My MLW Never Say Never Overview (December 7, 2017)

MLW Never Say Never

December 7, 2017

Major League Wrestling

Orlando, Florida

Gilt Nightclub

Commentators: Rich Bocchini & Tony Schiavone

Attendance: 250

Opening Thoughts

This is the second MLW show after their first show in many years back in October with MLW One Shot. Since my pro wrestling plate is already full and always filled to the brim, I normally don't check out indy shows too often. However, MLW is different. Although I wasn't around for the company's original run, I discovered their podcasts sometime circa 2012/2013. It was one of the only wrestling podcasts that had just the right chemistry for me to consume. It gave great and concise insight as well as unfiltered opinions. It gave no fucks. It featured Court Bauer, Konnan and MSL and they were the perfect combination and (in my opinion) the podcast's greatest incarnation. Court was the straight man of the group who dipped his feet in the WWE after the OG MLW run. He provided great insight and definitely had an air of street smarts about him which is a good thing to have when you're trying to make the freshest product available. MSL was like the Curly of the group. Always outrageous in some form or fashion but the outrageousness was always kept in balance by Konnan. Konnan was non-PC and always unfiltered and that gave him a lot of credibility. He would always provide you with his unfiltered take on things point blank. If something was great, it would be praised and if something sucked then he (and they) would definitely let you know.

Throughout the years, anytime that the OG MLW promotion would be brought up, Court would be always somewhat self-deprecating towards it and would always insist that his days as a promoter were behind him. Of course, that wouldn't extinguish my constant wonder of how MLW would look if it were to return. You have a very talented guy who clearly has the knowledge to really put together something special. I could only hope that one day maybe we'd see another MLW event materialize.

Those wishes would come true this past October with MLW One Shot. A great show that I could tell had a lot of vision behind it. It wasn't an indy show with match after match after match. Great matches back to back to back is great but the characters definitely benefit from promos and vignettes which is what this show had. If I remember correctly, it even had a post-show vignette, Marvel style! The roster didn't all look the same either. They had guys of all shapes, color and sizes. I could go on and on but today I'm here to watch the second MLW show since it's sort-of revival, MLW Never Say Never. It's up for free right now on YouTube.

Oh, did I mention that Tony motherfucking Schiavone does the commentary for these MLW shows?! Hearing Tony call these events just feels so right.

Dark Match

Normal Match

Serpentico vs Snoop Strikes

• I'm guessing this must have been a dark match since my video began with the Riddle/Lawlor match.
• In Spanish, the suffix "tico" usually refers to someone of diminutive stature so it's possible that this could have been a minis match.

Winner: Serpentico

Match #1

Normal Match

Matt Riddle vs "Filthy" Tom Lawlor

• Riddle is a former UFC fighter and Lawlor is currently under contract to UFC so this will be a heavily MMA-influenced match.
• These shows are shot very well. For an event that has an attendance of 250, you would never really know it from watching. 
• Submissions galore in this match. Kimuras, rear naked chokes, armbars and triangles with a few German suplexes thrown in for good measure.
• I know that these guys have been some of the pioneers for this MMA ground game-based style of matches that have been all the rage. Although I was a fan of this match, I really need to watch a lot more of this style to really get behind it.
• Riddle slaps a sleeper on Lawlor who starts to fade so he throws up a defiant middle finger as he slips away into unconsciousness. 
• I love how there's a post-fight interview after the match. It's interrupted by one of Lawlor's cornermen who try to get physical with Riddle but end up getting laid out.
• Riddle challenges Lawlor to a tag team match where Riddle will team up with Jeff Cobb to face Lawlor and a partner of his choosing. (.....Bryan Alvarez?)

Winner by submission: Matt Riddle (Sleeper Hold)

Backstage Interview w/MVP

MVP starts to size up his opponent tonight, Brody King when Stokely Hathaway interrupts. Stokely wants to make sure that they're good and goes for a handshake but MVP is having none of it and says that a smart man learns from his mistakes but a wise man learns from others' mistakes and tells Hathaway to be wise before walking off.

Match #2

Normal Match

Parrow vs Saieve Al Sabah

• These guys were a tag team at MLW One Shot but the alliance would combust after losing to Seth Petruzelli and Rhett Giddins.
• Parrow is built like a beast. He's kind of a lumbering strongman. The Braun Strowman of MLW. 
• Parrow has the advantage for most of the match. However, Parrow goes for a Powerbomb but is hit with brass knuckles from Al Sabah for the pinfall.

Winner by pinfall: Saieve Al Sabah

Match #3

Tag Team Match

Seth Petruzelli & Rhett Giddins vs The Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Mike Patrick)

• The Blondes are straight out of the territory days. Their offense are all strikes, rest holds and dirty tactics. They kind of do look like an updated version of Buddy Rose and Doug Somers.
• Giddins hits one heck of a lariat on Brien for the pinfall

Winners: Seth Petruzelli & Rhett Giddins

Vignette

Barrington Hughes says that the key to success in this industry is a pre-game meal. The camera pans to show a mountain of McDonald's cheeseburgers, a stack of boxes from Little Caesar's Pizza and a couple of boxes of donuts. Christ, I need a nap just looking at all of that junk food! Hughes continues by saying that a good meal is a lot like a good match in that it should always leave you satisfied. He picks up a cheeseburger, goes to bite into it, stops, looks at the camera and says "I'd like my privacy please", before shooing the viewer away. Very funny and tremendous segment. Guys like Hughes and Parrow definitely stand out in this MLW roster.

Match #4

Normal Match

Barrington Hughes vs Andrew Merlin

• Merlin is already in the ring. I smell squash.
• Barrington Hughes is the "Caramel Colossus". 
• Hughes comes out in a lime green and purple singlet with a purple hooded cape topped off with sunglasses. This guy is 2017's answer to "Sexual Chocolate" Mark Henry with less sexing (that we know of...) and more eating. Good stuff here.
• One bionic elbow and Earthquake splash later and it's all over for Merlin.

Winner by pinfall: Barrington Hughes (Earthquake Splash)

The show a shot of Epcot Center and say that tonight's show is brought to you by Flatout 4: Total Insanity. It's little things like this that give the show a major league feel. Pun intended.

Chelsea Green (Laurel Van Ness from Impact Wrestling) is being assaulted backstage by an unknown (and goth) female assailant. I think it's that brunette girl that corners Austin Theory in EVOLVE. We'll see.

Match #5

Normal Match

Jimmy Yuta vs Vandal Ortagun

• Ortagun has competed a few times in WWE NXT. You might remember him from a tag team match against Heavy Machinery earlier this year. Everytime I look at him, I see Tony Nese crossed with Neville.
• Rich and Tony compare Yuta to a young Ricky Steamboat. I see a pinch of TJ Perkins in there as well both in performance and appearance. Yuta looks like someone you'd create in a wrestling game. Speedy wrestler with a Mortal Kombat face mask with bright designs on his gear.
• Vandal has the advantage for most of the match. Ortagun keeps things grounded for most of it. Yuta is able to get free from a single leg Boston crab to hit a top rope diving elbow drop for the pinfall.

Winner by pinfall: Jimmy Yuta

Backstage Promo

Jimmy Havoc and Darby Allin tell Shane Strickland and his partner John Hennigan, to watch themselves tonight because although they've fought people before, they've never dealt with people like Havoc and Allin and tonight they're going to paint MLW with Strickland and Hennigan's blood. I'm not sure if Havoc and Allin have teamed up before but it's definitely a natural pairing.

Rich and Tony announce that the next MLW show will be next month with MLW Zero Hour on January 11th. They're straying a little bit further and further away from the "one night only" type of names like One Shot and Never Say Never. They've got another show in February that's called Road to the World Championship which leads me to believe that MLW shows will become a regular thing. I'd say that this is all a good sign for Major League Wrestling fans.

Match #6

Normal Match

Santana Garrett vs Leva Bates

• Apparently, Chelsea Green was supposed to be in this match.
• You may remember Garrett briefly in TNA as Sam Shaw's obsessive girlfriend, Brittany and Leva of course was Blue Pants in NXT.
• WWE/NXT didn't want to capitalize on the Blue Pants craze and thus left tons of money on the table. Here's to continued success elsewhere.
• This is a babyface versus babyface match but leva works as the defacto heel if that makes any sense.
• Good match here. Santana wins with the Shining Star Press.

Winner by pinfall: Santana Garrett (Shining Star Press)

Santana celebrates after the match but is attacked from behind by that mystery assailant (which I'm pretty sure is the goth girl from EVOLVE that manages Austin Theory)

Interview w/Maxwell Jacob Friedman

MJF cuts a braggadocios promo about how he's not a bad guy despite being a one percenter. He then talks about his opponent tonight, Joey Ryan and says how Joey is the bottom of the barrel here in MLW. MJF is sure that Joey Ryan will want to make MJF "touch it" but "touching it" is not professional and MJF is a professional wrestler.

Match #7

Normal Match

Joey Ryan vs Maxwell Jacob Friedman

• MJF cuts a promo before the match about how everybody saw MJF on the marquee and thought to themselves that they would get to see MJF do something tonight and that something is to stay undefeated.
• I really like how MJF carries himself as a cocky, rich dude. He has a ton of charisma. It's reminiscent of Ethan Carter III a little bit but I think MJF has what it takes to make himself unique.
• Ryan takes a lollipop out of his crotch and asks the crowd who wants to suck on it. A woman from that crowd eagerly runs out to ringside, tilts her head back, opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out to receive the lollipop. She looks to be on cloud nine as her friends in the crowd share a hearty laugh over these antics. There's a brief moment of silence where MJF just tells this woman that she's disgusting that got a big laugh out of me.
• This was a fun Joey Ryan match. Ryan counters a move by MJF and puts the lollipop in his mouth. Ryan then delivers a Sweet Tooth Music and follows up with a Canadian Destroyer. MJF teeters and teeters and eventually falls headfirst into Ryan's crotch which only serves to further hurt MJF of course. 
• Ryan tries to get MJF to "touch it" but MJF gets the ropes. As the ref breaks it up, MJK jabs a thumb in Ryan's eyes and slaps on an armbar-like submission for the win.
• After the match, Ryan goes for a handshake but gets a middle finger instead. So Ryan grabs MJF's wrist, pulls it towards his crotch and delivers a devastating dongplex to make the fans happy.

Winner by submission: Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Rich and Tony plug the vast amount of podcast on the MLW Network. I used to listen religiously when the OG3 (Court, Konnan & MSL) were on the flagship show, I also loved The Writer's Room and The Vainglorious Basterds. 

Backstage Interview w/MVP

MVP is asked if he has any affiliation with Stokely Hathaway to which he simply says "none".

Match #8

Normal Match

MVP vs Brody King

• I've never seen Brody King before this. Appearance-wise, he reminds me of Aleister Black. As far as wrestling-wise, he's kind of a powerful brawler.
• I really dig the way that MLW makes new stars. In this match, despite not knowing Brody King, he has the advantage in this match just as much as MVP. It really makes me view King to be on a level somewhere near MVP's. Whether he is or isn't has yet to be seen since the match has only just begun.
• MVP and King are brawling in the crowd when Stokely Hathaway distracts MVP which allows King to drop MVP with a choke bomb on a stack of chairs.
• King counters the Playmaker into a Samoan Driver for a near-fall.
• King misses a second springboard dive which allows MVP to hit the Drive By Kick for the pinfall.
• After the match, they get in each other's face as MVP offers a fist bump as a sign of respect that King accepts.

Winner by pinfall: MVP (Drive By Kick)

Match #9

Normal Match

Sammy Guevara (w/Salina De La Renta) vs Jason Cade

• I haven't seen much of Guevara's matches and I hear he is quite great so I'm looking forward to this match.
• Guevara and Cade engage in a crowd chant battle where Guevera's "milk first" chant gets drowned out by everybody else's "cereal first" chants.
• Jason Cade teases an outside dive early on as Sammy is on the outside standing right next to an elderly woman. I was very concerned for this woman until Sammy neutralized Cade's attempt with a dropkick.
• They then engage in a series of outside dives back and forth against each other, luckily on the hard camera side away from the elderly woman. Perhaps that was an audible call? 
• At one point in the match, Schiavone refers to Guevara as Guerrera which got a nostalgic smile out of me as I could only picture Schiavone calling a Juventud Guerrera match on WCW Nitro in that moment.
• This is a fun high-flying match. My only gripe is that the Shooting Star Press was only a near-fall. That move used to hold a lot more weight but nowadays it's only a transitional spot. 
• Guevara abandons the top rope in favor of a big speaker behind it. Guevara dives off but is met with a superkick to the ribs.
• Cade counters a superplex, superkicks the back of Guevara's left knee, delivers a foot stomp to the chest a la Alberto El Patron, superkicks Guevara in the face and finishes him off with an inverted frankensteiner. Might as well throw in the kitchen sink. It looks like Cade is getting the three when Salina puts Guevara's foot on the ropes to break it up.
• Cade yells at Salina on the outside which allows Guevara to roll Cade up with his feet on the ropes.

Winner by pinfall: Sammy Guevara

Backstage Interview w/Stokely Hathaway

A flustered Stokely comes out of the locker room after having just another argument with MVP. He tells the interviewer that MVP made a very poor business decision tonight and that consequences are a motherfucker. If he were you, he'd stick around because things are about to get interesting.

A video package is shown featuring the main event program between Shane Strickland, Darby Allin and Jimmy Havoc. If there's one thing that MLW does great, it's their character pieces. Although I'm not too sure what the beef is in this feud, the video package really makes this all feel like a top shelf program.

Match #10

No Disqualification Tag Team Match

Shane Strickland & John Hennigan vs Darby Allin & Jimmy Havoc

• Allin and Havoc come out first, followed by Hennigan who goes to pose in the corner when he is attacked by Allin and Havoc.
• They go to suplex him on the thumbtacks that they've laid out but Hennigan escapes the attempt. 
• Strickland runs in here to even the odds. Allin springboards off the ropes but is caught by Strickland, flipped off by Hennigan and dropped onto the thumbtacks by Strickland.
• Hennigan then powerbombs Havoc onto Allin in the thumbtack zone.
• There's a point in the match where Havoc staples a piece of paper to Strickland's shoulder TWICE. Not even 60 seconds afterwards, Strickland is stapling that same piece of paper to Havoc's head. Havoc then staples Strickland's head one more time on the outside for good measure as Allin comes diving out at him from the ring.
• Now I haven't watched too much of the UK pro wrestling scene so I'm not too familiar with Havoc's matches. This piece of paper that's been bandied about in this match is used by Havoc to deliver a papercut to Hennigan's fingers. This was easily my most hardcore move of this match. Has a papercut been used back in ECW? Because that is some real pain!
• Havoc pours thumbtacks into Hennigan's mouth and then punches them out.
• Hennigan then delivers several, that's right, several arm drags on Havoc onto steel chairs.
• Strickland does that Pentagon armbreaker move on Allin which sends him reeling to the back as the crowd chants "you sick fuck".
• All this outrageousness in front of the elderly woman! I've been watching her facial expressions for a lot of this match!
• Strickland delivers a Death Valley Driver on Havoc from the apron through a table.
• Hennigan hits the Starship Pain for a near-fall as Hennigan is left incredulous and actually mouths "are you fucking kidding me?"
• Strickland and Hennigan corner Havoc who is pleading with them. Havoc goes for a double low blow but is caught and double superkicked. (Man, the superkick has just been done do death since Shawn Michaels retired, hasn't it?)
• Then...from out of the fucking sky...Darby Allin comes running across the balcony with a steel chair taped to his back and dives from the balcony and onto Strickland and Hennigan.
• It's all for naught as Darby ends up being places on the table as Shane and John go up to the top rope to execute a synchronized dive on Allin through the table. 
• The goth chick is back again, this time to push Hennigan off the top rope. This allows Havoc and Allin to double superplex Strickland through the table for another near fucking fall.
• Goth chick passes a chain to Havoc who delivers the Acid Rainmaker on Strickland with the chain wrapped around his arm for the pinfall.

Winners: Jimmy Havoc & Darby Allin

Press Interview w/Stokely Hathaway

Stokely gives some insight on the origins of MVP and talks about his journey to the WWE and then NJPW. Hathaway says that MVP owes it all to Black Friday Management since that is then name at the top of MVP's contract. BFM is a stable that was once led by the late, great Gary Hart. Stokely is now the current boss of Black Friday Management and he has brokered a deal for MVP to face Low-Ki at MLW Zero Hour next month.

Overall Thoughts

A pretty good show here featuring some of the industry's younger talent along with great character pieces and video production that really make the promotion stand out among a lot of the other indies around. I don't know if I've been spoiled with a lot of the great wrestling that has gone down over this past year but I felt that the matches on this show were good bordering on great as opposed to the killer shows that NJPW and ROH have been known to put on as of late. However, I have faith in MLW and will definitely be tuning in to Zero Hour next month. As far as tonight's show goes, it's free on YouTube as of this writing so feel free to check it out!