A tale of two titles

Just to illustrate what is wrong with the NWA World Heavyweight Title being in Japan on the waist of Tenzan let me compare with the NWA Women's World Title which hangs on Sanata Garrett. 

Garrett has defend the NWA Women's Title more outside the NWA than she has inside it.  In fact this past weekend, she successfully defended it FOUR times culminating in the defense at NWA Signature Pro Wrestling.  She defended it also at "I Believe in Wrestling", which got her name mentioned on sites like PWTorch.  She is also wrestling regularly for Shine Wrestling, which had Sanata Garrett win a title defense last weekend on an IPPV.  And Shine is now using Twitter to get fan made matches and the NWA Women's Title vs. the Shine Women's Title is a choice.  So social media is lighting up with the NWA Women's Title.  Let us also not forget that Sanata Garrett is now ranked (and has been for four weeks) on the PWI Top 10 women's wrestlers, which was not achieved by Barbi Hayden.  We can argue she should have made it, but the point is the NWA's champ is now getting recognition as one of the best women in the business.  The title itself is getting publicity and it is good for the NWA.

Tenzan has appeared on some NJPW events during their New Japan Cup series, but not in singles matches and not defending the title.  He has been in six man or eight man tag matches where he might be on the opposite side from his next opponent, Kojima.  The title is not a focus of NJPW, not being shown anywhere else, and is not yet on the docket for the next big New Japan event, Invasion.  Yes, the event is called Invasion, and no NWA title are being defended on the show despite the fact that New Japan has all three men's World Titles.  Now, in fairness the Tag Team champs are invading NOAH, so they get some wrestling, but as of now neither the World Heavyweight or World Junior Heavyweight title is up for defense.  Both titles are scheduled to be defended against other New Japan wrestlers next.  Although it should be noted that Ring of Honor is billing Jushin Liger against Jay Lethal for the ROH TV Title at the end of the month.  No mention of the NWA World Junior Title.  Tenzan is an after thought at best in New Japan, and he is now our NWA champ.  During Kojima's reign the NWA title was at least used constantly.  During Invasion last year, Kojima defended against Wes Brisco, if memory serves.  The title was defended on every major event they had.  Now, it has disappeared into limbo. 

The Women's title is on fire, which is great.  The men's title is out of sight, out of mind. 

The way NXT ought to work

Let me explain why NXT is broken.  It is broken because it does not do what it is meant to do, prepare people for RAW.  NXT is a great stand alone product, but it is not integrated with the WWE enough to really help a sagging flagship of RAW.  I know Hunter has said he wants NXT to be a stand alone thing, but that is foolish.  Why would WWE want NXT to complete with RAW?  And if people were signing with the internet based NXT with no hope of RAW, would they be able to sign the great talent they have now?  Would Kevin Steen want to work with NXT exclusively when he could have stayed with ROH and worked independent events all he wants?  Maybe, but I doubt you would get KENTA and other major stars to come if NXT is a destination not a pit stop. 

So think for a minute name one wrestler who came from NXT to WWE prepared?  Okay maybe Bray Wyatt.  His character puts him in a unique situation.  So I give you one.  Shield came in booked strong, and that helped, but what about now?  Reigns is a flop, Ambrose is too one gear, and Seth Rollins is looking like the best of the bunch.  Adam Rose?  Come on.  Bo Dallas?  He had potential, but there was no connection to Bo-lieve, and it flopped.  Paige?  She was a great NXT champ, and coming into a weak women’s division.  Won the title, and . . . nothing.  She is nothing now.  Fandango?  Please.  They are all awful when they finally show up because there is no real connection between the two. 

Let me use an example.  Last year we had some great match of the year candidates between Caesaro and Sami Zayn.  They had amazing matches, but not a one of them was on RAW.  These were steal Wrestlemania good matches, yet they are not seen by the vast majority wrestling fans.  Then they built up a great story line of Zayn always being the bridesmaid, but never the bride.  Just not quite good enough to win the big one.  It culminated in a crowd pleasing NXT title win.  Yet when he makes his debut on RAW all of that fan momentum and story line will be gone.  It won’t exist.  This is going to frustrate the harcore fan who watches NXT, and make Zayn have to start at the bottom of the WWE with a blank slate.  Does anyone doubt that this guy is a potential star?  At least intercontinental champion material. 

So imagine this.  November 2013 Ceasaro beats Zayn and it plays out as it did.  However, maybe highlights are shown and it is discussed briefly about Ceasaro getting a great match down in NXT.  The NXT guys have some air time somehow so that the show is not an unknown.  Some NXT stars show up in the Royal Rumble.  Maybe even Zayn, who squares off with Ceasaro.  Make Zayn eliminate Ceasaro, and then get eliminated himself.  It plays into the obsession Zayn had, and promotes the upcoming Takeover event maybe even helping gain subscribers to the Network.  Then they have the two out of three fall match classic at Takeover.  Make mention again on air, use it as part of building up Ceasaro to his Andre Battle Royal win at Wrestlemania.  Zayn goes his way, and you continue the close but no cigar angle with Neville, Kidd, and Breeze.  Now have a push on RAW for Ceasaro, who frankly deserves it.  Make him end up with the Intercontinental title.  Have Zayn show up on RAW saying he can beat Ceasaro.  He knows he can.  Maybe have a match on RAW where Zayn comes close, and Caesaro takes a count out.  Give them a PPV match where Caesaro cheats to retain.  It plays into the "can't win the big one" for Zayn.  Then you have Zayn in that great fatal four way in November.  Have Zayn win at the NXT Revolution event in December, but make sure it gets a mention on RAW.  Remember RAW needs to be doing some highlights and talk about NXT including occasional NXT matches.  Have Caesaro mock Zayn in interviews after Zayn drops the title to Owens.  Have Zayn and Ceasaro cross paths again at the Rumble, some RAW run-ins until Caesaro gives a Wrestlemania title match to Zayn.  Have Zayn win the intercontinental title from Caesaro at Wrestlemania.  Then you have brought Zayn in strong, slowly introduced him so that people understand he is not coming in from scratch.  And you have helped the Intercontinental title out by having a champ wear it and defend it for half a year or more, which also makes Caesaro look strong.  Then you have a known high quality match at Wrestlemania that will make the wrestling diehards salivate, a new young star, and Caesaro ready to make a move into the top contenders to start the post Wrestlemania 2015.  It also gives an in for Kidd and Breeze who have beef with Zayn, and hopefully have also been on the highlight reel, and probably have part of the occasional NXT match on RAW.  They would improve the roster.  And I think you might have done a better job getting people to sign up for the network because you are doing more than just shoving the low price down their throat, you are showing them what they are missing with NXT. 

As it stands now, Zayn has to start from the ground floor with a company that shows little patience for developing talent.  Not a good place to go from NXT champ to RAW chump.  But that is way it is set up now.

Unification thoughts

I should write about the big news that there will be aunification bout between the North American Heavyweight Championship and theNational Heavyweight Championship.  It is hard to argue against this move.  The two titles were basically duplicates and made things complicated.  The North American was supposedly the number 2 belt in the company, yet the National Title was the #1 contender and the stepping stone to the World title.  Never made any sense.  This will clear up the picture quite a bit. 

Yet, it is hard to think that the NWA did not miss out on something with the North American Title.  Clearly the NWA has hopes of being a real world wide presence.  They have also shown with the Women’s Title lately that they are willing for NWA belts to appear on shows that have nothing to do wit the NWA.  One could argue New Japan fits this bill with the World title and the World Tag Team Titles as well.  So why not make the North American Title really a North American title?  Would not have been feasible to get some sort of relationship with AAA or CMLL that is similar to the one we have with New Japan?  Just give them the belt for six months or a year even?  Let someone defend it in Mexico to get the NWA name back into Mexico.  There are also some Canadian shows that are not NWA affiliates that are open to NWA belts.  Remember last year when Chase Owens defended the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title in several places in Canada?  Put the belt on a Dru Oynx or Teddy Hart and let them tour Canada with it.  I like the Mexico option better because the NWA has so many territories that could easily draw a Luchador like Wrestling Revolution or Branded Outlaw Wrestling.  So the belt could come back from time to time to make an appearance in America, but it stays on a popular Luchador, who defends it in AAA or CMLL.  Then Las Vegas and the Cauliflower Club would make a good venue to have someone win it back.  Maybe then defend it in America for a time, maybe even Pro Wrestling Vendetta since they seem to be far away from where the majority of the NWA is located.  This belt could be part of their show for a while.  Then put it on Teddy Hart or Dru Oynx, and let them take it to Canada for a while.  There is a good two years of North American Title booking that keeps it separate and distinct from the National title, gives the NWA a global name, and could elevate the belt into something to be desired. 

But getting rid of the belt is not bad either.  I do think the merged belt should be National title since there is no NWA territory outside of America and Continental belts are suspect anyway.  This does continue to march the Cauliflower Club event every year up in significance.  If the NWA ever does decide to jump to an IPPV event or something like that, they are setting up people to look toward the Cauliflower Club every year.  I imagine some World  Titles will appear on this docket and probably change hands as well. 

Big events wrapping up for the NWA

There were some real big events in the NWA this past week or so. 
Perhaps none were bigger than NWA Branded Outlaw Wrestling Extreme Anniversary 3.  However, with Hayden and Conway dropping their titles, it was probably not as big as it was supposed to be.  Hayden in fact lost her match.  Jax Dane did pick up the National Title, so his match with Luke Gallows was for the National Title, and Dane wins.  Carson and Lance Hoyt are obviously going to have another go soon, and Andy Dalton defeated Raymond Rowe in what some called the match of the night. 

Inspire Pro had a big event on the 15th that saw ACH become the #1 contender to their title.  It has to be said that Inspire Pro may have the best collection of female wrestlers in the world, not just the NWA.  Barbi Hayden won here as did Vanessa The Mountain Kraven, Athena the Wrestling Goddess, and Delilah Doom.  Count em up that is four matches on this card featuring women wrestlers.  I do hope a Women's World Title match is held at Inspire Pro real soon.

NWA Rage also fought on the 22nd, and William Huckaby retained the top title by DQ.  Interestingly Joe Black pined Beau Crockett. 

NWA Top of Texas and Texoma both had events.  Texoma had a North American title defense by Tim Storm, but I can't find the results as three other belts were on the line and Teddy Hart was in action.  Top of Texas is also not available. 

NWA Elite had a show too.  Vordel Walker retained his title.  John Saxon won and issued a challenge to Junior Heavyweight champ Jushin Thunder Liger.  New tag team chaps were crown in an interesting twist.  Xtian Blake and Andy Dalton are the new champs even though Andy Dalton left the ringside so Xtian could get a beat down.  One roll up later, and the two are the champs. 

Watch John Saxon give a pretty good challenge to NWA President Bruce Thawrp.  I want to see Saxon vs. Liger. 

Tenzan is new NWA champ

I am a big fan of the NWA, but this move is awful. 

This is bad for several major reasons.

#1. This puts all the men's World Titles in Japan.  The World Junior title is still in the hands of Jushin Liger.  The World Heavyweight title now belongs to Tenzan.  The World Tag Team Champs are KES, but they have wrestled primarily in Japan for some time.  Not good.

#2 This formula has been done before . . . last year.  We sent the World Title over there for half a year last year.  There is no reason to expect it will come home prior to the Cauliflower Club match this year either and no reason to assume they will keep it past that date.  Once is nice, twice is unoriginal.  Not to mention we are already following that formula for the World Junior title.  Bad idea.

#3 It means New Japan is better than the NWA.  New Japan is not an NWA territory.  Instead, it is a different organization, which if you watch those shows, the NWA is trying to prove it is better.  Yet, now our World Champ loses all the time over there.  So has Owens, and so has our World tag champs.  How do you not come to the conclusion that New Japan is simply better.  Remember we are not even going against their top guys. 

#4 Tenzan is simply a bad champ.  Kojima, I understood.  Tenzan has had more IWGP World Titles, but Kojima was the better wrestler.  Kojima had a big run in All Japan, was the first man to win the Triple Crown and the IWGP World title.  Kojima won the G1 Climax and IWGP World Title in 2010.  Thus he had been in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom in 2011, less than four years ago.  Tenzan has not had a world title shot of any kind since 2006.  Tenzan has been out of the main event for a long time.  Yet, now he is the NWA World Champ. 


Ultimately this does not elevate the NWA, makes it look formulaic, and now Rob Conway is damaged goods.  I like Conway, but he cannot regain the title after this.  It is someone else's turn now.  If he does regain it in Las Vegas later this year, I will be disappointed. 

This does lower the excitement for big cards that had Conway on it such as the Branded Outlaw card that was headlining Claxton vs. Conway. 

If you are looking for some sort of positive, I suppose this clears the deck for a good look at Jax Dane.  He now has the National Title, and there is nothing else to book in the NWA.  The North American Title has never really been the number 2 title, so Dane gets a clear booking look to see if he can be the man to carry the World title in the future. 

Again, this is bad for Bruce Thwarp and the NWA as a whole. 

NWA Updates from Japan

The NWA has had a nice week in Japan and a little mid week action from Smoky Mtn.

Smoky Mtn had a Thursday match that had Jason Kincaid retain the NWA Southeastern Title in a falls count anywhere match vs. Chris Richards.  On a national scale it was probably the first National Title defense for Jax Dane as he beat Benny Conley.  Dane teamed with Vince Bret, but failed to claim the  US Tag Team Championship from the Heatseekers.  Dane and Bret won by DQ.  

More importantly in Japan Rob Conway and Chase Owens teamed together to win a tag match against Jushin Thunder Liger and Tenzan.  Tomorrow night the two split out for individual matches.

Also the NWA World Tag Team  Champs were in action on the 11th this time in Pro Wrestling Noah.  They are part of an invasion story line as New Japan and Noah continue to work together.  The Killer Elite Squad beat TMDK to become the GHC Tag Team Champs. 

Stay tuned to see if Owens and Conway can come back from Japan as champs. 

New Women's World Champ

Barbi Hayden's year long reign as champ is over.  She was defeated by Santana Garrett at NWA Signature Pro event on the 7th. 

Hayden had a great run, but I like the change over all.  I hope Hayden stays around the NWA, maybe even making a nice rivalry.  Garrett is a higher flyer than Hayden, who was a more powerful wrestler.  The two contrast very nicely.  There was a lot more drama with the post match handshake than when Hayden won it from Kacee Carlisle.

From a business perspective the change is good.  The NWA Women's title is the only real wrestling title out there for women.  Divas and Knockouts don't even sound that flattering.  This title ought to be showcased a bit more; however, a lot of these small NWA territories are lucky to have one woman wrestler, much less a stable of talent.  And that was where Hayden seems to have hit a ceiling. 

Hayden had beaten just about everyone she could.  She was based mostly out of Houston, which has left the NWA.  She was well known in Texas, but seldom appeared in other NWA strongholds like the Tennessee territories.  Garrett's already scheduled for NWA Signature Pro, her apparent home base, and NWA Vendetta, which is on the other side of the country.  The better news for NWA is that she is also booked in Jersey All Pro wrestling, Shimmer, and other places.  It is these sort of events that will help raise the profile of the NWA Women's title.  These are doors that are open to Garrett probably because of her TNA background, and the NWA is wise to take advantage.  Still, I enjoyed Hayden's run, and I hope she does not disappear in the Lonestar wrestling, which is not good.  She should stick with the NWA. 

Take a look at the match.  It is pretty good.