Steve & Andrew Minus Steve are back to review Stage 3 of the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles in two stages. In this first part of the show review, Steve and Andrew Minus Steve take a look at the second round matches of BOLA featuring John Hennigan (Johnny Mundo/John Morrison) vs. Ricochet, Chris Hero vs. Mark Andrews, Cody Rhodes, Kyle O’Reilly, Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., and more. Click it. Click it now. Click it good. Yeah. That’s it. Good.
Click here for Steve’s thoughts on the show from a live perspective.
On a serious note, SoCalUncensored.com will be donating any money raised through our Highspots.com affiliate account for the months of December, January, and February to help with the medical expense of APW volunteer Autumn White who is in critical condition after being struck by stray bullet. If you plan on purchasing this event or anything else through Highspots.com, please help out by clicking this link.
2016 Battle Of Los Angeles Second Round Match: Dalton Castle vs. Trevor Lee
As usual, Trevor Lee was doing the “TNA superstar” schtick, and Castle followed up by mocking his schtick by having Angelo announce him as “PWG superstar” to get a cheap pop. The first part of this match was like really fucking boring and shitty. It felt like the match was going on forever, which is never a good thing. The usual goofiness occurred. I really hate Dalton Castle’s gimmick, but the dude is solid in the ring. The match ended up being about who could hit the better German Suplex, and Castle did some really impressive German Suplex spots. The finish was pretty cool, with Trevor Lee doing a running Canadian Destroyer into a small package for the win and to advance in the tournament. The first part of the match dragged the final few minutes made up for it. This was still unnecessarily long and would’ve been better had it been shorter. instead this was above average. No, I’m not making a dick joke. That’s not my style. Chuck Taylor has a great one in the next match though.
Rating: **1/2
2016 Battle Of Los Angeles Second Round Match: Ricochet vs. John Hennigan
For people wondering “who the fuck is John Hennigan?” because you haven’t been following along, he’s Johnny Mundo on Lucha Underground, and was John Morison/Johnny Nitro in WWE. There, now you’re all caught up. Chuck Taylor ruined one of Lucha Underground’s closely guarded secrets by revealing Ricochet was Prince Puma. I assume he’s banned from “The Temple” now. These guys did a lot of fun sequences at the start of the match, and did some pretty cool spots. The pacing of the match was really good too, and the crowd seemed into it the whole time. Hennigan had a very impressive performance here, both at hitting really cool stuff while also doing some fun heel work that got some heat from people. Ricochet won after hitting a 630 Senton for the win and to advance in the tournament. This was a pretty fun match. It didn’t drag like the first match, the crowd was really into it, and it had cool spots. This overall was the best match of the first part of the show.
Rating: ***1/2
2016 Battle Of Los Angeles Second Round Match: Marty Scurll vs. Cody Rhodes (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
Once again, Cody brings had his wife do his ring introduction. Before the match started, Scurll hit Cody in the back with an umbrella while Cody was kissing his wife. This was a really fun and cool way to shit a match. Brandi would get into an entertaining verbal altercation with Scurll during the match. After that, the match sorta dragged a bit with Marty doing a bunch of heel work that didn’t get him over as a heel. I say it didn’t work because half the portions of the crowd that were making noise were cheering him on, while a quarter making noise were chanting for him, and the rest that were making noise were trying to get themselves over in someway. There was a funny moment in the match where Scurll did the Goldust “Shattered Dreams” spot on Cody, and Brandi was incensed by it since she wants babies. Scurll won after throwing Cody into the referee, hit a low blow on Cody and did a roll up to pin him and advance in the tournament. After the match, the fans gave Cody a “Please Come Back” chant, and Cody said “I’ll be back” and threw his BOLA boot to a fan. I hope he comes back, because Cody Rhodes seems like he could do awesome shit in PWG. He had a good performance in this match, but Marty Scurll ruined it by making shit drag on and on to try to get heel heat.
Rating: **1/2
2016 Battle Of Los Angeles Second Round Match: Chris Hero vs. Mark Andrews
This match started off with Hero attacking Mark Andrews during his ring introduction with a kick and a running Lyger Bomb, and would control the early portion of the match by beating the shit out of Andrews. Hero kept trying to knockout Andrews until Andrews made a comeback. Andrews went for a Drana Rana after hitting a Tope Con Giro on Hero, and Hero ended up hitting his head on the floor instead of rolling because a fan was in the way. PWG really needs to get the fuck out of that shitty building in Reseda, It’s a huge liability. Unless PWG has good insurance or suddenly have badass attorneys at their disposal, they’re gonna get fucked because someday some stupid ass fan is either going to get hurt, or pretend to get hurt, after a wrestler flies into them and sues PWG, thus shutting them down. So yeah, Hero would get the advantage again and try to kill Andrews, or at least appear to be trying to kill him. Andrews got the win after hitting a victory roll on Hero for the pin, which got a huge reaction from the fans. After the match, a pissed off Hero hit Andrews with an elbow and eventually a piledriver off the top rope which looked really sick. Fun match and awesome post match angle.
Rating: ***
2016 Battle Of Los Angeles Second Round Match: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Mark Haskins
You know, this was one of those matches where it was really solid and had a few cool moments, but overall it was not very interesting. I’m really not sure what Haskins’ appeal is aside from him being another indy dude from Europe. Don’t get me wrong, he can do good shit, but the guy has no personality and the lack of intensity in his performances made it hard for me to get into any of his matches at BOLA. Kyle was really good as usual. The way he blends various styles of combat sports into pro wrestling is something everyone in SoCal should study. I really enjoy his matches in PWG. He really kept my interest in the match despite knowing he wasn’t winning this one, even as the pace seemed to drag a bit at some points. Haskins got the win after making Kyle tap to modified Sharpshooter. The finish was alright, but as I said before, the match was not very interesting overall.
Rating: **3/4
2016 Battle Of Los Angeles Second Round Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay
This match started off with Ospreay going after Zack right when the bell rang, and hit like two dives, a Shooting Star Skytwister, and did a 450 attempt in the first minute of this match. That shit alone was more exciting than a lot of the sequences in this tournament and spots. The match slowed down once Zack took over on offense where he worked over Ospreay’s neck. Not gonna lie, I enjoy Zack’s work, but his control segment was really boring. It’s like, hey cool, he can work over a guy’s neck and shit, but it was just shit we’ve seen him do a million times. He hit a cool looking Tiger Suplex into a behind-the-back grip Dragon Sleeper on Ospreay though. If he worked the whole match the way he did in the last two or three minutes, it would’ve been really fun. But alas, it was “just aight.” The final seconds of the match were pretty cool, with Ospreay out smarting Zack for the win. Good stuff, but overall I wish it were shorter.
Rating: **3/4
Quick Final Thoughts
The first part of this show was bordering between averagely boring and pretty good. I wish the pacing of the matches were faster, as shit seemed to drag on a bit too much. Ricochet and Hennigan had a very fun match, as was Hero and Andrews’ match as well as the post match angle.
PWG’s Battle Of Los Angeles Stage 3 is available at the official PWG website and on Highspots.com on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this review.
Note: SoCalUncensored.com will be donating any money raised through our Highspots.com affiliate account for the months of December, January, and February to help with the medical expense of APW volunteer Autumn White who is in critical condition after being struck by stray bullet. If you plan on purchasing this event or anything else through Highspots.com, please help out by clicking this link.
