MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Lucha Reigns

Broken Fingers For A Broken Friendship

Reeling from the betrayal of Simon Gotch, Tom Lawlor was spotted by MLW cameras earlier in the week. Lawlor expressed his disappointment that Gotch would choose the quick money and temporary boost from working with Salina de la Renta over the long-term, slow and steady pace of Team Filthy.

Lawlor let Gotch know that his efforts to pad his bank account by doing the dirty work for Promociones Dorado would all be in vain as he would break every last finger on the Prize Fighter’s hands.

Grade: Fine. It would, maybe, have been nice to see a little more anger from Lawlor here.

Lawlor builds toward the confrontation in Miami well enough here, though he comes off as just a bit annoyed at Gotch’s actions than he does angry or out for blood. Yes, he wants to get his revenge on Gotch but it feels like more of a speed bump on his way to the MLW World Heavyweight Title than anything else. Perhaps a bit more rage from Lawlor would sell the fact that he had just been betrayed by his closest ally in Team Filthy.

MLW World Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs Los Parks

This match has been waiting in the wings for weeks since it was first announced as part of the Fightland event in Chicago. Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado has been on a tear in MLW not only claiming the World Heavyweight Title but also stomping out every single attempt Konnan has made at knocking the group from their perch atop the mountain in MLW.

Pentagon Jr has already fallen to LA Park once in a violent battle on the same night Low Ki bloodied and embarrassed Rey Fenix in a World Heavyweight Title Match. Can the Lucha Bros, with Konnan by their side, redeem themselves with the World Tag Team Titles on the line?

Before the bell, the ring announcer informed us that this contest would be fought under Mexican tag team rules meaning tags would not be necessary between partners and all four men would be legal at all times.

This started off physical with all four men trading blows in the center of the ring with Los Parks quickly taking control thanks to a pair of superkicks. The fight spilled to the arena floor almost immediately afterward where El Hijo blasted Fenix with a portion of a broken table from somewhere. Not to be outdone, LA Park set up a table and attempted to powerbomb Pentagon through the wood. The table would have none of it, though, sliding out from under Penta leading to the champion bouncing off of the table and slamming hard to the floor below.

With chairs and the belt of LA Park at their disposal, Los Parks retained firm control over the Lucha Bros back inside the ring including LA Park breaking a chair over the face of Pentagon before delighting the crowd with the sweet melodies of chair-guitar.

After a handspring double-cutter from Fenix, the Lucha Bros found their footing and would fly from the ring to the floor to wipe out Los Parks. Penta, seeking vengeance from earlier in the match, attempted to powerbomb El Hijo de LA Park through the same table LA Park attempted to put him through earlier in the match. Unfortunately for the challenger, the same problem came into play and he bounced off of the table and to the floor instead of crashing through the wood.

With a swift kick below the belt to LA Park, the door was opened for the Lucha Bros to put El Hijo de LA Park flat on his back with a spike package piledriver to give Penta and Fenix the much-needed win to not only retain their World Tag Team Titles but to finally put a dent in the armor of Salina de la Renta.

Grade: Great. Wild, fast-paced, and everything it should have been.

I loved this match, and it was the best LA Park has looked since coming to MLW. I’d be more than happy to see him exclusively in tag matches with El Hijo de LA Park going forward as the two really seemed to hit their stride in this one.

The wild nature of the Mexican tag team rules added, of course, to the insanity with bodies flying all about the ring at any time. Clocking in at around 20 minutes, the action never really slowed down with members from both teams always at the ready to throw caution (and their bodies) to the wind.

From what I read and heard coming out of Fightland, this was the match that filled the arena and it came across clearly on TV. The crowd was hot for the entire main event adding to the overall big-fight feel of everything. It’s obvious why lucha libre is consistently at, or near, the top of the MLW card with the quality of matches and the connection every single one of these wrestlers makes with the crowd.