Major League Wrestling Fusion – November 18, 2020 (The Restarts): Needs More Prologue
IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling
Fusion #110
Date: November 18, 2020
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jared Saint Laurent, Rich Bocchini
Oh yeah, this show still exists. It has been over six months since we’ve seen a new Fusion and that means the company is going to be hitting the ground running this week. We have Jacob Fatu defending the World Title against Davey Boy Smith Jr., but it should be interesting to see who is still around and how things go around here. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look at the history of the promotion, even back to the Underground days and coming up to the modern stuff to tie things together. I still don’t quite know if they need to talk about the stuff from almost twenty years ago but it’s not the worst idea. Anyway, Contra has completely taken over the promotion, which is the storyline explanation for the last six months. This is the Restart though and things are finally getting back to normal.
Opening sequence.
Alex Hammerstone vs. Dugan
Non-title and the Nightmare Pendulum finished Dugan (who didn’t even get a first name) at 20 seconds.
Post match Hammerstone says he’s been ranked #1 for way too long and wants his World Title shot.
Quick look at Myron Reed vs. Brian Pillman Jr. for Reed’s Middleweight Title, which was set up back in May but we never got to see the match. Reed defends against Pillman tonight.
Middleweight Title: Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Myron Reed
Pillman is challenging….or at least he should be as his music plays but he is nowhere to be seen. More on this later.
Lio Rush is coming.
Stephen P. New is now a sponsor of the show. Make your own jokes (Assuming you have any idea who that is. Otherwise, make jokes anyway.).
Middleweight Title: Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Myron Reed
Pillman is actually challenging this time and Jordan Oliver is here with Reed. Pillman charges at the bell and knocks him to the floor but Reed is ready for the slingshot dive. The chop hits the chest protector to hurt Pillman’s hand though and Reed nails the suicide dive to take Pillman down for a change. Back in and Pillman hits a knee to the head into a slingshot hilo. The scoop powerslam gives Pillman two and we hit the bodyscissors to stay on Reed’s ribs.
Make that an abdominal stretch as commentary has to be very careful about a man from Louisville being all about injustice. We continue the selection of submissions with Pillman slapping on a surfboard. Back up and Pillman misses a charge into the ropes, allowing Reed to hit a springboard elbow to the face. Reed even gets a lot more serious by taking off the chest protector but they hit stereo crossbodies to put both of them down.
A big boot and clothesline drop Pillman, followed by a slingshot legdrop for two. Pillman is ready for another springboard though and this time he grabs a backslide for two of his own. A spinebuster gives Pillman two more and there’s a spinning high crossbody for the same. Reed is right back with a cutter for his own two and it’s time for some deep breaths. Pillman chops him in the back though and it’s a fisherman’s driver for the next near fall. A missed charge into the corner bangs up Pillman’s knee though and it’s the Captain Crunch (White Noise) for the pin to retain at 11:17.
Rating: C. This was a bit of a weird one as Pillman was working heel, which is a big change of pace for him. If nothing else it is cool to see him trying to do something different, which you have to do at his age. Pillman has a famous name, but he still doesn’t have a lot of experience. See what works and what doesn’t and you’ll become a bigger star in the long run.
Post match, Myron Reed says he wants Lio Rush so he can prove himself against the best.
It’s time for Los Parks (oh man they were on fire before everything shut down), who say it’s time to get rid of Contra and win some titles.
Speaking of Contra, they warn us of the silence in the shadows. They are ready for the next stage in the war, with Jacob Fatu promising to break Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s back twice.
Konnan reveals that Salina de la Renta was Contra’s inside person who was helping Contra infiltrate MLW. She has had her manager’s license suspended and faced a fine, but she will be back next week with a statement.
Video on the Opera Cup, which is back next week.
Here are the brackets:
Tom Lawlor
Rocky Romero
Laredo Kid
ACH
Low Ki
Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Richard Holliday
TJP
The alternates are Gino Medina, Jordan Oliver, Hijo de LA Park, King Mo, Dominic Garrini and Daga.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. has been training in Los Angeles and Japan because this is the biggest fight of his career. Sixteen years ago, he was an 18 year old high school student doing his chemistry homework on the way to the MLW shows. Now he’s ready to be World Champion.
Richard Holliday is stuck in the Caribbean and blames Alicia Atout for it. He tried to get her stuck at the Canadian border after all.
The Von Erichs are training in Hawaii with their dad Kevin and say it’s time to prepare.
MLW World Title: Jacob Fatu vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Smith is challenging. They shove each other around to start and go into the power lockup. Smith slaps on a headlock and Fatu isn’t sure what to do with this kind of strength. A collision doesn’t go anywhere so Smith gets in a powerslam for two. An exchange of headbutts makes them both shout a lot with Smith knocking him down for another two. There’s the delayed vertical suplex for the same on Fatu but Smith might have hurt his back.
Fatu is smart enough to whip him into the corner a few times and some headbutts to the back make it even worse. We hit the torture rack for a bit but Fatu’s charge into the corner hits knees. A charge hits post to rock Fatu again and Smith drops a leg for two. Fatu is right back with a swinging side slam to bang up the back even more but he takes too long going up. Smith cuts him off but the back gives out again, meaning it’s a Samoan drop into the moonsault to retain the title at 10:22.
Rating: C. It was a good power match, but I never once bought that Fatu was in trouble. Smith can do all of the moves and looks good doing them, but the lack of emotion hurt this a bit. It’s going to take someone special to get the title off of Fatu, and that makes for some interesting moments as we move forward around here. I’m not sure how much more Smith is going to do in MLW, but his challenge here wasn’t quite inspiring.
Post match Fatu says no one can stop Contra and calls out Alex Hammerstone. Cue Hammerstone, but a man in a mask jumps him with a chair and gives him a chokeslam onto the apron to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. It’s nice to have MLW back, but this wasn’t exactly inspiring. It felt like they were just trying to pick up where they left off and that’s kind of hard to do after so many months away. The show wasn’t terrible or even bad though and the matches did feel somewhat big. They just needed to feel bigger, and that could have been done with a few more weeks to get back to normal.
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I was really looking forward to the relaunch, especially after the intro video package, but this felt flat. Both title matches felt off. I assume Smith is going to continue to job on his way out, which is the right move. Hopeful things pick up quickly.