MLW Intimidation Games
March 1st, 2024
Melrose Ballroom
Queens, New York
It’s time for some more Major League Wrestling, and they’re at their best right now and I can’t wait to see what comes of this one. It’s Intimidation Games, and it’s headlined with a clash between old foes for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship, Satoshi Kojima defended the belt against another Japanese legend, Minoru Suzuki.
MLW World Middleweight Title Match
Rocky Romero (w/Jesus Rodriguez & Salina de la Renta) (c) vs. Mistico (w/Cesar Duran)
The Match:
They really put these international guys on a pedestal. They’re not how AEW treats them when they come in to just put over AEW talent. No wonder Ogawa didn’t want STARDOM to do business with them. Salina is coming out with Rocky as per usual and wow she looks good. Speaking of looking good, Mistico was great the last time we was in MLW. Rocky has really become a staple of MLW. The crowd were in a frenzy early on in this one. Rocky started to get in Mistico’s head by ripping his mask so bad, which is a tactic used to mess with a masked opponent as they want to keep their identity a mystery. Salina is screaming at Rocky and it’s really fetching that she’s so fierce. They got a lot of good time here. This was an intense affair! Mistico kicked out of the Sunset Driver, which he couldn’t believe. This is the first real showdown with Cesar’s guys and Salina’s, it’s high stakes. They traded some big moves and both kicked out. Rocky tapped out to Mistico in furious fashion the moment Mistico locked in that Fujiwara Armbar, and we have a new champion! Salina is in tears over this, and Cesar gets the first win in this feud between the two and their newly warring factions.
Winner: NEW MLW World Middleweight Champion, Mistico via pinfall in 18:01.
New York City Tag Team Street Fight
AKIRA & Jake Crist vs. The Calling (Rickey Shane Page & Sami Callihan) (w/Cannonball, Doctor Cornwallis & Talon)
The Match:
This will definitely be a palette cleanser. This issue between AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page and The Calling has been raging on since last year, after RSP excommunicated AKIRA from The Calling. AKIRA has fallen short in the few times they have done battle for RSP’s National Openweight Championship, and has recently been seeking the help of others to combat RSP and his new ally, Sami Calihan. Annoyingly, they did dives to the outside where the opponents were on “AEW dive time”. I’m sure from after that moment, it’ll be fine. The weapons were brought out and the ante was upped. This is a hard match to shoot, best of luck to Triller. The Calling took charge soon after the beginning. AKIRA copped it hard, like he has done this whole angle. AKIRA goes through a door in the corner, then Crist fights back, but gets laid out. AKIRA got thrown through a door and then just got worked over by Sami and RSP. The Blue Meanie is pulled out from outside of the ring and he brawls with Cannonball! That was fun and unexpected, but made sense due to Raven’s prior alliance with The Blue Meanie in Raven’s Nest in ECW. Hopefully we get an appearance from Lodi or Ron Reis in the coming months. Unfortunately The Calling were too much again and Jake Crist was pinned by RSP! Jimmy Lloyd ran out after the match and made a save. This was a WAR!
Winner/s: The Calling (Rickey Shane Page & Sami Callihan) via pinfall in 11:07.
After the match Sami wanted a mic. Raven popped up on the big screen afterward, his new faction he leads is called The Repsonse now. The war is beginning and RSP tried to one up Raven and it’s only just building now.
Singles Match
Bobby Fish vs. Alex Kane (w/Faye Jackson & Mr. Thomas)
The Match:
The crowd were supremely behind Alex Kane, and this started off as a real technical battle between the two.. It’s a bit of a stalemate to start off, this match is based off a ground game. Bobby Fish was going the cheap route and the referee is stupid to it, which was really crafty and creative. Kane fought back with gusto despite all of this, but Bobby cut him off and kept the heat going. Kane started hitting the pattented suplex’s he is known for and started wearing Bobby Fish out. This was a struggle. Alex Kane won the match in great fashion by putting Fish to sleep! I’m sure there’s a sleeping with the fishes reference somewhere there I can use.
Winner: Alex Kane via Refree Stoppage in 10:14.
After the match AJ Francis comes out after Alex started talking on the mic. AJ talks about the fans not even knowing what Bomaye means, and runs Alex down. AJ goes on about people in Alex’s group not being loyal to Alex, and Alex looked oddly at Mr Thomas. Good for AJ, I still haven’t seen him have a match since leaving WWE, and the promos are good, but can he get it done bell to bell?
MLW World Tag Team Title Match
The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) (c) vs. World Titan Federation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Tom Lawlor) (w/Saint Laurent)
The Match:
Here we go, this is a long time coming for the World Titan Federation. I smell title change here finally. MSL is now coming out wearing a stupid white helmut, with also a neck brace from the 1 Called Manders who clotheslined him nearly 2 weeks prior. It starts off with it being a wild brawl as expected. Smith Jr. and Lawlor take control and start to control the pace and cut the ring off. This was a great dramatic tag match, and very well put together. The Second Gear crew had Davey Boy beaten, but Tom pulled the referee out the ring and threw him into the steel railing! Manders and Justice then grabbed a table. Justice and Manders then set up a Doomsday Device but then Justice hit a tornado DDT off Manders shoulders through the table! MSL tried to hit Manders with his helmut, but got clocked – but Davey Boy grabbed the helmut, hit Manders, and Lawlor rolled him up and the WTF finally win the MLW World Tag Team Titles! They celebrate and MSL just keeps falling over which is gold.
Winner/s: NEW MLW World Tag Team Champions, World Titan Federation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Tom Lawlor) via pinfall in 11:16.
Madz Kruel Krugger cuts a promo about Contra and his preparation for ‘one last war’ and will burn MLW to the ground.
NJPW World Television Title Match
Matt Riddle (c) vs. Bad Dude Tito
The Match:
Riddle knees Tito from the beginning, german suplex’s him, Tito returns with one of his own, and it’s a hot opening to the match. Riddle recently won the NJPW Television Title from Hiroshi Tanahashi, so this match has a 15 minute time limit. Riddle took control with his usual flurry of moves but Tito weathered the storm and kept in it. These two really went to war and it felt like anybody could win despite it being obvious Riddle would retain, which he did with a Cradle Tombstone. I believe he calls it a Tombs-Bro.
Winner: Riddle via pinfall in 5:06.
5,000 Dollar Five Minute Challenge Non Title Match
Janai Kai (w/Jesus Rodriguez & Salina de la Renta) vs. Zoey Cannon
The Match:
$5000 challenge here, and I’m loving that Salina De La Renta has a bag with a dollar sign on it. Janai has some thick legs, its clear to me a kick from her would hurt. I have to laugh, she ended up winning via knockout in 18 seconds. Well done Zoey, honestly, she sold it very well.
Winner: Janai Kai via knockout in 0:18.
Cesar is in his office and applauds Salina. He sips some champagne, he challenges Salina to bring her best luchadore to War Chamber to face one of his.
MLW World Heavyweight Title Match
Satoshi Kojima (w/Shigeo Okumura) (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
The Match:
This should be a treat between these two veterans. Joe gives us a history of Minoru’s history taking Satoshi’s old stable Kojima-Gun and its been Suzuki-Gun since then. They have apparently battled 137 times in their history. As expected it’s a stalemate to begin with. Kojima’s selling and screaming is tremendous, as he’s going into the match with a bad wheel and Suzuki targets the knee. Suzuki ended up just booting Okumura out of the blue which was funny. Suzuki started toying with Kojima. I’m a fan of Suzuki but sometimes the no selling feels a bit much. Suzuki gets close to knocking Kojima out. Kojima hit a Koji Cutter out of no where to finally gain a sense of advantage. Kojima missed the lariat and Suzuki went back to working on the knee and trying to choke Kojima out. Suzuki thought he choked Kojima out, and went for a pin and I actually thought it was over for a second. Suzuki goes for the Gotch Piledriver, Kojima blocked it, hit the Lariat, then hits a brainbuster, for only a two and Suzuki barely sells it. Kojima went for 2 lariats, they were blocked, then he hit one with his left arm, then hit a final one with his right arm and he finally retained! What a BATTLE.
Winner: STILL MLW World Heavyweight Champion, Satoshi Kojima via pinfall in 16:25.
Final Thoughts:
This was a solid card of pro wrestling, not nearly as fun as MLW Burning Crush, but still great – needed more Zayda. I think the difference is, Burning Crush had a lot of storyline related stuff, which is my bag, as I enjoy the entertainment side a little bit more. MLW is still firing on all cylinders though! They have upcoming shows like ‘Once Upon A Time In New York’ in a few weeks, and then the Epic MLW War Chamber soon after. I look forward to it!
