Premiere: Beyond Championship Wrestling
March 1, 2020
Live from Melrose Memorial Hall in Melrose, MA
Available on FITE.tv
As highly anticipated as this premiere of Beyond Championship Wrestling was, no one quite knew what to expect. The promotion for the show promised big changes and a huge divergence from the Beyond Wrestling we all know and love. Name changes? No intergender matches? A moratorium on deathmatch violence? This couldn’t be! What was to become of the Beyond Wrestling that made me fall in love with wrestling all over again in the first place? Would we ever see Uncharted Territory again as we once knew it? How could they redevelop something so close to perfection, anyway? Why, oh why would Beyond ever -gasp- sell out to corporate greed?
I have to admit, they had us in the first half...
On commentary: Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella
At least the voices of Beyond would remain the same while everything around us seemed to be changing. Hearing Crockett and Bakabella back at the commentary table after the conclusion of Uncharted Territory Season 2 and going a little over a month without a Beyond event was like welcoming back old familiar friends. You know, friends that bicker and banter with one another but somehow manage to radiate the best of chemistry with their bandying. You can’t help but love these two.
Appointed BCW referees: Kevin Quinn (yay) and Jake Clemons (boo)
Jake Clemons, indeed! Not only do we have a different ref joining the ranks, but it happens to be a renowned fast-counter who clearly shows bias. Just ask Seth Rollins about that. Actually, don’t ask Rollins about that. You wouldn’t get the truth and he probably wouldn't talk to any of us anyway. Still, though, a dirty ref involved in the matches? Surely this wouldn’t be the direction Beyond Championship Wrestling would take, right?
BCW Announcer: Rich Palladino
Rich got to keep his name and it wasn’t changed to something weird and corporate-friendly like Richard Parks. That’s just going too damn far.
The show opened with a contract signing between Denver Colorado and Vin Gerard, which would make their ‘Winner Takes Control of the Company’ match official. Understandably, D.C. didn’t want to take things to this level with his old friend Gerry and made it known. As a token of friendship, D.C. even offered Gerard the golden YouTube Play Button that Beyond Wrestling received as an award for reaching over a million subscribers. All of this seemingly meant nothing to Vin Gerard, however. The touching moment especially meant nothing to Brandon Thurston, who interrupted the moment by viciously attacking D.C. at such an emotionally vulnerable moment. Thankfully Thurston’s nemesis Jay Freddie was there to counterattack on behalf of D.C, but before things could get too hectic we all found out there was a new General Manager running the BCW show. Hornswaggle himself came out to let everyone know he was in charge of BCW, and as a result of the in-ring actions we’d now see Brandon Thurston and Jay Freddie fight in the respective places of Vin Gerard and Denver Colorado. If Thurston won, Gerry would have control of the company, and if Freddie won then D.C. would be in charge. What a way to bring the long-standing Thurston/Freddie feud full circle while still maintaining the drama of the original match stipulation!
Match 1: Mike Verna vs. Robo the Punjabi Lion (BCW Heavyweight Title Tournament Round 1)
This was a strong opening first-round match in the tournament to decide the new BCW Heavyweight champ. Verna brought forth a valiant effort but was defeated by the Punjabi Lion, who would advance in the tournament to face either Anthony Bowens or Richard Holliday. If nothing else, the solid and skillful wrestling matches we all recognize from Uncharted Territory would stay the same in BCW.
Match 2: Anthony Bowens vs. Richard Holliday (BCW Heavyweight Title Tournament Round 2)
The Most Marketable one sure thinks he would be a fine fit as the face of Beyond Championship Wrestling. I was 100% behind Bowens for this one, as I’d rather have anyone but the Airpod God as a representative for Beyond. You simply can’t trust anyone who would still associate themselves with Club Cam (who thankfully weren’t corporate-friendly enough to be at this show, I’m guessing). Ever the cheater though, Holliday got the cheap victory over Bowens and his dirty efforts allowed him to advance to the finals to face off with the Punjabi Lion.
Match 3: JOSH vs. Colin Delaney
In keeping with the big-business fad of consolidating wrestler names to just one (usually pretentious) name, JOSH was out next to take on Colin Delaney. Of course we all recognize the accomplished style of Josh Briggs, but this young upstart JOSH seems to be quite the monster. He put Delaney away in a matter of seconds for the victory. You could seriously have fit this match into a gif, that’s how quick it was. Doesn’t that seem to be the corporate way these days, though?
Match 4: Puf vs. ‘Smart’ Mark Sterling (Bodyslam Challenge)
Mark Sterling channeled the summer of ‘93 in his entrance for this Bodyslam Challenge, invoking the spirit of Lex Luger on the USS Intrepid when he slammed Yokozuna. Mark would not, however, have as much of an advantage here against Puf. In fact, Sterling probably knew this. That’s why it didn’t take long for VSK to come out and give him a hand against the big boy from Buffalo. Don’t forget Puf has a posse, though! Kevin Blackwood made his way out to the ring to even the score and GM Swoggle declared that the match would now be a tag team Bodyslam Challenge. Fair enough! However, just as this newly declared match got underway, Alex Reynolds came out to give Sterling and VSK a hand. Whatever It Takes, indeed. Thankfully Daniel Garcia was also on hand to help out his Buffalo crew, and GM Swoggle now declared the challenge to be a trios Bodyslam Challenge. This was the first time I’d ever seen a 3-on-3 tag match with such a stipulation, and I learned that it probably takes more than one ref to pull it off. The Buffalo Boys had the match won on two separate occasions by slamming members of Whatever It Takes, but the ref was distracted both damn times. Finally all 3 of the Buffalo crew managed to simultaneously lift and slam (with perfect coordination to boot) all 3 of Whatever It Takes for the win. Huge victory for the boys from Buffalo!
Match 5: Chuck O’Neil (w. Larry Legend) vs. The Archaeologists (Artie Facts and Doug Hole)
This 2-on-1 handicap match didn’t last very long at all, but that was to be expected. We had a corporate-built, Lesnar-strong monster version of Chuck O’Neil here (complete with Larry Legend as his own personal Heyman), but the biggest story here was how over Artie Facts and Doug Hole are. This was my first time seeing The Archaeologists but boy howdy are they loved in Melrose, Massachusetts! Chuck gets the quick win over the two newcomers, but I have a strong feeling we’ll be seeing them again in the future.
Match 6: Matthew Justice vs. SLADE (Hardcore Rules)
Well, we expected to see Matthew Justice come out and hit Second Gear on SLADE’s ass, but GM Swoggle let us know prior to the match that Justice was deemed too violent according to corporate standards. However, we did have a nice FCW blast from the past as a replacement. Out came Mack Hetfield (not in Second Gear but in older gear for sure) to appease the new status quo. SLADE was out next, as intimidating as ever but very much bound to less-than-hardcore rules. No chairs, no doors, no cheese graters, no pizza cutters...but a plunger was deemed okay by GM Swoggle. No surprise that Hetfield was able to easily capture the victory here since SLADE was more distracted by what he could and couldn’t use than focusing on what his opponent was up to. BCW just ain’t about that life, that’s all.
Match 7: Retro AG vs. Bull Fit
That’s right, Bull James in BCW! Thanks to Ava Everett we were fortunate enough to witness the return of Bull Fit, complete with protein powder. Continuing their feud after their bitter breakup during Season 2 of Uncharted Territory, Ava and AG seem to be out to antagonize one another forever. The only reason we couldn’t see them go one on one? BCW won’t allow intergender matches (boooo!) We saw Ava enlist the services of Oswald Project back at January’s Please Come Back event and now she came through with bigger backup for the BCW premiere! AG managed to get the dirty win, however, after tossing protein powder into Bull Fit’s eyes and getting a three-count victory. In the meantime, I can’t wait to find out who else Ava’s going to call upon in the near future to assist her in this feud with her unruly ex-boyfriend.
Match 8: Christian Casanova vs. Hackman (Winner Gets the Hard Drive)
After a while of being plagued online by a mysterious individual, Christian Casanova finally got to face off with the encrypted cryptic Hackman - who looks a whole lot like Wheeler Yuta, somehow. Hackman has a delightfully evil laugh, though, so it couldn’t have been Yuta. He never laughs like that. It’s interesting to note that Yuta and Hackman have a very similar skill set, so someone needs to tell Yuta that he’s probably been hacked by this guy too. This match went down all over a curious USB stick, though, and we’ll likely never know what was on the USB stick. Why? That damn crooked ref Jake Clemons ran off with it after counting a double-pin on both Casanova and Hackman. No definitive winner, no USB stick, and a no-good referee. This is BCW, friends!
Match 9: Richard Holliday vs. Robo the Punjabi Lion (BCW Heavyweight Title Tournament Final)
Can the Airpod God go one match on this show without cheating to win? Nope. Even for something as prestigious as a new heavyweight title, the supposed Most Marketable face of BCW had to grab a handful of the Punjabi Lion’s trunks to get the victory. I suppose it’s fitting for a promotion that went sideways so quickly that its initial champ would be just as crooked. In the end, even Holliday wanted nothing to do with the title he’d just won, unceremoniously and disgracefully dropping it in the trash as if he were Madusa with the WWF Women’s championship or Shane Douglas with the NWA title. A lot would be riding on the main event now, as by the end of this match it seemed as if BCW would be in shambles with a champ who disgraced the title just moments after he’d won it. Whoever took control of the company would have plenty more restructuring to do...
Match 10: Jay Freddie (fighting for Denver Colorado) vs. Brandon Thurston (fighting for Vin Gerard) - Winner Takes Control of the Company
Thank God for Jay Freddie, who can honestly be considered the hero of this show! This main event had levels to it - this would be a solid culmination of the long-standing feud between Freddie and Thurston, and the victory would result in either D.C. or Gerry running an entire promotion. After a whole season of crafty ducking and dodging on Thurston’s part, though, Freddie would finally have his day and would not be denied. In what was one of the most satisfying matches Beyond has seen in a while, Freddie at last got his decisive victory over Thurston. As a result, Denver Colorado became the rightful owner of BCW!
Immediately after the victory, D.C. took to the mic to announce some big changes. He quickly fired Hornswoggle as G.M. and declared that Beyond Wrestling, not BCW, would be here to stay. In fact, Beyond Wrestling would have Season 3 of Uncharted Territory returning in April back in good old Worcester! Plus, Beyond Wrestling would feature a show during Mania weekend in Tampa - on that very Sunday night! How ballsy is that to run an indie show concurrent with Vince McMahon’s biggest show of the year? That’s Beyond Wrestling, pal!
If that big news weren’t enough, D.C. made the return of Beyond Wrestling official by declaring a bonus match for this event...and it was a big one.
Bonus Match: Tony Deppen vs. John Silver
Two of the biggest standouts from Season 2 went toe to toe in the bonus round! We saw an excellent match with Deppen and Silver here that had all of the energy we recognize and enjoy from both competitors. If this match was any indication of how Season 3 of Uncharted Territory will go, then I am all for it! How amazing has it been to watch the growth and transformation of both Deppen and Silver over the past 2 seasons of the show? The entire roster surrounded the ring for this match, showing their love and support, and both guys gave their all in this instant classic. Silver went on to get the pinfall victory to end the show, but you’d better believe that this match was one to go back and watch.
Post-Show Thoughts
Beyond is BACK! I loved the whole 'alternate universe' vibe of BCW; it only served to show how much we need Beyond Wrestling in a world of overly corporate wrestling promotions. Everyone on the card put on an excellent show and the energy was awesome all the way from commentary to crowd. As for the bonus main event - the next time we see Silver and Deppen in a Beyond ring, their names will deservedly be up there with the ‘made’ stars such as Chris Dickinson, Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy, David Starr, Joey Janela, and many more. Long live Beyond Wrestling and I'll see you all in April at the Tampa show!