Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Brian Streleckis offers a strong suggestion for west coast readers and their Labor Day-bor celebration: PWG’s third annual tournament full of serious indy star power and some more Japanese flair. Get the skinny on the First Round here.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla first unveiled their Battle of Los Angeles (or BOLA) in September 2005 with a field of 16 participants competing over two days. It was ultimately won by PWG regular Chris Bosh, a heel who had been getting cheers for his crazy-dirty promos, charisma, and shenanigans. The 2006 edition was increased to 24 participants (only IWA Mid-South’s Ted Petty Invitational is as big) and stretched out over three days. A very good event overall, with hints of a beer-flowing party atmosphere in spots, last year’s BOLA was won by Davey Richards, in the midst of rising to higher prominence last year by winning the 2006 Super 8 tournament (a proven star-maker in the past) and debuting for ROH and other promotions outside of the west coast.

This year’s BOLA once again has 24 entrants. It takes place August 31st, September 1st, and September 2nd in the Armory in Burbank, CA. The Friday and Saturday shows are each set to have six First Round matches, whereas the Sunday show will have the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and a three-way elimination Final Round. Some non-tournament matches are also bound to happen. Already set for the first night is a World Tag Team Title match in which new champions El Generico & Kevin Steen defend against the Dragon Gate duo of Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka. The third and final night will most likely have a 4-on-4 tag team match with eight guys who lose in the First Round (the last nights of the last two tournaments have had them, and they’ve been show-stealers).

As for the tournament itself, some changes have come about. I mentioned in my last Rasslin’ Rundown of how Rocky Romero lost his spot in the tournament to TNA escapee Austin Aries. Recently, another change was made when 2005 winner Chris Bosh bowed out due to injury, and unfortunately, he’ll be out of wrestling in general for an indefinite amount of time. Still, we have twelve First Round matches, separated into three blocks, set to happen.

First Round – Friday, August 31st

1.Chris Hero vs. Joey Ryan. Hero, a babyface within PWG territory, lost in the First Round of last year’s BOLA to Dragon Gate’s Genki Horiguchi. Ryan lost in the First Round of the ’05 BOLA to Jamie Noble Gibson. By the time of last year’s BOLA, Ryan was in the midst of his yearlong plus World Title reign – due to nefarious means – and was in non-tourney action. Speaking of nefarious means, such antics led to Ryan defeating Hero in a match back in ’05 (namely, the ref got knocked out, Ryan cohort Scott Lost made a mock three count behind Hero’s back during a pin attempt, and Hero fell for it). Ryan has really amped up his character since their first encounter (and even won the NWA World Tag Team Titles not long ago with Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson), and knowing what Hero is capable of, this should be pretty fun.

2.Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong. Both men competed in last year’s BOLA, and both lost to Richards (Aries in the Quarter-Finals after defeating the now-retired Disco Machine, and Strong in Semi-Finals after beating Rocky Romero and Dragon Kid). Originally matched up against Bosh, Strong is matched up against his mortal enemy (or at least one of them) in Ring of Honor this year. Their match from March 31st in Detroit was quite good, and I know they’ve fought in Full Impact Pro a few times in ’04 and ’05. Not sure if these two will carry over their heat from another promotion (as far as I know, both guys are babyface in PWG), but you never know.

3.Jimmy Rave vs. Matt Sydal. Rave, now no longer a part of ROH since July, is making his PWG debut here. Sydal competed in last year’s BOLA, losing to Kevin Steen in the First Round. These two had a small feud in ROH in ’05, which bled into the Generation Next-Embassy feud. I’ve been impressed with Rave since becoming more of a badass loner, putting the Heel Hook to use, and it’s almost always interesting when someone already established comes to somewhere new (will he be greeted with the old toilet paper showers?).

4.Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams. Danielson, now the PWG World Champion after last month, previously competed in the ’05 BOLA, losing to AJ Styles in the Semi-Finals after defeating Ricky Reyes and Christopher Daniels. He sat out of the ’06 BOLA due to his shoulder injury. Williams, a former ROH Pure Champion, makes his PWG debut. These two have met years before, including in the King of the Indies tournament in 2001 and the 2002 tournament to crown the first ROH Champion. Danielson has only gotten better in the last five years, whereas Williams (based on what I’ve heard from fans who’ve seen more of him in NOAH and such) has lost some luster. I have my hopes up.

5.Tyler Black vs. Claudio Castagnoli. Black, who made his name in IWA-MS and has appeared on Wrestling Society X, made his PWG debut last November to team with DIFH partner Jimmy Jacobs in an entertaining match against Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. With Jacobs out with injury, Black was brought back in June to wrestle Joey Ryan (already in the BOLA by the point) and scored the big upset when Scorpio Sky got involved. Therefore, Black gets a slot in the tournament. Castagnoli looks to rebound from his first BOLA last year, where he lost to Jack Evans in the First Round. As has been proven in the past, Castagnoli looks very good matched up against smaller guys, either by keeping up with thier quickness, acting as a solid base, or simply clobbering them with uppercuts.

6.Jack Evans vs. PAC. Not only did Evans defeat Claudio last year, he also bested Horiguchi in the Quarter-Finals before falling to Super Dragon in the Semi-Finals. He was also in the ’05 BOLA, losing to Styles in the First Round. The UK-born PAC, making his first BOLA appearance, has really captured the hearts of the PWG faithful since debuting last November, and even held the Tag Titles with Strong until last month. I expect one hell of a spotfest in this first-time encounter.

First Round Continued – Saturday, September 1st

7.CIMA vs. Human Tornado. CIMA of Dragon Gate made his PWG debut in last year’s BOLA, defeating “M-Dogg 20″ Matt Cross, Kevin Steen, and El Generico before falling to Richards in the Finals. He has since popped up in May to wrestle Generico and Danielson in singles matches. PWG mainstay Tornado makes his first appearance in the BOLA this year. Since losing the PWG World Title to Generico in February, he’s taken on a mean streak. I’ve seen this act on the All Star Weekend V shows from April, and he’s pretty much playing up his pimp image, talking smack in a very smooth, calm way, and slapping around his valet Candice LeRae as if she’s one of his hos. Considering Tornado isn’t as hateful and Candice has taken lots of bumps before, I found this act more entertaining than the Prince Nana/Jade Chung act in 2005 ROH. Oh, and this match should be pretty interesting and a real test for Tornado.

8.Scott Lost vs. Shingo. Lost… lost in the First Round of the ’05 BOLA to Christopher Daniels. At last year’s BOLA, he was in non-tournament action and took part in a fast-paced, high-impact Tag Title match with Bosh against Jay & Mark Briscoe and Homicide & B-Boy. Shingo, making his BOLA debut, has made a few PWG appearances late last year and early this year. I’ve thought he’s been really impressive during his extended US stay, with his last ROH match in the states – a World Title shot against Takeshi Morishima in April – being very good.

9.Nigel McGuinness vs. Davey Richards. This is the PWG debut of ROH mainstay McGuinness, facing Richards in a match yet to happen in ROH. Richards fell in the First Round of the ’05 BOLA to the currently-sidelined Quicksilver before going all the way last year. Like Tornado, Richards has developed more of a mean streak, even prolonging some of his flashier offense for heat. Based on what I’ve seen on DVDs though, all of the heat on Richards seems to come from this small pocket of fans, constantly booing him and cursing at him for my annoyance. Nevertheless, Richards makes for a solid heel and should put on a good match with Nigel here.

10.Necro Butcher vs. Kevin Steen. Oh me, oh my. Necro is taking the spot left open by Bosh’s absense, returning for his second BOLA after facing Super Dragon in the First Round last year, losing a certifiably wild match with No DQ rules, No Count-Out rules, and lots of scary spills. Steen has competed in both previous BOLAs, not going further than the Quarter-Finals both times (beat Super Dragon but lost to Styles in ’05; bested Sydal but fell to CIMA in ’06). This sure-to-be-crazy match actually has a bit of a backstory, as this match was originally scheduled for last month’s anniversary show as a form of punishment for Steen’s constant bad-mouthing of Commissioner of Wrestling Dino Winwood. The match was postponed due to lineup changes explained in the last Rasslin’ Rundown, but now this match gets a higher profile slot. And we’re getting more Necro than expected!

11.Dragon Kid vs. Susumu Yokosuka. Dragon Kid makes his second PWG appearance and second BOLA appearance (besting Quicksilver before losing to Strong last year) against the debuting Yokosuka. These two are stablemates in Dragon Gate’s Typhoon group, explaining their Tag Title shot set for the first night. However, PWG has mentioned on their message board that these two are in an uneasy alliance, explaining their First Round match this year. Good use of both guys here to prevent any clunkiness against guys these two wouldn’t be familiar with (which was present in last year’s Dragon Kid-Quicksilver match).

12.El Generico vs. Super Dragon. Generico fell in the First Round of the ’05 BOLA to Bosh. Last year, he made it past Delirious and Chris Sabin before falling to CIMA in the Semi-Finals, definitely the best, most dramatic match of last year’s BOLA. Likewise, after falling in the First Round to Steen in ’05, Dragon made it past Necro Butcher, Frankie Kazarian (via forfeit after a heel beatdown from Joey Ryan and the Dynasty), and Jack Evans last year. Unfortunately, he was unable to compete in the Finals (Kayfabe Reason: another Dynasty beatdown backstage; Real Reason: injuries from the Necro match). Dragon is actually coming back to action on this show after being plagued with injuries in February and June; so many injuries could cause Dragon to hang it up soon. Meanwhile, Generico just looks better between his PWG work and his ROH work this year. I’ve heard the assumption that Generico has the best match on every show he’s on, but as someone who’s seen a lot of shows featuring him, I can’t say that assumption holds up. All personal preference, really, but still, he’s very good. These two have fought almost everywhere else one-on-one, including the lone CZW show I attended two years ago, but never one-on-one in PWG before.

So there are number of enticing tournament matches this year. If I had to pick a winner of the whole thing, I could see it being Generico after how well he did last year and his subsequent success this year, but really, I don’t think he needs the win. He definitely seems like the most logical choice though. Anyway, info on tickets, times, and directions can be found on the PWG Web site. I’ll be back with another Rasslin’ Rundown to talk up what comes out of this tournament, as well as the events of ROH’s big shows this weekend.