The Thread Killer

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.

Really? I never would have guessed that, I don't think you'd mentioned that before.

That's the million dollar question, right there. They themselves seem to know this is not sustainable in the long term. I know Corgan has said a few times that he is hoping the YouTube show will help them secure some kind of TV deal, but what are the odds of that? Pro Wrestling is already a niche market and this NWA project is only going to appeal to a niche within that niche. I absolutely love the concept behind this show, but I don't think it could appeal to enough fans to garner interest from a TV Network that would result in rights fees being paid, or advertising revenue. ROH was a promotion which existed off VHS/DVD sales, but that market is gone now thanks to streaming, so they had to get a TV deal in order to survive. Look at Impact and MLW. They have TV deals and are paying their talent next to nothing and are barely hanging on. The only other revenue source is Pay Per View. Corgan has said they will be having a PPV. I suppose it's conceivable that they could have an iPPV, and I would buy it for sure. That wouldn't pay enough to make it worth it for them. And traditional PPV? Forget it. AEW is the hottest thing going right now, but I still wouldn't dream of shelling out $50.00 to watch their PPV. I know they are hoping to use traditional PPV as a way to generate income, and I don't see it. WWE and UFC are the two biggest names in traditional Pay Per View, and both of them are out of that game now, more or less. WWE has their own Network, and rumor had it that UFC was going to do the same thing with Fight Pass, until ESPN+ came into the picture. Boxing is now pretty much the only sport I can think of that can make money on traditional PPV, and that's because their shows still do monster buy rates. I am going to enjoy this NWA show while it lasts, because it promises to be awesome...but I can't see any way it will be sustainable long term.

That's one of the more hilarious aspects of both the hype and the criticism around this show. Cornette said this past week on his podcast that people have been congratulating him all week on the show, which he himself claims he deserves little to no credit for, because he is just the Color Commentator and nothing else. He had nothing to do with the concept of the show, or the design of the sets, he only saw the studio for the first time the night before the first taping. This is totally a Billy Corgan/Dave Lagana project. Then again, some people wanted to blame Cornette for the weak creative in MLW and he was pretty much just doing commentary there too. He's such a controversial figure now that even when his involvement with something is periphery, he tends to become the focus.

Yeah, if I never hear the word "cosplay" again for the rest of my life - not from the AEW fanboys, not from Cornette, not from anybody...it would be too soon.

I'm sure neither FOX or WWE are thrilled about the decrease, although I am sure they expected some kind of drop-off. What I am sure that FOX is happy about is that Smackdown still won the time slot over NBC, CBS and ABC in the in the key 18-49 year old demographic...although they did come in last out of that group in overall viewers. Damned if I know what those people are thinking. I turn 50 in January and I think Raw and Smackdown are totally unwatchable at this point.

I'm not 100% sure this is true, (because I saw it on Twitter) but apparently in the first 24 hours since it debuted on YouTube, the debut episode of NWA Power has more views than any episode of MLW Fusion ever has.

Yeah, I'm a JR fan but he was off his game this week...and his whole grumpy old man shtick isn't helping. At times he comes across like he's actually trying to antagonize Excalibur.

I'm not arguing that, but it's a fact that Cornette has complained a million times about various different guys being too small, "not looking like professional athletes" or not looking like Pro Wrestlers. Keep in mind this is the same guy who thinks Bobby Roode and Randy Orton are two of the top talents in WWE because they "look like stars."

I agree. Anybody who has listened to a Jim Cornette podcast knows exactly what he means by "cosplay" wrestlers. It refers to people trying to be something that he thinks they are not. In his mind, all wrestlers should look like professional athletes - they need to be tanned, muscular and over 6 feet tall, or if not they need to look like a monster or an ass-kicker. This cannot possibly be a surprise, since one of his early mentors was Bill Watts. To his mind guys like Orange Cassidy, Marko Stunt, Darby Allin, and Joey Janella don't physically look like his definition of what a Professional Wrestler should be therefore they're "cosplayers." He also applies that label to Death Match guys who don't actually know how to wrestle, and finally to guys who have done something blatantly unrealistic like suplexing somebody with their penis or taking a bump for an invisible man. He always calls that "play wrestling." If you don't look like what he thinks a wrestler should look like, if you don't know how to wrestle or if you participate in obviously fake or theatrical spots, you're a "cosplayer." On the show last night he made an offhand comment about there not being any "cosplay" wrestlers in the NWA and that is clearly what he was referring to. I am not saying I agree with him, but that is obviously what he meant. Some people are trying to say the show last night was "cosplay" because it was deliberately designed to look like the TV studio set from Georgia Championship Wrestling in the 70's or JCP in the 80's. That's exactly what Billy Corgan was going for. He wanted to recreate the type of Pro Wrestling he loved as a kid, and bring it back. He thinks there is a market for that, for people who miss that kind of stuff and might be alienated by the "modern" product. It certainly appeals to me, and judging by the overwhelmingly positive reaction so far online, it appealed to other people as well. Maybe there is a market for nostalgia. I would never go to one of Joey Ryan's Bar Wrestling shows and then act shocked and appalled when he did his dick spot. It would be my own damn fault for going to one of his shows and expecting anything different. I know I'm not going to like that stuff, so I don't watch it. This was a Pro Wrestling show under the banner of the "NWA" and filmed in a TV studio with Jim Cornette doing commentary, which was promoted as a return to traditional studio wrestling. If you watch that and then act shocked or outraged at what you see, I have to wonder...what the fuck were you expecting?

I agree that this NWA talk should be spun off into it's own thread. Based on the reaction here at PWO and elsewhere online, this show might end up being more worthy of discussion than I would have guessed. Like @El Dragon pointed out, even The Rock watched it...and I would have assumed he'd have been busy doing something else.

I loved the show, it was unabashedly old school. I haven't had that much fun watching Pro Wrestling in a long time, it was such a throwback and an enjoyable experience. I'll definitely be watching for a few weeks to see how the show progresses. I hope this episode was a sign of things to come. As far as the negative reaction to the show...who really cares? This show clearly wasn't produced to appeal to fans of so-called "modern wrestling" any more than AEW is produced to appeal to fans like me. It's a niche product.

Nice, thanks for the heads up. I am going to try and check that out at some point today.

It won't. Fury apologized back in 2017 for all the controversial stuff he said, and as @FMKK pointed out, he's now seen as a Mental Health advocate and charitable ambassador. He's already undergo extensive image rehabilitation. If none of the other shitty stuff WWE has done over the past few years has stuck, I highly doubt this will. No way Fox would have let him on Smackdown if they hadn't vetted him and anticipated any backlash. I'd be shocked if there was any reaction, aside from general apathy.