Southern Indie Thread

[shoe]

How great was the CWF Rumble, huh? Simple battle royale storytelling with an emphasis on continuity. Only see the highly pimped Lee title defenses but the backgrounds were very clear with all these guys. Never any stretches of guys just hanging by the ropes either. Well paced and really tense towards the end with some amazing storytelling moments.

It was incredible. It was my 1st time there live, and was blown away.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Just watched the Stallion/Janela match from SUP Maximum Over...dive. Fucking awesome. Really enjoyed the whole show.

 

Watched the CWF Rumble a few nights ago and I'll echo everyone else who said it was great.

[SmartMark15]

Ultimate Survivor was a generally fun show. Thought the Party-Caray match was very well structured and paid off wonderfully.

 

The main event was decent but it was more of an angle to set up the Battlecade main event which I'm quite intrigued in.

[SmartMark15]

So Brad Stutts was fired from CWF Mid-Atlantic for "inappropriate behavior." Sad to find out considering he was one of the driving forces behind this pretty hot period for CWF Mid-Atlantic as well as a pretty good announcer. But the way this was phrased, it doesn't bode well for Stutts.

[Cap]

I wondered when this would pop up over here. CWF is like my home promotion. I am two hours from it and try to make it down as much as I can. I don't know anyone there or know anything about what happened (past what has been circulating on Twitter. Stutts is on the outs with multiple companies and I think - for better or worse - that is going to change the landscape a bit.

 

The one thing that has really taken me about this is how motivated the CWF folk seem by this. I wonder if - aside from what actually caused the firing - they were a little insulted by the idea that one man was the whole reason they were doing well. It seemed like some of them where. They seem to be approaching this as a unified company out to prove they are are going to be just fine and I tend to believe that to be true.

 

I wish I could be down there this weekend to show my support.

[sek69]

Its interesting how everyone seems to know but no one is saying anything.

[SmartMark15]

With the current climate, I made some assumptions about the nature of the problems but of course I could be entirely wrong.

[sek69]

The rumors on Twitter are saying that he was running a prostitution ring and tried to recruit a female staffer.

[Cap]

Man, I hope that isn't true. Not because I have any affinity for Stutts, I just just hope that wasn't happening. I guess that logic goes for whatever he did.

 

I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious. However, my focus is going to be on supporting CWF here. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next for them.

[Cap]

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2018/01/10/mitchell-cwf-mid-atlantic-brad-stutts-split/

 

For those interested Bruce Mitchell wrote the above article about the situation. The piece is solid. I think it was necessary given the sort of buzz for answers and the increasing circulation of rumors that were unsubstantiated. It sheds some light on the case and more or less confirms at least a vague version of the story that was getting traction. It also positions the issues in a broader context, which I think was helpful. That said, it is rightfully being criticized for making Stutts a peripheral character of sorts. It reads very much like Stutts' version of what happened. Themes such as "Stutts being Stutts" and him being blinded by the money and women sort of place responsibility in the same room with Stutts, but not necessarily with Stutts.

 

I have no personal horse in this race. I don't know anyone involved and I don't know any details for myself, so maybe that is as accurate as it gets with regard to this situation. I really don't know. To be honestly, I hope it is and I hope he can turn things around for his family and be a better person.

 

I will say this. I take my wife to CWF shows. She isn't a huge wrestling fan but she goes because I love it and she likes going with me. She has always felt safe, but I won't (and we wont) be a part of any Stutts second chance tours in the future if that comes to pass. I believe in second chances on the whole, but I also think wrestling on the whole has to do much better and companies have to commit themselves to being better long term, to making decisions for the betterment of wrestling as a whole over buddies and/or short term profit. It isn't just about Stutts, of course. Its about the bigger picture. There is too much wrestling out there for me to put my time, energy, and money into a company that I know would knowingly make any decisions that would compromise fan safety or their experience. I know there are a lot of companies that do worse and I don't know the full story, but I know enough to be happy that CWF did the right thing here. I really hope that they (and other companies involved in this and similar issues around the globe) continue to do the right thing to make sure all fans feel safe and welcome.

[Dylan Waco]

I can assure you there will not be a comeback tour for Brad Stutts at CWF, or anywhere else where hes worked in the past.

[Cap]

I can assure you there will not be a comeback tour for Brad Stutts at CWF, or anywhere else where hes worked in the past.

That is my guess. Obviously, you have far more insight than I do, so I really hope you are right.

 

Regardless. I am ready to get behind CWF as a company here and support them as they move forward. I expect that roster is ready to show that the company doesn't NEED any one man.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2018/01/10/mitchell-cwf-mid-atlantic-brad-stutts-split/

 

For those interested Bruce Mitchell wrote the above article about the situation. The piece is solid. I think it was necessary given the sort of buzz for answers and the increasing circulation of rumors that were unsubstantiated. It sheds some light on the case and more or less confirms at least a vague version of the story that was getting traction. It also positions the issues in a broader context, which I think was helpful. That said, it is rightfully being criticized for making Stutts a peripheral character of sorts. It reads very much like Stutts' version of what happened. Themes such as "Stutts being Stutts" and him being blinded by the money and women sort of place responsibility in the same room with Stutts, but not necessarily with Stutts.

 

I have no personal horse in this race. I don't know anyone involved and I don't know any details for myself, so maybe that is as accurate as it gets with regard to this situation. I really don't know. To be honestly, I hope it is and I hope he can turn things around for his family and be a better person.

 

I will say this. I take my wife to CWF shows. She isn't a huge wrestling fan but she goes because I love it and she likes going with me. She has always felt safe, but I won't (and we wont) be a part of any Stutts second chance tours in the future if that comes to pass. I believe in second chances on the whole, but I also think wrestling on the whole has to do much better and companies have to commit themselves to being better long term, to making decisions for the betterment of wrestling as a whole over buddies and/or short term profit. It isn't just about Stutts, of course. Its about the bigger picture. There is too much wrestling out there for me to put my time, energy, and money into a company that I know would knowingly make any decisions that would compromise fan safety or their experience. I know there are a lot of companies that do worse and I don't know the full story, but I know enough to be happy that CWF did the right thing here. I really hope that they (and other companies involved in this and similar issues around the globe) continue to do the right thing to make sure all fans feel safe and welcome.

I agreed with the criticisms of the Mitchell piece when I read it. It was somewhat like reading the apologia, “Ric being Ric” stories about Flair. I have no idea what is true re: how Stutts treated women (nor does Bruce really shed much light, which is fine), but “he really loves women” felt like such a handwave to me that it soured me on the whole column, since it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to determine that misconduct toward women is what brought this to pass. It made me wonder what Bruce would have written if the story was about Vince McMahon or someone that Bruce isn’t a friend/fan of.

[Timbo Slice]

I have major issues with the piece on a lot of levels, especially given the access Bruce had to the situation, but it's pretty obvious that the majority of people, if not everyone involved or knowledgable of the situation, isn't talking. Then the Meltzer Tumblr thing happens tonight and you realize it's systemic, not just limited to Bruce, and has been the case for a long, long time.

 

Dylan's comment makes me even more upset with how Bruce wrote the story.

[Dylan Waco]

Tone wise I get being upset. On the other hand the details on Armstrong and admission from Stutts would have never come from any other venue. Zero chance. Its a tough one

[Childs]

I thought the tone of the piece was reasonable. Bruce clearly stated that Stutts crossed lines in multiple ways and presented his firing as the right call for the company. He finished by saying that even though Stutts is contrite, he will have to back up his words with actions. The "loves women" thing struck me as appropriate context, describing this big-personality guy who lost his way. I mean, the piece could have been harder on facts, but I didn't read it as an apology for Stutts.

[Childs]

As an addendum, curious to hear from Dylan if he thinks Stutts's firing will hurt the company's creative roll? Not the No. 1 issue, obviously, but I would hate to see the hard work of many undermined by one person's fuck-ups.

[Cap]

Regarding the tone, as I said in my original post on it, I think it deserves criticism, but there was no other way to do it. Ultimately, that is the tough spot journalists are in sometimes. We needed the article. It was the best we could hope for (probably better), but it remains flawed. It is ultimately ok as long as we understand the flaws. I actually found the "Stutts being Stutts" thing the epitome of this. Sure it is "accurate", but it doesnt make it right. It sweeps under the rug the fact that some of that stuff we brush off is part of the problem. If you took it outside the context of this circumstance people would laughing about it and say he is harmless (I have seen this personally). The issue is that sometimes those same people aren't harmless. Its easy to say we shouldn't tolerate sexual abuse, assault, or whatever it is that happened here. It is harder (more awkward) to challenge people not to adapt behaviors that seem harmless but are also problematic... esp when its just "boys being boys". That said... again... I think BM did what had to be done and deserves credit for it. It would, however, be shortsighted to not understand the rightful critiques of the situations and systems that put us here.

[SmartMark15]

The Battlecade X8 main event finally came out and it was a lot of fun, of course! All Stars continue to run rampant on CWF Mid-Atlantic. As great as the match was, I can't help but notice how all match long, the announcers are talking about how a knick or a cut won't end the match but you can barely see any of the blood that actually ends the match. Crazy heel moment to close out the show and I still look forward to Trevor Lee knocking them down.