Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about as Dave is in Los Angeles for the Battle of LA tournament! All the notes including the invasion by the Jericho Appreciation Society, plus the latest on Vince McMahon, the death of Johnny Powers, Rampage, Smackdown, Battle of the Belts and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The lineup for PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2023 is now fully set.
The two-day tournament is being held at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 7 and Sunday, January 8. Here are the 17 wrestlers who will be taking part in the tournament:
Michael Oku
Shun Skywalker
Masha Slamovich
“Speedball” Mike Bailey
Komander
Alex Shelley
Jonathan Gresham
Aramis
Titus Alexander
Jordynne Grace
Lio Rush
Black Taurus
Latigo
Daniel Garcia
Bandido
Konosuke Takeshita
El Hijo del Vikingo
Oku, Skywalker, and Vikingo are making their PWG debuts in the tournament. Slamovich, Komander, Alexander, Grace, Latigo, and Takeshita all debuted for PWG earlier this year and will be competing in their first Battle of Los Angeles.
Vikingo, who is the current AAA Mega Champion, recently secured his visa to wrestle in the United States. He won Mexico MVP in the 2021 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards and finished second in the Best Flying Wrestler category.
Garcia currently holds the PWG World Championship. After winning the 2022 edition of BOLA, he defeated Bandido for the title this May.
The winner of BOLA 2023 will get a future shot at Garcia’s title.
COVID-19 has forced one of the competitors for this year’s PWG Battle of Los Angeles out of the tournament.
Jonathan Gresham has announced that he won’t be able to compete in the Battle of Los Angeles this weekend due to testing positive for COVID-19. Testing positive for COVID also prevented Gresham from wrestling at Game Changer Wrestling’s The Wrld on GCW show this past Sunday.
“Unfortunately, I will not be making it to LA tomorrow for BOLA. I recently caught covid, and as a result, I had to miss GCW at the Hammerstein Ballroom,” Gresham tweeted. “I am still testing positive as of today and don’t want to put any colleagues/fans in harms way.”
Gresham was scheduled to face Davey Richards in the first round of the Battle of Los Angeles. A new opponent for Richards has yet to be announced.
The 2022 Battle of Los Angeles is a two-night tournament that’s taking place this Saturday and Sunday. The first round matchups are listed below:
PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament is coming back.
After a 2020 and 2021 hiatus, PWG announced the 2022 Battle of Los Angeles for January 29 and January 30, 2022. No further details regarding the tournament have been released as of yet.
PWG did not run an event in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They returned with Mystery Vortex 7 on August 1 of this year. They have since run two additional shows, Threemendous VI and It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).
Battle of Los Angeles was last held in September 2019. Bandido won that year’s tournament in a three-way elimination match against David Starr and Jonathan Gresham. The 2019 event was held over three days.
Bandido was also a finalist in the 2018 BoLA. That final was also an elimination three-way, where Bandido eliminated current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi before dropping the match to tournament winner Jeff Cobb.
PWG has announced a change to the lineup for this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
On Sunday night, PWG tweeted that Laredo Kid will no longer be taking part in the tournamemt. Puma King is taking his place and will face Bandido in a first-round match on night two.
Puma King made his PWG debut in BOLA 2018 and has had seven matches for the promotion.
BOLA 2019 is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California this week. It will begin on Thursday, with the second night taking place on Friday. The third and final night of the tournament will then be held on Sunday.
If PWG World Champion Jeff Cobb doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will get a future shot at his title.
The first round matchups are set for this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
There’s been one change to the list of participants for the tournament, with PWG announcing that luchador Aramis is replacing Barbaro Cavernario. PWG said that Cavernario isn’t able to wrestle in the tournament due to a scheduling conflict.
Aramis will face Fenix in the first round.
BOLA is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. First round matches will be held over the first two shows. The remainder of the tournament will take place on the final night, with it culminating in a three-way elimination match.
If current PWG World Champion Jeff Cobb doesn’t win BOLA, the winner will get a future shot at his title.
Here are the first round matches for the tournament:
Night one —
Jeff Cobb vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
Jonathan Gresham vs. Artemis Spencer
Darby Allin vs. Black Taurus
Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus
Brody King vs. Caveman Ugg
A-Kid vs. Lucky Kid
Night two —
Bandido vs. Laredo Kid
Orange Cassidy vs. David Starr
Pentagon Jr. vs. Tony Deppen
Fenix vs. Aramis
Joey Janela vs. Mick Moretti
Jake Atlas vs. Jungle Boy
Five non-tournament matches have also been announced. Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. Bandido & Flamita is set for night one, along with Joey Janela & Alex Zayne vs. Tony Deppen & Blake Christian.
PWG Tag Team Champions The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) will defend their titles against Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) on night two. Daisuke Sekimoto & Jonathan Gresham will also team against Jeff Cobb & Brody King.
On night three, Aussie Open will face The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson). It will be a Tag Team Championship match if Aussie Open win the titles from The Rascalz on night two.
BOLA is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles next month. It’s a three-show tournament, with the first night set for Thursday, September 19. The second night is on Friday, September 20, and the tournament will then conclude on Sunday, September 22.
If PWG World Champion Jeff Cobb doesn’t win BOLA, the winner will get a future shot at his title.
The lineup for the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles has almost been fully announced.
PWG confirmed last night that Pentagon Jr. will be an entrant in this year’s BOLA. There’s only one wrestler left to be announced for the tournament.
Pentagon made his PWG in BOLA 2015 and was also an entrant in the tournament in 2016 and 2017.
The Lucha Bros (Pentagon & Fenix) are former PWG Tag Team Champions. Both are set to take part in BOLA this year.
BOLA is a three-night tournament. It will take place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. If current champion Jeff Cobb doesn’t win, the winner of the tournament will get a future shot at the PWG World Championship.
Dragon Lee is set to make his PWG debut next month.
On Monday, PWG revealed that Lee will be an entrant in this year’s Battle of Los Angeles. There are two wrestlers left to be announced for the tournament.
Lee wrestles for CMLL and also appears for NJPW and ROH. He’s been announced as an entrant for NJPW’s Super J-Cup, which is taking place in the United States later this month.
Lee won All Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Revolution’s King of Indies tournament for the second straight year in July.
BOLA will begin at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 19. It will continue on Friday, September 20, then will conclude on Sunday, September 22. If Jeff Cobb doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will get a future shot at his PWG World Championship.
PWG’s World Champion has officially been added to this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
It was announced on Saturday that Jeff Cobb will be taking part in BOLA. Cobb has been PWG World Champion since winning the title from WALTER last October.
Cobb got that title shot against WALTER by winning BOLA last year. In the finals, he defeated Bandido and Shingo Takagi in an elimination match.
Cobb is the 21st entrant to be announced for BOLA. There are three wrestlers left to be confirmed for the tournament. If Cobb doesn’t win BOLA, the winner will get a future shot at his title.
BOLA is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20 and Sunday, September 22. Here’s the updated list of entrants:
Black Taurus is the latest entrant to be announced for the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles.
PWG announced on Tuesday that Taurus will be taking part in this year’s tournament. He’s the 17th wrestler to be confirmed for BOLA. There will be 24 entrants in total, with the winner getting a shot at the PWG World Championship.
The announcement comes after Taurus made his PWG debut at Sixteen last week. In a six-man tag match that has gotten great reviews from those in attendance, Taurus, Laredo Kid & Puma King took on Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus.
Taurus, Texano Jr., and a mystery partner will team against Psycho Clown, Cody Rhodes & Cain Velasquez at Triplemania XXVII this Saturday.
BOLA is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. Here’s the updated list of entrants:
Jungle Boy is set to take part in his first Battle of Los Angeles.
On Monday night, PWG announced that Jungle Boy will be an entrant in this year’s BOLA tournament. It’s taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22.
Jungle Boy made his PWG debut earlier this year and has had four matches for the promotion.
It was announced in January that Jungle Boy has signed with AEW. He debuted in the Casino Battle Royale at Double or Nothing, faced Hangman Page, MJF, and Jimmy Havoc in a four-way match at Fyter Fest, and teamed with Luchasaurus against The Dark Order and Angelico & Jack Evans in a triple threat match at Fight for the Fallen.
There will be 24 entrants in BOLA, with the winner getting a shot at the PWG World Championship. Here’s the updated list of participants:
A CMLL star is the latest wrestler to be announced for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles.
It was announced on Friday that Barbaro Cavernario will be taking part in this year’s tournament. He’s the 15th entrant to be announced for it.
This will be Cavernario’s PWG debut. He wrestled in the United States over WrestleMania week this April, losing a match against Dragon Lee at WrestleCon’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow.
Cavernario will also make his ROH debut at Summer Supercard in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 9. He’s teaming with Hechicero & Templario in a six-man tag match against Caristico, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. at that event.
There will be 24 entrants in the Battle of Los Angeles, with the winner receiving a future shot at the PWG World Championship. The tournament is being held at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22.
Joey Janela is set to take part in the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, PWG announced Janela as the latest entrant for this year’s tournament. He’s the 13th participant to be confirmed, joining A-Kid, Jonathan Gresham, Artemis Spencer, Darby Allin, Mick Moretti, Orange Cassidy, Bandido, Caveman Ugg, Jake Atlas, Tony Deppen, Fenix, and Lucky Kid.
Janela made his PWG debut in BOLA 2017, losing to Sammy Guevara in the first round. He made it to the semifinals last year but lost to Bandido.
Janela, Allin & Jimmy Havoc teamed together and lost to Shawn Spears, MJF & Guevara in a six-man tag match at AEW Fight for the Fallen last weekend.
BOLA is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. There will be 24 entrants in total. The winner receives a future shot at the PWG World Championship.
One half of the Lucha Bros has been confirmed for this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
PWG has announced Fenix as the latest entrant for this year’s tournament. He’s the 11th wrestler to be confirmed for BOLA.
Fenix made his PWG debut in the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles and was also an entrant in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the tournament. He held the PWG Tag Team titles with Pentagon Jr. from March 2017 to October of that year.
Pentagon & Fenix defeated SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) at AEW Fight for the Fallen this past weekend and then challenged The Young Bucks to a ladder match at All Out on August 31.
A-Kid, Jonathan Gresham, Artemis Spencer, Darby Allin, Mick Moretti, Orange Cassidy, Bandido, Caveman Ugg, Jake Atlas, Tony Deppen, and Fenix are the participants that have been confirmed for BOLA thus far. It’s a 24-wrestler tournament, and the winner will get a future shot at the PWG World Championship.
BOLA is being held at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22.
