CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 94

Episode 94

1. Cain Justice vs. Montana Black

PAS: Montana Black is a huge guy, probably 6'3 350, and it is fun to watch Cain as a sneaky heel bumping around for a monster. I especially loved the finish as he snatched an arm out of the air and yanked it into a submission. Really got him over as a dangerous guy who can tap you from anywhere. Justice is turning into one of my favorite guys to watch, he just needs to dump that cornball indy name.

ER: Black really is huge, and has a good face, not too hard to imagine him showing up in NXT sooner rather than later. The Mark Henry-cut singlet looks good on him and with his size he could be a big deal. He's got a ways to go but they limited his stuff so they never ended up in trouble, and he showed a couple nice "little things" moments, like when he pinned Justice close to the ropes and tucked Justice's arm so he couldn't grab it. Positioning mistakes are things that 15 year pros make so him doing little things like that is a good sign. There were some moments where both guys were working inside themselves a bit too much, ducking a clothesline that never happened, Justice bumping a lariat before it happened, stuff that's less forgivable from but more understandable from them. I did love both attempts at the arm, with Justice grabbing it and Black powering through to a suplex, and then the one that ended the match. It looked cool and was a believable way to cut the size difference. And I agree with Phil about a name change being necessary. How about....Shane Justice.

2. Patrick Scott vs. Cam Carter vs. Jacob Ryan vs. Ian Maxwell

PAS: This is a rookie 4-way with ever trope you might expect from a rookie 4-way. Tower of doom spot, dive train, every guy hits his finisher run. I thought Cam Carter was probably the stand out, he had the most ups on his dives and bumps, still it was hard to get a sense of whether any of these guys are going to be worth following

ER: This was fine enough for what it was, but it was a bit much to debut four rookies, from four training camps, with four sociopath "two first names" names. I thought Cam Carter was actually the least of the bunch, he had those real floaty Killshot/Petey Williams bumps, and looked totally lost during that final minute segment (though I liked how he bumped an inverted STO on his chin). I'm backing Patrick Scott as the stand out; he kept the flash low but clearly looked like the best base of the group, and glued that dive train together, seemed like he had the most effective bumps and knew when to take his turns. Ian Maxwell felt like he had the most confidence, trying out some unique strikes and some bigger bumps, some of which didn't worked but he did everything assuredly and that goes a long way for me. Jacob Ryan has an unfortunately soft body for a smaller guy, but I did like a running knee he broke out late in the match. I was expecting to like a rookie 4 way scramble a lot less than I did, and each guy did at least something I liked without doing anything egregious, so I think that's a win.

3. Roy Wilkins vs. Dirty Daddy

PAS: I really liked this, I am not sure how much I enjoy Wilkins cerebral gimmick is because of the good job the announcers do in getting it over, but I really enjoy Wilkins cerebral gimmick. Dirty Daddy is a fun fired up babyface, and this a cool Bockwinkle v. Tito Santana style match. I loved how Wilkins kept Daddy close, constantly staying connected grabbing an arm or a leg. I even liked his Flair style cheap shotting and cheating. Great TV match.

ER: I liked this too. Dirty Daddy feels like someone who wouldn't work for me, but I like his weird strikes, he has a killer jab, and his selling is ace. I also liked the Misawa throwback tights. I *do* think Phil is onto something with Wilkins' character getting a lot of help from the announce crew. I think in this match a lot of his motivations were really a Stutts creation, and I'm totally okay with that. We write about pro wrestling and often project motivations or story where they may not be, and I love that part of the game. I really liked when Wilkins tricked Daddy into a punch exchange, and then sidestepped and grabbed an abdominal stretch. Great spot. Coach's interference was also effective, as Wilkins grabbing the towel for leverage looked like legit leverage. You can easily see these two guys working fun matches on syndicated WCW Saturday Night.


4. Rising Generation League Battle Royal

PAS: Aric Andrews comes out and says he will give whoever wins this match a title shot, and I loved how exasperated he got as a bunch of veterans entered the rookie battle royal. It was a battle royal, some nasty over the top rope bumps, but not much else, I did like the quick match with Andrews and the CZW kid, fun bit of wrestling business, but nothing memorable.

ER: I'm a big battle royal fan, especially live. And my god that moment where Cain Justice comes out to see if he could be in the royal, and Andrews hasn't caught on to what is happening but then starts realizing? Gold. And the speed the wrestlers come out from the back is awesome, just a stream of dudes suddenly pouring out. But I think Phil is really underrating this segment. The battle royal was really fun, with Mecha Mercenary wandering around uppercutting people after tossing some rookies, Donnie Dollars also doing some fine punch and wander, and then several really nasty rookie eliminations. The final four eliminations get a little sloppy but up until then we got some pretty great bumps. I thought the Arik Andrews/Tahir James match directly after was pretty awesome. I had never seen James before but liked what we got, and thought it was a really solid "underdog survives longer than expected" singles match. Andrews jumps him with a nasty shot to the back of the head and drags him to a decent beating for 5 minutes. Andrews showed some ass while also looking like a sadistic prick, and I got really into James' comebacks. This whole segment (battle royal/match) was my favorite thing on the show.

5. "The Southern Savior" John Skyler vs. Snooty Foxx

PAS: This match reminded me of Flair v. Sting from the Clash, solid veteran heel taking on a young green powerhouse and making a match of it. Foxx has a ways to go, but he has good energy and a connection to the crowd. Skyler is a great southern indy hand, works in some cheap shots, some nice punches, shows vulnerability and sneaks out a cheap win. I liked Wilkins v. Daddy better, but both were good examples of heel veterans plying their craft.

ER: I also liked this one although I felt it went a bit too long, and both guys looked a little sluggish down the finishing stretch. The crowd is obviously into Fox and he connects with them, and his stuff is coming along nicely. He'll throw a bad looking punch, but then follow up with a nice one, so you get the feeling that things are going to come together for him sooner rather than later. Skyler facilitated him nicely, with a highlight being his massive spit sell after running face first into a Fox back elbow. I liked Fox starting out just steamrolling Skyler but maybe working too hard too fast, leaving an opening for Skyler to ground him and wear him out. I thought the finish run punch exchange was a little silly, as Skyler works at grounding him for 10 minutes and then just decides to stand and strike. Still, this felt like a really good Power Plant rookie vs. southern vet match, and that's a match up I always like.