By Jon
COMMENTATORS: Joe Galli & Stu Bennett
The second season of NWA Powerrr kicks off with new champions, new faces, and…a RUSSIAN NIGHTMARE?!? What is old is new again!
CHAMPIONS
- NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: “The National Treasure” Nick Aldis
- NWA WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPION: Allysin Kay
- NWA NATIONAL CHAMPION: Aron Stevens
- NWA TELEVISION CHAMPION: Vacant
- NWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)
LINEUP
- TV TITLE PLAY IN: Sal Rinauro vs. CW Anderson vs. Zicky Dice (*)
- The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs. Zach Mosley & Sean Sims (SQUASH)
- The Dawsons vs. The Wild Cards (*1/2)
- NO-DISQUALIFICATION: Eli Drake vs. Mr. Anderson (**1/2)
*****
-VIDEO: Marty Scurll makes his debut at the conclusion of Into The Fire. Good show, you should check it out…or read about it instead.
-Galli and Bennett welcome the home audience. Bennett is sticking around on commentary for the season…as long as he doesn’t end up being a racist or anything. Fingers crossed. Drake vs. Anderson is announced for tonight, a rematch from Into The Fire brought on by Anderson’s vicious (but apparently not too vicious) attack on the PPV.
INTERVIEW PODIUM
Dave Marquez wishes everyone a Happy Holidays and welcomes his guest, new National Champion Aron Stevens (and his much more popular sensei The Question Mark). Stevens calls himself a dangerous man, and announces that he’s the first American to earn a black belt on Mongrovian karate. “QUESTION MARK” chant, Stevens shuts it down by admonishing the crowd for calling his sensei a mark. HA. Stevens says he is not the NWA National Champion; he’s the first-ever THIRD-DEGREE NATIONAL CHAMPION. He’s even put stripes on the belt. Stevens says from now on he will be addressed as “Shooter Stevens”. Stevens says he and Question Mark have their eyes set on belts, relishing in being able to say “belts”. They have their eyes set on the Tag Team Titles while Question has his eyes set on the Television Belt.
Colt Cabana interrupts and says without Question Mark he would never be a champion. Stevens reminds Cabana he’s a third-degree champion, and tells Cabana to get a hobby, like Mongrovian karate. Stevens and Question mark leave, briefly stopped by Thunder Rosa who makes her way out to the ring. Rosa tells everyone to stand for Melina. Out comes Ashley Vox for a brawl with Rosa, Melina awkwardly stuck on the apron. Rosa sends Vox into the ring steps, Melina holds her arm across. It, and Rosa climbs the buckles. Out come Allysin Kay and ODB to break it up.
-INTO THE FIRE: Mr. Anderson pillmanizes Eli Drake’s neck against the ring post.
-MOMENTS AGO: Rosa and Melina’s attack on Ashley Vox is stopped by Allysin Kay and ODB.
-BACKSTAGE: Melina and Thunder Rosa snap at Marti Belle for not being out there. Belle says they specifically told her to stay in the back, Melina says she needs to do what she needs, not what she says.
-Galli and Bennett talk about the return of the Television Championship, which will be decided in a tournament…each match with a 6:05 time limit. If the match goes over, everyone is eliminated.
TELEVISION TITLE TOURNAMENT: PLAY IN (QUALIFYING) MATCH
Sal Rinauro vs. CW Anderson vs. Zicky Dice
Anderson and Rinauro drops Dice early, Rinauro and Anderson trade near-falls. Dice with an O’Connor Roll on Rinauro, Anderson with a roll-up on Dice. Everyone resets right into a triple clothesline! Dice tries to cover both to no success. Chops and headbutts are traded, Rinauro drops Dice with a dropkick, followed by a stunner to Anderson. Anderson responds with a spinebuster on Rinauro, Dice throws Anderson into the post and hits a Snake, Rattle, & Roll (neckbreaker) on Rinauro for the 1…2…3.
Zicky Dice defeated CW Anderson & Sal Rinauro via pinfall (TIME NOT RECORDED)
- Forgot to start the timer on that one, whoops. With such a brief time limit, which I actually like and hope becomes a thing in title defenses, there wasn’t any wiggle room for stalling and it was a spirited match. Cool seeing CW Anderson again, dude is looking real in shape. I have no idea who Zicky Dice is but that’s a weird as f*ck name and I’m into it. (*)
Dice stops by the interview podium to introduce himself. Apparently his nickname is “Outlandish”. Okay. Dice’s boasting is cut off by Zane & Dave Dawson who scare him away. They’re out here to expose a conspiracy happening in the NWA as they were a part of it. They did all the dirty work for The Wild Cards for money and title shots but now they aren’t picking up the phone. Before The Dawsons can expose the truth out come Thomas Latimer and Royce Isaacs with chairs.
INTERVIEW PODIUM
“The Villain” Marty Scurll joins Marquez. Scurll says that everyone seems to know what he’s doing, but he does whatever he likes. Scurll brings up his loss to Aldis at the Crockett Cup but he knows he can beat him. Scurll says the only thing he’s concentrating on is becoming World Heavyweight Champion. “NEXT WORLD CHAMP” chants from the studio. Scurll asks for a shot at the title. We’re also getting a sit-down interview with Scurll later tonight, apparently.
-AD: Danny Deal$$$ is here to talk about Highspots deals! It’s like heaven for the wrestling world.
–Eddie Kingston joins Galli and Bennett on commentary. They ask about Homicide’s injury at Into The Fire, Kingston says he’s fine and don’t worry about it.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. Zach Mosley & Sean Sims
The Express dominates as expected and win with a double roll-up.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express defeated Zach Mosley & Sean Sims via pinfall (0:44)
- Well okay then. (SQUASH)
RNR join Galli at the interview podium. Morton says they built this city on the NWA and namedrop all the big teams/wrestlers they’ve rubbed shoulders with all these years. Morton puts Aldis over as World Champion, Galli asks what he needs to do to be on Mt. Rushmore. Morton says Aldis has a long road ahead to get to the level of a Harley Race. Off they go…and out come The Dawsons once more. They’re not leaving until they expose the TRUTH. Out come The Wild Cards once again and a brawl breaks out.
-TV Title returns at Hard Times, the next PPV on January 24th. So you’re bringing back a title meant for television on a PPV? That’s…odd. But hey this isn’t technically a television show either at the moment so whatever. That belt pretty.
The Dawsons (Zane & Dave Dawson) vs. The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs)
The brawl has led to a sanctioned match. Wild Cards in control early, Zane fights back but misses a chop and hits nothing but ring post. Latimer stomps on Zane’s hand and rolls him in so Isaacs can bury some rights. Wild Cards isolate Zane and use quick tags to keep the pressure on, Latimer bites the injured hand for extra punishment. Dave runs in, ref gets distracted and Wild Cards double team. DVD into a sit-out power bomb for the 1…2…3.
The Wild Cards defeated The Dawsons via pinfall (3:00)
- The Dawsons suddenly turning babyface doesn’t make a lot of sense, and seeing them get beaten in short order by The Cards was strange as well. This is an odd shift but I do want this conspiracy revealed. The Cards’ DVD into a power bomb finisher is pretty great. (*½)
Wild Cards attack the hand of Zane some more after the bell and head to the podium to join Marquez. Latimer says that’s what happens you stick your nose in the Wild Cards’ business. He calls The Dawsons a bunch of liars. Isaacs calls Santa a liar…and out comes Jocephus dressed as Santa throwing out gifts to the crowd. HEH? Some old dude wants a hug, Jocephus yells at him to sit down.
-INTO THE FIRE: Backstage Interview Guy stops James Storm for some post-match comments after the main event. Storm says in due time he will get his due justice and points out the mark on his forehead from the exposed turnbuckle. Storm will go back to the bottom and work his way back to a title shot and when he gets there he will beat the living SH*T out of Aldis.
-AD: Flag Football Under 14. No tackling till you’re a teenager. This is a real thing.
INTERVIEW PODIUM
Marquez introduces the participants of the TV Title tournament: Zicky Dice, Ricky Starks, Caleb Konley, Colt Cabana, Trevor Murdoch, Thomas Latimer of The Wild Cards, The Question Mark (BIG POP), Eddie Kingston, Tim Storm, The Dawsons, and…NWA WORLD CHAMPION NICK ALDIS.
Marquez then introduces former TV Champion, and NWA legend, “The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Koloff. He makes a brief speech about being TV Champion, and has NO RUSSIAN ACCENT. Wrestling is a lie. Koloff draws names out of a fish bowl to create the first round matches for next week:
- Eddie Kingston vs. Ricky Starks (eyyy that could be cool)
- Colt Cabana vs. The Question Mark (Mark cost Cabana the National Title at Into The Fire, that’s gonna be a fun comedy match)
Everyone heads to the back except Aldis and Starks. Aldis says if you wanna to knock him off the mountain you’ll need to show the same dedication to the NWA that he has. Aldis has entered the tournament because he has no real challengers left and wants to be the first man to hold the World and Television Titles at the same time. Aldis puts Starks over as his wrestling “draft pick” and he may have a shot to make it to the finals…to lose to him. Marquez asks Aldis about Marty Scurll, Aldis says he tried to insert himself into his business for another title shot but it’s not the way they do things in the NWA. Aldis didn’t hear what Morton had to say about him earlier but assumes it was good. Marquez asks Aldis about Kamille, Aldis announces that she is no longer his insurance policy.
- I really enjoyed the segment announcing the first two matches for the tournament, and they’ve created some interesting contests that I’m excited to check out next week (Cabana/Question Mark especially). The follow-up with Aldis was interesting, and I like that he’s putting himself in the tournament to dodge Scurll and that he has dumped Kamille as his insurance policy. I wonder who she will back next. One question though: why was Ricky Starks still there? That seemed pointless.
-EMPTY ARENA: Bennett interviews Marty Scurll. Scurll says the first opportunity he received post-ROH was the NWA, and puts over the legacy of the NWA and how he got a taste of the company at the Crockett Cup which sparked his pro wrestling passion.
–Tim Storm joins commentary for the main event. Tim says that Marty Scurll has proven himself in the business and deserves a title shot, and a match he wants to see.
–Eli Drake makes his entrance…and stops by the interview podium. Drake’s voice is shot due to the pillmanizing at Into The Fire. Drake says it’s a little funny he wasn’t included in the Television Title tournament. Drake recaps Mr. Anderson’s attack from Into The Fire and says he’s still standing. Tonight: no blindsides, no BS, no disqualification. Drake tells Anderson to come out and get his ticket punched.
- Props to Eli Drake for selling the attack and for also still cutting one hell of a promo while barely having a voice. Strap the damn rocket to him, you cowards.
NO-DISQUALIFICATION
Eli Drake vs. Mr. Anderson
Drake and Anderson brawl immediately, putting Marquez out of his in-ring introduction misery. Dude was stumbling over himself. Anderson with a corner whip, Drake comes running out with a clothesline and follows up with a side Russian legsweep and a clothesline to the floor. Drake rams Anderson on the safety rail and they brawl up the studio steps/rafters. Anderson belts Drake with a forearm, Drake sends Anderson into the wall behind the drape. Anderson pokes his head out, Drake punches it, Anderson sends Drake into a random chair and stops to soak in the jeers of the crowd. Anderson tries to ram Drake into his rafter photo but Drake blocks it and rakes his face on the rail while taking a selfie. He even stops to check it to make sure it took. HA.
Drake takes too long posing for the crowd, Anderson attacks and rams the rafter door into Drake’s face, sending him falling down some of the steps. They brawl back to the ring, Anderson tosses Drake into the steps. Anderson brings both a chair and Drake into the ring. Anderson sets the chair up and goes for a Mic Check like at the PPV, but Drake blocks it. Anderson charges, Drake sends him into the chair with a drop toehold. Drake belts Anderson with a series of wild jabs and grabs the chair, but then decides he doesn’t need it and finishes Anderson off with The Gravy Train for the 1…2…3.
Eli Drake defeated Mr. Anderson via pinfall (6:58)
- VERY tame No DQ match in terms of PLUNDUH, but they made up for it in intensity. Entertaining brawl, and both guys did a great job working the studio crowd. Drake deciding not to use the chair and to win with his finisher was pretty cool as well, being “above” cheating because he knows he’s just that damn good unlike Anderson. Cool story beat. (**½)
Drake’s victory is interrupted by Nick Aldis, who comes out to dress down Tim Storm off-mic. Aldis tells him to keep his name out of his mouth. They continue arguing inaudibly until Storm heads to the ring and takes his jacket off, ready to fight the World Champ. Aldis removes his jacket as well and gets in the ring. A shoving match breaks out but out come The Wild Cards to attack Storm from behind. The Cards beat Storm down in the corner but before Aldis can get his licks in, in comes Kamille. She backs Aldis into the corner, then suddenly SPEARS TIM STORM and makes out with Tom Latimer! THE FIX IS IN, Y’ALL. Looks like we’ve got our first faction in the new NWA. Officials help Tim Storm out of the ring as Aldis celebrates with his new group.
*****
FINAL THOUGHTS: A decent episode of Powerrr this week. Breezy matches, the start of the TV Title tournament (with its own interesting wrinkles concerning time limits), and the creation of the NWA’s first Horsemen-ish stable. I’m not a big of the latter, the WWE and AEW are filthy with lead heel factions right now, but I’m willing to see it play out. I’m also interested to see Aldis potentially wrestle twice at Hard Times if he makes it to the finals of the TV tournament. Not bad at all.
- MATCH OF THE NIGHT: Eli Drake vs. Mr Anderson
- MOMENT OF THE NIGHT: Nikita Koloff makes his NWA return and leaves his Russian accent behind
