CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 152

Episode 152

Tag Team Battle Royal

ER: A lot of good teams in this, teams I really would not mind seeing in actual regular action. I love the idea of an Otto/Dollars team, like Daddy/Kool, Justice/Sharpe, Biggs/Foxx, just a good mess of teams. I love battle royals a lot, and this really had the makings of a great one. We eventually hit that annoying moment where three teams get eliminated at basically the same time, immediately cutting our participants in half, which takes a lot of the wind out of the sails. But even with that, this battle royal is fun as hell. Aaron Epic hasn't been seen in CWF for half a year, and makes a nice return here, really throwing big shots, stooging when needed, and going after Biggs. Biggs also turns in a great performance as the biggest guy in the match, lumbering around chopping people and squishing them into corners, walking Kool Jay to a press slam elimination (so many press slams in battle royals weirdly don't end in eliminations, it's good to see one actually come to its logical conclusion). I loved one moment where Biggs was slumped in the ropes and just reached out and chopped someone who wandered near him. It felt like King Kong swatting away a compy who had come to investigate if he was dead or sleeping. Cain understood proper battle royal behavior, wearing a shirt to the ring specifically so he could choke people with it. Dirty Daddy also made the most of his time, throwing some of the nastiest strikes of the match during his camera time (he had a downward strike elbow to the back of the neck that was absolutely brutal). I even laughed at Schwanz' elimination, as Schwanz keeps barking and saying words that aren't, while Donnie Dollars keeps asking "Are you kidding me!?" I wish it didn't wrap up so suddenly, this was shaping up to be a barnburner.

PAS: Battle Royals are mostly punches and kicks, so you want a match full of good punchers and kickers and CWF is loaded with them. Lots of wandering around and throwing forearms and guys like Otto and Dirty Daddy have awesome forearms. I loved Biggs in this too, and the Biggs vs. McAllister showdown was great with both guys just laying into each other with chops and headbutts, McAllister is really fun and perfect for Battle Royals. Unsurprisingly Kool J takes the sickest bump of the match, getting press slammed to the floor by Biggs (which seems like kind of a dick move for a face to do, no need to kill the kid.)

Aaron Biggs/Snooty Foxx vs. Aaron Epic/Abel

ER: I much prefer this kind of finish to a battle royal, where the two survivors then have an actual match. The match is short, but good, with Abel and Epic keeping Snooty away from Biggs with simple stuff, I liked a basement dropkick from Epic, and I think Foxx is just a super strong babyface. His selling during the beatdown was really good, he's a guy with size who can garner sympathy, and Biggs is great on the apron wanting the tag. I wish we could have gotten more once Foxx tagged out, as we fairly quickly go to the finish with the Biggs press. I'd like to see an actual tag match between these two, not one coming at the end of a battle royal, but a good 12-15 minute tag. I think all would match up really well.

Arik Royal/Mace Li/Rick Roland vs. Chet Sterling/Lucas Calhoun/Proletariat Boar of Muldova

ER: Roland is a big guy who's been around for awhile but I don't believe I've ever seen him, and he's filling in for Roy Wilkins in "the clean up spot". This match gets a lot of time, 17 minutes, and I think it was strong but could have been much stronger. Sterling put in a good babyface performance getting beat down by the All Stars, but I think his babyface work was kind of negated by Calhoun getting the hot tag and immediately working all of his comedy karate spots. It's kind of amazing to me that guys go along with those spots, but it's just not my bag. We do get a real nice second life to the match, as Mace Li of all people comes in to put a stop to Calhoun's five finger death punch nonsense, and Li puts in some of his finest work that I've seen from him. So we get a second nice All Stars control segment, a bunch of silly abdominal stretch heel work, with Li getting leverage from Royal on the apron who gets leverage from Coach who gets...and we get a nice Sterling run where he absolutely dumps Royal with a half nelson German, fun match overall with nice peaks and valleys. I was also really impressed with Rick Roland. I had never seen him before although I'd seen his name and I know he's been around awhile, but never heard much about him. He's big, looks almost the exact same as Parrow, and wrestles like a way better version of Parrow. His power offense lands heavy and he has a couple awesome tricks, like this slingshot rolling senton from the apron that absolutely splats onto Sterling. I'd love to see more of Roland and think he would fit in awesomely at CWF, hope he's not one of those guys who just shows up once a year on CWF shows.

Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Hurricane Helms

ER: Cecil Scott goes around ringside and gets a fan to pull Helms' title challenger out of the fishbowl, and the fan sees Sharpe's name and doesn't even want to say it in the mic, just tosses it back at Scott and walks off while rolling his eyes. Awesome. CL Party looks down at Cecil and says "No good?" Funny moment once Sharpe comes out and you realize who the kid was eye rolling about. Helms pins Sharpe quickly, and we go right into a tag match with Helms' mystery partner.

Ethan Alexander Sharpe/Cain Justice vs. Hurricane Helms/Ric Converse

ER: Pretty simple tag that I think needed Sharpe Justice to work a little more stiff to make up the size difference. Without that it felt like Helms and Converse taking 80% of the match while Sharpe and Justice just kind of clubbed away during their control. Helms even dominated the submission parts of the match, locking in his really cool figure 6 submission a couple times, and then reversing a Cain armbar attempt into a cool triangle, hooking his long leg around Cain's jaw. So Hurricane got the big submission moments, Converse got to come in throwing big punches and a big sitout powerbomb, Hurricane got to hit a big trapped arm facebuster on Sharpe, Cain took a big bump off a clothesline, really felt like my boys got a little steamrolled here. Sharpe hit his nice jawbreaker but I needed more out of my guys, and definitely didn't need them easily tapping to a dual submission (Hurricane's figure 6 + Converse's figure 4 = takes us to a figure 10, as called by Smith Garrett). CWF has a ton of guys they use, really think we can do better than just having Cain tap to a figure 4 after not being in the match a ton.

PAS: I thought this was a fun send the crowd home happy big star tag. Helms looked really good, all of his offense popped and the figure 6 is a great looking submission, I also loved the countering of the armbar, I am a big Helms fan from way back, and I never thought of him as a mat guy. I get Eric's beef with the heels getting dominated, and it does seem like they are shifting Cain to more of a stooging tag worker, but he is pretty great as a stooging tag worker, and the Cain/Sharpe team make a fun pair of John Tatums to get bumped around a ring.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE CAIN JUSTICE

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 150

Episode 150

John Skyler/Mace Li vs. Aaron Biggs/Keith Mac

ER: This started out rough, with none of the stuff featuring Mac looking good. He threw a bunch of bad hiptosses, the kind that looked like a local high school PE teacher got in the ring to pop the crowd while the wrestlers bumped around for him, and then Mac capped it off with an ugly dropkick. Bad start. But Skyler willed this thing from the grave with a fast sprawling bump to the floor, and once Skyler/Li take over on Mac I get into it. Mac takes a great bump to the floor thanks to Skyler holding the ropes open, and Skyler/Li don't do anything spectacular to pick apart Mac, but they keep things engaging, keep Biggs away, Skyler is good at things like that. I especially liked how he occupied himself to allow Mac draw out the hot tag to Biggs: Skyler had eaten a facebuster and wandered around the ring holding his jaw, in total disarray, going to the wrong corner to tag in Li, all good stuff to let Mac build to that tag. And Biggs is a super fun hot tag, obviously, smooshing the other two and ending things once Li gets whipped into his rib crushing Thesz Press. This recovered quite nicely after

PAS: This is a good example of how a classic southern tag structure has a really high floor. Mac wrestles like a veteran in his 70s still working nostalgia shows (does Thunderbolt Patterson work Georgia indies, imagine that), good shtick, but utter inability to execute offense or take bumps, he is the Ricky Morton in this. Despite that, some good bumping and shtick by Li and Skyler and an awesome looking hot tag by Biggs make this a plus match. Get the crowd behind someone, and delay the gratification for a bit and it is going to be entertaining.

Otto Schwanz vs. Chet Sterling

ER: Is Otto the best (only?) guy to pull off a "tough guy/goofball" persona? He comes out in his velour Fila track suit and comically large chain, jump scares little kids, gets in the ring and does some combination of amateur rolling and warm-up break dancing, looking kind of ridiculous and yet kind of dangerous. "Kind of Ridiculous and Kind of Dangerous: The Otto Schwanz Story". I really liked this match, and loved Otto tossing Sterling around. Sterling would fire back with punches and I thought Otto did a good job picking and choosing which ones to take seriously, and which ones to storm through and ignore. Sterling rushes in with some body shots, Otto chuckles and doesn't slow down a bit; Sterling pops him in the jaw, Otto gets rattled, eyes widen, he cracks Sterling back harder. Otto has this one punch that I really love - and a few big guys use punches like this - where he throws one big shot horizontally across the jaw. It's a cool angle, stands apart from normal stand and trade punches, reminds me of the visual of when Andre would punch across his opponents face and body. I thought Sterling was good firing back with hard overhand chops, loved Otto sinking in bearhugs and elbow drops, thought Sterling bumped around great for Otto (and love that Otto charging shoulder in the corner, that sent Sterling through the ropes to the floor), and the nice high cradle is a believable way to get a pin on a bigger dude.

PAS: This was pretty good, Sterling has some dodgy offense, but is a good bumper and good at getting the crowd behind him, so having him eaten up by Schwanz is a good match structure. Otto is great at making simple things look devastating, nasty bodyslam, really great ragdolling bearhug, nice straight punches, nasty backbreaker. He reminds me a lot of Mark Lewin, who would be the answer to Eric's question for tough guy/goofball combo. Great match for the crowd, who really got into Otto's shtick and Sterling's comeback.

Dave & Zane Dawson vs. Dirty Daddy/Kool Jay

ER: At this point, every Dawsons tag feels longer to me than it actually is. I thought this match went 20, was shocked to see it was just 14. I don't know why, but it feels like there are rarely any changes in pace throughout their matches, they just kind of continuously operate at one level, and the Dawsons are just a bit too dry. They've shown flashes, they've had decent matches, but there's zero nuance to their performance. They sell for opponents in minute one of a match the same as they sell in minute 13, so there's never the impression that a babyface time is making headway or falling behind in a match. They're essentially always equally about to win or about to lose, and that makes things drag. Teams never gain or lose ground against them, they just do stuff to them until the match ends. They're not great at setting up offense for their opponents, but I still enjoyed Jay and Daddy here, thought both had nice punch combos. Daddy had some nice moments showing his really excellent attention to detail, and it's a shame he's been kind of lost at sea for the last few months. He'd be a far more interesting guy with a tag belt than these two. A great detail moment I loved from Daddy was him getting caught by the Dawsons in a crossbody, leading Jay to missile dropkick him, sending him into a pinfall on the Dawsons. But Daddy comes up selling his back, which is huge, as it rarely happens with that spot. Somehow in wrestling physics, if you get hit with friendly fire you don't have to sell it. But Daddy is a smart worker and it really lends credibility to his matches. Dawsons on the other hand make taking a headscissors look about as plausible as Kenny Omega bumping for a blow up doll. I liked Jay taking big bumps and getting planted by the Dawsons, Zane threw a great punch in the corner at one point, but overall the match dragged for me.

PAS: Kool Jay is a great pinball and takes some big time bumps by the Dawsons, and I actually think this would have been a pretty good match, except for Dirty Daddy's lethargic hot tag. He is usually so good as both the hot tag and the face in peril, here it felt like he mailed in the big comeback a bit, which took some steam out of the crowd. Dawsons title reign has taken a bunch of steam out of the tag titles, not sure I have really liked any of their title defenses, this had some moments, but was too long and never hit third gear.

Donnie Dollars vs. Trevor Lee

ER: I've never seen Dollars come out in his button up and 1994 gaudy tie, and I like it. He looks like an IRS/Big Bubba cross, and the IRS look makes sense with his name. If he's supposed to have been some kind of equity trader then I have totally missed that. I dig Lee dismantling big guys, and I've been waiting for a longer Donnie Dollars match, so I was excited for this one and thought it delivered, although less than other Lee main events. Dollars was fun using some shortcuts that a huge dude shouldn't need to use, but I love seeing a heel cheat just to cheat, so Dollars pulling the ref in between he and Lee so he can blast Lee with an elbow, or Dollars kicking the ropes while Lee steps through them. Lee never really felt in danger in this one, which lands this lower than other title matches. Lee was mostly one step ahead of Dollars, with Dollars being the one to get occasional hope offense (like a big running boot), which is kinda backwards. But Lee is fun working ahead on a big guy, stomping early on Dollars' elbow, which Dollars never really recovers from. Dollars was really good at keeping that elbow stomp present, even though we never went back to it. His selling was good enough (without being constant) that it played as a rough move that set him back early in the match, that gave Lee the advantage the rest of the match. Lee would be kicking at Dollars' body, and he would be holding his elbow and leaving himself mostly defenseless against kicks, and it really made it seem like his elbow was messed up if he was willing to take these kicks to protect his arm. Lee amusingly baited him a couple times, like hitting a running elbow in the corner and duping Dollars into following him so he could hit him again. The end was never in doubt, and I wish Dollars had a bit more of a showing, but it was fun.

PAS: I tend to really like lesser Lee title matches, he is more interesting when he works around a formula worker, then just having an indy classic. The structure of this was kind of unique with Dollars playing a heel underdog big man, not a combination I can remember seeing before. Lee almost comes off heelish here, do you really need to break Donnie Dollar's elbow to beat him? I agree that Dollar's elbow selling was great and I thought the built a couple of nice near falls for Donnie. I think this match would have been better if Donnie went on a bit of winning streak before it, so the crowd might buy him a bit more, or if it had just been a sprint. Going this long without Dollars having any chance of winning was kind of odd.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 147

Episode 147

Dos Hombres vs. Michael McAllister/Nick Richards

ER: Dos Hombres are Kamakazi Kid and Matt Smith. Kazi is a guy with a belly who seemingly works the greater NC area under assorted masked gimmicks (we dug his match against Cain Justice as "Number Dad") and Matt Smith is a younger former CWF guy who dropped out of wrestling for awhile. And I dug them both here. McAllister rocks a beard nicely, and Richards has clearly been busting butt to get into shape, he looks 20 pounds lighter than the last time I saw him. I really had no expectations for this tag and came away thinking it was a real blast. Hombres felt like a last minute gimmick but now I'd love to see them in the Kernodle Cup. They both did really cool things, Kazi snaps off a nice rana and hits a nasty headlock takeover, Smith has impressive energy and tosses in some things you don't see enough of, like his running jumping knee to McAllister's back and a weird (and awesome) flipping fistdrop. McAllister and Richards are really gelling as a team, and I love how stoked they seem to be teaming with each other. McAllister hits a big palm strike at one point that turns Kazi inside out (and I'm pretty sure it was just a great worked palm strike, don't think it actually made any contact) and Richards spikes his cutter (I think Kazi made it look more dangerous than anyone so far), just a ton of fun simple tag match. And looking back at what I wrote, it's pretty clear I came away most impressed with Kamakazi Kid (Hombre #1?). He does so many great little things, really talented guy.

PAS: Eric breaking kayfabe by outing masked guys, for shame. I really liked this too, McAllister and Richards are a really fun team, and the Hombres started out as a comedy team, but ended up being really fun.  I loved Rojo River Jack trying for a step up rana and ending up eating a stomach breaker, and Negro Bart's fat guy snap rana was dope. I loved the wheelbarrow cutter finish that Redemption was using, and thought the Hombres were a fun Conquistadores style masked team, I want to see them against everyone now.

Chet Sterling vs. Brad Attitude

ER: What a slaughter! Attitude cuts one of his great Las Vegas poolside interviews about how he's not there and he's in paradise instead, has the Hombres jump Sterling (with Kamakazi taking the big half nelson suplex bump as Sterling comes back), and then Attitude himself comes out in slacks and a dress shirt and just wastes Sterling with his hard rolling travel suitcase. I don't think I've ever seen one of those used as a weapon before, and as I fly down to Phoenix later this week I'll have to keep that in mind. Attitude chucks it - hard - at Sterling's face, really beats him with it. I mean if you're going to debut a non-canon weapon into a pro wrestling ring, you gotta show why it's a weapon. If that was the worst thing that happened to Sterling in this match, he'd be bad off. Sadly, Attitude catches a plancha and rams him painfully into the ringpost, and then hits probably the nastiest apron powerbomb I've seen. There's no great way to land one of those, but this definitely isn't the way you want to land, head whipping hard and body going right into the edge. I've really gotten into Sterling's comebacks, he makes good use of his great right hand, but the second the ref disposes of a chair Attitude boots him low. This has to be setting up a big time No DQ match, and if it even approaches this 4 minute teaser, that match will SLAY.

PAS: Man is Brad Attitudes entire shtick just gold. The whole promo in the pool with Dolph talking about seeing Vince Neil and drinking beers, what a masterful cock that dude is (Brad Attitude video cameos are BY FAR the best things Dolph Ziggler has ever done in his career). The roller bag hurled at Sterlings face was super nasty, as was that apron powerbomb. Hell he did a Kudo Driver as a set up move. Despite my long established Sterling skepticism, the blow off for this feud is going to be awesome.

Donnie Dollars/Otto Schwanz vs. Aaron Biggs/Kool Jay

ER: Oh man I really like the Dollars/Schwanz team! I don't think we've gotten that pairing before and I love it. Otto is fun in this, rolling around and acting like a kook, and Dollars is probably my favorite underutilized CWF guy. But what sets this match apart is THAT moment. I already thought this episode HAD that moment, maybe a couple of those moments, from Attitude destroying Sterling. You know, one of those moments that makes you exclaim out loud while watching something by yourself. This match is going along fine and then then Jay gets whipped across the ring...straight into an Aaron Biggs avalanche. Jay runs into Biggs like an Eagles fan trying to catch a train, just totally takes the wind out of the room. Awesome moment that was totally unexpected within the match. The reactions from Dollars and Otto are classic, both laughing in stunned amusement at the flattener and the flattened. And we get a nice and long and active control segment from my new immediately favorite tag team, with Dollars dropping some big heavy legs and his patented Kool Jay-destroying bodyslam, Otto snapping off quick elbow drops and squishing Jay with a bearhug, and Kool Jay - you heard it here - is a guy who will absorb a beating. He fights back with what he can, throwing nice body blows at Otto (that get mostly ignored) and really running face first into Otto's boot, propped up in the corner. Dollars and Otto are fun to watch deliver a long beating, Jay makes a long beating go quick. I do wish there was more of a match after the Biggs hot tag though. Jay hits a big stunner on Dollars and gets the tag, Biggs flattens Dollars with the Thesz press, and Jay takes a bit too long hitting the winning frog splash. The ending was a little too neat of a bow, and while it was pushed as a big deal that Jay pinned Dollars, it felt a bit like Cornette tagging in to get the pin after Eaton hits the Alabama Jam.

PAS: Really fun tag team, every time Dollars is in the ring with Kool Jay it is tinged by the horror of that powerslam chokeslam thing he did to him last year. The announcers never mention it, but for me it hovers over the entire match, Kool Jay then eats the accidental Thesz press and it comes off nearly as insane and violent, it felt like surprise car accident in a PSA about wearing seatbelts. A lot of the recent Kool Jay stuff has been based around his offense, which is fine, but his insane bumping is what makes him special. I liked the beatdown by Dollars and Otto and the finish was fine, but I am not sure how many more defining moments Kool Jay needs, is pinning Donnie Dollars in a tag  a bigger deal then beating Mike Mars for a title (a match that has been blackholed), it isn't like Dollars has been kept strong.

Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Ric Converse


ER: Fun unique match-up, with Cain being a great equalizer on the floor for Sharpe. Converse is a really great heavyweight, throwing big hands, great big boot, muscled Sharpe through a powerslam, all his stuff looking real good. I love Sharpe going for his big KO uppercut the second Converse is distracted by Cain, and Sharpe brings a nice attack to Converse, especially liked the draping elbow over the ropes, ending with Sharpe casually resting and posing over the middle rope/Converse. There appeared to be some shenanigans as I noticed a cut in the match - and I usually don't notice subtle clips - but Cain was helping Converse back in the ring, and we get a camera cut and Converse is draped over the bottom rope. The finish is a fun bit or horse business, with the ref KO'd Cain pump kicks Converse in the chest and Sharpe gets the roll up. I really loved how Ric sold the pump kick, like he had been poisoned and was just now realizing his heart beat was changing.

PAS: This was fun stuff, Sharpe has really developed into an effective offensive wrestler, and I actually buy his offense hurting Converse. Cain is nearly as great on the floor as he is in the ring, and the pump kick interference was pretty awesome looking. I am looking forward to seeing more of this tag team, although it does seem like a bit of a side draining of Cain who really should be feuding with Trevor Lee over the title at this point.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 144

Episode 144

Cain Justice vs. Ian Maxwell

PAS: Cain is really great at working with greenish guys and working around their limitations, it is the thing that is most impressive about him being a rookie himself. Maxwell has some fun highspots, and Justice is great at filling in the middle parts of the match around them. I loved his fake knee injury, and how it played off of the Battle Royal. I also liked how he used the ref to distract Maxwell a couple of times, including the awesome finish were he maneuvered the ref in between him and Maxwell who was perched on the top rope. When Maxwell finally dove, Justice snatched him out of the air with a cross armbreaker.

ER: This was a cool twist on the modern indy workrate match, with Cain constantly - awesomely - throwing a wrench into typical modern workrate moments. Every time it would threaten to devolve into This Is Awesome, Cain would just wash to the floor, jaw with fans, sip hilariously from a water bottle, stall, and generally just upset the rhythm. That style works great when you have a great worker upsetting rhythm. Modern indy workrate comes off too much like swing dancing big band, and you need an upsetter to introduce people to the irregular phrases and angular melodies found in bop. Cain as Thelonious Monk? I thought they hit the first armbar spot too long, as I never like when somebody is just able to casually survive in a Cain Justice submission, it does them a big disservice. This one was even weirder as Cain had a fully extended armbar and was looking to KO Maxwell with heel kicks, and with the armbar still extended they do a raise/drop the arm spot. That's weird. Maxwell doesn't pay attention to the arm again even though he was locked in the armbar for 30 seconds. But I liked the rest of this, always like how active Cain is during simple lockups and go behinds, reaching back between his legs for something, looking for hammerlock openings, grabbing for headlocks, punching Maxwell in the hamstring, etc. His elbows land so damn hard, short staccato bursts, and I like the offbeat timing he brings to the standing exchange. Nobody should get excited for back and forth match for match exchanges anymore. They're dull. So once this one starts, I appreciate them mixing it up and not robotically trading elbows. They brought kicks, elbows, a superman punch, and more, a nice variety that was offbeat and welcome. Maxwell has some smooth stuff, really liked his leaping rana, and he has nice timing on his enziguiris. I agree with Phil on how cool the finish was. There were a lot of moving parts, and it was still able to come off naturally, the somersault leap into the armbar was precise and looked great, really fun match.

Mace Li vs. Kool Jay

ER: I liked this one too, although I don't love an overuse of "I kick you and it causes you to stumble, and you sell on your feet until I get up, then you kick me" in a match, I thought they handled a lot of things nicely. I still can't really get a good read on Mace Li, even though he's popped up regularly over the last 4 months. Within a match he'll do some things I really like, here he throws a really great shoulderblock and an awesome missed elbowdrop, really sticking the point of his elbow, and late in the match he planted himself on a DDT; but then he'll do some annoying or lazy things, like a slo mo missed clothesline to get into position for the next bit of offense. But overall I liked him here more than I've liked him in other matches. I am still not over how they handled the Kool Jay RGL title win. It makes no sense to me. Kool Jay now acts like an established fighting champion, and I didn't even get to see him fight for his title win. It is not sitting well with me. It feels like we missed 70% of his story. I think CWF has been mostly really good about working people up and down the card, but Kool Jay already getting a title feels like I just skipped 4 months of TV. And I'm still adjusting to him getting a lot of offense, and I do still think he's a more interesting wrestling working from behind than working even. But I liked his body shot combo in the ropes, and his DDTs go down with a nice snap, so he's still going to be a guy I get interested in seeing. I just feel a little robbed.

PAS: I agree with the silliness of not showing Jay win the title, I do enjoy him as champ though. He has a nice arsenal of little guy spinning offense. I really liked his jumping complete shot and his DDT. Mace has some fun shtick although he definitely still looks a little tentative when he applies moves. The All Stars are a great act and you can pretty much slot in anyone around Jerry Carrey and the Coach and have it be entertaining. 

Faye Jackson/Aaron Biggs vs. Zane & Dave Dawson

ER: This was so-so, but I thought the Dawsons did well to put the whole thing over. Faye Jackson is fun and I like her vibe, like the big butt attacks and her rolling cannonball, but I don't think it really works with these guys. It doesn't help that she appears to gas out pretty hard at the end, taking a long time to leap into a sunset flip and then taking even longer to ready a chairshot after the match. Obviously I miss the Sandwich Squad, and Mecha was my favorite part of that team, but Biggs still brings value on his own. I won't ever get tired of a huge guy doing splashes and avalanches. But the Dawsons held this together, Dave especially was really mean to Faye, hitting a big dropkick under her chin (I liked her sell of it) and pulling on her hair while taunting her in a chinlock. I like the Dawsons cheating to win because basically why not, but they should also work a little harder to make their tag champs look like they deserve to be tag champs. It seems like every single makeshift team takes them to the limit.

PAS: Faye does have really fun offense, although she might be best used as a face manager who comes into hit some spots, kind of like Que Monito. I do love her rolling cannonballs. Biggs is fine, but I am not sure if he is ready to be the A1 in a tag team, he is a little like a good secondary scorer who has to take the majority of the shots when the star player leaves. He may get there, but I am not sure he is there yet. Dawsons were fun in this as dick heads, I loved the taunting of Biggs with the EAT chants, and Dave blocking the low bridge attempt by punching Faye in the face was great.

Chet Sterling vs. John Skyler

ER: I was skeptical when I saw the episode still had 25 minutes left, and didn't think these two could stretch things out that long without me getting restless and wanting the match to end. But I really liked this and came away impressed with how they used the 25 minutes. It was simple stuff but paced well and paid off nicely, with Skyler stalling to start, eventually attacking Sterling's ribs, removing a turnbuckle pad early, and that pad and the early rib work leading to the finish. It's all very satisfying, linear stuff. But what put it over for me is how much the fans in the Sportatorium love Chet Sterling. I was a slow convert on Sterling. We've probably seen 20 Sterling matches now, and it's been a slow burn. I did not like him on first watch, slowly accepted that he was decent in trios, slowly accepted he was good as the Ricky Morton in a tag, finally became a singles match convert after the Royal match, and now I enjoy Chet Sterling. Hearing the fans (and especially all the screaming kids) cheering for him when Skyler was beating him down really made the match. We have so many 25 minute matches where the guys are going to do their match no matter the reaction, and while this didn't feel like the crowd was dictating the pace of the match, it did feel like these two knew exactly what kind of match to give them. The rib work was set up nicely, with simple things like Skyler smashing Sterling ribs first into the apron, or hitting a fat senton, on up to bigger things like Sterling going for a crossbody but landing on Skyler's knee. Sterling's comebacks are good in tag matches, and it was good here. He throws his hot comeback punches from the same arm slot as Lawler's comeback punches. They aren't as good as Lawler's, but that's not a very fair expectation, because Sterling has great babyface punches. They do several moments that are hard to naturally pull off, where Skyler keeps missing offense while Sterling keeps moving out of the way, too tired to counter with anything of his own. The misses usually look hokey but Skyler did them well, especially crashing into the buckles chest first. The end pays off the early work nicely, with Attitude knocking Sterling off the top rope, making him fall on the exposed buckle, leading to Skyler planting him with the Finlay Roll off the middle rope. I got similar vibes during this match as I got during the Foxx/Royal Chapel Hill match, just a hot crowd rooting for their babyface as fans of the hero, not fans of "This is awesome".

PAS: I thought this was a heck of Skyler performance. I loved all of his shtick early in the match, stalling, demanding time outs, begging off, and then flipping the switch when he got an advantage. I loved him catching Sterlings dive with a stomach buster and then just pounding on him with head and body shots. Skyler was really focused on the ribs and small of the back in an entertaining way and they timed Sterlings comebacks really well to keep the crowd engaged. Timing comebacks is a really important part of a traditional face vs. heel match, wait too long and the match just drags and feels too one sided (This was the fatal flaw in the Wrestlemania main event), go too early and it is just a your turn, my turn match with no selling and it doesn't allow the crowd to pop at the comebacks. I don't love Sterling's 1997 ECWA offense, but it was timed great. Finish was awesome too, with Chekov's exposed bolt coming into play perfectly, we get some classic dickhead Brad Attitude and a great second rope Finlay roll for the pin.

PAS: Pretty good show, with everything getting a thumbs up and Skyler vs. Sterling making our 2018 Ongoing MOTY List. 

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 141

Episode 141

Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Chet Sterling

PAS: Sharpe continues to impress, as he really lays it into Sterling with hard shots, including a great diving clothesline to the back of Sterling's head while Sterling was tied up in the ropes, and a big time lariat which flipped Sterling around. I liked Sterling getting pissed and yelling at Sharpe to keep talking, but honestly Sharpe is the much fresher act at this point, and probably should have gone over. I feel like I have seen everything Sterling is going to show me, he is like CWF Randy Orton at this point.

ER: I thought both guys looked really good here, and loved how it devolved. We start out kind of expectedly fun, with Sharpe showing off his new merch and Sterling blowing his nose with it, but Cecil Scott was strong at pointing out the strides that Sharpe has made (and I also liked him bringing up the cold NC winters, which have been known to affect breathing the longer a match goes). Sharpe keeps adding cool offense to his repertoire. I kinda liked him as a Stevie Richards heel type with maybe two simple moves that look bigger within context of his matches, like his great jawbreaker. Here he just blows through Sterling with a great diving lariat, and later hits a crossbody/lariat while Sterling is draped over the middle rope. Those things added to simple vertical elbows can fill a match nicely. Sterling takes a super nasty bump through the ropes to the floor, like a trained version of Vince always almost hanging himself when he would get tossed, and I liked how Sterling goaded Sharpe into getting overly aggressive, clearly a trap, and a good enough one that I bought the roll-up nearfall. I get Phil's point about Sterling being the CWF Randy Orton, but I think Sterling continues making strides as well: The last half of the year Sterling matches appealed to me far more than the first half, he's been utilizing his genuinely good right hand at the right moments of matches, and it's working. Real good, satisfying match.

Mike Mars vs. Aaron Biggs

PAS: Fun slugfest to intro Biggs back into the singles realm. Very simple match which delivered what was promised. I thought Mars's somersault escape was a fun big man agility spot which was more like a Kamala leapfrog then a Donovan Dijak juniors spot.  I really liked the finish with Mars hitting the headbutt which staggers Biggs only for Biggs to bounce back with a huge Thesz Press for the KO

ER: This was good, I believe it was my first semi-extended look at Mars against a larger opponent. Since it was only going a few minutes I wish we had more of a big meaty slugfest (it was grounded for a bit in the middle) but I liked what I saw. It was basic, it was good. The finish was what made this super memorable though, as Mars surprises Biggs with his great thrust headbutt, and Biggs counters that surprise with one of his own, just flattening him with a Thesz Press as "out of nowhere" as a 375+ pound man can be. I was expecting Biggs to stagger, was not expecting him to come flying flush with a massive press. The win was a given. Truly one of the greatest Thesz Presses of our days.

PAS: Not sure what is going on with Mars, he has this big undefeated run, including just crushing Dirty Daddy in 120 seconds at BattleCade. Then they have Mars immediately lose the RGL title to Kool Jay, which is a win that they have been building too, but having that big win not get shown on their show really stinks. I get that there was a bunch of turmoil, and maybe there are reasons the footage got black holed, but it really screws up Mars and it stinks that Kool Jay's big moment is disappeared. At least show highlights with re-dubbed commentary if they don't want Bishop Magic Don Juan on their shows anymore. Now Mars goes from sqaushing everyone to losing his title in a dark match to losing to Biggs clean in a shortish match, the booking around this makes no one look good.

ER: Man I was so confused by this, and thinking about it doesn't make it any less confusing. Mars was a beast, running through everyone, including Daddy which was super shocking. I was really looking forward to a longer RGL title from Daddy, so the 2 minutes and change Mars victory was a shock. But to have Kool Jay turn around and beat Mars for the belt....and we don't even get to see it!? That is just stupid. Kool Jay has hardly even snapped off a single piece of offense during his CWF run, so for him to show up with a title suddenly feels like we jumped ahead 4 months in booking. I was really enjoying the slow burn, and CWF is a fed who knows how to do a slow burn. I thought Jay would start getting more and more offense, get a banana peel win, slowly move him to being more than just a bumping death machine, maybe have him cut a promo about how he had died so many times in the ring that he was on his last life and needed to start winning. But instead he shows up with a title that - last we saw - was Mike Mars' title, that Jay apparently won the week before. There was turmoil, it was the holidays, but that just highlights more reasons to NOT do a title change. I wanted to see Jay's journey, and I wanted to see Mars dominate for awhile. This is a bummer.

Roy Wilkins vs. Kool Jay

PAS: I really enjoyed this. The shtick here is that Wilkins has stolen the Mid-Atlantic belt and is now defending it against other champions. Since Kool Jay has the RGL title, he is the joke opponent. Big star treating a youngster like a joke and getting his comeuppance is a great match structure. Wilkins is really great as a contemptuous prick, and Jay is a really great underdog. I thought the opening section of Wilkins dominating went a bit long, this match type is better at 13 minutes rather then 22, but once Jay made his flurries of offense it was pretty great. Jay has a great dropkick and Wilkins really flies out of the ring, both tope's were big moves, and the sliced bread was a great near fall. They tried to make Kool Jay in this match, and mostly succeeded, although he already got his big career defining win and it isn't being shown for some reason.

ER: This was a good match that I think was really tanked by the fact we never saw Jay's title win. And I couldn't help but think the entire, long match, just how much different I would be reacting to this match had Jay been merely building off of the last time we saw him. He hadn't won a match at that point, he had barely been seen on offense, and because of that Wilkins was treating him like a total joke. How big would this match have looked? Instead, we went in knowing that he beat Mike Freaking Mars, a man who before this same episode we had barely seen look weak. Somehow, Kool Jay beat Mike Mars cleanly to win a title. Kool Jay beat a man who had been treating him like a complete punching bag for months. Kool Jay went from not being able to compete at all against Mars, to beating him for a title. And knowing that, makes Wilkins' entire attitude towards him not make any sense whatsoever. Cockiness is cockiness, I get that, but this mystery title change really sucked a lot of the drama and interest out of this match for me. It being overly long didn't help things. Kool Jay beat Mike Mars in less time than it took Wilkins to actually get actively involved in this match. And the final half was really good, really exciting. I don't think the latter half was made any more exciting because of the extended first half, but again the last half was really good. Even when he's on offense Jay tries his best to die (luckily Wilkins reeled him in before he destroyed a few rows of chairs) and I love the multiple tope spot. The interference from Caray and Coach was great, timing was always on point, and I especially loved when Caray grabbed his leg before the first tope, Jay backed him away with a 619 before hitting the second tope. We get a couple nice nearfalls (which again, would have been incredibly exciting without the knowledge that Jay had beat Mars for a title), but the strange programming decision really made this a misfire.

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2017 Ongoing MOTY LIst: Modern Vintage WARGAMES!!

71. C.W. Anderson/Zane Dawson/Dave Dawson/Arik Royal v. Chet Sterling/Mecha Mercenary/Aaron Biggs/Ric Converse Modern Vintage Wrestling 9/16

PAS: Good to see a real War Games as opposed to an Adam Cole stained NXT spotfest. This had fat dudes and balding dudes and some blood just like War Games are supposed to . Great CW Anderson performance, as he was the first man in and last man out. I liked the opening one on one section with Sterling, and Anderson is especially great at working a cut. Keeping Mecha Mercenary on the floor as the heels triple teamed Sterling was a clever way to work around the middle section of War Games which is usually the weakest. The Squad getting into the ring to clean house was a nice moment. I am not a huge Sterling fan, so a match based around him was always going to be a bit of a letdown for me, I also loved the little bit of Royal, but he felt a bit sidelined. Finish was cool and a nice turnaround from earlier, although we could have used a near fall or two on the faces, it felt like as soon as Converse came in, the heels were done. Still this match, if done correctly, has a pretty high floor and I enjoyed it.

ER: You know when an Anderson starts a WarGames it's going to be a great one. And, sure enough, CW is a total king throughout this whole match. He and Sterling start and he just wrecks Chet, busts him open and jams his face into the cage, takes some nice punches from Sterling and gives back far more brutal ones. CW throws a freaking metal briefcase at the worst angle at Sterling's face, just a super violent shot you'd expect from a Black Terry flea market brawl or a Rush/Park beer bottle brawl. Things really ramp up when Mecha Mercenary comes out to even things up, as Sterling has just taken a beating from CW and Zane Dawson at this point. The camera cuts to the door of the cage as Mecha is entering, and from off camera a CW superkick greets Mecha, then another for good measure to knock him to the floor. I love Mecha, but I love matches constructed to keep him out. He's great at selling longterm damage and he's great at hot tags and comebacks, so him suddenly bursting back into a match is always the best. Royal makes a great entrance by just running in with a chair and blasting the Squad with huge chairshots and leveling Sterling with a great one. Chairshots were something we got so numb to seeing, and now that they aren't all over a wrestling card a real good chairshot finally carries some weight again. Royal is a really great weapons worker as he throws relatively safe shots that always look like KO blows. I've written a few times before he's always great at safely working crowd brawls, and with safe/brutal weapon shots just give him another underappreciated skill and show how great he really is. Plus, his WarGames attire is flawless (really all the heels had great WarGames attire). I loved the Squad going on a tear, with fun stuff like Royal getting avalanched by Biggs into the cage/apron. I didn't love Sterling going off the top of the cage, just because WarGames matches aren't supposed to be about cage flying stunts (I understand it's not easy to make a closed roof cage, but don't call attention to it), but Sterling needed a big moment to make up for that beating he took up front. The finish was a terrific bit of pro wrestling, with a perfectly used celebrity cameo: JJ Dillon (introduced before the match) slams the cage door onto CW's head when he's trying to leave instead of facedown all four babyfaces alone, just a perfect way to use someone like that. CW gets tangled into a submission by Sterling and quits, and in taking his excellent match-long performance beyond the match itself, continues after the match by complaining that he never actually quit. We've spent a year hearing a bald heel deny saying things that everybody heard him say, so it was a great topical heel move. Awesome match.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST
COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WEDNESDAY MORNING WARGAMES

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 122

Episode 122

1. Roy Wilkins vs. Montana Black

ER: Yeah baby Montana Black is Back! He's a guy we saw seemingly ages ago that I've been wanting to see again, no reason why I should be deprived of this dude. This is worked simply, with Wilkins moving all around Black as he stands tall as an unchoppable tree. Wilkins fights him like a heel Westley fighting a babyface Fezzik jumping on him and trying to take out those legs. Black doesn't have thick legs, so Wilkins' shoulderblocks to the inner knee seem extra tough. I loved him jumping in for an abdominal stretch and how badly everything went when he tried jumping on Black. Black hits a mammoth face buster, picking up Wilkins in a full nelson and just planting him face first. His power looked legit and Wilkins took the bump like Wile E. Coyote falling face first off a cliff. I was disappointed when no dust cloud ploofed up. Black gets distracted and Wilkins blasts him behind the ear with his golden ticket plaque. I really love these 6 minute CWF matches. They always feel like they accomplish so much for the allotted time. I want more Montana Black!

PAS: Montana Black is two for two with me in singles matches. He is legit huge and seems to understand how to use his size, he actually works a lot like Andre the Giant, all open hand thudding chops and immobility. Wilkins is great at working as a cerebral wrestler, and I loved him try to solve the puzzle, before just giving up and smashing Black in the head with brass knuckles. I actually think Black would be a great addition to the All-Stars as a sort of a monster equalizer.

2. Slade Porter vs. Cam Carter

ER: This wasn't a bad 5 minutes, though some parts felt a little too rehearsed, it still had cool stuff. I was admittedly distracted by Cain Justice on commentary, as he wasn't really working in character, instead he came off like a more southern fried Snagglepuss. "That was a nice floatover, a nice drop down, even." We've seen Porter a few times now and this is probably the best he's looked, specifically thought a couple of his more complicated moves looked painful (like that nice leaping back elbow), and I liked Carter's low German suplex. This still felt like more of a touring match, but if you got 5 minutes to make an impression I can see using your touring match.

PAS: This didn't do it for me, I think Porter is one of the worst guys who shows up semi-regularly, and serious Porter was just as try hard and fun loving Porter. There was a section where Porter was throwing punches that were getting blocked which was comically bad looking. Carter has some potential and nice athletic ability, but wasn't going to be able to save this.

3. John Skyler vs. Jason Kincaid

ER: Skyler comes out wearing the one armed, studded leather jacket like Finlay or a Mad Max villain. It's a look I don't think I can pull off. But maybe it's one of those "confidence is key" things, where if you just act like you're someone who can pull off a one armed, studded leather jacket with one armor-like shoulder pad, then you can pull it off. I remember when vests became popular again among men, and I tried one on and just felt like I couldn't make it work. I felt like too much of a phony. So I might *think* that I wouldn't be able to pull off a Mad Max vest, but I don't know for certain. But I liked this match, even though I thought it could have been trimmed a bit. I was surprised how much Skyler was in control. I thought several of Kincaid's comebacks came off unnatural, just because Skyler was doing nothing but hitting him with big moves. Early on he used a lot of speed to stay one step ahead, or logically set up offense off of Skyler's misses, like that sunset flip powerbomb sending Skyler into the bottom buckle. But at a certain point this just felt like Kincaid barely kicking out of something, then just going back on offense. And sometimes the offense he set up felt a little longwinded, like the 619 from the entrance ramp, or the finishing cutter off the top that required Skyler to lift him into position to do the move. I don't like that kind of stuff. But for a longer match I thought they mostly filled the time well, and there were plenty of big (and little) killer moments, like Kincaid's crazy stomp to the face off a ringpost, and Skyler doing a deep back rake to sink in a powerbomb.

PAS: I liked this more then Eric did. I am a fan of Kincaid's fancy offense, it fits well with his character and spots like the double stomp off of the ringpost are legitimately awesome. I also really like Skyler, he is an ex CW Anderson and Preston Quinn tag partner and he has that same methodical yet forceful style. I did think it might have gone a bit too long and I thought the 619 from the ring entrance was kind of dumb, but I thought the finish was great. Stuttsy had been talking all match about Skylers top rope Finlay roll being his killer move and Kincaid reversing it in mid air into a stunner was crazy athletic and cool.

ER: I liked the stuff with Snooty and CL in Chapel Hill, with Snooty showing her his favorite 24 hour restaurant. Not only did I like Snooty (and CL) more after this, it made me want mac and cheese and a chicken biscuit. After all these scary beyond belief fires out here in CA this past week+, what kind of place do you think I can afford in Chapel Hill or Gibsonville? Somebody sell me on NC!

4. CW Anderson & The Dawsons vs. Chet Sterling & The Sandwich Squad

ER: I would have liked 5 more minutes from this, and 5 less from the prior match. I mean before the bell this match already had a woman in the crowd throw her nachos for a total bullseye on Zane Dawson, and then the Squad picked up a couple of the nachos and ate them. The parts of this match where CW and the Dawsons were picking apart Sterling were the best, I could have easily taken more of a heat segment. CW was vicious with everyone. His staredowns are maybe my favorite in wrestling, he never skimps on stomach kicks, and he never tries to get cheers. He is a bad man through and through. I like Sterling more every week, and I think he's especially good as the sympathetic babyface in matches like this. He fights to comeback nicely, sells well (which might be easier to do when Zane is smacking you in the ribs, or Dave is twisting you in a cravate, and CW is throwing big right hands to your face), but I like him getting dropped with a backdrop, coming up holding his shoulder and still wanting to fight, loved CW working that shoulder over his own while digging an elbow into Sterling's neck. I love how CW kept on Sterling, even when things started to break down and everybody got involved, he still lazered in on Sterling until he stuck that spinebuster. I thought the finish was real great as Biggs hits a mammoth Thesz press, but CW breaks up the pin with a killer low superkick; Biggs struggles back to his feet and shoots CW a look, but CW nails another one, Zane hits a lariat, and Dave dumps him with an awesome Saito suplex.  The Converse/Anderson standoff at the end of the episode hyped me even more for WarGames.

PAS: The beginning of this match with the face team all holding their trophies and the heels holding their belts, plus the faces taunting the lady into tossing her nachos was classic wrestling horseshit. Great CW performance, he was the conductor of the whole match, masterminding the beat down on Sterling. Coming in and hitting brutal cheap shots, right hands and his nasty spinebuster. I always enjoy watch the Sandwhich Squad do their thing, and Mecha hits an especial big time lariat. Finish was really great the Thez press by Biggs is world swallowing, and that short superkick by CW looked like it broke Biggs jaw.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 121

Episode 121

1. Jason Kincaid vs. Chip Day

ER: I really like Kincaid, glad they brought him in and I hope we see him more. He's possibly the most athletic guy to also own multiple Blind Melon CDs. He's probably the most athletic guy out of all guys called "dirt weed" by their friends. I kind of need to see a team of Kincaid and Aric Andrews, two lanky scuzzy dudes, Team Black Crowes Guitar Tech! Kincaid flops around nicely for offense, leans into kicks (and I really like Day's spin kicks to the chin, and his kicks to take out Kincaid at the shins). Day is a guy with a lot of offense, and much of it he pulls off effortlessly, a guy who has a moveset that actually feels like his moveset, in spite of it being large. And I like how his moveset can also be complicated enough to make him vulnerable. This was plenty of fun, and yeah I hope we get more Kincaid.

PAS; This was good stuff, felt like a touring indy match, with both guys getting to show off their cool spots and a sensible well worked finish. Kincaid has a bunch of really innovative stuff that all makes sense and doesn't look contrived. Most guys who work an innovator style end up throwing in a bunch of superfluous junk, Kincaid is flashy but it all connects. I especially love his top of the ringpost double stomp, he missed it here but it always looks dangerous. Day was landing his kicks good, and I really liked his ankle pick submission attempt. I am not sure what Day's persona is though. I think he should just lean into his new Wikileaks gimmick , have him dox his opponents before the match, he can leak emails of tag partners talking shit about each other, Day could be the guy who got LaRoux Smith Garrett's medical records. Maybe you could have Gabe sending in EVOLVE guys to take Day out, Day v. Fred Yehi or Keith Lee could be really great.

2. Cain Justice vs. Dirty Daddy

ER: I love Justice coming out quick following the previous match, and immediately getting into Day's face. I already want to see Justice against just about anybody, but he has a way of adding to potential future match ups, always setting up little reasons for other people to want to fight him other than "we were booked against each other off camera". It's little, but it adds a lot. And this match rules as Cain goes after Daddy's left arm in some sick ways, including snapping it back over the top rope. And Daddy is so good as a fighting babyface, always firing back at Justice with hard shots. I loved how Cain smacked him a couple times and then was shocked to find Dirty hits harder. Dirty is also super mindful of his injured wing, selling appropriately at all times. Loved Cain blasting him with a lariat and the look on Cain's face when Dirty doesn't budge. Daddy's offense looked killer here, I especially liked him purposely over-rolling Cain on a backslide, sending Cain flipping over right into a vicious knee to the face. I loved the spot, as at first I thought he had just come in too hot on a backslide, then I realized it positioned Cain perfectly and naturally to take the knee. Very clever. Cain matches always seem to go just the right amount of time, and there's always a lot of high end action packed into them. There are usually a couple little match stories going on and we usually get satisfying results to those stories. This couldn't have been more than 8 minutes but had so much neat stuff going on, with a nice satisfying ending, I'd really love to see these two continue to match up.

PAS: I thought this was really great. Watching these two guys match up is like seeing early Flair v. Steamboat or the first Low-Ki v. Danielson matches, just a pair of prodigies at the start of what should be an all time great rivalry. Dirty comes in throwing bombs, clearly fired up trying to drop Justice early, his ripcord elbow is really sharp and violent looking. Cain of course goes after the arm, and is really sadistic, very early he tries for a crossarmbreaker and when he gets counters, he immediately switches to the other arm. There is a great spot early where he rubber bands the top rope into Dirties eyes, and later in the match when he tries it again Dirty just stomps a mudhole into him. I loved the end with Cain knocking Daddy silly with some brutal forearms to the back of the head, when the ref pulls him up, Daddy spits in Cain's face, it was a great "fuck you" before dying, and leads right into Cain superkicking him and slapping on the twist ending. I want to see every single match up these two ever have.

3. Arik Royal vs. Beau Crockett vs. Mike Mars vs. Mecha Mercenary vs. Aaron Biggs vs. Snooty Foxx

ER: This was a bit of a rushed mess, but with a "winner gets title shot" stip like this you either work a long match and then have the winner gassed for his title shot, or you work a short inconsequential match that's just a lead in for the main. I guess I'd rather have the latter, as the main event singles has potential to be the better match. But this is one of those short multimans where guys are selling way too much way too early, and it's a shame because I like how a lot of these guys match up. Still, even in the short time we still get Royal taking a beefy clothesline to the floor (hitting his knees in rough fashion on the apron on his way down), Mecha throwing meaty chops, clotheslining Mars in the face, a big Snooty spear, a huge Biggs samoan drop on Royal, obviously some fun stuff. When you put some of these guys in a match and let them do things, those things are going to be fun. Crockett and Mars seem to just be in there for the same reason Misawa has Satoru Asako on his trios team or Stan Hansen has Lacrosse as a tag partner, or how Eric has the hottest wrestling analogies from 1997. But one of those guys were clearly in there to eat a pin, and it doesn't make a lot of sense that they'd even be this close to title contention. This was a "2nd chance" 6 man, when did Crockett or Mars ever get a 1st chance? I'm fine with the end result, as I love the Squad and would love to see them in more singles, but at this rate they may as well have just given Mecha an offscreen title shot.

PAS:  This was a fun idea, I like putting all the big dudes in one ring and let them pound on each other, but the execution was wanting a bit. Mars I understand because he is large, but Beau Crockett isn't 300 pounds so he is an odd man out and an obvious candidate to get pinned. Some of the work here was fine, but I would have rather had this go a big longer and have some drama.

4. Mecha Mercenary vs. Trevor Lee

ER: Yes yes yes! This is the first time I've seen Lee against a monster fat dude, and the first time I've seen Mecha in a singles match (let alone a long main event), and it all couldn't have gone much better. Outside of one moment where it looked like Mecha let Lee out of a tight pin, this was a fully plausible monster vs. scrappy brave defender with some awesome twists and constantly killers spots. These two blast each other with strikes the whole match, huge lariats from both (Mecha turns Lee inside out a few times with his great lariats, and one of the best moments of the match is Lee hulking up and practically dislocating his shoulder to crush Mecha with a standing clothesline), and some really cool learned behavior. Lee made up the size difference by being nasty and persistent. Mecha may chop harder, but Lee can chop you right in the eye, motherfucker! I loved all the play around Lee's apron kick, with Mecha catching the first attempt and grabbing him in a fireman's carry, other attempts see Mecha swinging at Lee's legs with Lee jumping over, and finally Lee hits one and adds another for good measure. They were really good at showing Lee's normal attacks might not affect the big man as much, or might work differently: I loved when Lee went for the STF and couldn't really roll him over, so Mecha ended up on top in a very close pinfall. Mecha goes into the match seeing the trail of bodies Lee's title reign has left in its wake, and clearly ramps things up, sometimes to his disadvantage: He goes to the middle rope two different times and never looks comfortable up there, but knowing how effective his awesome elbow drops are from the mat, think of the damage he could do from the middle? Lee is crafty and makes Mecha pay for it, and the build for this was really good. Part of me was rooting for Mecha to win the belt, part of me was rooting for Lee to figure out a way to take down this giant and put another notch in the belt. The finish was coconuts and well played, with Lee flying off the ropes and getting caught in what surely would have been a crushing powerslam, but coming in so fast and rotating so quick that he flips through and lands on top of the powerslam. The move looked awesome, and the pin was handled perfect with Lee getting barely enough for the 3, the reversal surprising Mecha just long enough to keep him down, kicking out right at 3 but a split second too late. Money.

PAS: Really good stuff. I love how diverse Lee's title matches are, especially lately and it was fun to watch him work basically a modern day One Man Gang. Mecha is really great at projecting his size, sometimes guys that big will want to show off their athleticism, but Mecha is great at being a mountain to climb. Even a simple cradle is super impressive when it is a refrigerator sitting on your chest. I loved how they set up Lee's german suplex, even great big men like Vader would jump a little too much when they got thrown, Mecha obviously had to assist on the german, no way a human could throw a guy that big with out help, but he didn't leap, Trevor muscled him over and it looked like an enormous feat of strength. I also loved the second rope moves backfiring, Mecha isn't showing off his moonsault, he doesn't belong up there and paid for his hubris. Also that finish didn't even look humanly possible, again somehow Mecha made a move that requires cooperation look like a one man miracle.  I watched it three times and have no idea how either guy pulled it off. I also love the multi match story they are telling about Lee's arrogance, calling Mecha a bitch and telling him to hit him harder, is exactly the kind of thing which will cost Lee his belt, whenever he loses it, and they are doing a great job of sowing seeds for his fatal hubris.

ER: These shows have been flying high lately, I can't believe how many we've already reviewed. And, as is becoming a trend, we've added another match to our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List. Mecha vs. Lee was another in an awesomely booked main event program.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 111

Episode 111

1. Sandwich Squad vs. Cam Carter/James Ryan

ER: Yeahhhhh this was a real meaty Sandwich Squash, a real Dagwood. The whole episode starts with a flat brutal Mecha clothesline and things don't really slow down from there. Both guys were working overly stiff the whole time, big splashes, crushing avalanches, thundering chops, just squishing these two into the mat. Carter and Ryan stood up to it and gamely took the worst of what the squash dished out.

PAS: The Culture is a really great tag team name, and they did there job here, hit a move or two, but get mauled by a pissed off Sandwich Squad. Holy moly did they get mauled too, not at Cool J v. Donnie Dollars level, but fans of fun violent squash matches will dig this a bunch. I am excited to see mad Sandwhich Squad go on a rampage.

2. Zane & Dave Dawson vs. Lucas Calhoun/Proletariat Boar of Moldova

ER: Calhoun and Boar are down from Chikara. Calhoun's fat Elvis get-up and gags don't do a lot for me, but at least his strikes land with a nice thud. I actually like Boar's look, and he's got some size, but his punches and boots land light and he ends up working like a not very good Berzerker. The match felt like it wandered a bit too much. Calhoun acted like a heel, and the Dawsons are heels, so the fans weren't really that interested in showing sympathy for Calhoun's knee getting worked over, and the leg work didn't really go anywhere compelling anyway (though I did like the kneebreaker on the apron to start it). Again, at least Calhoun had some hard shots (which makes sense as he teamed with Kingston and Jacobs for awhile), because most of this didn't move the needle. I hate how Zane is billed as a guy with "the best" lariat, when he doesn't even know how to throw a halfway decent missed lariat, and his actual lariat looked nowhere near as devastating as Mecha Mercenary's just 20 minutes prior.

PAS: I didn't love this either, I was on board for Calhoun, I liked his rockabilly sleaze look and his Elvis Karate landed well, Boar didn't do much for me and the Dawsons kind of sucked. I do think the Chikara kids were working face, but I am not sure their brand of goofy shit works with the audience, it sure doesn't work with me.

ER: Phil and I were just talking on the phone earlier this week about Cain Justice, how high he'd go on a 500, with Phil comparing him to some of those U-Style guys who came in and immediately understood wrestling, and we talked about other guys who just came in and were already this good. I don't even think Cain has wrestled 25 matches, which is just nuts.

PAS: Very cool promo package. Is Cain working outside of CWF-MA? Is there tiny NC indies I need to track down so we can do a C+A Cain Justice?  I am totally in the bag for the kid, he is so much fun to watch.

3. Logan Easton Laroux vs. Chet Sterling

ER: Are they cross-promoting a Chikara show or something? That's not a direction I was hoping for. And I did not like this match. It felt like apartment wrestling where the guys were afraid to touch, or if Matt Sydal cloned himself into two lesser wrestlers who proceeded to have a lesser Matt Sydal match. The 1% gimmick just doesn't work for me, especially in indy wrestling, because you can tell when someone doesn't actually have money. So here's a guy who is in the 1%, with the same gear as every other indy wrestler, who wrestles like every indy wrestler I already avoid watching. Laroux seems kind of afraid to bump, there was always a delay before taking a clunky, tentative bump. Maybe that's the 1% in him coming through? Afraid to get his hands dirty? It's possible that he's just not that good. I think there was a good forearm in here.

PAS: Laroux isn't a Chikara guy, he is one of the top guys in NOVA pro, and I saw this matchup live earlier in the year and thought it was awesome. That match was built around Laroux faking an injury and being a total smarmy dick, this was much more their touring athletic exhibition match and was less effective. I still liked this a fair amount more then Eric did, I thought the Sterling bump into the ringpost was really nasty as was his bump into the turnbuckle. I also liked when Laroux let his inner asshole shine, the viscous eye rake, the shoving of the ref into the turnbuckle. It did feel a little dancey at times, and there was some questionable punches, but I thought it was slightly above average, and am optimistic about Logan in CWF going forward.

ER: I had not seen Logan before, but he has worked a LOT of Chikara. I'll try to keep an open mind. He *did* put his hands on Phil in a threatening way, that counts for something.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 107

Episode 107

1. Aric Andrews vs. Chet Sterling

ER: I thought this was a much better showing than their match on the Saturday night show. Sterling certainly looked better here and things were a bit more evenly paced. I thought Sterling looked pretty bad last match, and here he was back to the level where my brain typically slots him, so we'll call that one a low outlier for now. Andrews is a tall lanky guy (not sure he's quite 6'6" as Stutts says...) and I like how he looks when taking armdrags and such, those long legs flipping all around. Really liked him catching Sterling in a wild powerslam, and the finish was cool with Sterling faking him out on a blockbuster before actually hitting it.

PAS: This was a lot better then their previous match. I thought Andrews was totally great here, I loved his body work, including some of the nastier pro-wrestling body shots I can remember seeing. I loved that powerslam, Andrews had Sterling hooked in the middle of the rotation so he was fully rolled up. I also loved the commentary on this match, where both guys were concerned that Sterling wasn't sweating enough, which might be a sign of dehydration, just a great example of how Stuttsy and Cecil add to a match.

2. Arik Royal vs. Nick Richards

ER: This started off plenty fun, and things really ramped up for me once things spilled to the floor. It was a real amusing and professional brawl through the building, as the fans didn't really seem to move. So you have a couple guys brawling through people that were stationary, and they had to bump with that in mind. It starts with Richards hitting a tope and him pulling back while Royal catches so that they don't go sprawling through the people in the front row, and they keep working around and falling next to little kids, felt fun and professional. Royal takes a backdrop on the floor and Richards hits a huge elbow off the apron, and by then kids are feeling confident to come up and get a close look. Back in and things get a little too sloppy. Richards missed a sunset flip and Royal wobbled a bit too long before he realized Richards was no longer going for the flip, and there was a ugly enziguiri, a dangerous and ill-advised top rope butterfly suplex; the whole end run just felt too messy.

PAS: I really enjoyed the crowd brawling, felt violent and safe at the same time. Very impressive how well both guys bumped in a way that was reckless but not fatal to small children. Although I imagine whoever owned that crutch that Royal broke on Richards back might have been a bit peeved. I actually thought the top rope butterfly suplex was a nice piece of improv and landed nastily, but I agree that some other in-ring stuff didn't look great.

3. Dawsons vs. Sandwich Squad

ER: This was okay, but I don't think the Dawsons are as good as I thought they were, and by that I mean I don't think they're good at all. I think I was tricked as they looked like one of the only teams trying slightly hard in that Hardy Boys tribute gauntlet mess. They're tubby guys with beards which probably pulled a Jedi mind trick on my brain, but they just don't seem that good. They always seem out of place for stuff, they make normal spots look clunky, and they always have a hard time getting up for moves. In this match alone they made the Squad look bad on a bodyslam and barely got off the ground on a chokeslam. A couple times they were supposed to miss a move off the ropes and I have no clue what it was that they were even supposed to miss. One of the times Dave Dawson appeared to throw a really slow Mongolian chop? I have no idea. Sometimes them being crossed up makes for a nastier spot, like them falling on each other during a double flapjack, but it starts to look bad in a longer match like this. Squad had some nice moments, thought Biggs had a great standing splash, and in the Dawsons favor I do love the "turn face opponent's mask around" spot, but this felt like it should have been better. And again, that's probably due to my inaccurate feelings about the Dawsons going into it.

PAS: I liked this match much more then Eric did, I don't think the Dawson's looked great, but this was a pretty great Sandwich Squad performance. Aaron Biggs has lost some weight, which is good for his overall health but not great for his gimmick, he is moving really well though and his Finlay roll on Zane Dawson was a true holy shit spot, I also loved the cut block/splash combo that the Sandwhich Squad did during a very exciting finish run. Mask turnaround was really nifty as was the brutal chair shot leading to a finish. Dawson's looked off, but I have liked them enough in other things to continue giving them the benefit of the doubt.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 104

Episode 104

BattleBowl! This is a Lethal Lottery style show with the fans picking the matches out of a bowl, not sure if the bowl is worked or not, but it sounds like a concept that's potentially more fun for the wrestlers than the fans.

1. Aric Andrews vs. Otto Schwanz

PAS: Otto is really fun to watch in his role as a veteran who chucks people around with amateur throws. He dominates most of this match until Andrews catches him with a roll up. Schwanz is always compelling but the match itself was a bit underwhelming. Andrews has nice offense but didn't get to show much of it.

ER: Yeah not the match I wanted from a match-up that wouldn't have taken much to make me like it. Otto is one of my favorites in the fed, he's never flashy but he is rock solid at all the little things. You want a guy to throw a mean back elbow, you watch a Schwanz match. I liked where they were going with this, there were a couple cool scrambly mat moves, but the roll up was kind of a shocker, and not in a good way. Andrews is a guy I like, but it feels like they're going too far with him escaping by the skin of his teeth every week. He went from opportunistic heel to a kind of heel Mikey Whipwreck. I think it can work, but with this match and the Mecha match I was left just wanting an actual match.

2. Ethan Alexander Sharpe/Mitch Connor vs. HIM/SIS

PAS: Sharpe is a little over the top for me, less Jimmy Hart more some hacky Chikara heel manager. I really enjoy HIM and SIS as a pair of crowbars though, and they both really laid an asswhipping on Sharpe, at one point HIM just forearmed him full force in the throat, SIS also really roughs him up, they are great it is like Kandori teaming with Kurisu. The story of Connor being too gentlemanly to hit SIS only to pay for it.

ER: Sharpe's shtik is kinda wearing on me. He's featured a lot, and a little of his act goes a long way. But I'm a big fan of SIS, so at least Sharpe gets plastered with a mean elbow drop and her cool crossbody into the ropes. I admit to not really caring about the HIM/SIS gimmick (even though I appreciate the announcers working to make it work), but I like them as a team. HIM hits a great kneedrop to Sharpe's chest, and they both have nice complementary styles.

3. Dirty Daddy vs. Arik Royal

PAS: Really great short match. Daddy has really figured out underdog babyface wrestling. He is super sympathetic and always knows how to time a couple of big moves for maximum impact. The near fall where he times Royal's spear into a sunset flip was awesome, and I love a guy doing monkey flips as big offensive moves in 2017. Royal meanwhile is such a charismatic shit talking heel, he is like wrestlings Draymond Green and I love him for it. I really want to see these guys given some time to stretch out, as I can see them having a classic in them, this was a great tasting menu match though.

ER: This was a cruel tease but a fine WorldWide match. I'm with Phil as they seem like they could really have a great match in them. Daddy has deceptively strong chops, kind of weird in-ring movements, and Royal is really good at showing exasperation while not losing focus. End sequence was really good with the sunset flip reversal of Royal's spear/knee takeout, good nearfall, and setting Royal up nicely to hit the knee takeout anyway.

4. Sandwich Squad vs. Timmy Danger/Nick Richards

PAS: Danger is an OVW trainee they brought in for this show. CWF uses a lot of young guys from other feds, sometimes it is a big win, like Alex Daniels or Dominic Garrini, other times guys just don't look like they belong. Danger seemed very dedicated to his gimmick of using hairspray, but he came off kind of cornball. There was some nice Richards v. Sandwhich Squad stuff, but this wasn't much overall.

ER: I liked Danger's pre-match promo, it kind of accidentally hit a Ghostface level flow: "I'll go two hours just because I can, slapping them around, they'll be all blown up, I'll still look good, pin 'em with one leg." That's like a Fischscale outtake right there. And I liked this a lot more than Phil, though squeezing so many matches into this show made for a lot of unsatisfying match lengths. This match had a lot more to say, but cut to a real quick finish in a similar way that the HIM/SIS tag and the  Schwanz matches did. Cut a match off this show, give the other matches 1-2 minutes, it's a much more satisfying episode. The first 5 minutes of this were really good, I thought. Richards has arguably the best corner clothesline in current wrestling, no hyperbole. They sequence with him nailed Mecha with two nasty clothesline only to be leveled by the nastiest one was great.

5. Roy Wilkins vs. "The Filmaker" Movie Myk

PAS: This was scientific rules, which basically meant no punches or rope breaks. The gimmick didn't really seem to matter in the match. This was a lesser version of the Daddy v. Royal match earlier, with the rookie getting in moments before getting put down. It was fine, I like watching Wilkins, but overall pretty disposable.

ER: The stip was entirely unnecessary during the match, but the match really won me over by the end. Wilkins had some nice knees to Myk's hammy, Wilkins hit a big shining wizard and I LOVED how Myk crumbled off it. It still felt like a too-short match on a too-packed episode, but I like the direction the match went.

6. Cain Justice/Keith Mac/Luke Grimes vs. Snooty Fox/Vlad Boleshav/Cecil Scott

PAS: This was a random partner match which was based around the Cecil Scott v. Cain Justice feud, there wasn't much interaction between the two, but Cecil hit a great looking superkick. Hard to get much of a sense of the other 5 guys, Keith Mac had some dancing spots, Grimes is sort of big. I do think they are building to Scott v. Justice well.

ER: This was way too short, but possibly for the best as a lot of guys didn't look good. I thought Keith Mac especially looked bad. He had a nice charisma to him but the basics all looked bad, loose headlock and off timing on hip tosses. Grimes is apparently a top Corino trainee but didn't show anything. Fox threw hard but awkwardly stiff armed clotheslines. Really this was the Cain Justice show, which easily could have been predicted from the on paper lineup. In fact Cain turns in a pretty spectacular performance in a totally forgettable match. He throws a kick during a lock up and bails, tags in and bails, humorously tries to tag out at an early sign of trouble his tag gets caught (in some excellent timing) by Vlad. Cecil's superkick was a nice moment and Cain hams it up like Hector Garza, spilling through the ropes and flopping onto fans. After the match he sprints out of there and smacks Vlad on the way. Nothing match, but a great showman performance, and I am looking forward to Cecil/Cain.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 102

Episode 102

1. Chip Day vs. Trevor Lee

PAS: This match had a lot of hype with people who watched it live calling it the Match of the Year and giving it five stars, I enjoyed their interactions a lot in the six way, and was looking forward to seeing if this lived up to the hype. I think it both lived up and didn't live up to it for me, this was an excellent match, but a very 2017 style match, and 2017 style wrestling isn't the thing I have loved about CWF.  This was long, but I felt like they kept both the audiences interest and my interest throughout. Early matwork was nifty, felt more like Lee was trying to force his shoulders on the mat, looking for pins then working a body part. I loved the gator rolls and how Lee always kept connected with Day's body. I also loved the announcers talking about the pace difference, how Lee wanted to keep it deliberate while Day wanted to speed it up, Scott and Stutts are the best around and inserting those kind of in match storylines. I also really liked how Day kept missing the early kicks with Lee really selling it like it would be a KO blow. The later stuff is where it got a bit modern for me, it seems like every match in wrestling has to do tough guy "you hit me, I hit you" sections, this was one of the better ones I have seen, the match was worked like a battle for respect and everything was sold well, but I am so sick of that spot and would have liked something more creative for the finish run. This was a match with a ton of shots to the head, and at some point these big shots lose their impact, they were treating Day's kicks like killers at the beginning of the match, but by the end he must have hit 25 of them. I loved the last two minutes, with Day laying in this huge run of offense, including stomping Lee in the back of the head, Lee firing back with a big run of his but only getting a one count, a great fast slap exchange and an awesome brainbuster into a guillotine choke. I just thing that finish run would have had a bigger impact if they hadn't had 10 minutes before that of both guys absorbing KO headshots . Still a hell of a match, and I enjoyed it way more then WWE main event or NJ main event versions of the same style.

ER: I'm kind of bad at rating matches like these, and kind of bad at talking about matches like these. It's too reductive to say "They did many things I liked, also other things I didn't like, and it went long enough that I managed to lose the narrative several times." Those things are all true, but it doesn't feel fair to these two. I really really like Trevor Lee. He was a guy I liked on the indies  but loved once I started watching weekly CWF. He carries himself like a major star and has a great almost regional star charisma. And when working this long kind of epic match, you need that kind of charisma, and a lot of guys I see working that style do not. They want to have the matches of prime Misawa, without any of the character qualities or years long build of Misawa. But Lee brings a bit of sobriety to things and it makes it better. There were so many individual moments I loved, like Day kicking Lee's legs out from the middle rope, resulting in Lee smashing his face on the buckle; or Day kicking out Lee's legs on the punt with Lee faceplanting the apron. Lee is really good at faceplanting things. I liked all the....well, I don't know if I'd call all of it matwork, but all their work around arm wringers was really cool. I've been a big fan of the Catch Point grappling resurgence of the last few years, and this standing arm wringer stuff is like a modern alternative to a grindy/grapply style. They still hit the mat a bit and I especially liked Day's big cocky build to a wrenched in surfboard, only for Lee to roll right through it into a pinfall. Where these matches can lose me is during the post-peak peak. There's always the moment about 20 minutes in where it feels like things are climaxing, one guy is on his last legs...and then things ramp back down and the guy who was just almost beat goes back to being normal for the next 10. Chip Day looked like he had Lee beat and things were getting hot, but there's that 8 minute dip where it becomes clear Day isn't winning, and we get the march to Lee's inevitable win. Lee's finish run was killer (that brainbuster!) and looked like the finish, but it seemed a little lost in the wilderness for quite awhile leading up to that. And maybe that's me, maybe I got lost and distracted, but I think a good long match always holds my interests and drags me along for the ride. This lost me at a certain point, and while it never kicked me too far away and got me back, I can't discount those moments that seemed more unnecessary. So I'll enjoy something like the Ducklings sprint from last week more, while recognizing that these two were going for something bigger. It's a hard thing for my wrestling review brain to reconcile. So these two deserve a lot of credit for what they did...but I also think they have better things ahead.

2. All-Stars vs. Sandwich Squad

ER: This wasn't bad, but felt like they were stretching out the runtime to justify it being the finals of a tournament. Everything seemed slower, some sections felt like they were repeated, and it just didn't click like other matches throughout the tournament. We got treated to a lot of short sprints from both teams, and I think this would have benefitted from being all killer no filler 8 minutes. We start out slow, but things never really felt like they ramped up. My favorite moment of the match was actually the Kernodles coming out to stiff up Gemini and the other All-Stars second. Kernodle threw a big meaty fist and it was the first time in the match I got excited (although I guess we've written up enough matches on this blog with us flipping out about Social Security eligible combatants that this isn't too surprising), but things within the match felt too set in their ways. The ending with Wilkins getting a chair taken away by the ref was odd, as Red pulled the chair away and then Wilkins just had to stand still in the middle of the ring, selling damage from...a chair being taken from him. It felt like we got several of those moments, moments of poor set-up to get to a spot that everybody involved typically find better ways to get to.

PAS: I liked this more then Eric, I really liked all of the sections with the All-Stars trying to chop down the big trees. There was a great spot where Royal keep pounding at Mecha Mercenary only to met by a huge clothesline which looked like it cleaned Royals teeth. I also really love the golf swing as a strike and Wilkins hits a bunch of times including wasting the referee with it.  I did think the finish may have had a few too many pieces of horseshit. Feels like you can have a Kernodle brother run in, or a ref bump, or a Brad Attitude run in, or a Nick Richards run in, or the ref grabbing the chair, but you really should have them all. It is like the old piece of advice about dressing well, look at yourself in the mirror and take off one accessory. The booking need to look themself in the mirror and remover one bit of business.

ER: Reading it back, and my portion of the review sounds more negative than my actual feelings watching the show. Maybe I'm a grouchy person. I don't know (but I do know I was definitely more disappointed in the Kernodle finals than Phil). BUT we both thought the Day/Lee match was good enough to land on our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List, and I'm sure they'll show up again before the year is out.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 100

1. Smith Garrett vs. Darius Lockhart

PAS: This was a rematch from Episode 1 of the CWF Worldwide and was a spirited little affair. First time I have seen Lockhart, and I am a little uncomfortable with a heel wearing #blacklivesmatter trunks, especially in the South, especially against a white power looking babyface like Smith Garrett. Troublesome politics aside, match itself was hardhitting and fun, Lockhart really laid it in, and Garrett is a fun brawler, I especially liked Lockharts stomps in the corner, really felt like they were going to crack a rib.

ER: I liked simpler parts of this, like the fast missed chop exchange, but move trading portions kinda turned me off. But the shots landed hard and that will go a long way. I didn't love the finish of Garrett taking a running knee straight to the face and just responding with an elbow. If I had a nice running knee I wouldn't want someone shrugging it off. But Garrett throws a nice elbow, and he had some big overpowering throws, including an Angle slam that practically flipped Lockhart over. Like what I saw of Lockhart and I second those corner stomps. As usual Cecil and Stutts fill me in on all kinds of personal history which really helps accelerate my acclimation to all the indies that CWF pulls from.

2. Percy Davis vs. Tripp Cassidy

PAS: I am continuing my warming to Cassidy. I am embracing the corniness of the character and trying to appreciate the commitment. The story behind the match is that Davis was a former member of Cassidy's IWA-MS invading army and turned his back on evil to become a dancing babyface. Cassidy is trying to punish him for that and bring out the brawler, I liked how Davis got more vicious as the match went along, and his KO selling on the finish was great, he really looked unconscious.

ER: Cassidy is really winning me over too. I don't love the shining wizard finisher (but love how Davis sold it), but the rest of the work, the cheating, the cheapshots, all that is totally working for me. All of the stuff outside the ring was great, him undoing a turnbuckle pad, wrapping Davis' head in the ring skirt and kicking it, throwing weird open hand strikes; he moves with a nice confidence and that's important when doing a character like that. No matter how cheesy I think it is, committing to it 100% at least raises its floor.

3. The Carnies vs. The Sandwich Squad

PAS: The Carnies are both really great at making that switch from clown to killer, it isn't an easy transition, but something which is critical for being a great heel wrestler. Early in the match they are stooging around for the Sandwhich squad, Awful is selling an open hand chop like he is having heart palpitations, Iggy is in midair screaming to be let down and getting bodyslammed. However when they flip that switch they really lay in an asskicking on Mecha Mercenary, including some great looking full weight drops, it has to really suck to have a porker like Kerry Awful drop right on your breastplate. When Aaron Biggs makes a hot tag they are back to stooging, just a great heel tag performance, the kind of thing you might see from Arn and Tully or the Midnight Express.

ER: Man this was great, just constant moving and constant squishing. The first couple minutes are mostly comedy, and then Iggy just smacks Biggs and does a nice dropkick to Mecha on the floor, then gets Irish whipped into a dive onto Mecha (that gets him slammed onto the apron), then Awful comes barreling in with a wild flip dive. And then the Carnies take over with all sorts of great attacks to Mecha's gut, big sentons, double stomps, Awful does a couple great bombs away butt drops, really working the big guy over, Awful even breaks up a pin attempt with a diving headbutt to Mecha's nether regions. Phil is right that they know how to flip the switch from stooge to nasty, and it's huge. Iggy can do amusing do-si-do spots with Mecha one moment, and the next he's hammer punching him in the back of the head. Carnies leaped way up the list of my favorite current tag teams with this match, but I dug both teams.

4. Joshua Cutshall vs. Nick Richards

PAS: This was a rematch of a match we loved from earlier in the year. It was Three Stages of Real, which had the first fall submission or KO, second fall you had to win with your finisher and the third fall was falls count anywhere. First two falls were pretty disposable, the match would have probably been better off as a straight falls count anywhere, but that final fall was a hell of violent brawl. Both guys take some really nasty bumps, especially Richards who finds lots of ways to fly kidneys first into the sides of chairs. Richards clearly has Cactus Jack influences, and this felt like an ECW era Cactus brawl. Cutshall was right there throwing big shots, and taking some pretty nasty bumps of his own. The finish was especially great, with both guys brawling on the bleachers, Cutshall throws his big elbow and smashes the wall full force, Richard then cutters Cutshall off the bleachers into a bunch of chairs, he didn't get the cutter full, but it was an insane bump by both guys. Nasty stuff and I continue to really dig this matchup.

ER: Yeah they didn't really make great work of the 3 falls format, they run through those first two falls like they were working an Ultimo Guerrero tribute match. But I liked Stutts putting over not only the submission, but attempting to add some psychology to Cutshall tapping so early, saying he's like someone who works better when they're cramming for a test, a guy who works harder when he's under the gun. Third fall is where the money is at. Most of it takes place outside the ring and there's a ton of unnatural and painful bumps. Richards lays down chairs and is the first to get knocked off the apron on to them. There's a kid in the front row chanting "Let's go Nick!" and the two of them make sure to do some close up magic right in front of them, really laying in the strikes. I always like Richards' strikes, they're kind of weird as he doesn't have much of a wind-up but they always land with a thud. Both guys take some gross spills across chairs both in and out of the ring, and the brawl through the crowd was a good one, loved them brawling up through the crowd (past more kids) and the spots into the wall were really satisfying. I really like how these two match up.

5. Slade Porter vs. Cain Justice

PAS: This was the least of the Cain Justice matches I have watched so far. Porter has a bunch of Chikara style comedy spots he shoehorned in, and alternated between comedy spots and headrops and stiff elbows, lots of current indy tropes I don't like. Justice did some cool stuff, I love his finisher and some of the armwork to set it up, but it felt like he needed to force Porter to work his match, and instead it felt like he worked Porter's match. Did really like the post match angle with Justice ripping up Cecil Scott's bad arm, although I was bummed we didn't have Scott on commentary for the main event.

ER: I still thought this was more of a Cain match than Phil, and there weren't really head drops in the match (just one snap German suplex), but I still didn't love Porter's comedy offense, it all felt pretty forced. I laughed before the bell when he built to exposing his nipples, only for Cain to chop him right when they were exposed. But I hate comedy workers who go in there with bad strikes. If you're gonna work comedy spots, at least work stiff enough to give your opponent a reason to be selling while you go through your comedy routine. But Justice brought some nice kicks and some of his nasty subs, loved him joining Porter's hands behind his back  and then throwing them past his shoulderblades. I liked this, but it could have lowered the level of silly.

6. Ric Converse/Trevor Lee/Chet Sterling vs. Arik Royal/Brad Attitude/Roy Wilkins

PAS: CWF MA does this kind of big star trios matches well. Gives everyone a chance to shine, sets up future matches and doesn't burn through too many singles matches. I really loved Attitude in this as he is great at timing cheapshots, he also is a great slimly corner man, he is really expressive. I could use a picture in picture of just Attitude reacting to all the action, while the main match was going on. I also really enjoy the Wilkins and Royal team, and they are great at both the slow down cutting off the ring parts of the match, and the big time fast exchanges. I don't know the history of Converse in this fed, but Stuttsy did a great job explaining why his presence in this feud was a big deal, and the Converse and Attitude showdown felt big time

ER: All-Stars & Attitude are a hell of a trios team, and those other guys ain't too bad either. This match looked better on paper than in execution, but these guys have higher floors than most, so even with some out of sync spots and time that maybe could have been used better, this was still good. Attitude comes off like such a star, and the Converse/Attitude interaction was my favorite thing in the match. Sterling was off on a bunch of his stuff. I know I've been higher on him than Phil has been, but I understand those prior complaints now. I dug all the "All-Stars/Attitude slowing things down" parts, and Lee always bring impressive everything (he had a killer thrust kick here, much closer to one of Kabuki's old throat/chest jabbing kicks than the more modern slappy kick), and this was a perfectly fun match.

ER: Really fun, suitably epic episode of TV for their big 100. We thought the Richards/Cutshall match was good enough to land on our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List, meaning that every single damn one of the 2017 Cutshall/Richards matches (both of them) have landed on our list. I need to figure out which episode their 2016 match aired on...

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