Tom Lawlor Talks Organizing Filthy Island in Hawaii, Rumors of Matches For the Event

Tom Lawlor will present Filthy Island this Wednesday on MLW: Fusion, and the MLW star discussed the event in a new interview with Wrestling Inc. You can check out some highlights below:

On promoting his first-ever event: “Well, yeah, it’s the first event that anybody has had the balls to let me put on, let me just say that. I kind of forced MLW’s hand by winning the 2020 Opera Cup and dominating the competition for the last year and what better way to capitalize on that than giving me an opportunity to promote a show? Air it live on MLW Fusion, Filthy Island!”

On organizing the event in Hawaii: “Well, it’s very tough to get these sorts of things organized, especially when you’re working outside of your normal environment. Obviously, Filthy Island is on an island, a beautiful yet affordable location in Hawaii. So you have to find camera crews. You have to find a nice setting. You have to find people who will work, who will help you promote the event, people who will wrestle and fight each other on the show. So it’s been quite a difficult undertaking in a lot of ways, but I mean, that’s what I was built for. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to put on the absolute best show that I can, and that’s what you’re going to see on Wednesday.”

On how the matches will take place: “There’s definitely not an octagon. I don’t care how many sides are there. It’s not an octagon. This is a different environment I would say. Based on a lot of the happenings over the past few weeks, I’ve had to switch course in some ways, and we have decided that in order to not cut costs but change things up, the environment on Filthy Island will have no ropes, [fighting] on the beach, the beautiful beaches of Hawaii.”

On why he chose Hawaii: “Listen, we chose Hawaii because it offers the best of many worlds. It offers a tropical setting where you can have some of the most absolute luxurious, great accommodations side-by-side with some less desirable but, like I said, more affordable locations. Filthy Island is about bringing the best action through as many people and types of people as possible. That’s why we’re worldwide. The show’s going to be everywhere, DAZN, YouTube, Roku [and] Fubo. It’s gonna be everywhere. We want to get as many eyes as possible on this, and we thought that Hawaii was the absolute best spot to do so.”

On King Mo’s affiliation with Team Filthy: “We have an association with King Mo. Look at his track record, King Mo, he knocked out Low Ki. That’s something that not a lot of people can say that they did. I mean, I’ve beaten the guy a handful of the times but not very many other people have. King Mo, he’s one of those guys. What else can I say?”

On rumors of other matches for the event: “There’s been a lot of rumors, a lot of people saying that ‘Filthy’ Tom caused the Von Erichs to lose the tag titles. Allegedly, there was a Team Filthy attack on ACH, allegedly I want add one more time. We’ve had sponsors pull out. It’s been kind of tough. People think that because we’re hosting the show in Hawaii and that is the home, I guess, of the Von Erichs. They can’t pick between there or Texas, but that’s one of their homes in Hawaii. A lot of the people there on the island don’t want us there, not true! Not true because Dominic Garrini is going to be in action on this show and I am here to tell you who his opponent is. Dominic’s opponent, facing International gold medalist in BJJ Dominic Garrini, will be none other than 14-time Polynesian Pacific Champion Mauna Loa. We are bringing in the best fighting styles from around the world. You mentioned Dominic Garrini. We got Mauna Loa. You mentioned Kevin Ku earlier. I have extended the olive branch to some other international competitors. After his great showing, I have asked — his great showing in the Opera Cup where I defeated him. I have asked the young upstart Rocky Romero if he would like to join in on Filthy Island. There’s a $10,000 purse to the winners, and I’ve also asked another international competitor from a different fighting style, Zenshi. We’ll see if he takes the bait, I mean, comes in and competes.”