Matches:
1.Dice vs CW vs Rinauro NR
2.Rock 'n' Roll Express vs Mosley, Sims NR
3.Wildcards vs Dawsons NR
4.No DQ: Eli Drake vs Anderson ***
Thoughts:
I was reminded, semi-annoyingly, that Powerrr was in their "second season". I originally was considering watching all the 2020 content, or at least doing so as long as I continued having fun, but my brain is telling me I need to be a completionist and, well, who am I to fight with myself?
I'm putting it in as one post, at least.
The thing with NWA's flagship is that I'm finally clicking with it, despite it being a contradiction to what I typically seek out and generally enjoy. I suppose I love W1's show, despite it not matching with my usual preferences, but it's still a paradox of sorts, reminding me that in-ring quality is important but not the only thing that makes a show enjoyable. WWE products, especially their top two brands, have gotten further and further away from being something I can enjoy watching because, not only do the episodes and specials contain very few worthwhile matches, but the segments and promos lack very little entertainment value. That's not even speaking to the moral issue with supporting the company. NWA Powerrr might not be providing much in the way of recommendation worthy content, with actually only one match last year making the list at all, but I like the presentation, the promos have been pretty good, and I'm clicking with the product right now in general. Again, I have no idea how long it'll last, because MLW has me cold right now after a short hot streak, but I'm leaning in while I'm having fun.
This first episode here was the fallout from Into the Fire. They spent the first three minutes looking at tweets, reactions, etc from that special, which was an interesting way to do things, I suppose.
Using this to focus on Scurll was not only a good idea, it was the best way to do things in general to build off of the buzz.
I didn't love the Stevens stuff, as usual. His gimmick does little for me, his promo work is okay but I just never connect much with him, and it doesn't help that I dislike basically his entire in-ring catalog, too. I don't love everything about AEW either, in fairness. I like Colt a lot more but he didn't save that segment and it just felt far too long. Question Mark is...okay.
I liked the women's stuff.
Nearly 20 minutes in and we get our first match. Any other show and I'd be questioning why the hell they made that call. Somehow, here, I was okay with it. Again...paradox. Dice needs to stop saying, "outlandish" every fucking few seconds, but I don't remember seeing him do it in later episodes so maybe someone told him to shut the fuck up. This was pretty iffy, largely thanks to Dice, but was only two minutes, at least. His post-match promo was pretty fucking annoying, too.
Thank the goddess for the Dawsons, who gave an interesting studio moment.
MARTY's moment followed. Jump about 23 minutes in to see it if that's all of what you want out of this. Great stuff, and I actually really want Marty to be the one to dethrone Aldis.
These commercials are perfectly insane.
Rock 'n' Roll got a sprint squash. It was what it was, the fans were happy, and the champs got a mark in the win column. The promo after was solid but ended in a funny manner.
The Dawsons returned, just to be driven off once again. The suspense is (not) killing me. Jokes aside, I dig this episode spanning angle so far and the match we got out of it, while too short to rate, was strong and the best thing on the show so far.
Santa chants.
The reveal for the tournament poll was well done. Nikita even got a spotlight and the Aldis promo was enjoyable as always. Dude knows how to work the mic and the crowd!
Marty got a sitdown with Stu, which was a nice touch but perhaps one that could've been saved for the next episode to pace this out. Having the hindsight to have seen three 2020 episodes past this one prior to clicking play, I can confirm this would've been a smart move but I suppose hindsight IS...2020...
I'll see my way out...
Okay, I'm back. But yea, they could have shaved about ten or fifteen minutes off and spread it around if they had wanted.
Eli Drake's fucked up voice, to sell the Anderson attack, was smart. The main event follow up was a fun walk-and-brawl and one of my favorite NWA matches I've seen since their revival. Right outside of recommendation levels, sure, but entertaining either way and the live fans ate it up, too.
May I say, and I apologize if it comes off as fat shaming, but Anderson looks a tad unhealthy right now and I'd like to see him drop a few lbs. I actually like the dude and just think it'd be better for him and his career.
After the main event, Strictly Business officially formed. I've seen the highlights on later episodes, but this was just really well done and a strong way to close the episode.
The matches ranged, with only the main truly being good, but the entire package once again shined. This was a loaded episode, full of content and came off as the busiest one I've seen so far. The Scurll angle was the hottest part, but I enjoyed the women's stuff, the Dawsons/Wildcards stuff, Aldis' promo, the main event, and the close to the episode. In all, I had a lot of fun and suggest fans on the edge to check this one out.
Overall Rating: 70/100%
EPISODE 11
1.Starks vs Kingston **3/4
2.Storm vs Isaacs NR
3.Melina, Thunder, Belle vs Kay, Vox, ODB **3/4
4.Question Mark vs Colt
Thoughts:
The sitdown with Scurll and Stu from last week, the one I said should have been saved for this episode, was used in part during the countdown for this one. A look at episode 10's big close were also shown.
The TV Title Tournament was a big focus this time around, but first we got news that Murdoch had signed, we saw Dice chat for a moment for whatever reason, and then The Pope arrived! Take Dice out and the rest would have been okay. It's surprising that he's being used largely as a manager, though, as the Pope has a cult following that would be better fed with an in-ring role.
The opening match was pretty decent and well worked, though I could've used a touch more meat to call it truly good.
Royce and Mae chat, the Wildcard member gets cocky, James Storm appears and eventually runs him off. That's perhaps the happiest I've seen a crowd for a countout ever. Props to Strom?
Those goddamn Hotspots commercials are insane and I love them.
Eli Drake had some fun, and a lot to drink, and got the crowd hot. Tennessee Santa must have been happy knowing his team finally got a bowl game. Entertaining stuff to say the least.
Aldis crashed the party with his buddies and had a moment with the Express. Solid.
The women's match was short, like most things on Powerrr, but fun and I would've liked a few more minutes, actually. They have a decent division.
Tim Storm got in a nice studio spot and then we closed the episode with Question Mark and Colt in a TV Tournament outing.
Two solid matches, Pope, and a few good promos. Not the strongest episode, but a decent one. Your experience may vary.
I may be MIA a bit the next few days. Just a heads up in case I'm correct about how things play out.
Overall Rating: 60/100%
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