NWA Powerrr Review - May 18, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NWA Television Champion Da Pope def. Matt Cross

This was Pope's fourth successful defense as NWA TV champ. Three more and he'll be able to contend for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. These TV title matches don't get a ton of time due to only being six minutes and five seconds, but this was fun while it lasted. Pope is doing great work in the role and Cross is obviously very talented. It was an enjoyable opener. Will we get the rematch between Pope and Tyrus at When Our Shadows Fall despite their paths not crossing on this show?

NWA World Tag Team Champions Aron Stevens and Kratos def. Marshe Rockett and Fred Rosser (Non-Title)

Stevens and Kratos haven't been on the same page for weeks now, but that didn't stop them from picking up the win here in what was a solid match. Rosser and Rockett were a bit of a random pairing, but they had good chemistry together and looked credible together. I'm surprised Rosser being in the NWA hasn't been a bigger deal so far, so hopefully it was just one-off for them. As for Stevens and Kratos, I'd be shocked if they were still tag team champs past the pay-per-view.

Thunder Rosa def. Jennacide

Rosa vs. Kamille is set for When Our Shadows Fall, so this was a tune-up of sorts for Rosa before then. I've made it quite clear in my reviews that I don't care much for Jennacide, but Rosa carried her to a competent contest. She's been all over AEW programming lately as well and I doubt that changes, which is why I assume she'll beat Kamille at the event and go on to face Serena Deeb in a rematch for the NWA World Women's Championship.

Tyrus Announced His Participation in Next Week's 14-Man NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contender's Battle Royal

I'm pretty sure Tyrus has been on every episode of Powerrr since its return. He was feuding with Da Pope for a while and, as I mentioned earlier, I'm sure we have yet to see the end of it considering their last match went to a double count-out. Tyrus does very little for me at this point, but hearing Austin Idol so often has been a treat. This segment solely existed to announce Tyrus' involvement in the Battle Royal next week that I'm almost positive he's not winning.

The War Kings def. The End in an NWA World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contenders' Match

The War Kings consist of Crimson and Jax Dane while The End are Odinson and Parrow. I haven't seen too many matches involving either team, but this was a perfectly fine main event, designed to get The War Kings a title shot at When Our Shadows Fall and to follow up on their story from last week. The finish looked botched, but we'll see if The End will take exception to that or if it'll be ignored. The Crimson and Dane drama isn't compelling to me, but I assume this leads to them capturing the tag titles because Stevens and Kratos have even more tension between them.

Overall Show

Kyle Davis said at the start of the show that Strictly Business would suffer the consequences for skipping out on last week's show, including being stripped of their originally-promised tag title opportunity. It was announced that next week's Powerrr will be the last before the When Our Shadows Fall pay-per-view on June 6th, headlined by the big Battle Royal. There was a lot happening on this episode. Aldis' absence was felt, but it was a solid show that set the stage for the upcoming event and featured some decent wrestling.