 Pre-Show: Jordan Clearwater Won an NWA National Championship No. 1 Contender's Battle RoyalThis played out as your typical Battle Royal, though there were a lot more "betrayals" than I thought there would be with tag team partners throwing each other out. It was the NWA's way of getting everyone on the card again for Night 2 and had something at stake, so it served its purpose. Clearwater was an acceptable choice to win as he hasn't been involved in much of note since losing the NWA Television Championship. Zicky Dice returning for the first time in a few years to take part was cool, too. Pre-Show: Natalia Markova def. Taylor RisingMarkova already headlined Night 1 in a hell of a match with Kamille for the NWA World Women's Championship, so while this match wasn't exactly necessary, I assume the NWA had some time to kill on the pre-show and wanted to get her on the card again. Plus, it gave her a chance to bounce back from the loss. It was a fairly average outing. I have no idea what Markova does now after failing to win the title three times unless she sets her sights on the NWA Women's Television Championship. Pre-Show: Daisy Kill and Talos def. The Country Gentlemen to Win the NWA United States ChampionshipI can't say I'm shocked that Kill and Talos took the tag titles here considering how Country Gentlemen have largely been booked as afterthoughts since becoming champions at the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, Kill and Talos have been all over the NWA's shows, so I understand the move even though I'm not the biggest fan of the team. This was a decent match, but I maintain that the NWA's tag team division isn't deep enough to justify having two sets of men's tag titles. NWA Television Champion Thom Latimer def. Chris AdonisThere's so much history between these two that I hate that this match only came together on the most recent Powerrr. Why not start building it up weeks ago and have Adonis explain why he turned on Latimer? Regardless, they ended up having a pretty good opener. A lot of Latimer's defenses as Television champ haven't been the most exciting, but this was well paced and Adonis felt like a legitimate challenger. We'll see if this was it for them or if the rivalry will continue. Pretty Empowered (Ella Envy and Kylie Paige) def. M95 to Win the NWA World Women's Tag Team ChampionshipPretty Empowered have spent so much time in the tag team ranks this past years that I was hoping we had moved on from them in the title picture, but I guess the NWA only has so many female teams. Plus, the title change made more sense after what happened with Kenzie Paige later on. This was a quality contest and I applaud Madi and Missa Kate for developing into a nice team over the course of their reign. NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Colby Corino def. Jack CartwheelCartwheel earned this opportunity with a win in a multi-man match on the Night 1 pre-show. It would have been silly for Corino to lose the title one night after winning it, but they had a blast of a bout here and Cartwheel gained a ton from this performance. He's definitely a spot-fest guy (that was clear from the matches he had on AEW Dark), but he's a nice fit for the junior heavyweight division and the crowd ate up his offense. I'd be shocked if the NWA didn't bring him back after this. NWA Women's Television Champion Max the Impaler def. Ruthie JayI don't think there was any reason for fans view Jay as a serious threat to the title, especially since Max just captured the championship on Night 1. There was zero chance of her losing it here, and while I understand the NWA wanting to include Max on the card (most people competed both nights), this felt pretty pointless. on the bright side, it didn't last longer than it needed to and Max went over in decisive fashion. La Rebelion def. The Brothers of FunstructionLa Rebelion had Vampiro in their corner while Brothers of Funstruction had Violent J of Insane Clown Posse in their corner as they did on Night 1. Brothers of Funstruction previously beat La Rebelion, not to mention La Rebelion are coming off their loss of the NWA World Tag Team Championship on Night 1, so I'm glad they bounced back here. I'm still no fan of the clown duo, but this was a fairly average outing that didn't leave me with much to complain about. Kerry Morton def. Matt CardonaThis was billed as an open challenge by Cardona coming into the event, at least until Morton was announced as his opponent during Night 1. It was an awesome opportunity for Morton and he definitely proved he was on Cardona's level. It would have been one thing for him to be made to look credible in defeat, but he gained a ton from actually scoring the victory. Cardona is obviously established and loses nothing from this, especially if he's no longer a regular in the NWA. This also allowed Morton to bounce back from his loss of the Junior Heavyweight title on Night 1, indicating he's ready to move up the card. NWA National Champion Thrillbilly Silas Mason def. Jordan ClearwaterThe problem with having all of the new champions crowned on Night 1 defend their titles on Night 2 was that their matches lacked drama on this show. Clearwater winning that Battle Royal on the pre-show was cool, but he's also the same guy who lost clean to Zyon of all people on the Night 1 pre-show. In other words, he wasn't a credible challenger for Mason at this point in time. They had a well-worked match, but it would have benefited from a longer build and should've been saved for down the road. NWA World Tag Team Champions Blunt Force Trauma def. Knox and MurdochI was wondering why Knox and Murdoch wouldn't get the first crack at the tag titles on Night 1 considering they won the Crockett Cup, but I guess that was because Blunt Force Trauma beat La Rebellion at the Crockett Cup event and won their title rematch by disqualification or count-out soon after (if I remember correctly). I would have rather seen Knox and Murdoch dethrone La Rebelion, but oh well. The match was okay for what it was. Maybe Aron Stevens screwing Knox and Murdoch out of the win will keep Knox and Murdoch in chase mode. Kenzie Paige def. Kamille to Win the NWA World Women's ChampionshipKamille and Markova really raised the bar with their No Limits match in the main event of Night 1 and I wasn't sure if this would be able to measure up. Then again, Kamille has consistently delivered throughout her reign, so I shouldn't have been surprised this was great, too. It took some time to get going, but once they picked up the pace, they had a strong match, complete with the long-awaited title change. It felt like a big moment because Kamille's been champ for so long and it puts Paige over big time. She's come a long way since debuting and feels ready for this spot after the recent work she's done as NWA Women's Television Champion. EC3 def. Tyrus in a Bullrope Match to Win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight ChampionshipPer the stipulation. Tyrus now has to retire. We'll see if it sticks, but I want to think it will based on how emotional he got afterward and how it was played up as it being the end of his career. Personally, I won't shed a tear, but props to him if he's indeed calling it quits. With all of that said, this was horrendous. EC3 did what he could, but Tyrus is practically immobile in the ring these days, can't sell for shit, and all of his offense looks awful. I wasn't expecting an instant classic, but this was worse than I anticipated. Hey, EC3 won, so at least there was that. Woof. Overall ShowNight 2 was a step down from Night 1 because most of the matches were predictable, not to mention that Night 2 will always be remembered for that atrocity of a main event. From an in-ring standpoint, though, both nights were far better than anything the NWA has produced on pay-per-view in a long time. It's a bummer that the only thing I saw people talking about after it was over was Tyrus vs. EC3, but fingers crossed the NWA can start to turn things around without Tyrus holding them back. I figured there would be more done to honor the company's rich history with it being the 75th anniversary, but that's just a minor criticism. All in all, I enjoyed NWA 75 much more than I thought I would and the two big title changes helped make it feel like they're entering a new era.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
November 2023
|
RSS Feed