Beyond Wrestling: Scorned Review

 

I was originally going to post this in the DVD Reviews section/site, but this was an MP4 so here we are! You were probably able to tell by my last Beyond Wrestling review that I was sold on the promotion and you'd be correct because I'm back with the first of two Beyond reviews. It's for two of their most recent shows which took place on the same day as a double header. Here we have SCORNED! The main event is the final battle in a feud that I was introduced to at their previous event, King of Arts, as the former Juicy Product members, JT Dunn & David Starr battle it out. If last month's tag match involving the two that also included Chris Hero and Eddie Kingston was any indication, this should be an awesome match between the friends who turned into rivals. The show opens with a dream encounter so I'm gonna quit babbling and get right into this bad boy!

1) AR Fox vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey
I've been hoping someone would book this match sooner or later. These two were involved in a great three way with Andrew Everett at CZW's Best of the Best tournament in 2014 which made me want to see them go at it again and Beyond Wrestling granted my wish. This was exactly what you would expect and exactly what was advertised - FLIPS AND KICKS.

Bailey & Fox are two of the most entertaining athletes to watch on the Indies today so this was one hell of an opening match. The action was fast & furious and both guys were good in their specific roles as Fox continues to get under the skin of the fans at Fete as he has dubbed himself "The Living Legend" and relies fairly heavily on interference from Roxy in alot of his matches. This was only the first match of the evening and it earned "This is Awesome" chants, that should tell you that these two went out and put on a show. Very fun opener.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) John Silver vs. Orange Cassidy

 ORANGE CASSIDY IS IN DA HOUSE! It was a bittersweet arrival though consider Silver was supposed to face Jimmy Preston who interfered in his match at the last event, but changes had to be made because he was unable to be there due to a family emergency. Cassidy was a nice replacement though because he's.. one of a kind, to say the least.

This match delivered the first comedy of the evening with Cassidy being Cassidy and Silver playing into his games enough to earn the advantage. As you can tell from the GIF above, these two had alot of fun in this match. The fun would soon end though as Ryan Galeone, the man who defeated Silver last month thanks to Jimmy Preston, would interfere just as Silver was close to victory.

Match rating - **1/4

Galeone begins assaulting Silver when ALEX REYNOLDS HITS THE RING FOR THE SAVE! BEAVER BOYS! BEAVER BOYS! This leads perfectly into the next match.

3) Alex Reynolds vs. Ryan Galeone
This one had alot of momentum considering how it began and they played off that to create a solid match. Reynolds has a huge flurry early on with dives and several combination manuevers until GALEONE CUTS HIM OFF WITH A DROP KICK OUT OF NOWHERE! You gotta see this for yourself! He has a great dropkick for a big man.

From this point forward, Galeone began controlling the bout. Reynolds would soon make his comeback though and I thought it was cool that when he did, he went right back to the combo that he was executing before he got dropkicked. It's the little things! Reynolds busts out some big unique manuevers and earns himself the victory.

Match rating - **3/4

4) Gran Akuma vs. Dave Cole vs. Buxx Belmar vs. Fluffy

There's a REAL cast of characters in this match. You've got the serious striking specialist in Akuma, the "psychedelic -" in Dave Cole, the crazy Buxx Belmar, and ...Fluffy. I think he speaks for himself. The variety of personas here made for an intriguing match up to say the least. It's for the Interspecies Wrestling Other Championship so this was exactly what you'd expect.

Belmar & Dave Cole were the highlights of this rather short contest. Belmar hit a sick dive that can be seen above, among other things, and seemed to be a one of a kind character that has improved since the last time I saw him compete. Dave Cole was the hometown hero as he's super popular in the area and rightfully so. His double DOUBLE foot stomp onto Belmar & Fluffy was the best part about this match. Fluffy ends up winning in rather anticlimatic fashion.

Match rating - **

5) Matt Tremont vs. Steve Corino

The hype is real for this dream match. As if I needed anything else to get me stoked for it, the two had a great mic exchange prior to the bout. Corino says he doesn't do hardcore anymore and that what Tremont does is disgusting and beyond anything he ever did in ECW. Corino goes on to say the only reason he knows about Beyond Wrestling is because he saw a clip on Twitter where a girl got smacked and in his words "Now it's time for another!" CORINO SHOVES TREMONT! THIS SHIT IS ON!

The battle spills to the outside after, like, 12 seconds. They brawl around ringside and smash beer cans into each other's foreheads. Things go back into the ring where Corino begins to take control. The action remains there for the rest of the contest which sees a flying headbutt and repeated death valley drivers from Tremont to finally put Corino away. I really enjoyed this contest. Corino looked very good and Tremont more than proved himself (as if he needed to prove himself any further) as someone in the leagues of the King of Old School.

Match rating - ***

6) Kimber Lee vs. Pinkie Sanchez

 KIMBER LEE STORMS THE RING AND TELLS PINKIE TO GET THE FUCK OUT THERE! YES! For those who don't know, Pinkie is the reason Kimber lost her match to Chris Dickinson as he helped his Team Pazuzu stablemate win. That leads us here where Kimber puts Pinkie away in a matter of minutes. Good way to keep Kimber's momentum even if it was shorter than I expected. She looked phenomenal here once again.

7) The Colony vs. Da Hoodz

I was really excited for this. The Colony have been tearing it up in CHIKARA and abroad for years and Da Hoodz have been hot for the past year. Unfortunately, this wasn't the blow away contest I was expecting although it was very enjoyable. To my knowledge, this was the first time these two duos have faced off. They hit some cool stuff and kept me entertained the entire time. As far as the entire match flowing together well, I don't think it did as it felt a bit disjointed at times. Still a fun match none the less and I'd like to see them face off again because the groundwork was there for an awesome match.

Match rating - **3/4

8) Donovan Dijak vs. Jack Connor
Last show, Donovan Dijak attacked a camera man and this show he storms the ring after the previous tag and demands an opponent. Who answer his call? THAT SAME CAMERA MAN WHO IS ACTUALLY ALSO A WRESTLER. The local fans know him well and I soon became a fan as he charged Dijak from the bell and delivered a quick flurry of moves to the self proclaimed ROH Superstar.

Connor goes for a dive and DIJAK CATCHES HIM! He's holding him up, oh no, SUPLEX ONTO THE STAGE!! Things were pretty much clockwork following this. Dijak goes for Feast Your Eyes, CONNER COUNTERS! ROLL UP! 1..2..DIJAK KICKS OUT! Close fall! Dijak goes for Feast Your Eyes once again and nails it for the win. This was another fantastic angle involving Dijak. I LOVE what Beyond is doing with him right now.

To top it all off, the ref reverses the decision after a post match beatdown. This leads Dijak to hit HIM with Feast Your Eyes as well!

9) Moose & Black Baron vs. Worst Case Scenario (Ethan Case & Eli Evans IV)
This is Moose's debut in Beyond and he's already over. The progress he's made in such a short time always blows me away when I think about it. This match was pretty much all about him although he's not the only one who made an impression as Worst Case Scenario left a good impression as well. Many people didn't know much about them prior, including myself who's only seen them compete once, however they did a good job of showcasing themselves.

WCS displayed their tag team abilities by isolating Black Baron which built up well for Moose's hot tag later in the match. Moose comes in and starts cleaning house including a big spear on oth Case & Eli in the midst of a backpack combo move attempt. This is followed up by a power bomb lung blower combo and a stretch muffler which earns Moose & Black Baron the victory. I think this was the best tag match of the night.

Match rating - ***

10) JT Dunn vs. David Starr

I've really loved everything about this rivalry. The two guys are the perfect in their roles because their looks fit their character. With how well Dunn & Starr know each other from their time teaming as Juicy Product, there was virtually no way this could be bad unless something went horribly wrong. Well, nothing went horribly wrong so this was pretty awesome.

The counters were unbelievable. They had counters for each others counters which made for must see viewing because you could never call what was coming next. I could try to name all the crazy stuff they did here, but I'm sure I'd forget something and I don't want to try and do this justice, I'll just say it's something you should see for yourself. My personal favorite exchanges were one on the outside where Dunn went for a sliced bread off a post, Starr reverses and sets him up for a tombstone only to get head scissored into the post. Dunn then nails the sliced bread he was going for in the first place.

The second thing I loved was the final 10 minutes or so of the match where Starr layed a brutal beating on Dunn. Elbows after elbows which were more than just elbows as it was clearly a message to Dunn as that's normally used primarily in his arsenal. This also showed the desperation Starr had to put away JT. The trash talking that followed this attack set up perfectly for the fighting spirit spot that would come which just got the audience more behind The Juice.

It was an epic closing sequence to an overall great match and perfect final chapter to this rivalry. After the match, things get real for a moment as both men share words and Dunn basically tells Starr that if he gets his head out of his ass, he can be a star in the business because he can go. Starr humbles himself and embraces with his former partner.

 Starr leaves the ring and Dunn delivers more quality mic work as he depicts what is coming next in his career. The Pro Wrestling Savior announces that Chris Hero is coming back to Beyond at the next event and DEATH BY ELBOW is going to take the Indies by storm. He then indirectly says they are targeting The Young Bucks by saying they're going to get their hands on the best tag team in the world then posing. That ruled, I'm pumped for that match. And since that's coming up - DEATH BY ELBOW IN PWG, PLEASE!

Match rating - ****

Overall thoughts: The undercard was fun and fullfilling enough despite not having any standout matches aside from the opener. Kimber Lee & Donovan Dijak's respective showcases were highlights with Moose's debut being good also. The main event is something I'd argue is a must see if you've been keeping up with this feud because 1) it's an awesome match and 2) it's the final chapter of the feud and who wouldn't want to see that? Good show from Beyond here. Looking forward to checking out When Satan Rules His World!