What’s that? David Starr vs. WALTER? This time in David’s home continent? Guess we’d better fire up Powerbomb.tv again!
Despite this being an iPPV on WWN, Powerbomb’s got the “raw feed” of the show, which means our monthly $10 should be more than worth it with that one match… and by “raw feed” I mean we’ve got no commentary and a camera that actually faces the hard camera, so our screengrabs are going to be a fight to avoid showing a LOT of back.
David Starr vs. WALTER
The latest chapter of this feud sees Starr try and take WALTER into the corner, but it’s not long before der Ringgeneral tries to asset his advantage, trying for a gutwrench suplex only for Starr to catch himself in the ropes for a break.
WALTER manages to catch Starr with a lariat, but the Product’s back to his feet and… runs into a chop. You know how it goes – WALTER’s very fond of those cracking chops, and David Starr is familiar with them. Painfully so. WALTER shoves Starr out of the ring with his boot, and that prompts a fightback… but you can probably guess whose chops were more effective. Starr avoids an Earthquake-style sit-down splash… but yeah, those chops, man. Whenever WALTER looked to be threatened, one single swipe of his right hand, and Starr was back on the mat.
Some of the crowd didn’t approve of WALTER’s clubbering, but if it’s effective, you go with it, right? It’s completely one-sided, as Starr found that a change of continent wasn’t producing a change in fortunes, with WALTER just throwing him around in side Salto suplexes for fun. Finally Starr fights back, and even manages to duck a chop… before taking WALTER into the ropes for a Product Recall flatliner.
The Look At It Shining Wizard gets Starr a near-fall, but it also enrages WALTER into another furious chop. Dear God, WALTER… Starr ducks another on the outside as the Austrian makes contact with the guard railings, and there’s the opening Starr needed, as he traps his hand in the barricades and hits a running boot into it.
Just when Starr was getting back in, he’s caught with a big boot and a powerbomb on the apron as WALTER puts him in his place… and it’s fair to say that the crowd in Melrose have fallen in love with WALTER. Starr narrowly beats the count-out, but it’s to his detriment as WALTER tosses him with a butterfly suplex for a near-fall, before the rear naked choke sank Starr back down to the mat… and just as we thought it was over, Starr fought back, and countered a RINGKAMPF German suplex into one of his own!
However, it’s back to form as WALTER took a Cherry Mint DDT on the apron before retaliating with a diving boot, leaving both men back at square one essentially. WALTER goes back to boots and chops, stinging Starr into another short-lived comeback. Starr manages to flip out of a German suplex before knocking down WALTER… but the lariat’s repaid instantly, before WALTER’s powerbomb is countered into a Code Red?!
Bloody hell, you knew these two were good already, right?
Starr eventually gets off a Product Placement, but WALTER’s instantly back on his feet and nails him with a sit-out tombstone for the win. Good luck following that – these two have turned out another classic folks! ****¼
After the match WALTER picked up Starr by the throat like he was going to kill him some more, but instead he offers a handshake… but Starr reluctantly accepts. He still can’t beat WALTER, and that’s really eating him up inside.
Brian Milonas & Cam Zagami vs. Anthony Greene & Brick Mastone
Milonas and Zagami have become a bit of a duo in Beyond lately, at least, going by their monthly Powerbomb streams. Greene and Mastone have to hold back Mikey Webb in their corner, as he’s got issues with Zagami.
Whilst Milonas is busy jawing with Webb, Greene and Mastone double-team Zagami and then threatened to make rather light work of Milonas… but he quickly recovers and boots Greene to the outside. Mastone tries to capitalise on another distraction from Webb, but Cam just low blows him, which angers Webb even more, to the point where he rushes the ring and attacks Milonas for the DQ. Well that was brief, but did precious little apart from establish Webb’s issues with Milonas.
Tournament For Tomorrow 2017 – Semi Final: Wheeler YUTA vs. Mike Verna
We already had the women’s Tournament For Tomorrow, but the men’s version isn’t getting crammed into the one show. Before this show I read Arnold Furious’ review of CZW’s Cage of Death, in which he critiqued Dan Barry (who was here at ringside for this match). Now all I can see is that one expression. Cheers, Arn!
YUTA does a decent job of taking Verna down early, but he’s quickly backed into a corner as Verna tried to edge ahead… only for YUTA to keep pace. Verna manages to head back in, bounding YUTA off all four sides of the ring with a slingshot suplex, before landing a tiltawhirl backbreaker for a near-fall.
A slap from the bottom looked to get YUTA back in it, as did a roundhouse kick and a Miz-ish clothesline into the corner, before he took Verna back there with some headscissors. Heck, YUTA almost won with a high-angle Blue Thunder Bomb, but Dan Barry gets involved, holding YUTA in the ropes as the referee’s distracted, allowing Verna to hit a top rope ‘rana and a senton bomb for a near-fall. Good job really, because that senton barely hit!
Barry gives Verna some more advice, which seemed to be “chop YUTA”, but it backfires as YUTA wheelbarrowed Verna for the win… which was instantly followed by a beat-down from the rest of the Amityville Project as Dan Barry barked out orders. Still, at least Verna hit a sweet F5 uranage at the end. This took a while for me to get into, and I guess it’s the whole “not knowing Beyond stories” affected this… **½
Eventually, Jay Freddie and Rory Gulak hit the ring to make the save. This was taped as a matinee for an EVOLVE show… and guess what? It’s the return of our favourite EVOLVE trope – run-ins that bleed into a new match!
Amityville Project (Rex Lawless & Ryan Galeone) vs. American Gaijin (Jay Freddie & Rory Gulak)
Freddie chopped away at the returning Lawless in the corner as the bell went, before the Amityville Project were taken outside for a pair of topes!
Back inside, Lawless reverses a double suplex, and crushes Freddie with a Finlay roll… but he takes too long with a moonsault and gets dumped with a release German off the middle rope. Another double suplex attempt’s stuffed by Galeone, who boots Freddie’s face off as the Amityville Project just look to brutalise their opponents… A fallaway slam on Gulak keeps things looking rather chaotic as Lawless pulls up Rory’s shirt like in a hockey fight for a chop. Gulak tries to fight back on Lawless, but to no avail, but Gulak and Freddie manage to escape a pair of chokeslams and hit duelling Shining Wizards instead.
A pair of Dragon sleepers causes the Amityville Project to tap out, but Mike Verna got on the apron to distract the ref… so it’s for nothing! Verna gets knocked off as Wheeler YUTA appeared from nowhere to take him out with a plancha as Rex Lawless was rolled back in for a finish… the double suplex? This time they hit it, but a double-pin is stopped as Dan Barry (whose face I imagine was confused, cheers Arn) pulled out the referee.
In the end, the Amityville Project get the win with a huge Galeone powerbomb, as Dan Barry’s guys left with a win. **¾
Martin Stone vs. Matt Riddle
A jump cut seems to indicate we’re a little out of order (or Cagematch has screwed up the card!), but this should be a good one! Stone tweaks away at Riddle’s toes early as he successfully fought out of a submission attempt, pointing out that Riddle could easily stop that by wearing shoes. There wasn’t any such escape from a cross armbreaker attempt, as Stone had to roll into the ropes to break free that time.
Stone is able to catch an overhead kick and return fire with a forearm… but Riddle’s wise to it and quickly takes the Londoner into the corner for some leaping forearms as the pair continued to go back and forth. A Fujiwara armbar, for instance, nearly forces Riddle to give up, as Stone just wears down on whatever limb he fancies.
Chops and forearms follow, as Riddle edged ahead with some back sentons, but it’s not long before we’re back to the chops and forearms again. A vicious powerbomb and an even stiffer knee knock Stone down for a two-count, but the Guvnor quickly replies in kind, only for a head kick to stop him in his tracks as both men crumpled to the mat.
After more forearms, the pair stopped to shake hands, then resumed those chops as a Bro to Sleep and a German suplex threatened to put Stone away… more chops led to a ripcord bicycle knee as Riddle looked to have everything under control, but a Fisherman’s buster attempt is escaped and turned into a crossface as Stone forced him to scramble for the ropes again.
Riddle actually kicked out at one from a Tower of London as he started a fightback, before shrugging off a Destroyer as Stone goes back to the crossface… and sees it get turned into a tombstone slam. Which Stone kicked out of at one! So all Riddle can do is go for a submission, and that Bromission gets the instant tap! Fun stuff here, with plenty of bombs being thrown in a hard-hitting, keenly-fought contest. ***½
AR Fox & Austin Theory vs. Brandon Watts & Zenshi
We’ve got involvement from EVOLVE as Austin Theory partners with AR Fox against a team that’s been decidedly on different pages as of late. Zenshi demanding to be known as the “Shawn Michaels of this tag team” really doesn’t help things with the “Marty” Watts.
Zenshi started by shoving Watts into AR Fox as we got some flippy dos early on. Watts teases a dive to the outside, but Zenshi stops him… so he can do the lucha thing instead. Fox pulls Watts into a Tree of Woe when he went for the dive anyway, but rather than follow up, AR just hit a sweet over-the-turnbuckles cannonball into the aisle.
Meanwhile, Watts pulls himself up and hits that big splash into the pile, before one of Fox’s students (I presume Tony Midas) threw in another dive. Somehow that’s not a DQ, and it means that Fox and Zenshi can keep up on Fox in the ring… but the tide changes when Austin Theory returns, as he nearly wins it singlehandledly, flipping Fox onto Watts before landing a standing moonsault of his own.
Things break down as the referee totally gives up on the concept of tags, as this may as well have been a four-way for the good it was. Watts and Theory head outside, exchanging right hands, which left Zenshi in there with Fox, almost winning it with some running corkscrew sliced bread. In the end though, Watts tries to capitalise off the top, and although he hits a frog splash… Zenshi blind tagged himself in to steal the pin.
For whatever reason, Watts took offence and broke up the pin like a dummy, before shoving Zenshi into a roll-up for the win. Well, if that team wasn’t toast before they are now. Plenty of action, but precious little in structure, I felt, as they just threw out the entire concept of tag team wrestling. **¾
Tournament For Tomorrow 2017 – Semi Final: Ace Romero vs. Josh Briggs
With Maxwell Jacob Friedman off the show due to a broken hand, we have an alternate in the tournament… with Ace Romero replacing MJF, to face… the man who eliminated him in the first round!
“Acey Baby” nearly wins it out of the gate with a lariat, then a spiking Michinoku driver as he wanted this to be done quickly… but after a pair of near-falls, he misses a splash in the corner and instead runs into a Sky High powerbomb as Briggs came close. From there, we’re off to a chop battle, as Briggs fires back with a rolling elbow and a DDT to dump Ace on his head for another two-count.
Romero eventually hits back with a DDT, before he misses a cannonball into the corner, allowing Briggs to connect with a crossbody off the top. We’re still going back and forth as Briggs kicked out of a tombstone at two, before Ace misses with a senton off the top rope. Briggs comes back with a backbreaker and a moonsault of his own, but we’re still kicking out at two, especially when a Bossman slam and a senton crushes Briggs… In the end, Romero responds to a superkick with a massive lariat, and that’s enough to book his spot in the final! Interesting booking, but this was a match that didn’t click for me. Plenty of impressive stuff, but for my liking, not enough was happening between the moves. **¼
Darby Allin vs. John Silver
Silver offered a handshake at the start, but Darby was smart to the con and used it to nearly shock Silver with a roll-up from the off.
It’s all Darby early as he tried to catch Silver unawares… but a series of kicks put Darby down as Silver took over with some monstrous throws. Almost like he were Keith Lee… Allin manages to rebound off the ropes though, and his springboard into a crossbody nearly wins him it, only for Silver to catch him off the top with a neat one-handed press slam as Allin continued to bump like a lunatic.
Allin was forced to snatch at opportunities, grabbing another Fujiwara armbar to try and get a flash submission, and when that doesn’t work… Silver’s back to throwing him around… only to get shocked with the Allin clutch – a leglock that bridges back into a pin – and Darby wins! This felt a little flat to me, not helped with the fact that Allin was on the card as he was in town for EVOLVE… which didn’t play into any stories. At the time. **½
I say “at the time” – afterwards Silver lays into Darby with kicks and a vicious powerbomb, as it seemed that he’s finally snapped due to his losing streak. Hey, even without the benefit of commentary you could tell that it got the crowd on his back, and it’ll be interesting to see where the character goes from here.
Keith Lee vs. Joey Janela
Good luck Joey – he’s got a fans bring the weapons match with David Starr at the end of the month, but first he’s got to survive Keith Lee!
We start with the usual power stuff from Lee, who lifts Janela up as a headlock was applied, before easily barging into the “Bad Boy”. Agile Keith Lee seems to catch out Joey, who’s forced to rethink his game plan… going low with a stomp to the foot before finding out that one Keith Lee clothesline is worth at least several of his.
The same went for chops. Poor Joey.
It really is like a fight for survival as Lee throws chops and forearms with little remorse, before flinging Janela corner-to-corner. Thankfully, Janela mounted a comeback, but his crossbody was caught, rolled through and turned into a big slam as Keith Lee stayed on course. It’s a very one-sided fight, with Joey at times struggling to even think about getting a move in, let alone take a shot.
Then again, when your chest is being caved in by a 300lb-er, you try and think about getting a move in! Somehow, Joey manages to do it, and slip Lee into the turnbuckles with a German suplex as he strung together some knees in the corner and a senton bomb for a near-fall. Lee rolled outside, where he caught a tope from Janela… and tried to turn it into a Spirit Bomb on the apron. Joey escapes and manages to get off a superkick instead before finally connecting with that tope. He tries for a second one, but Keith returned to the ring to leap over Joey, following up with a huge pounce to knock him flying for another two-count.
Joey tries to fight back with forearms, but you know what they’re like – one of Keith’s easily outdoes his, before a series of right hands to the head… earned Janela a barrage of forearms. It looked to be the end when Lee went for a Spirit Bomb… but the recoil from it saw Janela land on his feet and go straight back in with a PK as he turned a negative into a positive… and back into a negative courtesy of a second Spirit Bomb!
Another flurry from Janela somehow led to a Destroyer, but Lee powered up at two, and responded by teasing Ground Zero… which Janela escapes from as he replied instead with a brainbuster?! It’s another near-fall as the crowd started to get behind Janela, who quickly falls to Ground Zero… and that’s all folks! Impressive heart from Joey, but in the end, Keith Lee had way too much for him to overcome. ***½
Thanks to the “raw feed” angle, we saw WALTER looking on at the match, which makes me want to see Keith Lee vs. WALTER one on one. It’s a good thing that match has already happened twice already – once at BOLA, and the other at EVOLVE barely 24 hours prior to this! Guess I’ve got some watching to do!
After the main event, the Doom Patrol hit the ring – Chris Dickinson and Jaka – to cut a promo on EYFBO… who more than gladly hit the ring and sparked a huge brawl as it seemed that Team Pazuzu has well and truly imploded. Eventually the locker room emptied out to pull the four men apart, as the show ended with a challenge from Dickinson for a TLC match… and that’s going to take place on New Year’s Eve’s “Heavy Lies The Crown”, which’ll be streaming live on Powerbomb.tv. Well, if you’re in the UK, you’ll be able to ring in the new year with some graps, since the main show’ll start at 1am on January 1st!
As a matinee show, Beyond’s “Cold Brew” had two masters to serve – they had to show themselves in a good light to the live audiences, but also to progress their own stories, rather than act as a softball for EVOLVE later in the night. They achieved both of these, but if you’re the kind who’s been attracted by the opening match… stick around, the rest of the card is definitely worth your time!