2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Samoa Joe v. A Samoan Named Joe

5. Roman Reigns v. Samoa Joe WWE Raw 2/6

ER: Strong debut TV match for this young rookie upstart. They made Joe look really strong and really allowed him to show off anything he wanted to show off. Crazy to think I've been seeing Joe since 2000, when he would work APW shows near me. Time flies, man. Now he's on Raw and you can hear the children screaming every time he kicks a seated Roman, or splats him with a senton. I'm surprised Roman took a beating for so long, but I liked how Roman started to come back as Joe started to tire. No strategy for Roman, just weathered a beating and tried to land a shot. I liked how Joe rolled to the floor when Roman did his silly little shotgun setup, and loved how that put him in position for the drive-by. The Strowman run-in was a guarantee, I was just hoping things ran long enough to make the match worthy. They did, Roman hits two punches on Braun, leaving himself open for a kick and a wicked uranage. Joe really carried himself great here, and this might actually be my favorite look for him. His body has filled out enough that he doesn't look lumpy, just looks like a solid block of asskicker. And he's finally come to terms with the fact he's a big guy, so no longer feels the need to hike up his shorts every few seconds. Joe felt like a presence.

PAS: Totally badass debut for Joe, probably the best he has been used since the early days of his TNA run. Roman will totally take a beating to put someone over, and this reminded me of his awesome selling performance in the Brock Wrestlemania match. Like that Joe has simplified his offense and really works as a bulldozer. I loved how he kept cutting off Roman with jabs, and the sneering look he had on his face the whole time. Run in was what it was, but I am excited about both Roman v. Strowman and any future Joe v. Roman rematch.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 91

Episode 91

1. Tag Team Apocalypto! w/ HIM/SIS, Zane & Dave Dawson, Aaron Biggs & Mecha Mercenary, Number Man & Cool J, the Airtime Rockers, Ethan Alexander Sharpe & White Mike Jordan, Chris "TNT" Taylor & Wes Rogers, Beau Crockett & "Innocent" Isaiah Santero, Shawn Kemp & Johnathan Wolf, Cain Justice & James Ryan, Snooty Foxx & Dirty Daddy, Arik Royal & Roy Wilkins

ER: Well, this didn't land with me. They did their own Hardy Boyz tag team apocalypto episode, with several pre-filmed segments intercut with the action, and a few cinematic moments, such as Mecha Mercenary reaching for a spiked bat like he was Smarf reaching for the doomsday button in Two Many Cooks, or a planted joke with host CL Party and her alter ego Daisy Sue Fuentes. We get a lot of things that feel like in jokes, and far less things that feel like actual wrestling. I don't think this match did any favors to any of the participants. You had 24 different guys in this, and teams would enter gauntlet style after one team had been eliminated. But the eliminations were all so quick that the concept got tired almost immediately. A new team would come in, fumble around a crowded ring for a minute, then get pinned after taking one move. There were a lot of weapon shots that didn't read very well, things that probably hurt the guy taking it, but didn't look great to the viewer. Due to the format there wasn't really a way for anybody to stand out. In the Royal Rumble you have several people in as individuals, and you can get a few guys who excel in battle royal situations. Here, you had guys working in teams, and everything felt cluttered and messy. I think they were going for "violent chaos" but it came off like "sloppy mess". There weren't really any standouts. Arik Royal looked good, but also had the benefit of being in when only one team was left. I'd like to see more of Shawn Kemp, who facially looked 17 but had a large chubby physique and some nice offense. Mecha Mercenary is a guy I'm almost guaranteed to like, and I liked some of his punches and his big elbow. And SIS actually stood out from the pack, thought she had some of the best strikes by far in this, great stomps, cool headbutt, big cannonball. Too many people in this looked like they were "play fighting", I'm excited for the match that this sets up, but I thought this was bad.

PAS: I enjoyed the parts of this that were the Dawsons v. Biggs and Mercenary. Fat dudes waffling each other with chairs is always going to work with me, I also liked the Hit Squad style beating the Dawnson's laid on Cool J and Number Man, again fat dudes potato shotting lil guys is also universal . Not much else in this was good though, lots of green guys working in the ring while they cut back to hokey comedy stuff. I get that this Matt Hardy Mystery Science Theatre 3000 camp wrestling is the big thing right now, but the cool thing about CWF is that it has kind of a timeless feel, doing this meme chasing stuff is a really bad look. I don't love it when Matt Hardy does it, but I get he is sort of an outsider art prodigy, this felt knock off and cheap.

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