MLW Underground Wrestling Review - May 2, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Alex Kane Addressed the Audience; MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone def. Mr. Thomas (Non-Title)

I could've sworn Hammerstone vs. Real1 for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship was advertised either before or during this show, but I realize that was changed due to Real1 being released from the company over WrestleMania weekend. I can't say I'm upset over his departure, but that's pretty terrible timing. The non-title match we got instead with Hammerstone and Thomas was a total squash as it should have been. I liked Kane's pre-match promo as it established him as a fan favorite and built toward his eventual championship clash with Hammerstone.

MLW World Tag Team Champions Samoan SWAT Team (Juciy Finau and Lance Anoa'i) def. The Mane Event

No, I have no idea what The Mane Event did to earn an opportunity at the MLW World Tag Team Championship, but I thought they had an impressive performance for as long as this lasted. Hopefully we'll get to see more of them in MLW in the future where we can find out more about them instead of the cold introduction they got here. This was more of the same dominance we've come to expect from Samoan SWAT Team.

B3CCA def. Brittany Blake

Blake has been a regular in MLW's women's division for a while now whereas B3CCA is a new addition. I'm familiar with her from the appearances she's made on AEW Dark in the past, but nothing about her in-ring work has ever stood out to me. She had a solid showing here and it was a decent match, but it'd be great if B3CCA could ditch the dumb, Jillian Hall-knockoff gimmick. She got heat, so I suppose that's something, but I see it being more of a hinderance for her than a help in the long run.

MLW National Openweight Champion John Hennigan vs. Jacob Fatu Went to a No Contest

This was hyped up throughout the night but never actually happened due to The Calling attacking Fatu on the stage. The show went off the air, and that was it. Yeah, it was pretty disappointing, especially you consider that this might end up being the final episode of Underground. I'm sure we'll get the actual match between these two at some point, but it would've been nice if that was made clear. The stuff with The Calling continues to feel forced.

Overall Show​

This was a notable show for a few reasons. There wasn't anything that happened that was newsworthy, but it apparently did mark the season (and possible series) finale on Reelz. It was announced that Fusion will be back on its usual platforms starting Thursday, May 25th. We also found out that the Never Say Never event in July will apparently be a pay-per-view on FITE TV, which is cool. This was a waste of a show with the MLW National Openweight Championship match not actually happening and the finish of Battle Riot being shown in its entirety, so Underground went out with a whimper.

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