MLW Fightland 2023 HOT TAKE
MLW's FIGHTLAND on FITE+! Epic clashes, title defenses, and historic matches. Witness legends rise in this groundbreaking event!
Major League Wrestling continues its revolutionary assault on the world of professional wrestling this Saturday November 18th when FIGHTLAND comes alive from South Philadelphia's 2300 Arena, broadcasting across the globe to FITE+ subscribers worldwide, bringing them front row and center for MLW's latest conquest with several major championship collisions, international superstars and more!
World Heavyweight Battle: Kane vs. Fatu
Newly crowned MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane, backed by legendary promoter Don King and the Bomaye Fight Club, strides back into the legendary former ECW Arena while seeking to add yet another new accomplishment to the time capsule of immortal fighters and champions who have populated one of the celebrated venues in combat sports history. After turning back the challenge of Tom Lawlor, Kane now finds himself set to defend the World Championship against one of the most dangerous men to ever enter Major League Wrestling, Jacob Fatu.
Fatu, himself a former World Heavyweight and National Openweight Champion, is perhaps the most feared fighter in all of MLW history. From his shocking debut as a member of CONTRA Unit to his ascension as one of the true flag bearers for MLW, Fatu has had one definitive trait throughout his tenure in Major League Wrestling - he is no mere mortal. Never one to back away from a fight, no matter the odds, Fatu has ascended to the upper echelon of MLW with unrelenting primal ferocity and insane athletic ability. But, can everything that has brought him success in the past be replicated against Alex Kane?
Kane has proven to be a decisive figure in MLW but there is no denying that Kane was emerged as professional wrestling's one and true suplex king, mastering a variety of the offensive maneuvers and using them in a way that breaks down vertebrae and smashes them as if they were water balloons. Kane has been on an unforgiving series of victories, but in Fatu, he faces his grandest challenge yet as MLW World Heavyweight Champion. Fatu, Kane and even MLW itself are all at the precipice of the future and who steers MLW into the unknown will be answered this Saturday night in the FIGHTLAND main event on FITE+!
Just as Alex Kane and Don King have controlled the power of MLW's World Heavyweight Championship scene, The Calling and Raven have maintained massive influence over every corner of MLW. With Raven having disappeared back into the darkness but surely playing the role of Emperor Palpatine from the shadows, his personal legion of Imperial, anarchist tyrants, The Calling has sowed chaos and destruction in all MLW venues and cities across 2023. This Saturday in FIGHTLAND in Philadelphia, the battle is taken back to the Calling.
Tag Team Turmoil: The Second Gear Crew vs. The Calling
The Calling's Akira and Rickey Shane Page have brought blood and violence to the tag team scene since winning the belts from the Samoan SWAT Team but have seen The Second Gear Crew rise up from the horizon to defend the honor of MLW while attempting to capture the World Tag Team Championships. Matthew Justice, a fighter empowered and influenced by the legacy of the original ECW and The 1 Called Manders, who has taken all of the legacy of pro wrestling cowboys past and present and used it to enrich and inform his own Western-style brawling technique, issued the ultimate challenge to The Calling for FIGHTLAND - A Ladder Match.
With the MLW World Tag Team Championships hanging literally in the balance, anything and everything is legal as the ladders are used as combative weapons as well as the bridge to victory. With nothing left to lose, The Second Gear Crew stand tall as the final army against Raven's massive Calling, the only hope to save MLW's Tag Team division from infinite darkness. Justice and Manders have fought back from the brink of destruction before, but will the numbers game from The Calling be too much for even the Second Gear Crew to overcome? South Philadelphia has seen tag team greatness rise out of anarchy before and this Saturday, anarchy will rule for sure on FITE+!
Thumbtack Pit of Death: Lloyd vs. Talon
The Second Gear Crew's battle with The Calling won't be relegated to just the Ladder Match as MLW has sanctioned the first-ever Thumbtack Pit of Death match in its history this Saturday on FITE+. Jimmy Lloyd, who has endured torture and insanity before in GCW and beyond, has stepped up to battle The Calling alongside the Second Gear Crew, including some brutal wars against Akira. Now, the mysterious masked Talon has placed Lloyd in his massive sights, seeking to decimate and destroy Lloyd by impaling him on countless thumbtacks, turning him into a human porcupine. With 25,000 tacks ready to scar for life, the winner will be the man who throws his defeated opponent into the unholy pit. Will The Calling mark their territory once more or can Jimmy Lloyd be the inspirational fighter who shows MLW they can indeed turn the tide of battle?
Loser Leaves MLW: Mance Warner vs. Matt Cardona
Meanwhile, perhaps the most popular fighter in all of MLW, ol' Mancer himself, Mance Warner, has his hands full above and beyond the rest of Second City Gear business at FIGHTLAND. After punching out World Titan Federation figurehead MSL, Warner found himself challenged by Matt Cardona to a Loser Leaves MLW bout. Cardona, who has made an international career for himself spitting in the face of wrestling tradition in recent years, seeks to spit in the face of everyone in MLW by trying to force someone they all hold dear out of the promotion.
Indeed, Cardona is so disrespectful, he once lost a Loser Leaves 2300 Arena bout, yet is returning at FIGHTLAND to attempt to drive Warner out of MLW in the same historic Arena! While Cardona is a man with little respect and even less scruples, he is a dangerous fighter - yet his one mistake may be underestimating Mance Warner, who himself once ran MJF out of MLW, never to return. Warner has been fighting since birth, ready to show the world why he is the pride of Buck Snort, TN and indeed, MLW. This Loser Leaves MLW bout will make history and change the entire trajectory of Major League Wrestling forever as the heart and soul of MLW fans are at stake live on FITE+.
The return of Salina de la Renta has certainly cast a black, cold shadow over the heart of MLW, however. Since mysteriously returning from certain doom, la Renta has once again regained all of the power and poise of her former role as one of professional wrestling's true power brokers, bringing the MLW Featherweight Championship and some of the most dangerous competitors in all of Mexico under her employ.
Featherweight Fury: Janai Kai vs. Delmi Exo vs. Tiara James
This Saturday at FIGHTLAND, newly crowned MLW World Featherweight Champion Janai Kai will enter three-way combat against former champion Delmi Exo and Tiara James live on FITE+. Kai, a brutal martial-arts inspired fighter, shocked the world by soundly defeating Exo at MLW Slaughterhouse, but also came into the fight as a mystery challenger, allowing her to prepare for an opponent who didn't know what she was walking into. At FIGHTLAND, Exo is seeking to avenge that loss and regain her championship belt, but to do so, she will also have to contend with Tiara James, who has captured the attention of the MLW faithful in recent months. Kai, unphased by either competitor, declared she would defend the title against each at the same time in Philadelphia. If either challenger can absorb the beatings from "The Kick Demon" while also strategizing a way to neutralize the other, a new champion could be crowned, but given the way Kai changed the entire face of MLW at Slaughterhouse, FIGHTLAND could also prove to be her domain!
Lucha Libre Madness: Romero & Cavernario vs. Dorada & Ichiban
Of course, Salina de la Renta is also intimately involved in one of the biggest tag team attraction of the year for MLW as three promotions come together for one truly special FIGHTLAND bout held under traditional lucha libre rules as Rocky Romero and Barbaro Cavernario enter battle against Mascara Dorada and Ichiban in a match primed to take lucha expectations to the extreme. With Ichiban having found himself in the crosshairs of Salina, she has recruited Cavernario to come to MLW to destroy Ichiban and take his mask. Romero has taken sides with Barbaro while Ichiban has recruited CMLL superstar Mascara Dorada to help achieve the ultimate dream match victory.
FIGHTLAND isn't just a destination, it is a state of mind. A place where combat thrives and victories must be achieved at all costs. It is an intersection of all fighting styles and strategies, where harsh truths will be unearthed and men and women will rise to the occasion. It is a place where fighters become legends and legends become immortal, and it will all unfold live as it happens for FITE+ subscribers across planet Earth.
Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.