The upcoming live edition of NWA Power will feature the finals of the Champions Series which gives the winner future title shots at any time and any place.
The Tuesday, January 31st show from Knoxville, Tennessee, will see Team Rock n’ Roll (Taya Valkyrie, Madi Wrenkowski, Jennacide, Kerry Morton, Ricky Morton, Chris Adonis, Mims, Dak Draper, & Alex Taylor Willoughby) take on Team Tyrus (Samantha Starr, Kayla Kassidy, Allysin Kay, Carnage, EC3, Thrillbilly Silas, Trevor Murdoch, Rolando Perez, & BLK Jeez).
Here’s the current lineup for the show:
Champions Series finals: Team Tyrus vs. Team Rock n’ Roll
Nuff Said PPV contract signing between NWA World Champion Tyrus and Matt Cardona
NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions The Fixers defend against A.J. Cazana & Anthony Andrews
Bully Ray vs. Odinson in a no tables match
Psycho Love (Angelina Love & Fodder) vs. NWA Women’s Champion Kamille & Thom Latimer
Aron Stevens and May Valentine get married
NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Kerry Morton in action
NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions Pretty Empowered in action
This week’s NWA Power opened with Team Tyrus talking about the Champions Series, and EC3 mumbling nonsense about narratives being controlled and Tyrus being the narrative since he is champ.
Team Rebelion cut a promo against Team Tyrus. EC3 said winning the series would bring him closer to his goals — goals of which he said he refused to speak about. I think the goal is to win a title shot since that is the reward for winning this series.
Then, it was time for action.
Team Tyrus (EC3, Thrillbilly Cyrus & Carnage) defeated Team Rebelion (Colby Corino, Joe Alonzo & Odinson)
Odinson was on another team before the start of this show, but the announcers told us he was drafted from Team Fixers. Also, in the last Champions Series, people only got one match in the series. EC3, and I think Odinson, are both working at least their second match. I’m confused.
Corino started, but it wasn’t long before Alonzo tagged in and angered his teammates. Alonzo hit a hurricanrana on Silas, but EC3 made him pay for wanting in the match by attacking him from the outside. Silas and EC3 worked together to floor Alzono, getting heat on him for several minutes until he hit a DDT on Silas and made the tag to Odinson. Odinson got some hope spots, but Silas soon hit a Thrillride on Corino leading to EC3 submitting him shortly after.
In a series of individual sit-downs, La Rosa Negra and Taya Valkyrie talked about their issues, and Angelina Love and Valkyrie then talked about their upcoming match. Apparently, Valkyrie put Negra in the hospital and turned heel.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Angelina Love via DQ
Valkyrie hit Angelina hard in the early going, but Love fought to the ropes while in a submission attempt. Valkyrie stood up, got hit with a flatliner, and Love then locked on a Koji Clutch. Valkyrie made the ropes but Love didn’t let go, so a grade one DQ was called which matters in the Series points.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Angelina Love
Love kicked a turnbuckle into Valkyrie’s face as she was leaning against it before hitting a dropkick for a two count. Valkyrie yanked Love’s hair and pulled Love to the mat backward, sitting out for a two count. Valkyrie hit a hip attack in the corner and then double knees in the corner for another two count. Velvet Sky completely misread the facial expression of Valkyrie, who was smiling and not shocked that Love kicked out.
Love hit a series of clotheslines. As I was writing that, someone in the YouTube chat wrote that The Death Dollz (Valkyrie & Jessicka in Impact) vs. The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon in ROH) would be a dream match. Well, I suppose it is for them, but not for many. Valkyrie hit Road to Valhalla on Love for the pinfall.
– Aron Stevens and May Valentine were backstage, and they talked about how they didn’t go to Brazil. Stevens suggested they get married with every cliché term, but Valentine didn’t understand. So, he just said it outright, and Valentine suggested they had James Mitchell do the ceremony right now. Stevens then told he to take a long time to plan it.
– Samantha Starr & Kayla Kassidy talked about their upcoming match with Max the Impaler & Ashley D’Amboise. I wasn’t aware any of these people were on Team Tyrus or Team Rebelion.
Team Tyrus (Samantha Starr & Kayla Kassidy) defeated Team Rebelion (Max the Impaler & Ashley D’Amboise)
It was during this match that the announcers talked about people being out of the tournament due to losing while the others finished their match. Yet, we saw people earlier in their second match still in the tournament. This does not make sense.
Kassidy started with Max, but soon requested to be in the ring with D’Amboise. This actually worked out for Kassidy, who ran wild. Max tagged back in and hit a Vader body press that leveled Kassidy, later curb stomping her into the bottom turnbuckle for a near fall. Max tagged out and used D’Amboise as a weapon on Kassidy.
D’Amboise hit a leg drop and then a very ugly looking attempt at a curb stomp. Kassidy dodged a corner charge and tagged out to Starr. She slammed D’Amboise into the mat multiple times, but D’Amboise was able to tag out after a jaw breaker. Max immediately charged Starr and started hitting strikes before throwing Starr across the ring and getting another near fall.
D’Amboise blind tagged in, causing Max to shove D’Amboise. This led to Starr hitting the StarrStruck DDT for the pin. Team Tyrus advanced to the finals of the Champions Series, apparently.
Team Great (Missa Kate & Natalya Markova) defeated Team Rock N’ Roll (Madi & Jennacide)
We were informed that Madi was drafted from Team Brickhouse, which again, is the first I heard of drafts in this tournament. That detail would have been nice to know at the start of the tournament so we could understand what was going on. Leaving the announcers to try and piece together the nonsensical storytelling after the fact is a clear sign of bad booking and not knowing what you are doing.
Unfortunately, my frustration at not understanding the rules of the Champions Series took away from what was actually a good match. The performers were excellent in this one with Jennacide and Markova in particular looking awesome.
Madi was keen to let Jennacide do the heavy lifting for their team with Markova and Jennacide bringing the wrestlers who comprised the audience to applause for their battle. Madi missed some attempt at offense and Markova went for a submission. Madi countered into a bow and arrow which Markova got out of, followed by a drop toehold that sent Madi tagging out to Kate.
Kate locked up Madi in a pretzel-like submission, but Jennacide broke it up. Markova and Jennacide started brawling, ending with Jennacide hitting a spinebuster. Kate superkicked Madi, but Jennacide took her out. Markova hit a dropkick that sent Jennacide to the floor. Markova then locked on a brutal looking submission on Madi for the win. I wish I could describe it, but it was awesome.
Either way, Team Rock N’ Roll and Team Great are now tied, leading to a final playoff match.
Team Rock N’ Roll (Ricky & Kerry Morton) defeated Team Great (Cyon & Sal the Pal) (w/ Austin Idol)
As much as I have no idea who is on what team, I still really enjoyed this match because Ricky Morton’s selling was so good. Kerry Morton had a great hot tag, and Cyon and Sal were great heels. This was a classic, old school tag match with the Mortons being classic babyfaces — excellent, basic wrestling.
Sal started with Kerry Morton and creeped him out with his wackiness. Kerry picked Sal up on his shoulders and hit the Finley Roll. Cyon stared forward on the apron like he didn’t care about his partner getting beat on. Ricky Morton hit a shoulderblock on Sal, but got into an argument with Austin Idol, who was on the floor. Ricky and Idol know each other well from the territory days.
Idol taunted Ricky to come after him, but Cyon tagged in and attacked him on the floor. Cyon then got the heat on Ricky for the next few minutes, following the classic Rock ‘n’ Roll Express formula. Sal bit Ricky and hit an elbow in the corner. Cyon missed a corner charge and the wrestlers in the audience went wild. I think they were legitimately marking out for Ricky getting the hot tag to his son. Kerry blocked a superkick and hit a V-Trigger for the win on Sal to help Team Rock N’ Roll advance.
The Champions Series now has their finalists with Team Tyrus and Team Rock N’ Roll which will happen on the live episode of NWA Power on January 31. Calling this the season finale, the NWA seemed to indicate there were going to be no more episodes until then so we will have to see what they have until then, if anything.
Final Thoughts:
The wrestling on this show was mostly good, but it is so hard to invest in the stories being told because they make so little sense. Or, if they make sense, they aren’t explaining how. As I said in another recap, it’s like reading a book with half the pages torn out. There could be good stories here, but it gets bogged down by the booking so badly. Add in the ridiculously complicated Champions Series rules that keep changing and this only becomes a more frustrating experience for a viewer.
I want this show to be good. It could be great. They have a lot of talented people working for them. But, the booking is failing them again and again.
This week’s NWA Power was all about the continuing Champions Series. As a reminder, it’s where teams of eight wrestle and every member of the winning team will receive title shots in the future. Points are awarded depending on the style of finish.
The show opened with Kerry Morton and Kenzie Paige introducing their teams: Team Rock ‘n’ Roll and Team Pretty. We now know the six (and final?) teams. Last week, we were told an algorithm chose the teams, but Morton said he chose Dak Draper and Mims while Rhett Titus was on Paige’s team. Trevor Murdoch was also on her team.
They added graphics this week to show who was on each team before their specific tag team matches which is a significant improvement. I was very pleased with this. It seems the week between shows allowed the production crew to make it a bit more clear who was facing who.
Trevor Murdoch & Rhett Titus (Team Pretty) defeated Mims & Dak Draper (Team Rock ‘n’ Roll)
A good match is a good match, and this was great. The finish was fantastic and Team Pretty actually came across like a team with all of them celebrating when Murdoch won. I liked that. As much as the points system is convoluted, booking the team like they did in this match was excellent.
Murdoch hit Mims hard after being tagged in after a friendly opening grapple between Mims and Titus. Murdoch crossfaced Mims and looked like he as going to beat the younger wrestler into oblivion, but Mims slammed him and hit a splash for a two count. Draper tagged in and shot for a single leg on Murdoch, who just stomped on his head and then tagged in Titus.
Kenzie Paige and Aron Stevens, who is both her assistant in the tournament, went nuts for everything Murdoch and Titus did, which added to the heat for the match. Stevens being the assistant for Pretty Empowered would be awesome and much better than his current feud with Question Mark II.
The wrestlers being the audience again this week made for a very hot crowd which makes these shows fun to watch. Draper hit a knee drop on Titus before tagging out to Mims. Mims and Draper were eager to show who was stronger at the expense of Titus who suffered through all the power moves.
Draper did a stretch muffler and tagged out to Mims after failing to tap him out. It is a bit weird that the babyfaces were getting the heat on Titus to make a hot tag to Murdoch, but technically both teams are babyfaces. Titus made the hot tag and took Mims’ head off with a series of lariats and a big boot, but got low bridged to the floor. Murdoch ran around the ring and hit a bulldog off the top rope on Mims, which was actually a really clever finish.
– After the intro, we saw the seventh and eighth teams (and final? I think?) in Team Rebelion and Team Gold. Chris Adonis was in the ring to take on Jax Dane. At least I know more about teams 5-8 then I do about teams 1-4 last week. The graphics, again, showed everyone who is on both teams and which guys were facing off. They were nice looking graphics as well.
Chris Adonis (Team Gold) defeated Jax Dane (Team Rebelion) via DQ
Normally the DQ would be a bad finish, but it actually played into the story of the tournament layout they are going for as it prevented Team Gold from getting six points for the submission, and got them three points for the DQ instead. It is still convolute, but actually made sense within the context of the rules they laid out.
Adonis tried to lock up with him multiple times, but Dane played the classic heel role running away. I will say that they introduced the idea of all the teams having assistants for the first time in this episode as opposed to co-captains like the last Champions Series. It makes me wonder who the assistants were for the previous teams. There were supposed to be no managers at ringside, but Chris Silvio, Esq. jumped on the apron and distracted Adonis before going back to the crowd.
Velvet Sky rightly said it should have been a DQ. Adonis got hit with a Samoan drop and put in a bear hug, but he fought out and hit a flying shoulder tackle. It is not often you see Adonis acting as the small babyface in a match.
Adonis hit a spinebuster and went for the Master Lock, but Dane shoved him back to the corner before hitting the Pop The Trunk lariat. La Rebelion asked him to do the Master Lock, so he tried, but Adonis fought out and put it on Dane, who low blowed Adonis to only let Team Gold get three points rather than six for the submission.
– Ella Envy and Kenzie Paige cut a great promo about how Paige was going to lead Team Pretty to victory.
Alex Taylor (Team Rock ‘n’ Roll) defeated Luke Hawx (Team Pretty)
After a short opening segment, Hawx took control after blocking a back leapfrog and hitting an awesome back suplex on Taylor. Taylor necked Hawx on the middle rope but held on and drove him face-first into the apron. Hawx got away from a Cradle Shock and hit a spinning kick with both men going down. Hawx hit a protoplex for a two count.
Taylor later shoved Hawx off the top rope and went for a senton, but missed. It seemed like Taylor slipped, but thankfully he landed okay. Hawx went to the top rope and Taylor cut him off, finally hitting Cradle Shock for the pinfall in a perfectly fine match.
Team Pretty and Team Rock ‘n’ Roll are tied at five points each.
– Chris Silvio, Esq and Jax Dane were with May Valentine. Silvio said the full nelson was an illegal hold that cuts off oxygen to the brain…which is not true. He also said he was in the hold for five minutes, but it was about ten seconds. Silvio said that the only thing that mattered was Dane coming out on top. He didn’t, so Dane might want to look into firing him for better representation.
– Jordan Clearwater cut a promo about being a captain and how he was an alternative last year. Team Rebelion buried him. Clearwater’s assistant was Magic Jake, who also cut a promo on Clearwater saying he wouldn’t be pushed around.
Colby Corino (Team Rebelion) defeated AJ Cazana (Team Gold)
This main event match was fantastic. It wasn’t long, but what they did made sense and had a built in story with the leg work from Corino and the power of Cazana.
Corino tried to run away as Cazana threw him around the ring, and he failed to each time. Cazana nailed him with some chops and threw him across the ring again. Corino ducked a punch and thought he was smart, but turned into a clothesline. Corino dodged a stomp and Cazana’s knee buckled. It was a simple spot, but it worked as Corino went to a dragon screw and started working the knee — a perfect transition to getting the heat.
As Corino had a kneebar, Cazana reached over and powered him out of it, leading to Corino charging in the corner straight into an STO. Corino dodged an elbow and went right back to the knee, transitioning to a half crab. Somehow, Cazana managed to counter into a kneebar of his own and Corino tried to fight out with a kick, but that made Cazana angry, so Corino had to go to the ropes.
Corino dumped Cazana to the floor with a hurricanrana, and went for a second on the floor, but Cazana caught him, power bombed him on the apron, and went for a suplex. Corino slipped into a chicken wing after stomping his knee and Cazana passed out. This match was awesome. Team Rebelion is ahead with six points to three for Team Gold.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, this episode was infinitely better then last week’s. I am always fair, and as much as I didn’t like last week, I actually loved this episode of NWA Power. Even with the convoluted points system, the booking made sense within the rules of the tournament, everything progressed nicely, and we got to know each of the teams involved.
If they did this last week, I would have had much less trouble with the episode. I’m glad they learned from the mistakes of last week and corrected quickly for this one. This was an excellent show.
