NWA Power results: Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Starks, Scott Steiner debuts
The show opened with a recap of Nick Aldis’ formation of Strictly Business and his feud with Tim Storm.
Storm came out and apologized to the fans for the match between him and Aldis not happening last week. Storm said that the fans deserved to see the best. Last week, Aldis didn’t show up for the match and the fans deserved to see it.
Kamille came out, took Joe Galli’s mic, and looked like she was going to talk, but said nothing, so Storm kept talking.
Storm said if Kamille would speak, he would ask her what Aldis was thinking by no showing a main event. He said the fans deserve to see the man that is on the posters and see the man that holds the Ten Pounds of Gold.
Storm asked if Aldis was a coward, and Kamille slapped him, which got nuclear heat. Kamille smiled and just walked away, satisfied.
This was an incredible promo from Storm. He really might be the best babyface in North American wrestling. He’s certainly up there with Cody Rhodes. If he isn’t in the conversation, he should be.
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David Marquez was there as two more names were drawn for the TV title tournament. Zane and Dave Dawson are scheduled to face each other, while Trevor Murdoch will be facing Tom Latimer.
NWA TV title tournament qualifying match: Ziggy Dice defeated Caleb Konley
Konley got an exceptional reaction from the fans as both men started to wrestle, and Dice increased the heat by yanking Konley’s hair. Dice got nailed with a dropkick when he came off the ropes. Back in the ring, Konley stayed way ahead with a back body drop and a senton for a two count.
Dice chased Konley into the corner, but Konley got his feet up. Dice countered him and hit a Northern Lights suplex for a two count.
Dice hit a snake eyes on Konley but missed a cannonball. Konley hit several hard strikes that dropped Dice. Konley hit a big boot in the corner and then a slam. Konley went for the double-jump moonsault, but Dice moved and then hit the Snake, Rattle & Roll for the victory.
This was a very fun match. I do hope they move away from the 6:05 time limit as the tournament goes on, as it’s hard to have a very good match in that timeframe. However, it does work for TV.
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Joe Galli interviewed Aron Stevens and Question Mark. Stevens talked about how Question Mark is his sensei and how he wanted all the gold in the NWA, and how he actually deserved it because he was getting a great reaction from the audience.
Galli said “You can’t say you deserve the titles until you defend your NWA National title,” and Stevens brushed him off and ended the interview.
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Thunder Rosa defeated ODB
ODB and Rosa got into a striking battle, and ODB blocked them all. Rosa had to move a bit slow for her, but ODB hit her hard with several forearms afterwards. Both wrestlers just started hitting each other hard, with ODB beating the crap out of Thunder Rosa. Rosa hit a drop toe hold into the middle rope and jumped on ODB’s neck to drive her into the middle rope.
Rosa mounted ODB and started throwing punches, then they rolled around a bit. ODB got booed quite heavily in this match, despite being the babyface, because Rosa is very over with the audience.
Rosa hit a snapmare and then a hard kick to the back. She locked on a Cobra Clutch, but ODB fought to her feet and drove Rosa into the turnbuckle.
ODB hit two shoulder tackles, but Rosa caught her with a boot when she charged at the corner. Rosa went for a crossbody off the middle rope, but ODB caught her and hit a fallaway slam. ODB went up to the middle rope and jumped toward Rosa. I have no idea what she was trying to do, as she just face-planted while Rosa was standing. It was actually quite funny.
Rosa hit a running kick and got a two count, but soon hit ODB with a backstabber and a flying double stomp for the pinfall victory.
On commentary, Allysin Kay said that Thunder Rosa could challenge her at anytime.
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Nick Aldis came out to nuclear heat, with the fans chanting “coward” at him. Aldis told Joe Galli that he told the truth – that Kamille was no longer his insurance policy, because she is now a fully fledged member of Strictly Business.
Galli asked how they could justify how they treated Tim Storm. Aldis responded by asking how Storm could insert himself into his business, because Tim Storm is the past.
Aldis also buried Ricky Morton, calling him a carny that was just trying to make a buck on the younger generation. Aldis talked about the tag team division and how he was pulling strings to get The Wild Cards into the title picture.
Aldis mentioned that people thought he walked away from the tournament because he couldn’t get the job done in six minutes. Aldis said the only place he doesn’t get the job done in six minutes is the bedroom, because he goes all night long.
Aldis said he was going to wrestle Ricky Starks tonight because he saw something in Starks. He said he was going to make Starks in 6:05 tonight. Another absolutely phenomenal promo from Aldis here. He’s turning out to be one heck of a champion.
Ricky Starks and Nick Aldis went to a draw in a 6:05 exhibition match
Aldis started the match by hitting a shoulder tackle and then cartwheeled over Starks as he was down on the mat. Starks hit the ropes and hit a shoulder tackle of his own. He cartwheeled over Aldis and then hit a dropkick that drove Aldis back into the corner. Aldis charged, but Starks dodged and rolled him up for a two count.
Aldis caught Starks and lifted him up into a vertical suplex, which was awesome. Starks kicked out at two. Aldis hit several crossface blows on Starks. He went for a back body drop, but Starks kicked him and hit the ropes. Aldis nailed Starks with a clothesline for a two count. Aldis then hit a fallaway slam for another two count.
Aldis locked on a headlock, but Starks fought out and hit a very hard chop. Starks hit the ropes and hit a slingblade and then a went for a tornado DDT on Aldis, but Aldis shoved him out and into the corner. Starks hit a missile dropkick off the middle rope for a two count. Aldis went to the floor, so Starks hit a suicide dive and nailed Aldis, but came down very hard on the floor himself.
Starks went for a moonsault off the top rope, but Aldis rolled out of the way. Aldis went for the Texas Cloverleaf, but Starks cradled him for a two count.
Aldis managed to lock on the Cloverleaf with 60 seconds left in the match. Starks tried to drag himself to the ropes with less than 10 seconds left. Starks held on and refused to tap out!
This was absolutely excellent. Starks survived 6:05 with Aldis. It’s funny, just as I was talking about how the time limit often proved to be a detriment earlier, they found a way to make it work perfectly in this match. This was fantastic. Starks came across as a guy who could beat Aldis if he had more time.
Ricky Morton came out as Aldis was complaining about it being a draw. Morton grabbed a mic and said that the crowd wanted to see five more minutes.
Starks was hurt, but he asked for five more as well. Aldis refused. Morton asked why Aldis wasn’t going to give Starks the match of his life, and Aldis said he already did. Aldis said that he was going to win anyway, but Starks was well on his way to the ropes.
The crowd chanted “coward” at Aldis again. Morton said “Since you aren’t going to give the kid five more minutes, how about you give me five more minutes?” Morton challenged Aldis, but Aldis refused again and left the ring. Aldis was booed out of the building. Holy crap — this whole thing was awesome.
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The Wild Cards were supposed to be part of this match, but they didn’t come out.
Eli Drake & James Storm defeated Colt Cabana & Ken Anderson by DQ
Cabana offered a handshake to Drake, so Drake offered a fist bump. Drake and Cabana exchanged some holds quickly to open the match, with Cabana showing that he is actually a very good technical wrestler. Drake sent Cabana into the corner, and he ducked under.
Cabana tagged out to Anderson, but Storm and Drake were able to double team him with dual back elbows.
Storm hit the ropes, but Anderson threw him over the top rope. Storm skinned the cat and hit a headscissors on Anderson. Anderson yanked the hair of Storm and pulled him to the mat. Cabana chastised him for it, but still accepted the tag and started beating on Storm. Cabana tagged in Anderson again and he locked on a chinlock.
Cabana tagged back in and worked over Drake for a bit. Drake hit a jawbreaker and a clothesline on Anderson, before hitting a dropkick off the middle rope on Cabana. Anderson pulled Storm off the apron before the tag and drove Storm’s knee into the apron.
Cabana did the Superman pin on Drake, but he kicked out. Anderson shoved the referee and he disqualified Anderson.
The announcers pointed out that Cabana stood up for Ken Anderson last week, but Anderson did not live up to that. Stu Bennett said that Anderson was slowly losing it every week. This answers my question about who was a heel or a babyface. Drake and Cabana are both babyfaces, and Cabana wants to trust Anderson, but he’s really a heel.
As for Storm, I think he turned babyface after what happened at Into the Fire, so it seems that the only heel in this story is actually Anderson.
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Aldis came out to close the show, calling out The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express. Aldis said that the only way this was going to be settled was with some physicality, so he had a business proposition: Team Aldis vs. Team Morton, six-man tag, and if Morton’s team wins, he can get a shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Morton told him to get his stooges together — and they would have that match.
Aldis said he didn’t want him and Morton to be in the match, because he wanted Morton to have no excuse if they faced off. Aldis presumed that Robert Gibson would be part of Team Morton. Aldis said that his team would be The Wild Cards and their third man – Scott Steiner! Steiner’s music played and he appeared in the studio to close the show.