Winfree’s MLW Fusion (Ep. 134) Review 2.24.22

Hey there people, time for the next episode of MLW Fusion. This week we’ll have the debut of Saint Laurent’s best pound for pound fighter in the world, and a grudge match between Jacob Fatu and Mads Krugger.

A Contra style video from Krugger, he calls Jacob Fatu a liar who betrayed his family. Contra made him a god and he turned his back on them. Fatu is no monster, tonight he will come to know what a true monster is as Krugger breaks him. Whoever is writing for Krugger does a decent job, but I’m still not sure the voice distortion is the right way to go.

In the back Emilio Sparks has found EJ Nduka, he asks his thoughts about the destruction of the Dynasty, EJ hoists him up and tells him that he and Hammerstone are good, then drops him. Slightly heelish EJ Nduka is a nice touch.

To the ring for our first match.

Match #1 – Trios Match: Arez, Gino Medina, and Mini Abismo Negro w/ Dr. Dax vs. Aramis, El Dragon, and Microman

Microman is Saint Laurent’s best pound for pound fighter, and Saint Laurent joins commentary for the match. Arez and Aramis start things off. They tie up and trade counters for a bit before they hit the ropes and Arez sends Aramis to the ramp. More rope running on the ramp using the ring ropes, then Aramis lands a chop, walks the guardrail and hits a cross body then sends Arez back into the ring. Arm drag from Aramis then they trade roll ups before standing off. These two are magic. Gino tags in and hits some lucha arm drags then a tornado kick. Dragon tags in and they trade counters then Gino avoids kicks before finally getting caught with a super kick. Satellite headscissors sends Gino out of the ring, we’re using lucha tag rules so Nego comes in now as the legal man. Some acrobatics from Negro and Dragon and Negro hits a hurricanrana to send Dragon out and in comes Microman. Pump kick from Negro to Microman and he’s down. Micro man avoids another kick then hits an arm drag. Negro gets floored and caught with a bulldog. Gino comes in and things break down into a brawl. Microman gets worked over by everyone and the heels stand tall. Dragon takes chops from all the heels, then a Snake Eyes and stereo kicks. Arez heads up top and hits a double stomp then Negro hits a splash and they dogpile Dragon but Mircoman is here to scare them off the pin. Arez abuses Microman but Aramis is poised on the ramp then runs and dives onto Gino and Arez but he gets caught and hit with a double team powerbomb. Lionsault from Negro but again Microman breaks up the pin. Arez has had enough of this, he gets Microman up in an Electric Chair, but Arez and Dragon hit Negro and Gino with Poisoned Ranas before hitting superkicks to Arez allowing Microman to hit a Poisoned Rana onto Arez. Rough looking spot for Arez on the landing. Arez starts fighting back but he eats a bunch of kicks before Dragon tries a sunset bomb but Arez avoids it. Kicks from Arez but Dragon face plants him on the apron then heads back inside to hit a dive onto Arez. Aramis and Gino trade moves before Aramis dives onto Gino on the outside, he almost took out the commentary team. Microman and Negro square off, and Microman hits a satellite headsicssors sends Negro out of the ring. Now Microman sets for a dive, he winds up just hopping off the apron onto Arez’s back, then hits a hurricanrana onto Negro on the floor. The crowd is really into Microman. Gino gets off and Dragon and Arez fight in the ring. Arez hits a series of kicks then a kickoff moonsault but Microman breaks up the pin. Kicks from Microman to Arez, he drops him down to his knees then hits an X-Factor and another headscissors. Negro in and kicks Microman down, then hits an Angel’s Wings but Aramis breaks up the pin. Aramis lands kicks to Negro then hits a combination DDT and Shiranui to Arez and Negro but Gino is here to break up the pin. Gino lands an elevated knee to Aramis then a rebound facebuster but Dragon breaks up the pin this time. Dragon and Gino trade counters, Dragon then hits the Lethal Combination and Negro breaks things up. Dragon kicks Negro out of the ring then Aramis comes in and super kicks Gino. Aramis hits Desnucadora del Mosquetero on Gino but Arez is there to send him out of the ring after he does so. Arez winds up moonsaulting onto Dax on the outside, then Aramis dives onto both of them. Negro then hits a suicide dive onto the pile of bodies as Dragon hits a 450 splash onto Gino before going up top again and diving onto the pile of bodies on the outside. Microman is legal now, he springs to the second rope for a Micro Bomb (Vader Bomb) then pins to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Aramis, Microman, and El Dragon won in about 15:45, there were two commercial breaks but no real cuts in the action so it’s probably a bit less

Rating: 3 stars

This overstayed its welcome for me, but the action was mostly crisp. Aramis and Arez have insanely great chemistry. The stuff with Microman either works for you as comedy stuff or it doesn’t, and if you enjoyed it you might rate this higher. Personally it didn’t quite tickle my funny bone.

Post match Gino Medina gets interviewed, but he just shoves the commentator down, then shoves a ref as well.

5150 video time, they’re partying with a few strippers. The usual talking spots then they mock the Von Erich’s for not showing up for their own homecoming. Not great, but not bad either.

We get a video hyping up Alex Kane vs. Calvin Tankman. Kane mocks the sweating of Tankman while Tankman talks about Kane trying to take everything away from him during the Opera Cup. Tankman isn’t going to let this stand as Kane has taken a lot away from him. Kane calls Tankman a crybaby again. Tankman promises he’ll show everyone you don’t mess with him. Kane mentions he targeted the leg of Tankman because Tankman is a fat guy and if you hamper his mobility he’ll be easy pickings. Tankman hypes himself up, and notes his work speaks for itself whereas Kane can’t shut up. Kane says Tankman isn’t going to take his National openweight title. Tankman reminds us that Kane has run away from him at every opportunity, he plans to win the belt and take his daughter out for lobster.

In the back Mr. Thomas is warming Alex Kane up when Emilio Sparks shows up. Kane promises that Dallas will know that Tankman is a fraud. Next week Kane will defend his title against Tankman. We’ll also get Tajiri defending the middleweight title next week in a multiman match.

Gino Median jumps Aramis in the back, he beats him bloody before getting dragged off.

MLW World champion Alexander Hammerstone and Davey Richards do the taped interview thing about their match. Hammerstone puts over Fatu as the most dominant champion in company history, he wants to take that a step further and continue facing the best in the business. Richards has respect for Hammerstone but he wont hold back in their match. Hammerstone says he was inspired to Richards to get into the business, they’re both at the top of their game. Richards says he’s flattered to be called an inspiration, but he got into wrestling for purpose not status. The only thing that matters to him is the world title, and until he gets the belt nicknames are just that. Hammerstone says he’s been working on leaning and cardio, because everyone’s tried to empty Richards’s cardio but they just can’t do it, and frankly he doesn’t expect to be able to either. Hammerstone expects the match to hit deep waters, and but he’s trying to end it quick because deeper waters favor Richards. Richards puts over Hammerstone again but he promises to put Hammerstone through hell and drown him. Hammerstone looks up to anyone who took this sport seriously, and Richards definitely does that and he puts over Richards for a bit, then says he’s bringing his brute power and concussive blows and that’s what he’s going to use to win. To close Hammerstone says this will be the best MLW World title match ever. This format worked better for these two than it did for Kane and Tankman.

Krugger and Fatu start brawling during Fatu’s entrance, I’m starting the clock from that point for this one. Fatu tosses Krugger off of the ramp and onto the barricade then resumes attacking him in the ringside area. Krugger is able to backdrop Fatu over the barricade and into the crowd. They brawl through the fans for a bit then Fatu climbs to a barricade and hits a slightly odd moonsault onto Krugger. Fatu the clotheslines Krugger over the barricade and back to the ringside area. They head to the ring and finally get the match started.

Match #2: Jacob Fatu vs. Mads Krugger

Fatu heads up top but Krugger heads up and hits him with a top rope fall away slam. Super kick from Fatu lands then he Spears Krugger. Fatu is up, but so is Krugger and they start trading chops. Headbutts from Fatu but Krugger hits a chokeslam into a facebuster. Krugger trash talks Fatu then misses a kick and takes another super kick then a pop up Samoan drop for a 2 count. Handspring moonsault from Fatu but Krugger catches him by the throat on the way down then drills Fatu with a chokebreaker. Krugger rosses Fatu out of the ring then dives over the top rope and onto him, they also nearly take out the commentary position. Heck of a spot from Krugger there. Back into the ring and Krugger calls for help from the entrance ramp. Here comes Ikuro Kwon, he goes to kick Fatu but Fatu moves and Krugger gets blasted instead. Fatu hits the double jump moonsault and pins to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Jacbo Fatu won in 7:00 for the sake of clarity, I’m timing this from the start of the brawl not the ring bell

Rating: 2 stars

I appreciate a couple of the spots but this never quite hit second gear, though I would be curious to see these two square up again in the future.

Commentary hypes up the next episode, then Krugger and Kwon jump Fatu from behind in the ring. Kwon starts running interference as Krugger stomps on Fatu. Fatu is back up and clubs Kwon away then he and Krugger start brawling, and Fatu hits his ludicrous twisting dive to wipe out Kwon and Krugger. Back into the ring Fatu and Krugger start fighting security guards so they can continue brawling. Fatu hits a cross body that sends Krugger over the top rope and onto the ramp. Kwon tries to get back in on things by helping Krugger up but Krugger tosses Kwon onto a pile of bodies that includes Fatu then dives off of the stage onto that same pile of humanity. Fatu and Krugger continue brawling.

We cut to Cesar Duran on the phone with Karlee Perez but Richard Holliday interrupts him. Duran welcomes Holliday and Alica Atout to his office. Holliday reminds Duran that he took care or Contra in the War Chamber, and that Duran promised him a world title shot. Duran always keeps his promises, and says Holliday will be the perfect challenger. Unfortunately he’ll have to wait until after SuperFight since Davey Richards just signed for it, well unless Richards happened to get injured between now and then. That might open up a slot for a different challenger. We end on that ominous note.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This one manages to sneak into Good territory, the wrestling was a bit lighter this time but Fatu and Krugger was an acceptably wild brawl while the opening trios match had good energy even if it went a bit long and the comedy around Microman will be pretty hit or miss. The setup for Hammerstone and Richards was good, and Holliday is still better as a heel than face. While I'm more interested in Hammerstone and Richards in terms of match quality, I wont be too shocked if they do a bait and switch to Holliday. I'd still rather they waited, Hammerstone's title reign is still being established and I think his feud with Holliday can simmer for a bit before boiling over.