SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
OPENING MONTAGE – HIT: The focal point of everything NWA is Kamille and her slient treatment and dealings with Nick Aldis and others on the roster. We are reminded of her interfering in the melee during the Colt Cabana-Cowboy James Storm National Title match, where although Kamille attacked Ken Anderson, it did not help Storm as he lost his title back to Cabana. I like how, with every episode, we get a little bit more added to Kamille and her story, which just keeps me anticipating the payoff.
NICK ALDIS PRE-MATCH PROMO – HIT: Like everyone watching NWA Power(rr) regularly, Dave Marquez inquires as to just what is Kamille’s deal? However, our world’s champion, Nick Aldis, plays very coy. He even shoots down his perceived inflation of Marquez’s questioning by saying, “If the internet is talking about it, oh, then it has to be at the top of my priorities!” Yep, not bothered at all. Aldis lets us all know that if Kamille is not at his side and managing during matches, her own actions are just that – her own. Aldis declares his match with Trevor Murdoch (already in ring) to be an exhibition, announces he respects Big Trev, but also knows that Trevor isn’t a title contender, so why even bother putting the belt on the line? Ahhh English smugness. Yes. This is a hit.
TREVOR MURDOCH vs NICK ALDIS, NON-TITLE MATCH – HIT (WITH A HUGE MISS): I love both Aldis and Murdoch, but this here is studio wrestling, so of course we’re getting 5-8 minutes, but in that timeframe, it delivered. We got the handshake at the beginning, which has become a staple of Aldis, and I love it because he’s neither heel nor face nor tweener. He’s champion. That’s more important. Murdoch relied on old school offense, because, hello, that’s what he does! After some armbars and good hammerlocks from Murdoch, Aldis broke the hold by straddling the rope and Big Trevor kicked the middle rope, sending the National Treasure’s treasures into a world of hurt. I like a good cheap shot that’s deliberate and right in your face. Maybe that’s not a cheap shot, but rather an appropriately priced shot.
After some scoop slams on Aldis, Murdoch gets the near fall with a well executed top rope bulldog but goes to the top rope again which was his downfall. In either a botched spot, or something that I just can’t figure out, Trevor climbs to the top but falls off due to what Jim Cornette called a knee buckling. Aldis pounced, applies a cloverleaf and gets the tapout win. It ends with Aldis reiterating his respect for Murdoch, and his crafty bastardness, and shakes hands. So in short, good match between two good competitors that did the best with a short time and added more to both Aldis, the champ who wins with smarts and guile, and Murdoch, the bruising veteran that still has the ability to slug it out and maybe catch a huge upset on his day. Oh, right the huge miss. Cornette. Murdoch. Fried chicken. Ethiopia. At least they did edit it out, but no, I don’t have it in me to further address this mess. Let’s move on.
ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS/THE WILD CARDS SPLIT PROMO – MISS: Okay, this was just weird all around. Rock & Roll come to the podium with Marquez and say that they’re eight time NWA tag champs looking for nine and then walk to the ring? But they don’t! They merely go the long way to the back to make way for the current NWA tag champs, the Wild Cards, who basically say nothing interesting, but Wild Card Thom, in a nonplussed tone, let’s us know that “Rock and Roll Express can kiss my ass.” The crowd didn’t like that. We get their awful catchphrase of “Birds of a feather flock together – WILD CARDS!” Yeesh! The one good part of this segment is Dave Marquez asks what the Wild Cards have going on with Kamille (common thread!) after the fracas to close last week but the ever loquacious Thom informs everyone, replying, “We’re just friends.” Aaaaaaand scene. Just a weird segment between two teams that we expect to fight for the belts at some point but neither spoke about the other and it progressed nothing also.
QUESTION MARK vs RICKY STARKS – HIT, KINDA: Colt Cabana, with his National Title, is on commentary and the crowd is hot for Question Mark! The gimmick is just so silly that how could you not be? Classic match story of big guy with strength versus the smaller guy with speed and agility. We get some awesome chops from Question Mark to the back and traps of Starks that could almost rival the silliness of the Bionic Elbow. It ends with Mark charging at Ricky, missing, falling outside the ring, Starks going for a tope thaaaaat – I don’t know what it does because he didn’t touch anyone – and then Aron Stevens (formerly Aron Rex/Mizdow/Damien Sandow) runs in from behind and both he and Question Mark assault Ricky ending the match in a no contest. Colt Cabana leaves the announce desk to help Starks and the heels back off. Sure, okay, fine, at the surface, this match was nothing, but the overall energy from the small audience for the gimmick of Question Mark really draws you in for his matches and this was good enough.
ELI DRAKE PROMO – HIT AND MISS: Let me talk to ya! In short, I like Eli and think he gives good promos and the point of this was to address last week’s interference in the National Title match and start a program with Ken Anderson. Eli does good mic work, but Anderson is why this segment is a miss. He’s boring, he bumbles his lines, and I just personally don’t like him either. Anderson, sticking up for Cabana I guess, wants to fight Drake right then and Drake allows Ken to think they but instead attacks him with an iron turnbuckle post to good heat from the crowd. I’m just personally not interested in a Drake-Anderson feud and think Drake should be closer to the National or World title mix, but this was a good start with a bad finish. I guess the one good thing about the end was Drake is now clearly a heel.
ALLYSIN KAY/ASHLEY VOX vs THUNDER ROSA/MARTI BELLE – HIT: Before the match started, Belle and Rosa were with Marquez at the podium going on about a woman they saw last week, a phoenix, she’s real, they know they saw her! Kay and Rosa are in a heated feud, and the ref has trouble keeping them at bay for the bell, but he eventually calls for it and for the early part, Ashley Vox was in control until Marti Belle destroys her with a tremendously sold pump kick. Belle and Rosa took control of the majority of the match and cut off the ring while isolating Vox. We get a hot tag in both corners and after slugging it out mid-ring. Top turnbuckle hijinx come near the end with some very strong clubbing forearm smashes between Thunder Rosa and Allysin Kay that led to a superplex and then that woman they saw! She’s here! She’s coming to the ring! Who is she?! She’s “a walking legend,” as Joe Galli stated and “a legend of women’s wrestling” came out of Cornette’s mouth – it’s Melina! (Did I see another Melina’s career? When did she become a legend?) It ends with those haunting drums that have been the beat to Thunder Rosa segments and the three women posing over our downed women’s champ, Allysin Kay.
I loved this. Thunder Rosa has hit the ground running; the turn of Marti Belle was good; and I can accept the addition of the “legendary” Melina. Good strong heel contingent, but I especially love three women of color – two mestizo Mexicans and one Afro-Dominican. That’s a big hit for me, plus the obvious is a build to Thunder Rosa vs. Allysin Kay for the title and I’m definitely into that.
KAYFABE COCKTAIL AD – BIG MISS. BIG BIG BG BIG BIIIIIIG MISS: So far, the Austin Idol spots have been moderately funny, but one touting date rape by drugging a neighbor woman alone in her house because you’re lonely on a Friday night? Come on. Just, WTF.
COLT CABANA & RICKY STARKS vs. ARON STEVENS & QUESTION MARK – MISS: This had all the stuff we hated about Miz and Mizdow with Question Mark being Mizdow and Stevens being Miz. They traded poses and gestures for the crowd as only Question Mark got cheers and Stevens got all the boos. It just went on too long for my tastes. A good quote from Cornette finally as he says Question Mark wrestles like a cow on ice. Yeah, no idea, but I like it for some reason. The same gimmicky offense of chops and throat strikes from Question Mark on Starks as they mostly run the same style matchup they had earlier in the night. Aron Stevens comes in off a tag and decides to moon the audience, but thankfully, no cameras were on that side. That doesn’t stop the pain, though, because Corny makes a goddamn “Moons over MiHammy” reference like he just can’t wait to get to Denny’s after taping. Ricky awards Aron with a sling blade and hot tag to Cabana as the faces get some work in finally, but not for long. Starks tags back in and tries to remove Question Mark’s mask, but Aron Stevens interferes, gets the throat spike from Question Mark, who tags in Stevens and Aron gets the pin. After the match, we get more of the yea/boo gesturing. Ugh. Why was this a miss? Cabana and Starks look to be a National Title feud, so I understand them teaming up. Question Mark is red hot over, and then there’s Aron Stevens who is about as useful as a drawer full of spoons when you’ve got a bowl of ice cream in front of you. I understand he’s hamming it up, but for what? For whose benefit?! Just no thank you.
SHOW CLOSE/JAMES STORM ENDING – HIT: Small, but effective here. Marquez looks to close the show, but a pissed off “Cowboy” James Storm comes to the podium and yells about Aldis not defending his belt, yells about Question Mark and Stevens being gimmicky, yells about about Cabana being occupied by comedy and not defending the National Title. He just yells and pounds the podium a lot! But it worked. It wasn’t too much, it was just passion from a pissed off ex-champion. Before Storm could continue, though, our common thread of Kamille saunters out and whispers something off-mic to James Storm which pleased him greatly. He ends the show with his patented, “Sorry… about yo’ damn luck.” I don’t know what Kamille said, but I like that they keep teasing us with is Kamille working for or against Nick Aldis?
OVERALL – HIT: Kamille is the link between all seven episodes of Power(rr) so far and the slow burn progression is great. The women’s tag match and division is doing good stuff. I especially like three colored minorities as top heels right now and unified. Question Mark is a delightful throwback, and Nick Aldis vs. Murdoch was good. Yes, the Cornette comment taints the show and the GOD AWFUL kayfabe cocktail ad, just no. As a black genderqueer wrestling fan, it is displays like these that show us people making the big decisions are all cis white men. Diversify your booking staff, NWA. For the love of god.
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