MLW Fusion results and video: MJF, Davey Boy Smith Jr. in action
**The Big Takeaways**
- Marshall Von Erich sent the Texas crowd home happy as he made MJF tap out to the claw.
- Myron Reed successfully defended his MLW Middleweight title when he put away AAA’s Drago with his springboard 450 splash.
- Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s war against CONTRA got off to a winning start as he knocked out Simon Gotch in a no rope, no holds barred fight.
**Full Review**
We opened with a video recap from last week and the initiation of the CONTRA Unit vs Hart Foundation feud. They hyped up tonight’s match between Davey Boy Smith Jr and Simon Gotch.
Alicia Atout was then live backstage with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. Smith said Gotch had a big mouth, a mouth that needs to be fishhooked, and the only way to lose in tonight’s match was to either tap out, pass out, or get knocked out. Smith wanted Gotch to pick his own execution.
AJ Kirsch and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Fusion as we saw the ropes had been removed from the ring in preparation for the opening encounter.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Simon Gotch (with Josef Samael) in a no rope, no holds barred fight (8:01)
The only way to win was by knockout or submission with no rounds no rules and no ropes around the ring. Smith came out in a full white robe and hood that made him look like Hakushi. This started mat-based but quickly turned stiff with a lot of big strikes and suplexes. Gotch made good use of the non-ropes by pushing Smith out the ring early on.
Smith came back and dominated the early minutes of the match, grounding Gotch and hammering him with elbows to the head and face. He trapped Gotch’s arm behind his head and had free reign to land three big forearms to the jaw.
On their feet, they exchanged stiff forearms to the face, but Gotch knocked Smith down with a kick to the knee. The grounded Smith tried to lock in a cross armbreaker but Samael got involved at ringside and pulled Gotch’s leg so it dangled out the ring, apparently trying to break the hold in a no holds barred match.
Another forearm exchange echoed around the arena, but Gotch again slithered down and locked in a knee lock, but Smith powered to his feet and hit two belly-to-back suplexes. The finish came moments later when Smith hit Gotch square in the face with a discus forearm and an incredibly strong kick to the chest while Gotch was bent over.
Gotch was out on his feet but Smith was not done. He hit two more belly-to-back suplexes for good measure and the referee called for the bell before he could hit a third and declared Smith the winner by knockout.
— Lifestyles of the Rich and Dynastic had Alexander Hammerstone, Richard Holliday, and Gino Medina backstage talking about Hammer’s time in Japan. He said he was such a huge star in Japan that he got a sponsorship deal for pop sodas for 10,000 Yen. Holliday smirked as Hammerstone explained that it was like $100,000, but Holliday had to tell him it was actually only around $91 but Hammerstone didn’t care. He was more interested in the “cool” way they popped open. Holliday said he would get his lawyer/his father to write up the paperwork for getting them on sale in the U.S. so the Dynasty can make some money.
— We then saw highlights of last week’s barbed wire match between Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc. We heard from the victorious Warner, fresh off the match with blood still covering his face. He said he finished Havoc and he is going to hit the pay window, get his light beers, and get some gold. He called out Hammerstone and said he is coming for his National Openweight title.
— “Filthy” Tom Lawlor had his own mini-movie “Filthy Does Dallas” where he and Dominic Garrini were in Dallas becoming cowboys. Garrini was in his gi and walking around town barefoot while Lawlor was buying cowboy boots and belt buckles to attach to their jiu-jitsu belts.
Middleweight Champion Myron Reed (with Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil) defeated Drago to retain (4:42)
Oliver took the mic before the bell and called Dallas “Houston”, but said it didn’t matter because they all look the same anyway with their cowboy hats and cowboy boots. Brazil told them they had no love for them or their trash-ass cowboys. After insulting them, Oliver tried to get the fans to start a “hot fire” chant, but not surprisingly it didn’t take off.
Drago tried to hit an early big splash which connected but he took the brunt of the move due to Reed’s chest protector. Reed used a matrix style nip up to dodge kicks from Drago and then hit a springboard face breaker to the knees after leaping in from the apron.
Reed used a dragon sleeper on Drago and a slingshot legdrop again from the apron back into the ring. He then launched himself at Drago who was resting against the ropes, but Drago ducked and Reed went sailing into the arms of Oliver and Brazil at ringside. Drago then ran and hit a somersault plancha onto all three members of Injustice.
Drago powerbombed Reed twice and took out Oliver and Brazil as they tried to interfere. He slammed Reed to the mat as he pulled him off the top rope but Injustice got involved again and Brazil hit him with a low blow behind the referee’s back. Reed took the advantage and hit his springboard 450 splash and eventually got the three count after the referee stumbled and stalled while counting and had to hit the 1-2-3 again.
If this was a legitimate botch by the referee, they covered it well by making it part of the storyline with the commentators saying Injustice now have a legitimate grievance if this is how the officials are going to treat them. Reed, Oliver, and Brazil all used it as an excuse to air their grievances after the bell. If this was planned and part of the storyline, well played.
— Atout was then backstage with Low Ki when King Mo interfered and mocked him for training with the guy he knocked out. (That match happened at Saturday’s Fightland taping in Philadelphia.)
— CONTRA’s propaganda video this week was directed at Brian Pillman Jr. before his MLW title shot next week against Jacob Fatu. Samael said he has found his death squad and is ready to take out the Hart Foundation.
— We were told Air Wolf was attacked backstage by masked men and was taken to the hospital so his scheduled match has been cancelled. Seconds later, the commentary team were told the attackers were from CONTRA Unit’s “Sentai death squad”.
— We then saw a quick Marshall Von Erich-MJF hype package that recapped their huge Von Erich vs Dynasty feud that lasted throughout most of 2019.
Marshall Von Erich defeated MJF (10:31)
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor was on commentary to continue his feud with the Von Erichs. MJF took the mic before the bell and cut his usual excellent heat-inducing promo. He said that tonight another Von Erich will go six feet under. Marshall got a huge ovation from the Texas crowd, and they erupted again when Hammerstone and Gino Medina were ejected from ringside by the referee.
They locked up, fought for leverage, left the ring still tied together, circled ringside, and came back in still locked up. MJF then offered a handshake and baited Von Erich in so he could stick him with a boot to the gut. Von Erich fired back with armdrags and a dropkick but couldn’t apply the claw as MJF bailed to take a breather.
On the outside, Von Erich chopped the ring post and MJF trapped the tag champ’s fingers in the turnbuckle, going to work attacking the hand. Von Erich had a brief hope spot as he fired back with right hands but MJF grabbed his hair and slammed him back to the mat. MJF kept mocking the claw as he went back to work on the hand.
Von Erich fought up to his feet and hit an overhead belly to belly suplex. He hit a dropkick and a pair of corner clotheslines by a somersault senton into the corner. A power slam was next but MJF kicked out at two. On commentary, Tom Lawlor said he doesn’t respect a guy who doesn’t wear shoes, forgetting his new friend Garrini not only wrestles barefoot but apparently shops barefoot too.
Von Erich went for the claw, but MJF pulled the referee in the way. He then missed MJF and his hand hit the corner post which gave MJF the opening to transition into a Fujiwara armbar and use the injured fingers to pull back for leverage. Lawlor said this turned him on.
Von Erich hit a big boot and a huge moonsault for a very close two count. Dynasty then came to ringside but Von Erich got rid of them with a pair of right hands. MJF used a schoolboy with his feet on the ropes but the referee broke it up. MJF turned around into the claw and tapped out when Von Erich got him to the mat as Lawlor looked on furiously from the announcer’s table.
After the bell, Von Erich fought off the Dynasty and stopped Lawlor in his tracks before he could attack him with a chair. Von Erich celebrated with the Texas crowd as Fusion went off the air.
**Next Week**
MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Brian Pillman Jr. for the title