Nick Aldis Names His Best NWA Title Defense, Says ROH Should’ve Handled Marty Scurll’s Departure More Quickly And Professionally
Nick Aldis recently spoke with Wrestling Headlines’ Joey G and talked about his respective reigns as NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Aldis, currently in his second reign which stands at 820 days, called his 2019 Crockett Cup showdown with Marty Scurll as his greatest defense of the “Ten Pounds Of Gold.”
“Fortunately for me, the high-profile matches have all probably been my best performances as well, which is obviously what you want. Not to say that I phone it in on any title defense. I think you can ask anyone all over the world who has bought a ticket to see a title defense over the last two and a half years… there’s no one that will say [I’ve] phoned it in. Certainly, the Crockett Cup match with Marty Scurll in 2019 was to me, I thought was my best. One day when I look back on my body of work, that will be a match that I show to everyone to say, ‘that’s a world title match.’ A story with layers, and grit, and heart and soul, and it made sense,” Aldis said. “It was athletic and believable. It had everything. It had technical wrestling, it had high-spots, it had blood, but not gratuitous. It was two friends, there was emotion. It checked every box that I feel a main event NWA title match is supposed to have.”
Aldis went on to speak about some other matches he’s proud of during his reign, pointing out both matches he’s had with Cody Rhodes, including the NWA 70th Anniversary two-out-of-three falls bout. Aldis says he’s still not sure if we’ll ever see the third match that fans keep asking for, but said his work with Cody kept people interested and captivated, which is what they always strive for.
On a related note, Scurll’s recent departure from Ring Of Honor was also addressed, with Aldis pointing out that this was strictly his opinion and not representative of the NWA. Aldis said it was a bit “unfair” for Ring Of Honor to take so long to deal with Scurll, who was accused of sexual assault and admitted to having a sexual relationship with a minor, and believes they should have done more than put out a Twitter statement.
“We (NWA) still have a very good relationship with Ring of Honor. From what I understand Billy still communicates pretty regularly with Joe Koff (ROH COO). Anything I say here is just coming from me, it’s not the NWA’s official viewpoint, and people are aware of the fact that Marty and I are very close,” Aldis explained, “we are as good of friends as anybody in the business. I felt like it was a little unfair of Ring of Honor to take as long as they did. It seemed like there was a long period of inaction, and then a very sort of flat statement. ‘We have mutually parted ways.’ And on Twitter…you put it on Twitter. To me, I felt like it was a little bit… I felt like it could have been handled more quickly and a little more professionally.”
Related: Ring Of Honor & Marty Scurll ‘Mutually Decided To Part Ways’