Lazyness caused me to not post this until today, but here goes: Yes, I went to one of the at least dozen federations in the Carolinas to use CWA as their initials, but unlike the rest, this one isn't a variation on Carolina Wrestling Alliance/Association, this CWA is "Champions With Attitude"
Lame name, but it was actually quite a good show. The night started off on a really fucked up note, with the ring announcer coming out and deciding to just screw with the crowd. Yes the ring announcer was playing heel. Kinda. Picking out the regulars in the crowd and making fun of them, until he stopped at the Box Boys who got a big pop from the crowd. I don't understand at all. It's just two guys in the front row...with a cardboard box. BUT WAIT! On the other side of the crowd, we have a new upstart group of Box GIRLS! Oh noes! Audience rivalry! Then the announcer gives away a bunch of free shit that the crowd doesn't really care about, until he gives away the cardboard box that the stuff was in. The Box gets a monster pop.
Once again...I just don't fucking get it.
The show starts up proper and they dissapoint the hell out of the crowd by saying that Sabu is injured and won't make it. CWA World Champion Raven comes out(with Lodi) telling the crowd that Sabu has a legit injury and didn't just decide to no-show. "The Universal" Phill Shatter(basically he looks like a Chris Masters type big-man) comes out with his manager Joey Nuggs (big fat guy dressed like a purple pimp) and says he wants a rematch with Raven for the world title, because apparently he was "this close" to winning it last night. Somehow they wind up signing a 3 on 2 handicap match for Raven's title with Raven and Lodi taking on Shatter, Nuggs, and whoever else they pick. Oh, and somewhere in here Raven ends up making dick jokes about Shatter. Read that again. RAVEN making DICK JOKES. What the fuck is going on here?
Opening match: Gluteus Maximus (big fat guy in gladiator attire) and "The Man Scout" Jake Manning vs. Leroy Greene (maybe? something Greene) and The Black Panther.
Basic tag contest, nothing really too exciting. Maximus pins Greene after a diving headbutt. Since this is a really short writeup, I figure this is the place to point out just how impressed I was with how professional everything looked. They actually had an ENTRANCE SET, plus lighting, music and entrance videos. The first indy fed I've gone to that actually gave a shit about their presentation.
Second match: Johnny Swinger vs. "The Lucha Style Gangsta" Amien Rios vs. the CWA Carolinas Champion Josh Magnum in an elimination triangle match.
I'm not really sure if Magnum's title was on the line or not, but it doesn't matter since he won the match after pinning Rios with a 450. This was easily the match of the night. Yes, for the only time in his career, Johnny Swinger actually participated in a match of the night. Well...half of a match of the night, as he was gone early on after Rios pinned him with a rollup. Biggest highlight of the match was Magnum throwing Rios into the crowd, about five seats away from where I was at, and then hitting him with a TOP ROPE Asai Moonsault. Other highlight was Magnum doing a suicide dive right into a chair, and on very minimal padding. Magnum was easily the breakout star of the night in my eyes.
Third match: Nu Skool (Danny Dollar/Zack Salvation) vs Team Macktion (TJ and Kirby Mack) in a return match for the #1 contendership to the tag titles held by...I have no idea.
Team Macktion always brings the goods, and Nu Skool seemed pretty good themselves. Macktion won in what I'm assuming is a botched finish, because it was simply a sunset flip, and everyone looked confused afterwards. Fucked up ending aside, it was a pretty good match.
Intermission at this point, where the announcer pulled numbers out of a hat, and whoever had that number on their program got free tickets to a future show. It took him about 10 minutes to get a winning number, because NOBODY bought a damn program.
Fourth match: "The Insane Lumberjack" Timber vs. Mikael Judas (a complete Kevin Thorn clone)
This was the "crazy brawl" match of the evening. Once again action spilled out to the crowd, and once again it was RIGHT beside me, as security came around and made us all back up. Then half of the chairs in the first two rows got used as weapons, including mine...I think. It was all so scattered by the time they left I just grabbed a cheap plastic chair and used it to sit in. Highlight of the match was the crazy guy sitting in front of me that kept following Timber around trying to get him to use his chair. Timber wins by DQ when Judas chokeslams the ref. Another good match, with a lame finish.
Main event: Raven/Lodi vs. "The Universal" Phill Shatter, Joey Nuggs and "The Hawaiian Assassin" Kimo for the CWA World title.
Kimo er...the best way to put this? He looks like Kratos(from God of War) with furry boots. This was the weakest bout of the night. Everything was just slow and plodding and seemed like it was put together at the last minute. Raven basically turned it into a comedy bout, stealing Nuggs' hat and putting it on (which the crowd then chanted "Johnny Polo" for, causing Raven to ask whose side they were on) and putting the claw on Kimo and complaining when it wouldn't work. Match ends when Raven pins Nuggs with the Raven Effect.
Overall, despite the lack of Sabu and only 5 matches, it was still a REALLY good time. I was really shocked at just how hot the crowd was, even though they only had about 300 people, it was their first ever show in Fayetteville, and were over 3 hours away from their regular "home bases." I'd go again definitely if there was another one near me. If anyone is in the Orangeburg or Columbia SC areas, I'd recommend it completely if you haven't gone before.
.....God this is the spammiest post I've ever made. And why the hell did I waste this much time on an indy fed writeup that only about 6 people are gonna read?
