#Review – MLW Fury Road LIVE

Welcome to the Pro Wrestling Post review of MLW Fury Road Live! This was a one-hour special as part of the Fury Road tapings in Waukesha, WI! As the show begins, we recap the heinous acts of CONTRA Unit from last week’s episode of MLW Fusion. They not only took out the Lucha Brothers but Ace Romero, Barrington Hughes, and Low-Ki as well. As a final victim, they again attacked the MLW World Heavyweight Champion, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. Rich Bocchini and Jim Cornette welcome us to the broadcast. Cornette notes that there has been severe weather in the Milwaukee area where they are emanating from, which has delayed travel for several fighters.

They are currently waiting to hear from Tom Lawlor after last week’s latest attacks, but as of the show beginning, he had not yet arrived. As part of Fury Road Live, there are two title fights, one for the MLW World Middleweight Championship and one for the new National Openweight Championship. The action, however, will start off with more middleweight action. Myron Reed is the first competitor, who in addition to tape over his mouth, is brandishing a sign reading #Justice. His opponent is the Base God, Midwest native Gringo Loco. Interestingly enough, the referee at the center of the issues with Myron Reed and Rich Swann, Doug Markham, is officiating this contest.

Both Reed and Gringo Loco displayed their proficiency in lucha libre moves throughout the contest. They also traded control regularly, and sadly for Myron Reed, the turning point proved to be when he turned his attention to the referee. Markham caught Reed blatantly holding the middle rope while attempting to pin Gringo Loco. Doug Markham then confronted Reed, who seized him by the shirt collar. This distraction gave Loco time to recover and he caught Reed and dropped him with a twisting piledriver. He then covered Myron Reed for the win. Following the bell, Reed retrieved a pair of knucks from his tights, which he had been reaching for throughout the match. He laid Gringo Loco out before hitting the road.

We then go to the back where Salina de la Renta is standing by with a special message for us. By popular demand, Court Bauer has named Salina executive producer of another episode of MLW Fusion. The June 15th episode will be presented by the empresaria herself, Salina de la Renta. Before moving onto the next contest, Rich and Jim check in with Kaci Lennox. She is supposed to have an interview with “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. Kaci reports that she’s been knocking on the champ’s door for fifteen minutes and there’s been no answer. No one has seen Lawlor in the arena yet either, and he’s usually one of the first ones to arrive. She’ll keep up the search and will check in again later in the show.

Up next on Fury Road Live is the finals of the National Openweight Championship tournament. Alexander Hammerstone of the Dynasty and Brian Pillman Jr. of the Hart Foundation advanced in order to make it to this final match. It will also serve as another layer in the war between these two factions in MLW. Hammerstone has the obvious size, strength and experience advantage over the young Brian Pillman. Pillman though has a lot of heart and is deceptively skilled that is sometimes underestimated due to his age. As the match began and progressed, Hammerstone seemed well-prepared for Pillman. Whenever the Promised Prince would get any sort of momentum going, Hammerstone was there to put a stop to it. In the shows leading up to this match, Hammerstone claimed it was he who had the genetic advantage over the second-generation wrestler.

After attempting to fly, perhaps too high, Pillman crashed and burned after a Swanton bomb. This left him vulnerable to Hammerstone who had been laying in wait. He hit his patented Nightmare Pendulum and that was all she wrote. Alexander Hammerstone is the new and first ever MLW National Openweight Champion here at Fury Road Live. The show comes to a screeching halt as Rich and Jim indicate there is some commotion in the production truck. The tape is then rolled, where we see what appears to be “Filthy” Tom Lawlor arriving in the parking lot. He is then attacked by the members of CONTRA Unit. They force the champion into the back of his vehicle and the camera cuts to different footage.

It’s clear now that CONTRA has Tom Lawlor and are holding him hostage! After physically accosting Lawlor, they verbally accost him. Josef Samael delivers the message, saying that CONTRA Unit can and will take anything that they want. He then seizes Lawlor’s long blond hair and hacks a chunk of it off. We return to the arena and venue of Fury Road Live where Rich and Jim are disgusted and confused by this turn of events. It’s now time for the next match and title fight of the evening. MLW World Middleweight Champion Teddy Hart will defend his title against the dangerous Jimmy Havoc. Both competitors come to the ring brandishing chairs, so it’s clear this won’t be your garden variety kind of match.

Havoc attempts to jump Teddy from behind to start the match, but Teddy was ready for him. Hart then blasted England’s Most Dangerous Man with stiff palm strikes. For this opening half of the match, Hart was in firm control. However, a surprise stunner by Havoc dropped Teddy face first onto a chair. This busted the Middleweight Champion open and his blood would dot the floor and canvas through the rest of the match. Once in control, Havoc employed the use of toys as he is apt to, giving Hart savage papercuts with an 8×10 photo. He also suplexed the champion onto a section of guard rail, bowing the metal under his weight. Jimmy even hit Teddy with his own move, the Canadian Destroyer and put him in the Sharpshooter.

Teddy Hart would not give up, he rallied back with the support of the fans in attendance at Fury Road Live. Hart was able to get to the ropes and break the submission hold. He hit Jimmy with a Canadian Destroyer of his own, before setting up his new move, the hammerlock DDT. But just to add a little something extra, Teddy put a chair down first and dropped Havoc straight on his head. This allowed Hart to cover him for the win and retain his title. After the match, Teddy was attacked by all three members of The Dynasty, Alexander Hammerstone, Richard Holliday, and MJF. Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr then hit the ring to save their cousin. As Fury Road Live goes off the air, the war between the Hart Foundation and the Dynasty is clearly far from over.

Originally written by Brandi Wagner