2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Discussion

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Gianto_Talbot » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:42 am

Wow I hate to be a negative nelly,...BUT overall I wasnt too impressed by the show as a whole. THere were many times i was impressed with spots and entertained at moments and I did have fun. But it seemed like a comedy show. I love mixing in humor. But every match full of sillyness? The antics, the spots, the selling? Why? This it the BOLA!!! Lets get fucking serious. It was a good show and i had a good time. But all the clowning around really took away from how great of matches all those great atheletes could have had. It really looked like everyone was trying to be goofy and have a funny match rather than a solid good match. I know PWG is always filled with humor, but this was pretty excessive especially for a tourny. It was almost like we had to wait for everyone to stop bullshitting around and start the match. Claudio vs Generico turned out to be pretty cool after a while. Edwards vs Strong was a solid match too. They were all good. Just short of there potential.

BTW I love when people shout complaints during Claudio matches about him getting his hair pulled. Its funny cuz his hair is shaved! Very clever guys!!!
Gianto_Talbot
 
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:40 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby So Cal Punk » Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:22 am

Gianto_Talbot wrote:Wow I hate to be a negative nelly,...BUT overall I wasnt too impressed by the show as a whole. THere were many times i was impressed with spots and entertained at moments and I did have fun. But it seemed like a comedy show. I love mixing in humor. But every match full of sillyness? The antics, the spots, the selling? Why? This it the BOLA!!! Lets get fucking serious. It was a good show and i had a good time. But all the clowning around really took away from how great of matches all those great atheletes could have had. It really looked like everyone was trying to be goofy and have a funny match rather than a solid good match. I know PWG is always filled with humor, but this was pretty excessive especially for a tourny. It was almost like we had to wait for everyone to stop bullshitting around and start the match. Claudio vs Generico turned out to be pretty cool after a while. Edwards vs Strong was a solid match too. They were all good. Just short of there potential.

BTW I love when people shout complaints during Claudio matches about him getting his hair pulled. Its funny cuz his hair is shaved! Very clever guys!!!

i have to disagree. this is the first show i've been to where the crowd wasn't completly dead by the last match. a lot of humor was a good way of not draining all the energy out of us. i love PWG's wrestling humor, many companies can put on good serious match, but PWG is one of the few companies that get humor right every time.

no offence but if every match is serious match i'd find it kinda boring. this ain't puroresu (once in awile they do humor) or ROH. this is PWG & i love it the way it is!
User avatar
So Cal Punk
 
Posts: 410
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:36 am
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby SlayJ » Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:48 pm

Gianto_Talbot wrote:Wow I hate to be a negative nelly,...BUT overall I wasnt too impressed by the show as a whole. THere were many times i was impressed with spots and entertained at moments and I did have fun. But it seemed like a comedy show. I love mixing in humor. But every match full of sillyness? The antics, the spots, the selling? Why? This it the BOLA!!! Lets get fucking serious. It was a good show and i had a good time. But all the clowning around really took away from how great of matches all those great atheletes could have had. It really looked like everyone was trying to be goofy and have a funny match rather than a solid good match. I know PWG is always filled with humor, but this was pretty excessive especially for a tourny. It was almost like we had to wait for everyone to stop bullshitting around and start the match. Claudio vs Generico turned out to be pretty cool after a while. Edwards vs Strong was a solid match too. They were all good. Just short of there potential.

BTW I love when people shout complaints during Claudio matches about him getting his hair pulled. Its funny cuz his hair is shaved! Very clever guys!!!


To each his own obviously. But I thought the balance between humorous interaction and serious ass kicking played perfectly last night. And despite a lot of the guys letting loose and having some fun, when things got down to business I was emotionally invested in to pretty much every match. And you can't tell me that Steen and Generico were out there looking for laughs in the Finals. I can understand the idea of wanting to see more guys bring the hate though. As much as I love the fact that PWG presents a ton of unique matchups and allows the wrestlers freedom to get a little wacky at times , I'm always down for a few more heated rivalries to go along with the random "Awesome Worker A" against "Awesome Worker B" stuff. Re-establishing the Steen-Generico fued is a step in the right direction. And if that isn't enough to put on Generico's plate, he also has a budding rivalry with Ricochet that should be awesome. I could also see a three way fued between the Young Bucks, Dynasty and RockNES Monsters turning nasty as well. So yeah, hopefully we'll be in line for a few more fueds in the near future that play out a bit more seriously. But the tongue-in-cheek aspect of PWG has been around since the beginning, and the fun atmosphere and crowd interactions are some of the main reasons I love being front row in Reseda every month.
SlayJ
 
Posts: 171
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Garden State Saint » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:45 pm

Was the crowd better than the ASW 8 crowds?
User avatar
Garden State Saint
 
Posts: 974
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:58 am
Location: New Jersey

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Facetious » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:59 pm

For those who were there, was one night satisfying or would you still have preferred two nights?
Facetious
 
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:28 am

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby SlayJ » Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:41 pm

Facetious wrote:For those who were there, was one night satisfying or would you still have preferred two nights?


One night was perfect to me. And I'm a guy that has rallied in the past for the bigger tournaments and multiple night shows. Not anymore though. The DDT4 and BOLA tournys have been my two favorite PWG shows this year by far. And they were both executed almost perfectly as single cards. BOLA was tremendous! I felt completely satisfied at the end of the night and there was no burnout factor whatsoever. I was actually considering saving a little cash and skipping out on driving up for the September show, but after last night there's no way I'm missing it.
SlayJ
 
Posts: 171
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby So Cal Punk » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:36 pm

Garden State Saint wrote:Was the crowd better than the ASW 8 crowds?

yes. although i wasn't at night 2.
User avatar
So Cal Punk
 
Posts: 410
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:36 am
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Gianto_Talbot » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:45 pm

SlayJ wrote:To each his own obviously. But I thought the balance between humorous interaction and serious ass kicking played perfectly last night. And despite a lot of the guys letting loose and having some fun, when things got down to business I was emotionally invested in to pretty much every match. And you can't tell me that Steen and Generico were out there looking for laughs in the Finals. I can understand the idea of wanting to see more guys bring the hate though. As much as I love the fact that PWG presents a ton of unique matchups and allows the wrestlers freedom to get a little wacky at times , I'm always down for a few more heated rivalries to go along with the random "Awesome Worker A" against "Awesome Worker B" stuff. Re-establishing the Steen-Generico fued is a step in the right direction. And if that isn't enough to put on Generico's plate, he also has a budding rivalry with Ricochet that should be awesome. I could also see a three way fued between the Young Bucks, Dynasty and RockNES Monsters turning nasty as well. So yeah, hopefully we'll be in line for a few more fueds in the near future that play out a bit more seriously. But the tongue-in-cheek aspect of PWG has been around since the beginning, and the fun atmosphere and crowd interactions are some of the main reasons I love being front row in Reseda every month.


Steen and Generico were out there looking for laughs in the Finals. You cant tell me that everybody put onthe best match they could have and performed to there fullest potential. Not only was there too much silliness there was the attitude that heels need to do heel brawling rather then chaining wrestling moves together. There definitely isn't a surplus of Awesome workers so a little bit of Awesome worker A vs Awesome Worker B can be nice. Where else are we gping to see that in LA. Plus I wanted the wrestlers to make me beleive that this tournament is very important to them and they really want to win. And they're going to try their hardest to do so. I just received PWG Seven on DVD. I was there. It was a great show. But if that would have been the only show I ever seen and went to Bola with those expectations I wOuld have been very let down and confused. I don't think it was a bad show at all. Just not anywhere near as good as it could have been. And if the crowd is burnt out by the last match match because of excitement from a stacked card of wrestling then sounds like you got yourself a great show. Maybe if some of the fans lost some weight they would have more energy for three hours of rising to their feet for three hours of excitement.
Yes, I am a heel
Gianto_Talbot
 
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:40 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Lord Akiyama » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:54 am

I don't recall Generico and Steen trying to go for laughs in the finals. They were looking to beat the piss out of each other with Steen going psycho mode in taunting the kid in the Generico mask.

There's always something silly going on in BoLA, but that doesn't mean they're not trying their damnedest to put on a good showing. Case in point: Last year, one could say that Tozawa and Hero were trying to be silly when they were yelling at one another, but by the end had what was arguably one of the best wrestling matches of the year. And their match was a second round match, so even at that point they were putting in their best efforts.

Even Bryan Danielson's matches had some silliness in them. I recall a second round match he had with Christopher Daniels in the first BoLA, where beforehand Daniels cut a promo that Danielson had been in Europe facing uninspiring opponents like Destructo. During the match, after a fan comment, Danielson led the fans into a "Destructo!" chant. In spite of that, they still had a really darn good match.

It still is a very prestigious tournament given the incredible talent and the quality matches that has occured during them. But to believe that they should always be ultra serious because of its reputation is missing why it's so popular in the first place. It's popular because it's fun.
User avatar
Lord Akiyama
 
Posts: 1121
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:12 am

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby eastbay510 » Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:02 am

The first 4 matches were the best 4 matches on the card, (the best being Mack/Hero and Generico/Claudio in my opinion) there was not really any humor in the first round. The only match I really saw a lot of humor was Mack/Generico, I really beleve the point of the humor was Mack was dead and Generico was saving his energy because the actual wrestling couldnt of gone longer then 5-7 mins.The finals were really good but not as good as anything in the first round, I did'nt have a problem with the stuff with the kid it really didnt take away from the match and you could still feel the hatred between Steen and El Generico. Overall a much better show then last years BOLA, and I did'nt have a problem with the 8 man format as it felt like every match was a main event, and I could see any match from this show main eventing a PWG show.
eastbay510
 
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:17 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Braeg » Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:08 pm

Facetious wrote:For those who were there, was one night satisfying or would you still have preferred two nights?


I cannot make it to a Friday show, so one night is perfectly satisfactory for me. I think to make it worthwhile to have two nights, you need to book some really good and important singles matches for night one, like Ricochet vs. Generico (they still haven't settled that, right?). As it is, I thought it was an excellent show and I certainly got my money's worth. If this is what PWG felt was the best to do on the business side as well, then I cannot fault them for it.
Braeg
 
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:21 am
Location: San Diego

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby So Cal Punk » Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:34 pm

Braeg wrote:
Facetious wrote:For those who were there, was one night satisfying or would you still have preferred two nights?


I cannot make it to a Friday show, so one night is perfectly satisfactory for me. I think to make it worthwhile to have two nights, you need to book some really good and important singles matches for night one, like Ricochet vs. Generico (they still haven't settled that, right?). As it is, I thought it was an excellent show and I certainly got my money's worth. If this is what PWG felt was the best to do on the business side as well, then I cannot fault them for it.

it would've been saturday & sunday if it was 2 days
User avatar
So Cal Punk
 
Posts: 410
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:36 am
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Braeg » Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:42 pm

So Cal Punk wrote:
Braeg wrote:
Facetious wrote:For those who were there, was one night satisfying or would you still have preferred two nights?


I cannot make it to a Friday show, so one night is perfectly satisfactory for me. I think to make it worthwhile to have two nights, you need to book some really good and important singles matches for night one, like Ricochet vs. Generico (they still haven't settled that, right?). As it is, I thought it was an excellent show and I certainly got my money's worth. If this is what PWG felt was the best to do on the business side as well, then I cannot fault them for it.

it would've been saturday & sunday if it was 2 days


Would that had been the case for All Star Weekend.
Braeg
 
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:21 am
Location: San Diego

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby So Cal Punk » Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:23 pm

Braeg wrote:
So Cal Punk wrote:
Braeg wrote:I cannot make it to a Friday show, so one night is perfectly satisfactory for me. I think to make it worthwhile to have two nights, you need to book some really good and important singles matches for night one, like Ricochet vs. Generico (they still haven't settled that, right?). As it is, I thought it was an excellent show and I certainly got my money's worth. If this is what PWG felt was the best to do on the business side as well, then I cannot fault them for it.

it would've been saturday & sunday if it was 2 days


Would that had been the case for All Star Weekend.

bola is always saturday & sunday
User avatar
So Cal Punk
 
Posts: 410
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:36 am
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby eastbay510 » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:31 pm

bola is always saturday & sunday

08 and 09 were friday and saturday
eastbay510
 
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:17 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Lord Akiyama » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:52 pm

eastbay510 wrote:08 and 09 were friday and saturday


08 was Saturday and Sunday. I remember because we were all wondering if Nick Jackson was going to make it in time since Matt's wedding was on the same day.
User avatar
Lord Akiyama
 
Posts: 1121
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:12 am

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby eastbay510 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:42 am

Lord Akiyama wrote:
eastbay510 wrote:08 and 09 were friday and saturday


08 was Saturday and Sunday. I remember because we were all wondering if Nick Jackson was going to make it in time since Matt's wedding was on the same day.

Oops I meant 09 and 10
eastbay510
 
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:17 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby jboyaquar » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:14 pm

After a relatively flat 'Eight', 'BOLA 2011' was highly entertaining and akin to its winner in spirit - light in tone and refreshing as ice water. Despite being firmly in Slay J's camp, here are a few more thoughts about Saturday's show.
1. I hope Willie Mack fans were not too dissappointed. He's charismatic in the ring, tightly performs his moveset, remarkably agile for his size, and conveys simultaneously plucky and goofy facial expressions throughout his matches. But, he is not yet a great worker. There were moments while he was working over Generico that were so plodding & clunky it felt as if telling the second act of a three-act match is not yet intuitive/innate for him. Though Generico has deficiencies, (more on that later,) he has mastered the ways of the babyface (be it arching his chin, mouth agape, outstretching his arms) to elicit the audience's emotions. Although Willie's charm is similar to 'H Tornado' in that he evokes an amiable, post-adolescent member of Bill Cosby's 'Our Gang,' Mack's too physically imposing to play the underdog babyface for the majority of his career. In the middle of his match vs. Generico, Willie came off as confused as to how to express his offense - it's tough for the bigger, thicker man to play the underdog against a resilient perennial babyface character like Generico. How do we see Willie developing over the next 12 months so he begins to attract attention from some of the more active national federations?
2. I don't think there is another competitor who if we combine their in-ring style/match quality/feud intensity/parameters of the match - who has been able to be as injury free and fresh as Roderick Strong has since 2003. Look at every indie-world competitor of the 2000s -
3. Eddie Edwards is a fantastic competitor who adds a rightful presence and grit to every match he's in. Yet I have no interest in seeing him hold the PWG title until 2013. Furthermore, he is neither remarkably talented or tenured enough to hold the mantle of being ROH's first and only Grand Slam champion. Frankly, if the purpose of titles is to legitimize a competitor, the only locale Eddie should be rewarded with a belt is in NOAH. Like the far majority of Suzuki's challengers, (Nakajima/Genba/Ricky Marvin,) Eddie outperformed Suzuki when they headlined Karakouen and is deserving of a run with one of the two junior belts. But is it true, like Davey said, that 'NOAH does not reward hard work?'
4. Fit Finlay is built like Rhino - a thick, stout beast - and I very much enjoyed the first few minutes of his match with Steen. The serious intent and manner at which he grabbed/knocked Steen's nose about was very cool. I was upset that he appeared to leave after the first half as even a coarsened competitor like 50-plus Finlay would have responded to the overwhelming, mostly positive energy that built up over the final two matches. Likewise, the indie wrestlers would have appreciated hearing from/knowing that a former, and perhaps future, member of the WWE bureaucracy was around - motivator for that elusive try-out.
5. The KOW were the right team to have humiliated the Jackson boys during the awesomely entertaining first 10 minutes of their tag match.
6. Although the emotion behind Tozawa's departure was pure and deserved, I can't help but feel disappointed that we the audience, or the script, did not call for a celebration and public gratitude for all that Claudio and especially Chris Hero have given to PWG over the years. What is it about the Kings that doesn't/didn't allow for a profession of pride and joy over their many PWG accomplishments and sacrifices?
7. The Young Bucks claim to be the greatest tag team in the world today. There's no doubt that their acrobatics put the wrestling world on-notice back in 2008-9 and they made a surprisingly awesome transition from babyfaces to heels; but, they are not great wrestlers. There is no excuse for the following: After their humiliation, and it was, the heel tandem needed to regain their heat and the best way to do that is return to the basics of wrestling. I thought Nick understood this as he began to work over Claudio's arm as Claudio bases a lot of his offense (uppercuts/lifting) on the arms. Yet why did Nick start attacking right-handed Claudio's left arm? And to make matters worse, upon the tag to Matt, the elder sibling completely neglected Nick's offense by not once going after the same body part Nick spent the past 3 minutes attacking. Thus, their 7 minute heat segment fell flat and my opinion of the brothers' wrestling acumen also dropped.
8. Outside of John Cena and maybe Tanahashi, El Generico is the best wrestling babyface of the past decade. Examples include his awesome music, (not the ROH crap,) identifiable moveset, underdog mentality, believable resilience, the grace of his high-flying, etc. I've been a fan of his since my first PWG shows in early 2005 and have celebrated his triumphs in WXW, Chikara, ROH, etc. I understand the importance of maintaining character. Yet I left Bola feeling a little underwhelmed and it was due to Generico not knowing that this was an opportune and appropriate time for the fans to be treated to a slight peak into the man behind the mask. The script or he should have prepared something that was just real - emotionally filling. At some point soon his career will be at a crossroads. If '07-'10 was all about growing in terms of recognition and the quality of competitors/opportunities being given (WXW vs. Sekimoto/going over Waltman at King of Trios) - he must be feeling a little melancholy in August of '11. His main employer just removed his single title after only 45 days and no successful title defenses - it's not as if TNA/WWE are knocking on his door. This is not to denigrate - it's the ups and downs of every entertainer. Yet there's been one constant - PWG. It's the first major organization that treated him as a star/champion. There is an argument to be made that he is PWG's all-time MVP. Wasn't BOLA then the moment when he could have let his guard down a little and communicated something genuine outside of the easy and cliche 'PWG' chant? I know this may come off as a 'mark,' but this is something that has hurt his career. Let's be honest, Steen and even Corino/Cabana did the heavy lifting in allowing the 'feud of the year' to last an entire year. At what point and what crowd is deserving for that reflective golden nugget? And is there an end to the seemingly endless supply of good vibes people have for El Generico?
9. Kevin Steen may be the most exciting/dynamic wrestling performer in all of the world - he's an anomaly - a fat, T-shirt wearing, odious, crude, Cartman. Yet his knowledge of the business, (despite that unneeded potty mouth, his sequestering of the 5-6 yr olds attention was the right heel move as it is natural for any decent-minded audience member to hate on anyone who would traumatize a kid...and that's when/why I knew Generico had/was going to win) and his willingness to say/do anything makes every appearance of his 'must-see.' (Sorry Miz)
Thanks for reading - and, most of all, thanks to PWG for everything. Their run is remarkable - if PWG runs 12 shows a year - 8 are must see. No other company has ever had their limited schedule and yet produces a product that Every wrestling fan should watch to satisfy their pro wrestling jones. Amazing! Thanks again.
jboyaquar
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:08 pm

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby Garden State Saint » Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:43 pm

Was Eight flat? Did the crowd not dig it?
User avatar
Garden State Saint
 
Posts: 974
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:58 am
Location: New Jersey

Re: 2011 Battle of Los Angeles on August 20, 2011!

Postby b2u » Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:41 am

I think the last show of the year should be called "Battle of Reseda 2011" and have an 8 man tournament featuring all young, local talent ready to breakout like Willie Mack did. The two non-tourny matches can feature fly'in's. But imagine a one night, eight man tournament where the winner gets a spot in the 2012 BOLA and a title shot of their choosing. This would be a true test for the local talent to carry most of a card, which I think they can do as long us they get a lot of buzz from the reports, it could still sell well. Plus the two non-tourney matches can be like Steen vs. Generico vs. Ricochet and American Wolves vs. Shelley and Strong or something like that. My personal eight would be:

Brandon Gatson
Peter Avalon
Ryan Taylor
Brian-Cage Taylor
Johnny Goodtime
Johnny Yuma
Debut of Socal Crazy
Debut of Ray Rosas

I would have interesting story lines as well. For instance, I would have blind brackets and only advertise the two non-tourny matches, which of course would be the main event draw. I would have Steen vs. Generico vs. Ricochet for the PWG World Title as the main event draw. As how to book the tournament, I would have both the RockNES Monsters advancing and facing each other and tear the house down, with Goodtime going to the finals against Brandon Gatson. Gatson would win of course and finally breakout. I think the brackets would look like this:

Bracket A
Goodtime/Socal Crazy
Yuma/Brian-Cage Taylor (Rematch from Yuma's Debut)

Bracket B
Gatson/Avalon
Taylor/Rosas

Goodtime/Yuma, Gatson/Rosas semi final, with a Gatson/Goodtime final. Anyway, just my thoughts.
b2u
 
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:08 pm

PreviousNext

Return to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Forum



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 46 guests

cron