James Storm is getting a World title shot in the main event of the NWA’s Into the Fire pay-per-view.
On tonight’s episode of NWA Power, it was announced that NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis will defend his title against former National Champion James Storm in the main event of Into the Fire. The PPV is taking place at GPB Studios in Atlanta on Saturday, December 14 and will be available via Fite TV.
Aldis’ current NWA title reign began by winning a two-out-of-three falls match. He defeated Cody Rhodes at the NWA’s 70th Anniversary Show in October 2018 to become a two-time champion.
This is the NWA’s first PPV since April’s Crockett Cup event. Three other matches have also been confirmed for the show. Eli Drake will take on Mr. Anderson, Allysin Kay will team with Ashley Vox against two members of Melina’s stable (Melina, Thunder Rosa & Marti Belle), and The Question Mark will face Trevor Murdoch.
David Marquez opened the show with NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis and asked him about Kamille, but Aldis said “If she isn’t with me, assume that is her own decision and she’s off doing something she needs to do.”
Aldis directed attention back to the show, then talked about wrestling Trevor Murdoch in an exhibition match.
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NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defeated Trevor Murdoch in a non-title match
Aldis and Murdoch exchanged some chain wrestling to open the match. Murdoch targeted Aldis’ shoulder. Aldis rolled through and kicked up, but Murdoch spun into a hammerlock.
Aldis went to the ropes to get away, so Murdoch kicked the ropes into Aldis’ crotch and started to work him over with several slams. It appeared that Murdoch was not happy that Aldis wasn’t putting the title on the line.
Murdoch hit a full nelson bomb and went to the top rope and nailed Aldis with a flying bulldog. Aldis managed to get his foot on the ropes. Murdoch went back to the top rope, but Aldis cut him off and went up there with him. Murdoch hit a headbutt to send Aldis to the mat.
Murdoch tried to come off the top and lost his balance, so Aldis grabbed him and locked on a Texas Cloverleaf and Murdoch tapped out.
Solid match here, even if the ending looked a bit weird. I am not sure if the finish was supposed to have Murdoch slip off the rope, but it played very well into it with Aldis being able to immediately take advantage of it and tap him out. Good stuff here from both guys.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express came out and announced that they wanted a shot at NWA Tag Team Champions The Wild Cards.
The Wild Cards then came out, and Thomas Latimer said he was going to keep the titles from them. Latimer and Royce Isaacs weren’t taking them seriously and promised to defend the titles. Marquez asked about The Wild Cards’ relationship with Kamille and Latimer said they were only friends.
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NWA National Champion Colt Cabana was on commentary with Joe Galli and Cornette.
The Question Mark and Ricky Starks went to a no contest
The crowd went absolutely insane for The Question Mark. It was easily the biggest pop on this show. Question Mark hit a series of overhead chops, but Starks dodged a corner charge and hit a kick to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Question Mark chopped Starks, and the fans went nuts again.
Starks sent Question Mark to the floor and went for a suicide dive. As they brawled, Aron Stevens came out and attacked Starks.
Question Mark and Stevens double teamed Starks, and Question Mark hit two finger thrusts. Cabana ran from the desk to make the save. The crowd booed Stevens and cheered Question Mark, which made Stevens angry. He’s working a similar gimmick to Miz here, except Question Mark was playing Mizdow.
I have no idea how Question Mark is this over, but I love it.
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Eli Drake came out and immediately talked about how Ken Anderson wanted to come out and make noise. The crowd chanted “Question Mark!” and Drake called them a dummies in a playful way. Drake said that he might have to send Anderson back to Minnesota. Anderson entered and said that they should fight now.
Anderson went towards the ring, and Drake attacked him from behind, firmly making him a heel now.
Drake drove Anderson into the ring. He then grabbed an unused turnbuckle (without padding) from behind the announce table and smashed Anderson with it, knocking him out. Drake had to be dragged away. This was fantastic.
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Thunder Rosa & Marti Belle defeated NWA Women’s Champion Allysin Kay & Ashley Vox
Belle started the match with Vox, with Belle pulling Vox’s hair to get an advantage early on. Belle and Vox exchanged go behinds before Vox hit a drop toe hold on Belle and then a senton for a two count. Belle hit a hard kick to Vox and started to stomp on her before tagging out to Thunder Rosa.
Thunder Rosa chopped the crap out of Vox and started to work over her arm. Rosa was looking at Kay the whole time she was doing this while yelling at her. She had some really great intensity here and looks like a major star. Belle tagged back in and continued to get the heat on Vox for the next little bit.
Belle told the ref to shut up, but ate a dropkick from Vox for losing focus. Vox tagged out to Kay, and she began to brawl with Rosa. Kay went for the inverted piledriver, but Rosa fought out and hit a kick before going to the top rope. Kay cut her off, but both women started to exchange strikes. Kay managed to hit a middle rope superplex that left both down.
As both were down, Melina made her way down from the crowd and Thunder Rosa rolled up Kay and pinned her. Belle ran in and leveled Kay with a rolling elbow, then Rosa hit a double stomp from the top rope on Kay.
It seems that Melina is the one calling the shots in this group, as they left Kay down and out in the middle of the ring.
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Aron Stevens & The Question Mark defeated NWA National Champion Colt Cabana & Ricky Starks
Stevens ran away from Starks at the start of the match, screaming at the top of his lungs. He immediately tagged out to Question Mark. Starks hit a drop toe hold on Question Mark and then tagged out to Cabana, who chopped him. Cabana high-fived the referee, but ate chops from Question Mark.
Stevens tagged in and ran away from Starks again after Cabana tagged him in. Question Mark tagged back in and hit several chops to drop Starks. Question Mark choked Starks in the corner and then chopped his chest. Stevens tagged in and hit an overhead chop, but the crowd booed him and it didn’t look as good. Question Mark tagged back in and hit another, and the crowd exploded.
Stevens came in and mooned the crowd, but then ate a slingblade from Starks. Cabana tagged in and beat Stevens all around the ring. Starks tagged in and hit a flying flatliner on Stevens for a two count. The double teams continued, and they just beat Stevens all over the place.
Starks went for a DDT, but Stevens drove Starks back to the other corner and Question Mark tagged in.
Starks grabbed Question Mark’s mask and tried to take it off, but Stevens cut him off and hit the spike to the throat of Starks. Stevens then tagged in and pinned Starks. The crowd continued to cheer Question Mark and boo Stevens.
This was a very fun main event. Question Mark is wildly entertaining.
James Storm came out and cut a promo about how Aldis is refusing to defend the title and only doing exhibition matches. Kamille entered and whispered something in Storm’s ear. Storm smiled and said “Sorry about your damn luck” before heading backstage.
So, while this episode was fun and I think all the action was great, along with the storytelling, the story coming out of it is going to be Cornette’s comments. Needless to say, what he said was obviously very inappropriate, and one has to wonder how it ever made its way through editing.
The show opened with a recap of The Dawsons vs. Tim Storm & Eli Drake from last week.
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James Storm came out and asked why Nick Aldis was ducking him, and he called out Colt Cabana about how Cabana wanted to insert himself into the title picture. Cabana said he wanted Storm’s NWA National title. Eli Drake came out and said that the National title was the key to getting a shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Aldis entered and said all the things that Storm was saying must have been a result of him having too much to drink. He said Eli Drake doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs — his only vice is wanting to be exactly like Aldis. Aldis said “Why don’t we just get into the squared circle and settle this like men?”
Aldis suggested that they have a six-man tag. If Aldis’ team wins, Cabana gets a title shot at James Storm. If James Storm’s team wins, he gets a shot at Aldis’ NWA World title, with one condition — If Storm wants that shot, he needs to vacate the NWA National title, because to challenge for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, he needs to put it all on the line.
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A video recap aired of Kamille not speaking and Aldis appearing to not let her speak. Kamille refused to talk to Joe Galli several times.
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David Marquez interviewed Trevor Murdoch. Murdoch cut a promo saying he wanted an NWA contract. He said that he didn’t think that Jocephus should be suspended for 45 days for throwing powder into Colt Cabana’s eyes, but that he should fight Murdoch. Murdoch said he would beat anyone he had to for a contract.
Jocephus came out and attacked Murdoch from behind, and we had a match.
Trevor Murdoch defeated Jocephus
Murdoch started hitting 10 punches in the corner, but Jocephus dropped him into the top turnbuckle. As the referee was checking on Murdoch, Jocephus went for some powder in his tights. Murdoch kicked the powder from Jocephus’ hand into his own face.
Murdoch then followed with a bulldog from the middle rope for the pinfall.
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Aron Stevens came out and Galli reminded the crowd that Stevens didn’t want anyone to make eye contact. Stevens was getting started, but Ricky Starks came out to interrupt him. Stevens said Starks looked ridiculous, but Starks slapped him and sent him flying across the studio before saying, “You talk too much.”
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A recap video aired of The Wild Cards vs. Eddie Kingston & Homicide.
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It was announced that The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are coming to NWA Power soon.
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The Dawsons were out at ringside and Kingston & Homicide attacked them and started brawling. Kingston & Homicide were trying to get some revenge on the two Dawsons for interrupting their Tag Team title match against The Wild Cards.
The Dawsons defeated Eddie Kingston & Homicide in a no DQ match
Dave Dawson was in the ring with Homicide, but Zane Dawson dragged him to the floor and both teams resumed brawling around the ring as Dave targeted the hand of Kingston while Homicide tried to choke Zane with a camera cable. The Wild Cards made their way to ringside, watching the match closely.
The brawling continued, with chairs being thrown into the ring. The Dawsons hit Kingston with the chair on the outside. Homicide hit a cutter on Zane Dawson, but it only got two. Kingston’s hand was very damaged, and he continued to sell it throughout the match. The Dawsons set up two chairs in the middle and bridged a third between them. They suplexed Kingston onto the chair.
Homicide came in, but the numbers got the best of him as Zane Dawson destroyed him with a chair shot to the back. They piled a bunch of chairs in the middle of the ring on Homicide and Zane climbed the top rope.
Tom Latimer ran up to the apron and hit Zane with the belt to knock him off. Then Royce Isaacs came in and hit a Death Valley Driver on Kingston and dragged Dave Dawson onto Kingston for the pinfall.
The announcers were as confused as I was about why the Wild Cards attacked both teams, only to put Dave Dawson on Kingston for the win.
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Ashley Vox defeated Marti Belle
Belle talked about how Allysin Kay is her best friend, but she wants a shot at Kay’s Women’s title.
Vox out-wrestled Belle in the early portion of this match, but Belle was able to overpower her and drive a knee into her face in the corner for a two count. Belle hit two vertical suplexes and a Russian leg sweep for two, then a rolling elbow for two.
Belle went for a corner charge, but Vox dodged and hit a headbutt. Vox went for a headscissors, but Belle dodged it and went for the Pedigree on Vox. Vox fought out and went for a chicken wing, but Belle blocked it and went for the Pedigree again. Vox dropped down and rolled over into a jackknife pinfall for the three count!
Thunder Rosa came out and offered to shake Belle’s hand, but Belle left the ring.
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Ricky Starks defeated Aron Stevens
Stevens and Starks locked up, with Stevens hitting a snapmare and missing an elbow. Starks hit a chop and whipped Stevens into the ropes. Stevens countered with an elbow and tried to put Starks into the turnbuckle. Starks blocked it, drove Stevens into three turnbuckles, and then hit a big dropkick for one.
Starks locked on an armbar, but Stevens shoved him into the ropes. Starks stepped over the ropes and Stevens kicked the rope into Starks for a low blow before hitting a series of punches and then a Russian leg sweep.
Stevens hit an elbow on Starks. He picked Starks up and hit a very weak slap. Starks fired up and hit a series of clotheslines and a slingblade for two.
Stevens hit the ropes and Starks hit a back body drop. Starks threatened to slap Stevens and Stevens screamed in fear, so Starks rolled him up and scored the pinfall.
Stevens said “No!” — and the crowd chanted “Yes!” back at him.
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Team Aldis (Nick Aldis, Mr. Anderson & Colt Cabana) defeated Team Storm (James Storm & The Wild Cards)
Tom Latimer and Aldis started the match after Latimer tagged himself in. He hit the ropes and screamed “Screw you!” at Aldis, so Aldis took his head off with a clothesline and tagged out to Anderson. Anderson hit an armbreaker on Latimer. Latimer tagged out to Isaacs, but Anderson took him down and tagged out to Cabana.
Cabana came in and hit two bionic elbows on Latimer and Isaacs. He called in James Storm, but this was a mistake as he was cut off by Latimer.
Storm then tagged in and attacked Cabana. Isaacs kept Cabana in the corner and tagged out to Latimer. They continued to get the heat on Cabana for the next few minutes.
Isaacs went for a dive off the ropes, but Cabana got his foot up. Cabana made the hot tag to Anderson, who ran wild. Latimer picked up Anderson in a fireman’s carry, but Anderson fought out and hit a fireman’s carry flip. Anderson hit the Mic Check on Latimer, but Isaacs broke it up before Anderson could get a pinfall.
Aldis hit Isaacs with a dropkick. Storm hit Aldis with a codebreaker, but Aldis fell back into the ropes and they collided with a double clothesline.
Anderson tagged out to Cabana, who ate a knee from James Storm. Storm tried to superkick Cabana, but Cabana ducked and Storm hit Isaacs. Anderson clotheslined Storm over the top rope. Aldis hit a slam on Latimer and Cabana did the superman pin on Latimer for the pinfall victory! James Storm must defend his National title against Cabana.
The show opened with a recap of the story with Aldis and Kamille. Joe Galli opened the show informing us that he was having a third interview with Aldis this week, but that he would keep the interview focused on the next challenger for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Eddie Kingston came out and talked about how he was angry that the Dawsons got involved in his match, and that he was happy the NWA didn’t take away their title shot, but he wants to take out the Dawsons. He said that before he took the tag titles, he wanted the Dawsons and him and Homicide wanted them now. He said he would do it anywhere – the parking lot, their house, the ring.
Marti Belle defeated Crystal Rose
Belle opened the match with a slightly botched headscissors, and a big forearm in the corner. Belle knocked Rose down and ran at the corner, but Rose dodged and hit some stomps and forearms before kneeing Belle in the face. Belle made a come back with two clotheslines and a forearm. Belle hit a running forearm and hit a running hip to the face of Rose before hitting the Pedigree for the pinfall.
The Dawsons came out and talked about how a mystery tag team was facing them tonight.
A hype video aired for Thunder Rosa.
Aron Stevens came out and demanded that the fans listen to him and not make eye contact. He wanted to promote his new movie, Tropical Pirates. The fans chanted “Captain Morgan” as he asked to show a clip from the film. He then said, “When it comes to acting, I have more chops than Ric Flair.” This was fantastic.
Caleb Konley defeated Dan Parker
Parker trashed talked a lot in the early portion of the match, but Konley used some speed and athleticism to stay ahead at every chance. Parker managed to switch it around by pulling Konley off the middle rope and hit a Kitchen Sink before looking on an abdominal stretch. Konley escaped with a hip toss and then an enziguri before Caleb hit a spinning backfist, a slam, and a springboard moonsault for the pinfall. This was a great squash.
Tim Storm came out and thanked Nick Aldis for giving him a shot at the title. He admitted that he lost, fair and square. There was a guy that said, “We love you Tim!” and Tim thanked them and said his mom still loved him. Storm said he had to make decisions about his career. Eli Drake came out said his mom was probably more worried about her son giving up, and that one loss wasn’t enough to take him off the list, the same list that Ric Flair, Steamboat, and Harley Race is on.
Drake said that maybe the ten pounds of gold isn’t in his immediate future, but maybe there is two titles in their future, as Drake asked him to be his tag partner. Storm said he would think about it.
Jocephus asked to make a public apology to James Storm and asked the shake his hand. Colt Cabana came out and he imitated James Storm, took the hat that was being offered, and a beer too. Jocephus threw powder into Cabana’s face and started to attack in the ring. James Storm came up behind him and superkicked him when he turned around. Cabana was about to eat a superkick from Storm, but Ken Anderson pulled him out of the ring.
Nick Aldis and Kamille came out to discuss the next challenger for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Aldis said that he was going to wait and see who steps up, and if he needs to, he will go to another promotion and see there. Galli asked about Kamille talking for herself again, and Aldis told him off again, and said that she could speak whenever she wanted.
Galli asked what her motivation was for being the insurance policy for Aldis, and she refused to speak. Aldis said that she didn’t want to talk, and when she wanted to, Galli would be the first to know.
And ad aired with a Twitter account at the end saying “@QuestionTheNWA” It seems we have a mystery wrestler coming to the NWA.
Eli Drake came out. Tim Storm joined him, to the roar from the crowd.
The Dawsons defeated Eli Drake and Tim Storm
Dave Dawson started the match with Eli Drake. Drake hit the ropes hard and hit three big clotheslines and a spinning neckbreaker. Drake went for a suplex, but that didn’t work out and Zane Dawson tagged in. Drake hit a neckbreaker and tagged out to Storm. He hit a nice neckbreaker for a near fall. Storm tagged out to Drake and both men hit a double elbow to drop Dawson.
Zane charged at the corner, but Drake got his feet up and hit a bulldog. Dawson kicked out. Storm tagged in and hit a corner charge on Dawson. Storm and Drake manged quick tags as Storm hit some hard elbows. Zane locked on a bearhug on Storm and drove him back into the corner and tagged out to his brother. Dave Dawson went back to the bearhug and worked over Storm’s ribs.
Storm managed to escape and make the hot tag to Drake, and Drake ran wild, but he was soon driven into the corner ring post, and Storm was left alone. Storm tried his best to fight both men off, but the Dawsons hit a combo squash and powerslam for the pinfall.
The Dawsons continued beating on Storm after the match ended, but Kingston and Homicide made the save and drove them off. Nick Aldis came out to check on Storm with Drake, and the show closed. Excellent episode.
Last week, we saw Nick Aldis retain his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Tim Storm in an excellent match. After the match, Aldis refused to let his manager, Kamille, speak. We saw the recap video linger on that, as they’re telling a story there.
– Aron Stevens (the former Damien Sandow) made his entrance to talk to David Marquez. I thought Stevens showed more charisma here than he did in his entire WWE run, and he looked more like a star.
Stevens decided to catch the fans up on him, and he asked for no eye contact. He requested silence from the audience, said he was a real thespian, and then completely turned the crowd in a second. This was great.
Ricky Starks defeated Trevor Murdoch
Starks and Murdoch exchanged arm drags and chops. Murdoch posed like Michael Jackson, which was hilarious. He hit a big boot, a Russian leg sweep, and missed a leg drop. Starks hit a twisting neckbreaker for a near fall.
Starks hit a dropkick off the middle rope for a two count. He went for a tornado DDT, but Murdoch countered and threw him across the ring. Both men exchanged strikes, then Starks got a crucifix and pinned Murdoch.
Murdoch shook Starks’ hand after and said that Starks was the better man tonight.
Marquez then asked Starks what he wanted to do. Starks said he wants the titles, but also said that God didn’t have much beauty left over after making him, and he’s too blessed. He said “I might be a little funny, but I’m coming for your money.” Good promo here.
– Joe Galli had a news update about questions he asked Kamille. Galli said he was only searching for the truth, and sometimes you need to ask tough questions — questions that the audience needs answers to. This was excellent, as it hyped up the sit-down interview he was having with Aldis and Kamille later. It was refreshing to see a babyface announcer stand up to the heels.
– Colt Cabana came out to be interviewed by Galli, and he said he was going to go after the championships, including the Tag Team titles. He said he’s got a guy, and his name is — and it was cut off by Mr. Anderson yelling his own name. The crowd popped huge for this. Cabana stole his catchphrase at the end, and Anderson looked a little bewildered by it.
Colt Cabana & Mr. Anderson defeated Sal Rinauro & Jordan Kingsley
Cabana and Anderson dominated Rinauro early on, including Cabana yelling stop as Rinauro hit the ropes and then hitting an arm wringer takedown. Anderson worked on Rinauro and Kingsley for a bit, hitting a clothesline that saw Kingsley backflip.
Cabana hit a big flying elbow. Anderson hit a rolling fireman’s carry on Kingsley, then on Rinauro, who tagged himself in. Anderson hit the Mic Check for the win.
– Aldis was seen leaving the building as a cameraman came up to him. Aldis said he didn’t have to do the interview with Galli but came in on his day off.
– An ad aired for Tony Falk’s Waffles and Tire Irons. You have to see it. It’s incredible.
– Eddie Kingston and Homicide were backstage and cut a promo about how they were going to take out the Tag Team Champions.
NWA Women’s World Champion Allysin Kay defeated Ashley Vox in a non-title match
Vox showed zero intimidation here as she attempted to take down Kay, but Kay was too big and too strong. She beat on Vox all around the ring. Vox went for a roll through, but Kay caught her and hit a wheelbarrow suplex for a two count. Kay went for the inverted piledriver, but Vox rolled through into a sunset flip. Kay kicked out.
Vox hit a flying headscissors and a cannonball for a near fall. She went for the Fish on the Hook, but Kay hit the Dudebuster for the win.
Kay cut a promo saying that Vox’s future is bright, but not with the championship.
– Tim Storm was caught for an interview after his match last week, but he couldn’t speak and walked away.
– James Storm came out to cut a promo. Storm said he saw the National title as a prop to help him get the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and he laid down the gauntlet. Storm said he was a real man, unlike everyone in the back.
Eli Drake entered and put over how the National title was a huge deal because it made him next in line for the World title. Drake said, “Maybe Nick Aldis is ducking you!” and he wondered if Aldis was ducking him too. Drake told Storm to take the shot, and no matter what happens, if he wins, Drake wants the first title shot.
NWA Tag Team Champions The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs) vs. Outlaw Inc. (Eddie Kingston & Homicide) ended in a no contest
Kingston and Latimer started the match. Kingston quickly went for the Backfist to the Future, but Latimer rolled out of the ring and tagged in Isaacs. Kingston hit a suplex and tagged in Homicide. Homicide hit a flying forearm for a two count. Latimer tagged in and started to brawl with Homicide. He got a near fall after hitting a back suplex.
Isaacs hit a powerslam on Homicide for a two count. Homicide fought out of the corner, but he didn’t see the blind tag from Isaacs, who was able to cut him off. Latimer locked on a headlock on Homicide. Homicide cut Isaacs off and shoved him off the top rope. Homicide made the tag to Kingston, who chopped the crap out of everyone.
The Dawsons ran in as Kingston was running wild. They attacked Homicide and Kingston, and the referee threw out the match.
– Galli interviewed Nick Aldis and he talked about choosing the Power premiere as the time and place for his World title match against Tim Storm. He put over Storm strongly and said the match could have went either way, but he walked out with the win.
Galli asked why he needed Kamille as insurance, and Aldis accused him of pushing buttons
Aldis said that he had no insurance at All In and lost the title due to Brandi Rhodes. Aldis said at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show, he decided he needed insurance. Aldis asked “Has she ever gotten involved in a match?” Galli had to admit no.
Galli gave Kamille a chance to explain why she was helping Aldis, and Kamille chose not to speak. Aldis said “I don’t want to hear another word about not letting her speak,” and the show went to the credits. This was fantastic.
NWA’s new weekly series debuted on YouTube and Facebook at 6:05 p.m. Eastern time tonight. Taped at GPB Studios in Atlanta, the show is a throwback to the days of studio wrestling.
The opening of the show felt very old school. Commentators Joe Galli and Jim Cornette opened the episode before pitching it to David Marquez, who introduced NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
Aldis cut a promo saying he was the real Worlds Champion and said that being the champ for a year makes it hard to stay hungry. Aldis put over the other champions in the company. This was very good. Aldis came across as very likable here.
Aldis called out Tim Storm and said he was going to give it his all because professional wrestling is the only thing that’s put food on his family’s table.
The Dawsons (Dave & Zane Dawson) defeated Sal Rinauro & Billy Buck
This was a quick squash where The Dawsons ran wild and hit a combo sandwich with a forward splash. This felt exactly like an old studio show with two jobbers getting destroyed by a bigger tag team. My stream momentarily died here but came back in time for the finish.
An ad aired for Austin Idol’s wrestling school, and it looked like it was right out of the 80s.
Galli was at ringside to interview Eli Drake. Drake cut a great promo here talking about how the best want the gold in the NWA, and he said James Storm and Nick Aldis need to watch out for him as he’s coming for all the gold.
Eli Drake defeated Caleb Konley
Drake started with a shoulder block, but Konley used his speed to get a few moves up on Drake, including a very nice monkey flip. Konley went for a Stinger splash, but Drake dodged and hit a neckbreaker. Drake followed up with another one off the ropes.
Konley hit a hard chop, but Drake hit a drop toe hold into the middle rope, then a knee lift and a slingshot shoulder block for a near fall.
Drake ate an elbow and a kick from Konley. Konley blocked two clotheslines, ducked another, and hit a kick that dropped Drake. Drake threw Konley to the apron, and Konley hit a corkscrew splash for a two count.
Konley hit a double stomp as Drake ran into the corner and went to the middle rope. He went for a springboard moonsault, but Drake hit the Gravy Train for the pinfall victory.
A hype video aired for Aldis vs. Storm, as Storm said he would never challenge for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship again if he can’t beat Aldis.
Jocephus came out and said he wanted to fight Storm, but Cornette informed him that Tim Storm wasn’t going to be out there until later. Storm came out — but it was James Storm, who got a big reaction.
James Storm said he was the only Storm that Jocephus needed to worry about. James Storm said Jocephus pretends like he’s tough, but he should go back to his desk job.
Both men started brawling and an army of refs came out and pulled them apart as the crowd chanted “Let them fight!”
NWA Tag Team Champions The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs) defeated Danny White & Mimms in a non-title match
Latimer and Isaacs showed off their offense. Latimer sent White into a pop-up powerbomb from Isaacs, who sent White into a deadlift German suplex for the pinfall victory. This was fantastic.
They cut a promo afterwards, but Eddie Kingston entered and said “I’m not here to disrespect you Bram… I mean Tommy Boy…” and he proceeded to call him several names, saying that the titles looked great on them, but in his world, looks don’t mean anything.
Kingston said Latimer & Isaacs don’t speak for underdogs or stray dogs, or outlaws, and they pushed the table to the side as Homicide made his way out. It looks like Homicide and Kingston will be feuding with The Wild Cards.
Meanwhile, James Storm and Jocephus were brawling back out onto the stage. This was wild, and I loved it. When they came back from break, officials broke apart the brawl again, but Storm grabbed Jocephus and they brawled into the crowd. Jocephus sent Storm into the ring and Storm turned his back, begging for him to get into the ring.
James Storm defeated Jocephus
We had an impromptu match, and Storm nailed a superkick on Jocephus and pinned him in less than 10 seconds. Storm hit another superkick and then took Jocephus’ thumb and put it in his mouth.
A hype video aired for Aldis vs. Tim Storm. Tim Storm came out and cut a promo about how this was his last title. He cut a great promo on how he couldn’t tell his 94-year-old mom he was here because she would be afraid that he would get hurt.
Storm put over Aldis and said that he wanted just one more chance for that title, as nothing was more important in wrestling than holding the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Great stuff.
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) defeated Tim Storm to retain his title
Storm sent Aldis back to the corner at the start of the match, overpowering him. Aldis pushed Storm back to the corner and hit a chop, but Storm chopped him in response and Aldis backed off. Aldis and Storm hit a series of strikes against each other in the corner until the ref pulled Storm off. Storm hit a big right hand, then Aldis rolled to the outside to collect himself.
Aldis reversed an Irish whip, sent Storm into the ring post, and then smashed his back into the apron. Aldis hit a body slam and an elbow. Aldis locked on a headlock on the mat. Storm tried to escape, but Aldis got a sleeper hold. Storm ducked down and sent Aldis face-first into the turnbuckle, then he started to make his comeback with a series of clotheslines.
Aldis picked a leg and went for the figure four, but Storm rolled him up for a two count. Storm got up, picked the leg of Aldis, and locked on the figure four. Aldis made the ropes, but just barely. Aldis went to the top rope, but Storm cut him off with a superplex. Aldis kicked out. Storm went to the top rope and hit a flying crossbody, but Aldis kicked out.
Storm went for a flipping senton, but Aldis moved out of the way and then hit a flying elbow. Aldis managed to lock on the Texas Cloverleaf in the middle of the ring. Aldis pulled him back to the middle of the ring.
Storm pushed himself up as the crowd chanted “Mama Storm!” He managed to make the ropes. Aldis went for a running powerslam, but Storm pushed Aldis into the referee and hit a low blow on Aldis!
Storm hit Perfect Storm, but Aldis just kicked out. Storm went back to the top rope and Aldis cut him off. Both men fell off the top rope onto the apron to the floor. Storm ducked a clothesline attempt and Aldis accidentally took out Kamille! Storm went for a vertical suplex, but Aldis countered into a cradle for the pinfall. Excellent match.
Storm will never get another shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and he rose in the ring with tears in his eyes.
Aldis cut a promo after the match saying he was proud to wrestle Storm. Galli asked Aldis if Kamille was okay, but Aldis told him off like a jerk, indicating that he’s still a heel. This was very fun.
The weekly series is titled “NWA Power” and will air on the NWA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page in this time slot on Tuesdays going forward. Tonight’s debut episode will be headlined by NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defending his title against Tim Storm.
Aldis, Storm, and Cody Rhodes are the only wrestlers to hold the NWA World title since Corgan purchased the brand in 2017. Aldis won the title from Storm in December 2017. He then lost the championship to Cody at All In last year before regaining it a month later at the NWA’s 70th Anniversary Show.
NWA Power is a studio wrestling show, and the first set of tapings were held at GPB Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on September 30 and October 1. The show will feature commentary by Joe Galli and Jim Cornette.
The NWA was at GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) Studios in Atlanta on Monday for their first of two straight nights of television tapings.
Ahead of the tapings, it was announced that the NWA’s weekly show is named NWA Power. The show is a throwback to the days of studio wrestling and will air on the NWA’s Facebook page and YouTube channel at 6:05 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesdays starting on October 8.
– NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis cut a promo to start the tapings.
– The Dawson Brothers (Zane & Dave Dawson) defeated Sal Rinauro & Billy Buck
– Eli Drake defeated Caleb Konley
– A confrontation between Jocephus and James Storm was broken up.
– NWA Tag Team Champions Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs won a tag match
Latimer & Isaacs were interrupted by Eddie Kingston & Homicide after.
– NWA National Champion James Storm defeated Jocephus
Storm won quickly.
– Tim Storm did an interview ahead of challenging Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title.
– NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defeated Tim Storm to retain his title
– Aron Stevens (the former Damien Sandow) appeared and cut a promo.
– Ricky Starks defeated Trevor Murdoch
– Colt Cabana & Mr. Anderson won a tag match
– NWA Women’s World Champion Allysin Kay defeated Ashley Vox
– James Storm did an interview.
– NWA Tag Team Champions Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs vs. Eddie Kingston & Homicide ended in a no contest
Latimer & Isaac’s titles were on the line, but the match ended in a no contest after The Dawson Brothers got involved. Kingston then issued a challenge to The Dawsons.
– Marti Belle defeated Crystal Rose
– Caleb Konley won a singles match
– Eli Drake offered to be partners with Tim Storm, with Storm saying that he’ll think about it.
– The Dawson Brothers (Zane & Dave Dawson) defeated Eli Drake & Tim Storm
Storm took the pin, then Kingston & Homicide saved him from a post-match attack by The Dawson Brothers.
– Trevor Murdoch was interviewed and said that he wants to fight for an NWA contract.
– Trevor Murdoch defeated Jocephus
– Marti Belle said she wants a shot at Allysin Kay’s NWA Women’s World Championship, which led to her facing Ashley Vox.
– Ashley Vox defeated Marti Belle
Kay was at ringside for this. Thunder Rosa appeared after.
– The Dawson Brothers (Zane & Dave Dawson) defeated Eddie Kingston & Homicide in a no DQ match
Latimer & Isaacs got involved in this one.
– Ricky Starks defeated Aron Stevens
– NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis, Colt Cabana & Mr. Anderson defeated NWA National Champion James Storm & NWA Tag Team Champions Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs
Cabana pinned Latimer. As a stipulation of his team winning, Cabana will get a future shot at Storm’s National title.
The National Wrestling Alliance and Ring Of Honor have decided to part ways amicably, with Nick Aldis no longer being advertised for next month’s Summer Supercard event.
PWInsider were the first to report the split, with Dave Meltzer confirming soon after. The report also says that Dave Lagana, who has been producing pre-tapes for ROH over the last seven months, finished his commitments with the promotion this past weekend.
It was also noted in the report that Billy Corgan, president of the NWA, will be focusing on producing a weekly NWA television show following the conclusion of a Smashing Pumpkins tour later this year.
Aldis’ current storyline in ROH was for him to defend the NWA World Heavyweight title against a Villian Enterprises member of Marty Scurll’s choosing at the ROH Summer Supercard event on August 9. The person in question was set to be announced at last weekend’s Manhattan Mayhem event, but there was no follow up.
Both promotions took part in hosting the Crockett Cup earlier this year, with PCO and Brody King winning both the tournament and the NWA World tag team titles, which they currently hold.
Eli Drake was revealed as Nick Aldis’ tag team partner for ROH Best in the World tonight.
Aldis came out during the pre-show and was set to reveal who his tag team partner was when James Storm came out. He said he wasn’t his partner, but wanted to know who it was. It was then when Aldis introduced Eli Drake, using that name.
Drake came out and cut a short promo, saying that he was no longer the hottest free agent in the world and that the NWA and ROH would be turned upside down.
Drake was fired from Impact Wrestling in April after he became critical of Impact’s booking, namely when he was booked in a match against Tessa Blanchard that he was against doing. Drake declared himself a free agent earlier this month.
The NWA confirmed earlier this week that Aldis’ tag team partner had signed an exclusive deal with the promotion.
Colt Cabana was originally set to be Aldis’ tag team partner, but had to pull out of the event due to a hematoma in his quadriceps.
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and NWA National Champion will be teaming up at ROH Best in the World.
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis & NWA National Champion Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes has been announced for Best in the World. The pay-per-view is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28.
The match was set up after Cabana’s National title defense against James Storm at last month’s ROH television tapings. The NWA uploaded video of Cabana vs. Storm and the post-match angle today, with The Briscoes laying out both Cabana and Aldis.
In storyline, The Briscoes are out for revenge against the NWA after they were disqualified for using steel chairs in their match against PCO & Brody King at the Crockett Cup.
Both teams had chairs in their hands at the end of the Crockett Cup match. Jay Briscoe went to hit King, but King moved out of the way and PCO hit Jay with a chair. The referee didn’t see it because he was trying to take Mark Briscoe’s chair from him. The ref then disqualified The Briscoes when Mark gave King a chair shot.
Here’s the updated card for Best in the World:
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Jeff Cobb
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Bandido
The winners of the 2019 Crockett Cup will be crowned in Concord, North Carolina tonight.
Eight teams will face off in a one-night tournament, with the winners also becoming the NWA Tag Team Champions. The left side of the bracket has The Briscoes vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. PCO & Brody King. The right side has Stuka Jr. & Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Flip Gordon & Bandido and Crimson & Jax Dane vs. the winners of a wild card battle royal.
Three other title matches are also set for tonight. NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis puts his title on the line against Marty Scurll, Allysin Kay and Santana Garrett face off for the vacant NWA World Women’s Championship, and Willie Mack defends the NWA National title against Colt Cabana.
The NWA and ROH are partnering for tonight’s show. It begins at 7 p.m. Eastern time and will air live on HonorClub, Fite TV, and pay-per-view.
**********
Joe Galli, Ian Riccaboni and Jim Cornette were on commentary for tonight’s event. The ring used for this Crockett Cup looked different from the one they used at the 70th Anniversary show in November, with the plain old school NWA logo in yellow on the blue canvas, with the old ROH logo — the one that wasn’t inspired by tribal tattoos — on the apron. The graphics were very ‘80s throughout the night, too, and gave the show a nostalgic feel.
Royce Isaacs & Thomas Latimer won a tag-team battle royalty qualify for the Crockett Cup tournament.
The Boys, Will Ferarra & Rhett Titus, Royce Isaacs & Thomas Latimer (Bram in TNA), Jay Bradley & Jocephus, Zane and Dave Dodson, and a handful of other young talent were included in this match. Everyone was in the ring before the bell rang and were each briefly introduced by the ring announcer.
In the ring, Rhett Titus flexed in front of all the teams until the Boys eliminated him, and here is when the match really kicked off.
The Dodsons, the local team from North Carolina, were put over on commentary for being the kinda-sorta hometown heroes. They were the two biggest contestants in the battle royal, but were ironically eliminated by some of the smallest wrestlers in the match with a double clothesline.
The other teams were eliminated quickly, and the last two groups in the ring were Bradley and Cephus vs the Boys. The Boys thought they got the upset win until Royce Isaacs and Tom Latimer, who feigned elimination, jumped back into the ring to eliminate the Boys and win the battle royal.
This wasn’t great but it was quick and painless. I’m not sure how familiar the crowd was with the teams outside of the ROH teams or locals.
Crockett Cup Round 1:
Flip Gordon & Bandido (ROH) defeated Stuka Jr. & Guerrero Maya Jr. (CMLL)
Really nice match to kick off the tournament. Gordon wore Bandido’s sombrero and Bandido wore FLIP t-shirt to the ring. People sounded really excited for the ROH team here.
Jim Cornette’s mini-history lessons during dead spots during the broadcast are just terrific. He gave an abridged version of EMLL/CMLL in about a minute or two before the match. It’s one of the best parts of these NWA specials, actually.
This wasn’t as lightening-fast as you’d imagine it might be. Guerrero Maya Jr. was the first wrestler to really shine in the match and used four tilt-a-whirl backbreakers in a row on both Gordon and Bandido. Stuka and Maya did a very cool double-team lucha-styled submissions on both Gordon and Bandido. At one point they did a double Romero Special to Bandido but Gordon slid in and pinned both for a quick two-count.
The CMLL team dominated much of this match. Stuka did a torpedo plancha onto Bandidoto the floor; Maya did a tope con giro through the ropes onto Gordon.
Team ROH made a comeback halfway through the match and started diving all over the place. Gordon used a big moonsault to the floor and landed on his feet. The crowd was very much into Gordon tonight. He and Bandido together had good chemistry together despite not having teamed all that much.
Stuka mounted a comeback for his team and hit a string off flying and power moves, including a giant torpedo splash. Maya used innovative offense here as well and got a very close count after a modified neckbreaker.
Towards the end of the match, Stuka went for a cross body from the top rope. Bandido caught the stout luchador mid-air and passed him off to Flip Gordon who hit a modified TKO on Stuka for the win.
Crockett Cup Round 1
Royce Isaacs & Thomas Latimer defeated Crimson & Jax Dane (NWA)
Solid and hard-hitting match but a bit short. The crowd was pretty into the NWA team for obvious reasons. The heels, Isaacs and Latimer, controlled much of the match in their corner, beating down Crimson until Jax was tagged in. Jax took both Latimer and Isaacs from the top rope and did a double-Samoan Drop. As the NWA team mounted their comeback, Isaacs was able to score a roll-up pin with his foot on the ropes to advance to the next round.
Crockett Cup Round 1:
The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)
Jim Cornette went to the ring to introduce the Rock ’n’ Roll Express, who received a warm reaction from the crowd. Cornette interviewed the team in the ring, specifically Morton, who was so fired up at points during this promo his face turned red. He explained how it’s been their goal to win the Crockett Cup, that that’s what they’re all about, and then Morton got the crowd to chant “Rock and Roll.” The Briscoes’ music hit midway through the chant as Jay and Mark came to the ring to cut a promo of their own. Their reaction was really loud and positive.
Jay threatened to whoop Cornette’s ass if he didn’t give him the mic. He then cut a promo offering them to forfeit the match. Morton responded by decking Jay and the match was on. Morton hit a frankensteiner on Mark just after the bell. Wow. RNR knocked him to the floor with their patented double dropkick after this and the chants for the NWA legends started over again.
Gibson opened the ropes for Morton to dive through them moments later, hitting a tope suicida onto both Briscoes. This happened in 2019.
The Briscoes were able to gather themselves on the outside and started abusing Morton back inside the ring. Morton had already bladed at this point. The Briscoes kept the flash to a minimum here and controlled the match with forearms, chin locks and neck cranks. They screamed at the crowd and at Robert Gibson as he yelled for Morton to get to the opposing corner.
The crowd was split here, and there were equal chants for both teams. Gibson did get a tag that the ref didn’t see so he was ordered back to the apron, which got a lot of heat. He did finally get himself tagged into the ring where he cleaned house. He and Morton did the Rocket Launcher spot into the ring onto Mark Briscoe for two.
The Briscoes were able to make a quick comeback and put the Express away after Mark pinned Morton after a Froggy Bow. Like the others, this was a short match though both teams looked great, and that’s after we’ve shelved our nostalgic feelings for the Rock ’n’ Roll Express. I never had the feeling like either were struggling in the match despite their ages and states of their bodies, and the Briscoes always know what they’re doing, so yeah, this was good stuff. Briscoes were awesome heels in this, as well.
PCO & Brody King (ROH) defeated Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata (NJPW)
This was another solid match that had a slower pace than the others so far tonight. Nagata and King started the match off, but the crowd really seemed to perk up for Kojima and PCO together. After PCO no-sold a shoulder block from Kojima, he used a discus lariat to knock him out of the ring and followed up with a tope suicida. This is turning into the Night of Amazing Middle-Aged Men.
Nagata entered the ring in House of Fire Mode and hit all of his signature moves, including an exploder suplex and the extreme arm breaker where he rolls his eyes into the back of his head, the shiro-me (“white eyes” in Japanese) spot. PCO broke it up.
Kojima and PCO traded machine gun shops in opposite corners. They traded big spots after this, Kojima with a Koji Cutter, PCO with a Michinoku Driver II. It’s almost strange to see King and PCO in a regular wrestling match; these days they tend to be booked exclusively in gimmick matches.
Back in the ring, King landed a fireman’s carry into a Michinoku Driver on Kojima for the clean pin. They’ll face the Briscoes in the next round.
NWA Womens’ Championship match: Allysin Kay defeated Santana Garrett
Madusa came out with the NWA Women’s Championship. She called herself the Queen of Carnage and said she wasn’t going to trash any titles tonight. It was unfortunately quite awkward. It sounded like she kept forgetting what she was going to say. Just as she was wrapping up, Allisn Kay’s music hit.
The story for those who haven’t heard is that Jazz, the former NWA Women’s champion, vacated the titled earlier this week due to health and personal reasons.
Earlier on in the broadcast aired a selfie promo from Kay, formerly Sienna in TNA. She dominated much this one. Kay is a good heel and abused Garrett throughout. Garrett used some acrobatic offensive moves towards the end of the match, but Kay used a spinning lariat to pin Garrett to become the new NWA Women’s champion. This wasn’t bad, but it sure didn’t feel important.
Crockett Cup Semi-Finals:
Royce Isaacs & Thomas Latimer defeated Flip Gordon & Bandido (ROH)
The teams started things off at a medium pace. Isaacs and Latimer were knocked to the floor early on, but instead of diving onto them, Flip and Bandido did a dance inside the ring. As Team ROH were flossing (I swear) in the ring, Madusa was out at ringside and whispering something into the freelancers’ ears.
Latimer and Isaacs made a comeback midway through the match and worked over Gordon towards their corner. Not all that much happened in this match, actually, because Latimer scored an a quick upset win on Gordon with a schoolboy to advance to the finals of tonight’s Crockett Cup. What a swerve.
Crockett Cup Semi-Finals:
Brody King & PCO (ROH) defeated The Briscoe Brothers (ROH) by DQ
PCO and Mark Briscoe had a chop-off early on. PCO’s chest was still red from his match with Kojima and Nagata. Mark hit a huge corkscrew senton to the floor which popped the very pro-Briscoes crowd.
PCO used a thrust kick to counter the Briscoes offense. From here, he had his partner, King, chop him a number of times to fire him up, and was whipped by King into the opposite corner. King followed up by cannonballing himself into the then prone Mark Briscoe in the same corner.
The Briscoes did a lot dives in this match. Jay did a pescado to the floor but then King chokeslammed him onto the edge of the apron. Mark dove through the middle ropes with a dropkick. PCO did a tope con giro through the ropes, but then missed a somersault senton onto the edge of the apron. It looked brutal, as per usual. Mark did a running elbow drop to King on the floor, just like Cactus Jack used to do.
The match morphed into another version of the Briscoes vs. Villain Enterprises matches that we’ve seen on the big ROH cards over the past two months. They circled ringside, brawling, until each wrestler found a chairs. Both teams were then in the ring with chairs until everyone started smashing each other. Referee Scott Turner then called for the bell and DQ’d the Briscoes, allowing for Villain Enterprises to advance to tonight’s finals.
After the match, the Briscoes jumped their opponents and ref Scott Turner. Jay used a not-great looking Jaydriller on Turner, then Mark hit a somersault senton onto PCO, who had a chair across his chest, on the apron. Jay then grabbed the mic and essentially said to hell with the NWA and they left.
NWA National Title match: Colt Cabana defeated Willie Mack (c)
This wasn’t bad but was again another short one making it harder to judge fairly. Both wrestlers shook hands before the match. Mack hit a big swinging bodyslam on Cabana early on. He attempted a running dropkick to Cabana in the corner but Cabana moved out of the way and Mack slid right through the ropes and bumped back-first onto the floor, in essence doing a modified Chris Hamrick bump. Cornette sold it as purely accident and worked it into the story of the match.
From here, Cabana took control for a couple of minutes until Mack was able to counter the attack with a Samoan drop and standing moonsault for two, and later a deadweight upside-down cannonball for another two.
Cabana landed a quebrada for a two of his own. Mack landed some really stiff looking kicks and forearms and seemed to be picking up momentum when Cabana, basically out of nowhere, used his Superman Press pin to score what some might consider the upset victory. The crowd was shocked but didn’t seem to love the result. Colt Cabana is your new NWA National champion.
As Mack walked to the dressing room, a tall fellow in a hood walked by him, who happened to be James Storm. Storm got into the ring and grabbed the mic. He congratulated Cabana on his win and then cut a promo about how the “management” holding him down when he held the NWA title and that the “management” only wants a certain type of person to hold the title, not a hell raiser like himself. He then challenged Cabana to a match and did his catchphrase, which a good portion of the crowd already knew, and walked to the back.
— Billy Corgan and Joe Koff came to ringside with members of the Crockett family. Bobby Cruise then announced Nikita Koloff who came to the ring. He boasted about how he is now a preacher and has toured the world preaching. Magnum T.A. came out and he put over the NWA fans.
Crockett Cup Finals:
Brody King & PCO defeated Royce Isaacs & Thom Latimer (w/ Madusa)
Isaacs and King were first in. They exchanged strikes up front, lots of fists and chops. Isaacs inched his way back towards his team’s corner. He and Latimer pounded down on King, slowing things down with forearms and wear-down submissions. After a few minutes of punishment, King back body dropped Latimer into the corner and inched his way to the corner and tag PCO.
PCO here started screaming “Brody, fix my arm!” on the apron, so King did an arm breaker across the top rope to “set” his arm back into place. He then unloaded a few lariats and then passed Latimer off to King. King did that fireman’s carry driver again and set Latimer flat, prone and ready to take a monstrous PCO moonsault and easily walk away with the victory. Villain Enterprises win the Crockett Cup and are now the new NWA Tag Team champions. The crowd chanted for PCO after this. Nikita Koloff and Magnum TA congratulated the team and presented them with the gigantic Crockett Cup trophy.
NWA Heavyweight Title match: Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) (c) defeated Marty Scurll
Both wrestlers got really long entrances. They showed the Ten Pounds of Gold mini-docs before and during the broadcast. They made it a strong point to make this match feel like it meant a lot, on commentary, in the ring, and with regard to the match’s live programming. Legendary NWA referee Tommy Young came out and gave both wrestlers instructions before the match, noting that it’s a wrestling match and not a fight, and that the fans paid to see these two wrestlers wrestle, not to see him referee. This got a few boisterous albeit scattered cheers.
They exchanged holds for the first few minutes of this one. Cornette digressed a bit on this style of chain wrestling, the World of Sport-inspired style these two often employee. For me, these little tidbits throughout the broadcast are always fascinating to listen to and enhance the overall experience on television.
I want to note that here Cornette claimed that Billy Robinson invented what’s known in the BJJ world as a cartwheel guard pass, which I’m not entirely sure if that’s true or not. Kazusashi Sakuraba was one of the first people I saw use it in a pro fight, before the term “guard” was so frequently used, and Sakuraba is a Robinson devotee, so it could in fact be true.
After being whipped into the ropes, Scurll bumped face-first onto the mat and acted as though Kamille tripped him. Referee Brian Hebner ejected her from ringside, even though Tommy Young, officiating from the floor, claimed not to see her do anything. Scurll tapped his temple with his finger to let the audience just how villainous he is.
It didn’t matter for long, though, as Aldis powered back to control much of the middle part of this match. He used a super fall-away slam from the top turnbuckle, and later chokeslammed Scurll clean through a ringside table.
Aldis continued to dominate for a bit longer until Scurll summoned some sort of inner fire, first spitting in Aldis’ face, later landing a tornado DDT and later a low thrust kick from the apron into Aldis’ face. The two brawled around the ring for a while here, with Scurll getting the better of this second spill to the floor. Aldis bled a ton here and Cornette called it as though Scurll popped him in the eye with a fist.
Scurll put Aldis into a figure-four leg lock back inside the ring. Aldis was bleeding heavy now. He came back with a tombstone piledriver, a Michinoku Driver II off the ropes and then a diving elbow drop from the top rope.
The two exchanged strikes on the top rope. After a few more moments of fisticuffs, Scurll was able to reverse Aldis’ offensive attempt into a big superplex for two. Much of the crowd in attendance was on their feet at this point.
Aldis went for the Cloverleaf but Scurll snapped Aldis fingers before he could lock the submission in. Scurll hit a CrossRhodes. Scurll went for the chicken wing but ended up crashing into ref Brian Hebner. Kamille then ran out and went to spear Scurll in the ring while the ref was out, but Aldis got in the way and insisted she get out of the ring because he wanted the honorable win. Despite this, Scurll then gave Aldis a low-blow and went for a pin but couldn’t finish.
Aldis fought from behind for much of the end of this. Scurll had him locked in the chicken wing for a minute or two but Aldis countered out with a pinning attempt. He was finally able to lock in the cloverleaf, and after dragging Scurll to the middle of the ring, the bloody Nick Aldis was able tap Scurll for the win. The two shook hands after the match, and Scurll raised Aldis’ hand to celebrate his victory.
This was excellent. The crowd was going wild towards the end of this. Both wrestlers busted their asses not only physically but in terms of match layout, pacing, structure and aesthetic. It was competitive and had drama pulled from a pretty strong backstory.
Afterwards, Scurll grabbed the mic and put Aldis over huge. He explained how he not only helped him at the beginning of his career but he helped Scurll become the man that he is today. He put over the match tonight, to the delight of the crowd, and put Aldis over once more. Aldis then took the mic and said Scurll is the biggest self-made star today. He said that tonight was for the one’s that laughed at the idea of the NWA coming back, and that the NWA is filled with people who had courage and valor and such. Everything felt authentic and classy, both from he and from Scurll.
— Final thoughts
This was a good card that had not only solid wrestling quality television production. Compared to the 70th Anniversary show back in November, this was leaps ahead in terms of production quality, without any major technical issues or on-screen flubs. The custom ring looked really nice, especially on camera, and entrance area lighting looked high-calibre. The announce team was terrific, especially Cornette, who knew how to fill dead spots in matches with either logical kayfabe-centric storytelling or miniature crash courses in pro-wrestling history.
The matches themselves, aside from the battle royal and weaker women’s match, were all quite good but short, though that’s the nature of the programming with these tournaments, especially if the plan is to go long in the main event, which they did do. The main event was also terrific in that it always felt important on television because of a combination of the ringside pageantry beforehand, the great job of the announce team and the conviction both Aldis and Scurll displayed in their promos and in the ring.
ROH was in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday for their Masters of the Craft special broadcast live on the HonorClub streaming service. Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis were the announce team for the night.
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Rhett Titus in a non-title match
Titus flexed and posed before the match. The announce team used the word “striations” very much with regard to Mr. Titus.
They did some light comedy chain wrestling at the beginning. Titus kept slipping out of Cobb’s holds and the announcers said it was because he had so much baby oil on his body. At one point, Titus tried a tope to the floor and landed very close to head-first onto the concrete. Yikes.
Titus hammered down on Cobb for a few minutes inside the ring until Cobb came back with a huge overhead belly-to-belly suplex. He later used a delayed superplex followed by a standing moonsault for a two-count. At some point during this part of the match, Cobb’s nose looked to be busted open hardway.
Titus used a top rope X-Factor at one point. Cobb did a new move, or rather combination of moves: two floatover gutwrench suplexes into one floatover piledriver. He followed up with the Tour of the Islands for the win.
This was a decent opener. Both looked good, but Cobb, as usual, looked especially impressive. He had a rock-solid response from this crowd, too.
Jenny Rose defeated Holidead
Before the match, Riccaboni brought up how Holidead was trained by Gangrel. She bullied Rose around at the beginning of the match — good powerhouse heeling around on her part.
As Rose picked up some steam and knocked Holidead out of the ring, the Allüre (Mandy Leon, Angelina Love, and Velvet Sky) came out from the back and distracted her. They came out with selfie sticks and sat ringside. They’re doing a mean girls gimmick that feels fifteen years out of date. They are being called “influencers” by the announce team.
Nick Aldis made a great “Glengarry, Glen Ross” reference during one of the slower parts of the match (“Always Be Closing”). Rose eventually made a final comeback and used a uranage for the seemingly out-of-nowhere win.
This wasn’t great. What momentum the match might have built to was killed by the Allüre angle, but the crowd seemed satisfied nonetheless.
Eight-man tag match: Shane Taylor, Silas Young & The Briscoes (Jay & Mark) defeated Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) & The Bouncers (Brian Milonas & Beer City Bruiser)
This was better than you’d think it’d be. Ali and Young were first in and chain wrestled. Jay Briscoe was next in and he and Ali traded blows. LSG and Taylor had a good exchange that ended in LSG literally flying into Taylor and bouncing off his body.
Milonas and Taylor had a shoulder block contest which the crowd was pretty into. The match devolved into a massive brawl that spilled out around the ring.
Mark Briscoe and LSG had a nice exchange back in the ring. Beer City Bruiser and Young had a few exchanges as a part of some angle the two have going.
They did a sequence of dives at the end that had the crowd going pretty crazy. Taylor did a running cannonball off the apron, LSG and Ali did a pair of dives, Mark Briscoe did a corkscrew senton from the top to the floor, and finally Bruiser hit a plancha from the top to the floor that Cabana politely called as follows: “It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective!”
After more madness both in and out of the ring, Taylor was able to land a big Fire Thunder Driver that they’re calling Greetings from 216 on LSG for the win.
Again, this was better than you might think it’d be from looking at the lineup on paper. Milonas and Taylor had a few good big man exchanges that might lead to something down the road. Coast 2 Coast shined brighter than usual here tonight, as well.
So Aldis kept poking fun at Cabana on commentary from the beginning of the broadcast, all for beating him in a match a year ago in China. After the tag match, Cabana got on the mic and challenged Aldis to a rematch on this show. Aldis accepted but was indignant about it and stormed to the back after the challenge. He assured Cabana he’d “stretch” him.
Rush defeated Soberano Jr.
Riccaboni talked about how Soberano is the son of CMLL’s Euforia. He’s currently CMLL Welterweight Champion. Compared to a year or two ago, Soberano has noticeably improved. He used an awesome tornillo on Rush early on in this one for two.
Rush came back quickly and did a few of his signature spots to Soberano — the fake-out dropkick into kick-in-face into Tranquilo pose, etc. He later took the match to the floor and whipped Soberano from corner to corner, shoving him into the barricades.
It was only moments later that Rush had Soberano lying prone in the corner ready to take the Bull’s Horn basement dropkick to the face. Rush hit it and grabbed the quick and dominant win. It seems like ROH are booking Rush in short squashes to build him for something much bigger this summer.
Four-way match: Bandido defeated PJ Black, Caristico, and Flip Gordon
Crazy match. Caprice Coleman joined Riccaboni on commentary for this one. Riccaboni did a nice rundown of Caristico’s career in Mexico before the bout.
Bandido and Gordon got the loudest reactions upon their entrances. Crazy to think Bandido is getting twice the reaction Caristico gets these days considering how popular Caristico used to be.
Gordon has what looks to be a 20-pack now. Looking at him just a year ago to now is wild, a pretty crazy transformation. He was really good in this match.
It was fast action in this from the start, as you might imagine. Caristico and Bandido were pretty amazing together, as were Bandido and Flip Gordon. Those were the especially good parts of this match. The crowd treats Bandido and Gordon like total superstars already.
PJ Black was hanging in a Tree of Woe while Bandido attempted to superplex Caristico when he sat up and German suplexed Bandido, who in turn superplexed Caristico. Whew.
The match was filled with lots of innovative stuff, really cool flying, though there were a few obviously botched moments, like when Caristico slipped off the ropes, or when Black went to do some double lucha-style submission to two guys but collapsed. Thankfully the crowd stuck with everything, and since there were so many moving parts in this match it was easy to forget. Bandido and Caristico did multiple dives to the floor just after this.
In what will surely be in GIF form this week, Flip Gordon did a tope con giro from the ring over the barrier into the upper level of the crowd onto all three opponents. He launched himself really, really far.
The finish saw Black attempt an O’Connor Roll on Gordon, but Bandido swooped in and used his slingshot German suplex on both Black and Gordon, pinning Black in the process.
Huge reaction from the crowd after this. They cheered everyone in the match separately, but for some reason the ring announcer gave a special instruction to the crowd to thank the “CMLL Legend” Caristico. Very good match with Bandido and Gordon looking especially impressive.
30-Minute Iron Man tag team match: Jonathan Gresham & Jay Lethal defeated LifeBlood (Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) (2–1)
Kenny King joined the announce team for this. King sold Great Muta’s mist he got in the eyes at G1 Supercard. He wore sunglasses and came out with a cane and acted like he was blind. He rambled a lot before the match started.
The winners of this match will face IWGP & ROH World Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny in Buffalo, NY.
Jay Lethal was loudly over with the crowd. Williams had great grappling sequences with both Gresham and Lethal. At one point, Lethal ordered Haskins to tag Williams back into the ring to keep wrestling.
The ring announcer gave the time at five-minute intervals during this match, unlike what they did during Lethal and Matt Taven’s 60-minute draw last month.
Haskins and Gresham exchanged really hard chops and kicks. LifeBlood isolated Gresham on their side of the ring for a while. Both Williams and Haskins did some interesting catch submissions that worked over Gresham’s shoulder and taped-up arm.
Every few minutes ROH would display a small scoreboard in the bottom right corner of the screen. Jay Lethal made his way back into the ring at around 11 minutes into the match to bail Gresham out. The two then started working over Williams’ knee, with Gresham using some unique figure-four variations.
Later, Lethal put Williams in a traditional figure-four leg lock and Williams seemed close to tapping before grabbing the bottom ropes for the break. Williams then connected with a diving rocker dropper from the second rope onto Lethal and was then able to tag out to a fired up Haskins, who used a brutal looking double arm breaker submission on Gresham for a close submission victory until Gresham caught the ropes with his ankles.
Haskins dove onto both Gresham and Lethal outside the ring, then used a pumphandle driver for two. Minutes later, Haskins put Gresham in a Sharpshooter that Caprice Coleman put over as “the deepest Sharpshooter in professional wrestling.” Whatever works. It was around 20 minutes into the match when LifeBlood went up 1-0.
Williams and Lethal kicked off the second fall and exchanged stiff forearms and chops. LifeBlood did a suplex into an atomic drop on Lethal for two. I’d never seen that one before.
A few minutes later, Lethal and Haskins exchanged suplex attempts. LifeBlood double-teamed Lethal while Gresham sold on outside the ring. Gresham made his way back into the match, though, and was able to catch Williams mid-air than German suplex him. With under five minutes to go, Lethal launched Gresham into Williams to deliver a big Cornette Cutter to even the match score to 1-1.
LifeBlood hit their signature moves and looked like they were about to get a double tap until Lethal and Williams spilled out of the ring. While Haskins had Gresham in another Sharpshooter, Gresham rolled Haskins up and scored another quick win, his team now up 2-1.
The last few minutes consisted of Haskins using a number of leg locks on Gresham until Lethal could make the save, tagging Gresham discretely and landing a big diving elbow drop for a close two. The teams brawled until the time limit ran out; Lethal and Gresham won, 2-1. They will face Guerrillas of Destiny in Buffalo, NY soon for the double tag titles.
Solid match that flew by. It didn’t feel like 30-minutes at all. Lethal is a master at pacing, apparently, like Keiji Muto or something. Hard-hitting with lots of action, well balanced. Not perfect, but very good. The crowd was in and out during it but was generally on board.
I think this was also good for LifeBlood, who actually needed more exposure. The longer nature of the match at hand gave them a chance to show the crowd that they are, in fact, very good wrestlers. Haskins is especially good.
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match: Colt Cabana defeated Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) by DQ
It was announced as a title match just as Cabana made his way to the ring. Sounds like there was some miscommunication as Riccaboni announced that the match was for the NWA title, but then Cabana got on the mic and did an angle about how they hadn’t announced it yet. Riccaboni saved it by saying Cabana was “making sure” it was for the championship.
They did some smooth chain wrestling at the top of the match. These two complement each other physically, they’re just about the same height and around the same weight. The crowd was pretty loudly behind Cabana for this match.
Cabana missed a splash off the ropes when Aldis got his knees up. Cabana was able to counter back with the Billy Goat’s Curse submission; Aldis grabbed the ropes for a break.
Aldis later landed a tombstone and a big diving elbow drop for a late-match two count. Cabana returned with a big quebrada onto Aldis for two. The crowd was into this.
Right as this happened, Marty Scurll ran to the ring and stole the NWA title. Kamille got in his face and Aldis blindsided him. Cabana then dropkicked Aldis but knocked him into Scurll. Scurll and Cabana then started jawjacking and getting into it physically, causing the ref to call the match as a DQ in favor of Cabana, who won, though Aldis retained.
Scurll smashed the NWA title over Aldis’ face after to build for their match at the Crockett Cup event on April 27, which will also be on Honor Club.
Dalton Castle came to the ring next. People still cheered him despite turning against The Boys at the MSG show last week. He walked around the ring and through the crowd with a mic and teased saying something but didn’t. He smirked and walked to the back. That’s it. People still chanted his name after he was gone.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship match: Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, Brody King & PCO) defeated The Kingdom (ROH World Champion Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) in a Columbus Street Fight to retain their titles
Chaotic brawl that went all over the place. Scurll got on the mic and said since they had done this match so many times before, tonight they’ll make it interesting and make the match a Columbus Street Fight. The Kingdom didn’t hesitate to agree and the teams brawled as the bell rang.
Brody King and PCO did tope con giros at the beginning of the match. King and PCO have such unique and distinct charisma. A few minutes later, the chairs were brought in. There were four or five chairs in the ring at one point and they did a series of chair spots. Scurll sat and flexed on the chairs and probably got the biggest pop of that section.
Later, Marseglia and O’Ryan superplexed 51-year old PCO onto about five of the aforementioned folding chairs inside the ring, which was followed by a “holy sh*t” chant from the crowd.
The crowd then chanted for tables. Marseglia and O’Ryan argued over whether to use a table or not and Taven tried to mediate — but Scurll and King caught them and tossed them back into the ring. Scurll and King did some cool double-team moves together.
There was a lot of stalling as the Kingdom set a table up in the corner of the ring. King later used the table by putting Matt Taven through it with a Death Valley Driver. Scurll snapped Taven’s fingers after this.
Marseglia kept acting like he wanted to pull out more tables from under the ring. The teams spilled back to the floor and later King gave Marseglia a big lariat on the entrance stage.
O’Ryan was on the top rope going for something when Scurll snapped fingers on both of O’Ryan’s hands, then spit in his face until O’Ryan lost his balance and fell through a few tables. Marseglia did an Acid Drop from the apron to the floor, then a somersault senton through a table to King near the announce table. Carnage and craziness all over the place.
In the ring, Taven gave PCO a low blow and hit the Climax on him, but Scurll made the save. Taven screamed about how he’s so sick of Scurll and called him a Melvin. He did Just the Tip, the running knee, then kept telling Scurll to get up so that he could hit him with the ROH belt.
Instead, PCO out of nowhere got up like Frankenstein and hit Taven with the belt. PCO then hit his monstrous moonsault on Taven to pin the current ROH World Champion only one week after he won the title. The announcers put this over huge and were screaming their heads off.
The show’s final shot was of PCO holding not just his ROH Six-Man title but also the ROH World title over a prone Matt Taven. Let’s see if this leads to a title shot for PCO in the next few months.
From Atlanta, Georgia, Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Colt Cabana called the action this week.
John Skyler, Corey Hollis, and Josey Quinn were in the ring to start the show. Skyler said they’re the toughest three-man team in Ring of Honor, which brought out Villain Enterprises.
Marty Scurll took the microphone and told them that they were about to feel the wrath of Villain Enterprises.
A brawl ensued before the match began. Villain Enterprises took control.
After the break, PCO went for a flip dive but ended up landing on the apron. He hit the apron, then the floor, and then popped right back up.
In the ring, Hollis took over on Scurll. They isolated Scurll and put a beating on him. Finally, Scurll fought out and landed a tornado DDT and made the tag to King. He tagged Scurll back in and the two used some tandem offense to put down Skyler.
Scurll and King were back in the ring and put the finishing touches on Hollis. King hit a gonzo bomb and Scurll locked in the chicken wing for the submission.
Just as the celebration began, red balloons appeared from beneath the ring. The Kingdom were on the stage, and they told Villain Enterprises that The Kingdom are the greatest three-man team — and if Villain Enterprises want a shot at the gold, they’ll have to wait.
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) defeated PJ Black to retain his title
Some classic chain wrestling started this NWA title match off. Aldis took a break and laid across the ropes. Each man got the edge and the other called for a timeout. Black went for a handshake mid-match and declared there would be no more cheating, but his fingers were crossed behind his back. He used a leg sweep to knock down the champ.
Aldis found the advantage and whipped Black into the corner, but Black popped up and used a headscissors to send Aldis to the floor. Back in the ring, Black used a blatant eye poke, then went to the top rope. Kamille got in the way, so Black backed off.
After the commercial, Aldis turned Black inside out with a lariat. A big backdrop to Black led to just a two count for Aldis. Both exchanged chops. Black went up top and landed a single axe handle. He went back up again and landed a double stomp but only got a two count.
Black went up a third time, but Aldis got out of the way and managed to hook in a German suplex, and he followed that up with a powerbomb. He looked to put on the Texas Cloverleaf — but Black rolled through.
Black went up top again, but Aldis cut him off and launched Black with a German off the top rope. That still only earned him a two count. Aldis then went up top, but Black went up as well, snapped off a hurricanrana, and followed it up with a moonsault, but that wasn’t enough to keep the champ down.
Black hooked in a dragon sleeper, but Aldis used his strength to pick up Black and land a Tombstone piledriver. Aldis went up top and hit an elbow drop, but Black kicked out at two.
Kamille threw the NWA title belt into the ring and distracted the referee. Black got the belt, tossed it to Aldis, and faked like he got hit with the belt. The ref didn’t disqualify Aldis, but it allowed Black to try a roll-up for a two count. Aldis went outside and Black looked to hit a running kick through the ropes, but Aldis bailed and Black hit Kamille.
Finally, inside the ring, Aldis was able to lock in the Texas Cloverleaf and Black had no choice but to tap out.
Juice Robinson came to the ring and told the fans they would be seeing a lot more of him in an ROH ring in the future. He then declared that it was a new beginning for ROH.
The lights went out and Tracy Williams, Bandido, Tenille Dashwood, Mark Haskins, and David Finlay were in the ring with him. Robinson declared their group is known as LifeBlood.
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship will be on the line at April’s Crockett Cup event.
An angle at tonight’s Ring of Honor television tapings in Lakeland, Florida set up Nick Aldis defending his NWA title against Marty Scurll at the Crockett Cup. Given their friendship and history together, Aldis wanted Scurll to be his partner in the tag team tournament. Scurll instead challenged Aldis to the title match. Aldis accepted the challenge.
The Crockett Cup is taking place at Cabarrus Arena in Concord, North Carolina on Saturday, April 27. The NWA is partnering with ROH for the tournament, and it’s also been announced that New Japan Pro Wrestling and CMLL are sending teams to take part in it.
Crimson & Jax Dane and Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) are the first two teams to be confirmed for the Crockett Cup. Ian Riccaboni, Jim Cornette, and Joe Galli will be the commentary team, and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey, Stan Lane & Cornette), Nikita Koloff, and Magnum TA will be making appearances in Concord.
