CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 97

Episode 97

1. Snooty Foxx/Dirty Daddy vs. HIM/SIS

PAS: Great little scrap which got me excited about the Kernodle Cup. Fox has looked a little green for singles matches, but is fun as a power hot tag. Really liked HIM and SIS, Him had a nasty cravate where he was kneeing Daddy in the face. I liked how it broke down, really chaotic with HIM wrestling with a fan over a chair and both teams having to be separated.

ER: Short and sweet, really made me want more (luckily we have a massive tag tournament coming up). I was really impressed by SIS in that silly Hardys battle royal thing they did, but that was my only experience with her. And she impressed again here. I really love her whipping headbutts, it's a great worked move and she does it so fast you get the full effect, without having to mush up your brains Kikuchi-style. I really dug the spot where Daddy is running across the ring delivering elbows, and on the third she loads up a nicely timed pump kick. HIM had an awesome cravate while throwing knees to the side of Daddy's head, into a swinging neckbreaker. That's a great spot. Fox gets into the mix with a brutal spear right at HIM's chest, and I agree with Phil that the breakdown to this was pretty mad. HIM fighting over that chair could have gotten real messy, and the pull apart made SIS look like a total badass.

2. Chip Day vs. Otto Schwanz vs. Smith Garrett vs. Aric Andrews vs. Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee

PAS: Excellent multi-man match which gave everyone a chance to shine and built to some really big moments at the end. I liked how Lee didn't want to tag out at the beginning, proving himself against each of the challengers. I also loved how Cain Justice was initially hesitant to lock up with the guy who trained him but got more confident with each cheap shot. The Lee v. Day stuff was clearly the focus, and was pretty electric, people who saw their singles match said it was off the charts and this got me excited for it. Justice is a great sleaze and I loved him stealing the pin on Day after Lee's KO knee, but also liked how he was sort of babyfaced when he was facing the even bigger scumbag Andrews.

ER: I always heard CWF was good at doing multi man matches, and this was a pretty good testament to that. I didn't always love the actual work, thought some sections got a little too trade-y, but the strengths lied in how they worked several different storylines into the match - advancing existing stories, and bringing up past histories and motivations. You could argue that Stutts was the MVP of this match, as he was on absolute fire for 35+ minutes, with he and Cecil both filling in helpful little details that fleshed the whole thing out. Little things like pointing out Schwanz was the only other Heavyweight champ in the match other than Lee (and how he hadn't held the belt for 15 years), or that Lee/Andrews/Justice being left in the match was the only time the three different fed title holders had been in a match at the same time, going over the history of Justice/Lee, those little things were not just interesting tidbits but actively affected my rooting interests. I liked the little details around tag ins and tag outs, with a lot of psych around who wants to be in and who doesn't, who wants to hang back and let people get eliminated, who doesn't want to face off against who, with Justice not wanting to face Lee and Otto wanting to face everybody, just a lot of fun little character detail. I went in wanting a Schwanz win, but got into Lee as the fighting champ, making sure to start the match out against everybody, not tagging out. Justice was amusingly petty in stealing a pin after a ridiculously pointy Lee knee to Day's face, since it doesn't actually matter who eliminates who, just who is left at the end. Lee was really awesome throughout this and the way he carried himself seemed so cocksure that I was wondering what it would actually take to beat him. Nice match, and I really like all of the things it set up for future shows (which seems to be a major strength for CWF, always making you want to see what happens next).