Fusion #50
Date: March 23, 2019
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Cornette, Rich Bocchini

We’re still in Chicago and that means things are getting interesting as we move closer to Battle Riot over Wrestlemania weekend. Unfortunately that makes these shows a bit dead, which is rather appropriate given that we’ll be seeing a Death Match this week between LA Park and Mance Warner, who hopefully is as entertaining in the ring than he is on the mic. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Cops have arrested Teddy Hart for vandalizing his car. In a nice bit of trickeration, you can’t see the cops and only see a red light on a door. Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Richard Holliday show up to laugh as Brian Pillman Jr. freaks out. Davey Boy Smith Jr. goes to bail Teddy out of jail.

Opening sequence.

Myron Reed vs. Gringo Loco

Reed comes out saying FREE SWANN. Loco is the hometown boy and even more popular than usual. We get a long weapons check on Reed before he takes Loco down with a wristlock. Flips and nipups give us a standoff so Reed forearms him in the face. Loco is back up with a flip off the middle rope and a pull of Reed’s leg gives us another standoff. Cornette can’t figure out how to describe Loco but thankfully Reed kicks Loco in the head to give commentary a new focus. A headscissors sends Loco to the floor but he’s right back in for a powerbomb into a piledriver.

Loco isn’t done as he nails a Spanish Fly for a double knockdown, allowing the announcers to talk about Battle Riot. A missed baseball slide sends Reed to the floor for a big flip dive. Back in and Loco gets crotched on top, setting up a springboard hurricanrana that nearly spikes Loco on his head. Reed’s springboard 450 gets two and it’s time to yell at the referee. That’s enough of a distraction for a springboard cutter from Loco into a Spiral Tap for the pin at 7:21.

Rating: B-. More lucha fun here, which they do quite well in this company. They’ve got a little something with the build towards Swann’s return and that’s one of the best things that could happen to them. You need stories to keep people’s attention and that’s what we had here. Nice match here too as Loco is still very over with the crowd.

Post match Reed slaps the referee down, likely earning himself a suspension of his own.

Mance Warner talks about going into the bosses’ office and swinging a chair until he got a match with Los Angeles Park. He’s got a plan for this match:

1. Light beers

2. Eye poke

3. Kneepad up, kneepad down

That adds up to the pay window and he’s going to take Park’s mask.

Battle Riot Control Center with the announcement of Jimmy Havoc challenging Tom Lawlor for the World Title. Smart move as Havoc was the last person to beat him. Also added to the Battle Riot: Mance Warner, Daga, Air Wolf and Barrington Hughes.

MJF and Holliday laugh their heads off at Teddy Hart’s mugshot and think it would make a great shirt. Or even better: on a billboard in Calgary.

We get a video from Contra Unit to explain their actions. On March 2, they took up their arms because they’re a global organization: the Crusaders of Nihilistic Terror Revolutions Armada. They’re here to infiltrate and take the gold because they’re international dealers in violence and business is good.

Ace Romero promises to make Contra pay the consequences.

Alexander Hammerstone vs. Brian Pillman Jr.

Hammerstone has MJF/Holliday with him while Pillman is on his own. Before the match, MJF grabs the mic and says he has a PSA for all of us: Hart is in jail again because he’s white trash. Pillman hits the ring and starts fast with some armdrags as MJF jumps on commentary to talk about killing the Hart Foundation. Cornette: “Now I know how people felt about me thirty five years ago.” Hammerstone sends him face first into the buckle to take over but Pillman shoulders him in the corner.

A running slap to the face gets on Hammerstone’s nerves and it’s a spinebuster to take Pillman down again. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Pillman is back up for a strike off. A crossbody gives Pillman one and a snap powerslam gets the same. MJF offers a distraction though and Pillman gets dropped throat first across the top rope as a result (nice touch with Pillman’s dad’s throat issues). The Nightmare Pendulum finishes Pillman at 5:21.

Rating: C-. Not too much here though Pillman got in some offense to keep it from being a squash. Hammerstone vs. Smith should be a heck of a match between two monsters and that’s a great thing to build towards. They’ve got something with Hammerstone and I think they know it this time around.

Post match the beatdown stays on with Hammerstone tearing up Pillman’s chains while Pillman is forced to watch.

Tom Lawlor is at his fight camp and promises to keep it out of Jimmy Havoc’s hands. I like this UFC/MMA style training stuff as it’s become a theme for Lawlor, which makes a lot of sense.

Mance Warner vs. LA Park

Death Match with the ring announcer saying Mance is from Buckshot, Tennessee rather than Bucksnort. Salina de la Renta even mocks the old Park dance from WCW. Warner puts the American flag on the ropes to make him even more popular but Park has his own fans too. They stare each other down and trade struts until the first eye poke has Park on the floor. The fight heads outside with Park being sent into the barricade as the announcers debate Park’s weight.

Park heads into the crowd with Warner dragging him right back, along with a table. Back in and Warner uses a chair for a springboard tornado DDT as Park can’t get anywhere so far. There’s the running knee to the head and Warner blasts Park with a few stick shots. Park gets sat in a chair for some headbutts, which stagger Warner even more. Another running knee is blocked though and it’s a belly to back suplex to drive Warner through a chair. They head outside again with Park putting him on the table….which breaks before anything can be done.

That’s fine with Park, who hits a running backsplash onto Warner onto the broken table. Since he’s apparently environmentally conscious, Park powerslams him through what’s left of the table again. Back in and Park whips him with a belt, which Warner seems to like. Warner takes off his suspenders and it’s time for a whip off. With that not working very well, they switch to punches and chops with Warner getting knocked down to one knee.

Park clotheslines him down for two and it’s time to bring in a bunch of chairs, plus a big piece of wood (because tables aren’t good enough). Said wood is bridged between the chairs and a top rope backsplash sends Warner through. The rest of the wood is broken over Warner’s head (great visual) and a suicide dive against the barricade keeps Warner in trouble. Warner takes forever to get back inside and the delayed cover gets two. A tornado DDT gives Warner two of his own, with Cornette wondering how a rope break is possible when anything else is legal.

Warner hits the eye poke and pelts a chair at Park’s head for two more. Park pelts a chair right back at Warner and we look at the replay, during which Park does something off the top that we don’t see and commentary doesn’t explain. That feels really out of place in a promotion that is usually far better in that area. The spear finishes Warner at 18:38.

Rating: B. This felt like the brawl that it needed to be and it never came close to feeling like a nearly twenty minute match. I still don’t get the appeal of LA Park (the appeal in America that is, as he’s a mega star in Mexico) but him beating Warner is far from something worth getting annoyed over. Warner is going to be fine with that great talking ability and the match was a good brawl.

Overall Rating: B. Nice stand alone show here as we get closer to Battle Riot. The problem is that, just like last year, Battle Riot itself is getting almost no build because no one is talking about winning the thing. Most of the roster is going to be involved so it wouldn’t be hard to have some quick promos about the match. Maybe the show itself will be better, but they’re not doing a great job of making me want to see it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Fusion #37
Date: January 4, 2019
Location: Scottish Rite Temple, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

How are we over nine months of this show? We’re still down in Miami after last week’s attempted murder.. This week is a bit of a nicer note as Pentagon faces Teddy Hart in what should be a preview of a Tag Team Title match. There’s other stuff around here besides people being stabbed in the kidneys so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s attack on Konnan, which still doesn’t feel right. Tom Lawlor made the save, albeit after the stabbing.

Opening sequence.

LA Park vs. Gringo Loco

They take turns playing to the crowd before the bell and the fans are WAY behind Loco here. A hug sets up some posing together before the match, allowing Park to get in a cheap shot and take over. How rudo. They go outside into the crowd to avoid the whole wrestling thing early on. That means a lot of walking around with an occasional punch thrown until it’s back to the ring for the Park strut.

The dueling chants begin, much to Park’s annoyance. Park gets in a few belt shots to make the fans gasp instead of cheer, which is quite the change of pace. They head outside again with Park powerbombing him through a pair of chairs, with Tony talking about how it should be ok as long as no one bleeds. Park finds a Mexican flag to wrap around his head, drawing a USA chant.

Back in and Park gives us some pelvic thrusts (I didn’t need to see that) but misses a charge in the corner. Another strut takes too much time, allowing Loco to hit a double springboard into a cutter for a rather near fall, freaking Salina out horribly. Loco throws him outside for a flip dive and a dropkick through the ropes keeps Park in trouble.

It’s time to head to the entrance with Loco diving off the set with a crossbody for a huge dive. Back in and Loco takes his sweet time loading up Spiral Tap, allowing Park to roll away with no problem. Park stops to yell at the referee and accidentally crushes him twice in a row. He’s fine enough to see Park hit a spear and then count a pretty fast three at 12:18 though.

Rating: C. This is a match where you have to keep in mind what you’re getting. They made no secret about the fact that this was going to be a fight instead of a wrestling match and that helps things out a bit. Neither seems like they’re going to be able to wrestle a mat classic so go with what they can do instead. It’s the best they can do so go with that instead of embarrassing themselves.

Post match Park makes some rather sexual gestures to some people in the crowd.

Kotto Brazil talks about Ricky Martinez attacking him in the nightclub. He has to wear an eye patch for the time being but he’ll get his revenge.

Here are the fines from Promociones Dorado TRYING TO KILL Konnan:

Salina: $15,000

Low Ki: $15,000

Ricky Martinez: $7,500

Hijo de LA Park: $7,500

Not a bad place to be after what they did on national TV.

On the phone, Konnan says he’s in bad shape and promises to give Low Ki and company what’s coming to them.

Low Ki talks about how Tom Lawlor got started at Battle Riot and now he’s coming for the title. Tom isn’t a conqueror though and Low Ki is going to make an example out of Tom in front of his children.

Fred Yehi is back from his three month international tour but he’s been keeping up with what’s been going on around here. That’s why he wants to fight Low Ki with his bald head next week. A fight, not a match.

We look back at Ace Romero defeating Simon Gotch last week to win $20,000.

Romero is going to spend half the money on food and half on something that makes his eyebrows go up. He’s coming for the World Title though.

It’s time for the Super Fight Control Center. This includes the Lucha Bros vs. the Hart Foundation for the Tag Team Titles plus a few people who don’t have matches yet.

Next week: Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Pillman Jr. in a Singapore Cane match.

Dreamer talks about the history of the cane and how painful it can be in a variety of ways. He brings up the original caning match in ECW (of course) and how much damage, both physical and mental, has been done to him over the years. Pillman doesn’t know what he’s in for.

Teddy Hart vs. Pentagon

Non-title. The Hart Foundation plus a former University of Miami football player are in Hart’s corner while Pentagon is on his own. As a bonus, Smith is now dressed like Hart, which oddly works for him. The fans are behind Hart again, which tends to always be the case, and the announcers have to acknowledge them. CERO MIEDO gets a nice chant of its own though so this is far from one sided. Hart offers a handshake but gets CERO MIEDO instead so Hart punches him down.

They slug it out with Pentagon getting the better of things but Hart reverses a suplex to the floor into a Stunner. Teddy’s hanging piledriver (Orton’s DDT but a piledriver) sends Pentagon to the floor and there’s the moonsault to make things even worse. In the classic heel move of the night, Pillman offers a distraction so Smith can get in a cheap shot. Pentagon fights back against all three Harts at the same time but Hart pops him in the jaw to cut him down.

They fight back to the apron and that means a Canadian Destroyer to crush Hart, though of course he’s right back up a few seconds later. Hart can barely stand and a second Canadian Destroyer, this time from the middle rope, makes things even worse. Since Hart can’t stand, Pentagon ties him in the ropes for the loud chops. Hart can’t manage the walk over Pentagon’s back for the sunset flip so it’s a regular dropkick for some more success. A moonsault gives Hart two and the top rope moonsault elbow gets the same.

Pentagon scores with a superkick in the corner and the Fear Factor (still called the Pentagon Driver here, which has to be a copyright thing or something) gets two on Hart. Something like a Whisper in the Wind drops Pentagon again and now the Lionsault (minus the run) connects for two. Pentagon can’t break the arm as Hart is right back with a Backstabber. A DDT and the powerbomb into a Backstabber finish Pentagon at 11:20.

Rating: B-. The more you watch Hart, the more impressive his comeback really is. To have become the joke that he was for so many years and then turned into this rather impressive performer is nearly remarkable. His matches are entertaining and while they’re a bunch of high spots, they’re well done high spots and that’s enough to keep you around for a long time. Good stuff here, with a win over Pentagon being something worth mentioning.

Overall Rating: B-. The matches were rather good and they advanced the stories well enough. Above all else I’m impressed by how well they’ve managed to build Lawlor vs. Low Ki so many months in advance. I want to see the match, even if it’s the most obvious ending in the world. This show worked quite well and I had a good time, which is always a good thing to be able to say.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6