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Preview: MLW SuperFight (2/3/24)

A promotional graphic for MLW SuperFight 2024.

Saturday night, MLW returns to 2300 Arena in Philadelphia for its next live special event on TrillerTV, SuperFight. Five big matches are slated on the card, with two championship matches bookending the card. There is also a big return to action, what will likely be a bloody (and disgusting, knowing the competitors) Death Machine Rules match and the MLW debut of two huge international wrestling legends.

MLW offers something for every wrestling fan’s tastes, from lucha action, stiff-hard-hitting puroresu, ultra-violence and hoss action.

As the special’s name suggests, SuperFight is about giving the fans big battles between some of the best wrestlers across the world. But there are a few background details worth knowing.

MLW Reload Fallout:

  • The number one contender for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship, Satoshi Kojima, defeated Sami Callihan in a hard-hitting and spit-flying match.
  • Ichiban overcame Jimmy Lloyd and interfered in a fun clash of styles that even involved a ladder! Frustrated, Salina de la Renta finally relents and gives Ichiban his Middleweight Championship match.
  • The World Titan Federation’s (WTF) issues with the Second Gear Crew persisted backstage. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop had to be separated by security from 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice.
  • MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane held a press conference where the champion called Kojima a “carbohydrate hoe”. Kane promised to take Kojima behind the shed and put him out of his misery while hinting that he wants more challengers from New Japan Pro Wrestling.
  • In an MLW online exclusive, Alex Kane interrupted Kojima, who was holding a press conference in a stairwell. The Bomaye leader accused Kojima of disrespecting. Kojima responded by pelting the champion with bread like he was a duck in a pond.

The Return of Cesar Duran?

Since December, there have been growing hints about the return of Atzeca Underground’s head honcho, Cesar Duran. Salina de la Renta, El Jefe’s adversary, has been paranoid about his return after Renta had Duran taken away in a hostile takeover.

In a recent online media clip, Renta and her group returned to Boyle Heights to confront Duran. MLW’s expanding schedule is hosting an Ateca Lucha event in May. MLW seems to be expanding its relationship with CMLL. If Duran returns on Saturday they may find out what’s next in the war between MLW’s two premier Latin American promoters.

MLW World Middleweight Championship Match

Best two out of three falls match:

Rocky Romeo W/Salina de la Renta © vs. Ichiban

For months now, Ichiban has been relentless in both his optimism and insistence that he is the number one in the middleweight division. Salina refuses to give the young man a championship opportunity because the Empresario sees Ichiban as a fraud, a counterfeit luchador. At Holiday Rush, Salina ripped Ichicban’s mask off from his face as the ultimate sign of disrespect.

Now, under traditional lucha rules of this match, two out of three falls, Salina hopes that her client, Azúcar Rocky Romero, will embarrass Ichiban. Romero has plenty of experience in these types of bouts, both in Mexico and defending the CMLL Historic Welterweight Championship last year.

Will Ichiban, the underdog, be able to overcome both Romero’s veteran skills and Salina’s outside inference? Will the number one hold his first MLW championship? Or will he fail to vindicate Salina’s assertion that Ichiban is a “deuce”?

Death Machine Rules Match

Sami Callihan vs. AKIRA

Sami Callihan returned and cost AKIRA at Kings of Colosseum his Taipei death match with National Openweight Champion and former stable mate Ricky Shane Page. Callihan, now aligned with The Calling, has made a target of The Death Fighter. The bad blood with AKIRA and The Calling will continue to be sprayed in another violent and likely gory encounter.

“Scars are trophies”. Callihan’s words show the Death Machine is fully intending to add to his collection. AKIRA has survived thumbtack matches, fluorescent light tube brawls, barb-wire massacres, fire, and obviously countless death matches in the US and Japan. Callihan brings with him a reputation for disgusting and sickening brutality.

Given the stipulations imply there are no rules and given both men’s history of ultraviolence, could this be one of the bloodiest and most gruesome encounters in MLW history?

Hoss Fight with the SOB Returning

Davey Boy Smith Jr W/ Mister Saint Laurent vs. 1 Called Manders

The WTF’s quest to convert MLW to sports entertainment has kept Mister Saint Laurent’s stable of powerhouses in title contention. It was only a month ago at Kings of Colosseum that Second Gear Crew were able to retain their MLW World Tag Team Championships against WTF’s Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop. Yet the hatred has not settled. The chairs were mangled. Tables were obliterated to splinters, both before and during the match. This feud is far from over.

Returning from an excursion with All Japan, Davey Boy Smith Jr. has not competed in MLW since April’s Battle Riot. Smith is also the current holder of the Opera Cup and still holds a victory over Bomaye Fight Club and the world champion Alex Kane from 2022. Could Saint Laurent and the son of the bulldog be eyeing up another world championship opportunity for the WTF? Or will Smith, who has held tag team gold with various partners over the years, step in to help with relinquishing Second Gear Crew of their championship?

1 Called Manders is going to be something other than a tomato-can opponent. Being one of the toughest brawlers on the roster, this will be, as advertised, a “hoss fight”. Fists will fly, and a black eye for at least one competitor seems a given. The son of the bulldog might have bitten off more than he can chew.

The WTF members will likely be present, as will Matthew Justice and the Masked Good Brother, so more broken weaponry and bodies are likely to be present beyond the ring.

Hard Hitting International Exhibition

Yuji Nagata vs. Jacob Fatu

To steal the words of one of Nagata’s former opponents on US soil, Jon Moxley, seeing the only grand slam champion in Japan who has held all the major Japanese promotional top prizes championships is a “real treat”. Especially considering that a living legend is going up against one of the most dangerous and dynamic heavyweights in the US.

Jacob Fatu has never seemed dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, Fatu is one of the most imposing and physically challenging wrestlers on any roster. Second, Fatu’s mixed form in MLW means Fatu will be out to correct the course at his opponent’s expense. At Fightland, Fatu tapped out to Alex Kane. At Holiday Rush, Fatu beat Hammerstone to end their trilogy with the Samoan Werewolf’s first win over his greatest nemesis. Then Fatu lost to the returning Matt Riddle at Kings of Colosseum.

Fatu is not coming just for the privilege of this match. Fatu will want a W as well as the scalp of Blue Justice. As seen on last Saturday’s Collison, Nagata is an old but still a lethal technician.

As an opponent, Fatu might be able to tear chunks out of even the most well-prepared opponent. Yet Nagata can neutralise limbs. How effective will Fatu’s raw power be if he cannot use his legs?

International Luchador Action

Averno W/ Salina de la Renta vs. Mistico

The second of two legendary performers to make their MLW debut, Mistico crosses the border again. Since regaining his mask and identity in 2021, the former Sin Cara has been rejuvenated as an in-ring performer.

Having last competed against Rockey Romeo on Rampage last October, the masked man finds himself opposite a wrestler he knows very well. In fact, I remember mid-2010s rumours that WWE was looking to sign Averno as an opponent for Sin Cara. Having both faced and teamed with The Prince of Silver and Gold, including this past January, this will be a fast-paced and fluid exhibition. This could be a taster of more to come with Azteca Lucha in May.

MLW World Heavyweight Championship: The First vs. The Current

Alex Kane W/ Mr Thomas © vs. Satoshi Kojima

This match is a literal historic match as the first ever MLW World Heavyweight Champion from two decades past takes on the current ace of MLW. Although the company have framed it as such, the brief interactions between the two competitors make it clear both men are looking forward. Both are firmly about the here and now.

Satoshi Kojima seems relaxed, even cosy, heading into a match with 22 years his junior. At the stairwell press conference, Kojima seemed more concerned and focused on his bread than the threat posed by Kane and Mr Thomas. Mind games or veteran assurance, Kojima has proven he’s not over the hill. Wins over “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Sami Calihan prove this. Yet this is dangerous when you have a challenger who, in his words, knows he has everything to lose.

Kane had made it clear: he is MLW’s breadbreaker. The Suplex Assassin made a point of stating six men have been challenged. Six men have failed to take the MLW Heavyweight Championship from off his shoulders. Now, Kane is fighting for more than himself but for his community. Bomaye is currently a movement. The self-appointed leader has people who depend on him.

Bomaye! Kane intends to take Kojima Kane to Suplex Island, where he will be number seven in the history of what Kane wants to turn into a historic reign to rival previous world champions like Kojima. Bomaye!

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling

Header photo – MLW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. MLW FUSION airs every Thursday on YouTube at 8 PM EST and every Saturday on beIN SPORTS at 10 PM EST. 

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