Another month, another town, and another MLW event. This one was built up to be a great show. We were given a decent card, had some story line from last week that showed some promise but has MLW’s inconsistent booking come to plague us once again? …sigh…
Match #1: Alexander Hammerstone defends the National Openweight Title agains Kotto Brazil
Hammerstone kicks things off with the mic in his hand and looking for a fight. If the crowd didn’t like him before, oh boy, they really turned against him after he started talking. MJF joined the commentary team, much to the chagrin of Rich and Jim.
This match is a classic clash of styles, power versus agility. Kotto Brazil starts the match off hard and fast, but is quickly slowed down by the raw power of Hammerstone. This is the story through the entire match. Every time Kotto looks like he’s getting the upper hand, all it takes is one move out of Hammerstone to halt all momentum. The end of the match comes when off the distraction from Rich Holliday, setting Kotto up for the stall suplex, into a very sloppy looking Nightmare Pendulum.
MJF comes out to address the crowd, with the rest of Dynasty, to talk up the Hammerstone and his defense of the National Title. After insulting the crowd, MJF calls out The Hart Foundation for their MLW Tag Team Titles. Considering that this is the best feud in MLW right now, I’m interested to see where this goes.
The camera flashes backstage to Simon Gotch talking up Jacob Fatu just to be beaten down by Tom Lawlor. Lawlor looks in the camera and calls out Samael and Fatu, asking if they’re ready. Lawlor, sporting a new haircut, looks like a killer. I enjoy builds like this through a show. MLW needs to make better use of this.
Match #2: Myron Reed defeats Rey Horus
This match gave me exactly what I expected. Well, almost everything. Myron Reed has apparently recruited Jordan Oliver to his side, as they enter the arena waving #Justice signs with tape over their mouths. Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver play the heels perfectly, taunting the crowd and resorting to dirty tactics throughout the match. Rey Horu’s is no slouch though. His combination of speed, athleticism, even his ring gear showcase his family lineage.
With all this, the match should have been good right? Well, it was ok. There was nothing very memorable from this bout. Jordan Oliver provided distraction at some key points but never really interfered enough to cause a disqualification or cause himself to be thrown out of the arena. Oliver was about the only thing that was interesting about this particular match though. The in ring action provided very little story to grab onto and never really provided the moments of tension to catapult this fast paced and athletic affair into a truly memorable match.
Myrom Reed picks up the victory on the back of a distraction from Jordan Oliver, which set up for a springboard uppercut from Reed.
The Hart Foundation are caught up with backstage and are interviewed about their upcoming tag team title match with Dynasty. Davey Boy Smith announces that it’s not only going to be a ladder match, but they are invoking the Freebird Rule, allowing Smith to step aside in favor of Brian Pillman, Jr. This match happens on the next episode of MLW Fusion.
Jim Cornette is joined in the ring by Salina De La Renta for a live interview. The interview starts happy enough, with Slaina talking about her award that she just received. The interview quickly goes south when Cornette asks LA Park and if he’s going to cash in his Golden Ticket. Soon after, things get heated when Konnan finally returns to MLW to a roar of applause. According to Konnan, he has a new and young group of luchadors, ready for action. I’m glad to see this feud reignited. This show needs more interesting feuds like this to keep interest in the show.
Dynasty is backstage, with a camera, discussing The Hart Foundation accepting their challenge. MJF though, is clearly not happy about the ladder match stipulation. Cornette states afterward that MJF isn’t a fan of heights. I can’t wait to see how that is worked into the match.
Match #3: Jacob Fatu defeats “Filthy” Tom Lawlor for the MLW Heavyweight Championship
After the video package showcasing the build of this feud, Jacob Fatu enters the arena, flanked by Josef Samael. Normally Contra Unit is greeted with unanimous boos, but this time, Fatu actually had an entire section of the crowd in his favor. As Lawlor entered, Fatu used his size and speed to try and intimidate Lawlor and keep him from entering the ring.
From the opening bell, this match was hard hitting and surprisingly fast paced. Early on, Jacob Fatu showcases his immense size and power advantage. Fatu dropped Lawlor several times on the ring apron, working Lawlor’s back. After getting Lawlor back in the ring, Fatu went for the win, trying to hit a diving headbut, but Lawlor rolled out of the way and went to lock in a rear naked choke. The choke attempts were thwarted by Fatu every time. Finally, Fatu slams Lawlor into the corner to break the hold for a final time. Fatu went for a moonsault, but missed for the first time since coming to MLW when Lawlor rolled out of the way. Samael distracted the ref, causing Lawlor to take advantage with a low blow. Lawlor then began to lay in the kicks after dodging a seated senton, Fatu ate every one of them. Lawlor went for a cutter, but Fatu showed surprising agility for his size. He did a handstand out of the cutter into a back handspring moonsault. The spot was a bit sloppy but Fatu recovered easily enough.
The match end finally came when Fatu hit his Somoan Drop to set up for the springboard moonsault into the cover. Fatu is now your MLW Heavyweight Champion. This is huge. MLW needs to push a young heel to help build the title up to the heights it was at on Low Ki. Let’s hope that Fatu can garner consistent booking with the belt. He looks like a killer and has the talent and charisma to go far. This title win could build to several different possible feuds and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Final thoughts
Overall, this show delivered. Myron Reed and Rey Horus fell a bit flat, but this show was a good showing for heels. MLW needs to book their heels better in order to build up better story lines. My biggest complaint though is the burial of Rey Horus. After losing to Flamita, and having Slaina show interest in him, Rey Horus hasn’t really done much. I’d like to see him bounce back in the future. Let’s hope that he can pick up a few big wins in the future. Will Contra Unit become the new target for Promociones Dorado? We will find out on MLW Fusion 65.