Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Battle of Los Angeles 2008 – Night Two Results

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Battle of Los Angeles 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Burbank Armory (3800 Valhalla Dr., Burbank, CA)
6:00 pm Bell Time
Attendance Approx: 350 – 375

Quick Results: 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Stage Two

1. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Second Round Match:
Nigel McGuinness Def. Brandon Bonham – Pinfall via Tower of London
– The match started well enough with Nigel dominating the young Bonham and controlling the match with his mat wrestling skills until Bonham fired off a number of kicks and dives to Nigel. About 8 minutes into the match Bonham hit his “Uh-Oh” Corner Dropkick and hit Nigel flush in the face causing his left eye to swell up and his nose to bleed. Nigel looked dazed and it appeared his vision was extremely compromised. The match ended shortly after when Nigel caught Bonham with the Tower of London after going for a high risk move. Nigel then stumbled a bit around the ring, reached out to Bonham and shook his hand as Bonham looked like he was going to die for injuring the current RoH Champion. Good, but short due to the injury. **1/2

2. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Second Round Match:
Low Ki Def. Masato Yoshino – Submission via Dragon Sleeper
– This was like a great 20 minute match condensed into around 10 minutes as both men were at full speed from nearly the start. Yoshino more than held his own against Low Ki as he managed to avoid a number of kicks and utilize his speed advantage to get a few close pin attempts. The match ended after Low Ki escaped the Sol Naciente and managed to hit the “John Woo” kick and lock Yoshino into the Dragon Sleeper. It was a very fast paced and exciting match-up, however since 2nd round matches are typically short since the guys going to the finals have to wrestle twice more, this really only whetted my appetite for a rematch in the future. ***

3. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Second Round Match:
Bryan Danielson Def. TJ Perkins – Pinfall via Sunset Flip
– Probably the best TJ Perkins match I have ever seen as he really focused well in creating a believable “heel” character and had the crowd eating out of his hand the entire match. TJ was outwrestled for the entire first portion of the match, but was able to work over Danielson’s leg for much of the match. This was a very back and forth match with each man getting various submissions on his opponent. Danielson kept coming back with brutal striking, but TJ kept working away at his leg until he managed to knock Danielson out of the ring. For some reason the ref kept the count going as Perkins kept knocking Danielson off the apron every time he tried to get back in and the count went as high as 19 when Danielson caught TJ with a shoulder and hit a slingshot Sunset flip for the 3 count. After the match Danielson offers a handshake and TJ spits on his hand before hightailing it out of the ring. Great storyline here as the fans really began buying into TJ sneaking into the next round as a chickensh*t heel. ***1/2

4. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Second Round Match:
Chris Hero Def. Scott Lost – Submission via Hangman’s Clutch
– Scott Lost dominated early and often against Hero and managed a few pin attempts and a Sharpshooter attempt. Hero came back with a number of kicks, brutal elbows, and his usual assortment of quirky submissions. There was another “count out tease” during the match after Hero was hit with a flying Ace Crusher on the floor. Hero flew back into the ring at 19 and managed to hit Lost with the Roaring elbow and submitted him with the Hangman’s Clutch for the win. Great effort from both men. ***

5. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Semi-Final Round Match:
Low Ki Def. Nigel McGuinness – McGuinness DQ’ed for Chair use
– Nigel’s eye was black and purple and swollen almost completely shut. Low Ki asked the referee several times to ask Nigel if he wanted to continue and Nigel wanted to solider on. Low Ki took advantage of Nigel’s eye and told the crowd that it wasn’t his fault since Nigel wanted to continue and managed to get an early advantage. Just as Nigel was making a come back with European uppercut, after European uppercut the fight was taken outside and a chair got involved and brought into the ring. On a Dragon Sleeper attempt Nigel accidentally raked the eyes of the ref. While attempting another top rope Dragon Sleeper on Nigel, Low Ki got caught in the Tower of London and was dropped headfirst on the chair in the ring. The ref immediately called for the bell and DQ’ed Nigel. At first it appeared it was for the referee contact, but later he explained it was for the use of the chair, even though the ref left it in the ring during the match. The crowd booed the ref unmercifully. Nigel got a standing ovation for being such a trooper during the match even though the cut seemed to swell out of control and bleed profusely. It looks like the RoH Champion didn’t have to job cleanly after all. **3/4

6. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Semi-Final Round Match:
Chris Hero Def. Bryan Danielson – Submission via Hangman’s Clutch
– This was an amazing effort by both men as Danielson was still selling the leg, however it appeared Hero was full of energy coming off his match against Lost. The early going saw AmDrag take control and stomp on Hero’s elbow in order to try and even the odds. This was one of the most technical and hard hitting matches of the tournament as each man was well versed in both mat wrestling, submission holds, and stiff striking. The crowd seemed to be behind Danielson by a vast majority and was calling for Hero to tap several times before Hero finally did away with Danielson with the Roaring Elbow and Hangman’s clutch that had worked for him in each match prior. After a long struggling Danielson tapped and the crowd seemed a bit deflated. Great job by both men as this was one of the longest matches of the night after each man had wrestled long 2nd round matches previously. Hero really looked dominant and going over Danielson cleanly made him look unstoppable. ***3/4

7. 9 Man, 3 Way Tag Team (Loser’s Bracket) Match:
Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, & Austin Aries Def. Necro Butcher, Nick Jackson, & El Generico and Kenny Omega, Chuck Taylor, & Joey Ryan – Pinfall via Roll-up
– The requisite “Loser’s Comedy Match” had just gotten going when an Irish whip from Davey Richards to Kenny Omega sent Omega crashing through the ropes and onto the hardwood floors. The top two ropes had snapped and the ring ropes were totally useless. the wrestlers still managed to stretch this out into a 20 + minute match without the ropes. There were several random comedy spots everywhere as the teams broke down and it became a total free for all as everyone seemed to be trying to come up with new spots that wouldn’t require the ring ropes. This match was used to give the finals contestants time to rest and these guys did an admirable job. At one point someone got on the mic and implored the wrestlers to “Stop, Stop fighting”. Kenny Omega emerged on top of the concessions table in the back and told everyone there was no reason to fight, no reason to try and kill each other, “…because in the end…we’re all just losers”. That sent the rest of the wrestlers chasing after him at full speed as they chased Omega around the gym, up to the top balcony, down throw the gym again, outside, and back into the ring where Necro Butcher was sitting on a chair inside and walloped him with a straight right hook. Everyone broke up the pinfall and eventually the match because an odd Battle Royal as the ring crew had shifted the bottom rope that wasn’t broken to the top. After everyone else was tossed Necro was rolled up from behind by Davey Richards for the pin. This is the 2nd time a ring rope had broken on a ring PWG had borrowed, it may be time to invest in a ring of their own or at least some back-up ropes. As amateurish as having a ring break in the middle of a match felt during what is supposed to be THE premiere tournament on the Indy circuit, the wrestlers did the greatest job of improvisation I had ever seen in order to keep the crowd entertained and give Hero and Ki time to rest. Just an amazingly entertaining job by everyone and a great job of working with what they had. **1/2

8. 2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Final Round Match:
Low Ki Def. Chris Hero – Submission via Dragon Sleeper
– While Low Ki had an easier job of getting to the finals after wrestling for about half the time that Hero did on this night, it was Hero that looked to be the aggressor early on until Low Ki took him out with a couple of kicks, as well as one straight to the face of Hero while he was on his hands and knees that appeared to have either broken his nose, or at the least severely cut it. Hero was gushing blood from the face the rest of the match, even taking time to cake his hand in it prior to chopping Low Ki in the chest several times. This was without a doubt the most brutal and “stiff” match I had ever seen live. The kicks all looked and sounded real as they connect with bone and flesh each time. There were more stiff chops, elbows, forearms, and kicks in this match than all of the rest of the 2nd round put together as each man brutalized the other. Since there was no bottom rope it was nearly impossible for the men to escape the other’s submission moves without countering it or striking their way out of it. The sheer force of the blows made the entire crowd cringe as they seemed to heavily favor Low Ki. In the end Low Ki was able to lock Hero in the Dragon Sleeper Clutch for the submission victory after a nearly 25 minute match. The crowd went wild and celebrated, even giving Hero a “Thank You” chant and standing ovation. Hero then took the mic (of course) and simply said, “I just found my #1 contender” and left so Low Ki could have his moment. Low Ki then addressed the crowd and put over PWG and some of the other men he hoped to face in the future and posed with the trophy. Low Ki looked like a World Beater after this tournament and is easily a favorite to be the first ever BoLA winner to win the PWG Heavyweight Championship. The amount of emotion these two men brought out of the crowd was astounding. This was easily a PWG MoTY candidate and easily my favorite so far. ****1/2 (no, it’s not biased, buy it on DVD to see for yourself)

Overall Thoughts: This was a fantastic night of wrestling from everyone. Chris Hero in particular restore a lot of fan’s faith in him after this performance as it seemed that he was being rooted against in every match. Not that the crowd didn’t appreciate him, but no man should dominate every wrestler in a promotion. He probably worked the hardest of any wrestler to ensure this tournament lived up to past BoLAs and despite the ring breaking, he and Low Ki gave what is probably the great match in BoLA’s history to date. A day later I would say that this is easily in the running for the best BoLA yet, despite being only a 16 man tournament. A fantastic set of match as TJ, Danielson, Low Ki, Lost, and Hero really shined. All 9 men in the “Loser’s Match” should be proud of giving the fan’s a truly entertaining, if not awkward, match and Kenny Omega provided one of the most memorable moments in “Loser Match” history. Pre-Order this DVD when it becomes available in December, you will not be disappointed. Overall Show Rating: ***3/4