On this special edition of SCU’s latest and greatest feature, Dogvember, we take a look at the NWA title match between Tim Storm and Nick Aldis that was streamed on Facebook Live at Championship Wrestling From Hollywood’s TV tapings today. Spoilers and cute dog videos inside.
Note: Steve is currently at the taping and will most likely have an article and results about this event soon. Keep checking SCU for more on this match and show.
As mentioned above, this match was streamed live on Facebook (which you can see here) along with an extra match. The stream opened with Howdy Price (Dino Winwood) cutting a promo nobody can hear. Wonderful. Then Andy Brown came out, and then Espiritu. We now have some type of PP3 Cup match now.
PP3 Cup – Fatal Four Way Match: Andy Brown vs. Espiritu vs. Los Rancheros (Raul [Rico Dynamite] vs. Rogelio [Che Cabrera]) w/ Howdy Price (Dino Winwood)
Yes, this was a Fatal Four Way match with two tag team partners involved. This was terrible booking as usual from CWFH. Los Rancheros teamed up and beat up Fidel and Andy. Then Andy hit an Ace Crusher on a Ranchero and won the match. This was whatever.
Post match shenanigans
Dino threw a temper tantrum in the ring. Grant is at ringside and interviews Andy Brown. We can’t hear anything though on the stream. The crowd seemed hot for Andy though.
At ringside, we have Joe Galli, Johnny Loquasto, and Todd Keneley talking about the NWA title match. At this point, about 550 people were watching the stream. The NWA did a good job at trying to create a “big fight” feel going into this match on their YouTube series.
NWA Championship match: Tim Storm (c) vs.Nick Aldis (Magnus in TNA)
The commentary team was heard clearly, but the ring announcer Angel Castillo wasn’t during the ring intro. No complaints here. Referee Jeremy Marcus ran down the rules before the match. This was a nice touch to things. When the bell rang, 913 people were tuned into the stream, and the numbers went up and down for awhile. The view count bottomed out around 930 in the opening minutes of the match, but only went up from there. The highest view count at one point was 1.6k viewers and stayed around there as the match went on,
The opening portion saw both guys doing some simple chain wrestling. Things broke down and they started brawling a bit before they exchanged moves. Joe Galli took the match to break on commentary, but the action was still being streamed. Nothing eventful happened. Aldis worked over Storm with a Camel Clutch and a Sleeper Hold. Storm would mount a comeback, and things evened out.
After a double clothesline spot, Tim Storm mounted a Hulk Hogan like comeback where he got a bunch of offense (including a Big Boot) and played up tot he crowd. Storm put on a poorly Figure Four Leg Lock on Aldis, but Aldis sold it like a champ. Later, Storm hit a Bossman Slam for a near fall, and the fans chanted “Fight Forever.” No thanks! Storm went for the 10 punches in the corner spot, and Aldis hit him with a Powerbomb that he transitioned into a Texas Cloverleaf.
The finish saw Storm go for some type of submission move, but it was poorly applied. Then both guys rolled around awkwardly, and Storm got the win on a sloppy pin. This was not a good finish, and the match wasn’t that good either.
Post match shenanigans
The commentators then closed things as Aldis and Storm were in the ring showing respect. After Aldis left, Storm stayed in the ring and played tot he crowd before leaving.
Final Thoughts
I have to say, Billy Corgan has done a better job with the NWA than anyone has since the 80’s. The approach used to build this match was great. You had a subpar journeyman worker in his 50’s against a former TNA guy that doesn’t really have much of a name, and there was still interest in this match for a title that hasn’t been relevant in decades. The viewership rose as the match went on, which is a really good thing.
The match itself wasn’t very good though. I wasn’t really expecting a great match and I had zero expectations for it. Tim Storm cuts good promos, and the NWA did a great job at making people care about him, but he’s really not a championship caliber performer in 2017. As I mentioned, the finish was sloppy. The comments on the Facebook Live stream were a mix between some positive comments, and negative ones.
Comments from the Facebook Live stream of the NWA Championship Match
Even though I though the match was bad, the NWA accomplished something positive here. The match so far has 10,000 views as I write this, which isn’t really a number to scoff at. It was a good first step in trying to regain recognition in the wrestling industry. I think if Billy Corgan brought in workers most non-WWE fans were into and worked for more prolific promotions, he’d be able to garner a lot more interest in the NWA.
Stay tuned as Steve will have an article with more thoughts from today’s Championship Wrestling From Hollywood tapings. No word on if he’ll observe Dogvember though. Enjoy the cute dog!
I have to agree with Andrew here. Tim Storm is 52, sloppy and gassed out quickly. Looked unimpressive. With all of the bigger indie names without a WWE/NJPW/ROH/Impact contract, they have to give the belt someone better than Tim Storm.