Josh Briggs gets a main event on Uncharted Territory this week as his road to Americanrana ran through Kris Statlander.
Beyond’s staying in the White Eagle in Worcester for this episode, and we start with Solo Darling making her way to the ring. Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella are back on commentary.
Solo Darling vs. Shotzi Blackheart
Solo’s looking to build up some more steam here, after getting back on track following some recent losses.
It’s a slow, but deliberate tempo early on as Solo worked over Shotzi’s arm, but Blackheart retaliated in kind as the pair looked pretty even. Solo tried to bait Shotzi onto the apron, but it came to nought as Shotzi brought her back in for a cannonball in the corner. Some headscissors took Solo back into the corner… but Shotzi misses a 619 and gets caught with a heel hook in the ropes. Shotzi tries to sneak in with a Tarantula-like choke, but another ankle lock counters it as Solo finally ended up on the apron… where she took a 619. Solo comes back with a Sharpshooter around the ringpost, which worked better than you’d think, as did a variation of the Sharp Stinger… but Shotzi’s again able to get to the ropes.
Shotzi teases a Shiranui on the apron, but Solo blocked and turned it into a reverse DDT onto the edge of the ring. The second time was the charm as Solo took too long to follow up, as that Shiranui found its mark, but it wasn’t enough to get the pin as Darling kicked out… and damn near chopped into. She finds a way back with some clubbering kicks, before Shotzi’s brief fightback was snuffed out.
Solo doesn’t know how to respond, other than to kick Shotzi down again… but Blackheart’s quickly back with a DDT as neither woman was able to maintain any momentum. A Saito suplex folded Solo in half, but she’s able to force the win after tripping Shotzi into a Sharp Stinger. This was fine, but it felt very much like “you do a move, I do a move” rather than your traditional bouts of momentum. **¾
Lex Luger’s old WWF music greets Anthony Greene as they’re a little over a week early for the 4th of July. Wheeler Yuta joins commentary too, with a tiny Stars and Stripes hat underneath his Jaxon Stone baseball cap. It turns out that Greene’s back on the Retrobution Tour next week – he’s going to face… The Patriot?!
Chuck O’Neil vs. John Silver
Commentary hints that John Silver may be pushing to be the Ace of Beyond. He’ll have to wrestle a lot more in the singles division to get a look in!
Silver tried to frustrate O’Neil early with a waistlock, keeping the match on the mat. Things quickly escalate to chops as O’Neil ended up getting hurled across the ring, before he caught a crossbody and proceeded to Snake Eyes Silver in the corner. A back suplex keeps Chuck ahead as he began to wear down Silver’s arm as the former MMA fighter began to find his stride. Chuck calls for, and delivers a suplex, before some more kicks to the arm ended up getting caught as Silver tried his luck with a right hand. Fortunately for O’Neil, he got to the ropes, but couldn’t avoid a dropkick, nor a back body drop, before a lariat nearly put him away.
Silver returned the favours with some kicks to O’Neil’s chest, before a release German suplex just had Silver ragdolled into the corner. Somehow he’s back with one of his own before the flurry continued into a modified back cracker for another near-fall. O’Neil hit back, throwing Silver into the ring posts so hard the adverts came off them, before a kick exchange saw O’Neil come off the worst… only to put him away with a Michinoku driver and a cross armbar. A valiant effort from Silver, but O’Neil’s finding form – and avoiding that tendency to lose by DQ too. ***½
Post-match, Alex Reynolds came out and put the moccasins to Silver… only for Wheeler Yuta to hit the ring and make the save. In that ridiculous hat. No, not yours, Jaxon. Problem was, O’Neil hadn’t left, and he quickly jumps into Yuta with a sleeperhold and cross armbreaker… only for Yuta to free himself and send Chuck packing. I smell a match for down the line!
Discovery Gauntlet: Leyla Hirsch vs. Christian Casanova (c)
Hirsch is a graduate from the CZW Dojo – and despite having broken onto the scene at around the same time as Kris Statlander, she hasn’t quite had the same success or exposure.
Casanova’s out with Cam Zagami, who’s looking like an awful Dallas tribute act: tinted glasses, white suit… those KFC Colonels sure do go awfully wrong when they go off-brand. Especially when you throw in a little Larry Sweeney… Hirsch swung for the fences early on, cracking into Casanova with knees and forearms, before a series of kicks led to a twisting cutter that Casanova deliberately broke the cover on. He’s showing way more arrogance this week, as Hirsch was more of a tackling dummy than you’ve come to expect in these matches.
After Casanova misses a Quebrada, Hirsch fought back with a Codebreaker that flipped him inside out, before a moonsault off the top connected for a near-fall. We’ve dives too as Hirsch went after Casanova on the outside, before she flipped Casanova into an armbar… but he’s able to extricate himself and land a superkick too, only to get cornered with slingshot knees. There’s more German suplexes from Hirsch as she came close to the win, only to get caught out of nowhere with a hot shot and an axe kick as Casanova took the W. Hirsch put up a good fight, and based on this form, she’s got a lot more in the tank than her lack of high-profile appearances show. She’ll be at the WWR show this weekend, for those with an IWTV subscription. ***¼
Post-match, Zagami tries to hijack the interview, but the Worcester crowd drown him out.
Paul Crockett runs through some of the card for the WWR Let Them Eat Cake show on Sunday night (3pm EST bell time). Heidi Katrina vs. Solo Darling; Kasey Catal vs. Masha Slamovich; Faye Jackson vs. Vanity; Kris Statlander vs. Alisha Edwards; Skylar vs. Karrisa Rivera; Leyla Hirsch vs. Terra Calaway. That’s a hell of a line-up.
No Disqualification: Matthew Justice vs. Chris Dickinson
You may remember Matthew from such antics as slicing the throat of a man at the Blackcraft Wrestling show over WrestleMania weekend. This week, he’s looking to snap Dickinson’s streak of form, as the “Dirty Daddy” continued to build to his match with Daisuke Sekimoto at Americanrana.
Dickinson took the upper hand early on, dropping Justice with a back suplex, before a shoulder tackle sent him onto the apron, where he low bridges Dickinson ahead of a pescado. There’s almost a crash and burn from a tope, as the pair then decided to quit diving and start throwing bombs. Plunder comes out next as Justice throws some chairs from under the ring, as that no DQ stipulation came into play with both men taking chairs to the face. Except Dickinson upped the ante with a Conchairto, before he stood on Justice’s groin in a Tree of Woe. Ah, the ol’ gas pedal…
A chair-assisted baseball slide dropkick’s next for Justice, who somehow replied with something close to a Jig ‘n’ Tonic on the apron that seemed to agitate Dickinson’s arm on the way down. Still, Justice couldn’t quite get the W, so he takes it into the crowd as he propped a door on some tables, before going up onto the stage. Can you tell what it’s going to be? Yep, it’s a Pazuzu Bomb off the stage through a door that exploded. Christ, those demonic eyes on Dickinson as he tossed Justice off the stage were a sight.
They make it back to the ring, where Justice ends up in the ropes after taking a Van Daminator, before he somehow kicked out of a death valley driver through a chair. Hmm. So Dickinson grabs another door, but he can’t get a second Pazuzu Bomb as Justice gets out, whacks him with a chair, before a death valley driver into the door led to his own near-fall. Another chairshot from Dickinson waffles Justice on the top rope, before he’s brought down with a superplex for the win. Some of those chairshots were a little rough for my liking, but this was a nice little brawl – and my word, the crowd are hopping on board the Dickinson train as we get closer to Foxwoods. ***¼
After the match, Dickinson says he has a surprise for next week. No, it’s not Jaka (boo), he’s going to be hosting Joey Janela’s 30th Birthday show on Uncharted Territory.
They replay the CHIKARA tag from last week’s Uncharted Territory, and the arrival of Cajun Crawdad for a distraction. The sound mixing gives us last week and this week at the same time, as we lead into this trios match…
Cornelius Crummels, Sonny Defarge & Cajun Crawdad vs. Razerhawk, Thief Ant & Green Ant
After the intros, we’ve got a jump start with the ring clearing as Razerhawk and the Ant men landed a trio of topes.
Back in the ring, Crummels crashed into Razerhawk with a dropkick, then with some spitty chops before the lucha rules saw Razerhawk slide out… with Thief Ant coming in to steal his opponents movez. Defarge comes in to score with a diving European uppercut for a near-fall, but the tide began to turn as Green Ant hits a rope-walk headscissors to Crawdad. Crawdad responds by pancaking Green Ant, before he came close with a twister suplex. Green Ant doesn’t quite leave the ring in time for Razerhawk to land a missile dropkick as referee Kevin Quinn threatened to lose control, but it doesn’t matter as Green Ant avoided a step-up monkey flip as Crummels and Defarge were taken outside… only for Crawdad to pounce the Ants into the ropes.
Razerhawk and Crawdad exchange chops and slaps before Razerhawk was just slung into the turnbuckles. A pair of cannonballs were more picturesque, before Crawdad’s attempt at an apron piledriver ended with him being back body dropped across the corners and to the floor. In the end though, this gets waved off as Hermit Crab ran in and attacked the ants with spinebusters… and that’s the obvious DQ. I’m not sure if this is a CHIKARA angle, but this didn’t land with too much of the crowd it seemed. These CHIKARA matches seem to be hit and miss, don’t they? ***
We’re thrown to a “Skype call” next, with Mike Quackenbush chiming in on what we just saw. He’s going to settle this – not by sending ants or crabs… he’s going to be in Beyond himself next week to sort it out. That’s going to be special, I think.
Kenn Doane’s shown at ringside…
Nick Gage vs. Richard Holliday
If the former Kenny gets involved here, then his death wish is confirmed. He’s trying to invoke the spirit of Chris Dickinson by having his strings out, but he’s instantly caught by Gage as this one started as a brawl. I’m shocked too.
Gage took him into the crowd, before Holliday responded by shoving Gage into Kenn Doane… who then went into a table. Yep. Your death wish confirmation is about to happen, as Kenny cheapshotted Gage, throwing him into the post before they double-teamed Gage in the ring, and this is all waved off.
Thomas Santell rushes out to make the save, throwing Holliday out before pulling Doane off of Gage. THAT is a tag team I never knew I wanted to see: Thomas Santell and Nick Gage. We’re not getting it yet though, as Gage blew him off…
They announce for next week: Cajun Crawdad, Hermit Crab, Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge vs. Razerhawk, Green Ant, Thief Ant & Mike Quackenbush… Thomas Santell vs. Cam Zagami… Anthony Greene vs. The Patriot… Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr) vs. Stunt Doubles (Marko Stunt & Logan Stunt)… Joey Janela vs. Josh Briggs… and don’t forget the next leg of the Discovery Gauntlet! That’s all airing free on FITE.tv next week!
Josh Briggs vs. Kris Statlander
Briggs is in a bit of a playful mood early on, catching Statlander in the midsection as she went for a Test of Strength to start. This’d be a bit of a test for Kris, as she’s not used to being shorter than her opponents…
Statlander tries to gross-out Briggs by forcing him into a wet willie… but he just reverses it before a lackadaisical sidewalk slam had the crowd turn on him. Kris manages to fight back with a handstand legdrop, before she was forced to Matrix out of a clothesline… only to get taken down with a splash for a near-fall. An elbow from Statlander led to a ‘rana attempt that was caught, as Briggs put her on the top rope, declaring he didn’t want to hurt her. The feeling wasn’t mutual though, as Statlander came back with a bulldog and some elbows to the side of the head. That flurry quickly ended with a right hand, as Briggs looked to finish her off with a chokeslam off the top.
Fortunately though, Kris fought out, but couldn’t land a sunset bomb, and instead got Beele’d across the ring. She’s able to catch a quick rear naked choke, but Briggs threw her out and went in with a boot into the corner, before Statlander countered a chokebomb with a Meteora as we had some very inventive counters to keep herself in this one… Another Matrix out of a clothesline gave Statlander an opening to land an enziguiri as another flurry of strikes led to a sit-out front suplex for a near-fall. A German suplex followed, along with a buzzsaw kick and a DDT, before Kris tripped up and got spun down to the mat with a… I have no idea what the hell that was. Effective?
Kris fought back with an Electric Chair drop, before some more strikes and an axe kick dropped Briggs hard for a near-fall. She rips off Briggs’ shoulder brace, which prompted him to respond with some boots to the face, before he responded to a Destroyer with a tombstone. Nope, still not enough! Another chokebomb’s attempted by Briggs, but it’s eventually countered into a Code Red for the three count… but Briggs’ shins were on the ropes as the ref retroactively waved off his own call. A roll-up gets Statlander another near-fall, but third time was the charm as that Chokebomb landed for the unpopular win. This felt a little rough around the edges, with the crowd not wanting to see the obliterations they usually get out of Briggs – but this was a real solid main event. ***¾
After the match, Briggs took the mic and issued a challenge for Americanrana, since he didn’t have an opponent yet. He wants one of the fly-ins who’s “only caring about the money”, and throws down the gauntlet to Johnny Foxwoods. Yes, the former John Morrison’s getting yet another name to stretch out his Cagematch profile a la Selma Bouvier (nee Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discothèque-Simpson-D’Amico).
This episode clocked in at two hours and change, which made it one of the more compact episodes of Uncharted Territory to date… and it delivered. We got just enough build for that WWR show on Sunday, while keeping things ticking for Americanrana… and as more matches get announced, you’d better believe the next month of Uncharted Territory is going to heat up!
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