By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
Major League Wrestling “SuperFight 6”
February 8, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia at Center Stage
Streamed live on the MLW YouTube page
Joe Dombrowski and Christian Cole provided commentary, and Joe immediately said it is a sellout, continuing their recent streak. Lighting is good.
* The show opened with a quick picture of Eric Bischoff, and he headed to the ring! He noted this is “the home of WCW” and “this building will always have a special place in my heart.” He said he was given a “Ted Turner Lifetime Achievement Award” a day ago. “What took them so long?” he said. “I revolutionized professional wrestling as we know it today.” He said MLW “feels a little bit bigger since I showed up.” He promised that we’ll find out tonight what was in a confidential envelope he had at a recent show.
* Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas and Faye Jackson came out of the back to confront him. Kane called Bischoff “a jive turkey.” He got in the ring and stood in front of Bischoff and vowed he will be champion at the end of the night. Bischoff taunted him and said Kane is “thin-skinned.” Kane went to attack him, but Mr. Thomas held him back and told him to “save it for the main event.” (I see no point in this segment at all; what is the payoff? Kane is not going to fight Bischoff.) Kane threw the achievement award into the crowd. Bischoff told security to kick Kane out of the building until his main event match.
1. Esfinge and Templario vs. Mascara Dorada and Mistico. Each luchador got their own entrance, which was a nice touch; they aren’t interchangeable and a monolith. (Again, this Mascara Dorada is NOT Gran Metalik, who used that name briefly upon leaving WWE). “This is a who’s who of lucha libre,” Christian Cole said. Quick lucha moves at the bell. Esfinge is clearly the thickest and heaviest; all four are in great shape. Mistico hit a headscissors takedown that sent Templario to the floor. In the ring, Templario and Esfinge worked together to hit some moves on Dorada. Templario tugged on Mistico’s mask at 2:00 and was booed. Templario hit a guillotine leg drop on Mistico. Esfinge hit a kick on Mistico’s upper inner thigh as the two heels worked him over. Templario hit a wheelbarrow German Suplex at 4:00.
Esfinge hit a pop-up punt to the chest of Mistico. Templario again pulled at Mistico’s mask. Mistico and Dorada hit stereo 619s, then stereo corkscrew planchas at 7:30. Mistico hit a huracanrana. Dorada got in and hit some head-scissors takedowns and some dazzling armdrags while using the ropes and that got a standing ovation. The camera completely missed Mistico hitting a dive to the floor. In the ring, Mistico got a nearfall at 9:30. Templario got up, held Mistico upside down, and dropped him stomach-first to the mat. Mistico nailed a top-rope Spanish Fly on Templario for a nearfall at 11:30.
Dorada leapt off the ropes, but Esfinge caught him with a stunner. Mistico hit a superkick on Esfinge. Mistico and Templario traded punches. The cameras again missed a dive spot on the floor that the crowd went nuts for. Meanwhile in the ring, Templario hit a Lumbar Check on Mistico and pinned him! The commentators were shocked that Mistico was pinned. A tremendous match; the only complaint is the cameras twice missing some big spots.
Templario and Esfinge defeated Mistico and Mascara Dorada at 13:19.
* Cesar Duran emerged from the back and noted that Templario just scored the first-ever pin in MLW on Mistico. Templario cut a promo that mixed English and Spanish. Duran and Templario got in the ring, and Duran said that Templario wants a title shot. Mistico accepted, again in a mix of English and Spanish. That match will happen April 5 in Los Angeles!
* Dombrowski interviewed Delmi Exo at ringside. She has her title over her shoulder. She barely said two words before she was attacked by Tara Zep! Tara is like a scary, female version of 1998-era Vampiro.
2. Kevin Knight vs. Kenta. Knight wore attractive Laker-color purple pants. (He wore ugly, orange basketball warmup pants for so long, he was overdue for nice gear!) Kenta lost his Defy title in Seattle 20ish hours earlier. An intense lockup to open and Knight hit a chop that didn’t faze Kenta. They traded armdrags. They went to the floor, where Kenta hit some roundhouse kicks to the chest and he whipped Knight into the guardrail at 2:00. They went past the barricade and up the stairs (and we can see that every seat here is full.) They returned to ringside, where Kenta dropped him face-first on the ring frame at 4:00, then pushed Knight’s head into the ring post.
They got in the ring and Kenta kept him grounded in a chin lock. (Cole pointed out that Knight has a necklace on; I hate that too.) Knight fired up and hit some clotheslines at 8:00. Knight hit his picture-perfect dropkick for a nearfall. Kenta dropped him throat-first across the top rope and hit a top-rope flying clothesline for a nearfall at 10:00. Kenta went for a crossface on the mat, but Knight got a foot on the ropes before it was even locked in. Knight hit a D’Lo-style Sky High powerbomb for a nearfall at 11:30. Kenta locked in a crossface, but Knight eventually reached the ropes.
Kenta hit a Helluva Kick and his hesitation dropkick in the corner. Kenta slipped off the top rope and fell to the mat. (He was setting up for a doublestomp.) Knight fought him on the ropes, and Knight hit his jump-up Frankensteiner, then a splash to the mat for a nearfall at 14:00. Knight came off the ropes, but Kenta caught him with a knee to the chest. Kenta nailed the Go To Sleep pop-up kneestrike for the pin. Wow, a really good match. (They had two slips late in the match that they quickly recovered from.) “What a showing for Kevin Knight, the hometown hero,” Cole said.
Kenta defeated Kevin Knight at 15:07.
* Dombrowski interviewed Kenta at ringside. Kenta said he wants a title shot, and doesn’t care who wins later. “They will all go to sleep,” he said.
* Bischoff talked with a security guard backstage. He wants to know how Alex Kane even got in the building. He walked into a hazy office where Matt Riddle and Tom Lawlor were eating pizza and presumably smoking marijuana. “My office looks like a freakin’ frat house,” Bischoff said. Riddle explained to Eric that “pizza is brain food.” Bischoff kicked them out. They all left… and Cesar Duran snuck in and stole the confidential file!!!
* A commercial aired for Battle Riot on April 5 in Los Angeles.
* Footage aired of Paul London in MLW in 2005. We fast-forwarded to footage of Paul London brawling with the Rogue Horsemen at recent MLW shows.
3. Paul London vs. Brett Ryan Gosselin in a Honey Trap match. Yes, the loser will be covered in honey and feathers. “The loser will be utterly humiliated,” Dombrowski said. (I just want to say up until right now, this show has been perfect. I mean it. Perfect.) There is a tub of honey at ringside. BRG came out, got on the mic, and vowed he will embarrass London tonight. London came out in a beekeeper jacket with the mesh wiring over the face. BRG charged at him and they immediately brawled. London twisted BRG’s nipples. London hit a back suplex at 3:00. (London isn’t ‘thin,’ per se, but if you saw him 24 months ago, he looks great now!) He hit a top-rope doublestomp on BRG’s back. London got the “Piper-Hart Mania pin,’ using his feet to launch off the ropes, flip over Brett, and pin him! Harmless match, neither good nor bad, and it didn’t overstay its welcome.
Paul London defeated Brett Ryan Gosselin in a Honey Trap match at 5:02.
* Brett tried to leave, but Mr. Thomas cut him off. He tried to exit through a tunnel, but Paul Walter Hauser cut him off there. London then pushed BRG into the vat of “honey” (it looks like murky water; no way is that fluid actually honey.) London then dumped a barrel of yellow feathers onto Brett. The crowd enjoyed this. The cameras focused on a despondent BRG. We saw Bobby Fish help him to his feet; where was he when Brett needed him?
* A commercial announces that Shoko Nakajima is headed to MLW!
4. Donovan Dijak (w/Saint Laurent) vs. Tom Lawlor. Tom wore denim blue jeans and suspenders. (No tiny, tiny jean shorts today!) They immediately brawled and it went to the floor. Lawlor slammed Dijak’s head on a ringside table at 1:30. They got back into the ring, where Lawlor applied a front guillotine choke. Dijak hit some blows to the back, choked Lawlor in the ropes, and kept him grounded. Dijak hit a release suplex at 4:30 for a nearfall. Lawlor suplexed him into the corner at 6:30. Lawlor fired up and hit some forearm strikes and a suplex for a nearfall.
Dijak slammed Lawlor into the corner and they were both down at 10:00. Dijak hit a superkick; Lawlor hit a running knee; Dijak nailed his discus Mafia Kick for a nearfall. Dijak went for a moonsault, but Lawlor caught him between his legs and applied a Triangle Choke at 12:30. Dijak was able to get to his feet and hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. Lawlor hit a spear for a nearfall. Dijak got a rollup with a handful of pants for a nearfall. Lawlor hit his straitjacket kneestrike to the back of the head for a believable nearfall at 14:30. Lawlor rolled to the floor and punched Saint Laurant. As Tom climbed the ropes, Dijak hit a superkick, then the Feast Your Eyes pop-up kneestrike for the pin. A very good match.
Donovan Dijak defeated Tom Lawlor at 15:24.
* Dombrowski got in the ring to interview Laurant and Dijak. Laurant announced that Dijak is entering the Battle Riot. Cole said that is “big news!” (Is it, though? Wouldn’t it have been a bigger surprise if he wasn’t in it?) Lawlor got into the ring and punched Laurant in the gut. Dijak returned to the ring; security kept them separated.
5. Janai Kai vs. Mila Moore. Moore has competed in AEW in the past; she has long black hair halfway down her back. Mila hit a Helluva Kick. Kai hit a kneestrike to the head, a stiff kick to the spine, and got a nearfall. Mila hit a running back elbow. Kai nailed the Helluva Kick in the corner, an axe kick to the back of the neck, and she applied the Demon Clutch (dragon sleeper), and Moore tapped out. Decent squash.
Janai Kai defeated Mila Moore at 2:28.
* Krule and Ikuro Kwon came to the ring and beat up all the security… just for the heck of it. Krule got on the mic and said it has been years since Contra has been on top of MLW. The crowd chanted, “We can’t hear you!”
6. Matt Riddle vs. Alex Kane vs. Satoshi Kojima in a three-way for the MLW World Title. Riddle is defending here against the two most recent champions before him. The crowd was behind Georgia native Kane. Joe said this is only the second time the MLW title has been defended in a triple threat. Kane speared Riddle to open. Kane and Kojima stomped on Riddle. Kojima hit his rapid-fire chops in the corner on each opponent. Riddle hit a jumping knee on Kane at 3:00, then a belly-to-belly suplex and a senton for a nearfall. Kane hit a German Suplex and an Angle Slam on Riddle for a nearfall; where did Kojima go? He’s watching on the floor. Riddle hit a running penalty kick on the apron. Kojima got back into the ring and suplexed Riddle at 5:00.
They did a tower spot with Kojima getting a nearfall on Kane and we got a “this is awesome!” chant. Satoshi hit the Koji Cutter on Riddle for a nearfall. Kane ran down the ramp, dove through the ropes, and hit a spear on Riddle for a nearfall at 6:30. Riddle hit roundhouse kicks on each opponent. Kojima clotheslined Riddle; Kane bodyslammed Kojima. Riddle hit a jumping knee to Kane’s jaw and pinned him! That felt like it came out of nowhere. Really good energy here; Satoshi wasn’t asked to do too much here, and this went quickly.
Matt Riddle defeated Alex Kane and Satoshi Kojima in a three-way to retain the MLW World Title at 7:55.
* Backstage, Eric Bischoff was eating some of the pizza left behind and he was upset at Riddle for trashing the office. Bischoff said the MLW title will be defended in Battle Riot! So, Riddle has to outlast 39 other guys to retain his belt! Riddle, still in the ring, got on the mic and said Bischoff is “a punk-ass bitch,” and he vowed he will leave Battle Riot as champion. The show went off the air at 2 hours, 4 minutes.
Final Thoughts: I have been very hard on MLW when they’ve had bad nights. Well, this was as good as MLW gets. Just a top-notch night of action. The lucha opener was entertaining and was the best of the night. Knight-Kenta was sharp and a close second, while Dijak-Lawlor was a good brawl for third. The main event was short but it didn’t feel needlessly short, either. Heck, even the honeypot match worked in its own way, and as I noted, didn’t overstay its welcome.
Noteworthy is we never saw Salina De La Renta and didn’t get any of that awful telenovela. I wasn’t asked to sit through CW Anderson and Brock Anderson in action, or aging luchadors like Okumura. There were no bloody or violent matches. This show gets a high recommendation.
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