Review: Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 8

byThatRoseTattoo •
0

Uncharted Territory, Season 1 Episode 8
Original Air Date: May 22, 2019 (Re-aired May 8, 2020)
Episode Venue: Electric Haze in Worcester, MA
Streaming on IWTV.live
Episode 8 of Uncharted Territory had a lot going on - there was a revolving door of commentary that kept the flow of the show engaging, there was the return of Nick Gage to Beyond Wrestling, and there was one hell of a match to look forward to with Chris Dickinson vs. Erick Stevens, who was also making his return to Beyond as well. This was another more stacked than usual show; the format would stay this way for the rest of the season. Get used to this fast pace if you’re new to the show, you’ll enjoy it!
On Commentary: Paul Crockett, Josh Briggs, Anthony Greene, Richard Holliday
Paul Crockett shared the commentary table with a number of people this episode and I admired the variety. Briggs remains my favorite guest commentator but I begrudgingly give respect to Richard Holliday, too. The Most Marketable one is pretty good at maintaining his unique style on commentary while giving proper attention to matches.
Match 1: Solo Darling vs. Skylar
The first match of this episode set the tone for what would be a wild rest of the show. Skylar made her Beyond Wrestling return with this match against Solo, who continues to have the full support of the Electric Haze crowd. These two tore it up in the opener and went high risk early with close calls and a nasty spill off the top rope. Enjoyable opening match, but confusion reigned in the end when Skylar got the three count pin with her foot on the ropes. Then there was Davienne (who is becoming Solo’s nemesis) appearing at ringside at the finish, possibly shedding light on some collusion against Solo and letting us know her heated situation with Davienne is not yet done.


Match 2: Thomas Santell vs. Jaxon Stone (Discovery Gauntlet Match)
This match gave rise to Thomas Santell’s nickname, the ‘Ovaltine Dream’! There’s a crazy amount of love for Santell from the crowd at this point as he’s come this far in the Discovery Gauntlet. Jaxon Stone proved his worth in this match as a challenger, too. Stone and Santell traded the balance of power much of the time and once it seemed Stone was close to victory Santell would come back with a second win. The Ovaltine Dream got the win via submission, continuing a remarkable Gauntlet streak to the next episode.


Match 3: Nick Gage vs. Josh Briggs
All hail, the King returned to Beyond Wrestling in Episode 8! Nick Gage was immediately welcomed by the Electric Haze crowd who were quick to let him know they were MDK all fuckin’ day. As fired up as Gage was and as ready for a fight as he was, you’d think a lot of guys would think twice before answering a challenge to step into the ring with him. Not Josh Briggs! No, it takes balls to answer a challenge from Gage and Briggs did just that. Granted, Briggs has been taking on much more than the average person could handle upon his return to the ring, but respect to him for stepping up. I enjoyed this match as it was a departure from Gage’s regular style of deathmatches, and this is a good match to refer to anyone who thinks that Gage is solely a deathmatch wrestler. Briggs may have indeed stepped up to too much too soon again; Gage wins the match after hitting a chokebreaker on Briggs and has a successful return to Beyond.


Immediately after the finish of the match, Chuck O’Neil came to the ring again as he’s done in several previous episodes, this time making the decision to attack Briggs at a vulnerable moment. Thankfully for Briggs his friend Anthony Greene was on commentary at the moment and was quick to make the save. From there, AG issued a challenge to O’Neil for the next show.
Match 4: Ophidian vs. The Whisper
Two of Chikara’s finest went head to head in this one; fans will recognize these two as a part of The Crucible stable led by Ophidian himself. Excellent match that featured a lot of skill from both competitors. While it’s pretty well known that Ophidian has years worth of expertise I think The Whisper still remains fairly underrated in comparison. This was a fine match to get to know how both guys operate in the ring, although I would have loved this to have had a little more time added to it. Ophidian wins via submission and would likely have all the Crucible members watch this match and take notes.


Match 5: Milk Chocolate (Randy Summers & Brandon Watts) vs. The Platinum Hunnies (Ava Everett & Angel Sinclair)
I couldn’t be more torn for this match, I tell you. I am a fan of both these teams, and Milk Chocolate could certainly use the win in this match after their loss to Bear Country. However, the Hunnies needed a win too, and the fight they put up against Milk Chocolate here should earn them a lot of respect. We get our first glimpse of the Ava-Taker side of Ava Everett here; don’t forget what she’s like when she goes hard - you’ll see this happen again! The Hunnies take the victory over Milk Chocolate here and I love to see it, but I still have faith in Watts & Summers, no doubt.


Match 6: Erick Stevens vs. Chris Dickinson
What a way to welcome back Erick Stevens to Beyond, right? Put him in a match with the face of the promotion and one of the toughest men on the independent scene! Erick Stevens would be the guy to face up to that kind of challenge, though, and that’s exactly what he did in this match. Dickinson came ready to bang and took control for a good part of the match with solid suplexes and a number of hard-ass chop fests. Stevens didn’t show much sign of rust himself, as he was able to keep up with the Dirty Daddy and shift the power back his way throughout the match. It was an absolute monstrous lariat from Dickinson that finally put Stevens down for good in this match, ending it with an explosive finish.


After the Dickinson/Stevens banger we see yet another new appearance at the Electric Haze; this time it's Kenn Doane coming to raise hell and make a general nuisance of himself. Get used to this piss poor behavior from Doane...he’ll be around a while after this...
Match 7: The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. Bear Country (Bear Beefcake & Bear Bronson)
Tag team main event for Episode 8, and this was a match that proved to me with no doubt at all that John Silver is an absolute beast! Despite any underlying tension that was going on with the Beaver Boys, both Silver and Reynolds individually looked pretty damn capable in holding their own against the much bigger Bears. In fact, though the Bears were the larger of the two teams, it didn’t seem to be too daunting to the Beaver Boys as they used their tag team specialist skill set to level the playing field as much as they could.


Maybe it all would have worked for the Boys if there hadn’t been accidents and mishaps like Silver accidentally striking his own partner mid-match, or purposeful pettiness like Reynolds brushing off a tag opportunity from Silver. Either way, whatever chance the Beaver Boys had to pull out an upset victory over the Bears here was stifled by their own actions, allowing the Bears to end up with the win instead. And that, friends, is the anatomy of a breakup.


Post-Show Thoughts
By the last half of season 1 there are new names coming to the show each week in addition to building on the characters already established, which is a great way to get new eyes on the product. This includes me too, of course; by episode 9 I’d started hearing about Uncharted Territory and finally got a subscription to watch the show by the time episode 12 aired. The show’s hit a point where it’s starting to flourish; even the crowds seem a little bigger each episode. Seeing the promotion thrive like this is pretty inspiring; imagine how the Beyond crew felt last year seeing all of this success play out!
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