MLW Azteca Review - January 13, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MLW World Tag Team Champions 5150 (Danny Limelight and Slice Boogie) def. Skalibur and Destiny

In a pre-match promo, 5150 called out The Von Erichs for wanting to wait until they're in Texas to get their tag title shot, so you had to know 5150 weren't losing the belts here (or next week to Aerostar and Drago). I'm not familiar with Skalibur or Destiny at all, but I thought they fared well despite 5150 being on offense for a majority of it. Aerostar and Drago attacked them afterward to set up that championship clash for next week.

MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane def. Aerostar

Aerostar challenging for the National Openweight title a week before challenging for the tag titles was weird and the outcome was never in doubt as a result, but it was a decent match. They didn't have the strongest chemistry, which was a shame because I think Kane has potential and I always enjoyed Aerostar's work in Lucha Underground. On the whole, it was a fine first defense for Kane.

Pagano def. Savio Vega in a Hardcore Match

It was noted that Cesar Duran would "free up" IWA Puerto Rico if Vega won. I haven't been following MLW for very long, but it sounds like Duran has complete control over that promotion in storyline. It was nice to have stakes added to this otherwise random main event, but this was all over the place and not my cup of tea, personally. Vega looked pretty good in there despite being 57-years-old and the hardcore stipulation probably helped hide his weaknesses, but as a match, this was a mess. At the very least, it put more heat on Pagano after he turned on Alexander Hammerstone last week.

Overall Show

This episode emanated from a different (and better) venue than last week. The two title matches made this a more eventful edition of MLW Azteca than last week, even though neither match was overly special. The same can be said for the main event, making this a rather mediocre show overall. These Mexico shows aren't off to the strongest start, but I applaud their effort to do something different and the emphasis on the backstage segments and video packages was largely well done. Next week, 5150 will defend the MLW World Tag Team Champions against Aerostar and Drago, Jacob Fatu will finally speak, and Mads Krugger will face the debuting Bestia 666 in a Tijuana Street Fight.

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