wrestling / Video Reviews
Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2014 (Night Three)
Image Credit: PWG
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BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Candice LeRae
In case you’re living under a rock, Johnny Gargano is the son of a bitch that finally got Candice. And as such this is a no-brainer match for the novelty of it. Although I’m not sure this match had such connotations a year ago. And I don’t quite feel comfortable tweeting her to ask.
Gargano holds back a punch when he realizes it’s Candice, but Candice has no trouble with chopping him. She throws Gargano out to the apron, hits a neckbreaker hung in the ropes, and a tope suicida! Gargano crotches Candice on the top rope, AND MURDERS HER WITH AN ALLEY OOP ON THE TURNBUCKLE! He takes Candice to the apron and looks for something, but the tag champ slips out and dropkicks him off the apron… into a Tope Tornado DDT! Candice gives Johnny a reverse rana in the ring, but Gargano is able to kick out at two! Gargano gets out of the Ballsplex, but Candice escapes the Lawn Dart and puts in the Black Widow! La Mistica…INTO GARGA-NO ESCAPE! Gargano counters it with a facebuster on his knee, which allows him some time to recover. Gargano puts her up top and looks for a Dragon Superplex, but Candice knocks him off… and misses a Moonsault. Johnny can’t bring himself to superkick Candice, which pisses her off and earns him some spit in the face and a near-loss with a victory roll! Gargano responds by Lawn Darting her, for a nearfall! Gargano shoves Candice off of the Violence Party, but she Ballsplexes him into the corner! Swinging Top Rope DDT! Johnny doesn’t go down though, and he hits the Hurtz Donut for the win at the 10 minute mark. ***1/4 Candice is the perfect person to open a PWG show. As I said during my Night 2 review, she has the adoration of everybody in the crowd, as well as a built-in underdog story. So any hope spots she gets, any nearfalls, the crowd is all the way into because they’re sympathetic to her plight. They want her to win and they show their support unabashedly. Crowd support like that turns average matches good and great matches into classics, if used correctly. Johnny added some pretty cool story touches in this too, which allowed Candice to come off both sympathetic and badass because of her anger at Johnny holding back because she’s female. I do wonder what these two could do with 15-20 minutes though, because this felt like a condensed version of a better match.
BOLA Quarterfinal Match: TJ Perkins vs. Ricochet
TJ actually had a pretty nifty match with Bobby Fish on Night 1, but in my very biased opinion, he was the wrong guy to advance. I do have high hopes for this match though due to Ricochet’s involvement.
TJ actually manages to show personality by hilariously replying to a Fuck TNA chant with, “Hey, I appreciate it, but my mom and dad won’t let me come play if you guys keep acting like that.” That might be the best thing TJP has ever done. The crowd wants a three-way dance which Rick Knox teases, but he backs away to the chagrin of a hopeful audience. Ricochet pretends to fall for TJ’s little rope thing, but TJ recovers and puts in a cross armbreaker. TJ keeps Ricochet grounded with an array of different submissions. Ricochet escapes TJ’s vices with a bicycle stomp to the back of the head, and he follows up with a springboard lariat. Ricochet hits a Standing SSP for a nearfall. TJ gets the knees up on a springboard 450, but can’t get the pin. Ricochet gets out of a cross armbreaker and hits a Fireman’s Carry into a Kick. TJ rocks Ricochet with a kick, and hits a Brainbuster for a nearfall. Ricochet counters a Fireman’s Carry into Meteora, and he advances to the Semifinals with a Benadryller in 12 minutes. *** What they did was good, but they were wrestling like they were going twenty minutes, and instead of kicking into a good finishing sequence, they just went home. Had they been given an extra 5-7 minutes, I think they’d have given us something memorable. As it stands, it’s an acceptable athletic exhibition that saves Ricochet’s energy for the rest of the night. The crowd’s too, as they have a LOT of wrestling to sit through tonight.
BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Michael Elgin vs. Trevor Lee
The result of this match pissed Ring of Honor off, as if somehow people were going to think even less of Michael Elgin than they already did at this point.
Trevor withstands an initial storm from Elgin and hits a diving hurricanrana, but Elgin quickly downs him using his superior strength. Trevor boots Elgin in the chest from the apron and looks for a Tope Suicida, but Elgin catches him and gives him a Bulldog Powerslam on the floor. Elgin misses the Corkscrew Senton as they enter the ring though, but he lets Elgin recover for too long, and he ends up in the same position he was in beforehand. Elgin hangs Lee on the second rope and comes down with a Harlem Hangover on the back of his head. Lee hits a Crucifix Bomb in spite of this, but he only gets two out of it. Lee dropkicks Elgin out of the ring and MOONSAULTS ON TOP OF HIM! Good psychology from Lee there, not going for a Tope Suicida since it bit him in the ass last time. Lee hits the flipping crossbody, but only gets two! Lee hilariously looks for a Package Piledriver, but settles for an enzuigiri instead. Elgin hits one of his own and a German Suplex for a two count. Elgin murders Lee with double knees in the corner, but Lee catches him with a roundhouse kick and a DEADLIFT GERMAN! Lee eats a Backfist however, and some sort of weird backbreaker thing for a two count. Lee eats a boot from Elgin, but fires back with a Mushroom Stomp for a two count. Lee looks for a stepup Super Rana, but Elgin HITS A SUPER ELGIN BOMB! BUCKLE BOMB… ELGIN BOMB COUNTERED INTO A REVERSE RANA! SMALL PACKAGE WINS IT! Lee advances to the semifinals in 13 minutes. ***1/2 The one thing I’ve come to like about Lee in PWG is his use of roll-ups and small packages to win matches. It makes nearfalls a little more suspenseful, as you never know which roll-up is going to win it for him. A lot of matches use roll-ups in a pretty illogical way, but Lee uses them really well, kind of like Chris Hero’s elbows. You never know which one is gonna get him the W. I look at it like I look at the People’s Elbow. Sure, it isn’t always believable or ‘legit’, but once you get something over, it stays over and builds credibility despite how unorthodox it may be. Obviously, the cradles and such aren’t on the level of the People’s Elbow, but it’s a rather similar concept. Simple wrestling psychology can do wonders for even the smallest of details. Elgin put in his usual reliable performance, but this was the Trevor Lee show, especially since Lee surprisingly picked up the win. Great stuff.
BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Matt Sydal vs. Kenny Omega
Omega was able to withstand Stone Cold ACH last night, but who knows what sort of condition he’s in? The mudhole in his ass can only heal so much in one day.
Sydal fakes out an Omega leap frog and capitalizes on that with a rana and a Beauty Shot. Omega battles back and locks in an Abdominal Stretch. Omega shows off some fantastic strength by withstanding a Sydal knee while holding him up for a suplex, and simply squatting down and regrouping, dropping Sydal down after the recovery. Omega pulls out the chainsaw, but Sydal shows an incredible amount of wherewithal and initially is able to hold it up, but Omega withstands his resistance and chops him up accordingly. Normal logic dictates that cutting a man’s head in half with a chainsaw would end the match, but this is PWG so Sydal is able to go on essentially being what South Park imagined Britney Spears to be in that one episode. Sydal battles back with a barrage of kicks, getting two off of a spinning back kick ala RVD. Sydal eats Omega’s knee while attempting a standing moonsault, but Sydal battles through and nails Meteora for a two count. Omega brains Sydal with a lariat, and follows up with a nasty Gutwrench Liger Bomb for two. Omega drops Sydal with a Hadouken, but Sydal stomps him down. Sydal misses an SSP and Omega gets the win with a Joker Driver in 15 minutes. *** This was perfectly acceptable wrestling without much of an edge. PWG is one of those promotions that is great at putting guys together with no storyline due to said workers being able to compensate for the lack of said storyline, but this was a victim of a lack of heat that most of PWG’s contests are able to avoid. I like Omega advancing, but this wasn’t very memorable or much of a standout beyond their great athleticism.
BOLA Quarterfinal Match: AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong
Oddly, AJ Styles has been the underachiever in this tournament, but that’s mostly due to his opponent not being up to par. Like I said, if AJ Styles can’t carry you, odds are PWG isn’t where you should be. Roderick had a pretty pedestrian first round as well, but these two are usually good for a great singles match so my hopes are high. Even if I already know how fucky the finish is going to be.
They start off throwing leather in the form of forearms, until AJ gets the upperhand with his nifty dropkick, followed up with a vertical suplex and a backbreaker. AJ hits the springboard forearm, knocking Roddy outside. AJ looks for a baseball slide, misses it, but is able to counter Roddy and hit a running clothesline. Roddy fights back by hitting what I can only describe as a Samoan Drop into the ringpost, followed by a backbreaker on the apron. AJ eats another backbreaker back in the ring, as Roddy slows things down and takes control. They trade some pretty stiff forearms outside of the ring, and as they get back into the ring, AJ fires off a stiff strike sequence and ends it with a discus lariat for a nearfall. That allows AJ to mount some momentum, hitting a hammerlock Backdrop Driver, followed up with a Torture Rack into a falling Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Roddy makes his comeback, hitting the knee, backbreaker, and Olympic Slam sequence for another nearfall. AJ battles back and hits the moonsault/reverse DDT, for another nearfall. Roddy escapes the Styles Clash, but runs into the Pele Kick immediately afterwards. Roddy fires off a jumping knee, hits Death By Roderick, and hits the Sick Kick for a close nearfall. AJ counters End of Heartache and grabs an Ankle Lock, that he quickly turns into the Calf Killer. Roderick breaks it by clubbing AJ in the face, but AJ battles back. He looks for a DDT, but Roddy’s turn knocks Justin Borden down. AJ doesn’t concern himself with it immediately, hitting Bloody Sunday. AJ murders Roddy with a reverse Tombstone, because apparently breaking Roderick Strong’s neck is something AJ has been sent to do. Roddy takes advantage of the ref bump, grabbing a couple chairs. AJ looks for Styles Clash, but Roddy brings a chair up and smacks AJ with it. AJ battles back and tries to hit Roddy with the chair… and there’s your DQ at 17 minutes. It had to be done I guess. **1/2 Another pretty uninteresting match for these two during BOLA. It really felt like an extended version of something I’d see on TNA iMPACT in 2005 rather than two of the best wrestlers in the world wrestling a 20 minute match. And while AJ’s house show efforts are often better than most people’s PPV efforts, it still didn’t amount to something a wrestler of his calibre should be able to do in 17 minutes, much less in front of a Reseda crowd. I did like Roddy’s sudden interest in playing up a heel character, but it never really showed in his wrestling and so things felt pretty vanilla on his end too. The finish was inevitable, which makes me question PWG’s reasoning for bringing him in for this tournament if they’re going to stick him in with a mediocre-at-best Brian Myers and a DQ finish the crowd is going to shit on. The intentions were good, but the execution of AJ Styles’ PWG return left a lot to be desired. The moves were crisp and executed well, but how they did those moves never grabbed me due to the surprising lack of oomph or purpose with which they performed the moves. It wasn’t until Roddy won the PWG Title that he really started grabbing me, because you can tell that he was on auto-pilot here and AJ didn’t really seem too keen on dragging him out of it.
BOLA Quarterfinal Match: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre, Jr
I mean if you’re going to compensate for a crap finish, you might as well do it in style.
You can probably tell how the beginning of this match is going to go. A lot of cool counters, and Kyle is able to keep up with Zack a good amount of the way. They have one hell of an exchange of pins, and they can’t hit each other with kicks either, so we’re at a standoff that’s like quite GENERIC INDY!~! Kyle gets the first taste of an advantage with a barrage of kicks and sweeps. Zack uses his feet to stretch and bend Kyle’s arm, transitioning nicely to a nice round of “wrench the fuck out of every limb your opponent has”. Zack counters the Jawbreaker Lariat into a small package, but Kyle one-ups him by rolling through and hitting a Brainbuster. Kyle hits the Alarm Clock, and after eating a few kicks, he hits a Regalplex for a two count. Zack is the first one to put in a cross armbreaker, but Kyle rolls out fairly easily, and he counters an O’Connor Roll into a Cross Armbreaker of his own. They trade spin kicks to the gut, which is something I’ve never seen before, and it rightfully brings Reseda to its feet. They trade kicks, and they slap each other at the same time, which sends them both to the ground. Zack hits the insane running uppercuts and scouts the Jawbreaker Lariat, countering it into a Cross Armbreaker. Kyle rolls through and gets two on a cradle, so he just resorts to stomping on Zack’s face instead. Zack recovers and hits the Penalty Kick, followed by a snap Dragon Suplex for two. Zack takes Kyle out to the apron and wrenches his arm in the turnbuckle, but Kyle counters and puts in a Sleeper. They go up top, AND ZACK ROLLS OFF THE TOP ROPE INTO A CROSS ARMBREAKER! Kyle gets to the ropes, but that was incredible either way. Zack follows up with another Penalty Kick, but Kyle HITS A PUMPHANDLE DRIVER! BRAINBUSTER! SABRE KICKS OUT AT ONE! STOMPS TO THE FACE! TRIANGLE! Zack passes out at the 18 minute mark. ***3/4 Zack Sabre Jr is a prodigy, and props to Super Dragon for coming up with this match, because it was just as awesome as I expected it to be. Zack is on another level when it comes to working a guy over, making the slow parts of his matches feel like they matter as opposed to the match before it, which made everything feel like an exercise in passing time. Kyle did a wonderful job of keeping up with Sabre’s mind-blowing technical wrestling, and they even stuck in a nice bit of psychology in Kyle having Sabre’s number a few times. While this wasn’t as story-driven as many of Sabre Jr’s matches seem to be, they both did a good job of making Kyle O’Reilly’s arm injury seem low-key while still important, without sacrificing selling or cohesion. This was great from bell-to-bell and a welcome change in what has been a rather monotonous show so far.
After the match, Roderick Strong comes in and cleans house of both Sabre and Kyle. He brings in some chairs that Rick Knox tries to stop, but that earns him a chairshot. Excalibur even tries to intervene, but Roddy chairs him in the gut. Kyle takes the End of Heartache through the chairs and finds himself in the Stronghold, until Bobby Fish comes to save his partner. Roddy runs away and we fade into the next match.
Mt. Rushmore (The Young Bucks & Adam Cole) vs. ACH, Brian Myers, & Chris Sabin
I can dig this.
Mount Rushmore attempts to superkick Angelo Trinidad into oblivion once more, but Angelo moves, putting Cole down with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. ANGELO TRINIDAD HITS A DOUBLE LARIAT ON THE BUCKS! Angelo pulls a Red Shoes and even tells them to suck it! Chris Sabin uses this as provocation to start the match, and we have a bevvy of dives from the face team to start us off. Mt. Rushmore comes back however with triple Tope Suicidas! Myers goes on a roll with bodyslams, so much so that he bodyslams his partners! He tries to bodyslam Rick Knox even, but RICK KNOX COUNTERS INTO A SUNSET FLIP! COLE COUNTS… FOR TWO! The most dramatic nearfall of the night, right there. Rick Knox argues with Cole about the count, but order is soon restored, if you can call a TRIPLE SUPLEX!~!~! order. AIR JORDAN FROM ACH! ACH tries to crowd-surf, but the Bucks SUPERKICK HIM OUT OF THE CROWD-SURF! A wrestling match threatens to break out, as Mt. Rushmore isolates ACH in the ring. Cole tries to do the backwards somersault into a backrake, but he settles for ADAM COLE BAYBAAAAY instead. This match is too entertaining. I’m trying to find a flaw in this I promise, but negativity isn’t this reviewer’s niche. ACH comes back with one of the most solid Stunners I’ve seen in years. Cole and Matt take Sabin and Myers off of the apron to prevent a tag, but Sabin finds his way in anyways and starts cleaning house. Sabin hits Cradle Shock, but Adam Cole kicks out. Mt Rushmore tries to triple-team Sabin, but it all soon dissolves into a Super Tower of Doom! It all breaks down into action my fingers aren’t coordinated enough to call. The Bucks and ACH do triple 450 Splashes, which the Bucks have no choice but to break up. Mt. Rushmore hits the Superkicks into the Package Piledriver, but Sabin and Myers break things up. Cole hits Panama Sunrise on ACH, and More Bang For Your Fuck picks up the win in 11 minutes. Only eleven minutes? Huh. Definitely felt longer. ***3/4 Sue me for the generous rating, but while the actual wrestling wasn’t as virtuosic and intricate as the match that preceeded it, I was every bit as entertained by the total package this one had to offer. And sorry, but I’m not one to grade a match exclusively by its technical wrestling. Entertainment is half the battle, and all six men provided it in a big way. They wrestled at an insanely quick pace, quick for the Bucks even, and the fact that they wrestled it so smoothly is a testament to their talent. I even managed to like Brian Myers’ output here, which lets you know damn entertaining I thought this was. Now this show is getting into a good groove.
Angelo Trinidad announces that Kyle O’Reilly is too injured to compete any more in the tournament, so Roderick Strong gets a bye to the finals.
BOLA Semi-Final Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Trevor Lee
While I like this match and completely support it happening, how awesome would a Candice vs. Trevor Lee match be?
Lee Pearl Harbors Johnny and uses that to get an advantage, hitting a Kitchen Sink as Johnny comes off the ropes. Lee escapes Garga-No Escape, proving that Johnny Gargano is a dirty goddamn liar. Lee slithers outside, so Gargano HITS A BLOCKBUSTER OFF THE APRON ONTO THE FLOOR! That is ridiculous. They trade chops in the middle of chairs outside, and Trevor Lee Mushroom Stomps Gargano as they go at it inside. Trevor takes control of Johnny afterwards. They trade suplex attempts and eventually Johnny gets enough leverage to take Lee over for one. The one thing I don’t like about Johnny is that he throws some pretty weak punches. He doesn’t throw a weak rolling kick however, as Trevor Lee can attest to at this point in the match. Johnny tries to finish him with a Buzzsaw Kick, but Trevor tries to shitcan him to prevent it. That only allows Johnny to slingshot in with a DDT for another nearfall. Lee hits a high roundhouse of his own and drops Gargano with a German, but runs right into a roundhouse from Gargano! Dead Lift German from Lee! Johnny powers out at 2. They both head out to the apron, trading some stiff forearms. Lee throws an enzuigiri, but Johnny throws one that sends the Caveman out to the floor! Tope Suicida from Gargano! Lee hits a beautiful powerbomb into a wonky little Prawn Hold, but Gargano kicks out again. Lee blocks an Enzuigiri but nearly goes down to a Victory Roll, and Gargano keeps going and hits the Lawn Dart. Hurts Donut scores, but Lee kicks out! Lee fakes Johnny out with a few Lucha passes and HITS THE FLIPPING CROSSBODY! ORANGE CRUSH! GARGANO KICKS OUT AGAIN! They trade some hard slaps on their knees, somewhat of a stalemate. Lee pimp-slaps Gargano, but runs right into a barrage of superkicks… until Lee hits a Pop Up Powerbomb. Package Piledriver… COUNTERED INTO GARGA-NO ESCAPE! LEE COUNTERS FOR TWO! SUPERKICKS FROM GARGANO! GARGA-NO ESCAPE AGAIN! Johnny Gargano advances to the finals in 18 minutes. ***3/4 A very different match from O’Reilly/Sabre, but just as exciting and maybe even more-so due to the engrossing story of Trevor Lee’s BOLA weekend. The Carolina Caveman had the crowd in his corner throughout much of this and some of the most suspenseful moments of the entire night came from his hope spots and nearfalls. Alas, it was not to be, but Trevor Lee made his mark during this BOLA tournament and the crowd obviously hasn’t forgotten it a year later. Johnny also did a great job of working from underneath too, throwing a lot of really stiff kicks and using his quickness to outdo Trevor’s wacky form of offense. I really liked this match and while I probably would have given Lee the nod, it doesn’t matter much in the end. This was a great match no matter who won.
BOLA Semi-Final Match: Kenny Omega vs. Ricochet
I’m running out of things to say on the match intros, guys.
Omega passive-aggressively slaps Ricochet on what was otherwise a clean break, but is nice enough to give Ricochet a free retaliation. Ricochet opts to stomp on Omega’s foot, but Kenny fights back easily. They trade some nice flying moves until Omega gives Ricochet no choice but to dip after a freefall. Ricochet dodges a Pescado though, and comes out with a Tope Con Hilo. Ricochet grabs the extra headset at the commentary booth shaped like a table, but Omega THROWS A CHAIR AT HIM AND EXCALIBUR. I don’t know if that was a particuarly good idea, but it was fantastic. Some fan hilariously yells “Where’s Chuckie T when you need him?” which is a question apparently no one has asked enough. Omega uses that unorthodox move to take control of Ricochet in the ring. Omega gives Ricochet one of the hardest chops I’ve seen in a hot minute because apparently he just feels like being a dick tonight. Kenny gets the Chainsaw running, raking it across Ricochet’s face much to the chagrin of his former rival Rick Knox. Omega drops Ricochet down hard with a Backdrop Driver, but Ricochet doesn’t back down as they trade chops and strikes in the ring. Ricochet gets dropkicked out of a mid-air during a crossbody, which Omega follows by coming down with a Tope Con Hilo! Omega goes up top, but eats a soccer kick in mid-air and a standing SSP for a close nearfall. Omega runs into a roundhouse kick from a top rope hung Ricochet, but Omega fights back with a Switch Knee from the mat. Omega jumps up and brings Ricochet down with an Avalanche Fisherman’s Suplex! Ricochet throws a few lifters at Omega, who just shoves Ricochet out of the ring with his foot. They head out to the apron, where Omega tries to Dragon Suplex Ricochet. OMEGA MURDERS RICOCHET WITH A SNAP HALF-AND-HALF ON THE APRON! RICOCHET KICKS OUT! Ricochet hits an Enzuigiri but eats another Dragon Suplex. He battles through it but gets MURDERED with a Hadouken that nearly pins him! Ricochet heads to the second rope where Omega looks for an Avalanche Croyt’s Wrath, but Ricochet BACK FLIPS OUT OF IT! ENZUIGIRI! OMEGA COUNTERS THE REVERSE RANA INTO CROYT’S WRATH! RICOCHET KICKS OUT! RICOCHET COUNTERS A BICYCLE KNEE INTO A ROUNDHOUSE! 630 FROM RICOCHET! OMEGA KICKS OUT~! I even had the finish typed up there! BENADRYLLER! Now Ricochet advances to the finals in 20 minutes. ***3/4 With a more eventful middle portion, we’d be talking about this as one of the best matches of the weekend. They seemed to meander a bit before turning it up, but they turned it up in a ridiculous way. The nearfalls they pulled out were impeccably timed and I bit harder on the 630 than I usually do. And I’ve seen the show before! Needless to say, these two tore the house down, even though they’ve both been wrestling fools this weekend and Ricochet still has to wrestle a triple threat main event. There wasn’t much story to this one like there was Gargano/Lee but they compensated with a tremendous finishing stretch that has to be seen to be believed. Awesome way to cap off this round of BOLA.
Team Biff Busick (Biff Busick, Drew Gulak, Cedric Alexander, Bobby Fish & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Team Chris Hero (Chris Hero, Willie Mack, Joey Ryan, Rich Swann, & Chuck Taylor)
As far as I’m concerned, nothing will ever beat the grandiosity of Team Statutory, but this will definitely do. This was supposed to be Willie Mack’s farewell, but apparently medical issues prevented Willie from advancing to NXT.
Chuck Taylor is on commentary for reasons I don’t understand, but that’s okay because now that Steen’s gone, he’s far and away the best guest commentator. Gulak and Hero start things off with some cool technical exchanges, probably providing one of the better pin exchanges you’ll see. GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! makes an appearance. Gulak dodges the Pounce from Willie, and here comes Cedric Alexander. Cedric drops Willie with his nice dropkick. Willie manages to twerk while handstanding on the top rope, because he’s amazing. Bobby Fish and Joey Ryan tag in, the “sleaziest two guys in the match” according to Chuck Taylor. The crowd chants that they want Candice, so Joey sulks in the corner. He eventually manages to fight, but Bobby dropkicks him down and gets all sleazy on the man who’s been campaigning to get sleaze legalized for years. Joey shows him who’s boss though. Chuck Taylor takes his spot on the apron finally. Biff Busick and Rich Swann make their first entry in the match, and they have a fever pitch of action too. Chuck Taylor and Tommaso Ciampa make their entry, and surprisingly the Kentucky Gentleman holds his own. THUMB IN THE BUM FROM CIAMPA. ASS TO MOUTH! TOMMASO YOU NEVER GO ASS TO MOUTH! Was he born in a fucking barn?! Chuck Taylor is offended, AS HE SHOULD BE. So what do you do in that situation? SLOW MOTION. There is nothing about this that I don’t love. SLOW MOTION CORNHOLE!~!~! GOD DAMN IT CIAMPA YOU NEVER GO ASS TO MOUTH! I’m not even gonna play by play any of this. You’ve either seen it or need to see it immediately. Bobby Fish stops the slow motion with a kick to the back and the crowd ERUPTS. Chuck Taylor finds himself in some actual trouble though, but Chris Hero attempts to come to his aide. Unfortunately Busick and Gulak dodge a Mafia Kick that ends up hitting Chuckie. It’s just a smorgasboard of dives at this point that I’m not even skilled enough to call. Cedric tries a dive of his own but gets the shit punched out of him by Hero, WHO DIVES OUT ON TOP OF EVERYBODY WITH A MOONSAULT! Hero just elbows everybody in sight, until Cedric comes back and hits him with the Lumbar Check! Joey and Bobby Fish go at it, until Rich comes at Bobby with a spinning enzuigiri! Ciampa catches Rich Swann mid-jump and hits Project Ciampa! Willie Mack eats a knee from Ciampa, but hits a brainbuster despite him. Gulak and Busick double team Willie, who still manages to break free and put both of them down for a double Samoan Drop and a standing moonsault! Bobby Fish stops the Two Dog Night on Chuckie, and IT’S A SLEEPER HOLD TRAIN! HERE’S TRENT BARETTA! SOLE FOOD ON CIAMPA WITH HIS INJURD KNEE! HE PUTS THE GRENADE IN BOBBY FISH’S PANTS! ATOMIC DROP! IT EXPLODES! FROG SPLASH FROM RICH SWANN! Team Chris Hero wins one of the most inexplicable matches I’ve ever seen at the 20 minute mark. **** As I said during the previous trios match, my match ratings do not solely rely on the quality of its technical wrestling. The way I see it, wrestling has one real goal it needs to achieve; entertainment. Whether that entertainment comes from a dazzling display of spots and athletics or complex storytelling, it doesn’t matter. If I’m entertained, I’m calling it a good match. To say I was entertained by this would be the understatement of the century. Everything about this is displays why I love Pro Wrestling Guerrilla so much. From the crowd participation to the million-mile-an-hour wrestling, everything about this is made me smile. Is it going to be for everybody? Obviously not. If the slow-motion sequence seemed silly to you, that’s completely understandable and something I wouldn’t begrudge you for disliking. Me? I was howling with laughter throughout most of it. Once the wrestling got down to something resembling a match, enough guys had their shit together that everything flowed inexplicably well, going to show once again how immensely talented all ten of these men are in one form or another. From bell-to-bell this is some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching this promotion, and if you’ve been reading since I started in 2012, you’ll know that it’s no small feat. Seek this out at all costs.
BOLA Finals: Roderick Strong vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet
After the dizzyingly crazy tournament, we’re finally down to three guys who have all had varying degrees of success in PWG. Johnny Gargano had an amazing debut year in 2013 while Ricochet has been slowly morphing into one of the most entertaining, out-there wrestlers I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Knowing soon after this Roderick Strong would finally find himself after years of general apathy, makes this a good amount more interesting in hindsight.
Gargano and Ricochet both give Roddy superkicks and fight it out themselves, but once they see Roddy stirring they go back after him. Amazing sequence where Ricochet dodges a slingshot spear by diving out on top of Roddy with a Tope Con Hilo. Ricochet brainbusters Gargano, and Roddy bides his time until he’s able to dictate who controls what. Roddy and Gargano fight it out on the floor, where Roddy hits a Half Nelson Backbreaker onto the apron, as well as giving Ricochet a regular backbreaker on the apron for shits and giggles. Johnny kicks Ricochet out of a rolling Pele Kick, and he drops both Ricochet and Roddy with a DDT/Flatliner. Ricochet gets out of a Roddy Olympic Slam and hits a Reverse Suplex, turning his attention to Gargano, who eventually elbows out of a Fireman’s Carry position and rana’s Ricochet into a small package from Roddy! They trade ridiculous flurries of kicks and elbows until they all just collapse. They throw a chops all three ways, until a Benadryller takes Roddy out of the situation. Gargano puts in Garga-No Escape on Ricochet, who fights out with a Regalplex that Gargano shakes off. Roddy murders Ricochet with a Sick Kick for a nearfall. The crowd is spent at this point. They probably should have let it end after that crazy strike sequence. Ricochet goes up top and hits the 630 on Roddy, but Gargano snatches Ricochet for a Victory Roll! Ricochet kicks out! Ricochet hits a Deadlift Suplex on Gargano and hits a Shooting Star Press! Gargano kicks out! Ricochet stiffs Gargano with a Benadryller and he wins BOLA at the 16 minute mark. ***1/4 This was a great match marred by a pretty tired crowd and general fatigue. They actually started off super hot but they started running out of steam toward the finish, as did the crowd. That’s not to discount what these three achieved at all. They wrestling an inhuman amount of times during this weekend and the fact that they even had enough steam left to come out and do crazy dives on their third (or second, in Roddy’s case) match of the night speaks volumes to how great they are. They had a really good match here, but fatigue from all parties seemed to dampen the craziness of it. All things considered though, this was a good way to cap off this monstrous tournament and give Ricochet the moment he’s been building toward for four years.
After the match, Roddy takes out Ricochet with the End of Heartache, smashing the trophy for good measure. Ricochet recovers enough to have his moment as he takes the mic. He talks about his beginnings in PWG and puts over the crowd. It’s basically every BOLA acceptance speech that ever happened, with a bit more swearing from Ricochet than I anticipated. He’s actually a pretty funny guy but he doesn’t ever get mic time so it’s all a pretty surprising deal for me. We fade out with Ricochet standing tall…
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