Jeremy’s MLW Underground Review 2.14.23

Hello, MLW fans! We’re back for the second week of MLW Underground on Reelz. I’m Jeremy Thomas, and tonight MLW follows up on last week’s debut with a street fight between Real1 and Mance Warner, while Willie Mack takes on Calvin Tankman in a battle of the hosses. Plus Taya Valkyrie defends her MLW Women’s Featherweight Title. Underground got off to kind of a rocky start last week but there’s a lot they can build on, so let’s see how they take off from here.

As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s daughters is still active and if you can make a donation, that would be awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who’s done so thus far.

* We kick off with a recap of Real1 from last week, ranting about how he should have won Battle Riot before Mance Warner shows up and knocks him the hell out.

* We go to a promo from Mancer where he says he’s gotta preach. He says that tonight in the ECW Arena, MLW came in and Mancer did what he does by beating the hell out of people. We’ll see how tough Real1 is because at the end of the day, this is the North vs. South. And Old Mancer represents everyone and everyone hates his guts. Real1 can dance and be loud, run around in leopard print talking all that shit, but he’s gonna put his fist down Real1’s throat and kick his head in. And he’s now gonna have some light beers and get ready to whoop that ass.

This Is Our Violent Solution! (AKA Title Sequence!)

* We’re kicking off with Willie Mack vs. Calvin Tankman! Also tonight, Lio Rush speaks and Hammerstone is here. Plus Taya Valkyrie defends the Women’s World Featherweight Championship against Zoey Skye and Lady Shani, La Hiedra, and Reina Dorada fight in a three-way bout.

* Before the match, we go backstage with Jacob Fatu and Juicy Finau. Sam Laterna asks where Lance Anoa’i is, and Fatu says Lance is always running late and will be here. Sam asks Fatu about his match against Hammerstone and how he plans on dealing with him. Fatu says that Philadelphia is home and the title belongs to him. But he’s also got family in Juicy and Lance, and they’re supporting him. He says the belt is coming back home where it belongs.

Willie Mack vs. Calvin Tankman

Mack and Tankman circle to start and then play a bit to the crowd before locking up. Mack with a side headlock, he gets shot into the ropes and runs into Tankman, who doesn’t budge. Tankman comes off the ropes and hits Mack, who doesn’t fall over. Mack tries again with no luck, and Tankman invites him to try again but the result is the same.

Tankman with chops, he sends Mack into the corner but Mack reverses Tankman goes up and over! Mack with a shot to the head, they go into the ropes and Tankman leaps but Mack dodges. He comes off the ropes with a rana! Dropkick to Tankman to the leg and Tankman is out of the ring! Mack off the ropes and he hits a tope over the ropes on Tankman!

Tankman back in the ring and Mack follows. Bit shot by Mack in the corner, and he hits a big chop to the chest. He preps for another one — and goes for the nurkle. Tankman recovers and puts Mack in the corner for chops. And he gets a nurkle of his own! Mack fires back to but Tankman rocks him in the center. Off the ropes and Mack with a leaping enzuigiri, cover for two.

Tankman with a shot to Mack’s gut and then another to the head. Chop from Tankman, and Mack fires back with a barrage. Off the ropes for a clothesline but Tankman doesn’t go down. He tries it again and rocks Tankman, but he’s still not down. Mack off the ropes and Tank dodges and does into the ropes — but Mack with a big clothesline! Both men down as we go to break.

Back from break and Mack with a shot to Tankman, he comes off the ropes and gets hit with a pump up elbow! Cover by Tankman for two but Mack gets his hand on the bottom rope. Mack put on his feet and Tankman lays in elbows to Mack, but Mack fires back with some of his own. Big headbutt by Tankman, he goes for a bodyslam but Mack slides down and hits a roundhouse hook kick! Mack gets Tankman on his shoulders — BIG Samoan drop! Both men are on the mat, but Mack kips up! Standing moonsault for a nearfall. Mack gets in the ref’s face but the count stands.

Mack is up to his feet and he pulls Tankman to the center of the ring and goes up top — he leaps off but Tankman moves! Mack to0 his feet and Tank runs him over. But elbow to the back of the head, followed by a Tankman Driver for three.

Winner: Calvin Tankman (9:39)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: Tankman is far from stiff with some of his offense and moves pretty slowly — understandable given his size, but his intensity was lacking a bit here, which led to Mack carrying a fair amount of the match. This was an old-school big man match and I’m perfectly okay with that.

* A new AO video with someone in a gas mask playing a VHS tape with the logo. We get a montage of images of Lady Shani, La Hiedra, and Reina Dorada laid out and intercuts that include “join or die.” No match between them, I guess.

* We go to a promo by Real1, who says everybody knows he’s a star and that Mance hit him with a cheap shot. What does he want, a medal? He’s heart of gold, silver-tongued son of a bitch with brass balls, and Mance is aluminum. So he’ll give Mance a ribbon for the cheap shot. He says Mance has a body fueled by gas station food and he thinks he got lucky, but luck is what happens when preparation and hard work meet opportunity. Mance is what happens when two slobs in the south meet and make a mistake in a pro-life state. He’s an inbred and Real1 is gonna…I dunno, do something. The audio mix wasn’t great on that promo.

* We get a recap of Hammerstone winning last week and Fatu coming out to star him down. We then go backstage where Hammer is. He says so Jacob is cashing in Battle Riot, just like he cashed in on Fatu. And if Fatu won, Hammer would win the next Battle Riot and cash in, so they must be destined to do it forever. No matter how much distance, space, time and opponents are between them, it comes back to them, destined to fight forever.

They have to go even bigger for SuperFight and when Hammerstone beat Fatu at Fightland, there’s a couple fans who said they thought Hammer got lucky. And Fatu believes that too, and Hammer started wondering what if they’re right? He had two choices: he could tell the voice to shut up and enjoy being at the top of the mountain. But he didn’t do that; he listened. What if they’re right? But luck is the last dying wish of a man who hasn’t done his work and done what’s needed to succeed. And that’s what he’s been doing since Fightland because he knew this was coming. He knows Fatu walked in to Battle Riot to cash in. He says that it’s time to shut Jacob up and all the doubters, including the voice in the back of his head. He didn’t get lucky and he’ll beat Fatu at SuperFight because he’s better than him.

* Next week, Hammerstone will defend the MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Yamato.

MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship Match
Taya Valkyrie vs. Zoey Skye

Taya and Zoey circle a bit and Taya starts talking shit. She pats Zoey on the head and gets shoved for it. Zoey comes off the ropes with a rana and kicks Taya in the gut — enzuigiri sends Taya into the corner. She gives in but Taya moves, then charges right into a back elbow. Zoey with a kick but Taya catches it and kicks the inside thigh, then hits a DDT.

Taya kicks Zoey out of the ring and plays to the crowd. Zoey gets to her feet on the outside but Taya is on her and throws her into the ringpost head-first. She sets Zoey against the ringpost, planting her foot in her back and driving her hard into the post as we go to break.

We’re back in the ring when we return and Taya grabs Zoey off the ropes. Zoey tries to reverse an Irish whip but gets drop-toe held to the mat, and Taya grabs her legs. Zoey kicks her free and goes into kicks to the knee and a chop. But Taya goes right back to the legs and sets her up, stomping her down to the mat. Zoey is out of the ring and Taya follows — Zoey escapes back into the ring and Taya follows but eats a lungblower through the ropes! Zoey with a springboard dropkick! She goes up top and leaps for a crossbody and a two-count.

Zoey back up top and she leaps but Taya ducks. Zoey rolls through into a front dropkick. She grabs Zoey for Ride to Valhalla, and that’s it.

Winner: Taya Valkyrie (3:51)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: Solid outing for the time it got. Zoey bumped like hell for Taya and got in just enough offense of her own to not be a complete squash, and Taya looked appropriately dominant.

* Cesar Duran makes Zoey kiss Taya’s boot after the match.

* Sam Laterna is now with Billie Starks, welcoming her to the roster. She asks what she hopes to accomplish in MLW, and Billie says she hopes to make an exciting debut for the fans. Taya walks up and says “Oh look, another one” and laughs. She asks Billie if her mom is waiting for carpool. Cesar says Billie is just a child; and talk to them when she’s not using pañales — which Taya helpfully explains is diapers. Taya tells Billie to go and she does, and Taya poses with her title.

* We get a recap of last week’s Bomaye Fight Club & New British Bulldogs brawl. We go backstage where Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas are talking about how Bulldogs have defects and don’t live long, and are musty and have yellow teeth. Mr. Thomas asks if they’re talking about the tag team of the dogs, and Kane says it’s the tag team but he doesn’t like the dogs either. Kane says they aren’t relevant and don’t matter, unlike his Opera Cup — no, his Bomaye Cup of the Gods. He says he’s gonna eat a box of ceral out of it, have some donuts in it, put it on the bedside table when he smashes his wife. Maybe some honey bun.

* Sam is with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and welcome him back with the Billington Bulldogs. Smith says it’s been two years since he’s been in an MLW ring and he brought back some of his family. He says they’re Team Bulldog and the past, present, and future of pro wrestling. Sam asks about Alex Kane stealing the Opera Cup, and Smith says it’s quite insulting and he’s disgusted. Kane thinks this is a big joke and the Cup dates back to 1915 where Stu Hart was the first Opera Cup winner. He’s taking it personal and says Kane wants to run his mouth, but when he steps in the ring with Davey Boy there will be no joking.

The Billingtons are in action next week.

* Outside, EJ Nduka attacks Lance with a cinder block and beats him down, tells him to tell Fatu never to get in his way, and says to get the camera out of his face.

* Sam Laterna is with Lio Rush, who she welcomes back to MLW. Rush says that the second go around for the Bad Child, the Man of the Hour, is quite simple. It’s time to remind people who he is here in MLW. He says a lot of things have happened since he’s been away, and a lot of people think they’re on top, but unfortunately that’s not the case. And it’s time for the entire roster to find out.

Oh no, Real1 has a microphone before his Street Fight. He says his name is 1 — that everybody knows. Because he’s a certified G, etc. Everybody knows that you can’t spell Mance without a man in it, because there ain’t no man in Mance because Mance is a fem– oh Jesus Christ, it’s the same shit he used with Fatu last week. He says he hopes Mance’s mother is in the front row when he makes Mance scream uncle. Mance is an inbred and he hopes all the Warners are here, because when it’s Time Warner, he’s going Looney Tunes, dog. Much better than last week, even if some of it was just recycled from last week’s promo.

Street Fight
Real1 vs. Mance Warner

Real1 charges in to start with a dropkick, sending Mace into the corner. Real1 up for an elevated 10-count of punches, then he comes off the ropes but Mance runs him over. Chop from Mance, and he sends Real1 head-first into the turnbuckle. Real drops to the mat, so Mance does it again for good measure. And a third time for fun.

Mance sends Real to the outside and comes off the ropes — then steps through the ropes and drops to sit on the apron for an eye poke. Headbutt by Mance, and Real goes into the ring where Mance follows. Mance chases Real back out of the ring and Real yanks Mance into the guardrail. Real crotches Mance on the guardrail and then picks him up for a Razor’s Edge — he throws Mance into the guardrail as we go to break.

Back from break and Real has Mance in the ring with a sleeper, but Mance charges up before his hand drops a third time. Real launches in the first and then grabs a kendo stick — which he drops when he tries to flip. But he picks it back up and smashes it over Mance’s chest. He preps to swing again — Mance ducks and starts pugilizing! Jabs and then a Dusty elbow! Real1 gets his head smashed into the steel chair seat, and Mance has the kendo stick for a shot to the gut, then across the back. Mance with a lariat and a big boot.

Warner grabs a garbage can and grabs Real, setting up for a DDT but Real pushes him in the corner for repeated shoulders to the gut. Real to the second rope and he leaps off — right into a garbage can to the face! Mance is feeling good now, and he moves in but Real pulls the ref in front of him and nails Mance with a loaded fist for the three count.

Winner: Real1 (5:18)
Rating: ** 3/4
Thoughts: While this was by no means a great match, it was perfectly solid and both men looked good here. The ending plays a little wierd because it looked like Real1 was trying to secretly use the knucks, but it was more about surprising Mance than tricking the ref so I’m fine with that.

We end with an AO screen and then a promo for next week. And with that, we’re done for the night!

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

This week's show was a big improvement over last week. The matches were largely better, the flow of the show worked much more, and all in all there was solid stuff. Real1 was much more effective thanks to being kept in a smaller dose and we saw the start to some feud building. The show still has a lot it can do to tighten things up, but I had a much better time watching this week.