Views from the Hawke’s Nest: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2 2012

September 2, 2012
Reseda, CA

Commentators: Excalibur, Kevin Steen, Roderick Strong & Joey Ryan

Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal Match
Sami Callihan vs. TJ Perkins
Sami kissed TJP before the match. Sami dumped TJP to the floor, and Sami then hit a tope suicida. TJP came back with a tope suicida of his own. TJP was on the middle rope, and Sami hit his superkick to the back of the knee. That spot is still awesome, but I can see it getting tired soon. Sami hit a release Michinoku Driver against the ropes. That looked nasty. TJP blocked the Silverking lariat and hit a springboard dropkick. They traded some strikes. Sami hit a nasty shoulder breaker for a nearfall. TJP hit The Nifty Powerbomb, and he then transitioned into a STF. TJP hit a roundhouse kick. He then went for a Detonation Kick, but Sami caught his leg and locked in a seated Stretch Muffler! TJ PERKINS TAPS OUT!

This match was a little underwhelming, but it was a solid opener. These two could have a much better match, if they were given more time. Sami was the right man to go over at least.
Match Rating: **3/4

Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal Match
Adam Cole vs. Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards
Cole got the crowd to clap to “We Will Rock You,” but he then started chanting “Suck My Dick” at Eddie. Adam Cole needs to win the PWG World Title in the worst way. Eddie slapped Cole’s nuts. Eddie then gave him a shining wizard and a teabag. Eddie was in complete control until he accidentally chopped a ringpost. Cole was in control after that. Cole hit a Matt Cross neckbreaker for a nearfall. Eddie went for a tope suicida, but Cole caught him with a gamengiri. Eddie came right back with a Yakuza kick and a tope suicida. Eddie hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Eddie hit the funplex for a nearfall. Cole came back with a slingshot DDT on the apron. Eddie got the single leg crab, but Cole reversed it into a small package for a nearfall. Cole killed him with two superkicks and the Florida Key: 1…2…3!!!

Is Adam Cole PWG Champion yet? Adam Cole absolutely needs to have a rocket shoved up his ass and pushed everywhere in the world. Also of note, Evil Adam Cole not being the biggest thing in independent wrestling is a huge indicator of CZW’s irrelevance/incompetence.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal Match
Michael Elgin vs. Brian Cage
Both men tried to overpower each other early. Cage couldn’t hit the Fucking Machine suplex, and Elgin then hit a slingshot elbow. Elgin had Cage in the air for over sixty seconds on a delayed vertical suplex. “Holy Shit!” chants. They traded some strikes, and then they traded some exploder suplexes. Elgin took him down with a gamengiri. Elgin hit the Chaos Theory: 1…2…NO! Elgin hit the kneeling superkick and a Hellevator variation: 1…2… NO! Cage came back with the arm-trap Drunk Slam: 1…2…NO! Cage hit a super Hurricanrana and a Lionsault: 1…2…NO! Elgin hit an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Elgin hit a Fisherman Driver for another nearfall. Cage hit a torture rack neckbreaker, but not before there was a ref bump. Kevin Steen used that as an opportunity to get some revenge for Night 1. F-Cinq to Cage: 1…2…NO! Elgin hit a Buckle Bomb, but Cage came right back with a lariat that turned Elgin inside out: 1…2…NO!!! Elgin got a nearfall with a backslide. Elgin then hit a backfist, a powerbomb, a buckle bomb, and a spinning sitout powerbomb: 1…2…3!!!

This match wasn’t that interesting at the start, but everything after Steen was gold. Brian Cage is very over, but he’s probably going to have to have a match with Generico if he’s ever gonna have a great PWG match to hang his hat on.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Steen attacked Cage after the bell. The Young Bucks attacked Steen. Rick Knox tried to make a save, but the Bucks overwhelmed him. El Generico then ran everyone off with a steel chair. Knox said they’re pissing him off. Knox challenged the Bucks and Cage to a trios match. Knox said it would be him and Generico. Knox then asked Steen to tag with them. The crowd loved this idea. Of course Rick Knox would be the one to make a Steenerico reunion happen. Generico agreed to it. Steen said no. The crowd wanted Willie Mack to join them.

Battle of Los Angeles Quarterfinal Match
Ricochet vs. Roderick Strong
This match should be the tits. Ricochet hit a standing moonsault for an early nearfall. Roddy cut him off with a cradle backbreaker. Roddy worked him over after that. Ricochet eventually managed to hit an enzuigiri to slow Roddy down. Ricochet hit a springboard Meteora for a nearfall. Ricochet hit a standing corkscrew moonsault for a nearfall. Roddy hit a Drunk Slam for a nearfall. Ricochet avoided the Orange Crush backbreaker and hit a hurricanrana for a nearfall. Ricochet then hit the rolling Pele Kick. Roddy then hit a gutbuster and a backbreaker: 1…2…NO! Strong Hold! Ricochet managed to make the ropes and then hit a twisting Canadian Piledriver. Ricochet then hit a Shooting Star Press: 1…2…3!!!

Well, this wasn’t the tits, but it was still pretty cool. As I would have guessed, these guys had excellent chemistry, and I am now very eager to see a rematch when they will likely have more time to work with. Ricochet winning was absolutely the right decision. Yep, PWG was four for four with the booking of the quarterfinals.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Team Statutory (Joey Ryan, Davey Richards, & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Team Bandana (Willie Mack, B-Boy, & Drake Younger)
The story was that Davey and Kyle got a lot of heat on Night 1 for the Team Ambition incident. So, on Night 2, they decided to make fun of themselves a little bit by dressing up like Joey Ryan and doing his gimmick. The lesson being: if you steal money from one employer, audiences will forgive you if you do a misogynistic gimmick for another employer. Wresssssssssstling…meh

Team Statutory had no success early, and they ran away. Kyle left the building through a fire escape. Back in the ring, Kyle asked Drake for a chair fight. Drake won. Kyle asked for a wrestling match, but he tried to sneak attack Drake with the chair. Kyle accidentally smacked himself with the chair. Davey was worked over by the tecnicos for a while. Team Statutory ended up having their trunks pulled down and sent to the floor. Younger took them out with a moonsault to the floor. Back in the ring, Team Statutory managed to cut off Mack, and they got the heat for a while. Mack eventually managed to take down Ryan, and Younger then made a hot tag. The tecnicos did some Human Centipede spots with Statutory. Statutory came back and they almost had Younger defeated. Everyone traded a bunch of big moves. Davey had Younger in an ankle lock, but Younger sent him into Mack who promptly hit the Chocolate Thunder Driver: 1…2…3!

This was something. While I appreciate Davey and Kyle’s attempt to make fun of themselves, I found this whole thing to be much more manipulative as opposed to being entertaining. It’s not something I’m going to lose sleep over, but in the end, this just wasn’t for me.
Match Rating: **1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Semifinal Match
Sami Callihan vs. Adam Cole
These guys have wrestled each other several times in CZW (and I think one other time in Evolve). Actually, these guys have probably wrestled each other in lots of places.

Sami hit Cole with a Brogue Kick and shoved down the referee. Cole hit a low blow and a brainbuster on the knee: 1…2…NO! Sami tried for the BOING Splash, but Cole got his knees up. Sami managed to hit the Silverking Lariat, but Cole came back with the wheelbarrow German on the ring apron. Cole tried for the countout win, but Sami got back in the ring. Cole spat in his face, so Sami headbutted him and then hit a billion running knees in the corner. Sami got a nearfall with a lariat. Cole superkicked Sami in the knee, and he then locked in the figure four. Sami made the ropes. Sami came back with a shoulderbreaker. Stretch Muffler! Cole made the ropes. Sami ended up on the middle rope, so Cole hit the superkick into the knee. Cole hit two more superkicks, a Matt Cross neckbreaker, and a kneeling superkick. Cole got the Figure Four Leglock, and Sami had to tap out!

This was a good match, but these two are capable of much better stuff. I think the match was effective though in getting Cole even more over, which was obviously very important. Again, the right person went over.
Match Rating: ***

Battle of Los Angeles Semifinal Match
Ricochet vs. Michael Elgin
Elgin turned Ricochet inside-out with a shoulder block early on. Ricochet went for the rolling Pele kick, but Elgin caught him and hit his Hellevator variation: 1…2…NO! Ricochet tried to hit a DDT, but Elgin caught him and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker: 1…2…NO! Elgin had Ricochet in the air for a delayed vertical suplex for almost a minute, but Ricochet reversed it into a DDT out of nowhere. Ricochet hit an enzuigiri, a neckbreaker, and a standing shooting star press: 1…2…NO! Another standing shooting star press: 1…2…NO! Ricochet sent Elgin to the floor, but Ricochet then killed him with his no-hands somersault plancha over the turnbuckle! Back in the ring, Ricochet went for a Meteora, but Elgin caught him and hit an Air Raid Crash: 1…2…NO! Elgin went for his powerbomb sequence, but Ricochet reversed the second one into a reverse hurricanrana! Ricochet hit a shooting star press: 1…2…NO!!! Awesome nearfall. Ricochet called for the Phoenix Splash, but Elgin crotched him. Ricochet went for a super hurricanrana, but Elgin caught him with a middle rope powerbomb and then the spinning sitout powerbomb: 1…2…3!!!

This match ruled! Much like Roderick vs. Ricochet, this match only scratched the surface of these two are capable of. I would love to see a rematch one day, but in the meantime, this was an excellent semi-final match.
Match Rating: ***3/4

El Generico & Rick Knox vs. Brian Cage & The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
The issues between Rick Knox and The Young Bucks have been building for years. Basically, the Bucks beat up Knox and Knox occasionally fights back. This is the first official match between Knox and the Bucks.

Knox insisted on starting the match out. Nick Jackson gave him a noogie. Knox came back with a back elbow and tagged in Generico. Knox tagged back in and there were “Kill Knox Kill” chants. Knox took Matt down with a dropkick and immediately tagged out to Generico. The rudos played the numbers game to isolate Generico, and they then got the heat on the Generic Luchador. This went on for a while. Generico managed to get Cage and Nick to the floor. He then caught Matt with an exploder into the corner. Generico was ready for a tag, but Nick took out Knox. Out of nowhere, Generico hit Cage with a brainbuster. KEVIN STEEN SHOWED UP! “Help Steen Help!” chants! Steen got on the apron and tagged in! Steen ran wild. Steen and Generico had some words, but Knox played peacemaker. The best trio ever then hit stereo TOPE CON HELLOS~! Back in the ring, Cage hit the Fucking Machine Suplex on Steen: 1…2…NO! Joey Ryan made a bad joke on commentary, as he is wont to do. Generico killed Matt with a Michinoku Driver. Knox tagged in, but he was killed by the Bucks’ Double Superkick. Generico saved Knox from More Bang for Your Buck. The Bucks took out Generico, so Steen had to save Knox. Cage took out Steen. The Bucks went for their finisher on Knox, but this time he made his own save. Knox gave Matt the Violence Party until Nick made the save. KNOX GAVE NICK A SUPERKICK!!!! Knox then hit his running lariat on them. Steen gave Cage the apron powerbomb. Steen gave the Bucks a Samoan Drop. Knox then gave Matt the diving swinging DDT! Matt then ate a package piledriver from Steen and a brainbuster from Generico! Knox then hit the Big O: 1…2…3!!!

Steen and Generico looked like they were willing to shake hands afterwards, but then they opted to just flip each other off. Perfect.

My expectations for this match may have honestly been too high, as I was expecting one of the hottest PWG matches of the year considering how over everyone in the match was. While I didn’t get that, I still got one of the most fun and unique matches PWG has produced this year (which is saying something). Knox did pretty damn well for someone who is not a wrestler. It was also cool to get a brief and appropriate Steenerico reunion. The Young Bucks continue to show why they are the best tag team in America.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Battle of Los Angeles Tournament Finals
Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole
Elgin tried for a suicide dive early, but Cole met him with a leaping enzuigiri. Elgin sent him right back to the floor. They brawled for a bit on the floor. Elgin gave him a scoop slam on the floor. Cole came back with the DDT on the apron. Elgin came back with an Air Raid Crash on the apron. Elgin went for the twisting senton, but Cole avoided it and hit a Shining Wizard. And another Wizard. Both Wizards got a nearfall. Elgin hit the Chaos Theory for a nearfall. Elgin killed Cole with a lariat: 1…2…NO! Cole managed to lock in the Figure Four, but Elgin made the ropes. Cole somehow hit the Florida Key: 1…2…NO! Elgin hit the Buckle Bomb/Spinning Sitout Powerbomb combo: 1…2…NO! They went to the top rope, and Cole hit a sunset flip powerbomb! Brutal. SHINING WIZARD: 1…NO! Kneeling superkick from Cole! Hellevator from Elgin: 1…2…NO! Cole finally hit Panama’s Sunrise! Cole then hit two superkicks and a Florida Key: 1…2…3! Adam Cole wins the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles.

Cole got on the microphone after the match. Cole says he is no longer the future of wrestling, but he is instead the present because all he does is win. Kevin Steen got in the ring with his belt. Cole kicked him in the balls and hit him in the face with the belt. Cole walked off with the belt and the trophy. Adam Cole vs. Kevin Steen for the PWG Title is going to be awesome.

This was a fitting end to this year’s Battle of Los Angeles. Cole was clearly the standout wrestler of the weekend, but Elgin did a great job as well and absolutely deserved to reach the finals. Both guys did a great job of playing off their past matches, and while this was definitely not the best match in the tournament, I would definitely call it a success. Adam Cole absolutely needs to become the next PWG World Champion.
Match Rating: ***1/2

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The 411: While Night 1 was a better overall show, this was a great conclusion to the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles. I wouldn’t call any one match great, but there is a bunch of entertaining stuff throughout the show. As I’ve written several times, PWG absolutely must capitalize on Adam Cole’s momentum coming out of this show, and I will be very disappointed if he isn’t the next PWG World Champion. The Battle of Los Angeles seems to be a thing that is always at risk of not happening every year (and Super Dragon essentially confirmed that), but PWG proved in 2012 that if they have a deep enough pool of talent to book, it can still be a huge creative success. Go to the PWG website tobuy this show. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I've done at 411mania.

Final Score:  8.3   [ Very Good ]