"Show Time Power Hour" TV Taping Number 94 (Week 187)

William Regal: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the finest sixty minutes of pro wrestling in the world, the Show Time Power Hour! I'm your host, William Regal. With me are Mauro Ranallo and Jim Cornette! Well guys, the elephant in the room has reared his head two weeks in a row and indirectly caused Ricochet losses both weeks. Jim says the mystery man is none other than CM Punk, who is in the midst of a yearlong suspension. No one knows for sure except the masked man himself. Punk's own wife, AJ Lee, swears she knows nothing and that her husband has told her nothing. As of tonight, we're no closer to solving the mystery than we were two weeks ago!"

Mauro Ranallo: "The rumblings fall on either side of the argument! No one knows anything for sure at this point!"

Jim Cornette: "You guys are killing me with your ignorance! Look at the man! Same height. Same stature. Same tattoos. Same entrance music. Same shirt. This is CM Punk coming back to mess with Ricochet and, most likely, all of 'The Richards Collective' and Jordan Richards in particular!"

Regal: "I get what you're saying, Jim. The similarities are striking. But, the fact remains that no one has seen the man's face. Until we do, we won't know for sure!"

Ricochet came out with AJ Lee. He was visibly angry.

Ricochet: "I was sitting with AJ in 'The Richards Collective's' private dressing room listening to these commentators drone on and on about the mysterious masked man who's been messing with me for the last two weeks on this program. Everyone and their dog has an opinion. But, no one seems to know who he is for sure. Well, I don't care what anyone says! I know who it is! It's CM Punk! The man is violating the terms of his suspension and his contract should be terminated immediately! Now AJ, I know you're his wife and I know you say you know nothing, but I find that a little bit hard to believe."

AJ Lee took the microphone from Ricochet.

AJ Lee: "Listen, I swear to you that Phil has said nothing about this. He says he doesn't know who the guy is, bottom line! But, I did tell Phil not to push anything here. I told him to stay in WILD and ride out this suspension. He told me, and I quote, 'It's all under control.'"

Ricochet: "If I were you, I wouldn't trust him as far as you can throw him.

Just then...

Mystery Man: "So, the world seems to think they have me pegged. Ricochet here says I am CM Punk. Well, I have some news for Ricochet and everyone else. I am NOT CM Punk. And AJ, rest assured that your husband isn't lying to you. CM Punk does not know who I am. You see, I am here on behalf of CM Punk, but he didn't send me. I am a longtime admirer of CM Punk, his career, his lifestyle, his legacy. You see, I am a practitioner of the straight edge lifestyle, just like Punk. In fact, I have patterned almost everything in my life after the man, down to the tattoos. I've sat back for years and watched the way he's been mistreated in this company, much like he was mistreated in the WWE years before that. Finally, I said enough is enough! It's time for someone to avenge CM Punk! Obviously, his wife is not going to do it, so I have decided to step up and do it myself!"

Ricochet: "No one's buying what you're selling, pal! You look just like CM Punk! You sound just like CM Punk! Who do you think you're fooling?!"

Mystery Man: "It's a wonder what plastic surgery and vocal training can do for a man."

The crowd got a laugh at that statement.

Ricochet: "If you're not CM Punk, then why wear a mask?!"

Mystery Man: "I wear this mask as a symbol of the life I lead. My identity is not important. What's important is why I am here. As far as who I am? Well, you see these three letters on the mask? S-E-S is who I am--'Straight Edge Superstar!'"

Ricochet: "So, you're not CM Punk, even though you look like him, sound like him, have the same tattoos, everything. Okay, I'll play along. You're the 'Straight Edge Superstar.' Got it. But, how did you get in the building?! How do you have an entrance theme on the tron if you're just some dude off the street?! Riddle me that, Phil!"

Straight Edge Superstar: "Funny story about that. My lawyer negotiated a deal with the media department whereby I can play that video on air. It's amazing what you can get accomplished over the telephone, with a little money involved, of course."

Ric Flair: "All right! That's enough! You've been coming out here hijacking this program for three weeks now! That's it! I don't care how much money you paid the media department to play an entrance video, you don't have the right to be out here! You say you're not CM Punk! We believe otherwise, which is a violation of your suspension! I have every right to terminate your contract right now!"

Superstar: "Actually, you don't have the right to terminate anyone's agreement, Commissioner Flair. No matter what similarities you believe CM Punk and I have, you cannot prove that he and I are the same person. So, if you terminate CM Punk here and now, you would breach his contract and NWA: Show Time would be liable for damages in a court of law. Do you really want to explain that to Jordan Richards and the legal team?"

"Ladies and gentlemen" by Saliva played to bring out CEO Jordan Richards with Karlee Perez.

Jordan Richards: "It's true what you say, Mr. 'Straight Edge Superstar,' is it? Until or unless I can prove you are CM Punk himself, I cannot terminate his contract. With that being said, we all believe you to be CM Punk. So, that provides an interesting dilemma. If you are not CM Punk, you are showing up on my TV without a contractual agreement to do so. In that case, I have the power and authority to bar you from the building. But, if you're not here, there is no chance to prove you are CM Punk. So, what will I do? Simply this. I will allow this 'Straight Edge Superstar' to be here. But, to get what I want, which is to prove you are CM Punk and to terminate your contract forever, I am offering this. I will pay anyone in this company fifty thousand dollars cash to unmask the 'Straight Edge Superstar' and prove once and for all it is indeed CM Punk under the hood! You heard it, locker room! Have at him!"

Regal: "Oh my! It's going to be a free-for-all!"

Ricochet quickly jumped out of the ring and headed for "SES." He was met with a swift kick to the head. "SES" escaped through the crowd as Richards and Flair clearly were upset.

Regal: "Fans, this situation just got even more volatile! Lwet's take a quick break to restore order. We'll be back with the debut of newcomer Killer Kross! Stay with us!"

Regal: "We're back and ready to go to the ring! We're about to witness the debut of Killer Kross, who's left a path of devastation in his wake across North and South America! He has a stiff first test against the always dangerous Johnny Mundo!"

Match One ~ Killer Kross vs. Johnny Mundo with Taya

Kross made an impression right from the start with this entrance theme:

As he came down the ramp, people immediately took notice.

The most surprising thing happened. Ring Announcer Scarlett Bordeaux seemed absolutely mesmerized by Kross.

Winner = Killer Kross by submission in 10:03

Regal: "What an impressive win for Killer Kross, in dominating fashion!"

Ranallo: "Momma Mia! You wanna talk about a great debut! How about putting Johnny Mundo to sleep?!"

Cornette: "I'll give it up! That was as strong a debut match as I've ever seen in this company!"

Regal: "Fans, we'll take a break. When we return, we'll have much more action!"

Regal: "We're back. During the commercial break, our backstage camera crew caught a very interesting conversation. Let's show you highlights."

The scene shifted to moments before, where the backstage cameraman happened upon AJ Lee confronting Straight Edge Superstar.

AJ Lee: "What are you doing?! I know it's you, Phil! Are you crazy?! You're going to get yourself fired!"

Superstar: "My name is 'Straight Edge Superstar.' AJ, listen to reason. You've been a pawn in Jordan Richards' vendetta against CM Punk from the beginning! He's used you against your own husband! Wake up and see the truth!"

"SES" quickly left the area, as several wrestlers ran into the camera shot.

Regal: "Straight Edge Superstar had better keep his head on a swivel. He's a marked man."

Ranallo: "You'd better believe he has a giant target on his back. Actually, it's on that black mask!"

Cornette: "Yeah, and that target is painted green, the color of that fifty grand! I might just get my guys in on that bounty!"

Regal: "Stop it, Jim! Let's move on. Fans, we welcome our new Lead Interviewer Charly Caruso to the program! She's standing by with a special guest.

Caruso: "Matt, you've been on a tear recently, winning and defending the Television Championship. Your two thousand nineteen has started off with a bang. What can you attribute your success to?"

Matt Riddle: "Bro, two thousand nineteen has been pretty awesome, right?! But honestly, I've put in the work it takes to succeed. Hard work pays off, and it has with this championship belt."

Caruso: "You have said on social media that you're on a crusade to make the NWA: Show Time TV Title 'great again.' What did you mean by that?"

Riddle: "Well, this championship represents more than just Mid-Atlantic area. It represents everywhere this company is broadcast on television. That's worldwide, bro! TBS is a major cable company. I want this title to be looked at on a world scale, not just a regional one. I really want this title to be considered like the old NWA World TV Title was in the eighties. To do that, I'm going to have to beat all comers. In fact, I'm about to go out here and do just that."

Caruso: "Back to you, William."

Winner and STILL NWA: Show Time Television Champion = Matt Riddle by submission in 24:16

Regal: "That match was as good as expected! Another great win for Matt Riddle!"

Ranallo: "I guess judgment draweth nigh another day! Matt Riddle's title reign continues!"

Cornette: "Matt Riddle took to pro wrestling like a fish to water! He continues to impress me!"

Regal: "We'll be back in just a moment with more! Stay tuned for the main event, next!"

Regal: "Fans, we're back! We're ready for our main event, which will be a battle between 'War Machine' and 'Killer Elite Squad!' These two teams were involved in a 'Number One Contenders' match last week that 'KES' inserted itself into and won. 'War Machine' was none too pleased and demanded another shot at 'KES,' which is happy to oblige. Let's watch the carnage unfold!"

Match Three ~ "War Machine" ("WarBeard" Hanson & Raymond "Death" Rowe) vs. "Killer Elite Squad" (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Hoyt) with Brian Pillman, Jr.

Pillman attempted to interfere, but was bounced from the match early, as Rowe through him from the ring apron to the timekeeper's table (crashing through it). From there, it was an absolute fight. Both teams brought the heavy artillery and were dropping bombs. Ultimately, the normal rules of a tag team match were not enough to house these four big men. Both teams took turns shoving the referee down, which caused him to throw the match out.

Winners = no contest in 20:26

Regal: "What a brutal affair! They're still going at it after the bell!"

Ranallo: "A traditional tag team match will not settle between these two teams!"

Cornette: "As far as I'm concerned, let them kill each other! That's two less teams I'd have to worry about!"

Regal: "Indeed. Fans, we're running out of time. Please join us again next Tuesday on TBS for more of the Show Time Power Hour! And, don't forget to log onto www.nwashowtime.com for After Buzz with Cathy Kelley! For Mauro Ranallo and Jim Cornette, I'm William Regal, saying ta ta for now!"

NWA: Show Time After Buzz with Cathy Kelley aired as normal.

Kelley marveled at the beating the two main event teams laid on each other. She indicated that they've been brutalizing each other for years. Kelley then pontificated about the Straight Edge Superstar situation and the $50,000 bounty Jordan Richards has placed on his head. Kelley supposed, "The Straight Edge Superstar had better sleep with one eye open from now on." With that, Kelley signed off.