MLW Fusion Review - May 5, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Richard Holliday def. Davey Richards

Much like last week's main event, this was another match I had a chance to catch in person at the Intimidation Games taping in Dallas. They had a solid outing and it was a big win for Holliday ahead of his eventual shot at Alexander Hammerstone's MLW World Heavyweight Championship. Richards has been one of the most protected people on the roster since returning, so I was surprised to see him lose clean. Working with stars as seasoned as Richards will only make Holliday that much better.

MLW World Tag Team Champions Hustle and Power def. Budd Heavy and Red Pickins (Non-Title)

I wasn't expecting Calvin Tankman and EJ Nduka to become a full-fledged team when they won the tag titles, but I'm glad they have because they have great chemistry as partners. Plus, it keeps them busy because I don't know what else they'd be doing otherwise. This was a total squash as they made quick work of Heavy and Pickins. They also put the tag team division (or what's left of it) on notice in a post-match interview.

MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed def. Swerve Strickland

As previously mentioned, I was in attendance for this taping but had to leave halfway through the show and missed the main event. I'm disappointed I did because it would have been awesome to see Strickland as Reed's mystery opponent. He came out to his old entrance music, "Chaka Khan", which was a terrific touch. They didn't get a ton of time, but this was a blast of a bout and Reed gained a ton from beating the former MLW World Heavyweight Champion.

Overall Show

I thoroughly enjoyed this edition of Fusion. Obviously, it was notable for Strickland's one-off return to the promotion, but his match with Reed was also very entertaining. Meanwhile, the opener served its purpose in preparing Holliday for his upcoming title shot and the tag team squash in the middle was what it needed to be. MLW doesn't have the deepest roster at the moment, but they're making due with who they have and they produced a strong show this week. Jacob Fatu will meet Bestia 666 in an Apocalypto match on next week's episode, whatever the hell that's supposed to be.

SEE MORE: MLW Reviews