10/12 MLW Fusion Report: Teddy Hart vs. Rich Swann, plus Brian Pillman Jr., Jimmy Yuta, Davey Boy Smith Jr., ACH, El Hijo De La Park

MLW FUSION – EPISODE 25
OCT. 12, 2018
TAPED IN FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA.
AIRED ON BE-IN SPORTS NETWORK
REPORT BY KRIS KARCHER, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Rich Bocchini

The MLW into aired.

The Fusion intro played.

Rich Bocchini previewed the main event between Teddy Hart and Rich Swann. 

They went to footage from earlier in the day, with Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr., and Brian Pillman Jr. backstage. Hart said that Rich Swann’s conclusion that kept him out of their last match was all part of the conspiracy against him. He said The Hart Foundation was going to take over MLW and anyone in their place will be taken down.

(1) Vandel Ortagun vs. Brian Pillman Jr. 

Pillman got in Octagons face before the match started and Ortagun pushed him away. Pillman stomped away at Ortagun in the corner and laughed maniacally. Pillman dominated Ortagun offensively hitting him with punches, kicks, and tossing him from corner to corner. Pillman hit a scoop side slam and then a knee to face for a two count. Pillman slowed things down and applied a side headlock to a seated Ortagun. Ortagun fought out and hit the ropes when Pillman tried to reapply the choke, Ortagun hit a jawbreaker. Ortagun hit a lung blower style maneuver he calls the Turkish twist for a two count. Ortagun climbed to the top rope but when Pillman charged at him he dove back into the ring and Pillman hit him with a spinning backhand. Pillman then hit a twisting neck breaker for the win. After the match, Teddy Hart acted as if he wanted to raise Ortagun’s hand but quickly tossed him out of the ring. 

WINNER: Brian Pillman Jr. 

(Karcher’s Analysis: Not much here. It was nice to see Pillman’s first singles match in MLW. I wasn’t blown away by the ring work from Pillman, but it wasn’t all that bad either. His character is holding my interest so I’ll give him some leeway in getting his in-ring work up to par.) 

A short promo aired advertising Rush coming to MLW. 

(2) Jimmy Yuta vs. El Hijo De La Park (w/ Salina de La Renta) 

This is LA Park’s son? Wow, I did not know that. The crowd was chanting “LA Park” The two exchanged some chain wrestling with Park getting the better of Yuta. More back and forth leads to a standstill between both men. Park takes over on offense and gives Yuta’s chest a hard slap. Yuta put Park in a crossbow submission but Park countered into a pinning attempt. Yuta hit a senton splash for a two count. The two men exchanged some more slaps with Park again winning the battle. Yuta slid out of the ring and Par followed him out by way of a suicide dive. Park took his belt off and whipped Yuta with it. Like father like son I suppose. No DQ? Okay. Park hit a backbreaker, German suplex combination for a two count. Another slap exchange; Yuta must enjoy pain. Yuta hits a superkick and then a dropkick off the ropes followed by a sit-down powerbomb for another two. Park traps Yuta in the corner, legs spread on the middle ropes, and Park hit a codebreaker from that position for a two. Park then went for the moonsault but missed, giving Yuta the chance to hit a side slam for the win. 

WINNER: Jimmy Yuta

(Karcher’s Analysis: Decent match. Very short but grading it on the Fusion curve it was a good match with some decent action. Some of Yuta’s movements could have been smoother but I don’t want to nitpick too much because in the grand scheme of things this was a bit of a throwaway match. Its only goal was to fill TV time and it accomplished that.)

They played a video, hyping the return of Stokley Hathaway. 

Schiavone previewed next weeks match between Tom Lawler and Shane Strickland. 

They showed a video from earlier in the week where Lawler was informed Strickland was not going to make it to the Press conference they were supposed to be doing. Lawler asked if he was stuck in traffic in Swerve City and said he wasn’t surprised. 

Both announcers previewed the upcoming Halloween Special on Fusion on Oct. 26. LA Park will take on PCO and Sami Callihan will take on Jimmy Havoc in a spin the wheel make the deal match. 

They went to a video of Jimmy Havoc. Havoc said Callihan was running away from him last time he saw him. He said he doesn’t care what type of match it is. Whatever it is Callihan is still going to be the one running. Havoc said he will use everything he can get his hands on to his advantage. He said Callihan will regret what he did to him. 

They went backstage where Kaci Lennox was interviewing Rich Swann and ACH. Lennox asked Swann how he feels about his upcoming match with Teddy Hart. Swann said everyone thought Rich Swann was finished when he got hurt in NYC. He said Teddy Hart cannot keep him down. He said Teddy and Fort Lauderdale will find out what it’s like to party all night long. He said he will always have ACH by his side in case The Hart Foundation tries any funny business. 

(3) Teddy Hart (w/ Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brain Pillman Jr.) vs. Rich Swann (w/ ACH) 

During Hart’s intro, they played a promo with all the members of The Hart Foundation standing backstage. Hart said like a fine wine he only gets better with age and Rich Swann was going to get to face the best Teddy Hart. He said Swann knows the end of the match will be him on the mat and them with their hands raised. Swann came out without ACH even though he said in his interview that he would be there to watch his back. Hart jumped Swann as he was pandering to the crowd and took over on offense, pounding away at Swann. Hart hit three consecutive lung blowers. Hart side slammed Swann hard and then disrespectfully kicked Swann in the face. Hart hit a backbreaker and then a spinning splash off the ropes for a two count. Hart then bear hugged Swann before grabbing Swann’s arm behind his back and DDTing him for another two counts. Hart hit a standing moonsualt for a two. Hart went to the top rope and went for a moonsualt but Swann got his feet up. Swann hit Hart with a dropkick and then a handspring cutter a two. Swann went to the top rope and hit a frog splash for a two count. Swann hit a fallaway slam but when he went for the cover Hart got his foot on the rope. Swann grinder his boot into Hart’s neck in the corner, but Hart had a very nice reversal into a leg lock. Swann hit a frankensteiner on the top rope sending Hart crashing to the mat. Hart rolled out of the ring and Swann hit a corkscrew suicide diver over the top rope onto hart. Smith Distracted Swann and the ref while Hart recovered and took back the advantage hitting a snap suplex on Swann onto the concrete floor. Hart grabbed one of the guardrails and laid it on its side. Hart took Swann up on the stage that acts as the entrance ramp and suplexed Swann another the wooden stage. Hart took Swann back to the ring and elbowed him in the throat. When Hart tried to toss Swann back onto the stage Swann handspring up onto the stage, super kicked Hart and then did a front flip dive onto Hart. The two brawled to the other side of the ring and Hart slammed Swann onto the guardrail leaving him laying on it. Hart then jumped up to the apron and hit a close legged spring moonsualt onto Swann on the guardrail. Hart placed Swann in between the ropes and hit a modified delayed piledriver. Swann was groggy on the apron. Hart went for a piledriver on the apron but Swann reversed and hit a DDT on Hart directly onto the apron. Smith threw Hart back into the ring and Swann immediately tried to capitalize hitting an awesome 450 frogsplash for a two. Swann then hit another 450 splash for another two count. Swann went to the top for a third time but Hart sprang up and tried to give Swann a huricanrana, but Swann rolled through into a sharpshooter. Hart was able to make it to the rope. Swann placed Hart on the top rope and Smith distracted the ref so Hart was able to low blow Swann. Hart then hit a huge lung blower for the win. 

WINNER: Teddy Hart

(Karcher’s Analysis: Good match. As usual, MLW comes through with the main event. I can’t say I’ve been enjoying Teddy Hart’s backstage promos or his character in general, but I cannot deny that the man has some serious talent in the ring. He uses the ropes to springboard into moves just as good as anyone out there. Swann is really talented as well. I really liked the spot where Swann flipped up onto the stage, super kicked Hart and then dove on top of him. Some innovative stuff there. This one was given the time it needed and was able to tell a loner (better) story in the ring. They had one really believable near fall when Swann hit the second 450 splash. Great match between these two and considering it ended the way it did I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing a rematch.) 

FINAL THOUGHTS: Good show. I’ll go with a 6.5 out of 10 this week. Again the first two matches didn’t really excite me much but they were decent TV filler and it was really exciting to see Pillman in action for the first time even if he did underwhelm a bit. Next week we have the huge showdown between Strickland and Lawler. That should be good and I haven’t heard any spoilers from that match so the intrigue is still full. That’s it for this week folks. Be sure to check back here next Friday night for another recap of MLW Fusion exclusively here on PWTorch.com. I’m Kris Karcher signing off until next week.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 10/5 MLW FUSION TV REPORT: Pentagon Jr. vs. LA Park, Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. ACH, Simon Gotch vs. Gangrel in Prize Fight Challenge