MLW Fusion #140
April 7th, 2022
Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, NC
Commentary: Rich Bocchini & Joe Dombrowski
Last Week’s Results
· Micro Man, Octagon Jr. & Puma King def. Arez, Gino Medina & Mini Abismo Negro (15:42)
· Ikuro Kwon def. Ken Broadway (2:26)
· MLW World Tag Team Championship: Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka def. 5150 (Rivera & Slice Boogie) (c) (8:08) to become NEW MLW World Tag Team Champions
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Cesar Duran comes to the ring to start the show with one of his henchmen. Duran welcomes everybody to the show and talks about all the great wrestlers that came out of North Carolina but says it can’t compare to Mexico. Duran says what he has in mind for tonight is the end of this town as Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat makes his way to the ring. Duran says it’s nice for an ‘old time great’ to come here and kiss his ring. Steamboat asks the crowd if they saw Duran being suggestive and wants him to kiss his ass, but he says the Dragon doesn’t kiss anybody’s ass or ring and since he’s been made the interim matchmaker for the evening, MLW has put Duran under investigation. And until this investigation is final, Duran is out here as security tries to get Duran out of the ring. Duran’s henchman goes to attack Steamboat but gets chopped down. As Duran is being escorted out of there, he calls Steamboat ‘a goat’. Steamboat is about to give some good news but gets interrupted by Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout.
Holliday asks the crowd if his ‘chick is hot’, then welcomes Steamboat to MLW. Steamboat says he was in this building before Holliday was born having matches with Ric Flair. Holliday says Steamboat has the opportunity to shake things up here and do something great and talks about Alex Hammerstone not being able to pass a wellness test. Holliday says Steamboat should put him in line for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. Steamboat asks the fans what they think, but they boo. Steamboat says Holliday has some great ideas as Atout says her man deserves a big match. Steamboat makes the ‘big match’ against Matt Cross instead as Holliday screams in anger.
Hustle & Power
We go to the new MLW World Tag Team Champions Calvin Tankman and EJ Nduka who are now going by ‘Hustle & Power’ and Emilio Sparks asks how they are feeling. Nduka thanks his family and everybody who’s supported him since day one. Tankman dedicates this to his seven year old daughter at home. Myron Reed steps in and says it’s about time they became champions, and he asks them to watch his upcoming match.
MLW World Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed (c) vs. TJP
They show a video before the match of both of them talking about each other, as Reed says if you look on Twitter you can see nobody likes TJP while TJP says he did more at 21 years old than Reed will ever achieve. TJP starts the match in control, with head scissors for a couple of pin attempts. Reed comes back with some offense, but TJP puts him in an arm breaker before they come to a standstill. Reed extends his fist out, but TJP takes him down. Reed comes back with a dropkick but gets dropkicked himself on the ropes as he was trying to springboard, before TJP rams Reed shoulder first into the ring post. TJP stays in control and works on the body parts of Reed, hitting a slingshot senton for a two. Reed escapes out of a suplex and hits a facebuster and a cutter attempt, but TJP catches him into an arm breaker. TJP puts on an Octopus Stretch then transitions into a Surfboard as they go to commercial.
TJP keeps Reed in the corner with boot washes, with the last one ending up on the outside where Reed quickly hits him with a dive. Reed comes back with clotheslines and a leg drop on the apron. Reed dodges a clothesline and hits an Enziguri, hits a kick and a cutter attempt on the apron, but TJP reverses into a neckbreaker and hits the Mamba Splash for a two count. Reed reverses a hurricanrana for a two count, followed by a kick and a No Cap Splash, but TJP gets out of the way and puts on an armbar until Reed breaks it up with the rope. Reed comes back with a couple of kicks but gets hit with a Tornado DDT as TJP gets a two. TJP goes to the top for another Mamba Splash, but Reed counters it with a cutter for the pin.
Winner: Myron Reed by pinfall at 13:39, to retain
Next Week
· Holidead vs. Shazza McKenzie
Matt Cross vs. Richard Holliday (w/ Alicia Atout)
Holliday starts in control hitting knees and clotheslines in the corner. Cross comes back with a head scissors takeover and a springboard elbow into the corner before hitting Holliday with a suicide dive on the outside. Cross sends Holliday back in but only gets a one-count. Cross gets knocked off the middle rope and hit with a clothesline from Holliday. Holliday continues stomping on Cross and hits a neckbreaker for a two. Cross escapes out of an underhook, hitting a kick but gets an elbow to his face and stomps out yet again. Atout takes a couple cheap shots and flips off the crowd. Holliday hits another neckbreaker for a two before continuing to work on Cross. Cross comes back with a couple of pump kicks and a springboard crossbody for a two. Cross comes back with the Cross Cutter for a two count before heading to top rope. Holliday dodges the Shooting Star Press and hits an uppercut and The 2008 for the pin.
Winner: Richard Holliday by pinfall at 6:44
Rich Bocchini tries to get a word with Holliday and Atout after, but Atout takes his mic and tells Bocchini to shut up. Atout asks Holliday what’s running through his mind, and he says it’s her. Holliday says everyone is finally finding out that The Dynasty was always him as the brains and the strength of the operation.
The Judge
We get a video showing EJ Nduka talking about his journey while he’s training. Nduka says he’s the firstborn, first-generation from Nigeria but was born in Dallas. Nduka says he cherishes opportunities because he knows not everybody gets them. We hear from his former teammate D.A. Allen talks about him before Nduka talks about his time on the Toronto Argonauts. We hear from Nduka’s friend Will Henry who talks about Nduka getting into bodybuilding. Nduka thanks Scott Garland for getting him an opportunity in WWE and talks about due to budget cuts and COVID he got released. Nduka talks about getting calls from everywhere when he got released, but the last call he got was from MLW. The one thing that MLW did that was different was not asking what happened in WWE but instead, talking about moving forward and the vision they had with him. Nduka ends this by saying he does this because he loves this, and he is the Judge, the beginning, and the end.
Emilio Sparks stops Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas and asks Kane about this rumor about someone backing Kane, but Kane says enough of this, and he has to go see Ricky Steamboat about something and calls Sparks unprofessional.
The Mortons (Ricky Morton & Kerry Morton) vs. The Von Erichs (Marshall Von Erich & Ross Von Erich)
Ross and Kerry start the match with the 20-year old Kerry taking Ross right down to the mat. Kerry hits a cross body off the top rope for a two-count, before Ross knocks Kerry down with a shoulder tackle. Kerry misses a dropkick but sweeps Ross up for a one-count. Ricky tags in and hits a knee lift before tagging his son right back in. Kerry gets a two count before getting reversed by a whip, as Ross tags in Marshall who hits a dropkick on Kerry. Kerry tries a pin attempt, but Marshall comes back with a clothesline and tags Ross back in as the Von Erichs hit a double dropkick for a two count. The Von Erichs continue to double team on Kerry, including a standing moonsault from Marshall that Ricky breaks up. Ricky hits a Destroyer on Ross, but Marshall puts the Claw on Ricky. All four men are brawling now in the ring before the Von Erichs hit the Claw/Suplex as Marshall gets the pin on Ricky. Should be noted that Ricky Morton was never tagged in for the finish.
Winners: The Von Erichs (Marshall Von Erich & Ross Von Erich) by pinfall at 5:27
5150 Sense
Marshall doesn’t release the claw, as Kerry pushes him off as the Von Erichs and the Mortons continue to shove each other. Dr. Julius Smokes makes his way out and says it’s nothing but trailer park trash in the ring right now. Rivera and Slice Boogie make their way through the crowd and start attacking both teams. Kerry Morton and Ross Von Erich hit Rivera with a double dropkick, knocking him to the outside before Marshall clotheslines Boogie out. Smokes continue talking trash to end the show.
