The Battle of Los Angeles
Over Labor Day weekend I got to take in a very cool event in Reseda (and yes, that may be the first time in written history that the words "cool" and "Reseda" could be used together in the same sentence) entitled "The Battle of Los Angeles".
Those that know me or read this blog regularly know that I've been a fan of pro wrestling since I was a little kid. Other than writing 60 Minute Broadway, I had kind of fallen off the wagon a little. The WWE product has gotten stale and really boring. I did enjoy some DVDs that I had picked up from a company called Ring of Honor as that company seemed to put on amazingly athletic, Japanese style matches that had consequences. Wins and losses meant something and the World Title was the focus of the promotion. Good stuff and it led me to want to check out The Battle of Los Angeles (BOLA) as I saw a lot of the ROH guys were being featured.
BOLA took place at an American Legion hall in Reseda and was put on by local indy wrestling group Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and set up as a three night, single elimination tournament. Twelve wrestlers from around the globe would compete in the first round on Friday and Saturday and then the finals were held on Sunday.
Seeing that some of the wrestlers I had enjoyed watching on the ROH dvds were working on Saturday, I asked Amber if she wanted to check out the show. She is not a fan of pro wrestling at all but acquiesced and accompanied me. She had such a blast, we ended up buying tickets for the finals on Sunday during the intermission of the show.
The American Legion was packed with 400 or so fans and it created this very intimate, special atmosphere. The wrestlers worked their asses off, diving into the crowd and interacting with the crowd in ways you never get a chance to see in the "big leagues". More than one time, Amber and I had to hightail it from where we were standing as a 230 lb. wrestler backflipped onto his opponent mere inches away. It's a true adrenaline rush.
PWG also incorporates a lot of comedy into their athletic matches. Not stupid, over the top stuff...but good subtle comedy. Colt Cabana had his opponent tied up in a leglock in the ropes. The referee counts to five, signalling that he must break the hold. Instead, he looks sheepishly at the ref and says (just loud enough to be heard by the crowd): "Um, I'm stuck". Very funny.
My favorite moment of the entire two nights was during a match with Japanese sensation CIMA against PWG's own El Generico (a thin, white wrestler from Canada who claims to be a luchadore from Tijuana, Mexico). CIMA was beating down his foe and the crowd fell silent. Just then, a little girl's voice wafts over the crowd: "C'mon Generico".
The entire crowd let out an audible: "Awwwwwww"
CIMA reacted, walked over to the ropes to stare her down and then proceeded to beat down Generico even more to elicit the sympathy of the crowd. It was just one of those moments of total connection with an audience and was amazing to see. I've always said that my best performances, as a standup comic, come when I'm totally connected with the audience and I'm just having fun onstage. You could tell from watching the show that all of the wrestlers were having a blast and the crowd fed of it...in turn causing the wrestlers to feed off the crowd in this give and take dance the entire weekend.
If you live in the Los Angeles area and have ever enjoyed pro wrestling, you should check out a Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show. It's a blast and the guys work really hard to entertain the crowd...you'll get your monies worth and then some! The local roster includes guys like Joey Ryan, Disco Machine, Super Dragon, the above mentioned Generico and more and usually special guests from ROH or TNA are included on shows. One of the coolest things about the company is that Ryan, Machine and four other wrestlers own the company. I like that the guys in the ring are the guys you are truly supporting. You can also visit their website by clicking the link at the top of this post and pre-order the BOLA dvd. Check em out and support this indy promotion!!
You might even see Amber and I running for our lives to get out of the way of springboard plancha.
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