Tom Lawlor Free Agent

Since the relaunch of Major League Wrestling in 2018, there have been three names that helped carry the banner for the promotion and rebuild the new image. Those three names are Jacob Fatu, Alexander Hammerstone, and "Filthy" Tom Lawlor. From the standpoint of telling the MLW story I will save that for another article that is just meant to focus on Tom Lawlor. Timing is everything in wrestling and Lawler had been released from his contract with UFC on August 13, 2018, two months before his suspension was set to end. 

In a quote taken from an MMAsports.com article Lawlor had this to say regarding his release: "While the timing is unexpected, hopefully this opens the doors for me to continue with my mixed martial arts career as well as in the squared circle (squared circle is an old term for pro wrestling)." Lawlor had likely been eyeing up moving to pro-wrestling after his two year suspension from MMA and thought it was now or never. As I mentioned though, timing is everything in pro-wrestling and within less than a year of being granted his release from UFC he not only made the move to pro-wrestling, but became a World Champion. 

Tom Lawlor would become one of the first homegrown stars for MLW since the relaunch the year before and he gave some instant credibility to the still developing brand. As I mentioned in the past with regards to my lacking coverage of ROH in the past I know I could've easily not given MLW it's own tab, but I thought with regards to who left the promotion it was fitting. Lawlor is currently the Strong Openweight Champion in New Japan so at least we know where he'll be headed next, but he joins the list of proven draws on the free agent market. Lawlor has not only made a smooth transition to the world of pro-wrestling, but helped establish MLW as one of the more underrated promotions in wrestling today.