MLW Summer of the Beasts
August 29, 2024
Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York
Commentary: Joe Dombrowski & Christian Cole
RESULTS
- Dark: Mads Krule Krugger over Mr. Thomas via pinfall (5:37)
- Dark: Delmi Exo over Miyu Yamashita via pinfall (6:15)
- Dark: Bobby Fish over Timothy Thatcher via pinfall (11:21)
- Opera Cup: Bad Dude Tito Escondido over Alex Kane via pinfall (8:16)
- MLW Women’s World Featherweight: Janai Kai (c) over HANAKO via submission (6:11)
- Opera Cup: TJP over Tom Lawlor via pinfall (14:18)
- Matt Riddle over Matthew Justice via pinfall (10:25) (Recommended)
- Paul London over Brett Ryan Gosselin via pinfall (5:28)
- The Andersons over Love Doug & Jay Lyon (2:37)
- Opera Cup: KENTA over AKIRA via pinfall (12:13)
- Jimmy Lloyd vs. LSG vs. Little Guido vs. Nolo Kitano – No Contest (1:51)
- MLW World Tag Team: Minoru Suzuki & Ikuro Kwon over Satoshi Kojima & Okumura (c) via pinfall (9:38) – TITLE CHANGE
- Opera Cup: Mistico over Atlantis Jr. via pinfall (18:31) – (Recommended)
Before the show; they had a ten-bell salute for Afa, Kevin Sullivan & Sid Vicious
Mr. Thomas (w/ Alex Kane) vs. Mads Krule Krugger
The two big men start by testing each other out with slaps and shoulder blocks. They work in the corner, where Thomas hits an impressive tornado DDT followed with a big dice to the outside on Krule that gets this Queens crowd amped up. Krule takes control from the apron before hitting a splash and vertical suplex for two. They both try for a choke slam before taking each other down with a double boot. Thomas comes back with a big boot, slam, and splash for a two-count. The Sentai Death Squad comes out and jumps Alex Kane on the outside. While Krule distracts the referee in the corner, Ikuro Kwon of Contra Unit comes out and sprays Thomas in the face with blank mist. Krule follows with a front Nelson slam to get the pin and the win at 5:37
Miyu Yamashita vs. Delmi Exo
They go right at it, trading shots in the ropes before Delmi sends Miyu to the outside where she hits her with a suicide dive. Miyu escapes out of a Delmi Driver with a kick and starts working on Delmi’s arm with more kicks. Miyu continues on the attack, keeping Delmi in the corner until she eventually fights back. Miyu continues with the kicks until she traps Delmi in the ropes upside down. Miyu hits a vicious kick in the corner before fighting off another Delmi Driver attempt. Delmi starts yelling at the Azteca Henchmen to do something before actually going and hitting the Delmi Driver to get the pin and win at 6:15.
Delmi gets on the mic and says it’s been over a year since Janai Kai took her Women’s Featherweight Championship but now Delmi is the #1 contender and she runs the show and tells Janai she’s on her time now.
Those two matches happened before MLW went live on YouTube for the show.
Brett Ryan Gosselin joined the commentary table as the crowd started chanting for both Swerve Strickland & Joe Hendry.
They put up a doomsday clock on the screen that expires in a bit over an hour and a half
Timothy Thatcher vs. Bobby Fish
Right away, Fish sends Thatcher to the outside and taunts him to get back in. He does and goes right after Fish with an arm bar. They start trading kicks and uppercuts before Thatcher traps on a bow and arrow. Fish can reverse it but the referee breaks them apart as they get caught in the ropes. Thatcher goes right back to the bow and arrow before he starts working on Fish’s back with some hard forearms. Fish goes after Thatcher and lands a low blow that he starts apologizing for over and over for, which Thatcher eventually escapes despite the “you fucked up chants”. They go back to trading kicks and uppercuts and as the referee tries to get in between he gets pushed off. During this, Fish hits a now more blatant low blow before rolling up Thatcher for the pin at 11:21.
BRG goes and gets a word with Fish and says even though he just beat Thatcher, it would have been better in a “real city” like Boston. BRG says when he fights Paul London later he will show everyone why they are the epitome of excellence.
Looks like that last match wasn’t broadcast as they announced they will be going live at 8 pm for the main show. There seems to have been some streaming issues as the Fish & Thatcher match was streaming but with no sound until they took the transmission down.
Saint Laurent comes out to stall a bit and says that Contra Unit has hacked the live feed for tonight. He says he’s here to entertain New York City with an impromptu edition of Sessions by Saint Laurent. He brings in a fan from the crowd named Crystal and starts asking her what her “favorite crystal is”. Laurent then brings in another fan named Jonathan and asks him some trivia like who was the first member of WTF and who his favorite MLW wrestler ever was, as he tells Timothy Thatcher. Laurent kicks him out and says he “looks like a school shooter”. Laurent then polls the crowd if he should bring in the “bearded guy” or the “girl who looks like she has an OnlyFans”. The girl wins and enters the ring introducing herself as Ashley Ann. He starts asking her who her first love was, she first says her husband before saying Shawn Michaels. Laurent ends this segment by saying he has a nude photo of Ashley Ann that he will send Michaels tonight as the lights indicate to him that they are good to go live for the broadcast!
Opera Cup 2024 Quarter Final Match: Bad Dude Tito Escondido (w/ Jesus Rodriguez) vs. Alex Kane (w/ Mr. Thomas)
They go at it right away, with Tito sending Kane to the outside and diving right onto him before they start brawling against the barricaded. Back inside, Tito hits two Suplexes followed by a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Kane comes back with a trap suplex, sending Tito to the apron where he spears him and hits a splash. Toss suplex from Kane for two. They head to the top rope, where Tito headbutts Kane off and hits a blockbuster. They trade forearms before Tito hits a TKO for two. They then start trading suplexes, each one matching what the other hit to pop the crowd. Kane keeps trying the sleeper hold until Tito pushes off the corner and covers Kane to get the pin at 8:16 to advance, as Kane immediately gets enraged.
They show a video of Matt Riddle & Satoshi Kojima in the back that the crowd unfortunately can’t hear.
MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai (c) vs. HANAKO
HANAKO making her MLW debut, representing Stardom. Right away, Janai traps HANAKO in the ropes and starts kicking away. Janai continues in the corner with kicks before hitting a big one to the head knocking HANAKO down. As Janai continues, the crowd starts chanting for HANAKO. HANAKO takes control driving Kai into the corner before hitting a backbreaker for two. They fight in the ropes where HANAKO lands a kick followed by a brain buster for two. Kai hits a deadly-looking dragon screw in the corner before she starts kicking and punching away. Kai quickly follows with the Dragon Sleeper as HANAKO taps out at 6:11.
Opera Cup 2024 Quarter Final Match: Tom Lawlor (w/ Saint Laurent) vs. TJP
Tom Lawlor gets on the mic before the match and goes on about politicians that upset this crowd who then starts an Aussie chant, which confuses Lawlor even more. TJP takes Lawlor down and starts twisting him up until he puts on a bow and arrow. They continue to tussle a bit until TJP kicks off from an ankle lock attempt. They start trading forearms and kicks until Laurent trips up TJP, as Lawlor is quick to capitalize. Lawlor uses the ropes to start working on TJP’s leg as the crowd chants “Fake Ass McGregor” to him. They go back and forth fighting in the corner for a bit until Lawlor traps on the figure four, which Laurent assists by holding onto Lawlor’s hands, which the referee keeps catching. TJP eventually reverses it, but Lawlor can grab the rope. TJP follows with three suplexes and a boot wash, before heading to the top rope. Lawlor meets him there, but TJP drops him with a neckbreaker. They tussle a bit in the corner before Lawlor hits a shoulder breaker for two. After escaping out of an Octopus Stretch, Lawlor tries to suplex TJP to the outside but gets dropped on the ropes. TJP misses a top rope still and dropkicks Laurent right into Lawlor, before hitting a top rope splash for two. After a couple of back-and-forth submissions, TJP hits a running knee to Lawlor to get the pin at 14:18
We get a Contra Unit video, again, without sound.
Matthew Justice vs. Matt Riddle
They start the match by running the ropes until Riddle comes out on top, but Justice comes right back with a back suplex. They spill on the floor before fighting on the apron where Justice hits a cannonball. They start fighting around the ring and on the ramp before Justice clotheslines Riddle back in and runs the ramp but gets stopped with a knee and DDT for two. Justice goes and grabs a wooden board that he puts in the corner, dropping Riddle right through but only gets a two count. Justice then grabs a table and tosses it inside, puts Riddle on top of it, and heads to the top rope. Riddle quickly runs up there and hits a superplex through the table for a two-count. A bit of back and forth, until Justice hits a Death Valley driver for two. Riddle comes right back with a powerbomb and knee to the face as the crowd is getting into this match. Justice then grabs another table and places it been the barricade and ring before he goes and tosses a bunch of chairs in the ring and attempts to climb the chairs to put Riddle through the table, but he escapes and hits a Tombstone to Justice on top of one of the chairs for the pin at 10:25.
Riddle gets on the mic after and toasts a beer with Justice, saying he has the utmost respect for him after that match.
We see a video of Salina de la Renta (with sound!) who says the Opera Cup will be coming home to her with either Mistico or Atlantis Jr.
Brett Ryan Gosselin (w/ Bobby Fish) vs. Paul London
BRG attacks London before the bell, be he quickly takes over and sends BRG to the outside. As London gets in Fish’s face, BRG attacks him from behind. In the ring, London stays on top hitting a suplex and spin kick for a two-count as the crowd rallies behind him. Fish holds onto London’s leg, and London ends up flipping BRG over the ropes onto him before hitting a dive but only connecting with Fish, as BRG gets out of the way. They head to the top rope, where London pushes BRG off and hits him with a double stomp to the back to get the pin at 5:28.
Fish takes out London after the match with a chop block as he and BRG continue to attack London. The Andersons, CW Anderson & Brock Anderson come out and look to be saving London just to turn on London and continue this 4 1 attack including using a chair until security comes out to try and stop them. A medical tries to help London, but Brock takes him out with a DDT
The Andersons (CW Anderson & Brock Anderson) vs Love Doug & Jay Lyon
CW & Brock spend the first couple of minutes taking turns on Doug while tagging in and out. Lyon eventually gets the hot tag, but his momentum is quickly stopped as Brock slingshots him into a super kick by CW Brock gets the quick win at 2:37. Fish & BRG join them at the top of the stage, as what I like to call The Four Fishmen, are born.
Opera Cup 2024 Quarter Final Match: AKIRA vs. KENTA
KENTA starts by keeping AKIRA down in a headlock, but he’s able to slither his way out until KENTA puts it back on. AKIRA powers out with a suplex for two and starts stomping out KENTA in the corner. KENTA stays on top with pin attempts while wearing him down with a neck hold. They start fighting on the apron where KENTA delivers kicks and a DDT and goes for multiple pin attempts. KENTA hits multiple hard kicks, sending AKIRA back into the corner. Kicks and slaps until AKIRA catches KENTA off the ropes with a suplex followed by a PK and a figure four. They fight off the top rope before KENTA hits a double stomp for two. AKIRA escapes out of a GTS and tries to hit one himself, but AKIRA stops it at the last second as they then go into a slap exchange. Electric Chair from AKIRA followed by a sliding forearm for two. More kicks from KENTA before he hits the GTS to get the pin at 12:13 to advance to the next round.
Four Way Scramble: Jimmy Lloyd vs. LSG vs. Little Guido vs. Nolo Kitano
All four go at it until it’s just Guido and LSG, but Lloyd quickly joins in and dives to LSG on the outside as Nolo then hits one as well. Guido teases one hit the Doomsday Clock comes back on and ends revealing it’s the debuting Donovan Dijak (with Saint Laurent) who comes out and attacks everybody ending the match at 1:51.
Dijak continues taking them all out before he gets on the mic and calls out everybody here in MLW calls himself the best wrestler in the world and that he will be the next MLW World Heavyweight Champion. He is using the nickname The Disruptor.
MLW World Tag Team Championship: CozyMAX (Satoshi Kojima & Okumura) (c) vs. Contra Unit (Minoru Suzuki & Ikuro Kwon)
They fight before the match can start, and when it does they quickly take it to the outside and brawl around the ring. Contra dominates for the first couple of minutes before Okumura tries to stop Kwon in the corner. He’s able to escape and tag out to Kojima who goes to town with machine gun chops on the corner, and as Suzuki tries to stop him, he receives them as well as Kojima takes turns chopping away at both opponents. Suzuki and Kojima get into a chop exchange before Suzuki hits a big boot and tries a kick but Kojima catches him and hits him with a twisting stunner before tagging out to Okumura. All four go at it until Suzuki tries the piledriver on Okumura but gets reversed. Kwon sprays Okumura with mist as Suzuki follows with the Gotch-style piledriver to get the pin at 9:38 to become NEW MLW World Tag Team Champions.
Mads Krule Krugger & Janai Kai join in on the 4 1 beat down on Kojima as Okumura heads to the back. Krugger holds up Kojima’s title as the other three members of Contra hold up their actual titles.
Opera Cup 2024 Quarter Final Match: Atlantis Jr. (w/ Jesus Rodriguez) vs. Mistico
Jesus Rodriguez comes out and does the ring introductions for this main event. Mistico sends Atlantis to the outside and starts brawling with him for a bit. They spend the next couple of minutes fighting in and out of the ring until Mistico takes him out with a tope suicida. The crowd chants for one more in Spanish, which he does do. They finally head back into the ring where Mistico stays in control. Mistico kicks off the apron and hits a top rope crossbody followed by head scissors, sending Atlantis back outside. They go back and forth with pin attempts until Atlantis takes over the match and hits a cutter. Atlantis stays on top with the pin attempts and starts to play a bit dirty pulling on Mistico’s mask, as the referee tries to stop him. Mistico sends Atlantis into the corner hits him with a high kick and heads to the top rope. Atlantis stops him and hits a twisting package Tombstone piledriver but only gets a two. Misfico places him on the top rope and punches him a couple of times before hitting a superplex. Some fast-moving back and forth that ends with a Destroyer from Mistico followed by a top rope Senton Bomb to get the hard-fought victory at 18:31 to advance. Fantastic main event.
Mistico gets on the mic after thanking the crowd and talks about how important the fans are for Lucha.
The Opera Cup continues on September 14 for Fightland, while MLW will return here in New York on December 5.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A rocky start due to the technical issues and stalling, but once the show got rolling the crowd stayed amped and hyped through the night. It was capped off by the Dijak surprise, a tag team title change, and a fantastic main event.
