Header photo credit: @Beezzzzy
On Saturday, November 2nd, Major League Wrestling presented their first ever Pay Per View event. The event took place at the Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. The night kicked off with a one hour pre-show which included four matches taking place before the PPV. You’ll be able to watch these matches for FREE on Fite.TV or MLW’s YouTube Channel.
The Saturday Night SuperFight PPV event had all 4 titles on the line, a Trios Match, a Dream Match, a Stairway to Hell Match, and more. It was a stacked night of wrestling.
Your commentary team for the night are AJ Kirsch and Rich Bocchini. According to MLW, there were over 2,300 fans in attendance.
Savio Vega squaring off against Leo Brien kicks off the SuperFight pre-show. An early dropkick from Vega sends Brien to the outside. Vega teases a dive but Brien moves out of the way. Back inside the ring, Brien misses an elbow off the middle rope and Vega starts to gain some momentum. Vega has Brien in the corner, the referee tries to break them up but he gets knocked down. This allows Brien to use his cowbell on Vega. He makes the pin and picks up the victory. After the match Brien tries to do more damage to Vega who then fights back and chases him to the back with kendo sticks. An ok match between the two men but I’m not sure if this should’ve been the match to kick off the pre-show.
This would be Gino Medina’s debut match for MLW as he faces Air Wolf. Commentary states that Medina was trained by Booker T. Medina with the early disrespect by slapping Air Wolf in the face. Air Wolf controls most of the match until Medina hits a soul food for the victory. Another ok match that felt more of a showcase for Air Wolf than the debuting Medina. Not a great start to the pre-show.
Zenshi vs. Hijo De LA Park is up next. Zenshi rolls right into the ring and hits a rana on Hijo. Hijo rolls to the outside where Zenshi hits an innovative move, bouncing off the ropes to the outside. Zenshi attempts more high flying moves but Salina De La Renta grabs his leg. This allows Hijo to hit a dive to the outside taking out his opponent. Hijo hits him with a chair and crotches him on the barricade. The action is back in the ring where Zenshi hits a 619 and a neckbreaker. Salina grabs Zenshi’s leg once again but it doesn’t effect Zenshi as he’s able to hit a corkscrew senton into the ring. A code red from Hijo only gets a two count. Hijo sets Zenshi up on the top rope for what ends up being a very sloppy looking spanish fly. This is shortly followed up by a coast to coast from Zenshi that completely misses his opponent. Hijo wins the match with a lariat followed by the crunchie. I feel like the match could’ve been better if the spanish fly and coast to coast spots had worked out better, but otherwise this was the entertaining match that the pre-show desperately needed. I might’ve opened the show with this match.
Salina gets on the microphone and is interrupted by Contra Unit.
Simon Gotch is at ringside destorying a chair. The other two teams make their entrance. Douglas James uses his quickness to gain the early advantage in the match. Ikuro Kwon makes a blind tag but is met by a dropkick from James. Kwon’s hair is pulled by one of the members of Spirit Squad and the match quickly breaks down. Kwon hits a dive to the outside taking out almost everyone. There’s a bunch of action in this match. Kwon spits red mist into the face of Mike Mondo which allows Gotch to take advantage. He tags himself in and hits the Gotch Piledriver on a blinded Mondo for the win. This was a pretty good match where Douglas James was the standout.
The Pay Per View portion of this show starts off with a title match, as Dynasty defend their MLW Tag Team Championships against Ross and Marshall Von Erich. Dynasty make their entrance and MJF immediately grabs a mic. He says when Dynasty are in the ring, you shut your mouths. The match is a Texas Tornado match where all four men could be in the ring at the same time and no tags are needed. The Von Erichs come out and they don’t waste any time. Stereo dropkicks send Dynasty to the outside. Marshall gets hit with the ringbell and eats a gutwrench powerbomb on the ring apron. This takes him out of the match for majority of the match.
Dynasty then double team Ross inside the ring. The crowd starts to chant “Cody’s bitch.” Marshall gets back in the match and cleans house. Ross is able to lock in the claw on MJF who’s on the ring apron. MJF pulls back the middle rope causing it to hit Ross low. Richard Holliday hits a superplex on Ross, which is followed up by a splash off the top rope from MJF. Both men cover Ross for the pin but it’s broken up by a moonsault from Marshall. The end comes when the Von Erichs hit a claw and back suplex combo to MJF and we have new tag champs. This was a good opener for the PPV. The crowd was really into this match and it was really fun.
Second match of the night is trios action as Septimo Dragon, Gringo Loco and Puma King take on Injustice. The hometown hero, Gringo Loco is clearly the crowd favorite in this one. The match is fast paced from the start. No tags necessary during this trios match. Dragon, Loco and King all end up hitting high risk moves to the outside. Once in the ring, Injustice works over Loco until Loco catches Jordan Oliver off a springboard and turns it into a huge sit-out powerbomb. A split-legged moonsault from Loco onto Myron Reed only gets a two count. Multiple stereo dives from Koto Brazil and Jordan Oliver take out their opponents. The three men turn their focus on Dragon. A springboard 450 splash from Reed puts an end to the match. Another really good match with tons of action.
In the second title match of the evening Teddy Hart is putting his MLW World Middleweight Championship against Austin Aries. The challenger makes his entrance first. Teddy Hart makes his entrance and while pandering to the fans for too long, Aries takes him out with a heat seeking missile. Aries brings the champion into the ring and hits a missile dropkick from the top rope. Aries goes to the top once too many times and is knocked to the outside. Hart fires back but that doesn’t last long as Aries hits a DVD onto the ring apron. Aries then begins to attack the legs of the champ. He locks in the last chancery but Hart is able to reach the ropes. Hart later comes back with a powerbomb onto his knees and a DDT. The pin is made but Aries gets his foot on the ropes.
Aries gets back in the match with a sunset flip powerbomb, as Hart kicks out Aries immediately locks in the last chancery. Teddy once again is able to get to the ropes. Later on in the match a dropkick and brainbuster combo is only able to get a two count for Aries. The challenger attemps a heat seeking missile again but Teddy moves and Aries goes right into the guardrail. Aries is thrown into the ring and tries to roll up Hart as he’s entering the ring. This only gets a two count. Hart immediately hits a destroyer for the victory. This was the match of the night up to this point. The match was well structured and told a great story. It was also the best Teddy Hart match I’ve seen in a while. It wasn’t his usual “get your shit in” spotfest.
The two men start the match by jaw jacking which ends with Low Ki smacking Brian Pillman Jr. Pillman brings the fight to Low Ki with some chops but this doesn’t last long. Low Ki brings Pillman to the top rope but he fights back with a springboard clothesline. A kick to the face from Low Ki knocks Pillman loopy. Referee asks Pillman if he can continue. Pillman gets up and gets kicked in the side of the head. He makes it up before the 10 count. Pillman spits his mouthpiece at Low Ki, who reacts with a somersault heel kick and the ref stops the match. Low Ki extends his hand and helps Pillman up to his feet. This was a nice little match with a good story of Brian Pillman Jr. fighting until the match had to be stopped.
Next up is the match being billed as a Dream Match as Timothy Thatcher takes on “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. The match starts off with both men trading strikes and Lawlor getting the better of the exchange. Thatcher goes to the outside and the two battle outside the ring. Lawlor locks in a guillotine choke and Thatcher breaks out of it by ramming him into the guardrail. Back in the ring there’s a back and forth submission battle. Thatcher begins to control the match until Lawlor comes back with an airplane spin. Thatcher hits a butterfly suplex and Lawlor is able to kick out at two. He goes right into locking in an armbar. The two men fight back and forth until Lawlor locks in a rear naked choke and Thatcher is forced to tap. Thatcher’s face is all bloodied up. This was the hard hitting match you would expect from these two. It was awesome.
The following is a Stairway To Hell Match in which there is barbed wire hanging over the ring. Once retrieved it can be used as a weapon. The match ends by pinfall or submission.
Mance Warner comes out and goes straight after Jimmy Havoc. Bestia 666 does a suicide dive but gets hit in the head with a trash can. Mancer brings a ladder into the ring but is stopped by Havoc who has a staple gun in hand. Mancer is able to fight back and use the staple gun on Havoc. He staples dollar bills onto Jimmy Havoc’s body. Bestia and Havoc end up climbing the ladder but it’s tipped over by Mancer. Wooden boards make their way into the match, courtesy of the Southern Psychopath. Havoc tries to climb the ladder once again but it’s tipped over by Mancer and he ends up going through a wooden board in the corner.
Mancer ends up being able to retrieve the barbed wire. Bestia and Havoc start to double team Mancer. This doesn’t last long as Havoc gets a sidewalk slam onto open chairs from Bestia. Bestia then climbs the ladder to do more damage but is stopped from Havoc, who sends Bestia onto the chairs. Mance Warner ends up winning the match when he superplexes Bestia through a wooden board that was set up on chairs.
After the match Havoc ends up attacking Mancer, piledriving him through a guardrail and following up with the Acid Rainmaker. At first I wasn’t happy about the late addition of Bestia 666 to this match but it worked. It was a really good plunder match. The post match attack continues the feud between Havoc and Warner. A Falls Count Anywhere match between Jimmy Havoc and Mance Warner has been announced for MLW’s return to Orlando this Saturday.
The next bout is for the National Openweight Championship, as Alex Hammerstone defends the championship against Davey Boy Smith Jr. The match starts off with a feeling out process between the two. Hammerstone hits a big stalling suplex but Smith pops right up and hits one of his own. Hammerstone controls the match until Smith hits a superplex from the middle rope. This is followed up by a flying headbutt which only gets a nearfall. Smith hits a trios of German Suplexes but Hammerstone is able to kick out. This is immediately followed up by Smith locking in a crossface.
Dynasty comes out to distract Smith and is knocked off the apron. There’s an exposed turnbuckle in the corner which Smith is thrown into. Hammerstone follows up with a flying kick to the face but can’t keep the challenger down. Smith tries to make a comeback but gets rolled up by Hammerstone, who then grabs the ropes for the victory. This was a decent match that the crowd wasn’t really behind. This was a rare low point of the PPV.
Now for the main event of the evening. The MLW World Heavyweight Championship will be decided in a No Disqualification Match. Jacob Fatu and LA Park start off the match trading shots with eachother. Park uses the referee to gain the advantage and ends up hitting a tope suicida. Back inside the ring Fatu rips off the mask of Park and Josef Samael enters the ring with a spike and continuously jabs it into the head of Park. At this point, Park is a bloody mess. Fatu controls majority of the match until a corkscrew senton off the top turns the tables. Outside the ring Park hits Fatu with the ringbell, this opens up Fatu.
Fatu is able to comeback with a corkscrew senton of his own and a huge dive over the ropes to the outside. Fatu tries to follow up with a moonsault but Park is able to move out of the way. Park goes for the cover but Samael comes in the ring and throws a fireball in referee Frank Gastineau’s face. Salina gets in the face of Samael and Park accidently spears Salina through a table set up in the corner. Fatu takes advantage with a superkick and a pop-up Samoan drop. He follows up with a moonsault. A new referee is in the ring and the champ able to make the 3 count for the victory. Fatu retains the championship in this bloody main event. This was a great end to the PPV. The match had a big fight feel coming into it and was brutal.
Overall:
Major League Wrestling’s first attempt at a Pay Per View was a success. The stream was flawless and the production looked great, on top of that every match on the PPV ranged from good to very good to even great. MLW’s Saturday Night SuperFight was a very entertaining 3 hours. If you don’t have much time, you’ll be able to skip the pre-show without missing anything of importance, but at the inexpensive price point of $19.99, I highly recommend ordering the replay of this show on Fite.TV.
Quick Results/Star Ratings:
SuperFight Pre-show:
- Leo Brien def. Savior Vega **
- Gino Medina def. Air Wolf **
- Hijo de LA Park def. Zenshi ***
- Triple Threat Tag Team Match: CONTRA Unit (Simon Gotch and Ikuro Kwon) def. Dominic Garrini & Douglas James and Spirit Squad **½
SuperFight Pay Per View:
- Texas Tornado Match for the MLW World Tag Team Championships: Ross and Marshall Von Erich def. Dynasty (c) to become the new MLW World Tag Team Champions ***¼
- Trios Match: Injustice def. Septimo Dragon, Gringo Loco and Puma King ***½
- MLW World Middleweight Championship Match: Teddy Hart (c) def. Austin Aries to retain the MLW World Middleweight Championship ****
- Low Ki def. Brian Pillman Jr. **¾
- Tom Lawlor def. Timothy Thatcher ****¼
- Stairway to Hell Match: Mance Warner def. Jimmy Havoc and Bestia 666 ***¾
- MLW National Openweight Championship Match: Alex Hammerstone (c) def. Davey Boy Smith Jr. to retain the MLW National Openweight Championship ***
- No Disqualification Match for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu (c) w/ Josef Samael def. LA Park w/ Salina De La Renta to retain the MLW World Heavyweight Championship ****¼