MLW Fusion results: TJP, King Mo, Rocky Romero, big announcement

Former tag team partners clashed as Bu Ku Dao looked for revenge against the man he used to look up to and the man who turned his back on him: TJP. The show also featured Rocky Romero, the return of King Mo and a big announcement about MLW returning to running shows with fans.

Rocky Romero defeated Gino Medina (8:58)

With no connected storyline and little to no build, this initially felt like a match just to fill time but it turnout to be anything but. Following up from his recent appearances on New Japan Strong, Romero put on a clinic and picked up the win with a cross armbar.

Medina was coming off a loss to rival Richard Holliday last week so the pressure was on for a bounce back, but Medina fell victim to Romero’s ground game early on and was restricted in his attacks.

The former IWGP Jr. heavyweight and IWGP Jr. Tag Team champion started strong and after shaking off a 540 kick from Medina, he connected with a finger poke to the eye, a baseball slide dropkick and a dropkick to the back as Medina was draped across the middle rope.

Medina kept up with Romero in the latter stages but was on the receiving end of a jumping knee, tornado DDT and a suplex right into an armbar to give Romero the submission victory.

— Speaking of Holliday, he announced the Dynasty’s latest marketing campaign: a poster of National Openweight champion Alex Hammerstone as a “muscle mountain” theme park ride. Alicia Atout was quick to point out that an unfortunately placed hammer was giving him a “hammer d*ck.”

— Tag Team champions Los Parks threatened Salina de la Renta, saying if she failed again, El Jefe will not be happy. Speaking of Salina, she will have “an opportunity” next week after we overheard a phone call from El Jefe.

— The PWI top 10 singles rankings from 10-1: ACH, Calvin Tankman, Myron Reed, Mil Muertes, Low Ki, IWA Caribbean champion Richard Holliday, Mads Krugger, Middleweight champion Lio Rush, Tom Lawlor, and National Openweight champion Alex Hammerstone.

— A Reed vs. Rush rematch was hyped with a video package and a Rush interview. Rush defeated Reed to win the Middleweight title a few months ago and successfully defended the title against Laredo Kid and Brian Pillman Jr. 

King Mo defeated Robert Martyr (1:17)

After eight weeks of heavy training with American Top Team, Mo was back in action following his loss against Low Ki on Lawlor’s Filthy Island episode. Mo powered up from a triangle choke attempt and slammed poor Martyr into oblivion, getting the win moments later with a side choke.

Dan Lambert got on the mic and complained about the Filthy Island Low Ki finish, saying he didn’t tap out. Mo said he would break Ki in half the next time he saw him.

— Lawlor challenged Marshall Von Erich who later responded, saying he will see him next week.

— Atout interviewed MLW CEO Court Bauer who revealed that MLW will be coming to Vice TV this May and that Rush vs. Reed 2 will take place on May 5 on a show that will close out the season. That’s because the next set of TV tapings will be in front of a crowd in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena on July 10.

— Josef Samael interrupted the video with a CONTRA propaganda video. He warned Bauer that he can walk in the back door of MLW headquarters again and take control at the snap of his fingers. He says the flag of CONTRA will fly in Philadelphia on July 10.

Bu Ku Dao defeated TJP (13:38)

This was hyped as “idol vs. protege” as the former tag team partners clashed. Dao and TJP went far as a team, becoming no. 1 contenders but just coming up short against Los Parks a few months ago. After the match, TJP turned his back on Dao who looked up to TJP as a mentor.

This match was originally scheduled for a few weeks ago but TJP attacked Dao backstage and the match was pulled. TJP was subsequently fined and suspended and continued to bad mouth Dao during interviews.

Dao wanted to show he belonged in MLW, but it was TJP who took the action to the outside and slammed Dao into the ring apron. TJP worked on Dao’s back throughout the body of the match, hitting a backbreaker and a powerbomb. TJP used his experience by locking in a surfboard as Dao screamed in pain.

Dao got an opening, hitting a bottom rope tope and firing up with a running bulldog. TJP caught him with a dropkick coming off the middle rope, but Dao returned the favor and slammed TJP off the top moments later. The match went back and forth as TJP popped up to the top rope and superplexed Dao, followed by an abdominal stretch.

The referee got knocked down as Dao had TJP down for the visual three count with a crucifix. Moments later, Dao revived the ref and came off the top with a spinning face-first flatliner to give him the massive upset win.

Alex Hammerstone’s press conference

After defeating Mil Muertes last week, Hammerstone promised to hold a press conference to let the world know his next steps as he and MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu have been on a collision course ever since he was announced as number 1 contender dating back to last year. The press conference was short and sweet as Hammerstone said he was tired of having two heavyweight singles titles. He then challenged Fatu to a title vs. title match as Fusion went off the air.

Final Thoughts:

We are finally getting fans back at events and are finally getting Tom Lawlor vs. one of the Von Erichs and a Fatu vs. Hammerstone title match. This episode mostly hyped the future more than showcasing what was actually on the show, but the action we saw was good and similar to last week, it featured some of the better in-ring matches we have seen.

Next week:

  • “Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Marshall Von Erich

Two weeks: