NWA Powerrr Review - January 21, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

David Marquez Interviewed NWA World Tag Team Champion Robert Gibson

Morton is a man of few words (Ricky Morton usually does the talking for them), but it was perfectly logical for him to be interviewed at the start of this show with Morton challenging Nick Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship later on in the main event. He didn't say anything too newsworthy, but he did voice his support for his longtime tag partner heading into one of the biggest matches of his career.

Thunder Rosa def. Tasha Steelz

I've said it before, I'll say it a million more times: Rosa is a total star. She's the complete package and always makes her matches worth watching. Steelz is talented in her own right, but although she had a solid showing, this was all about Rosa. They kept things exciting in the three minutes they had and Rosa went over decisively as she should have. Her post-match promo was short, sweet and exactly what it needed to be.

Joe Galli Interviewed Royce Issacs and Mae Valentine

Galli brought up how Issacs has yet to win a match since being joined by Valentine a month or so ago. He's been pinned twice by Tim Storm and basically chickened out against James Storm. Galli questioned if Valentine is the weak link, which Issacs obviously took exception to. I'm surprised they might be broken up already, but then again, she doesn't add much to his act since he's boring, anyway. Valentine has been incredibly bland so far.

Trevor Murodch def. Thomas Latimer in an NWA Television Championship Tournament Qualifying Match

Murdoch spoke recently about his motivations to win the TV title tourney, so I should have figured he was advancing. Any other time, I'd argue Latimer losing to Mudoch is an odd call, but I didn't mind it here. The match was decent while it lasted and the crowd popped big when Murdoch won. He shouldn't win the title, but I have no issue with him making it to the next round. The Wild Cards certainly haven't had the greatest luck lately.

NWA Women's Champion Allysin Kay and Melina Went Face-to-Face; Kay def. Marti Belle in a No Disqualification Match

I loved everything with Kay and Melina on this show. First, the video package recapping their rivalry up to this point was very well done. Then, their face-to-face confrontation confirmed that it will be Kay vs. Rosa for the NWA Women's Championship at Hard Times. Kay is desperate to get her hands on Melina, and while I'm sure she'll get her chance eventually, Kay vs. Rosa is honestly far more appealing to me on paper. Melina then announced that Kay would have to take on her former friend Belle on this show in a No DQ match. They made nice use of the stipulation and put together a fun little match in the time they had, culminating with Kay picking up the decisive victory.

The Pope and Eddie Kingston Discussed Last Week's Loss

Pope announced he was the new manager of Outlaw Inc. last week but proceeded to walk out on them following their loss. That led me to believe that Pope was already done with them, but apparently not. In fact, Kingston said he didn't blame Pope for their loss at all and talked about how he and Homicide will move forward. It couldn't be any more obvious that a split is coming for Pope and Outlaw Inc.

Ricky Starks Interrupted NWA National Champion Aron Stevens and The Question Mark's Karate Demonstration

Stevens and The Question Mark are really going all the way with this karate gimmick, aren't they? Hey, I've found it to be an absolute blast so far and thought this segment was hilarious as well. Anywhere else, it may not have worked as well, but this crowd ate it up. It went on and on until finally one of Stevens' "students" hit him with the board he was trying to break in half, revealing himself to be Starks. They had quite the feud in the first month or two of Powerrr and now they can revisit with their rivalry with Stevens as the National Champion.

Ken Anderson def. Colt Cabana, Jocephus, C.W. Anderson, Dave Dawson, NWA National Champion Aron Stevens, Caleb Konley and Sal Rinauro in an NWA Television Championship Tournament Qualifying Gauntlet Match

Most of these guys already failed to qualify for the tourney earlier, so this was a "last chance" match of sorts where the winner would earn the final spot and wrestlers could be eliminated by either being thrown over the top rope or being pinned or submitted. Konley and Anderson kicked it off and then everyone else entered every minute or so from there. A lot of these guys were filler, but the Gauntlet had a super solid layout. Zicky Dice's cameo was fun, Stevens getting "paralyzed" by Question Mark was a riot and I liked the story with Anderson and Cabana factoring into the finish. Anderson revealed his true colors to Cabana afterward by turning on him and cementing his heel turn.

Eli Drake and Tim Storm Addressed NWA World Tag Team Champion Ricky Morton

Drake and Storm are two of the top talkers in the NWA, so it should have come as no surprise that this was such a strong segment. They led Team Morton to victory last week and discussed Morton's shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship here. We found out later that they'll actually be teaming up at Hard Times to vie for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which seems a bit random.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis def. NWA World Tag Team Champion Ricky Morton

You can't expect an instant classic from Ricky Morton in 2020, but I thought this was an entertaining main event with Morton holding his own and Aldis carrying him to a competent main event that had a big fight feel. Say what you will about Aldis, but all of his matches as champion have felt important so far. Morton came close to capturing the championship, but Aldis stole the victory by holding his tights. He now sets his sights on Flip Gordon at Hard Times.

Overall Show

This was billed as the season finale of Powerrr with Friday being the Hard Times pay-per-view and was the longest episode to date. It was jam-packed with build for the pay-per-view, well-wrestled matches, and a notable world championship main event. We knew virtually nothing about the card until now, but it's going to be a full lineup for sure. While I wouldn't want it to be 90 minutes every week, it worked for this occasion. This show successfully got me excited for the event and left me hoping it'll be as terrific as Into the Fire was in December.