Battle of Los Angeles (2007) was the third Battle of Los Angeles professional wrestling tournament produced by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). The event was held on August 31, September 1 and September 2, 2007 at the Burbank Armory in Burbank, California.
The tournament featured the PWG debuts of Doug Williams, Susumu Yokosuka, Jimmy Rave and Nigel McGuinness. The tournament concluded with a three-way elimination match, in which CIMA defeated Roderick Strong and El Generico to win the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. The event also featured a World Tag Team Championship match on night one, in which El Generico and Kevin Steen successfully defended the titles against Dragon Kid and Susumu Yokosuka.
Other non-tournament matches included a tag team match on night one, in which The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Los Luchas (Phoenix Star and Zokre), a tag team match on night two, in which Ronin and T.J. Perkins defeated Bino Gambino and Karl Anderson and a twelve-man tag team match on night three, in which the team of Chris Hero, Doug Williams, Jack Evans, Kevin Steen, Susumu Yokosuka and Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries, Davey Richards, Human Tornado, Jimmy Rave, Karl Anderson and Scott Lost.
Background
Original lineup
Twenty-four participants were announced for the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles in June 2007. On June 16, PWG announced the first eight participants for the tournament including: Joey Ryan, Doug Williams, Susumu Yokosuka, Dragon Kid, 2005 winner Chris Bosh, 2006 winner Davey Richards, Jimmy Rave and Chris Hero. On June 27, the next eight participants were revealed for the tournament: Human Tornado, Jack Evans, Tyler Black, PAC, Roderick Strong, the World Tag Team Champion El Generico, Matt Sydal and Scott Lost. The final eight names were announced on June 29: Claudio Castagnoli, Shingo Takagi, the World Tag Team Champion Kevin Steen, World Champion Bryan Danielson, Super Dragon, Rocky Romero, Nigel McGuinness and CIMA.
Replacement
Due to injuries, many of the participants withdrew from the tournament. Bryan Danielson suffered from a detached retina in a match against Takeshi Morishima, which sidelined him for four to six weeks. Super Dragon also pulled out of the event and Chris Bosh also withdrew due to injuries and announced his retirement. They were replaced by TNA wrestler Alex Shelley, local worker Tony Kozina and Necro Butcher.
Qualification
At Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, Ronin took on Joey Ryan in a match which stipulated that if Ryan lost then his hair would be cut off and if Ronin lost then he would lose his spot in the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Ryan won the match ending Ronin's chances of participating in the tournament. At Giant-Size Annual #4, a month before the Battle of Los Angeles, Austin Aries returned to PWG and defeated Rocky Romero to take his spot in BOLA.
Event
Night 1
The event kicked off with a promo by the PWG World Champion Bryan Danielson, who apologized to the PWG fans for not being able to compete in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament due to injury and promised to compete at the next event.
The opening match was a tag team match between Los Luchas (Phoenix Star and Zokre) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). Bucks performed More Bang for Your Buck on both Los Luchas and pinned both of them for the win.
It was followed by the beginning of the Battle of Los Angeles with a match between Chris Hero and Joey Ryan. Jade Chung distracted the referee while Hero had covered Ryan for the pinfall after a diving double foot stomp. Scott Lost took advantage of the distraction and tried to interfere by handing the brass knuckles to Ryan but Hero snatched these and delivered a Hero's Welcome to Ryan and pinned him for the win. However, after the match, the referee saw brass knuckles in Hero's hand and assumed that Hero hit Ryan with these and reversed the decision, allowing Ryan to advance in the tournament. An enraged Hero then hit Ryan with the knuckles.
Next, Austin Aries took on Roderick Strong. Strong pinned Aries with a roll-up for the win.
Next, Jimmy Rave made his PWG debut against Matt Sydal. Sydal performed a shooting star press on Rave for the win.
Next, Alex Shelley took on Tyler Black. After a series of near-falls, Shelley delivered a springboard cutter to Black for the win.
Next, Claudio Castagnoli took on the debuting Doug Williams. After Williams countered an earlier Ricola Bomb attempt by Castagnoli, the latter managed to deliver a Ricola Bomb for the win.
Next, Jack Evans took on PAC. Pac nailed a twisting shooting star press for the win.