NWA Powerrr Review - May 23, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

"Bulletproof" Blake Troop def. Talos

I have no idea what purpose this was supposed to serve. I'd say it was a preview of SVGS facing Talos and Daisy Kill in the Crockett Cup, but to my knowledge, Talos and Kill won't be in the tournament. Troop is fine from what I've seen of his work and his MMA gimmick helps him stand out, but Talos is just another lumbering big man. Thus, this was a pretty boring (and pointless) match while it lasted.

NWA World Tag Team Champions La Rebelion vs. Magnum Muscle Ended in a No-Contest

These teams had one of the better matches at the 312 pay-per-view, so I was down for a rematch. What's weird is that their original encounter ended decisively, and yet this ended in a no-contest. Magnum Muscle were declared the winners, but the result was overturned once it was decided that the wrong person was pinned. It was another quality contest, though, and I have no idea with Magnum Muscle in the title picture. I'd like for them to eventually take the tag titles from La Rebelion because I'm not sure who else is left.

NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Kerry Morton def. Jeremiah Plunkett (Non-Title)

This looked to be another standard showcase for Morton on paper, and it was, but it ended up being more significant than I thought with Morton showing way more heel tendencies than usual. I guess the idea is that Morton has grown cockier with each successful title defense, much like Homicide when he was champ. The title is the key to turning heel! The match itself was decent, but the character development with Morton was the real highlight and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Chris Adonis def. Aron Stevens in a Masterlock Challenge

I genuinely have no idea what purpose this was supposed to serve. I'm down for a classic Masterlock Challenge, but as we head into the Crockett Cup next weekend, I don't know what this had to do with that pay-per-view or why this had to close the show. A lot of time was killed with Stevens attempting to avoid being put into the Masterlock before tapping out quickly, so again, I don't know what this accomplished. The live crowd liked it, but that was about it.

Overall Show

I've praised the NWA's recent efforts in building up the Crockett Cup as a meaningful and prestigious event, but anything not having to do with the tag team tournament itself on Powerrr has not felt consequential whatsoever. Although I didn't care about what opened and closed this episode, I enjoyed the tag title match up until the non-finish and thought the teases for a Morton heel turn provided a cool twist.

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