Mistico def. Rocky Romero to Win the MLW World Middleweight ChampionshipAmazingly, I cared more about this match than anything involving CMLL talent in AEW so far this year. That's because MLW took the time to build it up and establish Mistico on the MLW shows. What a concept! They had a really enjoyable opener and the crowd was into the action. I appreciated that there was no interference and Cesar Duran and Salina de la Renta didn't get involved from ringside. Mistico becoming champion was a cool moment and hopefully that means he's sticking around for the foreseeable future. The Calling (MLW National Openweight Champion Rickey Shane Page and Sami Callihan) def. Jake Crist and AKIRA in an New York City Street FightI'm beyond tired of this never-ending feud because all of the hardcore matches are essentially the same and The Calling continue to win. I have no idea how AKIRA can be taken seriously at this point. The guy's been booked like a total loser. If you're a fan of this sort of style, then you likely dug this more than I did. It was your typical garbage brawl. I know he's older now, but it was painfully apparent Raven was reading off a script for his post-match promo on the big screen. If Raven can't really contribute at this point, they shouldn't use him. Alex Kane def. Bobby Fish by Referee StoppageFish had a brief stint in MLW a few years ago before reporting to AEW soon after. I haven't seen him do much since leaving AEW outside of a few matches in IMPACT/TNA, so MLW is a logical landing spot for him. That said, I'm not sure if he'll be having more matches in MLW going forward or if this was just a one-off. This was well wrestled and Kane winning made the most sense coming off his loss of the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. Post-match, Kane and AJ Francis exchanged words ahead their eventual clash. WTF Superstars ("Filthy" Tom Lawlor and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) def. Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice and 1 Called Manders) to Win the MLW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe WTF have almost been booked as badly as AKIRA has been in recent months, so I was genuinely surprised they captured the titles here. Then again, MLW doesn't have much of a tag team division these days, so this switches things up, if nothing else. It was a solid match. Brett Ryan Gosselin helped Lawlor and Smith cheat to win, so Second Gear Crew were protected in defeat if they want to run it back. NJPW World Television Champion Matt Riddle def. Bad Dude TitoRiddle just became NJPW World Television Champion last weekend, so this turned into a title match. I've seen some of Tito's work, but there was no reason to think he was taking the title from Riddle here. This didn't go long at all, but it was a nice sprint while it lasted. I'd definitely be down for more defenses of the NJPW World Television Championship on MLW programming, plus it'll make Riddle's matches more meaningful. MLW World Women's Featherweight Champion Janai Kai def. Zoey Cannon in a 5-Minute $5,000 Challenge (Non-Title)I'm glad Kai had a presence on this show, but this would've been better for one of their pre-taped events that are basically two-hour editions of Fusion since this wasn't a competitive contest. Kai literally knocked her out with two kicks. I don't believe I've ever seen Cannon before, so I had no issue with her losing quickly, and I appreciate that this further established Kai as a dominant force. MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima def. Minoru SuzukiI can't say I expected to see an MLW World Heavyweight Championship main event between Satoshi Kojima and Minoru Suzuki in 2024, but here we are. And that's not necessarily a complaint, either. Sure, both guys are older, but they're two fan favorites and they delivered a main event the crowd was clearly satisfied with based on their reactions. There was nothing flashy, but it was the hard-hitting, physical affair you'd expect from them. Overall ShowThis was another quality live special from MLW. They've done a good job with them so far and keeping them around two hours is smart. The tag titles changing hands was notable and the main event felt like an attraction. The rest of the card breezed by thanks to some of the shorter matches later on. Storylines are being furthered, the wrestling is always entertaining on the whole, and the influx of fresh/familiar faces has given MLW the boost it desperately needed.
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