I watched January 10, 2022 episode on Fite.tv with the NWA subscription.
The show began in a segment with George South. If you’re like me and you know very little about the NWA, then George South is a foreign name to you and this segment is not for you. It did set up the following match because George’s son Colby Corino was in action against CW Anderson. I really don’t know why South had to get attacked in this segment. It feels like there’s a deeper story here than what Episode 1 told. I’m clearly missing something!
Promotional package for NWA Powerrr
Looks like an interesting show. Definitely adding it to my watch list.
Tim Storm segment
He is NWA’s Managing Director. He suspended The Fixers whom I’m guessing were the two guys who attacked George South just before. Then the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament bracket was shown. Austin Aries already made it to second round after defeating Rhett Titus. Homicide came out on top previously in a Junior Heavyweight Gauntlet and earned a slot in the semi-finals. Again, since this is Episode 1, I’m glad they showed the bracket graphic and gave some background on the tournament. Personally, I would love to go back and watch the Austin Aries/Titus match. I’m a huge Austin Aries fan!
CW Anderson w/George South vs Colby Corino
CW Anderson is neither junior in age or weight. Just an observation.
At one point CW hit Corino with a superkick and the announcer screamed “Colby is out cold!” while Corino was rolling himself outside of the ring. Maybe not “out cold”?
On the final pinfall, Corino won by putting his feet on the ropes. The camera shot showed CW was close enough to the ropes to grab it with his hand. Not sure if they ran out of time and needed to end or if there was something else here. The story was based on CW being a veteran and almost being a second father-figure to Corino. If this was the case, CW should have been aware of where he was in the ring and grabbed the ropes. Earlier in the match, CW knocked Corino down flat with a vicious right-hand and didn’t go for the cover. Maybe CW is veteran in years, but his veteran awareness in the ring seems to have been missing in this match. The right wrestler won, but really disappointed in some of the spots during this match. Not a great match to start Episode 1 of a new show.
Overall Match Rating – 1 Star
Natalia Markova Photo Shoot
Natalia was displeased with the angle of a photo and stormed off the set. Ok, then! Why was this here?
Hard Times 2 Recap Package with the Jr Heavyweight Gauntlet Match.
This was awesome! I wish they had shown this earlier in the show when they discussed the tournament.
Nick Aldis segment
This show is the land of opportunity for the hungry talent backstage. Who’s going to make a big splash? I wish there was more of Aldis on this episode.
Chris Adonis segment
NWA National Championship highlighted and Adonis claimed to be the best National Champion of all time. The show is named after him. He is the star of this show.
Luke Hawx vs PJ Hawx
Father vs son. Trainer vs Student. This match was hyped at the very beginning of the show, so it should be a good one.
PJ had a fast-paced series of arm drags and a dropkick that were really impressive. He moves well in the ring and has a lot of promise! Early on, this was significantly better than the previous match.
Luke reversed a nice Boston crab attempt for a roll-up pinfall. He advances to face Austin Aries in the next round of the tournament. Solid match. Could have gone longer with how strong the wrestling was in this one. Entertaining, but short.
Velvet Sky and Austin Idol on commentary were really distracting. Idol is a glorified 5-year-old in a 60-something’s body. These two bickered back and forth the entire match and went so far as a “that’s not what you said last night” comment. Come on. This distracted from the match and added no entertainment value to the show. I’d love to have a “Commentary Off” button on the video so I can just watch the wrestling.
Overall Match Rating – 2.25 Stars
Overall Show Rating – 1.5 Stars
Final Thoughts: Honestly, this was not a great show. I’m not familiar with NWA. I know it has a very old history with champions like Ric Flair and other famous hall of famers throughout the regions, but this new NWA is largely unknown to me. For a new show, this really had very little explanation of why the show exists, what made it different, and connecting the stories of this episode to what has happened before it. Maybe this was a failure on my part to go straight into this episode first without watching anything beforehand, but that’s why I’m here. I learned something new about NWA and perhaps this show may not be for me. Definitely want to check out NWA Powerrr and the Hard Times 2 show. I’m not giving up on NWA. I might give up on Austin Idol and Velvet Sky being at the same commentary table though! I will watch NWA USA Episode 2 to see if this new show redeems itself.
