CEW February Fallout Video Review

From Larry Goodman: This is your better late than never February Fallout video review. Check out Ross Blair's live report   The wrestlin...

From Larry Goodman:

This is your better late than never February Fallout video review. Check out Ross Blair's live report 

The wrestling room at VFW 660 Canteen & Grill and they way CEW shoots it has a distinctive and unique vibe. Do not change venues whatever you do CEW. I wrote the previous line before finding out the April show as moved to CEW's former home at Coastal Empire Beer Co.

Brandon Benefield and Maestro did a quick intro from the commentary desk and threw to the ring for Chianne Michaels' introduction of the opening match. 

(1) Hunter James defeated Marvelous Michael Stevens in 9:11. Benefield called Stevens a wily veteran. I popped for that. The match had a smooth flow. James and Stevens played well off each other.  Christian Taylor appeared in psycho mode. James almost got cradled as a result of the distraction but pinned Stevens with a rolling reverse, then exploded through the ropes with a tope on Taylor. 

Taylor lost what was left of his mind. He laid James out with one devastating move after another and suffocated him with Saran wrap.  

Simon Sermon was the sole person able to bring the wild beast that is Christian Taylor under control. 

This was Taylor at his most unhinged. Gary Hart and Mark Lewin came into my mind.

Benefield interviewed DJ Smoke backstage. Benefield said Smoke impressed Tyler Stevens so much  that he went to Boss Daddy to demand  that Smoke received a title shot. Smoke said tonight was special. He was not worried about Michael Walker's tricks. He was going to bring in a new era into CEW.

Earnest babyface promo 101.  Hearing "new era" made me cringe. HHH uses that phrase to death. 

(2) Emily Locke (with Jacked Josh & Body Bundy) defeated Anastasia in 9:16. Locke got old fashioned heat and stayed connected with the crowd. Anastasia, one year out of training, innocent yet gritty.  Anastasia scored a visual fall with a flatliner while Exodus was on the apron protesting. Locke went on to victory with the Lock & Key (ripcord cutter) for the win. 

I am in love with Emily Locke. She is matched up against Kelsey Raegan at the April Ambush.

(3) Exodus (Jacked Josh & Body Bundy with Emily Locke) defeated Allen Brothers (Robert & Steve) to win the Tag Team Turmoil Championship in 8:26.  Allen Bros were on a roll until a friendly fire screw up derailed them. Exodus isolated Robert. Steve hit a tope suicida on Exodus but appeared to suffer a shoulder injury in the process. Locke distracted Steve and he ate a springboard kick from Bundy. Locke and Bundy beat Steve's ass on the outside while Josh kept the ref occupied. Robert was left to fight alone. Exodus hit Revelation on Robert and Exodus are the new champions.

Good match as the Allen Brothers' CEW matches have uniformly  been. The finish was kind of out of nowhere. Looked like they had to take it home early due to Steve's injury (a dislocated shoulder according to Ross Blair's report). Allen Brother had a great championship run but they had done about all there was to do and Exodus was right team at the right time to switch the title. 

Rez Gainer described himself as young, talented and handsome. His mommy and daddy bought him a wrestling ring so he could become a superstar. He summed Savannah up as a retirement home for old, depressed people. That did not sit well with Randy Reno, the "Beacon of Bravado", the two-time and longest reigning CEW Champion in company history. Gainer told Reno he was talking to  a 20 year-old generational talent and challenged "squirt" to a match. Reno accepted.

Nice chemistry between Gainer and Reno. Felt spontaneous. Gainer's promo had a strong MJF influence, Loved the locale.

(4) Cornelius Pepperbottom defeated Jay Alpha Miller to retain the Chaos Championship in 8:21. Peps super over in Savannah. He put his shades on for a move and that did not end well for him. Miller took Pepperbottom to leg drop city. Commentary noted the dueling chants. Peps fought out of the Wings of Liberty and countered the Second Amendment with a Famouser. Peps then connected with a shining wizard to retain.

This is how to elevate a champion and a championship. Peps took the title from a champion that had held it for 427 days. In his first defense, Peps beats Teflon fresh off winning an epic feud with Kevin Kantrell.

Post match, Hakeem Young attacked Pepperbottom from behind. Hakeem and Teflon double teamed Peps until Bryce Cannon made the save.

Exodus gloated about their title win backstage. Bundy said with  X factor Locke in their corner, any tag team was going to have a hard time prying the titles out of their hands.

Simon Sermon came to the ring with a mic in his hand. Problem was the mic was not working. The crowd drowned him out with a "Simon Farted" chant. Enter Dax Anthony as the smiling, pandering babyface. Simon offered Anthony a match with Michael Walker to make things right. Anthony stroked his beard. As they shook on the deal, Anthony refused to relinquish is grip and headbutted Simon.......................

I loved the amorphous, organic segue into the match. I saw Anthony as a babyface early in his career. HIs 2.0 babyface persona has an air of danger and is way more entertaining.

(5) Dax Anthony defeated Simon Sermon in 9:37. Anthony broke out the  JYD Big Thump powerslam. Sermon kicked out and slipped away from the Final Curtain to randomly bring a bingo tumbler into the ring. Anthony won the tug of war over the tumbler and pinned Sermon with the Final Curtain.

A Simon Sermon wrestling match is an object lesson in less is more.  Trained at Turnbuckle under Dusty Rhodes, over 26 years of experience. Every piece of his offense done with a purpose and it all looks good on camera. 

Cornelius Pepperbottom promo with Bryce Cannon chiming in. Looked like they shot it in a convenience store. They set up EY vs. Miller and Hakeem for the next show. It's out with the old and in with the Youth. 

Peps is a highly underrated promo. EY v Hakeem & Teflon intrigues me.

(6) Randy Reno defeated Rez Gainer in 9:36. Crowd behind Reno bigtime,  Maestro called him a gift to the earth. Don't know I would go that far. DeBenedetto had to shield his private area from Reno's spray bottle. Reno in complete command in the early going. DeBennedeto seized the spray bottle and Reno ate a dropkick from Gainer. Gainer grabbed the spray bottle. Reno foiled but he kicked out of the holy roller. Reno was stunned. Reno sold a blow from Gainer like he was knocked out but recovered enough to  grab the spray bottle. DeBennedeto tried to take it away. Gainer got sprayed in the face and Reno pinned him with a northern lights suplex.

Fun match. They nailed the finish. This was the best in-ring version of Randy Reno. Gainer is a prodigy with his facial expressions and ability to engage the audience.

(7) Michael Walker defeated DJ Smoke to retain the CEW Championship in 15:03. Walker was being an asshole on is way to the ring. Crowd gave Main Event Mike the "you sold out" treatment. Smoke clearly a big fan favorite. Maestro had done his homework. He said Smoke held a victory over Walker as he  beat him forth for the Lightweight Title at Scrappy Championship Wrestling. Two main momentum swings in the match - Walker's suplex on the floor teed up a long stretch of targeting Smoke's midsection, Smoke's tornado DDT to spark his comeback. Then it was see battle into the finish. See saw pin attempts until Walker secured the three count with a firm grasp of the ropes.

There's a lot to live up to in the main event position at CEW. Walker and Smoke did not disappoint. Walker is proving to be as good as a heel as he was as a babyface. He cheated but he also retained without Simon's meddling in his affairs. Smoke was a main event-worthy opponent. CEW has cast him perfectly to accentuate his strengths.