Beyond Wrestling - Bye Bye Beautiful

Mike Verna & Ryan Galeone vs EYFBO (Mike Draztik & Angel Ortiz)

Fun opener here, really liked the heel team of Verna and Galeone. Though the smaller EYFBO hit a pair of dives to kick things off, the power of the heel team soon becomes apparent. Verna hurls an opponent off the top rope onto Galeone’s knee then shows off his power by hitting a slingshot suplex that sees him go around all four sides of the ring. Wasn’t so taken with EYFBO, some of their offence like a slingshot double stunner by Ortiz looked a little corny, but this goes along at a decent pace, albeit a bit too short before the heel team get disqualified thanks to Rex Lawless using a crutch as a weapon on the floor.

Martin Stone vs JT Dunn

This was slightly disappointing, I think maybe I expected a bit more from them. Quite liked the early mat work, with Stone controlling after working over the hand of Dunn. Some nasty digit manipulation and I liked some of the big blows both guys hit. The kicks of Dunn looked nasty and Stone hit some beautiful European uppercuts and a massive clothesline. What I didn’t like was the early pointless strike exchange, and a cutter by Dunn looks a bit sloppy. The end was also pretty poor, featuring a sequence where both guys hit a finisher (Tower of London for Stone, big elbow for Dunn) only for the other guy to kick out at one. Ridiculous shit. Dunn ends up winning with a roll up and a grab of the ropes.

Brandon Watts vs Zenshi

Hadn’t seen Zenshi before, and I’m still not sure how I felt about him. Some of his stuff looked pretty goofy, but he hit some unique high-flying offence that actually worked with the goofiness. Liked his flipping cannonball headbutt from the apron and the way he slipped out of a tornado DDT attempt looked great. Didn’t come off as rehearsed, Zenshi felt more like someone naturally flexible just sliding out of the move. Even a bottom rope 450, which sounds stupid, was really effective thanks to how Zenshi whipped himself into the move. For his part, Watts was reliably good, really liked his STO on the apron and how smoothly he caught a handspring into a backcracker. The end was nice too, as Zenshi tries a 630, misses but tries to roll through, only for Watts to pin him to the mat as he tries, getting the win.

Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb

Some absolutely hard hitting big boys here, and this match doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. The fun part was how well the early matwork was thrown in as Riddle and Dickinson tussle on the ground. Felt like the Steiners/MVC matches where you expected big blows from the off, but you got to see collegiate athletes showing their mat skills first. When we do get to the suplexes, the sheer size of these guys makes everything look impressive. It’s probably lucky for Riddle that his lovely rolling gutwrenches on Jaka get highlighted first, because the ease with which Cobb just hurls Jaka around is mindblowing. Dickinson and Jaka can’t compete with that, so they work some big strikes instead. Dickinson’s legs are like tree trunks, so his big kicks look and sound vicious. Riddle isn’t one to back down from a strike battle, and soon both Riddle and Dickinson have bright red chests. At one point, Riddle hits a series of chops to Dickinson’s chest that just sees a sheen of sweat fly off his body. The end run is pretty hot, but the Doom Patrol win through smarter tag team tactics, as Dickinson takes out Riddle with a bucklebomb, which leaves Cobb isolated for a high/low to give them the win. Really great match.

John Silver vs Zack Gibson

Really nice mix of characters here. Gibson’s pre-match promo sees him getting booed constantly, he’s barely audible. For his part, Silver is a little pocket rocket, and I love that after all Gibson’s big talk, Silver just blasts him at the bell, nearly picking up the win right away. Match was really nicely worked, with Gibson focusing heavily on the left arm of Silver in preparation for the Shankly Gates. The hammerlock slam on the apron was nasty looking. Silver peppers in a few nice comebacks, and something about his compact frame makes his strikes look more forceful. Superkick to a kneeling Gibson looks great, as does a pump kick, but Gibson always has the arm as an opening. Eventually, Silver hits a Batista Bomb (should be ridiculous from a guy so small, but he whips Gibson down with real force) and a knee to the head to win.

Travis Banks vs Tracy Williams

This was good, but not without flaws. For starters, I couldn’t tell if either guy was playing heel or not. Banks seems to be early on, going for a kick when offering a handshake and kicking Williams from a rope break, but after that he wrestles the match pretty straight with the crowd supporting him. Williams, as I’ve felt in previous matches, has strikes that don’t look particularly effective, but are sold as being on a par with Banks’, which look much stiffer. Banks hits a corner cannonball at speed that looks great. Williams applies a crossface that I initially thought looked sloppily loose, but when Banks rolls out to escape it, Williams is there to meet him and hook him into a piledriver, so it works. Banks ends up winning with the Slice of Heaven.

Donovan Dijak vs WALTER

This was a really interesting match, really well worked. This is Dijak’s last match for the promotion before heading to NXT, and he really takes a beating here. Despite his size, Dijak is the underdog throughout as WALTER just keeps on him like a bear. There’s one lovely spot where Dijak breaks a sleeper hold by making the ropes, but before he can turn around WALTER launches him with a big German suplex. Even though you suspect Dijak rarely works from beneath in matches, he’s really good at timing his hope spots, but he doesn’t get too many. The corner combo, as Dijak turns and levels WALTER with a series of shots including a rolling big boot, looks great, but soon his comebacks feel like they’ve got less and less behind them as WALTER wears him down. Dijak flipping out of a powerbomb attempt is super impressive, but he promptly eats a WALTER lariat. Even when Dijak gets to hit Feast Your Eyes, WALTER hits a massive clothesline as he falls to stop any momentum. In the end, Dijak uses his last scrap of energy to power up from a sleeper, hit a second Feast Your Eyes and barely win. Really great bout.

NYWC Trust No One 2017

Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers) vs High Society (Blake Morris & King Mega)

This was a fun little tag match. I’ve enjoyed three of these guys previously, whilst being unconvinced by Mega, and for the most part this was good stuff. Mega still looks awkward taking offence, but he earns bonus points by how nice his falling slam is after catching a Watts crossbody. High Society work heat on Watts, loved the spot where Morris grabs Watts by the trunks and pulls him back into a big diving lariat to the back of the head. Morris does more shit-talking here than I’d seen previously, which was a nice addition to his presentation. Watts pulls out a few little touches here that were really nice, really struggling to escape as Morris held him in place for a Mega splash, and using the turnbuckle to elevate himself into a tornado DDT for the hot tag. A double pump kick by Milk Chocolate on Mega looks pretty weak, but the end of the match is well done, as Morris ducks a rolling elbow attempt by Summers, and he turns into a Mega chokeslam for the win.

Alex Reynolds vs Robbie E

On the other hand, this was a bit disappointing. Just too much clunky comedy which took away from the match. Reynolds does a really goofy sell after getting his head rammed into the buckles, where he keeps ramming his own head into the buckle, stumbles then falls face first. There’s a brief bit of actual Reynolds control that actually works nicely, like him standing on Robbie’s throat whilst doing an arrogant muscle pose. Robbie bits Reynolds’ arm to escape a crossface, before we get more clunking comedy as Robbie keeps rolling away from a Reynolds attempt at a top rope moonsault, whilst Reynolds keeps climbing different turnbuckles like a goof. To add to the terrible nature, when Reynolds does try the move, he half lands on Robbie’s back despite the fact he’s supposed to miss. Reynolds picks up the win with a crossface, where he knees Robbie in the head whilst holding it, but on the whole this wasn’t great.

The Big O vs Maxwell Jacob Friedman

This is for the Big O’s Fusion title. Friedman tries to cheapshot the Big O after claiming he wants out of the match, but it doesn’t go too well as O hits him with a big overhead throw, a pounce and a huge powerslam for the win.

Born & Bred (Jesse Vane & Anthony LaCerra) vs the Benson Brothers vs Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs J-Redd & G.I.T.

Four way match for Born & Bred’s tag titles. This only goes 8 minutes before being ruled a no contest, but this feels like a teaser trailer for 4 or 5 different tag matches you leave the bout wanting to see. J-Redd and G.I.T. feel like the weakest links, but all the other teams make the most of their chances to shine, and there’s some really fun spots in the match. Loved CJ Benson backdropping his partner into Born & Bred, loved Private Party’s manager holding up Brad Benson from the ring apron which allowed Quen to hit a brutal looking double stomp to the floor and CJ takes a huge bump as he dives to the outside, whacking his legs on the metal barricades. Born & Bred soon follow him out with a wicked looking stereo flip dive/top rope crossbody, which soon leads to a double countout. Really fun taster of the tag division.

Willow Nightingale vs Karen Q

Really getting to enjoy Nightingale now, this was the second solid performance I’ve seen from her and though she’s still a bit green in places, she’s obviously improving. This was worked as face vs face, and had a slight exhibition-y feel. Liked the early grappling where they exchange throws whilst still maintaining a lock-up, and when they do up the pace, the offence from both looks good. There’s great timing on a missed Nightingale senton followed by an impressive exploder suplex by Q. Really liked Q’s standing moonsault, really whipping herself over on the move, before Nightingale picks up the win with a vicious looking DVD. Dug this.

Stockade & Joe Gacy vs Aidan Baal & Bam Sullivan

This is for Stockade and Gacy’s Tier 1 tag titles. Stockade seems to be working face here, and looks to be having fun with it. It suits him, impressive for someone who came across as a career heel. The face team are two big, hairy guys and they look really good on offence, moving really well. There’s something quite endearing about two burly looking guys exchanging high fives whilst bulldogging their opponents. Gacy becomes face-in-peril after Sullivan grabs him by the waist as he’s running the ropes, and the heat section is pretty fun. I was particularly impressed by Baal, who doesn’t have a very impressive look, but has a great high takedown on Gacy and sells his comebacks nicely. Bam always struck me as the better Sullivan in the Hounds of Hatred, and I dug his rolling cannonball into the corner. Stockade is on fire as the hot tag, he’s really good at putting his weight behind his moves, so a flying clothesline looks devastating. Loved him hitting a double DVD on Sullivan and an interfering Mouse. Sadly, we get a terrible spot where the heel valet tries a crossbody on Stockade, gets caught and then reverses a powerbomb into a rana. Aside from the unlikely physics of this tiny woman being able to move the massive Stockade, it’s stupid because she’s a heel and shouldn’t be outpowering massive face wrestlers. The valet ends up giving Stockade a low blow for an underwhelming DQ finish, but the meat of this was really good

NYWC April Reign 2017

Devon Moore vs Blake Morris

Just a swift little opener, goes barely 5 minutes. Wasn’t a great Morris performance, he seemed a bit less willing to lay it in than usual. I did like him stopping a Moore suicide dive with a swift elbow to the face. The end looks pretty good too, as Moore dives from the top into a Morris superkick for the win.

Willow Nightingale vs Sumie Sukai

I’ll be honest, I was slightly apprehensive about this match when I realised it was 17 minutes long. After all, I’d not been massively impressed by Nightingale in her match with J-Redd on the last show and, whilst I used to think Sukai was really good, it had been about 11 years since I’d last seen her in action and I wasn’t sure if she’d still be any good. As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. Sukai puts in a terrific performance, attacking Nightingale before the bell and heeling it up from that moment on. Sukai doesn’t give Willow a chance to rest with her heeling, making the most of every referee count and only breaking at 4, then immediately staying on the attack. Sukai is pretty nasty, fish-hooking Willow on a Camel Clutch, then grinding her wrist tape into the eyes. Loved her telling the referee to check for a submission, then using the distraction to bite Willow’s fingers. There is a notable size difference, with Sukai being tiny and Nightingale being well-built, so it’s impressive that Sukai makes Willow feel like an underdog. When Nightingale goes on offence, I like that she utilises her size advantage, putting on a Boston crab that looks like it’s breaking Sukai in half. Her offence is a bit weak in places, but her spinebuster looks great and her cannonball in the corner feels like it’d crush Sukai. The end is a bit weak, as we get a time limit draw, but it comes at a time where neither is really in control. It leaves it feeling pretty unresolved.

Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts/Randy Summers) vs Private Party (Isiah Kassidy/Marq Quen)

Really like the Private Party gimmick, two VIP party boys, who take a pre-match shot and have a large bodyguard. Quen also has enjoyably ludicrous hair, and they’re very convincing in the role, posing cockily over the ropes. The bodyguard provides a distraction to give Private Party control, with Summers the face-in-peril. This is worked solidly to formula, with Milk Chocolate getting a few near tags before Watts tags in. Loved his STO on the apron to Kassidy. Great spot as Summers tries to send Kassidy over the top rope, only for Quen to block him on the apron and backdrop his partner back into the ring for a tornado DDT. Milk Chocolate win with a top rope stomp onto a draping DDT, which looks like it should finish a match.

BLK Jeez vs Rex Lawless

Perfectly decent little midcard match. Liked Jeez’s tactic of working over Lawless’s leg, trying to neutralise the size advantage. Lawless has some soft looking offence for such a big guy, though I did like his slingshot senton and his Finlay roll, so maybe he’s just good at forward flips. Jeez hits a killer looking top rope stomp that should end it, but Lawless hits a Baldo Bomb from nowhere to win.

Born & Bred (Anthony LaCerra & Jessie Vane) vs the Benson Brothers

Enjoyed what I’d seen from both teams previously, so was looking forward to this one. Born & Bred feel like a really good team, really like the double-team offence from both that felt like it flowed naturally. LaCerra hits some great rolling suplexes, they flowed nicely and looked to have real snap to them. They work heat on Brad Benson, and I really liked CJ’s work on the apron, working the crowd and motivating Brad by reminding him this was for the tag titles. CJ is a lot of fun as a hot tag, an energetic brawler. I’ve compared him to a surfer Jim Duggan previously, and I think it holds true. Loved his double chokeslam on Born and Bred. Crappy ending sees Private Party hit splashes on both teams to cause a double DQ, but the meat of this was good.

Bull James vs Scott Norton

Very short bout, quite curiously worked. Not sure if James has turned heel since winning the title, or if this was a one-time thing, but he cheapshotted Norton during a pre-match arm wrestle, then hit a top rope seated splash, before picking up Norton on the two count. Norton is obviously past his prime, but due to his size and demeanour, he still carries himself as a threat, and his offence looks nice and stiff. James also sells the damage of each blow to keep Norton looking good. That said, it’s probably for the best that this is kept short, as James hits a low blow and another top rope splash to win.

NYWC Psycho Circus XV

Joe Gacy vs Alex Reynolds

This is for Gacy’s CZW title. I like both guys, but this wasn’t their best work. For a big guy, there was a lot of needless motion by Gacy, adding superfluous backward rolls into some of his moves at the start. Much more enjoyable was his big dive, where he threw his frame to the outside recklessly. Reynolds wrestles like a proper heel here, refusing the audience request for “one more” chop to dish out an eye poke instead, and nailing a nasty looking kneedrop. His pop-up Codebreaker looked a bit poor however. I also liked the quick DVD that Gacy hit, but by the end this just felt like guys hitting moves on each other. Gacy wins with a handstand cutter and the Rings of Saturn, but both are capable of better.

Anthony LaCerra & Jesse Vane vs Milk Chocolate

LaCerra and Vane are defending their tag titles here. Really enjoyed this match, thought both teams looked excellent. Vane was particularly impressive, guy has a good look and moved really well throughout the match. Both teams shared some fluid team work to start, with quick tags and smooth looking double-teams. LaCerra hits a big flip dive to the floor, which is impressive for a guy so big. He got really good height on it too. Vane eats an STO on the apron by Watts, before Watts nails a huge cannonball from the top rope to the floor. It had been built up by an earlier spot where Watts had been reluctant to go up top, so it got a nice response. The end was pretty effective here, as Milk Chocolate have control of Vane and look to be about to hit a double-team move, but Vane fights back on Randy Summers, and LaCerra rolls up a distracted Watts for the win. Good stuff.

Willow Nightingale vs J-Redd

This is for the Starlet’s title, a women’s belt held by the male J-Redd for some reason. The biggest issue people often have with intergender matches is that they find it unrealistic for the woman to be able to hurt the man. Here, I find it unrealistic that the ratty bag-of-pipe-cleaners J-Redd could cause any damage to the better built Nightingale. She easily wins a test of strength in a fun spot, but this isn’t a good match, with both performers looking tentative and sloppy in places. The best looking move of the match is J-Redd’s partner GIT sweeping out Nightingale’s legs as she runs the ropes, just a nice fluid movement. Thankfully, this is pretty brief, as two other female competitors come out, take out GIT, hit a double Twist of Fate on J-Redd, and Nightingale hits a powerbomb to win.

Bull James, Mouse, Tommy Dreamer & Rex Lawless vs Stockade, King Mega & the Hounds of Hatred

This is a Psycho Circus match, which seems to be an unholy mix of WarGames, Survivor Series and the Cage of Death. There’s two sides of a cage set up on the ring, one laced with barbed wire, and a whole heap of weaponry about. The match starts with two wrestlers, with one member of each team entering alternately, and if you are pinned you get eliminated. To further complicate things, this is for the NYWC title, with the belt going to one of the team captains, Stockade or James, depending on which team survives, and Mikey Whipwreck is guest referee.

On the whole, this was a lot of dumb fun, but there were a few things that weren’t great: in particular, King Mega puts in a rotten performance, barely selling a kendo stick shot from Dreamer, and taking a woeful bump on his elimination from a pedigree by James. He looked awkward and clumsy throughout, and is a detriment to the match. Whipwreck isn’t a great ref, being off the pace when Lawless pins Boo Sullivan for an elimination, and often counting from outside the ring. Also, things do get a bit messy in places, with some wrestlers looking lost.

There are also a lot of positives: this was the best James performance I’ve ever seen. He’s the first man in for his team and goes nearly 40 minutes, hitting some nice offence and taking some huge bumps – getting hiptossed onto a board covered in mousetraps stands out as something that has to have sucked to have taken. Stockade is just a big, nasty monster heel, and again he bumps really well for a guy who is so big. Lawless and Bamm Sullivan also look good, and Dreamer gets a huge pop and looks energised by the response. There are some really nasty looking bumps taken in this bout: aside from Bull getting thrown into mousetraps, we get Lawless blasting Boo with an exploding breeze-block to the head, Lawless getting slammed onto Lego, Stockade getting thrown into a netting made of carpet strips…just a load of bumps that absolutely must have sucked to have been on the receiving end of.

The match boils down to James and Mouse against Stockade. Mouse has been portrayed in the past as a weak guy who really can’t wrestle, so he spends most of the match handcuffed to the ring post after a beating. James frees him later on, but gets turned on with a low blow. A Stockade DDT only gets two, before Mikey takes out Mouse with a big side slam (unbiased ref?). This leads directly to the end, which was suitably match-ending. James placed a wooden board on top of two breeze-blocks, set it alight and spinebustered Stockade on top to gain the 3 count and the title. Despite or or two quibbles, this is a really fun match.

NYWC Going The Distance 2015

The NYWC is the New York Wrestling Connection, a US indy that gave the world the likes of Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins and Trent Baretta, and they've just launched an online streaming service. Seeing as how it worked out as about £2 per month, I decided to sign up and check out what was on offer, and settled upon this show.

Dan Barry vs Jesse Neal

This was a perfectly ok match. Hadn’t seen anything of Neal since his TNA days, and he had some good moments here, nice little heel touches like scraping his boot on Barry’s face and little stomps and kicks. Barry is someone I’ve seen people talk highly about, but he didn’t really shine here. I did like the superplex he hit, especially as both guys really fought over it, but the sloppy flatliner/DDT he hit looked really poor. Barry misses a shooting star press and Neal spears him for the win.

Tony Mamaluke vs Tyler Murphy

Getting older has allowed Mamaluke to fill out some more, he’s not as rake thin as he used to be, and it kind of suits him to be working as a grizzled veteran. Really liked his opening wristlock stuff, and the way Mamaluke cut off Murphy’s first shot at building momentum with a nasty clothesline. Mamaluke also takes a few nutty bumps to help put over Murphy. It was harder to get a read on Murphy, but he looked fine here, really good looking suicide dive. Murphy gets a single leg crab, and Mamaluke does this great sell job, frantically grabbing the ropes then clawing at the ref in an attempt to alleviate the pain. He escapes, but the leg injury causes him to lose his balance on the top rope, and Murphy locks in another crab. Mamaluke sells the shit out of it, and just about hangs on for the time limit draw. Dug this.

The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs The Premiere Gods (Tony Nese & Papadon)

I really enjoyed Papadon last time I watched him, and he was still really fun here. He’s great at playing a loudmouth braggart, yelling at the ref when things go wrong and stooging magnificently when the faces take him down, which is the case here. The Premiere Gods take over on Reynolds after ambushing Silver when all four guys are in the ring, leaving Reynolds isolated. I like the fact that Silver is so beaten down he can’t even get to the apron and, when it looks like he might make it, Papadon hurls Reynolds from the ring, sending him crashing into Silver and the railings, and preventing the tag from being made. Silver looked good when the hot tag was made, with a great looking sitout powerbomb on Nese. All four guys end up in the ring, and things break down a bit, leading to a nice finishing run when Papadon hits a Canadian Destroyer on Reynolds, followed by Nese hitting a Jig-N-Tonic for the win.

Angelo Andrews vs Drew Gulak

This was face vs face, with Gulak spending the majority of the bout in control. According to Cagematch, Andrews is very much a rookie at this point, and Gulak controls him quite easily on the mat. Gulak is always portrayed as dominant, but it never feels like he’s taking advantage of Andrews in the ring, just that he’s better. Andrews gets a few nice spots, loved him catching Gulak’s head as he goes for a second headbutt, and hitting a neckbreaker, but some of his offence looked light. There was a lot of air shown on his atomic drop and knee to the face. Loved Gulak’s wristwork, especially when he contorts Andrews’ wrist in such a way that it’s held down under Gulak’s bodyweight, leaving his hands free to simultaneously wrench at his head. In the end, Gulak locks in a Cattle Mutilation, and quickly transitions to a wristlock for the tap.

Joe Gacy vs JT Kasin

This is for Gacy’s Fusion championship. These are two big lads, though there’s something odd about the way Kasin looks. He doesn’t have the movements of a wrestler, he just looks like the local hard lad who’s been put into the ring for a scrap. Gacy works over the arm of Kasin, amplifying this after Kasin rams his shoulder into the post. Gacy actually looks pretty decent throughout, with his armwork looking great, before he gets the tapout with the Rings of Saturn

Stockade vs David Starr

Stockade is the NYWC champion and this is for his belt. Stockade is a big, big lad, so it’s an odd game plan for Starr to try and take him down with shoulder blocks. From then on though, this is a fun match, and it’s even a bit All Star-ish in places, with simple logical work the order of the day. For example, after Starr chops the ring post, both guys act like they should: Stockade grabs the hand and rams it into the railings, whilst Starr quickly tries to put as much distance as possible between him and the monster. I liked the little touches they put into the match, like Starr yelling with exertion when he breaks free from a chinlock. Stockade misses a big top rope senton, but though Starr fires back, Stockade ends his challenge with a big clothesline for the win. Good match

Matt Tremont, Blake Morris & Rex Lawless vs DJ Hyde, Brandon Watts & Randy Summers

Summers and Watts make up the team of Milk Chocolate, so named because of their mixed ethnicity. This is a street fight, and really is a match of two halves. The first half, where all 6 guys brawl all around the building, inside and out, is hard to follow, with the lighting limited. The second half sees them return to the ring, where things get good. The heels isolate Morris alone in the ring, and methodically beat him up, knocking Tremont and Lawless down when they try to save him. It’s well worked, to the point that Morris grabbing a kendo stick and hitting Watts before getting beaten down is an effective hope spot. The heels are really cocky, and are able to casually set up a table in the corner, which they coat in thumbtacks. At this point, they’ve been threatening the tacks all match, so the crowd has been looking forward to seeing them come into play for a while. They set up Morris for a top rope superplex, but Tremont and Lawless have recovered by now, and their attack leaves Watts perched on the top rope, prone for Morris to powerbomb him onto the non-breaking tack-covered table. Sick spot, and Watts sells the fuck out of it. Morris decides to give him another one, again failing to break the table, which earns the three. The big spot really paid off, and the second half of this was enough to pay off the first half.