Hard Times (2020) (stylized as Hard × Times) was the first

Hard Times Hard Times may refer to: Literature * ''Hard Times'' (novel), an 1854 novel by Charles Dickens * '' Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression'', a 1970 book by Studs Terkel Film and television * ''Hard Times'' (1915 film), a silen ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

promoted by the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

(NWA). It took place on January 24, 2020, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States, at the GPB Studios. The show featured a tournament to crown a new NWA World Television Champion, which was won by Ricky Starks. The event also featured wrestlers from

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

, including

Dan Maff Daniel Lopez (born October 28, 1973), better known by his ring name Dan Maff, is an American professional wrestler, known for his time with Ring of Honor (ROH). Professional wrestling career Da Hit Squad Lopez attended Jersey All Pro Wrestling ...

, and

Villain Enterprises Villain Enterprises was a villainous professional wrestling stable consisting of Marty Scurll, Brody King, PCO, and Flip Gordon. The stable performed in Ring of Honor (ROH), where they are former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions, the Natio ...

members

Marty Scurll Martin Scurll (born 26 July 1988) is an English professional wrestler. He is known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH). Scurll began his career in 2005, working on the British independent circuit. In 2012, he competed on the TNA's show TNA Wres ...

and

Flip Gordon Travis Gordon Lopes Jr. (born December 12, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, where he performs under the ring name Flip Gordon and is the current NWA World Historic Middleweigh ...

Production

Background

During the December 15, 2019 Into the Fire

(PPV), the

(NWA) announced that their next PPV would be held on January 24, 2020 and be called "Hard Times". At the same time the NWA announced they were reintroducing the

NWA World Television Championship The NWA World Television Championship is a Championship (professional wrestling)#Television championships, world television championship owned and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Allianc ...

with a new champion being crowned at the PPV on

FITE TV Triller TV (stylized as TrillerTV, formerly known as FITE and FITE TV, and currently marketed as TrillerTV powered by FITE) is a Bulgarian-based American digital video streaming service. Owned by Flipps Media, Inc. and operated by its parent co ...

Storylines

Hard Times featured ten

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

, with different wrestlers who were involved in pre-existing

scripted ''Scripted'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Icon for Hire. It was released on Tooth & Nail Records on August 23, 2011, and went on to break the label's new artist record for albums sold during the first week of release. Backgr ...

feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

heels High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels (colloquially shortened to heels), are a type of shoe with an upward-angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wea ...

faces The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...

as they engaged in a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match. The second season of NWA's weekly flagship program, ''

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

'', featured storylines leading up to the pay-per-view. On the December 17, 2019 episode of the NWA's weekly show, ''Power'', it was revealed that all World Television Championship tournament matches would have a 6 minute, 5 second time limit. The time limit was an homage to the 6:05 PM start time of ''NWA Power'' as well as a tribute to the original start time for NWA's ''

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

'' that ran from the 1970s to 1992. Announced participants included: Ricky Starks,

Eddie Kingston Edward Moore (born December 12, 1981), better known by the ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is out of in-ring action because of a leg injury, but continues to mak ...

, The Question Mark,

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...

Tim Storm Timothy Scoggins (born February 18, 1964), better known by his ring name Tim Storm, is an American professional wrestler and sports commentator signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he performs under the ring name Baron Von St ...

Nick Aldis Nicholas Harry Aldis (born 6 November 1986) is an English professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is a producer and the on-screen general manager of the SmackDown brand. He is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wres ...

Zicky Dice Nick Zoppo best known as Zicky Dice, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling. In 2019 he worked with the National Wrestling Alliance, where he became NWA World Television Champion. Early life Dice ...

Caleb Konley Mason Caleb Burnett (born August 30, 1986), better known under his ring name Caleb Konley, is an American professional wrestler, primarily performing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling. He has also per ...

, Dave Dawson, Zane Dawson,

Trevor Murdoch William Theodore Mueller (born September 10, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Trevor Murdoch. He is signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he is one-half of the current NWA World Tag Team ...

, and

Thom Latimer Thomas Raymond Latimer (born 6 August 1986) is an English professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he is the current NWA World's Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. Latimer began his ...

. The first two tournament matches announced were Starks vs. Kingston and The Question Mark vs. Cabana. Starks defeated Kingston via pinfall in 4:10, and The Question Mark defeated Cabana via pinfall in 3:05 with both matches airing on the December 23 episode of ''Power''. On the January 1, 2020 episode of ''Power'', Aldis refused to enter his tournament match against Tim Storm and ordered fellow Strictly Business member

Royce Isaacs Isaac Hull (born February 8, 1989) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Royce Isaacs. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling and a former member of Team Filthy. From 2019 until 2020, Hull worked with the National W ...

to take his place. Storm defeated Isaacs via pinfall in 4:26. On the January 7 episode of ''Power'', Tim Storm clarified that these were qualifying matches and that six competitors would move on to the first round of the NWA World Television Championship tournament. He also announced there would be two additional spots open in the first round for competitors not currently on the NWA roster. Zicky Dice defeated Caleb Konley via pinfall in 4:43 later in the show. The tournament bracket was unveiled on the January 14 episode of ''Power.'' Zane Dawson def. Dave Dawson via pinfall in 3:56 later in the same episode. On the January 21 episode of ''Power'',

defeated

via pinfall in 3:30. Zane Dawson dropped out of the tournament due to a hand injury, and an 8-man Last Chance Gauntlet match was held to determine the new competitor to fill the spot. The eight competitors were C. W. Anderson,

, Josephus,

, Dave Dawson,

Aron Stevens Aron Steven Haddad (born August 3, 1982) is an American retired professional wrestler working as a manager in the National Wrestling Alliance under the name Aron Stevens. He is best known for wrestling with WWE under the ring name Damien Sandow ...

Sal Rinauro Salvatore Rinauro (born September 12, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, performing for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his work in Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro and National Wrestling Alliance in addition to ...

, and Ken Anderson. Anderson won when he pinned Cabana, his last remaining opponent. Anderson attacked Cabana after the match. Later in the same episode, the final two competitors in the first round of the tournament were named: Matt Cross from the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

and

from

. At Into the Fire, NWA Worlds Champion

was confronted by

after his title defense. In response, Aldis and the Strictly Business stable attacked Scurll and his

teammates at

's (ROH) Saturday Night at Center Stage and Honor Reigns Supreme events. On January 14, the NWA announced that Aldis would face Villain Enterprises'

in an interpromotional match at Hard Times.

Results

NWA World Television Championship Tournament

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Georgia (U.S. state) National Wrestling Alliance pay-per-view events 2020 in professional wrestling 2020 in Atlanta Professional wrestling shows in Atlanta January 2020 sports events in the United States NWA Hard Times