One of my biggest pet peeves about professional wrestling and life in general is people using hyperbole. We’ve become a society where everything is either the best ever or the dirt worst. I firmly believe that social media and the online atmosphere has positioned art to be seen in a very binary way. Of course, pro wrestling is as subjective as the films we watch or the television shows we enjoy. Going into the second night of BOLA, this was a chance for a group of wrestlers to not only wow indie fans but also a prominent person within WWE. How can we tell a night like this is important? When WWE sees value in scouting talent all the way on the west coast, you know there’s something potentially special happening. Be it because of the incredible talent, the presence of a world renown veteran, or a fanbase who practically demand wrestlers give it their all, night two showcased some of the very best independent wrestling a fan could find.
I’m not sure how I feel about Brian Cage being allowed to wrestle in the quarterfinals, but thankfully this was kept short and the only major bump was taken by Younger as he got slammed into some chairs. Cage started things quickly as he hit a dropkick eight seconds into the DVD. Around seven minutes in, Younger small packaged Cage to get the victory. I’d call this the “worst” match of the night, but really, it wasn’t terrible and at least Cage didn’t put himself in a position to cause further injury.
I recently listened to a podcast where the people on it mentioned the second match of any card being the most forgettable. Funny story on that. About 24 hours after listening to that podcast, I watched this show where Johnny Gargano and Kevin Steen were in the second match of BOLA, night two. Needless to say, this will be very memorable as these two had an indie dream match very early in the card. It was super solid and smooth. These two had limited interaction in a tag team match for Smash wrestling, so this was a chance for two top indie stars under contract for different companies to tear it up. My favorite aspect of this match was not only the early shenanigans but the fact that they countered a number of patented moves. It really made this feel more realistic and not just two guys going through the motions. Gargano actually won clean by submission over Steen with the GargaNo Escape. There were lots of nearfalls to make this feel like more of a main event than where it was on the card. Not the first time on this show I’ll mention that.
Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong wrestled a number of solid matches in Ring of Honor during their 2012 feud. Their PWG match felt very similar to those matches. At least Truth Martini was nowhere near ringside, and no one used a book to finish off their opponent. Of the quarterfinals, this was likely the most hard-hitting. Elgin won by submission with a crossface. I loved that these two got time to develop, but this felt more like a typical match between these two than something distinctive. Still extremely watchable.
ACH and Kyle O’Reilly wrestled each other twice in a week, the first for AAW. This was the second. As of this writing, I’ve yet to watch the first match back over on DVD after having seen it live, but this was unreal. I actually rewatched multiple sequences from this match as these two seem to mesh incredibly well. Sometimes the chemistry just happens. We had ACH showing off his athletic ability with flips and O’Reilly coming back by putting on a sexy party. The action kicked into high gear, and even Excalibur was losing his mind at what he was seeing. ACH finally went for the frog splash and was locked into a crossarmbreaker. O’Reilly won a borderline match of the year candidate around the 22 minute mark. These two guys stole the show, and I would imagine ACH is coming back to Reseda indefinitely. For O’Reilly to have this level of match over two completely different opponents speaks to his own improvement and stepping out of Davey Richards’s shadow. Quite the pedigree of guys he’s beaten even before the semifinals. Sami Callihan. Davey Richards. Trent?. ACH. All clean and all borderline must see matches.
There were two six man tags involving various losers of the first round and of course the PWG circle of champions. The first of them was more comedic in nature, understandable given some of the action which took place during the tournament. From the moment Ciampa tossed a chair in the ring, and the Best Friends (Joey Ryan, Chuck Taylor, and Trent?) demanded a disqualification, you knew there would be a bunch of comedy. Fans were treated to Joey Ryan’s ass and thong. Chuck Taylor brought on the grenade and when he hit an atomic drop, everyone sold it like death in a hilarious moment. That’s where the picture you see at the top came from, this match. Rick Knox got bumped, so Tony Nese (injured on night one)took over as special referee. Excalibur asked an excellent question when he wondered why Nese carries around a referee’s shirt in his pocket. Chuck Taylor then almost killed himself on a dive and caught his leg in the top rope in a manner I can only consider as comedic. I know Taylor hurt his leg, but it got tied up so perfectly, I could see a scenario in which he planned the spot. Taylor was able to come back and hit an Awful Waffle on B-Boy. From an action standpoint, this couldn’t approach anything that happened earlier. However, this was in the perfect spot to deliver something a little different.
A side note from the six man tag. Brian Cage got a receipt for the night before as Ciampa willingly took a powerbomb through four chairs. Absurdity abounds in PWG, and they’re the only place where something like this could happen and it makes sense.
Michael Elgin and Johnny Gargano wrestled at Hell on Earth last year. They had a rematch in the semifinals which felt fairly different and didn’t rely on so many false finishes. I liked that after both men won by submission in the quarterfinals, Elgin and Gargano went for their holds early and often. There were lots of nearfalls in the end but not due to finishers being executed. There were also more submissions teased, common sense wrestling after the prior matches. Elgin eventually won with a top rope powerbomb. Major credit has to be given to both men here. Elgin had a third match to wrestle but when the bell rang to end the Gargano match, he’d been in the ring for 37 minutes. Ditto Gargano. To wrestle two twenty minute matches shows the motors on both of these men. There was no half-assing because it’s a tournament show. Gargano and Elgin certainly put forth strong efforts.
Going into this year’s tournament, the two favorites to win were Drake Younger based on how over he’s been with the crowd and Kyle O’Reilly because of the matches he’s having and the opponents he’s gone for. It was interesting that PWG decided to book these men in a semifinal match. This was a bit slower than many of the other matches, but there some entertaining spots, such as Younger snapmaring O’Reilly, kicking him in the back, and then yelling “Unnecessary” at Excalibur. Excalibur losing it on commentary made the moment all the funnier. O’Reilly, who won with the cross armbreaker earlier, won with the guillotine choke in this semifinal. A good match but almost a bad one given the standards of this show.
The Young Bucks and Adam Cole teamed together for the second straight night against AR Fox, Rich Swann, and Candice LaRae. I wasn’t sure what to think beforehand, but by the end I was sold on LaRae feuding with these three men. Some people have taken PWG to task for not showcasing women enough. I’ve always thought this was pure bunk because there are not nearly the quality of talented women on the west coast as compared to the Midwest or east coast. Plus, PWG puts on the best wrestling. Period. They have the highest in-ring standard of any promotion in North America. For the sake of gender equality, I would argue it’s not worth bringing in less talented individuals. LaRae is very talented and creates great stories just by her presence. Cole and the Bucks’ interactions were entertaining in the right way since LaRae is a babyface and will hopefully get her revenge in some way. Fox and Swann carried the movez portion of the match while the storytelling centered around LaRae. Double superkick into the Florida Key led to another victory for the champions. I loved this match a lot both for the storytelling and the back and forth. Fox and Swann played supporting roles about as well as you would expect from guys who are regarded so highly.
Kyle O’Reilly and Michael Elgin had a lot to try and top going into the final match. They ended up wrestling a smart, competent main event which didn’t top anything on the rest of the card but didn’t insult the earlier rounds either. If I were these men and had done what they’d done, I’d need an osygen tank and there’s the outside possibility I’d have died from exhaustion. It seems as though Elgin is destined to be the bridesmaid right now given he’s now lost two straight BOLA finals. I almost wish Gargano had won the semifinal since he and O’Reilly would be a fresher match-up. This was still really solid. I totally understand why PWG would book O’Reilly to go over. Not only is he getting better in the ring, but his promo work is improving thanks to ROH’s television and being around Bobby Fish. O’Reilly has tremendous upside, and a BOLA win is really just the first of many solo milestones he’ll achieve. Obviously, he’s an ROH tag team champion, but he seems to almost be playing second fiddle. PWG is setting up O’Reilly to succeed on his own away from the tag teams. O’Reilly won a relatively short 15 minute match by triangle choke.
After the match, Adam Cole and The Young Bucks attacked. Kevin Steen came in the ring seemingly ready to help O’Reilly. However, it was a swerve as he package piledrove Rick Knox. Candice LaRae, who had just come into the ring, was also a victim of Steen’s heel turn. He hugged the four PWG champions, and we apparently have a Mount Rushmore of wrestling. O’Reilly cut an angry speech afterward and at least got a mini celebration.
I don’t want to make a blanket statement and call this the show of the year right off the bat. However, I can argue these are the must buy indie DVDs of 2013 based on the talent involved and the top notch match quality. We can talk about Kevin Steen’s heel turn not making a lick of sense on the next show. For now, buy these shows if you haven’t. I seriously doubt you’ll find five indie shows in North America better than this one.
Grade: A+
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-Taped from Reseda, CA
-Commentators: Excalibur, Joey Ryan, Rick Knox, Anthony Nese, Kevin Steen
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal: Drake Younger defeats Brian Cage by pinfall with a small package/6:49/**
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal: Johnny Gargano defeats Kevin Steen by submission with GargaNo Escape/17:05/****
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal: Michael Elgin defeats Roderick Strong by submission with the crossface/17:32/***1/2
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal: Kyle O’Reilly defeats ACH by submission with the cross armbreaker/22:36/****1/4
The Best Friends (Joey Ryan, Trent?, and Chuck Taylor defeat B-Boy, Tommaso Ciampa, and Willie Mack by pinfall. Taylor pins B-Boy with an Awful Waffle/17:25/***1/4
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Semifinal: Michael Elgin defeats Johnny Gargano by pinfall after a top rope powerbomb/20:10/****
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Semifinal: Kyle O’Reilly defeats Drake Younger by knock-out with the guillotine choke/14:17/***1/4
Adam Cole (PWG World Champion) and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) (PWG World Tag Team Champions) defeat AR Fox, Candice LaRae and Rich Swann by pinfall. Cole pins LaRae after a double superkick into the Florida Key/20:43/****
2013 Battle of Los Angeles Final: Kyle O’Reilly wins the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles by submission with a triangle choke/15:00/***1/2
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