Tag: mlw fusion

Do I remember how to do this? Let’s see.

Before the show, Jacob Fatu was outside selling merchandise when “Big Juice” Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’i came up and, after a brief conversation, they called it “The Polynesian Chop Shop” where they steal stuff from you and then sell it right back to you. 

Juice had EJ Nduka’s chain and were selling it for $450 plus offering Calvin Tankman’s towel for free. Lance had a “ring worn” Microman mask that he could get signed. Jacob had stolen Cesar Duran’s office fan and was selling it.

Suddenly, Duran arrived and said he should call the police and send the trio back to jail. Jacob pointed out that Cesar really doesn’t want the police involved. Eventually, booked them vs “his guys” for next week. Jacob said it’s on. This apparently was last week, since they then wrestled this week, but there wasn’t a graphic or anything telling us that.

– After his match last week, Mads Krugger refused medical assistance, and no one knows where he is. Fatu and his guys entered the building.

Samoan Swat Team defeated Los Aztecas

Duran came out with Los Aztecas to kick off the show. Two weeks ago, the Samoan Swat Team took over his office and stole his possessions.

He said he will present the debut of the most dangerous and cunning lucha team ever. They learned to fight on the streets and everyone in the back fears them, including Jacob Fatu.

So, out came Fatu. He’s not a fan of Duran and his guys. He says Duran doesn’t understand that Fatu doesn’t go out alone, he comes with family: the Samoan Swat Team, who are the aforementioned Lance Anoa’I and Big Juice.

Duran said Fatu made a mistake and rang the bell to start our opener.

Fatu did commentary for this one. Anoa’i looked fantastic from the bell. He and Juice laid out the two henchmen until Duran announced it was now no DQ, so a third henchman came in. Anoa’i did a Van Terminator to Azteca #3 and then after a double samoan drop from Juice, Anoa’i pinned one of them after a top rope splash.

So much for the most dangerous and cunning lucha team ever.

nZo came in through the crowd and smashed a bottle over Fatu’s head before running away. He was busted open from the back of his head.

– After being beaten up last week, Los Maximos said they want a Tag Team title match against Hustle & Power (Nduka and Tankman).

– A video package for Killer Kross and Scarlett aired.

– A video package aired for Richard Holliday. He said he always liked fashion, but now he is into the color red thanks to MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone since it’s Alex’s blood on his coat. The color red has opened his eyes to all new possibilities. He sees the world so much clearer nowadays and it’s never going to leave because once you taste blood, it’s tough to give up the feeling. He stated that he is the sole proprietor of The Dynasty and it was always him.

– Holliday challenges Hammerstone for the World title on the July 14th dubbed at Kings of Colosseum.

– MLW action figures are coming soon.

– Fatu got his head stapled and is currently in concussion protocol after being assaulted by nZo earlier.

– Backstage, Middleweight Champion Myron Reed entered Davey Richards’ locker room. They trained together recently and Richards wants a match “just for competition.”

– Alex Kane will wrestle against a mystery opponent next week. The opponent has only 20 minutes to win the Openweight Title. It’s dubbed “The Thrilla in Phila.”

Microman, Lince Dorado & MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie defeated Strange Sangre (w/Gangrel and Dr. Dax)

Okay, let’s get the negatives out of the way first. The announcers did such a poor job introducing the heel team that the match was half over before I figured out they were Mini Abismo Negro, Arez and Holidead. I get that a regular viewer would have known this, but I don’t know how many new viewers would have tuned in, saw a bunch of people doing stuff who weren’t properly identified, and stuck around after.

Microman is 3’3” tall. He’s so short that I was convinced that Negro was a normal sized wrestler and he’s only five feet tall himself. Valkyrie is the Women’s Featherweight Champion and for a company with one weekly hour of TV, they may have too many belts.

This was a fast-paced series of spots to where it was almost impossible to write anything down, because by the time you were finished, three more things happened. The heels bullied Microman, but the little guy stood tall, taking over both men in the match with a spinning headscissors takeover. Dorado and Valkyrie were both fine, but this was all about Microman.

At one point, all the heels chased Microman around the ring. He dove under it, so Strange Sangre reached under and pulled out…The Blue Meanie, of all people. Microman got out the other side and then hit a giant tope to the outside. Meanie punched Abismo for reasons and then started yelling “cat fight” as Valkyrie and Holidead fought up the aisle. This all led to Microman rolling up Mini Abismo for the win.

After the match, Gangrel laid out Microman with a boot and the heels stomped away on the mini. Suddenly, “Enter Sandman” hit and two minutes, twenty seconds later, The Sandman finally hit the ring to make the save. Thankfully for Microman, at some point the heels grew tired of kicking his ass. Anyway, Sandman caned all of them, followed by Microman caning them and then sharing a beer with Sandman as the show went off the air before any more ECW Originals wandered out.

Final Thoughts: 

This is not a show for a new viewer. I have only watched a handful of shows MLW aired on Vice last year. This is now almost a year later and I was lost for the most part. They need to better identify their wrestlers. It shouldn’t have taken me until halfway through the main event to learn the heels names. 

With that said, the matches were fun, the show was paced very well, and it was over long before I could get bored. I think Lance Anoa’i was amazing for the little bit of time he was in the ring and Richard Holliday is a fantastic promo.

Next week:

• Lince Dorado vs. nZo

This week’s MLW Fusion opened with a video package of how we got to tonight’s Weapons of Mass Destruction match between former CONTRA Unit members Jacob Fatu and Mads Krugger: blaming their loss at War Games on each other, the fallout and the chaotic matches in their feud so far.

This week’s show came from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Middleweight Champion Myron Reed was met backstage by Davey Richards who offered him a spot in his training team last week. He gave him a pep talk, but heavily teased a future match between the two for the gold on Reed’s shoulder.  

MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defeated KC Navarro and Arez (w/ Strange Sangre) in a three-way to retain the title

This was a good action-packed way to begin the show. They took turns in the early going by eliminating one of the competitors so the other two could have a fluid exchange to show off their abilities.

Arez was the first to have firm control of the match, moonsaulting off the apron on to Reed and then slingshotting himself back in the ring to hit Navarro with a cutter.

When the champion was on top, he hit his signature No Cap splash (springboard 450 splash) while showing a little frustration at the constant presence of Strange Sangre at ringside distracting him.

Navarro knocked Reed down with a big spin kick before launching himself over the top rope and onto all of Strange Sangre on the floor. He then hit Arez with a springboard cutter, only to be hit with one himself by Reed who dove back into the action.

Reed then seamlessly transitioned into a Captain Crunch (Celtic Cross) and squashed Navarro on top of Arez to pick up the win and retain his title.

After the match, Reed gave thanks to Richards for his training tips. Rich Bocchini asked him about a potential future match, but Reed immediately got angry and stormed off after the question. Throughout the match, the commentators hinted at Reed’s change of personality so this might be the start of a slow heel turn for the champ.

– Backstage, Krugger promised “to leave Fatu’s body lying in ashes as his reign of cruelty begins.” There was a Black Hand graphic that closed the promo, so there could still be a CONTRA sub-group led by Krugger in the future. 

– Bomaye Fight Club’s National Openweight champion Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas were on hand to deliver details for their next initiative. They teased a beat the clock challenge for Kane’s title and settled on “survive 20 minutes with the champion for $20,000.”

Los Maximos (Joel & Jose) defeated Kris Kage & Jadon Balo

EJ Nduka, one half of the MLW Tag Team Champions, was on commentary for the Maximos’ return to MLW. Early on, Nduka ran to the back after we saw Calvin Tankman being assaulted by a mystery attacker.

Los Maximos took to the sky with a dive to the floor after catching their opponents on a sunset flip attempt. They hit Kage with a Washing Machine (double team pendulum facebuster) and brought back their double team Spanish Fly from the top rope to pick up the win.

After the match, Bocchini interviewed Los Maximos and mentioned Nduka and the Tankman attack. Los Maximos interrupted and said Bocchini doesn’t have to worry about the champions because they (Maximos) are there for the gold. 

– Backstage, Cesar Duran found Gangrel and Arez from Strange Sangre lurking in the boiler room. He asked them to take out Microman next week as he has been a thorn in his side for weeks. Duran left saying the Samoans were up next.

– We learned that MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone will defend his title against Richard Holliday at MLW Kings of Colosseum on the July 14th episode. Bocchini interviewed Hammerstone via video who said he is not coming to prove anything but just coming to take out months of frustration on Holliday.

Jacob Fatu defeated Mads Krugger in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match

The ringside area was filled with military equipment and large containers seemingly containing chemical weapons. One container had an anthrax label and another had smoke billowing from it with a biohazard sticker. Others, as we would find out, contained weapons.

The match was suited for its location inside the old ECW Arena. Fatu brought a chair with him and tossed it in Krugger’s face to set the tone. A kendo stick, batons, and a chain were brought out and used early.

Krugger threw powder in Fatu’s eyes and attempted to power bomb him off the apron through a table, but he struggled to get Fatu up and ended up dropping him straight down on top of his head on to the table. The table collapsed and didn’t break, but thankfully it looked like Fatu got away without serious injury as he was able to finish the match, but it was a scary-looking fall.

Fatu hit a spear to swing the momentum in his favor, but Krugger hit him in the face with a Bakalai club and draped him in the CONTRA flag. Krugger then poured the contents of a gasoline can on Fatu, but the former champion thankfully nipped up and landed a huge Fosbury Flop onto Krugger on the floor.

They exchanged big moves including a German suplex and a pop-up Samoan drop by Fatu. Krugger amazingly hit a Panama Sunrise next, but Fatu popped back up with a superkick and then a run-up corkscrew twisting senton. Fatu then hit his finishing moonsault, but knocked Krugger to the floor.

Fatu hit another dive to the floor and brought out some barbed wire. Krugger was lying on a military stretcher and the barbed wire was placed on top of him. Fatu then leapt from the top rope, splashing Krugger and squashing the wire into himself and his opponent.

Sentai Death Squad members ran to ringside and brought in a ladder and a table for Krugger. They loosened the top and middle ropes to eliminate the Fatu moonsault as Krugger turned Fatu inside out with a clothesline.

Fatu fought back and hit Krugger with a chair (who fell through the table, breaking it prematurely before the next move). Still, Fatu went to the top of the ladder and hit a massive big splash to pick up the win.

After the match, Krugger came back to life and dragged Fatu to the biohazard-labeled container. But, Krugger himself was the one who went face-first into the container which burst into light and smoke. Krugger was left in the container, the poor victim of a supposed chemical attack, while Fatu came away with Krugger’s mask in his possession which seemed to symbolize the destruction and the end of his foe..or will it?

Next week:

• Mini Abismo Negro, Arez & Holidead vs. Lince Dorado, Microman & MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie

During last week’s main event, we heard that someone had broken into MLW matchmaker Cesar Duran’s office. This week’s Fusion opened with video evidence of Jacob Fatu and Juicy Finau revealed as the culprits. They mocked Duran while serenading a picture of him with a ukulele before stealing some cash and some of his valuable ornaments.

We then cut to this week’s footage with an irate Duran cleaning up his office and phoning in help to go after the Samoan Swat Team (Fatu, Finau and Lance Anoa’i). AAA Reina de Reinas champion Taya Valkyrie entered the office and they dropped a few old Lucha Underground references while letting the MLW viewers know they are old friends. She doesn’t want her opponent’s stable, Strange Sangre, to get involved in the match but Duran told her “things can get a bit crazy around here.”

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia for the first Fusion episode from this set of tapings. They ran down tonight’s card including the main event for the inaugural MLW World Featherweight Championship, plus a three-way tag team match for the Tag Team titles between champions Calvin Tankman and EJ Nduka, 5150 and The Von Erichs. 

Gangrel (w/ Holidead, Dr. Dax, Mini Abismo Negro & Arez) defeated Budd Heavy

The full Strange Sangre gang were at ringside to witness a quick victory for the “red viscous liquid” drinking, sickle-wielding, supposed leader of this cultish occult gang. Gangrel dominated and took Heavy off the top rope with an impressive bulldog before planting him with the Impaler DDT for the quick win. 

Strange Sangre got their shots in after the match before we cut to a tease of Richard Holliday making a statement tonight after his impressive pinfall over MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone last week in the trios tag team match.

– We saw a video recap of the increasing tension between Jacob Fatu and Cesar Duran over the past few weeks. This led to the announcement of Weapons of Mass Destruction next week between he and rival Mads Krugger. Later in the night, we were told the rules: win by pinfall, submission or surrender, no time limit, and the ringside area is weaponized and fortified with military-grade equipment, military cases containing mysterious weapons placed in the arena, and anything goes.”

MLW Tag Team Champions Hustle and Power (Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka) defeated 5150 (Danny “Limelight” Rivera and Hernandez) and The Von Erichs (Marshall and Ross) to retain the titles

Los Maximos (Joel and Jose) joined the international commentary team while “The Interview Queen” Alicia Atout tried to question The Von Erichs and their choice of teaming up with Hammerstone last week in a pre-recorded interview. However, Marshall and Ross didn’t bite and blew her off, showing their concentration for tonight’s tag title match.

This was a Texas Tornado-style action packed three-way tag, filled with spots and mayhem all over the ringside area.

Los Maximos entering the tag division should be imminent as Limelight tossed Tankman across their (non) state-of-the-art commentary table and into their laps.

The Von Erichs and the champions had their face vs. face confrontations which was good to see. Neither took cheap shots or cheated, but both just did their best to find out who is the best team in MLW. But of course, Hernandez and Limelight were always there to break up a pin or jump the faces from behind.

Rivera hit a big no-touch plancha onto everyone at ringside, but was then shown up by his bigger taller partner as Super-Mex Hernandez took to the air to dive onto everyone at ringside, too.

5150 then hit the 456 Headcrack on Ross Von Erich. Ross was on Hernandez’s shoulders while Rivera hit a double foot stomp off the top rope and Hernandez followed with a death valley driver. To add salt to the wound, Rivera rolled through and took out Marshall with a cutter too but all this only got a two count. 

Hernandez then teased a Border Toss, but Tankman slipped out and Nduka took Hernandez out with a spear. The Von Erichs then took him out with a double Iron Claw from the apron through a table at ringside.

In the ring, Tankman and Nduka hit a spike Tankman Driver onto Rivera to pick up the win and retain the titles. Los Maximos jumped the champions after the match and they all brawled to the back.  

– Six new names were announced for this month’s Battle Riot IV: La Estrella from Dragon Gate, Mads Krugger, Middleweight Champion Myron Reed, Ken Broadway, Warhorse, and Microman.

– Backstage, Reed was visited by Davey Richards who asked him to join his Team Ambition, an invitation that Reed quickly accepted. 

– In the parking lot, nZo seemed to be having some car trouble because of Jacob Fatu’s black Cadillac. The nZo vs. Fatu match-up continues to be teased.

– We then caught up with Holliday in Beverly Hills who had a phone call from a supposed agency he had turned down in the past. He ran down his credentials Miz-style, saying he has a book, movie and cologne coming out, is an influencer, future MLW World Champion, the first person to Hammerstone in MLW in three years, and the sole proprietor of The Dynasty.

Taya Valkyrie defeated Holidead (w/ Gangrel and Dr. Dax) to become the inaugural MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion

Valkyrie took Holidead down early with a sliding German suplex before we went to a commercial break. After the break, Holidead took control after a guillotine leg drop. Business picked up when Holidead dropped Valkyrie face first with Angel’s Wings that Holidead calls Darkness Falls on the outside, following up with a camel clutch inside the ring.

Valkyrie fought back with a crossbody and a running hip attack and a Meteora in the corner.

Holidead fought out of the Road to Valhalla, hit a spinebuster and then a jumping Unprettier for a close near fall for the Strange Sangre member.

Speaking of Strange Sangre, Arez ran out to ringside to offer some instructions to Holidead who went for another Darkness Falls. But, Valkyrie fought out and ended up knocking Arez off the apron.

Valkyrie tied up Holidead’s legs and surfboard stomped her head into the mat before locking in another brief STF with her legs crossbowed to pick up the submission victory and become the inaugural MLW Women’s World featherweight Champion.

******

Next week:

• Mads Krugger vs. Jacob Fatu in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match
• MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defends against Arez and KC Navarro in a three-way

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Dallas, Texas, for another episode of MLW Fusion recorded over WrestleMania weekend. 

After seeing a recap of last week’s controversial ending to Fusion with Richard Holliday, Mads Krugger and King Muertes jumping MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone only to be saved by the Von Erich brothers, the announcers hyped up tonight’s card consisting of nZo vs. KC Navarro and Flamita vs. Bandido. 

Los Parks (LA Park and LA Park Jr.) defeated Gangrel and Pagano in a Mexican Death Match

We opened with a crazy brawl that had El Jefe (Cesar Duran) appearing before the bell and saying that tag team matches are so boring, so he added the Mexican Death Match stipulation…as if these four needed extra incentive.

Bizarrely, with the stipulation added, Gangrel and Jr. started with a collar and elbow tie-up and an opening lucha exchange spot. However, it did not take long for things to break down and Los Parks took to the air with a double dive to the floor as we went to commercial break.

Back from the break, all four were brawling around ringside. Pagano took Gangrel’s sickle knife and intended to use it on Jr., but his dad saved him and used the sickle on Pagano’s forehead instead.

Inside the ring, Pagano hit a springboard facebuster but LA returned with a powerslam.

The match was no disqualification, but strangely the referee got involved and stopped LA from using a chair, resulting in Pagano swinging a right hand and punching the chair into his face. Pagano then ripped half of LA’s mask off which fired him up as he stuck a handful of skewers into Pagano’s forehead. LA then finished off his bloodied opponent by flattening him with a spear to pick up the win.

KC Navarro defeated nZo

Earlier in the year, nZo had put Navarro out of action for weeks after he hit an Outsiders Edge on him, driving him head and neck first against the ring post. Then when Navarro returned, nZo lured him into a false sense of security and blindsided him with a cheap shot before beating him down. Tonight was Navarro’s chance at revenge and the announcers played up that he was a big underdog.

nZo got on the mic and told a story about Navarro asking for advice, but he instead beat him up over and over again, leading to this match where he intends to do it again.

nZo played with Navarro in the early going and bullied him around the ring. nZo was in firm control until he missed a splash in the corner when Navarro moved. He quickly leapt to the top rope and hit a moonsault ala 1-2-3 Kid on Razor Ramon to get the shock flash pinfall on nZo to win the match. 

The commentary team played this up as being a big shock after all the weeks and months of nZo bullying Navarro.

– After blindsiding Hammerstone last week, Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout had a business meeting with Cesar Duran to discuss what happened last week. Duran said there would be consequences, but Holliday wanted an opportunity instead. As they started discussing it, Atout closed the office door and kept the camera out of earshot of what was being said.

– The cameras caught up with nZo who was racing through the backstage area, obviously embarrassed and angry about his loss. He, unfortunately, brushed past Jacob Fatu who shot him a look.

Bandido defeated Flamita

As you would imagine, this was high impact, high flying and high quality from the get-go.

They both played up being mirror images of each other as they hit the ropes, reversed, flipped and faced off in the opening exchanges. The announcers mentioned they were both former Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team champions.

Flamita had the advantage before taking the match to the outside where he hit a suplex on the entrance ramp. Back in the ring, he tried to break his former tag partner down with a single crab but he ended up just firing Bandido up.

Bandido hits the ropes with such ferocity and did just that before he hit a tremendous three times round headscissor takeover and a big Fosbury Flop to the floor. Flamita was not to be outshone, coming off the top with a twisting corkscrew crossbody to Bandido on the floor.

We saw Bandido’s strength with a one-handed gorilla press slam, but Flamita again was not letting him take the spotlight. He climbed to the top and teased a big move but instead flipped off the fans and dropped down to hit a simple kick to the head. Flamita’s downfall was that he seemed more interested in making the crowd angry than beating Bandido. Bandido flipped out of a power bomb and also hit a flipped GTS, a Spanish fly and a pop-up cutter.

Flamita hit a tiger driver for a near fall, but then missed a moonsault off the top rope. Bandido then picked up Flamita and hit another flipped GTS and his 21 Plex to pick up the impressive win.

Bandido tried to shake Flamita’s hand after the match but instead, his former tag partner flipped him off. 

Next week’s Rise of the Renegades card:

• MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone & The Von Erichs vs. Mads Krugger, Richard Holliday & King Muertes
• Aramis vs. Gino Medina in a Mexican strap match
• Caribbean Champion Octagon Jr. defends against Matt Cross

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Dallas, Texas, for another episode of MLW Fusion recorded over WrestleMania weekend. 

After seeing Microman arrive at the building to a mini hero’s welcome earlier in the day, Mister Saint Laurent was handed a note from Cesar Duran’s henchmen that said if Microman lost, he would be fired from MLW.

Davey Richards defeated Danny “Limelight” Rivera (w/ Dr Julius Smokes)

Rivera was billed as Danny “Limelight” Rivera in what could be a step toward him taking that name up in MLW. This match had no storyline attached to it, but coming out of it, we could be seeing more of Rivera as a singles competitor as it was made to make him look highly competitive against the strongly pushed Richards.

Rivera got on the mic before the match and riled up the local Dallas crowd, telling Richards he was going to put him down like Old Yeller.

After an equal opening exchange, Rivera knocked Richards down with a dropkick in the first major swing in momentum, getting just a one count.

Richards fought back after the commercial break with a dragon screw through the ropes followed by locking in the trailer hitch submission. A moment later, Rivera came back with a DDT for a near fall.

In the closing moments, they exchanged forearms and Richards flipped Rivera over with a German suplex. But, the 5150 member popped right up and walked into a big clothesline for a near fall for Richards.

Richards then spiked Rivera with a Gotch-style delayed cradle piledriver to pick up the big win.

After the match, Bocchini got a word with Richards who asked him about his recent loss against Alex Hammerstone. Richards said there was no shame in losing to the champion and the loss only made him hungrier. He then called out Alex Kane and his National Openweight title: “suplex assassin, suplex specialist.”

– We saw Mads Krugger leaving Duran’s office, leaving the announcers to speculate if this had anything to do with tonight’s main event.

– Later on, Ross and Marshall Von Erich entered Duran’s office, staking their claim as rightful number one contenders to the MLW Tag Team titles after defeating The Mortons and 5150 in recent weeks. Duran was more focused on preparing for his title match, doing Eric Bischoff-esque Karate Kid warm-ups in a gi. Marshall promised to show him they were ready by doing it the hard way if he wasn’t prepared to listen.

Microman, Aerostar and El Dragon defeated Arez, TJP and Mini Abismo Negro (w/ Holidead and Dr Dax) with Microman’s MLW career on the line

Similar to other six-man matches of recent weeks involving some of those involved tonight, the match was sprinkled with high spots, dives and great lucha exchanges. This week, we had the inclusion of TJP who brought a more story-driven aspect, but only after he took a short beating at the hands of the three-foot tall Microman.

Arez manhandled Microman by tossing him from corner to corner. But the tecnicos fought back after Microman distracted the three rudos, letting El Dragon hit them with a crossbody followed by Aerostar knocking everyone over with a missile dropkick.

All the high fliers took turns taking to the sky and dove onto the ever-growing group of wrestlers on the outside. Microman then teased going up, but TJP spoiled the spot for the loudest heel heat of the night. 

TJP then tried to lock in either a sharpshooter or figure four, but Microman’s legs were too short. Microman then flipped the frustrated TJP over and locked in a Fujiwara armbar that was only stopped by Abismo Negro’s double foot stomp.

Microman hit TJP with a 619 to dispose of him long enough to pin Mini Abismo Negro with a flash victory roll to win the match for his team and save his job in MLW. 

– During the last match, the cameras went backstage to see Duran’s henchmen going into Los Parks’ locker room again, leading the announcers to question if Duran was gathering the troops for tonight’s main event.

– We were back with another instalment of the all access interview series with the next instalment of Calvin Tankman’s story. He talked about his undefeated MLW streak, but then ran into Jacob Fatu who gave him his first loss. He talked about his family and community and said he didn’t want to just be a wrestling legend, but a legend in his community and in his family.

– We were back in Duran’s office as he continued his focused karate warm-up. A henchman told him Los Parks were here so he ordered the door to be opened for them, but alas, it was not Los Parks but Fatu who floored a henchman with a headbutt and promised Duran he would “see your punk ass later, you fake ass Karate Kid.”

Duran’s face was priceless as his plan seemed to be crumbling around him. He also has a new catchphrase as he called his failing and bumbling henchmen a “piece of crap” on more than one occasion tonight.

MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Cesar Duran by disqualification to retain

After accidentally knocking him out two weeks ago, Duran promised violent consequences for Hammerstone last week when he made this surprising and controversial match announcement.

Duran had personalized introductions that he made the ring announcer read out: Duran was the “embodiment of lucha libre with a black belt in violence, your homeboy, a visionary, a man with courage and conviction, and a man who possessed the biggest cojones ever measured: the undefeated and reigning ‘El Jefe’ of Azteca Underground: Cesar Duran.”

Conversely, Hammerstone was “fighting out of a country that has seen its best days gone by, representing the fat, poor and dumb, fueled with more illegal supplements than the fast food that every one of you eat for breakfast lunch and dinner: Alex Hammerstone.”

Of course, Duran came into this with a plan up his sleeve. He got on the mic and blackmailed Hammerstone into tying one hand behind his back before he brought a steel chair into the ring. Just after the bell rang, the odds were stacked more against the champion as Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout entered the arena and distracted the champion before jumping him and putting the boots to him. 

The referee called for the bell and the disqualification but it was all just a plan to lay a beating on the champion. Holliday then hit Hammerstone over the back with a chair.

Duran got back on the mic and said he liked to give surprises. King Muertes and Mads Krugger came out and started putting the boots to Hammerstone, but almost immediately, the Von Erichs ran out to chase them off.

Duran was angry at his plan being ruined, so he booked Hammerstone and The Von Erichs to take on Holliday, Muertes and Krugger at a later date.

Next week:

• nZo vs. KC Navarro
• Flamita vs. Bandido

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Dallas, Texas, for another episode of MLW Fusion recorded over WrestleMania weekend. 

After a hype video for the Bunkhouse Brawl main event between the Von Erichs and 5150 (Rivera and Hernandez), the announcers helped hype up the rest of the card including MLW Tag Team Champions Calvin Tankman and EJ Nduka defend against National Openweight champion Alex Kane and his bodyguard Mr. Thomas. 

Plus, what will be the fate of MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone after he accidentally knocked out matchmaker Cesar Duran last week?  

nZo defeated ACH

nZo’s original opponent was Budd Heavy, but nZo dropkicked him as he was entering the ring and rammed him headfirst into the ring post, taking him out of action. He then issued an open challenge which was accepted by ACH.

This was a good opener and helped tell the story of nZo being a major player in the middleweight division.

nZo beat down ACH using a Razor’s Edge into the ring post (the same move that kept recent rival KC Navarro out of action for months) and a top rope-assisted lungblower. ACH fired up with a gutwrench suplex from the top rope and had a near fall after a dropkick while nZo flew through the air.

When ACH went to the top again, nZo deliberately pushed the referee into the ropes, crotching ACH in the process. This gave nZo the opening to hit his Eat The Feet finisher to pick up the big win.

After the match, he bragged a bit on the mic which brought out the aforementioned Navarro. Navarro was held back by referees and security, so look for them to clash again soon.

MLW Tag Team Champions Hustle and Power (Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka) defeated The Bomaye Fight Club (National Openweight Champion Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas) to retain the titles

This was given a lot of time and was another good match. The champions hit an early impressive splash and leg drop combo that had the crowd rocking for local hero Nduka. This was Thomas’ first match in MLW and he was kept quite strong in his simple, but effective, spots.

Thomas sprayed something into Nduka’s eyes behind the referee’s back which played into the match. Nduka was blinded for a good portion of the match, so Tankman had to go through it 2-on-1. During this time, Thomas hit an impressive spinning uranage on Tankman.

The champions’ comeback started with a big lariat from Tankman which led to Nduka getting the hot tag to run wild. Nduka knocked Thomas down with clotheslines and a spinebuster before hitting his stampede powerslam. Tankman got the blind tag and followed up with a big splash to pick up the win and retain the titles.

– Dave Marquez interviewed the Von Erichs backstage before their Bunkhouse Brawl main event. Marshall said 5150 have been running their mouths for too long and it all comes down to tonight, bringing out a cowbell to use later on.

– After being accidentally knocked out by Alex Hammerstone last week, Cesar Duran was nursing his face with a bag of ice as he told us he is challenging Alex Hammerstone to a fight for the MLW World title next week.

– The first five names have been announced for June 23rd’s Battle Riot in New York: Killer Kross, Calvin Tankman, Alex Kane, Marshall Von Erich and Lince Dorado.

Marshall and Ross Von Erich defeated 5150 (Rivera and Hernandez w/Dr. Julius Smokes) in a Bunkhouse Brawl

Rivera got on the mic before the match to rile up the Dallas crowd and it worked. When it came time for Marshall and Ross to enter, the crowd gave them a hometown hero reception.

The brothers started out strong by tossing Rivera from the ramp into the ring, hitting a double dropkick and Marshall then hitting a standing moonsault. Hernandez got back involved and this broke down into a Texas tornado-style brawl.

The commentary team played up the angles leading up to this match, especially 5150 tossing the World Class Championship Wrestling title belt into a river and when Hernandez border tossed Ross from the ring to the floor through a table.

Marshall crashed and burned through a wooden board at ringside while Hernandez used a rake down low on Ross. They then made good use of the Bunkhouse apparel when Marshall dropped Rivera gut first on a bale of hay while Hernandez choked Ross with the aforementioned cowbell rope.

Marshall hit Rivera with a superplex and a pop-up power slam as we hurtled towards the finish.

Ross set up a table in the corner but ended up crashing through it himself. 5150 set up another board in the corner and sprayed “5150” on it, but it was Rivera who went through it this time when Marshall came storming back into the ring.

Ross broke a shovel over Hernandez’s back which opened the door for Marshall to lock in the claw and for the brothers to hit their claw-assisted slam to pick up the win.

Next week:

• MLW World Champion will defend against matchmaker Cesar Duran

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Dallas for another episode of MLW Fusion recorded over WrestleMania weekend. The announcers, along with Jacob Fatu via a passionate video package full of expletives, helped hype up the main event Apocalypto match between himself and Bestia 666. 

Holidead (w/ Gangrel and Dr. Dax) defeated Chik Tormenta

Tormenta hit a suicide dive early, but her second attempt was stopped by a big boot from Holidead. Tormenta hit a headscissors takeover, but Holidead retaliated quickly with a spinebuster.

Tormenta couldn’t put Holidead away after a top rope meteora so she took to the sky again and missed a middle rope moonsault. This set up the end for Tormenta as it gave Holidead the opening to hit her double underhook facebuster to pick up the win.

After the match, Bocchini asked Holidead what was next and she said she is running through the featherweight division and the dark days are ahead. They hyped up the Featherweight champion being crowned this summer.

– After being disrespected by 5150 after Rivera threw the World Class title belt into a Dallas river, Marshall and Ross Von Erich were back in a pre-recorded video from Hawaii with their dad (Kevin Von Erich) who said that they need to make a match with 5150 and kick their ass.

They later met up with MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone in the arena and hinted at both teaming in the future and going surfing in Hawaii. Later in the night, 5150 had more disrespect for the Von Erichs and the state of Texas before we learned about their Bunkhouse Brawl next week on Fusion. 

Octagon Jr defeated King Muertes, El Dragon and El Hijo de LA Park in a cyclone match to win the MLW Caribbean Championship

A cyclone match was described as a one fall, sudden death match where you win via pinfall, submission or knockout. There were only two participants allowed in the ring at one time and lucha rules were in effect, so once one wrestler left the ring, another could enter without needing to tag.

As you can imagine with the names involved, this was full of dives, high spots and high risk although Muertes kept things grounded with his powerful chokeslams, clotheslines and spears. 

After his special video package last week, Octagon Jr (WWE’s Kalisto) was showcased and involved in some nice exchanges with both El Dragon and Hijo.

Dragon will be a nice addition to the MLW middleweight division and hit a nice springboard elbow drop here to get a near fall. However, it was Octagon Jr who impressed and came close to winning with a 450 splash.

Muertes had to take a breather after taking a superkick, lungblower, cutter, and a springboard frog splash from his challengers which gave the three high flyers a chance to shine.

Dragon landed on his head and neck after falling from an electric chair position when the momentum of Octagon Jr landing on him folded him over. Luckily, he seemed ok as he was able to complete the match.

Hijo took out Muertes with a high crossbody from the top rope into the crowd which left Octagon Jr. and Dragon to finish the match. Octagon got the win and the title after a top rope flip fallaway slam in an impressive finish.

– We then had another one of MLW’s insightful interviews. Calvin Tankman, half of the MLW Tag Team Champions, talked about his early years when he tried all sports and tried to emulate his favorite WCW superstars. He then talked about his family and the sacrifices his parents made for him while growing up. His father was plunged into debt, but Tankman never saw him quit and that’s what he uses for his “heavyweight hustle” catchphrase: to never give up. 

Jacob Fatu defeated Bestia 666 in an Apocalypto match

An Apocalypto match wasn’t fully explained but basically, it was no disqualification with weapons not only legal but encouraged.

Fatu hit a dive through the ropes early on before politely telling ringsiders to “get the f*ck out the way” before he chopped and threw Bestia around the timekeeper’s area. The commentary team called Fatu “at another level” and “a man possessed” as he was full of fire, shouting to the crowd and kicking the ropes to get the cameraman away.

Bestia came back into the match with a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Fatu had hit a tilt-a-whirl powerslam earlier, so he was able to reverse the second attempt. But Fatu wasn’t down for long as he reversed a cutter by putting his hands down and springing off the mat. He then rocked Bestia with his trademark superkick and pop-up Samoan drop, but Bestia reversed that into a crucifix bomb.

Bestia then used the weapons that were introduced by Fatu earlier by ramming him headfirst into a chair in the corner, dropping Fatu with a muscle buster and slamming a chair into his back.

Moments later, Fatu got back into things by hitting his pop-up Samoan drop, but Bestia retaliated with a destroyer.

Bestia set up a wooden board between two chairs but, of course, ended up going through it himself after Fatu caught him with another pop-up Samoan drop. The Samoan Werewolf then leapt to the top rope and squashed Bestia with a top rope moonsault to pick up the win.  I’ve said it before but Fatu is one to watch over the next few years and will be in a major promotion sooner rather than later.

Cesar Duran announces the next challenger to Alex Hammerstone

Duran had a full press conference set up backstage with a stage and microphone to announce Hammerstone’s next MLW world title challenger: Richard Holliday.

Holliday said the top of the mountain of MLW will get the change it desperately needs. Hammerstone then stormed the set and came face-to-face with Holliday. Alicia Atout threw water in Hammerstone’s face and he took a swing at Holliday, but accidentally hit Duran instead, leaving the MLW matchmaker lying knocked out as Fusion went off the air. Surely, this will lead to repercussions for the MLW champion.

Next week:

• The Von Erichs vs. 5150 (Rivera & Hernandez) in a Bunkhouse Brawl

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Dallas for another episode of MLW Fusion recorded over WrestleMania weekend.

Richard Holliday defeated Davey Richards

In a battle of a former title challenger vs. a future one, Holliday came out on top after showing some toughness and fight against a very hard-hitting opponent. This was a solid match that served its purpose to show Holliday as a new credible contender for the world title after cleanly knocking off a former challenger.

Holliday was clearly the taller of the two and tried to use that size advantage throughout but Richards’ tenacity and in-ring skill always kept him competitive and often was one step ahead of the former stablemate of current MLW champion Hammerstone.

Richards had hit a standing double stomp earlier in the match, but missed his next one from the top rope but was able to roll through and lock in the Trailer Hitch submission. After reaching the ropes, Holliday hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to regain control.

Richards slipped out of Holliday’s 2008 finisher and locked in his ankle lock. Holliday escaped, but Richards knocked him straight back down with a hard kick. Shockingly, Holliday showed his toughness and kicked out at one.

A series of kicks by Richards followed, but Holliday roared up with a big clothesline and a 2008 twisting suplex to get the clean pinfall win on his way to a title shot against Hammerstone.  

After the match, Alicia Atout grabbed the mic from Bocchini and introduced Holliday who screamed his way through another promo displaying his new determined and slightly unhinged persona. He said he was the next world champion and repeated what he has been saying since he turned on Hammerstone: “It was always about me.” 

We were reminded that Holliday tried to screw Hammerstone out of his title during last week’s main event triple threat that also included Mads Krugger and Jacob Fatu. But, an attack from one half of “The Clout Couple” was not enough as Hammerstone was able to kick out of a 2008 and fight back to retain his title going into the Holliday title defense.

– 5150 disrespected the Von Erich legacy by stealing the World Class Heavyweight Title last week and taking it on a road trip. This week, Marshall and Ross Von Erich said there was a reckoning coming and they promised to kick their ass tonight. No confrontation happened, but be on the lookout for these two teams to meet up sooner rather than later.

– Earlier, EJ Nduka bumped into Mr. Thomas who sarcastically wished the tag champ luck in his match tonight. Thomas then said Tankman doesn’t look good with him, trying to sow seeds of doubt within the newly formed team.

– Octagon Jr. (the former Kalisto in WWE) had a special hype video showing some character-based background of him training martial arts and respecting the legacy of the Octagon mask. Look for him to be featured more heavily in the coming weeks and months. 

MLW Tag Team Champions Hustle and Power (EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman) defeated Budd Heavy and Red Pickins to retain the titles

The champions made short work of their opposition as they focus on their main feud with Alex Kane and Calvin Tankman.

Nduka hit Pickins with a spinebuster and running powerslam before Tankman squashed him with a big splash. Heavy’s only involvement was eating a spear when trying to break up the match-winning pinfall.

The champions will face off and defend their titles against Kane and his bodyguard Mr. Thomas soon.

– After laying out Jacob Fatu with a steel chair last week, “The Tijuana Gremlin” Bestia 666 confronted Cesar Duran in his office and said the money he was offering as a thank you was not enough and wanted Fatu in a match. Duran agreed and booked an Apocalypto match between the two next week.

MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defeated Swerve Strickland to retain the title

Two weeks ago, Reed was attacked by a masked man during a five-way match for Alex Kane’s National Openweight title. Last week, Reed called the masked attacker out and challenged him to show up tonight. Before the match, Reed called out Duran for answers as he thought he was the mastermind behind the attack.

Duran obliged and told him not to call himself a GOAT when he acts like a sheep. He has opened a forbidden door to a former MLW star which turned out to be the man who won the first MLW World title after their restart: Swerve Strickland.  

When Strickland appeared, he received a good response but quickly made his intentions clear as he cockily sauntered to the ring and arrogantly posed and flaunted, cementing himself as the heel for the match. 

The commentary team questioned that if won, would he take the title back to Jacksonville. He was also referenced as an AEW wrestler throughout the match. Interestingly, his time in WWE was also mentioned with the commentators saying he went from being the next brightest star to someone who now needs to reinvent himself.

Reed was the first to take to the sky after a nice equal opening exchange with a top rope no touch running dive to the floor. He then reversed a suplex into a cutter — a great signature of the Middleweight champion. Seconds later, Strickland hit a cutter of his own as he built up some momentum.

The match was back and forth as Reed came back with his own momentum. The champion charged the length of the ramp (which was the same level as the ring) and leapt over the top rope. He was looking for a spectacular cutter — another Reed signature — but Strickland caught him mid-air and locked him in an armbreaker.

Reed fought out and after some rolling pinfall attempts by both men, Reed used the ropes to catch Strickland off guard and quickly hit a springboard cutter to both win the match and retain his title.

As Fusion was going off the air, the camera met up with 5150’s Rivera, Hernandez and Slice Boogie by a Dallas riverside with the World Class Championship belt. They ended up tossing it into the river and walking off. No doubt the Von Erich brothers will have revenge on their minds now. 

Next week:

• Jacob Fatu vs Bestia 666 in an Apocalypto match
• MLW Caribbean Champion King Muertes vs. Octagon Jr. vs. El Dragon vs. El Hijo de LA Park in a cyclone four-way title match

Joe Dombrowski and Rich Bocchini welcomed us to Dallas, Texas, for the first episode of MLW Fusion filmed during WrestleMania weekend.

Rivera (with Dr Julius Smokes) opened the show by coming to the ring to let the Dallas crowd know that his tag partner Slice Boogie was arrested on arrival in Texas. He then began bad mouthing The Von Erichs.

This brought out Marshall and Ross Von Erich but before they could get in the ring, Hernandez made his MLW debut. He took out both brothers with a steel chair and aligned himself with Rivera and 5150.

Rivera, Hernandez and Smokes beat down the Von Erichs, ending with a Border Toss from Hernandez to Ross over the top rope and through a table at ringside.

Cesar Duran is under investigation

Duran said with every investigation, you need witnesses. But the problem MLW has is that all their witnesses keep disappearing. He said he is back in control and booked a four-way tonight for the National Openweight title with four different styles of wrestlers.

Mads Krugger walked into Duran’s office and demanded a shot at Hammerstone as he has beat Bestia and Jacob Fatu recently. (Later in the night, we learned Krugger will get his shot against Hammerstone next week.)

Later in the night again, Fatu stormed into Duran’s office and after some heated words, he was interjected into next week’s main event with Hammerstone and Krugger.

Matt Cross defeated TJP

TJP was on the mic before the match and said he is shutting down the open door policy after sending Buddy Matthews to AEW. This week, he is dealing with some in-house issues by taking on Cross.

Cross and TJP made their MLW debuts on the same show 18 years ago and we saw some nice vintage clips of them from their debut matches.

The commentary team played up the importance of this match to the Middleweight title picture but also highlighted their different styles. The match was competitive early as they traded cradles and reversals in the opening minutes.

Cross hit a crossbody to the floor, but TJP took back control quickly and began twisting and tying Cross up in a variety of submission holds.

TJP began his heelish foot scrapes but when he took his eye off the ball for a second, Cross took him out with a suicide dive.

Cross began building momentum and hit a springboard crossbody followed by a double foot stomp off the top rope. TJP came back momentarily with a tornado DDT.

TJP came close to winning with a crucifix slam, but Cross swung the match back in his favor with his springboard cutter and a top rope shooting star press to pick up the big win. 

– Alex Hammerstone talked about his former friend Richard Holliday. He said Holliday was the first one he called when his girlfriend was diagnosed with cancer and Holliday was the first one waiting for him when he came through the curtain as MLW Champion. But when Holliday tried to steal the limelight by attacking him, all everyone was talking about was the preceding Hammerstone vs. Davey Richards match. Hammerstone vs. Holliday is now booked and will take place at May’s TV taping in Philadelphia.

– We saw a hype video for Taya Valkyrie returning to MLW.

Holidead (w/ Gangrel and Dr. Dax) defeated Shazza McKenzie

Australia’s McKenzie took to the sky early to take out Dax with a crossbody. She then tried another crossbody inside the ring, but Holidead caught her and rammed her headfirst into the buckles before slamming her to the mat.

The Strange Sangre member then took some of Gangrel’s advice and began biting McKenzie’s head to start grinding her down. A tree of woe dropkick, an end of days-style slam and an unprettier finished McKenzie off.

After the match, Bocchini tried to get a word with the winner who said she is the leader of Strange Sangre, Gangrel is the master of pain, and MLW will have a body of pretty faces lying in the ring as she becomes the MLW Featherweight Champion.

– Holliday and Alicia Atout dished the dirt on Hammerstone and their old stable, The Dynasty. He said when he was younger, Hammerstone was a “skinny little bitch” and then had to “enhance himself” to get bigger. Atout then said it’s a good thing Duran is back, but when questioned about that by Holliday, she told him and the camera to “Shhh.”

MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane defeated ACH, Myron Reed, Puma King and Juicy Finau to retain

After holding the title for nearly half a year, Kane demanded challengers and got a barrel load of them here in all shapes, sizes and styles. Earlier in the night, we learned Duran had listened to Kane and booked a fifth “super heavyweight” opponent. That turned out to be Finau who is certainly a super heavyweight addition to the match standing over six feet tall and over 400 lbs.

Finau started strong with everyone bouncing off him or falling to his massive size and power advantage. The opponents ganged up on him and got him out of the ring so Puma King, Reed and ACH could show off with some high flying lucha exchanges. Finau caught Reed on the floor after a dive, but ACH quickly followed up and knocked them both down before quickly hitting Puma King with another dive on the other side of the ring.

After a break, ACH was the main man in the ring as everyone took turns coming in for a spot. He suplexed Kane and Reed but when Finau came in, he was on the receiving end of a double Samoan drop.

A masked man then interfered and took out Reed at ringside. In the ring, Kane suplexed Puma King and quickly made him tap out with a crossface.

Calvin Tankman was on commentary and after he was victorious, Kane confronted him, Reed, Mr. Thomas and EJ Nduka were all involved and in the skirmish, Kane ended up hitting Tankman with a chair as Fusion went off the air.

Next week’s MLW Intimidation Games:

• MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone will defend against Mads Krugger and Jacob Fatu in a triple threat match