By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling TV (Episode 38)
Taped December 14 in Miami, Florida at Scottish Rite Temple
Aired January 4, 2019 on beIN Sports
The show opened with footage of last week’s Low Ki vs. Konnan in a No DQ match for the MLW Championship and of Tom Lawlor saving Konnan afterward… The Fusion opening video aired… The broadcast team of Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini checked in. Bocchini will speak with Konnan later in the show, and Kaci Lennox will interview Kotto Brazil…
1. LA Park (w/Salina de la Renta) vs. Gringo Loco. A pre-taped promo aired with Salina resolving a year of violence from her promotion. The wrestlers shook hands and hugged, then Park raised Gringo’s hand for the fans before punching him. Park took Gringo from the ring and into the crowd where he hit him with a fan sign.
Back in the ring, Gringo performed a flip and played to the fans only to be knocked right back down by Park. Dueling chants for the wrestlers broke out. Park silenced the crowd so they could hear as he slammed his belt over the back of Gringo a couple times. Park took Gringo back to ringside and powerbomed him onto a couple of chairs.
Gringo had a run of offense and performed a springboard cutter for a two count. Loco also performed a flip dive onto Park at ringside. Gringo took Park to the stage and climbed up the scaffolding sed for the entrance, then performed a cross body block. Back inside the ring, Park was knocked backwards onto the referee. Gringo went for a frogsplash, but ended up taking out the ref instead. Park speared Gringo and the referee recovered enough to score the pin…
LA Park defeated Gringo Loco.
Powell’s POV: It looked like it was going to be a lopsided win for LA Park, which would have been fine given that he is a featured attraction in MLW. But Gringo got a nice run of offense late and gained something in defeat. The broadcast did a good job of putting Gringo over afterward by talking about how he went toe-to-toe with Park.
Backstage, Kaci Lennox interviewed Kotto Brazil, who was wearing an eye patch. He said he was at a nightclub in Miami when he was sneak attacked by Ricky Martinez, who hit him with a champagne bottle to the eye. He said he had to wear the patch until his eye heals. Brazil said that the injury won’t take him out. He said he only has one eye, but that eye is on Martinez and he’s coming for him…
Powell’s POV: A solid promo from the likable Brazil. The nightclub storyline has done a good job of heating up the Brazil vs. Martinez feud.
An ad aired for MLW SuperFight and focused on the Low Ki vs. Tom Lawlor main event… Schiavone said Low Ki and Salina de la Renta were fined $15,000, and Ricky Martinez and Hijo de LA Park were fined $7,500 for the attack on Konnan last week. Schiavone said MLW officials considered suspending Low Ki or even strip him of the title belt, but ruled that it would reward him and Salina because they want to dodge the title match with Lawlor…
Konnan spoke via phone with Bocchini. Konnan said he’s beaten up, concussed, and has liver and kidney damage. He said he doesn’t want any pity and said he would end what Salina started…
Low Ki delivered a promo in which he spoke about how Tom Lawlor made it past obstacles. Low Ki said he made a deal with the devil long ago. He said he would tear Lawlor’s heart out in front of his children. Low Ki said he would make an example out of Lawlor that no one would ever forget…
Powell’s POV: A strong, intense promo from Low Ki. I continue to enjoy him in the role of the kingpin and he’s doing the best mic work of his career in MLW.
A Fred Yehi promo aired. He said Low Ki and Salina put a hit out on his teammate Lawlor. Yehi said he wants to face Low Ki next week…
Footage aired of Ace Romero defeating Simon Gotch in a $20,000 prize fight challenge last week. Lennox conducted a backstage interview with Romero, who said he would spend half the money on food and said he shouldn’t disclose what he would spend the other half on. Romero said he was coming for the MLW Championship sooner than anyone thinks… Bocchini hyped the main event heading into a break…
Matt Striker hosted the MLW SuperFight control center for the February 2 event in Philadelphia at 2300 Arena. Striker announced Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix vs. Hart Foundation for the MLW Tag Titles, and said Sammy Guevara and Puma King would also wrestle on the show…
Schiavone hyped Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Pillman Jr. in a Singapore Cane match for next week. Dreamer cut a backstage promo in which he held a cane and spoke about the beauty of it. Dreamer said the cane is as hard as a baseball bat when it hits you, and the wood opens and cuts your skin. He said that when you get hit repeatedly and you want to quit, you just have to get up. Dreamer recalled a man being sentenced to ten lashes for a crime he committed in Singapore. The young man took three, while Dreamer said he took 13. Dreamer said he has a love/hate relationship with the cane over the years and Pillman doesn’t know the pain he’s about to experience…
Powell’s POV: Another strong promo. Dreamer has been very good in building up to this match. The incident that Dreamer was referring to involved an 18 year-old man named Michael Fay, who was sentenced to the lashing. It led to all sorts of uproar in the United States. Dreamer’s memory is a little off. I remember the incident but had no recollection of the lash count either, but Wikipeidia states that Fay was sentenced to six lashes and ended up taking four lashes once his sentence was reduced. Anyway, ECW jumped on the cane gimmick while the story was hot.
2. Pentagon Jr. vs. Teddy Hart (w/Davey Boy Smith Jr., Brian Pillman Jr.). The broadcast team made a fuss over a Miami radio personality being in the crowd during the entrances. Footage was shown from last week of Pentagon lying on the ground after being attacked by Low Ki’s crew. Schiavone questioned if Pentagon was healthy coming into this match. There were dueling chants for the wrestlers.
Pentagon cussed in Spanish at Smith and Pillman after fighting with them at ringside briefly. Pentagon performed an insane Canadian Destroyer on the apron. Back in the ring, Pentagon performed a Pentagon Driver for a near fall. Hart fought back and got his own two count off a moonsault.
Later, Pentagon performed another Pentagon Driver for a near fall. Hart performed a Canadian Destroyer from the ropes and followed up with a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Pentagon went for an armbar, but Hart avoided it and performed a lung blower. Hart performed another lung blower and scored the pin…
Teddy Hart defeated Pentagon Jr.
The broadcast team hyped Low Ki vs. Fred Yehi, Dragon Lee vs. Rich Swann, and Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Pillman Jr. in the Singapore Cane match for next week…
Powell’s POV: An entertaining match with some cool moves from both men. The broadcast team put over the idea that the outcome shows the Harts are deserving of the tag title match, and Pentagon was protected to some extent due to the injury angle they played up at the beginning of the match. Overall, this was a good edition of Fusion with a couple of fun matches and some really good mic work. Next week’s show also looks good on paper.
Check below for a recent Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Konnan, who shares the crazy story of how he broke into the pro wrestling business.
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