2015 Battle of Los Angeles - Stage Two Review

Date: August 29th, 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, & Chris Hero



"Who buys Night Two without buying Night One? If you're one of those assholes, go buy Night One, you pervert!" - Chuck Taylor

1) Rich Swann vs. Marty Scurll - First Round Match

"Banzai drop by Marty Scurll. Classic British technique." - Chuck Taylor

Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

Extremely hot opener here that begins with Marty nailing Rich Swann with his umbrella before introductions can even be made. The action never slowed down and this was the finest opener you could ask for, with an amped up crowd to boot. In the end, Rich's words would come back to bite him as "the fish and chips eating motherfucker" would force him to tap out to the chicken wing. Party Marty is headed to round two!

Match rating - ***1/4

2) Jack Evans vs. Angelico - First Round Match

"Poor guy (Jack Evans). He's spent too much time with Teddy Hart, he's completely lost his fucking mind." - Chuck Taylor

Drunken Kung Fu from Jack Evans

I don't even know what to say about this match. PWG is known for having an array of matches that can best be descirbed as "odd" or "different". Whether it be the lego death match in 2013 or the vulgarity of the Best Friends/Beaver Boys, it's something to expect once or twice a year in the Guerrilla. Well, one of those times was this match because it was all over the place. Jack kept cutting promos with no mic during the match thus getting himself a bunch of heat from the crowd, Angelico grabbed Dave Meltzer's notebook at ringside, Jack drank a beer and started doing drunken kung fu, this was all over the place. To top off the wackiness, Jack Evans pins Angelico with a CRANE KICK. This one also had too many beautiful quotes. So many that I couldn't even include them all. Jack fucking Evans or as Excalibur would say, I think we saw the evil twin of Jack here - Jake Evans. Too much fun.

"Jack, he's got good cardio for a guy that smokes as much weed as he does." - Excalibur

"Write in your report: Jack Evans carries the team!" - Jack Evans to Dave Meltzer

Match rating - ***1/2

3) Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher - First Round Match

"This guy has been just fucking riding through the west, gun slinging, riding from town to town, all of his earthly possessions on the back of a horse. He comes to town to fight!" - Chuck Taylor on Timothy Thatcher

The hype is real for this highly anticipated battle. It's a first time in Reseda, but a rematch from a classic encounter that took place in California for EVOLVE during WrestleMania weekend. Thatcher is coming into only his second PWG event however the audience clearly knows just how talented he is as there were dueling chants for several minutes before the match even got underway. A serious staredown translates into a scientifically brutal and serious match between two intimidating competitors. It started off slow and took a minute for me to get into since I don't have the hype of this being a rematch since I haven't seen their previous encounters, but once this got going, they really brought me into it. Thatcher's target was the leg and he kept it as such during the entire stretch of the match. Things really reached another level when Hero struck Thatcher with a spike piledriver out of no where. Thatcher cringed and couldn't move his fingers afterwards which was an unbelievable visual that he went back to several times later on in the contest. Stiff is another word that could undoubtedly describe what we saw here as Thatch delivered one of the most wicked headbutt's I've ever seen that knocked Hero straight to the mat. In short, this was a great fight from beginning to end that I feel like will only grow on me with time as I'm already having the urge to re-watch it.

Match rating - ****

4) Pentagon Jr & Drago vs. Fenix & Aerostar

Excalibur: "I think he's looking for that big over hand chop."

Chuck Taylor: "Or yeah, he's gonna get real sexual with it."

The AAA talent once again deliver a high impact performance that was eaten up by all the fans in attendance. As bland as it sounds, there's really not much else that I can say because this was simply an exhibition for four one of a kind athletes from Lucha Underground fame. And as you can probably gather, it was a treat to watch unfold. I can't even describe some of the exchanges here in a way that would do them justice. Great lucha showcase. Their characters/appearance alone is a sight to behold so their talent & innovation is the icing on the cake.

Match rating - ***3/4

5) Tommy End vs. Drew Gulak - First Round Match

From lucha showcase to a well versed kick boxer against a man with an amateur wrestling background. What a variety this show has delivered thus far. This was a match that began with both men trying to feel each other out then went into them throwing bombs. Seeing Gulak try to combat with Tommy's kicks was awesome. Gulak would end up tossing End on his head with a back drop driver at one point to stop the assault. Just as things were getting heated, End throws a punch that floors Gulak and earns him the sudden victory.

Match rating - ***

6) Mike Bailey vs. Drew Galloway - First Round Match

Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

.....And Speedball tore the house down. AGAIN. I loved Trevor Lee's debut year in PWG last year, but BAH GAWD if Mike Bailey didn't come in determined to top it because he's yet to have a bad match or even one that was "just okay" since debuting. That trend continued here in one of the biggest, from a mainstream perspective, matches of his career. A former WWE Superstar and former EVOLVE & DGUSA Champion, Drew Galloway is no joke. This was his debut in PWG and the crowd was firmly behind Speedball which had to be a cool moment for him. I think a lot of people underestimated Galloway because most "WWE rejects" as they are often labeled, don't get much love from Indie audiences. However, Drew definitely won everyone over with this match that will likely be regarded as one of the best of the tournament. He & Bailey fought hard, traded big moves, provided dramatic nearfalls, and it ruled. Galloway unloaded everything he had on Bailey yet he couldn't put him away and vice versa. This led to Galloway going for his signature DDT and Bailey reversed in the same braun hold he beat Hero with, for a quick three count to advance. Man, Reseda exploded when Rick Knox's hand hit the mat for three! Awesome match.

Match rating - ****

7) Ricochet vs. Zack Sabre Jr - First Round Match



Photo credit: Mikey Nolan

Last year's winner against one of this year's favorites, this should be wonderful. Ricochet played the heel, oddly enough, because there's no way the people were going to boo ZSJ and OCHET is good at being a cocky asshole. Despite the cockiness displayed, the King backed it up in a number of ways as he played into Sabre's style in a way that showcased his own versatility. He had reversals for ZSJ that I haven't seen anyone have. And the fact that both guys are so fluent made this a beautiful match to watch. It was a nail-biting contest that was completely a Sabre style affair and while he also won, I think Ricochet deserves some points for his unique performance here. Fantastic match. After a number of near submission finishes, ZSJ uses one of his classic bridging pins to get the victory.

Match rating - ****1/4

8) Super Dragon & The Young Bucks vs. Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee - Guerrilla Warfare Match

 Just like last night, the atmosphere reached a new level when the Mount Rushmore 2.0 story began take place. The chaos begins with Biff Busick waiting for Super Dragon at the entrance way and THEY COME TO BLOWS AFTER MONTHS OF BUILD! I've missed these Super Dragon brawls so much and Biff is the perfect guy to do it with. They legitimately fight through the crowd in the most vicious way, bumping into people and shoving around & such. They toss chairs at each other with Dragon eating the brunt of it. Everett & Lee call Biff in the ring, triple diveeee-NO! THE BUCKS & DRAGON NAIL THEM WITH CHAIRS IN MID DIVE! 2.0 hits the ring and TRIPLE DIVE! FUCK! SUPER DRAGON CUT ONE OF HIS OLD SCHOOL FLIPS THROUGH THE ROPE! I love it! A bunch of stuff happens after this and I may discuss it out of order so bare with me. Dragon teases another dive and instead flips off the crowd and MATT JACKSON SUPERKICKS THE REF! He's a new guy and I can't remember his name, but RICK KNOX EMERGES! He goes to superkick Dragon, but gets caught with a double super from The Bucks and then CURB STOMP TO RICK KNOX! Lord, help! Matt Jackson starts mocking Excalibur on commentary and they start jawing back & forth when TREVOR DIVES OVER EXCALIBUR OFF THE STAGE! WHAAAT! I marked out for this even though it was one of the only spots which I was spoiled on thanks to a stray GIF on Twitter.Busick goes nuts with half & half suplexes on The Bucks. He goes for one on Dragon, but settles for a ALABAMA SLAMMA INTO A LADDER since Dragon gave him a struggle. It's sheer craziness from here on out and I can't remember every single moment, but Dragon hits his senton/drop kick combo into a double Indy taker at one point. We also get a Psycho Driver variation of the Meltzer Driver which was nutty. The thumbtack shoe makes it's return since bloodying Candice LeRae last year and takes it's toll on Biff this go round. That leads to the finish where Dragon's stomps Biff's head on a chair covered in thumbtacks while Nick puts Trevor Lee through a table on the outside with a frogsplash. Another amazingly insane trios contest. IT'S GUERRILLA WARFARE MOTHERFUCKER!

Match rating - ****1/2

Post-match, Dragon prances around and takes a few more shots at Everett & Lee. He gets into it with a fan or two and HIGH FIVES ANGRY SUPER DRAGON FAN. Instant heat from everyone in attendance, most likely. Dragon & The Bucks finally leave and Excalibur gets in the ring. He delivers a great promo that had the full attention of everyone in the building as it was dead silent for the most part which is rare in the legion hall. Excalibur declares to Mount Rushmore: "This is not over, this is not over by a fucking longshot!" He says they are simply four men and PWG has a locker room full of men and one woman (CANDICEEEEE!!) so he doesn't care who it takes, he'll assemble a team to put 2.0 in the ground. Excalibur asks who should be on his team and the crowd chants for Tozawa for like a minute. Just as Excalibur is finishing things up, The Bucks attack from behind, DOUBLE SUPERKICK! Oh boy, looks like we're just getting started.

Super Dragon lays Excalibur out with a psycho driver in the chairs. It feels like 2005 again every time I see that! Dragon immediately taunts Chris Hero who was on commentary for the main event. Crowd chants for Hero as he looks on at Dragon & The Bucks. HERO HAS HAD ENOUGH AND JUMPS OFF THE STAGE THROUGH THE CROWD AND INTO THE RING! Dragon & The Bucks run off, but Angry Fan is yelling shit as Hero checks on Excalibur. He gets Hero's attention and we get a staredown between he & Hero. And 2.0 is back again. Dragon attacks Hero and we get this AWESOME brawl. Hero takes a wild swing at Dragon even after eating a superkick before a second puts him down. The show ends with Nick laying in the ring and saying "Reseda, if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you - suck it!"

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