MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Marko Stunt Debuts

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Callihan Speaks His Truth

Backstage, Sami Callihan drops some knowledge on Tom Lawlor ahead of their Chicago Streetfight at Fightland. Callihan seems to be unsure of the abilities of every camera operator, as he frequently starts off his promos by asking if the person is recording or if he’s in the shot. This really amounts to nothing in the long run, just a weird quirk I’ve noticed.

Callihan raises the point that while Lawlor may be an accomplished MMA fighter, there is no MMA counter for a baseball bat in the hands of The Callihan Death Machine. Sami reminds Lawlor of his violent past leading to several wrestlers departing MLW and intimates that the same fate could befall the leader of Team Filthy.

Grade: Very Good. With something new on the horizon, Callihan’s promos are energized again.

There is truth to what Callihan speaks – almost everyone with whom Callihan has tangled in MLW has faded away. Sami has sent both MVP and Jimmy Havoc packing from MLW and left his mark on Shane Strickland. Strickland was taken out of the War Games match by Callihan and lost in a huge match against Lawlor at Fury Road.

Callihan makes his points and backs up his claims, which is the best you can hope for in a promo from a heel building to a grudge match. He speaks passionate truths to Lawlor who is in for a long road ahead on the way to Low Ki and the MLW World Heavyweight Title.

The Hart Foundation vs ACH, Rich Swann and Marko Stunt

There is much backstory between The Hart Foundation and the pair of ACH and Rich Swann. Most recently, Swann suffered a concussion at the hands of Hart and Smith at Battle Riot in New York which resulted in a bit of a sloppy and disjointed tag match between The Foundation and Swann & ACH.

More than that, though, the behavior and general light-hearted attitudes of Swann and ACH have raised the ire of Hart. In various backstage segments over the course of MLW Fusion, Hart has verbally assaulted the duo claiming that they are mocking him and don’t pay him the respect he deserves.

Here, each group is at full health and full force with Swann and ACH adding the exciting Marko Stunt to their ranks. Stunt is another case of MLW keeping their finger on the pulse of indie wrestling, capitalizing on his breakout performance at Joey Janela’s Lost In New York this past summer.

The Hart Foundation is able to isolate Stunt for a huge portion of the match with Smith performing various feats of strength on the smallest member of the opposing team. Smith shows off some nice agility with a dropkick into the trio, followed by an effortless kip up.

At this point, with Stunt the legal man, things seem to go off the rails for me a bit. The match turns quickly into The Teddy Hart Show as he flips and flies without rhyme or reason across the ring. Impressive as it is to see Hart fly with an absolutely picture perfect moonsault, there often just isn’t much meaning behind the moves.

The match becomes a bit of a showcase for performing every thinkable move on Stunt as he lays prone on the canvas or is dragged around the ring. Stunt is finally able to tag ACH into the match, who fares better than Stunt but eventually falls to the numbers game leading to a tag to Swann.

Despite a flurry of offense from the trio of ACH, Swann and Stunt, Davey Boy is able to catch Mr. Fun Size in a powerbomb position as a counter to an attempted hurricanrana. Hart sees the opportunity and ascends to the top rope to hit an insane Doomsday Canadian Destroyer to get the pinfall on Stunt.

Grade: Fine. I have a hard time getting into Hart Foundation matches as the pacing of Teddy Hart always feels off.

My frequent complaint with Teddy Hart matches, or tag matches involving Teddy Hart, is that Hart tends to steer the focus to himself and his acrobatics rather than telling a story in the ring. Hart is undeniably athletic and can do things in the ring which nobody else can, but when those moves are simply strung back to back without any build or pacing they fall a bit flat.

Nonetheless, nothing was necessarily bad in this match – it simply felt as though it dragged a bit too much while The Hart Foundation lumbered around the ring performing whatever move they could think of next.