Tag: jacob fatu

MLW Fusion results: Microman vs. Sam Adonis, Salina de la Renta returns

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Fusion was taped at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

Ichiban defeated TJ Crawford

This was Ichiban’s first match on Fusion after making his debut at Fury Road by defeating Tracy Williams. Crawford has made a few appearances for MLW so far, all losing efforts. This was a good match to showcase the ability of both and give Ichiban a solid win.

Ichiban is crisp and has a good rapport with the fans. Crawford got the heat by faking an eye injury to delay Ichiban on the top rope, followed by him then crotching the high-flying striker. He hit a nice double underhook sit-down slam but arrogantly went for a cover that Ichiban easily kicked out of.

Ichiban fought back with a stunner, handspring elbow and springboard dropkick. His momentum was stopped, but only momentarily, as he got a close nearfall after a crossbody.

They exchanged strikes until Ichiban hit a long satellite DDT before getting the crowd to chant “one” (Ichiban is Japanese for number one) as he leapt and hit his jumping downward spiral to pick up the win.

As Crawford was leaving, a hooded figure came out and whispered something in his ear before walking off together. 

– Backstage, Mance Warner and the Second Gear Crew hyped up Microman and gave him their favorite weapons to use against Sam Adonis. After the match, Warner promised Coronas and “bonitas mamacitas.” 

Sam Leterna then interviewed Adonis who called himself Mexico’s top box office attraction and Mexico’s top draw. He says he is going to teach Microman some respect.

B3CCA defeated Tiara James

B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh at Fury Road to become the number 1 contender to Delmi Exo’s MLW Featherweight title. Love Doug, who is smitten with B3CCA, joined the commentary team with roses for her but she brushed him off each time he tried to get her attention.

James looked good here with a crossbody, gut buster and a running senton. Later, a spinebuster got her a close two count.

B3CCA took advantage and hit a middle rope dropkick and a running big boot in the corner. Her arrogance nearly got the better of her as James was able to sneak in a schoolgirl but she came back with an eye rake and her impressive top rope 450 splash to pick up the win.

After the match, she wanted the camera to follow her and not show Love Doug as he tried to get her attention.

– Salina de la Renta returned to MLW at Fury Road and tonight, we heard from The Empresaria. She told Leterna, who she thought was former MLW interviewer Alicia Atout, that she was behind the disappearance of Cesar Duran, Taya Valkyrie and John Hennigan. She promised to continue dropping bombshells.

– Leterna was earning her keep tonight as she then interviewed Jacob Fatu about his upcoming match with Minoru Suzuki at MLW Slaughterhouse on October 14th. De la Renta interrupted and threatened Fatu after what he did to her at 2020’s SuperFight in his match against LA Park.

Microman vs. Sam Adonis went to a no contest

This had the usual Microman comedy spots with Adonis making fun of his height, plus the usual heat spots with Adonis bullying and teasing to tear off the mask.

Adonis got the heat with a big boot and brought a chair into the ring to repeat what he did last week. Instead, Microman dropped Adonis with a drop toe hold onto the chair and was closing in on victory when Snisky (the former Snitksy) ran out and pulled the referee out for the disqualification.

Snisky backed Microman into the corner and threatened to punt Microman but the Second Gear Crew ran out to save Microman for the second week in a row. They hoisted Microman to the top rope and he splashed Adonis for good measure. They all then shared a beer to celebrate getting one over MSL and his World Titan Federation.

– MLW Champion Alex Kane held a press conference where he questioned who his next opponent was, saying Tom Lawlor ignored his offer to cash in his automatic rematch clause. MSL then interrupted and Kane said he would choke out Davey Boy Smith Jr. again if he had to.

– The Calling were in the house and as Fusion was going off the air, we saw them brawling backstage with the Second Gear Crew who had a little help from Jimmy Lloyd.

Next week:

  • Don King appears

Minoru Suzuki to face Jacob Fatu at MLW Slaughterhouse

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Minoru Suzuki now has an opponent for his MLW debut.

MLW has confirmed that Suzuki will face Jacob Fatu at the promotion’s Slaughterhouse event in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 14. The show is airing live on Fite+.

A partnership between MLW and NJPW was announced last month. On the most recent episode of MLW Fusion, Fatu responded to the news that Suzuki would be debuting for MLW at Slaughterhouse. Fatu called out Suzuki to face him.

“Last week on Fusion Fatu laid down the challenge, calling out Suzuki — and the ‘King of Pro Wrestling’ was delighted to accept and cautions there will be no mercy as these two fight for the first time ever,” MLW wrote.

Fatu is a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion and a former MLW National Openweight Champion.

The MLW-NJPW partnership began at Fury Road earlier this month. At that show, KUSHIDA made his MLW debut by defeating Tony Deppen.

Slaughterhouse is taking place at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. This is the first match that’s been made official for the show.

MLW Fusion results: wXw title defense, Snitsky returns

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Fusion was taped at Philadelphia’s famous 2300 Arena in July with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

At the end of the Kiss My Foot match at Fury Road, Mance Warner bit MSL’s foot instead of kissing it and tonight, MSL promised revenge against the entire Second Gear Crew at the hands of Matt Cardona.

Snisky defeated Yoscifer El

MSL introduced former WWE wrestler Snitsky, now going by Snisky, as the latest member of his World Titan Federation and he took no time to destroy El. A clothesline and a chokeslam was enough to put him away, but the focus was on Snisky joining forces with MSL. As EL was being stretchered out, MSL instructed his new charge to attack him again and give him another beating.

– The next big event on the MLW calendar is Slaughterhouse on October 14th which will feature the MLW debut of Minoru Suzuki. Now that New Japan talent is free to appear in MLW, Jacob Fatu called him out.

The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black) and Microman defeated Jesus Rodriguez and The FBI (Little Guido & Ray Jazz)

The FBI and Rodriguez interrupted Matt Striker before the match to introduce themselves and to get some easy heat before the faces came out to a nice ovation from the Philadelphia crowd.

Rodriguez is the latest foe of Microman, taking umbrage at being shown up in this year’s Battle Riot. FBI had some comedy spots double-teaming Microman, but it was always Rodriguez who came in to get the real heat by flooring Microman with stiff kicks.

Black got the hot tag and both the action, and quality, increased tenfold. Black hit a spin kick and a tiger feint kick on Jazz and Lyon hit a middle rope springboard moonsault for a close two count.

Black saved Lyon from an FBI attack and then hit a 3D into an X-Factor on Guido before Microman hit a middle rope Vader bomb through a circus hoop to pick up the pinfall.

After the match, Sam Adonis came out and distracted Microman by accusing him of things from when they were both in Mexico together. But the distraction was used to bring Snisky out who chokeslammed The Mane Event, punted some dolls into the crowd and threatened to punt Microman too. The Second Gear Crew then ran out to make the save and send Adonis, Snisky and MSL (who had come out with Snisky) to the back. Adonis will take on Microman next week.

– We saw a special All Access look at the MLW Champion Alex Kane who was out of character talking through his rough childhood, emotionally talking through his earlier suicidal thoughts and telling us that wrestling saved him. His recent popularity swing was highlighted and if any doubts were remaining, this video cemented that Kane is now a babyface.

wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion Shigehiro Irie defeated Calvin Tankman to retain the title

Earlier in the night, Tankman called himself one of the biggest, baddest and heaviest hitters in MLW but he is still looking for his first singles championship.

This got some time and built to a good finish that had the crowd growing with interest throughout. I felt it had similarities to the Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs AEW All Out match with two big men hitting each other hard.

The hard-hitting chops and strikes began early as the action spilled to the outside. Tankman caught the champion and hit a nice powerslam on the apron as Irie had draped him backfirst across the middle rope. A big splash followed for a two count.

Irie got a boot up which seemed to rock Tankman. The match broke down into a striking battle that finished with Irie dropping a clobbering hammer first on a fallen Tankman. Tankman later found himself sitting on the apron and Irie came running and took them both to the floor with a sliding elbow.

Tankman came back with a spinning elbow and a pump handle slam to bring the momentum back in his favor. After shrugging off a rear choke attempt, Tankman hit a pop-up back elbow and a power bomb for a two-count. Tankman quickly hit his hard back elbow to the back of Irie’s head, but the champion had enough left to block a Tankman Driver.

Irie used the momentary opening to hit a hard clothesline to the back of the head, a somersault senton as Tankman was draped on the middle rope and two Beast Bomber clotheslines to put Tankman down and retain his title. Both eventually shook hands after they had recovered from the brutal match.

Next week:

  • Sam Adonis vs. Microman

Minoru Suzuki to make MLW debut at Slaughterhouse

Posted on by Ian Carey

Minoru Suzuki is headed to MLW. 

The news was announced at MLW Fury Road on Saturday night from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. Suzuki has never wrestled for the promotion. 

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1698480873945829757

MLW announced a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling at the end of August. KUSHIDA wrestling on last night’s show kickstarted talent-sharing between the two companies. KUSHIDA defeated Tony Deppen in his first MLW match at Fury Road. 

Salina de la Renta is back in MLW. She was revealed as the mystery guest during Sessions By Saint Laurent on Saturday’s show. The 26-year-old has been gone from the promotion since May 2021 after being written off television in an angle with Dario Cueto. Her Promociones Dorado stable will be starting back up as well. 

“Salina de La Renta is the founder of Promociones Dorado, an organization that acts as a pipeline to the stars of Latin America for sports leagues, TV and film in the United States and abroad,” reads an MLW press release. 

“In 2021, Salina brokered a deal with Cesar Duran. One which costs her dearly. For the past 2 years her whereabouts have been uncertain, but many believe “El Jefe” had something to do with it… until he himself was ruthlessly removed from power by an unknown assailant. Was it Salina? Only time will tell.”

A title change kicked off MLW Fury Road 2023 as well. Rickey Shane Page is the new MLW National Openweight Champion after defeating Jacob Fatu for the belt. RSP becomes the sixth wrestler to win the title since its inception in 2019. Fatu’s reign comes to an end after two successful defenses and 150 days spent with the title. 

Also on the show, Matt Cardona won his promotional debut against Mance Warner. B3CCA has earned a shot at Delmi Exo’s World Featherweight Championship after she defeated Maki Itoh. In Saturday’s main event, the Bomaye Fight Club’s Alex Kane retained his MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Willie Mack. 

MLW Fury Road 2023 results:

  • Rickey Shane Page defeated Jacob Fatu to win the MLW National Openweight Championship
  • B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh to become the #1 Contender to the MLW Featherweight Championship
  • Matt Cardona w/Mister Saint Laurent defeated Mance Warner
  • Ichiban defeated Tracy Williams
  • KUSHIDA defeated Tony Deppen
  • MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane w/Mr. Thomas defeated Willie Mack to retain his title

MLW held Fusion tapings following the show. Spoilers for the show are below, via Cagematch.net. 

  • The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) defeated The Calling (Talon & Cannonball)
  • Love Doug defeated Little Guido
  • MLW Middleweight Champion AKIRA defeated Jimmy Lloyd in a street fight to retain his title
  • Matt Cardona defeated 1 Called Manders
  • Ichiban defeated Nolo Kitana
  • Alex Kane defeated Snitsky
  • Tiara James defeated Zayda Steel
  • TJ Crawford defeated Alec Price and Kevin Blackwood in a triple-threat match
  • Bomaye Fight Club (J Boujii & Mr. Thomas) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black)
  • AKIRA vs. Matthew Justice went to a no-contest

MLW Fusion results: Jacob Fatu vs. AKIRA, NJPW partnership revealed

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia at the famous 2300 Arena in July with Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker on the call. 

The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) defeated The Calling (Delirious & Talon) and The Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) in a three-way to become the no. 1 contenders for the MLW Tag Team titles

Talon was debuting here but was wearing a gas mask to hide his identity. Nothing was mentioned regarding his team competing for the no. 1 contendership in their first match, but they tried to explain it by saying The Calling want to dominate the tag team scene.

Delirious and Talon took control early after initially disappearing backstage only to jump the babyfaces moment later.

Justice and Anoa’i dove to the floor early and Talon was taken out after a Michinoku Driver from Finau and a top rope splash from Anoa’i. Delirious was on the receiving end of a big Samoan drop from Finau, which led to the babyfaces squaring off.

Second Gear Crew launched Anoa’i out of the ring onto Finau, then finished off The Calling with a top rope power slam by Manders and a top rope splash by Justice to pick up the pinfall win. With that, they are now the new top contenders for the titles held by The Calling’s Rickey Shane Page & AKIRA.

– After B3CCA attacked her with a guitar last week, we learned MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo will be out of action for 2-3 weeks while B3CCA will face the debuting Maki Itoh in a no. 1 contender’s match at Fury Road.

– The major announcement that has been building for several weeks was revealed to be a partnership between MLW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. The recent teaser was shown in full as the MLW and NJPW logos appeared from behind Earth with the Fury Road logo also hinting at more developments to come for that event.

– KUSHIDA had already been heavily hinted as appearing at September’s Fury Road, and it was confirmed here via the new partnership. He will be in action against Tony Deppen.

Willie Mack defeated Ken Broadway, Love Doug, Nolo Kitano and O’Shay Edwards in a scramble match

This helped build to the big Mack vs. Alex Kane MLW title match at Fury Road with Edwards being the latest member of the Bomaye Fight Club to put a target on Mack’s back.

In his MLW debut, Edwards was slated as the powerhouse and caught Kitano and Doug as they launched themselves from the ring. It wasn’t until Mack came flying at him that Edwards finally fell.

Broadway, Kitano and Doug hit each other one after the other until Edwards came in and floored them all, culminating in a big delayed suplex on Broadway. 

Kitano is called “The Concrete Samurai” with kicks and escapes to match his character. He would fit perfectly in the middleweight division. Doug is a lovable comedy character who can turn it on and fight dirty when he needs to.

The main story of the match was the dominance of Edwards. He again bullied the pack (without Mack) and had to be attacked 4-on-1 to take him out of the equation with an avalanche superplex.

With Edwards out of the picture, Mack picked up the quick pinfall victory after a top rope splash to Broadway after he had planted Kitano with a face-first slam.

MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defeated MLW Openweight Champion AKIRA via disqualification

After going to a double disqualification last week with Rickey Shane Page, Fatu was scheduled to meet another member of The Calling here in AKIRA, but yet again The Calling were up to their usual tricks and the match ended prematurely.

AKIRA and Fatu got on the mic before the match. After security came out to temporarily block Fatu from entering the ring, AKIRA came off the top rope with a chair onto everyone.

They eventually got into the ring after a brawl on the outside with chairs. AKIRA reversed a pop-up Samoan drop attempt into a backslide for a close two count but Fatu came back with a superkick.

Some masked men from The Calling ran in for a disqualification, and the distraction allowed Page to run in with a barbed wire baseball bat which he then used to ram Fatu’s head into the ring post.

AKIRA and Page left the area as Fatu was left on the ringside floor grabbing at his face and eye. The commentary team speculated that a barb from the bat may have hit Fatu in the eye.

MLW Fusion results: Opera Cup finals, Jacob Fatu Openweight title defense

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia as part of April’s Battle Riot tapings with Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker on the call.

We opened with a recap of how we got to tonight’s main event for the Opera Cup with highlights from Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeating Calvin Tankman and Tracy Williams defeating Tony Deppen in the tournament semifinals.

MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Rickey Shane Page went to a double disqualification

In recent weeks, Page and The Calling have taken out Fatu’s bloodline of Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’i in backstage attacks. This week, Fatu was out for revenge but also to keep his National Openweight title.

Fatu wasn’t waiting and opened this bloody fistfight with a dive through the ropes as Page was circling the ring for his entrance. A top rope senton bomb from the champion followed, as well as a triple jump springboard Arabian moonsault. Page came back with a running crossbody and, after a break, slammed Fatu onto a chair.

The brutality and gruesomeness were turned up a few notches as Page used a screwdriver to repeatedly jab into the sole of Fatu’s foot, followed by him piercing Fatu’s cheek with it and then biting Fatu’s toes. The final act broke the Philadelphia crowd into a “You sick f*ck” chant.

But the champion was not down for long. In true Samoan fashion, he no-sold a drop-toe hold onto a chair in a nice callback to the old ECW days. Fatu took out Page with another dive to the floor and came off the top again with a crossbody. Fatu’s handspring moonsault followed to continue the high flying and aerial display from the champion.

Raven distracted Fatu, which allowed Page to throw a chair at his head, but his sick idea of dropping Fatu on a sideways chair backfired as Fatu reversed and hit Page with a pop-up Samoan drop onto it instead. That looked brutal.

An “ECW” chant broke out at the sight of a table being set up in the ring. More chairs were used to set up Fatu on the table. Page then climbed to the top rope and hit a huge jumping senton, squashing both Fatu and the table, but that only got a two count.

In a match where weapons were allowed, we got a double DQ after both Page and Fatu shoved down the referee — a sensible finish for setting up their next weapons match but a confusing one given that the match had no disqualifications.

The two will square off in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match at September’s Fury Road streaming special.

– The teases we have seen in recent weeks will come to a head next week. We will see what worlds will collide, we will enter the realm and see kingdoms collide. This could be connected to a special announcement that will also take place next week.

– Matt Cardona cut a poolside promo on his Fury Road opponent Mance Warner. Cardona said he is not coming to take anyone’s spot because he already has his own at the top and the rest of the locker room can jump on his back.

MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo defeated Paris Van Dale to retain

B3CCA has been desperate to get a title match against Exo. This week, she interrupted Exo’s pre-match interview with Sam Leterna but the champion shot her down, saying she needs to earn her shot and not continue this delusional dream.

This was quite short, but displayed what Exo can do in a short space of time. She hit some machine gun chops, a fisherman’s suplex and, after a short comeback from Van Dale, her Delmi Driver to retain her title.

B3CCA continued her campaign, but took it to a different level as she attacked Exo with a guitar as she was leaving the ringside area.

– We saw another tease for KUSHIDA coming in. This time the dates set on the Delorean were August 17 (for this episode of Fusion), September 3 (Fury Road) and May 12, 1983 (KUSHIDA’s birthday). 

– Ahead of their MLW heavyweight title match at Fury Road on September 3rd, Alex Kane accused Willie Mack of not taking his match seriously by mocking his weight. Kane then teased a warm-up match against someone in Mexico. Kane already wrestled Delirious from the Mexico tapings two weeks ago, so will there be another warmup match for the champion before Mack gets his shot?

Davey Boy Smith Jr. (w/ Mister Saint Laurent) defeated Tracy Williams to win the 2023 Opera Cup tournament

The crowd booed Smith and taunted him with “Microman” chants as we started. Smith turned heel recently and aligned himself with MSL by attacking Microman.

Williams initially used some speed to out-wrestle Smith as well as focusing on Smith’s bandaged knee that he injured during his first round match against Tankman.

Striker’s tongue once again made him sound like a fool saying Smith’s new look of denim jeans was a tribute to Brian Pillman and Bret Hart… to which Bocchini corrected him saying it’s actually a homage to his dad, the British Bulldog.

If you ignore Striker trying to take away the focus from what is in the ring, the action was very good. It picked up with a forearm battle but the larger Smith eventually got the advantage, hitting a suplex and then an impressive top rope leg drop for a close two count.

Smith hit his Bulldog powerslam but couldn’t fully take advantage as he landed on his injured knee. Williams got a foot on the ropes to break the pinfall followed by a tilt-a-whirl Fujiwara armbar but quickly transitioned to an ankle lock. Smith powered out and snapped back into control with a quick power slam.

Smith then hit the power bomb he couldn’t land earlier. The referee counted to two and it looked like Williams just raised his shoulder off in time but it wasn’t clear. Smith quickly transitioned to a crossface and Williams tapped out. There was potentially a miscommunication at the finish, but they quickly recovered.

This was good but threatened to be ruined by Striker on commentary.

Leterna interviewed MSL and Smith on the stage as the crowd booed them both. MSL called Philadelphia a sh*thole and insulted the women of the city. They want to hold next year’s tournament in Canada but more importantly, they sent out a challenge saying they want the MLW heavyweight title

Next Week:

  • A special announcement
  • Willie Mack will take on Ken Broadway, Love Doug, Nolo Kitano and O’Shay Edwards in a scramble match

Court Bauer: MLW taking Jacob Fatu charity no-show allegations ‘very seriously’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Court Bauer has commented on the recent allegations regarding MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu. 

Nonprofit organization Jake’s Network of Hope alleges Fatu no-showed their event last month and has not returned money he was pre-paid to wrestle on the show. The nonprofit says Fatu has “ghosted” them since.  

Bauer told In The Weeds recently that MLW is monitoring the situation. 

“What I can say is that we’re watching it very carefully. We take it very seriously. Fatu books himself on third-party shows, we have no involvement with that but it’s something we’ve had meetings on and we’re watching carefully and we’re continuing to monitor it and learn more about it,” Bauer said

“I think a lot of us, probably, work with charities, so when you see something like that, how does it make you feel? So, that’s something that we are genuinely watching,” he continued. 

Fatu has not commented on the allegations from Jake’s Network of Hope. However, the Wisconsin-based nonprofit told NBC that a famous member of the Anoa’i/Fatu family reached out and promised to attend the fundraising event next year. 

Fatu recently won the MLW National Openweight Championship. He is scheduled to defend the title on Saturday at Never Say Never against Calvin Tankman. The show will be the first live event for MLW as part of the FITE+ program. 

Jacob Fatu accused of no-showing charity event, not returning payment

Posted on by Ian Carey

A Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization is saying Jacob Fatu no-showed a charity wrestling event and has not returned money he was pre-paid for the show. 

Representatives for Jake’s Network of Hope spoke with NBC 26 news on Thursday and alleged Fatu has “ghosted” them after failing to appear at its Hits For Hope fundraiser in April. 

“Jacob called and said that there was a family emergency. We gave him the benefit of the doubt. At Jake’s, we are 100% about family and I said, ‘if you can’t make it, that’s fine,’” said Jake’s Network of Hope Director of Development, Jenn Harper.

“We rescheduled the flight that he missed originally, and about an hour after that flight took off, we were made aware from him that he wasn’t coming. After that, he ghosted us, he ghosted the production team that puts together the wrestling show, and he ghosted the person that booked him for us,” Harper said.

Harper continued to say the organization had already pre-paid Fatu $1030 for the appearance. They also spent $548 on his hotel, $657 on his initial flight, $348 on the rescheduled flight, which Harper says was made at his request, and an additional $50 on posters for him to autograph at the show. The total amount the organization says it is out as a result is $2633. 

Harper also said that a “major name” from Fatu’s family reached out to her regarding the incident and promised to attend the nonprofit’s event next year. Jacob Fatu is the son of Samuel Fatu (The Tonga Kid/Tama) and is part of the Anoaʻi family dynasty. However, Harper did not reveal who from Fatu’s family contacted her. 

“It was kind of really out of the blue to get a phone call from somebody of that magnitude to say, ‘hey, what can we do? How can we help?’” Harper said.

The nonprofit organization continued to say they were inspired to speak out about the incident after reading of others who had similar experiences with Fatu. NBC is reporting Pro Wrestling KING in South Bend, Indiana is also alleging Fatu ghosted them in regard to a show on June 3. 

“That’s why at Jake’s we decided that we wanted to speak up alongside of these organizations, so that this didn’t continue to happen to other people,” Harper said.

Fatu is featured in promotional material for the Hits for Hope fundraiser alongside Billy Gunn, Brian Pillman Jr, Tatanka, and Vampiro, who all worked the event. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNs0r9ZQaUc

MLW Fusion live results: Jacob Fatu wins National Openweight title

Posted on by Josh Nason

This week’s MLW Fusion was taped during April’s War Chamber event from New York City’s Melrose Ballroom with Joe Dombrowski & Matt Striker on commentary.

The show featured two title matches and one title change as former MLW Champion Jacob Fatu defeated John Hennigan to take home his first Openweight Championship. 

MLW Tag Team Champions Samoan SWAT Team defeated The Mane Event and The FBI in a three-way to retain the titles

The Main Event (the masked Jay Lyon & Midas Black) are Northeast indie regulars and are very good with an entertaining act and some good combo work. One of those moves includes Black holding a hoop up through the second rope for Lyon to do a tope through.

That move was part of a sequence where all six men ended up on the outside of the ring via a variety of dives punctuated by SST’s Lance Anoa’i doing his own tope. The FBI’s Little Guido and Ray Jaz tried their best overcome the size of SST’s Juicy Finau to little effect.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1672033476101525505

The SST picked up the win and title defense with a Anoa’i frog splash (Samoan plunge) on Lyon for the win. This was an entertaining quick match.

– A well-done vignette for new MLW Middleweight Champion AKIRA and his Calling factionmates ran. They are calling out the Samons and said, among other things, that the Usos aren’t coming to help them.

– MSL confronted someone backstage about how royalties for Microman should go directly to him and not Microman. Davey Boy Smith Jr. then walked by and MSL chased after him.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1672034482684305408

– Footage aired of an irate Taya Valkyrie backstage after last week’s Featherweight title loss to Delmi Exo. Since this match was taped, she has competed for the AEW TBS title twice and had six total AEW matches.

– John Hennigan and Sam Adonis were each fined $2500 after their attack on Mance Warner last week. Warner then did a promo saying he wants Adonis in a leather strap match where he will bring Adonis to death’s door. That is set for next week.

Microman (w/ MSL) defeated Beastman (w/ Kim Chee)

This was a comedy match due to the sheer size difference. I have some long-standing questions about who owns the Kim Chee IP that I may need to do research on. I also didn’t realize Beastman was that active on the indie scene in the Mid-Atlantic/Ohio area. The things you learn on the Internet.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1672036999203803136

Beastman got distracted by accidentally knocking Kim Chee off the ropes and Microman then hit him low with Kim Chee’s stick which led to a very slow running spinning DDT that got him the win. This was awful.

– Davey Boy Smith Jr. was announced as the first entrant for the 2023 Opera Cup tourney but Alex Kane was banned due to him stealing the Cup earlier this year. Later, Kane couldn’t believe he was banned from the Oprah Cup (!), saying it was a conspiracy. He’s going to get revenge with next week’s Big Apple Grapple II: The Search for More Hoes (seriously!) and hopes his Never Say Never opponent — MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone will be there to watch. Kane is a pretty good talker.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1672038760748580865

– New for the Never Say Never event on July 8th: MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo will defend her title in against wXw Women’s Champion Ava Everett in a title vs. title match; MLW Tag Team Champions Samoan SWAT Team face The Calling’s AKIRA & Rickey Shane Page in a fans bring the weapons match; Timothy Thatcher vs. Tracy Williams and a live musical performance by B3CCA.

Jacob Fatu defeated John Hennigan (w/ Taya Valkyrie) to win the MLW National Openweight title

Adonis was on with commentary and did a really good job. He is also a very good talker and has a career doing it after his in-ring days are done.

This one went nearly 18 minutes and was slow going in the early stages. Valkyrie got involved several times, including in the ring early in front of the referee as a distraction, which gave her man the advantage. I do agree with Bryan Alvarez that companies should get away from doing that unless it’s going to be a DQ.

Hennigan (fka John Morrison) was doing his best to avoid Fatu’s power which didn’t go so well at the midway point in an extended beatdown around the outside of the ring. Hennigan eventually regained the advantage using his kicks and rest holds on the former MLW Champion.

Fatu was relentless, hitting a big tope to the outside, a big splash from the top, and his signature running handspring moonsault for a nearfall. 

Then, things got wild.

Hennigan rallied and missed Starship Pain which brought Adonis to ringside. He distracted Fatu and Hennigan brought in a chair. As the ref took care of that, Valkyrie nailed Fatu with the title belt followed by a roll-up for a close nearfall.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1672042535697502209

That brought out Delmi Exo to offset Valkyrie while Warner attacked Adonis at the broadcast booth. The Calling were then shown brawling with Lance Anoa’i backstage and meanwhile, Fatu hit his moonsault for a nearfall thanks to Valkyrie pulling out the referee. Again, something that should be a DQ.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1672042787305340930

Juicy Finau then showed up to ringside to aid Exo who couldn’t handle Valkyrie on her own (but she just won the title so…). Back inside the ring, Hennigan nailed Fatu with a big kick to reset things. CHAOTIC, I SAY.

Hennigan unloaded his arsenal and hit Starship Pain for another nearfall which stunned him. 

Fatu rallied yet again and hit his Alley Use Samoan Drop followed by his finishing (and impressive) double spring moonsault to win the title. This turned out to be pretty entertaining when it was all said and done. He becomes the first MLW wrestler to hold both the main and Openweight titles.

Fatu then took the mic and said on behalf of the bloodline, he wanted to thank the fans. They are REALLY leaning into the WWE stuff.

Next Week:

  • Alex Kane’s Big Apple Grapple II
  • Mance Warner vs. Sam Adonis leather strap match

MLW Underground results: Hammerstone vs. Jacob Fatu title match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Underground was from action taped in February and saw both the MLW title and Featherweight titles on the line. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on the call.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Jacob Fatu to retain the title

This match has been building ever since Fatu won last year’s Battle Riot and it did not disappoint. Early on, the commentators planted the seeds as they revealed Hammerstone has never been able to hit his finisher on the mighty Fatu. Not only did Hammerstone hit it, but had to hit it twice to put the resilient “Samoan Werewolf” away.

Fatu out strong, but it was the champion who ended up hitting a plancha to the floor and then dropping Fatu headfirst on the apron. Fatu was the clear fan favorite as they cheered on his comeback and booed the champion’s advances.

Hammerstone had “RH” on his wrist tape in a message to past rival/teammate Richard Holliday who is out of action fighting non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After a break, the champion hit Fatu with an exploder suplex into the corner to start his hulking-up comeback.

Hammerstone hit a running kick, a belly-to-belly release suplex and a Northern Lights suplex for a two count but moments later, he was knocked over the top rope to the floor after a suplex.

Fatu then had a burst of high-flying moves as he hit a headfirst dive through the ropes, a moonsault from the middle rope to the floor, and then a top rope senton bomb inside the ring.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638364692019118080

The pace quickened and the moves intensified. Hammerstone hit a big running clothesline and a death valley driver on the ring apron. Inside the ring, he entered by jumping three-quarters of the way across with a huge jumping dropkick and a TKO in a callback to their last match where Hammerstone used that move to win the title. However, Fatu kicked out at the last minute.

Fatu hit his pop-up Samoan drop and his springboard top rope moonsault, but the champion also kicked out at the last minute.

The referee was letting things slide a bit as the commentators told us there had to be a winner. A chair was brought in by Fatu, but it ended up in the hands of the champion who teased using it, but it took too much time and ate another superkick.

Fatu tried to capitalize with another top rope moonsault, but Hammerstone got his knees up and hit his Nightmare Pendulum, but Fatu kicked out to the shock of everyone in the arena.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638366588624592898

More weapons made their way into the ring as Hammerstone set up a wooden board in the corner of the ring. A quick exchange followed, but Fatu ended up getting thrown headfirst through the board with an overhead release German suplex.

Hammerstone then hit a second and final Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the win in a great match.

Afterward, there was a nice showing of respect between the two as Fatu raised the champion’s hand as the Philadelphia crowd did eventually come around to cheer the champion.

As Hammerstone started to celebrate, it was short-lived as the lights went out and Raven’s calling card attackers, known now as The Hive, circled the champion and beat him down. AKIRA and Ricky Shane Page got their shots in as six other masked men duct taped the champion to the ropes so they could get their shots in.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638376910131548161

– Sam Laterna welcomed Mance Warner to the stage, who quickly welcomed his friends the Second Gear Crew: 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice. Justice said they are there to take the Underground to a new level, but were interrupted by The Hive via the video wall. Warner said they were going to drink light beers and beat people up.

– This year’s Battle Riot will be shown on Reelz as that situation continues to develop.

– Laterna then interviewed Mister Saint Laurent who issued a challenge to Real1 on behalf of Microman in an attempt to get revenge for Real1’s bullying.

– There was a recap of Cesar Duran being kidnapped by his own henchmen last week. This week, Taya Valkyrie and John Hennigan tried to get answers from MLW management, but were told they would be breaching their contract if she didn’t get to the ring for her match.

MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/ Sam Adonis and John Hennigan) defeated Billie Starkz to retain the title

Valkyrie looked to be taking Starkz lightly early on, but soon changed her tune as the challenger took she and Hennigan out with three consecutive dives to the floor. But Valkyrie was right back on top as Hennigan pushed Starkz off the top rope behind the referee’s back.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638373477844484096

Valkyrie sent Starkz headfirst into the ring post before taking control and landing knees first on Starkz’s face in the corner. The commentators talked up Starkz being the youngest person to headline Korakuen Hall as she fired up with a spinning kick and a German suplex.

Starkz kicked Valkyrie before dropping her with a Gory bomb. Hennigan got on the apron again and distracted Starkz briefly before being kicked off by the smarter challenger.

Valkyrie then came close with a curb stomp but when she attempted her Road to Valhalla finisher, Starkz rolled through and got a close two count of her own. Starkz continued with another spin kick but was quickly caught and dropped with a successful Road to Valhalla, giving Valkyrie the win.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638374797963829250

After the match, Laterna asked Valkyrie where Duran was but Valkyrie just pleaded for the fans to call their number (1-900-Lucha) “and bring my Jefe home.”

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1638375762834214919

Next week:

  • Real1 vs. Microman

MLW Underground results: Alex Hammerstone title defense

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia, PA, with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.

Jacob Fatu defeated Lio Rush

We immediately opened with action as Rush dove to the outside before Fatu could make his way inside the ring. Rush hit a moonsault off the apron to kickstart a fast-paced opening which saw the NJPW star dodge and evade the former MLW Champion. The Samoan eventually caught Rush coming off the middle rope, swinging him around and planting him with an impressive swinging uranage.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone was on commentary hyping up his title match with Fatu coming up in two weeks. He talked about Fatu’s speed, his own injury history, and Fatu’s Battle Riot win last year.

Inside the ring, Fatu’s impressive strength and speed had the crowd chanting “That was Ucey” which Fatu acknowledged and told the Philadelphia crowd, “I am the bloodline!”

Rush kept coming back and tried to chop down Fatu time and time again, but Fatu kept overpowering him, even sending him crashing through the buckles to the floor after a whip to the corner.

Rush eventually hit his top rope crossbody and a bottom rope springboard stunner, but Rush went to the sky too many times as Fatu moved out of another attempt and took Rush’s head off with a superkick. Fatu’s handspring moonsault followed for a near fall.

It looked like Fatu had things in control, but when Rush reversed a pop-up Samoan drop into a poisonrana, there was a slight chance an upset could be in the cards. But the story of the match was Rush going to the well too many times, and when he let Fatu recover before running the ropes, Fatu caught him and eventually hit his pop-up Samoan drop. 

With Rush flattened, Fatu hit his double spring top rope moonsault to pick up the big win and clear the path for the Hammerstone match. After the match, Fatu told Hammerstone the belt was coming back to him and there was another pull-apart brawl between them both as the announcers hammered home the hype for their title fight.

– Backstage, Sam Adonis introduced Cesar Duran who then introduced Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie and new National Openweight Champion John Hennigan who he said “are dripping in gold.”

Billington Bulldogs (Mark & Thomas Billington) defeated Bomaye Fight Club (Myron Reed & Mr. Thomas)

Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s shot at Alex Kane was on the line here via their respective teams. Kane brought the Hart family’s Opera Cup to ringside as he joined the commentary team.

Reed and Thomas jumped the Bulldogs before the bell, but were quickly on the receiving end of a firm shoulderblock and crisp snap suplex from Thomas and a top rope moonsault to the floor by Mark going into the break.

After the break, Reed cut off Mark and Thomas threw him halfway across the ring with an overhead belly-to-back suplex. There was another massive back body drop as Thomas threw Mark through the air again which looked incredible.

The shortest member of the match (Thomas) slammed the tallest (Thomas) which was another impressive moment in the match. As the match was reaching its conclusion, Kane was getting more and more animated and concerned. But his interference attempt was thwarted by Smith Jr. who came to ringside to help his cousins keep it two on-two.

Mark backflipped away from Thomas and dropkicked him in the gut. He then hoisted him up for Mark to hit the Hart Attack dropkick from the top rope to pick up the huge win.

– Backstage, Real1 was in a wheelchair and enraged after being run over last week by Mance Warner. Real1 is threatening to sue Court Bauer and Warner.

– Before their tag title defense next week, EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman were supposed to be talking about their title defense, but instead, Nduka wanted to talk about Fatu and his recent shots at the MLW title. Tankman didn’t like what he was hearing so he turned Nduka’s attention back to their match. They seemed to be on the same page as the promo came to a close, but with Nduka’s recent reputation, I wouldn’t expect that to be the case next week.

– Warner was backstage with Microman and had some words for the Calling Card Attackers who took out Microman last week. Warner challenged any of them to a one-on-one fight next week.

– We then supposedly got the identity of the Calling Card Attackers as Raven, Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA appeared in a hype video with the same gas masks men and symbols that have been synonymous with the attacks. The commentary team questioned who of the attackers will be stepping up to face Warner next week.

MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Lance Anoa’i (w/ Juicy Finau and Jacob Fatu) went to a no contest

Fatu joined Striker and Dombrowski on commentary to have his shot at hyping up the title match, but within moments, he and Hammerstone came face-to-face for another pull-apart brawl. The referee had no choice but to call for the bell and call this a no contest.

Nduka and Tankman joined the brawl and got a few cheap shots in on Finau and Anoa’i. The next two weeks could be a momentous time for the Fatu and Anoa’i families as next week, the Samoan SWAT Team get their MLW Tag Team title shot while in two weeks Fatu has his MLW title rematch.

Next week on MLW Underground:

  • MLW Tag Team Champions Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka defend against the Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i)
  • Mance Warner has an open challenge to the Calling Card Attackers

Morrison vs. Fatu title match set for MLW War Chamber tapings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Jacob Fatu is getting a National Openweight Championship shot at MLW’s next set of television tapings.

It was announced today that John Hennigan (the former John Morrison) will defend his National Openweight title against Fatu at MLW War Chamber on Thursday, April 6. The show is taking place at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City.

This will be the first time Hennigan and Fatu have ever faced each other one-on-one. They took part in a triple threat match against each other for indie promotion All Pro Wrestling in 2019.

At MLW Blood & Thunder this January, Hennigan won the National Openweight Championship from Davey Richards. That match aired on MLW Underground last week.

Fatu is a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion but has never held the National Openweight title.

Here’s the updated card for the War Chamber tapings:

  • MLW National Openweight Champion John Hennigan defends against Jacob Fatu
  • MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie defends against Delmi Exo
  • Mandy Leon makes her MLW debut

World title match announced for MLW SuperFight

Posted on by Ian Carey

An MLW Championship rematch has been announced for Superfight. 

Alexander Hammerstone will defend his title against former champion Jacob Fatu on the show. 

MLW Superfight takes place February 4, 2023 from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena and will be filmed for future episodes of Fusion. Hammerstone vs. Fatu is the only match announced for the card thus far. 

Hammerstone defeated Fatu to win the MLW World Championship in their first match on October 2, 2021 at MLW Fightland, which also took place in the former ECW Arena. 

From MLW.com:

The biggest rivalry in MLW is finally getting the rematch to the biggest title fight in MLW history as Hammerstone vs. Fatu 2 is set to main event SuperFight’23, an event worthy of such a colossal championship clash.

Having won Battle RIOT IV in New York City last year, Fatu secured a title shot anytime, anywhere and with the date and location confirmed, Fatu and Hammerstone rumble for the biggest prize in the sport on the line.

In the 466 days Hammerstone has been champion he’s defended the belt 13 times. The 819 days Fatu spent with the title from July 6, 2019 until October 2, 2021 is the longest reign in the title’s lineage but much of it occurred when the company was not running shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After defeating our own Tom Lawlor for the belt at Kings of Colisseum 2019 Fatu successfully defended it 10 times before dropping the title to Hammerstone. 

 

MLW Fightland spoilers: Title change, Jacob Fatu vs. Lio Rush

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The following are spoilers for future episodes of MLW Fusion.

MLW held their Fightland 2022 TV taping on Sunday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The event included one title change, plus a Jacob Fatu vs. Lio Rush main event.

Here are spoilers courtesy of PW Insider:

      • Jacob Fatu defeated Lio Rush
      • Fatu challenged Hammerstone to a match at Superfight, and Hammerstone entered for a physical angle with Fatu.
      • Alec Price defeated TJ Crawford
      • Trish Adora defeated Gia Scott
      • Micro Man & Lince Dorado defeated Delirious and Mini Abismo Negro
      • Street Fight: NZO defeated Mance Warner
      • Davey Boy Smith Jr. & The Billington Bulldogs defeated Bomaye Fight Club
      • Sam Adonis defeated “Johnny Trash”
      • Last Man Standing match: Alexander Hammerstone defeated EJ Nduka
      • Calvin Tankman defeated Willie Mack
      • MLW Featherweight Championship: Taya Valkyrie defeated Trish Adora to retain the title
      • Lance Anoai & Juicy Finau defeated Little Guido & Raz Jaz
      • MLW Middleweight Championship: Lince Dorado defeated Shun Skywalker to win the title
      • Mance Warner defeated NZO
      • Dr. Dax defeated Vinnie Pacifico

Lio Rush vs. Jacob Fatu set for MLW Fightland

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu will take on former MLW Middleweight Champion Lio Rush in a clash of styles at this month’s Fightland.

This will be the first time they have ever squared off in any match.

The TV taping will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, October 30th.

This will be Rush’s first MLW action since the spring of 2021 when he wrestled four matches on Fusion as part of their closed taping era. His last appearance was in a Middleweight title loss to Myron Reed.

Fatu has competed on MLW’s last two TV tapings, but the matches have yet to air anywhere. The company has yet to return to the air after taking a summer hiatus with a Monday PWInsider report claiming they are holding off on a return “pending the finalization of several new deals they are working on.”

Rush announced last Thursday that he was cleared to return to the ring after being out of action since January when he suffered an injury at PWG’s BOLA tournament. He has already been announced for this month’s RevPro British J-Cup.

The match is the second announced for Fightland, joining Calvin Tankman vs. Willie Mack.