NWA Powerrr – December 17, 2019: The One With A Story
IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance
Powerrr
Date: December 17, 2019
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli
We’re back after a one week absence with I guess the start of the second season. Into The Fire has come and gone with the biggest developments being Aron Stevens taking the National Title from Colt Cabana and Marty Scurll showing up to challenge Nick Aldis, who retained the World Title. Hopefully there is a nice bump in viewership after the pay per view. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look at Scurll appearing at the end of Into The Fire.
Speaking of which, Into The Fire.
The announcers preview tonight’s show.
Here are Aron Stevens, in a gi, and the Question Mark for a chat. Stevens describes himself as a VERY dangerous man because he is now the first ever American to have a third degree black belt in Mongrobian karate. Mark: “KARATE!” Fans: “QUESTION MARK!” Stevens: “DO NOT CALL THIS MAN A MARK!” Stevens lists off the names who have held this title but he is at a different level than the rest of them.
Actually, he is NOT the NWA National Champion, because he is the first ever THIRD DEGREE NWA National Champion, and he has the stripes on the belt to prove it. From now on, you will refer to him as Shooter Stevens. Soon, the two of them are coming after the Tag Team Titles, Mark will be going after the TV Title and Stevens will be having the NWA World Title. Cue Colt Cabana to say Stevens would never win a thing without Mark there to help him. Stevens says he’s a third degree champion and suggests Cabana try some Mongrobian karate lessons.
Cue Thunder Rosa of all people and the men all leave. Rosa shouts in Spanish and here’s Melina, only to have Ashley Vox show up to attack Rosa. The two of them go to crush Vox’s arm but Allysin Kay and ODB make the save.
We look at Ken Anderson jumping Eli Drake from behind. Tonight, they face off in a No DQ match.
Post break, here’s the same thing you just saw.
Melina and Rosa yell at Marti Belle for not having their back out there. Belle says they told her to stay in the back but Melina wants her to do what she means, not what she says.
The NWA TV Title is coming back (that belt is still sweet) and there will be a tournament to crown the first champion. The finals will take place at the still unnamed January 24 pay per view and each match has a 6:05 time limit.
TV Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Zicky Dice vs. CW Anderson vs. Sal Rinauro
One fall to a finish. They go for the rapid fire near falls to start as the time limit is rather short. A triple clothesline puts everyone down with Dice getting up to cover both of them for two each. The double noggin knocker is broken up and it’s a double punch to the face to put Dice down. Dice hits a running Stunner on Anderson but Anderson hits the spinebuster on Rinauro. Anderson is sent into the post though and Dice’s Snake Rattle And Roll (neckbreaker) finishes Rinauro at 2:00.
Post match Dice says he doesn’t need luck because he’s the future TV Champion. Cue the Dawsons to chase him off though and say no one can stand them. Well they can’t stand the fans either and they’re here to expose some truth. James Storm is right: there is a conspiracy around here and they were a part of it. They did the Wildcards’ dirty work but now the Wildcards won’t answer their phones.
Cue the Wildcards with chairs to chase them off but now it’s Marty Scurll coming out for a chat of his own. Scurll has been hearing people asking about where he’s going for the last two months but the truth is he does whatever he wants. If he wants to show up in the NWA, that’s exactly what he’s going to do. He’s heard Nick Aldis talking about being the NWA World Champion for a long time now.
Well he’s known Aldis (and Bennett) for a long time now. Earlier this year, Scurll gave Aldis the fight of his life at the Crockett Cup and he knows he can beat Aldis. The fans seem to like the idea and he’s right here waiting for Aldis anytime anyplace. Scurll brings so much star power to this place that it’s unreal.
Highspots.com ad.
Eddie Kingston joins commentary and has nothing to say about Homicide’s injury.
Rock N Roll Express vs. Zach Mosley/Sean Sims
Non-title. Gibson shoulders Mosley down to start and it’s off to Morton for the Million Dollar knee lift. The Express whip them into each other and roll them up at the same time for the double pin at 46 seconds.
Post match the Express talks about other great names in the NWA’s history and what an honor it is to be considered with them. As for Aldis comparing himself to Harley Race and Ric Flair, he has a long way to go to back that up.
Cue the Dawsons again to say they want the Wildcards so here they are for the brawl.
The pay per view will be called Hard Times.
Dawsons vs. Wildcards
Zane has to fight out of the corner to start but everything breaks down in a hurry. Zane is taken outside with his hand being stomped onto the steps to put him in trouble. Back in and the double teaming ensues, including a wishbone to stretch the legs out. Latimer bites the hand so Dave comes in for the save, only to get taken out in a hurry. A powerbomb/Death Valley Driver combination finishes Zane at 3:05.
Rating: D+. You have to rebuild the Wildcards somehow if you want them to mean anything going forward so having them beat up these heavies is a good way to go. They’re a fine team and if they beat the Express to get the titles back, they might actually be able to survive that rather horrible loss.
After losing at the pay per view, James Storm said he would get his justice when he deserves it. He saw Aldis taking off the turnbuckle pad and taking out Storm’s referee so that wasn’t exactly fair. Storm is willing to go back to the bottom of the pile to get to the top.
Zicky Dice comes back out and we get to see the entrants in the TV Title tournament:
Zicky Dice
Ricky Starks
Caleb Konley
Colt Cabana
Trevor Murdoch
Tom Latimer
Question Mark
Eddie Kingston
Tim Storm
Dave Dawson
Zane Dawson
Nick Aldis
Former TV Champion Nikita Koloff comes out (still looks great) to draw some names for the tournament. Here are some first round matches:
Ricky Starks
Eddie Kingston
Colt Cabana
Question Mark
Aldis and Starks come up to the interview desk with Aldis showing off the NWA pocket square. Aldis talks about the effort it is going to take to knock him off. He’s here to make history so he wants to hold both titles at once. Maybe Starks could even make it to the finals to face him.
Marty Scurll is brought up and Aldis has no comment. He goes on about how people keep coming in here to ask about spots, just like Scurll. Aldis didn’t hear what Ricky Morton had to say but he’s sure it was complimentary. As for Kamille, he knows he needs a real team and not just an insurance policy. You’ll see the team over the next few weeks, but Kamille is no longer his insurance policy. The fans seem to approve.
We get a sitdown interview with Scurll, who took the first chance he had to come to the NWA. He loves the idea of the NWA World Title because it was the title that mattered when he was a kid. Scurll likes to keep people guessing and maybe even he doesn’t know what he’s going to do at times. He’d love to be the NWA World Champion.
Tim Storm joins commentary and he likes the idea of Scurll vs. Aldis.
Here’s Eli Drake, with a sore throat, for a chat. A few minutes ago, you had Aldis out here talking about how things are supposed to be in the NWA but then Drake wasn’t in the tournament. As for Ken Anderson, he send Drake’s throat into the post with a chair but Drake is still standing. Let’s do this right now.
Eli Drake vs. Ken. Anderson
No DQ. Drake slugs away to start and the fans are behind him. A clothesline out of the corner sets up a Russian legsweep and another clothesline puts Anderson on the floor. They fight into the crowd with Drake kicking him low but Anderson gets in a shot to the ribs. They fight behind the cameras with Drake getting the better of it and hitting Anderson in the back with a trashcan.
Drake crushes his face against a barricade but stops to steal a fan’s phone for a picture. They head back to ringside with Anderson sending him into the steps. A chair is thrown in but Drake blocks the Mic Check into said chair. Drake sends him face first into it instead and hammers away, setting up the Gravy Train to finish Anderson at 6:57.
Rating: C. This was a big brawl in the crowd with a few moves thrown in at the end. To be fair though, they had the match at Into The Fire so there wasn’t much of a point to doing the full thing here. Drake wanted revenge and got to beat Anderson up here so everything they did made perfect sense, including Drake winning.
Post match Aldis comes out to get in Storm’s face, saying to keep his name out of Storm’s mouth. They argue some more off microphone so Storm gets in the ring and invites Aldis to join him. The jacket comes off but the Wildcards come in as well to beat Storm down as Aldis approves. Cue Kamille to shove Aldis into the corner….and spear Storm. Kamille kisses Latimer to end the show.
Roll credits.
Overall Rating: C+. There was a lot going on here and I liked it better than most of their usual shows. The biggest thing here was having an actual focus instead of being a big collection of things going on at the same time. Aldis is a full on heel and has a bunch of people gunning for him so now he has his own backup. That’s a basic story that can carry them for a long time as we try to find the next person to take the title from him. I dug this one and hopefully they get some more viewers after a revamped effort to start the second season.
Results
Zicky Dice b. CW Anderson and Sal Rinauro – Snake Rattle And Roll to Rinauro
Rock N Roll Express b. Zach Mosley/Sean Sims – Double rollup
Wildcards b. Dawsons – Powerbomb/Death Valley Driver combination to Zane
Eli Drake b. Ken Anderson – Gravy Train
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at: