NWA Into the Fire


NWA Into the Fire was a professional wrestling pay-per-view, scripted and produced by the National Wrestling Alliance that took place on December 14, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. This was the first pay-per-view event produced exclusively by NWA since becoming a singular wrestling promotion. The event takes its name from the 1984 heavy metal single, "Into the Fire" by the American band, Dokken, which was used as the theme song to NWA Power, the promotion's weekly series that debuted on October 8, 2019.
In the main event Nick Aldis successfully defended the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against James Storm in a two-out-of-three falls match. On the undercard Aron Stevens defeated Colt Cabana and Ricky Starks to win the NWA National Championship. The NWA World Tag Team Champions, The Rock 'n' Roll Express, retained the championship against former champions The Wild Cards. The show featured four additional matches.
During the event, NWA announced they were reintroducing the NWA World Television Championship at their January PPV, Hard Times. Marty Scurll from Ring of Honor also made a surprise appearance.

Production

Background

During the October 15, 2019, episode of NWA's weekly show, NWA Power, it was announced that they would be holding a pay-per-view called Into the Fire on December 14. This would be the first pay-per-view event produced exclusively by NWA since becoming a singular wrestling promotion.

Storylines

Into the Fire featured seven professional wrestling matches, with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed either heels or faces as they engaged in a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match. Season 1 of NWA's weekly flagship program, NWA Power, featured storylines leading up to the pay-per-view.

Reception

Joshia MacDonald, while reviewing the show for Wrestling Observer Newsletter, called it "
an excellent PPV from the NWA". In Jason Powell's review for pro wrestling dot net, stated that it "was a really fun show. They found the right balance between in-ring action and promos that works for them, and they saved the two best matches and the big surprise for the end of the night to close things on a high note." He described the NWA National Championship match as "The best match of the night thus far. Cabana and Starks worked well together, and Stevens continues to be laugh out loud funny" and for the main event commented that "the main event was good." but also stated, "I wasn’t a fan of the third fall finish."
The Cage Side Seats review referred to the show as "a mighty fine show" but then remarked "One critique is that there were too many tricky finishes with shenanigans. It also didn’t feel like any feuds were settled". The review mentioned Eli Drake vs. Ken Anderson as the match of the night with Cabana/Steves/Starks as the runner up. The overall rating from 411mania reviewer gave the show a 7 out of 10, with the last two matches of the show rated at 3.5 stars out of 5. As part of his review he stated that it was "a strong PPV from the company, staying true to the formula laid out with Power".

Results

Footnotes