Seven hundred thirty-eight days.
17,712 hours.
Over 1 million minutes and still counting.
That is the amount of time that Jacob Fatu has spent as the reigning MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
Fatu has run completely roughshod over not just the Heavyweight division, but the entire roster. Ever since debuting with the company in early 2019, Fatu has yet to lose a singles bout.
Standing on the other side of the proverbial battlefield with an even longer championship reign of seven hundred and seventy-six days (and still counting) is the MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone.
Hammerstone has only lost one singles bout since also debuting with the promotion in early 2019.
Fans of the New York-based promotion have been clamoring for these two to have the colossal face-off that has been building for over two years—but with the company just bringing back ticketed live events this month, they’ve held off on the mega match for now.
Recently at the Battle Riot TV Tapings, Hammerstone won the Battle Riot match which is MLW’s version of the Royal Rumble. Hammerstone was able to win the prestigious match over other top MLW names like Davey Richards, Tom Lawlor, TJP, Myron Reed, Zicky Dice and TJP.
I’m going to take a moment and applaud MLW’s efforts to stretch this match out as far as they have.
Pandemic or not, matches being prolonged in today’s wrestling climate is very rare and is often very difficult to pull off. With both guys being in top factions Contra Unit and The Dynasty, it has allowed for interchangeable programs to delay the inevitable. In the early months of 2021, Hammerstone had a few matches with Contra Unit member Mads Krügger.
CEO Court Bauer has also gone the extra mile to promote the fight. Bauer stated in a Tweet earlier this year that Fatu’s manager Josef Samael has veto power on championship fights, which is a fantastic touch of detail.
MLW holds a supercard event every few months, hosting multiple championship matches and giving off a PPV feel. While at press time the next supercard event hasn’t been announced, it can only be expected that Hammerstone/Fatu will happen sometime in the final two quarters of the year.
This will be a must-see match for promotion and has the chance to be the biggest bout they’ve ever hosted.
MLW’s website has even touted it as, “the most anticipated championship bout in league history.”
Speaking from my own personal view, I’d have Hammerstone go over and be a double champion. He’s arguably the biggest babyface in the promotion and his constant chase of Fatu and Contra has been a top highlight of MLW TV for nearly two years.
If you haven’t seen either of these guys wrestle, I’d highly recommend seeking out some of their matches today. If you’d like to keep up with the Major League Wrestling product in anticipation of this high-profile bout, you can find out all the ways to watch them here.
