Billy Corgan has clarified previous comments he made about NWA World Heavyweight Champion Tyrus.
The NWA owner made headlines last month when he was quoted as saying, “If you’re not gonna watch [Tyrus], then you’re not a wrestling fan” during an interview with the NY Post.
“When Tyrus walks through the door, he brings the heat, and if you’re not gonna watch him, then you’re not a wrestling fan,” Corgan said. “I’m not booking a charity. I’m booking a professional wrestling company.”
Corgan recently clarified those comments during an interview with Steve Fall of WrestlingNews.co.
“What I was saying was, if you don’t like Tyrus in a wrestling ring because of his politics and because he brings heat into wrestling, then I don’t understand what wrestling that you’re after. I went on to say and I don’t think it was quoted, ‘Are we only booking friends in a wrestling ring.’ Like is this just like Patty cakes and then everybody pretends these guys hate each other, and then they hug at the after party and everything’s cool?” I believe, like all good promoters, that the heat of the outside world coming into a wrestling ring isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
“Remember when there was all the crazy heat with Edge, Matt Hardy, and Lita? That was a real-life thing that was ultimately taken advantage of in a wrestling ring and obviously, all the parties agreed. Whether that was comfortable or uncomfortable to them, I can’t really say even though I know Matt pretty well and I know Edge pretty well, but I don’t think I’ve ever sat down to really ask them how they felt personally about it. But obviously, that was a moment of real heat and people had opinions about how the whole situation played on a personal level. So if your argument would be, ‘That should not have been a wrestling angle’, well, that’s a viable argument to make. If your thing would have been, ‘I was uncomfortable with them being put in that spot’, well, that’s a viable argument to make. But it did happen and it has happened in wrestling where real heat and real life comes into the wrestling ring.”
“So that was my point. It wasn’t saying, ‘I’m going to pick this one person in Tyrus and if you don’t like them as a wrestling talent, or you don’t like them as a person, you don’t like wrestling.’ So that’s where it gets bastardized. It made for very good clickbait.
Corgan also teased “good news” coming up for the NWA:
“I’ve picked the NWA up out of the ashes. I’ve turned it into a successful business. We have a lot of good news coming which I can’t quite share yet, but I think we’re going in about our sixth year of me owning the company. The roster has never been stronger. There are people who have noticed the quality of the NWA wrestling product week in and week out.”
The NWA has two upcoming shows in Highland Park, Illinois. NWA HP Cares For Cooper on July 7 will be a charity event to raise funds for the ongoing medical expenses of 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, who was shot during the Highland Park mass shooting event last year.
NWA HP Cares for Cooper 7/9 lineup:
NWA World Women’s Champion Kamille defends against Natalia Markova
NWA National Heavyweight Champion EC3 defends against Jordan Clearwater
NWA World Women’s Tag Team Champions M95 (Madi Wrenkowski & Missa Kate) defend against Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Paige & Kylie Paige)
NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Country Gentlemen (Anthony Andrews & AJ Cazana) defend against SVGS (Blake Troop & Jax Dane)
Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch vs. Daisy Kill & Talos
Joe Alonzo & Mario Pardua vs. The Southern 6 (Alex Taylor & Silas Mason)
Angelina Love vs. Ruthie Jay
Gaagz the Gymp vs. Eric Jackson
The promotion will then run a set of television tapings out of Highland Park the following day.
One year after the mass shooting in Highland Park, the NWA is holding a charity event to raise funds for the ongoing medical expenses of the youngest injured during this tragedy: Cooper Roberts and his brother Luke.
On June 6, 2022, Kamille defeated Serena Deeb for the NWA Women’s Championship, ending her reign of 222 days.
Since then, she has held onto the gold for well over 700 days, successfully defending against the likes of Chelsea Green, Leyla Hirsch, Melina, Kylie Rae, KiLynn King, Taya Valkyrie, and others with 36 defenses.
Her last came at last weekend’s Crockett Cup when she bested Natalia Markova.
I recently caught up with Kamille for a conversation about her career and her historic reign as champion which you can watch on YouTube above.
Here are some highlights:
When she won the championship, Kamille had only been with the NWA for a short time and wrestled just a couple of matches. However, when she won the belt, she had secretly hoped that she would hold onto it for a year – a personal goal that she didn’t tell anyone about. Then when she surpassed the first year, she did not see an end in sight.
Now, she has a new goal in mind: to surpass June Byers’ 760-day title reign.
“…That will put me in the top five all-time NWA Women’s Championship reigns. It’s crazy to think about,” she said.
Saying that she was only used to having squash matches, she knew her style had to change and that once she won the title, she had to run with it, “and either I am gonna slip and drop the ball or I am gonna keep carrying it and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
While she considers herself still new to the business, her success as NWA Women’s Champion has all come to down to confidence.
“I am not saying I am a veteran by any means. I am still very new to the business. But when I first started, I felt like I needed help being carried through a match, stuff like that. Now, I am at the point where I can carry others through a match, I can be that person. I can be the leader in the ring. Being able to transform in that way has been really cool.”
NWA has crowned the winners of the Crockett Cup 2023 tournament.
Trevor Murdoch & Mike Knox defeated Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) in the finals of the Crockett Cup 2023 to win the tournament at Sunday’s NWA pay-per-view event.
After a main event match that included a referee bump, plus interference from Aron Stevens with a loaded glove, Knox and Murdoch hit Carnage with High and Low to secure the victory and capture the Cup.
NWA president Billy Corgan and David Crockett presented Murdoch & Knox with Cup to close the show and wrap the two-night pay-per-view event.
Earlier in the evening, Kamille defeated Natalia Markova to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship, EC3 defeated Thom Latimer to retain the NWA National Heavyweight Championship, M95 defeated Angelina Love & Max the Impaler to retain the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship, The Country Gentlemen retained the NWA United States Tag Team Championship in a gauntlet match, and Kenzie Paige retained the NWA Women’s TV title in a DQ loss against Ruthie Jay.
Elsewhere on the card, Colby Corino won a scramble match to earn a future NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship match against Kerry Morton.
The 2023 NWA Crockett Cup tournament concludes Sunday after kicking off Saturday in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
After winnowing down the field Saturday, the quarterfinals will kick off with the following matchups:
NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebelion (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) vs. Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage)
Jinetes del Aire (Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr.) vs. The Brothers of Funstruction (Yabo the Clown & Ruffo the Clown)
Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch vs. Ricky & Kerry Morton
NWA World Champion Tyrus & Chris Masters vs. The War Gods (Kratos & Odinson)
The show will also feature two title matches as NWA Women’s Champion Kamille will look to extend her 700+ day run as champion as she defends against Natalia Markova. This will be their third-ever meeting in the NWA with Markova winning the first by DQ and the two going to a time-limit draw in April.
NWA Women’s TV Champion Kenzie Paige will defend her title against an opponent to be named.
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Pre-show:
The Country Gentlemen win a Gauntlet Match to retain the NWA United States Tag Team Titles
– Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper and Mims) defeated The NOW (Hale Collins and Vik Dalishus)
Magnum Muscle started the match against The NOW. They wrestled for maybe one minute but then Draper pinned Hale Collins.
– Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper and Mims) defeated The Fixers (Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball Legursky)
The Fixers ran in and started destroying Magnum Muscle and they held the advantage for a good 2 minutes but then Dak Draper secretly tagged in and pinned Wrecking Ball for the second pinfall.
– Daisy Kill and Talos defeated Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper and Mims)
After the pin of the previous matchup, Talos made his way out onto the stage without Daisy Kill, who was in the ring attacking Magnum Muscle. Dak Draper was able to lift up the giant Talos once, but Kill dragged him down and set up a chokeslam for the pin.
– TNT (Terrence Hughes and Terrell Hughes) defeated Daisy Kill and Talos
TNT ran in with a lot of energy but it didn’t last long. Talos worked them both over for a little bit to start. Talos was taken out of the equation to the outside, so TNT hit the 3D for the pin.
– The Spectaculars (Brady Pierce and Rolando Freeman) defeated TNT (Terrence Hughes and Terrell Hughes)
This was somewhat noteworthy because Rush Freeman is usually part of The Spectaculars but for this match, it was Rolando. The commentators chalked it up to them losing in the first round of the Crockett Cup. They took care of business quickly and pinned TNT with a frog splash.
– SVGS (Jax Dane and Blake “Bulletproof” Troop) (with Chris Silvio, Esq.) defeated The Spectaculars (Brady Pierce and Rolando Freeman)
The SVGS, of course, had the early advantage. Some early distractions gave Rolando the opportunity to fight back, Jax Dane destroyed Pierce and killed Rolando in the ring with a clothesline for the pin.
SVGS (Jax Dane and Blake “Bulletproof” Troop) (with Chris Silvio, Esq.) defeated Los Vipers (Arez and Toxin)
This one started with another all-out brawl and the actual leg of the match only lasted about 30 seconds. Blake Troop hit his jackhammer finish for the pin.
NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Country Gentlemen (AJ Cazana and Anthony Andrews) (with Joe Cazana) defeated SVGS (Jax Dane and Blake “Bulletproof” Troop) (with Chris Silvio, Esq.)
Jax Dane started this segment strong too against the champions. Andrews got the hot tag though and hit a massive uranage onto Troop. Dane interfered and got ready to spear Andrews but Troop tagged in and locked in a headlock which turned into the perfect position for The Country Gentlemen’s finish. They retain the titles.
“Thrillbilly” Silas Mason (with Alex Taylor) defeated Dan Maff (with Shawn Donavan)
It looks like the big theme of tonight is to have unannounced matches take place on a show that already has 10 on the card.
Maff came out angry throwing his jacket at Mason and attacking him early. They went back and forth after that working to the outside. Joe Galli had his hand laying on the announce table and Mason drove Maff’s head into it. Galli starts freaking out that his hand was broken and he needed ice. Tim Storm also needed some Diet Coke apparently.
Back in the ring, they worked this really well for two big guys that aren’t giant. They traded head butts, punches, and forearms. The finish came when Maff went for a lariat but Mason kicked the arm down and connected with the thrill ride out of nowhere for the win.
NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions M95 (Madi and Missa Kate) defeated Angelina Love & Max the Impaler (with Fodder & Father James Mitchell) to retain
Looks like we have an unannounced title match now. Including people we already saw last night. Madi and Love started the contest by screaming at each other and pushing each other around, but Madi came out on top with a cross face and toe drag.
Love went for the tag onto Max but she wasn’t holding the rope or extending her hand. Storm questioned whether she knew tag team rules even though we saw her in the most important tournament of the year, just last night. Max finally got the tag and dominated the match until Missa Kate got the hot tag. They worked over Max until she charged at her own corner and Love tagged her as she fell out. All Kate did was hit one kick-fil-a and they won the match.
Ruthie Jay defeated NWA Women’s TV Champion Kenzie Paige by DQ
Ruthie Jay replaced La Rosa Negra last night in the Hardcore Team War so she may be replacing her in this match tonight too. No 6:05 time limit in this one due to it being a PPV, which doesn’t really make sense.
Paige started out ahead just being a classic heel, but Jay fought back and sent her to the outside. Paige got the heat back by pulling her hair and countering a cannonball in the corner. The champ locked in a sleeper that almost put Jay to sleep, but she fought out and did her comeback that ended in a facebuster. She then connected on a double German for a near fall. Paige kicked out and hit Jay with a superkick and sold her ankle. Kylie Page then ran in and just ran over Ruthie Jay right in front of the ref. He called for the bell and that was it.
Main Card:
NWA opened the show with their sizzle reel and commentary breaking down the bracket. Joe Galli, Velvet Sky, and Tim Storm are on the call.
Jinetes del Aire (Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr.) defeated The Brothers of Funstruction (Yabo the Clown & Ruffo the Clown) in a Crockett Cup quarterfinal
Yabo came into the ring with a balloon sword. When he challenged Myzteziz to a sword fight, somebody in the crowd yelled this is a family show. Great start. The clowns kept throwing clown stuff at the luchadors but none of them foreign objects. Jinetes del Aire retaliated with a double tope suicida.
Yabo got the heat back cutting off the ring, but Octagon got the hot tag and ran wild on the clowns. He hit a cutter on Ruffo while Myzteziz did something to Yabo on the outside that we just never saw. Octagon followed it with a 450 splash for the win.
Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch defeated Ricky Morton and Kerry Morton in a Crockett Cup quarterfinal
The Mortons came out on stage with Bobby Fulton trying to convince them to not fight dirty after they used a title belt to win last night’s match. They brushed it off and went to the ring.
Right when the match started Kerry distracted the ref and Ricky hit Murdoch with a low blow. The Mortons then cut off the ring and worked on the former world champ. Murdoch set up the hot tag with a massive spine buster onto Kerry. Mike Knox ran wild onto the Mortons which set up Kerry to go high and low for the win.
The Midnight Riders (Tyrus and Chris Adonis) defeated The Immortals (Kratos and Odinson) in a Crockett Cup quarterfinal
It was a battle of meat to start this one. NWA Heavyweight Champion Tyrus against Kratos. The Riders cut off the ring on Kratos with early domination. During this though, Tyrus looked like he hurt his knee and everything after looked weird but I think he was just selling it. He was able to suplex Kratos after selling for them for about 2-3 minutes. Adonis gets the hot tag and hits Odinson with a sky-high for a near fall.
Tyrus and Kratos fought on the outside when Odinson went for a top rope move onto Chris Adonis but he caught him in the master lock and made him pass out for the win. After the match, Tyrus was still selling the knee and Kyle Davis asked him if he can still take on Knox and Murdoch in the semifinals which he replied, in simpler terms, yes.
– They then brought out legendary NWA Tommy Young for an interview. He joked that he wasn’t Tommy Young, he was Tommy Old. When they asked Young for his prediction, he put over Fox News and how much Tyrus is on Fox News. That was weird.
Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) (w/ Aron Stevens) defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions La Rebelion Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) (with Vampiro) in a Crockett Cup quarterfinal
They started this match by talking about how Vampiro didn’t have a manager’s license so he had a Legends exemption. He’s out because he attacked the Flippin’ Psychos for the champions last night in the main event.
BFT attacked La Rebelion on the outside and they got the early advantage. Aron Stevens was on the outside barking orders and telling the team what to do. They worked over Bestia 666 for most of the match until Mecha Wolf got the hot tag. He hit a double moonsault off the top and then got help from Bestia for a double enziguri and tope. Stevens then got involved with his loaded glove but Vampiro went to the top rope and took a nasty bump in the ring. BFT rid the ring of all the interference and they actually got the surprise win over the champs. They’ll face Jinetes del Aire in the semifinals.
NWA National Champion EC3 defeated NWA TV Champion Thom Latimer in a Champions Choice match to retain
We got another unannounced match which was the same as last night. This was a Champions Choice match where EC3 got to select who he wanted to defend the title against. He selected NWA Television Champion Thom Latimer after he put himself over, of course. He gave Latimer the choice of which belt to defend and he picks the National title.
They ran wild to start fighting all over the place. Latimer got the early advantage though after catching EC3 on the outside. EC3 turned it around with a clothesline and Thesz press. They were just taking turns getting the heat and working, very old style. Almost too old to a point. They kept working this slow style until EC3 hit his one percent finish, but it was a near fall that got a big pop.
Latimer went to clothesline EC3 but EC3 wrapped around and just threw Latimer into the turnbuckle from a German suplex. This led to a giant superplex that led to a close 10-count draw. They got up and fought to the outside where EC3 wanted to use the title belt as a weapon, only for Latimer to hit him with a belly to back onto the apron. EC3 had the title taken away from him in the ring and when the referee was disposing of him he slammed Latimer in the groin and hit a piledriver to win and retain the title.
Colby Corino won a six-way scramble for a shot at the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title
This match started with all six men coming out but right after that, Colby Corino came out and was a surprise seventh entrant. In a six-way?
Jared Fulton, Eric Jackson, PJ Hawx, Flip Gordon, Joe Alonzo, and Gaagz the Gymp were the original six that came out for this #1 contender match. They proceeded to have a spot fest, which included Jackson and Hawx dropping each other right on their heads. The FITE stream also started going haywire during this match so I couldn’t see everything. I was able to see the old classic spot of everybody diving into the same spot so Flip Gordon can tease his dive, but he never did it.
Judais and Father James Mitchell then made their way out from the back and Judais picked up Gaagz and threw him out of the ring on top of everyone else. They then went to go pick up Gaagz the Gymp and left with him. They continued the spot show. It is 1000000x more exciting than anything else from NWA this weekend. The finish came when Colby Corino was in the ring with Gordon and he hit him with his arm lock DDT for the win. NWA Junior Heavyweight champion Kerry Morton came out after the match and got in Corino’s face and yelled at him.
Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) (w/ Aron Stevens) defeated Jinetes del Aire (Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr.) in a Crockett Cup semfinal
BFT started this match using the same strategy as their last match, which was an attack before the bell. The luchadors turned it around quickly though, catching them on the way back into the ring. they got a quick sequence in before Carnage turned it back around. BFT worked over Octagon on their half. Myzteziz finally got his hot tag after a missed elbow drop and the chaos resulted in a near fall.
Octagon set up Damage for a shooting star press which he missed badly so Galli had to change the move into a shooting star press head butt to the shoulder. Damage actually kicked out at 1 and BFT hit the double flatliner for the win. BFT moves on to the finals.
Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch defeated The Midnight Riders (Tyrus and Chris Adonis) in a Crockett Cup semifinal
Tyrus is still selling the knee injury from earlier and he came out with a ton of tape on that knee. He can barely walk down the steps to the ring. So, of course, Adonis starts the match across from Mike Knox.
These two went back and forth in the beginning, but right when it looked like Murdoch and Knox were gonna work over Adonis for the entire match, Tyrus tagged himself in and tried to fight but Murdoch took advantage due to the knee. Adonis finally got his hot tag and put the Masterlock in on Knox but Murdoch broke it up and attacked Tyrus on the outside. Adonis couldn’t tag out so Knox and Murdoch went high and low to advance to the final against Blunt Force Trauma.
The Mystery Man defeated Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) by referee stoppage in an Unsanctioned Match
Cyon came out and Idol was lagging way behind. The Mystery Man is still wearing this black Cyon mask and his entrance theme is just really loud white noise. They started battling with Cyon getting the upper hand, but it really was an all-out brawl. Cyon went to the back and got a trash can and set it up in the corner. The Mystery Man then threw Cyon into the chair and got the heat back. Austin Idol was extremely quiet at ringside, which is not normal.
The Mystery Man started ripping at the mask of Cyon and we almost saw the face of Cyon. He started getting beaten so badly that he went crawling to his father Austin. Austin then whipped out the Brass Knuckles and punched his own son in the face. Jordan Clearwater came out to help but Idol punched him too. The referee ended the match, an unsanctioned match, because Cyon could not continue. The Mystery Man dragged both Cyon and Clearwater into the ring and spit on them.
NWA Women’s Champion Kamille defeated Natalia Markova to retain
Commentary made sure to say that this was the co-main event with the Crockett Cup Final, but who knows on this show? Markova was getting introduced and Kamille just runs her over on the apron onto the concrete. They also pushed how Kamille is from “right down the road” in Durham.
Natalia Markova was getting killed in the early going. She was taken some of the nastiest bumps I’ve seen all weekend. If NWA does one thing right, it’s making Kamille feel like a real star. After Markova moved out of the way of a charge onto the outside, it was a little bit more even in the ring. A neck-breaker from Markova got a 1-count. Soon after, she went for a roll-up in the corner that was a little too fancy and she fell right on her face. She got the heat back though and a superkick got a near fall. She followed it up with a roundhouse kick that got another near fall.
Markova set her up for the finish in the corner, but Kamille ducked and dropped the leg for her own near fall. She then set her up for a torture rack into a blue thunder bomb. They exchanged German suplexes, but Markova tried to win it with a top rope move and Kamille turned it into an avalanche German for a really good near fall. Kamille went for another avalanche, but Markova hit the head scissors from the top rope. She went to set up the finish in the corner one more time and Kamille speared her out of nowhere for the win. She hits two years as champion in a really really good match.
Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch defeated Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) (w/ Aron Stevens) to win the 2023 NWA Crockett Cup
Billy Corgan and Davy Crockett came out before this final match to hold the cup and take a seat at ringside. Aron Stevens made his way out with BFT taking off the jacket but not the white glove. Knox and Murdoch made their way to the ring looking fired up as always.
It was chaos to start with each man running into each other and then all four men brawling in the middle. The crowd was chanting BLT towards BFT which really angered Aron Stevens. It got back to normal in the ring but Stevens was messing with the apron in the corner where they were working and it tripped up Knox setting up a nasty-looking DDT by Carnage. This let BFT cut off the ring on Knox.
After a few rest holds and heel tactics, Knox finally powers out of a nerve hold and hits a clothesline onto Damage. This opens up the hot tag from Murdoch and he ran wild for about 10 seconds before he was speared by Carnage. Knox recovered and help Murdoch fight back, but as Knox rolled out of the ring, Murdoch got the referee trapped in the corner and he went down. Murdoch hit a piledriver with the referee down and got like an 8-count from the crowd. Aron Stevens came into the ring and punched Murdoch with the loaded glove and dragged Carnage on top. The referee only got to two before Murdoch kicked out. But right after, Carnage got set up for high and low, and without interference, Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch win the 2023 NWA Crockett Cup.
– After the match, Stevens was shown crying over the cup. Corgan and Crockett lifted up the trophy to the two victors and they celebrated in the ring by holding it up and bowing down to the famous trophy.
Night 2 was definitely better than Night 1 but there was still too much going on. A 3-hour and 45-minute show that included 15 matches, the night after they went over 4 hours with 20 matches. Still fun at times and a very famous tournament that I had the pleasure of covering!
The NWA returns to pay-per-view Saturday for the first of two straight nights of Crockett Cup action.
The annual tag team tournament dates back decades and was revived by Billy Corgan over the last few years. Last year’s tournament was won by The Briscoe Brothers.
24 teams will be involved over the next two days with 16 teams vying to join the eight teams who have already earned a first-round bye.
Some of the more well-known teams include NWA Champion Tyrus & Chris Adonis, Ricky & Kerry Morton, the Hughes twins (sons of D-Von Dudley), Myzteziz Jr. & Octagon Jr, Toxin & Arez, Trevor Murdoch & Mike Knox, NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebelion, and more.
In addition to the first few rounds of the tournament, the evening will feature NWA National Champion EC3 defending against the “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason, and an eight-woman Hardcore Team War tag team match.
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Pre-Show:
They got straight into the action, but said that “they got some matches out of the way before they went live.” If you wanted to find those result, you had to go to Twitter.
Judais & Max the Impaler (w/ Father James Mitchell) defeated The NOW (Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper & Mims) defeated The Spectaculars (Brady Pierce & Rush Freeman) (w/ Rolando Freeman) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
Control Your Narrative (Flip Gordon & Fodder) defeated Sent2Slaughter (Dan Maff & Shawn Donovan) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
Donovan and Fodder started and Control Your Narrative took the early advantage. They even took a break long enough to each get a kiss from Angelina Love who was ringside. Maff finally got his tag and they worked on Fodder. After some work by Maff, Gordon hit a Samoan drop and moonsault onto Donovan for the win. They move on to face the NWA Tag Team Champions and the no. 1 seeds, La Rebelion.
SVGS (Jax Dane & Blake “Bulletproof” Troop) (w/ Chris Silvio, Esq.) defeated TNT (Terrence Hughes & Terrell Hughes) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
Terrell Hughes started with Troop. They went back and forth a little bit and when Terrence went for a secret tag, the referee didn’t call it until TNT was hitting their double-team Pele kick. Jax Dane got his own tag and went to work on Terrence and even got a little help on the outside from Silvio. Terrell got the hot tag so SVGS tried to even the odds but it did not work.
There was a weird spot where Silvio distracted the ref from seeing a tag by TNT so the illegal man on TNT got caught in a figure-four leglock, courtesy of Troop so he tapped out. SVGS moves on to face the 4th-seeded, Jinetes del Aire.
The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) defeated Daisy Kill and Talos; The Miserably Faithful (Sal the Pal & Gaagz the Gymp) and Eric Jackson and Jeremiah Plunkett (w/ Danny Dealz) in a four-way elimination match for the 24th seed in the NWA Crockett Cup
They didn’t even show this whole match, just a little highlight reel, because it took place before the pre-show went live. The Miserably Faithful went out first, then Jackson and Plunkett, and last were Daisy Kill and Talos.
The Brothers of Funstruction (Yabo the Clown & Ruffo the Clown) defeated The Fixers (Jay Bradley & Wrecking Ball Legursky) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
The Fixers looked really tough, but they’re against two clowns, so it only worked so much. The Fixers attacked both clowns right as the bell rang they dominated this entire match. Ruffo made his way into the match after Yabo was getting destroyed. He got one clothesline in, but that was it.
Jay Bradley went for a moonsault but he came down wrong on his knee and he had to roll out. Wrecking Ball came in to finish the job but Ruffo went to the top and stopped the firemen’s carry slam and rolled up Wrecking Ball. He’s so big his shoulders never even really touched the floor, but he got the three count. Not sure what the deal is with that. The Brothers of Funstruction move on to face #5 A Cut Above.
Los Vipers (Arez & Toxin) defeated The Heatseekers (Elliott Russell & Matt Sigmon) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
This one is a little interesting since Arez usually teams with Komander in AAA, but he’s with Toxin for this tournament. Both teams went back and forth with their own double-team moves. Toxin got a hot tag and did a cool spot where Sigmon lifted him up and he hit a dropkick onto Russell but Toxin fell right on his head. They both then took out each member and Arez hit the double stomp and northern lights suplex onto Matt Sigmon for the win. Los Vipers move onto the next round where they will face the 6th-seeded Mortons, Ricky and Kerry.
After the match, they showed some highlights from the matches that took place before the pre-show. It was a quick match between Judais and Max the Impaler. They move on to face #2, Tyrus and Chris Adonis.
The War Gods (Kratos & Odinson) defeated Brian Brock & “Magic” Jake Dumas (with Christi Jaynes) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
I can’t help but think about the famous God of War series on PlayStation when I see The War Gods. They each got a spray of their Chrome Spray that was supposed to get them locked in and they started.
Dumas started trying a magic trick but Odinson was not impressed. Brock and Dumas eventually fought back against Kratos, but Dumas was on the ring apron showing off when Brock threw Kratos into him on the apron. They got the timing wrong though and he was standing there for ages. Off the mistake though, Kratos hit his finishing move and Odinson tackled Dumas like he was playing football. Kratos pinned Brock for the win. They move on to face the #7 seeded Country Gentlemen.
After the match, they showed Magnum Muscle’s post-match interview after beating The Spectaculars before the pre-show.
The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) defeated Idolmania Sports Management (Cyon & Jordan Clearwater) (w/ Austin Idol) in an NWA Crockett Cup first round match
The Outrunners got into this match by winning the play-In match that took place before the show. If they want to win this tournament they have to win five matches over 2 days.
This match started as just a flexing contest between the two. Just flexing all over the arena. They finally got to the action which Cyon dominated. Both of ISM worked over Truth Magnum. Floyd pulled the legs of his own teammate to avoid Clearwater and the Outrunners turned it around. Clearwater was able to fight back a bit and counter an elbow, a knee, and a frog splash, moving out of the way of all of them. When Clearwater went for the tag, a masked man ran out and pulled Cyon off the apron. The Outrunners got Clearwater up for the finish and got the upset.
The mystery man kept attacking Cyon. He was doing it in a black Cyon mask. Austin Idol just kinda sat there confused while the mystery man walked away. Idol then looked at his son Cyon and walked away himself. The crowd started chanting Austin Idol’s name and Tim Storm said they were, “stunned.”
Main Card:
Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage & Damage) (w/ Aron Stevens) defeated The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
I guess to add insult to injury, The Outrunners are fighting their third match of the night and second match in a row. BFT dominated Magnum in the early going, but when Carnage went for something extra, Floyd got the hot tag and the Outrunners took out both of BFT. Carnage and Damage got the advantage back with a couple of dropkicks and they hit the double flat liner onto Floyd for the win.
The War Gods (Kratos & Odinson) defeated NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Country Gentlemen (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
The Country Gentlemen attack the Gods before the bell due to them already having a match tonight. Odinson is able to fight back and get Kratos into the match. He hit Andrews with a big forearm and power slam, but the champions turned it around quickly. The Country Gentlemen showed such great teamwork. Odinson took Cazana by surprise with another football tackle and Kratos came in and hit Andrews with the finish for the surprise win.
Joe Alonzo (w/ Jamie Stanley) defeated Alex Taylor (w/ Danny Dealz) for a spot in night 2’s six-way scramble
They locked up to get going and went back and forth. Alonzo got thrown out and Alex Taylor went for a dive but Stanley interfered. Danny Dealz came with his own interference after Alonzo got the heat back. While Taylor was on the outside, Alonzo distracted the ref so Stanley could drive Taylor into the post.
Alonzo worked over Taylor’s shoulder and elbow. Taylor got the advantage with a dropkick and a tope. Back in the ring, Alonzo tried to roll him up and when Taylor got out Stanley distracted him again right in front of the referee. Alonzo connected on a superkick and DDT for a near fall. Such a near fall that Alonzo’s music started playing. Soon after, Alonzo locked an armbar onto Taylor and he had to tap.
After the match, Bobby Fulton came out to the ring and talked up the Crockett Cup and talked about how he won the first tournament and this tournament separates men from boys. The Mortons made their way out during the interview. Kerry Morton put over Fulton and himself.
The Mortons (Ricky Morton & Kerry Morton) defeated Los Vipers (Arez & Toxin) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
Kerry and Toxin got the match started and they had a great-looking sequence. The Mortons had the advantage though because Toxin went for an arm drag and didn’t grab his arm.
After working over Arez a little bit it went back to the great back-and-forth wrestling from the beginning but Kerry was a lot more tough. He hit Arez with a big knee and instead of tagging in Ricky he walks to the outside and grabs his belt and says the champ does whatever he wants. Ricky was able to stop him, but it resulted in a roll-up for a near fall. Kerry hit another knee and grabbed the belt again, but Ricky stopped him again. Ricky went to help Arez up while Kerry distracted the referee, but Ricky went full heel and smacked Arez with the belt for the win.
The Brothers of Funstruction (Yabo the Clown & Ruffo the Clown) defeated A Cut Above (Thom Latimer & Rhett Titus) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
Latimer and Titus kinda laughed this one off. You could tell they weren’t taking it seriously. But Yabo was able to lock in a headlock after some catch wrestling. Titus somehow ended up with a big red clown nose which really pissed him off. Ruffo got the tag after Latimer got his own tag, but he just started juggling.
They started actually wrestling and Latimer hit Ruffo with a dropkick so hard his wig fell off. A Cut Above kept dominating the two clowns. The clown shoes were a big part of this match because all the clowns used were kicks and leg drops. Latimer actually took a lot from the two clowns but he found an opening and hit a moonsault onto both of them. Titus got the tag and when he went for the slam onto Yabo he fell back and got rolled up by Ruffo the Clown for the upset.
Kamille Interview
After the match, A Cut Above kind of admitted to losing, and when they went for an interview with The Brothers of Funstruction, NWA World Women’s Championship Kamille made her way out and forced them out of the ring. She tried to remind Latimer that this was about tag teams and that he needed to focus on the NWA TV Title and getting the lucky seven. She then put herself over compared to Tyrus.
She called herself the real main event and the real champion. She then repped Durham with a hand sign and called the crowd lazy for not doing it. Kamille followed with a promo on Natalia Markova who she is facing on Night 2. This really dragged and was out of place on a show with 19 matches to get through.
Jinetes del Aire (Myzteziz Jr. & Octagón Jr.) defeated SVGS (Jax Dane & Blake “Bulletproof” Troop) (w/ Chris Silvio, Esq.) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
SVGS attacked Jinetes del Aire right as the bell rang and when they went back for revenge, SVGS rolled out. They kept the advantage throughout the early going. Myzteziz Jr. got the hot tag and you could tell Troop was really gassed or something was bothering him. Octagon set him up in the corner and hit a slingshot moonsault but the pin was broken up. Troop then locked in a really ugly figure-four that was broken up by a Myzteziz frog splash. Octagon just pinned Troop and got the win. They move on to the Quarterfinals where they will be against The Brothers of Funstruction.
Ruthie Jay, Samantha Starr & M95 (Madi Wrenkowski and Missa Kate) (w/ Baby Doll) defeated Pretty Empowered (Ella Envy, Kenzie Paige, Kylie Paige & Roxy) in a Hardcore Team War match
Ruthie Jay, Starr, and M95 came out with different weapons like a chain, can of gas, cookie sheet, and 2×4 piece of wood. Ruthie Jay is replacing La Rosa Negra who was supposed to be in tonight’s match but there was a car crash apparently. Pretty Empowered came out with their own weapons that included, batons, chairs, and a pink hockey stick.
Apparently, this is an elimination match where you can get pinned, submitted, or thrown over the top rope. Missa Kate and Roxy started the match. The only way other people can come in is if someone is eliminated, but Ella Envy interfered leading to Roxy pinning Kate and eliminating her. Madi Wrenkowski came in for the babyface team. Pretty Empowered kept dragging out the opposing team and destroying them with weapons. But Madi came back in and hit Roxy with the reality check stomp for the elimination.
Kylie Paige came in for Pretty Empowered and hit Wrenkowski with the hockey stick but Wrenkowski fought back with a cookie sheet. Paige locked in a cross-face, but Wrenkowski grabbed the hockey stick and locked in her own cross-face with the stick for the tap. Kenzie Paige ran in quickly with her own cookie sheet and pinned Wrenkowski immediately. Ruthie Jay came in and had a great sequence with Kenzie but some powder from the outside helped Kenzie get the roll-up. Kenzie went to celebrate but Starr immediately came in and threw her over the top rope.
Ella Envy came into the ring with some trash can lids and went to work on Starr. They wrestled quite a bit to end this match with the one on one. They went back and forth and even fought on the outside by going through the middle rope. Baby Doll even helped and gave Starr a coal miners glove made famous by Jake Roberts. She used the glove to club Envy in the face and win the match.
Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch defeated Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper & Mims) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
Knox and Murdoch went straight on the attack before the bell. Maybe about the 100th time, somebody has done that just tonight. Draper and Knox started the match when it actually got started, but they turned it around quickly. It actually went back and forth a little bit, but Knox and Murdoch were in control for most of it. It was really unbelievable how much they dominated. Probably the most out of anyone on the show. They went high and low on Mims and got the easy pin. They move on to the Quarterfinals to face The Mortons.
The Midnight Riders (Tyrus & Chris Adonis) defeated Judais & Max the Impaler (w/ Father James Mitchell) by DQ in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
This match did feel a little bit bigger than the rest just because of the NWA World Title and the sheer size of everyone in the match. It was somewhat of a standoff in the early going, but it was fun. They put Max the Impaler over by having them faceoff with Tyrus and having him run away to tag out.
Adonis was able to get some offense in, but Judais and Max cut off the ring. Throughout the night, the camera work and commentary have been less than great I would say. It’s like watching Roman Reigns’ reaction to AJ Styles in 2016 at the Royal Rumble, but like all night. They really worked over Adonis; it almost lasted 10 minutes.
Tyrus finally got the hot tag and tackled Judais but for some reason, kissed Max the Impaler. This really pissed them off and they ran into the ring, but when the referee tried to stop Max, the ref got shoved out of the ring. It took a really long time, but he called for the DQ. The Midnight Riders advanced by default and they will face off against The War Gods.
EC3 defeated “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason (with Pollo Del Mar) to retain the NWA National Heavyweight Championship
Davy Crockett replaced Velvet Sky on commentary for the last two matches.
They tied up early and Mason locked in a Kimura. EC3 got the ropes and was able to reset. They got back to it and when Mason went for a dropkick he almost missed and jumped right over top of him but EC3 rolled out and tricked Mason to get the upper hand. He also used Pollo Del Mar on the outside as a human shield and connected with Mason on a backdrop onto this cement where there is no padding.
EC3 worked back in the ring and worked on Mason with a knee. It was dominance by the champ. He rolled the outside and even yelled at Del Mar which was enough distraction for Mason to hit a sidewalk slam onto the ring apron. He made his comeback in the ring with chops and spears but EC3 drove Mason’s head into the apron which brought on a near fall. After another near fall, EC3 went to grab the belt and leave but he got back in the ring. Pollo Del Mar tried to stop him but Mason went for a forearm and hit Del Mar off the apron. After hitting his own valet, he gets rolled up by the champion to retain his title. After the match, Silas Mason was leaving and stepped over Pollo Del Mar.
NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebelión (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) defeated Control Your Narrative (Flip Gordon & Fodder) in an NWA Crockett Cup second round match
Before the match began, the commentary team hinted at Fodder not being medically cleared. Kyle Davis came to the ring and reiterated this point, but Mecha Wolf grabbed the mic and made fun of Fodder for having to miss the match. Instead of being named the winners due to forfeit, the bell rang and they were going to count out Control Your Narrative but Flip Gordon came out to stop the count. This was a call back to last year’s Crockett Cup when La Rebelion had a handicap match.
They actually started the match as a handicap match and Flip Gordon got the early advantage by throwing both members out of the ring. But they turned a DDT into an assisted suplex. They continued to dominate Flip Gordon as you would expect. Gordon was able to counter a few things but it was really just a spot show. He then hit a dropkick and springboard cutter to get going, but right as he started getting hot again, they shut him down. La Rebelion went up to the top for a double superplex that Flip was able to fight off for a second, but they did it.
This is when Fodder came out selling his leg with Angelina Love. As he got the tag, Love gave him a kendo stick and he used it on Bestia 666. The referee didn’t DQ him and Love actually pulled him out of the ring. Still no DQ. The legendary Vampiro then ran in and attacked both Fodder and Gordon. Still no DQ. Mecha Wolf hit a frog splash onto Gordon and got the pin. They’ll face BFT in the Quarterfinals.
I love the Crockett Cup idea, but 19 matches in one night during a two-night event is too much. The show also lasted just over four hours which is way too long but there were some fun matches sprinkled throughout.
This week’s NWA Power is the go-home for this weekend’s Crockett Cup double-dip pay-per-view.
Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch vs. The Country Gentlemen (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews) went to a no contest
Knox hit some punches in the corner on Cazana before hitting a clothesline. Cazana managed to land a suplex on Murdoch before Andrews tagged in and hit a double team elbow on Murdoch. Andrews didn’t notice a blind tag from Knox who hit the ropes and a crossbody that Andrews wasn’t expecting.
There was some clubbering offense (™ Dusty Rhodes) before both Andrews and Knox hit a clothesline on each other. As this happened, a ton of Crockett Cup teams rushed the ring and started brawling, making this a no contest.
Murdoch ended up hitting a tope suicida on everyone, followed by Knox climbing the ropes for a senton bomb off the top rope onto everyone. Yes, those two big men did that. This was actually a good angle despite the non-finish to the tag match.
The Now (Hale Collins & Vic Delicious) defeated Ryan Matthews & Mario Pardua to qualify for the Crockett Cup tournament
Delicious and Matthews started with Delicious hitting a lariat before tagging out to Collins. Collins stomped on Matthews in the corner. The Now hit a double vertical suplex for a near fall. Delicious hit a DDT on Matthews after a chop to the throat. Matthews rallied to hit a jaw breaker and tagged out to Pardua, who hit a Russian legs weep on Delicious for a near fall.
Delicious slipped out of a powerslam attempt and shoved Pardua into his own partner before tagging out to Matthews, who hit a flying elbow while Pardua was laid across the knees of Delicious for the win — a move apparently called The Now which is appropriate.
– James Mitchell was with Judias and Max the Impaler and he talked about them being in the Crockett Cup, promising they would win the tournament and saying everyone else doesn’t stand a chance against his team.
Samantha Starr defeated Kylie Paige
Paige is green, but learning very fast, much like her sister a few years ago. If she keeps working the way she does, she’ll be one of the better young wrestlers on the indies before long.
Paige managed to trip Starr with a dropdown, but she quickly countered into a hammerlock and a short arm clothesline. Paige dodged a corner charge and hit a series of forearms, a snapmare, and a running basement dropkick on Starr that made Kylie look exactly like her sister, Kenzie.
Paige went to a sleeper hold, trying to wear down Starr, but got dumped to the mat. Paige went for a hip toss, but Starr ducked it and hit a Samoan drop for a near fall. Paige hit a Russian leg sweep, but Starr kicked out. After attempting a suplex or DDT, Starr countered and hit the Starrstruck DDT for the win.
– May Valentine was with Natalia Markova, talking about her upcoming title match with NWA Women’s Champion Kamille. Markova said that Kamille had weaknesses to be exploited, and would do so at the Crockett Cup.
Magic Jake Dumas & Mercurio defeated America’s Ego (Jamie Stanley & Joe Alonzo) (w/ CJ) to qualify for the Crockett Cup
This is a heel vs. heel match which Billy Corgan loves booking for some reason, so the crowd did not care about anything. Mercurio and Stanley started and Mercurio suplexed him before showing off to Dumas, who has still not done a magic trick. CJ and Mercurio ended up posing outside of the ring while Dumas was getting beat on, which was actually kind of funny.
Stanley hit a Russian leg sweep on Dumas for a near fall. Mercurio continued to flirt with CJ while Dumas was hit with a spinebuster. Stanley accidentally hit Alonzo with a pump kick when Dumas ducked an attack. Dumas clotheslined Alonzo to the floor and then CJ decided to grab Alonzo’s foot and shut off any further offense. Dumas hit a tombstone on Stanley and Mercurio blind tagged in to get the pin.
– Thrillbilly Silas came to the ring with Pollo Del Mar to talk with Kyle Davis. EC3 also made his way down to no reaction. Del Mar said that EC3 would be heartbroken at the Crockett Cup as he was going to lose the National title and said to say hi to his aunt Dixie. This got no reaction.
EC3 suggested that Silas should give up the title shot to join him as a tag team to win the Crockett Cup, because he could guide Silas to the top of the NWA. EC3 said they could win the Cup, Silas could help him get to the World title and then could be mentored directly by the NWA World Champion.
Silas shook the hand of EC3, implying that they were going to work together, but pulled EC3 in and hit the Thrillride, posing with the National title afterward.
Final Thoughts:
This was a fairly tame episode with a closing angle that had little heat going into the Crockett Cup. It doesn’t surprise me that they decided to use EC3 in a closing angle, because it is the kind of thing Corgan likes. However, EC3’s current character is not working at all. He can talk and can get heat, but this gimmick is death.
My interest in this weekend’s PPV is at an all time low, and the only match I was mildly interested in, Kamille against Markova, received nearly next to no time in build.
Some of the agreements reached for Punk’s return including what happens with Ace Steel
Promotion of the United Center show
Early ticket sales for United Center and all the Collision tapings
Economics of arenas in Chicago
Promotion of the Collision shows so far
Collision later this year against tougher sports competition
Nick Khan talks lots of new potential ideas for television and NXT
The U.K. television landscape
New ways WWE is looking to make money from its major events
A preview of WWE’s two big shows this week, favorites, and business notes
AEW Double or Nothing looked at, including business notes on the show, ideas and angles
Mercedes Mone injured and Willow Nightingale ends up as New Japan Strong women’s champion
A look at the tournament
Lots of thoughts and notes on the show
Mark Davis injury
Angles coming off the New Japan Long Beach show
How tickets moved after Mone was announced
Match-by-match coverage, star ratings and poll results
Rundown of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, coverage of the biggest matches this pas week and how the tournaments went down
UFC show coverage
The most in-depth look at the ratings for all the national wrestling shows and how they compare with the same period last year, as well as the competition and what the numbers mean
Major wrestling and boxing promotion looking at working with each other
More on the CMLL Anniversary plans
AEW star debuting in AAA
AEW star looks to be done with AAA
Stardom building title vs title match this weekend
Hana Kimura Memorial show
DDT tournament finals
Schedule for Dark Side of the Ring and thoughts
Cain Velasquez trial update
Promotion quietly gets national cable deal
A number of different stars on next MLW tapings
Impact TV lineups
AEW video game update
AEW and profits and losses
Darby Allin and climbing Mount Everest
Tony Khan talks booking team
Notes on Forbidden Door
Thunder Rosa talks battling depression
What stars who believe they can’t appear on Forbidden Door
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE and AEW shows
International TV numbers
Talk about promoting AEW live events
Best merchandise sellers
Update on how UFC pays fighters
Dana White talks Francis Ngannou deal
PFL talks the deal and why it makes sense even if it doesn’t seem to
Tyson Fury and Jon Jones war of words has predictable outcome
Mackenzie Der and divorce issues
Lots of Billy Graham history and Hogan & Flair talk about his influence
Why Hogan and Graham fell out years ago
Graham’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon
Graham’s sellout records in MSG and why they are even more impressive than they appear
Hogan the face of a new company
Women’s’ tag team division issues
Lots of injury notes and updates
Two WWE stars play women wrestlers of the 30s and 50s in a new movie being filmed soon
More on a Ric Flair movie
Kota Ibushi talks WWE
Three WWE athletes going for a world championship berth in wrestling this year
Gable Steveson talks his pro wrestling training
Median age of wrestling Tv viewers for the different shows
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Tuesday Update
WWE
A Carmelo Hayes appearance and Tiffany Stratton holding a “Tiffybration” following her Women’s title win have been added to Tuesday’s NXT.
Alexa Bliss noted that she will return to wrestling. Bliss announced on Tuesday that she and Ryan Cabrera are expecting their first child in December.
Natalya on her quick loss to Rhea Ripley on Saturday: “Just saw Rhea’s interview on Raw last night saying I was distracted. The truth is, I thought I was ready for anything out there, and I just had no reply to her dominance. This is on me.”
Dexter Lumis vs. Akira Tozawa and Candace LeRae vs. Tegan Nox were taped for this week’s Main Event on Monday.
WWE’s YouTube channel surpassed 95 million subscribers this past weekend.
AEW Road to San Diego focuses on Kris Statlander’s return and the fallout from AEW Double or Nothing.
Jon Moxley has been announced for the Pro Wrestling Revolver show on June 17.
Jade Cargill commented on her AEW Double or Nothing entrance: “My colors and entrance was paid homage to my sorority. I am a PROUD member of AKA. It is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-educated women. very personal but I wanted to bring Greek life to the wrestling world.”
Fuego Del Sol talked on Twitter about being backstage at AEW this past weekend: “I was at my first AEW show since I was injured in February this past weekend. Though the landscape has changed a bit, I’m more motivated than ever. There is so much more I am going to do and this weekend was the refresher of just how much I dare to be great. Soon.”
Jake Roberts is celebrating a birthday today.
Other Wrestling
Superstar Billy Graham’s funeral will be streamed at 3 pm ET Thursday at this link.
Vice is airing a Dark Side of the Ring marathon prior to tonight’s Season 4 premiere.
Nick Aldis talked to Metro about talking to the WWE. ‘I don’t wanna speak too much about my conversations with [WWE]. And I certainly don’t want to imply or suggest that I had a choice of anywhere to go. That would be disingenuous or dishonest. It’s more about, what’s the best option right now? I did need a little bit of a mental break – because I did put a lot of pressure on myself. I’ll be honest, it was kinda heartbreaking to see a lot of my work get undone at the NWA. I needed bit of time to just process it and go, “Hey, what they decide to do now that you’re gone is none of your concern. Your body of work will live on through your fans and that’s it. You build this brand for yourself.” [My wife Mickie James] was good at restoring that confident in me as well.’
G-Raver, who previously wrestled for GCW and was later arrested on drug and DUI charges, will face trial in July with jury selection to begin on July 10.
Billy Corgan talked about finding a potential television partner in an interview with the Toronto Sun. “I’ve resisted taking any outside money, so it’s 100% self-funded so that way if I do find the right partner, I don’t have to bring somebody else along and convince them that it’s good idea,” he said. “And then secondarily, I resisted taking sea level deals just to sort of puff my chest and say, ‘See I’m with Bob’s BBQ Network.’ You know what I mean?”
A match between Low Ki and Minoru Suzuki has been signed for Perth Wrestling’s Crossroads event on August 26 in Perth, Australia.
He was young and destined for greatness, perhaps even the heir apparent to the NWA World title. But then an ill-fated trip to Japan for a tour with All-Japan Pro Wrestling ended his story.
On this week’s DragonKingKarl, I will examine his last few months in detail, exploring where he was, where he was headed, and how it all ended.
NWA wrestler BLK Jeez has been diagnosed with a form of cancer known as multiple myeloma, and a fundraiser has been established to help him with expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, Jeez (Darnell Kittrell) visited a doctor after months of what he thought was a back strain that only intensified in pain over time.
It was learned through blood work that he had multiple myeloma — a cancer that forms in plasma cells. With this form, cancerous plasma cells accumulate in bone marrow and crowd out healthy blood cells.
It’s an incurable form of cancer and additional treatments will be needed when it returns. He is also recovering from multiple back fractures that had him in a back brace and assisted walker at one point.
Money raised through the GoFundMe will help with lost wages due to him receiving treatment. In addition to wrestling, he also has a job in addition to a fiance and a four-year-old daughter.
From the GoFundMe:
“This cancer may be aggressive but Darnell is a fighter that looks at a challenge with steel in his eyes. He will fight this and we as a community need to not only cheer him on but show him that we stand with him and support him.”
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the latest on CM Punk and AEW, Dynamite ratings, and more, then Aron Stevens joins us to talk NWA and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
A new National Heavyweight Champion was crowned at NWA 312 on Friday night.
EC3 defeated Cyon to win the title for the first time, making Cyon submit with a crossface. Cyon had held the championship for 224 days, defeating Jax Dane at NWA 74 back in August of last year.
Later in the show, Thrillbilly Silas won the Bob Luce Memorial Battle Royal. As a result, he will receive a future National championship match.
Kenzie Paige became the inaugural Women’s Television Champion, defeating Max the Impaler to become the first champion.
Other championship matches had Country Gentlemen defeat Jax Dane & Blake Troop to retain the NWA US Tag Team titles, Missa Kate and Madi Wrenkowskki defeat Pretty Empowered to retain the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles, Kerry Morton defeat Joe Alonzo to retain the NWA Junior Heavyweight title, and La Rebellion retained the NWA World Tag Team titles over Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper & Mims).
Kamille also successfully retained the NWA Women’s Championship against La Rosa Negra. In the main event, Tyrus defeated Chris Adonis to retain the NWA World Heavyweight title.
NWA World Champion Tyrus would like to go home again for one last goodbye in WWE.
In an interview with Fox Digital to promote his title defense against Chris Adonis at Friday’s NWA 312 pay-per-view, he said that while the NWA is likely where he will finish his career, it would be nice to go back to WWE for one last time.
“I think because I started there (WWE), it would be nice to go back and say goodbye. But as far as a long-term run or anything like that, no, I’m not interested in that anymore. I’ll probably finish my career in the NWA, but it would be nice to come back and have a one-off or just say goodbye to the fans,” he said.
The 50-year-old started in WWE developmental in 2006, lasting two years before he was cut. He was re-signed in 2010 and changed his name to Brodus Clay, eventually aligning with Alberto Del Rio. He was part of the third season of NXT and had a main roster run that ran through 2014.
“Where I started in WWE is a big part of my success and, again, like I said, a lot of it has to do with scheduling. I’m pretty busy with Fox and there are no part-time jobs in WWE. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I was with WWE on two different occasions and on the second occasion, I did a lot of great things and am really proud (about) that. If I never went back, no sweat. If I did, it would be a nice close to a chapter and to move on. But my future is with the NWA for the time being and I can’t really see that changing,” he said.
In an interview on the Under the Ring podcast, Billy Corgan addressed the fan criticism Tyrus has received as NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Corgan told Under the Ring that he’s very happy with the work Tyrus has done for the NWA as a wrestler. Corgan said he feels most of the heat around Tyrus, who works as a contributor for Fox News, is “political.” Corgan said he doesn’t feel Tyrus has ever crossed the line to where what he’s said has been detrimental to the NWA.
Let’s separate the wrestling and the personal, which isn’t always easy to do. On the wrestling side, I’ve been very, very happy and very satisfied. I think he’s done everything I’ve asked him to do and he’s been great to work with. As far as Tyrus as a public person, I knew Tyrus when he was working at TNA and basically standing with his arms crossed behind Matt Hardy and holding one of the babies, right? I saw when he first started working for Fox — and we’ve stayed in touch through all these years, we have our own relationship. Like myself, when you’re a public person, you say things that not everybody agrees with. But look, he’s on one of the biggest networks in the world, he knows what he’s doing, and so for better or for worse, he writes his own checks that way.
As far as I’m concerned, he has never crossed the line to the point where it’s been detrimental to the NWA. Now, I know not everyone agrees with that opinion, but I think people have this kind of weird sliding scale because there’s lots of blame to go around when you look at the professional wrestling landscape of where people look the other way at different things. Most of the heat around Tyrus is political. And as a person who’s been through some of those things myself, I tend not to pay a lot of attention to that stuff. Not because it’s not important, but because I think a lot of that stuff — there’s a lot of energy behind it which has other agendas. And it’s not really down to the individual as much as it’s like a culture war type of thing. So, as far as I’m concerned, we’re a professional wrestling company and we’re here to wrestle.
Tyrus became NWA World Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Trevor Murdoch and Matt Cardona in a three-way match at NWA Hard Times 3 last November. The next title defense for Tyrus will be against Chris Adonis at the NWA’s 312 pay-per-view this Friday night. Corgan told Under the Ring that he loves the story of whether the Master Lock can beat a giant like Tyrus.
Corgan also spoke about the “old school heat” Tyrus receives:
Can I say one other thing? What people don’t understand is I grew up in a time where wrestling heat was different. This world we live in, it’s like fake heat or a five-star matchup, five-star matches. To me, Tyrus brings that old school heat that an Ernie Ladd brought or an Andre the Giant brought. There’s not a lot of guys who can, at that size, bring that level of heat. And so, look, it’s professional wrestling. Come and boo, come and hate him, come and wish the next guy, in this case, Chris Adonis is gonna take him out. That’s what wrestling is for. When we try to overly kind of bring life into wrestling, I think that’s always an uncomfortable thing. Because you and I could spend an hour talking about where somebody did this and then people look the other way and they still have a job, At some point, like I said, as far as I’m concerned, he’s been a model employee for the NWA and I don’t have anything else to say about it other than he’s been great to work with.
NWA 312 is taking place at Studio One in Highland Park, Illinois on Friday. The NWA Women’s World Championship match at the show will see Kamille defend her title against La Rosa Negra.
The road to next month’s NWA 312 pay-per-view continued on this week’s NWA Power. However, this was a pretty terrible episode with no heat for anything.
Kratos defeated Magic Jake Dumas & Jordan Clearwater in a three-way
This was a bad match, but I don’t blame Kratos or Clearwater.
I have yet to see Jake do a magic trick unless you count being thrown around by Kratos, but that would make him a victim of Kratos’ magic. The irony was that the only person to do a magic trick in his act was his valet CJ, who pulled ribbons from her tights last week before Natalya Markova knocked her out.
Kratos took out both men with clotheslines and when he went for a pop-up power bomb on Clearwater, Dumas attacked from behind, leading to a temporary Clearwater and Dumas alliance.
This got very boring with Clearwater and Dumas getting the heat, mainly because Dumas is boring. Clearwater and Dumas hit a double clothesline and later a double suplex when Kratos started to fight back. Once Dumas and Clearwater turned on each other and Dumas was about to hit an Alabama Slam, Kratos picked up both men and hit a Samoan drop. Dumas didn’t go up for him, and nearly caused a botch. Kratos then hit a swinging uranage on Dumas for the pin and win (he barely went up for that, too).
– A promo package aired for Dak Draper & Mims vs. Blunt Force Trauma with comments from Aron Stevens, Draper and Mims.
– Danny Dealz pitched Alex Taylor a deal for a no. 1 contender’s match for the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship. If Taylor loses, the Ill Begotten will be no more.
Blunt Force Trauma (Damage & Carnage) vs. Magnum Muscle (Dak Draper & Mims) wen to a no contest in a no. 1 contenders match
I have no words for how stupid this finish was as it was one of the dumbest I can remember seeing. The non-finish wasn’t the problem, but how they did it. DQs, countouts, no contests, and draws can be useful for storytelling when done right. This promotion never does that.
Draper and Damage started and it wasn’t long before they were getting the heat on Draper. Damage got the heat with some slow offense targeting Draper’s arm. Carnage continued the assault after a powerslam. Draper got Irish whipped to the corner, but he ran up the ropes. Unfortunately, Damage shook the ropes at that moment and Draper landed on the top turnbuckle. Draper turned a back suplex into a crossbody.
It was at this moment that Aron Stevens, who was banned from ringside, came out to the ring. Stevens went to punch Draper with his loaded glove, but May Valentine came out and slapped Stevens. This caused the referee to declare the match a no contest for no real reason. If anything, Blunt Force Trauma should have been DQ’d for Stevens being out there.
The announcers explained Magnum Muscle will advance to the PPV because of their Champions Series title shot, rendering this entire match pointless to begin with.
Joe Alonzo (w/ Jamie Stanley) defeated Alex Taylor (w/ Danny Dealz)
The finish was not as bad as the last one, but it was very bad.
It seems this week that the Ill Begotten were babyfaces after being heels forever. Alonzo, who was a babyface, is now officially a heel. I don’t recall a specific turn for any of them. Alonzo faked a knee injury and drew Taylor in, leading to Stanley choking Taylor on the ropes. Fundamentally, this was a good match with two good workers, but it was hard to care as we haven’t seen the Ill Begotten be anything other than a geek group with few hints about them breaking up.
It would have helped to have some build to make the stakes matter, but that didn’t happen here. Dealz, being the babyface that he is, gave a chair to Taylor, who realized he would lose and the Ill Begotten would be gone if he used it. Taylor refused to cheat and then ate a Skull Crushing Finale for the win. Of course, this make Dealz and Taylor both look like morons.
– La Rosa Negra was with Gagz the Gimp as Valentine was escorted out of the building for slapping Stevens. Gagz asked a question via a flash card since he doesn’t speak. It was about something about stalking people she loved. I stopped paying attention at that point.
– Later, NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebelion were with Gagz who asked via flash card for them to explain who they were. They then cut a promo on Draper and Mims.
EC3 & BLK Jeez defeated NWA World Champion Tyrus & Eric Jackson
Jackson tried, but this was horrible. I do not recommend.
Jeez assured us this was just an exhibition. He and Jackson were in the early parts of the match before Tyrus tagged in. The champion did nothing but pat Jeez on the head after putting him on the turnbuckle. Jackson got a near fall that EC3 broke up and then blind tagged in.
Jeez hit a flatliner on Jackson and then claimed Tyrus took it too far. You know, Tyrus only patted him on the head. Jeez then hit a suplex on Jackson. EC3 and Jeez got the heat on Jackson and the ref missed the hot tag to Tyrus. Jackson then got finished with a splash by Jeez.
Tyrus and EC3 faced off after the match, so it looks like they are building to a match no one wants to see with Jeez siding with EC3.
Final Thoughts:
The crowd seemed to be around 30-40 people in the front row and there was utter silence for most of the things that happened. Then, we got literal silence when Gagz was interviewing people.
Again, that non-finish really was one of the dumbest non-finishes I have ever seen and that includes Seth Rollins getting DQ’d in a Hell in a Cell against the Fiend.
This week’s very short edition of NWA Power featured what could be the final appearance in the NWA for newly-signed AEW wrestler Taya Valkyrie.
Outside a replay of a match from the Nuff Said pay-per-view, this show was largely missable, but nothing was absolutely terrible outside of an EC3 promo.
Thrillbilly Silas defeated Brady Pierce
Pierce was squashed fairly quickly here, losing after every member of The Spectaculars were hit with a Thrillride.
Daisy Kill & Talos defeated Trevor Murdoch via DQ
Kill, a new character, played the ukulele singing a song about how he was going to beat up Murdoch. Apparently, Kill is the one sending big men after the former NWA World Champion.
Talos and Kill attacked Murdoch and Mike Knox ran out and made the save, leading to the DQ. Murdoch was selling a foot injury, so he was outnumbered and hurt in the process. Knox and Murdoch shook hands after, so it seems that Murdoch finally has some backup and an ally.
– Kevin Kiley Jr. (the former Alex Riley in WWE) was with May Valentine and talked about how excited he was being back in wrestling with the NWA. He admitted he was rusty, but he was the one telling his story and EC3 wasn’t going to control anything.
– Speaking of EC3, he and BLK Jeez were backstage with Valentine and talked about the partnership of their stables. This seems like the third or fourth time we have seen this promo, yet the story hasn’t gone anywhere. EC3 called Tyrus the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Not the champion, mind you — the championship.
– In an encore presentation, they aired the NWA Women’s title match between the champion Kamille and Angelina Love from Nuff Said.
Max The Impaler defeated Taya Valkyrie
In a pre-match promo about Valkyrie and Max, Valkyrie made reference to the Sinister Minister’s recent appearances in Impact Wrestling.
Max attacked as Valkyrie entered the ringside area. Valkyrie used a chair to sit Max on and hit a crossbody, but Max was up soon thereafter, throwing her into the apron. Valkyrie recovered after about 90 seconds of heat from Max. Every time Max would get back up, Valkyrie would hit hard, but as time went on, it was clear the strength of Max was wearing Valkyrie down. Max picked up the win after hitting a short-arm lariat to finally finish Valkyrie off.
