By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling TV (Episode 11)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at GILT Nightclub
Aired June 29, 2018 on beIN Sports
Footage aired from last week of Barrington Hughes fighting the Death Machine… Kaci Lennox interviewed Hughes, who had his head wrapped. He said he was hit from behind by something during the fight. He said they’re not done rumbling… The opening video aired…
The broadcast team of Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini checked in and hyped the matches. They recapped Kotto Brazil getting his first win in MLW. Backstage, Vanessa Craft interviewed Brazil, who said he was feeling good after getting his first win. Sami Callihan’s Death Machine entered the picture and attacked Brazil before dragging him off. Callihan said they could entertain, but they don’t get paid for entertaining. He said they get paid to hurt people. He told MVP to come find them if he ever wanted to see Brazil again… The ring announcer was Tim Barr…
1. Ariel Dominguez vs. Jake Skye. Schiavone noted that it was a battle of middleweights. Just seconds into the match, Su Yung and a woman named Zeda Zhang entered the ring, attacked both wrestlers, and left them lying…
Ariel Dominguez fought Jake Skye to an apparent no-contest.
Powell’s POV: Now that’s how you get viewers excited about the middleweight division! Okay, they probably should not have touted this as a middleweight match, but I think most people got the feeling that these were two enhancement guys who happened to be middleweights. The important thing is that it was a solid debut for Yung and Zhang.
A video package aired on Shane Strickland with Low Ki’s narration. Low Ki said Shane is a young champion, but not for long. Footage aired of Salina de la Renta upping the bounty on Strickland to $60,000. Low Ki said the professional has arrived with 60,000 reasons to burn down his house… [C] Schiavone spoke about July 19 event in New York…
MVP found Brazil beaten up in a boiler room. Callihan left a phone behind. MVP hit play and it was Callihan challenging him to meet him in a boiler room brawl. MVP put the phone down and helped Brazil…
2. Sammy Guevara (w/Salina de la Renta) vs. Fred Yehi. A pre-taped Salina promo aired with her talking about how Guevara has been training with the very best. Schiavone said she is normally all business, but she is treating Sammy as her personal boy toy. They cut backstage to Tom Lawlor and Simon Gotch shaking hands with Yehi and wishing him well in his match.
Yehi performed a couple of impressive suplexes and hit a powerbomb for a two count. Yehi caught Guevara in a leg lock and then threw forearm shots to his face until he tapped out. Salina didn’t look pleased with Guevara afterward…
Fred Yehi defeated Sammy Guevara.
Powell’s POV: Yehi was surprisingly dominant in the match. It looks like this was more about telling the story of trouble in paradise between Sammy and Salina.
Schiavone recapped the Yung and Zhang attack from earlier and confirmed the name of Zeda Zhang…
Backstage, Lawlor and Gotch saw Low Ki and congratulated him for getting Salina to raise the bounty. Low Ki noted that Lawlor is the number contender and yet he is the one with the match against Strickland. Lawlor seethed as he walked away…
Footage aired from weeks ago of Callihan and Death Machine leaving MVP and Brazil lying… A selfie style Callihan promo aired with Callihan issuing the boiler room brawl challenge to MVP… Schiavone hyped the main event… [C]
A clip of Tom Lawlor and Simon Gotch talking smack in a hot tub. Lawlor said they weren’t worried about retribution from Jimmy Havoc or at least not in the sunlight. A Havoc promo aired and he was seated in front of the same hot tub in a nighttime setting. He said he was watching Lawlor and spoke about how blood appears black in the moonlight…
Powell’s POV: A good exchange with the heels being cocky in the hot tub, and Havoc delivering a promo later from the same setting and calmly talking about how he is watching them. I hope they keep this going for a couple more weeks to build anticipation for their eventual collision.
Footage aired of Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix winning the vacant MLW Tag Titles…
Backstage, Kaci Lennox stood outside of Jimmy Yuta and Jason Cade’s locker room. There was bickering in the locker room and Cade ended up storming out… [C] Schaiavone hyped the NYC event for July 19…
3. Rich Swann vs. ACH. Tom Lawlor sat in on commentary for the main event. He said there are men who are bigger, faster, and stronger than he is, but none are more intelligent. Swann danced to his music, then danced to ACH’s music too. Lawlor said he wants to fight someone, not put on a show for the fans.
ACH sold left shoulder pain and had it and his right hamstring wrapped coming into the match. He powered up Swann with one arm and performed a German suplex into a bridge for a two count. Swann got a late near fall, but ACH ended up countering another pin attempt with one of his own and got the pin. Lawlor pointed out that he won with a great wrestling hold. ACH and Swann bumped fists after the match…
ACH defeated Rich Swann.
Schiavone hyped the MVP vs. Sami Callihan boiler room brawl for next week…
Powell’s POV: A good main event and the addition of Lawlor on commentary was a plus. Overall, a good television show with a lot of interesting storyline developments crammed into one hour. Here’s hoping the show is finding its groove in that regard. The build to the boiler room brawl was fine, but it felt like the presentation left something to be desired with Schiavone delivering laid back hype for next week’s main event at the end of the show. The company did a better job with their online hype for the match going into the television taping than they did on the actual television show. Still, I’m curious to see how that plays out on next week’s show.
Check out my interview below with current MLW producer and former WWE Smackdown head writer Alex Greenfield on the latest edition of the Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell.
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