I Was There: MLW Fightland South Philly

By Ryan Joy
Updated: February 7, 2020
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Chapter 2

Event

Show #2: MLW Fightland (Fusion TV Tapings)
Location: 2300 Arena (ECW Arena)
Date: February 1
Headline: Jacob Fatu vs. Cima for MLW World Heavyweight Title
Miles from Home: 128 Miles
Ticket:

My seats were fine except for when the guy two rows in front of me wouldn’t sit down. Go for the front row if available.

“Say your prayers little one / Don’t forget my son / To include everyone” – Metallica

My second pro-wrestling show of the year came three days after the first one. Major League Wrestling (MLW) taped four episodes of their TV show Fusion from the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. . . the historic 2300 Arena. . . better known to Pro Wrestling Fans as the ECW Arena.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) disappeared in 2001 before I ever acquired any significant exposure to the product. I watched wrestling feverishly during those days, of course, but I mostly watched WWF (now WWE) and WCW during the Monday Night Wars. Rather than seeking out a third brand, I just rewatched the current week’s episode of Raw and Nitro until I could recite promos from Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, or the NWO from memory.

Hardcore Hall of Fame Banners Hanging from the Ceiling of the 2300 (ECW) Arena. The Sandman (banner on the far left) inspired the headers for this post.

I left no time for ECW, and now (twenty years later), I still haven’t found time to do a deep ECW study or re-watch. For now, my memory of ECW exists in the 10 second clips shown in documentaries or on social media. In my mind, ECW is a magical place filled with rabid fans, extreme hardcore wrestling, and realism.

Today, anywhere you go across the nation, a mere mention of Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, RVD, or Paul Heyman elicits chants of E-C-Dub. In some cases, a chair shot or a table spot by itself can often elicit the chant. In any case, part of the appeal of coming to this show was the appeal of watching pro wrestling from one of our fandom’s only real historic venues.

Major League Wrestling

Similar to ECW, I never found time to watch Major League Wrestling. They have a nationally broadcasted show on beIN Sports that airs on Saturday night. Now that I’m covering wrestling for Minutes to Bell Time, I must as the Metallica lyric says “Include Everyone.”

“Take my hand / We’re off to never-never land” – Metallica

Without question, my wife (Maggie) showed a bit of jealousy over my trip to Cleveland to watch Dynamite. When I brought up the idea of going to MLW in Philadelphia, the expression on Maggie’s face said “Where’s your cousin for that trip?” In any case, she “took my hand” and we drove the 128 miles from Annapolis to Philadelphia leaving at 2:30 PM with intentions of grabbing dinner before the show. On the subject of podcasts, I listen to a lot about Pro Wrestling. Keeping with the Sandman theme of this post, most of those podcasts put Maggie right to sleep (and she really hates waking up to Bruce Pritchard screaming). When she recommended that we listen to the Chris Van Vliet podcast featuring Nick Aldis, I happily obliged. Nick has a great perspective on the pro-wrestling business and the work he’s doing for the NWA is incredible. I hope to make an NWA TV taping this year.

“Dreams of war, dreams of liars / Dreams of dragon’s fire” – Metallica

Most of the wrestling on the card appeared to be average and nothing stands out as excellent. The Heavyweight Championship match didn’t seem competitive, which is sad because I really like Cima. My wife likes Priscilla Kelly a lot, so seeing her accompany Jimmy Havoc to the ring pretty much made her night. Seeing classical characters like Konnan, Blue Meanie, and Savio Vega made the MLW show special as these characters all looked good. While the legends are old, they didn’t come off as weak or old. We sat in the 5th row, which I won’t do by choice again (front row or bust at this venue).

A great experience for my second show.

Results for MLW Fightland:

I will update the post when the matches air on television.

MLW Fightland Match Links –

I’ll add links as the matches air on television. Minutes to Bell Time ratings are based on the televised event and not the live show.

Mance Warner, Logan Creed, and Savio Vega vs. Richard Holliday, Alexander Hammerstone, and Gino Gambino

Kotto Brazil and Jordan Oliver vs. Laredo Kid and Zenshi

Los Parks vs. Contra Unit

Recommendations

Will Call

We got our tickets via Will Call because in order to save the $3 it would have otherwise cost to have the tickets mailed. I recommend that you buy the tickets at the Box Office or have them mailed. If you pick them up at will call, that means you get to stand in line with everyone as they pick up or buy tickets (not fun).

Watch Where You Step

Watch your step and don’t become a statistic. This tool covers electrical cords well, but presents a tripping hazard to unsuspecting folk.

All seats are floor seats at this venue. I am not sure if all shows use the floor cord covers to protect the electrical cords needed for the show, but watch out for them. Before the show even started, I saw a guy happily walking along with his beer and the next moment you would have thought his head was on fire. He tripped and fell hard spilling his entire beer all over about three different chairs. Later in the show, someone behind me tripped and stumbled about 10 feet before she eventually landed hard on the ground. The guy directly in front of me who had full awareness of the danger forgot about them and took a short stumble.

Merchandise:

The venue only had one spot for merchandise, and you can see it from the doors. They also had wrestler meet and greets right next to the merchandise table. Give the meet and greet tables a quick look before heading to the merchandise table as you might find something you like more.

Parking

Don’t pay for parking here unless you get desperate. I know the possibility exists, but to be honest, I don’t even know the location of the paid lots. We arrived about 20 minutes before doors opened and found a convenient spot on the far end of the building on W. Ritner Street.

Eat

As I document more and more live shows, you will come to understand that I’m a pizza guy, and I like red sauce (a lot of it). I did my research before we even left Annapolis to identify the pizza shop in South that would be getting my business. As you can see from my photo to the right, Santucci’s serves up square cut pizza with sauce on top. At $10 for a personal pizza and $18 for a large, get what you want and avoid splitting a large.

We arrived at Santucci’s a little after 4:30, got an immediate table, ordered, ate, and left in about 45 minutes. The drive from Santucci’s (901 S 10th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147) to 2300 Arena is only 2 miles (10 minutes), so with proper planning, it can work into your schedule. For the record, I didn’t find any places close to the arena.

Time

This recommendation applies to Major League Wrestling TV Tapings. Our show on February 1 started at 7:00 PM and went until 11:30. As is the case with some other national promotions, MLW tapes several episodes in one evening, so you have to prepare yourself for a lot of wrestling. In our case, we saw 16 matches and we saw many of the stars more than once. You actually end up getting a lot of wrestling for your money, but if you planned to be done in 2 hours, you may need to adjust your expectations.