MLW Slaughterhouse Review - November 23, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Matt Riddle Saved MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima From Contra Unit

​Contra Unit started the show with a quick promo in the entranceway before Kojima emerged to attack them. He was obviously outnumbered, but Riddle made the save. Riddle also said he'd see Kojima at Kings of Colosseum in January, so we finally know when Riddle intends to cash in on the MLW World Heavyweight Championship opportunity that he earned a while ago. We get a lot of boring brawling between stables in MLW (see: the next match), but at least this was kept brief.

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

This was preceded by Bomaye Fight Club interrupting The Rogue Horsemen, who have largely been unimpressive so far. I'm glad Brett Ryan Gosselin is getting the chance to lead a group, but Bobby Fish and The Andersons are not very interesting. This never really got out of first gear before it abruptly ended. A majority of it was slow and plodding. This not a faction feud I care about.

Okumura def. MLW World Tag Team Champion Ikuro Kwon

Okumura lost the MLW World Tag Team Championship to Kwon and Minoru Suzuki, so this was a logical match to do, even though that was many months ago. What wasn't logical, however, was having Okumura beat Kwon. I realize Okumura and Kojima will get their rematch for the tag titles against Contra Unit at One Shot (WHY?!), but Kwon losing to a 52-year-old Okumura wasn't ideal, not to mention Kwon's shoulder being up made for a tainted finish. This was fine and thankfully didn't last longer than it needed to.

"Filthy" Tom Lawlor Interviewed Barbaro Cavernario

We saw Cavernario in action at Lucha Apocalypto a few weeks ago, but I believe this was the first time we've heard from him on an MLW show. Lawlor asked him about attacking Mistico at the end of the event, but he responded in savage-esque style as you'd expect before eating ribs. Yes, this was certainly a segment that existed. It also did nothing to make me care about Cavernario challenging Mistico for the MLW World Middleweight Championship eventually.

KENTA def. Paul London

I feel like London looks older and older every time I see him, but the guy can still go and thus this was a nice match. KENTA lost in the finals of the Opera Cup the last time we saw him on an MLW show, so this was a good rebound victory for him. Donovan Djiak attacked him afterward, which we were told later on resulted in a (kayfabe) injured shoulder for KENTA. KENTA later teased bringing Bullet Club to MLW. I'm looking forward to KENTA vs. Dijak, but the Bullet Club brand has little value in 2024.

Donovan Dijak def. Kevin Knight

I liked how Dijak attacking KENTA seamlessly segued into him holding an open challenge. Knight, who just appeared on ROH TV the other night, was an excellent opponent for him. They worked really well together and had a fun match with Knight looking credible in defeat. Mister Saint Laurent's post-match promo was unnecessary, but I do appreciate how Dijak is being established as a dominant threat.

Delmi Exo def. Gigi Rey

Rey has wrestled for MLW before, but I'd need to see more of her in the ring to get a better grasp of what she's capable of. We didn't get that here as this was on the shorter side and there wasn't much to it. Exo indicated in her post-match interview that she's still gunning for the MLW World Women's Featherweight Championship. This women's division desperately needs more depth.

Matt Riddle def. MLW World Tag Team Champion Minoru Suzuki

With Riddle now slated to challenge for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at Kings of Colosseum, there was no way he was losing here. Suzuki may be old, but he's still an attraction and can have quality matches with the right opponent. Say what you will about Riddle, but he's very talented, so this was one of the better bouts on the show for the time given.

MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima def. Bobby Fish (Non-Title)

I have totally soured on Kojima's title reign (not that I was overly excited about it in the first place) and can't wait until January for Riddle to beat him for the belt. Nothing against Kojima personally, but I can't recall the last above-average match he's had in MLW and that's a problem when he's positioned as the top champion. Case in point, he and Fish had an acceptable outing here yet there was hardly anything out of the ordinary about it.

Mads Krule Krugger def. AKIRA in a Weapons of Mass Destruction Match

As I've said before, MLW does so many of these hardcore matches that most of them blend together for me and the stipulations mean nothing. This was another example of that and apparently I'm not alone in feeling that way because this crowd was completely quiet for it. It wasn't more than 10 minutes long, but they beat each other up to silence and it was sad to see. The effort was there, but I was not a fan of this main event.

Overall Show

This was a much more storyline-driven show compared to Lucha Apocalypto, but it also exposed how weak many of the current storylines are. This latest iteration of Contra Unit has been a dud, the world title picture has been lame because Kojima is the wrong guy to be holding the belt, Rogue Horsemen are a mediocre midcard act and there isn't a whole lot of variety in the women's division. There were some decent matches, but Slaughterhouse was an overall thumbs-down event.

SEE MORE: MLW Reviews