MLW Fusion Alpha results: Tag Team title street fight, nZo’s debut

This week’s MLW Fusion: Alpha was headlined by Tag Team Champions Los Parks defending against blood rivals 5150 (Rivera and Slice Boogie) in a street fight with the promotional debut of nZo against Matt Cross, and Aramis vs. Arez over a briefcase full of cash also on the show.

Arez (w/ Holidead and Dr Dax) defeated Aramis to win a briefcase of Cesar Duran’s cash

This was an excellent way to start the show: a very fast-paced and innovative rematch from earlier this summer that saw Arez got the win with a little help from his new stablemates.

They started by showing they were both on equal terms with a minute-long sequence filled with reversals, flips and rolls all while locked in a knuckle lock. Next, they had a back and forth combination of pendulum submissions and pinfall attempts had them at a stalemate.

Throughout the match, both slipped out of numerous power bomb attempts but the one that Arez did hit was devastating as he ran with Aramis over his head on the outside of the ring, planting him on the metal ramp.

Aramis got his revenge minutes later when he dropped Arez with a GTS followed by a sprinting head first suicide dive that rocked Arez up the entranceway. Later, he took to the sky again with a tight rope walk moonsault from the top rope to the floor.

Both had near falls toward the end of the match. Aramis hit an aeroplane spinning sit-out powerbomb while Arez hit a tilt-a-whirl backstabber followed by a Sahrawi suplex.

Dr Dax and Holidead got involved in the finish. They had earlier distracted both Aramis and the referee, but the finish came when Aramis had Arez in a grapevine ankle lock. Dax distracted the ref and Holidead distracted Aramis which allowed Arez to hit his half nelson driver finisher to pick up the win and the briefcase full of cash.

— Alicia Atout caught up with Willow Nightingale after a recap of last week’s attack by Holidead. Nightingale said she was done trying to be a positive influence and will show Holidead her own dark side.

— Emilio Sparks caught up with Myron Reed and asked where his head was at after his recent setbacks in MLW. The lights went out and Karlee Perez interrupted. She said that when Reed hits rock bottom, she will be there to pick him up.

— Sparks tried to get some answers from World Champion’s Alex Hammerstone regarding his injuries but Matanza Duran/Jeff Cobb, with mask and boiler suit, attacked him and they brawled around the back. The commentary team said this was due to Hammerstone rejecting Duran’s gifts last week.

— Atout gave a nice investigative recap of the CONTRA Unit timeline from their initial formation and riot provoking attacks to Jacob Fatu’s title win and record-breaking reign to Hammerstone’s rebellion and eventual title win to the War Chamber collapse of the group and the evil manipulation from Duran. She said CONTRA was the greatest threat to Duran’s power which is why he got so involved in their demise. She then gave the whereabouts of each former member of the group.

nZo defeated Matt Cross

Cross was back playing babyface after he seemed to have turned heel during the Opera Cup tournament. nZo, making his promotional debut, took his time during his entrance and acted like he was entering a big-time boxing fight.

The well-traveled Cross was floored by nZo early on as the former “Bonafide Stud” used a headlock to keep him down. Cross fired up with a cartwheel back elbow and a springboard crossbody, but nZo had to throw Cross headfirst into the middle buckle to get his advantage back.

nZo kept it simple but effective in his offense as the commentary team said he was here for business and his time as a clown is over. Contrary to nZo, Cross’ offense was rapid fire and filled with flips, step-up kicks and high flying to get the crowd on his side.

nZo hit an Outsider Edge and a top rope-assisted backstabber as the match headed towards the finish. Cross landed on his feet when he missed a shooting star press. He fought off nZo’s Eat Defeat finisher and hit a springboard cutter that should have ended it if not for Cross mocking nZo’s dance before making the pin attempt.

nZo dragged the ring apron into the ring, distracting the referee. This gave him the opening to hit a low blow behind the referee’s back and Eat Defeat for a win in his MLW debut.

KC Navarro came out to commentate on the next match, but after eyeballing each other on the ramp, nZo attacked him at the table and dropped him crotch-first into the guardrail and threw him into the ring post with an Outsider’s Edge. Officials came to Navarro’s aid as nZo ran away celebrating.

— Richard Holliday met Atout backstage and gave her a very thoughtful gift: a Dynastic coffee mug. Hammerstone and Matanza brawled past them and Hammerstone used the mug and a chain to floor the monster, much to Holliday’s dismay.

— Sparks was with Holidead, Arez and Dr. Dax asking about their win earlier in the night when 5150 came in and threatened to take Sparks’ shoes. A blunt smoking Konnan told them to concentrate on getting the titles first, then the kicks after.

5150 (Slice Boogie & Rivera w/ Konnan and Dr. Julius Smokes) defeated Los Parks (LA Park Jr & El Hijo de LA Park) in a street fight to win the MLW Tag Team titles

5150 cut a pre-match promo hyping up the crowd and that they were there for the gold. The Freebird rule was in play as LA Park Jr. took the place of his father for the Los Parks team.

Los Parks hit stereo dives to kick off this weapon-filled chaotic match. Both teams used chairs, rakes, hockey sticks, a shopping cart and the guardrail on the outside. Inside, Rivera and Hijo had nice smooth exchanges which made me want to see a singles match between them. Boogie brought the power moves, hitting Jr. with a German suplex and powerslamming Hijo.

Rivera hit a Spanish Fly to Hijo as Jr. went under the ring and switched places with his dad, LA Park, who hit Rivera with a spear. After switching back to the original duo, Homicide ran to ringside and dragged LA Park out from under the ring and they brawled to the back.

Los Parks hit a power bomb backstabber to Boogie, but Rivera made the save. Hijo hit Rivera with a running Mexican Destroyer before they brought a wooden board into the ring. But of course, he who sets up the wooden board (or table) goes through it as Boogie speared Hijo, breaking him and the board in half.

5150 then hit Jr. with a double stomp death valley driver combination to pick up the win and the MLW Tag Team titles.  

— As Fusion: Alpha was about to go off the air, new MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane arrived with his bodyguard, but as the bodyguard opened the door of the car, Calvin Tankman ran in and floored him with a big shot. The bodyguard tumbled back into the car and Kane sped off.

Next week:

• MLW Middleweight Champion Tajiri vs. Atsuki Aoyagi in a title match held in All-Japan Pro Wrestling