By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 117)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at GILT Nightclub
Streamed January 13, 2021 on Fubo Sports, Pluto TV, and MLW’s YouTube Page
Fusion started with a special opening video for the Salina de la Rena produced edition… Salina stood with the broadcast team of Rich Bocchini and Saint Laurent and boasted about producing the show and claimed it would be the highest rated. She barked at Bocchini to wear the mask she told him to wear because he’s too ugly… The ring announcer was Blake Chadwick…
1. Low Ki vs. Budd Heavy. Low Ki charged Heavy and knocked him out with a single running elbow. The referee stopped the match.
Low Ki defeated Budd Heavy in 0:08.
Backstage, Low Ki delivered a promo in which he spoke about how King Mo and his crew got away with one in their last meeting. Low Ki vowed that things are not over between them…
Powell’s POV: The broadcast team told the story that Low Ki was upset about his loss in the Opera Cup tournament final and took it out on Heavy. By the way, the MLW enhancement talent names continue to be fun.
Footage aired from last week’s show of Lio Rush defeating Myron Reed to win the MLW Middleweight Championship… Rush checked in from an undisclosed location and delivered a brief promo with the MLW Middleweight Championship belt over his shoulder…
Bocchini and Laurent stood in front of the MLW banner. Bocchini said Konnan was supposed to join them. Laurent said he hadn’t heard from Konnan in two days. Salina showed up and said she might know what happened to him. “Roll the footage,” Salina barked.
Footage aired of Salina wearing a black hood while lighting a candle. She spoke about Mil Muertes arriving, and how Konnan would never mention her name again. She said that everyone who has wronged her in MLW will now pay… [C] Stephen P New’s MLW specific ad aired, followed by a Dynastic coffee mug ad with Richard Holliday…
Tom Lawlor’s “Filthy Island” was featured in a brief clip of a beach, which once again included a belch from someone off-camera…
Bocchini recapped footage of last week’s Alex Hammerstone vs. Mads Krugger match for the MLW National Openweight Championship. The footage was interrupted by a Krugger promo. Krugger’s voice was distorted. He questioned if he saw fear in Hammerstone’s eyes. He told Hammerstone to bring him the MLW National Openweight Championship…
Bocchini apologized for Contra Unit once again hacking into the show’s feed…
2. Mil Muertes (w/Salina de la Renta) vs. Brian Pillman Jr. A man dressed in a suit stood behind Salina at ringside. Pillman went to ringside to sell intimidation before the bell. Once the bell rang, Pillman returned to ringside. Bocchini said Konnan was supposed to be the guest commentator for this match.
Muertes no-sold Pillman’s chops. Pillman went for a sunset flip, but Muertes pulled him back to his feet and put him down with a clothesline. Muertes threw repeated punches at Pillman. The referee tried to intervene. Muertes backed the referee into a corner of the ring. Muertes performed a powerslam for a near fall. Muertes followed up with his Straight To Hell finisher and scored the pin…
Mil Muertes defeated Brian Pillman Jr. in 3:26.
Powell’s POV: A dominant win for Muertes in his MLW debut. Pillman obviously has foot out the door given his involvement in AEW, but he was given a nice push in MLW pre pandemic and has name value, so it was logical to have him take the squash loss to build up Muertes.
Bocchini hyped the tag title match heading into a break… [C] Ads aired for MLW content on DAZN, and MLW merchandise…
Bocchini spoke about the working relationship between MLW and the IWA promotion from Puerto Rico. Caribbean Champion Richard Holliday checked in from his home and thanked Salina for having him on her show. Holliday said Savio Vega and others don’t seem to respect his championship reign. Holliday said he’s tired of Vega parading around and believing his own bullshit (censored). He claimed he would defend the title anytime against Vega…
A graphic listed Jacob Fatu vs. ACH for the MLW World Championship for next week, and Tom Lawlor’s Filthy Island for the February 17 edition…
Tom Lawlor checked in from backstage and said Bocchini questioning whether he would call the tag title match down the middle was ridiculous. Lawlor complained about ACH getting an MLW Championship match before him even though he won the Opera Cup tournament…
Bocchini recapped footage of Contra Unit attacking the Injustice duo, which included Shawn Daivari debuting with Contra…
A black and white video aired with the Injustice duo of Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver talking about Contra attacking them and destroying Reed’s vest. They said they would take on the Contra Unit members and told them to step up…
Bocchini hyped the main event for after the break… [C] An MLW merch ad aired followed by another Stephen P New attorney ad…
Salina asked Bocchini and Laurent how the show was going. She said it’s been great, and Laurent agreed. Laurent said that whatever happened to Konnan at his house is something he would have had done back in the podcast days. Bocchini said he’d just been told through his earpiece that Promociones Dorado had been acquired. Salina acted caught off guard by the question and stormed away…
Alex Hammerstone delivered a promo while standing in front of the MLW banner. He said he’s afraid of failing and not living up to his potential, but he’s not afraid of Mads Krugger. Hammerstone said Contra placed hurdles in front of him. He said that when he meets a hurdle, he either leaps over it or knocks it down. Hammerstone indicated that he would face Krugger on his terms at the Contra clubhouse…
Laurent ran through the latest PWI Top 10 rankings for the MLW Championship held by Jacob Fatu:
10. Laredo Kid (eighth last week)
9. ACH (seventh last week)
8. Myron Reed (fifth last week)
7. Mads Krugger (tenth last week)
6. Richard Holliday (same as last week)
5. MLW Middleweight Champion Lio Rush (unranked last week)
4. LA Park (same as last week)
3. Low Ki (same as last week)
2. Tom Lawlor (same as last week)
1. MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone (same as last week)
Powell’s POV: Calvin Tankman, who was ranked ninth last week, was unranked this week. The only move that jumps out as strange this week is that ACH fell back a couple of spots a week before he challenges for the MLW Championship. Still, I like that MLW is adjusting the rankings on a weekly basis, usually based on what happened on the previous episode.
A tale of the tape was shown for the main event… Ring entrances took place. Plus, footage aired of Los Parks vowing to retire if they didn’t get a title shot, along with Tom Lawlor getting a referee shirt as a Christmas gift from Salina de la Renta…
3. Ross Von Erich and Marshall Von Erich vs. “Los Parks” LA Park and Hijo De LA Park (w/Salina de la Renta, suit guy) in a Tornado Tag match for the MLW Tag Titles. Bocchini said he assumed that the suit wearing man with Salina was a bodyguard, then questioned whether he was a minder given the rumors of her faction being sold. Bocchini complained about Lawlor being the biggest rival of the Von Erichs while also being named the official for this match.
Los Parks attacked the Von Erichs to start and were dominant early. Los Parks used weapons. Bocchini complained, but Laurent pointed out that there are no rules in the match. Bocchini also complained that Salina was abusing her power. The Von Erichs eventually rallied and performed a couple of suicide dives. Back inside the ring, Marshall and Lawlor bickered.
“Lawlor is going to screw the Von Erichs out of the titles,” Bocchini vented. Ross performed a falcon arrow on Hijo De LA Park and covered him, but Lawlor made a slow count. A short time later, Hijo covered Ross, which led to a fast count from Lawlor. Laurent heeled it up on commentary by claiming that Lawlor’s counts were consistent. LA Park performed another fast count when LA Park covered Marshall. LA Park sent Marshall to ringside and then hit him with a suicide dive. Rinse and repeat with Hijo diving onto Ross.
Back inside the ring, Lawlor did the slow count bit and acted like he had a pulled muscle, then did another fast count when Los Parks went for a pin. Lawlor was sent to ringside. Ross put the Iron Claw on Hijo and then performed an Iron Claw Slam. Ross had the pin, but Salina sprayed a substance into his eyes. Marshall checked on Ross, and was speared by LA Park. The man in the suit held the apron up and then LA Park Jr. emerged and helped Los Parks. LA Park speared a blinded Ross and covered him, then Lawlor returned to the ring and made a fast count.
“Los Parks” LA Park and Hijo De LA Park defeated Ross Von Erich and Marshall Von Erich in 10:36 to win the MLW Tag Titles.
Laurent laid it on thick while praising Los Parks despite the way they won the tag titles. A graphic at the end of the show listed Promociones Dorado as “a subsidiary of Azteca Underground Inc.”
Powell’s POV: A very interesting set of circumstances with the title change and the fun storyline development with Promociones Dorado being acquired. “Azteca Underground Inc.” certainly seems to be a play on Lucha Underground. I don’t know where this is going, but I hope we get Luis Fernandez-Gil, who played Dario Cueto and Antonio Cueto in Lucha Underground, revealed as the money man behind Azteca Underground Inc.
Bocchini did a great job of acting outraged by the deck being stacked against the Von Erichs during the main event. I hate when play by play announcers take a business as usual approach to heels cheating when they should be the voice of the angry fan watching at home. Bocchini nailed it, and Laurent was fun while being more heelish than usual as a counter to Bocchini. The Von Erichs could not have been more protected in the way they lost the match. It’s a little silly when you think about it that the heels didn’t just show their cards from the start by ganging up on the Von Erichs from the start since there were no rules to prevent that from happening, but I get that they were going for dramatic effect.
Overall, this was a talk-heavy show compared to most MLW episodes. But while it was not loaded with in-ring action, the title change and the big tease for Azteca Underground Inc. made this a fun, newsworthy, and memorable show. I am looking forward to next week to get a better feel for where things are headed. That said, while I’m all for MLW adding some Lucha Underground characters, I hope they don’t drift too heavily into LU’s comic book style storyline universe. Different strokes for different folks, but I enjoy MLW when it focuses on being sports-like. By the way, I get a screener of MLW Fusion each week, so my audio review of this episode is now available for Dot Net Members.
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