MLW Underground Wrestling Review - March 7, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jacob Fatu def. Lio Rush

Apparently this marked Rush's first time in an MLW ring in nearly two years, though I feel like we've definitely seen him on MLW programming in that time. Regardless, it was cool to see him back and mixing it up with one of MLW's biggest stars in Fatu. This was an enjoyable outing that ended as it should have: with a decisive win for Fatu heading into his MLW World Heavyweight Championship clash with Alexander Hammerstone in two weeks. Speaking of Hammerstone, the two of them brawled afterward to hype it up.

The Billington Bulldogs def. Bomaye Fight Club (Mr. Thomas and Myron Reed)

As I've said before, Billington Bulldogs are a welcome addition to what feels like a depleted tag team division in MLW. I also appreciate that they have direction right off the bat in the form of a feud with Bomaye Fight Club. This was a nicely paced and well wrestled. Per the stipulation, Davey Boy Smith Jr. has now earned himself a match against Alex Kane. It has the potential be good, but we'll see if they deliver.

MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone vs. Lance Anoa'i Ended in a No Contest

The timing of this match was strange because Anoa'i did nothing to deserve a title shot, and while I would have been fine with him getting straight-up squashed by Alexander, you wouldn't want to do that a week before he and Juicy Finau challenge Hustle and Power for the MLW World Tag Team Championship. It turned into an angle almost immediately instead and that was an acceptable approach to take. We got more of a brawl between Hammerstone and Fatu to close out the show. I'm looking forward to that rematch because of how well they've built it up.

Overall Show

Raven and a few other men (including Rickey Shane Page) were randomly revealed as the mystery attackers in a vignette that aired. Raven is an interesting choice for that spot, but the execution of the reveal was weird since some of their attacks have played out in the ring. Otherwise, this was a thumbs-up edition of Underground Wrestling with no filler. The title match in the main event was inconsequential, but the primary focus of this show was to further build toward Fatu vs. Hammerstone II and they did so effectively.

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