MLW Symphony of Horrors Review - October 25, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MLW National Openweight Champion Blue Panther def. Rugido and Atlantis in a Three-Way Match

Rugido was the youngest guy in this match at 34 years old. Atlantis and Blue Panther are 63 and 65, respectively. I understand that the CMLL guys are major draws for MLW, but if they're going to put one of their titles on an CMLL wrestler, why not have it be someone younger who can benefit? There's no real benefit to Panther holding MLW gold, especially if the matches are going to be as mediocre as this was. The best thing I can say about it is that it didn't last much longer than it should have.

Shotzi Blackheart def. Brittnie Brooks in a Lightning Match

The Lighting match concept has been such a success (I say that sarcastically) that they decided to try it out with the women. Spoiler alert: It didn't make much of a difference. This just felt like a standard singles match that almost lasted 10 minutes. I like both women (Brooks in particular has potential), but it was a fairly average outing. Blackheart will Priscilla Kelly at MLW's next show in November.

Diego Hill def. Ikuro Kwon, Magnus, Okumura and Stigma in a Scramble 5 Match

Why wasn't this a Lighting match, especially since it was around five minutes, anyway? This was a hell of a sprint and a fun one at that. Of everyone involved, Hill easily had the strongest showing. He's appeared for MLW before, but this was the best he's looked yet. It was smart to have him win as well. Hopefully a title shot is in his future even though this wasn't technically a number one contender's match.

MLW World Tag Team Champions The Skyscrapers vs. MLW World Heavyweight Champion Mads Krule Krugger and Matt Riddle Ended in a No Contest

Cesar Duran was forcing Krugger and Riddle to team up, so it was safe to assume that this would end in chaos. In typical MLW fashion, this was way more of a brawl than an actual match. The bout was brief but was more so designed to further the feud with the four of them. The problem is that they're all heels, so who should the crowd be cheering for? At least this wasn't dragged out unnecessarily.

MLW World Middleweight Champion Templario def. Virus

Both of these guys are talented, but the issue I had with it was that we know very little about either of them. As previously mentioned, I understand that CMLL's involvement with MLW these days is presumably the biggest draw for the promotion, but why not give this more storyline support and explain why it was happening? They had a good match, but it was nothing I'll remember.

Volador Jr. def. Satoshi Kojima in an Opera Cup Semifinal Match

Volador is one of the few CMLL guys who I've been able to invest in because he's not only a skilled wrestler but also knows how to generate heat. Meanwhile, Kojima's matches are very hit or miss, and this unfortunately wasn't one of his better bouts. Although this was on the shorter side, it was riddled with interference and not very interesting at all. Volador moving on to the finals was the correct outcome.

Mistico def. Austin Aries in an Opera Cup Semifinal Match

It's been clear all year that Mistico is MLW's biggest star by a country mile despite being nowhere near the MLW World Heavyweight Championship (though he should be). Aries hasn't wrestled regularly in several years, but to his credit, he had a super impressive performance here. These two worked really well together and put together a top-notch main event, even if Volador advancing made it obvious who was winning here.

Overall Show

MLW's events remain a mixed bag, but even though this was taped after Slaughterhouse, it turned out to be a solid show. Some matches were whatever, while others were enjoyable. More importantly, it set the stage nicely for the Lucha de los Muertos event on November 20th with Mistico vs. Volador and Blackheart vs. Kelly being among the matches that are now official.

SEE MORE: MLW Reviews