PWG’s annual tournament Battle of Los Angeles is one of the most prestigious yearly tournaments on the independent scene. It sees 32 of the top talent not signed to the big promotions battle it out in an all-star independent tournament to find out just who is the best wrestler in the world.
The tourney has previously been used to help catapult wrestlers into stardom. Previous winners include AEW stars Kenny Omega and Adam Cole, WWE’s Ricochet and Sami Zayn and other huge stars liken Zack Sabre Jr and Jeff Cobb.
The event is a straight knockout tournament. 32 wrestlers wrestler in a pure knockout format, getting through if they win their match or being knocked out if they lose. It takes 4 wins to whittle down the field to find out the top two wrestlers and they battle for the chance to be crowned the winner of BOLA.
BOLA 2023 will be no different. While not all the Battle of Los Angeles 2023 entrants have been announced, they are coming through in dribs and drabs and we will let you know exactly who is in it as soon as they have been confirmed by PWG.
BOLA 2023 Entrants
- Michael Oku
- Shun Skywalker
- Masha Slamovich
- “Speedball” Mike Bailey
- Komander
- Alex Shelley
- Jonathan Gresham
Michael Oku and Shun Skywalker are making their PWG debuts in the tournament, being stars in their respective home countries (England and Japan). Masha Slamovich and Komander debuted for PWG this year but will be competing in their first Battle of Los Angeles.
Last years winner and PWG Champion Daniel Garcia has yet to be confirmed for the event. He beat Mike Bailey in last years final and currently resides in AEW, where he teams with Chris Jericho in the Jericho Appreciation Society.
This is Jonathan Gresham’s second Battle of Los Angeles. He made it to the finals of the 2019 tournament. In 2022, Gresham had to miss BOLA due to testing positive for COVID-19.
PWG Battle of Los Angeles takes place on January 7th and 8th. We will update this page with more information once it becomes available to us.