Tag: nwa power

NWA Power immediately started with Odinson and Flip Gordon fighting in the ring.

Odinson defeated Flip Gordon

This was a good opening match here. I was worried they were going to have Odinson lose but with how he has been pushed of late, it only made sense for him to win.

Gordon remembered being attacked by Odinson at NWA 74, so he attacked right away. Odinson used his size to overpower him and also land a few cheap shots. Odinson hit an impressive dropkick for a two count. Gordon was able to hit a springboard into a tornado DDT to stop the onslaught, followed by a death valley driver and a superkick for a two count.

Gordon went to the top rope and missed a 450 splash before Odinson hit a running uppercut and a protoplex for a two count. He then hit a pounce on Gordon for the pinfall. 

Nick Aldis ran in after the match to save Gordon from a follow up attack. Aldis then went to the podium and claimed that Odinson is trying to get favor with the office and Billy Corgan by taking him out, but he isn’t on the same level. Aldis promised that Odinson was going to find out what it meant to fight someone at his level.

– Joe Galli was with NWA Champion Trevor Murdoch and asked about both Tyrus and Matt Cardona facing him at NWA Hard Times III. He didn’t care about who he had to face, because he was going to beat them all.

– Jennacide was backstage with May Valentine and notably had no face paint. She talked about how she was going to be in the title picture when she beat NWA Women’s Champion Kamille in a non-title match tonight.

EC3 defeated Traxx

This match was really bad as EC3 was supposed to look like a star but Traxx was superior in the ring by far.

Galli explained that Traxx was called that because he figuratively lived on both sides of the tracks in life. EC3 hit a lariat and an exploder, but Traxx got up and landed a few chops as EC3 laughed at him. EC3 hit a TKO onto his knee (sort of) and then locked on The Purpose for the submission win. This was not good.

EC3 went to the podium as Kyle Davis asked him about his fight with Thom Latimer. EC3 claimed he was scoring victory after victory after victory. Latimer came out and challenged him and EC3 accepted for Hard Times III. EC3 said so much nonsense here that could have been said in ten seconds, but he extended it over five minutes.

– Taya Valkyrie was with May Valentine and talked about how she wanted to get another shot at Kamille. Valkyrie put over Kamille over as a strong wrestler.

NWA Women’s Champion Kamille defeated Jennacide in a non-title match

Jennacide hit knees like she promised she would in the promo earlier, but missed a yakuza kick in the corner and got her leg trapped on the ropes. Kamille slammed the knee to the mat and then hit a lariat. She followed with some knees to the kidneys of Jennacide before choking her on the ropes.

Kamille hit a gutwrench suplex for another one count and continued to take it to Jennacide. Jennacide hit a kick to Kamille’s thighs to break up an axe handle attempt. Jennacide hit a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count, followed by a shining wizard for another two count. The end came when she missed a Vader bomb and then got nailed with a spear by Kamille for the pin.

– The Fixers were with May Valentine and Wrecking Ball yelled “Hooooooo!” like Hacksaw Jim Duggan, but Bradley cut it off and said it was copyrighted. They announced they were hosting an upcoming episode of NWA USA and Wrecking Ball claimed he got Muta, Luger, Vader, and the Midnight Express as his guests. Some of those would be quite impressive given they’re not with us anymore.

– NWA USA highlights aired of Bully Ray beating Jamie Stanley.

– BLK Jeez and Tyrus were with May Valentine. Jeez claimed that Tyrus shouldn’t give up the NWA TV title to cash in for a shot at the World title. Tyrus asked BLK to make sure the match was made, so it looks like he might be cashing it in. Since the main event has already been announced, it is weird that they are booking the angle to get there after it was already announced.

The OGK & Rhett Titus defeated NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebelion & Damian 666

This was a quick, but fun, trios tag match with the OGK finally getting a small measure of revenge against the heels.

Watching Damian 666 work a match on Power was not something I had on my 2022 bingo card, but it happened here. The OGK and Titus immediately went after their opponents because of how they have been cheating in beating them over the last several weeks. In news of the week, Damian did not put makeup on his bald spot to cover it.

La Rebelion got the heat on Titus for the first few minutes. He managed to hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Mecha Wolf which let him tag out to Mike Bennett. Bennett took out Bestia 666, hitting clotheslines, hard chops, a hard spinebuster and a death valley driver.

It broke down to all six men being involved with Bestia 666 hitting a tope suicida on Bennett. Damian 666 went to spit the mist on Matt Taven to stop a tope con giro, but Titus blocked the mist with his hand over the mouth of Damian before locking on a short arm scissors for the submission.

Final Thoughts:

Besides the bizarre creative approach with Tyrus already being announced for the title match at Hard Times III yet acting like he hasn’t been yet, this was a solid episode of NWA Power. 

I get they wanted to promote it well in advance, but shoot the angle and air it before you announce the match. It hurts the continuity of the show a little and makes it seem secondary since we already know where it is going. 

That said, the build to NWA Hard Times III has been solid. Nothing exciting, but basic booked pro wrestling, which I can’t complain about.

This week’s NWA Power featured the continuation of the Bully Ray/Mike Knox feud in addition to the promotional debut of Dak Draper.

Draper made his debut to open things up with the winner advancing in the NWA National title no. 1 contender’s tournament.

Dak Draper defeated Brian Myers in a NWA National title eliminator tournament semifinal

Draper outwrestled Myers in the first few minutes, using a combination of amateur wrestling and pro wrestling, ending the sequence with a powerslam for a near fall. Myers was able to finally get some offense after a neck snap on the ropes. He quickly slid under the ropes as Draper hit them, tripping him in the process. Draper hit a back suplex, skinned the cat onto the apron, and hit a slingshot over the ropes into a cradle for a near fall.

Myers hit an enziguri, a superkick, and an implant DDT for a near fall. Myers did an O’Connor roll and grabbed the ropes but the ref noticed. Draper then did an O’Connor roll of his own for the pinfall. 

This was a solid match with Draper advancing to the finals. This was a good chance to elevate a new face and they took it here.

– Bully Ray was with Joe Galli earlier in the day, addressing what VSK and Mike Knox said about Bully Ray having no friends and no one to be his partner tonight. Ray said the first guy he asked said no, and that even if he couldn’t find a partner, he would wrestle a handicap match.

– May Valentine was with Knox and Matt Cardona who looked greatly pleased that Bully Ray didn’t have a partner. Knox claimed he didn’t lose his recent tables match with Bully Ray because he beat him up.

– Kyle Davis was in the NWA Control Center, making World Champion Trevor Murdoch vs. Matt Cardona official for NWA Hard Times III. The Fixers will also be taking on The Spectaculars. This was, again, such a simple way to update us on what is going on. Davis also hinted that an NWA champion was going to be defending his title internationally soon.

Chris Adonis defeated “Magic” Jake Dumas (w/ CJ) in a NWA National title eliminator tournament semifinal

Adonis and Dumas did a test of strength which did not go well for Dumas. Granny would call this a power knuckle hold and it really was. Adonis hit a back elbow and a suplex. Dumas raked Adonis’ eyes across the top rope and hit a clothesline for a near fall. Dumas hit a Russian leg sweep for a near fall and followed up with a choke.

Dumas called for his own Master Lock, but Adonis powered out of it and hit some back elbows. Adonis hit a flying shoulder tackle and a big spinebuster. Dumas got a boot up on a corner charge. He then pulled a playing card out of his shirt while on the ropes for some reason. Adonis locked on the Master Lock, forcing a tapout as Dumas tried to scratch the eyes with the card. He advances in the finals to take on Draper.

– Marshe Rockett & Jordan Clearwater talked about challenging The Fixers for the US Tag titles, and BLK Jeez talked about Tyrus still wanting the NWA World Championship.

Marshe Rockett (w/ BLK Jeez) defeated Eric Jackson and Joe Ocasio in a three-way

As short as this was, I was impressed with all three men and would love to see all of them get more chances to wrestle on Power even though Rockett is relatively established.

Jackson hit an impressive crossbody on Ocasio early on, but was cut off on a suicide dive by Rockett. Jackson and Ocasio hit a double suplex on Rockett, and Jackson hit a slingblade. Ocasio countered a corner charge and hit a fireman’s carry into a gutbuster for a near fall. Rockett hit a huge dropkick on Ocasio, and Rockett hit a Rockett Kick on Jackson for the win.

– A highlight video of NWA USA aired with Thrillbilly Silas defeating Anthony Mayweather.

Bully Ray & Thom Latimer defeated The Cardona Family (VSK & Mike Knox) (w/ Matt Cardona)

Bully Ray appeared to have no partner and started the match against VSK. Ray chopped him a few times to the delight of the crowd. Ray gorilla pressed VSK off the top rope, but turned into a crossbody from Knox. Cardona attacked Ray behind the back of the ref. The numbers game started to overwhelm Ray as they got the heat on him for the next few minutes.

Ray hit a back elbow on VSK, forcing him to tag out to Knox. Knox hit a big boot on Ray and the heat continued. Out of nowhere, Thom Latimer made it to the apron and tagged in. Latimer ran wild on both men ending with a huge pop-up powerbomb on VSK for the pin. Latimer and Ray shook hands and celebrated to close the show.

Final Thoughts

Most of the matches were quite short this week with the whole episode rounding out to about 40 minutes long including ads. There was nothing too exciting, but slight progression in the stories and advancement of the National title contender tournament meant it had impact on the build to Hard Times III. I can’t say it was exciting, but it was solid.

NWA Power opened with the competitors in the ring, ready to get into action.

Pope & Kratos defeated Question Mark & KC Roxx (w/ Aron Stevens)

If we don’t get a Kratos main event run in NWA, what are we doing here? The guy is fantastic and would make a great heel or babyface gunning for the title.

I know NWA is calling Rodney Mack Question Mark now, but it’s a real missed opportunity to not call him Question Mack. Pope hit a Manhattan drop on Roxx while the camera focused on Stevens at ringside reading Tyrus’ book. Pope got some great reactions from the audience for everything he did attacking Roxx.

Pope hit a stalled vertical suplex on Roxx, leading to Stevens getting on the apron. Question Mark attacked Pope from behind while he was distracted and pulled his partner over to tag in. Joe Galli and Velvet Sky agreed with me, apparently, saying they liked the name Question Mack more. Mack hit a big spinebuster on Pope who tagged out to Kratos after countering a Euthanizer.

Kratos killed Roxx with a powerslam and hit a running forearm in the corner on Mack before throwing him around like he weighed nothing. Kratos hit a slingshot wheelbarrow on Roxx for the pinfall.

Stevens and Mack attacked after the match ended and laid out Pope and Kratos, but a new Question Mark entered the ring and took out Mack before bowing to the Mongrovian flag.

– Bully Ray was walking around ringside as the fans chanted NWA. He was about to talk to Kyle Davis when Matt Cardona interrupted. Cardona said that no one wanted him in the NWA. Cardona said he should get a partner of his choice to face VSK & Mike Knox. Bully Ray said that Cardona shouldn’t forget that he put Knox through a table and that his challenge was on.

– Thom Latimer was with May Valentine talking about EC3, and how he was going to move forward toward the NWA title after he beats him. Latimer also said he related to Bully Ray feeling disrespected by Cardona, and he was glad Bully Ray was around because he trained Kamille.

– Kyle Davis was in the NWA Control Center running down all the info for NWA Hard Times III, including Cardona vs. NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch, Taya Valkyrie vs. Kamille II, and the tournament to crown the no. 1 contender to the National title. This was a million times better than any promotion they did leading into NWA 74. This was fantastic stuff, keeping us up to date on the key stories and matches.

Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) defeated Joe Alonzo

This was a good match with Alonzo impressing again. I hope the NWA sees what I’m seeing in him as he has had some great matches recently.

Alonzo wasted no time going for several pinfalls right away, leaving Cyon reeling until he was able to hit a hard forearm and a back suplex to get control. Cyon worked over Alonzo for a few minutes, including hitting some hard 12-to-6 elbows before locking on a chinlock. Alonzo ducked under a corner kick and pulled Cyon into the ring post before attacking his opponent’s knee.

Cyon went for the death valley driver, but couldn’t get Alonzo up for it because of his knee. Alonzo then hit a springboard cutter for a two count and Cyon rolled to the floor. Alonzo hit a tope suicida, but as he got back into the ring, Cyon was able to grab him and quickly hit the death valley driver for the pinfall. Cyon continued to sell the knee after the match.

– Ronaldo Freeman interrupted May Valentine and said that people should be talking about him because he beat Cardona. Well, that promo did away any babyface sympathy I had for him as this was heelish to the core. Valentine was later with Ricky Steamboat and Freeman interrupted, asking the legend for a match against Trevor Murdoch. As they were talking, agents pulled Freeman away.

Max The Impaler, Angelina Love & Natalia Markova defeated NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered (Ella Envy & Kenzie Paige) & Roxy in phase one of a Queen Bee match

Queen Bee rules: it begins with a trios match where the winning team then faces each other in a three-way elimination match.

Love started the match with Envy. Envy hit a nice Northern Lights suplex on Love for a two count before tagging out to Roxy. This was a bad plan as Love hit a dropkick. Markova and Paige got in the ring and Paige hit a nice senton. Roxy kept getting forced into the match by Envy, and every time she got in there, it ended badly until she hit a kick on Markova.

Envy and Paige left the apron as Roxy tried to tag out when Max got in the ring. Max dropped Roxy right on her head with a botched power bomb which made me scream. That was horrifying and further evidence that Max is quite reckless in the ring. Max pinned Roxy and phase two of the match than began.

Natalia Markova (w/ Taryn Terrell) defeated Angelina Love and then went to a double no contest with Max The Impaler

Max hit a double back suplex on Markova and Love and hit Welcome to the Wasteland on Love. Markova came in with a running knee on Max before pinning Love to eliminate her. Max ended up powering out of everything Markova tried. Max and Markova broke into an all out brawl in the ring and the referee was unable to get control, so he threw the match out. What a terrible finish. Imagine Roxy almost dying for that finish.

Max stole Markova’s Queen Bee crown and stomped it, breaking it. Markova and Terrell were appalled.

– Question Mark II was with May Valentine and claimed to be the brother of the original Question Mark. That was followed by highlights from NWA USA with Homicide successfully defending his NWA Junior Heavyweight title.

– Murdoch claimed he was bringing back ruthless aggression. He said that he was going to do what was right for the NWA, and what Cardona was doing wasn’t right which why he helped Rolando Freeman beat him recently.

NWA TV Champion Tyrus (w/ BLK Jeez) defeated Mims to retain

Mims hit a few headbutts to rock Tyrus and then slammed him again, but Tyrus stood right up, clubbered Mims, and hit a capture suplex. Tyrus then hit a corner splash which flattened Mims, followed by the heart punch and the pin. This sucked. The less said about Tyrus, the better. He left the ring immediately and left the TV title with BLK Jeez.

Final Thoughts:

The addition of the NWA Control Center and Kyle Davis running down the stories and matches upcoming for the next PPV is a massive improvement. While I was hard on the main event, a fair bit of this episode felt like there was a direction going forward which is refreshing.

The FITE stream started in the middle of this week’s opening match from NWA Power, which seemed to be some sort of glitch. 

Mike Knox defeated De’Vin Graves in a tables match

This was largely a squash match with Knox screaming “Come on, Bully Ray!” throughout, pretending Graves was Ray. Knox and VSK put a table in the ring and Knox chokeslammed Graves through it to win the match after a few minutes of beating him down. The announcers discussed the upcoming match between Ray and Knox at NWA 74.

-Jordan Clearwater and BLK Jeez were with Kyle Davis where Jeez revealed that Cyon was in training this week for his NWA 74 match against Jax Dane for the NWA National Championship. That match is still bizarre to me as Jeez made it clear Cyon was a heel by running down the fans.

Dane is also a heel which makes me feel as if this match is missing something as I don’t really want to see two heels fight. Jeez noted that Dane is a former champion in the NWA several times over, but emphasized the former part of it, and told Dane that Cyon was going to make him a former NWA National Champion.

– May Valentine was with Pope, discussing the main event of the show as Pope takes on Trevor Murdoch. Valentine asked if Pope had a chance of beating Murdoch, and Pope kindly said that of course he could. Pope noted that Murdoch and himself are friends, but had rough times over the years. Tonight was also going to be a rough time, but Pope was going to be the winner.

Ricky Morton defeated Wrecking Ball Legursky

Morton is awesome and his selling in this short match was so good. Morton did next to nothing and had the fans reacting to everything. What a pro.

Morton used his veteran wiles to keep Legursky at bay to open the match, but it was soon turned around when Legursky used a throat thrust and started to work over the arm of Morton. Morton’s selling was excellent, flexing his fingers and shaking the arm out every time a move was done to it and grabbing it whenever he was attacked.

Legursky hit a headbutt to the fallen Morton and yelled about how the “old man was done.” Legursky took off the turnbuckle padding in a corner and charged at Morton, who was against the turnbuckle, but Morton ducked down and Legursky crashed face-first into the exposed buckle and got knocked out, letting Morton pin him.

– A useless 15-second egment aired with Aron Stevens and May Valentine on set with an interviewer they didn’t introduce. The interviewer asked if Stevens thought he was better than him, and Valentine and Stevens confirmed that he was indeed better than the interviewer.

– A video aired of Homicide defeating PJ Hawx on NWA USA to retain the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship with an avalanche Koji Cutter.

– We were alerted by Joe Galli that Tim Storm left the commentary desk because Medusa told him there was an urgent matter from NWA USA that they needed to handle. Nothing came of this in the rest of the episode.

Jordan Clearwater (w/ BLK Jeez) defeated Joe Alonzo

This was a really solid match between these two. Alonzo was a good babyface in peril and Clearwater’s heel tactics were perfect for getting the crowd behind Alonzo.

Clearwater has a lot of potential to be a star and is clearly working out a lot as he has increased his muscle mass. However, Alonzo was faster than Clearwater in the early parts of this match until he went for a springboard. Jeez pulled him off the apron, crashing face first into the apron and onto the floor. Clearwater got a one count in the ring, which made him angry, so he slammed him and got a two count.

Clearwater hit a back suplex for a two count. A credit to Clearwater’s heel work in this match was how much the crowd got behind Alonzo, who also sold well. Alonzo is relatively unknown, so it’s a testament to this match being really solid. Alonzo hit a back suplex of his own and rolled through a sunset flip and hit a superkick. Alonzo ducked under a clothesline and hit a cutter for a two count.

Clearwater hit a Midas Touch big boot after Alonzo went for what looked like a Cross Rhodes. Clearwater then pinned Alonzo in a good match and gyrated to celebrate.

– Angelina Love was with May Valentine and talked about how she was excited to be in the NWA with her best friend, Velvet Sky. Love said that she wanted to take over the title shot that Sky won in the Champion’s Series as she was retired.

– The Pope was at the podium to talk with Kyle Davis. Pope said that he was going to wrestle with his friend for the love of the game, and since Murdoch asked, he was going to give him all he got and he was going to shake his hand afterward.

Trevor Murdoch and The Pope went to a double countout

This match was solid right until the finish, but I liked the storytelling aspect of it with Murdoch showing restraint but a lot of anger at the end. I like the character development of Murdoch recently and especially here.

The two had an intense start to the match with Murdoch staring daggers at Pope after the first few engagements. Pope hit a Manhattan Drop and Murdoch went to the floor. Pope held the ropes to let him back in, but as Murdoch came through the ropes, he hit Pope with a big right hand followed by a spinebuster.

Tim Storm noted that Murdoch wanted to do everything to keep his title as he nailed Pope right between the eyes with an elbow. Murdoch missed a middle rope elbow as Sky let us know that no one was there to check on Murdoch when he was busted open by Matt Cardona and lost the title. Pope bounced off the ropes and hit a flying forearm, but was dumped over the ropes to the floor by Murdoch when he charged at him.

Pope slipped out of a power slam attempt by Murdoch and shoved Murdoch into the ring post, but Murdoch stopped short and lured Pope into hitting the post. Murdoch went to piledrive Pope on the floor, but dropped him before delivering the move, reconsidering it. The referee counted both men out as he started at the fallen Pope and the show went off the air.

Final Thoughts:

While I enjoyed aspects of this show quite a bit (Clearwater vs. Alonzo, Murdoch showing good character development), I still can’t help but be baffled by the build to NWA 74. Nick Aldis has completely disappeared off television after being named the no. 1 contender and then was stripped of that position on social media.

They have clearly turned Murdoch heel as he is not just a babyface with an edge, so they are marketing Murdoch and Tyrus as a heel vs. heel main event for NWA 74. Cyon vs. Dane is also heel vs. heel, and will probably be the secondary title match on the show. We had a random statement that Ray was facing Knox at NWA 74, but haven’t seen Ray on NWA TV for weeks and there were no promos on TV that I am aware of, yet the announcers just assumed we knew what was going on when they talked about Knox in the first match of the show.

The show itself, in a vacuum, was not bad, but is also exactly the problem they have – it exists in a vacuum. Rarely do angles happen to build to the PPV, and I’m left wondering where Jax Dane is. Or Bully Ray. Or countless others that are apparently in heated feuds with people that we have never seen played out on TV. Tonight’s show seemed to build to Pope and Murdoch far more than it did Murdoch and Tyrus, which is another problem if you are selling the latter as the main event of the upcoming PPV. 

It’s like reading a story with chapters missing in the middle, leaving you wondering what led to what is happening. The stories could easily make sense with a little foresight and planning and we could have a solid build to a PPV, but the middle chapters are missing.

A prime example of it, outside of what I just mentioned, is the Burke Invitational which has had no announcement on TV of the competitors involved. The same can be said for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship battle royal. There will be ten teams involved, but if I watch the TV only, I have no idea who some of them are. There has been zero mention of the teams involved on TV and no video packages or promos to introduce them. There has been next to zero build for either of these things on NWA TV, so I have no idea how I am supposed to be excited for them.

Power has had very little to do with the build for NWA 74 at all, making it a missable show — the exact opposite of what you want when you are building to one of your biggest shows.

The OGK opened this week’s NWA Power with Kyle Davis and talked about wanting to be the first tag team to hold the IWGP, ROH and NWA Tag Team titles. Mike Bennett was on fire in this one, calling out La Rebelion for when Damian 666 helped them beat The OGK.

La Rebelion then came to the podium and said that The OGK didn’t know what they were asking for, because they worked harder than anyone, especially when The OGK was sitting at home when ROH wasn’t running. Both teams started brawling, but Damian 666 attacked them from behind and spit red mist into the face of Bennett and Matt Taven, leaving them laying.

Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) defeated Rodney Mack (w/ Aron Stevens) to become the no. 1 contender for the NWA National Championship

This was mostly fine, but it is weird to see a heel being the top contender to champion Jax Dane, but somehow, I am not shocked that they did this. Regardless, Cyon is the better worker, so it does make for a better match against Dane.

Mack dominated the early part of the match with some power moves, but it was turned around very quickly when Cyon whipped the arm, driving Mack to the mat, followed by punches. Cyon hit a DDT as the announcers commented that Aron Stevens wasn’t doing a good job managing Mack as he was not very involved in cheering on and coaching him. 

Cyon continued the attack, but Mack responded with a hip toss and went for a sunset flip, but Cyon was able to sit down on it and get the pinfall while pulling on Mack’s kneepad.

– May Valentine was with Thom Latimer and Kamille backstage to discuss the upcoming NWA 74 PPV with Kamille noting that Billy Corgan was making her wrestle two nights in a row, facing the winner of the Burke Invitational on the second night. Latimer said that he was going to do whatever it took to be a part of either show.

-Trevor Murdoch was with Valentine and he confirmed that he asked for a match with Pope next week on NWA Power. Murdoch said that at NWA 74, he was going to defend his championship and that why he wanted to face Pope was between him and Pope.

The Miserably Faithful (Gagz the Gimp, Sal the Pal & Judias) (w/ Father James Mitchell) defeated The ILL Begotten (Alex Taylor, Rush Freeman & Jeremiah Plunkett) (w/ Danny Dealz & Ronaldo Freeman) in a Team War match

This was perfectly acceptable, but was a weird heel vs. heel match which NWA seems to love. Eliminations are done via pin, submission or hitting the floor on the outside of the ring.

Sal started the match with Freeman, unloading a violent assault that seemed quite out of character, but after losing focus, Freeman hit him with a lariat. Deals seemed to trip his own man by accident, leading to Sal hitting a flatliner on Freeman for the pin.

Plunkett tried to pin Sal right away, but he kicked out and then hit a handspring stunner on Plunkett for a two count. Sal hit a series of headbutts to stagger Plunkett. Deals tried to convince Sal to go to the top rope, but Plunkett caught him after the distraction and hit a DDT to pin Sal.

Gagz came into the ring and took a hard Irish whip into the corner. Gagz hit some chops, but ate a knee from Plunkett. Gagz went for the eyes of Plunkett, but he punched Gagz right in the face to break it up. Plunkett locked Gagz into a bearhug, but Gagz seemed to enjoy the pain and scratched the back and chest of Plunkett before locking on the Gagz Reflex on Plunkett for the submission.

Alex Taylor came in and suplexed Gagz for a two count. Gagz ended up on the apron, but Taylor dropkicked him and he fell to the floor for the elimination. Judias came in and hit Taylor with a big boot. Judias chokeslammed him and then demanded he rise to his feet before hitting a crucifix bomb for the three count to win the match.

– Heart 2 Heart with Valentine was with Colby Corino for this edition. Valentine asked him what his childhood was like with his dad, and he said it was great. Aron Stevens was there and kept hijacking the interview to ask about Tyrus. Corino got frustrated as he kept starting to answer the questions and realize they were irrelevant to his pursuit of Homicide’s Junior Heavyweight Championship. This was bad comedy.

– Homicide was backstage with Valentine and Caprice Coleman. He talked about defending his title against PJ Hawx, and that he didn’t want to face the past in Luke Hawx. Homicide promised to break his bones if he kept calling him out.

Coleman said that he was going to be on the call for the NWA USA go-home show for NWA 74, and that when Homicide was done fighting kids, he should come for him.

NWA TV Champion Tyrus (w/ BLK Jeez) defeated Odinson to retain the title

Odinson tried very hard to make this acceptable, but it was not. Tyrus was horrible here and did next to nothing.

Odinson hit a series of hard European uppercuts on Tyrus, which winded Tyrus within 30 seconds because he had to sell. He hit an exploder suplex and a big splash in the corner. He hit an elbow on the back of Odinson and did pushups on his back, later followed by a nerve hold. Odinson stomped on the foot of Tyrus and bit his forehead to break the hold.

Odinson went for a European uppercut, but Tyrus fell before it even connected. Odinson rectified that with two hard ones and then a third off the top rope, but Tyrus kicked out. The crowd was fully behind Odinson here, but Tyrus swatted him (and by swat, I mean stuck his hands out hoping Odinson would fly into them) out of the air and hit a heart punch for the pin and win. This sucked, but at no fault to Odinson.

A bonus match from NWA Alwayz Ready — Taya Valkyrie vs. Natalia Markova– aired after the credits. I’m not sure why they chose this one as Markova was injured in the match and it turned into a mess.

Final Thoughts:

I can’t say anything special happened on this episode of NWA Power. It felt very missable outside of the opening promo segment with the OGK and La Rebelion. The Heart 2 Heart with Valentine was pointless and unfunny, and they set up a heel vs. heel match for the National title, and delivered a heel vs. heel Team War. 

This was not very good overall and did very little to make me look forward to NWA 74. They need to start promoting the matches hard, and I saw very little of that on this show.

Kyle Davis opened the show talking with Marti Belle, Paola Blaze, and The Pope, who talked about what women’s wrestling meant to them. 

I’m not sure why Pope was there, but he cut a great promo on why women’s wrestling was important. Belle was passionate in her speech about women’s wrestling while Blaze spoke in Spanish with no subtitles, It what was still clear with which the passion she spoke.

Kenzie Paige defeated Kaci Lennox

Paige and Lennox worked at a quick pace with Paige using some hard hitting offense, hitting a kick to the head after Lennox rolled out of a backslide. Paige was pulled off the middle rope by Lennox, who was able to then hit some shoulderblocks to Paige’s back before hitting double knees to her back.

Lennox hit a snap suplex for a two count and looked very unimpressed that Paige kicked out. Lennox charged at the corner, but got hit with a boot before hitting a missile dropkick off the top rope. Lennox hit a flatliner for a near fall and let out a horrifying high-pitched scream that may have been heard in the sky outside. 

Paige responded while Lennox was distracted by hitting a full nelson face buster for the pin.

– The Miserably Faithful were with James Mitchell with Max The Impaler being announced as a new member of the group. Sal The Pal was walking back and forth in the background while laughing. Mitchell promised that Max will take the NWA World Women’s Championship from Kamille soon enough. May Valentine quickly exited the interview, afraid of everyone around her. Mitchell is a great promo, and this simple one worked very well.

Taya Valkyrie defeated KiLynn King to become the #1 Contender for the NWA Women’s Championship

This was a very good match from King and Valkyrie. This was easily Valkyrie’s best match in the NWA thus far while King continues to impress.

King and Valkyrie exchanged some good fundamental wrestling to open, exchanging headlocks, headscissors, and submission attempts. After a test of strength, they exchanged armdrags while countering each other at every attempt.

King stretched both of Valkyrie’s arms back and curb stomped her while Valkyrie was sitting, which was impressive.

King hit a pump kick on Valkyrie for a near fall. Valkyrie hit a double stomp on King for a near fall. King sold the double stomp like it broke her ribs, and struggled to breathe. King managed to dodge a corner charge and hit a clothesline on Valkyrie for a near fall.

Both women exchanged finisher attempts until Valkyrie was able to dodge a kick and trip King and lock on the Loca Lock for the submission.

– An audio clip aired from Busted Open on William Corgan talking about stripping Nick Aldis of his #1 Contendership at NWA 74. Instead, Trevor Murdoch defend against Tyrus, which is a significant downgrade if you ask me. Corgan claimed that Aldis disparaged Corgan on Twitter and gained an ego, thinking he deserved to be in all of the main events. The reasoning for changing it makes zero sense as Aldis did earn the shot.

– Allysin Kay and Medusa were with May Valentine and they announced a new title in the NWA: the Women’s Television Championship. Having a secondary women’s title outside of the tag titles is an excellent idea.

The Commonwealth Connection (Doug Williams & Harry Smith) defeated The Dirty Sexy Boys (JTG & Dango) to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles

Dango and JTG got the advantage over Smith in the early parts of this match, working over his knee. Smith kept trying to tie them up in submissions while grounded, but every time he did, they would attack the knee. The first few minutes of the match featured submission attempts and attacks on the mat. Smith used his leg strength to send Dango onto the floor and he managed to tag out to Williams.

Williams only stayed in for a few minutes before tagging back out, but this did not go well as Dango took Williams to the floor and kept him at bay when JTG went after the knee again. Once JTG went to the top rope, Williams was finally able to get away from Dango and cut JTG off. Smith took advantage and hit a running powerslam for a pin to retain the titles.

– Highlights of Colby Corino vs. Kerry Morton from NWA USA aired, with Morton defeating Corino and moving on to NWA 74 to face Homicide for the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship.

Kamille defeated Chelsea Green (w/ Matt Cardona) to retain the NWA Women’s Championship

Green got the shot thanks to the deal Cardona cut when giving up his World title at Alwayz Ready.

This was a great main event match as Kamille is clearly becoming a fantastic wrestler in every match she is in now. She has improved so dramatically from where she was a year ago, and it’s great to see.

Green yanked her hair ahd hit a hard forearm early and thought that would do more damage than it did. Kamille made her pay with a series of hard tackles, and began to work over the oft-injured wrist of Green. Green rolled to the floor and hid behind Cardona, allowing her to rake the eyes of Kamille.

Green hit a dropkick that sent Kamille to the floor, but when they came back into the ring, she only got a one count off it. Green choked Kamille with her foot in the corner, hit a snapmare, and an elbow for a two count. Green yanked the hair of Kamille again, hitting two mares with it. Kamille hit a forearm but Green grabbed the hair again, but then swore she wasn’t going to do it again.

Green went for a tope suicida, but Kamille caught her with an elbow. This gave Kamille some time to recover, and she was able to come back in and use her power to hit an Oklahoma Stampede on Green for a two count. Green missed a curb stomp and ate a huge pump kick for a two count.

Kamille picked Green up for a power bomb, which led to Cardona quietly saying “Oh no,” but Green was able to turn it into a headscissors. Green hit a blockbuster and then the curb stomp for a two count. Green went for the Unprettier and Kamille countered, but Green hit a backstabber and then hit a curb stomp into the bottom turnbuckle, but the referee caught her holding the ropes with help from Cardona. 

While they were arguing with the referee, Kamille was able to hit a spear for the three count.

Final Thoughts:

This episode of NWA Power had little build for NWA 74 outside of Valkyrie becoming the #1 contender for Kamille. We did get an explanation for Corgan taking the contendership from Aldis, but I am not satisfied with the story, and it is an objectively worse main event now for the PPV.

We also got closure to the Green/Kamille story, with Green getting a title shot because Cardona gave up his title, though I would have thought that was a PPV match and not one used for TV. That said, it was an excellent match a great way to close a very good edition of NWA Empower.

This week’s NWA Power opened with the William Corgan Race to the Chase tournament announcement from last week.

Seconds after, as we opened this week’s show from Nashville, Tennessee’s Skyway Studios, the commentary team clarified what Corgan should have said last week.

There will be four qualifying matches with the winners advancing to a fatal four-way. The winner of that match will challenge NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch at the NWA 74 pay-per-view in August.

So, there’s no tournament and there’s still one qualifying match that is unknown…at least as of the start of the show. When you’re fighting for the attention from wrestling fans, you have to be clear and concise with formats, rules, etc. It’s been an issue with NWA for a long time and they are overdue for a continuity/sanity editor.

Let’s get to the show.

Thom Latimer defeated Chris Adonis to advance to the no. 1 contender’s fatal four-way match

Austin Idol joined the commentary team much to the dismay of Velvet Sky (and myself).

In the first few minutes, we learned that Mike Knox earned a bye into the four-way for reasons yet to be unknown.

These two used to be teammates in Strictly Business with Nick Aldis and Kamille. Adonis is the former Chris Masters and a former two-time NWA National Champion while Latimer has held NWA tag team gold.

Fans were behind both men as they are both babyfaces. The match was devoid of heel tactics and was a hard-hitting, professional wrestling match. 

Latimer avoided the Master Lock full nelson and hit his Lighter Side of Suffering pop-up power bomb for the pin to advance.

– Mike Knox was with Kyle Davis who was trying to understand how he got the bye. He said it was because Matt Cardona said he would and after relinquishing the title, all members of The Cardona Family got something as a result. Knox ran down Bully Ray after he attacked him and put him through a table at the Alwayz Ready pay-per-view. He said he sees Bully everywhere and hates him. I’m guessing this leads to a match down the road.

Also, Mike Knox in 2022? Alright, then.

– Kerry Morton was with May Valentine who informed him that Homicide wants to defend the NWA Junior Heavyweight title against him at NWA 74 if he’s still the champion. Morton was thrilled and said it was a goal of his since his dad once held that title.

Brian Myers defeated Da Pope to advance to the no. 1 contender’s fatal four-way match

Myers, of course, is Cardona’s BFF and a heel while Pope is a former NWA TV Champion. 

This was a solid, if unspectacular, match. Myers used the usual heel tactics and Pope was the babyface trying to rally through it. 

Myers got a close near fall off an enziguri and flatliner. A charge attempt got a Pope gut kick and DDT to give him his own close near fall. Myers got in Pope’s face and screamed, “Do you know who I am? Do you know where I’ve been?” that fired Pope up which led to a flurry of punches. 

After getting a breather, Myers got a double leg and a roll-through, holding onto the ropes for the illegal pin and win.

– May Valentine was with TV Champion Tyrus, BLK Jeez and Jordan Clearwater. She put over Tyrus’ accomplishments and complimented him a lot for some odd reason. Jeez then said it was about business and that Otis is coming for him. Clearwater then showed off his abs. This was awful.

KiLynn King defeated Allysin Kay

This was billed as an exhibition match for some reason. King, an AEW Dark regular, recently challenged Kamille for the NWA Women’s title. The veteran Kay is the former NWA Women’s Tag Team Champion.

This was competitive throughout with King showing off her strength on several occasions. After one of those occasions, King went to the top rope but Kay sprung up with a forearm. Kay was unsuccessful with her AK-47 (dominator), but got on a half crab that nearly got the top. King rallied, though, hitting her cool looking Excalibuster (pumphandle 360 that put Kay flat on her face) for the pin and win.

In a promo afterward, Davis asked if King wanted to be a barrier to others getting a shot at the title. She said she was advised by her trainer (and Kamille’s) Bully Ray to stay close to the title and that it was in her best interest. Davis seemed suspicious about this very obvious advice, but was told he had to go to a break. He did want to follow up though, so stay tuned.

– NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch was with May Valentine who asked why he got Tim Storm’s ban lifted. His answer was very inaudible. He said he didn’t have any preference but whoever faced him would go to hell and back.

Nick Aldis defeated Tim Storm by DQ to advance to the no. 1 contender’s fatal four-way match

These two had a rivalry some time ago and Aldis defeated Storm with a stipulation that Storm could never challenge for the title again. Murdoch asked Corgan to lift that stipulation for this opportunity. Both are former NWA World Champions.

Both are babyfaces, but Aldis slapped Storm early which he begged off from and regretted. However, he did it again minutes later and took a powder to the floor. Storm gave chase and Aldis Irish whipped him into the ring post.

There was a good story here, but Idol was so bad on commentary that it took away from it. The crowd, as minimal as it was, was also pretty quiet.

Storm had a nice rally and Aldis slapped him again. Storm then bypassed a move attempt and started punching Aldis in the head on the mat. Aldis hit a big top rope elbow to Storm’s back and locked in the Texas cloverleaf. Storm was able to make it to the ropes to break it up. 

Storm hit his Perfect Storm (black hole slam), but Aldis got his foot on the ropes at the last second. Storm was eventually whipped into the referee to take him out and hit a second Perfect Storm, but there was no ref to count. Aldis slapped him, Storm slapped him back and then kicked him low. The ref happened to see it and called for the DQ. Ugh.

Aldis smiled while the announcement was read so his conversion back to heel has apparently begun. I’m confused why Aldis a) can’t beat a 57-year-old clean in the middle of the ring and b) why the story here wasn’t cleaner? You have an aging former champion looking for one more chance against a younger and more athletic opponent. The story tells itself…except for her.

Your four-way for the no. 1 contender’s spot will be Nick Aldis vs. Mike Knox vs. Brian Myers vs. Thom Latimer. The story seems pretty obvious: Myers and Knox aligned under Cardona while Aldis and Latimer are former teammates in Strictly Business. 

Outside the main event finish, this week’s NWA Power was fine if you like pro wrestling without much in the way of high-flying or indie-style action.

This week’s NWA Power from Nashville, Tennessee, saw a new TV Championship contender crowned in addition to a tournament announcement to find a new no. 1 contender to the World title.

Odinson defeated AJ Cazana & Judias (w/ James Mitchell) in a no. 1 contender’s match for the NWA TV title

Judias dominated the other two men in the early going until Odinson spilled to the floor, leaving Cazana to the big man. Odinson tried to suplex both Cazana and Judias, but that did not go well. Judias and Cazana continued throwing punches to no heat. Odinson pushed Cazana into the arms of Judias and hit a huge European uppercut on Judias, driving Cazana into a DDT.

Odinson hit Cazana with a neckbreaker and then hit an exploder suplex on Judias onto Cazana for a two count. Judias got up and hit a huge chokeslam on Odinson, but Cazana broke it up. They resumed throwing punches until Cazana hit a spinebuster on Judias for a two count. Odinson hit a pounce on Judias and then an F-10 on Cazana for the pinfall.

Odinson getting the win here was the right call. They needed a babyface to challenge Tyrus, and Odinson might be able to get a halfway passable match out of the champion.

– Kyle Davis was with Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide who put over the Mortons for helping him at Alwayz Ready. He said he was intending to defend the title against Kerry Morton, but had a match scheduled with VSK first.

– May Valentine was sitting down with Aron Stevens, explaining why they were not on a flight to Brazil like they said they would be at Alwayz Ready. They claimed their plane tickets were cancelled, but because of that, Stevens ended up managing Rodney Mack. Mack was one of the guys there at the start of Stevens’ career, so Stevens felt inclined to help him. Stevens said that they would visit Brazil at a later time, but you will still be seeing he and Valentine around.

– The Cardonas were backstage and Chelsea Green spoke about how they are going to hold William Corgan to his word and that they were all promised title shots. VSK talked about how he was going to take the Junior Heavyweight Championship, and that is the only promise Corgan had fulfilled right now. Mike Knox said Corgan needed to reach out to him via letter as he didn’t have a phone. So, now we know what the promise Corgan made at Alwayz Ready: every member of the Cardona family will get a title shot, including Matt Cardona upon his return.

NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch defeated Thrillbilly Silas (w/ Pollo Del Mar) in a non-title match

Murdoch squashing this guy was a delight. Murdoch destroyed him, and I love seeing a mean guy squash a jobber. Fantastic stuff.

Murdoch slapped Silas as he trash talked, hit a spinebuster, and showed a little bit of that edge we have seen, but in a clear babyface way. Murdoch beat the crap out of Silas in the corner with clotheslines, punctuated by a huge Stan Hansen-style lariat out of the corner. Pollo del Mar grabbed the foot of Murdoch, allowing Silas to hit a back suplex. This didn’t last long as Murdoch hit a big boot and a pop-up spinebuster before hitting the top rope bulldog for the pinfall.

Pope joined Murdoch at the podium with Kyle Davis. He wanted to congratulate Murdoch on his title win and said that he was proud of Murdoch. Murdoch walked away without saying a word.

– Allysin Kay was with May Valentine and talked about how she had unfinished business with Kenzie Paige and Ella Envy, but she also had unfinished business with Kamille too. KiLynn King walked in and challenged Kay for a no. 1 contender’s match for the NWA Women’s World title.

Kerry Morton (w/ Ricky Morton) defeated Jay Bradley (w/ Wrecking Ball Legursky)

This was a good way to do a big man/small man match. I really liked this.

Joe Galli informed us that Corgan allowed Legursky and Morton to be at ringside despite not having manager’s licenses because of the nature of the feud between these two teams with Colby Corino paying the Fixers to take out the Mortons.

Bradley used his size to dominate Morton in the early part of the match, beating on the smaller man. Bradley hit several strikes and threw Morton across the ring. Morton refused to give up, getting up at every single knockdown. Morton tried to small package Bradley, but Bradley just shoved him off and stomped on him. Morton reached out for a tag to his dad as Bradley dragged him to the corner, but this isn’t a tag match. I liked that little touch as it showed he used to primarily working in a tag team with his dad.

Bradley power bombed Morton before taunting Ricky. Kerry fired up and hit a big running knee to Bradley’s face before rolling him up for the pinfall. Morton outsmarted the heel and won with a move, so I like that.

– Corgan came out and announced a tournament called the Race to the Chase with the winner getting a shot at World Champion Trevor Murdoch at NWA 74 in St. Louis. Corgan announced Tim Storm would be in the tournament with the previous stipulation in a match against Nick Aldis that he would never challenge for the World title again being lifted at the request of Murdoch.

Corgan then announced the following matches for the tournament, but it’s unknown how big the tournament is and when these matches will begin:

• Pope vs. Brian Myers
• Thom Latimer vs. Chris Adonis
• Nick Aldis vs. Tim Storm

They cut to the desk and Storm was legitimately in tears at the desk, because he truly thought he was never going to have a chance to challenge for the title again. Storm thanked Murdoch and Corgan as the show went off the air with tears of joy in the eyes of Storm.

Final Thoughts:

The wrestling really wasn’t the main point on this episode of NWA Power with the promos setting up future things being highlighted more. That said, the opening triple threat was likely the best match on the show. Murdoch squashing a jobber is always fun. Finally, closing the show with Storm crying tears of joy at being able to be in the tournament to become the no. 1 Contender for the NWA title was fantastic. Storm remains an incredible babyface, and despite being quite limited in the ring due to his age, he still makes me believe in him and want to see him win. Exceptionally great stuff here.

Matt Cardona joined Kyle Davis in the ring as the announcers discussed how difficult it was for Cardona to vacate the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. Davis asked Cardona for an update on his recovery, but Cardona didn’t answer and took the mic and introduced Davis as his guest.

Cardona asked who beat him at NWA Alwayz Ready, so he is the real World’s champion. Davis asked if Cardona’s championship reign was forgettable because Trevor Murdoch, the man he beat, had the championship again. Cardona told him to keep the belt warm for him as he was coming to get it as soon as he was healthy.

Cardona then put over Chelsea Green, VSK, and Mike Knox, saying that they were going to take care of everyone while he was gone. Cardona said he was trusting William Corgan at his word and implied that Corgan told him he would have an immediate match for the title when he recovers. This was a good promo from Cardona to open the show.

Max the Impaler & Chelsea Green defeated Jennacide & Missa Kate

I am not sure about Max the Impaler. Everything Max did during the match looked stiff or a bit reckless. I will have to see more to decide, but I am concerned with how Max worked in this match. That said, the story of Green playing the overconfident heel while trying to control the monster was a good one.

Green immediately tagged in, which made Max angry. Green started the match with Kate, who nailed Green with a pump kick for a two count. Jennacide tagged in and hit a combo wheelbarrow splash with Kate before hitting a squatting powerslam on Green. Jennacide and Kate kept Green isolated until Green was able to rake Kate’s eyes before sending her into the grip of Max who hit a headbutt.

Max tagged in and threw Green into Kate with a cannonball before hitting a curb stomp that looked a little dangerous. It was quite stiff, but Kate seemed okay and hit an enziguri on Max that caused Green to tag in. Jennacide nailed Green with a pump kick and then hit a stunner for a two count. Max broke it up and dragged Green back into the corner before tagging in.

Max and Jennacide exchanged strikes, driving Jennacide back to the corner so Kate tagged in. Max hit a few moves on Kate that looked a bit sloppy before hitting Welcome to the Wasteland for the three count.

– Rodney Mack was with May Valentine and talked about what it was like to go through rough times. He has a friend who motivated him lately, but wasn’t ready to reveal who it was yet.

PJ Hawx defeated Gustavo Aguilar & Sal the Pal in a three-way

I’m glad to see Hawx starting to get a push as the young man has a lot of potential, and it makes sense to start to move him up the card.

Sal the Pal was confused that James Mitchell was not outside the ring with him, but Mitchell had vowed to not accompany him due to his failures in the ring. Hawx used his wrestling experience to take down both men, including slamming and suplexing them all over the place. Aguilar nailed Sal with a kick before going for a monkey flip on Hawx, but Hawx put him on the top rope.

Aguilar hit a flying crossbody on both men, but Sal was able to get up quickly before hitting Bryan Danielson-like stomps on Aguilar. All three men then exchanged near falls before Aguilar hit a standing Sliced Bread on Hawx, but Sal broke it up. Sal hit a running flatliner on Aguilar, but sat rocking in the ring, leaving room for Hawx to back suplex him and lock on the Hawx Clutch for the win.

– La Rebelion were with May Valentine talking about their Tag Team title rematch in a lucha rules match. They said that the Commonwealth Connection were only keeping the belts warm for them.

Rodney Mack (w/ Aron Stevens) defeated Anthony Andrews

On the Alwayz Ready pre-show, Andrews had 2-0 on his tights and now had 3-0 despite losing on that show. Since he wasn’t pinned in the tag match, he claimed he was not defeated, so he added it as a win which is quite funny.

Mack’s motivator turned out to be Aron Stevens by the look of it, which is interesting as the announcers informed us that he did have a manager’s license. Mack used power to dominate Andrews, hitting a shoulderblock and a spinebuster, causing Andrews to crash to the mat. Andrews only had brief control before Mack was able to win with the Million Dollar Dream.

Post match, Stevens eyed Andrews with evil intent before walking off with Mack.

The Commonwealth Connection (Harry Smith & Doug Williams) defeated La Rebelion (Mecha Wolf & Bestia 666) to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship in a lucha rules match

This was probably a few minutes too short, but it wasn’t bad for what it was.

La Rebelion hit suicide dives to the floor before the match started, taking out Smith before hitting a double team dropkick to Williams. Williams was able to get the advantage back with a gutwrench suplex once the referee got control of the match and had the non-legal men on the apron.

Smith hit a headbutt to the torso of Bestia before slamming him. Every time Bestia tried to get up, Williams would transition to a submission to keep him from getting back into the match. Mecha Wolf and Bestia were able to hit a double team hurricanrana when Mecha Wolf threw Bestia into it on Smith. 

They hit a double superkick on Williams before Mecha Wolf went low with Williams, but Smith was able to grab Bestia and hit a running powerslam for the pinfall.

Final Thoughts:

There weren’t too many things to talk about coming out of this episode of NWA Power outside of Cardona’s promo. The rest of the show was perfectly fine, but relatively missable. Hawx getting the win in his match was also a nice change of pace.

Tyrus opened this week’s NWA Power with Kyle Davis as Davis announced Mims may have been hospitalized after their match at Alwayz Ready. 

Tyrus claimed he has defended the title seven times, but if he were to cash it in, he would be able to challenge for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship with the Lucky 7 Rule. Tyrus said he had a clause in his contract that he didn’t need to follow the rule, so he wasn’t giving the title up, and he was going to win the World title too. The first step is teaming with Cyon tonight, and then he is firmly aiming at champion Trevor Murdoch. Please no, not this.

Kamille and KiLynn King confrontation

Highlights from Kamille vs. KiLynn King from Alwayz Ready aired, showing how close King came to winning the Women’s championship.

Kamille made her way out to the ring to be interviewed by Davis. Davis asked Kamille what was next and she said the match with King was the hardest of her career and she wanted to have King come out. Kamille talked about how she and King were both trained by Bully Ray, and that they both have the same mentality and King took her to her limits. Both women showed respect to each other.

King reiterated that she was serious about the NWA and that she would be the new champ if she didn’t make one mistake. King said she was still coming for Kamille and for the title, but she was going to earn her spot for it again. King promised to end her reign, and Kamille said she wouldn’t have it any other way. This was awesome and a good promo from both women here.

– NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide was with May Valentine and he said he hadn’t heard Luke Hawx’s comments about Homicide disrespecting him. He said Hawx should stop being a baby and overly sensitive. He was happy Hawx tried to help him, but he didn’t want to make it anything more than what it was. Homicide said he would welcome all comers to face him, leaving it open to anyone.

Nick Aldis defeated Brett BuffShay

Aldis hit several shoulder tackles and used technical wrestling to take him down. A few fans chanted “ham & egger” at BuffShay which made me laugh. Aldis hit a brainbuster, but Aldis picked him right back up. The announcers were baffled by this, theorizing that Aldis was frustrated after the PPV. Aldis caught BuffShay as he went for a back body drop and hit a powerbomb before locking on the Kingsland Cloverleaf.

This was a lovely squash that got a nice ovation as Aldis is well loved by the audience. I liked Aldis showing how easy he won this match as it highlights how much of an elite wrestler he is in the NWA. This was the perfect execution of a squash match.

Davis came into the ring and asked Aldis if his mentality has changed after losing the title match at the PPV. Aldis said that you could do things the right way, but none of it matters because it makes you a target for everyone that comes into the promotion. He said that anyone that wanted to take his top spot would have a very difficult time doing it. 

Aldis congratulated Murdoch, but he said Murdoch knew that Aldis had him beat, and if they were to go one on one again, he knows where to find him. I’m not sure about this promo because it made it seem like Murdoch needed to chase Aldis, which is counterintuitive to Murdoch being champ.

– National Champion Jax Dane was with Davis in the ring and talked about how no one could take the title from him. Dane claimed to be the most dominant NWA National Champion, and no one had the guts to take it from him. He said it was harder to become the National Champion than the World Champion. Eric Jackson, who Dane beat in a few seconds recently, came down saying he wanted another shot at the title. Jackson attacked Dane, but Dane leveled him with a lariat and left him laying. He showed guts, but paid for trying to pick a fight.

– PJ Hawx was with May Valentine to discuss his brewing feud with Homicide. He expressed respect and he said he thought it was a misunderstanding between both men.

Idolmania Sports Management (Tyrus & Cyon) defeated The ILL Begotten (Alex Taylor & Jeremiah Plunkett)

This match had no heat at all. Tyrus may have been in the match for less than a minute total and was breathing heavy after his DDT bump. They made the right call to have Cyon carry the bulk of the work. The match was fine because of this, but had no heat since it was two heel teams.

Tyrus could barely walk getting into the ring, which is hard to watch. This match was heel vs. heel, so that hurt the heat quite a bit in that it was non-existent. Taylor and Cyon still had a very good exchange of technical wrestling to open the match. Taylor broke out of a submission by grabbing the ropes.

Velvet Sky informed us during this sequence that Danny Deals is suing Madusa for when she slapped him on NWA USA, leaving him in a neck brace for weeks. Plunkett tagged in and the technical wrestling continued. Plunkett got Cyon with a dropdown and hit a slingshot into a neck on the ropes from Taylor. That was quite creative.

Joe Galli announced Mims was hospitalized with both a concussion and separated shoulder. Tyrus tagged in and the match got slower as he stepped on Alex Taylor’s face to no heat. He then tagged out after doing nothing. Tyrus and Cyon beat on Taylor for several boring minutes. Cyon did the Garvin stomp on Taylor, who fought out with a dropkick.

Plunkett and Tyrus tagged in and Plunkett forced Tyrus to sell with forearms and a DDT, but Cyon blind tagged in and hit a death valley driver for the pinfall.

Final Thoughts

Tyrus is really bad. KiLynn King and Kamille were awesome. The promos on this show were quite good for the most part. That’s about all I can say about this episode.

NWA Power opened with Tyrus in the ring who was there for two reasons. The first was that he had a book signing that was sold out earlier, but a kid wasn’t able to get a book because he ran out. He brought the kid to ringside to offer him the book…for $1000 as Tyrus does nothing for free. The kid mouthed off to Tyrus so he had security take him away.

Tyrus then announced he was having a Tyrus Slam Challenge this week because, in his mind, Mims didn’t slam him and it was a hip toss and not a slam: the classic heel claim when the babyface slams the monster. Tyrus claimed he had a powerlifter who was distantly related to Andre the Giant that would be attempting to slam him tonight.

Nick Aldis defeated Brian Myers

Not a bad match here as Aldis and Myers told a basic story before Aldis won by out-wrestling Myers. This established that Aldis can beat a friend of Matt Cardona’s easily and helped drive forward what he was hoping to do to Cardona for the World title.

Myers attacked Aldis on the floor before the match started and they brawled around ringside until Aldis brought them into the ring for the match to officially start. Austin Idol called Joe Galli a pencil neck geek which made my day. Myers necked Aldis on the ropes and stomped him in the corner.

Myers hit a suplex and locked on a sleeper, getting the heat with similar holds for the next few minutes. When they came back from commercial break, Aldis was still in a sleeper in the middle of the ring. Aldis didn’t drop his hand a third time and started fighting back. He jumped over a drop down, but appeared to tweak his knee on the landing.

Aldis hit a superplex on Myers after cutting off the heat seeking elbow, but struggled to get to his feet afterward. Aldis hit the Michinoku driver on Myers for a two count, but got a thumb to the eyes and a spear from Myers for a two count soon thereafter. Myers called for a second spear, but Aldis got the knee up and hit a tombstone piledriver for another two count.

Myers shoved the referee into the ropes as Aldis went for a flying elbow and attempted to suplex Aldis, but Aldis shoved him off the ropes and hit a flying elbow for a near fall. Myers grabbed the ref and low blowed Aldis, but Aldis got his feet on the ropes. Myers yelled, “You screwed me and you suck!” to the ref and Aldis respectively, which Idol agreed with, but it was for naught as Aldis grabbed Myers and locked on the Kingsland Cloverleaf for the submission.

Kyle Davis entered the ring to interview Aldis who talked about how Matt Cardona disrespected the NWA, his wife, and the fans, and that he was going to take Cardona out to win the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. This was recorded before Cardona was injured and had surgery for his bicep, but Cardona did indicate that he would be there regardless.

We are left wondering what is going to happen in the main event. While the graphics were clear during the opening match, they made no mention of this on commentary or backstage promo. Many people watching could be under the impression that Matt Cardona is still wrestling on the show. If so, they may order the PPV thinking that which is not something I’m a fan of. I would prefer them to tell us what is happening in the main event before the show.

– KC Roxx, who I thought was Enzo Amore at first, came out to try to slam Tyrus. He is quite tiny. Austin Idol claimed he was worried about this. Tyrus laughed at the attempt and then told the fans to support Roxx. Roxx did some push-ups to pump himself up. Tyrus shoved him off again. Roxx booted Tyrus low and got himself DQ’d. Tyrus hit the heart punch and went to squash Roxx, but Mims made his way back to the ring and dropped Tyrus with a shoulderblock. Mims went to slam Tyrus, but Tyrus cut him off and hit an armbreaker.

Cyon, the recently revealed son of Idol, came out and hit a death valley Driver on Mims. It seems that Cyon rejoined Idolmania Sports Management, hugging his dad and celebrating with Tyrus.

KiLynn King & Missa Kate defeated NWA Women’s Champion Kamille & Kenzie Paige

This was an excellent match to close the show with the women working very hard to give a quality main event. I have said it before, but Paige is excellent and only getting better. King getting the win here further establishes her as a threat to Kamille ahead of their Alwayz Ready title match. This was very well booked.

Kate started the match with Paige who was able to out-wrestle Kate several times. When Kamille tagged in, King tagged in but got out quickly with Kate wanting to fight Kamille. This did not go well. Paige tagged in and Kate was able to turn it around by raking the eyes and getting the heat on Paige. King tagged in and used her superior strength and size to keep Paige on her side of the ring.

King nailed Paige with a roundhouse kick which sent her crashing to the mat. King refused to go for the cover which proved to be a mistake as it gave Paige time to recover and hit a code breaker on King. Paige tagged out and Kamille came in and destroyed Kate with stomps in the corner and an Oklahoma Stampede for a near fall.

Kate hit a roundhouse kick on Kamille, which caused her to fall backward into the corner and tag out to Paige. Paige hit the Kenzie Cutter on King which Kate broke up. Kamille hit Radio Silence on Kate, and Paige went to superkick King, but she ducked and Paige hit Kamille by accident. King then hit the Excalibuster on Paige for the pinfall.

Final Thoughts:

This was a short but focused episode of NWA Power that functioned as the go home show for NWA Alwayz Ready. The slightly shorter run time actually served them well as they kept the stories simple and got to the main point of the major matches they are promoting for the PPV: Nick Aldis vs. Matt Cardona, Tyrus vs. Mims, and Kamille vs. KyLynn King. Overall, this was a very good episode of NWA Power.

This week’s NWA Power was headlined by Homicide defending the NWA Junior Heavyweight title against Colby Corino, but the NWA also addressed World Champion Matt Cardona’s torn biceps injury this weekend.

During a video package for Cardona’s title defense at Alwayz Ready against Nick Aldis, they cut in, updating fans that Cardona suffered an arm injury at a GCW show over the weekend but that they still expect him for the June 11th pay-per-view. 

Given that Cardona revealed today that he will require surgery, it would seem to be highly unlikely that he competes at the show named after him.

**********

This week’s show was from the recent Oak Grove, Kentucky, taping and continued the build to Alwayz Ready.

– A Corino in-ring promo opened things as he hyped up his match with Homicide. Kyle Davis said that the Corinos have had a history with Homicide who Corino said “made a career off my father’s blood” and that he will build a new Corino dynasty in the NWA. Corino seemed nervous and hyping up the main event suffered as a result.

Speaking of not good, Madusa (the co-managing director of Saturday’s NWA USA shows) sat in on commentary with Joe Galli and Tim Storm. She added next to nothing on commentary all night and didn’t seem to know any of the talent competing.

Matt Vine defeated Eric Jackson

This was Vine’s promotional debut. A tall guy that is well put together, Vine has been a pro since 2012 and has mainly been in OVW. Jackson had a spirited comeback, getting a two count off a sling blade. However, he got laid out with Vine’s “Instant Classic” superkick for the loss. There wasn’t anything standout here.

– The Ill Begotten (Alex Taylor & Jeremiah Plunkett) and Danny Dealz did a promo hyping their match on NWA USA with Hot ‘n’ Ready.

– The aforementioned video segment aired with Cardona vs. Aldis, the still not announced stipulation and the injury Cardona suffered this weekend.

– NWA Women’s Champion Kamille talked with Kyle Davis about her tag team match next week, pitting her and Kenzie Page against KiLynn King and Missa Kate. Kamille will defend against King at the PPV and wanted to focus on how she wants her husband Thom Latimer to get gold as well.

Thom Latimer defeated Rhett Titus

This was an example of a perfectly fine pro wrestling match that didn’t stand out in any way two days after what we saw at AEW Double or Nothing or even WWE Raw. It’s not fair to either guy, but that’s where we are at.

Titus, the longtime Ring of Honor roster member, came out with a very strange mask that doesn’t seem to fit his character. If ROH doesn’t end up bringing him back, he will need some kind of character change or refresh to get some buzz going.

Conversely, the very tan and very in-shape Latimer looks like he’s from the 80s/90s. If you were to show his picture to people outside a mall in the Midwest and asked what he did for work, I’m guessing 90% would say “pro wrestler.”

Latimer hurt his elbow by delivering an elbow strike to Titus’ face which was a unique way to have it become the focus of the match. He ultimately won with a pop-up power bomb that was essentially one-armed due to his injury.

NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide defeated Colby Corino to retain

Homicide was using every babyface crowd prompt move throughout the first half. Again, the match suffered because of how much wrestling we’ve seen the past few days and, frankly, nearly every night.

This got good in the final few minutes. Corino missed a 450 splash with a roll through, but Homicide rebounded with a suplex that got a near fall. He later hit his Koji cutter from the second rope that got a close two. Commentary played up that it was that first time anyone has kicked out of that.

Corino hit his own cutter, but took too long on the cover and only got two. Corino pulled out a foreign object from the turnbuckle, but the ref saw it and took it away. As he disposed of it, Corino kicked Homicide low and went for a rolling cover that nearly got three.

Corino went for a top rope frankensteiner, but Homicide rolled through and held on for a pin with the trunks fully in his grasp. Homicide mocked Corino afterward and flipped him off as Corino threw a fit on the outside that someone outcheated him.