MLW Underground will not have a second season Reelz according to a report.
PWInsider reports Reelz issued a statement saying that both parties has agreed that MLW was not a fit for the network and that no further discussions are taking place with regard to a second season.
The statement is a follow-up to one issued in April saying Reelz were in discussions with MLW with regard to future seasons airing on the network after Underground’s initial 13-week run on the channel.
During Underground’s run on Reelz, the network reached an agreement with NBCUniversal’s Peacock service to air a Reelz stream. As WWE and Peacock have an exclusivity agreement regarding wrestling programming appearing on the service, Reelz was blacked out on Peacock during the two-hour MLW time block.
Reelz’s statement to PWInsider reads:
“We evaluated wrestling on REELZ and decided that it was not a great fit with the current programming direction of the network and MLW agreed so there are no further conversations taking place.”
Reelz is available in 40 million US homes according to their website. The network’s hit show is On Patrol Live, which garnered an average of 689,000 viewers (0.22 rating) and 131,900 18-49 year-old viewers (0.1 rating) over its two episodes last weekend.
This week’s season finale of MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia during February’s SuperFight taping and April’s Battle Riot taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
We saw highlights from last week’s victory by Alex Kane in the Battle Riot match. He now has a shot at MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone’s title whenever he chooses.
This week’s show opened with Kane and his Bomaye Fight Club coming out.
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Mr. Thomas (w/ Alex Kane) in a non-title match
Kane got on the mic before the match and got the Philadelphia crowd to chant “Bomaye is for the people” along with him. Thomas then said no one backstage can take him on, specifically naming Davey Boy Smith Jr, Jacob Fatu and Hammerstone. This brought out the champion who had his groin area taped up due to his recent adductor tear.
Thomas took advantage early, but the champion fired back, knocked some Bomaye Fight Club members off the apron, and put Thomas away with the Nightmare Pendulum.
Hammerstone looked to be in a lot of pain as he delivered the move and briefly celebrated before The Calling came out, stood on the stage and sent masked henchmen one-by-one after the champ who fought them off.
Jacob Fatu and the SST (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) came out and brawled with the main members of The Calling on the stage to aid Hammerstone.
After some speculation on commentary, it was confirmed that Kane will get his shot at the title on Saturday, July 8th at Never Say Never, MLW’s first live event on FITE+. This was heavily hyped and promoted throughout the episode.
With this being the season finale of Underground, it will be replaced by the return of Fusion on beIN Sports in just a few weeks. This season will see the 2023 Opera Cup tournament and the Super Series which AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo is advertised for.
– After brawling during the Battle Riot, Mance Warner had some words for Sam Adonis, calling him out and saying he wants to beat him up.
MLW Tag Team Champions Samoan Swat Team (Lance Anoa’i & Juicy Finau) defeated The Mane Event (Midas Black & Jay Lyon) to retain the titles
The ringleader Midas Black led his lion-masked partner Lyon to the ring for an automatic title shot in their MLW debut. The challengers impressed here and showed some very innovative double-team moves throughout.
Lyon dove through a hoop circus-style onto the champions on the outside before they hit the Flying Trapeze: a leapfrog into a splash with a face-first DDT combination. After the break, the champions were still reeling as the challengers hit a double team-assisted standing moonsault, back elbow, and slingshot spear.
Finau rebounded from a double superkick with a running crossbody before crushing his opponents in the corner. A superkick, Rikishi driver and top rope big splash followed which gave the champions a hard-fought victory.
B3CCA defeated Brittany Blake
“The International Pop-star” B3CCA (party hat and all) “sang” her way to the ring to the dismay of both the Philadelphia crowd and her opponent. A good character with some solid in-ring moves, B3CCA could be a potential title challenger in the future.
She hit a superkick but got caught with a Blake forearm on a dive to the floor. Blake came back with a 619 to the outside, but it wasn’t long before B3CCA was back on top with a hard boot to the face, a second rope missile dropkick and a somersault senton to the floor.
Once back in the ring, B3CCA took to the sky again and got a nearfall after a crossbody, but Blake came back with an enzuigiri and a hard knee for a nearfall of her own.
Back on their feet, B3CCA hit a German suplex followed by a top rope 450 splash to pick up the win.
– New featherweight division signing Delmi Exo met with Sam Laterna and said her one goal is to be champion.
– A big brawl between the Samoan Swat Team and The FBI broke out backstage that explained their absence in the next match.
MLW Openweight Champion John Hennigan vs. Jacob Fatu did not take place
The advertised main event did not take place because as Fatu was making his entrance, he was jumped by Ricky Shane Page and The Calling.
Page hit Fatu in the back with a chair and AKIRA hit a running knee to the back of his head. Raven briefly stood over the fallen SST member as this season of MLW Underground came to an end.
After several months away, new MLW content will return to beIN Sports and YouTube next month.
On a graphic displayed on Tuesday’s season finale of MLW Underground on Reelz, it was announced that Fusion will return to its former broadcast homes on Thursday, May 25th.
Several weeks ago, MLW announced Fusion would return but didn’t provide any details at the time. After MLW Underground debuted on Reelz earlier this year, new episodes of Fusion, Fusion: Alpha and MLW Azteca ceased on beIN and YouTube in February without any mention as to why.
Reelz releases statement on MLW future
Speaking of Reelz, the network released a statement to PWInsider Wednesday regarding their future with MLW that didn’t give any real idea as to what their future together may hold.
A spokesperson said, “Season 1 has ended and we are continuing talks for season 2.”
MLW content on Reelz has to be blacked out when airing on Peacock due to WWE’s exclusive partnership with the NBCUniversal-owned streaming service — something that was mentioned in MLW’s revamped ongoing lawsuit against WWE.
In March, there was confusion as to the future of the MLW/Reelz relationship following a statement released to Variety that indicated MLW would be done airing there after this month. Both MLW and Reelz denied releasing the statement.
This week’s MLW Underground featured their fifth annual Battle Riot match featuring 40 entrants with the winner getting an MLW title shot in the future.
Entrants and eliminations are in the traditional Royal Rumble format but unlike the Rumble, eliminations can also be via pinfall or submission. Weapons are also legal and often encouraged.
Previous winners were Tom Lawlor, LA Park, Alex Hammerstone and Jacob Fatu.
Alex Kane won the MLW Battle Riot match
Alex Kane and Willie Mack were number one and number two, respectively, to kick off the match. Mack showed off his athleticism before Jesus Rodriguez (previously Ricardo Rodriguez) surprised the crowd and joined the Riot, tuxedo and all.
Number four was Middleweight Champion Lince Dorado whoflew into the ring, hitting Rodriguez with a crossbody off the top, a springboard cutter and flying head scissors. He also skinned the cat before Calvin Tankman joined as entrant five.
Tankman suplexed Kane and Rodriguez before Lance Anoa’i joined his fifth Battle Riot, the only person in MLW to be part of all five such matches
Microman was number seven and ran through some legs before running headfirst into Rodriguez’s groin.
Los Azteca 33, a masked henchman of Cesar Duran was eight and Juicy Finau joined at nine along with a trash can filled with weapons. As Finau was entering, Microman pinned and eliminated Los Azteca, while Kane eliminated Anoa’i.
Finau and Tankman went face to face and they traded cookie sheet shots before moving to whiteboards and kendo sticks.
The Beastman entered at number 10 to add to the mass already in the ring. It went from one of the biggest to one of the smallest in Little Guido at 11. Tankman saved Microman by putting Guido on his shoulders which started an impromptu chicken fight with Dorado and Microman.
Sam Adonis was 12 and entered with a double blockbuster on Rodriguez and Kane, but was floored by Beastman and a lariat.
Microman bit the knee of Beastman and hit him with a kendo stick downstairs before Finau and Tankman toppled him over the top rope with Microman getting the final push to eliminate him.
13 was Mance Warner and a 2×4 which he used to pin and eliminate Rodriguez but during the commercial break, Warner and Adonis both eliminated each other and brawled to the back, likely signaling an upcoming match.
During the break was also had Alex Kane choke out Microman to eliminate the fan favorite, plus the entrances of Jimmy Lloyd (14), Mr. Thomas (15), TJ Crawford (16) and Ken Broadway (17).
All of The Calling came out next: Raven, AKIRA, Dr. Cornwallis, Ricky Shane Page, Delirious plus two people in gas masks that brought the official entrance numbers to 23. They eliminated Broadway, Tankman, Crawford, Lloyd, Dorado (by AKIRA), and Thomas.
Los Azteca 9 (24) entered and left and in doing so, broke a Battle Riot record for the quickest elimination. The Calling then busted Finau open — the only remaining non-Calling member left in the ring. They then tied him to the ropes as the countdown started for the next entrant…
…which, of course, was Jacob Fatu (25) save his SST brethren, just as Page brought out a gasoline canister.
Fatu eliminated Cornwallis, Delirious and then the two masked men. AKIRA then sacrificed himself to eliminate Finau, leaving Fatu and Page in the ring by themselves. Both eliminated themselves with a suplex over the top rope and brawled to the back.
Kane had not been eliminated and was there to meet entrant #26 Kim Chee with a suplex and a chokehold to quickly eliminate him.
Midas Black (27) was another quick elimination before Taya Valkyrie (28) entered to give Kane a slighter tougher challenge. Kane quickly pinned her with a fisherman suplex. Jay Lion (29) and Ray Jaz (30) followed the same fate, but Lio Rush (31) quickened the pace and survived the Kane eliminations, for now anyway.
Rush hit his springboard stunner but Kane floored him with a strong lariat and threw him across the ring with another suplex. Tracy Williams (32) debuted and dropped Rush face-first on the top rope with a DDT as the ring started to fill up again toward the end of the match.
O’Shay Edwards (33), a member of Bomaye Fight Club, gave Kane some help before another surprise legend Duke “The Dumpster” Droese (34) went toe-to-toe with him and hit him with a trash can (of course). Kane slipped in and locked in an ankle lock as Page came out again as supposedly, this is where he should have entered to begin with.
As Page was met by Fatu and another brawl ensued in the aisle, Kane unravelled Droese’s prosthetic leg in the ankle lock as “The Dumpster” tapped out.
During the next commercial break, we were told Matthew Justice (35) missed his entrance because of The Calling as 1 Called Manders (36) entered with his cowbell.
John Hennigan (37) and Davey Boy Smith Jr. (38), dressed in jeans like his dad circa 1999, came out to fill the ring with more possible winners. Both received a chorus of boos from the Philadelphia crowd.
Hennigan eliminated Manders and Smith eliminated Williams before Shigehiro Irie came out as the 40th entrant by my bookkeeping. Apart from one graphic during the first commercial, we were not told the entrance numbers so it was hard to keep track. We were only then told that there was still one entrant to go because The Calling’s masked men were not being counted as official entrants.
That final entrant was former WWE wrestler Gene Snitsky. He chokeslammed Rush and crushed Hennigan in the corner but was eliminated during the commercial break. Smith also eliminated Rush and Edwards to leave the final four as Smith, Irie, Hennigan and the number one entrant, Kane.
Kane nearly threw Hennigan out but the parkour specialist slipped back in. Kane then held on with his fingertips to save himself from elimination and to set a new Battle Riot record for lasting the longest time in any of the five matches.
Kane eventually eliminated Hennigan by choking him out on the apron while Smith tossed Irie to bring it down to Kane and Smith as the final two.
The feud between these two has been going on for most of 2023 and it continued here with forearms and suplexes. Smith tried an O’Connor roll but when Kane kicked out, Smith sat in the perfect position for a rear naked choke which Kane gladly applied to eliminate Smith and win the 2023 Battle Riot match.
The Bomaye Fight Club came out to celebrate and hoist Kane on their shoulders as he now has a guaranteed future MLW title shot in his possession.
Final Thoughts:
It was a good Battle Riot that told a few stories throughout. However, having two masked Azteca wrestlers was a bit disappointing and the lack of entrance numbers made it almost impossible to follow.
The Calling coming in as one unit and clearing house was a clever way to make way for a triumphant Fatu to kickstart a new direction following his losing effort to MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone recently. It looks like he will clash with Page soon.
There were also teases for future matches such as Beastman vs. Microman, AKIRA vs. Lince Dorado, and Adonis vs. Warner.
But the main takeaway is the push to Kane who eliminated a lot of the participants via submissions and chokes and went on a Brock Lesnar-style run of beating entrants one-by-one as they entered.
The Philadelphia crowd may have had a hand in Kane winning this as they began getting behind the Bomaye leader during this recent run of tapings in the city.
On this week’s MLW Underground, we saw the heavily built-up War Chamber match between the newest heel faction The Calling going against MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone and The Second Gear Crew.
This was taped in New York City earlier this month with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
We saw Davey Boy Smith Jr. picking his number for Battle Riot V out of the traditional tumbler as we were reminded this year’s match will be on next week’s show.
The upcoming Opera Cup tournament was also hyped.
The Calling (AKIRA, Delirious, Rickey Shane Page, Dr. Cornwallis) (w/ Raven) defeated MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone & The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, Matthew Justice) in a War Chamber match
Delirious and Cornwallis were surprise entrants for Raven’s team.
Page and Manders were first in for their teams and it didn’t take Page long to use start using weapons as he took a wrench to Manders’ mouth. Manders came back with a spinebuster and gave as good as he got with the wrench to Page’s mouth.
AKIRA entered next, German suplexed Manders, and gave him some Kawada kicks to give his team the advantage. Justice was quickly out to even the odds and smash The Calling with a chair in the corners. Manders then picked up his partner and launched him into his opponents.
Delirious was the first surprise entrant for The Calling and hit two Panic Attack running knees as The Calling took control and slowed the match down again.
Hammerstone was in next to give each member of The Calling a German suplex and a power bomb to Delirious for good measure.
The huge masked man Cornwallis was out next to complete The Calling. He hit an impressive spinning heel kick to Hammerstone before his team began using weapons to get the advantage. Page took a fork to Justice’s head, Cornwallis used the wrench on Hammerstone, and AKIRA was using the chair.
Hammerstone seemed to get legitimately injured when AKIRA and Cornwallis each grabbed a leg and pulled them apart. From that point, Hammerstone was visibly in pain on the mat and crawled to the cage door to be helped to the back. This could have been the storyline reason his babyface team lost the match or even the reason they lost if the decision was switched. They even played it up at the end of the episode when MLW founder Court Bauer began talking about the future of the title. I would have maybe expected a more vicious kayfabe injury than a groin pull, so my guess it that it was legit.
Warner came out last and made the save for his team, taking out his opponents one at a time. Cornwallis was taken out by the cage door, Delirious got his bare foot bitten, and Page got chopped in the corner.
The Second Gear Crew started throwing chairs around, dislodging the barbed wire from the top of the cage. Manders and Justice tried a top rope Doomsday Device with a steel chair on AKIRA for the first pinfall attempt.
There was a parade of big moves as everyone had a chance to shine. Manders hit Cornwallis with a suplex and Delirious with a lariat, AKIRA suplexed Manders on his head and then Warner jabbed AKIRA and built up to a big flip, flop and fly Dusty Rhodes elbow.
Manders used a chair for a running knee strike, but hurt his leg. Justice then hit Page with an unprotected chair shot which seemed to wake him up as Page got to his feet quickly and hit a big boot.
Masked men then came out and helped get some tables into the ring. Page and Manders were bleeding as they went to the top rope where Manders ended up suplexing Page through the table that had two chairs set up on it.
Delirious broke up a pinfall by hitting his top rope splash, followed by Justice doing the same thing as Delirious tried to make the pin. Justice was on the receiving end of a running knee from AKIRA before falling victim to a DDT from Page for The Calling to pick up the pinfall win.
– Delmi Exo called out Taya Valkyrie and wants the MLW Women’s Featherweight title as Valkyrie “has one foot out the door anyway.”
– MLW Fusion will be returning in the summer.
– We saw an ambulance arriving at the building for Hammerstone as Bauer told Sam Laterna he had never seen Hammerstone in as much pain as he is in just now. They started talking about possibly vacating the title when Alex Kane interrupted and said they should crown him as he is the uncrowned king.
This brought in Davey Boy Smith Jr. who reminded him he beat him last week. The inevitable brawl ensued, but it quickly included the whole MLW roster as the announcers hyped up next week’s Battle Riot V match.
This week’s MLW Underground heavily hyped next week’s War Chamber match with both the opener and main event being used to build to the massive match.
This week’s action was taped in Philadelphia during February’s SuperFight TV taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Matthew Justice defeated Mance Warner, Microman and Real1 in a dumpster match
The story surrounding this match was with Real1 having all his recent adversaries competing, there was no way he could win and would face his comeuppance. He certainly didn’t win, but put in a good showing.
Early on, Real1 tried to get his hands on Microman but Warne and the crazy Justice took turns getting their shots in. Microman even got his own shot in with an assisted “Whazzzup!” to Real1’s lower regions.
Real1 fought back and dropped his opponents groin first on the guardrail before hitting his Razor’s Edge into the ringpost on both men, then sidestepping to send Warner crashing through a wooden board.
Justice took Real1 out with a chair and he and Microman rolled him on top of a ringside dumpster. Justice then brought a ladder into the ring, climbed it and dropped an elbow onto Real1 into a dumpster, giving him the win.
As he hit the dumpster, the ominous music of The Calling hit as Ricky Shane Page, AKIRA and their crew of masked henchmen attacked Justice and Warner, also attacking MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone in the backstage area.
– MLW Fusion will be returning and showing the upcoming Super Series.
– It was announced that the Opera Cup will be returning but the current cup “holder” Alex Kane will be banned due to his recent actions of disrespect towards the Cup.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Alex Kane in a no ropes catch wrestling match
Smith got cheered during his entrance, but would finish the match getting booed by the Philadelphia crowd for no reason other than the crowd chose Kane as their favorite. There has definitely been a mixed reaction recently to Smith and the Billington Bulldogs and a quick “kiss my ass” taunt at the end of the match showed Smith acknowledging the crowd’s choice.
Before the match, we heard a pre-taped interview with Kane who taunted Thomas Billington after he had his teeth knocked out last week at the hands of the Bomaye Fight Club.
This started as a grappling match but broke down into a suplex and striking battle towards the end.
Smith nicely bridged out of an octopus hold early on and had a nip-up to escape a leg lock. Kane went to the eyes to escape from an armbar and a German suplex exchange started as the crowd started to get behind the heel Kane.
Strikes followed and Kane hit Smith with another suplex and an Angle slam. They exchanged leg submissions as they rolled and reversed, ending in a sharpshooter by Smith. Mr. Thomas helped Kane escape (because there were no ropes to grab), but Smith kicked him off the apron.
This gave Kane a chance to go for the liquid that blinded Smith last week, but Smith ducked and locked in a rear naked choke to pick up the win to the boos of the Philadelphia crowd.
– Sam Laterna interviewed Lio Rush after he laid out Middleweight Champion Lince Dorado last week and left with his title. Rush had the title over his shoulder and said Dorado had been dodging him recently, but if Dorado wants his title back, he will need to catch him if he can.
AKIRA defeated Calvin Tankman
This called back to The Calling’s first set of attackers as Tankman was one of their first victims as well as the more recent attack on Tankman’s tag partner, EJ Nduka.
AKIRA brought a crowbar into the ring to start the big man vs. little man style match, but ended up having his chest beaten red via chops from Tankman.
Tankman got his leg stuck in the guardrail to give AKIRA an opening and he took full advantage. Back in the ring, he focused his attack on the leg and locked in a standing octopus/Manji Gatame hold. AKIRA then jumped on Tankman’s back to lock in a choke, but Tankman threw him off.
Tankman hit his pop-up spinning elbow and set AKIRA on the top rope with bad intentions. Tankman followed him up but before he could do anything, Raven took a cheap shot with a loaded pipe to Tankman’s leg after which AKIRA locked in a choke. Tankman toppled to the mat and AKIRA transitioned to a bulldog choke to get the referee stoppage finish to pick up the win.
After the match, 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice ran out with steel chairs to get some revenge for earlier on and began to brawl with AKIRA and the masked Calling henchmen. AKIRA ended up coming off the top rope with a chair across his back to take out everyone at ringside.
Outside the building, we saw Hammerstone, Warner, Rickey Shane Page and other henchmen brawling as the announcers hyped up next week’s War Chamber match.
Next week:
Alex Hammerstone and Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) vs. The Calling (Raven, AKIRA & Rickey Shane Page)
This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia during February’s Superfight TV taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Last week, Lio Rush was announced as being in action this week, but it appears his match vs. Davey Richards has been postponed or plans have changed to air it due to Richards’ recent real life issues.
Real1 and Mance Warner issues
The trouble between Real1 and Mance Warner continued this week with the build-up to their four-way dumpster match next week that also includes Microman and Matthew Justice.
Real1 opened the show with his usual heat-invoking mic work against Microman, poking fun at his height, and poking fun at the Southern Psycho’s upbringing and hometown.
Warner was happy to take the bait and come out, bringing a chainsaw with him for good measure. He was joined by Justice wildly swinging a steel chair and even Microman who was hiding inside a trash can. This was all too much for Real1 as he darted out of the arena before Warner, Justice and Microman shared some beers on the stage.
Ricky Shane Page (w/ AKIRA & Raven) defeated 1 Called Manders in a hardcore match
This helped build the upcoming War Chamber match where these two will be on opposing sides. The Chamber match will also feature the rest of Page’s group, The Calling, against MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone and the rest of the Second Gear Crew. We saw a quick recap from last week of how Manders, Warner and Justice came to team with Hammerstone during the entrances.
Page picked a weapon from a blood-soaked operating table on his way to the ring, a signature of The Calling’s entrance,
Throughout the match, Raven was speaking to the announcers which could be subtly heard in the background as Manders and Page slammed and rammed each other into chairs inside the ring.
Page got spinebustered into thumbtacks and powerslammed into a wooden board in the corner, but after a break, he was back in control with a frog splash from the top rope. Manders then used his cowbell on Page before flooring him with a tough clothesline for a nearfall.
A table was set up which led to the innovative finish. Manders got hit with a chair and ended up underneath the table. Page was on the middle rope and came off with a senton through the table, crushing Manders underneath to pick up the pinfall victory.
Open The Twin Gate Tag Team Champions The Natural Vibes (BIG BOSS Shimizu & Kzy) defeated The FBI (Little Guido & Ray Jaz) to retain the titles
This was the MLW debut for The Natural Vibes, and it was an entertaining, fast-paced, yet short sprint of a match from the outset. Jaz looked good here with his size advantage and he kept up with the pace of the Dragon Gate crew, especially Kzy when he was in the ring.
Shimizu came in for the hot tag and took out the FBI with a big body block, a flapjack, and a chokeslam before Kzy came off the top with a big frog splash to pick up the pin on Jaz.
– Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas picked their Battle Riot numbers out of the traditional bingo tumbler but kept the close to the chest.
MLW Middleweight Champion Lince Dorado defeated Delirious to retain the title
These two have built up a small rivalry over the last few months being on the opposing sides of multi-man matches involving Microman and some of Cesar Duran’s hired luchadors. This week, they finally met one-on-one in a solid main event.
Lio Rush came out during the entrances and reminded us all that he is the best MLW Middleweight champion in history and joined the commentary table to heavily hint at a future title shot.
Throughout the match, he would taunt Dorado and try to distract him, including as the bell rang so Delirious tried a few roll-ups to catch him off guard but the champion kicked out.
Dorado came back to dominate the opening moments with a suplex, springboard armdrag, running headscissors and a dropkick. Delirious dropped Dorado back-first on the ring apron before contemplating using the title but dropping it in front of Rush.
Dorado’s back continued to take punishment as Delirious focused his attack with a backbreaker and a surfboard. Dorado came back with a springboard la quebrada.
The referee got in the way of Dorado which stopped his momentum in his tracks. Delirious then hit his Panic Attack running knee strike in the corner followed up by his Shadows Over Hell splash from the top rope, but the champion kicked out at two.
After a break, Dorado hit a springboard stunner and then a big plancha from the top rope to the floor. He then powerbombed Delirious back in the ring and put him away with his shooting star press finisher.
After the match, Rush got into the ring with the title (Delirious had dropped it in front of him) and reluctantly handed it to Dorado. As Dorado eventually got hold of his title, he turned to leave when Rush hit his bottom rope springboard stunner and then laid him out with a belt shot. Rush then left with the belt.
Before Underground went off the air, the cameras went to the back to see Davey Boy Smith Jr. chasing off Kane and Thomas as they had beaten down Thomas Billington and knocked his teeth out.
Next week:
Matthew Justice vs. Microman vs. Real1 vs. Mance Warner in a four-way dumpster match
Alex Kane vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. in a no ropes catch wrestling match
April 18th:
In a War Chamber match, MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone & Second Gear Crew vs. The Calling
This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia during January’s Blood & Thunder TV taping with both Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Microman defeated Real1
This played into the ongoing storyline between Real1 and Mance Warner. Both had previously knocked each other out in matches but then Warner increased the aggression by running Real1 over with his truck. Then two weeks ago, Real1 defied the laws of modern medicine by miraculously recovering, rising from his wheelchair to cause Warner to lose to Ricky Shane Page in a hardcore match. Warner has recently taken Microman under his wing and has been watching out for him.
Mister Saint Laurent emphatically introduced his superhero client before Real1 entered and smack talked Microman, focusing on his height and size. He even called back to his WWE days by spelling out the one word he wanted to use to describe Microman: “D-W-A-R-F.”
The match itself was more of an angle with Real1 bringing a chair into the ring early on, only to be planted face-first into it after mocking Microman by using him as Simba from the Lion King. Warner then gave Microman a cane to use on a knocked out Real1 behind the referee’s back, followed by him standing on top of his fallen mouthy opponent to get the win.
– After being attacked last week by Raven, Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA (aka The Calling), MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone came out to say he wants revenge and wants The Calling in a War Chamber match. Later in the night, it was announced that the challenge was accepted and it will be on Reelz in three weeks.
At the end of the episode, Hammerstone recruited The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) to be his partners in the match.
– Ahead of tonight’s main event, we saw a video package on the history of the Opera Cup. It focused on more recent events where Alex Kane stole the Cup from Davey Richards and continues to disrespect both the Cup and its history. Davey Boy Smith Jr. hyped up his match with Kane while warming up backstage. During Smith’s promo, we had a cut-in from The Calling. After the Chamber, could he be next on their hit list?
AKIRA defeated Mike Law
Similar to Page’s debut in his hardcore match with Warner, AKIRA had a choice of blood-stained weapons to choose from as he walked to the ring. He wasted no time in trying to use a sickle he chose before dropping Law with an elevated reverse DDT in a quick match.
– Numerous members of the MLW roster were announced for Battle Riot V that will air on Reelz on April 25th.
– Kane had his chance to hype up the main event with the rest of the Bomaye Fight Club alongside him.
– Where is Cesar Duran? A few weeks ago, he was supposedly kidnapped by his own henchmen, put under a hood and taken away. This week, we again heard from MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie and MLW Openweight Champion John Hennigan in a tongue-in-cheek plea to help find Duran by calling their 1-900-LUCHA number.
– 1 Called Manders from the Second Gear Crew said he loves to fight and drink beers and wants to add MLW gold to his belt buckle. He will face Page next week in a hardcore match as part of the hype for the War Chamber match.
– Before the bell for the main event, we cut backstage to see The Calling attacking EJ Nduka. Could this be the last time we see Nduka in MLW? The commentary team played up The Calling attacks being out of control.
Alex Kane (w/ Mr. Thomas & Myron Reed) defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. (w/ Mark & Thomas Billington)
Reed joined the commentary team and said the only Bomaye game plan he was willing to disclose was to “win, win, win.”
This was described as a catch wrestling vs. grappling match, but Kane hit a dive through the ropes early on before hitting a hard German suplex to the mats on the outside.
Kane followed up with a splash on the apron as the commentary team played up the focused attack on Smith’s neck. Kane continued to slowly beat down Smith with a combination of suplexes and strikes.
Smith’s first comeback consisted of hulking up and popping up from a German suplex. This started a battle of German suplexes from both until Smith finally got the upper hand and kept Kane on the mat. After a strike exchange, a powerslam, a neckbreaker, and a leg drop followed as Smith took advantage.
Smith took to the sky to hit a top rope leg drop for a close nearfall. Kane briefly came back with a flatliner, but when he went to the top rope, he was caught by Smith who planted him with his powerslam finisher.
Smith looked to have had the match won, but Thomas got on the apron to distract the referee and sneak some liquid into the ring. Kane threw the liquid into Smith’s eyes and again suplexed him on his neck to pick up the tainted pinfall win.
After the match, Smith had to clean his eyes as Sam Laterna caught Kane on the stage to question what he did. The Bomaye Fight Club blew off the question and instead turned it into a “Bomaye” chant.
Next week:
Lio Rush in action
1 Called Manders vs. Ricky Shane Page in a hardcore match
MLW Underground (April 18th):
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone & The Second Gear Crew vs. The Calling in a War Chamber match
This week’s MLW Underground was from action taped in February and saw both the MLW title and Featherweight titles on the line. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on the call.
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Jacob Fatu to retain the title
This match has been building ever since Fatu won last year’s Battle Riot and it did not disappoint. Early on, the commentators planted the seeds as they revealed Hammerstone has never been able to hit his finisher on the mighty Fatu. Not only did Hammerstone hit it, but had to hit it twice to put the resilient “Samoan Werewolf” away.
Fatu out strong, but it was the champion who ended up hitting a plancha to the floor and then dropping Fatu headfirst on the apron. Fatu was the clear fan favorite as they cheered on his comeback and booed the champion’s advances.
Hammerstone had “RH” on his wrist tape in a message to past rival/teammate Richard Holliday who is out of action fighting non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After a break, the champion hit Fatu with an exploder suplex into the corner to start his hulking-up comeback.
Hammerstone hit a running kick, a belly-to-belly release suplex and a Northern Lights suplex for a two count but moments later, he was knocked over the top rope to the floor after a suplex.
Fatu then had a burst of high-flying moves as he hit a headfirst dive through the ropes, a moonsault from the middle rope to the floor, and then a top rope senton bomb inside the ring.
The pace quickened and the moves intensified. Hammerstone hit a big running clothesline and a death valley driver on the ring apron. Inside the ring, he entered by jumping three-quarters of the way across with a huge jumping dropkick and a TKO in a callback to their last match where Hammerstone used that move to win the title. However, Fatu kicked out at the last minute.
Fatu hit his pop-up Samoan drop and his springboard top rope moonsault, but the champion also kicked out at the last minute.
The referee was letting things slide a bit as the commentators told us there had to be a winner. A chair was brought in by Fatu, but it ended up in the hands of the champion who teased using it, but it took too much time and ate another superkick.
Fatu tried to capitalize with another top rope moonsault, but Hammerstone got his knees up and hit his Nightmare Pendulum, but Fatu kicked out to the shock of everyone in the arena.
More weapons made their way into the ring as Hammerstone set up a wooden board in the corner of the ring. A quick exchange followed, but Fatu ended up getting thrown headfirst through the board with an overhead release German suplex.
Hammerstone then hit a second and final Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the win in a great match.
Afterward, there was a nice showing of respect between the two as Fatu raised the champion’s hand as the Philadelphia crowd did eventually come around to cheer the champion.
As Hammerstone started to celebrate, it was short-lived as the lights went out and Raven’s calling card attackers, known now as The Hive, circled the champion and beat him down. AKIRA and Ricky Shane Page got their shots in as six other masked men duct taped the champion to the ropes so they could get their shots in.
– Sam Laterna welcomed Mance Warner to the stage, who quickly welcomed his friends the Second Gear Crew: 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice. Justice said they are there to take the Underground to a new level, but were interrupted by The Hive via the video wall. Warner said they were going to drink light beers and beat people up.
– This year’s Battle Riot will be shown on Reelz as that situation continues to develop.
– Laterna then interviewed Mister Saint Laurent who issued a challenge to Real1 on behalf of Microman in an attempt to get revenge for Real1’s bullying.
– There was a recap of Cesar Duran being kidnapped by his own henchmen last week. This week, Taya Valkyrie and John Hennigan tried to get answers from MLW management, but were told they would be breaching their contract if she didn’t get to the ring for her match.
MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/ Sam Adonis and John Hennigan) defeated Billie Starkz to retain the title
Valkyrie looked to be taking Starkz lightly early on, but soon changed her tune as the challenger took she and Hennigan out with three consecutive dives to the floor. But Valkyrie was right back on top as Hennigan pushed Starkz off the top rope behind the referee’s back.
Valkyrie sent Starkz headfirst into the ring post before taking control and landing knees first on Starkz’s face in the corner. The commentators talked up Starkz being the youngest person to headline Korakuen Hall as she fired up with a spinning kick and a German suplex.
Starkz kicked Valkyrie before dropping her with a Gory bomb. Hennigan got on the apron again and distracted Starkz briefly before being kicked off by the smarter challenger.
Valkyrie then came close with a curb stomp but when she attempted her Road to Valhalla finisher, Starkz rolled through and got a close two count of her own. Starkz continued with another spin kick but was quickly caught and dropped with a successful Road to Valhalla, giving Valkyrie the win.
After the match, Laterna asked Valkyrie where Duran was but Valkyrie just pleaded for the fans to call their number (1-900-Lucha) “and bring my Jefe home.”
This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
On tap this week: two title matches, an MLW title contract signing, and a hardcore match to kick off the show.
Before our opening match, Real1 was wheeled out to ringside in his wheelchair after being on the receiving end of a hit-and-run by Mance Warner a few weeks ago. He threatened Warner that he called the cops which brought out the “Southern Psycho.” But, as soon as Warner got on the mic and went to confront Real1, the Calling Card Attackers’ music hit and Ricky Shane Page made his way out.
Ricky Shane Page defeated Mance Warner in a hardcore match
This was a gruesome bloodbath with weapon shots from the opening seconds as Page took weapons from an operating table as he entered. Warner was busted open early on, but fought back and threw multiple steel chairs, garbage cans and wooden boards into the ring.
Warner hit a neckbreaker onto a seated chair and then speared Page through a wooden board for a two count. Moments later Page got his revenge and threw Warner through another board. Three pairs of chairs were then set up facing each other as both fighters found themselves on the top rope where Warner superplexed Page onto the chairs.
The bloody action silenced Real1 on commentary as Warner came close with a lariat and then went face-first into an exposed turnbuckle corner. Warner was able to shake that off and hit a DDT off the apron through another wooden board at ringside.
As Warner was struggling to get into the ring, Real1 popped up from ringside showing no ill effects from the hit and run and smacked Warner with his crutch. This allowed Page to grab him and hit a modified chokebreaker (a knee to the back of the head instead of a backbreaker) to win the match for Raven’s newly formed stable.
– Backstage, Billie Starkz’s photoshoot was interrupted by Taya Valkyrie, John Hennigan and Sam Adonis who, after a few insults, agreed to a featherweight title match, later announced for next week.
MLW Middleweight Champion Lince Dorado defeated La Estrella (w/ Cesar Duran) to retain
Cesar Duran came out to introduce “the next MLW Middleweight champion” in Estrella.
The story of the match was that Estrella left Dorado and Microman high and dry a few weeks ago in a trios match, opting to take Duran’s money and join his Azteca Lucha stable instead.
If Warner vs. Page was the hardcore checkbox of the night, this was the high-flying lucha libre checkbox. Estrella took the champion out early with a twisting Fosbury Flop through the middle rope, but Dorado came back to hit a series of hurricanranas, superkicks and his handspring cutter for a two count.
Dorado then hit a top rope hurricanrana to the apron, sending Estrella to the floor. They hit a mirror image handspring twisting kick spot that left Dorado’s arm draped over Estrella for another two count. Dorado then hit a trifecta of moonsaults on each rope, but Estrella got his legs up on the third.
Estrella hit a sliding German suplex, a missile dropkick, and a poisonrana for a close near fall of his own.
Dorado hit a standing super hurricanrana from the top rope, but Duran interrupted what would have been the match-winning pinfall. Microman then appeared from under the ring to help Dorado and he took out a Duran henchman with a dive from the apron.
Microman then threatened Duran with a Singapore cane which prevented him from interfering again. Dorado reversed a suplex with a power bomb before making his way to the top rope to hit his shooting star press to pick up the win.
– Alex Kane announced backstage that in two weeks, he will take on Davey Boy Smith Jr.
– MLW owner Court Bauer hosted the Hammerstone vs. Fatu contract signing. During the signing, we had a cut-in from Raven’s Calling Card Attackers with a short video clip. Live in the arena, the signing finished with another pull-apart brawl.
– Backstage, Duran was kidnapped by two of his so-called henchmen. They grabbed him and put a sack over his head before dragging him away.
Samoan SWAT Team defeated Hustle and Power to win the MLW Tag Team titles
Calvin Tankman and EJ Nduka jumped Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’i as they made their entrance. This kicked off the brawl-filled, hard-hitting title match that eventually saw Anoa’i picking up the title-winning pinfall on Nduka after hitting his top rope splash.
Both teams brawled around ringside before the bell rang, so they used chairs and the guardrail legally to hammer each other. Nduka flipped off the apron onto Finau before Anoa’i took everyone out with a tope con hilo.
The match officially began with a table set up in the corner of the ring that Anoa’i went through via a Nduka spinebuster.
After a break, Anoa’i made a comeback and Finau got the hot tag to run wild and squash the champions in the corner with an avalanche and a hip attack. Finau then hit a running double crossbody before defying gravity with a dive through the middle rope to the floor. Anoa’i then hit a top rope splash on Tankman for a very close near fall.
Finau teased a top rope splash, but Nduka pushed him off the top. Tankman pounced Anoa’i before the champions hit a double team spinning suplex/neckbreaker combination, but only for a two count as Anoa’i heroically kicked out.
Nduka then tried to take the easy road out and bring powder into the match, but Anoa’i kicked it out of his hands, Finau hit a Samoan drop and Anoa’i hit another top rope splash on Nduka to get the three count and pick up both the win and the titles for the Samoan SWAT Team.
Having Tankman kick out of the splash and Nduka take the loss was smart given Nduka’s future lies away from MLW.
Jacob Fatu, Samu (Lance’s father) and other members of the family came into the ring to celebrate with the new champions as the announcers hyped up next week’s Fatu vs. Hammerstone title match, suggesting it could be the second Anoa’i family title win within two weeks.
Next week:
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Jacob Fatu
MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie defends against Billie Starkz
This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia, PA, with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Jacob Fatu defeated Lio Rush
We immediately opened with action as Rush dove to the outside before Fatu could make his way inside the ring. Rush hit a moonsault off the apron to kickstart a fast-paced opening which saw the NJPW star dodge and evade the former MLW Champion. The Samoan eventually caught Rush coming off the middle rope, swinging him around and planting him with an impressive swinging uranage.
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone was on commentary hyping up his title match with Fatu coming up in two weeks. He talked about Fatu’s speed, his own injury history, and Fatu’s Battle Riot win last year.
Inside the ring, Fatu’s impressive strength and speed had the crowd chanting “That was Ucey” which Fatu acknowledged and told the Philadelphia crowd, “I am the bloodline!”
Rush kept coming back and tried to chop down Fatu time and time again, but Fatu kept overpowering him, even sending him crashing through the buckles to the floor after a whip to the corner.
Rush eventually hit his top rope crossbody and a bottom rope springboard stunner, but Rush went to the sky too many times as Fatu moved out of another attempt and took Rush’s head off with a superkick. Fatu’s handspring moonsault followed for a near fall.
It looked like Fatu had things in control, but when Rush reversed a pop-up Samoan drop into a poisonrana, there was a slight chance an upset could be in the cards. But the story of the match was Rush going to the well too many times, and when he let Fatu recover before running the ropes, Fatu caught him and eventually hit his pop-up Samoan drop.
With Rush flattened, Fatu hit his double spring top rope moonsault to pick up the big win and clear the path for the Hammerstone match. After the match, Fatu told Hammerstone the belt was coming back to him and there was another pull-apart brawl between them both as the announcers hammered home the hype for their title fight.
– Backstage, Sam Adonis introduced Cesar Duran who then introduced Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie and new National Openweight Champion John Hennigan who he said “are dripping in gold.”
Billington Bulldogs (Mark & Thomas Billington) defeated Bomaye Fight Club (Myron Reed & Mr. Thomas)
Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s shot at Alex Kane was on the line here via their respective teams. Kane brought the Hart family’s Opera Cup to ringside as he joined the commentary team.
Reed and Thomas jumped the Bulldogs before the bell, but were quickly on the receiving end of a firm shoulderblock and crisp snap suplex from Thomas and a top rope moonsault to the floor by Mark going into the break.
After the break, Reed cut off Mark and Thomas threw him halfway across the ring with an overhead belly-to-back suplex. There was another massive back body drop as Thomas threw Mark through the air again which looked incredible.
The shortest member of the match (Thomas) slammed the tallest (Thomas) which was another impressive moment in the match. As the match was reaching its conclusion, Kane was getting more and more animated and concerned. But his interference attempt was thwarted by Smith Jr. who came to ringside to help his cousins keep it two on-two.
Mark backflipped away from Thomas and dropkicked him in the gut. He then hoisted him up for Mark to hit the Hart Attack dropkick from the top rope to pick up the huge win.
– Backstage, Real1 was in a wheelchair and enraged after being run over last week by Mance Warner. Real1 is threatening to sue Court Bauer and Warner.
– Before their tag title defense next week, EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman were supposed to be talking about their title defense, but instead, Nduka wanted to talk about Fatu and his recent shots at the MLW title. Tankman didn’t like what he was hearing so he turned Nduka’s attention back to their match. They seemed to be on the same page as the promo came to a close, but with Nduka’s recent reputation, I wouldn’t expect that to be the case next week.
– Warner was backstage with Microman and had some words for the Calling Card Attackers who took out Microman last week. Warner challenged any of them to a one-on-one fight next week.
– We then supposedly got the identity of the Calling Card Attackers as Raven, Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA appeared in a hype video with the same gas masks men and symbols that have been synonymous with the attacks. The commentary team questioned who of the attackers will be stepping up to face Warner next week.
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Lance Anoa’i (w/ Juicy Finau and Jacob Fatu) went to a no contest
Fatu joined Striker and Dombrowski on commentary to have his shot at hyping up the title match, but within moments, he and Hammerstone came face-to-face for another pull-apart brawl. The referee had no choice but to call for the bell and call this a no contest.
Nduka and Tankman joined the brawl and got a few cheap shots in on Finau and Anoa’i. The next two weeks could be a momentous time for the Fatu and Anoa’i families as next week, the Samoan SWAT Team get their MLW Tag Team title shot while in two weeks Fatu has his MLW title rematch.
Next week on MLW Underground:
MLW Tag Team Champions Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka defend against the Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i)
Mance Warner has an open challenge to the Calling Card Attackers
This week’s MLW Underground action was taped in Philadelphia with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
We opened with a trios brawl between the Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane, Mr. Thomas & Myron Reed) and Davey Boy Smith Jr. and the Billington Bulldogs. Kane was again talking trash and threatening the Hart Family’s Opera Cup heritage before the Bulldogs had heard enough and knocked Kane out.
This was the usual comedy-laden match with Microman sprinkled in between the flying and high spots of the others.
Abismo was on the end of Microman’s spots this week as he rolled and flipped around the ring on the receiving end of a headscissors and low dropkicks. Delirious cut off Microman and began the beatdown of the mini superstar.
Dorado was again really good both in the ring and in the air, adding a sometimes much-needed injection of energy and speed between the comedy and heat spots on Microman.
Microman hit a pair of 619s before Dorado had to save his partner from a top rope Delirious splash. The champion shook it off and came down hard on Delirious with a plancha to the floor before Microman caught Abismo in a victory roll to pick up the win.
After the match, we had our first mystery attack in front of a live crowd as Dorado and Microman were kicked and stomped by three attackers in gas masks. They were wearing the same mask as Alex Hammerstone’s delivery man from last week who gave him a box with an octopus in it.
– Speaking of Hammerstone, he has his own theory of who the attackers are, pointing his finger at Jacob Fatu and the Samoan Swat Team.
– There was a medical update on Real1 after Mance Warner ran him over last week. Warner was released from prison by two people he is bringing to MLW: The 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice.
Billie Starkz defeated Kayla Kassidy
This was short, but designed to give Starkz a victory on her way to an eventual matchup with Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie, which they teased at the end of the match.
Starkz took Kassidy out early with a dive to the floor but was on the receiving end of a few hard shots to the back of her head moments later. Kassidy slowed it down and nearly had Starkz put away with a Cradle Shock-style slam.
Starkz came back with three German suplexes and put away Kassidy with a great-looking Sugoi driver.
After the match, Sam Laterna interviewed Valkyrie on the stage and similar to last week, the interview got interrupted. This time, it was Starkz who interrupted Valkyrie but the Featherweight Champion ended up shooing Starkz away like she couldn’t be bothered.
– Alex Kane put a challenge out to the Billington Bulldogs. If they can beat Mr. Thomas and Myron Reed next week, Davey Boy Smith Jr. will get a shot at Kane.
– Juicy Finau then got some revenge for EJ Nduka attacking Lance Anoa’i a few weeks ago by jumping him as he entered the building. Finau and Anoa’i will be getting a shot at Nduka and Calvin Tankman’s MLW Tag Team titles in a few weeks.
John Hennigan (w/ Taya Valkyrie and Cesar Duran) defeated Davey Richards to win the MLW National Openweight title
This started at 100 mph from the opening bell and was a sprint to the finish. Hennigan tried to use underhanded tactics on the outside by leveraging Valkyrie and Duran to distract the champion as well as using the guardrail and even a pizza to try and get the upper hand. But, the champion always came back fighting.
Richards locked in the Trailer Hitch, but Duran helped Hennigan escape by pushing the rope towards his newly signed talent. Hennigan then knocked Richards down with a big roundhouse kick.
The action then turned up a notch as Hennigan tried to piledrive Richards on the apron, but the champion slipped out and pulled back the mats on the outside to expose the concrete floor. Richards then tried to knock Hennigan off the apron onto the concrete with some running big boots, but then decided to suplex him into the ring.
However, in doing so, Valkyrie grabbed Richards’ leg and made him drop Hennigan on top of him in another close two count for the challenger.
This was Hennigan’s chance and he capitalized with a running shining wizard to the head, but missed Starship Pain when Richards moved. Richards hit a penalty kick and a double stomp from the top rope, but Hennigan kicked out. A brainbuster followed as did another kickout.
In a sequence we have become accustomed to in MLW, Richards didn’t stop, flowing directly from the kickout into an ankle lock. Hennigan fought out, but Richards turned that into a Texas cloverleaf in what looked like a seamless neverending onslaught with nowhere for Hennigan to escape.
But Hennigan was not alone.
As Duran got on the apron to distract the referee, Valkyrie got involved again and hit Richards with her title belt which gave her man the opening to pin the knocked out champion and win the National Openweight title.
Next week on MLW Underground:
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Lance Anoa’i
Reelz has reached a deal with Peacock — but MLW content won’t be included.
It was announced on Tuesday that Reelz and Peacock have agreed to a deal to bring Reelz’s linear channel and on-demand programming to Peacock starting this Wednesday. But because of Peacock’s exclusivity with WWE, the linear channel won’t be available when MLW Underground is airing.
“There is one quirk under the Reelz deal: While it will include the channel’s live linear feed, it will not stream Tuesdays in the 10 p.m. hour, as Reelz airs Major League Wrestling in that hour,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote. “Peacock has a streaming deal with the WWE, which has exclusivity in the category on Peacock.”
MLW Underground made its debut on Peacock on February 7. Last week’s East Coast airing of the show averaged 97,000 viewers and drew a 0.03 rating in the 18-49 demo. It was MLW’s best viewership on Reelz to date.
Earlier this month, the Northern District of California’s U.S. District Court granted WWE’s request to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit that MLW filed against them. MLW was granted 21 days to submit an amended complaint or appeal.
MLW owner Court Bauer stated that their legal team was already working on amending the complaint. “We have every intention to continue pursuing our case against WWE,” Bauer said in a statement to PWInsider.
The antitrust lawsuit claimed that WWE pressured third parties like Tubi and Vice to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with MLW.
This week’s MLW Underground action was taped in January in Philadelphia at the Blood & Thunder TV taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
After being knocked out by Real1 and a pair of brass knuckles during their street fight last week, Mance Warner was on the hunt for revenge and it did not take him long as we opened the show with footage from the parking lot with Warner running down Real1 with his car.
Warner suggested he was drunk driving and then told Real1 to never steal from a redneck. Later in the night, we were told the authorities were en route to the arena and Real1 was being looked at by paramedics.
Sam Adonis (w/ Cesar Duran and Azteca Lucha henchmen) defeated Calvin Tankman (w/ EJ Nduka)
This match was short, but had good action. This was used to connect a lot of ongoing storylines and bring in the returning John Hennigan.
Duran put up one million pesos to anyone in the back who could beat Adonis before Adonis himself got on the mic and riled up the crowd Joel Gertner style in a nice ECW callback for the Philadelphia crowd.
Tankman’s MLW Tag Team championship partner EJ Nduka accompanied him to ringside and joined the commentary team. He discussed his recent run-ins with MLW Champion Hammerstone and more recently with the Samoan SWAT Team.
Last week, we saw Nduka badmouth Jacob Fatu before hitting Lance Anoa’i with a cinder block in the parking lot building up the upcoming title challenge from the SST.
Adonis seems to be getting a strong push in MLW and was able to put Tankman away after a low blow and a 450 splash off the top rope. Adonis had help from ringside with the henchmen getting involved, but Nduka chose not to help his partner and stayed at the commentary table.
After the match, Adonis got on the mic, said he wanted a title shot, and called out National Openweight Champion Davey Richards who gladly accepted via some right hands. Adonis bailed and the henchmen jumped Richards, giving Adonis the easy opening to lay a few boots himself.
This brought out the returning John Hennigan (fka Johnny Nitro, John Morrison, etc) with a steel chair. He cleared the ring of Lucha Azteca but then turned the chair on Richards, siding with Adonis and Duran. Hennigan joins his wife and MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie in Duran’s stable. Duran, Hennigan and Adonis then stood over a fallen and battered Richards as Duran called this a new era of Azteca Lucha as he is collecting the best luchadors in the world.
The Billington Bulldogs (Thomas & Mark Billington) defeated The FBI (Little Guido & Ray Jaz)
Guido and Jaz sized up well with the Bulldogs, especially Guido, which made for a nicely-styled match.
Thomas kicked out of Guido’s Sicilian Slice and Mark got the hot tag which led to the closing moments of the match. Mark caught Jaz off the top rope and held him Hart Attack-style which let Thomas hit a top rope missile dropkick to pick up the pin and win.
The Bulldogs looked good here, hitting hard with nice execution, obviously focusing on their family heritage and the Stampede Wrestling style. Being in the ring with people like Guido and Davey Boy Smith Jr should help them too.
– We saw another tease of the recent mystery attacks that have been happening in MLW. The symbol is an A.O. and we have yet to find out the attacker’s identity, although this week they ramped up this storyline a bit. The symbol flashed during Hammerstone’s interview and also before the entrance for his match so this may indicate his next opponent– either with or without the title.
– Sam Laterna interviewed Richards after the attack by Hennigan, who they called Johnny Fusion. Richards said he has a few nicknames himself, most of all “The American Wolf.” He then called out Hennigan to a match anytime, anywhere. Duran interrupted via the big screen on the stage and booked Richards vs. Hennigan for the Openweight title for next week.
– An All Access segment with Jacob Fatu aired, showing a slightly different approach to his earlier All Access looks. This focused on his babyface run, talking up his fighting background but also his road back to challenge for the MLW title again. We then cut to a pre-recorded promo with Fatu in the parking lot where he hyped up his title challenge at SuperFight.
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Yamato to retain the title
Before he collides with Fatu in their long-awaited rematch, Hammerstone had a hearty challenger here in “Japan’s no. 1 ranked wrestler.” The Dragon Gate native gave Hammerstone a scare in this slugfest, but he eventually fell to the champion’s power and the Nightmare Pendulum.
Earlier in the night, Hammerstone told Laterna that he is used to staying focused on the number of challengers that seem to attack him after he defends his title, so he is ready. He got riled up, saying he is staying champion whether it is tonight or at SuperFight against Fatu.
Similar to the opener, this had good solid in-ring action but also served as a backdrop to other ongoing storylines and future matches.
After a short break, Yamato had weathered the initial Hammerstone storm and was in control via a pump kick and corner dropkick. He then hit a big top rope superplex, but the champion also held on and as both got to their feet, he hit a suplex of his own.
A German suplex and sit-out powerbomb followed, but Yamato kicked out and came back with a Frankensteiner and jumping kick. Hammerstone then came back with a strong lariat and his Nightmare Pendulum in quick succession to retain his title.
After the match, a man in a gas mask came to ringside and gave the champion a box. Hammerstone was confused and when he opened the box, there was an octopus inside. Is this hinting at another debuting wrestler, his next challenger, the mystery attacker, or all of the above? If you connect the dots, it does bring up an interesting title challenger.
After the unboxing, Hammerstone was leaving the arena and confronted by Fatu who wanted to have their fight right now. Hammerstone, seemingly fed up with being called out or attacked, caught him off-guard with a pump kick and kickstarted a wild show-closing brawl around ringside. Security and officials tried to keep them apart as Underground went off the air.
Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were back to call the action on the second episode of MLW Underground on Reelz.
Mance Warner kicked things off by cutting his usual passionate promo — this week at the back of the arena next to a dumpster. Warner had his light beers ready to drink as he warned Real1 he was going to kick his ass because he represented not only the south (in this north vs. south match) but everyone across the world.
Before the opening contest, Sam Laterna spoke to Jacob Fatu and Juicy Finau of the Samoan SWAT Team as Lance Anoa’i was held up and not there. After addressing that, Fatu hyped up his MLW title match against Alex Hammerstone at Superfight. Later in the night, it was shown that EJ Nduka had jumped Anoa’i in the parking lot as he was angry at Fatu for getting the next shot at Hammerstone.
Calvin Tankman defeated Willie Mack
Tankman is still half of the MLW Tag Team champions with Nduka, but with Nduka now a firm heel and Tankman a face, the future of their reign seems in doubt. Striker was full of compliments for these two, describing them as hybrid wrestlers who may be good all around, but not excellent at anything. Way to go to hype up your roster, Matt.
The two larger-than-life wrestlers took turns hitting running shoulder tackles as the crowd chanted “slap that meat.” Both ate up the crowd’s involvement and urged each other to go harder and harder.
Mack then busted out some high flying with a running hurricanrana, a dropkick and then a tope con giro to the floor. Instead of marveling at a man of Mack’s size doing what cruiserweights usually do, Striker criticized him by questioning why he would momentarily celebrate with the crowd, letting Tankman roll back into the ring. Striker said it could be a turning point in the match. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
An exchange of nipple twists followed, which is a sentence debut for me. Mack knocked Tankman down with a jumping kick to the head and then rocked him moments later with a thundering clothesline that shook the camera. I don’t know if that was on purpose or not, but it was a great shot that amplified the mass and power in the ring.
Back from a break, Tankman was in control, hitting a big pop-up back elbow. Mack hit a hook kick and showed great power by lifting the huge Tankman onto his shoulders and dropping him with a Samoan drop. Mack’s standing moonsault followed for a close near fall.
Mack went to the top rope, but rolled through a missed splash. Tankman floored him with a pounce as Mack sold a knee injury. Tankman then hit his ripcord elbow to the back of the head followed by the Tankman Driver for the win.
– Backstage in a music video style package, Real1 talked down to Mance Warner, insulting his parents and family the only way Real1 can.
– MLW Champion Hammerstone talked up his match with Fatu. He said they were destined to do this forever because Fatu is doing what he did to win the title: win the Battle Riot and cash in the title shot. He questioned whether he got lucky or not when he won the title from Fatu but is coming to prove he didn’t.
The champion had a major height advantage and floored the challenger early with a DDT and used the ring post for a standing curb stomp on the outside.
Skye rallied after the break but Valkyrie quickly reversed and tied up Skye for another curb stomp. Skye kept coming and hit a lung blower, springboard dropkick, and a top rope crossbody for a near fall.
Valkyrie dodged another top rope attack, hit a push kick and finished Skye off his her Road to Valhalla face-first Glam Slam for the win.
After the match, Laterna interviewed the division’s newest signee, Billie Starkz, on the stage but Valkyrie walked past, took a shot at her age, and sent her to the back to take the spotlight for herself.
– The build for the feud between the Bomaye Fight Club and Davey Boy Smith & the Billington Bulldogs continued. Alex Kane is still taunting the Bulldogs about having the Opera Cup, but Smith is out for revenge and told Kane to tap before he naps in their upcoming match.
– NJPW’s Lio Rush made his MLW return and said that a lot of people think they are on top, but now, it’s time for everyone to find out that he is at the top.
Real1 defeated Mance Warner in a street fight
More trash talking took place before the match with Real1 calling Warner and the females in his family “bitches.” He also brought out his slightly annoying “Eeeeeeeeverybody knows” catchphrase which made the trash can shots and kendo stick shots from Warner more enjoyable.
Before we got to the weapons, Real1 jumped Warner right from the bell, knocking him off his game with a big dropkick. The eye poke god came back with a running eye poke before he was dropped groin-first on the guardrail.
The comedy spots ended with Real1 hitting his Razor’s Edge into the ring post. Back inside, he hit Warner with a kendo stick but took too much time and eventually missed his last swing.
Warner came back into the match with his trademark jabs. Striker asked out loud if Warner wanted to bring them into the match as he was punching, so I guess he does, Matt. Warner then got revenge with kendo stick shots of his own and some lariats.
Real1 rallied and came off the top rope, but went face-first into a trash can tossed by Warner. However, after the referee got pulled in front of Real1 for a moment of protection, Real1 slipped on some brass knuckles and blindsided Warner with a right hand. In a measure for revenge for last week, he picked up the win after that loaded punch.
Next week:
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against YAMATO
