Quick recap —
Rush defeated Shane Strickland
Ace Romero defeated Ariel Dominguez
Ricky Martinez defeated Gringo Loco
The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated The Dirty Blondes (w/ Colonel Robert Parker)
Full rundown —
Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to this week’s MLW Fusion. We opened with Shane “Swerve” Strickland in the ring telling us how he hates Miami, but MLW paid him a lot of money to come down there. He said that there wasn’t anyone in the back that could beat him.
Strickland was quickly interrupted by Rush, and we were ready for our opening match of the night.
Rush defeated Shane Strickland (14:03)
Strickland jumped Rush as he was replying on the house mic, tossing him to the outside and using the ring post and guardrail to get the early advantage. They went back in the ring, and after a quick two count, Strickland stayed on top with a running back elbow to a seated Rush.
Rush fought back briefly, but Strickland quickly cut him off and hit a dropkick while Rush was tied up in the corner. Strickland was in control of the opening exchanges, but after a kneebar, Rush fought back to his feet and caught Strickland off guard with a running Superman punch.
Rush exploded to the outside and upped the tempo by whipping Strickland into the guardrail before going through the crowd, throwing Strickland into an exit door and tossing a solid steel trash can at his face. Back in the ring, Rush put the boots to Strickland in the corner before hitting a delayed kick to the face and taunting the cocky Strickland to the delight of the Miami crowd.
Rush lit up the arena with two hard chops before going for the Rush Driver, but Strickland rolled out and hit a hard right hand. Rush replied and they traded hard rights and chops before Rush hit a belly-to-belly suplex and a dropkick for a close two count. Rush took his eye off the ball and confronted the referee, which gave Strickland the chance for a quick roll-up — but it was to no avail.
A quick and fluid exchange then followed as Strickland hit a quick snap German. Rush popped up and went for one of his own — only for Strickland to roll through and connect with a jumping cutter. Strickland then went up to the top rope, but Rush stopped him, joined him up top, and hit a huge superplex for another two count.
A fisherman suplex received another two count for Rush, but instead of continuing his attack, he began jaw-jacking with the crowd. Rush eventually made his way to the top rope, but he took far too much time and missed a massive senton bomb. Strickland retaliated with a double foot stomp from the top, only getting another close two count.
A brainbuster by Strickland was followed by another kick to the head that received another two count. Both made their way to the corner for an exchange of right hands and chops, with Rush taking the advantage. Rush knocked Strickland to the ground and followed up with a running dropkick to the face and the Rush Driver to pick up the win.
– We had another promo video for the debuting Mance Warner before we cut to a recap of last week’s chase and confrontation between Sami Callihan and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. The off-camera fight resulted in Lawlor taking out Callihan, using Callihan’s own hammer to add insult to injury.
– We cut over to Kaci Lennox. She was with Salina de la Renta, who told us she had just signed a match between Sami Callihan and LA Park because Callihan couldn’t take out Lawlor last week. She said she won’t stop until he is fired, or dead.
Ace Romero defeated Ariel Dominguez (1:51)
Barrington Hughes joined Schiavone and Bocchini on commentary for this match. We saw a much less jovial and much more serious Ace Romero than we have seen recently.
Dominguez got the early advantage with a big step-up kick from the apron after Romero missed a splash in the corner. He looked pretty pleased with himself, but Romero just shook off the cobwebs, grabbed him through the ropes, and rag-dolled him back into the ring.
Hughes had called Romero a bully earlier in the match, and he continued to say that Romero had always had the advantage in his matches because of his weight, but he wouldn’t have that against Hughes: hinting at a future matchup between the two super heavyweights.
Dominguez kept up a strong fight by slipping out of a powerbomb and going for an adventurous — but ultimately unsuccessful — sunset flip. Romero powered out of it before trying to squash him with a huge leg drop, but Dominguez wisely moved out of the way.
Three big jumping clotheslines later and Dominguez couldn’t floor the big man, and with the fourth attempt, Romero caught Team Filthy’s Dominguez and planted him with a big body slam. Romero hit the ropes and squashed his smaller foe with a big elbow drop for the win.
After the match, the victorious Romero pointed over at Hughes, who stood from the commentary table and removed his headset and glasses in what could be an acceptance to a future match.
– Brian Pillman Jr. was then cutting a promo on Tommy Dreamer from a play park. He said he was so excited from beating Dreamer in their Singapore cane match and he wonders where they will meet again. Pillman begged him to take him to New York City and hinted at a street fight between the two.
– Lennox was backstage with Low Ki. She asked him about his undefeated streak, and Ki explained that he has solidified himself as the greatest MLW World Heavyweight Champion of all time. He told Lawlor that at MLW Superfight — Lawlor gets to join the long list of fighters who have lost to him. Ki said the honor will be Lawlor’s — but the pleasure will be his.
Ricky Martinez (w/ Salina de la Renta) defeated Gringo Loco (5:02)
Martinez came out with an eye patch as a taunt to Kotto Brazil after recently injuring him.
A quick opening to this match saw both wrestlers reversing and evading each other’s offense. Martinez went for a handshake but took a cheap shot to gain the advantage. Loco quickly fought back and hit a big sit-out powerbomb for a two count.
Martinez floored Loco soon after with a big shoulder block and tried to follow up from the top rope but took too much time. Loco cut him off, joined him up top, and he hit an amazing falcon arrow from the top rope for a close two count.
Loco went up top again and hit a huge springboard cutter for another two count. The crowd was into this match as Loco set up Martinez and went up top for the third time in quick succession. De la Renta pulled Martinez out of the way before Loco could hit a corkscrew splash, and he connected with the mat instead.
Martinez quickly raked the eyes and hit Loco with a gutbuster to pick up the win after Loco was looking so impressive early on.
Martinez then put the eye patch on before we cut backstage to Colonel Robert Parker hyping up the Dirty Blondes for their match with the Hart Foundation later tonight.
– We then switched to Tom Lawlor. He said we are a few short weeks away from MLW Superfight. He has been thinking about the past seven months where he has become the number one ranked fighter in MLW, having to go through 39 others to win the Battle Riot to get what he deserves.
Lawlor told Low Ki he sees him paying off other people to do his dirty work: Simon Gotch, Sami Callihan, Ricky Martinez, the fat skeleton, the skinny skeleton, and Salina the Teenage Witch. He said Low Ki will be out of a job after 15 years and their fight will all be over in six seconds when he puts Low Ki to sleep.
The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated The Dirty Blondes (Leo Brien & Michael Patrick) w/ Colonel Robert Parker (4:49)
Smith gave Leo Brien a clean break at the start. Brien took a cheap shot, which only angered Smith, who followed up with a dropkick and a snap suplex before tagging in Pillman.
One dropkick in the corner by Pillman was followed up with a missed attempt, and the Blondes took control and cut Pillman off from his partner. Brien hit a hard back elbow and the Blondes distracted the referee for some double teaming behind his back. Pillman soon fired back with a crossbody block before a double down and double tag brought Patrick and Smith back into the action.
Smith hit a big backdrop before hitting the 10 punches in the corner on Brien. A clothesline in the corner and a running powerslam followed, but Patrick broke up Smith’s pinning attempt.
Pillman sprung into the ring and took Patrick out with a springboard clothesline, leaving Smith and Brien alone in the ring. Smith put Brien on the top rope, got up himself, and hit a big superplex for the win.
Next week —
Kotto Brazil returns to action
Sami Callihan vs. LA Park