Beyond’s final show before Americanrana saw SLADE have his crack at Wheeler Yuta in a no-DQ, non-title main event.
Quick Results
Chris Dickinson pinned Rhett Titus in 15:53 (***½)
Megan Bayne pinned Masha Slamovich in 8:54 (**¾)
Richard Holliday pinned Dan Barry in 11:55 (***)
Jordan Blade & Eel O’Neal submitted Bobby Orlando & Bryce Donovan in 10:42 (**¾)
Teddy Goodz pinned VSK in 7:00 (**¾)
Willow Nightingale pinned Davienne in 9:50 (***)
Matt Makowski submitted Aaron Rourke in 11:54 (***½)
Logan Easton LaRoux & Alexander James pinned Victor Benjamin & Lady Frost in 9:28 (**¾)
Trish Adora pinned Alisha Edwards in 7:58 (***)
No Disqualification: Wheeler Yuta pinned SLADE in 10:04 (***¼)
We’re back at the White Eagle in Worcester for a show that had some late tweaks – Max Caster (who was in the news this week, I hear) dropped out of his match with Wheeler Yuta, to be replaced by SLADE… while Tony Deppen was replaced by Davienne for the match against Willow Nightingale.
It’s the last stop on the road to the sold-out Americanrana show later this month… Commentary comes from Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella.
Rhett Titus vs. Chris Dickinson
Must… not… make… old… Rhett… Titus… reference… again.
Titus had a big challenge on his plate, given his loss last time out to Alec Price. It’s a cross-ROH match too, with Dickinson having brought his ROH tag title with him. Titus wants to follow the Code of Honor, but Dickinson initially refused because Rhett’s palm were stained with self-tanning stuff.
Dickinson worked a wristlock and an armbar early, before he grounded Titus with a chinlock. They go back and forth on the mat, with Titus dropping an elbow to Dickinson’s lower back, before a double underhook suplex from Dickinson rolled into another armbar that quickly ended in the ropes.
Titus works the arm in retaliation, but Dickinson escapes with headscissors on the mat, only for Titus to extricate himself. A STF from Dickinson quickly ends in the ropes, as Titus came back with shoulder blocks and a powerslam to counter Dickinson’s leapfrog. A gutwrench suplex chucks Dickinson across the ring for a two-count, prompting Dickinson to strike back with some chops.
A rebound belly-to-belly from Titus gets another near-fall, as he then pulled Dickinson into some bodyscissors, only for things to break in the ropes once more. Standing switches lead to a Judo throw from Dickinson, then a clothesline for a near-fall, before a stalling brainbuster dumps Titus for another near-fall.
Titus looks for a superplex, but eventually opted to just dropkick Dickinson down to the floor. He followed Dickinson out there for a back elbow, then threw him back inside for a flying knee drop as Titus slipped off the top… but he’s still able to land and get a two-count. Clouds of sweat burst off of Dickinson as Titus chopped him, only for Dickinson to charge in and return with a pop-up death valley driver for another near-fall. The pair trade elbows as they fought back to their feet, which put Dickinson back on top briefly until Titus countered with a back suplex. Yakuza kicks in the corner follow, but a Dragon screw stops all that momentum as the pair looked to be grabbing for whatever.
Titus nearly snatches the win with a Sky High, then rolled Dickinson into a half crab… Dickinson frees himself and locks in a STF, but that too ends in the ropes. A Pazuzu Bomb’s escaped by Titus, who eats an enziguiri instead, then a slippy Gory bomb before Dickinson nailed the Pazuzu bomb, along with a folding pin in order to get the W. A really enjoyable opener, with Dickinson having to modify his style – but still found himself able to get the win despite the heat and humidity in the room. ***½
Post-match, Alexander James, Richard Holliday, Wheeler Yuta and Logan Easton LaRoux run out to attack Dickinson. The group known as RALY also fended off Matt Makowski, but scattered when SLADE hit the ring with a chair. Smart move.
Masha Slamovich vs. Megan Bayne
A bad joke on commentary here during Slamovich’s entrance: “She’s wearing a shirt with Lenin on it.” “John?”
Bayne’s undefeated in the Beyond world since WWR+ returned earlier this year, but this was her Beyond debut. Slamovich was getting cheered here, and started by getting taken into the corner by Bayne, who threw in some knee strikes before an Irish whip took Slamovich hard into the corner.
Slamovich fought back with some forearms though, then by tripping Bayne into the ropes ahead of a running dropkick that drew a two-count. Bayne sidesteps a missile dropkick, and began to take over with some shoulder charges that took Slamovich back to the corner. A suplex from Bayne takes her out of it, then a double underhook suplex, before a tiltawhirl slam gets a two-count.
Slamovich tries to fight back, taking Bayne into the corner, but misses a Yakuza kick and ends up eating a back suplex instead. Bayne gets some two-counts from that, only to get caught with a Shining Wizard as Slamovich fought back with knees and kicks for a near-fall. A bridging German suplex nearly nicks the win for Slamovich, before a Samoan drop from Bayne, then a quick back senton nearly won it. Slamovich retaliates with a missile dropkick, which doesn’t get it done, before a swinging side slam from Bayne finally got the W. Some good back and forth, with a surprising win. **¾
Post-match, Slamovich fought back and put the boots to Bayne, only to get scooped up into a tombstone.
Dan Barry vs. Richard Holliday
Last time out, Dan Barry got brutalised by his (now-former) tag partner DUTCH.
Holliday tries to ground Barry early with a side headlock, before things went to the corner,,, but Dan sandbags and pulls Holliday into a pinning attempt, folding the airpod-wearer for a two-count. More pinning attempts got under Holliday’s skin, before an armdrag took Holliday back down to the mat.
Barry continues to confound the formerly-Dynastic Holliday with armdrags, but ends up getting pulled to the outside. Ducking clotheslines on the apron, Barry snuck back in before he swung Holliday to the outside for a tope… but Holliday punches him out of the air. On the apron, Holliday went for a death valley driver, before he hit a running STO to dump Barry onto the edge of the ring (then the floor). Back inside, stomps and a snap elbow drop gets Holliday a one-count, while a back elbow drew a two-count. Barry tries his luck with a backslide and an inside cradle for near-falls, only for a facebuster from Holliday to turn it back around. Repeated clotheslines in the corner wear down Barry, who then lifted Barry up top for a Razor Ramonish back superplex… but Barry elbows free, only to get pulled into a torture rack.
Holliday throws in a neckbreaker after that for a two-count, before Barry suplexed his way free of some body scissors. Barry gets back up to hit some more clotheslines, which dropped Holliday into the corner for a dropkick ahead of a snap Air Raid Crash. Vita von Starr – from ROH – slides into the ring to distract Barry… and it almost works as Holliday drew a two-count from a roll-up.
Kicking out, Barry decks Holliday with a superkick, then went up top as von Starr crotches him behind the ref’s back, allowing Holliday to hit back with the 2008 twister suplex for the win. This was more background for stuff to continue the Barry/DUTCH feud, which I guess is going to lead to something at Americanrana? ***
Post-match, von Starr stomps on Barry as the crowd kinda told on themselves for not watching ROH…
Kings Of The District (Jordan Blade & Eel O’Neal) vs. Shook Crew (Bryce Donovan & Bobby Orlando)
It’s a Beyond debut for the Kings, who’ve impressed on those WWR+ shows…
Blade fell for a handshake from Orlando… and hit back with a double-leg takedown before she punched out Orlando’s attempt at a leapfrog. Eel O’Neal tags in next, hitting a snap powerbomb before a back suplex from Blade threw Orlando into the corner for a tag by Donovan. Donovan has trouble hitting offence early on, as O’Neal instead lands an armdrag and a 61-knee on his way to a near-fall.
Orlando throws his stuffed goat to distract O’Neal, and it worked a little as the Shook Crew combined with a Codebreaker and a double stomp on Eel. O’Neal fought back on Orlando, before he blocked a low bridge by Donivan… who instead just pulled down Eel’s springboard attempt.
Stomps from Orlando follow as O’Neal was kept isolated in the opposite corner, eating knees and slams for a near-fall. O’Neal’s pulled into a Tree of Woe as Donovan followed with a hesitation dropkick before O’Neal escaped a double-team suplex and made the tag out to Blade, who ran wild on Orlando.
Blade’s Fisherman suplex nearly wins it, before Donovan hit a Bossman slam that Blade landed awkwardly on. A back cracker from Orlando drops O’Neal, before a double-team ended with O’Neal shoving Donovan into Orlando in the corner. The Shook Crew recover with a Doomsday Device to Blade for a near-fall, before Blade cleared house.
Cue dives – a tope con giro from O’Neal onto the Shook Crew, before he threw Orlando back inside for an ankle lock by Blade. Donovan shoves O’Neal into the pile to break up the hold as Orlando had taken off his boot to try and relieve some pressure. Meanwhile, Donovan gets sandwiched with low kicks, before Blade reapplied the ankle lock to Orlando…
That goes nowhere, as Orlando then clocked Blade with his boot… but the ongoing distractions meant the ref couldn’t make a count, and once Blade put the ankle lock back on, Orlando was left with no choice but to tap. A fun tag match, but I was firmly in camp Bakabella in being grumpy over the whole concept of the legal man being ignored. **¾
Post-match, Cam Zagami wanders out as commentary wondered where the Shook Crew should go after their latest loss. They all shake hands, and I guess he’s finally found some new additions to Club Cam?
Teddy Goodz vs. VSK
This was set up on the last show, when Mark Sterling offered Goodz a match against “his client.” Commentary seemed to be hoping for Jade Cargill, but instead we got someone who’s been popping up on AEW and Impact this year, in the return of VSK.
Sterling pops up on the apron to distract immediately, allowing VSK to attack. Goodz retaliates with chops, but had his eyes raked ahead of a knee strike and a sheer-drop brainbuster. It gets VSK a two-count, as he proceeded to choke Goodz in the ropes – as did Sterling. Goodz returns with an enziguiri, only to run into an ushigoroshi as VSK pulled ahead once more.
A neck crank from VSK keeps Goodz down, as did a boot in the corner, but VSK couldn’t muster up more than two-counts before Goodz finally fought back with a clothesline. Elbows take VSK Into the corner for a dropkick, while Sterling popped up on the apron to distract again. Goodz chases him away and hits an Iconoclasm on VSK for a near-fall, thanks to Sterling putting a foot on the ropes.
Sterling grabs a turnbuckle iron and hands it to VSK… the spots it and disarms VSK before a backbreaker almost won it… Goodz kicked out, only to get taken into the corner for a Broski Boot. VSK further aped the former Zack Ryder as he set up for a Rough Ryder, but Goodz popped away and sent VSK into Sterling, before hitting a Rough Ryder of his own for the win. Hey, no shower of garbage after the match! They kept this brief, which helped, as Goodz overcame Sterling’s constant interference to get the win. **¾
Post-match, Sterling grabbed the mic and booked Teddy Goodz against his “best client” Matt Cardona for Americanrana.
Willow Nightingale vs. Davienne
Davienne was a late sub for Tony Deppen, as we already mentioned… it was her first time back since the end of 2019’s Heavy Lies The Crown show. Meanwhile, Willow Nightingale got showered in streamers for her entrance.
From the opening tie-up, Daviene’s rolled to the mat for an early one-count, before a series of pinning attempts saw Davienne and Willow trade a bunch of two-counts. Willow pushes off a Boston crab, but Davienne slid back in with another cover, only to get caught with a Fisherman suplex for a two-count.
Willow throws a double chop in the corner, but Davienne looked to swing back… only to get booted down to the mat ahead of a back senton. A missed dropkick out of the corner left Willow down, with Davienne adding a ripcord clothesline for a two-count after that. Stomps take Nightingale into the corner for some chops and forearms, following with a suplex and a charge into the corner too.
A standing back suplex dumps Willow for a two-count, before Willow caught Davienne in a rare trip up top and brought her down with a superplex. Clotheslines from Willow build up a head of steam, ahead of a spinebuster for a near-fall, while Davienne came close with a retaliatory Samoan drop.
Davienne tries her luck with a Boston crab, but it’s broken in the ropes as Willow surprises Davienne, rolling her into a rear naked choke. That almost forces a pin as Davienne rolled Willow onto her back, but Willow’s back with a superkick and some elbows in the corner before she misses a cannonball into the corner. Davienne looked to capitalise with Davi-End Your Life, but Willow slips free and pulls Davienne’s legs into the ring post, before returning to the ring for the cannonball and a Doctor Bomb that drew a swear from commentary, and the win for Willow. Brief, but extremely competitive for the time they got. ***
Matt Makowski vs. Aaron Rourke
We’ve a clash of styles here, but a rather grounded start as Makowski rolled Rourke down for an eventual pinning attempt.
Rourke ties up Makowski’s arm so he could slap the arse… it backfires as Makowski threw him to the mat with some takedowns, which led to a cross armbar on Rourke. Makowski slaps Rourke’s rear in a half crab, before a mid kick saw Makowski take Rourke back down with a thud. A Cornish Hipe has Rourke down ahead of a side headlock, which led to a leg lock that Rourke quickly broke out of.
Spinning headscissors from Rourke lead to a Gory special, but again Makowski escapes with a knee bar, with Rourke again breaking in the ropes. In response, Rourke pops up Makowski into the ropes for a hot shot, following with a clothesline for a two-count as he looked to build anew. Makowski quickly snuffs it out though, rolling through Rourke beautifully into a rear naked choke… but Rourke flips back to try and steal a pin.
A Meteora from Rourke nearly wins it, as he proceeded to ground Makowski some more. Another stomp targets Makowski’s back, as did a Blue Thunder Bomb, but it doesn’t get the win, so Rourke resorted to choking. Makowski fights back with some right hands, before a springboard enziguiri out of the corner caught Rourke on the button, ahead of an overhead release belly-to-belly.
Makowski followed with a kick and a butterfly suplex, before a pumphandle driver turned into a cross armbar attempt. Rourke blocks it with a roll-up, as a German suplex nearly nicked it for the “Dimepiece”. A split-legged moonsault misses for Rourke though, with Makowksi coming back with a F5 uranage of sorts before a head and arm choke on the mat ended in the ropes.
Rourke’s resilience was starting to get the crowd on-side, but a spinning leg lariat stops Rourke in his tracks before a small package driver drew a near-fall. The pair trade back-and-forth strikes, with Rourke floating Makowski into a thrust kick, before Makowski ducked a Shining Wizard, then finally found a way in with a German suplex into the cross armbar for the submission. A really enjoyable outing, but the White Eagle crowd are starting to enjoy being a “Bizarroworld” crowd, as others would put it… although Rourke didn’t exactly lean into his usual character to get the crowd back against him, so who knows?! ***½
Post-match, the Shook Crew come out and try to talk Rourke into joining their new group. I see Rourke isn’t big enough for Cam to do the bidding himself, eh?
Pretty Proper (Victor Benjamin & Lady Frost) vs. RALY (Alexander James & Logan Easton LaRoux)
This was set up on the last Beyond show after RALY swarmed Benjamin, attacking him following his loss to Matt Makowski. You know, with Alexander James starting to pick up bookings, there’s a part of me that’ll be keeping score of how many ways there apparently is to pronounce “der König der Kampf”…
Lady Frost charged the RALY duo during the intros, but Frost’s forearms to James ended up with her kicking out his knee ahead of some headscissors. LaRoux charges her way, but gets decked by Benjamin, before Pretty Proper hit the old Cryme Tyme G9. The bell’s still not gone, but it does when James pulls Benjamin out of the ring… allowing LaRoux in to boot Frost down to officially start the match.
A suplex throw drops Frost as James tagged in to ground Frost with a chinlock. He follows that with a torquing torture rack, before throwing Frost aside. She kicks him away to make a tag out, with Benjamin booking James into the corner for some uppercuts, ahead of a stalling lifting over-the-knee neckbreaker. LaRoux’s run in earns him a spin kick, before James got lifted onto the apron… but he drops Benjamin neck-first over the top rope to counter.
Benjamin’s down clutching his neck as Sidney Bakabella almost leaves commentary to check on him… they don’t call the match, and that’s the clue as LaRoux pulls Frost out of the ring. James swarms Benjamin and picks him up for another neckbreaker, before Benjamin got double-teamed in the corner. Quick tags help isolate Benjamin, as James’ modified Garga-No Escape had Benjamin down, only for him to get dumped with a rebound German suplex as Benjamin tried to bite the ropes to save himself.
A side chinlock kept Benjamin down, as James stayed on that neck like a dog with a bone. Blowing a kiss towards Lady Frost looked to be James’ downfall as Benjamin fought back with elbows, but a cross-chop to the throat staggers Benjamin again before a he landed a pop up rear spin kick for a near-fall.
Finally Lady Frost tagged in and cleared house, landing a spinning kick before dropping LaRoux with a Saito suplex for a two-count. Frost looked to tweak her ankle on that kick though, and is quickly tagging back out to Benjamin, who has his eyes raked before LaRoux pulled him down for what looked like a near-fall as James’ own run in distracted the referee. A gutwrench powerbomb from James is next, and that’s your lot as the combination of (assumed) worked and real injuries led to an early night for Pretty Proper. I’d like to see this run back without the injuries, as this had a fair amount of promise before things went south. **¾
Trish Adora vs. Alisha Edwards
This was an open challenge from Adora, and it was seemingly answered by Megan Bayne. Except she was a cover for one of Bayne’s attendants to attack from behind and unmask as Alisha Edwards.
Edwards corners Adora for a dropkick as commentary noted Edwards had been away from Beyond since October 2017. Edwards roughed up Adora to start, teasing a chop before poking Trish in the eye, but Adora’s right back to swing for a chop of her own. Alisha ducks and hits some of her own, before a splash in the corner softened Adora some more.
Adora snaps back with an arm whip, but Edwards hit back, only to get taken down with a suplex by Adora… who tried to go for a superplex, only for Edwards to push back and go for a crossbody. It’s countered into a slam by Adora, who threw a big boot for a two-count, before she ran into Edwards’ boot in the corner.
A Black Hole Backbreaker from Adora’s next for a near-fall, before a rear naked choke from Adora looked to force a stoppage, but Edwards manages to roll towards the ropes to force a break. Edwards heads up top for a flying Codebreaker, but Adora kicks out at two, then caught a spear and countered it into a DDT as Edwards rolls to the outside to avoid a pin.
Edwards heads under the ring and finds a Kendo stick… Adora ducks it and hits Lariat Tubman to get the win. An enjoyable sprint of a match to warm up the Adora/Bayne match later in the month. ***
Post-match, Adora uses the Kendo stick to assist with a Cattle Mutilation on Bayne, who doesn’t make the save and just stared at Adora from ringside.
Rich Palladino announced Beyond’s post-Americanrana show – September 19 in Paddy’s Beach Club in Westerly, Rhode Island. Watch out for the sand!
No Disqualification: SLADE vs. Wheeler Yuta
Slade was originally meant to have been SLADE refereeing Yuta vs. Max Caster, but I’ll let Bix do a poor rap about how plans change!
SLADE jumps Yuta in the aisle, chasing Yuta towards ringside as we had a scrap before the bell. Yuta’s title wasn’t on the line, as they’re saving the 100th defence of the IWTV title for a standalone show on Sunday. SLADE grabs some chairs and suplexes Yuta onto them on the floor, before the pair finally hit the ring. Once SLADE had pulled a door out from under the ring.
SLADE props the door up in the corner, but Yuta just throws it back at him.. SMASHING THE DOOR IN HALF. Fu…. Yuta clears the ring of any plunder, as he looked to keep this match free of weaponry, while maneuvering SLADE into an Indian deathlock, snapping back on the knees before he chokes SLADE in the ropes.
Yuta heads up top for a shoutout to Bobby Eaton with an Alabama Jam – he slipped but still landed the move, and gets a near-fall. SLADE pops back up to throw some right hands, but eats a Manhattan drop, an enziguiri and a bridging German as Yuta picked up a two-count, before a STF in the middle of the ring looked to force a stoppage. Another rope break earns SLADE a dropkick, before Yuta decided to bring the weaponry back into play.
In come chairs and a bin, as well as the remnants of the door… but while Yuta’s setting it up, SLADE’s back to his feet to waffle him with the bin. Cue chairshots from SLADE, who wanted to single-handedly wreck AEW’s big Q2 draw, before Yuta came back with some eye rakes… only to get suplexed into what was left of the door in the corner. That Exploder gets SLADE a two-count, before the pair traded strikes on their knees.
Yuta grabs a chair, but SLADE punches it away as he charged Yuta back down, before he went back outside for a bag. I assume it’s thumb tacks, and so did the rest of RALY, who ran out to attack SLADE, only for Matt Makowski with a chair to scare them off. Like a board with a nail in it. Who’s got the bigger chair though?
Meanwhile, Yuta’s set up two chairs for a makeshift crash pad… and added two more as the pair stood on the chairs, only for SLADE to slam Yuta onto the back of them. FUUUUUUUU… my back legit shivered on that impact, yet Yuta kicked out at two! Slade grabs his baggie, and pours out the thumb tacks onto the mat, only for Club Cam’s new goons to come out to distract SLADE.
Bobby Orlando’s knocked off the apron by SLADE, and Yuta capitalises with an inside cradle for the win as we didn’t get to see those pins put to use. A wild mix of “I don’t want to death match” and “oh go on” in the main event, but SLADE getting screwed means someone’s about to die. ***¼
Post-match, Yuta tries to scurry, but runs into the cameraman… and gets chokeslammed by SLADE into those pins anyway as the show went off the air.
This was an enjoyable “go home” show for Americanrana in two weeks, with some misfortune in terms of injuries and late pull outs doing little to dampen things. Beyond haven’t yet put a card out for that (sold out) show, so the event is lacking in the “killer match” of Americanranas gone by.