MLW Battle Riot VIII - February 5, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kushida def. Templario to Win the MLW World Middleweight Championship

This was as well-wrestled as you'd expect given who was involved. Other than with Mistico, MLW putting titles on CMLL talent hasn't made much of a difference, so I was happy with the outcome. Kushida's also a nice fit for the MLW World Middleweight Championship. In addition to the title change, Kushida joined Ikuro Kwon in attacking Templario afterward, so he's now a member of Contra Unit. I've never seen Kushida work as a heel before, so I'm curious how he'll fare in the role.

Killer Kross Won the MLW World Heavyweight Championship in Battle Riot

Hilariously, a vast majority of the entrants were WWE castoffs. Some were under WWE contract a year or two ago, others haven't been under contract to the company in many years. I guess that's the vibe MLW wants to go for with its roster these days instead of recruiting and building up promising independent wrestlers. You could include Kross in that former category of ex-WWE stars, but he has legitimately untapped potential and is the right person to be carrying the MLW flag right now as its champ. As for the Battle Riot itself, 40 entrants was way too many as it led to an excessive amount of people in the ring at one time. It did have some nice moments, though, and Doc Gallows coming back out as Festus after he was already eliminated was funny.

Overall Show

The show clocked in at under two hours, but Battle Riot took up most of that time, which made sense considering the MLW World Heavyweight Championship was on the line. I wouldn't call it must-see by any means, but at least there was something significant at stake. The MLW World Middleweight Championship also changing hands made this show eventful. Fusion has been announced as returning this year, but there's been no word on exactly when or how often episodes will air.

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