MLW Intimidation Games
February 29th, 2024
By: John Siino
Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York
Commentary: Joe Dombrowski & Christian Cole
The Melrose Ballroom was packed tonight, as MLW touted this sold-out show as an all-time high attendance and box office record for the organization in New York City.
MLW Once Upon A Time In New York Results
(These matches were taped for a March 16th, 2024 YouTube special, all before ‘Intimidation Games’, except the final two matches that happened after)
· Bad Dude Tito (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) def. Azteca 66 with a Michinoku Driver at 1:25
· Backstage segment between Cesar Duran & Salina de la Renta, where Rocky Romero is seen attacking an Azteca henchman
· Six-Way Scramble: Brett Ryan Gosselin (w/ Zayda) def. Dyln McKay, Marcus Mathers, Ichiban, Cannonball & Love Doug, pinning McKay with a roll-up at 6:28. During Cannonball’s entrance, he got taken out by AKIRA, which ended up being a brawl with him, Jake Crist, Rickey Shane Page & Sami Callihan that security had to break apart.
· AJ Francis (w/ Saint Laurent) def. Mr. Thomas (w/ Alex Kane & Faye Jackson) with a Death Valley Driver at 2:10
· Matt Riddle def. Davey Boy Smith Jr. (w/ Josh Bishop) with a roll-up at 11:51 in a hard-hitting match. Saint Laurent was on commentary, and after the match Bishop tried to take out Riddle, but got taken out himself with a knee.
· MLW Women’s Featherweight Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Delmi Exo (w/ Cesar Duran) def. Zayda (w/ Brett Ryan Gosselin) at 4:00. Zayda called out Janai Kai after, just to be taken out. Janai & Jesus Rodriguez attacked Exo & Duran afterward, and they all ended up brawling.
· The second portion starts with Court Bauer about to announce something, just to be viciously attacked by the Contra Unit. Members of the MLW roster tried to help but got taken out themselves.
· Star Jr. (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) def. Magnus (w/ Cesar Duran) in a fantastic Lucha match, with Star Jr. getting the pin at 8:36 after a springboard double stomp, in what looked to have been a fast count from the referee. Magnus took out the ref with a super kick after the match.
· Alex Kane & CozyMAX (Satoshi Kojima & Shigeo Okumura) (w/Faye Jackson) def. World Titan Federation (Tom Lawlor, Richard Holliday & Josh Bishop) (w/ Saint Laurent). Kojima got the pin on Bishop with the Cozy Lariat at 9:38. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brett Ryan Gosselin ran out after to help WTF attack the others. Second Gear Crew & AJ Francis came out as this feud looks to be the set-up for War Chamber. Matt Riddle came out after and took out all of WTF, and shared Coors Lights with Kojima, Kane & Okumura.
MLW World Middleweight Championship: Rocky Romero (c) (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) vs. Mistico (w/ Cesar Duran)
The match starts with a waist lock and wrist lock work until Mistico knocks Rocky Romero and puts on the surfboard, which Romero gets out of and puts on an ankle lock. They go into a test of strength with monkey flips and pin attempts Mistico springboards with a back elbow and an arm drag off the ropes, but Romero dropkicks him to the outside and hits him with a tope suicida. They start fighting on the outside where Romero drops Mistico onto the apron and dropkicks Mistico as he is seated in the corner. Back inside, Romero starts tearing off the mask of Mistico that gets boos from the crowd. Romero continues to taunt the crowd while delivering suplexes before holding Mistico with a choke hold while continuing to work on ripping the mask. Mistico fights Romero off and sends him to the outside with head scissors, hits the Tiger Faint kick, and sends Romero back outside with a missile dropkick, before hitting a tope suicida. They fight on the apron before Romero drops Mistico with a brainbuster. Romero follows with Sliced Rocky for two before they head to the top rope, where Mistico hits a hurricanrana for two, himself. Romero hits the Forever Clotheslines before Mistico stops him with a kick. They trade strikes back and forth until Mistico hits a springboard crossbody for two. A bit of back and forth, before Romero hit a Sunset Driver getting a two. Mistico stops Romero on the top rope and hits a Spanish Fly for two. Mistico heads to the top rope, but Romero gets his knees up, but Mistico follows with a snap power slam for two. Mistico tries to go to the top again, but Romero stops him and hits a Super Sliced Rocky for two. After some more back and forth, Mistico traps on La Mistica, as Romero taps out right away
Winner: Mistico by submission at 18:01, to become NEW MLW World Middleweight Champion.
After the match, Cesar Duran challenged Rocky Romero to take on Mistico in a Hair vs. Mask match. Romero teased doing it tonight, before leaving, as this match stipulation could be a future rematch.
New York City Street Fight: The Calling (Sami Callihan & Rickey Shane Page) (w/ Cannonball, Doctor Cornwallis & Talon) vs. AKIRA & Jake Crist
AKIRA & Jake Crist rush the ring and attack The Calling, before hitting stereo suicide dives. They both jump off the top rope with chairs, taking out The Calling on the outside. Weapons are used by all four competitors on the outside, including Sami Callihan giving Crist a paper cut. AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page end up back in the ring, where RSP hits a crossbody and a Swanton for two. AKIRA fights back with a suplex for two, followed by a running knee taking RSP to the outside. Callihan starts attacking Crist with a chair, including a suplex onto it. Crist fights off Callihan sending him to the outside, where he hits a baseball dropkick and tries to dive off the apron, just to get punched down. RSP sends AKIRA back inside before Callihan & RSP toss wooden boards into the ring and set them up in the corners. Before fighting it a bit, AKIRA gets hip-tossed onto a wooden board, before being suplexed onto the other. They continue attacking AKIRA with the wooden board pieces before Crist takes them out with a crossbody and a cutter. Callihan breaks up AKIRA who was trying to submit RSP, but as Cannonball is trying to get another wooden board from under the ring, out appears The Blue Meanie who chases Cannonball to the back. Back inside, Callihan hits Crist with a low blow as RSP puts on a crucifix pin for the win.
Winners: The Calling (Sami Callihan & Rickey Shane Page) by pinfall at 11:07
The Response
The Calling keeps attacking AKIRA & Crist until Jimmy Lloyd runs out for the save. They all brawl as security tries to stop them, just to get taken out themselves. Callihan calls this bullshit and tells them to get back, but Raven appears on the screen and suggests this war continues and since they stole the name The Calling, he will call his new group with AKIRA, Crist & Lloyd, The Response.
They announce that Timothy Thatcher will be at MLW War Chamber on Friday, March 29th at The Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
We see Saint Laurent & Tom Lawlor in the restroom, as Davey Boy Smith Jr. is seen in the background using the urinal for a while. Lawlor says they make movies here in the WTF and they will bring home gold here in the home territory of New York. Smith joins in as the crowd chants for him to wash his hands.
Bobby Fish vs. Alex Kane (w/ Mr. Thomas & Faye Jackson)
Alex Kane starts the match trying to take Bobby Fish down and hold him down with a side headlock before taking him down with a shoulder block. Fish comes back with knees before Kane sends him in the corner as Fish, who’s now bald, tells the referee that Kane pulled his hair. Fish starts attacking Kane in the corner with kicks, as he’s working on Kane’s left knee. Fish continues with a suplex for two, before Kane ducks a kick and goes to the outside to regroup with Mr. Thomas. Fish pulls on the referee to distract him, as he kicks Kane down low. Fish jaw-jacks to Thomas & Faye Jackson on the outside, which allows Kane to hit a suplex for two. Fish gets sent to the outside, where he kicks Kane off the apron and continues to kick him as he falls. Kane stays on the attack hitting three back-to-back suplexes. Fish kicks Kane off, but gets pounced right back down before Kane hits a spear for two. Kane puts on a sleeper hold, as Fish passes out allowing the referee to stop the match.
Winner: Alex Kane by referee stoppage at 10:14
As Alex Kane is celebrating on the mic, he gets interrupted by AJ Francis. Francis says the people here don’t even know what ‘Bomaye’ means and doesn’t even know what Muhammad Ali knows. The crowd chants ‘bottom dollar’ as Francis starts chanting ‘Bum-aye’. Francis says the ancestors are ashamed of Kane and this will come down to ‘ritual combat’ and some people in Kane’s ranks may not be as loyal as he thinks they are. Kane gives a bit of a look to both Thomas & Faye after.
Upcoming Schedule
· Once Upon A Time In New York – March 16th (beIN Sports/YouTube)
· War Chamber – March 29th in Tampa (TrillerTV)
· Azteca Lucha – May 11th in Chicago (TrillerTV)
· Battle Riot VI – June 1st in Atlanta (TrillerTV)
MLW World Tag Team Championship: The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) (c) vs. World Titan Federation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Tom Lawlor) (w/ Saint Laurent)
1 Called Manders launches Matthew Justice in the ring to start the match, as the crowd continues to chant ‘wash your hands’ to Davey Boy Smith Jr. They all start brawling on the outside before Manders & Tom Lawlor start brawling on the apron. Smith is choking out Justice on the outside, as Manders puts Lawlor’s shirt over his head and chops away at him. Smith joins in as they start double-teaming on Manders. Smith continues to work on Manders with elbow drops and leg drops. Lawlor tags in and continues with kicks before putting on an abdominal stretch. WTF takes turns tagging in and out and working on Manders, but Justice eventually runs in and breaks it up. Manders powers out and hits Lawlor with a spinebuster before making the hot tag to Justice who goes after Smith & Lawlor. All four go at it with Irish whips and slams, but Justice stops a Hart Attack attempt. As The Second Gear Crew had the match won, Lawlor pulled out the referee. SGC brings a table into the ring, and Justice hits a DDT to Lawlor through a table, as he was on Manders shoulders, but as the referee gets rolled in, it is only a two count. Brett Ryan Gosselin runs out and this distraction causes Smith to take the helmet that Saint Laurent was wearing, and knock Manders out with it. Lawlor rolled up Manders to get the pin and the win.
Winners: World Titan Federation (Tom Lawlor & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) by pinfall at 11:16, to become NEW MLW World Tag Team Champions.
We get a video from Mads Krule Krugger who says the body count will rise and they will prepare for one last war with MLW.
NJPW World Television Championship: Matt Riddle (c) vs. Bad Dude Tito
Matt Riddle comes out for his first title defense, after taking the title off Hiroshi Tanahashi last week in Japan. As soon as the bell rings, Riddle rushes Bad Dude Tito with a knee, before they trade suplexes and get into each other with slaps, punches, and kicks. Tito follows with a Death Valley Driver for two, before Riddle stops him against the ropes with a knee and a Fisherman’s Buster for two. Riddle follows with the Broton for two, before he starts kicking away at Tito. This only gets Tito upset as he drops Riddle down and hits a top rope Frog Splash for two. They go back and forth with fast punches before Riddle hits a suplex and tries another Broton, just for Tito to catch him into a powerbomb for two. Riddle stops a lariat attempt and hits a suplex. Tito comes back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two, but Riddle escapes out of a suplex attempt, and sends Tito into the corner where he flips right into the ‘Bro-Stone’ Tombstone piledriver for the pin and the win.
Winner: Matt Riddle by pinfall at 5:06, to retain
$5,000 5 Minute Challenge Match: Janai Kai (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) vs. Zoey Cannon
Zoey Cannon (who is a student of Jesus Rodriguez) comes out as the mystery challenger. As soon as the bell rings, Janai Kai knocks Cannon into the corner and hits another kick, as the referee calls off the match.
Winner: Janai Kai by referee stoppage at 18 seconds
We go to a video from Cesar Duran who congratulates them on a ‘glorified squash match’. Cesar goes to a toast because of what they are looking forward to in Tampa for War Chamber. Cesar tells Salina to challenge one of his luchadors at the War Chamber.
MLW World Heavyweight Championship: Satoshi Kojima (c) (w/ Shigeo Okumura) vs. Minoru Suzuki
This is Satoshi Kojima’s first match since suffering an injury here in MLW, in early February. Minoru Suzuki goes into this match with a 5-4-1 singles record over Kojima, with their last singles match being in the 2019 New Japan Cup first round. This is also their first match against each other in the United States. Right away they work on wrist locks and try to take each other down, as Kojima goes to the ropes to break it up. Suzuki takes a chop against the ropes but eats it before they go into a chop exchange that Kojima stops with a shoulder block. Suzuki traps up Kojima in the ropes before he takes him to the outside where they continue trading punches. They fight on the apron, where Suzuki knocks Kojima down and puts on a leg lock. Suzuki continues attacking Kojima against the barricade, attacking his injured knee, before knocking down Shigeo Okumura as well. Suzuki starts using a chair on Kojima before the referee gets involved. Suzuki continues attacking the knee, twisting and turning him until Kojima grabs the bottom rope. Suzuki continues with the leg locks, as Kojima grabs the bottom rope again. Kojima starts hitting machine gun chops, which Suzuki seems to love and enjoy. Suzuki lands a barrage of punches, as Kojima tries to punch back. They continue trading forearms, with Suzuki knocking Kojima down with a hard one, twice for a two. Kojima fights back with a Koji Cutter, but Suzuki dodges the Cozy Lariat. Suzuki puts on a sleeper hold but only gets a two. Suzuki tries another sleeper, before trying the Gotch Style Piledriver, and Kojima gets out and hits a standing lariat and a brainbuster for two. A bit of back and forth, before Kojima hits a lariat then the Cozy Lariat for the pin and the win.
Winner: Satoshi Kojima by pinfall at 16:25, to retain
