The Battle of Los Angeles tournament (the BOLA) was 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 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 YearTournament winnerTimes wonDateRunner-upCityVenueMain eventRef.2005Chris Bosh1AJ StylesLos Angeles, CaliforniaHollywood-Los Feliz Jewish Community CenterKevin Steen vs. Super Dragon in the first round of the 2005 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentAJ Styles vs. Chris Bosh in the 2005 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2006Davey Richards1CIMAReseda, Los Angeles, CaliforniaAmerican Legion Post #308B-Boy, Excalibur, Homicide and Human Tornado vs. Petey Williams and The Dynasty (Chris Bosh, Joey Ryan and Scott Lost)Necro Butcher vs. Super Dragon in a No Disqualification match in the first round of the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentCIMA vs. Davey Richards in the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2007CIMA1El Generico and Roderick StrongBurbank, CaliforniaBurbank ArmoryEl Generico and Kevin Steen (c) vs. Dragon Kid and Susumu Yokosuka for the PWG World Tag Team ChampionshipDragon Kid vs. Susumu Yokosuka in the first round of the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentCIMA vs. El Generico vs. Roderick Strong in a three-way elimination match in the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2008Low Ki1Chris HeroChris Hero vs. Necro Butcher in a No Disqualification match in the first round of the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentChris Hero vs. Low Ki in the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2009Kenny Omega1Roderick StrongReseda, Los Angeles, CaliforniaAmerican Legion Post #308Alex Shelley vs. El Generico in the first round of the 2009 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentKenny Omega vs. Roderick Strong in the 2009 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final for the vacant PWG World Championship2010Joey Ryan1Chris HeroChris Hero vs. Christopher Daniels in the first round of the 2010 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentChris Hero vs. Joey Ryan in the 2010 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2011El Generico1Kevin SteenKevin Steen vs. El Generico in the 2011 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2012Adam Cole1Michael ElginDavey Richards vs. Michael Elgin in the first round of the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentAdam Cole vs. Michael Elgin in the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2013Kyle O'Reilly1Michael ElginAdam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) and T.J. PerkinsKyle O'Reilly vs. Michael Elgin in the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2014Ricochet1Johnny Gargano and Roderick StrongMen of Low Moral Fiber (Chuck Taylor and Kenny Omega) and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Mount Rushmore (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson))The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian)Johnny Gargano vs. Roderick Strong vs. Ricochet in a three-way match in the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2015Zack Sabre Jr.1Chris Hero and Mike BaileyMount Rushmore 2.0 (The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and Roderick Strong) vs. Euro Trash (Marty Scurll, Tommy End and Zack Sabre Jr.)Mount Rushmore 2.0 (The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and Super Dragon) vs. Andrew Everett, Biff Busick and Trevor LeeChris Hero vs. Mike Bailey vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in a three-way elimination match in the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2016Marty Scurll1Trevor Lee and Will OspreayMount Rushmore 2.0 (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)) vs. Bobby Fish, Dalton Castle and Kyle O'ReillyMatt Sydal, Ricochet and Will Ospreay vs. Mount Rushmore 2.0 (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson))Marty Scurll vs. Trevor Lee vs. Will Ospreay in a three-way elimination match in the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2017Ricochet2Jeff Cobb and Keith LeeRicochet vs. Flamita in the first round of the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentThe Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)) vs. Flamita, Penta El Zero M and Rey FenixJeff Cobb vs. Keith Lee vs. Ricochet in a three-way elimination match in the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2018Jeff Cobb1Bandido and Shingo TakagiLos Angeles, CaliforniaGlobe TheatreRingkampf (Timothy Thatcher and WALTER) vs. Ilja Dragunov and Shingo TakagiBandido, Flamita and Rey Horus vs. CIMA and The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz)Bandido vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi in a three-way elimination match in the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2019Bandido1David Starr and Jonathan GreshamLucha Brothers (PENTA EL 0M and Rey Fenix) vs. MexaBlood (Bandido and Flamita)Daisuke Sekimoto and Jonathan Gresham vs. King's Hawaiian (Brody King and Jeff Cobb)Bandido vs. David Starr vs. Jonathan Gresham in the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2022Daniel Garcia1Mike BaileyBandido vs. Mike Bailey in the first round of the 2022 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentDaniel Garcia vs. Mike Bailey in the 2022 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final2023Mike Bailey1Konosuke TakeshitaBandido vs. Black Taurus vs. El Hijo del Vikingo in a Three-way match in the first round of the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles tournamentKonosuke Takeshita vs. Mike Bailey in the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles tournament final Championship match for winner – Championship victory – Championship match loss – Did not receive title match +#WinnerEventYearChampionship match1Chris BoshAfter School Special2005Bosh challenged Kevin Steen for the PWG Championship but lost via disqualification. Bosh received another opportunity for the title against Steen in a Three-Way Dance, also involving AJ Styles but lost again.2Davey RichardsAll Star Weekend IV - Night 12006Instead of challenging for the PWG World Championship, Richards opted to challenge Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost) for the PWG World Tag Team Championship alongside Super Dragon at Self-Titled but failed to show up. Dragon instead teamed with B-Boy to defeat Arrogance. Richards got his title opportunity at All Star Weekend IV by teaming with Roderick Strong to defeat Dragon and B-Boy for the titles.3CIMAN/A2007After winning the tournament, CIMA left PWG to compete in his home promotion Dragon Gate in Japan and returned to PWG in 2008.4Low KiN/A2008After winning the tournament, Low Ki left PWG due to signing a developmental contract with WWE and did not return to the promotion until 2011.5Joey RyanCard Subject To Change III2010Ryan successfully defended his title shot against Candice LeRae at the 2011 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament. Ryan challenged Claudio Castagnoli for the PWG World Championship at Card Subject To Change III but lost.6El GenericoSteen Wolf2011Generico defeated Kevin Steen in a ladder match to win the PWG World Championship.7Adam ColeMystery Vortex2012Cole defeated Kevin Steen in a Guerrilla Warfare to win the PWG World Championship.8Kyle O'ReillyMatt Rushmore2013O'Reilly challenged Adam Cole for the PWG World Championship but lost.9RicochetBlack Cole Sun2014Ricochet challenged Kyle O'Reilly for the PWG World Championship but lost.10Zack Sabre Jr.All Star Weekend 12 - Night 22015Sabre defeated Roderick Strong to win the PWG World Championship.11Marty ScurllMystery Vortex IV2016Scurll challenged Zack Sabre Jr. for the PWG World Championship but lost.12RicochetAll Star Weekend 13 - Night 22017Ricochet defeated Chuck Taylor to win the PWG World Championship.13Jeff CobbSmokey and the Bandido2018Cobb defeated WALTER to win the PWG World Championship.14BandidoMakings of a Varsity Athlete2019Bandido defeated Jeff Cobb to win the PWG World Championship.15Daniel GarciaDelivering The Goods2022Garcia defeated Bandido to win the PWG World Championship.16Mike BaileyTwenty: Mystery Vortex2023Bailey lost to Daniel Garcia in an Iron Man match for the PWG World Championship. 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
External links The Website of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (Requires Macromedia Flash)