World Heavyweight title match added to MLW Battle Riot VI

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor is getting a chance to dethrone Satoshi Kojima for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.

MLW has announced that Kojima will defend his World title against Lawlor at Battle Riot VI on Saturday, June 1. The show is being held at Center Stage in Atlanta and will air live on YouTube for free.

Kojima is a double champion in MLW, currently holding the World Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team titles. There was a storyline last month where Lawlor & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vacated the MLW Tag Team titles after Lawlor was taken out in an attack by Contra Unit. Kojima & Okumura then won the vacant belts.

There have been two singles matches between Kojima and Lawlor before. Kojima defeated Lawlor at an MLW event in December 2023. In 2021, Lawlor beat Kojima at a show for NJPW.

Kojima has been MLW World Heavyweight Champion since February. Lawlor previously held the title for five months in 2019.

The Battle Riot event is being headlined by MLW’s Battle Riot match, which is a 40-man battle royal where the winner receives a future World title shot. Matt Riddle, Sami Callihan, Mistico, Timothy Thatcher, Ernest “The Cat” Miller, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Bobby Fish, and actor Paul Walter Hauser are among the entrants that have been confirmed.

MLW Battle Riot VI (Saturday, June 1) —

  • 40-man Battle Riot match
  • MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima defends against Tom Lawlor
  • Ritual Combat match: Alex Kane vs. AJ Francis
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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.