Cero Reviews MLW Battle Riot III

[cero2k]

MLW Battle Riot III
July 24, 2021

Intro video - Good! In pretty much tells you all the things you need to know about tonight's match, including the rules, the participants and some of their stories going in.

Cesar Duran Opening - I still can't get into calling him Cesar Duran, Dario Cueto was just too iconic of a name, but he's still the same guy. He said that he was told that this place (2300 Arena) was legendary, that the people of this city knew lucha, and that this city was good to build a new temple. He hyped out the crowd and welcomed back the believers.

Duran talked about his past as a promoter and his relationship with MLW and Court Bauer, that makes him now the MLW matchmaker. Suddenly, Injustice interrupted. Duran immediately told them that this better be good, because there are consequences to interrupting him. He showed them up just like nothing. Reed and Oliver asked for a shot at Los Parks for the tag titles.

Before Duran could answer, LAX returned! Konnan, Dr. Julius Smokes, Rivera (Danny Limelight), and Slice Boogie. Konnan wanted LAX vs Los Parks tonight. Jordan Oliver talked some trash to Konnan and Rivera before they all got in a brawl. Man, Oliver is terrible on the mic.

EJ Nduka picks his entry number - He was picking his number when the feed was interrupted by Contra. They said that they would dominate the Battle Riot.

Team Filthy pick their entry numbers - Lawlor said tonight he was winning and becoming the first ever two-time Battle Riot winner. Ku got a decent number. Lawlor had like a 25, but reacted like if it had been first 10. Nduka walked up and antagonized Lawlor and Ku.

Battle Riot III - 7/10
"American Wolf" Davey Richards is entry #1. Tom Lawlor is #2, even though we clearly saw a 25 on his paper, but who cares, Lawlor vs Richards opening up the Riot!

#3 is TJP to a lot of crowd heat, #4 is Lee Moriarty making his debut. #5 is Kit Osbourne pretending to be one of the Von Erichs. At this point, we started to see some alliances grow with Moriarty and Richards versus the rest. #6 was King Mo, who joined the little group Lawlor started to build in the ring.

Calvin Tankman came in at #7, he didn't join any group, he actually destroyed both teams by himself. Arez was the first Mexican to join the match at #8. Gringo Loco came out at #9, him and Arez went immediately against each other for the lucha spots. After he was done with Arez, he did the same with TJP.

Zenshi in at #10, I was hoping for a good Zenshi vs Moriarty spot, but he took down a couple of guys and instead paired up with Tankman for the elimination tease when he was tossed and landed on the announcers table without touching the floor. He would later jump back to the ring.

#11 was Aramis and also paired up with Arez and Loco for some lucha spots. #12 was Alex Kane, representing America's Top Team, he's Hobbs and Angle mixed in one, he came in and hit a bunch of suplex until he clased with Tankman, and also dropped him.

#13 Myron Reed, biggest pop so far. It's getting pretty crowded and no one had been eliminated. Zenshi once again did an elimination save spot, really pushing the 'feet on the ground' rule. Savio Vega came in at #14 with a kendo stick and wacked everyone.

#15 was Jordan Oliver. Crowd is still going crazy for Savio Vega. #16 was The Beastman, a huge dude, he quickly paired up with Tankman for a strike exchange. #17 & #18 were Rivera and Boogie, out with Boogie and Smokes and a whole lot of weapons, they put both Injustice guys through a wooden door.

#19 was Matt Cross making his 18 year return. At this point, we had our first elimination when Vega got pinned.

#20 was Bu Ku Dao, who went straight for TJP outside the ring. They have a little feud going. While that was happening, Tom Lawlor, the first Battle Riot winner, was eliminated. We're only half way there.

#21 was Marshall Von Erich while Aramis was being eliminated. Marshall eliminated Osbourne. #22 was Ej Nduka and eliminated Beastman, the biggest guy, with one single punch. Eliminated Gringo Loco, suplexed both Zenshi and Richards by himslef. He's getting the Lesnar push. He eliminated Mo and Kane too.

#23 was Kim Chee, THE Kim Chee. Immediately eliminated by Nduka. Arez, Bu Ku Dao, and TJP too. #24 was Zicky Dice, who did cheap magic and got clawslammed by Von Erich.

#25 was Kevin Ku, #26 was KC Navarro. Meanwhile, Moriarty and Cross were eliminated. At this point, we got a good pair up with Tankman and Nduka with a strike exchange that ended with both guys brawling into the ropes where Boogie and Rivera eliminated them, only to get eliminated by Injustice, and for their troubles, LAX pulled off Injustice off the apron for the elimination too.

#27 was Lance Anoa'i. #28 was someone pretending to be L.A. Park, but once unmasked by Marshall, it was revealed to be Tom Lawlor, trying to get back in the ring. He was eliminated by Marshall.

#29 was Simon Gotch from Contra. #30 was Daivari from Contra too. The Contra dominance begins in the ring. #31 was the Blue Meanie, Contra beat his ass. #32 is also Contra, Ikuro Kwon, who is coming back from injury. They eliminated Dice as Ross Von Erich came in at #33. It's becoming Von Erichs vs Contra in there. #34 is ALSO Contra, Josef Samael.

Finally, at #35 Alex Hammerstone, someone who has been feuding with Contra and who NEEDS to win the Riot in order to challenge Fatu for the title. #36 is the Sentai Death Squad, who are two guys, but only count as one for some reason. LAX counted as two, but these are just one. This makes the Contra Unit to 6 members.

#37 is Kwan The Ninja, with numchucks, who took down everyone. #38 was King Muertes! He took out Blue Meanie immediately, but then focused on Hammerstone after their long feud. #39 was Gino Medina, and finally, #40 was the final Contra man missing, Mads Mads Krügger, the only man that Hammerstone has never defeated. Mads Krügger eliminated Navarro and Anoa'i before starting to brawl with Hammerstone.

At this point, we just saw all the big men eliminate the filler one by one. Von Erichs eliminated Muertes, and by doing so, it came down to Hammerstone and the Von Erichs versus the whole Contra Unit of 7 men. Sentai Death Squad and Samael fell out first. Kwon followed. Down to a 3-on-3.

Mads Krügger single handedly eliminated both Von Erichs and Hammerstone did the same to Daivari and Gotch. It's down to big the boys! Hammerstone vs Mads Krügger!

Mads Krügger dominated early, then Hammerstone made a huge comeback, he's cosplaying 90's Hulk Hogan at this point, even wearing the red and yellow and doing the poses. Finish saw Hammerstone grab Samael's spike, stab Mads Krügger a couple of times, set him on the ropes, and eliminate him via clothesline over the top rope.

Overall, the match was fun, the collection of wrestlers involved was great, most of them had something going on for them, a really diverse group of wrestlers and styles. The story with Hammerstone versus Contra was great, but it did make us wait for them to come out to really believe we had credibly contenders. That and having so many people in the ring at the same time, were the weaknesses of this match, not a lot of people felt like they could take the win and those who did, did leave somewhat early before Contra and Hammerstone were not there. Ej Nduka and Tankman were two guys that will definitely become huge projects going forward.

Post-match - Fatu came out and wanted to fight Hammerstone, but Samael kept him at bay. Fatu vs Hammerstone is going to be huge, especially if they make it title vs title.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Good show, it's obviously a one match show like the old Aztec Warfare shows. This was a perfect show to get into MLW, they debuted a bunch of new guys, even a new matchmaker, but also, it's a good jumping in spot for the Hammerstone vs Contra feud.