MLW Fusion #106 – MLW AAA Super Series
April 18th, 2020
Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez
Tijuana, Mexico
By: Davie Portman
Commentary Rich Bocchini and AJ Kirsch
Mance Warner opens the show by cutting a promo on Alexander Hammerstone who attacked him during his match last week on MLW Fusion. Warner says that Hammerstone made it personal and now is going to go for his gold.
Going into the first match of the night we are reminded that the current score between MLW and AAA is 1-1.
Douglas James vs Averno
Douglas James cuts a backstage promo before his match calling Averno a legend of Lucha Libre and he has a lot of respect for him. He says that people need to keep their eyes open and see that he is more than just a mixed martial artist and that he is the ultimate hybrid wrestler.
The match starts with a lot of mat grappling. James manages to send Averno out of the ring with a Dropkick, however, fails to capitalize as his legs get swept on the apron. James is whipped into a broken board leftover from last week’s Barrio Brawl. Back in the ring, Averno hits a Buckle Bomb to James on one of the lower turnbuckles. The two then have a Chop exchange and James manages to send Averno out of the ring with a Hurricanrana. James goes for a Low-Pe but catches his foot on the bottom rope. In the ring, James hits a Meteora on Averno and the referee counts the pinfall very slowly for only a two count. Averno then catches James with a big Forearm connecting with an elbow to the temple and consequently knocking him out for the win.
Averno defeats Douglas James via Knockout in 6 mins
Davie’s Thoughts: Unfortunately, I didn’t think this was very good at all. There seemed to be zero chemistry between the two and no heat from the crowd. There were quite a few botches and moments of sloppiness between both wrestlers and the general pace of the match was pretty slow, which was surprising considering the two men involved. I did like the Knockout finish though as this is something we don’t see too often in wrestling. I also enjoyed the slow counts from the referee as this came back into play later in the night.
Davey Boy Smith Jr Interview
Davey Boy Smith Jr is backstage and wishes interviewer, Alicia Atout, a Happy Birthday. He says that he hasn’t forgotten about Team Filthy leaving him laying after an attack in Philadelphia and confirms that he has been cleared and can wrestle in Super Series. He gives an update on Brian Pillman Jr, saying that he is not 100% but has also been cleared and the two of them will be teaming up to take on Teano Jr and Rey Escorpion Jr.
Injustice Interview
MLW confirms that in a few week’s time Injustice will be facing Jinetes Del Aire for the AAA Trio’s Championship.
During the interview, an image for Contra Unit flashes on the screen. Myron Reed says that everyone was betting against them in Orlando and he ended up walking out MLW Middleweight Champion. The team goes on to say that they are going to now take the Trios Titles. After hearing the news that Brian Pillman Jr has been cleared they say that he has a lot of money because of who his dad is and he must have paid off the doctor.
Davie’s Thoughts: All three members of Injustice are very capable of cutting promos however, this one didn’t quite hit for me. They were swearing a lot more than usual. I tend to find a carefully placed swear word in a promo can be very effective however there was too much here. That being said, I am looking forward to seeing this trios match in the next few weeks.
This promo is followed by a highlight reel of Vikingo.
The Dynasty
We see Richard Holliday and Alexander Hammerstone at the USA/Mexico border hiding from Mexican fans. Richard Holliday is planning to defend the Caribbean Title against Chessman in Mexico and is working on making it the most prestigious title. He calls Chessman a “low rent Wolfpack Sting” and that chess is a child’s game. Alexander Hammerstone is asked about going to the pharmacy and pretends that he doesn’t know what the interviewer is talking about. I assume he needs to pick up something after all the Donkey Show’s he’s going to in Mexico.
It is confirmed later in the show that Richard Holliday will be defending his Caribbean Championship against Chessman next week.
After the interview, we are informed that Mance Warner has calmed down and left the arena.
Update on King Mo
We learn that King Mo is still suspended after attacking Killer Kross with a baseball bat a few weeks ago. Earlier this week King Mo and Dan Lambert were on Sirius FM being questioned about stealing a win from Low Ki a couple of weeks ago. Lambert calls it “fake news” and says that Low Ki should be lucky that the match wasn’t in a steel cage.
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 Lawler
4. Brian Pillman Jr
3. Myron Reed
2. Davey Boy Smith Jr
1. Alexander Hammerstone
MLW World Heavyweight Champion – Jacob Fatu
Pagano Promo
Pagano promises that MLW will know his carnage soon. He calls out Jacob Fatu, praising him for his accomplishments and calls him a badass but says that he wants his gold. Pagano calls himself the “craziest in Mexico” and he wants the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
Alexander Hammerstone Interview
Alicia Atout is backstage with Alexander Hammerstone, gloating about being the longest-reigning champion in MLW history. Atout criticizes Hammerstone for attacking Mance Warner last week. Hammerstone insults Atout’s tan and says that he got a couple’s tanning session for her birthday. Atout is disgusted by this and Mance Warner jumps Hammerstone and they begin to brawl all over the backstage area. The two continue to brawl throughout the rest of the show.
Roster Reveal for Super Series
- Octagon Jr
- Brian Pillman Jr
- Nino Hamburguesa (Hamburger Kid)
Team Filthy Interview
Team Filthy announce that they are formally entering the tag division. They say that they need to get even with the Von Erich’s who have just been hanging around at their commune in Hawaii. Lawlor says that Team Filthy busts their ass and “don’t want what we deserve but want what we earned” and therefore they want to challenge for the Tag Team Titles.
Davie’s Thoughts: One of MLW’s strengths is the promo and character work. Pagano, Hammerstone and Team Filthy all cut very solid promos. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Pagano vs Jacob Fatu in the next few weeks.
Team Filthy (Dominic Garrini and Filthy Tom Lawlor) vs Puma King and Xtreme Tigre
Tom Lawlor and Xtreme Tigre start the match with Lawlor trying to keep the action to the mat. Puma King misses an Enziguri but clocks Lawlor with a back heel. Both make the tag and Garrini gets hit by a Powerslam Senton combination by Puma King. Lawlor makes the blind tag but the referee doesn’t allow it claiming he either didn’t see the tag or it wasn’t a legal tag. Xtreme Tigre gets tagged in and hits a top rope leg drop to the groin of Lawlor. Tigre blind tags Puma King and this time the referee allows the tag, showing clear bias to AAA. Puma King applies the Rings of Saturn to Garrini, Lawlor then applies a Cross Armbreaker to Puma and Xtreme Tigre applies a Kimura to Lawlor causing a triple submission at the same time! There are multiple submission and pin attempts by Team Filthy that gets broken up. Lawlor hits a Brainbuster whilst Garrini hits a V Trigger but Xtreme Tigre breaks up the pin. The Contra Unit logo flashes on the screen again. Xtreme Tigre goes for a Springboard but gets caught in a Rear Naked Choke and gets tapped out.
Team Filthy defeat Puma King and Xtreme Tigre via Submission in 11 mins 15 secs
After the match, it is revealed that the current score between AAA and MLW is 2-2.
Davie’s Thoughts: There were a couple of nice sequences in this match e.g. the triple submission, however, I came out of it with the same feeling I had after the first match. It was pretty underwhelming. Both matches featured an MMA style vs a Lucha style and maybe it’s that those two styles just don’t work well with each other. The match didn’t seem smooth at all and never really reached a second gear. I am enjoying the referee bias and I expect that to play into the AAA MLW in the next few weeks.
Alicia Atout’s Birthday
Backstage Savio Vega “interviews” Alicia Atout and gives her a Birthday cake. Mance Warner and Alexander Hammerstone burst into the room, continuing their brawl. Alexander Hammerstone goes face-first into the cake as the show goes off the air.
Davie’s Thoughts: This week was a weaker episode of Fusion compared to recent weeks. Neither match delivered for me and the brawling between Mance and Hammerstone never really felt like a grudge and more done for comedy. As always, the promos were strong but I needed more from the wrestling side of things.
4 Birthday Cakes Out of 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioS1530o8Q8