Fusion #81
Date: October 26, 2019
Location: Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, AJ Kirsch

It’s the go home show for SuperFight and I’m curious to see the show. The fact that they have gotten here is impressive enough and there is a good chance that they could have a solid show. MLW has figured out how to do things that get fans to want to keep watching and that is what matters most. Ow just give us one more good show before the important show. Let’s get to it.

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

Contra brags about taking out Hijo de LA Park last week and promise to make it even worse for LA Park next week.

Opening sequence.

We look at Brian Pillman Jr. mocking Low Ki. They’re on at SuperFight.

Hart Foundation vs. Dragon Lee/Extreme Tiger

Pillman/Smith for the Harts here. Pillman poses at Lee to start in a nice Rush impression and it’s time for things to get serious. Back up and a shoulder puts Lee down but he nips right back up and it’s time for the flipping into covers for no counts. Stereo dropkick attempts give us a standoff and Lee strikes Rush’s pose as well. Tiger and Smith come in with Tiger making the mistake of chopping Smith in the chest.

This goes even worse than you would expect and it’s time for the much bigger Smith to slug away. An overhead belly to belly launches Tiger and Smith is starting to get a little cocky. Pillman comes in for his own chops until Tiger ducks one and snaps off his own. That just earns him a shot from Smith and Pillman gets two.

There’s a delayed gutwrench suplex as Smith gets to show off some power. Lee has to break up a Boston crab and Pillman is right there to run him over. We settle down to Pillman with a seated abdominal stretch on Tiger for a bit, followed by Pillman missing a charge into the corner. Tiger cannonballs down onto the leg and it’s Lee coming in to pick up the pace. The snap German suplex rocks Pillman but he’s right back to his feet for the exchange of chops.

The fans are WAY behind Lee here, even as Pillman hits a spinning chop to the back. Lee blasts hits him with a running knee to the face though and it’s a double tag to Tiger and Smith. Everything breaks down and Lee nails a suicide dive on Pillman, followed by Tiger’s running flip dive. Not that it matters as Tiger is thrown back inside for a springboard Hart Attack and the pin at 13:34.

Rating: C+. As popular as the Harts are back at home, they were working heel here and it was rather successful for them. Smith continues to be nothing short of a freak and Pillman is starting to find his footing out there. Tiger and Lee can fly with the best of them so this was a good mixture of styles and it was a fun match in front of a hot crowd. The ending came a bit out of nowhere though and it was pretty noticeable.

SuperFight rundown. That show does sound good.

Salina de la Renta isn’t worried about Contra because she is the power around here. Promociones Dorado is coming for the World Title at SuperFight. Prepare to kiss her ring and bow down to her destroyer on pay per view.

LA Park swears revenge for what Contra did to his son.

The Dynasty is at a bar and Hammerstone won’t answer any questions about bringing anything illegal across the border. Holliday puts his Air Pods, which he takes out of a Louis Vuitton mini case, back in because he needed to wash his hands after Mexico. They drink a toast to winning, America, and the Dynasty.

The Von Erichs are coming for the Tag Team Titles.

The Hart Foundation is having a good time on the tour of Mexico. Smith is wearing the gold in the absent Teddy Hart’s honor.

We look at Austin Aries laying Teddy Hart out with a brainbuster onto the apron. Aries has set up a Go Fund Me to help him pay the fine, which is hilarious.

Terror Azteca/Proximo vs. Toto/Torito

No tags required here and they start fast with the rollups and tumbling. That means no one hits much of anything until Toto and Torito are kicked to the floor and we take a break. Back with Proximo and Toto chopping it out for some rather loud cracks. Toto’s baseball slide is blocked and it’s a Wasteland into a top rope splash to the floor. Back in and Terror hits a hurricanrana driver to finish Torito at 5:24 with a very fast count. Not enough shown to rate but it was your usual fast paced lucha.

Video on LA Park vs. Jacob Fatu.

Contra vs. Promociones Dorado

That would be Ikuro Kwon/Josef Samael/Simon Gotch vs. LA Park/Bestia 666/Mecha Wolf. It’s a brawl to start (You were expecting anything else?) with Contra getting the better of things and taking it out to the floor. Promociones are sent into various hard objects and Park takes a chair to the back. Samael punches Park down as this has been completely one sided so far.

The brawling continues and they get inside for a change with Contra still in full control. Promociones finally gets in some dropkicks and Bestia hits a suicide dive to drop Samael. Another dive from Bestia and one from Wolf set up the big dive from Park and everyone is down on the floor. Park chairs Gotch in the head and it’s a Street Sweeper for Kwon back inside. Samael comes in to fight all three Dorado at the same time so Park gives him a running knee to the face.

And now, we go into the tagging because that’s the next logical step. Samael fights off but gets caught in an abdominal stretch with a fishhook. Kwon and Gotch make the save but it’s Wolf hitting a heck of a suicide dive on Gotch. Bestia hits a 450 on Kwon but Gotch makes the save. Park comes back in and hits the strut, followed by a reverse DDT for two on Samael. Back up and Kwon mists Wolf and it’s a fireball to Bestia, only to have Park spear Samael for the pin at 15:53.

Rating: C+. This was a rather fun brawl and the right ending with Park getting a pinfall over a member of Contra to set up Saturday’s title match. The rest of the teams were fine enough and the fireball is always something worth seeing. I liked the ending with Park being the last man standing and turning on the jets to beat Contra, which makes him look stronger than ever.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty solid show here and more importantly than anything else, I want to see the show and the title match in particular. That’s exactly the point of a show like this and we got some nice wrestling in there too. It’s the kind of show that you need before their biggest night ever and the company seems to be on the verge of a very good place at the moment.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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Fusion #58
Date: May 18, 2019
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Jim Cornette

We have to be coming up to the end of this taping cycle already. The big story tonight is the other semifinal match in the National Title tournament, which isn’t the most interesting thing in the world so far. The good thing though is that the shows have enough going on that it keeps things moving. Let’s get to it.

 

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

Bocchini gives us a quick rundown of tonight’s show.

Opening sequence.

Earlier this week, Sami Callihan was in a Bobcat because he wants to wreck things. Mance Warner came up and said he understood things and offered him half of a light beer. They get in the Bobcat and head to the liquor store.

Earlier today, Salina de la Renta didn’t want to talk about Low Ki’s contract status.

Promociones Dorado vs. Mance Warner/Sami Callihan

Hijo de LA Park/Ricky Martinez for Dorado here. It’s a brawl to start (well duh) with Cornette not being sure what to do here as he likes Warner but hates Callihan. They fight by the barricade with Callihan hitting a beer can to the head. A lot of spitting ensues and Park stomps on Callihan’s chest. The weapons are brought in to little avail and Sami starts whipping people. This includes a whip to Warner by request, because Warner is a little nuts. Sami and Warner’s spitting high five allows Dorado to hit double superkicks.

Mance gets double teamed inside until a low blow slows Park down. And yes, now it’s time for an actual match! Dorado crotches Mance against the post as we’re firmly in the “DQ’s don’t matter here” portion of the show. Park gets two off a slingshot splash and we hit the hip swiveling. Warner hits a headbutt and falls onto Park’s crotch in the old Sting spot. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Callihan so house can be cleaned. A very quick Cactus Special finishes Martinez at 8:08.

Rating: C-. Warner and Callihan had to get a win at some point after losing or going to a draw so many times. I know LA Park has to be protected at all costs but you have to rebuild some challengers for the sake of facing him later on. Callihan and Warner can do that, but it doesn’t work if they don’t have something like this every now and then.

Post match the brawl is still on with Callihan going for Park’s mask. That’s broken up and they fight to the floor and then into the back. LA Park comes in to help out and Dorado stands tall (in a very small hallway).

Austin Aries, with his Avengers style logo, is coming.

We look at Avalanche’s dominance in Battle Riot II.

Daga vs. Minoru Tanaka

Tanaka’s GHC Junior Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. Feeling out process to start with Daga hitting a chop that seems to get Tanaka’s attention. Daga goes after the arm but Tanaka dropkicks him down and flips back to his feet. A cross armbreaker has Daga in trouble but he rolls out and gets most of a rear naked choke.

That’s broken up and Tanaka escapes a powerbomb attempt so Daga headscissors him to the floor. The required suicide dive hits Tanaka and a springboard corkscrew dive makes it worse. Back in and Tanaka rolls into a heel hook with some hard cranking until Daga makes the rope. Daga rolls outside and that means a middle rope moonsault from Tanaka.

They head in again with Daga’s knee being fine enough for a dropkick and low superkick for two, followed by an ankle lock. That’s broken up and Tanaka hits a hard kick to the chest to take over again. They forearm it out until Daga grabs a bridging German suplex for two more. Tanaka goes for the cross armbreaker again so Daga tries to roll out, which is reversed into a cradle to give Tanaka the pin at 10:19.

Rating: B-. This was a fun one with both guys working hard and showcasing themselves well. Tanaka is very smooth in the ring and Daga, while not someone I’ve liked in the past, has gotten a lot better in the last few months. Good match here and the kind of match that makes the Fusion concept make that much more sense.

The Von Erichs are coming.

MJF doesn’t want to hear about the Von Erich Dynasty because there is one dynasty in MLW and that is the Dynasty.

Fury Road Control Center, with announcements of Teddy Hart defending the Middleweight Title against Jimmy Havoc, Myron Reed vs. Gringo Loco and the National Title tournament final.

We look at Jacob Fatu beating Barrington Hughes last week.

Contra talks about their successes so far and promise more destruction.

Tom Lawlor isn’t worried about Contra because he’s ready to face everyone around the world. He’s ready for Avalanche next week.

We look back at Air Wolf defeating Fenix in a major upset. Air Wolf is up for a rematch but Fenix hasn’t said anything.

A fan poll says Davey Boy Smith would make a good challenger.

National Title Tournament Semifinals: Rich Swann vs. Brian Pillman Jr.

The winner gets Alexander Hammerstone for the title next week. Myron Reed is here with Swann while Pillman is here alone. Hang on though as we get a weapons check on Swann, who thinks the referee is biased against him. Swann finally agrees to get going so Pillman forearms away and grabs a powerslam for two with Reed pulling him off. A backdrop sends Swann into a 450 faceplant for another cover with Reed offering another distraction.

Swann finally gets in a superkick and a few forearms as things settle down. Pillman ducks a clothesline and dropkicks Reed through the ropes to take care of him, setting up a neck snap across the top rope. A high crossbody gives Pillman two and he hammers away in the corner until Reed trips him up. How this isn’t a DQ isn’t clear, as the “the bodies of the wrestlers blocked the referee’s view” explanation is quite the reach.

Swann throws him down by the head as we talk about the history of biased referees. A dragon sleeper doesn’t keep Pillman in trouble for very long so it’s a kick to the head into a DDT to give Swann two. Swann yells at the referee and gets shoved down for his efforts, allowing Pillman to roll Swann up for the fast counted pin at 6:44.

Rating: C-. This was almost all about the angle rather than the match and that’s not the worst thing in the world. Swann’s issues with the referee aren’t as important as the title and Pillman vs. the Dynasty so this was what mattered most. I’m sure Swann will be fine as his stuff is more than good enough while Pillman can move on to the title match next week.

Alex Hammerstone is cool with facing Pillman for the title because Pillman isn’t big. Pillman won’t be making his father proud at Fury Road.

Overall Rating: C. Fairly good show here though the very long taping cycle wrapping up couldn’t come sooner as still being in New York from Wrestlemania weekend makes the shows feel a little old. Hopefully the Fury Road special next week should be entertaining and a little pick up, though the shows are hardly terrible or even bad. I still don’t see the need for another title, but we’re way past the point of that being something that can be fixed in a hurry. Watchable enough show, but they still have a bit too much going on at once.

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:

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