MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Ki Crushes Daga
Credit: MLW Instagram
MJF & Aria: Doing It For The Kids
In a pre-taped segment, MJF and Aria Blake are at an autograph signing awaiting the arrival of Shane Strickland. After scolding Aria in an attempt to find out if she brought hand sanitizer, MLW producers inform MJF that Strickland isn’t showing up and MJF chides him for not doing enough for the kids.
As a child comes to the table to ask for an autograph, MJF mocks him and calls him a mouth-breather before Aria demands $20 for the World Middleweight Champion’s signature. When he can’t pay up, she pulls the autograph away and Friedman calls the kid a loser.
Grade: Pretty good. A short and sweet character piece for the pair.
I don’t know if this is meant to set up a future match between MJF and Strickland with the comments at the onset or if they’ll continue to exist in their own bubbles, but either way, this was a quick look at the relationship between MJF and Aria Blake. He comes off as entitled and frustrating as he talks down to both Aria and a fan, solidifying the traits of the character.
Salina & Low Ki Paint The Future
Backstage, Salina de la Renta and Low Ki offer their thoughts ahead of the World Heavyweight Title Match tonight. de la Renta insists that Konnan has already caused Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr defeat and shame at the hands of her men and asks Konnan what it is, exactly, that he’s trying to accomplish by doing the same thing with Daga.
Low Ki suggests that Konnan is attempting to build a dream for luchadors by leading them from Mexico to Major League Wrestling with hopes of fame and championships ahead of them, but he’s going to turn those dreams into nightmares. Ki reiterates that everybody Konnan brings to him is like a lamb being led to slaughter and that he will do whatever it takes to retain his title.
Grade: Good. Solid work from both heading into tonight’s main event.
de la Renta is showing signs of improvement here and makes her point just as well as Low Ki in about half the time. The duo are undoubtedly at the top of the MLW food chain and everything they are saying is true – all of Konnan’s attempts to knock them from their pedestal have failed and they look to make an example out of another of Konnan’s luchadors with Daga.
Callihan Set For Street Fight
With Fightland coming next week, Sami Callihan weighs in with some words for Tom Lawlor in classic “I’m going to hold the camera and get real close to the lens” Callihan fashion.
Callihan reminds everybody that the disappearance of MVP and Jimmy Havoc, as well as the breaking of Shane Strickland’s confidence, all came at his hands. He reminds everybody that he’s a “maniac for hire”, which drives him toward a Chicago Street Fight with Tom Lawlor next week.
Grade: Not Bad, But Not Good. This lands in the pile of Callihan promos that aren’t technically bad but also don’t do much for anybody.
As much as a promo can be a fluff piece for a wrestler, this was it. Callihan doesn’t do anything to boost the coming match with Lawlor, instead just boosting his own stock by talking up his history.
A couple of lines here simply didn’t make sense to me – Callihan mentions that he’s a hired gun doing the bidding for Promociones Dorado and then turns to say that he does whatever he wants whenever he wants to do it. If you’re hired to work for someone else, you generally do the job they’re paying you for meaning the “what I want, when I want” credo doesn’t necessarily jive.