Beyond’s first event in Enfield, CT last year was one of their best. How would they stack up in their return?
It had been eight months since we saw John Silver team with Alex Reynolds in Beyond Wrestling. Silver’s mostly known for his strong singles matches in the company, but the team would reform for the weekend. The night before Reynolds would assist Silver in facing Silver’s newest rivals in PAWG, The Beaver Boys found themselves against a team that is undefeated in Beyond Wrestling: Joey Janela and Penelope Ford. What better way to build momentum than to attempt to defeat a team no one has been able to defeat yet? For Janela, however, he has a match with Nick Gage in the main event, so it would behove him to get the match over with as quickly as possible. Janelope had the match in their favor to start, but things turned around for the Boys when Silver caught Ford’s suicide dive. Silver suplexed her onto the floor as Reynolds gave her a crossbody, leaving Janela alone to succumb to a two on one attack from Silver and Reynolds. Silver even drove her into the ring apron to delay the tag even further. Janela found an opening to slip through Reynolds legs and tag out after escaping a German suplex attempt. The teams fought back and forth, trading control. The turning point came when Silver accidentally superkicked Reynolds. While Reynolds was dazed, Janela and Ford wiped out Silver with a Package Piledriver and DDT. Reynolds had Ford over his shoulders, but Ford slipped out and captured Reynolds with her legs so Janela could blast him with a running forearm. The Janelope Device then wiped out Reynolds, keeping Janela and Ford’s streak alive. It was fun seeing a more vicious side of The Beaver Boys here, and with Silver’s sterling win-loss record and their new ferocity, it stood to reason they could in fact be the team to best Janelope. Both teams showcased impressive tandem offense and told a cohesive story, making this a strong match to kick off the show.
Before Martin Stone would square off with “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams tomorrow night, he would face his partner, Wheeler YUTA, the evening. YUTA himself was looking to pick up some momentum as he heads into the Tournament for Tomorrow finals tomorrow against MJF.. After trading holds, YUTA tripped Stone and dropkicked him to the floor. Stone shifted his focus over wearing down YUTA’s hand. YUTA used his agility to get the better of Stone where he could, but Stone would use that hand to shut him down. YUTA decided that he would also isolate a body part and went for Stone’s knee, getting him in a modified Indian Death Lock before transitioning into his STF. Stone got the ropes to escape, schoolboyed YUTA for two, then immediately locked on his crossface to tap YUTA out. It was a match where both wrestlers got to showcase their strengths and versatility, winning over a crowd who was appreciative of what they were watching. Both men come out stronger as they head into two important bouts tomorrow, making this an all around success.
Thee Amityville Project once again defeated The Pull-It Club, this time in tag team action, with Rex Lawless and Mike Verna besting Massage NV. Even with Johnny Cockstrong ringside to neutralize Dan Barry, and Ryan Galeone nowhere to be found, the Project got the job done. They dominated most of the match, with Massage NV getting in a real solid comeback in the middle, but in the end both men were taken down by Verna and Lawless’ “Deal Breaker” move (I don’t know if they have a name for it in Beyond, but that’s it’s name in CHIKARA.) The last couple of minutes were good and it never hurts for the Project to have another win under their belt, especially with them calling out EYFBO prior to the bout.
For whatever reason, DJ Z is just now getting his due in 2018 and has quickly become one of my favorite people to watch, and yet is still an underrated commodity in independent wrestling. In his Beyond Wrestling debut he squared off against Brandon Watts. Their similarities don’t end with their style of wrestling, but both men experienced major setbacks in their career due to injuries as of late. Z knew this of Watts and focused on attacking his neck during the course of the match, throwing in some air horn in the process. Watts struck when possible but his biggest set back was wasting too much time in between his offense to keep sustained control. He took too long to hit the Froggy Elbow, giving DJ Z ample time to recover and get out of the way. One Hostile Makeover and ZDT later and Z walked away with a victory his first night in. With it being Z’s debut and Watts not being the success Beyond was hoping for, it was the right call. The fans really enjoyed seeing Z and he made a tremendous first impression.
American Strong have not been as successful as team as they’d like, not winning a match as a team since they first formed back in September. This weekend would be a big test as they’d face the remnants of Team Pazuzu in back-to-back tag team matches. First up is Doom Patrol of Chris Dickinson and Jaka. While American Strong found an advantage over Jaka, Dickinson proved to be a real ex factor and a puzzle that Gulak and Freddie couldn’t seem to figure out. He overpowered and overwhelmed most of the time he was in the match. Jaka gave Freddie a headbutt to the chest, with the momentum carrying Freddie to the floor. With him out of the way and Gulak reeling from a Dickinson enzuigiri, the Death Trap was enough to serve up American Strong another loss. Both teams were working hard and got the crowd into the bout. I’m not sure what the future of American Strong is, but Doom Patrol continue to be an excellent tandem. After the match, Doom Patrol called out the Amityville Project and got into a brawl which saw the Project come out on top and at least one referee get knocked down.
Orange Cassidy and Bill Carr had another battle of the ages. Cassidy threatened a bodyslam, and Carr threatened a smooch. Both of those came to fruition, with Carr stealing the orange juice out of Cassidy’s mouth during the smooch, and Swamp Monster snapping Carr’s neck on the top rope to make Cassidy’s body slam happen (which also got Cassidy the win.) I love all three of these characters, but if you don’t, it’s 5 minutes you can quickly skip.
Josh Briggs made a big impression when he first burst into Beyond last Summer, but after failing to make it to the finals of the Tournament for Tomorrow and failing to defeat Keith Lee, Briggs came into this weekend looking to course correct. Rickey Shane Page was a suitable opponent for Briggs to go up against. Commentary reported that Briggs had a sciatica issue, which is why Page spent a good chunk of the match wearing down his back. Briggs responded in kind in an attempt to set up his chokeslam backbreaker finish. When he hit it, however, Page was able to kick out. Not only that, but moments later Page caught Briggs on the top turnbuckle and brought him down with a superplex, but only got a one count. Briggs was fired up, but Page ducked a clothesline and rolled him up by his waist and placed all of his body weight on top of Briggs to get a surprise victory over him. This did a great job standing out from the other singles matches on the show so far in providing a nice balance athleticism and striking. As a Beyond original, Page adds a nice flavor to these cards and showed that while Briggs may be good, he’s still young, and was outcrafted by the relative veteran. I liked both the wrestling and story told by these two.
For my money, Jordynne Grace is one of the best wrestlers today. After winning both the Women’s Wrestling Revolution Tournament for Tomorrow and the first ever Revolutionary Rumble, she’s also cemented herself as the top wrestler in Beyond’s sister promotion. At the same event in which Grace won the Rumble, Skylar incurred a loss to her tag team partner LuFisto. Tonight, Skylar would make her Beyond debut against Grace in front of an audience that Skylar is familiar with. This was so good. The urgency both women displayed made the match feel important, which made Skylar’s big upset over Grace all the more important too. They kept a fast pace, made the back and forth action exciting and peaked with a genuine surprise victory. Skylar is somebody whose poised to be a major force in wrestling within the next year and you can pinpoint her time in WWR as the turning point in her career. Check this match out!
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams had the opportunity to wear down MJF for his tag team partner Wheeler YUTA before their Tournament for Tomorrow finals bout the next night. MJF’s Dream Team partners Jonathan Gresham and Stokely Hathaway were in MJF’s corner while Wheeler YUTA was in Williams corner. MJF attacked Williams from behind during introductions and the fight led to the floor. Although Williams took control on the floor, a swipe of his leg from Gresham didn’t allow that to last long. MJF destroyed Williams arm to set up for his Fujiwara armbar. Williams fought through the pain and applied his own submission to MJF. Gresham tried to interject but his knee injury caused him to buckle on the apron. Williams released the hold as he noticed what was going on. MJF scooped in with a schoolboy and had Williams pinned but the referee was too busy checking on Gresham. MJF yelled at Gresham for the distraction. He charged at Williams who tripped MJF into the ankle lock and forced MJF to tap out. After the match, Williams challenged Gresham to join Williams match with Martin Stone the next night and make the match a Powerbomb TV title match. Stokely was offended Williams would directly challenge Gresham since he is the boss, and declines the offer. MJF mentions that it was good idea to turn down the offer since Gresham is a pussy. Gresham and MJF got in each others faces and Gresham then went against Stokely’s wishes by accepting Williams’ challenge. On top of this being a very good wrestling match, it accomplished several goals. Williams’ arm is now worn down going into his title match, both MJF and YUTA are going into the TFT finals cold, and the dissension amongst the Dream Team is reaching a fever pitch. From a pure wrestling standpoint, this was one of MJF’s best Beyond outings to date.
Gresham’s injury shuffled the card around, and as such, Joey Janela pulled double duty and wrestled Nick Gage in the main event. As you’d expect, this got out of hand very quickly. While the Beyond venue has no chairs, they had a plethora of chairs stashed away for the evening Blitzkrieg Pro show, and Janela and Gage made full use of those chairs in the ring, whether tossing each other onto the chairs at awkward angles or piledriving each other through them. Maybe most brutally was Janela double stomping Gage face first through a table outside the ring. The split crowd is what made this match work. It wasn’t the most violent match they ever did, but they got creative with what they had to work with and the crowd gave them a great response for it. Janela had Gage in the crossface after enduring a piledriver onto four chairs. Gage escaped and gave Janela two Chokebreakers to earn the victory. Kudos to Janela for toughing out this match after competing in the opening tag match. While this wasn’t my personal favorite on the show, saving it as the main event was wise given nobody was going to top this spectacle.
Overall: This was an easy to watch, consistent to show with a great crowd and strong storytelling for the next night and beyond (pun intended). It’s lacking that one extraordinary match to push it over the top, but I enjoyed the event quite a bit.
This show is available through Powerbomb TV, the exclusive home of Beyond Wrestling’s library on demand. Powerbomb TV is an independent wrestling VOD and live streaming service that live streams events several weekends out of the month and boasts a catalogue that includes countless promotions from all over the world. You can use the code PWP20 or BEYOND to get 20 days FREE to the service.
For more information, visit Beyond Wrestling’s official website. For a bunch of free matches, clips, and other fun stuff, check out Beyond’s YouTube page. You can also follow them on Twitter and through their Facebook page.
Quick Results/Match Times/Star Ratings
1. Janelope (Joey Janela & Penelope Ford) defeated The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) in 15:00 with the Janelope Device to Reynolds. ***
2. Martin Stone submitted Wheeler YUTA to a crossface in 13:46. ***¼
3. The Amityville Project (Rex Lawless & Mike Verna) defeated Massage NV (VSK & Dorian Graves) with the Deal Breaker in 7:52. **
4. DJ Z pinned Brandon Watts with the ZDT in 11:39. **¾
5. Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) defeated American Strong (Jay Freddie & Rory Gulak) in 13:15 with the Death Trap to Gulak. **¾
6. Orange Cassidy pinned Bill Carr with a body slam at 4:59.
7. Rickey Shane Page pinned Josh Briggs with a modified roll-up in 10:25. **¾
8. Skylar pinned Jordynne Grace with a victory roll in 10:02. ***¼
9. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams made MJF tap out to an ankle lock in 9:45. ***¼
10. Nick Gage pins Joey Janela with two Chokebreakers in 19:18. ***