Mistico is no longer the MLW World Middleweight Champion.
This past weekend, Major League Wrestling finally held their annual Battle RIOT match. But before the big MLW World Heavyweight Championship match, Místico was expected to defend his belt against Templario. Unfortunately, that match didn’t take place because Mistico suffered a triceps injury that forced him to relinquish the belt instead.
Mistico framed it as wanting to move onto something bigger and better, indicating that he’ll be stepping up for the MLW World Heavyweight title next. The 42-year-old kept the title for 402-days, which is 25 days short of surpassing the longest title reign in the company’s history.
That honor goes to Myron Reed, who held the belt for 424 days. Mistico had eight title defenses in total, with the former MLW World Middleweight Champion defending his belt against Angel de Oro, Star Jr., Trevor Lee, Mascara Dorada, and Averno. The good news is that Mistico shouldn’t be out for too long as he’s expected to miss action for two to three weeks.
There’s no word on what the plan is for Mistico when he returns. It’s always possible that MLW sticks him back in the middleweight title picture since it appears that Matt Riddle is going to be the MLW World Heavyweight Champion for a good while. Of course, that’s speculation as there’s no reports on how long Riddle will be the reigning world champion.
Meanwhile, MLW seems to have chosen a new champion already. Literally seconds after Mistico gave up the belt, Ikuro Kwon spit red mist in Cesar Duran’s (Lucha Underground’s Dario Cueto) face and stole the belt. The CONTRA Unit member now claims that the middleweight division belongs to him. How long will he be able to keep the belt? That’s anyone’s guess at the moment and it’s a story that the company will surely follow up on the next show.
Elsewhere, Templario still competed at Battle RIOT VII. The MLW World Middleweight title challenger was kept strong as he beat Hechicero and Esfinge in a triple threat match. One can assume that he’ll still get a crack at the belt someday, perhaps him an Ikuro will be the two men fighting for it next.