Tag: mlw fusion

MLW featured three title matches this week as Alex Hammerstone looked to continue his two year reign as National Openweight Champion against Mil Muertes: LA Park and El Hijo de LA Park defended the Tag Team titles against The Dirty Blondes, and The Dynasty’s own Richard Holliday defended “his” IWA Caribbean championship against former Dynasty member Gino Medina. 

Before the first match, Salina de la Renta was caught on camera gloating that she has a foolproof plan to both make the mighty Hammerstone crumble and to capture all the gold in MLW. She was interrupted by Azteca Underground’s advisor who asked her why she has gone on her own without the owner’s (El Jefe) permission.

IWA Caribbean Champion Richard Holliday defeated Gino Medina to retain (6:34)

The former Dynasty partners clashed in a match six months in the making. Before lockdown, Medina was part of the faction along with Holliday, Hammerstone and MJF. But during lockdown, things broke down and depending on who you ask, Medina either quit or was fired from the group. A petty war of words (or more likely a shoving match of words) eventually escalated to a point where the only way to settle the score was in the ring.

A back-and-forth match ensued with neither gaining the advantage. Medina hit Holliday with The 2008 finisher (a twisting suplex) but only got a two count. Medina then tried to shove Holliday into an exposed turnbuckle, but Holliday reversed and it was Medina who went face first into the steel. He then ate another The 2008 to give Holliday the win.

— Kevin Von Erich was in Hawaii with Marshall and Ross and told them that he was just off the phone with Keiji Mutoh who offered to train Ross while Marshall stayed at home and rested his injured knee.

— After returning from his suspension for attacking his former tag partner Bu Ku Dao, Alicia Atout caught up with TJP who played down his match with Dao next week. He doesn’t care about him and the match will be short and sweet.

Tag Team Champions Los Parks (LA Park and El Hijo de LA Park) (w/ Salina de la Renta) defeated The Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien and Michael Patrick) (w/ Aria Blake) to retain (4:45)

The story behind this was that de la Renta had brokered a last-minute deal with MLW officials to make this match. She wanted to impress her new boss, El Jefe, with her matchmaking, but it nearly cost her in the end as it took the now customary interference to put away the Blondes.

De la Renta and Blake had to be pulled apart before the bell and as a four man brawl continued in the ring, the valets continued screaming at each other on the outside of the ring.

LA Park hit a slingshot splash from the apron which was impressive for his size and age. Patrick nearly had the match won after a middle rope splash, but LA Park caught the ref’s arm before he could hit the mat. Park Jr. came out from under the ring and hit a double low blow to the Blondes, who were then rolled up for the pinfall.

De la Renta and Blake went after each other after the bell as the commentary team played up the story that de la Renta is unravelling and feeling the pressure from El Jefe.

— Atout interviewed Middleweight Champion Lio Rush who called himself a history maker as he has beat Myron Reed, Brian Pillman Jr. and Laredo Kid. He plugged his own music and mocked Reed’s music career, thanking the fans for putting more money in his pocket. We then heard from Reed who has his sights set on Rush and the Middleweight title. He held the title for more than a year and said going to war with CONTRA has made him a better wrestler and is hungry for revenge. He wants Rush vs. Reed II.

— Before the main event, Mads Krugger was featured in a CONTRA Unit propaganda video, threatening to be in the shadows waiting for Hammerstone while his focus was elsewhere.

National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Mil Muertes (w/ Salina de la Renta) to retain (10:26)

This was a good big man slugfest. 

Ever since Muertes jumped Hammerstone and stole his title belt after the champion successfully defended against LA Park more than a month ago, Hammerstone has begged for this match to show what a real champion does: takes on all comers, defending the title and walking away victorious.

The “Man of 1000 Deaths” has been walking around with the belt and Hammerstone was desperate to reclaim what was rightfully his, showing it by immediately hitting a pump kick as the bell sounded. He followed it up with a belly-to-belly overhead suplex and a top rope dropkick in quick succession.

Muertes worked on Hammerstone’s back as he took control with both chokes and clotheslines but after Hammerstone hit the corner, his eye caught the title belt that Muertes stole from him. This lit the fire as the champion fired up with forearms and floored Muertes with a big clothesline.

Both had close near falls towards the end of the match as Muertes hit a powerslam and Hammerstone hit a ripcord elbow and a superkick.

Muertes hit a backcracker for another two, but the champion rallied with a German suplex and a sit-out powerbomb. Still, he couldn’t put him away. He countered Muertes’ Straight to Hell finisher and finally hit the Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the hard-fought victory.

After the match, Hammerstone took the mic and said step one was beating Muertes with step two next week when he will hold a press conference with “some very Dynastic news.”

Final Thoughts:

The main event was really good toward the end and it seems we might be finally building to the much anticipated Jacob Fatu vs. Hammerstone World title match they have teased for a while now. Will the press conference be announcing the match will have fans in attendance? It may be too early for that, so if they are waiting for fans, I would expect Hammerstone may be going in a different direction before meeting Fatu for the title. 

Next week:

• Bu Ku Dao vs. TJP
• Court Bauer will make an appearance
• Alex Hammerstone will hold a press conference

This week’s MLW Fusion featured a slight change to the advertised main event, but “Filthy” Tom Lawlor was still involved.

Gino Medina defeated Zenshi (7:13)

After being victorious in his last two outings against Gringo Loco, Medina made it three in a row when he put away Zenshi this week.

Medina and Richard Holliday still look set to clash at a future event for Holliday’s Caribbean championship. Medina’s time in The Dynasty was cut short and he and Holliday began arguing last summer over whether Medina was fired or he quit.

Zenshi was at his usual athletic and spectacular self as he springboarded and slingshotted around the ring. He also hit a standing moonsault and a Spanish fly for a two count. Medina took control by catching Zenshi coming off the top rope, eventually winning with his big kick to the back of the head. 

— Alicia Atout said the doctors were in Team Filthy’s locker room as Tom Lawlor was claiming to be injured and unable to compete in the advertised six-man main event. They teased the match either being in jeopardy or Lawlor having a replacement.

— Next week at Never Say Never, the Injustice vs. CONTRA Unit feud continues as Myron Reed takes on Daivari and Jordan Oliver takes on Simon Gotch. In a promo, Reed said he got a dose of reality after losing his Middleweight title to Lio Rush and before he knew it, he was jumped and humiliated by CONTRA. He said Daivari stuck his nose where it doesn’t belong and will give him the smoke next week. 

Mil Muertes (w/ Salina de la Renta) defeated Gringo Loco (7:30)

Muertes was victorious last week against the debuting Parrow and that run continued tonight with a win over Loco.

Loco flipped and dodged a few attacks, hit a corkscrew off the top, and floored Muertes with a face crusher. The rest of the bout was Muertes on top. After some brawling around ringside, Muertes soon put Loco away with his Straight to Hell downward spiral.

Muertes is still on a collision course with Alexander Hammerstone after he beat up and stole Hammerstone’s National Openweight title a few weeks ago. Hammerstone has been the top contender to Jacob Fatu and the World title since before lockdown, but he keeps getting monsters put in his way to overcome before getting his eventual big title match. 

— Speaking of Hammerstone, he said that he was tired of being asked if Muertes beat him for the title, so he issued another challenge to Muertes, this time naming a date: April 14th. Salina de la Rena accepted the challenge later in the night, but found out that “El Jefe” was not happy and wanted to meet with her.

— We heard from Atout again who told us that Lawlor is indeed hurt with an injured bicep and is out of the main event. She announced the match will now be a tag team chain ropes match instead.

— The PWI top 5 tag teams: 5) The Dirty Blondes; 4) Daivari and Simon Gotch; 3) Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver; 2): Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku; 1) The Von Erichs. The current champions are Los Parks: LA Park and El Hijo de LA Park. 

Calvin Tankman defeated Zad (1:02)

At the start of the show, Josef Samael said that Tankman first had to survive tonight if he was to make it to his challenge of Jacob Fatu next week for the MLW World title at Never Say Never.

Tankman took on one of the CONTRA Unit Sentai Death Squad Soldiers and made short work of him, hitting a big pounce, pop-up powerbomb, and a backfist to the back of the head of the huge man called Zad.

After his match, Fatu, Gotch and Daivari made their way to ringside, but Tankman ran and took to the sky, takig them all out with a huge dive. Injustice came out to even the odds as Tankman hit Daivari with the Tankman Driver in the ring. 

The Von Erichs defeated Violence Is Forever in a no rules chain ropes match (7:40)

The Von Erichs and Team Filthy have been feuding ever since Lawlor turned his back on Ross Von Erich in his title match against Jacob Fatu all the way back on Thanksgiving night 2019 in front of a live crowd in Orlando, Florida.

Barring one eight-man tag in early 2020, Lawlor and the Von Erichs have been kept apart from in-ring action. That continued tonight as Lawlor was “injured” and the original six-man match was changed to a tag match instead.

The ropes were swapped for steel chains and there were no tags, no turnbuckles and no rules. Lawlor was at ringside with his arm was in a sling, selling the injury. The chains caused a few injury risks in the early going. Ku face planted when his feet slipped out of the ring when he hit the chains while Ross von Erich fell through them to the outside, dragging his face across the chains as he fell.

Ross broke up a heel hook submission by Garrini on Marshall by dropping Ku (who had Ross in a guillotine choke) on top of them. Ross got tossed ribs first into the chains before his brother got crotched on the top chain.

Lawlor tried to throw brass knuckles into the ring, but Marshall caught them instead and leveled Ku and Garrini. Marshall then got the pin on Garrini after the claw-assisted back suplex combo with his brother.

Next week:

MLW Never Say Never

• MLW World champion Jacob Fatu vs. Calvin Tankman title match
• Jordan Oliver vs. Simon Gotch
• Daivari vs. Myron Reed

Wednesday: April 14:

• National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Mil Muertes title match

MLW Middleweight champion Lio Rush defeated Brian Pillman Jr (9:16)

After being on a roll by defeating Myron Reed and Laredo Kid, Rush issued an open challenge last week with Pillman Jr. answering the challenge this week.

The self-proclaimed Man of the Hour hit Pillman with a headscissors in the ring and an Asai moonsault to the floor. While Pillman had his own attacks with a powerslam, springboard clothesline and a top rope superplex, it wasn’t enough to put Rush away. Rush called Pillman a cosplay clown in his inset pre-match promo, but Pillman showed good fight before eventually succumbing to Rush’s Final Hour (split-legged frog splash).

— The PWI top 10: 10) Jordan Oliver, 9) Gino Medina, 8) Myron Reed, 7) Richard Holliday, 6) Mads Krugger, 5) Calvin Tankman, 4) Mil Muertes, 3) Low Ki, 2) Tom Lawlor, 1) Alex Hammerstone. 

Mil Muertes defeated Parrow (4:19)

After Alexander Hammerstone successfully defended the National Openweight title against LA Park last week, fellow Azteca Underground member Muertes attacked him and stole the belt. This will give Hammerstone another hurdle on his way toward an eventual clash with Jacob Fatu for the MLW World title. For Muertes, he also caught the eye of Parrow recently.

During the show, Hammerstone said that if Muertes wants to call himself champion, he will need to beat him first and issued a challenge. Later in the night, Salina de la Renta told us all that “El Jefe” demanded glorious violence for the believers of Azecta Underground and asked Hammerstone to watch Muertes unleash pain on Parrow.

The man who recently dominated the All Japan Pro Wrestling heavyweight division was disgusted at Muertes’ attempts to bury Savio Vega alive after their Aztec Jungle fight and challenged Muertes for this battle. These two slugged it out, ran head first into each other, and brawled around ringside until Muertes slipped out of a slam, ducked a clothesline and hit Straight to Hell (downward spiral) for the win.

— The scheduled Bu Ku Dao vs. TJP match did not take place due to Dao being attacked backstage. He was taken to the hospital and TJP was suspended indefinitely.

— The Von Erichs will be part of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential episode on March 23rd, but tonight, they challenged Team Filthy to a match with any combination of members they chose against both they and ACH and also with any stipulation they wanted. Tom Lawlor responded later in the show by accepting and also making the match for next week a three-on-three chain ropes match.

MLW Tag Team Champions Los Parks (LA Park and El Hijo de LA Park) defeated Injustice (Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed) and CONTRA Unit (Simon Gotch and Daivari) in a no DQ triple threat match (8:44)

This was a chaotic brawl with weapons with the bare-skinned participants leaving with huge red welts across their backs from both kendo stick and chair shots.

This was Injustice’s first shot at the gold and they had a lot on their plates already as they juggled their ongoing war with CONTRA Unit while trying to focus for this match. Earlier in the night, we had seen footage where CONTRA got involved in an Injustice and Los Parks brawl. After the opening match, it was announced that the originally scheduled Parks vs. Injustice tag match was now a triple threat with no disqualification. 

Injustice and CONTRA started fighting before the champions were even in the ring. Los Parks entered and laid everyone out with chairs, kendo sticks, pizza pans and chairs around ringside. LA Park Jr. also joined the fistfight, taking advantage of the no DQ rules.

While different combinations took turns entering the ring for spots, the rest of the participants brawled around ringside and hit each other with weapons. Reed and Daivari had a nice quick exchange that previewed their upcoming Never Say Never clash. It looked as though Park broke Oliver’s hands as he tried to protect himself from a ferocious chair shot. LA also chopped Gotch in the nose.

Injustice hit dives to the full congregation on the floor with El Hijo de La Park joining in moments later, taking out Gotch with a dive while his dad speared Jordan Oliver in the ring to pick up the win and retain the titles. 

Next week:

• 3-on-3 chain ropes Match: Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku) vs. ACH & The Von Erichs (Marshall and Ross)
• Mil Muertes vs. Gringo Loco

MLW Never Say Never in two weeks:

• MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Calvin Tankman in a title match
• Jordan Oliver vs. Simon Gotch
• Daivari vs. Myron Reed

Last week, Calvin Tankman sent shockwaves throughout the main event and heavyweight scene as he ran in to save Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed from a CONTRA Unit beatdown. This week, he talked with Alicia Atout and said he took all that MLW World Champion Fatu could give and kept coming.

Later in the night, CONTRA interrupted a Tankman hype video and the Fatu vs. Tankman title match was booked for MLW Never Say Never in three weeks.

Gino Medina defeated Gringo Loco (9:16)

In a rematch from a few weeks ago where Medina got the win, these two clashed again in another good back-and-forth bout. They brawled through the building after their last one, but this one had a high flying start as Loco took to the sky with a step-up flip dive over the top rope early.

Medina still seems on a collision course with Richard Holliday. After he split from the Dynasty, both he and Holliday couldn’t agree if he quit or if he was fired, As Medina took control here, we saw some of that stubbornness as he looked for different ways to try and put Loco away.

Loco came flying back into the match with a springboard moonsault, a handspring elbow, and a big Spanish fly from the top rope. They traded near falls before Medina caught Loco with a kick to the back of the head for the win.

— “Filthy” Tom Lawlor is suing the Von Erich brothers after they ran in and “ruined” the ending to Filthy Island when Team Filthy was beating down Low Ki 4-on-1.

— The PWI top five contenders for Lio Rush’s Middleweight title are 5) Brian Pillman Jr, 4) Bu Ku Dao, 3) Myron Reed, 2) Daviari and 1) Laredo Kid.

— Rush, after defeating Myron Reed for the Middleweight title and Laredo Kid for the AAA Cruiserweight title, had a “special invitation” for MLW tonight as he posted an open contract for a title match next week that was accepted…but by who?

ACH defeated Kevin Ku (w/ Dominic Garrini) (10:39)

Ever since ACH received an MLW title shot before Lawlor (even after Lawlor defeated ACH on his way to winning the Opera Cup), Lawlor and the rest of Team Filthy have had their eyes set on him. The high flying Texan was mysteriously attacked a few weeks ago before his scheduled title shot and all the evidence pointed towards Lawlor, Dominic Garrini and his opponent tonight, Ku.

They played up the attack throughout the match as ACH still had his ribs taped and Garrini was shouting to attack them. Behind the referee’s back, Garrini dragged ACH off the apron but the Von Erichs ran out to ringside to even the odds. ACH took everyone out with a crossbody off the top and finished off Ku with a brainbuster.

— Injustice said they actually respect Los Parks, but not like “those punk ass b*tches CONTRA Unit”. They are coming for those belts and that will be justice.

MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated LA Park (9:57)

Park and Salina de la Renta want to collect as much gold as possible for Azteca Underground and its new mysterious proprietor. Last week, the challenge was made to Hammerstone for his National Openweight title. Park was looking to add more gold around his waist as he is currently half of the MLW Tag Team champions.

Earlier in the night, Hammerstone told Salina that he will face anyone even if he is at less than 100%. He was definitely put to the test as El Hijo de LA Park and LA Park Jr. came to ringside and attacked him behind the referee’s back. Storyline-wise, Holliday didn’t accompany or help his Dynasty partner as he and Gino Medina had been thrown out of the building after getting into a fight.

Hammerstone fought back and hit Park with a suplex and a missile dropkick, both from the top rope. Park missed a spear and crashed into the corner and Hammerstone went for the Nightmare Pendulum. But, the Parks distracted the ref again which allowed Park to hit Hammerstone with a DDT and a running knee. The champion countered another spear with a German suplex and put Park away with a ripcord elbow to the back of the head.

After the match, Mil Muertes attacked Hammerstone and presented de la Renta with the National Openweight title belt as Fusion went off the air. 

Next week:

• MLW Tag Team champions Los Parks vs. Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed
• MLW Middleweight champion Lio Rush vs. a mystery opponent
• Mil Muertes vs. Parrow
• Bu Ku Dao vs. TJP

In three weeks:

MLW Never Say Never:

• MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Calvin Tankman

The Big Takeaways:

Jacob Fatu successfully defended his MLW World title against a courageous Jordan Oliver while Los Parks held onto their MLW Tag Team titles. We also learned who the next challenger for Fatu will be.

Show Review:

MLW Tag Team Champions Los Parks (LA Park and El Hijo LA Park) defeated CONTRA Unit (Simon Gotch and Daivari) (8:21)

These two teams have been at each other’s throats since before Superfight back in 2019. Even with Los Parks’ heel turn and siding with Salina de la Renta once again, it has not stopped their battles with fellow heel faction CONTRA Unit.

After Daivari and Hijo exchanged early submission attempts, the match broke down into a brawl as LA and Gotch got involved. Hijo knocked CONTRA out of the ring with a double dropkick from the top, leading to both he and his dad hitting stereo suicide dives to the floor.

The match broke down again as Los Parks tried another twin magic switch with LA Park Jr. but the referee stopped them. The distraction gave Injustice the chance to interfere but El Hijo turned the tide, tagging in his dad which led to a spear on Daivari for the win. 

Parrow defeated Dugan (1:37)

After wreaking havoc in All Japan Pro Wrestling, Parrow explosively returned to MLW, putting away poor Dugan in no time. A dominating performance was capped off by a chokeslam followed by a Murder Bomb (pop up, sit out powerbomb) for the win. After the match, Parrow challenged de la Renta’s other acquisition, Mil Muertes, fresh off Muertes literally burying Savio Vega two weeks ago in their Aztec jungle fight.

— Gino Medina had words for Gringo Loco, calling him a fake luchador and a ripoff. It seems they will also be clashing again in the coming weeks.

— After the Von Erichs said they want to have their own “Wrestle Island” episode of Fusion, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor challenged them for a match against Violence is Forever, and also challenged ACH to a match against Kevin Ku. Later in the night, Bu Ku Dao challenged TJP to a match as the matchmakers were seemingly given the night off.

Calvin Tankman defeated Laredo Kid (6:44)

In a match billed as two top 10 contenders battling out for a future title shot, Tankman got the win after hitting the Tankman Driver, but it was far from one sided as other Tankman MLW matches so far.

Tankman started well with a humongous pounce that sent Kid through the air and across the ring. Tankman’s dominance stopped when Kid hit a missile dropkick and a crossbody to the floor. Tankman’s hard hitting spinning back elbow didn’t stop Kid as he came off the top again with a flying forearm and pin attempt. Moments later, the match was over with the Tankman Driver, followed by a callout of Jacob Fatu. We didn’t have to wait long for the collision. 

— It was hinted that Richard Holliday now has a crush on Alicia Atout as a rumor spread about him being her “toy boy.”

— The PWI top five tag team rankings were Dirty Blondes at #5, Injustice at #4, Violence is Forever (Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku) at #3, Contra Unit (Simon Gotch and Daivari) at #2 and the Von Erichs at #1.

MLW Champion Jacob Fatu defeated Jordan Oliver (9:08)

The war between CONTRA Unit and Injustice took another turn in the road as the cocky Injustice star challenged the unstoppable Samoan bulldozer.

While Oliver and Simon Gotch were having a war of words during lockdown, Oliver never forgot to mention Fatu and wanting a shot at his gold. MLW matchmakers must have been listening as he finally got his wish after weeks of clashing with other members of CONTRA.

As this week’s Fusion began, we saw the build to how we got here. CONTRA made the first move by attacking Reed and Oliver backstage and then again after Gotch had defeated Oliver a few weeks ago. Later in the same night, it was Injustice who had the last laugh as Reed and Oliver posed as CONTRA’s Sentai Death Squad members and took out the group while they celebrated Fatu’s victory against ACH. The next week, Oliver quickly took out a real member of the SDS which led to a tag team match between Injustice and CONTRA that ended in a no contest when Fatu ran in and attacked Oliver.

It was Oliver who ran in and attacked Fatu before the bell in this match. He ran and hit a suicide dive as Fatu was making his grand entrance. He tried another one moments later, but Fatu caught him and hit a Samoan drop on the outside. We then set into a big man vs. little man style match as Fatu used his size and power advantage over the taller but slimmer challenger.

Oliver had an opening, but was caught off a slingshot to the outside and Fatu dropped him back first on the apron.

Fatu’s knee gave out when he was going for his moonsault. He instead took his time getting to the top rope which gave Oliver time to meet him up there and hit an overhead belly-to-back suplex from the top rope, helping the momentum swing in the challenger’s favor. Oliver hit his pop-up stunner in the corner and a springboard cutter. He hit two kicks to the head and went for a second cutter, but Fatu caught him and hit his Samoan drop and his double jump moonsault to pick up the win.

After the match, Daivari jumped Myron Reed as payback for him costing them the tag titles earlier. The SDS then brought out body bags, but as Injustice were placed in the bags, Tankman’s music hit as “Heavyweight Hustle” came out to save Injustice and confront Fatu.

The two huge men clashed with Tankman knocking Fatu down with his flying pounce. Fusion went off the air with the commentary team hyping up a future Tankman vs. Fatu match. 

• Next week: National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. LA Park
• In two weeks: Mil Muertes vs. Parrow
• March 24: MLW Never Say Never

Before the double title match episode of MLW Fusion next week, the regular modern day episodes took a one week break as MLW Underground from 2003 returned for a special one-off edition.

Joey Styles helped build up the then-upcoming MLW Legends vs. Extreme Horsemen War Games match throughout the show, as well as the long-winding Terry Funk vs. Steve Corino feud. Funk had to get through Abdullah the Butcher tonight, Jerry Lawler “next week,” and the War Games match itself before getting a shot at Corino’s title. 

Later in the night, Corino, CW Anderson and Simon Diamond talked up the War Games match but questioned the possible animosity in the legends’ team and called themselves the real team who will be victorious.

Josh Daniels defeated Rich Criado (7:47)

I’m not sure if it was the best idea to start a show with two relative unknowns, but they gave it their best shot to win over the crowd. The crowd chanted “who are you” as the opening bell sounded and even received a “yo” chant after Daniels took Criado out with a nice dive to the outside.

Criado made the wrong choice by applying a submission, which of course received a “boring” chant from the raucous crowd. Criado nearly got rolled up after taking his time celebrating after a brainbuster. He then came close with a Michinoku Driver, but Daniels got the win with a snapdragon suplex.

Daniels retired in 2013 while Criado (later known as Perfect Creation) was done in 2016.

— James Mitchell caught us up with some then ongoing storylines: Sabu has been on the receiving end of a Mikey Whipwreck fireball, Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels have turned to the dark side and are ready to take over MLW, and Whipwreck has supposedly been training Los Maximos and as crazy as ever.

Terry Funk defeated Abdullah the Butcher (7:26)

The Extreme Horsemen brought in Abdullah to take out Funk, but it was Corino who came out and teased Funk, distracting him long enough for Abdullah to jump him from behind.

This wasn’t very good and wasn’t helped by the constant cutaways and long commercial break in the middle. Expectations shouldn’t have been that high as they would have been a combined age of 120 at the time of the match. We saw snippets of action as the camera cut away from the cutting. Funk was immediately bleeding from the forehead. Abdullah used a broken bottle to slice up Funk’s arms. Funk fought back with right hands that opened up Abdullah’s scarred head. After multiple low blows in a row, Styles said, “This is so violent, its ludicrous” as Abdullah slowly fell to his back after repeated groin attacks.

After a long break, Abdullah hit an elbow drop and then whipped Funk to the ropes to where Funk retaliated with a high cross, knocking Abdullah over to pick up the victory.

Los Maximos defeated Jimmy Yang and Tony Mamaluke (9:17)

This was a really good 100 mph high flying tag match and a welcome change of pace after the last walk and brawl slugfest.

Yang looked really good throughout and showed why he was picked up by WWE shortly thereafter to be part of their cruiserweight division. Early on, he hit a corkscrew pescado to the floor and minutes later, the crowd went wild as everyone ended up on the outside after a series of dives: the final being a Maximo asai moonsault onto everyone.

Jose and Mamaluke had a great exchange of working hammerlocks. Yang came in and used a headscissors to strangle Jose over the top rope. Before he got the hot tag, Jose reversed a top rope powerbomb from Yang with a hurricanrana in mid-air.

Los Maximos continued their offense, but were on the receiving end of a powerslam after Mamaluke caught Joel off the top while he was up in a doomsday position. Los Maximos fought back and hit Mamaluke with a double top rope Spanish fly for the win.

**********

Next week, modern day MLW returns with MLW Champion Jacob Fatu defending against Jordan Oliver, and MLW Tag Team Champions Los Parks vs. CONTRA Unit (Simon Gotch & Daivari).

The Big Takeaway:

Lio Rush is now a double champion as the MLW Middleweight Champion defeated Laredo Kid to take his AAA Cruiserweight title.

Show Recap:

ACH defeated Brian Pillman Jr. (5:53)

The question leading into this was whether ACH was 100% after he was on the receiving end of an attack before his last match against MLW Champion Jacob Fatu. The alleged attackers have not been confirmed, but Tom Lawlor and Team Filthy are the clear front runners. Lawlor and ACH met in the Opera Cup with Lawlor coming out on top, but the captain of Team Filthy was disgruntled ACH that received an MLW title shot before him despite him winning the tourney.

Lawlor, Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini made their way out to watch the action as Pillman, trying to avoid his third straight loss since the MLW restart, tried to outwrestle ACH early but took a big dropkick as things evened out.

Pillman focused his attack on ACH’s taped ribs which kept him grounded for the majority of the bout until ACH caught Pillman on the top rope with a run up the ropes flip kick. He then finished Pillman off with a brainbuster as Team Filthy crept to ringside.

After the bell, the Von Erichs ran in to save ACH from a beatdown. Ku and Garrini had to drag Lawlor to safety as the Von Erichs had their hands briefly on him at last. ACH, Marshall and Eric then told Team Filthy not to mess with Texas.

— After Salina de la Renta announced last week that the new owners of Promociones Dorado, Azteca Underground, had made an offer to buy IWA Puerto Rico, Savio Vega responded on behalf of his home promotion. He said the company is not for sale, even though they have taken a hit during the pandemic. He said IWA Puerto Rico was made for the fans and will stay that way. Vega has crossed the new owner (“El Jefe” as he is being called) so as punishment, de la Renta booked Mil Muertes vs Savio Vega for next week in an Aztec jungle fight.

Calvin Tankman defeated Zenshi (5:52)

In a rematch from December, Tankman took on Zenshi in another good showcase for both competitors. The commentary team mentioned Zenshi’s losing streak and Tankman’s winning streak, but questioned if Zenshi had found a weakness in Tankman’s game which is why he signed the open contract.

Tankman has Keith Lee-style big man athleticism and put it on display here with some leapfrogs, dropdowns and a big dropkick that caught Zenshi in the face. His power game was on point as well as he bieled Zenshi across the ring with ease.

“Heavyweight Hustle” missed a standing shooting star press and Zenshi looked like he had scouted it well when he immediately hit one of his own. The problem, however, was that Tankman caught him, powered up, and after reversing a hurricanrana and a short exchange, he turned him inside out with a big clothesline.

Zenshi slipped out of the Tankman driver, hit a springboard Pele kick, and a top rope tiger feint kick but was caught coming off the top rope and drilled with a Tankman driver that finished him off.

— We learned that National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone suffered a grade one concussion after last week’s Baklei Brawl. CONTRA’s propaganda video this week had Josef Samael saying Hammerstone had failed and their next mission is to end him. He also warned Injustice that the black flag of CONTRA will reign and that all MLW gold will eventually be in their control.

— After the recent dubious refereeing by disgraced former NBA official Tim Donaghy in the Richard Holliday vs. Vega strap match, Alicia Atout interviewed Holliday about MLW’s investigation and ongoing litigation. Holliday said that it was all assumptions and there was no hard evidence of corruption.

— MLW Top 10 rankings for this week: Laredo Kid at 10, Daivari at 9, Myron Reed at 8, Mil Muertes at 7, Richard Holliday at 6, Mads Krugger at 5, Lio Rush at 4, Low Ki at 3, Tom Lawlor at 2, and Hammerstone still ranked number 1.

Injustice (Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver) vs. CONTRA Unit (Simon Gotch and Daivari) never got started

Injustice and CONTRA Unit have had their fair share of encounters recently. Oliver and Gotch had a war of words during the summer lockdown period, a war which ended with Gotch attacking Oliver and choking him out. As new Fusion episodes began, it was CONTRA who made the first move by attacking Reed and Oliver backstage and then again after Gotch had defeated Oliver just a few weeks ago.

Later in the same night, it was Injustice who had the last laugh as Reed and Oliver posed as CONTRA’s Sentai Death Squad members and took out the group while they celebrated Fatu’s title defense against ACH. Last week. Oliver quickly took out a real member of the SDS which led to this scheduled tag team match tonight.

CONTRA entered first, but Jacob Fatu jumped Injustice as they made their way to the ring. Injustice fought back and Reed hit a big plancha to everyone on the floor. Inside the ring, they got Fatu 2-on-1 and hit a superkick/springboard cutter combo before officials dragged CONTRA away and Oliver declared to Fatu that he “wants that f*cking belt.”

MLW World Middleweight Champion Lio Rush defeated AAA Cruiserweight Champion Laredo Kid, winning the AAA Cruiserweight title (10:25)

With both champions coming off recent victories and both being amazingly spectacular in the ring, this one promised to be a great match and it delivered.

Earlier in the day, Rush was full of confidence saying that this wasn’t a big opportunity for him, but it was for Kid. He made that perfectly clear as he tried to ground Kid and put him away in the first five minutes. Kid fought back with a Michinoku driver, a pair of moonsaults and an inverted figure four. Kid then missed a senton from the top, but rolled through and was on the receiving end of Rush’s bounce back stunner.

Rush then hit his Final Hour frog splash to pick up the win and the AAA Cruiserweight Championship, becoming a double champion.

Next week:

Tom Lawlor’s Filthy Island presents: 

• King Mo vs. Low Ki in a no holds barred fight
• Rocky Romero in action
• Dominic Garrini vs. Mauna Loa
• Mil Muertes vs Savio Vega in an Aztec jungle fight

In three weeks *

• MLW Champion Jacob Fatu vs Jordan Oliver
• MLW Tag Team Champions Los Parks vs CONTRA Unit (Simon Gotch & Daivari)