In a bloody and personal affair, Nick Aldis defeated Marty Scurll to retain his NWA Championship at the Crockett Cup.
Nick Aldis and Marty Scurll put on an incredible match on Saturday night that got a lot more violent than fans were expecting.
Their personal histories were played up leading into this match as Scurll claims Aldis was the first person he ever met in the wrestling business. Aldis asked Scurll to be his tag partner in the Crockett Cup tag tournament back in March, but Scurll rejected the offer and challenged Aldis for his coveted NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship instead. Aldis seemed frustrated in the buildup that Scurll had challenged him but as time went on it seemed more and more that he was actually scared of Scurll and the momentum he was riding.
The match started off with grappling and chain wrestling as both men showed off their British catch-as-catch-can techniques. Kamilla Kaine, Adlis’s valet and bodyguard, was thrown out early in the match as Scurll tricked the referee into thinking she had attacked him while the ref wasn’t looking. Aldis got more intense and calculated after he lost Kaine as he didn’t have his safety net in his corner. Both men frequently switched from submission-based wrestling to heavy strikes as they both kept countering each other’s offense. Aldis seemed to blade while he brawled on the floor with Scurll, and he might have cut too deep as his face was coated with blood in seconds.
The blood added intensity to the contest as things reached a fever pitch, with both men trading submission finishers to attempt to seal the victory. Kaine returned after the ref was taken out by an errant strike and attempted to spear Scurll, but Aldis stopped her and said he wanted to win the belt on his own. Scurll didn’t seem to mind a cheap win though, as he hit a low blow and almost secured the pinfall on a roll-up. Aldis eventually locked in his finisher, The King’s Lynn Cloverleaf, to secure the win as Scurll had to tap out.
Both men got on the mic afterwards and praised the other while they surveyed the bloodied canvas.
The Crockett Cup finals also ended up being a violent affair as PCO and Brody King took on Thomas “Bram” Latimer and Royce Isaacs. King and PCO took home the win along with the new NWA Tag Team Titles and the prestigious Crockett Cup.
Saturday’s event was a solid card with compelling matches and great storytelling and it led to a successful event for the NWA. The future looks bright for Aldis, King, PCO, and the newly invigorated NWA.