CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 103

Episode 103

1. Darius Lockhart vs. Cain Justice

ER: This was fun, haven't really seen much of Justice in a workrate-y setting, so it was fun watching his style mesh with more of a Cedric Alexander style. What most impressed me was how deep Justice's bag of tricks seems to be. They work a lot of stuff into these 12 minutes, a fairly exhausting pace, and I don't think he repeated a single idea. Fast sequences, kick combos, different ways to attack an arm, a bunch of cool stuff that he mined. I do think things got a little too thigh slappy at one point (Lockhart aims to hit them on every move, and I really think a lot of them would be fine without), and while I appreciate their kick exchange towards the end for trying to be a bit different (staggering, off balance attacks instead of stand and trade) I don't think the match needed it. Lockhart has some nice knee attacks, both guys work nicely on the mat, a real fun match that crammed a lot of content into its time.

PAS: I thought this was really good, I agree about the leg slapping, but Lockhart had some really nasty shots which looked great, I loved his knee to the back of Justice's head, and he had some nasty looking stomps to the back. Justice is getting so good, he comes up with cool new shit every time I see him, I loved his thigh stretch submission early where he stretched out Lockhart by driving his knees into the sides of Darius's legs. I also really loved his jumping straight right hands, version of the superman punch I hadn't seen before. Totally loved the ending too, with Justice using submission attempts to open up Lockhart for big shots, and then using those big shots to hook the twist ending.

ER: I was disappointed by the Brad Attitude Q&A segment, only because it could have been really great. Brad had a humorous demeanor but was able to still show elements of his character, but as with most talk to the audience segments (Ugh, this part is always death), the talker just isn't quick enough on his feet. If he didn't have a quick retort to something he would just do a non-answer and move on, but he also wasn't out there to tell potentially interesting stories, so by the end it felt like something that would happen to kill time while they fixed the ring ropes. The vibe of the whole FanFest looked really fun, with the wrestlers hanging out watching the show with the fans, but this felt like a segment that made way more sense to the vibe of the live crowd, and not a lot of sense on an episode of TV.

PAS: You really shouldn't have White Mike ask a question about rats and have Brad Attitude duck it.

2. Lumberjack Match: Aric Andrews vs. Mecha Mercenary

ER: Papa Hales gets to pick the opponent for Andrews (and takes an amusingly long time getting there) and is given a bucket to draw names from, but refuses it as he doesn't want someone to luck into a chance. To give you an idea how far Papa Hales has come, this was on while Rachel was reading, and she looks up during his promo and goes "Why do I recognize that old guy?" I explained the connection, we went to an NXT show with Dylan (and Lana and Tim) and this was Dylan's wrestling lunatic superfan dad. I have no idea how she recognized him, but she somehow knew this once I explained it. Match itself was fine but kind of messy with the lumberjack stip, and I think they have a better match in them in a different setting (not at a FanFest). Andrews just has to last 10 minutes and it seems like it should have been a bigger deal, as the odds were weirdly stacked against the heel. The consequences really didn't seem there though. Notably, Papa Hales got to throw some Kobashi-esque chops (ermmmmm, maybe Veda Scott-esque) chops at Andrews. The first match did a lot with 12 minutes. I don't think this did much with 10.

PAS: I like Andrews as a weasely creep, he looks like such a dirtbag and is good as working as a guy trying to stall out 10 minutes. Mecha is a big fat dude with great fat dude offense, I love his clothesline and black forrest slam. Still this match dragged a bit, lots of stuff with the lumberjacks was time killing, Mecha didn't seem to get down to business until about three minutes left. Honestly the most exciting part of the match was the brief brawl between Mecha and HIM, that had the most sauce, I left this really wanting to see that tag matchup.

3. White Mike Jordan vs. "Chuck Taylor"

ER: I don't know any of the inside jokes within this group, but Chuck Taylor is actually Stokely Hathaway here, not Chuck Taylor. Is this a CHIKARA thing? Hathaway is wearing a ribbed turtleneck with rolled up sleeves and tight paisley pants, like he just completed his gig as touring Deee-Lite keyboardist. This is a comedy match. Comedy is subjective. This match was not for me, and the people who enjoyed it, enjoyed it a lot. Hathaway hits a real nice kneedrop. At one point many people take Hathaway to suplex city. I still have no clue what Mike's finisher is. Looks like he spins a guy by the neck and then violently DDTs himself. White Mike is a funny guy. Sometimes I think he reaches to far for jokes, but there were two genuine big laughs in this: 1) him coming out with a white valet and saying "Finally found me a snow bunny". That's funny. 2) His retirement post-match. He couldn't have handled this better, landing every trope. He took the boots off and left them dead center, he took the singlet off and draped it over the boots, he hung the NWA shirt over the ropes, he took the overshorts off and draped it over the singlet, all with a quivering lip and a despondent "I won't be back, gotta hang 'em up", making those awful faces that old man Hogan would make to milk a standing ovation. The match was what it was. Comedy mileage varies depending on the viewer. The retirement had me in stitches though.

PAS: Not sure what is up with the Chuck Taylor thing either. Stokely isn't really a wrestler, but I would still rather see him then Chuck Taylor V1. I am amused by White Mike in short burst, but this was really long, and it really dragged. The retirement was funny although ruined a bit by Stuttsy and Coach Mikey dancing, the bit really needed everyone in the audience to be on the verge of tears.

PAS: This show was really for the live audience, and I imagine they had a blast. I did really dig the opener though.