Battle of Los Angeles (2006) was the second

Battle of Los Angeles The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

produced by

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned and operated by wrestlers themselves, having been created by Disco Machine, Excalibur, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Super Drago ...

(PWG). It was a three-night event held on September 1, September 2 and September 3, 2006 at the American Legion Post #308 in Reseda,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The 2006 tournament featured twenty-four participants which concluded with

Davey Richards Wesley David Richards (born March 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), under the ring name Davey Richards, and is the current MLW National Openweight Champion in his first reign. ...

defeating Cima in the final on the night three. It also marked the returns of

The Briscoe Brothers The Briscoe Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Jay Briscoe (Jamin "Jay" Pugh) and Mark Briscoe (Mark Pugh). They are known for their 19-year tenure with the American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). and ...

and

Super Dragon Daniel Caine Lyon (born June 8, 1980), better known by his ring name Super Dragon, is an American professional wrestler. Beginning his career in 1997, he has worked for companies such as All Pro Wrestling, Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Ring of ...

to PWG. The event featured the PWG debuts of Dragon Gate wrestlers Cima,

Dragon Kid is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate as . Nakamura initially broke into the wrestling business with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW), but was not allowed to be a wre ...

and

Genki Horiguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is currently a full-time wrestler for Dragon Gate. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor. When Horiguchi's hairline began receding, the fans began t ...

. Aside from the tournament, eight-man tag team matches took place on the first and third night. The second night featured a

four corners elimination match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

between Joey Ryan,

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

Human Tornado Craig Williams (born May 1, 1983), better known by his ring name, Human Tornado, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. His character was that of a 1970s blaxploitation street pimp. He performed primarily on the California independen ...

and

Petey Williams Peter Williams III (born August 26, 1981) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE as a backstage producer. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling, where he is a two-time X Division Champion. He is also k ...

for the

PWG World Championship The PWG World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) professional wrestling promotion. It was first introduced in 2003 as the PWG Championship. The inaugural champion was Frankie Kazarian. ...

and a three-way dance between Arrogance (

Chris Bosh Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft. Bos ...

and

Scott Lost Scott Epperson (born June 8, 1980), better known by the ring name Scott Lost, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, which he founded with five other wrestlers and where he is a for ...

), the team of

B-Boy Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

and

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

and The Briscoe Brothers for the

PWG World Tag Team Championship The PWG World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in the tag team division of the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) promotion. It was created and debuted on January 25, 2004, at PWG's Tango & Ca ...

Background

Original lineup

On June 3,

Scorpio Sky Schuyler Andrews (born April 2, 1983), better known by the ring name Scorpio Sky, is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Andrews is also known for his appearances with Ring of ...

announced himself as the first participant in the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles tournament at ''Fear of a Black Planet''. The first match announced for the tournament pitted

M-Dogg 20 Matthew Capiccioni (born December 31, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring names M-Dogg 20, Matt Cross and Son of Havoc. He currently competes on the independent circuit and Major League Wr ...

against Dragon Gate wrestler Cima, marking the latter's PWG debut. On June 24, Dragon Gate wrestler

would be announced to make his PWG debut against

Chris Hero Chris Spradlin (born December 24, 1979), better known by his ring name Chris Hero, is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is currently signed to Ring of Honor as a producer. Hero has worked for a number of independent wrestling pr ...

. On June 29, Jack Evans would be announced to compete against

Claudio Castagnoli Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club stable. Castagnoli also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Ho ...

. On June 30, PWG Commissioner Dino Winwood announced that Sky would compete against

Frankie Kazarian Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and musician currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. In addition, Kazarian also pe ...

in the tournament, stemming from Sky's attack on Kazarian at ''(Please Don't Call It) The OC'' event and resulted in Sky cutting off Kazarian's ponytail. On July 5, new tournament matches were announced for the tournament including

Disco Machine Michael Mondragon is an American former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Disco Machine. He was one of the six founders of the Southern Californian independent promotion, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Professional wrestling career D ...

versus

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same d ...

and

Chris Sabin Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by his ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, and is also known for his work in Ring of Honor. After being trained by Scott D ...

versus

Roderick Strong Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand, as the leader of Diamond Mine, but is currently inactive due to ...

. The following day, on July 6, a new match was announced between

Matt Sydal Matthew Joseph Korklan (born March 19, 1983), better known by the ring name Matt Sydal, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Prior to signing with AEW, Sydal wrestled in WWE as Evan Bourne, and was ...

and

Mark Briscoe Mark Pugh (born January 18, 1985) is an American professional wrestler best known as Mark Briscoe. He is currently signed with Ring of Honor, where he is the current one-half of ROH World Tag Team Champions with Jay Briscoe in their thirtee ...

. On July 8, a match was announced between T.J. Perkins against

and

Jay Briscoe Jamin "Jay" Pugh (born January 25, 1984) is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Jay Briscoe. He is currently signed with Ring of Honor, where he is the current one-half of ROH World Tag Team Champions with Mark Briscoe ...

would compete against

Alex Koslov Alex Sherman (born January 21, 1984) is a Moldovans, Moldovan-born retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and color commentator, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling under the ring name Alex Koslov. Koslov has mainly worke ...

. On July 10, new matches were announced pitting

Kevin Steen Kevin Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Kevin Owens. Steen began his career in 2000, at the age of 16. Prior to joining WWE in la ...

against Quicksilver and

El Generico Rami Sebei ( ar, رامي سبعي; born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sami Zayn, and is a member of The Bloodline. Prior to joi ...

against

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * Delirious (1991 film), ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * Delirious (2006 film), ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an Americ ...

. On July 26, the final match in the tournament was announced between

and

Necro Butcher Dylan Keith Summers (born July 13, 1973), better known by the ring name Necro Butcher, is an American professional wrestler. Throughout the years he has worked for various promotions, including Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, IWA Mid-South, Pro W ...

, which PWG heavily hyped as a "dream match".

Replacement

However, on July 18, significant changes took place in the tournament. Alex Koslov was sent to Mexico on a six-month learning excursion and

Austin Aries Daniel Healy Solwold Jr. (born April 15, 1978), better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the Control Your Narrative wrestling promotion. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrest ...

was announced as his replacement against Jay Briscoe. However, Commissioner Dino Winwood removed

(Jay and Mark) from the tournament due to no-showing Threemendous event where they were scheduled to compete.

Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he worked fro ...

was then announced to replace Jay Briscoe against Aries.

, a third wrestler representing Dragon Gate, would then be announced to replace Mark Briscoe against Quicksilver while Briscoe's originally scheduled opponent Kevin Steen would take on Quicksilver's originally scheduled opponent Matt Sydal. However, Danielson separated his shoulder on August 26 in a

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

match against Colt Cabana. This led to some more changes to the card as Disco Machine would take on Austin Aries, Colt Cabana would take on Chris Sabin, Roderick Strong would take on

Rocky Romero John R. Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed non-exclusively to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッ ...

and Davey Richards would take on Ronin, a replacement for the injured T.J. Perkins.

Event

Night 1

The Battle of Los Angeles tournament kicked off with a match between

and

. Sabin pinned Cabana with an O'Connor roll. Next,

took on

. Generico hit Delirious with two

big boot Strikes are offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, and many are known by several different names. Professional wre ...

s and a half nelson suplex for the win. Next, Cima made his PWG debut against

. CIMA countered a

hurricanrana Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

from M-Dogg 20 into a ''

Schwein Schwein (German for ''pig'' as well as ''pork'') is a music group comprising members of Buck-Tick, KMFDM, and PIG. Members Raymond Watts (vocals, programming, guitar) and Hisashi Imai (Buck-Tick; guitar and noise), both having worked together in ...

'' for the win. Next,

took on

. Steen countered a hurricanrana from the top rope by Steen into a superbomb for the win. Next, the debuting

took on Quicksilver. Dragon Kid

dropkick A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as they jump so that when the feet connec ...

ed Quicksilver off the top rope and nailed a '' Dragonrana'' for the win. Next,

took on

. Strong got out of various submission holds by Romero and hit a gutbuster, followed by a double underhook powerbomb. Strong then applied a ''

Stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

'' on Romero to make him submit for the win. This was followed by the main event of night one, an eight-man tag team match, in which the team of

and

took on

and The Dynasty (

, Joey Ryan and

). The match reached its conclusion when Ryan accidentally hit Williams, prompting Williams to deliver a '' Canadian Destroyer'' to Ryan and abandon his teammates. This allowed Excalibur to crawl over Ryan and pin him for the win. After the match,

(

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

) made their surprise return to PWG and attacked Homicide.

Night 2

The first round of the BOLA continued on the second night with a match between

and

. Aries moved out of a choke by Machine by hitting elbows and then nailed a

brainbuster A brainbuster is a professional wrestling throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were executing a vertical suplex. The wrestler then falls onto their back so that ...

and applied a scissored armbar to make him submit for the win. Next,

took on Ronin. Richards executed a '' D.R. Driver'' on Ronin for the win. Next,

took on Jack Evans. Evans countered a '' Ricola Bomb'' from the top rope by Castagnoli into a

and nailed a 630° senton on Castagnoli for the win. Next,

took on the debuting

. Horiguchi countered a '' Hero's Welcome'' by Hero into a '' Backslide From Heaven'' for the win. It was followed by a

Four Corners Elimination match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, in which Joey Ryan defended the

against Excalibur, Human Tornado and Petey Williams. However, Tornado was unable to compete due to a shoulder injury, leading to a three-way match between Ryan, Excalibur and Williams. Excalibur scored the first elimination by countering a '' Canadian Destroyer'' by Williams into a roll-up and pinning him in the process. Williams retaliated by hitting a piledriver to Excalibur, allowing Ryan to pin him for the elimination. Ryan apparently retained the title until Tornado showed up and attacked Ryan, forcing him to retreat and get counted out, thus retaining the title in the process. Next, Arrogance members Chris Bosh and Scott Lost defended the

PWG Tag Team Championship The PWG World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in the tag team division of the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) promotion. It was created and debuted on January 25, 2004, at PWG's Tango & C ...

against the Briscoe Brothers and the team of Homicide and B-Boy in a

Three-Way Dance Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. So ...

. B-Boy nailed a '' Go 2 Sleep'' to Mark Briscoe followed by Homicide executing a '' Cop Killa'' on Briscoe. Bosh rushed in and threw Homicide out of the ring and pinned Briscoe to retain the titles. This match was followed with the continuation of the BOLA as

took on

. Jade Chung was initially banned from ringside but showed up to prevent Kazarian from

powerbomb A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted (usually so that they are sitting on the wrestler's shoulders) and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a sta ...

ing Sky from the stage onto a pile of chairs but Kazarian powerbombed Sky onto the chairs. Jade hit Kazarian with a pair of scissors resulting in Sky getting disqualified and Kazarian advancing to the next round. After the match, Kazarian tried to cut Chung's hair off until The Dynasty made the save allowing her to retreat. It was followed by the final match in the first round of BOLA as

made his return from injury after a four-month absence to take on

in a

no disqualification match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, which PWG billed as a "dream match". After a lengthy match, Dragon nailed a '' Psycho Driver'' to Butcher onto a chair for the win.

Night 3

Quarterfinals

The night three started with the quarterfinal round of the BOLA, with the first match pitting Chris Sabin against El Generico. Generico avoided a

front dropkick A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as they jump so that when the feet connec ...

by Sabin and countered with a mule kick and a brainbuster for the win. Next, CIMA took on Kevin Steen. CIMA avoided a package piledriver by Steen and hit a

superkick Strikes are offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, and many are known by several different names. Professional wre ...

before pinning Steen with a roll-up for the win. Next, Roderick Strong took on Dragon Kid. Strong countered a '' Dragonrana'' by Kid into a ''

'' to make him submit for the win. In the following match, Austin Aries took on Davey Richards. Aries got a near-fall after a brainbuster and attempted to hit a 450° splash but Richards moved out of the way, further hurting Aries' injured ribs. Richards capitalized by applying an inverted cloverleaf on Aries, pressurizing his ribs and making him submit. Next, Jack Evans took on Genki Horiguchi. Evans countered a ''Backslide From Heaven'' by Horiguchi into a bridge and pinned Horiguchi for the win. It was followed by the last quarterfinal between Frankie Kazarian and Super Dragon. However, Kazarian was attacked by The Dynasty before the match and Dynasty drove him onto a chair back first to knock him out until Dragon made the save and

curb stomp A curb stomp, also called curbing, curb checking, curb painting, or making someone bite the curb is a form of assault in which a victim's mouth is forcefully placed on a curb and then stomped from behind, causing severe injuries and sometimes dea ...

to Jade Chung onto a chair. The assault rendered Kazarian unable to compete allowing Dragon to advance to the semifinal by forfeit.

Semifinals

Next, the semifinal began with a match between El Generico and CIMA. After countering a brainbuster by Generico from the top rope into a

Tornado DDT In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a Grappling hold, front facelock/inverted headlock and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent's head into the mat. The classic DDT is performed by putti ...

, CIMA hit a ''

'' on Generico but got a near-fall. CIMA followed it by nailing a ''Schwein Redline'' to Generico for the win. Next, Roderick Strong took on Davey Richards. Richards countered a ''Stronghold'' by Strong into a roll-up and pinned him for the win. It was followed by the last semifinal between Super Dragon and Jack Evans. Dragon attempted to deliver a ''Psycho Driver'' to Evans from the top rope but Evans moved out of it. Dragon ultimately caught Evans and hit a ganso bomb to Evans from the top rope onto the mat for the win.

Non-tournament match

Next, an eight-man tag team match took place pitting Colt Cabana, M-Dogg 20, Quicksilver and Rocky Romero against Necro Butcher, Rocky Romero and Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli). Quicksilver delivered a diving hurricanrana off Castagnoli's shoulders onto Hero for the win.

Final

It was followed by the main event which was the final of the 2006 BOLA, a three-way match between Super Dragon, Davey Richards and CIMA. However, The Dynasty attacked Dragon backstage, thus removing him from the match, making it a singles match between Richards and CIMA. CIMA got a near-fall by hitting a ''Schwein'' to Richards and then CIMA attempted to deliver another ''Schwein'' but Richards countered it into a ''DR Driver'' to win the match and the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles tournament.

Reception

Arnold Furious of ''411Mania'' rated the tournament 8 out of 10, appreciating the night three as a whole but criticizing the opening round and the company's booking, feeling that PWG "cheated the fans out of their advertised main event and another marquee match in an attempt to continue their Dynasty Vs Main Eventers storyline." Magnus Donaldson praised the night one of the tournament, considering it a "very solid card of wrestling".

Aftermath

Davey Richards did not follow the tradition of the Battle of Los Angeles tournament winner getting a PWG World Championship title shot but instead used his tournament win to challenge for the PWG Tag Team Championship alongside his former tag team championship partner Super Dragon in hopes of regaining the tag team titles. However, Richards did not show up at ''Self-Titled'' and instead B-Boy substituted for him and teamed with Dragon to challenge Chris Bosh and Scott Lost for the tag team titles. Dragon and B-Boy won the tag team titles. Richards was bitter towards Dragon for preferring to team with B-Boy over himself, leading to Richards teaming with Roderick Strong to challenge Dragon and B-Boy for the titles at the first night of ''All Star Weekend'', where Richards and Strong won the championship. However, Richards and Strong lost the titles back to Dragon and B-Boy in a four-way match, the following night. Frankie Kazarian continued his feud with Scorpio Sky after the Battle of Los Angeles, leading to Kazarian facing Sky and Jade Chung in a handicap

first blood match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

at ''Self-Titled'', which Kazarian lost after a false finish. Kazarian faced Sky in a series of tag team matches at ''All Star Weekend'' and ''Passive Hostility''. The feud culminated in a loser leaves PWG match at ''Based on a True Story'', which Kazarian won. Human Tornado continued to pursue the PWG World Championship as he defeated the reigning champion Joey Ryan in a non-title match at ''Self-Titled''. At ''Passive Hostility'', Ryan retained the title against Tornado and Kevin Steen in a three-way match by getting disqualified after hitting Tornado with a chair. Tornado finally defeated Ryan for the World Championship in a

Guerrilla Warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

at ''Based on a True Story'', ending Ryan's year-long reign.

Results

Tournament brackets

* = This was a

No Disqualification match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

‡ =

was attacked backstage by the Dynasty before his final match taking him out of the tournament

References

External links

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla official website
{{Battle of Los Angeles 2006 in professional wrestling Battle of Los Angeles (professional wrestling) September 2006 sports events in the United States Professional wrestling in Los Angeles 2006 in California 2006 in Los Angeles