Josh Bishop has been able to reach the hearts and minds of pro wrestling fans this year on his way to a Major League Wrestling (MLW) World Heavyweight Championship shot in a Last Man Standing match against Killer Kross.
Bishop has brought a unique element to the ring that MLW has been looking for – someone who has a dangerous aura about them. The roster has a few guys who can do that, but there’s just something different about Bishop and the way he has carried himself through nearly 11 months.
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MLW owner Court Bauer recognized what Bishop had done this year.
“He’s one of those guys that’s just been a breakout player for us,” Bauer told OutKick Dropkick. “He has that danger element to him. He’s just a machine, just a wrecking machine. And I believe that there’s, you know, you want familiarity, you want those guys. ‘Hey, I know that guy, he has a huge following on social media or he was at this company and he was on that TV show.’
“But what fans love is the next generation and when someone can bring it and be at the same level as that other guy across the ring from him, like Killer Kross and Josh Bishop’s done that and then some whether the night he rag dolled him in New York City and pinned him or when they tore up the ring in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in MLW.”
Bishop challenged Kross for the title earlier this year but fell short.
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He’s come all the way back and even scored a pin on Kross in a tag team match. It’s helped him earn his latest shot, which will come at Saturday Night SuperFight.
“All these things leading to this Last Man Standing match this weekend in Cicero in Chicago,” Bauer added. “It was all just incredible. He made his case to headline the pay-per-view and I’m like, man, you’re punching your ticket, you earned it, you get it, because guys that phone in, they don’t. They’re not making the card. The guy that didn’t, they’re getting that spot, and he earned that spot.
“You gotta bring it, and if you can bring it. I don’t look at wrestling like, let’s just cast them because that’s the story we’re telling and that’s, you know, OK, we’re with a creative team, we’re writing and that just sounds like the right story. You listen to the crowd and you look at the effort of the guys in there that are just leaving it all in that ring. Josh Bishop this year did that and then some. He should be in that match. He should get that opportunity.”
It all comes down to Saturday Night SuperFight. The event begins at 8 p.m. ET and can be seen live on Veeps.