-Taped from Reseda, CA
-Your hosts are Excalibur and a bunch of serious gentlemen
Match in Five Words or Less: Good Enough For PWG
Match Highlights: Joey Ryan promo. I tune out. He makes a racial joke about Willie Mack. Well, that’s awesome. This is his 12 year anniversary in wrestling. Ryan vows to bring sleazy back. A fan tells Ryan to shut up. Smart guy. Extended stalling to start. Perkins puts his hand behind his back and ducks around. Quick roll-up for two. Ryan headlock. Shoulder tackle off the ropes. Hip toss by Perkins. Up kick and drop toe hold. Armdrag by Perkins. Perkins stretches Ryan’s elbow out. Shoulder blocks by Ryan. Perkins up and over. Another modified roll-up into the kneeling chinlock. Roll-up for two. Arm mare. Crowd really wants Ryan to tap. To the ropes. Ryan with a punch to the midsection. Follow-up shot to the face. Right hand misses. Perkins goes into the ropes and goes all Spiderman on him. Ryan passes on charging. Sunset flip. Perkins grabs a sharpshooter. STF. Ryan goes to the bottom rope before sliding to the outside. Ryan gets into with some old. He recovers and kicks the rope as Perkins comes back in the ring. Series of stomps. Straight right hand. Choking along the middle rope. Right hand to Perkins. Dropkick hits. Sitting abdominal stretch. Perkins with left hands. He pulls Ryan’s pants down. Perkins ducks and hits a running rana. Ryan rolls outside as fans flee. Spear prevents a dive. The tights are still down. blind charge misses. Neckbreaker by Perkins. Uppercut/right hand exchange. Perkins eats a knee to the midsection. Perkins drapes his leg over Ryan and places his elbow in the side. Roll-up for two. Uppercuts in the corner. Kick on Ryan. Tree of woe. Hesitation dropkick hits. Ryan sends Perkins off the ropes. Powerbomb. 1-2-NO! Ryan hits a pumphandle exploder. Perkins catches a boot out of the corner. Spinebuster by Ryan gets two. Powerbomb countered. Elbow by Ryan. Perkins springboards outside and hits a dropkick. Brainbuster. 1-2-NO! Dropkick misses. Ryan spears Perkins to the floor. Perkins tossed back in the ring. Superkick misses. O’Connor roll blocked. Superkick by Ryan. A second one misses. Perkins hits one of his own. Firemen’s carry into the kick to the side of the head. Perkins wins!
Match Analysis: I was expecting Ryan to win, so Perkins coming out on top was like a bonus. For a Joey Ryan singles match, this was outstanding. Perkins kept a quick pace and told a fun story of simply outquickening (not a word I know) Ryan at every turn. Solid start to the show.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: TJ Perkins/13:19/***
Match in Five Words or Less: Hard Hitting
Match Highlights: Younger tore the house down with B-Boy last month while Strong is a bridesmaid. Strong passes on the code of honor and dropkicks him in the face. Awesome. Series of stomps. Into the corner for a chop. Another corner. Knee and chop. Third corner for a chop. Younger out of a suplex. He sends Strong outside. To the top and he battles Strong off. Headbutt. Somersault to the floor. Chop on the outside. Strong sent into a chair. Right hands. Back to the chops. Strong sent back first into the apron. Younger sets some chairs up. Bodyslam of Strong. Right hand by Younger. Chop in the corner. Strong responds in kind. Chop war. Hard headbutt by Younger. Samoan drop for two. Strong sent into the corner. Right hand. Whip in the corner. Strong with a kick to the knee. Another kick. Enziguri. Chop. Strong tosses Younger into the ring post and chops him again. Strikefest on the floor. Firemen’s carry and Younger is sent into the apron. Shot to the midsection. Bodyslam sends Younger into the chairs. Younger tossed back in the ring. Strong grabs a chinlock. Forearms by Younger. Whip. Younger comes off with a facebuster. 1-2-NO! Strong counters and hits a knee to the midsection. Drunk slam. Strong with a bit of a violence party in the corner. Younger with forearms. Dropkick by Strong. Strong rakes at Younger’s face. Camel clutch. Younger strikes back. Younger hits a spinebuster. Strong with boots out of the corner. Younger hits a falcon arrow. 1-2-NO! Drake’s Landing countered into a roll-up for two. Waistlock. Strong out. Younger hits a northern lights bomb. 1-2-NO! Strong takes him back in the corner. Boots by Young. Leaping kick by Strong. Uranagi backbreaker. 1-2-NO! Younger knees out of a suplex. Forearm. Leaping knee by Strong. Backslide by Younger. Strong turns splash mountain into an acecrusher. 1-2-NO! That was sweet. Stronghold. Strong breaks it. Younger kicks him away. Half nelson suplex. Death valley driver. 1-2-NO! Release German suplex plants Strong on his head. Strong grabs the bottom rope. To the apron they go. I smell something stupid. Enziguri by Strong. Backbreaker into the freaking top turnbuckle. Holy God. Back in the ring for two. Inside cradle by Younger gets two. Forearm by Strong. Gutbuster. Tiger driver. Strong finally wins in a great match.
Match Analysis: These two tried to tear down the house down early on. Really good stuff as it’s obvious Younger has little regard for himself. This is one of those matches you don’t realize you want to see until it’s right in front of you. Another very good match for Younger, and Strong seemed motivated. We’re off and running already.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Roderick Strong/13:50/***1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: Davey’s Boys Battle
Match Highlights: I was going to say there was no way any two guys could hit any harder, but man these two have a shot at it. Code of honor followed. To the ropes and a clean break. Feeling out process. O’Reilly holds Edwards on the mat. Edwards maintains a bridge as they are knuckle locked. Edwards flips him over. O’Reilly flips him. Double pins. They both bridge up. Cute. Edwards sends him off. Kick misses. Chop blocked. Kick blocked. Dropkicks go nowhere. Back to the mat they go. Slapping from both men. They chop each other while standing on their hands. Single leg crab but O’Reilly kicks him away. Kick by O’Reilly. Another one. Snapmare and a punt. Edwards is amused. Slap. Snapmare and a chop to the back. Staredown. Forearm exchange. Edwards with a series of chops. Up and over. Edwards sends O’Reilly down and hits a running bicycle kick. O’Connor blocked. Edwards with slaps and an enziguri. Edwards brings O’Reilly over on a facebuster. Chop in the corner. Um. OW! Whip in the corner. Boot by Edwards. Side kick by O’Reilly. Chop by Edwards. Leaping knee by O’Reilly. Edwards rolls over into the single leg crab. Roll-up by O’Reilly gets two. Off the ropes. Boot by Edwards. Spin kick by O’Reilly. Axe kick. Forearm. Back drop driver. 1-2-NO! Series of counters. Armdrag by Edwards. Kick as O’Reilly is on the top rope. Release German suplex. Roundhouse kick. Regalplex for two. Yeesh. Kicks from O’Reilly. Edwards rises anyway. Chop. O’Reilly responds with a kick. Edwards with a chop. Back and forth they go. Slap to the face by Edwards. Edwards hits a superkick. O’Reilly with one of his own. Double running boot. Again. Release German suplex by Edwards. Leaping kick by O’Reilly. Lariat by Edwards and both men are down. O’Reilly with a kick out of the corner. Another one. O’Reilly into a roll-up for two. O’Reilly swings around and hits a DDT. Guillotine choke. Edwards counters. Series of kicks by both men. Edwards applies the crab and stomps O’Reilly in the back of the head in the most vicious way possible. Referee comes in and stops it.
Match Analysis: Another stiff contest as you might expect considering the participants. What a great match from these guys. If this was 30 minutes, I’d call it ridiculous fluff, but at 15-18? Perfect amount of time. Edwards is almost incapable of having a bad match at this point.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Eddie Edwards/17:47/***1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: Machine Over Punisher
Match Highlights: B-Boy is wrestling another local here, and this is his very first BOLA. Very surprising. Cage shoves him into the corner. Shove sends B-Boy across the ring. Forearm by B-Boy. Series of them. He ducks a clothesline and hits him one more. Clothesline by Cage. Forearms by Cage now. Short clothesline. Knee in the back and a chinlock. Clubbering blows and a stomp. B-Boy with forearms. Cage sends him off. Boot by B-Boy. Hip toss into the backbreaker. Chinlock. Back elbow by Cage. Shoulder tackle from the outside by B-Boy. Northern lights suplex by Cage as he catches his opponent. B-Boy sent head first into the top turnbuckle. Chops. B-Boy with one of his own. Running elbow by Cage. B-Boy sends Cage into the middle turnbuckle. Running dropkick. Snapmare by B-Boy. Stomp to the crown of the head. Double stomp on Cage. B-Boy tries folding a chair, but it won’t go. He sends Cage back inside again. Sitting abdominal stretch into an applied headscissors. Cage lifts him up. B-Boy with a gordbuster. Cage with shots to the midsection. Forearm exchange. Headbutt by B-Boy. Cage hits a backbreaker and swings around into a neckbreaker. Discus lariat misses. Uppercut. B-Boy placed outside. Leaping kick. Cage brings him up and over with a vertical suplex. Backslide battle. Forearm by B-Boy. Cage drops to one knee. Cage puts him on his back. B-Boy out. Crucifix bomb into the nearfall. Wow. B-Boy locks in a triangle choke. Cage lifts him up and simply drops him. B-Boy reapplies it and hits a series of elbows. Cage lifts him up again and hits a backbreaker. 1-2-NO! B-Boy is dead weight in the corner. Whip reversed. Acecrusher as Cage tries leaping. Swinging DDT. 1-2-NO! B-Boy misses a running dropkick. Cage manages a German suplex. Jesus. Swinging springboard moonsault misses. Dragon suplex and a shining wizard by B-Boy. 1-2-NO! Forearm exchange turns into a headbutt exchange. They stand back up. Back to the forearms. B-Boy tires himself out. Eye poke. Inside cradle. 1-2-NO! Loved that spot. Shining wizard blocked. Cage into a backslide. He lifts B-Boy up. Weapon X! 1-2-3!
Match Analysis: Another really good match in a series of them tonight. This first round is polar opposite to Trios in that the match quality is right there and there are a minimum amount of shenanigans. I loved B-Boy using his veteran guile to stay alive versus the young bruiser. Cage continues to impress the hell out of me, and I can’t see him being around the indies much longer.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Brian Cage/16:57/***1/4
Match in Five Words or Less: Champ Goes Down
Match Highlights: Basic to start. Shoulder tackle by Steen and Ricochet goes up immediately. Another shoulder tackle. Headlock by Steen. Shoulder tackle. Ricochet spits in his face. Steen then kicks him and powerbombs him right down to the mat. Ricochet… dead. Chops by Steen. Ricochet responds back. Steen rakes his face. Powerbomb but Ricochet blocks it. Corkscrew dive connects and Ricochet ends up near the back wall. My God. Series of kicks by Ricochet. Springboard rolling senton splash hits. Forearm. He rolls over Steen. Headscissors and a dropkick. Springboard off the middle rope misses. Senton by Steen. Running kick to the back. Chop on Ricochet. Back and forth with strikes. Steen bites Ricochet’s hand. Steen then bites his ear. Well, that’s gross. Steen goes into a boxing stance. Whip of Ricochet. Charge met with an elbow. Boot by Ricochet. Cartwheel but Steen simply tosses him into the corner. Cannonball senton. Sweet Moses. Steen goes back to biting. Forearm battle back and forth. Chop by Steen. Whip of Ricochet. Steen misses a blind charge. Shoulder to the midsection. Springboard Meteora by Ricochet. Kicks from Ricochet. Forearm exchange. Dragon suplex blocked by Steen. Acecrusher off the ropes. Standing shooting star press gets two. Pace picked up very quickly right there. Shooting star press but he rolls through. Steen hits a sleeper suplex for two. Ricochet counters and hits a backslide bomb! 1-2-NO! That was unreal. Ricochet with kicks. Steen spits in his face. Sitdown powerbomb. 1-2-NO! Steen heads to the top. Ricochet with a shot to the back. Another one. Steen with elbows. Ricochet sweeps him. Rolling kick. Spinning kick. Ricochet climbs up. 630 misses. Steen covers and gets only two. Package piledriver countered. Ricochet hits a dragon suplex. Brian Cage comes in. Steen package piledrivers him. Why isn’t the run-in a disqualification? Ricochet gets a small package for two. Reverse rana. Ricochet climbs to the top rope. Phoenix splash. Ricochet wins!
Match Analysis: This match was going along swimmingly until the interference. At least it keeps up the issue between Cage and Steen. Ricochet seriously doesn’t even look or wrestle the same as he did in 2006. He’s the greatest commercial for flying to Japan and training with Dragon Gate. Hell, Ricochet is a million times better from his 2010 BOLA appearance. Steen tossed him around, and it was beautiful. You’ll be shocked to know this was another very good match.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Ricochet/15:53/***1/2
-Steen goes on the microphone and has harsh words for Cage. He vows a prison beating and rape. Wow. That’s bad for someone.
Match in Five Words or Less: Sami Celebrates With Pain
Match Highlights: It’s Sami Callihan’s birthday! Somehow, I think he’ll be the one to decimate birthday punches. Hard lock-up goes to the mat. Crowd is really split. Callihan with a slap to the face. Mack with a hard shoulder tackle in the corner. Tope con helo. Right hand. Mack throws a water battle at Callihan. Callihan sends Mack into the post back first. Chop misses. Mack misses a forearm and hits the post. Callihan hits an exploder into the row of chairs. Callihan is willing to take a count-out. Mack rolls in the ring. Series of stomps. Referee tries moving him out of the corner. Rick Knox would have broken it up. Maybe even Patrick Hernandez. Running forearm. Standing chinlock. Mack fights him off. Right hands. Bicycle kick and death valley driver by Callihan. Rebound splash. Mack crotches Callihan on the top rope. Elbows and a slap by Callihan send Mack down. He recovers and hits a forearm. Top rope exploder! Forearm exchange. Boot by Callihan. Mack NAILS him with a forearm. Slaps by Callihan. Samoan drop and the standing moonsault. 1-2-NO! Running elbow. Bicycle kick. Callihan with a bicycle kick of his own. Mack is down in the corner. Running face wash. A second one. Callihan calls for a third one. Mack sends him up and hits a forearm. 1-2-NO! Callihan rolls to the apron. Kick to the side of the head. Callihan tells the fans to scatter. Mack with an enziguri. Lungblower by Mack. 1-2-NO! Mack climbs up. Superkick and Mack buckles something awful. Big splash to Mack’s knee. Stretch muffler. Mack counters into a roll-up for two. DVD again by Mack. Frog splash met with knees. Back drop driver. Running clothesline. LARIAT! 1-2-NO! Another lariat. 1-NO! Mack rises up. Another lariat. Callihan finally wins.
Match Analysis: Seemingly every match in this tournament feels like a war. I’m exhausted just watching some of these matches, so I can’t imagine what it must be like to be IN them. The crowd, who I have not yet mentioned tonight, have been incredible and added something special to what has been a really good show so far. Mack and Callihan delivered another hard hitting affair. Mack is ratcheting up the intensity, and I’m hoping this continues in advance of another main event push.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sami Callihan/13:28/***1/4
Match in Five Words or Less: Kevin Steen HATES El Generico
Match Highlights: Cole attacks before the bell rings and stomps away since he’s in full Panama City Playboy mode. Choke along the middle rope as the fans chant “Evil Adam.” Shoulder tackle and a thrust. Generico fake dives. Trio of armdrags. Right hands to Cole. Chop in the corner. Cole yells at the referee. Cole sent into the top turnbuckle. Generico with 10 punches in the corner. Cole shoves him off before 10. Generico gets one in anyway. Sunset flip by Cole. He cowers. Dropkick to the back of the head by Generico. Knee to the midsection by Cole. Generico low bridges him. Cole catches him with an enziguri. Forearm. Stomp. Generico whipped into the corner. Snapmare. He runs off… and applies a chinlock. Kevin Steen has decided to endorse Ricochet for Dragon Gate. Thank God for that. Cole rips Generico down. Elbow drop. Forearm exchange. Poke to the eyes by Cole. Atomic drop by Cole. Firemen’s carry into the neckbreaker. Figure four blocked. Shining wizard hits. Choking by Cole as Steen makes more references to Generico wanting Cole’s private areas. Cole goes for the mask. Right hand. Whip in the corner. Generico with a pair of clotheslines. Back drop. Cole with a running kick. Blue thunder powerbomb gets two. Bodyslam countered. Waistlock. Generico elbows out. Half nelson blocked. Enziguri by Cole. Michinoku driver. 1-2-NO! Yakuza kick blocked. Open hand chop by Generico. Cole crotches him and drops him in a German suplex. Right on his dome. 1-2-NO! Cole with a running forearm. Superkick as Generico was going to follow up. Suplex into the neckbreaker. 1-2-NO! Generico meets Cole on the top rope. Cole sends him down and guillotines him. Canadian Destroyer countered. Yakuza kick. Half nelson suplex. Cole small packages Generico and gets three! That was f’ing brilliant, even made better by Kevin Steen’s reaction. This needs to be seen to be believed.
Match Analysis: Tonight was a night for the favorites to fall. I feel like if this were any other company, I’d be roasting them for having so many guys like Steen, Generico, and even Mack lose in the first round. But because this is PWG, there is an implicit trust that what they’re doing is right. Another very enjoyable match in a series of them and probably my favorite of the night. Cole going heel probably shouldn’t work in PWG, but he wrestled El Generico and did everything he could to just be the biggest piece of garbage in the world. Great work from both guys as you would expect.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Adam Cole/11:06/***3/4
Match in Five Words or Less: Showdown In The Sun…Again
Match Highlights: I figure it’s California during Labor Day weekend. It’s got to be sunny, right? Kevin Steen still doesn’t like Jim Cornette. Feeling out process. Elgin shoulder tackles Steen completely out of the ring. Best about having been to Reseda is I know the Subway Steen was referencing on commentary! They continue to stay basic for a bit. Richards kicks the middle rope against Elgin’s arm. Shoulder tackle by Richards goes nowhere. Elgin with forearms. He catches Richards in a powerslam. Stalling vertical suplex. It takes the crowd a while to count, but once they do they hit 60 before Elgin drops him. Clubbering blow across the chest. Richards up and over. He ducks Elgin and dropkicks him. Up and over. Punt to the chest. Tope suicida and he lands in a chair sitting. That’s amazing. Big kick to the chest in the ring. Richards ties Elgin up and applies a sitting cloverleaf. Kick to the lower back. Running kick. Another kick. Elgin with a chop. Spinning leg lariat by Richards. Chinlock. Richards with a spin kick. Handspring but Elgin catches him and sits down. Forearm exchange. Spin kick and uppercut by Richards. Elgin responds. Two German suplexes. Richards elbows out. Running charge. Richards blocks an exploder. Elgin counters and German suplexes Richards into the corner. Superkick. Elgin deadlifts him. Kicks from Richards. Elgin with clotheslines. Back and forth they go in the corner. Exchange of running forearms. Elgin blocks a clothesline with authority. High kick from Richards. Elgin hits a discus lariat. Elgin with blows to the back. Richards elbows out of a powerbomb and connects on double stomps. Richards with a boot out of the corner. Elgin misses a charge. High kick and dragon screw leg whip. Dropkick to the side of the face and then right into the ankle lock. Elgin crawls to the bottom rope. Richards with kicks. Elgin gets angry. Pie face. He no sells kicks. Richards with kawada kicks. Elgin with knee strikes. Richards back to the kicks. Elgin back to the knees. Spin kick. Back fist. Spin kick. Elgin drops Richards down off a vertical suplex attempt. Both men head to the apron. Back and forth. Richards hits an exploder. Elgin sent back in quickly. Double stomp by Richards. 1-2-NO! Running kick. Elgin kicks out at one. Trio of kicks. 1-2-NOOOOO! Ankle lock! Elgin hits an enziguri. Curtain call. 1-2-NO! Elgin climbs to the top rope. Richards clocks him in the knee to send him down. Elgin with back elbows. Corkscrew splash misses. Running forearm. Running knee. Headbutts to the midsection. Elgin lifts Richards in a firemen’s carry. Air raid crash off the top rope! 1-2-NO! Elgin hits a corkscrew splash. 1-2-NO! Richards sunset flips Elgin over. Elgin lifts him up. Richards battles out. Spin kick. Elgin goes for a pele kick. Richards applies an ankle lock. Elgin tosses him outside. Elgin kicks him away. Knee strike sends Richards down. Back fist. Bucklebomb. Spinning powerbomb. Elgin wins! The look on his face when the referee seemed like relief more than anything else.
Match Analysis: Although this is a really important tournament within the annals of indy wrestling and the main event of a show, this was still a first round match. These guys though… never underestimate their abilities as a wrestlers. Say whatever you want about Davey Richards, but he’s been tearing down the house with everyone this year. I have a hard time thinking about bad matches he’s been in this year. This was also the only match on the card that went crazy with over the top kickouts, so it worked better than if it had happened in three matches before this. Elgin is a wild card contender for wrestler of the year based on his work in Ring of Honor, PWG, and AAW. Look it up if you don’t believe me. Just outstanding back and forth action. Now if only they could complete their trilogy, perhaps in the Midwest or something.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Michael Elgin/23:22/****1/4
The Verdict: I’ve been disappointed with certain night ones of BOLA, but this was really excellent. I liked or loved every match on this card, even the one with Joey Ryan. Elgin and Richards capped this show off in an awesome way with a borderline MOTYC. Lots of craziness and hard hitting action all night long. An obvious thumbs up show if you ask. Then again, it’s PWG so why do you need me to tell you to buy this show.
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