What to Do In LA, When You’re a Mark? Part 1
WrestleMania Weekend 2k23- Wednesday 3/30
As I am writing this I am looking out my back sliding door. What to look at has not really changed all that much in the recent months. It is a menagerie melting snow, mud, brown, yellow, gray, and death. From February to mid-April Colorado is an absolute pit stain of beauty, much like the rest of the United States at this time of the year. The majority of us move from gray to white to brown and back to gray again it is a never ending circle of mediocrity and filth. However, there are those who are blessed to have relatively consistent blue skies, sunshine, ocean kissed breezes, and the ability to feel consistently rejuvenated and alive.These people are the lucky Angelenos, the people who are blessed to live in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has been a place to migrate to from its early history. There is of course The Monroe Doctrine that declared the West and the entire North American continent the property and responsibility to a certain sub-sect of the American population, there was also the possibility of one finding work during the Great Depression, the military industrial complex established technological and manufacturing hubs providing suburban growth after World War II, and then of course from the 1920s to present there is always the great carrot of making it big in film/TV/music.While there are still many reasons as to why people flock to the City of Angels, I truly believe because it makes one feel alive.
Now what does WrestleMania, or professional wrestling as whole, have anything to do with feeling alive, and what does it have to do with Los Angeles? Decent enough question I suppose. To answer the first part I would reckon that anymore you as a fan of professional wrestling get some kind of rush from it. You either enjoy it by certain characteristics; either by itself or in a combination of the theatrics, athleticism, goofiness, sadism, masochism, or storytelling abilities of the performers and promoters that provide you professional wrestling. Or you could easily enjoy the community that professional wrestling has cultivated over the last 20 plus years. You enjoy being part of something, and sharing that something with others with the same interests. With the cultural and social movement of late stage capitalism forcing individualism amongst the populous, the need to find a community is a survival mechanism many of us are in need of. Just so happens that pro wrestling is that community. To answer the second part of the original question, Vince McMahon paid Stan Kroenke to rent SoFi Arena in order to have WrestleMania in Los Angeles. So now all eyes are on LA for the next handful of days.
All this while I am still stuck in Colorado staring out my back sliding door.
In the likely chance of you skipping the earlier paragraphs in order to get to the beef of this blog let me preface a couple things before we move further. First of all everything is my opinion and my bias only. When I am suggesting matches or shows to watch or get tickets to because I do think they are going to be enjoyable or I am intrigued by them. This is the biggest weekend for professional wrestling, and there are a lot of wrestlers, matches and shows that will blow things out of the water, and I hope to do a write up on those when all is said and done. However this is my list, if you agree awesome, if not no harm no foul. Either way if you feel strongly enough feel free to reach out via the comments, or elsewise. For a listing of all the separate Wednesday Shows click the link. Anyway here you go:
Wednesday 3/29/23
(Matches and Shows known as of 3/28, Card Subject to Change)
Matches to be on a look out for:
1. Pacific Northwest Championship- Alan Angels (c.) v Chris Bey (Relentless Wrestling: Chaos in California)
Photo by Brendan Photography
Since leaving AEW Alan Angels has been working all across the United States independent scene working key promotions like ACTION, Prestige, Garden State, West Coast Pro, and others. He signed to IMPACT last year while making quite an impression trying to shed the FIVE character in AEW, this has also allowed him to work New Japan shows in the states. While in AEW he was always quite a hand, however now he is doing what he has set out to do, be the best on his own terms.
In the last year Chris Bey has been able to secure a strong and consistent spot with IMPACT and New Japan Strong. In my opinion Bey is by far the best part of the American Bullet Club faction, as he has everything that you could want in a wrestler. No matter who his opponent is, or who he is tagging with Chris has the ability to draw your eyes to him, which is quite impressive considering he has wrestled with and against the likes of Mike Bailey, Blake Christian, and Hiromu Takahashi.
2. Maki Itoh & Kidd Banditt v Heather Monroe & Taya Valkyrie (Pandemonium Pro Wrestling: Best Damn Thing)
The match up of Maki Itoh and Kidd Banditt alone in this match is enough to raise an eyebrow, paired with wrestling some of the left coast’s best female tag teams of the past with Heather Monroe and Taya Valkyrie you have at the very least a very entertaining match. Both Itoh and Banditt have the most matches over the weekend. Maki Itoh has proven herself to be a draw to American and International audiences every time she has left her home promotion of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. Her partner Kidd Banditt might be one of the hardest working wrestlers on the scene right now as to the fact she is consistently booked throughout the country. She first caught the eyes of many fans with her unique style of adding martial art spin kicks, and anime lore into her matches
Heather Monroe has carved her way as part of the premier women’s tag team in Southern California a few years back. Taya has worked for almost every major independent or international promotion in her twelve year career including regular stints in AAA, IMPACT, MLW, NWA, Defy and so much more. I have had the pleasure to watch Heather Monroe a few times here in Colorado, and every time I have thoroughly enjoyed her work. She truly has the ability to breakout this year and be a major draw, and should be one you should keep an eye out for.
3. Team Slim Jim (Chase James, WARHORSE, Drexl) v Thrussy (Effy, Allie Katch, Dark Sheik) (Relentless Wrestling: Chaos in California)
WARHORSE established himself as a draw to any card anywhere in North America. His charisma, character and ability to self promote himself has proven itself very noteworthy. However he’s not just a gimmick, the man can wrestle. I have only been made aware of Drexl just recently while watching the Northwest area regain its dominance in the independent scene. Drexl is pure terror, and pure horror. Horror wrestling is a genre that I am just now getting to know, and a lot of that has to do with my first impressions of Drexl wrestling for Prestige, and I am definitely interested in it.
Just like many of you I have wrestlers or teams that I have been dying to see, and Thrussy is certainly one of them. I feel that the last few years have been all about Dark Sheik. Doug and I have watched her perform in Denver multiple times, and even included her in our “Folks & Things We Enjoyed 2k22” articles. From operating Hoodslam, to being prominently featured in GCW it almost seems that she is casting her will on what independent wrestling can and should be. Helping transform wrestling into a more mature yet inclusive night out is Bussy. Effy and Allie Katch have elevated both of their games in the last 4 years. Bussy itself is almost a household name amongst any wrestling fan. Both Katch and Effy have brought a lot of eyes to GCW, and any other promotion that has either booked for the evening.
Other Notable Matches for Wednesday 3/29:
- ACT Yasukawa v Brooke Havok v Kidd Bandit v Billie Stakz (Pandemonium Pro Wrestling: Best Damn Thing)
- Most Violent (Funnybone & Drexl) v Doom Fly (Eli Everfly & Delilah Doom) (Pandemonium Pro Wrestling: Best Damn Thing)
Shows to be on the lookout for:
1. Relentless Wrestling: Chaos in California- 9PM
Don Quixote
2811 E Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023
Relentless Wrestling along with Pandemonium Pro Wrestling and Dark Arts Entertainment have all partnered up to run shows together out of Don Quixote. In partnering up together they were able to pool their resources together and start Wednesday off incredibly well. All three promotions have similar talent at each event, but to me Relentless is using that in the most appealing way to me. Not only does it have the above-mentioned matches, but it also features some wrestlers like Tom Lawlor, Vinnie Massaro, Zicky Dice and more. It seems like a perfect night cap to go into Thursday’s shows.
2. Pandemonium Pro Wrestling: Best Damn Thing- 5PM
Don Quixote
2811 E Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023
Pandemonium’s card is stacked, and there’s nothing much more to say about that. It features so many great wrestlers such as Honest Jon, Sandra Moone, Simon Miller, Yuya Uemura, Jai Vidal, Masha Slamovich, and Johnny Hollywood, it is absolutely insane. The only reason it falls behind Relentless is that it almost seems like it is too much for one show. Though that might not be a bad thing for many of you.
3. Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmasking of America Launch Party- 8PM
Burbank Moose Lodge
1901Burbank Boulevard
Burbank CA 91506
Ringmaster just came out today, Tuesday March 28th. I personally have been fascinated with McMahon for many years. I feel that his story is nothing more than an allegory for everything that is truly “American”. From his Horatio Alger rise from poverty to wealth, to his mafia-esque take no prisoner approach to the business, he just reeks of the stench of all that is supposed to be good, but is rotten about this country. I personally just received my copy so I cannot give you an honest recommendation, however I have read and trusted the author’s other work and am definitely looking forward to reading it.
Order Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmasking of America From Amazon
Saturday’s What to Do In LA…
Sunday’s What to Do In LA…
