Beyond returned to the scene with a show quite literally put together on Two Weeks Notice…
It’s been a while since any of us have laid eyes on Beyond – last time they ran, it was early March for the semi-comedy Beyond Championship Wrestling show, which led to the pay-off of Beyond “ditching their network” and announcing the relaunch of Unchartered Territory. And then, covid… So, we were robbed of seeing Artie Facts and Doug Hole – the Archaeologists – appearing in a Beyond ring for a while, as restrictions prevented the promotion from running in their usual locations. Beyond found a new venue, piggybacking on GCW’s weekender at the Garden Pier on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in New Jersey… and so, we’re back up and running. Even if it’s just for one show.
Quick Results:
Slade pinned Benjamin Carter (no idea of the time, the match was nearly over by the time I got the stream working).
Jordan Oliver & Myron Reed pinned Bear Bronson & Bear Boulder (NR)
Wheeler YUTA submitted Lee Moriarty in 9:55 (***¾)
Willow Nightingale pinned Pinkie Sanchez in 6:30 (***)
Christian Casanova pinned Blake Christian in 7:00 (***)
Tony Deppen, Chris Dickinson & Nick Gage pinned Manders, Matthew Justice & Mance Warner in 11:00 (**¾)
WARHORSE beat Rickey Shane Page by disqualification in 13:50 to retain the Independent Wrestling Championship (**½)
There was a pre-show made with Slade pinning Benjamin Carter… despite jumping on the IWTV feed the second it went live, I was only able to see the final 30 seconds. Oh well. Carter’s one of those names I really want to keep track of as the indies spin back up.
Those streaming issues also pervaded into the main show. We have Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella on commentary for this one.
Bear Country (Bear Bronson & Bear Boulder) vs. Injustice (Jordan Oliver & Myron Reed)
We join this in progress with Bear Country ragdolling Injustice around the ring. Bear Bronson looks to have trimmed up during lockdown, but he’s unable to respond as Injustice deck him with a superkick-assisted Tiger suplex.
We just about see dives to the outside as Injustice pushed ahead. We’re under tornado rules by the way, with Bear Boulder being rolled back inside by Reed… Bear Country have a go at some fans at ringside, as Boulder went to press slam Reed into the Atlantic Ocean… but Jordan Oliver nonchalantly wanders over to save him. They brawl around the pier, teasing someone going into the drink… that doesn’t happen as they end up back in the ring. Bronson misses a charge into the corner as Injustice pushed ahead, with Reed hitting a slingshot lungblower before Boulder set up for a goddamn Fire Thunder driver, dumping Oliver onto a prone Reed for a near-fall.
A short-arm clothesline dumps Oliver in the middle of the ring, as Bear Country then went for the Elevator Drop… but Reed went for a Doomsday device. He’s just swatted away by Bronson as I laughed out loud… Oliver has more luck with his Doomsday cutter, before Injustice low bridged Boulder to the outside, as a 450 splash gets the win. This was real fun for what I saw, with Injustice getting the relative upset here.
That canvas looks really loose…
Lee Moriarty vs. Wheeler YUTA
It’s a Beyond debut for Moriarty, while Wheeler YUTA was out in an ill-advised furry leather jacket ensemble. It’s blazing hot out there!
We open with Moriarty tying up YUTA in a Japanese strangle hold, but YUTA reverses the hold as the pair went back and forth on the hold. They switch it up into a Greco Roman knuckle lock, with both men bridging back only for Moriarty to trip YUTA into some pinning attempts. YUTA holds the bridge, but knees break it temporarily before they reached a stalemate. YUTA flips free and traps Moriarty on the mat with a deathlock… bridging back for extra torque, but Moriarty manages to tweak the hold to force YUTA to get to the ropes for a break. That annoyed YUTA, who lays in with a forearm as the pair went into some lucha rolls, leading to a springboard armdrag from YUTA, who then missed a dropkick.
Moriarty answers a back roll from YUTA by turning it into a pinning attempt, before he kept things too fast to call, sending YUTA outside for respite. Man, Moriarty is damn good. My feed drops as YUTA returns with a clothesline, then an elbow drop for a two-count, following up with chops and a body slam before a back senton squishes Lee for a two-count. Moriarty hits an overhead kick to the arm before trapping YUTA in the middle with La Mistica. A Fujiwara armbar tagged as Joint Custody almost forces a stoppage, but YUTA counters with a roll-up, before Moriarty keeps the leg out and hits a leaping European uppercut for a near-fall. It’s back to the cross armbar, but YUTA rolls out again before a Saito suplex folded Moriarty in half to get him some breathing space.
YUTA misses off the top rope, but manages to come back with some crossbodies for two-counts. He fakes out a third one, then eventually hits it off the top rope for a near-fall – seemingly catching Moriarty’s nose on the way down. Moriarty’s back with a corkscrew enziguiri, before see-saw sunset flips see them try to outfox each other on pinning attempts… another enziguiri from YUTA follows, before he countered a La Mistica into a Caballete (an upside down suspended cloverleaf) for the submission. This was bloody sublime – especially in the 28C/83F heat too. There’s a lot of names on the indies I want to keep track of, it seems… ***¾
Pinkie Sanchez vs. Willow Nightingale
We’ve some intergender action now, starting with a lock-up as Nightingale shoves Pinkie away.
A side headlock from Sanchez comes to nought, so he goes for the wrist of Willow… before a dropkick just sent her into the ropes for a resulting shoulder tackle. She slaps Pinkie’s advances before dumping him with an Angle slam, sending Pinkie to the outside, where he grabs a chair… which gets sent into his head courtesy of a baseball slide dropkick. Willow sits Pinkie in a chair, but ends up taking a drop toe hold into it, before Pinkie broke the count and hit a double stomp to her back as she was still laying on the chair. Yuck. Somehow she’s recovered to throw Sanchez back inside, but his attempts to beg for mercy just earn him some mid kicks as she punted through Sanchez for a near-fall.
Sanchez gets charged into the corner ahead of a clothesline, but Sanchez reverses a whip and comes back with a Pele kick out of the corner that caught Willow. A leaping Goomba stomp drops Willow for a near-fall, following up with a hip attack before he Quebrada’d into Willow’s knees. Willow’s back with a POUNCE for a near-fall, then a gutwrench powerbomb for the win. This was good for what I saw, but I missed a lot of the end because of buffering. ***
Christian Casanova vs. Blake Christian
Casanova broke out in Beyond during Uncharted Territory’s Discovery Gauntlets… and broke out on his own earlier in the year. As for Blake Christian, he’s breaking out on his own, and is making his Beyond debut here. With a compatible battery!
We start with a side headlock as Blake and Casanova then switched it up, flipping around before a Capeoira kick from Casanova found its mark. Christian rolls away from a springboard as he proceeds to dump Casanova with a half nelson suplex that looked brutal. Kicks from Blake keep Casanova down, but a springboard’s cut out in the ropes as Casanova instead hangs him up for a rewind legdrop! Casanova gets cut off in the ropes with a clothesline as a barrage of kicks left Christian down for just a one-count. Christian goes for a cross-legged Ki Krusher, but Casanova escapes and returns with a springboard clothesline for a two-count, before an enziguiri traps Blake in the ropes ahead of a slingshot legdrop that almost wins it.
A springboard DDT and a cross-legged Ki Krusher sees Blake come back for a near-fall, before back-and-forth forearms lead to Casanova going for the Dirty Diana. Blake flips out on his head to avoid it, but eats it at the second time before a one-man standing Spanish Fly bought him a way back in. Blake and Casanova trade chops, ahead of a cutter and a half nelson suplex that keeps Blake on top… as a bottom rope 619 keeps Casanova in trouble. From there, Blake heads up, but whiffs a springboard 450 before a Sucka kick from Casanova gets the win. That looked more like a near-fall, but this was pretty good for the time they had. ***
Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice, Mance Warner & Manders) vs. Murder Deppen Kill (Chris Dickinson, Nick Gage & Tony Deppen)
Pantera? Am I in the ECW Arena in the late 90s?! Nope, it’s the Second Gear Crew – a name I’m not entirely aware of the meaning of. Seems like everyone here’s in their usual ring gear… Social Distancing? Not for Nick Gage…
Manders and Dickinson start things off, tying up into the ropes before we got the hoss shoulder tackles. Manders drew first blood, but Dickinson’s back with chops that get things going, before a roundhouse enziguiri and a German suplex from Dickinson… just woke up Manders into firing back with a lariat. HOSS FIGHT! Dickinson slips out of a suplex and comes back with a back suplex before he went up top for a missile dropkick that finds its mark for a near-fall. Deppen comes in, but gets charged down with a shoulder block… my feed drops out, returning as Deppen blocked a poke to the eye from Warner, who replied with a barrage of shots before a headbutt sent both men down to the mat. Things turn up a notch when Gage and Justice brawl on the outside…as Gage throws Justice into the crowd, before Manders and Warner’s brawl with Dickinson was stopped by a dive from Deppen.
Back in the ring, the ref’s still lost control… and Nick Gage looks to have tweaked his knee. Justice keeps stomping on Gage, who drags himself outside. Gage quickly rolls back inside as Manders grabs a chinlock… Gage fights to his feet, but gets charged into the wrong corner… which he fights out of before he climbed the ropes for a stomp that missed, and exacerbated things. Justice leaps onto the ankle some more, before Warner tagged in to throttle away at Gage some more. Somehow Gage finds a way back in with a spinebuster, before he dragged himself out to tag in Dickinson, who cleared house. Tony Deppen helps out as he’s launched into Justice with a dropkick, before a death valley driver spiked Justice for a near-fall. Gage’s out of the match as he went backstage, but I doubt it’s as gruesome as what happened to him at CZW years back…
Deppen tags in and heads up top for a double stomp to Justice for a near-fall. Justice heads outside for some chairs, sliding them into the ring as the Second City Crew isolated Deppen… but Dickinson makes the save with low blows and boots before Manders took a chair to the back as kicks and a running knee ends up getting the win. This went very weird after Gage’s injury – but they largely held it together as the Second City Crew end up losing an accidental handicap match. **¾
Independent Wrestling Championship: Rickey Shane Page vs. WARHORSE (c)
Our main event sees the GCW champion Rickey Shane Page challenge for the IWTV title against future-AEW-debutant WARHORSE. Page is out with 44OH – Atticus Cogar, Eddy Only, Eric Ryan and Gregory Iron.
WARHORSE has a neat, Ultimate Warrior-like white title belt, and we finally get going with 44OH distracting WARHORSE from the outside. RSP rolls outside before they even lock up as he was playing the stalling game to get under the champion’s skin. WARHORSE eventually leaps outside after Page, but 44OH provide a human barricade between the two of them. WARHORSE rolls back inside as Page just stomps on him… a knee slide gets under a Page kick as an enziguiri gets the champion back in, ahead of some shoulder tackles in the corner. A Northern Lights suplex nearly wins the match, as Page kicks out and rolls outside… but WARHORSE takes a shot at Gregory Iron, which provides a distraction for Page to take advantage off.
A no-bump suplex throw hurls WARHORSE across the ring, before chops kept him on the back foot. More interference see 44OH raking the eyes of WARHORSE behind the ref’s back… but WARHORSE comes back with headbutts before a snap slam from RSP dropped him in the middle of the ring. 44OH get involved again as WARHORSE was left laying… but the champion recovers with a drop toe hold to take Page into the corner for a running knee. Page rolls into the middle of the ring as WARHORSE went up top… but Gregory Iron distracts on the apron and gets booted down. WARHORSE keeps going, landing a missile dropkick off the top for a near-fall, before a trio of rolling German suplexes rocked Page. WARHORSE tries for a submission, but Page pushes away as he comes back with a back suplex… then went up top himself for a senton bomb.
That gets Page a near-fall, before WARHORSE slipped out of a suplex and returned fire with a clothesline. A Sharpshooter looked to follow, but he instantly breaks it up as 44OH get involved. Page takes advantage with a chokebreaker for a near-fall, before a Saito suplex forces WARHORSE back into things. WARHORSE goes up top again, but 44OH help Page roll outside for safety. WARHORSE goes eff it as he hits a double stomp to the back of someone that commentary doesn’t identify, before RSP countered back with a superplex that bounced the champion in the middle of the ring. RSP looked to throw a chair, but WARHORSE ducks… and it wipes out referee Kris Levin. 44OH interfere, but Allie Kat makes the save, clearing house in flip flops before she low blowed RSP. That allowed WARHORSE to go up top as a second referee came out… but there’s screw up as Gregory Iron pulls out the referee as a top rope elbow looked to put RSP away.
After returning to the ring, a second Chokebreaker gets RSP a near-fall… so he then tosses the replacement referee outside as 44OH hit the ring, and there’s the obvious DQ. This was fine, but in Beyond canon, 44OH wasn’t a thing before today. I get they’ve been doing Beyond promoter Denver Colorado vs. WARHORSE (and “inauthentic wrestlers”), but this just didn’t jive with me. The wacky finishing stretch didn’t help matters either, but it keeps the story going. **½
44OH attack WARHORSE and Allie Kat after the match, but Effy runs out to make the save as we go off the air…
This show was a little shorter than we’re used to with Beyond, but Two Weeks Notice was a fun matinee show with matches that breezed by. YUTA vs. Moriarty leapt off the page for me, while what I saw of Bear Country vs. Injustice looked fun as hell. Beyond are used to stacking their shows with a lot of quick-fire matches – and this show was no different.
- Catch the replay at iwtv.live to see this show – and the matches we missed. Use code BEYOND for a free trial!