Monday AIW - Double Dare Tournament Night 2 11/5/16

PAS: So in classic Segunda Caida style, I watched night 1 of this tourney a year and a half ago, watched 80% of Night 2, and then it sat in our drafts forever. As part of Monday AIW I decided to finish off this review, and there is some fun stuff here.

Night 1 Review

Jollyville Fuck-Its (Nasty Russ/T-Money) vs. Massage NV (Dorian Graves/VSK)

PAS: Massage NV's gimmick is less rapey when it is against guys, although it is still pretty stupid. Once we got through their shtick and got to the Fuck-Its beating their ass it got pretty fun. T-Money was especially laying in the clotheslines. I wasn't really buying the offense of Massage NV when they had control, although their spot where VSK oils himself up and slides on Graves back into a headbutt is amusing. Finish was pretty great as T-Money nearly murders VSK with a pounce, great bump by VSK he honestly looked like he broke his neck.

ER: I dug this the whole way through. The comedy massage stuff was relegated to the beginning, and then we transitioned suddenly into the violent part of the program. I've never seen Massage NV, but I actually thought the massage stuff was pretty amusing. I don't know how much legs it has (probably not a gag I'm going to be chuckling at during my 5th NV tag) but I got a kick out of them working out T-Money's traps and doing some deep tissue work between the shoulderblades. Maybe it's just because my neck could use a good massage, and watching this is like going to Trader Joe's when I'm hungry. It didn't crop up at all when things got serious (outside of some oil), and I don't think it overstayed its welcome. And the actual tag wrestling we got was really good! Jollyville really laced it in when they finally went on the attack, and I thought NV held up their end. Graves did a great classic bulldog, and I loved a spot where Money missed a charge in the corner and Graves shot out of the corner to knock Russ off the apron. It felt like something the Fuck-Its would do and it was cool to see the tables turned on them. But not long after, T-Money was throwing lariats through them and hitting his big spinebuster, Russ hot tags in and is throwing even harder lariats and whipping VSK violently into a cool as hell spinning blue thunder bomb, all great. I was impressed by Graves throughout; his elbows packed a wallop and he threw his whole body into pinfall saves. VSK's oil slide headbutt was freaking great, he really lawndarted himself into Russ (little did I know what was about to happen). The actual finish was spectacular, Russ planting Graves with a tornado DDT to get him out of the ring, and a shocked VSK taking the absolute worst neck crunching bump off a Pounce that you've seen. He really takes it on the back of his neck, and there's no way someone should be kicking out of that.

Headhunters vs. Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham/Brian Carson

PAS: Short squash as might be expected. You aren't going to have the Headhunters work two long matches on one night. Couple of nasty chairshots and a big second rope splash call it a night. Headhunters v. Fuck-Its is the match I want to see in this tourney.

Team IOU (Nick Iggy/Kerry Awful) vs. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech/Colin Delaney)

PAS: This match kept bringing me in, losing me and bringing me in again. All of the opening matwork by Iggy and Delaney was cool, as was IOU's double team beat down on Delaney. I thought Cheech's hot tag kind of sucked and the TIB offensive set was full of improbable double teams where their opponents end up suplexing each other. Lots of set up for not a ton of delivery. We had a pretty hot finishing run with Iggy killing folks, and then IOU ends up winning with a goofy "make a guy Canadian Destroyer his own partner finish. It had more I liked then didn't like, but I really didn't like the parts I didn't like.

Tracy Williams/Matt Riddle vs. Crazy Pain (Steve Pain/Gringo Loco)

PAS: When Riddle quit AIW he shit on this match, claiming the promotion jobbed him to "two luchas who couldn't work," but this was one of my favorite Riddle matches of 2016 and Crazy Pain were awesome in it. The match opens with Riddle hitting a flying armbar, and quickly all four guys throw on cool submissions with Riddle and Williams being more shoot and Crazy Pain being more llave. I also loved the story of Pain being a tough motherfucker and refusing to stand down from Riddle's big shots, and Riddle getting pissed that this guy is stepping to him. At one point Riddle eats a bunch of body kicks and hits this great flurry ending with a springboard rana, which he ripped off like he was Soberano or someone. Finish run is pretty dominant for Crazy Pain with them hitting a bunch of big double teams including this awesome move of Pain putting on a step over toe hold on Riddle, quebradoring Williams and holding him as Loco gives him a Demolition Decapitator, I have no idea how it didn't shred Riddle's achilles.  Match end with a clean win for Crazy Pain with Riddle getting Pain Killered on top of Williams. I was expecting this to be a bit of train wreck, but it was awesome instead.

ER: Yeah this ruled, a style clash that I never thought of but loved that it happened. I never heard the Riddle comments at the time, but I have to assume there were two different luchadors, because this was constant fun. I honestly have no clue what part/s Riddle would even be complaining about. I dug all of this. Williams rolling Loco around in painful crossfaces, Pain throwing strikes at Riddle until it kept inevitably blowing up on him, Pain throwing hard elbows but staggering around great to get caught by BroSauce's shots, throw in all the crazy double teams and this was tag mismatch heaven. Riddle's rope walk rana was impressive as hell (weird how everybody has an impressive landing on their flying when Steve Pain is the one whose feet are on the mat), we get a couple big dives to the floor (love Pain vaulting over the ref with a tope con giro), and Phil is damn right about some of the craziness of these double teams; that sequence ending with Williams getting upended by the Decapitation was flat out crazy, but then moments later Loco is vaulting off the top, onto a prone Riddle on Pain's shoulders, and coming off that with a splash on Williams (that isn't far off from him coming in vertically). This was a wild spotfest, a great clash that never crossed my mind as a possibility, the kind of thing that would have made me flip out the whole time live.

Flip Kendrick vs. Eric Ryan vs. Lucky 13 vs. Facade vs. Angel Ortiz vs. Mike Draztik

PAS: Fun six way scramble with three of the eliminated teams trying to one up each other with crazy moves. Eric Ryan was the highlight, taking way too many bumps and doing way too much for a throw away non-tourney match. He has a spot where he three straight topes on three different guys only to tope the ring rail ribs first with the fourth. He also smushes Flip's face with a huge double stomp and gets bealed over the top rope through a barbed wire board to the floor. Ryan is nuts. Kendrick gets the win with some flippy stuff. Nothing I will remember tomorrow outside of maybe Ryan being a loon, but it was a fine use of 8 minutes

Jollyville Fuck-Its (Nasty Russ/T-Money) vs. The Headhunters

PAS: I expected this to be a wild brawl, but it was actually a pretty deliberate Southern tag, with the Headhunters dominating Nasty Russ for a large part of the match. One of the Headhunters missed a second rope senton which let Russ tag in T-Money. T-Money gets a little offense including a great over the top rope tope, but then the Hunters took over again with chair shots. and a nasty Michinoku Driver on two folded chairs. Finish comes with one of the Headhunters missing a moonsault onto the chairs (totally nuts that such a fat old guy is still doing moonsaults) and then Russ hits a crossbody which gets caught and T-Money hits another and they get a banana peel win. The work in this was fine, and the Fuck-Its make surprisingly good underdog babyfaces, but I am not sure why you would book your tough guy team to get dominated by semi-retired fly-ins only to win like the 1-2-3 Kid. If the Headhunters wouldn't cooperate, book Horace Hogan and Crash the Terminator or something.

Team IOU (Kerry Awful/Nick Iggy) vs. Crazy Pain (Gringo Loco/Steve Pain)

PAS: This is a match where despite liking all four guys, I thought it fell a little short of my expectations. Crazy Pain were put over huge in this tournament, as they dominated much of this match too (which is a match structure which doesn't maximize what a pair of big bumping rudos do best.) I have mostly seen the Carnies work heel, so it is strange to see them work strict babyface, Awful is a pretty great hot tag, and I loved his Warriors Way style Earthquake drop. Parts of this just looked a bit ragged, although the structure was good, this was the best Loco's platform dive superfly splash has looked, he really lands on Iggy hard. I have a feeling this would be better now, as they would have a chance to iron out some wrinkles.

No Strings Attached (Alex Daniels/Gregory Iron/Marti Belle/Ray Lyn/Veda Scott) vs. Weird Body/Garry Baller/PB Smooth/Dick Justice/Space Monkey

PAS: I want to start with the positivity. Alex Daniels and Weird Body had some really fun exchanges, with Weird Body taking some really sick bumps on slams and a great looking discuss lariat. Outside of that stuff, this was a rough watch. Lots of borderline non-consensual spots with the Twerk Team, including Dick Justice jamming one Twerk Teams face into the crotch of another, gonzo porn isn't what I want in my wrestling, I guess I am getting to be a prude in my old age. Most of the match is guys cycling through all of their comedy spots, and a lot of the actually wrestling looked pretty bad, with some moves really whiffing. Maybe just fast forward to the Weird Body spots.

Shayna Baszler vs. Britt Baker

PAS: Man Baszler was so great so early. Her she is Fuchi mode for most of the match, twisting and pulling at Baker's joints and limbs, super nasty stuff. At one point she throws Baker to the floor, ties her calves up in the ring barrier, places the ring steps on her back and puts on a camel clutch. Baker gets a couple of spring boards, and some tetchy forearms which Baszler sells her ass off for, before falling to a rear naked choke. Baker was game, but I can imagine this match would have even been better with someone with better looking offense.

Crazy Pain (Gringo Loco/Steve Pain) vs. Jollyville Fuck-Its (Nasty Russ/T-Money)

PAS: This was a lot of fun, but kind of short, and it really makes me want to see a match between these two teams that wasn't a tourney final. First part of the match is all ringside brawling, and these are four pretty great brawlers. Pain and T-Money were especially heavy handed. There was a really cool spot where T-Money goes for his pounce and ends up hanging himself on the second rope, and some really nifty dives by Crazy Pain. It felt a bit abbreviated, as both teams seemed to leave stuff in their bags, but everything we got looked really good.

ER: This did come off short, even though it was 8 solid minutes of action, and I actually liked how fatigued the Fuck-Its came off. They came out selling a tournament's worth of injuries, Russ especially had some great zombie stagger throughout, even while on offense. I thought it played great. The crowd brawl stuff was fine, Russ smacking Loco with his inflatable middle finger before just punching him in the face, people getting tossed through chairs, Loco getting suplexed on the ramp, all done as tired guys who already hurt. Loco and Pain's flip dives were really impressive, super graceful with heavy landings while also looking totally safe. My favorite spot of the match was T-Money missing a Pounce but committing to it, flying hard into the middle ropes and recoiling. It was such a cool moment I wished they had saved it for part of the finish. Crazy Pain brought some mean stuff, like Loco hitting a missile dropkick to start Pain spinning on a blue thunder bomb, or double stomping Russ in the ribs to eat Money's knees on the big splash. Russ breaks out a dragon rana to the floor, which - c'mon, you guys are crazy - and then really gets whipped into the mat on Pain's powerbomb, then rolled directly into the Pain Killer. Russ took the PK better than anyone in the tourney, really getting crazy height and landing flush, looked like something that would finally finish two asskickers.

ER: Another AIW show, another AIW show that lands a couple matches on our 2016 Ongoing MOTY List. I think these two shows had the earliest Jollyville matches I saw, and it's fun looking back before they became my favorite team. The Catch Point/Lucha Base tag was fun as hell, AIW is fun as hell.

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ACTION Wrestling 10/26/18

Arik Royal vs. Bobby Flaco

PAS: This was Royal kind of working as a one man Da Hit Squad against sort of a southern Elax the Exploited child. Flaco hit some high flying moves, including a couple of running dives off the stage, but much of this was Royal mauling him with power moves, including a big running tackle which sent Flacco through the ropes to the floor and into a wall. The tackle which Royal finished it with was awesome too. I didn't think Flaco hit everything cleanly, but this is match structure I am always going to be into, and Royal is great.

ER: I really liked this one, looked like a Darby Allin match but with new and different participants. We don't get to see a ton of lucha base Arik Royal so it's great seeing him catch dives and takes complicated armdrags as well as he does everything else. I thought Flaco had a nice bag of tricks, thought his two planchas and his cannonball off the stage area looked great, and Royal helped that by really getting absorbed by them. Flaco was good at sticking and moving, and Royal was great at sticking Flaco when he caught him. There was one moment that really showed the match saving professionalism of Royal, they looked to be going for a backdrop but Flaco got a little hung up, so Royal just continued muscling him through and slammed him to the mat. Flaco is really good at getting demolished by Royal's best stuff, and Royal is really good at making his best stuff look great. I love Royal's diving shoulderblock to an opponent on the mat, and Flaco was really good at taking spills to the floor (Dylan saying Flaco was lying "prostate on the floor" is a good example of why I don't try to use the word "prostrate" in conversation), and I love how his big shoulder tackle pounce is used as a killshot against smaller guys. My kind of opener.

AC Mack vs. James Bandy

PAS: Mack has been the discovery of these ACTION shows, he has quickly turned into one of my favorite current wrestlers to watch. Bandy is a WWA4 alum as well, and this was similar to the Austin Theory match, as it was a match between two guys who have trained together. There was some nifty stuff, I liked Bandy's big tope which landed right next to a baby carrier with a sleeping baby (love family wrestling shows), and Mack using a fan to hide behind before landing a cheap shot was a nice bit of heel business. Bandy had some big moves but I think his connective tissue wasn't that strong, and I did think Mack kicked out of some big stuff, only to end the match pretty quickly, but this was pretty enjoyable overall, and Mack is must watch.

ER: This was a hot 7 minute sprint, and Mack is great at moving those types of matches along. He's a guy on constant attack and even when he's kicking out of a move he's already looking to kick at someone's knee or shove them off, get himself into a better offensive position. This whole thing didn't let up much at all over its run time, Bandy starting things off with a great tope into the aisleway, and gets some cool nearfalls on Mack over the brisk runtime. Dylan Hales was good at putting over the excitement of this, sounding like Adam Sandler's "Excited Southerner" when Bandy jumped Mack at the bell. Mack is so smooth and violent, no matter where he's at in the ring he's ready to drop something mean, loved his shot right to Bandy's throat, loved him yanking a woman out of her seat as a shield before tossing her back down when his plan worked, love his targeted body attacks that don't come off as any kind of memorized combo, just him attacking whatever part of Bandy he can reach. That short kick to the knee into his twisted pedigree is a solid finish to a fun match.

O'Shay Edwards/Alan Angels vs. Lynch Mob

PAS: Tag match which had it's moments, but I think overall got a little Young Bucksish for me. O'Shay is a big menacing looking dude and had some nice power stuff although there was a couple of weak spots too (at one point he just didn't go over when getting backdropped). I enjoyed Angels as a pest who spent most of the match laying in cheap shots. Both teams had elaborate double teams, which were about 50 percent cool, 50 percent dumb, lots of complicated ways to put on a neckbreaker. Joey Lynch missed most of his moonsault again, and I think his "King of the Moonsault" gimmick might be a Chikara style comedy gimmick I don't get. I liked Edwards and Angels getting the win and setting up a match against the ref and Bandy for the next show is some classic old school Southern Wrestling stuff.

Kevin Ku vs. Ike Cross

PAS: Stiff sprint in which the energy made up for some of the shambolic execution. Ku comes forward constantly swinging and eating shots, screaming at Cross to hit him, and I dig the pace he sets. This was the most I have enjoyed him and it makes me want to seek out some of his more pimped matches, even if some of his stuff doesn't hit clean or is a little indy. Cross has a boatload of potential, but this is the first time I have seen him against another young guy and you can see the seams a bit more. His big moves are still explosive, but I think he needs a veteran like Hollis or Slim J to fill in the stuff in between. A match that was more about potential greatness then current greatness, but it was still enjoyable to watch.

ER: Agree with all of Phil's assessments here, they both moved fast and went hard, so even when something didn't totally work they were already onto their next bit of business, really showing how far some big energy can go. Cross has absurd speed for a big man, even something like him rolling out of the ring after getting popped looks impressive as hell, and both of them have such quick body movement that it gives them some cover. Ku has no problem flying hard into Cross (loved that diving shoulderblock) and Cross makes moves like avalanches and that spear - moves that a lot of people do soft - look super explosive. Phil told me that Cross is apparently retiring from wrestling, which is a damn shame as he's someone that, once I saw him in SCI, I went out of my way to see any available footage. He was one of the people in wrestling I was most excited to see grow.

Cain Justice vs. Fred Yehi

PAS: This was a rematch from a great match from the first ACTION show, and while this had its moments, it didn't live up to that match. I liked the dueling limb action with Justice working the arm and hand and Yehi working the foot and leg, including pounding Justice with fists right in ankle and upper foot. These are normally really crisp wrestlers though, and things felt a little off. I liked the use of the hooks on the ringpost more in the other Cain matches, although Yehi turning the tables on him was nifty. Match ended with Royal coming in and cheapshotting Yehi, and the whole match kind of felt like they were killing time until a run in.

ER: Yeah something felt a little off here, felt like we had a few moments where one wasn't where the other thought he would be, felt like Cain especially was holding back shots (I don't need guys punching each other in the face, but a lot of things landed uncharacteristically light), and the set ups and transitions weren't quite as neat as these two can make them. I do appreciate them furthering the "Cain uses ring hooks" story, since Cain always wedges those ACTION hooks into his matches, nice to see the tables turned on him but agree with Phil that it didn't really read very well, came off a bit flat. Obviously there were going to be great moments with these two, it would be weird if there somehow weren't; here I especially liked Yehi rushing into the corner with a hard as hell elbow. Too many times guys leap into their corner elbows, like they're doing a Stinger Splash but with an elbow, and I liked Yehi just running in full speed with a short elbow to the jaw. But on paper this is a match that seemed almost guaranteed to land on our MOTY List, and this didn't approach that.

Team TAG vs The Carnies

PAS: The Carnies come in as Matt Griffin's hired guns as part of his feud with Team TAG. Like a lot of Carnies matches this had a bunch of fun spots, and some dumb ones. I liked the Chris Spectra vs Kerry Awful big boy showdown, although I wished they hit a little harder (I think the Big Japan trios match I watched earlier spoiled me), and I dug the Awful spinning clothesline and some of the Carnie shtick. They are a little enamored with complicated double teams, but this was mostly a solid tag with four solid performances.

Slim J vs. Billy Buck

PAS: A match with some really great moments, that was marred by overbooking. J dominates early with Buck doing a bunch of Zbyszko stalling, and J locking on some really cool submissions. We get a Team TAG run in, and much of the rest of the match is the ref being distracted and TAG running in. There are some really cool moments in the end run, Buck has great execution on his moves, he obliterates J with a spinebuster and beheads him with a superkick, and everything Slim does looks great. I loved his combo flipping STO and diving neckbreaker, and he has great execution on his little things. Still I feel like the match was sacrificed to advance the Matt Griffin vs. Team TAG feud, which is kind of a lame thing to do to a main event match. Love both guys, need to dig in the archives and find a better match between the two.

ER: Yeah this kind of outside involvement is not going to get me into a match, especially when it didn't actually seem to affect the outcome too much. Slim didn't seem any more beaten down by the 3 on 1 situation than he does in normal 1 on 1 matches, and by the time the match devolved into the ref pretending he didn't hear a tandem powerbomb happening two feet away from him I had mostly checked out. But these two are great dance partners and we got two separate 5 minute segments where we were given just what we wanted. After the first several minutes of stalling the two of them went on an awesome 5 minute tear, then some BS, and then another hot 5 minutes before the rest of the BS. Those 10 combined minutes had the best stuff on the entire show, you got to see how incredibly these two take offense and dish offense, like Slim hitting a cool ropes assisted headscissors (loved the low angle bump Buck took off it), or Buck hitting one of the finest superkicks you'll ever see. You give me those 10 minutes straight and nothing else and this lands on our List with ease. Whenever it was just the two of them fighting with no distraction, it was everything you'd want out of a wrestling match.

PAS: This was a sort of a disappointing show, first ACTION show without multiple MOTYC list matches, tons of talent on these cards, I loved watching almost everyone, but it felt like everything was a little worse then it should have been

ER: I had a good time with this show, plenty of fun moments and nice performances. But all of the shows preceding this one have been so damn good that a show like this is gonna feel like a major step below. This show would have probably ranked towards the top of live wrestling shows I've seen in my area the last few years, but I can't really compare it to my local scene, I can only compare the show to prior ACTION shows. Still, the fed is clearly filled with a ton of talent, no way we'll be tuning out.

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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 109

Episode 109

1. Cain Justice vs. Cecil Scott

ER: I was really excited for this one, and I think it totally delivered, though in a different way than I was expecting. I'm completely unfamiliar with Cecil Scott: Wrestler, but I know he's been only a couple match guy per year the last several years, and those matches are typically battle royal type appearances. So I expected this to be a clear underdog vs. a cocky current wrestler, with Cain taking 75% and Cecil getting a couple great moments before the expected loss. And I was excited for that as I've loved the build. But this match was Cecil basically working a straight match with Cain, without Cain working like he was underestimating him. On paper I would call bullshit, but in practice Cecil brought it and the match was a killer slab of 8 minute wrestling. Cecil looks fired off and pissed the whole match, and I like what he brings. Cain is great at being super annoying with cheap shot superman punches and eye pokes, Cecil throws some mean uppercuts, this whole thing started good and maintained. Cain is a loon for bumping around to the floor with no boots, and Cecil kept pouncing. Big moment of the match came when Cecil ducked a high kick but got caught with a sneaky spin kick right after, and I loved how Cecil sold it: He lurched forward angrily and then grabbed his head and fell back defensively. Really looked like when an MMA guy takes a kick and his muscle memory keeps him moving forward before his brain catches up to how hard the shot was. Cain has a couple nasty ways to take apart an arm, and I flipped when Cecil was getting back in the ring and Cain kicked his loose arm, then grabbed the arm and punted it. He goes to lock on the sure finish armbar and Cecil got a great flash nearfall roll-up off it, before Cain gets that arm back. Wasn't expecting this to be so competitive, and with the work this good I did not mind one bit.

PAS: Really impressed with how plausible Cecil Scott made his attack. The story of the match was Cecil Scott not having the cardio to work a long match, so he had to unload everything at once. His rush attack was really nice, including some really nasty looking uppercuts. I am also amused at what a puro mark Scott clearly is, stuff like the Hashimoto DDT, the attempted German Suplex into the crowd and the delayed Kawada sell, I often find that kind of thing aggravating, but I found it kind of endearing here, and the delay sell of that high kick into a spin kick was a great holy shit moment. I also really dug the roll up off of the first twist ending attempt, Scott is an analyst so it makes sense he would have a sneaky counter ready. Cain is undeniable at this point, he has got to be one of the best rookies I can remember seeing and he is having great matches week after week with a wide variety of  different types of wrestlers.

2. The Carnies vs. Donnie Dollars & Kevin Ku

ER: I thought this was really good, my favorite Carnies match so far, just a great 10 minute clinic of teamwork. Iggy and Awful complement each other so nicely, they had me hooked from the moment Awful tagged in and headbutted Ku in the ribs. Later Awful gets desperate and clocks Ku in the back of the head with an elbow, and my love springs eternal. Ku had some nice strikes but too often fell into 2017 indy striker mode, but the Carnies showed they can work interesting stuff around an indy striker. The sequence setting up Dollars getting dumped to the floor was masterful from all involved, Dollars missing a charge into the ropes, Awful making a low bridge that was timed great, Dollars taking a wild bump to the floor, and Iggy hitting a nutso dive. Loved Awful's maneuvering in the corner to get Ku in a roll up, seemed like some trippy World of Sport stuff, except better than almost anyone currently ripping off old WoS videos. The Boston crab/kneedrop is a great simple, effective double team, and I love how Awful's elbow earlier foreshadowed it. Great stuff all around.

PAS: This was a bunch of fun. Carnies are great, but I really dug the makeshift Ku/Dollars team too. Dollars was great as an old school wrestling powerhouse, he wrestled like JYD or Bruno, just big heavy shots and throws. I really liked Ku too, took big bumps and his strikes were really nasty, the head kick looked great, normally that is a move that is too leg slappy, but Ku looked like Low-Ki. I agree about how awesome the finish was, set up that Boston crab kneedrop perfectly and it is a super nasty looking finish.

3. Aric Andrews vs. Mitch Connor

ER: Cain jumps Mitch before the bell, and Cain is really great at making me want to see every one of his next feuds. He'll start one feud before his other feuds are fully blown off, and it keeps me interested in his current feuds while also setting up new challengers. Yeah, feud with Cecil is over, but he didn't waste any time setting this up with Mitch, and always seems to have his hand in a couple honey jars, even clapping Stutts on the back on his way to the back. Connor sold the belt shot to the back of the head great, and Andrews was flat out vicious with Connor. All of Andrews' knee strikes looked great, the one that finished that match especially looked like a knee that should finish a match.

PAS: Nifty bit of wrestling business. Mitch returned to wrestling after a stroke and he really sells those head shots like he might have another one right in the ring. I loved the tough old guy refusing to forfeit, but still get steamrolled. His one forearm from the ground was great and the final jumping knee looked totally brutal, I loved his KO sell.

4. Brad Attitude vs. Nick Richards

ER: Killer match from these two. I wasn't sure they'd be able to fill time, but both did, convincingly. Attitude is so vicious and I loved how the match looked it would be almost an Attitude steamrolling, but then he got so aggressive that as he flung his body into Richards it sent him careening past the turnbuckles to the floor. That's a really cool way to give Richards some early space and recovery, and Attitude made both his attack and his bump look nasty. Richards doesn't seem like he should work. He's a good everyman, every one of us knows a guy who looks like him. Some of his offense doesn't seem like it should work, but it does (his weird shots to the chest always seem look terrible 80% of the way through delivery...and then they hit great), and he sells his ass off. Well, here he sold his arm off. Crowd stuff was simple and good, nice posting from Attitude. They overcome a dangerous moment where Attitude does his rope flip senton, adjusts to a rolling Richards and ends up basically torpedoing headfirst. But he tears at that arm and Richards sells that arm great the whole way (my favorite being when he let out an anguished yell while hooking the leg). Richards comebacks were nice, his cannonball crashed, and I loved how they built to him going for that wild elbow off the apron....right into Attitude catching him in a triangle. It was used interestingly in a non-stip match, as Attitude lets him pass out and hopes for the count out. Attitude takes DDTs and cutters great, which makes him the ideal opponent to help Richards' offense look its best. I do think Richards kicked out of a bit too many things, that low superkick after Attitude shrugged off a roll up attempt looked especially devastating (helped no doubt by Richards' fantastic crumple sell of it), and the finish absolutely did not work for me. They were going for something lofty, something difficult, and it just didn't work. It was supposed to be Attitude going for a moonsault and getting cuttered on the way down, it looked at most like Richards just slowed down his momentum slightly. After everything Richards kicked out of, I just didn't buy this finishing off Attitude. Still, overall the match was great, high end performances from both guys. With a better end I could see this winding up pretty high on a list.

PAS: I really loved this, what a performance by both guys. Attitude is such a star, his timing, selling and offense is so great looking. I loved all of his arm work on Richards, some of the arm work looked like something Negro Navarro would bust out. I liked the story of Richards being able to get an edge on the floor, but he was still outclassed in the ring.  The Richards Cactus elbow off the apron into a triangle choke is one of my favorite spots of the year, such a creative idea executed perfectly. Attitude choking him out and going for the count out is such an asshole move, fits perfectly with his character. I liked the finish, Attitude gets frustrated about not being able to put this kid away and goes for a cheap shot with a chair, a ref grabs it from him and it throws off his timing enough to get caught in cutter. I liked this more then any of the pimped Lee matches, it had great looking offense and big moves and great selling, and it never got into the overkill that the Lee stuff can fall victim too.

PAS: Tremendous hour of YouTube. Every match delivered what it needed to, you had a nifty angle to set up the main event and the main event was a killer. Well done!

ER: Yeah this may have been my favorite episode of CWF yet, and we have obviously enjoyed several of them. Attitude/Richards is an easy entry into our 2017 MOTY List, and we though Cecil Scott/Cain Justice was too much fun to leave off, so that makes it too. Two matches on the MOTY list within one hour, yeah this was some great pro wrestling TV right here.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 101

Episode 101

1. Arik Royal/Roy Wilkins vs. Dirty Daddy/Snooty Foxx

PAS: Just a great, compact, formula southern tag match. Daddy and Foxx are already very good at the babyface role in a tag match, Daddy bumps big, sells well and times his comebacks, Foxx is a good power hot tag, kind of babyface Nikita Koloff (which is a total compliment BTW). Royal and Wilkins are great at cutting off the ring, having an interesting set of beat down offense and talking shit. This has a nice Daddy in peril section, good Foxx tag, a great cut off of Foxx (Royal obliterates him with a nasty lariat) and a nice short finish run. This is everything you want from an Elite 8 seven minute tourney southern tag match.

ER: This wasn't the match I expected, and that's a good thing. Fox really impressed me as he worked a long control segment with Wilkins, and he had mainly been seen as a hot tag guy before this. He's clearly improving, given more and more responsibility each match, and I liked him roughing up Wilkins. Royal was great when he tagged in, sending a tired Wilkins running towards Fox to distract him, then blasting Fox with a killer western lariat. And that finish by the All-Stars is absolute murder. Also, forget when exactly, but Wilkins did a dropkick to Daddy while Daddy was lying down and it looked awesome. Pretty sure that's a spot we've seen from him before, but this is the best I've seen It look. Really dug this, good showing by all.

2. The Carnies vs. Ethan Alexander Sharpe/White Mike Jordan

PAS: This opens with a long dance off and a section where White Mike plays cornhole, oof, it felt like a college improv troupe stuck in a bad idea with no way to get out. When the match finally started it was OK, until the end where Sharpe stops in the middle of the match to start lecturing Jordan on his behavior, as they are doing a poor mans Bobby Eaton with the Blue Bloods gimmick. I like Jordan and the Carnies (could do without Sharpe) but this was overall a stinker.

ER: I'm watching this cornhole segment thinking "Phil might be letting me review CWF shows solo from here on out". This is an accurate approximation of Schneider wrestling hell. The fact that we don't even get the cornhole story paid off with a winner is another problem entirely. I wanted to see how legit White Mike's shot was. But it was a way for the Carnies to eventually jump their opponents, which ehhhh fine whatever. Loved the Carnies here once the match got started. Awful especially had some big moments, huge chops, stooged around nicely for a shot, hits the best bombs away butt splash in the biz, really starting to come across like a Dick Murdoch son who has at least two Avenged Sevenfold CDs. I wanted more from the match overall, but the Carnies finisher is legit and I'm glad Sharpe got punished for wasting everyone's time.

3. Ugly Ducklings vs. Joshua Cutshall/Tracer X

PAS: Fun tag which is the most workratey match of this round. Lots of pretty complicated spots which were timed well, fun dynamic with three little flyers and Cutshall as a big heavyweight cracking everyone. I really enjoy Lance Lude, he seems to be made of jello on his bumps and hits some pretty elaborate armdrags and ranas. Didn't think the interlude between Stokely and Coach Mikey was needed, and the end might have had one reversal too many, but I mostly enjoyed this. Would like to see WWN use Cutshall with Tracer X as a team in FIP or EVOLVE, they really have nice chemistry.

ER: I'm pretty much with Phil down the line on this one. I like both these teams and liked how they matched up, Ducks bring the bumps and Killjoy even throws some surprisingly stiff shots. I love matches that have dives right next to a barrier-free crowd, always seems crazy to me. I really liked all the workrate-y exchanges, though I think Cutshall's wind up elbow should be more of a KO blow, felt like they moved on from that shot too quickly. The manager moment of the match I guess allowed for some recovery time, and while it was overall pointless I didn't mind too much as I like Mikey's look. Didn't expect the upset and I have a feeling this might set them up to be crushed by the All Stars...

4. Tripp Cassidy/Cain Justice vs. Sandwich Squad

PAS: Really fun five minute potato fest. Basically all four guys just laid into each other. Cassidy and Biggs had a really fun exchange of shots with Cassidy using throat thrusts and backfists and Biggs laying in headbutts. The finish was nasty with Biggs obliterating Justice with a pop up forearm, before the Hero's sandwich. I really enjoyed Justice's KO selling, as he really looked like a boxer or an MMA fighter who didn't know what arena he was in.

ER: I wanted more of a showing for Justice/Cassidy in this one, they both got in shots (especially Cassidy with a bunch of cool strikes to Biggs) but it never totally felt like Sandwich Squad were taking them seriously. I thought the heels deserved better, especially Cain who got a little steamrolled. I don't typically mind the Squad steamrolling guys, but I wanted a bit more competitiveness. Nice showing for the Squad, though, they at least looked like killers.

5. Sandwich Squad vs. The Carnies

PAS: Carnies jump the Sandwich Squad at the bell and they have a short violent sprint. I like how they are building this feud with The Carnies getting more and more desperate. The Aaron Biggs running splash felt like a KO blow and I loved how it was sold. I have a feeling a big blowoff is coming between these two team and I am excited about it.

ER: If you're going to blow things up in just a couple minutes, you do it like this. Carnies jump the Squad right after their win, Cassidy sticks around to help with the beatdown, Awful locks in a mean leg submission, but this short match was ALLLLL about Biggs' running Thesz Press. Holy shit that was a finish! It felt like a bullied high school fat kid finally just snapped and just ran body first into his antagonizer with the goal of crushing him through cement. These teams should have a good feud down the line.

6. All-Stars vs. Ugly Ducklings

PAS: Lance Lude comes into this match with a bad knee, and the All-Stars work a great "guy with a bad knee" tag match. Brutalize Lude, until he gets a hot tag, let hubris get the best of them and almost lose, and then do some cheap shit to pull out the win. Ducklings are great in ring bumpers and were flying around for all of the All-Stars big moves. Short and perfectly worked for this situation.

ER: Yeah yeah yeah this was easily my favorite match on the show, really loved this. I found myself really rooting for the Ducklings to advanced and surprised myself by how pissed I got when Gemini interfered, leading to the All-Stars win. Lude turns in an awesome performance, limping around and taking vicious bumps, fighting like mad, standing up like a man, scrambling for that hot tag. Killjoy comes in and lands some great shots, but also takes a brutal lariat. Perfect amount of time for what they were going for, and while I still REALLY wanted that upset, I'm sure All-Stars/Sandwich is gonna be a killer. Damn, just can't get over all the awesome scrambling here, those early parts where Royal was just trying to contain Lude. Great short match.

PAS: Another great round of tourney matches, I really did not like the White Mike cornhole horseshit, but otherwise all of the matches were good, and different and smartly worked. We set up a sensible final which should be an excellent match.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 100

1. Smith Garrett vs. Darius Lockhart

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

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

2. Percy Davis vs. Tripp Cassidy

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

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

3. The Carnies vs. The Sandwich Squad

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

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

4. Joshua Cutshall vs. Nick Richards

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

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

5. Slade Porter vs. Cain Justice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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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