Guerrilla Chikarticles: Let’s Talk BOLA

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Join me as I give updates on Chikara’s Tragedy and Triumph and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles 2008. This week’s Closer takes a look back at the 2006 and 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Finals.

Chikara

After defeating Lince Dorado/Pantera, Player Uno/Create a Wrestler, and Up In Smoke, The Fabulous Two (Mitch Ryder and Shayne Hawke) have gathered up three points and will face the Campeones de Parejas at Tragedy and Triumph. Mitch Ryder recruited Shayne Hawke back in August of 2007 and has transformed Shayne Hawke into a low-budget Larry Sweeney, but looks aren’t everything. Hawke has been under the wing of Ryder and has learned the ways around the ropes and will do anything to win.

After endless attempts of e-mailing Leonard F. Chikarason, Vin Gerard has finally received his rematch for Fire Ant’s Young Lion Cup. The two will face off at Tragedy and Triumph.

Back at King of Trios, Eddie Kingston made fun of Lince Dorado and his accident back at Chapter 11 by pretending to convulse in the middle of the ring. I’m sure that since then, Dorado has wanted to knock Kingston’s block off. With King’s recent hiatus in independent wrestling, Lince hasn’t had the chance to get revenge. At Tragedy and Triumph, Lince Dorado and Eddie Kingston will go one on one. Lince, we hardly knew ya.

Earlier in the year, Ultramantis Black knocked Tim Donst on his noggin and apparently gave him a concussion. Seeing this as an opportunity to benefit himself, Ultramantis took Donst under his wing and showed him the ways of the darkside. Tim Donst gradually became darker and darker, dropping his All-American diet of Apple Pie and Hamburgers for the Ultramantis Black way of vegan treats. Donst has finally snapped out of his concussion and went back to the Tecnicos. He wants revenge, and will get Ultramantis in the ring at Triumph and Tragedy.

If you are attending Triumph and Tragedy this Sunday, not only will you be treated to the wrestling of Chikara. You will also be able to view Victory Road on the New Alhambra big screen free of charge.

Chikara Presents: Triumph and Tragedy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 15th
1. Ultimo Breakfast vs. Jimmy Olsen
2. Incognito vs. Chuck Taylor
3. Brodie Lee vs. Claudio Castagnoli (No Disqualification, Two Referees)
4. Mike Quackenbush vs. Shane Storm
5. Lince Dorado vs. Eddie Kingston
6. Tim Donst vs. Ultramantis Black
7. Soldier Ant, Worker Ant, Player Uno and Stupified vs. Amasis, Ophidian, Gran Akuma and Icarus
8. Fire Ant © vs. Vin Gerard (Young Lions Cup Finals Rematch)
9. Incoherence © vs. The Fabulous Two (Campeonatos de Parejas Match)
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Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

At Life During Wartime, Chris Hero met Human Tornado in a Steel Cage Guerrilla Warfare match. After a long, grueling and bloody matchup, Hero left the cage and the arena with the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Title. Though many believe the Human Tornado/Chris Hero feud is over, just wait until Human Tornado gets back from his injury. He’s going to want a title shot.

Roderick Strong and Jack Evans were set to defend their Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Titles at Life During Wartime, but Jack Evans was unable to make the show due to conflicting dates with AAA. Strong chose El Generico as a replacement partner and the match was set: Strong and Generico versus Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs of Age of the Fall. Black and Jacobs took the titles away from Strong and Evans/Generico, and are the new PWG World Tag Team Champions.

Battle of Los Angeles 2008 has been delayed from the original end of August-beginning of September dates to somewhere in October or November. PAC is still the only confirmed wrestler for the 2008 tournament.

Best Buy lists the release of PWG’s first retail DVD as July 15th.

PWG Life During Wartime Results
1. Brandon Bonham beat Arik Cannon with a Canadian Destroyer
2. Hook Bomberry and TJ Perkins beat Mikey Nichols and Charles Mercury
3. Claudio Castagnoli beat Zokre with a Big Swing
4. Necro Butcher beat Kikutaro after Kikutaro knocked himself out by slipping on a pile of chairs
5. Scorpio Sky beat Chris Bosh with a Dragon Sleeper
6. The Young Bucks beat The Dynasty and MIYAWAKI and KAZMA in a 3-Way Dance
7. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black beat Roderick Strong and El Generico to become the new PWG World Tag Team Champions
8. Chris Hero beat Human Tornado to become the new PWG World Champion
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The Closer
BOLA 2006 and 2007 Finals

Battle of Los Angeles 2006 Finals (No Time Limit)
Davey Richards (beat Ronin, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong)
CIMA (beat M-Dogg 20, Kevin Steen and El Generico)

Why This Win Is Important to Davey Richards: Besides the obvious fact that Battle of Los Angeles is one of independent wrestling most prominent tournaments, Richards does have a lot to lose here. Previous to this tournament, he was essentially a floater in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, floating among that tag team division until he found a steady partner by the name of Super Dragon. Their tag team title reign only lasted so long before Richards was once again on his own. This tournament win could give Richards the boost he needs to become not only a singles star in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but in independent wrestling in general.

Why This Win Is Important to CIMA: Dragon Gate Japan megastar CIMA graced Pro Wrestling Guerrilla with his presence before, but now this is his real chance to make a name for himself in American Independent Wrestling. He proved to us that he is no joke by beating M-Dogg, Kevin Steen and El Generico to get into the finals. But he still has one more challenge in front of him: Kenta’s Protégé, Davey Richards.

Summary: Each wrestler’s first move is a handshake. How sweet. The feeling out process took a bit too long for my taste. Richards had control of the match early on, softening CIMA up with various kicks and suplexes. The tables turned after CIMA started hulking up and kept on asking for more and more of Davey’s kicks, eventually catching his leg on one of the kick attempts. CIMA’s offense was quite brutal and high risk, going for fancy double stomps and top rope moves. CIMA thought he had Richards where he wanted him, but got tricked and Richards pulled off a quick D.R. Driver for the win.

Davey Richards beat CIMA with the D.R. Driver in 13 minutes and 41 seconds
(Davey Richards won the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament)

Jonny K’s Thoughts: This match wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. What I expected was a fast paced, hard hitting finals match and what I got was something slow-paced and not so hard hitting. Richards and CIMA moved pretty slow, and even though it was the finals of a three day tournament, these guys were tired and they needed to find a way to work around that. Instead, they had a sub-par match with a couple of nice spots. The MOTM (Move of the Match) goes to Davey Richard’s Tombstone Piledriver. I haven’t seen one in years.
Match Rating: 6 Guerrillas out of 10. Let’s see what 2007 has to offer.
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Battle of Los Angeles 2007 Finals (No Time Limit)
CIMA (beat Human Tornado, Shingo and PAC)
Roderick Strong (beat Austin Aries, Joey Ryan and Alex Shelley)
El Generico (beat Tony Kozina, Dragon Kid and Nigel McGuinness)

Why This Win Is Important to CIMA: CIMA has made it to the Battle of Los Angeles Finals twice now. He’s already solidified his spot on the American Wrestling Scene, as well as Dragon Gate. He doesn’t want to win this tournament to prove to everybody else he can do it, he needs to prove it to himself.

Why This Win Is Important to Roderick Strong: Roderick Strong made a name for himself in Ring of Honor with Austin Aries as Generation Next. The tag team took Ring of Honor by storm and soon after he debuted in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. In order to break away from Generation Next, he needed to give everyone a message: He don’t need Austin Aries to be successful. Strong successfully delivered that message after defeating Austin Aries in round one of the tournament. He’s proved to us he can survive in the singles scene without Aries, but can he pull through and win the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament?

Why This Win Is Important to El Generico: El Generico is in the same situation as Roderick Strong. El Generico and Kevin Steen saw success in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and were the reigning champions at the time of this tournament. The BOLA Tournaments were always a good time to make a name for yourself in the singles scene. Generico still needed to prove to CIMA that the semi-finals loss last year was a fluke.

Summary: The crowd is really into the finals this year and are behind CIMA the whole way. CIMA and Generico started to work together to team up on Roddy, but that didn’t last too long as Roddy left the ring and left the two to fight. Each man was in charge of the match at some point, but they also had their time getting beat down. It’s a fast paced match until all three men are down and out, due to everyone getting their faces kicked into their skulls. The crowd is REALLY behind CIMA now. After a lot of back and forth action, CIMA gave Generico the Schwein for the three count. El Generico has been eliminated. It’s now down to Roderick and CIMA. The crowd is REALLLLLLLLY behind CIMA now. CIMA gives Roddy two Schweins and he kicks out both times! The crowd is now 50/50. CIMA goes for a third attempt, but Roderick turns it into a rollup. CIMA is back on the offensive side and gives Roderick two double stomps. CIMA goes for the Crossfire and connects! CIMA gets the three count for the win.

CIMA defeated El Generico and Roderick Strong
First Fall: CIMA pinned El Generico with the Schwein (9 Minutes and 5 Seconds)
Second Fall: CIMA pinned Roderick Strong with the Crossfire (13 Minutes and 39 Seconds)
(CIMA won the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament)

Jonny K’s Thoughts: Alright! Now this is how we end a tournament. We have three well-known guys who style’s mesh well together, and can switch off so the pace is a bit faster and more steady. The MOTM came about when CIMA gave Roderick Strong an Indian Deathlock and Generico a suplex simultaneously. The crowd pulled my interest even more because they were so into it. When Roderick kicked out of the second Schwein, the crowd erupted and so did I. There were a couple runner ups for MOTM: El Generico’s BRAINBUSTAAAH on the apron, and CIMA’s Schwein on the apron. This was honestly a great match that kept me on the edge of the seat the whole time. This is in no way outdated to the current PWG Storylines and should be a part of your collection.
Match Rating: 9 Guerrillas out of 10.
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That’s it for this week’s Guerrilla Chikarticles. Feedback is always appreciated. Have a safe and happy week.

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