As the world continues to stop turning for wrestling, MLW has delved into their archives to bring us little snippets of history from their biggest stars. Last week was LA Park. This week is the Southern Psycho Mance Warner. This episode was dedicated to Shad Gaspard and featured two violent spectacles from Mance’s trips to MLW. One featuring Sami Callihan and the other being the previously reviewed no ropes barbed wire match against Jimmy Havoc. Let’s get some light beers and enjoy the show.
Loser Leaves MLW: Mance Warner defeated Sami Callihan via Knee Pad Up, Knee Pad Down
.@TheSamiCallihan with a brutal looking brainbuster onto the bleachers.#MLWAnthology | #LoserLeavesMLW
WATCH FREE ▶ https://t.co/4aPdy8NASQ
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— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) May 24, 2020
Mance never had an easy start in MLW. He came into the company, made an alliance with Sami Callihan and right royally pissed off Salina de la Renta. She was given the right to be executive producer and put the pair in a Falls Count Anywhere, Loser Leaves Town match. The friends would become enemies for the amusement of la Renta and to keep their job. Both men were no strangers to hardcore matches, so you knew this was going to get ugly. Mance brought a trashcan full of plunder and Sami made his entrance by spitting on Jim Cornette and flipping him off. Things kicked off fast as Callihan started smashing in Mance’s head with a trash can lid. He smashed Mance with a chair but turned his back on Warner and got attacked from behind. Callihan regained his composure and launched Mance into the second row. He threw a coffee at Mance and dragged him to the merch table. They brawled back and forth with Sami going surfing across the table. Callihan retorted and gave Mance a trip into the t-shirts and lobbed a trash can at his head. He continued by dropping a railing on Mance and fired the crowd up with some chants. They fought into the stands and threw each other against the railings. Callihan got the upper hand and smashed Mance in the head with a bottle and hit a brainbuster onto the metal stands. They got down and Mance used a trashcan to add a little extra oomph to his headbutts. He tried to repeat the success but ended up headbutting a railing. Callihan grabbed a chair and lobbed it right into Mance’s face. Callihan grabbed a stunned Mance and launched him straight into an arena wall. They continued to brawl amongst the crowd with Callihan getting a chair to the face and both men attacking each other with plastic cutlery. Mance gave Callihan a shot of hot sauce but it was spat right back at him.
.@ManceWarner wearing the crimson mask as @TheSamiCallihan staples dollar bills to his head.#MLWAnthology | #LoserLeavesMLW
WATCH FREE ▶ https://t.co/4aPdy8NASQ
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— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) May 24, 2020
They finally made it back to the ring where Mance went headfirst into another trashcan and was doused in water by Callihan. A staple gun entered the mix and found its way into Mance’s head after a failed sunset flip. Mance was then turned into a Bucksnort pinata (thanks commentary) and waylaid by another chair shot. Callihan gave Mance a cash deposit and stapled two-dollar bills to his shoulders and one to his head for good measure. This powered-up Mance who went for an eye poke and chokeslammed Callihan onto the trash can. When that got two, Mance grabbed a board and set it up across two chairs. He set Callihan up on the board but was nutcracked on the top rope and driven through the board with a second rope cactus special. Mance somehow kicked out so Callihan got another board, lobbed it at Mance, and set it up in the corner. He took the time to pose and paid for it as Mance put him through it with a spear. The pair came to their senses and set up some chairs for a bar fight. The pair traded slugs and spit until Mance got angry and pummelled down a rain of blows and headbutts. He tried to go top rope but was greeted with a face full of a chair. Callihan grabbed him off the top rope and hit a piledriver onto the chair (kind of.) Callihan continued his string of sadism by stapling Mance’s tongue to a board fragment and watching on in horror as Mance pried himself free and brought the board down across his head in anger. Mance broke the board into tiny pieces and gave Callihan the knee pad up, knee pad down. That got one, so Mance gave him more board shots and hit a second knee pad up, knee pad down into the board for the win. Mance won but it took one hell of a toll. He saved his job but had to say goodbye to one of his friends in the company. I loved that I was able to review this classic as it features my two favourite brawlers in wrestling right now.
Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc (w/Priscilla Kelly) via Junk Pile Piledriver
.@ManceWarner suckers @JimmyHavoc in and Havoc pays for it.#MLWAnthology | #MancervsHavoc
WATCH FREE ▶ https://t.co/4aPdy8NASQ
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— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) May 24, 2020
This match was previously reviewed by yours truly here. When I first heard this match was going to happen, I couldn’t contain my excitement. Jimmy Havoc, England’s greatest deathmatch wrestler, had been going to war with Mance Warner and it was all going to explode in Texas as they had a battle in barbed wire. Havoc had Priscilla Kelly, a barbed wire bat, and no fear. Mance had Bucksnort grit and a need to hit the pay window. These two had a match of epic proportions full of blood and brutality and I remember loving it at the time. That hasn’t changed on the second viewing. It was just as vicious as I remember. Never have I seen someone ride a barbed wire bat like a pony. That was always one of the key bits that stuck with me and probably stuck in Havoc. It wasn’t a slow burn either, these two went right to it. Within a minute someone was stuck in barbed wire. This was MLW’s finest deathmatch with both men shedding a shit ton of blood for this art. It was made all the more enjoyable with the squeamish commentators. There was creativity and cliché in this match as they hit the greatest hits of barbed wire matches whilst also adding new brutal hits of their own. Plus, this match could have been punctuated by the brutal image of Mance with a mouthful of barbed wire. Matches like this made me proud to be a deathmatch fan. It was fun, shocking, and full of devilish spots. I imagine neither man was walking properly for a while after this one.
That was followed by the next MLW Roll Call. It started with LA Park swearing revenge on CONTRA Unit. Gino Medina blew of the press for some mamacitas. Low Ki’s mental state was once again criticised by Team Filthy. Mance Warner warned us of the dangers of drunk welding. Myron Reed blue balled everyone on the identity of his new foot soldier. The Dynasty has another podcast with Holliday bragging to a wordless Hammerstone about his private Caribbean beach for workouts and the progress of his moustache as well as talking about his new contract. This also led to Hammerstone revealing he also signed a contract extension. We got Filthy Tom Lawlor criticising Kevin Von Erich’s birthday party as he has the same birthday as him. King Mo also took a jab at Low Ki and it ended with Los Parks promising their vengeance once again. This was a great trip down memory lane for MLW’s violent side. Next week will be a celebration of the Lone Wolf of Brooklyn, Low Ki. See you then.
All images courtesy of MLW Twitter, Basil Mahmud