It’s a new home, but the same old Uncharted Territory as Thomas Santell’s run with the Discovery Gauntlet had an unexpected threat.
We’ve a change of venue for this week, as the White Eagle in Worcester, MA played host to the 12th episode of Uncharted Territory. It’s “the other” regular venue Beyond use, and it means we have a new entry way. Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella remain on commentary.
Chris Dickinson vs. Shane Mercer
The Dirty Daddy continues to tune up for his match with Daisuke Sekimoto next month, with the return of Shane Mercer. It’s been five years nearly since Mercer appeared in Beyond…
Mercer quickly looked to catch Dickinson off guard with a springboard ‘rana, only to get caught with an enziguiri as the former Doom Patrol man quickly found his feet. A DDT dropped Mercer for a near-fall, but the self-styled “Iron Demon” found his way back in with a jawbreaker as he tried to wear down Dickinson with holds.
A camel clutch continued to keep Dickinson in trouble, but he’s able to get free and go back in with chops… that was until he ran into a belly-to-belly that took him into the ropes. They’re quickly back, throwing bombs on each other until Dickinson edged ahead with some lariats that eventually dumped Mercer to the mat.
Dickinson nearly took a win with a folding powerbomb, but Mercer’s cut him off again, this time with an Exploder into the turnbuckles, then a gorilla press into a fallaway slam. Mercer couldn’t really capitalise, and ends up eating a piledriver for a one-count, before he caught Dickinson with a twisting lariat!
Mercer thought he’d won it with a moonsault slam off the top, but Dickinson rolls through on the landing before taking a nasty X-Plex. Out of nowhere though, Dickinson struck back with a second piledriver, and that’s it. A grand ol’ hoss fight, but I’d have liked to have seen Dickinson at least kick out from that moonsault slam rather than just shift momentum. ***½
Post-match, Mercer got “please come back” chants as Dickinson called himself the “Apex Predator” before issuing a challenge for a death match to Matthew Justice for next week. Hey, that guy’s actually killed someone (kayfabe!)…
Green Ant & Razerhawk vs. Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge
Billed as a lucha rules, CHIKARA showcase… I’m hoping this is better than the last all-CHIKARA match we had here. Luckily, Bakabella on commentary’s able to fill in all the blanks.
There’s a jump start from Defarge, as the “dirtiest team in CHIKARA” used all kinds of tactics to keep an advantage. Like sneezing in Razerhawk’s face. Spitty chops from Crumells and a whacking dropkick keep Razerhawk down briefly, as Green Ant got the tag in to help turn things around. Well, until Crummels went back to using bodily fluids…
Green Ant gets pancaked by Defarge for a near-fall, as the former CHIKARA tag team champions continued to work well. A step-up monkey flip just about came off, before Razerawk found his way back in with a backslide driver on Defarge. Out of nowhere, Cajun Crawdad appears to distract the ref, as a low blow and a roll-up for Crummels and Defarge the win. I like how the CHIKARA “rep” couldn’t tell his masked men apart… but apart from that, this was pretty decent as a tag match. **¾
Apparently Thief Ant tried to make the save, but Crawdad stopped him as it seemed he’s joined Crummels and Defarge’s little business.
Solo Darling vs. JXT
Thankfully JXT was more hi-res than his match graphic photo suggested!
JXT started by patronising Sol, offering to wrestle on his knees to even out the height difference. That was a bad call…
Eventually JXT caught a kick and countered with an Exploder, only for Solo to rebound with a rope-walk leg lariat that looked to affect her more than it did the Aussie. She’s quickly dumped onto the apron as JXT countered a bulldog, but JXTs’ arrogance led to him missing a leap off the top as Solo managed to get him on the apron anyway with a death valley driver.
A low blow from JXT proved pointless, even before Solo caught it. Kicks make him pay, as does a pair of Honey Steamer tornado suplexes… but he blocks a third and went back in with a snapping avalanche ‘rana… which Solo popped right back up from to level him with a spear for a near-fall.
Solo’s nearly sent through the ropes with a running knee, before a JX-Plex (an inverted slam) and a Retweet (Pedigree) led to another near-fall as Solo took JXT’s best. From here, Solo managed to catch JXT with a spin-out backbreaker off the top rope before a Sharp Stinger forced the submission. This was fine for what it was, as JXT managed to get the crowd on his back for large spells before he eventually fell to the wannabe Ace. ***
Commentary announces that next week Solo Darling faces Shotzi Blackheart.
Bear Country (Bear Bronson & Bear Beefcake) vs. Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr)
Bear Country were back looking to avenge their loss from last week as they took on Team Tremendous – back in Beyond for the first time in nearly a year.
We’ve got some big lad shoulder tackles as Beefcake and Carr barged into each other from the off, upgrading shoulders for forearms as the crowd were white hot for two hosses wheeling away on each other. Beefcake shocked us with a leapfrog, but eventually got charged down as tags bring in Bronson and Barry, who were a little more agile.
Barry’s tope caught out Beefcake on the outside… so Bronson returned the favour, ahead of an Asai moonsault into the pile from Barry. Carr ups the ante with a tope con giro, but back in the ring, Bear Beefcake took him down with relative ease. Dan Barry gets similar treatment, taking a powerbomb, only for Carr to use Bear Bronson as a human bowling ball to break up the cover. Owwie.
The favour’s returned when Barry was Fire Thunder Driver’d onto Carr after a Bossman slam nearly put away Beefcake… and yeah, it’s not pretty, but it’s effective. There’s more impressive stuff as Bronson shoved Barry off the top rope and into a German suplex, before Carr got squashed with a piggyback cannonball as these four big dudes were dishing it all out as the Elevator Drop ended up putting away Carr for the win. A glorious win here, with the big lads not leaving anything behind in this one. ***½
After the match, Dan Barry slapped his partner for the loss, as Bear Country raced back to try and calm them down.
Commentary announces that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are wrestling at Americanrana. Problem was, that announcement masked how Barry and Carr cheapshotted them as Team Tremendous had everyone fooled.
Richard Holliday vs. Josh Briggs
Holliday cuts a promo before the match, but the crowd truly drown him out. He shushed the crowd… and then got cut off by Briggs’ music. Not to worry, he waited for Briggs to appear before he threw some shade at him for the losses he’s had since he returned.
Briggs dared Holliday to go for his bad leg, but instead there’s an offer of a Test of Strength, which led to Holliday getting punched out as he tried to go for that leg. It’s kinda one-sided from there as Briggs drops Holliday with a sidewalk slam, only for Holliday to catch Briggs in the ropes for a backbreaker.
Not to worry, Briggs is right back with a backflip into a knee attempt, only for Briggs to counter with a Twister suplex. A powerbomb nearly put Briggs away after his kick was caught, only for Briggs to come right back, shrugging off a kick to the knee as he dumped Holliday with a chokeslam/powerbomb combo for the win. The crowd were up for this one, but the match itself felt rather decisive all told. ***
Anthony Greene & Platinum Hunnies (Angel Sinclair & Ava Everett) vs. Kenn Doane & The Top Dogs (Davienne & Skylar)
Kenn Doane’s still a hothead, threatening to after people in the crowd as you got the impression he didn’t seem to be too bothered about his tag partners.
That aggression backfires early on as Greene took him into the corner with a dropkick, then with an enziguiri, before Skylar kicked away Greene’s attempt at a springboard. Ava Everett came into get her some payback on Doane, but it took a while to arrive as she used Doane’s arrogance against him, pulling him to the mat for a figure four.
Everett slaps Doane in the dick repeatedly, as Davienne eventually had to pull the former Spirit Squad man to safety. Things settle down a little as Sinclair comes in for hip attacks, only for the Top Dogs to cheapshot their way into the match, as they built up to a double-team wheelbarrow gutbuster.
Doane gets back in as he looked to finish off Sinclair with a piledriver, but she got free and tagged in Everett, who went wild with strikes on Davienne and Skylar… at least until the numbers game took over. Some dry humping from Ava, and a superkick from Greene, nearly put Doane away as Paul Crockett was oh so close to a “will you stop” moment, before Greene directed traffic, throwing Everett into the Top Dogs with a double dropkick.
Skylar and Davienne get involved again, pulling Greene crotch-first into the ring post… and when Everett went to fight her corner, she just left Angel Sinclair vulnerable. Doane tried to capitalise, but there’s a save which led to Angel winning with a schoolboy – with a little bit of doubt as she had a foot on the rope. Who cared though – Worcester exploded for that, and yet again Kenny couldn’t get the job done. ***
Discovery Gauntlet: Christian Casanova vs. Thomas Santell
Santell was looking to make it eight wins in a row – but he’s been picking up some injuries lately, and a fresh Christian Casanova was in prime place to end the Ovaltine Dream.
Casanova was more than wise to Santell’s games – as the camera picked up a rather scorned Cam Zagami watching on in the background. We’ve a nice, pacey opening exchange too, with both men looking to wrap things up pretty quickly. An early ankle lock attempt saw Casanova go for the ropes, but he still couldn’t really find any kind of form… until he caught Santell with a superkick and a rewind springboard legdrop in the ropes.
That quick flurry had Casanova on top, as Santell was increasingly having to take advantage of openings rather than making chances for himself. A release Regalplex was one such opening, before Casanova fought out of a Sugar Free Hold to come back with an axe kick for a near-fall. There’s a springboard clothesline out of Casanova next, then a frog splash that saw him get real high… but still Santell’s kicking out.
Casanova whiffs on a second frog splash and ends up taking a brainbuster as Santell tried to force his way back in. The ropes only delayed Casanova taking a German suplex, but he’s quickly back with a La Mistica takedown for a near-fall. A second wind for Santell sees him fire away with chops before he shrugged off a Codebreaker and dropped Casanova with a clothesline. Santell goes for a Sugar Free Hold… just as we see Cam Zagami shuffle into shot, as he pulled Casanova’s leg onto the rope… and the fix is in.
Santell gets distracted as he berates Zagami… and ended up getting rolled up as the streak ended. This was a pretty good little match with a hot ending – something that ought to build to Americanrana. All of a sudden, with one move, Zagami became the most hated man in Worcester… and all is right with the world again. He can finally get out of that court suit and back into gear… ***½
After the match, Santell gave chase to Zagami, but the Benny Hill chase ended when Zagami returned to interview Casanova, who could barely be heard over the crowd. HEAT!
For next week they announce Chris Dickinson vs. Matthew Justice… Solo Darling vs. Shotzi Blackheart… Nick Gage vs. Richard Holliday (oh boy)… John Silver vs. Chuck O’Neil… Kris Statlander vs. Josh Briggs… that’s a tasty line-up!
No Disqualification: Nouveau Aesthetic (Still Life with Apricots and Pears & BLANK) vs. Gentleman’s Club (Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy)
This is almost like a second CHIKARA offer match, with the present taking on the past. Still Life and BLANK are gender neutral, so be prepared for some awkward “theys” on commentary.
Cassidy’s back, having won back the IWTV title on the Secret Show a fortnight or so earlier… and we’ve a late wrinkle added to this as the match became a no-DQ outing.
BLANK slapped Cassidy early on, as they took the sunglasses and mocked Orange with a tribute. Both wrestlers have finger gloves on, which led to some challenges of duels, before Orange just zipped BLANK’s mask shut as they ranted. I popped.
Still Life’s in next to try their luck with a roll-up, then with an Octopus stretch that BLANK marvelled at. Something else we marvelled at were hiptosses, including from referee Steven DuMeng… who managed to irk an otherwise calm Orange Cassidy as a slow strike battle broke out. Before DuMeng could reply, BLANK’s back as the Nouveau Aesthetic found a footing, with Still Life nearly forcing a submission out of Taylor with an Axel Dieter Special.
The artistes quickly found themselves on the defensive when Cassidy came in with a step-up ‘rana, before he called on Taylor to go all Dudley Boyz with… not a 3D. I howled. Orange goes for another speciality… a Hart Attack. It was mild.
BLANK got involved as the Gentleman’s Club teased a Doomsday Device, but Chuck was too far away and ended up getting thrown into his partner as the Nouveau Aesthetic began to step up their game. The ring fills and empties as BLANK took a gnarly piledriver from Taylor, before Orange sprayed Still Life with orange juice ahead of a Destroyer for the win. I really enjoyed that – a nice change from the Orange Cassidy comedy that some may have gotten tired of, and this worked well with the CHIKARA characters to boot. ***¼
Post-match, Chuck O’Neil hit the ring to take his anger out… and hey, here’s Wheeler Yuta to make the save! He’s back bloody quick from Germany, taking O’Neil outside for a tope as Chuck Taylor needed to hold him back…
But awiwait, we had another run in from Logan Easton Laroux. Someone may be pulling double duty! Laroux introduced himself as the champion of the 1%, and I guess we’ve got a new challenger for Orange Cassidy! Sadly, Logan’s promo was drowned out again – the White Eagle’s a real good venue for crowd noise to drown everyone out – as the show came to an end.
While the change of venue may have been jarring (I’ve got a soft spot for the Electric Haze’s “shop pub” aesthetic), it served as an almighty positive in terms of crowd reactions, as pretty much every boo, cheer and jeer rang was picked up loud and clear. The weeks continue to tick down towards Americanrana, and the momentum behind Beyond – at least on-screen – doesn’t seem to be slowing down…
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