MLW Fusion: 59 Recap

We open up MLW Fusion 59 with a hype video for “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and his reign as MLW Champion taking on all-comers including his most recent title defense against Jimmy Havoc while being introduced to his next opponent from Germany. Big “Avalanche” Robert Dreissker who had an impressive time in the second Battle Riot match. Cue the MLW Fusion opening and I’ll see you after!

During the introduction montage, we get a nice Contra Unit logo possibly setting up something for the show. We are introduced to the normal announce team of Rich Bocchini (fka Rich Brennan in the WWE) and Jim Cornette. They promote the fact that it is six days until the next iPPV that being MLW: Fury Road. They talk about the MLW Heavyweight bout between Tom Lawlor and German WxW wrestler Robert Dreissker. The Lucha Bros. are in action but we aren’t made aware of who they are facing as the broadcasters mention an altercation between the two and an unknown second party. Tag Team wrestling is brought up again as two-thirds of the most dangerous faction in MLW, Contra Unit will be in action against a rather imposing duo made up of Barrington Hughes and Ace Romero. They then transition into the ending of the Brian Pillman Jr. x Rich Swann match in which Swann’s pal Myron Reed accidentally peppered Swann causing Pillman to advance to the finals of the MLW National Openweight championship tournament to face Alexander Hammerstone at Fury Road in Milwaukee thus continuing the Hart Foundation quarrels with Dynasty.

We then go to a backstage interview with Richard Holliday and Alexander Hammerstone and the first thing they do is mention the absence of a future shining star of wrestling in the person of Maxwell Jacob Friedman who they say is with their financial advisor which then leads into what I thought of as a good representation of gimmick work between Holliday and Hammerstone as Holliday cuts a heel promo on The Hart Foundation calling them criminals who shouldn’t be representing MLW and they, the wealthy should be the face of MLW instead. All that aside I couldn’t help but envision Scott Steiner’s spirit in Hammerstone’s body as he is flexing during the promo and talks about The Hart Foundation having a “genetic disadvantage” which made me wonder who would win in a match between 2003 Steiner and 2019 Hammerstone. Hammerstone closes with saying he’ll beat Pillman so hard he won’t remember a thing. Now enough with the preamble, let’s get to the wrestling!

Match 1. Hughes and Romero vs Contra Unit

The team of Barrington Hughes and Ace Romero are announced as being nearly 800 pounds which I imagine Jedi Force Ghost Scott Steiner would have a field day with that much weight. Contra Unit then comes out to the ring. Even though it will only be Jacob Fatu and Josef Samael representing Contra Unit Simon Gotch comes to the ring with them. The match instantly begins with Fatu and Samael taking the fight to Hughes and Romero. While the only wrestlers in the match whose careers I’ve followed have been Hughes and Fatu I am a huge (no pun intended) Jacob Fatu mark. He is a throwback to Afa, Sika, Samu, and Umaga. By that, I, of course, mean a tough SOB who has no fear as I saw in the match when he was handling both Barrington Hughes and Ace Romero before Samael spikes Romero in the back of the head. The heels bring the violence to Hughes as Jacob Fatu shows how wide his range is as he does a jumping moonsault off of the top rope onto Hughes for the victory. Following the pinfall, Fatu holds Hughes while Samael continuously hits Hughes with his boots.

This was a good way to get Contra over as they are an outside force who will target any and all of the MLW roster if it means their goals are achieved. We get an outdoor segment with Salina de la Renta and is asked if she is there for the title match and she mentions that LA Park who won the second Battle Riot match. is excited for the outcome and responds to if LA Park will be cashing in on Tom Lawlor and she replies with “we will have to wait and see”. It is then we get informed that the Lucha Bros. will be unable to compete as they were attacked by Contra Unit and we see two masked figures gets beat down and one gets a fireball to the face as we then transition to a montage of the newly signed Von Erich’s as in the sons of Kevin Von Erich. We see footage of Marshall and Ross in various matches from their time in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Next is some important future dates for MLW with Fury Road, Kings of Coliseum, and Never Say Never. Then we get a backstage update on the Lucha Bros. and there is a just a feeling of awe from the backstage interviewer especially when she mentions how Fenix looked when they got the mask on him and they don’t go into detail on his skin but they stand in a bit of a gray area. We then cut to Tom Lawlor cutting a babyface promo saying he’ll be holding a death grip on the MLW title as he had been targeted by Contra Unit at Intimidation Games. The announcers then talk about the MLW Middleweight title match between Teddy Hart and Jimmy Havoc for Fury Road. Further hyping things with Gringo Loco taking on Myron Reed, Pillman vs Hammerstone for the Openweight belt, the debut of the Von Erich’s, and Kotto Brazil taking on Daga. We are then shown a promo video for Teddy Hart and Jimmy Havoc’s match for the Openweight belt. Then Mance Warner cuts a promo about how he sees himself in the landscape of MLW as a main eventer getting quote “main event payday”. Following this, we get another upcoming debut video for Austin Aries which I’m hoping doesn’t go the same way as his run in TNA.

Match 2. Promociones Dorado vs Pagan and Hollywood

The team of Promociones Dorado which consists of Low Ki and Ricky Martinez represented by Salina de la Renta come to the ring but there seems to be some dissension between Ki and Salina as they exchange some words which Low Ki doesn’t look too happy about. Ki and Martinez absolutely batter their opponents and despite this being a squash match to get Ki and Martinez, well, mainly Martinez over I did like the fact that right before Hollywood gets knocked into a different dimension by Low Ki  he says the classic “nothing personal, just business” before taking Hollywood out with a hit to the head. While the referee is checking on Pagan, Low Ki hits a beautiful double foot stomp off the top rope onto Hollywood’s back getting the 1-2-3. Throughout the match whenever a replay was shown we would see the Contra Unit logo pop in and out and it starts getting faster and faster until their music hits, and it is here when Martinez bails on Low Ki and he and Salina leave Low Ki to be torn apart by Contra Unit effectively splitting him and Salina up and possibly setting up a future storyline between Low Ki and Martinez/de la Renta.

Following this, we transition to H2 with Davey Boy Smith Jr. Teddy Hart, and Brian Pillman Jr. all with their cats and this is possibly my favorite segment in all of my time watching MLW as it is just letting them be themselves something than certain promotions wouldn’t in a million years dabble in. Long story short Teddy and Davey give Pillman all the support he needs. Davey namedrops Grandpa Stu and Pillman brings up his own father and he’s not doing this for himself but for his brothers and his family/legacy. Oh, and of course the cats.

Main Event Title Match: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs “Avalanche” Robert Dreissker

WxW’s Robert Dreissker comes out first and the whole show is being played as being scared of Contra Unit attacking more wrestlers. Lawlor comes out to fanfare and streamers being thrown in the ring which has been seen mainly in Japan but in Ring of Honor here in the US. Early in the match, Dreissker has the power advantage but Lawlor gets in a flurry of kicks including a particularly painful looking one to Dreissker’s head. He goes for a pinfall after hitting a running clothesline but Dreissker kicks out at 2. Bocchini and Cornette bring up the fact that the last time a German star fought for a heavyweight belt was Otto Wans. Dreissker takes control on the outside and nearly seals the deal with a splash on Lawlor before he kicks out at two. Lawlor fights back with some palm strikes and kicks before doing a variation of the inside out bump made famous by Rikishi. After some back and forth offense Lawlor hits a beautiful German suplex. After hitting Dreissker with a forearm into the corner Lawlor pounds on Dreissker with punches and kicks. After a failed Vader slam from Dreissker, Lawlor gets behind him and locks in the rear-naked-choke. Dreissker taps giving Lawlor the win retaining his MLW Heavyweight belt.

After the bell rings Contra Unit comes out and they collectively pounce on Tom Lawlor with Lawlor getting hit with a piledriver by Gotch and the jump moonsault from Fatu. Salina de la Renta and LA Park attempt to cash in on Lawlor but get LA Park gets jumped by Sami Callahan and Mance Warner. The show closes with the Contra flag.

Overall, of all three matches, the main event was the only one that had anything to it as the previous two were squash matches. In regards to the main event, they made Dreissker look very strong and capable of beating Tom Lawlor. I don’t know where things will head to at Fury Road but I am looking forward to it.

Grade: C+