A TV special for Major League Wrestling

When I stopped watching WWE, I basically replaced the five or so hours of time I spent every week watching their material with other, much smaller wrestling federations that I may not have paid attention to in the past. So far, this has been an amazing time for me as I am no longer watching a show that angers me at almost every turn; instead, I am watching a group of shows that I have become increasingly more of a fan of as every week moves on. One of the many surprises for me was just how much I have started to enjoy a small but indie ring company called Major League Wrestling. MLW Has been around for a long time despite having a long hiatus through most of the 2000s. in many ways it was the true spiritual successor to ECW at one time as most of the more talented wrestlers went there to work at one point. Now that it has come back, that old school ECW mentality has merged with some of the vibe of Lucha Underground in order to create some of the best wrestling matches on TV today.

MLW Fightland Was actually a 16-match super card that was recorded in Philadelphia on October 2nd. The special that I am root reviewing today is simply two matches from that card presented as an episode of a television show on Vice TV. I assume that this is going to continue until they have aired every match from that card, but since I do not have cable, I have no idea to confirm this until this weekend. The two matches we do have here were both incredibly good and well worth my time. I have been looking forward to Jacob Fatu versus Alexander Hammerstone for a long time and it definitely delivered.

The Card:

• 1 Tajiri defeated Myron Reed (c), Arez and Aramis Four-way match for the MLW World Middleweight Championship.
• 2 Alexander Hammerstone (National) defeated Jacob Fatu (World) (with Josef Samael) Title vs. Title No Disqualification match for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship and MLW National Openweight Championship.

My Thoughts:

As I’ve stated before, my methodology for this is to avoid giving arbitrary star ratings or anything. I usually go through the show and pull a half-dozen or so things that I thought were significant or that I liked. You might think some of my choices are dumb and that’s okay – we all like different things!

Tajiri still has it!

Being in his early 50s, one would think that wrestling legend Tajiri would have lost a step or two, especially considering his knee injury a few years ago when he worked for WWE. if this crossed your mind I hate to tell you but you are completely wrong – Tajiri still has everything in his tool chest that he had 20 years ago. Seeing him power through the match hitting all of his spots was awesome, and winning the MLW World Middleweight Title was the icing on the cake. if there ever was a person that deserved the “you still got it!” Chants, it’s definitely him.

Arez vs Aramis is starting to be my new favorite feud

For a couple of guys that were not even on my radar a few months ago, Arez and Aramis are starting to have the same sort of vibe that I always got watching Lucha Underground. They have a sort of chemistry when wrestling that makes every interaction that they have look 100 times more intense then it probably normally is. We have seen them wrestle a couple of times recently on YouTube, and each time it has been amazing. While most of this match was definitely about Tajiri getting back in the saddle, the lion’s share of the battling was done by these two. I can’t wait to see what these guys do in the future.

Cesar Duran up to his old tricks

Speaking of Lucha Underground, “El Jefe” himself, Cesar Duran, is a bit more lighthearted than his previous incarnation as the heelish promoter of Lucha Underground Dario Cueto, But that doesn’t mean that he’s not above laying down the law when it’s necessary. There is a scene in this show where the monstrous villain Mads Krueger is about to attack Alexander Hammerstone before his title match even starts, but Duran is not going to let that happen. In classic Cueto style, he and his silent luchador goons make sure that the main event goes on as planned.

One of the matches I’ve been most excited for finally happens!

This has got to be the biggest main event that Major League Wrestling has had ever since I have known about them. when you have two guys that have had possession of their respective belts for over two years each, one can imagine how impressive it’s going to be to see one of them win it all. Granted, the COVID-19 global pandemic made sure that was the case, but it doesn’t diminish eithers accomplishments. The match was a winner takes all, no disqualification, utter beat down that ushered in the new era for the company more so than anything else this year. I’m normally not a giant fan of huge muscular wrestlers karma but Alexander Hammerstone has that definite “it factor” that means he will likely be a gigantic superstar in the future. Some like to compare him to Hulk Hogan, which may be a bit presumptive, but I can definitely see it. Despite wrestling about half of the match after blowing out a tendon in his leg, Hammerstone clinched his victory and made history.

Conclusion:

It is hard to rate this show as if it is a full-fledged pay-per-view event considering it only has two matches, this was a very important show for Major League Wrestling, and a new beginning for the company and their relationship with Vice TV. I cannot wait to see the other matches that were recorded during this show because they all sound very good. Jacob Fatu versus Alexander Hammerstone is probably one of my favorite matches of the year so far, so I would definitely recommend checking this out.