Back where it all started: Braden Hoban wins it big as SLS returns to Arizona after 16 long years

Sixteen years after Street League Skateboarding held its very first event in Glendale, Arizona, the tour came back to the desert — this time at Mullett Arena in Tempe, with a course built by California Skateparks featuring a replica of The Wedge, the iconic kinked hubba from Scottsdale.

The homecoming felt right. BB Yoshando, Manny Santiago and Boo Johnson handled the broadcast — BB is finding his footing and getting noticeably better on the mic, while Boo's interviewing style remains an acquired taste. The skating more than made up for it though.

Two names carried extra weight walking into the arena: Dashawn Jordan, Chandler native and co-founder of Faces Skate Shop right there in Tempe, and Jagger Eaton, who grew up skating at his family's Kids That Rip facility in Mesa.

Also worth noting — Julian Agliardi was in the promo visuals leading up to the event but was shining by his absence and Chris Joslin was on the roster a couple days before and also didn't make it, with Matt Berger stepping in as a substitute.

A new format and a debatable call

The Wildcard Jam introduced a creative new format that added some genuine drama to the proceedings. Roman Hager topped his preliminary round and used his privilege to choose his faceoff opponent — he picked Tyson Bowerbank, and lost. Bowerbank advanced with just one landed trick, which tells you something about the format's ruthlessness.

The judges' selection of Lazer Crawford in the second matchup kept us from a potential Koston Eaton vs. Jagger Eaton faceoff in the final, which would have been a moment. Koston Eaton was the only one of the four not to win his preliminary round, chosen purely on judges' discretion.

Hoban closes the deal when it matters

The final field had some unusual faces in it — Matt Berger and Jake Ilardi aren't names you typically see on SLS event rosters, which made for an interesting dynamic. Kairi Netsuke came in as the favorite based on betting odds, which was king of surprising and set up its own kind of pressure for him.

Braden Hoban had other plans though, and anyone with a little knowledge knew that a gap to hubba might just be this guy's favorite kind of obstacle. His kickflip backside nosebluntslide was by far the trick of the day, scoring a huge 9.5, the highest score of the entire final while he was already in the lead, sealing things in a way that left no room for argument.

Filipe Mota pushed hard and finished just 0.3 points back in second, with Netsuke taking third despite arriving as the odds-on favorite.

For Hoban, it's a well-earned first SLS win this season, just a week after finishing second at the Rockstar Energy Open in Portland. The desert delivered, and so did he.