CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 104

Episode 104

BattleBowl! This is a Lethal Lottery style show with the fans picking the matches out of a bowl, not sure if the bowl is worked or not, but it sounds like a concept that's potentially more fun for the wrestlers than the fans.

1. Aric Andrews vs. Otto Schwanz

PAS: Otto is really fun to watch in his role as a veteran who chucks people around with amateur throws. He dominates most of this match until Andrews catches him with a roll up. Schwanz is always compelling but the match itself was a bit underwhelming. Andrews has nice offense but didn't get to show much of it.

ER: Yeah not the match I wanted from a match-up that wouldn't have taken much to make me like it. Otto is one of my favorites in the fed, he's never flashy but he is rock solid at all the little things. You want a guy to throw a mean back elbow, you watch a Schwanz match. I liked where they were going with this, there were a couple cool scrambly mat moves, but the roll up was kind of a shocker, and not in a good way. Andrews is a guy I like, but it feels like they're going too far with him escaping by the skin of his teeth every week. He went from opportunistic heel to a kind of heel Mikey Whipwreck. I think it can work, but with this match and the Mecha match I was left just wanting an actual match.

2. Ethan Alexander Sharpe/Mitch Connor vs. HIM/SIS

PAS: Sharpe is a little over the top for me, less Jimmy Hart more some hacky Chikara heel manager. I really enjoy HIM and SIS as a pair of crowbars though, and they both really laid an asswhipping on Sharpe, at one point HIM just forearmed him full force in the throat, SIS also really roughs him up, they are great it is like Kandori teaming with Kurisu. The story of Connor being too gentlemanly to hit SIS only to pay for it.

ER: Sharpe's shtik is kinda wearing on me. He's featured a lot, and a little of his act goes a long way. But I'm a big fan of SIS, so at least Sharpe gets plastered with a mean elbow drop and her cool crossbody into the ropes. I admit to not really caring about the HIM/SIS gimmick (even though I appreciate the announcers working to make it work), but I like them as a team. HIM hits a great kneedrop to Sharpe's chest, and they both have nice complementary styles.

3. Dirty Daddy vs. Arik Royal

PAS: Really great short match. Daddy has really figured out underdog babyface wrestling. He is super sympathetic and always knows how to time a couple of big moves for maximum impact. The near fall where he times Royal's spear into a sunset flip was awesome, and I love a guy doing monkey flips as big offensive moves in 2017. Royal meanwhile is such a charismatic shit talking heel, he is like wrestlings Draymond Green and I love him for it. I really want to see these guys given some time to stretch out, as I can see them having a classic in them, this was a great tasting menu match though.

ER: This was a cruel tease but a fine WorldWide match. I'm with Phil as they seem like they could really have a great match in them. Daddy has deceptively strong chops, kind of weird in-ring movements, and Royal is really good at showing exasperation while not losing focus. End sequence was really good with the sunset flip reversal of Royal's spear/knee takeout, good nearfall, and setting Royal up nicely to hit the knee takeout anyway.

4. Sandwich Squad vs. Timmy Danger/Nick Richards

PAS: Danger is an OVW trainee they brought in for this show. CWF uses a lot of young guys from other feds, sometimes it is a big win, like Alex Daniels or Dominic Garrini, other times guys just don't look like they belong. Danger seemed very dedicated to his gimmick of using hairspray, but he came off kind of cornball. There was some nice Richards v. Sandwhich Squad stuff, but this wasn't much overall.

ER: I liked Danger's pre-match promo, it kind of accidentally hit a Ghostface level flow: "I'll go two hours just because I can, slapping them around, they'll be all blown up, I'll still look good, pin 'em with one leg." That's like a Fischscale outtake right there. And I liked this a lot more than Phil, though squeezing so many matches into this show made for a lot of unsatisfying match lengths. This match had a lot more to say, but cut to a real quick finish in a similar way that the HIM/SIS tag and the  Schwanz matches did. Cut a match off this show, give the other matches 1-2 minutes, it's a much more satisfying episode. The first 5 minutes of this were really good, I thought. Richards has arguably the best corner clothesline in current wrestling, no hyperbole. They sequence with him nailed Mecha with two nasty clothesline only to be leveled by the nastiest one was great.

5. Roy Wilkins vs. "The Filmaker" Movie Myk

PAS: This was scientific rules, which basically meant no punches or rope breaks. The gimmick didn't really seem to matter in the match. This was a lesser version of the Daddy v. Royal match earlier, with the rookie getting in moments before getting put down. It was fine, I like watching Wilkins, but overall pretty disposable.

ER: The stip was entirely unnecessary during the match, but the match really won me over by the end. Wilkins had some nice knees to Myk's hammy, Wilkins hit a big shining wizard and I LOVED how Myk crumbled off it. It still felt like a too-short match on a too-packed episode, but I like the direction the match went.

6. Cain Justice/Keith Mac/Luke Grimes vs. Snooty Fox/Vlad Boleshav/Cecil Scott

PAS: This was a random partner match which was based around the Cecil Scott v. Cain Justice feud, there wasn't much interaction between the two, but Cecil hit a great looking superkick. Hard to get much of a sense of the other 5 guys, Keith Mac had some dancing spots, Grimes is sort of big. I do think they are building to Scott v. Justice well.

ER: This was way too short, but possibly for the best as a lot of guys didn't look good. I thought Keith Mac especially looked bad. He had a nice charisma to him but the basics all looked bad, loose headlock and off timing on hip tosses. Grimes is apparently a top Corino trainee but didn't show anything. Fox threw hard but awkwardly stiff armed clotheslines. Really this was the Cain Justice show, which easily could have been predicted from the on paper lineup. In fact Cain turns in a pretty spectacular performance in a totally forgettable match. He throws a kick during a lock up and bails, tags in and bails, humorously tries to tag out at an early sign of trouble his tag gets caught (in some excellent timing) by Vlad. Cecil's superkick was a nice moment and Cain hams it up like Hector Garza, spilling through the ropes and flopping onto fans. After the match he sprints out of there and smacks Vlad on the way. Nothing match, but a great showman performance, and I am looking forward to Cecil/Cain.