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 99

Episode 99

1. Stokely Hathaway's Dream Team (Tracer X/Joshua Cutshall) vs. Da Powah (Ian Maxwell/Big Time Yah)

PAS: Great five minute tag match, we had some big spots from the rookies, including an insanly high assisted leg drop by Maxwell right on X's face, and some great looking belly to belly throws by Big Time Yah, but they eventually got smashed. That running KO forearm by Cutshall is awesome looking he really looks like he puts folks to sleep with that shot.

ER: Two fun teams right here. I had never seen Da Powah before but came away really like Big Time Yah, he's a big boy who apparently is trained by Cedric Alexander and George South, which would make for a pretty fun combination of abilities. He throws two mammoth overhead belly to belly suplexes here and seems to have a good command of the ring, good size, I like it. Earlier he backdrops Maxwell, who lands disgustingly onto the face of Tracer X. Cutshall/X are a really good team, and I especially think Cutshall is really really good, and that finisher is lethal. Good stuff right here.

2. The Insiders (Ace Perry/Slade Porter) vs. Cain Justice/Tripp Cassidy

PAS: This is the most I have liked Cassidy, I still think his Raven act is a little corny, but I thought jamming his used mouthpiece in Porters mouth was pretty gross in a unique way, and he unloaded this KO punch which was really nasty. Didn't think much of the Insiders, as Perry seemed like he had trouble running the ropes, but they did take a beating which is what was required here. I really hope Justice doesn't become a full Cassidy disciple, he is way too talented to be Lodi.

ER: Cassidy and Justice make an awesome team (fully agree with Phil, praying Justice doesn't become an acolyte, no matter how entertaining he would probably make it), and The Insiders seem to try a lot of stuff. Not all of it works, but they try some spots you don't regularly see and they bump around fine. Also agree that this was the best we've seen Cassidy, his crossfaces were good and that mouthpiece spot was gross, but also had a violence to it like a lucha mask ripping. Having his woman lick it before he puts it back in his own mouth is an amazing piece of character work showing his weird control over others, while also being completely revolting. Justice was far and away the best in this, at one point he hit this brutal running thrust kick, and he's really fun working a more indy workrate style as he works it like a fish out of water, able to convey being completely turned around crossed up by rope running, while still having his bearings to do a throw or grab an arm. I really liked this.

3. The All-Stars (Arik Royal/Roy Wilkins) vs. Mitch Connor/Nick Richards

PAS: This was basically an competitive All-Stars squash, Connor is a tubby old dude recovering from a stroke, and Richards is his surprise partner (Boogie Woogie Man Rob McBride had four flat tires which is a shame). I am turning into a Richards fan, as he took some big basic bumps off the ring apron and threw some nice shots. Looking forward to seeing more of the All-Stars in this tourney.

ER: Feel good performance for Connor, while establishing the All-Stars as merciless favorites. I loved the way Wilkins took out Richards with his own body, and how they not only cut off the ring but kept Richards knocked to the floor almost the entire match. They would tee off on Connor and any time Richards would show his head one of them would fly across the ring and knock him to the floor. Richards took nice bumps back down each time, my favorite being when he caught his chin on the apron. Connor gets knocked all around by the All-Stars but fights the whole time and all the way down, always throwing elbows. The outcome was never in doubt, but all Connor had to do to make this work was fight hard, and he did.

4. So' Time (Dirty Daddy/Snooty Foxx) vs. Zane Dawson/Dave Dawson

PAS: So' Time are both rookies, but have turned into a fun tag team. Daddy can take a real thumping and times his comebacks well, Fox is pretty green but is a good big dude hot tag. I enjoy the Dawson's, a pair of fat greasy bikers are right in my wrestling wheelhouse, and they have some really nasty looking double teams and Zane has a great jumping knee drop. I thought this went a bit long for what they were trying for, but I enjoyed it a bunch

ER: I was a little disappointed in this. For a team who looked pretty strong to me, and went toe to toe with the Sandwich Squad, I thought both Dawsons kind of got handled by Dirty Daddy for a bit too long. I was really hoping the Dawsons would advance but So' Time are featured as much as anybody on the TV eps. But I like Daddy and Fox so I can't get too worked up about it. I just wanted as many bigguns in the tourney as possible.

PAS: Great tourney first round, I would give a thumbs up to every match, and it set up some good matchups for the second and third rounds.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 90

Episode 90

1. Donnie Dollars vs. Percy Davis

PAS: Dollars is coming off a heel turn at BattleCade and goes through this match with kind of an dead eyed stare. Davis talks a lot of smack, but is constantly met by huge shots by Dollars. Davis gets a bit of a run, starting out with a nasty looking discus slap, but mostly gets thrown around the ring. Dollars lands some big shots, so this was a pretty entertaining semi-squash.

ER: I liked this quite a bit, and as I didn't watch all of BattleCade I thought Stutts did a good job of explaining what had happened. His commentary in general was really good here, I liked him saying Dollars was like "a puppy with large paws", how they thought he would grow into his size and strength and he really hadn't, until possibly now. It's an expression I had never heard before and I really liked it, might steal it some time. Dollars did thousand yard stare nicely, and Davis seems like he has a fun bag of tricks: he mixed up punches nicely, to the body and a big Superman punch off the buckles, nice mule kick, that discus slap that Phil mentioned, and got tossed nicely by Dollars. Dollars played distant well and threw his offense out accordingly. Playing distant and then doing a bunch of reversal sequences would have been terrible, instead he played it like his reaction time was slower than normal, but his moves were more violent than normal. Very satisfying match.

2. Xsiris vs. Smith Garrett

PAS: This is the result of Xsiris jumping Garrett at BattleCade and was pretty much an all out brawl which never gets started. Really liked Xsiris here, he trapped Garrett in the ring skirt and gave him these nasty looking shots to the back of the head, he also threw a brutal looking palm strike to the throat. Garrett showed a lot of intensity and fire, although his offense didn't look as crisp, energetic fight which definitely wanted to make me see the blow off.

ER: This was awesome. You so often hear "I don't want a match, I want a fight", and then they proceed to mostly have a normal wrestling match. Well Garrett follows through on his promise and never makes it into the ring with Xsiris. I'd never seen either before but came away super impressed with Xsiris, dude looked like an absolute killer. He starts with these brutal clubbing shots, ties Garrett up in the apron skirt Finlay style, pops him in the face, chokes him with the skirt, but then when Garrett gets free Xsiris takes a nasty ring post bump. Xsiris also takes a mean back bump on the floor off a lariat, and a guy who works stiff and makes his opponents' stuff look good is always going to be an instant favorite of mine. The match never starts and the angle was effective, as I definitely want to see them go at it again. Garrett looked okay, didn't love his offense (against Xsiris or against officials in the ring) but his energy was believable and off the charts, and that is arguably more important to a match/feud like this.

3. Tripp Cassidy vs. Nick Richards

PAS: This was another story heavy match, which is something this fed does really well in the ring and explains really well in commentary. The idea is that Richards is an ex-death match guy and brawler who is trying to reinvent himself as a wrestler, meanwhile Cassidy is yet another in the endless indy children of Raven who is going to try to bring him back. Cassidy was pretty cornball in this, at one point he yells into the camera "I am counterculture." There were some nice shots and bumps in this, but I thought Richards wrestling looked kind of hinky, and his brawling wasn't great either. Felt like something which worked better on paper then in execution.

ER: Well Trip Cassidy gets the distinction of being the first CWF wrestler that I never want to watch again. He's got a beyond dated gimmick and a dated brawling style. If he didn't look so joyless I would think he was just doing a silly parody of something that even a parody of would be dated. But by god it looks like he means it. Richards was fine though. It's weird, as I thought his punches to the face sucked, but whenever he would go at the body those shots would look awesome! Dude needs to stick to a program of "punches to body, elbows to face".  He bumped around nicely for Cassidy even if I don't think Cassidy's offense earned it. I'd be curious to see Richards against someone else. I am not curious to see Cassidy against anyone else.

ER: Huge hats off to whomever assembled the episode-closing highlight video. It was professional as hell and looked awesome. Even though it focused more on moments than angles, it still made me feel like I had been along for some kind of ride. Tons of ambition, tons of giant fat dudes, tons of danger, the video was killer and made me want to just go back and watch everything the promotion has done. So again, hats off to whomever put this together.

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