NWA 74 Night 1 live results: Women’s world championship main event, Matt Cardona returns, more!

The National Wrestling Alliance is ready for action in honor of their 74th anniversary from St. Louis, MO. NWA 74 spans two nights for double the fun (full card). Night 1 on Saturday, August 27 features four championship bouts, a tables match, the return of Matt Cardona, and the debut of EC3. The main event is a showdown between Kamille and Taya Valkyrie for the NWA Women’s World Championship.

The PPV starts at 8 pm ET available through Fite TV as a single show, a two-night bundle, or part of the NWA All Access package. The free pre-show kicks off at 7 pm ET the NWA YouTube channel.

Join us for updates and have fun chatting in the open thread.

Results:

Pre-show

Country Gentlemen (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews) defeated Gold Rushhh (Marshe Rockett & Jordan Clearwater). Joe Cazana and Austin Idol were ringside to support their teams. Cazana ducked a jumping leg lariat from Rockett to grab a waistlock into the ropes for a roll-up win.

Jay Bradley returned hoping to compete, but he has not been medically cleared. Bradley had a humongous bulge in his crotch from elephantitis.

The Hard Times PPV will take place in New Orleans on November 12.

Rhett Titus defeated VSK. Titus replaced Luke Hawx for reasons to be specified later. VSK worked the shoulder. Titus rallied by working the lower back. VSK launched for a frog splash, but Titus got his knees up. Titus finished with a belly-to-belly suplex.

Rodney Mack defeated Pope. Aron Stevens was ringside to offer distractions and physical interference in support of Mack. When Pope had momentum to finish, Stevens hopped onto the apron. Pope popped him with an elbow. Mack grabbed Pope from behind for the Euthanizer choke to win.

After the match, Stevens and Mack stomped a mudhole in Pope. Kratos returned to the NWA for the save. He was former partners with Stevens as tag team champions. Kratos suplexed Stevens across the ring. Mack pulled Stevens to safety.

Bully Ray spoke about the tables match against Mike Knox. Bully was a guest of the NWA thanking fans and showing respect when Knox went into business for himself to put Bully through a table. They have history with the Aces & Eights, and Knox held a grudge. A tables match is the only way for Bully to settle this. He has no idea if this will be his last night in the NWA. There are no guarantees in wrestling, but Bully guarantees that Knox goes through a table tonight.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. is out with an illness. Billy Corgan made the call to move forward with the NWA World Tag Team Championship match. The Commonwealth Connection are forced to relinquish the titles. Instead of Smith & Doug Williams as the reigning champions, they will be replaced by Luke Hawx & PJ Hawx against Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf. A new champion will be crowned.

Pick Your Poison: Caprice Coleman & Gustavo Aguilar defeated Colby Corino & Wreckingball Legursky. If Corino wins, then he gets the stipulation of a 30-minute iron man match against Coleman on Night 2. If Coleman wins, then he gets the stipulation of a 2-out-of-3 falls match against Corino on Night 2. Hot tag to Coleman to run wild. He mounted Corino for punches in the corner. Legursky charged, Coleman leaped up to dodge, Legursky crashed into Corino. Coleman locked in a chokehold on Legursky for the quick tap to win. Corino was irate at Legursky, so Wreckingball pie-faced him. Legursky might have made a babyface turn by showing sportsmanship for a respectful handshake to the winners.

PPV

The NWA 74 broadcast opened with highlights of Harley Race defending the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Terry Funk in 2-out-of-3 falls on July 1, 1977. Transition to a montage of current NWA stars to the tune of, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” by Smashing Pumpkins.

Nick Aldis open forum. One year ago, Aldis lost the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship to Trevor Murdoch, and that’s okay. Ever since, fans have been asking Aldis when he’s getting the title back. Aldis earned the #1 contender spot for NWA 74, then plans changed when Billy Corgan stripped him of that status. Aldis wondered if it was time to call it quits. What’s left for him in the NWA if he can’t be world champ again? Then Aldis remembered all the times people told him something wasn’t possible and he proved them wrong. Nobody can take away his legacy. Aldis called his tailor for a new suit and went to his barber for a fresh haircut. He has a lot to prove wrestling Flip Gordon on Night 2, and they will tear the house down. Welcome to NWA 74.

EC3 defeated Mims. Big strong Mims returned from a shoulder injury, so that joint was the focal point of EC3’s attack during the match. EC3 hit the One Percenter headlock driver and transitioned for an arm triangle shoulder submission. Mims tapped out. EC3 controlled his narrative in his NWA debut.

EC3 grabbed the microphone to speak. The NWA pays homage to legends of the past. Nostalgia is a curse and a crutch. As long as EC3 stands in this ring, he will make sure nostalgia is dead. Enter Thom Latimer standing up for the NWA. EC3 felt Latimer’s presence but never looked at him as he kept talking. One good thing coming from the NWA is that it got Latimer clean and sober, he found his wife Kamille, and he found his purpose. On the surface, Latimer is happy. However, EC3 knows Latimer will be forever trapped by his demons. Before EC3 leaves, he will pull out each and every demon from Latimer’s soul. EC3 finally looked Latimer in the eyes. You have been warned.

Beelzebub’s Bedlam Match: Miserably Faithful (Judais, Sal Rinauro, & Gaagz The Gymp) defeated ILL Begotten (Alex Taylor, Jeremiah Plunkett, & Danny Dealz). Father James Mitchell accompanied his motley crew of weirdos. Rules were anything goes. Weapons included chairs, a trashcan, holy water, a broom, and a tire iron. The big spot was Sal suplexing Taylor off a tall ladder into the ring. Taylor landed across the top rope and bounced on top of Sal. Dealz and Judais were the only two left standing. Dealz tried to escape the behemoth, but Madusa came out to block his path. Madusa threw powder in Dealz’ eyes. Judais chokeslammed Dealz to win. The MFers were victorious.

Chris Adonis defeated Odinson. Muscle power match. Adonis gained momentum for a flying shoulder tackle, clothesline, neckbreaker, and sitdown powerbomb. Odinson crawled to his corner to grab his viking spray. Adonis locked in the Master Lock submission. Odinson sprayed Adonis in the eyes to escape. The referee called for a disqualification. Odinson was in a foul mood about the result and hit Adonis with the spray canister.

Pretty Empowered will defend the NWA women’s tag titles against Allysin Kay and Marti Belle in a street fight on Night 2. Kenzie Paige was babyface and Ella Envy was heel for a conflicting promo. Paige had enough of Envy’s sour words for the Hex and cut the interview short.

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Homicide retained against Kerry Morton. Ricky Morton was ringside to support his son. The action began respectfully with Morton getting the better of Homicide. Handshake and reset. Morton bested Homicide again on shoulder blocks and a hip toss. Handshake and reset. Morton controlled the flow for the third time in a row with an arm drag and dropkick. Homicide exited the ring to regroup. Handshake? Not this time. Homicide slapped Morton’s hand away.

Lockup in the corner. On the referee break, Homicide grabbed Morton’s hair and landed a cheap punch. The contest continued with Three Amigos from Homicide and a blatant eye poke to Morton. Morton rallied to knock Homicide out of the ring. Homicide caught a slingshot plancha to ram Morton into the ring post and body slam on the floor. Morton rallied again for a DDT and monkey flip but then ran into a Koji cutter. Kick out on the cover.

Morton was able to land a powerbomb off the turnbuckles and connect on a running knee. Homicide was too close to the ropes on the cover and grabbed the ropes for the break. The action went back and forth. On a waistlock from Morton, Homicide hit a mule kick to the cojones. The referee threatened disqualification. That bought recovery time for Morton to fire up. Homicide and Morton tussled on the turnbuckles. Homicide was able to execute an avalanche Koji cutter to win. Afterward, Morton shoved Homicide about the mule kick. Homicide slapped Morton and bailed from the ring.

Tommy Rich delivered a fan favorite promo to pump up the crowd.

Thrillbilly Silas predicts pain for Davey Richards in the MLW National Openweight Championship bout on Night 2. Pollo Del Mar wouldn’t guarantee that she won’t interfere, but she can guarantee that she will look stunning and that Silas will leave as champion.

Matt Cardona lost return match against handpicked opponent. (Full details here.) Cardona ran down reasons why he wouldn’t pick top stars. He doesn’t trust Aldis not to hurt him on purpose. Bully Ray extreme-shamed him by saying he’s not hardcore. Trevor Murdoch and Tyrus can have their well-deserved moment in the world title main event on Night 2. Cardona picked a future hall of famer in Rolando Freeman. (Freeman is short in stature and slim in build. Think something similar to Marko Stunt.)

Cardona mauled Freeman around the ring. Rolando rallied for a flying dropkick and running flatliner. Cardona kicked out on the cover. Cardona smashed the rebellion for a brutal running boot in the corner. He mocked Freeman various times on pinfalls. Cardona made a lazy cover with his middle finger high in the air. Freeman scored a crucifix counter to pin Cardona for victory! Cardona lost. The crowd went wild.

Baby Doll returned to the NWA to manage her daughter Samantha Starr in the Burke Invitational gauntlet match.

Max The Impaler won the Burke Invitational gauntlet match. Royal Rumble style. Eliminations via pinfall, submission, and over the top rope. New competitor enters every 90 seconds. The winner earns a title shot for the NWA Women’s World Championship on Night 2. The order of arrival was KiLynn King, Samantha Starr, Natalia Markova, Missa Kate, Madi Wrenkowski, Taryn Terrell, Max The Impaler, Tootie Lynn, Angelina Love, and Jennacide.

First elimination was Kate. She went over the ropes onto the apron. King hit a springboard knee strike knocking Kate down to the floor. Second elimination was Madi. She eliminated herself over the top by running away in fear from Max. Third elimination was Tootie tossed out by Max. Fourth and fifth eliminations were Love and Terrell. They were fighting on the apron, and Max smashed them down to the floor. Sixth elimination was Starr via submission from Jennacide. Seventh and eighth eliminations were King and Jennacide. Markova hit a spinning high kick to King, and Max hit a Wasteland backbreaker to Jennacide. Both pins were made at the same time.

Markova and Max were the final two. Markova showed no fear and did not back down. Max caught a crossbody for a powerful slam. Kick out by Markova. Markova threw hard blows and landed a big knee strike. Max kicked out on the cover. Markova climbed the corner, but Max tossed her down on a gorilla press slam. The Wasteland backbreaker ended the match as Max pinned Markova to win.

Aron Stevens will settle his beef with Kratos on Night 2. Stevens proposed a tag match. He has Rodney Mack to watch his back. Who will watch Kratos’ back? No one, since Kratos has no friends.

NWA National Heavyweight Championship: Cyon won the title from Jax Dane. Chris Silvio was ringside to support the champion, and Austin Idol was ringside to support the challenger. During the bout, the managers scuffled and distracted the referee. Anthony Mayweather (aka Crimson) ran in as a surprise return to chokeslam Dane. He handed over the fallen champion on a silver platter, but the challenger did not want to win that way. Cyon began fighting Mayweather. Later, Cyon had a sleeper hold on Dane. Silvio distracted the referee to miss Dane tapping out. Cyon thought he won, then Dane smashed a lariat. Cyon was able to get his foot on the ropes to break the pin. Cyon rallied for a Death Valley Driver to win and become new champion.

Tables Match: Bully Ray defeated Mike Knox. Slugfest with chains and chairs. Bully hit Knox with a chair to the spine, then Knox landed a big boot into the chair into Bully’s face. That sent Bully down leaning against a table leaning in the corner. Knox charged for a running cannonball. Bully moved out of the way, and Knox collided into the wood. Bully chokeslammed Knox through a table to win.

Ricky Morton sees through Homicide. Be careful whose toes he steps on.

NWA World Tag Team Championship: La Rebelion (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) defeated Hawx Aerie (Luke Hawx & PJ Hawx) to win vacant titles. (Full details here.) Commonwealth Connection were forced to relinquish due to Davey Boy Smith Jr.’s illness. Doug Williams handed over his title belt before the bout. Damian 666 was ringside to support the luchadores. Good action throughout with great false finishes. In the end, Bestia trifled with PJ outside to distract the referee. Damian spit red mist in Luke’s face. Mecha Wolf took out PJ on a suicide dive. Bestia pinned Luke on a roll-up to win.

Face to face showdown between Trevor Murdoch and Tyrus to promote the Night 2 main event world title bout. Billy Corgan thanked the fans for bringing the NWA back to prominence. Murdoch and Tyrus agreed to act like gentlemen and save the fighting for the PPV. Tyrus spoke first. He worked hard to be the greatest TV champion of all-time. One thing left to do is to win the Ten Pounds of Gold. Murdoch sassed back with a promise to beat Tyrus’ ass all over the venue. Over his dead body will he let Tyrus win the world title. Tensions escalated. Corgan tried to calm the scene for the photo opportunity. Murdoch took off his shirt looking for a reason to engage in fisticuffs. Tyrus exited the ring as a bit of mind games.

NWA Women’s World Championship: Kamille retained against Taya Valkyrie. (Full details here.) Great match. Back and forth increasing tension throughout. Shenanigans arose when Taya accidentally speared the referee. Kamille scored a roll-up, but the referee was unconscious. Taya connected on a roundhouse head kick and executed three consecutive curb stomps. Taya grabbed the title belt to hit Kamille. La Wera Loca revived the referee. The win seemed like a lock. 1, 2, kick out by Kamille! Kamille escaped Road to Valhalla. Double headbutt. Both women woozy. Taya ran forward, and Kamille cut her in half with a spear to win. The locker room emptied to show respect to the champ.