Hello, wrestling fans! Let’s dive right into this week’s Fusion Report.
We open with a recap of Barrington Hughes’ fight with Sami Callihan’s Death Machines last week in the backstage area (he was protecting Shane Strickland). After that, we cut to Casey Lennox, who’s with Hughes. Hughes reports that during the melee, he was hit in the back of the head with a foreign object. He tells the Death Machines that he’s pissed and they “ain’t done rumbling.”
After the opening video package, Rich Bocchini and Tony Schiavone welcome us and run down the night’s card.
They replay Kotto Brazil’s victory against Vandal Ortagun from last week before going to Vanessa Craft, who’s standing by with Brazil. She asks about his victory and in the middle of his answer, the Death Machines attack him. Sami Callihan appears on screen and sings “Hot Crossed Buns.”
I hate this man.
Sorry. I seem to have a compulsion to express my dislike for Callihan whenever I have to mention him.
Anyway, he says that he and his Death Machines are paid to be entertaining but they don’t have to be. Well, they’re not, so I guess they’re stealing money from MLW. They kidnap Brazil hostage and Callihan challenges MVP to find him.
Ariel Dominquez vs. Jaye Skye in a Prospect Match
This is not a match. It’s a segment to introduce Su Yung and Zeda. The two men lock up before the house lights go dark. Red lights start to flash and the image of a Chinese woman holding a heart appears on the video screen. The two women walk down to the ring and beat the life out of the poor men. Imagine the outrage on the Internet if Stephanie McMahon did this to the male wrestlers on Raw instead of just slapping them in the face. The two ladies finish up and creep back up the aisle.
A video package plays of Shane “Swerve” Strickland. Low Ki does a voice over in which he says that Strickland has a lot of accomplishments, including becoming the Heavyweight Champion, beating Havoc, Pentagon, and King, and red racing Salina de la Renta. He asks if Swerve is confident that he can out run and outlast him. Then, we see de la Renta announce that the bounty on Swerve’s head is now $60,000 and it’s all Low Ki’s for the taking. Low Ki concludes by saying that he now has 60,000 reasons to burn down Swerve’s house. Geez, burn down his house? Why not just beat him in the ring and call it a day?
The Battle Riot report is next. This week’s entrants in the Battle Riot Match are Tom Lawlor, Jimmy Havoc, Low Ki, Leon Scott, Brody King, and Headshrinker Samu! Well, that just made my ticket worth it. The other matches announced include The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. and Teddy Hart) with Brian Pillman vs. ACH and Rich Swann, John Hennigan vs. Low Ki, and Maxwell J. Friedman vs. Joey Ryan for the MLW World Middleweight Championship.
Next, we see MVP searching for Brazil. He enters a boiler room and sees Brazil tied up. There’s a phone in the room. MVP picks it up and listens to the message recorded on it. It’s Callihan challenging him to a Boiler Room Brawl.
Sammy Guevara vs. Fred Yehi
Sammy Guevara is accompanied to the ring by his manager Salina de la Renta and her new bodyguard. In an inset promo, de la Renta says that Guevara has wrestle all over the world and trained with the best.
Backstage Yehi makes his way to the ring when he’s stopped by Team Filthy. They’re sorry about what happened in the Yehi/Lawlor match from a few weeks back and thank him for the match. They shake his hand before Yehi continues his walk to the ring.
The match starts with dueling slaps to the face. Yehi gets the early advantage before Guevara does a backflip over Yehi’s head and hits a dropkick. Guevara does a lot of showboating throughout the match, which is to his detriment. Yehi takes back control, stomps on Guevara’s hand, and executes his bike pedal kicks to Guevara’s chest and face. He hits a release German suplex and a basement dropkick. He charges Guevara in the corner but Guevara throws Yehi into the corner with a release belly to belly suplex.
Guevara showboats some more as he squats Yehi. Yehi escapes, slaps Guevara, double stomps him, and hits a powerbomb for two. Guevara is able to get Yehi up in an electric chair. Yehi escapes it and goes for a pin. Guevara kicks out but Yehi locks on a Koji Clutch. He punches Guevara while he’s got him locked in the hold and Guevara taps out.
De la Renta is not happy with the loss. Guevara whines that punches are illegal as he chases after his manager.
We see Lawlor and Simon Gotch walking backstage. They’re stopped by Low Ki. He mocks Lawlor for not getting his shot at the Heavyweight Title yet despite being the number one contender. In fact, Low Ki is getting his shot first. Lawlor grimaces at the news and walks away.
They show a recap of the events that have unfolded between Brazil and MVP and Callihan and his Death Machines. Callihan cuts a promo saying that what happened to Brazil was a warning for MVP and if MVP has balls, he should meet Callihan in the Boiler Room Brawl.
We are reminded of the beatdown that Team Filthy gave Jimmy Havoc outside the Gilt Nightclub and the gloating that Team Filthy did in the aftermath. Then, we see Jimmy Havoc for the first time in weeks. He’s sitting next to the hot tub that Team Filthy was in when they gloated over the beating. Havoc says he’s watching and following Lawlor. He declares that the nighttime is when he plays. He says blood looks black in the moonlight and the next time he sees Tom Lawlor, he’ll show him what he means. I really want to see Havoc beat Lawlor badly.
Casey Lennox attempts to interview Team TBD, but they’re having a fight in their dressing room and Jason Cade storms out.
Rich Swann vs. ACH
Lawlor is on commentary with Bocchini and Schiavone for this one.
Swann and ACH have complete some chain wrestling to start. Swann dropkicks ACH and goes for a handspring, but ACH catches him and chops him. ACH gets a side headlock. Swann escapes and they trade waistlocks. ACH hits a backbreaker and a release Germany suplex, stomps Swann’s hand, chops him, covers for two, and straps on a chinlock. Swann tries to get out of it, but ACH is able to lock it back on every time.
Eventually, Swann frees himself. He hits a headscissor, a step up back leg kick, a step up enziguiri, and a standing hurricanrana. ACH answers back with a leg sweep, a double stomp, a basement single leg dropkick, a discus lariat into the corner, a frogsplash, and a one-armed dead lift German suplex into bridging pin (he has to use one arm because his left shoulder is injured).
ACH tries three times for a vertical suplex but fails. Swann hits a handspring cutter. He tries to lock in a double underhook, but ACH back drops him. They execute dueling forearms before Swann hits a roundhouse kick. ACH blocks a standing 450 attempt. He misses a frogsplash and goes for a crucifix pin, which gets two. He tries a la magistral cradle, but ACH halts the pinning attempt midway through it, gets Swann’s shoulders on the mat, and covers for the win.
Next week, Swerve will address de la Renta and Low Ki and we will see Callihan vs. MVP in the first Boiler Room Brawl in 20 years.
Another good show this week. A lot of time was spent on recapping past issues and setting up future programs, including Callihan and MVP’s match next week. I’m excited to see what happens down in the boiler room. Until then, have a great week, wrestling fans!
