WarGames (2018) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

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 ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

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 as ...

(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 most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. 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 Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

. It was the second and final MLW WarGames event; the event would be succeeded by MLW War Chamber 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 four or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not have a roof, de ...

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

Shane Strickland Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland. He also appears on the independent circuit. Strickl ...

and

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...

) defeated The Ravagers (

Abyss Abyss may refer to: Religion * Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld * Abyss (Thelema), a spiritual principle within the system of Thelema Film and television * ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film s ...

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 W ...

Sami Callihan Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987), better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and promoter. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestlin ...

and The Death Machines (Leon Scott and

Sawyer Fulton Jacob Southwick (born April 2, 1990), better known by his ring name Madman Fulton, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently performing on the independent circuit mononymously as Fulton. He is best known for his time with Impact Wre ...

)). 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 ''MLW Fusion'' is an American professional wrestling streaming television program produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that premiered on April 20, 2018. Originally airing on beIN Sports USA, ''Fusion'' moved to MLW's YouTube channel in 202 ...

'', 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 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. 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", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

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 At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

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 wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Low Ki. He is known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, TNA Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Major ...

. 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 Natalia Class (born February 6, 1997) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, valet and actress better known by her ring name Salina de la Renta. She is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), where she works on-screen as the manager ...

. 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,

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 (

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 * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

on Havoc. Brazil then wrapped barbed wire on Hughes, who hit a

big splash Big Splash could refer to: * ''The Big Splash'' (book), (1990) by Louis A. Frank and Patrick Huyghe * ''The Big Splash'' (film), a 1935 British comedy film *Big Splash, an alternate name for the giant impact hypothesis The giant-impact hypothe ...

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 signed to both New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was the inaugural and longest reigning NJPW Strong Openw ...

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