A new match has been announced for Friday’s AEW Rampage, and a change has been made to a previously announced match.
In the newly announced bout, Jade Cargill will take on Janai Kai. Cargill’s TBS Championship tournament semifinals opponent Thunder Rosa will be on commentary for the contest. Rosa stated on this week’s Dynamite that Tony Khan had allowed her to choose the match she would do commentary for in Chris Jericho’s absence, as Jericho was taken out by 2point0 and Daniel Garcia in a backstage segment.
In a change to the card, it was announced in a backstage promo on Dynamite that Rey Fenix was not able to make Rampage due to travel issues. As a result, the 2-out-of-3 falls AEW World Tag Team Championship match between Lucha Brothers and FTR had been switched to a non-title match with PAC and Penta El Zero Miedo facing FTR.
Already announced for the show, Sammy Guevara will defend the TNT Championship against Tony Nese. Rampage will be taped tonight at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
Thunder Rosa has advanced in the TBS Women’s title tournament.
Rosa defeated Jamie Hayter tonight on Dynamite to advance to the semifinals. The finish had Rosa putting Hayter in the Peruvian necktie, but Britt Baker broke up the hold while Rebel on the apron had the referee distracted. Rosa avoided a superkick attempt by Baker, who instead struck Hayter by accident. Rosa pushed Baker into Rebel then rolled Hayter up for the win.
After the match, an upset Hayter shoved Baker and walked away. Later, during a Friendsgiving segment with Baker, Rebel, and Tony Schiavone, Hayter was not seen.
With the win, Rosa advances to the semifinals of the tournament, where she will face Jade Cargill. The other semifinal match will have Nyla Rose face off against the winner of a match between Kris Statlander and Ruby Soho that will take place on next week’s Dynamite at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
AEW’s Thunder Rosa has revealed on her most recent vlog that she recently suffered a concussion. The AEW star stated that she was unable to work out for 10 days after the head injury.
Rosa last wrestled for AEW on the October 19 edition of Dark, which was taped on October 16 in Miami. Rosa, Kris Statlander and Red Velvet defeated Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura and Diamante in a trios match on that show. Rosa returned to the ring yesterday at AAW’s Hell Hath No Fury event, defeating Jody Threat.
Rosa began appearing for AEW in September 2020 while still under contract to NWA. Her official AEW signing was announced on July 22, 2021. She has continued to work indies since signing, appearing for AAW, GCW, AIW, 2CW, Warrior Wrestling and MPW.
A former NWA World Women’s Champion, Rosa currently holds the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Championship after defeating Kylie Rae for the title in August.
AEW had to make several changes to last Wednesday’s Dynamite in Milwaukee, WI, that resulted in a weaker lineup than planned.
In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said a planned match that had not yet been announced had to be scrapped because two people in the match tested positive for COVID-19. He said both were fully vaccinated, but weren’t showing any symptoms.
Another change was that 2point0 was set to do an angle on the show, but were pulled as Matt Lee’s wife gave birth several days prior so the team was given the week off.
Finally, as noted yesterday, a planned surprise appearance on the show from Gangrel was canceled as Edge had revived the “Brood bath” days prior at WWE SmackDown and nodded to his old persona during his ring entrance at SummerSlam. AEW still paid Gangrel for the appearance which the wrestler didn’t reveal on his podcast.
Meltzer said Tony Khan’s plan was to showcase some of the company’s biggest names due to the expected large audience but knew the show wasn’t going to produce any four+ star matches given some of the changes.
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Meltzer reported, “For whatever this is worth, the big Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa rematch will be built up at this point for a major match in early-2022.”
The last time the two faced off, Rosa defeated Baker in an unsanctioned match on Dynamite. Since then, Baker went on to win the Women’s title while Rosa has ripped off a long win streak. Baker will defend next against Kris Statlander at All Out while Rosa will be in the women’s Casino Battle Royale.
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Meltzer said that Joey Janela’s new valet/associate is Kayla Rossi, a muscular woman who accompanied Janela for a Dark match that will air on Tuesday. He said she was offered to WWE for a tryout, but they turned her down because she is 30 and that came after the new internal rule on signing people of a certain age.
AEW’s social media confirmed a match between Thunder Rosa and Penelope Ford for tonight’s show. This stems from an angle that took place on the episode of AEW Dark that aired on Tuesday, where Ford continued to attack Masha Slamovich after Ford had won the match. Rosa, who was doing guest commentary, ran down for the save, chasing Ford away.
“@thePenelopeFord continued to assault her beaten opponent @mashaslamovich after the bell on #AEWDark so guest commentator @thunderrosa22 ran in to save her friend!,” AEW’s tweet said. “Thunder Rosa requested a match vs Penelope & GM @TonyKhan booked it for #AEWDynamite tonight Live at 8pm ET/7pm CT!”
Matches announced for tonight’s Dynamite include:
Fifth Labour of Jericho: Chris Jericho vs. MJF
The Young Bucks vs. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy for the AEW World Tag Team titles
Sammy Guevara vs. Shawn Spears; Guevara also has a special announcement
Sting and Darby Allin vs. 2.0 in a Texas Tornado match
A new match has been added to AEW Dynamite’s Fight for the Fallen event.
Julia Hart of the Varsity Blondes will face Thunder Rosa in a singles match. It was confirmed this week that Thunder Rosa had officially signed with the company. This match will mark the debut of Rosa as a full-time wrestler for AEW, officially signing with the company last week. She also recently appeared at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary event as a mystery opponent for Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.
Hart accompanies Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. to the ring, and together they form the Varsity Blonds. She has mostly wrestled on AEW Dark and Elevation, though lost to Penelope Ford on the June 6th edition of Dynamite.
The full card for Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite includes:
Lance Archer vs. Hikuleo for the IWGP United States title
Details have emerged on how Thunder Rosa’s AEW signing came to be.
Reported in both the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and Fightful, Rosa had quietly requested a release from her NWA contract. While initially rejected, she got her wish on July 1st despite her deal running out at the end of the year.
Fightful specifically reported that a buyout was involved but didn’t have the specifics, adding that the 35-year-old Rosa (Melissa Cervantes) had requested her release as far back as 2020.
Shortly after her release, she signed with AEW on what Dave Meltzer said was “a great offer” and that “it’s likely they are looking at pushing her big now that they’ve got her full-time. It’s also a sign with all the other acquisitions that they are spending heavily on talent right now.”
Then the NWA Women’s Champion, Rosa debuted in AEW in September 2020 with a win over Serena Deeb and unsuccessfully challenged AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida at All Out. She became an AEW regular throughout the pandemic with occasional NWA and indie matches sprinkled in. She also made a surprise appearance at last Saturday’s Slammiversary, losing to Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.
AEW announced today that Thunder Rosa had signed with the company.
The company made the announcement this afternoon on social media.
“Never in my life doubt that I would be where I want to be,” Rosa wrote on Twitter. “Today one of the biggest accomplishments in my career has been announced! #lameramera Is FINALLY WHERE SHE BELONGS”.
Thunder Rosa has been working with AEW since last fall. She entered the company at the time as NWA Women’s Champion and was under NWA contract.
“She’ll always be #NWAFam for a lot of us, but we want to send love to @thunderrosa22 and wish her well in the next chapter of her journey,” the NWA wrote on social media following the announcement. “Go show ’em all what we already know.”
One of the most high-profile feuds in recent months on AEW television was the feud between Rosa and Britt Baker. That culminated in an unsanctioned lights out match that took place on the March 11 edition of Dynamite, where Thunder Rosa won.
Rosa’s last appearance in the NWA was on the episode of Power that aired on July 6, where she and Skye Blue lost a match to Kylie Rae and Serena Deeb.
On a night filled with surprise appearances, two more stars made unannounced showings at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary PPV.
NWA’s Thunder Rosa appeared on the show as Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo’s mystery opponent in a title match.
Following Rosa’s defeat, Mickie James came to the ring to issue an invitation to Purrazzo to appear at the NWA Empower all-women’s PPV on Saturday, August 28. James is serving as executive producer for that event.
Purrazzo did not officially accept the invite, but insulted James and made reference to the trash bag incident that James took public following her April release from WWE. James then laid out Purrazzo with a kick.
Prior to tonight’s event, James last appeared in Impact in 2015. Her most recent in-ring appearance came at WWE Royal Rumble on January 31. She has announced a return to the ring at NWA’s 73rd anniversary event on August 29, one day after Empower.
Tonight’s appearance marks Rosa’s most high-profile match since facing Britt baker in an unsanctioned match on AEW Dynamite in March. Rosa has since primarily appeared on AEW Dark: Elevation and NWA Power.
NWA Power opened with Joe Galli breaking some news. He announced the Champion’s Series, a points-based tournament starting on July 13th. More news on how the tournament is going to work will be forthcoming.
Jennacide (with Taryn Terrell) defeated Lady Frost
This wasn’t bad. Lady Frost looked quite good, and it’s clear that they’re trying to make Jennacide a star. She is still quite green, but there is a lot of potential there, and she has a great look too.
Frost was given quite a bit in this little match, but she stood out and looked great. Jennacide was able to turn the match around when Terrell distracted the referee and Jennacide knocked Frost off the top rope.
Jennacide worked over Frost with armlocks, keeping her grounded. Every time Frost went to escape, Frost was able to go back to the arm. Frost hit a big spinning kick, but Jennacide caught her on the ropes and hit a tombstone (Jenna 9000) for the pinfall.
–Sal Rinauro won a TV title #1 contender match against PJ Hawx and Colby Corino, which happened on something called NWA High Voltage. I had no idea this existed until they mentioned it here, and they showed highlights. I managed to find the match on YouTube. I figured this was going to be on Power when they built it a few weeks ago.
Rinauro cut a great promo about how all he needed was 3 seconds to become the TV Champion, and that while Pope was a great champion, he was coming for it. Colby Corino attacked him from behind and went to give him a brainbuster on the apron, but Rinauro’s feet hit the ropes on the way down, which caused both of them to crash to the floor, and both men hit really hard. That was brutal, I hope they’re okay.
–Austin Idol and Tyrus came out. Idol buried Rinauro and Corino, saying Tyrus is the real star. Pope came out, and since his match was canceled with Rinauro, he decided he was going to fight him right now, putting the title on the line. Idol kept Tyrus back and said it would be on their time.
Aron Stevens stepped in with a match that was unannounced for the crowd due to Rinauro’s injury.
Aron Stevens, Mims, & Captain YUMA vs. Kratos, PJ Hawx, & Luke Hawx went to a no contest
Well, this was interesting from a story perspective with Kratos and Stevens actually smiling and getting along with each other. Honestly, I hope they don’t break up as a team. I really like the dynamic of Stevens being a nice guy and Kratos being a miserable monster, but somehow make the team work. I hope that continues. I think La Rebelion vs. Stevens & Kratos will be great.
Joe Galli said that Kratos and Stevens came up with this match when the injury happened as a make-good. Kratos and Stevens fist-bumped, but Kratos didn’t fist bump the others. Stevens and Kratos went to a neutral corner, discussing the match and smiling. I sense trouble brewing, as Kratos is way too happy.
Mims and Luke Hawx started the match, and Mims used hit size and power to keep the veteran down. Mims tagged Stevens in, even though he was at the wrong turnbuckle because he was holding the tag rope. Stevens did a few spots with Hawx before PJ Hawx and YUMA were in.
YUMA wanted Kratos, and he tagged in, but he looked like he would rather stay in the corner chatting with Stevens. YUMA must have a death wish, as Kratos no-sold a shoulder tackle. Kratos murdered YUMA with a forearm, and the massacre began, as he threw YUMA across the ring with a suplex.
La Rebelion came out and mocked the match in the ring saying that the teams involved were making a mockery of the titles and the sport. Kratos did not look pleased. La Rebelion attacked YUMA, and the ref threw the match out. La Rebellion then attacked Kratos. All 6 men were not pleased and chased them off.
–Jax Dane and Crimson were with May Valentine. Dane talked about how he thought Crimson went too far in his match with Slice Boogie last week, and they promised to address the issue live in front of fans at Power soon.
–JTG and Chris Adonis joined Kyle Davis at the podium to discuss their upcoming NWA National Championship match. JTG reminded everyone that he was there for gold, and that anyone in his way is in a very unlucky position.
Adonis said he was ready for war, and that the NWA National title is a title that he never lost, so he is going to do what it takes to win it back, and his insurance policy of Strictly Business was there to help him. Fred Rosser came out and said he was going to back JTG up.
–The Mystery Man was with May Valentine and continued to say his identity did not need to be known right now. He talked about how he dedicated his life to wrestling, and he is here because he believes he is the best technical wrestler in the world, and he wanted to become a champion, and his identity didn’t matter.
–Thunder Rosa told May Valentine that she was going to stay out of Melina’s match with Kylie Rae tonight.
Kylie Rae defeated Melina
Melina got booed by the audience despite being a babyface in recent weeks. Rae was cheered quite a bit, and Melina worked this match as a heel, so that feels like a phantom heel turn. I hate that. This was a good match by Melina standards, so it was fine. Rae looked fantastic in the match, she’s an exceptional worker.
Melina tried to ground Rae, but Rae was able to counter every move. Rae offered a handshake, but Melina hit some hard forearms and started striking Rae hard, including poking the eyes. Melina hit a DDT for a near fall, but Rae kicked out. Rae spun out of an inverted DDT position and hit a superkick on Melina for the pinfall. The show went off the air as Rae celebrated, winning clean as a sheet.
NWA Power opened with a recap of what happened last week with Nick Aldis pulling Strictly Business from the World Tag Team title match from last week.
Kyle Davis was at the podium with an announcement from Billy Corgan, who provided Davis with a written statement. Corgan wrote about what happened last week, and stripped Latimer and Adonis of their tag team championship opportunity. Corgan also docked their pay, and also docked Aldis’ pay for one month, donating it to charity.
Corgan also announced that Aldis and Strictly Business would have their contracts terminated if they do this again, and if they do not appear next week, they will be stripped of their titles and would never be seen in the NWA again.
In light of the angle from last week that saw the show suddenly go off the air with no main event, this was a very good follow up. Corgan worked as a babyface owner that wasn’t going to be pushed around by the heels, and he let them know that he was the one in charge.
NWA World Television Championship: The Pope defeated Matt Cross to retain
Solid match from both guys here, and now Pope only needs 3 more matches before he can cash in for a chance at the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship.
Cross and Pope exchanged arm drags to open the match before Cross did a drop down and hit a dropkick as Pope hit the ropes. They both hit the ropes again, and as Cross went for a cross body (pun intended) Pope hit a powerslam.
Pope went for a vertical suplex, but Cross slipped out and hit a fireman’s carry into a neck breaker. Pope dodged an attack and sent Cross to the apron. Cross hit a pump kick and then hit a big suicide dive on Pope.
Cross went for a shooting star press, but Pope rolled out of the way (sort of. He rolled the wrong way), and then Pope hit the Elijah Express for the pinfall.
NWA World Tag Team Championship: Aron Stevens & Kratos defeated Fred Rosser & Marche Rockett
While I normally don’t like storylines with tag partners that don’t get along, this one is being done as well as it can be. They’re clearly building to the break-up between the two, but because they’re still managing to win, they are okay with their tentative alliance.
Stevens and Rosser started the match. Kratos was hesitant to tag into the match, but when he did he beat the crap out of everyone in the ring. His hesitation to make a tag was paid back when Kratos wanted to tag out when he had Rosser in an abdominal stretch. As Kratos argued with Stevens, Rockett tagged in and attacked, but it didn’t work well.
Kratos eventually tagged out because he was hurt, and Stevens swept Rockett’s legs and hit a DDT. Rockett dodged a corner charge and hit a dropkick. As he went to tag out, Kratos pulled Rosser off the apron. Stevens argued with him about it, but he hit a flying forearm on Rockett and scored the pinfall.
Melina and Taryn Tarrell were backstage, and both of them wanted to make sure that there were no shenanigans in the match with Kamille and Thunder Rosa.
Thunder Rosa defeated Jennacide
This was a great squash match, where Jennacide looked strong, but Rosa simply outwrestled her and tapped her out with her superior submission skills.
Jennacide used size and power to keep control of the early portions of the match, hitting power slams and avoiding Thunder Rosa’s offence. Rosa eventually managed to chop her down with kicks and locked on a kneebar for a submission finish, but she took a beating to get it there. Good squash match.
Austin Idol and Tyrus were with Kyle Davis, and Tyrus congratulated Pope on his successful defense, but indicated that Pope still hadn’t beat him. Idol announced that the first entrant in the 14-man battle royal was none other than Tyrus. Idol promised that Tyrus was going to win the battle royal and go after Aldis.
Idol also had a list of several competitors in the battle royal, and Davis asked how he got the information. Idol said, “Because I’m a genius,” which made me laugh. Idol joked that he was going to enter it with the quality of competition in the match, and promised that Tyrus was going to win. Good promo.
The War Kings (Crimson & Jax Dane) defeated The End (Parrow & Odinson) to become the #1 Contenders for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
Well, what in the world was that finish? This is a pre taped show. That was clearly a botched pinfall, as Odinson obviously kicked out before the 3 and had his shoulder up on the pinfall. Then on the replay it clearly showed this, and they had Joe Galli tell us the kickout happened after the 3. It didn’t. Just refilm it. It’s a taped show, for goodness sake.
Odinson and Crimson started in the ring, The End quickly took the advantage, using some double team moves. Crimson managed to hit an exploder suplex on Odinson and tagged out to Jax. The War Kings showed their experience with some huge moves hitting Odinson.
Dane and Odinson exchanged chops in the corner to the delight of Joe Galli, who called this a hoss fight, and he wasn’t wrong. Odinson did an AA on his own partner onto Crimson, and that looked like a finishing move, but Dane made the save.
Crimson hit some forearms and a John Woo dropkick on Parrow before tagging out to Dane. Dane ran wild, smashing Odinson with several high impact moves. Dane hit a suplex, and Crimson came off the top with a flying elbow on Odinson. Odinson kicked out, but the ref counted three anyway and the match ended in chaos.
Final Thoughts:
The show went off the air after a botched finish in a tag match that I was actually really enjoying. The match itself was a really good tag match, but the botched finish still being in on a pre taped show is confusing at best, and outright bad at worst. I don’t understand why they didn’t retape it. Aside from the weird main event finish, this week’s episode was quite good overall, especially compared to the debacle of an ending last week.
Thunder Rosa accepted a match this week on NWA Power that could see her no longer appearing on AEW and other outside wrestling companies if she loses.
On the show, Kamille accused Rosa of using the NWA for her own selfish purposes, pointing out her appearances on AEW Dynamite. Kamille said she would put her number one contendership to the NWA Women’s title on the line in a 20 minute, one fall match if Rosa would agree that she would not be able to work with any other company if she lost. Rosa agreed, though a date for the match wasn’t established.
Kamille has been number one contender since NWA Back for the Attack on March 21, when she defeated Rosa. Serena Deeb, the NWA Women’s champion, has been out of action since February with a knee injury.
Rosa has appeared regularly on AEW television since last September, with AEW contracted wrestler Deeb defeating Rosa on an episode of UWN Primetime Live to win the NWA Women’s championship. A recent high-profile match on Dynamite saw Rosa defeat Britt Baker in a lights out match.
NWA Power Surge opened with Thunder Rosa at the desk with May Valentine and Joe Galli. Rosa talked about how she was very proud to be doing good things for women’s wrestling both in the NWA, and on the independent scene. Rosa called Kamille a coward, and said she wasn’t sure that she was going to face her.
Jennacide defeated Skye Blue
This was a solid little squash match that made Jennacide look great. Skye Blue bumped well, and sold that Jennacide was a total monster.
Joe Galli claimed that Jennacide learned Muay Thai by having it downloaded directly into her brain, like something out of the Matrix. I found that amusing.
Jennacide dominated a good portion of this match, using strikes and a surfboard stretch before hitting a Yakuza kick in the corner. Jennacide countered a head scissors into a tombstone for the win.
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Trevor Murdoch speaks —
A recap of the events surrounding Trevor Murdoch aired, ending with how he was suspended for 30 days.
Murdoch sat down with May Valentine to talk about what happened, and he said he was beat up physically. He said he didn’t expect much when he first came to the NWA, he only wanted to make a splash and stand out. He said he has moved up the ranks and dealt with Nick Aldis putting obstacles in his way, but he wasn’t used to the easy path and accepted that life is hard.
Murdoch said that at the end of the day he had to look at the mirror and he has two young sons at home that he needs to teach how to be a man and carry themselves.
He said nobody wants to put in the hard work and sacrifice everything, and that he had to choose between rent and paying for gas to get to the next wrestling show. He sacrifices time with his family, time with his friends, and working towards the goal of becoming world champion.
He said that a lot of men don’t make it to the top, and there are far more that try to get there. He said that Harley Race set the pace and standard for him, and he is going to follow his path. Murdoch got emotional about missing Race, as he wanted him to be here to show him how far he has gotten.
He is promising to do this for Harley Race, the fans, and his kids that he can be a champion in the NWA.
I assume this was taped before he was suspended for 30 days without pay, but this was an awesome interview building up Murdoch’s motivation for going after the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
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A recap of what is happening between Kratos and Aron Stevens aired.
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Number one contenders announced for the NWA World Tag Team titles —
Nick Aldis talked about what was going on with Stevens, and Joe Galli asked if the decision for Thom Latimer to pick Kratos as his tag partner on Power was something Aldis decided. Instead, Aldis confirmed that Latimer made the decision himself.
Aldis then announced that Latimer and Adonis are the number one contenders for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Aldis said that no one comes into the door of the NWA without him knowing everything about them, and he keeps a close eye on everyone, including Kratos. Aldis said he felt very confident about Latimer and Adonis taking the titles.
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NWA Worlds Heavyweight title number one contender battle royal announcement —
Aldis said that he wanted the most qualified person to challenge for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and he was looking for someone to step up. Joe Galli then announced that there will be a 14-man battle royal for the number one contendership to the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and that no one who is a current champion in the NWA will be in the match. The match will be held in three weeks.
Aldis was very upset to hear this, and was shocked that Galli had the scoop on him, which he claimed wasn’t supposed to happen as the show went off the air. This was excellent.
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Final thoughts —
It seems that Power Surge is going to be mostly a recap show and a chance for one talent to get a good squash in with a few new promos. The promos are absolutely worth watching when they air, as they are always quality.
I loved what we saw from Murdoch and Aldis on this show. If you watch anything on this episode, watch that.
Nick Aldis opened the show saying that Murdoch should have known what was going to happen if he poked his nose in his business. Aldis said that it was time for Murdoch and Adonis to have a fight one more time, but Kyle Davis implied that Aldis wanted to avoid him and didn’t want Murdoch in the NWA.
Aldis took exception to this, but he did offer a spot to Murdoch, asking him to come out with no funny business. Murdoch came out and said he wasn’t going to take the risk of beating Aldis up right now because he didn’t want to put a shot at a title in jeopardy. Murdoch demanded an apology and was seething at Aldis.
Aldis suggested that there be a six-man tag tonight with Adonis & Latimer with a 3rd man against Murdoch, and if he won, he gets a National title shot. If he loses, he gets suspended for 30 days with no pay. Murdoch said that it was funny that as soon as he started targeting Aldis and his title, he backpedaled on his statements that Murdoch wasn’t worthy of being a champion, but that he didn’t back down from a fight and he was going to take this chance.
Kratos and Sal Rinauro went to a no contest
This was more of an angle than a match, as it set up the mystery man in the main event, and furthered the story that Kratos and Stevens are not getting along. Good angle, bad match.
Poor Sal got beat up badly right from the starting bell, as Kratos used his size to stay on top of Sal. Kratos hit a huge suplex, and May Valentine and Danny Deals came out to try and defend Sal. Deals got chokeslammed, and Kratos continued to pound on Sal as Sal rolled to the ropes and refused to break as the referee ruled it a no contest. Aron Stevens tried to calm Kratos down, but he wouldn’t listen.
Kratos rolled out and walked to the announce desk and got in the face of Tim Storm. Storm stood up and slowly took his headset off. They went face to face, and Storm tried to deescalate the situation as Thom Latimer and Chris Adonis came out and announced that they saw something in Kratos and asked him to be the third man in the main event. Kratos agreed and left ringside as May attended to Sal as Stevens looked on.
Kyle Davis was with Jax Dane and Slice Boogie who are facing off in a No DQ match next week. Boogie talked about how he was just getting wins on top of wins, and Dane lost the last time they were in the ring. For some reason, Boogie was booed in this promo, and Dane was cheered, but I could have sworn it was the other way around before this episode.
NWA World Television Championship: The Pope and Tyrus went to a time limit draw
Austin Idol came out with Tyrus and joined the commentary team, and he was great. Tyrus, however, was not. The Pope tried, that’s all I can really say. This was not a good match. Velvet Sky was really bad on commentary in this match.
The match had the 6:05 time limit, and Tyrus was gassed about 60 seconds into it. Tyrus missed a corner charge, but as Pope went for the Pope Train finish, Austin Idol grabbed his foot and Tyrus hit a corner charge and an elbow for a two-count.
Tyrus locked on a bear hug in a squat position, but couldn’t actually lift Pope out of the position, so he just dropped him and stood up. Pope got up and hit some strikes and an eye poke, which Austin Idol lost his mind over on commentary.
Pope hit a missile dropkick and Idol went back to ringside. Pope hit a crossbody off the apron onto Tyrus. Idol distracted Pope and Tyrus locked on a chokehold as the time limit expired, and Pope was left laying on the outside of the ring.
Thunder Rosa came out and May Valentine informed us that the NWA wanted her and Kamille to end their feud peacefully, so they are requiring advocates to speak on their behalf. Rosa chose Melina, reluctantly, but decided that because of their history, she was the best choice.
Kamille also reluctantly chose Taryn Terrell, who was overjoyed to be picked by Kamille. Melina started and actually cut a good promo about how great Thunder Rosa is, talking about her success in the NWA and AEW. Melina made a good point – Kamille won the number one contendership but has kept going after Rosa, so she was the one that kept this going.
Terrell talked about how Rosa was jealous in the most annoying way possible. Melina suggested that Rosa and Kamille have a rematch since she wasn’t done yet, and puts the #1 contendership on the line.
Terrell said that they would do the match, but there were conditions and they would deliver the list of conditions next week. Melina threw a punch at Terrell, and Rosa tried to get at Kamille as the segment ended.
Team Aldis (Thom Latimer, Chris Adonis, & Kratos) defeated Team Murdoch (Trevor Murdoch, Aron Stevens, & Tim Storm)
This was a heavy heat match and furthered the angle between Murdoch and Aldis. Aldis kept his word and wasn’t involved, but Murdoch still lost and now has to spend 30 days unpaid at home. Not sure what the NWA is going to do with the guy they have been pushing as a top babyface not there. This was a good match.
Murdoch’s partners took their time coming out, and to everyone’s surprise, Aron Stevens joined Murdoch, on the opposite side from his own tag team partner. Sal Rinauro came out, but Tim Storm walked out after and told Rinauro to go to the back.
As the match started, Storm went right for Kratos. Latimer was yelling about how Storm shouldn’t cross them, which seems to be furthering the tension between him and Nick Aldis. Stevens and Kratos were left in the ring, but Stevens didn’t want to fight Kratos, so Tim Storm and Latimer ended up in the ring.
Kratos wanted to fight Stevens, but Stevens was reluctant to face off against his own partner. Stevens went to tag Kratos by instinct once, but soon thereafter went back to his own corner. Sadly, for Stevens, it wasn’t long before they were getting the heat on him.
The heels kept this up for several minutes, with Latimer and Adonis beating on Stevens. Kratos, however, didn’t tag in. He was very joyful seeing Stevens get beat up, but he didn’t tag in right away. Stevens dodged a corner charge from Latimer and managed to make the hot tag to Storm.
Storm ran wild but got distracted when Sal Rinauro got on the apron to cheer storm on, and Adonis took advantage of this and hit a full nelson slam for the pinfall victory. Storm was left laying in the middle of the ring. Kratos refused to help Aron Stevens up as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts
Trevor Murdoch must go home for 30 days, unpaid now. I asked above, but the question remains: What does the NWA do now without the guy they have positioned in a top babyface role? Will we see a return of the Midnight Rider type angle here with Murdoch? The more I think about it, the more I like that idea.
I’m not sure where they are going to go with this, but having Murdoch appear under a mask and pretend to be someone else could be a really fun 4 weeks, as Murdoch could then outwit Strictly Business leading into the next PPV. If there is no mention of Murdoch on TV, then I think that is a terrible choice, given that they want to push him as a top guy in line for Aldis’ title.
Four matches have been announced for this week’s AEW Dark: Elevation.
Chuck Taylor will face Rey Fenix in one of the marquee bouts. Best Friends and The Lucha Brothers have been feuding in recent weeks, with Penta El Zero Miedo picking up a win over Trent this past Wednesday on Dynamite.
Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page, who have teamed together in recent weeks, will take on Alex Reynolds and Allan “Five” Angels of The Dark Order. Sky and Page were also involved in the show closing angle on Dynamite, where they attacked Darby Allin after he successfully defended the TNT title against Jungle Boy.
Additionally, Matt Sydal will face Joey Janela. Sydal will team with his brother Mike this Wednesday against The Young Bucks in a AEW World Tag Team title eliminator. Big Swole and Red Velvet, meanwhile, will team up to take on Nyla Rose and Madi Wrenkowski.
AEW Dark: Elevation is streamed every Monday starting at 7 pm Eastern.
