Tom Lawlor has become one of the most well-versed athletes to transition from MMA to pro wrestling. His combat sports background made him among the most successful competitors in Major League Wrestling over the last seven years. A promotion that infuses elements of varying combat sports into its athletic presentation.
The former MLW Champion has thrived within this environment and was entrusted this summer to work with Fantastic Four actor Paul Walter Hauser. The Emmy and Golden Globe winner has been able to live his dream of entering the ring. Hauser’s involvement brought new eyes to MLW, and Lawlor is aware of its importance of that. After a feud developed between Hauser and Lawlor, the two squared off in an MMA-style cage match at the aptly titled Never Say Never event in August.
Here Lawlor reflects on mixing it up with the actor and what MLW has been doing to stand out.
It’s cool to see MLW trying different things in terms of concept shows. The company aired the Pit-Fighters special on September 26 where you faced Matt Riddle under “Vale Tudo Rules.” How is it bringing this hybrid presentation to the forefront?
Tom Lawlor: I think if you look at the pro wrestling landscape and look at the different companies that are out there, you can come up with a traditional style that represents each one. There is definitely a feel to WWE matches. The way they are laid out. There is a feel to AEW’s style and their presentation. I would consider it faster-paced, more like a video game or action game. MLW has this mix of everything you could want to get in professional wrestling. The Pro-Fighters show had all these different matches. There were hardcore matches, Matthew Justice and Jesus Rodriguez in the “Barrio Brawl” street fight, which I love. You’ve AKIRA versus Ikuro Kwon where they are taping glass on their fists and using objects I wouldn’t let anywhere near professional wrestling on each other. Myself and Matt Riddle were more of a mixed martial arts style. There is tons of different stuff…Almost every person MLW brings in has a different flavor to them, and I think that is what makes it special.
You talk about everyone bringing a different flavor. What flavor does Paul Walter Hauser bring?
A terrible flavor.
He did bring in some mainstream eyes. Here is a diehard wrestling fan who respects the business and is willing to put in the training to perform. What were your first impressions when you found out he would be coming over to do some work?
I knew of Paul Walter Hauser through wrestling circles. I’m not much in the way of keeping tabs on the entertainment business. I had virtually no clue what movies this guy had been in or hadn’t been in until I mentioned it to my friends that I would be wrestling him. [MLW founder] Court [Bauer] and the other guys had to clue me in as to what his movies and TV shows he has been involved in. I was aware he was an actor who had done some pro wrestling. The way I was approached about it was that Paul Walter Hauser had been a fan of what I’d done in MLW.
Obviously, being a former champion, winning the Opera Cup and Battle Riot, I was put in the spotlight for the company. So, it made sense that if there were a handful of guys to pick from, he’d want to wrestle me. The fact I was chosen was cool. A guy coming in from the outside, you have to put him against someone you trust enough to not make a bad impression on that person or injure them and to make sure you don’t get injured yourself. Regardless of what Paul Walter Hauser has done, I don’t care what he has done in the entertainment world. The fact someone was coming from the outside, and I was picked to represent pro wrestling was cool to me.
What kind of prep and approach did you take with this compared to your typical match?
To be fair, I really think I should have prepared more. I think I was woefully prepared. The entire past 20 plus years of my life has been spent in gyms. In my mind, I’m dealing with people who don’t necessarily fight for a living. They are not out there making six figures in the cage or on the mats. I’ve trained with other guys who were just dads, construction workers, guys off the street. Whoever they are turns out to be pretty good athletes in the end. Though in my mind, if you can’t perform 24 jiu-jitsu techniques, you’re behind the curve. So going in there with the layman was an experience for me.
Tom Lawlor and Paul Walter Hauser (MLW)
What were the logistics that went on to put your match with him together?
That whole entire thing was done in one shot. Whatever you saw, they weren’t editing it in pieces. However long the clock was running on that fight, that’s how long it went. Thanks to American Top Team of Atlanta for giving us their facility for the day because that was a fantastic place. A great setup. They have world-class fighters there and a world-class facility. They had the cage by the boxing ring. There were probably 8,000 sq. ft. of mats and weights. Anything we could think of.
They gave us full run of the place. We moved some stuff around the venue to maximize the cage a little bit. It was a whirlwind because we were there for hours and hours, planning this, scoping out the building, getting stuff ready. Then it was decided this was a pro wrestling match. It wasn’t like a cinematic backstage shoot. We wanted to shoot this like a pro wrestling match. Once we got started it was fast-paced, nonstop. I didn’t have time to think. I really enjoyed it. It was certainly different for me. I did a lot of work during the pandemic while others were mailing it in. Being in that environment for those couple of years where there was no crowd to draw on, you have to bring it out for yourself. Having that experience helped a lot.
MLW
So how did he measure up in your eyes? Does he have a future as a pro wrestler?
What I think is he needs to get off the movie set. I at one point was doing mixed martial arts and doing pro wrestling. They are tied together at the root of things. One of those can prepare you for the other. It was very difficult to do both of those things. I can’t imagine how it must be to go from an acting mind. I can tell you from this match and dealing with Paul Walter Hauser a little bit and watching, there is a difference in how you act in an acting setting and act in a professional wrestling setting.
I think it’s tough to go back and forth with those two. I hate to say it, but if you want to be good and the best and for people to take you seriously, you have to put in the work. Sometimes that means stepping away from what you’re doing. I walked away from a career where I probably would have been able to make more money fighting to do pro wrestling. So, Paul Walter Hauser, put your money where your mouth is. Better yet put it in my bank. One of the biggest outlying factors in making it in pro wrestling is wanting to make it. I have no doubt Paul Walter Hauser wants to make it and be the best that he can be. So let’s see it.
A lot of people are excited about seeing all these companies working together. You got to work with WWE’s Brutus Creed for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport. What do you make of these recent developments?
It’s good in some ways, but I’m always leery of what the underlying motive is behind a lot of these things. We’ve seen for the past 40 years that WWE might play nice for a little bit, but at the end of the day, it’s about them. Of course, there is a new regime in there, but I don’t know. For example, I’m wrestling Brutus Creed, and to me, I was on the A side of that match. Brutus Creed wasn’t coming down to do me a favor. The guy puked before the match because he was so nervous. That match was about me. I think a lot of guys will go into those situations and downgrade themselves. Like, “Oh, he is a WWE guy. He is on a higher level.” It’s awesome to see these kinds of matchups, but it’s really to their benefit.
RelatedPaul Walter Hauser Gets Candid About ‘Cobra Kai,’ ‘Naked Gun’ & Major League Wrestling Debut
Where do you want to go at this stage of your career?
There is no reason to sugarcoat things. I’m getting older. My time in pro wrestling hasn’t been forever. It’s not like I’ve been around for decades, but physically I had a full career even before I went back to pro wrestling. That all has taken a toll on my body…I think the time of me being out on the road almost every weekend like I have been is getting old. It’s coming to an end. I think my goal right now as general and basic as it is with pro wrestling is to have this be my only job. I don’t want to have to work to do something and pro wrestle on the side. I’d like to do this for as long as I can.
One thing I learned after getting out of MMA is you can’t go back and do it. I don’t want to be 65 and think I quit pro wrestling and could have gotten another five years out of it. My goal right now is to keep wrestling and make money. There are all these luchadors floating around that I’ve never gotten the chance to face. People talk about these great mat work technicians from Mexico. I haven’t seen a damn thing that impressed me from a lot of these guys. I want to work circles on these guys on the mat…CMLL sent a bunch of their luchadors to face mixed martial artists and got destroyed. I’m ready to run that back.
MLW Lucha Apocalypto, November 9, 10/9c, YouTube
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