How Neville Could Fit Into MLW

Credit: MLW.com

The trope of huge indie names showing up in a company or territory and immediately receiving a shot at the top title is played out, but MLW has largely been able to avoid this problem. A shock challenger to the MLW World Heavyweight Title could get people talking.

The current MLW World Heavyweight Champion took his spot at the top of the MLW mountain with what many considered to be a surprise victory over Shane Strickland. Low Ki, working in conjunction with Salina de La Renta, wrested the title away from a weakened Strickland who had been the target of a Promociones Dorado offensive to take Swerve out. Ki was able to claim de La Renta’s rising bounty along with the MLW World Heavyweight Title.

In his reign thus far, Low Ki has had a successful defense against John Hennigan on MLW Fusion. On September 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Ki will face one of de La Renta’s former associates in one half of the MLW World Tag Team Champions Rey Fenix. Fenix will match speed and style with Ki and could walk out of War Games as an MLW double champion.

With a surprise appearance at War Games or the following MLW Fusion tapings, Neville could find himself face to face with two men who have reinvented professional wrestling at different points in their careers. Low Ki helped to redefine the expectations of what smaller wrestlers were able to do in the ring while Fenix has ushered in a new era of lucha libre to the United States alongside Pentagon Jr much like Rey Mysterio Jr, Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera before him.

Neville has done much of the same throughout his career. Previous to becoming a household name as Neville in NXT and WWE, he broke ground as one of the most dynamic high-flyers on the planet as PAC. That style evolved into the complete package we saw each week on 205 Live – a wrestler who could fight, grapple and fly with the best of them. Now, Neville has the opportunity to bring his melting pot of styles to the place where hybrid wrestling thrives.

Low Ki and Fenix aren’t the only names to consider as worthy adversaries for Neville, though. If he were to find himself at the top of the heap, Neville would also find himself with a target on his back from fighters like Shane Strickland, Sami Callihan and Tom Lawlor to name a few.