By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 176)
Taped February 10, 2023 in Tijuana, Mexico at Auditorio de Tijuana
Streamed August 3, 2023 on the MLW YouTube Page and FITE.TV
The show opened with Willie Mack being interviewed by Sam Laterna in front of the MLW background. Mack spoke about his MLW Heavyweight Title match with Alex Kane at the MLW Fury Road event on September 3. Mack interrupted and called Mack a “bitch ass ho.” Mack dropped Kane with a punch. Security quickly interviewed… The Fusion opening aired… Joe Dombrowski and Christian Cole were on commentary and ran through the lineup…
Powell’s POV: Well, I think it was Dombrowski and Cole. They never bothered to introduce themselves unless I missed something.
1. MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane vs. Delirious. This was billed by the broadcast team as a non-title match even though it was taped roughly five months before Kane actually won the championship. Kane put Delirious down with an early suplex heading into a break. [C]
Delirious performed his crisscross rope running and put Kane down with a clothesline. Delirious performed a splash from the ropes onto the back of Kane, which resulted in a good near fall. A wrestler showed up on the apron and distracted Delirious. Kane tried to hit Delirious, but ended up knocking the wrestler off the apron.
Kane came right back hit a Painmaker on Delirious and covered him for a near fall. Kane acted shocked that he kicked out and then barked at the referee. Kane went for a piledriver, but Delirious stuffed it and hit Kane with a series of strikes. Kane knocked Delirious down and then hit him with a big suplex and scored the pin…
MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defeated Delirious.
Powell’s POV: The two matches on this show were taped nearly six months ago. MLW put in some production work for this one, as they had The Calling theme playing when Delirious came out even though he had not joined the faction yet. In fact, he worked a babyface style in the match, but the broadcast team did a nice job of questioning what the Mexican crowd liked about him.
Highlights aired of involving Mister Saint Laurent, Matt Cardona, and Mance Warner to set up the Cardona vs. Warner match for Fury Road. The broadcast team noted that the match carries the Kiss My Foot stipulation…
Matt Cardona delivered a promo from his wrestling action figure filled home. Cardona said Warner would be lucky to kiss his feet. Cardona said he feels bad for Warner because he knows he needs the win, but he won’t get it at his expense. Cardona said the buzz, the money, and the gold are all coming his way with MSL by his side…
A Willie Mack video package aired. Mack spoke briefly about his home catching fire while his mother was under the influence, and then he went to live with a woman who became his foster mother. He also talked about getting a WWE tryout and then being informed by the company that he wouldn’t be used after all. He said it hurt and he felt like he let down his family. He said he was lucky enough to get a call from another company. He said Alex Kane has it all, including the backing. Mack said he has his people and he can do it too…
Dombrowski hyped the main event… [C]
A video feature aired on MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo. She spoke about her older sister watching wrestling and not letting her change the channel. She said she loves Eddie Guerrero and is passionate about her Mexican culture. Exo said her sister signed up for a pro wrestling school and she accompanied her. She said the trainer asked if she would participate and she said yes. Exo recalled being invited to go to Japan. She said her father, who was ill, encouraged her to go. Exo said there weren’t a lot of opportunities coming out of the pandemic. She said she was intrigued by the idea of MLW starting its women’s division…
B3cca yelled at an unidentified man about not having a match against Delmi Exo… Dombrowski hyped MLW Fury Road on FITE+…
Powell’s POV: If MLW and the other FITE+ promotions want the streaming service to be as successful as possible, then they should really start acknowledging one another. For instance, if someone is on the fence about ordering the subscription service for MLW, it can only help if they were told specifically that they can also get GCW events.
The sixth round pick of the MLW open draft was revealed to be Ichiban… Entrances for the main event took place…
2. Willie Mack, Jack Cartwheel, and Myzteziz Jr. vs. Skalibur, Dinamico, and Genio del Aire. Cole spoke about how Mack lived on his couch for nine months. He said it was the most entertaining nine months of his life. Mack did a dance routine during the match. They had special lighting and music for it and the live crowd seemed to have a blast with it. [C]
As the match continued, footage was shown from backstage of hooded men putting a hood over the face of John Hennigan and dragging him away. The action continued and there was another break. [C]
Late in the match, Mack performed a powerbomb on one opponent while his partners executed stereo shooting star presses on the others, but it only resulted in a near fall. A short time later, Myzteziz Jr. and Mack performed dives to the floor. Meanwhile, Dinamico became distracted by Aerostar and another wrestler who showed up at ringside. Cartwheel put Dinamico down and hit him with a corkscrew shooting star press and scored the pin…
Willie Mack, Jack Cartwheel, and Myzteziz Jr. beat Skalibur, Dinamico, and Genio del Aire.
Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’i were shown leaving a building when they were jumped by The Calling’s gas mask wearing henchmen. The henchmen shoved Finau back inside the building and locked him in while they attacked Anoa’i…
Powell’s POV: I’m not really sure how The Calling’s henchmen could have locked Finau inside the building considering that the door opened inward. Anyway, forgive my lack of details regarding the six-man tag match. I’m not all that familiar with some of the wrestlers involved, and I just can’t get excited about watching matches that were taped nearly six months ago. That said, the match was fine for what it was and the crowd seemed to enjoy it.
Despite my lack of interest in dated matches, I do enjoy the way MLW tries to keep the rest of the show feeling current. The Delmi Exo video package was well done and I’d like to see more of those features. Mack’s video was too brief. He has an interesting story and I’d like to hear more of it heading into Fury Road. It was also good to see him drop Kane early in the show. Mack feels like a heavy underdog going into the match so they should be working to make him feel like a threat to the new champion. I will have more to say in my weekly audio review of Fusion for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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