CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 92

1. Ugly Ducklings (Colby Corino, Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) vs. White Mike Jordan/Donnie Dollars/Ethan Alexander Sharpe

ER: I really enjoyed this, classic stooge-y, silly trios match. I've liked what I've seen from the heel side, and I hadn't seen two of the Ducklings before but enjoyed them as well. At least I thought I hadn't, as Lance Lude looks ENTIRELY different than the last time I saw him, several years ago in ROH. If this is the same guy, I'd say this is a step up. He came off like unhinged Pequeno Mark Briscoe, would really like to see more of him. I dug his look, dug how he moved, how he took offense (especially a killer spot with White Mike swinging him around in a front headlock). Killjoy had some fun springboard dropkicks, Corino seems to be improving and has put on a little weight; I think I really dig the Ducklings. Sharpe and Jordan are a fun team, real good at stooging (Sharpe with the bumps and Jordan with the faces), but I can see them getting a more sinister side. Dollars had a couple fun moments; tossing all three Ducks was a fun spot on paper, ridiculous in execution, but I like that they went for it.

PAS: Really fun opening trios, I could have done without the Hardy's coming out in the middle and doing their tired shtick, but I was all in on the actual ring work. This makes me want to seek out more Ducklings as they are great as a a trio of big bumping sleazeballs. I hadn't seen Killjoy before as he seemed to come at weird angles almost Fred Yehish. White Mike is a blast, great John Tatumish stooging and had some killer offense too. Fun stuff.

2. Cain Justice vs. Dirty Daddy

ER: I'm surprised to hear them say Justice is a rookie. There's a few holes there but there's a lot of things he does well. I like a lot of his roll ups, his cheating, his attitude; he looks like a redneck MMA Michael Pitt. This match felt a lot shorter than its 7 minute run time, had some nice logical counters (really liked Daddy's simple sunset flip roll up off the backpack piledriver), snug pins, Daddy has some nice punches off his back and a nice side headlock, just a nice simple match between two guys who seem like they know each other.

PAS: I really liked their BattleCade match, and I enjoyed this a bunch too. Cain Justice is already really good, and very fun to watch. I loved the switch of the armbar when Daddy was in the ropes, and his kicking of the tied up arm. We didn't get to see Cain's nasty finish in this match, which may put it a step blow the BattleCade match, although he did have some nice grappling.

3. John Skyler/C.W. Anderson vs. Roy Wilkins/Arik Royal vs. The Hardy Boys

ER: Was really hoping for this one to go about twice as long as it got, but I really enjoyed it for what it was. They easily could have milked this for 18 without it feeling long, but oh well. The crowd was hot for it, I thought CW looked great, and really that's enough for me. I'd love to see any combo of tag team battles between these three teams, hope this isn't the end of it. My favorite stuff was probably CW opposite Royal, loved the bit of character CW put into it. He chopped Royal's chest and then over-cringed when Royal chopped him back, rinse/repeat, then when CW tagged out he postured for a bit...before buckling his knees slightly, squinting and feeling his chest. They say in baseball that you never rub it after getting hit by a pitch, so I love CW putting over Royal's strike power by succumbing to rubbing it. CW also threw easily the best forearms in the match, and still has that left hand, even if Jeff almost flubbed the timing of it. Jeff flubbing timing and spots could have been the story of the match, if the other guys weren't so on point. Jeff botched both Hardy double teams (somersaulting in place on the senton/fistdrop and somehow whiffing on the legdrop to the groin) and stiffed the hell out of CW on the finish swanton (which, at least looked good). Matt looked much better and I'd love a CW/Matt singles match. Loved Skyler's spit take off a Jeff back elbow, loved Wilkins' golf swing uppercut on CW, the trainwreck finisher run from everybody was fun, so overall I liked this. Just really wanted a lot more time. Most importantly, CW Anderson is apparently ageless and still awesome.

PAS: I thought they treated the Hardy's a little too much like the Road Warriors here. They kind of ate both teams up, and I left this wanting to see Extreme Horseman v. All Stars a lot more then either team against the Hardy's. All four of the other guys in the match looked great, busting out nasty offense against each other, and bumping big for the big shotting Hardy Boys. I am seconding the CW Anderson love, he looked great against Converse at BattleCade, and great here. I would be really excited to see him in the mix in CWF-MA, Anderson v. Lee, v. Royal, v. Everett, v. Attitude all would be awesome.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Henry v. Yehi

3. Fred Yehi v. Anthony Henry Style Battle 1/7

PAS: Ambitious attempt by these two guys to put on a memorable classic. I don't think they got all the way there, but it was pretty impressive. This was a first round Style Battle match outside in 47 degree weather and they go to a physical punishing 30 minute draw. Yehi is so much fun to watch, he throws all of these off-speed pitches, running the ropes weird, stomping insteps and hands, throw down necks, he was breaking out all of his tricks here. I loved how Henry would adjust to Yehi's odd rhythms, only for Yehi to counter him in another off way. They also really laid it in with kicks, chops and forearms, everything was really hard and really quickly thrown, it was a little like watching a Batamweight MMA match between two accomplished strikers like Cub Swanson and Cowboy Cerrone. I did wish they hadn't abandoned the mat as quick as they did, both guys looked really great in their mat sections, and they could have used longer grappling so they didn't have to go overkill with suplexes and strikes.

I loved the TKO on the ropes by Henry, just a nasty move that built to a very cool countout tease, they should have done it a bit later in the match, Yehi having to fight to get back in would have worked great at minute 25 or so. I think they had to go back to the well a couple of times with exchanges and suplex trading which isn't my favorite, some of the strike stuff was super cool, Yehi always has cool ways to throw, and Henry his this spin kick which was awesome, but there was points where they felt like they went back to chop or forearm exchanges because they had time to kill. So not a perfect match, but I think this made Henry on the WWN platform and may have been Yehi's biggest career match.

ER: I agree with Phil that it was an ambitious shot, and I don't think they got there, but it was an impressive shot. While there were several parts of this that I disliked, what I ended up being most impressed by was that they were clearly aiming for "big match epic", but it never came across like they were forcing a big match epic. That's a big deal. Usually when a couple of guys are aiming for an epic, it's immediately obvious, and immediately terrible. But this never approached self-conscious epic, so even though I disliked the suplex trading and how they did a disservice to their own strikes, I'm giving them full credit for working a long draw with tons of action, without forcing a certain reception.

The venue was super weird and kind of trippy, open air mausoleum with mirrors on the walls, tall plants and heat lamps for the freezing cold weather. So that right there is fascinating and strange. And they went and worked a 30 minutes draw that I was not expecting. From the first 10 minutes it was almost worked like a dominant Yehi performance, with him beating Henry to the punch, suckering him into his trademark stomps and kicks, pretty much imposing his will. Henry would try and figure him out, and Yehi would just be a step ahead. Sadly, I thought the match structure blew it. They abandoned the mat too early, meaning they just had to stand and exchange for far too long, which in turn made their strikes seem ineffective, no matter how great they looked. They went to that Yehi KO spot way too early, and the final 10 minutes saw a lot of these shots mean absolutely nothing. There was just no sort of long term effect to anything they did, which hurt things a lot for me. Potentially weird criticism: I don't think Henry is great at facially selling things. His facial expressions are just not very expressive, which only helped to add to the feeling of there being no long term effects. But again, where the match wins is in the fact that they worked a very long match, without drag, without things getting too ridiculous, and without seeming like "we're going long because it's impressive to go long". I would have loved 10 minutes lopped off, but as is it still has its charms.

2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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