CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 120

Episode 120

1. Smith Garrett vs. Logan Easton Laroux

ER: I had no idea where the Garrett KO angle was going, and I actually thought this was a pretty good payoff for it. Laroux obtaining Garrett's medical records that show a fractured C6, therefore getting him on a medical suspension, is a pretty great rich guy dickhead play. Using your wealth to obtain blackmail instead of to buy off opponents is an interesting twist to the rich jerk gimmick. Some of the logic doesn't totally add up ("Garrett has been beating opponents in 10 seconds because he can't wrestle for more than 10 seconds!" Wait, so Garrett could just choose to win quickly whenever he wanted to and wasn't!?), and I didn't love the use of shoot name, but I thought the realism was handled well. Garrett tearing up was legit and I bought wanting to compete, saying he'd sign any waiver, and I love the care showed for him by the staff, saying they don't want him paralyzed in this ring, "It's just not worth it", and Garrett getting into Laroux's face and telling him he's coming after him the second he's healthy. I thought this was all effective as hell, and much better than a guy announcing he'd be leaving due to an injury, or the fed just announcing he was injured. But this made me far more interested in an eventual Garrett/Laroux showdown. This angle could have been done terribly, and I thought they knocked it out of the park.

PAS: I will give credit to them for execution, I thought Laroux was a really smarmy prick, he totally came off like a right wing twitter troll who just posted the perfect gas chamber gif.  Garrett looked appropriately distraught, and I thought William Cross was great in the role of promoter who cares too much, but has to do what is right, it had a very Eddie Marlin feel to it and that is a huge compliment. Still the underlying logic of the angle is straight Vince Russo worked shoot orangoutang shit . The idea of Garrett being too hurt to wrestle longer then 10 seconds implies that either "the office" booked the matches to only go 10 seconds, or Garrett decided to "shoot" on his first two opponents because he couldn't go longer, either way BOOOOOO!!!. CWF is really great at keeping its internal logic straight, which makes stuff like this (or dumb Chikara shit like the Mime) stand out even more.

2. Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Chet Sterling

ER: I was rooting for EAS as I'm a fan of his more serious persona, bought into all of Stutts' bracket buster hype, but assumed with no shenanigans that Sterling was probably going to be advancing (and probably deserved to be the one advancing). Sharpe got crossed up a couple times during this one, but I still liked both guys. Sterling snapped my eyes open with an early back elbow, and I'm a big fan of nice back elbows. This one really looked jaw dislocatingly hard. I'm surprised Sharpe didn't make a bigger deal out of trying to hit the uppercut, which was his killshot in his prior two matches, but I don't think he went for it once, which is odd. Still I really like his over the shoulder jawbreaker, and thought he leaned into Sterling's stuff nicely. Sterling hit a nice dive into the crowd, took a mean ring post shot, and effectively worked boots and elbows into the match, unloaded a flurry of strikes on Sharpe that I liked, did the little things like get a high cradle on the finish roll-up. A satisfying match.

PAS: This was a perfectly entertaining bit of television wrestling, which is more then I would have guessed from this matchup on paper. There were a couple of weak spots (Sterling really has some hit or miss punches) but most of this was pretty solid. Really liked Sharpe countering the dive with his jawbreaker, and I loved the roll-up finish.

3. Aric Andrews vs. Isaiah Santero

ER: We saw Santero briefly before in that messy Hardy Boyz tag scramble episode many months ago, and I really didn't like how much of the match he took here. Andrews just went toe to toe with Trevor Lee, now he barely edges out this clown with a bunch of Lee Valiant interference? Santero is okay, though I prefer more stiffness from my exoticos (phrasing?) or big bumps. He doesn't seem to have either, getting up awkwardly for moves and not really landing anything with a thud. My favorite parts were Andrews' stomps to the head, but I think this needed a lot more Andrews control.

PAS: I liked Innocent Isaiah in NOVA pro, but this was mostly shtick, and the actually wrestling in it wasn't great.  This did feel a little like Andrews prison girlfriend showing up to his favorite bar after they both get released. "Why didn't you call me Aric we were supposed to be together"

4. Lee Valiant vs. Rob McBride

ER: Oh my gosh I forgot about McBride! I love McBride! No bumps, meaty strikes with no wind up, minimal body selling but great sympathetic facial selling. He's gotta be a tough opponent to work, and also an easy opponent to work. You're not going to get any of your stuff in, you're going to take a full weight elbow drop, but you know the match won't go too long and the crowd will be into it. McBride would be a fun #500 candidate if Phil and I had enough free time to do an SC500. Valiant is good eating heavy chops and flying into McBride (even leaping off the top to essentially powerbomb himself), McBride splats him with a great elbow and finishes with a big one off the middle rope, and McBride is the kind of guy who feels like he's featured just the right amount of time. There are some guys I want to see more, some I want to see less, but I always like McBride showing up every 3 months.

PAS: Yeah this was totally fun. The commentary went over both guys history and I really want to see Lee Valiant as fake Jimmy Valiant relative. Lee Valiant as a beloved babyface totally doesn't compute. McBride has some really great open hand chops and for a guy who doesn't take bumps (Boogie Woogie taught him well) it is pretty crazy for him to do a second rope elbow, that is a lot of weight landing on a well seasoned hip bone.

5. Logan Easton Laroux vs. Chet Sterling

ER: I really disliked their prior match, but I enjoyed this whole presentation. I thought the match itself was good, disliked the DQ as it happened...but the old school angle that unfolded sucked me in and got me even more hyped for the restart. Both guys were bringing it, Laroux especially just blasted Sterling with a few elbows right to the chin, real nasty shots. I also loved Sterling shoving some kid out of the way so he could stand on his chair and pose. I noticed Laroux telling the ref that he was using an elbow and not a closed fist, and I assumed it was just heel behavior. When the finish happened I kind of eye rolled, but quickly noticed how Cecil and Stutts were reacting. They were just as upset, annoyed and incredulous as I was. The two of them are great vessels for the viewer, not telling us how we should be reacting, but reacting with us. Once I began hearing that they thought the decision was bullshit, I got excited for what was unfolding. A referee ringer? "But if I didn't hire him, and YOU didn't hire him..." I loved how the restart unfolded, Michael McCallister taking out and beating the phony ref, and loved Sterling chasing Laroux down and stiffing him up in the lobby of the Sportatorium. I loved the little twist they threw in once Sterling had dragged him back to the ring, with Laroux immediately hitting his cutter. I really wanted that to be it, just because it would have been a crushing sudden end to the rollercoaster. Once Sterling kicked out of the cutter at one you kinda knew he was taking this all the way, and sure enough Laroux is finished in short order. I thought the overall package of this was a really fun 15 minutes, with little storyline twists that CWF is very successful at. I don't really trust any other modern feds with these kind of angles, but CWF understands the intricacies of them. They easily could have just had these two work a 10 minute match ending with Sterling getting the title shot. But they added extra character, extra motivation, shifting consequences, things that make someone like me care far more about this result than I otherwise would have. Although, my 1999 wrestling brain can't be completely turned off, as Trevor Lee was being so friendly with Sterling during the congratulations that I kept waiting for a cheapshot. But, something tells me they knew someone like me would be thinking that.

PAS: Yeah this was a really fun bit of pro-wrestling shtick. I loved how they didn't have the ref work Tirantes heel stuff, just call it straight right up until the DQ, that is the way Tim Donaghy would do it. I also loved the cutter near fall after Sterling dragged him back, that would have been an amazing way for Laroux to steal a win. Work itself was solid stuff, I liked their first match more then Eric did, and both guys clearly have worked each other a ton and have their timing down pat. I do think the whole angle made the promotion look a little bush league, they don't know a guy has a broken neck, and they have ref's just showing up and reffing matches? They need an office manager.