MLW Fusion: Jason Cade And Jimmy Yuta Steal the Show

We are now under one week until MLW’s most barbaric show to date since their resurgence – War Games on September 6. Shane Strickland and Sami Callihan will clash in the cage as teams of 5 look to force someone to surrender when The Match Beyond engulfs Fort Lauderdale. On this week’s Fusion, more scores are settled between Team Filthy and The Stud Stable as well as the former Team TBD, Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta!

The final Fusion before War Games was built around the culmination of two separate feuds – Tom Lawlor versus Jake Hager and Jason Cade versus Jimmy Yuta. Lawlor and Hager looked to settle their differences which have reached new levels as the rest of Team Filthy and The Stud Stable were pulled into their conflict.

Lawlor has one win over Hager in singles competition in MLW as well as laying claim to being the man who eliminated Hager from Battle Riot in July. To retaliate, Colonel Parker’s Stud Stable took out Lawlor’s trainer, Seth Petruzelli, to throw more fuel on the fire.

Hager and Lawlor met in the main event of this week’s show but the blow-off between Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta was the clear match of the night. Cade and Yuta looked for success early on in their MLW careers as Team TBD but found themselves on the losing end in their quest to become the MLW World Tag Team Champions. With in-ring miscommunications between the two causing strife, tensions mounted until Cade turned on Yuta in episode 16 to officially dissolve the partnership.

The relationship between Cade and Yuta has been a story told loosely over several episodes of Fusion, though it never quite felt like it was the focal point of any single episode or in the company as a whole. The match between Cade and Yuta here made me wish that the entire feud had been given more of a spotlight over the past month and a half or so.

Cade looks much more comfortable in his role as the cocky, brash heel unfettered by a counterpart who is everything but those things. The Jason Cade who showed up in this episode is a Jason Cade who could very easily position himself as a contender for MJF’s MLW World Middleweight Title down the road. With Fusion being just an hour show each week and the roster being fairly deep with many stories to be told, it makes sense that not everybody will get their chance to shine or break through until the timing is exactly right. For Cade, that time was episode 20.

This takes nothing away from Yuta at all – in fact, Cade’s growth here is largely due to the character Yuta puts forth as a foil to his former partner. While the two have had good tag team matches in MLW, this match was able to show everybody that they have so much more to offer as singles competitors on the MLW roster.

Cade was able to pick up the victory here, though it was done in a way that will keep this story going a bit longer. After dropping to the mat like a sack of rocks, Cade feigned unconsciousness as the referee tended to him. With the ref distracted, Rhett Giddins slid into the ring to lay Yuta out. Cade leaped to his feet and picked up the victory before wildly celebrating as if he’d just uncrowned Low Ki as the MLW World Heavyweight Title.

If you go out of your way to catch just a single thing from this episode, make it Cade vs Yuta. The two went at each other hard and, with a screwy finish, leaving you wanting more in order to see Cade finally get his comeuppance from the perennial babyface Jimmy Yuta.