Tessa Blanchard will face Keyra in her MLW debut at Saturday Night SuperFight on November 7, the promotion announced Tuesday. Both women are making their first MLW appearances on the card, which streams live on VEEPS from a sold-out Cicero Stadium in Chicago at 8 p.m. ET.
The booking answers the one question left open when CMLL announced the November 7 date earlier this month. It also keeps the match inside the CMLL family. Keyra joined the Arena México roster in February alongside Garra Negra, and CMLL framed Blanchard’s trip to Chicago as representing the Mexican promotion rather than joining MLW outright.
The two already know each other. On May 8 at Arena México, Blanchard teamed with Kira and La Jarochita to beat Keyra, Reyna Isis and Zeuxis in a trios match, and both were named to CMLL’s side for last Friday’s Grand Prix de Amazonas.
Blanchard Already Beat MLW’s Champion This Week
That Grand Prix produced the most interesting footnote to this match. According to Record, Blanchard scored the first elimination of the night by tossing out Masha Slamovich, the reigning MLW Women’s World Champion, before Megan Bayne eliminated Blanchard and Skadi won the tournament.
Slamovich holds the title that was reportedly earmarked for Blanchard. Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio in September that he was “pretty darn sure” Blanchard was going to win the MLW women’s championship at or soon after her scrapped Fightland debut. Instead, Slamovich debuted in Charleston and beat Shotzi Blackheart for the belt on her first night.
MLW’s announcement does not mention a title for the Keyra match, which fits CMLL’s September statement that its agreements with MLW did not include championship challenges. A win in Chicago would still put Blanchard in the conversation, and she and Slamovich have now shared a ring once already.
Who Keyra Is
Keyra is a masked luchadora from Mexico City and a former AAA Reina de Reinas Champion who worked for AAA from 2018 before moving to CMLL this year. MLW’s release bills her as a striker who intends to spoil the debut and take the headlines for herself.
Blanchard, meanwhile, cut a video message from home on last Thursday’s Fusion, where Rich Bocchini also confirmed the SuperFight sellout. In MLW’s September announcement of her original signing she said she wasn’t coming to MLW to rest on the Blanchard name. Her CMLL résumé includes a World Women’s Tag Team Championship reign with Lluvia and the 2023 Grand Prix de Amazonas.
The match joins Killer Kross defending the MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Josh Bishop in a Last Man Standing match and The Good Brothers defending the World Tag Team Championship against Glasgow Boys On Top in a Chicago Street Fight. Saturday Night SuperFight is MLW’s first pay-per-view in seven years, priced at $19.99 in advance and $24.99 on the day of the show.
