The Thread Killer

I really liked this week's episode, in fact it might have been my favorite so far. - The Cabana promo to start the show was okay. I've said it before in this thread, I just don't like Colt Cabana. I never have. I always get the feeling that he doesn't take anything about Pro Wrestling seriously, everything is a big joke to him. Maybe that's unfair, but that's the way he comes across to me. I will say that so far in the NWA, he's been used about as well as you can use a guy like him, in my opinion. - The Dawson's squash was fine. They seem committed to pushing The Dawsons as one of their top heel teams (along with Wildcard obviously) so they need to do stuff like this match to keep them looking strong. Kingston and Homicide are awesome, they probably deserve better than The Dawsons as rivals. - I liked the Tim Storm interview and I'll be damned if I can figure out where the hell this angle is going. By all rights, Aldis should be dismissive of Storm and wanting to keep him in his rear view mirror, but for some reason he is coming across as an advocate for Storm. I assume that Aldis is trying to manipulate Storm, but I can't guess to what end. Meanwhile on the opposite end, it seems like Eli Drake is doing the exact same thing. The announcers alluded to it this week, that Drake is basically sticking his nose where it doesn't belong and trying to manipulate the whole situation with Tim Storm for his own purpose. I am very curious as to where this story is going, and they need to hurry up and announce who is going to be challenging for the World's Heavyweight Championship at Into The Fire. - Rosa vs. Vox was definitely the best Women's match on Power so far, but that's not exactly a high hurdle to clear. Rosa looked great and I can see why they are making her a focus with all the vignettes and everything. The post match angle was what it was, it didn't exactly set the world on fire but it advanced stories well as it was intended to. - Ricky Starks has been pretty much made by this angle with Aron Stevens, so mission accomplished there. Part of me wants to see Stevens get some of his heat back, but his whole gimmick is so over that it really doesn't matter. I didn't expect the two straight falls, so that was a surprise. - Cabana vs. Storm was a really good match, probably second only in quality to the World Title match from the debut episode. I hadn't heard the spoiler that Cabana won the National Title so that was a bit of a surprise. All the wacky hijinks on the outside with Kamille, Anderson and Drake were done pretty well, although the camera guy screwed it up a bit and didn't really focus on the finish of the match. I have no idea what Kamille was doing out there, and how/if that plays into the angle with Storm, Aldis and Drake. Intriguing. - The closing match/angle with The Dawsons against Kingston and Homicide was good. I actually enjoyed this match more than the first time they fought a couple of weeks ago. The crowd went nuts for the Rock and Roll Express, so that was nice. We all know where that is heading, but I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would. Putting the RnR Express into the Tag Team Title scene at their age is pretty ridiculous, but whatever. We'll see how it plays. Like I said, I really don't have anything negative to say about this episode. As per usual, this hour just flew by. Power is now the highlight of my week as a Pro Wrestling fan, and I am legit curious to see where they're going with some of these angles heading into the PPV, which I can't wait for.

Cornette himself freely admits that he frequently used the "N Word" to describe African-Americans throughout the majority of his career, and only stopped doing it relatively recently because it's no longer acceptable and people can't do things like that anymore.(?!) If that doesn't make him racist then it certainly indicates that at the very least he has some rather glaring racial sensitivity issues. New Jack has claimed for years that Cornette is racist based on their time working together in Smokey Mountain...but I guess you have to consider the source regarding that particular accusation. I'd hate to see pretty much anybody judged based on what New Jack says about them.

I've been loving NXT ever since they moved to USA, but I have to wait for the WWE Network version of the show on Thursday nights before I get to see it, since we don't get USA up here. Because we're not in the USA, I guess. At this point, NXT and NXT UK are pretty much the only reason I keep the WWE Network. I'll be making sure to watch tomorrow night. Next to Power(rr) NXT has been my favorite weekly show lately. Even if it does feature Mauro Ranallo on commentary.

We really need to get a mod to split off the Jim Cornette stuff from this thread. Maybe we can have a "Jim Cornette is a vile, hateful human being" thread or something, so when people want to complain about him, they can do it there. This thread is turning into the Jim Cornette thread, not the NWA Power thread.

I'd mark out so hard if he demanded that nobody make eye contact with him, and if somebody else started talking he yelled: "SILENCE!"

I am glad to see that I am not alone in my opinion. To me, Nick Aldis vs. Tim Storm represents the kid of Pro Wrestling I actually want to see. I've seen some fans online praise the overall aesthetic and concept behind Power, but claim the actual in ring action isn't any good. To a degree that might be true, but during this first month there have also been glimpses of perfectly acceptable Professional Wrestling. Thanks to Bruce Prichard, the phrase "telling a story" has now become kind of synonymous as an excuse for bad WWE creative. But I think (and hope) that the NWA is going to present a slower paced, psychology based style of Pro Wrestling which actually does tell a story, and incorporates the story being told outside the ring as well. I agree with you guys, I thought the Main Event of that first show was a really good old school style match. I have watched every episode of AEW Dynamite that has aired so far, and have come to the conclusion that style of Pro Wrestling is just not for me. It's not to my taste. There is no question that the action in AEW is much faster paced, but I am finding that I end up almost feeling shell shocked after watching an AEW show. To me, it is starting to feel like spot after spot after spot. Multiple dives and false finishes. And I am finding that especially the style of Tag Team wrestling in AEW is just not grabbing me. No tagging in and out, no cutting the ring off, no face-in-peril, no hot tags. Just non-stop action, all the time. I much prefer the old school "Southern Style" Tag Team matches. Like I said, the action in AEW is unquestionably superior, but in the long run I am not sure that is beneficial to Professional Wrestling or the athletes themselves. These guys are killing themselves to get reactions and the more you do, the more you're going to have to do. I find the art of psychology is getting lost in "modern" Pro Wrestling. I am a firm believer that when it comes to good Pro Wrestling, less is more. I think it's great that AEW is presenting a fresh, new alternative product...especially against WWE. I don't begrudge AEW for presenting that product, or AEW fans for liking it. As Jim Cornette always says: "For those people who like this sort of thing, this is exactly the sort of thing those people will like." That's why I don't post in the AEW Dynamite threads here at PWO complaining or criticizing. I understand that modern wrestling is not for everybody and I'm not going to complain that other people like it. To each their own. But like I said, I have found after the first month that it is not for me. Based on what I have seen from NWA Power so far, I am very hopeful that this company is intent on presenting an alternative product which appeals to old school fans like myself who just don't enjoy the modern product. I am really hoping the December PPV shapes up the way I want it to. I have no issue with a slower, more psychology based product. I think the PPV will go a long way in showing how the NWA is going to do building to a big show and if they can then deliver on the build. Most importantly, they need to deliver when it finally comes time. I hope they can do it, I really do.

So has anybody seen the MLW PPV yet? I looked through my PPV listings last night, and didn't see it being offered as a traditional PPV, so I didn't order it. For the record, it was probably a dumb idea to schedule this show the same night as a UFC show - especially one featuring the return of one of the Diaz brothers, who are proven to draw PPV buys. Regardless, Larry Csonka over at 411 gave the MLW PPV a very good review, and I tend to agree with his opinions about most things. Just wondering if any of the MLW fans here at PWO had seen the show and what they thought?

I agree with you, @C.S. I also thought this was the second best show they have put on so far. I also agree that the women looked better this week, it's just that after WWE/NXT all other Women's Divisions end up looking so second-rate. I also strongly agree with your opinion on Trevor Murdoch. He was basically tailor-made for this show, and the show for him. He was a great signing for the NWA. As far as the Sparks/Stevens match, I LOVED the whole angle where Stevens big concern was avoiding getting punched in the face (because of his burgeoning movie career, I can only assume.) The spot where he screamed in terror and covered up his face, only to be rolled up made me laugh my butt off, and was done perfectly. This was also an example of something that worked extra well in the studio wrestling setting. Just like Murdoch, Stevens is a case of talent being used in exactly the way they should be used. Corgan publicly said recently that he loves the Paul Heyman booking philosophy of playing to the strength of a talent and hiding their weaknesses. I think Murdoch and Stevens are two great examples of that. Here are two guys who were basically semi-retired and not getting any interest from WWE, AEW or anybody else, I guess. The NWA picked them up and are using them perfectly. It gives me hope for the ability of this promotion to build and sustain a viable roster. I also echo your sentiments regarding Jocephus, who I had never seen before and I currently regard as Zack Galifinakis in wrestling tights...and that is not a compliment. I also could take or leave Cabana and Anderson, preferably leave. But I guess the NWA does desperately need guys with name recognition right now. In the long term though, I hope to see more of guys like Ricky Starks and Caleb Konley and less of guys like Cabana and Anderson...unless they are being used to help build and put over the younger guys, in which case they could be quite useful. One area where I seem to disagree with pretty much everybody here is regarding Nick Aldis. I think this guy is great, and he is pretty much perfect in his role as the NWA Champion. Out of the ring, he carries himself exactly as you would expect an old school style NWA Champion to act. In the ring, he isn't exactly Daniel Bryan, but he think he's perfectly capable. Then again, I loved him as Magnus when he was champion in TNA, and his team with Samoa Joe. Plus, the guy is married to Mickie James. Face it, he's pretty much winning at life right now.

I have heard this talking point about Cornette several times here at PWO and it is not entirely without merit...the whole Sami Callihan/Cornette "feud" proves that. Cornette is definitely not beyond "working" with somebody with whom he has public heat. However in fairness, Cornette's version of that story (that the Bucks love to tell) significantly varies from their version. Let's not forget here that The Young Bucks are notoriously thin-skinned and spiteful. The Bucks hated Cornette just as much as he hated them, because Cornette was basically responsible for ROH letting them go in 2009. They had every reason to go around spreading a story that questioned his credibility and made him look bad. The same can be said for the seeds of the animosity between Kenny Omega and Cornette. Long before Cornette ranted about Omega's work in Japan or started calling him "Sir Kenny Olivier" the two had problems with each other based on their time in ROH. There are also plenty of stories where Cornette had chances to work with people he hated, that he turned down. He claims he was offered a lucrative chance to appear at the original Starrcast which he wouldn't do, because of the association with Kenny and The Young Bucks. He has claimed that he was approached by a third party and an overture was made where he could have possibly appeared at All In. (I suspect the third party in question was Conrad Thompson.) And it's a fact that Jim Cornette met with Tony Khan while Khan was coming up with his business plan to start what would become AEW. Khan had a brain storming session with Cornette, but once Khan made it clear who would be on the roster and what kind of Pro Wrestling AEW would be presenting, Cornette declined to be involved. There have been times where Cornette appeared on the same independent shows that Joey Ryan was on. Cornette admitted that he was respectful backstage, and shook Ryan's hand...but he also told Ryan and the promoter that if the infamous "dick spot" took place, he would walk out of the building. So many people have said "Cornette loves to talk shit about The Elite, but he'd drop everything to work with them in AEW." Aside from the fact that he probably wouldn't do that because he'd have to travel to do it, he'd also be cutting his own throat. He has said the main reason he wouldn't appear at Starrcast is because it would make him look like a hypocrite to his own fans. Cornette might make a big one time windfall by working with The Young Bucks, but it would kill his credibility with his own rabid fanbase, the "Cult of Cornette" and affect his potential earning power long term. I don't think Cornette would drop everything for a chance to make a bit of money working with people he doesn't like, when he makes plenty of money at home by not liking them. When it comes to the truth of what is real and what is a "work" with Jim Cornette, as with everything else, I assume the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Exactly. This poor clueless girl doesn't even seem to understand that she's helping Cornette, not hurting him.

One thing I've learned about Cornette after listening to him for the past year or so is that he really doesn't give a fuck. This is a guy who everybody claimed was "trying to stay relevant" while at the same he argued to anybody who would listen that he doesn't want to be relevant in modern Pro Wrestling, because he hates it. He has his Cornette's Collectibles business and he has his podcasts and that's where he makes his money. As of right now he is claiming that he is making one more personal appearance in 2019, a meet-and-greet with the fans at the NWA Pay Per View, and then after that he is not going to any conventions or taking any other work for at least six months...unless the event is in Louisville or within a day's drive from his house. He won't fly anymore and he won't leave his house overnight. People were trying so hard to get him fired from MLW and he was the one who quit working there because he didn't want to go back to New York or do the Texas tour. Even if these people who are trying to cause him trouble succeeded, I honestly don't think he'd care. He seems to like working for the NWA and he definitely likes the concept of the product...but one of the main reasons he does it is because they do all their tapings at once. He claims that he is in higher demand and is making more money now than he ever did during his career, and I believe it. Hell, the guy is now selling the infamous "Fuck Jim Cornette" T-Shirt that caused so much controversy over the past couple of months...on his own website! He's laughing all the way to the bank. You're right...Cornette's fans the "Cult of Cornette" are just as bad as those trying to get Cornette cancelled, if not worse. They deliberately try and set him off by sending him clips of stuff they know he'll hate or snitch tagging him...but Cornette's response is all a gimmick, really. He has found a niche as the voice of the disenfranchised old school wrestling fans who hate the modern product. His popularity is proof of that, since his fan base is clearly huge. Those people listen to him every week to hear him rip of AEW and modern wrestling in general, so he's going to keep doing it and keep cashing those checks. Meanwhile guys like Janella are going to keep antagonizing him and pointing out how "irrelevant" and out of touch Cornette is. I think Cornette actually believes a lot of the shit he says, but I also think he says it because it's his gimmick and it's made him more popular than ever. I don't see him stopping at this point.

This whole "controversy" is manufactured and beyond stupid. Quite a while ago, somebody posted a YouTube clip of some British independent show and tagged Cornette's Twitter account. In the clip, the promoter of the show was acting as the ring announcer, and he was dressed in sweat pants and untied shoes...he kind of looked like he had just rolled out of bed. Cornette made a comment that the guy looked unprofessional and his show looked unprofessional, and back in Cornette's day they never would have let a guy like that into the business, they'd have dragged him outside and hung him from a tree, blah blah blah. Typical Cornette hyperbole. The promoter in question saw this tweet by Cornette, and was apparently horrified and terribly offended. Fast forward to now... Jim Cornette and Brian Last agreed that for the month of October, they would review the "Wednesday Night War." They decided to watch both AEW and NXT every Wednesday night, and then review both shows on the following Friday on the Jim Cornette experience. For the first two weeks, Cornette actually preferred AEW and was quite complimentary toward the show. When week three rolled around, things changed pretty drastically - big surprise. As soon as Marko Stunt put in his first appearance, Cornette started to go off the rails and said all of the things you would imagine he would say. Since then, he has been eviscerating AEW for all the reasons you can imagine, Joey Janella, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, etc. All of his usual favorite targets. The problem is, something he said (I'm not sure what) offended an AEW fangirl on Twitter. She decided to make it her mission to get Cornette "cancelled" pretty much the way Joey Ryan did after the whole Sonny Kiss "transvestite" debacle. (Which of course blew up in Ryan's face when people turned around and did the same thing to him. What's that saying about people in glass houses?) Anyhow...the AEW fangirl started going through all of Cornette's old tweets, finding any that she found offensive and then tagging the NWA and Billy Corgan...trying to get Cornette fired. When she re-tweeted the aforementioned comment by Cornette about the British Independent promoter and made some comment like "how could the NWA employ somebody who encourages suicide?" Cornette replied that he hadn't suggested the guy commit suicide, he had suggested the guy be hanged with help. So of course, AEW fangirl tagged Corgan, Lagana and the NWA in that tweet as well. Cornette also directly stole some of Andy Kaufman's most famous lines from his run in Memphis when he was going back and forth with her on Twitter, much to the horror of all those watching. Dave Lagana and the NWA issued some statement saying that they had spoken to Cornette about the tweet in question and that the NWA believes in mental health awareness and suicide prevention, etc. They also stated that they will not be firing Jim Cornette. The last I saw, AEW fangirl is still desperately trying to get Cornette "cancelled." Cornette is well aware of this girl's mission to get him fired from the NWA and he appears to be unconcerned about it. He was joking about it on his show yesterday. I always end up being the de facto Jim Cornette defender here at PWO, which amuses me because I myself don't agree with about half of the stuff that he says, and I'm usually suspicious about his motives regarding the other half. I just despise this whole "cancel culture" that has been happening on social media, where people seem to have become incapable of disagreeing with somebody's opinion, or ignoring them if they don't like them. I am not sure why the AEW fangirl listens to what Jim Cornette says about AEW when it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to hate about 80% of it. I can't stand Bill Maher, I think he's an arrogant, ill informed, hypocritical, self-righteous, biased jerk. I found the best way to deal with that is by...NOT WATCHING REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER. I don't go combing through every single offensive thing he's ever said and tweet it to his sponsors and network, especially after the fact. This past week I saw a great clip from a talk Barack Obama was giving recently, about "cancel culture." The clip is less than two minutes long, but the President pretty much hits the topic right on the head... So anyhow, the point is...I don't think Jim Cornette deserves to be "cancelled."

Did anybody see the interview Billy Corgan did with Mike Johnson at PWInsider? It's pretty interesting stuff, he admits the reaction to Power has exceeded what even he expected. He also goes into a bit of detail about what happened with Impact, as well. From what I understand, the contracted talent he refers to during this interview that got stolen is Willie Mack, when he signed an exclusive contract with Impact he already had signed a contract with Corgan and the NWA.

It's funny, I had forgotten about the original Cain/Brock fight so I went and watched it. As much as WWE (and even UFC at that time) liked to portray Brock as some unstoppable beast, Cain pretty much beat his ass that night - and that fight was real. Then a year later Brock got his ass beat again by Overeem, and when he finally did "win" a fight against Mark Hunt, it got overturned because Lesnar failed the steroid test. I know he had problems with diverticulitis, but in reality Brock's MMA career never got back on track after Cain whupped him. To his credit, he doesn't seem to care as long as he keeps cashing them big checks.

No thanks to the home plate umpire.

I agree. I found this week's episode to be edited together really well, a good mix of promos and angle advancement and in ring action.

A lot of people call Vince McMahon a genius promoter and businessman, and for a long time I was one of those people. Even his biggest detractors in Pro Wrestling would begrudgingly give him credit for his promotional skills. (We won't mention Snake River Canyon, Sugar Ray/Donny Lalonde, the WBF, Ico-Pro and the XFL.) But to me, one of the things that made him a "genius" (if he really was one) was his ability to accurately assess his marketplace and provide a product that catered to the particular trend. (When he stuck to wrestling.) The 80's were all about Ronald Reagan and America #1, and Vince gave the fans Hulk Hogan waving the flag, and Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik on NBC. When the anti-hero became cool, he gave the fans "Attitude" and Stone Cold flipping everybody off. (In that case he was late to the party and had to catch up, but full credit to him for seeing the need to change and then doing it.) Now he seems to have become just a stubborn old man who either can't see what fans want (even when they make it blatantly obvious) or he just doesn't care. I loathe his "You don't tell me what you want, I tell you what you want" attitude. Even worse he has built up a corporate structure around himself with "creative" script writers who seem incapable of presenting a product that is in any way compelling. Even if he did die, I'm not sure that the system he has built since taking WWE public is capable of making changes. You'd almost have to tear the whole thing down and start from scratch, and I would doubt Stephanie, Shane (if he is back involved in the business end) or Triple H are willing or able to do that. That's what depresses me the most on current day WWE. Not only is it terrible, but it seems to be destined to stay that way.

I'm not sure I buy this whole "Lana is an actress" theory. Well, at least not a good actress. Remember when she first came in with Rusev and she was supposed to have a Russian accent? The "accent" she ended up using was...let's be charitable and say...not Russian.

The way Myles was tweeting yesterday initially made me think this might be a work...he was leaning pretty heavy into the speechifying and histrionics. However, I am seriously doubting that it is a work now, because for a publicly traded company to try and work some internet angle over a hot-button topic like racism would be exceptionally stupid. Even for WWE. They might have shitty writers and no creativity whatsoever, but they're most likely not going to do anything that could mess with their profits. So going with the assumption that this is all real...I pretty much lost any sympathy I might have had for Myles when he blatantly implied Jay Lethal is an "Uncle Tom." Way to pretty much destroy any good will you built up during this whole situation, dumbass.

I had a bit of a back-and-forth with Sean Oliver on Twitter after I tweeted that (as much as I like Sean Oliver and his podcast) I wasn't going to listen to two weeks of Russo bullshit. His reply to me was pretty much the same argument he used on this week's show, that it's totally inconceivable to him that somebody can refuse to even listen to something just because they don't like it. I replied to him that by that logic, I should be listening to Nickelback. Sure I hate their music and think they suck...but you shouldn't refuse to listen to something that you know ahead of time you're going to hate. The only way the Pro Wrestling business is ever going to send Vince Russo back into the obscurity he so richly deserves is for people to stop paying attention to him and giving him a platform for his nonsense. If anybody actually cared or paid attention to half the stupid bullshit Vince Russo has said lately, they'd be amazed...apparently at one point he was espousing some theory that Vince McMahon is secretly working with AEW. At this point, Russo is basically the Alex Jones of Pro Wrestling. He knows his act is exposed and he'll never get brought back to WWE, so now he's so desperate for attention he'll say pretty much anything to get people to look at him for even a minute. Also, I think Sean likes Vince Russo as a person and he lets that cloud his judgment. Plus, he's trying to get publicity for his new show and he knows Russo will generate attention, the old "there's no such thing as bad publicity" theory.

I agree. I have tried watching Raw and Smackdown off and on over the past few years, and I just can't do it. Same goes with the monthly WWE Pay Per Views. I just can't sit through that crap anymore, it's just too crappy. But since NXT debuted on USA, I have caught every episode, and I think they have presented an excellent product (with the exception of their play-by-play announcer). AEW was unquestionably even better than NXT the first couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean NXT wasn't also good. I honestly don't get the mentality of some fans that if you like one thing, you should somehow automatically not also like the competing product. I'm not going to ignore the fact that (in my opinion) NXT is really good right now, just because the rest of the WWE product really isn't. I agree that the so-called "Main Roster" shows in WWE are putrid, but for whatever reason right now NXT really isn't. If NXT was airing as a standalone show and wasn't WWE's developmental territory and owned by the McMahon family, I am betting a lot of people would be viewing the show a lot more favorably.

Remember Super Showdown? I was stuck in bed when that show happened, so I watched it and was the only one who was live posting here at PWO while it happened. That show sucked like few shows have ever sucked before. Luckily I'm no longer bedridden but even if I was, there's no way in hell I'd ever fall for that again. You couldn't pay me to watch another one of those Saudi Arabia shows again. I don't remember ever hearing about one actual good match that has ever happened on one of those shows. And it's not because I have some big moral objection to them going to Saudi Arabia, I really don't care about that. I just don't like stuff that sucks.

I agree with and can relate to what @fakeplastictrees and @Coffey are saying, I feel exactly the same way about this show. Earlier today it crossed my mind: "Today is Tuesday, there's a new episode of Power tonight!" I can't even remember the last time I actually looked forward to a weekly Pro Wrestling television show. I've seen every episode of AEW Dynamite since they debuted, and I've watched every episode of NXT since they've been running in opposition to AEW. Those shows have been technically excellent for the most part, but last week I found both of them to be a bit of a chore to get through. I can't even watch Raw or Smackdown anymore. But I find that so far, Power has flown by and leaves me looking forward to the next episode. When you watch this show, it is obvious that there are some areas for improvement. I feel they need to strike a better balance between the interviews/segments, and the in ring action. I don't think a Pro Wrestling TV show should ever go from an interview, into a commercial and then return and go into another interview. To me, it's a matter of pacing - and editing I guess, since this show is taped in advance. As far as the quality of the actual in ring action, I am of two minds. This show is going for an old school presentation, and old school wrestling shows on television generally featured a bunch of squash matches, interviews and then a television Main Event which more often than not ended up as a DQ or some sort of angle advancement intended to promote house shows or an upcoming Supercard or PPV. So far, I really enjoyed the Aldis/Storm match during the first episode, and I thought the Main Event last week was fair, but the outside interference and general shenanigans happened before I could get a great feel for the match. This week, I thought the Main Event was okay, especially considering how limited the Dawson Twins are physically. The question is, should the NWA be presenting competitive matches between their top talent on Power, and I'm not 100% sold that they should be. Like I said earlier, I have been closely following AEW and NXT over the past three weeks, and one thing that really struck me is that 95% of the matches on television are actually competitive matches which feature lots of highspots, the obligatory dives of course, and lots of near falls. You see guys having trouble beating opponents who are clearly beneath them, and even repeated use of finishing manoeuvres. At least NXT present one or two squashes a week, but those seem to be the exception, not the rule. I know this is looked upon as an out of touch opinion, but honestly I think the Pro Wrestlers on television right now are doing too much. They are giving away stuff on free television which they should be keeping in reserve for big shows or Pay Per View. In my opinion, that's why you see guys having to practically kill themselves to get a crowd reaction on the big shows, because the fans have been desensitized and expect all matches to be competitive sprints. The NWA is clearly building towards their December Pay Per View, and I assume that all the angle advancement they have done so far and will continue to do will build to payoff matches we'll get to see at the PPV in December. I don't know that they should be giving any of those matches away on TV. As far as this week's show, I really liked it. I liked the Eddie Kingston promo to start the show. Power is my first real exposure to him, and I like what I have seen so far, this guy has a great presence. I am well familiar with Homicide from the early years of ROH and his time in TNA, but I seemed to miss Kingston's arrival in ROH and Impact both. I really like the vibe of their team and they have actually managed to get me interested in seeing them fight the Dawson Brothers. That has the potential to be a good brawl. The women's match was misfire, and that's putting it kindly. Like @C.S. mentioned earlier in this thread, let's be honest, WWE/NXT has signed up all the great female talent out there. When even AEW is struggling to put together a strong women's roster, you know that the NWA just isn't going to be able to compete. I don't think the NWA should be heavily featuring their women's division until they actually have a women's division to feature. If this match is indicative of they kind of talent they have in the women's division, then...not good. Who knows, maybe this "Thunder Rosa" they featured in the vignette will turn out to be good, but in the meantime I think the TV matches are too valuable to waste on talent that clearly aren't ready for prime time. Some of the spots in this women's match were cringe worthy. I didn't mind the Dawson Brothers promo, it was passable - as are their ring skills. Let's call it what it is...these are a couple of big fat brawlers. In the territory days they probably would have been regional stars in a small territory, but they'd have been lucky to make the mid-card in the WWF or NWA/WCW. That's fine. There obviously isn't a lot of unsigned Tag Teams out there right now, so the NWA is making do with what they have...and like I said, The Dawson Brothers are passable. If it is laid out properly, their inevitable match with Kingston & Homicide could turn out to be a fun little brawl. I loved the Aron Stevens interview. It always bummed me out that he had so much potential in WWE but got dropped after that great run with The Miz. I hear his Impact run was totally forgettable, but I am glad the NWA picked him up. His interviews last week and this week proved he still has a gift for comedy, if nothing else. I did my best to avoid eye contact with him, and I am going to order my Romanian VHS copy of "Tropical Pirates" ASAP. And if you didn't like this interview, then all I have to say is..."SILENCE!" In my opinion, the next match is exactly the kind of match they should be featuring on this show. Caleb Konley is the same kid who got beat by Eli Drake on the first show, but it looks like they are planning on doing something with him. If this venture has a future, it's in the hands of guys like Konley and Ricky Starks. This was a short sprint with a decisive finish and I was reminded while watching it how good Jim Cornette is as a Color Commentator. He is always so great at putting over the talent and the little details that will get the fans to buy into them. I'm really impressed by how well this Tim Storm angle is going. Here's a guy who if he was featured anywhere else, he'd probably get jeered or laughed at. Not only is he old, but he plays such an old school "white meat" babyface (for gawd's sake, the guy talks about his Momma.) But Storm is great as the grizzled old veteran who thinks his time has passed and he is considering hanging up his boots. . But the fans are into him, and I find myself wondering where this angle with him is going. Is Aldis going to offer him another shot, but make Storm put his career on the line? Is Storm going to turn heel, as foreshadowed by the uncharacteristic low blow when he fought Aldis? Or is Drake going to keep on encouraging Storm, only to end up turning on him? I don't know...there are a bunch of possibilities and I really like the way this is playing out. As much as I love this show and am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt a lot of the time, this whole deal with Jocefus has been a big dud, as far as I'm concerned. They've presented the guy as a total doofus and if this is supposed to make me want to see him fight James Storm for the National Championship...it isn't working. And now to top that off, here comes Colt Cabana to do more of his patented unfunny comedy crap. I'm sorry, but as much as the NWA needs all the names they can find...Colt Cabana sucks. His whole tongue-in-cheek comedy shtick annoys the hell out of me, it's always comes across like he thinks the entire sport is a joke. It's no wonder this guy never broke through in one of the major organizations - he clearly doesn't take himself or Professional Wrestling seriously, so why should anybody take him seriously? Last week he was clowning around during his match and this week he's inserting himself into this Jocefus mess, which was bad enough before he stuck his nose in. Ugh. Pass. They've clearly put a lot of thought and planning into this angle with Nick Aldis and Kamille, it has been heavily featured on all three episodes so far. I am getting an early Macho Man & Miss Elizabeth vibe from this deal so far, and it is intriguing. I am curious to see how this plays out, and how and if this story will tie into whoever ends up being the next challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship. I assume Aldis defending the title will be the Main Event of the PPV, and I am wondering who he will be defending against and how the drama with Kamille will enter into it. Kamille is awesome by the way - a classic beauty who has gotten her character across without saying a word. I didn't mind the Main Event. I was a bit shocked at the finish, but I assume that will end up playing into the onging angle with Tim Storm, and maybe now Eli Drake. And what was Nick Aldis doing out there? Plus this helped continue the build for the eventual showdown between the Dawson Brothers and Kingston & Homicide. Another great episode, it really flew by and I can't wait for next week. I am sold on this product for now, and will definitely be supporting them and buying the Pay Per View in December. Based on some of the things I have read, even they are a bit surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to this show so far, and how many people are viewing it. I hope they can keep this up. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy some of The Spiritual Advisor's Invisible Hair Cream. It's only $59.95 (per week) an if I hurry, I am eligible for the free Spiritual Advisor Invisible Voice Cream, too.

This. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY announces a new champion like Howard Finkel.

So is it official that the Jericho/Allin match this week has been changed to a "Street Fight?" I'm still looking forward to it, but that news is a bit disappointing to me, I'd rather have seen them in a traditional wrestling match. That match with Cody proved to me that Allin can work great in a normal match. I have enjoyed watching Allin work his spots into the structure of a match, I am worried that in a Street Fight it will end up just being a same old garbage match.