The SmarK Rant for NWA Powerrr–11.12.19

The SmarK Rant for NWA Powerrr – 11.12.19

Episode 6 – “More Questions Than Answers”

Gonna be honest, I had a tough time tearing myself away from browsing through the massive Disney Plus catalog to review this show. I’m gonna watch me some GUMMI BEARS on my next day off and no one will judge me for it.

Taped from Atlanta, GA

Your hosts are Joe Galli & Jim Cornette

Last week: The Rock N Roll Express returns to the NWA to chase off the Wild Cards!

The Rock N Roll Express join us to start and Ricky is EXCITED to be a part of this, and also excited their friends Kingston & Homicide are getting a tag team title shot in this very show.

Trevor Murdoch v. Caleb Konley

Murdoch overpowers Konley to start, but Konley hits him with a dropkick after using his speed to evade Trevor. But then he tries a monkey flip and gets SLAMMED with a spinebuster. Murdoch follows with a neckbreaker and a series of slams, just doing simple stuff really hard. Konley blocks a charge with a double stomp out of the corner, however, and comes back with a senton and another double stomp for two. He tries a Lionsault and Murdoch gets the knees up, then hits him with a half nelson slam and goes up with a top rope bulldog to finish at 3:38. Surly ol’ Trevor got over HUGE here and had the crowd chanting his name afterwards!

Aron Stevens joins us and he’s not even gonna talk about the no eye contract rule this week. He’s DONE. He’s FINISHED. He didn’t even get fully dressed because he’s so upset about what happened last week with Ricky Starks and couldn’t finish his pirate costume. So he QUITS, and he’s going to go put his pants on and return to California, never to return to the hell hole that is Atlanta.

Well I guess he’s gone then. He seemed pretty serious about it.

Thunder Rosa & Marti Belle v. Crystal Rose & Brooklyn Creed

So Belle is newly heel after turning on her best friend Allisyn Kay last week, and she beats on Creed, and Rosa adds a running knee in the corner and then takes out Rose on the apron. Rosa goes up and double-stomps the back of Creed to finish at 1:33 while Belle takes out Rose again to get rid of her. Thunder Rosa continues to impress here.

Over at the table, Rosa and Belle have words with Dave Marquez, most of them in Spanish, so Belle translates while Rosa does her crazed promo. Also, apparently Marquez is “El Gordito”. Like…the Taco Bell wrap thing?

Meanwhile, James Storm is sick of the small fish, so he’s coming after Nick Aldis next to get revenge.

Colt Cabana and his newly won National title join Dave at the desk, and he’s pretty stoked that he regained the title from Storm after getting screwed by a bad leg last time they fought. So Ricky Starks interrupts after Colt makes his open challenge (“Uh, Ricky, I don’t know what you’re doing out here…”) and he’s into gold.

Dan Parker v. ? The Question Mark ?

It’s easy to tell who’s who because Question Mark has a question mark on his mask. I’ve heard it’s Grado under the hood but obviously that’s questionable. Parker charges and hits boot in the corner, and Question hits him with a missile dropkick and palm strike to finish at 1:01. Everyone is left with a lot of questions from this, but he got over.

Coming Soon: Thunder Rosa in “Into the Cage”. Kind of weird that they’d humanize Rosa with an MMA documentary after her crazed heel cult promo stuff.

Eli Drake is here and he doesn’t care about Kamille talking, but she might reveal that he’s the one man who can and will beat Aldis. And then the crowd hijacks him and wants Question Mark for the answer to that. However, the Wild Card(s) interrupt and think that Drake should mind his own business. But Mr. Anderson is here to back up Eli, and all he needs to do is say his name. In a sexy whisper, apparently. Drake gets a hilarious “WTF?” look on his face as we cut to the next segment.

William Patrick Corgan joins us with an announcement, but you have to sign up for the mailing list to find out. Clever.

PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS PAID FOR BY THE FOLLOWING:

Uncle Tony Falk’s Wrestling Farm! They grow their own heels and babyfaces and pass the savings on to you! Only $15,000 for either one.

Nick Aldis joins us at the desk, and he’s here to remind all the other wrestlers that this business owes them nothing and you have to earn everything you get. So he’s gonna sit at ringside for the tag title match and ensure there’s no shenanigans or funny business. Do you WANT shenanigans? Because that’s how you get shenanigans.

NWA World tag team title: Wild Card(s) v. Homicide & Eddie Kingston

Everyone brawls to start right away and Homicide gets a belly to belly on Isaacs for two, but the Card(s) double-team him with a neckbreaker. Homicide with a DDT on Lattimer and Kingston comes in with a clothesline for two, but gets caught in the heel corner and worked over. Lattimer slugs away in the corner, but Kingston hits the uranage and makes a hot tag to Homicide. Powerslam gets two as Cornette goes on his old man rant about how there’s no “grade school kids and midgets cosplaying wrestler” here in the NWA. Oh Jim. Isaacs gets a DDT on Kingston for two, but Eddie comes back with a corner splash on Lattimer. He tries a suplex and blows out his knee, however, and Lattimer goes after that. Homicide runs in to break it up and it’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA and everyone is out. Homicide tries a tornado DDT on Isaacs, but Lattimer holds the leg to block it and Homicide bumps to the floor. And then the champs destroy Kingston and finish him with a full nelson slam at 7:25 to retain. **1/2

Kamille comes out to finally talk, but Aldis cuts her off and suddenly we get the closing credits as everyone on the roster comes out to tease a brawl and we’re out for the week.

Still the easiest wrestling show by a mile.

BONUS CONTENT:

Here’s a couple of 1989 WWF dark matches from Hidden Gems on Halloween that I’ve been meaning to get to at some point. This is good a place as any, I guess.

Rowdy Roddy Piper v. Rick Rude (10.31.89)

As usual, this is a Superstars dark match, shot from the hard cam with no commentary. Some fans have a sign that says “Ravishing Roddy Piper” on what appears to be dot matrix paper, just so you know it’s 1989, and Piper brings it with him to the ring. Piper attacks and chases Rude out of the ring before catching him with a clothesline. Piper misses a blind charge and Rude tries to capitalize, but Roddy gives him the atomic drop and thus we have our quota of Rude atomic drop sells for the match. Piper tries to drag Rude out of the ring, giving us a funny spot where Rick grabs the ref’s leg and holds on for dear life, but Piper pulls him to the post and crotches him anyway. Back in, Piper misses a dropkickand Rude takes over and goes to the dreaded nerve pinch. Piper fights out of that, but Rude beats on the neck and tries the Rude Awakening, which Piper reverses to a backslide for two. Small package gets two. Rude comes back with the sleeper and Piper is in some trouble, but he escapes with a jawbreaker and makes the comeback. Piper slugs away and Rude’s selling is tremendous, as Piper just blitzes him with punches and Rude flails around helplessly until the ref gets bumped in the process. They collide and both guys are out, but Piper flips out of the Rude Awakening and hits a DDT in a pretty impressive spot. Sadly, we have no ref, so Piper steps on Rude and goes to kick Hebner in the head to revive him, then backdrops Rude out of the ring and helps him make the countout call at 9:17, but then the ref realizes what happened and awards the match to Rude by DQ instead. Well, the rules do say that you can’t abuse referees. For some reason. Fun match. **3/4

Randy Savage v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan (10.31.89)

From the same taping. It’s rare all-white gear for Macho here, and he attacks from behind and gets beat up in the corner as a result. Duggan hits him with a clothesline and Macho tries to run, but Duggan hits him with an atomic drop and Savage rebounds off the ropes and puts him on the floor with a high knee. And then Sherri runs him into the post for good measure. Back in, Savage gets the necksnap for two and a double axehandle for two. Blind charge misses and Duggan tries a comeback, but Savage cuts him off and goes up. Duggan blocks the double axehandle and tosses him, and they fight on the floor to allow Duggan to come back. Back in, kneedrop looks to finish, but Sherri takes the ref and it only gets two. Blind charge misses, however, and Macho goes for the big elbow, but Duggan moves and makes ANOTHER comeback. This match is laid out weird. He gets some clotheslines as they seem really lost, and the three point stance puts Savage on the floor, but now Sherri interferes again and Duggan goes after her like a moron. The ref gets bumped in all this and Duggan gets a ridiculous small package for a visual pinfall, and another clothesline for a visual pinfall. Finally Duggan goes to revive the ref, but Sherri throws the loaded purse in, and Savage uses that for two. So Duggan comes back AGAIN, but Savage pins him with the ropes and Sherri holding the feet to finally put him away at 10:35. This was way too long for a random Duggan-Savage match and it was all over the place. *

So there you go, some faux old school action and some real old school action.