National Wrestling Alliance - Into The Fire | Hard Times -- Results & Afterthoughts on the Product Thus Far

For reviewing the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), I'm not going to dwell into match quality too much as that's not the primary selling point of this modern take on the NWA product. As a result of that, these reactions aren't going to be very long to discuss.

NWA Into the Fire (also stylized Into the 🔥🔥🔥) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view, scripted and produced by NWA that took place on December 14, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. This was the first pay-per-view event produced exclusively by NWA since becoming a singular wrestling promotion. The event takes its name from the 1984 heavy metal single, "Into the Fire" by the American band, Dokken, which was used as the theme song to NWA Power, NWA's weekly wrestling show that debuted on October 8, 2019.
This was the first NWA live broadcast since Jim Cornette's departure after his controversial remarks. Stu Bennett (former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett) made his commentary debut on this show and I thought he didn't do a bad job at all. This was much better than him being the mastermind at the end of Lucha Underground Season 4.

Singles Match

Eli Drake def. Ken Anderson

Physique-wise, Mr. Kennedy is letting himself go as much as Chris Jericho over in AEW. I swear these guys are allergic to a gym... The right man won here though. Drake might not be anywhere near challenging Aldis for the the Seven Pounds of gold, but he's definitely keeping himself in the conversation of talent on the rise to someday challenge him.

Singles Match

Thunder Rosa def. Tasha Steelz

A solid display by both women. I'm surprised that AEW didn't pick up Steelz first, but it seems like NWA made a jump at getting a lot of Latina talent for this show, especially for Melina's faction. After that video package on NWA Powerrr chronicling Rosa's MMA debut, they have painted the picture of her as one hell of a babyface. At this point, I don't see how they are going to continue painting (no pun intended) her as hit woman for Melina's faction.

Singles Match

The Question Mark (with Aron Stevens) def. Trevor Murdoch

(Laughs) I was watching this with a friend at the time and almost spit water all over my new flatscreen TV after he said "Mongrovian karate is as real as that hair glued into Hulk Hogan's dorag these days..."

Tag Team Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship

The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (c) (with Eddie Kingston and Homicide) def. The Wild Cards (Royce Isaacs and Thomas Latimer) (with Dave Dawson and Zane Dawson)

I was shocked that Ricky and Robert retained the titles here. I was certain they were dropping the titles back to the Wild Cards at the PPV. That's honestly the biggest takeaway from this match besides the fact that the former champions have lost to the Rock 'n' Roll Express (who are both pushing 60+ at this point) twice now. Jesus.

Tag Team Match

Allysin Kay and ODB def. Melina and Marti Belle

I swear Melina ages like fine wine. Her Latina curves are even more pronounced with age.

Melina barely got involved here and when she did, she got a little heel heat onto herself and immediately backed off for Marti Belle to take over and take the lumps from Allysin Kay and ODB. ODB is a natural fit for NWA and I'm surprised that they didn't bring her in sooner. I guess Billy Corgan didn't want to start off the company with the negative stigma of ex-TNA talent filling up the bulk of the roster. I don't see an issue with that, especially when they have a wealth of the great talkers from that company from over the years. Allysin and ODB pick up a rather questionable win here, but at least Marti took the pin instead of Melina.

The best part of ODB's inclusion on this PPV came after the match where ODB flirted with Joe Galli in the studio in the way only she could. That segment was worth the viewing of this show alone.

Triple Threat match for the NWA National Championship

Aron Stevens (with The Question Mark) def. Colt Cabana (c) and Ricky Starks

Stevens sat back and hid behind the Christmas decor instead of wrestling in this match.

The sad part about this match is that majority of it was wasted on everyone being distracted by Aron Stevens' comedic actions going on at ringside while Starks and Cabana actually had a serious wrestling match going on in the ring. All of that proved fruitful for Stevens as the Question Mark assisted him in picking up the win.

Nick Aldis (c) def. James Storm 2 falls to 1 Two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship

James Storm won the first fall while Aldis won the second, only for Tim Storm to come in after a referee bump to sub in for the third and final fall. The match itself wasn't bad, especially knowing what to expect from these two men (Aldis and Storm are great at their craft and don't do anything to overstay their welcome) with the narrative being that Aldis did everything within his power to keep the Seven Pounds of Gold within his grasp, even when it came down to seemingly "disowning" Kamille to do so.


After this event, Tim Storm was made to look like a fool when Aldis revealed his master plan all along and had Kamille lay him out as he formally introduced his "Strictly Business" faction, consisting of himself, the Wild Cards, and Kamille.

Kamille gave Storm one hell of a spear, I'll say that much. Since it's all in the open now, Kamille and Latimer aren't hiding their real life relationship either for the sake of kayfabe.

Kamille with her then boyfriend, WWE Superstar Braun Strowman.

(Laughs) I guess Kamille wasn't satisfied with "Those Hands" from Strowman... She's currently dating Thom Latimer in the Wild Cards and you can tell that they aren't keeping their affections a secret on television. In a weird twist of irony, Charlotte Flair's ex-husband ends up with the woman who looks better than her physically in more ways than one.

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At Into the Fire, NWA Worlds Champion Nick Aldis was confronted by Marty Scurll after his title defense. In response, Aldis and the Strictly Business stable attacked Scurll and his Villain Enterprises teammates at Ring of Honor's (ROH) Saturday Night at Center Stage and Honor Reigns Supreme events. On January 14, the NWA announced that Aldis would face Villain Enterprises' Flip Gordon in an interpromotional match at Hard Times.

NWA Hard Times (stylized as Hard × Times) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). It took place on January 24, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia at the GPB Studios. The show featured a tournament to crown a new NWA World Television Champion, which was won by Ricky Starks. The event also featured wrestlers from Ring of Honor, including Dan Maff, and Villain Enterprises members Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon.

NWA World Television Championship Tournament First Round Match

Trevor Murdoch def. The Question Mark

I figured this was payback for Murdock losing to the Question Mark during their previous match on Into The Fire the month prior. At this point, you have to be crazy not to realize that the Question Mark is Josephus 

NWA World Television Championship Tournament First Round Match

Dan Maff def. Zicky Dice

No surprise here at all. I can see why ROH jumped at the opportunity to sign this guy. This match was over and done faster than a hiccup. Zicky didn't have a chance.

NWA World Television Championship Tournament First Round Match

Ricky Starks def. Matt Cross

I'm not going to lie. I thought Starks was losing this here, especially with Matt Cross debuting for the company in this bout. I haven't see Cross unmasked in so long that I almost forgot what he looked like when I was so used to his Son of Havoc days in Lucha Underground.

Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship

Eli Drake and James Storm def. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (c) and The Wild Cards (Royce Isaacs and Thom Latimer) (with Kamille and May Valentine)

I'll say this much about May Valentine. She has a very unique look to her presence on this show. The Wild Cards, along with the rest of Aldis' Strictly Business stable, already have Kamille for the intimidation factor at ringside. I just don't see what May contributes to their group, outside of being a foil to Royce Isaacs at times. At least, she's easy on the eyes though.

Speaking of Kamille, she wasn't opposed to playing nice with the old folks, namely Robert Gibson. That provided the distraction that allowed Eli Drake and James Storm to pick up the win though. IMO that was the right call as you don't want to keep the tag belts on Ricky and Robert for too long. The nostalgia was a feel good moment from the last few weeks, but it was time to move on, even better that Storm was able to capture a consolation prize since he couldn't beat Aldis for the Seven Pounds of Gold at Into The Fire.

Singles Match for the NWA World Women's Championship

Thunder Rosa def. Allysin Kay (c)

Out of anything else on this card, go out of your way to watch this match. This is the first in-ring encounter between these two women (at least in this company to my knowledge...) and it didn't disappoint. They would hold a televised rematch on a follow-up episode of NWA Powerrr, but it wasn't anywhere as good as this first outing.

NWA World Television Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

Trevor Murdoch def. Dan Maff

Dan Maff is one of ROH's most recent signees or rather returns and I can easily see why. The big dude can really go. Murdoch manages to pull off an upset win here where I was convinced that Maff was going to take it.

NWA World Television Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

Ricky Starks def. Tim Storm 

I honestly thought Tim Storm was going to put Starks to posture here. Once again, I was proven wrong. Momma Storm had to hang her head down in shame.

Scott Steiner def. Aron Stevens (c) (with The Question Mark) by disqualification Singles match for the NWA National Championship

I was hoping that we were going to get the title to change hands here, but no dice. I really want to know how NWA are able to use Steiner's old WWE music here though. It has to be something with how Dave Lagana and whoever else Billy Corgin bought the rights of music from were able to use it without any backlash.

If they want to make Stevens' karate gimmick have a few more laughs then they should make him start doing those grunts and shouts like Jason David Frank did on Power Rangers back in the day.

Nick Aldis (c) def. Flip Gordon NWA vs. ROH interpromotional match for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't care less about this match. There wasn't much drama going into this match outside of the loose connection to Marty Scurll as it felt like a knee-jerk reaction at the last minute when it was obvious that they were just biding their time until the next PPV. I'm not going to say that this match was awful, but it was easily forgettable.

Ricky Starks def. Trevor Murdoch Tournament final match to determine the new NWA World Television Champion

By this point, I was honestly burnt out on this tournament. My friendly word of advice is to NOT do all of the tournament in one night and split it up across the the weeks leading up to the PPV only up to the semi-finals. Murdoch was working with an ailing arm (kayfabe injury) while Starks was running on fumes at this point. I didn't understand Starks' gimmick until now where it just clicked that he's supposed to be like a flamboyant take on The Rock in terms of his mannerisms and promos. I didn't have a problem with Starks picking up the win as it elevates his rising star status in the promotion and inches him closer towards the Seven Pounds of Gold. They would reveal after this PPV that Starks could challenge for the World title if he successfully retains the title after seven defenses in what they referred to the Lucky 7 rule. An interesting twist on things for sure. It keeps things interesting for the next string of television tapings until the Crockett Cup in April.

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Thoughts on the Product So Far

This modern take on the NWA is a refreshing breath of fresh air in comparison to everything else out there in the modern landscape of wrestling on television currently. Previously, I flocked to Lucha Underground for that "alternative" that I craved, only to see majority of those talents making up the rosters of both WWE, AEW, New Japan, MLW, Impact Wrestling, and even Ring of Honor currently. There's not a major promotion out there who isn't capitalizing on the exposure that those talents brought to the table. As a result, that particular style of wrestling became overexposed. Everyone is slapping their thighs for super kicks and doing dives without rhyme or reason to garner cheap pops. Even though the current NWA roster is littered with ex-WWE and Impact talent, it's not the matches that keep me invested - it's the promos and this intimate, personal studio setting. That passion and fire from promos is lacking a LOT in modern day wrestling where fans (I'm guilty of this too) have weighed work rate and in-ring ability over anything else in terms of success to be a "good" wrestler. Back in the day, talents could talk people into buildings better than the guys today who have to nearly kill themselves for a pop. Over the years, I'll come to miss the great talkers in professional wrestling, but the NWA has given me that back in some capacity.