MLW Kings Of Colosseum
January 6th, 2024
By: John Siino
2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA
Commentary: Joe Dombrowski & Matt Striker
Alec Price & Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) vs. Tony Deppen, TJ Crawford & Griffin McCoy
The babyfaces attacked before the bell rang, as Alec Price & Wasted Youth dived onto their opponents as they were making their entrance. Marcus Mathers & TJ Crawford started in the match, with Dyln McKay tagged in quickly with Wasted Youth working on Crawford until Tony Deppen & Griffin McCoy got involved. Alec Price enters, but the faces get tripped up on the ropes before they can dive some more. The heels take advantage and start working on Mathers in their corner, along with Deppen choking him out with his shirt. Deppen tricks Mathers into tagging him as he stands in his corner, as the heels stay in control. Price gets the hot tag and goes after Deppen with knees in the corner and a leg lariat for two. The faces then start triple-teaming on Deppen, but McCoy is there to break up the pin attempt. The heels hit this assisted triple powerbomb on Mathers that looked a bit dangerous upon delivery, but Price was there to break up the pin. All six men now start going at it, as McKay mounts a comeback. Crawford hits Mathers with a Burning Hammer before Price jumps in. They all go to the corner for a Tower of Doom spot from Price. More action from all in the ring now including Price jumping off of Crawford to hit a DDT on McCoy. That looked wild. Wasted Youth start double teaming on Crawford hitting a Shooting Star Press & 450 Splash as Mathers gets the pin for the win.
Winners: Alec Price & Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) by pinfall at 9:47
Inside Scoop
We go to Zayda from WTF in the back acting like an interviewer trying to get an interview with Alex Kane, but Mr. Thomas stops her and asks what she wants. Zayda says she wants that inside scoop, so Kane tells her that he’s going to wrap his arms around Richard Holliday tonight and squeeze him until he turns red & purple and pops.
MLW World Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai (c) (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) vs. Hyper Misao
Hyper Misao is debuting here tonight, representing Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, and has a superhero gimmick as she rides to the ring on a bicycle. Right away they trade taking each other down to the mat until Janai Kai kicks Misao’s hand away at a handshake attempt. Misao starts stretching Kai out, as we see a mysterious Azteca henchman watching on from the ramp. Kai starts kicking away at Misao including a spinning kick to the back for a two. Kai continues with the kicks and pin attempts, but Misao stops Kai by dropping her down face first and working on her arm against the rope. Misao starts racing around the apron before hitting a crossbody on Kai. Misao then gets on her bike and takes a lap around the ring before hitting Kai with a clothesline. Misao grabs something from under the ring, before hitting another crossbody on Kai for a two. Misao puts on a Crossface Chicken Wing, but Saline de la Renta gets on the apron. Salina lures Misao close to her as it looks like she is going to spray something in her face, but Misao, pulling out the item she acquired earlier beats her to the punch and sprays the spray in Salina’s face instead. Kai takes advantage of this distraction and hits the Demon Ish kick on Misao, followed by the Demon Clutch as Misao taps out.
Winner: Janai Kai by submission at 7:15, to retain
MLW World Tag Team Championship: The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) (c) vs. World Titan Federation (Tom Lawlor & Josh Bishop) (w/ Saint Laurent & Zayda)
All four start fighting on the outside before the bell rings, and we see Matthew Justice already setting up a wooden board against the barricade. Justice & 1 Called Manders start chopping away at Tom Lawlor before taking him down with a table they found under the ring and set it up on the outside. Lawlor & Josh Bishop take control and start chopping away at Justice before Manders joins in. Justice grabs a tool bag and takes out Lawlor with it. The chops continue including Justice & Bishop taking seats while trading them. Justice then grabs a chair and starts using it as Manders uses the wooden board. Manders places Bishop on the table, but Lawlor can stop the Second Gear Crew and ends up throwing Justice off the top rope back into the ring. Lawlor keeps Manders in the corner before Bishop tosses a chair right into Manders’ face. The heels continue to work on Manders with chairs before Lawlor takes him out with a Busaiku Knee. They continue with chairs on Manders who starts hulking up as Justice takes them out with a top rope crossbody. SGC started grabbing more chairs and set up a tower of chairs and boards. Manders & Lawlor go at it with forearms. Manders gets ready to take out Lawlor with the Last Call, but Zayda enters and rakes Manders’ eyes. As a result, Manders takes out Zayda with the lariat instead. Bishop tosses a chair into Manders’ face and sends him outside through a table with a Razor’s Edge. Saint Laurent carries Zayda to the back as the rest of WTF start reassembling the chair/board tower. Lawlor & Justice fight on the top rope, before Justice’s head butts Lawlor off, with him crashing through another table on the outside. Bishop stops Justice with a chair to the face, heads to the top rope but gets caught himself in a Death Valley Driver, as Justice sends him crashing through the chairs and boards for the pin and the win.
Winners: The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) by pinfall at 15:40, to retain
As Justice & Manders were leaving, Bishop brutally took them out with one of the wooden boards as he and Lawlor held up the tag titles.
AKIRA came out as they were cleaning the ring before the next match and said he didn’t want to wait anymore after flying over from Tokyo for this. Rickey Shane Page promptly comes out to start the match.
MLW National Openweight Championship Taipei Death Match: Rickey Shane Page (c) vs. AKIRA
AKIRA wasn’t lying, as he just came back from doing a trio of ‘Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Matches in Big Japan Pro-Wrestling. All the weapons from the previous match are still littered in and out of the ring, as AKIRA takes Rickey Shane Page all around the ring until RSP stops him with a crossbody. RSP follows by whipping AKIRA through a wooden board and starts digging one of the pieces of wood into AKIRA’S forehead, busting him wide open. AKIRA tries to fight RSP off, but he continues to dig the wood into him, as he’s pouring like a fountain of blood at this point. RSP smashes a board onto AKIRA and kicks him down while taunting him with the Raven pose. RSP starts punching away at AKIRA with his glass-filled hands and attempts to duct tape him to the ropes, but AKIRA fights him off and punches away at him with his glass-filled fists. AKIRA puts on an ankle lock and hits a running knee for a two-count as RSP is now gushing blood. AKIRA heads to the top rope but joins and hits a superplex. RSP heads to the top rope and hits a splash, for two. AKIRA mounts a comeback, hitting a top rope Meteora for two. RSP stops him with a DDT before one of The Calling goons gives him a bucket full of broken glass. More goons come out with a pane of glass that RSP sets on two chairs, not before drawing a bloody cross on it. RSP puts AKIRA under the glass and goes right through it with a top rope senton, crashing onto AKIRA, but he still kicks out at two. RSP starts punching away at AKIRA, but he comes back with a Saito Suplex, running knee, and sets up for the Death Penalty. Sami Callihan runs out and takes out AKIRA with the Raven Effect as RSP covers AKIRA for the pin.
Winner: Rickey Shane Page by pinfall at 12:23, to retain
Sami Callihan Joins The Calling
The Calling picks up AKIRA after, as Callihan puts one of the Calling cards into his mouth and hits a low blow, confirming Sami Callihan has joined the group.
Reload
They announced that on Saturday, January 20th, they will show MLW Reload for free at 10 pm on YouTube and beIN SPORTS. These are the matches that are being taped before and after Kings of Colosseum.
Upcoming Fights
· Reload – Saturday, January 20th (beIN SPORTS/YouTube)
· SuperFight – Saturday, February 3rd – Philadelphia, PA (TrillerTV+)
· Intimidation Games – Thursday, February 29th – New York City, NY (TrillerTV+)
· Azteca Lucha – Saturday, May 11th – Chicago, IL (TrillerTV+)
Love Is Blindfold Match: Brett Ryan Gosselin vs. Love, Doug
The story here is that Love, Doug has been obsessed with pop star/wrestler B3CCA, until Brett Ryan Gosselin attacked him, with Doug not knowing that he was her boyfriend. They put the black hoods over and started slowly walking around the ring trying to reach each other. The crowd starts doing ‘warm/cold’ with Doug, but BRG keeps dodging him. They eventually meet and take each other down with clotheslines. When Doug was holding onto the referee, BRG unmasked and put on brass knuckles that he used to knock out Doug, knocking him to the outside. BRG furiously screams asking the referee where Doug is and almost hits the ref by accident. Doug gets back into the ring and backs up into BRG, hitting him with the Asai DDT for the pin and the win.
Winner: Love, Doug by pinfall at 3:22
Mistico Is Coming
We saw a video showing that Mistico will be debuting for MLW at SuperFight on February 3rd in Philadelphia.
MLW World Heavyweight Championship: Alex Kane (c) (w/ Mr. Thomas & Faye Jackson) vs. Richard Holliday (w/ Saint Laurent)
This is Richard Holliday’s first match back in MLW since June 2022. Bomaye Fight Club’s posse seems to be smaller than usual, as most of their members are in House of Glory, which is having their show concurrently. Holliday starts the match by holding Alex Kane down on the mat with a side headlock but Kane comes right back with a belly-to-belly suplex. Kane tries a running splash, a suplex, and clotheslines Holiday to the outside. They start fighting on the outside against the barricades, but Holliday takes control with a body slam on the outside and starts attacking Kane on the apron, mocking the Bomaye chant and hitting a leg drop for a two. They go back and forth for a bit, as Holliday hits a neckbreaker for another two. Kane mounts a comeback, hitting a couple of suplexes on Holliday, who comes back with a cutter. Kane hits a spear and the Kane Maker for two. They head to the top rope, where Holliday hits an avalanche 2008, but Kane rolls to the outside. Holliday reverses Fade to Black into a two-count with a couple more close pinfalls. Kane hit a Kane-style chokeslam for a two that got a ‘Bah God’ from Matt Striker. Kane puts on Fade to Black again, but the referee gets taken out in the process. Holliday taps out while Mr. Thomas tries to wake up the ref. Holliday hits a low blow and tosses Kane to the outside as Tom Lawlor & Josh Bishop run out to assist Holliday. Faye is trying to wake up the ref, as WTF starts setting up a table on the outside. Bishop puts Kane right through it with a powerbomb before tossing Kane back inside, who still kicks out at two. Kane tries an inside cradle, but goes right into Fade to Black, as the ref raises Holliday’s hand three times, ending the match.
Winner: Alex Kane by referee stoppage at 13:55, to retain
Bagels, A Title Shot & The Death Machine
Joe Dombrowski is in the ring and congratulates Alex Kane on his victory and says he now holds the record for the most choke-out wins out of any MLW World Champion in history. Before the main, Dombrowski says he wants to talk about the next ‘Premium Live Event’ in SuperFight and has an envelope with the next #1 contender for the MLW World Championship at SuperFight. Dombrowski reveals it’s Satoshi Kojima, who was the first-ever champion, who makes his way to the ring. Before he makes it in, a fan hands him a bag of bagels that Kojima starts tossing into the crowd. Kojima takes a bite of one and saves some for later as Dombrowski talks about his resume and how he can become the first two-time champion in MLW history. Kojima says he will win the championship, as Sami Callihan starts making his way to the ring. Callihan is pissed that in one of the most legendary arenas in the world, Kojima is throwing out bagels. Callihan says he is one of the hottest free agents today and it’s bullshit that Kojima gets a title shot before him. Callihan spits water onto Dombrowski and tells Kojima to go fuck himself as they start brawling before security breaks them up. This match will happen at MLW Reload on January 20th.
Who Will Face Mistico?
Salina de la Renta and Rocky Romero are in the back as Salina is on the phone with someone talking about a 20-million-dollar Penthouse. Romero is pissed that just lost the CMLL World Historic Welterweight Championship to Mascara Dorada in Arena Mexico last month and asks Salina where she was. Salina ignores it and is pissed that Mistico is coming to MLW. They bicker back and forth about what’s more important as Romero tells her she already has the greatest weapon in Promociones Dorado to go face-to-face with Mistico, implying himself. Still, Salina says Averno will take on Mistico at SuperFight.
MLW Reload Line-Up
· Good Brother 3 (Mance Warner) vs. Steph De Lander
· Nao Kakuta vs. Moka Miyamoto
· Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) vs. Notorious Mimi
· Satoshi Kojima vs. Sami Callihan
· Matt Riddle in action
Matt Riddle vs. Jacob Fatu
This is Matt Riddle’s first match since being released by WWE in September 2023, and his first match in MLW since April 2018, when he lost to Swerve Strickland in the finals to crown a new MLW World Heavyweight Champion. Riddle is given a piece of one of Kojima’s bagels which Striker calls an ‘edible’. Some eerie graphics were cutting in while Jacob Fatu was coming out that commentary apologized for. They start the match going back and forth with Bro and Uce chants, before Fatu corners Riddle. Riddle tries to keep mounting Fatu, but he keeps throwing him off and catches him springboard off the ropes with a chop to the throat. Fatu clotheslines Riddle to the outside and hits him with a suicide dive. Striker mentions the ‘elephant in the room’ and how the court of public opinion would love to see Fatu slap the face out of Riddle’s mouth, but the court of public opinion does not convict. Riddle stops Fatu from entering the ring and hits him with the Floating Bro. Riddle tries another Floating Bro inside, but Fatu catches him into a sit-out powerbomb for two. Fatu stays in control, stomping away at Riddle and whipping him into the corner. Fatu tries to springboard off the ropes, but Riddle catches him right into a German suplex with the bridge for two. Riddle starts kicking away, but Fatu catches him into a uranage and hits the spring moonsault for two. Back and forth until Riddle hits a suplex, kick, and senton for two, heads to the top rope, and hits a Floating Bro for two. Striker continues on commentary about ‘not caring what Riddle did’ and how a company let him go. A bit more back and forth as they headbutt each other down. Another Bro/Uce off as they exchange forearms before Fatu catches Riddle for an Alley Oop. Fatu goes for his double spring moonsault, but Riddle catches him in the Triangle Choke which Fatu powerbombs his way out of, just for Riddle to keep it on. Riddle gets on the back for a rear naked choke, that Fatu backdrops onto, right back into an arm and shoulder trap choke as Fatu taps out.
Winner: Matt Riddle by submission at 12:28
Riddle & Fatu share some words and respect for each other, as we see another one of those strange graphics, this time being able to make out the word ‘Cobra’ in it.
