MLW Fusion Review - July 5, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Davey Boy Smith Jr. Attacked Microman

Mister Saint Laurent has been with Microman for as long as I've been following MLW, so I'm all for him betraying Microman and joining Smith instead. Smith struggles with promos, so perhaps he can help him in that department. This was kept short and sweet. I don't think we'll be seeing any less of Microman going forward and I don't have any desire to see a match between the two, but I'm glad they're going forward with turning Smith heel.

MLW World Middleweight Champion AKIRA def. Lince Dorado

The Calling sucks and the more titles they have means the more exposure they get, but at least AKIRA is a good worker. He and Dorado had a quality contest here and made the most of their time, though I could have done without AKIRA attempting to unmask Dorado at the end. The spot has been done to death in all of the companies, but I did like that Dorado continued to fight without it and almost won at one point.

Mandy Leon def. Billie Starkz

AKIRA vs. Dorado was enough Calling for this viewer. I have no idea why this match was necessary. Starkz is obviously skilled, but she was solely utilized as an enhancement talent here and thus it wasn't very competitive. Leon just isn't great, so if she's going to a member of The Calling, she shouldn't be wrestling much, but I realize she's being built up for an eventual shot at the MLW World Women's Featherweight Championship.

MLW World Tag Team Champions Samoan SWAT Team (Lance Anoa'i and Juicy Finau) def. Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner and 1 Called Manders) in a Hardcore Match

This was a fun brawl for as long as it lasted. They used more weapons than I thought they would and it didn't overstay its welcome. My only complaint is that there were multiple unprotected chair shots to the head and I'm not sure why they thought that was necessary. Does it really add anything to a match that didn't need the stipulation in the first place? Post-match, The Calling emerged yet again and attacked everyone, right when I thought we were done with them on this show.

Overall Show

There hasn't been a strong emphasis on The Calling since Fusion returned in May, but they were all over this episode and it was overkill. I haven't understood the appeal and their abrupt push hasn't made much of a difference. Having them dominate the go-home show before Never Say Never this weekend was certainly a questionable choice and it made for a mediocre edition of Fusion, but they did a decent job otherwise hyping the pay-per-view, especially with the backstage comments from Alexander Hammerstone and Alex Kane.

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