MLW has a gold mine roster in 2024

MLW, a wrestling federation that has existed longer than TNA, started out as a spiritual successor to ECW that boasted every type of wrestling. Court Bauer has been the humble owner, staying out of the drama, to announce good news for wrestling fans. As a major wrestling show, staying in step with TNA and striving to put out a show as magnetic as ROH and NXT, MLW added some amazing talent to the roster in 2024.

Matt Riddle

Everyone is talking about TNA's acquisiton of Nic Nemeth, a draft pick that everyone is treating like The Rock coming to AEW, it is easy to forget MLW's main draw.

Mind you, Matt Riddle has been in the news for negative reasons recently. Love him or hate him, MLW has not been graced by such a hot prospect since the Von Erich's were with them. It's easy to forget that MLW was one of the first major feds to have CM Punk as well as Steve Corino, Raven, Satoshi Kojima, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, and La Parka. Also Riddle was an alumni of the show.

Matt returned to MLW looking shred and ready for a strong return to wrestling. His first match with Jacob Fatu was intense. The submission bro had no trouble making the match action packed and intense, despite having a move set that is mostly calculated submissions. The crowd was very over in the main event of Kings of Coliseum on January 6th (watch it with a Triller+ subscription).

Matt is most likely slowly building his credibility back since getting fired from WWE. He is still a hot prospect that could bless any indie fed, but he wanted to return to his roots. Even though he is making only a part of his WWE paycheck with less screen time, this is win for both parties.

Alec Price

This kid is a total "pop" star when it comes to being the future of wrestling greatness. He graduated from Wrestling Open to wow fans with his wild charisma. He has the energy of Seth Rollins mixed with the fun of early Kevin Owens. I would be so surprised if NXT and ROH didn't offer this kid contracts in the near future. He is a strong midcard option, wrestling in matches that use impressive high intensity moves. I hope the Middle weight or Open weight title is in his future.

B3cca

Everything B3cca does is extremely entertaining and silly. She is a permanent heel that uses her love of guitar and singing to be a pompous celebrity. She is tall drink of water that has been known to finish her opponents with the 720 splash. Even if she couldn't throw her opponent around the ring, she is a fiery personality that draws heat like Ric Flair. She might not be ready for a match against Charlotte Flair or Bayley yet, but her sheer entertainment makes her more magnetic than half the females wrestlers.

Wasted Youth

As is the reality of every high risk wrestler, there will be a time when they slow down and stop doing so many flips. That reality will happen to the Young Bucks one day. But for every high risk tag team that has to slow down, there are young guys that want to fill their shoes. Enter Wasted Youth.

Wasted Youth is high energy, bringing the same caffeinated adrenaline to their matches as the Young Bucks, Private Party, and The Rascalz. Marcus Mathers and Dylan McKay are fresh faces that are excellent at bringing excitement to show openers. They were a hit tag team in the indie feds, winning over the fans with their moonsaults and hurricanranas. They can almost guarantee a "this is awesome" chant in every match they wrestle in.

Akira

Akira is blood and guts. You would expect that from a wrestler named after one of the most hardcore anime. His matches need at least three tables, glass tubes, and barbed wire. He doesn't rely on them to be an enjoyable wrestler, but he is an artist and glass shards is his medium. One thing Akira is not afraid of is selling some of the most brutal hardcore injuries. His face is almost always a crimson mask at the end of every match. AEW would have a great midcard hardcore roster if he was part of it.

Janai Kai

Very few female wrestlers give me the impression that they are masters in their fighting style. It is easier to paste on a cocky super model or tough girl persona than to have a female wrestler that has martial arts as part of her character.

Janai Kai is a straight up scary Muay Thai kickboxer. She makes Rhea Ripley look like a cheerleader. Janai's razor blade kicks, predator smile, and lanky figure could give anyone nightmares. She is the current Featherweight Champion (a pretty strange name for a women's wrestling title IMO). MLW is inviting wrestlers from Tokyo Japan Pro Wrestling, like Hyper Misao, to challenge her for the title. She has no problem introducing her spinning kick to her opponent's head.

Alex Kane

How do you get a whole arena to chant your fight theme? They can't help themselves when Kane's entourage comes out chanting "Bomaye." It's a fun word to bark over and over.

Alex Kane is the current heavyweight champion and he wears it like a WWE wrestler from the Attitude era. He is cocky and mean spirited like The Rock, but he can throw wrestlers around like Taz. He is the suplex assassin and he boasts performing over 100 suplex variations. He has defeated Jacob Fatu, Matt Cardona, Tom Lawler, Willie Mack, Richard Holiday, and Alex Hammerstone with his Fade to Black submission.

The crowd is so vocal about Alex Kane that I am surprised WWE. TNA, or AEW is not asking for his immediate release. The wrestler has such a magnetic entrance that feels like a parade of Black Panther warriors going to war. I could definitely see him as part of a tag team with Power House Hobbs.

MLW's Future

MLW carries themselves like TNA, small but with the ambitions of a hungry lion. You can get every PPV and Fusion episode on Triller+. MLW is not taking off like TNA and I think the reason points to MLW not having a consistent TV taping schedule. They disrupt their flow with long TV breaks. Their women's roster is very small, which explains why they are inviting challengers from TJPW. They have a wonderful relationship with CMLL, putting on some very good lucha shows. I believe 2024 could be the year they make a bigger blip on the radar. They don't have Nic Nemeth hype like TNA (which WWE did not have that much Dolph Ziggler hype), but everyone should be excited for MLW's factory of hot prospects and matches.