Once again Im gonna wave my PWG mark flag...How fkn good was this years BoLA?...actually ever years BoLA is the grouse BUT this one was particularly good {well 96%] due to the fact that a few of my personal favourite workers from the brilliant pommy promotion Progress, showed up to rattle the ring ropes as well AND some of my particular personal favourites from Lucha Underground also crossed the border at San Diego to have a hit out as well....and of course a few of my longtime PWG guys also showed up to round out a few days of cracking action...So..here we go.
Talk about a goddamn mismatch size wise, the walking protein shake, Brian Cage took on teeny tiny Aersostar...to be fair Aero got more than his fair share of creative offence in BUT Cagey "got his shit in" and walloped the little fella with a Steiner Screwdriver to advance.
Two prime examples of the ever increasing indy take on old school wrestling {which gets annoying after a while]...Biff and Everett slapped the bejezus out each other, Karl Gotch would of been proud, Biff took the honors with a shitload of European Uppercuts
Will Ospreay v Mark Andrews
The battle of britain happened next when Will Ospreay took on Mark "Mandrews""Andrews and they showed to the Reseda faithful why Im such a Progress fan, they went for it like crazy, with Will trapping Andrews in this fkn weird armlock thingy on the way to a Impoding 450 to get him moving on to the next round.
Los Gueros Del Cielo (Angelico & Jack Evans) vs The Inner City Machine Guns
Lucha Undergound made its presence felt in the tag match when Angelico and AAA star Jack Evans hit the ring , the match also include Ricochet & Rich Swann...you would of expected heaps of anti gravity stuff and there was a bit of it, BUT, they did their best to ground each other as well, helluva match to be fair with the LU dudes taking the 3 count vis Jack Evans ripping off a 630.
Trevor Lee v Trent ?
The Carolina Caveman vs one half of Rappongi Vice...you may remeber Trevor Lee, his the king of the schoolboy roll up out of nowhere, like he did to Kevin Steen in a prior BoLA..well, he kept going for it but Trent kept escaping, well almost, Trev did get hit a "Gods Last Gift" on ? eventaully to advance
Pentagon Jr. v Drago
the man who brough simple evil back to Lucha Underground, Pentagon, was next taking on a fellow LU star Drago...and Pentagon was over like rover, chants of zero fear (or the spanish equvalent thereof ) were ringing out all over the hall...and while Penta didnt break any arms in the tourny, he was just brilliant , Drago was no slouch either to be fair , I thought the low roof would slow them down, but nup...cracking match with Pentagon going over with a Package Piledriver.
Matt Sydal v Fenix
Reborn took on a guy who , quite frankly looked like he was determined to smash his head through the roof of the Reseda Dome, I like Fenix's style, but anyone who attempts a a tornado plancha in the space the size of a phine booth is just plain fkn crazy...
surprisingly, Matt Sydal didnt do that much flying, maybe his adjusted his style , i dunno, but he looked different and much vastly more interesting...anyway, Matt took the pin with a Reverse Rana to progress
Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Roderick Strong) defeat Euro Trash (Marty Scurll, Tommy End & Zack Sabre Jr.)
The One, {well the second}, the Only, {there was one before}, MT RUSHMORE, I was always a fan of the idea of Mt Rushmore..cant say Im enthused that Roddy Strong is in it, but thats just me, I dont hate Roddy, he can work his arse off, but he dont float my boat at all...anywhoo, the Eurotrash boys gave as good as they got Tommy belted everybody with a American passport and the Bucks did what the Bucks do..hella good match, Rushmore took the pin with a Double Meltzer Driver and a End of Heartache on Zack.
Marty Scurll defeats Rich Swann
Marty attacked Swann before the bell before hitting a suicide dive into the crowd. Scurll controlled most of the match with Swann fighting back to create hope here and there. Crowd was really into Scurll despite his playing the heel. Finish came after Scurll hit a combo of suplexes before finishing with a Crossface Chickenwing
Angelico vs Jack Evans
They do some cruiserweight-style technical The crowd boos Evans and he threatens to whip everyone’s ass after the show. , Evans takes a second to chug some beer from a fan midmatch, and then proceeds to fight like Jackie Chan as the Drunken Master, dodging literally everything, then Evans went for an outside dive and overjumped Angélico by a long shot (intentionally). Jack Evans appeared to hurt his ACL after attempting a springboard move (can’t tell you what he was going for because he simply dropped back into the ring. It cant have been too bad because he hit a 630 onto Angélico, . Angélico then ruled the match as Evans tried to fight back. Jack finishes Angélico with a KK Crane Kick (complete with theatrics) at 17:20
Chris Hero defeats Timothy Thatcher
. This was very physical, to say the least. Hero is having a lot of fun getting in the face of his haters, despite this being a very 50/50 crowd. Lots of technical exchanges to start. This turned into a very intense exchange of strikes,
. Hero gives up on a strike exchange to hit what’s essentially a snap piledriver that looked pretty nasty. Not much later, he went for another one but Thatcher tried to weigh him down, so he went Gotch on him to honor Cesaro, but Thatcher back dropped him over and grabbed an ankle lock. Hero went crazy with elbows, and then tried to hit the Hangman’s elbow but was met with a brutal headbutt for a nearfall. Hero hit a tombstone on Thatcher, and then a Hero’s Welcome to pick up the win
Aero Star & Fenix defeat Drago & Pentagon Jr.
Pentagón gets the biggest pop of the night on his entrance. Drago and Aerostar started the match. Things picked up a lot more when Pentagón and Fénix tagged in. This is exactly the type tag you would find in Lucha Underground (go figure, right?). Pentagón unzipped Aerostar’s top, and then proceeded to chop the shit out of him. The crowd wanted another, and chanted something in Spanish that sounded a lot like “Bruno Mars,”
Pentagón did the quite probably, coolest move I’ve ever seen — he put Fénix in a Gory Special, and Drago helped set Aerostar in position for Pentagón to Packaged Piledriver him, and he then did that with a simultaneous Gory Bomb on Fénix.
Lots of finishes proceeded, including a splash off of Fénixes shoulders off the top from the middle rope (so he was pretty much at eye level with the light fixtures). Aerostar hit a backstabber on Pentagón and Fénix hit a Fénix Driver on Drago to finish off the match at 15:40.
Tommy End v Drew Gulak
This oughtta be good. one of my personal favourites (maybe cause im dutch too) 'The AntiHero" Tommy End is in the ring. They start with some WRESTLING! And then we continue with some more wrestling. Very technical match with End’s sick strikes sprinkled in for good measure. An elbow strike ends the match in End’s favor
Mike Bailey v Drew Galloway
Galloway towers over Bailey and makes light of him until a flurry of chest kicks against the ropes wakes him up. Galloway responds with a loud “Fuck you!” and it’s on. Drew dominated, playing a classic David vs. Goliath formula. At one point he hit Sheamus’ Beats of the Bodhrán on Bailey, to a nice chorus of boos. There was an unbelievable nearfall when Speedball teased his Shooting Star knees to a Tree of Woe-hung Galloway, but Drew flung himself up into a belly to belly superplex, then hit a flying big boot (basically Roddy’s Sick Kick). Galloway then proceeded to one-up it by kicking out of Bailey’s Shooting Star Knees when he was on all fours. They then continues to trade nearfalls until Bailey jackknifed through a Future Shock DDT attempt to pick up a surprise 3-count around 12:30 into the match.
Zack Sabre Jr. v Ricochet
The opening 11 minutes of the match can only be defined as “technical wizardry.” Ricochet gets Sabre down with a spinebuster. People’s Moonsault is caught in midair with a Triangle Choke. The crowd goes nuts . Sabre kicks out of a 630 Senton. Sabre catches Ricochet in several submission attempts (Cross armbreakers and triangle chokes), and then they do a reversal sequence that ends with Sabre stacking Ricochet with a bridging pin for a pinfall victory around 23 minutes
Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Super Dragon) vs Andrew Everett, Biff Busick & Trevor Lee in a Six Man Guerrilla Warfare Match
Yep, you guessed it this starts in the crowd, Nick Jackson hits Trevor Lee with a Too Sweet foam finger that he sells like it hurt a lot…and it turns out it’s because he was holding a spanner inside! More weapon-filled chaos, and Rushmore is firmly in control. Trash cans, chairs, a ladder, ref abuse all happen until Everett turns the tide with a leap over Excalibur from behind onto Rushmore. Some crazy moments later, Super Dragon catches a picture-perfect Shooting Star Press from Everett with an Ace Crusher. The faces rally until the heels hit a double Melzter Driver/dropkick-to-Senton combo. The Bucks get their thumbtack boots out, and Knox is out to break it up! He rallies and ends it with a tope con hilo! Eventually the Bucks successfully connect with shots with boots to wipe Everett and Lee out of the match. Biff is splayed across a chair, and the Bucks hit a double thumbtack-boot superkick on him, and Super Dragon flies off the top to curb stomp Busick, then hoists him up for a Psycho Driver with a Meltzer flip assist from Nick to finish the faces at 16:30
After the match, Excalibur called their win bullshit and declared war on them, saying he won’t rest until they’re in the ...Excalibur then asked “Who should be on my team?” and chants from Hero, to Bosh, to Tozawa broke out. Rushmore came back out and took out Excalibur with a double superkick and a Psycho Driver. Chris Hero stood up from commentary and charged the ring, and the heels retreated to the back. He then started to cut a promo, but a fan aggressively told him he sucked. Hero left the ring to get in his face, and Rushmore came back out and attacked Hero. I’m loving this angle, and I’m glad the heels are being kept so strong; whatever happens, someones gonna get a big rub
Jack Evans v Brian Cage
Jack Evans gets on the mic again and cuts a promo on PWG being unprofessional before saying that he’s smaller but superior to Cage. Once the match starts, Cage just tosses Evans across the ring. Cage no sells offense and just gets turned inside out on a lariat. Cage just dominates with powerbombs, superplexes and a press slam to the outside. There is a funny note that Cage has a “two Jack Evans” weight advantage over Jack Evans. He has gotten in next to no offense as Cage murders him on some Germans. Jack manages to springboard but is caught in a suplex. He counters into a backslide to steal it. was a glorified squash with a surprise ending. Kudos to Evans for taking some of the bumps that he did, but that’s really all this was. With how long the beating went, I kind of saw the finish coming. **
Winner: Jack Evans in 4:52
Chris Hero v Biff Busick
Before introductions, Chris Hero attacks . Biff turns it around and hits a half nelson suplex for two. This is pretty much just two guys beating the living shit out of each other. It’s a stiff -a-thon and Biff just spits at Hero a few times at one point to show defiance. Biff catches a boot and lights up Hero with a big chop. Biff tries a flying European and is met with a big knee. Some vicious back and forth shots up top from both men until Biff goes to a fishhook off all things. Hero fights off, using a massive elbow, leading to a Avanlanche piledriver for the 1-2-3.
Marty Scurll v Trevor Lee
This begins with a focus on the technical wrestling. As it progressed, it becomes more of a brawl, with some stiff shots . They have an awkward spot on the apron before Scurll blocks an apron German. Scurll plays up the villain aspect by teasing a dive outside and deciding against it, choosing to just slide out and slap Trevor. Back inside, they trade shots and Lee pulls Scurll by the beard before hitting a dropkick. The moves get bigger, with each guy coming close on several occasions. Scurll hits some big shots in the corner but gets dead lifted into the orange crush bomb for two. Scurll looks for the chicken wing but Lee is able to block it before hitting a suicide dive and tope con hilo. Scurll goes back to the hand and arm before using the chicken wing to win.
The fans were chanting “this is awesome” before things even start {geez, give it a chance to start). both men trade submissions and seem to be trying to one up each other. Some of the stuff they do is incredibly creative. It’s cool because both guys release their submissions as a part of the one up game. Pentagon gets the first big move with a corner German, before using the referee to springboard off with a dropkick.
Pentagon fires off some strikes until Sabre catches the arm and hits some of his own. He slips on a swinging DDT so it comes off weird. Pentagon comes back with chops and sits Sabre on a chair outside, diving outside onto him. Inside, he goes for the Package Piledriver, but Sabre blocks and counters into a small package, which he turns right into the Kimura. Pentagon taps out.
Mike Bailey v Tommy End
Right off the bell, Tommy hits a shotgun dropkick and just lays into the mini called Bailey. the last match was built on submissions, this one is more based on strikes. They trade shots in the crowd for a bit.
Bailey fires up with a flurry of kicks in the corner, coming back after Tommy had control. A big spot comes when Bailey nails a moonsault knee drop on the apron. They play the super resilient babyface card with Bailey again as he kicks out of everything. He comes back with a shooting star knee drop and martial arts kick to the skull to advance. BOOOOOO [yeah i dont like the midget, what can i tell you]
Will Ospreay v Matt Sydal
This was a fun battle of veteran vs. younger guy with a similar style. Like you would expect from a wise veteran, Sydal takes Ospreay to the ground. He busts out a Nigel McGuinness lariat at one point, Ospreay tries to rally with the aerial attack but Sydal is ready for it and again busts out some Nigel offense with the Tower of London. Sydal is playing more of an aggressor. Ospreay still doesn’t stop flying around the ring, but at least tries to sell the leg after. Sydal sets for a super rana but Ospreay lands on his feet. Sydal comes back and goes for the Shooting Sydal Press but Will moves. He lands on his feet and they end up fighting up top. Ospreay superkicks him and follows with another vicious kick before finishing it off with the inverted 450.
Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Roderick Strong & Super Dragon) vs The Inner City Machine Guns (Rich Swann & ; Ricochet), Angelico & Fenix
Roderick Strong in the ring, before he is joined by the rest of Mt. Rushmore 2.0, the Young Bucks and Super Dragon. Roddy babble on with some shit, something along the lines that nobody has the balls to face them, BUT out comes Fenix. He gets taken out and out comes Angelico, only to get taken out too when he literally just stands there so Strong can sick kick him. Ricochet and Rich Swann come out, leading to an impromptu match...expect this to be chaotic. Mt. Rushmore cut the ring in half and work like a well-oiled machine beating on both Swann and Fenix. Things start to pick up as Ricochet gets tagged and hits out some of his aerial offense. A corkscrew from Fenix takes out everyone in the match in a big spot. Then, everyone gets their shit in [sorry Brian] as each guy hits huge spots in the ring with Ricochet getting two on Super Dragon after a springboard 450 splash. Strong does get all four opponents in each corner and becomes a one man wrecking crew as he just runs from corner to corner, hitting each person. He then superplexed each man, with the last one being to the outside onto Fenix onto everyone. Ricochet gets draped over Strong’s knees after two superkicks and then while on Strong’s knees, he takes a double stomp. The pin is broken up though. Angelico takes two 450 splashes but the pin is broken up again. The faces come close to winning now and then Angelico and Ricochet do stereo front flips to the outside. Things turn bad for them though as Swann ends up alone with Roddy, who murders him with End of Heartache.....YEH or BOO...or both
Chris Hero v Jack Evans
Jack Evans is all bandaged up from earlier but still wants to talk trash . He says that Hero doesn’t have a move that could keep him down for even a two count . When the match actually starts, Hero shrugs off some kicks and just levels Jack, despite getting his arse kicked, Evans did everything in his power to kick out at one to keep his word. Even as the moves get more impactful, he still gets up at one. The tables get turned as Hero kicks out at one after an Evans splash. A roaring elbow finally gets him two. Sensing the end is near, Hero hits a short piledriver and ripcord elbow to earn the three.
Mike Bailey v Will Ospreay
Once again the midget gets in the ring [ his starting to irk me as much as Roddy] and they start with a quick flurry but it feesl kind of dull. Nothing that they’re doing is bad, but it isn’t really bonza either. They bust out some tope suicidas before Bailey tops it with a corkscrew plancha. There are certainly a fair amount of kicks and dives, Ospreay hits a flipping DDT and tries the inverted 450 but Bailey gets the knees up. Bailey goes up and hits the shooting star knee drop and a knockout kick to make the finals....yeah good ;(
Zack Sabre Jr. v Marty Scurll
Commentary mentions that these two used to be tag partners. As they work the mat for a bit, the fans chant “English wrestling.” Zack is one of those rare guys who can work the mat for an extended time and it never bores me. That basically sums up the first half or so of this thing and I’m enjoying most of it. Sabre works the leg, Scurll shouts that he forgot to do his DDP Yoga. The match finally seems to get serious as they get into a strike exchange. They move back to the mat, keeping the tone now. Scurll applies cattle mutilation but Sabre survives. . The fight spills outside where a snap suplex is hit. Back inside, Sabre hits a Liger Bomb for two. A big kick and dragon suplex also get him near falls. Sabre now twists the arm in funny ways before snapping off some arm breakers. Scurll comes back with a tornado DDT and applies the chicken wing but Sabre quickly counters into an armbar. Marty tries to powerbomb out but Sabre won’t release it, forcing Scurll to tap.
Aero Star, Chuck Taylor, Drew Galloway, Drew Gulak & Trent ? v Andrew Everett, Drago, Mark Andrews, Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa
Chuck Taylor dubs his team the Five Man Band. Everyone gets a chance to strut their stuff as commentary talks about how different these guys are. Gulak gets scared of Drago, so Aerostar tags in and does some acrobats that scare off Drago. Galloway looks like a giant next to the rest of the guys in this match. There are a fair amount of comedy spots here, which is fine . The Five Man Band all charge up for big moves on Ciampa, but instead hit things like back rakes and soft shots. Taylor also gets body slammed by everyone on the opposing team. After some dives outside, Galloway is left alone and does a massive front flip to the outside.Then the match goes into slow motion with the crowd, competitors, referees and commentary all playing along. It’s awful. Everett and Andrews end this with shooting stars that miss. Trent and Taylor hit their finishes and win....I get they needed to re-ignite the Reseda faithful,
Zack Sabre Jr. v Chris Hero v Mike "Speedball" Bailey
Hero steps outside and allows Sabre and Bailey to go at it. When Hero gets in, we see them work triple submissions, . It’s great to see them find innovative ways to involve all three guys into moves. . As the match nears the twenty minute mark, it becomes more of the basic triple threat match where one guy is taken out for periods of time, allowing for things to basically become a singles match for a bit. Bailey misses the shooting star knee drop and is knocked outside with a knee strike. Hero gets locked in the Kimura, allowing Bailey to hit the shooting star knee drop this time.
He follows with the knockout kick but Hero kicks out. Bailey doesn’t give up though, firing away with kicks on both guys. Hero lays him out with a roaring elbow and Sabre instantly apples a cross armbreaker. Hero gets up and locks Sabre in an interesting chinlock variation. Hero nearly scores a countout win when the other two guys get stuck outside but decides to dive out onto them. Inside, he nails a short piledriver on Bailey, followed by another and a cradle variation, which eliminates Bailey. Sabre is back in and goes right to work on Hero’s arm. He catches the roaring elbow into an arm bar but Hero reaches the ropes. Sabre locks in a hanging Kimura but Hero counters into a Brainbuster for two. He sets Sabre up on the top rope and climbs. Sabre grabs his fingers and begins to bend Hero’s arm. Hero fights off and goes for the avalanche piledriver but again Sabre blocks. Hero pops up with a roaring elbow for two. Hero looks for another elbow but Sabre counters into a backslide that he turns into an armbar, complete with kicks to the head but Hero again rolls through. Hero hits an elbow but sells the arm. He goes for the cradle piledriver but Sabre counters into another armbar with stomps and wins.
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr. in 36:00
Roderick Strong shows up and tells Zack Sabre that when they face, he’s going to beat the living shit out of him....[ all i heard was drone drone blah blah, did i mention Roddy irks me?, nearly as much as Speedball now}
So, there you go...hope you enjoyed it
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