MLW Reloaded Review - January 25, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MLW World Heavyweight Champion Matt Riddle and "Filthy" Tom Lawlor Brawled with Contra Unit

Riddle's first promo as champ was pretty much what you'd expect, but I'm glad MLW didn't wait until their next live special to follow up on the big title change. The subsequent brawl that he and Lawlor had with Contra Unit was lame. I realize that it was intended to further the feud (especially with Mads Krule Krugger being in possession of a title shot at any time), but it's simply not a feud I care about in the slightest.

Neon def. Virus

I can't say I was familiar with either of these guys coming into this contest, but they really impressed me with what they could do. MLW's lucha matches can be hit or miss (especially since a good of them doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose), but this was a fun one as they made the most of the time they had. Hopefully this isn't the last time we see either of them featured on an MLW show.

MLW World Tag Team Champion Okumura def. Dark Panther

I'm still in disbelief that Okumura and Satoshi Kojima regained the MLW World Tag Team Championship. That's obviously an indictment on MLW's tag team division and how depleted it is. At any rate, this was a rather random match. It felt more like an excuse to get Panther on the show than anything else, but it was perfectly fine for what it was and thankfully it didn't overstay its welcome.

Bobby Fish def. Ariel Dominguez

Man, what the hell happened to Fish? I swear he didn't look this terrible the last few times I've seen him. I know he's older now, but he looked totally out of it here. This only existed to give him a victory, but even with that in mind, this was unnecessary. The best thing about it was that it was only a few minutes long. I don't think a single soul views Fish as a serious threat to anyone at this point and this did nothing to change that.

The Andersons def. Paul Walter Hauser and Paul London in a Texas Tornado Match

As I've said before, I respect the passion that Hauser has for pro wrestling and his commitment to MLW, but he has no business being in the ring as often as he is. His first match was a novelty, but everything after that has been pretty abysmal, including this. London can still do his thing, but The Anderson are boring to watch. This was an absolute mess.

Persephone def. Alejandra Quintanilla

Persephone was one of the women who took part in the four-way match on the Wrestle Dynasty pre-show earlier this month where she represented CMLL. I don't know if either of these women will be sticking around in MLW, but Delmi Exo could certainly use some fresh competition. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this except for the (unfortunately) botched finish.

"Filthy" Tom Lawlor def. Minoru Suzuki

This was a part of Lawlor's feud with Contra Unit. I may have looked forward to this match a few years ago, but in 2025, this was mediocre at best. It didn't help that this was relatively brief. Hey, at least it got a decisive finish. Stemming from his pre-match exchange with Mister Saint Laurent, Lawlor got on the mic afterward to confirm that he's going to face Donovan Dijak at SuperFight 6 in two weeks.

MLW World Middleweight Champion Mistico def. Barbaro Cavernario in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match

There isn't much that peaks my interest about the current MLW product, but Mistico is a recurring highlight with his enjoyable title defenses. I don't think it's a stretch to say that he's made the MLW World Middleweight Championship more important than any other title in the company, including the world title. This was very well wrestled and nicely paced despite the predictable outcome.

Overall Show

MLW will have the occasional quality show, but most of their shows in the last year have become a chore to sit through. The storylines are subpar and it's not as if the matches are extraordinary enough to make these events worthwhile. Two hours was way too long for this event in particular because we got plenty of meaningless matches and none of which were above average. Two shows a month for MLW is excessive with the product being as ice cold as it is at the moment.

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