#lethal lottery

In 2008, CHIKARA held the first “La Lotería Letal” event, a take off the WCW Lethal Lottery concept. Over ten years later, CHIKARA is reviving the concept on October 27th!

The above sixteen participants will be randomly placed into eight tag teams who will compete in a one-night single elimination tournament. The team who wins the tournament will have three points and a future shot at Los Campeonatos de Parejas. 

The field consists of former Grand Champions, former Campeones de Parejas now turned rivals, some guest stars like Shazza McKenzie, Jessica Troy, and Beyond Wrestling’s Cam Zagami, and the return of Missile Assault Man who caused quite the chaotic scene last weekend.

The first La Lotería Letal led to the formation of the UnStable and Future is Now factions. How will this year’s version affect the future of CHIKARA?

“La Lotería Letal” - Philadelphia, PA - Saturday, October 27th - 3:00 PM EST

La Lotería Letal Tournament Participants: BLANK, Cameron Zagami, Hallowicked, Hype Rockwell, Ice Cream Jr., Jessica Troy, Juan Francisco de Coronado, Missile Assault Man, Oleg the Usurper, Ophidian, Princess KimberLee, Rory Gulak, Shazza McKenzie, Solo Darling, Travis Huckabee, and The Whisper

1. La Lotería Letal Quarter-Final Round Match #1

2. La Lotería Letal Quarter-Final Round Match #2

3. La Lotería Letal Quarter-Final Round Match #3

4. La Lotería Letal Quarter-Final Round Match #4

5. La Lotería Letal Semi-Final Round Match #1

6. La Lotería Letal Semi-Final Round Match #2

Today In Wrestling History via WWE Network (12/29/2016) – BattleBowl ’91

As a daily feature, WWE Network News posts a comprehensive list of everything that took place on this day in wrestling history. Or at least everything that is currently available to watch on the WWE Network. This list is courtesy of the Reddit version of WWE Network Bot.

Disclaimer: Any incorrect dates are taken directly from the WWE Network’s code. Basically, they goofed, not us. If you notice…

Chris Cruise Presents WCW Battlebowl [November 20, 1993]

Man, the Battlebowl/Lethal Lottery was the weirdest thing ever! As a kid, though, I thought it was the most exciting idea. Then, I saw Sting team up with Jerry Sags and felt differently about life...

For those unfamiliar with the event, it's an interesting one. It was originally held at Starrcade 1991 and Starrcade 1992, and spun off into a PPV event of its own (ala Money In The Bank) in November of 1993. This was the first and only Battlebowl PPV however, and the Lethal Lottery would not make its return to WCW until Diamond Dallas Page emerged victorious at Slamboree 1996.

The Lethal Lottery was comprised of tag team matches where partners and opponents were paired up randomly. Members of the winning team in each match would then participate in the Battlebowl Battle Royal later that evening to crown the Battlebowl champion. 

The grand prize at the end of this grueling series of matches? The Battlebowl Ring! This prize was no doubt inspired by the championship rings athletes in other professional sports win, but I don't think a physical ring was ever created. In fact, the ring concept was scrapped for the final Lethal Lottery series, where DDP instead won the title of "Lord of the Ring"...which ultimately proved to be about as meaningless as a ring that didn't exist.

What made the Lethal Lottery even more unique than it appears on the surface was the fact that, by most accounts, the participants and matchups for the WCW Lethal Lottery were legitimately random.

In other words, this wasn't the more common situation in professional wrestling where most outcomes were indeed random, but possibilities were heavily influenced or limited by choices presented. We saw that approach taken with WWE's Taboo Tuesday series of events years later, for example, along with RAW Active Twitter polls where fans can vote on match stipulations and the like while the WWE retains ultimate booking power.

Nope, not in this case! Apparently the Lethal Lottery was legitimately random each and every time, with only the match outcomes decided by the company. This legitimate game of chance led to extremely odd pairings and...well, really clunky in-ring competition, of course. On the bright side, WCW's large and tag-team heavy roster provided some interesting and exciting possibilities, at the very least.