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RANDOM THOUGHTS ON TONIGHT'S MLW UNDERGROUND DEBUT ON REELZ

By Mike Johnson on 2023-02-07 23:03:00

MLW Underground debuted tonight on REELZ, so here are some kneejerk "stream of consciousness" style thoughts on the debut broadcast, written as the show aired tonight:

The opening musical montage and highlight reel came off impressive if you look at it from the perspective of someone who had never seen the product before and was going in blind.  They got over the idea that there was a history to the company, that there were generational stars here and that there were different fighting styles going against each other.  The theme song was catchy and they showed a nice mix of personalities that would be on the show.    The promotion's strength has always, in many ways, been the post-production team led by Charlie Bruzzese and that's on display here.

After an introduction from the unseen Joe Dombrowski, we go to the ring.

Matt Striker introduced Jacob Fatu, who won the Battle Riot and has the right to challenge for the MLW title any time he wants.  Striker said that he's been around them all but Fatu has something special.   Fatu said it's great to be back in Philly and said he wanted Hammerstone right here in Philly at Superfight.  He said that this will be the place where he gets his belt back.  The thing that stood out, and there was zero MLW could do about this, is that the background graphics all said MLW Fusion, which is not the name of the show.  Given they were reconfiguring footage that was shot before the REELZ deal was consummated, it's completely understandable and something that will shift in the weeks ahead after the footage they shot in Philly this past weekend hits the airwaves.

The Real 1 (NZO) came to the ring, doing his usual mic work, to cut off Fatu.  Whether you like the guy or not, his gift of gab is undeniable. He said there's a situation, not a conversation right now.  He said he was the real winner of Battle Riot.   He told Fatu he comes from a long line of "b**ches."  He said Fatu was a poor man's Rikishi.  Lame line because the last thing you want is for one person to think YOUR talents are secondary WWE knockoffs.  Fatu told him that if he says one more word, he's going to beat the F*** out of him.   They were muting the cursing, so going forward, the promotion would be best served to instruct talents not to use that language.  Saves everyone on both sides some headaches. Real 1 kept saying "word word word word" and well, he's annoying as hell, but that's what the character should be.  Someone you want to see get the crap kicked out of him. 

Security and officials ran out to separate them.    Fatu was pulled to the back as Real 1 entered the ring and demanded to fight.  He said he came out here to fight someone.    Mance Warner came out to answer that challenge.  Real1 talked a lot of trash about Mance before finally agreeing, including hitting on a woman at ringside.   Sleazy, thy name is Real1.  Real1 charged him and got laid out with a right hand.  They rang the bell and played Warner's theme music, so Knockouts are a thing in MLW now.  If you were a first-time viewer, one think you wouldn't have predicted was Mance getting the KO, that's for sure.  

Your winner, Mance Warner!

After they returned from the commercial break, Real1 was throwing stuff around ringside.  I think they needed a Warner promo to get him over after the win, since new viewers wouldn't really know who he is beyond a guy who came out and just KO'd NZO.  But, again, giving the timing of when this was produced and how they reconfigured the content, forgivable.

The first segment was OK.  It was typical pro wrestling fare, but the swerve at the end with the KO was a nice idea.  It gets over the idea that a finish could happen anytime.

They aired a well produced video on the history of EJ Nduka and Alexander Hammerstone.  This was really well done and easily caught anyone up on what was leading to the main event.  Again, production team praise from me.

The Bomaye Fight Club came to the ring with Alex Kane.  Former ROH star O'Shay Edwards, a BIG tough dude, was with them.  Kane took the mic.  He pulled out a cheese steak from Tony Luke's and said he would shove it down the throat of his opponent tonight.   Some "fan" was razzing him, so he was struck with the cheese steak.  The crowd chanted, "It's still good!"  Never change, Philly!  Kane left the ring to beat on the fan.  Kane said the Opera Cup was going to be his tournament and he doesn't go anywhere without having a prize fight.  He challenged someone to come out and fight him for prize money.

The Marvelous Jafar came out to the ring.   Ever see Jaws?  Well, Kane was the shark and attacked, destroying Mr. Marvelous with suplexes.  Kane nailed an exploder into the buckles and the referee called the fight.  Kane kept beating down Marvelous with suplex and suplex.  Marvelous was bounced out of the ring.  Kane said he was just getting warmed up and asked if anyone else wanted to go.

Out came Davey Boy Smith Jr, who the announcers noted had donated the Opera Cup along with the Hart family to the promotion.  So, he was obviously upset about the disrespect from Kane.  He brawled with the Bomaye Fight Club.  The Billington Bulldogs hit the scene and everyone brawled as security tried to break it up.  The crowd was super into this, chanting to "Let them fight."

If you had never seen Kane before, you knew what his deal was now.  He was a heel with a crew who was full of himself because he knew he was a badass.  The "attack" on the fan didn't work for me, because well, it was silly, but the heinous act of trashing a Tony Luke's Cheesesteak?  That's an extreme act of evil my friends.  Kane looked great beating down poor Mr. Jafar.  The brawl with Smith was OK.  This needed post-segment reactions from Kane promising revenge after, I think.

They ran a short video touting the return of Lio Rush soon.

They announced Real1 vs. Mance in a Street Fight for next week playing off what happened tonight.   OK, so we're getting some storyline continuity from week to week.  

They went backstage for a promo from EJ Nduka who said he was about to take out Hammerstone tonight, acting like it was a foregone conclusion.  He also touted he'd see Jacob Fatu on 2/4, which obviously did not happen.  In a way, I sort of like that because you could lean into the "anything can happen here" deal with the idea that NDuka was super confident until he ran into Hammerstone and got his MLW run wrecked.  Nduka has star written all over him.  As of this writing, his MLW deal has expired and if he's not signed by AEW or WWE in a short amount of time, I'd be stunned.

They showed a video from the group that's been attacking people and leaving "calling cards" on their beaten bodies, sort of like The Joker leaving playing cards on his victims in Batman.  Someone came across Madds Kruger and went for help.

They featured a backstage promo from MLW Champion Alexander Hammerstone, noting he's been champ for 494 Days.  Smart way to get over the importance of the reign.  He's going to shut up EJ Nduka and show why he's the one leading the locker room to show everyone in the back who the true leader in the company is.  Promo was very good and believable.

We then went to the main event.   Fans threw streamers for Hammerstone.  This was a really fun brawl and a nice way to kick off the REELZ run.  At one point, Nduka smashed Hammerstone through a door that was set up between two chairs.  He tried to chain Hammerstone down to prevent him from making the count.  They announced Calvin Tankman vs. Willie Mack for next week.  That will be fun.  They used a Singapore Cane on each other.  Hammerstone nailed a spear through another door and hit his finisher, then buried Nduka under several chairs and doors to prevent him from getting back up before the ten count.  A lot of good brawling and power spots in this one.    If you don't like weapons, I can see you dismissing some of this but this was meant to be the end of the feud and it was Last Man Standing match, so they gave you what they advertised.

This was easily one of Nduka's best matches to date and he played a hell of a heel.  It was a nice way for him to end this chapter of his career.  Hammerstone came off like a star here and you can see why they're building around him.   

Hammerstone was leaving when Fatu walked out.  They stared at each other down the aisle.

They closed with a promo for the Street Fight last week, pretty much promising a violent brawl.  

I thought it was a good solid first episode, especially given they were reconfiguring stories and footage that had been originally planned from life before REELZ.  It was a quick hour that established Hammerstone for sure, set up the main event for next week and introduced fans to Alex Kane and Jacob Fatu.  There were quite a few positives coming out of the episode. 

It will be interesting to see what sort of number this bangs out for REELZ.  Their top programming On Patrol Live, did 756,000 overnight viewers last Friday and the channel has been gaining viewers in a time period where lots of networks are losing them.  I don't believe MLW on a Tuesday at 10 PM will come anywhere close to 800,000, but we'll see what the barometer for the show is very soon.  Either way, this was a step forward the promotion desperately needed and now that they've got the platform, it's on them to get people to care and show that all the hallmarks that have been touted as its strengths for years can actually deliver.  They've always been a promotion that was big on hype but never had the platform to match.  Well, this is their best chance for that and the journey began tonight.

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