Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️

This is a follow up to the Making Maxwell Jacob Friedman post I shared earlier this week. The gaming stats below allow you to include MJF as a foe in the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. 

NWA Powerrr - Episode 7

The 7th episode of NWA Powerrr started with a Nick Aldis. He talked about Kamille and her silence... because that's what NWA does. He then said that he would have an exhibition match with Trevor Murdoch. The crowd really didn't like that the belt wasn't online and boo'd Aldis. This actually brought something I'd noticed in previous episodes to the forefront. There was one extremely loud heckler and he was very distracting. The small size of the studio exacerbated this annoyance.

The match itself was good. Trevor Murdoch is a tough hoss. Murdoch put a great match with Aldis, but had a fake botch at the end of the match. I'm not surprised, because NWA doesn't want to make Aldis look weak.  The match has been edited. During it, Cornette made the following comment, "He's the only man I've ever known that can strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia." Wow... just wow. I don't think I need to explain why this is wrong. I don't care if it's a 30 year old joke, it shouldn't have been said. The comment has since been edited out, but the incident caused Jim Cornette to resign.

The Rock'N'Roll Express had a fun promo. It was rather short though and was followed by a Wilds Cards promo. Towards the end of this promo Latimer was asked about his connection to Kamille (something that hasn't been mentioned up to this point on Powerrr).

There was an amusing commercial for HighSpots.com.

The second match of the night was a lot of fun. Ricky Starks took on ?Question Mark? with Boom Boom Cabana on commentary. ?Question Mark? had the stronger showing throughout most of the match, though towards the end Starks starting coming back. However, Aaron Stevens came out and attacked Starks. He and ?Question Mark? joined forces and the masked man got two solid "Karate-tay!" strikes in before Cabana stopped a third.

Eli Drake called out Mr. Anderson. Instead of taking trash talk from the heel, Anderson challenged him to a match. It seemed like Drake had accepted, but as soon as Anderson's back was turned, Drake attacked him. He then grabbed a turnbuckle and hit him again.

Thunder Rosa and Marti Bell took on Allysin Kay and Ashley Vox. Bell showed her aggressive side in this match, which was cool see. Melina came down through the crowd, apparently being the phoenix Thunder Rosa spoke of the previous episode. This was enough to distract Vox and she was laid out by the heels.

There was another Kayfabe Cocktail commercial.

The final match saw Starks and Cabana teaming up against ?Question Mark? and Aaron Stevens. This continued a bit from earlier in the show which saw the crowd cheering ?Question Mark? and booing Stevens. This is the opposite of what happened when Stevens (as Sandow) teamed with Miz in WWE. During this match we learned more about ?Question Mark?. He is from the (obviously fictional) nation of Mongrovia. His special strike is known as the Mongrovian Spike. The match was an entertaining back and forth but ended when Starks tried to unmask ?Question Mark?. Stevens blindsided him while the ref wasn't looking and the pair won their match.

At the end of the show, James Storm did a promo ranting about how the show should be about championships, but they were pushed aside for silly games. Kamille came out and whispered into his ear. He smiled, said "Sorry about your damned luck," and walked out of the studio, ending the episode.

Despite the heckling crowd member, this was a good episode. The matches were fun and I love ?Question Mark?. He's just such a silly throwback character. I'm also happy that as of the end of the episode I only have to put up with Jim Cornette for one more show.

Why don't you check out this episode of Powerrr for yourself and tell me what you think in the comments?

Making Maxwell Jacob Friedman

I think that Maxwell Jacob Friedman (otherwise known as MJF) is one of the best heels in wrestling right now. He is extremely talented and has a very punchable face. He knows exactly how to get heat from the crowd. The short documentary takes a look at MJF and asks "Who is the real "Max"?" If you want to see something brilliant watch this documentary about him. He really appears to be in character pretending to be out of character. Then again, is MJF really just better than the rest of us? Check out this documentary and let me know what you think.

Warlock Is Jericho!

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm a gamer geek and love table top roleplaying games. If you ever play Dungeons and Dragons the information below will allow you to play a Warlock that's made a bargain with the most powerful being ever, Chris Jericho!

You can check out the original tweet (with full sized images) here.

NWA Powerrr - Episode 6

The sixth episode of Powerrr started with a promo from the legendary Rock'n'Roll Express! Ricky Morton said the wrong name at one point while talking, but I'm not holding that against the legends. Outlaw Inc came out and the faces of Powerrr embraced the legends.

The first match saw Trevor Murdoch take on Caleb Konley. Murdoch was in control of most of hte match. The hoss truly manhandled Konley. That being said Konley did put up a great offense though.

Aaron Stevens did a quick promo after that match. He came out in his flesh-colored tights... again. however, this time he also had a tunic on. It really made it look like he was shirt-cockin' it. He said that he was no longer in the NWA and the crowd cheered.

 Thunder Rosa and Marti Bell had a quick squash match again blonde jobber one and two (Crystal Rose and Brooklyn Creed). After the match, Marti Bell said she was going to forget her past and that Thunder Rosa gave her a glimpse of the future. Rosa then gave an impassioned promo (in Spanish) about having a vision of things to come and a Phoenix.

There was another Question Mark promo.

Colt Cabana had an excited promo about regaining his title. He was very loud and excited. He really does have an infectious presence. Ricky Starks came out during the promo, said something cool, and implied he had his eye on Boom Boom's gold.

We finally got to see the Question Mark in action. He took on Canadian hell in a squash match. The crowd absolutely loved Question Mark and it was a fun match. I can't wait to see more of his matches.

This was followed by an Eli Drake promo. Once again, Drake did nothing himself, but found a way to try to get himself into the discussion of current goings on in the NWA. He focused on Kamille not talking. Of course, he made it about himself. The Wild Cards came out to interrupt him and they were in turn interrupted by Anderson.

NWA owner, Billy Corgan, had a short video telling folks to sign up for the NWA mailing list.

There was a weird Tony Falk commercial advertising Tony Falk's Rasslin' Farm.

The final match was a NWA Tag Team Championship bout with the Wild Cards taking on Outlaw, Inc. Homicide and Eddie Kingston put up a good fight, but ultimately the champs won because of super heel tactics. They constantly cheated and didn't get caught (of course). Aldis watched the match to make sure no one interfered.  After the match was over, Kamille came out and was stopped by Aldis. Eventually, most of the roster was around the ring arguing. However, the theme song played and unless you were in attendance, you couldn't hear what they said.

Time for me to gripe about Cornette again. He had to go on about how in the NWA you have "No grade school kids and midgets and no cosplayers." We get it Jim. You don't like certain popular stars. Stop worrying about others and talk about why you're folks are great.

I enjoyed the episode overall, but I feel like this episode was weak. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Merry Christmas From Southern Ohio

Merry Christmas to all of y'all that celebrate it and happy holidays to everyone else! I'll have new posts soon.

Santa's Slay (2005)

My all time favorite Christmas movie is wrestling related, so I thought I'd give it a quick review. Released in 2005, Santa's Slay stars Bill Goldberg as Satan's son, Santa! It's a great casting, because Goldberg looks like a brute and the man is very proud of his Jewish heritage (going as far as to not wrestle on Yom Kippur in the past).

The premise to the flick is pretty simple. Santa was born to a virgin impregnated by Satan. Instead of being good, he terrorizes innocents with his days of slaying. Eventually, these come to an end as an angel bests him in curling match, forcing him to do good for a thousand years. This story is delightful told via a Rankin Bass style claymation sequence. Once his time is up, Santa comes for revenge against the angel, who has forsaken his immortality for a mortal. 

Played by Robert Culp, the angel is an eccentric who's taught his grandson, Nicky (the protagonist) that Christmas isn't what Coca Cola would have you believe. The movie has some absolutely fantastic lines! You can tell Goldberg is having a lot of fun with the role. A few interesting facts I learned. The helldeer was scared to death of Goldberg. Also, the wrestling great met his wife filming the movie. I also love the movie for Tiny Lister (aka Zeus from the Hogan "classic" No Holds Barred) has a fun cameo. 

The movie isn't perfect. A lot of the acting is intentionally cheap and there are a few unfortunate stereotypes. However, that doesn't take away from the blast that this movie is. 

  

NWA Powerrr - Episode 5

The fifth episode of NWA Powerrr started with promos. First we had Colt Cobana and then an Aron Stevens one. Stevens was heckled the entire time and tried to sound clever by altering a Shakespeare quote.

This was followed with an extremely awkward looking Nick Aldis hyping RetroMania Wrestling, the official sequel to WWF Wrestlefest!, one of the all time greatest wrestling video games. I will be talking more about more as the release gets closer.

The first match saw the Dawsons take on Matthew Mims and Jordan Kingsley. The hosses tore through the other team, prolonging the match just to inflict more damage. This was a smart move because it just made them feel even more heel-ish. After the match the had an interview and claimed they deserved a title shot. Outlaw Inc offered them their title shot in exchange for a rematch (assuming the Dawsons won).

Tim Storm had an interview in which he talked about his future still being up in the air. Nick Aldis interrupted and pulled Tim aside. In a (not really) private moment, he told the elder wrestler that NWA was their house and they built it.

Thunder Rosa made her debut against Ashley Vox. The former Kobra Moon was quick and brutal. She gave stiff shots, illegal ones, went for vital areas. The match was great and Rosa won, but Jim Cornette had a line that just make me shake my head and ask wtf. He said, "She's scary. They put her picture in prison to scare the sex offendors." That joke isn't fresh and is just plain crass, much like Cornette. 

After the match, Thunder Rosa continued to attack. Marti Belle came out, but didn't step in the ring to help. Rosa offered her hand to her, but Marti refused. Marti then had a promo talking about how the champ, Allysin Kay, was her friend and how the champ's words really hurt her. Kay came out to chastise Marti for complaining to the crowd instead of talking to her and was ambushed by Rosa. Thunder Rosa through her in the right and hit her with some vicious blows. Marti entered the ring and instead of helping her friend, attacked her, much to Rosa's pleasure.

There was another promo for the Question Mark.

This was followed in an old fashioned best 2 out of 3 contest between Aron Rogers and Ricky Starks. Stevens were some horrid looking flesh colored tights and it was atrocious. The match was fun though. The first fall happened in around three seconds. Stevens tried to ambush Stark, the ref rung the bell, and Stevens fell to the most dangerous move in wrestling today.... the quick roll-up pin! The second round went a little longer and Stevens put up a good fight, but the hot headed baby face, Starks, ultimately won. My favorite part of the match was the over dramatic scream Stevens gave.

He's not naked, but he looks like he is.

The main event was Colt Cabana (with Mr. Anderson) vs James Storm (with Eli Drake). This was a good match with each athlete having the upper hand a few times. Cabana's unorthodox style was an interesting contrast to Storm's strong strikes. For reasons unknown, Kamille pushed Mr. Anderson into Drake, which distracted Storm long enough for Cabana to pin him.

Though the show technically should have been over the Dawson's came back out and accepted Outlaw Inc's challenge. It was a fiece match with a lot of hard strikes and power moves. The Wild Cards attempted to sabotage Outlaw Inc, but the Rock'n'Roll Express came out and took care of business. The show ended with the veterans raising the hands of Outlaw Inc.

This was a good show and packed with promos and good action. Powerrr just keeps getting better and better. I can't wait to see how my favorites are used.

Watch episode 5 for yourself:

Macho Man vs. Cthulhu!

I had to share this phenomenal art piece by Tony Max. Apparently Macho Man came down from Heaven to elbow drop Cthulhu for taking his Slim Jim's.

Invisible Man vs. Invisible Stan

I decided tonight's post would be something a little different. Joey Janela is an insane, yet charismatic, indie wrestler that's signed with AEW. For the past three years he's thrown Joey Janela's Spring Break the same weekend as Wrestlemania. The event is full of wrestling, music, and partying. You can watch some of the events  YouTube. This is one of my favorites from this year's show. Invisible Stan is a completely invisible wrestler and in this match he takes on his brother, Invisible Man (whom he thought he'd kill). Referee, Bryce Remsburg (who now works for AEW) is only able to officiate this match because of the special glasses he wears.

Okay, this is legit so stupid it's amazing. Remsburg does an amazing job calling the match and reacting, even though nothing is happening. I think it's fantastic that the crowd gets into the match too. If you have about 10 minutes and want to watch something ridiculously awesome, please check this match out (and let me know what you think in the comments).

NWA Powerrr - Episode 4

The episode started with James Storm,  Eli Drake, Colt Cobana, and Nick Aldis sparring in a promo. Aldis. Aldis set up a team match between a team of his making and a team of Storm's making. If Storm's team wone, he agreed to abdicate his belt for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, but if he lost he had to give Colt Cobana a title shot.

The first match saw Jocephus take on Trevor Murdoch. I'm learning more about Jocephus and he's pretty funny. He apparently has some sort of spiritual adviser and I belt that he follows Zoltan.  The match was a quick one, with Jocephus trying to blind Murdoch with powder, but it backfiring.

Aron Stevens came out for a quick promo and was slapped by Ricky Starks.

Austin Idol had another fake commercial for Kayfabe Cocktail. This one was extra funny so I'm including it instead of just linking it.

There was a cool promo with the Rock'n'Roll Express, who'll be appearing on Powerrr in a few episodes.

The second match of the night featured the Dawsons taking on Outlaw Inc in a new DQ match. The tag teams were all about the steel chairs. For the most part the Dawsons had the upper hand and looked to when the match. The champions, Wild Cards looked on. Things looked to change when Thomas Latimer sabotaged one of them as they were getting ready to hit a chair heavy dive onto Homicide. However, Royce Isaacs, jumped in the ring and took out Eddie Kingston and placed the other Dawson brother on him for the pin. This was a bizarre double screw job.

There was another Weird Question mark promo.

Match three saw Ashley Vox taking on Marti Belle. Women's champ, Allysin Kay watched the pair go at it. Considering Belle seemed to be in control most of the match and she had a promo talking aobut proving herself before it, I thought she'd win. However, Vox was victorious. After the match, Thunder Rosa (Lucha Underground's Kobra Moon) came out and offered Belle her hand.

The fourth match saw the fallout from Starks slap of Stevens. It was a quick, but decent match. Not too much to get into. Most of the match was Cornette talking about how Stevens had no testicular fortitude. The highlight was Aron Stevens screaming like an idiot before he was pinned.

Aldis, Cobana, and Mr. Anderson took on James Storm and the Wilds Cards in the final match. It was a solid match with everyone getting their time to shine. Ultimately I think while he took the most punishment, Colt Cobana looked the best. He got the ultimate pin and it was a rather silly looking one (which surprised me that he got over on someone with a belt).

Overall this was another solid episode of Powerrr. While I don't see the show changing the face of wrestling, they are presenting something unique. It's presented in a simple and easy to digest format. I hope the product stays strong and succeeds.

Check out episode 4 for yourself:

Wrestlemaniac (2006)

Released in 2006, Wrestlemaniac (also known as El Mascarado Massacre) is an American slasher flick starting Rey Misterio. This is the original Mexican star of lucha libre Rey Misterio, the uncle of the man most knows as Rey Mysterio. Here's the plot:

On there way to Cabo San Lucas, a group of low-budget (porno) film maker and has cast stop in a legendary Mexican ghost town to refuel. The town is said to be the home of El Mascarado, a Frankenstein-like lucha libre killer. Unfortunately, the legends are at least partially true and the masked marauder is ready to kill again.  

While there is nothing absolutely groundbreaking about this movie, it's a lot of fun and a great idea. Misterio doesn't an amazing job of being a hulking horror monster. The background is ridiculous, but does touch on the importance of wrestling in Mexican culture. The overall plot is something we've seen before, victims break down in a place they've been warned away from. That being said, it's an entertaining flick with strong wrestling ties. 

If you're a fan of slasher movies and lucha libre this is definitely a flick to check out. The fact that El Mascarado follows wrestling rules is a unique trait for a slasher. He prefers to fight in his ring and he always unmasks his foes. The fact his foes aren't actually wearing masks makes it really gruesome. 

If you're a fan of horror and wrestling you should check this one out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

NWA Powerrr - Episode 3

Episode 3 of NWA Powerrr began with Eddie Kingston coming out and talking about the revenge he and Homicide wanted on the Dawsons. The crowd loved his ravings and he was getting quite a bit of heat. Cornette chimed in and Kingston said something to the extent of "Jim, you know I love you, but don't steal my heat." I cracked up at this line and wondered what Cornette actually thought of it.

The first match of the night was a bout between Marti Belle and Crystal Rose. Honestly, it was a pretty short match and while it wasn't bad, it also wasn't anything to write home about.

This was immediately followed by a promo with the Dawsons. The pair are getting quite a bit of heel heat. I think it's silly though, because the crowd insults them by chanting "Dawsons' Creek." I get the reference and all, but it's kind of lame. Anyway the pair discussed their apparent success in the promotion because folks were already calling htem out.

Aron Stevens (Damien Sandow) came out and did another acting related promo. He was dressed like a renfest attendee and was their to promote his newest film... Tropical Pirates. Some b-roll was aired and it looked cheesy af. He got some boos, but I still think this gimmick is pretty funny. While I'd like to see the man wrestle, he does make me laugh. He ended with a great line, "When it comes to acting, I have more chops than Ric Flair."

The second match of the night saw Caleb Konley (Suicide) took on Dan Parker. Parker was a Canadian heel. This was really strange, because the crowd had a lot of animosity to the young man, and it was because he was obnoxiously Canadian. It was really hard to hear what he said, but I know that he kept making snarky comments about being from Canada. Ultimately Konley won, which is cool. I think he might be my favorite guy in NWA.

Tim Storm did a promo talking about his future. He mentioned needing to really think about what he was going to do after realizing he could challenge for the 10 Pounds of Gold again. Instead of bashing the man that took that away from him, he praised Aldis. Eli Drake came out to talk Storm up and mentioned that just because he couldn't be the world champ, he could go after the tag gold with Eli as his partner. Drake booked a match for the pair against the Dawsons and Storm said he'd think about teaming with him.

This was followed by one of two bizarre commercials. I don't know who's idea the Spiritual Advice Invisible Hair Cream was, but it was a total wtf moment.

Jocephus came out to "apologize" to Jame Storm. He had gifts in a bag. Instead of Storm, Colt Cobana came out and took the gifts. He put on a cowboy hat, drank, and beer and was attacked by surprise. Jocephus threw foot powder in his face and would have mangled the comedic actor had Jame Storm not come out and attacked Jocephus. Mr. Anderson saved Cobana from being attacked by Storm.

Nick Aldis came out and did another promo talking about the promotion and how it was doing great. He also spoke very highly of Tim Storm. Aldis also talked about who would challenge him for the gold and mentioned that Ricky Starks is someone to watch. Joe Galli brought up the "clickbait" angle  and at this point even the crowd told Galli to drop it.

The second commercial promo followed and it was a bizarre clip that ended with "Who is the Question Mark?"

Tim Storm did come out and join Drake against the Dawsons. Drake and Storm put up an excellent fight and both showed great skill against the hosses. Unfortunately, Drake missed one of the Dawsons and kayfabe injured himself on the ring post, taking himself out of the match. Storm was taken down by the Dawsons pancake finisher and was pinned. After the bell rand, the pair kept attacking Storm. Fortunately Homicide and Kingston came out and chased the Dawsons away. The show ended with Nick Aldis coming out to check on Storm.

I think this is my favorite episode so far. While it had fewer matches, two of the three were really entertaining. The promos were good (minis fake commercials and the "clickbait" arc.").

Watch it for yourself and let me know if you agree:

Whisper City Pro Wrestling

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm a gamer. I've started collecting wrestling based table top rpgs. My plan is to review them and post new content here. The first game I'm going to talk about Whisper City Pro Wrestling, a post-apocalyptic wrestling rpg by Cuss World Books & Games.

Still a playtest, I have one of the sold out book versions. It is less than 50 page soft cover release. The covers are in color and the interior is black and white. The book has a really quirky art style that can be seen on the cover. The art reminds me of Superjail! and is really fun. The game also share's an aesthetic with a toy line I loved as a kid, M.U.S.C.L.E. I think I might actually try to pick up some of these figures to use as minis for the game.

The setting takes place in the last bastion of civilization, Whisper City. Whisper City is a mid sized city that could be any small city that existed in the shadow of a bigger one. A great example city they author mentions is Akron, Ohio (which is also where Cuss World is based). There's not much to do in the city, except watch (or if you're character, participate) in wrestling! Because of the apocalypse and all, the borders between dimensions have weakened, which has affected things dramatically.

The game uses the mighty (and underutilized) d12! This is used for everything. Character creation is random. You roll a d12 and your bio-type is determined. They are human (1-6), animal-grown up (7-9), cryptid (10), demon (11), or unfathomable (12). The strange of these is the unfathomable, which is basically a human body with an inanimate object head (like The Tick's Chairface Chippendale). After this you determine the type of wrestler  you are. You have an equal chance of being a Muscle King (classic 80's strong wrestler), Technician (the best actual wrestlers), Showstopper (high flyer), or Brawler (street fighter). Each bio-type and wrestler type comes with its own special abilities, moves, and perks.

The game includes wrestling rules (obviously), but isn't just about what happens in the ring. In addition to creating events, the game master, will create scenarios to let their players get into all sorts of hi-jinks in the city.

You can get the digital version for just 99 cents.

NWA Powerrr - Episode 2

This review will be much shorter because I established the NWA Powerrr format and set up in the last post. Episode 2 only had 4 matches, compared to the 1st.

The episode started with Aaron Stevens (Damien Sandow) being interviewed. It was pretty entertaining and the man has great comedic chops. I really like his wrestler turned actor gimmick. It's been done many times, but Stevens is phenomenal.

The opening match was Trevor Murdoch, a real hoss, taking on up and coming NWA talent, Ricky Starks. I hadn't seen Starks wrestle before, but I like the showing he made. Once again I was distracted by Jim Cornette taking time to bash modern wrestling. This time would have been been spent actually calling the match, rather than talking about how NWA was for real beer drinking men. The outcome of the match surprised me, though the boos that Starks received didn't. He was a smaller and wrestling with some flash and style, which doesn't seem like the type to get over with a modern NWA crowd.

Starks post match interview was cool. I liked that Murdoch shook his hand. I also like the kid's style. He did a lot of rhyming, talked about God blessing him, but did it in a real narcissistic way.

Another segment that followed this and continued throughout the episode was Joe Galli discussing how Aldis reacted to Galli's question about Kamille. In the introduction to his interview he used the words "fair and balanced," which brought images of Fox News and had me rolling my eyes. This whole plot gave the episode it's name, Clickbait.

Galli then interviewed comedic wrestling star Colt Cobana and his mystery tag partner, Mr. Anderson (Ken Kennedy). The pair then took on Sal Rinauro and Jordan Kingsley. Cobana and Anderson put on a very entertaining match. This was another squash match (Rinauro's second in Powerrr).

I laughed at the retro comedic commercial for Tony Falks Waffles and Tire Irons.

I got my first taste of women's wrestling in NWA. Champion Allysin Kay took on Ashley Vox in a non-title match. Both competitors showed some nice athleticism. I liked Allysin Kay's physicality tossing around the smaller Fox. To her credit, Fox did a really nice job with some quick moves. My only critique of the match is that I didn't like how Kay sold some of her opponents moves earlier, but that's just personal taste.

James Storm cut a quick promo about his goals in taking the 10 Pounds of Gold. I liked his redneck promo. It focused on how he's a real man and the others being boys, but it really works with his character.

We got to see another Austin Idol Universe Wrestling College Commercial, which was silly, but fun.

The Wild Cards returned to take on Outlaw Inc. in the final match on the card. Once again they impressed me. Their opponents for the match were Eddie Kingston and Homicide (one of the founders of the LAX stable).  I really liked the brawlers from NYC. Kingston and Homicide were two tough cats. Cornette kept making jokes about Homicide's neighborhood and it was like a really bad comedy act. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. This match was for the tag time titles, but it went to a no contest as the Dawsons (the to southern hosses from episode one) came out and attacked everyone.

After the match they continued the Aldis and Galli. Kamille didn't speak and Aldis got angry when Galli pressured her about it. I don't understand this story or the appeal of it. I hope it gets better as the episodes continue.

Overall this was another enjoyable episode. I think the matches were solid and there are some charismatic stars in the promotion. Again, my disdain for Cornette taints my opinion of the show a bit, but I know that he resigned, so I just have to finish this season and then Stu Bennett (aka Wade Barrett) replaces him on the announce team.

Check out NWA Power Episode 2 for yourself:

NWA Powerrr - Episode 1

In 2017, the National Wrestling Alliance (name, rights, trademarks, and championship belts) was purchased by Smashing Pumpkins front man, Billy Corgan. A part of his plan to revitalize the brand was create a weekly studio wrestling show in the vein of the old Jim Crockett Saturday shows. The show debuted in October of this year as NWA Powerrr. The episodes are pre-taped, hour long studio shows that release Friday nights on YouTube, Facebook, and FITE TV.

I wanted something new to watch and what I discovered is Powerr
r is something new, that it is also something very old. While the video quality is pretty good and the show has a modern energy vibe to it, the format and set looks very retro. It's made up of the announcer desk (with commentators Jim Cornette and David Marquez), the interview podium, and the ring itself.

The first episode included 5 matches and interviews in between. This seemed like a packed show for an hour episode, but honestly it had a nice flow and nothing seemed rushed.  I knew none of the talent except for Cornette (whom I'm not a fan of), but the show was entertaining.

It opened with Nick Aldis, NWA World Heavy Weight Champion, talking about what NWA and Powerrr were all about. They were wrestling for men, not boys.

The first match featured Dave and Zane Dawson, a couple of southern hosses, against the bright spandex wearing Sal Rinauro and Billy Buck. The match was over quickly and was essentially a squash match. The Dawsons flattened their opponents with some devastating looking moves. I love watching big guys smash little guys. I might be a bit biased...

The second match was Eli Drake vs Caleb Konley (who you might know as the most recent Suicide from TNA/Impact). This was a solid match with some great spots.

The third match was the Wild Cards (featuring a former member of the NXT's The Ascension) vs Danny White and Matthew Mims. This was another squash match. The commentary team did a good job building the Wild Cards up as hot new no-nonsense tag team. They proved themselves to be badasses.

Jocephus (who kind of looks like a hoss version of Zach Galifianakis), a comedic loud mouth character who kept shouting he wanted a match with (Tim) Storm. However James Storm (an unrelated character who'd be a great tag team partner with Hangman Page) came out to take care of Jocephus. The two had a comedic quick match that ended Jocephus getting knocked out, laid in the middle of the ring with his thumb in his mouth.

The final match was between Nick Aldis (with valet Kamille), and former champion, Tim Storm for the NWA World Heavy Weight Championship. The match had a last chance stipulation. If Storm lost, he could never challenge for the title again. The build-up was great and it really painted Storm as an aging hero in his wrestling and personal life. The match was enjoyable and Storm did a great job portraying the desperation of his situation. His low blow against Aldis seemed out of place, because he appeared as a face, but maybe that's just an old school thing I'm not used to. Ultimately, no matter how hard he fought, Storm was pinned. Not only was he pinned, but it was with the most dangerous move in modern wrestling.... the small package roll-up! The show ended with Aldis being interviewed and some "clickbait" story being mentioned because his valet doesn't speak.

Overall I had fun watching the first episode. The wrestling and characters were enjoyable. I like the retro feel of the show. The production is a bit amateurish at times and that actually adds to the charm. Plus they're using Dokken - Into The Fire as the theme, which is cheesy af. There are things I have issues with too. First of all, Jim Cornette is an absolute jerk. I know part of it is a character, but as candid videos show, he's also just an asshole. I also think you can build a product without attacking other promotions. Apparently, because they feel wrestling should be a bunch of guys arguing over who is better endowed, NWA has to tear down others. As Cornette said, "You got little kids. You got a lot of cosplayers, but there are real men in the NWA and they want to fight." I love those "kids and cosplayers" and I think there is room in wrestling for them to exist alongside the "real men" of NWA.

I plan on watching episode to and reviewing it soon.

Check out NWA Powerrr Episode 1 for yourself:

Introduction

IWA East Coast Show - July 11, 2008

Some of you might already know me, but for those of you that don't, here's a brief intro and a quick explanation of why I started this blog and what kind of posts I'll be doing.

My name is Justin, though my friends call me Pun. I'm a 30 something year old librarian, geek, dad, and wrestling fan. I have another blog that's primarily devoted to tabletop gaming, Halls of the Nephilim. I also make rpgs with my friend Josh as one of The Lone Bards.

Though my interest has waxed and waned over the years I am a life long wrestling fan. It was an important part of my childhood and my family used to watch it every Saturday night and Sunday morning. I was a teenager during the Monday Night Wars and that's when I really got into things. I continued to watch it into the New Aggression era, though in general my interest started to lessen. During the Monday Night Wars I was more of a WCW fan and I didn't like what WWE did to my favorites (particularly Diamond Dallas Page). In general I think I stopped watching by 2007 or so.

I have an uncle that wrestled using the name Trik Nasty for several years in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia and occasionally went to his shows. I'd also talk to him about what was going on, but didn't really watch much.

While I sort of kept up on things and occasionally watched, I didn't really start watching again until the first two seasons of Lucha Underground were added in early 2017. I've always been a big fan of Lucha Libre and I see those cats as real life superheros. I then started watching WhatCulture Wrestling regularly and getting back into things. I occasionally watched Raw and SmackDown, but in general they didn't keep my interest. I liked to watch New Japan Pro Wrestling while at my parents and became a fan of Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and a lot of the Bullet Club Guys.

Earlier this year my passion was fully reignited with the creation of All Elite Wrestling. I loved the premise behind it, I loved the wrestlers they signed, and I loved the pay-per-views they had leading up to their deal on TNT. While I don't think it's a perfect wrestling company, I absolutely love what I've seen from Dynamite. The sixth episode of Dynamite was my first live pro-wrestling show.

Didn't like the outcome of the tournament but it was an amazing show.

I will do my best to not just gush about them, I will be posting about currently wrestling events and what I like and dislike about wrestling. I'm a collector and I will probably post about toys, pins, and other things I add to my horde. Also, being a gamer, I do plan on talking about and reviewing wrestling video, board, and roleplaying games (as well as create content for the games). I will also be doing reviews of wrestling-centric movies or movies starring wrestlers. I'm sure there will be other things I post about, but that's what I have planned for this blog.

There you have it. If you like what you see or have thoughts on any post, please feel free to comment.