[2016-06-18-CWF Mid-Atlantic] Trevor Lee vs Andrew Everett

[fxnj]

 

Watched this one with no idea who either guy was after seeing it pimped by shoe as ****3/4. Think it should get its own thread.

 

A few years ago, at the peak of my AJPW fandom and before I got into BJJ and realized getting hurt isn't that fun, I would often fantasize about what it would be like to train to be a wrestler and do King Road inspired matches in front of 10 people for my local indy. I'm not going to pretend an untrained critic like myself has anywhere near the sort of expertise as these guys, but I would like to think what I imagined doing was at least somewhat similar to what these guys did here, and I'll be up front in admitting that the opportunity this match gave me to live out my Misawa/Kobashi cosplay dreams is probably the main reason this match connected with me as much as it did.

 

The AJPW influences are pretty clear right from the beginning with a chop battle and especially a machine gun chop as clear tribute spots that somehow don't look totally ridiculous. You also get the customary high stiffness and a very good progression in the moves pulled out by both guys as the match goes on. What really sets this apart from self-conscious epics that only copy the superficial aspects of Kings Road style is in how they carried over the psychological aspects that really made those matches. By this I mean despite being 40 minute you can't really tell they plan on going that long just from their working style early on, nor can you point to any part where it feels like they're just killing time.

 

The skill with which they utilize the time they have to work with is the most impressive part about the match. They demonstrate a great range of creativity, athleticism, and overall knowledge of the different styles of wrestling, effectively working a tour de force of tricked out grappling, crisp high flying, and hard strikes with each element seamlessly blending together into a cohesive whole. Everything builds so naturally as you have Trevor establishing a huge lead at first through some arm work and excellent cut offs, initially looking not far from getting a relatively somewhat quick win. But Andrew just kept plugging away, and, though Trevor would pull out some more cut off attempts including a beautiful dropkick during an Andrew lionsault attempt, the tide looked to be turning. The spot where Andrew began a comeback by showing Trevor his middle finger was also totally epic.

 

I wouldn't call Andrew getting busted open off a running boot the point where the match kicks into gear as I thought it was already pretty great before that, but it was definitely a good idea to keep things interesting and it took the match in a bit of a different direction. The work on the cut was great and seeing Andrew rise his head off the mat leaving a blood stain on it was an awesome visual. The finish with Andrew coming so close but his prior injuries, including the arm work earlier in the match, catching up to him and giving Trevor the opportunity to catch him in a submission was the perfect end to the story these guys were telling.

 

Post-match sees Brad Attitude come out to celebrate while I was in tears from the amazing match I had just seen. I completely bought into the narrative being driven home by the commentators of this being two young and mostly unknown wrestlers going out and wrestling their masterpiece for the local fans. Brad told the fans how much they should appreciate matches like this due to how likely both guys were to soon get picked up by the big leagues, and for a few moments I lay mesmerized in a strange combination of ecstasy and melancholy brought on by what I had just seen. Then he totally shat on that clichéd wankfest as he attacked both guys. *****

[JKWebb]

This was also my first watch of any CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide. I've been wanting to check it out for months, but I just haven't been able to work it in. I also looked into this match as my first choice due to the Shoe MOTY thread. I think it ended up as #2 for him of 2016. This match is incredible. The high impact offense of Trevor Lee really blew me away, and I agree with the comparisons notes above to AJPW. You're right, I didn't think of it on my own, but the strength of this performance lies in the cohesiveness and ability to tell a long story without it feeling like you're building for such a long story. I loved the work on the left hand in the onset and snap of the finger, and that Trevor came back to it later delivering that devastating stomp. I'd preferred if Everett had worked selling that injury into his offense as the match went on... but whatever ... it was epic and awesome. The middle finger moment was great. The finish looked awesome and vicious. I can't remember the exact moment, but there was a kick to the head from Lee onto Everett that looked DEVASTATING! I bounced off my couch. I'll definitely be trying to work more CWF Mid-Atlantic into my viewing as I can. ****1/2