NWA Powerrr Review - January 14, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

David Marquez Interviewed NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock 'N' Roll Express

Ricky Morton had a lot to say about how he wrestles for the people and how he's proven his worth by battling the best the business has had to offer over the course of his career. He made his case for why he deserves a shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, and while that's not something I was dying to see a month ago, the story has been built up well enough in recent weeks that I wouldn't mind it. Morton is a terrific talker and he's also shown he can still go in the ring as well.

Zicky Dice and Ricky Starks Discussed the NWA Television Championship Tournament

The NWA has done an effective job of getting viewers familiar with Dice. I had no clue who he was before he entered the TV title tourney, but he's been established nicely in recent weeks with promo segments such as this one. Dice did well, but Starks was simply that much better on the mic in bringing up how he took Nick Aldis to his limit and therefore how Dice is inferior to him. I had no interest in their match previously, but this managed to get me excited for it.

Zane Dawson def. Dave Dawson in an NWA Television Championship Tournament Qualifying Match

I didn't have much desire to see the Dawsons face each other and the quality of the match didn't do much to change my mind. I suppose it made for an interesting dynamic, if nothing else. Plus, it didn't last long, so I can't complain. Needless to say, it didn't matter who won, but as a result of his victory, Zane has advanced to the next round of the tourney where he'll take on Tim Storm.

Melina def. Ashley Vox

I'm somewhat surprised that last week's Thunder Rosa vs. ODB match was better than this. That isn't to say this was bad, but it was clearly designed to be a showcase for Melina before she likely eventually challenges Allysin Kay for her NWA Women's Championship. Speaking of whom, she confronted Melina following her win and demanded they fight right then and there, but Melina backed down. Honestly, I'd much rather see Rosa go for the gold than Melina.

NWA National Champion Aron Stevens and The Question Mark def. Outlaw Inc.

The Pope revealed himself as Eddie Kingston and Homicide's manager before the bout. Homicide also claimed during the segment that he was good to go despite still being hurt. The match that followed was pretty good and told a solid story with Question Mark doing all the work and Stevens scoring the victory for their team. Pope walked out on Outlaw Inc. afterward, so it looks like his partnership with them is already over.

Team Morton (NWA World Tag Team Champion Robert Gibson, Eli Drake and Tim Storm) def. Team Aldis (Scott Steiner and The Wild Cards)

Steiner's pre-match promo was proof of why he's a perfect fit in the NWA. While I have no interest in seeing him wrestle regularly (this very well may have been a one-off for all we know), his unscripted promo style is a real treat. The actual match was very good and the high stakes made it that much more meaningful. The crowd was into the action and popped big when Gibson scored the win for his team. Ricky Morton will now challenge Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship on next week's show.

Overall Show

The streak of strong shows produced by the NWA continues. The wrestling was fairly average on the whole this week (though the main event was entertaining), but the storytelling and progression of various angles was very well done. The brackets of the NWA Television Championship Tournament have begun to take shape, we have an NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship defense coming up next week, and Aldis vs. Ring of Honor's Flip Gordon was also officially announced for the Hard Times pay-per-view. We haven't seen or heard from Marty Scurll on Powerrr much at all lately, but Aldis and Scurll did confront each other at ROH's events over the weekend. I'm excited to see how that working relationship between the two companies develops and if it'll lead to more familiar faces from ROH popping up on Powerrr going forward.