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One of the most surprising and interesting stories over the last year has been the resurrection of Court Bauer's Major League Wrestling. After shutting down almost a decade ago prior to Bauer's stint working for WWE, MLW has slowly grown from a podcast to a podcast network to a reunion show to a monthly series of events in Orlando to now a full-fledged television promotion thanks to their new deal with BeIN Sports. With the debut of the new series, titled MLW: Fusion last night, here are some quick thoughts on the broadcast:
*The show opened up with a nice ID reel showcasing some of the past elements from the promotion and those who worked for it, including Dusty Rhodes, CM Punk and Steve Corino, a quick and nice way to give new viewers an idea of the history and pageantry of the promotion without long, drawn out exposition.
*One of the best assets the company has is Tony Schiavone. With all due respect to Rich Bocchini, who is a fine announcer, the mix of nostalgia in seeing and hearing Tony's voice back on television and Schiavone's decision to call a pretty modern professional wrestling product the same way he would have called material in Jim Crockett Promotions brings a fun, smoothing, knowledgeable feel to the viewers. If I was MLW, I'd lock him in to a long-form contract ASAP. I don't think the same show with anyone else calling it would have felt the same.
*The opening match with Austin Aries vs. ACH was a very good, back and forth match that was easily the most competitive thus far. ACH has really improved a lot of aspects of his game since I was last regularly watching him in Ring of Honor. Aries came off like a polished veteran. There were a lot of big moves and moments here and they meant more because there was time put in to set up the foundation of the match with some good back and forth grappling. It was good stuff.
*The fight club feel of the show, taking place in a small club, should be exemplified more in my mind. The idea of being in this intimate place, where there is very little "safety net" between the combatants and the audience, to me, comes off as a positive to make this more of a "cool, dangerous" atmosphere.
*The Barrington Hughes squash was a perfect way to showcase him. He was trying really hard with his promo, but he's obviously young and has ways to go. You can absolutely see the potential here and he's one to watch.
*MLW did a nice job of pushing and teasing that MLW champion Shane Strickland would be on next week. The champion should be treated like something special, so this was a nice way to do that in an old school way, building up his importance.
*The video feature on Jimmy Havoc was good but if you were new to him, I don't know if the audience would have gotten the complete picture of him as this modern day Kevin Sullivan-esque bloodletting monster. There was one line where he talked about bleeding for his art and to me, that was the nucleus of the character - and MLW should showcase more that this is a sick man who thinks that the violence he's unleashing is somehow beautiful. Segments like this should give us an insight into the minds of the talent. I think MLW can dig deeper than they did this week and I hope they do.
*Salina de La Renta is obviously star material and should be focused on more in the future.
*Rey Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr. was a fun match and a nice way to showcase that MLW is about different styles and elements that make up professional wrestling. Tony Schiavone made sure to bring up that the two were brothers to bring up how much Pentagon was competitive and what he was willing to do to his own brother, but I think that opened the door to a greater story they didn't really tell - why are these two fighting? That said, the action was a lot of fun, especially the frankensteiner into the crowd and the silliness of Pentagon wearing a fan's hat while preparing to beat up Fenix against the ring post. This was absolutely a nice way to end the show.
*Or was it? After the show signed off, BeIN Sports played another MLW segment, which appeared to have been edited into the wrong place on the tape. There was a plug for the 5/3 MLW TV taping in Orlando and another piece on Havoc, this one focusing on the idea of a showdown with MLW champion Shane Strickland.
*Overall, a solid debut that opens the door for new viewers to peer into MLW and begins to build the foundation of what's to come. It will be an interesting story to continue to watch unfold. BeIN Sports is obviously invested in the series, given the promotion they have put into MLW thus far and the fact we have heard MLW is being paid a rights fee. All of these put MLW in a great position as they begin their biggest test to date since their rebirth - trying to cultivate an audience that won't just listen to MLW's podcasts and watch the Fusion series, but will show brand loyalty by investing their time and money in MLW. That marathon has just begun and this week, MLW started with the right foot forward.
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