MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Hart vs Swann
Brian Pillman Jr vs Vandal Ortagun
The singles wrestling debut for Brian Pillman Jr is finally upon us! Pillman did make an appearance in a six-man tag team match a few weeks back, but he didn’t have the chance to really showcase his talents. Ortagun is a semi-regular in MLW who has a number of Fusion appearances under his belt.
Pillman starts off with some intensity in the early goings as he stomps Ortagun in the corner before laughing wildly at the crowd. He calms himself back down with some quick meditation before continuing his assault.
Ortagun starts to build a comeback leading to more maniacal laughter from Pillman who looks to be latching onto some of the “loose cannon” portions of his late father’s persona. Pillman catches Ortagun with a powerslam out of the corner which looks a bit scary as Ortagun looks to almost land high on his neck instead of flat on his back.
Ortagun shows some good fire late in the match and has solid offense, but this was always going to be The Pillman Show. Pillman picks up the win with a modified spinning neckbreaker, thankfully doing so without the help of Hart or Smith at ringside.
Grade: Fine. Nothing spectacular, but a good first look at Pillman.
Post-match, Hart helps Ortagun to his feet and raises his hand before dumping him out to the arena floor.
Pillman obviously didn’t get to go off completely here, so I’m still curious to see how he’ll fare in the ring against someone like Strickland or Fenix. The Lance Storm trainee has quite the pedigree to live up to and we’ll see if he can step out from that shadow in MLW.
Konnan Weighs In
Cameras catch up with Konnan backstage as he’s coming off of a phone call to sort out the Lucha Bros/ICE situation. He delivers a short and sweet promo directed at Salina whom he blames for the entire situation. Konnan promises to get Penta and Fenix back into the country and then bring payback down upon Salina’s head.
Grade: Good. Konnan sells the storyline well with fire in his belly.
I think Konnan is better in these quick blasts than when he’s interviewed backstage. I’m not sure where the separation between the two styles of delivery come in for him, but he simply comes off as more believable and real here than in your standard interview segment.
Plus, he got a laugh out of my partner who was walking through the room as he delivered the “man, woman, or marsupial” line. Bonus points for all you kangaroo fans out there!