BCW/CWF Mid-Atlantic Tap Out Cancer 11/12/17

ER: I saw the full show got posted online (Lee/White Mike, the 4 way, and CW/James aired on CWF TV) and the rest of the card was super intriguing (especially that main event!) that I figured I'd check it all out. This will all surely lead to me doing a NC road trip and doing a road report. I really love the scene they have there and need to start documenting as much of it as is available.

 Chris "TNT" Taylor vs. Beastly Brody

ER: Perfectly acceptable match on a card like this. I've not seen Brody before but he works a little more like Barbaro Cavenario than Bruiser Brody, and an American indy Barbaro would be a welcome thing (although this one has a little more respect for his knees). Taylor is getting there and would probably be better if he dropped some unnecessary flourishes; just focus on throwing a decent lariat or punch, not the 360 spin before the punch or lariat. Both guys do some things I like, Brody commits on a splash and has good energy.

Snooty Foxx vs. Tre G

ER: Pretty simple match with G trying to go toe to toe early, running into a lariat and Snooty's great leaping back elbow, then spending the rest of the match trying to cheat or trying to get Foxx to make a mistake. G is good at stooging into Foxx offense, like jawing with fans leading to him turning around into a side slam. I like how Foxx keeps things simple. There are too many large rookies that get into wrestling now and want to learn a standing moonsault. Foxx is learning more valuable skills like how to be a large guy but still sell convincingly. The end got a little silly with G's second interfering from the floor, leading to a kind of missed ball shot, then some fine fake weapon hiding that Foxx kicks out of. The ending was kind of a mess. But I like Snooty's powerslam finish, and the match was worthwhile.

Ricky Morton vs. Matt Houston

ER: 60 year old Ricky Morton is plump, but still unafraid to wrestle without a shirt, and that still means something in this crazy world. And this was about what my brain pictured a 2017 Ricky Morton match looking like. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, but there were enough moments to make it an enjoyable watch. Houston is a fat cowboy in his 40s, which is a worker I'm going to like, and he's good bumping around for Morton, running into a boot in the corner, nothing flashy but a good opponent for a 60 year old Morton. Ricky still throws a nice overhand punch, nice kneelift, and ended the match with a really great roll up. The match was probably worth watching for the roll-up. It was a gifable roll-up. He stopped his momentum in the corner by sliding down and grabbing the bottom rope, then yanked Houston by the trunks as he as he ran by, and got in tight for a snug roll-up. It was a roll-up that would believably win a match.

Dave & Zane Dawson vs. The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude/Rob Killjoy)

ER: You knew these teams would match up nicely, so that's not a shocker. These teams have their bit down, and it's always worth checking out. This had a bunch of fun "Killjoy using Lude as projectile" moments, like Lude rolling into a Killjoy-assisted backdrop or getting launched over to the floor (and caught) or soaring off Killjoy's legs to nail Launchpad McQuack. It's a real fun thing they got going. Dawsons really busted butt here, and they're both good at killing the Ducks while also looking vulnerable to guys so much smaller than them, eating a couple big dives from them and takings ranas (Zane flies all the way across the ring off a Lude rana), and doing Phillie Phanatic prat falls for them. I liked when Dawsons would just brute force their way through a Ducks flying spot, like Lude getting punched out of the air or Dave surprising with a dropkick during a rope running spot. It's a great thing they have.

Cain Justice vs. Darius Lockhart vs. Nick Richards

ER: The match goes a shade past 5 minutes, but they manage to get a lot of cool stuff into those 5 minutes. We get a couple great early moments of alliances turning on Justice, with Lockhart sending him running into Richards (who sidesteps him and sends Cain to the floor), and then Cain getting back in and getting punched by both Richards and Lockhart to send him to the floor again. The brawling around the floor was good, with Lockhart hitting a big flip dive as the other two brawled, and then doing some fun disjointed floor fighting. And by that I mean nothing was timed and dodged, nothing looked rehearsed, just a three man tangle with awkward shots like Richards getting elbowed in the back of the head. I thought everybody worked around being the third man well, and I liked the opportunistic finish with Richards hitting the cutter on Lockhart, but Cain hitting Richards in the eyes and stealing the pin. They made the most of their allotted time.

PAS:  Fun short match. Cain is really great at these small show benefit cards. He is such an expressive wrestler that he can really bring a crowd into what is happening. Even in a random three way with no stakes, he can make you want to see him get his ass kicked (apparently this fed ran Cain vs. Trevor Lee in a cage but that show is not on youtube, talk about a holy grail). I like all three of these guys a bunch and they really kept it moving and kept in entertaining. Cain stealing the pin is the perfect finish.

ER: We wrote up the next the matches (Trevor Lee vs. White Mike, CW Anderson vs. Mark James, and Royal vs. Sterling vs. Skyler vs. Tracer X) as part of CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 135. All three are worth watching, especially the singles matches.

Career vs. Career: Damien Wayne vs. Lee Valiant

ER: Real good match, and a perfectly respectable way to end a 10+ year career. Valiant was allegedly a babyface for a big chunk of his career, but I've only seen him as a heel and can't really picture him as anything else. But, against a bruiser like Damien Wayne it showed through. Both guys worked tight (as you'd expect in a big stips match) and both took some nasty spills. Wayne will take your punches, but he'll be right there to fire back with hard shots to the stomach (Wayne may have the best kicks to the stomach in wrestling) and chops that will be harder than most wrestlers you will ever face. Valiant takes a nice beating, including a Lawler level bump into the ringpost on the floor. Wayne goes in big on everything, so that leaves him open to some big misses, like a huge bump over the top to the floor on a missed charge, and those misses lead to a Valiant comeback. Wayne bleeds big on Valiant's comeback, but was a total monster throughout, hitting increasingly bigger and meaner elbowdrops (a big rotating one, a bigger, meaner, and prettier one off the top, and then the match ender off the top with Valiant under a chair), and a big sunset flip powerbomb off the top. Wayne never skimps on pins, using full body weight, making each Lee kickout seem like a big moment. Very good match, and hats off to some tertiary people in the match: I really liked the moment where Wayne was pissed about a two count and shoved the ref over (while the ref was on a knee standing up). The ref jumped up to his feet and got in Wayne's face that it was only a two count. It was done in a way where Wayne didn't act afraid of the fired up ref, and the ref didn't back down, but never looked like he was getting any kind of shine. And post-match, hats off to whomever filmed this video, as I really liked the looks at Valiant hugging friends in and out of the business, and the close-ups on the wrestling boots he left in the ring. Nice work by everyone involved.

PAS: This was really good. I have also only ever seen Vailant as a sleazy heel, but he was really good working under against Wayne. Damien Wayne is one of my long time favorites and he was a beast here, moving forward lacing Valiant with hard chops and all timer punches. I loved how he cut off Valiant's top rope attack with that hanging neckbreaker and hanging legdrop, such a hard combo to pull off without looking contrived and Wayne and Valiant pulled it off. The double juice helped the stakes of the match too, most of my Wayne experience has been from no-blood Virginia, but that was a great grimy blade job. I did think maybe Lee needed one more big near fall, if he was dropping his career, but otherwise this was great stuff, a quality coda to Valiant's career and a reminder of how good Damien Wayne can be.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE CAIN JUSTICE

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BCW Pro Wrestling North Carolina 10/8/17

ER: This is the kind of show I would be attending if I lived in the southern United States, the kind of show where the ring is set up outside in the backyard of a bar, nice balmy October day, a bunch of kids sitting on chairs in gravel, cars parked everywhere, just great aesthetics for a southern wrestling show.

1. Kool Jay/Labron Kozone/James Ryan vs. Chris "TNT" Taylor/"Big Bite" Martinez/Semi Mutina

ER: I'm mostly unfamiliar with half the guys in the match, and this isn't a very essential trios match, but it's good for making mental notes on guys you haven't seen much, filling in blanks on guys, forming opinions and giving you a history when you see them in other matches. Semi Mutina looked like Big E, only a foot shorter and instead of a powerlifter build he had more of a "fat guy who has really been working out" build, and a cool Afrika singlet. Sadly he seemed really lost whenever he was in there, so I'll have to let his actual ability catch up to his cool fat guy charms. Big Bite was tall and lanky and pulled out some smooth exchanges, nice high vertical leap enziguiri, and hit a huge splash off the top. Him I'd like to see more from. I finally got to see Kool Jay in a longer match, although once he was in with Mutina who ended up out of place and kind of hung Jay out to dry on a flying something-or-other off the top. But Jay had an awesome full leg extension superkick and the flat out greatest chop block I've ever seen, just flying across the ring. It was cool seeing Jay as more of an offense guy than as a big bumping guy, though even with that chop block he's still probably best as a big bumping guy.

2. Snooty Foxx vs. Tre G

ER: First time seeing Tre G and I am definitely down for more. He's a great guy to have on an indy card, with some good shtick and nice basics. He jumps Snooty before the bell, throws nice punches (including some blistering lefts down the stretch), mule kicks Snooty down low, throws a decent spinebuster, drew heat with a somewhat scattered quiet crowd (including from one woman who absolutely would not let up on him the entire match) and bumped great for Foxx. Snooty looked good and had a very impressive rookie year. I like that all the things he can do, he can do against guys his size. That's important. It's easy to look good squashing little guys, Foxx gets regularly put opposite big guys, and it works. He doesn't wimp out on lariats or shoulderblocks (and G leans way into a mean shoulderblock here), has that great back elbow, and plants G with a powerslam. Good match, would love to see more of G.

3. Cain Justice vs. Number Dad

ER: Number Dad is Kamakazi Kid in full "work furlough Call of Duty marathon" gear, gym shorts, too tight shirt stretched over ample belly, Nike cross trainers, white socks. He's certainly in dad mode. But his work is good! He's a guy with great basics, and that's a guy Cain can play off nicely. Dad cuts low on clotheslines, hits some meaty clubs to the back, takes a nasty flip bump on a Cain lariat, throws a nice back elbow, good old school stuff like raking Cain's eyes across the top rope, good banter. He's a local guy you'd look forward to seeing on shows like this. Cain is as fun as you would expect, and it's great seeing him work armbars and throwing mean kicks on an outdoor daytime show, getting beaten into the crowd, rolling in gravel, all fun stuff. The match noticeably kicks up a notch halfway through: Dad does a comically bad Fargo strut and misses a really high standing legdrop, then Cain wastes him with a punt, and hits a brutal flying knee off the top, just right to the chin. Dad is great at leaning into all of Cain's strikes, and Cain throws a couple of KO kicks down the stretch. Dad gets a cool reversal by rolling through one and hitting a fireman's carry slam. Cain finds a nice way to get to the Twist Ending, throwing Dad off the top turnbuckle by the arm and locking it in for the insta-tap. I thought this would be a kind of goof around fun match, and it got a lot meaner than I was expecting, to all of our benefit.

PAS: Pretty strange to see Cain working as full babyface, he is pretty good at it and I imagine when he turns in the CWF Sportatorium it will be like babyface Buddy Rose levels of awesome. Number Dad has a really nasty eye poke, he really looks like he puts his whole wrist into it, I liked how they set that up as a big move which Cain reversed at the end to lead to the twist ending. This isn't as good as the Mitch Connor or Cecil Scott match but you can tell how great Cain is at working veterans, I want to see Cain work Michael McAllister, Ric Converse and Boogie Woogie Rob McBride.

4. Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Mitch Connor

ER: Sharpe has some real good crowd work to start, telling the crowd about his $12,000 robe and personally walking it to the back because he doesn't trust the people to not steal it. Match was goofy fun although it got way too silly at the end with Sharpe challenging Connor to a rock/paper/scissors contest that went on too long before an abrupt finish. But we got fun moments, like Connor battering Sharpe in the ropes like a teeter totter, clubbing him every time he would spring up. We got some Dusty moments from both, with Sharpe floating like a butterfly and nailing punches, and Connor hitting big elbows. I like Sharpe's over the shoulder jawbreaker, liked Connor taking him down with a choke and Sharpe yelling while trapped, but the silliness was a flat note to end on.

5. Cam Carter vs. Jesse Adler

ER: This wasn't bad, and probably better than all the Adler matches I disliked in CWF. That's probably because Adler didn't have a belt here, and his offense wasn't treated like somehow better than his opponent's because of that belt. Adler feels like a good indy worker from 1998, a guy that you'd see on tape and think he had potential to be a Kidman type, and then it never happens. His style feels dated, but he's okay at some things. Carter bumped around big for his Superman punch comeback, and Adler seems athletic for a guy who can come off sorta unathletic. But I'm glad Carter got more of a shine here, liked his Angle slam and some low key flying, but I also can't deny that the crowd was far more into Adler. Sometimes guys connect with crowds for reasons I can't understand, but connection is connection, and it's important.

6. Lee Valiant vs. Nick Richards

ER: I like Richards' goofball charm, slapping fives with practically every person in attendance, not even waiting for people to want the fives, just walking all around the lot fiving and fist bumping. Valiant is good at getting under people's skin, and this was good until it suddenly ended. It was really short, maybe three minutes. Everything in the three minutes was good, but we could have at least extended it out to a decent Worldwide length. Valiant always does little things I like, chokes guys in the ropes, yanks them by the waistband into the buckles, a good stooge. Richards is a good babyface and Valiant flew into the cutter, but this needed more time.

7. Arik Royal vs. Chet Sterling

ER: I love Royal entrances on shows like these, he's a good "trash talker in passing", teasing older ladies, selectively slapping fives, knows how to appropriately trash talk kids, it's always a treat. We also sadly only get part of a conversation between two women in the crowd who say "No he's the daddy but he takes care of him." That's a wrestling show conversation snippet right there, baby! This match was a blast, perfect kind of match for this audience. They brawl all through the crowd and Royal is GREAT at safely brawling through crowds. He's so good at it. He falls all over everyone, gets punched into ladies, gets hit by kids, chopped by women, and Sterling awesome tightens things up for the close proximity fans. They brawl under every canopy, Royal slams his head into every table in the backyard, they brawl up to the patio and hit each other amongst all the t-shirts stretched over beer bellies. Sterling throws some nice short right hands all throughout, and Royal takes shots into a table better than most. Sterling throws great right hands during the crowd brawl, at one point shaking out his fist for a good 8 steps after punching. I'll always love that. We do get some silliness for the finish, with Sterling hitting the People's Elbow (like 18 years after its peak), but does amusingly undo his wrist tape (since he wasn't wearing elbow pads). I liked their struggle over finishers back in the ring, usually those reversal struggles can seem too dance-y but here they somehow made fighting over an Overdrive look like they were getting arms bent in nasty ways. I will always go out of my way to watch Royal in a situation like this, but Sterling delivered too.

8. Trevor Lee vs. Lance Lude

ER: I really dug this. Trevor came out in gym shorts and wrestling shoes mode, and Lude worked as a tiny ragged heel. Lude's physical transformation is one of the better ones in wrestling. He used to be a kind of tinier Matt Sydal, now he's hairy and scruffy and has drunken sailor eyes. They brawl around the yard just like Royal and Sterling before them, a risky move since it literally had just happened, but they add some new twists and make it feel a little more reckless, sending a mother scrambling to shield her youngsters. Trevor gets the crowd to count a long on the outside while he holds Lude in a vertical suplex, but it takes so long that Lude is able to knee his way out of it. Main event Trevor Lee is a good formula at this point, and Lude might be the smallest guy we've seen work the formula so far, and it still works. Lude attacks with quick dropkicks and a big double kneedrop off the top for a good nearfall, and I liked him working heel (just as I also like his babyface Ducks work). Lee is always good at comebacks against heels, not hesitating to match jerk moves. Here he's good at running into Lude's boots, but also has no problem doing a finger break, does an awesome press slam (ending it by flexing one bicep while holding Lude up with one arm) and absolutely crushes him with a match ending double stomp. Fun main event to cap off a fun no frills show.


COMPLETE & ACCURATE CAIN JUSTICE

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 134

Episode 134

ER: We get Pop-Up Video running throughout the episode, bringing me back to some Chikara tape I bought 15 years ago.

Mace Li vs. Jesse Adler

PAS: This match happened before Adler won the TV title, on the same show as Arik Royal v. Snooty Fox. These guys train together and clearly have some stuff worked out, but it is still the same Adler match which has been boring me for a couple of months now. He does some good bodypart selling, and if he could develop some decent offense he could do something with that, but as of now his TV title reign is dragging down the show each week.

ER: Yeah I'm beyond over this. Every freaking week with these Adler matches. That standing shooting star is easily one of the worst looking finishers in wrestling. There are plenty of guys doing the same kind of stuff, only gracefully executing it and landing it without looking like they're dragging themselves out of a creek. And that spinning back elbow/fist to the mid section has to go. I am so in the weeds on Adler.

Trevor Lee/Ric Converse vs. Lee Valiant/Aric Andrews

PAS This is an impromptu tag after Andrews interrupts a Lee promo. This is before the Andrew gimmick change, and I loved the sleazy Andrews and Valiant tag team. There is some fun crowd brawling to open including Lee dumping Valiant head first into a garbage can. Converse and Valiant have had a long history (one of the cool things about the pop up video gimmick is all of the history stuff, Valiant and Converse worked a one hour iron man!) and worked well with each other. Fun energetic tag with plenty of shtick.

ER: Man I miss bearded Andrews. It's cruel showing us this older match, with skeezy bearded Andrews, in his great team with Valiant. Man I'd love to see these two with the tag belts. But as cruel as it was, they could give me a hot 7 minute tag like this every week and I'd keep coming back for more. Valiant was awesome here, and he's a guy who needs to be featured more (and was clearly a bigger name in the "pre-TV" era of CWF). He knew just how to work to every age level of this hot Chapel Hill crowd, knew to comically kick his legs a bunch when Lee dumps him in a trash can as kids squeal with delight, but knows how to throw hard shots and bump big to get the adults into everything. Valiant takes a huge spill to the gym floor from the ring, and then gets awesome height on a big time Sky High from Converse, and really sticks himself on a DDT. Trevor Lee is in full gym shorts and tiny boots and I always like that Lee, and teaming with Converse is a natural fit. I second Phil with enjoying all the pop up history, really helps me fill in blanks and backstory. And finding out Lee was only 15 in 2009 made me feel old. as. hell.

Nick Iggy vs. Chet Sterling

PAS: This was fine, both guys are solid wrestlers, it was a bit hammy though. Iggy is a really expressive heel and Sterling is really expressive babyface and having two guys on 10 like that, got a little theatre kidish, I need one guy to play it a bit cool. I did enjoy the Pop Up Video run down of all of Iggy's terrible pun nicknames, Grin Balor? CM Hunk? Oof.

ER: I liked the running gag of half the match being taken up by Iggy's nicknames. And I really want to see Dandy Orton now. Just a foppish powder wig upper crust dandy, but with sinister date rape eyes. It would be difficult to pull off. Not many people have Orton's naturally rape-y brand of charisma, and of those people I'm sure even fewer of them would be caught dead in powder makeup, a trim blouson, or knickers. But it's right there for the taking. The Pop-Ups take a darker turn as they reveal that Iggy has an obsession with Jeffrey Dahmer, which is probably something to keep off your Tinder profile. You don't see Uber drivers listing Ted Bundy as someone they admire. The match itself I thought was good, really fun, and I didn't really notice a lot of the hammy aspects. Iggy takes a great DDT on a show where I thought Valiant was guaranteed to have taken the nastiest DDT, his fishhook camel clutch was nasty, and I thought Iggy especially was really lacing in shots down the stretch. I thought he looked great during the strike exchange, throwing a few different great strikes (nice big punch, sharp elbow, big slashing overhand chop), although Sterling has a habit of pulling away from his own strikes, whiffing on a couple of elbows that were meant to be cut-off spots, and holding back on a yakuza kick. Iggy was great at getting into people's faces, a gal who no sells him and a little kid that jumps, and we build to a great dive from Sterling that levels Iggy (after he had just bumped big to the floor) and threatens to crash into the front row, but damn if every person in CWF is great about keeping their fans safe. Fun match, fun concept show.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 120

Episode 120

1. Smith Garrett vs. Logan Easton Laroux

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

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

2. Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Chet Sterling

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

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

3. Aric Andrews vs. Isaiah Santero

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

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

4. Lee Valiant vs. Rob McBride

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

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

5. Logan Easton Laroux vs. Chet Sterling

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

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

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 98

Episode 98

1. The Dirty Blondes (Mike Patrick/Leo Brien) vs. Sandwich Squad (Aaron Biggs/Mecha Mercenary)

ER: I dig the Sandwich Squad, but then suddenly CWF presents me with a couple of new chubsters and I'm like a raccoon with a shiny object when it comes to new fat guys in wrestling. So they present me with two new chubs, with a great team name, and expect me to not root for them!? So I was rooting for an upset, but this was mostly an extended Sandwich Squash. The Blondes got one little run in the middle, and I really like Brien definitely bringing the Dusty vibes and he threw a great overhand right (that kind of right hand that has a downward trajectory on it, like he's punching down across the nose bridge). But the Squad is too tough, loved the drop down to trip Brien followed by the Mercenary splash. Ending had a couple hitches but this was fun.

PAS: Dirty Blonders were a bunch of fun, tubby, bleach blond hair, big bumps, multiple Dusty elbow combos, just a blast to watch. Would like to see them in a long competitive grudge match. This was a squash, which is literal when you are talking about the Sandwich Squad. Love all the different ways the Squad has to land their flab on someone.

2. HIM/SIS vs. Ethan Alexander Sharpe/"White" Mike Jordan

ER: I didn't care for any of the "Sharpe wants to bang SIS" part of this, as I think it took away from a lot of the cool stuff SIS did, and it's a shame as I liked her more than anyone else in the match. Her low crossbody in the ropes was awesome (and look how expertly she rolls out of the way), she had a cool fast standing splash, and I always love her headbutts. Now the HIM/SIS gimmick is incredibly goofy, but it's tough when they have a goofy gimmick AND their opponents treat them like jokes. White Mike gets to run the home stretch, and he whiffs on a double neckbreaker, then does a can opener neckbreaker finish that just looks like he DDTs himself.

PAS: I liked this a lot more then Eric did, I think both HIM and SIS have really nasty offense, and considering how bad they stiffed Jordan and Sharpe I don't think they were treated like jokes. I also think White Mike's finish looks awesome, and it is impressive he pulled it off on a chunky dude like HIM.

3. The Lynch Mob (Joey & Matt Lynch) vs. The Carnies (Nick Iggy/Kerry Awful)

ER: This was fine, though the Lynch Mob didn't do much for me. It felt like for every one nice thing they would do, you'd get something meh a moment later. Carnies don't totally feel authentic to their gimmick, but I liked them in-ring. So I didn't care much for the early parts with Lynch Mob controlling, but once Awful cheapshotted and Iggy followed it up with an awesome dropkick on the mat I was into it. Iggy hits a sick full weight senton, and the finishing stretch was particularly brutal: Iggy disposes one of the Mob to the floor in nasty fashion, Awful hits kind of a sloppy powerbomb on the other and locks in a Boston crab, as Iggy hits a killer kneepad-down kneedrop off the middle buckle to the back of the head. That's a good finisher.

PAS: Lynch Mob felt a little PWGish for me, but I thought the Carnies were killer in this. Awful is a pretty great fat dude and has a bunch of fun ways to throw his flab into people, Iggy is really vicious and I like how he ties in his crazy gimmick with some really violent assaults. The ending was really nasty with Iggy driving his full weight with a knee drop into the back of a Lynch's head and then follows it up with really nasty ground and pound forearms for a stoppage. I want to check out the three way now, as adding Iceberg and Tank can only be an improvement.

4. Lee Valiant/Aric Andrews vs. The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude/Rob Killjoy)

ER: This had a lot of moving parts, and I think it didn't work because of that. It felt like the whole match was one guy running at another guy, that guy dodging, and then doing a kind of clunky move in response, and then a new guy running at them. It came off too busy, without much substance happening. I liked the last Ducklings appearance, as unhinged big bumping loons. This didn't have as much of that, Lude came off crazier in his last appearance. Killjoy took a big bump off a lariat, and both did dives (into the Hales contingent), but this was all worked pretty even. There was a lot of hinky move set-up by the Ducks, and I just don't think much of it worked this time. Andrews threw a great cut off punch down the stretch, and Valiant always comes out with a great aggressive attitude, but this landed short.

PAS: I liked all the cutting off of the ring that Valient and Andrews did, and if the end run was a bit shorter and polished I would have really dug this. The Ducklings monkey flip senton thing is really cool, as is Valient and Andrews Doomsday device backcracker, this just felt like it kept going though with the cooler stuff more in the middle then the end, it built to a creshendo and then kept going past its natural end point.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 93

Episode 93

1. Sandwich Squad/Snooty Foxx vs. Dawson Brothers/Aric Andrews

ER: This is my kind of trios match, just tons of big dudes splatting into each other. Everybody does something I like in this: Foxx looked probably the best I've seen him, and he looks really good when leaving his feet (nice flying back elbow and nice flying lariat); Mecha Mercenary has some nice speed, steps on Zane with one foot to show that weight sinking in, and works a killer drop down trip; Biggs has some great thump to his splashes, but my favorite was when he splashed in on a pinfall save; Andrews probably should have looked more out of place but I liked what he added to this as the lone skinny man. Imagine how bad this would have had to have been for me to dislike it. This much mass in one ring is just too inherently likeable. It was seriously just big tubs crashing into each other for 10 minutes. The best. Also, continued props to Stutts for effortlessly covering for a couple of slip ups in ways that don't make viewers eyeroll. It's a special skill for an announcer, and he's one of the best at it.

PAS: I honestly could watch some version of Sandwich Squad v. Dawson's every week, fat dudes slamming into each other. I really like the Dawson brother king of the eye poke gimmick, they are both guys who look like they have filthy fingernails, the threat of eye infection makes that move even nastier.

2. Joshua Cutshall vs. Nick Richards

ER: A couple weeks ago I said I was excited to see Richards against a non-Trip Cassidy opponent, thought he had a decent showing without much to work with, and my instincts were actually right for once. I really liked Richards here, he did some things that you just mentally fill in the blanks on, like getting his head bounced off the apron in gross fashion. When a guy gets his head smacked into the ring steps or post or apron or whatever we tend to just color in the light, understanding why a guy wouldn't want to *actually* whip his head into metal steps or a post. But Richards really looked like he got his head bounced off the apron and it's those little details that really make me notice a wrestler. But his strikes are also standing out to me in unique ways: In the Cassidy match I thought he had so-so punches to the face, but really great punches to the body; here, he would throw assorted chops and elbows, and during the wind-up I'd be thinking "well this won't look very good", and then it would land with this great thud. It's like watching Hunter Pence swing a bat, every single movement looks totally incorrect and alien, but he's consistently hit 20% better than the league for a decade now. Richards throws these weird upward angle chops, odd forearms to the chest, stuff that feels like it should be ineffective but he makes it look really good. It was harder to get a read on Cutshall but I thought he matched up well with Richards, I love the leaping legdrop lariat as a big heel cutoff spot, and I thought his selling leading into the surprise finish was really great. I didn't see it coming and I thought it was a cool ending, with Richards going for a superkick only to get blasted in the back of the dome by Cutshall.

PAS: I really liked this, hadn't been overly impressed with Richards up to this point but I thought he was great. I agree that he has weird looking strikes that look great, they kind of remind me a little of the Great Kabuki, off kilter but awesome looking. Cutshall was good too, everything he landed had sauce on it, and I thought he had nice crazy guy facials, not over done or fake looking, but just a little off. That finish was off the charts awesome, he was going for a cutter not a superkick and Cutshall caught him right as he started his jump, it was a little earlier then most pro-wrestling cut-off spots and felt really sudden, almost the way you see MMA knockouts, and Richards sold it like he was concussed. I also really liked how the commentators put over the importance of title shots, Richards won a tournament for a title opportunity last year and both announcers are discussing how he is waiting and training before cashing it in, knowing he might only get one shot at a belt. Really makes it feel like a huge deal, compare that to the WWE where they have two belts, defend them on house shows, have stupid Money in the Bank contracts ect.

ER: Smith Garrett and Xsiris have another solid showdown, and I'm getting excited for an actual match between them. I like how they've kept their blow up segments brief, really making them work nicely as teasers. Garrett comes out for an interview and Xsiris tries to sneak up on him, so Garrett blasts him with a couple of great right hands. The whole segment couldn't have been more than 90 seconds and it was time well spent. Although Garrett's lip and teeth licking was weird. Stop doing that. It's like Elaine Joyce thinking of an answer on Tattletales, just swirling that tongue around. It's a little more satisfying seeing 1975 Elaine Joyce doing it though.

3. Trevor Lee/Chet Sterling v. Brad Attitude/Lee Valiant

ER: Quality tag and another awesome Attitude performance. We play off everybody's BattleCade feuds, and something simple like that always leads to an effective match when given time. Sterling's neck is still smarting and we had that huge piledriver moment at BattleCade (come to think of it no real punishment or anything was followed up on, right?) so Valiant hitting a surprise half nelson suplex towards the end of this match was a big moment. I liked Sterling and Valiant, both seem like good scrappers and Valiant especially a guy who seems like he's going to keep getting better, and is also sporting the "Eric in 2018 hair pattern". I wish Attitude and Lee had gone at it more. If I hadn't seen the video showing the history of their feud, I wouldn't have really known they had a longterm feud. And Lee looked kind of off in general. His kicks looked clumsy and he seemed too focused on hitting specific spots. But again, this was Attitude's show. I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that a lot. He really checks a lot of my boxes, definitely one of my favorite current guys to watch. He wrestles like Barry Windham, but with quirky cruiser spots thrown in. So you'll be marveling at his great punches and then he'll pull out that trippy little ankle flip senton from the apron into the ring. My favorite spot of the match was easily Sterling going to frog splash Attitude, Attitude getting the knees up, and then smoothly rolling through into a single leg pin. It couldn't have been executed better. You can tell he doesn't get hung up on overthinking positioning, he seems like a guy who is great at improv. He couldn't have planned to catch Sterling's leg the way he did, but it was handed to him and he went with it, and it looked awesome. He's got a really cool set of skills that matches up with everyone, and really it should only be a matter of time before he's back in WWE/NXT.

PAS: I really liked this match too, what a show this was. I disagree with Eric about the Lee v. Attitude interactions, the whole point of the feud is that Attitude won't go head to head with Lee, and will only attack when he has the advantage, so it makes sense for him to pick and choose his spots, and man alive was he awesome. He is like prime Tully Blanchard hateable, and has prime Tully Blanchard execution, and Valiant makes a great pain huffer Arn Anderson. I thought the babyface team had their moments, Lee is a good house of fire, and his transition into the STF was dope, I also loved the quick Half Nelson suplex by Sterling, looked great and tied into the bad neck storyline (how often do you see a heel sell a long term injury? Neat twist on a wrestling trope), still I thought they were a little more Young Bucks then Rock and Rolls. Overall a great southern tag match with a through the roof performance by the heels. I don't think Attitude is ending up back in NXT, he is 34, been out of the system for nearly a decade,  he is a guy who had his shot and fell short, which is one of the things that is so great about his character, Crash Davis never makes the majors

ER: Really great episode of TV, with three killer matches. All killer no filler ep. We enjoyed all three matches, but decided Richards/Cutshall was good enough to land on our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List. But the whole episode deserves a watch.

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CWF Mid Atlantic Battle Cade 12/30/16

PAS: CWF-MA has been hyped a bunch by people I semi-trust, so I thought I would check out their big Supercard show, and I am sold.

Cain Justice v. Dirty Daddy

PAS: Cain Justice is doing a strip mall black belt gimmick, and comes out with his Judo sensei and sparring partners like a meth lab Aoyagi. Dirty Daddy is a guy doing a Human Tornado style funky black dude deal. Really fun rookie match which delivers some big moves and nice bumping by both guys. I did think that Justice probably should have avoided the Pentagon bomb if that wasn't going to be the finish, especially in a fed which bans piledrivers, I did really like Justice's arm submission though, really nasty looking and something which would differentiate him from most guys in this fed.

Zane and Dave Dawson v. Devin Dalton/Walter Eaton

PAS: The Dawsons have a great wrestling look, big, fat long greasy beards, wrestling never has enough fat biker tag teams. Dalton and Eaton were guys who had held tag team titles with different partners and came out to respond to an open challenge. Stiff energetic tag match which doesn't wear out it's welcome. Four guys smacked each other for five minutes or so and then one fat guy hits a big clothesline and gets a pin. Really like how these undercard matches tell a story, have some nice work and keep it rolling.

Smith Garrett v. Aric Andrews

PAS: This is for the TV title, Garrett gets jumped by Xsiris coming to the ring and gets dropped on his head, he gets helped to the back and Andrews calls for a count. Garrett crawls back just beating the count and we get a nice bit of classic wrestling business. Garrett gets a couple of kick outs, a bit of hope and then gets beat. We leave this wanting Garrett to get his hands on Xsiris, and  get a rematch against Andrews. Again I really like the simplicity of the storytelling.

Aaron Biggs/Mecha Mercenary v. The Storm of Entrails

PAS: I really love how CWF-MA have embraced the giant fat dude in wrestling. EVOLVE could really use some more big fat guys. Biggs and Mercenary are the Sandwich squad and are probably 380 each. The Storm of Entrails are CZW trainees and have the stage crew at a metal fest look that CZW cultivates, Shlak especially is built like a brick shithouse and covered head to toe in creepy tattoos, if a guy will do that to his face, what will he do to yours. This was another fun tag match, with all four guys landing meat hooks, I really like the CZW teams double top rope elbow, and the Sandwich squad has a lot of cool double teams which take advantage of their flab. Another compact entertaining match.

Lee Valiant v. Chet Sterling

PAS: This is for the Ultra J title and is no-DQ piledrivers legal match. This is worked as a juniors sprint with both guys throwing out some pretty big moves quickly. Sterling looked a little off in some of his stuff, but I really liked Valiant, nasty punches and his offense looked really crisp. Sterling has been injured by a piledriver earlier in the year, so he gets his revenge with an avalanche tombstone, which gets the three count and I assume a vacation for Valiant. I do like how in this fed a death move mean death.

Ethan Alexander Sharpe/Him/Sis/Kabuki Ni/Otto Schwanz/The Number Boy v. Donnie Dollars/Matty De Nero/Mitch Conner/Snooty Fox/Rob McBride/Qefka the Quiet

PAS: This was kind of a fill out the card 12 man tag with a bunch of wacky gimmicks. I liked parts of this, Otto Schwanz is a old OMEGA dude and it was fun to see him wreck fools, and I have always enjoyed Boogie Woogie Man Rob McBride and there was a nifty spot where he blocked Kabuki's mist with a pair of workmans googles. Still I really hate Qefka the Quiet and Sharpe working invisible lasso spots in the beginning of the match. One of the cool things about CWF Mid-Atlantic is its sincerity, so stupid winky Chikara shit like that is really out of place.

CW Anderson v. Ric Converse

PAS: I really enjoyed this, Anderson and Converse are a pair of old school dudes who have been wrestling since the 90s and wrestle like they are from the 70s. Lots of big right hands and nice clotheslines. Anderson looks and wrestles like he has been frozen in amber since 2002. Still has that great right hand, and nasty spinebuster. I really liked the finish of this with Anderson hitting a superkick to the back of the head and slapping on the crossface causing Converse to pass out. Loved the idea of a kick to the back of the head be a KO, especially one as nasty looking as Anderson's superkick

Nick Richards v. Roy Wilkins

PAS: Roy Wilkins is working sort of a Zybyzko style technical heel. Lots of counter wrestling along with cheap shotting and stalling (although having a cheapshotting Black heel named after the head of the NAACP during the civil rights movement is a weird bit of retrograde booking by a Southern fed). The story the announcers were putting out was that Wilkins was a technician while Richards was a brawler. The match was worked well around that story including Richards getting the upset by beating the wrestler with a wrestling move. Unfortunately I thought Richards look pretty bad here, and didn't have the execution to pull off the story being told, his brawling looked off and there were moments where he didn't seem to be on the same page with his opponent. I left this wanting to see more Wilkins, but not particularly happy that Richards seems to be getting a big push.

Arik Royal v. Andrew Everett

PAS: First I have seen Arik Royal and he is pretty great, works really stiff, has cool power moves and is an awesome dickish shit talker. There is a point near the end of the match where he has Everett tied up in the ropes and he yells at Everett's niece in the audiance "Andrew isn't coming home tonight" before nuking him with a running uppercut. I have seen Everett work in super indies, but this was by far my favorite match of his, he is comes into the match with an awesome blitz, flying recklessly into Royal, including hitting three crazy dives in a row, I really liked the story of coming out 100 miles an hour and trying to catch Royal off guard, he is also a really reckless in ring bumper, landing super fast and super awkward into the turnbuckles and ring ropes. Match might have gone a bit too long, but they did build to a pretty cracking finish.

Brad Attitude v. Trevor Lee

PAS: This was the apex of a months long feud between the two that started with Attitude turning on Lee and braining him with a beer bottle, and then taunting him at shows that Lee wasn't booked at. Finally to get his hands on Attitude, Lee agreed to a match with a 30 minute time limit, where if he didn't beat Attitude he would lose the belt, also if he got DQed he would lose the belt, but Attitude could wrestle the match no DQ. It is a nifty piece of wrestling bullshit which feels like something The Bullet would have to do to get his hands on Jimmy Golden.

Attitude is awesome in the build up to this and in the match. He is working a failed prospect gimmick, a guy who had his shot at the big leagues (he was on a bunch of early EVOLVE shows and was a WWE developmental guy) but washed out and is now bitter. Now this kid he helped train is the new hot shit indy star working PWG and TNA and he can't take it, this was like if David Carr broke a beer bottle over Derek's head.

Early in the match Attitude dickishly taunts Lee, stalling and killing time, trying to get Lee intentionally DQ'ed, however by the end of the match, all of that is out of the window and he is clearly trying to prove he is better and pin the champ. You don't usually see that kind of character arc in a wrestling match. Lee is fine in this, although it really feels like Attitudes match, I did his firery die on the sword attitude, and he did a nice job of conveying his fury at Brad, but stopping short of losing his cool and his belt. He also took a nasty side of the head chair shot, which either busted him open legit or was a nice excuse for a blade job.

Finish is something I am a little torn on, during Attitude's rampage he had cut the ponytail of one of the refs. After a couple of other refs are laid out  that ref come out slow counts for Attitude and looks the other way as Lee smashes Brad in the head with the bottle. I get that it makes narrative sense, but it feels like a cop out, the better story was either the valiant babyface overcoming impossible odds and prevailing anyway, or the dastardly heel stacking the deck too high. Having Lee win by out cheating Attitude is kind of weak sauce.

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