Saturday night, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla held its seventh annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament in a one-night, single-elimination format. PWG also featured PWG tag champions Young Bucks in a segment playing off Booker T’s criticism this week for not shaking hands at the Smackdown TV tapings Tuesday in California.
(1) Willie Mack beat Chris Hero with a backslide in a First Round BOLA tournament match. Great opener and hard-hitting match.
(2) PWG champion Kevin Steen beat Finlay via submission with the Sharpshooter in a First Round BOLA tournament match. Shorter match than expected in Finlay’s PWG debut.
(3) El Generico beat Claudio Castagnoli in a First Round BOLA tournament match. Generico countered a top-rope Ricola Bomb with a huracanrana into a jackknife pin. Good match.
(4) Eddie Edwards beat Roderick Strong in a First Round BOLA tournament match. It was a battle of recent ROH World champions with Edwards winning via roll-up. Another good match.
(5) Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky beat RockNES Monsters in a #1 contender match to the PWG Tag Titles. Joey cut a pre-match promo about the Young Bucks not shaking hands and Mark Henry scaring him at Summerslam.
After the match, the Bucks ran out and talked about not shaking hands, leading to the Kings of Wrestling challenging them to a match later in the show.
(6) El Generico beat Willie Mack in a Semi-Final BOLA tournament match.
(7) PWG champion Kevin Steen beat Eddie Edwards via submission in a Semi-Final BOLA tournament match. So, the finals was set up as Generico vs. Steen, resuming their 2010 ROH feud.
(8) PWG tag champions Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) beat Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) to retain the PWG Tag Titles. The Bucks retained via roll-up. Over-kill on the roll-up finishes and eye-pokes on this show.
(9) El Generico beat PWG champion Kevin Steen in the Finals of the BOLA tournament to win the Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Generico won with a brainbuster on the ring apron.
— The next show is September 10 featuring Young Bucks vs. Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky for the PWG Tag Titles. Also announced were PWG champion Kevin Steen, Rocky Romero, T.J. Perkins, ROH World champion Davey Richards, and Super Smash Brothers.
Sounds like a good show, but too many roll ups. If they were fruit, different story.