A matchup between two recent additions to the roster and a Crockett Cup qualifier have been announced for this month’s Ring of Honor television tapings.
Rush vs. Mark Haskins has been made official for the tapings, along with ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb & NWA National Champion Willie Mack in a non-title Crockett Cup qualifying match. The tapings are being held at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, March 16, which is the night after the venue hosts ROH’s 17th Anniversary pay-per-view.
The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defending their ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) is also set for this month’s tapings.
The NWA and ROH are partnering together for the Crockett Cup. It’s taking place at Cabarrus Arena in Concord, North Carolina on Saturday, April 27, and PCO & King and Jax Dane & Crimson are the first two teams that have been confirmed for the tournament.
Two of Ring of Honor’s top new signees will be facing off at the promotion’s 17th Anniversary pay-per-view.
ROH has announced that Rush will face Bandido at the PPV, which is taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, March 15. The match was set up in a video where Bandido issued the challenge and Rush accepted it.
After signing with ROH, Bandido debuted for the promotion at last month’s television tapings. He’s part of the LifeBlood stable with Juice Robinson, Tenille Dashwood, David Finlay, Mark Haskins, and Tracy Williams.
Rush made his ROH debut at December’s TV tapings. It was then announced in January that he had signed with ROH.
Jay Lethal will defend his ROH World Championship against Matt Taven in the main event of the 17th Anniversary PPV. Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) are also set to challenge for The Briscoes’ Tag Team titles at the show.
ROH was in Miami, Florida on Sunday for Bound By Honor, the final night of their short Sunshine State loop this weekend.
Caprice Coleman and Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) were on commentary for tonight’s show. Aldis filled in for Ian Riccaboni tonight, as Riccaboni was home with his family awaiting the birth of their second child.
The venue was smaller but the front area looked packed in. The seats towards the back were peppered with fans but looked to be empty, mostly.
Jay Briscoe defeated Rhett Titus
Titus flexed his baby oil-laden muscles and cut a basic promo on Briscoe in the ring before the match. He at one point flexed until his face turned red. Moments later, the crowd began chanting “Jay is gonna kill you.”
Titus worked Briscoe over with stomps, chops, and a back-rake early on. He then used a tope con giro to the floor and received applause from a confused crowd who didn’t seem to know how to react after all of Titus’ heel work.
Briscoe quickly came back with a Rude Awakening-style neckbreaker. He followed up by hitting the Jay Driller for a quick win. Not a great match — but it felt like it did its job in keeping Jay strong in singles action.
Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom & Ryan Nova) defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys
Castle and the Boys shook hands with 3S before the bout. Castle’s trash talk was funny and his mat wrestling looked great, which allowed Nick Aldis to start to shine on commentary. He did a good job at detail-oriented play-by-play.
Cheeseburger got a few chants when he tagged in. 3S used some double-team work on both Boys, and Isom hit a decent springboard splash to one of them.
The crowd died halfway through until Isom hit the ring. Nice springboard missile dropkick and a few wild suplex from Isom here. Castle started yelling at the Boys after this, which led to some miscommunication on an Irish whip a few moments later, with Castle and a Boy getting knocked off the ring. Isom used a brainbuster on the other Boy for the upset win.
This could have been about five minutes shorter. It’s looking as though Castle and the Boys will split soon. That was the only real story within the match, and it didn’t become apparent until the last few minutes.
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Colt Cabana
This was nonstop World of Sport-style mat wrestling — both looked excellent throughout. They had natural chemistry together; Sabre, the arrogant, vicious heel, Cabana, the fun-loving wrestling craftsmen who isn’t afraid to throw a few closed-fist punches every now and then.
There were almost no strikes in this match, actually, or at least for the first five minutes or so. It was all catching, all hold-for-hold, all pin combos and reversals.
The crowd heated up once the two started chopping and kicking each other. Sabre used a harsh penalty kick on Cabana, and later finished him with a triangle choke/straight reverse armbar.
If old WOS is your thing, you should probably go out of your way to check this out. ZSJ was really “on” tonight.
Kenny King defeated Marty Scurll, Willie Mack, and Silas Young in a four corner survival match
This was all action. Young shoved all the competitors in the ring before the bell and left the ring. He continued to jaw-jack from the floor after the match kicked off.
Willie Mack gave Kenny King a nipple-twister. There was a point early on when only Mack and Scurll were in the ring together and it looked like they have the capacity to pull off something special in a singles match.
Mack did a crossbody block to all three wrestlers, then hit a huge tope con giro to the floor and received an entirely different response to the spot than Rhett Titus did earlier on.
Mack and Scurll were who people were most excited for in this match, which in a way is a shame because King and Young both looked pretty good tonight, too, tighter than usual, especially regarding Young.
Mack and Scurll did some nice double-team work on King and the crowd lit up. The two then had a chop-off.
Scurll used a half-nelson suplex on Young, then put him in the chicken wing. Young tapped, but King distracted the referee after he brought a chair into the ring. After referee Todd Sinclair grabbed the chair from King, King gave Scurll a low blow and pinned him for the victory.
This match was good but would have been better if it were either a tag match or a singles match between Scurll and Mack. The crowd hadn’t reacted to anything so vociferously up until those two were in the ring.
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Rocky Romero to retain his title
This was fine. A bit of a David vs. Goliath story at the start. Cobb stood like a stone and wouldn’t sell any strikes — he wouldn’t leave his feet for any wrestling-related holds.
After a couple of minutes, Romero decided to use an eye poke to shift the match’s momentum briefly. Cobb came back with ease and dominated the bout some more. He used a cool modified Oklahoma Stampede on Romero for two.
The crowd died in the middle of this until Cobb hit a standing moonsault. Romero rallied back and used an unassisted Sliced Bread on Cobb for two. Romero fluffed a few springboard spots. When he went for another Sliced Bread, Cobb reversed it into a backbreaker.
At the end of the match, Cobb went on a suplex tear and finished Romero off with Tour of the Islands.
This looked better on paper then it ended up being. I’m not sure if it was the awkwardness between the wrestlers, like with their chemistry together, or because the crowd sort of gave up halfway through the match.
Mayu Iwatani defeated Kelly Klein to win the Women of Honor World Championship
This might have been the best match of the show so far next to the ZSJ vs. Cabana WOS showcase.
Klein looks more confident with every show she’s been on since she’s won the WOH title. A few fans threw streamers in the ring for Iwatani.
The two started off with rough chops, headlocks, knees, and kicks. Up to this point in the show, no one was as good at selling as Iwatani was during this match. It helped Klein look like a monster, plus it induced the crowd to get behind Iwatani whenever she made a comeback. I mean, she was getting pops off of shoulder blocks at one point.
Iwatani hit a stunning plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Klein returned with a release German suplex onto the floor.
Iwatani used two release Dragon suplexes and a few brutal kicks for two. She later used two moonsaults onto Klein for the shock win. The crowd was stunned and very into it.
LifeBlood (Juice Robinson, Mark Haskins, Bandido & Tracy Williams) w/ Tenille Dashwood defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) & Coast to Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali)
Too many cooks in the kitchen here. The match didn’t feel like it really began until Bandido was tagged in. He springboard around the ring a bit until the heels and babyfaces all squared off for a small skirmish. This made for a nice visual that’d fit well into a promo package.
Haskins worked very hard in this match. Great selling and intense offense. He took much of the heel defense in the middle of this one.
Beer City Bruiser did his “I ain’t got no teeth!” catchphrase. The crowd responded with a confused groan.
Robinson was quite over but didn’t do a whole lot in this one. He used a nice spinebuster at one point. He looked to be the tallest guy in the match, too, which I found strange for some reason.
Bandido used a slingshot frankensteiner to the floor onto Bruiser, then a tornillo in the ring on LSG for two.
On the apron, Bruiser used a Death Valley Driver onto Haskins and it got a “holy sh*t” chant. This looked nuts.
The biggest pop of the night came when Bandido caught Bruiser off the ropes and cleanly powerslammed him. Wow. How he doesn’t have a hernia, I don’t know. He used 21+, the rolling slingshot German suplex, on LSG for the win. Lots of action at the end of this one.
The Bouncers busted out a small cooler and all of the wrestlers — Dashwood included — chugged a few.
PCO defeated Mark Briscoe
A great modern brawl with an unfortunately tired crowd. At the start, the two exchanged heavy strikes before running to the outside of the ring to grab steel chairs. They wanted to have a chair duel, but referee Todd Sinclair broke it up.
Mark Briscoe later hit a running blockbuster to the floor on PCO. They exchanged chops after this — and every one of them sounded painful. Briscoe’s chest was purplish-red.
PCO later returned the attacks with a big chokeslam and even more chops in the corner.
The crowd woke back up when PCO used a tope con giro through the middle ropes, like the one Fenix does, it’s just here it’s, well, it’s PCO. It should be noted that PCO was bleeding from the left eye at this point in the match.
The two really started going at it after the floor spots. PCO took another insane bump onto the edge of the apron tonight, the missed somersault senton. Mark Briscoe took advantage of this and did a corkscrew senton from the top turnbuckle to the outside.
The match spilled out into the aisle, then onto the stage. Briscoe powerbombed PCO onto the stage floor and it looked really dangerous. PCO no-sold this, then Briscoe dropkicked him down the entrance stairs.
Briscoe hit PCO with two hard chair shots, then hit a Froggy Bow for two. Somehow PCO came back and landed his monstrous moonsault for the win.
If you like late-90s ECW, this was pretty much that. It’s truly unreal to see PCO take so much punishment so regularly, which is worrisome, but a spectacle, still.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham & Rush in a non-title match
This weekend in Florida was Rush’s official debut as an ROH talent. He and TK O’Ryan were terrific together early in this match. The audience loved all the Los Ingobernables taunts and poses he did.
Lethal and Taven bolted at each other outside the ring after this, apropos of nothing, really, and started blasting each other with punches. It was so heated and well done that the crowd went all in on it. The rest of the competitors followed suit, and the next few minutes of the match consisted of mostly brawling.
It was hard to figure out who the legal man was at points. The referees tonight allowed for tons of leeway with the wrestlers on the outside and basically didn’t use any counts.
This bothers a lot of fans. Realistically, it’s been a part of the American scene since the ECW days, so I and others have grown used to it and often don’t mind, but it’s something worth discussing. The same idea could be applied to the PCO vs. Mark Briscoe match, where the ref felt more like a piece of furniture with wheels, always there but not really adding much else to the aesthetic of the match.
Marseglia and O’Ryan used House of a Thousand Corpses on both Rush and Gresham, then Taven pinned Lethal after the Climax.
Kenny King came out and cut a promo on Lethal and Marty Scurll. Scurll followed King and attacked him, and then — pretty much the entire locker room emptied out and it looked like a very tired battle royale.
Bully Ray came out last and started screaming at Todd Sinclair for some reason. PCO confronted Bully and they exchanged chops until the Briscoes attacked PCO, who eventually came back and did a moonsault from the top onto about 20 wrestlers.
The match was chaotic and kind of a mess, but it wasn’t bad. I didn’t really understand the underlying function of the last segment, unless it was just to come up with an excuse for PCO to moonsault onto everyone so that the company can use it for their sizzle reel.
Final thoughts —
This was a decent show that was a bit of a slog at times. ZSJ vs. Cabana, Iwatani vs. Klein and PCO vs. Mark Briscoe were probably the best matches of the night, or at least the most fun to watch.
Three more matches have been added to the lineup for this month’s Ring of Honor television tapings.
In his second match for the promotion and his first since signing with them, Rush will be facing Tracy Williams at ROH’s TV tapings in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, February 9. Rush debuted for ROH at December’s post-Final Battle tapings, while Williams made his ROH debut in last November’s Survival of the Fittest tournament.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) and Dalton Castle vs. Kenny king have also been announced for the Lakeland tapings. Here’s the updated card:
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Silas Young
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King)
Lethal & Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast
Castle vs. Kenny King
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Rocky Romero
Rush vs. Williams
The tapings are part of ROH’s Bound By Honor weekend in Florida, which also includes an HonorClub show in Miami on Sunday, February 10.
Rush’s first appearances for Ring of Honor since signing with the promotion are set for next month.
ROH has announced Rush for their Bound By Honor weekend in Florida next month. Rush will be appearing at ROH’s television tapings in Lakeland on Saturday, February 9 and their HonorClub show in Miami on Sunday, February 10.
It was revealed earlier this month that Rush has signed an “exclusive contract” with ROH, which is exclusive for the United States and Ontario and allows him to still wrestle for CMLL in Mexico. ROH posted a video where Rush said ROH is his new home and he’s coming there to be the biggest star in the promotion.
Rush made his ROH debut at last month’s post-Final Battle TV tapings, defeating TK O’Ryan. Their match aired on the most recent episode of ROH TV. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia, and O’Ryan) laid out Rush with a three-man con-chair-to in a post-match angle.
This was the first match in a four-man mini tournament to decide the new number one contender to the TV title.
Facade used some flashy moves to evade Isom early, then connected with a leg lariat. He used a nice arm-trap submission into a pinning combination. Isom fired back with kicks and punches and a launching Northern Lights suplex to send Facade to the floor. Isom connected with a head-first dive to the outside.
Isom went for a pin out of a belly-to-back suplex. Facade fought back and used some kicks to send Isom to the outside. He then landed a step-up springboard 450 clothesline on Isom.
Back in the ring, Facade used a Burning Hammer, which he calls the Neon Ember. He nailed the Neon Terminator, which is a huge springboard kick across the ring, and went for the pin, but Isom kicked out at two.
Facade was frustrated, and that led to his demise as Isom was able to regain his composure and land a brainbuster suplex for the win.
Jay Lethal cut a promo on Matt Taven and said that Taven was a pretender, and that eventually their paths would cross.
The announcers recapped the debut of PCO and Brody King, who aligned with Marty Scurll to form Villain Enterprises.
Rush defeated TK O’Ryan
This was the debut of the newly-signed Rush. A sequence of amateur wrestling started the match, followed by a move-for-move back-and-forth that ended in a missed dropkick by both. This led to a violent striking exchange. O’Ryan cut him off and the fight spilled outside.
Back in the ring, O’Ryan went to work on the CMLL star. O’Ryan chopped him furiously, but Rush used a superkick to get the momentum.
After the break, another vicious chop exchange was taking place. Rush ran at him in the corner but instead used a fake-out and a stomp to blast O’Ryan.
Rush used an overhead suplex and threw O’Ryan into the corner. O’Ryan caught Rush while running with a beautifully-timed spinebuster. He went for a tornado DDT, but Rush instead used a headbutt to lift up O’Ryan for a huge superplex.
Rush turned it on and smashed O’Ryan with a running dropkick in the corner, which was enough to get Rush the pin.
After the match, Vinny Marseglia appeared from under the ring with Taven and they used a three-man conchairto to the head of Rush.
Silas Young defeated Beer City Bruiser in a no DQ match
Rhett Titus joined Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and Caprice Coleman on commentary. He said he was appalled by Bruiser’s body.
This was the second match in the mini-tournament. Before the match, Bruiser said he was sick of Young insulting him and wanted to make it a no DQ match. Young accepted.
It was a game of cat-and-mouse with Young chasing Bruiser around early. They made their way to the outside and Bruiser positioned Young seated in a chair. He then went to the apron and performed a running flip dive off the apron onto Young.
After the break, Young was attacking the legs of Bruiser. He connected with an Anarchist suplex on the big man, and then went to retrieve a table. He set up the table in the corner, which backfired as Bruiser managed to land another running flip attack, driving Young through the table. Young managed to kick out at 2.5.
The fight continued out on the floor, where Bruiser again placed Young across two chairs and went up to the top turnbuckle. Young revived himself and cut off Bruiser. A battle on the top rope ended with Bruiser hip tossing Young off the top turnbuckle into the ring.
For a third time, Bruiser laid Young across some chairs and went up top. This time, Young scurried up to his feet and slammed Bruiser off the turnbuckle through the chairs. That only earned Young a two count, so out of frustration he went under the ring to get zip-ties. Young zip-tied the big man to the top rope and began waffling him with chair shots until Brian Milonas ran out for the save.
Milonas laid out Young and cut Bruiser loose. Milonas was attempting a seated splash when Young popped up and shoved him over the top rope and through the second table that had been set up earlier on the floor.
Bruiser laid a chair across the chest of Young and dropped a big elbow onto him. Bruiser set up a third table and laid out Young on it and again went up top. Bruiser went for a splash, but Young moved and Bruiser crashed through the table. Young followed that up with his finisher, Misery, which was finally enough to keep Bruiser down for the three count.
Young will be facing Eli Isom in two weeks in the tournament finals to determine a number one contender for Jeff Cobb’s TV title.
The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated The Dirty Blondes (w/ Colonel Robert Parker)
Full rundown —
Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to this week’s MLW Fusion. We opened with Shane “Swerve” Strickland in the ring telling us how he hates Miami, but MLW paid him a lot of money to come down there. He said that there wasn’t anyone in the back that could beat him.
Strickland was quickly interrupted by Rush, and we were ready for our opening match of the night.
Rush defeated Shane Strickland (14:03)
Strickland jumped Rush as he was replying on the house mic, tossing him to the outside and using the ring post and guardrail to get the early advantage. They went back in the ring, and after a quick two count, Strickland stayed on top with a running back elbow to a seated Rush.
Rush fought back briefly, but Strickland quickly cut him off and hit a dropkick while Rush was tied up in the corner. Strickland was in control of the opening exchanges, but after a kneebar, Rush fought back to his feet and caught Strickland off guard with a running Superman punch.
Rush exploded to the outside and upped the tempo by whipping Strickland into the guardrail before going through the crowd, throwing Strickland into an exit door and tossing a solid steel trash can at his face. Back in the ring, Rush put the boots to Strickland in the corner before hitting a delayed kick to the face and taunting the cocky Strickland to the delight of the Miami crowd.
Rush lit up the arena with two hard chops before going for the Rush Driver, but Strickland rolled out and hit a hard right hand. Rush replied and they traded hard rights and chops before Rush hit a belly-to-belly suplex and a dropkick for a close two count. Rush took his eye off the ball and confronted the referee, which gave Strickland the chance for a quick roll-up — but it was to no avail.
A quick and fluid exchange then followed as Strickland hit a quick snap German. Rush popped up and went for one of his own — only for Strickland to roll through and connect with a jumping cutter. Strickland then went up to the top rope, but Rush stopped him, joined him up top, and hit a huge superplex for another two count.
A fisherman suplex received another two count for Rush, but instead of continuing his attack, he began jaw-jacking with the crowd. Rush eventually made his way to the top rope, but he took far too much time and missed a massive senton bomb. Strickland retaliated with a double foot stomp from the top, only getting another close two count.
A brainbuster by Strickland was followed by another kick to the head that received another two count. Both made their way to the corner for an exchange of right hands and chops, with Rush taking the advantage. Rush knocked Strickland to the ground and followed up with a running dropkick to the face and the Rush Driver to pick up the win.
– We had another promo video for the debuting Mance Warner before we cut to a recap of last week’s chase and confrontation between Sami Callihan and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. The off-camera fight resulted in Lawlor taking out Callihan, using Callihan’s own hammer to add insult to injury.
– We cut over to Kaci Lennox. She was with Salina de la Renta, who told us she had just signed a match between Sami Callihan and LA Park because Callihan couldn’t take out Lawlor last week. She said she won’t stop until he is fired, or dead.
Ace Romero defeated Ariel Dominguez (1:51)
Barrington Hughes joined Schiavone and Bocchini on commentary for this match. We saw a much less jovial and much more serious Ace Romero than we have seen recently.
Dominguez got the early advantage with a big step-up kick from the apron after Romero missed a splash in the corner. He looked pretty pleased with himself, but Romero just shook off the cobwebs, grabbed him through the ropes, and rag-dolled him back into the ring.
Hughes had called Romero a bully earlier in the match, and he continued to say that Romero had always had the advantage in his matches because of his weight, but he wouldn’t have that against Hughes: hinting at a future matchup between the two super heavyweights.
Dominguez kept up a strong fight by slipping out of a powerbomb and going for an adventurous — but ultimately unsuccessful — sunset flip. Romero powered out of it before trying to squash him with a huge leg drop, but Dominguez wisely moved out of the way.
Three big jumping clotheslines later and Dominguez couldn’t floor the big man, and with the fourth attempt, Romero caught Team Filthy’s Dominguez and planted him with a big body slam. Romero hit the ropes and squashed his smaller foe with a big elbow drop for the win.
After the match, the victorious Romero pointed over at Hughes, who stood from the commentary table and removed his headset and glasses in what could be an acceptance to a future match.
– Brian Pillman Jr. was then cutting a promo on Tommy Dreamer from a play park. He said he was so excited from beating Dreamer in their Singapore cane match and he wonders where they will meet again. Pillman begged him to take him to New York City and hinted at a street fight between the two.
– Lennox was backstage with Low Ki. She asked him about his undefeated streak, and Ki explained that he has solidified himself as the greatest MLW World Heavyweight Champion of all time. He told Lawlor that at MLW Superfight — Lawlor gets to join the long list of fighters who have lost to him. Ki said the honor will be Lawlor’s — but the pleasure will be his.
Ricky Martinez (w/ Salina de la Renta) defeated Gringo Loco (5:02)
Martinez came out with an eye patch as a taunt to Kotto Brazil after recently injuring him.
A quick opening to this match saw both wrestlers reversing and evading each other’s offense. Martinez went for a handshake but took a cheap shot to gain the advantage. Loco quickly fought back and hit a big sit-out powerbomb for a two count.
Martinez floored Loco soon after with a big shoulder block and tried to follow up from the top rope but took too much time. Loco cut him off, joined him up top, and he hit an amazing falcon arrow from the top rope for a close two count.
Loco went up top again and hit a huge springboard cutter for another two count. The crowd was into this match as Loco set up Martinez and went up top for the third time in quick succession. De la Renta pulled Martinez out of the way before Loco could hit a corkscrew splash, and he connected with the mat instead.
Martinez quickly raked the eyes and hit Loco with a gutbuster to pick up the win after Loco was looking so impressive early on.
Martinez then put the eye patch on before we cut backstage to Colonel Robert Parker hyping up the Dirty Blondes for their match with the Hart Foundation later tonight.
– We then switched to Tom Lawlor. He said we are a few short weeks away from MLW Superfight. He has been thinking about the past seven months where he has become the number one ranked fighter in MLW, having to go through 39 others to win the Battle Riot to get what he deserves.
Lawlor told Low Ki he sees him paying off other people to do his dirty work: Simon Gotch, Sami Callihan, Ricky Martinez, the fat skeleton, the skinny skeleton, and Salina the Teenage Witch. He said Low Ki will be out of a job after 15 years and their fight will all be over in six seconds when he puts Low Ki to sleep.
The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated The Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Michael Patrick) w/ Colonel Robert Parker (4:49)
Smith gave Leo Brien a clean break at the start. Brien took a cheap shot, which only angered Smith, who followed up with a dropkick and a snap suplex before tagging in Pillman.
One dropkick in the corner by Pillman was followed up with a missed attempt, and the Blondes took control and cut Pillman off from his partner. Brien hit a hard back elbow and the Blondes distracted the referee for some double teaming behind his back. Pillman soon fired back with a crossbody block before a double down and double tag brought Patrick and Smith back into the action.
Smith hit a big backdrop before hitting the 10 punches in the corner on Brien. A clothesline in the corner and a running powerslam followed, but Patrick broke up Smith’s pinning attempt.
Pillman sprung into the ring and took Patrick out with a springboard clothesline, leaving Smith and Brien alone in the ring. Smith put Brien on the top rope, got up himself, and hit a big superplex for the win.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including all the news from the past couple of days, a WWE couple getting married, a very serious situation resolved with Kurt Angle’s niece, the WON Awards issue, Dr. Lucha to talk RUSSSSSSSSH and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The latest in the land grab for top tier talent is that ROH has signed William Munoz Gonzalez, 30, better known as Rush, to an exclusive one-year U.S./Ontario market contract.
The deal, believed to be for approximately $155,000 per year, is added to Munoz’s five year deal with CMLL which runs until the end of 2020.
The contract takes Rush out of MLW’s attempt at the biggest match of its run, on the 4/4 show in New York a the Melrose Ballroom that was built around Rush vs. L.A. Park.
This is after the angle for the match was shot on the live special. Pentagon Jr. will face Park in that show’s main event. Pentagon Jr. had already been booked on the High Spots WrestleCon Super Show on 4/4 going head-to-head, but the agreement was already worked out where he and Fenix’s match would go on early on the High Spots show, and he would then go on last on the MLW show.
A significant addition is coming to the Ring of Honor roster.
It was announced on Tuesday that lucha libre star Rush has signed an “exclusive contract” with ROH. The promotion put out a video with Rush announcing the news, with Rush saying he’s returning to ROH to stay, that he’s there to be the biggest star in the company, and that it’s his new home.
Rush will still be wrestling for CMLL in Mexico. ROH and CMLL have a working relationship, and both have relationships with NJPW.
Rush made his ROH debut at the promotion’s post-Final Battle television tapings last month.
Before signing with ROH, Rush had been becoming a regular with MLW in the U.S. He was supposed to face LA Park in the main event of MLW’s tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York on April 4, but MLW announced that Rush has now been pulled from the show “due to the insistence of a third party promoter.”
MLW’s Court Bauer said in a statement: “This is a match and organization Rush wanted to be a part of but sometimes politics get in the way and that’s what this comes down to: politics.”
LA Park vs. Pentagon Jr. will now be the main event of the MLW show in Queens on April 4, which is taking place on the Thursday of WrestleMania week. MLW is also running the Melrose Ballroom on Friday, April 5. That Friday show will feature the second Battle Riot match in MLW history.
Rush and LA Park are taking their rivalry to WrestleMania week.
During tonight’s MLW Fusion Live broadcast on beIN Sports, it was announced that Rush vs. LA Park will be the main event of MLW’s television tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York on Thursday, April 4, 2019. MLW is also holding tapings at the Melrose Ballroom on Friday, April 5. The Friday show will feature the second 40-man Battle Riot match in MLW history.
Rush defeated Rich Swann on tonight’s live special. There was then a post-match angle where LA Park came out and brawled with Rush until they were broken up by security.
Rush made his MLW debut at November’s tapings in Cicero, Illinois. His debut match against Sammy Guevara aired on last week’s Fusion episode, with Rush defeating Guevara and cutting a promo after the match where he said he came to MLW for his rivalry with LA Park.
We opened with a camera catching up with Simon Gotch walking outside Cicero Stadium in Chicago. The cameraman asked why he turned his back on Tom Lawlor a few weeks ago.
Gotch started mouthing off, but we quickly saw Lawlor appearing in the background. He chased Gotch towards the building. Gotch jumped behind a door just as Lawlor was blindsided by Ricky Martinez, however Lawlor dove at him and they both tumbled into the building. Gotch closed the door behind them both as Tony Schiavone wondered what is going to happen this week on MLW Fusion.
After the opening video, Schiavone let us know that Lawlor isn’t going to wait until Miami, where he faces Gotch in a no ropes, no holds barred match, and that the cameras are looking for he and Gotch in the arena tonight. Schiavone also hyped up the debut of the leader of Los Ingobernables Rush as he takes on AAA Cruiserweight Champion Sammy Guevara tonight. Rich Bocchini hyped up the debut of Ace Romero as he will be taking on Marko Stunt.
Teddy Hart (w/ Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated Jason Cade (8:41)
The announcers hyped up Pentagon Jr. and Teddy Hart’s match for next week’s tapings before we caught up with Hart and Pillman Jr.’s visit to the Pro Wrestling Tees store in Chicago. They picked out some of the Hart Foundation T-shirts and also found some Tommy Dreamer shirts that Pillman shoved down his pants. Pillman will face Dreamer in Miami in a Singapore cane match.
A very good, highly athletic contest to open up the show this week with Hart picking up the win after an avalanche Canadian Destroyer from the top rope. Cade took the early advantage after a hard whip to the corner — Hart took the corner front first just like his uncle Bret — and a big jumping neckbreaker.
Hart quickly retaliated with a sunset flip, a lung blower powerbomb, a hammerlock DDT, and a huge moonsault into an elbow drop. Cade got his knees up after an attempted split-legged moonsault and hit Hart with a tiger driver and a handspring codebreaker for a near fall.
They went to the outside, where Cade slapped Pillman for trying to get involved. That distracted Cade just long enough for Hart to hit him with a draping leg drop off the guardrails. Back in the ring, Cade missed a frog splash when Hart got his knees up and took back the advantage. An electric chair Lumbar Check, a Stu Hart special (Gory special flipped out into a sit-out powerbomb), and a piledriver couldn’t keep Cade down as he got a foot on the ropes to break up a pinfall attempt.
Cade fought back with a superkick, a roll-through suplex, and a Death Valley Driver twisting into a Michinoku driver for a near fall. The action then migrated to the corner where the finish came when, after a cane shot from the outside from Pillman, Hart picked up the win after an avalanche Canadian Destroyer from the top rope, called the Hart Rate.
Salina de la Renta was backstage when Konnan showed up and started questioning her, saying that he is going to take Low Ki’s MLW World Championship and then he is coming for her.
The camera then again caught up with Konnan — this time he had stumbled upon a fallen Ricky Martinez. Konnan nonchalantly dropped a padlock emptied out from a sock beside Martinez and swaggered away.
Ace Romero defeated Marko Stunt (8:40)
A really fun and entertaining David vs.Goliath style match which Romero won with a Boss Man slam. Stunt more than held his own against a massively bigger opponent, but the size and strength of Romero shone through in the end. While making his entrance, an in-set promo from Romero aired. He said Stunt is going to be victim number one in MLW in the Pounce World Tour.
Stunt tried to run around Romero in the early going, but Romero took him out with a 400 pound dropkick that sent Stunt flying across the ring. Romero looked to have the match well in control before missing a huge second rope leg drop to the apron, which gave Stunt the opportunity for a comeback.
Stunt got a few shots in on the outside before hitting a suicide dive onto the huge Romero. However, he needed more to faze the big man as Romero just ran through and bulldozed him into the guardrail.
Back in the ring, there was a big elbow drop from Romero — but somehow Stunt barely lifted a shoulder off the mat to avoid the three count. A hard chop echoed around the arena, but that only seemed to wake Stunt up as he began to Hulk up. He hit a dropkick and a running knee before feeling the apparent power of Hulkamania. He tried to lift Romero off his feet. That didn’t happen. But he was able to hit a springboard senton to a standing Romero, knocking the big man off his feet and even managing a quick two count.
Romero quickly got back up, but Stunt reversed a tilt-a-whirl attempt into a facebuster of his own. Stunt went back to the top turnbuckle and had the crowd on their feet when he connected with a top turnbuckle sunset flip powerbomb.
Stunt tried to continue his high-flying offense with a high crossbody off the top — but he was caught and reversed into a huge Boss Man slam for the three count and the win for Ace Romero.
Kaci Lenox was outside Court Bauer’s office. Shane Strickland was inside and we could hear an argument ensuing.
We went backstage with Salina de la Renta and Low Ki. De la Renta told us how she is sick of Konnan trying to step all over her business, calling her names, and how when she said to come fight Low Ki, he refused. Low Ki cut in, but before he could start Ricky Martinez stumbled in with blood pouring from his mouth. He warned Low Ki that Konnan did this to him and that he and de la Renta should leave the building immediately.
Rush defeated Sammy Guevara (9:25)
An excellent match to finish off the week’s action. Rush picked up the win with the Rush driver. Guevara came out with the AAA Cruiserweight Championship belt while the announcers hyped up his talent but also talked about his attitude and arrogance.
This had a competitive opening with both showing off their athleticism with evasions, kip ups, and backflip counters. The action quickly went to the outside. Guevara missed a plancha, so Rush powerbombed him onto one of those extra solid, reinforced Chicago tables that didn’t budge or break. Rush whipped him across the back with camera cables and hit him with a chair.
Back in the ring, Rush threatened the referee which gave Guevara the chance for a roll-up and a near fall. Guevara kept on top of Rush and quickened the pace with a huge crossbody from the top rope followed by a spinning corkscrew suicide dive through the ropes.
Back into the ring again and a springboard dropkick got another near fall. A very loose Spanish fly got Guevara another near fall, but Rush soon made a comeback and hit a huge superplex from the top rope for a near fall of his own.
Both competitors traded superkicks and high knees until Rush knocked down Guevara with a headbutt to the chin. He couldn’t follow up as he missed a senton from the top, giving Guevara a chance to hit a Shooting Star Press of his own. Guevara took too much time though — and Rush got his knees up and quickly followed up with double knees to the face in the corner and finished him off with his Rush driver (a double under hook piledriver) for the win.
Rush took the mic after the match. In Spanish, he called out LA Park. The announcer’s hyped up their previous legendary rivalries from Mexico.
Before we went off the air, Low Ki and de la Renta were seen leaving the arena. But just as their car was speeding away, Tom Lawlor was right behind them and was inches away from catching the MLW World Champion. We went off the air with Lawlor chasing the car as it sped away from Cicero Stadium and out of sight.
Next week: MLW Fusion is live for the first time ever on beIN Sports from Miami, Florida:
Dragon Lee vs. DJZ
Rush vs. Rich Swann
Kotto Brazil vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Andrew Everett vs. Jason Cade in a four-way ladder match for the vacant MLW Middleweight Championship
CMLL star Rush will be making his Ring of Honor debut next month.
During Sunday night’s Survival of the Fittest broadcast, commentator Ian Riccaboni announced that Rush will debut at ROH’s post-Final Battle television tapings at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, December 15. Further details on who Rush will be wrestling at the tapings weren’t announced.
Rush is also set to make his debut for MLW. He’ll be facing Sammy Guevara at MLW’s tapings in Cicero, Illinois this Thursday (November 8).
The night before Rush makes his ROH debut, Final Battle 2018 will take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Friday, December 14. The pay-per-view will feature Zack Sabre Jr.’s first match for ROH, with him set to face Jonathan Gresham. Madison Rayne defeated Britt Baker in a qualifying match at Survival of the Fittest to advance to the four corner survival match at Final Battle where Sumie Sakai will defend her Women of Honor World Championship.
MLW has revealed Rush’s opponent for his first match for the promotion.
It was announced today that CMLL’s Rush will face Sammy Guevara at MLW’s television tapings in Cicero, Illinois on Thursday, November 8. Rush debuting for MLW was first announced during the promotion’s show in Queens, New York earlier this month.
The Illinois tapings are being called “MLW Fightland.” The event will also feature Tag Team Champions Pentagon Jr. & Fenix defending their titles against LA Park & El Hijo de LA Park and Shane Strickland challenging for Low Ki’s MLW World Championship.
In April, Strickland won a tournament to become the first MLW World Champion since the revival of the promotion. He dropped the title to Low Ki in July and will be getting his rematch at the Illinois tapings.
MLW has also added a second date to their lineup for WrestleMania week in New York City. MLW will be holding TV tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens on Thursday, April 4 and Friday, April 5. The second night will be headlined by the second Battle Riot match in MLW history.
The first Battle Riot match took place this July and was won by Tom Lawlor. The stipulation is that it’s a 40-man, no disqualification match with wrestlers entering every 60 seconds. Eliminations occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope, and the winner receives a World title shot whenever they want it.
Tickets for the WrestleMania week tapings will go on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern time on October 10. MLW noted that both events have a start time of 7 p.m. Eastern and should conclude by 10:30 p.m. There will be packages available that include tickets for both nights.
