No Time Limit

This is a me-too posting on a fine CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling match from February 8, 2014. Last month Wrestling Arsenal said all that needs saying about this event in two postings (here and here), which (typical of the Arsenal) couple informed analysis with genuine feeling for the art and science of pro wrestling. (You can watch the 2-out-of-3-falls match with commercial interruptions here on YouTube.) Still, I felt I needed to add my own two cents as a wrestling fan and proud North Carolinian.

In terms of technical skills and ring performance, this exhausting match sums up what I think pro wrestling should be all about. Grit, sweat, bad blood, youthful volatility, and variety in wrestling styles. There's a trick ending I don't usually care for, but it works here. From start to finish, the show hangs on the talents of not only its youthful combatants Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett but also ref Red Jones, Lee's ringside tag partner Chet Sterling, and substitute ref Charles Richardson, who rushes to the ring at a crucial moment in Round 3, after Jones is temporarily knocked out.

In addition, this show has a strong sense of the region it springs from (north central NC). The two excited commentators make frequent reference to Gibsonville and its environs. They refer to up-and-coming babyface Andrew as "the hometown hero." Both he and Trevor practically grew up in the wrestling ring, Everett as the masked Chiva Kid and Lee as a boy villain, already as bilious and cocky as they come. The energy of the packed house--the wrestlers' families and friends, diehard CWF fans, folks crowding in from four or five counties away--is palpable even on video.

Trevor is in his element in Round 1, as the action stays close to the mat.

But Andrew, highly regarded as a high flyer, surprises everybody by showing he can grapple with the best of them. 

The action spills out of the ring and into the seats in Round 2. The commentators rightly refer to this as a grudge match. One commentator says, "I think the wrestling's over. We're in war stage now." Trevor is especially vicious, dragging Drew across the mat by his hair (and by his nostrils!), headbutting him, choking him in a cravate, and kicking in the face repeatedly.

At the end of Round 2, Trevor at last grounds the high flyer, pinning his shoulders for the three count. Then Ref Red has to manually pry him off his prey. 

With a 1:1 tie and everything hanging in the balance in Round 3, the exhausted wrestlers go for broke.

Andrew suffers for being the fetching crowdpleaser he is.