MLW Fusion Recap and Review: 03/03/2021 – Jordan Oliver vs Jacob Fatu

Jacob Fatu defended his MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Jordan Oliver in the main event of tonight’s Fusion. Additionally, Simon Gotch and Daivari of CONTRA challenged Los Parks for the MLW Tag Team Championship. Those matches and more can be viewed by watching the video below:

Strong points of the show

• Tonight’s cold open did a fantastic job of setting up the main event match between Jacob Fatu and Jordan Oliver. Both the cold open and the subsequent clips of Jordan’s past victories throughout the program helped establish Oliver as a legitimate threat to Fatu’s championship.
• I appreciated how the past battles between Los Parks and CONTRA were acknowledged prior to the tag team championship match. The highlights shown gave a brief yet important reminder of the storied history between the two factions.
• Despite the execution not being the cleanest, I enjoyed Injustice’s involvement in the opening contest. I haven’t seen a bulldog pulled off like that before and I thought it was really creative.
• Calvin Tankman almost broke poor Laredo Kid in half with his shoulder tackle in the beginning of their match. Major kudos to Laredo Kid for selling Tankman’s offense wonderfully.
• I am glad that the story between Gino Medina and Gringo Loco is continuing. Both men seem to be pretty talented, and I hope the promo that Gino cut tonight leads to another match between the two.
• Jacob Fatu and Jordan Oliver told a great story throughout their match. Jordan did a great job of selling Fatu’s offense. Jordan also conveyed strong emotions through the match. I felt like I could feel Oliver’s desperation and energy through the screen.

Weak points of the show

• I’m not sure why Daivari didn’t follow up with an assault on Hijo after the figure four leg lock. As a heel, I feel it would have made more sense had Daivari not listened to the referee and continued attacking Hijo.
• The Von Erichs did not cut the strongest promo tonight. They’ve cut better promos in the past. But unfortunately tonight Ross and Marshall did not produce as smooth of a segment.
• I do not believe the piped in noises throughout the show were necessary. I understand that the lack of a crowd makes the product come off as more quiet. However, I think it’s so weird to include crowd reactions when no fan is in the arena.
• There was a weird replay during the main event that wasn’t shown in its entirety. There were quick cuts between the replay and Fatu’s corner splash and the whole presentation came across as a bit odd.

Match results

• MLW Tag Championship Match: Los Parks (LA Park & Hijo de la Park) defeated Daivari and Simon Gotch via pinfall to retain the MLW Tag Team Championship.
• Parrow defeated Dugan via pinfall.
• Calvin Tankman defeated Laredo Kid via pinfall.
• MLW World Championship Match: Jacob Fatu defeated Jordan Oliver via pinfall to retain the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.

Did you enjoy this week’s edition of MLW Fusion? Let us know in the comments!