NWA Nuff Said Review - February 11, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: La Rosa Negra def. Missa Kate

The commentators reminded us that Negra has a Champions Series title shot at her disposal any time she wishes to use it. We haven't gotten to see a ton from her, but that frog splash from her at the end was quite great. This was a basic bout otherwise. Hopefully Negra can rack up some wins and work her way through the NWA's women's division. Kate probably works best in the enhancement role but I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary about her so far.

Pre-Show: Dak Draper and Mims def. Jax Dane and Blake "Bulletproof" Troop

Troop's only other NWA appearance was against Dane on an episode of NWA USA back in December. He's got a good look and I thought he had a solid showing here. I don't know if either of these teams will stick, or what the point of this match even was​ other than to get these guys on the card, but it was well worked and they picked up the pace down the stretch. I'd like to see more done with Draper and Mims as singles stars.

Pre-Show: Odinson def. Joe Alonzo

I know Alonzo has been made to look competitive in the past and he's certainly skilled, but I don't know if it was wise to have him last as long as he did against Odinson if the idea was to make Odinson look dominant. I've never understood Odinson's booking because he has a unique look and isn't bad in the ring but has never gotten anything going for himself. This turned into a quality match with Alonzo selling nicely for Odinson's offense.

Pre-Show: Natalia Markova and Mercurio def. Jennacide and Max The Impaler

Max was accompanied to the ring by Amy Rose, who served as her manager in Ring of Honor. Max and Markova obviously have their history from the Casket match they had at Hard Times 3 back in November. Markova and Mercurio also teamed up last week on NWA USA, so if they're going to be aligned going forward, it made sense for them to win here. It was decent enough. Post-match, Magic Jake Dumas confronted Markova and Mercurio and I have no clue why, but I assume we'll find out soon.

Thom Latimer def. Fodder in a Signapore Cane Match

This feud only started on last week's live Powerrr when Psycho Love attacked Latimer and Kamille, so I have no idea why this needed a Signapore Cane stipulation. Maybe they wanted to add an attraction to the card and raise the stakes? Either way, they made the most of it and had a hard-hitting opener. Fodder hasn't been established at all, so I didn't mind Latimer going over. For starters, Fodder needs a new name.

NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Kerry Morton def. Alex Taylor

This was the title shot Taylor earned from his team winning the Champions Series. He's only been positioned as a tag team player in Ill Begotten thus far, so while there was no reason to buy into him as a threat to the title, I thought he did really well and looked credible in defeat. Morton is the perfect fit for that title right now, and if he continues to have matches of this caliber, he has a fun run as champion ahead of him.

Thrillbilly Silas def. Kratos by Referee Stoppage

Pollo Del Mar was laid out by Kratos during Kratos' match with Silas on Powerrr this past week, so that was how this came about. I would have rather seen this given the Signapore Cane stipulation because of how personal their bad blood felt by the end. In fact, Silas made Kratos bleed before the referee called for the bell, so that was a cool visual. Silas has been really impressive lately and I hope he can continue riding the wave of momentum.

The Renegade Twins def. Pretty Empowered to Win the NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship

Renegade Twins only recently arrived in the NWA coming off their many appearances in AEW. Pretty Empowered have been the champions since the summer, so although I haven't seen many above-average Renegade Twins matches, it was logical to do the title change. Plus, Pretty Empowered have been teasing tension on and off for a while now, so this was inevitable. It was a passable match but nothing worth writing home about.

EC3 def. Kevin Kiley Jr.

It was announced earlier in the evening that EC3 has signed with the NWA and Control Your Narrative is part of the package apparently. Oh, joy. Kiley is, of course, the former Alex Riley, who I don't believe has wrestled a single match since being released from WWE in May 2016. That's a seven year layoff. I was always a big Alex Riley fan and was curious to see what he could do upon his return, but this was just embarrassing. He looked lost from the moment he came through the curtain and EC3 had to carry the entire contest. That dive to the outside from Kiley was also insanely dumb and dangerous. Needless to say, Kiley could have used a few warm-up matches beforehand. The NWA should be embarrassed to have put this on pay-per-view.

NWA World Tag Team Champions La Rebelion def. Blunt Force Trauma by Disqualification

This came completely out of nowhere as I don't recall Blunt Force Trauma doing anything to earn a shot at the tag titles. Were they feuding with La Rebelion before the NWA took its brief break? They're an okay powerhouse team, but La Rebelion were heels the last time I checked, so this had a weird dynamic and the crowd didn't came. The abrupt disqualification finish with Aron Stevens interfering only made matters worse. Everything about this was flat.

Chris Adonis def. Trevor Murdoch

These two previously feuded over the NWA National Championship back in 2021 before renewing hostilities during Team War last week, though I believe the roles have been reversed with Adonis as the babyface and Murdoch as the heel. I'm not exactly sure since I don't remember Adonis ever actually turning, but the crowd certainly treated him like the babyface. This was a good outing that helped get the crowd back into the show after back-to-back bad matches.

​NWA World Women's Champion Kamille def. Angelina Love in a No Disqualification Match

Kamille going right after Love before the bell rang because of Psycho Love attacking her and Latimer last week was a nice touch. I've seen Kamille's social media posts about putting in the work and improving and it has shown in her matches. This was better than I thought it would be, and I have to give Love credit for that as well. They busted their asses and put forth a commendable effort. I say this after every NWA pay-per-view, but there's no name that comes to mind as who should be the one to eventually dethrone Kamille.

NWA National Champion Cyon def. Homicide

This suffered from the same issue as the NWA World Tag Team Championship match in that both guys have been clearly defined as heels and the crowd had no incentive to cheer for either of them. I understood the story they were trying to tell with Cyon wanting to avenge his father Austin Idol for Homicide disrespecting him and Homicide worked from underneath for a majority of the match, but this wasn't very interesting or exciting. It definitely dragged and lasted longer than it needed to.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus def. Matt Cardona

This had a "No Seconds" stipulation, meaning that there couldn't be anyone at ringside to prevent interference. Well, we got interference anyway, so it didn't really matter. This was full of shenanigans and was super overbooked, That said, without the smoke and mirrors, this probably would have been worse than it was. I give Cardona credit for trying to make this work, but Tyrus is just abysmal. Now it looks like we're headed toward a Tyrus vs. Bully Ray title match at some point. Good Lord.

Overall Show

Of everything that happened on this pay-per-view, the only Nuff Said-related thing I saw my Twitter timeline talking about was that awful EC3 vs. Kiley match. Yikes. The NWA has a poor reputation as it is and stuff like that will not help them at all. At any rate, this was on par with most other NWA pay-per-views from the past year. Not everything was terrible as there were certainly some standout matches, but the bad will be far more memorable than the good, not to mention that the product remains in poor shape with Tyrus as its champion.

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