Tim Storm defeated Thom Latimer and Crimson in a Brawl in the Lou Triple Threat Match
At a tidy 9 minutes, this was everything that Tim Storm’s much-anticipated return to the ring needed. They followed the safe method of keeping the triple threat at a singles match while the 3rd man would sell, which was formulaic but allowed the performers to really get their action in. Spot of the night was immediately given away as Thom Latimer did a Swanton Bomb from the top of a ladder onto Tim Storm, who was draped on a barricade that was placed between the ramp. Overall, an entertaining match.
8.5/10
Mickie James defeated Kylie Rae in a Singles Match
Short but sweet, Mickie James and Kylie Rae had a crisp 5 minutes to really give it socks and they did. James, who was unceremoniously released by WWE looks like an absolute star that is still capable of putting on great matches. Kylie Rae really played up the character of being extremely excited to wrestle a legend, and the somewhat heel tactics by Mickie was a subtle but enjoyable hint into her future as a heel, which is where she really shines. Nothing special, but very well done in the short time it was given.
8/10
Tyrus, The Masked Man, and Jordan Clearwater (with Austin Idol) defeated Da Pope and The End (Odinson and Parrow) in a Six-man tag team match
The questionable choice of booking Tyrus as the NWA Television Champion continues to be a damper on the work rate of the show, no matter how one slices it. Da Pope and The End were clearly working their asses off in the match, bumping around for the immobile Tyrus and while Clearwater and The Masked Man were very active and really shone through it wasn’t enough to carry the match.
4/10
Chris Adonis (c) defeated James Storm in a singles match for the NWA National Championship
Boy was it good to see James Storm in the ring again. This match was very smooth and well-executed by both competitors. Adonis looks like his physical best since his WWE days even though he has improved on his in-ring work dramatically. It’s matches like this that keep the NWA National Championship as a great secondary title for the promotion.
7.5/10
Judais won after eliminating JTG in a Battle royal to determine the number one contender to the NWA National Championship
This was a fun match and a great breather in the show. Of course, it was a bit clunky at times but that is the way that these battle royales go. It is still weird to see Sal Ranallo get so much attention and booking when he continuously loses, I guess serving as the residential jobber for the NWA. Seeing sinister Minister James Mitchell was awesome, even if the introduction of Judais was a bit tainted by the commentary mistaking him for Judas Messiah AKA Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground. Honestly, everyone got a chance to get their spots in and it was great to see the amount of depth that the company has right now, even after their talent got raided by AEW and WWE during 2020 and this was a good match. The crowd was hyped for JTG, and it is clear that he should be destined for greater things in the NWA as long as he is there.
6/10
Kamille (c) defeated Chelsea Green in a Singles match for the NWA World Women’s Championship
Following both of their victories at Empowerrr, Kamille and Chelsea Green seemingly lacked some of the energy that exuded from their work in the prior night. It could have been fatigue, but the match felt a bit flat and both of them seemed to be phoning in their performance. It was still a good match, but it never felt like it went into the championship-time round as it ended at 12 minutes. Perhaps if they were given more time we could have had a much more intense story, but this was still solid nonetheless.
6.5/10
La Rebelión (Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf 450) defeated Aron Stevens and JR Kratos (c) in a Tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
This was a solid tag-team match that really relied on the classic hot-tag trope a little too heavily but it was great to see La Rebellion get the assist from Konnan, who cut a solid promo after the match. Really not much to say except for the story of Kratos becoming increasingly upset with Aron Stevens seemed to get through to the wayside for this match, which was a bit disappointing.
7/10
Trevor Murdoch (career) defeated Nick Aldis (c) for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship
The match of the night easily went towards Trevor Murdoch and Nick Aldis, who followed up their last classic match at When Our Shadows Fall with another awesome affair. Nick Aldis proves that he is one of the best heels in the business today as he just has such a uniform method of wrestling, it really allowed Trevor Murdoch to be highlighted as the babyface. Every move was well protected, and the seriousness and gravity of the match were perfectly in tune with the career vs. championship stipulation. Awesome to see Trevor win, someone who has consistently been underappreciated in the entire industry after his lackluster run in the WWE.
8.5/10
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: 8/10
FINAL NOTES:
This was a great PPV. NWA always delivers with their main shows and this was no different. Ric Flair deserves a goddamn Oscar for his promo, which finally felt like the Nature Boy being untethered by the script strings of the stingy scripts at WWE. It felt genuine, just like the amount of work that was put into making this show feel like an awesome anniversary show in the historic Chase Ballroom in St. Louis Missouri. The aesthetic, presentation and commentary team did a top-notch job in selling each match, and outside of a few questionable booking decisions (something consistently plaguing these shows from reaching their full potential), it was all great stuff. Congratulations to Trevor Murdoch.