Preview by Josh Nason

As the kickoff for their return to weekly TV, the NWA returns to pay-per-view Sunday afternoon with Back for the Attack featuring three title matches and a bout to determine the no. 1 contender for the Women’s championship.

In the main event, Nick Aldis will defend the World title against Aron Stevens in a tribute to Stevens’ partner The Question Mark, aka Joseph Hudson who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year.

In a match to determine the next challenger to Women’s champion Serena Deeb, Thunder Rosa will face Kamille just days after Rosa picked up a win over Britt Baker in a brutal, unsanctioned lights out match on AEW Dynamite.

National Heavyweight champion Trevor Murdoch will defend against the debuting Chris Adonis (formerly Masters) while TV Champion “The Pope” Elijah Burke will face Thom Latimer. The debuting Tyrus will face one half of the Tag Team champions in JR Kratos while a four-way will feature Crimson vs. Jax Dane vs. Jordan Clearwater vs. Slice Boogie.

Our live coverage kicks off at 4 PM Eastern.

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The show opened with Aron Stevens talking about how he was basically done with the wrestling industry until the NWA called him, and how Joseph Hudson (Question Mark) helped remind him that he loved the fans of professional wrestling. Stevens said that he took the fans for granted, and that Hudson helped remind him that he’s always going to be a wrestler.

Nick Aldis spoke about how he was sure that Stevens was going to bring it tonight for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and we cut to the intro, which felt straight out of the 80s. This was so awesome.

Joe Galli and Tim Storm ran down the card of the show, and Kyle Davis interviewed Nick Aldis. Aldis said that the last time he stood in the room, things were different, and that the NWA suffered a few setbacks, but that setbacks are just the setup for comebacks, and now the NWA is back. Aldis thanked the fans for buying the show and sticking with them, and he put over all the wrestlers over in the back who want to put on the best show possible, not just for the fans, but for Joseph Hudson too.

He said if Pope, Murdoch, or Rosa and Kamille stole the show, then so be it. If Aron Stevens managed to defeat him, then so be it too, but he’s the real Worlds Champion and he would have to pry it from his hands, but at the end of the show everyone will know that this is the NWA. This was an incredible promo.

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Sliced Boogie defeated Jordan Clearwater, Jax Dane, & Crimson

This was a solid opening match with the NWA putting over a new face in Sliced Boogie, which is great.

The story of the early parts of this match was that Crimson and Dane used their experience as a tag team to throw Clearwater and Boogie from the ring, but it wasn’t long before the other guys were involved again. Boogie hit a huge German Suplex on Clearwater, but Dane caught him on a dive and locked on a Boston crab.

Crimson hit a Death Valley Driver on Clearwater, but Dane broke up the pinfall, showing it’s every man for himself. This still didn’t stop them from occasionally team up on the other two, as Dane and Crimson hit “Off With his Head” on Boogie.

Boogie, however, was not kept down, as Dane and Crimson were left out the ring, arguing with each other as Boogie hit a Deadass Driver on Clearwater for the pinfall victory.

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Sal Rinaro was backstage being interviewed by May Valentine, and he put over the whole card.

Tyrus came out and complained he wasn’t given an interview, but he said that he just took the interview himself, and now he was going to beat Kratos.

Tyrus defeated Kratos

This match sucked. This was a basic hoss fight, but Tyrus was not good in this match. He was gassed within 2 minutes, and looked awful.

Tyrus worked over the arm of Kratos throughout the match, with the standard big man offence, including the “classic” nerve holds. Tyrus went for a Vader Bomb, but it looked horrible, and Kratos moved out of the way. Kratos hit a flying clothesline, and Tyrus took an awful bump, falling backwards like a tree.

Tyrus kicked out and hit a splash in the corner and then a running elbow for a 3 count.

May Valentine was backstage with Trevor Murdoch, who talked about his match with Chris Adonis, and said that he was not the man that Adonis met before in the WWE. If Adonis wanted the National title, he would have to dig deep and will question his decision to go for the title.

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NWA Television Championship: The Pope went to a draw with Thom Latimer to retain

This match was fine. Not a bad match by any stretch, but the draw was a bit deflating.

Joe Galli informed us of a rule change for the Television championship matches: Where the time limit used to be 6:05 minutes, it was now 10:05 to give the TV title matches more time.

Latimer has the size advantage in this match, but Pope was able to use more technical wrestling to stay in the match with him. Latimer spent the early portions of the match taking advantage of his size, but Pope stayed right with him, with pinfall attempts, but every time he would get ahead, Latimer would send him back down with a heavy strike.

Latimer hit a big axe handle off the middle rope and went for a second one, but Pope pulled his legs out from under him, which sent Latimer crashing to the mat, hitting his head on each turnbuckle as he went down. That was a cool spot. Latimer went for a leap frog, but Pope hit an inverted atomic drop and a DDT for a near fall.

Pope hit a series of elbows from each turnbuckle in a spot I really liked. Latimer dodged the double knees in the corner and powerbombed Pope as the clock ticked down with less than a minute left.

Aron Stevens cut a promo talking about James Hudson again, telling his son that the best gift he could give to his dad is becoming a good man. Stevens then talked about how he was trained by Killer Kowalski when he was 16 and had been wrestling his entire life for this chance, and that he wasn’t going to waste it. Stevens was awesome here.

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Kamille defeated Thunder Rosa

Terrell was horrendous on commentary here. Kamille botched a few moves, but it wasn’t a bad match at all. Rosa beat the crap out of Kamille in it, and Kamille sold it like a champ. Rosa sold like death for Kamille’s power moves as well. This was an okay match, and Rosa made Kamille look very dangerous, so it was effective at that. However, it went way too long.

Kamille overpowered Thunder Rosa for the first few minutes of this match, as Rosa was weakened from her match with Britt Baker on Dynamite. Kamille took full advantage of this for the first few minutes, but Rosa was able to counter into an armbar and then a triangle choke on Kamille, but Kamille was able to powerbomb out.

Kamille went back to the corner and tried to hit a spear, as Terrell said “She’s very stompy.” Okay, Taryn. Kamille missed the spear and hit shoulder first into the ring post, and Thunder Rosa hit a baseball slide dropkick on Kamille. Kamille caught her in a crossbody and botched a slam on the floor before being sent into the corner post by Thunder Rosa, but she actually hit the apron, and not the post.

Rosa bent Kamille in half around the post in a bow and arrow. Rosa hit hard strikes and chops in the ring, but Kamille hit a huge suplex on Kamille. As Kamille went to pick her up, Rosa countered into an STF. That was beautiful. Rosa transitioned into a surfboard stretch, but then curb stomped Kamille.

Rosa hit a dropkick to the back of Kamille. This didn’t stop Kamille though, who hit two spears for the win.

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Austin Idol was backstage, saying he was here because Aron Stevens asked him to be here. The announcers openly spoke about how this was strange, as he was known to be a supporter of Nick Aldis.

NWA National Championship: Trevor Murdoch defeated Chris Adonis to retain

This was a very simple match, which hid the weaknesses of both guys well. It was fine, but certainly nothing special.

Murdoch kept transitioning back to headlocks every time Adonis tried anything, before hitting a Russian Leg Sweep. Murdoch went for a flying bulldog, but Adonis dodged and hit a series of elbows on Murdoch before mounting with strikes. Murdoch stayed on top with basic wresting, ending when he countered Adonis’ Master Lock with a pinfall attempt.

Murdoch showed some sportsmanship and offered a handshake, which Adonis accepted, but then attacked Murdoch from behind and started choking him. Adonis locked on the Master Lock and hit a full nelson slam before locking it on again in a camel clutch position as the referees tried to break it up.

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Austin Idol was on commentary, and he talked about how Stevens asked him to coach him for his match against Aldis, as Idol helped Aldis beat Tim Storm for the title. Idol said that he would help him and coach him, so that he wouldn’t be the underdog. He said Aldis was representing the UK as champion, and was putting everything on the line, but that Stevens wasn’t an underdog in this, and has a really good chance of beating Aldis tonight. This was absolutely fantastic.

Kyle Davis led the show in a 10-bell salute for the people involved in the wrestling business that have passed away: James Hudson, Ron Read (Buddy Colt), and Jim Crockett Jr.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Nick Aldis defeated Aron Stevens to retain

A very solid main event from Aldis and Stevens here, as both men tried their best to honour their lost friend. Stevens had one of the better matches of his career, while Aldis continues to be one of the better champions in wrestling.

Aldis opened the match with shoulder tackles and said, “Get your head in the game, kid!” before locking up again. Stevens was wrestling wearing Question Mark’s colours, which was a nice little nod to him. Stevens got aggressive with elbows and a very nice belly-to-belly suplex, but he missed a springboard moonsault.

From there, Aldis worked over Stevens for a bit, including beating him down on the outside. Aldis hit a sidewalk slam on the apron, and continued to work over the back of Stevens, which ties into his finish, the Texas Cloverleaf. Aldis ate a kick as he went for a back body drop, and Stevens hit an inverted atomic drop and a superkick, and both men crashed to the mat.

Both men got a few near falls from this point forward, including near submissions as well, as Stevens did the figure four leglock. Aldis went for a top rope elbow, but Stevens was able to get to him first because of the damage done to the leg in the figure four and hit a superplex, which left both men down.

Stevens went for a second superplex, but Aldis knocked him off the ropes and hit a flying elbow off the middle rope on Stevens for a 2 count. Aldis said, “You had a good game,” as he picked him up and went for a piledriver. Stevens countered with a back body drop and hit a rolling elbow for a 2 count.

Stevens exposed his knee and hit a knee drop on Aldis. He went for dropkick of the middle rope, but Aldis caught him and locked on the Texas Cloverleaf right in the middle of the ring. Stevens miraculously made the ropes, and then rolled to the floor. Aldis went to powerslam Stevens on the floor, but Stevens slipped out and drove Aldis into the ringpost so hard that Stevens fell into the podium and knocked it over.

Aldis is selling his arm as they both got back into the ring and went for the Texas Cloverleaf again, but Stevens drove him back to the corner and hit an armbreaker on Aldis before locking on the crossface, but Aldis made the ropes. Stevens countered a pinfall attempt back into the crossface, but Aldis barely made the ropes again.

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Stevens went for another armbreaker on Aldis, but Aldis blocked it and cradled Stevens for the pinfall. Stevens fell into the corner, weeping, holding a Question Mark mask. Aldiss told Stevens to stand up like a man, and they shook hands, to cheers from the people there. The fans chanted “Thank you Joseph” as the roster came out and they posed with the flag of Mongrovia. This was super emotional, and the show went off the air with Stevens saying “That one was for you, Sensei.”

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Final Thoughts

This show was not as good as NWA’s previous offerings, but it is truly great to have them back, as there is absolutely a place for a product like the NWA in the 2021 wrestling landscape. The throwback to the 80s is a really good nostalgia kick, but at the same time it is a good platform to help younger wrestlers develop their characters while giving veterans a good chance to show they still have something to offer. The show was mostly fine in the ring, but again, not as strong as previous shows. However, the tribute they did for Joseph Hudson was really something special. The in ring wasn’t really what mattered on this show, as important as it usually is. The key was that this was a chance for the NWA crew to honour and mourn their lost friend, and someone who brought a lot of life to the NWA product. I’m excited to see what’s next for NWA Power, now that it will be back on Fite every week. Hopefully they can rebuild from the talent they lost, and continue to proudce quality, old school wrestling.