MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Lucha Reigns

Credit: MLW.com

Last week, Salina de la Renta and Low Ki were able to quell the threat of challenger Shane Strickland, as Ki retained the MLW World Heavyweight Title. This week, de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado looks to acquire more gold as LA Park and Hijo de LA Park challenge Lucha Bros Pentagon Jr and Rey Fenix for the World Tag Team Titles.

Major League Wrestling is heading toward big things in December with a double-shot in Miami as Never Say Never and Zero Hour boast two more packed cards for the promotion. In addition to the pair of shows, it was announced this week that MLW’s first-ever live hour of programming will air on December 14 with a snippet of Zero Hour hitting beIN Sports as it happens. Until then, though, MLW Fusion is presenting matches from Fightland in Chicago with tonight’s main event featuring another chapter in the storied rivalry between Salina de la Renta and Konnan.

Before the show properly began, Salina de la Renta popped up on the screen performing some form of ritual in a dimly lit room with blood-soaked hands invoking the name of LA Park. Time will tell what this will mean for the World Tag Team Title Match later on in the show.

Simon Gotch’s Prize Fight Challenge

The Prize Fight Challenge returned with a fatter stack of cash than has been offered in the past with the wise viewer picking up that Gotch’s namesake challenge has been partially bankrolled by Salina de la Renta following the betrayal of “Filthy” Tom Lawlor weeks ago.

Gotch’s challenge was met by Ariel Dominguez, a diminutive wrestler who would make Marko Stunt look like El Gigante. Dominguez never stood a chance here with the much larger Gotch catching him right at the onset of the match and never letting up.

Dominguez finds himself quickly stuffed into the Gotch Style Piledriver for the three count well under the self-imposed 5-minute time limit of the Prize Fight Challenge meaning Gotch, once again, walked away with every last cent he brought to the ring.

Grade: Fine. Gotch looks strong here heading into Never Say Never.

Gotch himself isn’t a huge guy, but he looked like an absolute monster in there with Dominguez. With a big match with Tom Lawlor coming to Never Say Never on December 13, I wonder if there’s an endgame at all for the Prize Fight Challenge. I would have assumed it would lead to a debuting wrestler taking Gotch to the limit to win the cash, but with Gotch now locked into a tumultuous feud with his former stablemate, what will become of the trademark challenge?

So far, Gotch hasn’t had much of an opportunity to stretch his legs and establish himself as a dominant force. Most of the Prize Fight Challenge matches have been extremely short, so while it’s known that he can clearly go in the ring, Lawlor has gained more credibility through longer, more competitive matches on Fusion. In Miami, Gotch will need to make the most of his No Ropes, No Holds Barred match with Lawlor.

MJF: Not Afraid of Kotto Brazil… Or Heights

Backstage, Kaci Lennox met with MLW World Middleweight Champion MJF to get his thoughts heading into the multi-man ladder match at Zero Hour on December 14. The champion made it clear that ladder matches, and other hardcore or extreme contests, are far beneath him and that the match would absolutely not be happening in Miami.

Friedman railed against critics who had claimed that he was afraid of heights and came a bit unhinged when arguing that those sentiments were completely ludicrous. After calming himself down, MJF laid his feelings out very matter-of-factly – the ladder match at Zero Hour would not be worth his time, and neither was Kaci Lennox.

Grade: Good. A solid piece to establish MJF’s shortcomings heading into the match.

With MJF now a maybe for the ladder match in Miami due to a fractured elbow, this promo now serves dual purposes. If he is able to compete and a new champion is crowned, it gives him a built-in storyline for a rematch under the grounds that he didn’t want to participate in the match to begin with. If he isn’t medically cleared in Miami, this promo paints a picture of a future where MJF may relinquish the gold so the have-nots can fight each other in squalor while the well-to-do Friedman watches on from the sidelines.