NWA 74 night one live results: Matt Cardona returns, four title matches

NWA returns for its 74th anniversary weekend featuring two nights of pay-per-views from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri.

Saturday’s show will feature four title matches, a gauntlet match for an NWA Women’s title match on Sunday, and the return of Matt Cardona.

Cardona, the former NWA World Champion, will face a handpicked opponent. He has been out of action since June with a torn biceps and relinquished the title at Alwayz Ready.

The show will open with a Nick Aldis open forum as the former champion was pulled from the main event of night two.

Kamille will put up the NWA Women’s title against Taya Valkyrie. On Sunday, the winner will defend against the winner of tonight’s ten-woman Burke Invitational gauntlet.

NWA men’s Tag Team Champions The Commonwealth Connection (Doug Williams & Harry Smith) will defend against former champions La Rebelion, National Champion Jax Dane will defend against Cyon, and Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide defends against Kerry Morton.

Other featured matches include Bully Ray vs. Mike Knox in a tables match, the promotional debut of EC3 against Mims, three pre-show matches and more.

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Pre-show–

Joe Galli and Tim Storm open the preshow, and Joe Galli talked about changes to the show that were going to be announced in the preshow. The audio was not working here, and Tim Storm couldn’t be heard at all. Galli’s mic was low.

As they were discussing EC3 vs. Mims, the audio went completely out, and they match graphics showed without audio. We’re off to a good start on this PPV, which had a build that was shaky at best.

The stage setup with two big screens at the entrance was actually quite great. Looks good for an indie show. The audio cut off again in the entrance of Gold Rushhh. Commentary was not on at all, and music for the entrances could barely be heard.

The Country Gentlemen (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews) w/ Joe Cazana defeated Gold Rushhh (Jordan Clearwater & Marshe Rockett)

The audio continued to cut in and out at Cazana and Clearwater started the match by locking up. Cazana hit a big right hand on Clearwater after Clearwater slipped out of a bodyslam. Cazana then hit him with a bodyslam. The audio came back on at this point with Cazana hitting a bodyslam on Rockett, and it was so loud I almost kicked out of that bodyslam instead of Rockett.

Clearwater tagged in after a dropkick from Rockett. Rockett hit a bodyslam of his own on Cazana for a 2-count. Cazana hit a slam of his own on Clearwater and tagged out to Andrews, who came in and hit a uranage on Rockett, but got low bridged when he hit the ropes. This led to Cazana hitting an O’Connor Roll on Rockett for the pinfall, in the shocker of the night.

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–May Valentine interviewed an injured Jay Bradley, but it only aired for a minute before it was cut off due to technical difficulties.

Rhett Titus defeated VSK

Titus replaced Luke Hawx, who was advertised for this match, as he and PJ Hawx were moved into a tag match somewhere on the card, which Joe Galli said would be announced in a bit.

Titus and VSK had a very technical opening segment to the match, resulting in a monkey flip being one of the high spots, which I love. VSK dodged a corner charge and Titus crashed into the ring post and VSK started to work over the left arm of Titus. VSK hit a slingshot senton on the back and arm of Titus before locking on an armbar.

Titus countered with an armdrag, but was unable to hit a German suplex due to his injured arm. This didn’t stop him from countering and hitting his standing dropkick on VSK but he couldn’t go for the pin due to his arm. Titus then used his good right arm to hit forearms to the back, but VSK hit a usperkick on Titus and went to the top rope, but Titus got his knees up for the frog splash and hit a belly-to-belly suplex for the pin.

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The Pope defeated Rodney Mack w/ Aron Stevens

Pope got a great reaction coming out here. It’s clear NWA could do a lot more with him than they are, as much like Murdoch, he is having a great run in NWA and it showed there is a lot left in the tank for him.

In another confusing part of NWA’s booking, Stevens distracted Pope before the start of the match, and Rodney Mack attacked Pope from behind and acted as a heel when he has been a babyface on Power for the last few months. Stevens and Mack being full blown heels in this match makes me think like I missed something in this story, but I likely didn’t, which makes it worse.

Pope dodged out of the way of an elbow and hit some kicks on Mack before hitting a Manhattan Drop and a fist drop. Pope hit a corner splash and a flying forearm before hitting some bionic elbows. Pope hit another forearm but Stevens got on the apron, so Pope hit him with a bionic elbow. Unfortunately Pope got locked in the Euthanizer, and Pope tapped out.

Stevens and Mack started to beat down Pope, but Kratos ran down, making a return to the NWA, and hit started attacking Stevens and throwing him around the ring! Stevens was pulled out of harms way by Rodney Mack, but the return of Kratos is a great thing. This guy should be pushed as a singles star in NWA, so hopefully this is the start of that. I would have loved to see him in the NWA Worlds title picture, because JR Kratos is the man.

–Bully Ray was with May Valentine, and May reveals that Ray challenged Mike Knox to a tables match on Busted Open Radio. That would have been nice to know a few weeks ago with some audio clips. Ray cut a promo on him, tying their history to Aces & Eights in Impact, and that Ray promised that Knox will go through a table. This was a simple, effective promo.

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–Joe Galli and Tim Storm ran down the rest of the card for Night 1. Hawx Aerie was announced to be replacing the Commonwealth Connection in the NWA World Tag Team Championship match as Harry Smith was out with an illness. This means the titles were vacated and new champions will be determined today.

Colby Corino & Wrecking Ball Legursky defeated Caprice Coleman & Gustavo

It was during the entrances of this match that Joe Galli announced Colby Corino would be facing Caprice Coleman in a 30 minute iron man match tomorrow night at NWA 74 Night 2.

Wrecking Ball and Corino got the heat on Gustavo throughout the early part of this match, with Wrecking Ball in particular just tossing him all over the ring. Corino and Wrecking Ball kept Gustavo in their corner for a few minutes. It was noticeable that one of the ringside cameras was completely out of focus. The hard camera looked great, but the ones next to the ring were questionable.

Corino blind tagged Wrecking Ball before hitting a suplex into a neckbreaker across his knee for a 2-count. Gustavo hit a tilt a whirl into a tornado DDT on Corino and tagged in Coleman who hit a series of clotheslines on Corino. Coleman hit a springboard kick on Wrecking Ball, but Corino made the save on the pinfall. Coleman managed to lock Wrecking Ball in a chicken wing, which made him tap out. Wrecking Ball shook hands with both men ahd chased Corino away, indicating a babyface turn for The Fixers, which is good because they were getting very over.

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Main Card

The show opened with a highlight video Harley Race and Terry Funk having a match in 1977 before cutting into Bullet with Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins, which was a fantastic choice for the opening song. Joe Galli, Tim Storm, and Velvet Sky then run down the entire card for tonight. They have done a better job promoting the PPV on the PPV than they did on the TV.

–Nick Aldis made his entrance to a great reaction from the audience, and his unfortunate rap theme is back, rather than his previous one which suited him far better. Aldis talked about how he was the world champ 1 year ago at the NWA anniversary show, and that Trevor Murdoch beat him clean in the ring and was the better man that night.

Aldis reminded the fans that the show was sold out a year ago, which seemed like a shot at Tyrus, given the show did not sell out this time, and was not even close to it. Aldis said that the world title was not his belt, or Murdoch’s, but it belongs to the fans and history, and he wants it back for the fans.

Aldis then addressed being stripped of the #1 contender position by Billy Corgan. Aldis said he wasn’t going to waste time lamenting what happened, and promised that the fans would get their money’s worth if they came to see him wrestle, but if he can’t get back to the title, maybe it was time for him to walk away. The crowd booed this. Aldis then said that Corgan could take away his title shot, but he could never take away his legacy, and he promised that he was going to beat Flip Gordon tomorrow night. It would have been nice to have this promo on TV.

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EC3 defeated Mims

EC3 sent Mims right into the ring post, attacking the previously injured shoulder. EC3 then threw terrible half punches/half clothelines in the corner on Mims. EC3 locked a top wristlock on Mims to twist and attack the shoulder and wrist of Mims. EC3 setup Mims for a capture DDT, with his leg wrapped around Mims’ leg, but fell forward into a weird Russian Leg Sweep type move rather than backwards into a DDT.

Just because you can do something, EC3, doesn’t mean it will look good, and that looked bad. Mims hit a flying clothesline on EC3 but got necked on the ropes, and it attacked his arm too. EC3 then did the One Percenter on Mims before locking on The Purpose for the submission. Poor Mims, this was not a good match, and it wasn’t his fault.

EC3 grabbed a mic and talked about being on hallowed ground for the NWA, paying homage to the past. He said the past was just a story, and it sucked. He is trying to do profound cryptic promo stuff here, and it sucked. He ranted about nostalgia and controlling your narrative, and that nostalgia is dead because he’s the future or some sort nonsense.

–Thom Latimer came down to the ring to respond to EC3. EC3 never turned around and somehow knew that Latimer was behind him. I guess he has magic powers? My internet died at this point, leaving me unable to see the rest of the promo, but I’ll take that as a good thing.

My internet came back on an hour later, but EC3 didn’t look at Latimer until he said he was going to pull all the demons out of Latimer. This was weird, and not good. I don’t like the spooky doesn’t make sense promos like this.

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The Miserably Faithful (Judias, Gagz the Gimp, & Sal the Pal) w/ James Mitchell The Ill Begotten (Alex Taylor, Jeremiah Plunkett, & Danny Dealz) in a Beelzebub’s Bedlam Match

Judias had his hair done up like a 90s emo kid with his beard done up like a hipster. Gagz setup a chair in the corner and drove Plunkett into it. Sal hit a tiger feint kick on Plunkett, but Alex Taylor broke it up. Judias hit Taylor with a garbage can and went for a powerbomb on Plunkett. Danny Dealz ran into the ring with a crucifix and holy water, and threw it on Judias, which made me laugh.

Judias used a Greco Roman choke on Danny Dealz while Sal and Gagz setup a ladder. Alex Taylor came into the ring with a chair, smashing Judias with it several times. Gagz grabbed a broom and broke it over the back of Alex Taylor, but ate a forearm from Plunkett who tried to piledrive Gagz on the chairs. Gagz went for an Acid Drop on Plunkett, but Plunkett dumped him onto the chair and Taylor hit a Future Shock onto the chairs on Gagz.

Sal broke up the pinfall and bit Taylor before setting up the chairs in the middle of the ring and took a seat on them. Taylor and Plunkett powerbombed Sal onto all four chairs. Judias had some sort of spike that he brought in the ring, but was stopped from using it by Danny Dealz hitting him with a chair. Judias no sold the chair, but this allowed for a low blow.

Alex Taylor went onto the ladder and was about to be superplexed into the ring by Sal the Pal. Taylor got caught on the ladder, however, as it was set up with the steps of the ladder were not facing the corner, so it was an awkward position to come into the ring. Taylor ended up crashing onto the top rope and it looked devastating. I hope he’s okay, as he hit the ropes hard, and then flipped into the ring.

Regardless, Danny Dealz was the last man left standing, and Medusa came out and threw powder in his face as he has been gunning for her GM job on NWA USA. She threw him in the ring and Judias hit him with a chokeslam for the pin.

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Chris Adonis defeated Odinson via Disqualification

Odinson and Adonis started the match with displays of strength, throwing each other around the ring. Adonis eventually took over for a short while, working over the arm and shoulder of Odinson before chopping and punching him in the corner. Odinson managed to hit an Asgardian uppercut for a two count.

There was some basic back and forth ending with Adonis putting the Master Lock on Odinson, but Odinson grabbed that spray he sprays in his mouth and sprayed it into the eyes of Adonis to break the hold. The referee DQ’d Odinson, who then hit Adonis with the spray bottle and left the ring. Crappy finish on this one.

–Pretty Empowered were on the stage with Kyle Davis and talked about their upcoming match with The Hex, with Ella Envy saying that the Hex were just jealous, leading to Envy getting booed. Kenzie Pagie talked about how much the title meant to her and how much fighting for the NWA meant to her, which got cheers. Envy claimed the Hex were crying like children, which seemed to offend Paige a little bit. Velvet Sky pointed out that Paige was taking it seriously, while Envy was making a mockery of the titles.

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Homicide defeated Kerry Morton w/ Ricky Morton to retain NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Morton and Homicide started fast paced, with Homicide smiling and shook the hand of Morton, while looking like he was going to attempt to kill him, no pun intended on his name. Morton hit a shoulder tackle and a hip toss, being on step ahead of Homicide who lightly shook his hand again and did a peace sign to Ricky Morton while looking like he wanted to kill Ricky Morton too.

Homicide’s facial expressions are so great. Morton hit another armdrag and a dropkick that sent Homicide ot the floor. Homicide and Ricky Morton came face to face before he got back in the ring. Homicide went to shake Morton’s hand again, but this time he slapped it away. Homicide yanked the hair of Morton to pull him to the mat, but got caught in an O’Connor Roll for a 2-count. Homicide kicked out and then went for a dive to the floor, but Morton came back in and hit a crossbody for a 2-count.

Homicide hit a back elbow on Morton before looking at Ricky Morton again and fishhooking Kerry Morton and yanking the hair again. Homicide is descending into his old heelish ways, and chopped Morton a few times, but Morton asked for more. Morton went for a dive to the floor, but Homicide caught him, drove him into the ring post, and slammed him onto the floor.

Morton managed to hit a Cheeky Nandos superkick in the corner before powerbombing Homicide off the middle ropes for a 2-count. Morton missed a frog splash and Homicide got a 2-count. Homicide went for the Cop Killa, but Morton slipped out and hit a superkick. Homicide hit a lariat, and went for another, but Morton ducked and hit one of his own. Homicide then hit a low blow right in front of the referee.

The referee warned him and threatened him to DQ him, while Homicide insisted it was accidental. Morton recovered and hit the Finaly Roll, but missed the moonsault, and Homicde was able to hit an avalanche Koji Cutter on Morton for the pinfall. This match was fantastic.

Kerry Morton shoved Homicide after the match, upset about the low blow, and Homicide slapped him and left the ring.

–Kyle Davis introduced an NWA legend in attendance, Tommy Rich, who got a nice reaction from the NWA audience. Rich cut a great promo, saying dreams came true, and he was so happy to be back in the NWA. He said he was fired up, thanked the NWA, and thanked St. Louis, and it was a dream come true to wrestle in the NWA, be the NWA champion, and to be back in the NWA again.

-Thrillbilly Silas was with May Valentine and predicted pain for his match tomorrow with Davey Richards.

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Matt Cardona made his entrance, and claimed that he was back to save the NWA, and ahead of schedule. He said he wasn’t wrestling Nick Aldis or Bully Ray tonight, claiming that Bully Ray was Extreme shaming him and that he wasn’t hardcore. Cardona said he was the death match king, and more hardcore than him. He also promised he wasn’t going to ruin the Worlds title match tomorrow, as they will have the main event tomorrow, and he’ll be challenging for the title soon enough again, as Corgan promised him one. He then introduced his opponent, Rolando Freeman.

Rolando Freeman defeated Matt Cardona

Freeman flipped off Matt Cardona which got a nice reaction. The height difference here was rather hilarious, as Cardona towered over the 5’2ish Rolando. Cardona went down to his knees for a test of strength, and Freeman laughed before hitting a forearm into the face of Cardona. He then hit a running headbutt on Cardona, but ate a big kick when he charged the corner. Cardona started punching him like crazy.

Cardona was mad now and choked Freeman and hit shoulder blocks in the corner before setting him on the top rope. Cardona slapped him, but Freeman responded with a slap of his own and hit a missile dropkick. Freeman hit a flatliner for a 2-count. Freeman hit a series of forearms, but ate a flying foreman from Cardona. Cardona murdered him with several forearms and hit the ReBoot but picked Freeman up from the pin. Cardona picked him up a second time, and then went for a lazy cover with his back, and Freeman caught him in a crucifix pin and pinned Cardona!

Rolando Freeman beat the former champion, clean in the middle of the ring, by outwrestling Matt Cardona! Cardona was livid as he left the ring. I really liked this finish. It was a clean finish, and not a fluke, as Freeman outwrestled him. This was so good.

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–Baby Doll was with Samantha Starr backstage, returning to the NWA. May Valentine noted that she came back to NWA to manager her daughter, Samantha Starr, who Valentine welcomed to the NWA. Starr talked about what it meant for her to go up against the top talent in the NWA in the Burke Invitational.

Max the Impaler won the The Burke Invitational Gauntlet Match

KiLynn King and Samantha Starr started the match, as King looks to continue her rise in the NWA, and Starr looks to make an impact with her mom in her corner. The announcers talked about the family of Grizzly Smith, praising the wrestlers that came from him, but I wouldn’t have done that, given Smith’s history of abuse. Not a good look, despite it being true that it was Starr’s family linage.

Starr and King started fast with different attacks in the corner, attempting to pin each other quickly to make it easier before the next opponent came out. This match is not an over the top rope battle royal, as far as I know, but there is a countdown between entrants, and it isn’t only one person at a time in the ring as Natalia Markova made her entrance and took it to both King and Starr.

Markova hit a cutter on King, but Starr stopped it for some reason, which seemed odd as it is an elimination gauntlet. Markova and Starr exchanged strikes until the next entrant made their way in. Missa Kate ran down and hit a twisting senton onto both Starr and Markova before kicking King in the face. King put Kate over the top rope and she was eliminated, so apparently it is a battle royal, with pinfalls. This really isn’t a gauntlet. It’s a battle royal, so this was mis-advertised.

Madi made her way to the ring after King hit a series of moves on the other women. Madi tried to throw King over the top rope, but couldn’t, so she looked at the referee and screamed for help, which was funny. Starr tried to help but it didn’t work. Madi tried to pin everyone, with no success.

Taryn Terrell was the next entrant, and she looked so thrilled to be there while trying to avoid interacting with the fans. She hasn’t gotten into the ring, and seemed content to wait until the others beat each other up. This is where we need a rule that if you aren’t in the ring by the time the next entrant is in, you’re eliminated.

Max the Impaler was the next entrant, and as soon as Madi saw Max, she jumped over the top rope herself, and ran away, because she didn’t want to face Max. She could have just rolled to the floor and waited, but it was funny that Madi jumped the guardrail and ran out of the building.

Max hit a huge uranage on Markova before slamming KiLynn King quite recklessly on Markova, who was not positioned flat to take the move. Tootie Lynn was next in the ring and faced off with Max, while slightly unsure, but still willing to fight. Angelina Love was next and Tootie Lynn was eliminated by Max as she made her way down to the ring.

Love hit a headscissors on King and a clothesline on Markova, but looked unsure about Max. She tried to hit forearms on Max, but Max no sold them. Markova, Love, and King tried to throw Max out. Jennacide came out as the final entrant, and she would likely be the best one to eliminate Max. Samantha Starr brought Taryn Terrell into the ring and hit a Samoan drop.

Max eliminated Taryn Terrell and Angelina Love as they were fighting on the apron. Love looked to be bleeding from a stiff shot from Max. Jennacide hit a huge spinebuster on Max. King tried to help Jennacide pin Max, but Max kicked out anyway. Max got in the way of Markova hitting a kick in the corner on King. Markova pinned King and Max pinned Jennacide.

Markova went for a crossbody, but Max hit a slam for a 2-count. Markova went right after Max with hard strikes and hit a big knee to the face of Max, who kicked out. Markova went to the top rope, but Max mistimed hitting the ropes to knock her down, so Markova had to just sort of stand there and pretend it didn’t effect her until Max got to her. Max then hit Welcome to the Wasteland on Markova for the pinfall. I think this was a mistake. Max hurt several people in this match and missed spots all over the place.

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–Aron Stevens made a challenge for a tag team match tomorrow night with Stevens and Mack against Kratos and a partner tomorrow night.

Cyon w/ Austin Idol defeated Jax Dane w/ Chris Silvio, Esq. for the NWA National Championship

Dane attacked Cyon before the match started, leaving Austin Idol no time to get out the ring with Cyon’s robe. This match being heel vs. heel really didn’t help the heat here. Dane dumped Cyon to the floor before taking off his vest and asking for a count out. Austin Idol and Chris Silvio got into an argument, with Idol pushing him back away from the downed Cyon.

I think, by default, Cyon is the babyface in this match, but it sure is weird having Austin Idol working like one as a manager. Dane beat on Cyon, but left the ring with the title saying he was going to take a count out, but Cyon ran up the aisle and brought him back to the ring. As the referee was trying to keep Austin Idol and Chris Silvio apart, Anthony Mayweather came into the ring and chokeslammed Dane.

Cyon refused to accept Mayweather’s help and started brawling with Mayweather. The referee was back at this point, so I have no idea why there wasn’t a DQ here. The referee sent Mayweather to the back and Dane hit a spinebuster on Cyon for a 2-count. Cyon fought out of a fireman’s carry into a sleeper hold, and Dane tapped out, but Chris Silvio distracted the referee so he didn’t see it. Dane hit his Pop the Trunk lariat, but Cyon got his feet on the ropes.

This match had zero heat because they didn’t know who to cheer for. Who could have predicted that happening? (I did, because it’s heel vs. heel.) Cyon hit a Death Valley Driver on Dane and managed to pin him, which sort of got a reaction, and light applause. So, there’s that. Cyon won the National title, a title Austin Idol, his kayfabe dad, held, so that was a nice moment. Idol did what he could to be a babyface manager, but his heel work before the PPV made is extremely difficult to cheer, and I don’t blame the audience for being confused.

Bully Ray defeated Mike Knox in a Tables Match

Bully Ray tried to get a table right away, but it got caught on a metal bar in the middle of the ring, and Bully Ray said, “Where is D’Von when you need him?” and I laughed. Mike Knox hit a crossbody and then beat on Bully Ray with a chain. The tables had their trim cut off to weaken them and make it easier to go through, but that is a bad idea because one of these big men are going to go through it like butter.

Bully Ray suplexed Knox on the floor, but Knox grabbed a chair and hit Ray with it as Ray setup another table. Ray hit a back suplex on Knox and grabbed a chair of his own before hitting Knox with a light as a feather chairshot, which was actually nice to see. It looked good, but was light. Ray went for another, but Knox booted the chair into his face. Knox went for a crossbody into the corner table, but Ray moved and Knox crashed through it. Ray picked up Knox and hit a uranage on Knox through the table. Ray then broke off a piece of the table and gave it to a little girl to bring home. She celebrated, holding the piece of the table like it was a championship. That was very cute.

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–Ricky Morton cut a promo on Homicide, and it seems like he’ll be coming for him soon, potentially challenging for the NWA World Jr. Heavyweight title.

La Rebelion w/ Damian 666 defeated Hawx Aerie (Luke & PJ Hawx) for the NWA World Tag Team Championship

Doug Williams came out with his tag title, and he looked disappointed that he had to vacate the title because of Harry Smith being ill. Williams gave the title to the referee and shook hands with Luke Hawx, as a show of respect.

Luke Hawx and Bestia 666 started the match, with Bestia eventually hitting a shoulder tackle and both men doing some lucha, which the crowd appreciated. PJ Hawx came in and hit a series of arm drags on Mecha Wolf.

Damian 666 managed to get a punch in on Luke Hawx after La Rebelion distracted the referee. La Rebelion tried to hit double knees to Luke Hawx, but he ducked and they kneed each other, leading to the hot tag from PJ Hawx. Hawx ran wild, hitting suplexes on La Rebelion. This was a great hot tag. Hawx slipped off the top rope, but managed to turn it into a double lariat.

Unfortunately, Luke Hawx got isolated again and La Rebelion hit Nail in the Coffin on Luke Hawx, but PJ Hawx made the save. Hawx kept making the save for his dad, and hit an inverted atomic drop on Mecha Wolf, but Damian 666 pulled Luke Hawx off the pin. Bestia 666 pulled PJ Hawx off the apron and Damian 666 spit the red mist into the face of Luke Hawx. Mecha Wolf hit a tope on PJ Hawx while Bestia 666 covered Luke Hawx, using his body to cover the red mist on his face for the pinfall.

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–Kyle Davis was in the ring for a face off between Trevor Murdoch & Tyrus, who was accompanied by Idolmania Sports Management. Bill Corgan joined them, hyping the match between Kamille & Taya Valkyrie tonight. Tyrus told Idolmania Sports Management to leave the ring as it was just between him and Murdoch.

It seems that the promos we should have had on TV, even if it was just inset promos, was about to happen now, since they didn’t do it on TV leading into the PPV. Tyrus spoke first, saying that he defended the TV title 10 times and didn’t cash in at 7 because he wanted to make it mean something when he faced Murdoch. He said it wasn’t personal, but he was going to make it personal when they fight tomorrow.

Tyrus said that he was in the best shape of his life, and the fans laughed. So, that should tell you what they think about this match. Tyrus said he bought 10 pounds of gold chains to wear around his neck to train for carrying the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

Trevor Murdoch got a big pop when he took the mic, and he said the only 10 pounds of gold Tyrus was getting was the chains around his neck. Murdoch said he wasn’t going to let Tyrus beat him for the world title, and it was over his dead body. Corgan stood between Murdoch and Tyrus who were trying to brawl. This angle/promo should have been on TV, as it was half decent. Corgan wanted a poster shot from the camera man, Tyrus left the ring once Murdoch indicated he wanted to fight tonight. Murdoch tried very hard to get heat for this and get the crowd into it, but a match with Tyrus will only make them mild.

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Kamille defeated Taya Valkyrie to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship

Valkyrie worked the early parts of this match a bit too slow for a show that was too long. I can tell the fans wanted to be into this match with heat, but again, it was given very little promotion on TV with neither cutting promos on each other. They just had Valkyrie win a #1 contender’s match on TV and then she disappeared, and Kamille was nowhere to be seen. It has resulted in a match that the fans were not loud for, despite the work being quite good.

I think NWA was banking on Kamille being over because she usually is, but none of the booking highlighted why this match is important outside of it being for the title, and with the show quite far from sold out, it didn’t help that there were less fans there to cheer as well. They would react to small segments of the match and pinfall attempts, but that is about it.

Kamille went for a pump kick, but Valkyrie dodged, and Kamille had to use some clever movement herself to get into position to attempt and hit the pump kick once again. Kamille got a 2-count out of it. Valkyrie caught a corner kick and set Kamille on the middle ropes before hitting a sliding German suplex, which got a pop.

Valkyrie was able to get some reactions by chopping Kamille hard at ringside. Valkyrie did a camel clutch and got a 2-count after a few punches in that position. Valkyrie hit a clothesline and a hip attack on Kamille in the corner of the ring before hitting a metora in the corner. Kamille blocked a kick and picked up Valkyrie up for a powerbomb. This happened slowly, so it looked fairly bad in the setup.

Kamille hit a spear, but Valkyrie rolled to the floor to avoid the pinfall. Valkyrie hit a double stomp back in the ring, but only got a 2-count. Valkyrie gut cut off on the top rope and Kamille hit a superplex for a 2-count. Joe Galli said “This crowd is on their feet” and it was about 20 people out of the entire place, but I suppose he was technically correct. Kamille hit Valkyrie with a Canadian Destroyer, but Valkyrie kicked out.

Valkyrie accidentally dropped the referee, so when she hit three curb stomps on Kamille, there was no one there to make the count. Valkyrie started to act heelish here, grabbing the title and hitting Kamille with it. The referee made the count, but Kamille kicked out at the literal exact last second, and suddenly the fans exploded. They got them at this point and people were legitimately jumping up and down. Kamille managed to hit a spear and finally pin Valkyrie.

This was a good match that had very little heat at first, but it built as the match went on as it was really solid work from both of them. It would have helped to have more promos and angles on the show. The entire women’s roster came out to cheer the main event as Kamille celebrated with the fans. This was a great ending to the first night. All the men came onto the stage to congratulate her as well.

Final Thoughts

This show was way too long. It had little heat for many of the matches because the promotion of the matches had been so poor on NWA Power. The heel vs. hell match of Cyon and Jax Dane was unsatisfying seeing the title change hands because it was two villains fighting. Kamile and Taya Valkyrie, from a work perspective, was excellent, but it took until the last part of the match for the crowd to truly get into it. The nearfall for Valkyrie on Kamille at the end was one of the best near falls I have ever seen, and Kamille kicked out at the last possible moment. That was awesome. Kamille is steadily improving, and is far from the green worker she was when she first started wresting in the NWA. I don’t think this was as good as her match against Leyla Hirsch last year, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. It was a very good match that saw both women work very hard.

The rest of the card was quite frustrating for a variety of reasons as they did more promos to promote the matches on this show than they did on the TV leading into it. The Tyrus and Trevor Murdoch segment should have happened on TV with subsequent promo segments and video packages, and maybe a pull apart brawl or something like that. Trevor Murdoch tried so hard to get the fans fired up for this match, and he only got a mild reaction, which is unfortunate. It makes me wonder if NWA will learn it’s lesson in pushing Tyrus, but something tells me they won’t, and to my horror, they may very well put the title on Tyrus tomorrow night.