MJF returned to Major League Wrestling on Saturday night.
The former AEW World Champion appeared in a backstage segment at MLW Fightland, interacting with his former Dynasty stablemate, Hammerstone.
MJF said to Hammerstone:
“Hammer, I got to tell you, I love you, brother. Six years ago, Dynasty, we’re on the top of professional wrestling mountain. Six years later, I’m still on top. And I’m saying this with love: You were the Beast of the Summer, you were the King of the Colosseum, and now I’ve had to watch you become a court jester.”
MJF called Hammerstone the best big man in the business and told him to let the old version of himself out. Hammerstone responded that he’s been frustrated by hearing people call for The Dynasty to be put back together. He closed by saying his best days were still ahead of him, and later, as the show was coming to a close, Hammerstone attacked the new MLW World Champion Mads Krule Krugger with a chair.
It’s unclear if the backstage segment was taped earlier, but MJF did appear live on an MLW show earlier this summer, when he attacked Mistico at Summer of the Beasts. MJF is scheduled to wrestle Mistico in a title vs. mask match at CMLL’s 92nd Anniversary show on September 19.
MJF’s appearance comes in around the 27-minute mark of the show, available below:
When MLW comes to Texas next month, a death match will be part of the lineup.
MLW has announced that Alex Hammerstone vs. Matthew Justice in a Texas Death Match will take place at Fightland 2025. The show is being held at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills on September 13 and will air live on MLW’s YouTube channel.
Hammerstone — a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion — returned to the promotion this April following a stint with TNA Wrestling. He’s set his sights on becoming World Champion again but challenged for a different belt this June, facing Ultimo Guerrero for the MLW National Openweight Championship. It was supposed to be a one-on-one match until Justice was added at the last minute.
In the triple threat, Guerrero ended up retaining the National Openweight title after Justice cost Hammerstone the win.
MLW wrote:
Hammerstone came within seconds of reclaiming the title, only for Justice to crash the moment. After the bell, frustration turned physical as the two erupted in a violent post-match confrontation, throwing live rounds until MLW security intervened. The tension hasn’t cooled since.
Hammerstone has since lashed out, labeling Justice ‘Mud Show Matt,’ mocking his no-rules brawling style and questioning his place in MLW. But Justice hasn’t backed down—firing back by calling out Hammerstone for walking away from the league, claiming, ‘I bleed MLW. You left to chase greener pastures.’
Justice is a former National Openweight and Tag Team Champion in MLW.
The live Fightland broadcast will begin at 10 p.m. Eastern time on September 13. Here’s the updated card:
MLW Fightland 2025 (Saturday, September 13) —
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Matt Riddle defends against Donovan Dijak
Templario vs. Ikuro Kwon for the vacant MLW Middleweight Championship
Opera Cup tournament first-round match: Volador Jr. vs. Titan
Texas Death Match: Alex Hammerstone vs. Matthew Justice
TV taping portion (will not air live)–
Opera Cup tournament first-round match: Austin Aries vs. KUSHIDA
Opera Cup tournament first-round match: Ultimo Guerrero vs. Esfinge
Alex Hammerstone says he got the feeling he wasn’t a top priority in TNA Wrestling.
Hammerstone returned to Major League Wrestling on Saturday at Battle Riot VII. He had announced his departure from TNA in February, after signing with the company in March 2024. In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Hammerstone said he believes TNA stopped caring about him.
“At a certain point, perception is reality,” Hammerstone said. “So I’m sitting there and from my perception, I felt like the company stopped caring about me and maybe I needed to do something in a different way. Maybe they were looking for something that I wasn’t giving them. But also that was never a conversation that was had. I’d be very happy to be sat down and told, ‘Hey, creatively, this is what we want to do. So we need to see more of this out of you.’ And I never got that. It was just like, hey, where are we going creatively? And a lot of times it’s like, well, you know what you’re doing with this guy. You know what you’re doing with that guy, so why don’t you know what you’re doing with me?”
When he signed with TNA last year, he felt the company had offered him the best deal.
“There’s been subtle discussions at every point with every company at the time last year,” Hammerstone said. “When I was in free agency like that, that TNA deal seemed like the best — the best offer for me at the time. I understand that sometimes people get lost in the shuffle, but with the size of the TNA product at the time, I thought that was a good opportunity to stand out. I was very happy with the match they gave me at Hard to Kill. So, that just seemed like the most logical choice at the time.”
During his time in TNA, Hammerstone lost a Last Man Standing match to Josh Alexander at Rebellion 2024, wrestled in an Ultimate X match at Emergence 2024, and closed out his run with a TNA World Championship loss to Joe Hendry at the February 21 tapings at Full Sail University. He also wrestled twice in NXT last September, losing to Oba Femi and defeating Tony D’Angelo via count out.
In MLW, Hammerstone is a former World and National Openweight Champion.
Alex Hammerstone’s TNA Wrestling run has come to an end after a year with the company.
In a social media post on Friday, the 34-year-old Hammerstone announced that he finished up with TNA last month. He’s grateful for the opportunities the promotion gave him and is now looking forward to what’s next.
“I wrestled my last match for TNA at the February tapings and am no longer under contract with the company,” he tweeted. “Grateful for the opportunities that came my way and excited for what’s next. For business inquires email [email protected]”
Hammerstone debuted for TNA at Hard to Kill 2024, and it was announced in February 2024 that he had signed with the company. He was a World Champion and National Openweight Champion for MLW before joining TNA.
He underwent a minor knee procedure in December of last year but returned to action this February at a show for indie promotion Destiny Wrestling.
During his TNA run, Hammerstone made a couple of NXT appearances last year as part of the WWE-TNA relationship, including losing a match against Oba Femi.
Josh Alexander & Hammerstone will finish their trilogy at TNA Rebellion.
TNA officially announced Thursday that Alexander vs. Hammerstone 3 will take place at the Rebellion pay-per-view on Saturday, April 20.
Hammerstone made his return to TNA for the first time in six years in January at the Hard to Kill pay-per-view, losing to the veteran Alexander in his first match back. Hammerstone then took the victory in their second meeting in March at the Sacrifice event. The rubber match will now take place on April 20 at Rebellion in Las Vegas.
Six matches are now official for Rebellion set for Saturday, April 20. The event will air at 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view. The current lineup:
TNA World Champion Moose defends against Nic Nemeth
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Steph De Lander
TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali defends against Jake Something
TNA Tag Team Champions The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) defend against Speedball Mountain (Mike Bailey & Trent Seven)
Eric Young vs. Frankie Kazarian in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Former MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone has signed with TNA Wrestling.
TNA announced during Thursday’s Impact episode that Hammerstone has signed with the company and will face Josh Alexander at Sacrifice on Friday, March 8 in a Hard to Kill rematch.
Hammerstone announced last October that he had requested his release from MLW, but later returned to the promotion in November. He later revealed that his contract with the company expired at the end of 2023 and that he planned to hit free agency as 2024 began, posting a video on social media on January 1 issuing an open challenge.
TNA’s Josh Alexander accepted the open challenge and the two met at Hard to Kill in January, with Alexander scoring a victory in the first meeting. A rematch between the two has now been announced for the TNA Plus Sacrifice special on Friday, March 8.
Aside from his one TNA match this year, Hammerstone has also wrestled for GCW and a variety of independent promotions as a free agent.
There is no word from TNA as to whether Hammerstone’s deal makes him exclusive to the company.
Five matches are currently set for Sacrifice. The current lineup:
TNA Sacrifice, Friday, March 8 on TNA Plus —
TNA World Champion Moose defends against Eric Young
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Xia Brookside & Tasha Steelz in a triple threat
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone
Nic Nemeth vs. Steve Maclin
Mustafa Ali, John Skyler & Jason Hotch vs. Chris Sabin, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight
A new match has been added to the lineup for TNA Hard to Kill.
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone is now confirmed for the show. The match announcement follows a social media exchange between the two in recent days.
Hammerstone issued an open challenge in a video he posted on New Year’s Day announcing he’s officially a free agent.
TNA then made the match official for Hard to Kill on Saturday, January 13 at the Palms in Las Vegas. It will be Hammerstone’s second-ever match in the promotion. He also wrestled on an episode of Impact Xplosion in 2018.
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Moose
Knockouts Champion Trinity defends against Jordynne Grace
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against KUSHIDA and El Hijo del Vikingo in a three-way match
Knockouts Ultimate X match (Announced participants: Gisele Shaw, Xia Brookside, Jody Threat)
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone
PCO vs. Dirty Dango
TNA Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defend against The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel), Speedball Mountain (Mike Bailey & Trent Seven), and The Grizzled Young Vets (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
Pre-show match: Rich Swann vs. Steve Maclin
Pre-show match: Eric Young & Frankie Kazarian vs. Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards
Pre-show match: Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer defends against Crazzy Steve
MLW’s special year-end Holiday Rush event comes after last week’s season finale of MLW Fusion and ahead of January’s Kings of Colosseum.
Ichiban vs. Salina de la Renta, an MLW Tag Team title match, and Jacob Fatu vs. Hammerstone were the main advertised matches. Those, and the rest of tonight’s matches, were taped earlier this month at the One Shot tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in New York.
Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on commentary.
AKIRA defeated Alec Price, Brett Ryan Gosselin, J Boujii, Love Doug and Nolo Kitano in a scramble match
Doug jumped BRG as he made his entrance to continue their feud over being the love interest of the “International Pop Superstar” B3CCA. These two continually clashed throughout the match and will meet in a blindfold match at the January 6th tapings.
Price, AKIRA, Boujii and Kitano picked up the pace early with a rotation of switching one-on-one highspots. Doug turned a five-way sleeper hold train into a love train by switching from chokehold to hug, but Kitano quickly put a stop to that with a missile dropkick.
AKIRA based a Tower of Doom spot that saw Boujii as the unfortunate top layer of the double superplex.
Doug and AKIRA brought a Santa sack into the match and used it to blindfold BRG before double-superkicking him. Doug and AKIRA then turned their attention to each other. Doug hit a superb looking rebound clothesline, but had to be aware of a roll-up and springboard cutter from Boujii.
This began a series of nearfall finishers as Kitano, AKIRA, and Price – complete with a dive to all opponents on the floor – were all involved, but it was the prizefighter AKIRA who picked up the win after his Death Penalty reverse DDT was enough to put Price away.
After the match, AKIRA got on the mic and cut a babyface promo about his time in The Calling. He called Ricky Shane Page a leech and said The Calling’s storm won’t last. He was interrupted by Page, Cannonball, and a gang of masked goons. AKIRA fought most off, but Page hit his devastating DDT to once again stand over his fallen ex-friend…or did he? AKIRA kicked him low to show he still has fight left. AKIRA will face RSP in a Taipei Death Match at Kings of Colosseum.
– Backstage, we saw Promociones Dorado getting ready for Salina de la Renta’s match against Ichiban, but she was quickly distracted by a bag left in her office. Last week on Fusion, one of Cesar Duran’s henchmen’s masks was left in her office, so it seems she is spooked and may not be as strong and powerful as she tries to show.
– A vignette for the return of Sami Callihan at Kings of Colosseum aired.
Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Notorious Mimi and Tiara James in a three-way
James was on the losing end of another three-way last week involving Delmi Exo and Featherweight Champion Janai Kai so she was looking to get back to winning ways here.
Before the match, we saw WTF member Zayda trying to negotiate a future title match for herself. Saint Laurent said he would talk to De La Renta to get a match with Kai.
Mimi hit a tilt-a-whirl slam, but it looked like a missed tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Zayda as she left the ring to leave Zayda and James to work the next spot. James ended up coming off the middle rope with a double dropkick to her opponents and then dropped Mimi with a gutbuster and spinebustered Zayda on top of her too. James looked strong going into the finish.
MSL had to save Zayda and interrupted a pinfall attempt after a rolling neckbreaker. That outside distraction let Zayda hit an Unprettier on James to pick up the win.
– Hyper Misao will make her MLW debut against Kai at Kings of Colosseum in January.
– MLW returns to Chicago on May 11th for Azteca Lucha.
Josh Bishop (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Matthew Justice
This played into Bishop’s size and power vs. Justice’s daredevil toughness. Justice rallied time after time in the early going, fighting off a wind-up sidewalk slam, a backdrop to the apron, and a spinebuster into the ring post by diving through the ropes and baseball sliding into his larger opponent.
This tough guy match turned into a weapons bout as a table and chair were brought into the ring. Bishop used a table to ram into Justice’s head as he was on the top rope.
Justice hit a spear for a nearfall, but another interference distraction from MSL let Bishop lift Justice in an Outsider’s Edge position and toss him through the table that was resting in the corner to pick up the pinfall win. Bishop lifted Justice’s MLW Tag Team title belt after the match, and both ended up brawling to the back.
Later on in the show, the two continued their brawl to the roof of the building. A table was set up there for some reason, so Justice used it to hit a death-defying elbow drop after climbing to a higher level of the rooftop area.
Tony Deppen (w/ Griffin McCoy & TJ Crawford) defeated Kevin Blackwood
This was very quick but served as a nice step in the ongoing feud between Blackwood and Deppen’s gang of goons. Blackwood looked in control as he tried to get some revenge for the continued attacks and taunting he had received in recent weeks.
Deppen had pulled the turnbuckle pad off at the start of the match. After being knocked off the apron earlier, McCoy and Crawford interfered again, this time causing Blackwood to collide with the exposed buckle. That gave Deppen the opening to roll up Blackwood and get the tainted win.
– WTF’s Jayda introduced Richard Holliday who complimented her tan before announcing he is officially a member of the World Titan Federation, hyping up his MLW title match vs. Alex Kane at Kings of Colosseum.
– A vignette for the returning Matt Riddle,who will face Jacob Fatu at Kings of Colosseum, aired.
Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black) and TJ Crawford & Griffin McCoy to earn a future MLW Tag Team title shot
The popular Mane Event were unfortunately on the receiving end of another loss as Wasted Youth won themselves a future tag title shot. Wasted Youth have a bright future as they are an exciting and explosive duo. McCoy and Crawford continued their wicked ways, teaming for the first time here.
Wasted Youth hit a nice backstabber/lionsault combo, but McCoy and Crawford came in with some nice double-team moves of their own — especially a twisting suplex throw into a sit-out power bomb. Lyon ran down the ramp and dove into the ring through the circus hoop to break up the pin.
The action was non-stop and packed with high-flying and double-team moves. Wasted Youth picked up the win after a shooting star press and 450 splash on Black while Lyon was taken out with a Fosbury flop to the floor.
Ichiban defeated Salina de la Renta (w/ Jesus Rodriguez, Janai Kai & Rocky Romero) by DQ
This was short, but it was here to continue the story of Ichiban’s quest towards Romero’s Middleweight title.
Kai, Romero and Rodriguez tried to interfere early, but Ichiban thwarted them all. This left Salina alone, who tried to negotiate with Ichiban before literally blindsiding him with a spray to the eyes. This caused the DQ, but allowed the Promociones Dorado team to lay a beating on Ichiban and remove his mask. Mascara Dorada came out to help Ichiban and chase away the dastardly heels.
Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas) defeated MLW Tag Team Champions The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & “Good Brother 3” Mance Warner) by DQ
Freebird Rules were in effect here as the masked Warner, ahem Good Brother 3, stepped into Matthew Justice’s shoes to represent the champions.
With no ongoing storyline between the teams and with both being babyfaces, it was a quiet opening as they exchanged holds and slowly warmed up into a strike battle between Thomas and Manders.
SGC hit Thomas with a double suplex off the top rope so Kane had to come in for his team and begin a one-man comeback consisting of suplexes and a splash on the apron.
Kane locked in an ankle lock on Manders, but broke it off when he noticed Jayda and Saint Laurent at ringside. Warner hit his running knee, but Kane regained his focus and suplexed him out of the ring.
Saint Laurent grabbed Kane’s ankle and the champion left the ring to confront the corrupt promotor, but Richard Holliday, with a glass of bubbly, also appeared at ringside. Kane and Holliday came face to face and Kane ended up with the champagne in his face. They came to blows as the referee called for the bell and called a disqualification win for the Bomaye Fight Club which also meant no title change.
Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop came in with chairs to lay waste to the three members of the SGC but this ended up in security pulling them all apart as the commentators hyped up Alex Kane vs Richard Holliday on January 6th.
-Backstage Janai Kai and Delmi Exo confronted each other and came to blows. After being pulled apart two of Cesar Duran’s masked men appeared and handed Exo an envelope… interesting.
– After the end of the last match, it was announced that Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders would defend their MLW tag titles against Josh Bishop and Tom Lawlor at KOC.
Jacob Fatu defeated Alex Hammerstone (w/ Saint Laurent)
Before they started, we had the popular “MEAT!” chant as the two long-term rivals sized each other up.
Hammerstone took the early advantage, but Fatu came back with an early run-up twisting moonsault from the top rope and a dive through the ropes to the floor. A brawl on the floor ensued with Hammerstone going headfirst into the ring post.
Fatu dove off the top with a senton bomb for a two count. Hammerstone then pulled the referee in the way to stop Fatu from hitting a superkick. This slight distraction gave Hammerstone the opening to hit a running pump kick to get the heat.
Hammerstone posed and flaunted as he slowly hammered Fatu, focusing on the lower back. A brief disagreement with the referee let Fatu hit him with a desperation savate kick, a running hip attack, and a Vader bomb for a close two count of his own.
Hammerstone got his knees up on Fatu’s handspring moonsault and then hit a powerslam and underhook suplex for another nearfall.
Fatu fought back and hit an amazing move. With Hammerstone sitting on the top rope, Fatu climbed up from the apron to meet him. Then, from balancing on the top rope, Fatu jumped and hooked Hammerstone with a hurricanrana, sending him the full way across the ring.
As momentum was swinging towards Fatu, Hammerstone desperately pushed the referee into the ropes which meant Fatu crotched himself on the top. Hammerstone then climbed to meet his foe and hit his own impressive top rope move with a top rope overhead belly-to-belly suplex.
A strike exchange followed as fatigue was setting in. Hammerstone slipped out of a Samoan drop and hit his standing pump kick, a release German suplex and a sit-out power bomb for a nearfall. Hammerstone immediately lifted up Fatu and hit his Nightmare Pendulum but somehow Fatu kicked out of that as well.
Fatu caught Hammerstone and hit his pop-up Samoan drop and quickly hit his signature double-spring top rope moonsault but Hammerstone hooked Fatu’s arms during the pinfall and nearly caught him out with a crucifix pin.
Fatu hit two more savate kicks, a Samoan Spike and another double spring moonsault to finally pin Hammerstone for the first time in his MLW career.
Saint Laurent looked disgusted with Hammerstone for losing and walked out on him. Hammerstone rolled out of the ring to meet Fatu at ringside and after a tense moment, they both hugged in a show of respect.
Post-match promo
After the match, Hammerstone got on the mic and said he could be getting himself in hot water but only has good intentions. He talked about his contract situation but said above all else, tonight he feels grateful. He mentioned his failed tryouts for WWE, Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground and they all passed on him apart from MLW.
Without a tryout match, Court Bauer signed him to a three-year contract because he saw something in him. He said a lot of people say things about MLW and Court, and it has not been all sunshine and rainbows but they took a little boy and turned him into a wrestling superstar.
He went on to say that he wants to say that MLW is built with bricks made up of Hammerstone’s DNA, but in reality, Hammerstone is built with bricks made up of MLW’s DNA.
He named Ricky Shane Page, 1 Called Manders, Josh Bishop and Alex Kane being the names to take MLW forward. Bauer came out and hugged Hammerstone before they both walked to the back.
As his MLW contract ends on Jan 1st, if this was his last appearance in MLW, this was a nice send-off for the former champion. Hammerstone was pushed really strong from the start of his MLW run as part of MJF’s Dynasty stable. He will be remembered for his undefeated National Openweight title run and his two-year World title run against numerous top-level names. His recent surprise return as a heel fooled a lot of fans as the story had hints of reality where Hammerstone was airing his contract grievances before showing up and siding with Saint Laurent and the renegade WTF group.
Before going off air, we saw a video Riddle just posted to X from Las Vegas. In it, he said he was excited to get back to MLW because the MLW World Championship has eluded him since 2018. He then said that he was excited to fight the baddest man in the world in January and told Jacob Fatu he would be seeing him soon.
One former member of The Dynasty has returned to MLW, and another has confirmed they are set to become a free agent.
MLW presented One Shot last night from the Melrose Ballroom in New York. Alex Kane successfully defended his MLW World title against Matt Cardona in the main event. After the match, Kane was confronted by a returning Richard Holliday.
Holiday has been gone from the company since June 2022. He was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma later that year and would undergo chemotherapy treatment. Holiday revealed in May that his cancer is now in remission.
Alex Hammerstone, who returned to MLW last month, has announced that his contract officially expires on January 1 and he will become a free agent at that time.
Last night was my last event under my current contract.
January 1st I will officially be a free agent.
For all business inquiries contact me via social media or email [email protected]
After publicly requesting his release from the promotion in October, Hammerstone returned at MLW Fightland. He also joined MSL’s WTF stable.
Also at MLW One Shot on Thursday, our own Tom Lawlor was defeated by Satoshi Kojima. Following the match, fans tossed pieces of bread into the ring to pay tribute to the leader of Bread Club.
At tonight's MLW One Shot show, the fans in attendance threw BREAD in the ring for Satoshi Kojima after he defeated Filthy Tom Lawlor!
This week’s matches were taped at the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia earlier this month. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.
– Matt Cardona with Steph de Lander told us that he is going to walk out of his city, New York City, the MLW World Heavyweight champion because he is a man and Alex Kane is a little boy. He questioned what Kane could possibly do to him since he survived being thrown off the stage by Kane all those years ago.
Jimmy Lloyd defeated Cannonball in a Thumbtack Pit of Deathmatch
The thumbtack pit was set at the side of the ring similar to a casket match but we were not told how someone wins this match type. I’m guessing being thrown into the tack pit?
Cannonball used a flier to papercut Lloyd’s fingers and mouth before being on the end of a double knees to the face. Cannonball then pushed Lloyd’s forehead into the tacks, followed by rubbing a handful across the forehead and shoving a fistful into his mouth.
Lloyd reversed Cannonball and forced the masked man’s hand into the tack pit before hitting him and another Calling henchman with a dive.
They brawled to the back where Ricky Shane Page attacked Lloyd but AKIRA, who had recently split from Page and The Calling, came in to even the odds.
After a break, they brawled back to the ring where Cannonball absorbed four chair shots before falling off the apron and through the thumbtack pit to give the win to Lloyd. Lloyd will face The Calling’s Ricky Shane Page for the MLW National Openweight title at One Shot.
– After Mance Warner cut his farewell promo last week following his loss in a Loser Leaves MLW match at Fightland, 1 Called Manders was cutting an emotional promo about his lost friend when “Masked Good Brother #3” from last week came into the shot to cheer up Manders. MGB#3 was, of course, Mance Warner under a mask and is he still in MLW, phew!
Wasted Youth (Dylin McKay & Marcus Mathers) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyons & Midas Black) and Austin Luke & Lucky 13 in a Three Way Tag Team match.
Wasted Youth had the hometown advantage in this tornado tag rules match and they started strong hitting a great moonsault to Jay Lyons.
Luke and 13 were in next where 13 hit a nice jumping knee to get a close nearfall. The action was non-stop and full of tag team combinations, especially when The Mane Event were involved. Their attack culminated in Lyons hitting his circus hoop dive to all four opponents.
Luke hit a nice German suplex on Lyon and 13 came close to winning with a combo kick to the face of Midas Black.
Wasted Youth came back in with a double dropkick and double superkick. They then picked up the impressive debut by finishing off 13 with a Fireman’s carry roll, a top rope moonsault – followed immediately by a dive to the floor ala Rey Fenix- and a top rope 450 splash.
– After the match, Joe Dombrowski interviewed the winning pair. McKay said they have found the place with the hottest tag team division and where they will treat them with respect.
– We heard more details of Alex Hammerstone’s “release” from MLW and his joining the World Titan Federation before the WTF cut a ’90s WWF-style group promo in front of a green screen. Lawlor introduced Josh Bishop who told the Bomaye Fight Club to bow down to the man who rules the wrestling world. Hammerstone said that Bomaye is bogus marketing “BS” manufactured by MLW.
– Ahead of the One Shot match between Mascarada Dorada and Rocky Romero for the MLW Middleweight title, Salina de la Renta and Romero told us that Mascarada will need all the help they can get.
– Tony Deppen returned from suspension for attacking Kevin Blackwood weeks ago. Deppen will face Nolo Kitano in two weeks.
Zayda Steel defeated Gia Scott
After an equal opening exchange, Zayda raked the eyes to gain the advantage. Gia Scott came back with some strikes and a big kick to the face followed by a Book End ura nage for a close two count.
Zayda slipped out of a power slam and quickly used a single-leg takedown, jumped on top, and put her feet on the ropes to pick up the flash pinfall win.
Joe Dombrowski tried to interview Zayda Steel but Saint Laurent interrupted and made it a “Sessions by Saint Laurent”. Steel ended up receiving a WTF contract after Saint Laurent called her a Diva and a 10.
– Alex Kane responded to Matt Cardona ahead of their title match at One Shot. Kane said Cardona has been messing with his family for too long and will give Cardona a receipt for busting him open at Fightland. Kane said he will take Steph de Lander to Hoe Island, MSL to Fat Camp, and Cardona to Suplex Island.
– Our own “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will face Satoshi Kojima at One Shot in NYC on December 7, this week he told us that some people think Kojima is the best MLW world champion, but Lawlor told us all that he is the greatest champion in the company’s history and will send Kojima back home in a pine box.
– Saint Laurent then continued his homage to Vince McMahon by announcing the “Bodies by Saint Laurent” bodybuilding contest at One Shot with a special guest singing America the Beautiful before the competition.
World Titan Federation (Alex Hammerstone, Josh Bishop & Tom Lawlor w/Saint Laurent) defeated The Bomaye Fight Club (J Boujii, Mr Thomas & O’Shay Edwards)
Alex Kane was injured in last week’s main event so that explained why he was absent from the Bomaye Fight Club team this week.
Bomaye shone first by singling out Lawlor who was on the receiving end of Mr Thomas’ Bossman slam. Filthy quickly came back into the match and locked in a Sharpshooter before tagging in Bishop and Hammerstone who beat down J Boujii.
Hammerstone easily launched Boujii into the air with a press slam. Lawlor then wrenched the arm and whipped Boujii into Bishop who hit his own Bossman slam. Quick tags continued as Lawlor hit a hard right forearm to floor Boujii followed by a Bronco Buster.
Boujii came back with a German on Lawlor and a momentum-shifting DDT.
Mr. Thomas got the hot tag and launched his large frame off the apron on top of Bishop, clotheslined Lawlor out the ring, and hit a top rope flip dive to the floor onto everyone.
Back from the break, Boujii hit a springboard cutter to Lawlor and Thomas launched Boujii off the top with a rocket launcher. However, Bishop pushed Thomas into the pin to break it up.
Hammerstone then ran over Boujii before suplexing Thomas out of the ring. Lawlor and Bishop hit a double chokeslam to Boujii but Edwards made the save.
Bishop and Edwards brawled to the floor, leaving Boujii and Hammerstone in the ring. Hammer hit his pump kick and Nightmare Pendulum but let Lawlor sneak in to complete the pinfall victory for the World Titan Federation.
– After the match, the WTF put the boots to the Bomaye Fight Club as referees and officials tried to stop the attack. Alex Kane’s music hit for possibly the only man able to stop the attack but before he could make it to the ring, Cardona jumped Kane from behind and rammed him into the ring post. Bomaye Fight Club members tried to help but they were also knocked down and out of the ring.
– As Fusion was planning to go off the air the Bomaye Fight Club had one last fight in them and they launched a final attack as a team. They got the better of the WTF and Kane hit Cardona with a suplex to stand tall at the end of the show.
Alex Hammerstone is back in MLW, although not in storyline.
After publicly requesting his release from the promotion last month, Hammerstone appeared at the end of MLW Fightland on Saturday night at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena.
In storyline, MLW granted Hammerstone’s release, allowing him to sign with Mister Saint Laurent’s World Titan Federation (WTF), a faction of “Superstars” looking to re-brand MLW.
Following the show’s main event, WTF members Matt Cardona, Steph de Lander, and our own Tom Lawlor hit the ring to attack Alex Kane and a brawl with the Bomaye Fight Club ensued. The lights went out and when they came back on, Hammerstone was in the ring wearing a WTF tank top. Hammerstone then attacked Kane and Fatu.
The show closed with WTF standing tall in the ring and Cardona holding up the MLW World Heavyweight title belt.
“MLW.com can confirm that Hammer was in fact granted his release from MLW this week… but no one expected him to sign instantly with Saint Laurent’s World Titan Federation and return tonight to crash FIGHTLAND,” reads an MLW press release.
The Second Gear Crew beat The Calling to win the MLW Tag titles in a ladder match. AKIRA accidentally hit Rickey Shane Page with a chair while all four wrestlers were climbing the ladders. This eventually led to 1 Called Manders pulling down the belts.
After the match, RSP and AKIRA ended up brawling and then two masked members of The Calling came in and helped RSP beat down AKIRA.
Steph de Lander made her MLW debut. After it was teased that she was romantically involved with Mance Warner, de Lander then speared Warner through a table and helped Matt Cardona pick up the win in a Loser Leaves MLW match.
Alex Kane successfully retained his MLW World Heavyweight Championship after choking out Jacob Fatu in a match that went 48 minutes.
MLW FIghtland 2023 results:
The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) defeated The Calling (AKIRA & Rickey Shane Page) in a ladder match to win the MLW World Tag Team Championships
Matt Cardona w/Mister Saint Laurent & Steph de Lander defeated Mance Warner in a Loser Leaves MLW match
Ichiban & Mascara Dorada defeated Promociones Dorado (Rocky Romero & El Barbaro Cavernario) w/Salina de la Renta
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defeated Jacob Fatu to retain his title
On the same day he gave some insight into his attempts to get released from MLW, Alex Hammerstone did have some good news come out: his debut in GCW.
The former MLW Champion will join with past partner/rival Richard Holliday to take on Charles Mason & Parrow at GCW What Is Your Choice? on Sunday, December 3rd in Brooklyn, New York.
Hammerstone did wrestle at a dual GCW/FSW show in May of this year, but this will mark his first traditional GCW event. This will be his first time teaming with Holliday since August 2021. The two were part of The Dynasty faction in MLW before they began feuding in 2022. Holliday has been feuding with Mason the past two months in GCW.
While he remains under contract to MLW, Hammerstone hasn’t competed for the promotion since July. Since then, he has competed for several indie promotions and has gone public with his desire to gain his release since he feels there are no plans for him in MLW. He was removed from their roster page some time ago.
Earlier Wednesday, he released a now-deleted video to X where he talked about his situation and that he’s unclear if he will get released or not.
Alex Hammerstone says he’s not sure if MLW intends to release him or not.
The former MLW World Heavyweight Champion asked to be let out of his contract with the company late last month. He posted a since-deleted video to social media on Wednesday to say that he has not had much communication with MLW since asking to be released.
“The point of this video is not to bash the company, it’s not to talk negatively about anybody, it’s just to be an update on the situation as I currently understand it,” Hammerstone said in the video.
“This whole situation kind of broke to the news and the dirtsheets just recently but it’s actually been ongoing for a couple of months now. The communication on that end to me has been sparse, to put it nicely. I’ve tried several times to get on the phone with Court Bauer, it hasn’t happened, unfortunately.”
“The last I was told was that they were actually working towards a release. However, that was several weeks ago at this point. Then they broke the story to the dirtsheets, they told them that they had actually no intention of releasing me. So, I’m not sure if there’s been a miscommunication somewhere, or if I was simply told that just to kind of shut me up a bit.”
“I have not worked for the company in well over 100 days at this point. They’ve removed me from their active roster page, they’ve removed me from all current marketing material. They edited me out of the show intro and highlights and those sorts of things and I have not been contacted for any dates moving forward.”
“It’s been made pretty apparent to me at this point that they have no intention of using me moving forward but their official statement was that they have no intention on releasing me. So, I’m not sure if I’m being punished just for asking if that was a possibility or if there’s a miscommunication somewhere.”
Hammerstone’s video was released on the same day that AAA’s Arez posted a message to social media asking to be released by MLW. The promotion responded to Arez that both he and Aramis had been let go in May and AAA was supposed to inform them of this, as AAA was a co-signee on both contracts.
Lance Anoa’i and Juice Finau were released from the company last month as well.
Alex Hammerstone has confirmed he’s asked to be released from his MLW contract.
After reports surfaced on Saturday that the 32-year-old was looking to exit the promotion, Hammerstone took to social media on Sunday and confirmed the news.
Hammerstone wrote:
My time with @MLW was 5 of the best years of my life and career. Very proud of what I and the company accomplished. I wish them continued success. I have recently asked for my release as I feel it’s what’s right for me at this time. Thank you @courtbauer for the opportunities.
Hammerstone has been removed from MLW’s roster page. However, Fightful Select is reporting that MLW does not currently intend to grant his request. The promotion has not commented publicly on the matter.
Fightful Select is also reporting that Lance Anoa’i has requested his release from MLW as well. Anoa’i is also not listed on the promotion’s roster page. The 31-year-old is a member of the Anoa’i family dynasty, Samu’s son, and cousins with Roman Reigns and The Usos.
Anoa’i has appeared on WWE programming as enhancement talent on three occasions, including in 2019 when he lost to Shane McMahon on Raw. Most recently, Anoa’i competed in Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory tournament, finishing with a 4-3 record.
A former MLW World Heavyweight Champion has requested to be released from the promotion.
Fightful reports that Alex Hammerstone has asked to be released from his MLW contract. Though Hammerstone hasn’t been informed of MLW’s decision, Fightful writes that — as of now — MLW does not intend to grant Hammerstone’s request.
Hammerstone held the MLW World Heavyweight Championship from October 2021 to July 2023. He won the title from Jacob Fatu and lost it to Alex Kane.
In December 2021, Hammerstone signed a new multi-year MLW contract.
Hammerstone’s contract reportedly runs until the end of 2025.
Fightful notes that the relationship between Hammerstone and MLW has become “frayed.” With Hammerstone wanting to leave the promotion, a buyout was brought up when the two sides had been in communication earlier this year. MLW wants to retain Hammerstone and has been in contact with him.
The report notes that, from MLW’s perspective, Hammerstone’s “motivation decreased when he was booked to lose the world title to Alex Kane earlier this year.”
Hammerstone’s most recent MLW match was when he dropped the title to Kane.
Hammerstone is also a one-time MLW National Openweight Champion.
Earlier in his MLW run, Hammerstone was part of The Dynasty with MJF and Richard Holliday. MJF is the current AEW World Champion. Holliday, who departed MLW earlier this year, recently took part in a WWE tryout.
