Matches from Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory 5/8/19

Chris Dickinson vs. Josh Briggs

ER: This was a really fun Power Plant style match. It's probably the best possible version of Hardcore Holly vs. Test, and that's something I'd want to see the best version of. Dickinson really feels like the indy wrestler with the best chance at taking over Eddie Kingston's mantle. His personality has the potential, his execution is excellent, intensity is strong, and he makes offense look good. Kingston is a legend, but Dickinson certainly has a Kingston ceiling. And even if this is the best he gets, he's a guy that I seek out, and these days I don't have the time to seek out the number of guys I used to so that means something. There's a lot of simple stuff in this that looks good, with Briggs throwing out several nice big boot variations (nice forceful one out of the corner, nice surprisingly fast one during a strike exchange, nice traditional one after an Irish whip) and a couple late 90s big guys slams. Dickinson works this like the great aggressive asskicker he is, hitting hard shoulderblocks (and eating a nice one from Briggs), really hard clotheslines, quick elbows, tough kicks, shoves Briggs violently off the ropes, and beats at his leg. We get a couple really good rope breaks, with Dickinson locking in his cool trailer hitch reverse figure four in a couple really convincing ways, and earlier Briggs scrambling and reaching for the ropes in a Boston crab variation. I try not to use the expression "hard fought" as much as others use it, as it feels like a too frequent touchstone, but this was a hard fought match that didn't skimp on the basics, and felt like fun throwback to/improvement on a match style from a popular era.

Chase Burnett/Jefferson Saint/Zane Silver vs. Eric Corvis/Johnny Cockstrong/Nicholas Kaye

ER: Phil wrote this one up already and was having a fun time on the phone with me talking about how Beyond has somehow been around long enough to now have its own old man Baba tags. And I'm someone who really unironically loves old man Baba tags. So we get a fun 6 man with older versions of guys I've liked, many of whom had been completely retired several years from wrestling before this match. They almost all have real life/age appropriate bodies and paleness and hairlines, and it's great! Kaye is in probably the best current ring shape, but everyone has some stuff that looks good. Burnett hit a cool sunset flip bomb off the top and then smacked Corvis hard with a moonsault kneedrop to the back of the head, Kaye had some nasty shots including a really mean apron splash to Burnett, Silver hit this gross senton that landed on the back of the neck to a seated opponent, everybody hit relatively hard and the comedy was kept surprisingly low. As much as I love old men Kings Road matches, guys aren't typically getting roughed up and taking nasty bumps in them. I fully expected this to be a "Jefferson Saint is Eigen, Kaye is Momota, Corvis is Mighty Inoue, Burnett is Rusher", etc. I would have totally understood and honestly even expected these guys to work a jovial match with mostly comedy and maybe a few big moments. Instead everyone took the time to show that they didn't forget what made them entertaining and really killed themselves in the best way possible.

Jordynne Grace vs. Orange Cassidy

ER: This was recommended to me - as someone who isn't a real big Orange Cassidy fan - as a match where someone turns his comedy on him and makes him pay. The reason I don't seek out Cassidy matches are that I really don't enjoy comedy wrestlers whose comedy comes entirely at the expense of the match and their opponent. The best in-ring comedians (think Buddy Rose or John Tatum) were great at making themselves the butt of the joke while still being effective and dangerous wrestlers. Cassidy's brand of comedy is completely selfish and relies on his opponent to essentially stand still and look like a doof while he works through all his bits. An in ring comedian who can work in comedy while not damaging the structural integrity of a match is a special thing, but he's a guy who writes 100% of the jokes for himself while his opponents have to act like a perplexed high school principal whose car got filled with inflated balloons by those damn seniors AGAIN. So I'm all for somebody making him eat his own jokes, which does happen here...occasionally. Overall the match still had way too much of him working his routine and bits, which may not have been bad if his wrestling looked good once it got to that point. But a lot of it doesn't. Cassidy has a few "missed shots" that wouldn't have come close to landing, a back elbow that soars two feet over Grace's head, a missed lariat thrown from an overhand arm slot, as if he was throwing out a first pitch, and hit a tope so soft that the announce crew had to drop the dreaded "well I don't think he got all of that one, but...". He feels like a guy who started focusing a ton on his comedy because he knew his wrestling looked bad. And I appreciate that hustle! Recognizing strengths and working towards those is a goal we should all strive for, so I fully get it. I wanted Grace to eat his lunch a bit more, and wanted him to actually show ass for once. If you're dishing shots to a guy with his hands in his pockets, you should be stiffing the hell out of him for making you look like a clown, and he should eventually be selling that he fucked up by keeping his hands in those pockets for too long. Neither happened. We get a comedy spot with him bodyslamming some white guy with dreads, who later slams Cassidy onto Grace. I couldn't imagine voluntarily let a scuzzy white dreads guy grip my taint for a comedy spot, although I did willingly let a white security guy with dreads did check my body for drug paraphernalia before entering an Umphrey's McGee, so maybe we're not all that different after all. When somebody actually forces Cassidy into having their match instead of going all in on his match, I might be interested. Until then I'll be just skipping right past his matches with my hands in my pockets