Fightland (2021) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...

(MLW), which was held on October 2, 2021 and was the third event under the

Fightland Fightland is a website covering mixed martial arts (MMA). Launched in September 2012, it is part of Vice Media, Inc. network channels. Vice Media states that ''Fightland'' is a joint venture with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). ''The Ne ...

chronology. Matches from the event were taped for MLW programming; the main card aired as a one-hour special on October 7, 2021 on

Vice TV Vice (formerly known as Viceland and also known as Vice TV) is an American basic cable television channel that launched on December 2, 2019, replacing H2 on most multichannel television providers in the United States. It is a part of the Vicela ...

, while other matches would air as part of the mini-series, '' MLW Fusion: Alpha'', on MLW's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel and

BeIN Sports USA beIN Sports USA is a pay television sports network which primarily airs top level soccer, featuring exclusive coverage of Ligue 1, along with content from other leagues in Europe. In addition, BeIN Sports airs matches from such sports as rugb ...

. Sixteen

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

were contested at the event. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a no disqualification title vs. title match, in which

Battle Riot Battle Riot is a professional wrestling event produced by Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, P ...

winner

Alexander Hammerstone Alex Rohde (born January 17, 1991), better known by his ring names Alexander Hammerstone or simply Hammerstone is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling, where he is the current MLW World Heavyweight ...

cashed in his Golden Ticket opportunity against

Jacob Fatu Jacob Fatu is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Major League Wrestling. He is a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion and his reign is the longest in the title's history at 819 days. He also performs on the independen ...

, with both Hammerstone's National Openweight Championship and Fatu's World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Hammerstone won the match to end Fatu's two-year long title reign in what was also Fatu's first loss in MLW. On the undercard, Tajiri made his MLW debut against Myron Reed, Arez and

Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), ''Twenty Years After'' (1845), and ''The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, Atho ...

for Reed's

World Middleweight Championship In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in a four-way match, which Tajiri won.

Production

Background

The show featured wrestling matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. In April 2021, MLW announced a television deal with

. A block of MLW programming, including reruns of ''

MLW Fusion ''MLW Fusion'' is a professional wrestling television program produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that originally premiered on April 20, 2018 on beIN Sports USA. On November 10, 2022, the series began streaming on Pro Wrestling TV. A thir ...

'', began airing on Saturdays starting May 1. On September 17, 2021, it was announced that Vice TV would air Fightland on October 7, following a new episode of its original documentary series, ''

Dark Side of the Ring ''Dark Side of the Ring'' is a Canadian documentary television series produced by Vice Studios. The series focuses on controversial subjects and events within the realm of professional wrestling. Series overview Episodes Season 1 (2019) Seas ...

''. As an expansion of the channel's

programming, and their previous agreement with MLW, Fightland marks the first wrestling event to air on Vice.

Storylines

The card consisted of matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by MLW's writers. Storylines were played out on MLW's weekly television program, ''

Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

'', and the league's social media platforms. The main storyline heading into Fightland was the feud between MLW National Openweight Champion

and

MLW World Heavyweight Champion The MLW World Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by Major League Wrestling (MLW). It is the promotion's principal championship. The championship was established on September 26, 2002 during the MLW Re ...

Contra Unit Contra Unit is a Heel (professional wrestling), villainous professional wrestling Stable (professional wrestling), stable in Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Southern Honor Wrestling (SHW). It consists of Ikuro Kwon and Mads Krügger. In SHW (where ...

. At the end of the AAA vs. MLW Super Series on the May 10, 2020 episode of ''Fusion'', Contra Unit attacked various wrestlers and staff before ultimately taking over MLW headquarters (a storyline explanation for MLW's hiatus during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

). Hammerstone was among members of the MLW roster seen taking back MLW headquarters in a video uploaded to MLW's

channel on October 29, 2020. Hammerstone campaigned for a World title shot throughout 2020 and into 2021, as he was ranked #1 in MLW by

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

. At the end of the April 21, 2021 episode of ''Fusion'', Hammerstone once again challenged Fatu to a title match. The following week, on the penultimate episode of the season, Contra leader

Josef Samael Joseph Cabibbo (born May 21, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently wrestling under the ring names Josef and Josef Samael on the independent circuit and in Major League Wrestling (MLW) as a member of Contra Unit with Jacob Fatu, ...

denied the challenge on Fatu's behalf, claiming that he ultimately controls who gets to fight him. On June 10, 2021, it was announced that

Battle Riot III Battle Riot III was a professional wrestling event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that took place on July 10, 2021, at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was MLW's first event since its hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...

will take place on July 10, and that Hammerstone would be the first entrant. Hammerstone would ultimately win the titular match, earning a World title match against Fatu. On September 1, 2021, Hammerstone revealed he will face Fatu at Fightland, and put his own National Openweight title on the line in a Title vs. title match. On August 31, it was announced on MLW's website that Tajiri would be making his MLW debut at Fightland. On September 16, it was announced that Myron Reed would defend the

against Tajiri, Arez and

in a four-way match at Fightland.

Results

References

External links

Major League Wrestling official website
{{Major League Wrestling Events in Philadelphia 2021 in professional wrestling Major League Wrestling shows October 2021 sports events in the United States Professional wrestling in Philadelphia