TJR: NWA Powerrr 10/22/19 Review (Episode 3)
Welcome to the third review NWA Powerr Review right here on TJRWrestling. The video was posted on Tuesday at 6:05pmET on Youtube and I’ll post the full video at the bottom of this review. Check out my NWA Powerr Review archive here. Let’s roll.
This episode is called: Twilight of Tim Storm.
The opening video package focused on Nick Aldis beating Tim Storm two weeks earlier to retain the NWA World Title.
There was a video from Joe Galli, the voice of the NWA, talking about how his interviews with Nick Aldis have been controversial and when he talks to Aldis this week, it will only be a discussion about the Ten Pounds of Gold (the NWA Title).
The NWA intro video aired. Great “Into the Fire” song by Dokken that is the theme of the show.
The announce team of Joe Galli and Jim Cornette welcomed us to the show. The show takes place at GBP Studios in Atlanta as usual.
Eddie Kingston showed up with Cornette interviewing him. Kingston complained about how the Dawsons attacked them during their match last week. Kingston said we are here to put on great matches for the oldest titles in the wrestling business. Kingston said that they (he and Homicide) want the Dawsons in the ring. Kingston said that the NWA is lucky that they didn’t kick their asses in the parking lot. Kingston said they want the Dawsons right now and the fans cheered. Kingston said we can do it now, next week, next month, in the parking lot and Kingston said all he has in this life is pro wrestling. Kingston said guess what we’ll do to you if we don’t care about ourselves.
Analysis: I loved the energy by Kingston in that promo. He’s one of the best talkers on this show. I like the fire he brings to the show.
Marti Belle vs. Crystal Rose
Belle is the more known woman of the two while Galli said that Rose is inspired by grunge. Belle with an arm drag takedown, kick to the face and a headscissors out of the corner. Belle with a running forearm against the turnbuckle. Rose avoided a corner attack, Rose stomped Belle in the ribs and double knees to the face. Rose picked up Belle, but Belle countered with elbows followed by two clotheslines. Belle with a forearm smash to the face. Belle with a running forearm against the turnbuckle and a running hip attack against the turnbuckle. Belle hit a sitout Pedigree for the pinfall win after about three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Marti Belle
Analysis: 1/2* It was just a squash match to put over Belle as one of the main women in the NWA. Good finishing move by her. The women’s division has been featured a bit so far, but no meaningful storylines yet.
The Dawsons were interviewed by David Marquez and the fans booed them loudly. When talking about the attack last week, Zane (the one with hair) said that things happen while adding they are ruffling feathers and the fans booed them. Dave Dawson (the bald one) said that everybody else comes around here wanting to throw their weight around, but now it’s time for them to throw their weight around. Zane said they will fight any single guy back there except for those two (Homicide and Kingston).
Analysis: Good heel promo from The Dawsons. They remind me of an old-school 1980s tag team, which is perfect for what the NWA is.
There was a brief commercial for the NWA Into the Fire PPV on December 14.
There was a video package for women’s wrestler Thunder Rosa. She paints half of her face. We’ll see her in the NWA soon.
Aron Stevens showed up with Joe Galli on the interview set. There was the “no eye contact” rule when Stevens was out there. The fans chanted “look at us” at him. Somebody yelled “Captain Morgan” at him, Stevens said he is not Captain Morgan and that led to a “Captain Morgan” chant from the fans, of course. Stevens said he was promoting his new project “Tropical Pirates” on DVD and VHS in Romania. Stevens said he wanted to go to a B-roll of Tropical Pirates. That led to a clip of a ship and about one line of dialogue from Stevens. It said the movie was out in “Summer 2020.” The fans booed. Stevens said when it comes to acting, he has more chops than Ric Flair. The fans booed and Stevens left.
Analysis: Stevens is an excellent promo guy. There are so many good ones in the NWA and he might be the best of them all. Right now his gimmick is that of a man that thinks he’s a bigger actor than he actually is, so the fans are having fun with booing him. I look forward to seeing him in the ring soon.
There was a replay of Aldis beating Storm two weeks earlier to retain the NWA Worlds Title.
Caleb Konley vs. Dan Parker
Parker is called “D-Man” so that’s not a very creative nickname. Parker’s got the Canadian flag on his tights. Konley is a regular in NWA. Parker did a hair whip takedown, so Konley did a kip up leading to a chop. Conley went to the apron, forearm to the face, headscissors and a senton splash got a two count. When Konley went to the turnbuckle, Parker tripped him up and drove him throat first into the top rope. Parker: “No one can beat a Canadian.” I doubt that and I’m Canadian. Parker with a knee to the ribs followed by an abdominal stretch, Conley with a hip toss, back elbow and an enziguri kick to the head. Conley with a spinning back fist and a spinning slam. Konley hit a springboard moonsault for the pinfall win after about three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Caleb Konley
Analysis: *3/4 It was a solid match with Konley getting his first win in the NWA after a loss to Eli Drake previously. I liked the comeback and the moonsault was executed perfectly. There are a lot of established names in the NWA, but it’s important to properly integrate the younger guys like Konley in the show too.
Tim Storm was interviewed by Joe Galli on the set. Storm thanked Nick Aldis and called him a true champion’s champion. As a result of the match, Storm can’t get another shot at the NWA World Title. Storm said Nick beat him. Storm said that the way he was perceived prior to the Ten Pounds of Gold series changed after Aldis challenged him for that title. A fan shouted “we love you Tim” and Tim said thanks for that while adding that Mama Storm loves him too. That led to a “Mama Storm” chant as well. Storm said he has to make decisions about his future. Eli Drake showed up saying that it sounds like Tim is thinking about retiring, but he doesn’t get it because he hears everybody giving love to Mama Storm. Drake said that Mama Storm is more worried about him giving up. Drake talked about how Storm’s name is on the list with Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, Lou Thesz and Storm is there with them. Drake said maybe Ten Pounds of Gold isn’t in his future, but maybe Drake and Storm can go after the NWA Tag Team Titles. Drake said tonight they’re against the Dawsons in tag team action. Storm said he wants to make Mama Storm proud, so he’ll think about it and let you know.
Analysis: I like Storm’s role as the veteran that is close to retirement, but he has earned the respect of the fans that want him to keep wrestling. Drake is the right guy to try to convince him to re-think his decision and they can go after the Tag Team Titles now.
There was one of the wacky NWA “commercials” featuring a woman advertising the Spiritual Advisor’s Hair Cream.
Jocephus made his entrance as a clip aired of James Storm beating Jocephus in a quick match two weeks earlier.
It was announced that Jocephus wanted to apologize to James Storm. Colt Cabana walked out acting as if he was James Storm and Jocephus gave him a hat. Jocephus shook his hand and then he tossed some powder or salt into Cabana’s face. That led to Storm showing up in the ring behind Jocephus and he gave him a Last Call superkick to knock him down. Ken Anderson saved Cabana and pulled him out of the ring. They are a tag team.
Analysis: The Jocephus character is more of a comedy gimmick where he gets his ass kicked all the time. Cabana and Storm could be brewing as a rivalry in the future, but for now it seems Cabana is teaming with Anderson.
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis and Kamille were interviewed on the set by Joe Galli. Aldis asked if the NWA was cooking as the fans cheered. Aldis said that the energy is bringing out the best from the fans and everybody in the back. Aldis said that there’s a horserace for the spot as the number one contender for the Ten Pounds of Gold. Aldis said there are a lot of names that qualify like Eli Drake, James Storm, somebody said Jocephus and he said we might have to talk about that one. Aldis said that Ricky Starks is his draft pick and he said that kid has got something. Aldis said nobody has moved to the front of the pack, so he’s going to stand back and let it play out. Aldis said that if he can’t see somebody clearly, then maybe there’s somebody in another promotion. Aldis said he won’t have a hard time finding somebody. Galli tried to revisit an issue as he asked why Aldis won’t let Kamille speak for herself. Aldis said he’s known Joe for quite some time and he said this is a non-issue where they handle business in the squared circle and they don’t deal with clickbait, tabloid BS. Aldis said that Kamille is in his Insurance Policy and she can speak whenever she wants, so Aldis told him to ask her. When Galli asked Kamille what her motivation was for being the Insurance Policy of the NWA Champion, she said nothing. Aldis said that when she feels like speaking, Joe will be the first to know.
Analysis: It was another great promo featuring Aldis. I think Nick is an excellent job of being the main champion that talks about how great the NWA is, but then he can also be a heel champion that you know is going to cheat to try to retain his title. I like the blurred lines presented by him. They are doing a great job in building up Kamille as a silent Insurance Policy for Aldis. When she does speak, it will come across as a big deal. It could be when she ventures out on her own.
There was some mystery video asking, “who is the mark?” and there wasn’t much more to it.
Eli Drake and Tim Storm vs. The Dawsons (Zane and Dave Dawson)
Drake started with Dave with Dave hitting a knee to the ribs and punches. Drake came back with two clotheslines followed by a leaping clothesline. Drake hit a swinging neckbreaker. Zane tagged in, but Drake countered a suplex into a neckbreaker followed by an elbow drop. Storm tagged in with a clothesline on Dave, then a boot to the face and a neckbreaker for two. Drake tagged back in with a double team elbow. Zane sent Drake into the corner, Drake got the feet up and hit a bulldog off the middle ropes for two. Storm went back in with forearms for Zane, whip into the corner, splash by Storm and Drake hit a double team punch on Zane. Storm tagged in with elbows to the head of Zane, but Zane came back with a bearhug. Dave tagged in with shoulder tackles on Storm followed by a bearhug. Zane was back in with a bearhug, fans chanted “Mama Storm” to support Tim and Tim broke free. Drake tagged in with a Russian legsweep on Zane, then Drake was whipped into Dave on the apron and Drake hit a sleeper neckbreaker on Zane for a two count. Storm tagged in, Drake missed a corner attack because Zane moved and Storm took a knee to the back by Dave, which the referee didn’t see. The Dawsons double teamed Storm with a powerslam/running splash combo and Zane covered Storm to win the match after about seven minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Dawsons (Zane and Dave Dawson)
Analysis: **1/2 It was just an average tag team match with the heel Dawsons getting the win. The Dawsons have had a decent push so far on the NWA shows over the first three weeks with cheap attacks and then this main event win. It’s a good idea to use more established names to put over the Dawsons like this. The format of the match was a bit different from the normal tag team match because the face team of Drake and Storm controlled most of the action until the Dawsons came back to win.
After the match, the Dawsons double teamed Storm with punches to the back. That led to the team of Eddie Kingston and Homicide making the save. When Kingston and Homicide got into the ring, The Dawsons left and avoided the attack. Kingston and Homicide left to the back to go after The Dawsons. Nick Aldis and Drake went into the ring to check on Storm. That was the end of the show.
Analysis: It continued the story from earlier of Kingston/Homicide wanting to face The Dawsons, so when they have a match it’s going to mean something because of the build to it. Aldis checking on Storm to end it shows that Aldis is genuine in showing respect to Storm, but is he really? That’s what I meant earlier by saying Aldis appears to be a face at times, but in other ways he’s a heel, so you never really know.
This episode had a run time of 48:25. You can watch it all here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d8vGx0fYmY
Final Thoughts
It was another fun edition of NWA Powerrr this week. I enjoy it for what it is – an old school wrestling show based around promos and long-term storylines that are used to build up to big matches down the road. The look and feel of the show is perfect for what the NWA is trying to be.
There’s not a lot of wrestling on this show. There were about 13 minutes of the 48 minutes on actual matches where two of the matches were just to showcase Belle and Konley. If you’re watching this for great wrestling, then this is the wrong place for you on an every week basis. However, there’s more to pro wrestling than just the matches and it’s not like the matches are that bad. I still like it for the promos and the stories they are building at a slow pace. There’s also good character development from top to bottom. The Dawsons have been booked very well as a heel tag team, for example. They have impressed me a lot.
The promos from Stevens, Aldis, Kingston, Drake and Storm were all great. It’s refreshing to see wrestling promos where it’s the characters speaking from the heart to get their angles over instead of memorizing scripted dialogue. These promos feel more authentic and that’s what makes Powerrr unique.
I think the first episode was the best of the three so far, but this was still a good wrestling show that’s easy to watch week after week.
—
You can contact me using any of the methods below. Go Los Angeles Rams, NBA World Champion Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport