PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2016: Stage 2

First Round Match
"Psychokiller" Tommaso Ciampa vs Dalton Castle w/The Boys - 7/10

Ciampa is filling on for Gallagher who couldn't make the show, PWG loves Ciampa and this being his last unscheduled appearance, fans are appreciating the opportunity. The theme from night 1 continues as hugger-psycho-killer Ciampa pretty much destroyed Castle for most of the match until Castle took the win. The match was quite hard hitting and a great send off for Ciampa.

First Round Match
Mark Andrews vs Pete Dunne - 6/10

Thank god Jim Ross is not calling the action for PWG, he would have hated his match. Andrews kicked out of 4 piledrivers, and not in an Ishii vs Shibata way, he was just kicking out. There are many circumstances under which I like Mandrews, this wasn't one. Dunne was awesome, but when you're doing all that stiff stuff and can't put down a guy who's punches look like a kid's, you just don't look as dangerous as you should. Match also went on quite long, or at least it felt that way.

First Round Match
Sami Callihan vs Cody Rhodes - 7/10

Cody is super over as expected, he was introduced by Brandi Rhodes with a bunch of nice little jabs, he's also wearing a PWG logo on his tights, and as Excalibur points out, it's the old logo. Match spilled all over the place, Cody had that 'Just returning to the indies and i'm working PWG" fire to him, kinda like Alberto when he did ROH and LU, or Galloway doing ICW. For most of the match, it seemed like Cody had the upper hand, eventually Sami transformed into Space Cat and while it seemed this was going to the turn the match around, Cody turned into Un-Dashing Cody Rhodes and evened the odds. This kinda reminded me that time when Keiji Mutoh was loosing a match, so he went backstage and returned with the Muta facepaint and won the match, I like how Space Cat does somewhat have different strikes differently from Sami Callihan.

Pentagon Jr and Fenix vs Heroes Eventually Die - 9/10

Fuck, this match was amazing. There isn't many people that I wouldn't think of as fools for spiting in the face of Hero and End and calling them out, and most definitely "Cero Miedo" Pentagon and "babyface fire" Fenix are not them. Pentagon and Fenix are wearing combined masks, at some points I found it hard to distinguis who was who, especially when brawling outside. This was a strikers vs lucha libre match, but Fenix and Pentagon are soo good at striking, and Hero is a wrestling chameleon, that you never really felt any clash in styles. Pengaon at no point stopped talking shit to Hero and End. Match was pretty even for the most part, Fenix was babyface in peril. There was one particular spot, and the finish that had people going crazy.

First Round Match
Trevor Lee vs Kamaitachi - 7/10

I really don't feel this is the best match to put on this spot, I just don't think this is the match that makes you haste back to your seat after intermission. Kamaitachi is working babyface, which is a big change from him since he's been a heel since starting his excursion in Mexico; he did however, fight with a deathwish like in all of his matches with Dragon Lee (who apparently is Trevor Lee's Mexican cousin). I didn't think the match was all that crisp, but it kinda helped when it came to selling.

First Round Match
Cedric Alexander vs Mark Haskins - 7.5/10

I seriously can not be bothered to give a fuck about Cedric, thank god he's gone from PWG (and indies); Mark Haskins however, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he is currently (injury aside), the best UK overall wrestler out there.

First Round Match
Matt Riddle vs Kyle O'Reilly - 8.5/10

This was a wrestler with an MMA gimmick fighting an MMA guy with a wrestler gimmick. They mostly tried to do a 'shoot' wrestling match like the old Benoit/Angle matches, and god bless KOR, but Riddle was just in another level. This match made me realize something that reflects on all these guys signing with WWE, in the sense that there seems to be a new wave of wrestlers that are kinda doing the same things that the previous wave had, yet better. Riddle is a better 'MMA guy' that KOR, Cobb is a better 'powerhouse' than Elgin, Ospreay at his age is already at Ricochet's current level, and I'm not saying that we can't have two of each, Death By Elbow proves that two KO artists is better than one, but may start to see some gimmicks push others on the side, I guess it's just part of being a wrestler and having to re-invent yourself every now and then.

Match was great, I would really like to see this in a non-tournament environment. This fells again on the theme that Riddle really dominated most of the match, or at least seemed stronger than KOR, but O'Reilly got the win at the end in what felt like a fluke, I think we all felt that Riddle had the win at the end.

Matt Sydal, King Ricochet, and Will Ospreay vs Mt. Rushmore - 9.5/10

Did someone record the amount of minutes spent in the air compared to the ring? because I seriously believe it was about half and half. What happens when you put 5 of the best high flyers (and a fat guy) in the ring? well you get a hell of a match that was just all over the place, this was Guerrilla Warfare levels of crazy without using weapons. Both sides worked their style perfectly, Bucks and Cole being the cocky "Insult to Injury" heels that they are, and the babyface team all got, at one point, to have a hot tag style sprint. Bunch of triple moves and spots, bunch of dives, Ospreay was biting Cole's dick at one point. The complete ending sequence has to be one of the best babyface spots you've seen all year.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

There were 3 matches that as good as they were, I just couldn't get into them, but the rest of the card really delivered in monumental quantities, both tag matches were incredible and worth going out of your way to see them. BOLA for the last 2-3 yrs has always been able to deliver more on the second night, and this continues the streak. Even if you don't give a fuck about the tournament, this is a show that you should watch.