MLW Fusion recap: Willie Mack slapped the world champ

A lesson to all the haters. Willie Mack won’t take no guff. Chocolate Thunder slapped the world champ to drop him on his ass at the start of MLW Fusion episode 176.

Mack has a date to wrestle Alex Kane for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at Fury Road on September 3 in Philadelphia, PA. The two have exchanged trash talk from afar the past few weeks, and now they were face to face. Kane didn’t think Mack was a worthy opponent and called him a bitch ass hoe. Slap! Mack put Kane on his rump with five across the face. Mack hammered a few punches on the floor before security broke it up.

Mack and Kane were both in action for this episode from Tijuana, Mexico. Kane was up first against Delirious in a non-title bout. The Suplex Assassin had trouble with the unique style of Delirious. The masked man surged with a misdirection lariat, repeated leg drops, a headbutt, and a flying splash onto Kane’s back.

As Delirious tried to finish with a submission, there was a distraction on the apron by a Bomaye international representative. Kane took control with suplexes, but Delirious roared back with a striking combo. Kane was able to turn the tide with a big boot. A release suplex earned the win for the champ. Champ!

MLW profiled Mack’s journey. Tough times don’t scare Mack, because he’s called hard places home for so long. This is an interesting clip for fans of Mack that don’t know much about his life.

It was Mack’s turn to compete. He teamed with Jack Cartwheel and Myzteziz against the trio of Skalibur, Dinamico and Genio del Aire. Before the fisticuffs turned serious, Mack pleased the fans with a dance break. The rudos had enough and put the boots to Mack.

The babyfaces were in control with stereo shooting star presses from the high-flyers and a powerbomb from Mack. Triple pin attempt and triple kick-out. Myzteziz continued the momentum with a tornillo to the outside onto two opponents. Mack followed with a cannonball onto the pile. That left Cartwheel in a showdown with Genio. The luchador had the upper hand when outsiders from a local storyline forced a distraction. Cartwheel pounced for a rolling DVD and a twisting shooting star press for victory.

On the promo tip, MLW highlighted the life of Delmi Exo getting into wrestling.

Matt Cardona is facing Mance Warner in a Kiss My Foot match at Fury Road. Cardona accused Ole Mancer of being a shower dodger, whereas, Cardona consistently gets pedicures to freshen his feet. Cardona isn’t coming to MLW to pass the torch. All the buzz, money, and gold is coming his way.

In other tidbits, B3CCA was angry that Delmi Exo was busy in Germany, John Morrison was kidnapped, the Samoan Swat Team were ambushed by the The Calling’s goons, and Ichiban was the sixth pick in the 2023 Open Draft.

There was also a mystery message. “Fury ignites within, kingdoms clash, worlds collide, enter the realm, soon.” Could that be a tease for a joint show with Dragon Gate?

Episode 176 of MLW Fusion provided a different flavor from the lucha libre world. The trios main event was a standard formula for the match. Even though there were sweet aerial moves, the flow was nothing special. Plus, there was an awkward finish relating to a local lucha storyline that felt out of place for an MLW show. Watch it for the novelty if you’re curious. Jack Cartwheel’s finishing dive was pretty darn cool. Alex Kane versus Delirious was a solid match. Delirious has a unique style that forces interesting interactions for his opponent to adapt and overcome.

The strength of show came from promos. The story building between Willie Mack and Kane is simple smack talk, and it is working little by little to ratchet up the anticipation for Fury Road. That slap was Mack was electric. The profiles on Mack and Delmi Exo were well done to create an emotional connection.

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