By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 163)
Taped October 30, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 2300 Arena
Streamed January 19, 2023 on Pro Wrestling TV
The Fusion opening aired and then the broadcast team of Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker checked in and hyped upcoming matches and segments. Ring announcer Tim Barr handled in-ring introductions for the opening match…
1. Trish Adora vs. Gia Scott. The broadcast team noted that Adora was a military police officer and is now a seven-year pro wrestling veteran. Adora used power moves and eventually put Scott down with her Lariat Tubman clothesline to get the win…
Trish Adora defeated Gia Scott.
Powell’s POV: In addition to working independently, Adora worked the ROH Women’s Championship tournament and recently wrestled on the ROH Final Battle pre-show. The crowd was very quiet during the match. It’s hard to blame them because I’m guessing they don’t have a lot of familiarity with Scott, and the women’s division feels like it’s just getting started. Adora is a nice addition and probably just needs to work with an established heel to help get her going.
The broadcast team hyped the main event… [C] A video package aired on Sam Adonis, who was listed as coming soon to MLW…
Powell’s POV: Sam Adonis is the younger brother of WWE broadcast team member Corey Graves. I’ve seen him work in various places, but I look forward to ideally seeing him get to establish a persona in MLW.
2. Alec Price vs. TJ Crawford. Both entrances were televised. Dombrowski established Price as the heel by stating that Price had blown him off when he tried to speak to him earlier. The wrestlers traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Price ended up on the ropes and was hit with an enzuigiri.
Crawford tried to follow up with a suplex, but Price stuffed it. Price attempted a sunset bomb from the ropes that Crawford stuffed. Price managed to tie up Crawford in the tree of woe and then hit him with a nice running stomp. A short time later, Price performed a leaping enzuigiri and then hit running knee strikes in the corner. Price followed up with a seated senton and got a two count.
Price went for a running kick and was rolled up by Crawford, who hit him with strikes and then put him down with a Warning Shot DDT for a near fall. Crawford fired up and went for a suplex, but Price caught him in an inside cradle for a two count. Price performed a springboard blockbuster and then followed up with a kick to the back of the head and scored the pin…
Alec Price defeated TJ Crawford.
Powell’s POV: A nice match between two wrestlers who are new to MLW. Hopefully both wrestlers will get more opportunities in MLW.
The broadcast team recapped highlights of the match heading into a break… [C] The upcoming fights graphic listed MLW SuperFight for February 4, Tijuana for February 10, War Chamber for April 6 in New York, and a Philadelphia event on April 8…
Alicia Atout hosted a Fusion edition of MLW Insider. She announced that Cesar Duran and Court Bauer had found a path toward working together despite being rivals. She also said the Alex Hammerstone vs. EJ Nduka match for the MLW Heavyweight Championship was on and would be announced in the next 24 hours. She spoke about the calling card attacks and played up the mystery of whether one person or multiple people are behind the attacks. Atout closed by hyping the new line of MLW action figures…
Powell’s POV: Hammerstone vs. Nduka in a Last Man Standing match for the MLW Heavyweight Championship will air on the first edition of MLW Underground on Reelz network on Tuesday, February 7. I wondered why in the world they postponed the airing of the match when it’s been in the can for some time. The announcement of the Reelz deal made the postponement a logical move.
A sponsored tale of the tape was shown for the main event… MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone made his entrance and joined the broadcast team for the main event. Hammerstone said he trained with Ben-K and said Fatu might have more in store for him than he realizes…
3. Jacob Fatu vs. Ben-K. There was an early “Fatu’s gonna kill you” chant. K knocked Fatu down with a shoulder block and then drove his shoulder into his gut while in the corner. Fatu avoided a charging K, who crashed into the corner. Fatu performed a triple jump moonsault. K rolled to the floor. Fatu followed and worked over K at ringside.
Fatu brought a chair back inside the ring. Fatu ran the ropes and tried to jump from the chair to the ropes and ended up tripping. Fatu held his leg in pain and rolled to ringside. K took advantage by throwing punches at Fatu, who fought back and ran him into the guardrail. Fatu seemed to be fine despite slipping earlier.
Back inside the ring, Fatu put K in a nerve hold. K rallied and hoisted up Fatu, who elbowed his way down. Fatu dropped K and then performed a springboard into the ropes followed by a standing moonsault for a two count. Fatu set up for a powerbomb. K went for a backdrop, but he sold back pain, which allowed Fatu to go back on the offensive.
Fatu went to the middle rope and played to the crowd. K shot up and cut him off with a punch to the gut and then performed a Jackhammer. K sold it as if the move exhausted him, so he was slow to go for a cover and thus only got a near fall.
Fatu caught K with a superkick. K powered up, but Fatu came right back with an alley oop Samoan Drop and then hit his moonsault finisher and got the three count…
Jacob Fatu defeated Ben-K.
After the match, Hammerstone spoke about how focussed he is heading heading into his title defense. Fatu took the mic and played to the Philly crowd. Fatu thanked Ben-K and said he’s one of the toughest around. A “Ben-K” chant broke out. Ben-K returned to the apron. Fatu handed Ben-K the mic. Ben-K thanked him and they hugged before Ben-K headed to the back.
Fatu thanked the crowd for coming. He said the company has been around since 2002. He spoke about his family working for the promotion. He turned to Hammerstone and spoke about how it’s only right for the Samoan Swat Team to take every piece of gold in the company. Fatu hyped the crowd for MLW SuperFight, and then Hammerstone stood up and held up his title belt…
A brief video hyped Taya Valkyrie vs. Trish Adora for the MLW Featherweight Championship for next week’s show…
Powell’s POV: Ideally, MLW could have introduced Ben-K to fans before putting him a match with Fatu. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining match that had the right outcome with Fatu going over as he gets closer to his title shot against Hammerstone on the SuperFight show. If MLW does more with Dragon Gate, then hopefully MLW fans were impressed enough by Ben-K that they’ll get behind him next time.
Overall, a decent show with a some newcomers in the first two matches and a good main event. I will have more to say about the show and MLW’s new television deal with Reelz in my weekly MLW Fusion audio review coming up shortly for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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