MLW Fury Road recap: Blood, stage dives, title fights, and chaos

What a night it was in Chicago.

MLW Fury Road rumbled from Cicero Stadium in Chicago, IL. The show featured two title fights, bloody brawls, wicked dives, maximum chaos, and more! There was also Cesar Duran (alias Dario Cueto) threatening to stab a dude. Buckle in.

We’ll start with Cesar Duran ready to defend himself with a knife. Bad Dude Tito was in a rude mood searching for the whereabouts of Salina de la Renta. He burst into homeboy’s office to threaten an ass-kicking. Duran pulled out a blade, but Tito wasn’t scared of that toothpick. Tito warned Cesar to keep his head on a swivel.

Let’s cruise through the matches from top to bottom.

MLW World Heavyweight Championship: Satoshi Kojima defeated 1 Called Manders to retain the title. Time for the tale of the tape.

The main event was a battle of lariats. Manders was first to clobber his lariat. Kojima kicked out, Manders followed with a doctor bomb, and Kojima kicked out again. The champ blocked another lariat to counter for a Koji cutter. Kojima went for the final blow, however, Manders was quicker to the draw to crush one more lariat. In the end, Kojima found his groove to blast a lariat. He finished the job with extra power running the ropes for the final lariat to win.

Business picked up after the match. The Battle Riot event takes place on June 1, so this scene acted as a tease with maximum chaos. The Contra Unit stormed the ring to smash Kojima and Manders. Eventually, the locker room emptied with MLW wrestlers filling the ring to dispose of Contra as well as individual beefs erupting within the mix.

Matt Riddle versus Sami Callihan ended in a double count-out. The Death Machine initiated a brawl before the match. Once the fighting was official, Callihan planted Riddle with a piledriver on the floor. Riddle rallied for a somersault senton. Kick out by Callihan.

Riddle went up top again, but Callihan dodged a moonsault. Riddle rolled through the landing on the mat and sprang up for a cutter. Callihan shoved the referee into taking the move. Ref down! Callihan took control for a piledriver. The backup referee made the count, but Riddle kicked out. Callihan charged into the corner, and Riddle was ready to catch him in a triangle choke. Callihan bit Riddle’s toes to escape the submission. The fighting spilled outside again, and the result was a double count-out.

MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai defeated Miyu Yamashita, Delmi Exo, and Zayda to retain the title. Four-way action. The finish began with Exo executing a package piledriver on Zayda. As the God Queen hit that move, Yamashita blasted her with a skull kick to the back of the head. Exo tumbled out of the ring after the piledriver. The Kick Demon pounced with a spinning high kick to Yamashita’s dome. Kai grabbed Yamashita and Zayda for a double dragon sleeper. Yamashita refused to quit, and she even grabbed Zayda’s arm to prevent her from quitting. Zayda couldn’t take the pain, so she freed her limb from Yamashita’s grip to tap out. This was a cool character wrinkle to protect the Joshi in defeat.

Falls Count Anywhere: Mads Krugger defeated Matthew Justice. Justice entered with a barbed wire baseball bat to take out Contra soldiers. Krugger dove over the ropes onto the pile of bodies below. This was a bloody, violent fight. The big spot came for the finish. Justice and Krugger tussled on a balcony patio, then Krugger shoved Justice off the ledge to crash through a table. Krugger made the pin to win, but the fighting wasn’t over yet.

Justice continued brawling with the Contra henchmen, and he leaped off the stairs for a splash onto Krugger through a table. The fisticuffs continued backstage, where Janai Kai helped Contra and revealed she was an undercover member of the mercenary crew.

Alex Kane open challenge. AJ Francis sent one of his goons to answer the call.

A-Game was previously in the Bomaye Fight Club. Kane rushed up the ramp to pummel his opponent from pillar to post. A suplex on the floor, a suplex in the ring, and a chokehold earned the win. Afterward, Top Dolla challenged the Suplex Assassin to ritual combat at Battle Riot for the throne of Bomaye. Kane didn’t hesitate to accept.

Akira defeated Bobby Fish. The veteran picked Akira apart piece by piece with striking and submissions. The Death Fighter rallied by ducking a roundhouse kick to counter for a German suplex. Akira kept on the pressure for a head kick and the Death Penalty slam.

Jake Crist defeated Brett Ryan Gosselin. After an eye poke to set up a spear, BRG showboated before his finisher. Crist countered with a back slide to win. Gosselin attacked after the match in a fit of poor sportsmanship.

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Fury Road was a good time overall. MLW fans should be satisfied. The main event lived up to its billing as a battle of lariats. Riddle and Callihan had a rowdy affair. The draw was a smart move to maintain drama for the Battle Riot. These two are the favorites to win, so MLW shaded the shine of momentum with a double count-out. It preserves the showdown for Battle Riot. The women’s title bout flowed well as a four-way. The finish was a creative way for Kai to be dominant and still save face for Yamashita and Exo. Falls Count Anywhere was rooting tooting fun. Shifting Kai to align with the Contra Unit in Salina’s absence makes so much sense. The Kick Demon feels like a natural fit for that group of mercenaries.

Watch the full Fury Road show for free on MLW’s YouTube channel.

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