Major League Wrestling Fusion – December 7, 2019: WHAT WAS THAT???
IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling
Fusion #87
Date: December 7, 2019
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: AJ Kirsch, Rich Bocchini
We’re still down in Florida and things got a little more interesting last week with Tom Lawlor turning on the Von Erichs. That should give you a big feud on its own and we should be in for some intense revenge on the way to their next big show. The rest of the show should be fun as well, which tends to be the case around here. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening recap looks at Lawlor turning on Ross Von Erich last week so Jacob Fatu could retain the World Title.
Opening sequence.
Battle Royal
Myron Reed, Kotto Brazil, Jordan Oliver, Richard Holiday, Gringo Loco, Leo Brien, Timothy Thatcher, Zenshi, Douglas James, Grogan, Barrington Hughes, Savio Vega, Ricky Martinez, Dr. Dax, Dominic Garrini, Unknown
Alex Hammerstone is on commentary and there are a lot of people not named included here. Hughes gets ganged out to start and it’s time to fight against the ropes for some teased eliminations. Zenshi makes some awesome saves as Grogan and Brien brawl in the corner. Martinez and Brazil have a staredown but Grogan glares at both of them.
Oliver tries to make peace so Grogan gets rid of Oliver, Reed, Martinez and Brazil in a row. Vega and Brien eliminate each other and Zenshi gets rid of one of the unnamed members of American Top Team. Zenshi walks on his hands to avoid an elimination and it’s another unnamed entrant being tossed. Holiday powerbombs the other Top Team member and dump shim too.
Zenshi gets tossed as well, only to have Garrini get rid of Holiday. Grogan tosses Garrini and we’re down to Grogan, Thatcher, James and Loco. Everyone goes after Grogan to start and it’s Loco being thrown out first. James follows him in a hurry and we’re down to two, with Thatcher uppercutting away. Thatcher’s armbar has no effect and it’s a big boot to give Grogan the win at 9:15.
Rating: D. It wasn’t anything of a match but it made Grogan look like a monster, which is entirely the point. Battle royals are great ways to go about doing something like this and Grogan looked dominant enough. I’m not sure how much muscle the Dynasty needs given Hammerstone but at least Grogan looks different enough to make a difference.
We look at Myron Reed winning the Middleweight Title by means of a fireball from Contra.
Zero Hour is coming.
We look at Lawlor’s heel turn again.
Lawlor joins us via satellite for a sitdown interview. He was tired of the Von Erichs taking all of the glory, like they’ve done for thirty years. Lawlor has no loyalty to them or to Contra, but his options are open. Maybe he can even reform Team Filthy, but what matters is that the camera focuses on him, like it should.
The Opera Cup is back next week.
Savio Vega vs. Leo Brien
They’re fighting in a swamp because….I have no idea really. They hit each other with a cowbell and then Vega hits him in the head with a branch. Vega pulls at his mouth but takes a cowbell to the head for two. The brawling continues as Bocchini accurately asks “WHO CAME UP WITH THIS???” Some choking with the bullrope sets up a spinwheel kick to give Vega the pin at 4:38.
Rating: F. What the heck did I just watch??? Who thought this was a good idea and why in the world was it allowed to air? And Vega gets the win? I don’t remember the last time I’ve had this many questions from such a short match but this was downright confusing, not to mention quite the waste of television time. I’d love some more information on this because it’s a heck of a bizarre choice.
The Von Erichs aren’t happy with Lawlor but they aren’t done with him either.
ACH is coming back. I’m not sure how well that is going to go.
We see the last few minutes of Von Erich vs. Fatu in case you didn’t get the idea of the heel turn yet.
Buy merch!
Event ads.
Video on the AAA partnership.
Hart Foundation vs. Contra Unit
Brian Pillman Jr./Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Ikuro Kwon/Simon Gotch here. Kwon and Pillman start things off with some shoving as the mind games are on early. Pillman takes him down for the quickly broken chinlock before having to spin out of a wristlock. A kick to the face from the mat puts Kwon down but Pillman….I think slips and collides with the rope so Kwon can take over. Gotch comes in for a suplex and then a belly to back version to mix it up a bit. Pillman comes back on Kwon and carries him over to Smith for the tag in something you don’t see too often.
That means the VERY delayed vertical suplex (Rich to AJ: “Can you do that?” AJ: “Uh…..sure?”) and it’s already back to Pillman, which seems a little soon. Pillman can’t do his own vertical suplex as Kwon slips out and Gotch comes back in to kick him between the shoulders. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Pillman fights up and brings Smith back in. House is cleaned, including a big boot to Gotch as everything breaks down. Pillman superkicks Kwon and the springboard Hart Attack finishes Gotch at 10:06.
Rating: C. Perfectly watchable match here as the Harts get a somewhat surprising win. You don’t expect the big villains to lose like this but it makes sense to give the Harts some more momentum. I’m not sure what is next for the team with Teddy Hart gone, but they could at least be fine with the two man group.
Overall Rating: D+. I’m still not past that swamp deal but that’s another story. This wasn’t a very good show with the main event being the only decent thing on the whole card. We did get an explanation from Lawlor which is always appreciated but other than that, I’m not sure what to say about this show. Not terrible, but they seemed to be trying desperately to fill in their time this week.
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