NWA Power results: Colby Corino vs. AJ Cazana

This week’s NWA Power was all about the continuing Champions Series. As a reminder, it’s where teams of eight wrestle and every member of the winning team will receive title shots in the future. Points are awarded depending on the style of finish.

The show opened with Kerry Morton and Kenzie Paige introducing their teams: Team Rock ‘n’ Roll and Team Pretty. We now know the six (and final?) teams. Last week, we were told an algorithm chose the teams, but Morton said he chose Dak Draper and Mims while Rhett Titus was on Paige’s team. Trevor Murdoch was also on her team.

They added graphics this week to show who was on each team before their specific tag team matches which is a significant improvement. I was very pleased with this. It seems the week between shows allowed the production crew to make it a bit more clear who was facing who.

Trevor Murdoch & Rhett Titus (Team Pretty) defeated Mims & Dak Draper (Team Rock ‘n’ Roll)

A good match is a good match, and this was great. The finish was fantastic and Team Pretty actually came across like a team with all of them celebrating when Murdoch won. I liked that. As much as the points system is convoluted, booking the team like they did in this match was excellent.

Murdoch hit Mims hard after being tagged in after a friendly opening grapple between Mims and Titus. Murdoch crossfaced Mims and looked like he as going to beat the younger wrestler into oblivion, but Mims slammed him and hit a splash for a two count. Draper tagged in and shot for a single leg on Murdoch, who just stomped on his head and then tagged in Titus.

Kenzie Paige and Aron Stevens, who is both her assistant in the tournament, went nuts for everything Murdoch and Titus did, which added to the heat for the match. Stevens being the assistant for Pretty Empowered would be awesome and much better than his current feud with Question Mark II. 

The wrestlers being the audience again this week made for a very hot crowd which makes these shows fun to watch. Draper hit a knee drop on Titus before tagging out to Mims. Mims and Draper were eager to show who was stronger at the expense of Titus who suffered through all the power moves.

Draper did a stretch muffler and tagged out to Mims after failing to tap him out. It is a bit weird that the babyfaces were getting the heat on Titus to make a hot tag to Murdoch, but technically both teams are babyfaces. Titus made the hot tag and took Mims’ head off with a series of lariats and a big boot, but got low bridged to the floor. Murdoch ran around the ring and hit a bulldog off the top rope on Mims, which was actually a really clever finish.

– After the intro, we saw the seventh and eighth teams (and final? I think?) in Team Rebelion and Team Gold. Chris Adonis was in the ring to take on Jax Dane. At least I know more about teams 5-8 then I do about teams 1-4 last week. The graphics, again, showed everyone who is on both teams and which guys were facing off. They were nice looking graphics as well.

Chris Adonis (Team Gold) defeated Jax Dane (Team Rebelion) via DQ

Normally the DQ would be a bad finish, but it actually played into the story of the tournament layout they are going for as it prevented Team Gold from getting six points for the submission, and got them three points for the DQ instead. It is still convolute, but actually made sense within the context of the rules they laid out.

Adonis tried to lock up with him multiple times, but Dane played the classic heel role running away. I will say that they introduced the idea of all the teams having assistants for the first time in this episode as opposed to co-captains like the last Champions Series. It makes me wonder who the assistants were for the previous teams. There were supposed to be no managers at ringside, but Chris Silvio, Esq. jumped on the apron and distracted Adonis before going back to the crowd.

Velvet Sky rightly said it should have been a DQ. Adonis got hit with a Samoan drop and put in a bear hug, but he fought out and hit a flying shoulder tackle. It is not often you see Adonis acting as the small babyface in a match. 

Adonis hit a spinebuster and went for the Master Lock, but Dane shoved him back to the corner before hitting the Pop The Trunk lariat. La Rebelion asked him to do the Master Lock, so he tried, but Adonis fought out and put it on Dane, who low blowed Adonis to only let Team Gold get three points rather than six for the submission.

– Ella Envy and Kenzie Paige cut a great promo about how Paige was going to lead Team Pretty to victory.

Alex Taylor (Team Rock ‘n’ Roll) defeated Luke Hawx (Team Pretty)

After a short opening segment, Hawx took control after blocking a back leapfrog and hitting an awesome back suplex on Taylor. Taylor necked Hawx on the middle rope but held on and drove him face-first into the apron. Hawx got away from a Cradle Shock and hit a spinning kick with both men going down. Hawx hit a protoplex for a two count.

Taylor later shoved Hawx off the top rope and went for a senton, but missed. It seemed like Taylor slipped, but thankfully he landed okay. Hawx went to the top rope and Taylor cut him off, finally hitting Cradle Shock for the pinfall in a perfectly fine match.

Team Pretty and Team Rock ‘n’ Roll are tied at five points each.

– Chris Silvio, Esq and Jax Dane were with May Valentine. Silvio said the full nelson was an illegal hold that cuts off oxygen to the brain…which is not true. He also said he was in the hold for five minutes, but it was about ten seconds. Silvio said that the only thing that mattered was Dane coming out on top. He didn’t, so Dane might want to look into firing him for better representation.

– Jordan Clearwater cut a promo about being a captain and how he was an alternative last year. Team Rebelion buried him. Clearwater’s assistant was Magic Jake, who also cut a promo on Clearwater saying he wouldn’t be pushed around.

Colby Corino (Team Rebelion) defeated AJ Cazana (Team Gold)

This main event match was fantastic. It wasn’t long, but what they did made sense and had a built in story with the leg work from Corino and the power of Cazana.

Corino tried to run away as Cazana threw him around the ring, and he failed to each time. Cazana nailed him with some chops and threw him across the ring again. Corino ducked a punch and thought he was smart, but turned into a clothesline. Corino dodged a stomp and Cazana’s knee buckled. It was a simple spot, but it worked as Corino went to a dragon screw and started working the knee — a perfect transition to getting the heat.

As Corino had a kneebar, Cazana reached over and powered him out of it, leading to Corino charging in the corner straight into an STO. Corino dodged an elbow and went right back to the knee, transitioning to a half crab. Somehow, Cazana managed to counter into a kneebar of his own and Corino tried to fight out with a kick, but that made Cazana angry, so Corino had to go to the ropes.

Corino dumped Cazana to the floor with a hurricanrana, and went for a second on the floor, but Cazana caught him, power bombed him on the apron, and went for a suplex. Corino slipped into a chicken wing after stomping his knee and Cazana passed out. This match was awesome. Team Rebelion is ahead with six points to three for Team Gold.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this episode was infinitely better then last week’s. I am always fair, and as much as I didn’t like last week, I actually loved this episode of NWA Power. Even with the convoluted points system, the booking made sense within the rules of the tournament, everything progressed nicely, and we got to know each of the teams involved. 

If they did this last week, I would have had much less trouble with the episode. I’m glad they learned from the mistakes of last week and corrected quickly for this one. This was an excellent show.