There’s nothing I love more than a tournament, from the G1 climax in new japan to the battle of Los Angeles in pwg and king of trios in Chikara. And to a lesser existent tournament of death in czw. I don’t know what it is but a tournament is one of my favorite things in wrestling. A group of guys fighting each other in single elimination matches to win a prize is an exhilarating spectacle to watch. It can lead to fantastic matches between competitors who otherwise wouldn’t face each other. team-mate against team-mate, friend against friend. It’s all left to the side when its do or die.
These 2 weeks is big for tourneys, we had bola 2k15 last week. which from what I heard and saw on twitter, was amazing as usual. With the talent that was on show, im not surprised. Hell one of the matches had the crowd throwing money in the ring, legit money. It was won valiantly by the best technical wrestler in the world Zack Sabre jr. This weekend we have one of the biggest tournaments of the year, Chikara’s king of trios. Which for those not in the know is a huge 3 day trios tag tournament, with not tournament matches sprinkled in between. These 16 3 man team’s battle it out for a title shot against the tag champs and I believe a trophy of some sort.
King of trios is one the most unique ones it being a 3 tag tourney. It also makes for some of the most fun matches you’ll see all year and some odd and surprising teams. You can see old timers coming back to relive the glory days I:e the bwo this year. Some fantastic international guests team AAA consisting of Aero star, Drago and Fenix. Who most recently has been seen on lucha underground. Add to that some of the best talent working today from inside and outside chikara, and you have the recipe for one hell of an event.
Bola is a different story, a single man 3 day tournament with other singles matches in between. Though this year they had a highly anticipated 6 man guerilla warfare match. bola has had incredible matches every year and as I mentioned previously, this could be the best one yet. they make use of international talent, such as the aforementioned Zack sabre jr, fenix and aero star. We also have uk talent in Marty scurll and Will Ospreay. Rounding out the rest are some of the best talents in the u.s. Now pwg is an enigma because they don’t really have a set roster like most promotions, they have mainstays in the company but most are a rotating roster of the best talent in the biz.
Tournaments are one of the greatest match types in wrestling. You get matches you never thought you would get. Have talent show up that you never would have seen otherwise and it gives these matches a greater sense of purpose. Other than hey I don’t like you lets wrestle. That might be what attracts me to them, the fact that these guys are fighting for more than just a storyline or a feud. It’s for pride for glory, to win it all and beat everybody. Prove you’re the best around. there’s a lot of merit in that and harkens back to the macho competitiveness of male culture. The urge to prove you’re better than your fellow-man, a tournament allows you to do that. be it the G1, bola or kot.
Roaring elbow 