Copa de Lucha tournament for the NWA in Las Vegas, Nevada representing America and reaching the finals before losing to the Mexico team of Los Luchas which began a feud between the two teams that lasted nearly two years. The return match in Las Vegas at the Fiesta Lucha event was a Flag Match that saw Ryan and Anderson align themselves with Adam Pearce and his manager C. Edward Vander Pyle. The Real American Heroes and Los Luchas faced off in Cage Matches, First Blood Matches and more at events in Phoenix, Arizona, Hammond, Indiana, Kissimmee, Florida and throughout Texas and California. At times, The Real American Heroes incited near riots from the crowds, most notably in Las Vegas, NV and in Houston, TX. On July 7, 2007, Ryan and Anderson defeated the teams of Billy Kidman and Sean Waltman and Sicodelico Jr. and Incognito to become the first post-TNA-era NWA World Tag Team Champions. After several attempts, Los Luchas captured the titles away from Ryan and Anderson on February 10, 2008, in Las Vegas. Soon after losing the titles, Anderson began working full-time for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ryan went on as a singles competitor in the NWA. He has had multiple shots at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship facing off against the likes of Blue Demon Jr., Adam Pearce and Colt Cabana only to fall short each time. In 2010, he was a part of the launch of NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and heavily featured with standout matches against T. J. Perkins and Scorpio Sky. In early 2011, he took over booking for the TV show which lasted until August when he had a falling out and left the company. He returned to the company in late 2011. In 2012, Ryan seemingly rejoined the tag team ranks in the NWA by forming an alliance with Johnny Goodtime. Independent circuit (2008–2020) Joey Ryan is a well traveled veteran of the independent scene and along with those mentioned above, he has also made multiple appearances for such promotions as Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro), All Pro Wrestling (APW), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA-MS), Chikara, Anarchy Championship Wrestling (ACW), Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), Full Impact Pro (FIP), Mach One Wrestling (M1W), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC), Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW), Pro Wrestling Bushido and more. In 2008, Joey Ryan became an instructor at Rick Bassman's Ultimate University,