MLW Fusion: Lawlor & Von Erichs vs Contra was an epic event of mass destruction

Tom Lawlor and the Von Erich brothers against the Contra Unit in an unsanctioned tornado tag match was the dish du jour for episode 63 of MLW Fusion. The bout was chock-full of brawling. It was satisfying and delicious. Yum, yum.

Fusion returned from the Waukesha County Expo Center in the greater Milwaukee area. On to a recap and review of the show...

RIP, Warthog

The show opened with a silly scene of Salina de la Renta and Jimmy Havoc having solemn words for the exit of Sami Callihan from MLW after losing a ‘loser leaves’ match to Mance Warner last week. Havoc said, “Sami Callihan was a boil on the ass of MLW. Thanks to our empresaria here, he’s been lanced.” They closed with cackling laughter.

Teddy Hart vs Richard Holliday?

A match was scheduled, but it didn’t occur. MJF and Aria Blake entered first to sit in on commentary. Teddy Hart came out, saw MJF talking trash, then got in MJF’s face. MJF hid behind Jim Cornette. Cornette and Bocchini scurried away. Boom! Richard Holliday attacked Hart from the back. The Dynasty members put the boots to Hart and stole his Middleweight Championship.

Drinking and Thinking with Ole Mancer

Mance Warner was by a sewer river drinking light beer and thinking deep thoughts. Warner wasn’t happy about being used like a fool to run Sami Callihan out of town. Mancer is a simple man having light beers and a good time fighting. He will be targeting Salina de la Renta’s jackasses; Ricky Martinez, Hijo de LA Park, fat man Los Angeles Park, and Jimmy Havoc. Warner poetically described his plan of action with imagery involving severed heads on pikes, baseball, and barbecue.

Jordan Oliver vs Isaias Velasquez

Jordan Oliver had a picture-in-picture promo during his entrance. The Sauce God, whatever that means, said someone told him to watch out for crooked referees. For some reason, I was under the impression that Jordan Oliver was from England, but he didn’t have any accent. It turns out he is from New York.

Rich Bocchini believed it was Rich Swann and Myron Reed who gave Oliver that advice. During the bout, Jim Cornette mentioned that Myron Reed was protesting in the crowd with his ‘Justice’ picket sign. That occurred off camera.

The fast-paced back and forth bout had a nifty finish. Oliver executed a stunner by leaping from the apron over the ropes back into the ring. He followed with a jumping cutter off the middle turnbuckle to win.

Low Ki vs Tom Coffey

Low Ki won with a one hitter quitter. At the sound of the opening bell, he charged forward with a running elbow/forearm smash attack. Tom Coffey was knocked cold. The referee called for the bell. TKO win by Low Ki.

Afterward, Low Ki cut a promo as he walked backstage. MLW officials nodded pleasingly to being greeted by Low Ki. Low Ki is creating history in MLW, but Contra Unit really knows how to do things correctly as headhunters. Contra opened Pandora’s box by putting hands on Low Ki. They are now in the sights of The Professional.

Contra had a promo about Tom Lawlor and the main event. Jacob Fatu told Lawlor to call Mexico to ask Fenix how it felt to have rotting facial flesh from a fireball and Pentagon how it felt when Fatu’s fingers dug deep to pop Penta’s eyes. Josef Samael closed with, “Tonight, the world’s going to see a massacre in Milwaukee.”

Unsanctioned Tornado Tag: Tom Lawlor, Ross Von Erich, & Marshall Von Erich vs the Contra Unit

I was so excited for this bout, and it lived up to expectations. If you haven’t seen it, then I recommend watching. It is heavy on brawling and has a furious pace. The chaos kicks off around the 31 minute mark.

Josef Samael, Simon Gotch, and Jacob Fatu entered first. I guess a fan was sassing them. Not a wise move. Fatu yelled, “Get your ass in here... Then shut the F up.” He spoke the uncensored version. Gotch got in the fan’s face. They were literally face on face, but no hands were raised.

The good guy music played. Contra was eager to begin as they all turned toward the entrance. Surprise! Tom Lawlor snuck in through the crowd. He clotheslined Fatu out of the ring. The Von Erich brothers swooped in to fight with Gotch and Samael. It didn’t take long for the Von Erichs to use the Iron Claw to crush skulls.

This unsanctioned tornado bout lived up to the tornado moniker as it was all over the place. Top highlights include Lawlor jumping off the turnbuckle onto Fatu’s back for a rear naked choke and Marshall hopping on top of his brother to cushion the blow of a moonsault by Fatu.

Lawlor’s arm had been duct-taped to the ring post. A second referee ran out with a knife to cut him free. Lawlor went to the back and returned with a wooden board. He smashed the board to smithereens over Fatu’s head, then he kicked Fatu in the nuts. Lawlor attacked the other two Contra members. Marshall locked in the Iron Claw atop Gotch’s dome. Ross came from behind for a belly-to-back suplex while the Iron Claw was still locked in.

1, 2, 3. Contra has suffered their first defeat.

Oh, the chaos wasn’t over yet. The fight didn’t stop despite the bell. There was about six more minutes of brawling to finish the show. MLW officials tried to break it up. Bad move. Producer Alex Greenfield was superkicked by Fatu. In classic fashion, he was knocked silly. The brawling continued between the six wrestlers. When Greenfield finally got to his feet, Gotch punched and choked him. Numerous referees and even announcer Tim Barr were clocked clean. The last attack was Fatu using an Attitude Adjustment to slam a referee through a table.

---

Episode 63 of MLW Fusion was top heavy with the maniacal main event. It started off with the hilarity of Salina de la Renta and Jimmy Havoc lamenting the loss of Sami Callihan and also gave us Mance Warner’s plan of attack for the future. The middle was middling. There was one other solid match and lots of replays as filler. They did cover for that though by claiming the canceled Hart vs Holliday contest threw the show off its rails. For example, Rich Bocchini didn’t know what was scheduled next and Oliver vs Velasquez was referred to as a swing bout. I like the effort of those little touches as attention to detail.

That main event with Tom Lawlor, the Von Erichs, and Contra was wild. It was awesome 80’s style nutty cheese. Sorry, I can’t buy the Iron Claw as a realistic closer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the heck out of it. I was grinning from ear to ear. It is even better with the twist of Ross adding in a suplex. I’m not deep on Von Erich knowledge, so I don’t know if that was a new tweak or an homage to history. Also, it was a nice crowd-pleaser to see the Von Erichs get the pin. They are now immediately established as serious threats and a positive force to carry on the family lineage.

The closing brawl was a barrel of laughs. Those MLW officials played their roles well as athletically incompetent enforcers as they were broken through and pushed aside. They couldn’t keep anybody apart. It seems like MLW is siding against Contra, especially with the referee running down with a knife to free Lawlor from the duct tape trap. Rich Bocchini had a nice line to close, “There’s hope here in MLW,” in reference to the Von Erichs pinning Josef Samael. During a hostile takeover, one thing that can not be allowed is hope, so I’m expecting Contra to return badder than before.

Low Ki going after the Contra Unit should be interesting. I’m curious about his strategy. Contra already has their hands full with Lawlor and the Von Erichs. Will he use that to his advantage or go solo against the international organization?

I hope ‘Drinking and Thinking with Ole Mancer’ becomes its own feature, such as, “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.” I’d settle for ‘Drinking and Drinking with Ole Mancer’ as we watch him drinking light beers and nothing more. His summer should be bonkers by disposing of Promociones Dorado members. It appears that Salina de la Renta has a hired gun up first. It was announced this week that Mance Warner will fight Bestia 666 in a death match in Chicago.

Did the main event live up to your expectations? What are your impressions of the Von Erich MLW debut?

MLW Fusion airs on beIN SPORTS Saturday nights at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT. New episodes are posted on YouTube Mondays at 7 pm ET. Fusion is also broadcast in the UK, Ireland, and Israel.