Beyond headed to the coast for their half of the Borscht at the Beach event – and brought some familiar faces to the sand with them.
Quick Results
Masha Slamovich pinned Allie Katch in 8:10 (**½)
Logan Easton LaRoux, Alexander James & Richard Holliday pinned A Very Good Professional Wrestler, Dan Champion & Lucky 13 in 10:23 (**¾)
Matt Makowski submitted Rhett Titus in 11:37 (***½)
Mark Sterling defeated Teddy Goodz via Passing Out in a Smart Mark Rules Match in 5:52 (**1/2)
Alec Price pinned Chris Dickinson in 10:57 (***½)
Aaron Rourke, Bobby Orlando & Bryce Donovan pinned Slade, Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson in 13:42 (***)
Leyla Hirsch submitted Killer Kelly in 10:15 (***½)
Since we last looked at Beyond, they’ve had a pretty rough go of it – their much-hyped Americanrana show was cancelled due to Storm Henri, with the promotion unable to reschedule a fair amount of the card. What they saved ended up here, at Paddy’s Beach Club at Westerly, Rhode Island as we’re live-on-tape… with that one guy’s operatic singing of Bro Hymn. Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella are on commentary…
Masha Slamovich vs. Allie Katch
The start of the Beyond show (but actually the halfway point of the event), Masha came out with a bucket of borscht that Allie Katch didn’t particularly enjoy…
This one started out with the pair trading holds in the ring, but the more memorable moments came when the pair left the ring to make the short journey to the beach, complete with overhead drone footage. IWTV got fancy on this outdoor show, huh? Katch nailed a rolling death valley driver into the sea, while Slamovich’s Emerald Fusion-ish slam provided a response as the incoming tide damn near waterboarded Allie as this match turned into “falls count anywhere on the planet”.
The pair head back to the ring, where they fight around the turnbuckles, before it’s back to the outside, where Slamovich piledrives Katch on a platform, and that’s the win in a match that’s worth watching if only to fill your “fight in the sea” quota for the day. **½
A Very Good Lehigh Valley Wrestling Trio (A Very Good Professional Wrestler, Dan Champion & Lucky 13) vs. RALY (Alexander James, Logan Easton LaRoux & Richard Holliday)
We’ve some Beyond returns here, including the man known elsewhere as Avery Good…
The early going has Holliday and A Very Good Professional Wrestler trading headlocks, before A Very Good Professional Wrestler fired in with armdrags ahead of a camel clutch, then a Gedo clutch for a two-count as RALY were having trouble coming out of the gate. LaRoux’s in, but RALY’s luck doesn’t change as LaRoux’s caught in an abdominal stretch before Dan Champion tagged in.
The drone camera gives us the Wile E Coyote view as LaRoux’s slammed to the mat, before Lucky 13 and Alexander James came in. Armdrags from 13 have James down, before a superkick in the corner kept Lucky ahead… only for Holliday to do the Ultimate Warrior rope shake to knock Lucky off the top and turn things around.
Lucky 13’s taken to the RALY corner as the bad guys isolate him, but Lucky’s able to backflip away and hit a knee to LaRoux, before A Very Good Professional Wrestler came in to clear house. Holliday’s taken out with a clothesline ahead of a tope into the sand, while Dan Champion joined them with a crossbody, which earned him a fishbowl’s worth of cocktail.
Back inside, Champion’s TKO, Lucky’s crucifix bomb and A Very Good Professional Wrestler’s spear looked to have the match done, but Lucky and Champion are pulled outside, before we get the Rick Rude WrestleMania finish, with Holliday playing Heenan to A Very Good Professional Wrestler’s Warrior, holding the leg to block a suplex as LaRoux escaped with the win. RALY looked like a softer threat than usual here – perhaps a sign of weakened strength without Yuta? **¾
Matt Makowski vs. Rhett Titus
Time for a change of pace here, with Rhett Titus continuing into the Beyond roster – and slowly win over some of the fanbase.
As expected, this was largely mat based, but Titus gets an early cut over his eye which could have become problematic. Makowski keeps Titus on the deck, looking for an armbar or headlock, before he took Titus into the ropes for a mid kick, only for Titus to take Makowski into the corner with shoulder charges.
A knee breaker then a back suplex keeps Titus ahead, as he proceeded to try and knock Makowski off the apron… only for it to end with Makowski tripping Titus and slingshot back into the ring for a rear naked choke. Titus breaks it in the corner, then came back with an abdominal stretch, but Makowski knees his way free and eventually hits a spinning mid kick.
Makowski pulls ahead with a series of suplexes, before he rolled through on a back body drop to spark a series of pinning attempts. A gutwrench powerbomb from Makowski nearly shuts the door, only for Titus to try his luck with a wheelbarrow as both men kept scrambling for the win… with Yakuza kicks from Titus almost sealing the win. Titus tries to keep pushing on, but a springboard enziguiri out of the corner, then an O’Connor roll into a cross armbar gets the stoppage as Makowski was made to work for his victory to keep an impressive 2021 going. ***½
Teddy Goodz vs. Mark Sterling
Originally this was meant to have been Goodz vs. Matt Cardona at Americanrana, but instead he’s going straight to the organ grinder. We’re working under “Smart Mark Rules”, which is giving me flashbacks to WCW’s Canadian Rules match… while Sterling yanks Sidney Bakabella from commentary to assist.
Bakabella threatens to read the rules out, and sadly it’s not “Armbar, Armbar, Armbar…” instead it’s stuff like “no superkicks,” “nothing over the top rope,” “nothing off the top rope”… and it’s that Bill Watt-ism that sparks Goodz into action… trapping Sterling in a Sharpshooter for a submission after seven seconds, but it’s not in the rules “because Bret Hart is over-rated.” Yep, full-on New Blood Rising.
Apparently bodyslams are illegal, but inverted atomic drops aren’t (seems like a curious choice). The rules keep going on and on, but so does Goodz, until he started to climb the top ropes… the distraction led to him getting crotched, and now all of Sterling’s cheating is legal. Choking, eye rakes, and a superkick behind the ref’s back, before Goodz was thrown over the top rope…
That should have been a DQ, but instead Bakabella reveals that it’s just a three-count on the outside. It’s beaten, but Goodz low bridges Sterling to the outside before a crossbody off the middle rope and a Rough Ryder led to a near-fall for Goodz. Sterling makes the ropes from a Boston crab, but they’d already established that rope breaks didn’t count, before Sterling passed out at 5:52. EXCEPT…
We’re not done. There’s a Dusty-ish finish as apparently one of the other rules was that if you pass out in a match, you win, and the screwjob is complete. It was kept short, and it worked as far as winding up the crowd, I guess… **½
Alec Price vs. Chris Dickinson
Dickinson’s been a busy sod lately, and with his match against RALY at Americanrana having been scrapped, he’s up for a fight against an Alec Price who has been making a name for himself in Beyond recently.
Dickinson takes things to the mat early as a cross armbar ended in the ropes, before Dickinson ended Price with a chop. He was 22. Price’s trash talk earned him a shotgun dropkick too as Dickinson dominated, bouncing Price into the corner ahead of a floatover suplex. It’s back to the cross armbar as Price struggled, eventually getting to the ropes as Dickinson grabbed a half crab. Chops draw blood, while punts to the ribs kept Price on his knees, but Alec’s able to fight back with some running knees in the corner, then a flying leg lariat… but he doesn’t go for the pin.
Price’s unhinged nature leads to him kneeing Dickinson in the back, before a chinlock looked to be pretty close to the ropes. Problem was, when Price kept pushing on, he got too confident and his mouthing off to the crowd led to Dickinson throwing Price off the top rope with a belly-to-belly superplex, before Becca ran out to distract Dickinson.
Price shoved a distracted Dickinson into the ref, before Becca tripped up Dickinson in the ropes… that allows Price to hit a superkick, only for Dickinson to roll Price into a STF. There’s no ref, so that tap-out means nothing. In the meantime, Dickinson revives the ref, while Becca popped up again to throw sand in Dickinson’s eyes, allowing Price to steal one with a roll-up. Decent enough, but I’d guess if there’s questions over Dickinson’s longer-term availability, then why not use him to put over someone like an Alec Price? ***½
Club Cam (Aaron Rourke, Bobby Orlando & Bryce Donovan) vs. Bear Country (Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson) & Slade
Of course, Cam Zagami’s outfit is ridiculous… and nautical. Meanwhile, Bear Country are out in swimming trunks, having put aside their differences from last year.
All hell breaks loose to start, as we’re instantly on the outside in the sand, featuring a somersault senton from Aaron Rourke into the pile, while Bryce Donovan’s attempted dive was cut off by Slade, who hung him in a Tree of Woe… only for Slade to get flung into said pile with a spider belly-to-belly suplex.
Cam Zagami looks to get involved… but not the way he wanted, as Bear Boulder press slammed him into the sand. Back in the ring, Boulder BIELS Rourke into the buckles, while Bronson ends up taking an enziguiri from a recovered Rourke. Orlando, Donovan and Rourke gang up on Slade, tying him up in a not-entirely-legal chain of submissions that Bronson’s back senton broke up.
Drone cam reappears as Boulder caught Zagami and Orlando in a powerbomb/slam combo. Boulder keeps focusing on Zagami, as Orlando and Rourke make a save, before Donovan hauled up the big man for a Doomsday Device. That’s impressive stuff from Bryce, but Club Cam took their time to follow up, eventually doing so as a 450 splash and a dog pile was powered out of by Boulder.
Slade gets the hot tag in and runs through Club Cam with Exploders, before a Parade of Moves broke out – Bossman slams, spears, clotheslines, the works. In the end, Bear Country muscle through it all, as Club Cam’s left in the corner for a backpack cannonball, before Zagami tried to block an Elevator Drop.
That distraction means Bear Country’s got to look for something else, but end up getting sent outside with superkicks as Slade started to throw chairs around. He’s also found wood, and sets up a makeshift table between the chairs, but Orlando makes the save… only to get laid out as the pair head up a lifeguard look-out perch… ending with Slade throwing Orlando through that wood.
Back in the ring, Slade charges through Rourke and Donovan, before Donovan caught Slade with a chair in the ropes… allowing Rourke to steal the win with a roll-up. Club Cam steal one, and scarper as it looks like this latest iteration of Club Cam might actually be more than whipping boys? ***
They announce Beyond returning with Reverse The Curse on November 7 in Somerville, MA… and Fete Forever at Beyond’s old home of the Fete in Providence, RI on December 5… plus Heavy Lies The Crown 2021 on New Year’s Eve… that’s on top of the Uncharted Territory return that starts tomorrow (at time of writing), and the “Wrestival” to wrap up a three-day event.
Killer Kelly vs. Leyla Hirsch
These two have met once before, two years ago as part of wXw’s World Tag Team Festival weekend, where Kelly took the win in Oberhausen. Can she make it 2-0 in the main event of her Beyond debut?
You know, the source of Killer Kelly’s theme is really fitting for a beach show…
There’s no advantage from the opening lock-up, before Hirsch missed a dropkick… the back-and-forth sees Hirsch drag Kelly to the mat while in a side headlock, before a dropkick took Kelly down for a two-count. A boot from Kelly ends another struggle, before she missed a Shades of Shibata dropkick into the corner, with Hirsch capitalising with some double knees.
Kelly shrugs it off and swept Hirsch to the outside for a low dropkick, following with the Cristiano apron PK. Leyla turns it around with low-pes, wiping out Kelly into the sand. A suplex into the sand keeps the former wXw women’s champion in it, while Leyla headed up to that lifeguard lookout and hit a crossbody off of it.
Back in the ring, Hirsch rolled Kelly over for a two-count, before she grabbed the arm to try and keep Kelly on the deck. Keeping hold of the wrist, Hirsch looked to pull Kelly up, but instead got met with some capture headbutts and a capture suplex into the corner, as that Shades of Shibata finally landed. A PK followed from Kelly for a two-count, and Leyla’s right back in with a German suplex before she took too long climbing the ropes for a moonsault. Instead, Kelly pulls her down with a Fisherman buster, which gets another two-count off of a lateral press, before we go back to the forearms going back-and-forth.
Hirsch wins out and hits her moonsault off the top for a near-fall… then grabbed Kelly’s arm, only for Kelly to trap Hirsch with a rear naked choke on the mat. They’re too close to the ropes, as Leyla breaks the hold, only to get caught with Vale da Morte from Kelly, who again lost out because they were too close to the ropes. Going back to the rear naked choke almost costs Kelly as Hirsch rolled out for a pin, before a swift knee strike and a cross armbar led to the rapid tap from Kelly. A nice, even match, but Hirsch was able to withstand Kelly’s big strikes to leave with Kelly’s arm – and a submission victory. ***½
Post-match, Kelly and Leyla shake hands… except Kelly decks Hirsch as RALY come out to join in the fun. Masha Slamovich tries to make the save, before Matt Makowski helped pull RALY out as we ended with a brawl at the beach, and with Slamovich and Kelly staring each other down.
Results-wise, this looked like a transitional show if you kept an eye on who was doing what… but as an event this part of the beach show looked superb. The addition of a drone camera was a really nice touch, even if they obviously can’t do it in 99% of the venues, but it made this show stand out from the pack, as I’ve got my fingers crossed for the perceived Beyond curse to end.