Battle of Los Angeles (2008)

Last updated
Battle of Los Angeles (2008)
Low Ki March 2016.jpg
The 2008 tournament winner Low Ki
Promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
DateNight One:
November 1, 2008
Night Two:
November 2, 2008
City Burbank, California
VenueBurbank Armory
Event chronology
← Previous
All Star Weekend 7 		Next →
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
Battle of Los Angeles chronology
← Previous
2007 		Next →
2009

Battle of Los Angeles (2008) was the fourth Battle of Los Angeles professional wrestling tournament produced by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). The event took place on November 1 and November 2, 2008 in Burbank, California. [1] [2]

Contents

The tournament concluded with a final match in which Low Ki defeated the PWG World Champion Chris Hero. Aside from the tournament matches, the tournament featured a three-way nine-man tag team match, in which the losers of the first round of the tournament competed. [3] [4] The event marked the PWG debut of Kenny Omega.

Background

The 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament was set to follow the 24-man format of the previous two editions of the tournament and take place on the weekend of August 30 and 31, but PWG management was unable to book the talent they wished to for the event and decided to move the event and drop the entrants down to 16. [5] However, the field was included to add one more participant, making it a total of seventeen participants as the two PWG commissioners Excalibur and Dino Winwood couldn't come to a conclusion on who would be the final entrant. The participants were announced as: 2006 winner Davey Richards, Chuck Taylor, Masato Yoshino, El Generico, Kenny Omega, Brandon Bonham, Austin Aries, the World Champion Chris Hero, Necro Butcher, Scott Lost, the World Tag Team Champion Nick Jackson, Roderick Strong, Nigel McGuinness, Joey Ryan, T.J. Perkins, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki. [6] [7] PWG announced the lineup for the first round of the tournament, with one match being a three-way match between El Generico, Masato Yoshino and Nick Jackson due to the total number of seventeen participants. Chris Hero and Necro Butcher's first round match was announced to be a no disqualification match. [8]

Event

Night 1

The 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament first round kicked off with a match between T.J. Perkins and Chuck Taylor. Taylor initially won the match after hitting Perkins with brass knuckles but the referee realized that Taylor had used the foreign object and therefore reversed the decision and awarded the win to Perkins. [9]

Next, Kenny Omega made his PWG debut against Brandon Bonham. Omega had raised Bonham on his shoulders but Bonham countered by hitting a flip piledriver for the win. [9]

Next, Austin Aries took on Nigel McGuinness. Aries tried to apply a Last Chancery but McGuinness moved out of it and applied an armbar on Aries to force him to submit for the win. [9]

Next, Low Ki took on Roderick Strong. Ki applied a Dragon Clutch on Strong to make him submit for the win. [9]

Next, Joey Ryan took on Scott Lost. Lost avoided a That 70's Kick by Ryan and kicked him in the head for the win. [9]

Next, Bryan Danielson took on Davey Richards. Danielson made Richards submit to the Cattle Mutilation for the win. [9]

It was followed by a three-way match between Nick Jackson, El Generico and Masato Yoshino. Yoshino picked up a submission victory to advance in the tournament. [9]

Next was the night one's main event, a no disqualification match between Chris Hero and Necro Butcher. Hero applied a Hangman's Clutch on Butcher to make him submit for the win. [9]

Night 2

Quarterfinals

The night two began with the quarterfinals of the Battle of Los Angeles with the first quarterfinal match taking place between Nigel McGuinness and Brandon Bonham. McGuinness caught Bonham on the top rope and hit a Tower of London for the win. [10]

Next, Low Ki took on Masato Yoshino. Ki avoided a neckbreaker by Yoshino and dropkicked him and then applied a Dragon Clutch on Yoshino for the win. [10]

Next, Bryan Danielson took on T.J. Perkins. Danielson caught Perkins with a sunset flip from the apron into the ring and pinned him for the win. [10]

Next, Chris Hero took on Scott Lost. Hero hit an elbow smash to Lost and applied a Hangman's Clutch on Lost to make him submit. [10]

Semifinals

The first semifinal match took place between Nigel McGuinness and Low Ki. McGuinness was disqualified when he countered a Dragon Clutch attempt by delivering a Tower of London to Ki onto a chair. As a result, Ki advanced to the final round. [10]

Next, Chris Hero took on Bryan Danielson. Hero put a running Danielson down with a dragon screw legswhip and applied a Hangman's Clutch on Danielson to make him submit for the win. [10]

Non-tournament match
The 2008 tournament winner Low Ki. BOLA2008.jpg
The 2008 tournament winner Low Ki.

The penultimate match was a three-way nine-man tag team match in which the nine losers of the opening round competed. It pit the team of Austin Aries, Davey Richards and Roderick Strong against the team of Nick Jackson, El Generico and Necro Butcher and the team of Chuck Taylor, Kenny Omega and Joey Ryan. Richards pinned Butcher with a roll-up and the referee made the fast count, prompting Butcher to hit referee with a chair in the head. [10]

Final

The Battle of Los Angeles final took place between Chris Hero and Low Ki. After getting out of a Hangman's Clutch by Hero, Ki countered a running elbow smash by Hero by dropkicking him and then applied a Dragon Clutch on Hero to make him submit to the hold to win the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. [10]

Reception

Bob Colling of 411Mania rated the first night 7.3, considering it a "solid night one of the tournament" with five of the matches having "some kind of entertainment attached to them". [9] He considered the second night "a better night than night one" and praised the semi-final match between Chris Hero and Bryan Danielson as "a nicely done match". [10] The tournament final between Chris Hero and Low Ki on the night two received praise from critics, with the Southern California-based wrestling website SoCal Uncensored awarding it the 2008 Southern California Match of the Year Award. [11] [12]

Aftermath

After winning the Battle of Los Angeles, Low Ki signed a developmental contract with WWE and his contract prevented him from competing for PWG, therefore he could not appear at PWG and was unable to challenge for the PWG World Championship, a title shot guaranteed for the Battle of Los Angeles winner. [13] Ki returned to PWG two years later at Kurt RussellReunion II: The Reunioning in 2011 and finally received a title shot against Claudio Castagnoli at All Star Weekend 8, where he failed to win. [14] [15]

Results

Night 1 (November 1)
No.ResultsStipulationsTimes [3]
1 T.J. Perkins defeated Chuck Taylor via reverse decision Singles match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament12:28
2Brandon Bonham defeated Kenny Omega Singles match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament16:34
3 Nigel McGuinness defeated Austin Aries Singles match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament14:49
4 Low Ki defeated Roderick Strong Singles match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament16:54
5 Scott Lost defeated Joey Ryan Singles match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament12:38
6 Bryan Danielson defeated Davey Richards Singles match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament21:44
7 Masato Yoshino defeated El Generico and Nick Jackson Three-way match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament13:50
8 Chris Hero defeated Necro Butcher No Disqualification match in the first round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament29:39
Night 2 (November 2)
No.ResultsStipulationsTimes [4]
1 Nigel McGuinness defeated Brandon Bonham Singles match in the quarter-final round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament8:33
2 Low Ki defeated Masato Yoshino Singles match in the quarter-final round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament7:46
3 Bryan Danielson defeated T.J. Perkins Singles match in the quarter-final round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament22:10
4 Chris Hero defeated Scott Lost Singles match in the quarter-final round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament11:38
5Low Ki defeated Nigel McGuinness by disqualificationSingles match in the semi-final round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament8:48
6Chris Hero defeated Bryan DanielsonSingles match in the semi-final round of Battle of Los Angeles tournament14:06
7 Austin Aries, Davey Richards and Roderick Strong defeated El Generico, Necro Butcher and Nick Jackson and Chuck Taylor, Joey Ryan and Kenny Omega Three-way nine-man tag team match 27:47
8Low Ki defeated Chris HeroSingles match in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament final18:56

Tournament brackets

Battle of Los Angeles (2008)
Tournament information
Sport Professional wrestling
Location Burbank, California
DatesNovember 1, 2008–November 2, 2008
Tournament
format(s)
 Single elimination tournament
Participants17
Final positions
Champion Low Ki
Runner-up Chris Hero
←  2007
2009  →
First round Second round Semifinals Finals
        
Brandon BonhamPin
Kenny Omega  16:35  [1]
Brandon Bonham Pin
Nigel McGuinness 08:31  [2]
Austin Aries Sub
Nigel McGuinness  14:46  [1]
Nigel McGuinness DQ
Low Ki 08:48  [2]
Low Ki Sub
Roderick Strong  16:53  [1]
Low KiSub
Masato Yoshino  7:45  [2]
El Generico
Nick Jackson 		Sub
Masato Yoshino *  13:52  [1]
Low KiSub
Chris Hero  18:56  [2]
T. J. Perkins DQ
Chuck Taylor  12:29  [1]
T. J. Perkins Pin
Bryan Danielson 22:12  [2]
Bryan Danielson Sub
Davey Richards  21:49  [1]
Bryan Danielson Sub
Chris Hero 14:07  [2]
Chris Hero † Sub
Necro Butcher †  29:40  [1]
Chris HeroSub
Scott Lost  11:38  [2]
Scott Lost Pin
Joey Ryan  12:39  [1]

* = This match was a three-way dance † = This was a No Disqualification match

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Stage One". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla . Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "2008 Battle of Los Angeles – Stage Two". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla . Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  3. 1 2 "PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2008 - Stage One". Cagematch. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 "PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2008 - Stage Two". Cagematch. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  5. ↑ Larry Csonka (September 29, 2008). "PWG News: The Battle of Los Angeles Scheduled for November 1st and 2nd". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  6. ↑ Larry Csonka (October 8, 2008). "PWG News: First Five Participants for the Battle of Los Angeles Announced". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  7. ↑ Larry Csonka (October 17, 2008). "PWG News: All 17 Battle of Los Angeles Participants Announced!". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  8. ↑ Larry Csonka (October 21, 2008). "PWG News: Complete First Round Line Up for the BoLA Announced!". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bob Colling (September 9, 2012). "Colling It In The Ring Reviews: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Stage One 11/1/2008". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bob Colling (September 10, 2012). "Colling It In The Ring Reviews: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Stage Two 11/2/2008". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Southern California Match of the Year". SoCal Uncensored . Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "2008 Southern California Pro-Wrestling Awards". SoCal Uncensored . February 18, 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Adam Martin (January 9, 2009). "Low Ki officially signs with WWE". WrestleView. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  14. ↑ Ken Drabek (January 10, 2011). "ROH and PWG Announce Stacked Cards for WrestleReunion Weekend in Los Angeles". Bleacher Report . Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  15. ↑ Jake St-Pierre (August 23, 2012). "Guerrilla Reviewfare: PWG All Star Weekend 8, Night 2". 411Mania. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
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