CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 138

Episode 138

Mike Mars vs. Dirty Daddy

ER: I thought Mars had a big chance to win, but I wasn't expecting this! Daddy came out in the serious title defense braids, and started the match super aggressive. I like the story of the brief match, that Daddy came out hot and went toe to toe, realizing too late that a more defensive approach might have been better. He got caught up in defending HIS belt, and it cost him. All of Daddy's elbows looked great, flying into Mars and almost seeming like it would work, but Mars caught him twice with big, jarring slams. Surprising result, loved the frustration showed by Daddy after the match, but very curious where it goes. Daddy is clearly good enough that he's beyond a rising talent.

PAS: I really enjoyed Daddy coming out ready to brawl and paying for it. Those elbows were great, and all of the big slams felt like match finishing moves. Still a two minute title loss did feel like a bit of a burial for Daddy, the kind of thing Watts would do if a guy was moving on (maybe Watts did this to Dirty Daddy when he left for Continental). Was he riding with Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Grenada last night?

Lance Lude/Rob Killjoy/Matty de Nero vs. White Mike Jordan/Timmy Lou Retton/Ethan Alexander Sharpe

ER: This was a blast, and it seems that the Ducklings and the Gymnasties can't really have an uninteresting match against each other. White Mike gets in a good joke about BattleCade now being 18 years old, and therefor legal. I feel like such a boob for not being into White Mike from the first time I saw him a year + ago. I think I just wasn't expecting him, because by this point he's someone who regularly fills me with joy. His comedy works for me, his athleticism constantly still surprises me, and he's just got this great assured charisma. He's got a build like tiny Akebono with round body and skinny arms, but he's so good! He knows what he's doing. I was also really in the weeds on Matty D. I saw he showed up last BattleCade but nothing else for CWF, and I don't get him. There were a couple of times where he was staring into the camera like someone who didn't know what a camera was. He has the eyes of a new roommate you catch watching you sleep, or like someone who is trying to imitate human skin. I would personally burn him with fire, but I'm all for Sharpe just throwing a his big uppercut at him instead. Launchpad McQuack is one of my favorite tag moves, love how Lude gets launched like a projectile, and Ducks are just a super fun team. I dug Sharpe throwing Retton to the finish, and then getting caught post match and eating White Mike's awesome neck snap can opener, love that we get to see these guys back for Kernodle.

PAS: This was pretty fun stuff, the Gymnasties and Ducks work each other so much that they really have their shtick down pat. I am not sure what Matty D is about, he seemed more like a package of quirks then any real character. He feels like a guy who shows up to college and starts wearing a colorful scarf and smoking a pipe to be an individual, like he hasn't figured out his Chikara gimmick so he is doing 10 at a time,  I did like his diving punch though. White Mike is super entertaining, and it is always crazy to watch him work athletic workrate wrestling, he looks like such a slug and can move like Juventud Guerrera.

Tracer X vs. Cam Carter vs. John Skyler vs. Mace Li vs. Michael McAllister vs. Ray Kandrack vs. Aric Andrews vs. Snooty Foxx

ER: This is a pinfalls/over the top rumble for the Golden Ticket, winner gets to challenge for any belt in any kind of match, which feels like a way to work some fun shenanigans. If I had a Golden Ticket couldn't I could theoretically challenge Trevor Lee in a "Winner Must Be Eric" match. But anyway this was good, although I wish they chose a firm direction, either do a full violent battle royal with a couple monsters dishing beatings (like they had Kandrack doing), or do a wacky AJPW battle royal and have multiple guys pinning one big name at a time to eliminate them, and get us to surprise finalist. But I'm glad we got a big return from Kandrack, treated as a real big deal, building him up like Andre tossing around three men. I do wish McAllister got more of a showing as I loved him in the Nick Richards match. Here he kind of gets run over. But Kandrack plows into people with his body, throws a cool headbutt, leans way into kicks and strikes, catches a crossbody off the top from Tracer X (and catches him low to the mat which is some impressive strength) and slams him, just a cool performance. It comes down to Andrews and Skyler and we get some nice punch exchange, a couple decent nearfalls, good enough for its purpose. Between facing Royal and then potentially facing Andrews if he somehow gets past Royal, I don't see Adler holding the TV title much longer. His reign of terror will be over!

PAS: Fun match, I really enjoy Kandrack as the CWF Undertaker, old guy who is semi-retired, but still comes in an wrecks everyone. It makes me want to go back and watch old Kandrack matches when he was more active. Tracer X is pretty flippy, not my favorite type of wrestler, but man does he take a nasty spear, Snooty just demolishes in mid air. I liked Andrews working full on babyface in this match, and then turning on the crowd during his heartfelt speech. Now just grow the beard back and go get Lee Valiant.

Zane & Dave Dawson vs. The Sandwich Squad

ER: This was a tough concept on paper, a Last Man Standing tag match. I don't know if I've ever seen one before, and it's probably because the execution and booking of one is difficult. You either need to get both men down for a 10 count at once, which seems incredibly difficult, or count men down individually and wind up with an awkward handicap match which should theoretically end shortly after (one man shouldn't be able to last long against two when there are no rules). So there was a little bit of awkward, mainly in the "I'm going to verrrry slowly get ready to hit you with a chair" spots, where one guy would slowly raise a chair and slowly walk toward his opponent, only to get kicked into the stomach or have the chair knocked away. Those spots could have been smoother. But there was some real pain in this match, and that made it work. We got a lot of painful chairshots, and since we rightly don't see many chairshots to the head anymore, we see the different violence brought from chairshots to awkward parts of the body-not-head. So guys take stinging shots to the shoulderblade and the elbow and Biggs gets a chair kicked into his freaking hand, and this little kid chants EAT! EAT! EAT! in a squeaky little cartoon voice. Biggs and Mecha each get chairshotted out of the air on crossbodies, and that looked tremendous. The Squad do a great fireworks spectacular to take out Zane, with Biggs hitting a superplex, Mecha dropping a couple of his great elbowdrops (and Mecha was really awesome this whole match, loved his sharp elbows to jaws and big headbutts), and Biggs hits a big splash while holding a chair. Great way to put a guy down for 10. The finish is some inspired bullshit, with all 4 men getting counted down all at once, looking for sure like nobody is going to respond, and Zane's (on the apron) legs fall over the side and land on the floor, leaving him in a standing position for the win at the 9 count. Pretty great way to have the Dawsons retain, that could have easily come off as cheap.

PAS: I liked this a bunch, and it was the best of the multiple Dawsons v. Squad matches we have seen over the last couple of months. Some of those chairshots were really nasty looking while not causing any brain damage.  I loved Mecha in this, he took and delivered a big time beating, and I loved his big Abdullah style elbow drops. I agree that the finish was really clever, it kept the belt on the Dawson's while still keeping the Sandwich Squad strong (although Pimpgate meant that this was their last appearance.)

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 135

Episode 135

White Mike Jordan v. Trevor Lee

PAS: This is kind of Lee working as Flair against Mike Jackson, taking an undercard guy and making him look good before beating him. White Mike has a ton of personality and I really enjoyed how excited he was when he was able to lock on a headlock or get a two count. Lee really blistered him with chops, and I dug Mike begging off only to poke him in the eye. It did seem really heelish for Lee to do the finger break spot to Mike, he should probably save that for blood feuds, not genial comedy jobbers.

ER: This is like Masao Inoue getting a shot at Akiyama, or when Momota got that singles match against Liger. And just like those matches, I loved this! White Mike is a guy I actively look forward to now, although I'm a little insulted that he didn't take his heartfelt CWF retirement seriously. I saw it. I saw him take off his boots and leave them in the ring. And his singlet. And his overshorts. If we can't take wrestling retirements seriously, then what do we have left? Mike is a clear sitting duck for Lee in this match, which makes his moments of control so wonderful. Mike works the first half of this match almost exactly like Haruka Eigen, and I can't help but love his facial expressions as he plays coy in the ropes to avoid more of a Lee beating. He sells some corner chops like Michaels selling for Hogan, then begs off taking more only to sneak in with a perfect eyepoke. Later he runs screaming from Lee's apron punt and hides near the ringpost, only to slyly yank Lee by the trunks into the post. I love that spot, falling backwards while holding onto the front of a guys trunks, sending them face first into danger. And it's a great spot for guys like Mike and Inoue to use. Lee starts taking Mike seriously and Mike responds. I loved the moment Mike crumbled for a big boot, his legs going out from under him rather than just taking a flat back bump, and Lee yanks him up for a suplex but Mike surprises him with a Falcon Arrow for a nice nearfall. I can see both sides of the finger break spot, but I liked it here. It felt like Lee was sick of dealing with Mike's bullshit so was using it as unnecessary punishment, allowing himself a clear path to the finish. This could have been a goof around yukfest, but I really ended up loving both personalities playing off each other and dug what Mike brought.

CW Anderson vs. Mark James

PAS: James is a big barrel chested looking dude, who kind of looks like if CW stopped going to the gym and just competed in arm wrestling contests. This was a really fun southern slug fest, lots of big thumping forearms and punches. Anderson works over the arm and does a nice job of it as one might expect. James hits a great spinebuster of his own, and Damien Wayne and John Skyler come out to distract the ref (Why the fuck is Damien Wayne hanging out and not wrestling on this show? I have to see every random student who drives down in a match.  Aspyn Rose makes TV but Damien fucking Wayne's match is dark? ). One nasty superkick later it is a match. Enjoyed this a bunch

ER: This was awesome, I want this kind of CW showdown every damn week. I had never seen or heard of Mark James but he's the exact kind of guy I like to watch against CW, just a big burly bruiser (looks like and is built like a smaller Tenta) who isn't afraid to dish it out. CW works his left arm in cool ways, once even just punching him right in the arm, which you don't really see. He stomps on it and James is really great at selling it, always aware of it when he tries to throw hands with CW. The forearm exchange is really good as Anderson keeps ramping it up, landing the biggest blow and hitting a nice lefty lariat. But James fires back with his own and hits a nice running big boot in the corner, and even gets a huge spinebuster! Damien Wayne and Skyler run distraction (and yeah, Wayne is there and we get NO Wayne matches on tape out of it!?), and the superkick finish is academic. This is the kind of wrestling I can just watch on repeat, loved how they matched up and love their style. CW can just keep doing this for another 20 years.

John Skyler vs. Arik Royal vs. Tracer X vs. Chet Sterling

PAS: Chet Sterling superman fighting the odds match is not a match layout I am going to love. I just don't buy large parts of what Sterling is selling, so a whole match of him fighting off Royal and Skyler is going to fall short for me. I did like some things in this, I thought Tracer X's elimination was really cool, as he goes for a 450 lands on his feet flips out and gets pounced out of his boots by Royal. Fun way for a flipster to go down. I also liked the Royal and Skyler Demolition Decapitation and Skyler setting up for a superkick only to crack Royal tickled the old school wrestling part of my brain that loves formula. Still this was overly long and was dependent on me caring way more about Sterling then I do.

ER: Yeah this was fine, and I think I've warmed on Sterling a little more than Phil, but I'm getting a little worn with the Sterling Against All Odds situations we seem to get regularly. These kind of matches are usually worth it just for the sheer joy of an Arik Royal small show ring entrance, as it looks like he's having the time of his life just walking to the ring on these shows. But the match does have nice moments despite probably going 5 minutes too long. The Tracer X elimination was bonkers and needs to be on a CWF highlight video. Royal just upends him and flings him halfway across the ring, right after he recovered from a missed 450. It was insane. Sterling fighting back against Royal and Skyler was fine. I liked his flying back elbows, and Royal is great at stooging around for anyone, but it always just feels like Sterling takes too much damage in matches like these to still be around at the end. The Decapitation is brutal and really should be a finish, but I did gleefully laugh when Royal sat down for the pin at the end. The match went long, they could have at least not edited out a Royal post match celebration.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 126

Episode 126

1. Cain Justice/Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. Dirty Daddy/Faye Jackson

PAS: Faye Jackson is a thick African American lady who works the thickness into her style. Early in she is kind of toying with Sharpe until he loses it and slaps her, I really like how Sharpe has been slowly getting meaner every week, and loved how Dirty Daddy went ballistic and started kicking his ass. This was primarily another showcase for the great Daddy v. Cain feud, and although they didn't have a ton of interactions, they were all great. I imagine the next week is their final singles for quite a while, and when they pick the feud back up in a year or two (maybe over the CWF title?) it will be epic stuff. Two intergender matches is two weeks is a little much, although I liked Jackson more then Alley Cat

ER: I like how Phil still hasn't noticed that Allie Cat is a pun name. Really Cat just needs to find a partner like Faye Jackson who can go by the name Junkyard Dawn and I'd happily seek out their tag matches. This match was a real good time, with comedy used the right amount and nicely balanced out by fast, heavy work. A few months ago Sharpe the whole match would have just been based around Sharpe going googly eyed every time his face would up in either sets of Faye's cleavage. This was a much more satisfying version of what could have been. With her assets you KNOW Faye is going to bring some butt offense, and it looks good, dropping that bombs away and really snapping that running hip attack in the corner. And I chuckled at Cecil Scott's "down with the thiccness" line. That's a t-shirt right there. I love the build to Sharpe snapping and just belting Faye with a huge chop, leading to a righteously pissed Daddy tagging his way in. Sharpe/Cain's interactions with Daddy were all good, with Cain dropping stomps and knees on Daddy's limbs, and Sharpe doing a nice necktie neckbreaker, a simple, cool move that looks like it could hurt the neck and the shoulder. Daddy's fiery comebacks are some of the best, and I love him flying into Sharpe with a headlock takeover that cared more about doing damage than looking pretty. His elbows down the stretch were suitably hard, you can buy each guy getting stunned by them. Real fun tag, obviously cannot wait for the singles blowoff.

2. Joshua Cutshall/Otto Schwanz vs. Sandwich Squad 

PAS: Really disappointing match. On paper this should be a blast, four big dudes smacking the crap out of each other is smack dab in the Segunda Caida wheelhouse. This however was mostly booking with Cutshall attacking his own partner, it seemed like he was working almost a Missing Link "doesn't understand wrestling" gimmick, which is sort of silly and something he doesn't need. I think Schwanz v. Cutshall could be great, but we could have gotten a good match and a post match angle to set that up, instead we got this waste of potential.

ER: Yeah this was a downer, and Phil is right that we could have at least gotten a good match that deteriorated at the end and blew up post match, instead of what we got. This on paper looks like a match that Segunda Caida would book, and those hurt the most when they end up wildly undershooting their mark. Cutshall as a guy who doesn't comprehend tag team wrestling is a bit much since we've seen him in plenty of actual matches where he clearly understands the rules. I'll give them some leeway, as they've earned it, and maybe it will eventually break down that he doesn't understand the concept of trusting another man and therefore thinks every tag match is just a 4 way. But I'm sure there are also tons of tags that he's performed normally in that I haven't seen. But they could go deep with this, explore his history of abuse that lead to his personality and his distrust, opening the doors for a face turn when someone actually reaches out and gets to the heart of his problems, allowing him to trust society again. That's probably a bit too heady for a pro wrestling show, but I'd have confidence in them pulling it off. I felt sorry for Biggs in this one, as he had the tough task of having to sell for an extended length of time while all the partner fighting unfolded, despite him not having taken much of a beating. I was hoping for a lot more from this, but we'll see where it winds up.

3. High Profile (Shea Shea McGrady/Will Demented) vs. The Gymnasty Boys (White Mike Jordan /Timmy Lou Retton) vs. The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude/Rob Killjoy)

PAS: I totally loved this, it was just a balls to the wall crazy guy sprint, nobody outstayed their welcome, the big spots were big ass spots and everything was hit cleanly. First time I have seen the Gymnasty Boys and they are fun as shit. White Mike is great of course, and surprisingly at home in this kind of high difficulty spotfest, Retton is a big dude and insanely agile, he looks like a smaller Big E, but can flip like Red. I had never even heard of High Profile, but I dug them too, they look like Harmony Korine characters, and take crazy bumps. White Mike hits the best can opener I have ever seen on Shea Shea, who is 130 at most and thus really gets spun . Ducks are of course bumping like lunatics, and hitting nutty spots, I loved them hitting duel poison ranas on Retton and just spiking him on his head. I could watch a version of this match over and over again.

ER: Yes Yes Yes! A total burner that doesn't overstay its welcome, every guy playing to their strengths, all killer, yadda yadda yadda. This was everything it could have and should have been. I've loved the Ducks since first seeing them in CWF, and this was the showcase match for them, Lude especially. Lude keeps looking grimier and grimier and keeps wrestling crazier and crazier. Within the first minute he had hit a wild dive out to the floor past the turnbuckles, later he hit a big flip dive, got launched on Launchpad McQuack (that monkey flip into an insanely fast cannonball in the corner was my favorite spot of the match) and late in the match gets shoved far off the top rope into Coach Mikey on the floor (also, it's nice to see Coach Mikey back, I love that guy's look). Never seen High Profile before but would happily see more: big bumps, nice headscissors, cool combos (Demented went on a quick 15 second run ending with a whipping spinkick that all looked good). McGrady is lean and takes some big shots, and I might need to see him teaming with or matched up against "Weird Body" Evan Adams, Team Heroin Chic. Looking at them I wouldn't guess that White Mike and Retton would work so well in this kind of match, and if they did you'd think they'd be the bases for assorted craziness, but they work just as quick as anyone.\ and know how to integrate their big spots. Retton gets dropped by consecutive reverse ranas, Mike hits a huge sitout powerbomb, and Mike's can opener seems to defy physics as he spins McGrady around 10 times before snapping it. This whole thing was a bank full of money.  

4. Brass Knuckles on a Pole: Arik Royal vs. Snooty Foxx

PAS: Snooty Foxx main events in Chapel Hill are my favorite thing in 2017 wrestling. It is just a testament to the value of an engaged crowd with a rooting interest. Snooty is a home town hero, born and raised a block away from the community center where they run the shows. The crowd is clearly filled with friends and family who aren't looking for five star matches, but instead are looking for their cousin to whoop this guys ass. Royal is a master in this atmosphere, he has the cultural rhythms of a southern black crowd in his veins, and knows exactly how to roil them up. It is like watching Bernie Mac work his first Def Comedy Jam show. The work in the match was pretty basic, but the timing on the big spots was perfect, and I loved the brawling on the hoops court. The basketball right to Royal's head was awesome. They did some great teases of the brass knuckles, and a nifty BS finish with Royal using a second illegal pair of brass knuckles to KO Foxx, and then does a slight of hand switch out of the bad knucks for the good knucks. Standing ovation to whomever came up with burying Foxx under the Duke flag, just an incredible bit of troll theatre.

ER: This didn't hit me as hard as the Foxx/Wilkins Chapel Hill match did, but these Chapel Hill shows are total gravy. Royal knows how to play the crowd like a conductor, and Foxx doesn't need to play at all, just soak up all the love. Not much in wrestling beats a hot crowd, and while I liked the stuff in the ring (and you can see a lot of Foxx's improvements, things are getting a lot tighter, here he really cracks Royal with a flying back elbow), I was dying for them to take it to the floor. Sure enough, on the floor Royal knows exactly where to direct the action, knows exactly who to taunt. He tosses Snooty into a woman who doesn't break her absolutely furious staredown with him the entire time. Purse clutched to her lap, I probably would have lobbied Phil for this to be #1 on our MOTY list if that woman had stood up and cracked Royal with that purse. Royal is clearly directing traffic out there and you can see him tell Snooty just where to toss him into the crowd, and Royal is awesome at stumbling through chairs and falling into people, threatening to throw Snooty into a little girl who runs off hiding, just great stuff. The outside brawl is tons of fun, walking around the gymnasium and building to a great spot where someone throws Snooty a basketball and he banks it off Royal's head with a perfect chest pass (wish I hadn't seen a gif of that ahead of time as I would have lost it). Royal takes a nice bump into the fence around the basketball court, and there's a hundred fans crowded around them all losing it. Carey looked legit concerned that the crowd outside was going to start throwing stomps to Royal. Back inside and we start going after the knux, with both guys taking big knocks off the top (loved that big Snooty powerslam) and the final sneaky knux shot was finish worthy, both men played it huge. The fans get loud as hell and Royal starts chomping on a bag of sweet tarts as Foxx gets buried in the Duke flag. That's some cold business. Royal struts on our of there and still talks trash on his way out, heel through and through. This one didn't land with me like the Wilkins match, and I thought it had a few lesser moments (Royal was feeding Foxx and directing traffic a little too blatantly, and the Carey/Li attack to Snooty on the floor was some of the absolute weakest looking interference I've ever seen) and it didn't have that impossible frenzy of the babyface squad throwing actual money to the crowd, but this was a 20 minute smile for sure.

ER: We were told to be excited for the Chapel Hill episode, and I guess people are getting an idea of what we're into. The tag and Foxx/Royal landed on our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List, which is now ridiculously weighted towards CWF.

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Matches from EVOLVE 95 10/15/17

1. Darby Allin vs. Keith Lee

ER: On paper, I wanted Keith Lee smooshing Allin and throwing him as high and far as he could, and I wanted Allin to recklessly hurl his body at Lee. And guess what we got! Lee is massive so it's always pure joy to watch him catch someone like Allin mid armdrag, and things get to a peak level of joy when Allin goes for a springboard back elbow, and Lee sends his body flying with a pounce. Allin reaches literal new heights taking backdrops from Lee and just getting thrown by him, but eventually comes back with two monster sentons (one vaulting off Lee while Lee was on all fours, another no look senton to an all fours Lee from the top rope), but it is fleeting as Lee continues to crushing. This was what I wanted.

PAS: Totally fun stuff, Allin is great at working powerhouses, he had a great match in 2016 against Brian Cage and Keith Lee is a way better version of Brian Cage. I loved Allin going for his super high springboard arm drag and Lee just stopping him mid move and staring at him with disdain. I also loved all of Allin backdrop takes, Eddie Guerrero/Pat Tanaka level height. I also dig the selling on Lee's punches and headbutts, Allin almost convulses like he is OD'ing. I am buying Allin's offense more too, those sentons and the code red looked like they could plausibly end a match. Lee has a ton of charisma and big time offense and is a great choice to hold a title for EVOLVE going forward. Lee v. Odinson and Allin v. Odinson are going to rule in completely different ways.

2. Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson/Jaka) vs. The Gymnasty Boyz (White Mike Jordan/Timmy Lou Retton) vs. Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude/Rob Killjoy)

ER: Another match delivering what I was hoping it to on paper. It's pretty amusing that White Mike of all people is now technically working in the WWE feeder system. And if Ellsworth can make it then I see no reason why White Mike couldn't be the next Santino. Doom Patrol (ugh has there ever been a good tag team name in the last 15 years of indie tag wrestling?) keep getting better. You squint and they're now like an indy wrestling Arn/Ole, especially Dickinson who I think really resembles Arn and even moves like him (maybe moves even more like Buzz Sawyer). They were a total force in this match, just throwing stiff ugly shots the whole match. Dickinson was super explosive; it felt like the whole match was spent with him running after someone with pure hate in his eyes like Sonny Corleone going after Carlo. So you have Dickinson just stomping and clubbing guys, and Jaka throwing spin kicks, and I think Jaka's kicks actually work because they don't look pretty, so he'll bounce his shin across someone's head and then crash, but it feels more dangerous. And look no further than late in the match when Jaka gets WAY too much speed and does a hard dive all the way over Killjoy, crashing through chairs, and then Dickinson beats the absolute shit out of Killjoy. You can practically hear him shouting "This is for making my boy look bad!" Ducklings are great fun, they make offense look good and they take big risks, and we build to them hitting huge concurrent dives past the ringposts, twice! Retton misses a pretty spectacular shooting star, White Mike's swinging guillotine neckbreaker is always going to look awesome against a Duckling, and now I want more of this Dickinson/Jaka Wrecking Crew.

PAS: Gymnasties and Ducks are pretty regular dance partners (they have a great three way with High Profile on the Chapel Hill CWF show) and have a bunch of fun spots together. Most of the CWF White Mike I have seen is as a comedy wrestler, it is pretty shocking to see him break out such athletic moves here. I would have liked to see a little more White Mikeishness here, let him do some talking or some sleazing. Really loved Catch Point here, I am a Dickinson fan and have been back when it was less popular, but he was at another level in this match. His vicious beating of Killjoy felt like something Tenryu might do, and indy Tenryu is an exciting idea.

3. Fred Yehi vs. Matt Riddle

ER: This had all the elements of a match I would like, and I like the two men involved, but nothing here really grabbed me; the whole thing felt a little hollow. Am I burned out on the Catch Point style? Possibly, though probably not considering we have several Catch Point style matches in the top portion of our MOTY List. This was not a bad match at all, not in the least. Most of the time it felt like a very good match, it just never reached out and grabbed me. It may even be a better match than the two matches reviewed above, but I was fully along for the ride on those. My main gripe on this one was that some of the comebacks didn't feel natural, and it felt like we built to maybe too many peaks. Early grappling was good, especially liked Yehi kneeling on Riddle's thigh and the struggle over a knucklelock. Once we get to our standing chop exchange I liked the twist Yehi added by stomping on Riddle's bare foot, holding him somewhat in place while he both hurts the foot and blisters Riddle's chest. Riddle pays nice salesman service to both the foot and his chest throughout the rest of the match. You never really see a guy sell his chest. The other week I had this random tender spot on my upper chest, below my collarbone. It wasn't a muscle ache, it was clearly some painful to the touch spot on my skin, and I have no clue why it was there, no clue where it went later that day, but I know for a couple hours I made several "I got stung by a bee!!" faces whenever my sweater happened to rub that spot. So I know skin can get weirdly painful, especially when a compact man is throwing nasty chops at it. So I liked that Riddle was manly enough to show that he was not enjoying these chest based attacks. Riddle eventually pays him back with some heavy kicks to the chest, after planting Yehi on the apron. I didn't love the use of suplexes in the match. It never felt like suplex trading, but they also didn't feel very important, especially for how great their suplexes can look. Often we would get a big suplex and it would just lead to one of those moments where both guys stay down. Or they would be too telegraphed, like when Riddle threw a lazy missed clothesline for the intention of getting suplexed into the buckles. I also thought Yehi's Koji clutch applications were a little too spotty, though I liked the finish of Riddle passing out in the clutch. There was plenty to like about the match, both guys clearly worked hard, and there were tons of cool moments (especially loved how high Riddle commits to sentons, so he either misses big or hits big), it just left me a little cold.

PAS: This felt a little like pimped Chris Hero PWG main events of the mid 2000s. There was a lot to like in individual parts of the match, but it felt like it needed the wrestling version of Thelma Schoonmaker to edit it together to a great match, just a bit too long and a bit too shaggy. I really liked a lot of the chops and kicks, loved the finish with the Koji clutch, but they kind of felt like they had a tight 15 stretched into 25. Just too many suplexes which went nowhere and running elbows for no reason. I need to watch their other match this year to see if it came together better.

4. Tracy Williams vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

ER: Killer scrap that mostly played to both guys' strengths, meaning I'm happy they stuck to mostly mat twisting and great reversals and limited the strikes. The two (brief) strike portions were clearly the weakest of the match, with a floppy seated slap fight and a standing exchange that even had a "Shades of Frye/Takayama!" commentary cherry on top. but the ankle twisting and shoulder bending was legit, and they even broke out some tricks I hadn't seen. It's good to keep adding tricks as they've had so many of these matches already the last couple years that it's easy to start feeling "same-y". So when Williams grabs Sabre in a fireman's carry and plants him knee first into the mat, or Sabre brains himself doing a northern lights but feels it worthwhile because it created an opening on Williams' arm, or Sabre going for a trademark seated hammerlock and Williams just yanks his arm out of reach and looks at Sabre like "bitch I've seen you wrestle before", or Williams adding a fun twist to the standing strikes by perfectly timing and swiping Sabre's attacks out of the air; blocking strikes like that can look like the worst kind of pre-planning dancing, but I thought they handled it great. The leg twisting and wrist bending was all really good, and I have no clue how they aren't going to all end up with stiff immobile joints by the time they're 36. I thought things built real nicely, and I liked the almost flash pin ending. Williams had been too slippery to lock anything too convincing on, and Williams was easily beating him almost any time they stood, so Sabre went to one of his underrated strengths: tight cradles on pinfall attempts. Sabre did an immaculate rolling clutch, locking Williams' wrists and adjusting his hips to make Williams' kick out leverage weak, and stole the pin. Very satisfying.

PAS: I am surprised I liked this so much more then Yehi v. Riddle, as I am normally much higher on those two guys. It feels like ZSJ may have absorbed some of Negro Navarro's mat stuff, as I don't remember his twisting looking this damaging. Williams has delivered some of the more cringeworthy moments I have seen in wrestling in the last couple of years, but if you stick him on the mat he can hang, and I liked how his more basic Billy Robinson style mat wrestling meshed with Sabre's flourishes. Eric is forgetting the part where they exchanged pump kicks, which looked awful, I really wish Gabe's memo also forbid strike exchanges. Liked the finish a lot too, and it was a good bit of commentary to treat the pin as almost a cop out, Sabre wanted to tap him, and when he couldn't he had to escape.

ER: We also get a super fun locker room-clearing brawl that peaks with Darby Freaking Allin doing his no look coffin drop not just off a basketball hoop, but off a basketball backboard. I will love watching Allin until his inevitable wrestling-related death at age 28. I'm happy I went out of my way to watch a bunch of this card. All these matches except for Riddle/Yehi are going on our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List.

PAS: This was dope, I love Garinni as shoot style Big Bubba, and I liked how he just waded in and attacked, both of the wrestlers in The End are convincing scary white nationalist looking dudes. Allin is a complete nutter, honestly the closest thing we have in indy wrestling to mid 90s Sabu

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 103

Episode 103

1. Darius Lockhart vs. Cain Justice

ER: This was fun, haven't really seen much of Justice in a workrate-y setting, so it was fun watching his style mesh with more of a Cedric Alexander style. What most impressed me was how deep Justice's bag of tricks seems to be. They work a lot of stuff into these 12 minutes, a fairly exhausting pace, and I don't think he repeated a single idea. Fast sequences, kick combos, different ways to attack an arm, a bunch of cool stuff that he mined. I do think things got a little too thigh slappy at one point (Lockhart aims to hit them on every move, and I really think a lot of them would be fine without), and while I appreciate their kick exchange towards the end for trying to be a bit different (staggering, off balance attacks instead of stand and trade) I don't think the match needed it. Lockhart has some nice knee attacks, both guys work nicely on the mat, a real fun match that crammed a lot of content into its time.

PAS: I thought this was really good, I agree about the leg slapping, but Lockhart had some really nasty shots which looked great, I loved his knee to the back of Justice's head, and he had some nasty looking stomps to the back. Justice is getting so good, he comes up with cool new shit every time I see him, I loved his thigh stretch submission early where he stretched out Lockhart by driving his knees into the sides of Darius's legs. I also really loved his jumping straight right hands, version of the superman punch I hadn't seen before. Totally loved the ending too, with Justice using submission attempts to open up Lockhart for big shots, and then using those big shots to hook the twist ending.

ER: I was disappointed by the Brad Attitude Q&A segment, only because it could have been really great. Brad had a humorous demeanor but was able to still show elements of his character, but as with most talk to the audience segments (Ugh, this part is always death), the talker just isn't quick enough on his feet. If he didn't have a quick retort to something he would just do a non-answer and move on, but he also wasn't out there to tell potentially interesting stories, so by the end it felt like something that would happen to kill time while they fixed the ring ropes. The vibe of the whole FanFest looked really fun, with the wrestlers hanging out watching the show with the fans, but this felt like a segment that made way more sense to the vibe of the live crowd, and not a lot of sense on an episode of TV.

PAS: You really shouldn't have White Mike ask a question about rats and have Brad Attitude duck it.

2. Lumberjack Match: Aric Andrews vs. Mecha Mercenary

ER: Papa Hales gets to pick the opponent for Andrews (and takes an amusingly long time getting there) and is given a bucket to draw names from, but refuses it as he doesn't want someone to luck into a chance. To give you an idea how far Papa Hales has come, this was on while Rachel was reading, and she looks up during his promo and goes "Why do I recognize that old guy?" I explained the connection, we went to an NXT show with Dylan (and Lana and Tim) and this was Dylan's wrestling lunatic superfan dad. I have no idea how she recognized him, but she somehow knew this once I explained it. Match itself was fine but kind of messy with the lumberjack stip, and I think they have a better match in them in a different setting (not at a FanFest). Andrews just has to last 10 minutes and it seems like it should have been a bigger deal, as the odds were weirdly stacked against the heel. The consequences really didn't seem there though. Notably, Papa Hales got to throw some Kobashi-esque chops (ermmmmm, maybe Veda Scott-esque) chops at Andrews. The first match did a lot with 12 minutes. I don't think this did much with 10.

PAS: I like Andrews as a weasely creep, he looks like such a dirtbag and is good as working as a guy trying to stall out 10 minutes. Mecha is a big fat dude with great fat dude offense, I love his clothesline and black forrest slam. Still this match dragged a bit, lots of stuff with the lumberjacks was time killing, Mecha didn't seem to get down to business until about three minutes left. Honestly the most exciting part of the match was the brief brawl between Mecha and HIM, that had the most sauce, I left this really wanting to see that tag matchup.

3. White Mike Jordan vs. "Chuck Taylor"

ER: I don't know any of the inside jokes within this group, but Chuck Taylor is actually Stokely Hathaway here, not Chuck Taylor. Is this a CHIKARA thing? Hathaway is wearing a ribbed turtleneck with rolled up sleeves and tight paisley pants, like he just completed his gig as touring Deee-Lite keyboardist. This is a comedy match. Comedy is subjective. This match was not for me, and the people who enjoyed it, enjoyed it a lot. Hathaway hits a real nice kneedrop. At one point many people take Hathaway to suplex city. I still have no clue what Mike's finisher is. Looks like he spins a guy by the neck and then violently DDTs himself. White Mike is a funny guy. Sometimes I think he reaches to far for jokes, but there were two genuine big laughs in this: 1) him coming out with a white valet and saying "Finally found me a snow bunny". That's funny. 2) His retirement post-match. He couldn't have handled this better, landing every trope. He took the boots off and left them dead center, he took the singlet off and draped it over the boots, he hung the NWA shirt over the ropes, he took the overshorts off and draped it over the singlet, all with a quivering lip and a despondent "I won't be back, gotta hang 'em up", making those awful faces that old man Hogan would make to milk a standing ovation. The match was what it was. Comedy mileage varies depending on the viewer. The retirement had me in stitches though.

PAS: Not sure what is up with the Chuck Taylor thing either. Stokely isn't really a wrestler, but I would still rather see him then Chuck Taylor V1. I am amused by White Mike in short burst, but this was really long, and it really dragged. The retirement was funny although ruined a bit by Stuttsy and Coach Mikey dancing, the bit really needed everyone in the audience to be on the verge of tears.

PAS: This show was really for the live audience, and I imagine they had a blast. I did really dig the opener though.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 98

Episode 98

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 92

1. Ugly Ducklings (Colby Corino, Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) vs. White Mike Jordan/Donnie Dollars/Ethan Alexander Sharpe

ER: I really enjoyed this, classic stooge-y, silly trios match. I've liked what I've seen from the heel side, and I hadn't seen two of the Ducklings before but enjoyed them as well. At least I thought I hadn't, as Lance Lude looks ENTIRELY different than the last time I saw him, several years ago in ROH. If this is the same guy, I'd say this is a step up. He came off like unhinged Pequeno Mark Briscoe, would really like to see more of him. I dug his look, dug how he moved, how he took offense (especially a killer spot with White Mike swinging him around in a front headlock). Killjoy had some fun springboard dropkicks, Corino seems to be improving and has put on a little weight; I think I really dig the Ducklings. Sharpe and Jordan are a fun team, real good at stooging (Sharpe with the bumps and Jordan with the faces), but I can see them getting a more sinister side. Dollars had a couple fun moments; tossing all three Ducks was a fun spot on paper, ridiculous in execution, but I like that they went for it.

PAS: Really fun opening trios, I could have done without the Hardy's coming out in the middle and doing their tired shtick, but I was all in on the actual ring work. This makes me want to seek out more Ducklings as they are great as a a trio of big bumping sleazeballs. I hadn't seen Killjoy before as he seemed to come at weird angles almost Fred Yehish. White Mike is a blast, great John Tatumish stooging and had some killer offense too. Fun stuff.

2. Cain Justice vs. Dirty Daddy

ER: I'm surprised to hear them say Justice is a rookie. There's a few holes there but there's a lot of things he does well. I like a lot of his roll ups, his cheating, his attitude; he looks like a redneck MMA Michael Pitt. This match felt a lot shorter than its 7 minute run time, had some nice logical counters (really liked Daddy's simple sunset flip roll up off the backpack piledriver), snug pins, Daddy has some nice punches off his back and a nice side headlock, just a nice simple match between two guys who seem like they know each other.

PAS: I really liked their BattleCade match, and I enjoyed this a bunch too. Cain Justice is already really good, and very fun to watch. I loved the switch of the armbar when Daddy was in the ropes, and his kicking of the tied up arm. We didn't get to see Cain's nasty finish in this match, which may put it a step blow the BattleCade match, although he did have some nice grappling.

3. John Skyler/C.W. Anderson vs. Roy Wilkins/Arik Royal vs. The Hardy Boys

ER: Was really hoping for this one to go about twice as long as it got, but I really enjoyed it for what it was. They easily could have milked this for 18 without it feeling long, but oh well. The crowd was hot for it, I thought CW looked great, and really that's enough for me. I'd love to see any combo of tag team battles between these three teams, hope this isn't the end of it. My favorite stuff was probably CW opposite Royal, loved the bit of character CW put into it. He chopped Royal's chest and then over-cringed when Royal chopped him back, rinse/repeat, then when CW tagged out he postured for a bit...before buckling his knees slightly, squinting and feeling his chest. They say in baseball that you never rub it after getting hit by a pitch, so I love CW putting over Royal's strike power by succumbing to rubbing it. CW also threw easily the best forearms in the match, and still has that left hand, even if Jeff almost flubbed the timing of it. Jeff flubbing timing and spots could have been the story of the match, if the other guys weren't so on point. Jeff botched both Hardy double teams (somersaulting in place on the senton/fistdrop and somehow whiffing on the legdrop to the groin) and stiffed the hell out of CW on the finish swanton (which, at least looked good). Matt looked much better and I'd love a CW/Matt singles match. Loved Skyler's spit take off a Jeff back elbow, loved Wilkins' golf swing uppercut on CW, the trainwreck finisher run from everybody was fun, so overall I liked this. Just really wanted a lot more time. Most importantly, CW Anderson is apparently ageless and still awesome.

PAS: I thought they treated the Hardy's a little too much like the Road Warriors here. They kind of ate both teams up, and I left this wanting to see Extreme Horseman v. All Stars a lot more then either team against the Hardy's. All four of the other guys in the match looked great, busting out nasty offense against each other, and bumping big for the big shotting Hardy Boys. I am seconding the CW Anderson love, he looked great against Converse at BattleCade, and great here. I would be really excited to see him in the mix in CWF-MA, Anderson v. Lee, v. Royal, v. Everett, v. Attitude all would be awesome.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

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