Starting this week, MLW goes way back into the vault as fans get to experience the first flagship of Major League Wrestling: MLW Underground. What a way to begin such a series with two wrestling trailblazers in Jerry Lynn and Major League stalwart, LA Park. And to add to that, what better place to start it all off at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with none other than Joey Styles on the call? LA Park is the first to enter as the chairman patiently awaits JL.
The raucous Philly crowd was not patient however as they are chomping at the bit for the two stars to butt heads.
MATCH 1
Jerry Lynn vs. La Parka
Parka starts off on the offensive by wrenching the arm of Lynn in an effort to wear Jerry down. It doesn’t take long for Lynn to turn the tables and takes Parka down with a spinning headscissors that leads into a bulldog.
He punches away at Parka in the corner and his ring awareness leads him to the outside to leap on Parka from the outside. Parka recovers and lures Jerry back into the ring. Parka launches Jerry’s sternum into the turnbuckle. Lynn returns the favor but Parka finds a window after a spinning wheel kick to launch himself on top of JL on the outside.
The tide never stopped turning for both competitors and it couldn’t have been exemplified any better by Lynn getting the win out of nowhere with a tornado DDT!
WINNER: Jerry Lynn
Next up, we get a brief look at the first ever World Champion Satoshi Kojima and his monumental win against Jerry Lynn at Reload in New York City.
We then see a recap of brutal visual of Steve Corino, CW Anderson and Simon Diamond beating down the legendary Dusty Rhodes. Dusty is carried off to the back before the trio sets their sights on Terry Funk and soon league officials. The trio wasn’t done with the Funker as they force a still conscious John Finnegan is forced to administer the pinfall. That’s when The Extreme Horsemen was formed.
Joey Styles hypes the impending MLW Global Tag Team Crown Championship tournament as teams from all across the globe will be competing for the brand new gold. Los Maximos Joel and Jose are one of those teams and we see them outside of the the 2300 Arena. They state that they were taught three things by Mikey Whipwreck: honor, respect and discipline. They say there is none of that in MLW. There is only the fight for pride and you have to expect the unexpected.
MATCH 2
Taiyo Kea vs. Malice
MLW gets it’s first taste of “The Hawaiian Hellraiser” Kea as he goes up against the massive Malice and who shows off his strength by flapjacking Kea onto the canvas before taking the battle outside. Malice uses the ring as a weapon to wear Kea down. Action goes back into the ring but Kea soons gets the advantage with a dragon screw that will make the viewer feel a twist to their knee.
Malice later gets a near fall after a superplex, but continues the assault with a spinebuster then a leg drop off the turnbuckle.
He looks to put Kea away with a powerbomb, but Kea hurricanranas free before giving a flurry of crisp kicks and finishing him off with a Northern Lights Suplex for the 1-2-3. Styles says that Satoshi Kojima should be wary of Kea.
WINNER: Taiyo Kea
The Samoan Island Tribe in Samu and Manu are outside the arena as well and Samu talks about how the Polynesian people have been black balled by wrestling. People have the misconception that the Samoan people live a lavish lifestyle because they reside on an island paradise, when the reality is that they were raised on the streets and fought for everything they had. They have an open contract to beat the hell out of anybody they want to and rest assure that’s on their agenda.
We see Extreme Horsemen leader Steve Corino gloating about defeating both Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk at King of Kings. He said he defeated both of his “heroes” in the same night and in the same match. He questions the “legend” that is Terry Funk as Corino states he’s not only doing everything Funk has done better, but quicker. He wants to challenge Terry Funk one on one in MLW and says if he accepts it, he’ll make sure the Funker retires for good.
Styles lets fans know that in two weeks the Global Tag Team Crown Championship tournament will begin with opening round matches being announced next week.
MAIN EVENT
“The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. Vampiro
“The Sadistic Master of Manipulation” as Styles calls Daniels is the first to enter before we see a whole new Vampiro. No more dreadlocks, no more facepaint, he is a pure professional wrestler. Vampiro is in amazing shape and is ready to roll against the agile Angel.
The two lock up and jock for position. Official John Finnegan has to break the two up and the reset button is hit. Vampiro wrenches Daniels down to the mat by twisting the shoulder. Daniels fights back and the two continue their chess match on the mat. Another reset goes down.
Waist locks and standing switches continue to occur as these two competitors are all about the wrestling fundamentals. Vampiro relies on head-scissors to keep Daniels down, but ever resilient, Daniels keeps escaping. Vampiro really looks to put Daniels away with a rolling leg lock, but Christopher gets to ropes and rolls to the outside for a breather. Daniels is really favoring the leg before getting back in. He administers a standing side headlock and then goes the dirty route with a thumb to the eye.
The offense continues for Christopher until Vampiro stops it all with a stiff standing sidekick.
He then comes off the top with a spinning heel kick that sends Daniels to the outside. The two brawl on the outside, using the elements of Philly as a means to inflict pain.
Vamprio decides to play Daniels’ game and uses the timekeepers bell to ring “the bells” of his foe. He gets a near fall. Finnnegan making the decision to not disqualify either for their questionable tactics. Daniels soon hits a running neckbreaker and then performs an Asai moonsault that plows Vampiro into the guardrail.
He soon sends Vampiro back in the ring for a pinfall, but Vamp gets his foot on the ropes. The two exchange blows, but Daniels gets the best of it with a ring-shaking powerbomb for an extremely close fall. STO followed up with a Best Moonsault Ever, but again, Vampiro gets his shoulders up. Daniels ascends once more, but Vampiro interrupts and launches him off with a belly-to-belly suplex for a close call of his own.
Vampiro leaps off with top rope rolling senton but Daniels rolls out of the way. The two trade solid shots but Vampiro catches Christopher with his signature sambo suplex for the hard-fought pinfall victory.
WINNER: Vampiro
Vampiro sure showed his mettle against Daniels, and as Daniels is helped to the back, we see the recluse Raven lighting an 8×10 on fire. With that, the debut episode of Underground is in the books.
These results were written by @DOMINICDEANGELO but are COURTESY OF MLW.COM. Watch the full episode of this week’s MLW Underground below:
