By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
Major League Wrestling “Intimidation Games”
Taped February 8, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia at Center Stage
Streamed March 8, 2025 on the MLW YouTube Page
Joe Dombrowski and Christian Cole provided commentary. This was a sellout. I considered the Feb. 8 event to be a really strong MLW show… can the taped episode match it?
* The show opened as we heard from Ikuro Kwon, who was surrounded by the Contra Unit. Mads “Krule” Krugger had a briefcase that I believe is essentially a Money in the Bank shot.
1. Okumura vs. Ariel Dominguez. We’ve seen Ariel before; he has a good physique but is maybe 5’1″. He knocked Okumura down with a dropkick, then he dove through the ropes onto Okumura at 1:30. In the ring, Okumura hit a DDT out of the ropes for a nearfall. He hit an inverted DDT for the pin. Adequate and it didn’t overstay its welcome.
Okumura defeated Ariel Dominguez at 3:21.
* Backstage, the Rogue Horsemen talked about eliminating the Bomaye Fight Club. Brett Ryan Gosselin walked up in a suit, but he still had some feathers in his hair. (If we are ignoring that this was taped a month ago, are we pretending he hasn’t removed those feathers in a month?)
* A commercial aired for the Battle Riot VII on April 5 in Los Angeles. A reminder that Eric Bischoff has ordered Matt Riddle to put his title on the line in the 40-person modified Rumble!
2. “Rogue Horsemen” CW Anderson and Brock Anderson vs. “Bomaye Fight Club” Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas in a First Blood Match. The Andersons came out first and were attacked from behind by the BFC. The Andersons wore their denim blue jean pants and T-shirts, showing they are here for a fight; they went for a cover, so the ref reminded them there are no pinfalls here. Mr. Thomas leapt off a landing in the crowd and crashed onto the heels at 2:00. The crowd was HOT for this; I think they all know Kane is from Atlanta. Kane hit a belly-to-belly suplex on CW and a splash to the mat. He threw a chair at CW’s head at 5:00 and an Angle Slam, but no cuts yet. Mr. Thomas repeatedly punched CW in the forehead until he bled. Um, well at least that was short too. I’ll reiterate that the live crowd loved this.
Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas defeated CW Anderson and Brock Anderson at 5:43 in a Fist Blood Match.
3. Delmi Exo vs. Tara Zep for the MLW Featherweight Title. Again, Zep is like a scary 1998-era Vampiro, with white face paint and dressed in all black. Zep attacked and was in charge early on. She hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 1:30. She applied a rear-naked choke and the crowd chanted “she’s a psycho!” Delmi hit a fisherman’s powerbomb for a nearfall at 3:00, then a package piledriver for the pin. Good TV match for the time given; I liked this more than the first two matches.
Delmi Exo defeated Tara Zep to retain the MLW Featherweight Title at 3:28.
* A commercial aired for Shoko Nakajima coming to MLW soon.
* A highlight package aired of last month’s excellent lucha tag match with Templario pinning Mistico; it was the first time Mistico has been pinned in MLW. We then heard from Templario, who challenged Mistico to a title match in Los Angeles. The promo was in Spanish but we had English subtitles.
4. Matthew Justice vs. Bobby Fish (w/Brett Ryan Gosselin) vs. Paul Walter Hauser vs. Akira in a four-way for the MLW Openweight Title. PWH wore an Atlanta Braves jersey. The three babyfaces attacked Fish to open. Gosselin has joined commentary and he fumed about the way everyone was beating up Fish. Hauser hit a Samoan Drop. Akira attacked Hauser, sending him to the floor. Justice and Akira traded chops. All four fought on the floor at 2:00. Justice set up a table on the floor. Akira hit a running crossbody block on Justice that sent them both over the guardrails at 4:00. The crowd is into this too, and no, I don’t think it’s ‘noise sweetener.’ In the ring, Fish hit a sliding clothesline on PWH for a nearfall. Akira hit a tornado DDT on Justice for a nearfall, then a Pele Kick.
Justice nailed a spear on Akira for a nearfall at 5:30. Justice hit a rolling Death Valley Driver on Akira, sending them both from the apron through the table on the floor, and that earned a massive pop. Nice move. Hauser dumped a sock filled with thumbtacks onto a table set up on the floor. Gosselin left commentary and he tripped Hauser. It allowed Fish to kick Hauser and send him backward off the apron and through the tack-covered table! (I’m not a fan of Hauser, but that’s a big spot.) Fish rolled Hauser in the ring but only got a nearfall at 8:30. (Oh yeah, that’s why I dislike the guy. He’s Super-Shane-O-Mac!) Fish put a table in the corner of the ring. However, he turned around and Justice speared him through the table for the pin. Good brawl with some nice spots.
Matthew Justice defeated Bobby Fish, Paul Walter Hauser, and Akira in a four-way to retain the MLW Openweight Title at 9:20.
* Justice got on the mic… to put over Hauser. He noted that Hauser already has acting gold and he’s busting his butt here. Hauser got on the mic and praised Justice. Gosselin got up (and turned babyface in my eyes!) by telling Hauser to shut up. The crowd chanted “You suck!” at BRG. Brett said to Paul “people love you because they can laugh at you,” saying he’s the fat comedic relief. Paul pulled out the schoolyard “I know you are but what am I” defense, telling Brett that in fact it is BRG who is the comic relief, which made Gosselin irate. Can this please end? He concluded by saying Brett is a “bitch.” Some security guards attacked the three babyfaces who were in this match, showing they were actually paid by the Rogue Horsemen. The Horsemen slammed Akira through a table in the ring.
* Another video package airing the rules of the Battle Riot and we saw clips of perhaps 20 wrestlers who are entered in the match, including a lot of the top luchadores we’ve seen here lately.
* UGH, Cesar Duran and Salina De La Renta came onto the stage. I want the worst telenovela in wrestling history to just end. Duran announced he has been named president of MLW! How? Why? Selina began arguing with him. Selina’s baby daddy dropped to a knee and asked Salina to marry him. She said yes! Oh jeez, it’s time for a wrestling wedding!
* Eric Bischoff was on the phone backstage. Alex Kane walked up to him and said “your time is up” and locked Bischoff in the loading dock area, and he can’t get back in the building.
* Backstage, Donovan Dijak vowed to get revenge on Tom Lawlor, and his “scumbag” friend, Matt Riddle. He vowed he was winning Battle Riot.
5. Neon vs. Kushida. The masked luchador Neon really impressed me in a recent MLW match; he wore a pink mask and pink pants. A nice pop for Kushida. Dombrowski said it has been a year and a half since Kushida has been in MLW. They immediately traded fast-paced reversals on the mat. Neon hit some armdrags and we had a standoff at 2:00. They fought on the floor, where Kushida applied a cross-armbreaker. The ref told them to get back in the ring; Dombrowski noted a tap-out would not count out there. Kushida snapped the damaged arm across his shoulder and threw him back into the ring at 3:30.
Kushida was in charge and hit some spin kicks and kept Neon grounded. Neon hit a top-rope moonsault to the floor at 6:00 and that popped the crowd. This has been really good. In the ring, Neon hit a top-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall, then a top-rope missile dropkick, and he tied Kushida up in a knot on the mat, but Kushida got a foot on the ropes at 8:00 and we got a ‘This is awesome!” chant. They traded rollups. Kushida hit a huracanrana and they traded more rollups. I thought Kushida scored a pin but we kept going. Kushida nailed a Frankensteiner, then the Back to the Future slam for the pin. That was by far best of the night so far.
Kushida defeated Neon at 10:25.
* Kushida got on the mic and indicated he’s going to be in Los Angeles at Battle Riot.
* Backstage, Tom Lawlor and Matt Riddle were hanging out. Riddle loves the new belt with a huge faceplate. Riddle kept saying what good “bros” they are that it almost guarantees Lawlor is turning on him any minute now. Riddle handed Lawlor a painting of the two of them that looks like the famous Sistine Chapel artwork. It’s time for their match!
* Dombrowski announced that Bischoff has been fired. This easily could have been edited in over the past month. (Was this always the plan? Or did they shift gears and legit part ways?)
* Mistico and Mascara Dorada approached Neon backstage and offered him some advice.
6. Tom Lawlor and Matt Riddle vs. “Contra Unit” Ikuro Kwon and Mads “Krule” Krugger. They started fighting on the stage and I started my stopwatch at first contact. Krule and Lawlor fought up the stairs and into the crowd, while Riddle and Kwon fought at ringside. No one has been in the ring and I don’t think this has officially started. Joe just said the same thing. Kwon teased throwing Riddle off a landing, as all four were in the risers now. They got in the ring and we had a bell at 4:00 even to officially begin! Riddle hit a gut-wrench suplex on Kwon. Lawlor helped flip Riddle onto Kwon.
The heels began working over Lawlor and kept him on the mat. Kwon hit some Yes Kicks at 10:00, but Lawlor caught the leg and put Kwon in a Figure Four. Krule hit a suplex for a nearfall at 12:30. Lawlor hit a DDT on Kwon and they were both down. Riddle finally got in and hit a jumping knee to Kwon’s chin then some flying forearms, then an Exploder Suplex and a senton on Kwon. Kwon acciddentally sprayed mist in the ref’s eyes. Riddle hit a pop-up knee strike on Kwon, but Krule awkwardly chokeslammed Riddle, with Matt landing on his head at 15:00. We saw some masked goons who are headed to the ring. We returned to the ring, where Riddle hit a stunner on Krule, but the goons jumped in the ring and attacked Riddle. Satoshi Kojima got in the ring, then Donovan Dijak did, and now many others got in and everyone brawled.
Tom Lawlor and Matt Riddle vs. Ikuro Kwon and Mads “Krule” Krugger went to a no contest at 16:00.
Final Thoughts: The live February 8 show had Kenta-Kevin Knight, Lawlor-Dijak and a really good lucha tag match and I praised that as MLW at its best. All three of those matches were better than anything here. This show was a case of “two steps forward, two steps back.” I liked a lot, and the crowd was into this a lot more than I was, but I see so many faces that just don’t interest me. Kushida-Neon earned best match, and that main event takes second, even with the non-finish. I got the sense they took a short break so Riddle could recover from being chokeslammed awkwardly on his head; the editing seemed to indicate that with the way they cut away to the back.
I like the good core of this promotion of Riddle, Kenta, Kevin Knight, Dijak, Mistico and Lawlor and the younger luchadores they’ve been using, and that’s who they should build around. I just don’t see why you would use Okumura and the Andersons; there are just so many talents out there better than them. I think MLW really needs to focus on adding more wrestlers under the age of 45. And I’ve not wavered on my thoughts that Hauser is given far too much of a push and screen time here. And while I love a good wrestling wedding, I just don’t care at all about Salina de la Renta.
My advice to MLW would be to reach out to guys who used to be here who are free agents: Hammerstone, Calvin Tankman, Violence is Forever, Myron Reed, Arez, 1 Called Manders and Jordan Oliver. Kevin Blackwood and Alec Price are available, too. If you want some bigger bodies, look at Shane Mercer, Jordan Cruz, and Royce Isaacs. I generally don’t want to load up with former WWE or AEW guys, but see if Baron Corbin is interested. I’d rather see those guys than CW and Brock Anderson, Hauser, Okumura.
My criticism aside… I think the hype and promotion for Battle Riot was well done.
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