wrestling / TV Reports
Winfree’s MLW Anthology – The Von Erichs Review 7.04.20
Image Credit: MLW
Loading...Hey there everyone, Robert Winfree back again for the latest MLW Anthology episode. This week we have The Von Erichs, specifically Ross and Marshall.
Match #1 – War Chamber: Team Von Erich (Marshall Von Erich, Ross Von Erich, Low Ki, and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor w/ Kevin Von Erich) vs. CONTRA Unit (Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Simon Gotch, and Ikuro Kwon) (September, 2019)
This is basically a War Games match, but MLW sold the rights to that name ahead of this event and so changed the name. We’re also only in a single ring, and instead of enclosing it there’s barbed wire around the top of the cage.
Gotch and Marshall start us off. They start off trading strikes, Marshall gets the better of it and lands a cannonball senton in the corner. Scoop slam from Marshall, then he gets a side headlock and lands a forearm. Marshall continues wearing out Gotch with chops and strikes then a sliding clothesline. Gotch with some kicks to start taking over. Marshall cuts that off with a hard whip into the corner then he grabs a side headlock on the mat.
We cut ahead in time to the entry of Samael. Samael ties up Marshall long enough for Gotch to jump in and we’ve got a two on one situation. Gotch mocks the iron claw but Marshall fights back on Samael before Gotch cuts him off with a high knee. Some more double team action onto Marshall. Marshall starts firing back just as Lawlor enters the match. Lawlor runs wild on both Gotch and Samael. Strikes from both of our faces, Lawlor floors Samael with a combination of punches and a clothesline.
Another cut ahead, and Fatu is here to cause havoc. Lawlor and Marshall double team Fatu at first but he fights them off. Lawlor tries to jump onto him but jumps into a Samoan drop then Marshall walks into a catatonic then Lawlor gets smooshed into the fence as Fatu hits the handspring moonsault onto Marshall. The heels lay waste to the good guys, Samael bites the ear of Lawlor at one point. The crowd chants for Ross, but instead we get Low Ki coming out. Ki slams the cage door into Samael’s head then takes out Gotch with a springboard kick. Ki lays in elbows onto Gotch in the corner. Samael is a bloody mess, didn’t see what caused that unless it’s assumed to be the cage door. Another cut forward, and Kwon is coming out for CONTRA. Kown and Ki start trading kicks, Kwon gets the better of that exchange. Things are breaking down all around the ring, Fatu chucks Ki into the cage. Lawlor attacks Fatu right around the time Ross enters and the match actually starts.
Ross charges at Samael then lays out everyone except Fatu with kicks. Marshall gets the Claw on Gotch but can’t hold it. Fatu and Ross start trading blows, he takes Fatu down with a hurricanrana. We cut ahead again, this just in time for Fatu to hit the pop up Samoan drop onto Ross. Ki and Samael trade blows, they wind up on the top rope and Ki winds up grating Samael into the barbed wire. A masked man tries to climb the cage, but Kevin on the outside gets the claw on him to keep the match as fair as this kind of match can be. Back in the ring Lawlor with a rear naked choke onto Samael, Samael gets the spike to break the hold, Kwon with the red mist then Fatu hits a super kick then double hop moonsault but when he goes for the pin Ki breaks it up. Ki and Fatu go at it in the corner, Gotch gets Ross for the piledriver but Marshall cuts that off with a claw onto Gotch. They hit a Doomsday Claw slam and Marshall gets the pin.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Team Von Erich wins when Marshall Von Erich pinned Gotch, about 20:00 of 35:00 shown
Rating: 3 stars
I get that they had to cut this down, 35 minutes for a program clocking in at under 50 in total run time would be too much, but that did hurt my experience with it. It also meandered a bit, though I can’t tell how much of that was editing vs. layout. It kind of felt like the Royal Rumble, you come in and get a few spots in then everything slows down until the next guy comes out. Still it wasn’t bad by any reasonable stretch of the imagination. My understanding of the actual run time comes from Larry’s review of the episode of Fusion that aired the match.
It seems next week will be the return of MLW Underground, so we’ll see what that show has in store for us then.
Match #2 – Texas Tornado Match for the MLW Tag Team Titles: The Von Erichs (Ross and Marshall) vs. (c) The Dynasty (MJF and Richard Holiday) (November, 2019)
Tornado style means no tags are necessary and all men are legal. We start with the Von Erichs running wild after the Dynasty opened with a promo. Stereo drop kicks and the Von Erichs stand tall. Holiday and MJF on the outside, MFJ winds up cutting off Marshall and slamming him into the barricade which lets them double team Ross. MFJ brains Marshall with the ring bell, then Holiday hits a Market Crash onto the ring apron. Ross back into the ring and the heels double team him for a bit. Some blows from Ross, but he winds up running into a back elbow then an elevated suplex/neck breaker commentary tells me is the 2008 for a near fall. Ross onto the ring apron, they double suplex him back into the ring for another two count. The crowd treats MJF to a “Cody’s bitch” chant, which I chuckled at. Ross pulls MJF and Holiday into a meeting of the minds but he runs into elbows then a double strut elbow from the Dynasty for another near fall.
Holiday and MJF complain to the ref again about the count. They set for the Super Dynastic move, but Marshall is back in with a double clothesline and he runs wild for a bit. Stereo running forearms in the corner then cannonball sentons. MJF rolls out of the ring, so Holiday eats some more tandem offense. Marshall calls for the mooonsault, but MJF cuts him off and makes him crash. Ross gets the claw on MJF, MJF with a low blow to escape the hold. Ross is set on the top rope, Holiday up with him and hits a superplex then MJF with a splash for a cover but Marshall breaks it up with a moonsault and everyone is down. Ross and Marshall are back up, they low bridge Holiday then hit the claw/back drop driver for the finish.
OFFICIAL RESULT: The Von Erichs became NEW Tag Team Champions when Marshall pinned MJF @ 9:55
Rating: 3 stars
Just enough better than 2.5 for me to be OK going to 3. They worked a very basic tag team formula, isolated the smaller baby face for most of the match before the good guys ultimately prevailed. Nothing ground breaking or all that memorable, but it was well executed and they did about as well as they could with 10 minutes.
