The Von Erichs are officially members of the AEW roster, they have announced.
Speaking on the debut episode of their new The ClawPod podcast, Marshall Von Erich and Ross Von Erich announced that they are under contract to AEW, noting that their independent careers were an “expensive hobby,” but that they are now full-fledged professionals.
“This day we’ve dreamed about for so long is finally here,” said Ross. “This is kind of like the thing that we’ve been working towards our whole careers.”
“Of course, personally, Ross and I, we strive to be the best, the greatest tag team in professional wrestling. And so, we want the biggest accolade you can get, which is the AEW Tag Team Championship,” Marshall said.
Marshall and Ross currently hold the Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Dustin Rhodes. The trio have not defended their titles since September after Marshall suffered a partially torn pectoral that has kept him out of action. Rhodes also holds ROH Tag Team gold with Sammy Guevara.
The debut episode of The Claw Pod is embedded below.
A third of the Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Champions is currently on the shelf recovering from an injury.
On the Von Erich podcast, Marshall Von Erich said he is recovering from a torn pec, suffered when he landed on the mat after a dropkick. He said he got too much air as he was all “hyped up” from the crowd.
He hasn’t wrestled since a late-September Proving Ground match in ROH alongside brother Ross and Dustin Rhodes. There is no timetable for his return.
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On Thursday’s ROH on HonorClub, a future match for the ROH Tag Team titles was agreed to that will see the aforementioned Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara defend against The Righteous.
Dutch & Vincent kicked off the show by issuing a challenge for the titles which Rhodes and Guevara later agreed to. Later in the show, the champions saved Solomon Tupu from a beatdown after The Righteous attacked he and Jay Marten after defeating them.
The Righteous weren’t done with Rhodes and Guevara, attacking them following a backstage promo:
It’s assumed the match will be taped Saturday, along with other ROH action, prior to AEW Collision.
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The Shane Taylor Promotions faction has grown larger after Thursday as The Infantry are now part of the group.
The move was made in a backstage segment when Taylor and Pure Champion Lee Moriarty approached Shawn Dean, Carlie Bravo and Trish Adora after previously having tried to recruit them. The Infantry agreed and later picked up a victory over the Spanish Announce Project after Moriarty assisted by hitting Angelico with a foreign object.
Ross and Marshall Von Erich could be headed to a major wrestling company soon.
On the debut edition of The Von Erichs podcast, Marshall mentioned that the brothers signing with a major promotion is “in the cards” but said he’s not able to talk much about it. He also said that he and Ross have had conversations with “both companies.”
Marshall said:
“Ross and I, in the beginning, we had an opportunity to go to WWE to do a tryout. We both didn’t feel like it was time because once you go, you’re showing this is the best of what we have to offer and we didn’t feel like we were at our best yet.”
Marshall continued to say that he now feels they are ready to perform for a major organization. He also said he feels confident that could happen sometime soon.
“Right now we feel like we’re polished and ready and could go wrestle anywhere. I feel like it’s coming, it’s coming soon and so this is like the calm before the storm. We’ve been in conversations with both companies and stuff, so we’re just seeing where it goes but it feels like the calm before a storm because I’ve got a feeling it’s coming soon. It’s coming soon. I’d love to talk on it more but there’s some stuff I can’t really talk about yet.”
The Von Erichs wrestled full-time with Pro Wrestling NOAH from the summer of 2012 to late 2013. They signed with MLW in 2019 and wrestled there for three years, winning the promotion’s tag titles once and feuding with The Dynasty, The New Era Hart Foundation, and other teams. They debuted in AEW at Winter is Coming 2023 and wrestled on several ROH tapings in Texas that month as well. The Von Erichs also teamed with Dustin Rhodes on the February 16 episode of Rampage earlier this year in Cedar Park.
On AEW Rampage this Friday night, two legendary pro wrestling families are joining forces.
Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs (Ross & Marshall Von Erich) are teaming together in a trios match on this Friday’s Rampage episode. The match was taped after Wednesday night’s Dynamite in Cedar Park, Texas. Spoilers from the show can be found here.
Teaming with Ross & Marshall was an honor for Dustin Rhodes, who made a social media post thanking Tony Khan for booking the match. Dustin noted that his father Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Von Erich only teamed together once during their careers:
A little history lesson for you. Our own @alexmarvez told me last night that their dad Kevin tagged 1 and only 1 time with my pops back in 1978. So you can imagine how special this meant to me. #VonErichsAndRhodes #TexasBoys whooping tail!!
Trios anybody?
Thanks @TonyKhan for making this happen. Historical and honored. #keepsteppin and see you tomorrow night on #AEWRampage baby!!!#hookem
Rhodes & The Von Erichs faced the team of Hit, Romero Cruz & Shimbashi in the Rampage trios match. This was Ross & Marshall’s first time competing for AEW or ROH since December.
This Friday’s Rampage has a special start time of 7 p.m. Eastern. The announced lineup for the show is listed below:
Due to Marshall and Ross Von Erich both testing positive for COVID-19, the brothers are out of Saturday’s MLW Tag Team title match at the Blood & Thunder TV taping in Dallas, Texas.
They revealed the news on Twitter Wednesday night:
Announcement🚨 My brother and I are covid positive and unfortunately won’t be able to make the Dallas show Jan 22. Ruled medically unable to perform by @MLW medical staff. I’m sincerely sorry to all the fans who bought a ticket to see us. Please enjoy the show, see y’all in March
Completely devastated. Found out I won’t be able to wrestle tomorrow night because we tested positive for Covid. Never been so prepared for a match in my life. This one hurts, I feel gutted. I was so excited to see everybody it’s been to long but I can’t now. I love you Texas
The Von Erichs are getting a Tag Team title shot when MLW comes to the family’s original home state of Texas in January.
Ross & Marshall Von Erich will challenge for the MLW Tag Team titles at the promotion’s “Blood & Thunder” tapings in Dallas on Friday, January 21, 2022. The tapings are being held at Gilley’s Dallas.
The announcement was made during an appearance that Ross & Marshall made on 96.7 The Ticket sports radio in Dallas/Fort Worth today.
Los Parks put the MLW Tag Team titles on the line against 5150’s Slice Boogie & Danny “Limelight” Rivera in a street fight at MLW’s War Chamber tapings in Philadelphia earlier this month. Spoilers from those tapings can be found here.
Ross & Marshall Von Erich previously held the MLW Tag Team titles from November 2019 to January 2021. They lost the titles to Los Parks in a match where Tom Lawlor was the special guest referee and cheated against The Von Erichs throughout. It was hyped after that loss that The Von Erichs would focus on their feud with Team Filthy before going after the Tag Team titles again.
Blood & Thunder will be MLW’s first TV tapings of 2022. The promotion will be back at Gilley’s Dallas for tapings on Thursday, March 31.
Marshall Von Erich sent the Texas crowd home happy as he made MJF tap out to the claw.
Myron Reed successfully defended his MLW Middleweight title when he put away AAA’s Drago with his springboard 450 splash.
Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s war against CONTRA got off to a winning start as he knocked out Simon Gotch in a no rope, no holds barred fight.
**Full Review**
We opened with a video recap from last week and the initiation of the CONTRA Unit vs Hart Foundation feud. They hyped up tonight’s match between Davey Boy Smith Jr and Simon Gotch.
Alicia Atout was then live backstage with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. Smith said Gotch had a big mouth, a mouth that needs to be fishhooked, and the only way to lose in tonight’s match was to either tap out, pass out, or get knocked out. Smith wanted Gotch to pick his own execution.
AJ Kirsch and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Fusion as we saw the ropes had been removed from the ring in preparation for the opening encounter.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Simon Gotch (with Josef Samael) in a no rope, no holds barred fight (8:01)
The only way to win was by knockout or submission with no rounds no rules and no ropes around the ring. Smith came out in a full white robe and hood that made him look like Hakushi. This started mat-based but quickly turned stiff with a lot of big strikes and suplexes. Gotch made good use of the non-ropes by pushing Smith out the ring early on.
Smith came back and dominated the early minutes of the match, grounding Gotch and hammering him with elbows to the head and face. He trapped Gotch’s arm behind his head and had free reign to land three big forearms to the jaw.
On their feet, they exchanged stiff forearms to the face, but Gotch knocked Smith down with a kick to the knee. The grounded Smith tried to lock in a cross armbreaker but Samael got involved at ringside and pulled Gotch’s leg so it dangled out the ring, apparently trying to break the hold in a no holds barred match.
Another forearm exchange echoed around the arena, but Gotch again slithered down and locked in a knee lock, but Smith powered to his feet and hit two belly-to-back suplexes. The finish came moments later when Smith hit Gotch square in the face with a discus forearm and an incredibly strong kick to the chest while Gotch was bent over.
Gotch was out on his feet but Smith was not done. He hit two more belly-to-back suplexes for good measure and the referee called for the bell before he could hit a third and declared Smith the winner by knockout.
— Lifestyles of the Rich and Dynastic had Alexander Hammerstone, Richard Holliday, and Gino Medina backstage talking about Hammer’s time in Japan. He said he was such a huge star in Japan that he got a sponsorship deal for pop sodas for 10,000 Yen. Holliday smirked as Hammerstone explained that it was like $100,000, but Holliday had to tell him it was actually only around $91 but Hammerstone didn’t care. He was more interested in the “cool” way they popped open. Holliday said he would get his lawyer/his father to write up the paperwork for getting them on sale in the U.S. so the Dynasty can make some money.
— We then saw highlights of last week’s barbed wire match between Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc. We heard from the victorious Warner, fresh off the match with blood still covering his face. He said he finished Havoc and he is going to hit the pay window, get his light beers, and get some gold. He called out Hammerstone and said he is coming for his National Openweight title.
— “Filthy” Tom Lawlor had his own mini-movie “Filthy Does Dallas” where he and Dominic Garrini were in Dallas becoming cowboys. Garrini was in his gi and walking around town barefoot while Lawlor was buying cowboy boots and belt buckles to attach to their jiu-jitsu belts.
Middleweight Champion Myron Reed (with Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil) defeated Drago to retain (4:42)
Oliver took the mic before the bell and called Dallas “Houston”, but said it didn’t matter because they all look the same anyway with their cowboy hats and cowboy boots. Brazil told them they had no love for them or their trash-ass cowboys. After insulting them, Oliver tried to get the fans to start a “hot fire” chant, but not surprisingly it didn’t take off.
Drago tried to hit an early big splash which connected but he took the brunt of the move due to Reed’s chest protector. Reed used a matrix style nip up to dodge kicks from Drago and then hit a springboard face breaker to the knees after leaping in from the apron.
Reed used a dragon sleeper on Drago and a slingshot legdrop again from the apron back into the ring. He then launched himself at Drago who was resting against the ropes, but Drago ducked and Reed went sailing into the arms of Oliver and Brazil at ringside. Drago then ran and hit a somersault plancha onto all three members of Injustice.
Drago powerbombed Reed twice and took out Oliver and Brazil as they tried to interfere. He slammed Reed to the mat as he pulled him off the top rope but Injustice got involved again and Brazil hit him with a low blow behind the referee’s back. Reed took the advantage and hit his springboard 450 splash and eventually got the three count after the referee stumbled and stalled while counting and had to hit the 1-2-3 again.
If this was a legitimate botch by the referee, they covered it well by making it part of the storyline with the commentators saying Injustice now have a legitimate grievance if this is how the officials are going to treat them. Reed, Oliver, and Brazil all used it as an excuse to air their grievances after the bell. If this was planned and part of the storyline, well played.
— Atout was then backstage with Low Ki when King Mo interfered and mocked him for training with the guy he knocked out. (That match happened at Saturday’s Fightland taping in Philadelphia.)
— CONTRA’s propaganda video this week was directed at Brian Pillman Jr. before his MLW title shot next week against Jacob Fatu. Samael said he has found his death squad and is ready to take out the Hart Foundation.
— We were told Air Wolf was attacked backstage by masked men and was taken to the hospital so his scheduled match has been cancelled. Seconds later, the commentary team were told the attackers were from CONTRA Unit’s “Sentai death squad”.
— We then saw a quick Marshall Von Erich-MJF hype package that recapped their huge Von Erich vs Dynasty feud that lasted throughout most of 2019.
Marshall Von Erich defeated MJF (10:31)
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor was on commentary to continue his feud with the Von Erichs. MJF took the mic before the bell and cut his usual excellent heat-inducing promo. He said that tonight another Von Erich will go six feet under. Marshall got a huge ovation from the Texas crowd, and they erupted again when Hammerstone and Gino Medina were ejected from ringside by the referee.
They locked up, fought for leverage, left the ring still tied together, circled ringside, and came back in still locked up. MJF then offered a handshake and baited Von Erich in so he could stick him with a boot to the gut. Von Erich fired back with armdrags and a dropkick but couldn’t apply the claw as MJF bailed to take a breather.
On the outside, Von Erich chopped the ring post and MJF trapped the tag champ’s fingers in the turnbuckle, going to work attacking the hand. Von Erich had a brief hope spot as he fired back with right hands but MJF grabbed his hair and slammed him back to the mat. MJF kept mocking the claw as he went back to work on the hand.
Von Erich fought up to his feet and hit an overhead belly to belly suplex. He hit a dropkick and a pair of corner clotheslines by a somersault senton into the corner. A power slam was next but MJF kicked out at two. On commentary, Tom Lawlor said he doesn’t respect a guy who doesn’t wear shoes, forgetting his new friend Garrini not only wrestles barefoot but apparently shops barefoot too.
Von Erich went for the claw, but MJF pulled the referee in the way. He then missed MJF and his hand hit the corner post which gave MJF the opening to transition into a Fujiwara armbar and use the injured fingers to pull back for leverage. Lawlor said this turned him on.
Von Erich hit a big boot and a huge moonsault for a very close two count. Dynasty then came to ringside but Von Erich got rid of them with a pair of right hands. MJF used a schoolboy with his feet on the ropes but the referee broke it up. MJF turned around into the claw and tapped out when Von Erich got him to the mat as Lawlor looked on furiously from the announcer’s table.
After the bell, Von Erich fought off the Dynasty and stopped Lawlor in his tracks before he could attack him with a chair. Von Erich celebrated with the Texas crowd as Fusion went off the air.
**Next Week**
MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Brian Pillman Jr. for the title
A match with Tag Team title implications has been added to MLW’s Zero Hour television tapings.
MLW announced today that Marshall Von Erich vs. MJF will take place at Zero Hour. The match has a stipulation where — if MJF wins — The Dynasty will get another Tag Team title shot. If Marshall wins, MJF can’t challenge the Von Erichs for the titles again.
Marshall & Ross Von Erich won the titles by defeating The Dynasty (MJF & Richard Holliday) at last month’s Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view.
After the angle where Tom Lawlor turned heel and cost him an MLW World title match against Jacob Fatu, Ross Von Erich is facing Lawlor at Zero Hour.
Zero Hour is MLW’s first event of 2020. It’s taking place at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills, Texas on Saturday, January 11 and will also feature Jimmy Havoc vs. Mance Warner in a no ropes barred wire match.
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Low Ki, Marshall Von Erich & Ross Von Erich (w/ team captain Kevin Von Erich) defeated CONTRA Unit (MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Ikuro Kwon & Simon) Gotch in the MLW War Chamber.
Leo Brien debuted a new look and gimmick.
LA Park will cash in his golden ticket for a shot at Fatu’s MLW World title at the MLW Saturday Night SuperFight PPV in the Chicago area on November 2.
Full Recap —
From the sold-out NYTEX Sports Centre in Texas, MLW Fusion opened with a video package hyping up the War Chamber main event.
Leo Brien defeated Brandon Banks (1:27)
Brien has a new look and gimmick: a wild, rough-house, cowbell-swinging throwback — he is even throwing in some Berzerker style barks to add to his crazed in-ring style.
The match was short, sharp, and to the point. Brien hit a big boot, used a biel across the ring by the ears, and followed up with a running powerslam called the Oklahoma Stampede to get the win.
Brien looked good here, and you could see him facing off against the likes of Mance Warner, LA Park, and Tom Lawlor in the future. Hopefully this restart will be the start of big things for him.
– LA Park and Salina de la Renta stormed the ring at the end of the match. They slapped Banks around and laid out the referee with a chair. Park set up said chair in the corner and rested his legs on the downed official to listen to de la Renta.
De la Renta introduced her destroyer, “the greatest wrestler in the history of Mexican sports, the greatest luchador in lucha libre,” LA Park. She announced that Park will cash in his golden ticket for a shot at the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at the MLW Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view. It’s taking place in Cicero, Illinois on November 2.
– Teddy Hart had a recorded message from a Calgary hockey rink. He said he takes wrestling seriously as a sport due to his upbringing in ice hockey. He said nothing gets him going more than the thought of going to Dallas to beat up MJF and Richard Holliday.
– We had a great recorded promo from the Von Erichs. It was intertwined with old archive footage of the Dallas Sportatorium and pictures of the Von Erich family. The family was at the site of the Sportatorium as Kevin Von Erich was talking about all his memories being back there. Ross & Marshall Von Erich said they had never been there before as they didn’t want to go without their dad.
Tom Lawlor, Low Ki, Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich (w/ team captain Kevin Von Erich) defeated CONTRA Unit (MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Ikuro Kwon & Simon Gotch in the MLW War Chamber (30:19)
They followed the traditional War Games rules with two competitors starting and the coin toss winning team gaining the one-man advantage throughout the alternating entrances. The finish could only take place when all eight wrestlers were in the ring and you could win by pinfall, submission or surrender.
It was a single ring cage with no roof, but barbed wire circled the top of the cage to stop anyone from entering or exiting.
Simon Gotch and Marshall Von Erich were in first and fought for the first five minutes. Kevin Von Erich came out with Marshall and got a huge ovation from the Dallas crowd. Marshall had a quick start, but they slowed it down soon to pace themselves for the long match ahead.
Josef Samael was out for CONTRA next. After another brief flurry from Marshall, CONTRA used the advantage to break him down. They stayed in control until Tom Lawlor came out to even the odds.
Lawlor and Marshall immediately had the advantage — but after only two short minutes, MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu came in for CONTRA. Marshall and Lawlor went straight for him, but Fatu ended up catching Lawlor off the top with a Samoan drop and slamming Marshall with a big uranage.
Fatu hit his handspring moonsault on both his opponents, kicking and squashing Lawlor against the cage before moonsaulting on Marshall. Samael bit Lawlor’s ear for good measure.
Low Ki evened the odds next. On arriving, he slammed the cage door on Samael — a little nod to the Dallas history with the Freebirds and Von Erichs. In the corner, he slammed elbows to the top of Gotch’s head, but CONTRA soon took back control.
Their advantage increased with their fourth and final member entering the ring. Ikuro Kwon went straight to Low Ki and they exchanged kicks and strikes — hopefully we will see them facing off in the future. Low Ki can bring a freshness to this feud and create some new matchups.
We were told Ross Von Erich was suffering from the flu as the countdown to his arrival started. Ross entered like a house on fire as the Von Erich theme song blasted around the arena. He floored Gotch, Samael, and Kwon as Marshall Claw slammed Gotch. Samael was bleeding heavily from the door shot from Low Ki earlier.
Ross reversed a pop-up powerbomb with a hurricanrana on Fatu, but the champion came back and remained strong. He choked Ross with his wrist tape soon after.
With all competitors in there, the match broke down into a hard-hitting exhausting brawl. Lawlor eventually got the champion down in the corner and hit a basement dropkick for a two count.
Marshall slammed Fatu and then dropped Kwon on top of him for good measure. Samael mouthed off at Kevin through the cage but was battered by Marshall for his trouble.
Fatu had Ross up for a Samoan drop, but Marshall applied the Claw. It was only briefly though, as the champion fought out and spun Ross around so he kicked his brother in the head. Fatu then successfully hit his big pop-up Samoan drop.
Samael and Ki climbed the cage and Samael had his face rammed into the barbed wire. A masked CONTRA member tried to climb the cage on the outside, but Kevin pulled him off and applied the Claw to take him down.
Lawlor came close to being pinned: He had Samael in a rear-naked choke, but Samael broke the hold when he jabbed his spike into Lawlor’s hand. Kwon then sprayed mist into Lawlor’s eyes and Fatu hit him with a superkick and triple-jump moonsault. Low Ki made the save at the last moment with a double foot stomp on Fatu.
Marshall saved his brother from a Gotch piledriver. He applied the Iron Claw, then pulled Gotch to the corner. Ross went underneath and lifted Gotch on his shoulders. Marshall — still applying the Claw — went to the top rope and they slammed Gotch to the middle of the ring. They pinned Gotch and picked up the win to the delight of the Texas crowd.
Kevin Von Erich joined Lawlor, Low Ki, Marshall, and Ross in the ring to celebrate.
Next Week —
MLW Tag Team Champions The Dynasty (MJF & Richard Holliday) defend their titles against The Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) in a two-out-of-three falls match.
LA Park’s Battle Riot golden ticket is back with its rightful owner as Bestia 666 defeated Mance Warner in a Mexican Death Match to return the ticket to Promociones Dorado.
Low Ki upstaged Ricky Martinez and Salina de la Renta again.
The Von Erich brothers defeated Contra Unit once again in anther wild red-hot brawl.
Full Recap —
Salina de la Renta opened up Fusion this week with an in-ring promo on Mance Warner. She said he has been running around with idiot’s luck, but his luck is about to run out. She brought out his opponent for this week — Bestia 666.
Bestia 666 (w/ Salina de la Renta) defeated Mance Warner in a Mexican Death Match (10:01)
Bestia victoriously represented Promociones Dorado here, which means that LA Park’s golden ticket is back with its rightful owner and Park can now cash in his title shot whenever he wants. Bestia picked up the win in this hardcore weapon-filled death match with a little help from de la Renta at ringside
The match began with a suicide dive from Bestia as Warner was making his entrance — and the wild action did not give up from there. They brawled around ringside, with Warner fish hooking Bestia with the ring bell hammer. De la Renta nearly had a collision with Warner when Bestia whipped Warner into the guardrail. A kendo stick was ruined over Warner’s back and Bestia’s head.
Warner hit a DDT on the ring apron before bringing out a wooden sheet and a pair of steel chairs. He put thumbtacks on the chair, but Bestia reversed him and threw him head-first into the tacks.
Inside, Warner had a trash can put over his head and was smacked with a steel chair a few times. He was then hit with the same can for good measure but was able to kick out at two.
Bestia set up the wooden board in the corner of the ring but ended up being speared through it. Warner then hit his running knee pad up/knee pad down but only got a two count.
As Warner was setting up his next devilish plan, de la Renta slipped Bestia something, then distracted Warner long enough for Bestia to throw powder in his eyes. A blinded Warner was then hooked up and driven through two seated folding chairs with a Muscle Buster, losing the match in the process.
– We saw a video of MLW correspondent Georgia Smith (Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s sister) and Alexander Hammerstone getting into a hotel elevator together and having a quick kiss before the doors closed.
– Kaci Lennox then met with Richard Holliday, Hammerstone, and Aria Blake of The Dynasty. She asked Hammerstone if the rumors of his relationship with Georgia were true, but Holliday changed the subject and Blake told her they had “no comment.”
– The MLW & Pro Wrestling NOAH working relationship was then announced via a video package.
– We then had a Contra Unit propaganda video. Josef Samael threatened the crowd by saying if he saw anyone try to start a riot like last time they were in that building, they will turn up the violence against the Von Erich brothers.
Low Ki defeated Ricky Martinez (4:17)
This was a rematch from a few weeks ago when Martinez let de la Renta down by being knocked out early in his match with Ki. Konnan was on commentary for this match, saying he has secrets involving de la Renta that she will not want out.
Martinez lasted longer here than in their previous match. He took Ki out early with a low dropkick and stayed on top for the opening moments.
Ki fought back and caught Martinez coming off the top with a rolling heel kick. Martinez came close with a facebreaker, but de la Renta began berating him, telling him to finish the job.
Konnan began taunting Salina with her cell phone that he has in his possession. Inside the ring, Ki got Martinez in the dragon sleeper, but de la Renta was screaming at him not to tap or she will end his career. Martinez ended up passing out, giving the win to Low Ki.
Angry at the outcome of the match, de la Renta left Martinez in the ring as she tried to get Ki back in her good books, but he left her high and dry.
– We then saw developments from Kotto Brazil’s online accounts showing that he is getting frustrated with MLW officials. We cut backstage to Brazil, Myron Reed, and Jordan Oliver cutting a promo on the referees and officials in MLW. They all say they want Justice.
– The cameras had caught up with “Filthy” Tom Lawlor earlier that day. He said he has been living a living hell. He isn’t happy that Fatu stole his title, but what Fatu didn’t steal was his soul. He wants a rematch with Fatu in New York City. He also challenged Contra Unit to a match inside the War Chamber in Dallas, Texas and told them to be prepared to be dismembered.
– Lennox then caught up with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Teddy Hart and showed them the video of Georgia and Hammerstone. Smith Jr. was not happy and stormed off looking for his sister.
Marshall & Ross Von Erich defeated Contra Unit (Simon Gotch & Josef Samael) in an unsanctioned match (6:24)
Another wild tag brawl involving these four. There was a red hot crowd too that was firmly behind the Von Erich brothers as they defeated Contra Unit once again.
Contra tried their old tricks of instigating a riot with the crowd by inviting them over the barrier for a fight. Before they could, the Von Erichs entered and the fight was on.
The Von Erichs started the match off by coming off the top rope and applying stereo Iron Claw holds to Contra Unit. Contra fought out with eye rakes. Gotch was going after Ross’ knee while Marshall and Samael brawled and chopped each other on the outside.
Back in the ring, the numbers game played in Contra’s advantage as they started working over Marshall’s leg too. The Von Erichs fired up and hit a double dropkick on Gotch and a double running attack on both their opponents stacked in the corner.
Marshall then hit a huge moonsault off the top rope onto Gotch, but Samael made the save for his partner.
On the outside, Ross kicked a steel chair into Gotch’s face and brought it into the ring. He went to swing. Samael threw fire at the brothers — but Ross blocked it with the chair and then clobbered Samael over the head with his makeshift shield. Marshall made the cover and picked up the 1-2-3.
The fighting continued after the bell as Contra jumped the Von Erichs. Referees and officials came out to break up the fight, but it was to no avail. Riot police even came out to separate them, but the Von Erichs wanted to fight some more. Marshall & Ross’ music played throughout the post-match brawl.
Backstage at the gorilla position, Jacob Fatu took out some riot police with a steel chair and went after the Von Erichs as they came through the curtain. Tom Lawlor then appeared and began fighting with Fatu as the officials, referees, and police tried to break them apart again.
If you thought last week’s Sami Callihan vs.Mance Warner falls count anywhere match was crazy, wild, and chaotic — you ain’t seen nothing yet. The Von Erichs debuted and looked great, picking up the win for their team against Contra Unit in the main event.
Full Recap —
– We opened with a mock funeral for Sami Callihan and his MLW career, complete with a headstone in the middle of a graveyard. Narrated by Jimmy Havoc, he mocked Callihan for losing last week’s loser leaves MLW match against Mance Warner as we saw clips from the brutal match.
Havoc warned Warner that he will eventually end up the same too. At the end, the camera panned out to show Salina de la Renta and Havoc side by side, dressed in black like some modern version of the Addam’s Family. De la Renta ended with “Rest in peace… you warthog.”
Richard Holliday vs. Teddy Hart ended in a no contest
MJF joined Rich Bocchini and Jim Cornette on commentary for what seemed to be our opening contest. As Hart was making his entrance, he approached the announce table and confronted MJF. This led to Holliday blindsiding Hart and MJF and Holliday beating Hart down.
MJF hit Hart with Hart’s own Middleweight title belt, then MJF and Holliday ran off with said belt.
– We had a video recap of the Warner vs. Callihan match from last week, including the events leading up to the encounter with de la Renta. We then cut to a taped promo from Warner saying he was played like a fool and was used to get Callihan out of MLW.
Warner challenged Ricky Martinez, El Hijo de LA Park, and finally LA Park himself. Warner ended by calling out Jimmy Havoc, saying he has a head like a baseball and he is going to hit a home run and send it back to the UK. One-by-one Warner is going to take Promociones Dorado out.
Jordan Oliver defeated Isaias Velazquez (4:34)
Oliver is now paying homage to 1992 WWF by dressing in a full body orange “Nailz” jumpsuit. Luckily, he was rather more athletic than the Big Bossman’s prison foe and finished off Velazquez with a cutter off the middle rope.
Velazquez had a bright start, evading Oliver’s attacks, hitting a high dropkick, and connecting with a soccer kick off the apron. But Oliver then crotched him on the top rope and hit what initially looked like a springboard DDT, but he spun to make it a cutter — his first of many. Myron Reed appeared in the crowd with his #Justice sign that the commentators mentioned.
Velazquez came close with a springboard takedown out of the corner, but he then missed a double foot stomp from the top. That let Oliver hit a springboard stunner from the apron, then Oliver leapt off the middle rope for a cutter to pick up the win.
– We saw cell phone footage of Dynasty leaving the building, apparently with Teddy Hart’s Middleweight title.
Low Ki defeated Tom Coffey (0:10)
Ki picked up the KO win with the same running elbow to the face that knocked Ricky Martinez out last week.
After the bell, the cameras caught Ki coming through the Gorilla position. He told us that the top level athletes come here to MLW. He called out Contra Unit and told them the Pandora’s box that they opened is now coming for them. Ki said that they are now in the sights of “the professional.”
MLW World Heavyweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Marshall Von Erich & Ross Von Erich defeated Contra Unit (Simon Gotch, Josef Samael & Jacob Fatu) in a tornado tag match (7:42)
The Von Erich brothers made an excellent debut and looked outstanding in this wild and mental main event. The action was everywhere and was non-stop from the opening bell.
Contra showed their first signs of vulnerability as Lawlor and the Von Erichs matched them for brawling, brutality, and balls. Weapons were swinging, fists were flying, and Von Erich dropkicks were launching high into the air. Gotch took the pinfall loss after a back suplex assisted Iron Claw slam from the Von Erichs.
Gotch got nose-to-nose with a fan at ringside as Fatu tried to bait others to come over the rail and try their luck. Someone did try their luck, not a fan, but Lawlor as he gave them a taste of their own medicine and blindsided Contra and jumped them from behind. He was closely followed by the Von Erich brothers as the tornado six-man brawl got underway.
The Von Erichs applied the Claw holds to Gotch and Samael before Fatu made the save. Marshall and Fatu then went at it, with the Von Erich brother getting the better of the Samoan. Samael and Gotch joined in — and quickly the numbers game played in Contra’s advantage.
Lawlor had a rear naked choke on Fatu on the outside, but Lawlor ate the guardrail soon after. Fatu entered the ring with a chair, but it was bounced back off his skull with a Von Erich dropkick. Fatu was then sent flying with a double dropkick from the brothers.
The fast and chaotic start slowed down as the six brawled around ringside. Lawlor was suplexed on the apron multiple times and was then duck taped to the ring post.
Samael used a steel chair on the Von Erichs before getting them into the ring. Fatu hit his springboard jump-up moonsault off the top rope onto both Von Erichs as Marshall jumped on top of Ross to try and soften the blow.
A referee cut Lawlor loose and he appeared with a piece of wooden board and obliterated it over Fatu’s head. No hands up, no protection, full on exploding wood straight over the head. Fatu stayed on his feet, so Lawlor went “Filthy” and kicked him between the legs to take him out of the action.
Samael was taken out with wood to the gut from Lawlor and a dropkick from the barefoot Marshall, who sprang to his feet and called for the Claw. He applied the Iron Claw to Gotch, and with the help from his brother Ross hitting a back suplex, they Iron Claw suplexed Gotch down to the mat for the win in their MLW debut, handing Contra Unit their first official pinfall loss.
Contra did not give up after the bell. Officials came out to break up the fighting as Lawlor and the Von Erichs held their own. During the melee, MLW producer Alex Greenfield fell and hit his head. When he eventually made it back to his feet, he was floored again and choked by Gotch to the disgust of Cornette and Bocchini.
Ring announcer Tim Barr also took a right hand from Fatu as the action and brawling was spilling everywhere. Lawlor reappeared and choked Fatu with one of Contra’s spikes. Bocchini made the call of the night to perfectly describe the scene: “This is nuts!”
Fatu put a referee through a table and Samael smacked the ref with a chair. They then went after Bocchini and Cornette on the entrance stage as Lawlor and the Von Erichs celebrated inside the ring.
The Von Erichs and Contra Unit are set to face off in an “unsanctioned match” at July’s MLW television tapings in Cicero, Illinois.
MLW has announced Ross & Marshall Von Erich vs. Contra Unit (Josef Samael & Simon Gotch) in an unsanctioned match for the tapings, which are being called “Kings of Colosseum” and will take place at Cicero Stadium on Saturday, July 6.
After it was announced in May that they had signed with the promotion, Ross & Marshall made their MLW debuts by teaming with World Heavyweight Champion Tom Lawlor and defeating Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Samael & Gotch) in a tornado tag match at this month’s tapings in Waukesha, Wisconsin. That match will air on this Saturday’s episode of MLW Fusion.
Lawlor will defend his MLW World title against Fatu at Kings of Colosseum. Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo de Wagner Jr. vs. LA Park & El Hijo de LA Park has also been confirmed for the show.
Ross & Marshall will team with MLW World Heavyweight Champion Tom Lawlor against Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael & Simon Gotch) in a tornado tag match at MLW’s television tapings in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Saturday, June 1. MLW had been hyping that Lawlor would be bringing partners to the show to continue his storyline against Contra Unit.
Lawlor has been feuding with Contra Unit since the group formed and attacked Lawlor in March.
Ross & Marshall signing multi-year deals with MLW was announced last week. They are the sons of Kevin Von Erich.
Teddy Hart defending the MLW Middleweight Championship against Jimmy Havoc, Sami Callihan vs. Mance Warner in a falls count anywhere match, Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs MJF, the debut of Adam Brooks, and the finals of the National Openweight Championship tournament are also set for the June 1 tapings, which are taking place at the Waukesha County Expo Center.
The National Openweight title tournament finals will feature Alexander Hammerstone facing the winner of the Rich Swann vs. Brian Pillman Jr. match that’s airing on this week’s episode of MLW Fusion.
Ross & Marshall Von Erich have joined the MLW roster.
It was announced via Sports Illustrated today that Ross & Marshall have signed multi-year deals with MLW. The two are the sons of Kevin Von Erich.
“Signing with MLW is a big deal for us,” Ross told Sports Illustrated. “They are the promotion that has allowed us to be with our dad, help out around the ranch, and still wrestle.”
“We’re able to continue the legacy,” Marshall said. “It’s humbling, we’re honored, and it’s the perfect timing—we’ve never been this ready for this big a stage before.”
Ross & Marshall will make their MLW debuts at the promotion’s television tapings in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Saturday, June 1. News of them signing with MLW comes the week after Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on Kevin and the Von Erich family aired, though MLW’s Court Bauer noted that they’ve been pursuing deals with Ross & Marshall since January.
Marshall said WWE had encouraged them to come to Florida for a tryout. He said they were grateful for the offer but want to be as close to their father (who lives in Hawaii) as possible.
“The Von Erich name is not a burden,” Ross said. “We are grateful for our name, it’s a blessing to be a Von Erich. God gave us the right equipment, and we’re going to go out there and do our best.”
Ross & Marshall have previously wrestled for Pro Wrestling NOAH. They were part of TNA’s Slammiversary pay-per-view in Arlington, Texas in 2014, taking on DJZ & Jessie Godderz. Kevin Von Erich also appeared at that PPV.
