IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #1
Date: April 20, 2018
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

This is something interesting and since it’s me, I’m behind on the schedule. Major League Wrestling was around for a little while in the early 2000s but went away for a long time, only to be resurrected after some successful one off shows. They got a TV deal on beIN Sports and air a weekly show, which has been around for a little over a month now. I’m not sure what to expect here but if the first few episodes are good I’ll add it to the weekly schedule. Let’s get to it.

We see some clips from old wrestling promotions and the original MLW, which had some big name stars (CM Punk, Bryan Danielson etc). Nice opening and a good way to make this show feel more important.

The announcers (I’m sure you know Schiavone but Bocchini is former NXT announcer Rich Brennan) give us a quick welcome before throwing it to the ring.

ACH vs. Austin Aries

ACH says he’s as real as it gets and has bad ribs coming in. A handshake gets us going and they fight into the corner as I try to get my head around the idea of Tony Schiavone talking about ACH and Austin Aries. They go with a technical sequence to the mat until Aries has to nip his way out of a wristlock. The Last Chancery is broken up and it’s time for Aries to chill on the top. Back in and ACH flips around a lot, which seems to impress Aries for a change.

Some very fast armdrags have ACH down and there’s the basement dropkick for good measure. ACH’s dropkick gets two and a springboard version knocks Aries from the apron to the floor. That goes nowhere so Aries gets in a shot to the ribs to take over again and they walk around the ring a bit. An elbow to the back gives Aries two more as he’s certainly focusing on a target.

We go very old school with a Stump Puller (picture an electric chair if ACH is sitting on the mat and Aries is pulling on his leg) before Aries misses a missile dropkick. ACH is way too quick to go up top though and the missed splash only bangs up the ribs again. He’s fine enough to get two off a slingshot cutter and they both need a breather. The Pendulum elbow (spinning elbow according to Tony, which is fair enough) gives Aries two but a kick to the face cuts him down again.

This time the splash connects for two and ACH can’t believe the kickout. He’ll have even more trouble realizing what’s going on after a Death Valley Driver onto the apron knocks him silly. And then, because modern wrestling is annoying, ACH is trying the 450 only 45 seconds after a Death Valley Driver on the apron. That hits knees though and the Last Chancery….still doesn’t finish as ACH makes the rope. Instead Aries forearms him in the face and hits the brainbuster for the pin at 17:32.

Rating: B-. This went a few minutes longer than it needed to (you could have gone from the Death Valley Driver to the brainbuster with nothing in between) but it was a good way to start a new show (mainly due to the lack of commercials). ACH isn’t a name that a lot of fans are going to know but Aries was at Wrestlemania just last year. I had a good time watching this one and it’s a promising start to the show.

Jimmy Havoc, a British wrestler, talks about the history of fans wanting blood for wrestling in Florida. They haven’t gotten that in recent years but he’s going to change all of that.

Barrington Hughes vs. Chico Adams

Hughes (the Caramel Colossus, who says he won’t stop until he reaches the top) is 469lbs and finishes with a Rock Bottom at 9 seconds (his second fastest win to date). He’s at Viscera levels of disturbingly huge so getting him in and out of there so fast is the right idea.

Next week: MLW Champion Shane Strickland vs. Jimmy Havoc.

Rey Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr.

This should be a layup and the winner gets a future World Title shot. Pentagon is introduced as Penta El Cero but his graphic says Pentagon Jr. He also has what appears to be a standard good looking manager named Salina de la Renta. Fenix offers a handshake but gets the CERO MIEDO treatment. Some kicks to the head have Fenix in early trouble but he’s right back with kicks to the head of his own and it’s a double knockdown.

Back up and Fenix bounces along the ropes (including bouncing on his back onto the top rope), setting up an armdrag to the floor and a suicide flip dive. They head back in where Pentagon dropkicks him out of the air for a nice counter to take over again. Pentagon heads outside and chops him against the post before, of course, chopping the post by mistake. A running hurricanrana from the apron into the crowd (albeit in slow motion as it’s hard to roll over people) has Pentagon in more trouble.

Back in again and Fenix starts kicking him in the head, followed by a triple springboard missile dropkick for two. A Backstabber out of the corner gives Pentagon two and we take a break. Back with NOTHING CHANGED (THANK GOODNESS!) and Fenix grabbing some rollups for a near fall each. Fenix catches him on top with a super C4 for two more but charges into a powerbomb backbreaker.

Tony tries to figure out why the fans are cheering a rudo (I….don’t know how to handle Tony talking about rudos), followed by Pentagon backdropping him into a powerbomb for a sweet landing. We even get a catchphrase with Tony dropping “What’s major league? THAT’S MAJOR LEAGUE!” The Fear Factor gives Pentagon the pin at 14:09.

Rating: B. Like I said, kind of a layup with Pentagon being one of the biggest indy stars around at the moment and Fenix being crazy levels of exciting most of the time. You don’t need to do much more than let these two go insane and do all kinds of high flying stuff. Pentagon winning makes sense and while I doubt they would put the title on someone so hot, it’s cool to see him getting a big win.

A long video package and a handshake ensue.

A video on Strickland vs. Havoc takes us out.

Overall Rating: B+. Now that’s how you start a new show. This was all about giving you a taste of what you had coming and they did a solid job of making me want to see where things going. You had two good, long matches and stuff being set up for next week. They did something smart by having the hotter matches open things up, though I could see having the World Champion around in the first week. The question is how long can they hold this up, and that’s what we’ll see next week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Yes this company still does non-One Night Only pay per views, even though it’s been nearly six months since their last one. What used to be Lockdown has now been changed to the rather generic Redemption and a lot of the card is going to be featuring Lucha Underground talent. That’s not a bad thing, but there have been a combination of changes to the card and matches added in after the TV tapings, meaning it’s kind of a mixed bag up and down. Maybe they’ll surprise me though as the recent TV has been pretty good. Let’s get to it.

Taiji Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo de Fantasma vs. Brian Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee

You didn’t know these people were on the card or even still with the company? Well here most of them are to be destroyed by Cage. It’s clear that Cage is being groomed to be a big deal, if nothing else due to defeating Bobby Lashley and sending him out of the promotion. The rest of these guys are just there as cannon fodder, though it wouldn’t shock me if they went with someone getting the fall while Cage is busy bench pressing a bus or something.

But yeah, Cage wins here because, in theory/hope at least, they realize that a lot of the X-Division guys should be fed to him like villagers being sacrificed to Godzilla. Cage is a monster who needs to be destroying people and it’s not like any of these people are doing anything. I mean, they don’t even have a move called the Canadian Destroyer. Why would they be going near a title shot? Cage wins here and should do so in dominant fashion.

Taya Valkyrie vs Kiera Hogan

This is a match that wasn’t announced on Impact but why let that stop you? Valkyrie is coming off a loss to Rosemary (not on the show) in the big blowoff match of their feud and is in need of a big win. Hogan is too though as she’s still relatively new but someone that Impact seems interested in pushing. The division needs some new names so if they have something with Hogan, it’s worth giving her a shot.

I’ll be taking Valkyrie though as Hogan winning would be quite the upset. I do however expect this to be pretty competitive with Hogan getting in a lot as there’s no reason to have a squash on pay per view. Hogan might not go anywhere but it’s worth taking a shot on her if she’s gotten this far. Valkyrie needs it more though and should win, preferably with a heck of a Road to Valhalla for the pin.

Knockouts Title: Allie(c) vs. Su Yung

Now we’re getting to one of the confusing ones. Allie won the title so recently and wasn’t exactly a big success as champion in the first place so a second win to establish her as one of the bigger stars of the division would make sense. At the same time though, they just brought Yung in and I’m not sure what the point would be in having a monster slayed so soon. It really could go either way and for once, I’m not sure which to go with here.

I’m going to take Yung to win the match here, but not the title. I could see this going to a DQ to set up a rematch, probably after a few weeks of Braxton Sutter being a jerk go by. It’s the best way out of this booking corner and Allie can come back and win the big rematch by overcoming her fears. You know, by being what Bayley should have been since Allie is a Bayley clone.

Tag Team Titles: LAX(c) vs. Scott Steiner/Eli Drake

So this is a thing that’s happening because Chris Adonis walked out on the promotion and WE MUST have a muscular guy take his place because of reasons. Drake would be the kind of guy who gets any dummy (KM would still be a good option) to team with him and win the titles. But hey, let’s bring in Scott Steiner and reinforce so many stereotypes about the promotion and gives us a horrible looking match at the same time.

Of course LAX retains, likely with Drake taking the fall because they can clearly have him losing a fall when STEINER is in there as a backup option. LAX needs to win here, mainly because they’re one of all of three teams (if that) on the roster. Maybe they can find another team to feud with them because other than OVE and…..oh yeah the Cult of Lee (pretty much the end of the division), they’ve cleared out the division. That being said, I don’t think that’s it for Drake on the night but we’ll get to that later.

Aerostar vs. Drago

This is one of the Lucha Underground matches as these two have no real connection to Impact Wrestling other than filling in a slot on the card. That being said, it’s quite the benefit to us as it gives the audience something fresh rather than doing the same stuff we see on TV every week. They’re both very talented guys and can wrestle a fun match, which is often a benefit for a pay per view like this.

I’ll go with Drago, who is a bigger star in Lucha Underground and a slightly better talent overall. Aerostar is fine but never did a ton for me so he’ll really be there as an opponent for Drago rather than a major attraction. Either way, it’s nice to have a match like this and both guys should get the chance to shine on a bigger (at least somewhat bigger) stage.

X-Division Title: Matt Sydal(c) vs. Petey Williams

This is Williams’ Feast or Fired briefcase cash-in, which is a decent thing in a way. I don’t like having three Money in the Bank ripoffs running around, but at least they actually announce the match in advance for a change. It’s better than having people run out and steal a title for once, and thankfully they’re getting at least two of the three things out of the way in one night.

I’ll go with Sydal winning here, as he’s a more interesting character and someone who can go a little further than Williams. I know Williams is a fan favorite due to having a good finisher, but that and being Canadian are really all he has going for him. Sydal and Josh Matthews aren’t the best combination in the world but Matthews is a good heel and Sydal…well he’s trying at least. The match should be fun though, just for Sonjay Dutt making fun of Matthews on commentary.

OVE vs. Tommy Dreamer/Moose/Eddie Edwards

This is a hardcore match, because it’s not like Tommy Dreamer can do much else right now. Sami Callihan and OVE have attacked Eddie Edwards for a few weeks now (reasons still yet to be explained, but general chaos seems to be in the lead) and Edwards needs some backup in the fight. I haven’t been thrilled with the feud so far and making this a tag match seems like a way to get Moose on the card (a good thing).

I’ll go with OVE though, as Dreamer seems in there to take the fall more than anything else. They can do Edwards vs. Callihan for the blowoff later, but it still doesn’t seem like the most thrilling thing in the world. That might be due to Callihan and OVE being rather annoying and uninteresting as heels (at least in this role) but that’s not likely to change anytime soon. But yeah, OVE wins here.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries(c) vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix

Well, we lost Alberto El Patron and got Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix so I’d call that an upgrade. El Patron was scheduled to get the title shot and had a bunch of stuff with Aries filmed but, due to reasons of being a ridiculously unprofessional jerk, he no showed an event and was subsequently fired. Therefore, we’re getting a rematch of the Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground triple threat, which was won by Pentagon Jr.

I’ll take Aries to win here, only to have Drake cash in his other Feast or Fired case to leave with the World Title. Aries can have some people to face down the line, but having him take the title from Drake again would be a good idea, especially for the sake of his promos being so great. The match itself will be fun and all three can work well together. That sounds like a good main event, but I don’t see it blowing the doors off of anything.

Overall Thoughts

I’m actually not dreading this show and that’s a rare feeling for an Impact Wrestling pay per view. The addition of the Lucha Underground talent should help things out a lot but at the same time, I’m not sure Impact Wrestling could do a three hour pay per view on their own. That’s not good given the amount of names on their roster, but the future is starting to have some color to it. That hasn’t been the case in a LONG time around here and I’ll take what I can get from these people.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

In addition to the Rev Pro show on Friday night, WrestleCon also put on a Supershow in the same room (and with a lot of the same talent). This was the definition of a supershow with a little bit of everything from comedy to violence to dueling chants. To say this was a lot more energetic than most shows is an understatement.

The show was scheduled to start at 8:30 but since Rev Pro went fairly late it wound up starting at about 8:50. There were also well over 1000 people in one room sot he place was BOILING. Prices for a bottle of water (as in a regular one) at the bar: SIX DOLLARS. Realizing this was insane, I went down the street to Walgreens and bought a liter sized bottle for $1.79. At intermission I went and got two more, with all three not combining for the cost of one. I get the idea of making money but those prices would drive customers away.

1. David Starr/Caleb Kenley/Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin/ACH/Mascarito Dorado

That would be El Torito at the end. To give you an idea of what we were dealing with on this card, ACH was introduced as “Mr. I Used This Booking To Pay My Bills.” The match was under Lucha rules and it was very clear that this was going to be a very Un-PG show. Dorado did a bunch of speedy stuff, causing Lee to shout the following at his partners: “WHAT IN THE F******* F*** WAS THAT???” Later, when Dorado was in a chinlock, Lee shouted at Kenley to “MAKE THAT MIDGET TAP!”

2. Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland

3. Impact Wrestling World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb

4. Flip Gordon/Sammy Guevera vs. Angleico/Jack Evans

5. Team Ricochet (Ricochet/Jason Cade/Sami Calihan/AR Fox/Desmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Ospreay/Marty Scurll/Lio Rush/Drew Galloway/Ryan Smile)

The captains were chosen due to a great match Ospreay and Ricochet had last year in Japan which was called choreographed nonsense. The solution? Give then four partners each (which they say they were allowed to hand pick) and TWENTY TWO MINUTES to do as much choreographed stuff as they could. This included a series of about ten straight cutters, quadruple big boots, a quintuple suplex and a dance off that has to be seen to be believed. As luck would have it, I had a camera on me and filmed the second half of said dance off. Everyone danced but I only got the last few. The one that matters is included though.

Intermission time, which again ran long as the wrestlers were running their merch tables. It also meant time for me to meet some more wrestlers, including Angelico, Lio Rush, Flip Gordon, Sammy Guevera (very nice guy), Desmond Xavier and Moose. As I was coming back from Walgreens for water, I saw Marty Jannetty in the lobby and WOW he was out of it. I shook his hand and he started walking around without letting go while hitting on a woman. As I was heading out of the arena, I also saw Donovan Dijak watching the show as a fan.

6. DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: WrestleCon Rumble

1. Joey Ryan (defending champion)

2. Colt Cabana

Bell rings.

Ryan to Cabana: “GRAB MY D***!”

Fans: “GRAB HIS D***! GRAB HIS D***!”

3. Kikutaro (Japanese comedy character)

4. Underground Luchador

5. Manscout Jake Manning (He reads and beats people up at the same time)

6. George South

7. Suicide (Never unmasked, apparently Caleb Konley)

8. Mr. Hughes (Down probably 100lbs from his mainstream days)

9. Zane Riley (Mr. 305 Live)

10. 2 Cold Scorpio (One of my favorites so this was a treat)

11. Billy Gunn (Easily the biggest pop of the match)

12. Moose (Who had a staredown with Gunn for a bizarre visual)

13. Swoggle

14. Shane Douglas

15. Kevin Thorn

16. Shannon Moore

17. Hurricane (With a bad limp)

18. Abyss (House was cleaned)

19. Gangrel (That music is still SWEET)

20. Marty Jannetty

7. Johnny Mundo vs. Brian Cage

8. Hardys vs. Rey Fenix/Pentagon Dark