by eastbay510 » Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:24 pm
So BOLA 2017, not bad right? Here are some of my thoughts, not sure how many small detailes I will remember, should have done these after the shows.
Night 1:
-Two Australian wrestlers on ring crew, Mick Moretti who is in Chikara, and Jessica Troy, who was on the last set of Shimmer tapings. Got to meet both, super cool.
-Joining the Aussies on stage behind Excalibur were Haskins, Cooper and Banks. Haskins and TK were marking out like crazy throughout the night, pretty cool to see.
-As I was walking to the restroom both Haskins and Banks recognized me(I was at Progress's Super Strong Style 16 in May) and gave me hugs. I talked to them, TK, and Jonah multiple times throughout the weekend, I now have a 4 way man crush.
-N1 was the hottest night temperature wise, crowd is usaully not super loud on N1's anyway due to it being a travel day. Crowd was very good, but not as loud as they were on N2 and 3.
-We start off with Xavier vs Cage. I was not expecting a lot, not a Cage fan personally, and judging by the crowd not a lot of people were behind him. He was mostly booed. Solid match.
-Flash Morgan Webster vs Scurll. I wasn't sure how Flash would get over to be honest. To be fair Webster has improved a ton since returning from an injury. He brought an intensity here that I have never seen from him before. Marty proved to be the right oponent and Flash got over in a big way, 2nd best match of the night for me.
-We follow up the 2nd best match of the night with the match of the night. Rey Horus vs Rey Fenix. I figured they would have chemistry since they have simular styles, tons of crazy lucha stuff. I am currently having a tough time remembering specific spots, but it's exactly what you would expect, and I mean that in the best possible way.
-Chosen Bros. Vs Lee/Dijak. This was really good, a lot of people had this as the best match of N1, all four guys beat the piss out of each other. Lee and Riddle were not messing around and making faces in this one.
-After a great first half the 2nd half wasn't nearly as good. Penta vs Sydal was next. This is one of two matches the entire tournament that wasn't good, but the only one on this night.
-Jonah Rock vs Zack Sabre Jr. With SPPT vs Bucks off the card this was my most anticipated match of the weekend. I liked this a lot, but for a debut I wish it would have been better. Started hot, then they went to the crowd. When they got to the ring it never got to that next level, just didn't have that hot finish. Like I said, not amazing, but very good. Rock has a great look and presence, and got a huge "please come back" chant after the match. Rock was much more impressive on N3, but I'll get to that.
-Main event time, Ricochet vs Flamita. Ricochet comes out to 5000 candles in the wind, amazing BOLA tradition. To me this was good, but it was a very simular match to the Horus/Fenix match, and they did it much better. I would say Ricochet's weakest match of the weekend. It was solid. One note is Ricochet hit a neck breaker on the apron, Flamita hit the apron, but Ricochet took a flat back on the wood and apparently jacked up his back.