Trevor Murdoch is the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Murdoch defeated Nick Aldis to win the championship for the first time, pinning him following a piledriver and a bulldog off the top rope.
After the match, Ric Flair came to the ring and congratulated Murdoch, saying he put on a clinic. Murdoch’s family also came into the ring and celebrated with him. Flair raised Murdoch’s hand and walked out as Murdoch cut a promo saying the fans were the reason he kept going. He said he does not know what the future holds for him but will represent this company to the fullest. He hopes that one day he is as good as Harley Race was.
Aldis had held the title for over 1,000 days, winning the title from Cody Rhodes at the 70th Anniversary show that was held on October 21, 2018.
Murdoch and Adlis previously faced one another at When Our Shadows Fall back in March. Aldis retained the title by disqualification. The rematch was set up for NWA 73, with Aldis putting up his title against Murdoch’s career.
For the second time in as many nights, the NWA returns to pay-per-view from the famous Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, MIssouri, with their anniversary show: NWA 73.
The show will be headlined by the third meeting between NWA World Champion NIck Aldis and Trevor Murdoch with the latter putting his career on the line if he cannot defeat the champion.
Ric Flair, a ten-time NWA World Champion, will also make an appearance.
The headliner is one of four title matches as Aldis stablemate Chris Adonis defends against James Storm while Women’s Champion Kamille will defend against Saturday’s Invitational Cup winner Chelsea Green. The Tag Team titles will also be on the line as reigning champions Aron Stevens and Kratos face Mecha Wolf and Bestia 666.
The rest of the card will see Mickie James return to the ring against Kylie Rae; the next contender for the National title to be decided in a 12-man battle royal; a three-way “Brawl in the Lou” between Thom Latimer, Crimson and Tim Storm; and a six-man featuring TV Champion Tyrus, the Masked Man and Jordan Clearwater vs. former champion Da Pope, Parrow and Odinson.
Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern
**********
Preshow
The preshow started with Jax Dane at ringside with May Valentine. Dane talked about how he isn’t wrestling tonight, but due to the Champions Series he can cash in for a title match. He also talked about Crimson, and how he was cheering for him in his match tonight, but hinted that Crimson was in his shadow, so it was time for him to step out.
The Hex (Marti Belle & Allysin Kay) & Lady Frost defeated Taryn Terrell, Paola Blaze, & Jennacide
This was a mostly fine tag match, but Marti Belle did not look good. Everyone else was fine though, and I liked the finish, as it sets up some intrigue between Lady Frost and The Hex.
Marti Belle and Paola Blaze started the match, but Belle was immediately lost and there was a series of botched moves. Allysin Kay and Jennacide ended up in the ring, and that was an immediate improvement. Jennacide got nailed with a stunner from Kay, who tagged in Marti Belle again.
Belle got a knee to the back from Terrell, which resulted in her getting distracted and Jennacide cutting her off. They then started to get the heat on Marti Belle. It didn’t last long though, as Belle and Kay dumped Jennacide to the floor before hitting the Hexecution on Blaze. Lady Frost blind tagged in and then hit a moonsault on Blaze for the pinfall.
Austin Idol was with May Valentine at ringside. Idol talked about how St. Louis was the gateway to the west, and that he was the gateway to the NWA. He talked about Tyrus and the only risk he would have is that he might get bored beating people up.
**********
PJ Hawx defeated Colby Corino
Corino started the match, roughing up Hawx. Hawx kicked Corino in the midsection, causing him to fall to the apron. Corino blocked a suplex into the ring and hit a spear through the ropes for a 2-count. Corino did a bridging chinlock, but Hawx simply rolled on top of Corino to escape and got a 2-count.
Hawx suplexed Corino into the ring through the middle rope, which was impressive. Hawx made a bit of a comeback here, hitting a Fisherman’s Buster for a 2-count. Corino begged off to sucker Hawx in, hit a package backbreaker and a senton for a 2 count, but Hawx rolled through an attack and locked on the Hawx Clutch and got the tap out!
**********
Main Show
May Valentine, Aron Stevens, and Kratos did another mock promo like it was 1968 this time, talking about the 20th anniversary of the NWA before fading to footage of Pat O’Connor, and then the intro video narrated by John Goodman. This was really great.
The Brawl in the Lou: Tim Storm defeated Thom Latimer, & Crimson
This match was way wilder than I could have imagined, as everyone did some crazy stuff in this one. Tim Storm winning was a perfect way to open the show. Very good match here, and Tim Storm led the fans in an NWA chant after victory.
Before the match started, Jax Dane attacked Crimson and threw him into the guardrail. Dane bridged a ladder between the stairs and hit a Fireman’s Carry slam onto the ladder, leaving him laying on the mat before beating Crimson down with the ladder. The crowd booed Dane. In the chaos happening, Latimer nailed Tim Storm with a few chair shots, demanded the bell be rung, and Storm kicked out at 2.
Tim Storm rolled the floor, pulled a garbage can out, and nailed Latimer with it. Storm setup the can in the corner, and clotheslined Latimer to the floor. Storm pulled a huge ladder out from under the ring, which popped the crowd. Storm slammed Latimer on the floor and looked up at the 20-foot ladder. Latimer cut storm off with a trash can lid and sent him into the apron.
Latimer bridged a guardrail across the aisle and laid storm on it before climbing the ladder. Latimer hit a Senton Bomb off the top of the ladder through the guardrail on Storm! That was insane. Crimson made his way down the aisle here, and checked on Storm on the floor, and then rolled into the ring to fight Latimer.
Crimson hit a spinebuster on Latimer and an exploder suplex. Crimson dropkicked a chair into Latimer’s face and setup two chairs in the ring. Crimson hit a Death Valley Driver into the chairs, and as the referee was making the count, Tim Storm pulled the referee from the ring, somehow standing back up.
Storm and Crimson were selling their injuries as they faced off, and the crowd was very behind Storm. Crimson took off his belt, and Storm grabbed the referee’s belt so that it’s even and they started whipping each other with the belts. When Latimer came back in, they both whipped him and threw him out of the ring before.
Crimson tried to hit a Death Valley Driver on Storm, but fell over selling his ribs from the ladder attack earlier. Tim Storm got up and hit Perfect Storm on Crimson and managed to score the pinfall. This match was awesome.
**********
Mickie James defeated Kylie Rae
Solid little match here, and Mickie James looked fantastic. Kylie Rae is great too, so this was fun,
The fans chanted “Thank you Mickie!” before the match, and Kylie Rae joined in. Both women shook hands before the match. The opening part of the match was several holds and some technical wrestling. I really liked that. There was one awkward spot when Rae missed a basement dropkick, but it was just slightly mistimed. They exchanged more holds, and Rae locked on an STF.
James hit a flapjack on Rae and then went to the top rope. Rae rand up and kicked James in the head before climbing the ropes and going for a superplex, but James fought it off and hit a flying Thesz press. Rae hit a superkick on James and got a 2-count, to Rae’s frustration. Rae locked a crossface on, but James slipped out. Rae went for a cannonball into the corner, but James dodged and hit a big DDT for the 1-2-3.
A masked woman came out and attacked Mickie James after the match, and it was Deonna Purrazzo. Purrazzo left James lying in the middle of the ring and Rae came back in to make the save.
**********
Tyrus, The Masked Man, & Jordan Clearwater w/ Austin Idol defeated The End (Odinson & Parrow) & The Pope
Why is Tyrus a thing? This match went too long, and there was too much slow heat in the middle of it.
Parrow started the match with Jordan Clearwater, and it did not go well for him, as Parrow and Odinson dominated him in the early parts of the match. Pope hit a double blockbuster on The Masked Man and Clearwater, but Tyrus attacked him from behind and hit a suplex on Pope. Clearwater came in and they started to work Pope over.
Odinson came in after getting tagged in and got some offence in, but The Masked Man hit a big kick and tagged in Tyrus. The Masked Man hit a suplex on Odinson. Clearwater continued getting the heat on Odinson for the next few minutes. Tyrus climbed up the middle rope and fell into the ring badly as he… I guess it was a splash attempt? I have no idea what Tyrus was actually going for. Either way, Odinson moved and tagged in Parrow.
Parrow and Odinson hit double powerbombs on the Masked Man and Clearwater while Pope hit a suicide dive on Tyrus. BLK Jeez ran out and shoved Odinson off the top rope and Parrow went after him while Tyrus hit the heart punch on Odinson. The Masked Man blind tagged and took the pinfall.
**********
NWA National Championship: Chris Adonis defeated James Storm
This match was merely okay. It was slower paced, but was far better when Storm was on offence. I didn’t like the finish, as I don’t like Dusty finishes like that, but it wouldn’t be the NWA without a Dusty finish.
Storm and Adonis started the match slow, but eventually Storm was able to hit a Thesz press and sent Adonis to the floor. Storm followed, but Adonis posted him and drove him into the guardrail to get the upperhand. Adonis hit a Russian leg sweep and put a chinlock on Storm. Adonis continued to get the heat for a few minutes. Adonis drove Storm’s face into the top turnbuckle several times, but Storm no sold it, and he started his comeback.
Storm hit a flying forearm, an inverted atomic drop, and a clothesline, but Adonis cut him off with a back elbow. Storm hit a kick to the seated Adonis, who was on the top rope. Storm hit a big Frankensteiner off the top rope and went for the 8-Second Ride, but Adonis kicked out. Storm hit a codebreaker and called for the superkick. Adonis blocked it and hit a spinebuster, but Storm kicked out.
Adonis was not discouraged though, and locked on the Master Lock. Adonis transitioned into a full nelson slam, but Storm kicked out. Adonis grabbed Storm’s beer, but Storm superkicked him when he took a swig. The referee counted the pinfall, but Adonis had his foot on the ropes, so the match was not over yet.
Adonis managed to crawl back to his feet and as the fans chanted “Ref, you suck!” Adonis cradled Storm and got his feet on the ropes for the pinfall.
**********
Ric Flair’s car commercial aired, and it was my first time seeing it. It made me laugh quite a bit. Then Kyle Davis introduced Flair as the greatest NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion of all time. Flair got a huge pop from the crowd, and he looked humbled to be back in the Chase. This was already awesome.
Flair talked about what he did yesterday with various celebrities. The reason for this was because he was the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. He said the fans kept the NWA alive. He said that St. Louis and the Chase was his home, and he was glad to be back. Flair asked if he could have a minute to speak, and Corgan told him, “You’re Ric Flair, you can say whatever you want.”
Flair thanked several people, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, and several other people. He said Triple H has the NWA Championship hanging in his office, because he knew and loved Ric Flair. Flair said guys like him, Austin, and Michaels gave him so much, and always asked him stories about the NWA.
Flair told a story about Harley Race, and how he was a go between him and Bruiser Brody, and Flair made it seem like he was terrified to do so. This was fun. Flair talked about everyone he faced at the Chase, and he then said to name any wrestler from the past because they all grew up on the NWA, and they all respected Ric Flair.
Flair talked how important it was to have a ton of different brands of wrestling, because not everyone can make it to WWE or AEW, and he loves being here at the NWA, then on Thursday going to be with Tony Khan, and then being front row watching Chris Jericho. Flair talked about how he returned to WWE in the early 2000s, and he thanked Randy Orton, and then shouted out Charlotte, calling her the queen.
Flair joked that when Corgan called him, he expected to have a match with Aldis. Corgan said, “I just need you to talk” and he said, “Well, okay, I can do that.” That was hilarious. Flair said he was going to do this for free, but Corgan paid him anyway, and then he thanked the fans and everyone who is a fan of him and treated him fairly.
This was great.
**********
12-Man Battle Royal – Judias w/ Father James Mitchell defeated El Rudo, Jamie Stanley, Marsche Rockett, Slice Boogie, Jeremiah Plunkett, Luke Hawx, JTG, Captain Yuma, Rush Freeman, Heartthrob Jaden, Mims, & Sal Rinauro
No one knew who Judias was, despite knowing who James Mitchell were. The match was super slow, and had no real stars in it outside of JTG, and the fans wanted JTG to win. Baffling to have a heel win here when a heel holds the National Title, and now Judias is the #1 contender for Adonis’ title.
Judias was a surprise entrant in the battle royal. This was basically a standard battle royale with nothing majorly eventful happening until a few people were thrown out. The commentators were acting like Judias was the biggest guy in the ring, but he was not. Marche Rockett was bigger, for example. As Rockett and Boogie were trying to get rid of Rudo, Rush Freeman was eliminated.
The Heartthrob was out next. James Mitchell paced at ringside, barking instructions to Judias, who Tim Storm accidentally called Josiah. Tim, that’s me. Not him. Yuma was eliminated in an amusing way by Plunkett as Yuma was posing on the apron. There was a 7-man suplex spot, which got a nice reaction from the crowd. Jeremiah Plunkett was eliminated by Marche Rockett, but Sal Rinauro then tossed Rockett.
Judias hit a crucifix bomb on Sal Rinauro over the top rope onto Rockett and Plunkett. Stanley and Rudo were eliminated next, though a few minutes apart. This match is going too long. Slice Boogie was eliminated by Luke Hawx. Mims went out of the ring quickly after this, and the fans chanted JTG as Hawx and Judias were the other two left.
Judias hit a flying clothesline on Hawx, and Hawx spilled to the floor. JTG went to the apron and Judias kept kicking his hands to try and get him out, but JTG kept grabbing the ropes. Judias blocked a punch, but JTG kept fighting, hitting a big headbutt on Judias, but Judias hit a sloppy punch off the middle rope and JTG fell to the floor. This sucked.
**********
NWA World Women’s Championship: Kamille defeated Chelsea Green
I really wanted to like this match, but I honestly think it was hurt by how great Kamille vs. Leyla Hirsch was last night. There was no way that one could live up to what they did there, as it was truly outstanding. I did like a few of the story elements in this match, and the story of Kamille getting the submission. I liked that.
It seemed Kamille was learning the full nelson from Adonis, because she used it in the early portion of this match before hitting a Bubba Bomb. There were several pinfall attempts, with neither getting the advantage. When they got back to their feet, Green went for the Unprettier, but Kamille powered out and later hit a forearm to the back of Green, driving her into the turnbuckle.
Kamille threw Green across the ring with a gutwrench suplex. Kamille hit a Samoan drop for a 2-count. Kamille worked over the wrist for the next few minutes, but Green managed to hit a cutter and both women were down. Green hit the ropes and hit a few clotheslines. Green hit a twisting sort of neckbreaker for a 2-count.
Green hit a missile dropkick, but Kamille kicked out. She hit a Radio Silence on Green, which was actually a nice little nod to who Green is engaged to. The announcers missed this though. Kamille went for a spear, but Green dodged and hit a German suplex, but Kamille still managed to hit a spear. Green barely got her foot on the ropes.
Green went for the Unprettier, but Kamille countered and then went right after the broken wrist of Green, and forced the tapout. Kamille clearly learned from her match with Leyla Hirsch last night, based on how Hirsch worked over the arm last night.
**********
NWA World Tag Team Championship: La Rebelion (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) w/ Konnan defeated Aron Stevens & Kratos
We have new NWA World Tag Team Champions with La Rebelion, despite the best efforts of Kratos and Stevens, who actually looked great as a team here in this match. Not a bad match at all here, but this match and the women’s title match were hurt by the battle royale pretty badly.
Konnan came out with La Rebelion, offering support to them, and getting a great reaction from the crowd. Stevens started the match with Bestia, and it seemed like Kratos and Stevens ended up on the same page for the most part for this match, though Joe Galli calling them like brothers here seems like they’re going to turn on each other at some point soon. I honestly hope they don’t because I like them as a team.
Kratos did a dead lift suplex on Bestia for a 2-count. La Rebelion and Konnan triple teamed Stevens in the corner. Konnan got on the apron, so Stevens dropped him. I don’t think the boos from the crowd at this was the intended effect. Mecha Wolf mouthed off to Kratos and tagged out to Bestia, as La Rebelion worked over Stevens with fast paced double team moves.
La Rebelion continued to get the heat on Stevens for the next few minutes. Stevens hit a spear on Bestia and went for the tag to Kratos, but Mecha Wolf pulled Kratos off the apron. Kratos got psyched up for the tag and was going nuts on the apron. Stevens finally made the hot tag, and Kratos went wild crushing La Rebelion.
Kratos hit a huge Death Valley Driver on Bestia, but Mecha Wolf broke it up. Mecha Wolf then hit a suicide dive on Aron Stevens, who dropped to the floor hard. Kratos looked infuriated, and I worry for the health of anyone that sees that look in their direction. Kratos hit a huge pele kick on Bestia and then a falcon arrow for a 2-count that Mecha Wolf broke up.
Kratos smashed Mecha Wolf with a huge punch to the delight of the crowd. Kratos put Bestia on his shoulders and tagged in Stevens, but Bestia slipped out and sent Kratos to the floor. La Rebelion hit a double knee shot to Kratos after a low blow from Mecha Wolf to Stevens. Bestia hit a moonsault off the top rope to the floor on Kratos. La Rebelion hit Mark of the Beast on Stevens and scored the pinfall.
Konnan cut a great promo on how great the NWA was, and how great it was that promotions are working together.
**********
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Trevor Murdoch defeated Nick Aldis in a Title vs. Career match
This match was fantastic. There were some highs and lows on this show, but this was a truly great match. I admit, I teared up when his wife and kids came into the ring and they all shared a hug. His whole family was crying with joy. This was awesome.
Trevor Murdoch’s family was in the front row, including his young child, who he kissed on his way to the ring. Murdoch went around ringside shaking hands and high fiving every single fan he could. Murdoch is in his home state, and in the same building that Harley Race wrestled many times.
The crowd chanted for Harley Race before the match, understanding how significant this is. Murdoch went to give his jacket to his wife at ringside, but Aldis attacked him, and they started brawling right away. Murdoch threw Aldis into the crowd, who went nuts as they started brawling around the Chase.
Aldis raked the eyes of Murdoch and raked his eyes and then drove Murdoch into the guardrail. This is what the show needed to get the crowd back, as the wild brawl got them back and invested into this match. Aldis and Murdoch ended up on the stage, trading punches. Aldis went for a suplex on the rap, but Pat Kenney told Aldis to get in the ring. Aldis hit a spinebuster on Murdoch on the stage, and Billy Corgan came out and started telling Aldis to get in the ring.
Aldis challenged Corgan to hit him, and officals had to keep them apart as Corgan tried to get it back to into the ring. Aldis slammed Murdoch on the stage to boos from the crowd. Murdoch and Aldis finally made their way back down to the ring, as Murdoch continued to sell the beating from Aldis.
As soon as the bell rang though, Murdoch fired up and started hitting punches to a roar from the crowd. Murdoch ate a big boot and Aldis hit an Olympic Slam on Murdoch. Aldis clearly learned that from Angle while in TNA, as the announcers pointed out. Aldis hit a Thesz press for a 2-count. Tim Storm was losing his mind at this point, drawing on wrestling history and Aldis’ history to pick up on the little things Aldis did. That was great.
Aldis chopped Murdoch hard in the corner, but got thrown off the top rope when he went for something up there. Murdoch climbed the middle ropes setting up the bulldog, but went for a dropkick instead, but Aldis caught him and went for the figure four, but Murdoch countered and rolled him up. Aldis kicked out, but Murdoch went to a figure four of his own immediately.
Aldis made the ropes, but Aldis sold his knee, as the damage was done. Murdoch charged at Aldis, but he moved and Murdoch hit the ring post with his shoulder. Aldis put on an abdominal stretch on Murdoch and kept doing the old school cheating of grabbing the ropes. The referee kicked the hand of Aldis, and Murdoch hit the hip toss to get out of the move.
Murdoch went for a clothesline, but Aldis ducked and Murdoch leveled the referee by accident. Murdoch hit a big sitout bomb on Aldis and tried to awaken the referee. Aldis low blowed Murdoch. Aldis brought Murdoch to ringside and started beating on him right in front of his son before smashing Murdoch’s head into the ring post multiple times.
Aldis grabbed a table and put Murdoch on it after taking out the time keeper and Kyle Davis to get said table. Aldis went up to the top rope and hit a flying elbow through the table on the floor. Aldis got up first, as Murdoch was left in a heap on the floor. Aldis pulled Murdoch from the wreckage and rolled him into the ring.
Aldis only got a 2-count. The crowd was fully behind Murdoch here, as his son fired up and then Murdoch hit a code red on Aldis for a 2-count. Murdoch tried to get to the top rope to hit the bulldog, but he was exhausted and hurt. Aldis cut him off and hit a tombstone on Murdoch before crawling up to the top rope.
Aldis hit a huge flying elbow, and Murdoch kicked out again, and every fan in the building were on their feet here. Murdoch managed to hit a superplex on Aldis, but Aldis barely kicked out. Murdoch’s son was nearly in tears cheering his dad on, and he went for the bulldog again, but Aldis dodged and locked on the Kingsland Cloverleaf.
Murdoch made the ropes and refused to tap out. Murdoch and Aldis exchanged punches, and Murdoch hit the Harley Race piledriver on Aldis and climbed the top rope and finally hit the bulldog and pinned Nick Aldis clean as a sheet in the middle of the ring.
Ric Flair and Murdoch’s family came into the ring to congratulate him, and Flair talked about how Murdoch should be proud because he represented Harley Race so well. Murdoch thanked all the fans, thanked Harley Race, and said he was going to represent the NWA with everything he got. What a great ending to this show.
Final Thoughts
This show had a few lows, but the highs of this show were truly great. Trevor Murdoch and Nick Aldis was a satisfying conclusion to their story, with Murdoch finally winning the big one, and celebrating in his home state. This weekend for the NWA can only be seen as a massive success, as they sold out the Chase Ballroom for two nights in a row and delivered two great shows.
The NWA needed a show like this, and having someone like Murdoch finally achieve his dream of being a world champion in the town that Harley Race built, in the venue that Harley Race made famous, was perfect. This show was an absolutely homerun for the NWA, with a fantastic happy ending.
A title vs. career stipulation has been added to the NWA World title match between Nick Aldis vs. Trevor Murdoch at the Sunday, August 29th NWA 73 pay-per-view.
Murdoch has failed to capture the title from Aldis on two separate occasions. His first chance came at June’s When Our Shadows Fall where he was disqualified after Aldis made it look like he used a chair on the referee. After losing to Aldis in a rematch at The Gathering II last month, Murdoch made another challenge and agreed to retire if he couldn’t beat Aldis.
Although this happened a few weeks ago, the promo aired last night on a special preview episode of NWA Power.
The 40-year-old Murdoch has been wrestling for 23 years and has spent time in WWE, TNA, Pro Wrestling NOAH and NWA.
NWA 73 is scheduled to take place at the historic Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri.
Here’s the full card:
NWA World Champion Nick Aldis vs. Trevor Murdoch career vs. title match
NWA National Champion Chris Adonis vs. James Storm title match
NWA Tag Team Champions Aron Stevens and JR Kratos vs. La Rebelion (Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf 450) title match
NWA Women’s title match: Kamille (c) or Leyla Hirsch vs. winner of the NWA Women’s Invitational Cup gauntlet
Thom Latimer vs. Crimson vs. Tim Storm
Mickie James vs. Kylie Rae
12-man battle royal to determine the number one contender to the NWA National title
TV Champion Tyrus, The Masked Man and Jordan Clearwater (w/ Austin Idol) vs. Da Pope and The End (Odinson and Parrow)
May Valentine interviewed Kamille to start off the show and she listed off some of the greats that were women’s champions in the past, but that it was time for a greater champion to take the NWA’s legacy to a new level.
Kamille talked about how she was sitting next to May at the last show, and was upset that May Valentine talked about Thunder Rosa when Kamille was there to be interviewed. Kamille addressed Rosa’s comments that she was a coward, and talked about how she was going to defeat Serena Deeb.
–May Valentine was with Billy Corgan, and Corgan talked about how Trevor Murdoch was the kind of man that when you mess with him, he will never let it go. Corgan talked about how everyone has a chance in the NWA, and it doesn’t matter their background, he is going to give everyone a chance.
Corgan compared Trevor Murdoch to Jerry Blackwell, given that he is not a traditional looking wrestler, but that he can go. Corgan made the point that the NWA was the land of opportunity and Murdoch is championship material. He was trained by Harley Race, and Aldis was too. Corgan said that Harley was right about both of them, and the main event of When Our Shadows Fall is going to be a great match. Good interview with Corgan here in a rare physical appearance on NWA television.
–Latimer and Kamille talked about being a successful couple in pro wrestling. Latimer touched on his friendship with Aldis and how he wasn’t offended that Aldis said that as long as everyone performs, they’re safe with Strictly Business.
Latimer said Nick Aldis was talking about everyone else, and not him, even though he specifically named Latimer, which is interesting. They also touched on Latimer wanting the tag titles back.
Tim Storm & Sal Rinauro defeated Hawx Aerie (Luke and PJ Hawx)
This was a really great tag match to highlight Hawx Aerie, and Tim Storm and Sal Rinauro worked like the veterans they are. Excellent match.
PJ Hawx and Sal Rinauro started the match with some technical wrestling, and PJ Hawx used his experience as an amateur wrestler to stay on top of Rinauro. Luke Hawx and Tim Storm got in there, and it’s hard to believe he’s PJ Hawx’ father. He’s only 39, but this father and son tag team is a nice hidden gem on the indies based on what I’ve seen in this match.
Storm tagged Rinauro in, hitting a handspring stunner sending Luke Hawx backwards to his son, who tagged in and gained the advantage back against Rinauro. Luke Hawx worked over the back of Rinauro for a bit, and PJ Hawx worked over the arm with some arm bars.
Rinauro made the hot tag to Storm, who ran wild on both men, but PJ Hawx was able to break up a pinfall attempt and he suplexed Rinauro. Storm responded by hitting PJ Hawx with a Cross Rhodes, and then Storm hit his Bossman Slam on Luke Hawx, and Rinauro made the pin for the victory.
–They recapped the botched finish of the War Kings becoming #1 contender, and the masked man interfering and attacking Crimson last week, and the rest of the events leading into Where Our Shadows Fall, where champions Aron Stevens and JR Kratos will face Jax Dane & Crimson and Chris Adonis & Thom Latimer.
–Nick Aldis talked about what it meant to be the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, and how he had to do some terrible things to Tim Storm to make it happen. He didn’t want to do those things. It was just what had to be done.
He also talked about Trevor Murdoch, saying he wasn’t afraid of him, but that he believed that Murdoch was not the right kind of person to lead the NWA. He didn’t believe that Murdoch was championship material.
Aldis also talked about Kamille facing Serena Deeb, and Adonis & Latimer being in the triple threat for the tag titles. One thing that sticks out to me here that doesn’t make sense is that Latimer and Adonis were stripped of their #1 contender position by Corgan a few weeks ago. They haven’t earned the shot on TV, so this seems a bit odd to me, unless one of them were the ones to attack Crimson, giving them a reason for being in the match.
Aldis put over Kamille, saying she has flourished under his learning tree, and also talked about the tag title match. This was really good stuff here. He put over the psychology of tag team wrestling and analyzed all 3 teams and their strengths and weaknesses, while insisting that Strictly Business was going to win.
–Billy Corgan was then interviewed. He put over Kamille and how she worked hard to get where she is today, and while Thunder Rosa might say she was handed opportunities, Corgan felt like she earned her position and worked very hard for it. Corgan also talked about Stevens & Kratos, War Kings, and Latimer & Adonis match as a whole.
He explained why the War Kings were in the match, as they had their match stolen from them, and that Latimer & Adonis were added because of Latimer’s background as tag team champion. He didn’t want to be about taking away opportunities, but wanted to let Stevens and Kratos take the opportunity from them. At least they tried to explain it. It isn’t good, but at least they tried to explain it.
Corgan talked about the main event as well, putting over Murdoch and Aldis.
Final Thoughts:
This wasn’t a bad show. Billy Corgan really tried to tie all the stories he was telling together throughout the show, and Nick Aldis was a highlight in the storytelling. Corgan was actually excellent here. It might be good to have him on commentary every week telling these stories, as it will drive it all home a bit better. I understand why he doesn’t want to be on TV all the time, but doing commentary might work well for him.
This was a pretty good show to build the PPV. It also had a good tag match, so I would say between the promos and Corgan explaining things deeply, it was about as good as it could get. One notable missing part was Trevor Murdoch, and it would have helped to have him do a promo or two.
The main event for NWA’s next pay-per-view is now official as World Champion Nick Aldis will defned against Trevor Murdoch at When Our Shadows Fall
Murdoch, Chris Adonis and Thom Latimer were the final three men in the ring in a battle royale held on tonight’s NWA Power to determine the next challenger for the title. Adonis and Latimer attempted to team up to take out Murdoch, but their plan failed as both were dumped to the floor, giving Murdoch the win.
The NWA later confirmed on social media that his title match would take place at the Sunday, June 6th PPV on FITE.tv.
After the battle royal, Aldis went to attack Murdoch, but that also failed as the former NWA National Champion laid him out with a top rope bulldog. He closed out the show cutting a promo at the podium. In tears, he described what an honor it was to challenge for the title, citing Harley Race and how he missed him and that he wants to hold the championship that Race once held.
NWA Power opened with a recap of what happened last week with Nick Aldis pulling Strictly Business from the World Tag Team title match from last week.
Kyle Davis was at the podium with an announcement from Billy Corgan, who provided Davis with a written statement. Corgan wrote about what happened last week, and stripped Latimer and Adonis of their tag team championship opportunity. Corgan also docked their pay, and also docked Aldis’ pay for one month, donating it to charity.
Corgan also announced that Aldis and Strictly Business would have their contracts terminated if they do this again, and if they do not appear next week, they will be stripped of their titles and would never be seen in the NWA again.
In light of the angle from last week that saw the show suddenly go off the air with no main event, this was a very good follow up. Corgan worked as a babyface owner that wasn’t going to be pushed around by the heels, and he let them know that he was the one in charge.
NWA World Television Championship: The Pope defeated Matt Cross to retain
Solid match from both guys here, and now Pope only needs 3 more matches before he can cash in for a chance at the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship.
Cross and Pope exchanged arm drags to open the match before Cross did a drop down and hit a dropkick as Pope hit the ropes. They both hit the ropes again, and as Cross went for a cross body (pun intended) Pope hit a powerslam.
Pope went for a vertical suplex, but Cross slipped out and hit a fireman’s carry into a neck breaker. Pope dodged an attack and sent Cross to the apron. Cross hit a pump kick and then hit a big suicide dive on Pope.
Cross went for a shooting star press, but Pope rolled out of the way (sort of. He rolled the wrong way), and then Pope hit the Elijah Express for the pinfall.
NWA World Tag Team Championship: Aron Stevens & Kratos defeated Fred Rosser & Marche Rockett
While I normally don’t like storylines with tag partners that don’t get along, this one is being done as well as it can be. They’re clearly building to the break-up between the two, but because they’re still managing to win, they are okay with their tentative alliance.
Stevens and Rosser started the match. Kratos was hesitant to tag into the match, but when he did he beat the crap out of everyone in the ring. His hesitation to make a tag was paid back when Kratos wanted to tag out when he had Rosser in an abdominal stretch. As Kratos argued with Stevens, Rockett tagged in and attacked, but it didn’t work well.
Kratos eventually tagged out because he was hurt, and Stevens swept Rockett’s legs and hit a DDT. Rockett dodged a corner charge and hit a dropkick. As he went to tag out, Kratos pulled Rosser off the apron. Stevens argued with him about it, but he hit a flying forearm on Rockett and scored the pinfall.
Melina and Taryn Tarrell were backstage, and both of them wanted to make sure that there were no shenanigans in the match with Kamille and Thunder Rosa.
Thunder Rosa defeated Jennacide
This was a great squash match, where Jennacide looked strong, but Rosa simply outwrestled her and tapped her out with her superior submission skills.
Jennacide used size and power to keep control of the early portions of the match, hitting power slams and avoiding Thunder Rosa’s offence. Rosa eventually managed to chop her down with kicks and locked on a kneebar for a submission finish, but she took a beating to get it there. Good squash match.
Austin Idol and Tyrus were with Kyle Davis, and Tyrus congratulated Pope on his successful defense, but indicated that Pope still hadn’t beat him. Idol announced that the first entrant in the 14-man battle royal was none other than Tyrus. Idol promised that Tyrus was going to win the battle royal and go after Aldis.
Idol also had a list of several competitors in the battle royal, and Davis asked how he got the information. Idol said, “Because I’m a genius,” which made me laugh. Idol joked that he was going to enter it with the quality of competition in the match, and promised that Tyrus was going to win. Good promo.
The War Kings (Crimson & Jax Dane) defeated The End (Parrow & Odinson) to become the #1 Contenders for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
Well, what in the world was that finish? This is a pre taped show. That was clearly a botched pinfall, as Odinson obviously kicked out before the 3 and had his shoulder up on the pinfall. Then on the replay it clearly showed this, and they had Joe Galli tell us the kickout happened after the 3. It didn’t. Just refilm it. It’s a taped show, for goodness sake.
Odinson and Crimson started in the ring, The End quickly took the advantage, using some double team moves. Crimson managed to hit an exploder suplex on Odinson and tagged out to Jax. The War Kings showed their experience with some huge moves hitting Odinson.
Dane and Odinson exchanged chops in the corner to the delight of Joe Galli, who called this a hoss fight, and he wasn’t wrong. Odinson did an AA on his own partner onto Crimson, and that looked like a finishing move, but Dane made the save.
Crimson hit some forearms and a John Woo dropkick on Parrow before tagging out to Dane. Dane ran wild, smashing Odinson with several high impact moves. Dane hit a suplex, and Crimson came off the top with a flying elbow on Odinson. Odinson kicked out, but the ref counted three anyway and the match ended in chaos.
Final Thoughts:
The show went off the air after a botched finish in a tag match that I was actually really enjoying. The match itself was a really good tag match, but the botched finish still being in on a pre taped show is confusing at best, and outright bad at worst. I don’t understand why they didn’t retape it. Aside from the weird main event finish, this week’s episode was quite good overall, especially compared to the debacle of an ending last week.
NWA Power Surge opened with Thunder Rosa at the desk with May Valentine and Joe Galli. Rosa talked about how she was very proud to be doing good things for women’s wrestling both in the NWA, and on the independent scene. Rosa called Kamille a coward, and said she wasn’t sure that she was going to face her.
Jennacide defeated Skye Blue
This was a solid little squash match that made Jennacide look great. Skye Blue bumped well, and sold that Jennacide was a total monster.
Joe Galli claimed that Jennacide learned Muay Thai by having it downloaded directly into her brain, like something out of the Matrix. I found that amusing.
Jennacide dominated a good portion of this match, using strikes and a surfboard stretch before hitting a Yakuza kick in the corner. Jennacide countered a head scissors into a tombstone for the win.
**********
Trevor Murdoch speaks —
A recap of the events surrounding Trevor Murdoch aired, ending with how he was suspended for 30 days.
Murdoch sat down with May Valentine to talk about what happened, and he said he was beat up physically. He said he didn’t expect much when he first came to the NWA, he only wanted to make a splash and stand out. He said he has moved up the ranks and dealt with Nick Aldis putting obstacles in his way, but he wasn’t used to the easy path and accepted that life is hard.
Murdoch said that at the end of the day he had to look at the mirror and he has two young sons at home that he needs to teach how to be a man and carry themselves.
He said nobody wants to put in the hard work and sacrifice everything, and that he had to choose between rent and paying for gas to get to the next wrestling show. He sacrifices time with his family, time with his friends, and working towards the goal of becoming world champion.
He said that a lot of men don’t make it to the top, and there are far more that try to get there. He said that Harley Race set the pace and standard for him, and he is going to follow his path. Murdoch got emotional about missing Race, as he wanted him to be here to show him how far he has gotten.
He is promising to do this for Harley Race, the fans, and his kids that he can be a champion in the NWA.
I assume this was taped before he was suspended for 30 days without pay, but this was an awesome interview building up Murdoch’s motivation for going after the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
**********
A recap of what is happening between Kratos and Aron Stevens aired.
**********
Number one contenders announced for the NWA World Tag Team titles —
Nick Aldis talked about what was going on with Stevens, and Joe Galli asked if the decision for Thom Latimer to pick Kratos as his tag partner on Power was something Aldis decided. Instead, Aldis confirmed that Latimer made the decision himself.
Aldis then announced that Latimer and Adonis are the number one contenders for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Aldis said that no one comes into the door of the NWA without him knowing everything about them, and he keeps a close eye on everyone, including Kratos. Aldis said he felt very confident about Latimer and Adonis taking the titles.
**********
NWA Worlds Heavyweight title number one contender battle royal announcement —
Aldis said that he wanted the most qualified person to challenge for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and he was looking for someone to step up. Joe Galli then announced that there will be a 14-man battle royal for the number one contendership to the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and that no one who is a current champion in the NWA will be in the match. The match will be held in three weeks.
Aldis was very upset to hear this, and was shocked that Galli had the scoop on him, which he claimed wasn’t supposed to happen as the show went off the air. This was excellent.
**********
Final thoughts —
It seems that Power Surge is going to be mostly a recap show and a chance for one talent to get a good squash in with a few new promos. The promos are absolutely worth watching when they air, as they are always quality.
I loved what we saw from Murdoch and Aldis on this show. If you watch anything on this episode, watch that.
Nick Aldis opened the show saying that Murdoch should have known what was going to happen if he poked his nose in his business. Aldis said that it was time for Murdoch and Adonis to have a fight one more time, but Kyle Davis implied that Aldis wanted to avoid him and didn’t want Murdoch in the NWA.
Aldis took exception to this, but he did offer a spot to Murdoch, asking him to come out with no funny business. Murdoch came out and said he wasn’t going to take the risk of beating Aldis up right now because he didn’t want to put a shot at a title in jeopardy. Murdoch demanded an apology and was seething at Aldis.
Aldis suggested that there be a six-man tag tonight with Adonis & Latimer with a 3rd man against Murdoch, and if he won, he gets a National title shot. If he loses, he gets suspended for 30 days with no pay. Murdoch said that it was funny that as soon as he started targeting Aldis and his title, he backpedaled on his statements that Murdoch wasn’t worthy of being a champion, but that he didn’t back down from a fight and he was going to take this chance.
Kratos and Sal Rinauro went to a no contest
This was more of an angle than a match, as it set up the mystery man in the main event, and furthered the story that Kratos and Stevens are not getting along. Good angle, bad match.
Poor Sal got beat up badly right from the starting bell, as Kratos used his size to stay on top of Sal. Kratos hit a huge suplex, and May Valentine and Danny Deals came out to try and defend Sal. Deals got chokeslammed, and Kratos continued to pound on Sal as Sal rolled to the ropes and refused to break as the referee ruled it a no contest. Aron Stevens tried to calm Kratos down, but he wouldn’t listen.
Kratos rolled out and walked to the announce desk and got in the face of Tim Storm. Storm stood up and slowly took his headset off. They went face to face, and Storm tried to deescalate the situation as Thom Latimer and Chris Adonis came out and announced that they saw something in Kratos and asked him to be the third man in the main event. Kratos agreed and left ringside as May attended to Sal as Stevens looked on.
Kyle Davis was with Jax Dane and Slice Boogie who are facing off in a No DQ match next week. Boogie talked about how he was just getting wins on top of wins, and Dane lost the last time they were in the ring. For some reason, Boogie was booed in this promo, and Dane was cheered, but I could have sworn it was the other way around before this episode.
NWA World Television Championship: The Pope and Tyrus went to a time limit draw
Austin Idol came out with Tyrus and joined the commentary team, and he was great. Tyrus, however, was not. The Pope tried, that’s all I can really say. This was not a good match. Velvet Sky was really bad on commentary in this match.
The match had the 6:05 time limit, and Tyrus was gassed about 60 seconds into it. Tyrus missed a corner charge, but as Pope went for the Pope Train finish, Austin Idol grabbed his foot and Tyrus hit a corner charge and an elbow for a two-count.
Tyrus locked on a bear hug in a squat position, but couldn’t actually lift Pope out of the position, so he just dropped him and stood up. Pope got up and hit some strikes and an eye poke, which Austin Idol lost his mind over on commentary.
Pope hit a missile dropkick and Idol went back to ringside. Pope hit a crossbody off the apron onto Tyrus. Idol distracted Pope and Tyrus locked on a chokehold as the time limit expired, and Pope was left laying on the outside of the ring.
Thunder Rosa came out and May Valentine informed us that the NWA wanted her and Kamille to end their feud peacefully, so they are requiring advocates to speak on their behalf. Rosa chose Melina, reluctantly, but decided that because of their history, she was the best choice.
Kamille also reluctantly chose Taryn Terrell, who was overjoyed to be picked by Kamille. Melina started and actually cut a good promo about how great Thunder Rosa is, talking about her success in the NWA and AEW. Melina made a good point – Kamille won the number one contendership but has kept going after Rosa, so she was the one that kept this going.
Terrell talked about how Rosa was jealous in the most annoying way possible. Melina suggested that Rosa and Kamille have a rematch since she wasn’t done yet, and puts the #1 contendership on the line.
Terrell said that they would do the match, but there were conditions and they would deliver the list of conditions next week. Melina threw a punch at Terrell, and Rosa tried to get at Kamille as the segment ended.
Team Aldis (Thom Latimer, Chris Adonis, & Kratos) defeated Team Murdoch (Trevor Murdoch, Aron Stevens, & Tim Storm)
This was a heavy heat match and furthered the angle between Murdoch and Aldis. Aldis kept his word and wasn’t involved, but Murdoch still lost and now has to spend 30 days unpaid at home. Not sure what the NWA is going to do with the guy they have been pushing as a top babyface not there. This was a good match.
Murdoch’s partners took their time coming out, and to everyone’s surprise, Aron Stevens joined Murdoch, on the opposite side from his own tag team partner. Sal Rinauro came out, but Tim Storm walked out after and told Rinauro to go to the back.
As the match started, Storm went right for Kratos. Latimer was yelling about how Storm shouldn’t cross them, which seems to be furthering the tension between him and Nick Aldis. Stevens and Kratos were left in the ring, but Stevens didn’t want to fight Kratos, so Tim Storm and Latimer ended up in the ring.
Kratos wanted to fight Stevens, but Stevens was reluctant to face off against his own partner. Stevens went to tag Kratos by instinct once, but soon thereafter went back to his own corner. Sadly, for Stevens, it wasn’t long before they were getting the heat on him.
The heels kept this up for several minutes, with Latimer and Adonis beating on Stevens. Kratos, however, didn’t tag in. He was very joyful seeing Stevens get beat up, but he didn’t tag in right away. Stevens dodged a corner charge from Latimer and managed to make the hot tag to Storm.
Storm ran wild but got distracted when Sal Rinauro got on the apron to cheer storm on, and Adonis took advantage of this and hit a full nelson slam for the pinfall victory. Storm was left laying in the middle of the ring. Kratos refused to help Aron Stevens up as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts
Trevor Murdoch must go home for 30 days, unpaid now. I asked above, but the question remains: What does the NWA do now without the guy they have positioned in a top babyface role? Will we see a return of the Midnight Rider type angle here with Murdoch? The more I think about it, the more I like that idea.
I’m not sure where they are going to go with this, but having Murdoch appear under a mask and pretend to be someone else could be a really fun 4 weeks, as Murdoch could then outwit Strictly Business leading into the next PPV. If there is no mention of Murdoch on TV, then I think that is a terrible choice, given that they want to push him as a top guy in line for Aldis’ title.
Joe Galli & May Valentine opened the show, showing a segment from last week where Nick Aldis announced that Strictly Business was recruiting. The announcers then invited Mike Parrow to the announce desk to ask him about his career.
–Parrow talked about how he wasn’t seen in the NWA since the NWA 70th Anniversary and had to go to Japan to earn his way back to the NWA. He was angry that the management sent him away, since he watched people from all across the world, but didn’t get a shot in the NWA. He said that he was going to take everyone in front of him out, and every single person there should run in fear. Excellent promo.
–A recap of Thunder Rosa beating Britt Baker on AEW Dynamite aired. Rosa then cut a promo about wanting to win the NWA Women’s title back.
–Kamille was at the announce desk and asked where her video package was. Kamille said that she made the match that Rosa was in last week better by running in and spearing Rosa. She also talked about Adonis and Thom Latimer being a good team, but she wasn’t quite sure where Nick Aldis’ head was at because she and Thom aren’t going anywhere.
She said she wasn’t upset with Nick, and recognized that he was going to do the best thing for Strictly Business. May Valentine asked if she was taking it personally, and Kamille got increasingly upset, saying that she was just straight to business.
Mims defeated Jerimiah Plunkett
This was a solid, basic match once it got started. Mims and Plunkett botched something early on, but right after that, they got on track.
Plunkett trained Mims, so there was a bit of a built-in story for the match. Plunkett got the heat for most of the match, using heel tactics, which Velvet Sky pointed out with those exact words. Not a fan of Sky saying “That’s a real heel there. Getting the heat from the crowd.” What does that mean if this is real?
Mims made a quick comeback, hitting some bodyslams and a huge belly-to-belly suplex. Mims then hit the Hook Up for a pinfall victory. Solid match.
The announcers informed us that Sal Rinauro was looking for a world-class wrestler to team with him to face Aron Stevens and Kratos.
–Nick Aldis was with May Valentine and Joe Galli and talked about the qualifications needed to challenge for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. Aldis said there were several people in the running, but no one has separated from the pack yet. Aldis said that this afforded him the time to focus on advancing Strictly Business.
Aldis also called out May Valentine for her questioning of Kamille. He said that Latimer & Kamille are not a part of Strictly Business because they’re his friends, they’re members because they are elite-level athletes. As long as they remain elite, they will be members.
Galli then asked about Chris Adonis, and Aldis said again that he was not a member. He is on their radar, and he has had a good start, winning the NWA National Title, but the main thing that Aldis is looking for is consistency.
Aldis then spoke directly to the viewers who were happy NWA Power was back, and all the fans that support them, saying “You’re welcome.” Perfect heel line from Aldis here. Good promo, and a little intrigue built towards the next episode of NWA Power.
Final Thoughts:
This was a very easy 30-minute watch that featured a recap of all the events from the last few weeks of Power, and then a bonus match on top of it. It also advanced some characters in Mims and Parrow specifically. I’m not sure what the plan is going forward with Power Surge, but as a half-hour recap show with promos, it served its purpose well.
Nick Aldis opened the show, and said he wanted to discuss an affliction he has been dealing with for a long time – all he knows how to do is win. He doesn’t know how to do anything else, pointing out that he beat Aron Stevens at Back for the Attack, and how Strictly Business won last week too.
Davis asked if Adonis was joining Strictly Business, and Aldis said that they were getting ahead of themselves. As they were talking, Trevor Murdoch came out and confronted Aldis for teaming with him last week after condemning him in the opening promo. Murdoch said that he was in a hospital for a week because of Adonis, and he couldn’t collect pay for his family.
Murdoch demanded another match with Adonis that is no DQ, no countout, and he’ll put the NWA National title on the line. Aldis was offended that Murdoch cut him off, and said the last thing he wants to do if he is worried about missing work is to cross him.
Aldis then reminded him of the number one rule that Harley Race taught them both – never turn your back on your opponent. Chris Adonis came out and attacked Murdoch and beat him down, while Aldis looked on with joy. Referees came out to break it up, and a doctor came out to check on Murdoch.
Fantastic opening segment. Murdoch was able to walk out, but he was clearly hurt again, making this feud even more personal.
**********
Aron Stevens and Kratos were backstage with May Valentine. Stevens talked about Joseph Hudson again, and how he changed his life. Sal Rinauro came onto the screen and asked for a World Tag Team title shot, and Stevens agreed, but said that he better be prepared, as this is the NWA.
Sliced Boogie defeated Jeremiah Plunkett
Good squash match here that further got Sliced Boogie over.
Boogie kept control for most of the match, except for a brief moment with a heat segment from Plunkett. Boogie hit a nice springboard back elbow, but missed a middle rope elbow that allowed Plunkett to get the heat. Plunkett hit a spinebuster for a two count, and then locked in a sleeper on Boogie.
Boogie got out with a back suplex, and nailed Plunkett with a clothesline and a Gotch piledriver (the Deadass Driver) for the pinfall.
**********
Tyrus (with Austin Idol) defeated Matthew Mims
The wrong guy won this match, as Tyrus worked over Mims with his horrible offense.
Tyrus caught Mims on a crossbody and slammed him before hitting an elbow and locking on the classic NERVE HOLD~! Mims got out and hit a few headbutts to shake Tyrus. Tyrus hit an exploder and a terrible chokeslam for the pinfall.
**********
Fred Rosser and Pope were at the podium. Rosser talked about how Pope was not ready for him because he was taking the TV title. Pope said that he knew Rosser for a long time, and remembered Rosser asking him for advice backstage at shows, which Rosser said off mic that “that was then, this is now”. They formally announced the match as the main event for next week. Great stuff.
**********
Thunder Rosa & Alex Gracia defeated Skye Blue and Jennacide by disqualification
This match was billed as a “Ladies Celebration Match” as Rosa brought in some young talent to the NWA to give them a chance. Blue, Jennacide, and Gracia were all green, but Rosa went out of her way to try and make them all look good.
Skye Blue started the match with Rosa. Blue was clearly green, but there is something there. Rosa rolled with her for some submissions back and forth, staying on top the whole time. Rosa tagged Gracia in, who hit a weak chop on Blue, but Rosa tagged back in and hit one of her own that was brutal.
Rosa and Gracia exchanged quick tags back and forth to keep the advantage. Jennacide was extremely green, but has a unique look and was the biggest woman in the match. She did power moves, including doing some squats while holding Gracia up for a slam. Rosa got the hot tag, but ate a spear from Kamille who ran out for the DQ.
Melina, who was on commentary, came over the ring and started yelling at Kamille. Rosa pulled her away, and as Kamille turned around she came face to face with Jennacide. Both of them were the same size.
**********
Nick Aldis was on commentary for the main event. Joe Galli wanted to address something before the match: would Tim Storm wrestle again? The answer was yes, as Storm is not done yet, but he didn’t want to take away from Aldis as champion and made no excuses – Aldis beat him for the title, even if he doesn’t like how Aldis acts.
Aldis gave a warning to Storm, saying that he was glad that he hadn’t retired, but that he needed to watch his mouth about him and Strictly Business. Looks like we might be getting Aldis and Storm one more time down the line, which I am perfectly fine with.
No DQ: Chris Adonis defeated Trevor Murdoch to win the NWA National title
The story of the match was that Murdoch had an injured neck, so while he was tough, he had little chance against the uninjured Adonis. It was a fast match, but told a great story.
Murdoch came out wearing a neck brace, which Aldis asked if it were wise for him to wrestle with that on. Adonis slammed Murdoch on the floor, as Aldis talked about how Murdoch shouldn’t be out there due to the injury, even though he played a role in it happening.
Adonis worked over the neck for the next few minutes, locked on the Masterlock and hit a full nelson slam. Adonis then picked him up and locked on the Masterlock again, and Murdoch passed out, becoming the new champion via ref stoppage.
Aldis said that this made Adonis an associate of Strictly Business, and that he wanted to celebrate the success of Adonis. Tim Storm looked on in disgust as the show closed.
Final Thoughts:
Really solid episode of NWA Power here, with lots of storylines being hinted at for the future. The one that compels me the most is the real tension we can see between Tim Storm and Nick Aldis. It’s clear Storm is disgusted by the heelish actions of Aldis, but it hasn’t gotten to the point of where he is willing to fight.
I think this is a classic slow burn, where we will see Tim Storm leave the announce desk to take on Strictly Business eventually, possibly ending with Nick Aldis and Tim Storm wrestling for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship one last time. I loved this.
I also loved how they’re positioning Thunder Rosa as someone that wants to give new talent a shot on every show. She’s a wonderful babyface, in contrast to Kamille, who selfishly wants all the attention on her.
Lots of good stuff on this episode with future feuds being developed. I’m excited for what the NWA has in store for us down the line.
This was the first of four weekly pay-per-views from UWN which will also feature some talent from the NWA.
The show opened with David Marquez running down the card when Chris Dickinson made his way in and cut a promo about how he was going to take every opportunity in front of him and that he doesn’t care about the UWN or NWA and was here to make a statement. There were some technical issues during the promo, but the majority of it was quite good.
West Coast Pro Wrestling Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated EJ Sparks to retain
Hammerstone took down Sparks with a waist lock. Sparks was able to comeback with some strikes and a springboard forearm. Sparks went for a corner go-over, but Hammerstone cut him off with a back rake and a Spinal Countdown. Hammerstone sent Sparks into the corner and he dropped as he hit the turnbuckles very hard.
Hammerstone hit a backbreaker, a few shoulders to the stomach in the corner and an overhead belly to belly. He locked on an abdominal stretch, but Sparks fought out and hit a kick. Hammerstone no sold it, but Sparks hit a DDT and eventually got a near fall. Hammerstone eventually picked up Sparks and hit the Nightmare Pendulum for the win.
This match was perfectly fine from what I was able to see, but technical issues with the stream constantly freezing made it difficult to enjoy.
— Joe Galli from the NWA greeted the fans and thanked them for tuning in and spending money to watch the show in a nice touch. I love his announcing.
— Nick Aldis cut a good promo, saying that he has nothing left to say. He talked about how the World title meant the world to Mike Bennett and it meant the world to him, and that Bennett was not going to make his name at Aldis’ expense.
Jordan Clearwater defeated Will Allday
Allday went for a headscissors, but Clearwater countered into a neckbreaker. Clearwater hit a huge clothesline for a two count. Allday hit a frog splash for a two count and then a suplex before missing with a PK. He turned around and landed a kick to the back of Clearwater’s head and then a double stop for two. Clearwater hit a bulldog for two. Allday hit a suicide dive, but ate a Midas Touch, giving Clearwater the win.
This was nearly unwatchable due to more feed glitches and freezing, but I liked what I saw from Clearwater.
Kamille defeated Heather Monroe
Kamille used her power to block an armdrag immediately and then knocked Monroe over with a shoulderblock. Monroe used a sleeper, but Kamille powered out and hit a running elbow. She hit several European uppercuts and a gutwrench suplex and set up for a spear, but Monroe rolled to the outside. Kamille went for a fireman’s carry on the floor, but Monroe got out and shoved her into the ringpost and started to work over her arm.
Once they were back in the ring, Kamille managed to hit a Samoan drop, but sold her arm afterward. Monroe continued to work over the arm, while Kamille’s power kept her in the match. Kamille ducked a kick and went for the torture rack, but couldn’t lock it on due to her shoulder. Kamille hit a neckbreaker instead, but Monroe kicked out. Monroe hit a knee and went for Dress to Kill, but Kamille powered out and hit a spear for the win.
— Eli Drake cut a promo about how the world was locked down for the last few months, but he was so happy to be back and able to talk to the people. The rest of the promo was hard to make out due to more feed freezes.
— Dan Joseph cut a promo about keeping the United Television title.
Wolf Zaddies and The Tribe went to a no contest.
This match was unwatchable due to the glitches in the stream. Both teams exchanged their finishers but the other teammate broke up the pinfall, eventually ending in a no contest. Both teams brawled to the back afterward.
Chris Dickinson defeated Jordan Cruz
Dickinson attacked right away and clotheslined Cruz on the entrance ramp before going back to the ring and grabbing a mic to introduce himself. He cut a promo about how he needed better competition as Cruz crawled back to the ring and decided to fight. Dickinson made him pay, hitting a series of hard kicks and stomps.
Dickinson locked on a half crab and stomped on Cruz’s back while he had the submission on. He let it go and hit a suplex for a two count. Cruz hit a hurricanrana, but it wasn’t enough for the win. Dickinson blocked a running bulldog before hitting a huge death valley driver for the pinfall victory.
United Television Champion Dan Joseph defeated Levi Shapiro
Shapiro wore a glove, which he has loaded in the past. The announcers pointed out that he also uses the claw with that gloved hand and it is super powered because he had an injury that caused the tendons to heal more tightly, giving his hand even more strength. I love how wacky that is. Joseph hit a dropkick and the ref botched the count and counted three despite the kickout. The match ended in complete chaos.
Well, that was something. The finish was all sorts of weird. The stream also started freezing again right at the end of the match, which just added to the weirdness.
NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defeated Mike Bennett (w/ Maria Kanellis) to retain
This match started fast with Bennett taking it right to Aldis with a series of hard chops and forearms. Bennett went for a spear, but Aldis dodged and the referee was taken out. He went to grab the title belt, but Maria stopped him. Kamille then came out to drive Maria away, and Bennett hit a flying crossbody off the ramp onto Aldis, but the camera missed it. Back in the ring, Aldis hit the MDD for a two count.
Bennett floated over another MDD attempt and hit a superkick and a discus clothesline on Aldis for two. Bennett hit a series of elbows to the neck, but Aldis fought back and hit a tombstone and then a flying elbow for two. Bennett hit a superplex and then a spear, but Aldis kicked out. Bennett hit another superkick and then hit a piledriver.
Bennett crawled over to make the cover, but Aldis got his foot on the rope for a very close near fall. Maria grabbed the title and handed to Bennett who thought about using it as a weapon, but he put it down and went for the piledriver again. Aldis countered, but Bennett went for a dive off the middle rope and Alids countered into the Texas clover leaf.
Bennett screamed “I need this!” as he tried to make it to the ropes, but Aldis kept dragging him back to the middle of the ring and he went unconscious, giving Aldis the successful title defense.
This was a perfectly solid match, but more glitches in the stream at the start of the match hurt it a bit. Bennett was determined to show that he could go, and Aldis looked quite good, all things considered.
After the show, Aldis cut a promo that was exclusive to FITE.tv. He said he was tested to his limits tonight, and Bennett was tough. Aldis said it was 51-49 and he didn’t like those odds tonight, but he was happy to continue to hold the title and put it up against the best competition. He finished saying that Bennett is absolutely a pro wrestler but he wasn’t “The National Treasure.”
Final Thoughts:
The show as a whole would have been a very solid and fun professional wrestling card but the streaming issues hurt it badly, making the first two thirds almost unwatchable. I’m still interested to see some of the matches next week, especially Thunder Rosa’s match against Priscilla Kelly. Hopefully, they iron out the glitches before then.
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship will officially be on the line at ROH Supercard of Honor XIV.
ROH confirmed this morning that Nick Aldis will defend his NWA title against PCO at Supercard of Honor. The match was set up at the end of ROH’s Free Enterprise show last month.
PCO & Marty Scurll defeated Aldis & Rush in the main event of Free Enterprise. After dissension between Aldis and Rush, PCO pinned Aldis to get the win.
Scurll then cut a promo about his NWA title match against Aldis at the Crockett Cup on Sunday, April 19. Scurll said he would personally write Aldis a check for $500,000 if Aldis beats him. Scurll also said Aldis would face PCO at Supercard of Honor.
That would have set up a match between the ROH and NWA champions, but PCO lost the ROH World Championship to Rush last weekend. That was in a triple threat match that also included Mark Haskins. The finish involved Aldis Interfering and hitting PCO with the NWA title belt.
Rush is defending his ROH World title against Haskins at ROH’s 18th Anniversary pay-per-view on Friday, March 13. Flip Gordon will get a title shot against the winner at Supercard of Honor.
Supercard of Honor is taking place at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, April 4. Marty Scurll vs. Jay White, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs. Jeff Cobb & Dan Maff, and Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus defending the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero & Amazing Red are also set for the show.
It doesn’t take NWA Power to get into the action quickly, as Eli Drake joins Galli and Bennett on commentary.
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) w/ Eddie Kingston defeated The Dawson (Dave & Zane Dawson) w/ The Pope
The crowd immediately started chanting “We want beer!” as Mr. Beer started the match with Zane Dawson. Zane and the Bruiser exchanged hard clothesline attempts, but the Beer City Bruiser was too strong and leveled Zane. Dave Dawson tagged in and exchanged chops with Milonas. Mr. Beer tagged in and did several punches with the crowd chanting “Beer!”
Zane tagged in and used some clubbing forearms on the Bruiser in the corner, likely bruising him, in an ironic cruel twist. Beer hit a double clothesline and managed to tag out to Milonas, who hit a running cross body on Zane Dawson, which was insane. Milonas hit a superplex on Zane soon thereafter, and The Bruiser hit a frog splash off the top rope for the 3.
James Storm and the Beer City Bruiser filled the Crockett Cup with beer and started to drink from it. Milonas, Beer, and Storm tried to get Drake to do it, but Drake faked in and drank his protein shake. That was quite hilarious. I love the Beer City Bruiser.
*********
Tom Latimer came out with Kamille to be interviewed about his upcoming match with Tim Storm. Galli said that Latimer might be in line for a title match if he beat Storm, and Latimer brushed it off, as Aldis is his boss. Latimer also refused to talk about the tag team title scene, but cut a promo on the Rock n’ Roll Express. Kamille threatened to slap Galli, but she gently patted him on the face.
Tom Latimer defeated Tim Storm
Latimer attacked storm from behind and started working him over, but Storm clotheslined Latimer to the floor. Latimer landed on his feet, but he wasn’t happy. Both men locked up, but neither were able to get the advantage, so they exchanged shoulder blocks. Latimer indicated that he was going to go for another one, but tried a cheap shot, so Storm blocked it and hit a back body drop on Latimer.
Latimer threw an elbow pad to the ref, and as he did, he hit a throat strike on Storm and then a spear for the 2 count. Latimer continued to work over Storm with a few punches before Tim Storm made a brief comeback, but both men went down after a neckbreaker. Latimer went for a piledriver, but Storm hit a back body drop. He ran to the corner, but Latimer dodged, and he crashed into the ring post. Latimer hit an implant DDT for the win.
After the match, the fake Mama Storm from last week came out, and Tim Storm looked disgusted before leaving the area. I wonder if we will see the real Mama Storm at some point to put this fake one in its place? I’m not a fan of Tim Storm losing a relatively clean match here, but that is just my bias kicking in because I love Tim Storm as a babyface. I legitimately don’t want to see him lose.
*********
Trevor Murdoch cut a promo against Aron Stevens about how he wanted a title match again. He also trash talked Question Mark, and Question Mark came out, grabbed the mic, and began to sing the Mongrovian National Anthem to a applause from the crowd. He then said “Me! You! Karate!” to Murdoch, which I loved because it was so wacky.
*********
Sean Mooney was there with the update from ROH Free Enterprise, as Marty Scurll made a counter offer after being in a match with him and PCO against Nick Aldis & Rush. Marty talked about becoming the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion. Marty made a counter offer, saying that he would personally write a cheque for $500,000 if Aldis beat him. Aldis accepted the counter offer.
*********
NWA Television Championship: Ricky Starks went to a time limit draw with Matt Cross
Starks and Cross started the match with some technical wrestling, showing that neither man is limited to high flying wrestling. Starks was able to hit a dropkick to the face of Cross when he tried to do a backflip. Cross and Starks traded a few moves back and forth again, and Cross hit a pump kick and back elbow. Cross went for a suplex, but Starks blocked it.
Both men tried for it more than once, and went back and forth before Starks was able to hit a suplex. Starks hit a tornado DDT and got a 2 count. Cross hit the cross cutter and then went for the shooting star press, but the bell rang as he ran out of time. Starks had successfully defended his title due to time limit draw.
Zicky Dice came out and cut a promo about how Starks couldn’t get the job done, but that he finishes every time. Well then.
Honestly, I am not sure I would have done the draw here. I get that they wanted to establish two things: That Matt Cross is tough to beat, and that a draw still counts as a successful defence of the title. However, I think I would have saved the match with Matt Cross for further down the line, and if Starks gets all of the Lucky 7, Cross can say that he never really beat him, and move forward with that as Starks seeks a shot at the NWA World’s Championship.
*********
Marti Belle cut a promo against Allysin Kay and how she didn’t care about her or the fans, and talked about how Melina was the only one that showed that she cared about her. Belle talked about how everything that Melina has predicted has come true. Kay came out and said that she absolutely cared about the fans.
Kay said that Melina was Jim Jones, and Marti Belle was drinking the kool-aid. She said that she was always going to be there for Marti Belle, and that she cared about her. Marti Belle left, angry.
Melina defeated Tasha Steelz
Melina immediately attacked Steelz, and Steelz sold so well for Melina’s offence here that even though parts of it looked weak, Melina looked like a monster compared to her. The match was messy in spots, but Steelz did her best to get a decent match before Melina hit a Primal Scream for the pinfall.
Melina cut a promo about being the best, and demanded a title shot next week against Thunder Rosa, her friend.
*********
Nick Aldis & Royce Isaacs defeated The Rock n’ Roll Express
As the match was beginning, Sal Rinauro and May Valentine made their way down to ringside and sat down in the crowd. Robert Gibson rolled up Isaacs and got a 2 count as he was distracted by May sitting with Sal. Ricky Morton tagged in and they worked over the legs of Royce with a wishbone split. Morton and Gibson continued the work over the leg for a while until Isaacs gouged the eyes and tagged in Aldis.
Ricky Morton was tagged in soon thereafter as he hit a hurricanrana on Aldis. Morton was driven into the ring post on the floor by Isaacs and they got the heat on Morton for the next few minutes. Morton fired up and hit a few great punches before tagging out. Gibson tagged in and hit a suplex on Isaacs before throwing Aldis from the top rope.
Gibson went for a backslide on Isaacs, but Aldis broke it up. Isaacs hit the thumbs to the eyes of Gibson and rolled him up for the pinfall with the feet on the ropes. May Valentine came over and hugged May as Isaacs went on to argue with Sal. The crowd chanted Sal, as the show faded out into a hype video of Aldis and Scurll.
The NWA promised we would know the exact date and venue for the Crockett Cup next week.
This was a very solid episode of NWA Power. It wasn’t super exciting, and it didn’t have the promos of last week, but it was very good. They are slowly building their way to the PPV, and it’s excellent stuff.
Free Enterprise, Ring of Honor’s experimental free show took place this past Sunday afternoon at the UMBC Arena in Baltimore, MD. The lower level of the venue appeared to be more or less full even though there were still pockets of empty seats in the upper bowl of the arena.
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were our announcers for this Honor Club show
Mark Haskins submitted Alex Shelley
The two first traded wristlocks and side headlocks with Haskins looking to be in control of the offense early on. A couple ironic fans shouted “WRESTLING!” — the new flavor of the month chant when fans see “serious” pro wrestling. (Imagine if someone went to a play or movie and screamed “ACTING!” during dialogue between characters.)
Shelley used a few llave-style submissions, stretching Haskins into a pretzel. Haskins laid in a number of hard kicks and elbows, which Shelley continued to eat. “Come on Haskins, you stupid son of a b**ch!” he screamed at Haskins midway through. From watching it, the crowd bought into the match as they seemed to realize how hard these two in the ring were working. There were lots of chants for Shelley around this point in the match, too.
The two knocked each other out at one point, the first real peak in the match, but both were up at referee Todd Sinclair’s nine count. Haskins landed the Shoulder Soldier Roll for a close two, leaving Haskins stunned. He then went to the top and missed a diving double foot stomp which allowed Shelley to nail Sliced Bread and then a Blade Runner for another close two.
Haskins countered Shelley’s Sliced Bread #2 attempt and eventually locked him in a sharpshooter and armlock for the win. Shelley immediately rolled to the floor and sold his the submission as he stumbled backstage.
This was a solid match. Haskins needs more guys like Shelley to work with. Riccaboni mentioned afterward that Haskins had a counter for everything Shelley threw at him, the essential takeaway from this match going forward, I’d guess. Haskins called out PCO into the camera as he exited the ring.
Righteous (Vincent and Bateman w/ Vida Von Star & Chuckles) defeated Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry
Castle was cheered upon his entrance, so I guess he’s not a heel anymore. He also has a new pair of Boys that accompany him to the ring now. Hendry received the loudest reaction he has had in ROH since signing. I think fans are finally catching on to his theme song. Riccaboni and Coleman said they couldn’t control their hands while it was playing and they had to clap.
We first saw Vincent’s new stable of spooksters last month at Honor Reigns Supreme. Chuckles was a clown last month, but here, he just looked like a shabby older fellow without any facepaint on. Vincent used put on a late-’60s hippie accent and kept asking if Castle could “dig” what he was saying. It’s the Diet Wyatt Family, which was itself a Diet Manson Family.
Vincent and Bateman didn’t shake hands beforehand. Castle and Hendry are kayfabe buddies now whereas a couple months back, their gimmick was just them arguing over egos in the ring. Hendry has gained some noticeable muscle mass recently. Even Ricaboni later described Hendry as being built “as thick as a soda machine.”
Vincent used a cool schoolboy-into-second turnbuckle move at one point. Castle returned offense with a big delay German suplex and the crowd chanted for him after that. Hendry used a double fallaway slam on both Vincent and Bateman followed by a kip-up, all of which elicited the loudest response of the night so far. The finish saw Vincent hit an Acid Drop on Hendry for the pin after Castle was dragged from the ring.
Quinn McKay came out and announced they’ll be back UMBC Arena on June 19 for Best in the World.
Referee Todd Sinclair would not allow Slex to wear his sunglasses in the ring during the match and the crowd sounded bummed out when he took them off
Slex is about the same height as Gordon but is more muscular. His offense isn’t flashy, but his execution of it is. He used a spinning sitout torture rack bomb for a close two. Gordon rallied back and landed a moonsault to the floor and then a springboard spear into the ring for a two count. He picked up the win after a Curb Stomp.
This was really good and after all the hype, I can say with confidence that Slex is the real deal.
Shane Taylor and the Sons of Savagery came out afterward and attacked Slex. Taylor laid him out with a butterfly package piledriver and then got on the mic and said that everybody should be talking about Taylor’s demands and his return to ROH, not all of the recent debuts people have paid attention to instead.
Alex Zayne defeated Andrew Everett
These two are very creative. There were lots of innovative aerial moves in this one — moves that don’t have official names yet. Everett played light heel here, but with he and Zayne going tit-for-tat on each spot, it seemed hard for the crowd to boo him for too long. He planted Zayne face first into the second turnbuckle with a running bulldog and then landed a GIF-worthy springboard tornillo into the ring for two.
As the match slowed, the volume level in the audience softened, often between its big spots. Everett went for a top rope poisonrana, but Zayne landed on his feet. Everrett then spiked him with standing version of the same move, but missed a shooting star press which gave Zayne the opportunity to land a shooting star double knee strike onto a bent over Everett.
He then put Everett away with a sit out pumphandle slam that resembled Shingo Takagi’s Last of the Dragon. This match would be great on the weekly ROH TV show.
The Briscoes Brothers (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated Mexablood (Bandido and Flamita)
This was an awesome match.
Jay and Bandido kicked off the match for their teams. Both Bandido and the Briscoes had the crowd hot from the start. Flamita and Jay almost botched a headscissors spot, but recovered within seconds. When action spilled to the floor, Flamita hit a perfect Asai moonsault from the top, followed by Bandido landing a picture-perfect springboard shooting star press from the top rope to the floor. The crowd started chanting “R-O-H!”
Bandido showcased his freaky strength in the ring with with a one-armed delayed suplex. The crowd started heating up for the Briscoes here and they then took Flamita out with a dragon suplex/single-leg dropkick combo. Mark unfolded a chair in the ring and did a triple jump tope con giro to the floor, which the Baltimore crowd loved. They chanted for Mark to do it again, which he then did on both Mexabloods. He then landed the Cactus Jack elbow off the apron onto floor on Flamita.
The crowd chanted “Let’s go Briscoes!” as the bout returned to the ring, but it didn’t stay inside for too long. Bandido launched Flamita over his head with a back body drop which Flamita turned into a tope con giro to the floor.
Flamita kicked out of the Briscoes’ Redneck Boogie finisher only a few minutes after he stuck a 450 splash. He took both Briscoes out with a frog splash dropkick, literally hanging in the air like gravity stopped being a thing in his life for a split second. Mark used a Froggy ‘bow but again, Flamita kicked out, leading to more chants of “this is awesome!”.
Crowd volume began fading after the Mexabloods landed stereo Spanish Flys. Jay finally took Bandido out of the match with a brutal looking suplex on the apron, and the Briscoes scored the victory after decimating Flamita with a Doomsday Device. All four in this looked excellent.
— There was an intermission next. For those watching along at home, production aired an old match between Mark and Jay Briscoe from 8/24/02 when they were 17 and 18 years old. This was introduced as a way of promoting the March 14th Past vs. Present nostalgia show in Las Vegas. I hope they continue airing these matches on Honor Club broadcasts as it’s a great way of making use of the ROH library while giving their live crowds a break.
Flip Gordon won a 20-person battle royal to earn an ROH world title shot
Participants included Delirious, Danhausen, Dak Draper, Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, Tracy Williams, Crowbar, Rhett Titus, The Bouncers, the Blue Meanie, Maria Manic, Gangrel, Kenny King, Dragon Lee, PJ Black, Silas Young, Josh Woods, and Brian Johnson
Gangrel spit something in Kenny King’s eyes before the match started, and King sold it on the outside. He stayed on the floor once the match got started. Dragon Lee came out separately and King acted like he was miffed at him because of that.
Gangrel was first in and hit a double overhook suplex to Danhausen and then an Impaler on Draper. Draper got back up and eliminated Gangrel when he went for another Impaler. Draper then eliminated LSG and then Crowbar/Eli Isom at the same time. (It’s the same Crowbar/Devon Storm from WCW, for the record.) Cheeseburger eliminated Draper when he pulled the top rope down as Draper ran toward him.
When the Blue Meanie got the Bouncers to start dancing with him in the ring, Brian Johnson threw Meanie out. Johnson then eliminated his recent storyline mentor, PJ Black. As Johnson screamed about how he’s “the mecca,” Maria Manic walked over to him and used what I believe would be termed a scrotal claw in wrestling parlance, then press slamming him to the floor which got a nice reaction.
Rhett Titus and Manic then had a short posedown and Manic used a hip toss to eliminate Titus. She then saved Danhausen from the Bouncers and eliminated both at the same time, so she got the full-on Brock Lesnar Royal Rumble treatment here. Danhausen then thanked Manic for the save and hugged her, but then she shoved him to the mat. Maria’s not a hugger. Silas Young then got in Manic’s face and asked if she wanted to be a “real man.” Manic called him a b*tch which riled the crowd up.
They exchanged chops until Young took her out with a backbreaker and short lariat. When Young went to eliminate her, Bully Ray ran down to help eliminate Manic. Ray then hit her with a chair and powerbombed her through a table. The crowd chanted “a**hole” at Ray until he walked to the back.
Delirious and Danhausen did zany comedy together next. Danhausen gave Delirious some loose teeth in a jar (part of his gimmick) and Delirious swallowed them. Danhausen then did a jump kick so the teeth went flying and Delirious was eliminated. Young later eliminated Cheeseburger and the final four were now Young, his tag partner Josh Woods, Tracy Williams, and Dragon Lee. Kenny King still hadn’t entered the match yet exactly like he did last year during the Honor Rumble last year at MSG.
Woods and Young eliminated Williams, who I forgot was even in the match even though I saw him on camera earlier. Dragon Lee took out Young and Woods, so King tried running in and eliminating Lee from behind. King thought he had the match won when Lee skinned the cat, rolling himself over the top rope and back into the ring. Shocked, King ran at Lee, but Lee pulled the top rope down and eliminated King.
Lee then ripped his mask off to reveal it was Flip Gordon the whole time. He even shaved his beard between this and his earlier bout with Slex, so it took a second for everyone to pick up on who it was. It was a nice twist to wrap up a pretty bad battle royal. Gordon will now receive a shot at the ROH World title, held by Villain Enterprises partner, PCO.
Angelina Love and Mandy Leone of the Allure joined Riccaboni and Coleman on commentary for the next match.
Session Moth Martina defeated Sumie Sakai
This was Martina’s ROH debut. Her gimmick is that of a party girl who likes to booze it up and dance during her matches. She danced with referee Steven Dumeng and offered Sakai a beer before the bell. She used a Bronco Buster on Sakai in the corner and even threw in a few extra Bronco thrusts. She ran the ropes like she was going for a dive but got out of breath. Sakai, now on the floor, offered Martina a beer, but it was a ruse. Sakai turned heel recently, for those who aren’t aware.
Sakai worked Martina over in the ring with submissions and stomps, but Martina got her second wind when she took a swig of mystery liquid and put Sakai down with a few short lariats. The crowd was into mildly into Martina but it was around this point that they started losing steam. Martina drank some beer and used an accidental stinkface on Dumeng, taking him out of the match temporarily.
Sakai then tossed a chair in the ring and hit Martina followed by a DDT on it before helping Dumeng back into the match. Martina recovered quickly and headbutted Sakai before pinning her with her finish, the Jaeger Bomb. It sounded like the Allure might have an angle coming up with Martina in the near future.
Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff defeated ROH Tag Team Champions Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal for a future ROH tag team title shot
Gresham and Cobb were in together first. Gresham’s new heel nickname is “The Foundation” and both he and Lethal are wearing what look like matching black tights. Maff and Lethal were next and exchanged hard chops. Maff ploughed Lethal with a pounce. Maff was fired up for the whole match, his gravely voice booming across the arena like he was mic’d up throughout most of this.
Things heated up midway through with a lot of double team action. Cobb knelt down at one point and Maff used Cobb as a launchpad, crashing onto Lethal with a senton in the ring. On the floor, Lethal and Gresham tried taking Maff out with tope suicidas but he wouldn’t go down. Later, when they went for the Cornette Cutter, Cobb caught Gresham in mid-air and planted him with an Oklahoma Stampede.
The last couple minutes of this were good as the finish saw Maff putting Lethal away clean with a Burning Hammer. Maff and Cobb have now earned a title shot at the ROH tag champions, Gresham and Lethal.
Brody King defeated Rey Horus
This was good for a squash match. King, who re-signed with ROH last week, worked Horus over early on. It was deliberately paced as he used a few throws, chops, slams, and splashes. Horus countered with a big dive over the corner ringpost to the floor, but King returned the attacks and slowed the pace. Horus landed a wild looking tornado DDT out of the corner, but not long after that, King spiked Horus with the Gonzo Bomb in this souped-up squash.
Villain Enterprises (ROH World Champion PCO and Marty Scurll) defeated NWA World Champion Nick Aldis and Rush
This was good.
Aldis and the new NWA are doing another crossover angle with Scurll and this played more into their NWA storyline. Rush and PCO are still feuding over the ROH World title even though, at this time last year, they weren’t with the company.
Aldis and Scurll looked great together. They had an unsung singles match last year at the ROH/NWA Crockett Cup special and looked equally impressive together in this tonight.
PCO missed a somersault onto the apron early and it looked nuts like it always does. There were scattered “holy sh*t” chants for that, and later a louder chorus of “P-C-O” chants. Rush basically stayed on PCO while Aldis stayed with Scurll throughout which made the story psychology easy to interpret in the ring. The “heels” double teamed PCO in the corner for a few minutes until he burst through their attacks with a double lariat to tag out to Scurll, who cleaned house.
Scurll then chopped his partner, a spot that “wakes him up” which allowed PCO to power up so Scurll could back body drop him onto Rush and Aldis who stood prone on the floor. Scurll flexed on the top rope and then hit a superplex on Aldis. He did his best Jacques Rougeau impression and assisted PCO doing the old Quebecers somersault senton off the top.
Later, when Aldis landed a diving elbow drop on PCO, he accidentally hit Rush as well who then yelled at Aldis. Rush and Aldis got into an argument which led to Rush walking up the entrance and watching the rest of the match from there. Aldis grabbed his NWA title and went for a belt shot, but Scurll spun him around and snapped his fingers, causing him to drop the belt. PCO then chokeslammed Aldis to put him away clean with the PCOsault for the win. Rush then walked to the back.
Scurll got on the mic and expanded on their upcoming NWA title match. Scurll said he would put his money where his mouth is as long as that if he beats Aldis, he wins the NWA World title and offered to write a check for $500,000 if he were to beat him in that match. Scurll announced that Aldis’ opponent for ROH Supercard of Honor would be PCO.
Riccaboni insinuated this could possibly turn into a champion vs. champion match.
Final thoughts
This was a good but very long show that lost steam after the intermission. The crowd in Baltimore was enthusiastic, but it’s hard for fans to keep their energy up on a four-hour matinee show with ten matches.
The Briscoes vs. Mexabloods was the show stealer. The battle royal was not good but was meant to do a lot of storyline work without having to book more matches, so I get it. Slex looked very good in his debut, and Session Moth Martina’s character got over during hers.
The rest of the show was just there. It wasn’t bad, often good actually, but with such a glut of top-tier wrestling available now, this can’t be considered a must-watch show. If anything, ROH here did more of a service for NWA’s upcoming PPV than for their own with no significant angles introduced for Bound by Honor at the end of this month (PCO vs. Dragon Lee is the main event), nor for their Past vs. Present show in March.
NWA Power opened with a brand new theme, though I don’t think it is nearly as good as the old one. This episode featured a rematch between Thunder Rosa and Allysin Kay.
Before we got back into the action, Tim Storm came out. A person in the crowd came out and yelled “I love you Tim!” and he responded with “I love you too!” and he called all the fans his family. Absolutely fantastic. Storm asked the NWA management to be involved in the Heavyweight title picture, and he wanted to prove himself against the best, which meant that he was going to get a match with Thom Latimer to try and move up the card.
Joe Galli asked Storm if he was considering retirement, and asked Storm to set the record straight. Tim Storm told Galli to forget about the rumours, and that he values every single minute he gets to be in front of the fans, and in the ring, and that he isn’t retiring. He needs to get by Thom Latimer to move onto the rest of Strictly Business.
Latimer came out and said that Storm already lost, and he wouldn’t be getting a shot at the title soon. As they were talking, Galli said he was hearing from the back that Momma Storm was there. A man came out dressed as an old woman, and mocked Storm, calling him old and saying that she wanted her son to take a nap. “Momma Storm” said that Tim should go back to teaching so he could learn how to win a match. Storm left in disgust.
Great segment from everyone involved here. Tim Storm remains a very compelling babyface.
*********
Matt Cross defeated Caleb Konley
Cross and Konley started fast, with Cross hitting a forearm in the corner and a snapmare for a two count. Cross swept the legs and hit an elbow drop for a two count. Konley turned it around when he pulled Cross from the middle rope, sending him crashing back first into the top turnbuckle.
Konley swept the legs and hit a senton for two count. Cross hit a handspring elbow for a two count. Konely dodged a corner charge and hit a superkick and a tornado DDT for a two count. Cross hit elbows to counter a suplex, but Konley rolled through and hit a forearm and sent Cross to the opposite ropes. Cross used the ropes to slingshot him backwards into a cutter and then hit a shooting star press for the victory!
Excellent match from Cross and Konley here, setting up Cross a challenger to Starks, and further establishing Konley as someone to watch as well. Both men shook hands after the match, to the delight of the crowd, indicating that they want to do this again down the road.
*********
A video aired with Nick Aldis and he mentioned how it has been over 400 days since he recaptured the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. Aldis said that wasn’t the number he was concerned about though, because he hadn’t heard from Marty Scurll in 7 days.
He wondered openly if Marty was rethinking the challenge, or if he was concerned about the treacherous territory he was entering. Aldis said that Marty could turn it down, but that he expected an answer by this Sunday at ROH Free Enterprise. He said that Marty better be coming up with a big counter offer if he doesn’t accept because they’re both businessmen, and Aldis’ patience was running out.
Another excellent promo from Aldis here, making me want to see ROH Free Enterprise just for Marty’s response to Aldis.
*********
The Pope was with Dave Marquez and the Dawsons, and he said he didn’t owe them a particular explanation, as they simply saw an opportunity with Pope to up their standing in the NWA. Pope said that Kingston and Homicide failed to take advantage of the chance Pope got him for the tag team titles.
He said that Kingston & Homicide losing didn’t hurt his reputation, but it revealed that Homicide didn’t have star power. Kingston came out and had his hands behind his back, saying he was going to be good. The NWA management saw him getting a screwdriver and wrench from under the ring.
Kingston said he should rip out Pope’s tongue. Kingston put over how great Homicide is, and how many people he trained. He then talked about how Homicide saved his life, and how he is family. However, he was going to be a good boy, and had someone else ready to help him fight Pope’s group – The Bouncers, Brian Milonas & the Beer City Bruiser! Mr. Beer has made his debut in the NWA!
May Valentine had a vlog where she talked about Royce Isaacs’ match last week where he finally got a win, but also in how he got very jealous of her making a new friend in Sal Rinaruo.
*********
NWA (3rd Degree) National Title Match: Aron Stevens w/ Question Mark drew Trevor Murdoch in a time limit draw
Stevens tried to out wrestle Murdoch, but the veteran was ahead of him at every point with sharp punches and headlock takeovers. Murdoch slammed Stevens twice to a pop from the crowd, and got a big pop for doing so.
As Murdoch made his way around the ring, Question Mark cut him off. The referee sent Question Mark out of the ringside area, but Stevens used this as a chance to hit a baseball slide. Stevens pulled the ropes down and sent Murdoch to the floor, asking for the time. Stevens hit several punches on the mat and choked him with his knee.
Stevens choked Murdoch on the middle rope and hit a knee to the back. Murdoch rolled up Stevens, but Stevens kicked out and hit a lariat for a two count. Stevens threw Murdoch to the floor and asked for the time yet again. The referee counted, but Murdoch got back into the ring and blocked a turnbuckle smash, hitting Stevens with one of his own.
Stevens hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Stevens got the heat for a bit, hitting an eye poke, and then dumping Murdoch back to the floor. Stevens was waiting for him to get back in, and continued to stomp on Murdoch again before hitting a Russian leg sweep. Murdoch kicked out. The announcer said that there were two minutes left in the match.
Stevens threw Murdoch to the floor again, but Murdoch hit a clothesline from the apron, came back in, and hit another. Murdoch hit the 10 corner punches and then hit a full Nelson slam, but Stevens kicked out with just one minute left. Murdoch locked on a sleeper with 30 seconds left, but Stevens hit a jawbreaker, and the time limit expired. Murdoch hit a bulldog off the top rope after the bell, and gained a visual pinfall over Stevens.
*********
Sean Mooney gave his two minute update on the happenings in the NWA. This was very old school, and a smart way to tell and promote stories. He reminded us of the Lucky 7 rule, where if he gets 7 wins in a row, or at least a time limit draw, he would get a title shot at the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. I really enjoyed this.
*********
James Storm & Eli Drake defeated Jocephus & Mims
Storm and Drake showed some good tag team offence early on, cornering Jocephus. Jocephus threw a strike that looked strangely familiar to someone rather Questionable. Storms and Drake hit a back elbow on Mims, and continued their dominance in this match. Storm hit a chop to the back and a senton for a two count.
Drake hit a powerslam on Mims and hit a running elbow drop on Mims before tagging out. Drake picked up Mims into a fireman’s carry and sent him flying into a back cracker by Storm for the pinfall victory.
*********
NWA World Women’s Championship: Thunder Rosa defeated Allysin Kay
Kay and Rosa exchanged grappling attempts until Rosa was able to move into a cross face. Kay countered with a roll up, but only got a two count. Thunder Rosa hit a snapmare and then a kick to the back of Kay, and Kay responded with one of her own. Rosa went for a PK, but Kay laid down to duck it and rolled Rosa up for a two count.
Rosa was able to get back into it attacking the arm of Kay. She kept this up for several minutes. Rosa continued with a brutal submission on Allysin Kay, but she managed to make it to the ropes. Rosa slapped the crap out of her, which led to Kay hitting several strikes to the stomach and then both women exchanged running forearms.
Both women hit double boots and were down. Rosa hit a flying clothesline into the corner and then followed up with double knees to the chest. As Rosa was going for another attack, Marti Belle came out and distracted Rosa and Kay both. They told her to leave, and as they did this, Ashley Vox & Tasha Steelz came out to keep her away.
Rosa rolled up Kay, but Kay kicked out and hit a neckbreaker, a clothesline, and then a big boot before hitting a Jackhammer on Rosa for a two count. Rosa countered a wheelbarrow with a stunner for a two count, and then hit a German suplex for another two count. Thunder Rosa hit a Death Valley Driver, but Kay still managed to kick out.
Rosa hit a flapjack into the top rope and then rolled Kay up and managed to get the pinfall!
Very solid episode of NWA Power this week that build to their next PPV and ROH’s next show too.
