Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/02/23/mlw-fusion-report-erick-stevens-joins-team-filthy/
This week’s episode of MLW Fusion featured a heated angle to end the show with a new member of Team Filthy revealed.
The show was from last month’s taping in North Richland Hills, Texas with Tom Lawlor taking on Ross Von Erich in the main event. They began the episode with a recap of Lawlor’s turn on the Von Erichs on Thanksgiving night that allowed Jacob Fatu to defeat Ross Von Erich.
MOONSHINE MANTELL VS LOGAN CREED
Creed is the former “Gorgan” or “Grogan” that has split from The Dynasty after bonding over lite beers with Mance Warner last week.
The match saw Creed exhibit power moves and hit a tremendous-looking tope that he got significant distance on. He won with a jackknife powerbomb.
WINNER: Logan Creed at 3:29
It was a brief showcase of Creed in the babyface monster role and got to display his athleticism with the one dive.
Alex Hammerstone and Gino Medina were discussing flavored water when Richard Holliday entered the scene. Holliday blamed Hammerstone for introducing Creed, but cooler heads prevailed as they are setting out to ruin Mance Warner. One element noticeable is how loose these promos are as Holliday randomly referred to a tree stump in the background and a plane that flew over them that was clearly Holliday doing his promo on the spot.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated listed the top ten contenders for the MLW heavyweight titles with the following order from 1-10: Davey Boy Smith Jr., Alex Hammerstone, Myron Reed, Brian Pillman Jr., Mance Warner, Tom Lawlor, Richard Holliday, Jimmy Havoc, Low Ki, and Dominic Garrini.
Erick Stevens cut a short promo about arriving in MLW and going for the toughest guy in the company and that man is Davey Boy Smith Jr.
ERICK STEVENS VS DOUGLAS JAMES
They tried to promote this as two men with legitimate backgrounds having a big fight. Stevens caught James on a suicide dive attempt and slammed him on the apron. James came back with leg kicks that looked very good given his kickboxing background followed by a Meteora (that they don’t teach in kickboxing gyms). Stevens fought back and hit a gutbuster off the shoulders and his version of the brainbuster called ‘The Sarasota Screwdriver’ to win.
WINNER: Erick Stevens
It was the best match on the show and both looked good with similar styles that meshed. Stevens is a nice pick-up by MLW and would be involved in the angle to close the show.
The Dynasty ran into Warner followed by Warner discovering his Uncle beaten down on the floor.
There was a promo for Killer Kross followed by Tom Lawlor arriving at the building and appeared to be limping.
Injustice cut a promo about costing Brian Pillman Jr. in his match with Jacob Fatu. The varying promo styles are a big plus on the show. Injustice is shot different from the parental discretion logo and done in black and white to set them apart.
Jimmy Havoc and Priscilla Kelly said the feud with Mance Warner is done and if it continued, one of them would have died. That’s a good reason to move on. They will assess who is next on their list.
Alicia Atout interviewed Low Ki and they were interrupted by King Mo and DAN LAMBERT! They laughed about Low Ki training with the Gracies and Mo referring to his knockout of Roger Gracie in 2011 when they fought in Strikeforce. The wrestling world desperately needed Lambert back in it.
KING MO VS DOCTOR DAX
Dax was dressed in a red jumpsuit with a mask and looked like Matanza Cueto.
Mo attacked with shots to the body and attempted a high crotch that was blocked. Dax lifted him for a power slam and Mo went to the back and choked him out with a rear-naked choke.
WINNER: Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal at 1:10
It was simple and effective for Mo, who works so much more effectively as a heel and Lambert adds a lot to his presentation. This is a solid act they have together.
TOM LAWLOR VS ROSS VON ERICH
Lawlor came out with his second, who is just referred to as ‘The X Factor’. Ross got a huge pop in Texas while Lawlor was seeking heat at every turn coming out in a cowboy hat with a toy horse.
Lawlor pretended to be poked in the eye allowing the X-Factor to trip Ross and Lawlor had the heat. Ross made his comeback and got several two-counts, including with a Falcon Arrow. He sent X-Factor off the apron and called for the Von Erich Claw when Dominic Garrini attacked for the disqualification.
WINNER: Ross Von Erich by DQ at 7:04
The match was average and lifted due to the audience’s engagement with Ross. The real main event was the post-match angle.
Marshall Von Erich ran in to assist his brother and they dumped Garrini out and were preparing to attack Lawlor when Erick Stevens entered. Stevens joined Team Filthy and they beat down Marshall & Ross using weapons.
They desecrated the Texas flag by stomping on it, Lawlor did his Shawn Michaels impression by humping the flag and wiping his ass with it before Stevens tossed it into the trash can.
They were trying so hard to incite a riot for the maximum heat possible. In another era, this would have a massive deal.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The post-match attack at the end of the show was the big news coming out of this episode and it was well-done. This is the part of the country that will respond in a way few places in 2020 will when it comes to heated angles.
King Mo and Dan Lambert work very well together, which isn’t surprising but that’s a great pairing.
The wrestling on the show this week didn’t stand out, although Erick Stevens and Douglas James had the best match of the four.
This show’s strength is its wide range of characters, delivery of promos, heated angles, and working towards confrontations down the road once the heat is maximized.
Next week’s show features:
*Los Parks vs. Josef Samael & Simon Gotch in a Lumberjack Match
*Jordan Oliver & Kotto Brazil vs. Laredo Kid & Zenshi
*Mance Warner speaks