MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Rush Debuts
A Hasty Retreat
Backstage, Low Ki and Salina de la Renta prepared to give their thoughts on Konnan ahead of the No DQ World Title Match in Miami. de la Renta ripped into Konnan for not being a man and initially turning down the challenge to fight Low Ki.
As Low Ki began to say his piece, a disheveled Ricky Martinez (not Vega) fell into the scene spitting blood into a trash can. Martinez warned of Konnan’s wrath, telling Ki and Salina to get out of the building. Tossing the keys to his injured compadre, Ki hoofed it out of the scene with Salina in tow.
Grade: Fine. Enough to continue to build Konnan and his desperation, but nothing you would feel empty over if you hadn’t seen it.
Konnan has made no bones about the fact that he’s older, slower, in worse shape than, and not as strong as Low Ki. By his own admission, there is no way that he should win the match with Ki in Miami. However, if Konnan’s desperation and dirty tactics in taking out Martinez are any indications then Low Ki and Salina have something to fear.
Building Konnan as someone who will do anything to get the victory is a smart way to allow him to look like a threat while not making Low Ki look like a goofball for having to sell the fear of losing a straight-up wrestling match. Ki and Salina immediately getting out of dodge does a lot of good for making Konnan a credible threat.
Rush vs Sammy Guevara
Guevara is coming off of a loss in his MLW return to El Hijo de LA Park while Rush is finally making his long-awaited debut in Major League Wrestling. Rush was initially announced for the Chicago show way back at Fury Road in New York and MLW waited for the final set of Fightland matches to air his debut. Both men would benefit from a win here with a Guevara victory being more of an upset over the debuting star from Mexico.
Starting off the match, both men found themselves on equal footing countering and counter-countering one another until coming to a standoff. Guevara looked for a handshake from Rush who denied him before shoving him to the mat and beginning his onslaught.
Rush kept Guevara at bay with quickness and a sprinkle of disrespect as he taunted Guevara with the tranquilo pose in the center of the ring. Guevara, not to be outdone, wrestled back to give Rush the same disrespect with a kick to the face followed up with his own pose mocking the luchador.
Not content to let Guevara rain on his parade, Rush turned the tables before powerbombing Guevara onto one at ringside. Not through the table, mind you – just a stuff powerbomb on the corner of a table with no give and no breakage. On the arena floor, Rush continued the punishment whipping Guevara with camera cables and clobbering him with a chair before nearly assaulting the referee for admonishing him back inside the ring.
The momentary distraction allowed Guevara to regain his composure and build some momentum against Rush briefly until being caught and crotched on the top rope leading to a huge superplex into the ring. With Guevara weakened after a follow-up headbutt after some short back and forth, Rush took the opportunity to shorten Guevara’s spine (and his lifespan) with the Rush Driver double underhook piledriver for the win.
Grade: Very Good. An awesome showcase for Rush and a solid performance from Guevara who deserves to be a star wherever he goes.
A great debut for Rush who really got to shine against someone who had no trouble keeping up with him. Guevara, the current AAA Cruiserweight Champion, is obviously no slouch in the ring and a win for Rush paints him as a force to be reckoned with in MLW.
Post-match, Rush got on the microphone to play with the crowd and talk smack about the fallen Guevara before laying out his goals for his MLW run. This isn’t one-and-done for the leader of Los Ingobernables. Instead, he is looking to bring his rivalry with LA Park to center stage in Major League Wrestling. Will Rush find himself aligned with Konnan as he wages war against one of the cornerstones of Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado, or will Rush walk this path alone?
Before closing out the show, we got a final look at Low Ki and Salina de la Renta as they escaped the arena with Ricky Martinez behind the wheel of their getaway car. As they pulled away, Tom Lawlor charged the vehicle and got a hand on the back window before being left in dust and darkness behind the vehicle.