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| Cage and Nese are both in the Battle this weekend... will one of them win? Photo Credit: Devin Chen |
Labor Day weekend has arrived, but while you may have Monday off from work, wrestling never takes time off. NEVER. The art is always at work, even when you aren't. As is custom every weekend, the slate from today through Sunday is jam-packed with great events. I'm going to preview the ones I know here, but if you don't see one in your area and you wanna go see the rasslin' show this weekend, check out Pro Wrestling Events. However, the notable shows this weekend are doozies...
FRIDAY
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is the undisputed main event of this weekend with their annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Last year, Adam Cole won, springboarding him into superstardom within the company. This year, the field is 16 wrestlers deep. Some of them are PWG veterans, while others are making the trip out to Cali for the first time ever. Either way, the scrapping and scraping is going to be intense. The bell time at the American Legion Post #308 in Reseda, CA is 8PM local time. The eight first round matches are as follows: Drake Younger vs. Joey Ryan, ACH vs. Tony Nese, Kevin Steen vs. Chuck Taylor, Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann, Kyle O'Reilly vs. Trent?, Johnny Gargano vs. Willie Mack, Brian Cage vs. Tommaso Ciampa, and AR Fox vs. Roderick Strong. Each match will appeal to at least someone in the indie wrestling audience at large. Personally, ACH/Nese feels like it might burn the place down. Aside from that, I really want to see Steen and Taylor lock up if just for how far they'll push the comedic boundaries, and I also think Ciampa/Cage will be a CERTIFIED HOSS FIGHT. As for last year's winner and current PWG World Champion Cole, he'll be teaming with the Young Bucks to take on TJ Perkins, Rocky Romero, and Alex Koslov in explosive trios action.
Not to be outdone, Absolute Intense Wrestling will present Gleaming the Cube at Turners Hall in Cleveland, OH at 7:30PM local time. Multiman matches mark the the top two singles Championships on this show. IN the nominal main event for the vacant Intense Division Championship, the title belt will dangle from the ceiling to be claimed in a ladder match. Flip Kendrick, Louis Lyndon, Josh Alexander, Marion Fontaine, Matt Cross,Matt Cross' sentient beard and the debuting Andrew Everett will attempt to claim the belt in what should turn out to be a human car crash waiting to happen.
The Absolute Championship will be up for grabs in a four-way match, as Ethan Page will look to fend off challenges from Nixon stalwart most recent former Champion Eric Ryan, Gauntlet for the Gold winner Colin Delaney, and the Deviant himself, Michael Hutter. Nixon's thirst for gold doesn't stop at the Absolute championship, as Bobby Beverly and Rickey Shane Page will challenge The Batiri for their Tag Team Championships. Also on the show, Sugar Dunkerton looks to knock the cowbell out of Jock Samson, Biff Busick scraps with a debuting "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti, Tim Donst battles AIW original Josh Prohibition, Veda Scott tunes up for her Women's Championship shot in October with a match against Kimber Lee, Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews, fresh off teaming at Wrestling Is Cool, will clash with each other, and a four-way tag match will throw the Submission Squad (Pierre Abernathy and Evan Gelistico), the Jollyville Fuck-its, the Sex Bob-ombs, and the Hooligans into the mix. Finally, Gary Jay has an open challenge.
SATURDAY
The second night of PWG's Battle of Los Angeles takes place Saturday at the same place with the same bell time. No concrete matches have been announced, but the conclusion of the tournament will play out, including quarter-, semi-, and final matches. I would also expect a multi-wrestler match of those eliminated from the first night to take place as well as another attraction match. Will either Championship be defended? At this point, anyone's guess could be correct. One thing is for certain though; the tournament action should be on fire at least.
The Taylortown Trade Center in Taylor, MI will play host to CLASH Wrestling's All Out War at 8PM Saturday. The main event pits Champion J. Miller against Ded Vaughn for the title. Also on the show, a 20-person battle royale will happen, which will include Tommy Dreamer, Zach Gowen, The Canadian Destroyer, Gregory Iron, Marion Fontaine, and several more. The winner gets a shot at the CLASH Championship.
Deep Southern Championship Wrestling will be holding an outdoor event at the Blue Ridge City Park in Blue Ridge, GA. They will have a swimming pool and a bouncy castle as well as two live bands, but the main attraction will be the hot hot pro wrestling action. A tag team mashup for the ages will happen as Demolition Ax will team up with Robert Gibson of the Rock 'n Roll Express to take on the Brothers Fusion in the main event. Also appearing will be Cyrus the Destroyer, Kyle Matthews, and the one-night only reunion of NWA Wildside stalwarts Bad Attitude. Gates will open at the park at 5PM local time.
SUNDAY
Wrestling Is Fun! will invite you to Keep Your Eyes Peeled at the Goodwill Fire Association in Reading, PA. Kids under 12 get in for free, as with any Chikara/Wrestling Is... show. The doors will open at 2:30PM local time. The main event will pit the Spectral Envoy against the Wrecking Crew (Max Smashmaster, Oleg the Usurper, and Jaka) in hot trios action. The war between the factions of ants rages on as Green Ant will go toe to toe with the spacey Orbit Adventure Ant. The Osirian Portal reunion tour continues with a bout against Los Ice Creams. Eric Corvis makes his way into the Fun part of the universe with a bout against Missile Assault Ant. Juan Francisco de Coronado battles the high-flying Shynron. In the most intriguing action of the weekend, the Polar Baron's Union, which is the bizarro Baltic Siege, will be in action in two singles matches against The Colony. First, the Proletarian Boar of Moldova draws assailANT. Secondly, the Brown Morning of Belarus makes his debut against Fire Ant. What is the endgame of this new mysterious group of former Soviet automatons? How do they tie in with the Siege? WHAT IS MARTOV SICKLEMEIER'S ENDGAME?
Inspire Pro Wrestling is Wired for War in their second ever event to be held at the Marchesa Hall and Theatre in Austin, TX at 5:30PM local time. The main event is another three way match to determine the second competitor for the IPW Championship. Davey Vega won the main event at the first event, and now Jojo Bravo, Bolt Brady, and Mike Dell are eyeing to join him in the decisive three-way match. Also on the show, Ricky Starks takes on Shawn Vexx, and Scot Summers will engage in bloody battle with Ray Rowe. Also appearing will be Jaykus Plisken, Gregory James, and Thomas Shire.
Insane Wrestling League rounds out the weekend with New Era 8, live on their Internet pay-per-view stream. Doors open at the Masonic Hall in Monrovia, CA at 4:15PM local time, while the iPPV broadcast begins at 8PM Eastern Daylight time/5PM Pacific. Headlining the show will be Michael Elgin taking on B-Boy in what should be a bruising affair. The IWL Championship is on the line as Johnny Saovi defends against Ray Rosas, and the Young Bucks will defend their Tag Team Championships against the Monster Mafia of Josh Alexander and Ethan Page. Also appearing on the show will be former GLOW superstar Little Egypt.
Remember, the above shows are only a smattering of what's going on this weekend. I strongly urge you to go out and check out the local show or shows near you if you do have live pro graps near you. Even if you don't know a single name on the card, you could be shocked at how much you enjoy it. Your most favorite thing in the whole world may be out there. You just haven't seen it yet.
FRIDAY
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is the undisputed main event of this weekend with their annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Last year, Adam Cole won, springboarding him into superstardom within the company. This year, the field is 16 wrestlers deep. Some of them are PWG veterans, while others are making the trip out to Cali for the first time ever. Either way, the scrapping and scraping is going to be intense. The bell time at the American Legion Post #308 in Reseda, CA is 8PM local time. The eight first round matches are as follows: Drake Younger vs. Joey Ryan, ACH vs. Tony Nese, Kevin Steen vs. Chuck Taylor, Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann, Kyle O'Reilly vs. Trent?, Johnny Gargano vs. Willie Mack, Brian Cage vs. Tommaso Ciampa, and AR Fox vs. Roderick Strong. Each match will appeal to at least someone in the indie wrestling audience at large. Personally, ACH/Nese feels like it might burn the place down. Aside from that, I really want to see Steen and Taylor lock up if just for how far they'll push the comedic boundaries, and I also think Ciampa/Cage will be a CERTIFIED HOSS FIGHT. As for last year's winner and current PWG World Champion Cole, he'll be teaming with the Young Bucks to take on TJ Perkins, Rocky Romero, and Alex Koslov in explosive trios action.
Not to be outdone, Absolute Intense Wrestling will present Gleaming the Cube at Turners Hall in Cleveland, OH at 7:30PM local time. Multiman matches mark the the top two singles Championships on this show. IN the nominal main event for the vacant Intense Division Championship, the title belt will dangle from the ceiling to be claimed in a ladder match. Flip Kendrick, Louis Lyndon, Josh Alexander, Marion Fontaine, Matt Cross,
The Absolute Championship will be up for grabs in a four-way match, as Ethan Page will look to fend off challenges from Nixon stalwart most recent former Champion Eric Ryan, Gauntlet for the Gold winner Colin Delaney, and the Deviant himself, Michael Hutter. Nixon's thirst for gold doesn't stop at the Absolute championship, as Bobby Beverly and Rickey Shane Page will challenge The Batiri for their Tag Team Championships. Also on the show, Sugar Dunkerton looks to knock the cowbell out of Jock Samson, Biff Busick scraps with a debuting "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti, Tim Donst battles AIW original Josh Prohibition, Veda Scott tunes up for her Women's Championship shot in October with a match against Kimber Lee, Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews, fresh off teaming at Wrestling Is Cool, will clash with each other, and a four-way tag match will throw the Submission Squad (Pierre Abernathy and Evan Gelistico), the Jollyville Fuck-its, the Sex Bob-ombs, and the Hooligans into the mix. Finally, Gary Jay has an open challenge.
SATURDAY
The second night of PWG's Battle of Los Angeles takes place Saturday at the same place with the same bell time. No concrete matches have been announced, but the conclusion of the tournament will play out, including quarter-, semi-, and final matches. I would also expect a multi-wrestler match of those eliminated from the first night to take place as well as another attraction match. Will either Championship be defended? At this point, anyone's guess could be correct. One thing is for certain though; the tournament action should be on fire at least.
The Taylortown Trade Center in Taylor, MI will play host to CLASH Wrestling's All Out War at 8PM Saturday. The main event pits Champion J. Miller against Ded Vaughn for the title. Also on the show, a 20-person battle royale will happen, which will include Tommy Dreamer, Zach Gowen, The Canadian Destroyer, Gregory Iron, Marion Fontaine, and several more. The winner gets a shot at the CLASH Championship.
Deep Southern Championship Wrestling will be holding an outdoor event at the Blue Ridge City Park in Blue Ridge, GA. They will have a swimming pool and a bouncy castle as well as two live bands, but the main attraction will be the hot hot pro wrestling action. A tag team mashup for the ages will happen as Demolition Ax will team up with Robert Gibson of the Rock 'n Roll Express to take on the Brothers Fusion in the main event. Also appearing will be Cyrus the Destroyer, Kyle Matthews, and the one-night only reunion of NWA Wildside stalwarts Bad Attitude. Gates will open at the park at 5PM local time.
SUNDAY
Wrestling Is Fun! will invite you to Keep Your Eyes Peeled at the Goodwill Fire Association in Reading, PA. Kids under 12 get in for free, as with any Chikara/Wrestling Is... show. The doors will open at 2:30PM local time. The main event will pit the Spectral Envoy against the Wrecking Crew (Max Smashmaster, Oleg the Usurper, and Jaka) in hot trios action. The war between the factions of ants rages on as Green Ant will go toe to toe with the spacey Orbit Adventure Ant. The Osirian Portal reunion tour continues with a bout against Los Ice Creams. Eric Corvis makes his way into the Fun part of the universe with a bout against Missile Assault Ant. Juan Francisco de Coronado battles the high-flying Shynron. In the most intriguing action of the weekend, the Polar Baron's Union, which is the bizarro Baltic Siege, will be in action in two singles matches against The Colony. First, the Proletarian Boar of Moldova draws assailANT. Secondly, the Brown Morning of Belarus makes his debut against Fire Ant. What is the endgame of this new mysterious group of former Soviet automatons? How do they tie in with the Siege? WHAT IS MARTOV SICKLEMEIER'S ENDGAME?
Inspire Pro Wrestling is Wired for War in their second ever event to be held at the Marchesa Hall and Theatre in Austin, TX at 5:30PM local time. The main event is another three way match to determine the second competitor for the IPW Championship. Davey Vega won the main event at the first event, and now Jojo Bravo, Bolt Brady, and Mike Dell are eyeing to join him in the decisive three-way match. Also on the show, Ricky Starks takes on Shawn Vexx, and Scot Summers will engage in bloody battle with Ray Rowe. Also appearing will be Jaykus Plisken, Gregory James, and Thomas Shire.
Insane Wrestling League rounds out the weekend with New Era 8, live on their Internet pay-per-view stream. Doors open at the Masonic Hall in Monrovia, CA at 4:15PM local time, while the iPPV broadcast begins at 8PM Eastern Daylight time/5PM Pacific. Headlining the show will be Michael Elgin taking on B-Boy in what should be a bruising affair. The IWL Championship is on the line as Johnny Saovi defends against Ray Rosas, and the Young Bucks will defend their Tag Team Championships against the Monster Mafia of Josh Alexander and Ethan Page. Also appearing on the show will be former GLOW superstar Little Egypt.
Remember, the above shows are only a smattering of what's going on this weekend. I strongly urge you to go out and check out the local show or shows near you if you do have live pro graps near you. Even if you don't know a single name on the card, you could be shocked at how much you enjoy it. Your most favorite thing in the whole world may be out there. You just haven't seen it yet.