Tag: Nwa 74

After a first night that saw some title changes, NWA returns for night two of their 74th anniversary weekend Sunday from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sunday’s wrap-up will feature NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch defending against TV Champion Tyrus in the spot that Nick Aldis had earned by virtue of winning a four-way match. Aldis will still be in action, taking on Flip Gordon.

NWA Women’s Champion Kamille will defend for the second time this weekend as she faces Max The Impaler who won Saturday’s Burke Invitational gauntlet.

In a street fight, Pretty Empowered will defend the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles against former champions The Hex.

New U.S. Tag Team Champions will be crowned in a battle royal that will feature more than nine teams, while the MLW National Openweight title will be defended as Davey Richards faces Thrillbilly Silas.

The show will also feature Caprice Coleman vs. Colby Corino in a best two-out-of-three falls match and three other bouts.

**********

The preshow started just as the bell was ringing for Rhett Titus and Doug Williams. This is a combination of excellent wrestlers, so I expect it will be a good match.

Doug Williams and Rhett Titus went to a time limit draw in a Submission Match

Titus and Williams were on the mat exchanging submission attempts right away, which was fun to watch. This match was back and forth with counters throughout, with the occasional bigger move, such as Rhett Titus hitting a back breaker and then targeting the lower back with strikes and a back suplex.

Titus hit a belly-to-belly, but since it was submission only, there was no pinfall. Williams’ chest was busted open from the chops. Titus slingshotted Williams into the turnbuckle and hit a forearm to the back again. Williams locked a cattle mutilation on Titus, but the bell ended up ringing, so they went to a time limit draw. Doug Williams and Rhett Titus asked for 5 more minutes, but the time expired.

I would hope we get a rematch down the line, but I expect we’ll never see it mentioned again on NWA TV, which is unfortunate.

–Austin Idol was with May Valentine, saying he was the only Caesar in wrestling, but now there is two because he led Cyon to the NWA National Championship. Idol said he had a fortune cookie that said that Cyon would be champ and managed by Idol, which was oddly specific. This was a good promo.

**********

Angelina Love defeated Taryn Terrell

Terrell opposed the ringing of the bell because she hadn’t warmed up properly yet, so she tried to stretch with her back to Love. Love rolled her up for a 2-count and started to beat her around the ring as she protested to the referee. Terrell got hit with a dropkick and fell to the floor. Tim Storm and Joe Galli tried to describe where she got hit with care, but it would have sufficed to say Love dropkicked her in the posterior.

Terrell tried to hide under the ring, but it didn’t work and she yelled “I don’t want to go in” when Love tried to throw her into the ring. Terrell rang the bell and claimed she won, but Love didn’t believe this for some reason, and slammed Terrell into the announce table before sending her back into the ring.

Love hit a flatliner and locked on the Koji Clutch and Terrell fought out with an eye rake. Terrell said “I think we’re good!” after this, again making me laugh. Terrell hit a stunner on Love, but Love leaned back into the turnbuckle and launched forward with a kick called the Botox Injection for the pinfall. This was fun, mostly because Terrell was so hilarious.

–May Valentine was with Mercurio, and he was surprised Valentine could say his name correctly. He claimed it was because she was a beautiful woman that she could pronounce it right. Mercurio’s accent is faker than most wrestler’s tans. The OGK walked in and took over the interview, saying that they were in the US Tag Title Battle Royal, meaning there is only one mystery team left to be announced. Of course, the rest are a mystery to me as well, as they never told us on TV who was in it.

**********

Kerry Morton defeated Gustavo

Gustavo handed out several flowers to people in the audience, including a man in the front row who was thrilled and got a huge amount of applause. That made me laugh, further establishing that I love this Gustavo character. Morton and Gustavo countered each other a fair bit in the early part of the match, showing some good wrestling.

Morton dodged a splash in the corner and ran in with a European uppercut before hitting a stalling vertical suplex while walking around the ring. Morton kicked up and the crowd applauded him. Morton hit a spinning back fist and a flying knee for the pinfall. Nice little match here for the pre-show. This made both guys look good, with Morton coming out looking like a star.

–May Valentine was with BLK Jeez and he talked about how this was the biggest night of his career, as one of the men he was managing was going to walk out with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Jeez talked about his relationship with Austin Idol as Idol focusing more on Cyon and Jeez taking over managing Tyrus.

**********

Madi, Missa Kate, & Natalia Markova defeated Jennacide, KiLynn King, & Taya Valkyrie in Part 1 of a Queen Bee Match

Apparently the rules of this match is that the team that wins immediately goes on to wrestle each other in an elimination triple threat match. Joe Galli informed us that this match came from the mind of Billy Corgan, so it seems like the wackiness of the Champion’s Series and Team War matches now has a third weird stip match.

Missa Kate and KiLynn King started the match, with King overpowering Kate and hitting a hard kick to the head of Kate and a full nelson slam for a 2-count. Valkyrie, Jennacide, and King exchanged quick tags in the corner as they beat on Kate. Valkyrie booted Kate back to her corner who tagged out to Markova.

Valkyrie whipped Markova to the corner and hit her sliding German suplex before tagging out to Jennacide. Jennacide quickly tagged Valkyrie back in, but she got caught in the corner and Markova and Madi started double teaming her. They got the heat on Markova with various double team moves for the next few minutes.

Valkyrie hit a back suplex on Kate and tagged out to Jennacide. Jennacide ran wild for a bit, but it wasn’t long before it broke down until all 6 women were in the match. Bafflingly, the heels ended up pinning Jennacide to win the match after a series of moves, leaving Madi, Kate, and Markova left, who are all heels.

Natalya Markova defeated Missa Kate & Madi in Part 2 of a Queen Bee Match

Kate quickly hit a spinning kick on Madi to pin and eliminate her from the match, leading to a striking battle between her and Markova. Kate sent Markova crashing face first into the middle turnbuckle and hit a Fisherman’s Buster for a 2-count. Kate hit a running kick for a 2-count. Markova hit Beautiful Destruction, a kick in the corner, and then hit a double arm DDT for a pinfall, making her the Queen Bee. The referee crowned her after the match with what looked like a dollar store tiara. This was a fine match, all things considered, but it would have been nice to have it promoted before the show.

**********

Main Card

Joe Galli ran down the card for tonight to open the show, including Ricky Morton & Homicide for the Jr. Heavyweight Championship, Kratos partner being Pope against Aron Stevens and Rodney Mack, and a few others matches that received no build at all. Speaking of which, Colby Corino against Caprice Coleman opened the show.

Colby Corino defeated Caprice Coleman in a 2/3 Falls Match

1st Fall

The fans chanted “Happy Birthday” at Colby Corino, as he turned 25 today. Coleman tried to pin Corino early, but Corino kicked out, so Coleman made him pay with some fast paced offence, tapping Corino out with an armbar early on. Corino said he had at least 2 more falls, and decided to give it up quickly rather than let his arm and shoulder get hurt.

2nd Fall

Corino hit a sit-out powerbomb on Coleman before hitting a flipping senton for a 2-count. Corino hit a hard kick to the back of Coleman for a 2-count, and locked on a chinlock. Corino went early for a bump, so Coleman just covered him to make up for it, before hitting a jumping hurricanrana on Corino, who was seated on the top turnbuckle.

Corino flew to the other corner and pulled the Jerry Lawler phantom gimmick from his trunks and punched Coleman with it to get the pinfall for the 2^nd fall.

3rd Fall

Corino got into an argument with a fan in the front row before hitting a suicide dive on Coleman. Corino proceeded to chop Coleman right in front of the fan who he taunted. Corino sent Coleman towards the ring post, and Coleman did a tiger feint kick around the post to hit Corino, which looked awesome.

Coleman hit a springboard into a leg lariat, then hit a spinning leg drop to the back of Corino’s head for a 2-count. Coleman hit the Holy Trinity – three Northern Lights Suplexs in a row, as Corino went for the gimmick again. Coleman grabbed the gimmick and gave it to the referee. It turns out it was not a phantom gimmick. It looked like a screw of some sort. Corino, however, took advantage of this and hit a Styles Clash and a sunsetter soon thereafter for the pinfall.

**********

The Fixers won a Battle Royal for the NWA US Tag Team Championship

Several of the people coming out for this match were wrestlers I haven’t seen before, but the announcers talked like we knew who they were. The Fixers, Gold Rushhh, the Ill Begotten, The Country Gentlemen, and the OGK w/ JJ Dillion, The Spectaculars, the Miserably Faithful, and Hawx Aerie were teams I recognized.

The 12^th team, which was a surprise, was La Rebelion, which is fascinating. It would have helped to have this announced beforehand, as La Rebelion could have said they wanted to win the tag titles last night, and the US tag titles tonight to unify them. That is a compelling story, but NWA didn’t tell it until now.

There was 24 men in the ring at once, so it was quite hard to keep track of, so I will do my best to recap it once a few eliminations happen. Gold Rushhh was the first team eliminated. Apparently it only requires one member being eliminated for a whole team to be out, which would have been nice to know beforehand.

Sal the Pal tried to suplex Alex Taylor again, from the same turnbuckle, but Jeremiah Plunkett made the save for his teammate and dumped Sal to the floor. Rush Freeman eliminated the Ill Begotten. Country Gentlemen went out at this point. The Fixers threw people around, which was fun.

The Now was eliminated from The Fixers. Taven eliminated PJ Hawx, and thus Hawx Aerie were eliminated. The last 4 teams were Team Ambition, who I didn’t know, The OGK, The Fixers, and La Rebelion. La Rebelion hit double knees to Jay Bradley. Team Ambition is apparently Camaro Jackson and Mike Outlaw. Mike Bennett hit a Death Valley Driver on Mecha Wolf, and they dumped Bestia 666 over the top rope.

Damian 666 spit mist into Mike Bennett’s face and Mecha Wolf dumped Bennett over the top rope. Taven then jumped over the top rope onto everyone, so both team were eliminated. The OGK and La Rebelion brawled to the back, and The Fixers soon thereafter eliminated The Ambition, who the fans were started to get behind. I thought for a minute they were going to try and make two new stars here, but I cant’ disagree with the Fixers going over.

The end of this was very good, and the OGK had the crowd popping the most, with the loudest reactions of the two nights thus far with the dive to the floor.

–The Cardona Family was with Kyle Davis on the stage and Cardona claimed he was screwed last night when Rolando Freeman beat him. Cardona claimed that Freeman took advantage of his generosity and that he wasn’t 100% because it was impossible for someone to recover so quickly from a bicep injury. Cardona said that he broke the hearts of all the fans that wanted to see him. Cardona then apologized for what he was going to do to Rolando Freeman. This was a great heel promo. Matt Cardona is infinitely more interesting than Zack Ryder, and it isn’t even close.

**********

Mercurio defeated Magic Jake Dumas w/ CJ

I’m still not sure how Dumas is a magician as we have never seen him do a magic trick. Joe Galli called this a great match, and I can’t really say it’s going to be that as we haven’t had much of a chance to get to know either of these characters, other than Dumas being present on programming but I still don’t understand the character.

Dumas asked the fans if they wanted magic, and took a card out of his hat. Dumas was about to do a trick, but Mercurio grabbed the card and ripped it in half. Dumas returned the favour by throwing Mercurio’s book into the crowd. Dumas and Mercurio both went for low blows, but each blocked the kick.

Dumas punched Mercurio in tbe face and said “Ta daaaa!” Okay, that was funny. Mecurio did a monkey flip, but Dumas landed on his feet. He missed a corner splash though, and CJ clapped, not realizing she was supposed to cheer his successes. Mercurio hit a butterfly suplex for a 2-count.

Mercurio was offended that Dumas kept hitting him with forearms in the face, which Dumas denied and then continued hitting him with forearms. Mercurio hit a superkick and almost botched a moonsault, looking like he crushed Dumas with it. Mercurio hit a Big E style spear to the floor.

CJ handed Dumas something and then flirted with Mercurio, which made him happy. Dumas pulled a razor blade from his mouth, with blood coming from his mouth. What CJ handed to him was clearly the blade with a blood capsule, so there was no magic here. That was weird. Dumas hit a torture rack bomb for the pinfall. This sucked and had no place on the PPV.

**********

Davey Richards defeated Thrillbilly Silas w/ Pollo Del Mar to retain the MLW National Openweight Championship

Joe Galli and Velvet Sky bet there was going to be a new champion tonight, while Silas looked like a Crockett jobber, so I suspect there will not be a title change tonight. Silas did use his greater size to try and dominate Richards early on, but Richards used his hard hitting style to turn it around, hitting a big double stomp and some hard forearms.

Silas hit a weak chop on Richards and missed a corner charge, but couldn’t feed his leg through the middle rope and accidentally went to the bottom rope, so Richards had to reposition him before hitting the dragon screw through the ropes. Richards missed a double stomp but locked on an Indian Death Lock, but Silas made the ropes.

Richards blocked a suplex with a knee to the head and hit some hard strikes in the corner. Silas hit a giant Black Hole Slam for a 2-count that had several rotations and was probably the best he looked in the match. Richards fought out of a torture rack and transitioned into an ankle lock, but as Silas fought out, Richards hit a giant PK for a 1-count. Silas asked for more, so Richards superkicked him twice and hit another PK before hitting a double stomp, but Silas kicked out.

Richards grabbed the ankle but Silas fought out. Del Mar got on the apron, but almost got hit by Silas, who accidentally ripped the wig of Pollo Del Mar’s head, which led to Richards locking on the ankle lock to force the tap out.

–Joe Galli got in the ring and said he was going to hijack the show. Galli welcome his girlfriend into the ring, and then proposed to her live on the air. Galli talked about how much he loved her, and she said yes. The fans chanted “Let’s go Joe!” and cheered the happy couple. Galli got back on commentary and said “Thank God she said yes!”

**********

–Kyle Davis was in the ring, and he introduced JJ Dillon and Barry Windham, saying that Windham literally had wrestling in his blood. I’m not sure about that last part. Windham and Dillon talked about their history with the NWA and were happy to be there. Dillon said that wrestling wasn’t struggling and it was thriving all over, including in that arena tonight. Dillon said it was the fans that made wrestling successful and that they knew there was no better value for their dollar than watching pro wrestling. This was great.

–May Valentine was with Kamille and Thom Latimer, and Latimer talked about how he was supposed to face someone else, but he was wrestling EC3 instead. Apparently that match is happening tonight? Latimer talked about how the NWA helped him clean up his life and get sober, and that he was going to fight for the NWA with all he got. This was quite good. Kamille kept it simple said she was going to beat the crap out of Max the Impaler tonight.

Cyon defeated Anthony Mayweather to retain the NWA National Championship

It would have been nice to have Mayweather on the TV, promited as facing the winner of the Dane/Cyon from Night 1. It would have given a simple, easy build to the match with all 3 cutting promos on each other, and that could have worked. I imagine the folks reading are tired of me saying that, but much of this show could have made sense, but the utter lack of promotion for everything really hurt the heat for a lot of matches.

Jax Dane and Chris Silvio came out and sat on the stage while Cyon attacked Mayweather from behind. Mayweather was distracted by Idol as well, and ended up paying for that too. Cyon hit several 12 to 6 elbows on Mayweather for a 2-count. This match was very slow paced in the opening minutes, with lots of chinlocks from Cyon.

Mayweather hit a clothesline that sent Cyon to the floor. Mayweather went to the top rope for an elbow, but Cyon cut him off and went for a superplex, but Mayweather knocked him off and hit the elbow anyway for a 2-count. Cyon managed to hit two Death Valley Drivers for a win, and it seems Jax Dane is going to go for a rematch, which again, pits heel vs. heel, which leaves me asking “Why?!” Why would you book a match that will have no heat again?

**********

Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Paige & Ella Envy) defeated The Hex (Marti Belle & Allysin Kay) in a Kingsway Street Fight to retain the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship

I’m not sure where or what Kingsway is, but apparently they have street fights. This is one of the few matches that have actually been built on TV with Ella Envy cheating constantly with weapons and whatnot to beat her opponents, including The Hex. Kay and Belle attacked Paige and Envy right away with Belle throwing a garbage can.

The Hex used weapons , but paid for setting up chairs in the corner because Envy and Paige were able to reverse their Irish whips, driving the Hex into the chairs. Kenzie Paige dropkicked the chair right into the Belle’s face. Ella Envy tied Allysin Kay to the corner with the tag rope and Pretty Empowered worked over Belle until Kay was able to get out.

Envy dropped Kay with a kendo stick shot quickly though. They both brawled around ringside, with Kay throwing a drink into the face of Ella Envy. Velvet Sky asked the right question – is Envy 21 yet? That was funny. Pretty Empowered pulled a table out from under the ring and set it up on the floor. Paige superkicked a cookie sheet into the face of Kay, and Envy hit a shining wizard for a pinfall attempt that Belle broke up.

Allysin Kay poured a bag of Lego in the mat and hit a uranage onto the Lego. Kay hit a dominator onto the Lego on Paige but Envy broke it up. Marti Belle put a trash can on Envy’s head but Envy fought it off and threw the can at Kay, causing her to fall off the top rope and through the table. Paige indicated that she wanted Envy to show mercy to Marti Belle, but took a kendo stick and beat her down with it, fulling embracing the dark side, as Galli put it. They then superkicked Belle while she had a trash can on her head and pinned her. This was fine, but nothing too special. I did like that Pretty Empowered went over, as pushing new stars is important and these two are just getting over. Paige continued to beat on Belle before celebrating.

**********

Homicide defeated Ricky Morton to retain the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship

Homicide threatened to live up to his name by saying he was going to kill Ricky Morton. Morton hit some right hands, hitting 10 punches in the corner. Homicide grabbed the ring bell and tried to bring it into the ring, but he never brought it into the ring. Homicide necked Morton on the ropes and got back in, but Morton hit some right hands to drop Homicide.

Homicide responded with strikes of his own. Morton hit a snap suplex, but Homicide was quickly back on his feet, but Morton soon followed with a DDT, but Homicide rolled to the floor. Morton threw Homicide into the ring post. Morton hit a sunset flip and then a cutter for 2-count. Homcide raked the eyes and dropped Morton and hit a lariat to the back of his head to pin him.

Homicide continued to go after Morton, and Kerry Morton ran down to the ring to save his dad. Homicide left the ring without incident. This was bizarre, but Ricky Morton got a nice reaction from the fans to a “Rock ‘n’ roll” chant.

**********

Nick Aldis defeated Flip Gordon

Flip Gordon, according to Joe Galli, thinks he is unreal. As in, he does not believe he is real, and therefore the rules don’t apply to him. Okay. Nick Aldis came out to his superior theme, and not the bad rap one that didn’t suit him. Aldis and Gordon have wrestled two times previously, with Aldis winning each time.

Gordon went right after Aldis, trying to win this one quickly. Aldis hit a brainbuster on Gordon for a 2-count, but followed it with an avalanche fallaway slam. Outside of the dive from Matt Taven, Nick Aldis was getting a massive reaction from the audience for everything he did here. It’s clear it was a mistake to remove him from the main event.

Gordon managed to hit a springboard dropkick after Aldis took in the cheers of the fans. Gordon was shoved off the top rope from Aldis, but landed on his feet and hit a springboard sling blade on Aldis before hitting a superkick. Gordon took his time getting on the top rope because of the fallaway slam earlier hurting his back, and Aldis cut him off and went for a superplex.

Gordon went for second fallaway slam from the ropes, but Gordon floated over into a sunset flip powerbomb for a 2-count. Aldis managed to get up first and hit some punches, as Gordon was still selling his back. Gordon hit a backflipping torture rack and then hit a moonsault and locked on an STF, which he apparently calls “Submit to Flip.” Gordon went for a tiger feint kick around the ring post, but Aldis caught his feet and dragged him into the ring and locked on the Kingsland Cloverleaf, which forced the submission from Gordon.

This was a very good match, with Aldis getting some of the better reactions from the audience, though nowhere near the heat this could have had with promos building it. They never announced this match on TV. Only on social media. Even in the last episode of Power when they ran down the card, if I remember correctly.

Aldis shook hands with Gordon after the match, indicating that there was respect between the two. Odinson came into the ring after the match and hit a pounce on Gordon, but Nick Aldis made the save. That didn’t stop Odinson from hitting a pounce on Aldis too, so it seems NWA is starting to get behind Odinson by having him feud with Nick Aldis. This is a good thing.

**********

Pope & Kratos defeated Aron Stevens & Rodney Mack in a Missouri Tornado Tag Team Match

In yet another street fight by a different name, Kratos chased Stevens backstage. Pope hit a stalling vertical suplex on Mack, and Stevens ran back into the ring but came face to face with Pope. Kratos took Stevens head off with a lariat. Mack pulled Pope to the floor. Pope ended up hitting a dive to the floor over a camera man onto Stevens and Mack.

Pope got the fans chanting for Kratos and a dive from him, but Rodney Mack hit him with a chair to the face as he went to fly over the top rope. Stevens grabbed a mic and said he hated pro wrestling, and it was the savages in the crowd who wanted his blood that made him hate it. Kratos hit him with a spinebuster, but Mack as able to spinebuster Kratos. Pope hit Mack with a dropkick and suddenly he was the only guy in the ring.

All 4 men ended up on the stage and behind the screens, with their shadows being broadcasted on it, and Kratos and Pope kept sending Stevens back and forth between the two big screens with his shadow being assaulted, then him stumbling out to the other screen back and forth several times. That was hilarious. Mack locked the Euthaniser on Pope, but Kratos pulled the feet of Mack and Pope ended up pinning Mack on the stage for the victory.

The ending spot with the screens made this match worth it.

**********

Thom Latimer defeated EC3 via DQ

The opening of this match was slow and plodding, which is not what this show needs. EC3 did his weird reverse DDT or flatliner, and it looked ugly again. He got the heat on Latimer, and wanted to “bring his demons” out by punishing him. Apparently he is punishing us too with this slow offence.

Latimer hit an actual flatliner, which got a 2-count. EC3 slapped Latimer and spit in his face. Latimer hit him with a series of cross faces that were not very violent or good, but the elbows on the bottom rope looked good. As he was doing this Control Your Narrative ran in and made it a no contest. That finish sucked, and again, it wasn’t really a match. It was an angle. That should have been on TV building to am match on this show. They’re treating this show like it’s an extended episode of NWA Power rather than a PPV where angles are paid off. They are starting angles instead.

–May Valentine was with the Miserably Faitfhful talking about Max the Impaler facing Kamille, saying that Kamille has never faced a force like Max.

**********

Kamille defeated Max the Impaler w/ James Mitchell to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship

Bully Ray joined the commentary team for this match.

Max stiffed Kamille in the corner right away with elbows to the face. Kamille responded with hard forearms, but it didn’t stop Max from attacking. Max hit a bodyslam and two short arm clotheslines. Max no sold some forearms and headbutted Kamille. Kamille broke a waistlock with a jawbreaker, but Max hit a standing body press to drop Kamille.

Max hit more forearms in the corner and dropped Kamille with a knee to the stomach. Max hit a curb stomp on Kamille. Max curbed stomped Kamille into the bottom turnbuckle, and it looked fairly bad and way too stiff. Kamille managed to make it to the top rope and hit a crossbody and then a dropkick off the top rope for a 2-count.

Kamille slipped out of 10 punches in the corner and put Max in a torture rack that she turned into a Torture Rack Bomb, which was impressive. It got a 2-count. Max went for a spear, but Kamille flipped over it and hit a spear of her own, but James Mitchell put Max’s foot on the ropes. The Miserably Faithful ran out to protect Mitchell from Kamille, but she beat them all up.

Max took advantage of the distraction and hit the Wasteland on Kamille, but Kamille managed to kick out and then backdrop Max. Both wrestlers hit a clothesline and were down as the ref counted towards 10. Max charged at the corner, but Kamille rolled Max up for the pinfall. This was fine. Max was quite stiff and reckless again, but Kamille winning was the right result.

**********

–Billy Corgan was in the ring and announced that the NWA Anniversary show will be in the Chase every year. He then held a 10-bell salute and moment of silence for the legendary wrestlers and other wrestlers or managers who have passed away. This was very nice.

Trevor Murdoch defeated Tyrus w/ BLK Jeez to retain the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

The crowd was firmly behind Murdoch in this match. Murdoch rolled to the floor and hit a DDT on BLK Jeez on the floor before hitting the top rope bulldog on Tyrus for a 2-count. Murdoch brought Tyrus to the floor and hit some chops, but Tyrus did some clubbering and squeezed Mrudoch’s head against the ring post before hitting the Heart Punch.

Murdoch rolled into the ring and tried to fight back, but Tyrus did some more clubbering and hit an elbow. Tyrus hit a leg drop and a corner splash before returning to clubbering and a nerve hold. Murdoch broke it with a jaw breaker and hit an elbow for a 1-count. Tyrus rolled to the floor and looked like he wanted to walk away, which doesn’t make sense, since it’s for the world title.

Murdoch went after him but Tyrus slammed Murdoch on the floor. Tyrus did more clubbering. Tyrus threatened Murdoch’s 16-year old son. A kid yelled “You can’t fight, Tyrus!” Tyrus missed a corner charge and Murdoch hit a crossbody on Tyrus for a 2-count. Murdoch locked on a sleeper hold. Tyrus responded with a back suplex, which Murdoch sold well.

Joe Galli said Tyrus was struggling to get to his feet because he was in the sleeper hold for so long. He was in it for 10-20 seconds, and just couldn’t get up, but Galli made a good cover for it. Tyrus stood on Murdoch and clubbered some more. Tyrus did push ups on the back of Murdoch. He clubbered some more.

Tyrus hit a hip attack in the corner and then a body slam on Murdoch. He then clobbered him some more. Murdoch kicked the hands of Tyrus as he was trying to clubber. Murdoch hit some punches and locked on a sleeper again. Tyrus drove Murdoch into the referee and dropped Tyrus with a clothesline.

Tyrus was very gassed at this point. Murdoch grabbed the ring bell and brought it into the ring as the referee recovered. Not sure of the point of the ref bump, as the referee was right there. Murdoch then looked conflicted and put the bell down. Tyrus hit the heart punch, but he kicked out at 2. Tyrus went for the ring bell, but also refused to use it, which was unexpected.

As BLK Jeez was distracting the referee, Murdoch low blowed Tyrus and hit another top rope bulldog for another 2-count. Murdoch hit a third bulldog and finally pinned Tyrus, thank God. This match was far better than I expected, and it still sucked. One star would be generous, and I’m not sure about Murdoch low blowing Tyrus. That was confusing.

Tyrus and Murdoch shook hands after the match, which was uncharacteristic. Murdoch grabbed a mic after the match and showed respect to Tyrus. Tyrus kissed his daughter in the front row, and then overturned the announce table as Murdoch was trying to compliment him, and Murdoch called him a b-word and thanked the fans. I don’t think that was planned at all. What a bizarre ending.

Final Thoughts

This was not a good show. I don’t know how else to say it. Almost none of the matches had any promotion on TV, and this whole show felt like an extended episode of NWA Power where the angles they should have done on TV were done on both nights, and very little heat for any of the matches.

The highlights were Davey Richards, Flip Gordon vs. Nick Aldis, and Trevor Murdoch trying as hard as he could to make something out of that main event.

This show was way too long and had 16 matches, including the preshow, almost none of which were announced beforehand. I hope NWA does a better job building to Hard Times in November, because this entire experience has been frustrating as a fan. I could say more, but honestly, this PPV drained me and left me feeling disappointed. Not a good two nights of wrestling at all.

NWA returns for its 74th anniversary weekend featuring two nights of pay-per-views from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri.

Saturday’s show will feature four title matches, a gauntlet match for an NWA Women’s title match on Sunday, and the return of Matt Cardona.

Cardona, the former NWA World Champion, will face a handpicked opponent. He has been out of action since June with a torn biceps and relinquished the title at Alwayz Ready.

The show will open with a Nick Aldis open forum as the former champion was pulled from the main event of night two.

Kamille will put up the NWA Women’s title against Taya Valkyrie. On Sunday, the winner will defend against the winner of tonight’s ten-woman Burke Invitational gauntlet.

NWA men’s Tag Team Champions The Commonwealth Connection (Doug Williams & Harry Smith) will defend against former champions La Rebelion, National Champion Jax Dane will defend against Cyon, and Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide defends against Kerry Morton.

Other featured matches include Bully Ray vs. Mike Knox in a tables match, the promotional debut of EC3 against Mims, three pre-show matches and more.

**********

Pre-show–

Joe Galli and Tim Storm open the preshow, and Joe Galli talked about changes to the show that were going to be announced in the preshow. The audio was not working here, and Tim Storm couldn’t be heard at all. Galli’s mic was low.

As they were discussing EC3 vs. Mims, the audio went completely out, and they match graphics showed without audio. We’re off to a good start on this PPV, which had a build that was shaky at best.

The stage setup with two big screens at the entrance was actually quite great. Looks good for an indie show. The audio cut off again in the entrance of Gold Rushhh. Commentary was not on at all, and music for the entrances could barely be heard.

The Country Gentlemen (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews) w/ Joe Cazana defeated Gold Rushhh (Jordan Clearwater & Marshe Rockett)

The audio continued to cut in and out at Cazana and Clearwater started the match by locking up. Cazana hit a big right hand on Clearwater after Clearwater slipped out of a bodyslam. Cazana then hit him with a bodyslam. The audio came back on at this point with Cazana hitting a bodyslam on Rockett, and it was so loud I almost kicked out of that bodyslam instead of Rockett.

Clearwater tagged in after a dropkick from Rockett. Rockett hit a bodyslam of his own on Cazana for a 2-count. Cazana hit a slam of his own on Clearwater and tagged out to Andrews, who came in and hit a uranage on Rockett, but got low bridged when he hit the ropes. This led to Cazana hitting an O’Connor Roll on Rockett for the pinfall, in the shocker of the night.

**********

–May Valentine interviewed an injured Jay Bradley, but it only aired for a minute before it was cut off due to technical difficulties.

Rhett Titus defeated VSK

Titus replaced Luke Hawx, who was advertised for this match, as he and PJ Hawx were moved into a tag match somewhere on the card, which Joe Galli said would be announced in a bit.

Titus and VSK had a very technical opening segment to the match, resulting in a monkey flip being one of the high spots, which I love. VSK dodged a corner charge and Titus crashed into the ring post and VSK started to work over the left arm of Titus. VSK hit a slingshot senton on the back and arm of Titus before locking on an armbar.

Titus countered with an armdrag, but was unable to hit a German suplex due to his injured arm. This didn’t stop him from countering and hitting his standing dropkick on VSK but he couldn’t go for the pin due to his arm. Titus then used his good right arm to hit forearms to the back, but VSK hit a usperkick on Titus and went to the top rope, but Titus got his knees up for the frog splash and hit a belly-to-belly suplex for the pin.

**********

The Pope defeated Rodney Mack w/ Aron Stevens

Pope got a great reaction coming out here. It’s clear NWA could do a lot more with him than they are, as much like Murdoch, he is having a great run in NWA and it showed there is a lot left in the tank for him.

In another confusing part of NWA’s booking, Stevens distracted Pope before the start of the match, and Rodney Mack attacked Pope from behind and acted as a heel when he has been a babyface on Power for the last few months. Stevens and Mack being full blown heels in this match makes me think like I missed something in this story, but I likely didn’t, which makes it worse.

Pope dodged out of the way of an elbow and hit some kicks on Mack before hitting a Manhattan Drop and a fist drop. Pope hit a corner splash and a flying forearm before hitting some bionic elbows. Pope hit another forearm but Stevens got on the apron, so Pope hit him with a bionic elbow. Unfortunately Pope got locked in the Euthanizer, and Pope tapped out.

Stevens and Mack started to beat down Pope, but Kratos ran down, making a return to the NWA, and hit started attacking Stevens and throwing him around the ring! Stevens was pulled out of harms way by Rodney Mack, but the return of Kratos is a great thing. This guy should be pushed as a singles star in NWA, so hopefully this is the start of that. I would have loved to see him in the NWA Worlds title picture, because JR Kratos is the man.

–Bully Ray was with May Valentine, and May reveals that Ray challenged Mike Knox to a tables match on Busted Open Radio. That would have been nice to know a few weeks ago with some audio clips. Ray cut a promo on him, tying their history to Aces & Eights in Impact, and that Ray promised that Knox will go through a table. This was a simple, effective promo.

**********

–Joe Galli and Tim Storm ran down the rest of the card for Night 1. Hawx Aerie was announced to be replacing the Commonwealth Connection in the NWA World Tag Team Championship match as Harry Smith was out with an illness. This means the titles were vacated and new champions will be determined today.

Colby Corino & Wrecking Ball Legursky defeated Caprice Coleman & Gustavo

It was during the entrances of this match that Joe Galli announced Colby Corino would be facing Caprice Coleman in a 30 minute iron man match tomorrow night at NWA 74 Night 2.

Wrecking Ball and Corino got the heat on Gustavo throughout the early part of this match, with Wrecking Ball in particular just tossing him all over the ring. Corino and Wrecking Ball kept Gustavo in their corner for a few minutes. It was noticeable that one of the ringside cameras was completely out of focus. The hard camera looked great, but the ones next to the ring were questionable.

Corino blind tagged Wrecking Ball before hitting a suplex into a neckbreaker across his knee for a 2-count. Gustavo hit a tilt a whirl into a tornado DDT on Corino and tagged in Coleman who hit a series of clotheslines on Corino. Coleman hit a springboard kick on Wrecking Ball, but Corino made the save on the pinfall. Coleman managed to lock Wrecking Ball in a chicken wing, which made him tap out. Wrecking Ball shook hands with both men ahd chased Corino away, indicating a babyface turn for The Fixers, which is good because they were getting very over.

**********

Main Card

The show opened with a highlight video Harley Race and Terry Funk having a match in 1977 before cutting into Bullet with Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins, which was a fantastic choice for the opening song. Joe Galli, Tim Storm, and Velvet Sky then run down the entire card for tonight. They have done a better job promoting the PPV on the PPV than they did on the TV.

–Nick Aldis made his entrance to a great reaction from the audience, and his unfortunate rap theme is back, rather than his previous one which suited him far better. Aldis talked about how he was the world champ 1 year ago at the NWA anniversary show, and that Trevor Murdoch beat him clean in the ring and was the better man that night.

Aldis reminded the fans that the show was sold out a year ago, which seemed like a shot at Tyrus, given the show did not sell out this time, and was not even close to it. Aldis said that the world title was not his belt, or Murdoch’s, but it belongs to the fans and history, and he wants it back for the fans.

Aldis then addressed being stripped of the #1 contender position by Billy Corgan. Aldis said he wasn’t going to waste time lamenting what happened, and promised that the fans would get their money’s worth if they came to see him wrestle, but if he can’t get back to the title, maybe it was time for him to walk away. The crowd booed this. Aldis then said that Corgan could take away his title shot, but he could never take away his legacy, and he promised that he was going to beat Flip Gordon tomorrow night. It would have been nice to have this promo on TV.

**********

EC3 defeated Mims

EC3 sent Mims right into the ring post, attacking the previously injured shoulder. EC3 then threw terrible half punches/half clothelines in the corner on Mims. EC3 locked a top wristlock on Mims to twist and attack the shoulder and wrist of Mims. EC3 setup Mims for a capture DDT, with his leg wrapped around Mims’ leg, but fell forward into a weird Russian Leg Sweep type move rather than backwards into a DDT.

Just because you can do something, EC3, doesn’t mean it will look good, and that looked bad. Mims hit a flying clothesline on EC3 but got necked on the ropes, and it attacked his arm too. EC3 then did the One Percenter on Mims before locking on The Purpose for the submission. Poor Mims, this was not a good match, and it wasn’t his fault.

EC3 grabbed a mic and talked about being on hallowed ground for the NWA, paying homage to the past. He said the past was just a story, and it sucked. He is trying to do profound cryptic promo stuff here, and it sucked. He ranted about nostalgia and controlling your narrative, and that nostalgia is dead because he’s the future or some sort nonsense.

–Thom Latimer came down to the ring to respond to EC3. EC3 never turned around and somehow knew that Latimer was behind him. I guess he has magic powers? My internet died at this point, leaving me unable to see the rest of the promo, but I’ll take that as a good thing.

My internet came back on an hour later, but EC3 didn’t look at Latimer until he said he was going to pull all the demons out of Latimer. This was weird, and not good. I don’t like the spooky doesn’t make sense promos like this.

**********

The Miserably Faithful (Judias, Gagz the Gimp, & Sal the Pal) w/ James Mitchell The Ill Begotten (Alex Taylor, Jeremiah Plunkett, & Danny Dealz) in a Beelzebub’s Bedlam Match

Judias had his hair done up like a 90s emo kid with his beard done up like a hipster. Gagz setup a chair in the corner and drove Plunkett into it. Sal hit a tiger feint kick on Plunkett, but Alex Taylor broke it up. Judias hit Taylor with a garbage can and went for a powerbomb on Plunkett. Danny Dealz ran into the ring with a crucifix and holy water, and threw it on Judias, which made me laugh.

Judias used a Greco Roman choke on Danny Dealz while Sal and Gagz setup a ladder. Alex Taylor came into the ring with a chair, smashing Judias with it several times. Gagz grabbed a broom and broke it over the back of Alex Taylor, but ate a forearm from Plunkett who tried to piledrive Gagz on the chairs. Gagz went for an Acid Drop on Plunkett, but Plunkett dumped him onto the chair and Taylor hit a Future Shock onto the chairs on Gagz.

Sal broke up the pinfall and bit Taylor before setting up the chairs in the middle of the ring and took a seat on them. Taylor and Plunkett powerbombed Sal onto all four chairs. Judias had some sort of spike that he brought in the ring, but was stopped from using it by Danny Dealz hitting him with a chair. Judias no sold the chair, but this allowed for a low blow.

Alex Taylor went onto the ladder and was about to be superplexed into the ring by Sal the Pal. Taylor got caught on the ladder, however, as it was set up with the steps of the ladder were not facing the corner, so it was an awkward position to come into the ring. Taylor ended up crashing onto the top rope and it looked devastating. I hope he’s okay, as he hit the ropes hard, and then flipped into the ring.

Regardless, Danny Dealz was the last man left standing, and Medusa came out and threw powder in his face as he has been gunning for her GM job on NWA USA. She threw him in the ring and Judias hit him with a chokeslam for the pin.

**********

Chris Adonis defeated Odinson via Disqualification

Odinson and Adonis started the match with displays of strength, throwing each other around the ring. Adonis eventually took over for a short while, working over the arm and shoulder of Odinson before chopping and punching him in the corner. Odinson managed to hit an Asgardian uppercut for a two count.

There was some basic back and forth ending with Adonis putting the Master Lock on Odinson, but Odinson grabbed that spray he sprays in his mouth and sprayed it into the eyes of Adonis to break the hold. The referee DQ’d Odinson, who then hit Adonis with the spray bottle and left the ring. Crappy finish on this one.

–Pretty Empowered were on the stage with Kyle Davis and talked about their upcoming match with The Hex, with Ella Envy saying that the Hex were just jealous, leading to Envy getting booed. Kenzie Pagie talked about how much the title meant to her and how much fighting for the NWA meant to her, which got cheers. Envy claimed the Hex were crying like children, which seemed to offend Paige a little bit. Velvet Sky pointed out that Paige was taking it seriously, while Envy was making a mockery of the titles.

**********

Homicide defeated Kerry Morton w/ Ricky Morton to retain NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Morton and Homicide started fast paced, with Homicide smiling and shook the hand of Morton, while looking like he was going to attempt to kill him, no pun intended on his name. Morton hit a shoulder tackle and a hip toss, being on step ahead of Homicide who lightly shook his hand again and did a peace sign to Ricky Morton while looking like he wanted to kill Ricky Morton too.

Homicide’s facial expressions are so great. Morton hit another armdrag and a dropkick that sent Homicide ot the floor. Homicide and Ricky Morton came face to face before he got back in the ring. Homicide went to shake Morton’s hand again, but this time he slapped it away. Homicide yanked the hair of Morton to pull him to the mat, but got caught in an O’Connor Roll for a 2-count. Homicide kicked out and then went for a dive to the floor, but Morton came back in and hit a crossbody for a 2-count.

Homicide hit a back elbow on Morton before looking at Ricky Morton again and fishhooking Kerry Morton and yanking the hair again. Homicide is descending into his old heelish ways, and chopped Morton a few times, but Morton asked for more. Morton went for a dive to the floor, but Homicide caught him, drove him into the ring post, and slammed him onto the floor.

Morton managed to hit a Cheeky Nandos superkick in the corner before powerbombing Homicide off the middle ropes for a 2-count. Morton missed a frog splash and Homicide got a 2-count. Homicide went for the Cop Killa, but Morton slipped out and hit a superkick. Homicide hit a lariat, and went for another, but Morton ducked and hit one of his own. Homicide then hit a low blow right in front of the referee.

The referee warned him and threatened him to DQ him, while Homicide insisted it was accidental. Morton recovered and hit the Finaly Roll, but missed the moonsault, and Homicde was able to hit an avalanche Koji Cutter on Morton for the pinfall. This match was fantastic.

Kerry Morton shoved Homicide after the match, upset about the low blow, and Homicide slapped him and left the ring.

–Kyle Davis introduced an NWA legend in attendance, Tommy Rich, who got a nice reaction from the NWA audience. Rich cut a great promo, saying dreams came true, and he was so happy to be back in the NWA. He said he was fired up, thanked the NWA, and thanked St. Louis, and it was a dream come true to wrestle in the NWA, be the NWA champion, and to be back in the NWA again.

-Thrillbilly Silas was with May Valentine and predicted pain for his match tomorrow with Davey Richards.

**********

Matt Cardona made his entrance, and claimed that he was back to save the NWA, and ahead of schedule. He said he wasn’t wrestling Nick Aldis or Bully Ray tonight, claiming that Bully Ray was Extreme shaming him and that he wasn’t hardcore. Cardona said he was the death match king, and more hardcore than him. He also promised he wasn’t going to ruin the Worlds title match tomorrow, as they will have the main event tomorrow, and he’ll be challenging for the title soon enough again, as Corgan promised him one. He then introduced his opponent, Rolando Freeman.

Rolando Freeman defeated Matt Cardona

Freeman flipped off Matt Cardona which got a nice reaction. The height difference here was rather hilarious, as Cardona towered over the 5’2ish Rolando. Cardona went down to his knees for a test of strength, and Freeman laughed before hitting a forearm into the face of Cardona. He then hit a running headbutt on Cardona, but ate a big kick when he charged the corner. Cardona started punching him like crazy.

Cardona was mad now and choked Freeman and hit shoulder blocks in the corner before setting him on the top rope. Cardona slapped him, but Freeman responded with a slap of his own and hit a missile dropkick. Freeman hit a flatliner for a 2-count. Freeman hit a series of forearms, but ate a flying foreman from Cardona. Cardona murdered him with several forearms and hit the ReBoot but picked Freeman up from the pin. Cardona picked him up a second time, and then went for a lazy cover with his back, and Freeman caught him in a crucifix pin and pinned Cardona!

Rolando Freeman beat the former champion, clean in the middle of the ring, by outwrestling Matt Cardona! Cardona was livid as he left the ring. I really liked this finish. It was a clean finish, and not a fluke, as Freeman outwrestled him. This was so good.

**********

–Baby Doll was with Samantha Starr backstage, returning to the NWA. May Valentine noted that she came back to NWA to manager her daughter, Samantha Starr, who Valentine welcomed to the NWA. Starr talked about what it meant for her to go up against the top talent in the NWA in the Burke Invitational.

Max the Impaler won the The Burke Invitational Gauntlet Match

KiLynn King and Samantha Starr started the match, as King looks to continue her rise in the NWA, and Starr looks to make an impact with her mom in her corner. The announcers talked about the family of Grizzly Smith, praising the wrestlers that came from him, but I wouldn’t have done that, given Smith’s history of abuse. Not a good look, despite it being true that it was Starr’s family linage.

Starr and King started fast with different attacks in the corner, attempting to pin each other quickly to make it easier before the next opponent came out. This match is not an over the top rope battle royal, as far as I know, but there is a countdown between entrants, and it isn’t only one person at a time in the ring as Natalia Markova made her entrance and took it to both King and Starr.

Markova hit a cutter on King, but Starr stopped it for some reason, which seemed odd as it is an elimination gauntlet. Markova and Starr exchanged strikes until the next entrant made their way in. Missa Kate ran down and hit a twisting senton onto both Starr and Markova before kicking King in the face. King put Kate over the top rope and she was eliminated, so apparently it is a battle royal, with pinfalls. This really isn’t a gauntlet. It’s a battle royal, so this was mis-advertised.

Madi made her way to the ring after King hit a series of moves on the other women. Madi tried to throw King over the top rope, but couldn’t, so she looked at the referee and screamed for help, which was funny. Starr tried to help but it didn’t work. Madi tried to pin everyone, with no success.

Taryn Terrell was the next entrant, and she looked so thrilled to be there while trying to avoid interacting with the fans. She hasn’t gotten into the ring, and seemed content to wait until the others beat each other up. This is where we need a rule that if you aren’t in the ring by the time the next entrant is in, you’re eliminated.

Max the Impaler was the next entrant, and as soon as Madi saw Max, she jumped over the top rope herself, and ran away, because she didn’t want to face Max. She could have just rolled to the floor and waited, but it was funny that Madi jumped the guardrail and ran out of the building.

Max hit a huge uranage on Markova before slamming KiLynn King quite recklessly on Markova, who was not positioned flat to take the move. Tootie Lynn was next in the ring and faced off with Max, while slightly unsure, but still willing to fight. Angelina Love was next and Tootie Lynn was eliminated by Max as she made her way down to the ring.

Love hit a headscissors on King and a clothesline on Markova, but looked unsure about Max. She tried to hit forearms on Max, but Max no sold them. Markova, Love, and King tried to throw Max out. Jennacide came out as the final entrant, and she would likely be the best one to eliminate Max. Samantha Starr brought Taryn Terrell into the ring and hit a Samoan drop.

Max eliminated Taryn Terrell and Angelina Love as they were fighting on the apron. Love looked to be bleeding from a stiff shot from Max. Jennacide hit a huge spinebuster on Max. King tried to help Jennacide pin Max, but Max kicked out anyway. Max got in the way of Markova hitting a kick in the corner on King. Markova pinned King and Max pinned Jennacide.

Markova went for a crossbody, but Max hit a slam for a 2-count. Markova went right after Max with hard strikes and hit a big knee to the face of Max, who kicked out. Markova went to the top rope, but Max mistimed hitting the ropes to knock her down, so Markova had to just sort of stand there and pretend it didn’t effect her until Max got to her. Max then hit Welcome to the Wasteland on Markova for the pinfall. I think this was a mistake. Max hurt several people in this match and missed spots all over the place.

**********

–Aron Stevens made a challenge for a tag team match tomorrow night with Stevens and Mack against Kratos and a partner tomorrow night.

Cyon w/ Austin Idol defeated Jax Dane w/ Chris Silvio, Esq. for the NWA National Championship

Dane attacked Cyon before the match started, leaving Austin Idol no time to get out the ring with Cyon’s robe. This match being heel vs. heel really didn’t help the heat here. Dane dumped Cyon to the floor before taking off his vest and asking for a count out. Austin Idol and Chris Silvio got into an argument, with Idol pushing him back away from the downed Cyon.

I think, by default, Cyon is the babyface in this match, but it sure is weird having Austin Idol working like one as a manager. Dane beat on Cyon, but left the ring with the title saying he was going to take a count out, but Cyon ran up the aisle and brought him back to the ring. As the referee was trying to keep Austin Idol and Chris Silvio apart, Anthony Mayweather came into the ring and chokeslammed Dane.

Cyon refused to accept Mayweather’s help and started brawling with Mayweather. The referee was back at this point, so I have no idea why there wasn’t a DQ here. The referee sent Mayweather to the back and Dane hit a spinebuster on Cyon for a 2-count. Cyon fought out of a fireman’s carry into a sleeper hold, and Dane tapped out, but Chris Silvio distracted the referee so he didn’t see it. Dane hit his Pop the Trunk lariat, but Cyon got his feet on the ropes.

This match had zero heat because they didn’t know who to cheer for. Who could have predicted that happening? (I did, because it’s heel vs. heel.) Cyon hit a Death Valley Driver on Dane and managed to pin him, which sort of got a reaction, and light applause. So, there’s that. Cyon won the National title, a title Austin Idol, his kayfabe dad, held, so that was a nice moment. Idol did what he could to be a babyface manager, but his heel work before the PPV made is extremely difficult to cheer, and I don’t blame the audience for being confused.

Bully Ray defeated Mike Knox in a Tables Match

Bully Ray tried to get a table right away, but it got caught on a metal bar in the middle of the ring, and Bully Ray said, “Where is D’Von when you need him?” and I laughed. Mike Knox hit a crossbody and then beat on Bully Ray with a chain. The tables had their trim cut off to weaken them and make it easier to go through, but that is a bad idea because one of these big men are going to go through it like butter.

Bully Ray suplexed Knox on the floor, but Knox grabbed a chair and hit Ray with it as Ray setup another table. Ray hit a back suplex on Knox and grabbed a chair of his own before hitting Knox with a light as a feather chairshot, which was actually nice to see. It looked good, but was light. Ray went for another, but Knox booted the chair into his face. Knox went for a crossbody into the corner table, but Ray moved and Knox crashed through it. Ray picked up Knox and hit a uranage on Knox through the table. Ray then broke off a piece of the table and gave it to a little girl to bring home. She celebrated, holding the piece of the table like it was a championship. That was very cute.

**********

–Ricky Morton cut a promo on Homicide, and it seems like he’ll be coming for him soon, potentially challenging for the NWA World Jr. Heavyweight title.

La Rebelion w/ Damian 666 defeated Hawx Aerie (Luke & PJ Hawx) for the NWA World Tag Team Championship

Doug Williams came out with his tag title, and he looked disappointed that he had to vacate the title because of Harry Smith being ill. Williams gave the title to the referee and shook hands with Luke Hawx, as a show of respect.

Luke Hawx and Bestia 666 started the match, with Bestia eventually hitting a shoulder tackle and both men doing some lucha, which the crowd appreciated. PJ Hawx came in and hit a series of arm drags on Mecha Wolf.

Damian 666 managed to get a punch in on Luke Hawx after La Rebelion distracted the referee. La Rebelion tried to hit double knees to Luke Hawx, but he ducked and they kneed each other, leading to the hot tag from PJ Hawx. Hawx ran wild, hitting suplexes on La Rebelion. This was a great hot tag. Hawx slipped off the top rope, but managed to turn it into a double lariat.

Unfortunately, Luke Hawx got isolated again and La Rebelion hit Nail in the Coffin on Luke Hawx, but PJ Hawx made the save. Hawx kept making the save for his dad, and hit an inverted atomic drop on Mecha Wolf, but Damian 666 pulled Luke Hawx off the pin. Bestia 666 pulled PJ Hawx off the apron and Damian 666 spit the red mist into the face of Luke Hawx. Mecha Wolf hit a tope on PJ Hawx while Bestia 666 covered Luke Hawx, using his body to cover the red mist on his face for the pinfall.

**********

–Kyle Davis was in the ring for a face off between Trevor Murdoch & Tyrus, who was accompanied by Idolmania Sports Management. Bill Corgan joined them, hyping the match between Kamille & Taya Valkyrie tonight. Tyrus told Idolmania Sports Management to leave the ring as it was just between him and Murdoch.

It seems that the promos we should have had on TV, even if it was just inset promos, was about to happen now, since they didn’t do it on TV leading into the PPV. Tyrus spoke first, saying that he defended the TV title 10 times and didn’t cash in at 7 because he wanted to make it mean something when he faced Murdoch. He said it wasn’t personal, but he was going to make it personal when they fight tomorrow.

Tyrus said that he was in the best shape of his life, and the fans laughed. So, that should tell you what they think about this match. Tyrus said he bought 10 pounds of gold chains to wear around his neck to train for carrying the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

Trevor Murdoch got a big pop when he took the mic, and he said the only 10 pounds of gold Tyrus was getting was the chains around his neck. Murdoch said he wasn’t going to let Tyrus beat him for the world title, and it was over his dead body. Corgan stood between Murdoch and Tyrus who were trying to brawl. This angle/promo should have been on TV, as it was half decent. Corgan wanted a poster shot from the camera man, Tyrus left the ring once Murdoch indicated he wanted to fight tonight. Murdoch tried very hard to get heat for this and get the crowd into it, but a match with Tyrus will only make them mild.

**********

Kamille defeated Taya Valkyrie to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship

Valkyrie worked the early parts of this match a bit too slow for a show that was too long. I can tell the fans wanted to be into this match with heat, but again, it was given very little promotion on TV with neither cutting promos on each other. They just had Valkyrie win a #1 contender’s match on TV and then she disappeared, and Kamille was nowhere to be seen. It has resulted in a match that the fans were not loud for, despite the work being quite good.

I think NWA was banking on Kamille being over because she usually is, but none of the booking highlighted why this match is important outside of it being for the title, and with the show quite far from sold out, it didn’t help that there were less fans there to cheer as well. They would react to small segments of the match and pinfall attempts, but that is about it.

Kamille went for a pump kick, but Valkyrie dodged, and Kamille had to use some clever movement herself to get into position to attempt and hit the pump kick once again. Kamille got a 2-count out of it. Valkyrie caught a corner kick and set Kamille on the middle ropes before hitting a sliding German suplex, which got a pop.

Valkyrie was able to get some reactions by chopping Kamille hard at ringside. Valkyrie did a camel clutch and got a 2-count after a few punches in that position. Valkyrie hit a clothesline and a hip attack on Kamille in the corner of the ring before hitting a metora in the corner. Kamille blocked a kick and picked up Valkyrie up for a powerbomb. This happened slowly, so it looked fairly bad in the setup.

Kamille hit a spear, but Valkyrie rolled to the floor to avoid the pinfall. Valkyrie hit a double stomp back in the ring, but only got a 2-count. Valkyrie gut cut off on the top rope and Kamille hit a superplex for a 2-count. Joe Galli said “This crowd is on their feet” and it was about 20 people out of the entire place, but I suppose he was technically correct. Kamille hit Valkyrie with a Canadian Destroyer, but Valkyrie kicked out.

Valkyrie accidentally dropped the referee, so when she hit three curb stomps on Kamille, there was no one there to make the count. Valkyrie started to act heelish here, grabbing the title and hitting Kamille with it. The referee made the count, but Kamille kicked out at the literal exact last second, and suddenly the fans exploded. They got them at this point and people were legitimately jumping up and down. Kamille managed to hit a spear and finally pin Valkyrie.

This was a good match that had very little heat at first, but it built as the match went on as it was really solid work from both of them. It would have helped to have more promos and angles on the show. The entire women’s roster came out to cheer the main event as Kamille celebrated with the fans. This was a great ending to the first night. All the men came onto the stage to congratulate her as well.

Final Thoughts

This show was way too long. It had little heat for many of the matches because the promotion of the matches had been so poor on NWA Power. The heel vs. hell match of Cyon and Jax Dane was unsatisfying seeing the title change hands because it was two villains fighting. Kamile and Taya Valkyrie, from a work perspective, was excellent, but it took until the last part of the match for the crowd to truly get into it. The nearfall for Valkyrie on Kamille at the end was one of the best near falls I have ever seen, and Kamille kicked out at the last possible moment. That was awesome. Kamille is steadily improving, and is far from the green worker she was when she first started wresting in the NWA. I don’t think this was as good as her match against Leyla Hirsch last year, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. It was a very good match that saw both women work very hard.

The rest of the card was quite frustrating for a variety of reasons as they did more promos to promote the matches on this show than they did on the TV leading into it. The Tyrus and Trevor Murdoch segment should have happened on TV with subsequent promo segments and video packages, and maybe a pull apart brawl or something like that. Trevor Murdoch tried so hard to get the fans fired up for this match, and he only got a mild reaction, which is unfortunate. It makes me wonder if NWA will learn it’s lesson in pushing Tyrus, but something tells me they won’t, and to my horror, they may very well put the title on Tyrus tomorrow night.