A former NWA champion looks to be on her way to WWE.
PWInsider reports that Madi Wrenkowski was at the WWE Performance Center last week and is believed to have signed a WWE NXT contract. Wrenkowski attended a WWE tryout this September.
Wrenkowski is a former NWA Women’s Tag Team Champion, holding the belts alongside Missa Kate for six months earlier this year. Wrenkowski & Kate lost the titles to Pretty Empowered (Ella Envy & Kylie Paige) at the NWA’s 75th anniversary show in August.
Wrenkowski was formerly a regular competitor on AEW Dark. She also appeared on an episode of AEW Rampage in March 2022, losing a squash match against Nyla Rose.
Bodyslam.net reported last month that Brogan Finlay, Jay Malachi, and Lucky Ali are expected to report to the WWE Performance Center in January 2024. They participated in the same WWE tryout as Wrenkowski.
Wrenkowski is the current Women’s Champion for indie promotion River City Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas.
The NWA Women’s Tag Team titles changed hands twice on Tuesday’s Power with Missa Kate & Madi Wrenkowski ending the night as champions.
Fresh off winning the titles at this month’s NWA Nuff Said, The Renegade Twins (Charlette & Robyn) first defended the the gold against Pretty Empowered’s Ella Envy & Roxy. The Renegades had defeated Envy & Kenzie Paige at the PPV, so this was a rematch of sorts.
After Roxy held Robyn’s tights to get the pin and the titles, Kate and Wrenkowski (who goes by Madi in the NWA) then came out and cashed in their title shot by virtue of their team’s recent Champions Series victory.
The challengers picked up a quick win after Kate hit the Kick Filet and Madi landed the Reality Check on Roxy to get the pin and their first taste of NWA gold.
The two become the fifth set of champions since the titles were revived by the NWA in 2021.
This week’s show featured not just one but two NWA Women’s Tag Team title matches in addition to a NWA National title match.
Mims & Dak Draper defeated Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) (w/ Aron Stevens) via DQ
What a horrific finish. A DQ finish can work sometimes, but there was no reason for this. The announcers at least asked why Stevens would use a loaded glove right in front of the referee. It seems like they are trying to tell a story with Stevens being insane or something.
Damage and Carnage immediately got the heat on Mims to the joy of Stevens on the floor. Carnage did most of the work here as Damage (aka Rodney Mack) is limited to the occasional power move being in his 50s. Stevens punched Mims in the face with his loaded glove right in front of the referee for the DQ and terrible finish.
– NWA TV Champion Thom Latimer and NWA World Champion Tyrus were backstage, talking about working together against EC3 and BLK Jeez.
Kerry Morton segment
NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Kerry Morton was with Kyle Davis at the podium and he talked about how he got into an argument with his dad (Ricky Morton), but that happens with families. They took a loss in the Champions Series as a team, but they are back on the same page again.
Jamie Stanley walked out and challenged Morton tonight for a shot at the title on behalf of Joe Alonzo. Morton said he would give him a shot if Alonzo beats a person of his choosing. That is typically a heel gimmick, but it made sense here — just not from the babyface making him jump through hoops. Typically, the heel does that to prevent the match from happening like the whole Bryan Danielson/MJF feud.
NWA National Heavyweight Champion Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) & Kratos went to a time limit draw
If they actually worked a match here rather than stalling with Cyon’s slower offense, this could have been a good one even with the draw finish. This was a long ten minutes as opposed to the very fast 27 minutes of Mercedes Mone vs. KAIRI at NJPW Battle in the Valley. I don’t really blame Kratos as Cyon can be good when he wants to be, but this was a nothing match.
Kratos and Cyon are both heels, so the crowd wasn’t sure who to get behind. This seems to be a weekly thing. Kratos is awesome though, nonetheless, and hit a great stalling vertical suplex. Cyon rolled to the floor and Kratos followed. The champion drove Kratos face-first into the ring post, targeting the wound Kratos got at the Nuff Said PPV.
Cyon got the heat with some rather boring offense. Kratos started to make a comeback and the bell rang as time expired
– Thrillbilly Silas was backstage with James Mitchell, who apparently has not left the company. Silas claimed he was going to beat Judias next week.
Matt Cardona defeated Odinson
This is probably the best match on the show. The YouTube chat was confused about Odinson now being a babyface when he was a heel a few weeks ago, so I am glad I wasn’t the only one.
Odinson used his power to throw Cardona around in the early going. He went for a shoulder tackle in the corner and Cardona moved, so Odinson crashed into the ring post. Cardona then sent him into the ring steps, continuing to attack the shoulder. Cardona hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Odinson hit a running uppercut for a two count and then went for an F10, but Cardona countered into an armbreaker to target the shoulder.
Cardona hit the Reboot for a two count. Cardona sent Odinson to the ropes, but he responded with the pounce. However, Cardona got his feet on the ropes on the subsequent pin attempt. Cardona took advantage of Odinson moving the ref out of the way and hit him with the Purpose Canister to knock him out and get the win.
Cardona then called out Bully Ray, saying any time, any place, they can fight. Ray came out and Cardona said, “Well, not right now,” which was funny. Cardona said Ray could face him if he went through Mike Knox. Ray said that he would beat him now, but he’ll beat Knox a second time if he had to.
– Pretty Empowered and NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions The Renegade Twins cut promos on each other. Envy claimed they weren’t real twins, which was amusing as they are fraternal twins, not identical.
– BLK Jeez and EC3 have united for The Church’s Money Entertainment, working with CYN. At least Jeez was charismatic in his promo, but much of this made zero sense. EC3 said things that didn’t make sense, other than him wanting to use Jeez to market himself, I think. EC3 then noted he was going after Cyon, so yet another heel vs. heel match. Galli noted that there was an affiliation between Jeez and Cyon through Austin Idol, but EC3 said he was controlling his narrative. Okay.
Pretty Empowered 2.0 (Ella Envy & Roxy) defeated the Renegade Twins (Charlette & Robyn Renegade) to win the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles
This was fine but nothing great. However, the crowd was into it.
Roxy and Envy took it right to both of the Renegade Twins, beating them around ringside before Roxy hit a neck snap on Charlette. Roxy choked her against the ropes and tagged out to Envy. Charlette hit some hard chops on Roxy, but was soon double teamed again.
Envy went for a cannonball in the corner, but Charlette dodged and tagged out to Robyn. Robyn stood in the middle of the ring waiting for Roxy, who was on the apron. Roxy is still green, folks.
Robyn hit double knees in the corner and a low dropkick for a pin attempt that was broken up by Envy. Roxy countered an O’Connor roll from Robyn and pulled the tights to get the pin and the title win.
Kenzie and Kylie Paige came out to celebrate as it looks like Kenzie’s younger sister is officially in Pretty Empowered as well. Missa Kate and Madi immediately came out with a referee and cashed in Madi’s Champions Series title shot.
Missa Kate & Madi defeated Pretty Empowered 2.0 (Ella Envy & Roxy) to win the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles
This was quick. Kate hit the Kick Filet on Roxy followed by Madi hitting the Reality Check scissor kick to get the pin and title change. Weren’t Missa Kate and Madi not getting along recently? In fact, didn’t they break up? What a weird finish.
Final Thoughts:
They tried to make this episode noteworthy with the title changes, but the Champions Series is still one of the worst ways to do it. Having a Money in the Bank-esque option for so many people on the roster is dumb and while it can create surprise title changes, that really isn’t the key to good booking or storytelling as evidenced by Kate and Madi not getting along recently.
The NWA Women’s tag titles will be defended at Hard Times 3.
On Tuesday’s edition of NWA Power, it was announced that Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Paige and Ella Envy) will put their belts on the line against Madi and Missa Kate. The challengers recently defeated the champions in a non-title match on the October 15 edition of NWA USA.
Pretty Empowered first won the titles at NWA Alwayz Ready on June 11. They have since defended the belts successfully twice against former champions, The Hex (Marti Belle & Allysin Kay).
NWA Hard Times 3 will take place at the Frederick J Sigur Civic Center in Chalmette, Louisiana on November 12. It will air live on FITE TV. The announced lineup for the show is as follows:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch defends against Tyrus and Matt Cardona in a triple threat match
NWA Women’s Champion Kamille defends against KiLynn King
NWA US Tag Team Champions The Fixers defend against The Spectaculars
NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide defends against Kerry Morton
NWA National Champion Cyon defends against Dak Draper
NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Paige and Ella Envy) vs. Madi and Missa Kate
AJ Cazana vs. Jordan Clearwater for the vacant NWA TV title
NWA Power Surge opened with The Fixers (Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball Legursky). Legursky yelled everything he said, from his name to “We’re special! We’re for hire! Pay us!” as they were the hosts of the show for tonight and wanted to advertise their services. I loved this.
Rodney Mack defeated D’vin Graves
This was an absolute nothing match with Graves and Mack both looking quite bad. Mack dominated most of the match with chokes and terrible offense, including making Graves tap out while under the ropes while squeezing his head against the ring post. Graves tapped out to a cobra clutch after a few minutes.
— The Fixers talked about things they liked in wrestling which included big men who beat people up and their favorite foods. This already overstayed its welcome, but there was still some amusing moments.
Austin Aries defeated Rhett Titus in a NWA Junior Heavyweight tournament qualifying match
This match was awesome. This was a replay of a match from NWA Hard Times 2, but it didn’t hurt to see it again here given how good it was.
Aries and Titus kept up a very fast pace in the early going as Aries tried to use mat skills to stay on top of Titus, but Titus used his ROH Pure division experience to stick with him. Aries popped out of a leg scissors and hit a dropkick while Titus rolled through a sunset flip to deliver a dropkick of his own.
Aries hit a dive on Titus followed by a kneecrusher and back suplex combination. Aries went for his corner dropkick, but Titus got the boot up. Titus then hit a kneecrusher and back suplex combo of his own. Titus went for it a second time, but Aries countered into the Last Chancery. Titus made the ropes and hit two hard boots in the corner for a near fall. Aries then hit a discus forearm, his corner dropkick, and a brain buster for the three count.
Kylie Rae defeated Madi
This match was very good. Rae is excellent and my wish for them to do more with Madi (sans her last name of Wrenkowski) seems to be happening as they played off her loss to Melina last week.
Rae looked fantastic early. Madi yanked her hair to try and get out of an armlock, but Rae held on. Madi pulled Rae’s head into the ropes to break it and then hit a boot while Rae was over the middle rope, choking with her foot afterward.
Madi went full heel, turning into a bully against Rae, rubbing her face into the mat after a suplex followed by a camel clutch. Rae fought out, but took a hard forearm to the back. Madi’s heel work here was excellent and Rae’s selling was awesome. Madi locked in a dragon sleeper in the ropes to further brutalize Rae.
The announcers noted that the loss to Melina in a previous episode seemed to light a fire of viciousness in Madi. Rae was able to get her in a cradle and floated over into a kip up and a superkick. Madi got a near fall, but Rae dodged a pump kick and rolled her into a crossface to secure a tapout.
— The Fixers told more stories, explained 4K resolution, and told a story about a woman walking a goat. I think the first one was their best one, but these are funny — mainly because they are such dork heels.
The Fixers defeated Fable Jake & Miguel Robles
The Fixers charged their opponents and began crushing them immediately. Bradley hit several big elbows on Robles before tagging out to Legursky, who slammed Robles with a powerslam. On commentary, Austin Idol told Legursky to lay the chops in as they apparently weren’t that hard. I laughed.
Bradley and Legursky threw Jake around the ring before crushing him in the middle of both of them. Legursky hit a cannonball on Jake before scoring the pinfall.
The show ended with the credits rolling, saying the Fixers produced the whole thing which made me smile.
Final Thoughts:
While this wasn’t a standard episode of NWA Power, it was a very fun and short half hour of wrestling.
The most notable happening was Kylie Rae vs. Madi with Madi turning heel in the middle of the match, showing increased attitude and aggressiveness. I really liked how they tied it back to her loss to Melina and I hope they continue to push that forward. Meanwhile, I have to think Rae is on her way to a title shot with her performances lately, not just for the tag titles with Tootie Lynn but for a shot at Kamille’s title too.
I should note that something that has happened a few times over the last year with the NWA. Last week on Power, they announced that the main event for next week’s show was going to be Trevor Murdoch facing Mike Knox for the NWA World title. That did not happen.
I enjoyed the show as there were two very good matches, but it is frustrating as a fan to be told something was happening next week and for it to not happen. All they had to say instead of next week was “Next episode of NWA Power” and it would have been fine. Work out your airdates before you record or fix the issues in post production and then advertise what is happening next week. It wouldn’t have been hard to put up a short ad for this show and then for Power a week later on the TV show.
Just like when they gave three different dates for the start of the Champions Series last fall, they have consistently had a problem with properly announcing the dates of shows.
Cyon started this week’s show by cutting a promo on Sal Rinauro, saying that he was going to show him what pro wrestling really is.
Matt Cardona and Mike Knox were then at the podium, insulting the NWA, saying that they were an amateur production for not playing his theme music on NWA Power, but Knox and he were the doctors that were going to fix it.
Trevor Murdoch came out defending the NWA, saying it’s 73 years of blood, sweat, and tears. He said that all you need is a ring and two people who want to fight, but Cardona and Knox wouldn’t take his spot. Cardona said that Murdoch needed to go through Knox to get to him, and asked Murdoch to put the title on the line. This was both a good promo from Murdoch and good heel work from Cardona.
Kylie Rae defeated Allysin Kay
This was a decent match with Kay looking stunned at the loss. Rae looked really good in her selling and offense. Kay is also quite good, so this was fun.
Velvet Sky asked if the title was on the line in this match and Joe Galli let her know that it was a singles match, so the Tag Team titles wouldn’t be on the line. She said, “You never know” which must be leftovers from her experience with Russo booking.
Kay locked on an armbar, leaving Rae struggling to get to the ropes. Before Rae could escape, Kay rolled it over into a pinfall for a two count. Rae rolled through after running the ropes, hanging onto Kay’s arm before kicking up over the downed Kay and hitting a superkick in a cool spot.
Kay blocked a crossface, hit a Samoan drop and then landed a kick for a two count. Rae countered an AK-47 attempt and rolled through into a sunset flip on Kay for the pinfall victory.
— Kiera Hogan and Women’s Champion Kamille were with May Valentine and Hogan claimed that she wanted the title. Kamille said that Hogan should be honored to face her that she was going to put Hogan’s flame out.
— Dango and JTG were with Kyle Davis and talked about wanting competition. Dango ate a candy cigarette. The Ill Begotten came out to challenge them when Dango accepted. Captain YUMA asked for a handshake. Dango pulled out baby oil and squirted the baby oil onto his hands for an uncomfortably long time while Yuma broke the fourth wall and turned to the camera. That was weird but I also laughed.
— Homicide and Tag Team Champions La Rebelion were with May Valentine and Homicide said he didn’t care who were in front of them or what match it was. Bestia 666 said that Homicide had their back they’ll take on all comers. This was a good promo.
Madi Wrenkowski defeated Melina
Melina gave a lot to Wrenkowski in this one as this was designed to make her look strong in defeat. If the NWA wanted to, they could do something with this. The crowd got behind Wrenkowski.
She immediately took it to Melina, staying ahead with a submission and then a pinfall attempt which seemed to surprise Melina. Wrenkowski hit a knee and then drove Melina’s face to the mat for a two count. Melina countered with a neckbreaker and was so visibly upset at Wrenkowski’s performance, she yanked Wrenkowski by the hair to take her to the mat before locking on a modified surfboard stretch.
Wrenkowski kicked out at one, which infuriated Melina more. Wrenkowski drove Melina’s face into the turnbuckles before they went into several pinfall attempts but Melina fired up and dared Wrenkowski to hit her. Melina countered after a few more attacks and was able to get the pinfall.
— Taryn Terrell, Paola Blaze and Jennacide were with May Valentine. Terrell claimed that she brokered peace between the both of them and then claimed she was going to create world peace and solve the climate crisis.
— Tyrus and Idolmania Sports Management were with Kyle Davis. Tyrus claimed he was going to keep the TV title as long as he wanted and when he successfully defended it seven times, he was going to take the NWA World title from Trevor Murdoch, but he was going to do it on his time.
Tyrus also announced that Jordan Clearwater and Marche Rockett were going to take the tag titles. I actually enjoyed that promo. Austin Idol then cut an awesome promo to the camera while on commentary about how he was wearing camo because it was hunting season, and Idolmania was running all over the NWA.
The Ill Begotten (The Fixers & Rush Freeman) (w/ Captain Yuma & Alex Taylor) defeated DSB (Dango & TJG)
Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball (which is a name I love) surprised DSB (and Captain Yuma) as Yuma was sure he was competing in the match, but it seemed Freeman and Taylor went out and hired the Fixers. Bradley and Wrecking Ball got the heat on JTG in the early part of the match. After hitting a double brainbuster on Dango, Freeman paid the Fixers off and pinned Dango.
— Rodney Mack and Anthony Mayweather were with Kyle Davis. Mack said that Jax Dane disrespected his wife Jazz and he was going to show Dane why he is the baddest man in the world.
Mayweather went on to talk about Dane when a lawyer served him with papers for a restraining order where Mayweather cannot be within a mile of Dane.
— Galli announced a new match for the NWA called Team War with four trios teams in a fatal four-way with the winning team getting $30,000.
Clearwater claimed that Luke was not allowed to touch him, so he hit a forearm and drove Clearwater back into the corner. Clearwater tagged out in fear. PJ and Rockett exchanged some blows, sending Rockett back to the corner and Luke tagged back in. BLJ drove Luke into the apron behind the ref’s back and they moved into the heat.
BLK Jeez got on the apron so the ref missed the tag from Luke to his son, but it still wasn’t long before PJ tagged in and hit suplexes and strikes on everyone. Tyrus distracted PJ and the referee ejected BLK Jeez and Tyrus, but the damage was done and Marche Rockett dropped PJ. Rockett went for the Rockett Kick, but Luke moved, but Hawx Aerie hit a pop-up powerslam on Clearwater for the pinfall.
The show went off the air with Galli announcing that Trevor Murdoch would be defending the World title next week against Mike Knox.
Final Thoughts:
There was a lot to like on this episode of Power. I liked the growth of stables outside of Strictly Business with Idolmania Sports Management and attempting to highlight newer stars with Hawx Aerie and Madi Wrenkowski being showcased in particular. This was a good episode this week.
