Tom Lawlor Replaces Davey Boy Smith Jr In MLW World Title Match at Slaughterhouse

Major League Wrestling has announced that Davey Boy Smith was pulled from MLW Slaughterhouse due to injury and will be replaced by Tom Lawlor. Lawlor will challenge MLW World Heavyweight Champion in the show’s main event. The show happens this Saturday at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

72 hours out from Slaughterhouse, the World Heavyweight Title Fight has changed.

The original challenger, Davey Boy Smith Jr., has withdrawn from the bout and has been placed on the emergency injured reserved list.

With DBS out, league officials conferred with Don King, promoter of the Bomaye Fight Club and World Champion Alex Kane, through the night and early morning hours on the status of a title fight this Saturday.

Kane, vowing he fights for the people, insisted on giving fans a title fight this weekend, which set the stage for a shocking return to the league: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.

“Tom is a great guy, but he was PISSED at what Kane said about him during that MLW media event a few weeks back,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer. “Getting a cage fighter mad isn’t something I’d recommend Kane do again. (Tom) has been dying to get a fight with Kane and so when the spot opened up, he was the first call we made. I want to also acknowledge and thank New Japan Pro Wrestling for aiding in facilitating this. They came through in the clutch.”

Making claims and allegations that was Lawlor was ducking him, Tom didn’t hesitate to take the title fight, which was fast-tracked to contract signatures by MLW and New Japan this morning.

Lawlor, the first fighter to win the Battle Riot (2018), 2020 Opera Cup winner and a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion enjoyed an extraordinary 4-year stint in Major League Wrestling. Since exiting in 2021, Lawlor has been a force in New Japan Pro Wrestling, becoming the inaugural NJPW Strong Openweight Champion.