Last week on MLW Fusion: Teddy Hart was set up by The Dynasty and was taken to jail for vandalism. Davey Boy Jr. went to go bail out Teddy, leaving Brian Pillman Jr. alone to wrestle The Dynasty’s Hammerstone. Myron Reed and Gringo Loco wrestled a good match, the story was more at the end of the match when Reed pushed a referee and got suspended just like Rich Swann. Hammerstone beat Pillman Jr. then The Dynasty destroyed Teddy Hart’s jewelry. Mance Warner and LA Park put on a hell of a show in a death match. Everyone should go watch that shit.
Cold Open
First thing we see is Salina De La Renta and El Hijo De LA Park walking in a hotel hallway while Salina is on the phone. El Hijo looks whiter than normal. Salina says that “we’re back bitch.” About Promociones De La Renta.
Ariel Dominguez vs. Daga
- Low Ki is on commentary!! He is ridiculous with his voice and delivery.
- Daga and Low Ki are gonna have a match. There is heat there because Low Ki “ripped open Daga’s cauliflower ear”. When the spot happened live, Twitter blew up thinking that it was real. Not until the actual episode aired, did people realize it was worked.
- Ariel looks like a teenage boy in comparison to Daga. So Daga is looking like a star and wrestling Ariel prepares him for Low Ki.
- Daga can really work a fucking headlock. I was surprised to even enjoy a headlock, but Daga makes it look like he is actually applying pressure.
- The crowd is paying attention, but not making much noise. Reminds me of a 205 Live crowd. Meaning, the fans appreciate the wrestling, but have no connection to the characters in the ring. This is Daga’s second match in MLW and I don’t think the live crowd was reminded about what happened during his first match.
- Low Ki really brings the energy down on commentary, and the lack of crowd energy really makes this match a slog to get through.
- The pace is picking up, and there is someone beating a drum in the crowd. Adding a little extra sauce to the match, the crowd is waking up and Low Ki is actually showing interest in the match. Having the drum background during the match is something I’ve never witnessed in wrestling before, and it’s wonderful. It’s almost tribal and really adds to the match.
- Dominguez is trying his hardest to gain an advantage but Daga is too big and too heavy. The crowd has died down again, and sadly, so has the drums.
- Daga hits a suspended DDT for the win. The crowd reacts right when the match is over, but they don’t react much.
And I’m Like… That match happened. Did not build any excitement really and even the “altercation” with Low Ki after the match didn’t have much heat. If Daga was really pissed, he wouldn’t have wrestled the match first. The crowd was chanting for Daga though. That was a “wait and see where it goes” segment for me.
Last week Salina was going to give an interview after LA Parks win, but Mancer just jumped Park. Park was with five other dudes, but Ol’ Mancer don’t care. This makes Mancer so endearing.
Myron Reed cuts a selfie promo. He shows more character than most MLW promos. I really dig it. It makes me miss Jason Cade for some reason. It’s weird they devote so much TV time to wrestlers and then never show them again. Myron’s promo gets cut off while he was wilding out. Basically cutting a promo on Teddy Hart and how Reed wants the Middleweight championship.
The Hart Foundation cuts a promo in some hallway. You can tell it was before the arrest because there was no mention of it. Teddy gets arrested, Pillman gets beaten down and the jewelry gets smashed. Yet, all the Hart Foundation talked about was “this is about wrestling”, mentioning how long they have been wrestling and stuff. Really disjointed if you are following the story, which you should be because MLW has reminded us twice this episode. Not the finest piece of work.
Ricky Martinez w/ Salina De La Renta vs. Air Wolf
- FUCKING AIR WOLF!! I’m Minnesota born and raised and Air Wolf has only been wrestling for maybe two years. Dude has blown up on the scene, so excited to see him on MLW. Can’t wait til his brother Angel Dorado shows up as well. These brothers are not even 40 with their combined ages. I haven’t been this pumped for a wrestler since Ol’ Mancer debuted!
- Arik Cannon should get a match for MLW.
- Salina comes out with Ricky, Salina does not look too happy.
- While I think of it, check out Air Wolf vs. Ethan Page from F1rst Wrestling.
- Air Wolf theme song is very 80’s and triumphant. I like it.
- Air Wolf doesn’t wait for the bell, he starts the match with his t-shirt on. Commentary is talking up Air Wolf a lot. Saying he is 19 and lots of mentions of the Twin Cities and the Academy of Professional Wrestling. Man, this gets me in a good mood.
- The crowd is popping for Air Wolf. Dude can do great dives and his strikes look fantastic. Whooo boy!
- Air Wolf goes to jump on the barricade and Ricky trips Wolf up. Air Wolf cracks the back of his head on the guard rail and that really turned the tide of the match.
- Wrestling’s horniest wrestler, Ricky Martinez is doing his super hump leg scissors move.
- There was a weird slingshot suplex spot, it looked like a “botch” but the move was completed. Jim Cornette explained it as Air Wolf trying to fight out of the suplex, adding a lot of realism to the match.
- This might be Ricky Martinez’ best match I’ve seen on MLW. The crowd is reacting to both competitors offense. This is cool shit.
- Air Wolf and Martinez are in the midst of a strike battle, Martinez drops to the bottom rope and Air Wolf hits the “Mystery-Low” which I wish was called the “612”.
- Air Wolf went on the top rope to do a moonsault of sorts, Ricky kicked Air Wolf’s leg out of his leg and Air Wolf landed on his damn head. Like if Air Wolf hated his neck and brain, that is the exact move he would do to show the hatred. It was B-R-U-T-A-L.
- Martinez grabbed Air Wolf by the neck and then did a pop up knee to the face. Ricky gets the win.
And I’m Like… Got damn. That match was good as hell. Air Wolf had two huge bumps that looked like it screwed up his damn month. Ricky was there every step of the way and this was good shit all around. The only negative thing of note, and it’s really all in how you view a puckered butt hole, but Air Wolf’s mouth design, looks like a puckered butt hole.
Contra Unit rehash of the episode where they tore through everyone and caused a riot. The way the Contra Unit promo’s are kind of throw me off. I’ll probably get used to them.
Hammerstone cuts a promo that needs a bit of work. You can tell that he kind of doesn’t have a concise message to say. Just saying typical wrestling words. The interesting bit is when MJF tries to speak but Hammerstone cuts him off. Holliday is used to being the background guy so he is totally fine, but MJF, MJF is not used to being out of the spotlight. He and Holliday are in suits while Hammerstone is in a red leather jacket. I see MJF eventually turning on Hammerstone after Hammerstone gets a bit more seasoned. Very intriguing dynamic.
Tom Lawlor has a promo about his one loss in MLW to Jimmy Havoc in a deathmatch. That match had Jimmy legit gushing blood out of his arm, it was crazy, like a fountain. So Havoc was taken out of MLW by Lawlor, and Lawlor is the champion now, who only lost to Jimmy Havoc. TREMENDOUS STORYLINE!!
Daga gets a promo outside of the arena. Daga is only in MLW to end Low Ki.
The camera cuts onto Salina De La Renta saying “What” like she was Lil’ Jon. I had to replay it three times cause it cracked me up so much. Salina is told that El Hijo De LA Park is missing and she reports the news to LA Park. LA Park says he will handle it, Salina doesn’t need to worry.
MLW Middleweight Championship
Myron Reed vs. Teddy Hart (c)
- Myron Reed with the #FreeSwann gag over his mouth. Loving the energy Reed brings to the ring. His theme song mixed with the attitude is such a fuckin shmood and I love it.
- The Hart Foundation are the biggest stars of the company. They get the biggest reactions, have the most belts, they are MLW.
- Pour one out for Teddy’s glitter gear. I loved the taping where Teddy wrestled first and every wrestler for the rest of the night was covered in glitter.
- Myron is relaxed and cocky on the turnbuckle watching Teddy enter the ring. Then Reed told the ref to check for hidden objects on Teddy’s tights. Which is funny because the ref doesn’t disqualify anyone for using weapons.
- Teddy Hart’s ribs are taped up. He is our generations DDP.
- The crowd responds to everything Teddy does. The drum is banging and the air horn is blowing, this is a damn scene right now. This is the type of energy only MLW can bring you.
- Myron Reed’s selling is top notch. When Teddy hits a powerslam, Myron bug-eyes during the sell, adding so much more to the move.
- Teddy’s matches are all about him hitting crazy moves, and Myron’s selling makes Hart’s moves look that much more devastating.
- It’s crazy that Myron is the heel and Hart is the face because all that is happening is that Teddy is whipping Myron’s ass so bad, he is hurting himself.
- Teddy’s only damage that he has taken in the first half of the match has been self inflicted.
- Myron finally steps up on offense and takes Teddy’s shirt off so he can focus more on the ribs. Myron showboats instead of continuing the punishment. Teddy does a front turnbuckle bump as well as his uncle.
- Myron Reed is a hell of a talent.
- Teddy Hart’s selling the past few matches has been stellar too. When he first arrived, it was no emotion and just high impact move after high impact move. Now most matches are built around Teddy fighting for his fucking life and still hitting some high impact moves. This type of Teddy Hart match is phenomenally better than the other.
- The crowd noise is building as the crowd is showing support for Teddy. Hart can’t even get a submission in because of how bad his ribs are. The crowd is right there cheering for him to fight through though.
- Myron is capitalizing, but still takes time to showboat a bit. If Myron was focused and had his head in the game, he would have this match won.
- Teddy hits a wonderful double hammerlock DDT, but doesn’t get the win because Teddy can only put his elbow on Reed to pin him.
- Hart went for a moonsault but Myron got the knees up. Teddy kicked out of the pin and Myron started picking a fight with the ref. Not focusing on Teddy, who was able to get a backslide pin, which is crazy cause out of all the flash pins, that uses the ribs the most.
And I’m Like… As good as Myron Reed is, this match was really Teddy Hart vs. Teddy Hart’s injuries. Myron never had a chance until Teddy hurt himself. Hart really puts on quite a damn performance. This was some good shit all around.
The episode was pretty good, there was a tremendous debut, a bland match and a great match. Real mixed bag, but one of the better ones.
Before the show goes off the air, Salina and LA Park are backstage. Salina wants to prove that her faction is back on track. Hijo shows up and starts punching the shit out of Park!! IT’S MANCER!!! WHAT A SHOCK ENDING!! God Mancer is the fucking greatest.
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