D’Lo Brown made his MLW debut by coming to the aid of “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, but it was no avail as he was pinned by CW Anderson to give The Extreme Horsemen another won over the Doc.
Show Recap:
The open was a recap of last week’s Los Maximos vs. Samoan Island Tribe match where Jose and Joel finally got the upper hand against the Samoans along with the debuting Kenzo Suzuki defeating the debuting Norman Smiley in the main event.
Masada defeated Fast Eddie and Don Juan in a triple threat match (7:28 televised)
This was advertised as a tryout match for three trainees from the Texas Wrestling Academy. Rudy Boy Gonzalez was said to have trained all three and they gave a good showing here. Masada was the taller and larger of the three, but also showed his athleticism by nipping up and floating over a Northern Lights suplex.
After a short break, Eddie sent Juan out the ring with a headscissors and then flew through the air with an Asai moonsault to the floor. But Masada was not one to be outdone so he took out both his opponents with a huge running dive from the inside out.
Eddie, unfortunately, slipped on the top rope and messed up a spot where it looked like he was to hit Juan while up in a power bomb position on Masada’s shoulders. But he recovered and got back into the swing of things in time to powerslam Juan off the middle rope. The top rope action continued as minutes later, Masada hit Eddie with a death valley driver off the top to pick up the win.
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– The cameras caught up with Tag Team Champions Simon Diamond and CW Anderson where they reminded us they have rejuvenated tag team wrestling and that they had promised to win the tag titles. They finished by welcoming us to the world of The Extreme Horsemen.
We then had a quick stream of short backstage promos:
– Kenzo Suzuki (subtitled) said that after beating Norman Smiley last week, the only wiggles will be happening in the hospital.
– Sabu and Bill Alfonso were backstage, bandaged up from their recent attacks from Mikey Whipwreck, Jerry Lynn, and Christopher Daniels. Alfonso screamed that they will get their revenge.
– Los Maximos reminded us they have an open contract for the upcoming tapings and told us to expect the unexpected.
– Homicide said somebody is going to get dropped and warned everyone to watch out for the Cop Killa.
– Josh Daniels said he is bringing Canadian technical excellence to destroy the opposition.
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Global Crown Tag Team Champions Simon Diamond and CW Anderson defeated “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and D’Lo Brown (7:47 televised)
Diamond and Anderson were supposed to be presented with their new Global Tag Team Crown title belts, but instead, they were interrupted by Williams. He said they might have taken out his protege (PJ Friedman) but they hadn’t beat him. He was jumped by the Horsemen, but was quickly saved by the debuting Brown and an impromptu match was on.
Brown hit his trademark head shake leg drop before a commercial break. After returning, he and Williams were still very much in control. The Horsemen worked on Williams but when Brown got the hot tag, he ran wild and hit Anderson with a big spinebuster and his Sky High powerbomb that got a broken up two count. Williams then speared Anderson and knocked down Diamond with a shoulder charge.
Brown planted Anderson with a modified Bossman slam and went to the top to hit his frog splash, but Diamond pulled Anderson out of the way at the last minute. Brown hit the mat and bounced up right into a big Anderson spinebuster that gave the Extreme Horsemen the victory.
Kenzo Suzuki made his MLW debut a victorious one as he defeated Norman Smiley while Los Maximos finally got their win over the Samoan Island Tribe in tag team action.
Show Recap:
– We opened with a video recap of last week’s main event between Raven and CM Punk that featured Michael Shane interfering and Norman Smiley running in to make the save.
– Backstage, Los Maximos laid a trap and lured a barefoot Samoan Island Tribe out of their locker room and right on to thumbtacks all over the floor. They then attacked them with chairs and ran toward the ring for our first match with the Samoans in close pursuit.
Los Maximos defeated Samoan Island Tribe (5:20)
Los Maximos had a quick start and nearly had the match won with a moonsault off the top, but the bigger Mana kicked out. The SIT gathered themselves on the outside and regrouped by headbutting each other, eventually restoring order and control by using their size. Mana hit a Bossman Slam inside the ring while Samu battered Joel around ringside including a groin-first atomic drop into the ringpost.
Samu took Joel backstage and laid in some vicious chops and headbutts that sent him flying out of the building’s exit door. However, in a clever turn, Joel quickly got to his feet, ran up the steps, and locked Samu out of the building. He eventually ran in to save Jose with chair shots and a big chair-assisted kick to the face. The Maximos picked up the win after a double roll-up on Mana.
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– Backstage, CM Punk explained how Raven has changed over the past year and maybe it was because he had been making “six figures” recently. He questioned if it was time Raven walked on Punk’s side, and maybe it was about time Raven found out “that straight edge means that I am better than you.”
– Tag Team Champions CW Anderson and Simon Diamond confirmed they would face Dr. Death Steve Williams and Sandman anytime and anywhere, but on one condition: they must beat them in singles matches first.
– Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels were backstage celebrating their recent victory over Kid Romero when Mikey Whipwreck and the Sinister Minister James Mitchell entered. They congratulated Lynn on being the best technical wrestler in history. Mitchell then massaged Daniels’ ego by saying he has been impressed how “The Fallen One” has brought out the dark side of Lynn and he would like “The Army of Darkness” to work together sometime.
– Joey Styles then brought in Homicide who said he is taking MLW to the extreme and at the next tapings, someone is going to get dropped on their head and warned everyone to be afraid of the Cop Killa.
– Raven cut a promo to Punk. He said he couldn’t believe he let Punk and Michael Shane drop toehold him on to a chair and said some people think he isn’t the real Raven anymore. He told both men he picked a partner who is timid and afraid so he will need to be twice the man he ever was to beat them.
– Kenzo Suzuki had some subtitled words for Norman Smiley. He said a warrior doesn’t wiggle and that he will destroy him and he will wiggle “no more times!”
– Steve Corino and the Extreme Horsemen were celebrating in the locker room. Corino cut a promo on the roster as he tried to shake the champagne from his eyes that Diamond poured on him. Diamond said they did what they said they would do: win the gold and show why they were the best.
– The heavyweight title rankings were back this week. Shane was back on the list at #10, Homicide remained at #9, Lynn jumped up two places to #8, Masato Tanaka dropped two places to #7, Raven stayed at #6, Punk was up two spots to #5, Satoshi Kojima (#4) and Sabu (#3) switched places from last week, and the joint #1 contenders remained Terry Funk and Mike Awesome.
– Awesome had a message for the Extreme Horsemen: he was pissed off and that they had awoken a giant. At Taboo in Orlando at the next tapings, Awesome is coming for Corino and the title.
– Los Maximos said the fans have new highlights to watch now that they have beaten the Samoan Island Tribe. They announced they have signed an open contract to take on any team from around the world at the next tapings.
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Kenzo Suzuki defeated Norman Smiley (8:32 televised)
Suzuki acted like he couldn’t be bothered as he sauntered to the ring and slowly derobed. Smiley, on the other hand, was a ball of energy and had the crowd on their feet as they circled and sized each other up.
Suzuki knocked down Smiley early with a hard clothesline and a shoulderblock as the Japanese star showed off his superior size difference as we went to a commercial break.
Post break, Smiley took Suzuki down with a snapmare before giving the fans, and Suzuki, a little wiggle. Suzuki got the better of a chop battle before whipping him all the way over the turnbuckle to the outside. More chops followed on the outside before Smiley blocked a whip to the guardrail by stumbling and sitting himself on a ringside seat. In reality, the whip from Suzuki was a little lackluster and Smiley knew it.
Earlier in the bout, you could hear Smiley shout “come on” at Suzuki to get him to his feet. Maybe Suzuki’s gimmick was, in fact, a little insight into his attitude at the time.
Back inside the ring, Smiley tried to clamp on an ankle lock but Suzuki powered out, and moments later, he had Smiley in a Boston crab. Smiley fought to his feet and landed a few clotheslines to get the bigger man down. A spinning body slam followed before he draped Suzuki along the middle rope to give him the big wiggle.
However, it was not to be as Suzuki ran Smiley over with a big spear and folded him up with a belly to back suplex. A shining wizard followed, giving Suzuki the win.
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This week’s episode ended with a video package hyping up the next tapings with World Champion Corino vs. Awesome as the main focus.
CM Punk defeated Raven in the main event with a little help from a surprise ally.
Homicide defeated Michael Shane in a great show opener.
Show Recap:
A video package of highlights from last week kicked things off with the MLW debut of Mikey Whipwreck (with Sinister Minister) in the main event against Sabu followed by the formation of the alliance between Whipwreck, Minister, Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn — all at the expense of Sabu and Bill Alfonso.
We then cut to unseen footage as Alfonso and Sabu were backstage cutting a promo, Alfonso said he was sick of ending up in the hospital after every MLW show and Sabu grabbed their bags and left the building. But in the parking lot, Sabu was jumped by both Whipwreck and Lynn and got his head smashed against their car door. Sinister Minister then poked his head out the car window and told Sabu “An eye for an eye. Bye bye, a**hole”.
Homicide defeated Michael Shane (w/Francine) (8:54 televised)
This was a great match to start us off. They had a simple, yet effective, opening that ended with Homicide getting the upper hand and Shane retreating to Francine on the outside for some words of encouragement. The action quickened and Homicide floored Shane with a straight right to the jaw. Homicide crushed Shane with a jumping forearm and a running knee to the face as we went to commercial.
After the break, Homicide caught Shane coming off the top with a kick down below. A T-bone suplex followed for a two count and a Cop Killa looked to have the match won, but Francine broke the count behind the ref’s back. Homicide gave chase around the ring, but Shane caught him when Francine lured him into the ring, planting him face first and folding him up with a powerbomb.
Homicide locked in an STF and Shane tapped, but Francine had the ref distracted again. Homicide grabbed Francine on the apron which gave Shane the chance to roll him up, but Homicide kicked out. Homicide floored Shane with a big boot and went to the top rope but Francine got involved once again.
Homicide dragged her into the ring by her hair and she fell to her knees, so he rammed her headfirst into Shane’s groin as he was resting in the corner. He gave the two of them the old fashioned 10 punches in the corner but used Francine’s head and Shane’s groin as the crowd counted along.
He lifted her on his shoulder, but Shane hit him with a superkick and still couldn’t put him away as Homicide kicked out at two again.
Shane went for the Cop Killa, but Homicide reversed it and rolled Shane up, finally getting the winning three count in a great match.
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– We then heard from Whipwreck and the Sinister Minister backstage. Minister cut a promo while Whipwreck played with a puppet, a rubber duck, and talked to himself. Minister said he is there to build an army of darkness. He complained that some of he and Whipwreck’s so-called “friends” had made big money in the national promotions and forgot about them, the same with Sabu and Alfonso who ignored Whipwreck when he was down. They both warned them that they are back.
– The heavyweight title rankings were back this week. Jerry Lynn remained in #10, Homicide replaced Michael Shane at #9, Mikey Whipwreck debuted at #8 even with a loss last week, CM Punk was up one spot to #7, Raven stayed at #6, Masato Tanaka (#5) and Sabu (#4) switched places from last week, while Satoshi Kojima stayed at #3 behind the joint #1 contenders Terry Funk and Mike Awesome.
– Joey Styles told us that Steve Williams and Sandman have singles matches against CW Anderson and Simon Diamond in order to get a shot at the tag team titles. He also hyped up Paul London vs. Jerry Lynn before we saw footage from two weeks ago when Lynn badmouthed London and his family for him missing their previously scheduled match.
– Sabu and Alfonso were backstage and bandaged up after they were attacked. Alfonso was hyping up Sabu’s match at the next tapings in Orlando (no opponent was announced) before we cut to Sandman and Williams who jumped Anderson and Diamond backstage.
CM Punk defeated Raven (3:01 televised)
This was short due to the TV time cutting to the finishing sequence, but what we saw was good.
Simply Luscious came to ringside before the bell and Punk cut a promo to the live crowd telling them he is drug free, alcohol free, and better than all of them. Punk said it is not 4:20 time, but “It’s clobberin’ time.”
Styles caught us up on the ongoing storyline, saying that Simply Luscious has a history with someone from the MLW locker room and that someone has done her wrong in the past: either Punk or Raven.
We cut to later in the match where Raven hit his drop toehold onto a seated chair in the ring, but Punk hit a low blow to grab a breather. He then hit a running knee to the temple for a two count before repeating the move with a steel chair this time, but still only got two.
Out of nowhere, Raven reversed Punk and hit the Evenflow DDT. Punk looked out of it as Raven made the cover, but all of a sudden, Michael Shane was ringside and pulled Raven off, breaking up the cover. Shane rammed Raven headfirst into the ring post and rolled him back inside for Punk who hit his own version of the Evenflow DDT to pick up the win.
After the bell, Punk and Shane beat down Raven and gave him the drop toehold on to the chair twice but Norman Smiley made the save and chased Shane and Punk away. Smiley then challenged them to a tag match against he and Raven at the next tapings.
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Steve Corino cut a promo backstage to end this episode. He said that everything he said was going to happen in MLW has happened. He is going to take the title all over the world and told his contenders to get ready, and told Terry Funk he owns the MLW title and is beating him in world titles, three to two. He has the gold and is not letting go.
Hints of a new faction were given as the end of the main event between Sabu and Mikey Whipwreck (with the Sinister Minister) when chaos ensued with the arrival of Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn.
Show Review:
We opened with a video package of new MLW World Heavyweight Champion Steve Corino and the Extreme Horsemen, highlighting their recent dominance over both the tag team and singles division. We saw CW Anderson and Simon Diamond capture the tag titles, a Horsemen beatdown on Terry Funk, and Corino capturing the title last week with a shocking upset over Mike Awesome.
Joey Styles then delved into more detail of last week’s double title switch as Awesome halted the near one year reign of Satoshi Kojima, but then Corino cashed in on a title shot with a little help from the Horsemen.
Christopher Daniels (w/ Jerry Lynn) defeated Billy Fives (4:55 televised)
Daniels and Lynn entered to Marilyn Manson’s “Disposable Teens” — a nice change to hear some licensed entrance music. Fives seemed to be quite popular with the local audience but Styles said this was his first look at him in the ring. Fives, who still wrestles once a year after a five year stretch of no activity, played up to the fans before slapping Daniels across the face as we went to an early commercial break.
After the short break, Fives was firing up on a comeback and hit a backdrop, clothesline and a running leg lariat into a leg drop for a two count. Daniels stopped him in his tracks with a face first drop (Last Rights) to completely change the momentum. Daniels then hit the Best Moonsault Ever, but only got a two count.
Fives then came close to winning after a reverse DDT. He then hit Daniels’ own Last Rights finisher on him, but Lynn got on the apron and distracted both Fives and the ref. This gave Daniels just the right opening he needed to hit another Last Rights for a second time to pick up the win.
After the match, Styles said Paul London challenged Lynn to a Young Lions two out of three match challenge where London must win two matches to earn his spot on the MLW roster.
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– We cut to the parking lot where the Extreme Horsemen’s stretch Hummmer pulled up and they disembarked, along with two bikini laden models.
– We saw footage from the closing moments of the recent Steve Corino vs. Terry Funk barbed wire match and the return of the Sandman who came to Terry Funk and Steve Williams’ aid. Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” played in full as Sandman took his time to rescue his friends. Funk was wrapped head to toe in wire and stuck in the corner of the ring while Williams was being repeatedly beat down and choked with a steel chair as Sandman drank and smoked his way through the crowd before eventually taking out the Extreme Horsemen.
– We went back to more recent footage with Williams arriving at the building and getting jumped by CW Anderson and Simon Diamond while getting out his car. They busted him open and hit him with trash cans before ramming him headfirst into a wall.
– Backstage, CM Punk ran into Simply Luscious and asked her what it feels like to be disappointed in Raven losing his focus. She looked pretty disgusted having to talk to Punk as he rambled on before asking her to think about the future and think about straight edge. Styles connected the dots for the viewers and said that Luscious has some history with someone in the locker room. Could it be Punk? Could it be Raven? Styles then recapped the Punk vs Raven feud.
– The heavyweight title rankings were back this week. Jerry Lynn remained in #10, Michael Shane was back at 9 (falling one place from last week), CM Punk dropped a spot to #8 as did La Parka at #7, Raven at #6, and Sabu at #5, Masato Tanaka jumped right in at #4, and after losing the title last week, Kojima is now #3 ranked behind both Terry Funk and Mike Awesome who are both #1.
– We heard from Homicide who told us he was locked up ten years ago and now he feels like he is locked up again…but he likes it. He is bringing some damage and ruckus to MLW.
– Awesome said that he is going for “two at Taboo” at the next set of tapings in Orlando and wants to challenge Corino to a match where the only way to win is to knock out your opponent.
– Corino had a chance to respond, but he also addressed Funk’s recent challenge. Corino said Awesome gets the first shot and Funk will need to wait his turn. Corino respects Awesome, but his stupidity led him to lose his title last week. He then told Funk that he will sign the World title contract for a match against him after he beats Awesome in Orlando at the next tapings.
Styles said we were going to see the rubber match between La Parka and Sabu, but it was Whipwreck who entered with a black cloak and a La Parka mask before the Sinister Minister came out and unmasked Whipwreck. Styles questioned what Whipwreck and Minister had done with the real La Parka before we just moved on to the new match.
They exchanged single leg takedowns before Whipwreck took down Sabu with an armbar. Whipwreck then connected with a dropkick before Bill Alfonso made his heroic comeback to ringside after his beating from La Parka.
Sabu locked in a camel clutch, but Whipwreck threw him to the outside. Moments later, Sabu hit the Air Sabu chair assisted plancha from the top rope into the crowd.
After a quick break, it was Whipwreck’s turn to take to the sky as he dove over the top rope onto Sabu on the outside. There was now also a table set up in the corner of the ring which Sabu used as he set Whipwreck against it and hit a chair assisted leg lariat to put Whipwreick through it. A triple jump legdrop was followed by a chair assisted camel clutch, given Sabu the submission win.
After the match, Sinister Minister went face to face with Alfonso, but Sabu came to his manager’s aid and pulled out a spike. Before he could use it, Sabu was jumped by Daniels and Lynn. Whipwreck, Minister, Daniels and Lynn then left together as MLW Underground went off the air.
Drama unfolded as the MLW World Heavyweight Title was on the line between Satoshi Kojima and Mike Awesome, but it was Steve Corino who left with the gold.
Jerry Lynn defeated Kid Romeo to get his first-ever win in MLW.
Show Review:
Joey Styles welcomed us to the show, but was interrupted as Jerry Lynn was making his way to the ring for the opening match of the night.
Jerry Lynn (w/Christopher Daniels) defeated Kid Romeo (4:43 televised)
Daniels took the mic and told everyone that Lynn had seen the light and followed the gospel of Daniels. He called him “The Evil F’n Show” and Lynn himself started bad mouthing the crowd, who retaliated with an “RVD” chant. He listed all the family affairs he missed throughout his career and complained that Paul London was missing this scheduled match because his father was in the hospital. Kid Romeo (the former WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion) then answered Lynn’s open challenge.
Lynn jumped Romeo before the bell, but Romeo knocked him to the outside with a tilt-a-whirl head scissors as we went to a break. Romeo fought back after the break, hit an enzuigiri, and then fired up with a bulldog that got a close two count. Lynn hit a fireman’s carry into a stunner, but Romeo kicked out.
Lynn went for his cradle piledriver, but Romeo reversed it into a backdrop slam. However, Daniels had the referee distracted. Romeo knocked Daniels off the apron, but turned into the cradle piledriver to give Lynn his first MLW win.
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– Homicide issued an open challenge at the next set of tapings, “Rise of the Renegades”.
– The Extreme Horsemen were then cutting a promo when Mike Awesome walked in front of the camera as Simon Diamond was talking. Corino followed Awesome and started bigging him up before his MLW World title match, saying he should be the no. 1 contender. Corino asked for a shot at the title if Awesome won. He agreed and they shook on it with the stipulation that Corino can get his shot any time, any place.
– Raven was only a few seconds into his promo when CM Punk interrupted and said they will meet again soon. Raven warned him he will fall to the Raven Effect sooner rather than later.
– The Samoan Island Tribe said they were getting fitter and that Los Maximos messed with the wrong team too many times. Samu finished with his favorite sign off: “Teabag!”
– The heavyweight title rankings were back this week. Lynn remained at no. 10, London dropped a place and switched with Michael Shane to take the 9th spot, Shane was no. 8, CM Punk debuted in the top ten at no. 7. No. 6 was La Parka (dropping from 4 last week), no. 5 was Raven (no change), no. 4 was Sabu (who swapped positions with La Parka again), no. 3 was Terry Funk (who swapped places with Steve Corino (no. 2), and no. 1 was still Mike Awesome.
– The Extreme Horsemen then had another shot at cutting their backstage promo, but once again they were interrupted as Corino took a Japanese speaking crew member and dragged him to Kojima’s locker room. Corino talked up Kojima the same way he did Awesome and got himself a no. 1 contender’s shot if Kojima won. Regardless of whoever wins tonight’s main event, Corino has a guaranteed shot against them for the title.
Mike Awesome defeated Satoshi Kojima to become to new MLW World Heavyweight Champion (9:55 televised)
Kojima was having none of Awesome’s disrespect as he gave as good as he got in the opening moments. Awesome shoved him, Kojima shoved back. Awesome chopped the champ, Kojima retaliated. Kojima knocked Awesome to the floor and landed on him with a big pescado. Awesome was then backdropped into the first row of fans, but responded by whipping the champion into the guardrail.
After a short break, we were back in the ring where Awesome squashed Kojima in the corner with a steel chair. Awesome tried again, but Kojima got his feet up and smacked Awesome across the back a few times with the chair. Kojima hit his big elbow off the top rope for a two count.
They exchanged chops before Kojima hit a German suplex and a neckbreaker. Kojima looked in control and was warming up for his lariatooo, but Awesome whacked him with a big lariat of his own, followed by a big sit out Awesome Bomb and a massive splash off the top rope for a two count.
Kojima then caught Awesome on the top rope and hit a superplex. A shining wizard followed, but Awesome kicked out. Kojima tried another lariatooo, but Awesome reversed into a running Awesome-Bomb for another two count. Awesome set up a table, but knocked the referee down when he tried to power bomb Kojima. Kojima hit a Koji-cutter and a lariatooo and had a visual three-count but the referee was still down.
Kojima went for another lariatooo but Awesome hit a spear and then power bombed him through the table just in time for the referee to crawl over and count the three, giving Awesome the World title.
As Awesome was celebrating his win, he was confronted by Corino who congratulated him but reminded him that he was the no. 1 contender and Awesome had promised him a shot any time before cheapshotting him as the bell rang for the unscheduled match.
Steve Corino defeated Mike Awesome to become the new MLW World Heavyweight Champion (5:17 televised)
Corino hammered the new champion with right hands inside and outside the ring. He hit Awesome in the back and head with a chair before setting up a table at ringside, but ended up being whipped over the guardrail and into the crowd.
Back from a break, Awesome came off the top rope with a steel chair to the head but Corino kicked out at two. Awesome hit a German suplex before he went to the outside and brought in another table. The table was set up in the corner, but Corino wriggled out of a running Awesome Bomb and hit a low blow. Awesome ducked a superkick and finally hit his running Awesome Bomb through the table.
As Awesome tried to set up power bombing Corino out of the ring and through the table at ringside, Simon Diamond and CW Anderson ran in and distracted him just long enough to eat a superkick from Corino which was enough to keep him down for three and give the title to Corino.
With Diamond and Anderson being tag team champions, the Extreme Horsemen now owned all the gold in MLW. Corino took the mic after the match and said that tonight marked the start of the “Rise of the Renegades”.
This week’s retro MLW Underground featured Christopher Daniels vs. Homicide in his promotional debut and a tag team match of debutants as EZ Money and Julio Dinero took on Nosawa and Masada.
Show Review:
We opened with the closing moments of last week’s MLW World Heavyweight title match between Kojima and Johnny Smith including the stuff we didn’t see during the commercial break like when Smith came off the top with a missile dropkick but Kojima roared up from the aerial attack and forearmed Smith to the ground.
Joey Styles then welcomed us to his week’s Underground by letting us know Hybrid Hell was the most-attended MLW show to date and began to hype the next TV taping back at Taboo in Orlando, Florida.
Hot Commodity (EZ Money and Julio Dinero) defeated Nosawa and Masada (9:37 aired)
Hot Commodity jumped their Japanese opponents as Styles told us Nosawa and Masada were a pair of the top junior heavyweights in CMLL (at the time). Commodity caught Masada off a dive but Nosawa took them all out with a baseball slide into his partner. Nosawa was giving everyone the middle finger in the early going, including the fans at ringside, and he enjoyed it so much that he didn’t notice Money tagging in and taking a cheap shot while his back was turned.
Masada hit a nice hurricanrana on Money as Nosawa clearly told the referee in English to “f*ck off” when he didn’t count the three for his team. Money fought back and locked in a reverse Boston Crab and moved into a pendulum as Dinero came in and they hit a nice elbow off the top/side slam combination. A corkscrew brainbuster followed for a close two count and a nice spin kick caught Masada right on the jaw. Dinero then busted out a pump handle fireman’s carry slam as they really started to wear down Masada.
Money hit a standing backflip splash on Masada for a two count as we went to a commercial. Nothing much changed after the break as Hot Commodity were still in control. Money went to the top but took too long. Masada caught him with a low blow as he landed and hit a German suplex.
Nosawa got the hot tag and went to work kicking and striking Hot Commodity. He came off the top with a frog splash on Money before they both powerbombed the larger Dinero. Masada got caught in a hurricanrana attempt and was powerbombed on the floor while Nosawa hit Dinero with a Michinoku driver inside the ring. But, Dinero took down Nosawa seconds later and he and Money hit a double team Ocean Cyclone suplex to pick up the win.
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– Styles reviewed the feuds between Jerry Lynn and Paul London and Raven and CM Punk before hyping up the power of Mike Awesome by showing him power bombing Tanaka out of the ring and out of their match as he was not able to continue. We then heard from Tanaka as he cut a promo in Japanese with no subtitles with Styles explaining it was in response to Awesome and his power bomb.
– Styles caught us up with the Samoan Island Tribe-Los Maximos feud and listed off the Samoan family lineage. We heard from the Maximos as they were at the same spot the Samoans jumped them a few weeks ago. They said if they thought they got all of them, they only got a small piece and should expect the unexpected.
– Next up for Styles was the Extreme Horsemen-Dusty Rhodes/Steve Williams/Terry Funk feud where he told us the legends will be out for revenge.
– Before the main event, we saw a nice video package for Satoshi Kojima and his title win that kickstarted Kojimania with clips from his defense against Mitsuya Nagai.
– Styles wrapped by talking about the pairing of Francine and Michael Shane before we cut to a Simply Luscious promo where someone has done her wrong and Styles cant wait to find out who.
Homicide defeated Christopher Daniels (w/ Jerry Lynn) (4:22 aired)
This was a shame we saw so little of it. Homicide hit an amazing cannonball dive through the ropes before booting Daniels in the face in the corner. Lynn got involved but was knocked off the apron, but this was enough of a distraction for Daniels who took Homicide down face-first as we went to a break.
After the break, Daniels was still in control. Homicide had a brief hope spot by landing on his feet off a monkey flip and hitting a crossbody. Daniels smoothly took him down again with a quick urinage to regain his control. Homicide fought back with a suplex, a clothesline, a charge in the corner, and a hurricanrana off the top rope. He missed a diving headbutt and ate a urinage and a triple jump moonsault but he still kicked out at two.
Daniels went for Angel’s Wings but Homicide reversed to the Cop Killa but Daniels wriggled out of it. Daniels collided with Lynn on the apron and got a two count with a schoolboy. Homicide then hit a low blow while they fought for leverage in a backslide and then kicked Daniels in the head with the Mafia Kick to pick up the win.
Lynn and Daniels got their revenge by double-teaming Homicide as Underground went off the air.
One week before Mike Awesome gets his shot at the gold, MLW invaded All Japan Pro Wrestling on this week’s retro Underground episode. MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima continued running wild with Kojimania as he successfully defended the title against Johnny Smith.
Show Review:
Joey Styles opened the show by hyping up Hybrid Hell: MLW’s next set of TV tapings featuring Sabu vs. La Parka III and the aforementioned Awesome vs. Kojima title match. He later mentioned that Francine is now managing Michael Shane and has led him to a recent victory over Norman Smiley.
He caught us up with the emerging storyline between Raven and CM Punk. Punk has picked a fight with the former ECW champion and wants another shot at him after coming so close to beating him the first time. They will clash at Hybrid Hell. We then heard from Raven who said he liked Punk because he has a point of view that he stands up for and believes in. He said he enjoyed giving him the Evenflow DDT and will enjoy it again. If Punk wants to keep coming, he will keep giving him the Raven Effect.
Styles then hyped up Simon Diamond and CW Anderson, telling us that the Extreme Horsemen will receive the MLW Tag Team Titles at the next tapings. He recaps their attack on PJ Friedman which injured him and took him out of action.
Styles then brought in Los Maximos to talk about their rematch with the Samoan Island Tribe at Hybrid Hell. They switched between Spanish and English and mockingly said the Samoans have beautiful hygiene and hope they have a fast, athletic matchup.
Kenzo Suzuki and Simply Luscious will be making their debuts at Hybrid Hell and Luscious said that any questions we have will have to wait until this Friday at Hybrid Hell where she will decide if she will answer them.
Styles hyped up Paul London after his recent win over Jerry Lynn and gave another match for Hybrid Hell: London vs. Lynn in a two out of three falls match. He called it the MLW young lion system where any rookie can challenge any veteran in the locker room to try and earn a spot on the roster.
The heavyweight title rankings were back this week. Jerry Lynn remained in no. 10, while no. 9 was a new entry: Michael Shane, replacing Christopher Daniels who dropped out of the top 10. Paul London remained no. 8, Masato Tanaka remained no. 7, no. 6 was Sabu dropping down from no. 4 last week. No. 5 was Raven (no change), no. 4 was La Parka who swapped places with Sabu after defeating him last week while no. 3,, no. 2, and no. 1 all stayed the same: Steve Corino, Terry Funk and Mike Awesome. We then heard from Awesome who said he was gunning for Kojima and will be the new champion.
Styles hyped up the barbed wire match between Corino and Funk at Hybrid Hell saying Funk has lots of experience wrestling Sabu and Cactus Jack in this type of match while this will be Corino’s first go-round. He said everyone should see a barbed wire match live in their lives at least once and that it will be something you will always remember…which may not be a good thing.
We then cut to Funk backstage where he was asked about the difference between the original Horsemen and the Extreme Horsemen. He couldn’t find a difference and called the first group of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Lex Luger a bunch of a**holes. He called this version of Horsemen a bunch of gimmicks and if you want to be a Horsemen, you need to able to ride, and “all these guys do is ride each other.” He called himself a tough old son of a bitch and will get in the barbed wire ring with the “chicken sh*t” Corino.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Johnny Smith to retain (6:45)
The famous Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, was the venue for this AJPW and MLW collaboration event and World title match. The bout went through a few TV commercial breaks but was worth the wait as these two battered each other and took each other to the limit.
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 streamer welcome and polite reception from the fans.
We had an early commercial break and came back with Kojima in control. Kojima came off the top rope with an elbow drop and pin attempt, but Smith kicked out. A neckbreaker also got a two count as Smith was somehow hanging in. Smith ducked a lariat and hit Kojima with one of his own out of nowhere for a brief hope spot, but moments later, Kojima hit the Koji-cutter and 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, but he couldn’t make an immediate cover due to the damage he had taken. Smith then hit a sit-out powerbomb and a german suplex but couldn’t keep Kojima’s shoulders down. Smith looked for another german, 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 and pin attempt that Kojima barely kicked out of and on a 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 and barely leave with the gold.
We closed this week’s Underground episode with a music video montage of unseen matches from the then-recent tapings, plus highlights hyping up Hybrid Hell.
La Parka levelled the score with Sabu as he picked up the victory tonight in their heavily hyped re-match. Los Maximos came face-to-face with their attackers, The Samoan Island Tribe, but fell short as they were overpowered and outweighed by their larger opponents.
Joey Styles welcomed us to the show and hyped up to the two main stories of the evening: the rematch between Sabu and La Parka, and Los Maximos who will be confronting their mystery attackers from a few weeks ago.
Speaking of Los Maximos, we cut to them as Joel and Jose told us that tonight they will call out their attackers and said they are all about action, and they hope their attackers have the “cojones” to show up.
The Samoan Island Tribe (Samu & Mana) defeated Los Maximos (Jose & Joel) (07:10)
Los Maximos had their names on their trunks which helped identify these identical twins, but it couldn’t help them overpower their much larger opponents and after a spirited effort, eventually fell to the Samoans’ size and strength.
Jose took out the Samoans with a tope con hilo as they made their way to the ring. Inside he dropped a top rope elbow on Samu, but the younger Samoan Mana soon overpowered his two smaller opponents and squashed them both during a “whisper in the wind” attempt.
The Tribe then singled out Joel and took their time beating him down. Styles told us of Samu’s WWF tag title lineage and also the team being related to WWE’s 3 Minute Warning (Umaga/Jamal and Rosey- Roman Reigns’ brother).
Joel tried to rally, but instead of tagging in his fresher brother, he climbed to the top rope and was caught in mid-air in a Samoan drop from Mana. Moments later, he did get his top rope wish by catching Samu with a moonsault.
After getting the hot tag, Jose ran wild hitting a missile dropkick and a step-up crossbody off the top rope, but he then made a pro-wrestling mistake 101- he tried to headbutt not only one Samoan, but two of them. So of course, as any historian would tell you, the Samoan’s have the hardest heads of all the wrestling heads in the world, so no-sold it and walloped poor Jose with some of their own.
Mana then knocked down Jose and placed him on the top turnbuckle before squashing him with a top rope Samoan drop for the win.
Backstage we had a promo from La Parka, but he was blind-sided and attacked by not only Sabu, but also the Cuban Assassin Fidel Alfonso. After the attack Styles told us the Assassin is actually the larger and more muscular brother of Sabu’s manager Bill Alfonso.
Joey Styles then changed our focus to the tag team division and let us know that CW Anderson and Simon Diamond injured PJ Friedman last week, rupturing his orbital bone, separating his shoulder and injuring his knee. We then heard from Anderson and Diamond, who told us that they did what they said they would do, win the MLW tag team titles and resuscitate a dying division. Anderson said that in a blue-chipper there is always a weakness, and for Friedman, it was his leg.
CM Punk was back again this week, telling us that he is straight edge and better than us. He said it was his destiny to win the MLW World title and he is the one guy everyone should be afraid of in MLW.
We then heard from the Samoan Island Tribe backstage after their victory earlier in the night. They were saying they should have been in the tag team tournament and were about to go name their next opponents before Los Maximos jumped them. Similar to their match, however, the Samoans overpowered their opponent and beat them down. I’m pretty sure at the end of their beatdown Samu told the camera and warned the locker room to get ready because everyone is about to get “teabagged”.
The heavyweight title rankings were back this week. Jerry Lynn remained in #10, #9 was Christopher Daniels (dropping one spot since last week), Paul London was up one spot to #8, #7 was Masato Tanaka (dropping from #3 last week), #6 was La Parka (no change), #5 Raven (no change), #4 was Sabu (up from #7 last week) Steve Corino was up one spot to #3, #2 Terry Funk (no change), and #1 was Mike Awesome (no change).
We then saw some Mike Awesome highlights including him powerbombing champion Kojima through a table in the corner of the ring, then also powerbombing Masato Tanaka out of the ring and through another table on the outside.
We then saw highlights from the previous meeting of Sabu and La Parka from the Mexican Massacre match from the War Memorial Auditorium, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, from December 2002. This was previously covered in the Anthology episode for La Parka.
Sabu defeated La Parka
Parka 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. Parka 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 Parka.
They both found themselves on the top rope. Parka was shoved off, but landed on his feet on the apron but he was still able to clothesline Sabu into the ring, missed but rolled through a slingshot but then ate a tornado DDT from Sabu. A second DDT was dodged and Parka hit a spinning heel kick.
Parka then launched Sabu head first over the guard rail and into the first row. The crowd scattered as Parka hit him with a chair to the head, whipped him into the rail and then flew off the top rope and into the crowd and onto Sabu with a huge crossbody. “The Extreme Chairman” then set up a table at ringside and rocked Sabu with another chair shot to the head. Parka then set up Sabu to spear him from the apron and into the table, but as he ran, Sabu hit him with a dropkick to the knees that sent Parka head over heels over the top rope and through the table.
Sabu then got a pair of scissors and went to work stabbing Parka in the forehead and ripping his mask away before dumping him into the crowd. Alfonso then threw a chair to Sabu in the ring and Sabu then hit his chair assisted top rope cross body into the crowd on top of Parka.
Parka was bleeding heavily from his forehead as he slowly made his way back into the ring. Sabu pummelled him on arrival and went back to work on his forehead with the scissors. Parka hit a standing enzuigiri before setting up Sabu in a tree of woe and dropkicked a chair into Sabu’s face.
Parka 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 then helped set up another table at ringside for Sabu to hit his chair assisted Arabian face-buster from the top rope and through the ringside table.
Sabu came off the top rope, but ate a boot to the face for a two count. Parka went up top, but Sabu caught him and hit a springboard hurricanrana from the top rope and crushed him with an Arabian facebuster. Regardless, Parka kicked out. A triple jump moonsault moments later sealed the deal and won the match for Sabu.
La Parka defeated Sabu (with the Cuban Assassin) (05:38)
La Parka came out dressed as a cross between Rocksteady from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and an orc from Lord of the Rings. Luckily it was just an entrance mask and he was back to his usual family-friendly skeleton attire for this one.
Similar to their first bout, this one started with a couple of minutes of chain wrestling after Parka had danced and played the guitar with his steel chair. Sabu tried a cross arm breaker and a leg lock but Parka powered out each time.
The action spilled to the outside where Sabu threw a chair into La Parka and sent him into the first row. Sabu then hit Air Sabu from the ring into the fans which got a nice pop from the audience.
Back from a break Sabu hit his triple jump moonsault but only got a two count. He lay Parka on a table but while Sabu was climbing the ropes, Parka got off the table, hit the interfering Assassin with a chair and laid him on the table instead, all of which Sabu missed as he came off the top and crushed his companion with a legdrop through the table. La Parka then climbed to the top and hit his corkscrew off the top, connecting his heel with Sabu’s skull to pick up the victory.
CW Anderson and Simon Diamond won the MLW Global Tag Team Crown by defeating Steve Williams and PJ Friedman.
Show Review:
We opened with video footage from earlier in the day when the Extreme Horsemen pulled up in front of the building and saw Terry Funk. After a brief war of words, the Horsemen jumped Funk and busted him open. This led to Joey Styles welcoming us to the show and hyping up the upcoming no rope barbed wire match between Steve Corino and Funk.
We would hear from Corino throughout the night, first in his car on the way to the airport for his most recent trip to Japan where he said that Funk needs to challenge himself by going up against the young kid that has done everything he has, but only better and in a shorter timeframe. He talked about the barbed wire match and that he will humiliate Funk in his own match.
Later, he was in front of a chain link barbed wire fence at the Philadelphia airport. Corino didn’t think it was normal for two professional wrestlers to be surrounded by barbed wire, but for an animal like Funk, that’s fine. Corino said it only took him five years to win the ECW title, but it took Funk 20. It took Corino less than six years to win the NWA heavyweight title while it took Funk nine. And, it took Funk 37 years to become a hardcore legend, but people look at Corino as a legend already.
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– Styles returned and said Bill Alfonso was being attacked live as he spoke but it was too graphic to show on TV. He was quick to say that La Parka was behind the attack. Styles also hyped up Paul London’s debut next week against Jerry Lynn and reminded us that Lynn lost every important match he had in MLW so far, so he joined forces with the “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels.
– We then heard from London who called Lynn a bitter old man and that his shooting star press is better than his cradle piledriver. “Good bye to ‘the new f’n show’. Say hello to ‘the new f’n generation,” he said.
– Simply Luscious told us she is the future of women’s wrestling and is coming to MLW.
– Who attacked Los Maximos? Styles still does not know, but Joel and Jose Maximo do. They said they never forget when they get punked out and gave their attackers seven days to show their faces.
– We got a glimpse back to something that has transferred over to modern-day MLW: the heavyweight title ranking system. But in a production glitch, we got a spoiler for next week as Styles said that Paul London defeated Jerry Lynn, so London got the #9 spot at Lynn’s (#10) expense. #8 was Christopher Daniels, #7 was Sabu, #6 was La Parka, #5 Raven, #4 Steve Corino, #3 Masato Tanaka, #2 Terry Funk, and #1 was Mike Awesome. From backstage, Awesome then called out then-MLW Champion Satoshi Kojima and hyped up their upcoming title match.
– Styles said that Shawn Michaels’ nephew, Michael Shane, has rubbed everyone the wrong way by thinking he doesn’t need to earn his spot and should get it solely because of his family link. One person that didn’t seem to mind was Francine who walked in on Shane changing and seemed to like what she saw.
CW Anderson and Simon Diamond defeated Steve Williams and PJ Friedman to become the first-ever MLW Tag Team Champions (3:25)
The Extreme Horsemen were out first, which let Diamond get the opportunity to hit Friedman in the knee with a steel chair just as he came through the curtain. Anderson followed up with a sickening chair shot to his head which took him out of action for most of the match.
Williams then burst through the curtain like a ball of fire, cleaning house and taking the fight to the Horsemen 2-on-1. Williams took them both out with a double clothesline, but the numbers game quickly swung in the advantage of Anderson and Diamond.
The Horsemen worked over Williams’ arm and back as Friedman gallantly pulled himself up onto the apron. Anderson hit a spinebuster on Williams who was able to stumble to his corner for the blind tag, but Friedman, with chair in hand, walked into a double superkick and Diamond was able to make the cover and pick up the title win in a very short match.
Next Week:
Paul London makes his MLW debut against Jerry Lynn
With talk of current day MLW returning shortly, we saw the latest installment of 2003’s Underground series with Ikuto Hidaka taking on Fuego Guerrero (The Amazing Red) and a step closer to CM Punk’s promotional debut.
Show Review:
This was a shorter episode than normal as some of the original footage was damaged and unretrievable.
We opened with a video recap of the Extreme Horsemen debuting during the triple threat match between Steve Corino, Terry Funk and Dusty Rhodes before Joey Styles welcomed us to the previously well-hyped taping from Taboo in Orlando, Florida.
Fuego Guerrero defeated Ikuto Hidaka (8:33)
Hidaka was the slightly larger of the two, but both were still lightning quick in their exchanges as both put on a great show. Guerrero got dropped throat first on the guardrail after Hidaka intercepted him on a dive attempt to the outside. The energetic Florida crowd were up close and personal as Hidaka chopped Guerrero against the railing.
Back from the break, Guerrero floored Hidaka with a series of quick kicks to the head, but Hidaka fought back and retaliated with a dropkick to Guerrero’s head while he was draped over the top rope. The head kicks continued as Guerrero turned the tables with an enzuigiri before hitting a Code Red for a two count.
Hidaka hit a neck breaker from the top rope, but Guerrero got his shoulder up at the last minute. A big sit-out powerbomb followed but only got him another two count. Guerrero fought back once again and dazed Hidaka with a spinning buzzsaw kick to Hidaka on the top rope, followed by a top rope hurricanrana and then Zero Gravity, a standing shooting star press, for the win.
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– Styles let us know Los Maximos will be on next week’s show to find out who attacked them a few weeks ago. He then threw to the Extreme Horsemen, CW Anderson and Simon Diamond, who called themselves the franchise tag team in the world and promised to win the MLW tag titles.
– We then heard from CM Punk who will debut next week against Raven. He said Joey Styles didn’t want him in MLW, but he will tell everyone how it is. He explained what straight edge is before saying he is better than us and he doesn’t do or say the things society want him to do or say.
– After Masato Tanaka cut a promo in Japanese, we heard from “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels and his newest acquisition, Jerry Lynn. Daniels mentioned Paul London defeated Lynn and Homicide beat him recently, but they are putting their setbacks in the past as they look forward to the future. Lynn said there will be pain and agony for all their opponents before Daniels said their downward spiral has ended just as everyone else’s was beginning.
– Fuego Guerrero was then outside the building and called out his next cruiserweight opponent, whoever that may be.
– Raven did a promo after the Taboo show had finished when the ring crew were breaking things down. He told us that Vampiro no showed the event and called him a p*ssy. He said he will be in Fort Lauderdale for the next MLW show to resolve their issues.
– We then cut to the current day with a CONTRA Unit video package as Josef Samael caught us up with their occupation of MLW. He said they have drained MLW’s bank account and that it isn’t 2003 but MLW has gone underground.
Christopher Daniels picked up the win for his team in a superb six-man tag main event that featured an excellent Dick Togo, Ikuto Hidaka, Los Maximos, and Quiet Storm.
CW Anderson and Crowbar battled in a very solid match with Anderson picking up the win after a spinebuster on a steel chair.
Show Review:
We opened with Daniels cutting a promo backstage, flanked by his partners for the night, Ikuto Hidaka and Dick Togo. He said just when you think MLW can stack the deck against him, he pulls out an ace from the pack: The Far East Connection.
Joey Styles then welcomed us to the Manhattan Center in New York City as he ran down the card for the night.
CW Anderson defeated Devon “Crowbar” Storm (7:52)
The ring announcer called him Devon Storm, his graphic named him Crowbar, and Styles told us he would be known by his given name Chris Ford. Whatever you choose to call him, the former WCW Hardcore, Cruiserweight and Tag Team champion looked the part here against the no-nonsense Anderson.
Crowbar, as I will call him due to another “Storm” appearing later in the night, suplexed Anderson out of a wristlock to end a smooth chain sequence in the early going. He then came off the second rope with a clothesline, hit a springboard middle rope crossbody followed by a “sky high” pop-up powerbomb and a slingshot somersault legdrop that only got a two count. A baseball slide dropkick through the ropes followed as Anderson tried to take a breather from the early onslaught.
Crowbar then sat Anderson on a chair at ringside before flattening both he and the chair with a pescado from the ring. After a short commercial break, Anderson waffled Storm in the top of the head with two unprotected chair shots. The referee grabbed the chair and stopped Anderson from going further which gave Crowbar the opening to get a shot in and fire up. Crowbar hit a belly-to-back suplex and a slingshot splash before a middle rope moonsault that got another close two count.
Anderson hit a desperation superkick out of nowhere to stop Crowbar in his tracks and went to use the chair again, but Crowbar caught him with a low blow before using the chair and hitting a northern lights suplex. Anderson still kicked out at two. Crowbar then lay the chair flat in the middle of the ring, but it was he who felt the full force of an Anderson spinebuster on the chair, taking him out of the game and giving the victory to the Extreme Horseman member.
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– We then caught up with Steve Corino, fresh off a loss to Terry Funk at the previously well-advertised May 9th match from Taboo in Orlando. He said he was overconfident, but is now angry and determined. He challenged Funk to bring Dusty Rhodes, Steve Williams or any legend on June 20th. It doesn’t matter to him, he wants a legend, and he is taking one out.
– Anderson and Simon Diamond told us they had predicted they would win the MLW tag titles many months ago. With only Steve Williams and PJ Friedman in their way, they will become the franchise of the tag division. They named the Rock’n’Roll Express, Midnight Express and the Andersons, but said they were the best tag team in history.
– Another tag team were up next:, the Samoan Island Tribe: Samu and Mana. They were very upbeat and shouted a lot about coming for the tag team titles.
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Christopher Daniels, Dick Togo and Ikuto Hidaka defeated Los Maximos & Quiet Storm (22:34)
This was a great 20+ minute six-man tag featuring some action that wouldn’t look out of place on AEW Dynamite. The action was quick, heavy, and action packed throughout.
Togo was lightning quick, something I didn’t see in his late 90s WWF run. Daniels was excellent, as he was in 2003, and looked like a star and was treated as such by the New York crowd. For the few times we have seen them in recent weeks, the Maximos looked like a very underrated tag team that didn’t get the exposure they deserved, possibly breaking in just a year or two too late to have a proper mainstream run.
The Maximos locked on Maximo Impact (a pancake submission combination of a camel clutch and Boston crab) on Daniels and Togo while Storm locked in a cross armbreaker on Hidaka. Togo showed his worth for his team with a perfect tornado DDT and senton bomb off the top rope. It was then Daniels’ turn to showcase his athleticism with a springboard middle rope moonsault and an enzuigiri. Hidaka then launched himself in with a springboard somersault senton as the heels were in full control. Styles summed up my thoughts, saying “Dick Togo is just fantastic.”
As the match broke down at the 15-minute mark, Storm took out Daniels at ringside with a huge tope con hilo. This started a train of dives. Next was Togo with a baseball slide tornado DDT, then Jose Maximo assisted by his brother who then was low bridged out by Daniels who followed with an Arabian press. That left Hidaka to take everyone out.
Hidaka hit a German and smoothly transitioned into a cross knee breaker on Storm who quickly recovered to hit a Gory Special moments later. A northern lights suplex followed but Hidaka hit a spinning heel kick. Daniels and Joel Maximo came in next for a 100 mph sequence, culminating in a triple jump moonsault by Daniels but Jose broke up the pinfall for his brother. Jose hit a frog splash on Daniels and it was Togo’s turn to make the save. The former Kaientai member hit a powerslam and a reverse rolling snapmare but ate a german suplex and a sit-out powerbomb for a pair of close two counts.
Daniels and Togo hit a flapjack into an X-Factor, but the Maximos fought back and hit Togo with a top rope double Spanish fly with one of the Maximos crushing and probably breaking Togo’s ankle as he landed right on top of it on impact with the ring.
Joel then took out Togo while Hidaka took out Jose with dives to the outside, which left Daniels and Storm in the ring together. It was a look at the current day SCU veteran version as he caught Storm with a dragon sleeper into a rolling DDT to pick up the win.
– We closed with Raven backstage saying that Vampiro has felt the Raven Effect for the first time, but probably not the last time. Vampiro will feel Raven’s pain and he will stop irritating him, aggravating him, tormenting him, and bothering him. If he has to, he will hit the Raven Effect again and again, and again, and again. “Quote the Raven nevermore.”
Satoshi Kojima successfully defended his MLW World title against Vampiro in the night’s main event and found out his next challenger will be Mike Awesome after his victory over Jerry Lynn.
Fuego Guerrero (aka Amazing Red) defeated Super Crazy and Christopher Daniels in a triple threat match.
Show Recap:
Raven opened the show to let us know there is only one week to go until he and Vampiro will meet and be on the same show. Quote the Raven nevermore.
Joey Styles welcomed us to the War Memorial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for this week’s MLW Underground before running down the card.
The cameras caught up with Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels backstage. Daniels was in his Fallen Angel character and was trying to “cleanse Lynn’s troubled soul”. He said MLW stabbed him in the back time and time again and wanted Lynn to trust him instead. Lynn said he made some good points, but he had work to do.
Fuego Guerrero defeated Christopher Daniels and Super Crazy in a triple threat match (9:51)
This started slow but built to a fast-paced finish. Everyone took their time feeling out their opponents in the early going. Super Crazy disrespected Guerrero by sitting him in the corner while he and Daniels locked up, but he was quick to join the action as all three took turns with dropkicks, leading to an early stalemate. Daniels took the mic and told the fans to shut up while he tried to wrestle. Guerrero took out Crazy with a nice tilt-a-whirl bodyscissors as we went to a break.
Back from break, Guerrero was laying in kicks to Crazy in a style similar to Tajiri (as pointed out by Styles on commentary). He then took Daniels off the top rope with a headscissors and sent Crazy to the outside by reversing a side slam into an arm drag.
Crazy took out both men with a springboard moonsault and hit Guerrero with a big flapjack for a two count. Daniels came in and hit a ura nage and a triple jump moonsault for a two count of his own. The match started to break down as Guerrero got planted with a strong powerbomb from Crazy but Daniels broke up the count.
Guerrero finally hit a dive to the outside to take out Daniels. Crazy then joined in with a crossbody off the top rope. Back inside, Guerrero picked up the win over Crazy with a finishing sequence of an enzuigiri and standing leg sweep followed by a standing shooting star press.
After the match, Crazy tried to rip Guerrero’s mask off but he was saved by Jose and Joel, Los Maximos.
Mike Awesome cut a promo on Lynn and took some shots at the then-WWF in the meantime. He said he just got out of the “sports entertainment detox center” last week, will no longer be politically hijacked, and his career won’t be driven into the ground anymore. He is starting his road to the top tonight with Lynn and will finish with Kojima or Vampiro.
Mike Awesome defeated Jerry Lynn to become the no. 1 contender for the MLW World title (8:41)
After Awesome’s promo, we jumped right into the start of his match. Styles continued the WWE bashing by emphasizing they were wrestlers who found they was no place for them in sports entertainment, Awesome was not “that 70s guy”, “the fat chick thriller” or an “Alliance puppet” while he knocked down Lynn with a clothesline. Awesome continued to use his strength in the early going with Lynn only getting in a springboard crossbody in the opening exchanges.
Awesome found himself on the outside and Lynn wiped him out with another crossbody, this time to the floor. But the story of the match continued on the outside as Awesome powerfully reversed a whip and sent Lynn into the guardrail. Awesome got sent into the crowd but he quickly turned around, ran, and jumped back over the rail, taking Lynn out with him.
Back inside, Awesome took out Lynn with a slingshot shoulder block. Lynn reversed a pop-up powerbomb into a hurricanrana and then drove Awesome to the mat with a tornado DDT. Daniels then made his way out to the ring as Awesome backdropped his way out of a piledriver and then took Lynn’s head off with a big boot. He hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb for a two count.
A second Awesome Bomb was reversed into another DDT by Lynn, but Awesome suplexed him moments later to get his momentum back. He then squashed Lynn with a huge big splash off the top for another two count. Lynn slipped out the back of a running Awesome Bomb and got a school boy out of it, but Awesome popped up, knocked Lynn down, and hit his running Awesome Bomb to pick up the win and an MLW title shot.
After the match, Daniels got into the ring with a mic and told Lynn he was very disappointed in him. He listed off his recent failures: not winning the title against Kojima, losing all his matches recently, and losing here against Awesome. He said he could join forces with Daniels and rule MLW, but a stern-looking Lynn grabbed the mic out his hands and told him that he was absolutely right. He shook hands with Daniels and they both left together.
Steve Corino then cut a promo for his upcoming match with Terry Funk, saying he is better than Funk, and Funk should be ashamed that his own brother trained Corino, and when they wake up the morning after their fight, it will be just another day at the office for Corino while Funk will be hobbling back to his ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Vampiro to retain the title (8:25)
Vampiro did not have his usual WCW face paint here, keeping in line with the story Styles told us that he was no longer a cartoon character as he was in WCW. But, he did take offense early on and frustratingly threw a chair into the ring after being knocked out it by Kojima.
Vampiro got his act together and took control for the rest of the early going. Kojima was whipped into the guardrail and knocked a poor fan in the front row off his seat, but he recovered, suplexing Vampiro on the concrete floor and chopping him over the barrier into the crowd. They brawled through the crowd to the stage where Vampiro climbed a camera rig and hit a flying clothesline.
After a short break, we were back inside the ring with Vampiro in control. He hit a chokeslam but missed a corkscrew senton and had his hurricanrana attempt reversed into a power bomb. Kojima then hit a neckbreaker for a two count and took Vampiro down with a dragon screw leg whip.
Kojima continued to target 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, a successful title defense and a ticket for a showdown with Mike Awesome.
Speaking of Awesome, he came to the ring to give the fans a small taste of what to expect in their title match. He and Kojima began chopping each other and Awesome hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb before tossing a table into the ring. He set it up in the corner and landed a running Awesome Bomb on the champion through the table, posing with the title belt as his music played and MLW Underground went off the air.
Taiyo Kea pulled an upset out the bag by defeating Sabu
La Parka defeated Shocker
Super Crazy defeated Fuego Guerrero (aka Amazing Red)
Show Recap:
Raven opened up this week’s episode of Underground with the same promo that closed last week’s show. He is still waiting on Vampiro to contact him and said if he continues down this road, he will end up in his Clockwork Orange House of Fun. “Quote the Raven Nevermore.”
Joey Styles welcomed us to the Manhattan Center and ran down the schedule for the night: catching up with Global Tag Team title tourney finalists CW Anderson and Simon Diamond and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and PJ Friedman. We learned the show would feature Super Crazy vs. Fuego Guerrero, La Parka vs. Shocker, and Taiyo Kea vs. Sabu in the main event.
Super Crazy defeated Fuego Guerrero (5:43)
This was a great short Lucha showcase and has aged just fine in the 17 years since it originally aired. Guerrero had all the attributes, size, and agility of a young Rey Mysterio Jr.
Guerrero hit Crazy with a twice around the world headscissors that brought the fans to their feet. Unfortunately, we did not hear the full extent of the crowd pop as the audio issues that the show has dealt with in recent weeks were in play here too. After an ad break, Crazy was in control but Guerrero reversed a powerbomb into a tornado DDT. Crazy regained control moments later and nearly had the match won with a brainbuster.
Guerrero busted out a corkscrew senton from the top rope to the floor that would have benefited from better crowd audio to match the standing ovation from the New York crowd. Inside the ring, Guerrero rolled through another senton but got caught mid-air and planted with a sit-out powerbomb that gave Crazy the win.
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– The cameras caught up with Steve Corino as he drove around some nice big beautiful houses in his own neighborhood. He badmouthed Terry Funk about living on a farm.
– We then saw footage from earlier in the week of Williams and Friedman training in the ring. Williams said he and Friedman will be the next tag team champions before he hit the backdrop driver on Friedman and told us all that he has the most powerful moves in all of wrestling.
– Styles ran down the main suspects of who attacked Los Maximos last week: Samoan Island Tribe, Extreme Horsemen, Masada & NOSAWA, and Williams and Friedman.
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La Parka defeated Shocker (9:23)
Parka suckered Shocker in for a slap to the face before they exchanged a lightning quick Lucha style back-and-forth pinfall reversal sequence before nipping up to their feet simultaneously. Shocker kicked Parka out of the ring and feigned a dive to the floor by landing a handspring off the ropes and posing in the middle of the ring.
Parka baited Shocker out of the ring and caught him with a boot coming in. He then ran Shocker over with a hard shoulderblock, leading to his famous strut across the ring. Parka was then dumped on the back of his head twice before being slingshotted out of the ring where he ate a springboard splash on the floor.
A few moments and a swing in momentum later saw Parka knock Shocker to the outside with a spinning heel kick and a big corkscrew suicide dive. Inside the ring, he hit a big somersault senton bomb but only got a two count. He then brought a chair into the ring but ended up getting it dropkicked into his own face before being dumped on the outside. Shocker then went for a suicide dive through the ropes but Parka finally got him with the chair, a perfectly timed mid-air shot right between the eyes, something you wouldn’t see today but was common nearly two decades ago.
Shocker got his feet up when Parka came off the top rope to give himself a bit of leeway, but was hit with a dropkick when Shocker tried to come off the top. Parka 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 still couldn’t put him away.
Parka crotched him with his boot on a second bronco buster attempt before heading to the top rope once again, winning the match after hitting his signature springboard corkscrew body block.
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– Anderson and Diamond let us know Friedman’s lack of experience will be his team’s downfall. Anderson talked about being trained by Arn and Ole compared to Friedman’s training. They called Friedman a blue chipper, but that Diamond was the original blue chipper.
– We heard from Funk in response to Corino earlier. He said he was going to give Corino a lesson in the ring and had no intention of going to the extreme, but if Corino does “because you are an Extreme Horsemen, then yee-hah, cowboy.”
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Taiyo Kea defeated Sabu (w/Bill Alfonso) (11:12)
A main event featuring the classic Sabu style closed out this week’s episode of Underground. It was filled with the usual dives and stunts that we see frequently now, but still look as good and dangerous today as they did then.
The end result was a bit of a shock but made sense given that Kea has been involved in title shots against MLW Champion Kojima in the 2002-03 timeline of the first few Undergrounds. Before the match, Styles let us know that the uncles of both competitors used to be fierce rivals: the original Sheik and King Curtis Iaukea, and here, the families’ rivalry will continue.
After an early commercial break, Sabu hit his Air Sabu chair-assisted jump from the top rope into the crowd onto Kea before dropping him with a draping DDT when back inside. Another chair-assisted aerial assault followed as he hit a leg lariat but Kea then superkicked the same chair back into Sabu’s face.
Sabu hit back with a top rope springboard hurricanrana, a top rope leg drop through a table at ringside, and a triple jump moonsault but he couldn’t put Kea away. Even after an Alfonso distraction and two chair shots to the head, he still couldn’t put Kea away.
Kea put up a good fight and rallied towards the end of the match. He hit a snap hurricanrana out of nowhere before hitting a series of kicks that knocked Sabu to the mat. He closed the show with a death valley driver into a neckbreaker before putting Sabu away with the H50: a torture rack into a neckbreaker.
Next week:
MLW Champion Satoshi Kojima vs Vampiro
No. 1 contender’s match: Jerry Lynn vs. Mike Awesome
Fuego Guerrero vs. Super Crazy vs. a mystery opponent in a triple threat match
The MLW Global Crown Tag Team Championship tournament continued as “Dr. Death” & PJ Friedman and The Extreme Horsemen advanced to the finals.
We had an MLW World title match between Satoshi Kojima and Mitsuya Nagai.
We also saw the birth of the Extreme Horsemen as Steve Corino met Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk in a three-way Florida deathmatch.
Show Review:
We opened with a pre-tape from earlier in the day as Steve Corino pulled up to the building in his fancy car and talked about how the Extreme Horsemen are higher class while Terry Funk is white trash. He compared cars, houses, and their day-to-day lives. Everything with Corino was higher class and he said he had hit Funk’s achievements (ECW champion and NWA champion), but, of course, he won those titles quicker than Funk. He said the fans will be seeing violence, but not at his expense…but at Funk’s.
Joey Styles welcomed us to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and ran down the recent events between both LA Parka and Sabu and Vampiro and Raven, and that we will be seeing the Extreme Horsemen in action later on.
In another pre-tape from earlier in the week, we went outside the dojo of “Dr Death” Steve Williams where PJ Friedman told the cameraman to come back next week to see how they are preparing for the tag tournament.
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams & PJ Friedman defeated Jimmy Yang & Mike Sanders to advance to the MLW Global Crown Tag Team Title tournament finals (07:32)
This was quite the standard tag team match until Williams made the pinfall save for his partner and then absolutely destroyed Sanders with a powerbomb. From there, the match spilled to the outside where Williams dropped Sanders through a table.
Sanders briefly fired up after a commercial break as we had a glitch in the continuity timeline as we were told that EZ Money and Julio Dinero had made it to the tourney finals without seeing any of their matches yet. Yang continued their team’s comeback as he hit a springboard top rope corkscrew for a close two count. Friedman crotched Yang on the top rope and tagged in Williams who used his strength to overcome Sanders with a doctor bomb and then Yang with a backdrop driver to pick up the win.
With this win, Williams and Friedman also had advanced to the finals of the tournament.
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– Styles hyped up the debut of CM Punk, calling for us to watch out for his Pepsi Plunge from the top rope.
– Next up was the Samoan Island Tribe who said that they might not be the most electrifying men in sports entertainment, but they are the power source. They are coming to kick butt, and if you smell something stinking, it’s them, because they are the sh*t.
– MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima cut a subtitled promo in Japanese, letting us know that Mike Awesome, Mr. Gannosuke Nagai, Shinjiro Otani, Vampiro, and Taiyo Kea are all on notice because he is the most fighting world champion ever.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Mitsuya Nagai to retain the title
This was filmed in All Japan Pro Wrestling and was a highlight package, complete with 90s style high tempo video game theme music playing throughout. The match reminded me of a modern-day strong style match with a lot of knees, head drops, pop-up no sells, high angled suplexes, and of course, Kojima’s famous lariat for the win.
The champion was bleeding from the ear after the match but was able to get to his feet and take in the applause from the AJPW crowd. This brought the “Koji count” to 2-0 as we learned that Kojimania was running wild in the USA, established in 2003.
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– Styles brought us back up to speed with the goings-on between Raven and Vampiro: Raven wants Vampiro, Vampiro has a title shot against Kojima and whatever the outcome, Vampiro will address Raven at the next set of tapings. Give them their due: MLW certainly knew how to hype up their next big show as “Friday night, May 9th at Taboo in Orlando, Florida” must have been mentioned at least ten times throughout the show.
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The Extreme Horsemen (Simon Diamond & CW Anderson) defeated Los Maximos to advance to the MLW Global Crown Tag Team Title tournament finals (6:19)
There were no entrances for this one as we jumped right into the start of the match with Diamond and Jose. They exchanged some nice test of strength monkey flips out of the corners and quick-fire arm drags as we were told the Samoans have been calling out Los Maximos recently, so they better be looking over their shoulders.
Back from the break, Anderson planted Jose on his head with a german suplex. He then hit a great delayed vertical suplex from the middle rope for a close two count. It was here that the earlier mentions of Dinero and Money being in the finals made sense as the finals were a triangle tag team match also featuring Williams and Friedman and the winners of this match.
Los Maximos fired up after the hot tag. Joel ran wild and hit Anderson with a german suplex, Diamond with an enzuigiri and a big moonsault off the top rope, before planting Anderson on his head for a close two count.
Diamond hit a series of suplexes and a Falcon Arrow for a two count of his own as the match began to break down into a four-way. After another cut in action, the Extreme Horsemen came close to winning after a slingshot and superkick combination. Moments later, Anderson caught Jose coming off the top and planted him with a spinebuster to pick up the win and advance to the finals.
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Before our main event, we heard from Dusty Rhodes in a backstage promo. He said he didn’t like any of the Funks: Dory, Papa, Terry, or mother Funk. He called Corino a pumpkin head and a walking contradiction of pro wrestling. For those paying attention, they would have spotted a few lines from this promo that made their way into the opening credits of the MLW opening montage.
Before Styles insulted Triple H by saying Kojima wasn’t a paper champion and didn’t get the belt handed to him by a general manager or because he was sleeping with his boss’ daughter, Styles was hyping up more matches for, you guessed it, Friday night, May 9th at Taboo in Orlando as we cut to outside the building where Los Maximos had been attacked by some mystery men.
We then heard from Mike Awesome who promised us he will be the next MLW Champion and also that he was going to powerbomb Masato Tanaka over the top rope and right through a table on Friday night, May…alright, you know when and where.
Steve Corino defeated Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk in a three-way Florida deathmatch (13:07)
Funk and Corino were on the same page early on as they took turns going one-on-one with Rhodes but eventually used their numbers advantage and a trashcan to get the legend down on the mat. However, their alliance was short-lived as Funk turned his back on the youngster and clobbered him with the trashcan as well.
A brawl outside the ring included Rhodes exposing Funk’s backside (to the horror of both 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, 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, he slipped off the guardrail and caught his leg between the rungs.
As Rhodes was hitting Corino with some more bionic elbows, Anderson and Diamond interfered and took out Rhodes’ ankle with a steel chair. Rhodes was taken to the back leaving Funk on his own against Corino, Anderson, and Diamond.
Being the underdog lit a brief fire in Funk as he ran wild and waffled them all with another trashcan. The numbers game eventually caught up 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 Finnegan eventually made the count and declared Corino the victor.
Underground closed with a promo from Raven talking about Vampiro. He thought he was jealous and maybe it is time for the protege to step up and beat the master. He warned Vampiro not to antagonize him and said they would end up in Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun.
Next Show:
Jerry Lynn vs. Mike Awesome for a shot at the MLW World Championship
Joey Styles called the action as “Dr. Death” Steve Williams was in tag team action
Terry Funk battled Chris Candido in a no disqualification match
Satoshi Kojima won the MLW World Heavyweight Title with a win over Jerry Lynn
Show Review:
We opened with a music video recap of the formation of the Extreme Horsemen at the expense of Terry Funk and Dusty Rhodes during a three-way dance that also featured team leader Steve Corino. Simon Diamond and CW Anderson then joined Corino for a promo where they said they eradicated Funk’s and Rhodes’ legacies. Diamond said they all need to step aside as they were coming for the old-timers.
“When Worlds Collide” introduced us to Joey Styles who welcomed us to the Manhattan Center in New York City before hyping up Raven joining MLW, The Extreme Horsemen, and the brackets for the MLW Global tag team title tournament where they will crown new champions.
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams & PJ Friedman defeated Afterburn & Eric Adams
We seemed to have the same audio track playing over the live crowd as last week. That especially hurt this short match as the crowd seemed to pop big when Friedman suplexed Afterburn on his head with a full nelson suplex but with no audible reaction.
After a quick early commercial break, Williams hit a doctor bomb and backdrop driver on Adams to pick up the win. We would learn later that Williams and Friedman were part of the tag team title tournament along with Mike Sanders & Jimmy Yang, “Horsemen” and Los Maximos.
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After a break into current affairs with MLWshop.com, Richard Holliday’s Dynastic coffee, and MLW radio network commercials, Styles set up the next tapings, saying Paul London would be making his MLW debut against Jerry Lynn, Masato Tanaka was on a collision course with longtime rival Mike Awesome, Terry Funk would challenge Steve Corino, and a “Mexican Massacre Challenge” rematch between La Parka and Sabu.
A couple of quick promos followed, first with Fuego Guerrero (Amazing Red) who talked about Jushin Liger and how he revolutionized wrestling and he wants to do the same in MLW. Next was a Bill Alfonso promo we saw a few weeks ago during the Anthology series, done after the first Sabu vs. La Parka bloodbath where Alfonso was screaming about a rematch before Parka jumped him, dumped trash cans on him, and challenged Sabu to the aforementioned rematch.
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Terry Funk defeated Chris Candido (w/Tammy Sytch) in a no DQ match
This built nice and slow with both feeling each other out in the early going but eventually turning this into a weapon-filled bloodbath. Funk was trying to frustrate Candido and it seemed to work as it took a cheap shot from the former “Skip” to get things going. It’s worth noting that Candido’s trunks and tights matched Funk’s in a nice tribute to the hardcore legend.
The action spilled to the outside as Funk got busted open via the timekeeper’s table and ringpost. Funk stumbled and staggered around ringside while Tammy Sytch, who accompanied Candido, got some cheap shots in too.
Funk reversed a suplex and sent Candido to the outside again before the two brawled through the crowd. Funk hit a piledriver on the floor, a DDT in the ring, and an unintentional brainbuster on the small metal entrance ramp.
After a commercial break, Candido brought a ladder into the ring on which, of course, he took a bump on as both he and Funk brawled on the top rope. Candido rallied and hit a headbutt off the top for two, but missed a second attempt off the top of the ladder. Sytch then low blowed Funk but ate a DDT for her trouble. Her dress flew up upon impact, but the MLW censors covered her modesty as Candido hit Funk with a chair and took back control.
He created a chair bridge, but it was Funk who hit a swinging neckbreaker. Funk then picked up the win after reversing a small package and holding on just long enough for the three count. Candido laid out Funk after the match with a piledriver.
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We had two more in-ring debuts hyped for the next tapings: Fuego Guerrero and a man by the name of CM Punk.
Corino then cut a promo on Funk, explaining that he has done everything Funk has, but better and quicker. He taunted Funk saying that his own brother (Dory) trained him and in their upcoming match, he will put an end to Terry’s career.
Satoshi Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn to win the vacant MLW World Title
Styles subtly, but expertly, made us aware of both competitors’ signature manuvers to watch for as the referee presented the title belt to the crowd and checked each man before the opening bell. Kojima had the Koji-Cutter, the Koji-max submission and, of course, the lariat taught to him by Stan Hansen. Conversely, Lynn had the tornado DDT to set up his cradle piledriver.
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 try and deactivate some of Kojima’s lariat power, but they were both too close to the ropes. Kojima took control and brought out some Flair chops in the corner, along with a trademark “Whooo” of his own. Lynn returned the favor but succumbed to Kojima’s power after a side slam moments later.
Kojima hit a series of elbow drops as the title seemed to be slipping away from the former ECW Champion Lynn. Kojima pretended he couldn’t understand the referee when he was instructing him to get Lynn out the corner and out of the ropes.
But, the tide turned shortly after when Kojima missed an elbow drop from the middle rope and Lynn fired up with right hands, chops, and a trifecta of lariats before a reverse DDT 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 then slipped out the back, but ended up taking a sit-down spinebuster seconds later.
Lynn finally went for the cradle piledriver, but Kojima reversed with a backdrop. Kojima then hit a Michinoku driver for a two count but he didn’t stop there, getting up and signaling for the lariat. He connected, knocking Lynn down and out and leading to a three count as Kojima became the first-ever MLW World Champion.
Taiyo Kea then made his presence felt as Kojima’s next challenger (he had defeated Sabu earlier to become the #1 contender) as he came out and signaled he was coming for the title.
The audio issues on the show continued when Kojima cut a post-match promo for the New York crowd, but we couldn’t hear a word of it or any of the ovations or pops throughout the night.
Before going off the air, we saw Raven backstage cutting a promo on Vampiro. He talked about their time in the WCW Deadpool (along with ICP) and said Vampiro has been talking about him so he wonders if he has a problem with him or maybe, he needs his help. Either way, he is eager to find out.
Next week: The Extreme Horsemen (Simon Diamond and CW Anderson) vs. Los Maximos as the Global Tag Team Title tournament kicks off.
