NWA Powerrr: A ‘Thrill’-ing NWA 77 Title Match

Thom Latimer faces his biggest challenge in "Thrillbilly" Silas Mason for the Ten Pounds of Gold at NWA 77

Tommy "Milagro" Martinez

NWA Powerrr: A ‘Thrill’-ing NWA 77 Title Match

It’s the final episode of NWA 77, and on this NWA Powerrr, the National Wrestling Alliance has Thom Latimer ready to defend the Ten Pounds of Gold against “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason. The Southern Six member is champing at the bit to take the title, but Latimer has proven a worthy holder of the belt since defeating EC3 at NWA 76 last year.

Will the King of all Evil still reign supreme, or will he end up going on a ThrillRide?

We’ll find out as we come to you from The Paramount in Huntington, NY. Joe Galli and Danny Dealz have the call, and we start with your First Match of the Night, which is a…

Street Fight: El Dragón Nihan vs. Max the Impaler

Max has their eye taped up after taking a fireball from Father James Mitchell on an earlier episode of NWA Powerrr. Galli remarks that this match will be less about technical finesse and more about “two kaijus.” If that’s the case, Nihan is clearly Godzilla in this wrestling version.

Max and Nihan circle as they stare each other down, but it’s the Warrior of the Wasteland throwing heavy clubbing blows to the Puerto Rican in the corner. Max rushes and eats a boot, which stuns and sends them outside. Nihan follows and throws Max into the guardrails, gaining the upper hand while Max adjusts the bandages around their eye. A shot to the throat by Nihan, and he applies a sleeper. Max isn’t going down that easily, and they toss him headfirst to the apron edge.

There are some chants for Max from the crowd, who are mostly silent throughout the match until The Non-Binary Nightmare gives a backdrop and a spear to Nihan. Now Gaagz the Gymp comes out with a chair and slams it on their back, but that angers Max. The Gymp is trying to make a getaway, but Max catches him and piledrives him on the steel chair. Max returns with the weapon and stalks Nihan, only to eat a superkick from the outside of the ring. He covers for a two count, and Max bites his head. Back in the ring, Nihan thrusts the chair in Max’s gut and slams it on their back. One powerbomb on the chair and a pin ends this street fight.

Your Winner via Pinfall: El Dragón Nihan

After the match, Mitchell comes out and calls for The Lost. They enter the ring, surrounding and berating Max. With that, allow me an…

(Author’s Note: Even though Max announced they will no longer be with the NWA, fret not. They announced via social media that they are in a new horror movie Dolly. We’ll give it a review when it becomes available.)

Trevor Murdoch says the Immortals will get what they want in the tag team title match, but they’re gonna step into a war. Mike Knox, for his part, simply says, “Time to make the donuts.” Nothing more needs to be said for the NWA Tag Team Champions.

Kratos and Odinson say they’ve been on their heels for some time, and they are here. Equally to the point, so why waste words?

That means your next match is for the…

NWA World Tag Team Championship: Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch(c) vs. The Immortals (Kratos and Odinson)

Before the match gets underway, Eric Smalls comes out at ringside to watch and possibly get in the heads of Knox and Murdoch. Can’t blame the Half Pint Punk, since it was both men who choked him out at the end of The Crockett Cup.

It should also be noted that this is where The Immortals earned their shot at the tag titles, and Kratos is no stranger to holding the belts; the last time being with Aron Stevens.

Once the bell rings, Knox and Murdoch take a page out of Blunt Force Trauma and blindside The Immortals right away. Murdoch beats Odinson in the corner, as Knox slams Kratos on the concrete outside. Murdoch whips and gives a back elbow to the Asgardian. Knox tags in, and they whip Odinson to the ropes, but he hangs on. Kratos pulls his partner out, and Murdoch attempts what I can best describe as a spinning plancha to the outside, but his hip catches the ring apron, and he lands awkwardly on the concrete floor. Knox is alone, and that leaves the Immortals to punch away and toss him out. Kratos shows how it’s done as he launches with a plancha, sending both men crashing backwards into the guardrails to wake up fans at ringside. Murdoch gets tossed in, and as The Most Feared climbs between the ropes, Knox grabs his ankle. The distraction allows them to give Kratos a high/low on the apron edge and then…

Ads (but it’s mostly promos by Thom Latimer ahead of his title match with Mason, and Natalia Markova is still basking in the glow of earning the NWA Women’s World Championship at NWA 77 over Kenzie Paige. She wants to make The Burke synonymous with her.)

We come back, and Murdoch covers Kartos for a two count. He and Knox cut the ring in half, and Kratos is an Immortal in Peril. Chops in the corner awaken The Most Feared, and Kratos returns the receipt and launches Murdoch with a suplex to the opposite corner. He rushes, and Murdoch sidesteps away, as Kratos crashes shoulder-first into the ringpost. The champ whips him to the ropes for a swing and a miss, but Kratos nails him with a Pele kick. Knox pulls Odinson off and into the guardrail to avoid a tag, and Murdoch connects with a DDT to Kratos, and he continues to grind The Immortal down.

Kratos comes back with a desperation DVD, and he crawls to his corner. A hot tag to Odinson and the Asgardian is en Fuego, and he gives Murdoch a leaping Asgardian uppercut to his back. Knox has him in a goozle for a choke slam, but Odinson flips through and slams for a count of two. Tag back to Kratos with a standing frog splash, and he rushes to the corner. Once again, he misses as he gets a running crossbody. Knox and Murdoch set up for the high/low finisher, except Odinson nails a pounce to Murdoch. That allows Kratos to nail a powerslam to Knox, who gets another two count.

Smalls interjects for the first time in this match as he pulls Murdoch off the apron and gives him a shot below the belt. The Immortals give Knox the Immortality finisher, and they get the cover, so that means…

Your Winners via Pinfall, And New NWA World Tag Team Champions: Kratos and Odinson

A great tag match with good pacing, and The Immortals are going to be the measuring stick for any tag team on the NWA roster.

The Holy Grail is backstage, and EC3 asks Pastor C-LO if he has read the Good Book. Obviously, he has, and both men agree there are important lessons to learn. However, Pretty Boy Smooth is not about the Good Book, because he is on Demon time after Aron Stevens gave him a loaded glove. For his part, Smooth has a loaded fist with his name on it, and The Overlord remarketh, “May the Lord have mercy on his soul.” Even C-Lo gives an amen for that.

Wonder what last rites Stevens will be given, if at all?

Joe Galli had an interview with the former NWA women’s champ, Kenzie Paige. He wanted to focus on her two years with The Burke (which, yours truly, covered live at NWA 75 two years ago). She recalls it was her payoff to be part of big moments in the NWA. Now she has to figure out who she is without it. As for what’s next, she has no idea, with tears in her eyes. As for a rematch, she won’t say no, but she needs to step back, figure out who she is, and then come back for the title.

Now for the Main Event, and it is for the…

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Thom Latimer(c) vs. “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason

Galli lists the talent who stepped up to Latimer to challenge for the Ten Pounds of Gold over the past year, as well as the lineage of those who have held the title, like Harley Race, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Ric Flair, to name a few.

Both men get into a shouting match as Kyle Davis gives the boxing-style intros. Mason is charged and spits at the champ. Latimer coolly eyes his opponent with a steely gaze. The bell rings, and they lock up, with neither getting an advantage. They tackle each other down, but quickly get back up and get in each other’s grill.

It soon becomes a slugfest until Latimer attempts a piledriver, but it is reversed to a backdrop. Each man goes for their finisher, but misses the other by millimeters. Mason clotheslines him to the outside and throws Latimer to the guardrails and then back-first to the apron edge and finishes with a slam on the outside. He then proceeds to remove a protective pad covering a portion of the concrete floor, but Latimer gives him a side Russian Legsweep, and both get the worst of it. They briefly get back in the ring, but Mason promptly clotheslines them back out of the ring again.

Mason takes his time and threatens a piledriver on the floor, but Latimer reverses to a monkey flip, and he crashes into the ring post. Back in the ring, Latimer climbs up the top turnbuckle, but Mason catches him and gives an avalanche fallaway slam, which makes fans chant, “This is Awesome!”

Mason follows with a springboard elbow drop for a count of two. Latimer comes back to lock in a crossface submission, but Mason counters with a backbreaker. Latimer gets a second wind and jabs away at Big Daddy Thrill, then follows with an inverted atomic drop to a clothesline. Latimer whips him to the corner with a back elbow, then a corner splash, and then punctuates with what Galli describes as the Velvet Noise (a reverse flatliner). DDT connects, and Latimer measures him for the kill. A boot by the Thrillbilly finds the mark, and he sends the champ on a Thrillride as he covers for one, two…kick out.

Mason is in disbelief, since no one has ever kicked out of his finisher until now. He attempts a second, but Latimer counters with a crucifix bomb pin for a near fall. Now he nails his pop-up powerbomb finisher and sits down for a cover of one, two…Mason kicks out. Fans chant harder, “This is Awesome!” as both men are overcome by fatigue. Once they get up to a vertical position, they slug it out, and the fans are here with the “Yay!/Boo!” chants. Latimer whips him to the ropes for another powerbomb, but Mason leapfrogs and sends Latimer on a third ThrillRide, and now the ref counts for one, two, and three.

Your Winner, and New NWA World Heavyweight Champion: “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason

The stars are shining across the Southern Sky, as Mason has the Ten Pounds of Gold across his shoulder. The Era of Big Daddy Thrill is upon us in the National Wrestling Alliance, as the show ends.

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