We open with a recap of the ongoing war with Konnan and Selina de la Renta’s respective groups. Matt Striker and Tony Schiavone are on commentary again and break down the matches for this episode of MLW Fusion. This episode brings you two times the title fight action, with both the MLW Middleweight and World Championships being defended. In the World Title picture, Low-Ki, presented by Salina de la Renta, defends against Daga who is cornered by Konnan. For the Middleweight Championship, MJF defends against both Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta in a triple threat elimination match. Also, on the card for the night is Marko Stunt and Myron Reed. Let’s get straight into the MLW Fusion review!
Our first match of the night is Myron Reed vs. Marko Stunt. Both wrestlers are smaller and quicker fighters, so this should be a fun match. Despite his lack of size, Marko Stunt has an interesting arsenal he uses to make up for this. My own personal favorite was probably Marko’s knee strike, which Striker points out as bringing Reed down to Marko’s size. The finish came after a series of roll-up style attempts. Reed was able to reverse Stunt’s momentum by keeping his own body moving and using his weight advantage. Next, we go to a video from a recent autograph signing with Maxwell J. Friedman (MJF) and Aria Blake. They were to be joined by Shane “Swerve” Strickland, but the cameraman informed them Swerve would not be joining them. This is uncharacteristic of Strickland, so we will have to see what happens in the future.
We then go to a taped segment with Low-Ki and Salina de la Renta. They recap what has happened between Low-Ki, Rey Fenix, and Pentagon, Jr. And now Konnan is offering up another young lamb to slaughter in Daga. Next, we have another recap of what happened to “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. This is followed by a promo by Lawlor’s attacker, Sami Callihan. Callihan recaps his list of victims, MVP, Shane Strickland, and Jimmy Havoc. He reiterates that he is a maniac for hire, is willing to keep taking money to take anyone out. Next week on episode 31 will be the Chicago Street Fight between the Mercenary, Sami Callihan and Tom Lawlor.
Up next is the first of two title fights, the triple threat elimination match for the MLW Middleweight Championship. MJF accompanied his main squeeze, Aria Blake, defends against both Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta. An interesting caveat to this match is the bad blood between former tag team partners, Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta. MJF was very okay with letting the feud between Cade and Yuta dominate the match, however, Yuta forces MJF to get involved. MJF and Cade did team up at one point to take out Yuta. It works for a moment or two, however miscommunication happened, and that partnership blew up.
Cade laid out Yuta with a powerbomb, before dropping a burning hammer with MJF onto Yuta. This gave Cade a near fall. MJF bounced back with a series of combination moves on both Cade and Yuta that led to another near fall. Yuta locked in double submission moves, a tarantula on Cade and an ankle lock on MJF. Following the break-up of these moves, Cade was eliminated by Jimmy Yuta with a roll-up. Aria Blake distracts the referee, and the disgruntled Cade can give Yuta a low-blow, and a powerbomb. This allows MJF to picks up the win and retaining the MLW Middleweight Championship.
We then go to a video recap of what went down between the Hart Foundation and Kevin Sullivan. Tony conducts a phone interview with the recovering Sullivan. The Taskmaster gives an update on his concussion situation, as well as his suspicions that his former protégée set him up. He also promises to teach Brian Pillman, Jr. a lesson. Next is an interview with Konnan regarding Daga’s debut match. He talks about Daga’s journey to this title fight. Konnan promises to not let Salina and her cronies get involved this time either. A video package then airs for MLW Fusion December events in Miami, FL. Never Say Never and Zero Hour will take place on December 13th and 14th.
Finally, it is time for our main event, the MLW Championship Match! Daga, cornered by Konnan, challenges Low-Ki who is presented by Salina de la Renta. Daga is a wrestler with a hybrid style of Lucha strong style. This combines the high-flying fast-paced energy of Lucha Libre with the striking and power of Japanese strong style. It may however not be in one’s best interest to go strong style with Low-Ki, a master striker. This match starts with a very beautiful series of traditional grappling as each man is attempting to gain the edge over his opponent. Low-Ki gains the first advantage.
Daga was able to create some separation, however, the control soon quickly went back Low-Ki’s way. The younger fighter was able to gain control, putting Low-Ki’s reign in true jeopardy. Low-Ki, however, was able to get back in control once taking the fight outside the ring. Ricky Martinez, from de la Renta’s camp, comes out to distract Konnan and Daga. Due to this distraction, Low-Ki was able to rip and pull at Daga’s heavily cauliflower ear. This allowed Low-Ki to get Daga down and hit the double foot stomp. Low-Ki used this interesting tactic to gain the win over the young warrior. Daga’s ear bled profusely, which sparked outrage from the fans and commentators alike.
What will Konnan do next? Who can he bring in to dethrone the One World Warrior? We’ll have to find out at some point in the future. Until next week, this has been your MLW Fusion review.
