New Footage Friday: Virus! Commando Bolshoi! Ace Rockwell! Jimmy Rave!

Virus vs. Super Nova Nuevo Leon 5/4/08

MD: The problem with Virus is always footage. We have him as a role player in countless trios but save for when he had a title in CMLL and some late career indy matches (which are still great), it's a lot harder to find him in showcase matches. Even the ones we know about often aren't online for people to see (like the Valiente lightning match that I had to put back up recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfqlxHTQrHs). Another problem is that it's a lot easier to search YouTube for "Negro Casas" or "Hijo del Santo" than Virus, but that's sort of beside the point.

Why is footage a problem? Because the guy is bulletproof. He can do just about everything well, but without the footage (or the opportunities), it's tough to make a case for just how good he is. This is him in a supre libre match and he absolutely delivers on all fronts. Because of his diminutive stature, he can take dropkicks straight to the skull, which is how the match starts, but he quickly locks in the vertebreaker (which is a killer move in 2021 but even more so in 2008) to take a quick first fall and the beatdown ensues after that. It's a great one too, with mask ripping, an awesome posting, just tossing Super Nova over the rail into empty seats and wound biting. Everything you'd want in a rudo beatdown, which means when the comeback happens, it's very deserved and very satisfying. It's all the more so when Virus himself goes sailing into the crowd and bleeds a gusher, basing and feeding and catching the whole way. It builds to a tecera with a lot of selling that actually feels warranted for once, and here he plays around with his clever hooking to score some nice nearfalls before they take it home. Great, visceral showing where Virus basically does everything there is to do.

PAS: Virus is undeniable, much of his stuff on tape is super fast and intricate matwork, and world class basing for high flyers, we don't really have a lot of Super Libre brawls, but of course he is brilliant at that as well. I loved the Veterbreaker as a killshot, setting it up in the first fall allows them to tease it big later, with Nova reversing it to get a submission in the segunda. The rudo beatdown was great, opening up Nova's mask and enraging the crowd, we had some great looking lucha libre fan characters, a big old lady who looked like she was going slap Virus, a weird Dee Snider looking rocker who was enraged by his behavior, real weirdos are way cool then internet weirdos. Nova was kind of along for a ride, although he hit a nice asai moonsault, I kind of didn't buy him rolling up Virus for the pin, Virus is a master, can't believe he don't spin out of that weak inside cradle, otherwise this was great.

Jimmy Rave/Mike Posey/Chip Day/Corey Hollis/Sal Rinauro vs. Kyle Matthews/J-Rod/Ace Rockwell/Patrick Bentley/Adrian Hawkins RPW 10/30/11

MD: It's a War Games that breaks all the rules: the babyfaces start with advantage; it ends up 4 on 4 as people get out of the cage (and head to the back, even). There are only pretty much the only two rules to break: heels get the advantage and there's no escaping the cage. The third one would be that color is needed, I guess, but this checked that box. Despite the broken rules, this still pretty much works. How? Because it leans harder into the traditional shine/heat/comeback structure given the booking. There's a clear two-on-one shine on Jimmy Rave, with him begging off, taking his licks, and bleeding early. It looks like the faces are going to cruise through the periods until the turn happens. After that Matthews gets a hope spot for his side until the numbers game overtakes his side (the babyface advantage doubly damns them due to the turn; for a while there it's 4 on 2 and then 5 on 3). I wish the announcers had built the Rinauro issue through the match a bit more, but I'm sure the crowd watching knew what the story was. He played his part well when he came in and by taking both he and Rave out of the match, they evened out the numbers advantage in a way that made the finish possible. On the one hand, I would have rather some things not be fully resolved (like Matthews tapping Bentley; he could have just contained him or beat on him while the submissions were happening and then gotten a real win later on), but I guess they knew what they were doing for that crowd since they were going to be right back in front of it a week later. I'd say they beat the odds and had a good War Games despite breaking the rules, so full credit to them on this one.

PAS: This had a superkick or two too many for a Wargames match. Jimmy Rave Approved were a bunch of fresh faced youngsters here and I think that this would have worked a little better with the later more grizzled versions of these guys, fat greasy haired Chip Day, the Corey Hollis of Yard Call etc. I also think two turns in a War Games is two turns too many. I still was really into this though, the offense looked like it hurt, the blood was really flowing (especially from Ace Rockwell, that guy was a hidden gem of 2000s wrestling, he always rules). Fun to see Matthews, who was always a technician work in this setting, the Hidaka Octopus hold was surprisingly good War Games submission. I did think they need something to change the babyface advantage in War Games so in that sense the turn worked, but you could get around that by not having a babyface advantage. 



Commando Bolshoi vs. Akira Nakajima JWP 3/16/08

MD: A few moments really stand out here to me. The match started with Nakajima just an absolute dynamo of energy, hitting shots from every direction with wild abandon. She finally gets Bolshoi down and is just pounding on her and time seems to slow down as Bolshoi's leg comes around to catch the pounding arm changing the course of the match instantaneously. Nakajima would wrestle the rest of the match favoring her arm and unable to capitalize on her hobbled offense because of it. The second moment has her catching Bolshoi off the ropes with a sweeping takedown only to get punched straight in the face from underneath; from there, Bolshoi did this spinning armtrap from her back before locking in a triangle of sorts that was just magic. There was one point where Nakajima was laying in shots with her hurt arm, but each one took more out of her than the last and there was just an almost tragic sense of inevitability, one that carried over to her lightning pinfall attempts. It all felt like a matter of time in the best way. I think they ultimately went a little too long with this because of that. It probably should have ended with Bolshoi's triangle and not gone back up to the top again, but the stuff from the top was pretty nasty and dramatic, as was Bolshoi's late Tiger Suplex (easily locked in when she was blocked earlier) because Nakajima had nothing but desperation and hope left. Nakajima never gave up but you spent good chunks of this match eagerly waiting for her to get caught to see what Bolshoi would do to her next. While that admittedly says more about us than the match, it also says something about Bolshoi's wizardry here.

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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 116

Episode 116

1. Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Mitch Connor

ER: Cool match, never threatened to overstay its welcome. Connor stuck close to Sharpe (love the E# boots, by the way. Have I just not noticed these before? I remember his boots having $$ on them, but my brain could have just filled in that lie) and kept clubbing with chops and meaty fists to the neck, and best of all he keeps doing all these short butterfly suplexes. I've never seen Connor use them in this way before, just bullying his way in close to E# and chucking him low. Sharpe was scrambling and mean, and I like him much more when he's mean than when cracking jokes. His jawbreaker was really great, and the hard uppercut flash finish was deserved. Fun stuff.

PAS: Between this and Cain Justice match I am becoming a Mitch Connor fan. He kind of wrestles like a UWFI American, like Dan Bobish or Gene Lydick. Lots of grinding wrestling, short throws and clubbing shots. I loved how he smothered Sharpe and how Sharpe used distance to be able to land shots. I loved the big uppercut finish and it really felt like a KO blow. Kind of bummed we didn't get to see a Tom Watson at the British open old man run from Connor, but this may have been the best I have seen Sharpe look, so no beef.

2. Cam Carter vs. Smith Garrett

ER: It's not bad to have an occasional surprise finish like this in a tournament. I'm disappointed as I was interested in seeing these two match up, but the big uppercut looked good.

PAS: I read ahead a bit and know where this is going, and I don't care for it at all, outside of that it was a fun 30 seconds.

3. Cain Justice vs. Chip Day

ER: Well this one had me cursing the 10 minute time limit of these 1st round Weaver Cup matches. These two have a pretty great 9 minutes, but then have to play beat the clock in the final minute, so it shifts the tone of the cool match we were getting into forearm exchanges and played out indy wrestling Frye/Takayama fighting. I'm at the point where even if the Frye/Takayama spot looks good, I'm just over it. They did it well, but I thought it was a dumb finish as there wasn't any immediacy to the match for any of the previous 9.5 minutes. Before that finish (and not just how the finish was handled in the closing moments, but the fact that it means neither guy advances, which sucks) I was loving this. Cain is the guy I pretty much want to see against everyone right now, and Day is an especially fun opponent for him. Cain has no problem eating Chip's strikes, not playing along with hold set-ups (loved him rolling out of the ring before getting his elbow stomped, both guys really building to the stomp like a rollercoaster that slows down as it approaches the summit) and still throwing in at least one crazy bump to the floor (with no shoes!! This guy is nuts!). My favorite move of the match was Cain's figure 4 stump puller. The stump puller is an underutilized move. It's really painful, just lifting a few inches and you feel it all up the back of your leg. But I don't think I've seen anyone lock the other leg in a figure 4 before, just adding extra leverage and preventing the person from somehow striking with the free leg/knee. The fact that he eventually rolled back with it was even cooler. So we had that finish, and then we get a long tease for a match restart. Day says that Johnny Weaver wouldn't want a match ended this way, Stutts gets involved, Cain claims he doesn't care about the tournament and walks out. BUT then he runs back in and cracks Day in the back of the head! I'm immediately flipping out for the restart overtime match...but that's it. Match over, no actual restart, neither man still advancing. A real letdown of the finish. I wanted Cain to make a run to the finals, not be used to give someone a Bye.

PAS: I also was a little bummed that both of these guys got eliminated (if they wanted a draw, there were plenty of "eliminate both guys" candidates last week), but I dug this match. Cain has set a pretty high standard for his matches lately, and the tourney format kept this from being at the level of the top tier Cain matches, still it was a nifty little scrap. I loved Cain switching up his attack and going after the knees, and how that slowed down Day's kick attack. Figure four stump puller was cool, but I am intrigued by a possible new leg submission he is concocting, he should steal the Trauma's spinning figure four. Finish was a little lame, but I get why they kicked in gear for the last minute, the commentary kind of sold it as a rookie mistake by Cain, he lost track of time and had to accelerate his attack recklessly. During this match I figured out that Chip Day looks exactly like Chris Eigeman which was pretty distracting.

ER: Chris Eigeman crossed with John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees

PAS: The preview for the documentary looks pretty cool, I was a big fan of Richards v. Lee and the idea of a documentary about a single match is pretty great.

4. Roy Wilkins vs. Chet Sterling

ER: Not a bad match, and normally I'm the guy who is all about the under 10 minute matches, but somehow KNOWING that matches are only going 10 minute max kind of takes me out of them a bit, especially knowing that things just end in a draw at the 10 minute mark. 10 minute matches are great, but 10 minute matches with the Beat the Clock stip seem more forced. Still, both guys know each other and know how to craft a professional match. I didn't think a lot of strikes looked great in this, but the match was kind of made by the bumps and the misses. Wilkins missing a big crossbody, or Sterling getting totally upended by the golf swing uppercut, both guys being generous with the other. I thought the finish was really good, with Wilkins locking in a really nasty cross-legged stretch muffler, really bending and cranking on Sterling. Stutts was good at putting over the time relative to the submission, saying there was no way Sterling could last 90 seconds in it. And Sterling knows this, scrambles to free himself and convincingly reverses the sub into a pinfall.

PAS: I liked this more then Eric I think. I am not a Sterling guy, but I thought this might have been the best CWF match of his I have seen. I thought he bumped and sold really well, and I liked the draw tease roll up finish. The Wilkins missed crossbody bump to the floor right into the Sterling dive was awesome looking. Wilkins has a bunch of cerebral attacks, I love how he uses ring placement to trip up and disorient his opponents.

5. Shane Helms/Chet Sterling vs. Arik Royal/Roy Wilkins

ER: Royal comes out after the match and lariats Sterling in the back of the head, but is then surprised by a Shane Helms surprise return. I assume he hasn't been back in the Sportatorium in a few years (but I was also surprised to see him taking big bumps in TNA earlier this year, as last I heard was that he had been in a bad accident and could no longer wrestle. Obviously my information is dated). And usually impromptu matches aren't this good and aren't this much damn fun. Helms can clearly still go, still bumps hard for shoulderblocks, still throws some of the absolute best corner punches in the biz. Usually impromptu tags end short and unsatisfying, this one actually gets plenty of time and has a nice build. Royal and Wilkins stooge around plenty for the returning star, but they still get to hold onto their local mean streak. Sterling has a nice run as a fighting FIP; he wasn't just strictly selling for a Hurricane hot tag, he was holding his own but coming up short, but still firing back with punches and eventually hitting a nasty DDT. Royal can really come across big time, and that Face Jam is an awesome move, loved how they set it up like the Hart Attack. All Stars know how to deliver a feel good ending without actually coming off weak, and that's a testament to their quality. I was expecting a light breezy match and it ended up being my favorite of the show, all four guys brought it.

PAS: In 1998 I remember seeing Shane Helms and Venom fight Madd Maxx and the Gemini Kid in a street fight at an OMEGA show. Helms did a plancha off a soda machine and Venom chokeslammed Madd Maxx through a couch that I had been sitting on. So it was fun to see Helms two decades later in another fun tag match against a team lead by the now Coach Gemini. Two matches in a row I have dug Sterling, he was a great face in peril and led to a really fun Helms hot tag. I loved him catching the Slaughter/Kernodle Cannon to set up his chokeslam. All-Stars are a great heel team, I could see them having a fun regional run in the 1980s, All-Stars v. Fabulous Ones would have been awesome. I do think the All-Stars have been losing a lot lately, they really need to lay some folks out.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 110

Episode 110

1. Snooty Foxx/Dirty Daddy vs. Movie Myk/Timmy Danger

ER: Well...this was mostly a mess. We've seen Timmy Danger once before, and he didn't look good then. This time he looked like arguably the worst guy who's appeared in CWF (since we've been reviewing shows). He looked completely lost for most of this, and I don't know if I've ever seen somebody lean so far away from contact before. He leans out of punches before they come close to his face, bumps early on a clothesline, throws his own missed clothesline miles over Dirty, gets crossed up on rope running, it's maddening. We get a couple nice spots: Fox's top rope bulldog on Myk was devastating enough that it should have been the finish, and we get more great work from Daddy; his selling was real great, and he single-handedly helped Danger work his arm over. I also liked Myk's manager's interference, throwing nasty shots at Daddy from the floor. This could have been something...if literally anyone other than Danger were in the match.

PAS: Oof Timmy Danger, he was running the ropes like he was terrified of twisting an ankle, and spent much of the match wandering around looking confused. Stuttsy was mentioning he was a 10 year veteran which seems insane, he really looked like a guy who shouldn't have gotten out of the first level of wrestling school class. Fox and Daddy are a fun team and their double team elbow/spear move was awesome, but I am hoping the Timmy Danger experiment is over.

ER: I really liked Mitch Connor's unblinking promo. He seemed a bit crazed, came off like he had a screw loose, and the guy has some crazy eyes. But the message was intense, and the story was good. I like him comparing Cain's motives to his own as a youngster, both understanding him yet also wanting to murder him. Anything with a personal touch is always going to be more effective, and this made me excited for that match.

PAS: Holy shit that was a great promo! Reminded me of a classic Arn Anderson promo where Connor calmly and intensely let Cain know what he was in for. He describes how he sympathizes with a rookie trying to make his name known, but that sympathy wouldn't save Cain. "The attention of certain people is a poison prize." I cannot remember the last time I liked a promo this much, nothing over the last several years comes to mind. Totally sold me a ticket to Cain v. Handsome Mitch.

2. SIS vs. Ethan Alexander Sharpe

ER: One of my least favorite matches in wrestling is the "ooooooooo I'm so excited to be physically touching a girllllll". Acting like you're turned on by a headlock or a lock up is pretty fucking stupid, and the banter around it is always cringey. Add to that, the hack Andy Kaufman cosplay just showed how uninspired Sharpe's ideas actually were. Luckily SIS was in there to bring something to this tired exercise. I liked her pantsing to set up her crossbody into the ropes, her headbutt, loved the stomp/senton, and the kiss to set up the match finishing suplex was a good finish for this. But a stilted love story is not really what I was hoping for when watching weekly CWF.

PAS: Nobody will ever be as good at this shtick as Andy Kaufman or Yoshiaki Fujiwara so it should probably be retired unless Fujiwara wants to do it again, or Andy really did fake his death.

3. Arik Royal/Roy Wilkins vs. Trevor Lee/Chip Day

ER: This never really clicked for me, other than the clicking noise in my ears after what had to be a couple hundred thigh slaps. None of the moves done in the match seemed to have any consequences. There would be long sequences of Lee and Day kicking at the All Stars, but it never actually kept the Stars down for that long. So it came off odd within the match that Chip Day was slumped in the ropes for half the match on the apron selling his beating. Nobody else in the match needed recovery time, he needed 10+ minutes, and once he recovered he was fine. Some of the move set ups seemed clunky, and there were a lot of dead ends (like Royal kind of awkwardly getting into position near the ropes so Lee can come off the top and stomp his arm, but we never go back to that arm). Weirdly the thing that worked most for me was the set up of the ref bumps, like Redd getting pulled into an oncoming punt. So many refs got taken out at one point it started to look like the old MadTV Parakeet Caretaker sketch. But this just didn't add up to much for me, even though I like watching the guys involved, and liked watching them here.

PAS: I really liked the first 10 minutes of this, All Stars are a really great traditional heel tag team, I loved how they isolated Day and worked him over, loved the double team that put Day in trouble and Arik Royal was awesome ripping Day's ear, talking shit to the crowd and even singing to him while he was kicking his ass. Match falls apart a bit at Lee's hot tag, and then it just becomes a million head kicks and a ton of near falls. It turned from a great southern tag match until some overkill PWG bombfest. I am worrying a bit about Trevor Lee, I have really liked a lot of his stuff in CWF, but he seems to be bringing in a bunch of bad 2017 habits into the fed.

PAS: Didn't really like any of the matches on this episode much, but that Mitch Connor promo is one of the best things I have seen in 2017 and is a must see.

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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 97

Episode 97

1. Snooty Foxx/Dirty Daddy vs. HIM/SIS

PAS: Great little scrap which got me excited about the Kernodle Cup. Fox has looked a little green for singles matches, but is fun as a power hot tag. Really liked HIM and SIS, Him had a nasty cravate where he was kneeing Daddy in the face. I liked how it broke down, really chaotic with HIM wrestling with a fan over a chair and both teams having to be separated.

ER: Short and sweet, really made me want more (luckily we have a massive tag tournament coming up). I was really impressed by SIS in that silly Hardys battle royal thing they did, but that was my only experience with her. And she impressed again here. I really love her whipping headbutts, it's a great worked move and she does it so fast you get the full effect, without having to mush up your brains Kikuchi-style. I really dug the spot where Daddy is running across the ring delivering elbows, and on the third she loads up a nicely timed pump kick. HIM had an awesome cravate while throwing knees to the side of Daddy's head, into a swinging neckbreaker. That's a great spot. Fox gets into the mix with a brutal spear right at HIM's chest, and I agree with Phil that the breakdown to this was pretty mad. HIM fighting over that chair could have gotten real messy, and the pull apart made SIS look like a total badass.

2. Chip Day vs. Otto Schwanz vs. Smith Garrett vs. Aric Andrews vs. Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee

PAS: Excellent multi-man match which gave everyone a chance to shine and built to some really big moments at the end. I liked how Lee didn't want to tag out at the beginning, proving himself against each of the challengers. I also loved how Cain Justice was initially hesitant to lock up with the guy who trained him but got more confident with each cheap shot. The Lee v. Day stuff was clearly the focus, and was pretty electric, people who saw their singles match said it was off the charts and this got me excited for it. Justice is a great sleaze and I loved him stealing the pin on Day after Lee's KO knee, but also liked how he was sort of babyfaced when he was facing the even bigger scumbag Andrews.

ER: I always heard CWF was good at doing multi man matches, and this was a pretty good testament to that. I didn't always love the actual work, thought some sections got a little too trade-y, but the strengths lied in how they worked several different storylines into the match - advancing existing stories, and bringing up past histories and motivations. You could argue that Stutts was the MVP of this match, as he was on absolute fire for 35+ minutes, with he and Cecil both filling in helpful little details that fleshed the whole thing out. Little things like pointing out Schwanz was the only other Heavyweight champ in the match other than Lee (and how he hadn't held the belt for 15 years), or that Lee/Andrews/Justice being left in the match was the only time the three different fed title holders had been in a match at the same time, going over the history of Justice/Lee, those little things were not just interesting tidbits but actively affected my rooting interests. I liked the little details around tag ins and tag outs, with a lot of psych around who wants to be in and who doesn't, who wants to hang back and let people get eliminated, who doesn't want to face off against who, with Justice not wanting to face Lee and Otto wanting to face everybody, just a lot of fun little character detail. I went in wanting a Schwanz win, but got into Lee as the fighting champ, making sure to start the match out against everybody, not tagging out. Justice was amusingly petty in stealing a pin after a ridiculously pointy Lee knee to Day's face, since it doesn't actually matter who eliminates who, just who is left at the end. Lee was really awesome throughout this and the way he carried himself seemed so cocksure that I was wondering what it would actually take to beat him. Nice match, and I really like all of the things it set up for future shows (which seems to be a major strength for CWF, always making you want to see what happens next).

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 96

Episode 96

1. Otto Schwanz vs. PB Smooth

PAS: This was a fine big guy battle, Smooth is tall which will get you pretty far, it is unclear whether he has much else at this point. I really like Schwanz as a big boy veteran, although this had less stretching then the last time I saw him, really want to see Schwanz versus either Justice or Garrini, at some point I will review a WarGames with PB Smooth in it for WarGames Wednesday morning, hope it is better then this.

ER: This was what it was, which was basically Schwanz muscling around a limited guy his own size and setting up some decent spots for him. I really like Schwanz, he has a really timeless style and I think his look is even better now than when he was an actual mainstream guy. He's a little too nice to Smooth here though, as you get the sense before the match that he's going to make an example of this other tall dude coming into his turf. I don't really understand the point of billing Smooth at 7 feet tall. Schwanz is a really big guy, probably 6'3" to 6'5", and we can all see with our eyes that Smooth has maybe an inch on him. It's weird to be billing one guy as 7', while not in the same breath billing the other guy as 6'11". Is Redd Jones now the 6 feet tall referee? Is Statmark the 6'6" camera man? We all have eyeballs, and 6'6" is huge! No shame in calling a man 6 1/2 feet tall. So, I don't see the point, but I liked Schwanz, and Smooth at least cuts low on lariats and falls properly on slams. That might seem like low praise, but it's a good start for him.

2. Dominic Garrini vs. Cain Justice

PAS: Holy hell, what is this match? I have loved Justice before, but this felt like him taking the next leap, and fuck is Garrini fun to watch. For two rookies, this was off the charts, it felt like watching Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki in their first UWF and Pro-Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi matches. Justice has Judo training and Garrini is a ranked Brazilian Ju-Jitsu competitor and they do an awesome job of showcasing those skills in a prowrestling context. The early mat rolling was really cool, I loved the kneebar countering and how smoothly Garrinin shifted from a rear naked choke into a twister. This was still a prowrestling match, and they both did cool things where they would be rolling for submissions, and one guy would catch his opponent in a cradle for quick pin attempt, getting small packaged isn't something Garrini has to worry about in Abu Dhabi grappling tourneys, and I liked how Justice threw in some pro-wrestling flavors. Justice nearly gets finished by a bunch of submissions and decides to get a little dirty, by banging Garini's arm off the ring post, and then we get a thrilling end run with Justice baring down on the arm while Dominic tries to catch him in chokes.

ER: During Garrini's hype vid last week I was getting really excited for this match, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wasn't expecting this. This was awesome. I was excited for the match, but didn't want to hype it up in my head too much, but it delivered far more than I could have expected. Both men try to roll the other's ankle, plant knees in calf muscles, hyperextend knees, a bunch of nice looking rolling that looked like it would be far too easy to end in an accidental achilles injury. Both guys twist in and out of danger, and we get some surprises. I loved Garrini pushing Cain off him with both feet and grabbing him in an armbar on the way down. But I really loved Cain being the one to start integrating pro wrestling elements into things, turning the probably more skilled Garrini into a fish out of water. Cain swinging Garrini's arm into the post was a great turning point, and we still got some great arm work from both guys after, with both forcing the other's arm behind their back. Everything looked extremely painful here, and outside of a sorta hinky running corner charge by Garrini, this was some unexpectedly high end stuff. These guys need to form a stable and call it UWF Mid-Atlantic.

3. Alex Daniels vs. Chip Day

PAS: Really fun workrate sprint match. Both guy unloaded with big shots from the start, Chip Day damn near split Daniels nipple with a chop and Daniels hit a great spin kick. Daniels is working a Ben Affleck gimmick where he yells out Affleck film names when he does moves, it is a little try hard, but I enjoyed his work. He hits some insane looking brainbuster into the turnbuckles which landed Day right on the top of his head, match falls apart a bit there, because there is no way that shouldn't be a finish, and Daniels had to take an inordinately long time setting up a top rope follow up just to get rolled up for this pin, it was similar the one problem in the Dirty Daddy/Cain Justice match at Battlecade, especially in a fed like CWF Mid-Atlantic huge head drops like that should be finishes, if you aren't getting the finish, leave it at home. Still I really dug most of this, reminded me of a fun first round Cruiserweight Classic match.

ER: I'm not sure I understand the Ben Affleck gimmick, as Daniels doesn't really look like Affleck other than being a white male. But it probably gets him more laughs than working a "young David Morse" gimmick. Just as Chip Day shouldn't start working as a vinyl shorts Chris Eigeman gimmick. But this was good, until the ending which Phil already covered. And I think it was good because this is typically a style we see worked in 14 minute matches, and it turns into boring overkill, and here we got it for a hot 6 minutes. The 6 minute length worked, and we got some cool stuff that didn't have time to wear itself out. Chip Day gets a little bit hand clappy during certain strikes, but he throws a nice double knees and his strikes at least look good, and I REALLY like Daniels' spin kicks. That headdrop move into the turnbuckle was ridiculous. Stutts says it's one of the craziest moves he's ever seen in a ring (and he's right...which only highlights how stupid it is to not be the finish), and they ably work some fast sequences. Quality match.

4. Arik Andrews v. Cool J

ER: They do a fun "fan draws Andrews opponent out of a fishbowl" gimmick before the match, and I love CL Party announcing "Cool J" to silence and groans, with one man audibly groaning and eyerolling out a "what the christ". Cool J is super tiny and I believe this is his debut. Announce crew does a great job of putting over just how tough it is to even get to a CWF debut, going over actual numbers of just how many people drop out of the dojo, how many people quit the grueling school because it's too hard, and how there are far more people who quit than people who make it to their debut. It's a way more interesting and honest way of putting over someone's debut than saying rote things like "He brings a lot of skills to this and is very talented" while he's getting massacred. This is an Andrews squash though, as it should be, and Cool J takes a nasty slam on his shoulders.

PAS: Cool J takes some big bumps which is what you want out of a rookie getting squashed, and I did really like the commentary, but this was a 3 minutes one sided squash, not much to say about it

5. Xsiris vs. Smith Garrett

PAS: Short heated brawl which nicely moves along this feud. They kept it intense, and I liked how Garrett used Xsiris's aggression against him to get the roll up. I think I may have liked some of the pull aparts better, but I am sure this is leading to a big blow off, which I am excited for.

ER: This was so awesome, Xsiris is one of my favorite current guys and his aggression is off the charts. All his simple stuff looks great and super painful, and I've really enjoyed everything these two have done so far (except Garrett's weird lip licking thing. That really needs to stop), and this was more good stuff. I know it's going to lead to a killer blowoff. Xsiris has been messing with Garrett, jumping him and beating the hell out of him, and then turning around and leaving, and when Garrett got the roll up win here I instantly thought "Xsiris is going to go nuts eventually". CWF has several of these larger bruising bully puncher types, with Attitude and Schwanz and CW Anderson as well as Xsiris, and it's one of my absolute favorite styles, and one of the reasons this fed is so appealing. Great stuff all around.

ER: Well, Cain Justice vs. Dominic Garrini pretty much blew both of us away, easily earning a spot on our 2017 Match of the Year List. And, after talking it over, Phil and I both decided that it's our current #1. People should be on the lookout for these two.

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