MLW is set to play a part in NJPW x CMLL Fantasticamania 2025.
The tour is taking place this month and will conclude with two straight nights at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on February 27-28. It was announced today that MLW titles will be defended on both nights. The promotion has partnerships with both NJPW and CMLL.
– On night one, NJPW legend Satoshi Kojima and CMLL veteran OKUMURA will put their MLW Tag Team titles on the line against luchadores Rugido & Magnus. It’s a rematch from last year’s NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania USA event, where Kojima & OKUMURA retained their belts.
That prior match between the teams happened during Kojima & OKUMURA’s first MLW Tag Team title reign. They are now two-time champs after regaining the belts from Minoru Suzuki & Ikuro Kwon in December.
– Night two at Korakuen Hall will be headlined by Mistico defending the MLW Middleweight Championship against Averno. Mistico has held the title since February 2024 and will reach one full year as champion if he wins this match.
“The first title that a young Mistico ever held was NWA’s World Middleweight Championship won from Averno back in January 2005,” NJPW wrote. “20 years removed, could it be Averno that ends a historic MLW title run?”
Both of the Korakuen Hall events will air live on NJPW World. Here are the full cards:
NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania (Thursday, February 27) —
Volador Jr. vs. Templario
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis Jr.
Black Cat memorial: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Stigma vs. Taiji Ishimori, Averno, Soberano Jr. & Raider
Lightning match: Zandokan Jr. vs. Neon
MLW Tag Team Champions Satoshi Kojima & OKUMURA defend against Rugido & Magnus
Barbaro Cavernario & El Desperado vs. Hechicero & Ninja Mack
Xelhua & Max Star vs. Titan & KAMAITACHI
NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania (Friday, February 28) —
MLW Middleweight Champion Mistico defends against Averno
Mascara Dorada vs. Soberano Jr.
Barbaro Cavernario vs. Hechicero
Templario, Neon & El Desperado vs. Volador Jr., Rugido & Magnus
Atlantis Jr., Stigma & Taiji Ishimori vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Satoshi Kojima & OKUMURA
Matt Riddle’s first defense of the MLW World Heavyweight Championship has been announced.
On Monday, MLW officially confirmed that Riddle will face former champions Satoshi Kojima and Alex Kane in a triple-threat match at SuperFight 6 on Saturday, February 8, 2025. The event will take place at Center Stage in Atlanta, and air live on YouTube.
Riddle defeated Kojima to win the title on Saturday at Kings of Colosseum 2025 in Dallas. After the match, the new champion mentioned wanting to defend the title against Alex Kane, who was recently fired by MLW General Manager Eric Bischoff, in storyline.
When asked who he wants to defend the MLW World title against at SuperFight, Riddle responded:
“Well, you know, bro, I think I’m going to freestyle this one, and I know he’s recently been fired, unjustly, and he hasn’t had a world title shot in over a year. And he’s standing right here to my left…”
Kane then entered the scene and told Riddle he doesn’t deserve to hold the title.
“I’ll be honest, I strongly disagree; I’m the King of Bros,” Riddle responded to Kane. “I just did something you couldn’t do. I just beat Kojima-san, bro. And that’s why I’m the MLW Heavyweight World Champion.”
Kojima then entered the press conference and stated he wants a rematch for the title he just lost.
“I want rematch,” Kojima said repeatedly.
“I got a perfect solution, I’ll take you both on, bro, see you there,” Riddle responded.
— Both of our weekend shows are up on the site now. We went into detail on the Vince McMahon story, understanding the changes in ratings and how to evaluate Raw and Dynamite, Battle in the Valley, Black Bart and more on our show with Garrett Gonzales. We also talked about the weekend shows, the latest news last night with Bryan Alvarez.
— We are sorry to report the death of Robin Hunt, who was early ECW manager Hunter Q Robbins III, at the age of 57. He was the first manager of Sabu in the company before Bill Alfonso. He later produced independent movies after leaving wrestling.
— The only weekend match internationally that we heard a lot of raves for was Blue Panther vs Hechicero on Friday night at Arena Mexico. Last night’s show in San Jose had two very strong matches in Gabe Kidd vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hechicero. New Japan also did a great job with the Sumie Sakai retirement.
— We are doing a weekend poll on NJPW Battle in the Valley, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
— In Google searches over the last 48 hours, the UFC show did 200,000 in total. Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had a video on Tik Tok from a flight he was on go viral, did 200,000 while Mackenzie Dern, who beat Amanda Ribas in the first UFC main event of the year, did 100,000.
— We’re looking for reports from last night’s NXT show in Jacksonville, results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
— For those voting in the awards this year, people involved in counting noted that some are listing Oba Femi for Rookie of the Year. The list of those who are eligible for the award is in the January 6 issue. For Rookie of the Year, you had to have not wrestled a match for a major promotion prior to September 1, 2023. Femi debuted November 1, 2022, or ten months before the cut off.
— Athena & Hanan & Koguma beat Saya Kamitani & Momo Watanabe & Thekla on yesterday’s Stardom show in Aiichi. On today’s show in Aichi, At han & Hazuki & Koguima & Momo Kohgo beat Kamitani & Watanabe & Thekla & Ruaka via DQ. Athena faces Thekla for the ROH women’s title tomorrow at Korakuen Hall.
— There was a huge pickup in sales for Raw in San Jose tomorrow night. As of this morning they were past 11,700 and look like they will sell out. Given nothing special has happened such as new matches to lead to a big upswing in ticket sales, it probably has to do with the Netflix debut and aura regarding the product. It will probably sell out with the walkup and this was not tracking to do anywhere close to that. Announced is Finn Balor vs Damian Priest in a street fight, Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai for the women’s IC title in the tournament final, Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser and Chad Gable vs. ? (believed to be the debut of Penta). C.M. Punk will be at the show.
— Satoshi Kojima was burned in the face by the pyro after his match with Matt Riddle on last night’s MLW show in North Richland Hills, TX. The pyro was for the celebration of Riddle winning the MLW title. Pyro shot right into his face. He was in a lot of pain and everyone freaked out, but he was okay.
— MLW from last night in North Richland Hills, TX: The show legit sold out. MLW claimed 2,400 was the attendance which we can’t verify but the sellout is legit: Neon b Virus, Okumura b Dark Panther, Bobby Fish b Ariel Dominguez, CW Anderson & Brock Anderson b Paul London & Paul Walter Hauser in a tornado match, Tom Lawlor b Minoru Suzukli, Mads Krugger won a Gravity Gamble ladder match over Matthew Justice, Brett Ryan Gosselin, Akira and Mr. Thomas, Mistico b Barbaro Cavernario 2/3 falls to keep MLW middleweight title, Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. b Blue Panther & Dark Panther, Delmo Exo b Janai Kai to retain her hair and win the women’s featherweight title, Donovan Dijak b KENTA, Averno won three-way over Mascara Dorada and Esfinge, Matt Riddle b Satoshi Kojima to win the MLW title.
— Kushida will be back as a regular in MLW now that his TNA contract has expired.
— Chris Jericho will be at a Q&A tomorrow night as they are screening the movie “Dark Match” at 7 p.m. at the IFC Center in New York. Jericho will be doing a live Q&A after the movie airs.
— WAPA in San Juan is no longer airing Smackdown after 20 years. So for those without cable, the show is no longer available there. (thanks to Leonardo Mendez Toledo)
— Shinya Aoki, who has been a pro wrestler in Japan after making his name in MMA, was announced for the ONE show on 3/23 at the Saitama Super Arena in a fight with Eduard Folayang. Aoki beat former UFC star John Linekelr in his last fight one year ago.
— CAC President and former pro wrestling star Brian Blair turned 67 today.
— Limitless Wrestling tonight in Heron, ME has Matt Cardona vs. Dezmond Cole, B3CCA vs. Gabby Forza and Anthony Green vs. John Walters among the top bouts.
Matt Riddle is hoping to start his 2025 with a World Championship victory.
It’s been confirmed that Riddle will challenge Japanese wrestling legend Satoshi Kojima for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at the promotion’s Kings of Colosseum event on Saturday, January 11. The show is taking place from North Richland Hills, Texas and will air for free on MLW’s YouTube channel.
Riddle got this shot by winning MLW Battle Riot 2024. If he defeats Kojima, this would be Riddle’s first championship reign in MLW. He made it to the finals of a title tournament in 2018 (when MLW returned as a promotion) but lost out to Swerve Strickland.
Kojima has been champion since dethroning Alex Kane this 2024. It’s the second time Kojima has held the title, with his first World Championship reign happening in 2002-2003 during the original incarnation of MLW.
Before Kings of Colosseum, Riddle has a match against Donovan Dijak at Eric Bischoff’s MLW One-Shot event in New York City on Thursday, December 5. Kojima will be defending his MLW World title against CMLL’s Ultimo Guerrero on the TV taping portion of that show.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site right now. It was a huge news week as it’s the largest issue in some time:
ull coverage of Crown Jewel with the matches, business and interest level
Thoughts on the programs going forward
TKO gives its quarterly business update
Why profits are lower than usual.
UFC’s media rights deal thoughts
Talk about the future of Fight Pass
Revenue for UFC & WWE in different categories
Stock value
How much debt TKO currently has
How the Cung Le lawsuit factors into all this
More on the show at Sphere
Thoughts about Dana White and/or Nick Khan getting involved with boxing from Mark Shapiro
More Netflix plans
A look at the Wrestle Kingdom lineup
Where New Japan’s business currently stands
Upcoming New Japan tag team tournament notes
Power Struggle coverage, great matches and angles
NXT and AEW go head-to-head, the most detailed breakdown as to what happened and why
Where AEW stood in the overall standings that night
How every quarter did
Coverage of the Conor McGregor trial going on
Update on Full Gear, announced matches, other matches, ticket buying interest
Notes on WWE cuts like Baron Corbin, Indi Hartwell and Tegan Nox.
Dragon Gates runs a major show
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the shows this past week, with standings for the night and week, segment-by-segment numbers, and all the competition.
CMLL to fill the historical middleweight title vacancy by Mistico this week
Arena Mexico draws the week’s largest crowd for themed show
Update on El Hijo del Vikingo
Stardom tag team tournament update
King of Gate tournament update
Davey Boy Smith Jr. wins Triple Crown and background of that
Death of Scorpio Jr.
Hall of Fame candidate health issue update
The life of AWA’s Al DeRusha
Can actual wrestling draw more than 40,000 each to six events over three days. 2028 we’ll get the chance to find out.
Marko Stunt talks retirement
Santo retirement tour noes
Mike Mansury talks AEW production changes for 2025
All the PPV business updates
Ricochet talks leaving WWE
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Jon Jones talks Tom Aspinall and why he’s not interested in that ight
More on the Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes leave of absences
WWE scheduling updates
Yoshhiki Inamura comes to NXT
WWE signs former Olympic athletes
Lots of WWE injury updates
Notes from all the live arena events and the European tour
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
To promote Royal Rumble tickets going on sale this week, WWE posted a video with John Cena hyping that it will be the final Royal Rumble event he ever competes at. Cena’s retirement tour is set to last from January through December 2025.
Angelo Dawkins cut a social media promo ahead of The Street Profits challenging Motor City Machine Guns for the WWE Tag Team titles on SmackDown this Friday.
LA Knight made an appearance at last night’s Milwaukee Bucks NBA game, working the giant T-shirt cannons.
It’s actually more difficult (to work for WWE during a hot period) because you have to outdo yourself from the prior week. I was very lucky to get in the business right in the peak of the Attitude Era. It was the best era in wrestling. And the crazy thing about back then was everybody was a star. It didn’t matter if you were the opening card match, mid card match, main event card match. You were a star and your name was held in high regard.
Nowadays, you have your handful of stars, and then everybody else is kind of at a lower level. Back then, everybody was the household name. I mean, The godfather, Val Venis, and Bob Holly, and then you know Undertaker, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin — just everybody was widely known throughout the world. If you want to be at the top of the heap, you have to produce. So, I knew that when I started.
Former Miami Dolphins defensive back Trill Williams – who attended a tryout for WWE this summer – appears to have signed with the company. He was spotted in the background of a segment on NXT this week.
With their 10-year anniversary approaching, all three members of The New Day were featured on an episode of WWE Break It Down, looking back at some of their past ring gear.
In this week’s Mone Mag, Mercedes Mone reflected on returning to New England for recent AEW and NJPW events:
This week was extra special because I got to be back in BO$$TON/New England with Dynamite in NH, as I said, and Collision in Providence, RI, and even made a surprise appearance for NJPW in Lowell—more on that later. Being back in Boston, in any capacity, just fills me up; there’s something so comforting about being surrounded by friends, family, and fans.
It’s extra special for me because I get to have my brother Joshua tag along. He came to all three venues with me. To see him healthy and walking on his own was pure magic. Joshua’s face lit up as we walked by the AEW trucks, but when he saw Saraya on one of the trucks, he couldn’t contain himself, constantly asking, ‘Mercedes, when are you going to wrestle Saraya?’ That’s his dream match for me, and I can’t wait to make it happen someday.
Mone wrote about her NJPW appearance:
I ended up staying in BO$$TON for a couple of extra days to hang out with my brother, Joshua, and because NJPW had a show coming up in Lowell. And, of course, you can’t have such an incredible lineup without the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, Mercedes Moné!
Truth be told, Lowell has a special place in my heart. It’s where my wrestling journey really kicked off. This town was home to Chaotic Wrestling, the organization that helped shape me into the wrestler I am today. Ironically, it was the very same ring I wrestled in! The amount of gratitude I have for the city, that time and those people can’t even be described. When you are the highest-paid female in our sport, you never forget where you came from or who helped get you there – or at least you shouldn’t. So, you know damn well that if I can make my schedule work to help support those who helped me get where I am today, I always and forever will. I asked Rocky if I could make a surprise appearance, and luckily, he was thrilled to have me join!
As I got ready to make my entrance, I couldn’t help but think back to my younger self—the girl with dreams of becoming the best wrestler in the world. Fast forward 14 years, and here I am at NJPW with the TBS Women’s Championship in my hands. I took a moment to let it all sink in. When I finally stepped out, the crowd went wild, cheering for their CEO. The energy was just incredible.
Eric Bischoff told Fox News that he’s donating his pay for MLW One-Shot to Tunnels to Towers, a charity that assists the families of first responders and veterans following 9/11:
One of the things I told (MLW founder Court Bauer) right away was this isn’t about the money. He started to negotiate my fee and I really wasn’t interested in negotiating it, I just said whatever it is, I’m going to donate it to Tunnel to Towers.
So, it doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to negotiate it. I just want whatever it is to be donated because I’m not doing this for the money. I’m doing it for the fun.
The December 5 One-Shot event in New York City is being built around Bischoff being in control for the night, but Bischoff does not expect that he’ll be sticking around for a longer run:
I don’t even think about that. One of the things I told Court is that for me to do something in wrestling now, it has to be fun. If it’s not fun for me, if it’s just a job, or if it’s just a payday, I’m really not that interested. … When it comes to putting my toe back in the water in wrestling, my first priority is that it has to be fun. If it’s not fun, I’m not interested.
So it all depends. I honestly, to be very transparent about it, I can’t see it. I like my life just the way it is. I live in a beautiful part of the country out in the middle of nowhere where I can look out my back window and see Yellowstone National Park…
So, for me to commit – just committing to professional wrestling is 24 hours, seven days a week. If you’re not doing it, you’re thinking about it. If you’re not thinking about it, you’re worrying about it. If you’re not worrying about it, you’re sleeping. It’s hard for me to imagine. But again, it depends how much fun I have. If it’s successful and everybody, not just me, but if the audience enjoys, if Court and his team – most importantly- enjoy the process, then, you know, anything’s possible. But highly unlikely. Let’s put it that way.
Before we actually wrestled a full match, Randy wasn’t a huge fan of me. I guess he thought I was disrespectful because I had my headphones on. He came to the locker room, everybody was shaking everybody’s hand.
I didn’t want to be like a nerd and go over. Didn’t wanna do that. So I [just] gave him a nod. I was waiting for my chance to shake his hand, but I guess he took that as disrespect. I wasn’t [blowing him off].
Later on, I did a promo with Asuka where I forgot my lines. I had this long segment about talking about robots in Japan, and I forgot it. I didn’t know we were live; I thought we were recording. When I did that, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m probably in trouble.’
When I went to the locker room the first person that said anything was Randy. He goes, ‘I don’t know if that sh*t was planned, kid, but that was the funniest sh*t you’ve done since you’ve been here. That was your best promo yet.’ I was like ‘Well, at least Randy liked it.’ and then Vince and Bruce, and everybody else that was in creative also enjoyed it.
While speaking with The Wrestling Classic, Bret Hart named Rey Mysterio as the opponent he would want to work with if he could face anyone right now:
If I could pick one guy, it would be Rey Mysterio. I always forget Rey Mysterio, but I think Rey Mysterio is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Like, he’s right up there as the best there is, best there was, best there ever will be. He’s really good. He’s really special. Nobody can do what Rey Mysterio does.
One of the people I’m most impressed with that came from NXT to TNA is Sol Ruca. Like, for someone that is rather inexperienced – she’s out of this world. Some of the things she can do in this ring and her presence are wild.
Politico’s Alex Isenstadt reports that presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to appear on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast: “Trump is expected to do an interview this week on the Undertaker podcast, which is hosted by retired wrestling great Mark Calaway, per person familiar.”
TNA Wrestling mourned the death of singer Liam Payne, who once got into the ring with Kurt Angle in a promotional match for his band One Direction: “We join the world in mourning Liam Payne – a wonderful man and artist. Liam was a huge wrestling fan and we were honoured to be able to work with him on 1D Day when he wrestled, and beat, @RealKurtAngle.”
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima will defend his title against Bobby Fish on the TV taping portion of MLW’s Lucha Apocalypto event in Cicero, Illinois on Saturday, November 9.
Raj Dhesi (the former Jinder Mahal) spoke with The Takedown in advance of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s debut weekend:
Yeah, this is [a] huge opportunity for wrestling, and especially Canadian wrestling. This would be incredible, if somehow we can maybe make this a monthly, weekly, semi-monthly type of event. And, you know, all across Canada? I think that’s the goal. That would be an amazing thing for the wrestling business, especially in Canada.
I’ve always wanted to work with Scott [D’Amore]. I’ve never got a chance to work with him ever in the past, but I’m very familiar with everything that he’s done in the business, the wrestlers that he’s trained, and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, kind of resurrecting it, is a huge achievement.
Ric Flair tweeted: “Happy Birthday To The Toughest Person I Know Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael! Mongo, I Have So Many Fond Memories With You Over The Years! Your Friendship Means The World To Me! Your Bravery & Strength Is Unmatched! Love You My Friend!”
NJPW and CMLL legends are set to clash over the MLW World Heavyweight Championship next month.
Satoshi Kojima will defend his World Heavyweight Championship belt against CMLL’s Ultimo Guerrero at MLW Slaughterhouse on Friday, October 4. The show is taking place from The Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida and will air live for free on MLW’s YouTube channel.
For more than seven months now, Kojima has held the MLW World title. He had a title defense against Mads Krugger at MLW Fightland this past weekend, but the match ended in a disqualification after Contra Unit interfered and Krugger threw a fireball at Kojima. There was then a post-match angle where Matt Riddle and AKIRA made the save for Kojima.
Kojima celebrated his 54th birthday on the day of Fightland.
Everyone at MLW congratulated me.
I am moved by having someone do something like this for me in a foreign country.
Ultimo Guerrero, 52, has only wrestled for MLW once before, losing to Atlantis Jr. in May. MLW posted a video on Sunday with him calling out Kojima for this title match.
A pair of title bouts are among the new matches set for Fantasticamania USA.
NJPW and CMLL are teaming up to present the show from San Jose, California on July 13. A Strong Openweight Championship match with Gabe Kidd defending against CMLL legend Ultimo Guerrero has been made official for the event. Plus, the MLW Tag Team titles will be defended in NJPW for the first time ever. Satoshi Kojima (NJPW) & Okumura (CMLL) are putting their belts on the line against Magnus & Rugido of the CMLL faction Los Depredadores.
This is Kidd’s first title defense since winning the Strong Openweight Championship from Eddie Kingston in a no rope Last Man Standing match this May.
At a CMLL event last month, Rugido teamed with Magia Blanca in a loss to Kojima & Okumura. It was Kojima & Okumura’s first title defense.
Kojima is a double champion in MLW, also holding the promotion’s World Heavyweight Championship.
NJPW’s Yota Tsuji vs. CMLL’s Barbaro Cavernario has been added to the Fantasticamania USA card as well. The show is taking place from Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose and will air live on NJPW World pay-per-view.
The updated lineup is listed below:
NJPW x CMLL Fantasticamania USA (Saturday, July 13) —
Mistico & DOUKI vs. Rocky Romero & Volador Jr.
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd defends against Ultimo Guerrero
Yota Tsuji vs. Barbaro Cavernario
Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito vs. Hechicero & Virus
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lluvia
MLW Tag Team Champions Satoshi Kojima & Okumura defend against Magnus & Rugido
Copa Fantasticamania: Adrian Quest vs. The DKC vs. Viento vs. Cucuy
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor is getting a chance to dethrone Satoshi Kojima for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
MLW has announced that Kojima will defend his World title against Lawlor at Battle Riot VI on Saturday, June 1. The show is being held at Center Stage in Atlanta and will air live on YouTube for free.
Kojima is a double champion in MLW, currently holding the World Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team titles. There was a storyline last month where Lawlor & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vacated the MLW Tag Team titles after Lawlor was taken out in an attack by Contra Unit. Kojima & Okumura then won the vacant belts.
There have been two singles matches between Kojima and Lawlor before. Kojima defeated Lawlor at an MLW event in December 2023. In 2021, Lawlor beat Kojima at a show for NJPW.
Kojima has been MLW World Heavyweight Champion since February. Lawlor previously held the title for five months in 2019.
The Battle Riot event is being headlined by MLW’s Battle Riot match, which is a 40-man battle royal where the winner receives a future World title shot. Matt Riddle, Sami Callihan, Mistico, Timothy Thatcher, Ernest “The Cat” Miller, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Bobby Fish, and actor Paul Walter Hauser are among the entrants that have been confirmed.
MLW Battle Riot VI (Saturday, June 1) —
40-man Battle Riot match
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima defends against Tom Lawlor
Satoshi Kojima & Okumura vs. Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) for the MLW Tag Team titles will take place at the promotion’s Azteca Lucha event in Cicero, Illinois on Saturday, May 11. The show is being held at Cicero Stadium and will air live on TrillerTV+.
The MLW Tag Team titles were declared vacant this week following an angle where champions Tom Lawlor & Davey Boy Smith Jr. were attacked by Contra Unit. MLW said that the attack “left Tom Lawlor hospitalized and Davey Boy Smith Jr. unable to compete, resulting in the championship committee declaring the titles vacant.”
A Lawlor & Smith vs. Kojima & Okumura match was being set up prior to Lawlor & Smith vacating the tag titles.
Kojima & Okumura is a pairing of NJPW and CMLL veterans. In MLW, Kojima is the promotion’s current World Heavyweight Champion.
Second Gear Crew are former MLW tag champs, holding the titles from November 2023 until February of this year.
Here’s the updated Azteca Lucha card:
MLW Middleweight Champion Mistico defends against Barbaro Cavernario
Atlantis Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero
Satoshi Kojima & Okumura vs. Second Gear Crew for the vacant MLW Tag Team titles
Due to his MCL injury, Satoshi Kojima has been pulled from more NJPW dates.
Kojima will miss NJPW & CMLL’s Fantasticamania tour as he recovers from the injury. The tour is taking place in Japan from February 12 through February 19. Kojima was scheduled to compete at six events.
“As he recovers from a left MCL injury, Satoshi Kojima will be absent from dates on the Fantasticamania tour which begins Monday February [12],” NJPW wrote. “We apologize to fans who were looking forward to seeing Kojima wrestle, and appreciate your understanding.”
Tomoaki Honma is replacing Kojima on the February 12-17 events. Ryusuke Taguchi will be Kojima’s replacement on the February 18 show.
Kojima was also pulled from NJPW’s February 8 and February 9 Road to the New Beginning shows because of his injury.
On Wednesday, Kojima tweeted that he’ll be back in action as soon as possible. He’s expected to be back for MLW Intimidation Games in New York City on Thursday, February 29.
Kojima won the MLW World Heavyweight Championship from Alex Kane last weekend. He’s defending the title against Minoru Suzuki at Intimidation Games.
Satoshi Kojima has been pulled from NJPW’s Road to the New Beginning shows on February 8 and 9 due to an MCL injury.
It’s not clear when Kojima suffered the injury. His last match took place on Saturday at MLW Superfight, where he defeated Alex Kane to win the MLW World Championship.
Kojima was scheduled to team with El Desperado and Yuji Nagata against SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & Yujiro Takahashi on tomorrow’s show in Fukushima. On Friday, he was to team with Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma against EVIL, Dick Togo, and Ren Narita. He will be replaced by Ryusuke Taguchi in both matches.
Kojima is also scheduled to defend his MLW World title against Minoru Suzuki at Intimidation Games on February 29. However, Fightful is reporting that Kojima’s injury will only keep him out a few weeks and he’ll be back in time for the show.
We're told Satoshi Kojima's injury will only sideline him for a few weeks. He's expected to be back in action at the end of the month for MLW's NYC show pic.twitter.com/SI6QtlUK7f
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) February 7, 2024
Tomohiro Ishii was also pulled from the two Road to the New Beginning shows as he will be traveling to Henderson, Nevada for Saturday’s episode of AEW Collision. Ishii is scheduled to challenge Orange Cassidy for the International Championship on the show.
“Additionally, Tomohiro Ishii will be absent due to wrestling on the AEW’s show this week,” NJPW1972.com wrote.
Ishii was scheduled to team with Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, and Honma against TMKD on Thursday. He was then scheduled to team with Tanahashi, Makabe, and Tiger Mask the following night, also against TMDK members. He will be replaced by YOSHI-HASHI in both matches.
Jeff Cobb was officially pulled from Thursday and Friday’s shows as well. He’s been out of action with a left thigh injury since Saturday’s show in Saitama. Cobb was scheduled for two multi-person tag matches featuring the United Empire vs. Bullet Club War Dogs factions on the shows. He will be replaced by The Great-O-Khan in both matches.
Cobb is still scheduled to join his United Empire teammates in Sunday’s cage match against Bullet Club. Neither Ishii nor Kojima was scheduled for the show.
NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, Sunday, February 11 —
Drilla Maloney, Clark Connors, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin, & David Finlay (Bullet Club War Dogs) vs. Francesco Akira, TJP, HENARE, Jeff Cobb, & Will Ospreay (United Empire) in a steel cage match with WarGames rules
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bryan Danielson
IWGP Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Chase Owens & KENTA
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, & Tetsuya Naito vs. TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, SANADA
Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, El Desperado & Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, SHO, & EVIL
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
After more than twenty years, Satoshi Kojima is MLW World Heavyweight Champion once again.
The NJPW star defeated Alex Kane in the main event of MLW’s SuperFight event in Philadelphia on Saturday, pinning him following two lariats. With the win, Kojima is now the first ever two-time MLW World Heavyweight champion. Kane had won the title back on July 8 of last year, defeating Alex Hammerstone at Never Say Never.
After the match, Kojima thanked the crowd and said that after twenty years, he reached glory again. He ended by telling everyone to drink beer and eat bread.
Kojima first won the MLW World Heavyweight title back on September 26, 2002, defeating Jerry Lynn to win the vacant title. He would later lose it to Mike Awesome on June 20, 2003.
A match between Minoru Suzuki and Satoshi Kojima was announced for MLW’s Intimidation Games event on February 29.
MLW’s first free signature event of the year aired Saturday with Reload, taped earlier this month as part of the Kings of Colosseum tapings from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
A “Sessions with Saint Laurent” segment featuring MLW Champion Alex Kane kicked things off. Saint Laurent tried to sign Kane to his WTF stable, even giving him a custom WTF entrance song to try to tempt the champ. Kane didn’t buy into Saint Laurent’s elaborate promises and ended up tearing up the contract presented to him.
Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Notorious Mimi
Striker mentioned both competitors being heels and the fans not liking either, but Mimi worked as the babyface and had the fans shouting “yay” in a boo/yay strike exchange. Moments later, Zayda tried to pull a fast one and get a pin with her feet on the ropes.
Mimi hit a nice back kick for a two count and had momentum in her favor as she climbed to the top, but Zayda knocked her off and hit an Unprettier to pick up the win.
After the match, Dombrowski tried to get an interview with Zayda but Saint Laurent took over and pushed him to the side. In a long line of WTF comparisons to mid-90s WWF, we were told “The Federette” was America Online’s most downloaded person in all of 2023 before she said she wanted a Featherweight title shot.
However, that might interfere in Saint Laurent’s business dealings with Salina de la Renta, so he said he would handle it and talk to Salina.
– Mistico will take on Averno at MLW Superfight on February 3rd. Other matches announced include Alex Kane vs. Satoshi Kojima for the MLW title, Sami Callihan vs. AKIRA in a “Callihan Rules” match, Yuji Nagata vs. Jacob Fatu, and Ichiban vs. Rocky Romero for the Middleweight title in a two out of three falls match
– Minoru Suzuki was announced for Intimidation Games on February 29th from New York City.
Good Brother #3 defeated Steph De Lander (w/ Saint Laurent)
De Lander cost Mance Warner his “MLW career” when she interfered in his loser leaves MLW match against Matt Cardona. But, luckily a close friend of Warner, the masked Good Brother #3 who bears a striking resemblance to Warner, was quick to step into Warner’s shoes to try to exact some revenge for his fallen Southern friend.
De Lander offered a handshake and then kissed Warner, I mean Good Brother, before rolling him up for a sneaky fast two count. Moments later, she crashed into the ring post on the outside which let GB set up some weapons in the ring.
Inside the ring, De Lander tried to give GB a lap dance but he quickly swapped positions, got on the mic, had some music play, and began stripping down. As he was getting into it, De Lander kicked him low, rammed his face into the chair, and used another chair to crack across his skull.
De Lander speared GB through a board in the corner, but only got a two count. GB blocked a Cardona-style boot in the corner and got a two count of his own after throwing a chair at De Lander.
Another low blow slowed GB down. De Lander then got on the mic and said they shouldn’t fight but instead, they should show love. GB got on the mic and said he thought he had found the one and even proposed to her to which she said yes.
After toasting with a cold beer, GB asked for a kiss so she closed her eyes and puckered up, but when she opened them, she received an eye poke from the Eye Poke God and rolled her up to pick up the pinfall win.
– In front of their 80s-inspired green screen and neon WTF banner, Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop took turns hyping up what each other was going to do to Matt Riddle and Alex Kane, eventually settling on “just watch.”
– A bloody AKIRA, fresh off his Taipei death match with Ricky Shane Page, told Sami Callihan he is ready for him at Superfight.
Ichiban defeated Jimmy Lloyd
In what could be seen as a clash of styles, Ichiban started with a tope con hilo but early on, Salina de la Renta and Jesus Rodriguez came out to distract their foe. Lloyd took advantage with a big neckbreaker.
Rodriguez took a cheap shot from the outside, but it only motivated Ichiban to fight back and hit Lloyd with a stunner, missile dropkick, and his custom Code Red. He tried to hit Lloyd with a dive but got caught mid-air and was dropped on his head on the floor.
Lloyd brought out two ladders but another distraction by Rodriguez cost Lloyd the match when he accidentally got knocked off the apron. That led to Ichiban hitting Lloyd with his face-first finisher after jumping from the top rope and catching Lloyd climbing a ladder in the ring.
Nao Kakuta defeated Moka Miyamoto
This was advertised as a Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling showcase match and did not disappoint in the short time it got.
Striker was doing his usual best to take away from those in the ring as after a lock up and wrist lock, he said it was nothing he hadn’t seen before.
Some differences I noticed from other featherweight division matches were the stiffer strikes, or so they seemed, and the more brutal underhanded tactics by using the hair, kicks to the head, and upper body.
Miyamoto took two attempts, but she eventually hit her big standing chop to Kakuta for a two count. However, the ever-aware Kakuta immediately tried to hook her arms and roll her up, showing she was still aware of her surroundings.
Miyamoto locked in an abdominal stretch as she began to try her comeback but Kakuta cut her off, hit her with a flatliner and then a twisting fireman’s carry into a stunner to pick up the win.
After the match, Love Doug came out to console Miyamoto and tell her she was brave and show her how brave he was by asking her out. He asked the Philadelphia crowd if they thought she should say yes. They agreed, and so did Miyamoto, so the lovebirds left together.
Delmi Exo defeated Tiara James
James has still to be pinned in MLW while Exo has been flirting with the idea of joining Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado after coming off two recent big defeats. Azteca henchmen stood guard at the side of the stage during the match.
Striker questioned Exo’s ability, saying something was missing as of late and even pointed out she didn’t keep an early hold on or didn’t have the ability to keep it on.
Exo went for the Delmi Driver early, but James powered out and hit a running clothesline. Exo slid out the back and quickly rolled up James to pick up a surprise win. This was a bit of a letdown since they were hyping up James’ undefeated streak throughout the short match.
Afterward, Exo called out Featherweight champion Janai Kai who obliged De la Renta and came out to the ring. Kai seemed fine with fighting Exo there and then, but Zayda and Saint Laurent then came out. A quick war of words followed but De la Renta ended up slapping Saint Laurent,
Exo took down Kai and Saint Laurent shook it off to hold Zayda back from De la Renta (who she was aiming for in the first place). As she was leaving, Exo was handed a key by the Azteca Henchmen.
Alex Kane & Matt Riddle defeated WTF (Josh Bishop & Tom Lawlor) (w/ Saint Laurent)
The two former UFC fighters (Lawlor and Riddle) started with a mat battle that ended with Lawlor hitting a side Russian leg sweep and locking in an Octopus hold. Riddle escaped and just missed a big penalty kick to the head.
Kane came in and helped Riddle moonsault on to Lawlor before unloading his array of suplexes. Bishop was in next to use his size and power to ground Kane.
WTF worked over Kane but he fought back and was close to tagging in Riddle, but Lawlor ran around the ring and pulled him off the apron. Kane then took Lawlor out with a dive to the floor which let Bishop wait and grab Kane with a big Bossman slam. Lawlor added insult by DDT’ing Kane on the floor, too.
WTF then used old-school heel tag team tactics by enraging Riddle to distract the referee so they could illegally tag each other in and out, just because they could. Lawlor hit a Bronco Buster to rile up the fans and Riddle even more. He got cocky and tried a second, but Kane moved and Lawlor went crashing where no man wants to crash.
Kane slipped out of an Outsider Edge and hot-tagged Riddle. He hit a Bro-ton splash, penalty kick and German suplex to Bishop while Kane suplexed Lawlor. Richard Holliday tried to interfere, but Kane suplexed him too. Riddle went up top and won the match for his team after a Super Bro-ton bomb from the top rope.
After the match, there was a backstage brawl between the World Titan Federation and the Second Gear Crew.
Satoshi Kojima defeated Sami Callihan
As Kojima was making his entrance, Callihan jumped him and the fight was underway.
Callihan introduced some weapons from underneath the ring and papercut the webs of Kojima’s fingers and the sides of his mouth. The bell rang for the start of the match which sprung Kojima into life with a big clothesline.
Machine gun chops followed on the outside to which Callihan responded with some hard chops of his own. Inside the ring, Callihan went after the fingers of Kojima, used his hair to move him around, and used his fingernails to scratch at his skin. He even lobbed a mouthful of spit towards the referee.
The spit followed as he lubricated his hand before chopping Kojima’s chest, but moments later, Kojima fired back and unloaded more machine gun chops.
Kojima tried to go to the top rope, but Callihan caught him and drove him to the mat with a death valley driver for a close nearfall. Callihan then tried a piledriver, but Kojima blocked it and dropped him with a DDT.
Callihan blocked a Koji Cutter and hit a backdrop driver. Kojima responded by absorbing a pair of lariats and then hit a Koji Cutter for a one count.
Callihan defiantly got in Kojima’s face and was met with a big lariat, but Callihan kicked out at two. He could not kick out of a running lariat as Kojima picked up a big win ahead of his MLW heavyweight title fight at Superfight.
After the match, Kojima told us he ate bread this morning and that he will eat some after the match. If we were not aware, he loves bread.
The show finished up with Alex Kane who dismissed Kojima’s chance at taking the title from him. Kane talked through his six successful title defenses and told Kojima he would be another of his successful defenses. He said what he will do to Kojima at Superfight will make the crowd uncomfortable.
As the show was going off the air, a quick flash of an old logo we have not seen for a long time appeared on screen: that of CONTRA Unit.
NJPW’s Satoshi Kojima now has an opponent for his MLW return match.
It was announced today that Kojima will face “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at MLW One-Shot on Thursday, December 7. The show is taking place from the Melrose Ballroom in New York City and will air live on Fite+.
This is Kojima’s first MLW match in more than 20 years. During the early 2000s, Kojima wrestled for the first iteration of MLW. He was the second-ever MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
Dave Meltzer reports that Kojima is scheduled to be a semi-regular for MLW going forward and this match isn’t a one-time deal.
Lawlor is also a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion, holding the title in 2019. He recently returned to MLW for the first time since 2021.
There have now been two matches announced for the One-Shot event. The show will also feature the MLW debut of Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling star Miyu Yamashita.
MLW One-Shot (Thursday, December 7) —
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defends against Matt Cardona
