Tag: alex hammerstone

Daily Update: Tony Khan, All Out, Alex Hammerstone

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is out and it’s the biggest issue in terms of volume that we have ever done:

  • The life of Terry Funk with many different stories from many different places
  • The Ric Flair/Terry Funk 1989 feud
  • Terry Funk sees the death of the territories before anyone else
  • Paul Heyman on Terry Funk
  • The life and career of Bray Wyatt
  • The sad situation regarding his death
  • Career highlights
  • How COVID led to serious health issues
  • Him just being seen in the hospital a week before his death
  • Life before wrestling
  • Full coverage of AEW All In
  • Notes on attendance records
  • A rundown of the other four biggest shows in history
  • Every $10 million gate in pro wrestling history
  • Early PPV numbers
  • Crossover buys with SummerSlam
  • Thoughts on next year’s show at Wembley
  • Tony Khan’s thoughts after the show
  • A detailed look at the Punk-Jack Perry incident with different stories from people there
  • How it affected the show backstage
  • What happened with the show and to Punk and Perry after the incident
  • Rundown of the show
  • WrestleMania ticket sales as of this week
  • Last year’s Mania numbers and numbers from other years
  • How the secondary market is doing for WrestleMania
  • Saudi Arabia gets into business with the PFL and causes a WWE stock price drop
  • Preview of the next AEW & WWE PPV shows
  • Business notes on this week’s show
  • A look at the RevPro show with Ospreay vs. Takagi
  • The most detailed look at the ratings over the past two weeks
  • How each segment did, how the show compares with one year ago
  • A look at the best rated Smackdown show in almost three years
  • International TV numbers
  • CMLL matches at Denver Broncos game
  • CMLL Grand Prix show notes
  • Metalik done with CMLL and explanation as to why
  • Konnan health update
  • QT Marshall defends Latin American title in Europe
  • Notes on the last Stardom PPV show
  • Notes on Dragon Gate’s Dangerous Gate show
  • All Japan finishes tournament and legend challenges for Triple Crown out of it
  • N-1 tournament update
  • Talks of a New Japan expansion
  • Naito talks his future
  • The All-Star Junior show in Philadelphia
  • DDT has big show coming
  • Major former promoter in Mexico Carlos Elizondo passes away
  • New Netflix wrestling show
  • Impact changing taping schedule
  • Notes on upcoming Impact shows
  • Lots of talk from Tony Khan about new things with the company and deals
  • Punk gets Cauliflower Alley Club award
  • Update on Cung Le lawsuit against UFC
  • Update on Edge
  • John Cena’s return notes

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Ordering Info:

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Sunday Update

Bryan and I were up last night covering the C.M.Punk firing, Payback and Collision and tonight we’ll be covering All Out. If you have any questions on the Punk situation you can send them to [email protected] as we’ll answer questions on that subject.

Obviously tonight’s show will be more interesting because of crowd reactions than anything else. Before Collision went on the air, Tony Khan spoke to the crowd in Chicago and it was very hostile as you can see. I will give him a lot of credit for this because regardless of arguments about how the situation was handled for the past 18 months, he easily could have just let it ride this weekend since everyone knew Punk was suspended and waited until after the PPV show to announce the firing, and just did the short taped prepared statement for television. But this was his speech and the reaction to it from the live audience: 

This is tonight’s card which will go from 7 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. Eastern:

  •  Athena & Mercedes Martinez & Diamante vs. Willow Nightingale & Hikaru Shida & Skye Blue
  • Over the Budget Battle Royal, the winner lists his favorite charity and AEW will make a $50,000 donation to that charity
  • Acclaimed & Billy Gunn defend the trios titles against Jeff Jarrett & Satnam Singh & Jay Lethal with Dennis Rodman in the Acclaimed corner and Sonjay Dutt in the Jarrett corner.
  • Samoa Joe vs. Shane Taylor for ROH TV title
  • Eddie Kingston & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
  • Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho for the TBS title
  • FTR & Young Bucks vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson & Gunn Brothers
  • Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
  • Adam Cole & MJF vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds for the ROH tag titles
  • Luchasaurus vs Darby Allin for the TNT title
  • Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Stars in a strap match
  • Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley for the International title

I expect a lot of good action matches but I’m dumbfounded about some of the matches like the ROH tag title match (which may be very entertaining but I can’t understand why the hottest act in the company is wrestling the Dark Order on a major PPV show), and no Adam Page or Chris Jericho. The PPV numbers will be very interesting on this. But nobody is expecting a big number coming a week after All In, which should end up as one of the biggest PPV shows in company history. About 9,500 tickets were out for the show, so it won’t be close to sold out but it’s still a healthy crowd and Tony Khan last week said he was thinking it would top $1 million which is always a major success.

We’re looking for your thoughts on both WWE Payback from last night and All Out from today, you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

We’re also looking for reports on tonight’s MLW show in Philadelphia to [email protected]

Alex Hammerstone is off today’s MLW show for family related reasons. MLW is planning its PPV version of the show on FITE+ from 6-8 p.m. so it will end before the start of the All Out PPV portion of the show.

The PPV version is:

  • Alex Kane vs. Willie Mack for the MLW title
  • Jacob Fatu vs. Rickey Shane Page in a weapons of mass destruction match for the National Openweight title
  • Maki Ioth vs, B3CCA
  • Kushida vs Tony Deppen
  • Matt Cardona vs. Mance Warner in a kiss my foot match
  • Akira vs. Jimmy Lloyd in a street fight
  • Ichiban vs. Tracy Williams

Go Shiozaki won the N-1 tournament from Pro Wrestling NOAH beating Kenoh in the finals today in Osaka. Their next major show is 9/17 with Will Ospreay vs. Naomichi Marufuji.

Grayson Waller complained that Jey Uso attacked him unprovoked on his own show on Twitter and then showed him holding a Pepsi can to his head like an ice pack, seemingly in reference to C.M. Punk.

Even with all the news this week, the only thing that cracked the Google searches this past week was Payback from yesterday which was No. 19 with 100,000 searches, which is lower than WWE PPV shows usually do. Punk did not crack the top 20. Yesterday’s UFC show had nothing that cracked the top 20. All In, believe it or not, didn’t crack the listings last Sunday either which basically tells you that the interest in the show was big enough among wrestling fans to do a big U.S. PPV number, but it did not break through outside of the wrestling fan base big enough to crack the top 230.

Wrestlecon has announced its activities for WrestleMania in Philadelphia will be at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel in Philadelphia.

Kevin Von Erich did a talk show Friday night in Dallas. Dan Cerquitella told us that he really enjoyed it and the crowd was into it. He said the drawback was the host didn’t know wrestling and that Kevin came off so likeable. But he said Kevin shined through.

People were raving to us about the Eddie Kingston and Toshiaki Kawada panel at Starrcast today saying Kawada was just awesome in answering questions. Kawada said that after the death of Mitsuharu Misawa, he just lost his passion for wrestling. He indicated he didn’t like Kenta Kobashi, saying he had a big head. He also said he didn’t like Kensuke Sasaki. He said he didn’t go to Pro Wrestling NOAH because he couldn’t leave the Baba family after all they had done for him.

Progress noted that Yoshiki Inamura of NOAH will debut for the promotion on 9/9 in Birmingham, England. Inamura will be facing Ricky Knight Jr. for the Atlas championship.

RevPro results from earlier today in London: Sha Samuels b Connor Mills to win the British cruiserweight title, JJ Gale b Robbie X, Bredan White & Danny Jones b Jude London & Paris De Silva, Luke Jacobs b Wild Boar, Ricky Knight Jr. & Zak Zodiac b Sunshine Machine, Alex Windor b Maya Matthew with the sharpshooter, Michael Oku b Cameron Khai in a non-title match, Gabe Kidd b Leon Slater (thanks to Shannon Walsh)

Stardom had a PPV show earlier today in Hiroshima, Japan: Ami Sohrei b Lady C, Maika & Megan Bayne b Mina Shirakawa & Mariah May, Utami Hayashishita b Momo Watanabe, Tam Nakano b Starlight Kid, Syuri b Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima b Momo Kohgo to keep the High Speed title, Natsupoi & Saori Anou b Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira to retain the Goddesses of Stardom tag title, Mirai b Konami to retain the Wonder of Stardom title, Giulia b Risa Sera to retain the New Japan Strong women’s title. There will be a UWF rules match with Syuri vs. Mina Shirakawa soon. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)

MLW Fusion results: Alex Hammerstone vs. Danny Limelight

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were the last taped from the MLW and AAA Super Series tapings from Tijuana in February. 

Rich Bocchini and Christian Cole were on the call.

We opened with a video package from The Calling where Raven told Jacob Fatu they were coming for him and the MLW National Openweight title.

Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo) defeated Anton Carrillo & Extassis, Lucha Solos (Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito), and Fantastik & Rayo Star in a four-way tag match.

This was spot-to-spot non-stop chaos. Car hoods, glass, and run-ins galore.

Lucha Solos were the first to take flight in the lucha four-way tag. There was added chaos by way of a trip hazard as the canvas was not tied tightly to the ring and kept crumpling as the eight wrestlers moved around. That could have easily caused an injury.

Cooking sheets were introduced by Los Macizos, who used them to take control. They fended off some quick-fire code reds and hurricanranas to stay on top momentarily.

A car hood was placed on top of chairs on the outside but Star’s running dive slightly overshot it and he collided with Los Macizos.

On the other side of the ring, Maldito and Extassis went through a table after a destroyer from Divino’s shoulders.

A glass panel was then placed in the corner of the ring as Fantastik and Carrillo teased going through it, but interference from unnamed assailants put a halt to that for the moment. Star then took all of them out with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Divino was then powerbombed out of the ring and onto those on the floor.

Los Macizos set the glass between two chairs and powerbombed Carrillo through it from the middle rope before delivering a German suplex to pick up the win.

– One of MLW’s latest signees, Love Doug, has been enamored with B3CCA recently, and this week he had a gift for her. As B3CCA took the guitar, she contemplated giving Doug a chance, but it would not be this week. She then slammed her dressing room door in his face.

– We had a major hint that KUSHIDA is coming to MLW. In a short teaser video, we saw a Back to the Future style clock showing today’s date, the date of Fury Road (September 3rd) and KUSHIDA’s date of birth (May 12th 1983) as well as the Japanese flag.

– Ichiban will take on Tracy Williams at MLW Fury Road, along with the debut of the interview series, “Sessions by Saint Laurent.”

– We saw new friends Mance Warner and Microman have a Tijuana beer with the rest of the Second Gear Crew: Matthew Justice and One Called Manders.

– As Fusion was going off the air last week, we saw The Calling jump Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau. This week the Samoan Swat Team’s stablemate Jacob Fatu was on the warpath looking for AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page. Fatu warned them that “the body count is about to rise”.

– Ahead of his title challenge against Alex Kane at Fury Road in September, Willie Mack told us that he is going out to show everyone that if Alex Kane can do what he has done, Mack can do the same. He will do it for the people who have supported him throughout his career.

Alex Hammerstone defeated Danny Limelight

This was Hammerstone’s first televised appearance since losing the MLW title to Kane at Never Say Never in July, but similar to last week’s Fusion episode, the taping of this match (February 2023) played havoc with the continuity as Hammerstone was still holding the belt at that time. They got around this by inserting a video from The Calling during Hammerstone’s entrance so we would not see him entering the ring with the MLW world title belt.

Speaking of The Calling and their videos, this video had Dr. Cornwallis cook a steak with a blowtorch as AKIRA taunted the meat by calling it Lance Anoa’i.

Limelight cut a pre-match promo to rile up the Tijuana crowd, insulting the Mexican fans but also the wrestlers in the back who depend on weapons to wrestle.

Hammerstone used his size advantage early on but Limelight quickly focused on the former champion’s recently injured leg and groin. Limelight then hit a running clothesline in the corner and a tumbling senton on top of Hammerstone’s legs.

Limelight took too long showing off and got caught with a Gorilla Press into a uranage but Hammerstone’s already injured leg was hurt by the swinging motion of the move.

Limelight hit an impressive running twisting corkscrew crossbody dive from the ring to the floor and then hit a top rope frog splash for a close two count.

Hammerstone made a comeback with a hard back elbow and a spinning face first Burning Hammer for a near fall.

A deadlift Nightmare Pendulum was reversed into a single-leg Boston crab and Limelight then landed a running soccer kick.

Limelight was showing off once too often as he went for a springboard DDT and Hammerstone caught him in mid-air and lifted him straight into the Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the win.

Next Week:

– MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defends against Rickey Shane Page

– Davey Boy Smith Jr vs. Tracy Williams in the 2023 Opera Cup Finals

MLW Underground results: Tag Team title defense, Alex Hammerstone in action

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s season finale of MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia during February’s SuperFight taping and April’s Battle Riot taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

We saw highlights from last week’s victory by Alex Kane in the Battle Riot match. He now has a shot at MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone’s title whenever he chooses.

This week’s show opened with Kane and his Bomaye Fight Club coming out.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Mr. Thomas (w/ Alex Kane) in a non-title match

Kane got on the mic before the match and got the Philadelphia crowd to chant “Bomaye is for the people” along with him. Thomas then said no one backstage can take him on, specifically naming Davey Boy Smith Jr, Jacob Fatu and Hammerstone. This brought out the champion who had his groin area taped up due to his recent adductor tear.

Thomas took advantage early, but the champion fired back, knocked some Bomaye Fight Club members off the apron, and put Thomas away with the Nightmare Pendulum.

Hammerstone looked to be in a lot of pain as he delivered the move and briefly celebrated before The Calling came out, stood on the stage and sent masked henchmen one-by-one after the champ who fought them off.

Jacob Fatu and the SST (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) came out and brawled with the main members of The Calling on the stage to aid Hammerstone.

After some speculation on commentary, it was confirmed that Kane will get his shot at the title on Saturday, July 8th at Never Say Never, MLW’s first live event on FITE+. This was heavily hyped and promoted throughout the episode. 

With this being the season finale of Underground, it will be replaced by the return of Fusion on beIN Sports in just a few weeks. This season will see the 2023 Opera Cup tournament and the Super Series which AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo is advertised for.

– After brawling during the Battle Riot, Mance Warner had some words for Sam Adonis, calling him out and saying he wants to beat him up.

MLW Tag Team Champions Samoan Swat Team (Lance Anoa’i & Juicy Finau) defeated The Mane Event (Midas Black & Jay Lyon) to retain the titles

The ringleader Midas Black led his lion-masked partner Lyon to the ring for an automatic title shot in their MLW debut. The challengers impressed here and showed some very innovative double-team moves throughout.

Lyon dove through a hoop circus-style onto the champions on the outside before they hit the Flying Trapeze: a leapfrog into a splash with a face-first DDT combination. After the break, the champions were still reeling as the challengers hit a double team-assisted standing moonsault, back elbow, and slingshot spear.

Finau rebounded from a double superkick with a running crossbody before crushing his opponents in the corner. A superkick, Rikishi driver and top rope big splash followed which gave the champions a hard-fought victory.

B3CCA defeated Brittany Blake

“The International Pop-star” B3CCA (party hat and all) “sang” her way to the ring to the dismay of both the Philadelphia crowd and her opponent. A good character with some solid in-ring moves, B3CCA could be a potential title challenger in the future.

She hit a superkick but got caught with a Blake forearm on a dive to the floor. Blake came back with a 619 to the outside, but it wasn’t long before B3CCA was back on top with a hard boot to the face, a second rope missile dropkick and a somersault senton to the floor.

Once back in the ring, B3CCA took to the sky again and got a nearfall after a crossbody, but Blake came back with an enzuigiri and a hard knee for a nearfall of her own.

Back on their feet, B3CCA hit a German suplex followed by a top rope 450 splash to pick up the win. 

– New featherweight division signing Delmi Exo met with Sam Laterna and said her one goal is to be champion.

– A big brawl between the Samoan Swat Team and The FBI broke out backstage that explained their absence in the next match.

MLW Openweight Champion John Hennigan vs. Jacob Fatu did not take place

The advertised main event did not take place because as Fatu was making his entrance, he was jumped by Ricky Shane Page and The Calling.

Page hit Fatu in the back with a chair and AKIRA hit a running knee to the back of his head. Raven briefly stood over the fallen SST member as this season of MLW Underground came to an end.

Hammerstone vs. Alex Kane title match set for MLW Never Say Never

Posted on by Josh Nason

Alex Hammerstone’s next MLW title defense is confirmed as he will take on no. 1 contender Alex Kane at MLW Never Say Never.

The show will air live on FITE+ on Saturday, July 8th from Philadelphia as the kickoff of their new live event deal with FITE.

Kane earned the shot with his win in this year’s Battle Riot match that gave him a title opportunity anywhere at any time. He will be looking for his second MLW title reign as he held the promotion’s Openweight Championship for over 200 days.

At the time of the title defense, Hammerstone will have held MLW’s top prize for over 600 days and will be trying for his 16th title defense. He has been out since early-April with a torn adductor and would like to return to in-ring action in mid-May.

While they had a singles match for a California indie promotion in 2021, this will be Hammerstone and Kane’s first match against each other in MLW.

MLW’s Alex Hammerstone reveals torn adductor injury, return date

Posted on by Josh Nason

Reigning MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone revealed on Twitter Friday that he is recovering from a torn adductor.

While not specified, it’s assumed he suffered the groin-related injury in the April 6th War Chamber match that he had to leave early. The match had to be shortened and reworked on the fly and MLW then turned it into a storyline on the recent episode of Underground that it aired on.

Hammerstone was able to work a match against Mr. Thomas for an MLW taping two days later, but has not wrestled anywhere else since.

The 32-year-old said he will be cleared and able to start taking bookings beginning the weekend of May 12th.

Depending on the location of the injury and the severity, recovery time can range from a month to 16 weeks.

Hammerstone has been MLW Champion for nearly 600 days. Their next TV taping is set for July 8th in Philadelphia, PA.

MLW Underground results: War Chamber

Posted on by Iain Oliver

On this week’s MLW Underground, we saw the heavily built-up War Chamber match between the newest heel faction The Calling going against MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone and The Second Gear Crew.

This was taped in New York City earlier this month with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

We saw Davey Boy Smith Jr. picking his number for Battle Riot V out of the traditional tumbler as we were reminded this year’s match will be on next week’s show. 

The upcoming Opera Cup tournament was also hyped.

The Calling (AKIRA, Delirious, Rickey Shane Page, Dr. Cornwallis) (w/ Raven) defeated MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone & The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, Matthew Justice) in a War Chamber match

Delirious and Cornwallis were surprise entrants for Raven’s team.

Page and Manders were first in for their teams and it didn’t take Page long to use start using weapons as he took a wrench to Manders’ mouth. Manders came back with a spinebuster and gave as good as he got with the wrench to Page’s mouth.

AKIRA entered next, German suplexed Manders, and gave him some Kawada kicks to give his team the advantage. Justice was quickly out to even the odds and smash The Calling with a chair in the corners. Manders then picked up his partner and launched him into his opponents.

Delirious was the first surprise entrant for The Calling and hit two Panic Attack running knees as The Calling took control and slowed the match down again.

Hammerstone was in next to give each member of The Calling a German suplex and a power bomb to Delirious for good measure.

The huge masked man Cornwallis was out next to complete The Calling. He hit an impressive spinning heel kick to Hammerstone before his team began using weapons to get the advantage. Page took a fork to Justice’s head, Cornwallis used the wrench on Hammerstone, and AKIRA was using the chair.

Hammerstone seemed to get legitimately injured when AKIRA and Cornwallis each grabbed a leg and pulled them apart. From that point, Hammerstone was visibly in pain on the mat and crawled to the cage door to be helped to the back. This could have been the storyline reason his babyface team lost the match or even the reason they lost if the decision was switched. They even played it up at the end of the episode when MLW founder Court Bauer began talking about the future of the title. I would have maybe expected a more vicious kayfabe injury than a groin pull, so my guess it that it was legit.

Warner came out last and made the save for his team, taking out his opponents one at a time. Cornwallis was taken out by the cage door, Delirious got his bare foot bitten, and Page got chopped in the corner.

The Second Gear Crew started throwing chairs around, dislodging the barbed wire from the top of the cage. Manders and Justice tried a top rope Doomsday Device with a steel chair on AKIRA for the first pinfall attempt.

There was a parade of big moves as everyone had a chance to shine. Manders hit Cornwallis with a suplex and Delirious with a lariat, AKIRA suplexed Manders on his head and then Warner jabbed AKIRA and built up to a big flip, flop and fly Dusty Rhodes elbow.

Manders used a chair for a running knee strike, but hurt his leg. Justice then hit Page with an unprotected chair shot which seemed to wake him up as Page got to his feet quickly and hit a big boot.

Masked men then came out and helped get some tables into the ring. Page and Manders were bleeding as they went to the top rope where Manders ended up suplexing Page through the table that had two chairs set up on it.

Delirious broke up a pinfall by hitting his top rope splash, followed by Justice doing the same thing as Delirious tried to make the pin. Justice was on the receiving end of a running knee from AKIRA before falling victim to a DDT from Page for The Calling to pick up the pinfall win. 

– Delmi Exo called out Taya Valkyrie and wants the MLW Women’s Featherweight title as Valkyrie “has one foot out the door anyway.”

– MLW Fusion will be returning in the summer.

– We saw an ambulance arriving at the building for Hammerstone as Bauer told Sam Laterna he had never seen Hammerstone in as much pain as he is in just now. They started talking about possibly vacating the title when Alex Kane interrupted and said they should crown him as he is the uncrowned king. 

This brought in Davey Boy Smith Jr. who reminded him he beat him last week. The inevitable brawl ensued, but it quickly included the whole MLW roster as the announcers hyped up next week’s Battle Riot V match.

MLW Battle Riot V spoilers: New title contender, Opera Cup final

Posted on by Josh Nason

The following are spoilers from Saturday’s MLW Battle Riot V event in Philadelphia, PA, with the Battle Riot match itself airing on April 25th on Reelz.

The taping followed Thursday’s War Chamber TV taping which saw several title changes and the kickoff to the Opera Cup tournament.

Spoilers come courtesy of PWInsider:

  • 1 Called Manders defeated Yoscifer El
  • MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Mr. Thomas to retain the title. Real1 was originally scheduled to challenge Hammerstone.
  • B3CCA defeated Brittany Blake
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. turned heel as he attacked Microman and is now aligned with MSL.
  • MLW Tag Team Champions Samoan SWAT Team (Lance Anoai & Juicy Finau) defeated Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Mance Warner) to retain the titles in a hardcore match
  • MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Rickey Shane Page went to a no contest
  • FBI (Little Guido & Ray Jaz) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black)
  • Willie Mack defeated John Hennigan & Lio Rush in a triple threat
  • MLW Middleweight Champion AKIRA defeated Lince Dorado to retain the title
  • wXw Champion Shigehiro Irie defeated Calvin Tankman to retain the title
  • Mandy Leon (w/The Calling) defeated Billie Starkz
  • Sam Adonis defeated Mance Warner in a strap match
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr (w/ MSL) defeated Tracy Williams in the Opera Cup finals
  • MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo defeated Taya Valkyrie to retain the title
  • Alex Kane won the 40-person Battle Riot V match to earn a future MLW title shot. 
    • Participants included Alex Kane, Willie Mack, Jesus “Ricardo” Rodriguez, Lince Dorado, Calvin Tankman, Lance Anoa’i, Microman, several masked Azteca minions, Juicy Finau, Beastman, Little Guido, Sam Adonis, Mance Warner, Jimmy Lloyd, Mr. Thomas, TJ Crawford, Ken Broadway, AKIRA, Delirious, Raven, Dr. Cornwallis, Jacob Fatu, Kim Chee, Midas, Taya Valkyrie, Jay Lyon, Ray Jaz, Lio Rush, Tracy Williams, Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, Rickey Shane Page, 1 Called Manders, John Hennigan, Davey Boy Smith Jr, Shigehiro Irie and Gene Snitsky.

MLW Underground results: Hammerstone vs. Jacob Fatu title match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Underground was from action taped in February and saw both the MLW title and Featherweight titles on the line. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on the call.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Jacob Fatu to retain the title

This match has been building ever since Fatu won last year’s Battle Riot and it did not disappoint. Early on, the commentators planted the seeds as they revealed Hammerstone has never been able to hit his finisher on the mighty Fatu. Not only did Hammerstone hit it, but had to hit it twice to put the resilient “Samoan Werewolf” away.

Fatu out strong, but it was the champion who ended up hitting a plancha to the floor and then dropping Fatu headfirst on the apron. Fatu was the clear fan favorite as they cheered on his comeback and booed the champion’s advances.

Hammerstone had “RH” on his wrist tape in a message to past rival/teammate Richard Holliday who is out of action fighting non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After a break, the champion hit Fatu with an exploder suplex into the corner to start his hulking-up comeback.

Hammerstone hit a running kick, a belly-to-belly release suplex and a Northern Lights suplex for a two count but moments later, he was knocked over the top rope to the floor after a suplex.

Fatu then had a burst of high-flying moves as he hit a headfirst dive through the ropes, a moonsault from the middle rope to the floor, and then a top rope senton bomb inside the ring.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638364692019118080

The pace quickened and the moves intensified. Hammerstone hit a big running clothesline and a death valley driver on the ring apron. Inside the ring, he entered by jumping three-quarters of the way across with a huge jumping dropkick and a TKO in a callback to their last match where Hammerstone used that move to win the title. However, Fatu kicked out at the last minute.

Fatu hit his pop-up Samoan drop and his springboard top rope moonsault, but the champion also kicked out at the last minute.

The referee was letting things slide a bit as the commentators told us there had to be a winner. A chair was brought in by Fatu, but it ended up in the hands of the champion who teased using it, but it took too much time and ate another superkick.

Fatu tried to capitalize with another top rope moonsault, but Hammerstone got his knees up and hit his Nightmare Pendulum, but Fatu kicked out to the shock of everyone in the arena.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638366588624592898

More weapons made their way into the ring as Hammerstone set up a wooden board in the corner of the ring. A quick exchange followed, but Fatu ended up getting thrown headfirst through the board with an overhead release German suplex.

Hammerstone then hit a second and final Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the win in a great match.

Afterward, there was a nice showing of respect between the two as Fatu raised the champion’s hand as the Philadelphia crowd did eventually come around to cheer the champion.

As Hammerstone started to celebrate, it was short-lived as the lights went out and Raven’s calling card attackers, known now as The Hive, circled the champion and beat him down. AKIRA and Ricky Shane Page got their shots in as six other masked men duct taped the champion to the ropes so they could get their shots in.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638376910131548161

– Sam Laterna welcomed Mance Warner to the stage, who quickly welcomed his friends the Second Gear Crew: 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice. Justice said they are there to take the Underground to a new level, but were interrupted by The Hive via the video wall. Warner said they were going to drink light beers and beat people up.

– This year’s Battle Riot will be shown on Reelz as that situation continues to develop.

– Laterna then interviewed Mister Saint Laurent who issued a challenge to Real1 on behalf of Microman in an attempt to get revenge for Real1’s bullying.

– There was a recap of Cesar Duran being kidnapped by his own henchmen last week. This week, Taya Valkyrie and John Hennigan tried to get answers from MLW management, but were told they would be breaching their contract if she didn’t get to the ring for her match.

MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/ Sam Adonis and John Hennigan) defeated Billie Starkz to retain the title

Valkyrie looked to be taking Starkz lightly early on, but soon changed her tune as the challenger took she and Hennigan out with three consecutive dives to the floor. But Valkyrie was right back on top as Hennigan pushed Starkz off the top rope behind the referee’s back.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638373477844484096

Valkyrie sent Starkz headfirst into the ring post before taking control and landing knees first on Starkz’s face in the corner. The commentators talked up Starkz being the youngest person to headline Korakuen Hall as she fired up with a spinning kick and a German suplex.

Starkz kicked Valkyrie before dropping her with a Gory bomb. Hennigan got on the apron again and distracted Starkz briefly before being kicked off by the smarter challenger.

Valkyrie then came close with a curb stomp but when she attempted her Road to Valhalla finisher, Starkz rolled through and got a close two count of her own. Starkz continued with another spin kick but was quickly caught and dropped with a successful Road to Valhalla, giving Valkyrie the win.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638374797963829250

After the match, Laterna asked Valkyrie where Duran was but Valkyrie just pleaded for the fans to call their number (1-900-Lucha) “and bring my Jefe home.”

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638375762834214919

Next week:

  • Real1 vs. Microman

MLW Underground results: Alex Hammerstone title defense

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia, PA, with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

Jacob Fatu defeated Lio Rush

We immediately opened with action as Rush dove to the outside before Fatu could make his way inside the ring. Rush hit a moonsault off the apron to kickstart a fast-paced opening which saw the NJPW star dodge and evade the former MLW Champion. The Samoan eventually caught Rush coming off the middle rope, swinging him around and planting him with an impressive swinging uranage.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone was on commentary hyping up his title match with Fatu coming up in two weeks. He talked about Fatu’s speed, his own injury history, and Fatu’s Battle Riot win last year.

Inside the ring, Fatu’s impressive strength and speed had the crowd chanting “That was Ucey” which Fatu acknowledged and told the Philadelphia crowd, “I am the bloodline!”

Rush kept coming back and tried to chop down Fatu time and time again, but Fatu kept overpowering him, even sending him crashing through the buckles to the floor after a whip to the corner.

Rush eventually hit his top rope crossbody and a bottom rope springboard stunner, but Rush went to the sky too many times as Fatu moved out of another attempt and took Rush’s head off with a superkick. Fatu’s handspring moonsault followed for a near fall.

It looked like Fatu had things in control, but when Rush reversed a pop-up Samoan drop into a poisonrana, there was a slight chance an upset could be in the cards. But the story of the match was Rush going to the well too many times, and when he let Fatu recover before running the ropes, Fatu caught him and eventually hit his pop-up Samoan drop. 

With Rush flattened, Fatu hit his double spring top rope moonsault to pick up the big win and clear the path for the Hammerstone match. After the match, Fatu told Hammerstone the belt was coming back to him and there was another pull-apart brawl between them both as the announcers hammered home the hype for their title fight.

– Backstage, Sam Adonis introduced Cesar Duran who then introduced Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie and new National Openweight Champion John Hennigan who he said “are dripping in gold.”

Billington Bulldogs (Mark & Thomas Billington) defeated Bomaye Fight Club (Myron Reed & Mr. Thomas)

Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s shot at Alex Kane was on the line here via their respective teams. Kane brought the Hart family’s Opera Cup to ringside as he joined the commentary team.

Reed and Thomas jumped the Bulldogs before the bell, but were quickly on the receiving end of a firm shoulderblock and crisp snap suplex from Thomas and a top rope moonsault to the floor by Mark going into the break.

After the break, Reed cut off Mark and Thomas threw him halfway across the ring with an overhead belly-to-back suplex. There was another massive back body drop as Thomas threw Mark through the air again which looked incredible.

The shortest member of the match (Thomas) slammed the tallest (Thomas) which was another impressive moment in the match. As the match was reaching its conclusion, Kane was getting more and more animated and concerned. But his interference attempt was thwarted by Smith Jr. who came to ringside to help his cousins keep it two on-two.

Mark backflipped away from Thomas and dropkicked him in the gut. He then hoisted him up for Mark to hit the Hart Attack dropkick from the top rope to pick up the huge win.

– Backstage, Real1 was in a wheelchair and enraged after being run over last week by Mance Warner. Real1 is threatening to sue Court Bauer and Warner.

– Before their tag title defense next week, EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman were supposed to be talking about their title defense, but instead, Nduka wanted to talk about Fatu and his recent shots at the MLW title. Tankman didn’t like what he was hearing so he turned Nduka’s attention back to their match. They seemed to be on the same page as the promo came to a close, but with Nduka’s recent reputation, I wouldn’t expect that to be the case next week.

– Warner was backstage with Microman and had some words for the Calling Card Attackers who took out Microman last week. Warner challenged any of them to a one-on-one fight next week.

– We then supposedly got the identity of the Calling Card Attackers as Raven, Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA appeared in a hype video with the same gas masks men and symbols that have been synonymous with the attacks. The commentary team questioned who of the attackers will be stepping up to face Warner next week.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Lance Anoa’i (w/ Juicy Finau and Jacob Fatu) went to a no contest

Fatu joined Striker and Dombrowski on commentary to have his shot at hyping up the title match, but within moments, he and Hammerstone came face-to-face for another pull-apart brawl. The referee had no choice but to call for the bell and call this a no contest.

Nduka and Tankman joined the brawl and got a few cheap shots in on Finau and Anoa’i. The next two weeks could be a momentous time for the Fatu and Anoa’i families as next week, the Samoan SWAT Team get their MLW Tag Team title shot while in two weeks Fatu has his MLW title rematch.

Next week on MLW Underground:

  • MLW Tag Team Champions Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka defend against the Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i)
  • Mance Warner has an open challenge to the Calling Card Attackers

MLW Underground results: Alex Hammerstone vs. Yamato title match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Underground action was taped in January in Philadelphia at the Blood & Thunder TV taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

After being knocked out by Real1 and a pair of brass knuckles during their street fight last week, Mance Warner was on the hunt for revenge and it did not take him long as we opened the show with footage from the parking lot with Warner running down Real1 with his car. 

Warner suggested he was drunk driving and then told Real1 to never steal from a redneck. Later in the night, we were told the authorities were en route to the arena and Real1 was being looked at by paramedics.

Sam Adonis (w/ Cesar Duran and Azteca Lucha henchmen) defeated Calvin Tankman (w/ EJ Nduka)

This match was short, but had good action. This was used to connect a lot of ongoing storylines and bring in the returning John Hennigan.

Duran put up one million pesos to anyone in the back who could beat Adonis before Adonis himself got on the mic and riled up the crowd Joel Gertner style in a nice ECW callback for the Philadelphia crowd.

Tankman’s MLW Tag Team championship partner EJ Nduka accompanied him to ringside and joined the commentary team. He discussed his recent run-ins with MLW Champion Hammerstone and more recently with the Samoan SWAT Team.

Last week, we saw Nduka badmouth Jacob Fatu before hitting Lance Anoa’i with a cinder block in the parking lot building up the upcoming title challenge from the SST.

Adonis seems to be getting a strong push in MLW and was able to put Tankman away after a low blow and a 450 splash off the top rope. Adonis had help from ringside with the henchmen getting involved, but Nduka chose not to help his partner and stayed at the commentary table.

After the match, Adonis got on the mic, said he wanted a title shot, and called out National Openweight Champion Davey Richards who gladly accepted via some right hands. Adonis bailed and the henchmen jumped Richards, giving Adonis the easy opening to lay a few boots himself.

This brought out the returning John Hennigan (fka Johnny Nitro, John Morrison, etc) with a steel chair. He cleared the ring of Lucha Azteca but then turned the chair on Richards, siding with Adonis and Duran. Hennigan joins his wife and MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie in Duran’s stable. Duran, Hennigan and Adonis then stood over a fallen and battered Richards as Duran called this a new era of Azteca Lucha as he is collecting the best luchadors in the world.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1628231993438908416

The Billington Bulldogs (Thomas & Mark Billington) defeated The FBI (Little Guido & Ray Jaz)

Guido and Jaz sized up well with the Bulldogs, especially Guido, which made for a nicely-styled match.

Thomas kicked out of Guido’s Sicilian Slice and Mark got the hot tag which led to the closing moments of the match. Mark caught Jaz off the top rope and held him Hart Attack-style which let Thomas hit a top rope missile dropkick to pick up the pin and win.

The Bulldogs looked good here, hitting hard with nice execution, obviously focusing on their family heritage and the Stampede Wrestling style. Being in the ring with people like Guido and Davey Boy Smith Jr should help them too.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1628236806734114816

– We saw another tease of the recent mystery attacks that have been happening in MLW. The symbol is an A.O. and we have yet to find out the attacker’s identity, although this week they ramped up this storyline a bit. The symbol flashed during Hammerstone’s interview and also before the entrance for his match so this may indicate his next opponent– either with or without the title.

– Sam Laterna interviewed Richards after the attack by Hennigan, who they called Johnny Fusion. Richards said he has a few nicknames himself, most of all “The American Wolf.” He then called out Hennigan to a match anytime, anywhere. Duran interrupted via the big screen on the stage and booked Richards vs. Hennigan for the Openweight title for next week.

– An All Access segment with Jacob Fatu aired, showing a slightly different approach to his earlier All Access looks. This focused on his babyface run, talking up his fighting background but also his road back to challenge for the MLW title again. We then cut to a pre-recorded promo with Fatu in the parking lot where he hyped up his title challenge at SuperFight.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Yamato to retain the title

Before he collides with Fatu in their long-awaited rematch, Hammerstone had a hearty challenger here in “Japan’s no. 1 ranked wrestler.” The Dragon Gate native gave Hammerstone a scare in this slugfest, but he eventually fell to the champion’s power and the Nightmare Pendulum.

Earlier in the night, Hammerstone told Laterna that he is used to staying focused on the number of challengers that seem to attack him after he defends his title, so he is ready. He got riled up, saying he is staying champion whether it is tonight or at SuperFight against Fatu.

Similar to the opener, this had good solid in-ring action but also served as a backdrop to other ongoing storylines and future matches.

After a short break, Yamato had weathered the initial Hammerstone storm and was in control via a pump kick and corner dropkick. He then hit a big top rope superplex, but the champion also held on and as both got to their feet, he hit a suplex of his own.

A German suplex and sit-out powerbomb followed, but Yamato kicked out and came back with a Frankensteiner and jumping kick. Hammerstone then came back with a strong lariat and his Nightmare Pendulum in quick succession to retain his title.

After the match, a man in a gas mask came to ringside and gave the champion a box. Hammerstone was confused and when he opened the box, there was an octopus inside. Is this hinting at another debuting wrestler, his next challenger, the mystery attacker, or all of the above? If you connect the dots, it does bring up an interesting title challenger.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1628243446262792193

After the unboxing, Hammerstone was leaving the arena and confronted by Fatu who wanted to have their fight right now. Hammerstone, seemingly fed up with being called out or attacked, caught him off-guard with a pump kick and kickstarted a wild show-closing brawl around ringside. Security and officials tried to keep them apart as Underground went off the air.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1628243953140252673

Next week on MLW Underground:

  • MLW National Openweight Champion Davey Richards defends against Johnny Fusion

Hammerstone vs. YAMATO World title match set for MLW Blood & Thunder

Posted on by Ian Carey

MLW has announced a world championship match for Blood & Thunder. 

Alex Hammerstone is set to defend his title on the show against Dragon Gate’s YAMATO. 

“‘The Almighty’ YAMATO, a perennial DRAGONGATE main eventer, is an elite class of fighter. Decorated in gold, having won the Open The Dream Gate Championship, Open the Triangle Gate Championship, and Open the Twin Gate Championship, YAMATO’s all-around skills and experience make him the most dangerous challenger to Hammerstone’s year-plus reign as champion,” reads an MLW press release for the match. 

MLW first announced a working relationship with Dragon Gate in February 2020. Former Open The Dream Gate Champion Shun Skywalker won MLW’s middleweight championship earlier this year. 

MLW Blood & Thunder takes place Saturday, January 7, 2023, from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. The show will be filmed for future episodes of MLW Fusion airing on BeIN Sports and Pro Wrestling TV. 

The following are advertised to appear:

  • Jacob Fatu
  • Alex Kane and the Bomaye Fight Club
  • Real1
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. & The Billington Bulldogs
  • World Tag Team Champions Hustle & Power (EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman)
  • Lince Dorado
  • Women’s World Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie
  • Microman
  • Davey Richards
  • Mance Warner
  • Delirious
  • Sam Adonis
  • Cesar Duran
  • The Samoan SWAT Team
  • The FBI
  • Billie Starkz

Last Man Standing World title match set for MLW Fightland

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The MLW World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line in a Last Man Standing match at Fightland 2022.

It was announced today that Alex Hammerstone will defend his MLW World Heavyweight title against EJ Nduka at Fightland on Sunday, October 30. The match will air on a future episode of MLW Fusion.

Hammerstone’s World title reign recently reached the one-year mark. At last year’s Fightland, he defeated Jacob Fatu to become MLW World Heavyweight Champion.

Nduka is also a champion in MLW. He currently holds the MLW Tag Team titles with Calvin Tankman. They won the titles from 5150 at MLW’s SuperFight tapings this February.

The Fightland tapings are being held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Three matches have been announced for the event thus far:

MLW Fightland (Sunday, October 30) —

  • Last Man Standing match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against EJ Nduka
  • Jacob Fatu vs. Lio Rush
  • Willie Mack vs. Calvin Tankman

MLW Kings of Colosseum results: Hammerstone vs. Holliday World title match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s Kings of Colosseum edition of MLW Fusion opened with a video package hyping up tonight’s main event and the steps leading to the clash between the former Dynasty partners.

That included the growth of the Dynasty stable (which also included AEW’s MJF) to Holliday being drawn as an alternate in the Battle Riot that Hammerstone won to Hammerstone beating Jacob Fatu for the title all the way to Holliday’s betrayal earlier this year in Dallas and the vicious and bloody attack at MLW SuperFight that left Holliday’s pure white suit covered in the champion’s blood. 

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Brittany Blake defeated Zoey Skye

The commentary team talked this up as a top contender’s match in the women’s featherweight division.

Blake was making her return to MLW after debuting last year while Skye has a Liv Morgan feel to her look and character as she started off the match coming off the top rope with a missile dropkick and continued moments later with a crossbody from the top as well.

Blake came back and kicked Skye off the apron and hit her with a 619 to the face while Skye was on the floor. A tornado DDT followed and Blake then put Skye away with an arm-trapped seated Texas cloverleaf.

This was a good opener, but I would have liked to see these two get a little more time. It did serve its purpose in pushing Blake further up the rankings and showcasing what Skye can do in the ring.

– Backstage, EJ Nduka added some hints to a future potential heel turn. He was asked about the main event tonight and with a serious face, he started questioning why he was not in the main event getting a shot at the title… only for him to laugh it off and pretend he was joking. Do you believe him? Look for this story to develop in the coming weeks.

– MLW’s new t-shirt partnership with Hot Topic was announced.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1547782190179618820

– Richard Holliday was then interviewed about his title challenge tonight. He told Hammerstone to reminisce about their time in the Dynasty, but he wants him to know all those memories didn’t mean anything to him. Money, winning, and championships are the only things that matter to him.

Matt Cross defeated ACH

Despite putting in solid performances every time he is in the ring, Cross seems to have lost more matches in MLW than he has won, so this was a great victory for him to get back some momentum.

This is an example of a match that is nearly impossible to recap move-for-move. The action was great, crisp and evident these two are fantastic performers with years of experience. However, we were also told that this was, amazingly, the first time they had ever faced off with each other.

The story seemed to be whoever could bring out something new that their opponent hadn’t seen before may have the best chance of winning. 

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1547738213216727045

Cross used his springboard crossbody and double foot stomp from the top, while ACH brought out his slingshot crossbody to the floor, enzuigiri and a suplex as both struggled to get the advantage.

The end of the match saw Cross land on his feet as he jumped out of a German suplex attempt followed by him hitting a springboard cutter and finishing ACH off with a top rope shooting star press. This was a great match by two great performers and an example of it being absolutely fine to put on a great wrestling match with no need for a backstory or angle leading into it.

– We heard from Alex Hammerstone who said Holliday is finally getting the match he wanted. He talked up the nerves Holliday would be feeling and called himself the consequence for Holliday’s actions.

– After turning his back on his training partner Davey Richards last week, we heard from the newest member of the Bomaye Fight Club: Middleweight Champion Myron Reed. He said that Richards is no longer a big dog and is past his best. National Openweight Champion Alex Kane was also present and it seems like their feud will also continue before Richards gets his shot at Reed. 

MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Richard Holliday (w/ Alicia Atout) to retain the title

Earlier in the night, we saw a hooded figure enter Holliday’s locker room in what the commentators thought may be a crooked referee given Holliday’s history. This would play out during the match, but it still would not be enough to dethrone the champion.

 The self-proclaimed sole proprietor of The Dynasty came out with the same jacket that was bloodied at SuperFight when he busted Hammerstone open after his title defense against Davey Richards. Holliday’s new maniac villain character suits him perfectly and the jacket topped it off.

The action went to the outside early where Holliday used Atout to distract Hammerstone and hit him with a side Russian leg sweep.

After the commercial break, Hammerstone was throwing Holliday around, but the challenger caught the champion with a spinebuster to take back control. A neckbreaker, some Garvin stomps and a pedigree followed.

Holliday’s stomps aggravated Hammerstone’s ankle, an injury the champion suffered recently. The champion continued the next portion of the match hobbling on one foot, but he was still able to hit a German suplex.

Atout got on the apron and distracted the referee while Holliday used one of her shoes — in a flashback to a few weeks ago where Holliday pinned Hammerstone in a multi-man match — but he only got a two count here.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1547743188919537666

More referee shenanigans followed as the ref got knocked out of the ring and Hammerstone had a visual pinfall on Holliday. Cesar Duran then came out with a replacement masked referee as the deck started to get stacked against the champion.

Holliday then used a steel chair as the referee turned a blind eye to the blatant cheating. Holliday hit his 2008 twisting suplex finisher, but as the Azteca henchman referee started counting, MLW referee Frank Gastineau pulled the crooked referee out and knocked him to the floor.

Back in the ring, Hammerstone caught Holliday’s chair and started hulking up. Holliday’s punches were of no use. Hammerstone hit some clotheslines, knocked the henchman ref down, and slammed Holliday to the mat. Hammerstone then picked up Holliday and hit the Nightmare Pendulum to get the pin, overcoming the odds and retaining his title.

As Kings of Colosseum went off the air, we saw a vignette for the reincarnation of Mads Krugger. We did not see his face, but it looks like Krugger has lost his mask and has found someone willing to help him.

Alex Hammerstone vs. Bandido World title match set for MLW Battle Riot IV

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the first time ever, Alex Hammerstone will face Bandido with the MLW World title on the line at this month’s Battle Riot IV.

MLW’s next event/TV taping is set for the Melrose Ballroom in New York City on June 23rd.

The former Ring of Honor World Champion made his promotional debut earlier this year in a four-way for the Middleweight title. He then returned during the WrestleMania weekend TV tapings, picking up a win over Flamita in a match that aired last week.

MLW storyline matchmaker Cesar Duran will be in Bandido’s corner as his issues with Hammerstone will continue.

Hammerstone will be looking to continue his successful run as champion that began last October when he defeated Jacob Fatu at Fightland.

The show is named after the company’s signature 40-man battle royal where the winner earns an any time, any place World title shot. Hammerstone was last year’s winner.

The event will also feature Killer Kross and his wife, Scarlett Bordeaux, the latter of which will make her MLW in-ring debut.

Los Parks fired from MLW due to TV taping brawl

Posted on by Josh Nason

All three members of the Park family were fired from MLW last Friday following an incident during their Thursday TV taping in Dallas, Texas.

Dave Meltzer reported the news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer reported that all three Parks (LA Park, LA Park Jr. and Hijo de LA Park) were set for a run-in on Alexander Hammerstone and Jacob Fatu at the end of last Thursday’s TV taping and in doing so, they got too rough with both men.

“One person noted that they went off script, ruined the post-match angle and went into business for themselves and unloaded live rounds (real punches and shots) on Fatu and Hammerstone including reckless chair shots that busted both Fatu and Hammerstone open. Both needed medical attention,” he wrote, later saying Hammerstone challenged LA Park to a fight backstage but he pretended he didn’t understand English.

The senior Park was set to appear against Fatu in the main event of the Azteca Underground show the next day, but was replaced by Bestia 666 in the Azteca Apocalypto match instead.

Footage from both Thursday and Friday’s TV tapings will air over the next few months on MLW Fusion. Due to the firing, it appears unlikely the brawl will ever make air.