Let’s catch up on this week’s news in MLW and preview Saturday night’s episode of Fusion. Lucha libre legends clash in a family feud, a Hart Foundation member will try to take gold from the Dynasty, Never Say Never picked up two more title fights, and yet another wrestler has accused MLW referees of bias.
The rivalry rages on between Dr. Wagner Jr. and LA Park
Dr. Wagner Jr. is flying in to make his MLW debut on Saturday night’s episode of Fusion.
Dr. Wagner is on his way to MLW. See @WagnerJrOficial LIVE in Chicago July 6 at #KingsofColosseum! https://t.co/n9rq44Bwj5 pic.twitter.com/Moad9yPapN
— MLW • July 25 • NYC (@MLW) June 15, 2019
Wagner will be bringing his son to challenge old rival LA Park and his son in tag team action. The two papas were supposed to meet in a mask vs hair main event at AAA’s Triplemania XXVII, but Park’s spot ended up going to Blue Demon Jr. for whatever reason. Who knows, perhaps MLW will build this feud into a major match for their first PPV event, Saturday Night SuperFight, on November 2.
There are a couple of other things to keep an eye on. It will be interesting to see how well LA Park moves around. He had a severely swollen knee at the time the match was taped. Last week on Fusion, Konnan teased Salina de la Renta that he may have been behind bringing Wagner to MLW. I couldn’t tell if he was just poking the bruja in jest or if he was serious.
Dynasty, bro. They now own three championship belts after MJF and Richard Holliday defeated Teddy Hart and Brian Pillman Jr. in a ladder match last week. Davey Boy Smith Jr. will attempt to bring glory back to the Hart Foundation when he challenges Alexander Hammerstone for the National Openweight Championship. Smith is even undertaking unique training to prepare for the contest.
This was really hard to balanace on after training. Try and only have heels slightly touching. Give it a try and see pic.twitter.com/PHfJZDdoPr
— Davey Boy Smith Jr. (@DBSmithjr) June 28, 2019
I’m excited to see those two bulldozers throw dirt. That bout should be a doozy. Just look at this beautiful dropkick from Hammer.
Size, strength, athleticism, and technical prowess all on display in this weeks @MLW main event. HAMMERSTONE vs. Smith pic.twitter.com/vXw1a0KHsq
— Hammerstone (@alexhammerstone) July 18, 2019
Also on the card will be the debut of Zenshi. He will have his hands full against the ‘base god’ Gringo Loco. The match preview lists Zenshi’s impressive championship pedigree.
The newly signed Zenshi enters Major League Wrestling as a double champion in South America. Holding the Chile Lucha Libre International All Star Championship for a record 1,965 days (and counting) and Peru’s LWA International Championship, the decorated aerial artist is a perennial main eventer in South America.
All three matches look good on paper, but the line in the episode preview that stuck out most to me was, “Salina de la Renta summons a Tijuana gremlin to do her bidding.” That must be a reference to Bestia 666 coming to fight Mance Warner. Add in the following image as a teaser of tonight’s show provided by MLW producer Alex Greenfield and we should have some spooky stuff on our hands.
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Let’s hope nobody spills water on Salina’s new gremlin. Or in Ole Mancer’s case, light beer.
MLW Fusion airs on beIN SPORTS and PlayStation Vue 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, Israel, and Africa.
Fusion fallout
Fresh off winning the Tag Team Championship ladder match, the Dynasty has been partying coast to coast. “TMZ” caught up with Richard Holliday in Los Angeles.
The benefits of superstardom are piling up. Apparently, Alexander Hammerstone could receive the key to the city for Phoenix.
It's a city we do plan on hitting. Hammerman has an offer from the mayor to get the key to city. Hard to say no with that in play! https://t.co/eiz1n6GJjK
— Court Bauer (@courtbauer) July 19, 2019
I can’t tell if MLW CEO Court Bauer is joking or not. I’d laugh my ass off if that was a genuine offer and MLW filmed it for Fusion. Heck, it might be creamier if they faked the whole thing for television enjoyment.
Salina de la Renta’s cell phone has gone missing. She lost it during the scuffle with Mance Warner. Salina sent her assistant, aka Ricky Martinez, to find her phone, but it was missing.
Was it Mance Warner? Was it a vagrant? Was it an opportunistic thief? No one knows.
Salina de la Renta is offering a $1,000 reward for the immediate return of her iPhone Xs Max. The phone is valued at $1,449. It comes in a custom made $1,390 Louis Vuitton case.
My money is on a vagrant or Konnan. “La vida te da sopresas.” Cha cha cha.
Don’t feel too bad for Salina. She recently adopted a new dog named Skittles to join her other pooch, Dr. Pepper.
New matches for Never Say Never
Five matches have been added to the Never Say Never event on Thursday, July 25 from the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. The biggest of the bunch will be Teddy Hart defending his Middleweight Championship against MJF. Not far behind is Alexander Hammerstone putting his National Openweight Championship on the line against legend Savio Vega.
Bingo bango, I love that matchup for Vega’s debut in MLW. We’ll either get an awesome moment with Vega winning the title or Hammerstone will earn an impressive notch on his resume as the creamiest of them all.
The current card is as follows:
- Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu vs Tom Lawlor
- Middleweight Championship: Teddy Hart vs MJF
- National Openweight Championship: Alexander Hammerstone vs Savio Vega
- LA Park vs Jimmy Havoc
- The Grapple in the Big Apple: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs Timothy Thatcher
- Austin Aries vs Ace Austin
- Bestia 666 vs Rey Horus
- Brian Pillman Jr. vs Richard Holliday
- Low Ki vs Jimmy Yuta
- Zenshi vs Hijo de LA Park
Tickets are currently available at MLWTickets.com.
Quick hits
Some of these tidbits come from the MLW newsletter. Sign up here if you desire.
MLW continues to make deals around the world. Fusion is going to air in Africa on the StarTimes channel. “StarTimes Media, a well-recognized pay TV provider with over 9 million subscribers worldwide, has facilitated the transmission of more than 80 local and international channels over the StarTimes platform.”
Jacob Fatu has a new shirt available.
Jacob Fatu T-shirt just dropped. Represent the new champ and #CONTRAUnit featuring @SAMOANWEREWOLF.
— MLW • July 25 • NYC (@MLW) July 13, 2019
https://t.co/2vWjFCZ6cm pic.twitter.com/vxaQs8CfH7
The newsletter is spinning it as the Contra Unit pulling a power play now that Fatu is in possession of the Heavyweight Championship.
CONTRA Unit has been making demands. While details remain sketchy, sources call CONTRA’s agenda a “virtual hijacking” of the league. Control, money, contractual issues and reported pro CONTRA propaganda are all topics CONTRA is forcing on MLW. What will the league do?
One request MLW has acquiesced to is reluctantly allowing CONTRA to use MLWShop.com to sell T-shirts promoting their propaganda with 100% of the proceeds going to the shadowy organization.
I wonder how much of that money will go into Josef Samael’s pointy boots budget. Those aren’t cheap.
Add Kotto Brazil to the list of disgruntled wrestlers claiming referee bias. I’ve haven’t looked at the tape, but my memory tells me Brazil may have a case for incompetence but not bias. Brazil has been wrestling Dynasty members as of late. I can’t remember if they cheated against him, although, they probably did. It is a weird story turn to have a fan favorite accuse bias. I wonder if the referees will go on strike for War Chamber in Dallas, thus making all bouts fight to the death cage matches. Do you think Brazil has a case? Do you want him to join the threesome of Rich Swann, Myron Reed, and Jordan Oliver?
Tony Schiavone will return on commentary with Rich Bocchini for August.
Flamita is coming back to MLW starting with the September 7 show in Dallas. In Flamita’s MLW debut, he had a match of the year contender with Rey Horus.
Front row tickets for Saturday Night SuperFight sold out in 60 seconds.
MLW will be returning to New York for a December 5th show.
What are your predictions for tonight’s Fusion fights? How many championships will the Dynasty have after Never Say Never? Will you contribute to the Contra Unit’s shady dealings by purchasing Jacob Fatu’s shirt?