Review: Beyond Wrestling Presents 'Shangri La Magistral'

byThatRoseTattoo •
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Beyond Wrestling Presents Shangri La Magistral

Live from an idyllic lakeside (undisclosed) location

September 20, 2020

Available on IWTV

by Tiffany R. Merryhill


“This show is making me miss the East coast,” I lamented via Twitter as I watched the double main event of Beyond’s Shangri La Magistral unfold on the IWTV replay. Was it really just a month ago that I was on the Garden Pier in Atlantic City for Wear Sunscreen? Damn, what a summer...and what a grand manner for DC and the gang to close out the summer. This past Sunday’s show, an event closed to the public, was reminiscent of the early Beyond classic matches I’d gone back and watched late last year after Americanrana. I was eager to see as much of the promotion’s origins as I could back then, and we got a feel for that old energy on Sunday with Magistral. This one in particular went back to basics in the best way.


No fans, all talent was the order of the day on Sunday afternoon. Beyond managed to abide by the stringent standards of social distanced events while at the same time revisiting the vibe of the early shows where the only audience around was the wrestlers standing around the ring. They pulled it off well, too. The show flies by fast with just 7 matches on the card, and by the time the absolute bangers in the double main event have ended you feel as if you’ve gotten far more than your money’s worth for the price of a monthly IWTV subscription.


On commentary: Denver Colorado

The joy of the man himself is downright infectious. Sunday was a good day for DC (as no one was throwing him into water on that occasion, unlike in July at GCW Backyard) and his enjoyably spirited commentary throughout the show only served to remind viewers that these matches put together for this card were something memorable. Good on DC for commandeering the commentary table on his own and doing a fine job of calling each match. 


Match 1: VSK vs. Jay Freddie

They gave the opener to Freddie and VSK and damn did they tear it up. For nearly fifteen minutes these two went back and forth with very little down time; I’m impressed with the conditioning of both guys. I’m also loving Jay Freddie’s post-quarantine badass look - this is a man who’s ready to come back to the Beyond ring on a full time basis. Not taking away from VSK at all here either, because the guy looked great in the ring going up against someone so clearly ready for a return. Freddie got the win in a strong opening match for the show.


Match 2: To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney) vs. Mike Verna & Rex Lawless

Only an exceptional tag match could follow up the intensity of the singles match that started this show. Cheech & Colin are one of my favorite tag teams on the overall indy scene these days no matter whether you’re talking East coast or midwest. I got into their work last year and my opinion of them has gradually increased each time I see them. With that said, I do enjoy the hell out of watching Verna & Lawless show off their amazing strength in the ring. Out of the three tag team matches on the card this one was the shortest (ending just under ten minutes) but definitely left its mark on the show with Verna & Lawless coming through with the victory.


Match 3: Richard Holliday vs. Bullet Joe

Holliday reeeallly didn’t think this one was going to go that quickly, did he? I mean, we’ve seen Bullet Joe in the Discovery Gauntlet on Uncharted Territory, and he wasn’t exactly the easiest guy to put away for the three count. We got that same style from Bullet Joe in this match against the Most Marketable one, too - no matter what he did, Holliday could not keep Joe down. Not only could he keep the guy down, but he almost couldn’t keep up with Bullet Joe’s hardy offense that turned the action in his favor on occasion. Not an easy win for Holliday, but a win nonetheless. 


Match 4: Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers) vs. The REP (Dave McCall & Nate Carter)

If you watched my Turnbuckle Bandwagon preview of Shangri La Magistral with Mat Douglas last Friday, you’ll know that this was the match I was waiting to see! It’s one thing to say that I’m a fan of both these teams, but if you know me then you know I’m a staunch supporter of Milk Chocolate...and that means no matter what! This tag match had me riveted to the action. Nate & Dave were going into this one as the predicted victors; they started out 2020 huge at Beyond’s Please Come Back against Bear Country and are first-rate competitors on the East coast or any scene. Knowing this, Milk Chocolate didn’t hesitate to pull out all of the stops. 



Yes, they may have cheated to win (okay, they actually did cheat)...but look at it from Brandon and Randy’s perspective! Nate & Dave got their big Beyond earlier this year, why not make some room for Milk Chocolate? Agree or disagree, we can all agree that by the end of the show not only did The REP get some retribution but they also made plenty of room for Brandon and Randy...it just wasn’t where they wanted, exactly…



Match 5: Max Caster vs. Robo The Punjabi Lion

Respect to Caster for coming in clutch and filling in for Aaron Rourke, and I’ll give Caster a little bit extra respect for coming in last minute against Robo, of all people. That’s not a match I’d agree to on the spot, Robo’s a badass man. Caster didn’t get to maintain steady offense for long against Robo, who dominated the majority of this one. He hung in there for nearly eight minutes going toe to toe against Robo, but in the end Caster couldn’t overcome that raw power and saw his last minute opportunity end with the three count in Robo’s favor. This one was quick but good for the time it got!


Match 6: The Bird And The Bee (Solo Darling & Willow Nightingale) vs. Nouveau Aesthetic (BLANK & Still Life With Apricots And Pears)

The double main event started with this fun-as-hell tag match; I have to say I love love love seeing BLANK and Still Life make their appearance in matches from beginning to end. Solo & Willow have been looking great in singles action this summer and now back again teaming in the ring they haven’t missed a step. This was the lengthiest tag match of the show, ending at just over fifteen minutes with a victory attained by The Bird and the Bee. I’m so glad to see both of these teams getting the time they deserve in the ring. As the year’s been a tough one for all wrestlers, I’d love to see more attention going forward given to talent who came through CHIKARA’s doors like both teams competing in this match. 2020 didn’t kill wrestling even though it killed a lot of what needed to die, so let’s have more promotions book these teams in the months ahead. I guarantee you we’ll see matches as great as this tag team bout.


Match 7: Matt Makowski vs. Chris Dickinson

Here’s the match we’ll be looking at years down the road when we say “and that was when Matt Makowski made it.” In my opinion, this was the match Makowski needed going into this year’s Collective in Indianapolis. He’s got a lengthy list of achievements thus far in his career, but to be legitimized before entering the Bloodsport ring we had to see Makowski go one on one with the Dirty Daddy. This main event was a beautiful fever dream for power match enthusiasts. At more than one point in this one I actually shouted out loud at my screen in awe of some of the strength on display by both Makowski and Dickinson. And this wasn’t just a match of over fifteen minutes of power plays, either - you had hard body karate going up against jujitsu here and it made for quite a battle. Hell of a victory in the end for Dickinson; he looked fantastic in this match while Makowski amplified his name that much louder just in time for the Collective in two weeks.


Post-Show Thoughts

If any standard could be set for any show going forward, I’d love to see more like Shangri La Magistral. I’d say this show was at the same level as GCW’s Acid Cup 2 back in March; no fans were in attendance and the talent knocked the show out of the park. We’re clearly in a period where quality of safety provided is on the same level with match quality for many fans, so it’s an excellent job for Beyond to walk the walk and lay the path for others to follow in this case. If there’s a worst case scenario where we’ll have to suddenly return to shows closed to the public, I think we’ll be in pretty good hands entertainment-wise thanks to DC’s crew.
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