Welcome back to MLW Underground. This week we see the next stage in the CM Punk/Raven feud as the Master of Mind Games meets the Straight-Edge elitist. Alongside that, we’d see Homicide continue his ruckus through MLW by taking on Michael Shane, the fallout of the attack on Sabu at the end of last week’s Underground, and more on the Extreme Horsemen’s reign of terror is revealed. Plus, we have a new episode of Pulp Fusion to dig into. Let’s get into the action!
Homicide defeated Michael Shane (w/Francine) via Roll-Up
Homicide folds up Michael Shane with the "Cop Killer!"
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— MLW #TheRestart (@MLW) October 10, 2020
First up tonight would be Shawn Michaels’ nephew Michael Shane accompanied by the Queen of Extreme Francine taking on the Notorious 187. Homicide had already started his tear in MLW and Shane would be another victim in the way. Shane started the match with a lot of stalling, trying to get under the skin of Homicide. The pace picked up and Homicide made Shane bail after a duo of arm-drags and a trip out of the corner. Shane caught Homicide in the ropes and tried for a sunset flip but Homicide rolled out and socked him in the jaw. Homicide threw Shane from corner to corner and blasted him with forearms and a sliding knee so hard it caused an ad break. When the camera returned, both men were down for the count. Homicide got the first attack and sent Shane flying with a back-body drop. He followed up by kicking him in the teeth with a dropkick and perched him on the top rope. Shane booted Homicide from the top but ended up diving into a low knee strike and a T-Bone Suplex. He wrangled Shane round into the Cop Killer and looked set for victory but Francine broke it up. Shane took advantage of the distraction and planted Homicide with a flatliner but only got two. He did the same with a Pop-up Powerbomb and tried for Sweet Chin Music. Homicide blocked and locked Shane in an STF where Shane tapped but the ref didn’t see it. Shane rolled-up Homicide off the distraction but still couldn’t keep him down. Homicide threw him into the ropes and booted him in the face. He went to the top rope and intercepted Francine. He dragged her into the ring and threw her into Shane multiple times. Shane landed Sweet Chin Music but still only got two. Shane tried to steal the Cop Killer but Homicide shunted him up and rolled him up for the win. This was an excellent opener as Homicide went wild on Shane as he contended with the continuous interference of Francine. This just helped reinforce how good Homicide is.
Michael Shane takes Homicide for a ride with a pop-up Powerbomb!
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— MLW #TheRestart (@MLW) October 10, 2020
Between the matches:
- After Bill Alfonso called out MLW for continuously hospitalising him, Sabu looked to leave the building. He was crossing the parking lot but got jumped by Whipwreck and Lynn, who beat him with a car door and drove off with the Sinister Minister laughing their heads off. Later in the show, the Sinister Minister gave a sermon on how he found Whipwreck and how he was going to build a legion of lost souls.
- Mike Awesome remained at the top of the number one contender’s list. He was declared the next challenger but Steve Corino didn’t seem phased. He was going to take the title worldwide and he had no fear towards any challengers. He wanted all of them, including Terry Funk to bring an army because the Extreme Horsemen weren’t going anywhere.
- Sandman and Dr. Death Steve Williams were given terms on how they could earn a tag title shot. They would have to defeat the Horsemen in singles action before they’d see anything of the belts. They laughed at the challenge and attacked the Horsemen in their locker room.
CM Punk (w/Michael Shane) defeated Raven via Raven Effect
.@theraveneffect plants @CMPunk headfirst into the canvas with the Raven effect!
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— MLW #TheRestart (@MLW) October 12, 2020
Tonight’s main event would see two masters of mind games collide in a ring again. Raven had a win over Punk, but the straight edge elitist wasn’t going to let that stop him here. He even turned the audience against him by recounting to the audience what straight edge means and why it makes him better than them. Raven reacted to this outburst by throwing him out of the ring. The camera cut and returned to Raven driving Punk into a chair with a drop toe hold. He chased after Punk but got kicked in the dick and hit with a running knee. He did the same again with a chair and ate the Raven Effect. Michael Shane appeared, drove Raven into the ring-post and threw him back into the ring as Punk distracted the ref. Punk took advantage of the dazed Punk and won with his own Raven Effect. They beat down Raven after the match and looked to end him with a chair but Norman Smiley rushed the ring with a chair and scared them off. Smiley took to the mic and challenged little bitches one and two to a tag team match. It would have been nice to have more of this match but clearly, the episode was going for the shock reveal at the end, rather than showing off what would have been an incredibly interesting main event.
Pulp Fusion Recap
Pulp Fusion started with the Invisible Man, Richard Holliday hauntingly talking into the mirror about what he’d done as he prepared to remove his bandages, it did not go well. King Mo addressed the MLW fans about gardening and Low Ki trying to get a second fight with him. Hammerstone issued a warning to CONTRA about them trying to stop the restart and made a challenge at Jacob Fatu. Jordan Oliver talked about him restart goals, beat Fatu, break Simon Gotch’s teeth and become the face of MLW. The Von Erichs were more than ready for the restart. Calvin Tankman once again stated no one his size could do what he could do and that he was coming hard for anyone and everyone. Logan Creed wanted war with CONTRA. Salina de la Renta stole the award for the most stylish vignette, she was coming for revenge and had snagged herself another executive producer role for 2021.
You let a 13 year old boy live his dream.
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively anymore.
I’ve given all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding.
My mind can handle the grind.
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
And that’s OK. pic.twitter.com/z7ikr2HzFW— Family Food Dude (@erickstevens82) October 12, 2020
Also as a final note, Team Filthy has suffered a loss. At The Collective this week after a final match at Paradigm Pro-Wrestling, Erick Stevens hung up the boots for good and retired from pro-wrestling. I am not too sure how this will affect the restart but as of now, Team Filthy is down a member. Good luck with the future Erick Stevens.
All images courtesy of MLW Twitter, Erick Stevens Twitter, all videos courtesy of MLW YouTube