Erick Stevens continued his comeback after nine years out as he was Chris Dickinson’s latest tune-up opponent for Uncharted Territory.
It’s straight to action this week… Paul Crockett is alongside Josh Briggs on commentary. Yay, we get the Beyond version of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan again!
Solo Darling vs. Skylar
This was Skylar’s Beyond return after several months out with injury – it’s not going to be an easy comeback…
Commentary mentioned that there could well be some bad feeling since Solo Darling’s sort of “replaced” Skylar during her time off. We start with Solo rolling out of a wristlock as the two were fairly even in the early stages. There’s a unique takedown from Solo as she rolled into a seated surfboard, only for Skylar to roll out and reverse the hold as they went back and forth.
Eventually they relent, as Solo goes for a waistlock, looking for a roll-up before she decided to go for a Sharp Stinger… which Skylar easily shoves away. Darling keeps up as she went for a seated toe hold on the mat, which Skylar tries to roll into a pinning attempt before she reached for a rope. Skylar gets some jeers after she clocked Solo with forearms, but a low dropkick drops her as Solo uncorks some kicks while Josh Briggs dropped bombs of his own on commentary. A Pele kick from Skylar stops Solo for a near-fall, only to get caught with a Honey Steamer tornado suplex out of the suplex.
A hiptoss knee from Skylar keeps the match even, but Solo’s not too far behind, slapping Skylar off the top rope and onto the apron… following up with a bulldog onto the edge of the ring. Skylar tries to put distance between herself, but she’s caught with more kicks by the apron before she headed up top and hit a flying lungblower onto the apron. Jesus H Christ!
Back inside, Solo takes a German suplex for a near-fall, only to get met with a uranage-like bodyslam as Solo hit back. The Sharp Stinger’s next, but Skylar dragged herself to the ropes as the crowd booed. Solo keeps up, charging Skylar into the corner ahead of a superplex attempt… but Skylar slips out and drops Solo in a powerbomb for another near-fall. From there though, Solo snaps back with a pumphandle bomb before trapping Skylar in a Sharp Stinger… Skylar grabs the ref’s hand to stop herself from tapping, and among the confusion, Skylar rolls up Solo, with her feet on the ropes for the win. Good stuff here, and I’m liking this new side of Skylar – bringing her back with a twist! ***¼
Davienne’s in the crowd cheering Skylar… and I guess those two are teasing a union?
Paul Crockett pitches to Cameron Zagami backstage with this week’s Discovery Gauntlet entrant… it’s only Jaxon freaking Stone! I don’t think “the week 8 competitor” will stick as a nickname. Stone’s mad that his chance is coming in the Discovery Gauntlet, and promises to end the fairytale of the Ovaltine Dream.
Discovery Gauntlet: Thomas Santell vs. Jaxon Stone
Santell’s gone from being “that weird old timey guy” in match one to a huge cult favourite in Beyond. Who knew that getting behind someone would work?!
Stone plays into the crowd’s chanting as he shoved Santell before the bell, and we start with a tie-up that saw both men wrestle down to the mat. A monkey flip from Santell can’t break the tie-up, so Stone goes to the corner and breaks free before rushing out with a wristlock that Santell kips out of. Headlock takedowns and escapes keep both men on the mat, before Stone landed a shoulder tackle that had Santell down.
More of those follow, before an O’Connor roll led to a near-fall, before Santell kicked out and went for a cross armbreaker to force Stone into the ropes. They head outside, with Stone using a camerawoman as a human shield… and it sorta worked as he cheapshot the chivalrous Santell from behind. Back inside, some knee drops get Stone a one-count, before a chop and uppercut battle left Santell in the corner ahead of a chinlock. Santell gets free, but he can’t avoid an uppercut in the corner, nor a big boot as Stone dumped him outside again, this time for an apron PK… but Santell sweeps the leg!
Santell heads back inside to suplex Stone back in from the apron, but Jaxon keeps the upper hand with some forearms as he proceeded to grab Santell’s glasses and snapped them in half. Oh boy. That angered Santell, who Hulked up through chops and unleashed with some European uppercuts before a pump kick and a back suplex dropped Stone. Trapping Stone in the corner, Santell throws some chops before almost taking the win with a Fisherman’s suplex. Stone throws Santell into the corner to give him a break, then traps him in the ropes for a stomp out of the corner as a pop-up sees Santell escape and come back with a German suplex.
A backslide nearly shocks Stone, as does a small package, but Stone comes back with David Starr’s Blackheart Buster for a near-fall. Stone trash talks Santell, but ended up taking a lungblower before returning with a spear… but a second Blackheart Buster is stopped as Santell drops him into the Sugar Free Hold – the Regal Stretch – for the win. Excellent stuff here, with Stone getting more comfortable as the match progressed, but the rise of Thomas Santell continues here in Beyond. Now, can more promotions book Jaxon regularly?! ***½
Post-match, Cameron Zagami gets in the ring for the customary promo with Santell. He puts over Stone, and the Worcester crowd, as Santell’s coming back for his fifth week… with a new pair of glasses to boot. As Santell heads to the back, Metallica sounds… and how’s this for a clash?
Thomas Santell goes to the back as he passes by Nick Gage. He calls out Josh Briggs for doing commentary while hurt, then calls him out for a fight. That’s the PG version of it.
Nick Gage vs. Josh Briggs
Briggs meets Gage at ringside as they brawl around the crowd. Anthony Greene was luckily on standby to take over on commentary…
Eventually the pair hit the ring as the bell sounds, with Briggs hitting a leaping clothesline, then a standing sidewalk slam for a near-fall. A slip off the middle rope from Briggs sees him take a nasty spill, which led to Gage stomping away on him and the recently injured hip. There’s a DDT-like move to the leg to jam the hip some more… but he’s able to get back with a big boot out of the corner before a chokebreaker was stopped because of the injury again.
Gage goes for the knee again to take Briggs into the corner, following up with a Vader-type senton bomb for a near-fall. Some palm strikes just wake up Briggs, who hit back before landing a short backbreaker for a near-fall. Another choke breaker’s blocked as Briggs instead lands a butterfly backbreaker – landing Gage on the bad knee, so he couldn’t go straight for a cover and gets a delayed near-fall. Gage sweeps away a big boot before he lands a chokebreaker of his own… and that’s it. A brief outing, but the story behind Josh Briggs perhaps coming back too soon continued. **¾
After the match, Chuck O’Neil jumps Briggs from behind, with Anthony Greene rushing the ring to make the save. Greene tried to go after O’Neil, only for the Platinum Hunnies to drag him away as Greene challenged Chuck to a match next week.
They announce that Heidi Katrina debuts on the Women’s Wrestling Revolution show on June 30.
The Whisper vs. Ophidian
Richard Holliday’s allegedly on commentary for this CHIKARA special. The tech issues get sorted, as Whisper and Ophidian bow before each other as some of this stuff goes over the head of non-CHIKARA fans.
The early going has no conclusive leader, as they reach a stand-off before some lucha rolls led to another stand-off. Ophidian leaps in from the apron to evade Whisper, before he rebounded off the ropes into a headscissor takedown as Whisper… gets back to his feet. A butterfly roll-up from Whisper gets a near-fall, before Ophidian swung and missed with a spinning back kick. More evasions took both men onto the apron where Whisper teased a Vertebreaker, before he scored with a hanging neckbreaker onto the edge of the ring. Back in the ring, Ophidian throws some chops before he used satellite headscissors into a cobra clutch, only to get dropped with a slam.
Whisper rebounds with a pumphandle powerslam for a near-fall, before he shrugged off Ophidian’s corkscrew enziguiri and hit a backbreaker for good measure. Going up top, Whisper went for a 450 stomp, but misses as Ophidian got his feet up… before a wheelbarrow roll-up spiked Whisper on his head. This isn’t good lads – overly choreographed and sloppy, and it’s showing.
They reduce things down to a chop battle, upgrading to forearms and palm strikes, before Whisper ducked one and hit a spin-out Vertebreaker for a one-count… because Ophidian bridged up and hit a lumbar check. Whisper’s back up for superkicks as we’re back into the movez, ending with a Gory Special into a Flatliner for a near-fall. Another corkscrew enziguiri from Ophidian dazes Whisper, who’s quickly trapped with a Muta lock… and that’s all. Well, this had some good moments, but on the whole it felt too choreographed, with a lot of dangerous/sloppy stuff in the middle. They’re capable of better. *½
Milk Chocolate come out for an unscheduled appearance. Last time they were here, they were mauled by Bear Country. That probably led to Brandon Watts being unable to pronounce words here, as he mocked the Beaver Boys’ split and reunification. There’s a ref in the ring, so they issue an open challenge… answered by the Platinum Hunnies, sans Anthony Greene.
Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers) vs. Platinum Hunnies (Ava Everett & Angel Sinclair)
Hopefully they’ll last longer than they did on week two, when Maria Manic and Penelope Ford swept them aside.
Summers asked Ava to lay down and get pinned, but instead she rolls him up for a near-fall before some spinning headscissors took him into the ropes. Randy’s back with a boot, before she sent him back into the ropes, following up with a double leg drop on the apron. Brandon Watts gets involved, pulling Ava in by the hair, but Angel Sinclair cuts him off with some chops before Ava delivered a drop toe hold into a hip attack. There’s more of those from the Hunnies, before Watts cuts off Angel with a clothesline.
That leaves Ava in one-on-two as the referee does a bad job enforcing the concept of tag team rules. A dropkick from Watts drops Ava for a two-count, as Milk Chocolate begin to isolate her in their corner. There’s a slam from Watts to Ava, but Watts wastes a lot of time and ends up losing Ava, who scurries out to tag in Sinclair. Clotheslines from Angel have Watts flying, as does a cutter, before Summer came in and got slapped. A handstand kick in the corner traps Summers for a hip attack and a stinkface combined, with Watts’ running dropkick making things worse. Angel spears Watts before Ava gets powerbombed onto him for the pin. Well, that shows that the Hunnies are more than just valets, and the match itself wasn’t too bad with those limitations. **½
They pitch to a video of Chris Dickinson issuing open challenges as he warmed up for Daisuke Sekimoto later in the summer. His challenge this week? A returning Erick Stevens, who was back in his second match after many, many years away.
Chris Dickinson vs. Erick Stevens
Dickinson tried to rough up Stevens early on, taking him into the corner… but Erick gets out and is tested early with a chop.
Stevens fought fire with fire, upgrading chops to forearms before he got met with a shoulder tackle from Dickinson. A back elbow puts Dickinson on the mat, but Dickinson’s back with shoulder charges and chops, before Stevens threw Dickinson outside for a tope. The returning Stevens keeps up with knees to the gut, but Dickinson catches one and turns it into a Dragon screw, only for Stevens to come back with a side Russian legsweep and a Koji clutch on the mat.
A rope break saves Dickinson, but Stevens stays on top of him with a chinlock, before a Rainmaker-like lariat keeps Dickinson down. Stevens keeps up the pressure with an armbar, but Dickinson escapes with an enziguiri, only to run into an overhead belly-to-belly as Stevens hurled him into the corner. A pair of running lariats deck Dickinson as Stevens ends up going for a gutwrench… and instead got caught in a death valley driver. Dickinson retaliates with avalanche clotheslines, then a shoulder tackle off the middle rope and a Falcon arrow… but he can’t do the deal as Stevens kicks out. We’re back to the chops from Dickinson, but he has to elbow out of a German suplex before Stevens threw him anyway.
Dickinson’s back up… but gets caught with a backbreaker and a Tiger bomb for a near-fall as the comeback story nearly went golden. A mounted choke from Stevens is shrugged off as Dickinson tries a Pazuzu bomb… Stevens slips out and hits a Snow Plow instead for another near-fall! Stevens goes back to the gutwrench, but it’s again blocked before Dickinson slipped out for a chop! Stevens fires back as stinging chops ring around the Electric Haze ahead of another forearm exchange, before a side headlock from Stevens gets countered into a nasty Saito suplex. Except Stevens popped up, got run over by a clothesline, and that’s it! A beautiful hoss fight as Stevens brought his A-game, but Dickinson was just a shade ahead of him. More like this – and this better not be one-and-done for Stevens! ***¾
Cameron Zagami pulls out Ken Doane from the crowd… the former Kenny puts over Beyond and the local fanbase… before he heeled on the crowd by saying that the Beyond roster weren’t educated or athletic, like Worcester. Kenny rips off the Beyond mic cube as he gets into it with someone in the crowd. I guess Kenny’ll be debuting here very soon.
They confirm that Chuck O’Neil faces Anthony Greene next week… while we also have Massage Force exploding, with VSK facing Dorian Graves… and Chris Dickinson takes on Tom Lawler. OOF.
Bear Country (Bear Bronson & Bear Beefcake) vs. Beaver Boys (John Silver & Alex Reynolds)
Quickly becoming cult heroes here, Bear Country are the first opponents for a reunited Beaver Boys… although I’m more than a little suspicious here.
Reynolds tries to rough up Bear Bronson from the off, but he quickly gets chased down – and has to bring in John Silver inside a minute. Silver tries his luck with kicks, but Bronson absorbs them and clubs back, but Silver’s a little speedier, countering a throw with a sunset flip attempt before he got out of the way of a sitdown splash. A running PK is enough for Silver to tag out as Reynolds tried to steal a pin. That wasn’t happening, so Reynolds throws some clubbering forearms before Bronson landed a clothesline and tagged out to Beefcake, who missed a standing splash. Silver’s back for kicks, but Beefcake doesn’t go down until he’s met on the chin… and now Reynolds wants back in… getting the same results.
Reynolds slaps away on Beefcake, before he tried to tag out… but Beefcake stopped him and pulled him into a press slam, with Silver being an unfortunate recipient. A back senton squashes the pair next, before Reynolds went up for a back body drop. Beefcake lifts up Bronson as an electric chair splash was being threatened, but Reynolds rolls outside as Bronson opted to go flying with a tope!
On the apron, Bronson has Reynolds up in a fireman’s carry, but the Beaver Boys double team him for a spell. More kicks from Silver have Bronson woozy, as Reynolds comes back in to try and get the pin. When that doesn’t work, he puts the boots to Bronson’s head and neck, as the Beaver Boys continued to wear down Bronson. Things begin to backfire when Reynolds tries to powerbomb Bronson, but he’s back body dropped into a sunset flip before Silver tried to run in… and again, double-teaming saves the Beavers as superkicks get a near-fall. Silver comes back with kicks as the Beavers continued to wear down the Bears, but eventually Bronson comes back with a double clothesline as he made the tag out to Beefcake.
Electric Haze explodes for that as Beefcake charges down Reynolds and Silver. A powerbomb to Silver’s added to with a slam on Reynolds at the same time, as size and strength was starting to undo the Beaver Boys’ speed. Reynolds kicks out from that, before Beefcake tagged Bronson in… but that electric chair splash is countered with a cutter by Silver! Reynolds tries to fight back with a lungblower, but has to make do with a superkick before he took down Beefcake with a flying lungblower. All four men were left laying, but it’s Bronson who’s back up first as he’s double-teamed… until Silver accidentally enziguiris his own man!
Nasty exploder from @officialbronso2! #UnchartedTerritory @beyondwrestlinghttps://t.co/1yJefvZtiv @indiewrestling
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Bronson capitalises with a dangerous Saito suplex that dumped Silver on his head for a near-fall, before Silver tried to fight back on the top rope. Bronson tries to counter, but a top rope ‘rana took the big man down, before he shrugged it off and hits a rolling clothesline. Silver turns it back around with a brainbuster for a near-fall… but as Silver goes to tag out, Reynolds abandons him this time, getting revenge as the crowd railed on Reynolds.
With no partner, Silver’s left vulnerable for a cannonball from Bronson, then a double-team chokeslam for a near-fall! They look confused at that, but Silver tries to fight back, landing some dropkicks before sending Bronson outside for a tope. There’s a running boot to the back of the head of Beefcake in the ropes, who’s then hauled up for a rack bomb for a near-fall. How in the world?!
Bronson’s back to shove down SIlver, following up with a package piledriver before Bear Country complete the inevitable with an electric chair drop for the win. While a good main event, this felt weird as the Beaver Boys seemingly dominated a lot of the match before Reynolds walked out – so it told the story of the Beaver Boys ruining the match for themselves, while also reinforcing that Bear Country aren’t at their level yet. ***½
After the show went off the air, we got an update from Wheeler Yuta’s tour of wXw, complete with some action shots from last weekend’s wXw Academy show for good measure.
Uncharted Territory continues it’s good run of shows – and with Americanrana less than two months away now, I’d not expect that to change – and if anything, I’d expect the quality to increase as storylines come into play and grow heading into those big shows.
One thing that this week’s episode in particular exposes is just how much talent is out there in the States that isn’t necessarily getting enough buzz. We’ve been trumpeting Jaxon Stone since his tour of wXw some 18 months or so ago, but there’s other names who’ve been appearing on this show who you may not have been aware. Thomas Santell and Bear Country – to name just three. The fact that Beyond’s able to rotate the lineups without overall dip in quality… well, that really flies in the face of those who felt that the US scene had no talent that wasn’t overexposed.
- Catch Uncharted Territory as part of a subscription to IWTV.live – sign up today for a 20-day free trial with the code UNCHARTED