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Current National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion, Trevor Murdoch talks NWA 74 PPV this weekend in St. Louis, Missouri Live at the Chase

Posted: Aug 26th 2022 By: Yiorgo - MilitaryNews.com

The National Wrestling Alliance, (NWA) the world’s oldest, continuous, wrestling promotion, proudly presents NWA 74, a two day wrestling event and PPV, Live at the Chase in St. Louis, Missouri this Saturday and Sunday, August 27th and 28th. All the current stars of the NWA will be there, as well as legends from its glorious past. The legends scheduled to appear are: former NWA World champions Tommy “Wildfire” Rich and Barry Windham, as well as JJ Dillon, the Manager of the Four Horsemen and “The Perfect 10” Baby Doll. You can also meet the current stars and legends of the National Wrestling Alliance prior to each night of NWA 74 by purchasing a one-day pass for $20 or buy a two-day discounted bundle for just $30.

The two night event is filled with single, tag-team and specialty matches and tournaments to please all wrestling fans. All the NWA titles will be defended. Current NWA World Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murduch will put his title on the line against the NWA TV Champion Tyrus and current NWA Women’s World Champion Kamille will defend her championship against Taya Valkyrie. The Commonwealth Connection defends their NWA World Tag Team Titles against former champs La Rebelión and Kerry Morton challenges Homicide for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

In other exciting bouts, former friends Bully Ray and Mike Knox and now rivals, will settle their feud in a Tables Match. Also on the card, ten teams will compete in a Battle Royal to determine the first United States Tag Team Champions of the Lightning One era of the National Wrestling Alliance.

The Burke Invitational returns as an annual event to showcase some of the best talent in women’s wrestling today! The winner of this special gauntlet match on July 27th, will receive an NWA Women’s Championship Match on July 28th.

For all the up to date info, tickets to the live event or to see it live on Fite TV, go to https://www.nationalwrestlingalliance.com/

Speaking of tickets, the NWA is proud to announce that they have once again partnered with Vet Tix to offer as part of NWA Outreach, complimentary tickets to all members of branches of currently-serving Military and Veterans, including immediate family of troops KIA. “Our service members, veterans and their families have sacrificed so much for us to have a free and prosperous country. It is an honor and a privilege to offer them complimentary tickets, free of charge to our biggest show of the year,” said William Patrick Corgan, President and CEO of the National Wrestling Alliance. Service members, veterans and their families can create an account at vettix.org for tickets and more information.

We are honored to have with us today the current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Trevor Murdoch to talk to us about this prestigious event.

Yiorgo: Why should fans come to the NWA 74 PPV or order it on Fite TV? What will they see and experience at this PPV and NWA in general?

Travor Murdoch: The NWA prides itself in heaving “Grown A** Men and Women” when stepping into that ring with people that have been in the business with years of experience who can go out there and beat the hell out of each other and bring back an old school wrestling style that not many people can do these days. And that is to stand toe-to-toe in the ring with another opponent, no smoke, no mirrors, no music, no nothing. Everything is based on your ability and what you can do from bell to bell.

With NWA 74, this is our WrestleMania. So you are going to watch men and women go out there and give everything they have to make sure they put on the best show of the night. I have to wrestle a mountain of a man named Tyrus. He is 6’8” 400+ pounds. He is not someone I can just pick up and throw around. So you are going to watch two guys go into the ring and go to battle and test each other to see who the toughest man is. We are going to beat the hell out of each other.

Y: What is your training regimen like for a match of this caliber and a big man like Tyrus?

TM: What I do actually, is put in a lot of ring time, wrestling one guy and as soon as he is tired, I bring in another and another, almost as if I am having one continuous 30-40 minute match. It entertains me a little bit, because I’m wrestling young guys with a ton of energy and within 7-10 minutes they are ready to tag in another. So for me it’s all about cardio and ring work. I’m a Harley Race guy so a lot of my work and training is in the ring because that’s where it’s going to happen? When I’m tired and beaten and hurting, that’s where the job gets done in the ring, in order to survive and win.

Y: You are returning to the site where you won your first NWA Title defeating Nick Aldis. What was it like winning the title the first time in that historic building?

TM: Nick and I had put in a lot of work leading into that match, and for me being a Harley Race guy and to get to wrestle there after a 37 year absence of wrestling at the Chase, not only to walk into that room, but to be in the main event for the NWA World title, trained for it for so many years, I really could not ask for a more picture perfect moment. My wife and kids were outside the ring, I had one of the best wrestlers in the world standing across from me in the ring for the most prestigious title in all of wrestling and the fact that I was able to become NWA champion there, is a core memory that I will have the rest of my life. I have done everything I can to walk into Harley Race’s path and some of the same footsteps as I possibly can and that’s the closest I think I will ever get to doing that.

Now the second time, everything is switched, I am the champion and I need to prove that last year was not a fluke. Billy Corgan has done a fantastic job of putting the best of the best, the biggest, the meanest, the strongest, the fastest man in the company against me. I am looking forward to the challenge and I am preparing myself to walk out of there as the world champion.

Y: As a fan and a wrestler, what matches are you looking forward to the most on the card?

TM: Obviously, I am looking forward to mine, and NWA is putting on a two night PPV and I am looking forward to the Mike Knox vs Bully Ray match, they will kill it. They will put their bodies on the line and do things to each other that as fans we will really enjoy. I am also looking forward to NWA’s Women’s Champion Kamille vs Taya Valkyrie. They will do whatever it takes to come out the winner and Kamille has been a dominant champion, so I am really interested to see how that match will go as well.

Y: Where were you born, were you a wrestling fan growing up? What are your earliest memories?

TM: I was born in St. Louis, Missouri and some of my earliest memories are of my older brother Mark, waking me up Sunday mornings before my parents and we would watch, World Class Championship Wrestling and the Von Erich’s were the kings of World Class, there were also guys like, “Iceman” King Parsons, Chris Adams, Michael P.S. Hayes. I would sit there every Sunday morning and I would be amazed what these men and women were doing in the ring and how they were able to control them at will. To me those guys were super heroes and they left you on a cliffhanger where you had to tune in next week to see what happened.

Y: How did you become a professional wrestler and what are your earliest memories?

TM: I loved it, but I had no Idea how to get into it. It was still a secret society. I had heard about the WCW Power Plant but there was no way I was going to do that. I was not ready or prepared for that. I got lucky in that my brother had met a couple of local independent wrestlers who “trained” my brother. That gave me the opportunity to get “trained.” I was basically a tackling dummy. I was a 250 pound, 19 year old kid, I was like Gumby, you couldn’t hurt me. One day a wrestler did not show up, the promoter was freaking out, he looked at me and said, “You’ve been training, you are going to be wrestling tonight.” I said ok, I put on a hood, I wrestled and I was horrible. I did that for about two years. So I’m thinking I’m great, I’m a star but I was still horrible.

Y: How did you meet and wound up being trained by the legendary Harley Race?

TM: I ended up getting booked on a show that Harley was running called World League Wrestling out of Springfield, Missouri because a promoter owed me a favor. The last time I wrestled for that promoter who was eight hours away, he paid me $3.63, my portion of the gate. He felt really bad that I didn’t have money to get home. He booked me to wrestle Greg “The Hammer’ Valentine on Harley’s show.

I was a huge fan of Harley’s so I kept my distance. What’s the phrase, ‘Better for him to think I’m an idiot than for me to open my mouth and show I’m an idiot.’ I kept my distance from Harley, and as my and Greg’s match got closer, Greg and I were talking, with Greg being very generous with giving me some spots to shine in the match. I was shocked and grateful for that. I’m still green, and Harley is listening the whole time. When we finished talking, Harley takes his headphone off and says, (imitating Harley’s voice) “Greg, the kid doesn’t get s***.” Greg says, “Well you heard what the boss said.” And he proceeds to beat the you know what out of me during the match. I remember one spot where Greg grabbed my chin, leaning me back and proceeded to drive forearm after forearm across my chest. As a young guy, I was loving every painful blow.

Y: You had Harley’s voice perfect just then.

TM: As a joke, I would call him on the phone as Harley Race and argue with him that I was THE Harley Race. He would get so angry with me. I was only able to do it 4 or 5 times because he finally realized it was me and said, (again in Harley’s voice), “Trevor, when you get to the school, I’m going to kick your....”

I will always say, I’m a Harley Race guy. He put me through the paces. There were no easy corners or steps. My first three months training under Harley, I got sick in the ring every single day. I’m not exaggerating. I would be in the middle of calisthenics, run outside and puke, run back and try to catch up where everybody else was at calisthenics. For him, that was normal, you gotta push your body kid. That was his mentality, go out there and work, and work and work until you can be the hardest worker in the ring. And I am teaching this now to my 16 year old son who wants to play baseball for a living. I am teaching him that champions are not built in the game, they are built in the hours in the gym and the training you put in before you go in the game. I have a 22 year old daughter and a 5 year old son as well. My wife’s birthday was the other day, I am a blessed man indeed.

Next Week, Part II of our interview with Trevor will include his WWE run, winning the WWE World Tag Team Titles with Lance Cade, his emotional return to Harley with the WWE Tag Titles, becoming involved with the NWA, results from the NWA 74 PPV and so much more.