Why I went this year
Given that last sentence above, it's probably worth discussing my thought process with respect to making the trip to BOLA. The short answer boils down to a single word, which anyone who knows me at all can easily guess, but there's really more a balancing act going on than first appears.
Let's face it: I'd heard the stories of insanely difficult-to-get tickets and the crowded, hot venue, and none of that sounded particularly up my alley. On top of that, I normally try to go to Mexico in mid-September (roughly two weeks after BOLA), and that proximity usually rules out a trip. The closest I had come to even thinking about attending BOLA was in 2015, when PWG brought in the likes of Aerostar and Drago, but I deemed it quickly too difficult to pull off.
Given the coincidence of the CMLL Anniversary and Mexico's Independence Day this year (both on Saturday, September 16, on a weekend), it didn't really make sense to extend the Mexico City trip that much because all of the festivities were going to be cramped into that one weekend anyway. By contrast, in, say, 2014 and 2015, Independence Day fell midweek and the CMLL Anniversary on a Friday nearby, so a longer trip would capture both. So some of the usual allotment of vacation days could be shifted elsewhere.
On top of that, I've traveled enough that I had enough frequent-flyer miles to cover two round-trip tickets to Los Angeles. It's a nice feeling having to pay a grand total of US$11.20 (for taxes and fees only) for what's normally a fairly pricey route. So that problem of cost partially goes away. (I had to pay for the hotel, but that's not as bad as the LA flight tickets.)
And yes, of course, there's the one-word answer that you were expecting: Flamita. Now, I don't base my show attendance only on one guy, and I knew that I'd enjoy others like Rey Fénix, Rey Horus, Penta, and Ricochet. But Flamita is a strong factor in favor.
At least in my experience, you regret the shows that you don't go to more than the ones that you do, and I had this feeling that I'd forever be kicking myself if I skipped BOLA this year. And I had no guarantee that I'd have as strong of an incentive or ability to go in future years. So I took the plunge, and was able to get general admission tickets for Nights 1 and 3.
Environment and logistics
Boy, was it hot in Los Angeles: 100 degrees or more every day. Perhaps because of Mother Nature's daytime infernal oppression, the American Legion hall didn't feel quite as hellish as I had been led to believe: By the time that they were letting people in, it was getting dark.
As I mentioned above, I didn't have tickets for Night 2. We luckily were able to get standing room tickets at the door that night. I was elated. The only problem with standing room is that I'm not very tall and when five rows stand up in front of me (as happened say, during half of the main event that night), it becomes impossible for me to see anything. So I can't really give a fair opinion of that match until I see it on Blu-Ray. Don't get me wrong, though: I was happy to see any of it live.
Scattered match thoughts
I'm not ready to talk about 26 matches from memory, but I will say that I was impressed that I enjoyed all but one of the matches, all three nights considered. Keep in mind that I had seen little, if any, of the guys who hadn't worked in Mexico or Lucha Underground, so there was a fairly large contingent of the field for which I was going in blind. The only match that I didn't care for was Jonah Rock vs. Zack Sabre Jr. on Night 1. It felt as if that match never really got to the point of escalation and went in random directions.
I have trouble picking a favorite match overall. From each night, my favorites were:
- Night 1: Rey Fénix vs. Rey Horus
- Night 2: Sammy Guevara vs. Joey Janela
- Night 3: Keith Lee vs. Donovan Dijak
Flamita vs. Ricochet was very good, but there's a better match waiting to be had between the two. That said, I got the impression that he impressed those in the crowd who weren't as familiar with him, which is kind of the point.
On my end, I've come to the realization that Flamita can do more or less his fast basic sequences, and it's basically like crack cocaine for my lucha brain, which would actually explain a lot of things. (And I don't even know where to go with this analogy for his headscissors into an armdrag, which he did against Ricochet.) I ended up getting the mask that Flamita used on Night 1, so that match does hold a special place in my heart. But I hope that he and Ricochet get to square off again and put on an even better show.
I also have trouble picking a favorite night, although it's probably between Night 1 and Night 2. (Again, not seeing most of the Night 2 main event probably hurts my impression of it.) Night 3 was impressive in its own way, but I lost some emotional investment once the last luchador (Rey Fénix) was eliminated from the tournament proper. It's no slouch, though. I remember commenting to someone after Night 2 that I'd already seen so much that anything on Night 3 would be icing on the cake. Well, that cake ended up having about two feet of icing.
I thoroughly had a blast at BOLA. Yes, I came for the luchadors (especially Flamita), but I enjoyed pretty much everything else that I saw. It's one of the three best wrestling trips that I've ever taken.
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