PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2014: Night 2 DVD Review

Pro Wrestling Guerilla’s annual Battle of Los Angeles Tournament was held at the end of August, the 29th-31st of this year. This year’s PWG BOLA had 24 competitors fighting to go all the way in the well-respected tournament.

Among the 24 competitors were PWG regulars, newcomers, familiar faces, and the first woman in tournament history.

Every year, PWG BOLA is filled with plenty of amazing moments, and always manages to skyrocket somebody to the top.

Night 1 was filled with great action, so Night 2 would have a lot of work to do. With the likes of Johnny Gargano, Chuck Taylor, Candice LeRae, and Adam Cole in action, along with The Young Bucks vs. Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, there was a good chance that Night 2 could set an even higher bar for Night 3.

It’s time to break down the action from Reseda:

Candice LeRae vs. Rich Swann in a 2014 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match

LeRae is the first woman to ever compete in PWG BOLA. She replaced the injured Trent?.

This match was set up in the World Tag Team Championship match from Night 1, when LeRae pinned Swann to retain the titles. Before this match started, the two shook hands, as Swann showed respect to LeRae.

Early in the match, LeRae went of the reverse hurricanrana that won her the match on Night 1, but Swann rolled through it perfectly and landed on his feet, giving LeRae a Dikembe Mutombo-like finger wag. LeRae then went for a handshake of her own, but Swann slapped the daylights out of her.

Swann played the heel role fantastically, as he beat down on LeRae. His best moments were cutting off her comebacks, as the crowd really got loud and got behind her, he would hit her with a big move and smile as they all got quiet.

In the end, LeRae countered a standing 450 splash by getting the knees up, then used a small package pin to advance in the tournament.

After the match, Swann swatted away LeRae’s hand, when she went for a handshake, but then he hugged her as the crowd chanted “sportsmanship.”

Really fun match. Everything with LeRae, especially in PWG, is a lot of fun, and really good.

Johnny Gargano vs. Chuck Taylor in a 2014 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match

A lot of comedy in this match, especially early.

When Gargano first took his shirt off, he revealed some abs that Taylor, and Excalibur and Joey Ryan on commentary immediately noticed. So in response, Taylor pulled his long tights up to his chest to cover up his insecurities.

A little later, both men caught an attempt at a boot to the midsection from the other. They both pleaded with the other to let go first, before deciding to do it at the same time. They did it slowly, but they both went through with the deal as the crowd cheered and laughed.

Awesome final sequence from these two, it featured some roll-up attempts, a lot of superkicks from Gargano, and Taylor fighting out of Garga-No Escape.

Eventually, Taylor did tap out to Garga-No Escape.

It’s easy to make jokes about Taylor, in fact, he’s usually the one doing it. He may not be a serious wrestler, but he’s really good. Gargano is one of my favorites. He’s a lot more understated than Taylor is, but he has a lot of personality, and he can wrestle.

Ricochet vs. Chris Sabin in a 2014 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match

Sabin was wrestling his first PWG match since 2010.

Ricochet, who teams with Rich Swann in The Inner City Machine Guns, and Sabin, who used to team with Alex Shelley, as part of The Motor City Machine Guns, got dueling “Inner City/Motor City” chants before the match started.

Ricochet is such an effortless, yet impressive high-flyer, to the point where it stand out so much that you forget what else he can do. Sabin is also a pretty athletic guy, and he helped really sell all the other things that Ricochet is capable of doing, including his strength.

Ricochet got the win with the 630 senton, which is just an incredible move. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you do.

This was a good match. These guys had never had a match before, and there was a bit of a feeling out process, but they got on the same page and had a nice match.

reDRagon vs. Drew Gulak and Biff Busick

reDRagon started teaming in Ring of Honor in November of 2012. Since then, they have captured the ROH World Tag Team Championship three times. They have only competed together outside of ROH once before this match, and that was for New Japan Pro Wrestling, who has a working relationship with ROH, in August, when they lost an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match to the Time Splitters.

Gulak and Busick had never teamed together before this match, though they have had a bit of history facing each other.

It was interesting to see reDRagon, not only get cheered for, but play a face role, especially Bobby Fish. They weren’t full-fledged faces, but they were somewhere on the face spectrum.

reDRagon got the win by hitting Chasing the Dragon on Gulak.

The match didn’t blow me away in the same manner that most PWG matches blow me away, but it was just an awesome tag team match. Chants of “Tag team wrestling” and “This is awesome” from the crowd were very well deserved.

Chris Hero vs. Matt Sydal in a 2014 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match

Sydal, formerly known as Evan Bourne in WWE, was last seen in a PWG ring in 2007. The two men shook hands to start the match.

Hero had a huge size advantage in this one, and he used it. He was completely dominant over Sydal, as the announcers pointed out how long Sydal was on the shelf with an injury.

Sydal was able to pull out the victory with a Shooting Star Press.

This was a classic big man/little man match, with the added bonus of Hero being able to move like a small man. Good match.

Adam Cole vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. in a 2014 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match

Sabre, Jr. was dominant over Cole in a six-man tag match on Night 1, which nicely setup this match.

I had never seen Sabre, Jr. before Night 1, but I couldn’t be more impressed. He works at such an impressive rate, and he doesn’t miss a step. If I had one complaint, it would be that he turns his back too much, especially in a match like this where he is up against a heel like Cole.

Speaking of Cole, I don’t think it is going out on a limb to call him one of the best in the world at what he does. I would even say that he is the best the independents have to offer. He played the heel really well in this match.

Sabre, Jr. got the shocking victory, when he reversed a Florida Key attempt with an insane bridging pin attempt.

If you’re a fan of technical wrestling, this is a must-see match.

ACH vs. Kenny Omega in a 2014 Battle of Los Angeles First Round Match

The match started with ACH giving a cheesy smile and yelling “sportsmanship” The two then shook hands, but couldn’t free their hands without some serious effort. After the handshake, Omega wiped his hand off on the referee’s shirt, causing ACH to sit in the corner and look sad. The crowd chanted “say you’re sorry,” then Omega helped ACH back to the feet. ACH yelled “wrestling” and the crowd cheered as the match got under way.

Omega used his frantic, and weird, style to control most of this match.

The best part of the match was also a little weird, but it was really awesome. There was a fan wearing a replica Stone Cold Steve Austin vest. Omega asked for it, but used it as a whip, then tried to throw ACH into the skull on it. ACH countered, threw Omega into the skull, then put on the vest to a huge pop.

ACH then used all of Austin’s signature moves leading up to The Stone Cold Stunner, but Omega countered that and went for a Rock Bottom. ACH countered and hit a Stunner to a massive, massive pop, but Omega kicked out. Shortly after a “This is awesome” chant, the crowd chanted “This is Austin.”

An added bonus to the whole Austin scene was Chuck Taylor on commentary, who did a Jim Ross impersonation throughout.

A little later, Omega would go on to hit a Rock Bottom, but ACH would kick out, as the crowd went wild again.

Omega went for Croyt’s Wrath, but ACH countered with a roll-up. Omega kicked out, hit a bicycle knee, then got the win with a second attempt at Croyt’s Wrath.

Great match. Without all the Austin stuff, it might have just been a good match, but that’s the kind of stuff that is really memorable and keeps the crowd awake throughout a long three show weekend.

Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian vs. The Young Bucks

Pre-match introductions weren’t even over before this one got crazy. After the ring announcer introduced The Young Bucks, they decided to hit him with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. Daniels and Kazarian attacked them, but The Young Bucks took them out on top of the ring announcer. Daniels and Kazarian then questioned The Young Bucks over the ring announcer, then all four men put the boots to him and Too Sweet’d each other.

Oddly, as the match got started, Daniels and Kazarian played the heel role, putting a beating on Matt Jackson, who was playing a babyface role.

What followed, was tag team wrestling at its absolute finest. Matches like this one are why I fell in love with tag team wrestling, and I don’t know if these are the two best tag teams on the planet, but a case could be made.

The Young Bucks got the win with the debut of The Meltzer Driver, the move where Matt held Kazarian up for a Tombstone, and Nick Jackson assisted with a 450.

Awesome tag team match. Absolutely perfect.

Overall Impression

Night 2, which is the toughest night in a three-night weekend, delivered in a big way.

Coming off all the anticipation from Night 1, before the big moments that will come on Night 3, Night 2 was filled with good, fun matches that kept the crowd in it.

PWG has put on two amazing shows so far, can they wrap it up nicely on Night 3?

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