The NJPW World Television Championship will be on the line in Chicago later this month.
In a video posted overnight, Matt Riddle issued a challenge to Zack Sabre Jr. for NJPW Windy City Riot. Riddle will be defending his NJPW World Television title in the match.
Only three wrestlers have ever held the NJPW World Television title. Sabre became the inaugural champion in January 2023. He held the championship for one year before dropping it to Hiroshi Tanahashi, who then lost the title to Riddle this February.
Riddle said he wants to face Sabre to prove who the real NJPW World Television Champion is.
“You were the first Television Champion, and I’m going to prove a point and make an example of why I’m the real World Television Champion in New Japan,” Riddle said. “And I will challenge you in a match – April 12, bro – in Chicago. See you soon, bro.”
Since becoming champion, Riddle has retained the TV title against two of Sabre’s TMDK stablemates. He defeated Bad Dude Tito in February and Kosei Fujita in March. Both of those matches took place for MLW.
Chicago’s Wintrust Arena is hosting Windy City Riot on Friday, April 12. Priced at $19.99, it will air live as a pay-per-view on NJPW World.
NJPW Windy City Riot 2024 —
Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Nic Nemeth
Jack Perry vs. Shota Umino
Four corners open challenge: NJPW Strong Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo defend against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls, Tom Lawlor & Fred Rosser, and Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson
Riot Rules tornado tag: Eddie Kingston and three partners to be announced vs. Gabe Kidd and three partners to be announced
NJPW World Television Champion Matt Riddle defends against Zack Sabre Jr.
At MLW War Chamber, Matt Riddle will put his NJPW World Television Championship up for grabs.
Riddle vs. Kosei Fujita for the NJPW World TV title is now set for MLW War Chamber in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, March 29. The 21-year-old Fujita, an NJPW wrestler, is making his MLW debut in the match.
It was previously announced that Riddle would face Timothy Thatcher in a non-title match at War Chamber. That match will still be happening in St. Petersburg on March 29, but it will instead be part of the MLW television taping portion of the War Chamber event. Riddle vs. Fujita will be airing live on the War Chamber broadcast on TrillerTV+.
In storyline, Riddle decided to have two matches at War Chamber as part of his quest to earn an MLW World Heavyweight Championship shot. Satoshi Kojima currently holds that title.
Riddle won the NJPW World TV title from Hiroshi Tanahashi this February. His first title defense was in MLW against Bad Dude Tito.
Here’s the updated War Chamber card:
Triller TV+ live broadcast —
War Chamber match: Team MLW (Satoshi Kojima, Okumura, Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) vs. World Titan Federation (Tom Lawlor, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Richard Holliday & Josh Bishop)
NJPW World Television Champion Matt Riddle defends against Kosei Fujita
MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Janai Kai defends against Unagi Sayaka
AJ Francis vs. Alex Kane
Mads Krugger goes to war against MLW
TV taping —
War Chamber match: The Calling (Sami Callihan, Rickey Shane Page, Cannonball & Talon) vs. Raven, AKIRA, Jimmy Lloyd & Jake Crist
Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher are renewing their rivalry in MLW.
It was announced today that Riddle vs. Thatcher will take place at MLW War Chamber 2024 on Friday, March 29. The show is being held at The Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Riddle and Thatcher have been opponents dating back to their time in EVOLVE. Their rivalry later carried over into NXT, including Thatcher defeating Riddle in the first-ever Fight Pit match in 2020.
After being released by WWE in September 2023, Riddle returned to MLW this January. He was previously part of MLW’s roster in 2017-2018.
“With his sights set on cleaning out the division and capturing the coveted MLW World Heavyweight Title, Riddle is prepared to confront any obstacle in his path, and Timothy Thatcher is no exception,” MLW wrote.
This is Thatcher’s first match for MLW since July 2023.
War Chamber 2024 will air live on TrillerTV+ on March 29. Here’s what’s been announced for the broadcast so far:
War Chamber match: Team MLW (MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima, Okumura, Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) vs. World Titan Federation (Tom Lawlor, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Richard Holliday & Josh Bishop)
Matt Riddle says he failed multiple drug tests for cocaine while in WWE.
Riddle appeared as a guest on The MMA Hour on Wednesday and spoke about his time with the company, what led to his 2022 stint in rehab, and being released in September 2023.
Riddle said:
I feel like getting fired by WWE happened at the right time. Not saying I won’t go back, or saying I will go back, there’s no discussion there but at the same time, I just had another kid, little Matthew, and with the WWE schedule, it’s a lot.
Riddle believes several factors, including multiple failed drug tests, ultimately led to his release.
He continued:
I think there was multiple variables that played into my departure. Plus, like I said, I failed a couple of drug tests, you know. For me, at least, the writing was on the wall.
I’m very good in the ring, I’m entertaining, but at the same time, especially with WWE and how they want ot be perceived, I don’t think I was a good fit, at least at the time.
Riddle also noted that his contract was structured in such a way that he was going to make more money this coming year than he had in previous years. He believes this factored into WWE’s decision to release him as well.
Helwani asked Riddle about his failed drug tests in WWE. Riddle responded:
You’re allowed to smoke weed. I went to the strip club and did some cocaine a couple of times and I failed a drug test for that.
That was for all of them, it was cocaine each time but honestly, it was just random nights.
WWE tests you randomly, say any week, but sometimes you get tests at the end of one month and the beginning of another month. So, there was one week where I failed bang bang.
I got two right at once so I think that’s why they were a little bit more lenient with me.
Matt Riddle says he’s had talks with TNA Wrestling.
Riddle was released by WWE in September and has since returned to MLW. He is also scheduled to make his NJPW in-ring debut later this month.
During an appearance on The Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast this weekend, Riddle mentioned that he’s spoken with several promotions since his WWE departure, including TNA Wrestling.
Riddle said:
When I got done with WWE, because it’s kind of stressful working on TV all the time, especially with the travel. The money’s awesome, it was definitely worth it, and the experience but now I kind of want to take a break from TV.
So, after the 90 days and during the 90s days I was setting some dates up. And I talked to some places, I’ve talked to TNA, I work with New Japan, I talked with MLW and we do film for TV but it’s not the same as Monday Night Raw, three hours live, anything can happen, people are changing the script here and there, hey you have 10 minutes for your match, now you have five minutes… it’s extremely stressful.
Now, I like the pressure but at the same time, I kind of wanted a little break from all that. So that kind of shows where I’m working now. I’m choosing places that are more pay-per-view based where I don’t have to worry about going to a commercial so we get that Fritos advertisement. Now I just get to do my body of work.
Riddle is set to make his NJPW in-ring debut on Friday, February 23, at The New Beginning in Sapporo. He is scheduled to face Hiroshi Tanahashi on the first night of the two-night event.
Riddle has also wrestled with MLW since departing WWE last year. He took part in the promotion’s Kings of Coliseum event in Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on January 6. He also wrestled on the MLW Reload tapings later that same night.
Matt Riddle is not surprised by the allegations against Vince McMahon.
Riddle appeared on Sunday Night’s Main Event yesterday and was asked about the former executive chairman of WWE.
Riddle responded:
When I’ve seen Vince do all the things he’s done from the 80s, 90s, early 2000s, everything, I was not surprised. I mean, some of it, a little, but the guy’s a billionaire that owns a company and has probably done it all and seen it all and wants to do more and see more. I don’t know, I’m not a billionaire. I wasn’t the dude, Brock was the dude he was talking to or whoever else, it wasn’t me.
I really have no comment other than that. I’m not surprised, I hear people say they are surprised, I’m not surprised, I mean, the guy is a maniac.
Riddle continued to talk about his early interactions with McMahon.
He thought I was goofy. If anything, the first time we met he didn’t like me because I was goofy.
He’s like, ‘you’re goofy,’ and I”m like, ‘yeah, I’m goofy but that’s a good thing’ and he’s like ‘being a goof isn’t a good thing,’ and I was like, ‘well, I’m a goof that can kick your ass.’ And then you could tell that didn’t make him happy and then Bruce Prichard hopped in and was like, ‘Hey Vince, he’s pretty good at wrestling, trust me.’
Since his WWE departure in September, Riddle has wrestled for MLW, The Crash in Mexico, ACW, MCW, and Combat 1.
Up next for him in NJPW will be the New Beginning in Sapporo on Friday, February 23. Riddle is scheduled to wrestle Hiroshi Tanahashi on the show.
NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, Friday, February 23 —
Kazuchika Okada match TBA
IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Nic Nemeth
IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani vs. Mina Shirakawa
NJPW World TV Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defends against Matt Riddle
NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Shota Umino
El Desperado vs. SHO
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku
MLW’s first free signature event of the year aired Saturday with Reload, taped earlier this month as part of the Kings of Colosseum tapings from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
A “Sessions with Saint Laurent” segment featuring MLW Champion Alex Kane kicked things off. Saint Laurent tried to sign Kane to his WTF stable, even giving him a custom WTF entrance song to try to tempt the champ. Kane didn’t buy into Saint Laurent’s elaborate promises and ended up tearing up the contract presented to him.
Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Notorious Mimi
Striker mentioned both competitors being heels and the fans not liking either, but Mimi worked as the babyface and had the fans shouting “yay” in a boo/yay strike exchange. Moments later, Zayda tried to pull a fast one and get a pin with her feet on the ropes.
Mimi hit a nice back kick for a two count and had momentum in her favor as she climbed to the top, but Zayda knocked her off and hit an Unprettier to pick up the win.
After the match, Dombrowski tried to get an interview with Zayda but Saint Laurent took over and pushed him to the side. In a long line of WTF comparisons to mid-90s WWF, we were told “The Federette” was America Online’s most downloaded person in all of 2023 before she said she wanted a Featherweight title shot.
However, that might interfere in Saint Laurent’s business dealings with Salina de la Renta, so he said he would handle it and talk to Salina.
– Mistico will take on Averno at MLW Superfight on February 3rd. Other matches announced include Alex Kane vs. Satoshi Kojima for the MLW title, Sami Callihan vs. AKIRA in a “Callihan Rules” match, Yuji Nagata vs. Jacob Fatu, and Ichiban vs. Rocky Romero for the Middleweight title in a two out of three falls match
– Minoru Suzuki was announced for Intimidation Games on February 29th from New York City.
Good Brother #3 defeated Steph De Lander (w/ Saint Laurent)
De Lander cost Mance Warner his “MLW career” when she interfered in his loser leaves MLW match against Matt Cardona. But, luckily a close friend of Warner, the masked Good Brother #3 who bears a striking resemblance to Warner, was quick to step into Warner’s shoes to try to exact some revenge for his fallen Southern friend.
De Lander offered a handshake and then kissed Warner, I mean Good Brother, before rolling him up for a sneaky fast two count. Moments later, she crashed into the ring post on the outside which let GB set up some weapons in the ring.
Inside the ring, De Lander tried to give GB a lap dance but he quickly swapped positions, got on the mic, had some music play, and began stripping down. As he was getting into it, De Lander kicked him low, rammed his face into the chair, and used another chair to crack across his skull.
De Lander speared GB through a board in the corner, but only got a two count. GB blocked a Cardona-style boot in the corner and got a two count of his own after throwing a chair at De Lander.
Another low blow slowed GB down. De Lander then got on the mic and said they shouldn’t fight but instead, they should show love. GB got on the mic and said he thought he had found the one and even proposed to her to which she said yes.
After toasting with a cold beer, GB asked for a kiss so she closed her eyes and puckered up, but when she opened them, she received an eye poke from the Eye Poke God and rolled her up to pick up the pinfall win.
– In front of their 80s-inspired green screen and neon WTF banner, Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop took turns hyping up what each other was going to do to Matt Riddle and Alex Kane, eventually settling on “just watch.”
– A bloody AKIRA, fresh off his Taipei death match with Ricky Shane Page, told Sami Callihan he is ready for him at Superfight.
Ichiban defeated Jimmy Lloyd
In what could be seen as a clash of styles, Ichiban started with a tope con hilo but early on, Salina de la Renta and Jesus Rodriguez came out to distract their foe. Lloyd took advantage with a big neckbreaker.
Rodriguez took a cheap shot from the outside, but it only motivated Ichiban to fight back and hit Lloyd with a stunner, missile dropkick, and his custom Code Red. He tried to hit Lloyd with a dive but got caught mid-air and was dropped on his head on the floor.
Lloyd brought out two ladders but another distraction by Rodriguez cost Lloyd the match when he accidentally got knocked off the apron. That led to Ichiban hitting Lloyd with his face-first finisher after jumping from the top rope and catching Lloyd climbing a ladder in the ring.
Nao Kakuta defeated Moka Miyamoto
This was advertised as a Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling showcase match and did not disappoint in the short time it got.
Striker was doing his usual best to take away from those in the ring as after a lock up and wrist lock, he said it was nothing he hadn’t seen before.
Some differences I noticed from other featherweight division matches were the stiffer strikes, or so they seemed, and the more brutal underhanded tactics by using the hair, kicks to the head, and upper body.
Miyamoto took two attempts, but she eventually hit her big standing chop to Kakuta for a two count. However, the ever-aware Kakuta immediately tried to hook her arms and roll her up, showing she was still aware of her surroundings.
Miyamoto locked in an abdominal stretch as she began to try her comeback but Kakuta cut her off, hit her with a flatliner and then a twisting fireman’s carry into a stunner to pick up the win.
After the match, Love Doug came out to console Miyamoto and tell her she was brave and show her how brave he was by asking her out. He asked the Philadelphia crowd if they thought she should say yes. They agreed, and so did Miyamoto, so the lovebirds left together.
Delmi Exo defeated Tiara James
James has still to be pinned in MLW while Exo has been flirting with the idea of joining Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado after coming off two recent big defeats. Azteca henchmen stood guard at the side of the stage during the match.
Striker questioned Exo’s ability, saying something was missing as of late and even pointed out she didn’t keep an early hold on or didn’t have the ability to keep it on.
Exo went for the Delmi Driver early, but James powered out and hit a running clothesline. Exo slid out the back and quickly rolled up James to pick up a surprise win. This was a bit of a letdown since they were hyping up James’ undefeated streak throughout the short match.
Afterward, Exo called out Featherweight champion Janai Kai who obliged De la Renta and came out to the ring. Kai seemed fine with fighting Exo there and then, but Zayda and Saint Laurent then came out. A quick war of words followed but De la Renta ended up slapping Saint Laurent,
Exo took down Kai and Saint Laurent shook it off to hold Zayda back from De la Renta (who she was aiming for in the first place). As she was leaving, Exo was handed a key by the Azteca Henchmen.
Alex Kane & Matt Riddle defeated WTF (Josh Bishop & Tom Lawlor) (w/ Saint Laurent)
The two former UFC fighters (Lawlor and Riddle) started with a mat battle that ended with Lawlor hitting a side Russian leg sweep and locking in an Octopus hold. Riddle escaped and just missed a big penalty kick to the head.
Kane came in and helped Riddle moonsault on to Lawlor before unloading his array of suplexes. Bishop was in next to use his size and power to ground Kane.
WTF worked over Kane but he fought back and was close to tagging in Riddle, but Lawlor ran around the ring and pulled him off the apron. Kane then took Lawlor out with a dive to the floor which let Bishop wait and grab Kane with a big Bossman slam. Lawlor added insult by DDT’ing Kane on the floor, too.
WTF then used old-school heel tag team tactics by enraging Riddle to distract the referee so they could illegally tag each other in and out, just because they could. Lawlor hit a Bronco Buster to rile up the fans and Riddle even more. He got cocky and tried a second, but Kane moved and Lawlor went crashing where no man wants to crash.
Kane slipped out of an Outsider Edge and hot-tagged Riddle. He hit a Bro-ton splash, penalty kick and German suplex to Bishop while Kane suplexed Lawlor. Richard Holliday tried to interfere, but Kane suplexed him too. Riddle went up top and won the match for his team after a Super Bro-ton bomb from the top rope.
After the match, there was a backstage brawl between the World Titan Federation and the Second Gear Crew.
Satoshi Kojima defeated Sami Callihan
As Kojima was making his entrance, Callihan jumped him and the fight was underway.
Callihan introduced some weapons from underneath the ring and papercut the webs of Kojima’s fingers and the sides of his mouth. The bell rang for the start of the match which sprung Kojima into life with a big clothesline.
Machine gun chops followed on the outside to which Callihan responded with some hard chops of his own. Inside the ring, Callihan went after the fingers of Kojima, used his hair to move him around, and used his fingernails to scratch at his skin. He even lobbed a mouthful of spit towards the referee.
The spit followed as he lubricated his hand before chopping Kojima’s chest, but moments later, Kojima fired back and unloaded more machine gun chops.
Kojima tried to go to the top rope, but Callihan caught him and drove him to the mat with a death valley driver for a close nearfall. Callihan then tried a piledriver, but Kojima blocked it and dropped him with a DDT.
Callihan blocked a Koji Cutter and hit a backdrop driver. Kojima responded by absorbing a pair of lariats and then hit a Koji Cutter for a one count.
Callihan defiantly got in Kojima’s face and was met with a big lariat, but Callihan kicked out at two. He could not kick out of a running lariat as Kojima picked up a big win ahead of his MLW heavyweight title fight at Superfight.
After the match, Kojima told us he ate bread this morning and that he will eat some after the match. If we were not aware, he loves bread.
The show finished up with Alex Kane who dismissed Kojima’s chance at taking the title from him. Kane talked through his six successful title defenses and told Kojima he would be another of his successful defenses. He said what he will do to Kojima at Superfight will make the crowd uncomfortable.
As the show was going off the air, a quick flash of an old logo we have not seen for a long time appeared on screen: that of CONTRA Unit.
Matt Riddle says he was once planned to win the 2022 Men’s Royal Rumble.
During a live virtual signing with Signed by Superstars, Riddle said the finish of the match was changed when Brock Lesnar “didn’t want to do business.”
Riddle said:
So, I believe – you know, it’s sports entertainment – But I was told at one point I was going to win the Rumble and everything else. And then what was it? Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar because somebody came in and hit him with the belt or what have you. Then Brock came in, didn’t want to do business with everybody, said he was winning (The Royal Rumble), and then he won. None of the producers, nobody stood up to him and they let him do it. I didn’t either.
Riddle’s comments about winning the Rumble are consistent with a PWInsider report from late January 2022 that stated he was once the planned winner of the match.
I never heard that one before and it doesn’t really make sense for him to win the Rumble because then he would have to be in the main event at Mania and they were never pushing him at that level.
Riddle debuted for MLW over the weekend at Kings of Colosseum. He defeated Jacob Fatu on the show. Riddle also appeared via video at New Year’s Dash last week and challenged the new NJPW World TV Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi. That match will take place on February 23 at The New Beginning in Sapporo.
Riddle’s statements about the 2022 Royal Rumble begin around the 46:25 mark of the video below.
Matt Riddle is headed to Japan next month to compete on an NJPW tour.
Dave Meltzer reports that Riddle will be wrestling on NJPW’s February tour in Japan, which consists of New Beginning events. This will be the first time that Riddle has ever wrestled in Japan.
At NJPW New Year Dash earlier this week, a video aired where Riddle issued a challenge to Hiroshi Tanahashi. Riddle said he’ll be seeing Tanahashi soon. Tanahashi is the current NJPW World Television Champion.
Matt Riddle(@SuperKingofBros) has issued a huge challenge to Hiroshi Tanahashi at New Year Dash!
Riddle is set to make his NJPW debut at Battle in the Valley on Saturday, January 13, teaming with a mystery partner against Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito. That show is taking place in San Jose, California.
Riddle was released from his WWE contract last September shortly after being involved in an incident at JFK Airport in New York City. His release came during a round of roster cuts after WWE was officially acquired by Endeavor.
At MLW Kings of Colosseum tonight (January 6), Riddle will have his first post-WWE match. He’s wrestling Jacob Fatu at the show.
Despite being released by the company, Matt Riddle says he has no hard feelings toward WWE.
Riddle was interviewed by Fox News ahead of returning to MLW at Kings of Colosseum this Saturday night. During the interview, Riddle was asked if he holds any hard feelings toward WWE after being fired by the promotion in September 2023.
Riddle responded:
For me, at the WWE, not at all. I loved every second of it. I was a multiple-time tag-team champion with Randy [Orton], I was an NXT tag-team champion, I won the Dusty Cup Classic, I beat Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship, I wrestled multiple WrestleManias, Royal Rumbles.
No, I have no hard feelings. And I would just say, with WWE, they run a ship, they run it a certain way, and when you work for WWE, everything you do is under a magnifying glass. It doesn’t matter if you did anything wrong, if you did something right, if it was in between, it’s perception. And the WWE, unfortunately, if a situation happens, and they don’t like the perception, they make their decision. But I’m not going to argue with them. That’s their company. I don’t run it. I just worked there. I’m thankful that they gave me the time that they did and that’s all I can say.
I have zero hard feelings. I don’t know if I can say that for them. They might have some hard feelings, but I feel like they’re pretty professional. They’re more about that paper, that money. So, I don’t think there’s any hard feelings. I mean, they did have to pay me for three months when I didn’t work. That was on them. They fired me.
Riddle was released by WWE shortly after he was involved in an incident at JFK Airport in New York City. His release also came during a round of cuts after WWE was officially acquired by Endeavor.
Riddle is facing Jacob Fatu at Saturday’s MLW Kings of Colosseum. The show is taking place from Philadelphia and will air live on TrillerTV+.
It appears that a Riddle vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi match will be happening in NJPW soon. At NJPW New Year Dash, a video aired where Riddle issued a challenge to Tanahashi. Tanahashi is the current NJPW World Television Champion.
NJPW shot angles for all of its key players at Friday’s New Year Dash show.
Notes from the event:
Jon Moxley —
Shingo Takagi challenged Moxley to a match at next Saturday’s Battle in the Valley pay-per-view in San Jose. Moxley accepted the challenge and proposed a no-DQ match.
Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii teamed with AEW’s Moxley & Bryan Danielson in the show’s main event against TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita. TMDK came away with the victory.
Bryan Danielson —
Sabre talked trash to Danielson in his post-match comments, with Danielson responding that Sabre can’t tap him out. Sabre vs. Danielson could be set for as early as Battle in the Valley next Saturday, a show that will be headlined by Okada vs. Will Ospreay as the company announced Friday.
Will Ospreay —
In addition to Ospreay vs. Okada being made official, Ospreay announced that February 11th’s The New Beginning in Osaka will be his “last NJPW match,” agreeing to team with United Empire ‘s TJP, Francesco Akira, HENARE & Jeff Cobb against Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) in a ten-man tag. Finlay accepted the challenge and announced that the match will be held inside a steel cage.
Matt Riddle —
Matt Riddle appeared on the show in a video promo challenging NJPW World TV Champion and company president Hiroshi Tanahashi to a future match. Tana made his first successful defense of the TV title in the opener against Ryusuke Taguchi.
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship —
SANADA issued a challenge to new champ Tetsuya Naito following a ten-man tag with SANADA’s Just Five Guys defeating Naito’s LIJ. The conclusion to Wrestle Kingdom left you to believe that either SANADA or EVIL would face Naito next.
NEVER Openweight Championship —
EVIL attacked new NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga on the show and cut Tonga’s hair, which would appear to set a program between the two over the NEVER title in motion and keep EVIL out of the World title picture for the moment.
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title challenge —
The main event also led to Fujita, Nicholls & Haste challenging Okada, Ishii, and Hiroshi Tanahashi for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles at a later date.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship —
Yoshinobu Kanemaru was involved in House of Torture’s attack on Tonga and Junior champ El Desperado, with Kanemaru posing with Desperado’s title belt to establish himself as the next challenger.
IWGP Tag Team Championship —
New title holders El Phantasmo & Hikuleo were attacked after their match as Chase Owens laid out ELP with a piledriver and challenging the new champs to a title match with KENTA as his partner.
KOPW —
The first KOPW 2024 Champion was crowned after Taiji Ishimori scored the final pinfall in a four-way with a ten-minute time limit.
Young Blood sendoff —
Phantasmo & Hikuleo defeated Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima) in Young Blood’s final outing before they will be sent away on their international excursion.
Bro vs. Ace looks to be in the cards for NJPW in 2024.
Former WWE star and UFC fighter Matt Riddle issued a challenge to NJPW President and NJPW World TV Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi in a video promo played during Friday’s New Year Dash event in Tokyo.
In the video, Riddle said that he has his eyes set on Tanahashi, and promised to see Tanahashi soon. Tanahashi responded with a promo translated by NJPW commentator Chris Charlton as something to the effect of “I will have to do some research as I have no idea who that is.”
Charlton followed up by saying that this was a mind game being played by Tanahashi, and that Tana must be aware of Riddle.
No date was announced for the likely Riddle vs. Tanahashi match.
After being released by WWE in September 2023, Riddle is set to make his MLW debut this weekend against Jacob Fatu at Kings of Colleseum on Saturday in Philadelphia.
In WWE, Riddle is a former two-time Raw Tag Team Champion, a former United States Champion, and former NXT Tag Team Champion and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winner with Pete Dunne.
Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to win the NJPW World TV title at Wrestle Kingdom 18 in Tokyo Dome on Thursday.
Riddle’s promo is embedded below.
Matt Riddle has issued a huge challenge to Hiroshi Tanahashi at New Year Dash!
MLW’s special year-end Holiday Rush event comes after last week’s season finale of MLW Fusion and ahead of January’s Kings of Colosseum.
Ichiban vs. Salina de la Renta, an MLW Tag Team title match, and Jacob Fatu vs. Hammerstone were the main advertised matches. Those, and the rest of tonight’s matches, were taped earlier this month at the One Shot tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in New York.
Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on commentary.
AKIRA defeated Alec Price, Brett Ryan Gosselin, J Boujii, Love Doug and Nolo Kitano in a scramble match
Doug jumped BRG as he made his entrance to continue their feud over being the love interest of the “International Pop Superstar” B3CCA. These two continually clashed throughout the match and will meet in a blindfold match at the January 6th tapings.
Price, AKIRA, Boujii and Kitano picked up the pace early with a rotation of switching one-on-one highspots. Doug turned a five-way sleeper hold train into a love train by switching from chokehold to hug, but Kitano quickly put a stop to that with a missile dropkick.
AKIRA based a Tower of Doom spot that saw Boujii as the unfortunate top layer of the double superplex.
Doug and AKIRA brought a Santa sack into the match and used it to blindfold BRG before double-superkicking him. Doug and AKIRA then turned their attention to each other. Doug hit a superb looking rebound clothesline, but had to be aware of a roll-up and springboard cutter from Boujii.
This began a series of nearfall finishers as Kitano, AKIRA, and Price – complete with a dive to all opponents on the floor – were all involved, but it was the prizefighter AKIRA who picked up the win after his Death Penalty reverse DDT was enough to put Price away.
After the match, AKIRA got on the mic and cut a babyface promo about his time in The Calling. He called Ricky Shane Page a leech and said The Calling’s storm won’t last. He was interrupted by Page, Cannonball, and a gang of masked goons. AKIRA fought most off, but Page hit his devastating DDT to once again stand over his fallen ex-friend…or did he? AKIRA kicked him low to show he still has fight left. AKIRA will face RSP in a Taipei Death Match at Kings of Colosseum.
– Backstage, we saw Promociones Dorado getting ready for Salina de la Renta’s match against Ichiban, but she was quickly distracted by a bag left in her office. Last week on Fusion, one of Cesar Duran’s henchmen’s masks was left in her office, so it seems she is spooked and may not be as strong and powerful as she tries to show.
– A vignette for the return of Sami Callihan at Kings of Colosseum aired.
Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Notorious Mimi and Tiara James in a three-way
James was on the losing end of another three-way last week involving Delmi Exo and Featherweight Champion Janai Kai so she was looking to get back to winning ways here.
Before the match, we saw WTF member Zayda trying to negotiate a future title match for herself. Saint Laurent said he would talk to De La Renta to get a match with Kai.
Mimi hit a tilt-a-whirl slam, but it looked like a missed tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Zayda as she left the ring to leave Zayda and James to work the next spot. James ended up coming off the middle rope with a double dropkick to her opponents and then dropped Mimi with a gutbuster and spinebustered Zayda on top of her too. James looked strong going into the finish.
MSL had to save Zayda and interrupted a pinfall attempt after a rolling neckbreaker. That outside distraction let Zayda hit an Unprettier on James to pick up the win.
– Hyper Misao will make her MLW debut against Kai at Kings of Colosseum in January.
– MLW returns to Chicago on May 11th for Azteca Lucha.
Josh Bishop (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Matthew Justice
This played into Bishop’s size and power vs. Justice’s daredevil toughness. Justice rallied time after time in the early going, fighting off a wind-up sidewalk slam, a backdrop to the apron, and a spinebuster into the ring post by diving through the ropes and baseball sliding into his larger opponent.
This tough guy match turned into a weapons bout as a table and chair were brought into the ring. Bishop used a table to ram into Justice’s head as he was on the top rope.
Justice hit a spear for a nearfall, but another interference distraction from MSL let Bishop lift Justice in an Outsider’s Edge position and toss him through the table that was resting in the corner to pick up the pinfall win. Bishop lifted Justice’s MLW Tag Team title belt after the match, and both ended up brawling to the back.
Later on in the show, the two continued their brawl to the roof of the building. A table was set up there for some reason, so Justice used it to hit a death-defying elbow drop after climbing to a higher level of the rooftop area.
Tony Deppen (w/ Griffin McCoy & TJ Crawford) defeated Kevin Blackwood
This was very quick but served as a nice step in the ongoing feud between Blackwood and Deppen’s gang of goons. Blackwood looked in control as he tried to get some revenge for the continued attacks and taunting he had received in recent weeks.
Deppen had pulled the turnbuckle pad off at the start of the match. After being knocked off the apron earlier, McCoy and Crawford interfered again, this time causing Blackwood to collide with the exposed buckle. That gave Deppen the opening to roll up Blackwood and get the tainted win.
– WTF’s Jayda introduced Richard Holliday who complimented her tan before announcing he is officially a member of the World Titan Federation, hyping up his MLW title match vs. Alex Kane at Kings of Colosseum.
– A vignette for the returning Matt Riddle,who will face Jacob Fatu at Kings of Colosseum, aired.
Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black) and TJ Crawford & Griffin McCoy to earn a future MLW Tag Team title shot
The popular Mane Event were unfortunately on the receiving end of another loss as Wasted Youth won themselves a future tag title shot. Wasted Youth have a bright future as they are an exciting and explosive duo. McCoy and Crawford continued their wicked ways, teaming for the first time here.
Wasted Youth hit a nice backstabber/lionsault combo, but McCoy and Crawford came in with some nice double-team moves of their own — especially a twisting suplex throw into a sit-out power bomb. Lyon ran down the ramp and dove into the ring through the circus hoop to break up the pin.
The action was non-stop and packed with high-flying and double-team moves. Wasted Youth picked up the win after a shooting star press and 450 splash on Black while Lyon was taken out with a Fosbury flop to the floor.
Ichiban defeated Salina de la Renta (w/ Jesus Rodriguez, Janai Kai & Rocky Romero) by DQ
This was short, but it was here to continue the story of Ichiban’s quest towards Romero’s Middleweight title.
Kai, Romero and Rodriguez tried to interfere early, but Ichiban thwarted them all. This left Salina alone, who tried to negotiate with Ichiban before literally blindsiding him with a spray to the eyes. This caused the DQ, but allowed the Promociones Dorado team to lay a beating on Ichiban and remove his mask. Mascara Dorada came out to help Ichiban and chase away the dastardly heels.
Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas) defeated MLW Tag Team Champions The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & “Good Brother 3” Mance Warner) by DQ
Freebird Rules were in effect here as the masked Warner, ahem Good Brother 3, stepped into Matthew Justice’s shoes to represent the champions.
With no ongoing storyline between the teams and with both being babyfaces, it was a quiet opening as they exchanged holds and slowly warmed up into a strike battle between Thomas and Manders.
SGC hit Thomas with a double suplex off the top rope so Kane had to come in for his team and begin a one-man comeback consisting of suplexes and a splash on the apron.
Kane locked in an ankle lock on Manders, but broke it off when he noticed Jayda and Saint Laurent at ringside. Warner hit his running knee, but Kane regained his focus and suplexed him out of the ring.
Saint Laurent grabbed Kane’s ankle and the champion left the ring to confront the corrupt promotor, but Richard Holliday, with a glass of bubbly, also appeared at ringside. Kane and Holliday came face to face and Kane ended up with the champagne in his face. They came to blows as the referee called for the bell and called a disqualification win for the Bomaye Fight Club which also meant no title change.
Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop came in with chairs to lay waste to the three members of the SGC but this ended up in security pulling them all apart as the commentators hyped up Alex Kane vs Richard Holliday on January 6th.
-Backstage Janai Kai and Delmi Exo confronted each other and came to blows. After being pulled apart two of Cesar Duran’s masked men appeared and handed Exo an envelope… interesting.
– After the end of the last match, it was announced that Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders would defend their MLW tag titles against Josh Bishop and Tom Lawlor at KOC.
Jacob Fatu defeated Alex Hammerstone (w/ Saint Laurent)
Before they started, we had the popular “MEAT!” chant as the two long-term rivals sized each other up.
Hammerstone took the early advantage, but Fatu came back with an early run-up twisting moonsault from the top rope and a dive through the ropes to the floor. A brawl on the floor ensued with Hammerstone going headfirst into the ring post.
Fatu dove off the top with a senton bomb for a two count. Hammerstone then pulled the referee in the way to stop Fatu from hitting a superkick. This slight distraction gave Hammerstone the opening to hit a running pump kick to get the heat.
Hammerstone posed and flaunted as he slowly hammered Fatu, focusing on the lower back. A brief disagreement with the referee let Fatu hit him with a desperation savate kick, a running hip attack, and a Vader bomb for a close two count of his own.
Hammerstone got his knees up on Fatu’s handspring moonsault and then hit a powerslam and underhook suplex for another nearfall.
Fatu fought back and hit an amazing move. With Hammerstone sitting on the top rope, Fatu climbed up from the apron to meet him. Then, from balancing on the top rope, Fatu jumped and hooked Hammerstone with a hurricanrana, sending him the full way across the ring.
As momentum was swinging towards Fatu, Hammerstone desperately pushed the referee into the ropes which meant Fatu crotched himself on the top. Hammerstone then climbed to meet his foe and hit his own impressive top rope move with a top rope overhead belly-to-belly suplex.
A strike exchange followed as fatigue was setting in. Hammerstone slipped out of a Samoan drop and hit his standing pump kick, a release German suplex and a sit-out power bomb for a nearfall. Hammerstone immediately lifted up Fatu and hit his Nightmare Pendulum but somehow Fatu kicked out of that as well.
Fatu caught Hammerstone and hit his pop-up Samoan drop and quickly hit his signature double-spring top rope moonsault but Hammerstone hooked Fatu’s arms during the pinfall and nearly caught him out with a crucifix pin.
Fatu hit two more savate kicks, a Samoan Spike and another double spring moonsault to finally pin Hammerstone for the first time in his MLW career.
Saint Laurent looked disgusted with Hammerstone for losing and walked out on him. Hammerstone rolled out of the ring to meet Fatu at ringside and after a tense moment, they both hugged in a show of respect.
Post-match promo
After the match, Hammerstone got on the mic and said he could be getting himself in hot water but only has good intentions. He talked about his contract situation but said above all else, tonight he feels grateful. He mentioned his failed tryouts for WWE, Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground and they all passed on him apart from MLW.
Without a tryout match, Court Bauer signed him to a three-year contract because he saw something in him. He said a lot of people say things about MLW and Court, and it has not been all sunshine and rainbows but they took a little boy and turned him into a wrestling superstar.
He went on to say that he wants to say that MLW is built with bricks made up of Hammerstone’s DNA, but in reality, Hammerstone is built with bricks made up of MLW’s DNA.
He named Ricky Shane Page, 1 Called Manders, Josh Bishop and Alex Kane being the names to take MLW forward. Bauer came out and hugged Hammerstone before they both walked to the back.
As his MLW contract ends on Jan 1st, if this was his last appearance in MLW, this was a nice send-off for the former champion. Hammerstone was pushed really strong from the start of his MLW run as part of MJF’s Dynasty stable. He will be remembered for his undefeated National Openweight title run and his two-year World title run against numerous top-level names. His recent surprise return as a heel fooled a lot of fans as the story had hints of reality where Hammerstone was airing his contract grievances before showing up and siding with Saint Laurent and the renegade WTF group.
Before going off air, we saw a video Riddle just posted to X from Las Vegas. In it, he said he was excited to get back to MLW because the MLW World Championship has eluded him since 2018. He then said that he was excited to fight the baddest man in the world in January and told Jacob Fatu he would be seeing him soon.
MLW sent out a press release today announcing Riddle’s return:
Matt Riddle, the chill grappler known for fighting barefoot and winning big has returned to Major League Wrestling… and he has set his sights on “the most dangerous man on planet earth”: Jacob Fatu.
In 2018, Riddle danced with destiny, dominating the MLW World Heavyweight Title tournament, exiting in the finals in a championship bout that could’ve gone either way.
Having won titles around the world, Riddle now returns to MLW to finally win the big one: the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. In order to do so, he has to go through the baddest beast in the land in the “Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu.
Colliding for the first time ever, this dream match promises to be an instant classic.
Fatu has dominated Major League Wrestling, winning the MLW World Heavyweight Championship as well as the MLW National Openweight Title.
Fatu has not been shy as of recent about his 2024 intentions: becoming the first-ever MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
Now Riddle and Fatu fight for their futures in MLW. Who will triumph?
Riddle previously wrestled for MLW from December 2017 to April 2018. His last match for the promotion was the finals of a tournament to crown a new MLW World Champion. He was defeated by Shane Strickland that night.
MLW Kings of Coliseum on January 6 announced lineup:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defends against Richard Holliday
MLW World Featherweight Champion Janai Kai w/Salina de la Renta defends against Hyper Misao
Rickey Shane Page vs. AKIRA
Love Doug vs. Brett Ryan Gosselin
Matt Riddle vs. Jacob Fatu
MLW Fusion taping January 6 announced lineup:
Sami Callihan vs. Satoshi Kojima
Good Brother 3 (allegedly Mance Warner) vs. Steph de Lander w/Mister Saint Laurent
Moka Miyamoto vs. Nao Kakuta
🤙 What better way to celebrate the exciting news of @SuperKingofBros coming over to @MLW than with a #TrillerTV flashback when he competed at Matt Riddle's Bloodsport in April 2018 against Minoru Suzuki.
