Welcome back to MLW Underground. This week will be a contentious one. The matches on offer this time are Dr Julius Smokes & Norman Smiley taking on Los Maximos, the GTC Carnival continues as the Stampede Bulldogs take on the Havana Pitbulls and in the main event Bryan Danielson the American Dragon makes his debut with MLW against another massive innovator of the time, Teddy Hart. Now, do you get why this is a contentious one? Well, let’s get into the action as one of wrestling’s best came to MLW.

Los Maximos (Joel & Jose) defeated Dr. Julius Smokes & Norman Smiley via Chair Shot on Smokes

The first match of the night would see Dr Julius Smokes take off the commentary headset and lace up his boots again to team up with Norman Smiley against Los Maximos. Smokes talks a big game but how would he fare alongside Black Magic as they took on the self-proclaimed best tag team in MLW? Joel opened against Smiley with a fast and furious technical exchange that saw Smiley dance and tease the Big Wiggle early. Jose tried to interfere so Smiley punished him with a Giant Swing. Joel saved Jose from the Big Wiggle with an enzuigiri and Smokes entered the fight to beat down Joel. Smokes sent Joel flying with a Monkey Flip and tagged to Smiley for a dropkicking body slam. Smiley kept going with the slams and Jose saved Joel from Smokes’ charge. Smokes tried to hulk up off kicks but Joel wouldn’t allow it with a Yakuza Kick. Smokes at the mudhole stomps and unloaded on both Maximos with chops into an Atomic Drop. Joel made the tag as Jose with getting slammed and took out a celebrating Smokes with a Missile Dropkick. Smokes dodged a Swanton and dropped Joel on his head with a DDT. The pair tagged out and Smiley bulldozed Jose with elbows. He took Joel out with a body slam and embarrassed Jose with the Big Wiggle into a Wheelbarrow Facebuster. Smokes tagged in and took out Jose with a powerslam but Joel threw him into the ropes and Jose blasted him with a chair for the win. Los Maximos cemented their new win by any means necessary status here as they needed a cheap way out to stop the smoke… I mean Smokes.

GTC Carnival Final: The Stampede Bulldogs (Harry Smith & TJ Wilson) defeated The Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero) via Running Powerslam/Springboard Elbow combo on Romero

Up next was the finals of the GTC Carnival. It was a battle of Calgary vs Cuba as the Stampede Bulldogs took on the Havana Pitbull. Which legendary team was going to pick up the win and take their title shot against the Extreme Horsemen? Though funnily enough it wasn’t meant to originally be, as Reyes and Romero took out the original competitors in the walkway and took the match for themselves. The Bulldogs swarmed and took out Romero and Reyes with double-team offence. Reyes elbowed back but Smith cut him off with a stinging chop. Smith withstood more heavy kicks and dragged Reyes back to his corner for a tag. Wilson pummelled Reyes with knees but Reyes broke free and tagged. Romero charged but Wilson took out his arm to nail a duo of deadly suplexes. He slingshot Romero into a Falcon Arrow and Smith accidentally took out his own partner. The Pitbulls swarmed Wilson and took him out with a dropping basement dropkick. Wilson continued to be snapped, kicked, and pummelled as the Pitbulls mercilessly beat him. He finally got his escape as he dodged a corner splash and Smith clotheslined Romero from the apron. Reyes tried to prevent it but Wilson took him out with a high dropkick. Smith came in slamming and took out Reyes with a backdrop and Romero with a Reverse DDT. Reyes dropped Smith on his head with a German and Wilson ate the Havana Execution. Smith made the save and took out Reyes with an enzuigiri and hit the Running Powerslam/Springboard elbow combo on Romero. The Bulldogs had survived the Pitbulls and taken the big win to battle the Extreme Horsemen. Both teams killed it here and proved why they belonged in the finals, even if the Pitbulls took the spot by nefarious means.

Between the matches:

  • BREAKING NEWS: Alex Kane, King Mo, and Bu Ku Dao have been added to the Battle Riot. This will be MLW fans’ first chance to see Kane in action after being drafted to the company.
  • The show opened with a clip show from Shane Douglas winning the MLW Heavyweight championship two years ago ahead of his big match with Steve Corino.
  • Raven had been attacked off-camera by Justin Credible and had been taken away to a local medical facility. As he was in the ambulance, he’d sent the message back he wanted to kick Credible’s ass even if his arm had been busted.
  • PJ Friedman had another warning for Norman Smiley. He had been training in Russia and had been fantasising about how badly he was going to hurt him.

Teddy Hart defeated Bryan Danielson via Armbar

Last but not least the main event. Under better circumstances, this would be an epic. Seeing two of the top innovators in early-career action. Sadly, Teddy Hart is a piece of shit now. There’s no sugar-coating that. If it wasn’t for the fact, he was battling Danielson I’d have ignored this match entirely. Let’s try to get through this. It would be an odd match as both these guys were villainous and aggressive at the time. They opened with a lock-up and went through several technical exchanges trying to feel the other out. An ad break later, the pair were still battling over wrist control. Hart landed an armbar from a Hurricanrana and Danielson started uncorked lethal strikes. Danielson continued to target the back and angrily stomped and tore at Hart. This woke up Hart and he started striking back, trying to go after the arm again. Hart took further control with the Calgary Stampede and drove Danielson’s head into the mat with a Diving DDT. Hart hit Open Heart Surgery but messed up his own arm. He went for an SSP but Danielson latched onto that arm and wrenched into the Cattle Mutilation. Hart reversed into the armbar and took the win. This had been a match of technical and daredevil excellence but again, it’s hard to appreciate such gems when one of the wrestlers in the match is a massive piece of shit. Danielson was pissed off at losing and the showboating go on so they fought until the cameras stopped rolling. You do not piss off the American Dragon.

All images courtesy of MLW Twitter, Video courtesy of MLW YouTube

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