Fightland (2025)

Last updated
Fightland (2025)
MLW Fightland 2025.jpeg
Promotional poster
Promotion Major League Wrestling
DateSeptember 13, 2025
City North Richland Hills, Texas
Venue NYTEX Sports Centre
Event chronology
 Previous
Summer of the Beasts
Next 
Slaughterhouse
Fightland chronology
 Previous
2024
Next 

Fightland (2025) was a professional wrestling event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that took place on September 13, 2025, at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills, Texas. It was the seventh event in the Fightland chronology. The event aired live on BeIN Sports and stream live on MLW's YouTube channel.

Contents

Production

Background

Fightland is a recurring event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that was first held in 2018 as a television taping for MLW's weekly program, MLW Fusion .

On January 9, 2025, MLW announced that Fightland would take place on September 13, 2025, at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills, Texas. [1]

Storylines

The card consisted of matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by MLW's writers. Storylines are played out at MLW events and across the league's social media platforms. [2]

Matt Riddle and Donovan Dijak have been embroiled in a feud stemming back One Shot, when Riddle defeated Dijak to defend his Battle Riot "Golden Ticket" for an MLW World Heavyweight Championship match. [3] Riddle would go on to become champion at Kings of Colosseum, later crossing paths again with Dijak at Battle Riot VII in the titular match, in which Riddle was defending his title. The two men were part of the final three before Riddle eliminated Dijak and later Rob Van Dam to win and retain his title. [4] The two met again for the title in a singles match the following month at Azteca Lucha, which Riddle would win again. [5] A third match between the two was supposed to take place at Blood and Thunder, but it never started as Riddle was attacked by Mads Krule Krügger backstage. [6] Frustrated, Dijak's manager Saint Laurent confronted MLW President Cesar Duran and Vice President of Wrestling Relations Salina de la Renta backstage about Dijak's opportunity. Duran would then have the title match between Riddle and Dijak set for Fightland. [7]

At Battle Riot VII, Místico was meant to defend the MLW World Middleweight Championship against Templario, but due to Místico suffering a triceps injury, the match was held off. During the event, Místico was interviewed on the stage, where, due to the nature of his injury as well as his desire to move to the heavyweight division, he would relinquish the title. However, just as he was handing the title belt to Cesar Duran, Contra Unit's Ikuro Kwon would ambush Místico, spray black mist in the face of Duran, and steal the belt. [4] This soon led to a three-way match at Azteca Lucha between Místico, Templario, and Kwon, which Místico won. Soon after the match, though, an irate Kwon again attacked Místico, this time stealing his mask [5] Kwon, now branding himself "The Lucha Hunter," vowed to put down any luchador that came into MLW as he continued to parade around with the title belt, despite not being the official champion. At Blood and Thunder, MLW announced that Kwon and Templario would face off for the vacant MLW World Middleweight Championship at Fightland. [8]

At Summer of the Beasts, Último Guerrero was set to defend the MLW National Openweight Championship against Alex Hammerstone. However, Matthew Justice, the man Guerrero beat for the title, came out and declared that, since he never had his rematch, Cesar Duran had inserted Justice into the match. Guerrero would still retain his title, though, pinning Justice to win. This soon led to a confrontation between Hammerstone and Justice, which later turned into a massive brawl. [9] Both men continued to attack each other verbally following the event, with Hammerstone mocking Justice's wrestling style, while Justice berated Hammerstone for leaving MLW a year prior. At Blood and Thunder, it was announced that the two men would battle in a Texas Deathmatch at Fightland. [10]

At Blood and Thunder, Cesar Duran and Salina de la Renta received a collection of keys and a bottle of "Don Gato" tequila. Duran took it as an invitation to see Don Gato himself, as he and de la Renta began to prepare for their meeting. [6] In a set of vignettes during the show, actor Danny McBride was seen in Don Gato's mansion, explaining the origin of Don Gato to a friend of his. Supposedly a famous luchador, Don Gato stepped away from competition following his mentor's death. During a trip to Las Vegas, Don Gato was "inspired" by the complimentary tequila being served in the casinos, and after winning it big, returned to Mexico and started his tequila business. [11] On September 8, MLW announced that Don Gato himself would appear live at Fightland. [12]

Opera Cup

Several matches were also announced for Fightland as part of the first round in the 2025 Opera Cup. The first match was announced on August 18, between Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre wrestlers Volador Jr. and Titán, the former making his MLW debut. [13] Two days later on August 20, Austin Aries, who had been serving as color commentator since Battle Riot VII, was announced to return to in-ring competition as he would face Kushida as part of the TV taping portion. [14] On August 25, MLW National Openweight Champion Último Guerrero was announced to face Esfinge in the first round on the taping portion. [15] Three days later, Blue Panther Jr. and Zandokan Jr. were announced for the first round on the main card. [16] On September 9, the final first round match was announced for the taping portion, as Paul London would face Okumura. [17]

Results

Fightland
No.ResultsStipulationsTimes [18]
1 Último Guerrero defeated Esfinge by pinfall 2025 Opera Cup tournament first round match [15] 11:05
2 Zandokan Jr. (with Difunto and Barboza) defeated Blue Panther Jr. by pinfall 2025 Opera Cup tournament first round match [16] 6:11
3 Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Yuki Kamifuku by pinfall Singles match for the MLW World Women's Featherweight Championship [19] 9:46
4 Alex Hammerstone defeated Matthew Justice by pinfall Texas Deathmatch [10] 16:21
5 Templario defeated Ikuro Kwon (with Sentai Death Squad) by pinfall Singles match for the vacant MLW World Middleweight Championship [8] 6:14
6 Mads Krule Krügger defeated Matt Riddle (c) and Donovan Dijak (with Saint Laurent) by pinfall Three-way match for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship [a] [7]
This was Krügger's "Gravity Gramble" cash-in match.
13:13
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
TV Taping
No.Matches*Stipulations
1 Bishop Dyer vs. TBA Singles match [20]
2 Shotzi Blackheart vs. Alejandra Quintanilla Singles match [21]
3 Volador Jr. vs. Titán 2025 Opera Cup tournament first round match [13]
4 Austin Aries vs. Kushida 2025 Opera Cup tournament first round match [14]
5 Paul London vs. Okumura 2025 Opera Cup tournament first round match [17]
6 Atlantis, Blue Panther, and Diego "Divebomb" Hill vs. El Galeón Fantasma (Zandokan Jr., Barboza, and Difunto) Trios match [22]
7 Satoshi Kojima vs. Mr. Thomas Lighting match [23]
*Card subject to change

Notes

  1. The match was originally started between Riddle and Dijak until Krügger came out and cashed-in his Gravity Gramble contract and turned the match into a three-way match.

References

  1. DeFelice, Robert (January 9, 2025). "MLW Announces Date And Location For MLW Fightland 2025". Fightful. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  2. Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  3. Vetter, Chris (December 6, 2024). "MLW Eric Bischoff's One Shot results: Vetter's review of Ikuro Kwon and Minoru Suzuki vs. Okumura and Satoshi Kojima for the MLW Tag Titles, Matt Riddle vs. Donovan Dijak". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Vetter, Chris (April 5, 2025). "MLW "Battle Riot VII" results (4/5): Vetter's review of the Battle Riot match, Delmi Exo vs. Shoko Nakajima for the MLW Featherweight Title, Hechicero vs. Esfinge vs. Templario". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Vetter, Chris (May 10, 2025). "MLW "Azteca Lucha" results (5/10): Vetter's review of Mistico vs. Templario vs. Ikuro Kwon in a three-way for the vacant MLW Middleweight Title, Matt Riddle vs. Donovan Dijak for the MLW Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Vetter, Chris (August 10, 2025). "MLW "Blood & Thunder" results (8/9): Vetter's review of Matt Riddle vs. Donovan Dijak for the MLW Championship, Opera Cup matches with Mistico vs. Ikuro Kwon, Bishop Dyer vs. Anthony Greene". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Riddle/Dijak III set for the final showdown at Fightland in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. August 11, 2025. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Templario vs. Ikuro Kwon to decide next World Middleweight Champ at FIGHTLAND". Major League Wrestling. August 13, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  9. Vetter, Chris (June 27, 2025). "MLW "Summer of the Beasts" results (6/26): Vetter's review of Matt Riddle vs. Kenta for the MLW Championship, Último Guerrero vs. Alex Hammerstone for the MLW National Openweight Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "No rules! No mercy! Hammerstone vs. Justice in Texas Death at Fightland". Major League Wrestling. August 21, 2025. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  11. "Don Gato | Origin Story". Major League Wrestling. September 8, 2025. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  12. "Don Gato will be in la casa at MLW Fightland". Major League Wrestling. September 8, 2025. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "Volador Jr. vs. Titán Opera Cup clash added to Fightland in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. August 18, 2025. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Austin Aries vs. KUSHIDA set for opening round of Opera Cup in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  15. 1 2 "Último Guerrero vs. Esfinge set for Opera Cup opening round". Major League Wrestling. August 25, 2025. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  16. 1 2 "Zandokan Jr. vs. Blue Panther Jr. Opera Cup clash at FIGHTLAND Sept 13". Major League Wrestling. August 28, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  17. 1 2 "Paul London vs. Okumura set for this Saturday in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  18. Vetter, Chris (September 14, 2025). "MLW Fightland results (9/13): Vetter's review of Matt Riddle vs. Donovan Dijak for the MLW Championship, Matthew Justice vs. Alex Hammerstone in a Texas Deathmatch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net . Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  19. "Shoko Nakajima vs. Yuki Kamifuku signed for FIGHTLAND in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. September 4, 2025. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  20. "Bishop Dyer in action Sept 13 in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. August 4, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  21. "Shotzi vs. Alejandra Quintanilla set for FIGHTLAND on Sept 13". Major League Wrestling. August 26, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  22. "Atlantis & Blue Panther team with Diego Hill vs. El Galeón Fantasma in Dallas". Major League Wrestling. September 2, 2025. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  23. "Satoshi Kojima vs. Mr. Thomas Lightning Match set for Dallas". Major League Wrestling. September 3, 2025. Retrieved September 4, 2025.