Hawke’s CWF Mid-Atlantic – Episode #88 Review

Taped
12/30/2016

Aired
1/18/2017

Commentators: Brad Stutts & Cecil Scott

 

Arik Royal vs. Andrew Everett

This was a GREAT match. Everett came out fired up and connected on three excellent dives pretty much right away. Everett wasn’t doing that to metaphorically jerk off for the crowd.Royal had a huge size and strength advantage, and Everett did not waste any time playing to his own strengths to give himself the best chance possible.

That sequence established an urgent and appropriately serious tone for the contest. The match continued in a smart direction after that.

Royal is not exactly slow, and he managed to cut off Everett by essentially tackling him off the apron and into the crowd. From there, the match largely went as expected with Royal dominating while Everett progressively started to fire back more and more.

It all built to this absolutely awesome finish that served as a perfect exclamation point. Everett’s comebacks were not causing enough damage so he decided to go super high risk by leaping up to the ceiling. He was presumably trying to drop down for a ‘rana, but Royal had other plans. Royal reversed it into a devastating powerbomb and then murdered Everett with a pounce. Glorious finish. (****)

(The only real issue with the match was that some of the selling seemed a bit comical or overly theatrical at times. We’re not talking Shawn Michaels vs. Hogan stuff. Just a few small irksome moments that did not really matter in the end.)

 

 

Trevor Lee(c) vs. Brad Attitude [CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship]

This was for Trevor Lee’s CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. This match also had a NUMBER of other stipulations. Trevor would be forced to vacate the belt if it went to a draw. Trevor would have to forfeit the belt if he got disqualified. Allen could NOT be disqualified under any circumstances.

Brad Attitude vs. Trevor Lee had so much going on and totally deserves a detailed breakdown.

The first aspect of this match that stood out was how different CWF Trevor Lee is compared to Just About Everywhere Else Trevor Lee. From the moment Lee walked though the the curtain until all the way through the finish, he came across like one of the biggest stars in wrestling today.

Lee’s facials conveyed that this was the match of his life. His eyes told you that winning this match was his singular focus. It added so much to his in-ring work and the overall presentation of the contest. It was incredible.

This version of Trevor Lee needs to show up in more place. This Trevor Lee is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Dancing Steven Richards Trevor Lee is indie shtick garbage that should never see the light of day any show that makes tape.

The next component of the match worthy of discussion was the great performance of The Artist Formerly Known As Evolve: Year One Star “Brad Allen.” The key to the performance of Attitude was that he had a number of compelling and logical strategies to win the match (or at least force Trevor to vacate the belt).

First, he tried to get Trevor to disqualify himself. That backfired and his next strategy was to take advantage of the fact that he could not be disqualified and waffled Trevor with a chair. From there, Attitude recognized that he now legit had the advantage and could just try to win.

Attitude busted out the Asai Moonsault. He took out a kendo stick. He went for the kill. The “chickenshit” strategy at the beginning did not define the match or his strategy. It was just Attitude testing the waters to see if the easy win was possible. He was fully ready and willing to work his ass off to get the belt. That is a level of detail in a wrestling character that you do not often see. His actions revealed many layers to him which just classic storytelling.

When you have two fantastic characters like them, producing great professional wrestling becomes so much easier.

Attitude’s nuanced character dictated the great in-ring story of the match. He dominated so much of the match and got to that point in such a logical and effective manner. The mentality that Lee brought to the match made his survival and eventual comeback all the more satisfying.

Attitude just could not finish Trevor on his own so he went to use the beer bottle (which clearly had some level of storyline significance that was not made entirely clear to new fans). This woke Lee up. This was not your typical adrenaline rush comeback after a long beatdown. It was a desperate and clawing comeback. He had little left in the tank, but he was going to take his best shots.

Both men were left punch drunk with about five minutes left in the match. At that point, they just started staggering around and recklessly throwing bombs at each other. The lack of consideration of where one’s bombs were directed led to Attitude accidentally giving the ref a shotgun dropkick.

This led to what was clearly a big moment where a former crooked referee showed up. He kicked Attitude in the balls and Trevor then hit his foe with a beer bottle to win. Without context, that ended was fucking awful. Based on the crowd reaction, it would be hard to argue that it was not at least objectively successful with the die-hards.

Regardless of the final minute, this was a fantastic match. It featured two BIG-TIME heavyweight title performances. It made the belt and the promotion seem like a big deal. It made clear that, deep down, Trevor Lee is clearly one of the best wrestlers in the world. We just don’t get to see it nearly enough. (****1/4)

10.0

The final score: review Virtually Perfect

The 411

This was basically as good as wrestling television possibly gets. Check it out.