[2000-09-27-MCW Maryland] Christian York & Joey Matthews vs Dino Divine & Christopher Carmichael

[soup23]

The shine sequence by York and Matthews at the beginning was fabulous which really surprised me. They were diving all over the place and got great impact on their dives lucha style which made them look hurtful as well as graceful. Carmichael and Divine look like Harris Brothers knock offs but they do a good job being bases and then taking over when it is their turn on top. Their working of York is basic with kicks, punches, low blows, etc but they make enough tags that it doesn’t drive everything to a complete halt. Matthews getting the hot tag was productive and they displayed the double team moves that again the heel faction was willing to take. Rana/elbow drop combo but the referee is actually competent as he doesn’t let York pin him since he isn’t legal. Heel ref sneaks in a belt shot but that only gets a two. That was a fun spot the in the glut of ref interaction of 2000, hasn’t been used enough. One of the heels gets a quickie pin on Matthews with their foot on the ropes and they escape with the win. Much like the Guido/Mamluke ECW tags, this tag knew its role and didn’t overstay its welcome making it a lot of fun and fitting to watch in any era. ***1/4 (6.4)

[AstroBoy]

York and Matthews always seem to excel early on with these shine sequences. Carmichael and Divine didn't do much for me here but I will credit them for getting in place to take some intricate and flying offense. Matthews eats the guardrail on a high velocity tope to the outside after also hitting a big plancha earlier in the match. Basic and uninspiring stuff from Carmichael and Divine on offense and York fights back to get the tag after a nice senton. They pulled off the screwy ending pretty well and it kept Matthews and York strong in defeat.

 

**3/4

[GSR]

Tara gets the “she’s a crack whore” treatment when she asks for silence from the MCW faithful.  It looks like York and Matthews continued to work shots in MCW and them returning last month to drop the tag titles wasn’t their goodbye.  A Matthews dropkick sends Carmichael to the floor while York with a cross armed neckbreaker for Divine.  Carmichael ducks under the baseball slide, however when he backdrops York into the ropes he rebounds off them and catches him with a headscissors.  Plancha off the top by Matthews.  The action briefly returns to the ring until Carmichael sidesteps Joey and launches him through the ropes.  It’s pretty much an assisted suicide dive, Matthews crashing into Divine, who is still on the floor, as well as the metal railings.  Carmichael gets his knees up on the moonsault and then Divine reaches into the ring, grabs York by the hair and pulls him backwards over the top rope to the outside where he puts the boots to him.  The champions get the heat on the challengers but they are the polar opposite to them in every way.  York fights his way out of the superplex, shoves Carmichael to the mat and comes off the middle with a senton.  Hot tag and the ladies are rather pleased to see Matthews judging by those screams!  Face first full nelson slam on Divine and a reverse DDT for Carmichael.  Some guy runs out from the dressing room and attacks York and Matthews although doesn’t fare that well as they give him their double hip toss into a sky high powerbomb.  Top rope frankensteiner/flying elbow finisher on Carmichael but the referee refuses to count saying York isn’t the legal man.  Hmm, if he’s such a stickler for the rules why didn’t he disqualify the champs for the outside interference?  Matthews takes his partner’s place and makes the cover, but while the ref tries to get York back on the apron, the interferee returns and clocks Matthews over the back of the head with one of the title belts before putting Carmichael on top.  Razor close near fall as Matthews surprisingly kicks out; I don’t know why though because a matter of seconds later a folding press with Carmichael placing his feet over the ropes for added leverage sees them retain.

Just like last month York and Matthews were put over strong in defeat with it taking outside interference, an illegal belt shot and Carmichael using the ropes to put them away.  It was cool to see York doing Matthews ‘FIP’ role and they both looked really good here, can’t say the same for the champions who are seriously bland.  I would’ve liked to have seen more out of Tara, almost in a Sensational Sherri like role involving herself during the match as she was practically invisible after the opening promo.