MLW: MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Mexican Massacre

Ricky Martinez vs Jake St Patrick

St Patrick is billed from Chicago where MLW looks to turn upside down with Fightland on November 8. Martinez is hot out of the gate to make sure St Patrick doesn’t impress with a jumping knee and a move I only know by the vulgar name coined by Austin Aries in Ring of Honor, so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice it to say, Martinez pounds St Patrick’s head off of the mat in a head scissor before playing to the crowd.

Martinez controls St Patrick from here on out with a pair of big chops, but St Patrick avoids a third. Looking to gain the momentum, St Patrick charges toward Martinez in the corner but eats another knee to the face. Martinez quickly finds his way out of the corner and climbs the top rope on the opposite side of the ring to connect with a leaping Code Breaker for a quick win.

Grade: Fine. You can miss it, and you will if you blink, but it serves its purpose.

The commentators put Martinez over as “small but powerful” which I guess makes sense, but also feels weird in a company where Low Ki is the World Heavyweight Champion. MLW isn’t (and most indies aren’t) the land of giants like WWE, so highlighting that a guy is short doesn’t do much for me unless he’s Marko Stunt levels of fun-sized; plus, Martinez is three inches taller than Low Ki!

Filthy Words for Swerve

Tom Lawlor and Shane Strickland go head-to-head at MLW Fury Road with the match airing in two weeks on MLW Fusion. In what is being billed as “The Battle of the Aces” with the future of MLW hanging in the balance, both Lawlor and Strickland want to position themselves as the face of Major League Wrestling.

We’re treated to pre-taped comments from Lawlor who is jumping rope in the middle of a road in a Las Vegas desert and I kind of which the entire promo was just him jumping rope until he bounced out of frame. Just go full weirdo with it!

Nonetheless, Lawlor breaks it down with words and lets Strickland know that, in two weeks, he’s going to get “the best of the best” as the two fight to become the franchise of MLW.

Grade: Good. A nice, quick build to a big match.

Lawlor still has a little bit of work to do before his pacing and mannerisms come off as completely natural, but he’s there for the most part. He’s believable and knows how to hit all of the bullet points to drive home the importance of the coming match and he can more than back it up in the ring.