One would expect the first episode of a new season to be explosive, but Powerrr takes this time to follow up on Into the Fire with... a lot of exposition?
To be honest, setting the table for the rest of the second season (presumably culminating in the next PPV, Hard Times) is a fine idea. Perhaps I just expected things to be a little more explosive—thanks to its muted and throwback studio setup, NWA does things in a way that lacks the bombast we're used to seeing from a WWE or other major league production.
But I'm getting ahead of myself a little. Let's tackle the big revelations one by one:
The biggest deal on the docket is Nick Aldis finally, and I mean finally shows his true colors. After teasing tensions with Kamille for a couple of weeks (and announcing the end of their partnership on... *checks notes* this same episode) Aldis... goes off on Tim Storm after the latter talks about him while he's doing commentary for the main event?
I'm sure we'll find out more in the coming weeks, but talk about strange timing for this full turn. They could've revealed Aldis as someone less than a gentleman as the finish of the two out of three falls at Into the Fire, but that would mean rushing the story. As it stands, however, the whole thing already seems rushed because Kamille had just officially stopped being the insurance policy on this episode, so that means the big reveal should've been saved for later.
I'm talking much later, because what else would the point be of Marty Scurll coming in to throw out a challenge to Aldis? Turning on Tim Storm feels like a lame-duck move because we've already seen this before, and between this and James Storm acknowledging he's at the back of the line, the company's already priming us to move on from it with the Scurll debut. Nick could've pretended to be the good guy a little longer as he dealt with someone whose nickname is the Villain.
Now Aldis has what seems to be a new Four Horsemen with Kamille and the Wild Cards, but no clear Dusty Rhodes counterpart—unless we really are going with Mama Storm's baby boy. This is going to have to be executed really well to be convincing.
The other big thing they've revealed for this episode is the return of the NWA TV Championship, and a big tournament that's apparently set in another dimension as the rest of the storylines. Both Aldis and the Wild Cards' Thom Latimer are part of the tournament, seemingly existing alongside the bigger picture they've got going on. They've still got time to tie this in with Aldis's turn and the formation of their little band, so we'll also see.
Meanwhile, while a third-tier championship that's always defended is great, when was the last time we saw the NWA Women's Championship defended? We keep seeing the women's division grow, but Allysin Kay is always involved in feuds that only tangentially involve her title. Don't you think it's time she defended it against all these newcomers?
NWA Powerrr 12/17/19 Grade: A lot of talk and exposition, not enough wrestling. While the developments were good, the presentation wasn't compelling enough to be unskippable. B-
The Powerrr Train
- Looking at who's lined up for the TV title tournament and how
AronShooter Stevens has completely taken over the National Championship with his antics, it looks like the new title will become the workhorse belt. I... am not sure how to feel. - Speaking of, what's with all the random "belt" shots in Stevens's promo, which I presume are directed toward WWE and their notorious dislike for that particular terminology? Other than to introduce the Shooter gimmick, I mean. Considering NWA's never really taken onscreen shots at the WWE before, I found this weird.
- I do like the wrinkle of the Dawsons striking up a feud against the Wild Cards by saying they're owed a favor, but the latter didn't get the tag titles back, so...
- But where does this place Homicide and Kingston? Are they still a competitive team at all? I don't want the Rock 'n' Roll Express to be the only face team in the division.
*****
Romeo Moran (@roiswar) is the Editor in Chief of Smark Henry, one of the four hosts of the Wrestling-Wrestling Podcast, and is associated with Philippine Wrestling Revolution. He gets by in this hard knock life through working in publishing. Smark Henry was his and Stan Sy's original vision of a watering hole for local wrestling fans. He roots for the undersized guys who hit hard, and he likes taking your wrestling questions over on his Curiouscat account.
: Collusion Complete){kind=link}