MLW Fusion recap for April 27, 2019: Table manners

The April 27, 2019 episode of MLW Fusion features a six-man tables match, eyepatch-shaming and a special appearance from Teddy Hart’s cat.

The latest episode of MLW Fusion, which aired on beIN Sports on April 27 and on MLW’s YouTube channel on April 29, kicks off with a setup for the main event six-man Hart Foundation vs. Dynasty tables match and a follow-up from last week’s surprisingly dark 4/20 shenanigans. Richard Holliday shows Alex Hammerstone the condition in which he found MJF’s car and while we didn’t see condoms amongst the trash within, Hammerstone could.

We have a few questions about this: Were they used or unused condoms? If used, were the multiple condoms the product of one member of the Hart Foundation or multiple, from these people who consider each other to be cousins? Last week, we heard but did not see Teddy Hart’s cat having sex in MJF’s car — could they be cat condoms? If any MLW personnel would like to tweet the answers to this, we would appreciate it.

The other set-up for the six-man tables match is one of the most unintentionally funny MLW segments ever, in which we see the Dynasty sneak-attack Brian Pillman Jr.’s arm with a very gentle chair shot. The second chair shot does look more convincing, but overall the segment still leaves the viewer wondering whether MLW just didn’t have time to do a second take with Pillman Jr. set to wrestle later that night.

Get Exactly One Table!

Ultimately, the Dynasty vs. Hart Foundation match is as chaotic as its build, which fits both these teams and their rivalry. Hart’s infamous cat, Mr. Velvet, makes an appearance and the Dynasty argues with individual members of the audience as the majority chant “Hart Foundation!” before the bell even rings.

Some of it makes sense, like the way the Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr. are able to dominate against Holliday and Hammerstone for a while until MJF gets involved and the three-on-one assaults begin. Some of it doesn’t, like Smith and Hart’s tandem dropkick move that seems like it would hurt Hart the most. Still, the match works for the audience, who is very into the Hart Foundation and also very into booing and mocking the Dynasty, especially MJF.

After Pillman runs out with a taped-up arm to superkick all the bad guys, the Doomsday Destroyer the Harts set up looks insanely dangerous, but the team pulls it off. The Dynasty still wins with underhanded tactics (a double low-blow and the targeting of Pillman, who had been weakened illegally), setting up the feud to continue. This is probably the right choice since the audience has yet to tire of it and we haven’t gotten Hammerstone vs. Davey Boy yet.

The Avalanche Cometh

As our Middleweight Champion remains involved with this blood feud, our World Heavyweight Champion, Tom Lawlor, gets his next challenger. It’s not yet L.A. Park or Jacob Fatu, but WXW’s Avalanche Robert Dreissker. WXW, at least on the WrestleMania weekend when this was taped, is apparently one of the promotions, along with Stardom, Sendai Girls and DDT (sending people to EVOLVE counts) that can walk the fine line — at least for now — of doing business with both WWE and other companies. It’s clear that this isn’t secretly all connected to the WWE Universe though, since no one in their right mind would call someone “the Hoss-strian” or “the No. 1-ranked German wrestler in the world” if Walter could potentially show up to rightfully claim those titles.

Austin’s Powers

While Dynasty vs. Hart Foundation feels like a very “wrestling TV match,” Ace Austin vs. Rey Horus is straight from a live indie show. Watchers of Lucha Underground and various indies have seen more intensity from Horus in the past, but this is the best match Austin has had in MLW so far. Still, Horus ultimately has the match’s most impressive moment with the inverted top rope hurricanrana he hits for the win.

Oh, and this match gives us our …

Jim Cornette Line of the Week

Jim Cornette on weighing 203 pounds and the Middleweight Championship picture:

"“Of course, I couldn’t whip cream with an outboard motor at my advanced age, but I could still make the weight limit.”"

Eye Can’t Believe It’s Promociones Dorado

The first and shortest match of the night features the debuting Jordan Oliver — a character who is essentially a skinnier, scummier version of Ace Austin going through a phase very aesthetically different but one that he will look back on with an equal amount of regret — against the returning Kotto Brazil. The eyepatch-sporting Brazil, who (I believe) is the first wrestler to have lost an eye on TV since Lucha Underground’s Big Ryck (RIP), shines with crowd-pleasing offense while Oliver tells us the type of wrestler he is by going after his opponent’s one good eye.

Oliver gets his first win in MLW after becoming a pawn in Promociones Dorado’s feud with Brazil. Salina de la Renta and Ricky Martinez remind everyone that Brazil is on their ever-growing list of enemies — which also might include Low Ki after de la Renta kind of blows him off backstage.

Next week, several of the faction’s longstanding feuds — though not this one (that we know of) (yet) — will result in matches on Salina de la Renta’s Souled Out with Daga finally taking on Low Ki, Gringo Loco vs. Hijo de L.A. Park and “a public execution” of Pentagon Jr., presumably by Daddy Park himself, to continue their skeleton war. With so much going on with Promociones Dorado at the moment, however, it really seems like anything could happen between almost anyone next weekend.