​MLW’s passion ignites my passion for MLW

If there’s one thing I find lacking in most professional wrestling today, its passion. There are a lot of good matches, a lot of cool moves, a lot of well-produced video segments, and an occasional good promo/interview, but if I can put my finger on what’s really missing in today’s product, it’s passion. That said, it’s difficult for me to explain what I mean by that. What is this passion that I claim is missing? Since finding Major League Wrestling (MLW) I think I’ve found that passion, and the way that I can explain what I mean by passion to the readers of wrestlingdoneright.com. 

MLW, like many other modern day wrestling companies has all the aforementioned qualities. They have good matches, cool moves, well-produced video segments, and some good promos. The ingredient that MLW has that others are missing, is the ability to really make me engaged in their shows for something other than those things. MLW takes a mere 60 minutes to invoke an excitement in me. MLW invokes my passion for professional wrestling, because they have that same passion for the entire 60 minutes of an MLW Fusion program. 

MLW presents Brian Pillman Jr, and Davey Boy Smith Jr as second generation stars out to do their family name proud, and I believe that is their goal in every match and promo on MLW TV. MLW presents the Von-Erich brothers (Ross and Marshall) as a huge deal because of their incredible heritage, and I want to see them in the ring, taking on all the “bad guys” with the honor, class, and dignity, that Kevin, Kerry, David, and Mike did all those years ago. MLW present LA Park and sons as the pride of Mexico, the standard of all Lucha, and I believe that’s exactly what I am seeing from them. MLW presents Low-Ki exactly how his reputation says that he is, a serious, take no B.S. fighter, that can stand toe to toe with anyone, and does that ever come across just like that every time he steps foot into the ring, or in front of a microphone. MLW presents The Dynasty, Richard Holliday, Gino Medina, and Alexander Hammerstone, as super talented, but terribly spoiled “trust find” kids that you want to root for, until they open their mouths, and you believe that’s exactly what they are, making hard to get behind them, even though in the ring they are so legit. MLW brings in MMA fighters like Tom Lawler, King Mo, and Dominic Garrini that are so desperate to prove that MMA fighters are better, and more “real” than pro wrestlers, that they expose their ass doing so, and it works like magic! Myron Reed, Kotto Brazil, and Jordan Oliver (Injustice) legitimately come across like whiny little crybabies that believe life constantly screws them over, and I’ll be damned if I don’t want to smack them because it feels like that is absolutely how they feel. MLW can take someone like Mance Warner, and present him as an old school deep south brawler, and even though he’s not very big, and looks like he came out of the stands, make him one of the most popular stars in the company.  Finally, The Contra Unit of Josef Samael, Simon Gotch, and Jacob Fatu, are presented as out of control wild men, that we should legitimately fear, because they are absolutely out of control wild men that we should legitimately fear!

Nothing and no one in MLW feels like an “act,” or like its being forced on the wrestler, or on the fans watching. Everything feels natural, like what we are watching is true. Nothing feels overly produced, or directed. It feels like there are scheduled fights with a camera crew there to film it all. It feels like the wrestlers are free to do as they please, in all aspects, but the shows are too good for me to really believe that’s how it happens! That can only be accomplished with tons of passion!

While you may think that I’ve simply gone over most of their roster, and explained my feelings about them, and their “gimmicks,” that’s not entirely the case. You see, MLW, and all of their “fighters” (as they are labeled on the MLW home page, which I love!) make me believe. The rule breakers, the bad guys, the “heels,” if you will, are by majority booed and not liked, because they do things that are not likable. The good guys, the “faces,” if you will, aren’t sappy, or silly, they are honorable, tough, and legitimate, making you want to see them succeed.

I thought I would crave longer MLW shows, that 60 minutes per week wouldn’t be enough, but it turns out that if a show is produced, and presented right, with PASSION, and believability, it’s a perfect amount of time. Matches aren’t over booked, 50-50 booking is almost extinct, and we don’t have countless 30-40 minutes matches where wrestlers, or I mean fighters, are left spamming the same moves over, and over, kicking out of them ad nauseam, just to stretch out the length of the show. We don’t get countless multi-man matches, just so everyone is featured every week, instead matches follow a storyline flow that makes sense, and allows everyone on the roster to get their turn in some way, if not every week, spread out for as long as their story is going to take. 

I wish I could do a better job explaining why YOU should be watching and supporting MLW, but this is the best I’ve got. MLW pours passion into everything they do, and it translates so well that it makes the viewer more passionate for wrestling, for MLW, for Wrestling Done Right!  

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