By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling TV (Episode 34)
Taped in November 8 in Chicago, Illinois at Cicero Stadium
Aired December 8, 2018 on beIN Sports
Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini were on commentary… A shot aired of Simon Gotch outside the building talking about how he gets a half-million hits whenever he opens his mouth. Tom Lawlor appeared behind Gotch and chased him, but Ricky Martinez showed up and attacked Lawlor, who then tackled him through a doorway. Gotch shut the door and smiled… The MLW opening aired…
Schiavone said Lawlor wasn’t waiting until the Miami shows to get his hands on Gotch, so they would keep the cameras on them backstage just in case… Schiavone hyped next week’s live broadcast on beIN Sports, Then he and Bocchini hyped this week’s matches…
1. Teddy Hart (w/Brian Pillman Jr.) vs. Jason Cade. Before the match, footage aired of Hart and Brian Pillman Jr. showing off their new t-shirts and looking at other shirts at Pro Wrestling Tees in Chicago. Fans cheered the two Hart Foundation members, and Hart slapped hands at ringside prior to the match. Hart offered Cade a handshake, but Cade shoved his hand away and then used the referee as a distraction to land an early cheap shot on Hart.
Cade performed a neckbreaker and Schiavone compared it to Rick Rude’s old Rude Awakening Finisher. Hart came back and performed a lung blower. A mid-match plug for the live Fusion show next week. Hart performed a hammerlock DDT and followed up with a springboard moonsault into an elbow drop.
Cade came back and got a two count coming off a codebreaker. Cade remained on the offensive for a bit and generated some minor heat. Cade went for a frogsplash, but Hart put his knees up. Hart put Cade in electric chair position and performed a lung blower, then followed up with what Bocchini called a Stu Hart Special for a two count.
Hart followed up with a piledriver, but Cade put his foot on the bottom rope to break the pin. Cade came back and performed a Death Valley Driver bomb for a two count. In the end, Hart performed a Canadian Destroyer from the middle rope, Pillman threw an elbow at Cade from the floor, and then Hart performed a top rope Canadian Destroyer and scored the pin…
Teddy Hart defeated Jason Cade.
Powell’s POV: I don’t want to jinx anything, but it’s great to see that Court Bauer taking a chance on Hart has paid off thus far. The Hart Foundation has been a very popular act for MLW, and while they struck me as heel, it looks like they have shifted into a babyface role, similar to the way Lawlor did when fans were reacting favorably to him. While I like firm turns, I give MLW credit for listening to their fans and adjusting accordingly. If only Vince McMahon would do that more often. I was surprised to see the match last as long as it did considering it was framed as a tuneup match for Hart in an MLW preview. It was good to see Cade have a competitive match since he’s a player in the middleweight division. Hart’s finisher is worth going out of your way to see. Wow.
Footage aired of Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix retaining the tag titles last week… Backstage, Salina de la Renta was venting to someone on the phone when Konnan interrupted her and taunted her. Konnan said he would take the MLW Championship from Low Ki because she insulted his manhood, then he said he was coming for her. Konnan sang his way out of the shot, and she showed frustration… Bocchini hyped the main event heading into a break…
An ad aired for next week’s live broadcast… Bocchini recapped the opening segment with Lawlor, Gotch, and Martinez…
Backstage, Konnan called the camera crew over to show them that a bloody Ricky Martinez was lying on the floor. Konnan had a padlock in a sock and dropped it next to Martinez before walking away. Bocchini questioned if Konnan took out Martinez and pointed out that they weren’t sure where Lawlor was…
2. Marko Stunt vs. Ace Romero. Schiavone questioned who booked the match while noting that it was a battle of the 400-pound Romero facing the undersized Stunt. A Romero pre-taped promo aired with him apologizing for what he was about to do. Romero taunted Stunt over the size difference, then offered him a handshake. Stunt accepted and then went for a go behind that went nowhere, as Romero tossed him to the ground with ease. Stunt got up and chopped his chest several times, which Romero no-sold.
Romero caught Stunt with a great dropkick for a big man. Romero worked over Stunt while a plugged in Schiavone ad aired for the Miami shows and next week’s live broadcast. Stunt’s head was hanging over the apron. Romero went for a leg drop from the ropes, but Stunt moved in a spot that woke up the crowd. Romero came back with a running splash on Stunt against the guardrail and then rolled him back inside the ring.
Romero slammed Stunt and then performed a running elbow drop. Romero covered Stunt, who rolled on his side at two to break the pin. Romero acted surprised. Romero went back to taunting Stunt by shoving the back of his head. Romero chopped Stunt, who Hulked up on him. Stunt performed two dropkicks and then tried to bodyslam him, which went nowhere. A short time later, Stunt performed a kicked to the head and then performed a leap over the ropes onto Romero to knock him off his feet for the first time.
Stunt performed a spin around Romero and performed a Codebreaker on the way down for a two count. Romero went to the middle rope and pulled Stunt to the top rope. After a fight for position, Stunt performed a sunset bomb for a near fall. Fans applauded loudly. Stunt went up top and leapt off, but Romero caught him and spinned into a uranage style move before pinning him…
Ace Romero defeated Marko Stunt.
Powell’s POV: A really fun match with the big man vs. little man dynamic. Fans seemed a little slow to take to it, but the wrestlers definitely won them over. I’m happy they had the big man go over because this is a match they can come back to with babyface Stunt having a huge obstacle to overcome. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait a while due to Stunt being sidelined by an injury.
Schiavone and Bocchini hyped Dragon Lee vs. DJZ, and Rush vs. Rich Swann, and a four-way ladder match for the MLW Middleweight Championship for next week’s live broadcast… After a break, another ad aired for next week’s show..
Schiavone recapped Shane Strickland’s meltdown last week… Kayla Braxton stood outside Court Bauer’s office where the MLW boss and Strickland could be heard arguing…
Matt Striker hosted an event center for the Miami shows on December 13-14. It was clarified that Maxwell J Friedman was not medically cleared to wrestle, so he is out of the ladder match and thus a new middleweight champion will be crowned…
Salina and Low Ki delivered a promo from a backstage area. Salina said Konnan called her names that applied to him. She said she challenged him to face Konnan, but he turned it down. “What kind of bitch are you?” she asked. Low Ki started to talk about Konnan when the injured Martinez stumbled into the room and was still selling the attack from earlier. Martinez told Low Ki that Konnan attacked him. Low Ki tossed Martinez his keys and rushed away with Salina… An ad aired for the live broadcast…
3. Rush vs. Sammy Guevara. Guevara brought the AAA Cruiserweight Championship belt to the ring with him. Rush received a good reaction from the crowd.
Schiavone said Rush is one of the most hated wrestlers in Mexico and a renegade as well. Rush and Guevara were lighting quick as they ran the ropes and avoided various move attempts from one another. Rush removed his shirt and threw it, and it actually landed on the lighting grid and remained there.
Guevara had an offensive advantage and laid down on the mat in a cocky way. Bocchini spoke about the lack of focus that he’s seen from Guevara throughout his career. Rush came back and powerbombed Guevara onto a table that did not break at ringside. Rush worked over Guevara at ringside and pulled a chair from the crowd. Guevara fought him, but Rush hit him with the chair at ringside and then rolled him back inside the ring. Rush teased hitting the referee for some reason. Guevara rolled up Rush for a two count.
Later, Guevara avoided Rush’s top rope senton. Guevara went up top and performed a shooting star press, but Rush put his knees up. Rush performed a running dropkick onto a seated Guevara in the corner for a two count. Rush performed his Rush Driver (double underhook piledriver) finisher and scored the clean pin…
Rush defeated Sammy Guevara.
After the match, Rush took the mic and mimicked the sound that a fan with an airhorn was making. Rush’s words were captioned on the screen as he said, “MLW, f— your mother.” He said he took his first weak victim in Guevara. He said he wanted the fans in the building and the litter of dogs watching at home to know that he came to MLW for the rivalry worth gold between him and LA Park. Rush said that “whatever happens in the end… in the end.” And then he dropped the mic and left the ring…
Bocchini hyped Rush vs. Rich Swann, and the four-way ladder match for the vacant MLW Middleweight Championship…
Backstage, Low Ki and Salina were quickly fleeing the building into a waiting car. Lawlor arrived just after Low Ki slammed the door and then the car drove away…
Powell’s POV: MLW did a great job of building up Rush’s debut as a big deal on television through a series of video teasers. Fans who are familiar with him were obviously excited, but the plugs were effective for those of us who do not follow the lucha scene closely, as they definitely made me look forward to his debut. And while I miss the old school style of introducing talent with a squash match, this more competitive match was certainly more pleasing for the live crowd than a squash would have been and he came off really well. His post match promo worked for me too thanks to the captioning.
Overall, I really enjoyed this week’s show from start to finish and they did a nice job of hyping next week’s live broadcast. I wish I could tell you that I’ll have live coverage of the show next week, but unfortunately I don’t have beIN Sports and I’ll be covering the ROH Final Battle event that night, so I’ll have to cover it at some point over the weekend. It should be a good one.
Check below for the new Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guests David McLane and Selina “Bambi” Majors discussing the launch of the WOW women’s wrestling promotion series on AXS TV.
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