NWA Hard Times | 1/24/20 | GPB Studios | Atlanta, GA. |Review by Dennis DuBay
It was another night of amazing action from the GPB Studios in Atlanta, Georgia as the National Wrestling Alliance returned to the airwaves of FiteTV for Hard Times.
In terms of ring action, the match that stole the show for me was simple. Thunder Rosa defeated Allysin Kay for the NWA Women's title in a match that saw two women beat the living hell out of each other. Several on twitter noted that Kay looked to be in the best shape of her career heading into the match.
Rosa was full face paint instead of half a face of paint - is this a gimmick she does for big matches? Both women doled out and took plenty of pain in this one.
There was one spot in the match where Kay was outside the ring and Rosa, with so much ease and finesse, leapt through the middle of the ropes and struck Kay straight into the mush and Kay went down hard. It was pretty bad ass.
Kay hit the AK-47, but Rosa was able to kick out, they went toe to toe with fists. Kay at one point visibly annoyed and becoming desperate for the pin, misses a spear, going shoulder first into the turnbuckle, where Rosa through the arm breaker on again.
Rosa hits the Thunder Driver and we've got a NEW NWA WOMEN'S Champion.
One of the highlights watching NWAPowerrr grow before our eyes has been the maturation of Ricky Starks, the performer. Starks has this natural charisma that is very similar to The Rock - while not as big as Rock, Starks commands the attention of both those in attendance and those peaking through the video camera.
Last night Starks became the NWA Television champion, winning all three of his matches to become the first NWA TV champion in thirty-five years. Cagematch.net listed Ron Garvin as the last TV champion. Starks defeated Matt Cross, Tim Storm and Trevor Murdoch en route to his championship victory.
Heading into the tournament i felt Storm was the odds end favorite to win the whole tournament, but was really pulling for Trevor Murdoch as I think the story they could tell with Murdoch coming back from obscurity to holding the Television title is something rather interesting. But as the weeks have unfolded, it's been undeniable that Starks popularity has grown exponentially, dictating this decision.
For the moment it looks like the Rock N Roll Express Cinderella run has come to a stop. The feel good story of 2019 met it's conclusion at Hard Times as Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson dropped the NWA World tag team straps to the make shift team of James Storm and Eli Drake.
As I stated in my Hard Times preview, I felt that this match had to be won by Storm and Drake to get them back into the main event scene. The WildCards have the Strictly Business story arch going for them, so they don't need the belts and while it was awesome to see that Rock n Roll truly never dies, for a company seeking legitimacy, you cannot have your world titles held by 65 year old men. That's no slight on their talent inside the ring. RnR Express still bring decent matches to the table. This business is vanity laced.
But a fledgling enterprise as NWAPowerrr is, we need more than decent matches.
Nick Aldis held onto the ten pounds of gold, defeating ROH superstar Flip Gordon. Match was serviceable, but nothing outdid the Kay/Rosa match in my eyes. Aldis is a very dependable worker, you know exactly what you are going to get from him. Gordon has a really bright future and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he has a really good run in the NWA soon - I don't know what his contract status looks like or if the ROH/NWA partnership will allow it, but he could gain a huge following on a program like Powerrr.
It was announced during the PPV that the Crockett Cup would return in April of this year.
Quick Results:
Murdoch defeated The Question Mark - 1st Round
Dan Maff defeated Zicky Dice - 1st Round
Starks defeated Cross - 1st Round
Storm advances via bye - 1st Round
Murdoch defeated Maff - Semifinal
Starks defeated Storm - Semifinal
Starks defeated Murdoch - Finals
Eli Drake & James Storm defeat RNR Express & The Wild Cards for NWA World Tag Titles
Thunder Rosa defeats Allysin Kay for the NWA Women's World Title
Scott Steiner defeated Aron Steven's via DQ, no Title Change.
Nick Aldis retains NWA World Title defeating Flip Gordon
Starks v. Murdock was easily the match of the night
ReplyDeleteWe're glad you are drinking lots of beer while watching wrestling. That's clearly a drunk opinion :)
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