CEW March Melee Live Report -- Savannah on March 28

Photos by Ross Blair By Ross Blair: Coastal Empire Wrestling returned to the VFW (aka THE CEW Arena) on March 28th with another hot show. Th...

Photos by Ross Blair

By Ross Blair:

Coastal Empire Wrestling returned to the VFW (aka THE CEW Arena) on March 28th with another hot show. The venue nearly sold out, and the crowd was super into it as usual. 

Heavyweight champ Michael Walker & his manager Simon Sermon opened the show. Simon presented a bigger & shinier replacement title belt to Walker. Simon also collected many of the "Simon Sucks" signs (which were plentiful in the VFW) and put them through a shredder in the middle of the ring. He proceeded to throw the confettied signs like party streamers into the crowd to celebrate his boy's new belt. This was clever. 

(1) Jay Alpha Miller versus Bryce Cannon. This was supposed to be a tag match with Miller & Hakeem Young against the reunited Exotic Youth team of Cannon & Cornelius Pepperbottom, but Hakeem wasn't medically cleared due to legit injuries sustained in a recent auto accident. Bryce stepped up for the solo match while Peps joined Brandon Benefield & Maestro Awesome on commentary for this match. Miller grabbed Bryce's paddle, but Peps jumped in the ring and grabbed it from him. While referee Clark DeBenedetto's attention was still with Peps & the paddle, Miller grabbed Peps' Coastal Chaos belt and cracked Bryce with it for the 1-2-3. 

(2) Suge D versus Young Mighty Joe. Suge infuriated Joe by spitting in his face. Joe then went ballistic on Suge, like the Savannimal he is, and Suge got in a punch to the eye while referee Jesse B was trying to separate them in the corner. Joe fell to the mat and Suge put his feet on the ropes to illegally secure a pinfall. 

 (3) A women's match followed with Emily Locke, accompanied by both members of Exodus at ringside, versus Kelsey Raegan. A really good match. Raegan impressed with her acrobatic moves, which won the crowd over. Heel Emily had
her fans too, as the crowd was really hot for this one. Body Bundy pulled referee Clark out of the ring while Locke was being pinned. Raegan then superkicked Jacked Josh after he ran into the ring. Raegan then turned around just in time to receive a Locke & Key (ripcord cutter) & pinfall from Emily. This match proves that CEW is ready for a women's championship. If this happens, Emily Locke is my pick for inaugural champ. 

 (4) Dax Anthony versus CEW Heavyweight Champ "Main Event" Michael Walker. This was mostly story telling versus all action, as Dax storyline injured his right knee when it buckled after Walker Irish whipped him into the corner. After a wellness delay, Dax continued the match, albeit with a limp. Walker proceeded to target the injured knee. Dax kicked out after Walker delivered his froggy bow elbow from the top. Walker put on Simon's ring, but Dax moved and Simon got blasted with the loaded punch. Dax then blocked a Fro-nado DDT and hit Walker with his Curtains Down (cutter) finishing move for the pinfall victory. The crowd, myself included, went nuts for the title change...until Simon grabbed the mic and frantically said "When I said last month that Dax Anthony could have this match, I never said it was for this title." While laying on the mat, Dax replied that he is sorely disappointed in Walker, who pulled this cheap non-title crap after Dax decided to continue the match for the people despite his injury. This goaded Simon to announce a rematch, this time for the title, at the next show -- despite the cowardly objections from Walker. 

Solid booking here, even though I REALLY wanted to see Dax get the strap. Perhaps in April. We shall see.

 (5) DJ Smoke versus The One J. Esquire. Esquire, making his CEW debut, is from the Savannah area. It started with an in-ring Brandon Benefield interview with DJ, who has become a favorite with the Savannah crowd. Smoke said he's staying determined after losing his CEW title shot last month, but it was quickly interrupted by Esquire. A good match that ended with DJ winning after a frogsplash off the top. 

 (6) Exodus (Body Bundy & Jacked Josh) versus The Saturday Night Temptations (Karl Hager & CJ Shine). The Temptations, making their return after about a year, came out to a big pop. Hager brought his magic hat, which makes the person wearing it act like a dancing fool -- ring announcer Chianne Michaels, referee Jesse B, Emily Locke, and even commentator Maestro Awesome fell victim to the hat's power throughout the duration of the match. Gotta love this gimmick! A really fun match, which included a unique false finish: The Temptations rolled up both members of Exodus...while the ref was making the pin, Emily rang the bell which stopped the count. Before the confusion in the ring faded, Exodus threw Shine into a post and won after performing their Final Revelation finisher (neck breaker by Bundy as Josh came off the top with a splash) on Hager. Great booking & execution on this finish! 

(7) "Hollywood" Hunter James versus Christian Taylor in a Last Man Standing match. Both wore street clothes in this weapon-filled slugfest. At the previous show, Christian attacked Hunter after his match, leaving him laying after choking him out with Saran Wrap. Match started with Hunter & a kendo stick versus Christian & a chair. Hunter bled after a stiff shot with a cookie sheet. Christian hit a coast to coast dropkick on Hunter while he was inside a metal trash can. A door and a (very tall!) ladder also came into play. After a "we want tables" chant from the crowd, Hunter pulled out a huge table, which collapsed when he hit a trash can-wearing Christian with an elbow off the top rope. Hunter then got up at the count of 9 (while Christian stayed down) to be the last man standing. 

Best match of the night, and a great climax to the Hunter-Christian feud.