MLW Fusion Alpha results: Tajiri vs. Aoyagi Middleweight title match
MLW Fusion: Alpha opened with Konnan and the new MLW Tag Team Champions 5150 (Danny Rivera and Slice Boogie) celebrating their win over Los Parks from last week.
Konnan called for the best tag teams to challenge them for the belts. Boogie talked about how he’s not going back to the streets, he’s going to the bank. Rivera said they won’t forget what it’s like to be on the bottom now that they are on top and anyone coming into MLW has to now go through them.
Rich Bocchini and Joe Dombrowski were on commentary.
Holidead (w/ Dr. Dax) defeated Willow Nightingale (w/ The Blue Meanie)
Before this match started, we saw a backstage promo featuring Holidead saying she can’t wait to rip Nightingale’s hair out and wear it as a necklace. We then saw highlights of Holidead and Dax providing the distraction last week that allowed Arez to defeat Aramis and win Cesar Duran’s briefcase full of cash.
As Nightingale was making her entrance, she brought out The Blue Meanie to be in her corner.
Nightingale got the early advantage, but had to contend with interference from the outside. She went to the second rope but Dax, who was chained to the ring post, grabbed her boot. This allowed Holidead to hit a big boot and go on offense for a bit.
Nightingale then made a comeback that culminated in a dropkick from the second rope. She went for the pin but Dax got up onto the ring apron, breaking the chain that kept him attached to the post. Holidead got back up and pushed Nightingale into the referee, causing him to go down.
Dax got involved again and started choking Nightingale with a chain but Meanie came in and made the save. Meanie and Dax ended up brawling into the ring with Nightingale and Meanie hitting tandem Dusty Rhodes jabs and elbows on the heels. Arez then hit the ring and delivered a dropkick to Meanie. Nightingale was concerned with Meanie and the distraction allowed Holiday to hit a double underhook facebuster she calls Darkness Falls for the win.
This was fun. The Philly crowd was into Meanie and Nightingale comes off as a likable babyface. Holidead and her crew have a vibe befitting MLW as well and it feels like Holidead will likely be a key part of their women’s division moving forward.
— We cut to Cesar Duran sitting backstage talking to someone on the phone. 5150 then entered as they continued to celebrate their title win from last week. Duran asked them to pour a drink for “El Jefe.” Duran said the gods will be happy with the sacrifices he plans to make and he hopes 5150 won’t disappoint him. Duran then reached into his pocket, making 5150 think he might have a gun, but he pulled out a deck of cards. 5150 then seemed really enthusiastic about playing cards.
— The camera cut to a video featuring the Von Erichs. Marshall was playing old school Pac-Man when Ross came in and revealed he had the contract for their Tag Team title shot coming up in Dallas on January 21st. Marshall brought up that it’s been 40 years since a Von Erich challenged for a title in Dallas. They said they will get back in the gym and be in great shape for the match.
LA Park defeated Homicide
Last week, Homicide got involved in the tag title match by dragging LA Park out from under the ring. Park was hiding so that he could switch out with either of his sons to gain an unfair advantage as Los Parks did throughout their title reign. On commentary, it was mentioned that Park demanded this match due to Homicide’s actions last week.
Park ended up with the early advantage after they exchanged moves in the opening moments. He used a steel chair to hit Homicide outside the ring and then put his opponent in a seated position on the chair and hit him with a suicide dive.
Back in the ring, Homicide recovered and hit a ddt. He would later hit an exploder suplex for a two count. They then exchanged moves and two counts for a period. Finally, Park countered a tornado ddt attempt and then delivered a spear to his opponent for the win.
This was good with lots of fun spots and a fast pace. It was played up like Park was getting some revenge on 5150 and that’s going to be it between the two teams now that 5150 is moving on to face the Von Erichs.
— Highlights were shown of nZo attacking KC Navarro last week. We were given an update that Navarro suffered a neck injury and there was no timetable for his return.
— There was a backstage promo featuring EJ Nduka. He talked about being a three-sport athlete growing up in Dallas, Texas, where MLW will be next month. He said that football taught him a lot that he takes into wrestling. Nduka also mentioned he was a Dean’s and President’s list student as a double major in biology and business.
— There was a short video package for Rok-C’s debut in Texas next month.
Charlie Bruzzese inducted into 2300 Arena Hall of Fame
There was a video package on one of MLW’s cameraman, Charlie Bruzzese. He talked about having worked the indies, ECW, and the early days of MLW in 2002. We cut back to the arena with the shot of Bruzzese as his contributions to wrestling were honored. A banner with his name on it was unveiled inside the arena, officially recognizing him as a member of the 2300 Arena Hall of Fame.
— We then cut to a video informing viewers that the Bomaye Fight Club has pressed charges against Calvin Tankman. Last week as MLW was going off the air, a clip was shown of Tankman attacking MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane in the parking garage. Tankman’s mug shot was shown on the screen from his arrest as well. Kane revealed he has enlisted the help of lawyer Stephen P. New, so Tankman is going to be in jail for a long time. We then saw a New commercial conveniently enough.
Kane seems like someone with a lot of potential. MLW is very much behind him, giving him his own faction to lead and an Openweight title reign. He’s only three years in, but looks to have tremendous upside.
— A short creepy video aired featuring sad clowns yelling maniacally while images of Pagano flashed on the screen.
— There was an interview with Tankman on the phone from jail. He said when he gets out, he’s going to get his hands on the Bomaye Fight Club. He said he’s going to be getting out of jail sooner than he thought, too.
— It was then announced that on the season premiere of MLW Azteca on January 6th, King Muertes will team up with Taurus to face MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone and Pagano.
MLW World Middleweight Champion Tajiri defeated Atsuki Aoyagi to retain
This was taped at a recent All Japan show in Tokyo, Japan.
The early moments saw Tajiri and Aoyagi go back and forth with some technical grappling until Tajiri grabbed the first sustained advantage after delivering a neckbreaker.
Aoyagi managed to hit a suplex to get back into it just before the commercial break. After Aoyagi was on offense for a bit, Tajiri escaped to the outside. Aoyagi then hit him with a moonsault on the floor. He then got Tajiri back in the ring and hit a springboard dropkick and a standing moonsault.
Tajiri got back into it after avoiding another moonsault, wrapping his opponent in the tarantula shortly after. Tajiri missed a head kick and took a handspring kick to the face for a two count. Aoyagi then missed another moonsault, but blocked a kick from Tajiri and hit an enziguri.
They went counter for counter for a bit until Tajiri hit a piledriver, followed by the Buzzsaw kick on Aoyagi that got the three count.
— Before the show went off the air, we saw a video from the back with Richard Holliday approaching Duran about investing in NFTs but was promptly blown off. Gnarls Garvin approached Duran, but he was blown off by El Jefe as well. Finally, Hammerstone confronted Duran about him sending his brother Matanza (Jeff Cobb( after him. The MLW World Champion told Duran not to cross him again and Duran said he’ll see him in Mexico.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, this was a good show as Tajiri is always fun to watch wrestle. MLW is really building up 5150’s Tag Team title win too. With the Von Erichs getting a shot in Texas in January though, they are perhaps losing them soon. It should be interesting to see where things go between those two teams leading up to the Dallas show.