Review: Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 15

byThatRoseTattoo •
0


Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 15
Original Air Date: July 10, 2019 (Re-aired May 15, 2020)
Episode Venue: White Eagle in Worcester, MA
Streaming on IWTV.live
The ladies ruled this show and we love to see it! Episode 15 starts with Kris Statlander in the ring soon to be confronted by the Top Dogs with their ‘pup-in-training’ Sierra in tow. Davienne and Skylar take over the opening segment (to LOUD disfavor from the White Eagle audience), but Statlander doesn’t stand their grandstanding too long. She’d need backup, though, if she was going to war - and there’s no better soldier to have your back than Leyla Hirsch. This set the stage for Uncharted Territory’s first all-female main event, The Top Dogs vs. Statlander/Hirsch.


On Commentary: Paul Crockett, Sidney Bakabella
Match 1: DL Hurst vs. Wheeler Yuta
Don’t sleep on DL Hurst. The guy is damn good, and I’m sure he knew that anyone who’s given the opening bout on the show is meant to get out there and not just set the tone for the rest of the episode, but set the highest standard. Very glad to see Yuta as Hurst’s opponent for this opener; these two men had an intense match that could have ended at more than a couple occasions as an upset victory for Hurst. Yuta managed to get Hurst to submit to the Yutagatime for the win, but the audience gave Hurst his due respect as well in the end.


Match 2: Bear Country (Bear Beefcake & Bear Bronson) vs. Jimmy Lloyd & KTB
Finally it’s time to see the bears get wild with the beast from the woods! This hardcore tag match had zero disqualification rules, which would be expected when you have Jimmy f’n Lloyd and KTB coming to the ring with folding chairs and Bear Country setting doors up in the ring. You just knew from the jump this one was going to involve a lot of fuckery, broken doors, and busted up chairs. Absolutely crazy match that actually went at a much faster pace than what I’m used to seeing from Bronson & Beefcake. Bear Country gets the hard-fought win via Elevator Drop in a ring filled with busted lumber and twisted metal.


Match 3: Christian Casanova (w/Cam Zagami) vs. Kobe Durst (Discovery Gauntlet match)
Kobe Durst was not playing one bit, he was in this Gauntlet match to win! Maybe it was because prior to the match he was ridiculed in his interview segment by Cam Zagami, who of course had his place at ringside. Whether Durst was out to show Casanova or Cam exactly who he was, both guys found out for sure. Durst was surely Casanova’s toughest Gauntlet challenge yet. To the credit of Beyond’s Top Talent, though, Casanova seems to be at his best when the pressure’s at its highest. This has to be the reason Casanova was able to rally back from Durst’s domination at several points in the match to eventually get one more Gauntlet win. Awesome match!


Match 4: Solo Darling vs. Alexia Nicole
Beyond brings in the names you need to know. Alexia Nicole is someone I think everyone’s going to know within the next few years. She’s got a dynamite look and is athletic enough to go toe to toe with Solo Darling and have a fantastic show debut. As much as I like Alexia, though, there’s absolutely no stopping Solo in Season 1. Whether it’s tag team action or singles bouts, she enjoyed the hottest of hot streaks at this point. Alexia submits to Solo’s Sharpstinger in the finish, and both ladies looked excellent in this match.


Match 5: Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers) vs. Thomas Santell & Nick Gage
Ok, I’ll say this. I love Santell & Gage, there’s no doubting that. But here’s the thing...I really love Watts & Summers! Yeah, the White Eagle crowd doesn’t seem to find much favor in them, but so what? I know what’s good and Milk Chocolate is GREAT. Watts & Summers would agree, and they took to the mic prior to the match to let everybody know. Maybe it might have been too much for Summers to flat out insult Nick Gage just right before the match...but that speaks to his confidence! What might shock you though, is how well Milk Chocolate held up against Santell & Gage. Watts & Summers started out hot, knowing that their opponents were still not yet stable as a team and hoping to take that advantage. However, Santell & Gage are pros and didn’t take long at all to find their footing. Once they found it, that was it for the match. As much as I love Milk Chocolate, Santell & Gage make a surprisingly cohesive unit, and that’s what allowed them to finally mesh enough to come back for the win.


Match 6: Chuck O'Neil vs. Brad Hollister
Just as this match was getting started and it looked like Big Bacon Brad was that dude that could come the closest to matching Chuck’s killer skills, an unfortunate landing for Hollister outside the ring was what it took to end this match just as it was getting started at only four minutes in. Fast forwarding past episode 15 we learned that Hollister’s injury from the landing would require ACL surgery, but thankfully now that nearly a year has passed we’ll surely see Big Bacon Brad back Beyond once wrestling resumes its normal schedule. I’d think it’d be just that much greater if one of Hollister’s return matches would be against Cold Steel; I want to see where this one would have gone!


Match 7: Josh Briggs vs. Ethan Page
At this point in Season 1 Briggs was focused in the utmost on his upcoming Americanrana match with Johnny Foxwoods, also known as John Hennigan, also known as John Morrison. Before that match would happen, though, Ethan Page would make his Uncharted Territory debut to ‘deliver a message’ to Briggs from Hennigan. After watching this match, I’d say that message was more than delivered on time. This was one of my first times seeing Ethan Page back when I first saw this episode debut last July, and my first impression was that I was looking at two stars in the ring. Briggs sent a strongly worded response to Hennigan’s message by the end of this match by sending All Ego damn near through the match via a vicious chokebomb for the win.


Match 8: Leyla Hirsch & Kris Statlander vs. The Top Dogs (Davienne & Skylar w/Sierra) 
When I see fans singing the highest praises of mainstream women’s wrestlers I really wonder if they’re watching for the next up and coming talent. You know, the future queens of the business who have the skills to knock the reigning talent off the throne. If these fans are watching, then they saw the future in both these teams. I can’t praise Beyond enough for featuring an all-female tag team main event in this episode; 2019 was a great year for women’s wrestling to come to the forefront and receive much-deserved recognition and appreciation. Most already know how awesome Statlander is thanks to her work in AEW, but her partner in this match was the powerhouse of the team. Leyla Hirsch is main event quality muscle, and she and Statlander worked superbly as a team. But what about those Top Dogs? Davienne and Skylar are badasses, and they both gave a hell of a fight to Hirsch/Statlander. I’m hoping AEW and/or NXT laid eyes on this match between last year and now; I would not mind one bit seeing either Davienne or Skylar either tagging or working singles matches in the mainstream and making a bigger name for themselves. Hirsch and Statlander get the win after an amazing tandem finish that involved Hirsch launching herself off the shoulders of the Galaxy’s Greatest Alien and crashing down on Davienne for the pinfall victory.


Post-Show Thoughts
At this point in Season 1 I’m sure you know you’re witnessing something special. The remaining episodes focus on the build to Americanrana, and I would really like a special edition ‘Pop Up Video’ version now that I’ve seen the build from beginning to amazing finish. This effective method of build and storytelling is also something Season 2 will revisit when leading in to Heavy Lies the Crown at the end of 2019.
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