Beyond Wrestling’s double headers with EVOLVE are some of there more unique shows, as the the door is open to bring in talent they can’t use on a monthly basis and provide some unique match-ups. “Cold Brew” would be no different.
While David Starr vs. WALTER has happened several times before, tonight would be the first time it took place on U.S. soil. The matches these competitors had in wXw, especially their one from October of 2017, received a slew of critical acclaim, bringing plenty of buzz to this contest. Conquering “the ring general” has been a mission of Starr’s, and while he hasn’t be successful in Germany, perhaps in his home country in one of his home promotions would provide the battlefield Starr needed to be successful. Maybe just as important is Starr wanting the win to pick up momentum heading into his “Fans Bring the Weapons” match with Joey Janela at the end of the month. WALTER dominated Starr. Starr survived. He took what WALTER had, avoided what he could, struck back when possible, but WALTER just would not back down. Starr found the opening to hit the running Look At It, which defeated Martin Stone last month, but didn’t keep WALTER down. He took the opening on the floor to attack WALTERs’ hand, like he did in Germany two months prior, but a powerbomb on the apron stopped Starr in his tracks. It did not keep him down for a pin, and he refused to be put out by a sleeper hold with a bodyscissors. This gave Starr a second wind where he threw whatever he could, whenever he could at WALTER. It also allowed Starr to kick out of WALTER’s brutal lariat, the same move that kept Starr down in Germany. Despite the crowd getting fully behind Mr. Americanrana, a sit-out reverse piledriver from WALTER dashed Starr in moments. Watching WALTER wrestle is such a unique experience. Nobody moves quite like he does and doesn’t have the type of impact in every bit of offense they do. He and Starr have such complimentary styles and have been building a body of exemplary matches. Germany seems to be the right place for Starr to finally best WALTER, but Beyond can take a great deal of pride in hosting one of the chapters of their story and being the first U.S. promotion to do so. This was a hell of a way to kick off the event.
The New England Pro Wrestling Academy students have been in a state of disarray. In an effort to try and become the “leader” of the students in Beyond, Cam Zagami ostracized himself from the rest of his classmates and became a man on his own…or so we thought. At “Unprofessional”, Zagami revealed he had aligned himself with the imposing Brian Milonas, who mowed down Anthony Greene, Brick Mastone, and Mikey Webb after their victory over the Carnies. Milonas’ motives seem to be serving as a gatekeeper for the New England area, but not opening proverbial gate for anyone. This month, with Webb in their corner, Mastone and Greene would look to exact revenge in tag team competition against Zagami and Milonas. The match didn’t even go two minutes, as Webb’s anger got the best of him and he attacked Milonas which triggered a disqualification. Mastone and Greene had to hold him back before the match as he tried to fight both Zagami and Milonas. Greene kept his cool only briefly, but a low blow from Zagami to Mastone and Milonas brushing Mastone repeatedly with his body weight caused Webb to go on the warpath once more, even attacking Greene and Mastone when they once again tried to cool him down. It was Zagami’s bullheadedness that led to the NEPWA students losing matches, and Webb may have become just like him.
This event also featured the semi-final round of the Tournament for Tomorrow. The first bout pitted Wheeler YUTA against Amityville Project member Mike Verna. Unfortunately for YUTA, it meant Project members Dan Barry, Ryan Galeone, and a now healthy Rex Lawless were also ringside. This was your classic speed vs. power match-up. The problem is, the crowd wasn’t there for them, the match came off as rushed and with rushing comes errors. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think these guys or the match was terrible, but it was the wrong match for the wrong crowd. For the Beyond fans in the know, it was just a matter of time for Dan Barry and his cronies to get involved. They did, and yet YUTA still came out victorious. Verna can’t get a win even with a three person advantage and YUTA flukes his way into a pin out of nowhere, only to get his ass beat after the match. Huh? This felt off.
Thankfully for YUTA, the American Gaijin (Rory Gulak and Jay Freddie) helped save him from his four on one beatdown which bled nicely into Gaijin’s scheduled tag match against Ryan Galeone and Rex Lawless. For Lawless and Galeone, this would be a homecoming of sorts, as it was in the same building in June where Dan Barry would put them together as a team. Like YUTA, Gaijin used the speed advantage to take advantage and did their best to isolate the fresh off of injury Lawless. However, Galeone would always return with an impact, culminating with him clotheslining Jay Freddie out of the ring before powerbombing Gulak for the pin. There was more gaga with Dan Barry and YUTA and some clunky wrestling, so my feelings on this are similar to the match before it. That said, Galeone looked like a killer in this bout.
While Martin Stone was able to defeat JT Dunn and John Silver in the early part of the Fall, Stone was unsuccessful against both Zack Sabre, Jr. and David Starr at the last two Beyond events. Stone’s toughest challenge to date would come tonight as he faced Matthew Riddle. It took almost two years for anyone to beat Riddle in Beyond, and even with just one loss, Riddle can lay a claim to still be the man to beat in the company. Both of them can hit hard, both of them are experts in submissions, and they wrestled fairly evenly. They picked up the aggression while also conveying their respect for one another. Obviously Riddle is very popular and considered one of the best today, but for some reason this match made it seem clear to me how well Riddle has put together everything. He’s able to string certain strikes and moves together that are innovative and very fluid. That’s part of what makes him so much fun to watch. Stone had him well scouted, even throwing Riddle’s own offense back in his face. You could tell the victory was so important to both of them. Riddle ended up getting that win when he made Stone submit to the BroMission, but not after Stone kicked out of the BroStone at one. The two men shook hands after the match to once agains how respect. This was the match the show and audience needed at this point and they delivered.
Long time fans will remember the rivalry between AR Fox and Shynron (now Zenshi) back in 2014/2015 that culminated in an incredible ladder match. Almost three years later, Zenshi and Fox renewed their rivalry in a tag team bout. Zenshi picked his disagreeable partner Brandon Watts, who also had his issues with Fox this past Summer, while Fox recruited his WWA4 academy student Austin Theory for the contest. Fox’s wife and his “crew” who have been by his side at EVOLVE events since his return were ringside for this match. Watts has wanted nothing to do with Zenshi aside to challenge him for his Chile Lucha Libre championship, but somehow keeps getting stuck as his partner. This was another match that came at the right time as it added variety to the card with a really fun, fast paced contest. Theory and Fox were a well oiled machine while once again Zenshi and Watts couldn’t get on the same page. Things actually looked to be working out for them once Watts hit the Froggy Elbow on Fox (which Watts used to pin Fox at Americanrana.) Zenshi blind tagged himself in and tried to get the pin on Watts after the fact, but Watts knocked Zenshi off of Fox, feeling he had earned that pin. The two argued leading to Watts shoving Zenshi into a roll-up from Fox. Watts didn’t even bother to save Zenshi and danced with Fox and his crew after, indicating the team of Watts and Zenshi may be officially done with. This was just a lot of fun to watch with everyone flying around, and I think Fox and Theory could have some great tag matches together.
MJF hurt his arm the night before this event when he wrestled Joey Janela in CZW. Because of this, Beyond chose to replace him with Ace Romero in the semi-finals of the Tournament for Tomorrow. Unfortunately for Romero, he’d be put against the same man who defeated him in the tournaments opening round, Josh Briggs. Romero utilized a new strategy by throwing bombs at Briggs even before the bell. Romero’s match ending lariat and a Rikishi Driver may not have kept Briggs down right away, but it took him off his game and established Romero as the dominant competitor when Briggs typically finds himself in that role. Briggs of course asserted his own size and aggression towards Romero, and both wrestlers found themselves taking to the air more than they may normally. Shockingly, it would be Romero who found himself victorious, clobbering Briggs with another one of his signature lariats and punching his ticket to the TFT finals. You probably know by now that Romero would end up not wrestling in the finals, which makes this match pointless in hindsight, but it was an improvement on their first encounter. This experienced the same issue as the other TFT bout in that the fans didn’t get up for them much, but I did sense that Briggs at least won them over. Given Romero would be gone from Beyond and Briggs would be wrestling Beyond’s elite soon, the result is a bit puzzling in hindsight, but a decent match at least.
I have no idea what Darby Allin vs. John Silver was supposed to be. There was mat wrestling, Allin caught Silver in a pin out of nowhere, and it was over. Silver was pissed and kicked Allin in the chest afterwards. The crowd made very little noise. There seemed to be no direction or upward trajectory to the action. I have no idea what to make of this match. Feel free to pass on it.
Joey Janela had been building momentum throughout all of 2017 until Michael Elgin derailed him at “Denim Recruits.” Tonight would be Janela’s first match in Beyond since that lost, and he looked to get back on track by facing an even larger opponent in Keith Lee. With Starr losing his match against WALTER, Janela had the opportunity to defeat Lee and be the only competitor in the main event of “Heavy Lies the Crown” on New Year’s Eve with momentum. This was similar to WALTER vs. Starr as the larger competitor forced the smaller opponent to fight from behind from the moment the match started. Unlike Starr, Janela was not above using some cheaper tactics to halt Lee’s momentum, such as stomping on his foot or poking him in the eyes. Then again, that could be because any time Janela fought back, Lee cut him off shortly after. Janela’s tenacity and ability to absorb a lot of pain helped him take Lee’s impactful offense, including two Spirit Bombs, but it was over the moment Lee caught Janela with Ground Zero. The crowd started off in favor of Lee, but by the end were rooting for Janela to slay the beast. In a way, this night reset the scoreboard for both Starr and Janela and made it clear that the winner of their match at the end of the month would set the table for the winner’s 2018. This was a very good main event even if it wasn’t the match of the night.
The show ended in chaos with Doom Patrol and EYFBO brawling in response to EYFBO sneak attacking Doom Patrol at “Unprofessional.” A TLC match between both teams was set up for “Heavy Lies The Crown” between the two tandems.
Overall: On paper this was the most loaded card Beyond presented in Melrose. Expectations were high going in, and while some matches definitely met those, the card overall failed to keep a consistent rhythm. Powerbomb subscribers should absolutely watch WALTER vs. Starr, Riddle vs. Stone, the main event, and the AR Fox tag match if you wish, but there’s no reason to watch this show from top to bottom. This did get me excited for the New Year’s Eve event, so on that level they succeeded.
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You can purchase the DVD from Smart Mark Video. For a reduced price, you can also download the show as an mp4 from Smart Mark Video or watch it On Demand through SMVOD.
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Quick Results/Match Times/Star Ratings
1. WALTER pinned David Starr with a sit-out reverse piledriver at 15:45. ***¾
2. Cam Zagami & Brian Milonas defeated Anthony Greene & Brick Mastone via disqualification in 1:30.
3. Tournament For Tomorrow 2017 Semi-Final Round Match: Wheeler YUTA pinned Mike Verna with a prawn hold in 6:31 to advance to the finals. **
4. The Amityville Project (Ryan Galeone & Rex Lawless) defeated American Gaijin (Jay Freddie & Rory Gulak) when Galeone pinned Gulak with a powerbomb in 6:54. **
5. Matthew Riddle submits Martin Stone to the BroMission in 12:18. ***½
6. AR Fox & Austin Theory defeated Zenshi & Brandon Watts in 8:31 when Fox schoolboy pinned Zenshi. ***
7. Tournament For Tomorrow 2017 Semi-Final Round Match: Ace Romero defeated Josh Briggs with a lariat in 6:55 to advance to the finals. **½
8. Darby Allin pins John Silver with a leg grapevine pin in 8:20. *
9. Keith Lee defeated Joey Janela with Ground Zero in 16:58. ***¼