CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 109

Episode 109

1. Cain Justice vs. Cecil Scott

ER: I was really excited for this one, and I think it totally delivered, though in a different way than I was expecting. I'm completely unfamiliar with Cecil Scott: Wrestler, but I know he's been only a couple match guy per year the last several years, and those matches are typically battle royal type appearances. So I expected this to be a clear underdog vs. a cocky current wrestler, with Cain taking 75% and Cecil getting a couple great moments before the expected loss. And I was excited for that as I've loved the build. But this match was Cecil basically working a straight match with Cain, without Cain working like he was underestimating him. On paper I would call bullshit, but in practice Cecil brought it and the match was a killer slab of 8 minute wrestling. Cecil looks fired off and pissed the whole match, and I like what he brings. Cain is great at being super annoying with cheap shot superman punches and eye pokes, Cecil throws some mean uppercuts, this whole thing started good and maintained. Cain is a loon for bumping around to the floor with no boots, and Cecil kept pouncing. Big moment of the match came when Cecil ducked a high kick but got caught with a sneaky spin kick right after, and I loved how Cecil sold it: He lurched forward angrily and then grabbed his head and fell back defensively. Really looked like when an MMA guy takes a kick and his muscle memory keeps him moving forward before his brain catches up to how hard the shot was. Cain has a couple nasty ways to take apart an arm, and I flipped when Cecil was getting back in the ring and Cain kicked his loose arm, then grabbed the arm and punted it. He goes to lock on the sure finish armbar and Cecil got a great flash nearfall roll-up off it, before Cain gets that arm back. Wasn't expecting this to be so competitive, and with the work this good I did not mind one bit.

PAS: Really impressed with how plausible Cecil Scott made his attack. The story of the match was Cecil Scott not having the cardio to work a long match, so he had to unload everything at once. His rush attack was really nice, including some really nasty looking uppercuts. I am also amused at what a puro mark Scott clearly is, stuff like the Hashimoto DDT, the attempted German Suplex into the crowd and the delayed Kawada sell, I often find that kind of thing aggravating, but I found it kind of endearing here, and the delay sell of that high kick into a spin kick was a great holy shit moment. I also really dug the roll up off of the first twist ending attempt, Scott is an analyst so it makes sense he would have a sneaky counter ready. Cain is undeniable at this point, he has got to be one of the best rookies I can remember seeing and he is having great matches week after week with a wide variety of  different types of wrestlers.

2. The Carnies vs. Donnie Dollars & Kevin Ku

ER: I thought this was really good, my favorite Carnies match so far, just a great 10 minute clinic of teamwork. Iggy and Awful complement each other so nicely, they had me hooked from the moment Awful tagged in and headbutted Ku in the ribs. Later Awful gets desperate and clocks Ku in the back of the head with an elbow, and my love springs eternal. Ku had some nice strikes but too often fell into 2017 indy striker mode, but the Carnies showed they can work interesting stuff around an indy striker. The sequence setting up Dollars getting dumped to the floor was masterful from all involved, Dollars missing a charge into the ropes, Awful making a low bridge that was timed great, Dollars taking a wild bump to the floor, and Iggy hitting a nutso dive. Loved Awful's maneuvering in the corner to get Ku in a roll up, seemed like some trippy World of Sport stuff, except better than almost anyone currently ripping off old WoS videos. The Boston crab/kneedrop is a great simple, effective double team, and I love how Awful's elbow earlier foreshadowed it. Great stuff all around.

PAS: This was a bunch of fun. Carnies are great, but I really dug the makeshift Ku/Dollars team too. Dollars was great as an old school wrestling powerhouse, he wrestled like JYD or Bruno, just big heavy shots and throws. I really liked Ku too, took big bumps and his strikes were really nasty, the head kick looked great, normally that is a move that is too leg slappy, but Ku looked like Low-Ki. I agree about how awesome the finish was, set up that Boston crab kneedrop perfectly and it is a super nasty looking finish.

3. Aric Andrews vs. Mitch Connor

ER: Cain jumps Mitch before the bell, and Cain is really great at making me want to see every one of his next feuds. He'll start one feud before his other feuds are fully blown off, and it keeps me interested in his current feuds while also setting up new challengers. Yeah, feud with Cecil is over, but he didn't waste any time setting this up with Mitch, and always seems to have his hand in a couple honey jars, even clapping Stutts on the back on his way to the back. Connor sold the belt shot to the back of the head great, and Andrews was flat out vicious with Connor. All of Andrews' knee strikes looked great, the one that finished that match especially looked like a knee that should finish a match.

PAS: Nifty bit of wrestling business. Mitch returned to wrestling after a stroke and he really sells those head shots like he might have another one right in the ring. I loved the tough old guy refusing to forfeit, but still get steamrolled. His one forearm from the ground was great and the final jumping knee looked totally brutal, I loved his KO sell.

4. Brad Attitude vs. Nick Richards

ER: Killer match from these two. I wasn't sure they'd be able to fill time, but both did, convincingly. Attitude is so vicious and I loved how the match looked it would be almost an Attitude steamrolling, but then he got so aggressive that as he flung his body into Richards it sent him careening past the turnbuckles to the floor. That's a really cool way to give Richards some early space and recovery, and Attitude made both his attack and his bump look nasty. Richards doesn't seem like he should work. He's a good everyman, every one of us knows a guy who looks like him. Some of his offense doesn't seem like it should work, but it does (his weird shots to the chest always seem look terrible 80% of the way through delivery...and then they hit great), and he sells his ass off. Well, here he sold his arm off. Crowd stuff was simple and good, nice posting from Attitude. They overcome a dangerous moment where Attitude does his rope flip senton, adjusts to a rolling Richards and ends up basically torpedoing headfirst. But he tears at that arm and Richards sells that arm great the whole way (my favorite being when he let out an anguished yell while hooking the leg). Richards comebacks were nice, his cannonball crashed, and I loved how they built to him going for that wild elbow off the apron....right into Attitude catching him in a triangle. It was used interestingly in a non-stip match, as Attitude lets him pass out and hopes for the count out. Attitude takes DDTs and cutters great, which makes him the ideal opponent to help Richards' offense look its best. I do think Richards kicked out of a bit too many things, that low superkick after Attitude shrugged off a roll up attempt looked especially devastating (helped no doubt by Richards' fantastic crumple sell of it), and the finish absolutely did not work for me. They were going for something lofty, something difficult, and it just didn't work. It was supposed to be Attitude going for a moonsault and getting cuttered on the way down, it looked at most like Richards just slowed down his momentum slightly. After everything Richards kicked out of, I just didn't buy this finishing off Attitude. Still, overall the match was great, high end performances from both guys. With a better end I could see this winding up pretty high on a list.

PAS: I really loved this, what a performance by both guys. Attitude is such a star, his timing, selling and offense is so great looking. I loved all of his arm work on Richards, some of the arm work looked like something Negro Navarro would bust out. I liked the story of Richards being able to get an edge on the floor, but he was still outclassed in the ring.  The Richards Cactus elbow off the apron into a triangle choke is one of my favorite spots of the year, such a creative idea executed perfectly. Attitude choking him out and going for the count out is such an asshole move, fits perfectly with his character. I liked the finish, Attitude gets frustrated about not being able to put this kid away and goes for a cheap shot with a chair, a ref grabs it from him and it throws off his timing enough to get caught in cutter. I liked this more then any of the pimped Lee matches, it had great looking offense and big moves and great selling, and it never got into the overkill that the Lee stuff can fall victim too.

PAS: Tremendous hour of YouTube. Every match delivered what it needed to, you had a nifty angle to set up the main event and the main event was a killer. Well done!

ER: Yeah this may have been my favorite episode of CWF yet, and we have obviously enjoyed several of them. Attitude/Richards is an easy entry into our 2017 MOTY List, and we though Cecil Scott/Cain Justice was too much fun to leave off, so that makes it too. Two matches on the MOTY list within one hour, yeah this was some great pro wrestling TV right here.