[2017-02-25-CWF Mid-Atlantic-End of an Era] Dominic Garrini vs Cain Justice

[Phil Schneider]

Holy hell, what is this match? I have loved Justice before, but this felt like him taking the next leap, and fuck is Garrini fun to watch. For two rookies, this was off the charts, it felt like watching Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki in their first UWF and Pro-Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi matches. Justice has Judo training and Garrini is a ranked Brazilian Ju-Jitsu competitor and they do an awesome job of showcasing those skills in a prowrestling context. The early mat rolling was really cool, I loved the kneebar countering and how smoothly Garrinin shifted from a rear naked choke into a twister. This was still a prowrestling match, and they both did cool things where they would be rolling for submissions, and one guy would catch his opponent in a cradle for quick pin attempt, getting small packaged isn't something Garrini has to worry about in Abu Dhabi grappling tourneys, and I liked how Justice threw in some pro-wrestling flavors. Justice nearly gets finished by a bunch of submissions and decides to get a little dirty, by banging Garini's arm off the ring post, and then we get a thrilling end run with Justice baring down on the arm while Dominic tries to catch him in chokes.

[Cap]

Was there live and did a little review off live watching memory. I haven't watched it on tape yet but this was the standout match of the evening for me. I'll likely come back once I do but live this came off as something different, with lots of fantastic transitions and grappling with real urgency behind it. I was a Justice fan before the match but I left a believer in both guys.

[shoe]

I'm all in on this match. I've been on the Cain bandwagon since last year. This match was his crown jewel. Both guys were incredible here. I loved the MMA spots mixed in with the pro spots. This match had a real charm to it. It also stands out because it was totally different than you would see at the Sportatorium. 4*

[Cap]

Yep.... just watched it this morning and gave it **** as well. The grappling and transitions were great. The sprinkling in of big moves was done well. You can tell they are both rookies. There are a few slightly clunky places, but you can also almost see their confidence building as the match goes on. Things get a little more fluid as they really open it up. I am really hoping we get a rematch down the road.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

2 complete unknowns to me who made it sure that after watching this they aren't unknowns anymore. Hot damn what a match - very shoot stylish w/ them trading submissions, doing awesome mat work, busting out some fantastic submissions & counters. Absolutely loved it. ****

[GOTNW]

The great thing about this match is that somehow it all makes sense. It felt like two carnies who learned martial arts, so when they started rolling they have knowledge off all these armbars and kneebars and whatnot, but they're still going to go after the fingers and bite and do everything that they used to do before they put gis on. It's also hard to point to similar matches elsewhere-sure, Battlarts and Futen matches have had matwork oriented matches where guys randomly start doing bulldogs and elbow drops and maybe a tope con giro, but you know what you're getting from them. I've seen a lot of hype of CWF Mid-Atlantic depicting it as an indy that successfully combines the traditions of what make the territories of yesterday work with the changes in ring style that have happened in the mean time, but that doesn't take away into account doing a match like this. I don't know whether they've had similar matches before, but this felt like a brave artistic endeavour that more than paid off. The fluidity, the highspots and the feeding methods reminded of RINGS, the randomness and the brief striking/kneeing/kicking etc. reminded of Battlarts (maybe not always in stiffness, but at least in spirit) and the joint attacks reminded of William Regal and Jim Breaks. The only flaw I I think the match had is that you could notice them changing the phases of the match, like there'd be a moment where you could feel "ok, we're doing the jiu-jitsu now" and then "now we're going to go through a few classic pro wrestling moves" and so on. The big counter triangle was based on the surprise that came off using one in the place off the other, so it's not like it was some giant issue, but ideally the match would flow as one. A great match nonetheless, maybe the best this year has produced so far. ****1/4

[SmartMark15]

This was really great. I've seen some CWF Mid-Atlantic in the form of Trevor Lee matches so this was the last thing I expected from these guys. Just a great struggle and exchanges for holds, throws, and strikes. Whoever's doing road agent work for CWF Mid-Atlantic needs a medal because just as always, this was paced perfectly. Engaging transitions like the hand into the ringpost or the dive into the Triangle just make for absolutely great wrestling and the match ended just where it peaked. Really fantastic stuff.

 

****1/4

[Childs]

Finally got around to watching this and what a treat it was. I love wrestlers whose physical appearances belie their skills, and I don't think you'd ever look at these two and think judoka and jiu-jitsu specialist. But fuck if they didn't bring the goods, with plenty of pro wrestling touches to top off the sundae. Shit like this is the reason to keep watching wrestling. You just never know.

[GSR]

Who is the quietly spoken commentator who did the play by play? I thought he was tremendous.

 

This was the first Mid-Atlantic I watched, and while I don't give star ratings, if I did, I wouldn't be as high as everyone else. Someone described this as 'clunky' and that sums it up perfectly for me. I really liked Justice ramming Garrini's arm into the ringpost when he tried to drag him back in the ring, he works over the arm but as soon as he stops, Garrini immediately then stops selling it. A big pet peeve is when someone stops selling limbwork. On first viewing of both though, Garrini is the one who I'd search out to watch again.

[soup23]

Who is the quietly spoken commentator who did the play by play? I thought he was tremendous.

 

This was the first Mid-Atlantic I watched, and while I don't give star ratings, if I did, I wouldn't be as high as everyone else. Someone described this as 'clunky' and that sums it up perfectly for me. I really liked Justice ramming Garrini's arm into the ringpost when he tried to drag him back in the ring, he works over the arm but as soon as he stops, Garrini immediately then stops selling it. A big pet peeve is when someone stops selling limbwork. On first viewing of both though, Garrini is the one who I'd search out to watch again.

 

Brad Stutts. Booker and promoter for the promotion as well.

[GSR]

Thanks. I wasn't keen on the other guy (he seemed to have patterned his style after early 2000s CZW commentary) but Brad was first rate.

[Edwin]

I dug this a little less than most of you folks, I still enjoyed this and would say it's very good specially for guys with as little experience as these two had at the time. I dug the early grappling exchanges with the helicopter armbar being by far my favorite spot from it. It seemed like two guys rolling around for fun and letting themselves get caught in moves they've drilled during a break in a BJJ gym. Cain getting frustrated and resorting to more straight up pro-wrestling tactics was great. Was kind of turned off by some of the strikes and I honestly would have preferred if they have kept rolling instead. My favorite bit was the odd hammerlock Cain caught Garrini in the finish though as that was great.