-Joey Ryan over Austin Aries (2 super kicks)
-Claudio Castagnoli over Roderick Strong (Sky High European Upper Cut)
-Brandon Gatson over Brandon Bonham
-Chris Hero over Akira Tozawa (Elbow Of Death, Top Rop Moonsault)
-Joey Ryan over Claudio Castagnoli (Super Kick)
Chris Heroover Brandon Gatson (Forearms; Crossface submission)
Brian Cage & Ryan Taylor & Chuck Taylor over Rocky Romero, Ricochet & Johnny Goodtime (Taylor/Ricochet- Omega Driver; Tombstone)
For the PWG Tag Titles:
El Generico & Paul London over Cutler Brothers (Generico- Top Rope Brain Buster)
Joey Ryan over Chris Hero ( Small Package)
Joey Ryan has officially done it all in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and of all the names in the tournament I believe the best man won it. This immediately sets up a great matchup of Joey Ryan versus the PWG World Champion, Davey Richards. Richards, a former winner of the Battle of Los Angeles, has been a great champion for PWG, as he is one of their true fan favorites- and for him to collide with another true home grown fan favorite, will just explode into such a huge match that its bound to draw and divide a great crowd.
One of these year's I'll have to make the trip to see the BOLA tournament as its always delivers a great a lineup, and it always becomes a huge ass ache to wait for the DVDs to come out!
Congrats to Joey Ryan and check out prowrestlingguerrilla.com for info on their upcoming date!
And the tweets...
More thanks to JayTan716 for providing these pictures from California!
Claudio Castagnoli offers congratulations to Ryan after defeating his King Of Wrestling tag team partner, Chris Hero.
Akira Tozawa vs Chris Hero is said to have been a fantasic match!
Check out these shots via TWITTER from Maximus Assassin (SillentAssasin)
Chuck Taylor vs Ricochet; Austin Aries gets ready to lock up with Joey Ryan
Chris Hero and Akiro Tozawa; Ricochet's corkscrew dive off the turnbuckle to the crowd
Joey Ryan (JoeyRyanOnline): "So I won BOLA. Anybody up for Disneyland tomorrow? You'll have to push me around in a wheel chair but we'll go to the front of every line!"
Chris Hero (theChrisHero): "Ankle, thigh, lower back, face. Yeah. Feels like I got hit, run over, put in reverse & backed over again by the BOLA Bus. Spent but proud"
"I lost in the Finals against @JoeyRyanOnline but had some killer matches along the way. Specifically against Dragon Gate's Akira Tozawa."
"Tozawa really brought it & I have to thank to crowd for helping turn that match into something really special."
Claudio Castagnoli (CCastagnoli): "And my #BOLA hopes were crushed by @JoeyRyanOnline ... all hopes rest on @theChrisHero now! #kingsreignsupreme"
"Long day's over... thanks to everybody who showed up at #BOLA2010 ! Now sleep time, I have to catch a flight in 6 hours"
Dustin Cutler (DustinCutler) "Thanks to all the PWG fans for making BOLA such a memorable weekend. Brandon and I had 2 great matches & had alot of fun."
"Big night in wrestling. Brandon and I had a great match with the Danger Bees,"
We want to thank KiKrusher99 for tweeting results, and the PWG message board, and JayTan716 for the phone pix!
*Was not in attendance live and I can only speculate on how good some of these matches turned out.
Matt Jackson vs. Nick Jackson went to a double DQ after double super kicking ref Rick Knox after simply refusing to wrestle each other. As a result of this heinous behavoir we would get Brandon & Dustin, The Cutler Bros., versus Matt & Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks. The Cutler Brothers would defeat the former PWG World Tag Team champions with their double team stuff piledriver. I imagine this bout was total gangbusters as the PWG faithful always respond to both teams and in turn both teams always deliver the goods. A win for the Cutlers should set up for a future tag team title shot, maybe sooner rather than later.
Here are the quick tournament results;
Brandon Gatson defeats Ryan Taylor
Joey Ryan defeats Chuck Taylor
Roderick Strong defeats Paul London
Claudio Castagnoli defeats Ricochet
Austin Aries defeats Rocky Romero
Brandon Bonham defeats Brian Cage
Akira Tozawa defeats El Generico
Chris Hero defeats Christopher Daniels
As noted in my preview, PWG never released bracketing and left Night 2 in the dark as to who would face who as a result of the Night 1 action. Of course one's speculation is as good as the next guy so I'll try to give this a shot.
Roderick Strong vs. Akira Tozawa
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brandon Bonham
Chris Hero vs. Brandon Gatson
Joey Ryan vs. Austin Aries
Chris Hero and Brandon Gatson had a real good match at the Dio event and I'd love to see it again, especially with the stakes raised a bit. Strong and Tozawa should cross paths just for the simple reason of it being a hard hitting match and could be played up like too much was taken out of the gas tank to reach the next round for either man. It's always fun to watch Claudio throw guys around and Brandon Bonham is that man. HA! Could make for a good match and advance Bonham as a legit player in PWG. And you can't go wrong with Aries vs. Ryan, those two can just be let loose.
As for who advance after that? I'd go with Strong vs. Claudio and Hero vs. Ryan. Maybe have Hero vs. Ryan go first with Hero going over. This would push the idea of the possibility of Hero vs. Claudio, a Kings of Wrestling finale. However the popular pick seems Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero for the finals, which is hard to disagree with. It does make sense and there would be some closure to one of these wrestlers as both men have come close to winning the Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Ultimately I see Strong getting the big victory!
Tweeted pic by Chris Hero theChrisHero
"Doing commentary for PWG's BOLA. Roderick Strong v. Paul London (w/ Mr. Finnegan the Space Owl)"
From jaytan716
Claudio Castagnoli - ccastagnoli "Successfull at #pwg #BOLA but my eye and nose paid for it... both swollen and getting iced."
Dustin Cutler- DustinCutler "Chair shot from one @GenMeMax at PWG tonight created a nice sized gash in my head. At urgent care waiting for stitches. #Owww
Chris Hero- theChrisHero "Wow. Jaw is killin'. Got the Fallen Angel w/ a Welcome rolled into the Stretch Plum. IHOP now. Sleep soon after. Road to BOLA finals tmrw"
Max Buck (Matt Jackson)- GenMeMax "Always fun wrestling my best buds the Cutler Bros last nite at PWG. Unfortunately, @DustinCutler was busted open hard-way by me via chair."
PWG BOLA HYPE
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returns to action on September 4th & 5th for their sixth installment of the Battle of Los Angeles! Since the 2005 Battle of Los Angeles (BOLA) has established itself as the premiere tournament on the independent scene for top tier wrestlers. It doesn't so much give exposure to younger talent such as the ECWA Super 8 does but it always delivers top notch action, which could be tricky for tournament shows. BOLAs of years past have spanned 2 or 3 days, included upwards to 24 wrestlers, 3 way finale for one year and another year the finals filled a title vacancy. Past winners include Chris Bosh for the inaugural year, Davey Richards for 2006, CIMA for 2007, Low-Ki for 2008 and Kenny Omega was last year's winner. This year however is especially hard to predict as bracketing beyond the opening round hasn't been released, to ensure a surprising second night of tournament action! What we know so far:
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ricochet
Brandon Bonham vs. Brian Cage
Austin Aries vs. Rocky Romero
Joey Ryan vs. Chuck Taylor
Paul London vs. Roderick Strong
Brandon Gatson vs. Ryan Taylor
Matt Jackson vs. Nick Jackson
El Generico vs. Akira Tozawa
Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Hero
Names that interest me most are El Generico and Chris Hero, two men that have tasted the finals once, and Roderick Strong, a two time finalist. Oddly enough though Hero, Strong and Generico are paired up against wrestlers with little to none BOLA experience which could give the edge to the BOLA vets that have more to prove than everybody else. But of course PWG is offering up some new names for this year's tournament such as Ricochet, Brian Cage, Akira Tozawa and Ryan Taylor and I can see at least one upset coming down the pike.
Again, since the brackets haven't been released its really tough to predict who should take the 2010 Battle of Los Angeles so I can only speculate who they could build towards a future title shot against the reigning champion, Davey Richards. Chuck Taylor is a name that sticks out to me as he is a big time fan favorite amongst the PWG faithful and a future Richards vs. Taylor match, which hasn't been done anywhere else on a big stage, could do excellent business for PWG. Chucky T is the wrestler I'd pick if PWG wants to put over a fan favorite. For my own tastes though I'd like to see PWG put over a heel wrestler and really upset the crowd, in a good way. To some its an outside pick but I would love to see Claudio Castagnoli win a big tournament and go after the belt. Again, its an outside bet but it would be awesome, Claudio vs. Davey with a big prize on the line hasn't been done anywhere. But really my truthful pick goes to Mr. PWG himself, Joey Ryan. The former PWG World Champ has tons of BOLA experience and knows what it takes to step up and win when it counts. Joey Ryan vs. Davey Richards is still a gangbusters type match and of course Ryan can flip the switch and become a heel whenever he wants and still be a credible threat to Richards' title belt.
Anybody's guess is as good as the next when it comes to this year's Battle of Los Angeles and it should guarantee pure excitement for the scenic town of Reseda, California! Expect my silly thoughts on this year's BOLA to appear right here on Snapmare and maybe a DVD review of this show whenever it comes.
It's only pro-wrestling, enjoy!
Visit PWG on line HERE!
