MLW Fusion #105 – MLW AAA Super Series
April 11th, 2020
Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez
Tijuana, Mexico
By: Davie Portman
Commentary Rich Bocchini and AJ Kirsch
This week’s episode of MLW Fusion is week one of an inter-promotional event with AAA called “Super Series”. The show opens with a video package about Mexico celebrating its vibrant culture, history, revolutions, friendly people, gorgeous destination but most of all…Lucha Libre, which has been a staple of Mexico since the 19th Century.
In the ring, there is an opening ceremony where Laredo Kid and Josh Alexander are stood in the middle of the ring representing their countries as the National Anthem of Mexico plays.
Alexander Hammerstone from The Dynasty (who has been on a losing streak recently, culminating in MJF leaving MLW with his loss to Mance Warner last week) joins the commentary team for the opening match of the evening.
Alicia Atout interviews Mance Warner backstage and gives him a high five for getting rid of MJF last week. Mance insults The Dynasty and says that Holliday and Alexander spent all their money on a Donkey Show. Savio Vega joins and speaks in Spanish before saying that he and Mance are ready for their match tonight.
Mortiz & Pagano vs Mance Warner & Savio Vega (Barrio Brawl Match)
Savio Vega and Pagano start the match as the two legal men, however, it very quickly breaks down and all four begin to brawl on the outside. Warner throws a chair at Mortiz. Vega throws Pagano into the hood of a car. Savio Vega grabs a beer from someone in the crowd and smashes it across Pagano’s head. Then, in one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in wrestling for a long time. Vega pulls out a load of wooden bbq skewers and punches them into the head of Pagano. For the next five minutes, Pagano continues to wrestle with at least ten bbq skewers sticking out of his head. With the skewers still in his head, Pagano hits a Somersault Plancha to the outside followed up by a Tope Suicida from Mortiz that sends all four men crashing through a wooden board on the outside. Back in the ring Mortiz and Warner have a duel of chair shots to the head. Warner then breaks a chair over the head of Pagano. Mortiz sets up a table and sets it on fire, however, he gets sent through the table from a Top Rope Chokeslam from Warner. Wooden doors are now set up in each corner and both Pagano and Warner get speared through them. Alexander Hammerstone interferes by hitting Warner with a Bicycle Kick. Mortiz puts Warner through a table with a Splash. Pagano hits Vega low with a steel chair and follows up with a Running Blockbuster for the win.
WINNERS: Pagano & Mortiz defeat Mance Warner & Savio Vega in 16 mins
Davie’s Thoughts: I haven’t watched a match like this for a long time and I can’t say that it is really my cup of tea but I did think all four men worked hard and the crowd was completely into it. The spot with bbq skewers was absolutely disgusting and I couldn’t believe how long Pagano continued to wrestle with them sticking out of his head! This was the first time I have ever seen Pagano and I definitely think he has a presence. He has a Pentagon Jr/Vampiro vibe to him. I would be interested to see him work more of a traditional wrestling match to see what he is capable of but he was definitely the man who stood out the most in this match.
BREAKING NEWS
Courts have ruled in favor of MLW and have suspended King Mo for a month and fined him $10,000
Comments from Tom Lawlor
Tom Lawlor has sent in a personal video complaining about the suspension of King Mo. He says that just as they are getting the upper hand due to a merger with American Top Team someone has to sop them by unfairly suspending King Mo. He feels it is just delaying the inevitable and is confident that they can adapt. He therefore, announces that he is going to enter the Tag Division with Dominic Garrini and challenges The Von Erich’s to a Tag Title match.
Lifestyles of The Rich and Dynastic
Alexander Hammerstone and Richard Holliday are in their hotel room, hungover. They can’t remember much from what happened the night before, somehow lost Gino Medina and have not heard anything from MJF. Hammerstone is mad that Holliday talked him into going to a Donkey Show. Holliday wants to pull out from wrestling later today because of the hangover and Hammerstone reminds him that “the one thing my Dad taught me was to never pull out.” They both leave the hotel room in an attempt to cure their hangovers.
Davie’s Thoughts: I really enjoy The Dynasty. I find them all very capable performers and their video segments are usually pretty entertaining. I found the visual here funny of Hammerstone just in his underwear and Holliday still in his suit (and AirPods) from the previous night. I also learned what a “Donkey Show” is…
MLW Top 10 Contenders for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship
10. Dominic Garrini
9. Low Ki
8. Richard Holliday
7. Mance Warner
6. King Mo
5. Tom Lawlor
4. Brian Pillman Jr
3. Myron Reed
2. Davey Boy Smith Jr
1. Alexander Hammerstone
MLW World Heavyweight Champion – Jacob Fatu
Brian Pillman Jr Update
We get a brief update on the status of Brian Pillman Jr. We learn that he suffered a fractured mandible and dislocated temporomandibular joint and that his status for Super Series is unclear, however, Pillman is pushing to be cleared as soon as possible.
Injustice Promo
Injustice is in an undisclosed location and upset about the fine they received for the attack on Brian Pillman Jr. They say that they refuse to pay the fine and show no remorse.
Next Week on MLW AAA Super Series
Douglas James vs Averno
Team Filthy vs Puma King and Xtreme Tigre
Press Conference on the Merger of Team Filthy and American Top Team
Davey Boy Smith Jr Promo
Davey Boy Smith Jr gives an update on Brian Pillman Jr saying that his jaw is still wired shut and is currently taking food through a straw. He calls him a “warrior” and says that he’s sure he will be back. The interviewer asks Davey Boy whether he is on his way to meet with Court Bauer to negotiate a World Heavyweight Championship Match. Davey Boy points to his gold shoes and says that “they’re pointing at talking about some business”, apparently confirming his intentions to challenge Jacob Fatu.
Konnan and Injustice
Alicia Atout interviews Konnan who says that he is really excited to see tonight’s main event between Laredo Kid and Alexander Hammerstone. Injustice interrupted the interview saying that they don’t care what match he’s interested in and that they have come to Mexico for gold. They feel that Konnan has been disrespecting them and tell him that they will “smack the old” off his face. Konnan tells them that he will set up a Trios Championship Match between Injustice and Jinetes del Aire but if they don’t put some respect on his name they will have to worry about getting back across the border.
Davie’s Thoughts: I thought this was a great back and forth promo between Injustice and Konnan with some great one-liners from both sides. From what I’ve seen of Injustice, I think this could be an excellent trios match and I really look forward to it.
Psycho Clown Responds to LA Park
Psycho Clown accepts LA Park’s challenge from last week. He says that he knows Park’s every move but is he ready for a psychopath? Psycho Clown threatens that he may even take Park’s mask!
Confirmed Talent For Super Series
Texano Jr
Richard Holliday
Psicosis
Davey Boy Smith Jr
Octagon Jr
Alexander Hammerstone Interview
Alicia Atout is backstage with Alexander Hammerstone and questions how he feels about his upcoming match with Laredo Kid following the losing steak The Dynasty has been on. Hammerstone dismisses this as “fake news” and says that he is the “winningest champion” in MLW and that next time Atout interviews him she better show some respect.
MLW National Openweight Championship Match
Laredo Kid vs Alexander Hammerstone
As the match starts we learn that Mance Warner is irate backstage and wants to get his hands on Hammerstone.
The two wrestlers lock up however, Hammerstone is clearly the stronger of the two and repeatedly shoves Kid to the mat. Kid manages to come back by sending Hammerstone to the outside and hits a beautiful top rope Crossbody. Kid goes for a second Crossbody in the ring however, Hammerstone catches him, presses him above his head and slams him down with an Uranage. Hammerstone follows up with the Spinal Countdown (delayed double underhook slam) and follows up with a pin but lifts Kid’s shoulders off the mat before the referee counts three. Laredo Kid makes a come back with a beautiful Missile Dropkick followed by a Tope Suicida. He rolls Hammerstone into the ring and hits two-second rope Moonsaults for a two count. Hammerstone lands a Psychodriver for a two count and complains to the referee that he was counting slow. Laredo Kid gets a near fall after hitting a 450 Splash off the top rope and we see that Hammerstone’s chin has been busted open. Hammerstone inadvertently knocks the referee out of the ring with a Clothesline. Kid hits a One Man Spanish Fly off the top rope but there is no ref to count the pin. Hammerstone hits Kid with a German Suplex followed by a Powerbomb and grabs the ref into position before hitting the Nightmare Pendulum for the win.
WINNER: Alexander Hammerstone defeats Laredo Kid via Pinfall in 10 mins 42 secs retaining the MLW National Openweight Championship
As MLW goes off air Rich Bocchini informs us that Mance Warner is throwing security around backstage so that he can get his hands on Alexander Hammerstone.
Davie’s Thoughts: I thought this match was solid but a little underwhelming. You could have easily shaved five minutes off of the opening match or removed one of the interviews to get a bit more time here. Especially with it only being a two-match show. I think Hammerstone is very impressive with his size and ability and proves that he has good mic work from his stint on commentary and the segment in the hotel room. Laredo Kid is good but in this match, he just looked like “another luchador” with nothing really separating him from the pack. Maybe a longer match would be able to showcase more of what he is capable of. That being said, the crowd was very much into Laredo Kid and he is clearly a favorite over in Mexico.
Overall, another entertaining episode of MLW Fusion. Despite it only being a two-match show, both matches were incredibly different in style, therefore, giving great variety. I feel the quality of interviews, promos, and vignettes are always really high in MLW and are amongst the best out there. The Dynasty and Injustice are definitely standouts to me but I would also like to give some praise to Alicia Atout who manages to showcase some personality in her interviews, which you don’t see so much in interviewers in recent years. I love that “Super Series” is going to be going on for a couple more weeks so that I can see a lot more of these inter-promotional matches and be exposed to talent I haven’t seen before.
Six Donkey Shows out of Ten!