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Battle of Los Angeles (professional wrestling)

The Battle of Los Angeles tournament (the BOLA) is an annual independent wrestling tournament in North America, run and promoted by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). It is the flagship event of PWG. Over the years, the tournament has featured numerous notable wrestlers such as famous Total Nonstop Action Wrestling stars A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, future WWE world champions Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens), Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) and Drew Galloway (Drew McIntyre), future AEW world champion Kenny Omega and future Impact world champions Brian Cage, Pentagón Jr., Chris Sabin, Rich Swann, Sami Callihan, John Hennigan (Johnny Impact), Austin Aries and Eddie Edwards.

The tournament setup

The number of participants have often changed over the years. In the first year of the Battle of Los Angeles, there were sixteen participants, with eight opening round matches, four quarterfinal matches, two semifinal matches, and a final. In 2006 the tournament was expanded to 24 participants, which caused the addition of another eight person bracket and created three semifinals matches and an elimination three-way final match. In 2008 the tournament returned to its 16-man format. In 2011, the tournament was completely revamped, taking place for the first time as a one night tournament with only eight participants. In 2014, the tournament reverted to a 24-man format held over three nights. The first two nights are all first-round matches, while the third night contains the quarter-finals and semi-finals before culminating in a three-way match. In 2022, the tournament was reduced to sixteen participants.

All nights also feature non-tournament special attractions, which are usually tag-team matches involving tournament participants from other nights or eliminated wrestlers. Titles are also occasionally defended on these events.

The tournament winner is awarded a title shot for the PWG World Championship. The champion himself often participates in the tournament and if some other wrestler wins the tournament then he is entitled to a title shot. So far, no champion has won the tournament. There have been a few instances where the winner did not receive a title shot. For example, the 2006 winner Davey Richards cashed in on a PWG World Tag Team Championship opportunity instead of challenging for the World Championship. The 2007 winner CIMA did not invoke his title shot while the 2008 winner Low Ki left PWG immediately after winning the tournament due to signing with WWE. The 2009 tournament was itself contested for the vacant PWG World Championship.

Winners, dates, venues and main events

Championship match for winner

  – Championship victory
  – Championship match loss
  – Did not receive title match

The 2009 Battle of Los Angeles winner did not receive a title match as the tournament itself was for the vacant PWG World Championship. Kenny Omega defeated Roderick Strong in the tournament final to win the vacant title.

References

  1. ^ Brad Garoon (October 14, 2007). "BG Says: PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2005". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  2. ^ Arnold Furious (January 9, 2009). "The Furious Flashbacks – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2005". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  3. ^ Arnold Furious (January 24, 2009). "The Furious Flashbacks – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  4. ^ Arnold Furious (April 14, 2011). "The Furious Flashbacks – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2007 Night One". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  5. ^ Arnold Furious (April 15, 2011). "The Furious Flashbacks - PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2007 Night Two". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  6. ^ Arnold Furious (April 16, 2011). "The Furious Flashbacks – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2007 Night Three". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  7. ^ Bob Colling (September 9, 2012). "Colling It In The Ring Reviews: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Stage One 11/1/2008". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  8. ^ Bob Colling (September 10, 2012). "Colling It In The Ring Reviews: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Stage Two 11/2/2008". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  9. ^ Ryan Rozanski (March 5, 2010). "Break It Down: PWG 2009 Battle of Los Angeles – Night One". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  10. ^ Ryan Rozanski (March 9, 2010). "Break It Down: PWG 2009 Battle of Los Angeles – Night Two". 411Mania. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. ^ Alvarez, Bryan (September 5, 2010). "PWG Battle of LA Night One report". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  12. ^ Alvarez, Bryan (September 6, 2010). "Battle of Los Angeles Night II report with one of the best matches of the year". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  13. ^ Massingham, Matt (August 21, 2011). "8/20 PWG results in Reseda, Calif.: BOLA tournament winner, Young Bucks not shaking hands turned into angle, Tag Title match, Finlay debuts". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  14. ^ Chad Simplico (September 3, 2012). "RECAP of PWG's BOLA 2012 Night One". SoCal Uncensored. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  15. ^ Chad Simplico (September 3, 2012). "RECAP of PWG's BOLA 2012 Night Two". SoCal Uncensored. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  16. ^ John C. (August 31, 2013). "PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2013 RESULTS". PWInsider. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
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  18. ^ "Show results – 8/29 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 1: A.J. Styles vs. former WWE star, Elgin, Daniels & Kaz, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2014-08-30. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
  19. ^ "Show results – 8/30 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2: Sabin returns, Sydal vs. Hero, Bucks vs. Daniels & Kaz main event". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2014-08-31.
  20. ^ "Show results – 8/31 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 3: The Finals of huge tournament with Styles, former WWE stars, PWG champ, ROH champ, mega-tag match, Willie Mack says good-bye". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  21. ^ "Show results – 8/28 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 1: First Round matches, plus big main event of PWG Champ & Tag Champs vs. Team Europe". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2015-08-28. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
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  26. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2016-09-05). "PWG BOLA Night 3 results: A winner is crowned; Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr & Fenix". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  27. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2017-09-02). "PWG BOLA night one results: Chosen Bros vs. Dijak & Lee". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2017-09-02.
  28. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2017-09-03). "PWG BOLA night two results: The Elite vs. Penta 0M, Rey Fenix & Flamita". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
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  30. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2018-09-15). "PWG BOLA night one results: Ringkampf vs. Dragunov & Takagi". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  31. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2018-09-16). "PWG BOLA night two results: First round concludes". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  32. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2018-09-17). "PWG BOLA night three results: Tournament winner crowned". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  33. ^ Dave Meltzer (September 21, 2019). "PWG BOLA night one results: Lucha Bros vs. Flamita & Bandido". WON / F4W. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  34. ^ Dave Meltzer (September 22, 2019). "PWG BOLA night two results: Cobb & King vs. Sekimoto & Gresham". WON / F4W. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  35. ^ Dave Meltzer (September 23, 2019). "PWG BOLA night three results: The 2019 champion is crowned". WON / F4W. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  36. ^ Bryan Rose (January 30, 2022). "PWG Battle of Los Angeles night one results: Opening round matches". WON / F4W. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  37. ^ Bryan Rose (January 31, 2022). "PWG Battle of Los Angeles night two results: A tournament winner is crowned". WON / F4W. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  38. ^ Eric Denton (January 8, 2023). "1/7 PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2023 NIGHT ONE RESULTS FROM LA". PWInsider. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  39. ^ Dave Meltzer (January 9, 2023). "PWG Battle of Los Angeles night two results: A winner is crowned". WON / F4W. Retrieved 9 January 2023.

External links