MLW FUSION HITS & MISSES 4/10: The Dynasty, Cornette on commentary, Contra Faction, Salina de La Renta

HITS & MISSES MLW FUSION EPISODE 51
MARCH 30, 2019
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
AIRED ON BE-IN SPORTS NETWORK
REPORT BY KRIS KARCHER, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay in reviews recently. Life get’s crazy sometimes. To help keep my sanity, we at PWTorch have decided to switch up the format of my MLW Fusion reviews. Instead of reviewing each and every move, I’m going to write about two or three things I think the show does well and two or three things they didn’t do so well or left some room for improvement. I hope you all enjoy the new format and, hopefully, this will allow me to get these reviews done in a more timely manner.

• Daga beats Ariel Dominguez
• Rickey Martinez beats Air Wolf
• Teddy Hart defends the MLW Middleweight championship against Myron Reed

HITS

Salina de La Renta: La Renta is consistently one of the best parts of this show. In many ways, she is my favorite piece of the puzzle. Her backstage promos are always excellent. He brings a fire and a believability to what she says and you just love to hate her and her hired guns. I love the idea of a heel manager that just uses wrestlers to accomplish her own goals, and disposing of that talent when they no longer serve her needs. She has done wonders for guys like La Park and Rickey Martinez that need help on the mic, but she has also helped elevate Low Ki even though he can cut his own promos. She is also fantastic at ringside. If you watch her at ringside she is always on. She is constantly in position and doing exactly what a manager should do, anything and everything to give her wrestler an advantage. To top it off she is very easy on the eyes, and it looks like she is some kind of sudo-celebrity in Mexico judging by the tabloid covers I have seen recently online.

The Dynasty: I am loving this new tag team. I have already been a huge fan of MJF but was never really sold on Richard Halliday or Alexander Hammerstone. To be fair, I hadn’t been exposed to either of those two much at all. What little I had seen of either of them left much to be desired. Yet somehow in this new faction, I think their weaknesses might be masked by the sheer charisma of MJF at their side. Sure, none of these men are going to be putting on four-star matches anytime soon, but with their sneaky heel beatdowns and focused intense promos, these guys can get some real crowd heat. MJF is a superstar who can hold his own inside the ring and is one of the best young talents on the mic. I have literally never seen this guy out of character. He even stays in character in Kenny Johnson’s documentary on him, which I highly recommend you watch for free on youtube if you haven’t.

Jim Cornette: I honestly switched back and forth between putting Cornette in the hits and the misses sections. That’s how split I am on Corny. On one hand, I see the value in Cornette. He is a familiar voice that is going to attract a segment of wrestling fans that have been slowly falling off over the past 20 years because of the direction of the product. MLW is trying to bring a more sport-like feel to their product and Cornette is a good choice to convey that sentimentality. That being said, I just don’t like the guy as a person. I’ve listened to way too many of his podcasts or interviews where he was very disrespectful to his colleagues. The way Cornette responded to the Vince Russo situation a few years ago was embarrassing. Cornette was way out of line with his personal attacks on Russo as a person. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who doesn’t even like Russo. My feelings on Russo aside, Cornette is just a nasty, mean-spirited person from what I have seen online. I’ve seen him get into Internet fights with fans, which is very unbecoming of someone in his position who should be taking the high road. As you can tell by the placement in the hits section, I do believe Cornette’s announcing is an overall “plus” for the product. It’s going to get some extra eyes on the product and he’s doing a decent job so far. I just wish Cornette wasn’t such a turd.

MISSES

Daga vs. Ariel Dominguez: This was not a great match. It had some decent action throughout, but it was very sloppy at times, and it just took Daga way too long to beat someone who is typically used as a jobber is very short matches. I’m not against putting Daga in a squash match to try and heat him up and showcase his abilities ahead of the match against Low Ki at Battle Riot II. I am, however, against having Daga sell so much for Dominguez. If it took Daga almost 10 minutes to beat someone that typically looses easy in 2 minutes, then how are we supposed to feel about Daga’s chances against the strongest booked wrestler in the entire company.

Contra: I’m sorry but this whole Contra faction is doing nothing for me. The subliminal symbols they were inserted into the shows for the last months were actually more interesting then anything Contra has done since they debuted. I liked the beatdown after the cage match at intimidation games (although I hated the ending of that match) but since then I haven’t been impressed. I think the biggest problem they have, is the lack of a legitimate leader. Simon Gotch does not have the credibility to lead his own faction. Perhaps they can bring in someone to lead the group that could elevate them. Or, MLW could start heating up Simon Gotch. But in my opinion that would take more effort then it’s worth. Looking at their roster I’m not sure I see a suitable replacement at this point.

Let me know what you think of the new format, comment below with your own Hits & Misses, and be sure to check back in next week for my MLW Fusion Hits & Misses exclusively here on PWTorch.com.

RECOMMEDED: WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 4/9: Kofi celebrates with Big E and Xavier, Shane McMahon bullies Hamilton, Becky’s celebration promo, Usos vs. Hardys, Raw run-ins