2015 Battle of Los Angeles - Final Stage / Night Three Review

Date: August 30th, 2015

PWG World Champion - Roderick Strong (since Black Cole Sun - December 2014)

PWG Tag Team Champions - The Young Bucks (since Mystery Vortex III - June 2015)

Defending BOLA Champion - Ricochet (2014 winner)

Commentators: Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, & Biff Busick


Jack Evans starts the show by cutting a promo. He's finally gotten a mic to use instead of yelling at the top of his lungs. Jack says he was talking with fans about their bets on who would win the tournament and none of them picked him. OOOOOH! "But you know who one of those chumps did pick? This punk ass Brian Cage!" JACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Evans runs down Cage and says he may be a body builder, but to him that's just a male beauty pageant contestant. To close off his statement, Jack gets right up in his face and says Cage will never be the athlete he is.

1) Jack Evans vs. Brian Cage - First Round Match

"We're starting an hour and a half late, Jack Evans coming in with a 20 minute promo, Brian Cage is not feeling it!" - Chuck Taylor

And all of that pre-match chatter leads to Jack Evans getting absolutely destroyed by Brian Cage. Numerous lariats that turn him inside out (literally) and a guerrilla press over the top rope to the floor are just a few of the ways Mr GMSI chose torture Jack. This was an awesome squash that saw Jack get ZERO offense until he got Cage into a perfect bridging pin to get the surprise victory.

Match rating - **3/4

2) Chris Hero vs. Biff Busick - First Round Match

AVALANCHE PILEDRIVER

HERO CHARGES BUSICK AT THE BELL! That start foreshadowed what was to come as these two went 100mph the entire time. Busick once again was at his best in this type of match. Two behemoths unloading on each other is the most accurate description that I can think of. After nearly 10 minutes of throwing bombs, the battle comes to a close with a AVALANCHE PILEDRIVER OFF OF THE TOP ROPE! HERO JUST KILLED BIFF! The Knockout Artist advances to the semi-finals. Thank you Biff!

Match rating - ***1/4

3) Trevor Lee vs. Marty Scurll

Excalibur: "Trevor Lee has a bit of a man bun of his own, not quite a bun, maybe a man tail?"

Chuck Taylor: "Aah styles are you know, I don't know, six decades behind the times down in the caves of Carolina."

Lee fights off the pain from his injured arm and nails Scurll with a german suplex

 I didn't quite know how this clashing of styles would go, but it ended up being very good and a pretty unique match up. Scurll got a great reception from Reseda during his introduction and it carried over into the match although the crowd was split for the most part. Scurll targeted the arm of The Carolina Caveman throughout the match to set up for his signature chicken wing. It was a nice change of pace from your typical Lee match as we haven't seen him in a match based around a body part like this. They did a lot of cool stuff like Lee going for his now signature german suplex and not being able to hit because of the pain. They returned to this spot later with Scurll grabbing the arm to stop him only for Lee to power through it and nail the german anyway. Good match that built to the perfect finish albeit pretty shocking as many had Trevor Lee as a favorite to win this entire thing. Scurll taps him out to the chicken wing.

Match rating - ***1/2

4) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Pentagon Jr

"Twerk those hips, Zack Sabre Jr!" - Excalibur

Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

 Right from the start, this one had a special atmosphere. I had heard the same story from friends who were live in attendance and it definitely translated over to DVD. This is one of the matches that I hoped we would get during the tournament so I was extremely hyped. Before the match even began, "This is Awesome" chants rang through the legion hall. Those same chants popped up off & on throughout this dream encounter. The two second generation wrestlers began the match by trying out different submissions on one another. Sabre would have Pentagon down for the elbow stomp then stop and back off. Pentagon would do the same by releasing Sabre out of a prime submission hold. I loved the teasing in the early going. The match took a lucha turn for a period as they traded arm drags and Sabre screamed "Lucha Libre motherfucker!" It wouldn't last long though because Pentagon would soon german suplex Sabre into the turnbuckles. This leads to an epic dive where Pentagon flattened Sabre who he had sat upright in a chair on the floor.

It felt like the match was about to reach it's climax as Pentagon picked up Sabre for the package piledriver, Sabre counters out and jumps up on him for the hanging armbar. Pentagon escapes, but Sabre locks it in again and brings him to the ground which forces Pentagon to tap. AAAHH. These two have to clash again down the line because this was an unbelievable teaser. I felt like they were going to have a MOTY candidate right here, but they cut it just short and I was disappointed at first however I soon came to really appreciate what they did here for several reasons. For one, we have to understand this show was said to have gone long anyway. It had 12 matches and that's pushing it so not everyone could lay all out there. Secondly, while it doesn't happen often in PWG, it seems like they are building to a rematch between these two in the future just based off how they worked this match. They did a fantastic job of giving you what you wanted while also leaving you begging for more. Rematch in 2016, shall we?

Match rating - ***3/4

5) Tommy End vs. Mike Bailey - Second Round Match

A showdown between two vastly different martial artists

The crowd is still excited from that last match and both Speedball & End are over as fuck so this should be awesome. Therefore, I'll go ahead and tell you, yes, it WAS awesome. It's a true showcase of two different styles of martial artist/pro wrestling hybrids. End trains in dutch kickboxing and Bailey is proficient in jui jitsu. This made for a match FILLED with kicks of all kinds. All of which were on point and brutal. After around 10 minutes of trading shots, Bailey decides to branch out and take to his highflying to try to get the advantage. This leads them to the apron where Speedball delivers the FLIPPING KNEE DROP TO THE CHEST OF END! Back in the ring, the match takes a very high impact turn from this point forward. End with the sumerian death double stomp off the top, Speedball with the shooting star knee drop to the back, it was crazy. Speedball advances and is making a run to the semi-finals.

Match rating - ****

6) Matt Sydal vs. William Ospreay - Second Round Match

Matt Sydal's veteran insticts mixed with the stylings of Nigel McGuinness & Super Dragon creates a true challenge for Will Ospreay

 It's veteran vs newcomer here as we see another match in the Sydal/Ospreay series that tore it up over in the UK for RevPro earlier this year. Sydal uses his experience to ground Ospreay for the most part in the early going and as said above, he busts out a number of moves we've never seen him use before including the Nigel lariat & Tower of London. He even takes quite a twist to his character by doing the ol' Super Dragon boot in the crotch spot in the corner. Soon this match reaches the next level with Sydal going for the reverserana off the top rope, BUT OSPREAY LANDS ON HIS FEET! WHAT! Ospreay hits the ropes for a back hand spring into a cutter only to get a reverserana for his troubles. Much like with Fenix, Sydal uses this to set up for the Shooting Star Press which he is unable to land. Ospreay is soon able to plant Sydal in the corner for his inverted 450 splash and he nails it. This manuever gets Ospreay the victory.

Match rating - ***3/4

PWG World Champion Roderick Strong is in the ring to a chorus of boos. The Young Bucks and Super Dragon soon join him. Roddy says they were sitting in the back and decided it was time for Mount Rushmore to come beat some motherfucker's asses! LAWD! Roddy says there's no one in the locker room with the balls to fight them and FENIX NAILS HIM WITH A KICK FROM BEHIND! They take down Fenix and out comes ANGELICO! He nails a nice jumping knee on Dragon before also being taken down. Who can save the day? The Inner City Machine Guns! Ricochet & Rich Swann come out and DOUBLE DROPKICK OFF THE TOP ROPE! Eight man tag time!


7) Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Roderick Strong, Super Dragon, & The Young Bucks) vs. Ricochet, Rich Swann, Fenix, & Angelico

 You already know what this was. Batshit crazy. It's the first ever Mount Rushmore eight man tag, even the original incarnation didn't get the chance to have this so it was exciting. The four high fliers were the perfect counterpart for them here. The Bucks work well with all those guys and they bump around for Dragon & Roddy so well. Dragon hit an epic stomp on Ricochet who was bridged over The Bucks knees at one point. I can't even remember everything that happened per usual with matches like this. Just know that it was everything you'd expect. The fact that it was insane despite being the least awesome Mount Rushmore match of the weekend says a LOT. Good stuff.

Match rating - ****

It's promo city tonight in Reseda. Jack Evans gets on the mic yet again before his match with Chris Hero and is just as entertaining as he's been all weekend. I love seeing him play the bad guy and I hope this continues into the end of the year. 2015 has been a great year for character growth in PWG and this is another example of that. Let's hope it all sticks around and they build off of it. None the less, Jack talks for several minutes and runs down the way Hero looks. Basically the same thing he did to Brian Cage earlier, but in more offensive fashion. He even threw in a little rhyme to spice things up. Jack Evans is a wild man, ladies and gentleman.


8) Chris Hero vs. Jack Evans - Semi Final Round Match

A failed attempt at a Sasuke Special from Jack Evans

This was quite similar to the Cage/Evans match earlier in the evening except it was a more evenly contested bout. Jack got to do more of his stuff, but he did still get the shit beat out of him. And yes, he's still as good at taking a beating as he was the last time we saw him in PWG prior to his return this year. Speaking of that, I have to take this time to rewind to 2008 which saw the first meeting between these two in Reseda. It was a match also involving Necro Butcher and it's wacky as fuck. That time period of the Guerrilla is overlooked so I just had to mention it because I'm a nerd and it ruled. Anyway, the story of this match became what Evans said in his promo about Hero not being able to keep him down for a 2 count, let alone a three. Therefore, Jack kicked out at one on several occasions only for Hero to do the same to him later on. This made for some fun moments however ultimately Chris Hero would put Jack Evans away with a piledriver and a roaring elbow.

Match rating - **1/2

9) Mike Bailey vs. Will Ospreay - Semi Final Round Match

The crowd is worn out by this point so the flurry that these two men began this match with wasn't able to have the full affect it would've on any other night. It still was really good though, as was this entire match. Basically in pairing in BOLA for Speedball was a dream match for me, but this one in particular is one that I hoped to see. Thankfully, just like with Sabre/Pentagon, we got it! This was basically all that you would expect from a match involving these two condensed into a fair amount of time. Some great exchange sprinkled all over the place including an extended sequence of diving oneupsmanship. In the end, that shooting star knee drop and a kick to the head would put Ospreay away and send the Canadian sensation to the finals. Speedball is making Steen & Generico proud this weekend.

Match rating - ***1/4

10) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Marty Scurll - Semi Final Round Match

"I forgot to do my DDP Yoga!" - Marty Scurll

 This is perfection on paper. The two former tag team partners in Leaders of the New School squaring off with extremely high stakes. Once again though, the heat took it's toll on the fans which made for a slightly toned down version of the usual Reseda atmosphere. It did make for quite the visual as these two Englishmen laid out all on the line for a spot in the BOLA finals. It didn't start out as a serious battle however. In fact, it began in a very light hearted manner that happened to catch many by surprise. For the first portion of the match, Sabre & Scurll went into a "What you can do, I can do better" scenario by showing off their best counters. They also pitched in some comedy as you can tell by the quote posted above this review. Sabre had Scurll stretched out and The Villain instantly remembered that he forgot to do DDP Yoga before the show. Don't ya hate when that happens? Well, Scurll may hate it too, but I don't think he hates it more than what he pulled out of Zack Sabre Jr around the 10-12 minute mark when this match got down to business. An array of cocky slaps and facewashes with his boot in the corner brought out the side of ZSJ that Biff Busick on commentary was waiting to see and of course, it was bloody wonderful. They had a Busick/Thatcher esque stiff slap exchange that signified the beginning of shit getting real. The final half of this contest was an exhausting display from both guys that felt like a main event effort. It just bums me out that the circumstances likely hindered how epic this match could have came across. It was still quite the battle though and I can't give the audience all the credit for making a match a success or failure because Sabre & Scurll busted their asses in the ring here. Some say this went long, but it didn't come across that way on DVD. The wear & tear of the heat and the weekend came across, the action delivered. Although one does affect the other so that has to be taken into consideration as well. ZSJ advances over his former partner.

Match rating - ***1/2

11) Team Chuck Taylor/Best Amigos/The 5 Man Band (Chuck Taylor, Trent, Drew Gulak, Aerostar, & Drew Galloway) vs. Team Tommaso Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa, Andrew Everett, Drago, Timothy Thatcher, & Mark Andrews

Biff Busick: "This is why I love Pro Wrestling Guerrilla!"

 What an absolute party we have on our hands here. What was originally scheduled to be an 8 man tag team match turns into a 10 man when Tommaso Ciampa shows up unexpectedly to get involved. This leads to CHUCKIE T chants and the Kentucky Gentleman is on the stage getting fired up. Reseda loves Chuck just as much as I do. The man himself storms down to the ring and the insanity gets underway. This match was a complete bridge off of last year's big 10 man where Ciampa found his thumb in Chuck's butthole in the midst of a slow motion spot that made it's rounds on social media. Well, we got all that again here except on an even bigger level as Ciampa dug his thumb into both Chuck AND Trent's bums. Only in PWG, my friends. The slow motion sequence here was arguably even better than last year's as it went on for what seemed like even longer and it was simply epic. Everyone was expecting it this go round so the crowd played along perfectly. Just seeing these wrestlers go out and have fun like this is just the best thing ever. Everyone the Best Friends' team had their own form of teaser offense, with even Aerostar going for a crazy move only to stop and simply stomp his opponent in the head. They also did a "super dick party" spot which really speaks for itself. This match just ruled on every possible level. The slow motion spots comes to an end with Mandrews and Andrew Everett going for shooting star presses. They miss and Chuck & Trent line them up, AWFUL WAFFLE! GUILLOTINE DRIVER! THEY'RE DEAD! The Five Man Band wins it and all 10 men embrace as the crowd chants "All these guys!"

12) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Chris Hero vs. Mike Bailey - Final Round Match

The culmination of an entire weekend.

I have A LOT to say about this match. First things first, it was laid out AMAZINGLY well. It threw the stereotype of your typical match completely out of the window and was therefore a huge change of pace. The "every match is spotty" type vibe that people give PWG has always been partially correct, but the truth is there's almost always different styles on the card. This match however was honestly different from anything I've seen in PWG. In great ways and in negative ways.

PWG's style has indeed become known for being spotty/high flying/action packed with your occasional story thrown in. I think part of the reason for this is because it's what works best when you look at how they do things. The live audience are virtually the only people who get to see things unfold as they happen and most of the DVD audience, which is obviously bigger, has likely already read the results in the month before they see the show. In that case, having the in-ring action deliver and be the focal point is the best option which is, combined with the Reseda atmosphere, what has brought PWG success over the years. That doesn't mean they and the wrestlers on their roster aren't capable of telling phenomenal stories though and this match was the perfect example.

Photo Credit:Mikey Nolan

In this match, you had the three MVP's of PWG in 2015 aside from the World Champion Roderick Strong who wasn't in the tournament. Sabre & Hero had what is my PWG MOTY thus far in June at Mystery Vortex III, Bailey & Hero had one hell of a match in July at Threemendous IV, and all three men have had individual singles matches against various people that are always the best on the shows. So on paper when it comes to dream matches & match quality, this is the perfect final three. On top of that, you have stories such as Zack Sabre Jr's rise starting last year when he debuted at BOLA and now he's back in BOLA & has made it to the finals. It's a year in the making for him. For Bailey, he was the underdog who came in and stole Reseda's hearts in February despite being the smaller man in every match he's competed in. Then you have Chris Hero, the grizzly veteran who has relaunched himself back to the top of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, a company he was a major part of before going to WWE for a stint. Plus, the fact that these three have been intertwined in a number of matches with each other in the past few months makes for several stories to keep an eye out for. As mentioned before, Hero is the veteran here and he lost to both Bailey & Sabre in respective singles matches earlier this summer. Bailey, in a way, stole a victory by reversing a piledriver into a brawn hold for the pin while Sabre legitimately tortured Hero by fracturing one of his fingers & causing it to bleed with stomps & submissions. What a large amount of heat we have in this match.

I truthfully didn't think about any of this until the match got underway and they began working it in a way that was, to reiterate, something I'd never seen before in PWG. Last year's final was a fast paced, action packed spotty contest. This year, it was a grueling, near 30 minute contest that was laid out in fantastic fashion. Everything had time to breath. Nothing was rushed, each climax had a great build, there were multiple close finishes as well as a few moments where the competitors just collapsed from the warmth in the legion hall and the toll that weekend had put on them. I wanted my jaw to drop at this match. It had everything from an in-ring perspective to be one of the best matches this year, but something held it back.

The drama that these three outstanding athletes were portraying in the ring just wasn't able to translate to me through the TV screen. It did in a way because I picked up on it, but not in the way that it should've. And it's not even their fault. It's circumstances. The first circumstance being that I knew who was going to win so I wasn't on the edge of my seat saying "wow, who's gonna win this thing?!" because all three were true viable choices. The second circumstance being, the Reseda crowd was absolutely drenched. I don't say this just from an outsider's perspective, I also say this from some one who heard from many who were there. It's the 12th match in the 5th hour on the third day of a pro wrestling tournament in a steamy, hot packed room with no air conditioning. ANYONE would have been completely out of energy in this situation so I don't blame the crowd for not being as vocal & hype as usual although the lack of noise and drama did have an affect on the match.

Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

Moments that likely would have made me spring to my feet like on most PWG shows, didn't. Moments that SHOULD HAVE made me grasp the edge of my seat, didn't. I wanted them to so bad because Sabre, Hero, & Bailey busted their fucking asses and I don't want any of this to sound like it's taking away from them because it's not. I just wanted this to reciprocate the hard work they put it into this match, but it didn't for me. Their effort was enough though. In fact, as you can probably tell, I loved a lot of things about this match. However I shudder to think how EPIC this would have been in front of a more lively typical Reseda audience. The knowing of results usually doesn't effect me because the athletes pull me into it, but when the crowd isn't able to loudly show their reaction, it really does change something about PWG matches and as far as the debate on a new venue or something goes, I think this match (and the other semi-final matches) sparked that discussion again, but I also think it answered the question.

Should PWG do something different with how they lay out BOLA next year? I would say so. I'm no insider or expert, but just based off what I saw, I'd think that'd be a good option. Spreading the tournament over two weekends is an idea that comes to mind. The first two nights on one weekend then give the wrestlers a 5 day resting period and the fans time to recharge & get fully hyped on what's to come before delivering a kick ass final.

Should PWG change venues? No. I think the quiet, toned down atmosphere in the legion hall gave us a taste of what things would be like elsewhere. It wouldn't be the same and while Reseda is a hotbox, it's aurora is unmatched, in my opinion. I've never been there live however it's translated as such through DVD and everyone that I know who has been has told me the same exact thing.

Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

Now, back to this match. I've said all the things about it that I really have to say aside from the finish where the crowd thankfully let out a big pop for Zack tapping Hero out. I was afraid on how it would go based off the quietness throughout the contest, but Reseda pulled through and gave Zack a great moment. And of course, Roderick Strong pitched in as well. The PWG Champion comes up from behind and he has a staredown with Sabre that gave me the beloved pro wres goosebumps. Roddy says that when Sabre comes back, he's going to beat the living shit out of him. The crowd chants "New World Champ" in return to his claims.

Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

Sabre Jr gets his moment after Roddy and leaves. For the first time in a few years, the trophy doesn't get smashed. Sabre spoke from the heart about how much it meant to him and said he's going to win the PWG World Title and move to California! YEEEAAHH! The crowd chants "Best in the World" and Sabre says it's nice of them, but they should wait until he beats Captain Shitty Boots. Tommy End, Drew Galloway, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, & Mark Andrews come down to celebrate the huge victory with him as "Euro Trash" chants ring out. They lift Sabre up on their shoulders to close the show.

The magic of the Roddy/Sabre feud and just the pure sight of Sabre's exhaustion made for a special feel to close out the night even if the final lacked the atmosphere it needed to be a true Guerrilla classic.

Match rating - ***3/4

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This review was written by EthanPWT, follow him on Twitter by clicking here!