Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2014 (Night Two)

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

Your hosts are Excalibur and the usual suspects.

BOLA First Round Match: Candice LeRae vs. Rich Swann
Talk about continuity. Candice pinned Rich to retain her and Joey Ryan’s tag titles the night before, so Rich looks to even the score.

Rich Swann opts not to attempt sexual assault on Candice, instead shaking her hand. PWG, breaking barriers since 2003. The crowd wants a test of strength so Candice and Swann oblige. Swann finds himself on the losing end, so Swann throws her down to a chorus of boos. Candice shows some pretty nifty technical skill, and tries to reverse rana Swann, who HANDSPRINGS OUT OF IT much to the surprise of everybody. I’ve never seen that before. Swann bitchslaps Candice to huge heat! Talk about the last guy I’d ever thought to do that. I can’t honestly say I didn’t laugh my ass off, so I’m no angel either. Swann takes advantage of Candice’s size by putting in a pretty awesome standing Boston Crab. I never thought Swann could be this awesome as the bully heel. Candice fights back from a few hard chops with the Violence Party, but she runs into a stiff superkick from Swann. Candice rana’s Swann out of the corner, and she climbs up top to hit a missile dropkick. Swann dips to the outside, so Candice dives out with the Tope Suicida into a Tornado DDT! She spikes Swann with a diving DDT in the ring, but only gets two. Swann backflips out of a Ballsplex and hits a standing frog splash for a two count. Swann hits the Lethal Injection for another nearfall. Candice hits the Ballsplex and the Reverse Rana. Swann kicks out! Candice asks who wants a Mustache Ride, but Swann scouts it and comes down with a Frog Splash! Candice kicks out. Candice PINS SWANN WITH A SMALL PACKAGE! Candice advances in 11 minutes. ***1/4 This was the perfect way to open the show. Candice is the most over babyface in PWG, so she’s already got built in sympathy any time she wrestles. Swann rose to the occasion of being a heel tremendously well too, surprising me with his moves and how much of a dick he was. The right person won, and they wrestled the correct length for what they were going for. Good stuff.

BOLA First Round Match: Chuck Taylor vs. Johnny Gargano
F.I.S.T. EXPLODES!~!

They lock up and go to all four corners before Chuckie gives his partner a clean break. Chuckie gets frustrated at Johnny trying to face-wash him in the spinning toehold, but Gargano rolls through to break it. They catch each other’s kicks, and amicably put each other’s feet down because friendship. Chuck chops Johnny so hard that Johnny falls on his head, so Chuck poses for the hard cam. Already practicing for WWE, I see. Gargano shitcans Taylor, but Chuckie cuts him off mid-dive. Chuckie takes Johnny around the ring and hiptosses him into the chairs. Chuck makes a commentary cameo so Excalibur can tell him when the Kentucky Gentleman is on commentary, which lets Gargano recover and Deadly Driver him on a pile of folded chairs! Chuckie suplexes Johnny into the corner as they enter the ring though, and he gives him a Sliced Bread #2 for a two count. Chuck catches Gargano’s rolling kick and puts in a single leg crab. Gargano looks for a Superplex, but Chuck shoves him off. Gargano recovers and sends Chuck outside and attempts a tope suicida, but Chuck catches him and MURDERS HIM WITH A SUPLEX TOSS TO THE FLOOR. That was meant for the apron, but that was all floor. Johnny is still able to fight back in the ring, and he hits Chuckie with a pair of superkicks. They trade superkicks, and Gargano flies and rolls into Garga-No Escape to advance in 14 minutes. ***1/4 This was about on par with the opener, which is most definitely a good thing. They wrestled with purpose and a pretty decent sense of urgency, while Chuck Taylor threw in some good comedy in the earlygoings. Just like Candice, Chuck Taylor is one of the best babyfaces on the roster so automatically, you have a reason to get invested. It helps that he’s a great wrestler too. We have a show on our hands, boys.

BOLA First Round Match: Ricochet vs. Chris Sabin
Ricochet was having a banner 2014 while Chris Sabin had just left the steadily sinking TNA ship before this. I think this might be Sabin’s first PWG match since SEVEN all the way back in 2010 (incredible show by the way), but I might be wrong.

It just occurred to me that this is the battle of the Machine Guns, which makes me feel stupid for not getting it before. Ricochet uses his flippy floom flams to get the upperhand on Sabin. Ricochet talks to a twin in the audience, and some dickhead in the crowd heckles him for it. I didn’t catch what he said, but Ricochet gets pretty heated at him. Ricochet misses the People’s Moonsault, and kicks out of a couple Sabin rollups. Sabin slows it down, but stretches Ricochet out while doing so. Ricochet hits a standing shooting star for a two count. Ricochet hits a Shoulder Capture Suplex for a close nearfall. Sabin dodges a Phoenix Splash and hits a step-up Enzuigiri, followed up by a spinning, ropehung neckbreaker for a two count. Ricochet catches a Sabin DDT and ROLLS INTO A DEADLIFT BRAINBUSTER! Sabin kicks out, and crotches Ricochet on the top rope shortly thereafter. Sabin looks for a Superplex, but Ricochet battles out. Sabin counters a Sunset Powerbomb into an Alley Oop and a LEAPING PILEDRIVER! Sabin hits a Tiger Suplex but Ricochet is able to kick out. Sabin hits a superkick to a seated Ricochet, and hits Cradle Shock for a nearfall! Ricochet hits a Springboard 450, but Sabin kicks out! Sabin tries to prevent Ricochet from diving from the top rope, but Ricochet punches the shit out of him and eventually kicks him off. Ricochet wins with the 630 in 15 minutes. ***1/2 I’d definitely call this a pleasant surprise. I’ve never quite been enamoured with Chris Sabin’s singles output, but he kept up with Ricochet every step of the way here and in turn, pulled out a great match. He moves amazingly for a guy who’s torn both of his ACL’s, and can still do a lot of awesome high flying. Ricochet is a different breed of high-flyer though, and he has some freaky strength to boot. The deadlift brainbuster he pulled off in this match was great. This show is off to a much better start than last night, that’s for sure.

reDRagon vs. Drew Gulak & Biff Busick
I’m not very keen on Busick and Gulak as partners, as they had a pretty mediocre outing with Ricochet and Rich Swann at DDT4 this year. Fish and O’Reilly are obviously one of the best teams in the world though, so there’s that.

Busick and Fish start things off and do the usual catch-as-catch-can stuff. ReDRagon get a little sleazy as they stretch Busick a little though. “I’m gonna embarrass him and them I’m gonna fuckin’ dance over him like that”, says Roderick Strong about Kyle O’Reilly. The action spills out to the floor, where they split off and trade strikes with each other around the ring. When things find their way to the ring, Gulak and Busick have control. Fish tags in and cleans house, kicking away at will. Gulak though, hits a Northern Lariat to Fish with the help of his partner, continuing the advantage they enjoyed with O’Reilly. Kyle tags in, but doesn’t get too far as Gulak and Busick powerbomb reDRagon into each other! Kyle tags back in and takes Gulak to church, and does the double dragon screw on both Busick and Gulak. Fish hits a flying headbutt on Gulak’s arm so Kyle can get the cross armbreaker, and he puts the Fish Hook on Busick! Gulak puts Fish in the Dragon Sleeper while Busick puts a sleeper on O’Reilly. O’Reilly cleverly breaks the Sleeper by pancaking Busick on top of Gulak, and they’re all down. Gulak dodges Chasing the Dragon and hits a discus lariat on Kyle. Biff hits Kyle with a European Uppercut, but Kyle comes back with the Jawbreaker Lariat! Biff brings Bobby outside and tries to powerbomb Fish, who ends up backdropping him on the floor. Gulak and Kyle go at it in the center of the ring, until Bobby comes in. Chasing the Dragon hits and reDRagon picks up the win in 20 minutes. ***1/2 This ended up being another pleasant surprise, as I had heard less than positive things about this match. It wasn’t a crazy spotfest with a billion superkicks, but they worked their own sort of fast paced match that worked out and got the crowd pretty hot by the end. It didn’t feel like a 20 minute match either, which is great because last time I watched Gulak and Busick wrestle as a team, they weren’t quite doing that. This is more like it, PWG!

BOLA First Round Match: Chris Hero vs. Matt Sydal
This was a month after Chris Hero’s 35 minute snoozer with Kyle O’Reilly, while Sydal makes his return after seven years with WWE.

Hero uses some nice technical wrestling to start, but Sydal uses his speed to drop Hero to the canvas. Hero kips up as Sydal is in mid-taunt, and Hero takes him down promptly. Sydal misses an enzuigiri and takes some time to recuperate. Hero sandbags an armdrag and tosses Sydal on his ass for good measure. They trade chops, and predictably Hero comes out on top. Hero manages to dodge a potential standing moonsault to boot. Hero catches Sydal with a boot coming off of a springboard, followed by forcing his own foot into Sydal’s face during a headlock. Hero boots Sydal out of the ring, which allows him some time to rest after taking some kicks from Sydal himself. Hero waits for Sydal to enter, and kicks him immediately upon entry. Sydal still manages to come back, but Hero counters the standing moonsault into a CRAVAT NECKBREAKER! That was sweet. Sydal recovers and hits Meteora on Hero, who kicks out at 2. Sydal finally hits the standing moonsault, but Hero kicks out again. Hero gets pissed as Sydal kicks him, so Hero BRAINS SYDAL WITH AN ELBOW IN THE CORNER! Sydal eats a kick to the face as Hero flips to the apron, but Sydal escapes a suplex… or so he thought, as Hero recovers and hits one anyways for a two count. Sydal hits a Hurricanrana and a couple jumping knees, but he runs directly into a roaring elbow for a nearfall. Hero dumps Sydal off of the top rope face first, but only gets 2. Hero isn’t impressed with Sydal’s strikes, and he Bicycle Kicks Sydal while Matt is on the top rope. Sydal fights out of a top rope cravat and dives out… but Hero catches him. SYDAL TURNS IT INTO A PILEDRIVER! SHOOTING SYDAL PRESS! Sydal advances in 18 minutes. ***1/2 This show just keeps bringing the goods. Sydal had a great showing in his PWG return, and didn’t appear to have any ring rust or trouble keeping up, which is sometimes a problem for guys coming out of WWE. See Trent Beretta’s PWG debut. I loved the story of Hero using his strikes to control the majority of the match too, as he was able to maneuver around the speed and technique of Sydal and hit a stiff elbow or kick at will. Sydal used his speed and ability to string together moves to win the match, but just barely, as Hero had his number throughout. A good psychological bout and probably the best of the night so far.

BOLA First Round Match: Adam Cole vs. Zack Sabre, Jr
If you weren’t excited for this match, you’re a bad wrestling fan and you deserve to watch 2010 TNA and 2000 WCW for the rest of your days.

Sabre predictably uses his technical acumen to get the upperhand early. Cole gets frustrated and tells Sabre he sucks, so Zack responds with the comeback of the century: “You suck dick, mate.” Chuck Taylor throws out an idea for he and Trent to make out after their matches, which Chuckie ponders may make them the top babyface draw in California. I’m no marketer, but you never know what people are gonna like. Cole looks for a test of strength, as Chuckie continues some of the best commentary I’ve ever heard of him, including the hilarious “Chuck Taylor II” monologue. Cole declares himself the Strongest Man in Wrestling, and Sabre Jr is still able to make him look silly. Cole ends up just kicking Sabre in the gut, and as he goes outside to taunt, Sabre dropkicks him and manages to spill a pitcher of beer and give no fucks. Cole throws him face-first into the ringpost though, and uses that to get his first upperhand. Sabre crawls through Cole’s legs to dodge a top rope move, but Cole follows him and hits a running knee. Sabre comes back and begins to work on the arm, in the way only he can. Zack looks for a diving European Uppercut, but Cole puts up the double knees to stop it. They trade submissions until Cole locks in the Figure Four, which Zack finds the ropes to escape. Cole counters a Kimura into the knee Brainbuster, but Zack manages to kick out. They trade strikes in the middle of the ring, until Cole drops Zack with a superkick to the knee and a Backdrop Driver, but Zack recovers and PENALTY KICKS COLE MID-TAUNT! Zack hits the crazy running uppercuts, but EATS A SUPERKICK! PRAWN HOLD CRADLE! Zack Sabre Jr advances in 18 minutes. ***3/4 The best kinds of wrestlers are the guys who can noticeably hold back, and still give something that outclasses most of what came before them. Zack Sabre Jr is unreal, and his technical skill is so good that he can make the slow stretches of a match more interesting than most guys’ finishing stretches. Putting him with Adam Cole—the best heel in the company—just made it even better, because Cole could use his personality to compensate for his admitted lack of virtuosic technical wrestling. Put those two forces together, and you have a ready-made Match of the Night contender. Great stuff.

BOLA First Round Match: ACH vs. Kenny Omega
It’s almost as if PWG wanted me to buy the show.

They shake hands, but neither are able to physically break the grip. After a big struggle, they eventually do. Omega wipes his hands on Justin Borden, which annoys both ACH and the crowd with its disrespectful connotation. Omega is forced to apologize to both men, and all is well. Kenny Omega hilariously stops a technical exchange by dropping ACH’s face on his knee, and non-challantly shoving him down with his foot. ACH recovers and clotheslines Omega out of the ring, but Kenny stops it with a Tilt-A-Whirl backbreaker. Kenny nearly kills ACH by booting him into the corner. Omega begins revving up the Chainsaw, and he rakes it on ACH’s head! ACH manages to kick out, but just barely. Omega tries to climb the top rope, but ACH drops him with a Backflip kick that sends Omega outside. Omega dodges a baseball slide outside, but ACH flatlines him on the apron. ACH misses a dropkick inside, and Omega borrows a Stone Cold vest from a fan. ACH blocks his face getting thrown through the vest, and he smashes Omega’s face into the skull! STONE COLD ACH! HE STOMPS A MUDHOLE IN OMEGA! LOU THESZ PRESS! THE ELBOW! OMEGA KICKS OUT! STUNNER FROM ACH! OMEGA KICKS OUT! ACH SPITS BEER IN OMEGA’S FACE! GERMAN! OMEGA KICKS OUT! This is even better than I remembered! Omega tries to Superplex ACH, but ACH isn’t letting it happen, hitting a double stomp to the back for a nearfall! Omega hits the ROCK BOTTOM, but ACH kicks out at 2. Omega knees ACH to the apron, but ACH recovers and slingshots in with the springboard cutter for 2! Omega hits a couple Dragon Suplexes and he hits the HADOUKEN! ACH POPS UP AND GIVES HIM A BIGGER ONE! They trade some disgusting slaps and forearms, and ACH hits an enzuigiri on his fourth try! AIR JORDAN FROM ACH! Omega dodges a 450 and MURDERS ACH WITH THE HADOUKEN! CROYT’S WRATH…COUNTERED INTO A VICTORY ROLL! OMEGA KICKS OUT! BICYCLE KNEE! CROYT’S WRATH! Kenny Omega advances in an amazing 26 minutes. **** You can’t necessarily grade this in a traditional manner, but if you take in the entire package, this is one of the most entertaining matches you’ll ever see. Kenny Omega is an acquired taste. He’s a bizarre, out-of-left-field guy who has an uncanny knack of making things exciting that no one else could. Making the Hadouken a signature move pretty much only works for him. If you want a good primer on how ridiculous he can get while still maintaining credibility, his match against Daniel Bryan at PWG One Hundred. One of the most hilarious, bizarre matches I’ve ever seen. As for THIS match, ACH kept up with that zaniness every step of the way here, perhaps providing the best moment of the entire weekend with the Stone Cold schtick. While the Reseda crowd comes alive for most things, it’s still hard to make them THAT hot, but ACH was able to do it by simply biting someone else’s style in the most hilarious way possible. When it actually became a wrestling match, it was awesome too, so there’s not much here I can complain about. Even the length wasn’t an issue, and that might be the best accomplishment of all. The best tournament match of the bunch by far, if we’re being honest.

The Young Bucks vs. The Addiction
Leave it to the Young Bucks to be able to follow that…

The Bucks MURDER ANGELO TRINIDAD WITH SUPERKICKS! What transpires afterwards is one of the most indescribable things I’ve ever seen. It ends with all four men putting the boots to the ring announcer… why, I don’t think we’ll ever know. It actually turns into a wrestling match, and the Addiction finds themselves outside the ring early. They catch Nick on a pescado, and they throw him into Matt after they dodge a baseball slide. The Bucks recover though, and isolate Kazarian in their corner. Daniels tags in and attempts to clean house, and does so for a little bit. Daniels puts Matt in the Koji Clutch, and Kazarian puts a cross armbreaker on Nick. Nick kicks Kazarian from the apron, hits the X-Factor/DDT on the Addiction to a big pop. Daniels eats a Swanton for a nearfall. Daniels dives out onto Matt with a tope suicida, and Kazarian hits a cutter on Nick for a two count. Kazarian looks for the Dudebuster piledriver, but Matt superkicks him into a Yoshi Tonic for two! Nick superkicks Kazarian into a backslide for another nearfall. Nick superkicks Daniels on the apron, but Kazarian disposes of Matt by giving him a Belly to Belly out of the ring! Daniels hits an Arabian Press out to Matt on the floor! Daniels eats a superkick from Nick, who collides with Kazarian on a double crossbody! They measure up the Addiction for superkicks, but Kazarian and Daniels hit some of their own. Stereo Angel’s Wings score, but the Bucks kick out. Daniels eats boots on the BME and runs into a superkick, but Kazarian recovers and hits a Northern Lights on Matt while he has Nick in an O’Connor Roll, but they both kick out. Kazarian eats Early Onset Alzheimer’s and the Buckle Bomb/Enzuigiri. Daniels breaks up More Bang for Your Buck! Daniels hits the STD and Kazarian HITS THE FLUX CAPACITOR! Matt kicks out. MELTZER DRIVER FROM THE BUCKS! The Bucks win it in 18 minutes. ***3/4 It’s not something I’m used to saying, but this match suffered from a burnt-out crowd. One of the drawbacks of a three-night Battle of Los Angeles is the crowd is pretty much watching 9 hours of wrestling in an entire weekend, stuck in a sweatbox of a building that doesn’t use air conditioning often because its owner is a cheapskate. That tends to burn some people out, and that hurt the main event. A lot of the spots in this match would have brought a normal Reseda crowd to its feet, but didn’t here and the match suffered for it. Luckily the Bucks decided to debut the Meltzer Driver, and that brought everyone to their feet to give us a hot finish. This was a great match, don’t get me wrong, but it’s one of the few PWG matches that is plagued by crowd issues. Had we had the normal PWG crowd, we’d be talking one of the best matches of the weekend.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

After starting off BOLA weekend with a subpar effort, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla bounced back with a show worthy of its catalogue. There weren't any MOTYC's here, but everyone worked hard and provided PWG with a terrific variety of wrestling that no other promotions can give. The ACH/Omega match is the must-see for this show, but watching it from beginning-to-end isn't going to burn you out like Night One would have. And just like that, BOLA is back on track!