I’m going to have a summary and kind of a super cut about MLW since I was at Fightland last month and War Chamber is coming up shortly. I’m going to focus on the main key points of what is going on in MLW and how this will play out for the upcoming event. Let’s see what War Chamber has in store and what is going forward.

Opera Cup Bracket

Opening Matches –
Tankman defeats Matt Cross
Bobby Fish defeats Lee Moriarty
Davey Richards defeats Tom Lawlor
TJP defeats Alex Shelley

So the key factors of these first four matches are, they are making Calvin Tankman a dominating powerhouse and it works so well with how he showed it in the match. He was fast paced as well but nobody gets up from the Tankman Driver. Bobby Fish advancing makes sense. He just came in to wreck house and did so well. Mainly for the name is why he advanced for this round. Now the two that actually will play into each other very well, Richards not only defeats last year’s Opera Cup winner but, makes him tap out. Lawlor has been thinking he is getting jipped out of opportunities and ultimately submits to the Ankle Lock by Davey. Davey has come back from his pseudo retirement as a EMT and looked great in the ring to advance. Finally, TJP defeats Alex Shelley with a roll up and assist from the ropes. Where this looks weird because everyone sees TJP more of a face, he played this off perfectly. Shelley calls him out, says face him again unless he is a bitch and TJP just tells him ‘Nope’ then walks off for the next round.

Now what makes the Semi-Finals weird is TJP had an injury and to face Tankman now was Alex Kane with King Mo on his side. Tankman continues to look the dominant powerman and takes care of business onto the Finals. I’m not discrediting Calvin Tankman at all by the way. He looks so good and fluent in the ring that you’d have to see to believe why I do praise him. The only issue is he is being overshadowed by the names that everyone knows and that is our second match of the night. Davey Richards and Bobby Fish did a technical masterpiece, they both showed their grappling skills and their agility but in the end, Richards came out on top and there is a catch to it. TJP came out, beat down Davey with Bobby Fish and now since TJP was never eliminated from the Opera Cup, he will have his proper match against Tankman and will face Davey Richards for the Finals. Now there is rumors going around that they might just make this a triple threat which I think would be better for a cowardly heel tactic but, who knows.

Calvin Tankman, TJP and Davey Richards going against each other for the cup and my money is honestly on Calvin Tankman. Don’t get me wrong, I love Davey, TJP as a heel is a great turn of events but I feel like TJP and Davey will keep attacking each other and forget that they have a monstrous super-heavyweight to deal with down the line. That’s just my guess on that one and even if it’s one on one, I feel Calvin Tankman is going to come out the winner.

Land of the Extreme for the Tag Teams

So 5150 are having issues with Los Parks… like a lot of issues with Los Parks. They had a tag match at the Fightland event and it got out of control to the point we saw a returning Homicide come in to help 5150 since Julius was unable to compete. This has boiled into something much more violent to the point that after LA Park showed the crowd he is still The Chairman, we are getting a proper rematch for the Tag Team Championships in a Philly Street Fight. No DQ’s so the chairs will be flying and it will be a bloodbath. Who knows, might go into the crowd for some beers and bruises but should be a great match nevertheless.

Filthy Finale?

As I previously stated, the current NJPW Strong Champion and 2020 Opera Cup winner, Tom Lawlor has felt… disrespected if you will and losing a bunch of opportunities. He lost against Hammerstone for the National Title, he lost the opening match of the Opera Cup against Davey Richards and then goes to Cesar Duran’s face, talks tough to his face saying “He’s getting screwed out of things” and then loses to King Murtes in a casket match which seems like the former MLW Champion is out of the company. I mean, he is the NJPW Strong Champion so if they really want to, he can just go to NJPW, do matches in the USA and also maybe a NJPW proper match or program like a NEVER Championship shot or bring all comers to take the Strong Title. Possibilities are endless for New Japan and Tom Lawlor but as far as MLW, I think the Casket Match was the finally of the Filthy one.

Up, Up, Down, Down. Here Comes the Hammer

Of course, the main event and something I am sure everyone is excited to see, Team Hammerstone vs Contra Unit. Hammerstone defeated Jacob Fatu for the MLW World Championship, we have a 5 man ladder match down the road for the vacant MLW National Openweight Championship and Contra wants their proper revenge in the chamber. Now Hammer’s ankle is still a little funny last I checked, Richard Holliday has a mask on at the current moment of time, EJ Nduka has looked unstoppable and was the last man standing in the 12 Man Tag with Holliday and also two unknown partners. Now seeing that it’s the 2300 Arena, we know at least one of them is going to be an ECW guy. Maybe RVD or Blue Meanie again. Possibly an out of the box one like Raven or Shane Douglas, he is the first ECW and MLW World Champion after all… the second one is a crap shoot though. I feel like it’s a swerve or a trick like someone doing double duty like Tankman or maybe it’s Osperay since he is announced to being there and maybe he goes up, saying he helped Hammerstone now he’s got to receive something from Hammerstone like a World Title match. Who knows?

Those are my thoughts that come from MLW in a supercut per say. Now, Hammerstone is their franchise player at the moment for MLW, it’s the truth. The man looks, sounds and walks the part and he has carried the flag of MLW with the Openweight Championship. That’s not a dig on Fatu because Jacob is nothing to scoff at. He’s a big boy that can fly in the ring, take risks and look good doing it. War Chamber is going to be screwy in a lot of ways for the World Championship, it’s going to be pure chaos in the Five Man Ladder match for the Openweight Championship and the Tag Team Championship is going to absolutely be a bloodbath. Everything should play out nicely and the stage is set for the War Chamber Event. Will I be going with the WarChief? Follow us on Twitter @PhenomenalAJB and @IWCWarChief to find out if we do or not.