By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 122)
Taped on “Filthy Island”
Streamed February 17, 2021 on Fubo Sports, Pluto TV, and MLW’s YouTube Page
The show opened with a graphic stating that MLW has no affiliation and assumed no liability in the event that Filthy Island turned out to be a fraudulent event. It added that wrestlers and fans assume all risk associated with journeying to Filthy Island…
On a beach in “Hawaii”, a frustrated Tom Lawlor spoke on the phone and told someone that he would handle it. Lawlor called in Dominic Garrini and told him that they were having issues with catering and there was no Spam. Lawlor told Garrini he needed a big favor. Garrini wondered if he wanted him to break someone’s arm. Lawlor sent him to talk to someone named Cunningham. Lawlor handed him a bottle of what appeared to be lube and told Garrini that it wasn’t for Cunningham, it was for him. Garrini looked at the camera and expressed shock…
A Filthy Island opening aired… Tom Lawlor and Dan Lambert checked in on commentary from an outdoor location. They had cans of “Luncheon Meat” on the table. Lambert said he was promised a five-star resort and instead it was like Kevin Von Erich’s estate. Lawlor said he didn’t know if Lambert had ever been to Hawaii, but it was just like this. Lawlor ran through the fight lineup. Lambert said he was worried that Low Ki wouldn’t deliver what Lawlor needed to make the show successful…
1. Dominic Garrini vs. Mauna Loa in a Prize Fight Challenge. Garrini showed the broadcast team a bag of cash. Lambert was unimpressed by Loa, who was a big did dressed in island gear. The fight took place in a ring with no ropes. Garrini handed Loa a can of the wannabe Spam. Loa clotheslined and splashed Garrini and covered him for a two count.
Garrino rolled to ringside and complained to Lawlor that his opponent was huge. Garrini returned to the ring and performed a takedown, then applied a rear naked choke to get the submission win…
Dominic Garrini defeated Mauna Loa in 0:39 in a Prize Fight Challenge.
Powell’s POV: Loa was a proverbial tomato can opponent for Ku on the comedic show.
Lawlor said he had Rich Bocchini and Saint Laurent on commentary for the Aztec Jungle Fight. Bocchini checked in and set up a video with a Los Parks promo about their March 3 match against Daivari and Simon Gotch. They spoke in Spanish and had subtitles. They spoke mysteriously about the Azteca Underground Inc. owner…
Lawlor hyped King Mo vs. “the mentally impaired” Low Ki for the main event. Lambert questioned using Low Ki because he means low energy, low charisma, low tickets, and low pay-per-view buys. Lawlor also hyped Kevin Ku vs. Zenshi. Lambert said Ku isn’t allowed to return to his home country of North Korea because he’s wanted on multiple counts of aggravated assaults. Lawlor also hyped Rocky Romero vs. Gringo Loco for later in the show…
Highlights aired of King Mo dumping Low Ki over the top rope in their previous match…
A video for Azteca Underground Inc. was shown. A graphic read “Opportunities Abound For Believers”… [C]
Alex Hammerstone and Richard Holliday checked in. Holliday said he was unimpressed by Hawaii and assumed the trees would be different. They opted to head back to the resort…
A Salina de la Renta promo aired. She recalled that Savio Vega turned down the AUI owner’s offer to purchase IWA Puerto Rico. Salina said the offer was not optional, so now Vega would pay the ultimate price in the Azteca Jungle Fight…
Saint Laurent checked in from the Jungle Fight in “Chichen Itza, Mexico.” He said it was not a secure location. He said Salina gave him a note from the AUI owner, who wrote that blood will pour on the Aztec temples. He said it was signed by “El Jefe.” Salina was shown standing next to a referee…
2. Kevin Ku vs. Zenshi. Zenshi flipped out of a tree onto Ku, who was standing in the ring without ropes. Cool spot. Ku eventually fought back and applied a Boston Crap, but Zenshi escaped and rolled him into a pin for a near fall. Lawlor took issue with the young referee’s count.
Zenshi dropped Ku with a headbutt. Lawlor complained that the mask was loaded. Ku eventually caught Zenshi in a Full Nelson and performed a dragon suplex into a bridge and got the three count…
Kevin Ku defeated Zenshi in 4:59.
Powell’s POV: Zenshi continues to impress with his athletic ability. The opening tree dive was cool, and I also liked the way that he held himself in the air while holding onto one of the ring posts. It’s no surprise to see the Team Filthy member go over on this episode, but I continue to hope that Zenshi will be pushed.
Ross and Marshall Von Erich checked in from Kauai, Hawaii. Ross said he was unable to be there for Low Ki’s match. Marshall spoke about how Low Ki was walking into a trap on the Team Filthy show. They decided to drive to the location of the fights…
Bocchini and Saint Laurent checked in from Mexico. Savio showed up and jawed with Salina until he was attacked from behind by Muertes. [C]
An ad hyped that MLW Underground would return next week… Lawlor said they would try to get the feed back from Mexico…
Alicia Atout conducted a split-screen interview with TJP and asked him about the way he mistreated Bu Ku Dao. TJP said they lost their match. He said it’s hard to explain himself. He said he’s worked at a high level for 21 years and has been to New Japan, AAA, MLW, and elsewhere.
TJP said he likes to share his wisdom. He said that like LeBron James, he will drag them to success kicking and screaming. He said Dao has taken the ball out of his hand. He said he can’t teach Dao more than he has.
A graphic asked if TJP was a bully. Atout told TJP that he shouldn’t treat someone the way he treated Dao. TJP said that labeling it bullying is a bit much. He said his brothers were hard on him, but the difference between him and Dao is that he eventually got past them and beat them. TJP said Dao can’t make the final shot with the ball in his hand. He said that’s not bullying, it’s realistic.
Atout said Dao looks up to TJP, who said of course he does because of his small stature. TJP got upset and asked if they were going to talk about him or Dao. TJP decided to end the interview…
Powell’s POV: This was a good segment. It’s so nice to see TJP working as a heel. He did nice work in this verbal exchange and I’m looking forward to seeing his feud with Dao.
3. Rocky Romero vs. Gringo Loco. A man was there with a boom box that played cassette tapes for the entrance music. Romero walked through the homemade “entrance curtain.” Romero complained about going from the Tokyo Dome to this setting. Highlights aired of Romero working on an old episode of MLW Underground.
Romero handed some gear to one of the few “fans” in attendance. The fans were seated on a couch, and there was another guy on what appeared to be car seats. The action spilled over to ringside where the wrestlers tumbled onto the couch. Lawlor said they could sell the couch on the internet. In the end, Romero pushed off the ring post while performing a tornado DDT and scored the clean pin…
Rocky Romero defeated Gringo Loco in 8:50.
Powell’s POV: Romero and Gringo did a nice job despite not having any ring ropes. This was fun, but I would like to see a rematch in a ring with ropes if Romero is going to do more in MLW. Romero clearly had fun with the setting and this seemed like it was right up his comedic alley given some of the things he’s done with the Good Brothers.
Mil Muertes and Savio Vega’s Aztec Jungle Fight continued. Bocchini and Laurent checked in while the fight continued in the outdoor setting at night. The production team made it seem like the feed was iffy.
A Contra video interrupted the match. Josef Samael spoke about how it’s a dangerous world and these are dangerous times. Samael complained about Jordan Oliver and said perhaps he’s too young or too stupid to understand consequences. Samael said he would take him to the deep water and he would face consequences courtesy of Jacob Fatu…
Footage aired from the first Low Ki vs. King Mo match with Low Ki suffering a knee injury… [C]
Alicia Atout checked in and recapped Lio Rush beating Laredo Kid to win the AAA Cruiserweight Championship to go along with his MLW Middleweight Championship. She said Rush signed an open contract and anyone who wants a piece of him just needs to put pen to paper…
Ross and Marshall Von Erich were shown “live streaming” while the drove to Filthy Island. Marshall had Ross turn up their entrance theme…
Atout spoke as the upcoming fights schedule was shown. She hyped next week’s MLW Underground as featuring CM Punk, Terry Funk, Joey Styles, Steve Corino and the Extreme Horsemen from the classic show. New Fusion returns on March 3 with Jacob Fatu vs. Jordan Oliver for the MLW Championship, and Los Parks vs. Daivari and Gotch for the MLW Tag Titles. MLW Never Say Never was listed for March 31…
They cut back to the Muertes vs. Vega fight. Muertes choked Vega with a tree vine. Vega knocked Muertes down with a headbutt. Muertes fired back with punches and knocked a crowbar out of the hands of Vega. Muertes knocked out Vega with the crowbar. Salina told him to finish the job. Muertes pinned Vega. Muertes started to dig a grave with a shovel. Laurent said he was leaving, and Bocchini pleaded with Laurent to wait for him… [C]
Powell’s POV: Meh. I hope the incorporation of Lucha Underground characters doesn’t mean that MLW is going to start booking wrestler deaths. It was fine for LU within its unique storyline universe. There’s nothing stopping MLW from creating a similar storyline universe, but I feel it would be a mistake because that approach seems to appeal to a very niche audience that may turn off some traditional minded pro wrestling fans.
Additional footage aired from the first Low Ki vs. King Mo fight with Tom Lawlor interfering and hitting Low Ki with an umbrella to help Mo steal the win…
Lawlor spoke with Hammerstone and Holliday at the fight location. Lawlor told them that he spared no expense. He showed them the couch and claimed it was VIP seating. Hammerstone sat down on the dirty couch, but Holliday told him to get up. Holliday said there was no way he was sitting on that couch. Holliday said his offer to Lawlor was zero dollars. Hammerstone asked about the Spam. Lawlor pulled out a can of the faux Spam and tried to open it with his teeth. Holliday said they were leaving. Hammerstone told Lawlor that they would consider his proposal and told him to keep the Spam coming…
Laurent ran through the latest PWI Top 10 rankings for the MLW Championship held by Jacob Fatu. The changes from last week’s rankings are noted in parenthesis.
10: Jordan Oliver (unranked last week)
9. Calivin Tankman (unranked last week)
8. Myron Reed (same ranking)
7. Mil Muertes (same ranking)
6. Richard Holliday (same ranking)
5. Mads Krugger (same ranking)
4. MLW Middleweight Champion Lio Rush (same ranking)
3. Low Ki (same ranking)
2. Tom Lawlor (same ranking)
1. MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone (same ranking)
Powell’s POV: The only changes this week were Laredo Kid (10) and Daivari (9) being bumped from the list by Oliver and Tankman.
Lawlor set up the tale of the tape for the main event…
3. King Mo vs. Low Ki. Mo brought an umbrella to the ring with him. Lambert expressed concern about the referee not having experience in MMA fights. Mo took Low Ki down and targeted his left leg. Low Ki recovered and climbed onto the back of Mo and applied a submission hold. Mo tapped while Lambert said that he was actually reaching for the (nonexistent) ropes.
Low Ki defeated King Mo in 1:34.
Lawlor barked at the referee. Lawlor, Dominic Garrini, and Kevin Ku attacked Low Ki. The Von Erichs drove their Jeep up to the ring. Ross and Marshall joined Low Ki in fighting the Team Filthy members. Low Ki tossed Lawlor from the ring and through the windshield of the Jeep. Lambert complained on commentary about how the babyfaces were all jokes…
Powell’s POV: This will be a polarizing episode. If you enjoy comedy and silliness, then this might be right up your alley. It was definitely a departure from the usual MLW style and it won’t be for everyone. With next week’s show being a classic MLW Underground edition, I wonder if MLW ran out of first-run footage and needed to be creative. Whether you loved it or hated it, I would hope that we can all agree that this should be the last time that pro wrestling tries to spoof the Fyre Festival. It felt dated when AEW did it with Fyter Fest in June 2019, yet MLW had this show and Impact Wrestling recently had its own spoof segment. With this show running long, my audio review of this episode will be available shortly after the conclusion of tonight’s AEW Dynamite and NXT television shows.
Be the first to comment