Happy New Year, everyone!

Akira vs. Mads Krugger vs. Matthew Justice vs. Mr. Thomas vs. BRG – Gravity Gamble Ladder match

In the early goings, it was evident that Mads Krugger was the biggest threat, so the rest of the competitors intelligently ganged up on him with slight ease. Justice was taken by the ankle as he and Mads brawl on the main floor. Akira disposed of Mr. Thomas before leaping onto BRG, Matthew and Mads.

Mr. Thomas amazed everyone by climbing a ladder, squashing Gosselin, so he could body crash onto the rest of the field. “Holy sh*t!” indeed. Meanwhile, Akira managed to grab a silver briefcase hoping it held a title opportunity, yet he acquired a stapple gun instead as he used it to stapple Krugger’s bald head. Akira has been holding his own very well, he even stappled Gosselin’s hands to his ring gear. Ha! Ha!

With a bared-wired wrapped ladder, Krugger used it as a weapon to knock Akira and Mr. Thomas. Luckily, Justice came from behind with a chair to the spine of the leader of CONTRA Unit. Matthew retrieved a red case and found a bared-wire. Another gamble. Down on the main floor, Akira stappled Brett’s mouth. Yay! That will shut him up for a moment. However, he removed it afterwards. Boo!

Just as Matthew climbed a ladder, Mr. Thomas yanked him off and delivered an uppercut. Thomas was setting something up, but Brett thwarted his efforts. As he took advantage of the contraption setup, Gosselin found himself face-to-face with a monster, Mads. Akira was on the other side. Krugger shoved him onto the ladder as Akira delivered a Senton.

Wow-oh-wow, Justice launched himself into Thomas while he was on top the ladder preparing to open the black case. Matthew speared him from that height into a table in the corner. Later on, Krugger had obtained a silver case and found a bag of thumbtacks. He poured them onto Akira, who tried to intervene. Justice was now in the mix as he used a ladder to hit Mads with. Then, Akira and Matthew collaborated to superplex Krugger from up above.

BRG was left alone in the ring until Mr. Thomas began to climb the same ladder as his opponent. He may have forced Gosselin to fall, but due to the thumbtacks on the mat, Thomas had to be careful. Unfortunately, the Andersons swooped right in. Now, they’re seen helping Gosselin up the ladder. I’m happy to inform you that he came up emptyhanded. Ha! There was literally nothing in the briefcase. Well played on Thomas’ part as he powerbombed Gosselin into a table.

BRG has been taken care of, we can sleep well tonight. Anyway, Akira, Matthew, Mads and Thomas were still brawling to obtain that last briefcase that definitely has the title opportunity inside. Justice was fingertips away from retrieving it, yet Krugger shoved him off the ladder as he landed, pretty nastily, on a table, bumping his head in the process.

The blue briefcase is the last one as Akira became the final line of defense. The amount of time he took setting something up cost him as Krugger dropped him on the chair he left standing. Sadly, Krugger viciously acquired the contract.

Winner: Mads Krugger

Elsewhere, Salina de la Renta was still dealing with the disappearance of Don, her child’s father. What she wanted was to marry him and move in together, but Cesar Duran foolishly thought it best to move on. That upset her. I’m starting to think he had something to do with this “missing” business.

Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs. Blue Panther & Dark Panther – CMLL Lucha Libre Showcase

Black Panther and Atlantis Jr. have started things off. Commentary mentioned that Blue Panther unmasking himself for this match is because he lost the original on Sept 19, 2008. As we look at the sons brawling it out in-ring, trying to get a handle on the other, they weren’t fully able to overwhelm the opposition.

The Panthers perform a double team on Junior with no triumphant results. Atlantis noticed that his son needed help, so he attempted to come in, yet Black Panther kicked him down. Then, the Panthers decided to apply some punishment on their senior opponent while Atlantis Jr. fell on the floor. Blue and Black Panthers have been on the winning side until Atlantis tripped them both with a double arm drag.

Atlantis Jr. singlehandedly took down the Panthers after seemingly being cornered. Now, Atlantis and Blue Panther are finally engaging in battle after meeting in the ring in the past. Blue took too much time to capitalize, so Atlantis regained control for his team. The speed of Atlantis Jr. performed two frog splashes to raise his hands in victory with his father.

Winners: Atlantis & Atlantis Jr.

Janai Kai (c) vs. Delmi Exo – Women’s World Featherweight Championship – Title vs. Hair match

Given how this was Delmi’s idea, I hope she knows there’s a possibility of her losing her hair since Kai raised the stakes by forcing her to shave her head completely if she loses. Janai came into the match slapping Exo in the face as the brawl got underway. Let’s get the pettiness out of the way first. Just as Exo was going for the Delmi Driver, Janai rolled out of the ring. The challenger followed after the Champion, yet Janai had Delmi by the hair, simply applying foreshadowing.

Kai has been merciless the majority of the match, she even pulled Delmi’s hair from its roots like it was nothing. Damn… She started early. That angered Exo into applying further aggression with a fishermen’s suplex that didn’t end this match, so she tried again with the Delmi Driver. That wasn’t enough, but Janai was rocked.

I kind of feel bad saying this, but that spinning kick Janai performed to the back of Delmi’s neck was very well done. I have to credit her for that. Although that was painful to see and feel, I bet, Exo survived it. She was also able to swing Kai off of the Demon Clutch, so she could perform another Delmi Driver. Janai wasn’t moving. The God Queen regained her title back. I’m glad she’s not losing her hair, and reestablished her confidence.

Winner: Delmi Exo

KENTA vs. Donovan Dijak

After Dijak dislocated his left shoulder, Kenta is out for revenge. Knowing the mark he left on his opponent, Donovan had the advantage at the start of the match. Dijak continued to apply heavy and ruthless artillery to the injured limb, probably forcing Kenta to submit. Because he didn’t, Donovan reinforced himself. That arm stretch wasn’t enough and neither was that body splash.

Regardless of the assaults he endured, Kenta was able to apply a sleeper hold that knocked Dijak cold, unfortunately, MSL got involved by distracting the official. The referee was kind of stupid for thinking this man would actually do anything. He should have paid attention to the cover being made. Kenta scared him off for his troubles.

At first, Kenta failed to initiate the GTS. Donovan couldn’t perform his finishing move either. Kenta made a comeback and succeeded the second time. That would have ended the fight if Saint Laurent hadn’t dragged Dijak by the ankle. Dear God, this man… It wasn’t surprising when Kenta punched him numerous times. Alas, annoyingly so, Dijak had the official’s attention, so it could provide him with the leverage he needed to hit the Disruptor.

Winner: Dijak Donovan

Mascara Dorada vs. Esfinge vs. Averno – Triple Treat Encounter match

The start of the brawl had all three men venturing to cover their opponents with quick roll ups with no succession, but entertaining attempts nevertheless. At some point if’s been Mascara the majority of the time as he took down Averno and Esfinge leaving him to fly over his challengers.

He nearly pinned Averno with Code Red, yet Esfinge got involved with a drop kick to the back. Esfinge picked his moment and caught Mascara with a Super Kick to the jaw, then dropped Averno with a cutter. It’s now Esfinge’s turn to bulldoze Dorada, then body splash Averno next. It was kind of impressive that submission by Esfinge, but I feel like the constant turning around prevented him from applying the full extent, which allowed Averno to return into the fold.

That powerbomb from Averno to Dorada would have been it if Esfinge hadn’t flopped back in. He tried to suplex Esfinge, but the sphinx warrior got the best of him. Mascara almost pinned Esfinge, but Averno intervened. Someone always stopping somebody. Averno closely pinned Dorada. Way too close. But he connected with Devil’s Wings, yet it wasn’t sufficient. Bad news for everybody as Averno capitalized on both men crashing down, but covering the sphinx warrior didn’t matter.

Mascara was triumphant with the Spanish Fly on Averno, yet he didn’t cover him. It’s speculated that he saw Esfinge coming, so he had to get rid of him, instead, the sphinx warrior drove his head against the mat. All challengers were momentarily depleted. It’s later seen that Esfinge and Averno would overwhelm Mascara, however, Dorada beat them to it at first. Esfinge and Averno managed to harshly shoved Dorada towards the floor.

He’s not moving. Averno and Esfinge are now left in a one-on-one situation. Esfinge thought he had his challenger dead-to-rights, but Averno shocked him with a successful submission by tangling his legs. It was so great!!

Winner: Averno 

Before we got to our main event, the Andersons were seen inflicting embarrassment on Paul Walter Hauser, even though, it wasn’t their time. They respect his action abilities, but they say he shouldn’t compete in a wrestling environment versus professionals because he doesn’t have the same level of grunt. Hauser walked away, to which the Andersons thought he actually left, but he came back with a trash can and the Bomaye Fight Club in tow. BRG, Bobby Fish and Paul London came out here to help as well.

I just remembered that Alex Kane was fired, but it doesn’t matter to me. Eric Bischoff was wrong for doing that. Also, MLW Reload is coming to YouTube on Jan 23. In other news, Major League welcomes Kushida to the roster.

Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Matt Riddle – World Heavyweight Championship match

Riddle went for a choke hold on Kojima early, luckily, the Champion had great ring awareness to touch the ropes. For a good portion of the battle, Matt has been hovering on top of Kojima, and he hasn’t been able to answer. Just when Riddle had the upper hand, he lost it once Kojima started squeezing the air out of him, forcing him down to his knees. A shoulder tackle easily took Riddle down.

Matt did catch Satoshi by surprise with a triangle arm maneuver. The Champion uses that arm for his lariats, so Riddle knew to target it. Then a knee to Satoshi’s face almost awarded Matt the victory. That fishermen’s suplex was well executed, yet not enough. Satoshi had been fighting back despite the leverage his challenger had inflicted.

Kojima ducked out of the way as he performed those brutal chops to the chest of Riddle. It really drove the air from his lunges as Kojima came close to retaining his title then and there. A DDT stumped the challenger. Later on, Riddle retaliated with his well-known strikes followed by a Senton. Kojima struggled to wiggle out of Riddle’s brave submission tactics, fortunately, he managed to get his foot on the bottom rope.

Satoshi hit a massive suplex off the turnbuckle, then succeeded with the Cozy Cutter. Still, the match rolled on. Riddle striked Kojima with the knee, yet the champ seemed to not be effected by it, showing the fighting spirit he promised Matt, then caught him a lariat from out of nowhere. That brainbuster was too close to ending this, so Satoshi didn’t think Riddle had more left in him as he performed the Broton. Too close, too close…

What ended Kojima’s reigns was that Brotsone. Congratulations, Riddle! He gave his respect to Satoshi as Matt celebrated with Tom Lawlor.

Winner: Matt Riddle

 

TOP PHOTO: Riddle winning gold. Courtesy of MLW