We’re nearly there – it’s time to recap the final disc of the BOLA 2016 box-set!
Disc two starts with a tag title match, as the pairing of Fenix and Pentagon Jr take on the defending Young Bucks. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, that was a surprise…
PWG Tag Team Championship: Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c)
Pentagon and Fenix were in matching outfits again, but were coming into this match as the less experienced tag team. We got the expected fast-paced start between Fenix and Nick Jackson, with the latter hitting a rope-assisted armdrag before a double dropkick led to a crowd pleasing stand-off.
Tags led to Matt Jackson and Pentagon Jr entering the fray, and we got more of the same as Matt declared “I can do lucha too” as they traded “too sweet” finger pokes. Pentagon hit a pair of Slingblades, before a sequence of moves including a lungblower and a superkick got Pentagon and Fenix a near-fall. Nick Jackson tagged in and hit a slingshot facebuster, then a moonsault off the apron, before a slingshot senton and a standing moonsault got them a one-count, thanks to Fenix breaking it up. A pair of frog splashes from Fenix got a two-count, before a blind tag saw the Bucks pepper Fenix with some superkicks, as Pentagon got similar treatment too.
Pentagon countered out of a corner superkick as the Bucks kicked themselves, before a pumphandle driver got Pentagon a near-fall. We get a series of dives, ending with a tornillo from Fenix onto Pentagon by mistake, before the Bucks monkey flip themselves onto the top rope for a moonsault to the floor.
The Bucks get a huge pop for a back rake after a tonne of backflips in the ring, but they get quick receipts via superkicks from the Mexicans. Those superkicks are immediately returned, before we get a slingshot apron DDT onto the apron for Fenix, as Nick Jackson took a package piledriver on the apron from Pentagon. Yeah, I’m going to guess that neither of those bumps felt good. Pentagon and Matt Jackson returned to the ring to trade shots, before Pentagon went for a second package piledriver. Instead, we get a pop-up powerbomb from Matt, as we then went to a superkick parade, and a double springboard cutter. After that, we got a Gory Bomb/Package Piledriver combo by Pentagon on the Bucks, with a springboard 450 splash by Fenix earning a near-fall.
Fenix went for a standing moonsault to the outside, but was caught by Matt as Nick worked free from Pentagon and flew out to drill him with a tope con Meltzer Driver. Innovative, yes, but if Fenix recovers in the next thirty seconds, I’ll be mad. We get a regular Meltzer Driver to Pentagon, and yes, Fenix recovers to kill both variants of that move stone dead. The Bucks try to go one better with a pair of 450 Splashes, but they miss and get rolled up for stereo near-falls.
After kicking out, the Bucks drilled Pentagon and Fenix with a series of superkicks, with a combination of eight kicks apiece finally getting them the win. Death by Superkick Spam wins. A good match, but if this is getting beyond the periphery of the match of the year balloting, then there’s a serious dose of the Young Bucks Tax at work here. I do like their work at times, but way too much of this fell into the video game style of wrestling. ***¾
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Semi Final: Mark Andrews vs. Trevor Lee
After taking a beating from Chris Hero in the second round, Andrews should be going into this with a bit of a disadvantage. Andrews starts on the offence, firing into Lee with some right hands, before a single forearm took the Welshman down. A snap ‘rana gets Andrews a two-count as they teased an early finish, before a lariat from Lee took Andrews down once again. Lee hits a series of back suplexes onto the ring apron, giving him one on each side of the ring, but that only got him a two-count. Way to kill another spot!
Lee gets a near-fall out of a standing dropkick, before he threw Andrews across the ring with ease. Andrews takes an Irish whip into the turnbuckles hard, before countering a second throw with a backslide that almost won the match for him. Undeterred, Lee came back with an uppercut, only to see a suplex turned into a stunner by Andrews. We get another threatened dive as Andrews is thrown onto the apron, with Lee instead taking a double stomp for a near-fall, before a tiltawhirl into a DDT got another two-count for Andrews. Lee ducks under a dive from Andrews, then comes back with a push-down stomp for a two-count.
A counter to a deadlift German sees Andrews gets a near-fall from a roll-up, before he hits a reverse ‘rana and a tope con hilo. Lee makes another comeback attempt, but after being thrown down from the top rope he gets the knees up from Andrews’ shooting star press, and then gets a package driver to book his place in the final. Without being too harsh on either guy, this felt like the weakest match of the tournament, as the crowd didn’t seem too invested in the match or the result. ***
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Semi Final: Mark Haskins vs. Marty Scurll
Scurll attacked Haskins from behind with an umbrella before the bell even rang, then laid into him with an apron superkick before a suplex was reversed into a small package as Scurll tried to get an early upset.
Scurll targeted the knees of Haskins, Marty’s shoved to the outside where he gets met with a tope suicida from Haskins. The favour’s almost returned, but Haskins blocks and gets a superkick for a near-fall. Haskins keeps up the pressure, and swings in the ropes a la a 619… but he’s knocked to the outside with a superkick to the head from Scurll. Haskins pops back up as Scurll looked to go flying, and instead he chopped the Villain into a tree of woe on the apron, with an inside-out dropkick adding to the pain. As did a shotgun dropkick off the apron. Scurll recovers quickly to give Haskins a Dragon screw in the ropes, as the target remained over Haskins’ knee…
Marty got a chair from the crowd, but threw it down… giving Haskins a chance to fight back with forearms on the apron, before being knocked down to the floor with a “Just Kidding” superkick. Again, Scurll keeps on Haskins’ left knee with a DDT to the leg, before skinning the cat after Haskins had sent him over the top. Scurll runs into Haskins with forearms in the corner, before a dropkick cut-off the Villain’s offence. Haskins’ knee stopped him from hitting a suplex, but he was able to hit one at the second attempt before seguing into a single-leg Boston crab… which Scurll easily broke via the ropes. An uppercut in the corner puts Haskins on the top rope, before Scurll tried for a superplex… and instead gets sent flying himself courtesy of a forearm smash.
Haskins tries for a double stomp, but misses and eats a superkick to the leg, before a Scurll powerbomb earns a near-fall. A pump kick sees Haskins stay in it, as does a knee strike, but Scurll nails an inverted suplex as the back and forth continued. Haskins tried for a Falcon arrow but fell into the chicken wing… before escaping and rolling through into a fireman’s carry facebuster. After getting back to their feet, the pair trade more chops, before Haskins lands another outside-in dropkick en-route to a Meteora off the top rope for a near-fall. A roll-through sequence from Scurll ends with a chicken-wing attempt, but his call to go for a pinfall ends up with Haskins rolling through into an armbar… and after regaining the hold, Haskins can only watch as Scurll makes the ropes.
Scurll comes back with a near-fall, before eating an elbow as he called for a chicken wing, before Haskins looked for the roll-through Sharpshooter. Instead, Haskins tries for the roll-through death valley driver, but gets his fingers snapped, before getting an O’Connor roll… Scurll rolls back through and grabs a chicken wing though, and gets the quick submission. Out of the series of matches they’d have around this time (in PROGRESS/PWG/OTT), this was perhaps the weakest… but it was still really another in a list of really good matches on this final day. ****
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Semi Final: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet
The crowd were unglued for this, perhaps expecting a repeat of THAT match from Japan earlier this year. They started with a lot of moves with the first one that really connected being a Blue Thunder Bomb from Ricochet that sent Ospreay to the outside, where he took a Sasuke special.
Back inside, a springboard forearm took Ospreay down again, before Ricochet earned a near-fall from a kick to the chest. More kicks from Ricochet led to an across-the-back stretch as Ricochet repeatedly smashed Ospreay’s head into the turnbuckle with ease. A spinebuster followed as Ricochet went for the People’s Moonsault… but Ospreay rolled away and greeted him with an upkick as the tempo looked to quicken.
The springboard forearm knocked Ricochet to the outside for a flip dive, before returning to the ring where his leapfrog was countered into a tiltawhirl slam and a standing shooting star press by Ricochet for a near-fall. A double knee strike in the corner looked to lead to a Benadryller, but Ospreay got out and led him to a Cheeky Nandos, before landing the running shooting star press and a corkscrew splash for a near-fall. They trade shots back and forth after an aborted OsCutter, before a second attempt leads to a pair of reverse ‘ranas – much like you’d get from a no-sold German suplex. Back to their feet, we resume the battle of elbows and uppercuts, until a springboard backflip forearm and the rolling suplexes from Ricochet almost got him the win.
Ricochet set up Ospreay for another move from the corner – this time a Phoenix splash – but Ospreay moves and gets the Essex Destroyer, followed by the corkscrew diving kick for a two-count. Another OsCutter’s turned into a reverse DDT for a near-fall, before a Benadryller’s turned into an Ace Crusher, as Ospreay finally connected with the OsCutter for the win. A good match, nowhere near their Best of Super Juniors epic, but as good as you’d expect for a ten minute match in this setting. ****
Bro Cat Psycho Kitties (Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne, Brian Kendrick, Sami Callihan & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Jeff Cobb, Cedric Alexander, Tommy End, Chuck Taylor & Jushin “Thunder” Liger
Brian Kendrick was a surprise addition in this match, the tradition ten-man tag before the BOLA finals. Callihan was wearing a cat mask, whilst everyone on his team was wearing make-up that made them look like a cat. Well, everyone apart from Kendrick, but Ciampa easily rectified that.
This was mostly comedy, starting with Chuck Taylor threatening death on Ciampa if his thumb went anywhere near his rear end. We then got a cat-masked Callihan against Liger as they both eased to pull off each other’s masks, only to scare each other… until Liger succeeded. We got a lot of cat scratch-like rakes, before Liger wrenched Callihan back in the seated surfboard until Kendrick broke it up.
Kendrick and Alexander came in for a sequence, highlighted by Kendrick mocking Cedric for slapping his leg to accentuate blows. Next up is “Cat” Riddle and Jeff Cobb, which led to an entertaining spell as they tried for waistlocks… to little avail. Riddle gets a cross armbreaker, but Cobb easily rolled up into a pinning attempt, before almost powerbombing his way free. Tommy End and Pete Dunne completed the set, with a Go To Sleep and a release suplex seeing Dunne get a near-fall, before the Drop Dead was countered. End unloads with some kicks before a bicycle knee earned a near-fall. Dunne tried to bite End, but he got a knee to the face, which got us back to where we started – Ciampa and Taylor once more.
Ciampa wedges Taylor in the corner… and for the third year running, we got the thumb-in-the-ass spot. However, Jushin Liger ran in and saved Taylor, instead insisting he take it… and that leads us to a Human Centipede of thumbs-in-the-ass. There’s no non-PG way to describe this… especially when you’re trying to sell wrestling to a non-fan. Don’t show them this. Don’t. Pete Dunne was the last man thumbing a bum, with Chuck Taylor the unwilling recipient. That leads to a thumb-in-the-bum conga lina, with Liger doing his best Bushwhacker walk to end it all.
Alrighty then!
Next up was Liger pulling a remote control out of his kneepad, “pausing” Ciampa and going into slow-motion for a series of Shoteis as this entered a new degree of awesomeness. The crowd even chanted in slow motion as the team celebrated, before he resumed normal speed… with Tommy End immediately flying to the outside. Ditto Alexander and Taylor with tope con hilos, before Jeff Cobb completed the set with… nothing, as Ciampa cut him off. Instead, Tommaso went up top after slowly climbing the turnbuckles, and led the crowd in a singalong of “I Believe I Can Fly”.
Ciampa’s dive ended up being a leap to the canvas then a body splash to Cobb, before Callihan’s package tombstone on Taylor earns him a Tour of the Islands from Cobb. Kendrick gets a Sliced Bread #2 as the parade of finishes carries on, ending with a Liger Shotei to Dunne, then a brainbuster for the win. Complete comedy, but not in the junk-match sense. One to watch, but not around non-fans! ***¼
Battle of Los Angeles 2016, Final: Will Ospreay vs. Trevor Lee vs. Marty Scurll
This three-way final’s under elimination rules, by the way… Lee ended up being the odd one out early as the Brits looked to target him, but Scurll quickly turned heel and kicked Ospreay in the head. They avoid the “one man out, two in” routine early, as Lee’s exit from the ring leads to a tope con hilo from Ospreay, who rushes back in and goes for another… but his Sasuke special’s blocked by Trevor Lee, who eats a knee from Scurll.
Ospreay hits the one-man Spanish fly on Scurll for a near-fall, before the three finalists trade forearms amongst each other… only for Will to get taken down by a pair of “Just Kidding”s from Lee and Scurll. Marty slaps Lee down as he tried to steal his finger-snapping gimmick, but Lee hit back with a rope-hung DDT and a Twist of Fate on the apron. That just left Lee open for a Sasuke special on the outside, and Scurll for a springboard 450 for a near-fall as we almost had an elimination.
Ospreay lands on his feet from a German suplex from Lee, and looked to go for a double OsCutter… instead it’s blocked, but Lee takes a reverse ‘rana before Scurll just lays into Ospreay with chops. Scurll avoided a Cheeky Nandos, as Ospreay eventually fell into a standing moonsault slam from Lee for another two-count.
Will looked to be outlasting Lee and Scurll, but he got caught for a pair of Cheeky Nandos, before Scurll landed an Essex Destroyer as Lee’s bridging German suplex almost put away Will. Lee went for a Fisherman buster, before Scurll followed up with a chicken wing, a hold that Ospreay fought out of eventually, before being held in place for a series of elbows and forearms that softened him up for a second chickenwing, with Lee’s stomps forcing the referee to call the elimination. We’re down to the final two!
A tired Lee and Scurll traded slaps back and forth, before the intensity quickly returned to the match. Lee dumps Scurll with a leaping push-down stomp, but Lee can’t capitalise, and instead finds himself taking a tornado DDT, before countering a suplex into a backbreaker for a near-fall. Scurll tries to snap the fingers to avoid a German suplex, but instead he gets an arm breaker, before flipping Lee with a lariat.
Scurll’s chicken wing call sees Lee hit back with a German suplex for a near-fall, before a teased ref bump leads to a low blow from Scurll and a small package as they went back and forth with near-falls. Lee hits back with a Twist of Fate, then gets a Senton Bomb off the top for another two-count. They went back to the overhand strikes, as Lee’s knee lift looked to set up for something… but Marty Scurll pulled the referee in the way as we got our ref bump.
In came the umbrellas as Scurll cracked it over Lee’s head, then his back, and then the jaw once more as the referee was woken up in time to count… a near-fall! Lee got a shoulder up barely, before recovering to snap Scurll’s fingers. Another kick drops Scurll, but the Twist of Fate is ducked as Scurll locks in the Chicken Wing… Lee rolls back into a pinning predicament, but Scurll rolls out and drives the Bryan Danielson-esque elbows into lee’s head, them locks the chicken wing in once more… and that. Is. It. Marty Scurll wins the Battle of Los Angeles, and takes home the swanky trophy.
As a final, it suffered from the usual syndrome you’d get with guys working three times in one night. It wasn’t a bad match, but when you’d seen these guys twice earlier, there’s not much left to show. Not an underwhelming final, but it just felt like it was “there” after the laundry list of great matches over the weekend ***¾
After watching all three nights of Battle of Los Angeles, I can safely say that three-day tournament are a massive slog – and although the wrestlers on show were top notch, three-day tournaments are going to be a struggle with anything but A+ players. As for BOLA, well, it depends on whether you like this style of wrestling. As a one-off, it’s certainly a nice change, but I had to spread the three shows over several days, just to prevent myself from getting “numb” with the no-selling, fast-moving stuff. The quality is definitely there, but it may not be your cup of tea.
If it is your cup of tea, then by all means, jump on this tournament. But make sure you get it in the best way you can – if you’re outside of North America, then a digital download may be the best bet when it emerges on HighSpots, unless you’re a fan of shipping and custom charges!