TJR: NWA Powerrr 11/19/19 Review (Episode 7)
Welcome to another review of NWA Powerr Review right here on TJRWrestling. The video was posted on Tuesday at 6:05pmET on Youtube. Check out my NWA Powerr Review archive here. Let’s roll.
This episode is called: The Phoenix Rises.
The opening video package focused on the story about the lovely Kamille not speaking when she is asked to talk and NWA World’s Champion Nick Aldis said she can speak when she wants. We also saw Colt Cabana recently winning the NWA National Title from James Storm.
The “Into the Fire” theme song aired. That led to a crowd shot of GPB Studios in Atlanta. The announce team of Joe Galli and Jim Cornette welcomed us to the show.
The NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis was interviewed by Dave Marquez, who asked about Kamille. Aldis joked that if the internet was talking about then it’s at the top of his list of priorities. Aldis said if you don’t see Kamille by his side, then her actions are her own and nothing to do with him. Aldis said he’s there to get us back on track where they wrestle in the NWA. Aldis said while they are trying to figure who gets a shot at the real World’s Championship, he’s going to have a match. Aldis said he remembered meeting Trevor Murdoch at Harley Race’s camp in 2007 and tonight they come full circle. Aldis said it won’t be for the World’s Championship, it’ll be an exhibition and the fans didn’t seem to like that. Murdoch entered the ring. Aldis said that Murdoch is not at the front of the line as far as contenders go, so tonight is an exhibition. Aldis said nothing but respect for Trevor. Aldis mentioned that Harley Race may be the greatest World Champion of all time and he said he knows Murdoch looked at the title many times, so tonight he gets a shot to come one step closer.
Analysis: A good promo from Aldis as usual. The fans were harsh towards some of the Aldis promo while at other times they were very supportive of him. He’s a bit of a tweener champion that will probably be more heelish in the long run.
Nick Aldis vs. Trevor Murdoch
This is a non-title match. They battled over a hammerlock for about a minute. Aldis went to the ropes, so Murdoch kicked the middle rope, which is like a low blow, but the ref didn’t do anything about it. Murdoch with punches, then a running clothesline and three body slams. Aldis with a back elbow to the face, but Murdoch came back with a full nelson slam. Murdoch went up top and he hit a bulldog off the top for two because Aldis got his left foot on the bottom rope. Murdoch went up top again, Aldis went after him, Murdoch with a headbutt, Murdoch up top, but Murdoch slipped off the ropes. Aldis slapped on the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf submission and Murdoch tapped out to give Aldis the submission win after about four minutes.
Winner by submission: Nick Aldis
Analysis: *3/4 It was fun and full of cation for a short match. Murdoch got in a decent amount of offense, but I don’t think anybody watching this thought he was going to win. It was just a match to get Aldis a win after Murdoch did the planned slip off the top rope. The story was the big man messed up going to the top rope and Aldis capitalized.
After the match, the fans were cheering for Murdoch. Aldis said “you’re a crafty bastard, but I respect you” to Murdoch. They shook hands.
The Rock N Roll Express duo of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson were interviewed by Dave Marquez. Morton said they are 8-time NWA Tag Team Champions that will win them for the ninth time. Gibson didn’t say anything. They left.
The Wild Cards team of Thom Latimer and Royce Isaacs appeared with their NWA Tag Team Titles. Latimer and Isaacs bragged about how they are great champions. Latimer said Rock N Roll Express can kiss his ass. Marquez asked Latimer what his relationship is with Kamille, Latimer quietly said “just friends” and left.
Analysis: It seemed like the title match was coming this week, but not yet. Maybe next week. The end was interesting. The real-life story is that Latimer and Kamille are dating. If you check their Instagram you can see it. It’s not like they are trying to hide it, so it’s probably going to be part of the storyline.
Colt Cabana joined the commentary team for this match with Cabana saying he wanted to see this match.
Ricky Starks vs. The Question Mark
The Question Mark is a masked guy that is Jocephus and the fans greeted him with “Question Mark” chants. Mark opened up with chops to the head. Starks hit a jawbreaker followed by a dropkick. Mark came back with a hard chop to the chest. Starks sent Mark out of the ring and he hit a suicide dive although neither guy went down. Starks went after Mark and then Aron Stevens showed up to attack Starks for the DQ finish after less than two minutes.
Winner by disqualification: Ricky Starks
Analysis: * It never got going. It was just a cheap finish to set up a tag team match for later. That’s a familiar pattern on WWE shows, but at least NWA doesn’t do it all the time. It’s not like Question Mark matches are ever going to be that great, but the fans like him a lot.
Stevens repeatedly rammed Starks’ face into the side of the ring apron. Mark did a two-finger thrust to the chest two times. Cabana got up from commentary, held the title and that led to Stevens and Mark running away. It was announced by Marquez that it was a No Contest while Cornette correctly said it should be a disqualification.
A replay aired covering what happened.
It was announced by Galli and Cornette that the main event is The Question Mark and Aron Stevens vs. Colt Cabana and Ricky Starks. The fans cheered loudly Cornette mentioned The Question Mark because the fans love him.
Eli Drake appeared on the set for an interview with Galli and Cornette. Drake said that all anybody has been doing out there is making noise, which led to fans chanting “Question Mark” and he called them dummies. Drake said he’s not a hard man to find as Ken Anderson found out recently. Drake said that Anderson has done it all, but maybe he shouldn’t be bringing himself in front of a man like Eli Drake. Anderson showed up saying he’s been all around the world, he’s been in the smallest places and the grandest stage of them all, but what better place to be than here in Hotlanta for the rebirth of the NWA? Anderson said he’s sick and tired of hearing Drake running his mouth. Anderson told Drake they should do it right now. Drake teased accepting the challenge, but then he attacked Anderson from behind. Drake whipped Anderson into the ring post. Drake pulled out a piece of steel turnbuckle and he hit Anderson in the back. The fans booed Drake, who hit it against the ring post. There were referees that checked on Anderson along with Crimson (former TNA wrestler), who is a Producer, then Drake showed up and they took Drake to the back.
Analysis: Good angle to further this rivalry between Drake and Anderson. I like that as a rivalry. Drake’s a natural heel, so I’m glad that they have established him in a heel role. In the past episodes, I wasn’t sure what Drake’s role was, but this angle clearly set up Drake as the heel and Anderson as the face. They’ll probably have a match at the Into the Fire PPV next month with Drake getting the win since he’s the younger guy that is likely going to be a main event player in the NWA pretty soon.
There was a video showing previous episodes with Thunder Rosa and Marti Belle attacking Allysin Kay while warning that Kay had no idea what was coming to her.
Allysin Kay and Ashley Vox vs. Thunder Rosa and Marti Belle
Kay is the babyface NWA Women’s Champion teaming with another face in Vox while Rosa and Belle are the heels.
Vox with a drop toe hold on Belle followed by a senton to the back. Belle came back with a kick. Rosa worked over Vox with a chop followed by a head whip into the mat and Rosa sent Vox into the turnbuckle. Belle charged with a running forearm followed by a running hip attack against the turnbuckle. Belle whipped Vox to the corner, she took too long, Vox got her feet up and Vox hit a dropkick. Kay got the hot tag against Rosa, who hit a dropkick on Vox. Kay with a kick to the head on Rosa, but then Rosa came back with a running kick to the head. Rosa went up top, Kay with a slap to the face and Kay hit a superplex off the middle ropes. Both women were down selling that big move. There was a shot of the crowd where former WWE Women’s Champion Melina was shown walking down the steps (she was in a black dress) and the fans were watching the ring, so they barely noticed her until she walked by. Galli called Melina a “walking legend” while Cornette also mentioned that Melina made her presence known. Melina was standing at ringside, Kay asked what she was doing there and Rosa did the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! on Kay for the pinfall win after about six minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Thunder Rosa and Marti Belle
Analysis: **1/4 The distraction into the pinfall like we have seen so many times in wrestling history. Wrestlers forget they have a match and are vulnerable to the dreaded ROLLUP OF DEATH~! because it’s so deadly. Rosa continues to impress me with her offensive moves. I didn’t know much about her before the NWA series started, so it’s good to see her develop every week. Rosa pinning Kay will likely set up Rosa for an NWA Women’s Title shot against Kay in the near future.
After the match, Belle hit Kay with a forearm to the chest. Belle sent Vox out of the ring. Rosa jumped off the top rope and did a double foot stomp to the back of Kay to put her down. Melina went into the ring. Melina stood in the ring with Rosa and Belle by her side. They stood over a fallen Kay. It’s a new stable in the NWA.
Analysis: Good to see Melina in the NWA. She is one of my favorite women in wrestling history. Last week, Rosa and Belle mentioned a “Phoenix Rising” with them, so that’s what they meant with the idea being Melina is leading this group. I like it as a heel group of women that can work well together.
There was one of the comedy commercials with Austin Idol promoting the Kayfabe Cocktail.
Ricky Starks and Colt Cabana vs. Aron Stevens and The Question Mark
The fans booed Stevens heavily while Mark was cheered as much as anybody in the company. Stevens wrestled in a tank top, jeans a scarf of some kind.
The masked man Mark did a comedic bump into the ropes, then Starks hit a dropkick and Cabana tagged in with an arm wringer on Mark to take him down. Mark with two karate chops. Cabana with an arm drag on Stevens, Starks got the tag, Stevens ran away, missed an elbow drop and Stevens bailed to the floor. Stevens tagged in Mark, who unleashed with his chops to the head. Mark with a chop to the head followed by a back body drop on Starks. Stevens with a comedic chop, Mark tagged in with a chop, Stevens back in with a chop, Mark back in with a chop and the fans loved it. Stevens went back in with a punch to the throat, then he pulled his pants down and mooned the crowd, which wasn’t shown from the bad angle. Starks came back with a Slingblade neckbreaker. Cabana tagged in with a punch, then he grabbed the scarf and hit another punch with Stevens taking a comedic bump into the turnbuckle. Starks tagged in for a jumping flatliner for a two count. Cabana with a splash on Stevens and Starks with a hip attack on Stevens. Double team hip attack on Mark as well. Stevens drove Starks into his corner, which led to Mark tagging back in and Starks hit a Russian legsweep on Mark. Starks tried to take the mask off of Mark, the referee kept Cabana out of the ring, so Stevens gouged the eyes of Stevens. Mark with a thrust punch to the throat of Starks. Stevens tagged back in, he covered Starks and got the pinfall win after about seven minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Aron Stevens and The Question Mark
Analysis: **1/4 It was a bit of a surprise to see Stevens pick up the victory since Starks has won all of his NWA Powerrr matches prior to this, but I guess they want to try to push Stevens and Mark as a unique tag team. There were a lot of comedy spots in the match. The fans were into it, though. It wasn’t a strong main event compared to what we get some weeks on this show.
Post match, Stevens said that they did it with the power of karate. Question Mark said: “Kara-te!” The fans cheered him.
James Storm walked onto the interview set with Dave Marquez. Storm complained about Nick Aldis having exhibition matches against people that don’t matter. Storm complained about this “bullshit” that we just had to watch out there and he whined about Colt Cabana as the NWA National Champion that should be defending his title. Storm said when he was the champion he was the man defending the title. Storm complained about Aldis again. That led to Kamille walking out there. Kamille talked into the left ear of Storm so we couldn’t hear it. She left. Storm ended it with his catchphrase: “Sorry about your damn luck.” Storm left.
Analysis: I don’t know what’s next in the story there, but they do a good job of giving us small cliffhangers to end the show week after week.
The credits aired to end the show.
This episode had a run time of 48:03.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im3mH_vlNlU
There was also a bit of controversy during this episode as well. During the Aldis/Murdoch match, Cornette had a line about how Murdoch was “so tough he would strap fried chicken to his back and ride a motorcycle through Ethiopia.” That’s an offensive thing to say, so a lot of fans complained about it. That led to NWA Vice President David Lagana tweeting this noting that they were going to edit it and they took the episode down. I’ll put in the video when it’s up.
On tonight's episode of NWA Powerr airing on November 19th 2019, one of our talents made comments which some viewers found offensive. We deeply regret the error and apologize.
We have temporarily taken the program down while we correct this error.
— David Lagana (@Lagana) November 20, 2019
What I don’t get is how the NWA failed to remove the line before they uploaded it to Youtube today. This was taped on September 30 or October 1. They should have paid attention to commentary because they could have edited that out. Instead, the NWA is going to get all this bad press about it.
As for Cornette, I don’t mind him like some people do, but he certainly says some things that offend people and this is going to add to the list. He should apologize. It wouldn’t shock me if he got fired because fans are going to keep complaining to the NWA about him and if they are trying to get new fans, maybe having Cornette on commentary is a bad idea.
Final Thoughts
The episode was okay, but nothing really stood out that much. The match quality was below average and it was probably too much of the comedic Question Mark guy for one episode. I enjoy Aron Stevens’ antics, though.
What I liked was the storyline progression mostly because they furthered the women’s division main storyline, the Drake/Anderson angle was good and they teased a future tag team title match as well. The main event angle with Question Mark doesn’t interest me that much, but the fans love the guy at least. Melina making her first appearance in the NWA was cool to see.
The controversial comments from Jim Cornette are going to piss off some people with good reason. That’s going to lead to negative attention for the NWA. They need to be more careful.
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Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport