NWA went full force to release their first ever live release of Powerer. The show from the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee featured the final match of the Series of Champions, the contract signing of Matt Cardona to challenge for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, the wedding of Aron Stevens, the new tag team champions, Bully Ray in a No Tables Match, and more.

The main event in terms of wrestling was the Series of Champions final. Bumper shots were on the line as two teams of seven battled for all the marbles.

Team Tyrus is captained by Tyrus with BLK Jeez as co-captain. Their roster included EC3, Trevor Murdoch, Thrillbilly Silas Mason, Carnage, Samantha Starr, Robyn Renegade, and Allysin Kay. The rock and roll team was led by Kerry Morton with Ricky Morton as co-captain. Their roster included Taya Valkyrie, Chris Adonis, Alex Taylor, Duck Draper, The Mims, Maddie Wrinkowski, and La Rosa Negra. Renegade was an injury replacement for Kayla Kassidy, and La Rosa Negra was an injury replacement for Jennacide.

The final is decided in Team War. The format was similar to torneo cibernetico without the tags. It was a gauntlet style with eliminations via pinfall, submission and over the top rope.

Kai and Rosa started the event. Rosa got submission with an octopus ring from Saturn. Rebel entered next. I focused on Rosa’s damaged ribs. Renegade made a pinning cross to knock elbows into the ribs. Rosa progresses in pain. Wrenkowski took care of the Renegade with a scissor kick. Starr knocked out Wrenkowski with a DDT. Take out Taya Starr on the way to Valhalla.

Taya was the last remaining woman. La Wera Loca summons the most menacing man on Tyrus’ team. Taya wanted a piece of the massacre. Unfortunately, EC3 was a bit of a distraction. Carnage ran in to throw Taya over the ropes. It was quite upsetting when I saw Taya cringe, but it came to nothing due to the simple elimination.

Carnage pins Mims on a flat ship. Adonis used a full Nelson bomb to stabilize the carnage. Murdoch took the hype to Adonis, but the masterpiece turned an Irish whip to send Murdoch crashing into the ropes. Murdoch was a sore loser and took Adonis out of the ring to inflict pain. Adonis was an easy choice to shoot Silas’ helicopter. The Thrillbilly rotary finisher is pretty cool.

Silas continued his momentum by catching a flying body from Taylor to launch another helicopter.

Silas was alert. He went for a slam helicopter to Draper, who was the last member of Rock N’ Roll. Draper was able to escape for a sunset flip pin to eliminate Silas. Enter EC3 as the last member of Team Tyrus. Draper and EC3 will determine which team wins the jackpot.

EC3 took control of Draper and threw him over the ropes three times. Draper landed on the apron each time to stay in the game. EC3 kept turning his back on the assumption that the match was over. This backfired the third time when Draper rallied for a knife pin for the win.

Taya Valkyrie, Chris Adonis, Alex Taylor, Dak Draper, Mims, Madi Wrenkowski, and La Rosa Negra all received title opportunities for their chosen NWA Championship.

Team War was a fun game with frantic action. The high stakes added an element of powerful drama. The ending was really surprising. I didn’t expect EC3 to lose in this situation. Draper put himself on the NWA map by beating the odds and pinning a main event caliber player at EC3. EC3’s strategy was strange. Turning his back so often to assume victory was a foolish move. As calculating as he can be, arrogance is generally not in his narrative. It turns out that EC3 may have sabotaged his team. Cameras caught up to EC3 shortly after the match, and he spoke cautiously about the possibility of losing on purpose.

The main event part of Powerer It was the wedding of Aaron Stevens and May Valentine. Sam Teano (Santino Marella) was the special guest for the Proceedings Department. The love was strong, despite the protests of Polo Del Mar, Mercurio and Natalia Markova. The nuptials were set to be forever etched when Santino noticed an error in the marriage license. Stevens chose the wrong format. Valentin is a Brazilian citizen who holds a green card for the United States of America. The papers were for two US citizens. Santino will not break the law to bless him, so the marriage must be postponed for another day. Commentary accused Stevens of making the mistake on purpose. Valentine is startled and destroys everything in sight. She smashes a bottle of champagne on Damage’s head, exclaiming that she hates Stevens. Ah, almost newlywed bliss.

main event for Naf said The PPV is set for February 11th. Tyrus and Matt Cardona signed on the dotted line for a world title fight. Cardona wanted to call the shots for a stipulation, as he had never lost the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship on waiver due to injury. Cardona reluctantly agreed to the terms of a six-man tag team to decide who would choose the condition. That match will take place next week.

In the inaugural competition of PowererBully Ray competed in a no tables match against Odinson. For Impact viewers, this wasn’t quite the same evil Bully character. He’s leaning more towards a babyface now in the NWA. Odinson talked big game about not needing tables, ladders or chairs to win fair. Once Bully had his back turned, Odinson landed a low blow. It was before the opening bell, so Bully had testicle pain the entire game. In the end result, a table was used. The bully escaped being carried by a firefighter to bump Odinson into the referee. Odinson landed a power European to flatten his opponent. Then Odinson got on the tables. He set up a table in the ring with bad intentions while the referee was still on the floor. The bully hit back at Odinson for choking through the table. As Bully was executing that maneuver, the referee regained consciousness to disqualify Bully for using a table in a No Tables Match.

There was also a title change for the new champions on the show. The Fixers (Jay Bradley & Wrecking Ball Legursky) defended the NWA United States Tag Team Championship against The Country Men (AJ Cazana & Anthony Andrews), but the Fixers didn’t leave with the gold. Down the stretch, all four men fought in the ring. Bradley performed a suplex on Andrews. Andrews exited the ring, and Bradley followed. A wrecking ball charged in to smash Kazana into the corner. Cazana ole’d and Legursky collided with turnbuckles. Kazana scored a roll-up in time for the win. The crowd was excited about the new champions. I think part of that feeling is due to Joe Cazana, AJ’s father, being a local wrestling promoter in the area. The connection to Tennessee ran deep.

“Beautiful People” was well represented during the broadcast. Angelina Love & Fodder claimed travel problems led to rivals Camille and Tom Latimer facing down. Love and Fodder was actually in the building though. They ambush Camille and Latimer with a kendo stick. Kenzie Page paid tribute to Velvet Sky by using a familiar cheating trick against Charlette Renegade. Paige grabbed her tag title belt like a foreign object, so the referee grabbed it away. It was Paige’s ploy to pull out the hairspray to spray it in the Renegade’s eyes. Page caught Stockings in a roll-up to secure the victory. Sky is usually a likable commentator, but even she appreciated that gimmick from Paige because it was from her playbook from her wrestling days.

Grade: C+

This live episode of Powerer He did a good job giving the NWA a try. What I’ve seen is pretty much how current the product is on a weekly basis. Those who loved him should continue to tune him in. Those who hate it don’t expect the style to change anytime soon.

On the plus side, the NWA has built in hooks to develop angles. Odinson, Angelina Love, and Fodder developed heel heat for ass kicks from Bully Ray, Kamille, and Thom Latimer. Anticipation is strong for the week ahead with mystery partners and a stipulation on the line for Tyrus and Matt Cardona. Changing the tag title in favor of “Country Gentlemen” added a newsworthy moment. Team war was entertaining and interesting. And yes to the rebellious twins. I’m a fan, so it was nice to see them sign up to work with NWA. Since the NWA has women’s titles, I hope to see them challenge for that gold.

On the downside, the wedding was a hit. There were a few chuckles, but they weren’t amusing throughout the run. The end result was kind of pointless. At least for now, that seems to be the case. I don’t expect My Valentine to team up to go after Aaron Stevens for revenge.

The show stud was Thrillbilly Silas Mason. He never made an impression on me before, but he stood out as a devastating machine of destruction in Team War. His helicopter strike is a great ultimate tool to impress the crowd. Thrillbilly made me believe he could eventually become the first home-grown NWA World Champion in the Billy Corgan era.

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