NWA Powerrr Review - December 23, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Pope Interrupted Trevor Murdoch and Zicky Dice

During the verbal back-and-forth between Murdoch and Dice, Murdoch revealed that he has since been signed to a full-time contract with the NWA, which is cool. They were interrupted by The Pope (D'Angelo Dinero), who I don't believe I've seen since he left IMPACT years ago. He's still excellent on the mic and cut a good promo here. He basically put the NWA roster on notice before joining commentary for the following match.

Ricky Starks def. Eddie Kingston in an NWA Television Championship Tournament Qualifying Match

You'd think these matches would suffer from the short time frame, but they haven't so far. In fact, it forces them to keep things interesting and work at a faster pace. This was a lot of fun while it lasted with both Kingston and Starks having solid showings. Starks hasn't picked up a lot of wins lately, so him advancing to the next round of the tourney was the next call. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing him make it all the way to the finals.

James Storm def. Royce Issacs by Count-Out

Before the bout, Issacs introduced his new valet, Mae Valentine. I'm curious if she'll be added into Nick Aldis' faction or she'll just accompany Issacs, but either way, she helps him stand out, especially since Thomas Latimer now has Kamille. His promo was fine, but the subsequent match wasn't much of a match. Issacs got himself intentionally disqualified within a minute, so clearly his feud with Storm isn't over. Speaking of Storm, if it wasn't already apparent at Into the Fire, it looks like he's officially a face again.

Eli Drake and Jocephus Celebrated Christmas; NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis Called Out NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock 'N' Roll Express

Drake's promo didn't give any indication as to what's next for him, but I'll be dammed if it didn't get me in the Christmas spirit (assuming I wasn't already). Him and Jocephus (who was dressed up as Santa like at Into the Fire) spread holiday cheer before Aldis and his crew came out to address what Ricky Morton said about Aldis last week. They didn't come to blows or anything, but they did plant the seeds for something between them soon. I can't say an Aldis vs. Morton match does a ton for me, but if it further cements Aldis as a heel, then I'm open to it.

Thunder Rosa, Melina and Marti Belle def. NWA Women's Champion Allysin Kay, Ashley Vox and ODB

This was basically the entire NWA women's division right here. In other words, they'll have to bring in more ladies eventually to add some variety to the mix. The six-woman tag team match was given more time than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise. Rosa pinning Vox for the victory was what needed to happen as she has the most momentum of the six right now. She challenged ODB afterward.

Tim Storm Addressed NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis

If you told me you thought Tim Storm was one of the best babyfaces in wrestling, I wouldn't argue with you. Sure, he's older, but he never ceases to deliver whenever he has a mic in his hands. He knocked this promo out of the park, addressing Aldis' actions from last week and proclaiming that he has more to prove. It's worth nothing that The Dawsons were with him, so I'm sure Aldis and The Wild Cards vs. Storm and The Dawsons is inevitable.

The Question Mark def. Colt Cabana in an NWA Television Championship Tournament Qualifying Match

Question Mark and Cabana have been going at it for a while now as part of Cabana's feud with Aron Stevens, so this match made sense. This wasn't as strong as the opener, but they made decent use of the time they had. I was actually surprised Question Mark won, but considering he's as popular as he is, I can't say it was a dumb decision. Stevens cut a brief promo from backstage post-match while wearing his karate gear, promising that he and Question Mark will hold all the gold in the NWA.

overall Show

First and foremost, I appreciate the NWA dropping this edition of Powerrr a day early instead of on Christmas Eve when almost everyone will be out or busy (I wish AEW had followed suit with Dark, too). This was another enjoyable episode with progression in the NWA Television title tourney, Aldis' new stable and the women's division. Pope's Powerrr debut was also newsworthy and you can never go wrong with some Christmas joy.