NWA Shockwave Review - December 1, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NWA World Tag Team Champion Eli Drake def. Jordan Cruz

As far as I know, Drake and James Storm are still the NWA World Tag Team Champions, though Drake didn't come out with the title here. I've missed seeing him in action and I hope he pops up elsewhere one of these days like other NWA talent have during the pandemic (Thunder Rosa in AEW, James Storm in IMPACT, etc). I'm not familiar with Cruz whatsoever, but he had a solid showing for himself here. This was an enjoyable little opener that didn't go longer than it needed to.

Kamille def. Heather Monroe

I recognized Monroe from the few matches she's had on AEW Dark this year. She seems decent from what I've seen and I was surprised she scored as much offense as she did here. On the bright side, it allowed her to look good in defeat and not get completely squashed. As for Kamille, she's obviously still a work in progress, but she appears to be making strides in the ring and proved in this bout that she could hold her own.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis def. Mike Bennett

Bennett is an excellent fit for the NWA if that's where he winds up officially post-WWE. He recently returned to Ring of Honor, so that's why I think this was a one-off. Both he and Aldis cut great promos leading up to the match and it served as a nice reminder of how talented Bennett truly is after being marginalized in WWE. They told a terrific story, and although this was a bit shorter than I thought it would be, they made every minute matter and the involvement from Kamille and Mike's wife Maria at ringside was well done. As previously mentioned, I assume this was it for Bennett and the NWA, but I hope I'm wrong because this was a top-notch performance from him and Aldis was a fantastic foil for him. Aldis' two-year run as NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion rolls on.

Overall Show

If you couldn't already tell, these matches were taped a while ago and aired on the United Wrestling Network's Prime Time Live program on FITE TV. Thus, Shockwave will apparently feature the NWA matches from that show. It isn't exactly Powerrr, but it's better than nothing. Watching this really made me miss Powerrr and how different it is from everything else in wrestling. The first two matches were well-wrestled and the main event was a treat that's worth seeking out. For a 33-minute show, this was a superb piece of business.