NWA Power opened with the competitors in the ring, ready to get into action.
Pope & Kratos defeated Question Mark & KC Roxx (w/ Aron Stevens)
If we don’t get a Kratos main event run in NWA, what are we doing here? The guy is fantastic and would make a great heel or babyface gunning for the title.
I know NWA is calling Rodney Mack Question Mark now, but it’s a real missed opportunity to not call him Question Mack. Pope hit a Manhattan drop on Roxx while the camera focused on Stevens at ringside reading Tyrus’ book. Pope got some great reactions from the audience for everything he did attacking Roxx.
Pope hit a stalled vertical suplex on Roxx, leading to Stevens getting on the apron. Question Mark attacked Pope from behind while he was distracted and pulled his partner over to tag in. Joe Galli and Velvet Sky agreed with me, apparently, saying they liked the name Question Mack more. Mack hit a big spinebuster on Pope who tagged out to Kratos after countering a Euthanizer.
Kratos killed Roxx with a powerslam and hit a running forearm in the corner on Mack before throwing him around like he weighed nothing. Kratos hit a slingshot wheelbarrow on Roxx for the pinfall.
Stevens and Mack attacked after the match ended and laid out Pope and Kratos, but a new Question Mark entered the ring and took out Mack before bowing to the Mongrovian flag.
- Bully Ray was walking around ringside as the fans chanted NWA. He was about to talk to Kyle Davis when Matt Cardona interrupted. Cardona said that no one wanted him in the NWA. Cardona said he should get a partner of his choice to face VSK & Mike Knox. Bully Ray said that Cardona shouldn’t forget that he put Knox through a table and that his challenge was on.
- Thom Latimer was with May Valentine talking about EC3, and how he was going to move forward toward the NWA title after he beats him. Latimer also said he related to Bully Ray feeling disrespected by Cardona, and he was glad Bully Ray was around because he trained Kamille.
- Kyle Davis was in the NWA Control Center running down all the info for NWA Hard Times III, including Cardona vs. NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch, Taya Valkyrie vs. Kamille II, and the tournament to crown the no. 1 contender to the National title. This was a million times better than any promotion they did leading into NWA 74. This was fantastic stuff, keeping us up to date on the key stories and matches.
Cyon (w/ Austin Idol) defeated Joe Alonzo
This was a good match with Alonzo impressing again. I hope the NWA sees what I’m seeing in him as he has had some great matches recently.
Alonzo wasted no time going for several pinfalls right away, leaving Cyon reeling until he was able to hit a hard forearm and a back suplex to get control. Cyon worked over Alonzo for a few minutes, including hitting some hard 12-to-6 elbows before locking on a chinlock. Alonzo ducked under a corner kick and pulled Cyon into the ring post before attacking his opponent's knee.
Cyon went for the death valley driver, but couldn’t get Alonzo up for it because of his knee. Alonzo then hit a springboard cutter for a two count and Cyon rolled to the floor. Alonzo hit a tope suicida, but as he got back into the ring, Cyon was able to grab him and quickly hit the death valley driver for the pinfall. Cyon continued to sell the knee after the match.
- Ronaldo Freeman interrupted May Valentine and said that people should be talking about him because he beat Cardona. Well, that promo did away any babyface sympathy I had for him as this was heelish to the core. Valentine was later with Ricky Steamboat and Freeman interrupted, asking the legend for a match against Trevor Murdoch. As they were talking, agents pulled Freeman away.
Max The Impaler, Angelina Love & Natalia Markova defeated NWA Women's Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered (Ella Envy & Kenzie Paige) & Roxy in phase one of a Queen Bee match
Queen Bee rules: it begins with a trios match where the winning team then faces each other in a three-way elimination match.
Love started the match with Envy. Envy hit a nice Northern Lights suplex on Love for a two count before tagging out to Roxy. This was a bad plan as Love hit a dropkick. Markova and Paige got in the ring and Paige hit a nice senton. Roxy kept getting forced into the match by Envy, and every time she got in there, it ended badly until she hit a kick on Markova.
Envy and Paige left the apron as Roxy tried to tag out when Max got in the ring. Max dropped Roxy right on her head with a botched power bomb which made me scream. That was horrifying and further evidence that Max is quite reckless in the ring. Max pinned Roxy and phase two of the match than began.
Natalia Markova (w/ Taryn Terrell) defeated Angelina Love and then went to a double no contest with Max The Impaler
Max hit a double back suplex on Markova and Love and hit Welcome to the Wasteland on Love. Markova came in with a running knee on Max before pinning Love to eliminate her. Max ended up powering out of everything Markova tried. Max and Markova broke into an all out brawl in the ring and the referee was unable to get control, so he threw the match out. What a terrible finish. Imagine Roxy almost dying for that finish.
Max stole Markova’s Queen Bee crown and stomped it, breaking it. Markova and Terrell were appalled.
- Question Mark II was with May Valentine and claimed to be the brother of the original Question Mark. That was followed by highlights from NWA USA with Homicide successfully defending his NWA Junior Heavyweight title.
- Murdoch claimed he was bringing back ruthless aggression. He said that he was going to do what was right for the NWA, and what Cardona was doing wasn’t right which why he helped Rolando Freeman beat him recently.
NWA TV Champion Tyrus (w/ BLK Jeez) defeated Mims to retain
Mims hit a few headbutts to rock Tyrus and then slammed him again, but Tyrus stood right up, clubbered Mims, and hit a capture suplex. Tyrus then hit a corner splash which flattened Mims, followed by the heart punch and the pin. This sucked. The less said about Tyrus, the better. He left the ring immediately and left the TV title with BLK Jeez.
Final Thoughts:
The addition of the NWA Control Center and Kyle Davis running down the stories and matches upcoming for the next PPV is a massive improvement. While I was hard on the main event, a fair bit of this episode felt like there was a direction going forward which is refreshing.
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