 Mads Kurle Krugger def. AKIRA, Kevin Knight, Brett Ryan Gosselin and MLW National Openweight Champion Matthew Justice in a Gravity Gamble Ladder Match to Earn a Future MLW World Heavyweight Championship Opportunity (Non-Title)Similar to TNA's Feast or Fired concept, there were several briefcases hanging above the ring, but only one of them had the title shot in it while the rest had weapons. Every wrestling promotion overdoes the Ladder match these days (New Japan Pro-Wrestling even did one last weekend at Wrestle Kingdom 19), but I honestly can't remember the last one I saw in MLW, so I thought this was fun. It was a total mess but also a trainwreck in the best way possible. I can't bring myself to care about Krugger getting a title shot whenever he wants. Atlantis and Atlantis Jr. def. Blue Panther and Dark PantherThis was referred to as a CMLL lucha libre showcase. Obviously, there was nothing at stake, but it was nice to see Atlantis and Atlantis Jr. team up. It was a well-wrestled outing, but I think the MLW crowds get more out of these matches than I do since I don't follow CMLL at all and largely don't care about its roster. This didn't overstay its welcome, so there was that. They were put in a tough spot coming off that crazy opener. Delmi Exo def. Janai Kai in a Title vs. Hair Match to Win the MLW World Women's Featherweight ChampionshipExo and Kai have been feuding for what feels like forever, so hopefully this was designed to be the blowoff. The stipulation helped give it some finality. They had a solid match, but I was expecting a bit more considering how long this has been building for. Exo getting the belt back was a cool moment. Props to Kai for having such a dominant run, but I am curious where she goes from here. Donovan Dijak def. KENTAThis was basically a battle of the GTS as both guys use a variation of it as their finisher. For the record, Dijak's looked better here, but that's probably because he's a bigger dude and it was easier to hit on KENTA. I don't think these two ever collided in WWE NXT because they just missed each other (KENTA moved up to 205 Live shortly after Dijak signed with the company), but I enjoyed this encounter. It shouldn't be much longer until Dijak is wearing gold in MLW. Averno def. Esfinge and Mascara Dorada in a Three-Way MatchThis was essentially another CMLL showcase where it didn't really matter to me who won. The tag team match from earlier was one thing, but why not make this a number one contender's matchup for the MLW World Middleweight Championship? This had some decent action and there wasn't anything egregiously wrong with it, but the crowd did sound quiet because it didn't seem to serve a purpose. The Andersons Interrupted Paul Walter Hauser Before Being Attacked by Bomaye Fight ClubMan, this was a massive waste of time. I appreciate Hauser's passion for pro wrestling and commitment to MLW, but I feel like every appearance he makes is worse than the last. His promo wasn't half bad, but the crowd sat on their hands for most of it. They continued to sit on their hands when The Andersons came out. That whole interaction was a disaster. Bomaye Fight Club emerged to fend off The Andersons and get some revenge for Alex Kane getting "fired" last month, but that should've happened a lot sooner than it did. Matt Riddle def. MLW World Tag Team Champion Satoshi Kojima to Win the MLW World Heavyweight ChampionshipI can't think of a single above-average title defense Kojima has had in the last six months if not longer, which tells you that Riddle should've dethroned him a while ago. Nothing against Kojima, but he was the wrong choice to be holding the top title for nearly a year. Nonetheless, this was as good of a match as you were going to get from them. Riddle is definitely a polarizing figure, but it made sense for him to finally "finish his story" (so to speak) and capture the title he never could during his last stint with MLW. Overall ShowThis was a mixed bag of a show. On one hand, it was very newsworthy with both the MLW World Heavyweight Championship and the MLW World Women's Featherweight Championship changing hands, not to mention there was some quality wrestling. On the other hand, the lucha matches were once again random, the Rogue Horsemen group isn't clicking and whatever the hell they're doing with Cesar Duran, Salina de la Renta and her baby is terrible television. There's at least some stuff I'm digging about the current product and I don't know I would've said that a year or so ago when they were leaning hard into the crap with The WTF and The Calling.
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