Night One was solid. Night Two was crazy. That leads us here to Night Three. What adjective will aptly describe what takes place on this night? On the surface, it looks to be superb. 11 matches that will encompass the quarter, semi & final round matches. Talent from the Indies, Dragon Gate, & TNA. PLUS a star studded multi man match. I can't wait any longer.
1) El Generico vs. Chris Sabin - Second Round Match
This was such a fun match. Sabin tried to play into Generico's offense early on by trying arm drags and stuff. Generico outdoes him and Sabin heads to the outside. They traded momentum a lot in this opening contest and got the show off to a great start. Generico went for the helluva kick and was met with superkick which made for an awesome counter. Sabin would set Generico up for the stalling dropkick in the corner only for Generico to follow him across the ring and nail him with a helluva kick. This was the beginning of the end as Generico perched him up top and executed the top rope brainbuster for the win.
Match rating - ***
2) Kevin Steen vs. CIMA - Second Round Match
The fans are on Steen's case from the get go which leads to him doing mock sit ups in the center of the ring. CIMA & Steen finally get going and it's pretty surprising in that they stay on the mat in the early going. This was just a pre cursor to what would be a spotty closing sequence with several nearfalls. Steen hits a moonsault for only a two count and goes for another, but CIMA stops him and hits a hanging back breaker from the second rope. CIMA works Steen over and nails him with what looked like a variation of the falcon arrow yet Steen still kicked out. A pinning combination ends up earning CIMA the victory.
Match rating - ***
3) Roderick Strong vs. Dragon Kid - Second Round Match
Roddy shows some cockiness by getting in Dragon Kid's face during the introductions. From the opening bell, Strong goes to work going after the smaller man with chops in an attempt to flury and intimadate him however Dragon Kid's speed allows him to outquick Roddy. Kid uses the outside to his advantage after a few minutes as Roddy accidentally chops the ring post which allows Dragon Kid to get the advantage. It doesn't last long for him though as Roddy would regain control and begin completely overpowering him thus allowing him to dominate the match up. This ultimately Dragon Kid making a fiery comeback and he & Strong put together a nice finishing sequence to close out this good contest. I loved the power/speed dynamic here, it made for a lot of great exchanges.
Match rating - ***1/2
4) Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries - Second Round Match
This was a huge match for Richards at the time. They start off with a bunch of technical matwork and stuff. It's not anything very special and not too intriguing. I was unable to get into this match until the final few minutes were the finally developed some steam down the stretch. Not a bad match by any means, but my least favorite second round match by far.
Match rating - **3/4
5) Jack Evans vs. Genki Horiguchi (w/ Dragon Kid) - Second Round Match
Jack had been participating in Dragon Gate regularly at the time so he & Genki had previously worked together which made for some quite noticeable chemistry. It took a minute or two for them to get going however once
Match rating - **3/4
6) Super Dragon vs. Frankie Kazarian - Second Round Match
Frankie Kazarian is in the ring posing when The Dynasty surrounds the ring. Joey Ryan strikes him with a steel chair to the back and the beatdown begins. Scott Lost drops Kazarian through the upright chair as Joey mocks him. SUPER DRAGON HITS THE RING! Everyone retreats, but HE GRABS JADE CHUNG! The crowd is going nuts! Dragon sets her up and CURB STOMP TO JADE CHUNG! UN-BE-LIEVABLE! The match gets called off due to Kazarian being unable to compete.
7) El Generico vs. CIMA - Semi Final Round Match
I now own this match on three separate DVD's. It's on both the Generico "Best of" as well as the third volume of Sells out. That alone tells you that this is a match well worth checking out. It's easily the best match in this third night of action. CIMA & Generico start off fairly slow with mat work and counter wrestling. CIMA dominates for awhile, being the veteran, then Generico starts firing back. Amazing moonsault variation off the top rope, flying DDT through the turnbuckles to the floor, the crowd is hot! OLE OLE OLE OLE! The two exceptional athletes turn to big moves from around this point forward which created a pretty great closing sequence. They didn't over do it, though like some DG & PWG stuff can sometimes do. Everything felt perfect and well thought out. Awesome contest.
Match rating - ****
8) Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong - Semi Final Round Match
This was intense from the get go, but unfortunately it didn't lead to much. Knowing the outcome of this tournament already, I'm shocked that Davey's matches haven't been more outstanding. It felt like this was just another bout that never got off it's feet. Davey wins with a roll up. Meh.
Match rating - **1/2
9) Super Dragon vs. Jack Evans - Semi Final Round Match
I just... what the fuck, man. This was nuts. But probably in the least good way possible. Dragon came into this match with a concussion so he was already screwed after his BRUTAL match with Necro from the night before. Jack looked healthy however I doubt he was the same after this absolutely cringeworthy contest. This was highly entertaining, it was just so DAAAANGEROUS. I can't even begin to name all the sick head drop spots. As Exaclibur would say, "THAT. WAS. NASTTYYY!" This wasn't anywhere near as good as their phenomenal contest in WAR in 2005 that I'd highly recommend however considering the circumstances, this was the best match they could provide. It's honestly hard to rate because the main thing this deserves points for was being able to string together a bout with a number of insane spots without it coming off as disjointed. So, I settled on the rating I'm giving it. Dragon would end up not being able to compete in the finals after this, if that tells you anything.
Match rating - ***
10) Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Necro Butcher, & Rocky Romero vs. Delirious, Quicksilver, Colt Cabana, & M Dogg 20
This went waaaay longer than it should've considering the route they went with it. You had some comedy early on with each man getting a chance in the ring. Quicksilver ends up taking the brunt of most the stuff here as he got powerbombed by the entire opposing team at one point. Despite that, he was also one of my favorite parts of the match as he & Claudio got some time to work together which was a dream pairing for me. Necro was also pretty fun here as usual. They did a great dive sequence near the end where Necro even joined in and cut a flip off the turnbuckle. Claudio & Hero do stuff with Quicksilver for the finish. I liked seeing them mix it up more, but ahh, it felt so abrupt.
Match rating - **1/2
11) Davey Richards vs. CIMA - Final Round Match
After a bit of feeling out, these two go right into their signature manuevers. CIMA pulled out several variations of the double stomp. He then went for the flying coast to coast drop kick only for DR to move. They trade finishers. Davey kicks out of the Schwein, CIMA kicks out of the shooting star press. In the end, the tiger driver earns Davey the win. Simple enough final round match.
Match rating - **1/2
The roster is in the ring as Davey gives his speech. He declines the World Title shot he's earned and asks Dino Winwood for he & Super Dragon to get another chance at Scott Lost & Chris Bosh's tag team titles. Dino grants his request. It's SDDR against Arrogance with the rest of The Dynasty banned from ringside next month. The Dynasty was easily the best thing about these set of shows and considering Dragon was unable to compete in the main event due to concussion, this was the perfect way to end the show.
Overall thoughts: Very mixed bag here on the final night of BOLA 06. Generico/CIMA is the only bout worth seeing however its likely that most already have that on a compilation DVD. Roddy/Dragon Kid was a good contest as well. Other than that, there's really not anything much to talk about here. Night 2 was clearly the best of the batch when it comes to the 2006 tournament with Night 1 being decent at best and Night 3 only having one or two bouts worth taking a look at. This wasn't a phenomenal tournament by any means although it did have it's bright spots. And most importantly, PWG would grow from this experience and put it on an even better three-night tournament the year following this in the form of one of my favorite BOLA's ever, the 2007 edition. I'd say this was an experiment for PWG at the time so that's something you must consider, along with all my other comments on this show, when deciding whether or not to buy it. But to bottom line it, I wouldn't recommend this show considering the best match can be found on two different comps which are MUCH better than this event.
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