Several former Lucha Underground roster members have reacted to the promotion’s recent social media tease.
On Friday, the official social media account for Lucha Underground, which had been dormant since 2019, shared a short video featuring a lucha mask followed by the word “?Más?” The post was captioned, “soon.”
Since then, former Lucha Underground wrestlers such as Taya Valkyrie, Willie Mack, and Ivelisse have reacted.
“I’m sorry WHAT???!!!” Valkyrie wrote.
“Excuse me?” Vinnie Massaro wrote.
Mack shared a photo of himself, AR Fox, and Killshot (Swerve Strickland) as the Lucha Underground Trios Champions.
Ivelisse shared a video of herself walking down the steps at the old temple in Boyle Heights.
Other wrestlers who were not part of the original Lucha Underground have commented as well, including AEW’s The Butcher, TNA’s AJ Francis and former WWE wrestler Shelly Martinez.
“Yo i want in!!!!” The Butcher wrote.
Francis said he already has a character idea for the show. He wrote:
“Okay hear me out 👂🏽
I have always wanted to wrestle under a mask as ‘El Dinero’ … & the mask is obviously money themed but the attire is different outfits Robert Dinero wore in different movies… starting with Taxi Driver
Yes, I have spent too much time thinking about this.”
The rights to Lucha Underground are owned by a company named Lucha Underground LLC after being transferred from Lucha Libre FMV three years ago. Lucha Underground LLC filed two trademarks related to the brand in January 2025.
More social media posts related to the tease are available below:
— The Burning Cleaver Butch Williams (@andycomplains) April 24, 2026
Okay hear me out 👂🏽
I have always wanted to wrestle under a mask as “El Dinero” … & the mask is obviously money themed but the attire is different outfits Robert Dinero wore in different movies… starting with Taxi driver
New details are available regarding Willie Mack’s status with AEW.
Mack posted to social media on Tuesday night and was critical of his lack of bookings in the company. He has not wrestled for AEW since March 2025, although his most recent match for Ring of Honor took place on December 6, 2025.
On Wednesday, Fightful Select posted further details on Mack’s status, noting that he remains under AEW contract, but is no longer on the same deal he had been on for the past two years. When he first debuted in 2023, Mack was on what is described as a “tier zero” contract, essentially a pay-per-appearance deal. He then worked under a full-time, salaried deal for the past two years before recently being moved back to a tier zero agreement.
It is not clear what led to the change. AEW sources are reportedly in contact with Mack regarding the situation.
PWInsider also reported on Mack’s status Wednesday, noting that he was offered a new AEW contract “some time ago,” but opted not to sign it.
Mack is also a regular in Violent J and Vince Russo’s Juggalo Championship Wrestling promotion, where he currently holds one half of the Tag Team titles alongside 2 Tuff Tony.
It's like for 2 years straight I'd call every week and ask if you got anything for me? You signed right? You still getting paid right? I want to Wrestle.
Despite sending out a tweet that made people think he had departed AEW, Willie Mack says he is still with the company.
Mack posted a tweet on Tuesday night saying that he was “about to become a homeless superhero” because AEW doesn’t think he’s worth the money. He then sent out a follow-up saying that, for two years straight, he’s been calling every week to see if the promotion has anything for him:
When ya boy is about to become a homeless superhero because the booker doesn’t think he’s worth the money. #WhereTheBestWrestle
It’s like for 2 years straight I’d call every week and ask if you got anything for me? You signed right? You still getting paid right? I want to Wrestle.
During his time with AEW, Mack has only wrestled sporadically, mostly featuring on ROH in the matches he’s had. The most recent of those was an ROH match in December 2025 where he and Aaron Solo lost to Wheeler Yuta & Daniel Garcia. Mack has worked outside dates while with AEW and is a regular for Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
Mack wrestled for PWG early in his career and has held championships for Lucha Underground, TNA, NWA, and JCW.
An AEW/ROH departure was confirmed at the start of April with Lady Frost entering into free agency upon the expiration of her contract.
Brian Cage will defend the Ring of Honor men’s TV title at next Friday’s Final Battle in a six-way Survival of the Fittest match.
Cage will face AR Fox, Willie Mack, Mark Davis, Blake Christian and Komander in the elimination-style bout taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
Cage has two title defenses since winning the gold at October’s WrestleDream, coming against Fox and Komander.
Here’s the current card for the HonorClub streaming special:
ROH World Champion Chris Jericho defends against Matt Cardona
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Billie Starkz
ROH Tag Team Champions Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) defend against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
ROH women’s TV Champion Red Velvet defends against Leyla Hirsch
ROH men’s TV Champion Brian Cage defends against AR Fox, Willie Mack, Mark Davis, Blake Christian and Komander in a Survival of the Fittest match
Willie Mack apparently won’t be appearing for GCW anytime soon.
The promotion told Fightful on Monday that Mack has been pulled from upcoming GCW events. He was scheduled to face Sidney Akeem (Scrypts) at Highest in the Room 3 on December 14.
“GCW claimed to Fightful today that Willie Mack has been removed from next weekend’s GCW shows,” Fightful reported. “The company is under the impression this still stems from Effy’s comments as AEW has no shows scheduled next week.”
In their report, Fightful said that ‘numerous’ people in AEW claimed the promotion didn’t pull Mack, though one contact claimed that talent relations ‘encouraged’ Mack to not take the GCW booking.
Ricky Starks was pulled from GCW shows by AEW shortly after he made his debut in November. That stemmed from comments Effy made regarding Tony Khan, Shad Khan, and AEW running the Hammerstein Ballroom a month prior to GCW’s return to the venue.
Mack is under AEW contract, but has been used primarily for Ring of Honor. His last match was in October, losing to Komander on an episode of ROH television.
2 fan favorites collide TONIGHT in a hard-hitting fight Mack vs Rhodes on a night featuring some of AEW’s rising stars + biggest stars!
Rhodes was part of an eight-man tag match honoring the late Brodie Lee on Dynamite this Wednesday. Preston Vance, Rhodes, Adam Copeland & Orange Cassidy defeated Lance Archer, Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona.
At AEW’s Worlds End pay-per-view in December, Rhodes lost a singles match against Swerve Strickland. Rhodes was a late replacement for Keith Lee in that match after Lee wasn’t cleared to compete due to injury.
Willie Mack’s most recent match was a loss to ROH Television Champion Kyle Fletcher that aired on ROH TV earlier this month.
Collision and Battle of the Belts are both taking place from Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia tonight. Collision begins on TNT at 8 p.m. Eastern time, then Battle of the Belts follows at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Here are the announced lineups for both shows:
AEW Collision —
Adam Copeland open challenge
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Red Velvet
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) and Daniel Garcia vs. House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews)
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona defend against Lance Archer & The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent)
Hangman Page vs. JD Drake
Dustin Rhodes vs. Willie Mack
AEW Battle of the Belts IX —
Street fight: AEW Tag Team Champions Big Bill & Ricky Starks defend against Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara
TBS Champion Julia Hart defends against Anna Jay
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Preston Vance
Several matches have been announced for ROH TV this week.
New ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Willie Mack on the show. The match was set up last week when Mack answered Fletcher’s open challenge.
The newly crowned #ROH World TV Champion @kylefletcherpro issues an OPEN CHALLENGE!
Fletcher won the vacant title at ROH Final Battle 2023 in the Survival of the Fittest Six-Way match.
Other matches advertised for Thursday’s show include Leyla Hirsch & Rachael Ellering vs. Diamante & Mercedes Martinez, and Dalton Castle vs. Peter Avalon.
This week’s ROH TV was taped at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas on December 23. Spoilers from the taping are available here.
ROH TV lineup for January 4, 2024:
ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Willie Mack
Leyla Hirsch & Rachael Ellering vs. Diamante & Mercedes Martinez
Griff Garrison vs. Serpentico
Lance Archer vs. TBA
Dalton Castle vs. Peter Avalon
Queen Aminata vs. TBA
Red Velvet vs. Alex Garcia
The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) vs. The Boys (Brent & Brandon Tate) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty)
El Hijo del Vikingo, Komander & Lee Johnson vs. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) & Gringo Loco
A men’s Television title match, plus a tag team bout are set for the January 4 episode of Ring of Honor TV.
On this week’s show, new TV Champion Kyle Fletcher laid out an open challenge for next week during a backstage interview segment. Willie Mack then appeared and accepted the challenge within the same interview setting up the title bout for next week.
A tag team match was also set up for the January 4 episode.
Griff Garrison & Cole Karter will team against Angelico & Serpentico on next week’s show. This bout was also announced during a backstage interview segment on this week’s episode.
A new title match has been confirmed for this Saturday’s AEW Collision.
AEW has announced that Samoa Joe will defend his ROH Television title against Willie Mack on Collision this Saturday night (October 14). Mack, who regularly competes for ROH, will be wrestling on AEW television for the second time ever.
Mack lost to Brian Cage on an episode of Rampage this January. He’s also had three matches on AEW Dark/Dark: Elevation in the past.
Joe has made 14 successful title defenses since becoming ROH Television Champion. He defeated Minoru Suzuki for the title in April 2022.
At Dynamite Grand Slam last month, Joe unsuccessfully challenged MJF for the AEW World Championship. In recent vignettes, Joe has said he’s still focused on winning the AEW World title. Joe stated that his ascension toward greatness begins on Collision this Saturday.
"I am the #ROH World Television Champion, the King of TV and soon to be #AEW World Champion" – Samoa Joe.
MLW announced a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling at the end of August. KUSHIDA wrestling on last night’s show kickstarted talent-sharing between the two companies. KUSHIDA defeated Tony Deppen in his first MLW match at Fury Road.
Salina de la Renta is back in MLW. She was revealed as the mystery guest during Sessions By Saint Laurent on Saturday’s show. The 26-year-old has been gone from the promotion since May 2021 after being written off television in an angle with Dario Cueto. Her Promociones Dorado stable will be starting back up as well.
“Salina de La Renta is the founder of Promociones Dorado, an organization that acts as a pipeline to the stars of Latin America for sports leagues, TV and film in the United States and abroad,” reads an MLW press release.
“In 2021, Salina brokered a deal with Cesar Duran. One which costs her dearly. For the past 2 years her whereabouts have been uncertain, but many believe “El Jefe” had something to do with it… until he himself was ruthlessly removed from power by an unknown assailant. Was it Salina? Only time will tell.”
A title change kicked off MLW Fury Road 2023 as well. Rickey Shane Page is the new MLW National Openweight Champion after defeating Jacob Fatu for the belt. RSP becomes the sixth wrestler to win the title since its inception in 2019. Fatu’s reign comes to an end after two successful defenses and 150 days spent with the title.
Also on the show, Matt Cardona won his promotional debut against Mance Warner. B3CCA has earned a shot at Delmi Exo’s World Featherweight Championship after she defeated Maki Itoh. In Saturday’s main event, the Bomaye Fight Club’s Alex Kane retained his MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Willie Mack.
MLW Fury Road 2023 results:
Rickey Shane Page defeated Jacob Fatu to win the MLW National Openweight Championship
B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh to become the #1 Contender to the MLW Featherweight Championship
Matt Cardona w/Mister Saint Laurent defeated Mance Warner
Ichiban defeated Tracy Williams
KUSHIDA defeated Tony Deppen
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane w/Mr. Thomas defeated Willie Mack to retain his title
MLW held Fusion tapings following the show. Spoilers for the show are below, via Cagematch.net.
The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) defeated The Calling (Talon & Cannonball)
Love Doug defeated Little Guido
MLW Middleweight Champion AKIRA defeated Jimmy Lloyd in a street fight to retain his title
Matt Cardona defeated 1 Called Manders
Ichiban defeated Nolo Kitana
Alex Kane defeated Snitsky
Tiara James defeated Zayda Steel
TJ Crawford defeated Alec Price and Kevin Blackwood in a triple-threat match
Bomaye Fight Club (J Boujii & Mr. Thomas) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black)
This episode was in memory of Terry Funk and Windham Rotunda.
Fusion this week was a special preview episode for the upcoming Alex Kane vs. Willie Mack match at Fury Road. We had two previously aired matches plus special all-access looks into both challenger and champion. Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker announced the matches.
– The main take-home message from the countdown vignettes was the contrasting styles between Mack and Kane. The champion was training at the famous Big Bear gym in California and enjoyed private dining at his favorite restaurant, while the challenger was talking about his past struggles in and out of the ring.
– With three weeks to go until Fury Road, Kane told us about the previous trainers at the Big Bear Gym, including Mike Tyson and Oscar de la Hoya, and about how his win will be all about Bomaye. Mack took us around South Central Los Angeles and talked us through his upbringing and going into foster care.
Alex Kane defeated Alex Hammerstone to win the MLW World Heavyweight title (taped and aired in July at Never Say Never)
This was the main event of the last live MLW special event, and if we get a main event as good as it this weekend we will be in for a special night.
The story that developed was Kane had the mat game advantage over the larger champion and also had the growing crowd support, even though he had been presented as a heel in the build. Hammerstone had the power advantage when it came to brute strength.
Kane brought out an array of suplexes here and continued to try to lock in his choke finisher but his early attempts were refuted by the champion. Later, Kane brought out his brawling side and had good momentum building after a splash on the apron and some running strikes, but went back to his suplex roots to edge his way toward the title.
Hammerstone brought his own suplexes and displays of power by dropping Kane hard on the ring apron. He also fired up with his own Hogan-style comeback but turned it up more than usual to counteract the boos from the Philadelphia crowd. They especially loved Kane kicking out of Hammerstone’s Burning Hammer signature move.
Kane again went to a reverse choke to stop the champion, but Hammerstone eventually clawed himself to the ropes.
In the closing moments, they exchanged high-impact moves: Hammerstone hit a chokeslam, Kane hit his Kane Maker Angle slam, Hammerstone hit a superplex but Kane used the momentum to hit his own release suplex.
Hammerstone eventually hit the Nightmare Pendulum but Kane still had the wherewithal to roll to the outside. On returning to the ring, Kane kicked the ropes which hit Hammerstone low. Kane then hit a gut-wrench suplex from the top rope for a close two-count.
Hammerstone reversed another choke attempt with some German suplexes and a powerbomb. Mr. Thomas distracted Hammerstone briefly but we saw the go-to MLW spot where Kane accidentally collided with his partner on the apron.
Instead of this leading to the demise of the colliding partners, Kane reversed a Nightmare Pendulum and locked in another choke. Kane fell to his back and the champion had nowhere to go and had to tap out before he passed out.
– With two weeks to go until Fury Road, we saw Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas eating in an empty private restaurant thanks to the Bomaye Fight Club money man Don King. He taunted Mack about his weight, saying he is still eating the same garbage while Kane only eats the best.
– Mack responded by listing out how Kane has been handed everything and has a lot of people helping him along, such as his team and Don King especially.
– Don King’s associate gifted Kane a watch to keep up his championship lifestyle while Mack told us he trains by chasing his cats around the house but is a naturally gifted athlete.
Willie Mack defeated John Hennigan (w/ Sam Adonis) and Lio Rush in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the MLW World Heavyweight title (Taped in April, aired in July)
This was great and fast-paced throughout.
Hennigan and Rush distracted Mack by forming an alliance on the outside, but the main reason was to let Sam Adonis distract Mack, which let both the heels jump him to start us off.
Their alliance lasted all of 30 seconds as Rush tried a sneaky roll-up once Mack was disposed of. Rush and Hennigan then had a parkour minute of dodges, feints, and reversals before Mack re-joined only to eat a springboard kick to the face from Hennigan. Mack then hit a Samoan drop to slow the frantic opening minutes down.
Rush hit a great poison-rana after reversing a gorilla press by Mack, but Mack came back with a pop-up forearm to the jaw. Later on, Rush hit his low dives through opposite sides of the ring, nearly sliding and ramming Mack into the front row in the process.
The finishing sequence had Mack send Rush out after a missed frog splash and a stunner. Hennigan then reversed a Mack stunner, Adonis interfered and grabbed the leg of Mack but Hennigan hit Adonis by accident which let Mack roll up Hennigan for the win and crown himself the new number one contender.
Looking back at how this kickstarted Mack’s push, Hennigan and Rush did really well to make him shine.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia at the famous 2300 Arena in July with Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker on the call.
The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) defeated The Calling (Delirious & Talon) and The Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) in a three-way to become the no. 1 contenders for the MLW Tag Team titles
Talon was debuting here but was wearing a gas mask to hide his identity. Nothing was mentioned regarding his team competing for the no. 1 contendership in their first match, but they tried to explain it by saying The Calling want to dominate the tag team scene.
Delirious and Talon took control early after initially disappearing backstage only to jump the babyfaces moment later.
Justice and Anoa’i dove to the floor early and Talon was taken out after a Michinoku Driver from Finau and a top rope splash from Anoa’i. Delirious was on the receiving end of a big Samoan drop from Finau, which led to the babyfaces squaring off.
Second Gear Crew launched Anoa’i out of the ring onto Finau, then finished off The Calling with a top rope power slam by Manders and a top rope splash by Justice to pick up the pinfall win. With that, they are now the new top contenders for the titles held by The Calling’s Rickey Shane Page & AKIRA.
– After B3CCA attacked her with a guitar last week, we learned MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo will be out of action for 2-3 weeks while B3CCA will face the debuting Maki Itoh in a no. 1 contender’s match at Fury Road.
– The major announcement that has been building for several weeks was revealed to be a partnership between MLW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. The recent teaser was shown in full as the MLW and NJPW logos appeared from behind Earth with the Fury Road logo also hinting at more developments to come for that event.
– KUSHIDA had already been heavily hinted as appearing at September’s Fury Road, and it was confirmed here via the new partnership. He will be in action against Tony Deppen.
Willie Mack defeated Ken Broadway, Love Doug, Nolo Kitano and O’Shay Edwards in a scramble match
This helped build to the big Mack vs. Alex Kane MLW title match at Fury Road with Edwards being the latest member of the Bomaye Fight Club to put a target on Mack’s back.
In his MLW debut, Edwards was slated as the powerhouse and caught Kitano and Doug as they launched themselves from the ring. It wasn’t until Mack came flying at him that Edwards finally fell.
Broadway, Kitano and Doug hit each other one after the other until Edwards came in and floored them all, culminating in a big delayed suplex on Broadway.
Kitano is called “The Concrete Samurai” with kicks and escapes to match his character. He would fit perfectly in the middleweight division. Doug is a lovable comedy character who can turn it on and fight dirty when he needs to.
The main story of the match was the dominance of Edwards. He again bullied the pack (without Mack) and had to be attacked 4-on-1 to take him out of the equation with an avalanche superplex.
With Edwards out of the picture, Mack picked up the quick pinfall victory after a top rope splash to Broadway after he had planted Kitano with a face-first slam.
MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defeated MLW Openweight Champion AKIRA via disqualification
After going to a double disqualification last week with Rickey Shane Page, Fatu was scheduled to meet another member of The Calling here in AKIRA, but yet again The Calling were up to their usual tricks and the match ended prematurely.
AKIRA and Fatu got on the mic before the match. After security came out to temporarily block Fatu from entering the ring, AKIRA came off the top rope with a chair onto everyone.
They eventually got into the ring after a brawl on the outside with chairs. AKIRA reversed a pop-up Samoan drop attempt into a backslide for a close two count but Fatu came back with a superkick.
Some masked men from The Calling ran in for a disqualification, and the distraction allowed Page to run in with a barbed wire baseball bat which he then used to ram Fatu’s head into the ring post.
AKIRA and Page left the area as Fatu was left on the ringside floor grabbing at his face and eye. The commentary team speculated that a barb from the bat may have hit Fatu in the eye.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Tijuana, Mexico, as part of the MLW and AAA Super Series tapings in February.
We opened with a Sam Leterna interview with Willie Mack from earlier in the day. Alex Kane interrupted, but Mack ended up flooring the MLW Champion with a slap. Mack will challenge Kane for the title at the upcoming Fury Road event on September 3rd.
MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defeated Delirious in a non-title match
The graphic correctly named him the MLW Champion and Kane came out with a title belt of some sort around his waist, but the full belt was never fully visible on camera. The reason: because of the timeline of these tapings, Kane had not yet defeated Alex Hammerstone to win the title which happened in July.
Delirious came out to The Calling’s music as he is still loosely affiliated with the heel group, but he played babyface here as recent crowd favorite Kane was leaning into the Mexico vs. USA/AAA vs MLW Super Series competition to get heel heat from the Tijuana crowd. All in all, the delay between taping this match and making it make sense on screen didn’t do it any favors.
With that being said, the action inside the ring was good. Delirious had the champion’s number in the early going, dropping him with a missile dropkick and later confusing Kane by running each side of the ropes (without hitting the opposite side) before connecting with a jumping clothesline.
Kane always went back to his suplexes when he could. He got an extended heat segment after capitalizing on Delirious’ bare feet with a foot stomp.
Delirious caught Kane with a headbutt to the midsection, followed by his running knee Panic Attack in the corner and his top rope Shadows Over Hell frog splash for a close nearfall.
In a spot we have seen a lot in more recent tapings, a Bomaye Fight Club member got on the apron to distract Delirious, Kane went for the cheap shot, Delirious moved, Kane collided with his ally and Delirious schoolboyed Kane…but the champion kicked out.
Kane then hit his Angle slam-esque finisher The Kane Maker, but Delirious kicked out to trade near falls as they made their way toward the finish.
Delirious hit a combination of strikes, but Kane caught him with a big boot which gave him the opening to hit a release suplex to pick up the win.
– We saw a recap of the events leading up to the Matt Cardona vs. Mance Warner match at Fury Road which is now a Kiss My Foot match. Cardona cut a promo from his home, saying Warner would be lucky to kiss his well-preened foot. He is coming to MLW not to pass the torch, but to light a new one and carry it to new heights with MSL by his side.
– In an All-Access look into Willie Mack’s past, we heard about him growing up with a foster family, pursuing his dream, passing a WWE tryout but being told not to report to developmental, feeling like he let everyone down, becoming homeless, and then being offered a second chance by MLW.
– We had a tease of something coming soon which a graphics package showing clips from space with the text “Fury Ignites Within,” “Kingdoms Clash,” “Worlds Collide” and “Enter the Realm.”
– We had another in-depth look at a current star in Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo. We heard about her upbringing with her sister Ashley Vox, joining wrestling training at the same time as she did, and an emotional story of her being torn between chasing her dream of training in Japan and being with her father who had Stage 4 lung cancer. She also talked about post-pandemic wrestling and there not being a lot of opportunities but being passionate to join MLW with people like Willow Nightingale and Brittany Blake, and eventually winning the Featherweight title.
– Backstage, B3CCA wanted a shot at Exo and was not happy to learn that Exo was not in the building. But we did hear that B3CCA will be facing Maki Itoh in her debut at Fury Road in a number one contender’s match.
– The next round of MLW Draft gave us Ichiban as the latest signee.
Willie Mack, Jack Cartwheel & Myzteziz Jr. defeated Dinamico, Genio del Aire & Skalibur
This had great crowd heat and amazing athleticism from all involved. The faces really shone here but they needed equally good heels to help them shine.
Mack had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he danced and grinded during an impromptu musical interlude that went through a commercial break. Mack busted out a worm, and even an inverted worm, but the heels jumped him to bring us back to the wrestling.
Backstage, John Hennigan was attacked, abducted, and dragged out of the building.
Back inside the ring, the usual lucha libre trios tag rules were in place with everyone in the ring which led to no tags, non-stop action, and far too much to keep up with in a match writeup.
Cartwheel is very good at what he does. He is athletic, has a gymnast’s build and has great fluidity. He reminds me of PAC with the way he is always in full control of his high flying.
Mack looked to be in his element in front of the Tijuana crowd, especially after he got them going with his dancing earlier. The babyfaces, or tecnicos, took control of the early going with Mack hitting a cannonball in the corner, Cartwheel landing a Space Flying Tiger Drop, and Myzteziz connecting on a middle rope moonsault to the floor.
Dinamico was facing a 3-on-1 problem against the faces and ate some hard chops, a pop-up forearm, a superkick and a German suplex. Thankfully, his partners were not far behind to break up the pin.
Skalibur got squashed with an Avalanche by Mack, a middle rope hurricanrana by Myzteziz, and a pair of standing moonsaults by Cartwheel and Mack.
The rapid pace kept up with Dinamico hitting a victory roll driver from the top rope, but had a temper tantrum when he didn’t get the three count on Myzteziz.
We had a simultaneous triple nearfall when Mack hit a pop-up power bomb and both Myzteziz and Cartwheel hit top rope shooting star presses, all landing on the mat at the same time.
After a string of dives to the floor, Dinamico was distracted by Rayo Star and Fantastic, part of the Tijuana wrestlers currently feuding with Dinamico and his Mexicali group. Cartwheel then hit The Jack Attack (rolling fireman’s carry) and the Jack Arrow (corkscrew shooting star press) from the top rope to pick up the win for his team in this highly entertaining match.
– We ended the episode of Fusion with a backstage attack. As former Tag Team champions Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau were leaving the building, they were jumped by The Calling’s masked henchmen. Anoa’i was hit with a lead pipe and Finau could do nothing but watch as he was locked inside the building.
New MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane is set to make his first title defense.
MLW has announced that Kane will defend his World title against Willie Mack at Fury Road on Sunday, September 3. The show is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia and will air live on Fite+.
At MLW Never Say Never earlier this month, Kane defeated Alex Hammerstone to become the new MLW World Heavyweight Champion. Hammerstone had held the title for nearly two years before dropping it to Kane.
After defeating Hammerstone, Kane tweeted out a list of goals he wants to accomplish as MLW World Heavyweight Champion:
The most recent episode of MLW Fusion saw Willie Mack defeat John Hennigan and Lio Rush in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to Kane’s title.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia and New York earlier this year as part of the promotion’s Battle Riot and War Chamber tapings earlier. Matt Striker and Joe Dombrowski were on commentary.
The episode also included recaps and the fallout from Saturday’s Never Say Never show, including Alex Kane defeating Alex Hammerstone to win the MLW Heavyweight title, and the shocking revelation of Don King being the financial backer of Kane and the Bomaye Fight Club.
We started with a post-match press conference from the event with Kane and Mr. Thomas. A sweaty and passionate new champion called out his doubters and naysayers before listing his accomplishments and what he had to overcome, both exaggerated and true, before winning the title. He then said Hammerstone still hasn’t earned his respect and he will beat him again if he comes because this is Alex Kane’s house, kingdom, and empire.
Taya Valkyrie then told Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo she is going to prove why she is “the craziest bitch” tonight as she attempts to regain her title. Valkyrie portrays the crazy multi-persona/serial killer character really well as she cheerfully and happily mentioned that she intends on ripping Exo limb from limb tonight.
Delmi Exo defeated Taya Valkyrie (w/John Hennigan) to retain the MLW Women’s Featherweight title
During the ring entrances, highlights were shown of Valkyrie attacking Exo two weeks ago, and curb stomping her onto the title. Valkyrie was fined and given a one week suspension for her actions.
The match started hot and escalated when Valkyrie took control by using the ring post and dropping Exo face-first onto the apron. Valkyrie hit Sheamus’ 10 Beats of the Bodhran and even added in his mannerisms as she flaunted in front of Exo, but she took too much time showing off and let the champion back into the match.
The champion hit Valkyrie with a fisherman’s suplex, a low dropkick, and a dropkick from the middle rope for a near fall. It was not long before the challenger came back and hit a pair of curb stomps with the second one going into the bottom buckle.
Exo rolled through the Road to Valhalla and elbowed her way out of a second attempt before going for her Delmi Driver, but a distraction from Hennigan stopped her. Hennigan got up on the apron and, similar to the previous title match, Valkyrie collided with him. Exo then tried a roll-up but Valkyrie kicked out.
Valkyrie tried to take advantage of the distraction but Exo hit a tilt-a-whirl head scissors takedown into a Fujiwara armbar, getting the tapout and successful title defense.
– We saw another recap of Never Say Never where Mister Saint Laurent announced the drafting of Matt Cardona, who will be the newest member of MSL’s group, joining Davey Boy Smith Jr. who turned heel by attacking Microman on last week’s Fusion.
– Another recap showed the revelation of Don King as the Bomaye Fight Club financial benefactor which was followed by interviewer Sam Leterna trying to get a word with Court Bauer who only told her to never do business with the “crook” Don King.
– O’Shay Edwards joined Kevin Blackwood and Matt Cardona as the latest draft picks. Edwards will be officially coming to MLW soon to join the Bomaye Fight Club while we have already seen Edwards in MLW this year in the Battle Riot.
Ken Broadway defeated TJ Crawford
This was really good and brought the crowd into it, especially toward the end during the nearfalls.
The “Silver Sniper” Crawford got the early advantage with a big boot and dropped Broadway hard with a suplex. The bigger Broadway came back with a strong lariat that turned Crawford inside out.
Broadway got a close near fall after a power bomb and a face-first swinging Bossman slam to the shock of the commentary team. Crawford then got a near fall after some strikes, a middle rope dropkick, and a double underhook driver. As the match started heading toward the finish, you could hear the crowd getting more into it the longer it went on.
Crawford then hit a great standing spin kick to the jaw and a springboard stunner, which normally sets up his brain buster finisher. Broadway fought out of it and hit a penalty kick and a pop-up bridging German suplex that he calls the Travis Plex (in honor of Matt Travis) to get the pin and win.
– Another Never Say Never recap showed Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA from The Calling winning the MLW Tag Team titles, making AKIRA a double champion as he also holds the Middleweight title.
– We saw the brackets for the 2023 Opera Cup which begins next week. Davey Boy Smith Jr. will face Calvin Tankman in one semifinal while Tracy Williams and Tony Deppen face off in the other.
Willie Mack defeated John Hennigan (w/ Sam Adonis) and Lio Rush in a triple threat match to become the no. 1 contender to the MLW Championship
This was a great match and a great way to end a good episode.
This was great and fast-paced throughout. You can imagine the spots Rush and Hennigan were able to do as well as having the size, power, and impressive explosive agility of Mack. They all combined brilliantly.
Mance Warner was drinking light beers on commentary. Warner was out there to continue his feud with Adonis who accompanied Hennigan to the ring. Rush was also announced as representing New Japan’s CHAOS faction.
Hennigan and Rush distracted Mack by forming an alliance on the outside, but the main reason was to let Adonis distract Mack, which let both heels jump him at the onset.
Their alliance lasted all of 30 seconds as Rush tried a sneaky roll-up once Mack was disposed of. Rush and Hennigan then had a parkour-tinged minute of dodges, feints, and reversals. Mack re-joined the action, but promptly ate a springboard kick to the face from Hennigan. Mack then hit a Samoan drop to slow the frantic opening minutes down.
Rush hit a great poisonrana after reversing a gorilla press by Mack, but Mack came back with a pop-up forearm to the jaw. Later on, Rush hit his low dive combo through opposite sides of the ring, nearly sliding and ramming Mack into the front row in the process.
The finishing sequence saw Mack send Rush out after a missed frog splash and a stunner. Hennigan then reversed a Mack stunner. Adonis got involved and grabbed Mack’s leg from the outside, but Hennigan hit Adonis by accident, giving Mack the opportunity to roll up Hennigan for the win.
Next week:
2023 Opera Cup semifinal match: Davey Boy Smith Jr vs. Calvin Tankman
