Review: Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 7

byThatRoseTattoo •
0

Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 7
Original Air Date: May 15, 2019 (Re-aired May 7, 2020)
Episode Venue: Electric Haze in Worcester, MA
Streaming on IWTV.live
Only one episode removed from letting us all know he’s done all he needs to do in Beyond, David Starr starts out Episode 7 of Uncharted Territory by getting in the ring and announcing his plans for Americanrana ‘19 later that July. This guy...
Starr has his own justification, though (full disclosure: I’m very attracted to David Starr so I accept his justification by default). Since he wasn’t included in the Lethal Lottery held a little over a week before, of course Mr. Americanrana himself has to be a part of Americanrana. As Starr went on, Josh Briggs was through with hearing him talk and came out to aggressively demand some action - this set up a terrific main event match between Starr and Briggs.
On Commentary: Paul Crockett and Richard Holliday
The Most Marketable one was at the commentary table for Episode 7, and I have to say Holliday’s not bad when working with Crockett. I liked the whole ‘this is a sketchy get rich seminar’ vibe that’s behind everything Holliday says. I don’t even think he had his airpods in during the whole show; I think that’s a sign of respect to Beyond, maybe...
Match 1: The Butcher and the Blade (Pepper Parks and Andy Williams) vs. Bear Country (Bear Bronson and Bear Beefcake)
Holliday wondered if Pepper Parks’ creepy mask was made out of paper mache and I was thinking much stronger (or grotesque) material. I still think P.P.’s mask out-creeps the Bear Country bear trap masks, although your mileage may vary. This opening tag match went wild very quickly and stayed that way until the end with the Bears getting the victory with the Elevator Drop. Bear Country really is a monster team; I’m fascinated with how well Parks can hang with either of these huge guys. Having big Andy Williams around helps, but good for Butcher and the Blade for being enough of a power pairing to bring a good fight to this match.


Match 2: Alex Reynolds vs. Jay Freddie
DC mentioned during the livestream on Twitter that booking Reynolds vs. Freddie and later Silver vs. Thurston was symmetrical in booking. This is true, we’d seen Freddie and Thurston’s feud born from a classic match and hard loss and at the same time we’d also previously seen the Beaver Boys have a falling out after their match with SLITHER. The balance there is nice indeed, and this match with Freddie and Reynolds was just as respectable. Both of these guys are solid competitors and really a bit underrated even if Freddie is over as hell with the Beyond crowd. Freddie gets the submission victory with the Sharpshooter.


Match 3: Chuck O’Neil vs. Rory Gulak
Although I won’t say much about his opponent this episode, I will say that Chuck O’Neil has absolute nuclear heat with the Beyond crowd that never let up throughout seasons 1 or 2. Seriously, they can’t stand the guy and for good reason, all he’s done for the first half of the season is come out after matches, threaten and beat people up, and run his mouth about how great he is. Now that Chuck’s winning actual matches they hate him even more.


Match 4: Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Dickinson
To quote DC on Twitter: “If wrestling were a car accident then Chris Dickinson vs. Eddie Kingston is a 10 car pile up.” True facts, these guys went to war. Kingston/Dickinson is one of those matches where you know it’s bound to be one big-ass, all-out fight no matter how much respect is involved. Both guys went strong here and the only thing I would have liked is for this match to have been given more time. I’m glad to see more stacked cards on the show, but this one to me was a big match for which we could have gladly sacrificed the previous O’Neil match in order to have more time. Dickinson gets the win over Kingston and damn was it a banger. 


Match 5: Thomas Santell vs. Juan de Francisco Coranado (Discovery Gauntlet match)
Santell returned to the Gauntlet for Episode 7 as a conquering hero, and that’s exactly the way he’d stay as he dispatched Coranado via submission. This made Santell’s fourth victory in a row in the Gauntlet and now in the lead with the longest streak.


Match 6: Solo Darling vs. Shazza McKenzie
Shazza McKenzie made her Uncharted Territory debut this episode and she damn well did her best to impress. Granted, she had an awesome opponent in Solo Darling, too. With talent like McKenzie and Mick Moretti and Aussie Open making appearances this season it’s pretty clear that Beyond has an admirable plan to feature talent on a worldwide basis. Solo got the submission win here with the Sharpstinger, but both ladies showed off great skills.


Match 7: John Silver vs. Brandon Thurston
In the bookend match to the Freddie/Reynolds bout earlier, the Meat Man took on Brandon Thurston in an equally enjoyable match. This time, though, Reynolds came to ringside in a show of support of his partner and to dispel any idea that the Beaver Boys would be splitting up any time soon. Silver got the win over Thurston and in a post-match point of drama it looked as if Silver was ready to break off on his own, but we had one last happy moment of solidarity between the Boys...and then the story plays out from there...
Match 8: Josh Briggs vs. David Starr
Episode 7’s main event was an excellent one; Josh Briggs’s second match back in the ring was an even bigger test than his match against Chris Dickinson the week before. Starr held his dominance through a good part of the match, and although Briggs got a good bit of offense in it looked as if he may have made his return to the ring too soon as it was his mistake of missing a pin opportunity at a crucial moment that allowed Starr to capitalize and rally himself back to a victory over Briggs. That makes two losses in a row for Briggs on his return, and Starr closes the show by going on a post-match rant that builds dramatically into...his announcement that he won’t appear at Americanrana. Ultimate trolling indeed by the self-proclaimed ace.


Post-Show Thoughts
This was the first episode of Uncharted Territory to go over the six-match format, pushing it this time to eight matches on the card. The only drawback to this is that the matches get less presentation time even though it’s good to see more people get their chance to shine on the show. I’m still impressed with the quality of the matches, however, despite a little time shaved here and there. This is something that thankfully held up from season 1 to season 2 as the show’s format developed into ‘TV time’ matches; the variety and substance of the show remained a compelling watch.
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