PWG BOLA 2013 Night Two 8/31/2013

Written by: TJ Hawke

August 31, 2013
Reseda, California

Commentators: Excalibur, Joey Ryan, Tony Nese, & Kevin Steen

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal
Drake Younger vs. Brian Cage

Drake quickly dropkicked Cage to the floor and hit a moonsault to the floor. Cage essentially got control of the match right after that. He dominated Drake for a while. Drake finally came back with a DVD. Cage avoided a Drake’s Landing and then took Drake’s head off with a discus lariat. Drake went for a diving DDT, but Cage (sort of) caught him. Drake then got a small package: 1…2…3!

This was delightfully short, as an action-packed compact match plays to the strengths of these two men. This was a strong start to the show.
Match Rating: **1/2

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal
Kevin Steen vs. Johnny Gargano

I believe this is the first time these two have ever had a singles match. Gargano went for the Gargano Escape early, but Steen made the ropes. Gargano went for the Gotcha Spear, but Steen caught him with a punt. Steen was in control after that until Gargano hit a rolling senton off the apron to the floor. Gargano went for a tope suicida, but Steen caught him and hit a F5 into a ringpost. Steen then got a nearfall with a senton atomico. Gargano came back with a buzzsaw kick, but Steen fired back and hit a cannonball in the corner. Steen ended up on the apron, and Gargano speared him to the floor. Gargano hit the slingshot DDT and locked in the Gargano Escape, but Steen made the ropes. Gargano called for the Lawn Dart, but Steen reversed it into a sleeper suplex. Gargano avoided the package piledriver and hit two superkicks!!! Steen came back with the pop-up powerbomb. He went for the package piledriver, but Gargano somehow reversed it into the Gargano Escape! Steen taps! That is one of the best reversals I’ve ever seen.

This was easily (in my opinion, obviously) the best match of the 2013 BOLA so far. These two had instant chemistry, and they left a lot of room for a rematch down the road.
Match Rating: ****

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal
Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong

Elgin got control of the match and worked Roddy over for a while. Roddy came back with the Drunk Slam. They went back and forth a lot. Roddy hit a superplex. Elgin fired back with a lariat and his Hellevator variation. Roddy came back with the gutbuster, Sick Kick, and the Gibson Driver: 1…2…NO! Strong Hold! Elgin escaped and locked in the crossface. Roddy was forced to tap.

This was a solid quarterfinal match. They have good chemistry, but Roddy singles matches have a certain ceiling at the moment. Elgin should have had a fresher opponent.
Match Rating: ***1/4

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal
ACH vs. Kyle O’Reilly
They went back and forth for a long time. The crowd was into everything. Kyle eventually got control of the match and worked ACH over for a while. ACH fired back and hit the running lariat through the corner. ACH caught Kyle with a Flatliner for a nearfall. Kyle came back with a diving divorce court. Kyle got a nearfall with a bridging Regalplex. ACH hit a Gotcha Cutter for a nearfall. ACH hit a stunner, but Kyle fired back with a rebound lariat. Kyle got a cross armbreaker, but ACH escaped. ACH hit multiple punts to the head. ACH went for the Spirit Bomb, but Kyle reversed it into the guillotine!!!! ACH reversed it into the Cram for the Exam: 1…2…NO! ACH followed that up with an Air Jordan! ACH went for the crossover splash, but Kyle caught him in the triangle choke!!!! ACH stands up, but he’s still forced to tap!

I didn’t think Steen/Gargano could be topped on this show, but these two managed to do it. There was a ton of innovative stuff in the match, and unlike the majority of great PWG matchups (on paper) this year, the crowd was pretty much 100% into everything they did. Great match.
Match Rating: ****1/4

Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Trent?, & Joey Ryan) vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Willie Mack, & B-Boy
The good guys were mostly in control at the start. There was a lot of gaga. The teams went back and forth. There were a lot of eye pokes. Chuck took out a grenade and put in Ciampa’s tights. Chuck gave him a Manhattan Drop, which caused the grenade to go off. Rick Knox was taken out of the match by that. Tony Nese became the referee because he had nothing better to do. Ryan speared B-Boy to the floor. Mack took them out with a tope con hello. Chuck nearly killed himself on a failed dive. I think he was going for an Air Jordan. Luckily, Chuck has been seen on other shows since this match. The dive sequence ended with Trent? superplexing Ciampa onto everyone on the floor! Ciampa set up some chairs on the floor, but Brian Cage came out. As a way of apologizing for the death scare the night before, Ciampa let Cage powerbomb him through the chairs. That was awesome. Chucky hit B-Boy with the Awful Waffle in the ring: 1…2…3!

This turned out to be a really fun match. If they ended shortly after the grenade spot, it probably would have peaked at the perfect time. The Chucky T injury was also really scary and took me (and the crowd) out of it for a bit. With all that in mind, I feel like I should add that I enjoyed this more than the main event of Night 1.
Match Rating: ***1/2

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Semifinal
Johnny Gargano vs. Michael Elgin

Gargano quickly hit four tope suicidas. As soon as they got back in the ring, Elgin hit an urinagi for a nearfall and then had control of the match. Gargano fought back, but Elgin hit a Black Hole Slam for a nearfall. They traded forearms. Seems like a strange strategy for Gargano. Elgin killed him with a lariat. Gargano ate a buckle bomb, but he immediately came back with a superkick and the Gargano Escape. Elgin escaped, but Gargano eventually got it locked in again. Elgin survived and hit the Fucking Machine Suplex: 1…2…NO! Elgin then hit the buckle bomb, but Gargano avoided the Elgin Bomb. They avoided each other’s finishers in a cool sequence until Elgin just managed to lock in the crossface. Gargano almost tapped, but he crawled and crawled until he got to the ropes. That was great. Elgin looked to be finishing Gargano off, but Gargano hit a buzzsaw kick to stay alive. The crowd is really behind Gargano at this point. Gargano appeared to be setting up for a super hurricanrana, but Elgin reversed it into a diving powerbomb: 1…2…3!

In a shocking development, two of the very best wrestlers in the world had a fantastic match in Reseda, California. Unlike the Steen/Gargano match though, this felt like they put everything they had into this match, which makes me less interested in a rematch. Considering PWG rarely does rematches, that was not a complaint but rather an observation that stayed with me after the match.
Match Rating: ****

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Semifinal
Drake Younger vs. Kyle O’Reilly

These two are going to have a really hard time topping the Gargano/Elgin match. Drake quickly hit a piledriver and a Necro Butcher scoop slam on the floor. KO piled some chairs onto Drake and then did a slingshot senton to the floor. Back in the ring, Drake hit a Stinger Splash and a Scorpion Deathdrop. Lol. They did a lot more stuff. Drake hit a Buckle DVD for a nearfall. Kyle came back with a super back suplex, a Regalplex, and a triangle choke. Drake escaped and hit half-nelson suplex. Kyle hit the rebound lariat. Drake avoided the sharpshooter and hit the Drake’s Landing: 1…2…no? Weird thing to use for a nearfall. Kyle hit the Running of the Bulls and then transitioned into a guillotine. Drake passed out.

The effort was there, but this never really came together. Some of the stuff they was entertaining though.
Match Rating: **1/2

AR Fox, Rich Swann, & Candice LeRae vs. Team Fruit Roll-Up [Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)]

Cole demanded Candice. Candice kicked his ass. Nick killed Candice with a giant slap. The bad guys eventually cut off Swann and worked him over. Swann managed to tag out to Fox. Candice tagged right in; she called for her dive, but Cole cut her off with a lariat. She was worked over for a bit. Cole went for a Bronco Buster, but Candice kicked him in the dick. She then told him to such her dick before kicking him in the face. The teams went back and forth. Fox hit a Lo Mein Rain. Candice hit a moonsault to the floor. Fox got a nearfall with a swanton. Fox then ate a devastating series of movez. More back and forth action. Candice hit the Rising Sun I on Cole, and Swann hit him with a frog splash: 1…2…NO!!!!!!! Candice ran into a superkick from Coke. Cole untied his tights. She grabbed him by the balls. The Bucks tried to save him, but they accidentally gave his dick Early Onset Alzheimer’s. DOUBLE BALLPLEX TO THE BUCKS~! Suicida DDT on Cole from Candice! Stereo 450s on the Bucks: 1…2…NO!!!! Fox got dropped on his head with a German. Swann ate the Panama City Sunrise. Candice was left alone and ate a triple superkick. She then ate a double superkick into the Florida Key: 1…2…3!

Team Fruit Roll-Up hit Candice with a triple-team tombstone. LOL. What a match.

And with that, we have my favorite PWG match of the year. The Young Bucks and Adam Cole have solidified themselves as some of the very best performers in the world right now. This match perfectly illustrates that. Fox, Swann, and Candice are all also quite talented, and they were perfect fodder for Team Fruit Roll-Up. I want a Adam Cole vs. Candice LeRae PWG Championship as soon as possible.
Match Rating: ****1/4

2013 Battle of Los Angeles Finals
Michael Elgin vs. Kyle O’Reilly

KO got the guillotine early, but Elgin escaped with a release Northern Lights. KO hit a back suplex to the floor. Elgin came back and hit a corkscrew senton. Elgin got the crossface, but Kyle made the ropes. Elgin went for the Fucking Machine Suplex, but KO reversed it into a triangle choke. Elgin reversed *that* into a diving powerbomb. Kyle came back with a dragon suplex and a Regalplex for a nearfall. They traded strikes. Kyle went for the rebound, but Elgin hit a pair of lariats for a nearfall. They traded some nearfalls. Kyle went for the cross armbreaker, and he eventually got it. Elgin tapped. Woah.

This was fairly underwhelming given the rest of the tournament (specificially the rest of Night 2). It was pretty much a typical end-of-a-very-long-tournament match that could not possibly live up to the standard of the earlier rounds. That being said, they worked out, and the match was good enough.
Match Rating: ***

Adam Cole came out to troll Kyle. Kyle kicked him in the head. The Young Bucks made the save. Candice LeRae crawled out, but she couldn’t do much. Kyle covered her up. Joey Ryan came out and said “No one appreciates a heel faction like I do.” (lol) Joey said only he gets to beat up Candice. He superkicked Cole, but he then ate the double superkick from the Bucks. Drake Younger came out for the save, but he was useless. Rick Knox came out with a chair for the save, but KEVIN STEEN GAVE HIM THE PACKAGE PILEDRIVER. The new heel stable was destroying everything, but the rest of the roster came out to make the save.

Final Thoughts:
There is not a doubt in my mind that is (and will be) the best American wrestling show of 2013. Everyone needs to go to the PWG website and purchase this show right now. That is all that needs to be said.