Members of the NWA roster show support to Kiley Jr.
On February 11th, for the first time in six years, Kevin Kiley Jr. (Alex Riley) had a singles match. He competed at NWA’s ‘Nuff Said’ pay-per-view against EC3.
There was a point in the match where Kiley Jr. attempted to leap over the top rope but the rope caught his thigh and he roughly landed on the floor. He guest appeared on the newest episode of The Tyrus and Timpf Podcast and joked that EC3 was so buff that he had to try everything he could to get the advantage.
Kiley Jr. added that his vertical is not what it once was and he then went on to thank fellow NWA roster members on the podcast who were uplifting him.
Kiley Jr.: To be 100 percent truthful, I thought it might have happened the other way (Kiley Jr. said about his dive at NWA Nuff Said). I’m glad I was able to get from rope to rope in there to be honest there at the end. Caught my thigh.
As jacked as EC3 is and I’m coming out there now, what can I do? And I figured the best thing was to do was throw myself out of the ring and give it a shot… My vertical isn’t what it once was.
I genuinely appreciate it guys (others on the podcast being supportive) and EC3, bro, you’re an incredible opponent and I did, in all honesty, I remember years and years ago, two or three minutes out there in front of a crowd, I’d blow up sky high and honestly, I thought we had a really good showing. The end obviously didn’t go as well as I would have liked it. Got a little excited, caught my foot in the rope but you know, I think you’re right Tyrus, I was battling a lot of demons out there. A lot… and it was good to be back out there and I’m really grateful for the opportunity for you guys to let me go out there and do that and just get back at it and just kind of get back into the world and get out there and fight for this.
Man I hope Kevin Kiley is ok #nwanuffsaid pic.twitter.com/CzyNF9koGp
— John Siino (@CnoEvil) February 12, 2023
His opponent at the pay-per-view, EC3, chimed in and gave Kiley Jr. his props for his performance.
EC3: From Kevin stepping back into a ring in a very high-profile atmosphere, kudos for being able to pull that off… Think about this, you fought from underneath the entirety of the match, you gave me, you know, an adequate fight but if you did, if you did hit that dive, you may have won the match. It was a wild risk… It didn’t work out that time.
The reigning NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus successfully retained his title at Nuff Said by defeating Matt Cardona. Tyrus stated that Kevin did not take the time to ‘smell the roses’ after his bout and should be happy that he got back out there.
Tyrus would add that Kiley Jr. and EC3 did not have the worst match on the show and said that’s an entirely different episode of the podcast they could focus on .
Tyrus: Same thing with (Kevin) Kiley, instead of worrying about a damn dive you missed, worry about the fact that you wrestled on a sold-out show when you hadn’t been in a ring in almost five years. You wrestled one of the top guys in the industry today and he didn’t have to slow down for you… When I saw you come back and I know you from years of being around you and working with you is that he’s so worried about what he missed and he’s not focusing on what he did and he should ecstatic that when your career was supposedly over and you would never do nothing in the wrestling business again, you wrestled in a pay-per-view just off your former accomplishments. That’s saying something. Not all of us just get to debut at a pay-per-view and you did that and you came back through and I was looking for you to be like, bro, I did it but instead, I got a, ‘I missed this’ and I thought, man, Kevin, no. Take time to smell the roses for a minute. Man, I conquered a lot of demons in there tonight and I made my return to the ring and you know, it could have been the worst match there, it doesn’t matter, and it wasn’t, trust me, Jesus, trust me. Dear God, no, no. That’s a whole other episode. But, you gotta take that moment to go, I just did some good stuff today, I accomplished a lot of goals and I’m gonna enjoy it and take that moment to recognize because all I wanted to do was hug you and say, man, I’m proud of you, that’s so great. But you looked at me and went like, ‘I missed a spot, it’s on the internet’ and I was like, ‘To hell with that.’
Elsewhere during the conversation, Aron Stevens expressed that at the post-Nuff Said television tapings, it was the first time as a performer that he felt like himself again.
Stevens: I will use these last set of (NWA) tapings as an example. For the first time as a performer, I finally really felt like I was me again.
In April, the National Wrestling Alliance is presenting their ‘312’ pay-per-view in Chicago, Illinois which will feature the crowning of the first NWA Women’s TV Champion.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit The Tyrus and Timpf Podcast with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
