From Stephen Platinum: Major League Wrestling (MLW) had marathon TV tapings at the GILT Nightclub in Orlando, Florida on 11/09/19. ...
From Stephen Platinum:
Major League Wrestling (MLW) had marathon TV tapings at the GILT Nightclub in Orlando, Florida on 11/09/19. I’m a stickler for attendance numbers so I’ll put those right at the top. I was worried when we were getting closer to bell time, but I didn’t need to worry. Every seat had a butt in it, including the couches. There were people lining the balcony area as well, and standing in the bar areas. I would put the number at the peak at 200-225. It was packed.
The crowd overall was a decently loud crowd, especially considering the length of the overall show (over 4 hours) and the number of matches (14). There were wrestlers that were able to turn their matches up (and the crowd’s reactions) seemingly at will.
Your intrepid reporter had himself a first row ticket, so I was privy to getting in early and getting to go to the meet and greet. It was a well-run affair. The show was advertised to start at 4, with people being let in at 3 and the VIPs and 1st row people let in at 2:30. Everything went off about 15 minutes later than advertised, well within expectations and nobody cared. The meet and greet wrestler was…Low Ki. My #7 reason of wanting to go. He met me with the greeting of, “Come over here and take a picture with this dickhead.” This was a reference to my Plist video about the Top Ten Reasons I was Excited to go to MLW. I laughed and the picture rules.
Before I get into the matches, the two big stories were 1. The Georgia wrestling presence was strong on the show. Not only did Logan Creed make as big as a debut as an unknown (in national terms) indy wrestler can have with a major company (and make no mistake, I am saying that MLW is a major company after what I witnessed) but Priscilla Kelly showed up as the mysterious (sort of) Spider Lady, unmasking and getting a reaction from a crowd who clearly knew her. Also, in the biggest surprise to me due to the slope of my forehead and repeated unprotected chair shots to my head over the years (it was the 90’s) I hadn’t realized that Gringo Loco was Charade of WWA4 fame. I suspected it when watching him work, but he messaged me from the locker room afterwards and we had a great conversation.
I say all that to say this – I had a grand time MLW, in large part because of the second big story and takeaway from the day – Teddy Hart is legit. LEGIT. He is now my favorite active wrestler. Period. He took the time to shake our hands as we stood outside in line. Really. He brought the cat (see again the video about top ten reasons I was looking forward to seeing MLW). He was a stunningly great performer. I didn’t think I could have my breath taken away watching a wrestling match. He did it. He made a star, fooled the crowd into thinking a work was a real accident, and helped set the tone for an overall incredibly successful night for MLW…but that doesn’t mean it was all snow days from school and getting to at least 3rd base on a first date. And here we go:
Budd had on a shirt (merch, bro) bragging about his lack of six-pack. Truth in advertising. Budd was built like a Skeksis from the Dark Crystal – skinny fat with extra fat around the middle. Dr. Death (not 100% on the name, but it’s what I thought I heard) was a rather large gentleman with a mask that made relatively quick work of the very game and energetic Budd. Highlights include a suplex released so Budd went face down to the canvas that woke our audience up and a well-delivered chokeslam for the one-two-three. Methinks that both wrestlers will be fodder in our final battle royal.
MLW Fusion (the name of their show on Bien Sports) began with their main faction (MLW has an abundance of factions) the Contras (regaled with people shouting “Hail Contra!”) came to the ring – bearded, curly-toed-boots manager Josef Samael (who once wrestled as the modern Sheik), Ikuro Kwon, Simon Gotch and the MLW Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu. Long and the short of it, an informational promo bragging on Fatu’s victory at the last major MLW event, and we gots to get some tag gold on the others. And a heavy dose of the New Era Hart Foundation suck. Which brings out the New Era Hart Foundation of Teddy Hart, Brian Pillman Jr. and Davey Boy Smith Jr. A brief fracas as the heels rabbit. Teddy Hart makes his presence felt by really putting this over as a blood feud and always pressing the action – if he wasn’t held back effectively, he pressed onward and MADE security stop him. It really registered with the crowd, and the energy picked up quite a bit making this segment a success.
I look around and do another count. At this point all the seats are filled and 30 in the balcony. I counted it at around 200. There would be more soon.
Low Ki defeated Timothy Thatcher by submission in 17:10
I’m a big fan of Timothy Thatcher ever since I saw him wrestle years ago in a match that led to the infamous Steelhorse incident. He’s a great technical wrestler with a ground-based, grappling style that looks gritty and real. Low Ki is infamous himself, with a hard-hitting style that has brought him success everywhere he’s gone.
They began with an extended feeling out process. There were matches of various quality throughout the day and night, this match was easily one of the best. Thatcher tortured Low Ki for the majority of the match, a single leg crab with his foot grinding on Low Ki’s head being a highlight. A series of great striking sequences were another highlight – one where Thatcher blocked Low Ki’s first chop attempt (which got an audible, disappointed groan from the crowd) and Low Ki blocking Thatcher’s European-style uppercut really delayed the gratification for the crowd.
But it later paid off as the chops, kicks and forearms bombed away later, at times spilling Low Ki onto the floor. Low Ki did a false countout finish that was brilliant – at MLW a countout is one of 20. Low Ki attempted to crawl into the ring, and at “18” he tumbled off of the apron and onto the floor. 19 happened and the crowd energy swelled as it seemed sure that this was the finish before Low Ki quickly slipped into the ring. It was the most successful “beat the count” false finish I ever saw and the crowd was now fully invested in the match, 80% for Low Ki I would say.
Low Ki had no sustained offense in the match, until Thatcher attempted to slingshot him into the corner, only to have Low Ki land nimbly on the second rope and hit Thatcher with a double stomp to the pop of the match. Thatcher brought out the big guns soon thereafter, with a belly to belly and a double underhook suplex being highlights. At Thatcher prepared to deliver another high-impact move, Low Ki crawled to Thatcher’s back and applied a modified katahajime for the tapout finish.
The Dynasty comprised of Alex Hammerstone and Maxwell Jacob Friedman cut an entertaining promo. I took a look around and noted that the crowd has filled out in all the standing room spaces around the bar area and put the number what I said at the top. Douglas James (legit badass) and his partner Dominic Garrini (another legit badass with the gi) came to the ring and the fight was on.
Douglas James and Dominic Garrini defeated the Dynasty (Alex Hammerstone and Maxwell Jacob Friedman) by countout at 6:47
A relatively straightforward tag match with James and Garrini really being given a good chance to shine in the match. Things broke down at the end and Douglas James who is quite small, but in fantastic shape and seems poised for a bit of a push hit a tornado DDT from the ring apron and onto the floor on Hammerstein, leading to the countout finish.
Filthy Tom Lawlor defeated Davey Smith Jr. by pinfall at 15:50
Tom Lawlor looks the part of a tough-as-nails legit fighter, all cauliflower ears and a face that’s taken a punch or four. He was wearing a UCF wrestling jacket and the crowd reacted even more favorably than to the second generation star Davey Boy Smith Jr. Lawlor brought the energy of the crowd way up for this match. They brawled out of the ring (all matches thus far save the dark match had featured action outside of the ring – that was a far-too-frequent occurrence along with the following:)
- Fighting outside of the ring
- Repeated kicks to the chest
- Often wrestlers not selling after a match had concluded
A rather spirited brawling exchange ended by a hard slap to Lawlor by Davey Boy was stunning and drew the crowd into the match. My favorite sequence culminated with Lawlor hitting a Russian Leg Sweep that Davey managed to counter into a sharpshooter to a large reaction and then turned into a crossface. Lawlor had to go to the ropes to break the hold.
In the midst of another brutal exchange, it appeared that Davey suffered a very real eye poke and reacted accordingly. They went to take it home – Lawlor jumped on Davey’s back with a chokeout, which Davey countered into an attempted over the shoulder powerslam (his dad’s finisher) which Lawlor turned into bending Davey backwards then driving him downwards with an elbow to the chest and a pinfall to follow.
Post-match, right in front of us there were people who were clearly concerned about Davey’s eye. It was swollen shut and turning 50 shades of colors that you don’t want your skin to turn. Being a ghoul, I tried to get a picture of it.
Takeaways – Davey Boy Smith Jr. is a solid performer, Lawlor is a potential big-time star who is already seen as such by most of the MLW faithful.
#injustice (Myron Reed, Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil made their way to the ring. Through their promo I easily caught the dynamic. Smaller mouthy guys with a criminal element type of feel. Myron the leader, the other two in orange jumpsuits. Jordan Oliver looked phenomenal as the Caucasian prison punk (using older prison terminology out of respect).
Here comes Teddy Hart.
Myron Reed defeated Teddy Hart by pinfall to become the new Middleweight Champion in the most fun 7:42 I have had in wrestling in a long time
When you get a chance to watch this match, do so.
It’s how you elevate another wrestler and make them a star. I’m not going to write a move-by-move of the match, I’ll just say that Teddy Hart’s offense, which included:
- A dive through the ropes (normally a yawn for me in the modern age) into #injustice followed by a ridiculous dive OVER the ropes felt dangerous, necessary, and got a massive reaction.
- His moonsaults were things of beauty.
- Powerbomb into a lungblower was spectacular.
Myron Reed was attempting to keep pace. And in a combination of Teddy Hart’s ring generalship and watching a wrestler actually take his game up to keep up, Myron’s offense looked crisp and effective. The timing in various interfering and distracting by Kotto and Oliver were spotty and not perfectly done at first, but they both came through in the crucial final sequences. During a flurry of activity, Josef Samael appeared and hit Teddy with a fireball which led to a chaotic (but deliberately chaotic) sequence that saw Teddy Hart defeated and bloody, Myron Reed the new champion, the crowd was less stunned than legitimately concerned (I cannot overstate how great Teddy Hart’s deliberately awkward bladejob was – everyone to a person was thinking it was a hardway cut and it added to the overall chaotic feel) and angry, and I found myself saying out loud, “I feel bad for whoever has to follow that.”
I stopped feeling bad when Salina de la Renta made her way to the ring. She asked the crowd if they missed her (they did) and she talked up her new charge, the “Untouchable” Gino Medina.
Gino Medina (w/Salina de la Renta) defeated Some Poor Guy I Didn’t Get the Name Of in 0:41
My favorite move of this quick squash was a Gory Guerrero Special into a face plant. This match was an appropriate palate cleanser from the intense and amazing Myron Reed/Teddy Hart match.
Marshall Von Erich defeated Ikuro Kwon (with Josef Samael) by disqualification at 5:07
Ikuro started the match off hot, immediately going over the top rope and leveling Marshall. Ikuro’s offense were strikes and kicks, a series of palm strikes and head kicks being the highlights for him. Marshall hit a high lifting spinebuster for his comeback. Marshall worked in the vaunted Von Erich claw which was quickly broken up for the disqualification.
My only nitpick? Ikuro didn’t sell the claw after the match. It’s the claw, dude. Rub your temples at least.
MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone defeated Douglas James in 9:30
I have wanted to see Alexander Hammerstone wrestle live for quite some time. I love his persona, and he obviously puts in the gym time. Douglas James has many legit fighting credentials. He is much smaller than Hammerstone, however, and when Hammerstone yelled at one point, “You’re too small” it got a reaction from the crowd. James, however, had a logical offense sequence – leg kicks and non-standard angles of attach. Hammerstone caught one of those kicks and turned it into an exploder suplex. Hammerstone to me is interesting because his offense is minimal at first, but got progressively bigger in terms of moves but also more complex in terms of stringing things together. I enjoyed that quite a bit. He even got a great reaction for a bearhug. A BEARHUG, which was also a testament to James and his great selling throughout the match. Hammerstone’s highlights included a torture rack into a DDT and a series of moves where he tossed James about like a rag doll. James made an able comeback, and at one point climbed all over Hammerstone to attempt to submit him, but it was Hammerstone’s “Nightmare Pendulum” (vertical suplex swung through into a rock bottom) that gained him the victory.
Zeda Zhang defeated the Spider Lady (Priscilla Kelly) by Disqualification at 4:33
This match wasn’t very good. Nor was the Spider Lady get-up. Priscilla struggled with the ill-fitting costume and mask, if MLW’s goal was to hide her identity until the reveal it failed, and Zeda didn’t look great in the match either.
HOWEVER…the reveal happened, the crowd reacted, and Priscilla is a star in the making and MLW feels like the right fit. And I saw more signs for Zeda than anybody else, so that’s good news as well. A lot of the beats were missed (including Priscilla reaching into her…um…for a very special foreign object that I think only I noticed live. Maybe it will be picked up and emphasized on camera and through commentary) but the song will echo in the mind’s eye of those that witness and did witness.
#injustice (Kotto Brazil and Jordan Oliver) defeated Zenshi and Gringo Loco in an elimination tag team match in 7:34
Apparently this match had its time cut down. I didn’t notice that in terms of the work in the match. Zenshi did get his bell rung badly and appeared to be a bit out of it. Well covered by Zenshi. Oliver’s work in wrestling terms was sloppy at first, and his timing off. But his gimmick work and selling and timing in the final critical moments was on point. Kotto works incredibly well and I hope they keep their team together because there’s potential there for them beyond being the Pips to Myron Reed’s Gladys Knight, and I think MLW knows that. But they also understand that #injustice needed this win more than Zenshi and Gringo Loco do.
King Mo (Lawal) defeated Ricky Martinez by submission in 3:12
There should be awards in professional wrestling for agents who help make decisions that count in matches, and awards for those that do effective jobs carrying others. This match would have leading contenders in both categories. Whomever had King Mo take a bump right away (a nicely executed clean bump after selling some great footwork and kicks by Martinez) and structured this match deserves praise. It wasn’t a long match, but actually told a coherent story that went a long way to establishing that King Mo just might be more than a novelty act. I am surprised this match wasn’t really promoted beforehand…perhaps they were worried that it wouldn’t look good or that Martinez wasn’t up for making sure King Mo looked amazing. Well, if they thought that they were wrong. Kudos to Martinez, whomever agented that match, and King Mo for getting the pro wrestling game, and BEING so game in his first real match.
The New Era Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman Jr. and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) defeated Simon Gotch and Ikuro Kwon in 9:32
Mah lawd did Davey have a shiner and a mouse under that eye. But he’s clearly as tough as getting a return phone call from Rick Michaels and was a big part of this quality match. Pillman took the heat and was very good in the role. Simon and Ikuro did a workmanlike job as the heels. This match was meat and potatoes basic tag match stuff, which sounds like a dismissal but is quite the opposite. I long for a taste of the well done and simple tag match in AEW, and a match to be given a little bit of time on television like this at WWE, and having some spectacular thrown in with the solid in the NWA. So yeah, I liked this. The finish came effectively when things broke down, and a Hart Attack and then some (a top rope clothesline is the twist) and the New Era Hart Foundation score a much needed win in their burgeoning war against (All hail!) Contra.
MLW Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu (with Josef Samael) defeated Ross Von Erich (with Tommy Lawlor) in 14:51
Lawlor being at ringside was a bit strange, probably something as a result of backstage vignettes that we were not privy to in the live audience. Nonetheless, Lawlor was as over as a baby as anyone I had seen that night, so him being there didn’t feel out of place.
Ross Von Erich has gotten much better in the years since I have seen him, but make no mistake this was a Fatu match and I know why he’s the champ. Because he’s a fucking badass.
- He completely destroyed the most obnoxious fan in the building with lots of decidedly un-family friendly language and an intensity that belied belief in the modern game. I’m serious. He made the ECW-era Dudley Boys sound like the basic-cable friendly edits on “Scarface” (“Where’d you get that scar, tough guy, eating pineapple?). And he shut that fan UP. So for that alone, I am a fan.
- His moveset was devastating. That pop-up Samoan drop was jaw-dropping. The fact that he leapt to MEET his opponent in the air before going back perfectly made it even more amazing.
- Fatu has size. Billed at 300, he looks every bit the monster, but incredibly light on his feet.
- He wears menace well. He is the lynchpin for Contra and has a lot of ball he has to keep in the air – he’s the champ, he represents Contra, he has feuds going, he has to have great matches. He checks all of the boxes.
The story made sense. Ross was barely in this match until a screw up by Fatu (chopping the ringpost instead of Ross) and Ross could not maintain momentum against the juggernaut (bitch) called Fatu. Ross nonetheless got himself in position to win, but the ref was down. (This part of the match was a major snafu – Fatu levels the referee, but then devastates Ross and covers for a pin. It was awkward.) Ross got the upper hand, but then Lawlor waffles Ross with a chair instead of Fatu! It played better than I am making it sound. Fatu then hits a picturesque moonsault (someone name that physics defying move the Lunar Eclipse, please) and the dirty deed was done. Filthy Tom Lawlor lives up to the moniker, and we have another story, and a big one, coming out of the Fusion tapings that I imagine will play even better on TV.
Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc in a hardcore, Falls-count-anywhere match in 5:57
I’ll have small video clips from this one that a fan took for me (I charmed all around me and got them to help me out. Pictures, video clips, moving people out of my way so I could get great pictures at the end, etc.) Long story short, it was a hardcore and brutal affair. Broken doors, thumbtacks abounded, blood was spilled, forks to the skull. Warner was up to the task of matching the hardcore cred of the relentlessly over Havoc (the few women in the crowd seemed to be there for Jimmy Havoc, who had the second most number of signs for him). The finish was likely the only one they could do – Warner gaining a pin in the crowd with a rollup. It did little to diminish Havoc and gave Mance a much-needed boost. It was short and sweet(?) well, it was a taste of blood to fully round the complete three-ring circus feel of MLW.
Logan Creed was the winner of a battle royal in 10 minutes
In case you were concerned that Logan Creed wasn’t put over properly in his debut, you need not have worried.
- He threw out the most guys, including seemingly all of #injustice, veteran presence Savio Vega, and at least three others AT THE SAME TIME.
- At the end of the battle royal, three top stars of MLW decided they had to team up against HIM. And he threw them out, including…
- Timothy Thatcher, who was his last opponent and never really had Logan in danger. Logan dispatched him, as he did seemingly half of MLW’s locker room.
- I am listing it as Logan Creed because a name apparently hasn’t been finalized.
So my final verdict? The guy that I came here for was made in the last match of a marathon taping, and made by dominating the roster itself.
Priscilla Kelly is finally in one of the big leagues, apparently. Remember when all the wrestling “experts” said that she would never get signed? Gosh, which expert took up for her in his very first Full Disclosure video? Hmmm…oh yeah, me. She’s here, and she looks great, and both their crowd and MLW appear to be glad she’s there.
Gringo Loco is a legit pro who seems to be putting it all together. Certainly whatever bridge existed between he and I is gone.
I had FUN. I admired the expert way in which the show was booked, and was a hearty fan of at least 80% of the choices and decisions individual wrestlers, matches, and bigger things in the show made.
This card and Dr. Tom Prichard’s obvious hand in things inspired my “Adult in the room” commentary.
Yeah, it was good. Yes, MLW is for real.
And yes, I had fun at a wrestling show.
Nobody is shocked more than I.
