For indie fans, the summer is like Christmas time, especially if you’re a fan of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and it’s prestigious super indie tournament, PWG Battle of Los Angeles (BOLA). This week, PWG began to reveal the entrants in the 2018 edition of the tournament and like always, it’s shaping up to be another interesting tournament, featuring a couple return competitors, some new emerging global indie talent, and a couple veterans of the business, plus a whopping eight out of the ten making their BOLA debuts. Here’s a run down of the first 10 entrants announced.
PCO, Canada
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
50-year Pierre Carl Ouellette made waves as the lone first announcement three days ago, and has been on the comeback of the decade. This hard hitting veteran is becoming one of 2018’s most popular stars on the indie circuit, with his barbarism and brutality, and adding his first BOLA to a long list of accomplishments (including being a 3x WWE Tag Team Champion) is just added gravy.
BRODY KING, USA
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
Another thunderous heavy hitter, Brody King turned the momentum of an impressive 2017 into an explosive 2018, working with promotions like PWG, EVOLVE, Major League Wrestling (MLW), DEFY, Bar Wrestling, Smash Wrestling and many more. He’s only been wrestling a few years, but he’s already on his way to superstardom.
JODY FLEISCH, England
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
The 38-year old Londoner has been wrestling since the late 1990s, but he’s been nearly 100% exclusive to the UK and Europe. A long time staple with IPW:UK, as well as RevPro, ICW, Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), World Association of Wrestling (WAW), and nearly every UK indie, Fleisch’s work in North America has been minimal – he was in the 2002 Best of the Best II tournament in CZW and started working with Ohio’s Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), New Jersey’s Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and Canada’s Alpha-1 in the past year. This marks his first match for PWG since February of 2006, when he faced AJ Styles at a PWG event in the UK.
ILJA DRAGUNOV, Russia
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
Russa’s Ilja Dragunov has been a top performer with Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) since 2013, where he’s currently the wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion, as well as a 2x wXw Shotgun Champion. A sadistic and masochist brute for someone his size (he’s 5’9″ and 185 lbs), Dragunov has faced monsters and walked away with his hand held high.
ROBBIE EAGLES, Australia
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
One of Australia’s top stars, Robbie Eagles made his PWG debut earlier this year to critical and fan acclaim. The high flyer is a wonder to watch, and is finally taking his game beyond Oceania.
JOEY JANELA, USA
BOLA Resume: 2017 (eliminated before semi finals)
Although he’s been wrestling for over a decade, it’s just been in the past two years that Joey Janela has become one of the North American indie scene’s most dynamic and in-demand performers. Outside of his own death defying matches (and intergender tag matches with Janelope tag partner, Penelope Ford), Janela is also proving to be as creative behind the scenes as he is in front. His Joey Janela’s Spring Break events over WrestleMania weekend have become must-see programs, and his next event Joey Janela’s Lost In New York is coming up (both produced by GCW). He’s returning for his second BOLA after making his debut last year.
PUMA KING, Mexico
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
Before anyone thinks PWG just fought a cheap knockoff of Ricochet‘s Prince Puma gimmick from Lucha Underground, Puma King is a legit superstar from Mexico’s CMLL and the 27-year old has been captivating crowds south of the border since he was 16. He made his NJPW debut this year with the CMLL/NJPW production Fantasica Mania 2018 in Japan this year, and has only been entering the US market recently, debuting with Beyond Wrestling, CHIKARA, Aro Lucha and a select others.
DAVID STARR, USA
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
The 2018 winner of CZW’s Best of the Best 17, a perennial competitor in European tournaments like PROGRESS Super Strong Style 16 and wXw 16 Carat Gold, it’s surprising that this is David Starr’s first BOLA. A 3x wXw Shotgun Champion and the current reigning RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion, this American indie star is arguably a bigger name in Europe than his home country.
REY HORUS, Mexico
BOLA Resume: 2017 (eliminated before semi finals)
Formerly El Hijo del Rey Mysterio II, Rey Horus has worked the Mexican and US indies for just under a decade now. He’s gained more national notoriety portraying the character Dragon Azteca Jr. on Lucha Underground. He made his BOLA debut last year and returns for a better showing.
CHRIS BROOKES, England
BOLA Resume: Making BOLA debut
In his native UK, Chris Brookes is one half of CCK with Kid Lykos, one of the UK’s best tag teams at the moment. CCK are 3x ATTACK! Tag Team Champions, 2x PROGRESS Tag Team Champions, and even held the CZW World Tag Team titles last year. When Lykos went down with an injury last year, Brookes returned to singles action, re-establishing himself as a top singles star as well. He recently turned down a WWE UK deal to remain independent and his announcement as the 10th entrant for this year’s BOLA looks to have shown his decision will still lead to great opportunities.
