Review: Uncharted Territory Season 1, Episode 9

byThatRoseTattoo •
0

Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 9
Original Air Date: May 29, 2019 (Re-aired May 9, 2020)
Episode Venue: Electric Haze in Worcester, MA
Streaming on IWTV.live
By the time the later episodes of Season 1 air, you get the feeling that Beyond Wrestling has got a pretty good handle on the TV format. There aren’t lengthy promo or interview segments. There’s a stacked card of matches but little downtime for unnecessary filler in between, which is good because the quality of the match isn’t diminished by cutting time from it. With that said it’s easy to see how a televised wrestling show can go for three hours when you’ve got a team teeming with talent like this. Credit goes to Beyond for being able to cut through the overabundance enough to keep things streamlined with enough time to go a little over two hours if the show gets off the chain (which happens!).
On Commentary: Paul Crockett, Josh Briggs, Richard Holliday
Briggs is back on commentary this episode and later for the main event Richard Holliday makes a return to provide us all with the “ultimate auditorial consumer experience”. The whole situation really seems like Crockett’s patience is being tested for its biggest challenge yet…and yes, this is an allusion to the legendary Crockett/Bakabella commentary pairing that’s soon to come.
Match 1: Jay Freddie vs. Nick Gage
The King makes his second Uncharted Territory appearance in the opening bout, and again he’s showing off his in-ring expertise as opposed to his deathmatch artistry. Jay Freddie is a great opponent to test your finesse; he gave Gage a fair run for the money in this match. In the end Gage takes the victory after a chokebreaker and we’re off and running to a fine start for Episode 9.


Match 2: Thomas Santell vs. DL Hurst (Discovery Gauntlet match)
Prior to this match we had a nice face-to-face moment with Thomas Santell and Nick Gage. Upon first glance you’d think this was just a one off between two completely opposite styles, but those of us who know, well, we know!


DL Hurst made his debut in the closest Discovery Gauntlet match we’ve seen all season. This guy really does come across as the hungriest of all the competitors so far, as evidenced by his pre-match interview. Santell has been on an incredibly hot streak in the Gauntlet, so it would have made perfect sense to me that the trail of fire would halt right here even though I’ve been riding right along happily with the Ovaltine Dream. Honestly, I really did think at several points during this one that Hurst could have gotten away with a quick pinfall. Santell, however, was unstoppable. He got yet another consecutive victory, again this time via submission, but what an amazing effort put forth here by Hurst!
Santell’s victory speech this week was cut short by Kenn Doane, making his second Uncharted Territory appearance after making himself unwelcome in the crowd on Episode 8. Doane was out for some action this time, though, going after Santell right after his win. Cam(eron) Zagami was there to interview Santell and quickly tried to intervene, leading to a punch in the face from Doane for his troubles. Again, this is one of those moments where I’d be compelled to say ‘poor Cam’, but I know where this story is going, and it’s gonna get good.


Match 3: Allie Kat vs. Davienne (w/Skylar)
Davienne and Skylar formed a pretty formidable alliance in this episode. Skylar accompanied Davienne to the ring, and it already seemed as if the cards were stacked against Allie Kat on her debut. One thing I’ve learned, though, is that you don’t count out Allie Kat - especially when it looks like the odds aren’t in her favor. This was her first time on the show and it was her time to shine. Davienne certainly didn’t need any extra help from Skylar, but when Allie Kat tilted the balance of power her way we definitely saw a friend give a friend in need an unfair helping hand. This is when Solo Darling made her way to the ring to even the score, throwing Davienne and Skylar off their game and allowing Allie Kat to capitalize and score her first Uncharted Territory win.


Match 4: To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech and Colin Delaney) vs. Bear Country (Bear Bronson and Bear Beefcake)
Both teams brought the fire in this week’s tag team match! By now Bear Country has established itself as the most powerful team in Beyond, but there are always going to be teams from everywhere looking for a chance to springboard themselves off of this new platform. Colin Delaney and Cheech make a fantastic team together; they clearly were outsized by the Bears but they had the dexterity and savvy to give them a good enough fight and impress on their show debut. Bear Country won the match with the Elevator Drop and so continues their quite enjoyable dominance.


Match 5: Dorian Graves vs. VSK
There’s been a lot of team turmoil in Beyond lately, and this match is the culmination of recent drama that came to a climax at the Lethal Lottery. Graves and VSK, who had been previously teaming in Beyond as Massage Force, had split apart. Now they stood face to face in their respective in-ring debuts on Uncharted Territory, and the partnership was cold dead. Sometimes it’s the ones who team with each other who make great opponents against each other. This applies here, because you could feel these guys were not just out to win but to humiliate. VSK was the one who got that pleasure in the end, as he quickly got the three-count pinfall on Graves after ripping off his mask(!). Thankfully Graves’s identity stayed concealed, but VSK made his point that all ties were severed.


Match 6: Anthony Greene vs. Chuck O’Neil
Praise to Anthony Greene for stepping up to the huge challenge of taking on Chuck O’Neil. Chuck’s been looking for competition, and the Retrosexual came through with full determination. After sending the Platinum Hunnies away from ringside, AG took the initiative at the beginning by immediately dropkicking O’Neil before any ring introductions could take place. It takes a lot more than that to throw Chuck completely off his well-trained game, though, and O’Neil didn’t take long to start controlling the match. Greene did find his way back into the match at certain points, getting good defense in on Chuck, but ultimately Chuck’s machine-like skill was too much for AG and O’Neill took the victory. 


Not only did he take the victory, but he wanted to get some of Greene’s dignity too as he continued to attack him after the match. This was likely purposeful, as Chuck knew Josh Briggs was not far away at the commentary station and would naturally come in for the save and assist his friend, which he did with quickness. Now the stage has been set for Briggs to take on O’Neil, but the real question is if Briggs is ready to take on O’Neil.
Match 7: Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Dickinson
Beyond has sent every badass in the indies up against the Dirty Daddy and he keeps taking on whoever they send up. It’s awesome, throughout the course of this season we’ve been watching Dickinson prove his worth and prove his place as the face of Beyond Wrestling by wrestling week in and week out against the toughest they can find. Episode 9 has the Filthy Father taking on Filthy Tom Lawlor (another show debut as well). The crowd was naturally behind Dickinson all the way, but by the end of this banger main event there was equal love for both competitors. Absolutely a must-see match and one of the best of season 1 so far; Dickinson got the win after going to all-out war with Lawlor. The Electric Haze crowd was so impressed that they demanded Lawlor’s return for Episode 10, to which he agreed. You can never get enough Filthy Tom.


Post-Show Thoughts
The storylines are building well in Season 1, and it seems like they’re developing almost too well for a growing independent promotion like Beyond. I think this speaks to the level of inventiveness that goes into producing these shows. You’ll see it in a lot of my Season 2 reviews as well, it’s fascinating to watch Beyond produce weekly episodes that are RAW or Smackdown quality while still maintaining their stature as a platform for talent to launch themselves.
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