MLW Fusion Review - November 30, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jimmy Lloyd def. Cannonball in a Thumbtack Pit of Death Match

This was yet another installment on the never-ending Second Gear Crew vs. Calling feud. We barely see Lloyd on MLW programming and Cannonball is just a random member of The Calling, so it was tough to care about this, in addition to it having a stupid stipulation. I thought I was watching a GCW show and that's not a compliment. It was your typical hardcore match and a total mess. If you enjoy this sort of stuff, then that's great, but I found it to be unnecessary nonsense.

Wasted Youth def. Lucky 13 & Austin Luke and The Mane Event in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

MLW's tag team division has been in desperate need of a boost for some time now, and these two teams could be quality additions. Lucky and Luke were decent, but Wasted Youth were the ones who really stood out and had an impressive performance. Kudos to them for getting the crowd behind them as well. Here's hoping this isn't the last we'll see of them in MLW because they have potential and are damn talented.

Zayda def. Gia Scott

I've seen plenty of Scott's work and she's skilled, but her role here was solely to showcase Zayda as she's the one MLW appears to be pushing next. The match was nothing special, but it served its purpose. Mister Saint Laurent confronted Zaya afterward and offered her a spot in the World Titan Federation, so while it's cool she's likely guaranteed more television time than most of the other women, time will tell if she'll prove herself worthy of the spot.

WTF Superstars ("Filthy" Tom Lawlor, Alexander Hammerstone and Josh Bishop) def. The Bomaye Fight Club (J Bouji, Mr. Thomas and O'Shay Edwards)

This was pretty similar to last week's main event, except that this featured Hammerstone and other members of each faction instead of Alex Kane and Matt Cardona. Since they're going one-on-one for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship next week at One Shot, it wasn't necessary for them to be involved (they brawled afterward, anyway). This was a well-worked main event with the right team going over in an attempt to put more heat on the heels.

Overall Show

MLW has a quick turnaround between Fightland and One Shot (which I'm pretty positive is replacing Fusion next Thursday), but they've done an effective job of building up the card for the latter, namely the Kane vs. Cardona main event. I think there's a strong chance Cardona walks out as the new champ if they want this WTF faction to get over. I haven't been a fan of their shtick so far, but I suppose it's better than The Calling. The opener wasn't my cup of tea, but the rest of this show was solid.

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