Titles
Yep, CCW have gone for it, adding strings to that Metal music, a portcullis effect with little pictures in each square, encased by metal and barbed wire. New footage too, including that nasty backdrop onto a plastic table that Jacob Fatu took from Gangrel and ending with the extraordinary picture of KiLynn King’s face covered in blood after defeating Marina Tucker in their amazing cage match.
That’s the main change here, the wrestling action remains superlative.
The Match
Singular. Only one is needed. It was fabulous. And it was supposed to be friends Jackal Stevens v TC Read, the Florida Man; was it for Stevens’ Southeastern Championship? It barely mattered, the action was what made this. And that singles encounter? It became a Triple Threat match when newly saved and much younger-looking QT Marshall, hated by CCW fans, inserted himself into the match by way of some darkly mentioned stroke with management. As CCW themselves said;
‘QT Marshall is apparently adept at backstage politics.’
And I’m so glad he was here. I haven’t been Marshall’s greatest fan over the years, but here he added gravitas, less high spotting, and his work was grounded in wrestling entertainment.
Oh, and Read’s entrance music is Aha’s ‘Take On Me’; that’s your stamp of quality right there.
You might expect that mates Stevens and Read would work on Marshall and you’d be right, this was the first action before QT enticed Stevens outside the ring and threw him hard into the steps. CCW was right;
‘But when Marshall was tossed out of the ring, Read made it clear to Stevens he wanted the title. The two put on a technical wrestling display for a few minutes.’ And ir was great to see them attempt to beat each other and come out honours even.
Then Marshall did something unexpected. To me, anyway. A Springboard Back Elbow. Yes, QT Marshall. A Springboard. Back. Elbow.
Read matched it with a nice Gutwrench Suplex and Stevens, not to be outdone, planted a sweet Spinning Kick. The champ then went on a bit of a tear, a Belly To Back Suplex to Marshall and immediate Bucklebomb to Read.
And they had the wherewithal to hit a fun, odd move; as one came over with a Sunset Flip, it caused a break in the hold of the ropes and a nasty Suplex ensued. The Coastal Championship Wrestling description tells it better than I do;
‘Jackal Stevens executed a sunset flip on Read, who was still holding on to Marshall, meaning Marshall was the recipient of a German suplex thanks to the momentum of Stevens.’
Although Marshall’s Sit Out Powerbomb was nice, he and Stevens almost worked together when Read was choked over the top rope by Marshall and wandered straight into a wicked-looking Stevens Backbreaker over the knee.
And The End Was A Thing Of Beauty
Lew Spectre was there, so you would expect he would pass QT a chair. As he turned to wallop Read, the Florida Man got a kick in to smack Marshall with the cold steel and as Read turned away in half celebration, Stevens came off the top with a lovely Blockbuster for the pin.
Action Packed CCW
From one match. Coastal Championship Wrestling know just what they are doing; they know how to carry their fans with them, they know how to delight and destroy expectations, they understand how to deliver devastation in the ring. And they do it on CCW Alive TV week after week.
There aren’t many doing that in wrestling at the moment; CCW is a diamond.