Mike Reviews MLW Never Say Never 2024

Happy Major League Sunday Everyone!

I reviewed the previous MLW show from this taping, and the new one just hit YouTube, so let’s take a look at Never Say Never. We’ve got Tom Lawlor fighting actor Paul Walter Hauser in a cage, which isn’t a sentence I expected to type this year, but 2024 be what it is yo.

You can view the full card for Never Say Never by clicking the link below;

MLW Never Say Never 2024 Card

Never Say Never was taped in St. Petersburg, Florida on the 12th of July 2024 and is airing on the 10th of August 2024 via the miracle of YouTube

Calling the action are Christian Cole and Joe Dombrowski

Contra are brutalising Okumura backstage, who is an ally of Satoshi Kojima, who they will face in the Main Event tonight.

Fight #1
Opera Cup 2024 First Round
Magnus Vs MLW World Middleweight Champ Mistico

The winner of this one will face Atlantis Jr in the next round. Mistico’s belt isn’t on the line here, just a chance to advance in the tournament and win the Opera Cup, which is supposedly one of the oldest tournament prizes in all of Pro Wrestling, at an impressive 125 years. The crowd is more into Mistico than they are Magnus. Both of these competitors are masked luchadores who can wrestle the luchador style, so the action is fast paced and enjoyable to watch, with Mistico getting the better of things in the early going. Eventually Magnus takes the fight to the floor and slams Mistico face first onto the commentary table, which is enough for the cut off and heat segment.

Magnus mostly focuses on trying to unmask Mistico during the heat, which would be a DQ in Mexico but doesn’t seem to be the case here. Magnus is showing some decent Heel personality actually, being a mostly violent and cocky grappler, going for strikes and crowd taunts over flash and excitement. Mistico’s selling is fine, and he eventually makes a comeback with lots of rana’s and a big dive. Magnus takes nice bumps for everything and is a good base for all of Mistico’s cool stuff. Magnus does manage to reply with a big Superplex so that he can get a near fall, and he then gets a second two count from a very cool looking hanging underhook back breaker.

Mistico responds with a big rana off the top for a near fall of his own, as they are really going for it here in an effort to have a hot match. Mistico gets a Spanish Fly off the ropes, but delays in making the cover, which allows Magnus to kick out, thus protecting the move. They did similar when Magnus got a Diamond Cutter earlier actually. Both luchadores keep coming, with both of them even kicking one another in the face at the same time at one stage, with Mistico eventually catching Magnus in La Mistica for the submission win.

WINNER: MISTICO
RATING: ***1/2

Satoshi Kojima, AKIRA and Matt Riddle are backstage with David Marquez, and they tell him that their buddy Okumura is in bad condition. Kojima swears, and hilarity ensues.

Salina de la Renta and her baby daddy annoy her dad, Cesar Duran. Duran demands that Salina’s hubby wear a mask when representing the family, and the gentleman agrees. Duran seems okay with that, but he stops short at allowing the man to call him “Papa”.

CW Anderson and Brock Anderson look to be coming in as a team. That’s actually a great use of both of them.

Fight #2
Opera Cup 2024 First Round
“Made of Stone” Danny Jones Vs MLW National Openweight Champion “Bad Dude” Tito Escondido w/ Salina de la Renta and Jesus Rodriguez

Jones is a tough Welshman, whilst Tito is a stocky lad from California who likes to throwdown. Rodriguez used to be Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer in WWE, and he does the honours for Tito here. They do the shoulder tackle spot to start, before moving on to a slugfest. It’s nice that this is a completely different style of match than what we saw in the opener. It’s always good when you get a mix of styles on a show, as every match having the same style can wear you down a bit as a viewer. The action is mostly back and forth, with both competitors laying it in and looking good in there. Jones gets an impressive flurry at one stage with a sequence of suplexes and strikes, but Tito fights back and gets some suplexes of his own, followed by a big Blue Thunder for two. Tito busts out a TOPE SUICIDA at one stage, and we get more back and forth strike sequences back inside following that, with neither backing down and Jones eventually getting a big Lariat for two. Tito replies with a Falcon Arrow though, and that’s enough for three.

WINNER: BAD DUDE TITO
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a fun slugfest, with Jones getting a chance to show off what he could do before it was time to for him to eat a pin. Jones got enough offence that he looked like he belonged, whilst Tito weathered the storm and got the clean win. If you have a good match then both wrestlers can benefit if it’s done right, and that was the case here

Saint Laurent tries to recruit Mr. Thomas to his faction.

Fight #3
Brett Ryan Gosselin Vs Jake Crist

Bobby Fish has jumped on commentary for this one. This is my first exposure to Gosselin, and he looks to be your standard Indy Heel, complete with aviators and fluffy coat. Gosselin adds a generic Heel promo to his entrance, just to complete the act. Crist used to tag with his brother, but now he’s a singles wrestler and is a guy who likes to get angry and hit people. Crist starts this one on the front foot by attacking Gosselin, but Gosselin manages to prevent a Crist Asai Moonsault and the refuses to do a dive in order to annoy the fans. Gosselin works a bit of heat following that, and he looks decent on offence and is trying to engage with the crowd at least. Crist gets a brief comeback, but Gosselin cuts him off and gets a Roll of the Dice for three

WINNER: BRETT RYAN GOSSELIN
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: Bordering on being a squash at points, which seems an odd way to use Crist, but hey-ho. Crist did his job well enough and Gosselin looks to have something going on there, but he probably needs some seasoning first

Bobby Fish attempts to interview Gosselin following the match, and Gosselin of course is a cocky jerk during it, which leads to Crist trying to start a fight. Fish doesn’t appreciate that, and dresses Crist down, which allows Gosselin to attack Crist. Fish looks like he’s going to break it up, but then HE attacks Crist as well, which leads to Crist getting beaten up 2 on 1 and taking a Spiked Piledriver on the exposed wooden floor. I guess that’s a Heel turn for Fish? Gosselin and Fish as allies is certainly an interesting direction to go in, as they seem to look like oil and water from afar, but maybe that means it will work?

Fight #4
Davey Boy Smith Jr. w/ Saint Laurent Vs AJ Francis

Francis was formerly Top Dolla in WWE, whilst DBS Jr is the son of The British Bulldog. DBS Jr is going for the 2000 look his dad had here, rocking Jeans and black boots. Francis overpowers DBS Jr to start, ploughing through the big man with a shoulder tackle, causing DBS Jr to go to the Larry Z playbook of stalling out on the floor. Francis eventually misses a splash in the corner, and that allows DBS Jr to get a suplex for the cut off. DBS Jr looks decent on offence during the heat, and Francis’ selling is fine for it, although I don’t think he really works as a sympathetic figure. Being the size of Francis and being an effective babyface is actually quite difficult when it comes to selling, because when you’re that big people kind of expect you to be able to fight back, so you need to be able to get fans to feel sympathy for you when you’re getting beaten up, and I don’t think Francis is there yet. Francis does eventually fight out of a chinlock and make the comeback, with his offence being totally fine big man fare and DBS Jr taking good bumps for it all. Saint Laurent gets involved to distract Francis, which allows DBS Jr to lock in a sleeper hold for a submission tease. Francis fights his way to the ropes, but DBS Jr won’t break the hold and that’s a DQ.

WINNER BY DQ: AJ FRANCIS
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was fine until the lame DQ finish. DBS Jr looked good and AJ Francis might possibly be a bit miscast as a babyface, but he mostly overcame that here and did a solid job for the most part. I can only assume that these two will have further contests together, so this was a way to heat things up between the two competitors without having one of them eat a loss

We get a video package for the Tom Lawlor Vs Paul Walter Hauser. Both of them cut decent promos as part of it, as MLW is really doing their utmost to try and make this match at Never Say Never feel like a heated issue, so kudos to them for that.

Fight #5
Renee Michelle Vs Delmi Exo w/ Cesar Duran and The Masked Henchman

Michelle has been wrestling since 2013 and is from Washington, DC. Exo has been wrestling since 2015 is a former Featherweight Champ in MLW. Duran was formerly Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground. The Henchman is the baby daddy of Salina de la Renta, who is Duran’s storyline daughter. They focus on holds and counter wrestling to start, and it looks okay but lacks a bit of “oomph” as well. Exo controls things for a little bit, but Michelle soon starts fighting back, as this one continues to feel a little bit sluggish. Michelle gets a nice looking front dropkick off the top, although it took her a while to set it up and Exo had to stand there looking like a bit of strawb waiting for it. Michelle tries coming off the top with a Moonsault, but Exo dodges it and then gets a Package Piledriver for three.

WINNER: DELMI EXO
RATING: *3/4

Thoughts: Pretty much every move in this one was executed properly, but the match just felt like they were working on the moon at points. It just felt like everything they did was half a step slower than it ideally needed to be. It could just be me who felt that though, any other viewers might think I’m out to lunch. If they’d worked it at a slightly quicker clip and things had been a bit snappier in the execution, then I think it would have improved the match quite a bit. As it was, it was technically fine but it just didn’t feel “right” to me for whatever reason

Joe Dombrowski tries to interview Gigi Ray in the entrance way, but Renee Michelle interrupts and the two get into an argument, so it looks like we’ll have a match down the line. This was a decent segment to set something up for a later date, which is what you need to do in order to make these shows feel episodic, so well done MLW.

David Marquez tries to interview Bobby Fish and Brett Ryan Gosselin, but they aren’t interested in talking. Fish simply says that what happened earlier to Jake Crist was appropriate, and that deep down Marquez understands that. Marquez seems very confused by that statement.

Fight #6
Opera Cup 2024 First Round
Mr. Thomas w/ Faye Jackson Vs Alex Kane w/ Faye Jackson

These two are tag partners, but tonight they have to wrestle one another to advance in the cup. Jackson is attempting to manage both competitors from a neutral corner tonight. They fight one another respectfully, but don’t hold anything back either, with the action being back and forth in the early going. Kane looks to be the quicker of the two, whilst Thomas is more of the powerhouse, so we get a Power Vs Speed vibe at points. The two fight on the apron at one stage, and Kane gets both a Spear and a Splash out there. Kane is nice enough to allow Thomas to start up a chop battle back inside, which ends with a sleeper attempt from Thomas. Kane fights out of that and gets a Snap German Suplex, but takes too long to follow up and that allows Thomas to get D’Lo Brown’s old Sky High Powerbomb for two. Kane fires back with a Saito Suplex for two, as this one has pretty much been even for the most part. Kane keeps bringing the suplex based offence, and after both German and Vertical versions of the move, a Spear follows to give Kane the three count.

WINNER: ALEX KANE
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: Decent action there, with it mostly being back and forth until the final 30-45 seconds, where Kane got the big flurry of moves to pick up the win. Solid effort from both competitors

The two make nice following that, so their team has seemingly survived the tournament. Kane will now face Bad Dude Tito in the next round.

Things seem to be fine between Salina de la Renta, Cesar Duran and The Masked Henchman, but after Salina and her man leave, Duran gets on his phone and says he wants to talk to someone about his family situation. Oh dear, that doesn’t sound good.

KENTA is not impressed that Satoshi Kojima is the MLW Heavyweight Champion. KENTA did that entire promo in English there, and it was actually decent. We then get clips of KENTA defeating Bobby Fish in an Opera Cup fight. KENTA has a real charisma going on that I can’t really explain, but it works for him.

Fight #7
MMA Cage Fight
Tom Lawlor Vs Paul Walter Hauser

This was taped at the American Top Team Gym, which makes sense seeing as you couldn’t really set this octagon up in the venue where Never Say Never is actually taking place. Lawlor dominates this one, and seems not to be taking Hauser seriously. When Hauser does get chances to fight back a bit, his offence doesn’t look that good, but his selling is okay for the most part. They end up fighting whilst straddled atop the cage at one stage, which leads to Hauser climbing out and then attacking Lawlor with a Singapore Cane, which is apparently something you might find in a martial arts gym. Not being someone who frequents those places, I’ll take the commentator’s word for it.

They head into a boxing ring following that, as this has gone from a faux-MMA match to being Sportz Entertainment silliness, which is probably a smarter way of doing this in all honesty, seeing that Hauser is still very new to this. Hauser actually delivers a Cane assisted Leg Sweep into the boxing ring at one stage, which looked brutal because boxing rings do not have any give when compared to a Pro Wrestling ring, so doing a flat back bump in there would really suck. Lawlor runs Hauser into the MMA cage following that and works some heat in the boxing ring, as they continue to take bumps in there. Lawlor goes to a single leg crab, but Hauser grabs the boxing ropes, and apparently that counts as a rope break here. Sure, why not, embrace the wackiness.

They fight throughout the gym, with Lawlor trying to run away at one stage. Hauser ends up Spearing Lawlor through the wall of another cage, but they keep fighting and Lawlor ends up giving Hauser a Spicolli Driver through a makeshift table. We head back into the MMA cage following that, with Lawlor firmly in control of things and getting quite vicious with his attacks. Lawlor looks to have it won with a choke, but he decides to let go before he can win and grabs some nun-chucks. Hauser ducks the attack though and Lawlor ends up clocking himself in the face by mistake, which allows Hauser to get a modified Downward Spiral for three.

WINNER: PAUL WALTER HAUSER
RATING: **

Thoughts: This didn’t know whether it wanted to be a serious grudge match or a wacky Sportz Entertainment comedy brawl, and that gave it some tonal whiplash at points. It probably worked better when they tried playing it for laughs instead of trying to make it feel serious, as that suited Hauser’s experience level better and Lawlor is actually quite a funny buffoon. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t especially like it that much either

Main Event
Contra Unit (Ikuro Kwon, Mads Krule Krügger and Minoru Suzuki) w/ Janai Kai Vs AKIRA, Matt Riddle and Satoshi Kojima

Contra have been a Heel force in MLW for a while, so some of MLW’s top stars have banded together in order to fight them. This is a literal Pier Six to start, with all six competitors going at it and fighting all over ringside. It’s a decent brawl really, and it does a solid job of getting across the storyline that Contra’s actions have really fired up the babyfaces and now they’re looking to really take it to the Heel faction. Eventually a normal tag match breaks out, with Contra being able to cut off Riddle in their part of the ring. Riddle sells that well, and fights back when he can before getting cut off again in order to show the fans that they shouldn’t give up hope.

They do some decent hot tag teases actually, with Suzuki managing to stop Riddle JUST before he makes it at one stage. AKIRA eventually does get the hot tag and runs wild until the monster of the Heel team, Krügger, gets in and flings AKIRA to the floor. That leads to Krügger and Heavyweight Champ Kojima going at it, with Kojima throwing a load of chops to pop the crowd. A table gets introduced into things, which seems to be legal seeing as the referee is allowing it to happen, and Krügger ends up Powerbombing Kojima through it. A chair gets brought in next, but AKIRA takes the bullet for Kojima, and he’s still the legal man, so Krügger just pins the downed AKIRA for the three count.

WINNERS: CONTRA
RATING: ***

Thoughts: Riddle did a good job in the heat, and the closing section did an effective job of making Krügger look big and scary. I’m not sure why the table and chair were just allowed like that, but I’m guessing that MLW is kind of like ECW and the rules are normally relaxed?

In Conclusion

What I like about MLW is that they are actually trying to do episodic storytelling with these shows, and that actually gives me a reason to check out the next one. These past two shows have been fun enough that I’ve gone to the trouble of subscribing to the MLW YouTube channel, and I believe there’s another show coming at the end of August so I’ll keep a lookout for that one too. Never Say Never had some good wrestling and the storylines were competently advanced, so I’ll give it a thumbs up and I look forward to the next one.

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