NWA 312 Review - April 7, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Natalia Markova def. Labrava Escobar

I believe this was Escobar's NWA debut because I don't remember seeing her in action before. She didn't stand out at all, so it felt like this was designed to get Markova on the show and to give her a win. Hopefully we'll see her in one of the two title pictures before long because she's been spinning her wheels for a while now. This was perfectly passable for a pre-show match, though I could have done without CJ's interference.

Pre-Show: NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Country Gentlemen def. The SVGS

Although I'd argue that this belonged on the main card due to being a title match, I also don't remember this receiving any actual build on Powerrr or even NWA USA prior to this pay-per-view. The SVGs have won a match or two, so apparently that was enough to earn them an opportunity at the championship. This was a fine hoss fight for what it was but probably could have been better with more time.

Pre-Show: Gaagz The Gymp def. Sal The Pal in a Hair vs. Mask Strap Match

I was wondering recently what the hell happened to Gaagz and Sal feuding because it felt like it was dropped after their Powerrr match ended in a double count-out. Gaagz's mask was on the line as well as Sal's hair. I'm glad they actually followed through on the stipulation, though Gaagz only partially shaved Sal's head afterward. The match was whatever and I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. They then disobeyed Judais, leading to Father James Mitchell kicking them out of The Miserably Faithful. Even if the group isn't officially over, they were the wo worst members, so this is a positive development.

Pre-Show: Trevor Murdoch and Mike Knox def. Daisy Kill and Talos

Murdoch went from headlining several NWA pay-per-views for the top title to being relegated to the pre-show. At the very least, this had a bit of a build beforehand with Knox aiding Murdoch against Kill and Talos a few weeks ago, but I can't say the storyline has been lighting the world on fire. This was such a basic tag team match that I actually have no issue with this not being on the main card.

EC3 def. Cyon to Win the NWA National Championship

​Both of these guys were heels the last time I checked, so I'm not sure who the crowd was supposed to cheer for. It doesn't help that Cyon is as exciting as watching grass grow and EC3 hasn't had a memorable match since coming to the NWA (or at least memorable for the right reasons), so this turned out to be a snoozefest. Cyon's reign was a total bore, so EC3 taking the title might be a minor improvement.

NWA World Women's Tag Team Champions Madi and Missa Kate def. Pretty Empowered 2.0 (Ella Envy and Roxy)

The drama within the ranks of Pretty Empowered hasn't been the slightest bit interesting and hasn't been properly progressed, either, so it's been tough to care. Madi and Kate won the titles not too long ago, so I'm glad they held onto the gold here instead of quickly dropping them back to Pretty Empowered. Despite only being an average outing, this was the best thing on the show up to this point.

Kratos def. Yabo the Clown

Yes, Yabo was a literal clown wrestler, but not in a semi-entertaining way like Doink the Clown. His shtick was just bad, and therefore this was just bad as well. Seriously, how the hell did this crap make the show? If Kratos killed him immediately, it may have been somewhat understandable, but he didn't. Rather, this dragged on for almost seven minutes. Seven minutes! It's embarrassing crap like this that doesn't do the NWA any favors.

Thrillbilly Silas Won the Bob Luce Memorial Battle Royal to Become the No. 1 Contender to the NWA National Championship

This was basically every Battle Royal you've ever seen, and I don't mean that as a compliment. It featured plenty of NWA regulars who didn't make the card, but there was nothing remotely special about this at all. That said, the fact it was held in the honor of Bob Luce was cool, and it helped that there was a title shot at stake, so it wasn't completely pointless. Silas was the perfect person to win given the roll he's been on since the beginning of the year.

Kenzie Paige def. Max the Impaler in the Finals of the NWA Women's Television Championship to Become the Inaugural NWA Women's Television Champion

This was similar to the NWA National Championship match because neither of these women were established as babyfaces beforehand. Despite that, I liked the dynamic they had with Paige playing the underdog role and Max on offense throughout. It had too many shenanigans for my liking, but I understand they were meant to protect Max in defeat. I would have been content with either of them winning, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what Paige can do on her own.

NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Kerry Morton def. Joe Alonzo

Alonzo has been built up nicely with Jamie Stanley as his manager and actually posed a threat to the title. That said, Morton has done an excellent job as champion so far and it would have been a mistake to take the title off him at this point. This was one of the better wrestled matches on the show as both guys had solid showings and worked a nice pace. Amazingly, the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship might be the best booked men's title in the company in the past year.

Bully Ray def. NWA Television Champion Thom Latimer by Disqualification (Non-Title)

It was never explained why the NWA Television Championship wasn't on the line here. Did Bully do anything to deserve it? No, but neither did most of the challengers on this show. This was a cold match between two babyfaces with no issue with each other. I assume the disqualification finish will set up a title rematch, but again, why not do it here? This was a lame match anyway, so it's not as if anyone will be clamoring for a rematch.

NWA World Tag Team Champions La Rebelion def. Magnum Muscle

La Rebelion have done well as NWA World Tag Team Champions in the last two years, but they've had two lengthy reigns with zero rivalries that stand out. The division is in desperate need of a reset, and although I'm not sure Magnum Muscle winning would have changed much, it at least would have been something different. It was a well-worked match, but Aron Stevens and Blunt Force Trauma interfering was unnecessary and ideally should have resulted in the contest being thrown out.

NWA World Women's Champion Kamille def. La Rosa Negra

Negra has been killing it lately and I was really happy to see her get this shot. You can say the same about Kamille, whose improvement has been super noticeable in the last year or so. She's put tremendous effort into honing her craft and it's made every one of her matches better as a result. Put the two of them together and you have a great match. They had terrific chemistry and the crowd was invested. I was pulling for Negra to be the one to end Kamille's near-two-year reign (because if not her, then who?), but at least she was made to look strong in defeat. I'd definitely be down for a rematch.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus def. Chris Adonis

These pay-per-view main events involving Tyrus continue to be terrible. Adonis did what he could to get a passable match out of him, but this had no heat and Tyrus' performance was embarrassingly bad per usual. The execution of the finish was also not good. Okay, he was in a Super Bowl commercial, but what else does he bring to the brand other than negative attention? Booking him as a monster heel would have been one thing, but they went ahead and turned him face, a role he's clearly miscast in. This was abysmal all around.

Overall Show

Magnum Muscle, Negra and Adonis cashed in their Champions Series title shots and all of them lost. It might be time to retire the silly Champions Series gimmick. In all seriousness, this show was tough to watch. It wasn't all awful, as I genuinely liked the NWA World Women's Championship and NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship matches (the NWA Women's Television Championship match was decent as well), but mostly everything else was lazy filler. Maybe these events need to be a certain length, but this would have been at least a little more tolerable if it was under two hours. Tyrus as the top champion only drags down the product even further.

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