We have a new No. 1 in the Major League Wrestling Top 10. After Pentagon Jr. was unable to wrest the World Heavyweight Championship from Shane “Swerve” Strickland, the former No. 1 contender has been surpassed in this month’s rankings.
Now holding the top spot in the MLW Top 10 is “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. The leader of Team Filthy rocketed up the rankings, moving up four spots since May. Lawlor has now fully recovered from the broken arm he was dealing with earlier this spring that robbed him of continuing in the World Title tournament. He picked up an impressive submission victory over ACH recently and will look to maintain that top spot in an effort to get a shot at the World Championship.
Here’s a look at the June edition of the Major League Wrestling Top 10:
World Heavyweight Champion – Shane “Swerve” Strickland
- Tom Lawlor
- Pentagon Jr.
- Rey Fenix
- Sami Callihan
- MVP
- Jimmy Havoc
- Barrington Hughes
- Joey Janela
- Jake Hager
- ACH
Upward Mobility
This month’s biggest movers were Lawlor and Rey Fenix. Both moved up four spots in the rankings.
While Lawlor is now the No. 1 ranked grappler in MLW, Fenix moved up despite a high-profile loss. Fenix faced off with his brother Pentagon Jr. for the No. 1 Contender spot recently. He pushed then-No. 1-ranked Pentagon to the absolute limit. His performance in that match, even in a defeat, was enough to push him up the rankings from No. 7 to No. 3.
Super heavyweight Barrington Hughes is up three spots, from No. 10 to No. 7. The Caramel Colossus has been begging MLW officials to feed him some competition. But his domination, no matter who he’s faced, has been incredible. Hughes’ success hasn’t gone unnoticed by promoters, who moved up him up the rankings.
Another steady climber is Sami Callihan, who is up two places to No. 4. The “Worldwide Desperado” picked up a huge victory over MVP recently. Plus, Callihan continues to grow what he calls his following. With all that help ringside, Callihan may be hard to stop as he looks to continue moving up the rankings.
Going Down?
Jimmy Havoc had his hand raised in the recent Bogus Adventure match vs. “Bad Boy” Joey Janela. But it was a brutal match and then Havoc was attacked and laid out afterward by Team Filthy. League officials are concerned about Havoc’s health, hence the drop in the rankings. But if England’s Most Dangerous Man recovers, he’ll have an opportunity to climb the rankings once again.
MVP dropped a pair of spots this month after the loss to Callihan. But the upcoming Boiler Room Brawl between the two could have an impact on both men’s spot in the Top 10.
Hello, Goodbye!
Jake Hager debuted on MLW: FUSION Friday. He also debuted in the MLW Top 10 Friday, coming in at No. 9. The Stud Stable’s newest member will look to continue climbing. He has a huge match against No. 1 “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in the coming days.
While not new to MLW, ACH is new to the MLW Top 10. The Austin, Texas native picked up a big win over Simon Gotch recently and gave Lawlor all he wanted shortly thereafter.
Out of the rankings this month are Low Ki and Jeff Cobb. Low Ki was No. 4 in the May rankings. But he hasn’t competed, due to a suspension for attacking a League official. With no competition in May, Low Ki was removed from the June ranking. Cobb simply slipped out of the rankings with the loss to Hager and the improvement of ACH.
