August 10th, 2018
Shane Strickland, Kotto Brazil, and Barrington Hughes reveal that the war with Sami Callihan is far from over… And they’ll settle it in WAR GAMES!
Leon Scott vs. Barrington Hughes
This started off being a back and forth battle, but it took less than a minute for Barrington Hughes to get Scott down, and nail the huge elbow drop. Before Hughes could secure the win, the other Death Machine interfered and beat down Hughes. Hughes fought him off, but later on Sami Callihan came down to join the attack. All three beat down Hughes, before Kotto Brazil came out with a baseball bat! Brazil then gets a micorphone and calls for a match.
Winner: Barrington Hughes
Match Rating: NR
Kotto Brazil has a mic, and calls out Sami Callihan, to a great response from the crowd. Kotto then nails a tope suicida onto Callihan and the Death Machines, as they brawl on the outside for a little bit before getting into the ring, and Callihan demanded for the match to be started.
Kotto Brazil vs. Sami Callihan
This was a pretty good match to kick off the show, and it had a GREAT crowd, unlike many other MLW matches in the past. Sami was an amazing heel as always, which allowed Kotto to be a phenomenal babyface. Callihan worked down Kotto for quite a bit of time, but it escalated into Callihan nearly killing Kotto with chairs, before Kotto fought out of it, only to die later on from a powerbomb off the top rope. Good match here, Kotto should absolutely thrive in WarGames.
Winner: Sami Callihan
Match Rating: ***
Heel promo time with Teddy Hart, Davey Boy, and Brian Pillman Jr. The main focus here was Teddy doing Teddy things, Davey being a heel, and Pillman just being there.
Konnan is asked what’s going on with the Lucha Bros. He’s quickly confronted by Low-Ki, who says he can’t come in here to do what he did somewhere else. Konnan told Low-Ki to read the fine print on his contract, and they had an intense staredown as they talked some spanish.
Joey Janela brings a referee up some steps with him, as he finds MJF in a room all by himself, starting the falls count anywhere match.
MLW Middleweight Championship – Falls Count Anywhere: MJF (c) vs. Joey Janela w/Aria Blake
These two played to the stipulation well, and accomplished the job of getting Aria Blake with MJF, as she turned on Janela by hitting him with a beer bottle, allowing for MJF to retain. The feud probably isn’t over just yet, but we’ll have to see. Good stuff from these two, as it started off hot, MJF slowed things down, but Janela got back on the advantage, and used chairs and the crowd to his advantage. Janela was going to finish the job on the stage, but that’s when the big turn happened, which has been teased for weeks. A predictable first title defense for MJF.
Winner: MJF
Match Rating: **3/4
Sami Callihan says he has another member for WarGames, and he walks up to JIMMY HAVOC! They talk a bit, as Callihan has to explain WarGames to Havoc, ultimately having to buy him a beer to join his team.
Team Filthy is talking outside, before confronted by Col. Robert Parker and the Stud Stable. Col. Robert Parker challenged Tom Lawlor to “A Dojo Fight”, Lawlor says bring it on, and find him at his gym.
Konnan is again backstage with Fenix and Pentagon… AS THEY RIP UP THE CONTRACTS WITH SALIANA DE LA RENTA!
Kevin Sullivan catches up with Brian Pillman Jr., and he says that hanging out with Davey Boy and Teddy Hart isn’t a good idea. Pillman says he really respects those guys, Sullivan understands, and tells the camera man to leave them alone.
#1 Contender’s Match: Teddy Hart vs. John Hennigan
This was a GREAT match, easily the best Fusion match ever. Teddy Hart was crazy over, and the crowd was turning on Hennigan throughout the match. It had all of the flips necessary, got the time to deliver, lots of great falls, and a HOT crowd, how much better does it get? The crowd wanted Teddy to win so badly, but he was overconfident at times, and didn’t cover when he should have. Commentary was great to mention that Teddy didn’t hook the leg after his huge series of dives, because otherwise he could’ve won the match. In the end, Hennigan stole the win with a cradle, and will go on to face Low-Ki for the title next week. Great stuff here.
Winner: John Hennigan
Match Rating: ****
Final Thoughts:
The crowd was alive, we had good build to Wargames, the matches were good to great, angles advanced, and this was a phenomenal episode of Fusion. If only every week could be like this… It started off with a bang, we got straight to action, and the announcement of Wargames. The crowd was hot for everything that happened, and Kotto was the perfect babyface to Callihan’s heel. Later on Callihan found another member for his team, that being Jimmy Havoc. Otherwise, Aria Blake finally turned on Joey Janela, and now she’s in the corner of MJF. If that Falls Count Anywhere chaos wasn’t enough, we had a phenomenal main event that easily surpassed anything Fusion has done. Amazing stuff from Hennigan and Hart. MLW has been putting on quality shows as of late, let’s keep this hot streak going.
Final Rating: 7.5/10