Daniel Garcia’s departure from this year’s Battle of Los Angeles came about thanks to a request by All Elite Wrestling.

In the first round of the tournament hosted by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Garcia lost to Titus Alexander, who would lose to Konsuke Takeshita in the second round.

Takeshita would make it to the tournament finals, where he would lose a 27-minute war to ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey.

Request

Given that he is the reigning PWG World Champion, Garcia’s early elimination came as a shock to the fans in attendance.

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that AEW did not want Garcia to lose clean, and requested the DQ finish.

While Garcia came up short this year, he won last year’s Battle of Los Angeles, ironically defeating this year’s winner Mike Bailey in the finals.

Night Two

Garcia’s elimination from the tournament allowed him to exit the running without dropping a fall, but also freed him up for night two of the event.

On the second night, Garcia, would make a surprise appearance among the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society.

That show saw Chris Jericho make his PWG debut, teaming with Garcia, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker and Sammy Guevara to defeat Jonathan Gresham, Evil Uno, SB Kento, Michael Oku, and Kevin Blackwood.

Jericho got the pinfall on Blackwood, and after the match, said he and the JAS had a “f***ing blast.”

The former AEW World Champion added that PWG is the modern-day ECW in that the show has passion and allows indie wrestlers to hone their skills in front of a rabid crowd.

Chris Jericho Makes PWG Debut With JAS at Battle of Los Angeles

Chris Jericho has now added yet another promotion to his impressive collection by showing up at Pro Wrestling Guerilla’s Battle of Los Angeles.

Alongside the entire roster of the Jericho Appreciation Society, the former World Champion teamed with Sammy Guevara, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Daniel Garcia, who is the reigning PWG World Champion

The Jericho Appreciation Society would face Jonathan Gresham, Evil Uno, SB Kento, Michael Oku, and Kevin Blackwood in a 10-man tag bout. 

Jericho’s debut for PWG proved to be a successful one, with the leader of the JAS getting the pinfall on Blackwood after hitting the Judas Effect.

Dave Meltzer’s live notes on the match called it “super entertaining” and that the crowd and wrestlers treated it as a “major match, all action.”

Meltzer added that there was a slow-motion spot for minutes until Jericho started chopping Oku hard, and called Oku and Jericho the highlight of the match.

Jericho gave Blackwood multiple near-falls on him before hitting the Judas Effect.

After the Match

Jericho and his team were victorious, but the former AEW and WWE World Champion had plenty to say after the match.

Saying that they had a “f***ing blast,” Jericho added that PWG is “the modern-day ECW,” noting the passion of the fans and the lack of guard rails.

Jericho added that PWG, like ECW has a great atmosphere that allows indie wrestlers to hone their skills in front of a rabid crowd.

https://twitter.com/wrestlingheads/status/1612329246797725698

On March 9, the Jericho Appreciation Society came together to solidify Jericho’s split from Santana & Ortiz. This also was the official end of the Inner Circle.

Jericho noted that he wanted to “cordially split up” the Inner Circle after the Stadium Stampede with The Pinnacle. He also said that he had an interest in forming a group with Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley.

During his feud with Kingston, Jericho unveiled his Jericho Appreciation Society. The group features Daddy Magic Matt Mennard, Cool Hand Angelo Parker, and Daniel Garcia.

Many times during the feud, Kingston brought up the possibility of Jericho being the one to hold Santana & Ortiz back.

The Formation Of The Jericho Appreciation Society

On Talk Is Jericho, he talked about how the group and the idea for it came together. 

Jericho said, “I thought, ‘this [Kingston bringing up Santana & Ortiz] is interesting, we can have some dissension here.’ Then, the fateful moment where Daniel Bryan is going to align with Moxley and he goes, ‘We can bring in Moriarty, we can bring in Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia.’ I was like, ‘is this a thing? If it is, we’ve built up these three guys who have beat up Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho and now they’re going to break it apart? These guys have to stay together. They have to stay together with me! It’s perfect.’

It hit me like, ‘Holy shit.’ Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz have history, they do their thing, I start a new faction with you three and Jake because Jake and I have always been together since day one and I need a killer. ‘This could really work.’ That’s the original idea I pitched to Tony and said, ‘What do you think about this? I know it’s weird.”

The Origin Of The Jericho Appreciation Society

Chris went on to talk about the formation of the name as well.

“The original idea for this whole plan, the name of it was going to be The Citadel. I thought The Citadel was great. I said it to Tony and there was no pop for it whatsoever. I was like, ‘The Citadel sucks. I need something better.’ 

I was looking at the Art Appreciation Society or something like that, some weird email of ‘if you like this, maybe you should check out the Art Appreciation Society in downtown Detroit.’ Then, The Jericho Appreciation Society was just cheesy enough. It’s pretentious,” Chris said.

The former AEW World Champion also added how The Inner Circle were five guys with different identities and opinions but the JAS group was just four guys meant to be together to appreciate Jericho.

Jericho Appreciation Society At AEW Double Or Nothing

At Double Or Nothing, the JAS will take on Danielson, Kingston, Moxley, Santana & Ortiz in an Anarchy in the Arena match.

To view the current lineup for AEW Double or Nothing and how to watch, click here. 

H/T to Jeremy Lambert Fightful for the transcription