The show starts with play-by-play man Joe Galli interviewing James Storm. Storm is frustrated that he has to keep coming out every week to prove himself even though he is the national champion. He specifically talks down Colt Cabana because he already beat Cabana and Cabana will not let it go. Eli Drake comes out to remind Storm that as long as he has that belt he may as well be next in line for Nick Aldis’ world title. Aldis comes out and basically says Drake is envious of him. He then proposes a six-man tag for later in the show. If Aldis’s team wins, Cabana gets a shot at the national championship. If Storm’s team wins, he gets a shot at the world championship, but he has to vacate the national championship. Storm agrees, and it is on.
We then get a recap of the Galli-Camille ordeal. For those that missed it, a few weeks ago Aldis accidentally clotheslined Camille in his match against Tim Storm. Since then, Camille has not said a word about her feelings on the subject, even though Galli has pushed the issue every week since then.
Then a graphic on the screen says that Eddie Kingston and Homicide will face The Dawsons in a tag team match later, plus Trevor Murdoch will be wrestling next.
NWA will also be on pay-per-view December 14 in Atlanta. That show is sold out.
Trevor Murdoch vs Jocephus
David Marquez interviews Murdoch before the match. Murdoch says he is here for a contract, and that he wants to work for the NWA.
Last week, Jocephus threw powder in Cabana’s face. The NWA wanted to suspend Jocephus for 45 days, but Murdoch said that, alternatively, they should let him have a match with him. Jocephus comes out and acts like a total crazy person before Murdoch commands him to go to the ring.
As Murdoch makes his way to the ring, Jocephus catches him off guard and pushes him into the ring post.
They both get in the ring, the bell sounds, and the match begins.
Jocephus starts with an assault of headbutts, before Murdoch counters with a kick to the face. Murdoch punches Jocephus in the corner a few times, but Jocephus countered and dropped Murdoch face-first on the turnbuckle. He then tries to grab the powder, but Murdoch reverses and powder goes everywhere. Murdoch hits a diving bulldog and gets the win.
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There is a vignette signaling that Thunder Rosa is coming soon. That is a great pickup that can only be beneficial for the NWA’s women’s division.
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Aron Stevens comes out for an interview. He reminds everyone, including Galli, to not make eye contact with him. Galli asks when we will see Stevens wrestle for the NWA, but before he can answer, Ricky Starks comes out.
Starks wants Stevens to kiss his hand, and then slaps him in the face. This is to set up a match later in the show.
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We get a recap of the build-up of Kingston and Homicide vs The Dawsons. The Dawsons interfered in the match two weeks ago where Kingston and Homicide challenged for the tag team titles. Kingston says he and Homicide have nothing to live for except for pro wrestling, so they are out for blood.
Eddie Kingston & Homicide vs The Dawsons – No DQ Match
This was a pretty dull brawl for the most part. The Dawsons beat them up outside the ring for a while, with Homicide and Kingston getting short little bits of hope in once in a while.
The tag champions Royce Isaacs and Thomas Latimer came out and attacked both teams, but ultimately the interference allowed The Dawsons to pick up the win.
This match was just under six minutes and easily felt twice as long. There was just a lot of mundane brawling and a couple of spots involving chairs that lead to the finish.
Presumably The Dawsons will get a title shot soon, but the beef between them and Kingston and Homicide is far from over.
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Ashley Vox vs Marti Belle
Both of these women want to position themselves for a shot at Allisyn Kay’s women’s world championship with a win. Both of them have already lost to Kay previously.
Vox should be the ace of the NWA women’s division at some point. She is by far the most impressive woman they have right now.
This match though, was not good. It was sloppy, Belle seemed out of place in many spots, and it was not long enough for either woman to showcase too much.
Vox wins with a roll-up counter to a pedigree-like setup by Belle.
Thunder Rosa came out to confront Belle, and some weird drumming played as she got in the ring. It was awkward and out of place, as clearly the music was not being played in the studio. Belle rolled out of the ring and left.
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Aron Stevens vs Ricky Starks
An interesting choice to have Stevens’ debut match in the NWA be unadvertised after weeks of teasing when he would finally wrestle. I would have thought they would have saved his debut for a bigger show, or at least build up to it more.
This was a classic young, good looking babyface against big, cocky heel match. Stevens used nefarious tactics to take control, but Starks fired up while Stevens taunted the crowd.
Starks won with an ocana roll after faking a slap so that Stevens would turn his back to him.
This was the best match on the show to this point, but that was not a high bar to clear. Again, a very short match (three and a half minutes) that left a bit to be desired. Also, Stevens losing his first match is an interesting decision, after weeks of him teasing when he would finally wrestle.
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TV Main Event – James Storm and Wild Cards (Latimer and Isaacs) vs Nick Aldis, Colt Cabana and Ken Anderson
This was by far the best match on the show. Coincidentally, it was also the longest at just under seven minutes.
For a six-man tag of that length, you could not do much better with the guys involved. It was a simple yet effective story: the heels did everything they could to chop down Cabana, because in the even that Aldis’ team wins, Cabana would get a title match against Storm.
Storm would only get in the ring when he knew for sure he had the upper-hand on Cabana. Awesome.
It broke down with all six guys fighting all over the place. Finally, Aldis and Cabana double-teamed Latimer and Cabana got the pin. He will receive a national title match at some point in the future.
And just like that, the show went off the air. That is another problem with this episode: a lot of segments felt rushed even though all the matches were so short. There was not enough time for some moments, like the good guys celebrating after the main event, breath.
Overall, a pretty dull show but the main event was good. Take that as you will.
