Live from the Knoxville Convention Centre, the NWA presented Alwayz Ready, a show that had to really stamp some authority on what the new NWA is about. The traditionalist element is still there, but the presentation was a homage to the then-NWA Champion Matt Cardona. With a heavy eighties vibe, the card was diverse and balanced, between some excellent wrestlers, the usual taste for horror show bookings no one else will touch, and starting to develop a Women’s division that is a lot deeper than the usual mixed promotions title shot and a promo. 

Aaron Stevens vs Trevor Murdoch

Since losing the NWA title Murdoch has devolved somewhat into a more visceral being. Stevens billed this as his swansong. This was part of a long-time rivalry back when Stevens was a heel and Murdoch was a face. This showcased what the NWA has done well under Billy Corgan as President. Taken former Impact and WWE talent and managed to get more mileage out of people who are clearly enjoying their wrestling. Murdoch has become his own man or Own Hoss as we should say. Stevens has always been a lovable heel but got hammered here after botching a top rope move and catching his boot in the top turnbuckle. After 40 years of watching wrestling, I’d never actually seen that before. That was unfortunate but didn’t ruin the point of the match, Stevens wasn’t good enough. Will it be his Swan Song as advertised? I doubt it.

NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship: Pretty Empowered vs The Hex (c)

Ella Envy and Kenzie Paige are the new kids on the block as the NWA tries to build a long-term roster strategy that isn’t all about veterans, Marti Belle and Allison Kay are the kind of veterans the company needs to show the youngsters the way and this was exactly what the company should be doing. Pretty Empowered were hometown girls and did come out with a very positive response. The Hex underestimated Ella Envy concentrating on Kenzie Paige as the big threat, a simple narrative for an old-school tag match. After some dominance from the champs, the girls in pink took over on AK, before a hot tag to Marti Belle brought the match to a climax. In the melee, Belle took a low blow from Envy and The Hex lost the title after a championship reign that helped define a new division. The new story is going to be Champs of coexistence, which gives a good story going through the summer.    

Half an hour in and we are already two big matches down. This was moving along at one hell of a pace aided by very good commentary from Joe Galli, Tim Storm and the vastly improved Velvet Sky. 

NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship: PJ Hawx vs Homicide (c) 

One of the stories of the last year has been the return to prominence of Homicide either saving the day for Mox and Kingston in AEW, wrestling legends in GCW and here in the NWA where he has been cast as the veteran champion trying to rebuild the legacy of a title formerly in the possession of Nelson Royal, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger and um, well, Chase Owens. Homicide can pretty much do anything you need him to do as one of the best all round workers of the last 20 years, so he was ideal for this task. PJ Hawx is the ideal challenger on that note. Young, likely to be a long-term rival, was hugely over after a well-rounded performance in the Crockett Cup which burnished his credentials when his father went out injured and he carried on solo. Homicide was keeping it in the ring. A legendary brawler, he didn’t need the bells and whistles in this match, or so he thought. Then Hawx came back with some smooth striking offence. Homicide had to go the extra mile and then went to look after the young challenger Hawx when he won with a Cop Killa endorsing the rising star. The Fixers then came down to attack both of them, who then crushed Luke Hawx who came down to save his son and Homicide. Kerry and Ricky Morton eventually evened things up. Nothing stands still in this promotion. Colby Corino then hit the ring and claimed his latent NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship title shot.

NWA World’s Junior Heavyweight Championship: Colby Corino vs Homicide (c) 

The Last Bastion has tried to further his family legacy since his debut in the NWA, and his father’s career-long rival has always had a special place of hatred in his heart. The technical classic it was not, starting off in the ring it went down the aisle in a big brawl as bumps started to wrack up. Homicide dominated the early going, but Corino managed to take advantage. Eventually, Homicide got back on top and landed the Cop Killa but Corino kicked out on two to the shock of the fans. Homicide let his hatred get the better of him and a short but heated exchange where he exclaimed how much he hated the Corino family and went for, of all things, a Gedo Clutch. Winning with a wrestling move, Danny Hodge would have been proud.

One hour into the show and we’d had three title matches. 

Natalia Markova w/Taryn Terell vs Taya Valkyrie

Taryn Terrell famously moved on from wrestling and modelling to a life of motherhood and has now found her true calling as the most annoying person on earth. You know what Valkyrie is all about if you’ve been watching wrestling for the last decade in every promotion in North America, and Markova has a lot of buzz from her work this year. Two hard-hitting but technically gifted women seem tailor-made for this division. Markova is a bit of a throwback to the Diva silliness of the 90s with the sexiness and the spanking, but she has heavy strikes and big move offence. 

Valkyrie has not lost a step since her unfortunate departure from NXT and has picked her spots rather than a long-term contract, and this match shows her long-term strategy. Make an impression and keep your options open. She worked her socks off to get the younger wrestler over as she hammered Markova and Terell made the match about herself, planting the seeds for a long-term babyface turn. Terell distracted the referee as Taya hit Road to Valhalla and the distracted Valkyrie got hit with a knockout spinning heel kick. So Markova took the win. 

NWA National Heavyweight Championship: Chris Adonis vs Jax Dane (c) 

Dane has been a Big Bad in the NWA since long before the Corgan era. The current champion has incredible size and agility which gives him the ability to be a dominating heel. Adonis, since the end of Strictly Business, has become more of a baby face which is an odd switch for a character that is so wholeheartedly in the heel camp. This was a slow burn start as they tried to find a pace and went after tests of strength to set the story. As old school as it gets, it got a lot out of the crowd for minimal effort and after the breakneck pace of the first hour, it was what the crowd actually needed to reset some expectations. The rest of the match had a lot of Full Nelsons and some big flurries of offence. Then Dane’s pinpoint attack on Adonis’ hand. No hand, no Masterlock. The match ended pretty much out of nowhere, with a Lariat that looked like it killed Adonis. Thankfully he will be back. It was a match straight out of 1986, but sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that.    

There was then an emotional promo from Aaron Stevens who talked about his want for the World’s Championship and announced his retirement. He then rode off into the distance with Mae Valentine, the NWA interviewer.   

Cyon w/ Austin Idol vs Thom Latimer 

The NWA has done a lot to rehabilitate the image of Thom Latimer, it is questionable whether it was worth it or not, but that is the path they’ve chosen. Now a babyface after years of being a heel his confidence seems at odds with the reaction he gets. Like he is used to hearing boos he just doesn’t get it. This was my first time seeing Cyon, who is wonderfully generic, which is pretty much what this match was like it was designed in the mid-2000s WWE developmental programme. Taking an incredibly long period of time with Cyon throwing the match away after dominating most of it. While it had flashes of brilliance, it appears to be part of a wider story for both men and a case of it just had to happen, but it was the only match on the card that seemed redundant. Latimer won. 

NWA Television Championship: Mims vs Tyrus (c) w/ BLK Jeez    

Tyrus was recently a guest on Piers Morgan: Uncensored, a show that garnered viewing figures so low it no longer registers enough to appear in the ratings. Literally, no one watched it. Which is not a good look for a TV Champion. The Fox News guest has been the TV Champion for over a year. It has been a very long year. Most of the TV title matches are only 6 minutes and five seconds long, so Tyrus has essentially stood still for 6 minutes to keep the belt. This is good as Tyrus gets and he is truly terrible a shock and awe draw, but nothing else. Mims is actually very good in a baby monster kind of way but this did not need to go longer than six minutes. Two would have done and it would have still been two minutes too long. Oh yeah, Tyrus won. 

So after a hot start, things had cooled off, but this promotion never slows down. Thankfully, La Rebelion and The Commonwealth Connection were up next.

NWA World’s Tag Team Championship: Commonwealth Connection vs La Rebelion (c) 

This is a low-key dream match as two of the best tag wrestlers of the last two decades Harry Smith and Doug Williams have joined forces to produce a slick pure wrestling team that are the ideal foils for the divinely anarchic La Rebellion. The match started off with some chain wrestling and then Connection dug in with hard-worn offence learned on tours with New Japan and NOAH respectively where even Suzuki Gun are baby faces these days. When La Rebelion got an opening they took it with their heavy offence. This was a compelling back before the pandemic, Williams had his farewell tour, and now he has a broken nose and an NWA Tag Team Championship. Tellingly, the belts were won with a Top Rope Diving Headbutt, a rare trip to the air for Harry Smith, but also The Dynamite Kid’s 80’s finisher. The British Bulldogs never won the NWA Championships, but the next generation has. La Rebelion will continue to be the Kings of Indie tag wrestling, they won the TNT titles in Liverpool the week before this match, but just outstanding work from both teams. 

NWA World Women’s Championship: KiLynn King vs Kamille Brick (c) 

Bully Ray replaced Velvet Sky on commentary to watch his protege King who challenged the dominant face of the NWA Women’s division Kamille. This felt like a big-money match and with the referee’s instructions broadcast before the bell, it felt even bigger. The NWA does take its presentation seriously, and its complicated legacy with Mildred Burke whose belt Kamille now wears. I am very glad to see them right the organisation’s historical wrongs. 

Kamille is used to being the dominant power force in the NWA, however, for once she was up against someone with equal power and perhaps superior wrestling skills. King is a well-rounded worker and has built an incredible reputation for herself. The NWA have really built their reputation around Kamille and as such she gets a lot more time to deliver than most women’s championships. This match went long in a good way, as they were trying to build an epic. It was stiff, well-executed and thoroughly enjoyable with Kamille taking King far too lightly and needing to pull up from beneath to defend her title. King was perfectly applying pressure from the top. A back-and-forth battle that further burnishes Kamille’s reputation, the win clearly came as a relief as she Speared KiLynn for the win. 

Following the match, Bully Ray congratulated both wrestlers before Kamille’s celebration was interrupted by Max the Impaler. Thus setting up the next and totally different challenger. 

Doctor Tom Pritchard then came out and was presented to the crowd. He talked about his student Kenzie Paige who had won the Tag Team Championship, and how proud he was of her. He also talked about the history of the NWA in Knoxville. However, it was time for the main event.

The show had been branded around Matt Cardona whose Alwayz Ready theme rang out. However, having a surgically repaired bicep from a GCW event a few weeks before, it was obvious he wasn’t going to be competing. Accompanied by The Cardona Family, he came out to make an announcement. 

Cardona has worked hard to become the top heel on the Indie Circuit and his run with the NWA title was the icing on the cake after those tweets from Nick Gage turned him into the hottest heel in the industry. But as Bully Ray quite rightly pointed out “For a guy whose “Always Ready” he doesn’t look exactly ready.” Cardona went on a long rambling promo where he singled out each member of the Cardona Family, Mike Knox, VSK and Chelsea Green for praise. Billy Corgan then came out to reclaim the title. But Cardona wouldn’t hand over the belt, then Nick Aldis came out and talked about how Cardona had manipulated the NWA into his current position. 

Goodbye. https://t.co/veATFZmRzu

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) June 12, 2022

This segment took, what they call in Australia, a considerable period of time. And then Thom Latimer came out with Kamille who went on another long rambling promo about his lack of opportunity. This was all incredibly boring, and for most fans would have absolutely gone over their heads. It was like someone had snuck Vince Russo into the building. Then, Sam Shaw, the former Dexter Lumis of NXT fame, turned up after making his debut on the pre-show. It went on, and on, and on, never seeming to end. Thankfully, Sam Shaw is a man of few words. That didn’t stop this segment from dragging though. The final decision was presented more correctly as Corgan waited for his moment, and announced all four contenders would wrestle for the NWA Title. 

NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship: Nick Aldis vs Trevor Murdoch vs Thom Latimer vs Sam Shaw 

Having had such a ridiculous preamble, it went to the floor straight away which was a good thing as two of these guys had had lengthy matches earlier in the evening. Matches like this are wars of attrition and usually on the attention span of the viewer. But by starting on the floor they managed to avoid the predictability of tags and interference, but then broke down into some interesting exchanges as alliances came up and fell over and over again. I also don’t think the world is ready for Trevor Murdoch the Luchador as he flew from the top rope.

There were more big risks and big pops as Sam Shaw dropped the leg from the top rope and Thom Latimer & Aldis were the victims of a Murdoch Tower of Doom. Then Murdoch came off the top rope catching his boot in the same way Stevens had during his match with him early in the night which was bizarre but set up Aldis for the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf. However he escaped, and while Aldis was distracted by Shaw, Murdoch landed a top rope Bulldog and took the title for the second time.

While the main event dragged in spots, its set-up was ridiculously long. The fans love Murdoch even as a heel and received a standing ovation for his efforts, even though he has been heading in a more heelish direction. As the new face of the NWA, he offers up more opportunities in his second reign than he did in his first, more or less a tweener he can work both sides of the fence and seemingly has a lot of challengers ready for him. 

The event itself lagged in spots, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, especially with the women’s division featuring prominently, with some genuinely emotional moments that feed into a bright future for the promotion. Cardona is a big loss, and he will be missed. However, I’ll take Murdoch as champ again any day of the week. 

All pics and captures courtesy of NWA and Fite TV