The Battle of Los Angeles concludes with an epic 12-match show… Settle in folks, this is going to be a long one! Except it won’t be quite as long, as we’re going to split this into two halves! We’ll start with disc one – all of the second round/quarter-final matches from BOLA:
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Second Round: Dalton Castle vs. Trevor Lee
Dalton was without his boys, but he still had a load of fans – in both senses of the word – in Reseda. We were firmly in “one of us has to work at least once more tonight” territory, so this wasn’t the blow away opener that we saw in the first two nights, and we got a lot of stalling and mocking.
Our first dive came from Dalton, in the form of a low-pe, before he booted the TNA star off the top rope and into position for a running kick on the apron, only for Lee to counter by sweeping the leg. Lee mocks the crowd for fanning Castle, before getting a near-fall out of a dropkick, a move that starts a period of offence for Trevor. After taking a release German suplex, Castle tries to fight back with a deadlift German of his own, but instead he counters a double axehandle off the middle rope and throws Lee in an overhead belly-to-belly for a near-fall.
Lee flips out of a German suplex, before backflipping over Dalton en route to a German of his own that gets a near-fall. They end up fighting around the ring, with Castle eventually ‘rana’ing Lee into the crowd, but Dalton takes a rope-hung Twist of Fate as he tried to re-enter the ring. A senton bomb attempt followed, but Lee got nothing but knees before Castle’s crossbody was countered into a snap fallaway slam by Lee.
Castle bridges up out of a pin and into the deadlift German suplex, with the move almost pulling down Lee’s trunks. Castle loses the waistlock, but quickly regains it out of the corner and hits a pair of rolling Germans that sent Lee onto the apron. Lee’s cracked with a running knee on the apron, before Dalton goes for the Bang-a-Rang, but Lee escapes and lands a forearm smash.
Castle goes for another Bang-a-Rang, but Lee counters out of nowhere with a Destroyer, and that’s enough for the win. A fun opener with the obvious limitations caused by up to three matches in one night. ***¼
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Second Round: John Hennigan vs. Ricochet
Excalibur and Chuck Taylor on commentary quasi-bury Lucha Underground right out of the gate, and we start with both men showing how acrobatic they can be. Ricochet lands a 720 (619) in the corner before there’s a load of flipping dives that ends with a square off. A bit like that famed Ospreay/Ricochet sequence, but without an angry wrestler at the end of it.
Hennigan kicks Ricochet low after using the referee for a distraction, before a twisting springboard into the ring gets a near-fall. Ricochet fights back with a big boot, then a roll through into a leaping DDT as Hennigan rolled to the outside – so you know what’s next… Sasuke special!
Ricochet rolls out of a sunset flip, and eventually lands a Regalplex for a two-count, before Hennigan beats his foe at a game of cat and mouse in the ropes, which leads to a double-springboard roundhouse kick. A forearm quickly rocks Hennigan, who hangs on to avoid a knee strike, before he’s back dropped onto the apron, and eventually dumps Ricochet to the floor with a guillotine neckbreaker off the apron.
Back inside, that gets Hennigan a two-count, before Ricochet schoolboys his way out of a kick for a two-count. Hennigan hits back with a running knee strike en route to the Starship Pain, but Ricochet avoids it. They quickly revert to trading shots back and forth, before a C4 from Morrison almost wins it, as he goes back to Starship Pain… which Ricochet blocks and eventually wheelbarrows him through into a cover for a two-count.
We almost get a ref bump as Hennigan kicks Ricochet low, then gets the Moonlight Drive for another near-fall, before Hennigan tries the Starship Pain yet again. He’s caught by Ricochet and dumped on the top rope, where a Regal superplex is attempted… but Hennigan fights free and misses another Starship Pain attempt. Ricochet runs in with a bicycle knee, then caught a springboard and turned it into a Samoan Driver.From there, Ricochet goes airborne with a 630 Splash, and that’s the win. Slightly better than Hennigan’s first round match, but the “WWE stink” still seemed to taint this a little bit. Speaking of… ***½
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Second Round: Cody Rhodes vs. Marty Scurll
Scurll whacks Rhodes with an umbrella before the bell goes, then hits a superkick on the apron… and we get going with a brainbuster for a near-fall as the Villain tried to get things done in double-quick time.
Scurll berates Brandi Rhodes at ringside, but that leads to a distraction that nearly gets Cody the win via a schoolboy, before he goes to a stalling suplex. After a spell of offence, an arm whip takes down Cody, before Scurll started ripping huge chunks out of Cody’s past with Stardust taunts.
Cody finally fires back after being berated, and he takes down Scurll with a lariat before getting caught with a “hadouken” (leaping uppercut, for non-video game fans) in the corner. Scurll brings down Rhodes with a superplex and almost gets pinned with a cradle on impact. So he reacts how anyone would do: by setting up Cody for some Shattered Dreams, which earns some “She Wants Kids” chants (at Brandi). Of course, Brandi gets on the apron to try and stop this, but she just serves as a distraction as Marty superkicks Cody right in the Rhodes.
That looked like it had to suck.
Scurll keeps up the pressure by de-booting Rhodes in front of a less-than-thrilled Dave Meltzer, before throwing the American-flag laden boot into the crowd. Rhodes posts Scurll after pulling him into the post, then goes airborne with a one-booted springboard dropkick. Cody comes back with the Dusty punches, before Scurll grabs the ropes to avoid an Alabama slam, and counter with a powerbomb for a two-count. A Disaster kick takes Scurll down, before Cody springboards to the outside with a body press. An eye poke from Scurll blinds Rhodes, and leaves him open for a back suplex onto the apron, which gives Marty a chance to make a move on Brandi at ringside. The Villain asks for a kiss, and gets one… to the disgust of the crowd, and the delight of Scurll!
Brandi slaps Marty after that, and Cody adds to the pain with a moonsault press off the top rope for a near-fall. Marty snaps Cody’s fingers, but Cody shrugs it off and nails the Cross Rhodes for a two-count. Scurll tries for the chicken wing, but he can’t get it fully locked in, so Rhodes bites free, and in the ensuing mess, we get a ref bump as Scurll pulls the referee into the path of an avalanche.
That leaves Marty open for a straight-up low blow, and the schoolboy from there is enough to get the win. Cartoony at times, yes. More WWE-style than indy-style? Yes. But the Scurll character worked well here against Rhodes, who’s still got an awful lot to do to shed the WWE stigma on the indy scene… at least, once the novelty’s worn off. ***½
Cody threw his BOLA boot into the crowd, as an “insurance policy” ahead of his promised return next year…
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Second Round: Mark Andrews vs. Chris Hero
Hero drops Andrews with a pump kick and a Ligerbomb at the bell… but he only gets a two-count. Two matches with back-to-back jump starts?! Where’s the agent here?
Hero continues with a rolling elbow, but Andrews again kicks out at two, and Hero continues the assault with chops in the corner. Andrews struggles to get to his feet, and when he does, he’s given another forearm back to the mat. This is all one-sided. Like squash match one-sided.
Andrews surprises Hero with a backslide for a two-count, before turning a moonsault into a tornado DDT after it looked like Hero’d caught him. A tope con hilo knocks Hero into a dragonrana on the outside, and it looked like Hero landed badly. They tried another Dragonrana, but Hero caught Andrews and went for the Styles Clash-style piledriver, and actually caught it… but still the Welshman kicked out!
Hero resumed offence with forearms on Andrews in the corner, then a pump kick, then more chops before Andrews surprises him with a reverse ‘rana for a near-fall. Andrews rages up with chops, but he’s drilled with another bicycle kick, as Hero goes for an Electric Chair facebuster… only for Andrews to turn it into a victory roll for the shock win. Technically this was fine, but this was so one sided, with very little reaction towards Andrews (until the win). The first real throw-away match of the tournament, sadly. **½
After the match, Hero dumped Andrews with a rolling elbow, then went in for more offence, shoving down the referee en-route to a Gotch piledriver off the top rope. Well, they’re trying to write off Andrews’ chances, and they’re doing well with stuff like that.
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Second Round: Mark Haskins vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Haskins started out with a wristlock on O’Reilly, but was unable to maintain the hold as the two went back and forth. O’Reilly countered a sunset flip with an cross armbreaker attempt early, forcing Haskins into the ropes for cover, before somewhat returning the favour with an arm stomp when Kyle went for a sunset flip.
Haskins moves to a double armbar that gets him a two-count thanks to all the torque, before the match turned into something of a slugfest as O’Reilly floors Haskins with a kick that acted more like a violent legsweep. From some bodyscissors, O’Reilly gets a few near-falls before a running diving knee smashes into Haskins’ ribs.
After some more striking offence, Haskins gets some separation with some nice dropkicks, before a short-arm lariat gets him a near-fall. O’Reilly retaliates with more kicks, before another combination ends with Haskins taking a knee to the face. O’Reilly moves to a standing sleeperhold, and switches it into a capture suplex for a near-fall. They resume their slugfest, with O’Reilly’s kicks knocking Haskins into the ropes, but Mark gave as good as he got, before rolling through a schoolboy into a Stretch Muffler.
O’Reilly countered that with an arm triangle, before a double dropkick left both men down. They teed off some more, before O’Reilly strung together a backbreaker and a kneebar, which forced Haskins to fight to his knees, and then bridge back to force O’Reilly to release the hold or pin himself. Kyle turns a pumphandle into a GTS, then flattens Haskins with a kneestrike for a near-fall.
After surviving that, Haskins mounted another comeback, rolling through into a Sharpshooter, before wrenching all the back to force O’Reilly to tap out. What a war – a match that made Haskins look like a star, absorbing punishment to take the win, whilst giving a good showing of himself (as opposed to a slip on a banana peel finish) ****
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Second Round: Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
These two have met previously in tournaments, including 2015’s Super Strong Style 16 for PROGRESS, 2016’s wXw 16 Carat Gold, and also in IPW:UK’s Super 8 final in 2014. They’ve also had two prior matches in 2016 (EVOLVE and PROGRESS), with Sabre winning both of those outings…
Ospreay launched into Sabre with a shotgun dropkick, then a flying tope con hilo to the outside as he looked to end things early with a Red Arrow, but Sabre kicked out at two. Another Sasuke special-esque dive followed for Will, as he went for the 630 Splash, only to miss, as a backslide from Ospreay and the diving corkscrew kick continued his string of early near-falls.
So, with the early onslaught not getting the job done, what happened next? Well, Sabre used an uppercut to block a springboard forearm, before kicking Ospreay in the ropes after he trapped Will’s head against the bottom strand. A neck twist kept Ospreay down, as Zack wrenched back in a modified camel clutch that turned into a cravat.
Sabre kept working away on Ospreay, with a snapmare and a low dropkick, and then some more stomps to the back of the neck. We get a submission hold that I can’t even describe – all I know is Will was twisted like a pretzel and it looked like it hurt. Badly. So Zack followed it up with a cross between a stump puller and a strait jacket, before going to a double armbar.
Ospreay outsmarts Sabre with a handspring into a corkscrew kick after evading more kicks, then hit the springboard forearm without getting smacked with another uppercut. Will lands on his feet after a tornado DDT, but a standing shooting star sees him get nothing but knees as Sabre rolled into the Young Boy Killer – aka “that arm crank that messed up Flash Morgan Webster’s shoulders”.
Ospreay slipped out and rolled up Sabre for a near-fall, then levelled him with kicks before an OsCutter was turned into a Tiger suplex for another two-count… but Zack held on and turned it into a Dragon sleeper, forcing Ospreay into the ropes for a break. They trade slaps, but an uppercut knocks Ospreay into the corner, and down into an agonising Stretch Muffler variant.
Sabre dumps Ospreay on the top rope, teasing a Dragon superplex, before Will fought free and kept his balance to hit back with a Cheeky Nando’s kick… but the OsCutter’s caught and turned into another Dragon sleeper. Will escapes and gets a standing moonsault at the third attempt, before he leapt into a triangle armbar… with the final sprint ending up with Ospreay countering a prawn hold and snatching the win. Holy crap, that was incredible – for ten minutes, that’s as good a match as I’ve seen all year! ****¾
That’s as good a note to end on, I think… we’ll return one last time to BOLA soon, with the non-tournament matches – including the traditional ten man tag – along with the semis and final of the tournament itself. Wonderful stuff…