MLW Fusion Results, Highlights, and Grades: Lawlor Retains In Cage
World Heavyweight Title: Tom Lawlor (c) vs Low Ki
Last month, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor surprised Low Ki with a victory in under 5 minutes to capture the World Heavyweight Title. After Ki demanded a rematch for the title, Lawlor obliged under one condition: that the match is contested under a steel cage.
Both men made their entrances and got through the introductions without incident, but before the door could even be closed Ki jumped Lawlor to start the match.
As Ki and Lawlor worked one another over in the opening minutes, Cornette put over Ki’s decision to wrestle as a heavyweight rather than competing in any other division. Cornette praised Ki’s gusto and gave him credit for being able to use his considerable speed advantage against heavier opponents while also still being able to “hit like a mule.”
Lawlor felt the brunt of a Salina de la Renta high heel as Ki buried the heel into his stomach before striking him in the head. Ki kept the heat on Lawlor as the champion crashed head first, multiple times, into the solid steel cage. Cornette made another good point as he referenced previous UFC losses for Lawlor which came after being driven into the cage.
In keeping with the no-rules nature of the match and competing with Ki’s own dirty tactics, Lawlor dropped Ki with a roll of pennies before dumping the coins on his fallen adversary.
As the match began to wind down, Lawlor scaled the cage in an attempt to leave Ki laying in the ring. The challenger was right behind him, though, locking Lawlor in a modified Dragon Sleeper near the top of the cage.
With Lawlor trapped in a Tree of Woe, Ki looked to strike with a double stomp from the very top of the cage but Lawlor was able to shake the walls causing Ki to crotch himself on the top of the structure.
Both men continued to try to escape the cage with champion and challenger making their way to the outside wall. After several minutes of fighting, with both men finding themselves stuck in the cage at different points, Lawlor lost his grip after being struck by Low Ki sending the champion crashing hard to the arena floor to secure the victory.
How was it? This wasn’t much of a standout match for either man. While the cage stipulation was built as more of a way to keep others out and play to Lawlor’s strengths rather than a necessary means to an end for a blood feud, there just didn’t seem to be enough use of the cage to make it feel worthwhile.
The end of the match felt like it dragged on far too long with both men dangling on the outside of the cage for what seemed like forever. It didn’t really make sense to keep fighting so hard, especially once their opponent wound up stuck in the cage, because they could have simply dropped to the floor to win.
Instead, we got a drawn-out sequence of Ki and Lawlor pounding away at each other and teasing falls to the floor before both men finally plummeted to the concrete below. Lawlor hit first, though, giving him the victory in his first title defense.
After the match, Simon Gotch’s new stable CONTRA Unit stormed the ring. With no mustache to be seen, but with Jacob Fatu and Josef Samael by his side, Gotch lead the charge in attacking the World Heavyweight Champion.
The trio dragged Lawlor back into the cage where Fatu hit an absolutely insane splash from the top of the cage on a fallen Lawlor in the ring. They draped Lawlor in the CONTRA Unit flag as the show went off the air. Hands down, the splash from Fatu was the highlight of the entire main event segment.