NWA Powerrr

[The Thread Killer]

2 hours ago, Sweet Brown Koko said:

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

I had the exact same thought when watching that show.  The NWA currently features the 500 year old Rock & Roll Express, and the freaking Dawsons as two of their top Tag Teams. If I was them, I'd sign both of the teams featured on this week's show and be happy to do it, I don't know why they need to feature just one team as the "winner."  If I had to pick between the two teams, I'd definitely sign Dean & Neal. Those guys are the exact type of talent the NWA should be looking for right now, they have skill, they clearly know what they're doing but they are pretty much total unknowns who the NWA could legitimately claim to have discovered and put on the national stage as original talents. They looked pretty sharp and much more polished as a team than the Dawsons ever have, in my opinion.  Luke and PJ Hawx were okay, I guess.  PJ is clearly not ready for prime time, though.  His interviews were awful, he doesn't look even remotely athletic, and although he seems to have some mat wrestling skills, let's be honest here...his big claim to fame right now is jumping off that balcony in that shopping mall like a total idiot. This stupid clip of him has gone "viral" and gotten mainstream media attention recently, so I have no doubt that the NWA wants to hop on board and use that as free publicity.  I can't fault them for that, but I don't see PJ Hawx as much of a prospect, nevertheless.

I understand what @Coffeyis saying about the fan reaction video inserts...I really don't much care what some 9 year old kid thinks of the talents featured on this show, but on the other side of the coin, I get what the NWA is trying to do here.  They are trying to demonstrate how fan friendly and interactive they are as an organization.  They are really going out of their way to engage their fans and make sure that everybody knows that what their fans think is important.  I appreciate that, even though the execution of that plan might leave something to be desired.

[Sweet Brown Koko]

Yeah, I thought Dean and Neal did a really good job heeling it up there. You could sign both teams, have the face team win that round of the contest and then get jumped later on by Dean and Neal.

I thought that the two teams had great chemistry together.

It will be interesting to see who goes next. I actually have a level of anticipation for the next Circled Squared!

[Tenese Sarwieh]

Wish they gave both teams more time to perform, some of pre match reaction to their promos could've been cut to fix the issue. Dean/Neal are polished and ready to go of the two teams. Luke Hawx is fine but PJ needs more seasoning.

I have no problem with the reaction inserts but I think it could be used more effectively only using NWA legends. It would give these matches more substance instead of random fans spewing nonsense and no insight.

[Coffey]

6 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

I understand what @Coffeyis saying about the fan reaction video inserts...I really don't much care what some 9 year old kid thinks of the talents featured on this show, but on the other side of the coin, I get what the NWA is trying to do here.  They are trying to demonstrate how fan friendly and interactive they are as an organization.  They are really going out of their way to engage their fans and make sure that everybody knows that what their fans think is important.  I appreciate that, even though the execution of that plan might leave something to be desired.

When they used to have fan interaction during the intro before Power started, I was all for that. People being positive in Tweets & whatnot. This feels too far in the other direction for my tastes. 

[The Thread Killer]

I thought this past week's episode of Power was a sort of humdrum, to be honest.  There was some good in there but there was also some not so good.  It felt like a lot of it was filler, which is something I was concerned about when they announced they don't have another PPV until April. One thing I am very curious about is the fact that they have basically 6 more weeks of TV to fill before the Crockett Cup on April 19, but they are still broadcasting stuff they taped during the two day set of tapings after the last PPV in January. Even with a couple more "Circle Squared" episodes in place of Power, I don't see how they are going to make what they have left in the can last all the way until the next PPV.  That can only mean one of two things, either they are going to do more tapings (which seems unlikely) or they are going to be presenting us with a lot more filler.  I remember that episode they aired right after "Hard Times" where there was only 7 minutes of action in the entire hour.  I really don't want to see another show like that.  I guess they will probably do a Crockett Cup preview show or something, and maybe three more episodes of "The Circle Squared" in which case they only have to get 4 more episodes of Power out of what they have already taped.  Anyhow...

- I thought the opening interview with Tim Storm was okay.  I wish he was in a higher profile angle right now, but this is what it is.  So we discover "Danny Deals" is the genius behind the infamous Momma Storm parody, and he is now managing Jax Dane.  Storm is going to fight Dane and if he wins he gets his hands on Deals.  If he loses, Dane gets a contract.  I don't mind Dane, he's a pretty solid (if somewhat unspectacular) worker. Dane is another decent pickup and another guy who is perfect for the NWA because he is decent and isn't tainted as a "reject" from some other national organization.  I know he worked in New Japan, ROH and Impact but he's not exactly synonymous with any of those organizations.  I'm not sure why he needs to "earn" an NWA contract considering the fact that he is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a former NWA National Champion, a former NWA North American Champion and even a former NWA Tag Team Champion.  If that isn't enough to get him a contract, what is? Anyhow, apparently Storm and Dane have quite a bit of experience working against each other, so I am hoping they get some time to work and that this match is decent.

- The Matt Cross interview was passable.  It's kind of sad that there are guys like him who have been basically working the indies for 20 years and still look kind of uncomfortable cutting a promo, probably due to lack of experience working TV more than anything else.  No wonder they teach promos at NXT.  The Triple Threat for the TV Title was like everything else on this show...just okay.  Zicky Dice has really grown on me, but my only concern is that his heel act is borderline comedy and Aron Stevens pretty much fills that role already. The stuff about his fanny pack was amusing, as was his heel stooging, but like I said...Aron Stevens already pretty much owns that role in the NWA. I know Dave Lagana is the booker for the NWA and you can tell he worked as a WWE writer because he sure has a love for comedy.  Which is fine, but the NWA seems to constantly be at risk of overdoing it.  This match was way too short.  I can't believe Dice is getting another shot at Starks already.  I am wondering if they are planning on putting the TV title on him.  I think that would be a major mistake for two reasons. Starks is just getting started as the TV Champ and would suffer having the TV title taken off him already...and like I said, we have one comedy champion with Stevens as the National Champion.  We don't need two.  They went to all the trouble to devote an entire PPV to the TV Title, I'd hate to think they're planning on making it a hot shot belt.

- I don't know why but these May Valentine Video Diary segments really crack me up.  But once again, maybe too much emphasis on comedy?

- The Stevens promo was fine but nothing we haven't seen from him already.  I am really hoping this is leading to another match with Murdoch vs. Stevens where Murdoch wins the National Championship. I was thrilled to see Murdoch squash The Question Mark.  Obviously they finally got the fact that this guy was fine for comedy but was not meant for beating guys like Murdoch.  Better late than never, I guess.

- The Aldis promo was very good, the resulting surprise appearance by Brody King was cool and the big brawl was done pretty well.  I would be happy to see Aldis, Lattimer and Isaacs vs. Scurll, King and PCO.  Villain Enterprises vs. Strictly Business would be fun, I think.  This was well done to lead up to the Crockett Cup.

- I loved the Eddie Kingston promo, and I have to be honest and say I did NOT see The Bouncers joining Pope and turning on Kingston.  I assume that this is leading to Kingston & Homicide vs. The Bouncers and I am great with that.  I would assume those two teams will end up meeting at some point in the Crockett Cup.  Plus next week The Bouncers get a shot at Drake & Storm for the Tag Team Titles, which could be interesting.

- The Rock & Roll Express are announced as the first team entering the 2020 Crockett Cup.  Okay...seriously?  Those two are the real Jurassic Express.

- The "Main Event"  was just an angle, and not even a good one.  The whole thing was total shite, obviously.  Although I suppose it was better than having to watch Melina actually wrestle, so there is that at least.  This is the second time now that the NWA has spent more than one week hyping a Main Event match, only to not deliver.  First Storm vs. Aldis in the TV Title Qualifier match, and now this.  That is a bad habit to get into, because all they are doing is teaching their fans not to get excited when the NWA hypes a match as a Main Event on Power. I honestly don't even know what the point of this stupid segment was.  Melina claims she deserves a title shot (which she doesn't, but whatever.)  She demands the shot.  She actually gets the shot, and then she runs away?  It's not even like she ran because she was getting her ass kicked, she just ran.  If she ran because she was afraid of Thunder Rosa, then why did she demand the match?  Or was this whole thing just meant to set up Kamille vs. Kay?  I am fine with seeing those two wrestle, although I have no idea if Kamille is any good.  But she sure looks damn good.

So yeah, this show was just "there" in my opinion.

[Sweet Brown Koko]

Agreed.

 I REALLY liked Kingston’s promo! The way he said, “I DARE you to come out Pope” was just awesome and authentic. Pope always seems like he’s trying to be Dusty Rhodes in the way he talks and his mannerisms. I don’t like that. He does better when he’s more serious.

The Question Mark seems to have cooled off rather rapidly. I think that they overdid it with that. Shooter Stevens is good in his role and I hope Murdoch takes him out.

ZICKY DICE is “that guy” for me! He’s “living the gimmick”, brother! The fanny pack put things over the top and he is super committed to his role. Cross and Starks are good as well but the NWA needs to mix things up and not continue to have variations of the same match each week.

 The comedy is too much and they don’t do it well. The unintentional comedy by Stevens and Dice flow way more naturally than Mama Storm, Valentine, etc...One thing I can appreciate about AEW is that as much as they reach back to old WCW they are trying new things like the weigh in, which was awesome. I wish the NWA would push boundaries using the old school format rather than try to be WWE-lite in a studio.

[sek69]

On 2/18/2020 at 1:42 PM, SirEdger said:

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

That and there's also been more than a handful of stories from folks who washed out in WWE saying they had run ins with Cena that derailed them politically. As a one off you might think it was sour grapes or someone looking for a reason they didn't make it, but after a while you tend to notice a pattern. 

[rovert]

I don't want to overstate things. But Lagana's lack of social media in the last 2-3 weeks and lack of TLC the editing of the shows have had recently would indicate to me there's something up. There are stories that Lagana and Corgan are having differing opinions about the direction of the company. Lagana wants to tour and run arenas while Billy wants to pretty much strictly stick to the studio show concept. Corgan is only committing x amount of his money to the project. Corgan's overall fortune has been a source of speculation outside of Pro Wrestling for a number of years. Bad investments and things like that. Also, Lagana wants to run with Starks (a sure thing) while Corgan wants to push Ziggy Dice to prove he can spot and create a star. 

The real or big NWA stuff is happening on ROH shows more and more too. There have been rumours for years that ROH's TV situation is being upgraded which end up never happening. The two big ones of the last six months were Clash of the Champions style live TV specials and that ROH was developing a studio show of their own. Anyway, Lagana seems to be keeping his options open. 

All this is happening while Youtube viewership is trending downwards.

[SirEdger]

So...what are the possibilities that ROH & NWA just become one entity going forward in the foreseeable future? Because if Corgan pulls out of this, I don't know how much Lagana can invest to keep it running.

[Migs]

 

13 minutes ago, SirEdger said:

So...what are the possibilities that ROH & NWA just become one entity going forward in the foreseeable future? Because if Corgan pulls out of this, I don't know how much Lagana can invest to keep it running.

Is it Corgan or Lagana pushing to work with ROH? Because it sounds like the end game is that Lagana may not be long for the NWA. If Corgan likes working with ROH (and needs the production help anyway), then there's definitely some synergy in them working together.

I was also thinking the other day that one avenue for ROH to cement its relationship with New Japan is to send the ROH World title in the direction of Rev Pro's British title - to basically become a New Japan thing that gets defended in the US 3-4 times a year. That could work if they're also able to promote NWA title defenses as well as show main events.

[SirEdger]

That could definitely work.

[Alucard]

On 2/28/2020 at 1:56 PM, The Thread Killer said:

 I remember that episode they aired right after "Hard Times" where there was only 7 minutes of action in the entire hour.  I really don't want to see another show like that.

I'm pretty sure this last show had even less than 7 minutes in-ring,  lol

[The Thread Killer]

I would like to share a screen-grab from the interview on Power last night, when Aron Stevens & The Question Mark challenged The Rock & Roll Express to a Tag Team match for next week's show.

"Finally, after four or five decades in the ring, you've finally made it. You're sharing a screen with me.  Let's get a shot of this!"

"Look...I don't want to waste your time.  Lord knows how much you have left."

There is something to be said for unscripted promos when you just tell that the participants are actually having fun out there.

[The Thread Killer]

On 2/28/2020 at 2:56 PM, The Thread Killer said:

One thing I am very curious about is the fact that they have basically 6 more weeks of TV to fill before the Crockett Cup on April 19, but they are still broadcasting stuff they taped during the two day set of tapings after the last PPV in January. Even with a couple more "Circle Squared" episodes in place of Power, I don't see how they are going to make what they have left in the can last all the way until the next PPV.  That can only mean one of two things, either they are going to do more tapings (which seems unlikely) or they are going to be presenting us with a lot more filler.  I remember that episode they aired right after "Hard Times" where there was only 7 minutes of action in the entire hour.  I really don't want to see another show like that.  I guess they will probably do a Crockett Cup preview show or something, and maybe three more episodes of "The Circle Squared" in which case they only have to get 4 more episodes of Power out of what they have already taped.

So for those of you that didn't see Power last night, they addressed this issue. Here's the schedule starting next week...

03/10/20: Double episode of "The Circle Squared." (I wonder if they're showing two episodes because a lot of people bitched that the first episode was so short?)

03/17/20: Special extended episode of Power called "Super Power" featuring Tim Storm vs. Jax Dane, The Rock & Rolls vs. Stevens/Question Mark, Kamille's in-ring debut and Marty Scurll & Brody King vs. Nick Aldis & Thom Lattimer.

03/24/20: "Power Surge" which sounds like it's basically going to be a "best of" or highlight clip show

03/31/20: The Crockett Cup "Selection Show" (during which I assume they'll be announcing the complete list of participants and maybe the brackets?)

04/07/20: Ten Pounds of Gold (I don't know if this is going to be the debut of a new season of Ten Pounds of Gold.  I assume it will be, because the entire original series is already available on YouTube.)

So here's the weird thing...that's all they announced last night.  Based on the spoilers from the last set of Power tapings in January, the stuff they will be showing on the "Super Power" episode on 03/17/20 will be the last of the pre-taped stuff they have.  They didn't announce anything for 04/14/20, which would be the last show before the PPV that weekend.  So either they don't know what they're doing that last week yet, or both weeks before the PPV and after the "Selection Show" will be basically a lead up promotion for the Pay Per View.

No matter how you look at it, the fact is that March 17 will be the last episode of Power with original in-ring content, and then there is still an entire month until the PPV with no new actual in-ring content.  That seems like a really odd choice, to me. They might be able to pull it off if the Selection Show and Ten Pounds of Gold do a good job of building to the PPV, but that still seems like way too long between the last episode of Power and the PPV. (Granted the original "Ten Pounds of Gold" series is excellent, so if they can do that again, it might make up for it.) But at first glance, this kind of reminds me of the buildup to Into The Fire, where it became pretty obvious that they hadn't taped enough content to get them to the PPV and had to do that horrible clip show and pointless empty arena match.

If they're not going to run bi-monthly Pay Per Views like they did with Into The Fire and Hard Times, then they're probably going to have to tape more than two days of TV at a time. Maybe waiting three months between Hard Times and the Crockett Cup was a one time thing, and they'll go back to bi-monthly PPV's.  Or maybe they'll do more co-promoted stuff with ROH. If Scurll actually beats Aldis at the PPV, I am betting more co-branded content is a safe bet. 

They have also confirmed the upcoming schedule, the PPV is on April 19 (the first four rows have sold out, but some reason I have seen it reported elsewhere that the entire event is sold out, and I don't think that is the case.  That new arena looks pretty damn big and I have my doubts about them filling it up.) and then they tape the next round of Power at the "NWA Arena" on April 20 and 21.

 

 

[The Thread Killer]

Anyhow...

I thought last night's episode of Power was really good and a significant improvement over the previous week.

- I was a big fan of how Sean Mooney welcomed us to the show and then they jumped right into the action.  There have been a lot of episodes recently where they have started with an interview and then gone to another interview, and that always seems like a bad move to me.  I thought this was a great way to start the show.

- So Zicky Dice beats Ricky Starks and becomes the new NWA Television Champion.  I have mixed feelings about this. Zicky Dice has totally grown on me, and I have no issue with him winning a title.  His ring work is pretty good, and his character is so awesome...he just comes across as so sleazy and sketchy. The whole deal with him grinding his butt on his opponent when he has him in the corner, or swivelling his hips before doing a powerbomb is exactly the right kind of cringeworthy.  Starks and Dice work really well against each other, based on their characters alone.  So like I said, I think Dice will be a good champ, and it's a pretty safe bet there will be plenty of stooging and old school heel antics from him trying to hang on to that belt. However, I thought (and still think) that Ricky Starks is one of the guys the NWA should be building around, so I don't get giving him such a short title reign.  I honestly thought Starks might actually get the "Lucky 7" wins needed to trade the TV title in for a World Heavyweight Title shot.  After the time limit draw he had with Aldis a while back, there is a built in story there between those two.  Who knows...maybe Aldis will beat Scurll and move on to an angle with Starks.  Whatever happens, I just hope the NWA doesn't miss the boat on Ricky Starks.  I also really enjoyed the NWA TV Title 6:05 deal during this match.  I find it adds to the enjoyment and sense of urgency when you're keeping one eye on the clock...and after some of the ridiculously long matches in NXT and AEW lately, a short sprint is a refreshing change of pace.

- I thought the stuff from the Crockett Cup press conference was good.  You certainly can't claim that the NWA doesn't treat World Heavyweight Championship matches like a big deal.  That arena looks nice, it's small but I really hope the NWA can get a decent crowd in there, even if they don't manage to sell it out.

- That segment with The Question Mark and the ventriloquist was...something.  I may end up having nightmare about that Question Mark ventriloquist dummy.

- I have been the first one to complain about the NWA featuring too much comedy, and I still worry about that.  The one hope I have is that Zicky Dice keeps playing old school scumbag heel and doesn't veer too far into the comedy stuff, because Aron Stevens already has that market pretty much cornered.  Having said that, I absolutely loved the interview with Stevens and The Question Mark challenging The Rock & Roll Express.  If you're going to do comedy in Pro Wrestling, this is how you do it.  Stevens was really funny during this segment. Even better, I think if you're going to use The Rock & Roll Express, then THIS is how you use them. At their age, you can't realistically present them as legitimate contenders for the World Tag Team Championships...but against The Question Mark & Stevens in a midcard comedy match?  I have no issue whatsoever with that.  This kind of thing is pretty much the ideal use of The Question Mark and the Rock & Rolls.  Let guys like Aldis & Scurll have the serious, "reality based" storylines, but when you mix in stuff like this, it actually works.

- As far as the next match,the "Last Chance" match? FUCK YEAH.  I have been bitching since week one that the NWA isn't doing enough with Caleb Konley.  I have been bitching that CW Anderson is a great pickup for the NWA, but they need to use him more...and correctly.  And I have been bitching that The Dawsons are basically in over their heads in the NWA and are quite honestly not talented enough to be featured on such a prominent stage. (With all due respect.) And this match managed to address all those concerns.  Konley gets a big win.  CW Anderson "earns" an NWA contract which means we'll be seeing more of him, which makes me very happy.  And apparently, the Dawsons are OUT and lose their spot.  Since this is Pro Wrestling I am highly skeptical about that last stipulation, but based on past history when I heard the terms of this match I figured there was no way Konley and Anderson were going to win this match and as per the announced stipulations, that would mean this would be the last we saw of CW Anderson.  I have never been happier to be proved wrong.  Now let's see Konley and Anderson as a team in the Crockett Cup.

- As much as I liked this week's show, the whole deal with May Valentine, Saul Rinauro and Royce Isaacs is kind of lame and isn't doing much for me.  Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed May Valentine's character, her whole oblivious social media influencer gimmick is gold, and those Video Diary segments are great...but is anybody honestly clamoring for a Sal Minauro/Royce Isaacs feud?  Or even a single match?

- I have really enjoyed this whole angle with The Pope and Eddie Kingston.  There have been some great twists to the story, from Pope managing Kingston & Homicide, to turning on them, to managing the Dawsons against the Bouncers, to the Bouncers turning on Kingston.  The promos have been gold (Kingston and Pope are both better than pretty much anybody in WWE or NXT, and even better than more than a select few in AEW) and I can only hope this is leading to either a Kingston & Homicide vs. The Bouncers match or even an Kingston vs. Pope match.  Having said all that, the Main Event of this week's show was pretty bad.  As JR would say, it was "bowling shoe ugly."  I never would have guessed that the Dawsons would have a better match against The Bouncers than Eli Drake and James Storm did, but there you go.  The Bouncers are a lot better than I originally gave them credit for, but these two teams just did not mesh well at all.  I am glad Drake and Storm retained and I hope this isn't the last we see of The Bouncers in the NWA, but this was...not so good.

On the whole though, I really enjoyed Power this week.  Yet another fun hour of old school style Pro Wrestling that just flew by.  Too bad there is only one more episode left for the next six weeks.  I hope next week's Circle Squared episodes are good.

[The Thread Killer]

They have announced that Nick Aldis will be defending the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship against PCO at Supercard of Honor on April 4.  It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that PCO isn't going to win the title, since the NWA has put so much work into Aldis/Scurll II at the Crockett Cup which is happening two weeks after Supercard of Honor, but it should still be a great match, IMO.  That whole card is shaping up pretty nicely, I may have to check this out.

[Tim Evans]

Aldis is also defending the NWA title next weekend in Puerto Rico for WWC's big show vs Carlito. Having seen him a few times this year live, Carlito wouldn't be a bad pick up for the NWA. Certainly couldn't be worse than Anderson. 

[Memphis Mark]

I hope that the NWA books the Briscoes  for the CC.  Also I would book the G.O.D. if they are available . If they want to fill that building they need a couple of special attractions.  Right now we have Storm / Drake ,  Morton & Gibson , Strictly Business and maybe Stevens / Question Mark . Who else ?

[Migs]

1 hour ago, Memphis Mark said:

I hope that the NWA books the Briscoes  for the CC.  Also I would book the G.O.D. if they are available . If they want to fill that building they need a couple of special attractions.  Right now we have Storm / Drake ,  Morton & Gibson , Strictly Business and maybe Stevens / Question Mark . Who else ?

You'd have to presume the Bouncers, along with PCO/Brody since they won last year.

[The Thread Killer]

6 hours ago, Memphis Mark said:

I hope that the NWA books the Briscoes  for the CC.  Also I would book the G.O.D. if they are available . If they want to fill that building they need a couple of special attractions.  Right now we have Storm / Drake ,  Morton & Gibson , Strictly Business and maybe Stevens / Question Mark . Who else ?

That's a good question and one I have  been wondering about myself.

So far on the NWA side of things, the only Tag Teams they have on the roster are:

- The Rock & Roll Express

- Strictly Business

- James Storm & Eli Drake

- Eddie Kingston & Homicide

- The Bouncers

- Aron Stevens & The Question Mark

That's one hell of a weak field for a Tag Team tournament.  I agree with @Memphis Mark, I am really hoping they can get The Briscoes again this year.  We have just seen CW Anderson and Caleb Konley team up and "win an NWA contract" so I assume they are a possibility as well.  I don't know if the two teams we've seen so far on "The Circle Squared" would be eligible, Luke & PJ Hawx and Jeff Lewis Neal & Tyson Dean.  Both teams would be good additions to the tournament.

The other thing is, if the majority of this show is devoted to the tournament, they have a lot of their biggest names who wouldn't be featured on the show. Last year that wasn't an issue because they didn't really have any names under contract to speak of.  Now I'd hate to see guys like Trevor Murdoch, Tim Storm, Ricky Starks, Matt Cross and even Zicky Dice miss the PPV just because they aren't in a tag team.  I'm all for a team of guys who don't normally team up (like Murdoch and Storm for example) being in the tournament as well.

Since the relationship with ROH is so cozy right now, I tend to agree with @Migs that it makes sense to expect to see Villain Enterprises back in the mix.  Plus there are other great ROH teams would could really beef up this tournament like Lethal & Gresham, Williams & Haskins, Maff & Cobb (assuming he's still around), Flamita & Bandito, Vincent & Bateman, Silas Young & Josh Woods, Joe Hendry & Dalton Castle, PJ Black & Brian Johnson and some combination of Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King. These are all teams that worked in ROH in the past few months.  They have a pretty strong Tag Team division, when you think about it.

If you mix in some of the NWA singles wrestlers and a few of the many teams from ROH, you could actually have a decent tournament here.

[Migs]

I dunno, there's enough teams floating around between the NWA and ROH that volume shouldn't be an issue, but what exactly is the hook for the tournament? 8 pretty solid teams have a few 10 minute tag matches? 

[The Thread Killer]

So last night was the premiere of episodes 2 and 3 of "The Circle Squared" and that was...not so good.

They seem to have responded to feedback and scaled back on the amount of inserted videos with the fans, or made the clips shorter...which is good.  They also added professional members of the NWA watching the show and giving feedback.  Eli Drake and Allysin Kay watched along and added their feedback, and it was highly amusing to watch them both put on as positive a spin as they could and avoid burying the crap.  Especially in Drake's case, I got the definite impression he was pretty much biting his tongue. Not for nothing as well...I like Allysin Kay but the shot they got of her watching these matches (on Skype I assume) was not exactly the most flattering look for her.  She looked kind of ghoulish, like the Mother from the old Munsters TV show.

The first tryout was Colby Corino vs. George South.  Yes...that George South.  The legendary enhancement guy from the glory days of JCP at the Techwood Drive studios.  I'll give the guy full marks, his promo was chock full of old school heelish goodness.  Problem is, the dude is almost 60 years old and his entire offensive strategy during his "match" with Corino consisted of repeatedly slapping on a clawhold. And as a sidenote, The Rock and Roll Express, Scott Steiner and now George South...somebody working backstage for the NWA has a serious fetish for watching senior citizens wrestle, and whoever it is (Lagana or Corgan) they need to see a counsellor about it, or something.  George South was literally part of NWA studio wrestling 35 goddamn years ago. I thought the whole point of The Circle Squared was to present fresh new talent to the NWA.  As funny as seeing him was, there is absolutely nothing fresh or new about George South. What are they going to do on the next episode, try to reanimate the corpse of George Hackenschmidt?

As far as Cornio...well, he looks just like his Dad, to the point where it was almost eerie.  Too bad the apple has fallen very, very far from the tree when it comes to promo skills.  Steve Cornio promos were some of the highlights of the dying days of ECW.  Colby cut a promo before his match that was really awkward and almost painful to watch, Colby kind of shit the bed if he was hoping to impress anybody with his promo skills.  The "behind the scenes" segment they did with him where he talked about his drug problems was much better.  The match went almost 5 minutes and it felt like it was 10 times that.  I can't see either of these guys advancing in this competition, because quite frankly that was awful.  And it wasn't even the worst match they showed last night, amazingly.

The second tryout was "Freya The Slaya" vs. Dani Jordyn.  (Why do all Pro Wrestlers have the need to insert the letter "y" in their names where it doesn't really need to be?)  So here's my thing about this match.  Billy Corgan recorded a video where he announced that any unsigned Pro Wrestlers out there were interested in earning a contract with the NWA could apply to be on The Circle Squared.  They claimed the response was overwhelming.  After seeing this episode, my thoughts are that I never want to see the quality of the applicants who couldn't make the cut to be on the show...if this was an example of people who applied and "earned" a shot.  This match was fucking awful.  "Freya" seems to be a very tall girl (although Dani seemed very small so it might just be that Freya looked big by comparison) but she is awkward as hell.  She makes Marti Belle look like Manami Toyota.  Her selling and overall presence was atrocious. Both girls looked good from a cosmetic standpoint, but work wise?  Yikes.  And their promos really weren't much better.

I'm not going to recommend that people avoid this show, because it was absolutely entertaining from a car wreck perspective...so bad I couldn't look away. But so far, the only act that The Circle Squared has introduced that I think has any shot at becoming legitimate stars in the NWA are the team of Jeff Lewis Neal & Tyson Dean. Based on the poll numbers they showed this week, I get the impression that Luke and PJ Hawx are leading.  I really think that the NWA wants to sign them because of that stupid viral video of PJ Hawx jumping off that balcony in the mall that ended up getting mainstream press.  If anything, I hope the NWA signs both those teams from Episode 1, but this week?  Hard pass.

[rovert]

Colby Corino has a bit more to offer than what was presented on PoweRRR and I thought South ate him up too much. 

Expect a George South vs Tim Storm feud down the road. Very heavy-handed seed planting.

 

[The Thread Killer]

On 3/7/2020 at 4:44 PM, Memphis Mark said:

I hope that the NWA books the Briscoes  for the CC.  Also I would book the G.O.D. if they are available . If they want to fill that building they need a couple of special attractions.  Right now we have Storm / Drake ,  Morton & Gibson , Strictly Business and maybe Stevens / Question Mark . Who else ?

So they had a Crockett Cup event center segment with Sean Mooney on this week's show.  They have now confirmed 4 of the 8 teams that will be entering the tournament.

- The Rock & Roll Express (I loved it when the announced said this "might be their last year" to enter the tournament.  They're in their late sixties for fucks sake. This might be their last year for a lot of things.)

- Defending champs Villain Enterprises (Brody King and Flip Gordon, subbing for PCO who has an NWA World Title shot upcoming)

- Ray Horus & Flamita

- The Wild Cards

They also announced that there will be another Wild Card slot this year, which will be determined the winners of a Battle Royal.  Last year's Battle Royal was just for Tag Teams, but this year singles wrestlers can enter as well, and in that event the last two guys in the ring will be forced to team together.  They announced Tim Storm, Zicky Dice and Ricky Starks for the Battle Royal, with more to come.  As much as I'd like to see Tim Storm get into the tournament, I am kind of pulling for a Starks/Dice team based on the entrants so far. I am hoping maybe CW Anderson and Caleb Konley end up in this Battle Royal at least.

They also announced that on the show, in addition to the Aldis/Scurll II, Aron Stevens will be defending the NWA National Championship against Trevor Murdoch.  That means we can pretty much scratch Stevens/Question Mark as a team entering the Tournament, I guess? Thunder Rosa will be defending the NWA Women's Championship against an opponent to be named.

So bottom line is, only three open spots left for the tournament.  I am hoping two of those spots get taken by The Bouncers and Outlaw Inc., with maybe one more team from ROH? Crossing my fingers for the Briscoes.

[The Thread Killer]

7 minutes ago, rovert said:

Colby Corino has a bit more to offer than what was presented on PoweRRR and I thought South ate him up too much. 

Expect a George South vs Tim Storm feud down the road. Very heavy-handed seed planting.

I wouldn't actually hate Tim Storm vs. George South, but like I said...they really need to lay off all the old guys, in my opinion.  George South's "I'd punch your Mother in the face" line did legit crack me up.

@rovert you know quite a bit about Women's Wrestling and follow the scene pretty closely, had you ever heard about or seen either Freya or Dani Jordyn and what did you think of them potential wise?  Was my assessment too harsh?