MLW Fusion results: Countdown to Fury Road

This episode was in memory of Terry Funk and Windham Rotunda.

Fusion this week was a special preview episode for the upcoming Alex Kane vs. Willie Mack match at Fury Road. We had two previously aired matches plus special all-access looks into both challenger and champion. Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker announced the matches.

– The main take-home message from the countdown vignettes was the contrasting styles between Mack and Kane. The champion was training at the famous Big Bear gym in California and enjoyed private dining at his favorite restaurant, while the challenger was talking about his past struggles in and out of the ring.

– With three weeks to go until Fury Road, Kane told us about the previous trainers at the Big Bear Gym, including Mike Tyson and Oscar de la Hoya, and about how his win will be all about Bomaye. Mack took us around South Central Los Angeles and talked us through his upbringing and going into foster care.

Alex Kane defeated Alex Hammerstone to win the MLW World Heavyweight title (taped and aired in July at Never Say Never)

This was the main event of the last live MLW special event, and if we get a main event as good as it this weekend we will be in for a special night.

The story that developed was Kane had the mat game advantage over the larger champion and also had the growing crowd support, even though he had been presented as a heel in the build. Hammerstone had the power advantage when it came to brute strength.

Kane brought out an array of suplexes here and continued to try to lock in his choke finisher but his early attempts were refuted by the champion. Later, Kane brought out his brawling side and had good momentum building after a splash on the apron and some running strikes, but went back to his suplex roots to edge his way toward the title.

Hammerstone brought his own suplexes and displays of power by dropping Kane hard on the ring apron. He also fired up with his own Hogan-style comeback but turned it up more than usual to counteract the boos from the Philadelphia crowd. They especially loved Kane kicking out of Hammerstone’s Burning Hammer signature move.

Kane again went to a reverse choke to stop the champion, but Hammerstone eventually clawed himself to the ropes.

In the closing moments, they exchanged high-impact moves: Hammerstone hit a chokeslam, Kane hit his Kane Maker Angle slam, Hammerstone hit a superplex but Kane used the momentum to hit his own release suplex.

Hammerstone eventually hit the Nightmare Pendulum but Kane still had the wherewithal to roll to the outside. On returning to the ring, Kane kicked the ropes which hit Hammerstone low. Kane then hit a gut-wrench suplex from the top rope for a close two-count.

Hammerstone reversed another choke attempt with some German suplexes and a powerbomb. Mr. Thomas distracted Hammerstone briefly but we saw the go-to MLW spot where Kane accidentally collided with his partner on the apron.

Instead of this leading to the demise of the colliding partners, Kane reversed a Nightmare Pendulum and locked in another choke. Kane fell to his back and the champion had nowhere to go and had to tap out before he passed out.

– With two weeks to go until Fury Road, we saw Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas eating in an empty private restaurant thanks to the Bomaye Fight Club money man Don King. He taunted Mack about his weight, saying he is still eating the same garbage while Kane only eats the best.

– Mack responded by listing out how Kane has been handed everything and has a lot of people helping him along, such as his team and Don King especially.

– Don King’s associate gifted Kane a watch to keep up his championship lifestyle while Mack told us he trains by chasing his cats around the house but is a naturally gifted athlete.

Willie Mack defeated John Hennigan (w/ Sam Adonis) and Lio Rush in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the MLW World Heavyweight title (Taped in April, aired in July)

This was great and fast-paced throughout. 

Hennigan and Rush distracted Mack by forming an alliance on the outside, but the main reason was to let Sam Adonis distract Mack, which let both the heels jump him to start us off.

Their alliance lasted all of 30 seconds as Rush tried a sneaky roll-up once Mack was disposed of. Rush and Hennigan then had a parkour minute of dodges, feints, and reversals before Mack re-joined only to eat a springboard kick to the face from Hennigan. Mack then hit a Samoan drop to slow the frantic opening minutes down.

Rush hit a great poison-rana after reversing a gorilla press by Mack, but Mack came back with a pop-up forearm to the jaw. Later on, Rush hit his low dives through opposite sides of the ring, nearly sliding and ramming Mack into the front row in the process.

The finishing sequence had Mack send Rush out after a missed frog splash and a stunner. Hennigan then reversed a Mack stunner, Adonis interfered and grabbed the leg of Mack but Hennigan hit Adonis by accident which let Mack roll up Hennigan for the win and crown himself the new number one contender.

Looking back at how this kickstarted Mack’s push, Hennigan and Rush did really well to make him shine.