MLW Fusion: Sorceress Salina and her skeleton men spoiled the Wagners’ debut

MLW Fusion brought the heat with a double main event for episode 67. Coming from from Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Alexander “Meat Castle” Hammerstone defended his National Openweight Championship against Davey Boy Smith Jr. and legendary lucha libre families squared off in tag team action as LA Park and Hijo de LA Park wrestled Dr. Wagner Jr. and Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. Also, Salina de la Renta summoned a gremlin and Mance Warner is ready to kill.

On to a recap and review of the show...

Note: The MLW debut of Zenshi against Gringo Loco was advertised, but it did not take place on this episode of Fusion. The lack of that match made me wonder if I hallucinated the announcement.

Salina summoning a gremlin

Oh, snap. Salina de la Renta took her feud with Mance Warner to the next level by summoning a gremlin. To take down a psychopath, it will take a special power of a devil, Bestia 666. This is a must-see vignette. Thankfully, MLW has the hookup on Twitter.

The scene was spooky to the max. Salina was dressed in a skeleton poncho, drinking a red liquid from a wine goblet, and using the liquid to draw the numbers 666 on a white table cloth. I don’t think her reservations at that Italian restaurant will be honored next time she returns.

Meat Castle

Georgia Smith, Davey Boy’s sister, interviewed Alexander Hammerstone, Richard Holliday, and Aria Blake about Hammer’s upcoming title defense against Davey Boy Smith Jr. Blake made hilarious facial reactions of disgust and added that Hammer is feeling jacked, tan, and muscular. Holliday chimed in from a marketing aspect. The Dynasty and Hammerstone sell tickets, while, “Davey Boy Smith couldn’t sell an Oreo to a glass of milk.” Consumers are put in seats by guys like Hammerstone; “Jacked, tan, guy’s a meat castle.” Holliday went on to call the entire Smith family genetically inferior.

Hammerstone eased off on insulting the entire Smith family. He flirted with Georgia by showing her what a real man looks like. She smiled at his lines. The camera called cut, but the scene continued a little longer. Hammer and Georgia shared a glance and a smile, then Georgia called him a dick. Hammer just smiled and shrugged. Hmm, is something going on between the sheets?

National Openweight Championship: Alexander Hammerstone vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.

I love the way Tim Barr says championship during introductions. Alexander Hammerstone was the title holder and Davey Boy Smith Jr. was the challenger.

If you are wondering why the Dynasty only had one tag team title belt, I believe this was filmed before the tag team ladder match took place. There was still sunlight in the windows during this contest, while the ladder match was after the sun went down.

The Dynasty cut a promo in the ring before the big bout. Richard Holliday went first to insult the crowd. “When the Dynasty is in the building, you’re all breathing rarified air.” MJF continued about breathing in the air. “You know what I’m getting a big old waft of right now? Poor people.” Hammerstone ended joke time and threatened to break Davey Boy in half. “Get your big, dumb butt down here.”

Davey Boy entered with the Canadian flag, which would play a role later. Jim Cornette informed us that the flights of Teddy Hart and Brian Pillman Jr. were delayed. Smith would be going solo against the full Dynasty squad at ringside.

The big boys were booming. Highlights include Smith skinning the cat, a missile dropkick by Hammerstone, an impressively high leaping regular dropkick by Hammerstone, and a running powerslam by Hammerstone. That last move is when the match really came alive. Smith kicked out at one with intensity in his eyes.

The two exchanged heavy forearm shots. Smith got the better of Hammer and jackknife powerbombed him with a float over pin attempt. Kick out at two. More highlights include a superplex by Hammerstone, MJF pushing the bottom rope closer so Hammer could hook it with his foot to escape a crossface submission, a sequence of alternating German suplexes, and a bridging Saito suplex by Smith.

Smith attacked with a diving headbutt. At that point, MJF hopped on the apron to spit on the Canadian flag then stick it up his nose. An incensed Smith went wild by attacking all of the Dynasty with the flag pole. Smith ended up hitting Hammerstone and getting disqualified. Smith realized the error of his ways to blow his championship opportunity after the, “And still...” announcement.

The Von Erich way

The Von Erich brothers had words for the Contra Unit. They are cowboys and will rope up the bulls of Contra.

Konnan found Salina’s phone

Salina de la Renta lost her phone during the attacks of Mance Warner last week. Guess who found her communication device? Konnan. He threatened to expose her secrets and photos if she doesn’t watch the way she treats him. In Spanish, Konnan said that when you think you know the answer, he changes the question.

Contra Unit propaganda

The Contra Unit sent a video that they demanded be played on air.

“Every league revolves around a world championship. And without control of that world championship, the league crumbles. Your title has been hijacked.” Contra demanded contracts. “Let the highest bidder sign the dotted line.” Contra also accepted the Von Erich’s challenge. “You want a war? We’ll take you to war.”

Ole Mancer is going to kill, baby

Mance Warner has made lists for us fans in the past. Take a look at his new list.

“All over that, it says kill, baby. Exactly what Ole Mancer is going to be doing.” In response to Salina’s earlier summoning, “Devils ain’t got shit on Ole Mancer.” Warner likes to go headhunting and get bloody. He picked up a bucket and smeared blood on his face.

LA Park & Hijo de LA Park vs Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hijo de Wagner Jr.

This family rivalry bout got plenty of time as a special attraction match. It went over twenty minutes including introductions. The Wagners brought the fire early with a double suicide dive.

The tag style was more lucha libre in that there were very few tags, if any at all. All four luchadores fought hard with a frenetic pace. Top highlights include a frog splash by Hijo de Wagner, a rope-walking Spanish Fly by Hijo de LA Park, a teamwork Mexican Destroyer cannonball by the Parks, a double suicide dive by the Parks, and a tight tucking fireman’s carry slam by Hijo de Wagner.

As a sort of side note, Dr. Wagner Jr. wore his mask during the fight. The chinstrap wasn’t buckled though. Near the middle of the match, LA Park ended up yanking off Wagner’s mask.

The moment of the match was Dr. Wagner Jr. attacking LA Park with a running cannonball off the apron as Park was against the commentary table. The force knocked Rich Bocchini on his keister and caused Jim Cornette to call the match while in an awkward standing position.

MLW

The finish was crazy with heavy suicide dives. Wagner went first to Park. It broke the legs of the security railing. Hijo de LA Park went next into Wagner. Hijo de Wagner targeted the Parks but ended up diving into his father instead. Hijo de Park rolled Hijo de Wagner into the ring so papa Park could crush him with a huge spear.

1, 2, 3. Los Parks were the winners.

---

Episode 67 of MLW Fusion was wild. How else do you describe a show that features summoning a devil?

Salina de la Renta’s spiritual spell was something to behold. The black and white visual was fantastic. Of course, Salina nailed it with a creepiness factor of ten. She played her part so convincingly that I would be scared to speak to her in real life. I wouldn’t want to risk any of that bad juju coming after me. I don’t know much about Bestia 666, but I’m all the way sold on his appearance next week.

Are there any Cagesiders out there that can tell us what she said in that foreign language? I would guess it was Latin, but I couldn’t figure out how to spell any of the words for a search.

Leave it to Mance Warner to have the perfect reply with his kill board. It looks familiar, but I’m not exactly sure from what. It reminded me of no beer making Homer Simpson go crazy in a spoof of The Shining. Ole Mancer has no fear. That should result in glorious chaos against Bestia 666.

The promos for the Von Erich and Contra Unit feud were engaging. The Von Erichs’ delivery was dry, but their words were good. The music had an epic feel to set a mood toward the final showdown in a Western. I’m not sure I understand the highest bidder demands from Contra. Were they teasing that they could sign with a different promotion and bring the title belts with them?

The hoss fight between Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Alexander Hammerstone was satisfying. They duked it out with muscle. Their German suplex exchange was badass. It is too bad no definitive winner was crowned. That will have to wait for another day. In place of that, we were treated to MJF’s comedic heeling of disrespecting a national flag by using it as a tissue for his boogers. MJF had a perfect shock face of, “Oh no, what have I done?” when being tossed into the ring by Davey Boy.

My favorite moment of the show was Alexander Hammerstone being called a meat castle by Richard Holliday. That is a perfect descriptor for Hammer and his attitude. I also loved the intrigue of flirtatiousness between Hammer and Georgia Smith. I’ll have more on that in the MLW Roundup on Saturday. If you don’t want to wait, check this scandalous footage posted by Kaci Lennox. Oh me, oh my.

The lucha libre main event between the Parks and the Wagners was quite entertaining. The moves were not the crispest at times, but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I’m already a fan of the Parks and Dr. Wagner Jr., but I haven’t seen much of Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. I thought he was impressive, aside from that corner suplex difficulty near the end. He hit plenty of cool moves. I’d like to see him again in MLW.

I do have to question the attempt at a shocking moment when LA Park yanked off Dr. Wagner’s mask. In my eyes, it fell totally felt. Wagner made a face like it was supposed to be a big deal, but lucha libre fans already know what he looks like. I’m not sure it was sold well enough to non lucha libre fans. The regular reaction from a luchador is to fall to the ground and cover his face. That nails the point home that their masked personas are sacred. Add in Jim Cornette quickly explaining how Wagner already lost his mask officially, and it felt like a failed attempt at making a moment.

What was your favorite moment from episode 67 of MLW Fusion? Did you like the inclusion of Salina’s sorcery or is that not your scene for wrestling? What did you think about Dr. Wagner Jr.’s mask being removed?

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.