MLW: Fusion Episode #22 (WarGames) Review

September 14th, 2018

A nice little video package for WarGames is shown, which leads to each team being interviewed. They both pretty much say the same thing, and the main goal is walking out victorious. GET HYPED! 

Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini welcome us to the show, and it’s time to settle things between Sami Callihan and Shane Strickland. They take us to a shot of the cages being assembled. This leads us to an interview with Salina and Low-Ki. We can’t forget that WarGames wasn’t the ONLY major thing to happen on this event, because Low-Ki will defend the World Title against Fenix at a later date. Not much happens here, but Tommy Dreamer accidentally walks into Salina, before a big stare down between Dreamer and Low-Ki. Interesting. 

Teddy Hart and Brian Pillman Jr. are interviewed, and MLW had thought of suspending The Hart Foundation for their actions. Teddy Hart says they don’t have the balls to suspend them, but MLW has decided to give out a fine. Brian Pillman Jr. knows they will be haters, because that’s what happens when you’re the “big dogs” of a major company. 

Newly announced for MLW’s “Fury Road” event will be The Hart Foundation taking on ACH, Rich Swann, and Marko Stunt! That show is headlined by a MLW World Heavyweight Championship defense, along with PCO vs. LA Park. 

The cage continues to be assembled, as they announce PCO vs. Brody King for next week. PCO is interviewed, and says Brody King will figure out why PCO is not human. Good ten second interview. 

IT’S TIME FOR WARGAMES! 

WarGames: Team Callihan (Sami Callihan, Abyss, Fulton, Jimmy Havoc, and Leon Scott) vs. Team Strickland (Shane Strickland, Barrington Hughes, John Hennigan, Kotto Brazil, and Tommy Dreamer) 

First of all, I have to admit that once this match was announced on social media, I wasn’t too excited. It just seemed like a filler match for WarGames, and didn’t need the gimmick match to blow off the feud. The build to WarGames continued for a few weeks, and I kept getting more and more excited. Now that it was time for WarGames, this was easily the most hyped I’ve ever been for an episode of MLW Fusion. To kick things off, we had Kotto Brazil against Fulton. Fulton dominated for a good part of the five minutes, and had Kotto grounded when the first buzzer went off. Typically in WarGames you get the heel to come out, and they always continue with the two-on-one advantage. MLW may be the first promotion to EVER have the babyface team come out, giving them the two-on-one advantage. John Hennigan came out to aid Kotto Brazil, and things only escalated from here. I absolutely loved that Team Callihan was painted up, and mostly everyone had different attires. Some of the little things like that can really add to a match. Anyways, the turning point came when Shane Strickland was making his way out for his team, only to be attacked by Sami Callihan. Callihan tossed Strickland off of the stage, and Strickland landed hard on a table. Callihan wasn’t done, so he picked Strickland back up and powerbombed Strickland through the table. Very unique way to switch things up, as now Team Callihan had the two-on-one advantage. Commentary announced later in the match that Shane Strickland wouldn’t be returning, which only means he’ll make a surprise comeback in the end, right? Not at all. Shane Strickland remained on the sidelines for the rest of this match, but his team didn’t even need him. Team Strickland literally wrapped Barrington Hughes in barbed wire, only to inflict more damage on Team Callihan. In the end, the barbed wire would be applied on Fulton, who had no choice but to tap. They really pushed the “Submit or Surrender” gimmick hard, but it worked. This was a really great match, and everything you’d expect from WarGames. It leaves us with quite a few more questions moving forward, but overall this was a major success.

Winners: Team Strickland

Match Rating: ***3/4

Next week, MJF teams with Aria Blake to take on Joey Ryan and Taya. Also next week is PCO vs. Brody King. 

After WarGames, Jimmy Havoc and Sami Callihan get into an argument. Callihan blames Havoc for this, and then attacks Havoc, as Leon Scott and Fulton join in on the attack. 

Final Thoughts: 

I was skeptical about WarGames at first, but as they continued to hype up the event, I became more and more excited. The WarGames match was done beautifully, and easily exceeded the expectations I had when it was first announced. Kotto Brazil got to shine, Strickland wasn’t even needed in the outcome, Callihan got even more heel heat, and everyone just played their roles well. MLW did a great job of hyping up this match, and hopefully it becomes a yearly tradition, because matches I decided to tune into MLW for matches like these. In the coming weeks, we have lots of great looking matches that were also on this event, so hopefully they keep the momentum rolling.

Final Rating: 7.5/10