After a look back at recent weeks, Joe Galli has an announcement that the World Championship match at the Into the Fire PPV will be 2-out-of-3 falls and that Nick Aldis’ opponent would be revealed later in the broadcast. Lots are jockeying for that spot but one of the them, Eli Drake, is out the talk to ya now. He knows that he’s been compared (and often rightfully so) to some of the all-time greats but the comparison he can’t stand is Nick Aldis saying that Eli’s trying to be him. Aldis says nobody is stepping up but here he is. Another comparison he doesn’t like is Ken Anderson. They’ve worked in some of the same places and even gotten fired from some of the same places(!) but now that they’re face-to-face, he can’t stand him.
Joe Galli takes a moment to talk about the women’s division, including the return of Melina to pro wrestling and Thunder Rosa’s MMA journey “Into the Cage.” Rosa’s been training with Brazilian Top Team’s San Antonio gym… and with face paint on no less! While getting her hair cornrowed, she gives some insight into her past and her work with abused and at-risk youth, even giving us a likely origin of her ring name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cWf-YtNA7U
The Question Mark has become an instant sensation despite his partnership with Aron Stevens. This week, the masked master of karate… *ahem*, sorry, Karataaay!… will face Zane Dawson in an “empty arena” match with his mask on the line! Aron Stevens says that, if it will be a true Lucha de Apuestas contest, they wager that, when Question Mark wins, The Dawsons will have to recite Shakespeare. After Question Mark with the Mongrovian Chop, Zane’s throat is so damaged that he requires help from Dave. Their recital moves Aron Stevens to the point he has to vomit in a wastebasket.
Melina sits down with Joe Galli about her return. She goes on about how she has been disrespected because of her past as a model and her use of sex appeal but remarks at how many current “evolved” women are entering the ring by doing a split. One of today’s competitors who she takes issue with is Allysin Kay (or as she calls her “Allysin M’kay”) and that she doesn’t have respect for the other competitors or the title. Melina fights for pride and glory and she wants to teach the NWA Women’s champ about all that.
NWA president, Billy Corgan, reveals a new program coming soon: The Circle Squared. With the outpouring of interest from independent wrestlers when they launched, they have found an outlet for those talents to get in front of the studio and online audiences and prove themselves. The audience itself will be part of the selection process and their reactions will get candidates from hopefuls to regulars.
The second half of “Into the Cage” plays for us with Thunder Rosa stepping into the cage for her debut match. She loses by decision but shows great promise and improving in each round. Brazilian Top Team tells her that they are more than willing to continue training her and having her as a part of their roster. When Frank Caballero says you did good, you did good.
To close out the show, Joe Galli gives us a heads up for next week. NWA National champion, Colt Cabana, will face Ricky Starks in a non-title bout and The Rock n’ Roll Express will challenge for the NWA Tag Team titles against The Wild Cards. As promised, former TNA/Impact champion, “Cowboy” James Storm, is revealed as Nick Aldis’ opponent at Into the Fire.
Reaction: Only a few weeks ago, WWE found themselves behind the 8 ball. Most of their top stars, in fact most of their roster, was delayed from making the trans-Atlantic flight to perform on Smackdown. On short notice they pulled a black-and-gold rabbit out their hat and put on a killer show using stars from their NXT brand.
On this episode, we got a good look at the difference in resources between WWE and NWA. On last week’s episode, “The Phoenix Rises,” Jim Cornette made a “joke” that, at best, was dated and insensitive and was taken by many to have racist connotations. Regardless of intent or impropriety, Cornette is no longer a part of the National Wrestling Alliance or it’s Powerrr program. While most of us breathe a sigh of relief over this, it did present a problem for their production department. There is no commentary by nor any mention of Cornette on the episode and it is readily apparent that they were scrambling to get something out in time.
There was only a single match (an “empty arena” match no less) during the one-hour show. The behind-the-scenes look at Thunder Rosa’s cage-fighting debut for was well-done and an intimate look into the person of Melissa Cervantes… but one likely truncated and prematurely released. Melina’s interview was lengthy and not the high point to begin with but did manage to capture her character going forward.
NWA Powerrr Episode 8 ‘Step Into the Fire’ and the rest of the back catalog of NWA Powerrr episodes is available on the NWA’s YouTube page.
https://youtu.be/cQBj7p0UeXM
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