WE WILL HAVE LIVE TWEETING & WEBSITE COVERAGE OF BOLA SO JOIN US THIS SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles has become the most notorious indy wrestling tournament in recent years due to the fact of the major star power that the event holds. Big names like Bryan Danielson, AJ Styles, Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Tyler Black, etc., all guys that are becoming major players now have all entered the tournament in years past. As soon as the original TPI lost its luster, BOLA became the big name fans resonated with when it came to big indy wrestling tournaments. BOLA has made guys like Davey Richards and Kenny Omega while it has help cement legacies like El Generico and Joey Ryan. Will this year bring another fresh face to the top or will a major player finally earn his dues and finally win the big one?
Roderick Strong (7th Battle of Los Angeles) vs. Drake Younger (1st Battle of Los Angeles)
Strong is a perennial bridesmaid when it comes to BOLA. He was a semi finalist in 2006, runner-up in 2007, lost in the first round in 2008, was runner-up again in 2009, lost in the quarter finals in 2010 and of course recently lost in the first round last year. Just like the Texas Rangers and Utah Jazz, losing the final twice and never winning is good feeling. Will Roddy finally break the curse and win the tournament that some feel he should have won already? Drake of course is new to PWG and will be a regular now that he has moved to the West Coast. He won the fans over at Threemendous III with his emotional and brutal performance against B-Boy. Younger winning would seem like and upset considering this is only his second PWG match. But Strong has the most BOLA experience next to El Generico and that gives him the mental edge in this match. This is going to be stiff strong style at its finest. Roddy is the uncrowned American “King of Chop” and Drake can dish the pain just as hard as he can take it. It wouldn’t surprise me to see more insane bumps and head drops just as I predicted for the B-Boy/Drake match. Drake will put up a tough fight but Strong has the bridesmaid’s stigma and that will motivate him to get married. I mean advance to the quarter finals.
Winner: Roderick Strong
B-Boy (1st Battle of Los Angeles) vs. Brian Cage (2nd Battle of Los Angeles)
It’s amazing that B-Boy has been with PWG practically from the start and this is first time he is entered in BOLA. That was probably just circumstance. Brian Cage has taken the ball and has totally rolled with it. After defeating Eddie Edwards last month, he cut a promo modeled after Booker T’s infamous promo on Hulk Hogan. He called Steen a “sucka” and Mack a “n***a” followed by an appropriately placed spinarooni. Later in the world title match, when Knox got murdered by Steen and Mack (Knox would get murdered again later on in the night and then came back from the dead again and did a Tope conHilo on the Young Bucks, true story), and took out both Mack and Steen. Cage went from really over to super over. Everything from his performance that night combined with his promo and new found cocky attitude has catapulted him to the main event scene. And he probably cut the best promo out of every participant who has cut a promo about BOLA. His promo mocked other wrestler’s promos and had very witty one liners. Cage has really come into his own this year breaking out of the tag team stigma and moving up in the wrestling world. Even though B-Boy has proclaimed that he is reborn, he is no where near as over with the crowd right now as Cage is. I think having B-Boy winning over Cage would be a mistake and completely kill Cage’s momentum.
Winner: Brian Cage
TJ Perkins (2nd Battle of Los Angeles) vs. Joey Ryan (6th Battle of Los Angeles – 2010 Battle of Los Angeles winner)
Okay I admit it. I’m an 87%er. As much I think Joey should not have won BOLA 2010, he is definitely talented and fits perfectly with TNA and WWE. However, TJ is sick of losing as he stated yet didn’t say in his promo. TJ cut one of the most unique promos in all of wrestling history. He communicated a lot but we didn’t hear a word he said. TJ cut the first “silent” promo in wrestling history, complete with jazzy score and dialogue cards. Even though it was one of the most unique promos ever, Joey has way more BOLA experience and internet buzz right now. This will be fun but Joey will probably win with a Snow Plow followed by a Taz Mission. And how come Joey hasn’t come out with a mannequin head and towel yet?
Winner: Joey Ryan
Sami Callihan (1st Battle of Los Angeles) vs. Willie Mack (2nd Battle of Los Angeles)
Mack is coming off the most emotional match of his career at this point nearly becoming PWG World Champion. What better way to get that momentum back by winning BOLA and becoming #1 contender again, right? Callihan has yet to win a match since his debut in May. So far he is 0-3 and he is pissed. He wants redemption on his birthday, September 1st. Mack and Cage seem to be the two favorites to win going in. However, would it shock people to see them possibly interfere in each other’s matches to eliminate each other and let someone else ascend to higher levels as they have? Possible scenarios have been pondered. Will Willie Mack interfere in Cage’s match against B-Boy and cost him the match just as Cage did at Threemendous III? It would be so far fetched for Mack to interfere and cost Cage the match. Babyfaces always try to get revenge by stooping to their rival’s level. It would create an interesting story to have the top two favorites for BOLA, the two guys with the most momentum going in, two guys who are on their way to the top of the card, lose on the first night in a pair of shockers. Would it create a grudge match on Night 2 or possibly even a three way title match with Steen if Steen were happen to lose on Night 1? I personally think that the finals should be Cage vs. Mack. Two guys who started from the bottom of the card and worked their way up to the top in the last two years, winning the crowd over and possibly reaching the echelon of a Steen, Generico, Richards, etc. It’s hard to image Sami losing his first four matches in PWG, but by the way it looks, it seems that way.
Winner: Willie Mack
Eddie Edwards (2nd Battle of Los Angeles) vs. Kyle O’Reilly (1st Battle of Los Angeles)
Knowing these two, we can already guarantee two things: hard hitting strikes and crazy submission holds. O’Reilly is 1-0 in singles competition in PWG with a victory of Alex Koslov at World’s Finest. As fantastic a team Future Shock is, it’s refreshing to seem them both in singles matches. Cole and O’Reilly are on the cusp of being main event level guys just as Cage and Mack are. With the kind of crowd reactions PWG fans are notorious for, we are bound to see some classic singles matches featuring these two and hopefully BOLA will be the start of that. If that MMA fight they had in ROH happened in PWG, I bet more people would be talking about it and would have been much better received in Reseda. That’s just the kind of atmosphere PWG has where in can take a really good match and the crowd makes it a great match. This could be one of those matches. If both guys bring the intensity they are known for from the get go, then the crowd might be in for a treat. I believe the polarizing “car crash” style of wrestling that guys like Davey, Eddie, Kyle, etc., have become known for is good but if you stretch way too long then it doesn’t feel as special. For example, Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards from Threemendous II was 12 minute “car crash” sprint that the PWG crowd loved. It was well reviewed when it came out on DVD. Now had that match been thirty minutes, it would have been over doing it. If Edwards and O’Reilly try to kill each other for fifteen minutes, which they could do, it would probably be the best type of match you can have in PWG. Edwards is on a bit of losing streak that started with his PWG World Title loss at World’s Finest and lost to Brian Cage last month. Edwards needs to bounce back and this is the best place to start.
Winner: Eddie Edwards
Ricochet (2nd Battle of Los Angeles) vs. “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen (6th Battle of Los Angeles)
Kevin Steen is so awesome that he works any style with any guy. Steen is a great platform for high flyers that he can throw around and they can nail all kinds of crazy aerial moves on him. His matches with PAC, The Young Bucks, Generico, etc., were all fantastic. If the formula holds true, then this should be quite the encounter. Kevin Steen will do everything in his power to destroy Ricochet. Not only will he power bomb Ricochet onto the apron, he will probably do it twice because the crowd will most likely chant “One More Time!” Expect that they will try to come up with a spot similar to the top rope reverse hurricanranna that Ricochet hit on Steen last year at All-Star Weekend 8 Night 1, to play off their history with one another. As excellent as Ricochet has become, Steen is at the top of indy wrestling right now and it seems like nothing is stopping him at this point. And as much as Steen has accomplished in PWG, he still has yet to win BOLA. After all Steen has done, could winning BOLA be his crowning achievement as he finally accomplished something that he wasn’t able to do but Generico, his arch nemesis, did? One could argue that Steen and Generico are the most successful wrestlers in PWG history, next to Joey Ryan and Super Dragon. And whatever side of that Steen/Generico fence you’re on, you still love both no matter what. Winning BOLA may not seem as important to Steen as he is the current PWG World Champion, but after losing in the finals last year to his rival, Steen must be thinking redemption. A tournament that he has never won in a company that put him on the map. Perhaps Steen will be the first PWG World Champion to win BOLA while as champion, proving him to be the true king of the indy mountain. The closest anyone has done was Chris Hero in 2008 when he entered as World Champion and lost to Low Ki in the finals. This is also the second time Steen has entered the tournament as World Champion. Will Steen fulfill his proclamation of “winning the whole thing” or end up like Hiroshi Tanahashi the last two years in the G1 Climax entering as champ and failing to win it? As far as this match goes, Steen is making it past the first round. He has to. The World Champion has to make it past the first round. This is also one of the two matches that I think will possibly main event Night 1.
Winner: Kevin Steen
Michael Elgin (1st Battle of Los Angeles) vs. Davey Richards (5th Battle of Los Angeles – 2006 Battle of Los Angeles winner)
This is the other match that I think might main event Night 1. These two had one of the top five matches of the year at ROH’s Showdown in the Sun Night 2. It was a classic. Some say thatElginshould have won that night. Oh well. This is PWG. You know these two will tear the house down again, but the question is will they try top themselves knowing that they can channel a far greater crowd reaction than they could have in ROH, except maybe the NYC crowd but they seem to be a much more negative crowd. Knowing the buzz this rematch will have, it wouldn’t surprise me to see in main event, especially if they try to pull off another classic. I’m guessing this will be the same pace as the first one, although it would be surprising at all to see them start out slow as opposed to the first match. Elginbounced back from his loss against Willie Mack in his debut and defeated Callihan last month. Elginis another star on the rise in this new crop of up and comers reaching for the top like Callihan, Gargano, Mack, Cage,ACH,ARFox, Cole, O’Reilly, etc. I think even Davey knows it would be smart to putElginover here just as Aries and CIMA did for Davey in BOLA when Davey won it all. Elginwill go deep in the tournament, but he doesn’t have enough momentum to win it all like Mack, Cage and Steen do right now. This is going hard hitting and hopefully an up and down roller coaster ride. Expect some crazy bumps and displays of power. Richards will try to kick the wind out ofElginand make him tap whileElginwill try to over power his opponent as he usually does. Here’s hoping to another amazing match.
Winner: Michael Elgin
Adam Cole (1st Battle of Los Angeles) vs. El Generico (8th Battle of Los Angeles – 2011 Battle of Los Angeles winner)
When they announced the original list of twelve, these two were on it and I immediately said to myself, Cole/Generico has to happen. It’s a perfect fit. They have never faced each other before and this is one of the matches I’ve been looking forward to ever since ROH somehow never booked this match when Generico had his tenure there. These two will fit like a glove with one another. I think Cole will be the defacto heel since Cole is known for his heel persona in CZW anyway and bring some of that shtick to the match playing off of Generico’s fun baby face role, it will click really well. We know Cole can put on some fantastic performances and Generico is one of the best in the world. This is one of those matches where it wouldn’t shock some people to see Cole pick up the upset win and gain some momentum for a singles run in PWG. Generico has lost in the first round three times before and won it last year. Generico is coming off the heals of main event win over Ricochet at Death to All But Metal and has yet to cash in his rematch for the PWG World Title. So even if Generico were to lose here, hypothetically he has a title shot to fall back on. I think it would be refreshing to see a guy like Cole move on and start becoming a top singles guy. This is the shocker of the night for me.
Winner: Adam Cole
So after breaking down all eight matches, my picks are: Strong, Cage, Ryan, Mack, Edwards, Steen, Elgin and Cole. The brackets are blind so there are plenty of juicy potential match ups to come. Now if it were up to me, my mind would shape things like this:
Quarter Finals:
Brian Cage vs. Roderick Strong
Willie Mack vs. Eddie Edwards
Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen
Adam Cole vs. Joey Ryan
Semi Finals:
Brian Cage vs. Kevin Steen
Willie Mack vs. Adam Cole
Finals:
Willie Mack vs. Brian Cage
Now as of right now, no one else has been announced for this weekend. It is possible to see appearances from the Young Bucks, the RockNES Monsters, etc., on Night 2 but perhaps it’s best to give them a break and focus on the singles division. The Super Smash Brothers have not been announced either and will most likely not be at BOLA either. So far, nothing has been announced for Night 2 except the tournament matches of course. So my official pick to win it all is Willie Mack. This is the perfect opportunity to bounce back from an emotional title match by winning BOLA and cementing himself as a top level guy. I predict Cage will be upset that Mack gets a shot even though Cage pinned Steen, setting up a three way match and future grudge title matches between the three. I’m spent. For now.
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