MLW Fusion ALPHA Report: Tajiri vs. Atsuki Aoyagi, Charlie Bruzzese honored

Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/12/16/mlw-fusion-alpha-report-tajiri-vs-atsuki-aoyagi-charlie-bruzzese-honored/

MLW Fusion ALPHA #13 – Finale

December 16th, 2021

2300 Arena – Philadelphia, PA

By: John Siino

Commentary: Rich Bocchini & Joe Dombrowski

Street Certified

We start with a promo from 5150 with the new MLW World Tag Team Champions, Rivera & Slice Boogie along with Konnan and Dr. Julius Smokes. Konnan says he’s going to break it down for everyone, the Parks were talking shit and the clapback wouldn’t be nice. They went in there nervous and asked for a weapons match in ECW Arena, and he even gave them props for trying to do the trick by going under the ring. 5150 was on focus and did what they had to do, so they challenge the biggest and fastest Luchadores, hardcore guys, or whatever, and the only way they can call themselves that is to beat 5150. Boogie chimes in and says very few gangsters leave the game and become MLW World Tag Team Champions, and he did that and he isn’t going back to the streets anymore, he’s going straight to the bank. Rivera says the soldiers went to work and they put them in the dirt, and they are going to go and celebrate now then come back and get back to work. They learned all the moves from Scarface, Goodfellas, and The Godfather and if you come to MLW you have to go through them.

Holidead (w/ Dr. Dax) vs. Willow Nightingale (w/ The Blue Meanie)

Holidead cut a promo backstage before the match that said she can’t wait to rip Willow’s purple hair out of her head and wear it as a necklace and it’s time for darkness to fall on her. As Willow comes to the ring, she brings out The Blue Meanie as a surprise to be by her side. Match starts fast with Willow taking down Holidead with a Thesz Press but gets taken down herself with a side slam. Holidead misses a leg drop and gets hit with a superkick before Willow splashes her in the corner and takes her down with a boot and a senton for a two. Willow goes to the top rope, but gets held by the leg from Dr. Dax, causing Holidead to hit her with a boot and a suplex. Holidead continues attacking the legs of Willow and hits a pair of leg drops. Holidead places Willow by the apron and hits a guillotine leg drop for a two count. Willow reverses out and hits a pair of clotheslines on Holidead before splashing her in the corner. Willow hits a missile dropkick, but Dr. Dax gets on the apron to distract the referee before getting knocked off by Willow. They trade fireman’s carries before Willow gets pushed into the referee taking him out. Holidead tosses Willow to the outside and unleashes Dax to go attack Willow. Dax starts choking Willow with his chain, but Blue Meanie runs over and attacks Dax. Willow goes back inside and hits a superkick on Holidead, Meanie and Dax end up in the ring, as Willow and Meanie do the Meanie Dance and take out Dax and Holidead. Arez runs out and takes out Meanie with a top rope dropkick. Holidead hits Willow with a double under hook facebuster and gets the pin.

Winner: Holidead by pinfall at 5:12

Protect Ya Deck

We go to Cesar Duran’s office where he is on the phone telling the other end that the asking price was a little high, but he gets interrupted by 5150. Duran tells them to stop and pour one out for El Jefe, as they give him a glass of Hennessy. 5150 continues talking about how they took out Los Parks and walked out as the tag team champions. Duran says they are going to Mexico and hope 5150 doesn’t disappoint them. Duran reaches for something in his pocket, and 5150 thinks it’s a gun, but he pulls out a deck of cards instead.

Hand & Eye Coordination Training

We go to Kauai, Hawaii where Ross Von Erich walks into Marshall Von Erich playing Pac-Man and tells him that something happened, and shows him a contract for January 21st in Dallas, Texas for them to get their tag team title shot. Marshall says it’s been 40 years since the Von Erichs have fought for a title in Dallas. Ross says it’s time to shut up 5150, and Marshall says it’s time to get back in the gym and get jacked, but first, he has to finish this ‘hand and eye coordination training’ with Pac-Man.

Upcoming Fights

· January 6th – MLW Azteca

· January 21st – MLW Dallas

Homicide (w/ Dr. Julius Smokes) vs. LA Park

This match comes after Homicide being the one to stop Los Parks from switching out last week in the tag title match. Park puts Homicide on the ropes, where he hits a missile dropkick followed by a cannonball to the outside on Park. Homicide goes to the top, but Park catches him, does the strut, headbutts Homicide, and knees him sending Homicide to the outside. Park joins him, puts Homicide on a chair, and hits him with a suicide dive. Park throws him back inside where he gets a two-count. Homicide comes back with a DDT for two of his own. They trade off clotheslines in the corner before Park hits another one for a two-count. Homicide comes back with an Exploder Suplex for two. Park hits a bit of offense but gets stopped by Homicide with a dropkick to the knee and a neckbreaker for a two. Homicide hits the Gringo Cutter for another two. Park blocks a Tornado DDT attempt from Homicide and hits him with a spear for the pin and the win.

Winner: LA Park by pinfall at 5:39

Injury Report

We get an update on KC Navarro, after getting attacked last week by nZo. Navarro has been diagnosed with a neck fracture, but fortunately, it’s a simple break and he’s being transported to New York where he will undergo further testing later this week.

Smart & Savage

We go to EJ Nduka who talks about being originally from Dallas, Texas as he grew up there and bounced around a little bit, but it’s still his stomping grounds. He was a three sport athlete in high school playing Basketball, Football, and Track and in his Freshman year he made the decision to stick with Football playing for Sam Houston State, and by his sophomore year he was the captain of the squad, and they went to the National Championship in 2012 in Frisco, Texas. It was one of the greatest moments in his life and football has taught him so much, including humility, determination, the grind, effort, and putting his best every single time. He was determined to be the best and it spilled into every other aspect in his life including school, and in college, he made Dean’s list and President’s list. He was on the All-Academic team and he made it with a 3.7 and has a double major in business and biology. Not only is he smart, but he’s savage.

Rok-C is Coming Soon

We get a promo from ‘The Prodigy’ Rok-C (and current ROH Women’s Champion) who will be making her debut in Dallas, Texas on January 21st, 2021, for MLW Blood & Thunder.

Charlie Bruzzese Honored in 2300 Arena

We go to a video package titled ‘beIN The Ring’ on MLW cameraman Charlie Bruzzese, who talks about doing this since 1991 and started with NAWA which had talents such as Tommy Dreamer, Taz, and Joey Styles and was broadcast on SportsChannel America. In 1994 he got a call to edit a show based out of Philadelphia, which ended up being ECW and that person was Paul Heyman. He edited the first show in October 1994, and he started shooting for ECW in January 1995. He had a partner, and they would edit out of a house with two cameras, as he was the handheld, and he would mix the show with a hard camera, and Heyman would come in and view it before they put it together. In 1995, The Sandman was doing his entrance and he got a great shot in the entranceway and Sandman got jumped from behind by Steve Austin, they both fell on top of him, and he was in shock. And after the shock, he asked Heyman why he didn’t tell him that was going to happen and Heyman said if he told him that, it wouldn’t look real. Charlie thought about it, and he said Heyman was right. When ECW ended, Court Bauer called him and asked him if he would do a show for him which ended up being MLW in 2002. It was him, Court, and another cameraman from Florida who did the hard camera named Ken Levy. They would continue to edit the whole show and they did it in Westchester, New York. Charlie says he always tries to incorporate the fans into the show and feels it’s an important part of the show.

We cut back to the arena where they announce that MLW is honoring Charlie Bruzzese today for all the work he did in this arena for ECW and MLW. They reveal a banner in the arena for Charlie proclaiming him to be part of the Hardcore Hall of Fame, and Charlie is seen and caught off guard by this reveal as Court Bauer comes out and joins the fans in clapping for him and chanting ‘Charlie’. A really cool moment here.

Calvin Tankman in Jail

We get an update from last week where Calvin Tankman attacked Alex Kane and Mr. Thomas, and they reveal that Thomas pressed charges and Tankman got arrested for felonious assault and battery. We cut to Kane and Thomas, who has a box of Advil and Kane says they are the victims of a carjacking and they have enlisted the help of Stephen P. New, and Tankman will be in jail for a very long time where Tankman can see Kane’s victories and all he’ll hear is ‘Bomaye! Bomaye! Bomaye!’

We have an update from Calvin Tankman on the phone who is calling from jail. Tankman says he’s been stuck in jail for days thinking about Kane and Thomas and what they put him through. And if they think this will stop him, they are wrong. All they did was make this worse because he’s had time to strategize and when he gets out of there, he’s putting his hands on them and he’s going to make sure nobody can interfere and save them, not the police, the Air Force or the President. There will be a Bomaye Funeral, as someone just let him know he’ll be getting out there sooner than he thought. Emilio Sparks on the other line asked if his bail got posted, and Tankman says that when you stay silent and true, people get your back. Sparks asks what’s in store for the Bomaye Fight Club, and Tankman says you’ll see soon.

MLW Azteca’s Main Event

We see a creepy promo for Pagano as Jimmy Durante’s ‘Smile’ plays, followed by an announcement that on January 6th for the premiere of MLW Azteca the main event will be Alex Hammerstone & Pagano vs. King Muertes & Taurus.

MLW World Middleweight Championship: Yoshihiro Tajiri (c) vs. Atsuki Aoyagi

This match is from the November 28th AJPW Real World Tag League show in Odawara, Japan with Bocchini and Dombrowski still providing commentary as they mention Aoyagi getting a victory over Tajiri back in August in the Royal Road Tournament. They start the match locking up, with Tajiri tripping Aoyagi down, as they trade submission attempts. Aoyagi takes Tajiri down with a couple of arm drags, keeping him down on the mat. Tajiri gets out with a head scissors and hits a neckbreaker for a two count. Tajiri starts driving elbows down and hits another neckbreaker for another two. Tajiri keeps Aoyagi down, but they transition to trading forearms, right back into the chin lock by Tajiri. Aoyagi gets out with a back suplex as they go to the commercial.

When we come back, both men are laid out as the referee starts to count. They trade strikes again as Aoyagi leapfrogs, hits an arm drag, and a handspring knocking Tajiri to the outside. Aoyagi goes to the top and hits an Asai Moonsault to Tajiri on the outside. Aoyagi knocks Tajiri back inside, hitting a missile dropkick and standing moonsault for a two. Aoyagi goes back to the top but misses the moonsault as Tajiri applies the Tarantula. Aoyagi dodges Tajiri’s Buzzsaw Kick and hits a handspring kick for a two-count. Aoyagi misses another top rope moonsault, but blocks Tajiri’s kick and hits an Enziguri. Aoyagi hits another kick but only gets a two. Aoyagi goes back to the top and misses a 450 splash. Tajiri comes back with a piledriver for a two, followed by the Buzzsaw Kick for the pin and the win.

Winner: Yoshihiro Tajiri by pinfall at 11:34, to retain

Non Fungus Token

We go backstage where Richard Holliday attempts to get a word with Cesar Duran and wants to talk to him about NFTs, but Duran has no idea what that is and says he’s not interested in a ‘Non Fungus Token’. Holliday says the consumers will buy the Holliday NFT and they will make a ton of money. Duran tells him to send the info to his business and make his father/lawyer do it. Gnarls Garvin then interrupts Duran and says he’s willing to fight for him at any cost and even no money, because he’s angry, pissed off, and ready to fight. Duran appreciates his ambition and guarantees he’ll have many opportunities, before walking away again. Alex Hammerstone then finally stops Duran and says for someone who wants to build his trust, sending his brother after he was the wrong move. Duran says life is full of carrots, but Hammerstone stops him and says he doesn’t have time for his poems and if double-crosses him again, it will not work out well for him. Duran says he will see him in Mexico.