Fury Road (2023) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

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 took place on September 3, 2023, at the 2300 Arena in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It was the fourth event under the Fury Road chronology and streamed live on FITE, with additional matches being taped for future episodes of '' MLW Fusion''. The event marked the beginning of a partnership with

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional-wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV Asahi and Amuse Inc. owning minority shar ...

, with Kushida set to appear at the event. The event also featured the MLW in-ring debut of

Matt Cardona Matthew Brett Cardona (born May 14, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is a freelancer who competes on the independent circuit as well as making in ring appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Al ...

on the live broadcast, who was announced to be signed with the promotion at Never Say Never in July.

Production

Background

MLW Fury Road was first held in 2018 as a television taping for MLW's weekly program, '' Fusion'', with the second event airing as a special live episode on June 1, 2019. On May 2, 2023, a new partnership between MLW and FITE was announced, in-which the promotion would produce live events for FITE+ subscribers. MLW would subsequently announce four upcoming FITE+ specials on July 8, 2023, with Fury Road announced to be taking place on September 3 from the 2300 Arena in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Storylines

The card consisted of matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by MLW's writers. Storylines were played out on MLW's television programs, '' Underground Wrestling'' and '' Fusion'', and the league's social media platforms. At Never Say Never, the first two rounds of the 2023 MLW Open Draft were held, with Kevin Blackwood and

being drafted. Both men would later be announced to be making their MLW debuts at Fury Road. On the July 20 episode of ''Fusion'', Mister Saint Laurent, Cardona's new manager, was attacked by Mance Warner, in-retaliation for Laurent's betrayal of his former charge

Microman was a science fiction toyline created, manufactured and marketed by Takara, Takara Co., Ltd. from 1974 to 1984 as well as from 1998 to 2007. The ''Microman'' line was a series of action figures with accompanying vehicles, robots, playsets and ...

. The following week, Laurent challenged Warner to a match at Fury Road on Cardona's behalf, which Warner accepted. The match was later made official on August 1 as a

No Holds Barred No holds barred or No Holds Barred may refer to: * ''No Holds Barred'' (1952 film), a film starring The Bowery Boys * ''No Holds Barred'' (1989 film), a film starring Hulk Hogan * ''No Holds Barred'' (Biohazard album) (1997) * ''No Holds Barred ...

Kiss My Foot match. Additionally, on August 9, MLW announced the debut of Laurent's new talk show, "Sessions by Saint Laurant," with a mystery guest to be revealed at Fury Road. On the August 24 episode of ''Fusion'', MLW announced a new partnership with

. As part of this partnership, an inter-promotional match between

Tony Deppen Anthony Deppen (born May 3, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently working for Major League Wrestling (MLW), Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion; and on the independent circuit. Professional wre ...

and New Japan representative KUSHIDA will take place at Fury Road. Through MLW's "Open Door Policy", Japanese star Maki Itoh will also be appearing at Fury Road. For the past couple of months, The Samoan SWAT Team (

Jacob Fatu Jacob Fatu (born April 18, 1992) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand and is the WWE United States Champion in his List of WWE United States Champions, first re ...

Lance Anoa'i Lance Sterling Anoa'i (born February 15, 1992) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand. He previously wrestled in Major League Wre ...

, and Juicy Finau) had been feuding with The Calling (

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

, Akira, and Rickey Shane Page). At Battle Riot V, seen on the April 25, 2023 episode of '' MLW Underground Wrestling'' on

Reelz Reelz (formerly known as Reelz Channel) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood ...

, Fatu would eliminate every member of The Calling in the titular match before eliminating himself alongside Page, where the two would continue to brawl with each other. On the August 17 episode of ''Fusion'', Fatu defended the

MLW National Openweight Championship The MLW National Openweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion Major League Wrestling (MLW). The title was unveiled on April 18, 2019. The title's openweigh ...

against Page, only for the match to be declared a no contest after Page shoved the referee. The two would continue to brawl after the match. Following this altercation, it was announced that Fatu would once again defend the title against Page in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match.

Results

References

External links

{{MLWPPV, Fury Road Major League Wrestling shows 2023 in professional wrestling September 2023 in the United States Professional wrestling shows in Philadelphia 2023 in Philadelphia