MLW Intimidation Games Review - March 8, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MLW World Tag Team Champion Okumura def. Ariel Dominguez

Every time I see Okumura in action, I ask myself why he's still in possession of the MLW World Tag Team Championship with Satoshi Kojima. What an utterly pointless reign. The worst part is, he's mostly working meaningless singles matches on these shows and this was another one. There wasn't anything technically wrong with this, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary and felt like a waste of time.

Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas) def. The Andersons in a First Blood Match

Did this really need a First Blood stipulation? Probably not, but I guess it made the match more interesting than it would have been otherwise. It was well worked, so there was that. I couldn't bring myself to care about The Andersons if I tried, so I'm Bomaye Fight Club went over. Speaking of whom, they feel lost feuding with The Rogue Horsemen and Eric Bischoff.

MLW World Women's Featherweight Championship Delmi Exo def. Tara Zepp

I believe Zepp attacked Exo on MLW's last show, so I'm surprised they rushed into this match without establishing Zepp a bit more to make her feel like more of a threat to the title. She and Exo had a perfectly fine match here, but it was too short to get a grasp of what Zepp can do. She came off like an alternate version of AEW's Abadon but less limited in the ring. It sure seems like this feud is already over based on the decisive finish.

MLW National Openweight Champion Matthew Justice def. Bobby Fish, AKIRA and Paul Walter Hauser in a Four-Way Match

What an absolute mess this was. Fish and especially Hauser had zero business being involved. The four-way rules ensured they didn't have to do much, but it's embarassing having to attempt to take Hauser seriously, while Fish looks completely out of it these days. Justice and AKIRA did what they could to make the most of this. The post-match angle with Rogue Horsemen exchanging words with Hauser and attacking AKIRA lasted way too long and wasn't very good.

Kushida def. Neon

I didn't have the slightest clue who Neon was or what he could do, but I do now. This was a hell of a debut for him and Kushida was the perfect opponent. They had a very fun sprint and there were a few points where I thought Neon might actually win. I hope Kushida is utilized well in MLW. In fact, he'd be a nice fit for the MLW World Middleweight Championship eventually.

Filthy Bros vs. Contra Unit (Mads Krule Krugger and Ikuro Kwon) Ended in a No Contest

Matt Riddle and Tom Lawlor don't have terrible chemistry as partners, but I can't say I've found anything they've done so far funny. I appreciated that these four guys worked with a sense of urgency, but Riddle feuding with Contra Unit does nothing for me, personally. The idea behind this was that Krugger could cash in his automatic MLW World Heavyweight Championship shot if they beat Filthy Bros down enough (hence the non-finish), but a brawl broke out before he could, which was supposed to serve as hype for Battle Riot next month.

Overall Show

There was a segment in the middle of the show where House of Duran addressed the audience and Salina de la Renta's baby daddy proposed to her, but that whole storyline is such garbage that it wasn't worth devoting an entire paragraph to. The rest of Intimidation Games felt like a glorified infomercial for Battle Riot. That isn't entirely a bad thing, but it didn't leave this show with much else. I enjoyed Kushida vs. Neon, but that was the sole highlight for me.

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