Sometimes, all you need to do is tell a few good stories to have a good show. This one told several interesting ones. Let's get to it...
MLW Thoughts (11/23/18)
- The show starts with Salina kicking over some money to Simon Gotch to pay him for helping to set him up for the beat down on Tom Lawlor. She'll double the money if he takes out Lawlor in Miami. He tells her that he'll do it for free.
- Trey Miguel starts off the show with a match against Kotto Brazil with MJF on commentary. MJF confuses Miguel for Ricochet. I tried to enjoy the match as much as possible, but MJF was a riot on the mic going back and forth with the announcers. If the guy is injured, he'd be great to add as a heel commentator for MLW. Koto and Trey have a weird botch in the middle of their match that seemed to crash and burn for both men. Tony calls MJF "slappy" as a bit of a reference to his trademark on What Happened When. Koto Brazil hits some impressive dives out to the floor on Miguel. Trey Miguel starts fighting back with a Meteora and a BOTTOM ROPE SPRINGBOARD CUTTER (that's something new!) for a 2 count on Brazil. A middle of the ring Sliced Bread ends the match and gives Brazil the win. The match had a hard time overcoming MJF's hilarious commentary, but the last few minutes of this match were very entertaining. I'm giving this a recommendation.
- After a series of promotions for MLW's December events, Kotto Brazil is interviewed about his upcoming shot at the MLW Middleweight Championship. MJF attacks Brazil from behind and beats him down. More heat for the upcoming match. Good.
- Gringo Loco takes on Marco Stunt (5'2, 144 lb, by the way) in the next match. Again, this is a Jr. Jr. Jr. Heavyweight facing a Cruiserweight and making him look like a giant. Stunt can move around the ring though. A TOP ROPE HURRICANRANA OFF THE TOP ROPE TO LOCO ON THE FLOOR! Wow. That's impressive. This guy could be a New Age 1-2-3 Kid. There seemed to be a botch in the match, but MLW edited it out with a shot at the audience. (Things you notice after watching 26 years of wrestling.) Good back and forth match and STUNT PULLS OFF A TILT-A-WHIRL DDT TO GET THE WIN! I'm impressed by Stunt here. It's easy to look down on Stunt's size and say he doesn't really stand a chance logically. But Stunt has a place in professional wrestling, and he would be valuable in any promotion.
- The main event is Shane "Swerve" Strickland" challenging Low Ki for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. Low Ki of course is accompanied by Salina de la Renta and Ricky Martinez. Low Ki has been impressive, in my opinion, as MLW Champion since I've been watching the show. He's a good cut-throat villain for the company.
Feeling out process early on. Then Strickland sends Low Ki to the outside and begins the attack. They go back to work in the ring with Strickland attacking the ribs/midsection of Low Ki. Great sequence in the match with Strickland powering Low Ki up for a suplex. Low Ki knees Strickland in the head a couple times and reverses the suplex to dump him on the top rope and to the floor. Low Ki then starts attacking Strickland on the floor and around ringside. They come back in the ring with Low Ki now on the attack. Low Ki and Strickland set a good pace for the match by not going too over the top. Instead, they are building up slowly to the big comeback for Strickland that is to come.
Strickland begins making a comeback by sending Low Ki face first into the turnbuckle. A Reverse Falcon Arrow almost gets a 3 for Strickland. The crowd is a little dead for the match in all honesty. You'd think a World Championship match would get some response from the crowd. Low-Ki hits the referee by accident. Strickland unloads on Low Ki with a series of kicks and strikes. On the floor, Low Ki is sent throat first on the guard rail. Swerve Stomp from the top rope, but the referee is down. Another referee runs in, but Low Ki kicks out after a 2 count. Martinez distracts the referee while Low Ki goes after the hair of Strickland. He pulls out clumps of his hair and pins Strickland while he's in pain. (And this is why I'm bald ladies and gentlemen. Lol.) A decent match to finish the show, but the crowd not giving a damn hurt it.
After the match, Strickland gets the mic. He calls this a bunch of crap. He's sick of the hypocrisy in MLW. He goes on a shoot promo on MLW, the fans, and Court Bauer (the booker). He quits the promotion, and they turn off the mic on him. He leaves through the crowd to end the show. Nice way to end the show as it added a little bit of heat to the program. There's been talk that Strickland is heading to NXT possibly, and that he is legitimately done with MLW. So, if that is the case, this is another notch on the belt of Low Ki's character and gives Strickland a send-off that actually will help him going forward as well to whatever company he is going to.
Overall, this was a fun episode of MLW. You had an impressive performance by Marko Stunt, two other decent to good matches, and some interesting developments to go on that. Plus, they hyped two matches for next week. One will be Brian Pillman Jr. facing Tommy Dreamer, and the second will be the Lucha Bros. taking on LA PARK and HIJO DE LA PARK for the MLW World Tag Team Championships. That should be a fun show as well.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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