MLW Fusion, anyone watching it?

[El-P]

I'm becoming a Hart Foundation fan (I wonder how they can use the name though). Pillman Jr.'s got a whole lot of potential. Teddy Hart is insane. Seriously, doomsday device-style canadian destroyer ? I'm there. And of course, Harry is Harry, and he's got style too in this context (as opposed to just be a big gaijin bully in NJ, which he portrays really well too). I guess theis super smooth hip-hop instrumental theme doesn't hurt.

Marko Stunt is a nice novelty I guess. It's gonna be fun watch him get killed seven ways to Sunday.

[El-P]

Callahan vs Lawlor was everything the Havoc match wasn't. Really good garbage brawl. Callahan is pretty damn consistent in those, and Filthy Tom really impressed me in this context. One of the best Fusion match, easily.

It's odd, I always enjoyed the pairing of Vampiro & Striker in LU (and even during drunken Triplemanias), but on Fusion, Striker often comes off quite annoying to me and he detracts from Schiavone's work. I mean, the idea that Low-ki shaved head is like "pins & needles" when he shoves his head against his opponent's chest, for fuck's sake.

[El-P]

The Parks vs Fenix & Penta match was really cool on many levels, on of which being a very rare instance of a father/son team against a brother team. Is there other case of this kind of combination ? Really cool and fun brawl. MLW really is strong on the spanish audience side, as Bauer talked about on WOR, so it makes a lot of sense these kind of matches that could sel-out Arena Mexico I guess end up on MLW's Youtube.

It's crazy how much Brian Pillman looks like Brian Pillman at times. Like, eerie. Meanwhile, Dreamer as a fat Dusty cosplayer is not exactly my thing. He had that really good match in iMPACT against Eddie Edward though and this angle with Pillman is quite decent and old-school (as in, totally basic), so...

[Tenese Sarwieh]

5 hours ago, El-P said:

Meanwhile, Dreamer as a fat Dusty cosplayer is not exactly my thing. He had that really good match in iMPACT against Eddie Edward though and this angle with Pillman is quite decent and old-school (as in, totally basic), so...

Gotta give him credit, Dreamer has this great ability to find himself on these cards in 2018.

[El-P]

That Marko Stunt vs Ace Romero match was something else. 

This week's episode was probably one of the best all around thus far. First look at Rush. Yeah, I understand the hype, the guy has got *it*.

I wonder how in the hell they got the rights to the Hart Foundation name though.

[G. Badger]

Enjoyed the Simon Gotch vs Tom Lawlor no holds barred match from 12/22. It could have been a minute or two longer but, pretty darn intense and well worked. I suppose the no ropes feature worked well if only as a visual aid.

[fakeplastictrees]

The Hart Foundation's ice cream rapping and cat tossing promo was awesome and definitely a highlight of the show.  I think it's safe to say the verdict is out on Salina De La Renta. She is absolutely horrible and is over-pushed. In listening to the crowd reactions to her it doesn't sound as though most of her heat comes from being a heel performer, but rather for being a bad performer.The main event was fun and is worth seeking out. Also, when did Simon Gotch become The British Bulldog? If MLW was regulated, Gotch would have got the whole damn show moved to California!

[SPS]

On 12/25/2018 at 2:23 AM, fakeplastictrees said:

 I think it's safe to say the verdict is out on Salina De La Renta. She is absolutely horrible and is over-pushed.

 

Also, when did Simon Gotch become The British Bulldog? If MLW was regulated, Gotch would have got the whole damn show moved to California!

I agree on Salina, she has poor promo ability and doesn't seem to have much charisma once you get beyond her look. I get Court trying something different with her basically attempting to almost be a 2018 version of Gary Hart but she seems to not have "it" thus far in my opinion.

As for Gotch, whatever he's taking definitely has made a world of difference as the last few months he's had gyno that was creeping up on Jinder's level of unsightly. He does have a heck of a lot of promo ability when he talks though which I never would've known during his WWE/NXT run.

[El-P]

I dunno, I enjoy Salina. She's got something legit unlikeable about her and she's lively and acting organically at ringside. Her promos aren't always the best, but I enjoy her interactions with Konnan (damn, Konnan as a manager has been a winner everywhere).

Gotch's pecs make me feel uneasy. The Lawlor match was very good and the no-rope gimmick was used well.

On the other hand, the flippity Xavier vs Andrews match was awful and everything terrible about flippity work. You fuck up your knee ? SELL IT AND MAKE IT MEAN SOMETHING instead of going through your stupid sequences like it's some sort of exhibition. The crowd should have shit on this way harder.

[SPS]

7 minutes ago, El-P said:

On the other hand, the flippity Xavier vs Andrews match was awful and everything terrible about flippity work. You fuck up your knee ? SELL IT AND MAKE IT MEAN SOMETHING instead of going through your stupid sequences like it's some sort of exhibition. The crowd should have shit on this way harder.

Oh yes absolutely, I had completely forgotten about that match. Really the epitome of the worst of all the criticisms and the stereotypes of today's style.

Crowd absolutely gave no shits about anything they did outside the odd flying move. And Tevor Lee gets such praise from a lot of folks but man this did not make him or Xaiver look anywhere near their best to new fans seeing them for the first time. 

[TonyPulis'Cap]

17 hours ago, SPS said:

Oh yes absolutely, I had completely forgotten about that match. Really the epitome of the worst of all the criticisms and the stereotypes of today's style.

Crowd absolutely gave no shits about anything they did outside the odd flying move. And Tevor Lee gets such praise from a lot of folks but man this did not make him or Xaiver look anywhere near their best to new fans seeing them for the first time. 

Not to be *that* person, but just to highlight it was Andrew Everett rather than Trevor Lee...

But agree with all your points on the match! It was awful, and as people have highlighted the worst aspects of modern indie wrestling. Did anyone else catch the weird part where Xavier - who in general I like - went for a backflip into something and just came up short where you couldn't work out what the hell he was trying to do? It was very odd.

I'm continuing to enjoy Fusion, some of the matches and segments are rough around the edges but as I'm increasingly put off WWE's over produced and over sanitised presentation of wrestling I am gravitating more and more to thinks that feel more gritty, even if sometimes that's due to them being slightly more low rent (not a critcism!) 

They've got a lot of things I'm looking forward to as we head into 2019: Low Ki vs Lawlor, Rush vs LA Park, Teddy Hart as Middleweight Champ and the Salina/Konnan rivalry whoever who gets to control the pipeline of Mexican/Hispanic wrestlers coming into the US market, almost like they are rival cartels and dealing in wrestlers contracts rather than drugs. 

[SPS]

32 minutes ago, TonyPulis'Cap said:

Not to be *that* person, but just to highlight it was Andrew Everett rather than Trevor Lee...

You are absolutely right Haha, I confused them since I always saw them together in Impact. No worries about being that guy, thank you for correcting me.

[Blehschmidt]

Xavier is usually so crisp in connecting all of his flippy shit, while Everett has always come off as a bit sloppy to me. Not necessarily trying to place the blame, but I have to wonder.

The Christmas special they put up has PCO doing his best to cripple himself. Crazy old bastard.

[artDDP]

On 12/26/2018 at 12:08 PM, El-P said:

I dunno, I enjoy Salina. She's got something legit unlikeable about her and she's lively and acting organically at ringside. Her promos aren't always the best, but I enjoy her interactions with Konnan (damn, Konnan as a manager has been a winner everywhere).

Gotch's pecs make me feel uneasy. The Lawlor match was very good and the no-rope gimmick was used well.

On the other hand, the flippity Xavier vs Andrews match was awful and everything terrible about flippity work. You fuck up your knee ? SELL IT AND MAKE IT MEAN SOMETHING instead of going through your stupid sequences like it's some sort of exhibition. The crowd should have shit on this way harder.

Salina does nothing for me right now. Maybe I haven't seen enough of her yet to get a better impression of the character.

Glad I'm not the only one who couldn't take their eyes off of Gotch's pecs during this match.

Totally agreed on the Xavier vs. Andrews match. All throughout this I kept thinking of those guys you see periodically in Botchamania videos who clearly did the bare minimum at wrestling school and jumped straight into doing highspots. Not that these two were anywhere near that bad; just felt they were trying to look cool instead of working a match.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

Has anyone else had a chance to catch up on the latest Fusion with the Low Ki/Konnan title match? I've enjoyed the build - Konnan is a fantastic talker that just feels so real as a character and I loved the aspect of this old gunslinger in his home town trying every trick in the book to try and beat the dominant champion. The match itself was total smoke and mirrors, but fun for what they were going for...until they got to the end, and - apologies this is a spoiler here for those that haven't seen it - Ki and Promociones Dorado stab Konnan in his kidney... Would just be interesting to hear what others thought of this angle?

On the one hand, and as I've said previously in posts in this thread, the over sanitised world of WWE increasingly turns me off, and I enjoy when companies get more 'adult' or serious with their angles, but, I don't know, something like stabbing someone just seems to tip over the scales that little bit too far. I think it's the fact that the crowd - who maybe can't see clearly what's going on, don't seem to react that much, which maybe the fact that fans are quite jaded in 2018/19 to when people try to run serious injury angles. I won't say I completely hated it - I'm intrigued to see where it goes and want to let them tell the story they are going for - but I can't lie and say that it didn't make me feel a bit uncomfortable (not that that's always a bad thing to feel of course).

[fakeplastictrees]

I have no problem that it was done, I have a problem with how it was done. It was too easy and too clean. Konnan getting the business in the ring should have been after a massive and believable clearing of the ring by the heels. Pentagon, Fenix, MLW officials, and  refs storm the ring only to get taken out violently by the leading heel faction. This would require everyone to turn it up to 100 and stay there. Konnan is then stabbed, the commentators are completely disgusted and outraged, the lead heel factions quickly leaves the ring (bodies laid out all around them) as venue security, court bauer, and the person who is going to get revenge for Konnan (and eventually take the title from Low Ki) tend to the fallen Miami native. Doing something 'real' and not making it feel 'real' is the same issue Impact ran into earlier this year with the hit-n-run angle. Good idea, poorly executed. Same here. Both angles involved Konnan and his finger prints are all over both.

MLW finds itself in this interesting position where they raise the stakes (ICE, Stabbings, etc.), but yet are bat shit scared to do it in a way where the consequences feel heavy and real.If this was a shoot? How would the aftermath  play out? First, we need to answer the big question. Why weren't the cops called and charges filed. Simple, the cops did come as they reviewed calls from concerned viewers and audience members. However, Konnan denies pressing charges and tells Court to take no legal action as that's not how things are handled where he's from (this all of course is relayed to the audience by the commentators and online statements). Konnan getting stabbed in the kidneys should write him off of MLW for at least 6 months at this point. Low Ki should be fined, stripped of the title, and suspended without pay pending board review. For their contributions to the non-sense El Hijo and Martinez, Court is thinking about firing them, but instead suspends them and books them in a *insert gimmick match here* due to the constant petitioning of Fenix and Pentagon as they want to avenge Konnan and take these guys out. During all of this Salina is MIA. MLW officials go to her house, and its all cleaned out. Phone numbers have been disconnected or go straight to voicemail, etc. Salina is officially laying low (this of course is an angle all within itself). 

[El-P]

It was fine. It's just heat-seeking. MLW still has this kinda low-rent quality to it, so the execution was straight out of some 90's s japanese indy sleaze promotion, and you really won't get much heat for heat-seeking in 2018 anyway, especially in MLW where the audience kinda sucks honestly (the Florida audience at least kinda always does). They work the kidney, then they stab him. Quite a bit of blood. Hey, don't expect 80'sPuerto-Rico level fuckery here (I'm talking angles, obviously), it was fine for what it was. We'll see how they handle what follows. It's kinda fun to see Konnan be an important character both in MLW and iMPACT (after the LU stint). These "hardcore" angles do have his imprints all over them, but I must say as much as Konnan the pro-wrestler was one of the worst I've seen, I'm enjoying Konnan the mentor/manager quite a bit.

[fakeplastictrees]

I am right there with you. I was never high on Konnan the worker, but his promos and  backstage contributions cannot be denied. Perhaps I am being too hard on MLW and they are doing the best with what they have. Overall, MLW has positioned itself in a good way leading into 2019.

[rovert]

Would be more than fine with the Konnan stabbing angle if the crowd cared but they distinctly didn't.

[El-P]

Interesting how Teddy Hart vs Pentagon Jr. was made more compelling because of its imperfections, much like an old Sabu match. The fact a Candian Destroyer on the apron followed by another Canadian Destroyer didn't lead to the finish reminded me it was 2019 and not 2006 anymore. People bitch, but by 2000, a DDT was not a finish either except if your name was Raven, and a Cutter is now a transition move, basically, much like the vertical suplex wasn't a finisher anymore in 1986. Anyway, I enjoyed the fact Teddy "Morrissey" Hart really put emphasis on those two spots in his selling afterward. He's always deliberate, kinda like Muto, but here he really looked out of it at points, like he got concussed by double piledrivers. When he screwed up his spot-that-he does, I liked the fact he reacted immediately the best he could and moved to something else, much like when he kinda slipped on the rope to do his quebrada afterward, it looks like he said "fuck it" and only went to the second rope instead of the third. The screw ups and the constant selling of the head really made it compelling to me. Nice false finish in a small package kinda deal, and since he's a Hart I bought it could be the end. Nice match. 

(well maybe he *was* concussed, in which case it was even more a Sabu match than I imagined)

((enjoyed the fact DBS Jr. looks like a pimp in MLW, so different from his NJ looks. The Hart Foundation have a nice thing going on, I got accustomed to Pillman Jr. now that he tweaked his look a bit. Their theme is cool and smooth as hell too.))

[El-P]

Pillman wearing four or five layers of clothes in a Singapour cane match was classic.

Wasn't Dragon Lee cruising a whole lot during his match against Rich Swann ? I'm not overly familiar with the guy, but I felt Swann was the one making the most of this one, with his kinda heeling up. Still very fun match.

Am I the only one here really enjoying Fred Yehi ? Super solid match with Low-ki. They are doing a good job building the final match against Tom Lawlor.

As far the rest of the promotion, most of the undercard, there's still a feeling of floating roster which makes it hard to get invested.

[Migs]

On 11/21/2018 at 4:10 PM, El-P said:

I'm becoming a Hart Foundation fan (I wonder how they can use the name though). Pillman Jr.'s got a whole lot of potential. Teddy Hart is insane. Seriously, doomsday device-style canadian destroyer ? I'm there. And of course, Harry is Harry, and he's got style too in this context (as opposed to just be a big gaijin bully in NJ, which he portrays really well too). I guess theis super smooth hip-hop instrumental theme doesn't hurt.

They are great together, and wildly over. I'm not sure why it works on the level it does, but there it is.

Has there been any reporting on the "third party" that pulled Rush from the April 4 show? ROH?

[NintendoLogic]

It has to be ROH. They just signed him to an exclusive deal.

[fakeplastictrees]

If we read between the lines of one of Court's tweets, this isn't the first time ROH tried to poach talent within the last 6 months. The ROH and MLW shoot feud from the early 2000's is alive and well. MLW has bigger backing now, but it looks like the one million dollar investment isn't going to be enough to keep Sinclair, AEW, Yukes, or WWE at bay. I am not sure where Anthem is right now, but if Jericho's recent interview is any indication, they will open the pocket book when needed.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

On 1/14/2019 at 1:50 PM, El-P said:

Pillman wearing four or five layers of clothes in a Singapour cane match was classic.

Wasn't Dragon Lee cruising a whole lot during his match against Rich Swann ? I'm not overly familiar with the guy, but I felt Swann was the one making the most of this one, with his kinda heeling up. Still very fun match.

Am I the only one here really enjoying Fred Yehi ? Super solid match with Low-ki. They are doing a good job building the final match against Tom Lawlor.

As far the rest of the promotion, most of the undercard, there's still a feeling of floating roster which makes it hard to get invested.

Co-signing on all these points.

I really enjoyed the Pillman/Dreamer match - I thought it was one of the best outings I've seen from Dreamer in a while as they worked the match around the stipulation rather than it just be a mindless garbage brawl. I thought Pillman wearing the different layers was tremendous, and continues that vibe that MLW gives off of being a 21st century version of an old territory. It was something straight out of a Tully Blanchard getting vaseline rubbed on his head in a first blood match.

I think I read somewhere that Dragon Lee has been away on a reality TV show for the past few months hence why he probably looked a bit rusty and off the pace. I've rarely seen Swann wrestle much outside of portraying the smiling, dancing babyface so interested to see where this more heelish edge is going.

The Yehi/Low Ki match was like the opening 3 mins of what would have built to a great 20 minute match had they not had to then rush to a finish. Would love to see them in a longer contest. Agreed that the build to Lawlor vs Ki has been well done and I'm excited to see that. Talking of Lawlor, the segments with him and Sami stalking each other through the building were a bit campy but I'm a sucker for a show long angle that knits things together.

Once again, couldn't agree more - what with the Rush announcement it seems that MLW is really struggling to get a core set of guys they can build consistent stories around. Every new set of TV tapings seems to introduce a new set of guys half of which then get snapped up by someone else. They are like a Benfica or Porto at the minute bringing in great Mexican talent like those teams bring in South Americans only for them to be signed away by bigger teams when they start gaining some notoriety.