By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Major League Wrestling Fusion (Episode 181)
Taped July 8, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 2300 Arena
Streamed September 7, 2023 on the MLW YouTube Page and FITE.TV
Mister Saint Laurent sat in an office chair with his foot up on a desk. MSL complained about Mance Warner biting his foot at the Fury Road event… The MLW Fusion opening aired… Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker checked in on commentary and spoke about the return of Salina De La Renta while also hoping the show’s main event and the forthcoming debut of Minoru Suzuki…
MSL stood in the ring and said he has resigned from his position in MLW. He introduced Snisky as the latest member of his World Titan Federation.
1. Snisky (w/Mister Saint Laurent) vs. Yoscifer El. Dombrowski said MSL resigned from his MLW office job to focus on his WTF faction. Snisky dominated the match and won quickly with a chokeslam.
Snisky defeated Yoscifer El.
After the match, a medical team came out and took El to the back on a stretcher. Snisky attacked El again and dumped the stretcher over…
The following top ten rankings were listed during the opening match: 1. Rickey Shane Page 2. Davey Boy Smith Jr. 3. Jacob Fatu 4. Willie Mack 5. Matt Cardona 6. Akira 7. Kushida 8. Mance Warner 9. Ichiban 10. Tracy Williams…
Powell’s POV: A dominant win for Snisky. He looked fine in a squash match. It remains to be seen what the 53 year-old can do in a more traditional match, but MLW can always protect him with brief matches or tag matches if they need to.
Still shots aired from Fury Road and showed Rickey Shane Page beating Jacob Fatu to win the MLW National Openweight Championship. Shots aired of Salina De La Renta’s return as the surprise guest on MSL’s talkshow…
A Salina De La Renta video package aired… Calvin Tankman cut a promo about challenging Shigehiro Irie for the WXW Title in the main event… An MLW Slaughterhouse ad aired… [C]
A video aired to push the debut of Minoru Suzuki at the Slaughterhouse event on October 14… Additional still shots aired from Fury Road that focused on Kushida, and then Dombrowski hyped Suzuki for Slaughterhouse. There were also still shots of Matt Cardona beating Mance Warner in a Kiss My Foot match at Fury Road…
Matt Striker stood in the ring and played to the Philadelphia crowd by brining up the Phillies baseball team. Little Guido, Ray Jaz, and Jesus Rodriguez made their entrance. Once the trio was in the ring, Guido took the mic from Striker and ordered him to leave the ring. Jesus Rodriguez spoke about being familia with The FBI. He also heeled on the fans for cheering Microman.
2. Microman and “The Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black vs. Jesus Rodriguez and “The FBI” Little Guido and Ray Jaz. Guido picked up Microman and hugged and kissed him before passing him off to Jaz. Microman hit Guido. Jaz threw Microman to Rodriguez, who took a huracanrana. Black tagged in and dropped Jaz with an enzuigiri. The babyface trio picked up a near fall heading into a break. [C] Late in the match, the Mane Event duo held out their ring and then Microman performed a Vader Bomb through it on Guido and then pinned him.
Microman and “The Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black beat Jesus Rodriguez and “The FBI” Little Guido and Ray Jaz.
After the match, Sam Adonis came out with a chair. Adonis said Microman is one of the most hated men in Mexico. Adonis said they once worked for the same promotion and Microman was so hated that everyone ran him off. Adonis said Microman has a wife and a newborn baby, but he was jealous of the attention that his newborn son was getting.
Snisky made his entrance with MSL and performed a double chokeslam on Lyon and Black while Adonis put Microman down. MSL cut a promo about his World Titan Federation. MSL said Snisky played college football and was also a punter. He poured a bag of children’s dolls in the ring and said Snisky would practice on the dolls before punting Microman. Snisky booted two dolls. Adonis lined up Microman for a “field goal.” Funny.
The Second Gear Crew of Mance Warner, Matthew Justice, and 1 Called Manders came out and ran off the heels… [C]
Powell’s POV: Microman being with the circus themed tag team seems logical enough. The match featured a lot of silly comedy. And that’s fine when it works, but the live crowd was pretty quiet for a lot of it. I’d still like to see Jaz get a shot as a singles wrestler in MLW.
Sam Laterna interviewed Sam Adonis in the backstage area and then a graphic listed Microman vs. Adonis for next week…
A video package aired on MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane. He spoke about childhood and his parents struggling. Kane said he was picked on because of how he looked and because of his skin tone. He said it reached a point where he didn’t want to live anymore. Kane said pro wrestling literally saved his life.
Kane looked back on how the fans supported him during his no ropes match with Davey Boy Smith Jr. Kane said their “Bomaye” chants made him realize that “we might have something here.” He also spoke about J Bouji, who then spoke of going from the ring crew to wrestling in MLW. Kane looked back on his win over Alex Hammerstone and then footage from the match and the post show press conference was shown…
The upcoming MLW fight schedule listed the following events (they will be available via FITE+): Slaughterhouse on October 14, Fightland on November 18, One Shot on December 7, and Blood & Thunder on January 6…
Entrances for the main event took place…
3. Shigehiro Irie vs. Calvin Tankman for the WXW Unified World Championship. The match spilled over to ringside where Tankman rammed Irie’s back into the barricade. Tankman backed up and then charged Irie, who moved, causing Tankman to crash into the barricade.
Both men returned to the ring. Irie got Tankman draped over the middle rope and then ran toward him on the apron, but Tankman caught him with a powerslam from that unique position in a cool spot. Tankman splashed Irie and got a two count heading into a break. [C]
Irie got Tankman on the mat and then clubbed him with a right hand. Irie got Tankman on the apron and ran his head into the top turnbuckle pad. Irie hit Tankman with elbow strikes and then ran the ropes and knocked him off the apron, causing both men to tumble to the floor.
Back in the ring, Tankman threw a series of strikes and then performed a pump-handle slam for a two count. Tankman tried to throw a strike to the back of Irie’s head, but Irie ducked it and the put Tankman in a sleeper. Tankman stood up and backed him into the corner before tossing him to the mat.
Tankman hit a popup back elbow that looked a bit off and then powerbombed him for a two count. Tankman blasted Irie with a shot to the back of the head and then set up for his finisher, which Irie stuffed. Tankman threw an elbow strike and powered up Irie, who slipped away. Irie hit Tankman with a series of moves against the ropes and then hit him with back to back lariats and scored the clean pin.
Shigehiro Irie defeated Calvin Tankman to retain the WXW Unified World Championship.
After the match, Irie went to ringside and shook Tankman’s hand. Tankman responded by raising the arm of Irie…
The broadcast team hyped an Alex Kane press conference regarding his next title defense for next week…
Jacob Fatu stood in the parking garage and applauded. Fatu said he had to give it to MLW and Court Bauer. He spoke about Minoru Suzuki coming to MLW and said that Suzuki has never run into an Uce before…
Powell’s POV: Suzuki vs. Fatu? Count me in. They saved the best for last with that tease. The main event was taped April 8 in Philadelphia, while the other two matches were from the more recent taping in July. Tankman recently announced that his MLW deal expired, so I’m curious to see where he goes next. The match was pretty good, but the live crowd seemed flat and didn’t give it much of a boost.
Overall, a decent episode. They didn’t lean too heavily into the Fury Road fallout. They showed still shots from the show, but mostly seemed to focus on pushing the replay. If nothing else, it was nice to get a one week reprieve from The Calling being all over the show. And I’m still fired up about that closing tease for Fatu vs. Suzuki. I will have more to say about Fusion in my weekly audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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