Uncharted Territory returned for a third season, with some crackers all over the shop – including a banger between Daniel Garcia and Alex Shelley.
Quick Results
Tyree Taylor pinned Ken Broadway in 7:55 (**¾)
Wheeler Yuta submitted Leyla Hirsch in 13:46 to retain the IWTV Independent Wrestling World Championship (***½)
Matt Makowski & Masha Slamovich submitted Yoya & Janai Kai in 9:07 (***)
VSK defeated Little Mean Kathleen via disqualification in 7:35 (**½)
Bryce Donovan, Bobby Orlando & Aaron Rourke pinned Eel O’Neal, Jordan Blade & Trish Adora in 10:16 (**¾)
Jay Lyon & Midas Black pinned Jack Verville & Louis Lyndon in 8:59 (***)
Chris Dickinson pinned Manders in 9:19 (***¾)
Alex Shelley submitted Daniel Garcia in 21:38 (****¼)
There’s no airs and graces from the White Eagle in Worcester, MA as we’re straight into the pre-show match… Sidney Bakabella and Paul Crockett are on the call.
Tyree Taylor vs. Ken Broadway
It’s a spotlight match to get us going, with Broadway trying to stop Taylor with wristlocks and chops in the early going. A varied offence, for sure.
Taylor floats over Broadway in the corner, but eats an enziguiri from Broadway, who looked to follow up with elbows. Broadway sends Taylor’s charge to the outside, following with a springboard dropkick as Tyree tried to get back in, with a tope following on the outside. Taylor crotches Broadway in the ropes after they returned to the ring, with a step-up gamengiri knocking Broadway to the floor. There’s no follow-up as Broadway rolled back in, but Taylor’s right on him with strikes from above, following with some body blows before Broadway looked for a full nelson.
Broadway’s hold gets broken as Taylor ends up tripping up Broadway on the way to a pinning attempt. A superkick from Broadway lands flush, as did a deadlift Saito suplex that Taylor kicked out of, then again after a PK, as Broadway looked to take things home… landing a one-legged Quebrada for a near-fall. Taylor grabs Broadway’s boot to stop him going to the top rope, but Broadway ends up leaping anyway… jarring his knee as he leapt over Taylor, who returned with a lariat and the Brooklyn Zoo sit-out powerbomb for the win. Nice, short and impactful stuff, with Taylor getting the bulk of the shine here. **¾
Wheeler Yuta interrupts us to start – he’s apparently not meant to be here, and was disappointed in that fact. Yuta offers an open-challenge – non-title, mind you – and out comes Leyla Hirsch, who talked her way into making it a title match.
IWTV Independent Wrestling World Championship: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch
A nice, pacey (and unexpected) opener here, with Hirsch clinging onto a side headlock early on, before some headscissors took Yuta down… only for Yuta to fake out a leap off the top ahead a huge missile dropkick.
Yuta looked to have jarred his knee, but he shrugged it off to get a couple of two-counts on Hirsch, who countered a superplex with a neat sunset flip into a German suplex as the champion was instantly on the back foot. Topes follow after Yuta was taken outside, before a Fujiwara armbar back inside was countered as Yuta stood up and spun Hirsch with a backbreaker. Hirsch is back, but gets booted away… as Yuta then grabbed her hair to prevent an armbar, but ends up getting sent away as a lariat gave Hirsch another two-count. Leyla throws some bombs in the form of knee strikes, as a triple-jump moonsault off the top got us closer… before a cross armbar attempt ended in the ropes.
Yuta tries to abandon the match, only for Matt Makowski to meet him at the curtain and intimidate him back into the ring. Hirsch surprised Yuta with a small package, then sent him into a ring post as the cross armbar came even closer, but yet again Yuta swivelled to the ropes for safety. Hirsch followed him on the apron, but gets dumped with a slam, before the Yu-Tap back inside forced an instant submission. A hell of a scare for Yuta here, as Hirsch nearly won an unexpected match to get this new season underway. ***½
Matt Makowski hits the ring and stared down Yuta – calling him out for a title shot. Yuta tried to take it literally, but Makowski ducks the belt and swung with a kick as Yuta powders… as we Heyman Special into the next match.
Masha Slamovich & Matt Makowski vs. YoKai (Janai Kai & Yoya)
YoKai subbed for Killer Kelly and Alexander James here…
We start with Slamovich and Kai on the mat, looking for a hold, but Kai pushes free and sent Slamovich into the corner with a series of kicks. Back-and-forth strikes led to the ante getting upped as Kai went a little high, before Yoya tagged in to take over. Slamovich manages to get free of Yoya though, and tagged out to Makowski after a jack-knife roll-up… and oh boy. A high/low from Slamovich and Makowski dumped Yota for a two-count, before Yoya countered a wheelbarrow into a ‘rana. Yoya’s offence quickly ends though as a crossbody’s turned into a slam, before he was rolled and POPPED up into a cross armbar that had me leaping into the air, but there’s no submission.
Instead, Yoya slips out of a suplex and tagged Kai back in, only for her kicks to be checked. Makowski has a kick checked too, before a spinning back elbow and a Fisherman buster planted Kai for a near-fall. Kai escapes a torture rack, as Yoya came in to hit a spinning sunset flip bomb for a two-count as Slamovich broke things up. Meanwhile, an inside cradle from Makowski gets a two-count, before Slamovich tagged in to nearly get the win from a suplex/crossbody combo. Yoya broke it up and gets sent outside again, before he tagged in and found himself met with an Electric Chair Driver for another near-fall. Makowski’s back as a double-team Burning Hammer then a pull-up into a cross-armbar forced the submission, with Yoya looking to have landed badly on his shoulder. A lovely sprint, with YoKai looking good as an underdog team – I want to see more of these two in these kind of spots. ***
Post-match, Makowski demanded a shot at the IWTV title… then revealed that in two weeks he’ll be facing Davey Richards. The American Wolf’s comeback tour rolls on!
Mark Sterling and VSK are out as they’ve got an open challenge… and my word, that’s an old Southampton FC shirt in the crowd. Sterling claimed he was having to catch a flight to be on a taped Rampage…
VSK vs. Little Mean Kathleen
Kathleen’s still full of an entire Starbucks’ worth of caffeine, by the looks of it…
Kathleen looked for a waistlock early, only to get thrown aside by VSK. A crossbody’s caught and turned into a slam, before VSK took Kathleen into the corners, ahead of a swinging back suplex after some interference from Sterling. VSK controlled proceedings, hitting an uppercut in the corner before Kathleen moved away from a big boot in the corner. That looked to hamper VSK, who then got met with some forearms ahead of a crossbody that got Kathleen just a one-count. In the corner, Kathleen stomps away on VSK, before she stood VSK on his head with a satellite DDT as Sterling needed to put VSK’s foot on the rope to keep things alive.
VSK pushes away a Dudley Dog, then stuck Kathleen with a snap piledriver… but pulled her up at two to keep the match doing. A brainbuster followed, with VSK again pulling Kathleen up at two, before a Project Ciampa bounced Kathleen into the corner. Yet again, VSK pulls up the cover, which prompted Teddy Goodz in to make a save… and that’s the DQ even though I don’t think Goodz actually got to VSK. Very squashy, as we build up Goodz vs. Sterling’s cronies some more. **½
Club Cam (Aaron Rourke, Bobby Orlando & Bryce Donovan) vs. The Kings Of The District (Eel O’Neal & Jordan Blade) & Trish Adora
Feel the sleaze…
O’Neal rolling elbows the crown off of Orlando to start, before a back senton drew a two-count for Jordan Blade. Tags get us to Rourke and Adora, with Trish looking to edge ahead with armdrags before she pulled herself up for a headscissors takedown on Rourke… who’s then booted back down for good measure. Adora boots away Bobby Junior – the blow-up goat – as O’Neal followed with a tope con giro to the outside, while Blade’s German suplex landed for a near-fall. Cam Zagami distracts but gets met with a rear naked choke, only for Rourke to break it up with a Saito suplex. Blade’s hung in a Tree of Woe ahead of a hesitation dropkick from Donovan, but Blade grabs the rope to save the pin.
Blade’s kept in there as Orlando and Donovan set up for a split-legged moonsault from Rourke for a near-fall, before Rourke ate an overhead belly-to-belly. Donovan’s able to tag right back in, only for Trish Adora to make a hot tag and clear house. O’Neal tags back in but gets pancaked by Donovan, sparking a Parade of Moves…. The Kings of the District have Donovan and Orlando trapped, while a crossface from Adora to Rourke completes the set as Cam Zagami distracted Adora with her luggage? Amid all that, Orlando knocked O’Neal out with a chain… and it’s an easy pin as Club Cam made the most of the distraction. **¾
Discovery Gauntlet: 9 To 5 (Jack Verville & Louis Lyndon) vs. The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black)
This season, the Discovery Gauntlet’s focusing on tag teams with the “winner stays on” format… and this season, I’m begging for the sweet embrace of death, which is imminently preferable to 9 to 5’s music.
If you haven’t seen the Mane Event, Lyon – who has a lion mask – wrestles with some “steak” hanging from his mouth. The Mane Event start off hot, building up to a double-team draping DDT/splash combo before an armdragg’d cannonball into the corner cleared out the paper pushers. A tope con giro through a hula hoop keeps Lyon ahead, while Midas Black’s right hand led to uppercuts before he was thrown into a knee strike from Jack Verville in the ropes. Verville and Lyndon team up as Midas was thrown outside and beaten on, while a pair of kicks to an upside down Black ensured that the 9 to 5-ers continued to take shortcuts.
Lyndon misses a moonsault as Lyon then got the hot tag in, hitting a neat clothesline/spinning heel kick two-for-one. A modified Silly String leads to a Black spear on Verville, before they gang up on Lyndon with a pair of superkicks for a near-fall. Lyndon’s DDT countered a pop-up attempt, but Lyon’s able to knock him to the corner anyway before 9 to 5 sandwich Lyon with dropkicks. A knee-assisted German suplex nearly puts Lyon away, as did a neat Asai DDT counter into a Dragon sleeper… but Midas makes the save. Midas’ chops lead to ducking a diving kick as Verville knocked Lyndon to the outside, while the Mane Event win with a pop-up facebuster. The right team won here, with Mane Event being the flashier of the two teams – and the one you’ll certainly remember – as 9 to 5 failed their probation. ***
Manders vs. Chris Dickinson
Who doesn’t love themselves a hoss fight?
Starting with some grappling, it’s not long before Dickinson and Manders swung for the fences. A snapmare and a PK has Manders rolling onto the apron for respite, but Dickinson followed him outside, only to get clotheslined as he geed up for a running something or other on the floor. Back in the ring, a chinlock forces Dickinson into the ropes, before a slam left Dickinson down as Manders climbed the ropes for an elbow drop… that misses.
Dickinson’s suplex resets things as Manders gets caught in a STF. The ropes save Manders, who tries to fight back, only to have his knee dropkicked away before he caught Dickinson with an Oklahoma Stampede out of nowhere for a near-fall. The pair trade chops as they fight back on their knees, but Manders’ attempt to edge forward with lariat only gets him a near-fall as Dickinson popped back with a death valley driver, before a STF ended a goddamn sprint of a hoss fight. Exactly what I was wanting to see here – even if I’d not have minded a few more moments! ***¾
Dickinson cuts a promo after the match, but gets interrupted by an Alec Price who seemingly had a death wish. Price brags about beating Dickinson at Borscht at the Beach, then revealed that he’ll be facing Josh Alexander next week, before introducing Becca… except she came through the crowd and low blow’d Dickinson as Price hit the ring and put the boots to Dickinson. Becca and Price tagged themselves the “Prize City Hooligans,” who are here to save us from Beyond Wrestling…
Next week: Willow Nightingale vs. Lady Frost… Waves & Curls vs. Mane Event in the Discovery Gauntlet… Savage Gentleman vs. Chris Dicksinson… Delmi Exo vs. Megan Bayne… Josh Alexander vs. Alec Price.
We’ve got some more announcements as Denver Colorado (the man not the place) talks about the Wrestival three-day weekend over New Year’s… it’ll include Beyond, WWR+, Limitless Wrestling and H2O Wrestling.
Daniel Garcia vs. Alex Shelley
This was night two of Garcia’s mad weekend – one that included CM Punk, Davey Richards and Minoru Suzuki. A vast difference from the run that could have happened had Dante Rios been a thing…
Shelley’s Beyond debut was also a bit of a warm-up for his shot at Wheeler Yuta’s IWTV title. Speaking of, Yuta’s watching from the aisle, and we’ve got a pretty hot Worcester crowd for this. It feels special. Garcia worked an armbar, but followed Shelley through onto the apron as we had a rope break… with the awkwardness being broken up as Shelley gave Garcia a kiss on the forehead. Disarming. Garcia returned the peck, as we then moved to shoulder tackles, with the veteran Shelley then… spanking Garcia as he seemingly looked to prove a point to his junior.
A low dropkick from Garcia stops Shelley in his tracks, but not for long as a crossbody started a control period, where Garcia was taken into the buckles. An attempted leapfrog’s caught by Shelley, who rolled Garcia into a pendulum hold, swinging Garcia briefly… but that just seemed to irk Garcia, who fought back with a chop before he dropped an elbow onto Shelly’s inner thigh… and followed up with a chop block. The knee’s aggravated some more as Garcia wrapped Shelley’s legs around the post, before Dragon screws in the ring led to a two-count. The obvious plan of attack is now obvious… even if Shelley was able to hotshot Garcia in the ropes, because Garcia catches him seconds later with a knee-and-ankle lock. Shelley’s saved by the ropes, but Garcia stays on that left leg, only for shelley to find a way out as he dualled Garcia with leglocks.
Garcia’s heel hook forced Shelley back to the ropes for a break, before he hooked Shelley’s leg in the rope for some chops. A knee strike’s blocked by Shelley, who comes in with one of his own, before he span out of a Dragon screw and hit a superkick in return. Shelley’s attempt at a Saito suplex is elbowed out of, but he’s able to land an enziguiri and a superkick to buy him some more time. Shelley baited Garcia in for an Eye of the Hurricane, crucifixing him seconds later before a Border City Stretch ended in the ropes. Garcia looked weakened here, clinging onto the ropes for dear life, before he surprised Shelley with a Yakuza kick. The back-and-forth leads to a rear naked choke from Shelley, before an O’Connor roll took Garcia back in with an ankle lock, with Shelley teasing a submission… but again, the ropes saved the day for Shelley. The pair trade elbow strikes, but Garcia kicked the knee, then came in with a Shining Wizard en route to a piledriver that stuffed Shelley for a near-fall.
From the kick-out, it’s right to a Death Shooter, with Shelley in completely the wrong position to get a rope break… but somehow he slips out for another Border City Stretch. Garcia breaks it, but runs into an overhead belly-to-belly, before the Shell Shock and a Border City Stretch forced the stoppage. Absolutely fantastic – Garcia’s the obvious rising star, but Shelley’s got enough credit (and plenty left in the tank) that this could have gone either way and been a positive to both men… but with Shelley’s IWTV shot 24 hours later, this was undoubtedly the better result. ****¼
The show ends with Shelley and Yuta having a staredown over the IWTV title…
Beyond’s Uncharted Territory is a much different change of pace from almost everything else on the indies – its weekly format allowing for stories to be built up at a faster pace, while the variety of face coming through the place allows for a lot more (ahem) discovery. Not everything on here will be your cup of tea, but it’s a welcome return nonetheless.