MLW Underground TV Review – 04.07.2003 (Premiere Episode)

Salutations! I’m Garth Holmberg, you might remember me from covering Smoky Mountain Wrestling for a cup of coffee quite a few years ago, and occasionally getting actively involved in some ridiculous arguments that can best be described as a bunch of geeks in Comic Book Guy’s Android’s Dungeon yelling back-and-forth about nonsense. With that intro out of the way, I have the itch to recap some wrestling, and as usual, I don’t want to cover the same old stuff. I thought of going back to SMW, but at the end of the day, I settled on something short term, just to get me back into a groove of things without feeling like I need to commit myself to years’ worth of shows to cover… which brings us to MAJOR LEAGUE WRESTLING (Version 1).

With the demise of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1st quarter of 2001, it was only a matter of time until someone tried to take the scraps and build their own company around whatever Vince McMahon either saw little value in or held a personal vendetta against (this one mostly reserved for good ol’ Double J, Jeff Jarrett). In 2001, we were blessed with the XWF coming and going with little fanfare, never finding a home with hours of TV taped (and eventually some of it packaged for home video years after ceasing operations) and World Wrestling All-Stars, mostly doing short tours of Australia and Europe with the occasional PPV, running their final show in the Spring of 2003. In 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett blessed us with NWA-TNA (thanks, Vince Russo), running weekly Pay-Per-View on Wednesday Night’s for $9.95 a pop.

The same week NWA-TNA premiered, Court Bauer ran the first show under the MLW banner (Major League Wrestling), a spiritual successor to ECW, and ran their first show from Viking Hall (a.k.a. The “ECW Arena”) and running further shows around the Northeast. After running “King of Kings” on December 20th, the company held off running more shows until relocating to Florida, where I discovered them as a late-night option on the Sunshine Network, airing back-to-back with IWA Puerto Rico packaged with old content likely owned by the Savoldi family. After launching TV, they began promoting monthly shows, mostly in Orlando, and packaging the footage for TV with promos to sell the upcoming event. MLW Underground TV aired weekly throughout 2003, with some sources claiming running into the first months of 2004, but only 30 episodes have been preserved, and my best guess is episodes re-ran towards the end before the program was pulled from the station.

MLW Underground premieres with “When Worlds Collide” by Powerman 5000 blaring to give us that early 2000’s feel. Joey Styles is our host and the man doing all the play-by-play, and immediately you can tell they’re going for the ECW feel with the presentation. He says this isn’t “Sports Entertainment”, but “Hybrid Wrestling.” Yup, taking the cheap shots at WWE. I should note “April 7th, 2003” is an unofficial date of broadcast, but the one used in the online preservation of the footage. The date given would be a Monday, but I remember watching it in the middle of the week, but since it’s a late-night syndication deal, they probably ran it multiple times throughout the week and I just happened to fall into a specific day pattern. With their next show scheduled for May 9th, that means we’ve got a month of TV and three shows in the can to fill time until we’ll have fresh content to build storylines around.

La Parka vs. Jerry Lynn:
Taped on June 15th, 2002, part of the Tournament to crown the 1st-ever MLW Heavyweight Champion at MLW Genesis, but that is never addressed by Joey Styles, and the match airs as if there aren’t stakes behind it. As someone who was attempting to digest as much non-WWE content as possible at the time, it was nice to see La Parka again (still carrying around a Latino World Order chair). I don’t remember him making many appearances for the other start-up promotions, while I got a healthy dose of Lynn in NWA-TNA (I didn’t follow ROH so I’m unsure of if he spent time there. I found their fans insufferable and ignored the company because of that. TRIBALISM AT IT’S FINEST, and something I regret because I missed out on some great stuff). La Parka bows down to his chair before engaging in combat and Lynn does the same in mock fashion. Parka buries a knee to the midsection and puts the boots to Lynn in the corner. We immediately cut to commercial and return with La Parka in control of the arm. Lynn with a snap mare counter, followed by a spinning head-scissors. He plants La Parka with a wheelbarrow bulldog and mocks La Parka with a goofy dance. They run through a series of misses and counters until La Parka misses a charge to the corner and smacks his shoulder on the post. Lynn with a flying body press to the floor. La Parka beats the count back in the ring and takes advantage of the over-anxious Lynn. La Parka misses a running dropkick, landing on his head in the process. He quickly recovers, sending Lynn to the outside and following him with a corkscrew plancha. Back inside, Lynn rolls away from a corkscrew moonsault and puts La Parka away with a tornado DDT at 5:32 (shown). We can hear the announcement of Lynn advancing in the tournament, but Styles does his best to talk over it. Too short to be a meaningful match, but they did a few decent sequences and for a “moves for the sake of moves” sprint, there’s not much to complain about.

Hype video for the Heavyweight Champion, Satoshi Kojima, including him addressing the crowd by telling them how much he loves Sushi and New York City (the match in question was taped from the Manhattan Center). I’m all for showing off as much talent as you can within your one-hour time block, but they could’ve done a little more here, like showing him beating someone up instead of kissing up to the local crowd.

Promo from Fuego Guerrero, who puts over his finishing move, called Zero Gravity, and doesn’t say much else. Whoever was in charge of production didn’t bother putting his name on the screen, so we’re supposed to know who everyone is (he didn’t identify himself, I had to look things up). It’s not like modern day AEW where we can just google something that goes unexplained. I mean, we could Google in 2003 as well, but it wasn’t nearly as reliable as it is today. Maybe we were still asking Jeeves, 2003 was a long time ago. For those wondering, Fuego is a masked Amazing Red. I’m not sure why he’s working under the mask here. Maybe someone can give me a deep dive on the differences between his two personas.

Taiyo Kea is warming up!

Major League Wrestling is coming to TABU NightClub in Orlando, FL on May 9th! Already signed for the card is La Parka taking on Sabu. That should be a spectacular train-wreck.

Chapter 1: The Rise of The Horsemen. Highlights from King of Kings, with a knock-off version of Metallica’s “Sad But True” accompanying the footage. Steve Corino, C.W. Anderson and Simon Diamond lay a beating on Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk, Corino’s opponents of a Three-Way Dance. Corino even attacks the referee, planting him with a DDT and slamming a chair across his crotch. They continue to punish Funk with unprotected garbage can blows to the head until Corino forces the referee to make the three-count. Post-match, Corino with a quick promo, declaring the trio “The Extreme Horsemen.” All these years later, the weapon shots to the head don’t do it for me, but at least they’re trying to establish Corino and his cronies as the top heel group.

Joey Styles announces the upcoming tournament to crown the Global Tag Team Champions. Teams that have thrown their names in the hat include The Samoan Island Tribe, Nosawa and Masada, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and his protege P.J. Friedman, “Blue Chippers” Simon Diamond and C.W. Anderson, and Jose and Joel Maximo. We follow that with a promo from the Maximos, who stumble over each other, shout out their trainer Mikey Whipwreck, and claim all bets are off because MLW doesn’t have honor, respect, or (bleeping) discipline. Not a strong promo, but it’s still better than what we got from Fuego.

Taiyo Kea vs. “Malice” Jerry Tuite:
More action from MLW Genesis. Malice is probably better known as “The Wall” in World Championship Wrestling, and would go on to be one of the top heels in the early days of NWA-TNA. Somehow, the dress shirt and tie look made him look more menacing than the simple black trunks and boots. Styles calls Kea “The Hawaiian Hellraiser” and says he’s a protege of The Great Muta. Lockup into the corner, Malice throws a right hand and Kea responds with a stinging chop. Malice with knees to the midsection and a super-sloppy back body-drop. A clothesline sends Kea to the floor where the two trade blows. Styles keeps gushing about how MLW is all about Hybrid Wrestling. JAPANESE STRONG STYLE! Back in the ring, Malice puts Kea on his back following a double thrust to the throat. Kea catches a boot and takes the big man off his feet with a dragon screw. We cut ahead in the action, with Malice taking Kea off the top rope with a super-plex for a near-fall. Whip and Malice with a Boss Man-style sidewalk slam, followed by a flying leg drop. Kea counters a Powerbomb with a hurricanrana, takes out the knee, and puts Malice away with a Northern Lights Suplex at 4:19 (shown). I don’t know how much was clipped, but what was left for our viewing pleasure wasn’t half-bad, back body-drop bump aside.

The Match TOO VIOLENT for TV! Sabu battled LA Parka at MLW King of Kings, with La Parka being beaten to a bloody mess. I’m guessing by the way they are describing the match, we won’t see it featured on Underground TV. Maybe we’ll get to see the rematch when they meet again on May 9th in Orlando.

The Samoan Island Tribe are standing by, talking about being blackballed from other promotions, and claiming that all Polynesians are discriminated against. Life on the Islands isn’t all sunshine and roses, you know. “Who are the Samoan Island Tribe?” According to online sources, they’re Mana and Samu of the SST/Headshrinkers. I didn’t think he was still hanging around at this stage in the game, but here he is. They have an open contract to beat someone’s a$$.

Steve Corino is standing by now and HOLY CRAP, that man carved the hell out of his forehead at such a relatively young age, didn’t he? He talks about Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk being his heroes at one time, but at King of Kings, he not only beat them both in the same night, but in the SAME MATCH. He has no problem with Terry Funk being a legend, but he debuted way back in 1965 and it took him 12 years to win a World Championship, while he (Corino) debuted in 1994 and won his in only 6 years. He’s done everything Funk has done, but better and quicker. He issues a challenge to Funk, one-on-one, if Funk has the guts to face the true “King of Old School.”

BREAKING NEWS! Joey Styles announces the Global Tag Team Championship Tournament begins in two weeks, with brackets announced next week on MLW Underground. Well, most of that is the truth.

“The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. Vampiro:
Last match of the episode, and we’re still pulling footage from MLW Genesis. This is another 1st-Round Tournament Match for the MLW Heavyweight Championship, but like the earlier encounter between La Parka and Jerry Lynn, there is no mention of such a thing during the match. Daniels was very visible at this time, with a strong run in ROH and a featured player (when available) for NWA-TNA. Vampiro is sporting a new buzz cut and ditched the face paint, almost unrecognizable from the last time I saw him on WCW programming. They size each other up before taking a trip around the ring with a lockup. Vampiro rudely blows a double snot rocket, so he’s either the heel of the match, or just a disgusting person. They keep it on the canvas trading holds, with neither man gaining a significant advantage. Vampiro frustrates Daniels with a rough shoulder block and takes the opportunity to trap Daniels in a heel-hook leg-lock. Daniels to the ropes and a powder to the outside, selling the leg the entire time. Back inside, Daniels thumbs his eyes and lays into Vampiro with rights and boots.

We come back from the commercial, with Vampiro ducking a clothesline and taking Daniels’ head off with a Super-Kick. Vampiro with a flying leg lariat, knocking Daniels out of the ring. Referee John Finnegan not doing much to try and get the match back in the ring. As I say that, Vampiro whacks Daniels with a chair, so maybe they are playing with a loose rule book. Back in the ring, Vampiro sweeps the already damaged leg and drops a knee somewhere uncomfortably south of the border. Styles can’t help but acknowledge the referee giving Vampiro a lot of freedom as he uses the timekeeper’s hammer. YOU THINK? Daniels brings up a boot in the corner and takes Vampiro down with a running neck breaker. We go to the floor again, with Daniels hitting a springboard Asai Moonsault that sends both men crashing into the crowd barrier. Daniels counters a leap-frog with a Powerbomb for two. He sweeps the legs of Vampiro and hits a double-jump moonsault for a near-fall. Vampiro cuts Daniels off and takes him off the top with a super-sized belly-to-belly suplex for a two-count. They trade blows in the middle of the ring until Vampiro traps the arm and plants Daniels with a Sambo Suplex (Rock Bottom) for the three-count at 13:47. Wait… Styles just acknowledged this was a tournament match! I guess it doesn’t matter, because we’ve already established Satoshi Kojima as the Champion. Take away the pointless middle where Vampiro used a chair and hammer, and you have a perfectly fine match that fits in well for the context of an opening round tournament match. They did a nice bit trying to feel each other out, kept it simple on the mat, and really only did a couple of big spots before Vampiro used his size and strength to put Daniels away. ***

Raven is hanging around somewhere and sets an 8×10 of Vampiro on fire to close the show. I guess it should be pointed out that Raven was only released from his WWE contract in January of 2003, so we’re just going to pretend like that last match and this bit with Raven doesn’t have a huge 6-8 month gap.

Final Thoughts: Re-visiting MLW is certainly an experience, especially as someone who mostly found the ECW product and presentation a bit overrated. As a fan in 2003 who was growing frustrated with WWE (Raw is Triple H and the McMahon Diaries on Smackdown), I wanted ANYTHING to succeed, even pumping money into the weekly NWA-TNA PPV’s, despite Vince Russo being all over them. MLW was a little easier to digest, with more grounded storylines and using their roster to the best of their abilities. The biggest drawback, using 2003 logic, is that Steve Corino was hardly a smark darling, with him being the top heel with Simon Diamond and C.W. Anderson as his main henchmen might’ve been a turn-off. Without spoiling anything, you can already tell Kojima is keeping the belt warm for Corino, who is the center of attention in his rivalry with Terry Funk. Once we get through the first few weeks of old content and get fresh material to play with, we’ll see how storylines play out and who is sticking around from month-to-month.