This was well on it's way of being a **** match, but then the finish happened. Usually stuff like that doesn't bother me much, but this time it was so goddamn confusing that it made the match lose quite a bit of it's fire. But yeah, it is what it is - if we do not count the huge botch by the ref in the finish, this was an absolutely kickass match. Mark Haskins & Travis Banks kicked the crap out of each other & it was lovely. Very strong performances by both. ***3/4

Just watched this match on day 2 of 2017 BOLA. This is my first time seeing Travis Banks wrestle.

 

I'm watching the whole thing right now, still in round 1, and on the whole it's a good tournament so far but the spotfest style really hurts it from my view. I really didn't enjoy this, the crowd would pop for the big moves but had already seen a crazier match just before in Janela vs Guevara, and better spots in Dijak vs Lee. Neither guy had much of a presence for me. I didn't like Haskins in the 2016 BOLA either.

 

I think the part that didn't work for me most was the back-to-back low tope suicidas. It just felt like, why bother doing two? The crowd had seen crazier dives, these weren't built to, and the one was good enough. Botch on the finish didn't help either.

 

*1/2