Major League Wrestling held their weekly episode Underground on Feb. 28 at 10 PM ET/ 7 PM PT on Reelz TV.
The episode had MLW National Openweight Champion Davey Richards defend his title against John Hennigan. The match was set up last week after Hennigan attacked Richards, and the champion wanted revenge.
MLW fans can watch Underground if they have select cable providers like Direct TV, Verizon Fios, or Spectrum. For people without cable, you can only watch it on Sling TV or Philo. Reelz TV has a page on its website for where to find the channel, depending on your zip code.
If you would like more results for this week’s events in wrestling, please check back on our results section.
The episode starts with a recap from last week’s episode. We get a video package hyping the MLW National Openweight Championship match.
After the video package, we see Alex Kane call out Davey Boy Smith Jr. and the Billington Bulldogs on the MLW’s stage ramp. Smith and the Billington Bulldogs come out and get into a quick brawl against Kane and the Bomaye Fight Club. The backstage officials separate them, but Smith lands an elbow to Kane’s face before we start the episode.
Lince Dorado & Mircoman def. Delirious & Mini Abismo Negro via a quick pin from Mircoman on Negro. After the match, the lights go off, and a group of masked people enter the ring to attack Dorado and Microman as we go to a commercial break.
After the commercial break, we get an off-site segment with MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone. He speaks about getting the squid from a masked person last week. He believes that Jacob Fatu and The Samoan Swat Team are behind it. He tells Fatu and his faction to do better next time.
After the Hammerstone segment, we get another off-site segment with Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, & Matthew Justice. Justice and Manders bail Warner out of jail for hitting Real1 with a car last week. They tease that the group will start competing in MLW.
Billie Starkz def. Kayla Kassidy with a variation of Electric Chair into a piledriver.
We get an interview with Taya Valkyrie on the stage ramp. Valkyrie shared her excitement for Hennigan being in MLW and says they will both be champions. Starkz goes to confront Valkyrie, and she respects what she does. However, before Starkz can say anything else, Valkyrie dismisses her and believes she isn’t good enough to wrestle her.
We get a backstage segment with Kane. He says that if The Billington Bulldogs defeat Myron Reed and Mr. Thomas, he will accept a challenge against Smith.
We cut to a backstage segment with Juicy Finau and E.J. Nduka having a brawl backstage before MLW goes to a commercial break.
John Hennigan def. (C) Davey Richards with Valkyrie and Cesar Duran for the National Openweight Championship after Valkyrie hit Richards with the MLW Women’s Featherweight Championship.
MLW Match Highlights
John Hennigan def. Davey Richards for the National Openweight Championship
New MLW Davey Richards recently spoke to WrestlingINC’s Nick Hausman. The former ROH star discussed a number of topics during the interview, including why he chose to sign with Major League Wrestling over some of the ‘bigger’ name promotions out there.
“I was blown away, quite frankly, when I announced I was going to return that a lot of the bigger name promotions reached out,” Davey Richards began. “I was very, very humbled by that. I’ve always looked at wrestling as more of a sport than entertainment. I think you should be so good at wrestling that it is entertaining. It’s just my philosophy and my opinion.”
Davey Richards on MLW
“MLW was really in line with that way of thinking in how they present their product” Davey Richards admitted. “It’s more sports-oriented. It was a really organic fit. It just clicked right off the bat, more than the other places at this time. It was really an easy decision to be quite frank. I’m really excited for July 10 and beyond.”
Davey Richards also listed some of the MLW talent that he is interested in facing as he begins his run with the company. “I think it’s gonna be a good fit. Tom Lawlor, Hammerstone, Jacob Fatu, there’s some good stuff there. There’s gonna be some magic, so I’m excited.”
MLW has announced the signing of former TNA and ROH star Davey Richards and confirmed that he will be making his debut for the promotion in July.
The company has been looking to restock its roster following their new TV deal with Vice. Just last week they confirmed Dario Cueto as El Jefe of Aztec Underground.
They announced another big addition to their roster as part of their open draft concept this week and confirmed that Davey Richards who announced his return to pro wrestling in March has signed with the promotion:
The episode featured Alicia Atout interviewing the company’s newest signing. During the interview, the former ROH star revealed that he actually signed with the promotion a while back.
Richards claimed that he was offered contracts by several companies when he announced his return to professional wrestling. He chose MLW as his new home because it stood out as a sports-oriented option.
The heavyweight star has had a successful career and he has competed for many well-known companies as well as the most famous independent promotions.
Davey Richards has won gold everywhere he has been. Apart from being a former ROH champion, he is a former TNA tag team champion and IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champion as well.
MLW will return to Philadelphia for their July 10 event which will be held in front of fans and their newest signing will also be making his debut on the same show.
It appears as though former IMPACT Wrestling stars Davey Richards and Angelina Love are no longer together. Love noted on her Instagram account that she and Richards have called it quits after adjusting her profile description to “Single Mama, Wrestler, 1st Ever 6x Knockouts Champion, Medical Esthetician, Actress & Student”
Love and Richards started seeing each other back in January of 2015 and were married in June of that same year. They welcomed their first child into the world, David Vincent Richards, back in March of 2016. Richards departed from IMPACT Wrestling this past July, and Love was granted her release form the company one month later.
Former ROH World Champion and Davey Richards announced on Sunday that he will soon be undergoing knee surgery and must cancel his upcoming bookings through the remainder of the year as a result.
The “Lone Wolf” revealed that he’s been battling knee issues for over a decade, but won’t let this roadblock derail his career. He’s committed to rehabilitating the knee post-surgery and will take the proper time off so he can return 100%.
Richards posted the following on Twitter on Sunday:
“I can’t apologize enough to everyone but I have to cancel my remaining bookings for 2017. I am going to need surgery on [my] right knee. I’ve always been someone who has bore my heart inside of the ring and “kept it real” with the fans. I’ve been known to, as you call it, “no show” events. Truth is (no excuse) I’ve been battling knee issues since 2006 when I tore my knee the night before my first ROH match. Cortisone shots, anti-inflammatory drugs, Stem Cell therapy, hyperbaric chambers, etc. have kept me able to perform this long, but not anymore.
“I’ve given my life to wrestling since I was 10 and honestly if all I have is a bum knee I am thankful. But I refuse to let it end like this. I’m going to take the proper time off [to] get the correct surgery and rehab. I hope to return to make good on the events I haven’t been able to perform at [because] of my knee. I always prided myself on being a wrestler’s wrestle and if I couldn’t give you [100 percent] I didn’t want to waste your time. Perhaps foolish pride. But that’s me. Anyways – thank you for reading. I love you all and love this great sport and hope to return to it and give you your money’s worth. Thank you.”
Former Global Force Wrestling star Davey Richards recently spoke with USA Today’s For the Win section about various topics. Here are the highlights: His decision to leave GFW:
“I’ve done a pretty good of trying to juggle the very high demands of wrestling and school, but it’s gotten to the point where my school load would be so much that I couldn’t do both. The last little while, I couldn’t give 100 percent to wrestling or to medicine because I was being pulled in both directions. I didn’t think it was fair to anyone who pays to see me not to be able to give 100 percent. I can still wrestle a part-time schedule, but it’s not really right to expect TNA to pay me a salary with my hopefully being able to commit to a schedule. School needs to come first. That’s the point where I am.”
Demands of his schedule leading to him making a change:
“I’ve always been the kind of wrestler, nine times out of 10, I would take a booking, no matter how much the travel is because I like to wrestle,” Richards said. “I want to get out there, and I want to stay on the top of my game and compete against the best people. The more bookings I take, the more I have to travel. It got to be too much. We’d fly to Seattle to leave David with my mom and then fly to Florida to do tapings and then fly from Florida to Seattle to get David. Then fly back home to St. Louis. Add in my school schedule, and it just became impossible. This is definitely for the best for right now. Maybe when I’m done with school, that will change.”
Becoming an EMT:
“Emergency medicine has always been my main source of interest,” he said. “The adrenaline rush I get from that is in some ways the same that I get from walking through that curtain because you never know what’s going to happen in a match.”
It appears as though five-time Impact Wrestling Tag Team Champion Davey Richards has announced that he has parted ways with Global Force Wrestling (GFW). Richards took to Twitter to release a statement explaining his decision, and revealed that he will be walking away from professional wrestling to finish up medical school and pursue his dream of becoming a doctor:
“Truth is- I love wrestling,” Richards stated. “But my goal is to be a Doctor. I have managed my time in doing both my school, my job as a Paramedic, being a dad, and a wrestler as best I could for as long as I could. But the demands as I head into the last couple years of Medical School have brought me to a point where I have to choose one or another. So with GFW’s blessing I have chosen medical school.”
Richards has spoken about leaving professional wrestling before, as the idea crossed his mind back in 2010, however, he later had a change of heart. He is currently married to GFW star Angelina Love.
The latest episode of Impact introduced fans to Eddie Edwards’ wife Alisha (a/k/a Alexxis Nevaeh on the New England independent circuit), who along with Davey Richards and his wife, Angelina Love, was on hand to watch Edwards challenge Lashley for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (both couples appeared together in a backstage segment before the match).
After nailing Lashley with the Boston Knee Party, Edwards went for the pin but Richards betrayed him by pulling the referee out of the ring. Meanwhile, Love attacked Alisha at ringside (they sat together watching the match). Lashley then hit Edwards with the Spear to keep the title.
Following the match, Richards choked out his former Wolves partner as Love forced Alisha to watch.
This angle has fans wondering whether Alisha is under contract to TNA and be a regular on Impact going forward. She noted to fans on Twitter, “Not yet.”
Alisha, who married Edwards two years ago, has been wrestling since 2006. She mostly wrestles for independent promotions in the New England area but has competed for TNA in the past (she lost to Awesome Kong on Impact in 2008 and got beat by Madison Rayne on the 2015 Knockouts Knockdown pay-per-view). She worked a match during last month’s marathon taping run at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. She faced Laurel Van Ness in a match taped for an upcoming episode of Xplosion.
Here are a few news items concerning this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, FL:
– Don’t expect to see any major creative changes, despite the new ownership. The word going around is that Anthem is looking to keep things running “business as usual” until the next set of tapings, which are scheduled for March.
– In recent weeks it’s been widely reported that Anthem has been talking with Jeff Jarrett in an effort to get a wider perspective of TNA’s history. For those expecting a possible return from Double J, he’s on vacation with his family in Florida this week, which has some speculating about his involvement.
– There are rumors of Davey Richards and Angelina Love returning soon. Angelina gave birth to their first child together last year around the same time Richards suffered an ACL injury. Richards announced last year that 2017 will be his last year wrestling.
– Velvet Sky talks about her TNA career in this post-Impact video from last night. Velvet’s last match with TNA was a loss to Sienna. Velvet says she considers TNA to be her home and is thankful to them for allowing her to live her dream.
– Davey Richards and wife Angelina Love are featured in these “How to Rehab An ACL Injury” videos. Richards has been out of action with an ACL injury since the TNA UK tour.
Former TNA tag team champion Davey Richards is going to be making a big announcement later today and from the sound of his tweets, it’s not going to be good. (Update: It was worse than we could have imagined. See below). He wrote this morning:
Richards underwent reconstructive knee surgery back in February to repair a torn ACL. Initial estimates had him out of action until August at the very earliest.
Update: Richards finally dropped the bombshell this afternoon – his dog Brutus’ testicles have been removed. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
– TNA is set to return to Orlando, Florida next month for another round of Impact Wrestling and One Night Only PPV tapings, according to PWInsider. While the company has yet to announce anything, the tapings will take place from Universal Studios in Orlando from Saturday, March 12 through Tuesday, March 15th. This will be TNA’s first tapings in Orlando since last July.
– Former TNA tag team champion Davey Richards underwent reconstructive knee surgery last week to repair a torn ACL. The Wrestling Observer notes that he will be out for most of 2016 (some time between August-November).
– The 2/2 episode of Impact Wrestling on POP TV drew a combined audience of 407,000, down from last week’s 442,000. The first airing drew 295,000 viewers (down from 339,000) while the midnight replay did 112,000 viewers (up from 103,000).
– Davey Richards had his knee examined after injuring it at Sunday’s Impact tapings in Birmingham, England it’s worse than previously expected, according to Bryan Alvarez of f4wonline.com. No word on exactly how long he’ll be out, but it’s going to be a while.
– The latest TNA Breakview video looks back at this week’s Impact and previews next week’s show:
TNA announced on Twitter that Davey Richards suffered a knee injury on Sunday during the final leg of their ongoing UK tour. He will be undergoing an MRI soon to determine the extent of the damage.
Tonight in Birmingham on #ImpactUK Tour @RichardsWesley injured. Initial diagnosis: "meniscus issue." An MRI is scheduled, details to come.
By all accounts, TNA’s latest Maximum Impact tour was a big success, drawing hot crowds and featuring some of the best in-ring work TNA has put on in quite some time. Apparently there have been reports going around about bad morale in TNA, with Davey Richards and denying:
TNA Tag Team Champions The Wolves have signed new exclusive contracts with the promotion, according to a report by PWInsider.com.
Under the terms of the deal, any indie promotions looking to use Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards would have to book them through TNA.
TNA is said to be in the process of signing a core group of wrestlers to exclusive deals to avoid departures. In light of the embarrassing situation they created regarding AJ Styles & The Bullet Club slipping away, it’s probably not a bad idea to locking down their top performers.
Love, who’s real name is Lauren Williams, began dating Richards in January. The couple announced their engagement on April 27, 2015, and were married on June 10, 2015.
– Jeremy Borash announced Thursday that TNA will launch four new digital original web shows next week.
There were two more title changes at the TNA Impact Wrestling television tapings in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday night.
After losing the TNA Tag-Team Championships to “Team GFW’s” Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) and Trevor Lee at the tapings on Tuesday night, The Wolves won back the gold on Wednesday night. This marks the fifth TNA Tag-Title reign for Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.
Another title change at the taping last night saw Gail Kim beat Brooke Tessmacher, Awesome Kong and Lei’D Tapa in a four-way match to become the new TNA Knockouts Champion. This is Kim’s fifth reign as Knockouts Champion.
One-half of the TNA Tag-Team Champions, Davey Richards, was knocked unconscious during a match against Chance Prophet at the ASW independent wrestling event in West Virginia on Thursday evening.
Because he was knocked out less than 24 hours ago, Richards will not be able to work tonight’s EVOLVE show as scheduled.
Following Wednesday night’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling, new matches, and new participants for existing matches, were announced for this Sunday’s TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.
Below is the latest look at the official lineup for this Sunday’s pay-per-view event.
King of the Mountain
– Jeff Jarrett vs. TBA
Handicap Match
– Awesome Kong & Brooke Tessmacher vs. Jade, Marti & Taryn Terrell
Unsanctioned Match
– James Storm vs. Magnus
Winner Chooses Stipulation For Impact Tag Title Match
– Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards
– Ethan Carter III & Tyrus vs. Bobby Lashley & Mr. Anderson
– Robbie E vs. Jessie Godderz
– Matt Morgan vs. Bram
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com on Sunday, 28, 2015 for the best TNA Slammiversary 2015 live PPV results coverage on the web!
One-half of The Wolves tag-team — Davey Richards — recently spoke with Marc Madison of The News Hub for an in-depth discussion. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On how joining TNA came about: “We were talking to TNA pretty much the whole time and I really wanted to go to TNA from the start and Eddie really wanted to give NXT a chance and check it out and I can understand. So we went down and TNA was really cool about it. They totally understood. We go and do our thing with NXT and TNA came to us with the deals and said hey we’ve got something for you and can get you guys started right away on TV. As soon as we cleared up things with NXT we told them we weren’t going to go any further and they said they weren’t willing to go any further and we had a contract with TNA within 5 minutes.”
On his time with NJPW: “It was a great experience. It was absolutely phenomenal. I was pretty much there full time for over two years. That was always the one company in Japan that I wanted to work for. I always wanted to be in the Super Juniors and I did that and wrestle in the Tokyo Dome and I did that. It was great and it really helped me to understand how a big company like that works. I always did the independents so it was a phenomenal thing and I learned a lot from those guys and I still carried a lot of what I learned there and work ethic and the professionalism that they embedded in me there carried it on to now. It approaches my style a lot to where wrestling is first and foremost as a sport and a time that I hold very near and dear to me.”
On which matches stood out throughout his career: “I really liked my matches with (Tetsuya) Bushi from Super Juniors in New Japan and then Ring of Honor I would have to say that 45 minute match between me and Eddie (Edwards), Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black as well it was in Canada I remember that was a really big one and I don’t really remember my world title wins because I was knocked out for most of it. I’m sure that was swell too. That match and then my matches with Bushi were just two of my matches I just remember having a lot of really fond memories and having a lot of fun in those.”
TNA performer Davey Richards was interviewed to promote the upcoming TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view event. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On what to anticipate at TNA Slammiversery: “We are going to do what we always do and go out there and deliver the best package of professional wrestling match that we can on the planet today. For this one, I don’t want to spill the beans but we’re going to have something truly special and something that hasn’t been done in a very long time and it takes a very unique blend and a lot of trust from a company to do and they are going to allow us to do it. It’s going to be something that I think we are going to be remembered for a very long time and something I’m very proud to be a part of. So definitely don’t miss it.”
On training under “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff and Tony Kozina: “Paul was real old school. When I say old school, people always say what does that mean. He was really just get in there and do the basics over and over and over again I have a lot of respect for what you do where you had to have it perfect because you were taking someone’s life in your hands. I learned all the basics and a real good fundamental grasp of wrestling and Tony really helped me out with getting out there and getting my name known and getting out there and travelling and being recognized and really sacrificed a lot of things for himself to really help me get out there and make my name. I wouldn’t be where I am today without either one of those guys so I’m eternally in debt both are great guys. Paul was a little more scary and a little more stern and Tony is definitely the funniest person I have ever met so it’s very unique blend of guys.”
Check out the complete interview by clicking here.
– The eighth annual Destination X special edition of Impact Wrestling airs tonight at 9e/p on Destination America and will feature two World Heavyweight Championship bouts, a Knockouts Championship match and three 3-way qualifying matches for the X Division Championship. Josh Mathews and The Pope break down the show in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXbvvPYsdds
– Through Twitter, Grado is hyping his return to Impact Wrestling tonight.
TNA executive John Gaburick announced this week that three talents have re-signed with TNA. Gaburick noted on Twitter that The Wolves — Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, along with Bram, have all re-signed with the promotion.
– TNA’s longtime Spanish announcer Hector Guerrero announced via social media that he is leaving the company after an eight year run. His profile has been moved to TNA’s Alumni roster. Guerrero tweeted the following on Monday:
Want to thank TNA for 8 yrs. of memories As of today I'm available for ministry, hire, bookings, consulting & you get the real deal & truth!
– TNA Knockout Angelina Love revealed on social media that she and Davey Richards are now officially engaged. She tweeted the following photo of the ring.
– Tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling will be called by Josh Mathews by himself. TNA is still in the process of finding a replacement for Taz.
– According to one source, TNA is planning on giving Ethan Carter III a big push in the near future.
– TNA President Dixie Carter noted on Twitter recently that while Eddie Edwards is out with an injury, his tag-team partner Davey Richards will be looking to pursue the TNA X-Division Championship.
– AAA has confirmed that there will in fact be a “Team TNA” in their Lucha Libre World Cup, which takes place on May 24th in Mexico. As of right now, Matt Hardy is the only confirmed member of the team.