MLW Blood & Thunder
July 12, 2024
By: John Siino
The Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentary: Joe Dombrowski & Christian Cole
RESULTS
*Opera Cup: Atlantis Jr. over Okumura via pinfall (8:26)
*Opera Cup: Tom Lawlor over Jake Crist via submission (6:35)
*Minoru Suzuki over AKIRA via pinfall (11:14)
*3 Stages of Destruction: Mads Krule Krugger over Matthew Justice via ambulance (19:03)
*MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai (c) over Gigi Rey via pinfall (5:13) (Recommended)
*Opera Cup: KENTA over Bobby Fish via pinfall (17:11)
*No Ropes Death: Matt Riddle over Sami Callihan via submission (14:51)
Opera Cup First Round Match: Atlantis Jr. vs. Okumura
They start the match going back and forth trying to hold each other down with waist and wrist locks with Atlantis Jr. coming out on top, after hitting an arm drag. They follow with shoulder blocks as Okumura comes out on top before tossing his face mask off. Atlantis sends Okumura to the outside where he catches Okumura into a backbreaker. They battle against the ring posts with Okumura staying in control, trying to get the count-out win, but Atlantis is able to re-enter and hit a top rope crossbody. Atlantis follows with a thrust kick for two before they go into a forearm exchange but Okumura hits a cutter from the corner for two. Atlantis sends Okumura to the outside again where he takes him out with a tope suicida. A bit of back-and-forth in the ring before Okumura is able to put on an armbar, but Atlantis is able to make his way over to the ropes to break up the submission. Atlantis catches Okumura from the corner and hits an airplane spin for two, heads to the top rope, and hits a frog splash to get the pin and the win. He will go on to face the winner of the Mistico vs. Magnus match which was taped earlier on this evening for the upcoming ‘Never Say Never’ show.
Winner: Atlantis Jr. by pinfall at 8:26, to advance
Bomaye Will Fight
We go to Joe Dombrowski who brings out Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas, both representing the Bomaye Fight Club (Faye Jackson is out with them) who will face off in the first round of the Opera Cup (already taped for Never Say Never). Dombrowski asked if this match would tear the Bomaye Fight Club apart, but Kane says the name says ‘fight’ as they fight each other all the time and that’s what they do. They talk about getting a future MLW World Tag Team Championship, but not before Kane wins the Opera Cup and gets a future title shot before Thomas chimes in that he could win it and Kane is okay with that.
Salina de la Renta is with Jesus Rodriguez in the back and says she will get her revenge, but her newly revealed father Cesar Duran, and his goons stop her and take out Rodriguez. Cesar tells Salina to trust him since they are family as they walk off together.
Opera Cup First Round Match: Jake Crist vs. Tom Lawlor
Jake Crist takes out Tom Lawlor on the outside with a crossbody and Asai Moonsault before the match can even start. Saint Laurent goes and joins commentary, but unfortunately, we are not able to hear him. As the match starts, Lawlor takes control attacking Crist on the apron, before going back in and suplexing Crist down for two. After about two minutes, we finally start hearing Laurent as Lawlor takes off one of his pair of shorts and starts choking Crist with them. They start going after each other with clotheslines before Lawlor whips Crist into the corner. Crist mounts a comeback hitting a forearm off the corner and catches Lawlor into a sit-out powerbomb for two. Lawlor puts on a rear-naked choke hold that he turns into a suplex but only gets two. Lawlor quickly puts on a crossface, but Crist escapes and hits a cutter off the ropes for two. Crist goes to the top rope, but Lawlor joins him and hits a suplex, holding to the arm for a Kimura armbar, as Crist eventually passes out. Lawlor goes on to face his World Titan Federation stablemate Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the next round.
Winner: Tom Lawlor by submission at 6:35, to advance
Paul Walter Hauser Challenges Tom Lawlor
Tom Lawlor gets on the mic and says he will become the next Opera Cup winner before he gets cut off by Paul Walter Hauser. Unfortunately, we can’t really hear him, but it sounds like Hauser talks about how Lawlor has to cheat to win. Hauser says he learned that Lawlor’s true colors are very visible and talks about his ego. Hauser challenges Lawlor to a No Holds Barred Match in an MMA cage. Hauser then says Saint Laurent is banned from ringside and the building. Lawlor agrees to the match as Hauser says Lawlor will give the performance of his lifetime playing the role of his bitch.
We get a Contra Unit video as Mads Krule Krugger targets Matthew Justice before their match later on tonight and says he will drown him in a pool of his own blood and he’ll leave him just like he did with 1 Called Manders.
AKIRA vs. Minoru Suzuki (w/ Ikuro Kwon)
AKIRA comes out with his dog, Kota, who gets taken to the back before the match can start. It is very odd to see Minoru Suzuki not come out to Kaze Ni Nare. They take it to the mat right away as they start trading submission holds back and forth, including Suzuki working on AKIRA’s arm. Suzuki starts toying with AKIRA, but he takes advantage and starts twisting up Suzuki’s legs. Suzuki ends up catching AKIRA in the ropes with an armbar, before dragging AKIRA to the outside where he sends him into the barricade. They take it to the commentary table where Suzuki tries to piledrive him onto it, but decides not to. As Suzuki distracts the referee, Ikuro Kwon attacks AKIRA. Back inside the ring, Suzuki smiles as AKIRA chops away at him. They start trading inside cradles before Suzuki ends up sending AKIRA to the outside. Kwon tries to attack AKIRA again, but this time gets taken out. AKIRA takes Suzuki down, climbs the top rope, and hits a leg drop to the back of Suzuki’s head (kind of) for two. Suzuki comes back with a Pele Kick and gets a two. Suzuki calls for the Gotch-style Piledriver, but AKIRA reverses it into a two-count. Suzuki drops AKIRA down with a forearm, but he gets back up and flips the finger challenging Suzuki to hit a forearm, which he gladly delivers. AKIRA comes right back with a German Suplex before Suzuki puts on the sleeper hold right into the Gotch-style Piledriver, to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Minoru Suzuki by pinfall at 11:14
Suzuki & Kwon keep attacking AKIRA after the bell, but before Suzuki can hit another piledriver, MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima runs out and takes out both members of the Contra Unit.
Upcoming Schedule
- Never Say Never – August 10th (beIN Sports/YouTube)
- Summer of the Beasts – August 29th – New York City (YouTube)
- Fightland – September 14th – Atlanta (YouTube)
Who Is Salina’s Baby Daddy?
We get a video package showing the last couple of months of history between Cesar Duran & Salina de la Renta including the reveal of Duran being Salina’s father and Salina revealing to him that she is pregnant. Duran makes his way to the ring as we have been told we will find out who the father of Salina’s baby is. Duran says they all have the same thing in common and that is to find out who the father is. Duran says whoever the dad is, he is going to be the heir to the Duran Family Kingdom and needs to know if he’s worth it. Duran is fired up dropping f-bombs everywhere as Salina makes her way to the ring.
Duran asks if the mysterious man is Star Jr., Jesus Rodriguez, or Brett Ryan Gosselin. Salina says she isn’t going to tell him but Duran says he will disown her if she doesn’t. Salina says he deserves to know as MLW National Openweight Champion Bad Dude Tito comes out. Duran thinks it’s him, but Tito says it’s not and he just wants to find out like everybody else. Duran angrily asks who the father is as Salina says it could be ‘one of these fat fucks sitting in the audience’ which prompts Saint Laurent to make his way out which makes Duran visibly sick at the thought it could be him. Duran said he thought Laurent was married, but he says not in Tijuana before revealing he isn’t the father either. Laurent says WTF got into DNA testing and he can tell Duran for a fee. Salina tells Laurent that it’s a COVID test before asking if people have heard of the story of Baby Jesus and says she is a virgin. Salina points to Duran, who says enough of this Game of Thrones bullshit, but Salina means the masked Azteca henchman behind Duran. The henchman takes off his mask, but it isn’t revealed who he is, as Salina starts making out with him. Duran tells them to stop kissing, as Salina and the Azteca henchman leave together as Duran faints in the ring.
3 Stages of Destruction Match: Mads Krule Krugger vs. Matthew Justice (w/ Bill Alfonso)
The first stage of this match is a First Blood match, as Matthew Justice takes Mads Krule Krugger to the corner right away and chops and punches away. Krugger is able to stop Justice’s momentum with a big boot, but Justice quickly takes Krugger to the outside where he meets him with a dropkick. Bill Alfonso tosses Justice a chair that he uses on Krugger, but Krugger comes back with a punch through it and chokeslams Justice onto the apron. The Sentai Death Squad tosses a ladder into the ring, which Krugger sets up in the corner and Irish Whips Justice into. Justice takes control puts the ladder onto Krugger’s head and hits him with a chair. Justice starts attacking the Sentai Death Squad with the chair and uses the back of one of them to launch off of and hit a spear at Krugger. The chair is revealed to be covered in barbed wire, as Alfonso sets it up for Justice to hit a Coast to Coast onto Krugger. Justice hits a vicious-looking chair shot to the head of Krugger a couple of times, as enough blood is coming from Krugger for the referee to call the first fall at 4:27
We move on to the second stage; a Street Fight as Justice starts piling chairs and the ladder on top of Krugger. Justice brings a table in as well as you can hear a pin drop from this crowd. Justice continues smashing a chair on top of the weapon-covered Krugger. Krugger is able to get up and eats the trash can lid shots from Justice before blocking a chair and choke slamming Justice down. Krugger sets up a chair, but Justice reverses and puts him through it with a Death Valley Driver. Justice continues attacking Krugger with the weapons, before putting him on top of a table and climbing a very tall ladder. A Sentai Death Squad member climbs as well and gets knocked off by Krugger who climbs to the top and superplexes Justice down onto the table as Krugger gets the second fall at 10:57.
The third and final match is a Medical Evacuation match, where you have to put your opponent in an ambulance as we get a faint ‘this is awesome’ chant. More Sentai Death Squad come in with a body bag as commentary reminds us that’s how Jacob Fatu’s MLW career ended. They put Justice in the body bag, as Alfonso gets in the ring and hits Krugger with a chair to the back. This destruction causes Justice to take them all out with a chair shot before Justice & Krugger end up spilling to the outside, falling on top of a ladder. Justice & Alfonso start dragging the ladder to the entrance of the stage. Justice hits a tornado DDT to Krugger off a barricade before grabbing another table from under the ring that he brings over to the ladder and sets it up. The crowd wakes up a little as they chant for Justice to ‘fuck him up’. They place Krugger on a table, but as Alfonso puts the ladder on top of him, the table comes crashing down. Justice doesn’t care, and climbs the ladder and and splashes onto Krugger and the downed table. Justice stacks the ladders on Krugger and heads to the back where he grabs a mobile cart. Justice puts Krugger on the cart and pushes him outside where the ambulance is. As Justice opens the ambulance door, Ikuro Kwon is there to spit mist into Justice’s face. Krugger & Kwon set the table on fire and go to powerbomb Justice onto it, but the fire goes out before the impact, and the table barely dents. Regardless, Krugger sends Justice into the ambulance and closes the door to end this embarrassing match.
Winner: Mads Krule Krugger (2-1) at 19:03
MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai (c) vs. Gigi Rey
Janai Kai goes right after Gigi Rey with kick attempts, but she is able to dodge them. They run the ropes where Rey hits an impressive headscissors and attacks Kai in the corner, hitting a suplex followed by a running low clothesline for two. Kai reverses Rey and starts kicking and stomping away at her, before trapping her in the ropes and kicking away. They go back and forth before Kai stops Rey with another kick to the chest. Rey stays on top of Kai and hits a Michinoku Driver but only gets two. Rey hits an impressive corkscrew dive called the Money Shot but only gets a two. Kai stops all the momentum with a knee to the face and a suplex, sending Rey to the corner where she hits the GTG kick for the pin and the win.
Winner: Janai Kai by pinfall at 5:13, to retain
Opera Cup First Round Match: Bobby Fish vs. KENTA
This is KENTA’s MLW debut and the crowd gives him a great reaction, being one of the few talents they hadn’t seen earlier on in the night for the Never Say Never taping. KENTA starts by pushing Bobby Fish against the ropes, but he’s able to escape. They both try to outsmart each other before KENTA playfully kicks a downed Fish on the back of his head. Fish comes right back with a springboard senton, but only gets a two. KENTA goes for repeated pin attempts and yells at the referee for counting too slowly. Fish comes back with a back suplex for two, but KENTA is able to fight him off with three hard kicks to the chest, sending Fish back into the corner. KENTA continues with more kicks. KENTA starts toying with Fish, but Fish slips out and puts a choke hold. Fish escapes and attacks KENTA in the corner with punches and kicks, before hitting a low clothesline for two. KENTA heads to the top rope, where he hits a Tornado DDT to Fish, onto the ropes neck-first, heads back to the top rope, and hits a flying clothesline for two. They trade forearms and kicks before taking each other with a double clothesline. They trade offense against the corners, with KENTA taking control, hitting a low dropkick, heading to the top rope but misses the double stomp. Fish now heads to the top, but KENTA is able to stop him, joining him to hit a superplex. Back to the top rope for KENTA who hits a double stomp, but only gets two. KENTA calls for the GTS, but Fish blocks it and hits a Dragon screw leg whip. They head back to the top where Fish hits an avalanche Falcon Arrow, but KENTA is able to kick out, just for Fish to hold on for a heel hook that KENTA eventually turns into a pin attempt for two. KENTA viciously slaps away Fish, but he catches him, right into an Exploder Suplex. After a bit of back and forth, KENTA is able to hit the GTS to get the pin and the win and will face AKIRA in the next round of the Opera Cup.
Winner: KENTA by pinfall at 17:11, to advance
Summer of the Beasts Line-Up (August 29th – New York City)
- Opera Cup Quarter Final: KENTA vs. AKIRA
- Opera Cup Quarter Final: Atlantis Jr. vs. Mistico or Magnus
- Opera Cup Quarter Final: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tom Lawlor
No Ropes Death Match: Sami Callihan vs. Matt Riddle
Sami Callihan gets on the mic before the bell rings, and tells the crowd to shut up as he will take out Matt Riddle in 5 seconds. As the bell rings, it looks like Riddle might do that instead as he hits a knee, but Callihan is able to kick out. Callihan spills to the outside where he grabs a handful of white powder that he tosses in Riddle’s face. Callihan hits a paper cut to Riddle before tossing him back into the ring. Callihan grabs a barbed-wired bat and starts digging into Riddle’s forehead with it. Callihan goes and uses a staple gun into Riddle’s chest and armpit as the crowd chants ‘You sick fuck’. Callihan grabs a lemon, takes a bite into it, and squirts it into the armpit of Riddle. Callihan continues by stapling between Riddle’s toes and grabs salt that he pours all over Riddle’s toes. Callihan then grabs a piece of a broken glass bottle and smashes it over Riddle’s head, followed by a piledriver but Riddle kicks out at two. Callihan pours the rest of the broken bottle all over the mat as they battle to suplex each other into it. Callihan ends up dropping Riddle feet-first onto the broken glass, as he squirms in pain. Callihan grabs a toolbox and pours the nut bolts, but Riddle fights back and hits an RKO to Callihan. They battle on the outside where Riddle finds a wooden door that he places against the apron. Riddle starts removing the canvas mat off the ring to expose the wooden boards. Riddle sets Callihan onto the wooden door, but Callihan dodges as Riddle goes crashing through it with a Broton. They continue to fight around the ring using weapons before re-entering the ring and start chopping and punching away at each other before Callihan hits a Cactus Driver ’97 to Riddle on top of the wooden board but only gets two. Riddle is able to hit another RKO on top of the glass, but Callihan kicks out. Riddle takes the ring rope that was under the ring and chokes Callihan with it in his mouth, as Callihan quickly taps out to end the match.
Winner: Matt Riddle by submission at 14:51
As commentary is hyping up Matt Riddle’s future MLW World Championship title shot against Satoshi Kojima, we head to the back where we see the Contra Unit attacking Kojima & AKIRA to end the show.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This show’s energy was hurt either by them having to sit through a taping of Never Say Never before or possibly not being into the action, and I don’t blame them. The majority of this show felt slow and boring, but the 3 Stages of Destruction match surely took the cake as one of the worst matches I might have witnessed this year. The two main spots were both blown (ladder dive onto a table and chokeslam through a table on fire) and it just gave a sense of uneasiness for the entirety of the match that fell flat from one sequence to the other. The only bright spot I can surely say from this card was the Janai Kai vs. Gigi Rey match, which I’m surprisingly happy about because when I saw Kai was fighting an unestablished talent, I was fearing a quick smash match, as we sometimes get from the lone women’s match on MLW. Luckily, I was wrong and we got a really fun 5-minute sprint, that surely put Gigi Rey on my radar. Janai Kai continues to make a name for herself and it’s only a matter of time before she gets a spot on national television.
The Salina’s baby daddy reveal was pretty awful (not as bad as Krugger/Justice), but it seemed either the crowd didn’t care or just wasn’t aware of this storyline. The comedy didn’t hit with the fake reveals and then when we did get the real reveal, not one person knew or cared who this person was. And why should they, he was literally just a masked henchman for Cesar Duran, and those men have always been disposable. If this person is revealed to be a wrestler, then excuse me, but I didn’t recognize him and because of that, this whole segment meant nothing to me. The rest of the show was filled with production errors, music miscues, and commentary trouble that made this almost 3-hour show a drag, and it didn’t help that it started at 9 pm EST. If possible, catch an MLW show live in the New York City area as those tend to be fun with a rowdy crowd, but as far as having to watch it live on YouTube, I can only hope one day there is technology to add 2x speed for that viewing.
