Tag: mlw fusion results

MLW Fusion results: World Titan Federation vs. Bomaye Fight Club

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were taped at the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia earlier this month. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.

– Matt Cardona with Steph de Lander told us that he is going to walk out of his city, New York City, the MLW World Heavyweight champion because he is a man and Alex Kane is a little boy. He questioned what Kane could possibly do to him since he survived being thrown off the stage by Kane all those years ago.

Jimmy Lloyd defeated Cannonball in a Thumbtack Pit of Deathmatch

The thumbtack pit was set at the side of the ring similar to a casket match but we were not told how someone wins this match type. I’m guessing being thrown into the tack pit?

Cannonball used a flier to papercut Lloyd’s fingers and mouth before being on the end of a double knees to the face. Cannonball then pushed Lloyd’s forehead into the tacks, followed by rubbing a handful across the forehead and shoving a fistful into his mouth.

Lloyd reversed Cannonball and forced the masked man’s hand into the tack pit before hitting him and another Calling henchman with a dive.

They brawled to the back where Ricky Shane Page attacked Lloyd but AKIRA, who had recently split from Page and The Calling, came in to even the odds.

After a break, they brawled back to the ring where Cannonball absorbed four chair shots before falling off the apron and through the thumbtack pit to give the win to Lloyd. Lloyd will face The Calling’s Ricky Shane Page for the MLW National Openweight title at One Shot.

– After Mance Warner cut his farewell promo last week following his loss in a Loser Leaves MLW match at Fightland, 1 Called Manders was cutting an emotional promo about his lost friend when “Masked Good Brother #3” from last week came into the shot to cheer up Manders. MGB#3 was, of course, Mance Warner under a mask and is he still in MLW, phew!

Wasted Youth (Dylin McKay & Marcus Mathers) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyons & Midas Black) and Austin Luke & Lucky 13 in a Three Way Tag Team match.

Wasted Youth had the hometown advantage in this tornado tag rules match and they started strong hitting a great moonsault to Jay Lyons.

Luke and 13 were in next where 13 hit a nice jumping knee to get a close nearfall. The action was non-stop and full of tag team combinations, especially when The Mane Event were involved. Their attack culminated in Lyons hitting his circus hoop dive to all four opponents.

Luke hit a nice German suplex on Lyon and 13 came close to winning with a combo kick to the face of Midas Black.

Wasted Youth came back in with a double dropkick and double superkick. They then picked up the impressive debut by finishing off 13 with a Fireman’s carry roll, a top rope moonsault – followed immediately by a dive to the floor ala Rey Fenix- and a top rope 450 splash.

– After the match, Joe Dombrowski interviewed the winning pair. McKay said they have found the place with the hottest tag team division and where they will treat them with respect.

– We heard more details of Alex Hammerstone’s “release” from MLW and his joining the World Titan Federation before the WTF cut a ’90s WWF-style group promo in front of a green screen. Lawlor introduced Josh Bishop who told the Bomaye Fight Club to bow down to the man who rules the wrestling world. Hammerstone said that Bomaye is bogus marketing “BS” manufactured by MLW.

– Ahead of the One Shot match between Mascarada Dorada and Rocky Romero for the MLW Middleweight title, Salina de la Renta and Romero told us that Mascarada will need all the help they can get.

– Tony Deppen returned from suspension for attacking Kevin Blackwood weeks ago. Deppen will face Nolo Kitano in two weeks.

Zayda Steel defeated Gia Scott

After an equal opening exchange, Zayda raked the eyes to gain the advantage. Gia Scott came back with some strikes and a big kick to the face followed by a Book End ura nage for a close two count.

Zayda slipped out of a power slam and quickly used a single-leg takedown, jumped on top, and put her feet on the ropes to pick up the flash pinfall win.

Joe Dombrowski tried to interview Zayda Steel but Saint Laurent interrupted and made it a “Sessions by Saint Laurent”. Steel ended up receiving a WTF contract after Saint Laurent called her a Diva and a 10.

– Alex Kane responded to Matt Cardona ahead of their title match at One Shot. Kane said Cardona has been messing with his family for too long and will give Cardona a receipt for busting him open at Fightland. Kane said he will take Steph de Lander to Hoe Island, MSL to Fat Camp, and Cardona to Suplex Island.

– Our own “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will face Satoshi Kojima at One Shot in NYC on December 7, this week he told us that some people think Kojima is the best MLW world champion, but Lawlor told us all that he is the greatest champion in the company’s history and will send Kojima back home in a pine box.

– Saint Laurent then continued his homage to Vince McMahon by announcing the “Bodies by Saint Laurent” bodybuilding contest at One Shot with a special guest singing America the Beautiful before the competition.

World Titan Federation (Alex Hammerstone, Josh Bishop & Tom Lawlor w/Saint Laurent) defeated The Bomaye Fight Club (J Boujii, Mr Thomas & O’Shay Edwards)

Alex Kane was injured in last week’s main event so that explained why he was absent from the Bomaye Fight Club team this week.

Bomaye shone first by singling out Lawlor who was on the receiving end of Mr Thomas’ Bossman slam. Filthy quickly came back into the match and locked in a Sharpshooter before tagging in Bishop and Hammerstone who beat down J Boujii.

Hammerstone easily launched Boujii into the air with a press slam. Lawlor then wrenched the arm and whipped Boujii into Bishop who hit his own Bossman slam. Quick tags continued as Lawlor hit a hard right forearm to floor Boujii followed by a Bronco Buster.

Boujii came back with a German on Lawlor and a momentum-shifting DDT.

Mr. Thomas got the hot tag and launched his large frame off the apron on top of Bishop, clotheslined Lawlor out the ring, and hit a top rope flip dive to the floor onto everyone.

Back from the break, Boujii hit a springboard cutter to Lawlor and Thomas launched Boujii off the top with a rocket launcher. However, Bishop pushed Thomas into the pin to break it up.

Hammerstone then ran over Boujii before suplexing Thomas out of the ring. Lawlor and Bishop hit a double chokeslam to Boujii but Edwards made the save.

Bishop and Edwards brawled to the floor, leaving Boujii and Hammerstone in the ring. Hammer hit his pump kick and Nightmare Pendulum but let Lawlor sneak in to complete the pinfall victory for the World Titan Federation.

– After the match, the WTF put the boots to the Bomaye Fight Club as referees and officials tried to stop the attack. Alex Kane’s music hit for possibly the only man able to stop the attack but before he could make it to the ring, Cardona jumped Kane from behind and rammed him into the ring post. Bomaye Fight Club members tried to help but they were also knocked down and out of the ring.

– As Fusion was planning to go off the air the Bomaye Fight Club had one last fight in them and they launched a final attack as a team. They got the better of the WTF and Kane hit Cardona with a suplex to stand tall at the end of the show.

MLW Fusion on Thanksgiving results: Fallout from Fightland

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were taped at the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia last month. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on commentary.

After the shocking end to Fightland when Alex Hammerstone returned to MLW as part of the World Titan Federation, Hammerstone opened the episode by explaining that Court Bauer stopped taking his calls regarding his contract status so he aired his dirty laundry online. He said Saint Laurent did start taking his calls and ever since he started listening to him people are desperate to know what he is going to do next. He told us to wait and see.

TJ Crawford defeated Nolo Kitano

Crawford is in a storyline with Tony Deppen and Kevin Blackwood where Deppen is suspended for when he and Crawford attacked and injured Blackwood.

Kitano is without a win in MLW but has been impressive in the Middleweight division so far. This is only his second one-on-one contest.

Kitano flipped into the ring and hit a nice hurricanrana but was then distracted by a masked man who was more than likely the suspended Tony Deppen.

Crawford got the upper hand with a Codebreaker as Kitano hung over the middle rope but Nolo fought back with a shotgun dropkick, running double knees in the corner, a backbreaker and a heel kick. But when it looked like Kitano may pick up his first win in MLW, Griffin McCoy interfered which led to Crawford hitting his Silver Bullet spin kick to pick up the win.

– After the match, Crawford, McCoy and the masked man all celebrated on the ramp.

– After picking up a win at Fightland, we heard from Mascarada Dorada. He challenged Rocky Romero for the MLW Middleweight title at One Shot. Later in the night, Romero accepted.

– The leader of the World Titan Federation, Mister Saint Laurent, wished all the fans of WTF a happy Thanksgiving. He hyped up tonight’s main event and predicted that when Cardona beats Kane to win the world title at One Shot, he will christen it the WTF World Title.

– We then cut to Promotiones Dorado members Rocky Romero, Jesus Rodriguez and Janai Kai beating up Ichiban. Salina de la Renta entered and slapped Ichiban and said to him, “What did I tell you about interrupting me… bitch!”.

– The Calling (minus AKIRA after he and Ricky Shane Page split at Fightland) had a message for AKIRA saying that we all do dumb things when we are young.

Tiara James defeated Notorious Mimi

Mimi looked good here in her debut but James is on the rise and got the win after a sit-out facebuster.

James is wracking up some wins in the Featherweight division and could soon be placed among the top contenders to Janai Kai. Speaking of Kai, the commentators mentioned the upcoming women’s matches at One Shot: Miyu Yamashita vs. Delmi Exo, and Janai Kai vs. Maki Itoh.

James hit an early middle rope dropkick but Mimi soon got the heat by drapping James’ arm over the top rope. Mimi focused her attack on James’ arm but missed a crossbody which let James back into the match.

James made her comeback with an over-the-shoulder gut buster and an X-factor facebuster to pick up the pinfall win.

– After the match, Sam Laterna interviewed James and talked about her rise up the rankings. She asked the crowd how a title shot sounded, so it looks like she is being lined up for one.

– We saw a recap of the Love Doug and B3CCA storyline where B3CCA had continuously knocked back Doug’s attempts to woo her. That was until a few weeks ago when Doug received a paper invitation for a date on Thanksgiving night. Later in the show, Doug was ready for his date, he entered the room but was met by Brett Ryan Gosling who told Doug he was B3CCA’s boyfriend before jumping him with a crowbar.

– Saint Laurent was then questioned on Hammerstone’s contract status, and he said there was no tampering in the negotiations and told us to wait and see what is next.

– Saint Laurent then bumped into Manders and tried to sweeten him up with a hotdog and a handshake before offering him Japan “Hansen money” as well as some Japanese girls in exchange for joining the WTF. Manders didn’t say yes or no, only left saying he is not a hotdog and handshake guy… interesting.

– Satoshi Kojima will return to MLW when he faces “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at One Shot.

– Sam Laterna interviewed Alex Kane who said he can’t wait to get his hands on the WTF and called it Suplex Season.

– After losing a Loser Leaves MLW match to Matt Cardona at Fightland, Mance Warner had his big farewell by having a parking lot beer with 1 Called Manders. He said the Second Gear Crew helped build MLW but now that Manders and Matthew Justice have the tag titles (they won them at Fightland) they don’t need Warner, they showed what they can do, and no one can stand up to them in a fight. Warner said that Cardona and Saint Laurent will get what is coming to them and also said that his friend “Masked good brother #3” is coming and will get on fine with Manders and Justice.

The World Titan Federation (Matt Cardona & Tom Lawlor w/ Saint Laurent) defeated The Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas w/ J Boujii)

Alex Kane was on fire early on hitting Germans to both Cardona and Lawlor but unfortunately, Kane was storyline injured during a suplex and the referee held up the “X” sign.

The match continued with Thomas fighting 1-on-2 on behalf of the Bomaye Fight Club. Lawlor flaunted his team’s dominance given the numbers advantage by elaborately removing his shorts to reveal his skin-tight denim shorts as he taunted Thomas and flexed in front of him.

Lawlor dropkicked Thomas’ knee and Cardona pummelled him in the corner but Thomas fought back and after he hit a suplex, that was the call for Alex Kane to make a triumphant return and give his opponents some more suplexes.

It looked like Kane injured himself again as he rolled out of the ring. Behind the referee’s back, Lawlor hit him with a chair as Cardona hit Radio Silence to Thomas in the ring to pick up the win for their team.

MLW Fusion results: Tag team tables match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s episode was taped in October at the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.

– Ahead of the main event, we opened with a long video package highlighting The Second Gear Crew vs The Calling feud, followed by Saint Laurent announcing that the winner of the upcoming Alex Kane vs Jacob Fatu title match at Fightland on November 18th will face Matt Cardona at MLW One Shot on December 7th. I guess the outcome of the Loser Leaves MLW match on November 18th between Cardona and Mance Warner that was announced earlier in the week has been spoiled?

– On the topic of spoilers, just moments later they showed a graphic for One Shot advertising Kane vs. Cardona as the title match!

– Continuity was all over the place as next the commentators announced that a Fatu vs Mr. Thomas match was happening “Next”, just before Talon made his way to the ring for his match with Mance Warner…

Mance Warner defeated Talon

Another chapter in The Second Gear Crew vs The Calling feud here and it was a decisive win for Warner ahead of his Loser Leaves MLW match with Cardona at Fightland on November 18th.

Warner shook off Talon’s early offense, hit a Bionic Elbow, hard lariat, and a Knee Pad-up, Knee Pad-down running knee to pick up a quick straight forward victory.

– Tony Deppen is currently serving a suspension for not paying a fine for attacking Kevin Blackwood. This week we heard that his suspension has been extended after he took his frustrations to Twitter.

– In the parking lot Saint Laurent met with Cardona to let him know he is the next contender for the world title. He also presented him with a new beautiful BMW car.

– The same Fatu vs Mr. Thomas graphic was shown again as being “Next”.

– Kane then told Fatu that Kane is the new generation before he was interrupted and told to run to the parking lot where Mr. Thomas was lying in a heap of cardboard boxes after being on the end of a mystery attack. The commentary team said they were scrambling to change the card as apparently, Mr Thomas is unable to compete now.

– We saw a highlight package of all the accomplishments of the latest World Titan Federation member “Filthy” Tom Lawlor before we cut to live footage from Saint Laurent’s office where he and Lawlor talked up Filthy’s 5-star podcasting abilities, phenomenal singing skills, and set Lawlor as the new figurehead who will lead the charge for the WTF.

– The Calling then told us that The Second Gear Crew and the weak will be made examples of.

– Sam Laterna met with Fatu in a pre-taped conversation. They mentioned Salina de la Renta who booked his world title match with Kane but also put Fatu on notice for his previous runnings with Salina and Promociones Dorado. Saint Laurent interrupted, failed to befriend Fatu, and unintentionally told Fatu that Cardona has a new car in the parking lot… Fatu’s wheels started moving in his head as he conjured up a plan involving Cardona and the car.

– Sam Laterna then switched to a live interview with Matt Cardona. Cardona thanked Saint Laurent for bringing him to MLW and bigged himself up saying no one else has come back as many times as he and he promised to win the world title at One Shot in his hometown New York.

– Matt Cardona vs Mance Warner in their Loser Leaves MLW match was officially announced for Fightland on November 18th.

Brett Ryan Gosselin defeated J Boujii w/O’Shay Edwards

This was advertised as the replacement for the Fatu vs Thomas match that can no longer take place due to the attack on Thomas.

Gosselin was making his MLW debut and has a very cocky character. He made a quick start after jumping Boujii as he was taking his shirt off.

Gosselin looked quite good as we heard he was trained by Matt Taven and Mike Bennett but was on the receiving end of a German suplex and a running neckbreaker for a close two count.

Boujii looked to be in control until Gosselin held onto the ropes during a Boujii sunset flip and picked up a shocking and underhanded victory in his debut match.

– Outside of the 2300 Arena Love Doug was camped out in a tent waiting for B3CCA. He mistakenly jumped out at a passerby and was slapped for scaring her. Enter Minoru Suzuki who took one look at Doug and gave him another slap for his trouble.

– Backstage an irate Kane was on the lookout for who attacked Thomas. A backstage worker told Kane he had footage showing it was Fatu, so Kane stormed away looking for Fatu. Seconds later Saint Laurent appeared and paid the backstage worker for giving Kane that incorrect information.

– Last week Salina de la Renta hosted the episode of Fusion and during the episode, she exchanged papers with Saint Laurent that supposedly exposed some secrets from when MSL was an MLW Executive. This week Salina announced that Janai Kai will be in action next week.

– After being fed the wrong information, we saw the inevitable confrontation between Kane and Fatu, only to be corrected by a Bomaye Fight Club member who correctly identified Cardona and Lawlor as Thomas’ attackers. Kane again stormed off to “beat these hoes’ asses”.

The Calling (AKIRA & Ricky Shane Page) vs The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) went to a no contest in a tag team title tables match.

The second Calling vs SGC match of the night ended in a no-contest as both AKIRA and Justice crashed through tables at the same time.

AKIRA was hinting at dissension within The Calling from the beginning as he looked disinterested in choosing a weapon from The Calling’s selection they have available for every match.

The other Calling masked goons attacked SGC as they made their way to the ring, but as quickly as they attacked they were pushed to the side for Manders and Justice to focus on the main players in Raven’s heel stable.

Later once The Calling were in control Page grabbed AKIRA’s face to tell him something, but you could tell from the way AKIRA stared at Page that he was not too impressed with the way Page grabbed him. Again later they argued over where a table should be placed and had some miscommunication throwing chairs at their opponents.

Cannonball entered the action and squashed The SGC in the corner. Page nearly took Justice’s head off when he threw a chair at him. Manders and Page then ended up going through tables in quick succession.

In the ring AKIRA went to the top rope, Justice joined him but AKIRA locked in an Octopus hold and both fell off the top and went through a table at the same time. The referee called the match a draw and no contest due to both going through at the same time.

Cannonball re-joined the match and the brawl continued after the match. Mance Warner joined in too which brought out security to try and keep these two teams from destroying each other.

On the mic, Warner set up Justice to challenge The Calling to a match with the belts hanging above the ring. They didn’t mention a ladder match but I can only imagine it will be a TLC match of sorts.

– Backstage in the parking lot Matt Cardona was not too pleased to see his new car being stolen by Jacob Fatu as Fusion went off the air.

Next week:

  • MLW World Featherweight champion Janai Kai will be in action.
  • Don King will speak on the Alex Kane vs Jacob Fatu match.

MLW Fusion results: Salina de la Renta is in charge

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week was a special edition of Fusion as Salina de la Renta was in charge. The matches were taped in October at the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, plus a special showing of Volador Jr. vs. Rocky Romero from CMLL NJPW Fantastica Mania from June this year. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.

Jesus Rodriguez, the master of ceremonies for the night, introduced Salina but she was quickly interrupted by Ichiban and his interpreter looking for a shot at Romero and the MLW Middleweight title. Instead of Romero, Ichiban was forced to face Rodriguez immediately.

Ichiban defeated Jesus Rodriguez w/Salina de la Renta

Ichiban continued his quest for the heavily hinted Middleweight title shot by extending his undefeated streak to four wins. He previously put away Tracy Williams, Nolo Kitano and Love Doug, and took little time to put away Rodriguez here.

To give him credit, Jesus did keep Ichiban floored initially by using his size advantage to slow the pace. Salina also got her shots in from ringside when she could. She distracted Ichiban with powder and then choked him on the ropes behind the referee’s back.

Ichiban made a brief comeback with a jawbreaker and missile dropkick but Rodriguez floored him again. Rodriguez missed a middle rope moonsault, which let Ichiban come back again with a bulldog and his face-first finisher to pick up the pinfall win.

– After the match Romero and Janai Kai jumped Ichiban and Romero dropped him back first onto a seated chair.

– Salina had some big news about the upcoming MLW Fightland show. She announced that Romero would team with CMLL Light Heavyweight champion Barbaro Cavernario to take on Mascarada Dorada 2.0 and Ichiban. Plus she later announced that Jacob Fatu would challenge Alex Kane for the MLW World title at Fightland.

Highlights of Rocky Romero defeating Volador Jr to retain the CMLL World Historic Welterweight title (taped in Arena Mexico in June 2023 at CMLL NJPW Fantastica Mania).

– Salina introduced the new MLW Featherweight champion “Kick Demon” Janai Kai, fresh from defeating Delmi Exo for the title at MLW Slaughterhouse. We saw a highlight video of Kai’s array of kicks and strikes.

– Delmi Exo then confronted Salina backstage and said she will get her rematch. The cameras followed Salina where she then met Mister Saint Laurent as they brokered a deal: Salina got exclusive documents from when MSL was MLW Vice President, and MSL got a guaranteed title shot for a member of his World Titan Federation whenever he wanted.

– Mance Warner and 1 Called Manders were drinking beers in the parking lot and talking about their title shot next week. Salina interrupted but she was then interrupted by Jacob Fatu who ended up getting a future dream match in Mexico against Mistico.

– MLW World Heavyweight champion Alex Kane met with Salina for the big Fightland announcement. Salina brought out Kane’s next challenger, Jacob Fatu. The two went face-to-face as the crowd chanted “Holy Sh*t” and Fusion went off the air.

Next week:

– The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice and 1 Called Manders) will challenge The Calling (AKIRA and Ricky Shane Page) for the MLW Tag Team Titles in a tag team tables match.

MLW Fusion results: Matt Cardona vs. 1 Called Manders

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were taped in September and October at the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.

We opened with a Slaughterhouse recap video package. Highlights included:

  • The Calling’s Talon being electrocuted inside the Chamber of Horrors at the hands of Mance Warner and Matthew Justice.
  • Rocky Romero defeating AKIRA to win the MLW Middleweight title.
  • Janai Kai (making her MLW debut) defeating Delmi Exo to win the MLW Featherweight title.
  • Salina de la Renta now controlling three titles worldwide (including Romero’s CMLL World Historic Welterweight title).
  • AKIRA and Ricky Shane Page having a miscommunication during RSP’s match with 1 Called Manders.
  • Minoru Suzuki defeating Jacob Fatu.
  • Alex Kane successfully defending his title against Tom Lawlor then Matt Cardona calling out the champion and ending the show with a brawl.

We were told security had been tripled for this show following the brawl that took place to close out Slaughterhouse.

Ichiban defeated Love Doug

MLW interviewer Sam Laterna interviewed Doug earlier in the day. Doug said things with B3CCA were not going so well, but he had a treat for her tonight. Doug has been smitten with B3CCA since joining MLW but the International Pop Sensation has knocked back his advances every time.

This was a number one contender match for the Middleweight title, currently held by Rocky Romero. Doug showed some smooth groundwork as he rolled Ichiban up in some different pinfall attempts, showing he can wrestle as well as play his loveable, loving character well during his matches.

We had an early “Both These Guys” chant for this babyface match as they went non-stop and from spot to spot. Doug got out of a Boston crab attempt by throwing rose petals into Ichiban’s eyes.

Ichiban fought back with a jawbreaker and a jumping downward spiral to get the pinfall win. He’s now the top contender for Rocky Romero’s title. This was good and made Love Doug look good despite losing.

– After the match Sam Laterna interviewed Doug, who looked disappointed, that was until a B3CCA background dancer delivered him a letter telling Doug she would come to one of his matches.

– Sam Laterna then caught up with Tom Lawlor. Lawlor returned to MLW at Slaughterhouse last weekend in a losing effort to Alex Kane. This week he questioned the Slaughterhouse referee before turning his attention to Don King. He called him worse than the biggest scumbags on the planet. He announced he has joined Saint Laurent’s World Titan Federation (WTF) in the image of Sports Entertainment.

– Tony Deppen and TJ Crawford then plotted to attack someone else after they put Kevin Blackwood on the shelf recently. But we were then told that Tony Deppen has been suspended for refusing to pay his fines for attacking Blackwood.

– The Second Gear Crew drank some beers and told Matt Cardona he was getting a cowboy ass-whoopin’ tonight.

– We had a promotional video for the upcoming debut of Miyu Yamashita, the Ace of Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, and the current TJPW Princess of Princess Championship holder.

– Saint Laurent then told Sam Laterna that 1 Called Manders refusing to join the WTF was the biggest mistake of his life.

Bomaye Fight Club (J Boujii & Mr. Thomas) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black)

The Mane Event have great double team chemistry, using their circus hoop to bring a new edge to their double team dives to the outside. Lyon and Black isolated J Boujii, the latest member of the Bomaye Fight Club, and had to dig deep to kick out of a double team neckbreaker uranage combination.

Boujii fought back with a tornado DDT, Mr. Thomas got the hot tag and booted and slammed The Mane Event before coming very close with a bossman slam.

Black speared Thomas to stop the big man in his tracks, if only momentarily, with some slingshot help from Lyons but Boujii saved his partner and floored his opponents with a big impressive springboard double cutter. Thomas then launched Boujii over the top rope onto his opponents and hit Lyons with a pop-up spinebuster to pick up the win.

– We heard from MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane after he successfully defended his title at Slaughterhouse against Lawlor. Kane said that this is not Sports Entertainment, he will not tolerate the WTF’s disrespect, and told them to keep sending them for him to suplex and tap out.

– We saw a buzzed Mance Warner in the parking lot looking for some weapons. He found a screwdriver and promised some violence.

– Coming off of a successful Slaughterhouse show, Salina de la Renta told us that she holds three titles in two different promotions and that she will be next week’s Executive Producer of Fusion.

Matt Cardona (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated 1 Called Manders

After beating Manders’ SGC stablemate Mance Warner in a Kiss My Foot match at Fury Road in September, Cardona took on another member of the Second Gear Crew with Saint Laurent on commentary.

The story on commentary was Manders knocking back Saint Laurent’s WTF in favor of staying with the Second Gear Crew. This was a good solid back-and-forth match, with Manders looking strong and Cardona always trying to take the easy way out, even using his shirt to choke Manders.

Manders built good momentum and floored Cardona with a strong lariat for a close two-count. Manders missed a shoulder charge but still had the wherewithal to backdrop Cardona out of the ring when he went for his famous Broski Boot.

Upon re-entering the ring, Saint Laurent and Cardona must have thought they had the match won when MSL distracted Manders, Cardona kicked the middle rope into Manders’ lower region and set up to hit his Radio Silence finisher, but Manders caught him and hit a sit-out powerbomb for another close two count.

Cardona pulled the ref in front of Manders as he went for his big lariat finisher, and in the small moment of distraction, Cardona hit Radio Silence to get the pinfall win.

Cardona then grabbed the mic from Sam Laterna as she tried to interview him after the match. He announced he was still undefeated and mentioned Warner by name, who gleefully appeared and beat up Cardona.

This match was recorded before Slaughterhouse so there was no mention of Cardona being in line for the next world title shot against Alex Kane, or that Filthy Tom Lawlor had joined the WTF earlier in the night, but it did extend the WTF vs Second Gear Crew feud with the appearance from Mance Warner to close the show with another brawl.

Next week:

– Salina de la Renta will be the Executive Producer.

MLW Fusion results: Alex Kane vs. Snisky

Posted on by Iain Oliver

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

The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) w/ Mance Warner defeated The Calling (Cannonball & Talon) in a Texas Tornado match

This week’s continuation of the SGC vs. Calling feud was a tag team weapons-filled brawl. The Calling had chairs thrown at their unprotected heads in the early going, and the chairs had a strong presence throughout the opening.

The SGC came back into the match when Talon went crashing through a seated chair with a missed senton. Manders then powerslammed Talon into Cannonball, squashing him in the corner.

The massive Cannonball broke up a double pin by splashing and crushing everyone, coming after Justice and Manders had taken Talon out with a spear and clothesline at the same time.

Cannonball dropped Manders on his head with an underhook piledriver. Justice then took out Cannonball with a senton dive to the floor followed by Manders flooring Talon with a clothesline. Justice got the win after a top rope splash.

– Love, Doug continued his quest to win the heart of featherweight title no. 1 contender B3CCA this week by practicing singing her a song backstage.

– TJ Crawford and Tony Deppen both attacked and injured MLW newbie Kevin Blackwood last week. This week, Deppen said he is only here for money, but he saw a younger version of himself in Crawford and they are both there to take over MLW.

– After being on the end of an “expose” last week that hinted at him breaking away from MLW to form his own organization, Mr. Saint Laurent responded by calling it slander and preposterous.

Shane Strickland defeated Ricochet (2017)

– We had a special match from October 2017 when MLW returned with MLW One Shot where Strickland defeated Ricochet. There was a video package that introduced a “This Week in MLW” segment where we saw MJF, Darby Allin, MVP, Sami Callihan, and others perform on the show. But it was Strickland and Ricochet that had their main event match shown in its entirety. Tony Schiavone helped call the action, which was really good as you would imagine.

The match, perhaps surprisingly, started slow and involved Ricochet playing heel while mat wrestling Strickland to the ground, but they were pacing themselves as they ended up going over 30 minutes with crisp great action. They incorporated some strong strikes in between a great showing of athleticism and innovative feints and dodges.

Ricochet burst out a poisonrana, a rolling Northern Lights suplex into a brainbuster, and a springboard 450 splash but it was Strickland who got the submission win with an armbar. I would highly recommend checking this out.

– We heard from MLW Champion Alex Kane who called his mystery opponent tonight a ho, saying he will send him to Ho Island because it doesn’t matter who it is.

– After announcing Rocky Romero as part of her stable last week, Salina de la Renta strongly hinted this week that she is behind the new CMLL partnership. She said the deal would come at a price and that she would see us at Slaughterhouse.

– AKIRA responded to the announcement of his match vs. Rocky Romero at Slaughterhouse. He said Romero will need his eyepatch for real after he is finished with him.

MLW World Champion Alex Kane defeated Snisky in a non-title match

Saint Laurent’s mystery opponent for Kane was the muscle man from his World Titan Federation, Snisky. The former WWE wrestler brought out a gurney with him, but it played no part in the match.

The commentators questioned how Kane would be able to suplex Snisky given the size difference between the two, but we found out almost immediately as Kane hit him with a normal suplex and then two Germans.

Snisky slowed it down with a big boot, a series of elbow drops, and a body slam, but when he went up to the top rope, you knew it would be trouble. Snisky missed a somersault senton which gave Kane the opening to take his back, lock in the rear naked choke, and pick up the submission victory to close the show. 

MLW Fusion results: AKIRA vs. Jimmy Lloyd Street Fight

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were taped in Philadelphia at the famous 2300 Arena earlier this month. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.

We had a new opening video package highlighting the latest MLW collaboration between not only New Japan Pro Wrestling but also CMLL.

Tiara James defeated Zayda Steel

This was Steel’s debut in MLW and she is playing a rich and spoiled character, being billed from “a place you couldn’t possibly afford”. James joined MLW as part of the 2023 Open Draft and lost her opening match in the promotion to B3CCA, but got the win here after a double underhook DDT.

This was quick, simple, and effective in giving James a solid win in the Featherweight division.

– We saw The Calling officially indoctrinate Cannonball into their fold, and in the same recorded promo they also put a warning out to 1 Called Manders.

– Salina de la Renta returned to MLW recently and has been sending out warnings to various members of the locker room: Microman, Jacob Fatu, and Cesar Duran in particular. Last week, we saw Sam Adonis, a supporter of Duran, be kidnapped in a very similar way we saw ‘El Jefe’ Duran a few months ago.

– This week de la Renta announced her first luchador for her new version of the Promociones Dorado stable, Rocky Romero. Romero vs. AKIRA was then announced for MLW Slaughterhouse on October 14th.

TJ Crawford defeated Alec Price and Kevin Blackwood in a Triple Threat Match.

A second MLW debut this week as Blackwood had his first match for the promotion here. It was another opening match defeat as Crawford got the win over Blackwood in a very exciting triple-threat match.

We saw a recap from Crawford’s last match where he was approached by a hooded figure who whispered something in his ear. It seems this may be a developing story for Crawford. 

Speaking of Crawford, the last time we saw the third competitor, Alec Price, he defeated TJ Crawford in singles action, so this match had a little history to it. Price is a great high flyer and was the first to take to the sky with a springboard crossbody and DDT.

Blackwood and Crawford are more grounded with strikes and suplexes so they were a good base for Price to fly around and land on. Blackwood brought out some German suplexes and throws before dropping Crawford with a Death Valley Driver for a two-count.

Crawford hit a nice combo ending in a Falcon Arrow but Blackwood quickly grabbed an arm bar after he kicked out. Price then sprung back into the action and hit a top rope springboard neckbreaker while Crawford powered out of the armbar with Blackwood on his shoulders.

As Price then flew to the floor onto Blackwood, we saw the supposed same hooded figure from last week return to take Price out at ringside. Inside the ring Crawford caught Blackwood coming off the ropes with a standing spinning kick to the jaw called the Silver Bullet to pick up the win.

After the match, the hooded figure returned again and attacked Blackwood with Crawford helping in a two-on-one attack. The figure Pillmanized Blackwood’s ankle and then revealed himself to be Tony Deppen.

– We also heard from Ichiban for the first time since he started his impressive unbeaten run in MLW. He said, through his interpreter, he is here to be the best in the world. His goal is to dominate the Middleweight division and be number one.

– We saw a report speculating if Mister Saint Laurent is creating a rival faction within MLW and mentioned the 2000 AJPW exodus that created NOAH, plus ROH’s All In helping create AEW as examples.

– Matt Cardona was live streaming on MLW’s YouTube channel and we saw run-ins by Maki Itoh and Mance Warner as he was hosting. Itoh distracted Cardona long enough for Warner to jump him and give him a few right hands.

– New matches were announced for MLW Slaughterhouse on October 14th on Fite+. Ricky Shane Page will defend the Openweight title against 1 Called Manders in a Spin the Wheel Make the Deal match, Mance Warner will team with Matthew Justice to take on The Calling’s Anvil and Cannonball in a Chamber of Horrors match, and B3CCA will get her shot against Delmi Exo for the Featherweight title.

– Minoru Suzuki vs. Jacob Fatu and Alex Kane vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. have previously been announced for the show.

AKIRA defeated Jimmy Lloyd to retain the MLW Middleweight title in a Street Fight

In the latest chapter of the Second Gear Crew vs. Calling feud we had AKIRA pick up the win in what was described as a street fight but more resembled a hardcore or weapons match.

Lloyd dove onto AKIRA to start things off. AKIRA’s back was badly scarred, showing he is one of the top deathmatch fighters in the world at the moment. Lloyd added insult to injury by driving a screwdriver into his scarred back.

Lloyd started a “Terry” chant in homage to Terry Funk in the old ECW arena as he spun around with a ladder on his head to take out AKIRA. The champion responded by throwing Lloyd into the ladder in the corner, crushing it in the process.

AKIRA hit a tiger feint kick and then attempted to cut Lloyd’s finger off with a knife he had at ringside. He later drove the knife into Lloyd’s forehead busting him open, then sucked the bloody knife clean which, of course, received another lovely chant from the Philadelphia crowd. The knife was then used in Lloyd’s cheek and mouth as AKIRA held it there for a Side Russian Legsweep.

Multiple chairs were brought into the ring, which helped Lloyd during his comeback. Lloyd hit a falcon arrow onto a chair but was then suplexed into some thumbtacks.

AKIRA hit a poison rana to get out of crashing into a set of seated chairs and locked on an armbar. Lloyd powered out of the armbar and side-walk slammed AKIRA into the tacks.

Ricky Shane Page and Matthew Justice came out to ringside and distracted AKIRA to let Lloyd hit a package piledriver onto the tacks for a two count.

AKIRA fought back and ended up DDT’ing Lloyd through multiple seated chairs to pick up the win and retain his title.

– Ahead of the world title match at Slaughterhouse on October 14 between champion Alex Kane and challenger Davey Boy Smith Jr, we heard from Saint Laurent who guaranteed Smith will pin Kane because he has submitted him and knocked him out previously. He also said that next week on Fusion the World Titan Federation (WTF) has a mystery opponent for Kane, “and it is a big one”.

Next week:

  • Alex Kane vs. a mystery opponent picked by Saint Laurent.

MLW Fusion results: AKIRA vs. Matthew Justice, Don King announcement

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were taped in Philadelphia at the famous 2300 Arena earlier this month. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker announced the matches.

– We opened with Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, and their latest ally Jimmy Lloyd. Lloyd called out AKIRA and said he was there to take his Middleweight title.

Ichiban defeated Nolo Kitano

Ichiban continued his undefeated start in MLW with another solid and impressive performance. The commentary team was speculating about a potential Middleweight title shot in the future for Ichiban if he continues his winning ways.

Kitano’s gimmick is a samurai warrior crossed with a more modern street fighter, and his style suits this Middleweight division well. He hit a nice torneo dive to the floor and had Ichiban on the ropes by reversing a top rope crossbody for a close nearfall.

This started with a fast pace and flowed into a striking battle. Towards the end, Kitano walked the top rope before hitting a fantastic moonsault into a DDT.

Ichiban evaded a top rope frogsplash, hit a superkick, ate a Pele kick and a spin kick to the back of his head in response, but was able to shake that off to catch Kitano in mid-air and hit his face first finisher to pick up the hard-fought win.

– We learned of Matt Cardona’s next plans in MLW after he beat Mance Warner in a Kiss My Foot match at Fury Road. This week, Cardona told us all that he is here for gold.

– We saw a recap of the Microman and Sam Adonis feud but the camera cut to live footage of a desperate Sam Adonis. He tells the camera he knows where Cesar Duran is before some masked henchmen, the same masked men who kidnapped Duran, attacked him, and took him away. Could Salina de la Renta be behind this latest kidnapping?

– The number one contender to the Featherweight title, B3CCA, was a guest on Sessions by Saint Laurent, where she revealed some “scandalous” information on Featherweight champion, Delmi Exo. B3CCA said it is unfortunate Exo is “injured” and can’t compete against her.

– Don King, the financial backer of Alex Kane’s Bomaye Fight Club, announced that Kane will defend his MLW World Heavyweight title against Davey Boy Smith Jr. at the upcoming Slaughterhouse show on Fite+ on October 14th.

– Mance Warner has requested a Chamber of Horrors match for Slaughterhouse. He blindsided Court Bauer with blueprints of his drunken imaginative ideas.

– We also learned that Microman missed a scheduled autograph session and is missing. In recent weeks, The Second Gear Crew and The Mane Event have helped Microman avoid attacks by Snitsky and Sam Adonis, could they be behind his disappearance?

Love Doug defeated Little Guido

B3CCA had a quick outfit change to be part of the commentary team and she was greeted by her heartthrob Love Doug who had a heart-shaped cake for her.

On paper, this may look like a comedy match, and they did break out a test of strength that turned into a ballroom dancing routine, but the match got a little more aggressive when Guido took Doug down with a hard clothesline.

Doug’s overarching story at the moment is his obsession with B3CCA, who keeps turning him down or often just ignoring him completely. But our persistent Lothario still tried to show off and impress his love interest and even used a B3CCA-inspired guitar that Guido brought into the ring to help him get the win.

There was a cake brought to ringside, so of course Doug ended up going face-first into it as B3CCA rejected him once again.

– Last week Salina de la Renta sent several warnings out to the MLW locker room, especially Jacob Fatu, but this week she was in her new backstage office with a zipped bag making muffled noises. Salina said she was sending “this sack of sh*t back to Mexico, bye-bye Microman”. So it was Salina, and not Mister Saint Laurent and the Titan Wrestling Federation, who was behind the disappearance of Microman.

MLW Middleweight Champion AKIRA went to a No Contest with Matthew Justice

The Second Gear Crew and The Calling have clashed in various combinations recently and this was the latest in their ongoing faction war. This was quite quick but was a weapons-filled match with some risky bumps onto chairs.

The weapons came out early as Justice used a chair on the outside, rammed AKIRA face-first into it inside the ring then dropped him back first onto a seated chair with a brutal-looking Death Valley driver.

After the break, AKIRA got his revenge with a sunset flip powerbomb from the corner onto another seated chair. The masked Calling men distracted Justice on the outside to let AKIRA come off the top to the floor with a chair. This brought out Jimmy Lloyd, Cannonball, Ricky Shane Page, and finally Mance Warner and 1 Called Manders to save the day. The referee called for the bell as the chaos unraveled.

Ricky Shane Page and 1 Called Manders brawled to the back where Ricky Shane Page leaped off a ladder and put Manders through a table as Fusion went off the air.

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

MLW Fusion results: Alex Hammerstone vs. Danny Limelight

Posted on by Iain Oliver

This week’s matches were the last taped from the MLW and AAA Super Series tapings from Tijuana in February. 

Rich Bocchini and Christian Cole were on the call.

We opened with a video package from The Calling where Raven told Jacob Fatu they were coming for him and the MLW National Openweight title.

Los Macizos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo) defeated Anton Carrillo & Extassis, Lucha Solos (Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito), and Fantastik & Rayo Star in a four-way tag match.

This was spot-to-spot non-stop chaos. Car hoods, glass, and run-ins galore.

Lucha Solos were the first to take flight in the lucha four-way tag. There was added chaos by way of a trip hazard as the canvas was not tied tightly to the ring and kept crumpling as the eight wrestlers moved around. That could have easily caused an injury.

Cooking sheets were introduced by Los Macizos, who used them to take control. They fended off some quick-fire code reds and hurricanranas to stay on top momentarily.

A car hood was placed on top of chairs on the outside but Star’s running dive slightly overshot it and he collided with Los Macizos.

On the other side of the ring, Maldito and Extassis went through a table after a destroyer from Divino’s shoulders.

A glass panel was then placed in the corner of the ring as Fantastik and Carrillo teased going through it, but interference from unnamed assailants put a halt to that for the moment. Star then took all of them out with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Divino was then powerbombed out of the ring and onto those on the floor.

Los Macizos set the glass between two chairs and powerbombed Carrillo through it from the middle rope before delivering a German suplex to pick up the win.

– One of MLW’s latest signees, Love Doug, has been enamored with B3CCA recently, and this week he had a gift for her. As B3CCA took the guitar, she contemplated giving Doug a chance, but it would not be this week. She then slammed her dressing room door in his face.

– We had a major hint that KUSHIDA is coming to MLW. In a short teaser video, we saw a Back to the Future style clock showing today’s date, the date of Fury Road (September 3rd) and KUSHIDA’s date of birth (May 12th 1983) as well as the Japanese flag.

– Ichiban will take on Tracy Williams at MLW Fury Road, along with the debut of the interview series, “Sessions by Saint Laurent.”

– We saw new friends Mance Warner and Microman have a Tijuana beer with the rest of the Second Gear Crew: Matthew Justice and One Called Manders.

– As Fusion was going off the air last week, we saw The Calling jump Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau. This week the Samoan Swat Team’s stablemate Jacob Fatu was on the warpath looking for AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page. Fatu warned them that “the body count is about to rise”.

– Ahead of his title challenge against Alex Kane at Fury Road in September, Willie Mack told us that he is going out to show everyone that if Alex Kane can do what he has done, Mack can do the same. He will do it for the people who have supported him throughout his career.

Alex Hammerstone defeated Danny Limelight

This was Hammerstone’s first televised appearance since losing the MLW title to Kane at Never Say Never in July, but similar to last week’s Fusion episode, the taping of this match (February 2023) played havoc with the continuity as Hammerstone was still holding the belt at that time. They got around this by inserting a video from The Calling during Hammerstone’s entrance so we would not see him entering the ring with the MLW world title belt.

Speaking of The Calling and their videos, this video had Dr. Cornwallis cook a steak with a blowtorch as AKIRA taunted the meat by calling it Lance Anoa’i.

Limelight cut a pre-match promo to rile up the Tijuana crowd, insulting the Mexican fans but also the wrestlers in the back who depend on weapons to wrestle.

Hammerstone used his size advantage early on but Limelight quickly focused on the former champion’s recently injured leg and groin. Limelight then hit a running clothesline in the corner and a tumbling senton on top of Hammerstone’s legs.

Limelight took too long showing off and got caught with a Gorilla Press into a uranage but Hammerstone’s already injured leg was hurt by the swinging motion of the move.

Limelight hit an impressive running twisting corkscrew crossbody dive from the ring to the floor and then hit a top rope frog splash for a close two count.

Hammerstone made a comeback with a hard back elbow and a spinning face first Burning Hammer for a near fall.

A deadlift Nightmare Pendulum was reversed into a single-leg Boston crab and Limelight then landed a running soccer kick.

Limelight was showing off once too often as he went for a springboard DDT and Hammerstone caught him in mid-air and lifted him straight into the Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the win.

Next Week:

– MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defends against Rickey Shane Page

– Davey Boy Smith Jr vs. Tracy Williams in the 2023 Opera Cup Finals

MLW Fusion results: Von Erichs vs. Ricky & Kerry Morton

Posted on by Iain Oliver

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Charlotte, North Carolina and ran down the card for tonight: Marshall & Ross Von Erich are forced to face their friends in Ricky Morton and his son Kerry, Myron Reed defends his Middleweight title against TJP, plus the return of Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.

**********

Cesar Duran came to the ring to open the episode and said Charlotte is no Mexico and is a trash can full of ghosts. He talked foul of the legends and older wrestlers who have graced Charlotte over the years, which of course brought out Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat to confront him.

Steamboat told us all that he was the guest matchmaker for tonight as Duran is under investigation by MLW. As Duran was being led away by security, a masked henchman tried to attack Steamboat but “The Dragon” got the better of him.

Steamboat was about to tell us some good news, but Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout decided to interrupt and try to get Steamboat to announce Holliday as the number one contender. Atout said her man wants “a big match.” Steamboat teased announcing Alex Hammerstone vs. Holliday but instead gave him Matt Cross.

Emilio Sparks caught up with new MLW Tag Team Champions EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman. Tankman dedicated their title win to his baby daughter. They were then congratulated by Middleweight Champion Myron Reed before his title defense against TJP.

MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defeated TJP to retain his title

In a pre-match video package, TJP said he was bigger, stronger, and better than Reed, and if Reed was to do what TJP did by the time he was 24, Reed would need to live for 100 years. Reed said he didn’t care how long TJP had been doing this and it was his job to slay the dragon and get him out of here.

They had a really good match that built slowly and was given plenty of time to reach a hot finish.

After an early exchange, Reed extended his hand — but TJP took a cheap shot. Reed got his revenge moments later with a dropkick to the face, but the champion’s shine didn’t last too long as he landed hard on his shoulder and TJP drove him into the ring post.

TJP pulled out his usual repertoire of slow methodical heel traits like boot scrapes mixed in between his crisp fluid transitions and targeted attacks. He kept going back to the shoulder, locking in an octopus hold before switching to a surfboard.

Reed had enough of the cocky TJP, so he took his chance and hit a huge dive to the outside to swing the match in his favor. Inside, Reed hit a leg drop while the challenger hung on the middle rope, then hit a big enzuigiri to floor TJP.

Reed tried to hit his running cutter to the floor while TJP was on the apron, but TJP reversed to a neckbreaker on the apron. TJP then hit a frog splash for a close near fall. TJP locked in a Fujiwara armbar after Reed missed a springboard 450 splash, but the champion got to the ropes.

TJP went for a second frog splash, but Reed caught him in mid-air with a cutter out of nowhere to pick up the win and retain his title.

Richard Holliday (w/ Alicia Atout) defeated Matt Cross

Holliday was quick to be the aggressor, but Cross had the crowd on their feet minutes later with a handspring elbow and a dive to the floor.

Cross was tripped while on the middle rope and he dropped back and neck-first on the top turnbuckle. Holliday took him out with a hard clothesline, then Atout added insult to injury with a slap behind the referee’s back.

Cross fired back with a springboard crossbody, but Holliday returned with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as the action started swinging back and forth. Cross reversed Holliday’s finisher before he hit his Cross Cutter, but Holliday kicked out.

Holliday hit a pop-up right hand after he dodged Cross’ Shooting Star Press. Holliday finally put Cross away with his suplex swinging neckbreaker “2008” finisher.

Bocchini tried to get a word with Holliday and Atout, but Atout stole the mic as she was “the true interview queen.” Holliday then told us all that The Dynasty was always about him and that he and Atout now run the show.

We had an in-depth look into Tag Team Champion EJ Nduka as we heard stories from earlier in his life as he pursued a career in football. Nduka spoke about being part of WWE developmental and being released due to budget cuts. Nduka said one of the calls that he got after being released was from MLW, and their vision for the future coincided with Nduka’s.

Sparks then caught up with Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas, but they blew off his question when he tried to ask who was funding their Bomaye Fight Club.

Marshall & Ross Von Erich defeated Ricky & Kerry Morton

Kerry Morton and Ross Von Erich had a good early exchange. When Kerry’s dad tagged in, the Mortons hit some fan friendly double-team moves in this face vs. face matchup.

The Von Erichs hit the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express double dropkick finisher, which didn’t sit too well with Ricky as the Von Erichs started to show a few small heel tendencies. Moments later, after breaking up a pin, Ricky Morton hit Ross with a Destroyer to the shock of the announce team.

Marshall locked in The Claw on Ricky. Kerry tried to get Marshall to break the hold and shouted “What are you doing?” as the friendly rivalry started turning a bit sour. Ross grabbed Kerry and rattled him with a few right hands before helping his brother hit The Claw Slam to pick up the win.

After the bell, the two teams had a shoving match before Julius Smokes came out and bad mouthed all four competitors, which caused the distraction so 5150 could come through the crowd and attack them from behind.

Even after their heated match, the Von Erichs and Mortons regrouped and sent Rivera and Slice Boogie packing as Fusion went off the air.

**********

Next Week —

  • Holidead vs. Shazza McKenzie

MLW Fusion results: 5150 vs. EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman Tag Team title match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Charlotte, North Carolina, and ran down the card which featured a Tag Team title match, a debut and Microman.

Microman, Octagon Jr. and Puma King defeated Arez (w/Dax), Gino Medina and Mini Abismo Negro

Microman is only three feet tall, but may as well have been seven feet with how over he was with the MLW crowd. He entered to Jesus Christ Superstar (Superstar Billy Graham’s theme) which was a perfect fit for someone who was an immediate favorite with the crowd.

Of course, Octagon and Puma King had their usual excellent high-flying repertoire on full display, but it was Microman who stole the show and the hearts of the Charlotte crowd. Top rope hurricanranas, bottom rope Vader bombs and his eventual match-winning tilt-a-whirl victory roll had his adoring fans eating out of his hands.

He was, however, on the receiving end of multiple beatdowns, often three-on-one, but he always courageously and craftily found an escape to make a fool of the clumsy heels.

Mister Saint Laurent (MSL) introduced Microman before the match and joined the commentary team to continue the praise and hype of MLW’s newest hot acquisition. In the weeks leading up to the unveiling of MSL’s surprise talent, he was in skits with Cesar Duran so it was a nice surprise to see his man be a babyface.

Speaking of MSL, he mentioned the Wrestling Observer (which was nice) but Bocchini retorted and said he only spoke to Wrestling Inc. and not The Observer (which wasn’t so nice).

All six men deserve praise as this was an entertaining trios match that was given enough time for everyone to shine and show what they could do. Arez is a great character and uses his “King of Strange Style” repertoire to his advantage to stand out from the crowd. Octagon Jr. is something special with great balance and aerial skills. 

Puma King and Abismo Negro were great solid additions and added a lot to the match with Medina continuing to improve and impress and will only get better. But the match, the night, and the full WrestleMania weekend belongs to Microman who got the win after the aforementioned tilt-a-whirl victory roll.

– Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas hyped themselves up as they listed off all the challengers and opponents they have beaten recently. 

– The Von Erichs and the Morton family (Ricky and his son, Kerry) must have been hanging out all week as they were still together walking the streets of Charlotte. The Von Erichs still have their sights set on 5150, the MLW tag titles, and getting revenge for Marshall’s injured knee.

– Emilio Sparks tried to get a sneak peek into EJ Nduka’s locker room ahead of his tag title challenge with a mystery partner, but “The Judge” quickly chased him off and closed the door.

Ikuro Kwon defeated “Cash Flow” Ken Broadway

Broadway made his MLW debut and has a Floyd Mayweather-type gimmick, complete with sunglasses, a lavish entrance robe and stacks of cash he was throwing around ringside.

Broadway hit a running sitout powerslam but missed a moonsault when he tried to “Make it Rain” with the money he brought with him to the ring. Kwon took full advantage and hit a kick to the back of the head and then a killer looking chancery neckbreaker which was devastating enough to put Broadway away.

After the match, Kwon was interviewed and told us all that Jacob Fatu turned his back on CONTRA and said he wasn’t the “Samoan Werewolf” but the “Samoan Pussy.” This struck a chord with Fatu as he ran out and jumped Kwon but as they brawled to the back, Mads Krugger was there waiting to make it 2-on-1 in a cleverly worked plan.

Kwon needed the win here as he has been used as an assailant in the Krugger vs. Fatu feud of late. Hopefully, this keeps him in middleweight division contention.

– Duran was in his office on his retro red landline telephone and still talking about this investigation into his recent actions with MLW World Champion Hammerstone. Fresh off walking the streets with the Mortons, the Von Erichs stormed in and demanded a shot at 5150’s tag titles. Duran didn’t take kindly to their abrupt request and instead booked them vs. the Mortons for next week.

– Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout then entered Duran’s office complaining about Hammerstone’s attack last week. Holliday demanded Duran get his house in order or he will, teasing tension between the new power couple and MLW’s matchmaker.

– An all-access interview with Hammerstone was next. He talked about being uprooted and nearly being signed by WWE after successfully going through a tryout only for them to turn around and turn him down because “they signed too many people this time.” We then saw his MLW debut and highlights from his Openweight title run as he said how much he loves working for MLW and all they have done to help support him.

– Duran met with Arez backstage in a janitor’s closet and promised him a reward if he was willing to make a sacrifice. Duran passed him a pouch filled with gold coins to the delight of both the “King of Strange Style” and the intrigue of the viewers.

EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman defeated 5150 (Rivera & Slice Boogie w/Julius Smokes) to win the MLW Tag Team titles

Rivera got some good heat with the Charlotte crowd by calling them inbred trailer trash rejects before Boogie added insult by calling them hillbillies. He went over the line by saying South Carolina has superior barbeque.

Tankman was Nduka’s surprise partner, but let “The Judge” take center stage early on as he fought off both tag champs. Nduka was shining bright against Rivera before Tankman came in and squashed him in the corner.

Boogie helped his team get back on track with an eye rake and a reverse DDT from the top rope. A street sweeper and a Vader bomb twisting elbow drop followed as the tag champs were in firm control of Tankman.

Rivera got too cocky and walked into a pop-up reverse elbow from Tankman which switched the momentum of the match and ultimately the run of 5150 as tag champs. 

Nduka got the hot tag and ran wild on the champions. Rivera got desperate and accidentally hit Boogie with a huge dive to the floor. He then tried a double springboard into the ring, but Nduka caught him in mid-air and hit him with his running power slam. Tankman then hit a running shooting star press to pick up the win and win the MLW tag titles. The era of “Power and Hustle” has arrived in MLW.

Next week:

The Von Erichs (Marshall and Ross) vs. The Mortons (Ricky and Kerry)

MLW Fusion results: Tajiri vs. Myron Reed vs. Matt Cross vs. Bandido

Posted on by Iain Oliver

Two major title matches bookended this week’s MLW Fusion as Alex Kane and Calvin Tankman continued their rivalry over the Openweight title, plus Tajiri put his Middleweight title on the line in a fatal four-way match against Myron Reed, Matt Cross and the debuting Bandido.

After being promised to be the number 1 contender replacement for Alex Hammerstone’s MLW Heavyweight title last week by Cesar Duran, the new MLW evil power couple of Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout opened this week’s episode by putting a bounty on Davey Richards’ head, offering a huge sum of money to anyone who can take him out and secure Holliday’s path to the gold.

MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane defeated Calvin Tankman to retain the title

Tankman finally had his chance to get his hands on Kane after months of close calls and sneak attacks by Kane and his bodyguard, Mr. Thomas. Kane originally offered Tankman a spot in their fight club, but after Tankman refused, he became their prime target in a series of clashes and pull-apart brawls.

This was a slugfest from the get-go, continuing the story of their feud. Tankman started the better of the two, but the match was briefly stopped when Kane took out Tankman’s knee, made worse by Thomas using a steel pipe behind the referee’s back.

The referee stopped the match temporarily as Tankman could not put weight on his leg. He left ringside but was back a few minutes later to continue the fight. 

Kane suplexed Tankman, but the challenger came back with a ripcord elbow to the head. Tankman was in control until Kane drove his shoulder into Tankman’s injured knee and quickly rolled him up to pick up the shock quick win.

Rich Bocchini interviewed Kane after the match, who said his win was sponsored by “Cry Baby Calvin.”

– Homicide tried to take out Richards backstage, but Richards fought him off and left in a rage looking for Holliday.

– Tag Team Champions 5150 (Rivera and Slice Boogie) called out the MLW tag division, focusing on the family legacies such as the Von Erichs and Ricky & Kerry Morton.

– Karlee Perez presented King Muertes with a rare artifact that Perez said would make him a god.  

– As the entrances of the next match took place, the Saito Brothers took their shot at taking out Richards but were unsuccessful.

KC Navarro defeated Ho Ho Lun

Navarro returned after a three-month injury absence and had to try and forget about his problems with nZo as he faced Dragon Gate’s Lun in his MLW return.

This was the opposite of our opener, with both high fliers keeping a fast pace. Navarro started stronger, flipping and dodging Lun’s attacks and hitting a suicide dive to the outside.

Lun got his advantage when he tripped Navarro who fell back first onto the top turnbuckle, playing into the nZo attack where he buckle bombed Navarro into the steel ring post.

The tough Navarro overcame the aggravated injury by hitting a lungblower and his sliced bread finisher to put away Lun.

After the match, Bocchini caught up with Navarro who passionately challenged nZo to a grudge match which was later booked for next week.

During the last match, the cameras showed a pull-apart confrontation backstage between Kane and ACH.

– Gnarls Garvin and Budd Heavy seem to be getting along quite well, bonding over a lot of beers and putting a plan in place to get back to winning ways.

– Richards’ luck looked like it was running out when King Muertes joined Homicide and the Saito Brothers in finally beating him down, but Richards was saved by his future opponent Hammerstone in an attempt to keep the scheduled title match alive for next week. Holliday’s bounty plan failed, at least for now.

Myron Reed defeated Tajiri (c), Matt Cross and Bandido to win the MLW Middleweight title

Duran introduced Bandido as the mystery fourth opponent in this great, near 10 minute match. It had the usual high risks and high flying spots you would expect given those involved, but also had good fluid exchanges in the early going as all four took turns to pair off inside the ring before the high risks began. 

Bandido was the main focus of all the early exchanges, but Cross took him out with a backbreaker and springboard crossbody before we went to a break.

Tajiri then took control with an array of kicks to his opponents. He locked in the tarantula on Reed, but ate a superkick from Bandido after missing his Buzzsaw kick. Reed countered a Bandido suplex with a stunner, and Cross joined in by double stomping Bandido while he was on Reed’s shoulders before diving out onto Tajiri.

Bandido then found himself on Reed’s shoulders again, this time in an electric chair position. Cross again dove off the top rope in an attempted crossbody, but Bandido caught him in mid-air and gave him a fallaway slam, also hitting Reed with a poison rana at the same time.

In a callback to their Fightland title match, Reed ducked Tajiri’s green mist as he sprayed Bandido instead. Cross took out Reed and Bandido with a double springboard cutter and went to the top to try and hit his shooting star press.

As Cross aimed for Bandido and dove off the top, Reed jumped in and caught him with a cutter out of nowhere in an excellently timed finisher. Reed then covered Cross and regained the Middleweight title for the third time. 

– We finished the episode with a hype video for next week’s Hammerstone vs. Richards title match. They both promised not to hold back. Hammerstone said if he can’t put Richards away quickly, he may be in trouble due to Richards never running out of gas. Richards said Hammerstone is not ready for what he is going to bring. Hammerstone ended by saying it will be the best MLW Heavyweight title match ever.

Next week:

  • MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Davey Richards in a title match
  • KC Navarro vs. nZo
  • MLW Tag Team Champions 5150 vs. The Von Erichs in a title match

MLW Fusion results: 5150 vs. Los Parks Tag Team title ladder match

Posted on by Iain Oliver

After last week’s shocking betrayal by Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout on MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone, MLW Fusion returns with a Tag Team title ladder match, no. 1 contender Davey Richards in action, plus All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Saito Bros making their debut.

Before the open, Calvin Tankman joined the commentary team at ringside to announce he would face National Openweight Champion Alex Kane in two weeks. Kane then came out to confront his challenger as security kept them apart.

Davey Richards defeated ACH

Richards had ACH locked in his Trailer Hitch submission early on that ended up with a close two count pinning predicament. An enzuigiri exchange swung the momentum ACH’s way which ended in a German suplex for a near fall.

Richards locked in an ankle lock which was reversed into a single leg Boston crab by ACH.

ACH then ran down the entrance ramp and leapt over the top rope into the ring to hit a massive running cutter, followed by a top rope frog splash for a great near fall.

After a break, Richards hit a top rope superplex. But after ACH kicked out at two, he got the ankle lock again followed by a brain buster. ACH heroically kicked out, but Richards immediately went back to the ankle lock for a third time which gave ACH no choice but to tap out.

After the match, Richards got on the mic, thanked ACH for a great match, and threatened whoever had stolen his Opera Cup that he was going to rip them in two. He then turned his attention to Hammerstone to hype up their upcoming title match at MLW SuperFight.

– Via a video promo, Mads Krugger told us he has put Jacob Fatu in his crosshairs as their first match after CONTRA Unit imploded is set next week.

– Jared Saint Laurent and then met with Cesar Duran to discuss the debut of JSL’s newest signing who he calls “the greatest wonder in the world.” Duran booked him in a mixed trios match next week. Myron Reed interrupted and asked for a rematch against Middleweight Champion Tajiri. Duran accepted, but said it will be in a triple threat that will also include a mystery opponent.

– It was announced that both Killer Kross and Lio Rush will be returning to MLW soon.

The Saito Bros (Jun and Rei) defeated Budd Heavy and Gnarls Garvin

The Saito Brothers were rather mechanic and had over the top mannerisms as they chopped and cheated behind the referee’s back and marched around the ring. Gnarls and Heavy were the firm fan favorites — past opponents turned partners who bonded over beer earlier in the day., They got a brief comeback before falling to a double chokeslam and top rope splash to give the Saito Brothers a win in their MLW debut.

After the match, Garvin kept fighting and punched the victorious 6’3″ brothers out of the ring.

Holliday and Atout talk about their betrayal

Holliday and Atout shared their first Valentine’s Day with us and explained why Holliday turned his back on his three year run in the Dynasty with Hammerstone last week. He said Hammerstone wasn’t by his side when he lost his IWA Caribbean championship to King Muertes while Holliday was saving Hammerstone in his match with Pagano, running around Mexico helping him escape Duran’s makeshift prison. He said if anyone is going to beat Hammerstone for his title, it will be him because he knows his weaknesses, injuries and is already in his head.

– The Hammerstone vs. Richards contract signing took place in Duran’s office. Duran got in both competitors’ heads as they traded threats towards the MLW matchmaker.

MLW Tag Team Champions 5150 (Rivera & Slice Boogie) (w/ Dr. Julius Smokes) defeated Los Parks (LA Park Jr. & El Hijo de LA Park) in a tag team ladder match to retain the titles

5150 hit their Street Sweeper combo assisted dropkick and Boogie’s big Vader bomb elbow very early on before the ladders and weapons and ringside brawling started.

Park Jr. hit a moonsault from the top rope to the floor onto everyone, Hijo speared Boogie through the ropes and onto a ladder bridge, Rivera used the ladder bridge (that didn’t break) to leap to a support beam, followed by a corkscrew onto Los Parks.

After a break, Boogie power slammed Hijo onto a ladder which again didn’t break. Rivera was showing off his agility as he rope walked and springboarded from the ropes to the ladder, but was soon on the receiving end of a suicide dive from Jr. and Asai moonsault from Hijo.

Homicide and LA Park interfered which ended in Park spearing Homicide through the ropes onto everyone at ringside. In the ring, Homicide dodged a flying spear from Park who inadvertently squashed his son Hijo instead.

Jr. and Rivera climbed the ladder and exchanged right hands on the top rung. Jr. had his fingertips on the gold when Boogie slammed a chair into his back. From there, Boogie got him on his shoulders and Rivera leapt from a ladder on the floor, over the top rope, and hit Jr. with a double foot stomp/death valley driver combo before climbing the ladder to retrieve their tag team titles. 

Next week:

  • Mads Krugger vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Gino Medina, Mini Abismo Negro and Arez vs. Aramis, El Dragon and JSL’s newest mystery signing
  • Middleweight Champion Tajiri vs. Myron Reed vs. a mystery opponent for the title

 In two weeks:

  • National Openweight Champion Alex Kane vs. Calvin Tankman for the title

MLW Fusion results: Alex Hammerstone vs. Pagano falls count anywhere

Posted on by Iain Oliver

Following the conclusion of the MLW Azteca mini-series from Mexico, MLW Fusion returned from Dallas, Texas with the fallout from Cesar Duran’s Mexican expansion. 

Duran kicked things off by saying how disappointed he was being in Texas after spending the last six weeks in Mexico. He said Alexander Hammerstone is like Texas — all show and no fight — and his reign will be over tonight. That was followed by a new opening video package complete with a new theme, graphics and name banners.

IWA Puerto Rico Caribbean Champion King Muertes defeated Richard Holliday to retain the title

This continued the Hammerstone and Holliday vs. Duran feud as Muertes was used as a hired gun recently by the MLW matchmaker. This was better paced than their last encounter a few weeks ago and had some good, exciting action to kick off the episode.

Holliday had Muertes reeling in the opening minutes, which was different from their last encounter a few weeks ago, but Muertes quickly took back control with a spear. A draping DDT by Holliday followed as he kept getting back into the match, but Muertes stopped him in his tracks, this time with a powerslam and a backstabber.

As Holliday hit his 2008 finisher (twisting suplex), Duran’s masked henchmen ran to ringside and distracted the referee as more masked men were seen backstage brawling with Hammerstone (which explains why he couldn’t help his friend at ringside).

Another henchman entered the ring with a chair behind the distracted ref’s back, but Holliday dropkicked the chair in his face. This momentary distraction let Muertes recover and hit his Straight To Hell finisher (downward spiral) to steal another win.

– In part three of the look into Jacob Fatu, he opened up with an emotional story of a drive-by shooting he witnessed earlier in his life where a close family friend passed away as a result. He said that wrestling saved his life and put out a warning to Hammerstone that he coming back for the MLW World title.

This series has been a great way to distance himself from the CONTRA Unit madman-type character he has played over the last few years, humanizing him in the process. He is currently feuding with Mads Krugger and Ikuro Kwon over the fallout from the CONTRA Unit implosion and will face Krugger in a Stairway To Hell match at the next MLW Fusion taping in Charlotte, NC.

– The culmination of the recent hype videos for a returning MLW superstar happened as the speeding car through the city at night and the sand timer all were clues to the return of Killer Kross, who will return to MLW at the next MLW Fusion taping in Charlotte.

– Jared Saint Laurent then announced that he will be debuting a new superstar, who he called the best pound for pound fighter and the greatest wonder of the world.

– Hammerstone checked on Holliday, who was in the trainer’s room. Holliday seemed down, but he reassured Hammerstone that he will have his back tonight. As Hammerstone left, Holliday had the same look on his face last week when the fan asked for a photo with him and then asked if Hammerstone was with him.

EJ Nduka defeated Ikuro Kwon

It looked like Kwon legit kicked hometown hero Nduka right in the jaw in the opening seconds. But from there, Nduka dominated Kwon, threw him around the ring, and put him away with his running powerslam and spinebuster.

After the match, Kwon got on the mic and called out “the traitor” Fatu who obliged to a hero’s welcome. Fatu took out Kwon with a spinning uranage and obliterated Kwon with a top rope splash through a table.

5150 cut a promo before their MLW Tag Team title ladder match against Los Parks next week, dedicating it to their hospitalized manager Konnan.

MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Pagano in a falls count anywhere match to retain the title

This was made after Pagano turned his back on Hammerstone during the MLW Azteca mini-series where he jumped Hammerstone after they had tagged together and beat Taurus and Muertes. Duran had recruited Pagano to further stack the deck against the champion and his friends.

Pagano brought a plastic garbage can into the ring early on, but missed a standing moonsault from the top rope while holding the can and slammed into the mat. Pagano’s punishment continued as he was then sent headfirst into a car hood at ringside.

A plunger to the head didn’t quite stick the way Hammerstone wanted it to, but he made up for the plunger’s lack of suction by dropping Pagano back first onto the ring apron.

Pagano had wooden skewers with him as they briefly brawled backstage through the entrance curtain. Next to the bar area, Pagano used his knees to drop Hammerstone on his head and face for a two count.

Back in the ring, Hammerstone muscled out of a skewer attack to his forehead before jamming the set in Pagano’s head instead. Pagano took a few bumps with the skewers still sticking out his head before taking a burning hammer for a close two count for the champion.

Hammerstone brought a wooden board into the ring but was on the receiving end of a guillotine leg drop and a chair dropkicked into his face as the action swung back and forth. Pagano sat Hammerstone on a chair at ringside and tried to crush him with a low rolling dive through the ropes but Hammerstone moved, leaving Pagano to crash and burn through the chair on to the wooden floor.

In the ring, Hammerstone hit a top rope dropkick that launched Pagano across the ring and set up a wooden board in the corner.

More of Duran’s henchmen ran to ringside to interfere, but Holliday came out and cleared them all with a baseball bat. In the ring, Hammerstone put Pagano away with a Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the hard-fought win.

As Hammerstone celebrated, Holliday stood with the bat watching on as Alicia Atout came down for an interview with the victorious champion. Atout grabbed a mic but as she was faked that it was not working, she slid behind Hammerstone and hit him with a low blow.

Hammerstone dropped to his knees before Holliday then confirmed the turn by walloping Hammerstone with a clothesline to the back of the head.

Holiday took some frustrated cheap shots and screamed at his former Dynastic friend “It was always me!” as Atout also got in on the act with some slaps to the face. As Holliday stood over his betrayed fallen friend, he raised Hammerstone’s own championship belt above his head, kissed his new evil acquaintance and once again declared “It was always me!” as the shocking conclusion to the return episode of MLW Fusion wrapped up.