Welcome back to MLW Fusion. After last week’s episode, we know that Brian Pillman Jr and Timothy Thatcher are our first 2 semi-finalists of the Opera Cup 2019. This week’s episode will see who the other 2 semi-finalists will be as the Dynasty fights Dynasty as MJF battles Alexander Hammerstone and Low KI goes one on one with Davey Boy Smith Jr following cancellation by Shinjiro Otani. Joining, this is a Prince of Darkness match between Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc. It’s certainly going to be a strange one. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Prince of Darkness Match: Jimmy Havoc defeated Mance Warner via Acid Rainmaker

What an odd concept for a match. Following an attack to the eyes with broken glass some weeks ago, Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc were forced to go one on one in a match where the eyes weren’t a factor. The Prince of Darkness match was a match where both men were hooded and forced to fight blind. After the pair milked the action of putting on the hoods, the match consisted of a lot of staggering around and trying to rally fan support. Jimmy ended up cheating twice, lifting his hood and battering a blind Mance. However, he also missed a Top Rope Elbow Drop (why would you ever perform that?) and ate a bunch of punches from Mance. After Havoc distracted the referee, Priscilla Kelly rushed to the ring, kicked a blind Mance in the bollocks and hid from sight. Havoc pulled his hood back down, found Mance and hit an Acid Rainmaker to end the match. He got one over on Mance with some help from the villainess of the women’s division. We know that barbed wire is next for the pair. Oh, and when the camera panned back Mance Warner reacting to Kelly’s interference, he was ambushed by the pair again and cut open with a pair of scissors.

Tom Lawlor is Ambushed

Tom Lawlor was set to make a big announcement to the MLW audience. He was talking to a camera crew on his way to the building about re-opening the Fight Filthy Dojo when he was attacked by a vengeful Ross Von Erich. The pair fought in the alley Lawlor was in, with Tom ramming Ross into some boxes and bolting. The camera caught up to them later in the show where the pair fought on Queen Boulevard. This time Lawlor hit Ross eye first around a petrol pump before running away once again. The final clip of theirs saw Tom escape on a subway train to end the episode.

After that, CONTRA Unit ambushed Strong Hearts whilst they were giving an interview on who they wanted to fight in MLW. Samael and Fatu dropped the fists in on the trio from OWE.

Alexander Hammerstone defeated MJF via Sit-Out Powerbomb

No amount of hand-wringing or Richard Holliday’s dad/lawyer interfering could cancel this match. The Dynasty were going to clash and one of them was going out of the tournament. After bullying Alicia Atout for insinuating there may be tension caused by the match and continuously reassuring everyone that they’d be fine after the match, it was finally time for the pair to throw down. Both men started badly as both wanted the other to re-enact the infamous finger poke of doom spot and lay down for the other. When Hammerstone refused to lay down for MJF, the leader of the Dynasty got petulant and started insulting Hammerstone. He snapped and laid into MJF until he was faked out by Friedman. MJF maintained control for a large portion of the match by locking in a series of submissions to ground Hammerstone. Since he had no power or size advantage, this was really his only hope of winning the match. It failed as Hammerstone broke free and started to level MJF with strikes and kicks. Holliday tried to break the match up to stop his friends from imploding any further, especially after MJF had spat on Hammerstone. This distraction led to MJF hitting a low blow and trying to gain a roll-up win on Hammerstone but he broke free. The pair traded a little longer before Hammerstone broke MJF with an incredibly hard-hitting Powerbomb. He had bested MJF and, after the match, Holliday tried to rekindle the pair, reminding them both that they were still the Dynasty. The pair shook hands then MJF collapsed to the canvas. Hammerstone left Holliday to tend to MJF and left, posing with the Opera Cup before going. This was an excellent bout between 2 supposed friends fraying under the tension of the tournament. it was fun to watch them try to be friendly before Hammerstone snapped and MJF had to try and outwit his much larger comrade.

After that, we got a black and white video of Injustice complaining about being left out of the Opera Cup. Then they claimed they didn’t care about the Opera Cup and then they threatened to bring Justice to the members of the MLW roster.

Davey Boy Smith Jr defeated Low Ki via Backpack Roll-Up

This is a hybrid style dream match. Davey Boy and Low Ki are 2 of the best strikers, best technical and just out and out badass guys in the company. Davey Boy was fighting to keep the Opera Cup in the Hart Family collection whilst Low Ki was drafted in last minute with plans to win anyway. It was going to be a very legitimate fight to watch as both men had strong shoot fight credentials. Both adhered to the code of honour before fighting too meaning respect was there. The pair started off slowly, feeling each other out with some holds and tests before Davey Boy Smith Jr took advantage and dominated Low Ki for quite a large portion of the match. His size and strength were giving him a big edge over the former MLW champion. However, when Low Ki came back into it, he did it hard, punishing Davey Boy with some stiff strikes and caving his back in with the Warrior’s Way. It wasn’t the most competitive match Low Ki has had but he gave as good as he got when it mattered. He’d nearly won the match by choking Davey Boy out but the largest member of the New Hart Foundation reversed the momentum and rolled Low Ki up. He progresses to round 2 where he will have to face Alexander Hammerstone. That will be a fun rematch to see.

So, there you have it, another episode of MLW Fusion reviewed for your reading pleasure. Surprise, surprise, it was another strong episode with 2 great wrestling matches and the comedic oddity that was the Prince of Darkness match. I am interested to see how Priscilla Kelly and Jimmy Havoc make Mance Warner’s life hell, I enjoyed seeing the Dynasty implode and I do hope we see another match between Low Ki and Davey Boy Smith Jr as their first one was a joy to watch. We have both semi-final bouts now as Brian Pillman Jr will take on Timothy Thatcher and Alexander Hammerstone takes on Davey Boy Smith Jr. They will be fun to watch whilst there’s also the impending CONTRA Unit vs Strong Hearts match looming on the horizon. That’s going to be a blast.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHqnOX-AxE]

All images courtesy of MLW Twitter, mlw.com Video courtesy of MLW YouTube

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