Joey Janela locked horns with David Starr once again – but both sides would bring a rather surprising choice of partner in the tag team main event.
We’re back at Electric Haze for the second episode of Uncharted Territory – one we had to wait a while for to drop on-demand thanks to live stream issues. There’s no commentary too, as Paul Crockett’s audio track wasn’t dubbed in here.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Sadkampf (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku)
Aussie Open debuted last week as they answered an open challenge… but they’re back this week, and they’re still amped up from their ‘Mania efforts too.
Ku cheapshots Mark Davis as it’s bedlam early on, with referee Steven Dumeng having a hard time keeping it 1-on-1. Garrini catches Kyle with a forearm before Ku’s superkick assists with a gutwrench suplex, as Fletcher was in all kinds of trouble. A gutwrench suplex from Ku sees him rile up Kyle, only for the Aussie to get taken back to the wrong corner as chops and a double-underhook suplex kept Garrini on top.
Kyle eventually gets free with a roll-up, bringing Davis in to fire up the crowd with chops and clotheslines, as Garrini took the brunt of Dunkzilla’s anger. Forearms barely faze the big man, who swung for the fences with chops, only for him to tag in Kyle, who was instantly on the back foot. Fletcher does superkick Garrini off the apron and into a double-team Go To Sleep, before Ku took an assisted Aussie Arrow for a near-fall. Garrini makes the save as Aussie Open looked for the inverted crucifix bomb, before they smashed into Davis with a high/low for a near-fall. Fletcher makes a save with a big splash as a period of Sadkampf offence nearly led to the win, before things got more even… leading to that assisted inverted crucifix bomb on Ku for a near-fall.
From there, Fletcher’s tagged back in as the Aussies went for a Fidget Spinner, but Garrini breaks it up as duelling rear naked chokes turn it around, with a sheer drop brainbuster from Ku and a wheelbarrow into a rear naked choke from Garrini almost forcing Kyle to quit, but Dunkzilla just throws Ku onto the pile to stop it. The Aussies make a comeback as Davis hits the sitdown splash on Ku, before an Aussie Arrow lawndart spiked Garrini into the corner… and it’s plains ailing from there as a sliding D from Davis left Ku open for the Fidget Spinner as the Aussies picked up the win. A lovely, hard-hitting contest to open the show, but they had to work hard for their W here. ***½
After the match, it was announced on Twitter that Sadkampf would be changing their name to “Violence is Forever”. I was kinda holding out for HAPPYKAMPF, but maybe that’ll be a gimmick CHIKARA spins up one day?
Rich Palladino welcomes us to the show, but gets interrupted by David Starr. Who in turn got interrupted by Joey Janela, as they’re picking their partners for later tonight. Starr rips into Janela for his attack from behind last week, before revealing his partner… MJF?! Well, that’s one way to add to Starr’s nuclear heat here. Starr asks Janela to “bring out Penelope” for their face-off… but Joey calls out that the graphic for the show was incorrect. His partner is not Penelope Ford: it’s Chris Dickinson! Dickinson runs them off, before branding his near tandem as SLITHER.
Before the next match, Denver Colorado hits the ring apron to give a pep talk…
Solo Darling vs. Wheeler YUTA
YUTA took this to the ground early, but Solo was more than a match as she looked to grab the leg, forcing YUTA into the corner for a break.
Solo keeps YUTA in trouble with a heel hook that again forces a rope break, before he came in with a cheapshot, which allowed him to follow through with a back senton for a near-fall. YUTA followed in with a Gory stretch, only for Solo to get free and lift him to the outside. She tries to dump him with a tornado DDT on the apron, but instead makes do with one off the apron to the floor.
A series of kicks has YUTA reeling, but he’s back with Sole Food, before a pumphandle bomb drew a near-fall. Solo comes close with a cloverleaf, albeit one way too close to the ropes, before a second pumphandle bomb hits… but YUTA superkicks back into the match as a STF gets a quick submission. Technically fine, the lack of commentary here showed the crowd weren’t much into this when YUTA was on top. **¾
We fade-cut away from entrance music as YUTA has a promo, as he asks management to book him against Chuck Taylor next week.
Discovery Gauntlet: Mick Moretti vs. Tristan Thai
Moretti’s defending his gauntlet spot here, and he had a fair bit of defending to do early on against Thai.
The Australian quickly turns it around with headbutts as he began to wear down Thai… or so he thought. More stomps were needed as Moretti looked to squeeze Thai out with a chinlock, before he found himself on the defensive as Thai kicked his way back in. A shotgun dropkick took Moretti down, ahead of a nice full nelson slam/neckbreaker combo, but it’s not enough as he took Morett outside and into the ring apron, before a Slingblade/backbreaker combo and a Blackheart buster drew a near-fall.
And probably some stern looks backstage afterwards…
Not to worry though, as Moretti quickly took the win with a pumphandle facebuster moments later. This was decent, albeit played in front of a quiet crowd – much like Dojo Pro found last year, these kind of ongoing gauntlets are going to be hard to get into until folks get established. **¾
Cameron Zagami’s back as an interviewer. I wonder if he’ll be the guy who snaps and hits out at Beyond for using randomers rather than him? Zagami quoted a fan who called Moretti an “indytastic nerd”, which led to Moretti telling us he’d worked for New Japan in the past as he stormed away.
Ruthless Ambition (Maria Manic & Penelope Ford) vs. Platinum Hunnies (Angel Sinclair & Ava Everett)
This was the in-ring debut in Beyond for Anthony Greene’s Platinum Hunnies… they were interrupted by Penelope Ford, who ended up in a tag match… albeit with her Ruthless Ambition partner, Maria Manic.
Ava’s caught with a running boot early from Ford, but she’s able to make a comeback with a superkick and almost a standing Blockbuster for a near-fall. Angel’s in next as Anthony Greene at ringside wanted to see “that tag move you guys do”… which was a drop toe hold from Ava into Angel’s rear end. That’s one I can’t see CCK stealing… Headscissors from Ford led to tags… with Maria Manic hauling Ava into a torture rack before Angel leapt into her part of a fallaway slam/Samoan drop combo. A double team chokeslam then folded the Hunnies in half, and there’s your squash. **
Greene tries to tend to his Hunnies before red lights descend… and we jump cut to:
Anthony Greene vs. Gangrel
Gangrel’s all polite with handshakes before the match, as he looked to frustrate Greene early on.
Greene makes some headway with a hiptoss and a forearm, before Gangrel elbowed out of a full nelson that lacked a little something as Greene’s playfulness was just him on his own… Still, the recent WWN-signee Greene found some headway with a slam, only for Gangrel to push on with a scoop slam of his own for a near-fall. A hair-mare from Gangrel takes Greene down again, as the “Retrosexual” was having big problems on this stop of his retro tour. Gangrel brought some fire with ground and pound and a claw to the stomach as things turned into a slugfest. With chops. Plenty of chops.
A neck crank from Gangrel’s next, was was a Lion Tamer as Gangrel was looking more like the regular worker here, putting a beating to Greene… who made a brief comeback, only to get run over with a clothesline. More clotheslines from Greene get him back in play, including one to Gangrel on the floor, only to get crotched on the top rope. Gangrel looks to follow that up with a superplex, which he hit neatly, floating over into Greene on landing for another two-count, before he called for a DDT… only to surprise Greene with an overhead belly-to-belly into the corner. Those are good for near-falls as Greene hit back with a cutter, only to miss a 450 splash and roll into the path of a DDT for the win. This was a good showing from Gangrel, who took the bulk of this match… and although he’s aged, he can still go some. ***
SLITHER (Chris Dickinson & Joey Janela) vs. The Great American Born Entertaining Semites (David Starr & MJF)
I can’t think whom that acronym is a shot at…
MJF tried to wear down Janela early on, but the returning Bad Boy seemed to be able to handle both of the GABES before negotiating a ventilation duct with a crossbody for a near-fall. An unwise chop from Janela sees him scurry away as Starr tagged in as the crowd mocked him for his quick loss to Dickinson earlier in the year.
The GABES stall, before Starr used the referee’s attempt to force a break to cheapshot Dickinson in the ropes… only for him to run into a big kick. Janela’s back to work over Starr’s shoulder, but the GABES turn it around when MJF came in and stomped away on Janela’s recently-healed knee. Starr uses a Figure Four, complete with the obligatory cheating from MJF, to increase the pain, but of course the ref catches them before he kicked away MJF’s arms.
The hot tag’s made to Dickinson, who quickly has Starr scarpering into the corner as an unwilling MJF’s brought in. Starr makes a save as MJF was begging away from being chopped as the match swung all over the place, with neither team able to keep much momentum. Starr cracks into Janela with a cartwheel kick before Dickinson ate a double-team hanging DDT for a near-fall. Starr has to break up a cover from a bridging, folded-up German suplex double-team on MJF, before he blind tagged in to help MJF avoid a Pazuzu bomb as a low blow and a roll-up got the GABES the win. I really enjoyed this – nice and heated, as I can see the Starr/MJF team working well together… if there’s a way to have them appear regularly without Starr having to relocate back to the States? ***½
Post-match, Dickinson gets on the mic and challenges MJF to a singles next week. Joey Janela gets a promo too, putting over Beyond and indy wrestling, before telling us that despite his AEW deal, he’s here to stay.
Uncharted Territory’s second show was a pretty solid outing – Beyond kept this under two hours long, which is an ideal length for a show… while also making sure to avoid a lot of the pitfalls that wrestling TV’s fallen into as of late. They’re delivering matches, building week-to-week without overloading shows. Assuming the tech problems aren’t going to remain an issue, this’ll be a regular watch for us – and it should be for yourselves too, especially as it’s part of your IWTV.live subscription…