MLW Fusion Review - February 10, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Champion King Muertes def. Richard Holliday

Muertes previously beat Holliday for the IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Championship a few months ago, so this was Holliday's chance to regain the gold. Although he fell short, he played the babyface role well and it was a pretty good match. I'll never complain about getting more of Muertes. The title feels more like a prop than anything else, but this did successfully further the story of Holliday being targeted by Cesar Duran for being aligned with Alexander Hammerstone and that costing him the win here.

EJ Nduka def. Ikuro Kwon

We've been seeing vignettes for weeks promoting Nduka and discussing his backstory. MLW possibly has a future top star on their hands with him and they know it. That's why his presentation has been near perfect lately. Nduka completely dominated Kwon here and put him away pretty quickly. Kwon got on the mic afterward and called out his old CONTRA mate Jacob Fatu, who showed up and laid out Kwon with ease. Fatu is another one who has big babyface potential now that CONTRA has ended.

MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone def. Pagano in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

I thought MLW got the garbage matches out of their system on the Azteca shows, but apparently not. At least the match made sense with Pagano betraying Hammerstone last month and him being Duran's handpicked challenger for Hammerstone. I know Pagano is in his element in a matchup like this, but his style isn't my cup of tea personally and this felt it dragged on longer than it needed to, especially with the title never truly being in jeopardy of changing hands. The real story was the post-match angle that saw Holliday and Alicia Atout turn on Hammerstone, ending The Dynasty once and for all. I'm all for a Hammerstone vs. Holliday feud, and we'll see how Atout does in the heel role. I assume she moves away from being the backstage interviewer, right?

Overall Show

The limited Azteca series served its purpose and was a nice change of pace, but I'm glad they're back in the United States featuring their regular roster. This episode was all about progressing the storyline with Holliday and Hammerstone and doing that big angle with Holliday's heel turn at the end. Nduka was also showcased and we got several vignettes throughout, including for the returning Killer Kross. Solid stuff this week and I'm looking forward to seeing what else we'll be getting now that MLW is back to focusing on their own talent.

SEE MORE: MLW Reviews