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3 hours ago, ComingToAmerica said:

I'm maybe not as into her as Bret Hart or Mick Foley, but Melina is a fine pro wrestler.

I thought she had some pretty darn good strikes but there was some sloppiness when she was doing some other moves.  But she did better than I expected considering how long she's been out of the spotlight.

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She bumped a little awkward of the headscissors and I notice she created a little extra room for herself for the Primal Scream, but I honestly thought it was alright - she is a little bigger around the hips thesedays, but she's still more or less able to pull off her 2 big trademark spots. And I suspect she could do the Sunset Bomb and Muta Lock if she needed to. 

But first and foremost, her strikes and facials were top notch. She was at RAW Reunion last year, and they should totally put her in the MYC. She's a star in a way that, for example, Ken Anderson most certainly is not.

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I'm very glad to see Melina back in a regular spot on my TV (well, monitor). I know she worked some indies here and there over the past few years but it does feel like she's been persona non grata for awhile. She's always had talent and presence and I think she came along a few years too early to be as successful as she would have been if she'd come up through the NXT system era. Her work isn't as crisp as it used to be, but hopefully she was still getting rid of the ring rust whenever the current shows were taped. Also, not gonna lie, it's hard not to notice she's developed those Womanly Hips (TM Dean, I believe) of a maturing lady, and she's dressing to downplay them, but 1) I think we can all agree there's nothing wrong with some junk in the trunk, and 2) that's got to be better for taking bumps. I can't imagine Mick Foley wouldn't be in a wheelchair now if he didn't have that cushion.

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Spoiler
On 1/16/2020 at 8:39 AM, MORELOCK said:

Must every thread be turned into creeps being creepy?

Like, y'all know you can post about female wrestlers without letting us know which ones you want to fuck, right?

 

For what it's worth, no creepiness was intended. Appearance is a big part of wrestling, be it height, weight, or whatever. I mean, I've pointed out Ricky Morton's skullet and Ken Anderson's gut in my reviews, and I don't think anyone saw that as objectifying. It's just part of the presentation. I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't see anybody going even remotely Cibernetico here (I've lurked a long time). And speaking for myself, I mean, dude, I write 10 page NWA Powerrr reviews nobody reads just out of my enjoyment of the show and mentioned repeatedly how talented I think Melina is, in no context beyond her ringwork. Give me a shred of credit.

** Also, fuck I'm bad at message boarding. I spolierized the quote I was responding to accidentally and don't know how to un-spolierize it.

Edited by Doghouse Reilly
blatant misuse of spolier tags
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Spoiler

We open with a recap of last week’s main event finish and angle, with Ricky Starks hanging on for a time limit draw after a battle with YOUR Real World’s Champion, “National Treasure” Nick Aldis, managing to lead in to a six-man challenge between Aldis’s team, the Wild Cards, plus a ringer in the form of Big Poppa Pump, Scott Steiner. So far, the only name we’ve heard from Morton’s team is Robert Gibson. I have to be honest, for some damned reason, I thought this was going to be a match at the pay-per-view, so I’m getting a pleasant surprise. Hopefully. Gibson is understandably diminished, and I’m wary of what Steiner can and can’t still do in the ring. You can protect them in a six-man, but still…


Anyway, quick cut to a super-cheesy “BREAKING NEWS” graphic that teases YOUR Real World’s Champion, “National Treasure” Nick Aldis invading Ring of Honor and attacking Marty Scurll. Guess Nick thinks RoH’s booking sucks now, too.

Intro runs, so play that Dokken.

We pan the crowd at GPB Studios in Atlanta, GA and throw to the announcers, Joe-Jitsu Galli and “Beef” Stu Bennett who announce the six-man as tonight’s main event and then they send it to David Marquez at the interview station. Senior Marquez wastes no time in bringing out the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express. The nine times and current World Tag Team Champions walk out and are looking happy to be here. Gibson is wearing his “LOYALTY IS A HOAX!” t-shirt that he’s had on in previous shows, and I’d love to hear the story behind that one. Incidentally, Ricky is sporting a fairly metal Collar x Elbow tee himself. Ricky, to no one’s surprise, cuts a sympathetic babyface promo, reminding us that he and Robert are men of the people, but still have one hell of a resume. When Marquez asks about Ricky’s proxies for the six-man, Gibson slyly demurs. Let ‘em wonder about it; maintain that element of surprise, boys. The Express as the wily veterans who’ve seen ALL this shit before and know how to make it work are a lot of fun, and frankly, that’s the only reasonable way they can be competitive with the main roster.

Tonight: Strictly Business vs. Team Morton, Exclusive Footage of Aldis invading Ring of Honor, and the brackets for the Television Title Tournament shall be revealed! Thank you, interstitial.

We come back to a Joe Galli voiceover of the Hard Times graphic. Apparently the tourney is a one-nighter, with all matches happening live at Hard Time on January 24. Please buy the show, if you’re so inclined. I’ve already bought the thing, so I’ll probably spend way too much time writing up a report for it as well. Bizarre hobby I’ve picked up here. Anyway… we’ve got an eight man field. In Block A, we’ll be seeing the venerable Tim Storm fighting one of those Dawson boys. Which one? Stay tuned to find out the winner of tonight’s qualifier! The other first round match of Block A will be “Absolute” Ricky Starks facing, um, “OPEN SLOT.” This spot is going towards an as yet unannounced talent not on the NWA roster. Galli says they’ll be announced next week, however. Surprising; I would have guessed they’d leave them a mystery until the PPV.

Block B, first opening round match will feature the other open slot facing “Outlandish” Zicky Dice. Well, unless it’s going to be a throwaway joke, I don’t like Zicky’s chances there. Match 2B will have the winner of next week’s final qualifying match between Trevor Murdoch and Thomas Latimer jobbing to facing the Question Mark. Well, I guess Aron Stevens might bumble and cost Mr. Mark the match somehow. I’m afraid they’re going to indulge in Stevens’s Belt Quest angle, though and put the TV title on ?.

We’re back from the infographic to the interview podium, with the TV Title wrapped around the presumably now-empty fishbowl. Dice and Starks are already there, flanking Marquez and wearing oddly complimentary colors. I wonder if they set that up, because it suddenly strikes me that these two could be fun working together. Could. Zicky immediately casts aspersions on Ricky’s NWA credentials, who quips back that Dice is a “broke-ass Guy Fieri,” which pops the crowd. Zicky steps on the pop a tad, angrily shouting “I don’t get your reference!” a couple of times, but Starks rolls on, declaring he’s “… done a lot around here. Your mother, for starters.” Juvenile, but effective, Mr. Starks. “And I sent her right back to Flavortown.” Heh… if the crowd isn’t chanting “Guy-Fee-Air-E” at Zicky during his next match, I will be shocked. Man, Starks is at least a notch or two above Dice in mic skills. Both are cartoonish, but Starks comes off as natural and relaxed, and his zingers don’t sound rehearsed. Zicky comes off as… well, as a guy that grew up watching WWF/E overproduced promos. Starks is cool, Zicky is a clown.

Zicky doesn’t have a Wikipedia page, but a (very) little Google-mining turned up that Zicky was apparently the front man for a pop-punk band called “Heart To Heart” (hopefully they did a cover of Barracuda) which became a favorite of one Seth Rollins during a Midwest tour, who agreed to train him when Zicky asked. Suddenly, my immediately nonplussed gut reaction to him and his work makes sense.

https://www.altpress.com/features/pop_punker_to_pro_wrestler_the_story_of_zicky_dice/

Anyway, we jump straight from the interview station to the ring, where Zane Dawson and Dave Dawson are about to have their TV Title tournament qualifier. Crowd is amusing themselves before the lock-up, chanting “Let’s go Dawson! / Dawson sucks!” Referee Not-Adam Cole is showing concern that Zane isn’t ready to go with a busted hand, but Zane is having none of it. Dave, the bald one, and Zane, the especially not-bald one are jawing at each other and get literally head-to-head. Zane is wearing a wrap on his right hand and wrist, selling the previous attack from Wild Cards and setting up the story of whether or not Dave will go after his brother’s injury to get into the tournament. Collar and elbow leads nowhere as they’re perfectly matched, but Zane’s selling that hand, opting instead for a left-handed test of strength spot. Kick to Dave’s gut, and Zane clamps on a headlock, again with the left arm, leveraged with the right, but below the hand and wrist. Good, old school attention to detail by Zane. Dave throws him off and we have a collision center ring, with neither guy budging. They both rare up and try again; same result. Looks like the Dawsons have some issues to work out. Makes you wonder how many Dawson family barbecues this has happened at after a few tallboys and some ribs have been downed. Zane shoves Dave into the corner and runs opposite to set up an avalanche or maybe an extra-beefy Stinger Splash, but Dave follows hot on his heels to beat him to the move. Dave goes opposite himself for another blast, and Zane does the same trick, getting his own avalanche in. Pause to sell (and get some wind), and then Zane runs opposite again, but this time is baiting a trap, fulling expecting Dave to chase and putting a boot in his chops when he does. Zane goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a perfectly serviceable shoulderblock off the ropes for a two count. Zane taunts the crowd with “This is what y’all wanted, right!?” and I feel the pathos of Zane Dawson, now forced to fight his own brother for the amusement of strangers who feel nothing but scorn and derision for a man who falls well outside of Western society’s standard definitions of beauty. Zane Dawson, who doubtless has sacrificed much for success in his chosen profession, indeed his art, but now sacrifice his brother, perhaps the only person who knows the struggle of his tortured heart, as his life mirrors his brother’s like no other. Today, we are all Zane Dawson.

Zane whips Dave, no, reversal, and it is Zane hitting the ropes. Dave sets up a Samoan drop, but Zane slips out, following up with a big boot to Dave’s mush. Zane taunts Dave in, who tries a running clothesline but misses, and Zane hits the ropes for momentum, only to get a single-leg dropkick (!) from Dave. ‘Atta boy, Dave! Good on ya! Bennett is a little generous in referring to it as a “Beautiful, high dropkick,” but it’s still impressive to see a minivan go aerial. He only gets a two for it, though. Taunts and selling earn both a few seconds of air, and Dave set up a charge into the corner on Zane. “Telegraphed that move!” would be the appropriate phrase here, I think, as he hits nothing but turnbuckle. Zane is working over Dave now, relentlessly smacking him with side elbows. Dave creates some separation with a pieface to Zane, who rears back his broken fist in frustration, immediately realizes he’s limited, and opts instead to hit a headbutt. Good storytelling from Zane, there. Zane’s angry now, tearing Dave’s shirt open to get some meat out for (left-handed) chopping, earning the requisite “Wooo!” from the crowd on each one. Dave’s feeling the pain, and tries to get some separation with a Greco-Roman thumb to the eye. Zane’s a wounded animal after that, and swings his injured right hand wildly, missing Dave and whacking the top rope hard. Zane is selling agony now, and Dave knows this is his best shot to take the momentum, especially with less than three minutes left in the match. Dave is torqueing the wrist on the ropes, and full out striking it. The referee is checking Zane, calling back to his initial misgivings at the start of the match. He’s unsure if the big guy can go on, but Dave is back on him, again torqueing the wrist. This is what the TV Title means, people! It can tear a family apart!! Ref pushes Dave off and back, and Zane NAILS him in the jaw over the ref’s man-bun with the right hand. The commentators have been calling it a cast on there, even though it just looks ACE wraps, and now I know why, as Dave goes down and out. Zane is clutching the hand in utter agony, and lays on his cold-cocked brother for the three count and victory. Zane is practically screaming now, clutching his bad paw, and the ref is calling for help from the back as the crowd is applauding and cheering the match.

Well, the Dawsons just got over with me. That was a simple but well-told story crammed into a four-minute match, and both guys put it all out there in a high-impact sprint. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zane didn’t even work the PPV, pulling out of the tourney to sell the injury and give Tim Storm a bye. My one nit to pick is that I wish that “cast” had looked more like a cast, and not something you’d wrap on a rolled ankle. It didn’t hinder the story or the match in any way, though, with the announcers hitting the point that the hand was broken and in a cast during the match. Just good work all around, and a good showcase for a couple of guys who rarely get the chance to shine like that.

Coming up: Ashley Vox vs. Melina, and Nick Aldis’s invasion of Ring of Honor.

The Hard Times PPV promo with Billy’s sad song plays, and the amazingly cheesy “BREAKING NEWS” graphic runs again, teasing us with more on Nick Aldis’s assault on Marty Scrull at a Ring of Honor event.

But before we hear about that, we go to a piece on Ken Anderson, who wants us to know that he isn’t bitter at all. Nope. No sir; not at all. And hey, who is calling him bitter, anyway? Huh? Colt Cabana professes his belief in him as a competitor and a partner, despite Ken’s ongoing unsavory behavior during his feud with Eli Drake, and that Colt can help his friend turn things around. Anderson, however, professes that he’s 100% on point already, despite footage playing showing the contrary. Colt blames the issue on a lack of communication, but Ken is in full-on denial, and sounds like a bomb waiting to explode as a result. Out-of-shape, bitter, has-been Ken Anderson is far and away the most interesting Ken Anderson ever, and I can buy Colt as a nice guy willing to give his buddy every chance to right the rudder. It’s good, character-based storytelling creating an issue that’s actually interesting, which is remarkable since I’ve never had any use for either guy.

We come back to the ring, as Ashley Vox comes through the curtain looking mad as hell and bent on revenge. Ashley’s been a great underdog and supporting player for the women’s roster, and I’m sure she’s here to put Melina over. Speaking of whom, Ms. Perez herself strides out with a cocky half-sneer on her face, and, after a mildly dismissive look to the crowd, drops down on the apron into the splits and sliiiides under the bottom rope. There’s no mistaking that entrance.

Vox starts the match hot with a running dropkick to a disengaged Melina, who retreats to the corner. Vox runs in but is caught in a headscissors, and subsequently a boot upside her head. Melina sizes her up and runs in to slam her face down on the canvas. Perez has anger all over her face as she just starts whaling away on Vox’s head and shoulder, then just kind of dumps her in the corner. She comes back with a charging boot but Vox slips out between the ropes. Shoulderblock to Melina’s tummy and Ashley is climbing the ropes. She hops on Melina’s shoulder with a sort of kneeling reverse headscissors… thing and kind of awkwardly flips Melina over in the corner. That looked a little rough. I don’t think Melina quite knew how to take it, or was concerned about not having enough room to bump that close to the ropes. Both ladies are pros, however, and Melina is selling discombobulation while scrambling away to the opposite corner, and Ashley is working the crowd. Ashley makes a run for le cannonball, but Melina moves and Vox lands on the back of her head. Perez is fed up, now, and stomping away. She’s larger and stronger than Vox and working like it, getting her composure back as Vox squirms. Now though, she just sticks a knee in Ashley’s back and proceeds to choke her through the ropes and then snaps the back of her head against the top rope in a way that looks thoroughly unpleasant. Seriously, my neck twinged just looking at it. Bennett puts in that he’d taken that move before as well, and it left his neck hurt for two weeks. I believe it. Vox isn’t done, though, firing in shots from underneath. She goes to whip Melina, reversed, but Vox immediately breaks Perez’s grip and just jams a headbutt into her shoulder that staggers her. Melina ain’t having it, however, and rocks Ashley’s skull with a high striking kick. Poor Ashley falls like cut grass, and the announcers sell it like she might be KO’d. Ref is letting it go on, though. Melina picks her up and lays in a kick to her shoulder across her chest, putting Vox right back down. Perez looks like a killer here, and Ashley is doing her job like a champ. Just to prove she’s still in this, though, Vox goes for a roll-up on a now-casual Melina. It was a bit awkward, but between the size difference and Vox being woozy, it actually works in context and may have been intentional. Strikes from Melina now, and the crowd is behind Ashley, trying to inspire her into a comeback. Melina taunts her by turning her face to show her the fans she’s about to disappoint, but Vox uses it to fuel a brief striking comeback. Melina cuts it off with a forearm to the jaw, a look of fury on her face, but Vox is full of fighting spirit, and now they’re exchanging forearms. Melina misses one, however, as Vox ducks behind and goes for her Real Catch fishhook submission. Melina has it scouted, though, and immediately backs her hard into the corner. That’s enough to convince Melina to finish it, and she drags Ashley out to middle ring and drops her with a guillotine legdrop across the chest and leaves it there for the cover and win. Perez takes a moment to soak in the victory, and is now all smiles after proving her dominance. Ashley was just overwhelmed in the match, and made Melina look like a beast. There were a couple of rough patches, and Melina might not be as crisp as she was during her WWE run, but she can bully a smaller babyface around the ring like a star and emotes so well, you can follow the story of the match just by watching her face. Great talent; glad she’s back on the radar again.

We watch a replay of Melina’s guillotine legdrop while Joe Galli calls over Melina for a ringside post-match interview. Galli asks her plans, and Melina, still catching her wind, announces (to no one’s surprise) that she’s challenging for Allysin Kay’s title. Melina calls Kay out then and there, and the Women’s champion obliges. Melina made Vox look like a pixie, but Kay has a few inches on Melina, and they match up well. I just wish Kay was a more convincing babyface. That said, she’s more than happy to have a fight with Perez right now. Melina wants it on her own terms, however, and says Kay just needs to be ready to wrestle next week, not now. Seems like the obvious ploy for Melina would be to send Marti or Rosa (probably Marti, so she can do the job) in for a match with Kay next week and soften her up for Melina to challenge at the PPV, but I guess we’ll see. Perez then walks off without a backwards glance, while Kay rages.

We cut to backstage at a Ring of Honor show in Atlanta, and we’re following Nick Aldis as he gets ready to unleash some hell on his former good mate Marty Scrull. Aldis is dressed as a security guard, sneaks though to the ring, where he sends Scrull shoulder-first into the ring post. Just to hammer the point, he yanks open the security shirt (buttons fly!) and reveals an NWA Powerrr shirt underneath to taunt the RoH fans. Aldis and Scurll being friends, and Marty more or less being given the book in RoH, this could lead to some very interesting things depending on how much of an invasion angle either company wants to run. I don’t know that we even need a full-on NWA vs. RoH war, just Strictly Business and Villain Enterprises. fighting across both companies would do. Maybe get the Briscoes involved, since they already sort of declared a war on the NWA back at the Crockett Cup. It’ll get tricky if they go full company vs. company since Aldis has so fully embraced being a heel. We’ve just gotten told the NWA fans they need to be booing the guy. It’s hard to switch gears and expect them to support him just because he’s on the payroll.

Anyway, we follow that with footage from RoH’s next night’s show, as Aldis leads Kamille and Thom Latimer out to disrupt RoH’s broadcast team. RoH wrestlers and crew eject Strictly Business, and Aldis cuts a promo outside the building, raging that Scurll isn’t there, and that Flip Gordon of all people was in his face. Aldis challenges Gordon, and apparently that’s Nick’s match at Hard Times. Huh… wasn’t expecting that.

Interstitial tells us that Strictly Business vs. Team Morton is still to come, but next its Outlaw Inc. taking on Aron Stevens and the Question Mark. Thanks interstitial! Also, we get an NWA Shop ad… and yeah, I admit it, I bought an NWA Gold Globe logo t-shirt during the sale. I know, I know…

We return from the ad to the interview station, and David Marquez has D’angelo “The Pope” Dinero and Outlaw Inc. over for a chat. Marquez asks the obvious question, and Pope denies actually becoming the team’s manager. He’ll only cop to lending some advice and maybe some help in making sure they aren’t getting overlooked in the tag division. Beyond that, Pope points out that Aron Stevens hasn’t been defending his NWA National title, and posits that Stevens and Question Mark need to fight Eddie Kingston and Homicide to show some greatness. Following up on his hiatus, Marquez checks the status of Homicide, who confirms he’s “ready to go.” Homicide is wearing an “N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton” shirt, and I’m left wondering if this is the first time someone has repped the other NWA on NWA TV. Pope fires up the crowd and takes his team to the ring.

Soon after, Aron Stevens, nose high in the air, comes through the curtain, followed closely by Mongrovia’s own, the Question Mark. Stevens immediately basks in Question Mark’s cheers. Oh hey, the Question Mark now has a flagbearer. Oooh, and Kingston plays with fire by trying to snatch the flag. Stevens should demand the Mongrovian flag be hung from the studios rafters along with the other national flags; maybe threaten discrimination lawsuits against the NWA if they don’t. Kingston and Homicide seem thoroughly nonplussed by the Question Mark. Man, they’re too good to get sacrificed to this gimmick, over as it may be in the studio. Looks like Stevens and Kingston are starting, with Aron going for a kar-rah-taaay kick… which Eddie catches easily and prompts him to eyeball Aron like he’s a damned fool. Of course Stevens is a damned fool, so it’s entirely appropriate. A palm strike from Kingston sets Stevens back on his heels. Aron charges back, right into a forward slamming kinda ura-nage thing from Kingston. Stevens then bails from the ring with a squeal when Eddie threatens a fist. Aron collects himself on the outside, as Tennessee Volunteer Santa Guy kindly admonishes him to settle down. Stevens circles the outside to pick his spot to re-enter, bowing at the Mongrovian flag as he passes. Subtle bit of funny there. Stevens comes in, misses a chop, and takes a sock to the jaw, giving Kingston control. Eddie tags Homicide, and they hit a crisp double vertical suplex. Cover for two. Homicide brings Aron up kind of slowly and shoots him into the ropes for a back elbow. Homicide now mocking Stevens with some air chopping. Homicide seems a little tentative with Stevens, picking him up slowly again. Are they having trouble calling spots? Whatever the case, ‘Cide just whips Stevens into the far corner and lays in with a strong forearm, causing Stevens just to slump down the turnbuckles. Stevens fired into the opposite corner now, but Homicide misses his charge and the jumping elbow he was looking for. “Ready to go” or not, he’s feeling the impact in that injured shoulder. Seems like it would have hurt just as much if he’d hit Stevens noggin, so it was kind of a dumb move, regardless. ‘Cide opts to deal with his injury by saying “Ah, fuck it,” and reverses Stevens into a short clothesline with the bad arm. Eddie is concerned; he sees where that strategy is going to take them already and he’s audibly calling for Homicide to tag out. ‘Cide looks like he has something to prove, however, and stays in. Hubris is a hell of a thing, though, and Stevens drops ‘Cide by yanking him down with the bad arm. Aron throws on a quick hammerlock on the bad and gets quasi-Anderson on Homicide, sending him injured-shoulder first into the corner, right in front of the Question Mark, who looks on impassively. Stevens hurls him into another corner and torques the bad arm around the second rope and keeps pounding away, leading to a falling shoulderbreaker. Eddie is selling it from the corner almost as Homicide. Stevens is working that hammerlock now, and ‘Cide is hurting bad. The crowd breaks into a “Hom-uh-cide” chant that would be hilarious in any other context; I love pro wrestling. Scoop slam by Stevens leads to a crane kick posed elbow drop. Whatta dickhead, that Aron Stevens. He’s making a meal of being in control and Kingston is begging Homicide for a tag, now, shouting encouragement to his maligned partner. Stevens knows how this game works, and when he senses Homicide building some momentum and breaking free from an armbar, Aron tactically shoves Kingston hard, just enough to bring Eddie’s frustration to the fore and cause a good ol’ referee distraction. Tag Team 101. Surprisingly, it doesn’t really lead into a heat spot or heel double-team shenanigans, though, as Stevens just continues working that wrecked shoulder. Hell, I think Stevens just felt bad for Eddie being stuck on the apron with nothing to do for so long and wanted to keep him involved. Crowd is back to the “Hom-uh-cide” chant and I try to think of any other time a group of people would chant the word. Maybe a Tom Fontana panel at a convention? Anyway… Stevens again senses a comeback and launches another attack on Kingston, bopping him in the jaw and putting him down outside his corner. Pope is just watching, arms folded though the whole thing. Stevens charges Homicide and goes up for a backdrop thanks to ‘Cide’s low base. Stevens is dumped right in his corner, and Homicide has his opening to… nope, never mind, Eddie’s done watching regardless and charges in to whale away on Stevens. Hell, now he’s biting him. The ref is mortified. The Question Mark is all business, however, and coolly enters the ring without Eddie noticing. He’s prepping that lethal Mongrovian Spike and times it perfectly as Eddie turns to face him. Poke to the throat and Eddie goes down like a wet noodle. Bless him, it’s a perfect sell; I loves me some Eddie Kingston. Question Mark stalks Eddie into the corner, giving Stevens time to get up… just in time to get caught in an inverted atomic drop. ‘Cide has some life and sets up Stevens for a Gringo Killer, but the bad should just won’t let it happen and he has to drop Stevens. Mongrovian Spike to Homicide and he’s down and out for Stevens to get the pin. Pope is visibly disgusted as Stevens and the Mark take the win and get out of Dodge, while Eddie is checking on the writhing Homicide. Ref goes for help while Pope surveys the carnage. Kingston is apologetic, but Pope ain’t got time for losers, and walks away from his fallen prospects, shaking his head. Interesting… this could go a lot of ways. Hopefully wherever it goes will give Outlaw, Inc. some shine. Eddie and Homicide are too damn talented to be an afterthought.

Interstitial hypes the main and leads to a new gonzo fake commercial. Austin Idol is back and selling a help line for ailing heels. No bookings? No heat? No problem! Call 555 GET-HEAT and schedule your consultation with Dr. Austin Idol, Wrestling Psychologist today! Fuck, I want this as an actual regular gimmick for Idol on the show. Bring him down to Atlanta to manage (and swindle) low-level heels while teaching them old school heel tactics. They won’t win any more matches, but hey, at least they’re getting heat from the marks! Idol just feels like an untapped resource, and this would be a good way to get him involved in something without anyone needing to take it too seriously, and I kind of love the potential meta-narrative. Say Zicky Dice hires Dr. Idol, who starts teaching him proper old school heeling, and the crowd realizes they have to cheer Zicky now to get under his skin. A heel covering his ears and screaming at the crowd to stop while they cheer him wildly because they want to show they hate him tickles me endlessly.

Back from break, and the replay of the set up for tonight’s main event runs, including the arrival of Scott Steiner. Dave Marquez brings out Strictly Business for a word, and Steiner is with them. Ha! Scott brought an old NWA Tag Team title belt with him. Nick Aldis tells us about his first arrival in American wrestling, and how even though he was warned that Steiner was a backstage shark, Big Poppa Pump was instead the man who took him under his wing. Unless I’m mistaken, that would have been when TNA brought Aldis in as Brutus Magnus, some kind of Roman gladiator gimmick, I think. I don’t know… TNA was never my jam. Aldis now makes us all a little nervous by giving Steiner the floor. Marquez steps over to Steiner, who just wrenches the mic away from a resigned Marquez. Steiner gonna Steiner, what can you do? It’s pretty much what you’d expect, and Aldis and company are half-tickled though the whole thing. The NWA bleeps Scott calling the crowd “white trash,” and honestly, I think they just wanted to have something to censor to make it sound hotter than it was. Nice! He busted out “Fat ASSES!” and Aldis pops for that. If they’d bleeped everything except “Fat ASSES!” it might have been the greatest thing ever. Scotty goes an interesting route with the promo, though, talking about how Ted Turner and WCW took things “… to new heights!” Steiner is basically reminding us of his NWA bona fides and how he and (conspicuously unnamed) brother Rick should be considered the great tag team of all time, and as such, how it’ll be a pleasure to beat the asses of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express. Never change, Scott.

No break, we just go to a wide shot as Scott and Wild Cards enter the ring. Kamille is at ringside while Aldis is hanging back to watch from the interview station. Kamille is kind enough to un-snap Scott’s vest, which apparently fastens in the back for some damn reason. Presumably, she also helps to remove his chain mail +2 vs. cruiserweights. Now Team Morton begins their entrance, with Ricky leading out Robert Gibson. Gibson is smart enough not to get in the ring with Wild Cards yet, biding his time on the apron and waiting for his team. Meanwhile, Steiner is amusing himself riling the fans up. Now the second of Morton’s men comes out in the form of Eli Drake. Good choice, and makes sense, since Eli has had a bubbling subplot of Aldis low-key ducking Drake’s challenges for title matches. While Eli and Morton are trading shouts with Aldis, Tim Storm appears as the third member of Team Morton. No shock there; Storm has endless axes to grind with the Champ. Storm eyes Aldis, who is clearly displeased at Tim stepping into the match.

We break to interstitial, presumably to allow the editor to cut through everyone soaking in the heat as the crowd is hot for this.

Back in without further ado, and Drake is starting with Thom Latimer of Wild Cards. Starting hard and high impact, with Latimer pounding Drake into the corner and following up with eyewashes using his forearm and wrist tape. Doesn’t take long for Eli to reverse into a falling neckbreaker, however, and a tag out to Gibson. Drake and Gibson hit a double back elbow, dropping Latimer hard. Robert pops Thom with a right, and in classic style, emphasizes how hard he hit him by shaking out his hand afterward. Another right keeps Latimer on the back foot, and Gibson tags in Storm. Tim looks to be the biggest man in the match. Neither Gibson nor Steiner look like they used to, obviously, but neither man looks like they don’t belong in there. Storm keeps the advantage on Latimer, working an armwringer, and nailing a kick to the gut and later head despite an attempt at a rally from Thom. He follows up with a falling neckbreaker of his own, and Thom Latimer is having a very bad day. Lateral press get two. Storm continues to push, but Latimer creates the separation with a shot to Tim’s throat and brings in Royce Isaacs… who just runs right into a clothesline from Storm. Oh, Royce… Storm picks up Isaacs and hurls him overhead with a fallaway slam. The announcers remind us of Storms victories over Isaacs, and it looks like Morton picked his team well. Isaacs is selling like his appendix just burst. Snapmare from Storm puts Royce in position for a Greco-Roman boot to the damn face, and a cover gets Tim another two count. I like Tim getting invested in winning this match. He’s bound by his promise not to challenge for the championship, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try like hell to help Ricky Morton get a shot. Storm bring in Gibson off a tag, and Hoot comes in long enough to pop a forearm in Isaacs’s face and set up another double-team with Drake, who comes off the second turnbuckle with a punch. Isaacs wants a comeback, but Drake puts him down center ring with a scoop slam. Drake’s feeling good and goes for his leaping elbow drop. Eli gets good air and nails it. Latimer is getting frustrated, but resists the urge to come in. Isaacs is desperate for a comeback, reversing Eli into the far corner, but charges in wildly and eats a boot for his efforts. Drake pops up to the second ‘buckle again while Royce flails, but Latimer tries to interfere from the apron. Eli punches him away, but that’s enough time for Isaacs to grab Eli’s boot and yank him down. Drake whacks the base of his skull on the top turnbuckle on the way down and finally the heels have control. Drake is discombobulated, and Isaacs decides to tag Steiner in. Scott’s slams Drake’s head into the same turnbuckle he fell on and hits him with a heavy-handed chop. Steiner, between his shaved head and black gear, is giving off a Superstar Billy Graham vibe, circa the karate master era, just without the karate. Well, Graham didn’t have karate either, so it’s an accurate impression, intentional or not. Another chop, and Scott takes Drake over with a pretty good little belly-to-belly suplex, and pulls Eli up by the hair when the referee starts a count. Protect that suplex, Scotty. Tag to Latimer who comes back with a double axehandle to Drake’s back… wait, no, the ref didn’t see the tag and isn’t allowing it. Haha, Latimer holds his hand up high so the entire building can see the tag this time and bitches at the ref for being a stickler. He takes over the offense, locking on a cravat and working it in while Aldis shouts at Drake from the podium to give it up. Drake punches out, but Latimer drops him out of a charge with a back elbow. He get only a two off that, despite hooking the leg. Still some life in Drake, who is carrying the workload for his team. Thom tags Royce, but doesn’t depart the ring without giving a mean little stomp to Eli’s left arm. Isaacs doesn’t take the lead and instead opts for a chinlock. Eli is trying to find a purchase on Isaacs to leverage out, but isn’t getting any help. He works his way up, but is dropped back down almost immediately, negating the comeback. Drake turns and punches out, though, only to get folded up in a backdrop suplex from Isaacs. Leg is hooked, but Eli powers out. The Big Bad Booty Daddy wants some, and Isaacs tags him in. Stomp, chop, punch, chop… not complaining, just calling it. Steiner shoot Drake into the ropes but misses his Steinerline. He does catch Drake on the rebound, though, plants him with an overhead vertical belly-to-belly. Yeesh! I know Eli helped him a lot on that, but still, dude, that’s your head you’re entrusting to the world’s stiffest Shoney’s franchise owner who almost qualifies for Social Security, there! Steiner gets a cover for two and opts to drag Eli to the corner for heel cheap shots from each of the Wild Cards. Isaacs tags in as Bennett gets the line of the night describing Scott Steiner as being “… (J)ust like a fine wine. He will punch you right in the face.” Stu either has very good taste in wine or very, very bad. Royce is keeping the pressure on Drake with strikes and a running clothesline. He’s feeling cocky; I’ll be legit shocked if he isn’t the one taking the pin. He leaves Drake draped on the bottom rope for Latimer to jab behind the referee’s back. As the faces complain, Royce makes an exaggerated tag to Latimer. Miiiind games. Thom pounces on the prone Drake to cover, but gets just another two count. He opts for a rear chinlock to wear Drake down further, but Eli’s firing up and elbowing out… until Latimer rakes the eyes hard. He then throws Eli to the ropes, but puts his head down and eats canvas via a DDT by Drake. Both are down and wobbled, now. Aldis is now concerned. Both men make it to their corners, and tag out. Now it’s Isaacs and Gibson meeting center ring, with Gibson getting the better of it with his right hands. Robert shoots him in and nails a back elbow. Isaacs reverses the momentum and send Gibson to the corner. A short charging shoulder block is avoided, and Gibson elevates himself into to a smooth roll-up off the top turnbuckle for two on Isaacs. Kick from Gibson is caught, but Robert’s legs are heavy, I’m afraid, and it kind of awkwardly ends them both on the ropes. Robert recovers fast, though, and takes control shooting Isaacs into the ropes and catching him coming off in sleeper. Royce is quickly extricated by Latimer, who gets a shot from Drake and is sent outside. Latimer isn’t liking that, and drags Eli out as well. Meanwhile, Steiner and Storm have gotten into it next to the crowd. After Storm clobbers Steiner, Kamille make a run at Tim and HOLY SHIT does she just lean right in to a man-sized bump on the steel steps when Tim dodges her. ‘Atta girl; make sure you pick up your teeth before you leave. Needless to say, Latimer is distracted by his lady becoming a crash test dummy, and the ref is focused there as well. Steiner and Storm are brawling off camera, while Gibson and Isaacs are in the ring. Drake slips in and hits a reverse stunner-type move that leaves Royce ripe pickings for a roll-up from Robert Gibson for three and the victory. The crowd is going absolutely ape shit and Aldis is wog-boggled. Gibson embraces Drake, and Morton holds his team’s hands high as the crown chants “ROCK-AND-ROLL!” Steiner is furious and Aldis is stunned, while Drake is taunting the champ. Handshakes and high-fives all around for the faces as Ricky Morton will get his shot at the Ten Pounds of Gold. It’s definitely a feel-good moment to end on, as the Dokken is rockin’ and the credits are rollin’.

NWA Powerrr is old school in all the right ways. It’s just talented believable wrestlers performing their craft and telling their stories at a high level in front of a hot crowd that appreciates it all. I’m a big fan.

NWA Powerrr | Episode 14 "Strictly Business Takeover" review... spolierized for size.

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Whilst I am absolutely all in favour of women's wrestling being on a broadly equal footing, am more than happy for woman wrestlers to not cater to the male gaze, and broadly think people should erm...keep it calm on this board, ultimately Melina being attractive is part of her presentation and it's fine to discuss that in good humour. Being a gentleman is not the same as being an eunuch. Here I think we were being body positive, in the context of a wider discussion of her work.

 

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I have to laugh at Eddie and Homicide wearing Purple Rain and Straight Outta Compton shirts at the same time considering I just got both of those on vinyl for Xmas. Was that only like the second time Stevens has actually wrestled on Power? Gotta love the Mongrovian flag having an anteater on it. 

"Make 'em think ya got leprosy!" from Idol is great and then you got Scotty coming out with "carolies" and "when Ted Turner bought the AWA". Perfectly fine six-man. And we got a cravate! 

 

 

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I really kinda want to see the heels just destroy Ricky Morton right as he's about to pull off a win. Extended beat-down, face shredded on the floor, you name it; just wring every bit of hate for Aldis and sympathy for Morton out of those fans as they possibly can. I love the vibe of the NWA studio show, but I really kind of want to see if they can get those fans to move from "in on it" to full-on murderhate for the heels. If anyone can inspire that, it's got to be a bloodily massacred Ricky Morton, right?

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2 hours ago, Doghouse Reilly said:

I really kinda want to see the heels just destroy Ricky Morton right as he's about to pull off a win. Extended beat-down, face shredded on the floor, you name it; just wring every bit of hate for Aldis and sympathy for Morton out of those fans as they possibly can. I love the vibe of the NWA studio show, but I really kind of want to see if they can get those fans to move from "in on it" to full-on murderhate for the heels. If anyone can inspire that, it's got to be a bloodily massacred Ricky Morton, right?

Elder abuse is wrong

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Thunder Rosa looked great as always. the Gauntlet was nice in providing a longer match than usual. Anderson turning on Cabana like that seemed a little abrupt. Looking at the brackets, I'm fearing Anderson winning the TV title tournament which I wouldn't mind except for that it would be mean Tim Storm going out in the first round and that would suck. Tim would be my preferred choice to win it. Wasn't expecting Stevens/Steiner to be added but glad we get more Steiner. Aldis/Morton was fun, but the build up to it was great in making it feel like an epic match. the Eli Drake/James Storm team is awesome, loved their promo together.

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Gauntlet match was the highlight for me. Plenty of good moments and kept the pacing moving at a fun clip.

The Question Mark? remains my favorite character on the entire roster. That Ka-Ra-Tay! exhibition wasn't anything special but i was laughing my ass off.

Aldis/Morton didn't do much for me, but the crowd was into it so it was fine i guess. i didn't buy into the buildup so it didn't mean much IMO.  63 year old Ricky Morton isn't a credible tag team champion, let alone World title contender. 

that "Hard Times" song by Billy Corgan is terrible and sure as hell doesn't build excitement for the PPV. Also, why is the PPV on a Friday? i have to imagine that will hurt viewership. 

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Figured that since more and more people are becoming Tim Storm fans yall might be interested in seeing one of his matches from before he became known outside the TX/LA/MS area. Been told by Tim that until the NWA Powerrr match with Aldis,that this match against John Saxon was Tim's favorite match.

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Enjoyed Hard Times. Thunder Rosa/Allysin Kay was GREAT, absolutely loved that. One of my favorite matches of the year so far and a hell of a showstealer. Super hot split crowd for it as well. I'm glad they went back to this as the focus and original feud rather than holding off for Kay vs Melina. Thunder is greatness. the TV title matches all flew by at a fast pace with the time limit. Disappointing use of Tim Storm, almost as expected. Thought Dan Maff looked good. Cool win for Starks. Eli & Storm make a fun team and that felt like a solid way for the RNR reign to come to an end. Aldis/Flip was better than I expected and ended up pretty good. I'm guessing Marty will win the title now that he's presumably gonna be around for good vs original expectations.

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Couldn't watch the show cuz I have to work, but I read the results. Feels like too early to have put the belt on Starks, unless they're planning on turning one of either him or Murdoch heel. Was there any reason given why Anderson wasn't there? I'm kind of hoping that now that they've been around a few months and established a roster that we start seeing a little less of the R&R Express and Steiner (even though he just showed up). I'm cool with trotting them out every now and then for a promo or something but they should really be establishing new stars and the tag division there is pretty crowded already. 

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