MLW Fusion Review - September 7, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Gene Snisky def. Yoscifer El

No, that's not a typo. I assume Snisky is going by that slightly-modified name because WWE has Gene Snitsky copyrighted, but it sounds exactly the same if you say it out loud. This was a simple squash to establish him as dominant. He was accompanied by Mister Saint Laurent, who can do the talking for him. Snisky feels like a good fit for the MLW roster and he seems to be in even better shape than he was at the end of his WWE run 15 years ago.

Microman and The Mane Event def. Jesus Rodriguez and The FBI

I'm not the biggest fan of Microman's matches, but he had nice chemistry with Main Event and it was believe that they could beat the comedic trio of FBI and Rodriguez (the former Ricardo Rodriguez from WWE). It was pretty basic stuff, but they had fun with it and the crowd was into the action as well. Sam Adonis (who I thought was done with MLW, but maybe this took place prior to his departure) showed up afterward to run down Microman and Second Gear Crew made the save.

WXW Unified World Wrestling Champion Shigehiro Irie def. Calvin Tankman

I remember reading a few weeks ago that Tankman was officially a free agent, so I wondered why this match happened if it was taped last weekend on the same night as Fury Road. It turns out it wasn't and it was actually from the April taping. Thus, this didn't serve much of a purpose, but it was an enjoyable, well-worked main event if nothing else. If this was Tankman's swan song from MLW, he went out on a high note.

Overall Show

Although this was a solid show on the whole, I can't say it was the strongest follow-up show to Fury Road, which was an entertaining two-hour event. They're still airing outdated matches and most of them don't serve a storyline purpose. That sends the message that Fusion is inconsequential and that only the occasional specials are worth checking out. That said, the extended look at Alex Kane's rise and title win on this episode was excellent. If nothing else, make time for that along with Irie vs. Tankman for a quality match.

SEE MORE: Main Event Reviews