NWA Powerrr

[Migs]

2 hours ago, Coffey said:

Sean Mooney news has my hype. I saw the news on Twitter last night during the Royal Rumble & I was more excited for that than anything WWE was doing. 

I actually quite like the commentary in NWA. I don't remember truthfully if Sean Mooney did play-by-play or color when he did announcing, I just remember him doing the newsroom studio stuff the most, but him & Barrett would be a lot of fun. 

He did PBP, with Lord Al on color usually.

[rovert]

On 1/25/2020 at 7:51 PM, aloniv said:

The Thread Killer: Stu Bennett has previous experience as a color commentator . He was a commentator and heel authority figure on ten one hour episodes of WOS Wrestling which aired in 2018 on ITV, one of the UK's major free-to-air TV channels, and the show was viewed by hundreds of thousands of viewers which was considerably more than the WWE's viewing figures in the UK at the time (as WWE''s flagship shows aired in the middle of the night on a premium channel).

Stu also did a color commentary in FCW WWE's developmental at the time. He was almost too good and it kinda created this are you going to be wrestler or commentator question for management. Always had that voice and clearly had watched/listened to a lot of sports growing up. The BBC has/had the best sports coverage in the World and I guess he just absorbed it. 

[Migs]

Loved the Aldis-Scurll showdown from tonight. Not sure about the stipulation Aldis was suggesting, though.

[The Thread Killer]

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.

 

[KawadaSmile]

I don't really watch NWA Powerrrrrrrr but there were two things that caught my attention and were really positive surprises:

1. Nick Aldis looks really damn comfortable in his role as World Champ and while the stipulation in his defense against Scurll ain't the best one ever, it kind of feels old-school, but somewhat anachronic at the same time.
2. Thunder Rosa looks fucking incredible. Didn't know her prior to this week's interview alongside Melina, but my goodness she looks like a huge star. The look itself is great, but she carries herself like a champ, too. What a incredible ringname, too.

[King of Debt]

Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston. Goddamn.

[The Thread Killer]

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.

[Migs]

8 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said:

- 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.

 

The Bouncers are great and I think they'll excel in this environment, because they've got great offense which translates into good squashes. The Dawsons obviously aren't great, but I'm in for the Bouncers against any other team on the roster.

[The Thread Killer]

3 minutes ago, Migs said:

The Bouncers are great and I think they'll excel in this environment, because they've got great offense which translates into good squashes. The Dawsons obviously aren't great, but I'm in for the Bouncers against any other team on the roster.

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.

[Sweet Brown Koko]

I like the theme music and the show overall. I didn’t like the Mama Storm comedy and think if they can stay away from things like that but show comedy within the matches or from wrestlers cutting promos naturally I’m all for it.

 I think the NWA should move toward being more serious and this show was a good first step. No need to totally remove themselves from nostalgia but I don’t want this to be That 70’s Show either. This show (minus the Mama Storm stuff) was a step in the right direction.

Caleb Konley is good and resonates with the fans BUT sometimes it feels like he’s trying to be Will Osprey Jr. and “get his stuff in”. His matches can be a bit choreographed.

This is still my favorite wrestling show by far!!

 

[Migs]

13 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

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.

I would think the best part of that match up would be the Dawsons being big enough to be the base for Bruiser's dives. Their size certainly would limit some of the Bouncers' fun double team work. I don't think that's a match that'll be a classic. As I said, I'm just looking forward to seeing them squash dudes. (It'll be hilarious that Cornette will miss getting to see a modern team finish people with the Veg-O-Matic.)

[Log]

20 hours ago, King of Debt said:

Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston. Goddamn.

Exactly.  He was fucking spitting fire.  Thread Killer is right, anyone in the NXT locker room would kill to be that good.  I mean, you really feel like he's about to lose it there.  I'd be fucking terrified to have someone doing that in my face.  I can't think of anyone ever in WWE that has actually made me think I'd be totally frightened to have their promo said to me.  I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't be scared in real life if Randy Orton told me he was going to kick my ass.  I just mean, if I put myself in the shoes of the person the promo was being cut on, I wouldn't be worried.  If I was Pope, I'd be packing my bags.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

With guys like Kingston, Pope, Drake, Storm, Starks and Aldis NWA has the best roster when it comes to cutting emotional engaging promos.

I'm gonna miss "Into the Fire". It helped conveyed the tone they were trying to set, with Pantera it feels like I'm watching something WWE influenced.

The matches for this week's Power didn't feel long but they also didn't feel too short with a really good main event. One small gripe is the finish between Stevens/Murdoch. After hitting the bulldog and going for the pin then the draw should've been announced. Also digging the slow burn with Rosa/Melina.

[The Thread Killer]

On 2/4/2020 at 6:36 PM, King of Debt said:

Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston. Goddamn.

 

On 2/5/2020 at 3:16 PM, Log said:

Exactly.  He was fucking spitting fire.  Thread Killer is right, anyone in the NXT locker room would kill to be that good.  I mean, you really feel like he's about to lose it there.  I'd be fucking terrified to have someone doing that in my face.  I can't think of anyone ever in WWE that has actually made me think I'd be totally frightened to have their promo said to me.  I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't be scared in real life if Randy Orton told me he was going to kick my ass.  I just mean, if I put myself in the shoes of the person the promo was being cut on, I wouldn't be worried.  If I was Pope, I'd be packing my bags.

 

On 2/6/2020 at 8:39 AM, Tenese Sarwieh said:

With guys like Kingston, Pope, Drake, Storm, Starks and Aldis NWA has the best roster when it comes to cutting emotional engaging promos.

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.

[The Thread Killer]

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.

[Log]

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

- 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.

I just happened upon Melina's instagram recently, and the first thing in her description is "Living Legend".  I know that word gets tossed around a lot, especially in wrestling, but come the fuck on!  

[Blehschmidt]

4 hours ago, Log said:

I just happened upon Melina's instagram recently, and the first thing in her description is "Living Legend".  I know that word gets tossed around a lot, especially in wrestling, but come the fuck on!  

C'mon now, it sounds so much better than "Girl who was in WWE like 10 years ago"

[Coffey]

7 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

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.

- 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.

Great write-up. 

I agree that NWA has done a great job of addressing the weak areas & trying to improve on them. My biggest complaint at this point in time is that they're going a bit too heavy on comedy right now. The Question Mark & Aron Stevens stuff is already well beyond the sell by date to me. And I love some nostalgia but I'm not seeing it with the Rock 'n Roll Express as still active workers. But they have done a great job in addressing the short matches, thin roster & convoluted stories, like you mentioned. Hopefully next they'll cut back on the comedy & focus more on serious characters & angles.

I love Tim Storm but his best days are most likely behind him in-ring. So him giving some rub to younger guys is fine by me. I just hope Storm never leaves wrestling. Put him in the WCW Larry Zybysko role or something, just so he is still around. 

I'm excited for The Circle Squared. That will be interesting to me. I like when I see new people for the first time & can get some first impressions. Like Dice was new to me & I dig him. I know he came from elsewhere but I had not seen him before. So I hope I get a bunch of people I'm not familiar with at all, that would make it more fun for me. I even watched the old World of Hurt or whatever it was called, the Lance Storm version of Tough Enough. I dig stuff like that. It's fun & interesting to me. I mean, it has to go better than when TNA was doing their version with judges in the ring & shit, right?

[SirEdger]

I truly discovered Tim Storm during the days when he was heavily involved in the now defunct Traditional Championship Wrestling TV shows. (I think he was NWA World Heavyweight Champion at the time) and it was what....8 years ago? I'm still amazed that he's now more over in the NWA than he was during the TCW days (and he was pretty over at that time)...That's a testament to how NWA management has been able to recognize that Storm was the best fit  as that white meat babyface people would rally behind.

[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.

[rovert]

Thunder Rosa's Youtube Vlog reveals/presents the NWA locker room as a very positive environment with people who seem to get along. 

[C.S.]

Any idea who Nick Aldis is referring to here? Triple H? Cena? Someone else?

 

[SirEdger]

It's probably John Cena, given that Cena and Mickie were once romantically linked.

[Coffey]

Well damn, I guess The Circle Squared is only half an hour long.

Also, the inclusion of people's "live" reactions - nobodies from Twitch/YouTube - is a big miss for me. I don't give a fuck about their thoughts. Just show the talent & let us "vote" via Twitter or whatever, don't make people a part of the show like that. I don't like that at all. 

[Sweet Brown Koko]

I didn’t mind the reaction from the people and I enjoyed the show. In hindsight I assume that they edited it to put over the talent that they wanted to.

 I actually liked both teams and would rather have either team over The Dawsons.