By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 177)
Taped February 10, 2023 in Tijuana, Mexico at Auditorio de Tijuana
Streamed August 10, 2023 on the MLW YouTube Page and FITE.TV
Fusion opened with a video package that focused on The Calling… The Fusion opening aired… Joe Dombrowski and Christian Cole were on commentary. Dombrowski hyped the main event and upcoming segments… Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. Fantastik & Rayo Star vs. “Lucha Solos” Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito vs. “Los Maciszos” Ciclope & Miedo Extremo vs. Anton Carrillo & Extassis in a four-way. Willie Mack sat in on commentary. The ring apron looked loose and dangerous. After getting full entrances, they cut to break during the opening minute of the match. [C]
MLW’s top ten rankings were listed in a crawler as follows: 1. Willie Mack 2. Jacob Fatu 3. Rickey Shane Page 4. Alex Hammerstone 5. Davey Boy Smith Jr. 6. Tracy Williams 7. Akira 8. Mance Warner 9. Tony Deppen 10. Sam Adonis
In the end, Los Maciszos put one of their opponents through a sheet of glass with a middle rope powerbomb and pinned him…
“Los Maciszos” Ciclope & Miedo Extremo defeated Fantastik & Rayo Star, “Lucha Solos” Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito, and Anton Carrillo & Extassis in a four-way tag team match.
Powell’s POV: A match taped in February involving four teams from another promotion that I don’t follow. I watched it and it was pretty good for what it was, but I didn’t even try to keep up with match coverage. I’ll be blunt. If it wasn’t my job, I would have stopped watching this episode during the entrances. I’m not saying this match won’t appeal to some viewers, but it’s asking a lot for the average fan who watches Fusion expecting to see MLW wrestlers to feel invested in a random four-way match that’s just obvious filler.
Love, Doug knocked on B3cca’s dressing room door. She was annoyed by him. He presented her with a handcrafted guitar from Spain. She accepted the guitar and said, “Maybe we can talk sometime… some other time.” B3cca slapped the door in Doug’s face…
A video package aired with multiple clocks. It listed the present date, the destination time as September 3, 2023 for Fury Road, and “last time departed” as May 12, 1983 next to a Japanese flag…
Dombrowski hyped the MLW Fury Road event. The show is listed as starting at 5CT/6ET on FITE+, meaning only one hour of the show won’t be opposed by AEW All Out, assuming the All Out pre-show starts at the usual 6CT/7ET…
Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, and Matthew Justice stood outside and spoke about people they’ve drank beer with. Warner said the only one left was his buddy Microman, who then toasted Bud Light with the Second Gear Crew trio…
Jacob Fatu stood in an outdoor area and cut a promo about The Calling attacking Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau last week. Fatu asked if they really wanted to see him like this and said the body count would rise…
Dombrowski hyped the main event as coming up next… Another Fury Road ad aired… An “Enter The Realm” video aired and concluded with the word “soon”…
Willie Mack sat outside and said Alex Kane claims Bomaye is for the people, but Kane is surrounded by his people and they keep others out. Mack said he is trying to bring people in. He said he wants to show that if Kane was able to do it, then he can do it too…
Danny “Limelight” Rivera made his entrance and delivered an in-ring promo. He said Konnan called him to come back. He also complained about wrestlers who can’t wrestle without weapons. He said the only thing worse is Alex Hammerstone and then called him out.
They cut to another Calling video. Akira and Rickey Shane Page spoke about what being hungry. Raven asked if they wanted a steak. Raven had Dr. Cornwallis use a blow torch on a steak while Mandy Leon stood in the background…
When they came back to the match, Hammerstone was in the ring…
Powell’s POV: There wasn’t much to that Calling video, but it served the purpose of cutting out Hammerstone’s entrance. He was still MLW Heavyweight Champion at the time this match was taped and presumably came out wearing the title, so it was a creative way to avoid revealing that the match is dated. That said, anyone who watched Never Say Never would know that this match is dated based on the length of Hammerstone’s hair. Or maybe they think they has the freakish ability to grow hair quickly because it’s a side effect from whatever was in that bag he brought back from Mexico.
2. Alex Hammerstone vs. Danny Limelight. A graphic listed Tracy Williams vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the Opera Cup tournament finals for next week (finally). Limelight was in offensive control heading into a break. [C] Limelight targeted Hammerstone’s left knee. Hammerstone eventually battled back and hit his Nightmare Pendulum for the win…
Alex Hammerstone defeated Danny Limelight.
The broadcast team announced Jacob Fatu vs. Rickey Shane Page for the MLW National Openweight Championship, and Tracy Williams vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the Opera Cup tournament finals for next week’s Fusion… A longer video package recapped the first two rounds of the tournament…
Powell’s POV: I really enjoyed Limelight’s past stint in MLW when he teamed with Slice Boogie as LAX or 5150. He’s mostly working out west these days, but he did a show in Kentucky over the weekend, so hopefully MLW can bring him back. From MLW’s storytelling timeline, this worked as Hammerstone’s first match back after dropping the MLW Heavyweight Championship to Alex Kane.
Overall, well, it was another Fusion from Mexico. It will be nice to finally see the Opera Cup tournament finals next week and hopefully then we’ll start to get footage from the most recent tapings that were held the same night as the Never Say Never event. Just let me dream. I will have more to say about this episode of Fusion in my weekly audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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