June 22nd, 2018
Rich Bocchini and Tony Schiavone hype tonight’s main event, the bounty match between Brody King and Shane Strickland, as well as continue to hype Battle Riot in New York. They send us to the ring for some singles action.
Trey Miguel vs. Teddy Hart
Originally, Miguel was supposed to face Danny Santiago, however Teddy Hart attacked him before the bell, and decided to join this match himself. Court Bauer made it official, so Teddy Hart is here to make his Fusion debut! This was a great match, full of action, allowing Teddy to get in literally everything in his arsenal. Trey Miguel survived countless moves, but in the end got put away by a Canadian Destroyer OFF THE TOP ROPE! Teddy Hart was SO over, and it really adds to these matches when the crowd is alive. Teddy Hart seems to be a top player in MLW, and he has a match with John Hennigan (I really hope he goes by Johnny Fusion) at the upcoming tapings. Overall, MLW is back at it with the all action, no filler openers.
Winner: Teddy Hart
Match Rating: ***
Kotto Brazil is interviewed about his loss to Rich Swann. He says it was a great experience showing MLW what he can do, but he can’t keep taking L’s. He’s going to figure out a way to do it.
Teddy Hart is interviewed, and asked if he’s officially with MLW. Teddy talks about the heat he gets in the back, but is only here to steal the show. He then sees ACH in the background, and wants to start a fight. Rich Swann helps out his new best friend, ACH, as Teddy Hart retreats.
The Battle Riot is hyped yet again, as they run down the rules, and now announce Rich Swann, Jason Cade, Joey Ryan, PCO, Kevin Sullivan, ACH, “The” Swoggle, John Morrison, Lance Anoa’i, Konnan, Sami Callihan, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and Teddy Hart.
Col. Robert Parker is about to be interviewed with The Stud Stable, but he sends them off, and walks off with the interviewer to “get a cup of coffee”. Tom Lawlor and Simon Gotch walk in, and sneak into The Stud Stable’s locker room.
Barrington Hughes vs. Paris Hakeem
The bell rings, Hakeem runs at Hughes, but Hughes gets out of the way, shoves him down, and then nails the big elbow to pick up the win. Yet another squash for Barrington, but they seemingly have nothing for him to do. He’s been with Shane Strickland at times, but that doesn’t lead to anything. I’m sure he’ll be a monster in the Battle Riot, but go out as everyone teams up on him. He’s definitely not MLW Heavyweight Championship material, and he’s not going after the Tag Titles with Strickland, so what is there for this guy to do?
Winner: Barrington Hughes
Match Rating: NA
Col. Robert Parker is walking in the back, but is greeted by Team Filthy. They tell Parker to go check out the locker room, so Parker does, but flips out as Team Filthy walks off. At least they’re trying to do something in the tag division…
Vandal Ortagun vs. Kotto Brazil
After a nice little interview earlier in the show, Kotto Brazil picks up his first MLW win here tonight. Coming in, you had to expect it, with a opponent like “Vandal Ortagun”. Sadly, this wasn’t that great of a match. The crowd was only hot for one near fall, Ortagun dominated way too much of the match, and Kotto didn’t get to shine like some of his matches (where he LOST) in the past. I can’t complain though, because Kotto finally has some momentum on his side, and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here. He’s a great babyface underdog, and picking up a huge win against someone like Teddy Hart, ACH, or Rich Swann would be amazing.
Winner: Kotto Brazil
Match Rating: **1/2
Salina De La Renta is interviewed, but the chick botches her nickname. Salina picks her apart, and shows off her Tag Gold. Those titles are not enough, and she’s still after the World Championship, and Shane Strickland’s head. Finally, she wishes good luck to Brody King. Our main event is next!
$20,000 Bounty Match: Brody King vs. Shane Strickland
Before Strickland makes his way out to the ring, Callihan’s big dudes try to take him out, however Barrington Hughes saves his buddy and fights them off himself. Anyways, this gimmick match feels straight out of the 1980’s and I love it. Strickland obviously studied the old tapes, because in the end Brody King was about to throw powder into the champs eyes, but Strickland kicked the powder back into King’s face. The match itself was solid, not a bad main event, but not great either. King got to get some good stuff in, as Strickland is able to survive yet again, but another challenger arrived post match… Strickland is insanely over, so I’d expect to see him as champion for quite some time yet.
Winner: Shane Strickland
Match Rating: **3/4
After the match, Low-Ki arrives to take out Strickland. Salina De La Renta is with him, smiling the entire time. This obviously sets up the $60,000 Bounty Match, which is being advertised for the next TV Taping. Low-Ki poses with the World Championship to close the show.
Final Thoughts:
MLW decided to put on four matches this week, something that usually isn’t done. I’m not complaining, because we got a great opener, Barrington squash, Kotto got some momentum, and a solid, storyline advancing main event. Fusion is a super easy hour to sit through, with none of the matches being bad, and we constantly get new twists on each story. This week, Teddy Hart made an impressive debut, and really could care less what anyone in the back has to say about it. Team Filthy took out the Dirty Blondes, so we’ll see where that goes. Kotto got himself a win, and now has momentum on his side. Finally, Brody King couldn’t get the job done in his Bounty Match, but Low-Ki was there to pick up the scraps after the match. Strickland/Low-Ki should be absolutely phenomenal, but it’ll take some time yet to get to that one. Anyways, Fusion delivers yet again, with a lot of questions (especially related to this bounty) yet to be answered.
Show Rating: 6.8/10