Welcome back to MLW and to the fallout of one of the biggest faction collapses in the company’s history. CONTRA is dead and from the ashes, two monsters have emerged. Mads Krügger had been left without purpose once the power struggle destroyed the group and now, he has been driven by the singular need to destroy Jacob Fatu. Now, after proving his worth to Cesar Duran, Krügger was getting his wish and the horror movie monster showdown was happening tonight. Alongside that, we’d see MSL’s superstar debut in a mixed trios match featuring some of the company’s top Luchadores and new debuts. Even with those types of questions answered, so many more are still to come. Let’s get into the action and see what happened.

Aramis, El Dragon & Microman defeated Arez, Gino Medina & Mini Abismo Negro (w/Dr Dax) via Mini Vader Bomb on Medina

First up tonight, we had a Mixed Trios match boasting some of MLW’s top Luchadores alongside some exciting new debuts. Aramis and Arez, the eternal enemies were joined by new forces as the strange one had El Intocable Gino Medina and the little giant of the ring, Mini Abismo Negro, and the musketeer had El Dragon and MSL’s chosen superstar, Microman on his team. The Sensation himself was greeted with open arms and a chorus of cheers. With minis and regular wrestlers in the ring together, this was going to be something special. Arez and Aramis opened up with more of their unique and dynamic rivalry, showing once again the innovation and creativity they bring to their offence. They took the fight in and around the ring, even using Dax as a stepping stone back to the ring. From there, everyone else got to jump into action as Gino Medina showed out against Aramis and Dragon, flourishing amongst fellow Luchadores and Mini Abismo Negro stealing my interest with his aesthetics and athleticism. When Microman got into the ring, Negro tried to stop the hype but Microman would not be stopped. The Rudo team grew sick of the shenanigans and tried to ruin the big debut for MSL’s supreme wrestler, Microman.

That blew the match wide open as we descended into a manic and maddening trios match of epic proportion. Microman managed to steal the show as his partners worked to keep the Rudos at bay. It was all great fun, ridiculously athletic, and full of personality-driven flair. This was one of the best MLW matches I’ve seen to date. It was a testament to the talent in the ring and the company doing everything they could to present them properly. It was fast, furious, and flippy as hell with everyone wowing the crowd. The size of the competitor didn’t matter when they were doing everything this damn well. In the end, after about twenty minutes of action, Medina would be the one to fall being knocked dead by a Dragon 450 Splash and succumbing to a mini–Vader Bomb. He was livid at losing to Microman but after everything they’d all been through in this one, something had to give. When Rich Boccini tried to get the final word, Medina killed him and the ref that tried to stop him. This was incredible. It will take a lot to top the excitement this match managed to pack in. I want to see more of all the new faces involved but especially Mini Abismo Negro.

Between the Matches:

• Emilio Sparks braved destruction by accosting The Judge EJ Nduka about his thoughts on the Dynasty imploding. Sparks laid his hands on Nduka and for that, he was raised six feet in the air. Nduka and Hammerstone are copasetic, so we now know whose side he’s on.
• 5150 were living the high life in Texas, celebrating another week as double tag champions and running down their competition, mocking Los Parks for coming back and failing to beat them, and running down the Von Erichs for not making it home for their fight.
• MLW reminded us that nZo was coming back to competition and that his match was going to be with KC Navarro. As part of the preparation for that Navarro is in action next week against Ho Ho Lun.
• Alex Kane and Calvin Tankman were taking different approaches to their upcoming MLW Openweight Title match. Kane was still running down Tankman and throwing out insults whilst Tankman calmly described every injustice that Kane and the Bomaye Fight Club had thrown his way and how he was going to kill Kane. There’s a lot of intensity between the day but who will win when the pair square up next week, the calm challenger or the cocky champion?

• Tajiri returns next week too as he defends the MLW Middleweight champion against Myron Reed, Matt Cross, and a mystery opponent.
• Before the main event, we got news of a backstage altercation, Gino Medina had just tried to murder Aramis, beating him to a bloody pulp.
• Hammerstone and Davey Richards had another segment discussing each other and their respect for each other, ahead of their upcoming title fight. Hammerstone was ready for this but Richards didn’t seem to think so. Regardless, they both promised an exceptional match.
• The show ended with Cesar Duran trying to organise business with Karlee Perez when Richard Holliday interrupted. He’d been promised a title match against Hammerstone. Holliday had broken CONTRA, gotten Hammerstone through War Chamber and now he wanted his title shot. Duran would have given Holliday the Title shot but with the Richards contract signed, his hands were tied. Unless… Richards was suddenly injured then Holliday would make the perfect substitution. We know where this is going…

Jacob Fatu defeated Mads Krügger (w/Ikuro Kwon) via Double Spring Moonsault

The time has come. CONTRA was gone, the ashes scattered and now the only thing that mattered was revenge. Mads Krügger, the Black Hand, had lost his purpose, his unit, his family and now he was driven by the need for revenge. He had jumped through every hoop and now, he had Jacob Fatu. The monsters of CONTRA were about to fight and it was going to get very ugly. We’ve seen more of the human side of Fatu lately, now it was time to see the monster come back to kick ass. We were in for a right battle of the titans. There weren’t even proper entrances as the pair instantly started to brawl. They took their hurricane of horror around the fans, hitting guardrails, fans, and chairs alike. We even got a diving Satellite DDT from a raised area to the floor from Fatu. The bell rang once the pair finally made it to the ring and Krügger got some revenge with an Avalanche Fallaway Slam. The peace didn’t last though as Fatu pretty much instantly fired back with a Spear. The ads played and returned to the pair just beating the hell out of each other. It was all power, pain, and aggression with Fatu cutting off Krügger’s accusations with hard shots and Samoan Drops. Again though, neither could remain dominant as Krügger quickly answered back with a Chokebreaker. Things got even more hellish as they returned outside and Krügger laid out Fatu and the production area with a Superman dive. Ikuro Kwon came out to join Krugger and the pair prepared to end him but they’d underestimated Fatu who took them both out and stole the win with the double spring Moonsault. Fatu had done it again, screwing over Krügger’s plans and proving to be the dominant monster for now. Somehow, I don’t see this being the end of this and there’s only going to be bigger and nastier matches between these two. This was an excellent opener to what could be a nightmarish series. Post-match, he and Kwon continued to beat down Fatu, upset with the loss. Again though, Fatu cleared the ring and the outside with his fists and Air Samoan. Nothing could stop the fight and no one dared get in their way.

All images courtesy of MLW, video courtesy of MLW YouTube