MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Hart Retains Middleweight Title
Ace Austin vs Rich Swann
I just need to get it out of the way up front – Ace Austin is such a dork. As he has done in the past, he entered the ring doing some kind of sleight of hand magic trick with a cane appearing out of nowhere which he then twirled around. I don’t get the magic show aspect of the character. If you want to pull an Ace out of your sleeve, literally, that makes sense. The magic stuff just feels so hokey to me, though.
Swann delivered a picture-in-picture promo as he entered the ring saying that he would do what he always does and bring the party all night long.
These two went move for move to start things off with neither man able to hold the other down in the slightest. In a fun spot, they both went for a dropkick at the same time and crashed to the mat. They both kipped up and attempted dropkicks two more times, both crashing to the mat without making a connection, before officially coming to a standoff in the ring.
They would find themselves on the exact same page again later in the match as they connected with dual bicycle kicks to send each other to the mat. Ace would find a way to recover and come flying off of the second rope with a knee to the face. Swann went down hard and Ace followed up with a reverse jumping splash from the top rope for an extremely awkward three count. It looked as though Swann was supposed to kickout late and just didn’t move at all.
After the match, Swann slapped the ref and screamed that he hadn’t been kept down for a three count (Narrator: He had). Rich Boccini entered the ring to try to interview Swann, commenting that he had been a different person as of late. Swann shoved Boccini to the mat, then exited the ring and shoved the ring announcer as well before storming out.
How Was It? The ending was extremely weird. The referee hesitated on his three count before finally hitting the mat and calling for the bell, leading one to believe that Swann may have been injured or, at the least, knocked unconscious temporarily.
The post-match promo helped to try to make sense of things and explain that this was some part of a story, but it didn’t really make sense as Swann very clearly was pinned for a three count (a four count, honestly, since the referee stopped at three initially). If he had kicked out late, his antics after the match would have made more sense.
Still, while I’m not a fan of Swann, in general, I do appreciate the character development lower down the card. I feel as though we don’t always get deep character growth throughout the entire show so it’s great to see some focus shifted throughout the entire card.