Tuesday’s edition of NWA Power featured a pair of no. 1 contender’s bouts that cemented two title matches for next month’s Hard Times 3 pay-per-view.
In the show’s main event, KiLynn King bested Taya Valkyrie to earn a shot at NWA Women’s Champion Kamille at Hard Times 3. The win avenges a loss King suffered to Valkyrie in another no. 1 contender’s match in July.
This will be King’s second opportunity at both the title and Kamille after losing in her first effort at June’s Alwayz Ready.
NWA National Champion Cyon has his challenger set for Hard Times 3 as Dak Draper defeated Chris Adonis and Thrillbilly Silas in a three-way Tuesday. This will be the first NWA title opportunity for Draper in his early NWA run.
Here’s the updated card for Hard Times 3, set for November 12th in New Orleans, Louisiana:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch defends against Tyrus and Matt Cardona in a triple threat match
NWA Women’s Champion Kamille defends against KiLynn King
NWA US Tag Team Champions The Fixers defend against The Spectaculars
NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide defends against Kerry Morton
NWA National Champion Cyon defends against Dak Draper
AJ Cazana vs. Jordan Clearwater for the vacant NWA TV title
A good episode of NWA Power opened right away with our first match. On tonight’s show, two title contenders for next month’s Hard Times 3 will be made.
The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) defeated Natalia Markova & Taryn Terrell
Markova spent the early going trying to fight off both members of The Hex, but being unable to because of their tag team experience. Terrell threw her ring entrance skirt at Belle to distract her, and Markova hit a stunner while doing the splits before tagging out. Terrell tagged out as soon as Belle hit her but was able to keep Belle from making the tag.
Terrell tagged herself in for a pin attempt, which led to she and Markova arguing while choking Belle. Markova and Terrell eventually argued face to face, leading to Belle tagging out and Kay entering, hitting a spinning neckbreaker on Markova. Kay and Belle hi Hex Marks the Spot for the pinfall on Terrell, who was left in the ring alone after Kay’s comeback.
– Homicide was at the podium and took offense at Kyle Davis saying he was slipping back into his old ways. Homicide said he was always the same, and that he would do anything to make sure he stayed NWA Junior Heavyweight champion.
– Question Mark II was with May Valentine and said he was in the NWA to fight for the memory of Question Mark. Valentine asked if he had a visa, because she heard rumors (likely from Aron Stevens as they’re associated with each other on screen) that he could be deported.
– Kyle Davis ran down the current card for November’s Hard Times 3.
Question Mark II defeated KC Roxx (w/ Aron Stevens)
I’m not sold on this angle yet, mainly because I’m not sure you can duplicate Joseph Hudson’s Question Mark. This new guy needs to make it his own.
Joe Galli informed us that Question Mark II is the brother of the original Question Mark, and he was tired of how Stevens was disrespecting his brother with Rodney Mack wearing the mask. Stevens ate a slice of pizza at ringside while saying Question Mark II was disrespectful.
Question Mark II caught Roxx off a springboard and did Mongrovian squats before hitting a powerslam. Stevens grabbed a mic said that wrestling was in a horrible state because a man was pretending to be Question Mark, while he had the real one, and that Roxx wished he could be his client but he can’t win a match. Question Mark II bowed to Roxx before hitting the Mongrovian spike for the finish.
– Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green were with May Valentine and Cardona talked about how he wasn’t worried about Tyrus or Trevor Murdoch in the NWA Hard Times 3 main event, saying he’d pin Billy Corgan if he had to. Valentine then asked Green if she was still interested in winning the Women’s title. Green said it was a stupid question and that of course she was as every woman should be.
Dak Draper defeated Chris Adonis and Thrillbilly Silas in a three-way to earn an NWA National title match at Hard Times 3
Tom Pritchard joined the commentary booth for this one. Silas tried to get Draper to double team Adonis at first, but Draper didn’t bite. Silas shoved Adonis into Draper for a two count. Silas hit a Snake Eyes across the top rope on Draper before hitting a slam for a near fall. Pritchard screamed at the hard chops Draper hit Silas with.
Adonis came back in the ring and hit a spinebuster on Silas, but Draper hit a springboard elbow on Adonis. Silas nailed Draper with a clothesline and all three men were on the mat. Silas went for the Thrillride, but Adonis countered into the Master Lock. Draper broke it up with a big boot and hit the Magnum KO for the pinfall to earn a title shot at Hard Times 3.
KiLynn King defeated Taya Valkyrie to earn an NWA Women’s title match at Hard Times 3
This was a solid match with King looking fantastic. Valkyrie is no longer the top contender, which is the right call with King and Kamille having a great match previously.
Galli noted that Valkyrie did earn the no. 1 contender position in a four corners match, but she pinned Chelsea Green and not King in that match which explains why they are having another no. 1 contender match here. (It ignores the fourth participant, but I appreciate the attempt to make this make sense.)
King hit a uranage on the apron to take control in the early going. King followed that with a suplex for a near fall. King charged the corner, Valkyrie dodged, and King crashed into the post. Galli and Velvet Sky then informed us that Bully Ray was the one that got King this shot, and Valkyrie said, “Bring it on” because she had confidence. We have a full explanation now! Well done, NWA.
Valkyrie targeted her shoulder with strikes and submissions, but King was able to overcome them and lock on an inverted figure four. The two exchanged several submission attempts, ending with Valkyrie hitting a curb stomp on King for a two count.
King hit a knee in the corner, but Valkyrie fought her off and hit a crossbody off the middle rope for a near fall. King countered a kick attempt by ducking and hitting the Excalibuster for the pin and win to earn her title shot at the PPV.
Final Thoughts:
This was a fairly logically booked and simple episode of NWA Power that built to the Hard Times 3 PPV. It wasn’t the most exciting, but everything in it was pushing forward to November’s big show which makes this one an easy thumbs up for me…outside of the Question Mark angle. However, I am willing to give that time.
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.
NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Page & Ella Envy) were the hosts for this week’s Power Surge edition of the NWA’s weekly TV show. Per usual, Joe Galli, Velvet Sky and Tim Storm were on the call.
Marti Belle defeated Madi
Belle is one half of the former tag team champions as part of The Hex. This was pretty basic face/heel work with Madi having the advantage for most of the match until Belle got rolling late. Belle won after she hit the Protect Ya Neck (pedigree).
– The champs were with Kerry Morton and asked him about his match while flirting with him which made him embarrassed.
The Miserably Faithful & Dirty Sexy Boys defeated The Ill Begotten & The Spectaculars
They called this the first ever strange bedfellows match with two teams on each side that would normally never team. It certainly did make for strange visuals. During the match, the commentary team discussed there being some residual issues from the NWA US Tag Team title battle royal at NWA 74.
Following Dirty Dango having his way, he tagged in JTG who had some fun with new teammate Sal The Pal. The Ill Begotten and Spectaculars beat down Sal for the majority of the match which led to The Gimp getting the hot tag. Yes, that’s a sentence I just wrote.
Dango got the win after hitting a falcon arrow. This was indeed a match.
– The champs were back and acting like mean girls with their third and newest member of their group, Roxy.
Rhett Titus defeated Bestia 666 (w/ Damian 666)
Bestia is half of the NWA Tag Team Champions (La Rebelion) while Titus was a Ring of Honor mainstay. Storm called these guys junior heavyweights which seemed odd. Then again, I’m not sure what the qualifications for that division is.
This was a perfectly fine wrestling match that ended when Damian 666 misted his son in the eyes by mistake, giving Titus the opening to roll up Bestia for the win. The referee was staring straight at Damian when he blew the mist but didn’t call for a DQ.
– The champs were with KiLynn King. There was more banter.
The Now defeated NWA National Champion Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) by countout in a non-title handicap match
Idol apparently called for a handicap match for his son. Cyon was rolling early until Cyon hurt his leg/knee. After a few minutes, The Now was rolling and Idol decided to pull Cyon out to take the countout. Weird finish. It also sounded like there were 10 fans in the venue for this taping.
Updates
Kyle Davis informed us that NWA Women’s Champion Kamille will be part of the next Triplemania show, challenging AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Taya Valkyrie for the title.
Tyrus has dropped the TV title so he can challenge for the World title against champion Trevor Murdoch and Matt Cardona at Hard Time III, so a new champion will be crowned on this weekend’s NWA USA. There will be two five-person matches with the winner of each squaring off to determine the new titleholder.
Participants include Jax Dane, Ricky Morton, Anthony Mayweather, Marshe Rockett, AJ Cazana, Caprice Coleman, Jordan Clearwater, Da Pope, Rush Freeman, and Max The Impaler.
They then re-aired the Kamille vs. Max Women’s title match from NWA 74 in full.
– The champs were in pretend tears thanking everyone for tuning into this special episode before calling the viewers losing and wrapping it up.
The NWA has announced a change to the main event of its next pay-per-view.
On this week’s episode of NWA USA, it was announced that Tyrus is cashing in his NWA Television title for a chance to become World Champion. The NWA Hard Times 3 main event will now be Trevor Murdoch vs. Matt Cardona vs. Tyrus for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Wrestlers who hold the NWA TV title are able to cash in the championship for a Worlds Heavyweight Championship shot after seven successful title defenses. In a promo on NWA USA, Tyrus said he’s willing to give up what he loves most for another chance to become Worlds Heavyweight Champion.
Tyrus unsuccessfully challenged Murdoch for the Worlds Heavyweight Championship at NWA 74 last month.
This June, Murdoch won the Worlds Heavyweight Championship after Cardona had to vacate the title due to injury.
It was said on NWA USA that a tournament will be held to crown a new Television Champion. Tyrus will hold the title until that happens.
Hard Times 3 is taking place in Chalmette, Louisiana on Saturday, November 12.
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.
NWA Power had news both regarding the next challenger for the NWA Women’s Championship and news regarding the next NWA Empower.
Tuesday’s show had NWA owner Billy Corgan discuss the success of NWA 74, saying that he hopes to keep the NWA rolling so that they reach their 100th anniversary. He also brought up that Kamille had two of the best matches at NWA 74. He concluded the topic by saying that they will do another NWA Empower “very soon”.
Meanwhile, the NWA Women’s Championship match has been set for Hard Times, which will take place on November 12 in Chalmette, Louisiana. Taya Valkyrie earned a shot at Kamille’s championship after defeating Chelsea Green, KiLynn King, and Jennacide in a number one contender’s match. Kamille and Valkyrie previously met at NWA 74 last month, with Kamille successfully retaining the championship.
Kamille also wrestled on Tuesday’s NWA Power, going to a time limit draw with Allysin Kay.
The rivalry between NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch and Matt Cardona will continue at November 12th’s Hard Times III in New Orleans, Louisiana, as they will meet again for the title.
During Tuesday’s NWA Power, Ricky Steamboat was on hand to help make the announcement with Murdoch but Cardona came out instead and revealed the news.
Cardona had to relinquish the title at June’s Alwayz Ready due to a torn biceps which was then put up in a four-way that night. Murdoch won the match to begin his second reign as champion. It was Cardona who ended that first reign, defeating Murdoch on a February edition of Power.
As part of the storyline, William Corgan agreed to give Cardona and all of his entourage future title shots if he agreed to give up the championship at Alwayz Ready.
Murdoch successfully defended the title against Tyrus this past Sunday at NWA 74 while Cardona took a shocking loss to the unheralded Rolando Freeman. Cardona rematched Freeman on Tuesday’s show in a no DQ match and lost again, aided by Murdoch.
NWA Power opened with Matt Taven and Mecha Wolf already in the ring, ready to battle after they eliminated each other in the NWA US Tag Team Title Battle Royal at NWA 74.
Matt Taven defeated Mecha Wolf
The NWA used the black ring canvas they had for NWA 74, continuing to use the ring from Harley Race’s training school. Taven and Mecha Wolf didn’t waste time feeling each other out with Taven hitting chops and a suplex for a quick two count. I liked how Velvet Sky and Tim Storm talked about how tag team wrestlers naturally looked to the corner for their partner when their opponent had a successful attack.
Mecha Wolf pulled Taven off the middle ropes, getting a two count, and began to get a little heat on Taven, controlling the match for the first time. Wolf taunted Taven, saying that he was the champ and Taven was not. Wolf hit a snap suplex and then hit an implant reverse DDT for a near fall.
Taven used the ropes to slide over Wolf in a corner charge, rolling him up in a smooth move. However, Wolf made him pay with a dropkick to the face soon thereafter. Wolf choked Taven against the ropes and bit his forehead to the commentary team’s disgust. Taven hit an enziguri as the fans chanted “Let’s go Matt!” Taven hit a spinning neckbreaker, but missed a lionsault. It didn’t stop him, though, as he hit a springboard enziguri and then a lionsault for a near fall.
Wolf hit a pop-up powerbomb and a V-Trigger for a near fall. Taven rolled through a sunset flip and hit a running knee before going to the top rope. Wolf cut him off and bit him again, claiming this was “wolf style” if I heard him correctly. Taven hit another kick to knock him off, but missed a double stomp. Taven then countered a hurricanrana into a sunset flip to get the pin in a great TV match.
Taven was over as a babyface and having him win here sets up a future Tag Team title match for the OGK against La Rebelion. This was simple, easy booking, and the stuff what was missing from the TV before NWA 74.
Ricky Steamboat/Matt Cardona segment
– Ricky Steamboat came to the new podium which has a screen with the NWA logo behind it. Steamboat apparently had a hand in booking the tournament for the no. 1 contender to the NWA National Title. Steamboat put over the competitors of the NWA and that the tournaments present intriguing possibilities for the fans as they try to figure out who advances.
NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch was announced to join them at the podium, but Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green came out instead. Cardona announced that at November’s Hard Times 3, he will be facing Trevor Murdoch for the title. Steamboat said you had to understand where Cardona was coming from as a fan yelled that Cardona sucked. Steamboat laughed and said, “He said you suck!” which made me (and the fans) laugh.
Steamboat was an amazing babyface as Cardona and Green mocked him. Steamboat said, “I guess his true colors showed.”
– May Valentine was with Murdoch and he explained that he saw Cardona going out to the podium and didn’t want to deal with him while Steamboat was in the building. Murdoch said he didn’t care who was in front of them as they were going down. Murdoch also said he was still feeling the effects of the match with Tyrus at NWA 74.
– Aron Stevens embraced his full heel side and said he had a big announcement. He used a weird accent while saying this, except for when he yelled at the fans. Stevens then introduced a new Question Mark that was clearly Rodney Mack under the mask. The crowd booed as Stevens claimed that he got him into the US because of his relationship with the ambassador of Mongrovia.
Question Mark defeated De’Vin Graves
Well, this was quite funny as the fans chanted “Question Mack” as Stevens urged Mack to use karate chops. Mack won the match with the Mongrovian Spike, changing from using the Euthanizer mid-move. I have no idea where it’s going, but it is funny.
– EC3 was with May Valentine and he claimed he was changing professional wrestling and was here to awaken the industry. He wanted to awaken the people who could carry the load. It sounds like he is trying to recruit people to a cult? I don’t know. It was nonsense. He said he wasn’t going to give away his plan, but he wants to be World champion. He used a lot of words to say nothing. He said he was going to burn the title and wasn’t going to have a rematch with Thom Latimer after NWA 74.
Thom Latimer defeated Chris Sainz
Latimer took it right to Sainz hitting some clotheslines and a body slam. Latimer hit a big pop-up sit out powerbomb for the win in a simple and effective squash.
– Nick Aldis and Flip Gordon were with May Valentine and they talked about their match from NWA 74, but addressed Odinson attacking them. Aldis said that Odinson went after him because he was the top guy. Valentine said that Odinson was suspended for his actions, but Aldis will make him pay, one way or another, and Gordon has him in his sights as well.
– Bully Ray was with May Valentine and said he came to the NWA for KiLynn King and Kamille because he trained both women. He wants to continue being a mentor to them, but implies he will fight if he had to. He then gave the promo here that should have been on TV before NWA 74.
Matt Cardona (w/ Mike Knox) defeated Rolando Freeman (w/ Rush Freeman) in a no DQ match
Cardona hit a dropkick on Rush on the floor rather than fighting Rolando. Knox ran after Rush after he held the foot of Cardona so Rolando could hit a suicide dive. Knox went after Rush again and he pulled his “big brother” Rolando in front of him, which was funny. Knox kept Rush at bay while Rolando was beaten on by Cardona.
Rolando dodged an attack and sent Cardona flying into a steel chair that Cardona set up in the corner. Rolando hit a flatliner and then a zig zag, but Knox put Cardona’s foot on the ropes. Knox and VSK beat on Rush, so Rolando hit a dive onto all of them. Cardona hit Rolando with a low blow and then several ReBoots in the corner. As he was taunting Freeman, Murdoch came in and hit a top rope bulldog on Cardona to give Rolando the pin and win.
Final Thoughts:
This was infinitely better than the NWA Power episodes before NWA 74 and actually built toward November’s pay-per-view with Murdoch vs. Cardona. They have restarted their feud as Murdoch helped Rolando get another win over Cardona which advances the story.
It is strange to see the top contender lose two matches in a row, but he has a guaranteed shot due to what William Corgan told him when he gave up the title so that does makes sense.
All in all, this was a significant improvement from previous weeks with stories actually being setup and advanced.
NWA is returning to St. Louis, Missouri for their 75th Anniversary event in 2023.
NWA president Billy Corgan made the announcement that the promotion will return to the Khorassan Ballroom in 2023 for the 75th Anniversary show during Sunday’s NWA 74 event. Whether the show will again be a two-day event or a one-day show was not announced.
The Khorassan Ballroom famously hosted the Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis wrestling program from 1959 to 1983. The venue has hosted both the 73rd and 74th Anniversary events for the promotion as well.
Corgan made the announcement at NWA 74 prior to the show’s main event, then introduced a ten-bell salute to prominent wrestling personalities that passed away during the previous year in an in memoriam tribute.
NWA 74’s main event saw Trevor Murdoch retain the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Tyrus, pinning the challenger with a bulldog after kicking out of Tyrus’s heart punch finisher.
The Fixers are the new NWA United States Tag Team Champions.
The duo, consisting of Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball Legursky, won a battle royal during Sunday’s NWA 74 night two event. The finish of the match had La Rebellion and OGK eliminating each other, leaving The Fixers and The Ambition in the ring, with The Fixers eventually eliminating the final team for the win.
Other participants in the match included Gold Rush, The Ill Begotten, The Country Gentlemen, The Spectaculars, The Miserably Faithful, and Hawx Aerie. Despite being the current NWA World Tag Team Champions, La Rebellion entered the battle royal last as a surprise, with announcers saying they intended to unify the titles.
Versions of the NWA United States Tag Team titles date back to the 1950s, with the most recent versions of the championships being used in NWA Smokey Mountain Wrestling.
Other championship matches on Sunday had Davey Richards defeating Thrillbilly Silas to retain the MLW National Openweight Championship, Cyon defeating Anthony Mayweather to retain the NWA National Championship, Pretty Empowered defeating The Hex in a Kingsway Street Fight to retain the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles, and Homicide defeating Ricky Morton to retain the NWA Junior Heavyweight title.
After a first night that saw some title changes, NWA returns for night two of their 74th anniversary weekend Sunday from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri.
Sunday’s wrap-up will feature NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch defending against TV Champion Tyrus in the spot that Nick Aldis had earned by virtue of winning a four-way match. Aldis will still be in action, taking on Flip Gordon.
NWA Women’s Champion Kamille will defend for the second time this weekend as she faces Max The Impaler who won Saturday’s Burke Invitational gauntlet.
In a street fight, Pretty Empowered will defend the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles against former champions The Hex.
New U.S. Tag Team Champions will be crowned in a battle royal that will feature more than nine teams, while the MLW National Openweight title will be defended as Davey Richards faces Thrillbilly Silas.
The show will also feature Caprice Coleman vs. Colby Corino in a best two-out-of-three falls match and three other bouts.
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The preshow started just as the bell was ringing for Rhett Titus and Doug Williams. This is a combination of excellent wrestlers, so I expect it will be a good match.
Doug Williams and Rhett Titus went to a time limit draw in a Submission Match
Titus and Williams were on the mat exchanging submission attempts right away, which was fun to watch. This match was back and forth with counters throughout, with the occasional bigger move, such as Rhett Titus hitting a back breaker and then targeting the lower back with strikes and a back suplex.
Titus hit a belly-to-belly, but since it was submission only, there was no pinfall. Williams’ chest was busted open from the chops. Titus slingshotted Williams into the turnbuckle and hit a forearm to the back again. Williams locked a cattle mutilation on Titus, but the bell ended up ringing, so they went to a time limit draw. Doug Williams and Rhett Titus asked for 5 more minutes, but the time expired.
I would hope we get a rematch down the line, but I expect we’ll never see it mentioned again on NWA TV, which is unfortunate.
–Austin Idol was with May Valentine, saying he was the only Caesar in wrestling, but now there is two because he led Cyon to the NWA National Championship. Idol said he had a fortune cookie that said that Cyon would be champ and managed by Idol, which was oddly specific. This was a good promo.
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Angelina Love defeated Taryn Terrell
Terrell opposed the ringing of the bell because she hadn’t warmed up properly yet, so she tried to stretch with her back to Love. Love rolled her up for a 2-count and started to beat her around the ring as she protested to the referee. Terrell got hit with a dropkick and fell to the floor. Tim Storm and Joe Galli tried to describe where she got hit with care, but it would have sufficed to say Love dropkicked her in the posterior.
Terrell tried to hide under the ring, but it didn’t work and she yelled “I don’t want to go in” when Love tried to throw her into the ring. Terrell rang the bell and claimed she won, but Love didn’t believe this for some reason, and slammed Terrell into the announce table before sending her back into the ring.
Love hit a flatliner and locked on the Koji Clutch and Terrell fought out with an eye rake. Terrell said “I think we’re good!” after this, again making me laugh. Terrell hit a stunner on Love, but Love leaned back into the turnbuckle and launched forward with a kick called the Botox Injection for the pinfall. This was fun, mostly because Terrell was so hilarious.
–May Valentine was with Mercurio, and he was surprised Valentine could say his name correctly. He claimed it was because she was a beautiful woman that she could pronounce it right. Mercurio’s accent is faker than most wrestler’s tans. The OGK walked in and took over the interview, saying that they were in the US Tag Title Battle Royal, meaning there is only one mystery team left to be announced. Of course, the rest are a mystery to me as well, as they never told us on TV who was in it.
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Kerry Morton defeated Gustavo
Gustavo handed out several flowers to people in the audience, including a man in the front row who was thrilled and got a huge amount of applause. That made me laugh, further establishing that I love this Gustavo character. Morton and Gustavo countered each other a fair bit in the early part of the match, showing some good wrestling.
Morton dodged a splash in the corner and ran in with a European uppercut before hitting a stalling vertical suplex while walking around the ring. Morton kicked up and the crowd applauded him. Morton hit a spinning back fist and a flying knee for the pinfall. Nice little match here for the pre-show. This made both guys look good, with Morton coming out looking like a star.
–May Valentine was with BLK Jeez and he talked about how this was the biggest night of his career, as one of the men he was managing was going to walk out with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Jeez talked about his relationship with Austin Idol as Idol focusing more on Cyon and Jeez taking over managing Tyrus.
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Madi, Missa Kate, & Natalia Markova defeated Jennacide, KiLynn King, & Taya Valkyrie in Part 1 of a Queen Bee Match
Apparently the rules of this match is that the team that wins immediately goes on to wrestle each other in an elimination triple threat match. Joe Galli informed us that this match came from the mind of Billy Corgan, so it seems like the wackiness of the Champion’s Series and Team War matches now has a third weird stip match.
Missa Kate and KiLynn King started the match, with King overpowering Kate and hitting a hard kick to the head of Kate and a full nelson slam for a 2-count. Valkyrie, Jennacide, and King exchanged quick tags in the corner as they beat on Kate. Valkyrie booted Kate back to her corner who tagged out to Markova.
Valkyrie whipped Markova to the corner and hit her sliding German suplex before tagging out to Jennacide. Jennacide quickly tagged Valkyrie back in, but she got caught in the corner and Markova and Madi started double teaming her. They got the heat on Markova with various double team moves for the next few minutes.
Valkyrie hit a back suplex on Kate and tagged out to Jennacide. Jennacide ran wild for a bit, but it wasn’t long before it broke down until all 6 women were in the match. Bafflingly, the heels ended up pinning Jennacide to win the match after a series of moves, leaving Madi, Kate, and Markova left, who are all heels.
Natalya Markova defeated Missa Kate & Madi in Part 2 of a Queen Bee Match
Kate quickly hit a spinning kick on Madi to pin and eliminate her from the match, leading to a striking battle between her and Markova. Kate sent Markova crashing face first into the middle turnbuckle and hit a Fisherman’s Buster for a 2-count. Kate hit a running kick for a 2-count. Markova hit Beautiful Destruction, a kick in the corner, and then hit a double arm DDT for a pinfall, making her the Queen Bee. The referee crowned her after the match with what looked like a dollar store tiara. This was a fine match, all things considered, but it would have been nice to have it promoted before the show.
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Main Card
Joe Galli ran down the card for tonight to open the show, including Ricky Morton & Homicide for the Jr. Heavyweight Championship, Kratos partner being Pope against Aron Stevens and Rodney Mack, and a few others matches that received no build at all. Speaking of which, Colby Corino against Caprice Coleman opened the show.
Colby Corino defeated Caprice Coleman in a 2/3 Falls Match
1st Fall
The fans chanted “Happy Birthday” at Colby Corino, as he turned 25 today. Coleman tried to pin Corino early, but Corino kicked out, so Coleman made him pay with some fast paced offence, tapping Corino out with an armbar early on. Corino said he had at least 2 more falls, and decided to give it up quickly rather than let his arm and shoulder get hurt.
2nd Fall
Corino hit a sit-out powerbomb on Coleman before hitting a flipping senton for a 2-count. Corino hit a hard kick to the back of Coleman for a 2-count, and locked on a chinlock. Corino went early for a bump, so Coleman just covered him to make up for it, before hitting a jumping hurricanrana on Corino, who was seated on the top turnbuckle.
Corino flew to the other corner and pulled the Jerry Lawler phantom gimmick from his trunks and punched Coleman with it to get the pinfall for the 2nd fall.
3rd Fall
Corino got into an argument with a fan in the front row before hitting a suicide dive on Coleman. Corino proceeded to chop Coleman right in front of the fan who he taunted. Corino sent Coleman towards the ring post, and Coleman did a tiger feint kick around the post to hit Corino, which looked awesome.
Coleman hit a springboard into a leg lariat, then hit a spinning leg drop to the back of Corino’s head for a 2-count. Coleman hit the Holy Trinity – three Northern Lights Suplexs in a row, as Corino went for the gimmick again. Coleman grabbed the gimmick and gave it to the referee. It turns out it was not a phantom gimmick. It looked like a screw of some sort. Corino, however, took advantage of this and hit a Styles Clash and a sunsetter soon thereafter for the pinfall.
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The Fixers won a Battle Royal for the NWA US Tag Team Championship
Several of the people coming out for this match were wrestlers I haven’t seen before, but the announcers talked like we knew who they were. The Fixers, Gold Rushhh, the Ill Begotten, The Country Gentlemen, and the OGK w/ JJ Dillion, The Spectaculars, the Miserably Faithful, and Hawx Aerie were teams I recognized.
The 12th team, which was a surprise, was La Rebelion, which is fascinating. It would have helped to have this announced beforehand, as La Rebelion could have said they wanted to win the tag titles last night, and the US tag titles tonight to unify them. That is a compelling story, but NWA didn’t tell it until now.
There was 24 men in the ring at once, so it was quite hard to keep track of, so I will do my best to recap it once a few eliminations happen. Gold Rushhh was the first team eliminated. Apparently it only requires one member being eliminated for a whole team to be out, which would have been nice to know beforehand.
Sal the Pal tried to suplex Alex Taylor again, from the same turnbuckle, but Jeremiah Plunkett made the save for his teammate and dumped Sal to the floor. Rush Freeman eliminated the Ill Begotten. Country Gentlemen went out at this point. The Fixers threw people around, which was fun.
The Now was eliminated from The Fixers. Taven eliminated PJ Hawx, and thus Hawx Aerie were eliminated. The last 4 teams were Team Ambition, who I didn’t know, The OGK, The Fixers, and La Rebelion. La Rebelion hit double knees to Jay Bradley. Team Ambition is apparently Camaro Jackson and Mike Outlaw. Mike Bennett hit a Death Valley Driver on Mecha Wolf, and they dumped Bestia 666 over the top rope.
Damian 666 spit mist into Mike Bennett’s face and Mecha Wolf dumped Bennett over the top rope. Taven then jumped over the top rope onto everyone, so both team were eliminated. The OGK and La Rebelion brawled to the back, and The Fixers soon thereafter eliminated The Ambition, who the fans were started to get behind. I thought for a minute they were going to try and make two new stars here, but I cant’ disagree with the Fixers going over.
The end of this was very good, and the OGK had the crowd popping the most, with the loudest reactions of the two nights thus far with the dive to the floor.
–The Cardona Family was with Kyle Davis on the stage and Cardona claimed he was screwed last night when Rolando Freeman beat him. Cardona claimed that Freeman took advantage of his generosity and that he wasn’t 100% because it was impossible for someone to recover so quickly from a bicep injury. Cardona said that he broke the hearts of all the fans that wanted to see him. Cardona then apologized for what he was going to do to Rolando Freeman. This was a great heel promo. Matt Cardona is infinitely more interesting than Zack Ryder, and it isn’t even close.
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Mercurio defeated Magic Jake Dumas w/ CJ
I’m still not sure how Dumas is a magician as we have never seen him do a magic trick. Joe Galli called this a great match, and I can’t really say it’s going to be that as we haven’t had much of a chance to get to know either of these characters, other than Dumas being present on programming but I still don’t understand the character.
Dumas asked the fans if they wanted magic, and took a card out of his hat. Dumas was about to do a trick, but Mercurio grabbed the card and ripped it in half. Dumas returned the favour by throwing Mercurio’s book into the crowd. Dumas and Mercurio both went for low blows, but each blocked the kick.
Dumas punched Mercurio in tbe face and said “Ta daaaa!” Okay, that was funny. Mecurio did a monkey flip, but Dumas landed on his feet. He missed a corner splash though, and CJ clapped, not realizing she was supposed to cheer his successes. Mercurio hit a butterfly suplex for a 2-count.
Mercurio was offended that Dumas kept hitting him with forearms in the face, which Dumas denied and then continued hitting him with forearms. Mercurio hit a superkick and almost botched a moonsault, looking like he crushed Dumas with it. Mercurio hit a Big E style spear to the floor.
CJ handed Dumas something and then flirted with Mercurio, which made him happy. Dumas pulled a razor blade from his mouth, with blood coming from his mouth. What CJ handed to him was clearly the blade with a blood capsule, so there was no magic here. That was weird. Dumas hit a torture rack bomb for the pinfall. This sucked and had no place on the PPV.
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Davey Richards defeated Thrillbilly Silas w/ Pollo Del Mar to retain the MLW National Openweight Championship
Joe Galli and Velvet Sky bet there was going to be a new champion tonight, while Silas looked like a Crockett jobber, so I suspect there will not be a title change tonight. Silas did use his greater size to try and dominate Richards early on, but Richards used his hard hitting style to turn it around, hitting a big double stomp and some hard forearms.
Silas hit a weak chop on Richards and missed a corner charge, but couldn’t feed his leg through the middle rope and accidentally went to the bottom rope, so Richards had to reposition him before hitting the dragon screw through the ropes. Richards missed a double stomp but locked on an Indian Death Lock, but Silas made the ropes.
Richards blocked a suplex with a knee to the head and hit some hard strikes in the corner. Silas hit a giant Black Hole Slam for a 2-count that had several rotations and was probably the best he looked in the match. Richards fought out of a torture rack and transitioned into an ankle lock, but as Silas fought out, Richards hit a giant PK for a 1-count. Silas asked for more, so Richards superkicked him twice and hit another PK before hitting a double stomp, but Silas kicked out.
Richards grabbed the ankle but Silas fought out. Del Mar got on the apron, but almost got hit by Silas, who accidentally ripped the wig of Pollo Del Mar’s head, which led to Richards locking on the ankle lock to force the tap out.
–Joe Galli got in the ring and said he was going to hijack the show. Galli welcome his girlfriend into the ring, and then proposed to her live on the air. Galli talked about how much he loved her, and she said yes. The fans chanted “Let’s go Joe!” and cheered the happy couple. Galli got back on commentary and said “Thank God she said yes!”
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–Kyle Davis was in the ring, and he introduced JJ Dillon and Barry Windham, saying that Windham literally had wrestling in his blood. I’m not sure about that last part. Windham and Dillon talked about their history with the NWA and were happy to be there. Dillon said that wrestling wasn’t struggling and it was thriving all over, including in that arena tonight. Dillon said it was the fans that made wrestling successful and that they knew there was no better value for their dollar than watching pro wrestling. This was great.
–May Valentine was with Kamille and Thom Latimer, and Latimer talked about how he was supposed to face someone else, but he was wrestling EC3 instead. Apparently that match is happening tonight? Latimer talked about how the NWA helped him clean up his life and get sober, and that he was going to fight for the NWA with all he got. This was quite good. Kamille kept it simple said she was going to beat the crap out of Max the Impaler tonight.
Cyon defeated Anthony Mayweather to retain the NWA National Championship
It would have been nice to have Mayweather on the TV, promited as facing the winner of the Dane/Cyon from Night 1. It would have given a simple, easy build to the match with all 3 cutting promos on each other, and that could have worked. I imagine the folks reading are tired of me saying that, but much of this show could have made sense, but the utter lack of promotion for everything really hurt the heat for a lot of matches.
Jax Dane and Chris Silvio came out and sat on the stage while Cyon attacked Mayweather from behind. Mayweather was distracted by Idol as well, and ended up paying for that too. Cyon hit several 12 to 6 elbows on Mayweather for a 2-count. This match was very slow paced in the opening minutes, with lots of chinlocks from Cyon.
Mayweather hit a clothesline that sent Cyon to the floor. Mayweather went to the top rope for an elbow, but Cyon cut him off and went for a superplex, but Mayweather knocked him off and hit the elbow anyway for a 2-count. Cyon managed to hit two Death Valley Drivers for a win, and it seems Jax Dane is going to go for a rematch, which again, pits heel vs. heel, which leaves me asking “Why?!” Why would you book a match that will have no heat again?
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Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Paige & Ella Envy) defeated The Hex (Marti Belle & Allysin Kay) in a Kingsway Street Fight to retain the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship
I’m not sure where or what Kingsway is, but apparently they have street fights. This is one of the few matches that have actually been built on TV with Ella Envy cheating constantly with weapons and whatnot to beat her opponents, including The Hex. Kay and Belle attacked Paige and Envy right away with Belle throwing a garbage can.
The Hex used weapons , but paid for setting up chairs in the corner because Envy and Paige were able to reverse their Irish whips, driving the Hex into the chairs. Kenzie Paige dropkicked the chair right into the Belle’s face. Ella Envy tied Allysin Kay to the corner with the tag rope and Pretty Empowered worked over Belle until Kay was able to get out.
Envy dropped Kay with a kendo stick shot quickly though. They both brawled around ringside, with Kay throwing a drink into the face of Ella Envy. Velvet Sky asked the right question – is Envy 21 yet? That was funny. Pretty Empowered pulled a table out from under the ring and set it up on the floor. Paige superkicked a cookie sheet into the face of Kay, and Envy hit a shining wizard for a pinfall attempt that Belle broke up.
Allysin Kay poured a bag of Lego in the mat and hit a uranage onto the Lego. Kay hit a dominator onto the Lego on Paige but Envy broke it up. Marti Belle put a trash can on Envy’s head but Envy fought it off and threw the can at Kay, causing her to fall off the top rope and through the table. Paige indicated that she wanted Envy to show mercy to Marti Belle, but took a kendo stick and beat her down with it, fulling embracing the dark side, as Galli put it. They then superkicked Belle while she had a trash can on her head and pinned her. This was fine, but nothing too special. I did like that Pretty Empowered went over, as pushing new stars is important and these two are just getting over. Paige continued to beat on Belle before celebrating.
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Homicide defeated Ricky Morton to retain the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship
Homicide threatened to live up to his name by saying he was going to kill Ricky Morton. Morton hit some right hands, hitting 10 punches in the corner. Homicide grabbed the ring bell and tried to bring it into the ring, but he never brought it into the ring. Homicide necked Morton on the ropes and got back in, but Morton hit some right hands to drop Homicide.
Homicide responded with strikes of his own. Morton hit a snap suplex, but Homicide was quickly back on his feet, but Morton soon followed with a DDT, but Homicide rolled to the floor. Morton threw Homicide into the ring post. Morton hit a sunset flip and then a cutter for 2-count. Homcide raked the eyes and dropped Morton and hit a lariat to the back of his head to pin him.
Homicide continued to go after Morton, and Kerry Morton ran down to the ring to save his dad. Homicide left the ring without incident. This was bizarre, but Ricky Morton got a nice reaction from the fans to a “Rock ‘n’ roll” chant.
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Nick Aldis defeated Flip Gordon
Flip Gordon, according to Joe Galli, thinks he is unreal. As in, he does not believe he is real, and therefore the rules don’t apply to him. Okay. Nick Aldis came out to his superior theme, and not the bad rap one that didn’t suit him. Aldis and Gordon have wrestled two times previously, with Aldis winning each time.
Gordon went right after Aldis, trying to win this one quickly. Aldis hit a brainbuster on Gordon for a 2-count, but followed it with an avalanche fallaway slam. Outside of the dive from Matt Taven, Nick Aldis was getting a massive reaction from the audience for everything he did here. It’s clear it was a mistake to remove him from the main event.
Gordon managed to hit a springboard dropkick after Aldis took in the cheers of the fans. Gordon was shoved off the top rope from Aldis, but landed on his feet and hit a springboard sling blade on Aldis before hitting a superkick. Gordon took his time getting on the top rope because of the fallaway slam earlier hurting his back, and Aldis cut him off and went for a superplex.
Gordon went for second fallaway slam from the ropes, but Gordon floated over into a sunset flip powerbomb for a 2-count. Aldis managed to get up first and hit some punches, as Gordon was still selling his back. Gordon hit a backflipping torture rack and then hit a moonsault and locked on an STF, which he apparently calls “Submit to Flip.” Gordon went for a tiger feint kick around the ring post, but Aldis caught his feet and dragged him into the ring and locked on the Kingsland Cloverleaf, which forced the submission from Gordon.
This was a very good match, with Aldis getting some of the better reactions from the audience, though nowhere near the heat this could have had with promos building it. They never announced this match on TV. Only on social media. Even in the last episode of Power when they ran down the card, if I remember correctly.
Aldis shook hands with Gordon after the match, indicating that there was respect between the two. Odinson came into the ring after the match and hit a pounce on Gordon, but Nick Aldis made the save. That didn’t stop Odinson from hitting a pounce on Aldis too, so it seems NWA is starting to get behind Odinson by having him feud with Nick Aldis. This is a good thing.
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Pope & Kratos defeated Aron Stevens & Rodney Mack in a Missouri Tornado Tag Team Match
In yet another street fight by a different name, Kratos chased Stevens backstage. Pope hit a stalling vertical suplex on Mack, and Stevens ran back into the ring but came face to face with Pope. Kratos took Stevens head off with a lariat. Mack pulled Pope to the floor. Pope ended up hitting a dive to the floor over a camera man onto Stevens and Mack.
Pope got the fans chanting for Kratos and a dive from him, but Rodney Mack hit him with a chair to the face as he went to fly over the top rope. Stevens grabbed a mic and said he hated pro wrestling, and it was the savages in the crowd who wanted his blood that made him hate it. Kratos hit him with a spinebuster, but Mack as able to spinebuster Kratos. Pope hit Mack with a dropkick and suddenly he was the only guy in the ring.
All 4 men ended up on the stage and behind the screens, with their shadows being broadcasted on it, and Kratos and Pope kept sending Stevens back and forth between the two big screens with his shadow being assaulted, then him stumbling out to the other screen back and forth several times. That was hilarious. Mack locked the Euthaniser on Pope, but Kratos pulled the feet of Mack and Pope ended up pinning Mack on the stage for the victory.
The ending spot with the screens made this match worth it.
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Thom Latimer defeated EC3 via DQ
The opening of this match was slow and plodding, which is not what this show needs. EC3 did his weird reverse DDT or flatliner, and it looked ugly again. He got the heat on Latimer, and wanted to “bring his demons” out by punishing him. Apparently he is punishing us too with this slow offence.
Latimer hit an actual flatliner, which got a 2-count. EC3 slapped Latimer and spit in his face. Latimer hit him with a series of cross faces that were not very violent or good, but the elbows on the bottom rope looked good. As he was doing this Control Your Narrative ran in and made it a no contest. That finish sucked, and again, it wasn’t really a match. It was an angle. That should have been on TV building to am match on this show. They’re treating this show like it’s an extended episode of NWA Power rather than a PPV where angles are paid off. They are starting angles instead.
–May Valentine was with the Miserably Faitfhful talking about Max the Impaler facing Kamille, saying that Kamille has never faced a force like Max.
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Kamille defeated Max the Impaler w/ James Mitchell to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship
Bully Ray joined the commentary team for this match.
Max stiffed Kamille in the corner right away with elbows to the face. Kamille responded with hard forearms, but it didn’t stop Max from attacking. Max hit a bodyslam and two short arm clotheslines. Max no sold some forearms and headbutted Kamille. Kamille broke a waistlock with a jawbreaker, but Max hit a standing body press to drop Kamille.
Max hit more forearms in the corner and dropped Kamille with a knee to the stomach. Max hit a curb stomp on Kamille. Max curbed stomped Kamille into the bottom turnbuckle, and it looked fairly bad and way too stiff. Kamille managed to make it to the top rope and hit a crossbody and then a dropkick off the top rope for a 2-count.
Kamille slipped out of 10 punches in the corner and put Max in a torture rack that she turned into a Torture Rack Bomb, which was impressive. It got a 2-count. Max went for a spear, but Kamille flipped over it and hit a spear of her own, but James Mitchell put Max’s foot on the ropes. The Miserably Faithful ran out to protect Mitchell from Kamille, but she beat them all up.
Max took advantage of the distraction and hit the Wasteland on Kamille, but Kamille managed to kick out and then backdrop Max. Both wrestlers hit a clothesline and were down as the ref counted towards 10. Max charged at the corner, but Kamille rolled Max up for the pinfall. This was fine. Max was quite stiff and reckless again, but Kamille winning was the right result.
**********
–Billy Corgan was in the ring and announced that the NWA Anniversary show will be in the Chase every year. He then held a 10-bell salute and moment of silence for the legendary wrestlers and other wrestlers or managers who have passed away. This was very nice.
Trevor Murdoch defeated Tyrus w/ BLK Jeez to retain the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
The crowd was firmly behind Murdoch in this match. Murdoch rolled to the floor and hit a DDT on BLK Jeez on the floor before hitting the top rope bulldog on Tyrus for a 2-count. Murdoch brought Tyrus to the floor and hit some chops, but Tyrus did some clubbering and squeezed Mrudoch’s head against the ring post before hitting the Heart Punch.
Murdoch rolled into the ring and tried to fight back, but Tyrus did some more clubbering and hit an elbow. Tyrus hit a leg drop and a corner splash before returning to clubbering and a nerve hold. Murdoch broke it with a jaw breaker and hit an elbow for a 1-count. Tyrus rolled to the floor and looked like he wanted to walk away, which doesn’t make sense, since it’s for the world title.
Murdoch went after him but Tyrus slammed Murdoch on the floor. Tyrus did more clubbering. Tyrus threatened Murdoch’s 16-year old son. A kid yelled “You can’t fight, Tyrus!” Tyrus missed a corner charge and Murdoch hit a crossbody on Tyrus for a 2-count. Murdoch locked on a sleeper hold. Tyrus responded with a back suplex, which Murdoch sold well.
Joe Galli said Tyrus was struggling to get to his feet because he was in the sleeper hold for so long. He was in it for 10-20 seconds, and just couldn’t get up, but Galli made a good cover for it. Tyrus stood on Murdoch and clubbered some more. Tyrus did push ups on the back of Murdoch. He clubbered some more.
Tyrus hit a hip attack in the corner and then a body slam on Murdoch. He then clobbered him some more. Murdoch kicked the hands of Tyrus as he was trying to clubber. Murdoch hit some punches and locked on a sleeper again. Tyrus drove Murdoch into the referee and dropped Tyrus with a clothesline.
Tyrus was very gassed at this point. Murdoch grabbed the ring bell and brought it into the ring as the referee recovered. Not sure of the point of the ref bump, as the referee was right there. Murdoch then looked conflicted and put the bell down. Tyrus hit the heart punch, but he kicked out at 2. Tyrus went for the ring bell, but also refused to use it, which was unexpected.
As BLK Jeez was distracting the referee, Murdoch low blowed Tyrus and hit another top rope bulldog for another 2-count. Murdoch hit a third bulldog and finally pinned Tyrus, thank God. This match was far better than I expected, and it still sucked. One star would be generous, and I’m not sure about Murdoch low blowing Tyrus. That was confusing.
Tyrus and Murdoch shook hands after the match, which was uncharacteristic. Murdoch grabbed a mic after the match and showed respect to Tyrus. Tyrus kissed his daughter in the front row, and then overturned the announce table as Murdoch was trying to compliment him, and Murdoch called him a b-word and thanked the fans. I don’t think that was planned at all. What a bizarre ending.
Final Thoughts
This was not a good show. I don’t know how else to say it. Almost none of the matches had any promotion on TV, and this whole show felt like an extended episode of NWA Power where the angles they should have done on TV were done on both nights, and very little heat for any of the matches.
The highlights were Davey Richards, Flip Gordon vs. Nick Aldis, and Trevor Murdoch trying as hard as he could to make something out of that main event.
This show was way too long and had 16 matches, including the preshow, almost none of which were announced beforehand. I hope NWA does a better job building to Hard Times in November, because this entire experience has been frustrating as a fan. I could say more, but honestly, this PPV drained me and left me feeling disappointed. Not a good two nights of wrestling at all.
The location for the NWA’s next pay-per-view has been announced.
NWA will hold Hard Times on November 12 at the Frederick J. Sigur Civic Center in Chalmette, Louisiana, which is in the New Orleans area. The promotion will be partnering with WildKat Spots, which NWA regular Luke Hawx operates.
Additionally, the NWA will hold television tapings the day after Hard Times on November 13.
This will be the third Hard Times event, with the first being held in 2020 and the second in December of 2021. At last year’s event, Trevor Murdoch defeated Mike Knox to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
NWA is running two shows this weekend at the Chase’s Khorassan Ballroom. Saturday saw Kamille retain the NWA Women’s Championship against Taya Valkyrie in the main event. New champions were also crowned, with La Rebellion winning the vacant NWA World Tag Team titles and Cyon winning the National Heavyweight Championship.
The Sunday show will have Trevor Murdoch defend the NWA World Heavyweight title against Tyrus.
Cyon defeated Jax Dane to win the NWA National Heavyweight title, while La Rebellion won the vacant NWA World Tag Team titles.
The finish of the National Heavyweight title match saw Cyon pin Dane after Dane missed a clothesline and walked into a Death Valley Driver. The announcers pushed after the match that Cyon now holds the same championship as his father, which in storyline is Austin Idol. Dane held the title for 161 days, defeating Anthony Mayweather (Crimson) back on March 20 of this year.
The NWA World Tag Team Championship match was changed after it was announced that the titles were now vacant after Davey Boy Smith Jr. was injured and unable to defend the championship on Saturday’s show. Hawx Aerie (PJ and Luke Hawx) replaced Smith and Doug Williams against La Rebellion. The finish of the match had Damian 666, who accompanied Mecha Wolf and Bestia 666 to the ring, spray mist in the face of Luke Hawx, who was eventually pinned by Bestia.
Other championship matches held tonight included Homicide retaining the NWA Light Heavyweight title against Kerry Morton and Kamille retaining the NWA Women’s Championship against Taya Valkyrie in the main event.
