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

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla are back! The company have just confirmed they will be holding their first show since 2019. Nothing is known about the event at this point in time, other than its date. August 1^st.

Kept you waiting, huh? PWG returns on Sunday, August 1st!

— PWG (@OfficialPWG) June 11, 2021

The last Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show was The Makings of a Varsity Athlete in December 2019. The pandemic than saw the company freeze operations, cancelling its final show KOBE in March 2020. The company is based in California and at the time was one of the early cities to impose strict COVID prevention measures.

Times have changed since their last show, with several of their superstars now tied to contracts with other promotions. Namely, the reigning PWG tag team champions The Rascalz’s Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz who are now better known as MSK.

The reigning PWG champion, Bandido was also set to defend against Johnathan Gresham. It will be interesting if these two will be able to finish their feud.

It is interesting to note that six members of the PWG roster are all now signed to AEW. AEW color commentator Excalibur is also one of the founders of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

Wil AEWs willingness to work with other companies, it is not inconceivable to think there could be some sort of cross-promotion. At the very least, you would imagine AEW would be agreeable to let their stars appear for at least one Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show given the close associations between everybody involved in the two promotions.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has announced their next show Head Like A Cole takes place on May 19th. The following matches have been announced:

– PWG World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Trent?
– PWG Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Rey Fenix & Penta El Zoro M
– Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle
– Sami Callihan vs. Adam Cole
– Shane Strickland vs. Michael Elgin
– Lio Rush vs. Mark Haskins
– Keith Lee vs. Trevor Lee

Tickets for Head Like a Cole go on sale next week.

Tickets for Head Like A Cole go on sale Thursday, April 27th at 8PM PDT!

— PWG (@OfficialPWG) April 20, 2017

– The Motley Fool website has a new article up about top hedge fund company Citadel Advisors selling approximately 772,000 shares of WWE stock.

– WWE’s Brad Maddox was in attendance at the Pro Wrestling Guerilla “Battle of Los Angeles” event on Friday night in Reseda, California. Maddox has also been doing some stand-up comedy as of late.

– Below is another clip for the season three premiere of WWE Total Divas.

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