’t take this anymore. Tommaso is pissed… but Liger HAS A REMOTE! IT’S SLOW-MO CITY! Watching Dave Meltzer watch this insanity around him is worth the price of the entire BOLA weekend alone. LIGER UNPAUSES IT! TOPE CON HILOS FROM ALL OF TEAM LIGER! CANNONBALL SENTON FROM LIGER! JEFF COBB PUTS THE STRAPS DOWN! But Tommaso stops the dive! What a prick! Tommaso tries climbing the ropes, but he’s a bit scared to do so. Tommaso SINGS I BELIEVE I CAN FLY! JEFF COBB BREAKS IT UP! BUT TOMMASO STUFFS HIM AND CONTINUES! DIVING SPLASH ON COBB! Chuckie hits Sole Food on Tommaso! Sami hits him with the Package Tombstone! POP UP TOUR OF THE ISLANDS ON CALLIHAN! IT’S INSANITY! SHOTEI FROM LIGER! BRAINBUSTER! Jushin Liger pins Pete Dunne in 17 minutes. **** I don’t know how to do this justice. So I won’t. This is the hardest I have ever laughed at professional wrestling, and I implore you to watch it. Thank you.

BOLA Finals: Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay vs. Trevor Lee
While many of the better moments of this year’s BOLA have been outside of the tournament, it’s not like what happened inside it was lackluster. After all, Will Ospreay’s performance against Fenix was some of the most mindblowing stuff of the weekend and his sprint against Zack Sabre Jr earlier tonight was quite the spectacle. Marty Scurll has been one of the most enjoyable personalities, whether in an old-school capacity against Cody Rhodes or against another larger-than-life fellow in Pentagon Jr. Trevor Lee has easily had the least memorable road to the finals, having fairly low-key matches with Kamaitachi, Dalton Castle, and Mark Andrews. But he’s been a reliable heel and a consistent personality himself, so it’s not a complaint. All three men have had banner years in one way or another, so I can’t say I’m rooting for anyone in particular…

All three men throw leather from the get-go, ending in Ospreay hitting a back handspring Pele on both men. Ospreay steps off Trevor and rana’s Scurll out to the floor for a Tope Con Hilo and tries a Sasuke Special on Trevor who catches him, but Scurll interrupts it and gives Trevor a running knee before running into a C4 from Ospreay. Three-way strike exchange leaves both men down in the center of the ring. Ospreay says enough of this shit, but runs into a stereo Just Kidding superkick from Lee and Scurll. Trevor tries to snap Ospreay’s fingers, but Scurll calls gimmick infringement and smacks the shit out of him, snapping Ospreay’s fingers himself to show Trevor how it’s done. Scurll eats a Brother Nero on the apron from Lee, but both men eat a Tope Con Hilo from Ospreay who follows with a springboard 450 to Scurll for 2. Ospreay looks for a double Oscutter, but settles for giving Trevor a reverse rana that sends him out of the ring. Scurll counters out of a Cheeky Nandos, but eats a pump kick, and Ospreay DOUBLE HANDSPRINGS INTO A SPINNING CROSSBODY FROM TREVOR! That only gets two. Ospreay puts Trevor up top, but Scurll and Trevor give him two Cheeky Nandos kicks! ESSEX DESTROYER from Scurll gets 2! Scurll puts in the Chickenwing… but Ospreay’s hand is up at 2.9999! MMA Elbows and slaps from Scurll and Lee respectively, and the Chickenwing and nasty stomps eliminate Will Ospreay at the 10 minute mark.

Scurll and Trevor trade slaps in the center of the ring and eventually turn up the speed, turning into Trevor squishing Marty with the Mushroom Stomp! Scurll fights back with a Tornado DDT, but Trevor is able to fire off a wonky Orange Crush for a desperate two count. Scurll grabs the fingers and throws Trevor to the mat by the arm before hitting a HUGE lariat! Scurll measures for the Chickenwing, but Trevor escapes and backflips into the deadlift German for 2. Scurll catches Trevor low after nearly bumping Rick Knox, but Trevor fights back with a Twist of Fate before going up top for a SWANTON! That only gets 2. Trevor taunts Marty with slaps, but the Villain fires up and tosses Rick Knox in the way of a Superman Elbow! Knox looks DECEASED, and Marty brings out the umbrella! UMBRELLA SHOT TO THE FACE! TREVOR KICKS OUT! TREVOR SNAPS MARTY’S FINGERS! MACHINE GUN CHOPS! TWIST OF FATE COUNTERED INTO THE CHICKENWING! TREVOR ROLLS OUT! MARTY WITH THE DANIELSON ELBOWS! CHICKENWING… LOCKED IN! TREVOR TAPS!!! Marty Scurll wins the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles in 19 minutes. ***3/4 I actually think this is one of the matches people short-sold in live reports. Of course, I do have the benefit of sitting in my nicely air conditioned home with my family as I watch this, but nevertheless I really, really liked this match. All three men were absolutely beat – especially Will Ospreay – but they came out and put on a final match that wasn’t insulting to all of the absolute quality that came before it and actually made sense within the tournament context. In fact, I thought they all did a splendid job of making that fatigue into somewhat of a central point in the match, using gasps of energy to get where they needed to be instead of pretending that they just got to the show after a day in the sun. Ospreay’s strategy of going hell for leather immediately was both logical and good character work, as he knew he wasn’t going to last long if he wasted time. After all, that sort of strategy is what won him pretty much every match so far this weekend, so why not try it again? Unfortunately, he had two slightly fresher wrestlers to deal with, and they teamed up to take the tournament favorite out. After that, Marty Scurll and Trevor Lee did a tremendous job at turning up the heat, throwing bombs at each other in futile attempts to make the other quit. We saw Trevor Lee try the Orange Crush for the first time in forever, while Marty got a huge second wind after channeling his Villain persona one last time, ending up in him winning the match after an incredible finishing sequence. I loved the urgency of this match, I loved how they didn’t sacrifice logic for excitement, and I am a huge fan of the result. While it might not be as admirable on the surface as the 36 minute final from last year, this kept the fans in it the entire way despite the heat and length of the show. And it’s hard to say Marty Scurll winning your biggest tournament ever is the wrong decision. Tremendous match to cap off an even better tournament.

Marty takes the mic for his speech, and says that he “fucking deserves this.” The crowd agrees of course. He says he’s going to say a few things that aren’t very villainous, but “fuck it, it’s BOLA.” He says he was put on this planet to be a pro wrestler. People told him he was too small, that it was unrealistic. He sat on an 11 hour flight to win a tournament with 24 of the best wrestlers in the world… PWG is the place to be. Cody Rhodes was at Wrestlemania, but quit that company to wrestle in front of everyone in Reseda. He’s also owed a title shot, and tells Zack that he might be his best friend in the world, but Marty’s the best wrestler in the world. Long Live The Villain!

We cut to Zack Sabre Jr in the ring, staring Marty down with his belt held high. We end BOLA there…

8.5
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
As with the last 2 Battle of Los Angeles weekends, the third night is a marathon of wrestling... this year a bit less so than last year, but nevertheless, it's a LOT of wrestling. And in terms of getting more bang for your buck, the last nights are always quite great. In terms of consistency though, it lags behind a bit compared to its two previous outings but that's not to say this isn't a damn great pro wrestling show. It has plenty of brief matches to help you catch your breath, padded out by your prototypical PWG insanity (Bucks vs. Pentagon & Fenix anyone??) and an incredibly enjoyable final match to give everything the correct punctuation. And hell, it all may have peaked with that wacky-but-incredible ten man tag! It's not something most will want to watch in one sitting, but Stage 3 of the 2016 BOLA is 12 matches of some of the most premiere wrestling in the world, capping off another historic tournament for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
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