We’re up to defence number 97 of the IWTV title, as Wheeler Yuta puts his newly-won title up in a Dog Fight against Lee Moriarty and Dave Cole.
Quick Results
Matt Makowski submitted Logan Easton LaRoux in 8:41 (***)
Willow Nightingale pinned Alec Price in 10:15 (**¾)
Slade defeats Max Caster in a submission match in 15:32 (***)
Brandon Watts & Randy Summers pinned Mike Verna & Rex Muscarella in 9:08 (**½)
Steve Maclin pinned Teddy Goodz in 3:02 (**)
Tony Deppen pinned Steve Maclin in 9:43 (***)
Deonna Purrazzo submitted Masha Slamovich in 9:08 (***½)
Brogan Finlay defeats Chris Dickinson via disqualification at 9:44 (***½)
Trish Adora pinned Aaron Rourke in 12:02 (***¼)
Wheeler Yuta retained the IWTV Championship over Dave Cole and Lee Moriarty in a Dog Fight at 21:04 (***¾)
We’re at the White Eagle in Worcester, MA for the latest from Beyond. Rich Palladino’s back as ring announcer, with Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella on commentary.
Matt Makowski vs. Logan Easton LaRoux
LaRoux’s attempt to speak with Makowski before the bell was drowned out by the crowd… so he dared Makowski to grapple with him on the mat.
Instead, Makowski backflipped down, then used a nice monkey flip to take LaRoux into an armbar, ending quickly in the ropes. LaRoux throws a punch, but gets sent to the outside with some kicks. Returning, LaRoux rolls Makowski into a leg lock, but it’s easily countered as Makowski almost had an Edge-u-cator going there.
LaRoux escapes with some kicks and returned with a toe hold as he kept taking away Makowski’s vertical base. A chop block to the knee lands for a two-count, before a thrust kick took Makowski onto the apron. He returned in, slingshotting through LaRoux into a rear naked choke, but LaRoux escapes and drilled that knee into the mat.
Makowski tries to fight back, but gets caught with some rolling suplexes, eventually blocking the Three Amigos by taking LaRoux into the corner. LaRoux cuts him off with a Dragon Screw into the ropes, then with a missile dropkick off the top, but could only get a near-fall out of it. Knee strikes from Makowski begin to wear down LaRoux, ahead of a rebound Judo throw, then a butterfly suplex as Makowski began to push on.
An enziguiri follows, before Makowski tried to rack LaRoux… LaRoux gets free and plays to the crowd, only to get caught with a Splash Mountain into a leglock for the rapid tap from LaRoux. A good, solid opener with LaRoux taking a lot of the match… but couldn’t make it pay off in the end. ***
Alexander James and Richard Holliday run out after the match to attack Makowski. Wheeler Yuta comes out to join in with LaRoux, as they wear down Makowski’s knee ahead of a chairshot from Yuta. They threaten to Pillmanize the ankle too, but Lee Moriarty and Dave Cole finally run out to make a save as I guess Yuta’s got some friends now?
Willow Nightingale vs. Alec Price
Fresh from qualifying for the new ROH women’s title tournament, Willow’s back in Beyond against a rather… unhinged Alec Price.
The opening lock-up sees Price take Nightingale into the corner, before she responded by “momming him”. Price responds to being reprimanded like any insolent child, by lashing out, only to get dumped with a front kick. Willow’s slam and back senton follow for a two-count, before Price snuck out with a leaping neckbreaker, then a flying legdrop off the top for a near-fall.
A suplex from Price gets a two-count, but Willow pulls him down into a grounded Octopus stretch. She turns it into a crucifix for a two-count, before a backbreaker and a stomp put Price back in it. Price grounds Willow with a side headlock, but of course it’s fought out of as Nightingale began to trade right hands.
Price’s elbow in the corner puts him back ahead, but Willow cartwheeled away into a superkick to buy her some time. We reset with a series of clotheslines from Willow, then a spinebuster, before Price responded with a step-up kick that’s countered with a roll-up. An Oklahoma Stampede followed from Willow, but it’s not enough as Price comes back with a satellite facebuster that nearly wins it.
Willow avoids a Yakuza kick as Price looked for the win, responding with a flurry in the corner before an overhead suplex chucked Price into the buckles. A cannonball followed, but Price escaped a running boot, only for a missed charge in the corner to lead to a sunset flip from Willow. Price clung onto the ropes and sat on her as the ref spots, ignores, then ends up kicking away Price’s grip on the ropes, leading to Willow snatching the win with the sunset flip. **¾
Submission Match: Slade vs. Max Caster
Last time out, Slade obliterated Max Caster’s old Shook Crew buddy Bobby Orlando with a chokeslam off the stage… which led to this submission match. The big TV star Caster’s out on his lonesome, and with a mic in hand to work the crowd beforehand as he called this a “step down” from his usual work.
Slade just punches his way out of a wristlock, before he chucked Caster to the outside. Caster heads back in and plays keepaway as he suspected Slade would make use of the no-DQ aspect of things, before an overhead wristlock from Caster was punched out of.
A slap from Caster riles up Slade, who’s taken down into a STF attempt, only for Slade to ragdoll his way free with a waistlock takedown. A Dragon Sleeper from Slade ends in the ropes, with Caster again playing keepaway as he ran into a clothesline back in the ring. An Exploder’s next from Slade, as was another trip outside, where we get an impromptu water fight… and then, the search for plunder begins.
Out comes a door, but first Slade just drops Caster on the floor with a slam. That bought Slade time to set up a door between two chairs, with the pair then heading back up onto the stage, where Slade’s shoved off and through the door desk by another of Caster’s running buddies in Bryce Donovan.
That opened the door for Caster, who took things back into the ring for a Figure Four… but Slade rolled to the ropes for the break. Donovan runs out to go after Slade again, but he’s quickly posted as Caster threatened to use a fan’s shoe on Slade. The ref stops him, so Caster drops Slade knee-first on the edge of the ring. A neckbreaker’s next, before Caster took Slade into the corner for a ringpost Figure Four, but that doesn’t get a submission.
Caster tries to put Slade away with an elbow off the top, but it misses as Slade’s able to return with belly-to-belly suplexes. Headbutts follow, then a chokeslam, but Caster turned it back around with almost a Mountain Bomb, before a Sharpshooter almost had Slade tapping… but he’s able to push his way free of the hold.
Slade swings with clotheslines, but just got pulled back into a neckbreaker, before he countered a Figure Four attempt by pulling Caster into a guillotine. Somehow, Caster tries to suplex free, but Slade just applied a rear naked choke… which drew in Donovan again. Bryce is taken care of as Slade elbowed Caster in the back of the head, before a rear naked choke forced the submission. The submission stipulation kinda restricted things for a finish, but this was a pretty good brawl that keeps Slade strong as Beyond look to be building him up. ***
Goodfellas (Mike Verna & Rex Muscarella) vs. Milk Chocolate (Randy Summers & Brandon Watts)
The ever slimy Cam Zagami came out after the Goodfellas, seemingly looking to recruit them… but he’s just wiped out with a facebuster and “pinned”.
Watts and Muscarella start us off, with Watts slapping “Mr Nightingale,” as he earned himself a toss into the corner. Recovering, Watts drops down as Muscarella was shot into the ropes… only to get stepped on and met with Snake Eyes into the corner as Verna tagged in. Summers tries to run in, but he’s slammed down as Verna proceeds to dump Muscarella onto Milk Chocolate.
A stalling suplex on Watts follows, prompting a protesting Summers to get dragged in and thrown around by Verna. Watts tries to low bridge Verna onto the apron as Milk Chocolate made a nuisance of themselves, with Summers pulling Verna to the floor for a Watts tope. Summers tagged in as Milk Chocolate fought back with a quick double-team flurry for a near-fall
Milk Chocolate isolate Verna, but he overpowers them and takes Watts into the opposite corner as Muscarella tagged in and cleared house on Watts with a pop-up forearm. A backbreaker and a package piledriver spiked the legal Summers for a near-fall, as Watts tries to throw some milk chocolate powder at Muscarella… it’s punched away as Muscarella was taken outside for a tornado DDT.
Muscarella shrugs it off and proceeded to hit a spinebuster on Summers on the edge of the ring. Watts gets similar treatment, as Summers ends up taking a Verna suplex and a Muscarella Vader bomb for a near-fall as Watts pulled out the referee. That leads to a Benny Hill chase that quickly ended with a Muscarella spear on Watts, before Verna tagged in to go for a powerbomb/slam combo. More of that powder gets Summers free as a clothesline from Muscarella gets the powerbomb off anyway.
Summers low bridges Muscarella to the outside, then landed a double stomp off the top rope to Verna’s lower back… and that’s all she wrote. This was good while it lasted, as Milk Chocolate again cheated to get the win. **½
Steve Maclin vs. Teddy Goodz
It’s a Beyond debut for the former Steve Cutler, whose opponent wasn’t advertised head of time. He’s got Teddy Goodz, whose comeback of sorts continued with this tough ask.
According to Cagematch, and not counting anything that may be taped but not yet aired, this was Maclin’s first match in over a year, having last wrestled at last year’s WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Yup. Maclin jumps Goodz before the bell, taking him into the corner for some kicks as he looked to make short work of things.
Goodz kicked his way out of the corner, but couldn’t avoid a slam… nor a charge in the corner after he’d been put into a Tree of Woe. Maclin loses Goodz on a slam and gets kneed in the head for it, with Goodz following up with some elbows in the corner ahead of some chops. Heading up top, Goodz brings down Maclin with an Iconoclasm, before an Ace Crusher almost got the win… but Maclin’s back up in the corner and avoids a charge. Maclin’s quickly back in with a clothesline, before a lifting reverse DDT turned into a Fire Thunder Driver, and that’s a pretty comprehensive win for the former Forgotten Son. **
Maclin stayed back in the ring and asked for the mic… then went on to call himself a “free man” before issuing an open challenge. Cue Tony Deppen. Cue the ROH World TV title belt… and I guess we have another unexpected outing.
Steve Maclin vs. Tony Deppen
Deppen’s ROH title wasn’t on the line here, and we start with Deppen low bridging Maclin’s attempt at a cheapshot, sending him outside for a wild tope con giro.
Deppen throws him back inside for a missile dropkick, then some forearms before Maclin tried to take Deppen up top. Crotching Deppen, Maclin hits another Tree of Woe spear as the pair went back outside, following up with Maclin’s back suplex onto the edge of the ring. Back inside, Maclin rains down punches from above, before a knee to the midsection had Deppen down.
Maclin’s on the defensive briefly with some chops, but a back elbow has Deppen on the deck, as did a back suplex. A chinlock keeps Deppen down, before Maclin tried to charge Deppen in the corner. He keeps missing as Deppen again played keepaway, leading to a knee drop and some running forearms that had Maclin in the corner. Running double knees meet Maclin in the corner for a two-count. A snap backbreaker has Maclin back in it, before he rolled Deppen into a Boston crab, ending quickly in the ropes. Deppen heads to the apron and springboarded back in with a Codebreaker, before a flying stomp gets him another two-count.
Deppen goes for almost a chicken wing, but Maclin charged him into the corner to force a break, before a clothesline drew a two-count, as the match descended into some more strikes, with Maclin’s Danielson-ish elbows almost forcing a stoppage. A snap small package from Deppen nearly wins it, before Deppen rolled his way out of that sit-out tombstone, spiking Maclin’s head on the way, and snatched the win. A solid match, but I have no doubt that Maclin will find his feet on the indies, having been in the WWE system for quite a while. ***
Masha Slamovich vs. Deonna Purrazzo
This was Purrazzo’s first match on a “straight” Beyond show since September 2017 (not counting their WrestleMania weekend 2018 show with WWR, or the CHIKARA co-pro in July 2018)…
We start with a lock-up as Purrazzo took Slamovich into the corner, only for Slamovich to come back with a hammerlock that Purrazzo countered out of with a headlock takedown. The Impact Knockouts champion switched it into a wristlock that Slamovich cartwheeled out of, before the Russian offered a Test of Strength. That turned into a monkey flip, but the pair hold on as Purrazzo eventually snapmared her fway free before a straight boot knocked down Slamovich for a two-count. A short clothesline has Masha ahead, as did a scoop slam and a knee drop off the middle rope, which earned Slamovich a two-count.
Deonna’s up as she tries to fight back with forearms, but Slamovich’s Regalplex countered back for a two-count. More forearms keep Purrazzo in the corner, as did a boot choke, before Slamovich missed a charge into the corner, with Purrazzo hitting a German suplex to buy herself some time. Slamovich is bleeding from the mouth after all that, but there’s still fight left in her, only for Purrazzo’s running knee and a side Russian legsweep to follow, as Purrazzo rolled her into a Fujiwara armbar.
Purrazzo rolls Slamovich back up and booted her for a near-fall, only for Slamovich to land a dropkick that sparked some back-and-forth pins. An ankle lock from Slamovich ends in the ropes, so she goes for something else… but Deonna blocks it all and pulled Slamovich back into a Rings of Saturn for the win. This one felt like a fight at times, with Slamovich’s blood adding to that feeling, before Purrazzo took the win to put Slamovich in her place. ***½
Post-match, Purrazzo chewed out Slamovich… who then bowed to her before the Russian attacked from behind. Willow Nightingale made the save, then challenged Slamovich for a chance to “fix her bad attitude” at the next WWR+ show on June 20.
Brogan Finlay vs. Chris Dickinson
It’s a Beyond debut for Finlay, with the 18-year old still in the very early days of his career. He’s ditched the David Finlay-ish spiked leather jacket as Beyond have given him a big test for his 8th match. I’m not sure if that’s counting the training school showcases and what have you…
Dickinson smothers Finlay in the corner early on, before a wristlock was countered out of by the newcomer. Finlay’s taken into the corner as Dickinson broke a wristlock, but Finlay just slapped him on the break, as Dickinson responded with a Timothy Thatcher-ish goozle and slap.
Dickinson unloaded on Finlay in the ropes, then caught him with a dropkick, but Finlay’s able to hang up Dickinson in the ropes ahead of a Yakuza-ish kick. Finlay torques Dickinson’s wrist and kicks it in the ropes, before he torqued it in the corner some more ahead of a European uppercut. Stomps keep Dickinson down, but clothesline in the corner just seemed to fire up Dickinson, who began to swing for the fences with some forearms.
Back-and-forth forearms led to Finlay landing a diving European uppercut for a two-count, before he was caught climbing the ropes. Dickinson brings down Finlay with a superplex, then splashed him in the corner ahead of a shoulder tackle as Finlay threatened a comeback. A back suplex followed for a two-count, but Dickinson can’t quite follow with a death valley driver as Finlay escapes, eventually hitting a Finlay roll for a near-fall.
A Dragon screw from Dickinson puts him back ahead, but a Figure Four’s countered with an inside cradle for a two-count. Dickinson stays on him with a dropkick and a Magistral cradle, before a lariat took Brogan back down. The death valley driver followed, but the ref calls a two-count as Dickinson began to get wound up… quickly snapping with a death valley driver on the ref before making a visual pin on Finlay… but ref Kris Levin calls for the bell, with Finlay being awarded the obvious disqualification. That was a pretty decent match given Finlay’s experience, it’s just a shame about the screwy looking finish… ***½
Post-match, Dickinson walked out as Finlay got “please come back” chants amid the chaos. Not bad going for match number eight…
Trish Adora vs. Aaron Rourke
We start with Rourke slapping away the offer of a handshake, but Adora just grabs it anyway as she took Rourke down to the mat.
Rourke finds his way back up for a side headlock of his own, but Adora escaped and rolled him down for a two-count. See-saw shoulder blocks have Rourke ahead, but Adora returned the favour and drew a one-count out of Rourke. An armdrag has Rourke down, but he quickly returns with a back suplex that gets a two-count, only for Adora to sweep the legs and roll up Rourke’s legs for a two-count.
Adora builds from that with some right hands, before a backslide from Rourke was countered… only for Rourke to stomp on Adora’s hands. Rourke gets a two-count as he began to run his mouth, following up with some boots as he tried to pull Adora up into a Fireman’s carry… but she elbows free and countered back with a crucifix for a two-count.
A crossbody’s caught as Rourke countered into a Fallaway slam, before an inverted cravat kept Adora down. She escapes with some right hands in the corner, only to get chopped back into the corner, before she fought back with a butterfly suplex to chuck Rourke into the buckles. Adora’s kip up has her back on her feet, ahead of a splash in the corner, then a hip attack, before a pull-up powerbomb almost put Rourke away.
Cattle Mutilation followed from Adora, but Rourke blocks enough of it and scored with a roll-up for a two-count. The pair trade strikes until a double-chop to the throat stopped Trish… who quickly leapt back in with a crossbody. A Bossman Slam/backbreaker’s next for a near-fall, before Rourke got distracted and pulled into an armbar that ended quickly in the ropes.
Rourke recovers to throw Adora between the ropes for a kick, before a draping facebuster off the middle rope gets a near-fall. Rourke tries to get fancy with a backflip out of the corner, but he turned around into the Lariat Tubman as Adora folded him up for the pin. A good back-and-forth outing this, but Adora’s one-shot kill proved to be more than enough on this night. ***¼
Post-match, Rourke freaked out and flipped over Teddy Goodz’s merch table. That led to a pull apart, and I assume a match between them down the line?
They announced for June 20’s WWR+: Riley Shepard vs. Megan Bayne, Davienne vs. Trish Adora, plus Masha Slamovich vs. Willow Nightingale.
Dog Fight for the IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship: Dave Cole vs. Lee Moriarty vs. Wheeler Yuta (c)
Cole – who got a monster reaction – earned this match by winning the one-night tournament at Beyond’s Time Capsule show over WrestleMania weekend, while Moriarty got himself added to this as he cashed in his rematch clause. Moriarty gets a dig in pre-match, noting that his name’s still on Yuta’s title…
If you’re wondering what a Dog Fight is, well, luckily they tell us. Two wrestlers start the match, and when there’s a fall the third wrestler swaps in. The match keeps going until someone’s gotten two falls in a row – with the “third man” unable to interfere. It’s not quite TNA “it’s quite simple, really” levels of detail, but it’s a nice way to get us away from the usual three-way dance tropes.
Yuta and Moriarty start, with Moriarty looking for a flash pin, as was Yuta, before the pair quickly reached a staredown. More pinning attempts followed as the pair felt each other out, but it’s Moriarty who looked to get ahead, working a wristlock and escaping Yuta’s counter before turning it into a bridging hammerlock. An armbar from Yuta gives Moriarty something to think about, only for Moriarty to counter back with a wristlock as the pair went back-and-forth.
Moriarty’s tied up on the mat, escaping a bow-and-arrow hold before tripping Yuta into a toe hold. Moriarty, whose signing with MLW was announced before the show, rolled into a STF from there, only for Yuta to escape and come back with a waistlock takedown.
The pair square off again before trading some elbows, then shoulder tackles as they hit another stalemate. Yuta’s knuckle lock is countered into an overhead wristlock by Moriarty as the pair continued to go hold-for-hold, leading to a crucifix pin from Yuta that Moriarty bounced out of. A springboard armdrag from Moriarty gets him ahead, but Yuta sidesteps a dropkick… only to take a second one as Yuta got taken outside for a tope, except he pulled Dave Cole into harm’s way.
Back inside, a flying stomp to Yuta’s arm leads to a Mistica that Moriarty followed with an armbar, but that ends in the ropes. Dave Cole pops up on the apron and hits Moriarty behind the ref’s back, allowing Yuta to snatch the fall with a leg clutch pin at 9:32 of the match.
In comes Dave Cole, legitimately, as he starts his participation with some chops, only to get slammed down by Yuta. A whip takes Cole ot the corner, before he leapt into an inverted atomic drop as Yuta pushed ahead with an enziguiri and a German suplex, before Cole rolled out of a Yu-Tap and scored the upset pin at 11:08 of the match.
Back comes Moriarty as the Worcester crowd suspected the dream story may play out, but Moriarty dove in with a gamengiri at the bell, then a push-down stomp before a spin-out suplex almost got Moriarty the fall. Cole recovers by going up top, but misses a stomp as Moriarty booted him, then nailed an enziguiri ahead of a Flatliner for a fall at 12:52.
We’re back to Yuta and Moriarty, but Yuta dives in with stomps as he looked to get back on the board. Chops take Moriarty to the corners, with a stalling suplex following for a two-count for the reigning champion. A leaping crossbody from Moriarty drops Yuta again, as does one off the top, but Yuta rolled through and maneuvered Moriarty into the Yu-Tap, earning a submission at 15:21 as Yuta managed to make Moriarty tap to that hold again.
Yuta just needs to put away Cole to keep his title now, but Cole springboards in and rolled Yuta into a Rings of Saturn/Octopus combination, only for Yuta to break it via the ropes. An elbow stops Cole briefly, but he pulls Yuta off the buckles for a gutbuster before he hung Yuta in the ropes for a flying stomp that almost got the win. Yuta returns with an Olympic slam for a two-count, then went up top for an elbow drop that missed… allowing Cole to capitalise with a Tiger Bomb/elbow drop combo that got him another win over Yuta at 17:42!
Except Cole needs to beat both opponents successively… so in comes Moriarty with a diving uppercut to try and cut off that momentum. Moriarty takes Cole up top for a superplex, but Cole fought free and blew snot at Moriarty to take him down. Is that covid-safe? Nevertheless, Cole caught Moriarty in the ropes for a tarantula, but it’s countered as Moriarty maneuvered it into a Gory bomb set up for a backslide to reset things at 19:18.
Yuta leaps back in to hit a bridging German suplex to put away Moriarty at 19:27… before Cole decked Yuta with a big boot at 19:34 to keep the rapid pins going. Moriarty tries to nick a roll-up on Cole, but only gets a two-count, before Cole’s Yakuza kick led to a Tiger Bomb on Moriarty for another near-fall. Out of nowhere, Moriarty dives in with a spear to get another fall at 20:38, and we’re back to square one again.
Yuta flies in off the top with an elbow drop to get a fall on Moriarty at 20:47, but was instantly pounced on by Cole… only to counter out of the Tiger Bomb and come back with the Yu-Tap to win the match with back-to-back falls at 21:04.
This was the first time I’d seen a Dog Fight, and I’ve a feeling it’s a match that you’ll either love or loathe. That first fall came in at 9 minutes, with nine more in the following ten minutes – which can draw comparisons to Survivor Series matches of old where folks are losing to run-of-the-mill moves. At least here, the falls all came to finishers, which kept those moves strong, even if that closing stretch almost got too hectic to follow. ***¾
Post-match, Alexander James, Richard Holliday and Logan Easton LaRoux came out to celebrate with Yuta, before turning their sights onto the other two as they opted to put a beating on Moriarty and Cole. Matt Makowski hobbles out to make the save, but he’s quickly overwhelmed before Chris Dickinson and Tony Deppen chased them away to close out the show.
Beyond continues to keep their comeback going strong, and with Wheeler Yuta having installed a group around him, that kind of suggests that that may well become the dominant group in Beyond going forward… and with the IWTV title around him, I’d suspect the group would be more like Team Pazuzu than a Club Cam! As for the rest of the card, Slade continues to build his mystique up, while Chris Dickinson’s suggested change of attitude against the rookie Brogan Finlay could change an already-altered landscape in the not too distant future.