It took a while but we finally got to the most highly anticipated Major League Wrestling main event on MLW Fightland on Vice! Alexander Hammerstone has been the top contender on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Top 10 for MLW for years now.
The guy held the MLW National Openweight title for the majority of his time as his name was announced right below long-tenured MLW World Heavyweight champion Jacob Fatu of CONTRA Unit.
This was a match we should’ve gotten last year but MLW is a tapings-centered company and COVID-14 threw them off their stride significantly.
MLW Fightland on Vice Card
MLW World Middleweight Title:Myron Reed (c) vs. Arez vs. Aramis vs. TAJIRI
MLW World Heavyweight Title & MLW National Openweight Titles ~ No Disqualification Match: Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Alexander Hammerstone (c)
The Sizzle
There was a lot of hype around the main event but for the most part, Major League Wrestling got down to business for Fightland on Vice.
There was a Mads Krugger promo threatening Hammerstone. There’s something MLW has bubbling with Krugger because outside of Fatu, he’s been the most featured member of CONTRA Unit.
We have a wrestling roundtable show at half-time as Alicia Atout presents MLW Embedded.
Joining her are Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc, Andreas Hale of Sporting News, and Emilio Sparks of WrassleRap and Oral Sessions.
The news items included who could potentially head to AEW next, what contracts are coming up soon, if WWE is up for sale, and Will Ospreay’s upcoming MLW debut. Of that, the speculation of a WWE sale and AEW’s potential signings from WWE were the tastemakers.
The highlight package detailing the Alexander Hammerstone vs. Jacob Fatu and CONTRA Unit feud was well done. It details CONTRA’s dominance thanks to Fatu and Hammerstone’s odyssey from being powerhouse heel to defender of MLW while on his path to an eventual World title match.
Before the match, some MLW wrestlers are brawling with CONTRA Unit backstage. Cesar Duran’s lucha goon locks them all backstage to prevent them from interfering in this big money fight for the company–and probably from messing up his other ongoing machinations.
The Steak
The opening bout saw Myron Reed defend his MLW World Middleweight title against Arez, Aramis, and TAJIRI in a fatal four-way.
It’s what you would expect from a match with athletic high-flyers. Fast-paced, full of dives and quick counters. Three of the guys–Reed, Arez, and Aramis–wrestled a match that should be on the short side given the rapid pace if it was one-on-one.
I won’t say that TAJIRI lost a step, he just took a different approach from his prime. This was a match that if it was the early 2000s, he would’ve been right at home.
The stuff he got in was decent and he wasn’t sloppy but he seemed a bit out of place with the pace of the match. Everyone else was wow-ing me but with TAJIRI it was a solid enough performance.
The title match was a no-DQ affair between World champion Jacob Fatu and National Openweight champion Alexander Hammerstone.
If it didn’t have the no-DQ stipulation, I believe it would’ve been better but this was a long-running feud and not a rivalry. Considering all of the attacks, intense promos, and brawls Hammerstone had with CONTRA Unit, honor demanded that this be no disqualification.
Hammerstone is a good powerhouse brawler with a lot of babyface charisma to him. He hulks up like Hogan but I’d say he’s more like pre-1996 Sting.
Fatu doesn’t have that same level of charisma but in short burst promos he can deliver something intense. He connects with the crowd through his wrestling and he’s just about the best in-ring wrestler of the Samoan dynasty. These two had a physical fight that showcased Fatu’s Vader-mixed-with-Bam Bam Bigelow agility and power and Hammerstone’s power and heart.
Josef Samael was at ringside but didn’t get involved in the match. I was expecting him to do something underhanded but he was more in a coach role for Fatu. Hammerstone really took a beating from the “Samoan Werewolf” including the cleanest moonsault off a guardrail from a heavyweight—I mean, that moonsault was so clean that Fatu landed on his feet even though the railing was shaky!
My favorite moment was the Texas piledriver on the apron from Fatu on Hammerstone. Nothing warms my heart more than a piledriver.
Hammerstone picks up the win after surviving a moonsault through the table and putting Fatu away with a pretty random TKO. He could obviously perform the TKO and did so cleanly but I was actually expecting the biggest Nightmare Pendulum ever.
MLW Fightland on Vice Verdict: Silver Medal (3.25/5)
Court Bauer has been balancing the sizzle and the steak on Major League Wrestling shows lately. There was a time during 2020 and earlier in the year where it seemed like there was just too much sizzle throughout a one-hour show.
Given the significance of the main event for MLW, that was kept in check and to a minimum. We got right down to business, had a brief halftime show, and returned for the MLW Fightland on Vice main event.
This was like the KFC Double Down with the chicken as the bread instead of an expected chicken sandwich. The MLW World Middleweight title match was as expected although I was hoping for either Aramis or Arez to pick up the win.
Meanwhile, the main event—while good—fell a bit short of expectations. The no-DQ stipulation was necessary but dented the bout somewhat. Overall, this was a good presentation with the main event as the stronger of the featured bouts.
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