PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles traditionally is the highest quality weekend-long singles tournament of the year in pro wrestling, but the first night ended up being stolen by tag teams.
With fans from all over the world present, Thursday featured a lot of newcomers in an era where the type of talent that in another generation would be PWG fixtures now have contracts as WWE continues to stockpile talent.
BOLA Round 1: A-Kid defeated Lucky Kid
A-Kid from Spain beat Lucky Kid from Germany with an armbar in a hard hitting bout which saw Lucky Kid suffer some small cuts. Both guys had welts on their chests due to hard slaps that, at times, sounded like a shotgun going off.
BOLA Round 1: Brody King pinned Caveman Ugg
King defeated the Australian after a ganso bomb in a battle between two agile big guys. King has gotten much bigger since the last time I saw him live and looks to be close to 300 pounds. But, he still did a lot of acrobatic stuff.
BOLA Round 1: Dragon Lee pinned Rey Horus after a running knee. This was very good as expected.
Joey Janela & Alex Zayne beat Blake Christian & Tony Deppan
Zayne pinned Deppan after a somersault to end an insane match that tore the house down. Fans threw money in the ring when it was over, which happens often after a great Lucha match but this was the first time I’ve seen it for non-Lucha wrestlers. Zayne, in particular, showed a world of potential and has a good look, good physique, and great athletics. Fans were chanting “GCW” since they all came from there. You’ll be hearing a lot in the next year from Zayne, Christian and Deppan. All four of these guys have insane creativity.
BOLA Round 1: Darby Allin pinned Black Taurus
This was an excellent match. The finish, a leg cradle, came out of nowhere. To show how much of an impression Taurus made, Allin is very popular and worked like crazy, but the fans booed his win because they wanted Taurus to continue. Taurus came across like a great worker and a real star.
BOLA Round 1: Jonathan Gresham defeated Artemis Spencer
Gresham won after a lateral guillotine combined with ground and pound. Spencer did good moves, but the match never fully captured the crowd. Gresham is a great mat wrestler while Spencer is a guy who does a lot of big moves, so the styles didn’t mesh.
BOLA Round 1: Jeff Cobb pinned Daisuke Sekimoto
Cobb won after hitting Tour of the Islands in an excellent match. This was a very hard hitting battle between two powerhouses. Sekimoto’s selling is strong.
Pentagon Jr. & Fenix defeated Flamita & Bandido
The finish saw Flamita kick out of the package piledriver after a double foot stomp off the top rope by Fenix. So, Pentagon & Fenix did the combo move again on the apron, and Pentagon pinned Flamita while Fenix used a rope with the Mexican flag on Bandido.
The spot of the match saw Fenix standing upright while standing on Pentagon’s shoulders and Bandido was standing on Flamita’s shoulders. From that position, Fenix used a Spanish fly on Bandido.
The match featured incredible spots galore. At times, it felt unfocused at certain points but was still a highly spectacular match. Fenix is amazing and Bandido has the charisma.