Into the Fire began with a recap of the past few weeks is played while new NWA commentator, Stu Bennett, recites some epic poetry, For the life of me, I can’t seem to find it anywhere which makes me think that they might be some original Billy Corgan words.
Maybe it’s a trick of the lighting or maybe just a little wishful thinking but I could swear that GPB Studios and even the ring itself looked a little bigger on Into the Fire. All wrestlers got entrance themes and entered the arena via the catwalk behind the bleachers. Essentially, this gave everyone the DDP/Roman Reigns entrance.
Eli Drake defeats Ken Anderson via pinfall
This match seemed a bit odd because 1.) Neither man needs the other to get over and 2) It’s two of the more celebrated roster members working the opening match. Ken Anderson has control throughout most of the match. He can’t pull off the Mic Check, though, and Eli gets rolled up for a two count out of the Gravy Train. The finish sees Anderson up top when Eli wows the crowd with his signature leaping superplex setup. Anderson blocks it and goes for a sunset flip powerbomb that Eli simply sits down on the get the pin.
Today we all go… INTO THE 🔥🔥🔥
Join us on PPV at 6:05pm EThttps://t.co/ZfudYfC1hh pic.twitter.com/IzjvUIigf5— David Lagana (@Lagana) December 14, 2019
David Marquez interviews both Nick Aldis and James Storm.
Nick Aldis is cheered as he congratulates the NWA for pulling itself up by the bootstraps. He says that the real world championship is The Ten Pounds of Gold around his waist because that’s what they all came to see. If James Storm wants it, he has to follow Nick into the deep water to get it. Marquez asks about his “insurance policy,” Kamille, having the night off and Nick says that no Kamille means no excuses.
James Storm takes exception to Aldis always praising the rise of the NWA because it’s not his story alone. They all got here together by pulling the same rope. He says that he can do his beer-drinking, redneck spiel all night long but, at the end of tonight, Aldis will hear Marquez say “…and new…” while Storm tells him, “Sorry about your damn luck.”
Thunder Rosa defeats Tasha Steelz via pinfall
Tasha Steelz, “The Brick City Boricua Bad Ass,” makes her debut here to a record-scratch hip-hop theme. She calls Marquez over to tell the fans that she’s there to add flavor to the program and it’s “culture season” all year round. Thunder Rosa has a heaping helping of culture, too. She’s decked out in the colors of the Mexican flag and comes out to some mournful mariachi guitars. A quick match in just over four minutes, they establish Tasha and use her to emphasize Rosa’s mean streak when she ground-and-pounds the newcomer after winning. Ashley Vox comes out to make the save but Thunder Rosa gets the best of her with a shoulder-breaker and an armbar that leaves her writhing in pain and her later tag match in question.
The Question Mark (w/ Aron Stevens) defeats Trevor Murdoch via pinfall
For a lot of us, this may have been the highlight of the evening. Ever since his debut, The Question Mark has spellbound the NWA audience with his mysterious ways and his mastery of karatay! Tonight, he and Aron Stevens bring the flag of Question Mark’s native “Mongrovia” to the ring. Unfurled, it reveals a question mark flanked by an emu and an aardvark. The grunting of the national anthem is interrupted by Trevor Murdoch who does well in the match, hitting a hat trick of body slams early on and even kicking out after being hit with the dreaded Mongrovian Spike! Going up top for a flying bulldog, Murdoch stops to desecrate the Mongrovian flag, incensing Aron Stevens enough to interfere in the match and Question Mark enough to hit a double Mongrovian Spike to put away the big Texan.
The Rock n’ Roll Express retain their NWA Tag Team Championship against Wild Card via pinfall
The Rock n’ Roll have Kingston & Homicide in their corner and Wild Card bring The Dawsons with them! The match is short and a bit choppy but we all know what we tuned in to see. We want to see a 63-year-old Ricky Morton hit dives and Canadian Destroyers. A distracting ringside brawl sees Royce Isaacs turn around right into that double dropkick and, for whatever it is and it isn’t, Rock n’ Roll can never die.
David Marquez interviews Eli Drake
Eli says that David is going to ask him about the main event and David admits that he was. Eli says that he’s a little in the James Storm camp but, in reality, it doesn’t really matter. Whichever man wins tonight, Eli Drake is the next set of crosshairs that they find themselves behind. At this point, he’s blindsided by Ken Anderson who puts a steel chair around Eli’s neck before running him into the ringpost. As referees come out to break it up, Anderson sets the chair up in the ring and hits the Mic Check on it, decimating Eli Drake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-t_FZvcIs8
Allysin Kay & ODB(?!) defeat Marti Belle & Melina via pinfall
With Ashley Vox out of commission, former TNA Knockouts champion, ODB steps in to (white) trash Melina’s as-of-yet-unnamed heel faction. Not a fantastic match with most of the ring talent in one corner but had its moments. Bless Melina’s heart, she can still hit that split hard and fast enough to clap off the canvas. Allysin Kay hits the Crash Landing on Marti before tossing Melina out so that ODB can hit what was either a TKO or a Samoan Drop for the win. Allysin Kay and ODB sip from the winner’s flask and offer a nip to Stu on their way out.
Aron Stevens (w/ Question Mark) defeats Colt Cabana (c) & Ricky Starks in a Triple Threat to win the NWA National Championship via pinfall
This was a brilliant piece of “sports entertainment.” Ricky Starks is going to be a very bright star and this match helped showcase his athletic style with dramatic flair. Colt Cabana, who I’ve often referred to as “The Bugs Bunny of Professional Wrestling” did a tremendous job of anchoring the match between the athletic precision wrestling and the slapstick comedy. Aron Stevens spent nearly half the match hiding behind a Christmas tree but made the whole thing work and even had a pretty impressive exchange with Ricky Starks with Cabana being assaulted by Question Mark on the outside. After Question Mark nails Colt in the throat during a Superman pin attempt, Aron Stevens strikes to toss Ricky Starks out of the ring and steal this one.
“The National Treasure” Nick Aldis retains the NWA World Heavyweight Championship over “Cowboy” James Storm, two falls to one.
The first fall comes quickly when the enigmatic Kamille comes to ringside. She’s enough of a distraction that Aldis yells at her to go to the back. He takes his eyes off of James Storm for too long and gets hit with the Last Call superkick. First fall referee, Brian Hebner, counts the 1-2-3. Aldis is in survival mode for the rest of the match, he barely makes second fall referee, Tim Storm’s, ten count back into the ring when he’s bounced off of the bleachers and the interview podium. An Irish whip reversal into the Christmas tree by the commentary table may have been the only thing that kept him in it long enough to reverse a small package for the second fall. Referee Rob King flips the coin and Brian Hebner is the third fall referee… until he’s knocked out by an inadvertent(?) Nick Aldis clothesline. Nick hits a DDT on James Storm immediately afterwards so he’s not of much advantage. Still at ringside, Tim Storm takes over as referee. When Aldis eats a second Last Call in the corner, Mama Storm’s little boy doesn’t notice the turnbuckle pad coming off when Cowboy pulls Aldis into an O’Connor Roll. But, after the champion kicks the challenger face first into the exposed steel, Tim Storm is there to count the pinfall and Nick Aldis gets the win (and a likely asterisk.)
After the match, Nick Aldis praises the referees and James Storm with some cryptic comments regarding Kamille’s new status. He says that he’s the real world champion because he fights the best but that there’s no man on Earth who can take the belt from him. Lights out. Creepy music on. The Villain Marty Scurll has arrived in the NWA to answer that next challenge!
Top Five Takeaways from NWA: Into the Fire
Billy Corgan and David Lagana have said that they have a “20-year-plan.” The pacing over the past year nine months (since Crockett Cup 2019) seems about right for that. A little push when you can might take the hurt out of any future stalls, though.
It’s still a trim roster but we’ve already seen it grow to include known world class talents that nobody was expecting. The women’s division certainly needed ODB but the NWA World Title might need Marty Scurll just as much.
Eli Drake vs Ken Anderson was a bit of a letdown. Not because it was a bad match but only because I’ve seen both of them do far better.
Southern style kung fu more powerful northern style kung fu… but Mongrovian karatay more powerful still.
The commentary is not hampered one bit with out Jim Cornette. Still… I can’t help but think that one of the commentators might still have some fuel left in their tank for a another good run but I’ll brace myself for any… bad news… that may come.
To catch NWA Into the Fire, check out Fite.TV
Replay available on @FiteTV @MartyScurll
— NWA (@nwa) December 15, 2019
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