From Larry Goodman and Ross Blair:
It was the extraordinarily rare snowy winter day in Savannah. This was a show for hardcore fans and weirdos only and they nwere as loud as the usual CEW bunch.
As booker Bryce Cannon said in his acceptance speech for being a co-winner of the GWH Booker of the Year award (with Zach Mosley), all of the their regular roster was there despite the snow.
Cornelius Pepperbottom is the new CEW Chaos Champion. Peps ended Hakeem Young's glorious reign at 427 days.
The show had two stand out matches: Bryce Cannon challenging Michael Walker for the CEW Championship and Kevin Kantrell vs. Jay Alpha Miller
Brandon Benefield and Maestro on commentary, Referee of the Year Clark DeBenedetto, Mike Fullilove and David Sanderson were the referees. The incomparable Diana Michel was the ring announcer.
Ross Blair's live take on each match is in italics.
(1) Cornelius Pepperbottom defeated Hakeem Young to win the Chaos Championship in 10:34. Hakeem took a running start on a headfirst bump into the post. A fantastic spot. Hakeem introduced the steel chair that has been his best friend and there was nothing referee David Sanderson could do to to stop him. Peps pinned Hakeem after a pair of northern shining wizards.
Matt Griffin interrupted Diana Michel's intro of the next match and got huge heat before opening his fat mouth. Randall Reno said he was going to shut Griffin up. Griffin said he absolutely did not come for a fight and punched Reno in the face.
(2) Randall Reno defeated Matt Griffin in 4:26. The match was everything anyone could have reasonably hoped for.
Matt Griffin, owner of Action Wrestling in Atlanta, entered the ring and berated the crowd before challenging someone in the back to shut him up. Randy Reno (and his pesky spray bottle) answered the call, and a match ensued. After just a few minutes, Reno hit his Holy Roller (famouser) finisher for the win.
(3) Tyler Stevens defeated DJ Smoke in 9:01. Smoke vs. Stephens with Clark as the ref -- a match that could only take place in a CEW ring. Set up exquisitely in the Casino Rumble. Smoke put up a great fight but it was not to be. Alabama Slam, sitout powerbomb, done.
An opportunity to develop character work -- facial expressions, body language, less was more in so far as the moves.
Tyler “The Wall” Stevens pinned DJ Smoke. Crowd went nuts for DJ, which has been the norm lately. Good David & Goliath type match, with Tyler showing a rare sign of respect by helping DJ to his feet after beating him.
(4) Jay Alpha Miller defeated Kevin Kantrell in overtime of the Coastal Combative Match after it was declared a no contest in the third round.
Three five minute rounds No ropes. Jon Davis was one of the men cornering Kantrell.
Round One: All grappling. Kantrell was able to lock in Cattle Mutilation and a cross armbreaker but not long enough to have Miller in severe jeopardy. The surprise was how well Miller held his own with Kantrell on the mat.
Round Two: Kantrell got a leg lace submission but Miller was resourceful.
Round Three: More traditional pro wrestling action. Referee Mike Fullilove consulted with the judges and the match was ruled a no contest.
Miller challenged Kantrell to finish it. As they shook hands, Miller headbutted Kantrell. Miller pounded Kantrell from the mount until he was out. Fullilove awarded the match to Miller on a TKO.
I loved this. Probably ends up my top 10 matches of the year because of the uniqueness factor.
Next up was the “Coastal Combative Match” — three 5-minute rounds of grappling for the climax of the feud between Kevin Kantrell and Jay Alpha Miller. They had three judges at ringside for the match — Sergeant Scratch, Simon Sermon, & Diana Michel. Both men brought an entourage, and the ropes were removed for this particular match. The unique stips and ongoing storyline made this a fun one. The 3 rounds turned into sudden death overtime with Miller getting the win after hitting Kantrell with the Second Amendment and repeated punches to the face.
Exodus to the ring with Emily Locke doing their talking. The Moody Brothers did not make it to Savannah. Locke declared Exodus the number one contenders for the tag team title by default.
(5) Exodus (Bam Bundy & Jacked Josh (with Emily Locke) defeated Cody Fluffman & Young Mighty Joe (with Radbod Mikey) to become the number one contender for the Tag Team Turmoil Championship in 12:24. Locke tried to crossbody Radbod and bounced off his belly. Josh superkicked Radbod to take him out. Exodus pinned YMJ with a piledriver/hidden blade combo.
Exodus is not your average bear tag team title challengers and they have Emily Locke to spice things up.
Exodus (Body Bundy & Jacked Josh w/manager Emily Locke) defeated Cody Fluffman (w/manager Rad Bod Mikey) & Young Mighty Joe to earn a title shot against the Allen Brothers next month. All 6 (managers included) shined here. It ended when Exodus hit a stuffed piledriver on Joe for the pin.
(6) Hunter James defeated Christian Taylor (with Simon Sermon) in 13:37. James got the jump on Simon's psycho. They fought tooth and nail. James eventually prevailed with a second brainbuster.
Fiercely competitive, technically solid. Can't put my finger on it, but for some reason this match didn't speak to me. Unless CEW was going to give Taylor a mega push and abort the story direction, James needed to win clean.
“Hollywood” Hunter James beat Christian Taylor (w/manager Simon Sermon) in a hot and heavy brawl as Hunter continues his feud with Simon & his goons. Great technical wrestling here, which ended with a brainbuster & pinfall.
(7) Michael Walker (with Simon Sermon & Christian Taylor) defeated Bryce Cannon defeated to retain the CEW Championship in 19:35. Fullilove ejected Sermon and his lackey the first time he interfered. Cannon handed Walker his ass and threw him out the door into the snow. The match did a 180 when Cannon's knee struck the post. Maestro said Walker was trying to dislocate every CL Cannon's knee. Cannon sent Walker face-first into his frat paddle wrapped in barbed wire. Walker was busted open.
Fullilove got squished. Cannon got a visual three count on the champion with while Fullilove was down. Sermon and Taylor ran back in to attack Cannon. They were joined by Cannon's former arch nemesis Dax Anthony. Sermon gave Anthony handcuffs. Anthony handcuffed himself to Sermon and beat his ass all the way to the back.
Taylor screwed up and took Walker out with a clothesline. Cannon took Taylor out with the Keg Stand. Cannon picked up Sermon's ring. Fullilove returned to life just in time to stop Cannon from using the ring. Walker got a hold of the ring. Fullilove dutifully allowed Walker to distract him. Walker punched Cannon with the ring, gave him a low blow and retained with the Froggy Elbow.
Cannon and Walker know each well and have great chemistry. This was a fun roller coaster ride of major momentum swings with a multitude of booking bells and whistles thrown in: snow, barbed wire, blood, handcuffs, a ref bump, a visual pin for the challenger, run ins...and Dax Anthony's drama-filled appearance to tilt the scale in Cannon's favor but Walker had still more skullduggery up his sleeve.
