King of Bros picks up MLW defence

Matt Riddle picked up his second defence with the NJPW World TV Championship this weekend at MLW’s War Chamber event in Tampa Florida. One month after he defended against one member of TMDK in Bad Dude Tito, he took on Kosei Fujita in a battle of speed and technique.

The match started with intense grappling exchanges with Fujita surprising the champion with his expertise. When a teased clean break in the ropes ended up with a sneaky chop from Fujita though, the match evolved into striking; Riddle gained the first sustained advantage of the bout with a German and then an exploder suplex to his challenger. 

Taking to the air to stop Riddle, Fujita got the knees up on a Bro-ton from Riddle and then landed a tijeras that brought the champion to the floor; inside a springboard somersault senton would get a two count from the official, and a guillotine choke had the champion in severe trouble. Once again though, Riddle was able to shift his weight underneath his challenger and delivered powerful combination offense for a nearfall to Fujita before heading upstairs. 

Fujita cut Riddle off on the top rope and delivered an incredible avalanche German Suplex that would have surely ended the match were the champion not taken too close to the ropes for the three count to be rendered. In the driver’s seat, Fujita landed stinging shots to the champion before hitting the ropes for momentum right into a running knee from Riddle. Needing to move fast in the face of tough competition, Riddle quickly landed the Brostone and scored the three.