Daryl Bonilla

Daryl Bonilla (born February 16, 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii[1]) is an actor, comedian, and former professional wrestler and founder of the Hawaii-based professional wrestling company Action Zone Wrestling (AZW), where he also serves as booker and announcer for the company.

Acting

Bonilla began his acting career right out of high school, performing on stage in several local productions.

In 1996 Bonilla was cast as Keao in the indie film Beyond Paradise. Immediately after the film was wrapped, Bonilla started doing local commercials. A 2000 commercial for Bank of Hawaii, in which Bonilla coined the phrase "That's My Bank!",[1] became so popular in Hawaii that the bank brought Bonilla back in 2002 and he's been doing commercials for Bank of Hawaii ever since even getting a bobblehead created of him as well. The popular Bank of Hawaii campaign starring Bonilla ended Dec. 2006. His other film credits include To End All Wars, The Sand Island Drive In Anthem, All for Melissa and Beachfront. His TV credits include roles in the short lived series The Byrds of Paradise and the short lived remake of Fantasy Island. He has also appeared in commercials (both TV and radio) for Bud Light, Taco Bell, Oceanic Cable, McDonalds to name a few. He will be appearing in the upcoming Hawaii Five-0 remake airing on CBS starting September 20, 2010. In 2011 he appeared in the films Knots and The Short List both of which premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival. The latter premiered on Hawaii TV KFVE the Home Team on Jan 23rd to kick off "The Short List" as a new TV series. In 2012 he was in the Hawaii independent film "Parts of the Same Circle".

Bonilla is also a stand up comedian performing regularly in Hawaii. He has headlined several shows in Honolulu. He has also opened for John Campanelli, Felipe Esparza, Shawn Felipe, Augie T. and is scheduled to open for Tom Segura on Sept. 11th, 2015 when Segura makes his Hawaii debut.

Professional wrestling career

Bonilla entered the world of professional wrestling in 1997 when he joined World League Wrestling—Hawaii (run by former wrestler Lars Anderson) as the TV host of their weekly show. Bonilla, with his acting/comedy background, was a natural in front of the camera. He soon caught on with the fans and became a manager, donning the name DDB[1] or "Dangerous" Daryl Bonilla (DDB was a nickname from middle school).

Bonilla left WLW in 1999 to join the upstart promotion Super Wrestling Force (SWF). That promotion closed only a few months later and was restarted in January 2000 as Third Wave eXplosion (TWX). That promotion also did not last long, closing in the summer of 2000.

Along with local wrestler Lopaka, Bonilla decided to help upstart promoter Parrish Ho officially launch his promotion NWA Hawaii. So along with "The Rocker" Don Lee and "Hotstuff" Kris Kavanaugh, they "invaded" World League Wrestling in June 2000. It was at this time that Bonilla made his in-ring debut as a wrestler. Bonilla was the booker and Lopaka was the head trainer and together they quickly put NWA Hawaii on the map and the company started to grow and create a buzz among the local fans. After a falling out, Bonilla left NWA Hawaii in June 2001. Under the new bookers wrestler morale and attendance dropped. He briefly returned in 2002 as a commentator but quickly left again, as he was bored and embarrassed by what had happened to the once-promising promotion.

In January 2003, Linda Bade created Hawaii Championship Wrestling and asked Bonilla to join. Bonilla teamed with Ultimate Fighter Caruso as Caruso's manager and tag team partner, and the duo became one of the top fan favorites of the company, despite the fact that they were heels. In 2004, HCW bookers decided to break up the duo to put Caruso back with his former partner a move that flopped. Around that time, Bonilla left due to acting commitments as well as a lack of interest in HCW, which he felt was beginning to mirror NWA Hawaii.

In 2005 Bonilla founded Action Zone Wrestling (AZW), which made its debut on June 25, 2005 in Waianae, Hawaii (his hometown) and has attracted talent from mainland US (A.J. Styles, James Gibson, Delirious, Larry Sweeney, Matt Cross, Jimmy Jacobs, Teddy Hart, Super Hentai to name a few) and Japan. AZW has featured several wrestlers from Dragon Gate and has had a working relationship with the organization since 2007 as Dragon Gate wrestlers CIMA, Naruki Doi, Susumu Yokosuka, Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino have competed in AZW. On September 8, 2008 Bonilla participated in Dragon Gate's debut show in Hawaii at the Waikiki Shell teaming with Akua in losing effort against Nebulous & Kaniala, Bobby Bolt & Rocko Shinoda and eventual winners Nijuu Ninkaku & SABAKI. He wrestled for the company until the end of 2008. He won the AZW Tag Team Titles twice (with The Rage and again with Akua). He lost his one and only opportunity at the AZW Heavyweight Title to then champion Kaniala on September 22 of that year. He announced at BattleClash 4 on January 24, 2009 that he is the owner and founder of AZW, a role he always held behind the scenes but never in front of the cameras.

Bonilla also competed against UFC fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller (an AZW fan)at the event titled "Anything Goes" (an event where the fans pick the matches) on Oct. 2005 in a "Mixed Martial Arts Mayhem" match where he lost via submission due to armbar.

Bonilla returned to the ring on June 29, 2009, teaming with Kenryu Takadoki to take on the Polynesian Power Trip (Ativalu & Kaimana) for the AZW Tag Team Championship. During the match DDB got into an altercation with Kenjiro Katahira (a former wrestler and part owner of defunct HCW), which led to Kenryu Takadoki fending for himself and eventually losing.

Bonilla has competed semi-regularly where he feuded with Katahira and Katahira stablemates Nijuu Ninkaku & SABAKI.

AZW celebrated its 6th anniversary June 27, 2011 where Bonilla will team up with Bobby "The Lightning" Bolt and Hawaii entertainer and radio personality Gregg Hammer in a six-man match against Katahira, Ninkaku & SABAKI. The event was main evented with AZW Champion Jeff Cobb defending the title against M-Dogg Matt Cross, who was returning to AZW for first time since 2006.

On Nov. 21st at the event titled FALLOUT, TNA superstar Christopher Daniels appeared. First as a guest on Bonilla's "In Ring Interview Segment" entitled "The Danger Zone" and then later in the main event losing to AZW Champion "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb. Next up El Generico is set to debut for AZW on Dec. 19th at their huge year end event "Battleclash VII" defending the DDT Pro Extreme Hardcore Division Title against Kaimana. Generico returned a year later (Nov. 2012) this time losing to Kaimana in a bid for Kaimana's AZW Heavyweight Title.

In March 2012 Bonilla along with AZW stars Kaimana, "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb, Bobby Bolt & Mark Anarchy ventured out to Hayward, California to take on the stars on APW (All Pro Wrestling) in the "Pacific Challenge" best of three series. The event was a huge success for APW and AZW star Cobb was invited back a few months later to participate in their Young Lions Cup Tournament (which he won).

TNA stars Robbie E & Miss Tessmacher appeared on AZW's year end event Battleclash VIII. Tessmacher was a guest on DDB's interview segment "The Danger Zone". Robbie E. interrupted and berated her. She returned in the corner of his opponent Super Hentai and helped Hentai secure the pinfall victory.

AZW will be a part of the debut of new California promotion Premier Wrestle when Cobb & Kaimana take their AZW rivalry of 2012 to Premier on 3/24/13 in the promotions debut.

AZW has had working relationships with Dragon Gate, All Pro Wrestling, International Wrestling Cartel and now Premier.

Bonilla is a very popular personality known for his quick wit, entertaining promos and engaging persona. He is no longer a regular in ring wrestler serving more as an announcer for the weekly AZW show and live events only wrestling periodically. He is also well respected for his booking, angles and presentation of wrestling that honors both the old school and today's style.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Daryl Bonilla at the Internet Movie Database

External links

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