NWA: Purity
Orlando, Florida
October 28, 2015
The Dark Carnival (with Sinn Bodhi) vs. The Young BucksSinn Bodhi’s men looked very strong at the beginning of this match; Brodie Lee muscled Nick Jackson around, working him over with knees and kicks until he could finally whip him into the ropes and hit a BIG BOOT for a two-count. Lee tagged out to Tyler Bateman, and the mysterious ringmaster went right to work on Nick’s fingers, twisting them painfully before stomping on his hand. Inexplicably, Bateman blasted Nick with a discus forearm that left him staggered…then pushed him into his own corner, allowing him to make the tag and daring Matt to come into the ring.
Matt exploded out of his corner with a dropkick, then a superkick that put Bateman down for a two count. He tagged in Nick for a turnbuckle power bomb/enzuigiri combo, then Nick tagged in Matt for a double superkick. The lightning tags continued until they hit Bateman with MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK; Nick made the cover, but Lee charged across the ring and made the save, dropping a big leg across the back of Jackson’s neck.
Bateman crawled to his corner and tagged Lee back into the match. The Big Rig worked Nick over painfully, hitting him with a sit-out power bomb, then a piledriver. Nick staggered to his feet and, in an act of defiance, slapped Lee across the face. Naturally, this enraged the big man, who responded with a BIG BOOT and a cover for 1…2…3!
WINNERS: The Dark Carnival via pinfall (13:02)
Sami Callihan vs. Claudio CastagnoliThe Swiss Superman got off to a fast start, scoring with a head butt and a series of European uppercuts, then a bridging fallaway slam for a long two-count. Castagonoli picked up his opponent with an incredible deadlift gut wrench suplex and bridged into a pin for another two-count. Callihan rolled out to the safety of the floor, and when Castagnoli followed, the New Horror raked his eyes to take the advantage for the first time.
Back in the ring, Callihan hit an exploder suplex, but Castagnoli came right back up to his feet and unloaded on the New Horror with a clothesline. Callihan lay on the mat as Castagnoli set him up for the giant swing, making fifteen complete resolutions before dropping him to the mat. Callihan made the mistake of climbing to his feet while he was still dizzy and charging Castagnoli in the corner. The Swiss Superman sent him over the top rope with a back body drop, but Callihan turned in midair, landing on his feet on the apron. He dropped to the floor, tripped Castagnoli up, and pulled him backwards by both legs, crotching him on the ring post.
Callihan hauled his opponent out to the floor and whipped him into the ringside barricade, but Castagnoli reversed the whip and Callihan crashed into the barrier, instead. The Swiss Superman rolled Callihan back into the ring, but the New Horror made it to his feet, raced across the ring and back, and took Castagnoli out with a suicide dive through the ropes.
Both men stumbled to their feet and slowly made their way back into the ring just as ring announcer Jeremy Borash announced that there was only one minute remaining in the match. The declaration seemed to wake Castagnoli up, and he went right after Callihan in an attempt to put him away. Ricola Bomb…for two. Fallaway slam…but Callihan reached the ropes. Flying European uppercut…for two. Castagnoli finally dragged Callihan to the center of the ring and planted him with a NEUTRALIZER for 1…2…and the bell sounded before referee Todd Sinclair reached three.
NO WINNER: Time Limit Draw (20:00)
reDRagon vs. The Playa’s Club (with Maria Kanellis)Kyle O’Reilly and Michael Bennett started the match, and O’Reilly took an immediate advantage, working a front facelock and transitioning it into a vertical suplex. A quick tag brought Bobby Fish into the ring, and reDRagon hit a knee strike/Regal Plex combination that put Bennett on his back for two. Fish waited for Bennett to sit up, then planted a savate kick directly to his face. He dashed across the ring, attempting to bounce off the ropes, but Matt Taven flung his leg up in the air, kicking Fish in the back of the head.
Bennett got a much-needed breather, and managed to tag in his partner, who immediately planted Fish with a CLIMAX for 1…2…no! Taven went for a piledriver, but Fish reversed it into a back body drop and charged across the ring, climbing up to the top rope. Taven was not sufficiently weakened, however—he quickly regained his feet, intercepted Fish on the top rope, and hit an incredible CLIMAX off the top rope! Taven made the cover: 1…2…and there’s O’Reilly with the save!
Taven brought Bennet back into the ring, and he trapped his opponent in his ANACONDA VISE, though Fish managed to twist and turn until he got a foot in the ropes. Another tag brought Taven into the match, and the Playa’s Club planted Fish with the HAIL MARY for 1…2…O’Reilly with the save again!
Taven was frustrated and began choking Fish, who powered his way out of the illegal hold and hit another savate kick to Taven’s midsection. Fish locked on a heel hook, but this time Bennett made the save before his partner could submit. reDRagon made the switch, and suddenly Taven was CHASING THE DRAGON. O’Reilly made the cover and referee Mike Chioda made the count: 1…2…3!
WINNERS: reDRagon via pinfall (16:16)
Bryan Danielson vs. Uhaa NationAs soon as the two men had followed
Purity’s Code of Honor and shaken hands, Nation kicked Danielson in the stomach and hoisted him up for a bone-crunching power bomb. Danielson grabbed his neck immediately, and Nation instinctively backed off…allowing Danielson to charge across the ring and take his opponent down with a dropkick. The American Dragon put on a display of kicks, wearing Nation out, but Danielson made a huge error in climbing to the top rope while his opponent was merely dazed. Nation caught him coming off the turnbuckle, powered him up over his head, and proceeded to his his ULTRA COMBINATION. Danielson managed to kick out at two, but his opponent was unfazed; Nation picked him up and hit the ULTRA COMBINATION one more time, this time earning the three-count.
WINNER: Uhaa Nation via pinfall (6:00)
Flashback: August 8, 2004
The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Young Bucks
This was the debut match for Matt and Nick Jackson in the NWA, and both teams still showed a level of greenness that belied their success in later years.
Jay Briscoe and Matt Jackson started the match with Briscoe whipping Jackson into the ropes, only to telegraph a back body drop and get planted with a devastating piledriver. Matt whipped Jay into the ropes, but both men went for a cross body block and they crashed to the mat, each in big trouble.
Both men made the exchange, and Nick and Mark locked up for the first time, with Jackson taking the advantage. He caught Mark in a facelock, then spun around into a stunner. He followed up with a spinning heel kick and a springboard clothesline, sending Mark tumbling into his own corner, where he tagged in his brother. Jay took Nick down with a huge hip toss, then climbed to the top rope for a flying clothesline that dimmed his opponent’s lights. Jay hit a superkick, then tagged Mark back into the ring; they crushed Nick with a DOOMSDAY DEVICE and Jay cut off Matt while Mark made the winning pinfall.
WINNERS: The Briscoe Brothers via pinfall (6:37)Bad Influence vs. Prince Devitt & Shaun Ricker (with Ric Flair)Christopher Daniels started the match against Prince Devitt, and had some very early success with an eye rake, a knee lift, and a piledriver that earned him an early two-count. Devitt wisely rolled to the floor to confer with his manager, and Flair got him calmed down enough to roll back into the ring and connect with a succession of karate kicks before going up top for his COUP DE GRÂCE for a two count of his own.
Devitt tagged Ricker (making his return from a lengthy injury inflicted by Homicide) into the match, and after a stomp to Daniels’ groin, earning a warning from referee Todd Sinclair, he applied a Boston Crab that might have ended the match if Frankie Kazarian hadn’t made the save.
Daniels fought his way to his own corner to tag in Kazarian, who ran right into a power slam by Ricker that earned a long two-count. A GRAVY TRAIN put Kazarian on the mat for 1…2…Daniels with the save! Ricker tagged in his partner, and Devitt went up to the top rope for another COUP DE GRÂCE, though he didn’t hit all of it and Kazarian managed to tag out.
It wasn’t long before things started coming off the rails for Devitt. He went up to the top rope for another big move, but Kazarian shook off the cobwebs and cut him off, superplexing him to the mat. Kazarian hit a Shining Wizard, then a bridging electric chair suplex for a long two. Daniels tagged in and immediately planted Devitt with his ANGEL’S WINGS, but Ricker quickly charged into the ring and made the save. As Sinclair was ejecting Ricker from the match, Daniels whipped Devitt into the Bad Influence corner and tagged in Kazarian. They set Devitt up on the top turnbuckle and Kazarian hit his Flux Capacitor for 1…2…3!
WINNERS: Bad Influence via pinfall (13:49)
Post-Match DramaAfter the match was over, Todd Sinclair tried to enforce the Code of Honor and get the competitors to shake hands. Daniels and Kazarian each extended a hand, and it appeared that the Horsemen were going to follow suit…until Ric Flai rolled into the ring and took down both members of Bad Influence with a low blow. Devitt and Ricker attacked their fallen opponents and began laying into them with fists. Just when things seemed desperate for the good guys, they shook off the effects of Flair’s attack and began fighting back, trading punches with the Horsemen. Before things could go any further, the entire referee crew, arena security personnel, and half a dozen wrestlers from the locker room swarmed the ring, separating the four men, who continued to struggle to escape and continue the fight until, two by two, they were dragged to the back.
Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Michael ElginThe ominous steel cage meant there was no referee and no outside interference, and that took away a large part of the champion’s confidence. Elgin took advantage of this early, catching Styles as he tried to quickly scale the cage and slamming him to the mat, then flinging him into the corner with a power bomb.
Styles stumbled forward and was immediately hoisted up and power bombed into the corner a second time, then taken down by a spinning back fist. The champion tried rolling under the bottom rope to escape the ring, but the cage prevented that, and Elgin deadlifted him up for a hanging vertical suplex, shrugging off a few weak elbows to hold Styles for thirty seconds before dropping him to the mat. Styles lay crumpled on the mat, but the challenger wasn’t finished with him; he picked the champion up and planted him with an ELGIN BOMB before walking out the cage door.
WINNER and NEW NWA WORLD CHAMPION: Michael Elgin (5:17)
Post-Match Drama As the new champion made his way to the back, he crossed paths with Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, who came racing down the aisle, reaching the ring just as Styles was attempting to pull himself through the cage door. Kazarian ran interference with the officials while Daniels grabbed the cage door and slammed it shut, crushing Styles’ hand. Before any further damage could be inflicted, Ric Flair, Shaun Ricker, and Prince Devitt came tearing down the aisle, sending Bad Influence into retreat through the crowd.
Match of the Night: Michael Elgin d. AJ Styles
Wrestling Observer Rating: 3 stars