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MLW FUSION – EPISODE 70
AUGUST 10TH, 2019
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
AIRED ON BEIN SPORTS NETWORK
REPORT BY JASON STOVALL, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone
-The MLW Intro aired first this week.
-Rich opened the commentary by welcoming us to MLW Fusion as a view of the New York City skyline showed across the screen. Rich quickly ran down the card for the next hour which included Alex Hammerstone defending his National Openweight Championship against Savio Vega is his MLW debut and he stated that we would get an update on the condition of Marshall Von Erich later in the show after the mysterious new member of Contra Unit spit mist in his eyes in last week’s episode. He went on to tell us that Contra Unit had a new propaganda video that they were demanding MLW to air as well as they demanded to have a match tonight. Rich Bocchini threw to Tim Barr already standing in the ring to announce the participants for our opening match.
(1) REY HORUS vs. BESTIA 666
Bestia 666 made his way to the ring accompanied by Salina de la Renta. Tony informed us that Bestia has been terrorizing the Crash promotion in Tijuana over the last few years and now he has made his way to MLW. Rich reminded us that Salina is still upset about Konnan being in possession of her cell phone and threatening to use its contents to ruin her. They ran a video recap from last week of Konnan telling her that he had three demands to be met in order for her to get her phone back with the first being that he wanted her to put her stablemates LA Park and Jimmy Havoc in match against each other. Rey Horus came out next and Rich stated that Rey also has a history in the Crash promotion and he has faced off with Bestia several times for them but this was their first meeting in MLW.
The bell sounded and the two began with a lock up and Rey gained the first offense with a wrist lock. Bestia reversed the move and the two began a series of flips and reversals against each other. Bestia began a mat based approach to cut off Rey’s aerial offense. Rey was finally able to gain the advantage by hitting Bestia with an arm drag from the top rope with a two count. Bestia conned Rey into going outside of the ring and Bestia hit Rey with a suicide dive to the guard rail.
Once Rey was back inside the ring, Bestia continued with his mat based approach of keeping Horus grounded. A much slower pace than anticipated for these two. Rey Horus tried to charge off the ropes but he was met with a quick superkick from Bestia that was good for a two count. Bestia picked Horus up for a power slam but Rey reversed into a spinning head scissors that sent Bestia outside the ring. Rey then hit a leaping senton over the top turnbuckle to the outside wiping out Bestia. Back in the ring and Rey hit Bestia with a Spanish Fly for a two count.
The pace quickened with Rey hitting an enziguri on Bestia who was waiting upon the top turnbuckle. He hit Bestia with another top rope arm drag and head scissors but still only got a two count. Rey went back to the top turnbuckle but he was met by Bestia and the two exchanged blows on the top rope. Rey knocked Bestia back to mat but Bestia hit the ropes making Rey crash into the turnbuckle. Bestia took the opportunity and positioned Rey on his shoulders and hit a muscle buster in the middle of the ring for a three count. Tony noted that Bestia was still undefeated in MLW.
WINNER: Bestia 666.
(Stovall’s Thoughts: A much slower match than I would expect from these two that only really got exciting in the final minutes. I would imagine with a bit more time, these two could put together a better match but this one never seemed to hit the next level.)
Post match: Salina da la Renta got on the microphone and proclaimed herself the best promoter in the history of the wrestling business. More so than Konnan, who she said calls himself a gangster, so she would think he would act more like a man and “less like a bitch.” She asked him to please give her back her cell phone. Konnan’s music played and he came out slowly walking to the ring. He said he was surprised to find Salina not at her usual place of employment which was “walking the corners of Hunter’s Point.” He teased giving her the phone back but pulled back when she reached for it. He said he heard she signed the Caribbean Champion Savio Vega to MLW and she was set to get a lot of money for his title match against Alex Hammerstone later in the night. He said by going through her phone, he saw that Savio was due to get a bonus check for his match tonight that he was not informed about. He said “somehow” that information found its way to Savio and was now here in person to come out and give an update on the contract between himself and Promociones Dorado. Savio Vega walked out on the stage to cheers from the fans. He ripped up the contract in front of Salina and walked back off the stage. Konnan danced in the ring to taunt Salina and Salina sold frustration over Konnan costing her a new faction member and a big payday. Rich then threw to a new segment of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Dynastic.”
-The segment opened with Alex Hammerstone and Richard Holiday looking out of a New York penthouse window. Alex asked Richard how much the penthouse cost to which Richard retorted that he didn’t know, because his father paid for the penthouse when his family sold an orphanage. He said he thinks of those children every night before he goes to sleep and toasted his glass in the air. MJF entered the segment offering gifts for both Holiday and Hammerstone. He said the gifts were in celebration for him and Holiday being the MLW World Tag Team champions and Hammestone being the National Openweight champion. They both opened their gift boxes to find gold Rolex watches. MJF said speaking of watches, he knew someone who couldn’t even tell time digitally. Holiday correctly guessed he was talking about Teddy Hart. Hammestone said he didn’t understand why they were still dealing with the Hart Foundation. He said they were celebrating in the penthouse and Hart was somewhere mopping in a crack house. Holiday said he gives Hart too much credit, that he was probably somewhere under a bridge. MJF then boasted that it was hilarious that Teddy Hart was a drug addict. Hammerstone got emotional about MJF’s gift and lunged in to give him a hug. Holiday wanted in on the hug and went for a group hug. MJF quickly pulled out of the group hug and said he had to go. Holiday proposed a toast to Hammerstone over their success but Hammerstone ran off camera being moved by the watch, wiping his eyes. Holiday said he was feeling emotional too, as he gazed out the window by himself, sipping on his mimosa.
-MLW aired a video segment promoting the Saturday Night Superfight pay per view airing November 2nd live from Chicago, Illinois.
-A segment began to play that showed all three members of The Hart Foundation sitting together in what looked to be a cheap motel room. Teddy Hart was standing among his cats with his toes sticking out of his sock. The camera cut to Brian Pillman Jr who told the camera he was born to do this job, unlike MJF who was born to kiss ass and brown nose. The camera then cut to one of Teddy’s cats licking the hindquarters of another cat as the Hart Foundation laughed and compared the cat to MJF. (I swear I am not making that up.) The camera then cut to Davey Boy Smith Jr and Teddy Hart trying to teach Brian Pillman Jr how to do a moonsault on the motel bed in which he failed each time.
(Stovall’s Thoughts: I am not really sure what the point of that segment was. It didn’t teach us anything new or useful about The Hart Foundation, nor did it combat any of the things The Dynasty has been saying about them in prior episodes. In fact, all it did was reinforce the stereotypes The Dynasty has labeled Teddy Hart with. That may have been the point, but considering the terrible things that has been said, I don’t know if enforcing those stereotypes are the best option. Given that the Dynasty segment was shot in a penthouse and this was shot in a low budget motel room, the point might have been to show both teams were the polar opposite of each other. In that regard, mission accomplished but still, it didn’t add anything to the feud or storyline being told.)
-A video package aired of website articles being posted over the internet about the upcoming 2019 Opera Cup. Rich Bocchini explained that the Opera Cup was an annual tournament that took place for over fifty years with the last winner being Stu Hart in 1948. He explained Teddy Hart had possession of the cup and donated it to MLW and now MLW will be hosting a new Opera Cup on December 5th from the Melrose Ballroom.
-The propaganda video from Contra Unit aired. Jacob Fatu said that the Contra Unit was springing up in all four corners of the world. Josef Samael said that MLW knew where they had been, because they had people following them. Simon Gotch said that they were spotted in the fight pits of Shanghai, but why where they there? “Doing what we always do,” he said, “taking care of business.” The Contra Unit then introduced us to the newest and fourth member of the group. The man responsible for blinding Marshall Von Erich. His name is Ikuro Kwon.
-We are taken inside the War Chamber Command Center where Rich confirms that Ikuro Kwon will be the fourth man inside the chamber for Contra Unit. He said there is no word on who the fourth member will be for Tom Lawlor and the Von Erichs, and noted that we still don’t know the condition of Marshall Von Erich’s eyesight, and Rich theorized that as this time, it could be two on four inside the War Chamber.
-A video then showed headlines of Hobbs and Shaw being the number one movie in America raking in over 120 million dollars over the weekend. Rich made note that Ross Von Erich was in the movie.
-Rich threw backstage to Kaci Lenox who was standing by to interview Ross Von Erich and Tom Lawlor. She asked Ross about the condition of his brother. He said his brother was currently in Hawaii seeing an eye specialist. He said his brother was expecting to have a baby with his wife any day now, but he’s not going to be able to see it. Tom took over and loudly told Contra that this won’t be eye for an eye, they want more and they are all going to war.
-MLW again aired a promotional video touting their new found alliance with Pro Wrestling Noah and again announced Alex Hammerstone would be competing in Noah’s 2019 N1-Victory tournament.
-MLW ran another video package where they announced they have also agreed to another promotional alliance with Crash Lucha Libre. They showed footage of Crash’s wrestlers and matches courtesy of the promotion. Rich said we can expect talent exchanges, content collaboration and some interesting projects coming soon to MLW Fusion.
-Backstage again with Kaci Lenox where she was standing by to interview Mance Warner. She asked him about his war with Promociones Dorado and if he was going to end the war any time soon. He said his game plan was to run through them once and then turn back around and run through them again. Mance Warner was carrying a chainsaw.
(2) CONTRA UNIT vs. ARIEL DOMINGUEZ & JAY SKY
The Contra Unit came to the ring with Josef Samael and Simon Gotch to represent them in this match. Ariel Dominguez was dressed in bright sky blue trunks with a taller Jay Sky wearing longer black and white shorts. The bell rang and Simon Gotch hit both competitors with a high kick to the face and then hit a suplex on Dominguez in the center of the ring. Gotch made a quick tag to Samael who instantly placed Dominguez in the Camel Clutch and Dominguez submitted.
WINNERS: Contra Unit.
Post-match: Samael pulled out a railroad spike from his boot and began to grind it along the side of Ariel Dominguez’s mouth. Gotch hit Dominguez with a Gotch Piledriver in the center of the ring.
(Stovall’s Thoughts: Simple squash match to continue to push Contra Unit as monster heels. It’s working.) [c]
-Rich ran down the card for next week’s MLW Fusion. The main event will see the Konnan’s first demand being met with LA Park versus Jimmy Havoc in a New York City Street Fight. Mance Warner also continues his war with Promociones Dorado as he goes one on one with Ricky Martinez.
(3) ALEX HAMMERSTONE VS SAVIO VEGA – National Openweight Championship Title match
Alex Hammerstone came to the ring first being accompanied by MJF and Richard Holiday. Rich again reminded us of the “rumor and innuendo” surrounding Georgia Smith and Hammerstone. Rich asked Tony if he had anything to say about “rumor and innuendo” playing off his podcast with Conrad Thompson but Tony said he had nothing to share about the rumors, stating he doesn’t like to spread gossip. Savio Vega then came out to the ring next. Savio Vega looked to be much larger than the last time he was shown regularly on national TV but still looked to be in good shape.
The bell rang and the two began with a lock-up which saw Hammerstone easily overpower Savio Vega to the mat. Rich reminded us of Savio’s past, specifically that he used to team with Razor Ramon back in the 1990s. Savio hit Hammerstone with a few chops across the chest but Hammerstone regained control of the match and began working over Vega’s arm. Vega whipped Hammerstone into the turnbuckles and began to charge in after him, but Hammerstone moved and Vega crashed into the turnbuckles.
Outside interference began when the referee had his back turned and Holiday began to choke Savio Vega in the corner. Hammerstone got Vega back to his feet but Vega took over with a series of blows to combat Hammerstone. Vega charged off the ropes to go for a clothesline but Hammerstone hit him with a sudden powerslam in the middle of the ring for a two count. Hammestone went to the top rope to execute a missile drop kick but Savio Vega sidestepped his attack and sent him crashing to the mat. Vega then connected with a series of punches, chops and slaps followed by a backwards standing kick to the sternum. Holiday then jumped on the apron to distract the referee as MJF removed the top turnbuckle from the opposite side of the ring as the ref’s back was turned. After successfully removing the turnbuckle, Hammerstone drove Savio throat first into the exposed turnbuckle and hit him with the Nightmare Pendulum for the three count.
WINNER: Alex Hammerstone to retain the National Openweight Championship.
(Stovall’s Thoughts: Just an okay match. Hammerstone looked impressive as usual but Savio Vega looked slow and limited with his age. Savio’s offense consisted of just punches and kicks and nothing more. It was nice to see Savio Vega again from a nostalgia standpoint but this match didn’t make me anticipate any further matches with him included.)
Post match: Brian Pillman Jr emerged from the crowd and stole Alex Hammerstone’s red leather jacket and ran to the back of the stage with it. The showed ended with a group of referee’s helping Savio Vega to the back as he sold his throat being hurt after being slammed into the exposed steel. Rich informed us that we were out of time and said so long from New York, which really felt like a missed opportunity to get a signature Schiavone ending to the episode.
(Stovall’s Thoughts: This episode certainly wasn’t as hot as last week’s was, but it did its part to move the storylines and feuds further as we head into the War Chamber. The Rey Horus/Bestia 666 match was decent, but there really wasn’t any matches I would go out of my way to see again from this episode. However, if you are a fan of hardcore brawling, I would certainly look into checking out the following week’s episode. Until then, I am out of time and so long from East Texas.)
Feel free to contact and follow Jason Stovall on Twitter @JaySnovall
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