L. A. Park
| Adolfo Tapia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 14, 1965 Queretaro, qro. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | La Parka L.A. Park L.A. Par-K Adolfo Tapia Principe Island El Gringo (Monclova Coahuila) |
| Billed height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Billed weight | 116 kg (256 lb; 18.3 st) |
| Billed from | Monclova |
| Trained by | Raul Reyes Alberto Mora |
| Debut | 1982 |
Adolfo Tapia Ibarra (born November 14, 1965), better known as La Parka, is a Mexican professional wrestler most famous to American fans for his days in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) but has also had an extensive career working for Mexican wrestling promotions. He currently wrestles as LA Par-K since Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) owns the rights to the La Parka gimmick.
La Parka's uncle was a wrestler who gained fame as Volador but later changed his name to Super Parka, wearing an outfit and mask similar to his nephew.
Another wrestler, Jesús Alfonso Escoboza, wrestles under the La Parka name for AAA. He is usually denoted as La Parka, Jr. (though he is only a couple months younger), La Parka (AAA), or La Parka (PAP). A similar stunt to the above occurred in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as Erik Watts donned the La Parka gear in an angle with Goldy Locks in 2004.
Career
Adolfo Tapia started wrestling in 1982, but he did not really start making a name for himself until he started wrestling as the masked La Parka in 1992. His costume and mask are a skeleton resembling the outfits used in Mexico's Day of the Dead ceremony. Tapia is a very flamboyant wrestler, sometimes wearing sombreros to the ring, playing guitar on the chair he always brings to the ring, strutting and dancing in the ring, and even strutting on the turnbuckle.
His biggest and longest running feud in Mexico was against Lizmark. He also feuded with Jerry Estrada, Konnan, Super Calo, La Calaca, and Pierroth, Jr. He frequently teamed with Psychosis. La Parka was part of the When Worlds Collide joint AAA/WCW pay-per-view in 1994 and wrestled briefly in Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995.
World Championship Wrestling
In 1996, La Parka entered WCW and picked up his feud with Super Calo. During this time, the company had signed many luchadores such as Rey Mysterio Jr. and Eddie Guerrero to enhance its cruiserweight division with their high-flying style; however, due to his appearance and flamboyancy, La Parka was seen as more of a comedic figure. He became known as "The Chairman of WCW" because he often carried a folding chair, typically hitting his opponents with it and standing on it to pose. In 1997, he reformed his team with Psychosis with Sonny Onoo as their manager. They feuded with Wrath, Mortis, and Último Dragón.
By 1998, he had left Onoo and feuded with Disco Inferno and Psychosis. He was used on some WCW pay-per-views but, seen as a rather humorous and unusual performer, never got a significant push. In June 1998, La Parka tore his ACL while receiving a spear from Bill Goldberg. He returned in September and got into some trouble for competing in Mexico without WCW President Eric Bischoff's permission.
One particular WCW match was scheduled as La Parka vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Surprisingly, given La Parka's low-card status, he defeated Savage easily, finishing him with Diamond Dallas Page's finisher, the Diamond Cutter. After the match, "La Parka" removed his mask to reveal he was Page, who was feuding with Savage at the time. Page would go on to reference La Parka in interviews. A couple of weeks later, Savage fought the real La Parka and gained some measure of revenge.
In October 1998, he joined Eddie Guerrero's Latino World Order (LWO) with Psychosis, Juventud Guerrera, Los Villanos, El Dandy, Silver King, Héctor Garza, Damien, and a reluctant Rey Mysterio Jr. They feuded with Konnan] and Perry Saturn. In January 1999, Guerrero was injured in a car accident. That same month, the New World Order (nWo) had reformed into one group, and LWO members were being found incapacitated at the hands of the nWo backstage. This marked the end of the group. La Parka then started teaming with Silver King and picked up his feud with Super Calo again. He briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero upon his return since Eddie caused the LWO to disband.
When Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara took over booking in late 1999, they had Ferrara's voice dubbing English over the intercom while La Parka would be doing interviews in Spanish. This often ended with a confused Gene Okerlund exclaiming "What the hell was that?!" The voice overs would comically explain La Parka was a fan of Skeletor from Masters of the Universe, hence his in-ring wear. During this time, he teamed with Kaz Hayashi whose similarly dubbed voice referred to La Parka as "Skull Captain." This ended after a few weeks when La Parka heard something he did not want said and tossed the microphone down as Ferrera was speaking.
Mexico and independent promotions
By early 2000, he had left WCW for Mexico where he had some trouble with the AAA promotion over the use of the La Parka name. They trademarked his name, forcing him to change it to L.A. Park when he debuted with AAA's rival, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In January of 2004, Park and Shocker defeated Los Guerreros Del Infierno for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. Rey Bucanero and Último Guerrero would win their titles back in a rematch in March. L.A. Park challenged Último Guerrero for the CMLL Light Heavyweight title at the CMLL 71st anniversary show but was unsuccessful. He continued wrestling in CMLL as well as independent promotions in Tijuana and elsewhere in the country.
2002 and 2003 saw him wrestle for Xtreme Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and the revived AWA Superstars.
In 2004, he made brief appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, using his chair on his opponents, but was soon back in Mexico teaming with Shocker. In 2005, L.A. Park can be found wrestling in his native Mexico and in the United States for Lucha Xtreme Wrestling, Ultimate Championship Wrestling, and occasionally for Future Championship Wrestling.
On May 7, 2005, L.A. Park debuted for Detroit's Independent Wrestling Revolution (IWR) brand Revolucha, teaming with American Kickboxer in a losing effort to El Hijo del Santo & Konnan, with special referee Zach Gowen. Park continued his rivalry with El Hijo del Santo culminating on October 29, 2005 at Revolucha 2: Dia de los Muertos inside Lucha en la Jaula (a steel cage match). Both Park and Santo had their masks ripped halfway off their faces during this violent cage match. In February 2006, L.A. Park began a bitter feud with then IWR Champion Conrad Kennedy III (CK3). L.A. Park finally defeated CK3 on August 27, 2006 at Brawl at the Hall 6 and defended the IWR/Revolucha Heavyweight Championship on October 14, 2007 at Revolucha 4.
As of June 2007, he's currently still performing for CMLL, has become a heel and has had a very successful run of matches on Mexico, mainly due to his current feud with Dr. Wagner Jr., which have a very positive fan reaction. LA Park is still currently feuding against Dr. Wagner Jr. outside of CMLL on the independent circuit but is planning to retire. On December 8, 2007, LA Park was scheduled to wrestle El Hijo Del Santo, Fishman jr, Fantasma, Tinieblas and other famous wrestlers in a ruleta de la muerte mask vs. mask match, but was re-hired by CMLL and didn't appear in Santo's event Todo x el Todo.
In 2008 he returned to CMLL as a heel, but was later turned face as the crowd was behind him as a heel during his return. He briefly feuded with Dr. Wagner Jr. before Wagner's leave from the company. LA Park has been in the news as of late regarding his plans on retiring at the end of 2008, which have not been finalized though. For now, Park wrestles along side the top faces of CMLL like his old partner, Shocker.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- La Parkinator (Corkscrew moonsault)
- Skull Bomb (Sunset flip powerbomb)
- Dropkick
- Spinning wheel kick
- Multiple arm drags
- Hurricanrana
- Corkscrew crossbody
- Struts across the ring to taunt his opponent
- Signature foreign object
- Managers
- "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
- "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee (CMLL)
- "Stinkfist" by Tool (TNA)
Championships and accomplishments
- Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.
- IWC
- IWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- IWR/Revolucha (Detroit)
- IWR/Revolucha Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [1]
- NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
- WWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- PWI ranked him # 172 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
Luchas de Apuestas record
| Wager lost/won | Winner | Loser | Where | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mask | Clímax II | El Minero (Tapia) | Mexico City | February 17, 1985 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Príncipe Island | Apatlaco, Edomex | November 21, 1987 | - |
| Mask | Stuka | Invasor del Norte I (Tapia) | Monterrey, Nuevo León | June 26, 1991 | - |
| Hair | Panterita del Ring | Príncipe Island | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 1992 | - |
| Mask | La Parka | Pierroth, Jr. | Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas | July 20, 1998 | - |
| Mask | La Parka | Wolf | Reynosa, Tamaulipas | September 20, 1998 | - |
| Hair | La Parka | Gran Markus, Jr. | Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas | July 17, 1998 | - |
| Mask | La Parka | Shinryu Dragon | Guadalajara, Jalisco | 2001 | 1 |
| Hair | La Parka | El Dandy | Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas | June 4, 2001 | 2 |
| Mask | La Parka | Huracán Ramírez Jr. | Monclova, Coahuila | June 25, 2001 | 3 |
| Hair | La Parka | Damián 666 | Tijuana, Baja California | December 21, 2001 | - |
| Hair | L.A. Park | Nicho el Millionario | Tijuana, Baja California | October 8, 2004 | - |
| Mask | L.A. Park | Black Tiger III | Torreón, Coahuila | February 2, 2006 | - |
| Hair | L.A. Park | Elctroshock | - | ||
| Hair | L.A. Park | Pierroth Jr | - | ||
| Hair | L.A. Park | Mascara Año 2000 |
- Suicide tag team match against Roberto Paz Jr. & Zandokan II
- Three way match with Bestia Salvaje
- Suicide tag team match against Villano IV and Villano V
- He has also won the masks of Gran Cóndor, Príncipe Judas, Guerrero Negro and Bestia Negra I. He has also won the hair of Gran Cóndor and Bestia Negra I.
References
- ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - August 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-07-04.