With SuperFight in the rear view, MLW uses this week's Fusion to set up Intimidation Games.
Check out MLW Fusion on YouTube or on beIN Sports every Saturday night.
MLW Fusion (2/16/19)
- A music video shows highlighting the awesomeness that is The Hart Foundation. Then, we get a clip of the H2 YouTube series focusing on Davey Boy Smith Jr. talking about Japanese culture and clothing. Cool little video here to show a different side of Smith Jr.
- Salina cuts a promo on the dumb marks and Tom Lawlor. Low Ki is entitled to a rematch according to Ms. de la Renta. MLW makes a big announcement that Lawlor will have to defend his newly won MLW World Championship against Low Ki at March 2's Intimidation Games.
- Our first match is Ace Austin taking on Rich Swann. Swann is selling the new heel persona and cuts a picture-in-picture promo (think Old School WWF) saying that the party is going go on all night long. Ok then. Swann continues to play up his heel persona quite well during the match. (This is great to see because it adds depth to his character.) We get a random "CONTRA" image flash during the match for some reason. Both men demonstrate a healthy amount of ego during the match actually. They do a bunch of matching kip-ups and dropkicks. Austin gets a few good flips and kicks in later, but Austin gets dumped off the corner to the floor by Swann. Both men come back into the ring and trade some more kicks. Austin goes to the top and gets a reverse splash on Swann. 1-2-3. That came out of nowhere. The ref was trying not to count to 3, but Swann wasn't kicking out. So, he hit the count. Swann is shown in the corner sitting in bewilderment.
Swann attacks the referee after the match. He yells "That was 2." Swann goes after the fans at ringside without hitting any of them. Rich Bocchini comes in to interview Swann about his change of attitude. Swann shoves down Bocchini. Swann is yelling at the audience now. Swann goes outside and goes after someone else at ringside.
(Well, Swann's heel turn is now complete. The "accidental 3 count" was on purpose to set up the post-match angle. As I said in reviewing the match, this could go a long way to help Swann if he's able to get this heel turn over. That will make him a valuable commodity in whatever wrestling promotion he performs in going forward.)
They replay the Swann blow up after the break.
- Alexander Hammerstone makes his MLW debut by facing Ariel Dominguez. Hammerstone is 251 lbs, outweighing his opponent by 111 pounds. Yeah. That's a fair match. Lol. Hammerstone is huge in comparison and has a good build. Dominguez tries a arm drag, but that gets nothing. Big boot by Hammerstone. German Suplex just dumps Doninguez on his face from the impact. Hammerstone hits a delayed Pumphandle Release Fall-Away Slam. The crowd wants it one more time, but Hammerstone won't give it to them. Lol. "You don't run my match." Dominguez escapes his grasp, but he jumps off the ropes into a fist. Suplex into a Side Effect for the win.
(I would like to say this was impressive, but he was manhandling a guy that was 140lb. If he can do similar things to men closer to his weight, I'll be impressed. But I wasn't overly thrilled with this performance overall. This was basically a match you would see on an old episode of WWF Superstars.)
- Tom Lawlor has officially demanded that the match with Low Ki be a Steel Cage Match at Intimidation Games.
- Our main event is Teddy Hart defending his MLW World Middleweight Championship against Cody and Pharaoh's favorite wrestler, MJF. MJF gets on the mic after he gets in the ring. The crowd is telling him to "shut the (bleep) up" even before he cuts his promo. He introduces himself to the audience at home and calls himself the "fastest rising star in professional wrestling today." He craps on the former ECW Arena where this is taking place. He calls Teddy Hart a "bum" and a "jailbird." Supposedly, the rest of the Hart Foundation is not there tonight (despite the fact that this is being taped in the same arena that the last 2 weeks' worth of TV content came from. Funny how wrestling works out, isn't it? Lol). Teddy comes out with one of his trademark cats and leaves it on a turnbuckle as he is being introduced. Lol.
The bell rings. MJF and Teddy trade taunts to the crowd. MJF breaks up the lull and goes on the attack on Hart. Hart gets sent over the ropes onto the floor, hitting his head on the guard rail. MJF beats up on Teddy for a few moments while working the crowd. MJF holds on to a headlock for a long time. Hart finally gets MJF off of him. Hart gets a standing Code Red off the back of MJF. 2 count only. Teddy tries to get the crowd going for him. Lungblower by Hart followed by the climbing Moonsault off the middle of the top rope. 2 count. Uppercuts in the corner by Hart, but he runs into a back elbow by MJF. MJF gets the advantage by working on the arm. An Elevated Funk-Style Piledriver by MJF followed by an armbar. Hart tries to get out, but MJF continues applying more pressure to the arm. MJF is biting on the fingers, but Hart gets to the ropes eventually. Throat Thrust by MJF.
Both men are on the corner now. Hart grabs the tights and gives MJF a major wedgie. Canadian Destroyer off the ropes by Hart, but MJF takes out the ref inadvertently. Hammerlock DDT by Hart. He covers MJF, but the referee is out. MJF crawls under the ring and pulls out a chair. MJF gets kicked in the gonads. Hart picks up the chairs and rams it into the face and chin. Electric Chair Lungblower. Corkscrew Moonsault by Hart. 1-2-3.
(Good main event match here with MJF doing the best he could to work up the heel character. Hart continues to prove how great of an athlete he is and is one of the best comeback stories in wrestling.)
Backstage, someone tries to interview Teddy. He gets jumped by someone. They identify him as Richard Holiday. MJF joins in and rams the chair into Teddy Hart. They start beating him up around the backstage area. Trash cans, garage doors, chairs against the throat. Hart complains that MJF broke his rib repeatedly as we go to the ending logo.
(Well, it looks like MJF isn't going anywhere quite yet at least as far as MLW is concerned. Perhaps they have him working through April to finish up his storylines with the company. Or maybe he's got that Pentagon Jr/ Fenix type deal to work in multiple promotions. Regardless, this will likely lead to a rematch down the road between MJF and Teddy.)
Overall, this was a good edition of MLW Fusion. The middle match didn't do much for me. For a debut, it was simply underwhelming. Hopefully, they can put Hammerstone in the ring against a bigger opponent to really help give him more of a significant chance to shine. But the Swann segment and the Hart/MJF match were good enough for me to give a recommendation for this show. The next big show is coming in just a couple weeks, and you can already see the pieces of Intimidation Games coming together.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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