‘MLW: Fusion’ Wrestling Review (Aug 3rd 2018)

Welcome to this week’s Major League Wrestling: Fusion review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have lots to cover, so let’s do so.

Match #1: Jimmy Havoc beat Brody King

The following is courtesy of MLW.com:

Fans weren’t likely expecting an overly technical matchup in this week’s opening match. Not with the brawling bounty hunter Brody King matching up with Jimmy Havoc, the self-proclaimed King of the Death Match. While there was plenty of pure fighting and battling all over the arena, it was actually a technical wrestling move which secured the victory for Havoc. England’s Most Dangerous Man was still sporting a bandage on his left arm from a massive laceration in a grudge match with Lawlor a couple weeks back. That grueling bout with Lawlor seemed to affect Havoc throughout this matchup. King had the upper hand for much of the match. At one point, King hit a piledriver, a gut-wrench powerbomb and his Go Home Driver in succession, but a two-count only followed each of those high-impact maneuvers.

Havoc was looking for the Acid Rainmaker, but King countered with an attempt at a chokeslam. Havoc used a counter move of his own and ended up pinning King with a Victory Roll to have his hand raised.

My Take: This was a fun spurt of a fight that was a little too liberal with the big moves. The brawling itself was good, but didn’t leave much in the way of anticipation for any-thing else. I like both of these guys. King and Havoc look different from so many others and that makes their jobs that much easier when they are put next to a John Cena or a Roman Reigns. King looks like a dangerous guy, which isn’t too bad for a wrestler. I liked the idea of Havoc winning with a technical move, considering his preference to fight fist first, even though the victory cut the momentum of the match itself.

Match #2: Jake Hager beat Simon Gotch

The following is courtesy of MLW.com:

In the ongoing feud between Team Filthy and the Stud Stable, chalk one up for Col. Parker’s boys. The All-American Jake Hager came away with an impressive victory over Simon Gotch on this week’s show. With the Dirty Blondes on one side of the ring with Col. Parker and Team Filthy members “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Fred Yehi backing Gotch, there was a possibility for mayhem.

But this one mainly stayed in the ring. Hager took the early advantage, attacking Gotch in the corner before the bell. Gotch never fully recovered. Hager worked over Gotch’s left arm and stayed with that strategy for much of the match. The bad blood between Team Filthy and the Stud Stable was on full display. Gotch, who was beaten down and injured, defiantly spit in Hager’s face being slapped by the 300-pounder. That seemed to enrage Hager. The Bellator-contracted fighter stepped back and delivered a thunderous boot to the face of Gotch, before covering him for the pinfall victory.

My Take: This was, more or less, a squash match. The difference between this bout and a typical squash match was that this one got Gotch over as a tough, defiant fighter who won’t quit. This was a bit longer than the normal squash, but it functioned just as such. Hager played the arrogant athlete and worked the match as if he felt he was better than Gotch at every turn. The potential for these two to have a bigger match down the road is a tantalizing prospect, especially if they book such a match in the wake of what happened in the climax of the fight, rather than just to capitalize on pairing two people who have a similar style of working. As squash matches go, this was great while in the context of the big picture, this was a nice stroke of color in the mid-ground, which is just as necessary as all others.

Match #3: Main Event – Sami Callihan beat Shane Strickland

The following is courtesy of MLW.com:

The former champ was looking for his revenge in this one-on-one fight with the Worldwide Desperado. While Strickland put up a valiant effort and took the fight to Callihan, in the end he couldn’t withstand the onslaught or the damage done to his knee.

Callihan survived a Swerve Stomp, which likely didn’t have its usual effectiveness due to the knee injury. Of course, Callihan worked over the knee throughout the match. Following attempted outside interference from his Death Machines, Callihan stomped one more time and Strickland’s damaged right knee. He quickly followed that up with a vicious piledriver and Strickland could take no more, as Callihan picked up a huge victory over the former champion.

My Take: This was an excellent match that really put over Callihan as a tough sociopath. I like Callihan as a mean prick who just wants to hurt people and to be paid for it. Shane has been coming along as a personality, especially in Lucha Underground as Killshot. I really enjoyed the tone of this fight and what its effects will have on the fighters in future matches. Shane’s previous injuries from the attack by Callihan a few weeks ago, as well as Low Ki’s victory for the title from a few weeks back were incorporated into the match with great effect. Over-all, this was a blast.

News Of The Night:

1. An alliance between Salina de la Renta, Low Ki and Sami Callihan has been teased.

2. Salina de la Renta may be trying to turn Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix against Konnan.

3. Brian Pillman Jr. made his national television debut with Kevin Sullivan putting him over to the people. By the way, Pillman called Sullivan “booker-man”.

4. Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta had a brawl.

5. The following is courtesy of MLW.com:

A crazy, action-packed July and the entry of some new talent into Major League Wrestling had a definite effect on this month’s Top 10. Here’s a look at how league officials stacked up the talent as we headed into August:

World Heavyweight Champion – Low Ki

1. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor

2. Shane “Swerve” Strickland

3. Jimmy Havoc

4. Pentagon Jr.

5. Sami Callihan

6. Jake Hager

7. John Hennigan

8. Teddy Hart

9. Rey Fenix

10. ACH

My Take: I think they did a good job compiling their top 10 list. Lawlor as the top contender feels right, as he has lots of momentum in MLW. Actually, every-body on the list is a name of note, which certainly suggests at how much depth there is on the roster. Low Ki and Fenix would be a stunner, in my opinion, any-way.

Final Verdict: This was an excellent card that had a fine main event and a great showing for Simon Gotch.
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Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week.