The Thread Killer

I had posted about this in the Podcasts folder, but I thought I'd bring it up it the NWA thread too. During his News Desk segment on Power this week, Sean Mooney mentioned that he'd be interviewing Trevor Murdoch on his Podcast, "Prime Time with Sean Mooney." I checked it out, and it was an excellent interview. If you are a Trevor Murdoch fan, or if you love Harley Race stories, you should check this out. Murdoch talks about his training and background, his path to WWE, his frustrations with working there and how he had pretty much quit the business because was so disillusioned with Pro Wrestling (specifically the political aspects) and his feelings about the NWA. I was already a Trevor Murdoch fan, but this interview really made me like him even more. During the podcast, Sean mentioned that there was some thought being given to using his podcast as a platform to interview and promote other NWA stars, and he asked for feedback about that idea. I emailed Sean telling him that I had really enjoyed the Murdoch interview and that I was hoping he would continue to use his podcast to promote the NWA and add an extra dimension to the product. Sean Mooney emailed me back, and said that the response to the Murdoch interview had been so positive that he is currently in discussions with the NWA about doing a podcast specifically dedicated to the NWA. I think that is a great idea and I'm really hoping they pull the trigger on this plan.

If PWInsider is to be believed, Tony Khan himself has basically taken over the booking of AEW since January when they came back from the holiday break. He is being called the "primary creative force" behind Dynamite and is supposedly getting input from the talent (especially his Executive VP's) but Tony Khan himself is now the final word, unlike before when the talent were basically booking a lot of their own stuff. That likely explains the improved cohesiveness of the shows, the elimination of "The Nightmare Collective" and the scaling back of The Dark Order to just another midcard angle, rather than a major focus or main event level story. Seems like the ratings are also reflecting the improvement.

I thought this week's episode of Power was another very solid effort from the NWA. We're now three episodes into the shows they taped at their third set of TV tapings in January, and it struck me tonight that the NWA appears to have listened to the feedback of the fans. The three biggest complaints I heard after the first "season" of Power from the first set of TV tapings were that the matches were too short, the roster was too thin, and the creative was inconsistent or complicated. Billy Corgan had given interviews before and after Into The Fire and before Hard Times, where he said that the NWA would be making some adjustments based on feedback, and it seems to be pretty clear that they have listened. The matches are definitely longer, the roster has expanded with some great additions, and the major storylines seem very clear. - We didn't have to wait long to see The Dawsons vs. The Bouncers. I thought they'd be slowly building to this fight after last week's excellent confrontation between Pope and Kingston, but here we are. @Migs was right, The Bouncers were much better than I had expected. And all credit where it's due...they weren't exactly The Midnight Express out there, but The Dawsons didn't suck in this match. This was a textbook "big man" match, and I had no problem with it. They didn't go too long, but it was hard hitting and both teams looked good. That Milonas is a monster. Migs was also right, I look forward to seeing what The Bouncers can do against a smaller team that can bump around for them. Good stuff. I also enjoyed the segment afterwards when everybody poured their beer in the Crockett Cup. - They did a good job of keeping the fans up to speed on the ongoing Scurll/Aldis rivalry and using Aldis's appearance in ROH last week to further to story. I am actually going to seek out that ROH Tag Team match with Scurll and PCO vs. Aldis and Rush. Seems like the terms are set for "Aldis/Scurll II" and next week they are announcing the date and venue. - I thought the promo from Thom Lattimer (with Kamille) was excellent. ("He's pants! He's rubbish!") This guy has a ton of potential to do a lot in the NWA, if and when they break him away from Aldis and Royce. He's perfectly fine in his role as one of Aldis's henchmen, but I think he has potential to do a lot more down the road, if they choose to do that. - The Lattimer/Tim Storm match was really good. I was very surprised to see Storm lose, considering he still kind of feels like the #1 babyface in the NWA right now, I was really kind of shocked to see him lose clean to Lattimer. I'm not sure what that means for their long term plans. I hope Tim Storm is not getting pushed down the card, but the post-match appearance of "Mama Storm" seems to indicate that they have something planned for him, at least. - Just when I thought Trevor Murdoch was free and clear of The Question Mark, here we go again. To me, The Question Mark is like a song that you didn't mind the first time you heard it, but now its been so overplayed that you just want to cover your ears. Even the fans in the NWA arena seem to be cooling off to him a bit. Either that, or he isn't getting the reaction from the fans he had been because he's interacting with Trevor Murdoch, who the fans also love. Either way, I can only hope that this whole deal is their way of continuing the Aron Stevens/Trevor Murdoch angle over the National Title, because otherwise I never want to see The Question Mark anywhere near Trevor Murdoch again. Murdoch is taking off, get him away from this guy. - I was really surprised at the TV Title match between Matt Cross and Ricky Starks. These guys had a very good sprint of a match at the Hard Times PPV, and this match was totally different, it was much slower and much more standard Pro Wrestling stuff. I don't know if that was a deliberate choice, or if one of those guys is injured, or what. I love Matt Cross, but he wasn't wrestling like a guy who only had 6 minutes and 5 seconds to win the match. The Zicky Dice promo cracked me up. Not sure what's going on there, Starks has already beat him so I am not sure if Dice is trying to angle his way into a rematch, or what? - The Marti Belle interview and Allysin Kay interruption segment was actually much better than I expected, to be honest. - Then there was something that was just as bad as I expected. I feel bad for Tasha Steelz having to lose to Melina. They should be getting behind Steelz and getting Melina out of the ring, because Melina just sucks, I'm sorry. She's fine as a manager/mouthpiece but when you put her in that ring...ugh. I can only hope that once she gets the shot at Thunder Rosa that they're obviously building toward, that Rosa murders her and puts and end to the days of Melina as an in-ring performer in the NWA. Not good. - The Main Event was what it was. The match was actually a pretty well laid out, standard old school TV Main Event type match, but I'm way over seeing The Rock & Roll Express featured in high profile or even remotely important TV matches. They did the best they could here, and I know they have to stretch the storytelling out all the way to April for the next PPV, but I'm not sure using the Rock and Rolls is the way to do it. I'm a lot more interested in the Lucky 7 stipulation for the TV title. Last month, Nick Aldis couldn't beat Ricky Starks and went to a draw with him. Now if Starks wins five more matches, he gets a shot at the World Title. That to me is a much better story to tell while we wait for the Crockett Cup. My only other observation is that I'm not sure where the hell they're going with this whole May Valentine/Saul Rinauro deal. This can't really be leading to a Sal Rinauro feud with Royce Isaacs...can it? - No new episode of Power next week, because they're debuting the NWA version of Tough Enough, "The Circle Squared" where they will be showing the tryout matches featuring the guys trying to make the NWA roster. So that would be interesting to watch, because it will mean fresh, brand new talent for the NWA and I think that's really important. Anyhow, as almost always, this was a really fun hour of old school Pro Wrestling that was well paced and smartly laid out, it really flew by.

Most people are aware that Sean Mooney is now doing interviews, and a News Desk segment on NWA Power. On this week's episode he promoted the next episode of his podcast, featuring Trevor Murdoch as a guest. I checked it out, and really enjoyed it. If you have time, and especially if you enjoy Trevor Murdoch (and great Harley Race stories) I highly recommend this episode. I am excited as well because he says he is going to have more NWA stars on his podcast in the future, and is also considering an NWA themed podcast. Thought some people might want to check this out.

For those who missed it last week, here is a link to part of the promo we've been talking about. This isn't the whole segment (Pope was excellent during this segment as well) but this little clip is a great indicator of how great Eddie Kingston has been in the NWA so far. They really need to get behind this guy more, they could really do a lot with him.

You're not wrong about his temper affecting him, but I don't think is a new phenomenon or that it's getting noticeably worse. It's getting reported more, especially as he makes enemies out of modern Pro Wrestling fans who want him "cancelled." But at his core, I think he's pretty much always been like this. It's just now he has a podcast and uses Twitter, so his ridiculous temper is on public display for all to see. Like I said earlier, Cornette is unquestionably an asshole and his temper is legendary. But I also don't know that his temper has negatively affected his career. After the whole NWA Power/Fried Chicken Joke fiasco, one of the popular talking points going around on social media was that Cornette had been fired rather than quitting, or just what you said...that his temper and bombastic outbursts had negatively affected his career. On an episode of the Drive-Thru (#116 back in November) by way of a rebuttal he actually went through his entire career job by job and listed what jobs he's been fired from and which jobs he'd quit. The "fired" list is actually a lot shorter than I would have expected, considering his history. I would think his getting fired by WWE for slapping Santino Marella was probably the worst example of his temper costing him work. As far as the effect of his temper on his personal life? He's admitted in the past that he's on medication for his temper...at one point they had him on Lithium which is no joke. Now I think he's on some other form of anti-anxiety medication, he's mentioned it but I forget which one. Most Pro Wrestling fans have heard or seen the infamous Dairy Queen video, which has become legendary. Hell, on the Drive-Thru this week, Cornette tells a story about how his wife Stacy wanted to make some potato salad, so she went to the local convenience store and bought a jar of mayonnaise. (First mistake.) She made the potato salad and when they ate it, the discovered that it tasted terrible, so they looked and discovered that the mayo was expired. Cornette's wife went back to the store to get her money back. The clerk in the store refused to give Mrs. Cornette her money back. She went home and told Jim, who grabbed the jar of mayo, returned to the store and asked for his money back. The manager refused to refund the money, so Cornette ended up picking up the "Take-A-Penny-Leave-A-Penny" tray and literally chucked it at the guy's head. The story is actually really funny, as are most of Cornette's stories...but it's pretty clear that if the story is true (and I believe that it is) then Cornette continues to have problems with a seriously short fuse. That is one of the things that bugs me about how people react to Cornette. I'm not specifically talking about you @C.S., and I'm not singling you out. But a lot of people tend to judge Jim Cornette on the whole based on things they've "heard." Hell, I have a very good friend who is a hardcore AEW mark. He has some peripheral connections to the Pro Wrestling business, and as a result has had occasion to meet several of the Pro Wrestlers who are Cornette's usual targets. I wouldn't say he is "friends" with them, but they've socialized. For example my friend has had dinner with Joey Ryan. So naturally, whenever I mention Cornette or something he said, my friend freaks out and goes on and on about what a great guy Joey Ryan is, and how Cornette is an out of touch asshole who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. My friend doesn't ever listen to either of Cornette's podcasts, but he's one of the first ones to react to re-tweets or stuff reported on "newz" sites about Cornette. On the most recent episode of the Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette actually praised AEW and said their show was better than NXT last week. My friend barely believed me, because he bases all of his opinions on Cornette on stuff he reads online, and I think he was under the impression that Cornette blindly hates AEW and won't say anything positive about them at all...and that his entire shows are based around nothing but bashing modern wrestling. That's just not true, but that's the impression you get from a lot of people who don't actually know what he's talking about. Now of course, I'm not saying that if you already don't like Cornette that you should listen to his podcast. That would be stupid. For example, I can't stand Vince Russo so I would never, ever listen to his podcast, no matter what. Having said that, I don't think you can judge somebody as a whole, based on specifically selected comments they've made or especially by things they've said on Twitter. People who are predisposed to hate Jim Cornette and everything he stands for have been known to go out of their way to comb through every thing he's ever said or done, just looking for ammunition to help "cancel" him. Imagine if people judged Dave Meltzer solely based on his Twitter feed? People would look at him a lot differently. My point still is that if you solely base your opinion on what you read online, and you've never actually heard him talk, you come away with the impression that Cornette does nothing but scream insults at AEW for two hours every week. He does do that, but he does a lot of other stuff too...he is actually quite constructive in some of his criticisms of the modern product and most importantly, a lot of his criticism is 100% spot on...especially when it comes to stuff like booking continuity and the technical aspects of formatting a weekly Pro Wrestling show for television. But nobody ever focuses on that stuff, they just isolate the insults and report them. As a result, you get a picture of Jim Cornette that is either badly skewed or in some cases factually inaccurate. Cornette frequently irritates the hell out of me, but he does represent the opinion of a lot of old school Pro Wrestling fans and in a lot of cases when he is talking about certain aspects of modern Pro Wrestling, he's quite accurate in his criticisms.

If he was in WWE or NXT I agree that might be a problem, but AEW isn't exactly the land of the giants. On a roster that includes major stars the size of Darby Allin or Jungle Boy (not to mention Marko Freaking Stunt, who had a competitive match on Dark last week and pinned a guy twice his size) or workers with killer physiques like Joey Janela and Chuck Taylor, I don't think MJF sticks out all that badly. To me, he's a modern day Roddy Piper. During the height of the Hulkamania era when the WWF roster was populated primarily by giants and steroid monsters, Piper still managed to distinguish himself and he was average sized and had a rather normal physique. In Pro Wrestling (and MMA, actually) an average body and height but a big mouth can carry you a very long way, I've always felt. Not to mention, MJF seems to be one of the few heels in Pro Wrestling right now (Aron Stevens is another) who doesn't mind doing old school stooging, acting like a coward, begging off, etc. One of the many things I hate about modern Pro Wrestling is "cool heels" who we're supposed to hate, but they wrestle the exact same way they would if they were babyfaces. MJF actually acts like a cheating weasel when he wrestles, so that makes up for any lack of high impact moves in his arsenal. I'd actually prefer that he cheats rather than doing a bunch of NJPW "Strong Style" moves. Everybody in AEW does that stuff. MJF actually stands out and works differently.

Jim Cornette does not have a cognitive condition, and he especially doesn't have dementia. If you know the diagnostic criteria for most cognitive conditions (especially dementia) and you listen to one episode of his Drive Thru podcast, you would see that he exhibits literally none of the symptoms of a cognitive disorder. Not a one. Jim Cornette's memory and ability to recall details are legendary. He can remember dates of shows, towns he worked in and even ridiculous minutiae like what color blazer he wore at a particular event. He can remember where he ate after shows that took place over 30 years ago, and can say what he ordered and how the food was. (A topic that comes up with strange regularity on his podcast, for some reason.) Just a couple of weeks ago on the Drive-Thru, Brian Last asked Cornette about a particular promo he had cut when he was a rookie in Memphis, (when Cornette was starting his first stable) that Last had seen on YouTube. Without seeing the promo again, Cornette was able to recall exactly when he had cut the promo, who the promo was directed at, and he even recited it again from memory, practically verbatim. Brian Last was amazed, and that happens on an almost weekly basis - his incredible memory for detail is one of the main features of his Monday podcast. Jim Cornette is an asshole. He might be an exceptionally unpleasant asshole, even when compared to other assholes, but that doesn't make him mentally ill. It just makes him an asshole.

I've found that in AEW a lot of the time people get used on TV a couple of weeks in a row and have big matches and some momentum, and then all of the sudden they're off TV and not even mentioned for some reason. It feels like one step forward, one step back. (Darby Allin and Private Party come to mind.) I'm not sure AEW is the place to be "used consistently."

Maybe I should wait until I actually see them wrestle before I pass judgment. But you have to admit, based on appearances alone and the previous work of the Dawsons, there is some reason for me to be skeptical about the potential of a Dawsons/Bouncers match.

That is one of the things about him which I find hilarious. He's about as politically liberal as you can possibly get, (he is vocally pro-gun control, pro-socialized medicine, pro-abortion, pro-union and anti-big business...plus he never shuts up about how great Obama was) but at the same time his comments on Muslims are infamous and resulted in his previous co-host quitting the podcast. And he reacts to criticism exactly like somebody who is alt-right.

I feel bad if last week's episode was @KawadaSmile's introduction to the NWA or Power, because it wasn't a very good episode and wasn't an accurate reflection of what they're capable of doing, in my opinion. I found this week's episode to be a far superior show. - The Tim Storm promo was good, but it veered into cheesy territory with the whole fake Mama Storm deal. The guy playing the fake Mama Storm had a couple of pretty funny lines, but Storm didn't react all that great to it. He really should have either smacked the guy, or lost his temper and he didn't do either...he just kind of acted confused and indignant, so the segment didn't come off as well as it could have, in my opinion. Having said that, I am looking forward to Storm vs. Lattimer next week. - I thought Matt Cross vs. Caleb Konley was great. Starks was really good as a guest commentator and it was a really fun, well executed match. I hope we continue to see Matt Cross in the NWA. I think Konley is being underused. He's pretty solid in the ring and the fans seem to like him, but he rarely wins matches and that seems to be a waste to me. He held his own against Starks here. By the way, I really like the whole "Lucky 7" stipulation and hope it leads to Starks vs. Aldis down the road. - The highlights of the Aldis/Scurll face-to-face from last week was a lot easier to sit through than the whole segment last week, which dragged on way too long. The subsequent Aldis promo was also pretty good, although his verbiage tends to meander at points and some of his metaphors about wolves climbing mountains and stuff like that seemed really unnatural and forced. - The next segment was the definition of good news/bad news. The good news was that The Pope and Eddie Kingston are outstanding and are cutting some of the best promos not just in the NWA, but in all of Pro Wrestling right now. The entire NXT locker room only wishes they could cut promos like those two did tonight. However, the subsequent showdown became the answer to a Pro Wrestling riddle: What's worse than having a big fat midcard Tag Team that can barely wrestle on your roster? Answer: Having TWO big fat midcard Tag Teams that can barely wrestle on your roster. Never mind the Dawsons, here's the Bouncers. Ugh. If we have to sit through the Dawsons managed by The Pope against the Bouncers managed by Eddie Kingston...that may be asking too much. I don't mind The Pope as a manager - his promos are gold - but they really need to find somebody better than the Dawsons for him to manage. - I thought that May Valentine vignette was great. Nothing is more annoying than a so-called social media "influencer" and this played off that great. They're actually managing to make Royce Isaacs interesting. - I thought Aron Stevens vs. Trevor Murdoch was pretty good and fairly entertaining. Stevens did some decent wrestling rather than all stooging. It went on too long, until I figured out that Stevens was deliberately trying to eat up time to get to a time limit draw and save his title. Stevens was hilarious as always and Murdoch came off great, so I have no major complaints about this match. Sounds like we'll be seeing more of them, which works for me. - The Storm & Drake squash was good, they need to do more matches like that to help get people over. That finish they do of the fireman's carry into the backstabber came off a little rough, though. That might be too complicated for James Storm to do at this point, he barely got his knees up. - I really liked Sean Mooney's new news segment. - The Main Event was really good. It obviously wasn't as good as their match at the PPV, but it was a really good TV Main Event. I can't believe how popular Thunder Rosa is getting. You can tell they see that and are about to split her and Melina up, which is the smart thing to do. - One complaint I had about this show is the fact that they changed the theme music to a really heavy Pantera song and got rid of all the cheesy old school imagery and fake commercials and stuff like that. It's almost like they're starting to take themselves more seriously and I'm not sure I like that, but I'll give it time. I'd still say this was an excellent episode and big improvement over last week.

There is no doubt that Cornette's real anger about most things ends up being absolutely disproportionate. He was ranting about Donald Trump this past week, and went on some diatribe about how all people who voted for Trump should be tattooed with a letter "T" on their foreheads so people can identify them and blame them in public. He further went on one of his typical two-dimensional, overly simplified political tirades about all Republicans, during which and he strongly implied that he doesn't want anybody who is a Republican or who is politically conservative listening to his shows - while Brian Last frantically tried to contain him. Last tried in vain to dial Cornette back by pointing out that many of Cornette's fans were people who might be conservative or vote Republican but are not Trump supporters...but Cornette was in full insane mode and wouldn't hear it. Most of Cornette's responses are not rational or proportionate, but much like his infamous joke on NWA Power, I also don't think they reflect his actual beliefs. I honestly believe it's part heat of the moment tirade and part shtick. And I honestly don't know where the line is, but I still think a large amount of the stuff he does and says are him working both his own fans and the people who hate him.

Cornette's got a wicked temper and says a lot of outrageous shit, but he is not mentally ill. That's ridiculous.

I've seen people here at PWO say that the Omega/Okada matches are better than the Flair/Steamboat Trilogy as well. I guess it's a matter of taste, but I totally don't get that at all. I don't give a crap about the "drawing" aspect of the argument, (I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that the Flair/Steamboat matches really didn't draw all that great) but I sure don't think the Omega matches are actually better Pro Wrestling matches.

I don't blame Cornette for breaking ties with Kenny Bolin. Kenny Bolin had been friends with Jim Cornette and his family since they were children. Then a few years ago, Bolin made friends with Vince Russo and tried to broker some sort of deal on Russo's behalf where Cornette and Russo would have a worked podcast "debate" or something. Of course Bolin would financially benefit from the whole deal, even though he knew that Cornette hated Russo for getting him fired twice. It was Cornette's reaction to that whole fiasco that caused Russo to file the restraining order against Cornette, and (if you believe Russo, which is a big "if") Russo has claimed that it was Bolin who convinced him to get the protection order because Cornette was legitimately violent and would really attack him, if given the chance. The whole breakdown in the relationship with Cornette and Meltzer has been coming for some time. It's been funny, for years Jim Cornette has been the one Pro Wrestling insider who loudly praised Meltzer's work and defended him to the hilt when guys like Bischoff and especially Prichard ripped on him. Cornette has loudly called Prichard out for bashing Meltzer in the past, and vehemently defended Dave. Cornette had Meltzer on his podcast as a guest last year where they basically "agreed to disagree" about PWG, modern wrestling and the Bucks and Omega. (AEW wasn't a thing yet at that time.) So I don't think that you can lay all of the blame on this relationship going down the tubes on just Meltzer being an AEW fanboy. Their relationship seemed to start to get rocky when Meltzer made the statement that the Young Bucks are the modern equivalent of the Midnight Express. Cornette was already pissed off at Meltzer about that when the whole deal happened with Cornette's infamous joke on NWA Power that culminated in his quitting the NWA. Meltzer did a major story on the whole thing, but never even bothered to call Cornette and ask his side of the story or get a quote from him. That seemed to pretty much be the straw that broke the camel's back on that relationship. Of course he's just like those other guys, that's the whole point. For people that think Cornette is actually upset that AEW is having a degree of success, I would disagree. Brian Last has come out and admitted that ever since he and Cornette have been reviewing Dynamite every week on The Jim Cornette Experience, their numbers have gone up and stayed up. Last claims (and I believe it) that they keep setting new records for how many people are listening to them. Proof of that is the fact they actually changed the day they record and release the show, just so they can rip on AEW every week now. I remember when Bill Clinton was elected to a second term, and somebody in an interview said to Rush Limbaugh that he must be really upset about it. Limbaugh just laughed and pointed out that his ratings had never been higher than they were when he had the Clinton Administration as his punching bag. Cornette and Brian Last probably danced a jig when Dynamite got renewed for 3 more years. That's three years of easy material for them, now they don't even have to plan out anything for Friday podcast like they used to...they just review Dynamite and that's all they need to do.

I'm listening to the Royal Rumble 2005 episode which debuted today, and it's pretty hilarious but a bit in a sad way at the same time. JR admits early on that he's drinking screwdrivers while they record. By the time they get to reviewing the matches, it sounds like JR is maybe a bit toasted. When they're discussing the Flair/Guerrero backstage segment, JR goes off on some totally out of left field rant about the developmental system and how you can't teach having "it" (which is true) but it seems like he's angry and having an argument, even though nobody is disagreeing with him. Then while they're discussing the Undertaker/Heidenreich match, JR goes off into another tangent and ends up complaining about Donald Trump and media coverage of the Impeachment Trial(?!) Poor Conrad is having trouble keeping him on topic. There's still around an hour to go, and I feel for Conrad trying to keep this thing on track. Also, one thing that seems weird to me is that it feels like JR's show has more ads than Bischoff or Arn? Either that, or it's just not as noticeable on those other shows as it is on this one.

I have to say I agree with @Big Pete about this week's episode of Dynamite. To me, it felt really "paint-by-numbers", flat and uninspired. - The opening segment was okay, Moxley's promo was decent and Jericho was gold like he always is. But the whole deal with a fan favorite coming out to the ring to start the show, giving an interview, only to be interrupted by the heel, leading to a physical confrontation which needs to be broken up by security, is pretty much textbook WWE. Boring and predictable. As much as I have bitched about AEW, they've never come across as boring and predictable. I have really enjoyed how they've started many episodes of Dynamite with action right off the bat. As a fan I can almost forgive AEW stuff like Brandi's stupid angle and even the Dark Order, because at least they're trying to be unique and different. To me, this opening segment would not have looked out of place on Monday Night Raw, and that is not a compliment. That's disappointing. It was well done, but that doesn't mean it should have been done. - The Young Bucks/Butcher & Blade match was technically pretty good. I don't really like The Young Bucks, but I was a fan of the fact that they actually seemed to follow standard tag team wrestling rules during this match, it was not just everybody in the ring doing everything all at once. The highlight for me was definitely MJF on commentary. Sometimes I think he is getting overpraised but then he does stuff like this and I am reminded that he really deserves all the hype he gets. I almost died when he made that crack about Nick Jackson going bald. One thing I will say is this...I like and respect JR's work. But if JR really didn't know or couldn't remember what the "M" in MJF stands for, then AEW has a serious problem on their hands. That means either he is losing control of his faculties or he can't be bothered to pay enough attention to the names of the guys on the AEW roster. Neither option is good. - The way they have been pushing Nyla Rose lately, did anybody doubt that she was going to beat Big Swole? The winner of the match was pretty much a foregone conclusion, I really don't know why it took them almost 9 minutes to get there. That's too damn long for a TV match in which the result is never really in doubt. And I don't even really think it was all that great of a match, anyhow. Swole ended up looking better and more polished that Nyla Rose to me. The AEW Women's Division is really a black hole at this point. You've got the stupid stuff with Brandi, and their odd fascination with introducing a seemingly endless parade of Japanese women who no mainstream fans have actually heard of. Next week we've got yet another debut, Yuka Sakazaki. I really don't understand why AEW keeps rolling out these women without doing more to let us know more about them, who they are and why we should care about them. Here's an idea, shave a few minutes off your unnecessarily long TV matches and air some vignettes telling us who some of these women are, what they've accomplished in Japan and show their personalities so maybe the fans will get behind them. - Speaking of matches that went on way too long...it takes Cody almost 12 minutes to beat Kip Freaking Sabian? While this match was technically solid, it seemed really overbooked to me, with the outside interference and Arn getting ejected and all that. In my opinion, for a match like this Cody needs to beat Sabian clean in five minutes. Sure he can give Sabian some offence, but this seemed like way too much to me. Unless they're planning on pushing Kip Sabian as a top guy (which they shouldn't) then I don't get the point of this, I really don't. Even JR himself made some very veiled references to these TV matches going on too long today on his podcast. Anyhow, another kind of weird thing was when after Cody won, he ended up staying in the ring carrying on and then celebrating with the fans like he just won the World Championship or something. Dude, you beat Kip Sabian, it really shouldn't be this big of a deal. It came across really weird to me. And needless to say, that spot where Joey Janella popped up so Sabian and Ford could kiss him was just contrived and stupid. So basically, it was Joey Janella. - The Britt Baker promo was just...ugh. She's turning heel, and for some reason the focus of her ire is...the announce team? I didn't buy her as a fan favorite and I don't buy her as a heel either. She just comes across as inauthentic and trying too hard with this stuff. But at least this didn't involve Brandi, so there's that. - I really hope AEW has some sort of inventive swerve planned for this whole Page/Omega story. While they're executing to the whole "tension between partners" technically well, we can all see what will probably happen coming from a mile away. And the problem is that in my opinion, Adam Page's whole "drunken cowboy" routine actually seems to be making him more popular with the crowd, while Omega is just coming across as a major geek in all this. (Which is appropriate.) Not to mention, if Page ever does turn on Omega, I am not convinced that Kenny Omega has the promo skills required to carry his end of the ensuing feud. At this rate if Page turns on him, all I can see Omega doing is sipping a cup of tea, and mildly complaining: "Gee, I wish he hadn't done that. I thought he was my friend. Well, I'm going to go play some video games." - One of the things I have enjoyed the most about AEW is the overall aura and atmosphere. The fans have been generally incredibly vocal, totally into the product and really distinguished Dynamite from a main roster WWE show with the level of enthusiasm. That's what made this SCU/Angelico & Evans match stand out so much. The crowd for this match was totally dead, for the most part. Once again it was technically acceptable match, but it just seemed ice cold. And it didn't help that it was all topped off with a Dark Order vignette. That Evil Uno guy looks a total moron with his stupid mask and then wearing a suit on top of it. - From a technical standpoint, I liked the Pac video package. I've always thought he was a better promo than most gave him credit for, but even if you don't agree you have to admit that this was shot and edited together really well, with the black and white, cuts and close ups. I thought it did a great job promoting Pac. - The Main Event was easily the best thing on the show. As I mentioned earlier, they seem to be getting a lot better about following actual rules during Tag Matches, and if rumor is to be believed, it's Chris Jericho who has been pushing for that behind the scenes, so good on him. I'm always happy to see Private Party (who I think have been criminally underused since beating the Bucks in the Tag Tournament) and especially Darby Allin. Allin is really getting more and more popular with the crowd, I liked how they showed fans holding up signs for him and even a little kid painted up with his face like him. I really hope AEW can capitalize on his growing popularity. This was a match that actually deserved to go as long as it did, this was pretty much everything you would want out of a TV Main Event. Everybody got over, and it was exciting. I'm not saying that Dynamite was actually "bad." It's not, it's still miles ahead of Raw and Smackdown, from what I've seen. But it could be a lot better, too. I guess they got their three year renewal, so they're not worried. But I came away from this week's show thinking I could have missed it and that wouldn't have mattered...and that's not good.

I don't know what anybody else around here thinks, but I was not a fan of this week's episode of Power. In my opinion they really stumbled coming out of a great PPV. The show was 60 minutes long, and out of that 60 minutes there was a grand total of 7 minutes and 20 seconds of actual wrestling. Two matches in one hour, both of which are under five minutes in a one hour show is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I also think it's pretty stupid to spend a good portion of your show trying to get people to order the replay of the Pay Per View, only to turn around and show the finishes to all the matches while you're doing it. The Aldis interview to start the show was fine. But that segment with Aldis and Scurll to end the show felt like it was never going to end, and it was too much of the same thing on one show. Of the entire hour long show, a huge chunk of time was devoted to Nick Aldis talking. I guess we have our answer regarding the eventual Aldis/Scurll match, they're going to drag this angle out for three months and the two of them won't be fighting until the next PPV in April. If this episode of Power is any indicator, it seems they're planning on doing a whole lot of treading water between now and then.

I'm pretty sure Kenny Omega has suffered a head injury and is dealing with serious neurological problems. Well, I assume he is...because that would explain his constant blinking, unexplained head movements, and incessant twitching.

That makes sense, thanks for the info. I knew from his time as "Bad News" Barrett that he gave great interviews (even though he kept getting the rug pulled out from underneath him by WWE for reasons I can't fathom) so I'm not surprised he made a great on-air authority figure. The fact that he got to do commentary there makes sense. He is so polished and natural at it, I couldn't believe he was new to it, but now I know he isn't. It's funny, I've always found that the skills required to give a great interview don't always translate into doing a good job on commentary, but Stu Barrett is clearly a guy who understands his role when he is working color. He never tries to put himself over the matches or angles he is calling, and he does a lot of little things to help make the action more interesting. (Thankfully Stu isn't working with Mauro Ranallo, otherwise he'd never get a word in.) I said earlier in this thread, I actually think Stu Barrett does a far superior job to Jim Cornette on color commentary, and I really liked Jim Cornette on color. That whole fiasco with Cornette's tasteless joke ended up being a blessing in disguise for the NWA, since it ended up bring Barrett in.

NWA: "Hard Times" I pre-ordered this show so I only ended up paying $15.00 for it. For my money that's a pretty damn good deal for a PPV. This time I watched it via the browser on my XBOX One rather than streaming it through my laptop to my TV. As I suspected it would, this rectified the streaming issues I had when I ordered Into The Fire. The Fite stream was great, I had no issues with the video or audio quality whatsoever. No change to the personnel for the PPV, we had Dave Marquez doing the interviews and Galli and Bennett on commentary. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...Galli and Bennett are excellent. I'd go so far as to say that they are probably my favorite announcing team on all of the Pro Wrestling shows I watch right now. I really like Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuinness on NXT UK, but I'd take Galli and Bennett over them, and over J.R., Tony and Excalibur in AEW (and of course they're better than Mauro Ranallo...but that goes without saying.) Galli is decent but Bennett deserves most of the credit, he's just outstanding on color. I can't believe how good he is considering the lack of experience he has. The thing I liked especially is that he seemed to take his game up a notch for the PPV, and he really helps get the stories and angles across. The show came from the "NWA Arena" again, and once again the only difference between this show and the Power tapings is the use of entrance music and the wrestlers coming from an entrance way above the stands and down the stairs through the crowd. I've beat the point about having PPV's at the GPB studios to death in this thread, and anyhow it sounds like they're addressing that issue, since the next PPV is not going to be held there. That's obviously the smart move. Having said that, I have to say the fans at this PPV were crazy loud. The reaction from the fans really added to the overall aura and atmosphere for this PPV. Anyhow, on to the matches... NWA TV Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: The Question Mark vs. Trevor Murdoch This is not only a Quarterfinal Match in the TV Title tournament, but it is a rematch from the last PPV. I bitched relentlessly about the result of that match and the entire Question Mark angle elsewhere in this thread, so I won't do it again here. All I'll say is this...they finally got it right. The NWA (whether it's Dave Lagana or whoever) finally seems to have clued into the fact that Trevor Murdoch is great and needs to be promoted strongly, and The Question Mark is meant to be a joke and shouldn't be beating anybody important. If you're going to use The Question Mark, this is how you use him. Not only did Trevor Murdoch win, he won convincingly. I really like the top-rope bulldog as a finish for Murdoch. It's worth noting that even though the NWA arena fans love The Question Mark, they were solidly behind Murdoch as well. NWA TV Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Dan Maff vs. Zicky Dice I hadn't seen Dan Maff since he was teaming with BJ Whitmer in Ring of Honor back in 2004 being managed briefly by Mick Foley...so it's been a long damn time. He looks pretty good, a big power guy with a great look and ring presence. This was a good, solid match. I like Maff's spear. Dice was good, that guy has really grown on me. I had predicted Dice winning this one, but I had no problem with the match or the result. NWA TV Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Matt Cross vs. Ricky Starks Starks looked great here, he really came across as a star. Matt Cross looks great still. They announced Cross as representing Ring of Honor, which is weird because I had no idea he was even on the ROH roster at this point. This was a really fun match, the fans were totally into it. This was the most high flying I have seen in the NWA since Power debuted, by far. I have nothing bad to say about this match, good stuff. Tim Storm Interview We find out that Ken Anderson has not been medically cleared to compete tonight, so Tim Storm gets a bye into the Semifinals. Storm gives the obligatory babyface "I'd rather win by competing than to be given a bye, but if that's what's happening, I'll take it" line. This was yet another great babyface promo from Tim Storm as we've come to expect. Announcement Stu Bennett announces that the NWA won't be returning to PPV until April, but when they do return they will be running a larger venue and it will be for the 2020 Crockett Cup. I am assuming that this will be a co-promoted event with Ring of Honor like last year's Crockett Cup was, for two reasons. Firstly, the NWA need ROH's TV production equipment to run a show anywhere other than the NWA arena, and secondly...there is no way that the NWA has the talent for a full Tag Team Tournament when it comes to tag teams. When the Rock and Roll Express and Dawsons are in your Tag Team division, you're in rough shape. I'm assuming a lot of the singles guys on the NWA roster will be teaming up to take up some spots in the tournament, but even still I am betting that the NWA will need help from ROH (and CMLL) to fill out the brackets like they did last time. I am a bit surprised that the NWA won't be coming back to PPV until April, after we got two monthly PPV's back to back. Nick Aldis is clearly headed toward a big match with Marty Scurll. So either they're planning on dragging this angle out for three months (which is pretty much unheard of in modern wrestling) or they plan to give the match away for free on Power. The only other option would be for the match to be held before the Crockett Cup on a Ring of Honor PPV, but that strikes me as a really bad decision. I am all for co-promoting (it has worked out great for the NWA so far) but I can't see them having their World Championship defended on another company's PPV. (I know they did for All In, but that was special circumstances and the NWA didn't have their own weekly show then, either. Or much of a roster.) Anyhow, this is good news/bad news. I am happy they're getting out of the studio for a PPV, but I am bummed we're not getting another NWA PPV for three months. For the NWA World Tag Team Championships: The Rock & Roll Express (c) vs. The Wildcards vs. James Storm & Eli Drake I was not excited at all about this match. Firstly, the Rock & Roll Express title reign has pretty much been a joke. Secondly, I freaking HATE Tag Team triple threat matches , having three guys in the ring fighting at the same time while three guys are on the apron just looks stupid and confusing. You always get the same thing happening, two guys in the ring fighting while one guy either spends all his time laying on the mat or on the floor, "selling" the most inconsequential bumps which normally wouldn't even take them out of the match. (This goes for four team matches, and any other iteration of Tag Team matches which don't involve just two teams.) Anyhow, this match was about as good as you're going to get out of this kind of stipulation with these three teams. I think Eli Drake is outstanding and should probably be in a much higher profile angle as a singles wrestler, but based on his age and mobility I think James Storm is probably best off in a Tag Team at this point in his career. Hell, come to think about it...give me a Thomas Lattimer vs. Eli Drake angle and I'm there. Anyhow, there was lots of chicanery from Kamille (who looked super hot by the way) which helped keep the Rock and Rolls mostly out of the equation, some basic Pro Wrestling stuff, and after 8 minutes or so we get Storm & Drake as the new Tag Team Champs. I have no huge issue with that, I am very happy that the Rock & Roll reign is over. Two of my big concerns going into this show were that The Question Mark would beat Murdoch again which didn't happen, and that the Rock & Roll Express would retain, which also didn't happen...so I'm happy. The new Tag Team Champions have a fun interview with Dave Marquez after the match. I couldn't help but notice that some time since the last episode of Power was taped and today, Eli Storm made the odd decision to start dyeing his hair, beard and eyebrows with black boot polish...but whatever. For the NWA Women's Championship: Allysin Kay (c) vs. Thunder Rosa I was expecting this match to be good, but I never expected it to be this good. It seems pretty clear that they made the decision to give this match the time that was allotted for the cancelled Tim Storm vs. Ken Anderson match because this match went almost 18 minutes. If I'm not mistaken, that is the longest match in the NWA since they started taping at the GPB studios. One of the big complaints against the NWA has been that the matches are too short, and you certainly can't say that here. Since last night I have seen this match getting wildly praised, and rightfully so. However, I think in some cases it might be getting a bit over-praised simply because it was so much better than any other Women's match so far in this iteration of the NWA. I really, really liked this match a lot...more than any Women's match I've ever seen in AEW, for example. But it wasn't perfect. There were a bunch of rough spots, a few timing issues and a couple of blatant communication miscues. I'd chalk that up to the assumption that they didn't plan on going this long and had to plan some of the match on the fly. If you read some of the reviews of this match online, you might go into watching it expecting too much based on the hype it has already received. Like I said, that should be tempered with the caveat that this was an outstanding match for the NWA Women's Division. But the fact is, this was probably the best in ring match (Men's or Women's) that has taken place in the NWA since they started running shows at GPB and they deserve a lot of credit for that. Allysin Kay was great, but to me Thunder Rosa was the star of this match and this might be the match that makes the rest of the Pro Wrestling world sit up and take notice. The fans were totally into this match and I'm sorry...they are not treating Thunder Rosa like a heel, they're treating her like a superstar. Even if you don't want to see this PPV, if you like Women's Wrestling you might want to check out this match. Outstanding stuff. Marty Scurll/Nick Aldis Interview This was okay. Marty wants his World Title match and is pissed that the Aldis/Gordon match is a non-title affair. Scurll (and the fans) get all over Aldis for refusing to put his title up. I love the old school heel angle they are doing with Aldis where he keeps looking for excuses not to defend his title, earning the "coward" chants from the fans, causing him to get all indignant. So anyhow, Marty browbeats Aldis into putting the title on the line against Flip Gordon, but Aldis adds his own stipulation that if he retains against Gordon then all future business between Aldis and Scurll will be on Aldis's terms. Maybe this is how they'll delay the match until April, Aldis beats Gordon so he can now legally refuse to fight Scurll and put him off? Not sure. This wasn't bad. NWA TV Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Dan Maff vs. Trevor Murdoch Hell yeah, hoss fight! I never thought about the possibility of this match because I was so sure Dice would be moving forward and I was so worried that The Question Mark would be, this match-up never even entered my mind when looking at the brackets. And it should have, because this is some good shit right here. This was just a stiff, solid, hard-hitting match. Murdoch gets the win but he earned that sumbitch, believe me. They showed a close up of his chest after the match and he was already black and blue and purple with bruises. Can't fake that. Great stuff. NWA TV Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Ricky Starks vs. Tim Storm This was pretty good. As a fan, I was torn going into this match because I kind of wanted both guys to win. The fans seemed pretty split too. There was a hilarious spot when Starks did some flips and then Storm acted like he was going to try it too, but realized he didn't know how. Good back and forth match, nothing spectacular but a solid match. Couple of decent back and forth near falls, and in the end Starks gets the win and advances. Nice show of respect between the two guys after the match, which surprised me a bit because Ricky Starks generally comes across as so cocky and arrogant. It was nice for him to show a decent side of his personality after the match was over. I did want Tim Storm to win, but I guess we have to face the fact that Storm is in his 50's and realistically might not be the kind of guy you want to build around. I'm not saying he has nothing to contribute because he clearly does, but I guess you don't want to invest a ton of hype and a new championship on the guy when he himself is constantly saying that he doesn't know how much longer he'll be able to do this. For the NWA (3rd Degree) National Championship: Aron "Shooter" Stevens (c) vs. Scott Steiner Bleh. I don't like Scott Steiner and I really don't know why they hired him and are using him, especially now that they have access to the ROH guys. There is no need for a Scott Steiner match on PPV in 2020. This match was what it was. Steiner executed some barely workable suplexes and basic brawling, Stevens bumped and stooged for him like a cowardly heel, and Steiner got the win when The Question Mark interfered when Stevens was in the Steiner Recliner. Next. For the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Nick Aldis (c) vs. Flip Gordon Not surprisingly, this match was pretty damn good. Nothing flashy or showy, but well executed basic old school Pro Wrestling. Hell, there was even some matwork and both guys grabbed holds! Unheard of. Plus, just like with the Women's Title match, they gave this match some time. I really liked this. Now with the win, Nick Aldis is legally calling the shots in his rivalry with Marty Scurll, so we'll see where that goes. Main Event: Finals of the NWA TV Championship Tournament - Ricky Starks vs. Trevor Murdoch They announce that for this match, the 6:05 time limit has been waived and there must be a winner, which makes sense. This was yet another solid, decent, well laid out and executed match. It ended up going around 10 minutes and it didn't need to go any longer. If you want proof that the NWA has finally come around and realized what they have in Trevor Murdoch, consider this...Ricky Starks fought Trevor Murdoch on the second episode of Power back on October 15, 2019 and basically squashed him. Big difference three months later. The crowd is split for this match, and so am I. Trevor Murdoch is awesome and I think he has a ton to contribute to the NWA. But on the other hand, Ricky Starks is young, charismatic and most importantly he is an NWA original. He can't be considered a TNA or WWE reject, he looks like a star and he's a new face. He's the kind of guy the NWA should be investing in and building this place around, and obviously based on the result of this match, they agree. Finals Thoughts Like I said, I paid 15 bucks for this show and for that I got five good Pro Wrestling matches, (Maff/Dice, Starks/Cross, Murdoch/Maff, Starks/Storm and Starks/Murdoch) with only three underwhelming matches (Question Mark/Murdoch, the Tag Title Match and Stevens/Steiner) but most importantly the Women's World Title and World Heavyweight Title matches were excellent. For 15 bucks you really can't ask for more than that. This was a really good PPV and at 2.5 hours it just flew by. The thing that I liked the most about this show as a fan is that the NWA seems to be making smart decisions. They kept The Question Mark as what he is...a comedy act. They got the Tag Team Titles off the Rock & Roll Express and didn't make the stupid decision of putting the National Title on Steiner. After all the complaining about match quality and length, the majority of the matches on this show were good to very good and in some cases excellent, and several of them were longer matches. They seem to be pushing the right guys, like Murdoch, Drake and Starks. The ROH co-promotion really paid positive dividends on this PPV, because Maff, Gordon (and Cross according to the NWA) were all ROH additions that brought a lot to the table for this show. Coming out of this PPV, you can honestly say that the NWA has done a great job of promoting Ricky Starks and Thunder Rosa as original, legitimate stars. The NWA is really going in the right direction. I really liked this show, it was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to seeing where the NWA goes from here.

You're not wrong, it really did seem to drag on much too long. I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for Aron Stevens so I probably am too kind when I review stuff he is involved in. I just thought he got screwed so badly in WWE. Stevens has always struck me as one of those "should have been" guys. It was really interesting to hear Arn Anderson talk on his podcast this past week how Stevens basically got punished by WWE creative for having the audacity to become popular with the fans when he was "Misdow" without WWE creative planning it that way. (Very similar to how Rusev got his whole "Rusev Day" gimmick over with the fans so creative quickly stomped all over that.) Yeah if we assume the final four is going to be Storm, Starks, Dice and Murdoch then there really isn't a bad choice in there. I can easily live with any of those guys getting the TV title, although Tim Storm is my preference. I am just so terrified it's going to be The Question Mark because Dave Lagana doesn't seem to understand the concept of Pro Wrestling fans adopting a less talented character as a joke. The fact that The Question Mark has beaten Trevor Murdoch and Colt Cabana cleanly is just baffling to me. He could lose every match and he'd still be just as popular with the fans. Hell, if it was written cleverly enough they could even make his losing all the time part of the gimmick and make him even more popular. I also don't have a huge issue with Aron Stevens and The Question Mark teaming up to go after the World Tag Team Championships like they have claimed they will. That wouldn't be any worse than having The Rock and Roll Express as your champions. The Zicky Dice thing is funny, I really didn't "get" him at first and was pretty outraged that he qualified for the TV Title Tournament over CW Anderson. However like I said earlier, say what you want about the guy, he can cut one hell of a promo and he is so comically outlandish that it works for him. I'd rather they had somebody more serious like Storm or Murdoch win the title since Aron Stevens has already made the National Championship kind of the "joke" title and division, by naming it the "Third Degree National Championship" and all that. I like Zicky Dice but I don't see the need to have two guys who tend to be goofy having your two undercard titles. The World Heavyweight Championship is treated very seriously by the NWA and I'd like to see the TV Title treated the same way. And in Starks case, a good long TV title reign could be win-win. Gets the new title over as important and popular, while establishing Ricky Starks as a major player as well. I have seen some people online complaining about this card tonight but I really do think it has a lot of potential.

I really liked this week's episode and thought it was pretty much the best episode they could have done heading into the PPV. - I don't have an issue with them starting the show with a promo when they do it like they did with the Robert Gibson interview. The promo was quick, to the point, well done and then went right into a match. - The Thunder Rosa/Tasha Steelz match was good. Both women came out looking great, and unlike women's matches in other promotions, it was quick. If the NWA has to have a Women's Division, they really need to focus on Thunder Rosa and forget about all this nonsense with Melina. - Nick Aldis cut a decent promo furthering the NWA's working relationship with ROH and his rivalry with Scurll. I am looking forward to this, both the interpromotional stuff and Aldis/Scurll II. - The Royce Isaacs/May Valentine deal was what is was. It wasn't badly done, but I really think Royce Isaacs isn't all that great and so it's hard to get enthusiastic about anything he does. Too bad he's not as good in the ring as he is on the microphone. - I was very happy with the result of the Lattimer/Murdoch match. Lattimer looked like a killer but Murdoch advances in the tournament. Talking about Royce Isaacs in the last segment and watching Lattimer dominate this match kind of reinforced to me how much better Lattimer is than Isaacs. Lattimer should just go back to being Bram and leave Isaacs behind, in my opinion. - The Melina promo was ugh. The subsequent Kay/Belle match was okay, and was about as good a match as you're going to get out of Marti Belle, honestly. - I am not sure where they're going with this whole Pope/Kingston/Homicide angle. I hope they know where they're going. Both Kingston and especially Pope are fucking gold when it comes to promos, though. - The Aron Stevens karate demonstration was okay. I really like Aron Stevens and I have no issue with him being pretty much a comedy character but I am so over the Question Mark stuff. That is a joke which was mildly amusing to me at first which has been pretty much driven into the ground. - I loved the Gauntlet. We FINALLY get an extended look at CW Anderson, so I loved that. I still think they need to do more with Konley. I have to admit Ken Anderson looked pretty good in this match and then Anderson/Cabana split was done pretty much as well as it could have been done. This whole match and the angle were done really well in my opinion. - I enjoyed the James Storm/Eli Drake promo, you just tell that those guys were having fun out there. I am REALLY hoping they win the World Tag Team Championships tonight. - The Main Event was...okay. It was a basic old school TV Main Event. The outcome was never really in much doubt, and at least it cemented the fact that Aldis is fully embracing his heel status and is wrestling like a heel. - I think they did a much better job this time around at hyping the upcoming PPV than they did with Into The Fire. As far as the PPV tonight, I am really looking forward to it. NWA TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT Tim Storm vs. Ken Anderson This could be surprisingly pretty decent. Anderson has actually shown me a bit recently. I am an unreserved Tim Storm mark now, and since the match will only be 6:05 I am guessing Anderson won't gas out. I am hoping Tim Storm wins. Ricky Starks vs. Matt Cross I think Starks is one of the guys they need to build the NWA around. I've been a Matt Cross fan for years, he used to wrestle for a local indy here in the Toronto area when he first started and was calling himself M-Dogg 20 and I liked his work in ROH. I am guessing this is just as guest spot for Cross and that Starks will be winning, but I'm all for the NWA signing Matt Cross and his winning. This can and should be a really solid match. Zicky Dice vs. Dan Maff The NWA seems to be all in on the Zicky Dice push, which I don't hate based on his excellent personality and promos. His interference in the Gauntlet Match on Power really cracked me up. I assume since Maff is a guest here from ROH and the fact that NWA is really pushing Dice, that Dice will win here. Trevor Murdoch vs. The Question Mark The Question Mark beat Trevor Murdoch at Into The Fire, which he totally should not have. I am hoping and praying that Murdoch gets his win back here and advances in the tournament. I can see him winning the whole thing and I wouldn't mind that at all. I am worried that he won't because the NWA seems to be in love with this Question Mark deal. But I swear, if The Question Mark wins the title...I will be pissed. Tournament Finals I am predicting Storm, Starks, Dice and Murdoch advance in the tournament. I have no issue with any of those guys winning the title. I am really hoping it will be Storm or Murdoch though. Actually the only guy I really don't want to see win the TV title is The Question Mark. NWA WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Allysin Kay(c) vs. Thunder Rosa This actually has the potential to be really good, and either woman winning would be fine. NWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS MATCH: The Rock N Roll Express(c) vs. The Wild Cards vs. Eli Drake & James Storm I am really hoping this is the end of the ridiculous Rock and Roll Express title reign. I am hoping for Storm and Drake taking the titles here. NWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Aron Stevens(c) vs. Scott Steiner I have no interest whatsoever in this match. This is going to be my bathroom break match, I can already tell. Scott Steiner was washed up 20 years ago, and really has no business in the ring now. With the NWA signing new guys every TV taping, and now getting talent on loan from ROH, there is no need for them to use guys like the Rock and Roll Express and Scott Steiner anymore. It makes the NWA look ridiculous to have a bunch of quasi-crippled 60 + year olds in the ring. Nick Aldis vs. Flip Gordon I have not seen much of Flip Gordon aside from the rare ROH and NJPW match here and there, but from what I have seen I believe he and Aldis can have a very solid match. I have pre-ordered this show, I am looking forward to it and will most likely share my thoughts after.

That's actually one of the things I like about Bischoff. When he freaks out about Meltzer (which he frequently does) he usually at least specifies exactly what Meltzer said that was inaccurate and gives his side of the story. And in Bischoff's case, I think a lot of his problems with Meltzer don't actually have anything to do with Dave Meltzer himself. Bischoff seemed more frustrated about the fact that certain executives within the Turner organization were reading stuff in the Observer and forming opinions based on what they read, without even bothering to check with Bischoff regarding the veracity of the story in question. I know Bischoff was also extremely frustrated about people within WCW leaking information or acting as a "source" to Dave Meltzer as a means of furthering their own political agenda. When you think about it, neither of those problems that Bischoff had are actually Dave's fault.