Beyond Wrestling – Of Bosses and Busters

Elyria, OH – September 4th through September 7th

Beyond Wrestling is a wrestling group that caters specifically towards wrestlers. No fans attend their shows, and wrestlers are allowed to wrestle whatever style they want, type of match they want, and don’t have time constraints that usually limit a DVD or television show. All of their stuff is released on YouTube for free. However, they have released a four hour double disc set titled “Of Bosses and Busters” highlighting Beyond’s September 2009 taping. I am here to give Beyond a shot, and give you my thoughts overall.

Commentary is optional and is provided by the AIW commentary crew of Denver Colorado and Matt Wadsworth.

Disc One

Chris Dickinson vs. Eric Alverado

They trade punches and chops after a lock-up. Dickinson uses an elbow and a headbutt to make Alverado fall. They go right back to trading shots. Dicksingon takes Alverado to the mat with forearms and headbutts. Alverado shoots Dickinson off the ropes and catches him with a back elbow. Dickinson fights up and chops Alverado. Dickinson chokes Alverado in the corner then snapmares him into a kick in the back. Alverado responds with one of his own. Alverado pins Dickinson for two. Dickinson drops Alverado with a German suplex for two. Dickinson lays in some more chops before snapmaring Alverado. Dickinson gives him a seated lariat for two. Alverado drops Dickinson with a package piledriver. Alverado then drops Commentary is optional with a Death Valley Driver for two. Dickinson comes back with a Falcon Arrow for two. Dickinson then lands a springboard elbow for two. Dickinson gives Alverado a flurry of kicks. They trade waistlocks until Alverado drops Dickinson with a Storm Cradle Driver for the pin at 6:24. These guys seemingly shot their wad early, and I was furious at how little selling there was at times. Nevertheless, both guys did look pretty good with what they brought to the table. **

Zack Novak vs. Jefferson Saint

Saint looks like an accountant who wrestles on the weekends. The wrestlers give Saint crap before the bell. Novak kicks Saint in the back of the leg. Novak ducks a lock-up and kicks Saint again. Saint threatens to walk out but comes back eventually. Saint drapes Novak’s leg across the ropes as he comes in. Saint works over Novak’s leg using the ropes to be more effective as well. Zack is able to hop on Saint’s back and give him a legdrop to the back Saint’s head for a two count. Saint rakes Novak’s eyes and slams him. Saint goes right back to Novak’s leg for a bit. Novak fires up with chops to Saint in the corner. He snapmares Saint and kicks him in the back with his good leg. Novak gives Saint a back elbow. Saint drops Novak neck first on the second ropes to regain the advantage. Again, Saint concentrates on Novak’s leg, even throwing it against the ring post and giving Novak and ring post assisted sharpshooter. Saint looks for a figure four, but Novak rolls him up for two. Novak hits an enzugiri and a standing shooting star press for two. Novak goes to the top rope and gets crotched by Saint. Saint rams his knee into Novak’s leg as he sits on the top rope. Saint tries to go up but Novak forearms him to the mat. Novak hits a high frog splash for two when Saint gets his foot on the ropes. Novak tries to fight back. Saint lands a top rope assisted Death Valley Driver for the pin at 8:07. This was way more enjoyable than the first match because, holy shit, there was psychology! Saint was excellent and truly knows what he’s doing. Novak did a fine job playing the guy in peril and hit some real cool stuff too. His frog splash is very reminiscent of Art Barr’s. **1/2

Corvis Fear vs. Shawn Blaze

Fear looks like the gay guy who works at the Pizza Hut down the street from me. Not that you care, but I felt like mentioning it. Blaze looks like a skinnier Joey Machete from FIP. A lock up leads to Fear giving Blaze a hip toss and an armdrag. They awkwardly thrust at each other while creating an Eiffel Tower. Fear bodyslams Blaze. Blaze is able to come back hitting all the same moves he was hit with thus far, plus a dropkick which sends Fear to the floor. Blaze follows with a pescado. Fear kicks Blaze in the back as he comes in, then throws his body against the back of Blaze’s head. Fear lays in some shots, and attempts a cocky one finger pin. Fear kicks away at Blaze’s arm and chokes Blaze in the corner. Fear gives Blaze a knife-edged chop to the face. Blaze headscissors Fear in the corner, then takes him down with a satellite headscissors. Fear catches him when Blaze attempts a third and drops him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Blaze gives Fear a flying European uppercut as he comes off the ropes. Fear tricks Blaze into thinking he’s hurt and gives him an unsuspecting punch and a divorce court armbreaker. Fear locks on an armbar. Blaze gives Fear a leg lariat as Blaze is trapped in the ropes. Blaze gives Fear a splingshot splash for two. He hits a lionsault for another two. Fear gives Blaze’s bad arm a double knee driver. Fear pins Blaze three times in a row and only gets two. Blaze boots Fear as he tries to run at him in the corner. Blaze misses a shoulder, throwing his bad arm inadvertently into the ring post. Fear places Blaze up top. Blaze kicks Fear off and gives him a leaping lariat. On their feet, both men trade punches. Fear drops Blaze with Blaze’s arm across his neck. Fear covers for two. Blaze comes out of the corner with a crossbody for two. Fear blocks the superkick. Fear hits it the second time for a two count. Fear rakes Blaze’s eyes and drops him with a crucifix brain buster for two. Blaze is picken up, and drops Fear in desperation with the snapmare driver. Blaze goes up top and gives Fear a crossbody. Fear rolls through, picks Blaze up, and gives him a shoulder breaker. Fear locks in a double underhook trailer hitch for the submission in 13:00. I liked this quite a bit. Fear spent the match working over the legs and when Blaze was able to get in a shot, it didn’t involve his legs. When it came to the finish, Blaze had the Trailer Hitch but then had to hook the arms to get Blaze to submit. Wonderful stuff with both guys looking good. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of either guy. ***

Christian Faith & Vincent Nothing [Faith In Nothing] vs. Davey Vega & Steve West

Vega and West clearly don’t get along. Nothing and Vega trade wristlocks. Nothing hyper-extends Vega’s arm on the mat. Nothing looks for a cross armbreaker but Vega turns into a front chancery. Nothing snapmares Vega into a leg nelson. Nothing rolls into a cradle for two. Nothing applies a Camel Clutch while locking Vega’s legs behind his back. Vega goes behind Nothing. Nothing blocks a wheelbarrow. Faith comes in. Nothing tosses Vega up and Faith kicks him on his way down. West gets tagged in. Faith and West go back and forth till West hits a twisting European uppercut for two. Vega tags in and chokes Faith on the mat and ropes. West doesn’t approve and tags in for a slam. Vega tries a slam but Faith is too big and splashes West on the mat. Faith catches Vega out of the corner with an elbow/backbreaker combination. Nothing comes in and they give Vega stereo Japanese armdrags and double knee strikes to his kidney. Nothing suplexes Vega for two. Nothing goes into the armbreaker. Nothing back elbows Vega and gives him a fist drop for two. Faith gives Vega a clothesline and a senton. West breaks the pin. West helps Vega give Nothing a double stomp out of the corner after Nothing beats on Vega for a bit. Vega and West double team Nothing for a while till Nothing knocks Vega down with a hard clothesline. Faith gets tagged in and gives West a boot stomp. Faith eats an enzugiri from West, and Faith gives West one of his own. West boots Faith to the floor. Nothing lays in knees to West’s face. West O’Connor rolls into a Cobra Clutch. Nothing turns it into a wrist-capture T-Bone suplex. Nothing drops Vega with a brainbuster. Faith hits a tope con heilo to both Vega and West on the floor. Nothing puts West up top. West pushes him off and comes off with a back cracker. West drops Faith with a Cobra Clutch suplex. West pins Faith and Vega breaks it. Vega tries the pin and West breaks that. Vega and West shove one another allowing Nothing to send Vega to the floor. Faith in Nothing toss West into the corner with a double hip toss. Vega rocks Faith with a discuss lariat. Vega hits an enzugiri to Nothing and pins him. West breaks that pin as well. Faith and Nothing hit a clothesline/suplex sequence sending Vega to the floor. West splashes both guys in the corner and drops them with a DDT a the same time. West drops Faith with another Cobra Clutch suplex. Vega kicks West and pins Faith at 18:15. Real fun tag match with Faith In Nothing looking great. West was a guy who I had never seen who impressed me with some cools tuff. Vega was fine too but a lot of the “teammate hate” seemed a bit forced. Still good otherwise. ***

West and Vega fight after the match and we fade to black as the referee tries to break it.

Chase Burnett vs. Zack Novak

Novak drags Burnett to the floor. They go back and forth and Novak takes down Burnett with a series of moves, sending Burnett back to the floor. Novak is faked out by Burnett and sent to the floor. Burnett fakes a dive, and Novak trips him. Novak drops Burnett with a couple forearms. Burnett hits a 619 using the apron and the bottom rope for two. Burnett chokes Novak. He snapmares Novak and lays in a few kicks to Novak’s back for two. Burnett suplexes Novak for two. Novak catches Burnett on the second rope. Burnett side steps him and comes off with a double axe handle. Burnett gives Novak a moonsault DDT for two after a few more offensive maneuvers. Burnett hits a cool looking sequence of maneuvers in the corner for two. Novak comes back with a satellite headscissors into a DDT. Burnett kicks out Novak’s leg and misses a shooting star press. Novak drops Burnett with a double underhook face breaker. Burnett follows up with a quebrada for two. Burnett catches Novak with an elbow. Burnett wheelbarrows through Burnett’s legs and hits a German suplex for two. Novak drops Burnett off the top with a reverse spike hurricanrana for two. Novak gets kicked by Burnett in the corner so he’s dangling on the ropes. Burnett jumps in with a double springboard moonsault double knee drop to Novak’s dangling body for the pin at 9:59. Wow, these guys really packed a lot of hot action in ten minutes. Burnett is really great and reminds me of a Young Buck/Brian Kendrick hybrid. That kid has the potential to go places if he keeps it up, and it’s no wonder he’s getting a shot in EVOLVE. Novak did great as well in his second match of the night so props to both guys. ***1/4

Corvis Fear vs. Zane Silver

Silver gets a hammerlock and Fear goes to the floor to escape. Silver trips Fear and takes him over with a headlock. Fear gets up and grabs a chinlock. Silver goes back to a hammerlock. Fear sweeps his leg and locks them. Fear pushes Silver’s knee cap with his boot. Fear brings Silver over with a headlock. Fear twists into a headlock of his own.Fear slams Silver down by his hair. Silver wheelbarrows into a bulldog on his knee. Silver comes off the ropes with a twisting arm whip. He kicks Fear and punches Gear in the chest for two. Fear slingshots to the apron and Silver leg sweeps him to the floor. Silver comes at him with a middle rope dive. Fear drives Silver back first into the ring apron. Silver kicks Fear in the shoulder. Silver wheelbarrows into Fear, and Fear wheelbarrow suplexes Silver back first into the ring apron. Silver slams Fear face first into a chair. Fear throws Silver head first into the ring post. Fear beats on Silver back in the ring, lighting him up with chops. Silver retaliates with some chops, and Fear cuts him off with an eye poke. Fear applies a Camel Clutch. Silver knees Fear in the head and then gives him a flurry of headkicks. Silver dropkicks him in the head for two. Silver snapmares Fear. He kicks him in the back and lands a senton for two. Fear headbutts Silver in the chest and boots him down for two. Fear snapmares Silver and body blocks across Silver’s neck and spine. Fear flips off the camera, and Silver rolls out of the corner with a pin for two. He headscissors into a side Russian leg sweep for two. Silver kicks away at Fear and whips him to the corner chest first. Fear rolls back into a Chaos Theory! Fear hits a delayed dropkick, sending Silver to the floor. Fear chokes Silver on the floor before rolling him back in the ring for two. Fear looks for the Joker Driver but Silver drops him with a double underhook suplex. Fear and Silver trade strikes in the middle of the ring. They each throw superkicks at the same time. Fear steps off Silver’s back and hits an ace crusher for two. Fear chokes Silver in the corner. Silver lands a back cracker. Silver comes out of the corner with Fear giving him a Manhattan Drop and a spinebuster. Silver hops to the apron as Fear seesaws him. Silver kicks Fear hard in the nose and drives his head into the corner using his foot. Silver hits a dropkick to a seated Fear and then drops him with a brainbuster for two. Fear drops Silver with a Black Tornado Slam variation for two. Fear looks for a top rope Joker Driver. Silver catches himself and drops on Fear with a senton. Fear grabs the bottom rope to break the pin. Fear kicks Silver in the nuts while distracting the ref. He drops Silver with a straight-jacket piledriver for two. Fear throws a chair in the ring. Fear pours water on Silver. Silver fights back and backslides Fear for two. Silver hits a low lariat for two. Fear hits the Joker Driver into the corner and then on the steel chair for the pin at 22:05. This was a really nice, competitive match to end the first disc. Both these guys worked really hard and kept a nice flow for the duration. Zane Silver is a heck of a talent and a nice compliment to Burnett (who’s he tagging with in Beyond). Corvis Fear is also a guy to watch as he had some great mat skills and a sick finisher. ***1/2

Disc Two

Chris Dickinson vs. Jefferson Saint

Dickinson rolls up Saint right away. Saint goes to the floor to stretch after escaping. Saint looks for the advantage on the mat. Both guys trade wristlocks and Dickinson grabs a leg cross submission. Dickinson and Saint exchange chops on their feet. Saint knocks down Dickinson with a back elbow. Dickinson blocks a hip toss and takes Saint over with a suplex. Dickinson throws Saint to the floor and follows with a tope con heilo. Dickinson slams Saint’s face into the apron. Saint slaps Dickinson, and Dickinson responds with a suplex on the floor. Saint throws Dickinson’s face into the ring steps. In the ring, Saint drops Dickinson on the top rope with a Hot Shot for two. Dickinson kicks Saint as he winds up for a punch and rolls him up with La Magistral for two. Saint hits a wind-up overhand chop to Dickinson’s chest. Saint drops a knee before dropping a fist. He gives Dickinson a leaping neck snap with two. Dickinson snapmares Saint and hits a seated clothesline for two. Saint low blows Dickinson and the referee warns him. Dickinson rolls to the floor and kicks Saint in the head when Saint is in the ropes going to the floor. Dickinson lays in a flurry of shots to Saint’s back before applying a chin lock. Saint and Dickinson knock each other down stereo clotheslines. Saint trips Dickinson and looks for a figure four variation. Dickinson punches Saint in the face to break. Dickinson drops Saint with a falcon arrow. Dickinson slingshots in with an elbow, but Saint rolls out of the way. Saint drops Dickinson with a spinebuster for two. Dickinson misses a clothesline and Saint knocks him down with one of his own. Dickinson kicks away at Saint and nips up right into an enzugiri for two. Saint gives Dickinson with a chin breaker. They trade waistlocks before Saint hits Dickinson with brass knucks for the pin at 11:11. Real good sound match with an anticlimactic finish. Saint is one of the sleeper guys on this DVD and he deserves more work. He comes off as a dude who knows what he’s doing. Dickinson looked better in this match than his one on the other disc. **3/4

Davey Vega comes out saying he beat Faith in Nothing by himself last night. He talks about 9/11 or something, if I could hear correctly. Note to commentators: DON’T TALK OVER PEOPLE’S PROMOS. EVER. Davey jaw jacks with some wrestlers and from behind Steve West blasts him with a kick to start a match.

Steve West vs. Davey Vega

West gives Vega a diving European uppercut and another to the back of Vega’s neck. West splashes Vega into a suplex. Outside the ring, Vega bounces off the ropes to big boot West onto a couch. Vega follows up with a cannonball senton. Vega resets the count and headbutts West a couple times. Vega accidentally headbutts the ring post. West throws Vega into the wall. In the ring, West beats on Vega until Vega kicks West in the temple. Vega pins West with his feet on the ropes and the ref refuses to count. West strikes Vega in the gut. West chops Vega in the different corners of the ring. Vega brushes West in the head with a kick. Vega fish hooks West in the mouth and throws him in the corner. Vega knees West in the face. West floats over a suplex and drops Vega with a half nelson suplex and Vega gets his foot on the rope. Vega slaps West as he goes to the top rope. Vega forearms West in the back of the head and drops him with the discuss lariat for the pin at 7:45. Pretty good match with a couple sloppy moments but it could’ve used some more time to be better. **1/4

Chris Dickinson vs. Davey Vega

Yup, both these dudes again. Dickinson rolls up Vega at the get-go for two. Dickinson and Vega vie for the advantage. Dickinson trips Vega into a cross-legged submission. Dickinson stretches Vega’s arm out while applying an arm breaker on the other. Dickinson armdrags Vega into a shoulder lock. Dickinson hops out of a headscissor into an enzugiri. Dickinson applies a crossface and Vega rolls into a pin for two. Vega holds a front face lock and Dickinson suplexes Vega for two. Vega and Dickinson are locked together by Dickinson’s legs and throw forearms at one another. Vega pokes Dickinson in the eyes. Dickinson takes Vega over with a body drag. Both guys go back and forth trading a variation of pins till Dickinson hits a back elbow and an elbow drop. Dickinson kicks Vega so he dangles on the middle rope. Dickinson springboards into a leg drop across Vega’s dangling body. Dickinson pins him, but Vega grabs the bottom rope. Vega throws Dickinson face first into the corner. Vega chokes Dickinson with his boot and steps on his back. Vega chokes Dickinson on the top rope with his legs. Dickinson gets sent to the corner and boots Vega. Dickinson ducks a lariat into a backslide. Vega gives Dickinson a low dropkick for two. Vega clocks Dickinson with a hard forearm. Vega hangs Dickinson in the tree of woe. Vega teases a cannonball but flicks Dickinson in the groin instead. Vega applies a chinlock. Dickinson hits a jawbreaker to escape and lands a spinwheel kick for two. Vega gets up and gives Dickinson a boot for two. Vega cravats Dickinson into a headlock, with Vega placing his body weight on Dickinson’s neck. Dickinson snapmares Vega over and lays in a furry of shots to Vega’s spine before hitting a basement clothesline. Dickinson slams Vega and goes for a springboard elbow. Vega catches Dickinson in an armbar with his legs locking Dickinson’s head. Dickingson picks up Vega and hits a sit-out powerbomb. Dickinson and Vega trade strikes and kicks and barely budge. Dickinson pokes Vega in the eyes. Dickinson drops Vega with a bridging German suplex for two. Dickinson puts Vega on the top rope. Dickinson forearms Vega and looks for a top rope hurricanrana. Vega blocks and puts Dickinson on his shoulders. Vega hits the Lambeau Leap for two when Dickinson gets his foot on the bottom rope. They trade waistlocks and Dickinson looks for a pump handle suplex. Vega comes back with a discuss lariat for the pin at 17:37. Interesting match with some spots in which some selling was desired. This is Dickinson’s strongest performance even though he went 0-3 all weekend long. Vega needs new gear to not look like such an unthreatening indy dweeb, but he shows promise too. ***

Elimination Match
Zack Novak vs. Corvis Fear vs. Robert Paulson vs. Jefferson Saint

This match is absolute mayhem, and therefore I don’t think play-by-play is very helpful. Needless to say, this featured three of my favorites from this taping and a nice debut from Robert Paulson who could hang with them all. I was very impressed with a lot of the move sequences these guys pulled off, and I loved the story of Jefferson Saint making the guys believe he was eliminated early by ringing the bell and coming back and winning the whole thing in the end. Lots of cool and innovative stuff with great psychology makes for a great match. By the way, Jefferson Saint last eliminated Corvis Fear in 14:12. ***

Steve West confronts Saint and says his win was “beyond bullshit”. He says Saint has used dirty tactics all week to rack up wins. He says that Davey Vega had the same attitude, and West challenges Saint right now. West tells Saint if he wins this match he gets enough points to have the opportunity to be the first Beyond Wrestling champion. Saint accepts and it’s on!

Steve West vs. Jefferson Saint

West lays down and Saint pins him in 0:34. Saint earns the point and screws Davey Vega out of becoming the first Beyond Wrestling.

Saint laughs at Vega, and Vega enters the ring. He confronts West and they exchange some harsh words. Vega throws his hat out of the ring and Vega challenges West to a match right now. He calls West a bitch and West accepts.

Steve West vs. Davey Vega

Vega and West roll around on the mat trading punches. West stomps away on Vega in the corner after an uppercut. West misses a splash in the corner, as does Vega. West kicks Vega in the side of the head. West grabs a chair and waffles the crap out of Vega with it. The referee calls the disqualification at 0:52.

Chase Burnett & Zane Silver vs. Christian Faith & Vincent Nothing [Faith In Nothing]

Nothing and Silver trade holds looking for the advantage. Nothing stretches Silver into a surfboard variation. Silver escapes but Nothinig knees Silver in the face in a front face lock. He applies a chancery. Nothing knocks Silver over with a couple shoulder blocks. Silver trips Nothing and gives him a pair of armdrags. They dodge one another’s kicks and reach a stalemate. Faith and Burnett tag in. The larger Faith bullies Burnett. Burnett calls for a test of strength. Faith wins but Burnett paint brushes him with slaps. Faith lays in a barrage of slaps. Burnett looks for a spinning headscissors but Faith kicks him in the stomach as he falls. Faith in Nothing isolate Burnett and continue the pummeling. Silver comes in and lays in a barrage of kicks to both Faith’s front and back. Burnett and Silver cut the ring in half and double team Faith. Faith catches Silver as Silver dives out. He passes him to Nothing. Nothing passes him back, and Faith drops him with a vertical suplex for two and tags in Nothing. Now it’s Silver’s turn to be bullied by Faith in Nothing. Silver ducks a boot and comes back with a spinning front kick to the side of Faith’s head to escape. Faith backdrops Silver into a spinal kick for two. Nothing gives Silver a curb stomp to Silver’s rib cage. Silver gets the ropes to escape the pin. Silver finally escapes the grasp of Faith in Nothing by kicking Nothing in the mid-section and giving Faith an enzugiri. Silver takes more of a beating as Burnett misses the tag. Silver forces Burnett to tag in, and uses him as a weapon as Burnett tries to attack Silver. Burnett gives Faith in Nothing a flipping senton off the second rope. Silver capitalizes with a corkscrew splash off the top to the floor. In the ring, Burnett catches nothing with a leaping springboard ace crusher. Faith gives him a Gory Gallows and Silver flies in with a top rope dropkick. Nothing mows down Silver with a clothesline and all four men are down. Faith boots Burnett down. Silver gives him a palm strike. Nothing slaps Silver hard to stop him. Burnett hops on his back and Nothing places him on Silver’s shoulders. He hits a stacked-up exploder suplex! Holy cow! Faith hooks up Silver in a tree of woe with his back on the ring post. Faith in Nothing toss Burnett into Silver! Silver dropkicks Faith into a roll-up by Burnett for two, while landing on Nothing with a senton. Nothing gets placed on the second rope and Silver hits an elbow while Burnett gives Faith a kneecolepsy for two. Faith gives Burnett a rolling elbow to the floor. Silver lays in some forearms but Faith in Nothing give him a vertebreaker/inverted DDT combination for the pin at 25:08. This was a great capper to the DVD with even more innovative stuff and two teams that have a great future. Definitely one of the most fun matches on the DVD and just as good as the closing match on the first disc. ***1/2

The DVD ends with a music video of this very tag match.

The 411: Beyond Wrestling will surprise you. At first, it sounds like it’s just “glorified wrestling practice” but these guys bust their asses off and give it their all. You can tell everyone in this company loves wrestling and strives to be the best they can. A lot of these guys certainly have the talent to make it in independent wrestling and I’m glad to see a lot of these guys in EVOLVE, AAW, and elsewhere. This is a real good DVD to get acquainted with some of the unsung and unknown workhorses of independent wrestling. The production is pretty good as well, with excellent and informative commentary and split-screen replays of the real big moves ala the WWE. Be sure to check it out at shop.aiwrestling.com

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]