Before MLW Fusion ALPHA #3 airs on YouTube, let’s catch up on the second episode which features Alexander Hammerstone defending his MLW National Openweight title against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.
Hype Central
Honestly, the only thing of note is that TAJIRI will be arriving in Major League Wrestling. He will be involved in a four-way match for the MLW World Middleweight championship at MLW Fightland.
“The Judge” EJ Nduka lived up to his verdict of breaking the Battle Riot elimination record and told Alicia Atout that there would be a lot more of him in Major League Wrestling.
5150—the current version of the Latin American Xchange—hyped their beef against Injustice. I love hyper-aggressive street promos and this was textbook. It didn’t even eat up too much time or disrupt the flow of the show. Top-notch.
Bobby Fish will be in the MLW Opera Cup 2021 and Jacob Fatu will be defending his MLW World Championship against Matt Cross next week.
I guess it’s time for both the World Heavyweight and National Openweight champions to get in another title defense before MLW Fightland 2021—even though the main event is scheduled as a title vs. title bout.
In-Ring Action
I don’t know what to say about the Aramis vs. Arez opener other than this was incredibly dope. This was just…wow.
It was a lot faster than the TJP vs. Richards main from the debut of MLW Fusion Alpha but it worked because it’s lucha libre, it’s meant to be very fast if it’s a “lighting match” or in as Azteca Underground’s El Jefe said: super lucha.
The opening tumbling came off as pretty garden variety but things really picked up following the kicking battle a couple of minutes into the bout. We got some clean dives from Aramis, a clean as hell Michinoku Driver, some weird-ass limb-entangling half-nelson driver, and a tilt-a-whirl into a double knee backbreaker from Arez.
Aramis finishes off his opponent with the La Desnucadora de Mosquetero or an airplane spin into a Towerhacker Bomb. Our second match was squash that saw newcomer “Suplex Assassin” Alex Kane take Budd Heavy to Suplex Island with the Ripcord Olympic Suplex (Angle Slam).
After getting mauled, Budd gives Kane the double middle finger prompting Kane’s manager King Mo to send the wrecking ball back in the ring to maul the guy a second time.
Kane is an impressive, powerful youngster who reminds me of a taller more energetic Taz. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes if MLW manages to keep him.
The MLW National Openweight title main event showdown between champion Alexander Hammerstone and Tom Lawlor was well-paced while not being particularly stiff or physical.
Both men—actually everyone on this episode’s show—would be in the Battle Riot match later that night so this match was pretty good considering Lawlor and Hammerstone had to save their energy.
Well, Hammerstone came in at 35 and Lawlor at number two, so Lawlor’s pace and heel tactics helped a lot for his main event action on the show. Convincing defense by Hammerstone following the Nightmare Pendulum.
Verdict: Silver Medal Show (3/5)
This was such a buttery smooth show from start to finish. The opener was a barn-burner, the Alex Kane squash was entertaining if you want to see someone get overwhelmed and mauled into next month, and the main event title match was solid. 5150’s promo was short and sweet. I loved it.
The match of the episode honors goes to Aramis vs. Arez hands down. I really recommend it if you enjoy exciting, fast-paced wrestling. The whole show flowed much better than MLW Fusion ALPHA #1 as well.
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