Sean Mooney debuted as an interviewer for the NWA, and his first interview was a big one with Nick Aldis.
Mooney congratulated Aldis on retaining the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Flip Gordon, but noted that there is still a lot of tension with Villain Enterprises. Aldis said he wasn’t a man who boasts or brags.
Aldis said Flip is one of the best wrestlers in the world, but he’s only a flop when he’s in the ring with Aldis. Aldis promised that every member of Villain Enterprises will be finding out that Nick Aldis is the greatest Worlds Champion of the modern era.
Aldis said that Marty Scurll wanted nothing to do with him. Mooney pointed out that Scurll showed up for Hard Times and Aldis had him escorted from the building.
Aldis claimed this was fake news, and the crowd chanted “coward” at Aldis. Aldis’ reaction here was incredible. He paused and then continued about how he didn’t want the title match to have outside interference. He said that the NWA knows who is the best, and they might as well call him the marathon man, because he runs the show.
Aldis said he wasn’t a coward. He had a sit-down meeting with Scurll and all of us will know why they call Aldis the dealer when we see it later tonight. My goodness — this was excellent. I am consistently blown away at how great Aldis has been on this show.
**********
Royce Isaacs (w/ May Valentine) defeated Andre Guhn
Sal Rinauro joined the commentary team. They commented on how Isaacs has had a bit of a losing streak lately.
Isaacs immediately went after Guhn and chopped the crap out of him. Isaacs blocked an arm drag, then dropkicked him in the knee. He hit a deadlift fisherman’s suplex on Guhn for a two count.
After a battle back and forth, Isaacs ended up going over to the commentary table and started arguing with Rinauro, who reminded him that he was wrestling a match and should focus. May Valentine pulled Isaacs back to the ring, and he soon hit Hush Money for the pinfall.
Isaacs and May argued a bit, and it seemed that he thought Rinauro was trying to create a rift between him and May.
**********
A video aired of Eddie Kingston being beaten down by The Dawsons at The Pope’s instructions.
**********
Melina, Marti Belle, and new NWA Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa came out. Melina wanted to do all the talking and didn’t let Thunder Rosa speak. The interviewer pointed out that the crowd wanted to hear from Thunder Rosa.
They announced that the rematch between Thunder Rosa and Allysin Kay would happen next week. Thunder Rosa said she was thankful that Melina helped her open the doors, but she was the one fighting. Thunder Rosa said that there isn’t a woman in wrestling that can beat her. She talked about how much it meant to her to win the title, but Melina cut her off and said that they were going to cut the emotional crap.
They are most definitely hinting very strongly at a Thunder Rosa babyface turn here, and I think this is great. The crowd loves her. She’s been a big part of the success of these NWA Power episodes.
**********
Ricky Starks came out and talked about how it’s an honor to carry the NWA Television title. He said how he was proud to carry on the tradition of Terry Funk and many others. Starks said that he wasn’t looking to rewrite the history books, but he wanted to add several pages.
Starks called out Zicky Dice and asked him to come out because he wanted to talk to him man to man. Dice came out just like a 1980s heel — and it was awesome. Dice talked about how he was going to be champion if it wasn’t for the NWA brass bringing in a mutant (Dan Maff).
Dice talked about how he wanted the TV title and how he was dressed as a champ, listing the cost of his clothes. Starks said he was decked head to toe in gold, and everything he was wearing was worth more. Starks challenged him to a match. Dice agreed.
NWA Television Champion Ricky Starks defeated Zicky Dice to retain his title
Starks hit two arm drags and went for a third, but Dice dodged it. That didn’t really work though, as Starks hit a dropkick and sent Dice to the apron. Dice drove Starks’ head into the turnbuckle and then tried to hit a sledge, but Starks hit him in the stomach. As they hit the ropes, Dice hit a clothesline.
During this, Joe Galli introduced us to the Lucky 7 rule — if the champion can defend the championship seven times in a row, the champion will get a title shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. I really liked this. That makes all of these title matches mean just a little bit more as they are aiming to get a NWA World title shot.
Starks hit a slingblade off the ropes and then a dropkick off the middle rope. Starks hit a big punch, but Dice hit a knee to the stomach. Dice went for the Snake, Rattle & Roll, but Starks fought out and hit the Stroke for the pinfall.
This was a very solid match, and I think this 6:05 time limit gimmick has actually let these guys show that they can have a good match in less than five minutes. That was great.
**********
New NWA Tag Team Champions Eli Drake & James Storm came out for an interview with Joe Galli. The fans chanted “Talk to us!” — I love this crowd so much. Galli asked if they had a tag team name, and Drake and Storm said that the only thing they need to be called is the champs.
Aron Stevens and Question Mark came out to challenge them. Stevens had his black belt in Mongrovian karate lengthened so he could also wrap it around his neck like a scarf.
Stevens tried to talk several times, but Storm kept cutting him off with jokes. Drake asked Galli if he could do him a favor, and Galli said “Yeah” after some encouragement. Drake asked Galli if these two were really asking for a Tag Team title shot. He asked Galli to pass along a message for him, saying that they could take a number.
Drake and Storm went and sat in the crowd, and Stevens talked about how he was going to go after them and they would have a karate party because he has the longest third-degree black belt in the world. As he was saying this, Trevor Murdoch came out and said that Stevens was running from Scott Steiner at Hard Times.
Murdoch said he had a question for the NWA bosses and they gave him the answer he wanted. He told Stevens that he had a National title defense next week. Stevens asked who the title shot was against — and Murdoch told him it was against him. At this point, Question Mark hit the Mongrovian Spike on Murdoch and left him laying as Stevens taunted him.
**********
We saw Scurll waiting for Aldis to come and meet with him. Aldis came in late, sat down, and said he really tried to turn the other cheek with Scurll. Aldis talked about how he has went above and beyond for the NWA, and how he has always done his best to protect the house. He talked about how him and Scurll were friends since they were teenagers.
Aldis said there are so many people around the world who are jerks behind the scenes, but he thought Scurll wasn’t one of them. He said he was always there for Scurll and always answered the phone — no matter what time — to offer advice, help, and encouragement. Then Scurll challenged Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship last year.
Aldis didn’t take it personally, because he did believe that Scurll deserved it. They went to war in the ring, bled everywhere, and Aldis shook his hand afterwards. Aldis said that last year’s Crockett Cup was the final notch that Scurll needed to land a life changing deal that rocketed him to the top.
Scurll said that it wasn’t about his deal. He had to live with every fan telling him forever that he should have won the ROH title at Madison Square Garden and how he should have defeated Aldis for the NWA title at the Crockett Cup.
Scurll said it wasn’t about money or big deals — he has never been World Champion, while Aldis was World Champion in TNA and all over the world as NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. Scurll said that he came so close to beating Aldis, and that he knew he could beat him.
Scurll said that Aldis couldn’t have been satisfied with the win, but Aldis said that he made Scurll tap. Scurll insisted that he wanted this match so badly that he would even do it for free, as Aldis can take his portion of the purse. Scurll only wanted one more chance at the title. Aldis agreed, but told him that he made the terms.
Aldis said that at the Crockett Cup, one year removed from their last match, he would give Scurll a title shot. Aldis said that he has a term though — if Scurll does not defeat him at the Crockett Cup for the title, Scurll would need to write a check for all the fans in attendance to refund them for every dollar spent if he doesn’t win. Aldis then got up and left.
This was one of the best segments I’ve seen on this show yet, with real emotion between Aldis and Scurll. Aldis was almost in tears describing their friendship, and Scurll’s desire to win the World Championship, a title he has never held, was 100 percent believable.
I absolutely adored this episode of NWA Power, as it is again proving to be one of the best wrestling shows of the week. Aldis had two killer promos this week, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.
