Would an annual tournament like 'BOLA' work in WWE?

[Romo]

For those not familiar BOLA is a PWG tournament called 'Battle of Los Angeles' where over the course of 3 days a bunch of wrestlers wrestle in a round robin tournament but enough about that my question is do you ever think something like this could work in the WWE or a tournament like NJPW's G1 Climax?



p.s watch this preview of this years stage 1 of the tournament its epic

[Str8Shooter]

So there was this thing, called "King of the Ring"....

[Westcoastvibes]

I don't think so, BOLA is special because its more of an open invitation instead of a pre determined outcome.

Vince or wwe would never let guys from other companies be showcased in a wwe event. He wants everything wwe, no reason to bring attention to other companies.

[EmperorWu]

First off how do they even do some of that shit! People have the balls to say wrestlers aren't real athletes.

Having said that. Ugh it looks like every single match is all spotfest, "getting our shit in" stuff. Do they actually work real or should I say traditional matches, with things like psychology, working limbs, and selling? I hate to be that guy. They're amazing, but some of those moves were so nonsensical it instantly took me out of the action. Should I bother checking it out, or will it just end up driving me crazy? It's not fair to judge it off clips, since I don't know if it's out of context. However I've seen matches were that's really all it is. Take huge bump, magically recover in zero seconds flat, take another huge bump, repeat for 10 minutes.

If I come off like a complete asshole I'm sorry. I legitimately want to know, it looks like it may be worth checking out if they have some balance to their product.

[Daz]

First off how do they even do some of that shit! People have the balls to say wrestlers aren't real athletes.

Having said that. Ugh it looks like every single match is all spotfest, "getting our shit in" stuff. Do they actually work real or should I say traditional matches, with things like psychology, working limbs, and selling? I hate to be that guy. They're amazing, but some of those moves were so nonsensical it instantly took me out of the action. Should I bother checking it out, or will it just end up driving me crazy? It's not fair to judge it off clips, since I don't know if it's out of context. However I've seen matches were that's really all it is. Take huge bump, magically recover in zero seconds flat, take another huge bump, repeat for 10 minutes.

If I come off like a complete asshole I'm sorry. I legitimately want to know, it looks like it may be worth checking out if they have some balance to their product.

There's a mix of both. With someone like Chris Hero, Biff Busick, Drew Gulak or Zack Sabre Jr. you're going to get a lot of psychology and a more traditional match. A few years ago, Cesaro and Bryan did an entire match only working a headlock, and it was awesome. But yes, there's plenty of "spotfest" style matches too, and they're also very entertaining. It's not fair to judge from the clips, because they're obviously piling all the highspots and whatnot together to sell DVD's.

PWG is always worth watching, especially BOLA, if only for the atmosphere. It's infectious.

[Romo]

First off how do they even do some of that shit! People have the balls to say wrestlers aren't real athletes.

Having said that. Ugh it looks like every single match is all spotfest, "getting our shit in" stuff. Do they actually work real or should I say traditional matches, with things like psychology, working limbs, and selling? I hate to be that guy. They're amazing, but some of those moves were so nonsensical it instantly took me out of the action. Should I bother checking it out, or will it just end up driving me crazy? It's not fair to judge it off clips, since I don't know if it's out of context. However I've seen matches were that's really all it is. Take huge bump, magically recover in zero seconds flat, take another huge bump, repeat for 10 minutes.

If I come off like a complete asshole I'm sorry. I legitimately want to know, it looks like it may be worth checking out if they have some balance to their product.

There's a mix of both. With someone like Chris Hero, Biff Busick, Drew Gulak or Zack Sabre Jr. you're going to get a lot of psychology and a more traditional match. A few years ago, Cesaro and Bryan did an entire match only working a headlock, and it was awesome. But yes, there's plenty of "spotfest" style matches too, and they're also very entertaining. It's not fair to judge from the clips, because they're obviously piling all the highspots and whatnot together to sell DVD's.

PWG is always worth watching, especially BOLA, if only for the atmosphere. It's infectious.

Couldn't have put it better myself...

they just released the preview for stage 2 today and if you wait for the Sabre Jr preview it'll have everything you want in psychology, working limbs, and selling.... i'm debating buying the DVD just to see that match alone

[VaderBomb]

So there was this thing, called "King of the Ring"....

KOTR was a bracket tournament. A round robin is much different, especially an open invitational.

Everybody faces off against everybody and the real winners are the fans. I've seen some Puroresu round robins that blow even the best KOTR tourneys out of the water. There are so many possible stories to tell within a round robin, the possibilities are endless.

Something like BOLA would absolutely work in WWE, but Vince would never allow it.

[Hanley!]

A round robin tournament is a lot more difficult to book. TNA tried it with the Bound For Glory series and once it actually worked really well, given fans a reason to care about the matches on Impact. But on the other two occasions it was a complete mess. Making the round robin tournament work involves some actual forward planning, and you have to make things really clear to the audience what the rules are and where we stand in the tournament at the moment.

It could totally work in WWE. It could be really fun actually. But I can't see them ever trying to do it, because it's too far outside their wheelhouse. And if they did try it under Vince, it would likely be a disaster.

I'd like to see them try something like this on NXT though. Maybe experimenting with this format on the smaller show is something that they'd consider.

[VaderBomb]

I'd like to see them try something like this on NXT though. Maybe experimenting with this format on the smaller show is something that they'd consider.

That would be cool. Maybe then they'd realistically consider bringing in freelancers and talent from small promotions to go up against the best of the NXT roster.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Finn Balor in the finals would be accepted by me whole heartedly.

[Romo]

I'd like to see them try something like this on NXT though. Maybe experimenting with this format on the smaller show is something that they'd consider.

That would be cool. Maybe then they'd realistically consider bringing in freelancers and talent from small promotions to go up against the best of the NXT roster.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Finn Balor in the finals would be accepted by me whole heartedly.

I think id spend the whole match crying at how beautiful it would be.