CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 114

Episode 114

1. Garrison King vs. Carlos Gabriel vs. Pat Monix vs. Tracer X

ER: Short and sweet 4 way scramble with enough cool spots thrown out that it didn't really matter than some of them didn't totally work. I hadn't seen three of these guys before (only Tracer X) and came away enjoying Monix, and appreciating King and Gabriel's willingness to slip a disk in a showcase match. Monix had some fun combos that land with some thump, is able to work these kind of fast sequences with guys on every side without getting crossed up, and will hit a crazy tope con hilo through the middle ropes and into the front row. They eventually get to one of those stupid "four guys hitting each other at once" spots that always happen in these matches, but I gotta say, at least these guys were clunking each other with hard elbows during that moment. I also thought Cecil and Stutts were in peak form here, tossing out jokes, covering up some dodgy spots, attempting to add substance to a spotfest. Cecil starts talking about Garrison King's "kicks" and how "hype" and "lit" they are, Stutts calls him out for using words he saw on Twitter, Cecil takes the hit and without missing a beat he covers for a botched rana by saying "King went for a rana but shifted to turn it into a legdrop!" which was a quick and convincing cover. They're a good team and matches like this benefit from them.

PAS: This was a bunch of young guys breaking out all of their crazy spots to try to get booked again and it worked for that. Tracer X seemed like the most polished of the four although King's top rope cutter won the battle of craziest spots. I would be fine seeing any of these guys again, although the roster is already super overloaded, and they seem to be bringing in a whole mass of new guys again for the Weaver cup.

2. Boar of Moldova vs. Joshua Cutshall

ER: This one fell short for me. It was one of those big slugfests where none of the slugging really reads. If Boar's chops were lighting up Cutshall, they didn't seem to be. Cutshall throws some nice shots, but also throws some hinky open handed punches that soar over Boar's head. If they were Japanese and in the Tokyo Dome, maybe we could pretend that the bad strikes were there on purpose to cover for injuries and it was actually some next level striking, but few people are stupid enough to actually believe that. Boar needs to tighten things up as I like the look but his execution just comes off weak. Props to Cutshall setting up his elbow to the back of Boar's head by pulling him into it by the tail.

PAS: Boar is a new guy I would rather not see anymore of it. Nothing worse then a big guy working a clubbering gimmick who doesn't clubber. I didn't think Cutshall looked great either but I have liked plenty of Cutshall before so I am blaming the Boar. I did like the birdcage on Cutshall's head and the tail yank into the elbow, but this was forgettable.

3. Aspyn Rose vs. Jessica Troy

ER: Troy is from Australia and seems pretty new, but probably not nearly as new as Rose. So they both seemed a bit green (Rose extra green, what with her mermaid scales and all), but they both showed some promise. They probably bit off a bit too much here, but they went at a fast pace and threw a bunch of things at the wall. Rose hits a corner elbow that lands right in Troy's throat, and Troy tries some World of Sport knucklelocks and go behinds that Rose stooges amusingly for, also liked Troy tripping Rose up on a drop down, with Rose falling into the ropes. Troy had a high bridge northern lights and a nice fisherman's suplex, and I liked Rose selling things like missing a face wash in the corner and jamming her knee. Cecil adds to things by squeezing in little bits of character, like putting over Troy's running double knees by mentioning that Rose had previously injured her clavicle. I do think both have a ways to go, Troy threw a couple lariats awkwardly below Rose's chest, and Rose seems like she actually has no idea how to run, she seemed like she was powerwalking into all over her rope running spots, it looked really strange (a lot of rope running looks really odd in ladies matches, why is that? Do they not have enough weight to get spring off the ropes? Serious question), but I liked what they were going for here.

PAS: I thought this was kind of a mess and went too long. With the Mae Young Classic I have watched more US women's wrestling this month then I have in my life before, so I really didn't need to see more of it. Both of these ladies would be in the bottom 10th of MYC competitors (while SIS for example would be in the top fourth easily), and the match suffered from not having anyone to tie it together.

4. Zane Dawson/Dave Dawson/Cain Justice/Aric Andrews vs. Snooty Foxx/Dirty Daddy/Chet Sterling/ Smith Garrett

ER: Satisfying, crowd pleasing 8 man with a kinda bummer finish. Even with the finish we got 20 minutes of good action, even starting before the bell with Dawsons/Andrews getting in a strategy huddle and boxing out Justice. I could have stopped watching the match then and left happy, as Cain's irritated faces while trying to get in the huddle were hilarious to me. Totally nailed the little brother "You guyyyyyys, let me playyyyyy!" vibe. His opening scramble was also some of the best work in the match, but we also got two nice FIP segments with Snooty and Sterling. I thought Fox was surprisingly adept at being in peril, and the heels were all good at keeping the tags fresh. Later we get a fun comeback run from him, with he and Daddy doing synchronized leaps off the apron, and a great Daddy elbow/Fox spear combo (and Fox has a real nice spear). Finish is kinda wonky, as Sterling is getting the pin and Garrett is letting him get the pin, but Justice shoves Garrett into Sterling to break it up...even though Garrett looks like he barely grazes anybody. Then we get some standing around time as Sterling is in disbelief, before Andrews gets the roll up. I guess that Andrews' TV title was on the line here? But I didn't realize that while the match was going on. And even so, the execution of the finish was lacking. Side note, got a brief - maybe unintentional - glimpse post match of heel Sterling, and I think I could really like him as a heel. I say unintentional because he merely looked frustrated, and any guy is allowed to be frustrated. But in the moment I could see him turning hard on Garrett, and I would have been down. Intentional or not, it's a thought.

PAS: The gimmick of this match is that if any of the heels lost they would have to defend their titles against anyone who pinned them. That is why Justice is sent out there and invites Garrett to pin him, if Garrett or Sterling pinned Cain, they couldn't get a title shot because they were aged out of the RGL. That also explains why Garrett and Sterling were arguing, Sterling though Garrett wanted the pin. It was a clever bit of booking and led to some fun twists to a normal 8 man. I really loved Cain in this, he had some great character moments, and had a ton of cool wrestling moments as well. That opening bit of mat wrestling with Garrett was totally boss, and I loved his nasty armbar. This match also got me excited to see the Dawsons v. So Time and I have been pretty down on the Dawsons lately.