After making it to the finals of last year’s tournament, Bandido is officially back for this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
PWG has announced Bandido as the latest entrant for the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles. He’s the seventh wrestler to be announced for the tournament, joining A-Kid, Jonathan Gresham, Artemis Spencer, Darby Allin, Mick Moretti, and Orange Cassidy.
Bandido defeated T-Hawk in the first round, Flamita in the second round, and Joey Janela in the semifinals of last year’s Battle of Los Angeles. He faced Jeff Cobb and Shingo Takagi in a triple threat elimination match in the finals. It came down to Cobb vs. Bandido, with Cobb getting the win. Cobb went on to win the PWG World Championship in October 2018.
Cobb retained his title against Bandido at PWG Two Hundred in March.
Bandido made his ROH debut this January after signing with the promotion.
The Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California is hosting this year’s Battle of Los Angeles on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. There will be 24 entrants in total, with the winner getting a future shot at the PWG World title.
A-Kid is the first participant announced for this year’s PWG Battle of Los Angeles event.
The announcement was made tonight on PWG’s Twitter account. The Spanish-born wrestler has been wrestling since 2012, primarily wrestling for the WhiteWolf Wrestling promotion in Spain. In the years since his debut, he’s been making waves across Europe, wrestling for a number of top promotions including Defiant and RevoPro. A match between him and Will Ospreay from April of last year recieved critical acclaim, including a five star rating by Dave Meltzer.
He most recently appeared on NXT UK television, losing to Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) in a tag team match pairing with tag team partner Carlos Romo.
The tournament will run starting on September 19, with the second and third nights taking place on the 20th and 22nd, respectively.
PWG’s next event will be Sixteen, celebrating their 16th anniversary, on July 26. MJF and Black Taurus will make their debuts for the promotion while LAX will take on the Rascalz for the PWG tag team titles.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has announced when this year’s Battle of Los Angeles will be taking place.
On Twitter tonight, PWG revealed that the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles will be held on Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Sunday, September 22. The three-night tournament is usually held on successive days from Friday to Sunday, but there is no show on the Saturday of that weekend this year.
The reason there isn’t a show on that Saturday is because the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California, which will host the Battle of Los Angeles, has another event booked that night.
The Battle of Los Angeles has been a 24-wrestler tournament over the past five years. PWG has yet to announce any of this year’s participants.
The winner of the Battle of Los Angeles receives a future shot at the PWG World Championship.
PWG also announced that “Sixteen,” their 16th anniversary show, will take place on Friday, July 26.
Image: Dave Doyle. Reports submitted by Scott Winter and Brian Reznick.
The 2018 Battle of Los Angeles concluded on Sunday as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returned to the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles for the third straight night.
– Trevor Lee pinned Brody King in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament second round match
– Jeff Cobb pinned Rey Horus in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament second round match
– Shingo Takagi submitted Robbie Eagles in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament second round match
– Joey Janela pinned CIMA in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament second round match
– WALTER pinned Jonah Rock in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament second round match
– Bandido pinned Flamita in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament second round match
– PWG Tag Team Champions The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defeated The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) to retain their titles
This was as good as expected with these two teams.
– Jeff Cobb pinned Trevor Lee in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament semifinal match
Cobb won in about 15 seconds, but it got one of the biggest pops of the night.
– Bandido pinned Joey Janela in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament semifinal match
They had a typical crazy over-the-top Janela match.
– Shingo Takagi pinned WALTER in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament semifinal match
As stiff as expected, and WALTER may have even broken his own scale of amplitude with the most sickening chop that literally worried the crowd that Takagi might not be able to continue.
– PCO, Darby Allin, Puma King, Dan Barry & Jody Fleisch defeated Timothy Thatcher, David Starr, T-Hawk, DJZ & Adam Brooks in a 10-man tag match
– Jeff Cobb defeated Bandido and Shingo Takagi in a three-way elimination match to win the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles
Bandido eliminated Takagi before it came down to Bandido vs. Cobb. For about five to 10 minutes there, Bandido was the most passionately loved babyface of all time. Cobb hit the Tour of the Islands off the second rope and the match was obviously over, but Cobb quickly picked Bandido up, shoved him into the ropes, and hit another Tour of the Islands in the middle of the ring for the win.
As much as the crowd wanted Bandido to win, the inevitability of the finish prevented a letdown as they counted the pin.
Cobb and Bandido both gave great speeches afterwards, including Bandido bringing his dad into the ring.
Image: Jacob Cohen. Report submitted by Brian Reznick.
– Night two of the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles is in the books, and it was another excellent show. All but two of the matches were very good to great, and the other two weren’t bad.
– Trevor Lee defeated Marko Stunt in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
I was very excited for this match when I saw that it got booked, and it delivered. Lee is such a great heel and bully. The crowd was very excited for Stunt. After the introduction of his “Mr. Fun Size” nickname, fans from the balcony began throwing fun-size candy into the ring. Stunt dramatically ate a mini Snickers to a big pop.
Lee got on the mic and said disparaging remarks about the crowd, noted that BOLA officially started tonight with his appearance, and insulted Stunt’s height, age, and looks.
Stunt took the microphone and responded to Lee, leading to Lee attacking him. Stunt evaded him early and hit two dropkicks and a dive off the top. Lee caught him to cut him off. This set up the dynamic of the match: Lee beat on Stunt, Stunt did something innovative to eventually escape, and Lee cut him off with a brutal move.
Stunt reversed a powerbomb into a rana where Lee spiked himself on his head, followed by Stunt running wild for a brief time before being cut off by a vicious slap to the face. The crowd mostly rooted for Stunt and booed Lee. Stunt missed a 450 off the top and rolled through, Lee pushed the referee toward Stunt for a distraction, and Stunt avoided the ref and hit a superkick. Stunt bounced back off the ropes to hit something else, but Lee countered with a huge double stomp for the pin.
The crowd cheered loudly for Stunt afterwards and implored him to please come back.
– Jonah Rock defeated Sammy Guevara in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
Rock was actually cheered well — because people really hate Guevara. Some seemed like they had a “love to hate you” feel to their boos, but many of them felt like legit hate. Guevara was great at playing it up.
Another match with the big guy/little guy dynamic. Guevara used acrobatic offense and Rock hit power moves. At one point, Guevara had Rock down and called for the mic. Guevara said we all knew that this was the part of the match where he would put a rest hold on Rock only to have Rock eventually get out.
So, instead of doing the normal thing, Guevara requested that we all subscribe to his YouTube channel. Guevara then said “I’ll go do this spot now” and, with much overstatement, put a side headlock on. Rock immediately got out. I love Guevara but didn’t love that.
Guevara did a moonsault from the balcony to the floor. It looked cool, but it was also meaningless in the match as it didn’t lead to a pin attempt. Guevara later hit a Canadian Destroyer and a Shooting Star Press for a near fall. Later, Rock got the guillotine for the win.
This match was fine, but it wasn’t anything special. The crowd booed Guevara heartily after and told him not to come back. Guevara got on the mic and did the WWE thing where he acted like he was going to say something heartfelt and then insulted us.
– Robbie Eagles defeated DJZ in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
Eagles wears more neckerchiefs than any other high flyer. DJZ was very over with the crowd and stayed that way, though he had two botches early. There were many dives, with DJZ’s looking great.
The finish came when Eagles hit a rana with both guys standing on the top turnbuckle, a 450 onto DJZ’s leg, and used a submission to win.
The crowd very much wanted DJZ to win this and there were quite a few boos at the finish. The crowd chanted for DJZ to please come back.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Darby Allin in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
The show got great again from here on out. This was another big guy/small guy dynamic, but both guys were awesome. The crowd loved Allin from the start.
Allin called for a test of strength early, but he slapped Cobb after they locked up one hand. Allin hit a bunch of fast, innovative moves before Cobb started tossing him around. Both guys were so great. Cobb twice threw him at the corner and Allin somehow flew between the top and middle turnbuckle. Cobb also put Allin into a fireman’s carry and then airplane spun and flung him high off his shoulders so he spun around in mid-air before landing. Such a great spot.
Allin hit a Coffin Drop to the outside. He set up Cobb for a Coffin Drop onto the apron, but Cobb evaded and Allin smashed on the apron hard. Cobb rolled back in the ring and gave Allin a huge Spider German suplex for the win.
There was a huge ovation and money thrown into the ring afterwards. I think we’ll be seeing Allin again.
– Shingo Takagi defeated Ilja Dragunov in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
The second half of this show was so good that my notes are basically worthless. This was a hard-hitting affair where each guy looked like a total star. I really hope that both of them can come back beyond tomorrow.
There was an intense staredown to start. Dragunov’s chest was still a mess from the chops from night one. They grappled, with Takagi pushing Dragunov into the ropes. The referee came to break it up. Takagi said it would be a clean break, started to back away, and slapped Dragunov in the face.
The fight quickly spilled outside. Dragunov went for a tope, but he shorted it a bit because his feet hit the ropes on the way through. He continued fine and soon received a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. They had so many hard striking exchanges that no write-up will do it justice. There were two great struggles with Dragunov trying to hit a Saito suplex, with him eventually hitting it and just smashing Takagi to the mat. Later, Takagi fought for a superplex with Dragunov sitting on the top turnbuckle.
Dragunov hit some safe headbutts before Takagi hit a gross skull-to-skull headbutt. It wasn’t Shibata-Okada, but there was an audible thunk. Dragunov hit a big senton off the top for a great near fall late. Takagi hit his pumphandle half nelson slam for a two count. Everyone thought that was the finish, but Dragunov’s survival was short-lived as Takagi hit him with a huge lariat in the corner and hit the pumphandle half nelson slam again for the pin.
There were deserved cheers for both guys afterwards.
– PWG World Champion WALTER defeated Timothy Thatcher in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
This match had all of the beatings. It was the stiffest match that I’ve ever seen live. These guys just beat the hell out of each other.
At the beginning, WALTER offered a handshake but Thatcher declined. The story of the match was that Thatcher could compete when it was grappling, but WALTER would escape and wear him out with brutal strikes. Case in point: Thatcher had him down early and grabbed a single-leg crab. WALTER fought out, hit a brutal stomp to the head, got up, and kicked Thatcher in the back so goddamn hard.
There was a great sequence where WALTER had Thatcher stood up on the apron between the ropes for his signature chest clubbing. WALTER hit one huge shot to the chest, then hit another. But when he went for the third, Thatcher caught it. Thatcher held onto the arm, turned, and just started hammering on WALTER with forearms for a huge pop.
WALTER laid Thatcher chest-up across the top turnbuckle. He slapped Thatcher’s chest a few times and then climbed up and drove his boot into Thatcher’s face, bending him backwards across the buckle. Thatcher fought for a Saito suplex, but WALTER turned in mid-air for a splash and a near fall. Thatcher fought back and hit the Saito for a two count.
Thatcher grabbed the Fujiwara armbar and transitioned to a rear naked choke where he was laying on WALTER’s back as WALTER was prone on the mat. WALTER got up, struggled to the corner while wearing Thatcher as a backpack, climbed to the middle buckle, and threw himself back into the ring onto Thatcher. WALTER then picked him up and hit a huge clubbing lariat for the pin.
They made up and were friends again afterwards.
– CIMA & PWG Tag Team Champions The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defeated Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus in a non-tournament match
There might be people who would legitimately not like the main event of this show. Not just people who decide to hate everything new, but people who legitimately don’t like this kind of wrestling.
All of the hypothetical critiques are true — this match was clearly meticulously planned and often felt very choreographed. It didn’t matter who won and the match really followed no rules. It was a tag match, which started with two legal men, but never had a tag. And there wasn’t really a structure or story per se, but this match was completely phenomenal.
This was a total sprint that quickly involved all six guys doing continually innovative stuff. There was almost no pause from beginning to end, aside for a brief dance contest. There were handspring tornillo dives, people jumped off of each other’s backs, and someone did a modified 619 in the middle of the ring using another person as the “ropes” to swing around.
At one point, CIMA got on all fours and Wentz ran and jumped off his back for a flip dive to the outside. Then Xavier looked like he was going to do a handspring dive off of CIMA to the outside. Instead, he just jumped over him and almost didn’t clear the ropes or apron — but barely did.
Bandido, who was the most over guy on the show by a mile, did something that defied description (like this whole match, actually) — but I’ll try anyway: Xavier was bent over the middle rope with his body in the ring (almost as if set up for a 619). Bandido ran and did a handspring across Xavier’s back so that his own back hit the ropes and propelled him backwards onto his feet (like the common handspring back elbow), only Bandido held onto Xavier’s waist and pulled him back into a bridging German suplex for a near fall.
CIMA, Xavier, and Wentz all pinned Bandido after Xavier and Wentz hit their move where Wentz does the running Shooting Star Press and Xavier assists him in mid-air.
This match was a fever dream — it was a magic show where the magician forgot to show the set-ups and only showed the reveals.
Image: Rob Naylor. Report submitted by Brian Reznick.
– Night one of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles is in the books, and it was a very good show. Without looking back to verify, I think it was a little behind night one last year and 2016, but it was in no way disappointing. The crowd was great and seemed to enjoy the show throughout.
– Rey Horus defeated Adam Brooks in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
This was a fun opener. Brooks has never grabbed me in the way that he has others, but he had a good showing here. I like Horus a lot and thought that he looked great.
Brooks played the heel throughout the match. Horus hit a big dive over the corner post that looked great, and Brooks hit a Fosbury flop to the outside. They had a nice sequence late where Brooks hit a Canadian Destroyer, only to have Horus pop up immediately and hit a standing Spanish Fly and both guys collapsed for the “This is awesome” spot (There were no “This is awesome” chants all night, but the crowd did cheer).
Brooks got a great near fall late when he reversed an attempt at a top rope rana into a powerbomb and followed with an Aoi Shoudou. Horus won with a super victory roll. Good pop for the finish and a bit of money thrown in the ring.
– Flamita defeated Puma King in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
A great showcase for lucha libre and a nice intro to PWG for Puma King. They did a great series of counters and reversals to a stalemate early. Flamita hit a series of topes to the outside. Puma King got a near fall with a reverse rana, spring board crossbody splash, and a diving double stomp. Flamita also got a near fall with a top rope 450, and it looked like he landed on Puma King hard.
The finish came when Flamita reversed a top rope rana into a powerbomb, followed up with a superkick, and then hit a Phoenix Splash.
This match was a sprint and was great. There were cheers for Puma King afterwards (the crowd might have wanted him to win more than Flamita), followed by “Please come back” chants and money thrown into the ring.
– CIMA defeated Jody Fleisch in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
Another well-worked match. There was plenty of flying, but these guys were smart to recognize that they couldn’t match the rest of the card — so they worked some comedy and other clever spots.
They had a series of reversals that led to a stalemate early. Here’s a benefit of having agents on a show, each of the first three matches had similar early sequences of reversals capped by both guys doing a dropkick and then rolling kip-ups so that they were facing each other. It’s a cool sequence, but it probably shouldn’t happen in three straight matches.
After the stalemate, Fleisch and CIMA worked some comedy when Fleisch said he could get the crowd to cheer louder for him. He went to two corners on one side in succession and got a decent response. CIMA then did the same to the other two corners and did better. Fleisch wanted to repeat, and they got the same result.
Fleisch then offered a handshake, noting that “we’re both babyfaces” to entice the reluctant CIMA. After a successful shake with the right, Fleisch said they should shake with the left. They did so, but CIMA pulled the double cross. The match spilled outside with Fleisch hitting an Asai moonsault.
They eventually ended up back in the ring and did two great sequences where they rolled around, each trying for pins, but only getting a one count each time. They ended the sequence and then went into a similar sequence with the same results before both collapsing. This was great and got a strong reaction from the crowd. Fleisch hit a step-up rana to take CIMA off the corner turnbuckle and hit a springboard tornado DDT for a near fall.
Fleisch missed a Shooting Star Splash. CIMA hit a White Noise and a great looking diving double knees off the top turnbuckle to win. Nice reaction for Fleisch after the match, though not quite as big as the one for Puma King. There was a decent amount of “Please come back” chants.
– Bandido defeated T-Hawk in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
Outstanding match. Bandido is so over as a baby face with this crowd. It sounded like WALTER and Bandido got the biggest pops of the night to me, though Brody King and PCO were close. T-Hawk was great here playing heel. Everything he did looked crisp and his facials and crowd work were top notch.
T-Hawk got the heat early with some stiff chops and worked the crowd well. The match went outside and Bandido hit a moonsault from the second turnbuckle to the floor. T-Hawk came back in the ring with hard slaps and two chops to the throat. He then flexed his pecs for the crowd as the boos rained down — really well done.
T-Hawk hit some vicious strikes into a reverse powerslam, but Bandido popped up right away and hit a big boot, then both collapsed. The crowd loved this. They had a long Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee type sequence of chopping the hell out of each other, and the crowd went nuts for it after they had gone for awhile. They then slowed down and suddenly sped back up to a bigger pop.
The end came when Bandido hit his backflip fallaway slam off the top turnbuckle. Great move, great finish, and great match. Everyone went nuts and threw money in the ring. This was 4.5 stars for me. Great post-match reaction for T-Hawk — I really hope he is back.
– Joey Janela defeated David Starr in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
This match was an intense, brutal affair. They have great chemistry together, but this was one of those matches where, in my opinion, they had a few spots that were too dangerous that subtracted from the match. I still liked the match a lot, but I think these guys are good enough that they didn’t need to do everything that they did.
Early on, it was a stiff well-worked match. Starr worked heel well and Janela took a stiff chop and bumped over the ropes to the floor. They worked outside a bit. After coming back in, Janela hit a top rope rana and followed with a top rope elbow drop for a near fall. They brawled for a bit and Janela eventually hit a spot where he knocked Starr down while Starr was on the turnbuckle. Janela pulled Starr so he was flat on his back across the buckle and then jumped down to the floor so Starr landed on the back of his head on the apron.
This looked so brutal. I had a good line of sight and it looked like the back of Starr’s head smashed on the apron. Starr came back and hit Janela with a DDT on the apron.
Starr then hit a Canadian Destroyer, but Janela popped up right away and hit a superkick before they both collapsed. A version of this appeared in every match, and it always worked. They went back to clubbing the hell out of each other, then Starr put on a submission that looked like a half Sharpshooter and half Liontamer, with Starr wrenching Janela at a high angle and grabbing his left arm. Janela wouldn’t tap and eventually made the ropes.
They went back outside and exchanged a series of four topes: Starr hit one, Janela popped right up, slid in the ring, and hit a tope, Starr popped up and did the same — and then hit another for good measure. Janela hit a top rope Swanton Bomb to the floor and then a package piledriver back in the ring for two.
They had another brutal sequence where Starr took Janela off the top turnbuckle and dropped him on the back of his head on the ropes, then hit a crushing clothesline and a painful looking Last Shot for a near fall. Starr then landed a superkick for a near fall. Starr went for his half Sharpshooter/Liontamer submission, but Janela rolled him into a small package for a two count. As soon as Starr kicked out, Janela popped up and hit a superkick for the win. The crowd loved this.
– Brody King defeated PCO in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round match
This match was sort of a disaster. It had elements of a Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe NEVER Openweight title match. It also wanted to be Keith Lee vs. Donovan Dijak from last year, but it felt like both guys almost died in the process. The crowd loved this match, but there were a few bad botches and a ton of danger — so I have no idea how to rate this.
They did good big man stuff early: a long collar-and-elbow tie up, running the ropes for shoulder tackles where no one budged, chops, etc. They ended up outside, and PCO hit a tope suicida. King then went for a tope con hilo, but he didn’t go as far as PCO expected, so King landed hard on the floor.
Back in the ring, PCO hit a rana to take Brody off the top turnbuckle. King then tried to answer with a standing rana of his own, but it was a mess. It was slow and PCO had trouble going over for it. King hit a disgusting looking cannonball onto PCO’s back while PCO was laying prone over the ropes (like he was setting up to take the 619 but instead had someone do a rolling splash onto his upper back). King hit another cannonball into the corner and a second rope moonsault for a near fall.
King then hit a springboard crossbody and a piledriver, but PCO kicked out at one for a big pop. PCO hit a pop-up powerbomb and then a stiff knee.
Now for the total madness: PCO set King up so he was laying in the ring with his upper body under the ropes on the apron. PCO then climbed to the top turnbuckle and hit a somersault senton. PCO climbed the ropes again, this time with his back to King, who was still laying in the ring with his upper body on the apron. PCO tried some sort of splash where he turned in mid-air to, presumably, land chest first on King. But PCO entirely miscalculated and landed chest first on the top rope and then fell off to the floor.
PCO somehow got up. They returned to the ring, where PCO eventually went for a top rope moonsault onto King in the center of the ring. PCO sort of made it over, but it looked like he landed on a lot of head and neck. Not as bad as the Brock Lesnar Shooting Star Press landing, but it also wasn’t a lot better.
PCO went for another moonsault, but King stopped him while he was still on the turnbuckle. He lifted PCO onto his shoulders like a reverse fireman’s carry, then turned him and piledrove him for the victory. PCO got up, eventually, to huge cheers.
I love both guys and they worked really hard, but their reach exceeded their grasp here, and it was way too dangerous for me.
– Ringkampf (PWG World Champion WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) defeated Ilja Dragunov & Shingo Takagi in a non-tournament match
This was just awesome and the best match of the night for me — 4.75 stars easily. Great chemistry between all four wrestlers and everyone got time together. Dragunov and Takagi were outstanding.
Thatcher and Dragunov started and battled to a stalemate before tagging in their respective partners. Takagi and WALTER were great together — I felt like that was the singles match that the fans wanted most for the future. WALTER built great heat by continually attacking
Takagi while he was on the apron. It was like every time WALTER was in, he’d beat up Dragunov and then explode over to the corner and hit Takagi with a running boot to the face. He did this to Dragunov as well.
Dragunov’s overall charisma and fire are unbelievable live — he should be a superstar. There were many great striking and transition sequences. Everything made sense and everyone was on. Dragunov was setting up for a top rope move on Thatcher, but WALTER broke it up by slugging Dragunov. He then picked up Takagi into a powerbomb and hurled him into Thatcher doing a European uppercut. Thatcher went for the cover, and Dragunov jumped off the top rope and over WALTER to break it up.
Thatcher was setting up a German suplex on Dragunov in the corner. Dragunov grabbed the ropes, but WALTER came over and grabbed Thatcher in the German suplex position and German’d both guys. Takagi came in to attack Thatcher, but WALTER hit him with a John Woo dropkick.
Dragunov got up and fought with WALTER out of the ring. Takagi hit some strikes on Thatcher, but Thatcher grabbed a Fujiwara armbar. As Takagi fought the armbar, Thatcher rolled him over into a pin for the win. I feel like I didn’t do this match justice, it was so great.
After it was over, Thatcher and WALTER wanted to shake hands with their opponents. Dragunov did, but Takagi would not. He wouldn’t shake anyone’s hand and walked out on Dragunov. Thatcher then wanted to shake WALTER’s hand. WALTER was reluctant, repeatedly saying something about how he was champion and talking about how they had to wrestle each other on night two. WALTER eventually shook his hand.
Travis Banks has had to pull out of this year’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
Pro Wrestling Guerilla announced today that Banks won’t be able to wrestle in BOLA due to an injury. He’ll be replaced by Sammy Guevara, and two of the first round matchups have been shuffled. Banks was supposed to face Shingo Takagi in the first round, but Takagi will now take on Ilja Dragunov. Jonah Rock, who had been matched up with Dragunov, will now wrestle Guevara in the opening round.
Banks suffered a dislocated shoulder in July. He provided an update on the injury this week, noting that he initially thought he would be cleared to wrestle sooner rather than later but that hasn’t been the case and he still doesn’t have a return date to give everyone.
BOLA 2018 is taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles from September 14-16. Banks is the second person to drop out of the tournament, with Matt Riddle having been replaced by Trevor Lee last month due to Riddle signing with WWE.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has revealed the first round matchups for this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
The opening round will take place over the first two nights before the tournament concludes on night three. There have also been a few non-tournament matches announced, with WALTER & Timothy Thatcher teaming against Ilja Dragunov & Shingo Takagi on night one, Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus facing CIMA, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz on night two, and Xavier & Wentz defending their PWG Tag Team titles against Pentagon Jr. & Fenix on night three.
WALTER & Thatcher are regular tag team partners as Ringkampf but will meet on night two in a first round match. On night one, 50-year-old Pierre Carl Ouellet (Quebecer Pierre and Jean-Pierre LaFitte in the WWF) will make his PWG debut against Brody King in the first round. PCO has generated a lot of buzz on the indies following his match against WALTER at Joey Janela’s Spring Break II over WrestleMania weekend.
BOLA 2018 will take place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles from September 14-16. The full card for night three won’t be announced until after the first two shows.
Here are the matches that have been announced (all are tournament matches unless otherwise noted):
Night one (September 14) —
Non-tournament match: WALTER & Timothy Thatcher vs. Ilja Dragunov & Shingo Takagi
PCO vs. Brody King
CIMA vs. Jody Fleisch
Bandido vs. T-Hawk
Joey Janela vs. David Starr
Flamita vs. Puma King
Rey Horus vs. Adam Brooks
Night two (September 15) —
Non-tournament match: Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus vs. CIMA, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz
WALTER vs. Timothy Thatcher
Travis Banks vs. Shingo Takagi
Ilja Dragunov vs. Jonah Rock
Jeff Cobb vs. Darby Allin
DJ Z vs. Robbie Eagles
Chris Brookes vs. Trevor Lee
Night three (September 16) —
Non-tournament match: PWG Tag Team Champions The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defending against The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has announced the dates and location for this year’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
BOLA 2018 will be taking place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 14-16. The tournament is usually scheduled for three days during Labor Day weekend, but it had been known that wouldn’t be the case this year.
The Bullet Club’s All In show will be held at the Sears Centre Arena in the Chicago area on September 1st during Labor Day weekend.
The last four Battle of Los Angeles tournaments have featured 24 entrants. There haven’t been any wrestlers announced for this year’s edition yet.
Ricochet won the tournament in 2017 and went on to win the PWG World Championship before heading to WWE.
PWG debuted at the Globe Theatre in March and has another show taking place there on July 13th. “Bask in His Glory,” Keith Lee’s farewell to the promotion, is set for American Legion Post #308 in Reseda on May 25th and may be PWG’s final event at the building before it’s sold.
Once again this was an incredible show, easily one of the best anywhere of the year. Overall, despite not having as many big names, this was the best BOLA to date. Here’s a rundown of the final day:
– Ricochet defeated Dezmond Xavier with a kind of flapjack uranage.
Lots of great flying moves in this one. It was a very good match.
– Travis Banks defeated Marty Scurll with a reverse of the chicken wing into a front rolling cradle.
Good match and a huge pop for the upset finish. Scurll played the role where Banks wasn’t in his league.
– Keith Lee defeated Donovan Dijak with a jackhammer slam.
This match was insane. It was among the best matches of the year and it was the most acrobatic agility combined with power moves based big man’s match I’ve ever seen. Fans were chanting “five-star match” and then “six-star match” when it was over.
– Rey Fenix defeated Zack Sabre Jr. with Sabre’s own usual bridging pin.
They had to follow the prior match and did mostly a mat-based bout that turned out to be excellent.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Sammy Guevara in a short sprint with the Tour of the Islands.
Guevara packed a lot into the short match.
– Matt Riddle defeated Penta 0M in another excellent match with MMA elbows on the ground and a twister submission.
– Ricochet defeated Travis Banks in an excellent match as well.
– Keith Lee defeated Fenix with a powerslam and jackhammer.
This was kept short and was good at the big man vs. little man style while it lasted with hard chops back and forth.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Matt Riddle in a match with a lot of heat.
This was also kept somewhat short, but it was very good. People were surprised by the finish and popped big for it even though it felt like Riddle was the crowd favorite to win.
– Joey Janela, Mark Haskins, Flamita, Flash Morgan Webster & Chuck Taylor defeated Trevor Lee, Brian Cage, WALTER, Sami Callihan & Jonah Rock when Taylor pinned Lee with a piledriver.
They did none of the usual comedy that is noted every year in the ten-man tag on the final day at BOLA. It was just a fast-paced long match to give the three guys in the finals some time to rest.
This turned out to be excellent. It was five-on-four and Taylor came down from the commentary booth, then said he had to change into his gear, so he didn’t get in the match until several minutes in.
– Ricochet defeated Jeff Cobb and Keith Lee in a three-way elimination match to win the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles
Pretty damn great with the big guys beating on Ricochet, and Ricochet doing power moves on them back which popped the crowd. He did 630s on both and incredible running dives on both as well. He paced himself, saving his best weekend stuff for this match rather than doing it early.
The finishes were quick as Lee pinned Cobb with the jackhammer and about 20 seconds later, Lee went for the jackhammer on Ricochet, who reversed it into a cradle.
Ricochet challenged Taylor to a title match and they had a square off. This win felt like a going away present for Ricochet. He noted he’s the only guy to have won BOLA twice and said he would check one last thing off his list, winning the PWG title, before he moves on to bigger and better things.
The Battle of Los Angeles continued in Reseda, California on Saturday night. Here are the results:
– Based on post-show reaction, this was considered among the best shows in company history. It was among the best shows of the year, and who knows how good it would have been had the ring not broken a few minutes into the main event.
The finals are today, which will be a long 11 match show with a three-way finale, plus the usual ten-man tag team pure comedy match.
This was one of the hardest tickets to get in wrestling. It would have sold out instantly, but when it was announced that Kenny Omega was on the show, the demand was ridiculous. One fairly major celebrity friend that I know couldn’t get tickets (although they would have let him in) and I know Ronda Rousey was scrambling for tickets, and she was there on the stage and Matt Riddle and Michael Elgin played to her during their match.
– Donovan Dijak defeated Trevor Lee with Feast Your Eyes.
I’d consider this an upset since Dijak is WWE bound and Lee is a regular here and one of the company’s best wrestlers.
– Sammy Guevara defeated Joey Janela with a 630.
This match was insane. The consensus was it was the best match so far this weekend, although there are four or five bouts you could argue for that spot. It was two guys trying to make a mark who decided they were going to do a match that reminded me of the Kevin Steen vs. El Generico Final Battle match. Guevara after the match said he was the best ever.
– Travis Banks defeated Mark Haskins
The finish was messed up which hurt what was otherwise a great match, and they were handicapped having to follow Guevara and Janela. There was a spot that looked to be a normal near fall, and then the ref yelled to ring the bell. Haskins may have been hurt, although he seemed okay after the show.
– Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll defeated Ricochet & Matt Sydal in a non-tournament match when Sydal did a top rope hurricanrana and Sabre rolled through for a cradle.
Excellent match. If these two pairs teamed up regularly for the long haul they could be among the best face and heel teams in decades. The match was old school psychology mixed with new school athleticism and creativity.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Sami Callihan with the Tour of the Islands.
Good match. Callihan did no comedy and played to Cobb’s power spots.
– Matt Riddle defeated Michael Elgin
This was a high-end G1 Climax style match: hard hitting, tremendous heat, and tons of near falls. With the exception of The Young Bucks and Omega, Riddle was the most over guy on the show. They hugged after and Elgin told him to go out and win the thing.
– Keith Lee defeated WALTER with a twisting powerslam.
WALTER throws some of the hardest chops around. He’s about 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5, much taller than Lee and while not a pretty body, he’d have been an absolute monster as a Bruno Sammartino contender if he came around in that era. He got over great with the crowd to the point I think a lot of people figured he’d win.
– The Elite (The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega) defeated Penta 0M, Rey Fenix & Flamita in a non-tournament match
Omega pinned Flamita with the One Winged Angel. They went 27:00, with some early comedy and then got into all the creative spots. The ring broke only a few minutes into the match and the ropes sagged badly. They had to improvise and change on the spot and while a great match, it probably would have been a lot better without the ring problem.
One highlight was Flamita doing a top rope Asai moonsault where he got so high he kicked one of the overhead lights and actually knocked the power off. This had a lot of similarities to the Dublin Elite match except it got more serious and there was a lot more stuff. Marty Scurll did a cameo. They really tried to push Omega vs. Penta as the key face-off.
PWG’s annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament kicked off in Reseda, California last night and will continue tonight and Sunday. Here are last night’s results:
– Dezmond Xavier pinned Brian Cage with a Japanese rolling crotch hold after reversing out of a double powerbomb spot.
This was a very good match.
– Marty Scurll defeated Flash Morgan Webster with the chicken wing.
Webster took a hell of a physical beating and got over strong. Real good, borderline great match.
– Rey Fenix defeated Rey Horus
There was some amazing athleticism from both guys. Lots of great flying with Horus doing the most spectacular spot on the show with a running dive over the top several rows deep. Fans threw money in the ring when it was over.
– The Chosen Bros (Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle) defeated Donovan Dijak & Keith Lee in a non-tournament match
This was the show stealer. Cobb and Lee opened doing fast Lucha Libre high spots with high leap frogs that were so impressive for guys of that size. So much great stuff here. Riddle got the pin on Lee to win the match.
This was better than any match at NXT TakeOver. Fans were chanting “five-star classic” when it was over.
– Penta 0M defeated Matt Sydal with a running package piledriver after a reverse hurricanrana.
Really good, bordering on great.
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jonah Rock via submission.
Rock is a really thick guy like an old school super heavyweight wrestler with the big legs. It was power vs. submissions with Sabre winning with an armbar.
– Ricochet defeated Flamita
Ricochet live is something to see as his smoothness doing the most difficult moves is amazing. As great as most on the show were, he’s at a different level.
Flamita is a great flyer but Ricochet sold great for him and was always in the right spot for him. Long match that never dragged but people weren’t expecting the finish when it happened.
Due to an ankle injury that he suffered earlier this month, TK Cooper won’t be able to compete in this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
PWG officially announced the news last night, with Joey Janela being confirmed as Cooper’s replacement in the tournament. Janela will be taking on Sammy Guevara in place of Cooper on night two.
Cooper and Travis Banks (as the South Pacific Power Trip) were scheduled to face The Young Bucks in non-tournament action on night one, but that match is now off and The Young Bucks won’t be appearing on the first night. They’ll still be teaming with Kenny Omega against Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix & Flamita on night two.
PWG tweeted that they hope to reschedule The Young Bucks vs. South Pacific Power Trip for a show when Cooper’s injury has healed.
Cooper dislocated his ankle at PROGRESS Wrestling’s show in New York on August 12th when doing a twisting dive off the top to the floor. Banks then continued against Tyler Bate & Trent Seven on his own after Cooper was forced out of the match.
Janela is a wrestler who has generated a lot of buzz this year, including for the “Joey Janela’s Spring Break” show he put on with Game Changer Wrestling over WrestleMania weekend in Orlando.
The 2017 Battle of Los Angeles will take place on September 1-3 in Reseda, California. Here’s the list of matches for the first two nights:
Night one —
Donovan Dijak & Keith Lee vs. Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb (non-tournament match)
Flamita vs. Ricochet
Jonah Rock vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Matt Sydal vs. Penta El Zero M
Flash Morgan Webster vs. Marty Scurll
Rey Fenix vs. Rey Horus
Brian Cage vs. Dezmond Xavier
Night two —
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix & Flamita (non-tournament match)
Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll (non-tournament match)
Though he won’t be in the tournament itself, Kenny Omega will be making an appearance during this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
PWG announced tonight that Omega would be teaming with The Young Bucks in a non-tournament match against Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix & Flamita on night two of BOLA weekend. It will be Omega’s first appearance in PWG since 2015.
In other non-tournament action, Donovan Dijak & Keith Lee vs. Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle and The Young Bucks vs. The South Pacific Power Trip (Travis Banks & TK Cooper) will take place on night one. Night two will have Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll in addition to Omega’s return.
BOLA 2017 will take place on September 1-3. Here are the tournament matches for the first two shows:
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has finished announcing the field for this summer’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
The 24-competitor lineup is mostly a mix of PWG regulars and wrestlers who will either be getting their first chance in the promotion or have become recent mainstays. The final 10 names announced were: Brian Cage, Rey Horus (Dragon Azteca Jr. in Lucha Underground), Marty Scurll, Michael Elgin, TK Cooper, Matt Sydal, Sami Callihan, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, and Penta El Zero M.
Cooper joins his South Pacific Power Trip partner Travis Banks in making his PWG debut during BOLA. The two were a standout team in PROGRESS Wrestling until Cooper had to leave the United Kingdom and go back to New Zealand after his two-year youth and mobility work visa expired earlier this year.
BOLA will take place on September 1-3. First round matches will occur over the first two nights before the winner is crowned on the third day, with whoever wins receiving a future shot at the PWG World Championship. The full lineup is:
