MLW Fusion Alpha Results (10/20): Caribbean Title Defense, Tankman Vs. Cross – Opera Cup

Welcome to Wrestling Inc's live coverage of MLW Fusion: Alpha, which airs every Wednesday on YouTube and Fite TV at 7 PM EST, as well as on beIN SPORTS on Saturdays at 10 pm EST! Be sure to chime in on your thoughts about tonight's show in the comments section below. Additionally, share our live coverage through social media. Make sure to click the REFRESH button to continue to get the most current up-to-date coverage. Above and below is what's on tonight's agenda for MLW:

Commentators Rich Bocchini and Saint Laurent welcome fans to a brand new episode of MLW Fusion: Alpha!

Before we head to tonight's first matchup, we see CONTRA Unit ambush Richard Holliday before he defends his Caribbean Championship against King Muertes. Luckily, Alex Hammerstone makes the save.

Now, we head to the ring for the first contested match.

Nicole Savoy vs. Holidead (w/Dr. Dax)

** Willow Nightingale joins Rich Bocchini and Saint Laurent on commentary. **

Both women tie up. Holidead backs Nicole Savoy up into the corner. Savoy turns this thing around with a waistlock. Holidead fires a back elbow that sends Savoy back into another corner of the ring. The referee has to pry them apart. Savoy drives Holidead to the mat and locks in a bridged wrist lock. Savoy turns it into a pin for one count. Holidead puts a hold on Savoy. Savoy counters with a perfect hurricanrana takedown then hits another one. Holidead rolls to the outside to recover. Savoy doesn't give her any time before heading out with a suicide dive, just as we head into a quick break.

Back from the commercial, Savoy traps Holidead with a Saito suplex. Cover. Holidead grabs hold of the bottom rope. Holidead sets up a painful surfboard on Savoy in the center of the ring. Savoy inches her way to the bottom rope and locks on. Both women get rocked with a nasty headbutt. Both women lay in a round of chops as they make their way towards a vertical position. Savoy plants two kicks to the gut to set up a butterfly suplex on Holidead. She nails it. Holidead ascends from that rather quickly. Savoy fires up an old-school German suplex and forearm smash for two.

Holidead slams Savoy on top of her knee with a backbreaker before attempting a swinging belly-to-back slam. Can she capitalize on this? No! Kickout by Savoy. Savoy transitions to another suplex at two. Savoy traps Holidead with a triangle choke. Holidead deadlifts her up tumbles to the canvas. Savoy puts this thing away with a single-arm crossface. Holidead yells out for the tap. Savoy picks up her first win in MLW!

Winner: Nicole Savoy  

Post-Match: The MLW doctor on staff and referee Kris Levin check-in on Nicole Savoy, who looks like she sustained an injury from this event. We can report that she is doing well since this episode.

- Just as Willow Nightingale heads to the back, Holidead creeps up on her on the ramp and blindly attacks her.

- Speaking of medical updates, Alicia Atout is with Richard Holliday. She'd like to know if, after that wild mugging, he is still able to compete later tonight. Holliday was advised not to compete tonight, but he refuses to listen to the medical staff. We'll still see him in action later.

Next Week:

* The final opening-round matches of the 2021 Opera Cup Tournament will happen between Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty and TJP vs. Alex Shelley.

With that said, we make our way back to the ring for the second opening-round match of the Opera Cup!

Opera Cup Opening Round: Matt Cross vs. Calvin Tankman

**King Mo is on commentary for this match. He hopes his presence will influence Calvin Tankman to officially accept his offer of joining his team with Alex Kane. **

Matt Cross kicks things off with a sturdy bicycle kick to the side of Calvin Tankman's face. All of his forearms and chops don't seem to faze him one bit. Cross finally sends Tankman off his feet with a hurricanrana. Cross latches on with a wheelbarrow turned sunset flip before ending the sequence with a double stomp. Cross whips up a suicide dive. He meets his match when he gets smashed by a pounce. What will it take for either man to pull the opening round victory off? We'll find out after the quick break.

Welcome back! Tankman has a massive hold on Cross as he dumps him on the mat with a brutal brainbuster. Tankman slows things down with a chin lock. On their feet, Cross eats a forearm smash and clothesline in the corner. Tankman tries to end things early with a splash. Here comes a cover. Cross springs out at two. Cross saves himself in another corner with a big boot. After hitting two bicycle kicks, a springboard crossbody, and a double stomp from off the top, Cross awakens the beast who hurls him straight onto the apron! This won't be enough for Tankman to end this thing just yet.

Tankman charges forward with a spinning back fist on Cross. Cross returns the counter with a rebound cutter! Cross with a cover. 1-2-2.8, Tankman finds away out. Tankman evades a shooting star press and pokes Cross in the eye before popping him with a wicked pop-up punch. Tankman ends Cross' suffering with an inside-out lariat followed by a vicious back fist for the victory.

Winner: Calvin Tankman

- Tankman now advances to the semifinals of the 2021 Opera Cup Tournament.

Post-Match: Tankman heads to the trophy sitting at the top of the ramp. He promises his kids he will bring this award back home to them.

- Alicia Atout finds Matt Cross and asks for his comment after his devastating loss. Cross thinks it's pretty low Tankman had to revert to an eye poke to win this whole thing. The audience replies with a resounding set of boos.

- The Japanese Buzzsaw and new MLW Middleweight Champion Yoshihiro Tajiri promises to be a fighting champion going forward.

Backstage: MLW's favorite up-and-comer Budd Heavy tells Alicia Atout he's having a great time in Philly. He brought a beer to celebrate. Just as Atout and Heavy continue their conversation, one of Cesar Duran's masked associates approaches Atout about something. What he whispers is inaudible, and Atout thanks Heavy for his time before leaving the interview.

- We look back at 5150's jump on Injustice last week in South Philly. We're told Jordan Oliver was rushed to a local hospital and is currently recovering in the ICU.

- Following his debut on MLW Embedded two weeks ago, Emilio Sparks returns to the show to provide us access to some backstage things we usually don't get to see. This week, Sparks instructs the camera crew to zoom in on Jacob Fatu, who's having a heated conversation with Josef Samael after his unsettling loss at Fightland to Alex Hammerstone. Samael has a plan to help Fatu reach back to the top at War Chamber. Just then, they see the camera crew and Sparks and dash after them.

- Alicia Atout makes her way into Cesar Duran's office. Atout would like to set up an interview with Duran following her exposé on him last week. The Giver of Violence would like Atout to accompany him when he attends Richard Holliday/King Muertes contest in a little bit. She agrees.

- Duran also requests for CONTRA Unit's Mads Krügger to come and see him sometime.

And now, the main event! Can the Caribbean Champion prevail over "The Man of 1,000 Deaths?"

IWA/MLW Caribbean Championship: Richard Holliday (c) vs. King Muertes

** Alicia Atout and Cesar Duran are sitting at ringside. **

Both men shove each other off seconds after the bell rings. King Muertes is getting the better end of the deal so far. Richard Holliday flies in with a back elbow just as Muertes comes off the ropes. Holliday locks in a side headlock. Muertes launches Holliday to the corner and spears the champ right in two! Muertes pummels Holliday with left and rights. Holliday stays down as Muertes connects a simple but destructive DDT. Muertes slingshots Richards up against the bottom rope. Backstage, Mads Krügger and EJ Nduka are getting into it. Muertes shuts any of Holliday's offense down with a clothesline before the quick ad.

Back from the final break, Holliday receives a headbutt and gets sent over the top rope. He slams straight into the guard rail. Cesar Duran pours some champagne over Holliday's head. Muertes heads on out and bangs Holliday's head onto the steel stairs. Making their way back in the ring, Muertes clobbers Holliday with ten straight short-armed clotheslines in the corner! Both men are perched up on the ropes. Holliday shoves him off and transcends down with a flying forearm!

Muertes misses a clothesline and gets trapped in a spinebuster for just a two count! Muertes kicks his way out of a single-leg crab. Muertes dumps Holliday on the mat with a hard-hitting powerslam. Cover. Holliday kicks out just in the nick of time. In the back, Alex Hammerstone gets involved in the brawl with CONTRA Unit.

Meanwhile, in the ring, Holliday hoists Muertes up in the torture rack position and sends him crashing with a neckbreaker. Holliday hooks the leg. 1-2, NO! The Sentai Death Squad is standing near the ring. Holliday steps out to confront them. Ikuro Kwon sneaks up from behind and lays a wicked roundhouse kick on Holliday. Muertes follows after with his Straight to Hell flatliner. Holliday is out cold. King Muertes is now the new Caribbean Champion!

Winner & New Caribbean Champion: King Muertes 

Post-Match: Alicia Atout storms off and leaves ringside.

That concludes this week's episode of Fusion: Alpha. Thanks for watching!