February 2nd, 2019
It’s been just over 2 months since I’ve reviewed an episode of MLW Fusion. The product was really lacking, and I saw no real reason to watch it anymore. Superfight is something they’ve been building towards for months, so I knew I better check it out. Featuring The Lucha Bros vs. The Heart Dynasty and the long awaited Low Ki vs. Tom Lawlor match, there’s no way this can disappoint. Or can it?
A nice video package for Low Ki vs. Tom Lawlor kicks off the show. This match is seven months in the making!
Matt Striker and Rich Bocchini welcome us to the show, as this is a special LIVE edition of MLW Fusion! Tonight will see two championship matches, featuring the World Title match that has been building for months. Before we get to that title match, we’re kicking things off with the Lucha Bros defending the Tag Titles!
MLW World Tag Team Championships: Lucha Bros (c) w/Konnan vs. The Hart Foundation
I’ve seen some people say this match was crazy good, and I also saw some really harsh reviews. Personally, I’m in the middle. While not as insane as all of the gifs made it look, this was a good and fun Tag Title match to kick off the show. The pace felt way too slow at times, especially knowing the competitors involved. Everyone knew it was finally time for Pentagon and Fenix to lose the titles, but I like how they protected them in the finish, as Pentagon had his mask removed and Fenix ate a SUPER CANADIAN DESTROYER! Good match, just nothing epic.
Winners: The Hart Foundation
Match Rating: ***1/4
Promo time with Low Ki, as he lists off all his accomplishments here in MLW, and tells Tom Lawlor he doesn’t know what he got himself into. If you thought Low Ki was violent before, just wait until what he’s prepared to do to Lawlor tonight…
Kotto Brazil vs. Ricky Martinez w/Salina De La Renta
I understand why they put this grudge match on the show, but the match went on for WAY too long and had absolutely no heat at all. I think this one got even more time than the opener, and that’s a big problem. Ricky Martinez proved he isn’t that great just yet, as his heat segments were insanely boring. Kotto continues to play the underdog, and once his eye patch got taken off, it became an overbooked mess. Kotto had Ricky beat, but Salina was distracting the referee. Later, Ricky used the referee to save himself, and it allowed for Salina to pull out Pepper Spray, and spray the already injured eye of Kotto Brazil. Yikes that was bland.
Winner: Ricky Martinez
Match Rating: *
Jimmy Havoc returns to MLW soon!
MLW will be live on BeIn Sports again on March 2nd, as they’re live from Chicago for “Intimidation Games”.
The Hart Foundation is celebrating in the back, before they’re interrupted by MJF. MJF is quickly blown off, as Teddy tells him to go join The Elite already.
Mark you calendars, because Superfight II is happening on February 1st, 2020, from Los Angeles!
There’s only ten minutes left in the show… This isn’t good.
MLW World Championship: Low Ki (c) w/Salina De La Renta vs. Tom Lawlor
What a joke. There were no good near falls, nothing interesting, and the only big bump was Low Ki going through a board. It felt rushed, the crowd didn’t care, and you build up a match for SEVEN MONTHS, but give us this? Sure, it was predictable that Lawlor would be winning the World Title, but this was an absolutely awful match that featured pretty much every reason I stopped watching MLW. The crowd didn’t care, there was no drama in regards to Low Ki winning, it was predictable, and the match featured nothing interesting or worth your time. Seven months for seven minutes…
Winner: Tom Lawlor
Match Rating: DUD
Final Thoughts:
I decided to give MLW a second chance, but it seems like this may be the last of my MLW coverage. Coming into this show, there was no way MLW could screw it up. You have The Lucha Bros defending against the Hart Foundation, and Low Ki defending against Tom Lawlor in a match that has been building since the summer. Sure, the Tag Title match was pretty good, but even that could’ve been better, and was easily the best thing on the show. Thankfully, it wasn’t one of those episode’s of Fusion that was full of interviews and video packages, but I’d rather have seen those than sit through Kotto/Martinez. They gave those two WAY too much time, and the crowd just didn’t care at all. Finally, we had the main event. A match SEVEN MONTHS in the making and all they get is basically a seven-minute squash match? I’m so glad Lawlor is MLW Champion, and I thought him winning would maybe make me interested in watching MLW full time again, but they haven’t fixed anything and the main events still suck. Don’t waste your time on this show.
Final Rating: 4.0/10