CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 122

Episode 122

1. Roy Wilkins vs. Montana Black

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

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

2. Slade Porter vs. Cam Carter

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

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

3. John Skyler vs. Jason Kincaid

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

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

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

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

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

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

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 94

Episode 94

1. Cain Justice vs. Montana Black

PAS: Montana Black is a huge guy, probably 6'3 350, and it is fun to watch Cain as a sneaky heel bumping around for a monster. I especially loved the finish as he snatched an arm out of the air and yanked it into a submission. Really got him over as a dangerous guy who can tap you from anywhere. Justice is turning into one of my favorite guys to watch, he just needs to dump that cornball indy name.

ER: Black really is huge, and has a good face, not too hard to imagine him showing up in NXT sooner rather than later. The Mark Henry-cut singlet looks good on him and with his size he could be a big deal. He's got a ways to go but they limited his stuff so they never ended up in trouble, and he showed a couple nice "little things" moments, like when he pinned Justice close to the ropes and tucked Justice's arm so he couldn't grab it. Positioning mistakes are things that 15 year pros make so him doing little things like that is a good sign. There were some moments where both guys were working inside themselves a bit too much, ducking a clothesline that never happened, Justice bumping a lariat before it happened, stuff that's less forgivable from but more understandable from them. I did love both attempts at the arm, with Justice grabbing it and Black powering through to a suplex, and then the one that ended the match. It looked cool and was a believable way to cut the size difference. And I agree with Phil about a name change being necessary. How about....Shane Justice.

2. Patrick Scott vs. Cam Carter vs. Jacob Ryan vs. Ian Maxwell

PAS: This is a rookie 4-way with ever trope you might expect from a rookie 4-way. Tower of doom spot, dive train, every guy hits his finisher run. I thought Cam Carter was probably the stand out, he had the most ups on his dives and bumps, still it was hard to get a sense of whether any of these guys are going to be worth following

ER: This was fine enough for what it was, but it was a bit much to debut four rookies, from four training camps, with four sociopath "two first names" names. I thought Cam Carter was actually the least of the bunch, he had those real floaty Killshot/Petey Williams bumps, and looked totally lost during that final minute segment (though I liked how he bumped an inverted STO on his chin). I'm backing Patrick Scott as the stand out; he kept the flash low but clearly looked like the best base of the group, and glued that dive train together, seemed like he had the most effective bumps and knew when to take his turns. Ian Maxwell felt like he had the most confidence, trying out some unique strikes and some bigger bumps, some of which didn't worked but he did everything assuredly and that goes a long way for me. Jacob Ryan has an unfortunately soft body for a smaller guy, but I did like a running knee he broke out late in the match. I was expecting to like a rookie 4 way scramble a lot less than I did, and each guy did at least something I liked without doing anything egregious, so I think that's a win.

3. Roy Wilkins vs. Dirty Daddy

PAS: I really liked this, I am not sure how much I enjoy Wilkins cerebral gimmick is because of the good job the announcers do in getting it over, but I really enjoy Wilkins cerebral gimmick. Dirty Daddy is a fun fired up babyface, and this a cool Bockwinkle v. Tito Santana style match. I loved how Wilkins kept Daddy close, constantly staying connected grabbing an arm or a leg. I even liked his Flair style cheap shotting and cheating. Great TV match.

ER: I liked this too. Dirty Daddy feels like someone who wouldn't work for me, but I like his weird strikes, he has a killer jab, and his selling is ace. I also liked the Misawa throwback tights. I *do* think Phil is onto something with Wilkins' character getting a lot of help from the announce crew. I think in this match a lot of his motivations were really a Stutts creation, and I'm totally okay with that. We write about pro wrestling and often project motivations or story where they may not be, and I love that part of the game. I really liked when Wilkins tricked Daddy into a punch exchange, and then sidestepped and grabbed an abdominal stretch. Great spot. Coach's interference was also effective, as Wilkins grabbing the towel for leverage looked like legit leverage. You can easily see these two guys working fun matches on syndicated WCW Saturday Night.


4. Rising Generation League Battle Royal

PAS: Aric Andrews comes out and says he will give whoever wins this match a title shot, and I loved how exasperated he got as a bunch of veterans entered the rookie battle royal. It was a battle royal, some nasty over the top rope bumps, but not much else, I did like the quick match with Andrews and the CZW kid, fun bit of wrestling business, but nothing memorable.

ER: I'm a big battle royal fan, especially live. And my god that moment where Cain Justice comes out to see if he could be in the royal, and Andrews hasn't caught on to what is happening but then starts realizing? Gold. And the speed the wrestlers come out from the back is awesome, just a stream of dudes suddenly pouring out. But I think Phil is really underrating this segment. The battle royal was really fun, with Mecha Mercenary wandering around uppercutting people after tossing some rookies, Donnie Dollars also doing some fine punch and wander, and then several really nasty rookie eliminations. The final four eliminations get a little sloppy but up until then we got some pretty great bumps. I thought the Arik Andrews/Tahir James match directly after was pretty awesome. I had never seen James before but liked what we got, and thought it was a really solid "underdog survives longer than expected" singles match. Andrews jumps him with a nasty shot to the back of the head and drags him to a decent beating for 5 minutes. Andrews showed some ass while also looking like a sadistic prick, and I got really into James' comebacks. This whole segment (battle royal/match) was my favorite thing on the show.

5. "The Southern Savior" John Skyler vs. Snooty Foxx

PAS: This match reminded me of Flair v. Sting from the Clash, solid veteran heel taking on a young green powerhouse and making a match of it. Foxx has a ways to go, but he has good energy and a connection to the crowd. Skyler is a great southern indy hand, works in some cheap shots, some nice punches, shows vulnerability and sneaks out a cheap win. I liked Wilkins v. Daddy better, but both were good examples of heel veterans plying their craft.

ER: I also liked this one although I felt it went a bit too long, and both guys looked a little sluggish down the finishing stretch. The crowd is obviously into Fox and he connects with them, and his stuff is coming along nicely. He'll throw a bad looking punch, but then follow up with a nice one, so you get the feeling that things are going to come together for him sooner rather than later. Skyler facilitated him nicely, with a highlight being his massive spit sell after running face first into a Fox back elbow. I liked Fox starting out just steamrolling Skyler but maybe working too hard too fast, leaving an opening for Skyler to ground him and wear him out. I thought the finish run punch exchange was a little silly, as Skyler works at grounding him for 10 minutes and then just decides to stand and strike. Still, this felt like a really good Power Plant rookie vs. southern vet match, and that's a match up I always like.

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