Matt Cardona’s in-ring return is being advertised for the NWA’s 74th anniversary pay-per-view.
The NWA has announced that Cardona will make “an earlier than expected return to action” as he faces a handpicked mystery opponent at night one of NWA 74. The PPV is being held in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28.
“I’M BACK! I will make my return to the ring at #NWA74 on August 27,” Cardona tweeted. “I will handpick my opponent from the incredibly talented @nwa roster.” Who’s it gonna be?!”
Cardona has been out of action since tearing his biceps at a show for Game Changer Wrestling this May. The injury forced Cardona to vacate the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated in June, Cardona said he was hoping to return to the ring this September. Cardona said he was told his recovery time would be five months but he was hoping to be back in three.
Cardona and Chelsea Green will take part in a segment where they renew their wedding vows at GCW Homecoming part two on Sunday, August 14. The vow renewal will be officiated by Maven.
Trevor Murdoch became NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion after the title was vacated by Cardona. Murdoch is set to defend the title against Tyrus at NWA 74 night two.
Max the Impaler defeated Ella Envy and Taya Valkyrie
Max the Impaler did nothing in this match to alleviate my concerns about the reckless offence. I still need to see more to determine what I think of Max’s ability, but we shall see how Max performs against Kamille when NWA books it.
Poor Ella asked for competition, and she ended up facing Max the Impaler. Ella protested “I don’t even know how I got in this! I’m the champion!” which did not matter to Valkyrie or Max. The poor tag champ got destroyed within the first two minutes of the match. Envy rolled to the apron crying about the beating she took.
Valkyrie took Max down with a clothesline, but Envy broke it up, demanding respect because she is a champion, which she yelled while tossed into the air by Valkyrie with a German suplex. Max hit some bad looking forearms in the corner of Valkyrie. Taya Valkyrie hit a curb stomp on Max, but was taken out by Envy. Envy turned and screamed about Max chasing her down.
Envy slipped out of power slam and shoved Max into the ring post but ate a draping DDT from Valkyrie. Max hit a spear on Valkyrie and hit To the Wasteland on Envy for the pinfall.
James Mitchell came out and seemed to recruit Max to his stable as the show cut to the intro.
The OGK (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) and La Rebelion (Mecha Wolf & Bestia 666) (with Damien 666) went to double disqualification
I never expected to see a luchador from WCW on NWA Power, but Damien 666 was here tonight. Damien had his face painted as usual, but since he is older, had a bald spot. Which he also painted. That made me laugh. The match itself was great until the non-finish. I’m guessing we’ll see more of these two teams in the weeks to come.
The opening segment of the match was excellent with quick tags from the OGK. Taven ended with a dropkick and yelled “I’m Matt Taven!” to which Damien got on the apron and yelled “I am Damien!” to distract him, leading to Mecha Wolf taking Taven out and tagging in Bestia 666.
Bestia hit a tope suicida on Bennett, and then Taven hit one on Bestia. Mecha Wolf hit a tope con giro on everyone to the applause from the crowd. Taven and Bestia both threw kicks at the same time and crashed to the floor. All four men made it into the ring before the ten count and then hit a series of moves that sent all four crashing to the mat.
Taven ate some kicks from La Rebelion before they hit The Nail in the Coffin for a two-count. Taven sent Mecha Wolf to the floor, Benett hit a Death Valley Driver on Bestia, and the OGK superkicked Damien 666 who got on the apron. Both teams started brawling and the ref got shoved, so he threw the match out. Damien then came in and spit red mist into the face of Matt Taven.
–Taryn Terrell and Natalia Markova were with May Valentine. Markova talked about the concussion she suffered in the match with Taya Valkyrie when Terrell tried to “translate” for her because of her accent. Terrell kept annoying Markova as she was insisting she was the better wrestler, but eventually said she was not cleared yet.
–Cyon and Austin Idol were with May Valentin. Idol said his relationship with Cyon was better than ever, and if Cyon listened to him, he would be the next NWA National Champion. Noticeably, he called him Austin and not dad.
Magic Jake Dumas (with CJ) defeated Eric Jackson
I have still yet to see Dumas do a magic trick. I do not believe he is really a magician.
Jackson attacked and went for a monkey flip, but that did not go well. Dumas did a torture rack neckbreaker while yelling Abra Cadaver, for the pinfall. Dumas raked a playing card across Jackson’s eye before leaving the ring.
–Billy Corgan was with Kyle Davis and talked about the Race for the Chase mini-tournament. Corgan talked about how he promised the Cardona family things at Alwayz Ready, but he reserved the right to remove someone from the number one contendership if they didn’t represent the company well. That said, he intends to fulfill his promise to the Cardonas.
-Odinson and Colby Corino were with May Valentine. Valentine asked if he thought he had any chance of beating Tyrus, and Odinson looked like it was a ridiculous question because of course he thought he had a chance. Colby Corino was asked about being obsessed with Kerry Morton, and Corino fired back saying it was a dumb question and that Morton was the one obsessed with him.
Nick Aldis defeated Mike Knox (with VSK), Brian Myers, and Thom Latimer in a four-way match
Latimer took it to Knox and Myers right away, even though both members of the Cardona Family attempted to double team him. Myers almost hit Knox by accident, leading to Strictly Business reuniting with Latimer and Aldis working together to take out Myers and then starting to wrestle each other.
Knox and Myers were able to send Aldis into the ring post face first and double teamed Latimer for a bit before hitting a double suplex on Aldis. Knox and Myers went for a double team move, but Aldis slipped out, landed an Olympic Slam on Knox before going for a superplex on Myers. Knox rushed in and hit a Tower of Doom powerbomb on Aldis and Myers.
Latimer rushed in and hit a big back suplex on Knox, but Myers broke it up. Knox and Myers tried to hit a cross body on Aldis, but Aldis moved and Knox crashed into Myers. Latimer and Knox then crashed into each other and collapsed. Aldis then pinned Myers to become the #1 contender for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship.
Final Thoughts
Good episode of NWA Power this week, with a decent main event that saw Aldis return to the position of #1 contender. I do wonder if this would have been a good time to try and elevate someone else to that position, but returning to Murdoch and Aldis will be guaranteed to be a good match. That said, they will have to start heating up the angle to make me want to see it.
The NWA has announced details regarding their 74th anniversary show.
The company will be returning to the Khorassan Ballroom inside the Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta for a two-day event on August 27 and 28. The venue last year hosted NWA EmPower, an all-women’s card, and the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary Show the following day.
Tickets for the shows will be available starting at 10 am CST on Wednesday, June 15. More information regarding tickets can be found here. The events will also be broadcast on FITE TV.
The Khorassan Ballroom previously served as the venue for Wrestling at the Chase, a long time television program in St. Louis that ran from 1959 through 1983.
“We made a promise last year to return to St. Louis and bring quality matches and wrestling legends to our fans. That’s exactly what we are doing during this two day wrestling pay-per-view,” Billy Corgan, president of the NWA, said in the press release.
Last year’s two-day event saw Chelsea Green winning the NWA Women’s Invitational Cup in the main event of NWA EmPower, and Trevor Mudroch defeating Nick Aldis to win the NWA World Heavyweight title in the main event of the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary Show the following day.