MLW Fusion Recap Episode 69: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher

Last Week On MLW Fusion: Bestia 666 and Mance Warner had a “death match” that Ol’ Mancer lost after some powder to the eyes. Georgia Smith is now fucking Hammerstone, to the dismay of her brother Davey Boy Smith Jr. Konnan is threatening revenge porn on Salina De La Renta, which is what babyfaces in MLW do. Low Ki actually had to struggle to defeat Ricky Martinez, mainly so the revenge porn angle had time to develop. Contra Unit and The Von Erichs brawled all over the ring and into the backstage area, SWAT cops were called and Jacob Fatu beat them up. Tom Lawlor said that he’d fight Contra Unit in the War Chamber before the brawl even happened, which set up the War Chamber match. So MLW editing was par for the course as well.

Cold Open

A recap of the “death match” from last week. Shows Mancer getting powdered and Muscle Bustered through chairs. Then we see a recap of the Contra/Von Erich war. Von Erich’s won after dodging a fireball and then the crazy brawl ensued.

TONY SCHIAVONE IS BACK!!! That means I don’t have to watch this on mute anymore!

Jimmy Yuta vs. Low Ki

• We see recaps of all of Low Ki’s matches lately where he just knocks fuckers out.
• This is a new set of tapings, the same arena that their Wrestlemania weekend show was in. That taping felt like it lasted forever. The ring looks smaller too.
• So that GIF at the top of the match recap? Yeah, that was the whole match.

And I’m Like… The crowd didn’t react at all to the match. A “Low Ki” chant after the match, but, yeah. Low Ki cuts a promo after the match and says to stay tuned because he has a lot of unfinished business. That was a super lackluster segment.

Tom Lawlor challenges Contra Unit to a War Chamber match. This match will be 4-on-4, so Contra needs another member. September 7th is the date of the War Chamber.

War Chamber is War Games but with one ring. It’s exactly War Games but just one ring. I think it’s because MLW sold the rights of War Games to WWE.

Recap of Mancer fucking with Salina De La Renta, then it shows that Konnan stole Salina’s phone and hacked into it. Camera cuts to Konnan and Salina having a confrontation backstage with Jimmy Havoc watching. Konnan makes Salina book a match between Jimmy Havoc and LA Park.

The Dynasty get a new series called “Lifestyles of the Rich and Dynastic”. It starts with MJF cutting down Ariya Blake for scratching his neck. Then they are talking about buying a Porsche by standing across the street of the dealership. They also told Hammerstone they will get him clean piss. Because steroids.

MLW and Pro Wrestling Noah now have a working agreement so Hammerstone is gonna wrestle in Noah for a bit.

Spirit Squad Open Workout

• Ken Doane is a next level heel. Does great work at House of Hardcore and Beyond Wrestling. Mikey Mondo is super annoying and blowing a whistle like crazy. Mikey looks a little bigger than normal but Ken is in such good shape.
• They say that the tag division sucks. Rip on Hart Foundation and Von Erichs. They issue an open challenge.

The Von Erichs vs. Spirit Squad

• This wasn’t a match. Von Erich’s New Jack’d it and just beat up the Squad while their music played. It went on for a couple of minutes too. It’s definitely different.
• I think this was a match though because the ref counted pinfalls. The Von Erich music just kept playing until the Claw/Back Suplex double team move. The crowd responded after the finish. You can tell Schiavone is trying to get back into whatever is going on.

Contra Unit comes out sans Jacob Fatu. So now Contra’s music is playing the whole time.. I don’t know what to make of this!!! Then the newest member of Contra Unit appeared and the commentary team don’t know what hs name is. Marshall Von Erich is blinded by the mist from the newest member of Contra.

And I’m Like… I guess a Von Erich is bleeding from his eyes? This was some weird shit. I think I like it? It’s just so different than anything on wrestling right now, so that’s cool. There seems to be no structure. MLW has yet to name the Contra dude. But, we now know the four Contra members.

We come back to Chicago with Cornette again 🙁

Gringo Loco vs. Zenshi

• So… due to the craziness of the Low Ki match being so quick and the Contra attack, we have to go to an unaired match from the Chicago taping.
• Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed walk through the crowd with “Justice Justice Justice” written on their sign. I’m soo thrown off right now by everything that has happened over the past twenty minutes.
• Cornette says the neighborhood they are in is so bad that when you leave the ring you could have your pockets picked.
• Zenshi is doing a bunch of crazy gymnastic inspired moves. Lots of shots of the crowd in between. That usually means the action in the ring was off so they just shoot the crowd to make the edit’s to the match.
• Gringo Loco hit a spinning tombstone and won in under five minutes.

And I’m Like… This show is super ADD right now. There is zero time to let anything breath.

We see the video of Hammerstone and Georgia Smith kissing in an elevator. Then we get Davey Boy Jr. asked about the “video all over Twitter”. Davey says he is focused on Timothy Thatcher. Which of course he should be. This is the most hyped I’ve been for an MLW match since One Shot.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher

• Outside of Ron Simmons, when I think of what a man is, I think of Timothy Thatcher. This match is gonna be bonkers.
• Thatcher and DBS slap hands to start the match, they are both proficient in catch wrestling and strike hard. This match is gonna be what the AWA called a “scientific match”. Which is my exact jam.
• Thatcher gets the better of Davey in two successive ground wrestling sequences.
• Davey is able to get a hammerlock on while Thatcher was face down on the ground. Davey has zoned in on the arm, this will hamper everything Thatcher tries to do from here on out.
• Timothy was able to get a heel hook and transition to a single leg crab. Both men are very plodding and methodical. The crowd seems more into it than any match previous.
• Dave had to kick Thatcher hard in the face twice just to get some space between the two. Davey cannot get far enough away to avoid the leg submissions. It’s hard to really capture the intensity in this match. The body movements and facial expressions really make this match. I can see where some wouldn’t like this style but the MLW crowd is duel chanting while the wrestlers try to gain leverage on the mat.
• Thatcher applies an ankle lock and Davey thinks about tapping, but bites his hand and powers out of it. Then DBS tranistions into a sharpshooter but can’t fully apply it before Thatcher gets to the ropes.
• A strike battle takes place after both men had their share of submissions. The strike battle doesn’t last long before each man tries to pin the other. Backslides and small packages get near falls. Davey and Thatcher mimic the Summerslam 92 IC Championship finish.
• After a fish out of water spot, the crowd chants “MLW”.
• Another strike battle and the crowd is getting louder. Smith is able to win that round by finishing the battle with rolling German’s.
• Thatcher does a standing switch and hits a German himself. Then Davey reverses and continues his rolling German’s.
• DBS almost wins the match with a Tiger Suplex pinning combination. Thatcher kicks out and is able to get an arm bar in. Davey tris to power out but Timothy transitions into a triangle hold.
• DBS is able to powerbomb Thatcher while the triangle is applied and then put a crossface on Timothy. That makes Thatcher tap out and the crowd gives both men a standing ovation.

And I’m Like… That was a fucking wrestling clinic. End of story. If you were a fan of the Beyond Wrestling “look ma no fans” early years, you will dig this match so much.

Georgia comes out to interview Davey. DBS thanks the fans for cheering for him, then looks at Georgia, then mentions Alexander Hammerstone. DBS says it’s just mind games and they aren’t working on him. He is gonna beat Hammerstone with the crossface chicken wing.

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