I attended 3LW’s “Reckoning” which took place on March 28 in Millersville, PA. I had attended two previous 3LW events, which I really enjoyed and was very excited about this event. The event featured the first round of the Cruiser Cup, along with a No DQ match for the 3LW Heavyweight Championship.

3LW is a family friendly promotion that is run by former WWE star Jesus (Ricardo) Rodriguez. Their shows are a good mix of wrestling styles. There’s a little bit of something for everyone, from lucha, to hardcore, to humor and storytelling.

The event started with a match that was way too good to be on the pre-show. Christian Darling took on Tye Rockwell in a great match. This was a very fast paced match, with Rockwell, who was from “a gated community” doing some impressive heel work. Darling looked like a star and had the crowd completely behind him, as he got the win with a TKO.

The first match on the main card is an opening round match in the Cruiser Cup tournament featuring Lady Glory, Tom Mitchell and AJ Moralas. All of the opening round matches are triple threat matches. This was a really fun match with Moralas and Glory flying everywhere as soon as the bell started the match. Mitchell was a little more grounded and used his strength advantage to throw his opponents around the ring. Moralas hit a really impressive DDT off a tightrope walk on the ropes and Lady Glory hit an impressive ricochet Code Breaker off the ropes, however it was Moralis that pulled out the victory and continues in the tournament.

The second opening round match is Ricky Pryce, Mantequilla and Smiley. Ricky Pryce has been on a tear lately, holding titles in Smashmaster Wrestling and ISPW. Mantequilla is a superhero luchador with some impressive high flying moves. However, this match belonged to Smiley. Sometimes I forget just how creative and innovative Smiley’s offense can be. He locked his opponents in a very unique double submission, then he caught Mantequilla coming off the ropes and slammed him to the mat, while giving Pryce a DDT. Mantequilla hit a very impressive destroyer, but it was not enough to put away Smiley, who hit a 450 off a rope walk for the win.

Up next is one of the matches I was looking forward to the most. It is another opening round match that features Tarzan Duran, Lili Ruiz and Victor Iniestra. In my opinion, Tarzan is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the country. He can literally work any style from hardcore, to technical to lucha and anything in between. Tarzan comes to the ring with a giant stick that is about twice the size of Lili. Lili is a ball of energy and is loved everywhere she goes. That leaves Victor to be the one that we do not like and he plays up this role well. This was an incredible match, match of the night in my opinion. This crowd starts chanting “this is awesome” as the action is nonstop. Tarzan gets the win as he hits Victor with Jungle Juice, then piledrives Lili onto Victor for the win.

In our first non-tournament match, former NXT star Javi teams with Breaux Keller to take on The Cure and The Curse’s Mr. Miller and Victor Atlas. The Cure and The Curse are the more established team and use that cohesiveness to their advantage. Mr. Miller is a snake oil salesman and Victor is just a big guy. Breaux Keller is very athletic and charismatic. He may be the best wrestler you don’t know about. Breaux and Javi get the win, despite their opponents constant attempts to cheat.

The last first round match in the Cruiser Cup is the other match that I was really excited for, as Juni Underwood takes on Flyin Ryan O’Neill and Just Jay. This match was everything that I hoped it would be. All three wrestlers really excelled in this match and showed why they are future stars. It had a lot more striking than the other matches in the tournament with Ryan doing a lot of the flying, as you would expect. Juni gets the win with a Tiger Driver on Ryan, after Ryan hit a swanton on Jay.

Byron Simmons challenged Snook for the 3LW Legacies Championship. This was mostly a storyline match, but there was some good action in the ring. Simmons has appeared to have gone a little crazy and had a side kick at ringside that dressed like him. Unfortunately, that person cost Simmons the match as he had the ref distracted when Byron had Snook rolled up for a pin, then Snook hit a spear on Simmons after Byron went to get the ref. 

The main event was a No Holds Barred match for the 3LW Heavyweight Championship with Bill Bain (who had stolen the belt and was bringing it to the ring) challenging Darien Hardway. This had everything that you would want in a hardcore match. They fought to the outside and Hardway used a child as a weapon. Bain got some doors and they each go through doors. The Cure and The Curse come out, but they are run off by Breaux Keller. Breaux grabs Bain’s brass knuckles and goes to use it on him, but misses and hits Hardway. Bain follows up by hitting Breaux in the crotch. But he cannot put Hardway away. Hardway hits Bain with a super punch for the win. As the show ends, it feels like there is a bit of tension between Breaux and Hardway.

Overall, I thought this was a really fun show with the Cruiser Cup matches being the highlight. We saw Juni Underwood, Smiley, Tarzan Duran and AJ Morales advancing. It also looks like we may be headed to a match between Darien Hardway and Breaux Keller for the 3LW Heavyweight title, which is something that I would like to see. The next 3LW show will be in Harrisburg, PA on April 25 and will include the semifinals of the cruiser tournament, former WWE stars Ricardo Rodriguez, Rhino and Zach Gowen, GCW’s Nick Gage, and the rest of the 3LW roster.

You can find 3LW on Instagram: Instagram.com/3LWRESTLING or Twitter: @3legacies.