By Jon
COMMENTATORS: Joe Galli & Stu Bennett
The third season of NWA Powerrr kicks off with a pre-taped confrontation between Nick Aldis and Marty Scurll, a new addition to the broadcast team, and the first defense of the NWA World Television Championship.
CHAMPIONS
- NWA WORLDS HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: “The National Treasure” Nick Aldis
- NWA WORLD WOMEN’S CHAMPION: Thunder Rosa
- NWA WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION: “Stroke Daddy” Ricky Starks
- NWA NATIONAL CHAMPION: Aron “Shooter” Stevens
- NWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Eli Drake & “Cowboy” James Storm
LINEUP
- Andre Guhn vs. Royce Isaacs (SQUASH)
- Ricky Starks [c] vs. Zicky Dice for the NWA WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP (**3/4)
*****
-HARD TIMES CLIP: Marty Scurll goads Nick Aldis into defending the Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Flip Gordon, Aldis agrees on one condition: if he winds all of their business is on his terms. Aldis beats Gordon so now he’s got the, ahem, POWER(RR).
-Galli and Bennett welcome the audience.
-INTERVIEW PODIUM: Sean Mooney (WHO?) makes his NWA debut by welcoming his guest Nick Aldis. Aldis’ disgusted face at the boos is tremendous. Aldis welcomes Mooney to NWA Powerrr, a great addition to a fine institution. Aldis says he’s not a man who boasts or brags, he deals exclusively in facts. He puts over Flip Gordon as one of the most formidable wrestlers going today…except when he’s in the ring with Aldis, then he’s FLOP Gordon (I get it). Aldis calls himself the greatest World Champion of the modern era DON’T @ HIM. Mooney reminds Aldis that he had Marty Scurll removed from the building at Hard Times, Aldis says he did this for two reasons: to maintain the “integrity” of the Worlds Heavyweight Championship (he HATES outside interference and shenanigans) and because he calls the shots. Aldis announces that he arranged a close-set meeting with Scurll earlier and we will see this at the end of the episode. Aldis says by the time the sit-down concludes you will know why they don’t just call him the National Treasure or real Worlds Champion; they will know why they call him “The Dealer”.
- Great opening segment and mic work from Aldis. He carries himself SO WELL as a World Champion and I love his interaction with the studio crowd.
-Back to Galli and Bennett who announce that each new champion crowned at Hard Times will be on the program today. Also Mae Valentine is apparently spelled “MAY Valentine” now.
-HARD TIMES CLIP: Eli Drake & James Storm win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Kamille grabbed Robert Gibson to prevent breaking the count which doesn’t make sense since it wasn’t The Wild Cards getting the pin. Didn’t notice that till now for some reason.
-Galli and Bennett are joined by Sal Rinauro, left arm in a sling, on commentary.
Andre Guhn vs. Royce Isaacs [w/ May Valentine]
Isaacs strikes first, chopping Guhn in the corner and ramming him head-first into the buckles. Rinauro continually puts Isaacs, who broke his arm, over on commentary. Overbearingly so. Guhn gets a little offense, Isaacs rebounds and connects with the Money Clip but Guhn kicks out. Guhn dodges a charging Isaacs and connects with a dropkick that sends him scrambling to the floor. Isaacs gets in Rinauro’s face at the desk and almost gets counted out, Guhn rolls him up for the 1…2…Isaacs kicks out and connects with a lariat. Isaacs connects with Hush Money (full nelson into a German suplex) for the 1…2…3.
Royce Isaacs defeated Andre Guhn via pinfall (3:15)
- Eyyyy Royce Isaacs finally won a match, good on him. Rinauro praising Isaacs on commentary while nursing a broken arm received by the man was strange, as was Isaacs getting into his face for no apparent reason and almost getting counted out. I feel like I missed something between these two over the past few weeks? (SQUASH)
Isaacs gets mad at Valentine for talking to Rinauro, Valentine tries to calm him down. Isaacs tells Rinauro to mind his business. Okay?
-HARD TIMES CLIP: Thunder Rosa beats Allysin Kay with the Thunder Driver to win the Women’s World Championship. Match of the night, it wasn’t even close.
-VIDEO: The stuff between The Pope and Outlaw Inc. (Eddie Kingston & Homicide). Kingston says he doesn’t need to prove himself to anybody, Pope puts him in a match with Dave Dawson, but Zane Dawson interferes and the brothers lay Kingston out while The Pope looks on, seemingly with approval.
- This was strange; I don’t believe this aired on a previous Powerrr, it looked like they took a whole segment/match and turned into a highlight video instead. Quicker way to get their point across sure but I’ll admit it confused me for a second making me think I missed an episode or something.
-INTERVIEW PODIUM: Kyle Davis welcomes the new Women’s Champ Thunder Rosa as his guest. She’s quickly joined by Melina and Marti Belle, who the crowd likes way less. Davis asks Rosa how she’s feeling, Melina says it was awe-inspiring and with her guidance champions are made. Melina says every time they cheer for Rosa, she is the one who made it happen. Davis says the audience would rather hear from Thunder Rosa, Melina refuses and keeps talking, saying they made an example of Allysin Kay. Davis announces that Kay will get her rematch for the title on next week’s show. Rosa tells Melina she opened a lot of doors in this company, but she is the one who has to fight “A-K”. Rosa says there are no women on this roster who can stop her. Davis asks Rosa what it felt like at Hard Time, Rosa calls it the most unbelievable moment of her life and career. Melina stops the interview by saying they will save this “emo crap” for another millennial. HEH?
- I like Melina still trying to control things despite Rosa being way more popular and the actual killer of her group. Kay/Rosa II should be a banger.
-HARD TIMES CLIP: Bennett announces the next PPV for April: the 2020 Crockett Cup, which will be the first in the Powerrr Era to be held outside of the GPB Studios.
-EARLIER: Nick Aldis hypes the pre-taped sit-down he had with Marty Scurll earlier. By the end everyone will know why they call him “The Dealer”. We see a clip of Marty Scurll waiting around before the confrontation, saying Aldis is twenty minutes late and this is bush league.
-HARD TIMES CLIPS: Ricky Starks’ path to the Television Championship.
-INTERVIEW PODIUM: Dave Marquez welcomes Ricky Starks, who gets a hero’s response from the Atlanta crowd. The ABC and CBS logos are still on the Television Title, surprisingly. Starks says “last night” was some real Hard Times and had to go through the toughest opponents he’s ever faced. Starks knows he’ll likely need to defend this title every week and name drops some legendary names that previously held the TV Title AND The National Title (hmm). Starks calls out Zicky Dice and the Outlandish One abides. Dice sarcastically tells the crowd to make some noise for their new Television Champion. Dice says he would have been champion if the NWA hadn’t brought in a “mutant freak” (Dan Maff) who doesn’t even work here. Dice puts over his 6,000 dollar (plastic) sunglasses, his 4500 dollar feather earring, and 16,000 dollar fanny pack. THAT IS OUTLANDISH. Dice says Starks has something that belongs to him because HE IS TELEVISION. Starks tells Dice that his mouth has been writing checks he can’t cash, and wants to settle it in the ring. We’ve got us a match!
- Best promo I’ve heard Starks cut since coming to the NWA, less corny than his others. I’m all the way on board the Zicky Dice bandwagon though, anyone who wears a fanny pack that TOTALLY costs 16,000 dollars is my kind of dude.
“Stoke Daddy” Ricky Starks [c] vs. “The Outlandish” Zicky Dice for the NWA WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
The 6:05 time limit is back for Starks’ first defense. Starks whips Dice to escape a headlock, Dice takes him down with a shoulder tackle and counters a leap frog with an inverted atomic drop. Starks cartwheels through a whip attempt and connects with a pair of armdrags. Dice dodges the third but doesn’t dodge the dropkick and he rolls to the apron to recover. Dice rams Starks into the buckle and comes off the middle buckle for an axhandle, Starks counters with a right to the breadbasket. Dice belts Starks with a clothesline. Galli announces a “Lucky Seven” rule: if the TV Champion can win seven matches in a row (time limit draws count as well) they qualify for a shot at the Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Starks goes for a monkey flip, Dice places him on the buckle and Starks comes flying off a missile dropkick for a two-count. Dice with a forearm, Starks with a big ol’ open-handed strike to the jaw. Dice goes for the Snake Rattle & Roll, Starks counters with an inverted atomic drop and hits The Stroke for the 1…2…3.
Ricky Starks [c] defeated Zicky Dice via pinfall to retain the NWA WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP (4:14)
- Solid first defense of the title by Starks, a fun sprint of a match. The Lucky Seven rule is a really cool concept, adding even more weight to each title defense. Good way to make the secondary title matter while also making sure everyone knows the Worlds Heavyweight Championship is the ultimate prize. (**3/4)
-INTERVIEW PODIUM: Galli is joined by the new Tag Team Champions, Eli Drake and James Storm. Galli asks if they have a name for their team, Drake says the name doesn’t matter because the people can call them the champs. Storm says they only have one thing to say to the teams in the back: SORRY-and they’re interrupted by Aron “Shooter” Stevens and The Question Mark. Galli reminds Stevens he ran out on Scott Steiner at Hard Times, Stevens says he had somewhere to be. Storm makes some dumb martial arts jokes, Stevens says for the sake of humanity he hopes the Cowboy is sterile. Drake is unimpressed with his partner’s lame jokes. Drake takes a swig of Storm’s beer and asks Galli if he can do him a favor but Galli doesn’t say “YEAH” so Storm has to do it instead. Galli finally does the thing, Drake asks him to pass Stevens and Question Mark a message: tell them to take a number at the deli and when it’s time they will punch that ticket. The champs leave the podium and get a standing ovation. Stevens reminds everyone he’s the third-degree National Champion and they’re fixing to have a KARA-TAY party. Out comes Trevor Murdoch, his chest still looking like hell thanks to Dan Maff at Hard Times. Murdoch puts Ricky Starks over as a fighting champion and has his respect, but he doesn’t respect Stevens as all he does is run. Drake and Storm are still hanging in the crowd, I guess. Murdoch says that next week on Powerrr he will be facing Stevens for the National Championship. Question Mark drops Murdoch with the Mongrovian Spike and Stevens talks trash till Drake and Storm walk to Murdoch’s defense.
- Entertaining segment that killed two birds with one stone: setting up a potential team to face the new champs and setting up a National Championship match for next week. I appreciate that. Murdoch beat Question Mark relatively easily at Hard Times so I think he’s got a good shot at taking out Stevens and winning the belt. We’ll see what shenanigans happen though. Storm and Drake play off of each other really well and are going to make for solid Tag Team Champions, even if Storm needs to work on his jokes. Eh probably not, the crowd loved them, maybe I’m just a hater of fun.
-HARD TIMES CLIP: Nick Aldis defeats Flip Gordon to retain the Worlds Heavyweight Championship and to get the ability to conduct business with Marty Scurll on his terms.
THE SIT-DOWN CONFRONTATION
Marty Scurll has been kept waiting for twenty minutes under hot lights, and debates going home, until Nick Aldis finally makes his appearance. Aldis insincerely apologizes for the wait, and says he asked Scurll to meet him today so he can explain what he’s done to him and the position he’s been put in based on The Villain’s actions. Aldis is pissed off because despite doing everything right, he’s been saddled with a “bullsh*t” reputation of being difficult to deal with. Aldis reminds Scurll of their history as friends, and how Scurll challenged him for the World Title last year which strained their friendship but in the end they embraced like brothers. Aldis says the 2019 Crockett Cup was the final notch for Scurll to get his big life-changing deal. They’ve each got their own thing, and now Scurll wants to come to the NWA and take Aldis’ thing too.
Scurll says his deal has nothing to do with this, and talks about having to live with hearing that he “should be” World Champion. Scurll says he’s been at this for fifteen years and has not once been a World Champion, and got SO CLOSE at the Crockett Cup. Scurll says he knows he can beat Aldis, and Aldis knows he can beat him. Scurll wants one last chance at the Worlds Heavyweight Championship and Aldis can have the money if he wants it. Aldis says he’s going to dictate the terms and will give him a shot at the 2020 Crockett Cup to mark the one-year anniversary of their first match. Aldis adds a stipulation: if Scurll loses, he will have to personally refund the fans who see the match live. OH DANG. Aldis tells Scurll to think about it, if it’s worth that risk, and to come find him when he’s made his decision.
- TREMENDOUS end of show segment. Real intense and heartfelt from both men that just talked me into ordering the Crockett Cup PPV. I definitely did not do it justice, so go check it out for yourself.
*****
FINAL THOUGHTS: Light on the wrestling this week but a good episode nonetheless that did some great story building both overall and for next week’s show. The Aldis/Scurll confrontation at the end felt like an intense scene in a TV drama. I dug it a lot.
- MATCH OF THE NIGHT: Ricky Starks vs. Zicky Dice
- MOMENT OF THE NIGHT: Aldis tells Scurll he’ll have to refund everyone who attends the Crockett Cup if he can’t beat him for the Worlds Heavyweight Championship
