Uncharted Territory looked a lot like Buffalo this week as Beyond also witnessed the debut of MJF’s Dynasty.
It’s back to Electric Haze as Rich Palladino needed rebooting for the latest episode of Uncharted Territory. Paul Crockett and Josh Briggs are on commentary as usual…
We get underway with a Maxwell Jacob Friedman promo. He calls himself the only real wrestler on the Beyond roster – except for Richard Holliday, who MJF invites out. Holliday gets what sounds like upmarket stripper music as the Dynasty duo got a little rattled at the crowd hissing, before he introduced Alexander Hammerstone to the Beyond audience. God, MJF’s gloriously hateable, isn’t he?
Chris Dickinson agrees as he interrupts, all while Cameron Zagami watched on plaintively from the sidelines. Maybe it’s just me, but I swear that’s not all by accident. MJF hands off the mic so “the simple man can talk”. It turned into Dickinson bringing out LAX/EYFBO (complete with Ortiz’s DTTI t-shirt), and they chase away MJF’s goons…
Jay Freddie vs. Brandon Thurston
Must… resist… John Cena… pun. Ah, screw it. Word life, this is basic Wrestlenomics… Freddie has been drifting out of Beyond in the past six months or so, while Brandon Thurston was making first appearance here in almost five years.
Tagged here as the “Patron Saint of Professional Wrestling”, Thurston’s crunching bones rather than numbers. They start by trading wristlocks, before a series of monkey flips led to early near-falls and the double neck-bridge spot as Paul Crockett seemed to get irritated on commentary. It could be a long night…
Chops ring around Electric Haze as the two remained insanely even, trading hiptosses, small packages and dropkicks before they reached a stalemate. From there, Thurston cheapshotted Freddie with a slap, but ended up getting cornered with some chops before he was sent off the ropes for a dropkick. Freddie keeps the momentum up with a through-the-corner clothesline before a Diamond Dust got blocked by Thurston, who mounted a comeback with some kicks that took Freddie down for a near-fall. A quick Sharpshooter from Freddie ended when he lost grip – something that was exacerbated when Thurston sprung off the ropes with a single-arm DDT – before Freddie managed to catch Thurston with a Michinoku driver.
A diving European uppercut from Freddie sparked his comeback, continuing with a suplex and a backbreaker, before he popped up from a Dragon suplex and charged into Thurston with a Shining Wizard. We’re back to the chops, then forearms as Freddie took Thurston outside for a dive, following up with a missile dropkick and finally the Diamond Dust before a Saito suplex almost put away Thurston.
Freddie tried to snatch the win off the top rope, but gets caught with a belly-to-belly superplex as Thurston found a way back in, charging Freddie into the turnbuckles with a death valley driver before a Del Rio stomp out of the corner left Freddie laying. A neat baseball slide followed for the pumphandle fallaway slam, but it’s not enough, nor were Freddie’s rolling Germans, as Thurston went for a La Mistica into a crossface, then an armbar, only for Freddie to buckle bomb his way free.
A superplex from Freddie comes next as he rolled it into a Falcon arrow, but the deal’s not done, as he has to go a little longer before he rolled up Thurston and trapped him into a Sharpshooter for the win. An excellent opener, with Thurston really surprising me – I’d not seen that much of him before this, and while this match may have started to feel a little long, this was a fantastic wrestling match. More of these guys, please! ****
Denver Colorado hits the ring and puts over that match, before booking booking the Dynasty vs. Pazuzu match for… future shows? The crowd hate that, even if it was a neat way of plugging future shows, before DC booked it for the main event.
Discovery Gauntlet: LD Montesanti vs. Mick Moretti
Before the match, Moretti demanded Cam interview him before the match, which drew a snide remark out of Josh Briggs on commentary that Zagami “doesn’t know how to wrestle”. Oof. Moretti needles Zagami as well, before he bursts into Terry Funk mode, screaming forever before cheapshotting Montesanti.
“Mantis” nearly puts Moretti away with a bridging suplex early on, before Montesanti went for a dive… and got caught. Moretti spikes him onto the ring apron for a near-fall, as he followed up by trapping Montesanti on the mat with some headscissors. From a Tree of Woe, Montesanti can’t avoid a Junkyard Dog-like headbutt as Moretti picked up another near-fall, before he rolled Moretti into an X-Factor and a nice headscissor/DDT-like takedown for a near-fall.
An elevated Dragon suplex comes next from Moretti, tagged the “Series of Unfortunate Events”, but it’s not enough as he and Montesanti began to trade chops. There’s a nice ‘rana from Mantis before he ran in with a Flatliner for a near-fall… a running knee to the head and a Benadryller’s next as Mantis still couldn’t find a death blow, having to escape a back superplex before spiking Moretti with an avalanche reverse ‘rana for a near-fall. Moretti tried to steal it with a roll-up, but Montesanti kicked out and finished him off with a package piledriver – the Aussie’s going home, and Mantis stays on! A cracking match as Moretti’s built up a name for himself here, but it’s now Mantis’ time to defend the gauntlet! ***¼
Puf vs. Coach Mammone
Not wanting to go in with prejudice, but this was the match I went in with some trepidation over…
Coach Mammone reminds me of Coach Steve from Big Mouth, as he starts by having Puf running the ropes for cardio. A clothesline took Puf down for a one-count, before Mammone squatted… and missed a legdrop as Puf sat up. Comedy!
A reverse bearhug from Puf is elbowed away as Mammone tries to get his own back with a German suplex. Like that was ever happening, as Puf swivelled his hips and broke free of the waistlock. There’s a hip attack that further traps Mammone in the corner, before Puf broke out some Hindu squats… and missed a big splash. Mammone tries to capitalise with some charging shoulders into the corner, then some PKs, before he had a struggle to knock down Puf… who just catches him with a sidewalk slam and a big splash for the win. More comic relief than a match, but this was perfectly fine for what it was. **
Post-match, Coach Mammone pleases the crowd with some dancing, before Chuck O’Neil ran in and German suplexed Puf. He’s not one for comedy, is Chuck, who again took the mic and complained that nobody wanted to be legit. He’s gonna make Beyond legit again, and I’m kinda hoping that doesn’t come with a red baseball cap…
We get comments from Chuck Taylor after his loss to Wheeler YUTA last week… he says he’ll come back, but we struggle to hear the pre-tape as Kid Rock’s American Bad Ass was playing live.
The Beaver Boys (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. The Butcher and the Blade (Andy Williams & Pepper Parks)
Silver was out with his CZW World title, which got the expected reaction here… the so-called tag team aces of Beyond had a huge test here against a team that impressed over WrestleMania weekend – the Butcher and the Blade!
Parks and Reynolds start us off, with Reynolds looking to end things with a crucifix early, before a back elbow to Parks led to him scooping up Reynolds in a slam off the ropes for a two-count. Tags bring us to Williams and Silver, which had quite the height differential… so of course, Silver calls for a Test of Strength, which Silver actually won as he lifted up Williams by his wrist!
Williams snaps back with a Judo takedown, before he took Silver into the corner as both the Butcher and the Blade had their go chopping away at the CZW champion. Silver tried to chop back, and managed to bring in Reynolds… who nearly loses to a small package as the Beavers began to isolate Parks. Parks gets hurled across the ring with a Beele throw, before an assisted cutter nearly gets Reynolds the win. There’s a turnaround as Parks faked out a punch and DDT’s Reynolds instead, leading to more tags as Andy Williams just blew through Silver, nearly winning with a uranage.
The fight spills to the outside and towards the bar, where the “aces” got introduced to beer before Park suplexed Reynolds off the bar and to the floor. Christ, that looked nasty! Back inside, Silver’s having to chop his way past the Butcher and the Blade, to little success as he ate a double chokeslam for a near-fall. Silver manages to throw Williams into Parks, then out of the ring to even it up, before a blind tag brings in Reynolds for a superkick that almost wins things. A Parade of Moves breaks out as Reynolds gets caught with a stunner and a lariat, before Silver offered some resistance, eventually tripping Williams into the corner ahead of a deadlift German suplex. That seemed to get rid of the Butcher, as Parks ended up taking a German suplex with a folding pin for a two-count, only for Williams to return to throw Reynolds into a gutbuster as John Silver had to pull out the referee to keep the match alive.
One superkick to the official later, and you’d think there’s a DQ… but the match continues with Reynolds being suplexed into a back cracker for a visual pin as Josh Briggs winced about hip injuries. Understandably. In the end, Silver returns to boot Parks in the back of the head before the Beaver Boys put him away with their version of the Fidget Spinner. Perhaps a little off at the end with the stuff with the officials, but this was a fine showing for the Butcher and the Blade, who had better be brought back! ***½
Next week: Beaver Boys face Slither – that’s Joey Janela and Chris Dickinson!
Solo Darling vs. Davienne
Booked after Davienne went after Solo last week, we’ve got a jump start as Davienne went right for Solo with a double-leg takedown.
The match quickly descended into strikes as Davienne threw some elbows at Solo, who retaliated with elbows aimed at the hip of Davienne… who responded with another double leg before she had to scurry to the ropes to avoid a submission attempt. On the apron, Solo stomps Davienne onto the edge of the ring only to get tripped up as Davienne looked to turn it around, following up with a baseball slide dropkick that sent Solo into the ring post. That took the fight to the outside as Davienne continued to brawl, charging Solo into a brick wall before a spinebuster on the floor left Solo laying.
A boot choke traps Solo against the wall, but she’s able to retaliate with a swinging bulldog off the wall, only to get caught with a bridging Fisherman suplex back in the ring for a near-fall. Another suplex followed to put Solo down, but she’s too close to the rope and is able to stay alive. Solo rebounds again with a tornado suplex out of the corner… then another… before a pumphandle something or other ended with Davienne rolling onto Solo for a near-fall. Undeterred, Solo goes again, and this time lands a pumphandle bomb before trapping Davienne in a Sharp Stinger (Sharpshooter) for the win. Another nice match here, with enough to keep Davienne strong as a threat despite taking the loss. ***
Rich Palladino tells us what’s on tap next week: Chuck Taylor and Beretta are here as the Best Friends have a match… Mantis defends his spot in the Discovery Gauntlet… and as this’ll be the go-home show for the Beyond Lethal Lottery show, we’ll have the Beyond team against each other in the previously-announced Slither vs. Beaver Boys match. There’s also a four-way women’s match: Penelope Ford vs. Veda Scott vs. Solo Darling vs. Ashley Vox.
The Dynasty (Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Richard Holliday & Alex Hammerstone) vs. Team Pazuzu (Chris Dickinson, Santana & Ortiz)
We’ve got about half an hour when the introductions start, which seems like we’re getting a long ol’ main event!
There’s some stalling from the off as the Dynasty tried to set the tone, but Holliday quickly found himself on the defensive from Ortiz, before he punched him into the corner. Ortiz responded with a missile dropkick out of the corner as tags took us to MJF and Dickinson… except Friedman just ran around and tagged in Hammerstone instead.
Those two went at it, with Hammerstone cracking Dickinson in the ropes with an uppercut, only to take an enziguiri before a stalling suplex “taught the idiots how to count”. Well, to 20, at least.
Dickinson popped up and chopped Hammerstone after that, before a nice back body drop followed. MJF’s back in, but he’s quickly surrounded as the rest of Team Pazuzu hit the ring to help pancake MJF before a Falcon arrow from Dickinson almost put MJF away. MJF ends up becoming the victim of a pass-the-parcel suplex as Pazuzu held him upside down for a minute before landing the Jackhammer for a near-fall.
The Dynasty rush the ring as Ortiz and Santana have the ref inadvertently distracted, and there’s your next turnaround as MJF and friends continue to rile up LAX while having Dickinson triple-teamed. Eventually Dickinson gets in with a back suplex to Holliday… but the Dynasty snuff him out as we’ve got MJF back in to grind on Dickinson’s hand, before the other tag’s made as LAX came back into play.
A series of moves ending with a step-up moonsault from Santana nearly puts Holliday away, before Holliday recovered to assist Hammerstone into a Fosbury flop to the outside. It looked nasty but effective, as Santana was left in alone to eat a superkick-assisted package piledriver for a delayed, stacked-up near-fall. Santana rebounds with a Quebrada to spark a Parade of Moves, calming down with Dickinson ust charging through everyone with clotheslines.
MJF tries to get involved again, but he gets chopped for his woes before a trio of boots led to a Pazuzu Bomb for the win from Dickinson. A fun trios match, with some impressive stuff out of Hammerstone in particular, as the Dynasty’s debut night ended in defeat here. ***¼
Post-match, Santana took the mic and challenged the Best Friends to a match next week.
Another week, another enjoyable show from Beyond, who are certainly reaping the creative rewards with this format. Whereas so many promotions who “tape TV” fall into the trap of lifting the WWE format of throwing matches out there and cramming too many bodies on shows, Uncharted Territory is doing a grand job of exposing new faces while managing to develop storylines on a regular basis. It’s four-for-four for this show, and by the way… the tandem of Paul Crockett and Josh Briggs are giving me vibes of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, especially when Briggs was making aloof comments throughout the show. We’re not quite at “will you stop!” levels, but we’re getting close!
Catch Uncharted Territory as part of a subscription to IWTV.live – sign up today for a 20-day free trial with the code UNCHARTED. Or MJFSUCKS. Whichever you want to rib them with!