Welcome back to MLW. We’re back for more high-quality wrestling action and whilst I enjoy the carnage on YouTube, soon people will be able to watch MLW on Vice TV, May 1st to be exact. Whilst the season may be coming to an end, there’s going to be a flood of content to watch on VICE. That’s the future though, let’s focus on the present as we have another three matches to dive into as Fusion comes back to our screens. Rocky Romero will be battling Gino Medina, King Mo returns after the disaster on Filthy Island to take on Robert Martyr and in the main event student takes on the teacher as Bu Ku Dao tries to take down his hero as he goes to war with TJP. Let’s get into the action.
Rocky Romero defeated Gino Medina via Cross Armbreaker
❓ kick from @TLHT__ #MLWFusion |
▶️ https://t.co/8Y3NqhpeYR pic.twitter.com/3kRaVCeBGh— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) April 21, 2021
Up first was another Lucha showcase for Gino Medina. After his fight didn’t quite go his way against Richard Holliday, Medina had been given another chance to shine against the King of Sneaky Style, Rocky Romero. Could Medina get a big rebound win or was Rocky going to further damage his win/loss ratio. The pair showed off their technical prowess with a duo of lock-ups before Medina sent a powerful message with a shoulder tackle. Romero took the fight to the mat and tried to quickly submit Medina with a Cross Armbreaker. The arm became Romero’s go-to target as he tried to destroy it with a whole host of breakers, holds, and kicks. Medina slapped his way to freedom and a slugfest broke out. Medina went to the eyes and downed Romero with a 540 kick. From there, Medina took out his frustration on Romero with countless strikes and stomps, all while trash-talking the veteran. The striking between the two continued to heat up as Rocky got pissed and started some hammering forearms back. Medina had been targeting an arm and hand of Rocky and tried to go for the submission but Romero was having none of it. The pair struck it out and Romero answered with a sneaky style eye poke. He baited Medina to the outside and drove him to the wooden floor with a Baseball Slide. He threw Medina back in and pummelled him in the ropes, then gave Medina a double stomp to Medina’s kidneys. The Forever Clothesline took off next but Medina wasn’t having it and fired back with a Question Mark Kick. Romero just kicked out so Medina kept after him with a Manzanita Twist and tried for another slam but Romero answered back with the Rewind Kick. Medina lawn-darted him out of Sliced Bread but his charge was met by a high knee and Romero hit the Tornado DDT into the Cross Armbreaker Suplex. This had been an excellent match that saw Romero rely on all his veteran wit to avoid a disaster at the hands of Medina.
King Mo (w/Dan Lambert) defeated Robert Martyr via Cravat Choke
What goes up comes down HARD!
Vicious powerbomb from @KingMoFH #MLWFusion |
▶️ https://t.co/8Y3NqhpeYR pic.twitter.com/mkqyGe0y0F— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) April 21, 2021
Speaking of people coming back from disaster, the King of the Knock-Outs, King Mo was back in action after he was bested by Low Ki on Filthy Island. He was looking to regroup and rebound by taking out the Mat Bully Robert Martyr. Would Mo get his mojo back or was Martyr about to score an upset? This was as one-sided as you’d expect but Martyr did shock Mo by going for an early Triangle but he was just powerbombed into the mat. Mo crushed Martyr in the corner threw him into the mat and tapped out Martyr with a cravat choke in just over a minute. This was a dominant return to form for Mo and one that certainly had people watching, ready to push him up the ranks. Dan Lambert was still pissed off about what happened to Filthy Island result and Mo reconfirmed he never tapped, then promised to break Low Ki in half.
Between the Matches:
- The Dynasty’s Richard Holliday was backstage talking to Alicia Atout about how he’d turned babyface and all the merchandise they were selling, unveiling a new merch design that suffered from a case of Hammer dick.
- Los Parks had sent in a video message warning Salina de la Renta not to disappoint El Jefe again and talking about how LA Park and the realest family around had carried her to success. They also dropped hints about a new temple being built for violence. That definitely sounds like my type of thing. Salina was interviewed later in the show about this ongoing situation and answered a call saying she’d been granted an opportunity at redemption.
- With the announcement of a championship committee being formed we got another edition of the PWI Top 10: ACH, Calvin Tankman, Myron Reed, Mil Muertes, Low Ki, Richard Holliday, Mads Krügger, Lio Rush, Filthy Tom Lawlor, Alex Hammerstone still remains unchallenged at number one.
- Lio Rush gave his thoughts on Myron Reed and the potential for a rematch. Rush wasn’t worried about his title going anywhere. Reed answered after the news he had his rematched and promised that he’d been training to get better and beat Rush the second time they’d meet.
In addition to the news about the TV deal with @VICETV MLW CEO@courtbauer has some great news for all MLW fans.#MLWFusion |
▶️ https://t.co/8Y3NqhpeYR pic.twitter.com/AIV2VkD3we— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) April 21, 2021
- Filthy Tom Lawlor gave more of his thoughts on the Von Erichs and had grown tired of all the disingenuous words that had been thrown at them and himself. Lawlor wanted a one-on-one bout with Marshall Von Erich. As expected, Marshall was not going to let this be and accepted the challenge. That match will be next week.
- It was time for an interview with the boss as Court Bauer sat down with Alicia Atout. He talked a little about the VICE TV deal and promised more cool news was coming. One such piece of news was that MLW was going to close out the season with a Middleweight Title Fight on May 5th. He closed out the interview with the news that MLW was going to be coming back with crowds after a little break at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on July 10th. Of course, Josef Samael had to hijack the feed and remind Bauer that he could re-take the League whenever he wanted and delivered a warning to Hammerstone ahead of his press conference.
Bu Ku Dao defeated TJP via Diving Tornado Flatliner
Never work with your heroes. They’ll just be a dick to your apparently. This might just be if your hero is TJP. Bu Ku Dao had been blindsided by TJP weeks ago and now we were going to get that match. Was TJP going to continue to bully Dao or was going to be the protégé’s big time to shine? The two squared up and TJP picked an ankle early to bend. Dao tripped him into a side-headlock and kept it locked on despite TJP’s counters. They continued to fight on the mat and Dao used his speed to send TJP to the outside. He tried to follow up with a springboard but TJP pulled him down into the apron. He drove Dao back-first into the apron again and started to torture his former protégé in-ring. He looked to break Dao’s back with minute after minute of super-focused attacks and holds. Dao continued to hold on and used the ropes to deliver some quick kicks before crashing down onto TJP with a diving crossbody. TJP fought back with a powerbomb and dragged Dao into the Romero Special. Dao once again wouldn’t quit and TJP continued to swat away Dao’s speed to deliver more punishment. Dao fought out of another hold and sent TJP outside again with an enzuigiri before launching himself onto TJP with a lope. The comeback continued and Dao stunned TJP into a bulldog. He couldn’t drag himself to the pin so he beat TJP from corner to corner but once again TJP found an answer with a dropkick and crushed Dao with a Tiger Lungblower. He went for the Mamba Splash but Dao threw him back to the mat. He went to the top but TJP also followed him up and brought him crashing down with a Superplex into an incredibly vicious Abdominal Stretch. Another strike-fest broke out and TJP downed the ref going for the detonation kick. Dao had scored a Crucifix but the ref was out so TJP threw Dao into the turnbuckles. He took Dao to the top again but Dao shunted him off and ended the match with a diving Tornado Flatliner.
.@BuKuDaoOrDie with a swinging Flatliner! #MLWFusion |
▶️ https://t.co/8Y3NqhpeYR pic.twitter.com/SlqibDfaYv— Major League Wrestling (@MLW) April 22, 2021
Dao had just bested his mentor in one hell of a technical masterclass. This had been a whole lot of fun to watch and it’s nice to see Dao get the win he had fought for. He had been taken to the limit by TJP and managed to hold on and win. After that match, we got the small Hammerstone press conference where he once again announced he wants Fatu and to end the debate over who is the best heavyweight in the company. Next week, we’ll see the fallout from that and finally get the continuation of a blood feud as Tom Lawlor battles Marshall Von Erich. The season may be nearing its end but the action continues next week.
All images courtesy of MLW Twitter, Video courtesy of MLW YouTube