CEW Still Standing Video Review -- October 26

From Larry Goodman: This show was long on violence at both ends with some great wrestling sandwiched in between. Still Standing had three s...

From Larry Goodman:

This show was long on violence at both ends with some great wrestling sandwiched in between.

Still Standing had three stand out matches -- An insane body bag match between Exotic Youth and "Boss Daddy" Simon Sermon and his "son" Chip Skyler, Hunter James vs. Tyler Shoop and Hakeem Young vs. "The Fro" Michael Walker no time limit.

Pastor Donald Jaykes was all over this show and gave his best performance to date.  

One of the takeaways was James is heir apparent to the CEW Championship. James not holding some company's main belt is a crime. But that would put all of the CEW titles in babyface hands. Perhaps that state of affairs changes on November 30 when CEW returns to VFW Post 660.  

Still Standing drew a vociferous crowd if not one of CEW's larger houses. That the place wasn't packed is a conundrum given the strong hook and drag from the August show, and I thought the cancellation of the September event due to Helene would have helped rather than hurt.

Brandon Benefield, Maestro and Brystro McKickass (aka Bryce Cannon costumed as Maestro for Halloween) may be the most unique three person announce team in independent wrestling. Danny Meade and Brian Brock were the officials. Brian is the son of legendary Alabama referee "Dirty" Larry Brock. Meade is an excellent ref. Bret Wolverton was feeling his oats as the ring announcer.

Dax Anthony promo. Dax demanded the presence of a CEW official to reverse the travesty of justice he endured by losing to Mighty Joe at the August show. Anthony gave a trigonometry lesson about his feet being under the ropes. Mighty Joe came to the ring with a ref. Dax attacked. Joe had no idea what just hit him.  Anthony's vicious, unrepentant beatdown of Joe went on for almost 10 minutes. Anthony liked to have put Joe through the ring with a powerbomb. Mighy Joe was bleeding from an unknown orifice. Dax wrapped a production cord around Joe's ncck. Joe was helpless. Anthony didn't give a shit and walked out cold as ice. 

An incredible segment. This version of Dax Anthony was a revelation. When has the word trigonometry ever been used in a pro wrestling promo? Might Joe was amazing. Guy looked like he was ready to die and refused to stop fighting.   

(1) Hunter James defeated  Tyler Shoop in 11:11. Shoop had gotten a tad too personal on a podcast  interview leading into the show. James had fire in his eyes. Shoop didn't want to mess with him. James used a Muta Lock. Shoop scrambled for the ropes in a panic. The match evolved into a see saw battle. Shoop did push ups as he choked James with one hand. Shoop hit a pair of guthwrench suplexes. James answered with a trifecta of germans. Shoop got a close near fall with a Ushigiroshi and another with a fisherman suplex (2 and 87/92 according to Maestro). James pinned Shoop after a running spanish fly, a punt kick and the brainbuster. 

A physical, hard-hitting match that contained the best pure wrestling of the show and a great finishing sequence. Shoop is a machine in the conditioning department and James hung right with him. Both men are technically sound. James isn't accustomed to being the angry, avenging babyface and he came across believably in the role. 

James told Shoop he could follow his boulevard of broken dreams and made it crystal clear he was gunning for Randall Reno III and the CEW Championship.

(2) Rob Killjoy defeated "Old Testament" Pat Roach  (with Pastor Donald Jaykes) and Scratch in a triple threat match (9:33).  Jaykes said Killjoy was ate up (Pastor's English not mine) by a demon he couldn't begin to excise and since the referees couldn't be trusted "Boss Daddy" Simon Sermon was inserting Scratch into the the match.

Essentially a handicap match with Killjoy fighting two heels the entire time. Killjoy hit the Duck Valley Driver on Scratch and Roach broke up the pin. Roach's diving headbutt mistakenly landed on Scratch and Killjoy rolled Roach up for three count.

About as good as a match as it could be for two against one.  The contrast of styles embedded in a Roach vs. Killjoy singles match would have been a lot more interesting to me. I was late to the party on Roach but he's really grown on me because he's so different. Alex Kane makes his CEW debut against Roach on November 30.

Jaykes said he offered Badd Magic the eternal gift of salvation and they rejected the gospel, but as a good Christian, he was going to offer them one more chance. 

Enter Badd Magic. Christopher Prince minced no words. Jaykes screwed them out of the number one contendership their last time they were in CEW and was the biggest pile of crap walking. If The Big Man was going to send a profit down, he wouldn't be wearing a pastel suit from Winn Dixie in 2007.

Joey Paragon and Dante Drip tried to jump Badd Magic and got their asses kicked...

(3) Badd Magic (Christopher Prince & Nathan Cross) defeated Joey Paragon & Dante Drip in 2:34. Badd Magic made quick work of the jibronis with a Prince superkick into a side russian legsweep by Cross for the pin on Paragon. 

Not the mat classic I expected it to be. Maybe next time. Seriously though, the powers that be must have something in mind for Badd Magic.

(4) Coastal Chaos title match - no time limit: Champion "Flying Fro" Michael Walker vs. Hakeem Young was ruled a double count out in 14:41. Walker was able to extend Young to a time limit draw with a broken foot (broken by Young) two months ago. Fro burst through the curtain clearly at 100% tonight. Maestro said the only limit on this match was sanity. Young capitalized on Fro's aggressiveness. He blasted Walker clean through the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Walker was throwing punch after punch. Young was punishing Walker with high impact moves. Young thought he had Walker with a spinebuster. His leaping splash came within a hair of pinning Walker. Young grabbed Meade by the collar in frustration. Walker's ribs were killing him but he nipped up to launch a rally. Walker started to go to the top rope but decided to first take Young on a tour of the turnbuckles. Hakeem kicked out of Walker's top rope double stomp to the back. Walker went back up top to finish the job with the frog splash elbow drop. Hakeem countered with a uranage. When Walker kicked out, Young got right in Meade's face. Young shoved Walker into Meade, who went down clutching at his knee. Walker used the Fronado DDT to set up the frog splash elbow. It connected for a visual three count while Meade was still down. Young went for his kill shot to the base of the brain. Walker ducked. Young's momentum carried him through the ropes. An Air Walker sent both men crashing into the seats. Young was  toast. Walker almost beat the 10 count but not quite.

Another compelling match in what has been epic feud. Match had some great near falls. There transitions made sense and I loved how they foreshadowed the ref bump. Young is more explosive than ever and in the best shape of his career. Walker showed tremendous grit and is still the most over wrestler in CEW.  

Postmatch, Walker beat Young to death a steel chair, the same chair Young has used on him for months. Walker said Young had made his life a living hell and ordered him to stand up. Young was barely conscious much less able to stand. Walker  said in this ring they would have a Last Man Standing Match on November 30.

Walker showed great fire on the mic and a willingness to be as vicious as necessary.

(5) Open Challenge: Randall Reno III (with Pastor Jaykes) defeated Cam Jackson to retain the CEW Championship in 11:19. Jaykes claimed Reno's opponent "The Antichrist" Charlie Kill wasn't there because he had anointed the building with holy oils causing Charlie to get a tummy ache. Hunter James was seated in the front row garnering a "Hollywood" chant from the crowd. Jaykes was incensed and said Hollywood  was a land of sin. Jaykes figured he would take the next 30-40 minute to preach a sermon instead. Ring announcer Bret Wolverton was over it. He went off on Jaykes and introduced Jackson as Reno's challenger. 

The announce team lost it when Jaykes tripped over the ring steps and had difficulty regaining their composure. Reno got a hold of Jaykes' tambourine. The ref took the tambourine away but Jaykes was distracting Jackson and Reno rolled Jackson up with a handful of tights.

Match was a mix of manic energy, zany comedy and good wrestling. The announce team's reactions to Jaykes tripping over the ring steps was one of the highlights. Jackson showed skill and personality but no way the title was changing hands with the champion in waiting sitting in the front row. Jackson did however earn a return engagement against Dax Anthony on November 30.

(6) Body Bag Match: Exotic Youth (Zach Mosley & Cornelius Pepperbottom) defeated Simon Sermon & Chip Skyler (with Pastor Jaykes) to win the CEW Tag Team Turmoil Championship in 22:33.  Sermon and Skyler were getting killed. Mosley blasted them with chair shots to the back. Pepps sent Skyler face first into a wedged chair. Skyler brought a gusset plate into play. Mosley pounded the plate into Skyler's head and the blood was flowing. Skyler dove off a ladder in an attempt to put Pepps through a board bridged across two chairs. The bump was scarier and more brutal because the board did not break. 

Skyler also took a flatback bump off the ropes into a pile of thumbtacks. Mosley made sure to get Skyler's shirt off before he went into the tacks. Skyler escaped from Mosley unscathed only to have Pepps shoved him off the ropes into the tacks. 

Sermon lost his mind over what Pepps had done to his son. He wasted Pepps with chair shots, gave him a piledriver on the floor and zipped him inside one of the body bags. The action moved to the parking lot where Sermon and Skyler put Mosley in the back of a pick up truck. Mosley was busted open. Zoe Mikahla (ace photographer and Zach's girlfriend) clocked Jaykes with his tambourine and got carried off by Scratch. Mosley did a moonsault from the top of nearby building (looked like an outhouse) onto Sermon and Skyler. Mosley dragged Skyler out to makeshift graveyard near Ogeechee Road. Mosley was about to brain Skyler with a shovel but Sermon saved his boy. Sermon started to put Mosley in the second body bag. Pepps arrived on the scene with a shovel shot for Sermon. Pepps choked Skyler out with his belt. Mosley did likewise to Sermon. EY rolled Skyler and Sermon into the body bags and zipped them up to win.

This had to be one of the wildest matches in Georgia this year and the craziest match in CEW history. The call back to Sermon's strangulation of  EY  was the perfect finish. I feared those body bags getting zipped up was the end of Sermon and Skyler at CEW. Fear not. Sermon is said to be highly disappointed in Skyler for the humiliation he suffered at the hands of EY and will publicly punish him at VFW600 on November 30.