NWA Power results: Strictly Business vs. The Cardonas

NWA Power opened with Bully Ray coming down to the ring. He shook the hands of the announcers, and Velvet Sky made some awkward statement about not seeing him come near them. Bully Ray asked the fans to chant “NWA” and they obliged. Mike Knox and VSK came down to the ring.

Knox talked about how Bully Ray got him back into wrestling, and then went on to call him a piece of garbage and a terrible person. He said that Bully Ray was there to rip everyone off, take money, and burn the bridges, while leaving his friends in Aces and Eights to starve (as Mike Knox was in the group with Bully).

Knox said that Bully left them to starve and he would never forgive or forget that. Bully Ray said he was a different person now than he was then, and if he did wrong by anyone, he was sorry. The fans chanted “Hug it out!” Bully offered a handshake and said he would leave, but Knox punched him and VSK brought a table into the ring. Knox then chokeslammed Bully Ray through the table and left him laying. Tim Storm and the referees checked on Bully Ray as they went to the intro.

Trevor Murdoch had a promo in the ring before the show started in the empty arena, asking that the fans contribute to their local food banks, but Rush Freeman interrupted him and said that his big brother was going to come there and beat up Murdoch. A smaller dude came into the ring and attacked Murdoch, so Murdoch hit a big boot on him, and then hit a pop up spinebuster on Freeman before leaving. Not sure what the point of this was.

Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green were with May Valentine backstage. Cardona talked about how he was forced to give up the title and that he was the real NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, but that he was trusting Billy Corgan until he got back. Green claimed that Corgan said something in the ring that no one else knows but them, and that they are not going to forget.

Luke Hawx was backstage talking about being disrespected by The Fixers as they attacked PJ Hawx and Homicide at NWA Alwayz Ready. He was angry at Homicide as well, because he didn’t check on PJ Hawx. The promo was a bit confusing at first, as it wasn’t clear if he was talking about Homicide or The Fixers. He claimed Homicide went to help the Mortons and ignored the Hawx family. While I’m not quite sure what he is talking about, it is clear they’re building something between him and Homicide.

Taya Valkyrie defeated Taryn Terrell

This wasn’t too bad. Terrell is an amusing heel to watch in the ring, and Valkyrie needed a stronger showing after the match on the PPV didn’t go as planned.

Terrell came out with a cup full of water and told it to stay in the corner when she placed it there like a pet. Terrell was angry that Valkyrie’s skirt was larger than hers. Valkyrie responded by kicking her and stomping in the corner. Valkyrie hit an uppercut and a hip attack in the corner before hitting a meteora in the corner for a two count.

Valkyrie put Terrell on the middle rope and hit a sliding German suplex. Terrell tried to run around the ring, but managed to stomp on Valkyrie as they got back in the ring. Terrell did a camel clutch, but Valkyrie fought it off and drove her back into the corner. Terrell screamed that she needed to hydrate. Valkyrie hit a drop toe hold and hit a curb stomp.

Terrell hit a cutter before going for a cross body, but Valkyrie caught her and hit the Road to Valhalla for the pinfall.

Natalia Markova was backstage with May Valentine and talked about how Taryn Terrell was welcome to be around her, though she didn’t need her to win. Markova then talked about how she wanted to face Kamille soon and challenge for the NWA World Women’s Championship.

KiLynn King was backstage with May Valentine and talked about how she was very close to beating Kamille. She said she was going to rise up the ranks again, and the next time she got a title shot she was not going to miss.

Strictly Business (Thom Latimer & Chris Adonis) defeated The Cardonas (Mike Knox & VSK)

It seems Strictly Business are back together for this match after the breakdown of their relationship recently, functioning as babyfaces. I am not sure why Strictly Business went over here after having Knox and VSK lay out Bully Ray to open the show. It seems like it would be wiser to have them go forward and build some momentum heading into what is likely a match with Bully Ray and a partner.

Latmier and Knox locked up to start the match. Latimer hit a dropkick to drop Knox. Latimer hit a shoulder block after Joe Galli called him by his nickname, “The Maniacal King of All Evil” which is an unusual nickname for a babyface. Adonis hit a vertical suplex on VSK before chopping him, which sent him running to tag in Knox.

Knox hit some hard punches in the corner that sent Adonis to the mat, but Adonis got up, turned it around, and hit several hard chops. Adonis hit a flying shoulder block on Knox. Knox hit a running crossbody on Adonis, then sent Adonis into a dropkick from VSK for a two count.

Latimer came in and hit a big spinning back suplex on VSK, who then rolled up Latimer but yanked the tights, which the ref saw. As the ref was chastising VSK, Knox hit a big boot and then VSK hit a superkick on Latimer. Knox sent VSK into the corner to hit Adonis with an elbow, but Adonis caught him in the Master Lock. As Knox charged, Adonis dropped VSK and put the Master Lock on Knox while Adonis hit a pop-up powerbomb on VSK for the pinfall.

Final Thoughts

While they did a good job setting up future storylines for Kamille and the women’s title, there were a lot of questions about the other titles on this show. I am not sure if Trevor Murdoch feuding with Rush Freeman is a good idea, given Freeman is basically an undercard job guy. I was glad to see that they are clearly moving away from Murdoch being heelish and into a more “babyface with an edge” type of character, as that suits him well.

I think they were quite obviously setting up a Bully Ray and Mike Knox match down the line, though with VSK involved, it seems like Bully might be looking for a tag team partner.

The wrestling was decent on the show tonight, but there was nothing too noteworthy. The promos were mostly good, but it does feel like a somewhat weak follow up to NWA Alwayz Ready. That said, NWA does like to take their time on storylines, so we shall see how this plays out in the weeks to come.