Tag: mlw anthology

MLW Anthology video & results: The Von Erichs

Posted on by Iain Oliver

The Big Takeaway:

The final Anthology of the series featured the current MLW tag team champions, Ross and Marshall Von Erich. The first match saw the pair team with “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Low Ki as they entered the War Chamber to battle CONTRA Unit. Later, we saw the brothers capture the tag team titles against MJF and Richard Holliday from the Superfight pay-per-view.

Show Review:

CONTRA Unit interrupted the opening video to say they will be going on a world rampage and are specifically targeting Davey Boy Smith Jr. 

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Low Ki, Marshall Von Erich and Ross Von Erich (w/team captain Kevin Von Erich) defeated CONTRA Unit (World Champion Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Ikuro Kwon and Simon Gotch in the MLW War Chamber (30:19)

MLW Fusion episode 75 | September 15, 2019 | Dallas, TX

This 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 men are in the ring with win coming by pinfall, submission, or surrender. It was a single ring cage with no roof, but barbed wire circled the top to stop anyone entering or exiting.

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 the two soon slowed it down to pace themselves for the long match ahead.

Samael was out for CONTRA next and after another brief flurry from Marshall, CONTRA used the advantage to break him down. They stayed in control until Lawlor came out to even the odds. Lawlor and Marshall immediately got the upper hand but after only two short minutes, MLW Champion Fatu came in for CONTRA to swing the momentum back their way.

Marshall and Lawlor went straight for the champ, but Fatu caught Lawlor off the top with a Samoan drop and slammed Marshall with a big uranage. He hit his handspring moonsault on both his opponents, kicking and squashing Lawlor against the cage before moonsaulting on Marshall. Samael then bit Lawlor’s ear for good measure.

Low Ki evened the odds next. On arrival, 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 once again.

Their advantage increased with the fourth and final member of CONTRA, Kwon. He went straight to Low Ki and they exchanged kicks and strikes. 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 entrance song blasted in 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 present, the match broke down into a hard-hitting and 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 afterward. Fatu had Ross up for a Samoan drop but Marshall briefly applied the claw only to have the champion fight out and spin Ross around so he would accidentally kick 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 rogue CONTRA member tried to climb the cage on the outside but Kevin pulled him down and applied the claw to take him down.

Lawlor had Samael in a rear naked choke, but Samael broke the hold when he jabbed a 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 pinfall save at the last moment with a double foot stomp on Fatu.

Marshall saved his brother from a Gotch piledriver and applied the iron claw, pulling Gotch into the corner. Ross went underneath and lifted Gotch on his shoulders. Marshall, still applying the claw, went to the top rope and they slammed him to the middle of the ring. They pinned Gotch to the delight of the Dallas crowd. Kevin then joined the winning team to celebrate.

Marshall & Ross Von Erich defeated The Dynasty (MJF & Richard Holliday) to win the MLW tag team titles in a Texas Tornado match (9:44)

MLW Superfight | November 2nd, 2019 | Chicago, IL

This opened the PPV of Superfight and got the night off to a hot start. MJF and Holliday mouthed off at the crowd to rile them up before the Von Erichs came in and cleared the ring. MJF received a nice “shut the f*ck up” chant from the Chicago crowd after his opening remarks.

Ross and Marshall ran wild with a pair of dropkicks and then sent the Dynasty to the outside where they brawled. However, Marshall was taken out with a ring bell shot and a market crash on the ring apron. Holliday and MJF beat down Ross 2-on-1 with a double whip to the corner and a 2008, Holliday’s rotating suplex, as MJF continued jaw jacking with the referee about slow three counts.

The Dynasty double suplexed Ross from the apron into the ring and their frustrations grew at not being able to put the Von Erich brother away.

Marshall shook off the ring bell shot to fire up and double clothesline MJF and Holliday, evening the score for his brother. They hit stereo cannonballs in the corners before slamming Holliday with a double hip toss slam. MJF pushed Marshall off the top rope to take back the advantage and in a nice spot, Holliday superplexed Ross and MJF followed with a top rope splash, but Marshall broke up the double pin attempt with a big moonsault onto all three men piled up.

The Von Erichs picked up the win and the titles soon thereafter with a claw assisted slam on MJF.

Pulp Fusion

The modern day MLW stars checked in with their weekly update to close the show.

  • The Parks (LA Park, El Hijo de LA Park, LA Park Jr) talked about Salina de la Renta’s return to MLW and her owing money to some powerful people. 
  • The Von Erichs wished us a happy 4th of July.
  • “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Dominic Garrini were Skype calling and laughing at Kevin Von Erich’s list of title accomplishments. Garrini was, as always, dressed in his gi. Lawlor questioned and laughed at Kevin’s Wrestling Observer match of the year win from 1984, saying, “What does that guy know? He’s no Mike Johnson.” Team Filthy also have a new sponsor: Kookies and Kream. They want to use the extra revenue to either buy their own fight island or expand Team Filthy with a new member. It also looks like Lawlor is on his way to Kauai, Hawaii, which just happens to be the home of the Von Erichs. 
  • de la Renta said Konnan being all up in her business is bad for Konnan and that he stinks of both desperation and weed. 
  • Mance Warner was drinking his light beers after fighting and whipping the ass of Teddy the Bear.
  • Calvin Tankman is not going to stop until he has gold around his waist. He is coming and taking it all. 
  • Richard Holliday was back in the woods of the country club looking for his golf ball again. He had a 4th of July party coming up that Savio Vega was invited to but he was given the wrong address. How dastardly. 
  • Jordan Oliver announced he was entering the MLW heavyweight division and had some choice words for heavyweight champion Jacob Fatu. He said he will take his belt and then will slap Simon Gotch in the face with it. 
  • Alexander Hammerstone was lifting weights ahead of his competition. 
  • Myron Reed said it is time for another “Greatest Of All Time” to rise up just like Muhammad Ali. He said he will change the sport, he will right all the injustices, and he will be the greatest of all time.

Next week:

MLW Underground returns with Chris Daniels vs. Vampiro from the ECW Arena.

Anthology:

Pulp Fusion:

MLW Anthology video & results: CONTRA Unit

Posted on by Iain Oliver

The Big Takeaways:

  • The #StrongHearts from OWE (CIMA, El Lindaman and Shigehiro Irie) took on MLW World Champion Fatu, Simon Gotch, and Josef Samael in an action-packed six-man battle.
  • Fatu defended his title against the then-holder of the Battle Riot golden ticket: the Mexican legend LA Park.

CONTRA Unit (Jacob Fatu, Simon Gotch and Josef Samael) defeated #StrongHearts (CIMA, Shigehiro Irie and El Lindaman) (11:01)

CIMA and Gotch had a chopfest to kick us off. They started at 100 mph and the StrongHearts quickly had Gotch in the corner eating a dropkick to the back. CONTRA fought back and singled out Lindaman after a quick flurry by the 5’3” OWE star. Fatu hit Lindaman with a superkick to the temple, but Lindaman fired up and even got Fatu off his feet with a slam attempt but the MLW champion’s size power was too much as he flattened Lindaman to the mat.

Irie tagged in and hit Gotch with a splash after springing back first off the top rope. He then reversed a Gotch piledriver and instead piledrove Samael on top of Gotch. Fatu came in and they met with clotheslines, but neither budged. They collided with crossbody attempts, but Fatu got to his feet almost immediately as Irie writhed in pain on the ground. Fatu hit his handspring moonsault, but CIMA broke up the pinfall attempt.

The action then broke down into a six-way brawl on the outside. Fatu chopped a ring post and was sent to the guardrail before he and Irie traded suicide dives onto each other. All three StrongHearts then teamed up and got Fatu back inside. They chopped him but Fatu fought back with right hands. CIMA hit him with double knees from the top, Irie hit a rolling senton while he was draped on the middle rope, and Lindaman hit a bridging delayed German suplex for the close near fall only to be broken up by Gotch. Lindaman then took out Samael with a somersault plancha to the outside. But inside, Fatu caught CIMA with a pop-up Samoan drop and a top rope moonsault with 300 pounds behind it to pick up the pin and the victory for his team.

– A video played hyping up the return of MLW Underground this July.

– There was a short video package recapping the big moments from the buildup to our next match: LA Park’s Battle Riot win, Fatu winning the title from Tom Lawlor, and Salina declaring the cash in.

MLW Champion Jacob Fatu defeated LA Park (19:56)

This match was from MLW’s SuperFight PPV.

This was a battle of the monsters and had a big fight feel to it, and the match itself was as wild as you would imagine it to be.

They opened with a forearm exchange and then a parade of German suplexes before Park took Fatu down with a combination of running clotheslines. Park’s athleticism for his age is still incredible. He hit an early suicide dive to the outside that had Fatu’s cornerman Josef Samael worried. Salina de la Renta, who accompanied Park to ringside, unintentionally distracted the referee which let Samael freely enter the ring and use a spike to bust Park open. Fatu had also ripped his mask in half so the blood was visibly pouring out of the Mexican legend’s forehead.

They brawled around ringside as the fans got an up close and personal look at the carnage in front of them. Back in the ring, Fatu continued the beatdown as we were told that de la Renta had recently been spending time in Mexico looking for contracts for reality programs instead of spending time preparing for the title match with her team, Promociones Dorado.

Park’s insane athleticism was on display again as he pulled out another amazing maneuver when he hit a twisting springboard senton off the top rope. On the outside, Park threw a table at the champion and then broke the timekeeper’s bell across Fatu’s forehead, busting him open as well.

Fatu later retaliated with a springboard twisting senton of his own, but then the move of the night came when Fatu ran and launched himself from inside the ring over the top rope to the floor and hit Park with a Fosbury flop. He then tried to put Park away inside the ring with his moonsault, but Park moved at the last minute. Park then slowly crawled to make the cover, but Samael came in and broke the count by throwing a fireball at the referee.

This brought de la Rena in to confront Samael but she ended up taking a spear from Park through a table in the corner when Samael moved at the last moment. Fatu then hit a superkick to Park, an elevated Samoan drop, and a double jump springboard moonsault to retain his title.

I previewed this match last week and described it as organized chaos. It was exactly that and more. Both warriors were bloodied, we had a referee on the floor burned by a fireball, de la Rena was crushed under a destroyed table in the corner, and Fatu barley staggered his way to the back with his title draped over his bloody and battered shoulder.

**********

The modern day MLW stars gave their fans an update of what they’ve been up to as this week’s instalment of Pulp Fusion rounded off this episode of Anthology:

  • “Filthy” Tom Lawlor was channeling his inner Eminem with his own rendition of “Stan” by writing a letter to his dad, but of course, turning it into a rant about the Von Erichs. 
  • Low Ki and King Mo continued their war of words ahead of their inevitable return match.
  • The Parks (LA Park, El Hijo de LA Park, and LA Park Jr.) told CONTRA Unit to eat pork skins and choke on them.
  • Savio Vega was in Carolina, Puerto Rico, outside of the Estadio Roberto Clemente. He challenged Richard Holliday to come to Puerto Rico, bring Vega’s Caribbean championship, and face him for it. 
  • Holliday politely declined the challenge while he was searching for his golf ball. He had hit a wayward shot because he is stressed about an FDA investigation into tainted supplements in his Dynastic coffee. 
  • “Heavyweight Hustle” Calvin Tankman is officially in MLW and can’t wait to prove he is one of the best in the world against Hammerstone, Fatu, or anyone MLW has to offer. 
  • Speaking of Hammerstone, he was benching in the gym and challenged everyone to the first-ever Hammerstone Bodybuilding Invitational. 
  • The bear that Mance Warner got a hold of to fight inside his triple cage was set free and was roaming in Old Mancer’s house. 
  • Jordan Oliver checked off a goal for turning 21: to be better than Simon Gotch. 
  • Salina de la Renta told us we will find out what she has when the time suits her.
  • However, Konnan let us know that she owes the “wrong people” some money. 
  • CONTRA then finished off their own Anthology episode with their usual propaganda video, promising world destruction and to abuse their power. 

Next week:

The MLW Anthology series wraps up with a focus on tag team champions Ross & Marshall Von Erich.

Anthology:

Pulp Fusion:

MLW Anthology results & video: The Extreme Horsemen

Posted on by Iain Oliver

The Big Takeaway:

MLW returned to its roots with this week’s Anthology focusing on Steve Corino and the Extreme Horsemen. Corino battled Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk in a three way Florida Death Match that saw the debut of the Extreme Horsemen after the bloody battle. The Horsemen then entered the two ring, double cage War Games match when they took on Funk and his Funkin’ Army. 

Show Review:

Steve Corino defeated Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk in a three-way Florida Death Match (13:07)
War Memorial Auditorium | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | December 2002

Funk and Corino were on the same page early as they took turns going one-on-one with Rhodes, eventually using their numbers advantage and a trash can to get the legend down on the mat. However, their alliance was short lived as Funk turned his back on Corino and clobbered him with the trash can.

A brawl outside the ring included Rhodes exposing Funk’s backside (to the horror of both Joey Styles on commentary and the live audience), a steel chair that did the rounds with everyone taking turns, and a few bionic elbows for good measure.

Inside the ring, Rhodes hit Funk with a shovel, but moments later, he took the handle to the groin as he was jabbing Corino. To make matters worse, Funk drove the shovel into Corino’s throat and on the outside of the ring, he slipped off the guardrail and caught his leg between the rungs.

As Rhodes was hitting Corino with some more bionic elbows, CW Anderson and Simon Diamond interfered and took out Rhodes’ ankle with a steel chair. Rhodes was taken to the back so it left Funk on his own against Corino, Anderson, and Diamond.

Being the underdog lit a fire in Funk as he ran wild and waffled all three men with another trash can. The numbers game eventually caught up with Funk, however, as Corino floored him with a DDT. The referee refused to count the pin due to the interference so Corino gave him a DDT, too. Replacement referee Jon Finegan eventually made the count and declared Corino the victor. 

The Funkin’ Army (Terry Funk, Sandman, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Sabu & Bill Alfonso) defeated The Extreme Horsemen (Steve Corino, Barry Windham, CW Anderson, Simon Diamond & PJ Walker) (20:16)

War Memorial Auditorium | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | September 2002

Anderson and Sandman were out first for their respective teams. We got the full Metallica “Enter Sandman” entrance which was a delight to see and hear unedited. In a smart piece of booking, we not only got to see Sandman make the entrance at his own pace but since the entrants were only two minutes apart, the action never lagged and no one was exposed in the ring for too long.

Then-MLW World Champion Corino was third out and interestingly announced as “The King of Kings” which sounds familiar. Corino had barbed wire wrapped around his fist and, of course, he took the wire to Sandman’s forehead, busting him open more than his Budweiser can did during his entrance. They harkened back to ECW with a caning spot as Anderson held Sandman and draped him between the two rings set up for the match.

Funk was out next to even the sides, throwing a chair into the ring from the elevated entrance stage and immediately going straight for Corino to continue their ongoing war. We were told Funk had an upcoming title shot and chose a dog collar match for the stipulation. Funk dragged Corino from one ring to the other and dropped the champion with a piledriver.

The Horsemen got the upper hand when Simon Diamond entered to make it 3-2 in their favor. Both Global Crown Tag Team Champions (MLW’s first name for the belts) were now in the ring as Diamond took a chair to Funk while Anderson ran Sandman’s face against the steel fence.

Steve Williams was next out to even the score as we were told this was the last member of Funk’s team. Jerry Lawler was originally supposed to be in the match but “the evil McEmpire” pulled him out according to Styles. Funk had agreed to take the match even though they were two men short as Barry Windham had been recently added to the Horsemen team.

PJ Walker (Justin Credible) brought a ladder out as he gave the Horsemen a 4-3 advantage. He and Anderson whipped Sandman into the ladder as Funk seesawed between the ropes as Corino fired off right hands. But moments later, the crazy Funk did his signature airplane spin ladder spot, taking out some of the Horsemen in the process.

Windham was supposed to come in next, but Sabu made a surprise return and ran wild, evening the odds and bringing Funk’s team back into the match. Sabu’s left arm was heavily taped up and did not look fully healed from the injury that had previously kept him out of action.

Windham was out next and the Horsemen’s bounty hunter took out all members of Funk’s team. However Bill Alfonso, who came out with Sabu, got on the mic to declare the uneven teams were bullsh*t and he became the fifth member of Funk’s team.

Sabu came off the top rope and put Walker through a table with a legdrop. Funk then brought a flaming branding iron into the ring, branded Corino across the back, and spat fire into his eyes. He then locked in his famous spinning toehold to make Corino give up, winning the match for his team. 

**********

– Josef Samael told us in a propaganda video that he and CONTRA will abuse their power and spread their evil message throughout the world.

– It was then time for Pulp Fusion, the weekly video update on the current stars of MLW:

  • Low Ki and King Mo continued their war of words, only Ki was talking in Japanese and Mo was gloating he had beat him so bad he had knocked him loopy. 
  • Mance Warner was on the phone to “Dirty” Dutch Mantel trying to book a bear to fight him in his triple cage.
  • The Parks were working out with sledgehammers and tractor tires while the Von Erichs were working on their grip strength with some rope and squeezing apples. 
  • “Filthy” Tom Lawlor was debating the legitimacy of the Von Erichs whereabouts, saying they were in front of green screens all the time. He was stressing out and said he didn’t need this before his big trip as he wiped his brow with what looked very similar to a New Japan Pro Wrestling scarf.
  • Myron Reed told us to open our minds and vibe with him as he is dropping an album soon called “BANGers 4Ever”. 
  • Konnan asked where Salina had been all this time. He said she was not on his level and told her the devil knows more because of his age, not because he is the devil. 
  • Hammerstone was playing his guitar before he drank some of his own special Dynastic coffee brew that made him work out like a mad man. 
  • Logan Creed has been unleashed. From where? I have no idea. 
  • Salina de La Renta finished the montage by telling us all she knows we want it, she knows we need it, and said everyone is asking her where she has been when everyone should be asking, “What has she done?”

Next week: CONTRA Unit gets the Anthology treatment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhJuA1dJNxA

MLW Anthology results: The Lucha Bros

Posted on by Iain Oliver

Video —

Big Takeaways —

This week’s MLW Anthology episode highlighted one of the best tag teams in the world today: Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix, The Lucha Bros.

Before joining AEW, the current AAA Tag Team Champions showcased their amazing talents in MLW. Here we saw a spectacularly athletic and hard-hitting bout between them that main evented the debut episode of MLW Fusion back in 2018, along with the vacant MLW Tag Team titles being up for grabs in a three-team elimination match when Pentagon & Fenix faced The Dirty Blondes and the team of Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta.

Full Recap —

Pentagon Jr. defeated Rey Fenix (MLW Fusion debut episode, January 2018) (14:08)

The Lucha Brothers clashed in the main event of the debut episode of MLW Fusion in a must-watch, amazing match. Within the first three minutes, we had superkicks galore and a suicide cannonball dive by Fenix that knocked the first five rows of fans off their seats.

Fenix was up to his usual tricks — walking the ropes with an alternating jump between top and middle — before adding a little back bump ONTO the top rope and arm dragging his brother across the ring. Incredible balance and control.

Pentagon & Fenix ended up winning the MLW Tag Team titles together later in their MLW careers, but here in episode one they were enemies as Pentagon was part of Salina de la Renta’s heel faction Promociones Dorado. And the brothers did not let their family ties hold them back at all. They chopped each other within an inch of their lives throughout the match and showed that they can do more than flip and fly, they could hit hard too.

They also made the most of not having a guardrail at ringside as Fenix hit a hurricanrana and planted Pentagon right into the laps of the fans in the front row.

If I were to list all the amazing athleticism on display to describe how terrific this was I would be here all night. Just be reassured they left nothing in the ring. Fenix had plenty of springboards emanating from everywhere inside the ring and Pentagon certainly had his superkick boots on this evening.

Pentagon picked up the win and a future title shot at then-champion Shane Strickland after a flury of high impact moves at the end: a destroyer, a pop-up flip powerbomb, a cross armbreaker, and his Penta Driver.

The Lucha Bros defeated The Dirty Blondes and Jimmy Yuta & Jason Cade to win the MLW Tag Team titles (MLW Fusion, June 2018) (16:49)

We were told there were no rules in this “anything goes” three-team elimination match for the MLW Tag Team titles — even though the commentary team then questioned why the teams set up on the apron for tags. The action was fast and furious from the start and the tags were immediately thrown to the side and forgotten as Fenix jumped in with a superkick to start off the mayhem.

The dynamics of all three teams were set out from the early going: Leo Brien and Michael Patrick (The Dirty Blondes) were the big powerhouse hoss team, Jimmy Yuta & Jason Cade (Team TBD) were the smaller, more agile and high-flying team, while The Lucha Bros were the superkicking, high-spot artists we have grown to love in recent years.

But not everyone stuck to their guns — Patrick hit a senton off the apron onto all the other competitors at ringside.

The teams took turns displaying their offense and it was during these early exchanges that Cade pinned Patrick to quickly eliminate The Dirty Blondes after coming off the top rope. This brought it down to Team TBD vs. The Lucha Bros and here is where the tempo stepped up another notch. The superkicks were out in force again here. After a double-team catapult senton and a double pin it looked like it was all over, but TBD showed their fight with a double kick out.

Yuta and Cade came off the same turnbuckle and hit Fenix with a double dropkick as the commentary team played up their surprise at how well they were doing against The Lucha Bros. Cade had a few comedy spots with Pentagon but was not laughing when he went for a back handspring off the ropes and while upside down was met with a dropkick to the gut.

Fenix made another late save for his brother after Yuta had hit a Samoan driver on Penta. And the favor was returned moments later after Cade eventually hit his handspring facebreaker on Fenix. Fenix then kicked out of the high-flying combo that put away The Dirty Blondes as we came to the closing stages of this great match.

A miscommunication between TBD led to a superkick/Penta Driver combination on Cade, then a double foot stomp/piledriver combination on Yuta that was enough to crown The Lucha Brothers as the new MLW Tag Team Champions — the first tag champs for the promotion since CW Anderson & Simon Diamond held the gold back in 2003.

Speaking of Anderson & Diamond, we saw a preview of next week’s Anthology of Steve Corino and The Extreme Horsemen where they jumped Terry Funk before an early MLW show. The Horsemen were in a limo pulling up to the building and saw Funk meeting some fans in line. After some jaw-jacking, The Horsemen jumped Funk, busted him open, and left him lying on the street.

Today’s MLW roster then had their time in the limelight as this week’s Pulp Fusion gave everyone a chance to keep us up to date with their current goings on.

– The Von Erich brothers welcomed us to this week’s Pulp Fusion with the news that MLW has signed a deal with DAZN.

– Filthy Tom Lawlor was home schooling his kids, but it all went wrong as they repeatedly took The Von Erichs’ side saying The Von Erichs were tougher than Lawlor, had higher IQs, were the champs when he wasn’t, and were also more handsome than he was.

– Alex Hammerstone and Richard Holliday were discussing Dynastic Coffee, but Hammerstone wanted his own Exotic Latin Muscle brand featuring his favorite Mexican “supplements.”

– Mance Warner was complaining about having no one else to fight and that Uncle Moonman was running around barefoot taking forever to build him his triple cage, so he decided he was challenging a bear to fight him in his cage instead of any humans. Warner said he “was going to hit the pay window on a big ass bear.”

– Dan Lambert was warning us all about Low Ki’s psychological state and told us that American Top Team was now up 2-0 on Ki.

– Myron Reed told us about Injustice’s fight, saying they were bigger, stronger, and more determined than before. Jordan Oliver laughed at CONTRA Unit and told us he could beat up Simon Gotch if given the chance. The joking was over when the newest member of Injustice, Saieve Al Sabah, then told us that every revolution needed a spark, and his knuckle dusters were his.

– We then cut to Mexico City where we saw a door open and a blonde in high heels stepping into the shot. As the camera panned up, the women turned and it was none other than Salina de la Renta announcing her return to MLW!

Next Week —

MLW Anthology: Steve Corino and The Extreme Horsemen.

MLW Anthology results & video: Satoshi Kojima

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW’s Anthology featured the first-ever MLW heavyweight champion and Japanese wrestling legend Satoshi Kojima.

Matches features the first-ever championship match between he and Jerry Lynn from 2002, a great 2003 title defense against Johnny Smith from All Japan Pro Wrestling, and some highlights from a 2002 title defense against Vampiro.

The end of the show’s Pulp Fiction also featured the announcement of the newest member of Injustice.

Show Review:

Satoshi Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn to become the inaugural MLW World heavyweight champion (13:14)
New York City’s Manhattan Center | September 2002

Then-lead commentator Joey Styles subtly, but expertly, made us aware of both competitors’ signatures maneuvers to watch for as the referee presented the title belt to the crowd. Kojima has the Koji-Cutter, the Koji-max submission and, of course, the lariat taught to him by Stan Hansen. Conversely, Lynn used a tornado DDT to set up his cradle piledriver finisher.

There was a slow but intense exchange of holds to open up with neither man gaining an advantage. Lynn tried an early cross armbreaker to deactivate some of Kojima’s lariat power, but they were both too close to the ropes. Kojima took control and brought out some Ric Flair chops in the corner, along with a trademark “Whooo” of his own. Lynn returned the favor, but succumbed to Kojima’s power with a side slam moments later.

Kojima hit a series of elbow drops throughout the match as the title seemed to be slipping away from the former ECW champion Lynn. Kojima pretended he couldn’t understand the referee who was instructing him to get Lynn out the corner and out of the ropes.

But the tide turned shortly after that when Kojima missed an elbow drop from the middle rope and Lynn fired up with right hands, chops, and a trifecta of lariats, but it was a reverse DDT that finally took him off his feet. Kojima came back with a pair of running lariats in the corner followed by a big elbow drop from the top rope that got a two count.

Kojima removed his elbow pad, but Lynn ducked a lariat to hit a German suplex for a two count of his own. Lynn hit his tornado DDT moments later, but Kojima again kicked out at two. Styles thought the cradle piledriver was coming but instead, Lynn went for a suplex that Kojima reversed. Lynn slipped out the back of the attempt, but ended up taking a sit-down spinebuster seconds later.

Lynn finally went for his piledriver, but Kojima reversed it with a backdrop. Kojima then hit a Michinoku driver for a two count but he didn’t stop there. He got up and signaled for the lariat and connected with it, knocking Lynn down and out for the pin to become the first MLW World champion.

We saw clips from Kojima’s defenses in Japan in AJPW and Zero-1 before we moved into our next match as Kojima was defending the title against Vampiro.

MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Vampiro
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida’s War Memorial Auditorium | December 2002

The match was already underway as we caught up with the action on the outside of the ring. Kojima was whipped into the guardrail and knocked a poor fan in the front row off his seat. Kojima suplexed Vampiro on the concrete floor and chopped him over the barrier into the crowd. They brawled to the stage where Vampiro climbed a camera rig and then hit a flying clothesline.

We cut back to some in-ring action where Vampiro missed a corkscrew senton and had his hurricanrana attempt reversed into a sit-down powerbomb. Kojima then hit a neckbreaker for a two count and took the challewnger down with a dragon screw leg whip.

Kojima then targeted the knee with a pair of dropkicks and another dragon screw before locking in an STF. Vampiro dragged himself to the ropes, but Kojima hit an ace crusher and a big lariat to pick up the win in another successful title defense.

MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Johnny Smith (6:51)
Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall | March 2003 | AJPW and MLW co-branded show

Styles clued us into Smith being a cousin of both Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. An English voiceover introduced the title fight before the Japanese ring announcer introduced both competitors who got the traditional streamers from the audience and polite receptions. Those paying close attention would have noticed Kojima’s entrance music is the same used in MLW’s opening video sequence.

After an early commercial break, we came back with Kojima in control of Smith. He came off the top rope with an elbow drop, but Smith kicked out. A neckbreaker also got a two count as Smith was somehow hanging in there. Smith ducked a lariat and hit Kojima with one of his own out of nowhere for a brief hope spot. Moments later, Kojima hit the Koji-cutter but again, Smith somehow kicked out.

Kojima hit a Michinoku driver but Smith no sold it and popped up, roaring into hitting a death valley driver. He couldn’t make an immediate cover due to the damage he had taken. Smith then hit a sitout powerbomb and a German suplex, but couldn’t keep Kojima’s shoulders down. Smith looked for another german suplex, but Kojima fought out and hit a running lariat.

Styles told us it was anyone’s match to win and he was right. Smith hit a reverse DDT that Kojima just kicked out of. On his second attempt, Kojima reversed with a northern lights release suplex. Smith blocked another lariat with a backslide for another close two count. Kojima then blocked a lariat and connected with his own to finally keep Smith down for the three count to retain the belt.

**********

As they have done in the past, this week’s show closed with a montage of video updates from the current day MLW roster called Pulp Fusion.

Zenshi was doing some backflips in his garden and climbing a tree upside down; Gino Medina was not worrying about CONTRA, but was worrying about the manacitas; the Von Erichs were wrestling each other on a beach; Mance Warner was about to start on his triple cage idea but then he started drinking; Tom Lawlor shaved his hair off and was ready to protect himself; Hammerstone played the Star Spangled Banner on electric guitar and advertised his shirts on MLW’s website; Alicia Atout interviewed Col. Robert Parker who was still flirting with Aria Blake; Richard Holliday shaved his moustache off to keep the Caribbean women off him; Jordan Oliver had Injustice’s newest member’s identity in a brown envelope and Myron Reed promised it would be revealed later tonight saying it was an injustice he wasn’t signed two years ago; and El Hijo de LA Park and LA Park Jr had fighting words for CONTRA after they attacked their dad LA Park last week.

Saieve al Sabah was then introduced as the newest member of Injustice. He told us he would weaponize our mind, bodies, and souls because the revolution has arrived.

Next week’s MLW Anthology will feature current AEW stars Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr.

MLW Anthology results & video: Low Ki

Posted on by Iain Oliver

MLW’s Anthology series hit the streets of New York this week as we saw the Lone Wolf of Brooklyn battling Homicide in his MLW debut from 2004 and then Shane Strickland in 2018 for the MLW world heavyweight title. 

Show Review:

Homicide defeated Low Ki (15:24)
Orlando, Florida | January 2004 

Low Ki showed his athleticism early on by nipping up before wrapping Homicide up in the ropes with an armbar. They both then had the same idea by going for an arm drag before dodging kicks and coming to a stalemate which got an ovation from the crowd.

Low Ki then hit a crossbody and took control. He hit a nice butterfly suplex and a handspring overhead kick to the back of the head. Homicide fought back after taking one stiff chop too many and flew out the ring with a tope, ending up over the barrier and into the crowd.

Homicide then took over with suplexes of his own and a surfboard submission. He then dropped him on the top of his head with a hurricanrana off the top rope, but Low Ki still kicked out at two. Homicide then missed a diving headbutt and this gave Low Ki the chance to fire up. He hit a barrage of chops, a clothesline, and kicks to the chest followed by soccer kicks to the head. He slipped out of the Cop Killer and hit a rolling kick to the back of Homicide’s head. He then deadlifted Homicide up and planted him on his head with a German suplex, but Homicide got his foot on the rope to break the count.

Homicide caught Low Ki springboarding off the ropes and hit a dragon screw followed by another one off the top rope. He locked on an STF but let go when he thought Low Ki tapped out. Low Ki then slipped out the back and locked in a dragon sleeper but Homicide again got to the ropes.

Low Ki’s leg gave out on a suplex attempt, but he was able to come back with a kick to the head. Homicide fought back with a big clothesline, but Low Ki again slipped out of the Cop Killer but struggled to lock in the dragon sleeper once again. Homicide fought and fought and in the scramble, he was able to roll Low Ki onto his shoulders just long enough for the ref to count to three and get the win. 

Jerry Lynn jumped Homicide after the match, but Low Ki saved his teacher from a beatdown which brought out Gary Hart. He instructed both Homicide and Low Ki to make an example of Lynn. They pummelled him and put the boots to him before a fan started badmouthing Hart at ringside, so he instructed Low Ki to confront him. Hart had a mystery man with him and he was (maybe strategically) blocking the camera’s view of Low Ki and the fan, but we did see a drink get smashed and then Low Ki trying to drag the fan over the guardrail.

Chaos ensued as Homicide also got involved. The fan tried to run, but Low Ki chased him and clobbered him with a right hand. A security guard tried to shield the fan but it took road agents and staff (including Court Bauer) to separate them. Hart was still on the mic and got in Bauer’s face, but the MLW founder was blindsided by Homicide and shoved to the ground. Hart sarcastically thanked Bauer for bringing him to MLW and promised to end Terry Funk’s career the next night. The situation looked to be calmed, but as Bauer was getting to his knees, he was hit over the head with a broomstick by Homicide. 

— We saw a video package that helped introduce the next match, showing Low Ki in his “professional” persona being hired by Salina de la Renta to take out Shane Strickland.

Low Ki defeated Shane “Swerve” Strickland to win the MLW World Championship (13:19)
Orlando, Florida | July 2018

Ki’s title win came after a stiff and exciting match against the current NXT standout now known as Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. Sitting at ringside, alongside our JJ Williams, was Salina de la Renta who had put a $60,000 bounty on the champion’s head and hired Low Ki to take the title from him.

Strickland tried an armbar very early, but Low Ki was able to get to the ropes. Ki began chopping Strickland and that continued throughout the title fight. Low Ki beat him down early on, looking for the knockout with stiff kicks to the chest and one springboard version that knocked Strickland down.

After Low Ki jawjacked with the crowd in the direction of Strickland’s girlfriend, who was in attendance, the champion fired back but Ki was able to roll through and hit a double foot stomp to stay in full control of the contest.

Strickland was able to dump Low Ki to the outside and then hit a superkick when he tried to re-enter the ring. Strickland then hit a handstand flip over the top rope into a hurricanrana at ringside. Back inside, he hit a big overhead release belly-to-back suplex but only got a two count. Low Ki then took a powerbomb and a catapult, but stopped himself on the middle rope. While Strickland was on his back from delivering the move, Low Ki launched off and hit another double foot stomp, this time from the middle rope.

Strickland had another flurry of kicks, but was favoring his right knee. He eventually hit his rolling cutter, but took his time climbing the ropes due to his injured knee. Low Ki moved and Strickland landed on his feet, but his knee buckled. He then blew a kiss to Strickland’s girlfriend as he lined up a switchblade kick to the back of the head to pick up the pin and the title win to the shock of the crowd.

A video package from back in the early years of MLW ran featuring the trifecta from the first match: Ki, Homicide and the late Gary Hart. Hart was hyping them both up by talking about Ki using his martial arts and Homicide using his street mentality to protect Hart’s legacy.

**********

To close the show, we had this week’s montage of updates featuring current MLW stars. The Blue Meanie was outside the 2300 Arena, Jordan Oliver was drinking in the park, Gino Medina was saying “no comment” to his status with Dynasty, LA Park challenged CONTRA to any match they want, Mance Warner had some words for CONTRA if they think they can tell him what to do, Richard Holliday wants to buy MLW and then sell it for a profit, Savio Vega is going to remove Holliday’s moustache with a sidekick, Tom Lawlor and Dominic Garrini were talking online dating profiles, Konnan called out Josef Samael for ruining the end of the MLW/AAA Super Series, Myron Reed explained what Injustice means to him, the Von Erichs talked about the true meaning of champions, and Alexander Hammerstone wants to win the heavyweight title.

LA Park finished the montage but at the end of his challenge to CONTRA, he was blindsided and attacked by someone just off camera. CONTRA then interrupted the feed and Samael gave a warning to MLW saying that the infidels are rising.

Next week:

MLW Anthology: Satoshi Kojima

MLW Anthology results and video: Mance Warner

Posted on by Iain Oliver

The Big Takeaways

MLW took a more recent trip down memory lane via Bucksnort, Tennessee, as we revisited two bloody bouts from the crazy world of “The Southern Psycho” Mance Warner. In one, he battled Sami Callihan in a loser leaves MLW match while the other against Jimmy Havoc in MLW’s first no rope barbed wire match since 2003. 

Show Recap

A Shad Gaspard tribute graphic was shown before the start of the opening credits. During the introduction video, CONTRA unit interrupted and Josef Samael narrated us through the carnage that CONTRA has put MLW through in recent weeks.

Things began with a Warner retrospective video showing his early days in MLW where he made an enemy in Salina de la Renta and her Promociones Dorado stable. That led to Salina, executive producer of Fusion that week, booking friends Callihan and Warner against each other in a loser leaves MLW match from Fusion episode 62.

Mance Warner defeated Sami Callihan in a Loser Leaves MLW, Falls Count Anywhere match (18:13)

This was an unbelievable, gross, wild and crazy brawl which ended Callihan’s MLW run. The fight took them all over the arena with a staple gun used all over Warner’s body. In the end, “The Southern Psycho” did not give up and fought back to win a vicious and bloody fight.

Warner brought out a trash can with him while Callihan walked out and spat water at Jim Cornette (then on commentary), flipping him the middle finger. Cornette flipped out and swung his tennis racket, but missed Callihan by a mile. Callihan and Cornette were in the middle of a war of words at the time but nothing ever developed past that.

Callihan and Warner had a mutual alliance at the time as they were simultaneously feuding with Promociones Dorado. In a brilliant move from de la Renta, she booked this match to eliminate half of her problem and hopefully severely injure the other.

They immediately went at it ringside with Callihan using a trash can lid and steel chair against Warner before launching him into the crowd. They brawled through the concession stand as Rich Bocchini and Cornette got worked up thinking that Callihan could have spat diphtheria, ebola, measles, syphilis, or tetanus at them. Nowadays, you can add another one onto that list.

They brawled up the bleachers and rammed each other into the back wall before Callihan hit a brainbuster on the bleachers for a two count. Warner fought back and used a plastic trash can as a helmet to smack Callihan in the face.

Bocchini thought Cornette’s eye was becoming a little red, and Cornette wondered if Callihan had given him “trench mouth”. They brawled over to the food stand and used forks on each other before Warner poured tabasco down Warner’s throat.

They made their way back into the ring where Callihan brought out the staple gun. He went for Warner’s forehead but Warner fought back and after 10 minutes, we got our first attempt at an actual wrestling move: a sunset flip. Callihan stood firm, reached down between his legs, and staple gunned Warner between the eyes.

He then placed a trash can on Warner and swung a steel chair full force directly at his face. How are you supposed to know when that chair is coming? Warner was busted open from either the staple or the chair shot as Callihan grabbed some money from the fans at ringside. He then stapled dollar bills to Warner’s shoulders and one on his forehead.

Warner was a sight: on his knees, writhing in pain, face covered in blood, and dollar bills stapled to his shoulders and forehead. Callihan screamed at him to quit, but he didn’t. He hulked up, ripped the money off him, eye poked Callihan, and chokeslammed him into the trash can for a two count.

Callihan then brought out a wooden sheet from under the ring and set it up between two chairs. He went to the top rope but Callihan grabbed him in the groin, went up to join him, and hit a piledriver from the top rope through the wooden board A “holy sh*t” chant broke out and amazingly, Warner kicked out at two.

Callihan brought out a wooden board of his own and launched it into the ring, right onto Warner’s knee. But, he took too much time shouting “thumbs up/thumbs down” and got speared through the board he set up in the corner. Callihan also kicked out at two.

They then sat on chairs and faced one another. They took turns swinging right hands before Callihan spat in Warner’s face. Of course, Warner retaliated with a globular mouthful of his own. They exchanged some more and the next devastating maneuver was a Callihan tombstone piledriver onto a seated chair. Warner, again, kicked out at two.

Callihan then took the stapling to a whole other level. He grabbed Warner’s tongue out of his mouth and yes, you guessed it, stapled it to a piece of the wooden board. This backfired though as it only fired Warner up. He hulked up again, yanked his stapled tongue off the wood, and battered Callihan over the head with it time and time again.

Cornette was going bananas on commentary, shouting for Warner to beat him and finish the match. Warner hit Callihan with his kneepad up/down running knee to the face but Callihan kicked out at one. Warner then rested a piece of the broken wood against a prone Callihan and hit a second running knee through the wood and into Callihan’s face for the win that sent Callihan out of MLW.  

– Warner’s feud with Promociones Dorado continued as we saw highlights of him battling through Ricky Martinez and Bestia 666 until he collided with Jimmy Havoc. These two lunatics faced off in four different styles of matches (SuperFight PPV, Fusion episode 77,85, 89) before this fifth and final feud ending blood bath from Fusion episode 94. 

Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc (w/Priscilla Kelly) in a no ropes barbed wire match (10:34)

Havoc brought a barbed wire baseball bat with him like we needed another weapon. They teased hitting the wire for a few moments, but Havoc was first to hit it torso and neck first after Warner sidestepped a lunge. That was followed up with an Irish whip that sent him back first into it. Warner pushed him head first and then a drop toehold sent him face first into the wire to bust him open.

Havoc fought back with a chain assisted right hand, a DDT, and a suplex into the wire. Havoc then attacked Warner’s knee with a chair as well before pushing him headfirst into the wire himself. He then used a staple gun to Warner’s forehead and whipped him into the wire, later taking off Warner’s shirt and stapling it to his back before then pulling it back off. Havoc then used wire cutters to cut a string of wire and use it across Warner’s forehead and then around his mouth. He then used his baseball bat across Warner’s back and forehead too. There was a real wrestling move next as Havoc used a curb stomp and attempted a pinfall, but Warner kicked out.

They gave each other the double middle finger before Warner rammed the baseball bat between Havoc’s legs, but Havoc retaliated seconds later with a staple gun shot between Warner’s legs or “the Bucksnorts” as the commentary team called it.

Warner then chokeslammed Havoc into a seated chair lying on its side, but moments later was on the receiving end of a death valley driver through a wooden board in the corner of the ring. Warner got his revenge with a chokeslam through some more wooden boards but Havoc kicked out. Havoc then had his plan of throwing salt in the eyes thwarted as Warner punched it back in his face, hit a clothesline with wire wrapped around his arm, and a piledriver onto a chair to pick up the win.

— We heard from a bloodied up Warner backstage after his victory and he told us that he ended Jimmy Havoc and now is going to hit the pay window, drink some light beers, and get some gold. He called out Alexander Hammerstone to bring us right up to the current day where he is currently feuding with the National Openweight champion and the Dynasty stable.

— We then switched to new modern footage where in this week’s quarantine roll call, we saw our favorite Mexican chefs The Parks grilling hamburgers and calling out CONTRA Unit; Gino Medina shooing away the cameras as the “mamacitas” were calling; Dan Lambert getting all serious about athletic commissions and safe working environments; Warner drunkenly drawing up the blueprints for the triple tower of doom cage match; and Myron Reed asking who is joining Injustice.

The Dynasty caught up on Facetime again as Richard Holliday casually just bought a whole beach and both he and Hammerstone revealed they have signed extensions with MLW; the Von Erichs celebrated a non-social distant family birthday that disgusted Tom Lawlor as he realized he shares the same birthday with Kevin Von Erich; King Mo is still bad mouthing Low Ki; Aria Blake and Col. Robert Parker are still flirting; Jordan Oliver tells us Injustice is 500 million deep and have men in every city and state; and endin with the Parks telling CONTRA Unit they are coming for them. 

Next week:

MLW Anthology: Low Ki

MLW Anthology results and video: LA Park

Posted on by Iain Oliver

Video —

Big Takeaways —

MLW took a trip down memory lane as we visited 2002 and the early bouts of LA Park as La Parka as he took on Shocker and Sabu.

Full Recap —

As the global lockdown has prevented MLW from filming their next scheduled round of Fusion tapings, the league debuted their latest show, Anthology, to fill the void. This week’s episode focused on the legendary luchador LA Park, showing two matches from the MLW vault as the original voice of MLW Joey Styles called the action.

LA Park was originally known as La Parka and that is what he is known as back in 2002 when these matches took place.

We opened with a great video highlight package showing us LA Park’s recent accomplishments in Mexico and from the early years of MLW. We saw highlights of MLW’s first-ever event where Park took on Jerry Lynn from the ECW arena and transitioned that into our first match of the night.

La Parka defeated Shocker from the Manhattan Center in New York City in September 2002 (13:47)

Park suckered Shocker in for a slap to the face before they exchanged a lightening quick lucha-style back-and-forth pinfall/reversal sequence until nipping up to their feet simultaneously. Shocker kicked Park out of the ring and feigned a dive to the floor by hand-springing off the ropes and posing in the middle of the ring.

Park baited Shocker out of the ring and caught him with a boot coming in. A few moments later, he ran Shocker over with a hard shoulder block before he strut his famous strut across the ring. Park was dumped on the back of his head twice before being slingshot out of the ring and eating a springboard splash while on the floor.

A few moments and a swing in momentum later saw Park knock Shocker to the outside with a spinning heel kick and land a big corkscrew suicide dive. Inside the ring, he hit a big somersault senton bomb but only got a two count.

Park then brought a chair into the ring but ended up getting the chair dropkicked into his own face before being dumped on the outside. Shocker then went for a suicide dive through the ropes, but Park finally got him with the chair, mid-air, right between the eyes in a perfectly timed chair shot swing.

Shocker got his feet up when Park came off the top rope to give himself a bit of leeway, but Park then hit him with a dropkick when Shocker tried to come off the top as the match started breaking down. Park hit a missile dropkick but was crotched on the top rope moments later. Shocker then hit him with a big superplex from the top rope, a magistral cradle, a spear in the corner, and a Bronco Buster — but he couldn’t put Park away.

Park crotched Shocker with his boot on a second Bronco Buster attempt before heading to the top rope once again and won the match after hitting his signature springboard corkscrew body block.

– We saw some historical footage in the build to the next match between LA Park and Sabu, again from 2002. Park had attacked Sabu’s manager, Bill Alfonso, so when Park was talking to the MLW cameras he was jumped by Sabu and was spiked in the head for good measure.

Sabu (w/ Bill Alfonso) defeated La Parka from the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in December 2002 (19:39)

Park threw a chair at Sabu’s face before the bell even rang, and that would have normally set the tone for the rest of the match, but they actually began with some chain wrestling as they both tried to gain the early upper hand. Park locked in an early Camel Clutch that Sabu escaped from, and rightfully so with it being one of his signature holds, and moments later to rub salt in the wounds he locked in his own version on Park.

They both found themselves on the top rope. Park was shoved off but landed on his feet on the apron and was still able to clothesline Sabu into the ring. Park missed a slingshot but rolled through and then ate a tornado DDT from Sabu. A second DDT was dodged and Park hit a spinning heel kick.

Park then launched Sabu head-first over the guardrail and into the first row. The crowd scattered as Park hit him with a chair to the head, whipped him into the rail, and then flew off the top rope and into the crowd onto Sabu with a huge crossbody.

Park then set up a table at ringside and rocked Sabu with another chair shot to the head. Park then set up Sabu to spear him from the apron through the table, but as he ran Sabu hit him with a dropkick to the knees that sent Park head over heels over the top rope and through the table.

Sabu got a pair of scissors and went to work stabbing Park in the forehead and ripping his mask away before dumping him into the crowd. Alfonso threw a chair to Sabu in the ring and Sabu then hit his chair-assisted top rope crossbody into the crowd on top of LA Park.

Park was bleeding heavily from his forehead as he slowly made his way back into the ring. Sabu pummeled him on arrival in the ring and went back to work on his forehead with the scissors. Sabu misplaced a middle rope slingshot, so Park hit a standing enzuigiri before setting up Sabu in a tree of woe and dropkicking a chair into Sabu’s face.

But Park then missed a spear in the corner and fell to the outside, only to be squashed by a somersault plancha over the top rope by Sabu. Alfonso helped set up another table at ringside for Sabu to hit his chair-assisted Arabian facebuster from the top rope and through the ringside table.

Sabu came off the top rope and ate a boot to the face, but Park only got a two count. Park went up top, but Sabu caught him and hit a springboard hurricanrana from the top rope and crushed him with a chair-assisted Arabian facebuster. Park kicked out, but a triple-jump moonsault moments later sealed the deal and won the match for Sabu.

Alfonso cut a backstage promo after the match and challenged Park to another match, but an angry Park jumped him and shoved him down, screamed at the camera, and then stormed off. 

From the extreme scenes of blood, guts, chair shots, and broken tables, we cut back to modern-day MLW and Marshall Von Erich was in his backyard chopping up some bamboo. This was the start of quick-cut mini promos from the Von Erichs, Myron Reed, The Dynasty on Zoom, Tom Lawlor, Mance Warner, and other MLW stars talking about their quarantine and lockdown adventures.

Lawlor had relocated the Filthy Dojo to his garage, Holliday has grown a mustache, Warner was out buying light beers, Savio Vega stood in front of a portrait of himself and called out Holliday, Lawlor and the Von Erichs bad-mouthed each other, and the show finished with LA Park telling CONTRA Unit to go f*ck their mothers.

Next Week —

MLW Anthology featuring Mance Warner.

MLW Anthology series to premiere in May

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The history of MLW will be spotlighted in an anthology series set to debut in May.

It was announced today that MLW Anthology will premiere on beIN Sports in conjunction with MLW Fusion on Saturday, May 16. The series will “spotlight the biggest rivalries, iconic athletes and championship classics spanning the history of MLW dating back to 2002.”

“This is a project we had planned for further down the road but we wanted to surprise fans with some fun and joy during this challenging period,” MLW’s Court Bauer said in a press release.

MLW announced last week that they had started the process of digitizing their MLW Underground TV series from 2003-2004. After its initial run from 2002-2004, MLW was revived as a promotion in 2017.

MLW Fusion is currently airing episodes from the promotion’s Super Series with Lucha Libre AAA that was filmed in March.

At the beginning of this month, MLW provided an update on future events: “The league remains focused on a return after suspending promoting live events, however is proceeding with an abundance of caution. MLW has considered many scenarios but is not close to rolling out a plan given that the pandemic has yet to reach its apex in the United States. At the appropriate time, the league will communicate plans for promoting live events outside of the temporary hiatus and update the status of league events.”

The full press release for today’s MLW Anthology announcement is available below:

Major League Wrestling (“MLW”) today announced the MLW Anthology series is coming to beIN SPORTS this spring.

MLW Anthology will spotlight the biggest rivalries, iconic athletes and championship classics spanning the history of MLW dating back to 2002. 

With unprecedented access behind the wrestlers’ journeys and the league itself, the MLW Anthology series is must see TV this spring.

“This is a project we had planned for further down the road but we wanted to surprise fans with some fun and joy during this challenging period,” said MLW CEO and Creator Court Bauer.

The project, originally slated for 2021, will feature supplemental content and rare access behind the scenes with never before seen material thanks to recently discovered lost footage from 2002-04. 

The series will examine the stories and events from the league’s inception to present day.

MLW Anthology premieres Saturday night May 16 in conjunction with MLW Fusion. 

Over the years MLW has been the home of some of the most storied wrestling families, celebrated legends and destination for the next generation of grapplers, including: Satoshi Kojima, Terry Funk, CM Punk, LA Park, Dusty Rhodes, Steve Corino, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Matt Riddle, the Von Erichs, Alex Hammerstone, [Eki] “Umaga” Fatu, Tom Lawlor, Jacob Fatu, Ricochet, Low Ki, Gary Hart and countless others. Many will be featured in the MLW Anthology series in the coming weeks.