MLW Fusion results: Tom Lawlor vs. Simon Gotch no holds barred fight
Quick recap —
- “Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Simon Gotch in a “no holds barred fight”
- The Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman Jr. & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) defeated Tommy Dreamer & Barrington Hughes
- Hijo de LA Park defeated DJZ
- Dezmond Xavier defeated Andrew Everett
- Low Ki, along with Salina de la Renta, and Konnan continued the build to their MLW World Heavyweight Championship match next week
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We opened this week’s episode of MLW Fusion from the Scottish Rite Temple in Miami, Florida with Salina de la Renta and Ricky Martinez in the ring as they cut a promo. She called Miami hell as it is surrounded by demons, “fat old men,” and “broke ass marks.” But she said that is okay because it is Konnan’s city. She said they can dedicate one night to Konnan because 2019 will be Promociones Dorado’s year.
Konnan interrupted them and deliberately called Martinez by the wrong name before saying no wonder Miami is surrounded with demons — especially as de la Renta is standing in the middle of the ring. He said he is already in Low Ki’s head and he is going to take the MLW World Heavyweight Championship here in the greatest city in the world.
Low Ki defends his title against Konnan in a no disqualification match next week.
It was announced that Kotto Brazil was injured by a champagne flute exploding into his eye. Witnesses put Ricky Martinez at the scene.
We had a recap of last week’s ladder match where Teddy Hart won the MLW Middleweight title before cutting to this week’s edition of H2tv. This week we had Teddy Hart and Brian Pillman Jr. in their hotel room with their cats. They called out Tommy Dreamer for cheating in his match with Pillman three weeks ago.
The Hart Foundation called themselves leaders and a pack of lions. They said Dreamer and Barrington Hughes will be another team that fails to stop the Hart Foundation.
The Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman Jr. & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) defeated Tommy Dreamer & Barrington Hughes (7:03)
A nice, solid tag team match that helped continue the Dreamer vs. Pillman feud and played off the finish from Dreamer and Pillman’s singles bout three weeks ago.
We cut straight to the arena where Dreamer was making his entrance. Hughes and the Hart Foundation were already in the ring.
It looked as though Pillman was going to start things off with Dreamer, but he quickly circled and tagged out, shouting “not today, not today.” So Smith started off for his team and, after a quick exchange with Dreamer, took the advantage with a big body slam.
Hughes tagged in, with Smith going for an unsuccessful body slam on the huge 469 lb man. Pillman tagged in and was unsuccessful with shoulder blocks and ate a back elbow from the big man.
A succession of quick tags helped Dreamer and Hughes keep the advantage over Pillman. After Smith got a sneak kick in from the apron, the Hart Foundation took back the advantage and started their beatdown on Dreamer. They took their time methodically breaking down Dreamer, using classic tag strategies to distract the referee and choke Dreamer on the middle rope. Smith hit a delayed standing vertical suplex for a two count as the Hart Foundation continued their assault.
Dreamer was able to block a piledriver attempt and get some respite with a running cutter out of the corner. Hughes and Pillman tagged in after the double down, but Smith had to break up a pinfall attempt after a huge belly-to-belly suplex by Hughes on Pillman. Hughes continued his attack with a uranage on Smith and blocked Pillman when he tried to hit him with his cane.
Dreamer tagged in and hit Pillman with the Dusty Rhodes flip, flop, and fly right hands and elbow to the head. He then went for a piledriver onto Pillman’s cane, but as the referee was distracted trying to get Hughes out of the ring, Pillman hit Dreamer with a low blow using the cane and rolled him up for the pin.
During the count we saw Smith was holding Hughes, stopping him from breaking up the pin.
Highlights from last week’s Rush vs. Rich Swann match and Rush’s post-match brawl with LA Park were shown. We then cut to a backstage promo where Rush, in Spanish, hyped up his main event match with LA Park on April 4.
Hijo de LA Park defeated DJZ (7:28)
Both wrestlers were coming off of losing efforts in last week’s live episode of MLW Fusion, so both were determined to make up for it this week. It was Hijo de LA Park that got the win after some outside distractions from Salina de la Renta and a brutal package piledriver.
We started really smooth and quick with exchanges of arm drags, quick pinfall attempts, and flip reversals. Hijo tempted DJZ in for a handshake and even let him raise his arm in a show of respect, before clocking him with a clothesline and a superkick to take the advantage.
They went to the outside — where Hijo continued his attack with an atomic drop onto the guardrail and then the ring post. After chants from the crowd, he dropped DJZ groin first again onto the guardrail. Hijo then slammed DJZ onto the entrance stage before rolling him back into the ring.
De la Renta had made her way to ringside and was cheering Hijo on. DJZ fought back and hit a big springboard back elbow from the middle rope in the corner. This comeback was only short lived. As Hijo fell to the outside and DJZ was going for a dive, De la Renta distracted him and the referee, which allowed Hijo to hit DJZ with his belt to take back the advantage.
Hijo hit DJZ with his belt again, this time in front of the referee, but we received an explanation to why this was not a disqualification, as the belt counts as part of Hijo’s ring gear. DJZ looked to get back into the match with a reversal out of a back suplex. But after another roll through, Hijo hit a hard rolling German suplex for the first two count of the match.
DJZ then caught a handspring back elbow attempt and hit a codebreaker of his own, knocking Hijo to the outside. DJZ was finally able to hit a huge tope con hilo to the outside, followed up by a springboard splash back into the ring and a lionsault — but Hijo got his knees up. DJZ fell to the outside this time, and it was Hijo’s turn to dive through the ropes with a big suicide dive.
Hijo went to the top rope back in the ring, but DJZ stopped him and joined him up top — where he hit a top rope standing hurricanrana!
DJZ tried to continue his momentum with a rolling, jumping DDT attempt, but Hijo caught him, threw him off, and grabbed DJZ in a tilt-a-whirl before turning him into a package piledriver to pick up the win.
Cameras caught up with Konnan, with him talking about having the homefield advantage in his title match with Low Ki next week. He has held 17 championships all over the world. Konnan said he has never fought for a title in Miami and that winning the MLW Heavyweight title would make the dream of coming home even more special.
Dezmond Xavier defeated Andrew Everett (5:47)
A quick match with neither wrestler gathering much momentum. A spectacular looking finish from the top rope saw Xavier pick up the victory.
The match started similar to Hijo de LA Park vs. DJZ with some exchanges, a few roll-through evasions, and some flip reversals. Xavier hit a big dropkick, but Everett came back with a step-up enzuigiri and a big springboard senton for a two count. After evading an attack in the corner, Xavier hit a big superkick to the back of Everett’s head and followed up with a 619 around the ring post. Xavier tried to finish Everett off with a somersault splash, but rolled through as Everett moved out of the way.
After another step-up enzuigiri in the corner, Xavier missed a handspring backflip splash. That allowed Everett to hit a reverse Pele kick and a spike hurricanrana, which only got a two count as Xavier got his foot on the ropes to break the pin.
Everett then took too long on the top rope, allowing Xavier to hit a huge Pele kick that knocked him off the top. Xavier went up himself and hit a big corkscrew senton bomb for the the win.
We cut to Tom Lawlor. He called Simon Gotch a weasel, a loser, and a chump. He said Gotch has been making jokes, but he is going to choke him out and make sure he can’t make any more of them. The only thing that is going to be there is a referee to make sure Gotch doesn’t die when he wraps his hands around Gotch’s throat.
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Simon Gotch in a no ropes, no disqualification match (5:43)
This was a hard-hitting main event that saw Lawlor find his revenge after Gotch betrayed him weeks ago. The only way to win was by knockout or submission. Low Ki was also on guest commentary for this match.
They immediately went to the ground, with Lawlor trying to lock in a choke. Gotch reversed with an armbar attempt, but he didn’t get it locked in and kicked Lawlor off into the guardrail.They brawled with forearms, chops, uppercuts, and knees on the outside as Lawlor got the upper hand. Gotch reversed a suplex attempt and suplexed Lawlor back onto the ring from the outside.
Back inside, Gotch hit a hard knee when Lawlor shot in for a takedown. They exchanged hard shots in the middle of the ring and Lawlor hit a high head kick to Gotch. The referee was checking on them each time they were knocked down.
They both fought back to their feet. Gotch hit a big head kick of his own, but Lawlor used the momentum and grabbed Gotch and hit a German suplex out of it.
Gotch fought back again and hit two big running knees, but Lawlor was feeling the emotion of the crowd and fighting up, seemingly unscathed, until another Gotch kick to the head finally dropped him to his knees. Gotch went for a piledriver, but Lawlor was not giving up and rolled through it straight into a rear naked choke.
The crowd was chanting for Gotch to tap. Low Ki was shouting for Gotch to fight out of it, but it was no use. The referee checked Gotch’s arm, he was out, and the ref called for the bell.
After the match, Lawlor was interviewed in the ring and said he has been waiting seven months for a shot at Low Ki’s title. He asked if Low Ki fancies himself as a professional. He said Low Ki has been running from him for seven months.
Lawlor said it is going to be a fight in February and that you are looking at the new MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
Next week —
- MLW World Heavyweight Champion Low Ki defends against Konnan in a no DQ match