Welcome back to old-school MLW. After the spectacle of Never Say Never, the company has taken a breather with another trip back to 2003 for more classic Underground action. On this trip to the past, we’ll see Sonjay Dutt make his MLW debut against Jimmy Yang and Jerry “The King” Lawler comes to MLW to answer the $10,000 bounty on Terry Funk’s head. The pair have fought for decades, would Steve Corino’s blood money finally kill Funk off for good at the hands of Lawler? Let’s find out what the Underground had to offer us this time.

Jimmy Yang defeated Sonjay Dutt via Rib-breaking Moonsault

Before we got to the vicious bounty bout, we’d see the MLW debut for Sonjay Dutt as he went to war with one of MLW’s hottest fighters. Could the Playa from the Himalayas get a win in his debut over the wildcard style of Jimmy Yang? The pair danced around the ring to open and Yang gave Dutt a hard double chop in the corner. A fast and furious technical exchange followed until Yang put a stop to it by grabbing the ropes. Dutt made him pay with a Hurricanrana and threw Yang to the outside with a never-ending head-scissor takeover. Yang tried to drag him off the apron but Dutt kicked him away and nailed him with a Pescato. Back in-ring he tired up Yang and tried for an armbar. He returned the corner chop but Yang dodged his follow-up charge and Dutt brained himself in the corner. Yang flipped off of Dutt’s back and nailed him with a spinning heel kick. The fight broke to the outside and Yang whipped Dutt off the guardrails. He threw Dutt back into the ring and chopped his soul out and choked him out using the ropes. Dutt escaped a torture rack with a La Mistica style octopus but Yang countered the counter into a backbreaker. The Romero Special followed and dragged it into a backbreaking double armbar. He whipped Dutt into the ropes but Dutt woke up and nailed Yang with a springboard crossbody. A springboard leg drop came next but it only got two. He beat down Yang with elbows but it still wasn’t enough and Yang stunned him with a jawbreaker. Yang went back to the chops and Dutt dropped him on his head with a DDT. Dutt made his feet first and fired up into a neckbreaker but still only got two. He brought Yang crashing down with a top rope Rana but Yang got the shoulder up. He went one step further with a Dragonrana but it still wasn’t enough. He went to the top again but Yang caught him into a rib-breaker and ended the match with the Moonsault. This was one hell of a light-heavyweight match. The pair went hell for leather with the stiff strikes, cool flips, and technical mastery. A definite Underground classic.

Between the matches:

  • The show opened up with back-and-forth promos between Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk. Lawler talked about being happy to murder Funk whilst Funk just insulted Lawler in the funniest way possible.
  • We got a clip show of Sabu murdering Father James Mitchell’s army and a recap of the attack he suffered at the hands of them. This all building to a spike match between the pair.
  • CM Punk decried Raven’s legacy and once again spewed the I’m better than you straight-edge spiel. Raven was tired of it and clocked him in the back of the head and walked off.

$10,000 Bounty Match: Jerry “the King” Lawler defeated Terry Funk via Dirty Pin

Last but not least, the main event. A rivalry that has spanned decades taking its next steps as Lawler once again set his crosshairs on Terry Funk for the price of $10,000. He was the next bounty hunter to answer the call of Steve Corino and he actually planned to walk away the winner. Lawler promised to end Funk’s career and jeered at the crowd’s reaction. He made sure to let the fans really know what he thought before he even started the fight. The ref got tired of this and snatched the mic away from him and after some words from Funk, the fight finally began. Funk jabbed the hell out of Lawler and the fight spilled to the outside, where Funk gave Lawlor a piledriver onto the hard wooden floor. He dragged him up the ramp and nailed a second one. The ref tried to get the match under control and as his back was turned, Simon Diamond of the Extreme Horsemen handed Lawler a weapon. It turned out to be a spool of barbed wire that Lawler, then introduced to the skull of Funk. The camera cut as Lawler ground the wire into Funk’s skull and returned with Funk gouging Lawler’s eyes into a stunner. He continued to work the neck with a second stunner and a hangman’s neckbreaker but Lawler reached the bottom rope. He backed up into the corner, suckered Funk in, and won with a dirty pin as the ref couldn’t see his feet on the ropes. Lawler had bested Funk and was now $10,000 richer. It’d had gotten bloody and hardcore, but he’d still won.

As you’d expect, The Extreme Horsemen came to pick the bones and stomped down a wounded Funk. Lawler took to the mic once again to gloat and wanted his money but The Extreme Horsemen had changed the terms of the deal. He was being paid to hurt Funk and take him out of wrestling, not beat him in a match. Lawler wasn’t getting a dime until Funk was leaving in an ambulance. Lawler started a fight but Steve Corino (in disguise) and The Extreme Horsemen beat him down. Everyone brawled and the first masked man got a chair to the head. A second masked man made the save and murdered Funk and Lawler with a chair. Dr. Death Steve Williams and the Sandman rushed to make the save and the show ended on a chaotic note as Funk and Lawler continued to kill each other long after the action stopped. More wars of words broke out as the two factions built to the big wargames match and Lawler tentatively allied with Funk to kill off the Extreme Horsemen.

All images courtesy of MLW, Video courtesy of MLW YouTube

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