Last week on MLW Fusion: Fred Yehi picked up a win over Richard Holliday, PCO defeated Homicide in a fun match that was hurt by Matt Strikers commentary and The Lucha Bros. were able to defend their tag team championships vs. Ray Horus and an injured Drago.
Cold Open
A look into the history of War Games in MLW and what brought War Games back to the company. It’s a violent build between Sami Callihan and Shane Strickland’s teams.
Both teams get promo time about how they are ready to win and have confidence to win.
Rich and Tony welcome us to the show and I am so relieved. This is the team I thoroughly enjoy. Matt Striker is great at times but other times his style is so grating that I can barely stand to listen to it.
Low Ki and Salina are questioned on who the next competitor for the MLW championship is and they answer in a lot of Spanish. Tommy Dreamer accidentally bumps into Low Ki.
A word from The Hart Foundation’s Teddy Hart and Brian Pillman Jr. They say that they have wrestling in their blood and their families names have been tarnished in the industry. They feel like their families are laughing stocks and The Hart Foundation is here to put respect back on the name.
PCO cuts a weird ass promo.
War Games
Shane Stickland, Tommy Dreamer, Kotto Brazil, John Hennigan and Barrington Hughes vs. Sami Callihan, Jimmy Havoc, Abyss and Death Machine
War Games is a double ring elimination cage match. There are no pinfalls, count outs or disqualifications. The match ends after all the men enter the match and someone surrenders or submits.
Kotto Brazil comes out first for Strickland’s team. Fulton, who is a member of Death Machine is the first one out for Callihan’s team.
Fulton tries to enter the ring but Kotto is having none of it and dives at Fulton through the cage door and through a table. Fulton goes into the ring and Brazil tries to follow with a dive but Fulton catches him like a baby.
Fulton used to be known as Sawyer Fulton while in NXT. He was a member of Sanity. After Fulton was injured and cut from NXT, Sanity went on to compete in NXT/WWE’s first War Games. Now Fulton is in this War Games.
The story for the first five minutes is Fulton tearing Brazil limb from limb. One difference between MLW War Games and NXT War Games is the middle part of the two rings. On NXT War Games the space between the rings has metal over it connecting the two rings. The MLW one has an open space, it feels more dangerous.
John Hennigan is the next man out meaning Strickland’s team will have the one man advantage. It doesn’t really count as an advantage because Kotto was destroyed and can’t really help.
Jimmy F’n Havoc comes out and immediately starts paper cutting people. It’s so cringy! I love how the things that get the biggest reaction in regards to pain is the stuff that we can imagine happening. No one really can imagine what a slam or suplex feels like, but we’ve all had paper cuts.
Fulton and Havoc have the advantage here because Kotto is still out on his feet. The intervals for entrances are very quick and makes the match very entertaining. My cousin is watching this with me, he is a casual wrestling fan. He usually will watch WWE for a few minutes before leaving the room. He has been next to me since the beginning of the match and is immersed in it. Reacting to the stories and spots.
Shane Strickland’s music hits and while making his entrance. Callihan comes out and jumps Swerve. Now this match is complete chaos because we don’t know who should come out next because Sami is in the ring and Shane is being tended to by MLW offcials.
Sami is decimating Kotto and screams “VIOLENCE FOR THE SAKE OF VIOLENCE.” As Jimmy chokes Hennigan, Tommy Dreamers music hits and it looks like Tommy is coming into War Games with enough weapons to fight the three men he has to fight. Dreamer uses the plunder to take all of Callihan’s team out quickly.
Jimmy Havoc gets busted open and all men are giving and taking punishment. Leon Scott enters the fray with a baseball bat and drops it instantly! Later Callihan picks up the bat and starts using it. I love the creative way this has been booked. Usually the joke with War Games is that the heels always get the one man advantage. MLW switched it up and gave it to the face team. Then worked the match in a way where the heels still have the advantage.
Barrington Hughes comes out next to a huge pop. Hughes grabs a kendo stick and whales away on Leon Scott. The two biggest men in the match are fighting back and forth. Barrington has yet to be taken off his feet.
Abyss is the last entrance into War Games. Now The Match Beyond has begun. The energy in the crowd and the match has picked up. The ringside announcer tells us that this match has begun and we get two chants one of “War” and one of “Dusty”. Which is just tremendous.
Barrington is now having a strike battle with Abyss. Everyone in the match starts to brawl and Kotto jumps off the top of the cage onto everyone. Fulton got cut under his eye and is bleeding all over his mouth as well. The cut looks pretty deep too.
People start hitting submissions and submissions on submissions. We legit have a submission centipede.
This match is everything. Fulton is stuck inbetween the rings, Jimmy is bleeding all over, tables are broken and Abyss is put into some thumbtacks by Kotto Brazil. Dreamer reverses Havoc to make Jimmy hit Sami and Kotto gives Tommy Dreamer some barbed wire. THEY WRAP THE BARBED WIRE around Barrington Hughes.
Barrington splashes on to Fultons back and then Kotto and Barrington wrap the barbed wire around Fulton and Fulton’s cut… Fulton taps out… Holy Shit.
Havoc and Callihan get into a war of words and some slaps and pushes over losing. Callihan does the thumbs up/thumbs down on Jimmy as the show goes off the air.
Well this match did not disappoint in the slightest. This shit was gruesome, tough to watch. Shane Strickland never came back into the match and his team still won. I can’t say enough about it, just click play on the bottom of the page and enjoy yourself.
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