MLW World Heavyweight Championship

MLW World Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion Major League Wrestling (MLW)
Date established April 7, 2002
Current champion(s) Low Ki
Date won July 12, 2018

The MLW World Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by Major League Wrestling (MLW). It is the promotion's principal championship.[1] The championship was established on April 7, 2002 during the Underground TV tapings and was active until February 10, 2004 after the promotion stopped hosting events.[2]

Following their resurrection in 2018, Shane Strickland defeated Matt Riddle at The World Championship Finals of a eight-man single-elimination tournament to win the vacant championship.[3] Like all professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result of a predetermined match. The current champion is Low Ki, who is in his first reign.[4]

History

The title was unveiled during the Underground TV tapings on April 7, 2002 and Major League Wrestling started a eight-man single-elimination tournament to crown the first champion.[5] Jerry Lynn, Shane Douglas, Vampiro and Taiyo Kea would advance to the semifinals at MLW Genesis on June 15.[5] Douglas would defeat Lynn to advance to the finals and would cause the match between Vampiro and Kea to be declared a no contest and both wrestlers advance to the finals making a three-way match.[5] Douglas would defeat both Kea and Vampiro to become the first champion.[5] Afterwards, Douglas attempted to throw the title down, like he did with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship that he rejected,[6][7] but referee John Finnegan threatened that if he didn't defend the title he would be banned from wrestling in Philadelphia.[8] After a three months break, since the hiatus since July 2002, Satoshi Kojima would defeat Jerry Lynn in New York City, New York at MLW Reload on September 26.[9][10] Kojima would bring the title to Japan and defended the title in his home promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling and title defenses appeared on Underground TV tapings.[9][10] On June 20, 2003 at MLW Hybrid Hell, Kojima would lose the title to Mike Awesome, who afterwads lost the title to Steve Corino, in which Awesome had promised him title shot before his win whenever Corino wanted.[8] Corino would be recognised as champion until the promotion closed on February 10, 2004.[2] After the promotion was revived the July 2017, MLW announced on January 2018, the MLW: Road to the World Championship, a eight-man single-elimination tournament to crown a new champion.[11] During the tournament, ACH would replace Tom Lawlor in the semifinals after he suffered an injury.[12][13] On April 12, Shane Strickland would defeat Matt Riddle in The World Championship Finals.[14][15][16][17]

Inaugural Championship tournament (2002)

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
Jerry Lynn
La Parka
Jerry Lynn
Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Steve Corino
Shane Douglas
Taiyo Kea
Vampiro
Taiyo Kea
The Wall
Taiyo Kea Bye
Vampiro Bye
Vampiro
Christopher Daniels

Second championship tournament (2018)

First round February 8, 2018 Semifinals Final
         
MVP [18]
Tom Lawlor
ACH
Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle [18]
Jeff Cobb
Matt Riddle [14]
Shane Strickland
Shane Strickland [18]
Brody King
Shane Strickland
Jimmy Havoc
Jimmy Havoc [18]
Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Reigns

As of October 20, 2018, there have been 6 reigns and 2 vacancies. Shane Douglas was the inaugural champion, but he vacated the title after trying to abandon it. Satoshi Kojima has the longest reign at 267 days, while Mike Awesome as the shortest helding the title just in minutes.

Low Ki is the oldest champion at 39 years old and the current champion in his first reign. He won the championship by defeating Shane Strickland at MLW Fusion tapings on July 12, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. The match aired on July 20, 2018.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Shane Douglas June 15, 2002 MLW Genesis Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 90 Defeated Vampiro and Taiyo Kea in a 3-way match in the finals of a eight-man single-elimination tournament to become the first champion. [8]
— Vacated September 13, 2002 — — — — Douglas attempted to throw the title down, but referee John Finnegan threatened that he would be banned from wrestling in Philadelphia if he did. [8]
2 Satoshi Kojima September 26, 2002 MLW Reload New York City, New York 1 267 Defeated Jerry Lynn to win the vacant championship. [8]
3 Mike Awesome June 20, 2003 MLW Hybrid Hell Fort Lauderdale, Florida 1 <1 [8]
4 Steve Corino June 20, 2003 MLW Hybrid Hell Fort Lauderdale, Florida 1 235 Corino challenged Awesome to a match following Awesome's victory over Kojima. Corino claimed that Awesome had promised him title shot before his win whenever Corino wanted. [8]
— Vacated February 10, 2004 — — — — Steve Corino was no longer listed as the MLW World Heavyweight Champion after the company stopped hosting events. [2]
5 Shane Strickland April 12, 2018 The World Championship Finals Orlando, Florida 1 91 Defeated Matt Riddle in the finals of a eight-man single-elimination tournament to win the vacant championship. [8]
6 Low Ki July 12, 2018 MLW Fusion Orlando, Florida 1 100+ Match aired on July 20, 2018. [19]

References

  1. ↑ "Current Champions List at mlw.com". Major League Wrestling. mlw.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  2. 1 2 3 "MLW history". Cagematch. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  3. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "MLW The World Championship Final « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  4. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "MLW The World Championship Final « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "MLW World title tournament". www.wrestlingdata.com.
  6. ↑ Thom Loverro (2007). The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. Simon & Schuster. pp. 67–75. ISBN 978-1-4165-6156-9.
  7. ↑ Linder, Zach (August 27, 2014). "Paul Heyman on Shane Douglas and the birth of Extreme". WWE. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Martin, Fin (August 2003). "Major League Wrestling". Power Slam Magazine. Lancaster, Lancashire, England: SW Publishing LTD. pp. 22&ndash, 23. 109.
  9. 1 2 "MLW Japan relationship". Cagematch. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  10. 1 2 "MLW Japan relationship 2". Cagematch. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ "MLW: Road to the World Championship". Major League Wrestling.
  12. ↑ "ACH To Replace Tom Lawlor In MLW Championship Tournament Due To Injury". Wrestling News.Net. February 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ "TOM LAWLOR INJURED, ACH TO REPLACE HIM IN MLW CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT". Pro Wrestling Insider. February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  14. 1 2 "MLW TV TAPING RESULTS: THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ "MLW Results: World Championships Finals – Orlando, FL (4/12)". Wrestling News.Net. April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  16. ↑ "MLW "World Championship Finals Results" from 4/12/18". The Chairshot. April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  17. ↑ "MLW TV Taping Results (4/12/18): New MLW World Heavyweight Champion Crowned". Fightful. April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "MLW ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS: FIRST ROUND MATCHES". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  19. ↑ "NEW MLW CHAMPION CROWNED". Pro Wrestling Insider. July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  • "Cagematch.net: MLW World Heavyweight Championship".
  • "Wrestling-Titles.com: MLW World Heavyweight Championship".
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