Major League Wrestling’s (MLW) first pay-per-view of the year embodied its tagline, “Choose Violence.”
Saturday Night SuperFight featured major matches with well-known professional wrestlers giving it their all for one night. A few fresh faces also joined the fray with at least one putting the rest of the roster on notice.
The main event of the night also changed the landscape for the company as MLW looks ahead toward 2027.
Read below to see how Saturday Night SuperFight turned out at Cicero Stadium in Chicago.
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A new king reigns
Josh Bishop was confident when he told OutKick Dropkick he wasn’t going to fall into Killer Kross’ sleeperhold and he wasn’t going to stay down the necessary 10 seconds that would have lost him the Last Man Standing match and cost him the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
He came through on his promises.
The hellish match ended with Bishop, who was already a bloody mess, baptizing a table with his blood and hitting Kross with Exit 187, sending him through the wood. Kross was trying to get back up and was using a chair to help himself get back on his two feet. Bishop made a heads-up play and kicked the chair from Kross’ grasp.
The referee counted to 10 and Bishop was crowned the new MLW world heavyweight champion.
Kross started the year as the champion when he won it at Battle Riot VIII. Bishop went through hell and back to get the belt around his waist and he has crowned himself the future of the company.
Match of the night
Bishop’s win over Kross may be the most talked-about moment of the night, but it was Austin Aries and Matt Riddle who stole the show.
Riddle challenged Aries for the MLW National Openweight Championship. From the jump, Aries and Riddle were locked in a bitter battle – almost literally. The first four minutes of the match the two were tied up and they danced all around the arena before breaking apart.
From there, Riddle tried everything to keep Aries down. He hit a cutter on Aries on top of the title belt that Aries was poised to use as a weapon while the referee was down. But Aries, a veteran in the game, grabbed the rope before the three-count was made.
Riddle was in disbelief as there were five minutes left in the 30-minute match. Aries tried to stall the best he could as the time ticked away. The two wrestlers exchanged punches and slaps before Riddle hit another cutter on Aries. But as Riddle made the cover, time expired.
The Chicago crowd pleaded for overtime. Aries got on the mic and said if Riddle wanted more time, the crowd wanted more time and MLW wanted more time, then he wasn’t going to deliver it for them. Riddle knocked out Aries with a backfist and paraded around with the title.
Aries won the match, but Riddle got his last lick in.
Tessa Blanchard shines
Tessa Blanchard made her highly anticipated MLW debut at Saturday Night SuperFight and faced off against a formidable opponent in Keyra. While it was in MLW’s house, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) was fully on display.
The bout featured fast-paced action. Keyra was rolling at one point. She didn’t want Blanchard to get any kind of momentum that was going to put her away.
Blanchard caught Keyra with a thrust kick and hit a DDT to put Keyra away. Blanchard made clear she was putting the rest of the MLW women’s division on notice.
Shotzi Blackheart is currently the MLW women’s world champion but there’s a whole host of women on the roster gunning for her. Blanchard is far from the only one but her momentum is building.
The rest of the roster includes Scarlett Bordeaux, Zamaya and Masha. But you never know who else is going to “choose violence.”
Trevor Lee holds his own
Trevor Lee knew what he was doing when he challenged IWGP heavyweight champion Yota Tsuji for a match at Saturday Night SuperFight. He wanted to prove he was one of the top wrestlers in the business and can go punch-for-punch with the best in the world.
Lee put on a show, hitting multiple Collision Courses on Tsuji. But he would have needed to do a little bit more to keep one of the best Japanese pro wrestlers down. He went for a high-risk move from the top rope and got caught.
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Tsuji speared Lee, only securing a two count. He moved to the corner and stalked Lee. He sprinted toward his opponent and nailed the Gene Blaster. Tsuji picked up the win after that.
Lee proved to the pro wrestling world he has what it takes to be in the ring with some of the best the sport has to offer. Saturday just wasn’t his night.
More Saturday Night SuperFight results
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows def. Mark Coffey and Joe Coffey in a Chicago Street Fight to retain the MLW Tag Team Championship.
Masha def. Zamaya in a singles match.
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Ultimo Guerrero def. Templario and Titan in a triple-threat match.
