By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 125)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at GILT Nightclub
Streamed March 17, 2021 on Fubo Sports, Pluto TV, and MLW’s YouTube Page
The show opened with a brawl outside the building involving Injustice and Contra Unit members Daivari and Simon Gotch. Los Parks arrived and joined the brawl… The Fusion opening aired… The broadcast team was Rich Bocchini and Saint Laurent. Bocchini noted that someone signed the open contract for an MLW Middleweight Championship match and the identity of the person had been sealed until now…
Brian Pillman Jr. made his entrance. A pre-taped Lio Rush promo aired. He called himself an authentic champ and the man of the hour. He said Pillman is a cosplay clown. Rush said he’s the real deal and Pillman would find that out real soon…
1. Lio Rush vs. Brian Pillman Jr. for the MLW Middleweight Championship. Rush did not bring the AAA Cruiserweight Championship to the ring with him, nor was he introduced as the holder of that title. Rush performed an early moonsault from the bottom rope onto Pillman on the floor.
Later, Rush threw kicks to the chest of Pillman, who fired up and asked for more. Pillman blocked a kick and flipped Rush over, but he ran into a boot. Rush charged Pillman, who power slammed him. Pillman performed a series of soft moves that included a weak clothesline and an odd palm strike or elbow and got a two count.
Pillman went for a suplex, but Rush slipped out. Pillman threw a nice punch at Rush and then set up for a springboard move, but Rush did a handstand kick that knocked Pillman to ringside. Pillman returned to the ring and was caught with a corkscrew kick. Rush went up top for his finisher, but Pillman cut him off with an uppercut.
Pillman superplexed Rush and held his own head while both men stayed down. Pillman was the first man to his feet and made the throat slash gesture. Pillman set up for a suplex, but Rush hooked him into an inside cradle for a two count. Rush performed a springboard stunner, then followed up with the Final Hour frogsplash and scored the pin…
Lio Rush defeated Brian Pillman Jr. in 9:15 to retain the MLW Middleweight Championship.
Powell’s POV: A nice match despite that one sequence of soft strikes from Pillman. I like that Pillman wasn’t just handed a title match from a storyline standpoint. It’s obvious that he has a foot out the door of MLW due to his regular appearances on AEW programming, so MLW has booked him to lose several matches on his way out (whenever that is). It would have been odd if he had just been awarded a title match following a bunch of losses. The open challenge approach was a good, logical way to get to the match.
Backstage, Alicia Atout announced that Contra Unit had been added to the main event in a No DQ Triple Threat. The graphic showed Simon Gotch and Daivari as the team representing Contra in the match…
Alex Hammerstone cut a promo in front of the MLW backdrop. Hammerstone said Azteca Underground is quite the force in MLW. He said that no matter how much he wants to blame Salina de la Renta for calling the shots, it was Mil Muertes who attacked him and stole his MLW National Openweight Championship. “Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken, and wearing my championship does not make you a champion,” Hammerstone said. He challenged Muertes to face him for the championship…
Laurent hyped Parrow vs. Muertes for later in the show… [C] Bocchini hyped the Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential episode on the Von Erich family that will air Tuesday on Vice TV…
Ross Von Erich and Marshall Von Erich checked in from Hawaii. Marshall said he would wring the neck of Tom Lawlor and told him to bring his goons with him…
Bocchini said it’s clear that the El Jefe of Azteca Underground is a collector and is looking for a new home…
Salina de la Renta delivered a promo from home with the MLW National Openweight Championship belt over her shoulder…
Laurent ran through the latest PWI Top 10 rankings for the MLW Championship held by Jacob Fatu. The changes from the February 17 rankings are noted in parenthesis.
10. Jordan Oliver (same ranking)
9. Gino Medina (unranked last time)
8. Myron Reed (same ranking)
7. Richard Holliday (down from sixth)
6. Mads Krugger (down from fifth)
5. Calvin Tankman (up from ninth)
4. Mil Muertes (up from seventh)
3. Low Ki (same ranking)
2. Tom Lawlor (same ranking)
1. MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone (same ranking)
Powell’s POV: Lio Rush was ranked fourth last time. I assume they removed him since he holds the MLW Middleweight Championship and they started listing middleweight rankings since the last time the heavyweight rankings were shown on Fusion.
2. Mil Muertes (w/Salina de la Renta, Azteca Underground representative) vs. Parrow. A Parrow pre-tape aired during his entrance and he complained about what Muertes did to Savio Vega. Muertes wore the MLW National Openweight Championship to the ring. Laurent comically heeled it up while stating his case for recognizing Muertes as the champion.
Muertes DDT’d Parrow and then threw a series of punches. Muertes backed Parrow into the corner and hit him with a bunch of clotheslines. Parrow threw an elbow at Muertes, who knocked him down with a clothesline. As the wrestlers fought to ringside, Bocchini noted a shot of Bu Ku Dao, who was shown laid out backstage.
Muertes worked over Parrow at ringside and threw him back inside the ring. Parrow attacked Muertes when he followed. Parrow slammed Muertes and followed up with a senton, then covered Muertes for a two count. Parrow hit Muertes with a right hand. Parrow ran the ropes and took a power slam that led to a two count. Muertes ducked a clothesline and then performed the Straight To Hell flatliner and scored the pin…
Mil Muertes defeated Parrow in 4:19.
Powell’s POV: It wasn’t pretty, but it was a good win in terms of further establishing Muertes by having him plow through the super heavyweight. I continue to wonder if anyone has ever seen Parrow and comedian extraordinaire Bert Kreischer in same place at the same time. I didn’t think so.
Atout checked in from backstage and said Dao was found unresponsive backstage. She said she didn’t know what happened, but she would follow the story…
A Calvin Tankman video package aired…
Atout hosted the Never Say Never control center for the March 31 edition of Fusion. She announced Jordan Oliver vs. Simon Gotch, Myron Reed vs. Daivari, and Jacob Fatu vs. Calvin Tankman for the MLW Championship for Never Say Never…
A Contra video aired with Mads Krugger speaking in a distorted voice… [C]
Powell’s POV: Holy distortion, Batman. I couldn’t make out a word that Krugger said, but it’s certainly possible my poor hearing is to blame.
Bocchini hyped the Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential episode on the Von Erichs again…
Tom Lawlor stood in front of the MLW backdrop. He said he normally gets pissed off when he thinks about the Von Erichs. He said he should have remembered how dense they were until they decided to let him pick the stipulation. Lawlor announced that he will team with Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku to face Ross Von Erich, Marshall Von Erich, and ACH in a chain ropes match…
The upcoming fights graphic listed the chain ropes match and Mil Muertes vs. Gringo Loco for next week, and Never Say Never or March 31…
Ring entrances for the main event took place. The Injustice duo were out first. The Contra duo followed. Daivari brought a kendo stick with him and the teams started fighting. Los Parks made their entrance. LA Park brought a chair with him and worked over both teams to officially start the match…
3. “Los Parks” LA Park and Hijo de LA Park (w/Salina de la Renta, AU representative) vs. “Injustice” Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver vs. Simon Gotch and Daivari in a Triple Threat tag match for the MLW Tag Titles. LA Park Jr. emerged from underneath the ring early and joined the brawl since it was a No DQ match. Bocchini said Dao had been sent to the hospital and TJP had been suspended.
Bocchini said Reed told him that he wears a chest protector for symbolism (it was “loaded” when he was a heel). Reed dove onto a pile of opponents at ringside and they caught him, but Oliver performed a dive that knocked them over. Back inside the ring, Gotch and Daivari performed a spike piledriver on Oliver. Daivari went for the pin, but Hijo broke it up with pizza tray.
Hijo performed a rough head-scissors takedown on Gotch, who rolled to ringside. Hijo performed a suicide dive onto Gotch. LA Park speared Oliver and pinned him to win the match.
Los Parks defeated Myron Reed & Jordan Oliver, and Simon Gotch & Daivari in a Triple Threat tag match in 8:45 to retain the MLW Tag Titles.
Los Parks celebrated with Salina and the AU associate. The AU graphic was shown to close out the episode…
Powell’s POV: A typical Los Parks garbage match style brawl. I was hoping that the “expose” on Azteca Underground would really move things forward, but I took it as offering additional hints that it’s the actor who played Dario Cueto. I was so intrigued by this storyline when it started. I don’t mind a slow build, but this has moved at a snail’s pace. Hopefully we’ll get the reveal soon.
Overall, the show peaked from an in-ring standpoint with the opening match. MLW is doing a really good job of delivering consistent hype for their upcoming shows. Next week’s show has the fun hook of a chain ropes match, and the following week has the big MLW Championship match between Jacob Fatu and Calvin Tankman. My apologies or being late with the review this week. Things should get back to normal with my usual Wednesday night coverage next week. My audio review of this episode will be available later today.
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