NWA Power results: Mickie James vs. Natalya Markova

NWA Power opened with Nick Aldis and World Champion Matt Cardona talking at the announce table with Joe Galli.

Cardona said that Aldis didn’t deserve a title shot despite it being announced for Alwayz Ready. Aldis talked about how he was resisting attacking Cardona at that moment because he wanted the gold, especially after he laid hands on Mickie James. Cardona wanted a deathmatch with Aldis while Aldis wanted a steel cage match. Billy Corgan and the NWA officials stated that they would deliberate and announce the stipulations for the title match soon.

This was an excellent recap of the feud between Aldis and added intrigue to the upcoming title match at NWA Alwayz Ready.

Tyrus and Austin Idol joined the commentary desk.

– Pope and Trevor Murdoch came to the podium with Kyle Davis. Pope mentioned that Murdoch was hurt along the way, but that he would never heal if he kept being bitter and that Pope and the people stand with him. Pope reminded that Murdoch that he carried the legacy of Harley Race and that Race would slap him to bring the fire back to him. 

Pope told him to fire up and go reclaim the NWA World Championship as the fans chanted “Murdoch.” Murdoch left without saying a word. This was a fantastic promo.

NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) defeated Madi & Kenzie Paige to retain the titles

This match was far more about Paige refusing to cheat and Madi trying to convince her to do so than the actual wrestling. As far as that goes, that was interesting. The work was actually quite good and Paige played up the conflict really well. She is going places.

Paige and Kay started with some good wrestling. Madi blind tagged in and yelled at Paige. Madi then charged at Kay, but Kay caught her and dumped her into her own corner before tagging out to Belle. Madi screamed for Kenzie throughout her time in the ring which was quite funny.

Belle hit the Stroke for a near fall. Somewhere, Jeff Jarrett is weeping. Madi blinded Belle with hairspray when the referee wasn’t looking, and Madi told Paige to watch her as she slammed Belle’s face into the mat. Paige tagged in, but looked unsure about the cheating. Madi pulled a chair out from under the ring and told Paige to hit Kay with it. While she was struggling with the decision, Kay rolled her up with an O’Connor roll to get the pin.

– Velvet Sky was with Taryn Terrell backstage. She asked Terrell about an apparent announcement she had to make. Terrell pointed out that Sky was not on commentary and moved down to backstage interviewer before saying that people’s minds will be blown, but she didn’t explain why.

Colby Corino defeated AJ Cazana

This was a nice little squash match here that even had the small story of Corino being really cocky and it coming back to bite him a few times. Small stories like that make these squashes a bit more engaging to watch.

Corino immediately hit Cazana with a koppo kick and hit Cazana in the corner with several chops after. Cazana dodged Corino’s weird inverted senton and suplexed him for a one count. Cazana hit a hard chop and went for a backdrop, but Corino rolled through into a sunset flip and hit a double stomp.

Corino slapped Cazana as Idol said on commentary, “Stay on him!” Turns out Idol was correct as Cazana countered another sunset flip attempt, lifting Corino straight into a spinebuster for a two count. Corino countered a powerbomb with a hurricanrana that sent Cazana to the floor. As Cazana came back in, Corino superkicked him and then hit a huge double stomp Cazana’s back for the pin.

– NWA USA highlights aired with Mike Bennett defeating Kerry Morton.

– The Briscoes were at the podium with Kyle Davis. Mark Briscoe said that La Rebelion were lucky they barely beat them and that they weren’t done coming for them. They promised the next time they faced off, the Briscoes would be NWA Tag Team Champions.

Jax Dane & The End (Parrow & Odinson) defeated The Ill Begotten (Rush Freeman, Jeremiah Plunkett & Alex Taylor) w/ Danny Deals & Gold Rushhh (BLK Jeez, Marshe Rockett & Jordan Clearwater) in a Team War match

It still isn’t clear if DQs happen in these matches or not as we had matches previously that had them and matches that didn’t. That did not factor into this Team War match.

They added a rule that makes this a bit more logical with members from all three teams needing to be in the ring at all times. Jeez hit a missile dropkick on Dane, but Plunkett and Jeez struggled with the much bigger Dane. Dane took Jeez’s head off with a lariat for the first elimination.

Rockett came in and he worked with Plunkett on Dane, but Dane rolled to the floor. Plunkett and Dane brawled on the floor, but as Plunkett came back in, Rockett nailed Plunkett with a spinebuster for a near fall. Rockett hit a dropkick that sent Dane crashing off the apron to the floor and they announced Dane was eliminated, but he never went over the top rope.

Odinson came in and took out Plunkett with a torture rack, but Rockett dumped him over the top rope to eliminate him. Taylor jumped on Parrow’s back and was immediately dumped to the mat. Rockett and Parrow exchanged strikes and powerful attacks. Parrow hit a superplex on Rockett and Taylor hit a frog splash for a three count.

Clearwater and Freeman came in with Clearwater hitting the Golden Ticket Stunner on Parrow for a near fall. Parrow chokeslammed him and pinned him though which meant Gold Rushhh was eliminated. Parrow hit a Greetings from Asbury Park for a pin on Freeman so Dane, Parrow, and Odinson won. Could they be a new group in the NWA? If so, I like it.

– Father James Mitchell was with Velvet Sky, and he explained he found Gags the Gimp under a bridge. Mitchell explained Gags the Gimp was like Dr. Frankenstein’s Igor, explaining that Gags is a useful idiot who cleaned his moat. We now know The Sinister Minister has a moat. Mitchell claimed that Gags only obeyed him. Angelina Love showed up to “support” Velvet Sky, but appeared to take over the interview at the end to Sky’s annoyance.

Mickie James defeated Natalya Markova (w/ Taryn Terrell)

It appears this was Terrell’s surprise as she was managing Markova. Markova and James exchanged holds, ending with James hitting a Thesz press and a neckbreaker for a two count. Markova hit a cutter on James for a two count. James chopped Markova in the corner, but Markova hit a clothesline for a two count. Markova got a sleeper on James, but James eventually broke it up by jumping backward and crashing to the mat.

James hit several clotheslines and then went to the top rope. James hit a Thesz press off the top rope for a near fall. James kicked at Terrell, who then stuck her tongue out at James. Terrell is hilarious. James hit some kicks before causing Markova to fall into the splits which made Tyrus say on commentary, “I would have tapped,” which honestly made me laugh out loud. James hit a tornado DDT to get the pinfall.

Final Thoughts:

This was a good episode of NWA Power. We had some stories advanced, and the story with Pope and Murdoch in particular was very interesting. I like the pairing of Markova and Taryn Terrell. It is a far more natural fit than when she was managing Jennacide and Paola Blaze. 

I am also very interested to see what the stipulations will be for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship match will be. If the goal was to generate interest in next week’s episode and the PPV, which it should be, this episode of NWA Power succeeded in the task.