After several months away, Alex Hammerstone made his return at Saturday’s TNA Slammiversary in a surprise appearance.
On-screen authority figure Santino Marella announced during the pre-show that he had a surprise for everyone with a new match: that being Hammerstone vs. former TNA World Champion Eric Young. However, Hammerstone took the loss to Young — his first since a defeat to Josh Alexander at April’s Rebellion.
Hammerstone’s last on-screen appearance was on the May 2nd TNA Impact in a street fight win over Deaner. The former MLW Champion was active on the indies throughout his time away, recently filling in for the injured Matt Cardona on an Australian tour. He was scheduled for May’s Under Siege but was pulled due to being medically uncleared to compete.
For the first time since March, ABC can once again call themselves TNA Tag Team Champions.
Chris Bey & Ace Austin defeated incumbent champions The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) to kick off their third reign with the gold, picking up the victory after ABC hit the 1-2-Sweet on Myers after Edwards tended to his wife, Alisha, after he pulled Myers out of the way of a Bey Art of Finesse that she got hit with instead.
It’s a measure of revenge for ABC as Myers and Edwards defeated them for the title at March’s Sacrifice, successfully defending the titles four times.
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TNA also has a new Digital Media and International Heavyweight Champion as PCO is the double titleholder after defeating AJ Francis. The win came after Francis was chokeslammed onto a pile of chairs and then hit with a PCOsault for the defeat.
Afterward, PCO proposed to recent love interest Steph De Lander who accepted.
It’s PCO’s first-ever title in TNA. Francis recently revived the International Heavyweight title after it was defunct since 1987.
Alexander Hammerstone will look to continue his lengthy run as MLW Champion as he defends against Real1 at next month’s Battle Riot V.
The event is set for Saturday, April 8th at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA, and will air later in the month on Reelz.
This will be their first-ever match.
Real1 (the former Enzo Amore) will be looking for his first MLW title reign of any kind while Hammerstone is gunning for his 16th title defense dating back to January 2022.
Real1 has had mixed results in his short MLW run, feuding with both Jacob Fatu and Mance Warner. Conversely, Hammerstone hasn’t been defeated in MLW since December 2019 (Davey Boy Smith Jr.).
The show is headlined by the company’s annual Battle Riot match — a 40-person battle royal where wrestlers can be eliminated by pin, submission or over the top rope. The winner earns a future MLW Championship shot.
Here’s the current card:
MLW Champion Alexander Hammerstone defends against Real1
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including AEW Dynamite and Rampage ratings and what it appears to say about fan investment in the current storylines, Smackdown tonight, weekend preview, and then MLW Champion HAMMERSTONE joins us to talk MLW and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
An MLW Championship rematch has been announced for Superfight.
Alexander Hammerstone will defend his title against former champion Jacob Fatu on the show.
MLW Superfight takes place February 4, 2023 from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena and will be filmed for future episodes of Fusion. Hammerstone vs. Fatu is the only match announced for the card thus far.
Hammerstone defeated Fatu to win the MLW World Championship in their first match on October 2, 2021 at MLW Fightland, which also took place in the former ECW Arena.
The biggest rivalry in MLW is finally getting the rematch to the biggest title fight in MLW history as Hammerstone vs. Fatu 2 is set to main event SuperFight’23, an event worthy of such a colossal championship clash.
Having won Battle RIOT IV in New York City last year, Fatu secured a title shot anytime, anywhere and with the date and location confirmed, Fatu and Hammerstone rumble for the biggest prize in the sport on the line.
In the 466 days Hammerstone has been champion he’s defended the belt 13 times. The 819 days Fatu spent with the title from July 6, 2019 until October 2, 2021 is the longest reign in the title’s lineage but much of it occurred when the company was not running shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After defeating our own Tom Lawlor for the belt at Kings of Colisseum 2019 Fatu successfully defended it 10 times before dropping the title to Hammerstone.
MLW Kings of Colosseum took place Friday at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with matches being filmed for future episodes of Fusion.
The following spoilers come courtesy of ProWrestling.net:
Gangrel defeated Budd Heavy. Afterward, Gangrel’s stable continued the attack on Budd and dragged him to the back.
MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane went to a 20-minute time limit draw with Davey Richards who answered the champion’s open challenge.
5150 cut a promo
Lince Dorado, Taya Valkyrie & Microman defeated Arez, Holidead, & Mini Abismo Negro. After the match, the heels attacked Microman but both The Blue Meanie and Sandman came out to make the save.
Los Maximos defeated two local wrestlers
MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed retained his title in a three-way with KC Navarro and Arez. Reed cut a promo on Davey Richards after the match.
MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Richard Holliday to retain
Jacob Fatu interrupted a promo by Cesar Duran and introduced the new Samoan Swat Team of Lance Anoa’i & Juicy Finau.
The Samoan Swat Team defeated Los Aztecas
Taya Valkyrie defeated Holidead to win the inaugural MLW Women’s Featherweight title
MLW Tag Team Champions Hustle & Power (Calvin Tankman & Ej Nduka) defeated 5150 (Hernandez & Danny Rivera) and The Von Erichs (Ross & Marshall Von Erich) in a tornado triple threat match to retain
nZo defeated Lince Dorado.
Brittany Blake defeated Zoey Skye
Matt Cross defeated ACH
Jacob Fatu defeated Mads Krugger in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match. The two continued to brawl after the match and Fatu removed Krugger’s mask.
MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone captured the World title from Jacob Fatu in the main event of Fightland Thursday, becoming the promotion’s first-ever double champion.
Hammerstone, boasting a 859-day reign as the National Openweight titleholder, went head-to-head with Fatu in a title vs. title match and after a 20-minute match, the finish saw Hammerstone pinning Fatu after hitting his signature neckbreaker.
The two titans of MLW have been building to a match for multiple years as both had run through their respective sides of the roster. Hammerstone earned the title shot with his win at Battle Riot III in July.
Thursday’s show also saw another title change as Tajiri won the Middleweight title in a four-way match that featured champion Myron Reed, Arez and Aramis. Tajiri, debuting in MLW, pinned Reed after spraying him with green mist and hitting him with a buzzsaw kick.
The win ends the second title reign for Reed. He regained the title from Lio Rush earlier this year.
A National Openweight Championship match will headline the second week of MLW Fusion: Alpha.
MLW announced that National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone will defend his title against Tom Lawlor on next Wednesday’s show. The series debuted with its first episode premiering on YouTube last night.
There was a segment on the Fusion: Alpha premiere where Lawlor complained to authority figure Cesar Duran (formerly known as Lucha Underground’s Dario Cueto) that he didn’t get a title shot for winning last year’s Opera Cup. Lawlor pointed out that Hammerstone is getting a World title shot for winning July’s Battle Riot III match.
Duran decided to make a National Openweight Championship match between Hammerstone and Lawlor for next week, but that didn’t appear to be the match that Lawlor was looking for.
Hammerstone has held the National Openweight Championship since the title was introduced in 2019. He’s set to face MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu in a title vs. title match at Fightland next month.
After winning last year’s tournament, Lawlor will again be taking part in the Opera Cup this year and will face Davey Richards in the first round at Fightland.
Here’s the full list of what’s been announced for next week’s show:
National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone vs. Tom Lawlor title match
MLW announced Thursday that Jacob Fatu will defend his World title against top challenger and National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone in a title vs. title match on October 2nd.
The match will be the main event of Fightland, set for October 2nd in Philadelphia, PA. The show will also be a MLW Fusion TV taping and the second of three straight events MLW is holding at the 2300 Arena.
Fatu has been champion since July 2019 when he defeated Tom Lawlor for the title. Since then, he’s defended the title ten times, last beating Matt Cross at the Battle Riot III tapings in July.
Hammerstone earned the shot by winning the Battle Riot III match held in July, continuing a long-running storyline of chasing Fatu for the title. He’s the inaugural Openweight Champion, having won the title in June 2019 in a tournament final over Brian Pillman Jr. He has 15 title defenses since then, last defeating Lawlor at the July tapings.
The long-awaited MLW World title match between champion Jacob Fatu and National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone is now a reality as Hammerstone won Battle Riot III Saturday to earn his opportunity.
Much like WWE’s Money in the Bank briefcases, Hammerstone can cash in whenever he wants.
Hammerstone has been on the hunt for Fatu for nearly two years, prior to the pandemic and then in the season that began this spring. Fatu’s CONTRA Unit faction has been avoiding the challenge, throwing then-new recruit Mads Krugger at Hammerstone last season.
Hammerstone, clad in Hulk Hogan-esque red and yellow, and Krugger were the last two men in the 40-man battle royal with Krugger attempting to use a spike that stablemate Josef Samael had left. Hammerstone got the spike and used it on Krugger three times before eliminating him over the top rope.
Fatu came to ringside at the end of the match but Samael kept him away from Hammerstone.
A few announcements have been made for next week’s episode of MLW Fusion.
Next Wednesday’s Fusion will feature a press conference by National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone. In the main event of this week’s Fusion, Hammerstone defeated Mil Muertes to defend his title.
Hammerstone got on the microphone after defeating Muertes and said that was just step one. Hammerstone said things will be getting more interesting with step two. Hammerstone announced that he’ll be holding a press conference next week and will have some very Dynastic news. On commentary, it was speculated that Hammerstone could be going after MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu.
An appearance by MLW CEO Court Bauer is also set for next Wednesday’s Fusion. Plus, TJP vs. Bu Ku Dao will take place on the episode.
It was said on this week’s Fusion that Bauer has been busy with MLW’s partnership with Dragon Gate and MLW’s TV deal and will be in the house for next Wednesday’s show.
TJP turned against his protege Dao after they lost an MLW Tag Team title match to Los Parks this February. TJP vs. Dao was originally supposed to take place last month, but there was an angle where TJP was fined and suspended for attacking Dao backstage before the match could get started.
MLW has set a date for Alexander Hammerstone and Mil Muertes’ National Openweight Championship match.
Hammerstone vs. Muertes for the National Openweight Championship will air on the Wednesday, April 14 episode of MLW Fusion. Though Hammerstone is the MLW National Openweight Champion, Muertes is currently in possession of the title belt.
Hammerstone retained the National Openweight Championship by defeating LA Park on Fusion two weeks ago. There was then a post-match angle where Muertes beat down Hammerstone. Muertes and Salina de la Renta left with Hammerstone’s National Openweight title belt.
Muertes, de la Renta, and Park are all part of Azteca Underground. A storyline began earlier this year where De la Renta’s Promociones Dorado was sold to Azteca Underground. The owner of Azteca underground has yet to be revealed.
Hammerstone is the only wrestler who has held MLW’s National Openweight Championship. He became the inaugural champion by defeating Brian Pillman Jr. in the finals of a tournament in June 2019.
Muertes has won matches against Pillman Jr., Savio Vega, Parrow, and Gringo Loco since coming to MLW. He defeated Gringo Loco on this week’s Fusion.
A promo by Hammerstone aired after the Muertes vs. Gringo Loco match. Hammerstone called Muertes a phony champion and said that their title match will take place on April 14.
A National Openweight Championship match is set for next week’s edition of MLW Fusion.
MLW has announced that National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone will defend his title against LA Park on Fusion next Wednesday. The episode premieres on MLW’s YouTube channel at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Park declared on Fusion two weeks ago that he was challenging Hammerstone to a National Openweight Championship match. In an interview on this week’s show, Park’s manager Salina de la Renta said she’s addicted to gold and is coming after the National Openweight Championship. De la Renta said she doesn’t think Hammerstone is in the right mindset due to his issues with Contra Unit. De la Renta also insulted interviewer Alicia Atout and said Hammerstone’s Dynasty stablemate Richard Holliday is Atout’s “boy toy.”
De la Renta said Atout should go tell The Dynasty what’s going to happen next week. Later in the episode, Hammerstone told Atout that The Dynasty will handle it. Hammerstone said The Dynasty aren’t afraid of Promociones Dorado and their “over-aged, over-sized, plus-sized catalog luchadores.”
Hammerstone is the only wrestler who has held MLW’s National Openweight Championship. He became the inaugural champion by winning a tournament in June 2019.
Los Parks are the current MLW Tag Team Champions. LA Park & El Hijo de LA Park retained their titles against Contra Unit’s Simon Gotch & Daivari on Fusion this week.
MLW has also announced that Mil Muertes vs. Parrow will take place on Fusion in two weeks (Wednesday, March 17). Parrow returned to MLW by winning a squash match on this week’s Fusion.
In night one of MLW’s challenge against AAA, Alexander Hammerstone retained the MLW National Openweight title against a very plucky Laredo Kid in a great match.
Mance Warner and Savio Vega succumbed to the violence of AAA’s Pagano and Mortiz in a wild hardcore tag match. Flaming tables, broken chairs and forehead skewers all were included in this crazy clash.
Injustice returned with strong warnings for both Court Bauer and Konnan ahead of their AAA trios tag team title match.
Tom Lawlor announced he and Dominic Garrini are officially in the tag team division and have their sights set on the Von Erichs and the MLW tag team gold.
Show Review:
MLW returned to Mexico, this time for the opening night of the MLW vs. AAA series that will feature interpromotional matches over the next few weeks. The Mexican national anthem ceremony kicked off the show as we went straight into our opening contest.
Pagano and Mortiz (AAA) defeated Mance Warner and Savio Vega (MLW) in a Tijuana barrio street fight (16:03)
Alexander Hammerstone joined AJ Kirsch and Rich Bocchini on commentary which played into the match as he ended up interfering in the run up to the finish. Alicia Atout caught up with Warner and Vega backstage before they made their way to the ring. Atout and Warner high fived at MJF leaving the company after Warner beat him in last week’s match. Warner said that Hammerstone and Richard Holliday went to a “Mexican donkey show” last night and spent all their money. Vega said they were ready for Pagano and Mortiz and were ready to hit the pay window.
The plunder and weapons were set up all around ringside as the competitors made their entrances and it didn’t take a genius to predict how this one was going to play out. This had everything you could imagine from a Mance Warner hardcore match from Mexico: skewers driven into foreheads, so many chair shots that they eventually disintegrated and fell apart, wooden boards, flaming tables and anything else they could get their hands on.
The match broke down as they brawled on the outside. Choking with camera cables, chairs being thrown, and even a car hood was used as Pagano was whipped headfirst into it. In the ring, Vega knocked Pagano in the forehead with what had to be 25-30 skewers, but moments later, Pagano took flight and squashed Warner and Vega with a somersault plancha between the ropes. Mortiz then took everyone out on the floor with a suicide dive through a wooden door. Later, Vega powerbombed Mortiz onto the car hood and Warner broke a chair over Pagano’s head.
In one of the wilder sequences, Mortiz set up a table and climbed the turnbuckle where Warner was perched for a flaming table spot. Mortiz ended up going through the table via a chokeslam instead and was still on fire as he rolled around the ring so Warner and then Vega tried to put him out by “hitting” him with rights and lefts. The table kept burning so the ref missed a pinfall as he tried to keep the mat from catching fire as well.
Pagano and Warner set up dueling doors in two corners of the ring. Warner was speared through the first one, but kicked out at two following a pin attempt. Warner recovered and pounced Pagano through the other table.
On commentary, Hammerstone told Kirsch and Bocchini that his prescription at the Mexican pharmacy was ready and he had to go pick it up, but this was his cue to hit the ring and take out Warner with a bicycle kick. Mortiz then splashed Warner through a table. Vega came off the top rope but Pagano crotched him with a chair and got the pinfall after a blockbuster neckbreaker. AAA takes a 1-0 lead in the series.
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– King Mo was suspended for his attack on Killer Kross a few weeks ago. Mo didn’t make the trip to Mexico, so that writes him off of the next few episodes.
– “Filthy” Tom Lawlor then cut a promo complaining about Mo’s suspension and that he and Dominic Garrini are entering the tag team division and are coming for the Von Erichs’ MLW tag team titles. He said Team Filthy want all the belts, and where better to start than taking the tag titles from his “family”.
– Lifestyles of the Rich and Dynastic was next where we were welcomed by the sight of Alexander Hammerstone and Richard Holliday waking up in their hotel room after a debauchery-laden night out at the aforementioned Mexican donkey show. Hammer was stumbling around in his underwear and an American flag and woke Holliday up who slept on top of his sheets fully clothed in his suit, dress shoes, and Airpods. They questioned the donkey show they went to and promised to only go to “two or three more at most”.
They snapped out their hangovers when they realized they needed to wrestle later. Holliday wanted to pull out while Hammerstone said his father told him to never pull out. Holliday didn’t know who he was wrestling but Hammerstone had Lardeo Kid later for the national openweight title.
– We saw video footage of the Injustice attack on Brian Pillman Jr. from two weeks ago. The cameras caught up with the trio from an undisclosed area. They warned MLW CEO Court Bauer that they are not paying their fine and have no remorse for their attack on Pillman. They warned him that they might be in Mexico or they might not be. Either way, they will get their justice.
– The cameras caught up with Davey Boy Smith Jr. on his way to a meeting with Bauer. He was asked about Pillman after the attack. Smith said Pillman’s jaw is wired shut but he will be back soon enough. He was then asked about the rumors he is challenging Jacob Fatu in an MLW world heavyweight title fight, and Smith asked for the camera to focus on his golden shoes. He said it isn’t about where his heels are at, but where his toes are pointing and his are pointing towards talking about some business.
– Atout then caught up with Konnan who was quickly interrupted by Kotto Brazil, Myron Reed, and Jordan Oliver of Injustice. They badmouthed Konnan again and talked down to him, but the Mexican legend came back and said, “My johnson is like my name. It’s always in your mouth” and ended up making a match for the AAA Trios tag team titles with Injustice challenging Los Jinetes del Aire (El Hijo del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. and Octagon Jr.).
– Psycho Clown had a response for LA Park, accepting his challenge and claiming he would take his mask.
MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone defeated Laredo Kid (AAA) to retain (10:42)
Alicia Atout caught up with Hammerstone before the match and brought up the Dynasty’s losing streak. Hammerstone said all he does is win and the “best luchador on the planet poses as much threat as the best termite on the planet”. He said to put some respect on his name the next time she interviews him.
They hyped up the power vs. speed aspect and that played out throughout the match. Kid hit a headscissor takeover and a middle rope springboard crossbody to the floor, but back inside, Hammerstone caught him coming off the top and gorilla pressed him into a uranage for a two count. A big double underhook slam he calls the Spinal Countdown followed, but he broke up his own count before the ref could count three.
On the outside, the champion whipped him over the barrier into the front row. Back inside, Kid hit a step up kick in the corner and a missile dropkick. He followed up with a tope suicida that left Hammerstone dangling over the barrier. Back inside, Kid hit a pair of moonsaults but Hammerstone powered out of a two count.
Hammerstone fought back and hit a burning hammer after a first attempt was thwarted. Kid slipped out the back of a Nightmare Pendulum with a schoolboy, but the champion turned him inside out with a big clothesline seconds later. Kid came really close to winning with a 450 splash off the top rope, but it was Hammerstone who had to kick out at the last minute this time.
Hammerstone knocked the ref down and behind the ref’s back, Kid hit a Spanish fly off the top rope and got the visual three count. Kid lifted the ref back up, but Hammerstone caught the challenger and finished him off with a trifecta of impact moves: german suplex, power bomb, and the Nightmare Pendulum for three.
After the first night of action, we are even at 1-1 in the MLW vs AAA series.
Next Week:
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Dominic Garrini vs. Puma King and Xtreme Tigre
Douglas James vs. Averno
Team Filthy and American Top Team press conference
A member of Strong Hearts is getting a National Openweight title shot at MLW’s Fightland set of television tapings.
MLW announced today that T-Hawk will challenge Alexander Hammerstone for the National Openweight Championship at Fightland. The show is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, February 1.
Hammerstone has held the National Openweight title since becoming the inaugural champion in June 2019.
Strong Hearts’ CIMA, El Lindaman & Shigehiro Irie debuted for MLW by losing a six-man tag match against CONTRA Unit (Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael & Simon Gotch) at last month’s Opera Cup tapings.
CIMA will challenge for Fatu’s MLW World Heavyweight Championship at Fightland.
Killer Kross making his MLW debut against Tom Lawlor, Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Erick Stevens, and Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Jimmy Havoc (w/ Priscilla Kelly) have also been announced for Fightland. The tapings will feature LA Park returning to MLW for the first time since November’s Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view.
Aerostar is getting a title shot when he appears at MLW’s Zero Hour television tapings next month.
MLW has announced that National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone will defend his title against Aerostar at Zero Hour. The show is taking place at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills, Texas on Saturday, January 11.
Aerostar is one of four Lucha Libre AAA wrestlers announced for the Zero Hour tapings. Drago, Puma King, and Taurus are also set for the show.
A working partnership between MLW and AAA was announced at MLW’s Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view last month.
Hammerstone became the inaugural National Openweight Champion by winning a tournament for the title this June.
MLW also announced today that Erick Stevens will make his debut for the promotion at Zero Hour. Here’s the updated card for the event:
Jimmy Havoc vs. Mance Warner in a no ropes barbed wire match
Ross Von Erich vs. Tom Lawlor
National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone defending against Aerostar
Marshall Von Erich vs. MJF (If MJF wins, The Dynasty will get a Tag Team title shot against The Von Erichs. If Marshall wins, MJF can’t challenge The Von Erichs for the titles again.)
