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History was made on MLW: FUSION this week. The World Tag Team Championship was decided as Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix battled Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta as well as the Stud Stable’s Dirty Blondes in a triple threat elimination match.
This match has the wrestling world buzzing (as well as some buzzed fans sitting ringside) but that’s not all!
Bounty Brody King rampaged in shocking fashion as he looks to collect $20,000 by taking out World Heavyweight Champion Shane Strickland.
Viewers also got to see the Simon Gotch Prize Fight Challenge. Who would step up and would Gotch be able to handle the challenge?
Also, affluent up and comer Maxwell J. Friedman clashed with MVP.
Let’s go to the ring …
Col. Parker’s Chalk Talk
This week’s episode opened with MLW cameras being allowed inside the Stud Stable locker room, where Col. Parker was giving a chalk talk to the Dirty Blondes about the World Tag Team Championship match, set for later in the evening. Parker said not to worry about Team TBD because the Dirty Blondes have handled them before … more on that later.
Swerve Attacked!
With Salina de la Renta offering a $20,000 bounty on World Heavyweight Champion Shane Strickland, the champ is a marked man. The first man to take a shot is apparently going to be 6’5” Brody King. Thanks to MLW.com cameras, we have video of Strickland being attacked by King in a parking lot. It doesn’t look like he got the job done to collect the bounty, but he certainly sent a message.
Maxwell J. Friedman pinned MVP
In Maxwell J. Friedman’s biggest challenge to date, the preppy pro wrestler squared off with the master of Ghetto Strong Style. The young Maxwell J. Friedman had the advantage early, but his ego got the better of him. With MVP on the mat, he mocked his opponent by imitating the “Ballin’ Elbow.” But it took too long and MVP got his knees up on Friedman’s elbow drop.
That lapse by Friedman allowed MVP to take control. A massive belly-to-belly, overhead, release suplex had Friedman rocking. Friedman looked like he was done when MVP hit the Playmaker, but Sami Callihan and Leon Scott hit the ring but failed to connect with any physicality keeping the match legally in motion.
As MVP climbed back into the ring after laying out Callihan and Scott with a slingshot cross body to the outside, Friedman exploited the vulnerable Miami grappler. Friedman crotched MVP by kicking the ring ropes, then secured a pinfall with his feet on the second rope for leverage. The fallout of this match should impact the Top 10 rankings significantly.
First Battle Riot Participants Announced
More participants in the Battle Riot, to be held July 19 in New York City were announced on FUSION. And some of them have to be among the favorites. The Stud Stable’s Jake Hager and 469-pound Barrington Hughes are both huge men who are going to be very difficult to eliminate from the match. Pentagon Jr. has dominated the MLW Top 10 for months. Young star Jimmy Yuta rounds out the four participants announced on Friday night’s show.
Could one of these men win the 40-man and earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Champion anytime and anywhere the Battle Riot winner wants?
Barrington Backs The Champ
Speaking of the Caramel Colossus, Hughes was asked on tonight’s show about Salina de la Renta’s $20,000 bounty on his friend Shane “Swerve” Strickland. Hughes was not happy about Brody King’s attack on the champ and denounced Salina de la Renta. Swerve may have bounty hunters after him, but he’s got the biggest man in MLW watching his six.
Simon Gotch (with Team Filthy) choked out Mike Parrow (with Col. Robert Parker)
After putting down white-belt wearing Danny Santiago in a mere 41 seconds in the first-ever Simon Gotch Prize Fight Challenge, Gotch entered the ring with Team Filthy for another go-round. But he quickly realized there would be no hand-picked opponent this week.
The One Man Demolition Machine and member of Col. Robert Parker’s Stud Stable accepted the challenge and Gotch was beside himself. Remember, the stated rules of the Gotch Prize Fight Challenge state any challenger who lasts five minutes without being pinned or submitted by Gotch wins the Team Filthy sponsored $250 bag of cash.
Ten seconds into the match, the 300-pound powerhouse Parrow asserted some dominance with a huge shoulder tackle that knocked Gotch to the floor. Back in the ring, Gotch found an opening and applied a submission maneuver, but Parrow was able to get to the ropes. With the clock on the 5-minute limit ticking away and the official admonishing Gotch to break the hold, Team Filthy captain Tom Lawlor hit Parrow over the head with a metal water bottle.
Gotch applied a rear-naked choke to Parrow, who was already out. The official got one look at Parrow and rang the bell, naming Gotch the winner. Meanwhile, the Stud Stable didn’t take kindly to the outcome or the way it was obtained. The Dirty Blondes, despite a World Tag Team title shot later in the show, came out and ran off Team Filthy. Could this be the start of a Stud Stable-Team Filthy beef? Stay tuned.
Breaking News! Swerve vs. Brody King – Next Week!
At the request of the World Champion, Major League Wrestling Founder & CEO Court Bauer announced the Strickland will face Brody King in an MLW ring on next week’s episode of MLW: FUSION! Will the champ hold King off or will the bounty hunter collect the cash and the gold? Find out next week!
Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix (presented by Salina de la Renta) Win the World Tag Team Championship
Going into tonight’s title bout, the Dirty Blondes were overlooking Cade and Yuta and focusing on Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix. While Col. Parker has managed some of the all-time greats in professional wrestling, he may have made a mistake in this one. Despite the Dirty Blondes’ recent domination of Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta, the young duo scored a surprising early elimination of the Stud Stable entrant in this match.
The Dirty Blondes had their moments in this match. Not to be outdone by the luchadores and high-fliers, 300-pounder brawler Michael Patrick hit a running senton off the apron onto all four of his team’s opponents on the floor, giving the Stud Stable entrant some early momentum. But with Pentagon, Fenix and Leo Brien on the outside, Yuta and Cade hit a flying elbow drop and a big splash, respectively, off the top rope to pull of a surprise early pin on Michael Patrick, eliminating the Dirty Blondes.
With the Blondes eliminated, the young team of Cade and Yuta was left with two of the top-ranked wrestlers in MLW across the ring. But Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix perhaps had perhaps more than they bargained for on their hands. It took a Fenix dropkick off the top rope to break up Yuta’s pin attempt on Pentagon after a Samoan Driver. Yuta and Cade thought they had the match in hand, hitting the same elbow-splash combination on Fenix, but the luchador kicked out at the last second. It was the best shot Cade and Yuta would get.
To follow up on that near fall, Yuta had Fenix in a full nelson, waiting for a Cade double-team. Fenix escaped at the last second and Cade nailed his partner with a huge roundhouse right. Moments later, Fenix ascended to the top rope and landed on Yuta, as Pentagon Jr. finished him with a Pentagon Driver. One three-count later and the Promociones Dorado’s finest were celebrating with Salina de la Renta, hoisting the new belts and pouring tequila shots into the open mouths of fans in GILT Nightclub as the new World Tag Team Champions.
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