Welcome back to MLW and the wonderfully violent world of Cesar Duran. After last week’s debacle during the main event, we have big things looming on the horizon. During the interim, we’re going to see more of what Duran loves the most, violence and Lucha. There were three offerings at the wrestling altar this week as Los Parks battle the hellish duo of Gangrel and Pagano, nZo and KC Navarro finally have their much-anticipated grudge match and two of the best luchadors around will clash as Flamita takes on Bandido. Not to mention, the comings and goings of business being conducted as the shadowy El Jefe continues to reap the benefits and suffer the consequences for all the strings he’s pulled. Let’s get into the action.

Los Parks (LA Park & LA Park Jr) defeated Pagano & Gangrel via Skewered Spear on Pagano

Up first was something violent. Pagano was joining forces with the legendary Gangrel to cause some fanging and banging bloodshed. They were against Los Parks, tangling with the original chairman LA Park and the brutish LA Park Jr. Los Parks want to rise the ranks again, this was certainly a way to get back in Duran’s good graces. He’d even made a pre-match appearance to make it a no-DQ violent extravaganza, a Mexican Deathmatch. Whilst it wasn’t the most violent deathmatch I’ve ever seen, it delivered a nice mix of no-frills brawling and bloodletting from Pagano. He took the brunt of the nasty blows in this one, eating the sickle and skewers from LA Park. The Clown was covered in crimson but took the chance to destroy Park’s mask and bludgeon a ref half to death when he made the questionable choice to try and interject in the action. It didn’t end well and he was unconscious for most of the last minutes of the match. Park Jr and Gangrel made sure to keep the wrestling side alive with crisp grappling and high-flying whilst Park Sr and Pagano kept things escalating. It made for a fun little opener and a nice win for Los Parks, even if we don’t quite know their status within the company now. I’ll always pop for Pagano and Gangrel so this makeshift pairing just made me all the happier.

KC Navarro defeated nZo via Moonsault Roll-up

Next up was the culmination of a feud that had been simmering for quite some time. Since nZo debuted, he’s remained undefeated and continuously targeted KC Navarro with unprovoked attacks and revenge matches. Navarro has yet to win as nZo got the better of him when he first struck, injuring his neck in their first match. He claims this is all about respect and teaching Navarro a lesson. Somehow, I don’t think Navarro has taken it that way and just wanted to get the better of the Real 1. It would balance out his losses and get him his pride back. Would he be willing to fight as dirty as nZo? It wasn’t going well at first. nZo opened things with an impassioned speech about KC coming to him for advice and the multiple ass-beatings he’d given him at his gym. The match seemed no different, nZo beat his ass and mocked him as he did so. That all changed when Navarro pulled off a counter and Moonsaulted his way into a roll-up. Navarro had pulled off the win and embarrassed nZo. One mistake was all it took. One moment to shift the momentum and take the win. nZo liked to talk about how Navarro had heart, it seems he’s got brains too. This was a blessed moment for Navarro. Hopefully, he can put this “lesson” behind him and get back to business.

Between the matches:

• The main event disaster from last week was recapped as Richard Holliday, Mads Krügger, and King Muertes all attacked Hammerstone. The Von Erichs made the save and Cesar Duran made a six-man tag match between both makeshift units. We still don’t know when but they want to hype that attack. Later in the show, Holliday and Atout were in a meeting with Duran where El Jefe claimed he never needed Holliday’s help. Duran threatened consequences but Holliday wanted to offer Duran an opportunity. Alas, Atout closed the door before we could hear this opportunity.
• Rise of the Renegades is coming back next week as a special. Duran has prepared some big fights for the event including that monstrous six-man match and a special match between Gino Medina and Aramis to avenge that bloody beatdown Medina had given him, a Mexican Strap match. Plus, Octagon Jr defends the Caribbean Title against Matt Cross.
• The Killer Kross videos played again; Doomsday grows ever closer as Kross enters the Battle Riot.
• Speaking of, we were back at the Battle Riot Control Centre as Bandido, KC Navarro, The Samoan SWAT Team’s Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’I, and Richard Holliday were all announced as the next participants in the Riot.

Bandido defeated Demonic Flamita via 21-Plex

Here come the fireworks. The Firestarter Demonic Flamita was back in MLW and ready to throw down with one of the top Luchadores on the scene, Bandido. These two were about to show MLW how Lucha was done and were going to blow some minds in the process. They know each other incredibly well and even were former partners as Mexablood. What do I need to say here? Looking at the names in the match there is all the potential in the world. We got the Rudo viciousness of Flamita mixing with the fire and heart of Bandido mixing with world-class Lucha-Libre. This was an exceptional main event with Flamita fighting against the fans to bully one of their favourites. There was no mercy shown and no quarter given as Flamita milked every moment he had to punish Bandido, choking him out, beating him around the outside, and even trying to tear his mask apart. Bandido obviously fought back once he was given the chance and the match exploded into an all-out war between two top-tier wrestlers. This is one to be watched and enjoyed, not read about. It was a slow-burn story that continuously got nastier. Flamita had no issues being a dick and it just made everyone root harder behind Bandido. Even when the match was over, Flamita was shirking off sportsmanship to give Bandido the finger. This was definitely main-event worthy and a joy to watch. MLW loves its Lucha and Lucha seems to love Lucha. Long may this trend continue.

All images courtesy of MLW, video courtesy of MLW YouTube