Tag: MLW Never Say Never 2023

New champions crowned at MLW Never Say Never, Don King appears

Posted on by Ian Carey

Major League Wrestling presented its first live event on FITE+ on Saturday night. 

MLW Never Say Never 2023 took place from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. The show featured multiple title changes including in the main event as Bomaye Fight Club’s Alex Kane ended the 600+ day MLW World Heavyweight Championship reign of Alex Hammerstone. 

The mystery financial backer of Kane’s Bomaye Fight Club was revealed before Saturday’s main event. The legendary boxing promoter Don King appeared via video to announce he is the man bankrolling the faction.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1678028217364430849

Hammerstone tapped out to a rear naked choke after a match that went 22 and a half minutes. The Bomaye Fight Club then hoisted the new champion up on their shoulders and celebrated in the ring before Kane cut a promo. He thanked the fans for all their support and led them in a chant of “Bomaye is for the people” as the show went off the air.  

Kane becomes the 10th wrestler to win the MLW World title. The title dates back to 2002 but was inactive from 2004-2018. Hammerstone’s reign ends after 644 days (2nd all-time). His 16 successful title defenses are the most in the history of the belt. 

The Calling won the promotion’s tag titles on the show as well. They defeated the Samoan Swat Team after Page gave Lance Anoa’i a Super Raven Effect through a table. The storyline is that Raven has told each member of The Calling the secret to his DDT finisher. 

Delmi Exo is now a double champion. The MLW Featherweight Champion wrestled wXw Women’s Champion Ava Everett in a title vs. title match on the show. Exo won with a Delmi Driver and now holds gold in one of Europe’s top promotions. 

Timothy Thatcher may have been injured during his match with Tracy Williams. He started favoring his neck early and then was unable to continue after taking a DDT. Thatcher walked to the back without needing assistance, however. 

Jacob Fatu successfully retained his National Openweight title against Calvin Tankman in the opener. 

Matt Cardona and Kevin Blackwood were announced as selections in the MLW Open Draft. 

They also ran an angle where B3CCA gave a musical performance and a fan wearing angel wings ran up to the stage. Security carried the fan away as he yelled out that he loved B3CCA. 

MLW Never Say Never 2023 results:

  • MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defeated Calvin Tankman to retain his title
  • MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo defeated Ava Everett to win the wXw Women’s title
  • Tracy Williams defeated Timothy Thatcher via referee stoppage 
  • Mance Warner defeated Sam Adonis in a Country Whipping match
  • The Calling (AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page) defeated The Samoan Swat Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) to win the MLW Tag Team Championships. 
  • Alex Kane defeated Alexander Hammerstone to win the MLW Heavyweight Championship. 

Upcoming MLW shows on FITE+

  • MLW Fury Road 2023, September 3
  • MLW Slaughterhouse , October 14
  • MLW Fightland 2023, November 18
  • MLW One Shot 2023, December 7

Matt Cardona, Kevin Blackwood drafted to MLW at Never Say Never

Posted on by Ian Carey

MLW has announced two new additions to its roster. 

Matt Cardona and Kevin Blackwood were selected in the promotion’s open draft held at Never Say Never on Saturday in Philadelphia. 

Mister Saint Laurent announced that Cardona will become the newest member of his World Titan Federation. Cardona then appeared via video and revealed he’ll debut for the promotion at Fury Road on September 3. 

Blackwood being drafted was announced earlier on the show. It’s not clear when the 32-year-old will make his MLW debut but he wrote on Twitter that it will be “soon.” 

Blackwood and AEW’s Daniel Garcia are long-time tag partners and opponents. They wrestled as The Buffalo Brothers on the independents and a set of AEW Dark tapings in September 2020. They wrestled each other on an episode of Dark in January 2023 as well. They’ve also teamed together and faced each other in PWG. Blackwood frequently performs for promotions such as GCW, PWG, C4, BLP and took part in four NJPW Strong tapings in 2022.