NWA Empower Power results: Mickie James vs. Kiera Hogan

This week’s show was taped in St. Louis, Missouri.

Cyon opened this week’s all-women’s Empower-themed NWA Power by cutting a promo about how he wasn’t going to trust anyone in the NWA again and that he was going to get focused on his mission: winning gold in the NWA, challenging Tyrus for the TV title. This was a good promo to open the show.

Melina defeated Chelsea Green and Kylie Rae in an NWA Women’s title number one contender’s match

This was a perfectly acceptable opening match. Everyone had a brief chance to shine, but it really didn’t have enough time to get going. I wouldn’t mind seeing all three of these women wrestle again at some point.

Melina kicked Green and threw her to the floor before hitting both a shoulder block and DDT on Rae. Green pulled Melina from the ring and attacked her around ringside. Rae hit a superkick on Green and then hit a dive onto the floor, but Rae hit the cast on Green’s arm to take most of the damage.

Green hit a suicide dive onto both Rae and Melina. She fell a little short, but still managed to fall safely thanks to Melina and Rae catching her upper body. Green hit a dropkick on Melina, Rae hit a superkick on Green and then Melina locked a California Nightmare on both women, but they countered into a neckbreaker.

Green went for a Unprettier, but Melina was able to counter to score the pinfall.

— May Valentine was with Women’s Champion Kamille who made it clear she wanted to be on this special show. She challenged hometown girl Tootie Lynn and had nothing to say about why Thom Latimer and Strictly Business recently turned on Nick Aldis. Kyle Davis said before the match that if Lynn won, she would get a title shot against Kamille.

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

Lynn rolled up Kamile for a two count and then hit a hurricanrana. Kamille rolled to the floor and argued with Davis about his earlier announcement. Kamille came back into the ring and hit a suplex on Lynn that got one. Kamille got most of the offense after this, but after a very brief Lynn comeback, Kamille finished her off with a spear.

Lady Frost defeated Skye Blue in a Burke’s Rules match

We were informed that in a Mildred Burke Rules match, you couldn’t use a closed fist, couldn’t throw someone over the top rope and couldn’t use top rope moves. I know they like the idea, but I find the old rules like that to be a detriment to a good match.

Blue hit a few armdrags to send Frost to the floor. They exchanged a few holds, including Frost backflipping out of an arm twist, but she ate a superkick from Blue. Frost got to her feet relatively quickly and got a camel clutch on Blue, but had to stop herself from throwing Blue over the top rope.

Frost kicked Blue in the face and went for a moonsault, but stopped on the top rope. Blue responded with a kneelift for a near fall. Frost hit a spinning kick and climbed the ropes to do the moonsault anyway, but Blue knocked her off. Frost rolled Blue up and yanked the tights for leverage and got the win in a terrible finish.

Why would Frost go for the moonsault anyway? Blue looked weak losing after immediately knocking Frost off the ropes. It could have been fun without that rules handicap as everything they did was actually quite good.

— JR Kratos was with May Valentine and cut a promo giving credit to all the women for how great NWA Empower was. He addressed Aron Stevens briefly and their recent troubles with losing, but spent most of his promo talking about how great The Hex was. The End came out and Parrow grabbed the mic to rant about how annoyed he was with Kratos and Stevens, saying that he worked hard for his spot every week and promised to hurt anyone on the roster in his way.

 NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) (w/ Kenzie Paige) defeated Jennacide & Paola Blaze (w/ Taryn Terrell) to retain their titles

Marti Belle got lost quite badly at the start of this match. Kay, Blaze, and Jennacide all looked quite good though, but it’s clear that Belle is a step behind the others.

Belle started with Blaze and Belle hit the ropes. Blaze went for a drop down, but Belle just stopped, picked her up slowly and locked on a headlock before tagging out. I think she got lost immediately. Kay came in and hit a backbreaker before tagging out to Belle, who hit a PK.

Terrell distracted Belle and Blaze hit an X-Factor for a near fall. Jennacide tagged in and did some squats while slamming Belle. I think it’s best if Belle does nothing but sell, because any time she was on offense, she got lost. When she was selling, she seemed relatively okay.

Belle hit a bad kick to Jennacide’s gut before hitting a DDT. Blaze and Kay tagged in and Kay threw Blaze all over the ring. Terrell got on the apron to interfere and Paige pulled her from the apron, leading to her crashing brutally face-first onto it. I hope she was okay after that. Kay and Belle hit Hex Marks the Spot for the win to retain.

— Melina cut a very excited promo about her chance at the Womens’ title. She showed real emotion and it seemed like this really meant a lot to her. Excellent stuff.

— Da Pope got a phone call before the main event and had to leave the announce table, looking concerned.

Mickie James defeated Kiera Hogan

This was a solid main event. James was excellent as always and Hogan was able to keep pace. They stuck the basics with a lot of headlocks and pinfall counters, but it worked perfectly and played into the finish with James finally getting the last and best counter. That was a nice little story and it goes to show that you can keep it basic and still have a very good match.

Hogan and James hugged before the match with a nice show of mutual love. They shared a test of strength that ended with Hogan taking out James’ legs. There were some bridging attempts and pinfall attempts with Hogan trying to hold James down.

James took Hogan to the mat for a pinfall attempt. She kept control with hammerlocks and other basic wrestling techniques. James took her over with a headlock, but Hogan was able to counter into a leg scissors. James was able to bridge and then do a kick up out of it. That was a simple, but really cool spot.

Hogan and James exchanged some pinfall attempts with neither able to get the advantage. Hogan charged the corner, but ate an elbow and then a hurricanrana from James. James went for a DDT, but Hogan threw her into the corner. Hogan hit a clothesline, back elbow, and baseball slide dropkick, but James kicked out of the pin attempt. Hogan went for the DDT, but James countered into a school girl roll-up for the pinfall.

Final Thoughts —

This episode didn’t really advance any stories in a major way with the exception of Melina becoming the no. 1 contender and Parrow promising to destroy everyone in the company.

The tag match was fine when Belle wasn’t on offense, but she continues to be a weak link in the ring. I think she would do well to take the approach James took with Hogan: keep your matches basic. Don’t overcomplicate things and it usually turns into a decent match if you keep it simple.

Lynn should be a star someday. She has exceptional charisma and I would love to see the NWA (or anyone else) do more with her. She is one to watch for the future.