NWA 74: Night 2 Review - August 28, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Doug Williams vs. Rhett Titus in a Submission Match Ended in a Time-Limit Draw

This was a random last-minute addition to the card. Titus already beat VSK on the Night 1 pre-show, but it was cool to get Williams in action since he had to be pulled and relinquish the NWA World Tag Team Championship due to an injury/illness to Davey Boy Smith Jr. The stipulation was especially random, but it complimented their styles nicely and it was a quality contest. Could they not have done a decisive finish?

Pre-Show: Angelina Love def. Taryn Terrell

I didn't have high hopes for this considering the in-ring work of both women has regressed since her IMPACT days. To their credit, they put together a passable match and that all I really wanted out of this. It was wise to relegate it to the pre-show so it didn't have to take time away from anything that actually mattered, but I do appreciate that there were multiple women's matches on this card.

Pre-Show: Kerry Morton def. Gustavo

Gustavo Aguilar dropped his last name here for some reason. Anyway, Kerry failed to win the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship from Homicide on Night 1 after Homicide cheated, so this was meant to be a rebound win for him. It was a fairly basic bout, but it was decent while it lasted. Kerry has been impressive considering how inexperienced he still is and he continues to make strides.

Pre-Show: Natalia Markova, Madi and Missa Kate def. Jennacide, Taya Valkyrie and KiLynn King; Markova def. Kate and Madi in a Three-Way Match to Become NWA's Queen Bee

This Queen Bee was the first of its kind in the NWA. By winning the six-woman tag team match, Markova, Madi and Kate then immediately faced each other in a three-way match to determine the inaugural Queen Bee. I'm glad there was more female representation on this two-night pay-per-view since EmPowerrr wasn't a thing this year, even though this was relegated to the pre-show. The first match was well wrestled, but the second was too rushed to mean much. At least Markova finally won something meaningful after having her momentum derailed earlier in the summer.

Colby Corino def. Caprice Coleman in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match

This stipulation was added after Coleman's team beat Corino's team on the Night 1 pre-show. I don't recall these two having any bad blood on the shows leading up to this event, so I'm not sure if the stipulation was necessary, but they were two good people to be put in it as this turned out to be an enjoyable opener. Corino has lost a lot in recent months, so I'm happy he picked up the win to get back on the right track. As for Coleman, he continues to age in reverse.

The Fixers Won a 12-Team Battle Royal to Become the Inaugural NWA United States Tag Team Champions

Other teams included Alex Taylor and Jeremiah Plunkett of The Ill Begotten, The Now, Sal the Pal and Gaagz the Gymp of The Miserably Faithful, Gold Rushhh, Ruff ‘n’ Ready, The Fixers, Hawx Aerie, Team Ambition, Country Gentlemen, The Spectaculars, The OGK, and La Rebelion (who just regained the NWA World Tag Team Championship on Night 1). Man, this was a mess. The NWA has quite a few teams to be fair, but several of these tandems aren't regulars in the NWA and the division isn't deep enough to justify having two sets of tag titles. The only saving grace of this The Fixers winning the belts, who have been consistently entertaining since joining forces. The OGK and La Rebelion furthering their feud by eliminating each other was notable as well.

Magic Jake Dumas def. Mercurio

This was obviously designed to be the comedown match after the tag team Battle Royal (hey, I wasn't a fan of it as described in the previous paragraph, but the crowd sure was into it). I don't know what purpose this was supposed to serve other than to get both guys on the show. Neither guy has been involved in anything of importance so far in the NWA, so this felt like it belonged in the main event of NWA USA, not on an already-bloated pay-per-view card. It was fine for what it was.

MLW National Openweight Champion Davey Richards def. Thrillbilly Silas

Getting the MLW National Openweight Championship defended on an NWA pay-per-view was a great get for the NWA. MLW is on hiatus at the moment until tapings resume in the fall, so this was an effective way of reminding people that the promotion exists in the meantime. I can't remember a single match Silas has had in the NWA thus far, but this exceeded my expectations and was well paced. More crossover between the NWA and MLW (not Control Your Narrative) would be refreshing.

Barry Windham and J.J. Dillon Addressed the Audience

This was similar to Tommy Rich's appearance on Night 1 with how Windham and Dillon came out to cut promos and address the audience. Also like I said with Rich, they didn't ramble on forever like their Four Horsemen stablemate Ric Flair did last year. It's always nice to see legends of their caliber show up, especially on such a special occasion given everything they did to make the NWA brand what it was.

NWA National Champion Cyon def. Anthony Mayweather

Mayweather has been absent from NWA programming for many months and returned on Night 1 to cost Jax Dane (who was sitting on the stage for this) the NWA National Championship. Cyon does nothing for me as champ, but I don't know putting the belt back on Mayweather after one day would have been the smartest idea, either. This was adequate but had no spark whatsoever. It would have been a better idea to build this up a bit more before rushing into it. Maybe the crowd would've cared in that case.

NWA World Women's Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered def. The Hex in a Kingshighway Street Fight

This was a rematch from when Pretty Empowered beat The Hex for the NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship at Alwayz Ready. The stipulation was a nice touch, especially since we don't usually see the women in gimmick matches in the NWA. They made the most of it and had a fun brawl (even though I've seen that spot with the Legos has been done to death in wrestling recently). Props to all four ladies for giving this a great effort, getting the crowd engaged and making the tag titles feel like they're worth fighting for.

NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Homicide def. Ricky Morton

Homicide vs. Kerry Morton on Night 1 had a natural story and was one of the better bouts of the show. I know Ricky is Kerry's father and him attempting to avenge his son made sense, but this match did not need to happen, especially since it was not very good. I usually praise Ricky for continuing to compete at such a high level, but this was a weak performance and the match had a flat finish.

Nick Aldis def. Flip Gordon

I'm old enough to remember when Gordon challenged Nick Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship a few years back in an attempt to get on the All In card. Gordon's been doing a whole lot of nothing since Final Battle and he's certainly a polarizing figure, but in the ring, he's a talented dude and he had a well-worked affair. Odinson attacking both men afterward was weird. An Aldis vs. Odinson program doesn't compel at all.

Da Pope and Kratos def. Aron Stevens and Rodney Mack in a Missouri Tornado Tag Team Match

Falls counted anywhere in this one. Pope was attacked by Stevens and Mack on the Night 1 pre-show and the returning Kratos (Stevens' old tag partner) came to his aid. By this point in the show, I almost thought I was watching WWE Extreme Rules. I mean, this had no business having tornado tag team rules. Admittedly, though, it did make the match more interesting, even though the action was all over the place. Pope was able to get a measure of revenge over Stevens and Mack with the win. Post-match, the commentators teased not knowing what Kratos' future holds in the NWA.

Thom Latimer vs. EC3 Ended in a No Contest

These two had an altercation backstage on Night 1. I like EC3, but this wasn't a match I was super invested in and I could sense that the crowd felt the same way. This didn't have much heat and there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Rather, it merely existed so EC3's Control Your Narrative crew could show up and attack Latimer. NWA and Control Your Narrative is the working relationship I didn't know I didn't want. All due respect to EC3 and whatever he's trying to do, but his promotion has no buzz and pairing up with the NWA doesn't do either promotion any favors.

NWA World Women's Champion Kamille def. Max The Impaler

Props to the NWA for giving Max the monster push from the get-go. She hasn't been around very long, but she was absolutely a threat to take the title here. I didn't think this match would come close to being as good as Kamille vs. Valkyrie, and although it started slow, they ultimately had a top-notch match where Kamille had to fight from underneath for the first time. She's been champion for well over a year, so the nearfalls were suspenseful, but she was able to find a way to win in the end. Again, I'm left wondering, who on the roster can possibly beat Kamille at this point?

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch def. NWA Television Champion Tyrus (NWA Television Championship Was Not Defended)

This has disaster written all over it because how terrible Tyrus is. The fact we went from Murdoch vs. Aldis as the main event to this for no reason at all is astounding. Tyrus should be nowhere near the main event of any show, if he's on the show at all. With all of that said, I thought Murdoch did the best he could to carry this to something passable. Tyrus is extremely limited, but they didn't go overly and they tried to tell the story of Murdoch pulling everything out of his arsenal and hitting his finisher multiple times in order to put Tyrus away. Tyrus winning would have obviously been awful, so thankfully, that did not happen. This certainly wasn't worthy of headlining the pay-per-view, but it could have been worse.

Overall Show

There were also segments where Joe Galli proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of the ring and William Patrick Corgan announced that NWA 75 will take place in St. Louis again next year. This was around the same length as Night 1 and I have no earthly idea why. Again, I understand they're celebrating the company's big anniversary, but a lot of people pulled double duty to fill out the card and most of those matches were pointless. I will say, even with the abysmal main event, Night 2 was slightly stronger than Night 1 on the whole (especially if you're into the stipulation stuff), but NWA 74 will not be remembered for being anything special if it's remembered at all.

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