''MLW Fusion'' is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

television program produced by

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...

(MLW) that originally premiered on April 20, 2018 on

beIN Sports USA beIN Sports USA is a pay television sports network which primarily airs top level soccer, featuring exclusive coverage of Ligue 1, along with content from other leagues in Europe. In addition, BeIN Sports airs matches from such sports as rugb ...

. On November 10, 2022, the series began

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

on Pro Wrestling TV. A thirteen-part mini-series, titled ''MLW Fusion: Alpha'' (stylized as ''MLW Fusion: ALPHA''), aired from September 22 to December 16, 2021. It would be followed by a second mini-series, '' MLW Azteca'', which aired from Thursday January 6, 2022, to February 3, 2022.

History

2018–2020

Major League Wrestling announced their partnership with

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...

on March 30, 2018, in which the network would air a weekly television series. Subsequently, MLW announced their television tapings would take place at Gilt Nightclub in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. ''MLW Fusion'' would air on Friday nights beginning on April 20, 2018. On September 19, it was announced that MLW signed a deal for the show to be streamed through

FITE TV Fite (stylized as FITE by Triller) is an American digital video streaming service launched on May 20, 2012, that is dedicated to combat sports-related programming (including boxing, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling). The network dist ...

, and to air on beIN Sports in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. On November 29, it was announced that ''Fusion'' would be broadcast live for the first time on its December 14 episode, during MLW's ''Zero Hour'' event. Since then the company would continue to air periodic live specials. In January 2019, ''Fusion'' added its first international broadcast partner, EGO TV in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In February 2019, MLW announced that ''Fusion'' would be moving from Friday to Saturday nights. After the conclusion of the MLW vs AAA Super Series on the May 9, 2020 episode, ''Fusion'' would go on a haitus due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. A spinoff series, titled ''Pulp Fusion'', was uploaded weekly on MLW's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in the interim beginning on May 29, 2020.

"The Restart" and ''Fusion: Alpha'' (2020–2021)

On September 10, MLW announced that ''Fusion'' would move to Wednesday nights on

fubo Sports Network FuboTV Inc. (stylized as fuboTV) is an American streaming television service serving customers in the United States, Canada, and Spain that focuses primarily on channels that distribute live sports. Depending on country, channels offered by Fubo ...

. On October 10, it was revealed that ''Fusion'' would return on November 18 at 7pm EST and new episodes would also premiere on MLW's

channel on the same night. With the move to YouTube and Fubo Sports, ''Fusion'' abandoned its original year-round, weekly format; a special "season finale" aired on May 5, 2021. During the premiere of

Battle Riot III Battle Riot III was a professional wrestling event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that took place on July 10, 2021, at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was MLW's first event since its hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...

on July 24, 2021, MLW announced a new season of ''Fusion'' to air on "a new home" in the Fall, and a new, four-part mini-series titled ''MLW Fusion: Alpha'' (stylized as ''MLW Fusion: ALPHA'') to lead into the new season. Initially announced to air in August, ''Fusion: Alpha'' was later re-announced on September 6, 2021, as "a new season and series from MLW" to premiere on September 22 on MLW's YouTube channel, and would also air on Saturdays and Mondays on Bein Sports. Beginning October 19, 2021, ''Fusion: Alpha'' would also stream on

. On December 7, MLW announced that the series finale of ''Fusion: Alpha'' will air on December 15, 2021, though the final episode would instead air on December 16. MLW also announced a new "anthology mini-series" titled ''MLW Azteca'', which was taped during the

MLW Azteca/The Crash show The MLW Azteca/The Crash Show, also known as the MLW Azteca • The Crash Super Card, was a professional wrestling supercard event co-produced by the U.S-based Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Mexico-based The Crash Lucha Libre (The Crash), which ...

in December 2021. The series premiered on Thursday January 6, 2022 on MLW's YouTube channel and

, and aired for five episodes.

2022–present

During the January 27, 2022 episode of ''MLW Azteca'', it was announced that ''MLW Fusion'' would return for a new season on February 10. On the June 23 episode, it was announced that the current season would end with the

Kings of Colosseum Kings of Colosseum is a professional wrestling supercard event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW). The first event was held in 2019 as a special live episode of MLW's weekly series, ''Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining ...

special on July 14, 2022. During the finale, it was announced that ''Fusion'' would return for a new season in the Fall. On October 11, 2022, MLW announced a partnership with

streaming platform An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of ...

Pro Wrestling TV (PWTV), bringing the promotion's programming library to the service beginning November 3. The new season of ''Fusion'' will premiere on PWTV on November 10.

Production

Filming locations

Initially, ''Fusion'' had been taped at Gilt Nightclub in

. In May 2018, MLW announced they would be holding television tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on July 19, marking the first time tapings were held outside the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Subsequent tapings have been held at various venues around the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. From Fall 2020 until 2021, due to the

, MLW would return to Gilt Nightclub to tape their programming behind closed doors. From July to December 2021, MLW programming was taped at the

2300 Arena 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

from the promotion's home base in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Special episodes

Roster

The wrestlers featured on Major League Wrestling take part in scripted

feuds A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...

and storylines. Wrestlers are portrayed as either

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.

Commentators

Broadcast history

''MLW Fusion'' originally aired on Friday nights in the United States on

BeIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...

. In February 2019, the show moved to Saturday nights. On November 18, 2020, new episodes of ''Fusion'' moved to Wednesday nights on

and MLW's

channel, with BeIN Sports now airing replays on Saturday nights. With the premiere of ''MLW Azteca'' on January 6, 2022, MLW programming moved to Thursdays nights on YouTube; ''Fusion'' would return on February 10 of that year. Starting November 10, 2022, ''MLW Fusion'' will move to Pro Wrestling TV, continuing to air on Thursday nights.

International

In addition to the U.S., ''MLW Fusion'' also airs on BeIN Sports in Canada and Puerto Rico. As of 2022, ''Fusion'' is currently carried by

StarTimes StarTimes is a Chinese electronics and media company with strong presence in Sub-Saharan Africa. StarTimes offers digital terrestrial television and satellite television services to consumers, and provides technologies to countries and broadcas ...

and Wataaa Fight Channel outside of North America, Fight Klub Poland, and MBC in Mauritius. On July 5, 2022, MLW announced a new broadcast deal with Ayozat TV in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

References

External links

*
MLW Fusion on beIN Sports
* * {{Professional wrestling in the United States 2018 American television series debuts 2020s American television series American professional wrestling television series BeIN Sports

Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...