[2002-06-15-MLW-Genesis] Jerry Lynn vs LA Parka

[TonyPulis'Cap]

What with the return of MLW in 2017, I thought it would be fun to go back and watch the initial run of shows from the company and compare it with the other Indie companies of the time that were all striving to try and fill some of the void left by the closure of WCW and ECW the year before.

This is the first match on their first show, and it’s a quarter final match in an 8-man tournament to crown the first MLW World Champion. As with many companies at the time, MLW chose Philadelphia as the place to launch and their first show comes from the artist formerly known as the ECW Arena. As I think we’ll see, MLW would lean on a lot on both the talent and concepts from ECW, and this show has it in spades. Joey Styles being the announcer another clear link.

Jerry Lynn was just about to start a strong period in his career, being one of the pioneers of the early days of the X Division and one of the big positives about TNA in their first couple of years. He gets a big pop here and looks very good in the match. LA Parka interestingly is now a featured player in MLW some 17 years later but here he looks positively svelte. I dug his white suit and sombrero look with his normal gear.

LA Parka dominates the early stages, being a great dick heel with plenty of kicks and slaps and lots of his trademark taunts and dance moves. He doesn’t do too much, but he doesn’t have to – his charisma and personality carries his offence. When the pace picks up its Lynn that is able to take control, and through his time in WCW and ECW he’s got plenty of experience of course with working with luchadors.

The two work well together, and there’s plenty of smooth sequences, but just as it looks like the match is about to kick into high gear it ends rather abruptly via a Lynn Tornado DDT. This was fun for what we got, and with a one-night tournament the first-round matches can’t go too long, but if they had some more time this could’ve been really good. (** ½)