MLW Roundup: NYC full cards, Salina de la Renta profile, MJF as a kid on Rosie O’Donnell Show

This week’s MLW Roundup arrives earlier than usual due to their two major shows during WrestleMania week. Plus, learn more about Promociones Dorado empresario Salina de la Renta and watch adorable footage revealed of MLF as a child on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. But first, let’s hit the lineups for MLW’s NYC cards.

Rise of the Renegades

Rise of the Renegades will be an MLW Fusion taping on Thursday, April 4 from Melrose Ballroom in New York City. Get tickets here (combo), if they are still available.

Let’s check out the fantastic schedule of matches.

• NYC Street Fight for the MLW World Championship: Tom Lawlor vs Jimmy Havoc
• Tables Match: Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Brian Pillman Jr. vs Dynasty (MJF, Richard Holliday, Alexander Hammerstone)
• LA Park vs Pentagon
• MJF vs Brian Pillman Jr.
• Sami Callihan vs Mance Warner
• Minoru Tanaka vs Daga
• Ace Romero vs Josef Samael
• Fenix vs Air Wolf
• Barrington Hughes vs Jacob Fatu
• Gringo Loco vs Hijo de LA Park
• Rey Horus vs Ace Austin
• Also to appear: Low Ki, Salina de la Renta, Contra Unit, Myron Reed, Kotto Brazil, Jordan Oliver, Ariel Dominguez

Aside from no duds in the group, my primary takeaway, that hasn’t already been discussed, is the super heavies in singles action against members of the Contra Unit. I love me some hoss fights and the heat should be heavy in those bouts. I’m intrigued by the possibility of Barrington Hughes and Ace Romero being brought closer together. There was a subtle tease back in January on the TV timeline, but it hasn’t been revisited since then.

According to a press release, Hughes wanted in on the Contra action.

Barrington demanded a match against Fatu after the outsiders identifying themselves as the CONTRA Unit attacked his friend and fellow super heavyweight Ace Romero.

The Contra Unit are bad dudes, but I’m curious to see if they meet their match by competing with a duo of super heavies.

My other takeaway is that I worry for Jimmy Havoc’s life after this weekend. His WrestleMania week schedule is insane.

As best as I can tell thanks to the always awesome Sermon on the Mat by Rev. Claire Elizabeth, Havoc will begin by fighting Tom Lawlor in a street fight on the MLW show at 7 pm. He will then travel to Impact’s United We Stand starting at 11 pm for a Monster’s Ball versus Sami Callihan. Havoc’s next appointment is against James Storm in a No Rules Bar Room Brawl on April 5 with IPW:UK beginning at noon. Havoc then competes back with MLW versus LA Park at 7 pm. A match with LA Park seems like it will always result in bruises. Havoc will finish at midnight with Blackcraft No Apologies across the ring from G-Raver in a Devil’s Den Match. I imagine that bout will be the most violent and take whatever is left of Havoc’s body.

Urgent news flash: MJF and Richard Holliday dislocated Brian Pillman Jr.’s shoulder.

I don’t know how to take that dastardly deed designed by MJF. I sure hope it isn’t cover for an actual injury. I don’t think enough fans will see it to provide a huge pop in attendance for a surprise Pillman arrival, if that is the plan. Or, maybe MLW fans are die-hards and consume every morsel MLW tweets out. That could be an interesting litmus test.

Urgent news flash part II: Brian Pillman Jr. seems to be undeterred from MLW action.

Damn. EVERYTHING refers to the passing of Pillman’s father. I already favored the Hart Foundation against the Dynasty, but this turn of events makes me throw all my money behind the Hart Foundation at the closest betting establishment. Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr. are cold-blooded combatants. They will channel every ounce of fight to defend the honor of the Hart Foundation legacy. If you are a WrestleMania week booker reading this, I would advise you to schedule backup plans if you have any members of the Dynasty on your card.

Battle Riot II

The Battle Riot II event will take place Friday, April 5 from Melrose Ballroom in New York City. Get tickets here (combo), if they are still available.

The 40 man Royal Rumble style namesake bout itself shall be a two hour live special on beIN SPORTS at I believe 8 pm ET. That mass of humanity should be posted on MLW’s YouTube channel later in the weekend. In addition, there are four quality bouts being taped for Fusion.

• LA Park vs Jimmy Havoc
• Low Ki vs Daga
• World Middleweight Championship: Teddy Hart vs Ace Austin
• Brian Pillman Jr. vs Rich Swann

Official entrants for Battle Riot II are as follows. I grouped participants together for ease of reading.

• Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Brian Pillman Jr.
• Pentagon, Fenix, Daga, Rey Horus
• Low Ki, LA Park, Hijo de LA Park, Ricky Martinez
• MJF, Alexander Hammerstone, Richard Holliday
• Sami Callihan, Mance Warner, Jimmy Havoc
• Rich Swann, Barrington Hughes, The Dirty Blondes (Michael Patrick and Leo Brien)
• Gringo Loco, Air Wolf, Ariel Dominguez, Ace Austin, Lance Anoa’i, Myron Reed, Kotto Brazil, Jimmy Yuta
• Minoru Tanaka, Emil Sitoci, “Avalanche” Robert Dreissker, Ken Kerbis, Jordan Oliver
• Dan Severn

That accounts for 35 of the 40 wrestlers. MLW announced that there will be wild card entries. I assume that refers to the missing five and not extra above and beyond.

It is interesting to note that Ace Romero is not on the list even though he was previously advertised. It could just be a simple oversight with so many people involved. Another curious omission is the Contra Unit. Simon Gotch, Josef Samael, and Jacob Fatu may be wild cards, but it is probably more likely that they show up to wreak havoc then leave. That would be fitting to their manifesto.

Last but not least, you can meet and greet Jim Cornette.

The press release states:

MLW’s newest member of the broadcast team, Jim Cornette, will be doing a brief meet & greet at 6pm on April 4 and on April 5 available to all ticket holders.

Jim will be at the official MLW Shop in the Melrose Ballroom pavilion on the first floor.

Jim will be personally signing 8×10 photographs for any level ticket holder. The cost is $30. Cash and credit card are both welcomed.

This will be fans’ only opportunity to do a meet and greet with Jim next week in New York City.

$30 seems to be a magic number. It may be a tough choice choosing between Cornette or touching Joey Ryan’s junk for the same price. Being able to do both simultaneously would be a once in a lifetime deal. Dream big.

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Salina de la Renta profiled

Salina de la Renta is an enigma that popped onto the wrestling scene out of nowhere for MLW. She was featured in an interesting interview with The Pop Break. It is actually from back in February before MLW’s Superfight show in Philadelphia. That doesn’t matter though since the material still holds up. Let’s learn more about her.

To briefly summarize, de la Renta got the wrestling bug from watching Total Divas. She found a school and was trained under Mister Saint Laurent. De la Renta is recovering from an ACL tear in her knee and expects to be healthy in the summer. Her performing arts background has helped her excel as a manager and on Spanish commentary for MLW Fusion. Although de la Renta is an awesome manager personality, she still wants to get back in the ring as a wrestler.

De la Renta has come a long way from this:

To being a ‘boss’ worker at McDonald’s:

To modeling, when not busy with the gun show.

As a talented and highly motivated person, the world is de la Renta’s oyster. It will be very interesting to see how her career progresses in the wrestling industry.

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MJF on The Rosie O’Donnell Show

Create a Pro on Twitter and YouTube posted vault footage of MJF as a child singing, “You Are My Sunshine,” in an operatic manner on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. It is a sight to behold. He also said that he wants to be a wrestler when he grows up.

Needless to say, MJF was not pleased that the footage was leaked. At first, he denied the clip being of himself. MLF then consulted his attorneys before releasing a statement.

When I said “that’s not me”... I am going to be honest. I lied, which as you all know is VERY unlike me. Matter of fact that was the first time I’ve ever lied. I’m very big on non -lying.

The child in the video was me. I’m not proud of it. My lack of pride in my national television appearance does not come from my excellent (duh) performance, but rather the treatment I received.

Rosie O’Donnell is a hack. She is without doubt responsible for the resurfacing of this clip. I think it’s pretty obvious that she’s attempting to attach herself to my constant rising star as her career continues to dwindle into obscurity. Not only was the video leaked without my consent, but my appearance on the show was traumatizing.

This is difficult to write about, but due to circumstances I feel that I must get this into the public sphere. Okay, here I go...

Upon my arrival to the studio, I was greeted by some of the least attractive “humans” I’ve ever encountered. I literally thought I was at a nuclear test site. These poor excuse for people escorted me backstage to the green room, where they did not have any sparkling water available or lemons to help enhance the dollar store brand bottled water provided (I’m fairly certain these cheap bastards disgustingly filled the bottles from the tap). Finally, after barely being able to get through their pathetic excuse for a cheese platter, I walked on set where I was essentially assaulted by who can only be described as a herpe smelling blond bimbo. She objectified me. She kissed my chiseled masculine mature like cheekbone, and said “so cute”. She then told me that she was an aspiring singer just like me. She attempted to woo me by singing some awful song she performed called “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. I didn’t have the courage at my age to tell her she wouldn’t make it, but needless to say her advances were uncalled for.

I moved past the white trash woman, then felt a burning sensation in my eyes when a massive whale of a woman went to hug me. This was Rosie O’Donnell. Trying to be polite in light of not even being offered my standard fee for hugging a fan, I simply said “no thanks” and walked past her towards her not so lovely love seat. The interview started. While I tend not to pay attention to cretin words, and struggling to understand the language she was speaking ( I don’t speak “poor”), she managed to coerce me into singing. After she got what she wanted, I abruptly left the stage.

While my experience was paralyzing, and I had to shower 5 times that evening to get the commoner stench off of me, it was a good pay day.

Looking back, I take great solace in the fact that at the age of 5 most of you were eating lead based paint chips and probably on welfare. I on the other hand was busy being rich and famous.

Sincerely,
Better Than You
Maxwell Jacob Friedman

That is quite the amusing explanation from MJF. It his nice to see he moved past that experience to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.

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WrestleMania week wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from Mr. Velvet and his crew.

Which matches stand out most to you for Rise of the Renegades and Battle Riot II? Who would you like to see be the surprises in the Battle Riot match? Who are you picking to win?