Last week, we saw the formation of a new stable in the NWA. Nick Aldis, Kamille, Tom Latimer, and Royce Isaacs joined forces when they beat up Tim Storm. Tonight, we began to see the fallout from this.
David Marquez was with Trevor Murdoch, who was given an NWA contract. The crowd cheered loudly for him, and he had a big smile on his face. Zicky Dice cut Murdoch off and talked about how he spent the night with “Dusty,” a dancer from down the road. Murdoch and Dice looked like they were going to get in a brawl, but The Pope (Elijah Burke) came out!
Pope talked about the NWA Television Championship and everyone that paved the way for them. Pope said he was in the NWA looking for his superpowers — meaning he’s looking for a group that he is going to take over professional wrestling with. Dice asked if he was who Pope was looking for, and Pope pointed at him and walked away before joining the commentary team.
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NWA Television title tournament qualifying match: Ricky Starks defeated Eddie Kingston
Kingston showed his wrestling ability early on, managing to get a side headlock on Starks. Starks fought out into a hammerlock, but Kingston hit an elbow and sent Starks into the corner. Starks got his boot up and hit a shoulder tackle off the middle rope before hitting a flying crossbody for a two count.
Starks hit a few kicks and chops, but Kingston told him to hit him again. Starks kicked him in the face and got a two count. Starks went for an Irish whip, but Kingston reversed into an exploder. Kingston hit some hard punches and sent Starks into the ropes. Starks came off with a slingblade that dropped Kingston.
Starks got his foot up in the corner again and hit a tornado DDT. He went for Buster Keaton, but Kingston fought out into a suplex. Starks made a comeback and countered into Buster Keaton for the pinfall victory.
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Royce Isaacs came out to the ringside area with May Valentine. It appears they are in a relationship. Isaacs whispered to Marquez about the things he had planned with her, and Marquez was appalled. Isaacs said that what was happening with Nick Aldis is that they were taking over the world.
Isaacs then said he wanted to prove he could wrestle one-on-one and wanted to show Valentine what he could do. James Storm walked out to answer him.
Storm went into the ring and the referee came in to get ready for the match. When they came back from break, Isaacs asked for four kisses from Valentine before he started the match. Isaacs claimed he needed a massage too, but as his back was turned, Storm attacked.
James Storm defeated Royce Isaacs via countout
Storm beat Isaacs around the ringside area, threw Isaacs into the ring, and went for the superkick. Isaacs grabbed Valentine and then walked away from ringside. Storm led the referee and crowd into a count of 10, which the crowd popped for.
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Eli Drake came out with champagne and it looked like he was mildly drunk. He talked about how the new year was just around the corner. Drake said he needed new goals for 2020, but he wasn’t going to make resolutions. He said that goals sounded like gold, and he pointed out his Nike shoes and his jacket.
Jocephus was dressed as Santa and they sang some Christmas carols while Drake walked around drunk. This was rather nonsensical, but I guess that made sense as he was supposed to be drunk?
Jocephus has a good voice though. The crowd started to boo as the song ended and Nick Aldis, Kamille, and The Wild Cards came out.
Aldis had gifts for his crew — track jackets for everyone. Marquez wanted to ask about Kamille, and Aldis tapped his watch and said, “Who had one minute?” Aldis said everyone fell for it, with James Storm losing their title match and the attack on Tim Storm. Aldis then responded to what Ricky Morton said, and Aldis credited himself for being the reason that all of this was happening.
Aldis asked for The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express to come out and addressed Morton. Aldis asked Morton to clarify his comments. Morton said that he simply gave his opinion. He said that Aldis does represent the greatest championship in wrestling, but while Aldis spent two years building the NWA, Ric Flair, Harley Race, and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express spent their entire lives building it.
Morton apologized for offending him and offered a handshake. Aldis then said that they saw what happened with James Storm and Tim Storm, so Morton should think very carefully before opening his mouth again.
Excellent promo here. I have no idea what Eli Drake was doing, but Aldis was phenomenal. It would seem they are building to The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express being a part of a team against Team Aldis.
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The woman that scores the victory in this match gets to name their next opponent.
Melina, Thunder Rosa & Marti Belle defeated NWA Women’s World Champion Allysin Kay, Ashley Vox & ODB
Thunder Rosa started the match with ODB, but it wasn’t long before Kay tagged in and Thunder Rosa floated over a suplex attempt by Kay into a neckbreaker. Belle tagged in and hit a knee on Kay. She went for the Pedigree, but Kay hit a Samoan drop to escape before tagging out to Vox.
Vox ran across the ring and hit a dropkick on Melina, who just tagged in. Melina raked the eyes and sent her into a Rosa dropkick on Vox’s knee. The heels got the heat on Vox for a bit, with Rosa looking the best on her team, hitting Vox with a chop before tagging out to Melina.
Melina hit an ugly DDT on Vox for a two count. Melina picked up Vox, but she managed to roll up Melina for a two count. Vox made the hot tag to Kay, who hit a chop and a pump kick to Melina. Melina hit a jawbreaker and tagged out to Rosa. Kay tagged in ODB, who hit a fallaway slam on Rosa and Vox hit a missile dropkick off the middle rope.
Belle and Melina sent Kay to the floor, but Vox got her submission — The Reel Catch — on Thunder Rosa. Rosa bit Vox’s pinky finger and stood up before hitting a shoulder breaker on Vox again. Rosa held onto her and then hit a driving shoulder breaker to the mat to get the win.
Rosa then announced who she was going to face, and it looked like she was going to say Kay, but Melina cut her off and said “ODB!” Rosa then said, “ODB, sure, I guess.”
It seems like Melina doesn’t want Rosa challenging for the title. With that being said, this group just formed — why are we seeing them not getting along already? We saw that last week with Melina bossing Belle around, and now Thunder Rosa.
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The next names were drawn for the NWA Television title tournament, and Tim Storm’s name was chosen. Aldis’ name was selected next, and Storm will be facing off against Nick Aldis next week. Storm cut a promo saying that “Mama Storm turned 95 last week.”
Storm told us that his mother didn’t retire until she was 78. Storm said she was the reason he keeps working and is the reason he has his work ethic. Storm talked about how his dad left when he was a kid and she went to work every day even if she didn’t want to.
Mama Storm said that Tim still had something to prove, and Storm quoted Dusty Rhodes, modifying the promo a little, saying “My body might be a little bit old, and it might be a little bit broken down, but I’m bad, and they know I’m bad!” This was phenomenal.
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NWA Television title tournament qualifying match: The Question Mark defeated Colt Cabana
Cabana got hit with a big chop early on, but he managed to out wrestle Question Mark into a pinfall attempt. Question Mark kicked out and then tried to chase Cabana around the ring. Cabana tried to pin him as Question Mark rolled into the ring. Question Mark kicked out, then both men exchanged some strikes.
Cabana hit him with a chop and then landed a big splash off the middle rope for a two count. Question Mark hit the ropes and hit a series of jumping chops, but Cabana hit a bionic elbow to drop Question Mark. Cabana went to the top rope and went for a jumping bionic elbow, but The Question Mark hit the Mongrovian Spike as Cabana came down. Question Mark then pinned Cabana to get the win.
Backstage, Aron Stevens and Question Mark cut a promo about how they were going after all the belts.
This main event match was fun, because Cabana and Question Mark are fun, but it was no good in terms of actual in-ring quality.
I liked the follow up with Tim Storm and Aldis, and that is probably how I would have ended the show. Ending with Storm’s promo would have been a higher point than the match featuring Question Mark and Cabana, but it was still a very solid episode. I am very much looking forward to Aldis vs. Storm next week.