This Saturday night on April 27 the Wrestling Cares Association is running their inaugural show at the Alexandria Ballrooms in Downtown L.A. Every show 25 percent of the proceeds go to a different charity, which is fantastic. The premise for the WCA is that it will hold a year long tournament featuring 32 of the top independent wrestlers vying to be the last one standing in the end to hold the custom made ring as the grand prize. There seems to be heavy NCAA tournament style presence which is more evident based on the rules for each match.
Every match will have a time limit. The first round will have ten minute time limits. Each match is an iron man match with points as opposed to falls. You get a point for pinfall or submission and deducted a point for a DQ. If there is a tie after the ten minutes, there will be a three minute sudden death. Even it’s still a tie, both are eliminated and an alternates match will take place to fill in that spot. The second round will be fifteen minutes, quarter finals twenty minutes, semi finals twenty five minutes and the finals will be thirty. The first sixteen entered will compete at the first show this Saturday night.
This is quite a special show to say the least. Anthony Nese, Drew Gulak and Caprice Coleman and three guys I think would be great for a company like PWG and this will be the first time they will try to make a big splash on the West Coast as are many wrestlers I’ve yet to see wrestle, but will do so for the first time. Guys like Cabana, Cole, B-Boy, O’Reilly, Richards and Callihan have all made a name for themselves on the indy scene and it will be nice to see them mix it up with some fresh faces trying to make a name for themselves as well. This is a great oppurtinuty for all those invovled. Plus, Maria Kanellis is hosting, so that’s automatically awesome.
COLT CABANA, “Art of Wrestling Podcast” Host, Former NWA World Champion and Wrestler/Entertainer Extraordinaire!
VS.
KYLE MATTHEWS, Rampage Pro Wrestling (RPW) TV Champion and 2012 Cauliflower Alley Club Future Legend Award Winner!
I haven’t seen Colt wrestle live since Wrestlereunion last January, so I’m looking forward to seeing him live again. Kyle Matthews is name I’ve sen pop up from time to time. Since Matthews is wrestling Colt, it seems that this match will be more technically driven and hopefully Colt can still do great comedy in under ten minutes.
KYLE O’REILLY, One half of the reigning Ring of Honor (ROH) Tag Team Champions!
VS.
DAVEY RICHARDS, International Superstar and former Ring of Honor (ROH), Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG), and Full Impact Pro (FIP) Heavyweight Champion!
This could very well be match of the night. I can only imagine these two got 100 miles an hour with a ten minute time limit. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that this might be one of the matches, if any that go to sudden death. This is going to be stiff and possibly brutal. But it sure as hell will be an exciting ten minutes of action. This match is going to fantastic, guaranteed.
JAMIN OLIVENCIA, Reigning Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) Heavyweight Champion and record-setting 8-Time OVW TV Champion!
VS.
SAMI CALLIHAN, Former Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) Heayweight Champion, and 2012 CZW Best of the Best Tournament Champion!
I’ve never seen Olivencia, nor have I heard of him, but that’s not a bad thing whatsoever. Every competitor was chosen for a reason. This is just a huge opportunity for Olivencia to make a name for himself. Based on the rumors swirling all over the internet, this might be one of the few times left to see Sami Callihan on the indies. We know Sami can bring it, especially with a ten minute time limit, so this match should impress and open some eyes.
ADAM COLE, Reigning Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) World Champion and Former Ring of Honor (ROH) Television Champion!
VS.
ANTHONY NESE, “The Premiere Athlete”, reigning New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) Fusion Champion!
Adam Cole is insanely talented as we all know. Anthony Nese is a highly underrated talent that more people should be paying attention to. Nese has the look and is possibly even more athletic than Adam Cole. Nese should be a regular TNA X-Division competitor, but he’s not. TNA’s loss is the indy’s gain. This is another match that I think could be potential match of the night. These two can put on exciting junior heavyweight style of match. This is also a big opportunity for Nese to make a big name for himself on the West Coast as he’s mainly an East Coast guy.
CAPRICE COLEMAN, T-Town’s Favorite Preacher, The Charismatic Ring of Honor Star and Tag Team Specialist brings his infinite skills to L.A. in the Race for the Ring!
VS.
STEVE ANTHONY, The Wildkat Heavyweight Champion and TCW Superstar, The King of the 450 Splash!
Coleman is another one of the underrated guys that does under the radar. Yes he has made a bigger name for himself since returning to ROH in the last few years, but I feel he can offer more to the table. He is a 36 year old veteran who even made appearances in the early years of ROH. Anthony is another wrestler I never seen wrestle but his nickname is “King of the 450 splash” so this one those fast paced X-Division style sprints with cool dives and crazy near falls. I’m hoping Coleman will deliver a stellar performance to garner him more buzz because he sure as hell deserves it for being on the indy scene for so long.
PEPPER PARKS, Former HWA Heavyweight Champion & Wrestling’s Life Coach and Wellness Guru!
VS.
VORDELL WALKER, Pro Wrestling Xtreme’s Heavy-Hitting Striker & Amateur Wrestling/MMA Expert!
Pepper Parks is another name that I see pop up from time to time, usually attributed to positive compliments. I’m not sure what his style is, but he is a heavyweight. Vordell Walker I remember from 2004 ROH. He really didn’t make a name for himself in ROH when he had the chance to so maybe this will be his buzz worthy moment.
DREW GULAK, Former CZW Wired Champion & Tag Champion, Leader of Campaign for a Better CZW!
VS.
BOBBY SHARP, Reigning CNWA Canadian National Champion in his Stateside Debut!
Out of all the guys I’m looking forward to seeing on Saturday, Drew Gulak might be the one I’m looking forward to the most. After seeing him at National Pro Wrestling Day, I thought he might be the next Bryan Danielson. His style is so technical and rugged that he reminds me of Danielson from 2002 to about 2004. Gulak is a fantastic wrestler and I’m hoping he is one of the guys on this show that makes such a big impression that he leads him to bigger things and more appearances on the West Coast. Bobby Sharp I’ve yet to see wrestler, but he is making his debut in the U.S. on this show, which is a great for Sharp to debut on a show with so many top level indy guys.
B-BOY, The Brutally Tough New Age Punisher and California’s Favorite Thug Brings the Pain to WCA!
VS.
JEFF MCALLISTER, One of the NWA’s Best, Mr. Intensity Makes a Huge Return to L.A. in Race for the Ring!
B-Boy is one of personal favorite wrestlers. I’ve seen him wrestle all over SoCal for the last ten years or so. I consider him one of the elder states men of the SoCal indy scene. It’s great to see local talent represented in the tournament as well. I’ve never seen Jeff Mcallister wrestle, but B-Boy’s style is strong style so I expect this to be a physical, strike oriented match.
So those are the eight tournament matches scheduled for the show. If I had to pick, my winners would be Cabana, O’Reilly, Olivencia, Cole, Coleman, Parks, Gulak and B-Boy. Down the line maybe in the second or third round I would really like to see B-Boy vs. Drew Guwlak which I think would great.
Tickets can be purchased here: http://wrestlingcares.eventbrite.com/.
I will be providing the live results after the show.
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