Smith defeated Yuma Aoyagi for the belt on November 4 in Sapporo to become the 74th champion in the Triple Crown’s lineage. He was just the seventh foreigner to hold the title, joining Terry Gordy, Stan Hansen, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Big Van Vader, Taiyo Kea, and Joe Doering.
The win for Saito marks his first major singles championship. He and his twin brother Rei, The Saito Brothers, are the current AJPW World Tag Team Champions.
Fumi Saito talks to me about the success of both Queen of Villains in Japan — the story of wrestling legend Dump Matsumoto — as well as the Mr. McMahon docuseries on Netflix.
Plus, CIMA & Shingo, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Wrestle Kingdom & Wrestle Dynasty take shape, NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura heads to NXT, Fumi’s new book on Rikidozan, and much more.
We’ve been gone awhile, so we tried to make up a lot of ground.
This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia during January’s Blood & Thunder TV taping with both Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Microman defeated Real1
This played into the ongoing storyline between Real1 and Mance Warner. Both had previously knocked each other out in matches but then Warner increased the aggression by running Real1 over with his truck. Then two weeks ago, Real1 defied the laws of modern medicine by miraculously recovering, rising from his wheelchair to cause Warner to lose to Ricky Shane Page in a hardcore match. Warner has recently taken Microman under his wing and has been watching out for him.
Mister Saint Laurent emphatically introduced his superhero client before Real1 entered and smack talked Microman, focusing on his height and size. He even called back to his WWE days by spelling out the one word he wanted to use to describe Microman: “D-W-A-R-F.”
The match itself was more of an angle with Real1 bringing a chair into the ring early on, only to be planted face-first into it after mocking Microman by using him as Simba from the Lion King. Warner then gave Microman a cane to use on a knocked out Real1 behind the referee’s back, followed by him standing on top of his fallen mouthy opponent to get the win.
– After being attacked last week by Raven, Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA (aka The Calling), MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone came out to say he wants revenge and wants The Calling in a War Chamber match. Later in the night, it was announced that the challenge was accepted and it will be on Reelz in three weeks.
At the end of the episode, Hammerstone recruited The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) to be his partners in the match.
– Ahead of tonight’s main event, we saw a video package on the history of the Opera Cup. It focused on more recent events where Alex Kane stole the Cup from Davey Richards and continues to disrespect both the Cup and its history. Davey Boy Smith Jr. hyped up his match with Kane while warming up backstage. During Smith’s promo, we had a cut-in from The Calling. After the Chamber, could he be next on their hit list?
AKIRA defeated Mike Law
Similar to Page’s debut in his hardcore match with Warner, AKIRA had a choice of blood-stained weapons to choose from as he walked to the ring. He wasted no time in trying to use a sickle he chose before dropping Law with an elevated reverse DDT in a quick match.
– Numerous members of the MLW roster were announced for Battle Riot V that will air on Reelz on April 25th.
– Kane had his chance to hype up the main event with the rest of the Bomaye Fight Club alongside him.
– Where is Cesar Duran? A few weeks ago, he was supposedly kidnapped by his own henchmen, put under a hood and taken away. This week, we again heard from MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie and MLW Openweight Champion John Hennigan in a tongue-in-cheek plea to help find Duran by calling their 1-900-LUCHA number.
– 1 Called Manders from the Second Gear Crew said he loves to fight and drink beers and wants to add MLW gold to his belt buckle. He will face Page next week in a hardcore match as part of the hype for the War Chamber match.
– Before the bell for the main event, we cut backstage to see The Calling attacking EJ Nduka. Could this be the last time we see Nduka in MLW? The commentary team played up The Calling attacks being out of control.
Alex Kane (w/ Mr. Thomas & Myron Reed) defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. (w/ Mark & Thomas Billington)
Reed joined the commentary team and said the only Bomaye game plan he was willing to disclose was to “win, win, win.”
This was described as a catch wrestling vs. grappling match, but Kane hit a dive through the ropes early on before hitting a hard German suplex to the mats on the outside.
Kane followed up with a splash on the apron as the commentary team played up the focused attack on Smith’s neck. Kane continued to slowly beat down Smith with a combination of suplexes and strikes.
Smith’s first comeback consisted of hulking up and popping up from a German suplex. This started a battle of German suplexes from both until Smith finally got the upper hand and kept Kane on the mat. After a strike exchange, a powerslam, a neckbreaker, and a leg drop followed as Smith took advantage.
Smith took to the sky to hit a top rope leg drop for a close nearfall. Kane briefly came back with a flatliner, but when he went to the top rope, he was caught by Smith who planted him with his powerslam finisher.
Smith looked to have had the match won, but Thomas got on the apron to distract the referee and sneak some liquid into the ring. Kane threw the liquid into Smith’s eyes and again suplexed him on his neck to pick up the tainted pinfall win.
After the match, Smith had to clean his eyes as Sam Laterna caught Kane on the stage to question what he did. The Bomaye Fight Club blew off the question and instead turned it into a “Bomaye” chant.
Next week:
Lio Rush in action
1 Called Manders vs. Ricky Shane Page in a hardcore match
MLW Underground (April 18th):
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone & The Second Gear Crew vs. The Calling in a War Chamber match
The third edition of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport saw several new names added over the last few days including two men that faced off against each other at last year’s event.
Barnett announced Monday that Davey Boy Smith Jr. will return for the third time and try to remain a perfect 3-0. The news follows Sunday’s announcement that former UFC light heavyweight and current PFL fighter “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will also return for action.
Smith and Lawlor faced each other at the second Bloodsport with Smith picking up a knockout win. This will be Lawlor’s second Bloodsport as he was part of the inaugural Matt Riddle version and submitted by WALTER.
Barnett also announced Sunday that longtime wXw veteran Alexander James will make his Bloodsport debut.
The three men join a lineup that includes Barnett, AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Homicide, Killer Kelly, Chris Dickinson, Calvin Tankman, Josh Alexander, Erik Hammer, Lindsay Snow and Kal Jak. No matchups have been announced as of yet.
The event is scheduled for Sunday, October 11th as part of GCW’s rescheduled The Collective weekend in Indianapolis, IN, originally slated for the canceled WrestleMania weekend in Tampa, Florida.
Editor’s Note: You can watch this episode in full by scrolling down to the bottom of this post.
** The Big Takeaways**
Davey Boy Smith Jr. won the Opera Cup and continued his family’s legacy with the trophy as the last winner before Smith was his grandfather, Stu Hart, back in 1948.
Myron Reed successfully defended the MLW Middleweight title against El Lindaman.
With a little help from his new friends in the Dynasty, Gino Medina defeated Savio Vega in a NYC street fight.
** Full Review **
We had a video recap of the Opera cup highlights thus far, following Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s and Brian Pillman Jr.’s paths to the final.
MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed (w/Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil) defeated El Lindaman to retain (7:06)
We had a pre-recorded promo from Reed, Oliver, and Brazil as Reed made his way to the ring for his first title defense. Reed said he cannot be controlled and that they are at war with “the system”.
Reed tried to catch Lindaman off guard with a right hand to the jaw, but it backfired on the Middleweight champion as the OWE #StrongHeart just shook it off, took Reed down, and went to work. Injustice soon got involved from ringside, but Lindaman soon found an opening to launch himself over the top rope right on top of Oliver and Brazil.
Reed tried to then catch Lindaman off guard, but to no avail as he went for his own somersault plancha but landed on his buddies instead of his opponent. The StrongHeart was not finished as he jumped back in the ring and landed another somersault plancha on to Reed this time.
Lindaman hit some great kicks and strikes before dumping Reed on the back of his head with a German suplex. But Reed later reversed a suplex into a stunner and hit a springboard ace crusher and a sit-out reverse DDT (curtain call), but Lindaman kicked out before three.
Lindaman caught Reed with a dropkick off a springboard and planted him on his head for a close two count of his own. Reed briefly escaped Lindaman’s grasp by backing up the ramp, but the champion had a plan and quite a way to execute it. He ran down the ramp, leaped over the top rope and into the ring, hitting an ace crusher in the process before smoothly following up with a springboard 450 to pick up the win in his first successful title defense.
— Alicia Atout interviewed Brian Pillman Jr. earlier in the day. He said that he has a grade 3 AC joint separation, but Injustice could not keep him out of the tournament. He said Smith is an excellent martial artist but this match isn’t about the Hart Foundation any more. He is leaving it all on the line and wants to show the Hart family he can earn their respect and win the Cup.
— King Mo was backstage and said that it doesn’t matter who wins the Opera Cup tonight, the winner can face him. He then called out MLW World champion Jacob Fatu and told him to stop using the belt to hide his stretch marks, and that he is coming for him.
— Lifestyles of the Rich and Dynastic followed with a recap of last week where Gino Medina joined the Dynasty. The now foursome were celebrating with champagne as MJF asked Holliday where Grogan was. Holliday reassured that he was downstairs keeping people out of the VIP area and then thanked Medina for picking them over “that janitor” Konnan. Medina said Konnan used to be the Hulk Hogan of Mexico which enraged Hammerstone who then listed all the ways Konnan was nothing like Hogan: no tan, he’s fat, washed up, and a has-been. They sealed the deal with a four-way Dynasty pinkie shake.
Gino Medina defeated Savio Vega in a NYC street fight (8:33)
With an inset promo, Vega told Medina to be ready as it’s time to pay the price. He was not lying. The instant the bell rang, he was swinging his kendo stick and landing all over Medina’s body. Medina fought back and hit Vega with a chair, a trash can, and a stop sign, and then arrogantly tried to get the win by pinning Vega with only a foot on his chest.
Vega choked Medina on the mat and then tossed him to the outside where he went back to the kendo stick. However, Medina turned the tables and used a hockey stick across Vega’s back. Medina then wrapped Vega’s head in a steel chair and rammed it into the ring post.
Vega responded to the fans’ encouragement and hit a big backdrop and a spinning heel kick but only got a two count. Vega went to the well once too often and missed the next spinning heel kick, but then just hit the third one anyway. The Dynasty then came out and distracted Vega, which allowed Medina hit a low blow and a Kamagiri kick for the win. They danced and posed to celebrate.
— We were told that the New York State Athletic Commission is looking into Tom Lawlor’s use of nunchucks last week as they are illegal there. He could be looking at a fine or even a suspension.
— Atout then caught up with Davey Boy Smith Jr. ahead of the Opera Cup final. Smith said that being in the final means pride, passion, and glory. He said Pillman’s father was taught by his father in the Dungeon, and he is surprised Pillman has made it to the finals. But, he sees the passion and burning desire in him. Tonight, he means business.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Brian Pillman in the finals of the Opera Cup (16:57)
This was a great match to cap off a great tournament with a worthy winner given the performances and a nice, touching story about keeping the family tradition with the Cup alive. To tie in with the story and build, we were told Injustice had all been kicked out due to their threat on the participants in the Cup final, and also that the Opera Cup tournament will now be an annual tradition in MLW.
A handshake started us off, but Pillman threatened an early clean break with a cheeky back elbow but he didn’t follow through. Smith got the early advantage in the slow-paced opening segments, but Pillman eventually dropkicked Smith to the outside and hit a springboard splash to the floor. His success was short-lived as Smith floored him with a clothesline and a suplex on the floor outside.
The crowd momentarily brought Pillman back into it but Smith floored him again, this time with a headbutt. Smith missed a big flying legdrop from the top rope and Pillman fired up with right hands and a kick to the head. Pillman nearly picked up the win after rolling through a power slam for a close two count. He tried a backslide and an inside cradle for more close calls. They exchanged more two counts before Pillman rocked Smith with a superkick and a knee to the temple before hitting his Air Pillman springboard clothesline for another close near fall.
Pillman hit his Dire Promise swinging neckbreaker but Smith kicked out at two. Smith moved when Pillman flew through the air and hit him with the running powerslam, but Pillman somehow kicked out. They exchanged slaps as Pillman begged for Smith to give him his best shot. Smith obliged and hit him with a tombstone piledriver and a diving headbutt but Pillman dug deep and kicked out at the last moment to the shock and amazement of the crowd.
Smith powerbombed Pillman in frustration, but we got another kickout. As Pillman tried to roll to safety, Smith locked in the crossface submission. Pillman momentarily tried to roll out of it but the power of Smith was too much and he got back into position, sunk the lock in deeper, and gave Pillman no choice but to tap out.
Smith posed with his trophy after the match, raised Pillman’s arm, and was greeted with streamers from the New York crowd. Smith seemed genuinely emotional as he paraded the Cup around the ring and thanked the fans in the arena.
** Next Week **
Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc in a no ropes, barbed wire match
Greetings grapple fans, my name is Will Cooling, and I am your recapper for the next 10 (fingers crossed) weeks of pro wrestling on British television’s second biggest network, ITV.
Before we begin, rather than repeat myself throughout this recap, the camerawork for World of Sport is abysmal. They literally couldn’t properly frame a person standing in the ring talking, instead they kept shooting at an angle that meant the ring apron cut diagonally across the screen. I honestly thought there was a problem with my television for the first 10 minutes. The camerawork was even worse during matches, with the heavy use of close-ups, shaky-cam, and roving camera often giving me vertigo.
On the other hand, the commentary was perfectly competent. It has come to pass that replacing Jim Ross with Alex Shane is an upgrade, because Shane conveys real energy and passion throughout his calls. Likewise, I’ve always liked the setup where the authority figure is the third man (I remember Vince McMahon doing some excellent calls in that role in 1999, and Jim Cornette donning the headsets in TNA was always a highlight).
Stu Bennett (the former Wade Barrett) not only adds something to the broadcast, but his interplay with Shane helps explain his heel authority figure character.
Finally, three ground rules. I will divide the recap up into the segments, because I think the ad breaks say something about the rhythm of the program. I’ve tried to time matches, but if anyone shouts at me for getting the times slightly wrong, I’ll just stop timing them! And I’ve included links to Cagematch’s database for each wrestler in case you want to learn more about them and the local promotions they work for.
Segment One
Our commentary team is Alex Shane, SoCal Val, and (during matches) Stu Bennett, and the matches were recorded in Norwich, England.
We began with Bennett being introduced as the promotion’s senior executive. Bennett reprised his line that was carried in the show’s opening promo, about this being the time to take British pro wrestling away from the jokers and clowns. He was interrupted by Grado, the man who won the WOS Championship back on New Year’s Eve 2016. Bennett did a good job of subtly demonstrating his distaste for the champion, especially during a handshake.
Grado did a funny promo talking about how, while he doesn’t go to the gym, he does walk his dog. Given that the show is being produced like a game show, it’s hard to know when the reactions are genuine, but the audience seemed to have genuinely found that funny. Bennett told Grado to enjoy that reaction because he’ll be defending his title tonight against the winner of a five-man elimination match.
The competitors for the match were introduced by Bennett with no individual entrances. Indeed, there was no attempt to introduce the competitors — save for quick lines from the commentary. This was a shame — because Justin Sysum (former American football player) and Adam Maxted (former contestant on popular reality show “Love Island”) have interesting stories. Maxted showed good star presence, grabbing the camera to do a pose while flexing his pecs.
They started brawling down the entrance ramp, with tag team partners Rampage and Samuels beating down Sysum after they got into the ring. Crater ran wild on the other competitors. Maxted then annoyed the masked monster by posing in front of him. Maxted failed to bodyslam Crater, who then used the ring ropes to choke him. On the second attempt, Crater just failed to break the hold at five, and so the referee disqualified him at 1 minute and 55 seconds.
A soft disqualification, which was made worse by the fact that no attempt had been made to explain the rules of pro wrestling beforehand. Crater then destroyed everyone else in the ring before finally departing.
Rampage and Samuels returned to beating down Sysum. Shane criticized Bennett for booking a tag team in a contender’s match, and Bennett responded that “all’s fair in love and war.” Sysum made a Sting-esque comeback, but it proved a temporary hope spot before the onslaught resumed.
Samuels accidentally hit Rampage, and in the confusion, Sysum got the pinfall at 4 minutes 59 seconds. Rampage attacked Sysum from behind, but he was ultimately thrown into the ring post and collapsed to the floor. Maxted returned to the fray. He ended up outside the ring, and Sysum followed him with a tope. Sysum just beat the referee’s count to be declared the winner at 6 minutes and 44 seconds.
However, there was a problem where the referee had forgotten to account for Rampage, who had been lying down outside for over a minute. Rampage even beat the count without the referee noticing. Bennett declared Sysum the winner but, after criticizing the referee, added Rampage to the WOS World Championship match.
Segment Two
We returned from the ad break with Stu Bennett talking about “sports entertainment” and the importance of not trying this at home. These were run throughout the show, but this was the most egregious.
This time the competitors got individual entrances, but again no video packages were shown to explain who the wrestlers are and why they’re important. This was particularly noteworthy with Smith because a member of the mainstream audience would have no idea as to why his father was important or why Junior walks around with the Canadian flag.
Meanwhile, Ospreay’s achievements were summarized as him being the most “viral” pro wrestler in the world, presumably on the basis that members of the mainstream audience know and care about wrestling .gifs being shared on Twitter.
One thing that this match demonstrated was that Ospreay is a bigger man than you may assume, as up against someone who is booked as a powerhouse in NJPW’s heavyweight division, he never looked overly slight. After a fast start where Ospreay dropkicked his opponent outside the ring and then faked a suicide dive, Smith would control much of the match with power moves, including his father’s trademark spot of a delayed suplex. However, Ospreay was always in the match with his high-impact, high-flying offense.
Whatever you say about WOS Wrestling, they booked Ospreay as a more competitive heavyweight here than New Japan did against Taguchi! Ospreay built momentum after a dragon suplex, but Smith interrupted his momentum by getting his legs up to counter an attempted 640 splash. Ospreay would valiantly withstand Smith’s offense, something that would see this mainstream-focused product receive a “This Is Awesome” chant from the crowd.
After failing to secure the victory with a sit-down powerbomb, Smith would put Ospreay up on the top rope for a superplex. Ospreay would counter with a Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay would then go for a springboard hurricanrana, only for Smith to counter with a top rope powerslam. That secured the victory at 7 minutes and 50 seconds.
After the match, we were joined by a backstage interviewer standing in front a removals crate upon which the new WOS Wrestling Tag Team titles were resting. I have to say, that after watching this show live, I went to a town hall in Shropshire to watch a local wrestling show, and I honestly think the toy WWE US title that I saw a child carry looked better than a prize being fought for on national television.
This was followed by an interview with Iestyn Rees & Kip Sabian, in which the latter did all the talking. This was the most character work any wrestler other than Grado or Bennett were facilitated to do all show.
Before the commercial break, we had the entrances for the forthcoming tag team match. It’s worth noting that unlike Sabian, Joe Hendry got no time to explain his character to the audience. Presumably because they wouldn’t care about representing your country in the Commonwealth Games.
Hendry got the better of the early exchanges against Sabian before tagging in Kirby. The momentum changed during some fast-paced exchanges, with Sabian showing his superior ringmanship. Kirby gained the space to tag Hendry back in. Hendry went for a top rope move, but Rees grabbed the leg, allowing his partner to gain the advantage.
Rees was tagged in. They worked over Hendry while rotating the tag. Hendry escaped a powerslam but was pushed into Kirby, who bounced off the ring apron. On commentary, Bennett talked about the possibility of dissension in the ranks. Sabian resumed beating down on Hendry before making the tag to Rees. Rees and Sabian really do work well as a team, due to their combination of power and speed.
Hendry crawled over to make the tag, but Kirby jumped off the apron. Hendry was confused but went on to make his own comeback, including suplexing both opponents (why was he looking for a tag?). Hendry was somehow fighting against two men, but he ultimately fell to an elevated neckbreaker at 8 minutes 5 seconds.
Segment Four
We started with the entrances for the main event. Suddenly, the team of Rampage and Samuels have added a third ally in CJ Banks. Who he is and where he came from was not explained. Because the mainstream audience already knows who he is, presumably.
Rampage immediately started tearing into both babyfaces but was then thrown outside. Sysum was thrown outside, where Rampage and his allies picked him apart. Grado did a senton off the ring apron and brought Rampage back into the ring, but the bigger man gained the advantage.
Sysum came back in but quickly got hit by a senton by Grado. Rampage went for a piledriver, which luckily for him he couldn’t complete, as that move is banned in WOS Wrestling (something the audience knew already, I’m sure). Sysum hit a 450 splash on Grado, but Rampage threw him out of the ring. Rampage hit Grado with an implant DDT to secure the victory and win the title at 5 minutes 32 seconds.
The show ended with Rampage celebrating, and the promise of a ladder match, another match in the tag title tournament, and the first match on the road to determine the first-ever WOS Women’s Champion.
Conclusion
This wasn’t a good show. It really wasn’t.
The runtime for this episode when the advertisements are accounted for was around 47 minutes. To cram four matches, plus two talking segments, into that time meant that everything was rushed.
We all criticize WWE for the overemphasis on video packages, but this was a show crying out for them. At the very least show a clip of when Grado won the title, but ideally you would spend time to explain who the key characters are. I am not a regular ITV viewer, but shows like X Factor do a really good job of putting together short video packages that introduce you to the competitors. It baffles me that wasn’t done for the pro wrestlers.
Likewise, no attempt was made to explain what pro wrestling is. The few times I’ve watched Ninja Warrior, they really go out of their way to explain the rules of the contest. Other than garbled comments from the commentators, at no point was any attempt made to explain what the rules of pro wrestling are, something that is particularly dumbfounding when you consider the variety of rule sets used and that the actual wrestling on World of Sport used a completely different rule set.
Indeed, the influence of WWE is felt throughout the show. I mean, we literally have a heel authority figure droning on about why the clearly popular babyface is not marketable, and therefore he must conspire to get the title off them. Because of reasons. I don’t know, I doubt that the mainstream audience really cares about the politics of selling television abroad.
I can honestly say that I enjoyed the pilot more than this show. Other than getting Will Ospreay involved, the people behind it seem to have learned nothing. Indeed, with the camera work, they have regressed.
It’s all very disappointing, and if it doesn’t change, we should get ready to embrace our WWE overlords.
Will Cooling is a regular contributor to Fighting Spirit Magazine, the UK’s biggest and best pro wrestling magazine, which is available worldwide at https://pocketmags.com/fighting-spirit-magazine. He is also the co-host of the It Could Be Wrestling podcast, which you can find on iTunes or real computers. You can follow him on Twitter at @willcooling or harangue him at [email protected].
