Major League Wrestling Fusion – January 25, 2019: The Fighting Before The Fighting
IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling
Fusion #41
Date: January 25, 2019
Location: Scottish Rite Temple, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone
It’s the go home show for SuperFight and that could make for an interesting show. MLW doesn’t have a ton of experience with stuff like this and therefore the track record is hard to guess. The big story continues to be the build towards Tom Lawlor’s World Title shot against Low Ki, so expect something from that tonight. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
In Memory of Dr. Rex Bacchus.
We look back at Low Ki and Black Friday Management taking out various people over the last several months, mainly thanks to Sami Callihan. Now Lawlor has laid out Callihan, so Salina de la Renta is sending LA Park after Callihan, which is tonight’s main event.
Opening sequence.
We run down the top matches at SuperFight.
Kotto Brazil vs. Vandal Ortagun
This is Brazil’s return after an eye injury that means he’s now wearing an eye patch. Ortagun doesn’t waste time in jumping Brazil and knocks him outside in a hurry. That means a kick to the chest to slow Ortagun down again and there’s the suicide dive into the barricade. What looked to be a running Sliced Bread is blocked and Ortagun snaps the patch into his eye like a true villain.
A hard whip into the corner keeps Brazil in trouble but he snaps off a German suplex for a breather. Another bridging version gets two and a springboard spinning splash is good for the same. Ortagun slams him right back down to cut things off again, only to walk into a Code Red. Back up and an RKO into the running Sliced Bread finishes Ortagun at 7:52.
Rating: C. Brazil isn’t too bad in the ring at all and plays a very good undersized underdog. The eye patch is a good way to build even more sympathy and then winning the match clean helps pay it off. At the same time you have Ortagun, who is a perfectly serviceable jobber to the stars.
Post match Ricky Martinez, the guy who injured Brazil in the first place, runs in and beats Brazil down. He even steals the eye patch.
We look back at Brian Pillman Jr. beating Tommy Dreamer in a Singapore cane match. Brian wants a rematch in any kind of match.
Dreamer calls in and says he’ll fight Pillman in a mystery partner tag match in Philadelphia.
Barrington Hughes vs. Ace Romero
Hughes is the hometown boy and Romero is the smaller of the two at 400lbs. They take their time locking up and it’s the big shoulder that goes nowhere. Romero dropkicks him into the corner….and here’s Rob Parker to say hold on there fat boys. These two shouldn’t be in the ring because there’s a pie eating contest down the street. Cue the Dirty Blonds to jump both of them at 2:15….and we have a tag match.
Dirty Blonds vs. Ace Romero/Barrington Hughes
Running corner splashes set up stereo World’s Strongest Slams to finish the Blonds at 53 seconds. What else do you want me to say here?
Mance Warner is still coming.
Next week it’s Dreamer vs. Pillman in an Empty Arena match.
Pillman and Teddy Hart hold cats and see fear in the Lucha Bros’ eyes. Then it’s time to train, which means downing a protein drink and pointing at a cat.
SuperFight rundown with Striker doing his usual, shall we say, verbose hyping.
Sami Callihan mocks Salina de la Renta for her cause because all Sami cares about is money. He’s taken everyone out and he’ll take out LA Park tonight.
Video on Lawlor vs. Low Ki.
Low Ki mockingly congratulates Lawlor for making it to SuperFight. He hints at Lawlor going through a divorce for the sake of his career before moving on to talking about his reputation for taking things too far. Maybe in Philadelphia he should take things too extreme instead. They got off the personal issues so fast that it seemed to be part of a different promo. Low Ki’s delivery was great as usual though.
Sami Callihan vs. LA Park
Falls Count Anywhere which apparently means hardcore. Salina is here with Park to make things more interesting. Before we get a bell, Park lays the Mexican flag on the mat and bows to it as the stalling is strong here. They shove and chop each other to start with Callihan opening his vest so Park can chop harder. The chops actually break the skin and Callihan starts crying. Park splashes him in the corner, stops to strike the dance, and gets two off a clothesline.
They head outside with Park putting him in a chair for the huge suicide dive, which is rather impressive given his size. One heck of a trashcan shot keeps Callihan in trouble but he blocks another dive with a trashcan shot. Park loses his belt and Sami blasts him with it a few times before daring to mock the strut. A beer to the mask looks to set up the running start lariat but Callihan gets tossed over the barricade instead.
Park turns part of the barricade into a ramp with a trashcan on top, setting up a suplex to put Callihan in even more trouble. Some chairs (the ones that don’t move rather than the usual folding kind) are thrown inside but Park stops to cover for two. They fight out of the arena and into the lobby with another trashcan shot giving Park two more. It actually goes outside the building for a few moments without much happening, meaning it’s time to go back into the arena.
Back inside and the referee gets bumped but is fine enough to count two off Park’s headbutt. The referee shouts about his ankle being injured and Park shouts a lot, followed by a powerslam for two with the referee stopping at two due to the pain. Park jumps the referee but a low blow gives Callihan a perfectly fine two. It’s time to set up some chairs next to each other but Park blocks a powerbomb and spears Sami through them for the pin at 13:37.
Rating: C+. This was a lot of fun with a good effort to hide the fact that Park is little more than a brawler in a cool costume at this point. Callihan losing over and over again is interesting, though he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t need to win all the time anyway. At least we got some entertaining brawling here and that’s all this was going to be.
Overall Rating: C. Not too bad here, though it was the definition of a filler show that had no real purpose other than being one last show before SuperFight. I’m looking forward to seeing the big show, even with the most obvious main event result they could have. Now just deliver with the rest of the show and everything will be fine. Completely watchable show this week, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.
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