June 1st, 2018
Col. Robert Parker is backstage with his dudes, and tells everyone that Jeff Cobb is leaving on a stretcher tonight, thanks to Jake Hager.
Jake Hager vs. Jeff Cobb
Jeff Cobb was a good choice to face Hager in his television return, as both have experienced wrestling backgrounds. However, this wasn’t that great of a match. Hager was fine, but nothing special. There’s really no reason why MLW would need to push this guy, when there’s a locker room of young talent, but we’ll see where this goes. Hager got Cobb to tap immediately after he put in the ankle lock. There wasn’t enough work on the ankle to make it believable that someone like Cobb would tap so quickly, especially taking him out on a stretcher afterwards.
Winner: Jake Hager
Match Rating: **1/2
Jeff Cobb is out into an ambulance, and supposedly has a fractured ankle. He’s headed to the hospital for further evaluation.
Shane Strickland is interviewed backstage, saying he’s glad that his first title defense is over with. He then walks outside, only to be confronted by Salina De La Renta. She is bringing someone over who Strickland won’t see coming, Strickland tells her to bring it!
Fred Yehi vs. Tom Lawlor is confirmed for next week. Lawlor is interviewed, calling Yehi little, saying he can’t find him, he calls him a yeti, and then wonders who he actually is. Again, good heel work from Team Filthy.
Sami Callihan cuts a promo, saying he doesn’t care about hurting you, or your feelings. He’s coming after the entire MLW roster, and him and his heavy are taking over EVERYTHING.
MLW Top Ten:
10. ACH
9. JaKe Hager
8. Joey Janela
7. Barrington Hughes
6. Jimmy Havoc
5. MVP
4. Sami Callihan
3. Rey Fènix
2. Pentagon Jr.
1. Tom Lawlor
MJF is at ringside for our next match.
Kotto Brazil vs. Rich Swann
Thankfully, the crowd absolutely loved Rich Swann, and cheered him on big time. However, this match went 12 minutes for no reason at all, and Kotto Brazil seemed like the star, not Rich Swann. Brazil has impressed before, but there’s no reason he needs to hang with Rich Swann, and kick out of literally everything. Rich Swann didn’t look impressive at all, and that’s a shame. The match was fine, they lost the crowd for most of it, and the right man won, just in the wrong way, and it went too long.
Winner: Rich Swann
Match Rating: **
After the match, Sami Callihan lays out Kotto Brazil with the bat. This leads us into our main event.
Sami Callihan vs. Joey Janela
Overbooked for no reason, lifeless brawling, and that’s about it. This never felt like the quality of a main event, and the crowd didn’t care for it either. Early on, Janela pinned Callihan, only for the match to restart, because one of Callihan’s dudes put his foot on the rope. After some brawling on the floor, MJF (who was still at ringside) attacked Janela, and that allowed for Callihan to pick up the win in the ring. That was sure a main event…
Winner: Sami Callihan
Match Rating: **1/4
Final Thoughts:
While some storylines advanced, some matches got announced for next week, and a new Top 10 was issued, this week was totally skippable in-ring wise. We had the debuts of Jake Hager and Rich Swann, but they were far from impressive. Then you go to the main event, which was terrible, knowing what both men are capable of. Otherwise, Strickland/Salina continue to have problems, MJF still has a beef with Joey Janela, Tom Lawlor sets his sights on the MLW Championship, and ACH vs. Fènix will main event next week. Hopefully next week MLW redeems themselves.
Final Rating: 5.5/10