August 3, 2016
Round 1 – Part 4
(taped June 23, 2016)
#CWC
City: Winter Park, FL
Venue: Full Sail University
Commentary: Mauro Ranallo, Daniel Bryan
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Video
Last on the CWC, Zack Sabre Jr, Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, and Brian Kendrick moved on to round 2.
Intro Video
“Take a Stand” by CFO$
Video
Introducing Rich Swann and Jason Lee.
Match 1
Jason Lee vs Rich Swann
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Rich Swann wins via pinfall after a standing 450 splash
Time: 3:46
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Rich Swann is indeed very, very flashy, but the match itself was a little brief. I would like to have seen more from Jason Lee because we really didn’t get a good sense of what he can do. Still, this was fun.
Video
Introducing Gurv Sihra and Noam Dar.
Match 2
Noam Dar vs Gurv Sihra
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: Noam Dar wins via submission with a knee bar
Time: 5:26
Match Thoughts
Both guys are young and showed it a little with wasted motions and an almost missed move, but this was a good match. I liked Gurv’s personality more, but Noam Dar had the better game plan. This was competitive and interesting to watch.
Video
Introducing Fabian Aichner and Jack Gallagher.
Match 3
Jack Gallagher vs Fabian Aichner
(referee: Charles Robinson)
Result: Jack Gallagher wins via pinfall after a running dropkick
Time: 6:46
Match Thoughts
Very good match! Both guys looked very good in this. Gallagher was instantly likable, but Aichner won people over with his nice combination of power and a little bit of high flying. He tried to match Gallgher’s technical skills early in the match, but that wasn’t even really a contest. When Aichner started using his size and strength, he got a lot better. Everything Gallagher did made me smile though, both what he was doing and how he did it. Great technique.
Video
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are great friends and partners, but they’re also competitors.
Backstage
Andrea D’Marco asks Gargano and Ciampa how their partnership with affect their match. Gargano says it won’t affect it. Ciampa seems to take a little offense to Johnny’s words.
Match 4
Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
(referee: Danilo Anfibio)
Result: Johnny Gargano wins via pinfall with a crucifix pin
Time: 10:48
Match Thoughts
Great match. The backstory helped a lot, but even without it this was a great match. It started out pretty evenly, then Ciampa started to dominate and beat Johnny up quite a lot. The story very much came into play during the match and affected the outcome, which worked very well. I’m glad they did this match, and that they did it in round one.
Show Impressions
Again, a very good show without a bad match. The matches on this one actually got progressively better as it went along. I’m looking forward to round 2!
Match of the Night
Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
Great, emotional match with lots of hard hitting, good technique, and exciting near falls. A great way to end the first round of the tournament.