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MLW FUSION – EPISODE 45
FEBRUARY 16, 2019
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
AIRED ON BE-IN SPORTS NETWORK
REPORT BY KRIS KARCHER, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
Announcers: Rich Bocchini, Matt Striker
The MLW intro played.
A video package accompanied by @BLKWrecellence raping about the Hart Foundation.
They showed an H2TV segment with Davey Boy Smith Jr. Davey boy told everyone where he got his custom made shirt, and he even pointed at the globe to show everyone. He explained how he gets fitted for his shirts, and what it was made out of. He said Pillman was getting one too. Smith said he loves the Japanese culture and it has the lowest crime rate. He spoke a little Japanese. He said their technology is better than ours. He spoke briefly with a woman who was speaking Japanese. She pet his cat. I don’t think she knew who Davey Boy was.
The Fusion intro played.
Matt Striker and Rich Bocchini ran down the show, including MJF vs. Teddy Hart for the middleweight championship, The debut of Alexander Hammerstone.
They played a video sent in by Salena de La Renta where she made fun of the fans for asking her questions about the future of Promociones Dorado. She said she still holds the power, and she said that Low Ki has a contractually obligated rematch that he would be cashing in at Intimidation Games airing live on BeIn sports on March 2nd. She said Lawler isn’t going to want to see what happens to him and, if he wants, they can do to him what they did to Kotto Brazil. (blind him)
(1) Ace Austin vs. Rich Swann.
They Swann talked about his glasses and his jacket and said when he enters the room the party follows and there is nothing but electricity going through your body so get ready to party all night long. That sounded like a babyface promo, yet the announcers are framing Swann as a heel. Interesting. Swann and Austin start with a stare down. Swann offers his hand to shake but pulls it away and does a split instead. They tie up and exchange holds while chain wrestling back and forth. Very briefly, a graphic popped up on the screen. When I say very briefly I mean less than a half a second. Im assuming they meant for it to be a subliminal type message. I had to go back and pause the video at the exact moment just to make sure I wasn’t crazy. In case you missed it, the graphic was two swords with the word Contra written over it. Not sure what this means but I am intrigued. Austin attemtped a flying headscissors, but Swann was able to land on his feet. Swann then atempted a tiltawhirl headscissor of his own but Austin landed on his feat. They did a series of simultanious dropkicks. Swann then layed on the top rope, not taking Austin seriously. Swann hits Austin with a knee to the gut to take offensive control hitting Ace with chops to the chest. Striker pointed out why wrestlers prefere to chop instead of punch. He claims that it protects your hands more because you can break your hand with a close fist punch. I like the announcers pointing this out. Austin fought back but Swann raked the eyes. Austin took out Swann’s legs and hit a spinning kick to Swann’s back, then a drop kick to the chest. Austin followed that up with a splash in the corner. Austin hopped up to the top turnbuckle, but Swann shoved him down to the floor. Swann tossed Austin back inside the ring. The two exchanged a series of chops and kicks, including a simultainious bicycle kick that sent both men into the corner. Swann charged Austin but Austin able to avoid the oncmming Swann and hit a springboard knee strike. Austin went tot he top turnbuckle and hit a reverse splash on Swann for the win. There was some wonkyness with the count during the pinfall. It looked as if the ref pulled up and stopped himself from making the three count, but Swann never lifted his shoulder. It honestly looked like he never even tired. The ref had to awkwardly count an additional time for the three. The finish was dead and the crowd even booed.
WINNER: Ace Austin.
After the match, Swann attacked the referee just as Rich Bocchini was about to interview Swann. Swann then got into a fans face at ringside. Bocchini asked Swann why he has been so different lately and Swann attacked him too. Someone in the crowd was chanting for Striker. Swann then roughed up the ring announcer and threw a chair. He slapped his butt as the fans booed him.
(Karcher’s Analysis: Not much to this one. Never really picked up as far as the action went, and no story was being told as far as I could tell. The announcing from Striker was probbly my favorite part of this match. Striker has really impressed me on MLW TV so far. Every time he is on I feel like I notice him going the extra mile to explain something in detail that is either interesting or adds to the story being told in the ring. Great job Stirker. The botched finish really hurt the end of the match but I’m not sure if the audience was all that into the match, to begin with. As I said it never really turned the corner into a good match. I liked the post angle with Swann showing a side of himself you don’t typically get to see.)
(2) Alexander Hammerstone vs. Ariel Dominguez
They aired a picture in picture promo from Hammerstone. He said it doesn’t matter what you’ve seen before at MLW because the future just arrived. Hammerstone grabbed Dominguez by the throat and threw him into the corner. Dominguez attempted an arm drag, but Hammerstone was too strong. Hammerstone hit a running boot the face. Hammerstone hit a delayed inside out german suplex. Hammerstone stalked Dominguez and then began to hammer away on him. Hammertone hit a pump handle release fallaway slam on Dominguez. The crowd chanted one more time and Hammerstone faked as if he was going to repeat the move but shoved Dominguez down and yelled at the fans you don’t run my match. Hammerstone lifted Dominguez up for a suplex but Dominguez slipped out. Hammerstone caught Dominguez with an elbow as Dominguez attempted a springboard maneuver. Hammerstone then hit his Nightmare Engine.
WINNER: Alexander Hammerstone.
(Karcher’s Analysis: Pretty standard squash match here. You’ve got a big guy who may or may not be capable of some athleticism. Then you match that guy up with someone who looks like they have zero chance whatsoever at winning. What exactly did we gain from that? We did get to see Hammerstone’s finisher though so that’s good. To be clear I’m not against squash matches, but I don’t really see the point in using a guy like Dominguez to get that across. Why not put in some local talent that at least looks like they might stand a chance in the match. It just doesn’t do much for me when someone beats a man who I might even be able to take. They did try to account for his martial arts training with the commentary.)
They announced Tom Lawler vs. Low Ki will be a steel cage match with the title on the line. The Lucha Bros will also be in action, taking on Taurus and Laredo Kid.
They aired a video of Mance Warner cutting some sort of a promo. I honestly can’t even recap what he said because I couldn’t really understand him. I think that was intentional. though. I did catch that he was drinking some light beers and he mention ML-dub.
They announced next week Aerostar will take on Rey Horus.
They aired a video package highlighting last years Battle Riot and announcing the return of Battle Riot coming to New York City on April 5th.
(3) Teddy Hart (c) vs. MJF – MLW Middleweight Championship
MJF cut a promo before the match. The crowd chanted shut the F up before MJF even started speaking. MJF introduced himself and said he was the youngest and fastest rising star in professional wrestling today. He made fun of ECW. He said if you like ECW, you’re white trash. He said Teddy Hart doesn’t deserve the fans chants because he is the real champion and they should be chanting MJF. He called Hart a jailbird and told him to grab his nuts if he can find them, and leave The Hart Foundation backstage for once. He said he is better than him and he knows it. Hart came out with his cat. Hart flipped off MJF and they blurred the image. Hart put his cat on the turnbuckle. It looked pretty funny actually. Finally, the bell rings. Hart offered his hand to shake but MJF shoved Hart away. Hart jumped on the turnbuckle and pandered to the crowd. MJF tried the same but got booed by the crowd. Hart pulled down MJF’s shorts as he was on the turnbuckle. Hart tried the same thing a second time and MJF jumped Hart from behind. MJF tossed Hart outside of the ring and Hart apparently hit the barricade with his head according to Bocchini. As Hart got back into the ring, MJF jumped Hart and then hit a throwaway suplex for a two count. MJF applied a headlock. Striker made a case for the legitimacy of a headlock. This one wasn’t as great as his closed fist pitch. Hart was audibly cursing and had to be bleeped out. MLW might want to be careful putting him on any live shows. This was a really long headlock. MJF told Hart he sucks and said MJF was the real champ. Hart was able to escape the headlock, but MJF regained control with a rake to the eyes. Hart hit a code red after standing on MJF’s back. That got Hart a two count. Hart hit a lungblower then a springboard moonsault for a two count. Hart worked MJF in the corner, hitting uppercuts and elbows. MJF hit a double stomp on Hart’s arm. MJF hit a DDT through the ropes for a two count. MJF transitioned into a Fujiwara armbar. MJF bit Harts hand while the ref wasn’t looking. Hart got to the ropes. MJF hit Hart with a chop to the throat and placed him on the top turnbuckle. Hart fought back and gave MJF a wedgie. Yes, you read that correctly. Hart then hit a code red jumping off the turnbuckle. MJF’s momentum sent him colliding with the referee. Hart hit a hammerlock DDT and got the visual three count on MJF, but the ref was still unconscious. MJF got a steel chair from under the ring, but Hart was able to kick MJF in the crotch before he could use it. Hart then used the chair on MJF and hit an electric chair lungblower. Hart then revived the ref and hit a springboard moonsualt on MJF for the win.
WINNER: Teddy Hart.
Kassey Lennox was waiting backstage waiting to interview Hart after his match. As Hart tried to gather his breath, he was attacked by Richard Holliday, who was soon joined by MJF. Hart tried to fight back but was overpowered. MJF hit Hart with a trashcan and then launched him into a garage door. Where was The Heart Foundation?
(Karcher’s Analysis: Good match here. Lot’s of really great crowd heat for both Hart and MJF. Some good spots from Hart as usual and some great character work from MJF. It wasn’t a classic or anything, but it was good enough to fill a TV main event. I like the angle after the match and thought the beatdown was really well done. This should lead to a feud between MJF with Holliday vs. The Hart Foundation. Hart was claiming his ribs were broken as well, so maybe he will sit out this feud and Pillman and Smith can tag against the heels.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This show, as with most of the recent episodes, seemed to be largely centered around the Hart Foundation. I like that. I think those three guys might be MLW’s biggest card to play at this point. A lot of their talent can be seen in other promotions. The Hart Foundation and Lawler seem to be the few guys that are almost exclusively wrestling for MLW. It’s a smart move to accentuate what you have that others don’t. I will caution them however, because Teddy Hart is a bit of a risk on the mic, and too much of him could get old fast. I’m not saying it has reached that level just yet, but it is something i’d like to keep an eye on going forward. Maybe less H2TV skits. Even that i’m not so sure of as some of those skits are pretty entertaining. Overall another decent episode of MLW. Definitly worth 52 minutes of your time if your looking for some decent wrestling that keeps it simple and doesnt overcomplicate things. While the wrestling wasn’t much to write hokme about this week I do think some of the storyline advances where worth tuning in for. Swann as a heel is developing nicely and the angle as the end of the show shoudl set up a big fued moving forward. That’s does it for me today.
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 2/8 MLW Fusion TV Report: Sandman & Dreamer vs. Pillman & Davey Boy Jr., DJZ vs. Myron Reed, Gringo Loco vs. Puma King
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