CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 117

Episode 117

1. Snooty Foxx/Dirty Daddy vs. Zane & Dave Dawson

ER: Killer match up, easily my favorite Dawsons match and I think definitive proof that So' Time are legit and among the best tag teams in indy wrestling. They complement each other perfectly, come off genuine, unabashed babyfaces, and that's important. Snooty has some of my favorite current hot tags in wrestling, always treating it like the hot tag was the thing he wanted most in the world. It's hard to look convincing when running back and forth corner to corner hitting moves on both opponents, but he makes it convincing. This was the meanest I've seen the Dawsons, and it was great to see. It felt like every spare moment one of them had was jamming their thumbs into eyes. They cut off the ring nicely, ate Snooty's comeback really well and really committed to some of their strikes. The clothesline to set up a german suplex was a fitting ending; it had this slight reckless or sloppy feel to it that made it read more effectively. Also, a negative note: Dirty Daddy has genuine skill and is a naturally likeable babyface. He does not need a fake winky Chikara back story of being a 30 year ver starting over. He doesn't need a gimmick of "worked Carlos Colon in 1982". We don't need to make up a fake title tournament he won in Rio de Janeiro in future episodes. He's doing just fine as Dirty Daddy, 2017 babyface. But I still loved this tag, and would like to see more of this match-up.

PAS: I enjoyed the Kernodle Cup match between these two teams, and they have had some fun interactions in battle royals and things, these are just guys that match up well. Dawson's were appropriately nasty in this match, cheap shotting, hitting hard, punishing Daddy. Loved the hot tag section, especially Daddy's wreckless dive over the top to cut off Dave. Finish was cool, with So Time setting up their elbow/spear double team, Foxx getting cut off, and the Dawson's hitting their double team lariat and german finisher. Man does CWF have a lot of great tag teams, Dawson's may be the least of the big teams and they are pretty great.

2. Priscilla Kelly vs. SIS

ER: I liked their other match against each other, and I like that at the bell Kelly goes back to that low running kick to the patella. She used it later in the first match and I like it a lot as an ambush or evasive move. This match doesn't go very long, and it doesn't really need to go very long, because they both go at it hard. Once Kelly kicks the legs out from SIS she comes in with more low kicks, until SIS catches one from a seated position, drags her to the mat and starts firing off brutal looking side control elbows to the head. And when SIS takes over a match it's always fun, and these two stay close almost the whole time. Everything felt like a struggle. SIS chokes Kelly in the ropes but in a neat twist Kelly is facing the ring, so her neck is being bent back over the middle rope, and this sets up the awesome SIS crossbody. Kelly escapes this time with a win and already - even though their two matches have been less than 9 minutes total - this feels like a good feud. I hope we get a big rubber match showdown. Without Ethan Sharpe coming out unfurling a stack of rubbers.

PAS: This was a nasty stiff fight. Kelly has won a SHINE title since their last match and seems to have really improved. Her kicks really looked like they were really cracking SIS here, and I remember them being a bit more flash then substance before. This felt a little like a southern fried Yamada v. Aja.  SIS is just so great at using her bulk, I loved her in the ropes cross body, and the second rope stomp to the head. I didn't love Kelly semi-no selling the german suplex and the end, but besides that, this was good stuff.

3. Aric Andrews vs. Trevor Lee

ER: I've seen Andrews work over a dozen times now, and my favorite - and first - match of his involved him taking apart a guy's knee, so once I saw him targeting Lee's knee I was game. Now, I assumed it was going to go the way of a lot of the Trevor Lee main events, but they flipped it and totally surprised me with the direction the match took. The build was really unique and avoided any of the predictable back and forth. Andrews did his stalling routine to start and seemed hesitant to lock up with Lee. When they did finally lock up, Lee tooled him on the mat a bit and frustrated him. It wasn't surprising when Andrews went after the knee. What WAS surprising was that The Leg was the whole match. There were no valiant comebacks and convenient lapses in selling, it was Andrews beating the shit out of Lee's knee, and continuing to beat the shit out of it until he tired himself out beating the shit out of it, and got exhausted and frustrated. Andrews was good at ramping up the attacks, and I'll always flip for a guy ripping off a kneepad or bandage or something. Andrews stomps it, locks on a rough kneebar, and then locks Lee into the STF, a move Lee has used to dispatch tons of guys. Andrews locks it on just as mean as Lee, arching him in all sorts of painful ways. And he keeps trying to wrench it in, and Lee somehow never quits. It looked like he should have quit, but he never did. And Andrews sold the equivalent of a fighter who has punched himself out, only this is pro wrestling, so he up and grabbed his belt, grabbed Lee's belt, and threatened to just walk out. But he goes back into the ring with the belts, trash talks Lee, and gets surprised by a great spin kick. Lee locks on a brutal STF and that's all she wrote. This match took some awesome and unexpected turns and made for a great journey, totally class.

PAS: I knew Eric liked this match a lot going in, and I figured I would like it a bunch too, but I was shocked at how great it was, right up there with Richards and Attitude matches, and this didn't have the same tricks and shortcuts those had. I have been waiting to see the breakout Aric Andrews performance and here it was. He was just excellent here, as a vicious nasty prick who was going to do permanent, serious damage to Trevor's knee. The opening amateur mat scrambling looked great, as good as any mat rolling I have seen this year. The Andrews chop block which set up the long knee work was really violent looking as was all of the simple work on the knee. I loved Andrews punching the side of the kneecap, him really twisting on the kneebar, just the focus of what he was doing. Lee's selling was great too, at no point did he shrug off the knee to get his shit in, and he used counters to Andrews knee attacks to mount offense. I loved how he dodged the third cut block attempt, Andrews hit him with it twice, but the third time he dodged it and hit a german suplex. I also loved his sell when he stomped Andrews elbow, that is a typical early match Lee spot, here he didn't get to it until late and when he did it looked like it did more damage to his knee then it did to Andrew's elbow. Loved the finish, Lee has such an awesome STF, he never applies it the same way twice and is always looking for different ways to alter it and crank it in better, he he figure foured the leg first and hooked the arm behind his back. Most wrestlers always apply a move the exact same way each time, and I appreciate him mixing it up.

ER: Andrews/Lee was some choice wrestling, landing easily (and quite high) on our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List. This one was right up there with the best episodes of wrestling TV this year.