Uncharted Territory, Season 2 Episode 4
October 24, 2019
Live from the White Eagle in Worcester, MA
Written by Tiffany Rose
Watch Show Here: https://independentwrestling.tv/player/xaLQO5Nv89
http://iwtv.live code: UNCHARTED for 20 days FREE!
This week on Uncharted Territory we’ve got another impressive card to look forward to seeing! After last week’s Match of the Year candidate between Mercedes Martinez and David Starr we know the rest of this season’s episodes have set a hell of a standard; I’m more than certain Beyond’s got the means and the talent to keep blowing the minds of wrestling fans and have us coming back for more in the weeks to follow. This week we’ve got the much-anticipated rematch between Brandon Thurston and Jay Freddie as Thurston was magnanimous (hah!) enough after defeating Puf to give Freddie another shot. There’s also a new challenger in the Discovery Gauntlet and it just may be Joshua Bishop’s night to knock Tony Deppen off of the top of the mountain. Then we’ve got what’s sure to be a crazy-as-hell battle with Nick Gage stepping into the ring with Maria Manic, and the shot-caller has let us know he’s not one to show any mercy to any man or woman who’s nuts enough to take him on. This is just a small sample of what’s going on this evening out of a loaded 8-match card, if that gives you any idea of what we’re in for tonight!
Tonight’s commentary: Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella
Props to Sidney for bringing the movie references tonight on commentary, I never would have thought I’d see John Silver and Pinkie Sanchez compared to the Creed/Drago fight in Rocky 4. This is the quality you get when you watch Uncharted Territory, friends.
Match 1: Kris Statlander vs VSK (with “Smart” Mark Sterling)
Statlander had her mind set on revenge tonight after being on the receiving end of VSK’s fireball last month at Beyond’s All Hands On Deck, allowing Alex Reynolds to get a win over everybody’s favorite alien. This opening match was hectic from the jump with VSK attacking Kris to start things off. As we all would expect, Sterling would be the interfering factor in this one and he did nothing to prove any of us wrong as he was a constant thorn in Statlander’s side. VSK did his best to stick to the rules, however, as his buddy Mark ran interference. Lots of close calls in this one, and for a while it looked like Statlander would see an unfair defeat again much like in her match with Alex Reynolds. In the end, though, Stat was able to outclass VSK enough to pull off a decisive victory despite Sterling’s ringside tactics and giving the two their comeuppance for their chicanery on the beach. The sweet victory, however, quickly went sour as Statlander was immediately attacked by Alex Reynolds after being declared the victor. Thankfully Chris Dickinson wasn’t standing for any further nonsense as he ran out to clear the ring, leading us to our next match!
Match 2: Chris Dickinson vs Alex Reynolds (with “Smart” Mark Sterling, as usual)
The second match of the night starts right after Dickinson comes in with the save and clears the ring of VSK, Sterling, and Alex Reynolds. Dirty Daddy dominated Reynolds for a good deal in this bout despite Sterling continuing to run interference as he did moments before in the opening match, allowing Reynolds to get some offense in as well. The underhanded tactics would prove useless against the tough-as-nails Filthy Father, though, as Dickinson would claim the victory after dealing out a devastating Pazuzu Bomb to Reynolds and scoring the pinfall. We were treated to the Putrid Papa staying around after his win to do some ring announcing for the next match, though! Dickinson took the mic and proceeded to announce the competitors, one of course being his tag team partner Pinkie Sanchez who would take on John Silver tonight.
Match 3: John Silver vs Pinkie Sanchez
The inspirational speech that Eddie Kingston gave to John Silver weeks ago is really starting to show its effect! As Kingston would say, all Silver needs to do to advance further in his career is to get out of his own way. Lately it seems like Silver’s taken this advice to another level as he’s been getting people out of HIS way with some well-earned victories. This match had some of the hardest kicks I’ve ever seen Silver deliver recently, but it would require Silver at his best to get a win over a man like Pinkie Sanchez. Fortunately for all of us, Silver is reaching his peak now and I think he realizes it. Bringing the battle to El Presidente, Silver showed such a range of emotions in his face with every near-fall in this great match up. Sanchez’s expressions also showed an extent of astonished amazement at the fire in Silver as well, and both men impressed me with their will to outdo one another tonight. In the end, Silver took the victory over Sanchez after a hard-fought encounter, and I’m sure Eddie Kingston’s been watching this positive change in Silver lately with a strong sense of pride thanks to his advice.
Match 4: Jay Freddie vs Brandon Thurston
You know, some guys are just meant to be dicks and Brandon Thurston fits in that category like a dick in a lambskin condom. Wasn’t it Thurston who, last week, told us all how magnanimous (HAH!) he was going to be by granting Jay Freddie another chance in the ring regardless of Puf’s defeat to determine the rematch? Well, tonight we found out Thurston’s motivation was to troll the hell out of his opponent and all of us. After making his way to the ring, Thurston delivered an incapacitating low blow to Freddie, allowing him to take the unsatisfying DQ victory and leaving us all with no clear idea of who the better competitor is. At this point I’m willing to declare Freddie the real man in this feud as he’s the only one willing to actually fight. This. Is. Not. Over.
Match 5: Tony Deppen vs Joshua Bishop (Discovery Gauntlet match)
Let’s be real, now it’s the Deppen Gauntlet. Ever since the first episode of Season 2 we’ve had Tony Deppen somehow power his way through the up and comers on the indie wrestling scene until he reached the 4-0 point with this episode. Last week we had Deppen defeating AJ Gray, the man I genuinely thought would be the one to advance in the Gauntlet and knock the reigning winner off his pedestal. This week we had Joshua Bishop, who has one hell of a size advantage over most guys he’d step in the ring with let alone Deppen. Surely this would be the guy to take Tony out, right? It sure seemed that way during this match as Bishop was absolutely no slouch against Deppen at all. However, being the veteran of the two, Deppen was not outmatched nor outclassed here and he proved it by scoring his fifth consecutive victory in the Discovery Gauntlet wins. That’s right, he’s 4-0 now. He can’t keep getting away with it!...can he? What’s intriguing is that no one yet knows who will face Deppen in next week’s encounter. Oh, now this is going to be one to look forward to! So far there hasn’t been one unworthy opponent; Deppen’s just proved himself to be the finesse against everyone he’s defeated. Next week we’re bound to see THE ONE who can take him out for sure...right?
Match 6: Josh Briggs vs Matthew Justice
Honestly, this could have been a Mortal Kombat (1994 version) mirror match in my opinion. Both these guys are big, long haired, and crazy as hell when it comes to getting in the ring and going all out literally and figuratively. Once we heard the announcement that this would be a no disqualification match, I knew we were going to see some fuckery and insanity both inside and outside the ring. Plunder was involved early here as the steel chairs became weapons and the action spilled outside of the ring. I was stunned at how both Briggs and Justice could take so much punishment and keep going at each other! All out war was declared here with moments like Briggs taking a DVD through a chair and yet somehow kicking out of the pinfall afterward, then moments later Briggs throwing that hard-ass metal chair right in Justice’s face for payback. Bedlam and lawlessness in this match, I’m telling you. Briggs manages to hit I Hope You Die on Justice to close out the match and the Bitch Destroyer takes the win! This was a hell of a fight I would not mind seeing again somewhere down the road (soon) in Beyond or elsewhere.
Match 7: Violence Is Forever vs. Bear Country vs. Team Tremendous vs. The Butcher and the Blade (Fatal Four-Way Tag Team match)
This one really could break the ring again! (Bear Country will never live that down, we won’t let them). Crocket and Bakabella remind us here that Violence Is Forever hasn’t been in a Beyond ring since they lost to Bear Country at the Secret Show, so this could actually count as a revenge match in addition to being one hell of a banger. Every man simply just went everywhere possible in this one and the chaos quickly ensued with one of the highlights being Dominic Garrini of VIF doing an Asai moonsault barefoot! This fatal four way turned out to be a wild-ass encounter with big men doing huge spots. At one point we saw Andy Williams, Bill Carr, and Bear Beefcake in the ring striking at each other and slamming to the mat like huge sides of beef. There were more than a few close calls as well, notably Garrini at one point almost getting the win by submission on Bear Beefcake before the hold was broken as his own tag partner was unceremoniously dropped on top of him. The match ends with Bear Country hitting the Elevator Drop for what seemed like a sure victory until Team Tremendous shockingly stole the pin and win after the Bears hit their finisher. Another stolen victory by Team Tremendous? I’m sure that neither the Bears nor the Butcher and the Blade would let this stand for long without looking for payback, and hopefully we’ll soon see Violence Is Forever on Uncharted Territory again as well.
Match 8: Nick Gage vs. Maria Manic (Nick Gage Open Challenge match)
We’ve gotten used to having Nick Gage’s open challenge opponents as a surprise so far this season, but there was no guesswork to be done in tonight’s battle! Maria Manic stepped up to the challenge (and we should note that her lapsed ROH contract could possibly be her motivation/reason to fight Gage anyway) and Gage accepted with zero hesitation. The King of the Deathmatches has made it well known that he’ll take on anyone who thinks they’re badass enough to step in the ring with them regardless of gender or mental stability. Maaaaan, did this main event fly off the rails and right into crazy town! Maria Manic came to the ring with a crazed look in her eyes and what everyone thought was a for-sure death wish, but this strong-ass woman was here to FIGHT, make no mistake about it. She was so fierce and intense that the main event started out with Gage going for the door!...the one that’s under the ring, that is. As stated on commentary by Sidney Bakabella: “There’s probably a whole Home Depot under there,” which I’m pretty sure to some extent may be true. Manic was unfazed at the ring filling up with plunder, though - in fact she may be as intimidating as Nick Gage himself. We get brutal within the first few moments of this main event as Gage sends Manic through a door via a Death Valley Driver and doesn’t even go for the cover; keep in mind this is only how the fight begins! We then see the shot-caller get intensely brutal on Manic by carving her forehead with a piece of the busted door and then producing a damn cheese grater, using it to shocking effect on her forehead (note that this match is not one for the squeamish; it was even announced prior to the main event that fans were advised to stay back from the ring), and then out came the chairs, naturally. Manic goes wild eyed and Gage goes shark eyed and the crowd had to be wondering if these two really were planning on murdering each other. Maria Manic demonstrated she’s just as strong as she is crazy, at points in the match lifting a bloodied Gage off his feet and onto her back and sending him crashing to the mat as well as also crashing through two metal chairs set up in the middle of the ring. She brought the fight, but Gage would be the one to win the battle after pile driving Manic in the center of the ring and scoring the pin and win. INSANE match, this one was, and definitely NOT for the faint of heart!
Episode 4 concludes with Nick Gage letting the audience know that he’s done hearing about wrestlers who are going on to do “cool things” and using indie stronghold names like his as something to step on as they make their way up to the big money. Gage then calls out Shotzi Blackheart, who has recently signed on with NXT. Gage plans to make an example out of Blackheart and I honestly can’t wait! This match has been signed for next week's Halloween edition of Uncharted Territory.
Post-Show Thoughts
It’s noteworthy to mention how we’ve seen main event ‘bookends’ between last week (Starr vs. Martinez) and this week (Gage vs. Manic) on Uncharted Territory - both intergender matches and both worth your time and attention, but so differently executed in style. This is another instance of how truly innovative Beyond can be, even when it comes to something already as diverse as an intergender match. Granted, it may not be everyone’s preference to see such matches, but for those of us who enjoy every aspect of the art of pro wrestling it’s a rewarding opportunity to see something you assuredly don’t see very often on the mainstream shows. Many thanks again to Beyond for an amazing season of wrestling thus far!