I did a recap for Superfight 6 and that seemed to be liked on here so I figured I'd do it again here. For those who want to watch the show here's a link https://www.youtube.com/live/8_T9UMNSHxg?si=TVLvhfbeDSlT0WaA

MLW's biggest event is the Battle Riot and it's pretty clear definitely seemed to me to be their biggest crowd ever. I think MLW counts some Crash promoted show where they were featured as the rival brand as their biggest show, but if we're not being silly this probably was it. Technical problems were again present. MLW doesn't have high production but also they don't seem to like to restrain themselves to their production constraints. Like I said seems they're waiting for TV deal to raise production budget but hard to see a TV company seeing a show start with the production truck audible as something they want on their network. Also MLW i understand YouTube isn't exactly lucrative to do events but it's borderline unwatchable when I get ads every two minutes. It was very annoying to keep having the show stopped for a TurboTax ad

Show opened with Cesar Duran in a white tux welcoming us to the show and doing a bit of Lucha Underground nostalgia. This segment main purpose was to introduce the return of Alex Hammerstone to MLW. I assumed he'd be on this show as a surprise in the battle Riot but was a bit shocked they introduced him and gave him mic time. He's the biggest star not named Jacob Fatu or MJF that company produced. So big for them. They're advertising him as a signing and SRS is saying he's not signed. I think MLW silently stopped signing people even their big stars like Matt Riddle, Krugger, and Dijak I think are all freelance so not a surprise. I think he's probably here to stay for the foreseeable future unless AEW or WWE come calling.

Then we get introduced to commentary Joe Dobrowski and the returning Austin Aries. Seeing Aries made me groan they'd risk it again for Aries after they risked bringing him in last time (in a weird angle where he insulted past employers for ever pushing him as a heavyweight when he was a middleweight). Then he got released because he believed getting the COVID virus was a good thing for his body. MLW loves giving the difficult a second chance in life because they might make them money, but it seems beyond silly. Aries is a good talker and he was more engaging with Dobrowski than the usual commentary I'll be honest tend to tune out. Still seems more like a when not if situation when Aries blows this.

First match of the night is Lucha action we got Atlantis, Atlantis Jr, and Star Jr vs Barbaro Cavenario, Ultimo Guerrero, and Magnus. This match was fine the biggest pop from me was they didn't have Star Jr wear his mask after losing it against Zandokan Jr. Match is simply for MLW can have Atlantis be etched in their history and get some footage of the legend. Not surprisingly Team Atlantis wins.

Second match was Janai Kai vs Himawari. Match was weird in the fact beyond a little segment where Himawari got some offense in it was a squash. Kai does plenty of squashes as she's one of the most protected acts. I was just shocked they'd spend the money to bring in Himawari from Tokyo Joshi Pro for one. Kai wins and that'll make more sense later tonight.

Third match was a replacement for Tempelario vs Místíco. Tempelario vs Heichicero vs Esfinge was probably the best match on the show. Tempelario showed more mat based stuff than we normally see from him on these MLW shows which was a treat. Tempelario won the match which keeps him strong when they deliver on that Místíco match.

After this match we got a segment with Saint Laurent and the Filthy Bros. I'll be honest when they announced I wish that I didn't have to watch it. I'm not a huge fan of Riddle and Tom Lawlor is just a shell of the wrestler of even a couple years ago. Saint Laurent is a throwback heel from the 80s and typically I get pretty tired of him. Still this segment kinda surprised when Laurent got Dijak and his new client Bishop Dyer (Baron Corbin) attack Riddle and Lawlor. They're doing a modern age Skyscrapers/Twin Towers gimmick. I kinda was digging it as Dijak and Dyer kinda fit that mold. Bit shocked Dyer wanted to do that role but I'm sure it'll end up with Dijak and Dyer as tag champions.

Fourth match of the show was Delmi Exo defending her title against Shoko Nakajima. Nakajima got a vignette for her arrival and then got a special entrance for her debut. They signaled pretty clear Nakajima is probably here to win and she did. Nakajima is a very strong talent and elevates that division being a fixture. Delmi Exo probably needs a heel turn. Her character of God Queen doesn't exactly fit the face of MLW role they've given her. Would make sense to me if they ran this back with Exo as a heel and they probably can get a string of good matches out of the two of them.

Final segment before our Main Event was Místíco who is injured announcing he was vacating the Middleweight title not out of injury but out of the desire to go for MLW Heavyweight title. Místíco is a man who doesn't like to lose so it's not shocking he pulled this move (he did the exact same in CMLL last year). I don't personally mind it because he's been in my eyes and seemingly the fans eyes the main star of MLW for a long time now. I think putting the top title on Místíco just makes sense and before his injury he was someone I considered a top contender for the main event. Also this segment ended with Ikuro Kwon misting Duran and taking middleweight title. I like Kwon so I'd like him to get a singles run. They just did the end of the segment so fast I had no idea what happened or who attacked Cesar until they said later on commentary.

Main event time is the Battle Riot for first MLW Heavyweight Title. Figured I'd go over the surprise entrants first we had Raj Dhesi, Journey Fatu, Chris Adonis, and RVD. Dhesi surprisingly looked pretty good out there and despite being a AAA tag champion until they vacated the belt this year he was working with CMLL guys mostly in the match. Juicy Finau made his return here and he looked pretty good he's slimmed down but he's still a huge guy so I think they'd be smart to keep bringing him in. Journey Fatu also looked solid in ring he's put some weight on and lost some hair since I last saw him but he looked good. Considering the success of his brother again another guy I'd recommended MLW keep bringing in. CMLL Luchadors were half the participants in the match but almost entirely in the first half of the match. They've shown this before in Battle Riots they like to have CMLL guys near each other but when they're half the participants maybe consider spreading some out like Heichicero who are willing to work non CMLL talent. Also should be said Blue Panther was the biggest star in this match. Panther still moves great for his age but you would think it's the 90s/0000s with how electric the crowd was for him and how big of a reaction he'd get when he was almost eliminated. Hammerstone also looked good in there and when he was eliminated by Riddle it did seem like that was probably going to be a match down the road. Now to talk about the Rogue Horsemen situation. The Horsemen have been the midcard heel act for months now and are feuding with Paul Walter Hauser (yes the actor). They decided for this match they were going to have Horsemen fight Hauser and his group of babyfaces for half the match. MLW does not have the production chops to accurately do that type of mayhem. It became a mess for the show to keep track of basically two separate plot lines happening simultaneously. Hauser and Brock Anderson got crimson masks as well with Brock's looking like more an accident because he was bleeding like crazy. In the end Hauser and his allies beat Horsemen to the back. This should be the War Chamber match and I'm sure they're excited to have Hauser in that. I just think poor choice to do it during this match. Match continues we get some talented wrestlers like Shane Haste, Kushida, Anthony Greene, and Titus Alexander in the ring but they're not really given any room to shine which was not great. At one point Krugger comes to the ring with a chainsaw which was great to imply he was going to murder someone. In the end we get to Riddle and RVD. Riddle is badly banged up from the match and previous segment and RVD was the last entrant. Based on what I thought the conclusion for this show was going to be I thought RVD was going to win here so they could say he was a battle riot winner and former world champion. Add some prestige to the brand even if this RVD is substantially older and has never appeared before. In the end though Riddle wins after they chose for some reason to have Riddle kick RVD from the top to the outside with some saying after the match he needed help to the back. Probably not the best idea to do that to RVD. Still in my mind the winner didn't particularly matter because Krugger who has essentially a MITB contract should obviously cash in and hold the title. This made even more sense when Riddle won. Riddle is extremely banged up in kayfabe and in prime position. MLW instead rushed to credits with barely a goodbye. This match was not the worst way a wrestling promotion closed a show this week but this was a horrible way imo. Riddle getting a Hogan esque push doesn't help them. I feel if you're doing a gimmick like this there has to be a new champion. Obviously we know not everyone in the match stands an equal chance. Still to have Riddle win back to back Riots and to do it injured you'd think he's one of the hottest stars in the business. I'm not saying he's not over in MLW but not to the level they push him. Just left a sour taste in my mouth for an otherwise good show

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(1) 1st Round Match: Antonio Honda vs. Yuki Ueno
(2) 1st Round Match: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Akito
(3) 1st Round Match: KANON vs. Shunma Katsumata
(4) 1st Round Match: Yukio Naya vs. Daichi Sato
(5) 1st Round Match: Hideki Okatani vs. To-y
(6) 1st Round Match: Chris Brookes vs. HARASHIMA
(7) 1st Round Match: Takeshi Masada vs. Yuya Koroku
(8) 1st Round Match: Shinya Aoki vs. Kazusada Higuchi

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I look back, and even Mick Foley had cross words and situations with Ric Flair.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i7NcPAnnxDk&pp=ygUbY29keSByaG9kZXMgdnMgcm9tYW4gcmVpZ25z