By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NWA Powerrr (Episode 8)
Taped September 30 and October 1, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia at GPB Studios
Aired November 26, 2019 on the NWA Youtube and NWA Facebook Page
A video package focused on the drama involving Nick Aldis and Kamille… The “Into The Fire” opening aired…
Joe Galli stood in front of a generic backdrop and wished viewers watching in the United States a happy Thanksgiving. He said they would make some special announcements during the show regarding the NWA Into the Fire pay-per-view, including the challenger for Nick Aldis and the NWA Championship in a best of three falls match…
Galli threw to footage of Eli Drake being interviewed by Dave Marquez at a Championship Wrestling From Hollywood taping. Drake said he’s heard from people that he reminds them of a guy who raises and elbow and drops elbows, another guy who drinks beer and raises fingers, and another guy who wears sparkly robes and yells “woooo.” Drake said he doesn’t mind the comparisons to those greats.
Drake took issue with Nick Aldis claiming that Drake wants to be just like him. Drake recalled working in the same venue when it was under the NWA banner. Drake impersonated Aldis saying that no one has stepped up. “What about me, dummy?” Drake turned his focus to Ken Anderson. Drake said people say they are similar and it’s a dream match. Drake said he doesn’t get the comparisons. The crowd chanted “Eli Drake.”
Drake said he and Anderson have been to some of the same places and been fired from some of the same places. Drake said the difference between them is that he can’t stop being Eli Drake, and that’s a fact of life…
Powell’s POV: A forgettable promo using Drake’s high standards. In fairness, he didn’t have a specific match to sink his teeth into, so he had to bounce between Aldis and Anderson.
Galli stood in front of the backdrop and encouraged viewers to use #nwapowerrr to say who they want to see challenge for the NWA Championship. Galli said he would have an exclusive interview coming up with Melina. He also teased a piece of Thunder Rosa making her MMA debut…
Galli spoke about the return of “The Rock & Roll Express” Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson and said they would challenge The Wild Cards for the NWA Tag Titles next week… Footage aired of the two teams delivering promos about the tag title match last week…
A portion of the Thunder Rosa “Into The Cage” video aired…
Galli spoke about the remainder of the show and then a commercial aired… Galli recapped Colt Cabana winning the NWA Championship, and also spoke about The Question Mark becoming an instant sensation in the NWA. He set up footage of an empty arena match…
Marquez interviewed Aron Stevens and The Question Mark on the interview set. It was noted that Question Mark would have to unmask if he lost. Stevens said Question Mark is an expect in karate. He said they don’t have a friendship, they have a brotherhood. Stevens said they are adding the stipulation that when Question Mark wins, the Dawsons will have to recite Shakespeare…
1. The Question Mark (w/Aron Stevens) vs. Zane Dawson (w/Dave Dawson). Galli called the match, which Mark won with a Mongolian Spike thrust.
The Question Mark defeated Zane Dawson.
Marquez went to ringside where the Dawsons read Shakespeare while Stevens and Mark stood by. Stevens pulled a wastebasket out from underneath the ring and pretended to throw up in it…
Powell’s POV: Meh. The match was brief and the post match gag was nothing special.
An ad aired for an NWA pin…
Galli stood in front of the backdrop and announced The Question Mark vs. Trevor Murdoch for the Into the Fire pay-per-view…
Footage aired of Melina making her NWA debut on last week’s show…
Galli interviewed Melina in the empty studio. She spoke about watching pro wrestling when she was younger and loved when people fought for something. She said people used to fight for their family and various things. She said that made her want to become a wrestler and sure enough she did. Galli asked why she wanted to come to the NWA. Melina said she won’t just wrestle anywhere, it has to be worthy of her name.
Galli asked her about the role she played in where women’s wrestling his today. Melina said people didn’t care about their entrances, use their flexibilities, or do some of the moves that she did. She said she didn’t get the credit she deserved. Galli brought up NWA Champion Allysin Kay. Melina said Kay thinks she’s the best, but you’re not until you beat the best. Melina said she might be a bitch, but she makes people work when she’s the champion, whereas Kay doesn’t deserve the championship. She said she gets knocked for doing modeling and people think she’s not worthy of being in the ring. Melina said she never had it easy and had to earn everything like everybody else.
Powell’s POV: I’m honestly not sure who we are supposed to like or dislike in the women’s division at this point. Thunder Rosa is the most over, Kay is condescending, and I assumed that Melina was leading a heel faction, but I’m not even sure what to make of her comments.
Ads aired for upcoming NWA related events… An ad aired for Billy Corgan’s latest album…
Galli spoke about the new “The Circle Squared” series.The Corgan announcement regarding the series aired… Footage aired of Melina saying the NWA Women’s Title deserves better than “Allysin Mmmm Kay”…
The second part of the Thunder Rosa documentary aired…
Powell’s POV: There was some cool footage included in the documentary and it showed the agony of real life defeat following her loss. I’m not sure how this will play to an audience that watched expected to see a pro wrestling show, but in the long run this airing humanized Rosa, which could be good for her if the NWA is going to push her as a babyface.
Galli announced Allysin Kay and Ashley Vox vs. two members of Melina’s team for the pay-per-view. Galli encouraged viewers to tweet their selections…
Galli announced NWA National Champion Colt Cabana vs. Ricky Starks in a non-title match, and The Wild Cards vs. The Rock & Roll Express for the NWA Tag Titles for next week’s Powerrr…
Galli ran through the pay-per-view and noted that Eli Drake vs. Ken Anderson will be on the card. He officially announced Nick Aldis vs. James Storm in a best of three falls match for the NWA Championship for the pay-per-view. He wondered what Kamille whispered into the ear of Storm last week and said they would take with Aldis about it next week…
Powell’s POV: Wait, so they are going to ask someone other than Storm or Kamille about what she whispered to him? Anyway, next week’s show looks good on paper. This episode was the worst of the season due to straying from the usual format. It wasn’t all bad, but there wasn’t much in-ring action and they weren’t even in the studio all that much. I initially assumed that the NWA made major edits to avoid having Jim Cornette on the program after last week’s controversy. I wasn’t expecting that to happen and I don’t think it needed to happen, but it would have been understandable if they had.
Billy Corgan wrote on Instagram that this episode was formatted as a “promo build” edition. Likewise, Eli Drake wrote on Twitter that the formatting of this show had nothing to do with Cornette’s departure (see those comments below). It was a no-win situation for the NWA because the pro Cornette crowd is going to be upset by his absence from this episode, but the anti Cornette crowd may not have reacted well and may still be upset if he’s back on next week’s show, which is the last from the initial tapings. Given the circumstances, it’s a lot to ask to remove a color commentator from an entire pre-taped show with the format the NWA uses in the studio, so it’s hard to blame them if they run next week’s episode as it was taped. That said, you can bet that someone will be “outraged” no matter what they do.
I’ve noticed a lot of people under the impression last night’s show was formatted as it was because of the departure of Cornette
It wasn’t.
Episode 8 was filmed/planned that way from the start. It was coincidental timing. It would have aired the same regardless. #Enjoytheshow https://t.co/OGYxqnlp4H
— Eli Drake (@TheEliDrake) November 27, 2019
The TV tapings had James Storm win a triple threat match to get the shot with Aldis. That match will not air as they just announced Storm as the contender last night.
The Question Mark match that aired last night was originally filmed in front of the crowd in Atlanta with Cornette on commentary. Last night it aired as an empty arena match from the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood set.
It’s insulting for Corgan to claim it was always going to be that way when we know that isn’t true.
Not sure why they did the empty arena thing, but I know for a fact that there was discussion of pulling the Triple Threat long before the Cornette thing even happened. They weren’t happy with the way it played out and that had nothing to do with Cornette.
Either way, Lagana needs to publicly own up to this.
Shane Douglas has pointed out how badly edited these episodes are, and this just adds to the feeling that you’ve got someone who can’t actually do the job in a major position of importance.
The current tally on that episode is that it’s way below previous viewership numbers and the like to dislike ratio is terrible (almost 50/50). They’ve got to do a better job of getting out ahead of things instead of acting exactly how someone would if they were scrambling to edit somebody out of the shows after bowing to pressure from twitter asswipes who don’t even watch the show.