| Battle of Los Angeles (2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The 2023 tournament winnerMike Bailey | |||
| Promotion | Pro Wrestling Guerrilla | ||
| Date | Night One: January 7, 2023 Night Two: January 8, 2023 | ||
| City | Los Angeles,California | ||
| Venue | Globe Theatre | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| Battle of Los Angeles chronology | |||
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The 2023Battle of Los Angeles was the seventeenthBattle of Los Angelesprofessional wrestlingtournament produced byPro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). It was a two-night event on January 7 and 8, 2023, at theGlobe Theatre inLos Angeles,California.[1]
The tournament marked the PWG debuts ofMichael Oku,Shun Skywalker,El Hijo del Vikingo,SB Kento and Bryan Keith as well as the surprise PWG debut ofChris Jericho.[2][3][4][5]Mike Bailey won the Battle of Los Angeles tournament by defeatingKonosuke Takeshita in the final.[6] Two non-tournament matches took place on the second night. In the first match,Black Taurus andLatigo defeatedAramis andRey Horus. The second match was aten-man tag team match in whichJericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho,Daniel Garcia,Angelo Parker,Matt Menard andSammy Guevara) defeatedJonathan Gresham, Kevin Blackwood, Michael Oku,Player Uno, and SB Kento.[7]
On November 22, 2022, PWG announced via its officialTwitter handle that the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles tournament would take place on January 7 and January 8, 2023.[8]
The following participants were announced to participate in the tournament: Michael Oku,Shun Skywalker,Masha Slamovich,"Speedball" Mike Bailey,Komander,Alex Shelley,Jonathan Gresham,Aramís, Titus Alexander,Jordynne Grace,[9]Lio Rush,Black Taurus,[2]Latigo,[10]2022 winner and theWorld ChampionDaniel Garcia,[11][12]2019 winnerBandido,[13][14]Konosuke Takeshita[15] andEl Hijo del Vikingo.[3]
On December 14, PWG tweeted that Bailey would be unable to compete in his first round match on the night one but committed to compete in his first round match on night two. It prompted PWG to addSB Kento as the eighteenth participant in the tournament and PWG announced that a match would be held on night one to determine Bailey's opponent on night two.[16] On December 15, PWG revealed the list of first-round matches on night one including a three-way match between Bandido, Black Taurus, and El Hijo del Vikingo.[17]
Due to injuries sustained in a match atWrestle Kingdom 17, Lio Rush was removed from the tournament on January 5 and replaced with the debuting Bryan Keith.[18]
The Battle of Los Angeles kicked off with a match betweenAlex Shelley andMasha Slamovich. Slamovich countered asit-out side powerslam attempt by Shelley into a cradle and pinned him for the win.[19][20]
Next,SB Kento took on Bryan Keith. Keith hit aknee strike and apowerbomb for the win.[19][20]
Next,Komander took onLatigo. Komander pinned Latigo with a cradle after a ropewalkshooting star press.[19][20]
Next,Jonathan Gresham took onJordynne Grace. Grace countered aEuropean clutch by Gresham into a choke to win via submission. Grace advanced to compete againstMike Bailey in the first round match on the night two.[19][20]
Next,Aramis took onShun Skywalker. Skywalker delivered aspinning powerbomb to Aramis for the win.[19][20]
Next,Konosuke Takeshita took on Michael Oku. Takeshita delivered a jumping knee strike and a running knee strike to Oku for the win.[19][20]
Next, theWorld ChampionDaniel Garcia took on Titus Alexander. Garcia was disqualified after the referee caught him hitting Alexander with the World Championship title belt.[19][20]
It was followed by athree-way match betweenBandido,Black Taurus, andEl Hijo del Vikingo. Bandido delivered akneeling reverse piledriver to Taurus for the win.[19][20]
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The night two opened with the first round match between Mike Bailey and Jordynne Grace. Bailey delivered aFlamingo Driver to Grace for the win.[7]
The quarterfinal round of the Battle of Los Angeles began as Konosuke Takeshita took on Titus Alexander. Takeshita delivered ajumping knee strike to Alexander for the win.[7]
Next, Bryan Keith took on Masha Slamovich. Keith delivered a running knee strike to Slamovich for the win.[7]
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Next, Bandido took on Komander. Komander delivered a ropewalk shooting star press to Bandido for the win.[7]
Next, Mike Bailey took on Shun Skywalker. Bailey delivered a shooting star press with double knees to Skywalker's chest for the win.[7]
It was followed by a tag team match in which Black Taurus teamed with Latigo to take on Aramis andRey Horus. Taurus delivered apowerbomb, abackbreaker and abelly-to-back piledriver to Horus for the win.[7]
In the first semifinal match, Konosuke Takeshita defeated Komander by pinning him with abackslide.[7]
Next, Mike Bailey took on Bryan Keith. Bailey delivered anUltima Weapon on Keith's back for the win.[7]
It was followed by a ten-man tag team match featuring a surprise appearance byJericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker,Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia,Matt Menard andSammy Guevara), thus marking Jericho's surprise PWG debut. Parker and Menard made their surprise returns to PWG after a near fifteen-year absence, having last appeared at the2008 DDT4 while Guevara also made his surprise PWG return after a four-year absence, having last appeared as a participant in the2018 Battle of Los Angeles. JAS took on Jonathan Gresham, Kevin Blackwood, Michael Oku,Player Uno and SB Kento. Jericho delivered aJudas Effect to Blackwood for the win.[7]
Mike Bailey took on Konosuke Takeshita in the final of the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles. Bailey delivered anUltima Weapon and aFlamingo Driver to Takeshita to win the tournament.[7]
By winning the Battle of Los Angeles tournament, Mike Bailey received his PWG World Championship against champion Daniel Garcia in anIron Man match atTwenty: Mystery Vortex, which Garcia won to retain the title.[21]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Professional wrestling |
| Location | Los Angeles,California |
| Dates | January 7, 2023–January 8, 2023 |
Tournament format | Single elimination tournament |
| Participants | 17 |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | Mike Bailey |
| Runner-up | Konosuke Takeshita |
← 2022 | |
| Qualifier | First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Alex Shelley | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Masha Slamovich | 11:01 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Masha Slamovich | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bryan Keith | 15:45 | ||||||||||||||||||
| SB Kento | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bryan Keith | 14:08 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bryan Keith | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bailey | 18:12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jonathan Gresham | Submission | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jordynne Grace | 14:56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jordynne Grace | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bailey | 15:41 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bailey | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shun Skywalker | 15:39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Aramis | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shun Skywalker | 14:27 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bailey | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Konosuke Takeshita | 27:22 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Komander | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Latigo | 15:04 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Komander | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bandido | 14:42 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bandido | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Black Taurus El Hijo del Vikingo | 18:20 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Komander | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Konosuke Takeshita | 5:43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Konosuke Takeshita | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Oku | 17:17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Konosuke Takeshita | Pin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Titus Alexander | 9:38 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Daniel Garcia | DQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Titus Alexander | 18:54 | ||||||||||||||||||