By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 130)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at GILT Nightclub
Streamed April 28, 2021 on Fubo Sports, Pluto TV, and MLW’s YouTube Page
A vide package recapped the Ross Von Erich and Marshall Von Erich feud with Team Filthy… Ray Flores and Saint Laurent checked in on commentary…
1. Ross Von Erich (w/Marshall Von Erich) vs. Dominic Garrini (w/Kevin Ku). Laurent spoke of Ross training with Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh). The early action focused on mat wrestling, which the broadcast team suggested Ross worked on with Muta. A graphic listed MLW’s debut on Vice TV. Late in the match, Ross reversed a suplex attempt and slammed Garrini down in a modified falcon arrow and scored the pin.
Ross Von Erich defeated Dominic Garrini in 5:22.
After the match, referees had to keep the teams apart from one another…
Flores hyped the MLW premiere on Vice TV. He also touted a PWI feature on El Jefe. Flores started to hype the next match, but said they needed to cut backstage…
Tom Lawlor was fired up over Ross Von Erich beating Garrini. He calmed down and said he had an idea, then started texting someone on his phone… [C]
Powell’s POV: An interesting match. The Von Erichs are typically booked in tornado tag matches that allows them to have big brawls, so it was a rare chance to see Ross work a different style, just as the main event will give Marshall a chance to do something out of his element.
A video package aired on Lio Rush vs. Myron Reed for the MLW Middleweight Championship for next week’s Fusion…
Tom Lawlor met up with shamed former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and gave him an envelope while saying he needed to make sure his match with Marshall was on the up and up while adding “if you know what I mean.” Donaghy said it was a little lighter than he was used to, but they could talk about it…
Powell’s POV: It looks like heel referee Donaghy will be working his second match in MLW. He was the referee for the Richard Holliday vs. Savio Vega strap match.
A shot aired of Los Angeles. Flores said Myron Reed was ready for the media event, but Lio Rush had not arrived and MLW officials were not happy…
Laurent recapped Salina de la Renta’s recent issues with El Jefe…
2. Hijo de LA Park (Salina de la Renta, Azteca Underground associate) vs. Bu Ku Dao. Park taunted Dao over his small stature. Park removed the belt that he wears and hit Dao with it, then took him to ringside and slammed him on the wood stage. Back inside the ring, Dao caught Park in a crossface briefly.
Park came back and hit double knees in the corner and then covered him for a near fall. Park placed Dao on the ropes and then charged, but Dao put his boots up. Dao followed up with the same twisting Flatliner moved that he used to beat TJP and then scored the pin. Salina fled the ringside area…
Bu Ku Dao defeated Hijo de LA Park in 6:20.
A brief Dao promo aired while a graphic noted that he’s unbeaten in singles competition…
Powell’s POV: The match was decent. The finish looked a little clunky, but they seemed to cover it by cutting to a different camera mid-move. More importantly, MLW accomplished a couple of things via this match. First, they gave Dao a good followup win to keep his momentum going after his big win over TJP. Second, they continued the story of Salina being on the outs with El Jefe by having her be at ringside for another Azteca Underground wrestler loss.
Laurent noted that Lio Rush missed his flight and would not take part in the press event… Backstage, Alicia Atout spoke about the new MLW championship committee. She said it’s comprised of promoters from around the world, specifically mentioning Dragon Gate and Rev Pro. She also touted that MLW’s new season begins with the July 10 event in Philadelphia…
Laurent spoke about Salina’s last chance with El Jefe while a graphic questioned if there would be consequences. He said they would hear from Salina once she was camera ready…
Atout interviewed Marshall Von Erich. Tom Lawlor crashed the interview and said he wanted to make sure it was a level playing field. Tim Donaghy showed up with a cup and said that he wanted a sample. Once Von Erich walked off with Donaghy, Lawlor said that Von Erich’s strength isn’t just about genetics… [C]
The MLW on Vice TV ad aired. It concluded with a graphic that listed it as coming this spring (it premiered on Saturday afternoon)…
Footage aired of a man wearing a lucha mask placing what was apparently Salina with a hood over her head into the back of a car…
Powell’s POV: Pro wrestling has to produce the only television where men and women can be kidnapped in plain sight and no one cares enough to call the police, let alone try to stop it. God help us if Drake Wuertz ever sees this footage.
Myron Reed delivered a promo from “Los Angeles” and took issue with Lio Rush skipping the media event. Reed said Rush doesn’t care about MLW or the fans. He said Rush wants clout and fame. Reed said he knows what he did wrong the first time and he’s going to right those wrongs in the rematch…
The upcoming fight graphic listed MLW on Vice TV on Saturday, Rush vs. Reed for the May 5 Fusion, MLW Underground for May 12, and MLW’s new season for July 10 in Philly…
Atout interviewed Alex Hammerstone and pointed out that he was nearing two years as the MLW National Openweight Champion. Hammerstone said he wanted to make the title mean everything and he wanted it to be a wrestler’s title. He said he feels he’s done a pretty good job. He said he’s never seen his name pop up so much until MLW asked fans who they wanted to see challenge Jacob Fatu. Hammerstone said Fatu’s reign of terror days are numbered…
Backstage, Atout said they were awaiting test results on Marshall. Lawlor asked how big Marshall’s bladder was. Donaghy showed up and said that Von Erich was legit and ready to go. Marshall showed up with the urine cup and threw it in Lawlor’s face… [C]
Powell’s POV: It’s all fun and games to throw urine all over someone until you remember that you have to wrestle them a few minutes later! Kidding aside, this was the Lawlor character’s grand plan for paying off Donaghy? He paid a crooked referee to administer an apparently legitimate test for performance enhancing drugs? Did he really need a crooked referee to do that?
Laurent announced that Lio Rush had been fined for missing the press event. Flores also announced that Richard Holliday will be in action next week. They were interrupted by a Contra video. Josef Samael delivered a promo in front of a Contra backdrop. Samael addressed Alex Hammerstone wanting a shot at the MLW Heavyweight Championship. He said it wasn’t a propaganda video, it was a video of truth.
Samael recalled Contra taking over MLW roughly one year ago. He said he walked into Court Bauer’s office and reworked some contracts. Samael claimed that he now controls who gets the privilege of challenging Jacob Fatu. Samael said Hammerstone’s request for a title shot was denied…
Laurent read through the tale of the tape for the main event…
3. Marshall Von Erich (w/Ross Von Erich) vs. Tom Lawlor (Dominic Garrini, Kevin Ku). The broadcast team played up Marshall’s knee injury, which Lawlor targeted once the match got started. Ross stood at ringside with a white towel in hand. A few minutes into the match, Marshall knocked Lawlor to the mat with a series of clubbing shots and went for the cover, but Garrini and Ku stood on the apron and distracted the referee. Lawlor used the distraction to hit Marshall’s bad knee with a wrench.
Marshall eventually battled back and threw multiple dropkicks at Lawlor, who then avoided another dropkick attempt. Lawlor went right back to work on Marshall’s bad knee and applied a leg lock. Marshall applied a claw while Lawlor had the hold in, but Lawlor was able to escape it while maintaining the hold. Marshall applied a left handed claw that caused Lawlor to break the hold. Lawlor performed a nice uranage slam.
Lawlor applied a guillotine choke. Von Erich reapplied a claw hold and then broke the guillotine and maintained the claw hold while slamming Lawlor to the mat for a good near fall. Lawlor eventually hit Marshall’s bad knee to break the claw. Lawlor applied a half crab on the bad knee. The referee called for the bell while Flores noted that the pain was too much and Marshall passed out.
Tom Lawlor defeated Marshall Von Erich in 11:41.
After the match, the Team Filthy members attacked Ross as he was tending to his brother. ACH ran out to help the Von Erichs. Marshall stayed down. The two sides brawled in and around the ring to close out the show…
Powell’s POV: An entertaining main event that told a nice story. More than anything, I’m just happy that the finish was the obvious one with Ross throwing in that big white towel that he held throughout the match. Marshall was given an out for losing. Lawlor has been an MLW Heavyweight Champion and is positioned as a strong singles wrestler more often than not, whereas the Von Erichs are typically a tag team, so it was logical for Lawlor to get this win, which also put heat on Team Filthy and kept their feud with the Von Erichs alive. Overall, a solid hour of television. My audio review will be available later today for Dot Net Members. My apologies for being with this episode, but we’ll get back on track with Wednesday’s season finale.
Be the first to comment