Preshow
Well, we were off to a good start with the preshow starting halfway through the first match.
Mims defeated Anthony Andrews
I have no idea why the preshow started in the middle of a match, which made it difficult to get into it. Not a good way to sell people on the PPV, but it is likely only the people who bought the PPV watching the preshow anyway.
The match started with Andrews getting the heat on Mims, so we had nothing to really build to getting sympathy for Mims. Andrews hit a neckbreaker, but Mims kicked out at 2, and soon thereafter Mims hit the Big Strong Slam for the pinfall.
Slime SZN (J. Spade & Bu Ku Dao) defeated The Miserably Faithful (Gagz the Gimp & Sal the Pal) to retain the Wildkatz Promotions Tag Team Championship
This was a really bad match. That is all I can really say. Very slow paced, little heat, and both teams had trouble communicating.
Spade and Sal the Pal started the match, with the announcers telling us fans of the NWA would know that Spade as a Junior Heavyweight title shot awaiting him in the future, which I did not know, but I’m sure he’ll have a fine match. Dao tagged in, but Sal the Pal stomped his chest and hit a kick to this face for a 2-count before tagging out to Gagz.
Bu Ku Dao managed to hit some chops on Gagz, but Gagz choked Dao on the ropes while Sal hit a tiger feint kick. Dao shoved Sal away with his legs, sending Sal crashing into a headbutt in Gagz’ lower regions an tagged out, but the camera missed the hot tag. Spade came in but it was a less than warm tag and Gagz hit The Finish on Spade, but the referee caught Sal holding Spade’s feet down and broke the pin. Spade then did a backslide on Gagz after Sal slapped him for the pinfall.
--Thom Latimer was with May Valentine backstage, and she described his match with EC3 as highly anticipated, in what may be the biggest exaggeration tonight. Latimer talked about how he was going to bring Hard Times to EC3 and Kamille was going to dominate her title match.
--Joe Galli and Tim Storm ran down the card, highlighting Homicide and Ricky Morton. They left the graphic up for an uncomfortably long time before switching to the next one, as someone accidentally hit the entrance music for the next match rather than switching the graphic.
The Pope, Anthony Mayweather, & JTG defeated Mercurio, Alex Taylor, & Jax Dane (w/ CJ, & Chris Silvio, Esq., Danny Deals, & Magic Jake Dumas) in a hardcore Team War match
The result of Mayweather finally ending his feud with Jax Dane (after what seems like at least a year), but it would have been far better with just a singles match between the two.
Apparently, Dumas sprained his ankle fighting 42 men on the street of New Orleans, so Alex Taylor replaced him, and we have 3 in ring wrestlers with 3 managers at ringside, 4 if you include Dumas. So much for enforcing the managers license that they talked about a few months ago.
JTG and Alex Taylor started the match, but my main question in this match is if it’s a hardcore match, why doe all the other teammates wait on the floor? It should just break down into a brawl in the match. Dane proved to not be dumb by pulling JTG to the floor and attacking him while his teammates looked on. JTG fought back without help from his teammates, then hit the Brooklyn’s Edge in the ring to eliminate Alex Taylor.
Mercurio was next in the ring and he hit a vertical suplex onto his own knee before going for a springboard moonsault, but missing it. Jax Dane entered the ring and hit his pop the trunk lariat with a chain to the back of JTG’s head, and Mercurio pinned him. Mucurio hit Anthony Mayweather with a book in the back of the head. Pope entered the ring, and hit Mercurio with some cookie sheets and a trashcan.
Joe Galli said that Pope was going back to his ECW days. Well, that is quite the reference. I appreciate the attempt though. Apparently Mayweather was not the legal man, and he was just going after Dane, and Pope used that to his advantage to get after Mercurio. Pope put Mercurio in the tree of woe and dropkicked him in the face with a chair for the pin.
Jax Dane hit Pope with a clothesline with the chain around his fist and pinned him, so Anthony Mayweather and Dane were the last two left. If we wanted to get to this in a street fight, they could have just booked them in a singles match, which probably would have had more heat. Mayweather made a brief comeback with a spinebuster, but Dane low blowed Mayweather.
Dane hit a clothesline with a chain and refused to pin Mayweather, waiting for the referee to count him out. Mayweather stood up and dodged an attack from Dane, driving him headfirst into a chair that was in the turnbuckles. Mayweather followed up with a Death Valley Driver on another chair and then an elbow drop for the pinfall.
--Matt Cardona was with May Valentine, and he talked about how he had to win tonight to save the NWA, because he needed his title back. This was actually very good.
Jordan Clearwater defeated AJ Cazana to win the NWA World Television Championship
Clearwater winning here was the right call. He is a young guy on the rise, and has the look of a superstar. Cazana is quite solid, but is likely better utilized as muscle in a heel stable. That said, I enjoyed this match.
Clearwater went right after Cazana, going after the right arm of Cazana. Cazana noticeably had athletic tape all over his shoulder and an arm brace, and Clearwater made sure to target it, removing a brace. Clearwater did several 12-6 elbows on Cazana’s shoulder for a 2-count. The fans chanted “Who’s your barber?” at Clearwater.
Cazana fired up and hit a shoulder tackle to the leg of Clearwater and hit a spinebuster, but took too much time getting the pin, so Clearwater kicked out. Clearwater attacked the shoulder and hit the Midas Touch for the pinfall.
The preshow ended 5 minutes before the top of the hour, so I have no idea why it started in the middle of the match. Oh well, onto the main card!
Main Show
Joe Galli ran down the entire card, highlighting the stories of every match in the process. Galli is quite good at his job.
Max the Impaler (w/ Father James Mitchell) defeated Natalya Markova in a casket match
Markova and Max tried to make it a wild brawl, but something just didn’t click for me. That said, they tried very hard, and to their credit, the crowd seemed to enjoy it. I can’t fault the effort – they worked very hard. It felt like it was just getting started when it ended, and if it had a few more minutes, this had potential to be good.
The announcers told us that Mitchell came out holding a voodoo crown that Max made to counter Markova’s Queen Bee crown. Markova was not bothered by this and started fighting with Max right away. Max threw Markova across the ring before hitting some crossface blows on Markova.
Joe Galli said some nice things about Taryn Terrell and her announced retirement, welcoming her back anytime, which was lovely. Markova hit a missile dropkick off the top rope, but it did little to stop Max from hitting an inverted powerslam. Mitchell tried to direct Max towards the casket, but Max kept beating Markova around ringside.
Max eventually took Markova up to the stage and slammed her there before tossing her into the casket, but Markova got her feet up. The casket was only opened at the face level, so Markova was crumpled up. Markova hit a tornado DDT off the casket, but as she went to open the casket, Sal the Pal came out of the other end of it, threw “voodoo powder” whatever that is, into Markova’s face. Max then threw Markova into the casket and got the win.
-EC3 was backstage and told May Valentine that he wasn’t about getting Latimer to join CYN, saying that CYN wasn’t a gang or a promotion, but an idea. Well, it is now, since it went out of business. Valentine said, “Thank you” to end the promo, and EC3 said off camera “You’re welcome!” in a happy voice, which actually made me laugh.
MLW Openweight Champion Davey Richards defeated Colby Corino to retain
My goodness, this match was fantastic. It would have been far better with an additional 5-10 minutes, as it had to be about 6 minutes long in total, but what we got was excellent. I wish Corino and Richards were main eventing, as this got a massive reaction from the audience.
Corino and Richards started with some good technical wrestling, as Richards transitioned smoothly into a back suplex for a 1-count, before kicking the chest of Corino hard. Corino spun Richards through the air onto his stomach before hitting a flying forearm off the top rope for a 2-count.
Richards hit Corino with a German suplex, and Corino got right up and hit a flying knee, but he went down from the damage, and the fans went nuts. Corino and Richards hit hard strikes with Corino hitting a superkick and a lariat to drop Richards. Corino went for the sunsetter, but Richards countered into an ankle lock, then a PK, and a double stomp for a 2-count.
Richards nailed a vertical drop brainbuster, but Corino kicked out. Richards went right back to the ankle lock and finally forced the tapout. What a great match. Richards tried to shake Corino’s hand after the match, but Corino refused to a chorus of boos.
Question Mark II (w/ Kratos) defeated Question Mack (w/ Aron Stevens) in a mask vs. mask match
Somehow, I think this got more time than Colby Corino and Davey Richards. Yep.
Well, with Kratos next to Question Mark II, I guess that confirms it is not him. Aron Stevens grabbed a mic and said that Kratos couldn’t be there because he didn’t have a manager’s license. Well, neither did Jake Dumas on the preshow, so that is a bit annoying to enforce it here. If you’re going to enforce that rule, make it consistent.
Question Mack choked Question Mark in the corner. Tim Storm said he couldn’t tell the two men apart, when they had entirely different gear outside of the mask. Question Mark II karate chopped Mack several times, sending him to the floor. Mack and Stevens soon cheated with Stevens choking Question Mark II on the ropes.
Mack did a chinlock on Mark II as the Mark II tried to use his Mongroivan Power~! (as Joe Galli called it) to break out. Aron Stevens tried to get involved, but Kratos came out and chased him off, letting Question Mark II hit the Mongrovian spike on Mack for the pinfall. The fans chanted “Two! Two! Two!” for him as Stevens argued with the referee about Mack losing the mask.
Stevens grew increasingly upset, but did take the mask off him and put a towel over Mack’s head. I guess we still don’t know if it’s Rodney Mack or not for sure.
Kerry Morton (w/ Ricky Morton) defeated Homicide to win the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship
Good match here, with Homicide making Kerry Morton look like a star. Ricky Morton helped by taking a beating on the floor for heat, leading to the fans wanting Kerry Morton to win even more. Homicide sold like crazy and made the young talent look great.
Morton hit a dropkick early on that got the crowd behind him quickly. Morton hit a sunset flip for a 2-count, leaving Homicide reeling early on. Morton went right after Homicide’s knee after this, trying to keep him grounded. Homicide ended up blocking a boot from Morton and hit a capture suplex before flipping the crowd off.
Morton hit a DDT on Homicide, but Homicide kicked out at 1. Homicide got up and hit a throat thrust that dropped Morton. Morton low bridged Homicide, but Homicide caught him on a tope and drove him into the apron before going to work on the back. Homicide wrapped Morton in the apron and beat on him, forcing Ricky Morton to intervene. Homicide then dropped Ricky Morton on the floor, and the crowd went nuclear with heat.
Homicide hit a suplex off the top rope on Kerry Morton while taunting Ricky Morton. Turns out all you need to do to get the crowd invested in Kerry Morton winning was to have him defend his dad. Homicide went to the top rope, but Kerry Morton decided to fight fire with fire and bit Homicide. Morton hit a flying knee and then a steamroller before hitting a flying splash for a 2-count.
Homicide dodged a flying knee and hit a Koji Cutter, but Morton kicked out at 2! Homicide went for the cop killa, but Morton flipped out of it. Homicide slapped Morton and went for a big lariat, but Morton ducked and hit a Koji Cutter of his one for the pinfall!
--Joe Galli alluded to the troubles with Nick Aldis, by saying Odinson was up next, but he wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
Odinson joined Kyle Davis in the ring and Odinson said that the whole locker room feared him, but music hit, and Thrillbilly Silas decided he was going to fight Odinson now.
Thrillbilly Silas defeated Odinson
Well, that was not the choice I would have made for this match. The crowd seemed to like the result though, though the rest of the match was a bit quiet.
Silas has shaved his beard, taking away from the gimmick dramatically. Odinson hit some European uppercuts, and Silas clubbered Odinson. Odinson hit a dropkick and Silas ended up with his arms stuck in the ropes, leading to Odinson hitting some more uppercuts and a belly-to-belly suplex.
Silas bit a big boot to the face of Odinson. The crowd was largely dead at this point, as this is a pretty significant step down from Nick Aldis. Odinson dodged an elbow and hit a sliding d lariat. Odinson sprayed “the purpose” from his spray bottle into his face and hit an Asgardian uppercut on Silas.
Silas hit a huge powerbomb on Odinson for a 2-count. Silas grabbed “the purpose spray” and sprayed it into his own face, but the referee got in the way of seeing it. Silas fired up and managed to block the pounce with a black hole slam for a 3-count.
The announcers speculated if the purpose spray was a potion of some kind or just in their head.
NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Fixers (Jay Bradley & Wrecking Ball Legursky) defeated The Spectaculars (Rush Freeman & Brady Pierce) (w/ Rolando Freeman) to retain
This had very little heat, but and I think it was because the Fixers have largely been babyfaces on TV lately, but they were acting like heels in this match.
The Fixers came out with US colours on their gear, matching their title belts, which I actually like. Velvet Sky wondered if Legursky got used to the new title design for the tag belts, but Joe Galli informed her that he rejected the new design, showing that even one of the announcers doesn’t watch NWA USA.
Rush Freeman tried to brawl with Legursky, but Legursky just shoved him to the mat. Legursky picked up Bradley and threw him onto Freeman, which was an impressive show of strength given Bradley’s size. Rolando Freeman tried his best to get the crowd into the match. Brady Pierce was tagged in, but ended up eating turnbuckle after a snake eyes.
Jay Bradley shoved the face of Pierce into the rear of Legursky. Rolando Freeman tried to get involved, and he punted Bradley with a low blow, but he kicked out at 2. Bradley hit a big back suplex on Pierce and tagged out. Legursky threw Freemand and Pierce around the ring. Lehursky hit a world strongest slam on Freeman for a 2-count.
Legursky grabbed Freeman and threw him face first into a headbutt low blow on his own partner before hitting a double chokeslam on Freeman for the pinfall.
NWA National Champion Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) defeated Dak Draper
This had next to zero heat. It wasn’t a terrible match, but the lack of heat hurt it.
Draper’s promo on NWA Power made him seem like a heel, but Cyon is definitely one based on his association with Austin Idol, so this had little heat. Idol did what he could, punching Draper on the floor and driving him shoulder first into the ring post. Cyon took advantage and went right after the arm of Draper with submissions and strikes.
Draper managed to block a corner charge and then hit a missile dropkick and a powerslam, but he couldn’t get the pin due to his shoulder. Cyon took advantage of Draper not being able to pick him up, hitting a Death Valley Driver for the pin.
NWA World Women’s Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered (Kenzie Paige & Ella Envy) defeated Madi & Missa Kate
In another confusing moment of NWA booking, Madi was a heel on NWA Power, but she is a babyface here. This is not the first time this happened with her, leaving me quite confused as to if this is a heel vs. heel tag match or if Kate and Madi are actually babyfaces. This led to less heat for the match than it would have had if we had a clearer definition of who we were supposed to be cheering for. Then Madi turned heel again, for what seemed like her 10th heel turn in the last 6 months.
Pretty Empowered spent a good part of the first few minutes of the match working over Madi and getting the heat. They got boos when they cheated, but Madi and Kate got little reaction for their attempts at a comeback. To their credit, Kate and Madi kept trying, clapping and slapping the turnbuckle, but it did not work well by the mid part of the match.
Envy hit a knee strike and then Envy came in and they hit a double uranage on Madi for a 2-count. As Envy was taunting Madi, Madi slapped Envy tagged out to Kate. Kate went over Paige in the corner and then hit a superkick. Kate accidentally sent Paige crashing into Madi, and they started fighting a little bit, with Madi refusing to tag in. Envy lifted Kate into the air and Paige hit a running bulldog, in a move that looked a bit like a 3D for the pinfall.
EC3 defeated Thom Latimer via DQ
This was terrible. It’s all I can say. EC3’s character is horrible, and not over, and it is dragging Latimer down as he was just starting to get over as a babyface.
EC3 grabbed a mic after the first few minutes of nothing, claiming that you don’t whine about things online (a clear shot at Nick Aldis), and that Latimer should hit him. Latimer refused, and EC3 claimed that Latimer only hit people when he was drunk.
I really don’t like them playing off Latimer’s real life issues with alcohol. EC3 pretended to drink from the mic, mocking Latimer. He asked to be hit again, and Latimer just shook his head. EC3 claimed he was only good at fighting when he resisted arrest. Latimer laughed at his insults. EC3 told him that he was going to self-destruct and ruin his marriage to Kamille. EC3 said she would never love him, and he finally started fighting back.
Latimer locked on a crossface, and EC3 made the ropes. Latimer refused to break the crossface and when the referee tried to stop him, he threw the referee into the corner and went back to the crossface. Latimer made EC3 pass out. Latimer showed regret afterwards and left the ring.
Hawx Aerie (Luke & PJ Hawx) defeated La Rebelion (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) (w/ Damien 666) to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship
This was a good match, but a terrible finish. If there was ever a time to have the babyfaces go over, it was here, and that crowd would have exploded and PJ Hawx would have been elevated. Either way though, this was still a good match.
Hawx Aerie was very over here, as it was the hometown of Hawx Aerie and the show was partnered with Luke Hawx’s promotion. La Rebelion, of course, got the heat on PJ Hawx after a good showing initially from the Hawx family. La Rebelion hit a nice double knee on PJ Hawx, and distracted the referee as Damien 666 attacked the young Hawx. The heat continued for a few minutes with fast paced double team strikes from La Rebelion.
Bestia 666 hit a neckbreaker while Mecha Wolf hit a top rope splash on PJ Hawx. Luke Hawx broke the pin and then hit a 450 splash on Bestia 666 while Mecha Wolf hit a 450 at the exact same time on PJ Hawx. That was fantastic. PJ Hawx popped Bestia 666 into the air and Luke Hawx hit a powerslam, but Damien 666 got in the ring, and the referee broke the count.
The referee sent Damien to the back, but Bestia spit poison mist into the face of PJ Hawx. Hawx kicked out of the cradle after and Luke Hawx washed the mist out of his eyes with water. PJ Hawx countered mark of the beast and tagged his sad in, who hit a moonsault from the apron into the ring. As this happened Mecha Wolf spit poison mist into the face of Luke Hawx and they rolled him up for the pinfall.
NWA World Women’s Champion Kamille defeated KiLynn King & Chelsea Green to retain
Joe Galli told us at the start of the match that Green defeated Angelina Love to win the title shot that was promised to Velvet Sky due to her team winning the Champions Series, as Sky granted it to Love. The Champions Series happened over a year ago and it is still cursing me. Hopefully this is the end of it. The booking of this match actually made Kamille look bad unless they go back to an immediate rematch for King, but the announcers talked like it was going to lead to King and Green feuding with Kamille moving on, so this is terrible booking if they don’t follow up on this. Kamille lost to King here. Clean. The referee just missed it.
King and Kamille wanted this match to be about them only, and Green was upset they were ignoring her, but as soon as they went after her, she bailed from the ring letting Kasmille and King start fighting. Green came in and sent Kamille to the floor with a clothesline before hitting a monkey flip to King.
Green hit a double hurricanrana on King and Kamille, and as Green was pinning Kamille, King went for a senton, but Green moved. King and Green then exchanged a ton of pinfall attempts, but none were successful. Kamille responded by hitting a German suplex on both of them at the same time.
Kamille tried to suplex King into the ring, but King blocked it and but an attitude adjustment in the ring for a 2-count before going to a crossface. Green pulled the referee from the ring and missed when Kamille tapped out. That is not the call I would have made for that. Having Kamille tap out after being undefeated forever is not the kind of thing you want to do, even if the referee missed it. If Kamille wins, she has a tainted win.
Kamille put King in the torture rack, but Green hit a missile dropkick to drop the other two women. She couldn’t pin either one though, and fought with the referee about it. King hit the Excalibuster on Green, but it was broken up by Kamille. Green then hit the Unprettier on King, but Kamille hit a spear on Green and pinned her.