WarGames (2018) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to t ...

event produced by

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product a ...

(MLW), which took place on September 6, 2018 at the War Memorial Auditorium in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. The event was taped and aired as a special episode of MLW's television program, '' Fusion'', on September 14 on

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef ...

. It was the second and final MLW WarGames event; the event would be succeeded by

MLW War Chamber War Chamber is an annual professional wrestling supercard event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW). The event was first held in 2019 as a television taping for MLW's weekly program, '' Fusion''. The event is a successor and replacement for ...

in 2019. Fifteen matches were contested at the event with one match airing at the WarGames special, the namesake

WarGames match WarGames is a specialized steel cage match in professional wrestling. The match usually involves two teams of either four, five, or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not ...

, in which Team Strickland (Barrington Hughes, John Hennigan, Kotto Brazil,

Shane Strickland Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee) ...

and

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) pro ...

) defeated The Ravagers ( Abyss,

Jimmy Havoc James McAhren (born 19 March 1984) is a British former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Jimmy Havoc. He is known for his work with Progress Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Major League ...

Sami Callihan Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Lu ...

and The Death Machines (Leon Scott and

Sawyer Fulton Jacob Southwick (born April 2, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling under the ring name Madman Fulton, where he was a former member of OVE ( Ohio Versus Everything). He also wrestled in WWE on their ...

)). Twelve matches were taped for future episodes of ''Fusion'' and two non-televised matches took place.

Production

Background

In July 2017,

resumed promoting events for the first time since the promotion's original closure in 2004. The success of these events lead MLW to secure a television deal with

for a new program, '' MLW Fusion'', which debuted on April 20, 2018. On June 20, MLW.com announced that it would be holding an event titled Fury Road on September 6. However, on July 10, MLW owner Court Bauer tweeted that he would bring back the

on September 6 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the same venue where MLW had previously held the WarGames match in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

. Fury Road was postponed to take place on October 4, while WarGames was finalized as the September 6 event.

Storylines

The card consisted of matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by MLW's writers. Storylines were played out on MLW's television program '' Fusion''. On the June 22 episode of ''Fusion'', Barrington Hughes ensured that the World Heavyweight Champion

would not get attacked by

and his Death Machines (Leon Scott and

). This led to Hughes being attacked by the Death Machines. On the July 13 episode of ''Fusion'', Shane Strickland was mysteriously attacked, which led to him losing the World Heavyweight Championship to

Low Ki Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name Low Ki. He is known for his time with Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestl ...

. The attacker was revealed to be Strickland's former ally Sami Callihan, who said that he perpetrated the attack due to greed of money being paid to him by Ki and Salina de la Renta. Callihan would go on to defeat Strickland on the August 3 episode of ''Fusion''. On August 7, it was announced that Strickland and Callihan would be captains for opposing teams in the

at WarGames, with Strickland's team consisting of John Hennigan,

, Barrington Hughes and Kotto Brazil and Callihan's team called the Ravagers, which would be consisting of

and the Death Machines. On August 20, Abyss was revealed as the fifth member of Ravagers.

Event

The event featured the namesake

, in which Barrington Hughes, John Hennigan, Kotto Brazil,

and

took on The Ravagers ( Abyss,

and The Death Machines (Leon Scott and

)). Near the end of the match, Havoc was about to nail an '' Acid Rainmaker'' to Dreamer but Dreamer tossed him into Callihan. An enraged Callihan hit a

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Side cutter * Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...

on Havoc. Brazil then wrapped barbed wire on Hughes, who hit a big splash on Fulton and then Brazil and Hughes wrapped the barbed wire around Fulton's head, forcing him to tap out. After the match, the entire losing team attacked Havoc blaming him for the loss.

Aftermath

Sami Callihan and Jimmy Havoc's brawling led to both men demanding several stipulations for a match against each other, which led MLW management to make a Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match between the two at Fury Road. Shane Strickland moved on to a feud with

Tom Lawlor Thomas Joseph Lawlor (born May 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and podcast host. He is best known for his time in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Cha ...

, which led to the two competing in a match to determine the ace of MLW at Fury Road.

Results

References

External links

WarGames 2018 official websiteWarGames 2018 official recap
at

{{MLWPPV, WarGames Events in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2018 in professional wrestling September 2018 events in the United States 2010s American television specials 2018 American television episodes Major League Wrestling shows