Major League Wrestling will bring its Saturday Night SuperFight event to Cicero, in the Chicago area, this weekend, featuring a Last Man Standing match for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship between champion Killer Kross and challenger Josh Bishop.
MLW owner Court Bauer said Bishop has emerged as one of the promotion’s top performers over the past 11 months, crediting the wrestler’s intensity and in-ring presence.
“He’s one of those guys that’s just been a breakout player for us,” Bauer told OutKick Dropkick. “He has that danger element to him. He’s just a machine, just a wrecking machine.”
Bauer said fans respond to new talent who can match established stars step for step, pointing to Bishop’s performances against Kross earlier this year.
“What fans love is the next generation and when someone can bring it and be at the same level as that other guy across the ring from him, like Killer Kross and Josh Bishop’s done that and then some whether the night he rag dolled him in New York City and pinned him or when they tore up the ring in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in MLW.”
Bishop first challenged Kross for the title earlier this year and lost. Since then, he has rebuilt his case, including a pin over Kross in a tag team match, which Bauer said helped earn him this weekend’s rematch.
“All these things leading to this Last Man Standing match this weekend in Cicero in Chicago. It was all just incredible. He made his case to headline the pay-per-view and I’m like, man, you’re punching your ticket, you earned it, you get it, because guys that phone in, they don’t. They’re not making the card. The guy that didn’t, they’re getting that spot, and he earned that spot.”
Bauer said he prefers to let crowd response and in-ring effort, rather than scripted storytelling alone, determine who gets title opportunities.
“You listen to the crowd and you look at the effort of the guys in there that are just leaving it all in that ring. Josh Bishop this year did that and then some. He should be in that match. He should get that opportunity.”
Saturday Night SuperFight begins at 8 p.m. ET and will stream live on Veeps.
