By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 175)
Taped April 6, 2023 and April 8, 2023 in New York, New York at Melrose Ballroom and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 2300 Arena
Streamed July 27, 2023 on the MLW YouTube Page and FITE.TV
Fusion opened with a recap of Davey Boy Smith Jr. advancing to the finals of the Opera Cup tournament… The Fusion opening aired… Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on commentary. Dombrowski ran through the show’s lineup…
A Rickey Shane Page promo aired. He held one of the MLW Tag Team Title belts and said that Matthew Justice wanted it, yet wouldn’t even make it through their match tonight… Entrances for the opening match took place with Stephen DeAngelis as the ring announcer…
1. Rickey Shane Page vs. Matthew Justice. Page didn’t bring his title belt to the ring with him because the title change occurred long after this match was taped. The Calling’s gas mask henchmen brought the weapons table to the ring. Justice used a ladder as a weapon early on.
Justice slammed the heads of the henchmen together. Justice went up top and dove onto Page at ringside and then rolled him inside the ring. The MLW top ten rankings crawler listed the following: 1. Willie Mack 2. Jacob Fatu, 3. Alex Hammerstone, 4. Rickey Shane Page 5. Davey Boy Smith Jr. 6. Akira 7. Tracy Williams 8. Mance Warner 9. Sam Adonis 10. Timothy Thatcher. Page took offensive control heading into a commercial break. [C]
Justice dove from the ropes and put Page down with a shoulder block and then hit him with a couple of corner splashes. Justice performed a Death Valley Driver. Justice picked up a near fall off a top rope splash. Justice brought a ladder inside the ring and set it up. Justice climbed to the top of the ladder and went for a splash that Shane avoided. Shane planted Justice with a Raven Effect DDT and scored the pin…
Rickey Shane Page defeated Matthew Justice.
Powell’s POV: A solid hardcore match with Justice looking dominant until he missed the splash from the ladder. The Calling still isn’t doing anything for me. I hope we start to get more individual character development rather than Page and Akira simply being mindless Raven disciples.
MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo was shown walking through the backstage area where she was congratulated by random people. B3cca showed up and called her an embarrassing champion while pointing out that she’d been to countries that Exo has not. Love, Doug showed up and professed his love for B3cca. Exo made her exit. B3cca rejected Doug and told him not to look at her ever again…
Another Opera Cup video aired… Sam Laterna interviewed Tracy Williams in front of the MLW backdrop. Williams said his opponent Tony Deppen has talked for years about how badly Williams beat him in their first match. Williams said it was just another match to him and said this one wouldn’t end any differently… [C]
Highlights aired of Mance Warner punching out Mister Saint Laurent last week while coming to the defense of Microman…
Mister St. Laurent was shown with a comical amount of medical wrap around his head, face, and arms. MSL said he would sue Warner. He also challenged any member of the Second Gear Crew to face Matt Cardona at the Fury Road premium live event on September 3…
The fifth round MLW Draft selection was revealed to be Tiara James…
A cameraman caught up with Jacob Fatu in the parking area. Fatu said Rickey Shane Page was knocking on the wrong door. He said that The Calling is knocking people out, but they better remember who started the body count in MLW… Entrances for the next match took place..
2. Mr. Thomas (w/O’Shay Edwards) vs. J Boujii in a Bomaye Fight Club tryout match. Boujii hit Thomas with an early suicide dive and then followed up by leaping from the apron and executing a huracanrana. Back in the ring, Thomas came back with a suplex for a two count. Thomas hit Boujii with a big chip. Boujii came back with an overhead kick and a suplex. Boujii hit a springboard cutter, but Thomas came right back and got the win with a powerbomb…
Mr. Thomas defeated J Boujii in a Bomaye Fight Club tryout match.
After the match, Thomas took the mic and said “Bomaye’s for…” and had the crowd fill in “the people.” Thomas spoke to Edwards and said that Boujii has “that dog” in him. Thomas told Boujii to stand up and told him that he’s in the Bomaye Fight Club now…
Powell’s POV: The broadcast team did a good job of framing this as Boujii making a strong impression despite losing the match. The match was laid out that way as well with Boujii getting a good amount of offense before Thomas’s power was too much for him.
The broadcast team hyped Alex Kane vs. Willie Mack for the MLW Heavyweight Championship match at Fury Road…
A Willie Mack promo aired. Mack spoke about Don King backing Bomaye Fight Club and said they hit the lottery on that one. Mack said people have doubted him his entire life and yet he’s been around the world. Mack told Kane to keep doubting him because it makes his job easier…
Another teaser for the Opera Cup match was shown… [C]
Mance Warner delivered a promo in front of the MLW backdrop. Warner declared himself king of the trailer court and accepted the challenge to face Matt Cardona at Fury Road…
The venue changed to New York’s Melrose Ballroom, which wasn’t mentioned by the broadcast team. Mike Falvo was the ring announcer for the main event. Deppen came out to a good reaction. Williams didn’t get much of a reaction when he walked onto the stage while the broadcast team said he had a hometown advantage. The crowd came to life for him once he was in the ring…
3. Tracy Williams vs. Tony Deppen in an Opera Cup tournament match. Early in the match, a graphic listed MLW Fusion in Mexico for next week’s show. Williams got the better of the early mat wrestling and picked up a couple of two counts. Williams caught Deepen in a submission hold, but Deppen rolled onto him and got a two count, forcing Deppen to break the hold. [C]
Williams performed a Doctor Bomb for a two count and then immediately hooked Deppen in a crossface. Deppen reached the ropes to break the hold.
Deppen offered a handshake and then threw a kick that Williams caught. Both men threw strikes. Williams caught a leaping Deppen and put him down with a Death Valley Driver for a close near fall. Williams hooked in an STF.
Moments later, Deppen caught Williams leaping off the ropes with a knee strike. Deppen followed up with a running knee in the corner and the hit a top rope double stomp for a near fall. Williams came back by dropping Deppen head first on the top turnbuckle and got a near fall a short time later.
Williams set up for a piledriver that Deppen stuffed. Deppen hooked Williams in a chicken wing momentarily. Williams escaped and applied a sleeper. Deppen rolled him into a pin for a two count. Both men traded pin attempts. Williams put Deppen away with a piledriver.
Tracy Williams defeated Tony Deppen to advance to the finals of the Opera Cup tournament.
The updated brackets showed that Williams will face Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the Opera Cop tournament finals. Williams offered Deppen a handshake, but Deppen flipped him off and left the ring…
MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas delivered a promo in front of the MLW backdrop. Kane said Willie Mack doesn’t take things seriously and is too busy eating burgers and chicken nuggets. Kane said he needed a warmup match in a warm climate. Thomas said they could do it in Mexico. Kane said they would return to the scene of the crime where he destroyed the legend of Aerostar. Kane said they are international and the people line up behind him in the street and yell Bomaye because it’s for the people…
Powell’s POV: A strong match. It wasn’t as competitive as I expected it to be. Deppen had the late flurry and it was back and forth during the last couple of minutes, but it felt like Williams controlled the bulk of the action before that. That’s not a knock. I actually like that because it was important to establish Williams in his first MLW outing since he’s the guy advancing to the finals of the tournament.
Overall, another solid Frankensteined show with match footage from two locations combined with new promo content filmed at the more recent Never Say Never event. With the show reverting to airing footage from Mexico next week, I’ve given up on trying to figure out when they’ll start running the matches that were taped before the Never Say Never PLE. I can’t say that I’m the least bit excited about apparently seeing matches from the February taping in Mexico. I will have more to say about this episode in my weekly Fusion audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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