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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Beyond Wrestling Back in Flesh 2011 Review

December 4, 2011 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Beyond Wrestling Back in Flesh 2011 Review  

Beyond Wrestling is a promotion that ran for two years before ever letting a fan into their shows. The wrestlers instead wrestled in front of only other wrestlers. Eventually this past summer, they ran their first “open” show, called About Time. Back in Flesh was their second live show and it received a lot of online attention for featuring the very first Davey Richards vs. Johnny Gargano match. They were two parts of a three-man Round Robin Challenge series on the show that also featured longtime Beyond wrestler, Jonny Mangue.

For more info on Beyond Wrestling, check out their:
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October 2, 2011.
Cleveland, OH

Commentators are Denver Colorado and friends

#KOA (Aaron Epic, Pinkie Sanchez, Sugar Dunkerton) vs. Submission Squad (Gary Jay, Pierre Abernathy, Evan Gelistico)
The Submission Squad are the followers of Davey Vega. KOA stands for Kings of the Armory. They are looking to be taken more seriously as wrestlers.

Sugar got the crowds chanting “KOA” before the match. Sugar slapped the shit out of Gelistico early, which led to Gary Jay quickly tagging in. Pinkie tagged in and he started trading chops with Jay. Pinkie got the best of the exchange, which caused Abernathy to tag in. Epic got the advantage on Abernathy as well. Sugar went to use the basketball, but Abernathy took a CHARGE, and the ref called it as such! GOOFY FUN! Things settled down after that. The Squad isolated Epic after that and worked him over. Sugar saved Epic by slamming a basketball on Abernathy and Gelistico. Pinkie ran in, but he got tripped up by Gelistico from the outside of the ring, and the Squad started to work over Pinkie. Pinkie looked to be able to tag out, but Gelistico hit him with a Blue Thunder variation. Finally, Pinkie tagged out and Epic ran wild on Abernathy. The match broke down into a 6-way. Sugar hit a sweet discus lariat on Jay. Pinkie with a moonsault on Jay: 1…2…NO! Pinkie wipes out Gelistico with a slingshot dive, and Sugar wipes out Abernathy with a suicide dive. Jay and Epic trade some big moves, until Epic comes out on top after he hit his Fastball Punch (similar to the punch Munenori Sawa used to do).

This was some good clean fun and was a great opener to get the crowd into the show without overshadowing the rest of the card. The finishing sequence was really well done, but a longer heat segment would have made it come across better.

KOA are a really nice trio that I would like to see pop up in other indy companies. I haven’t seen much of Epic other than in Beyond, but I’m glad that Pinkie and Sugar are getting a chance to show alternative sides of their characters here.
Match Rating: **3/4

Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett jumped KOA after the match. They want their match with Aeroform right now.

Aeroform (Flip Kendrick & Louis Lyndon) vs. Sex Bob-ombs (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett)
Lyndon and Vega did a good mat sequence to start the match. Lyndon did a ridiculous flippy thing that he transitioned into a cross armbreaker; Vega quickly grabbed the ropes to break the hold. Flip and Fitchett tagged in and both men did a really cool sequence of flips and what not, before Lyndon and Davey tagged back in. Flip and Fitchett tagged back in shortly after, and Flip hit a Pele Kick and a Package Piledriver variation: 1…2…Vega makes the save. Fitchett hit a standing moonsault, and Vega hit a top rope frog splash, but Lyndon makes the save. Aeroform hit a doomsday kick to Vega’s face, but Fitchett made the save. Vega gave Kendrick a superkick and a Steiner Screwdriver variation, but Kendrick kicked out. Lyndon wiped out Vega with a moonsault to the floor. Flip then hit a Flip Cutter and an Asai Corkscrew Senton on Fitchett: 1…2…3!

Aeroform has gotten so much crisper than the first few times I saw them when Evolve started. I had never seen Fitchett before, but his athleticism here proved that he has a lot of potential. I definitely will like to see more of him in the future. Vega is the least flashy of all the people in this match, but his unique charisma is a huge asset for him going forward. While this match had a lot of stuff to like about it, the end result probably came up a little short. The match was definitely fun, but I feel like these 4 guys have the potential for a great match.
Match Rating: **3/4

Dave Cole vs. Jack Verville
I saw Cole have a match with Christopher Daniels in Hybrid Championship wrestling (from 2008 or 2009 I think), and it was damn good. This is my first time watching Verville.

Cole immediately kicks Verville in the balls, but the match had not started yet (so he wasn’t disqualified). Verville gets back to his feet and takes it to Cole with a chinbreaker and a leg lariat. Cole was able to cut Verville off by going after his left arm. Cole started mocking Verville who came back with a spit to the face and an enzugiri. Cole cut him off again by sending him into the turnbuckle. Cole followed that up with a draping divorce court on the injured arm. The crowd was hot cheering on Verville. Verville hit a top rope hurricanranna and then ran wild on Cole. Verville got a nearfall with a flying knee. The ref was accidentally kicked in the head, which caused Verville to kick Cole in the balls (strange psychology there). Verville kicked Cole in the head and then went for a top rope crossbody, but Cole got the knees up. Cole hit a Tiger Smash: 1…2…NO! Cole immediately transitioned into an arm submission on Verville’s injured arm…VERTILLE TAPS OUT!

Cole is a tremendous heel. He reminds a little of Jon Moxley but he definitely makes his character his own. As a result, the fans and wrestlers in the crowd completely rallied behind Verville. I had never seen Verville before but the man has got charisma. Much like the first two matches, I liked what I saw here, and it left me wanting to see more of everybody involved.
Match Rating: **1/2

WWA4 All Stars (Uhaa Nation & Stitch Sypher) vs. Team TREMENDOUS (Dan Barry & Ken Scampi) vs. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (Darius Carter & TJ Marconi) vs. Jollyville Fuck-its (Russ Myers & T-Money)
I’ve seen some of these guys before, but this will be my first time for a number of them. Uhaa Nation is obviously known now for his debuts in Dragon Gate USA and Japan. He trained with AR Fox at Mr. Hughes’s school in Georgia.

The crowd was into the action early, but they first got truly excited when Nation hit his standing moonsault. Nation took out the Fuck-its and Team TREMENDOUS by himself. Everyone ended up on the outside of the ring, and Nation tossed Sypher onto all of them. Barry then did a Fosbury Flop on everyone. Nation went to dive on everyone, but they all ran away. Cue everyone hitting big moves on each other. Finally, Team TREMENDOUS hit a fucking DOOMSDAY SLICED BREAD #2 on Darius Carter to get the win. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!

Really fun showcase match. There wasn’t a whole lot of substance, but it was definitely the most crowd pleasing match on the show so far. Nation was designed to stand out, and once again, he impressed. Everyone else looked good, and that finish by Barry and Scampi was fucking crazy. Good stuff.
Match Rating: ***

Carter slaps Marconi after the match. Apparently these two have been having issues as a team. It seems to have boiled over now. Marconi tried to shake his hand, but Carter spit in his face. That’s a shame; they had good chemistry together.

Johnny Gargano vs. Jonny Mangue w/ The Pitboss [Round Robin Challenge]
Gargano is making his debut in Beyond. Mangue and The Pitboss were stablemates of Chris Dickinson before Dickinson went out with an injury. Gargano was hugely over with the Cleveland crowd as he has been a mainstay of the Cleveland scene for a while. Mangue wears furry boots and a leopard skirt, which makes him look so minor league compared to Gargano. He’s a good worker though.

Gargano was in control early on and the crowd showered him with cheers. Gargano went to work on Mangue’s left arm. Gargano locked in the Gargano Escape early but Mangue quickly escaped and hit a running uppercut. Gargano came back with some kicks and a discus lariat. Mangue went for a hurricanranna but Gargano caught him and gave him a powerbomb. Mangue gave Gargano a Buckle Bomb, Finlay roll, and a Frog Splash but only got a two count. Gargano hung Mangue up in the ropes and gave him a superkick to the face. Gargano then wiped out Mangue and Pitboss with a suicide dive. Gargano went for a slingshot spear, but Pitboss held up Gargano. Gargano kicked Pitboss away and went for the spear again, but Mangue caught him and small packaged him: 1…2…3!

This was like the first two thirds of a really good match that was cut short by the finish. I like the story of Mangue turning on Pitboss because he didn’t know he interfered, but I wish they had the chance to have a complete match before it happened. Still though, this was good before the finish.
Match Rating: ***

Denver Colorado left the commentating station to confront Mangue and Pitboss after the match. Colorado told Mangue what happened, and Mangue hit Pitboss. The rest of the wrestlers kicked Pitboss out of the arena. The fans approved of that.

Chase Burnett vs. Jarek 1:20 vs. KJ Crush vs. Maserati Rick [Four Corners Elimination]
Apparently, Chase Burnett is leaving Beyond after this match, and apparently he is retiring.

Jarek seemed to hypnotize Rick and Crush to sleep. Burnett didn’t fall for it and the action started. Rick gave Burnett a series of awesome backbreakers and a somersault plancha on Crush. Jarek then hit Rick and Crush with an Asai Moonsault. Burnett finished off that sequence with a Springboard Corkscrew press to the floor. Back in the ring, Rick got a nearfall on Crush with a lionasault. Burnett then wiped out Rick with a reverse hurricanranna. These four did so many awesome moves and the crowd just ate it up. They didn’t do everything flawlessly, but most of the stuff looked cool. Crush gave Burnett a Package Piledriver to eliminate him first. Crush and Rick started working over Jarek. Crush and Rick started jawing with each other, and Jarek rolled up Crush to eliminate him. Crush and Jarek are the final two. Crush hit a superkick. Jarek stopped the ref from counting after two, and the two started to rewind what just happened in slow motion. Jarek then superkicked him! Goofy fun that was! Jarek got caught on a springboard move and was given a DVD. Crush followed that up with a Package Piledriver: 1…2…NO! They went to the top rope, and Jarek threw playing cards in Crush’s face. SUPER CANADIAN DESTROYER: 1…2…3!

This was FUN! I really was not expecting anything from this match, but so far it was my favorite match of the show. The opening sequence with all four guys doing crazy shit was the best part of the match. I normally prefer multiple-man matches to be elimination instead of one-fall to a finish (allows for more storytelling), but this may have been better off being a one-fall match just because the first part was the hottest part of the match. Still though, everyone came out of it looking good.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Jarek 1:20 gets on the microphone after the match and puts over Beyond Wrestling. He says he is moving to California, but that he wants to fly to the East Coast for every Beyond show because it is his home. A lot of the wrestlers hug Jarek after the match.

Davey Richards vs. Johnny Gargano [Round Robin Challenge]
Davey was ROH champion (and came out with the belt) at the time, but Gargano had yet to win the DGUSA title. The crowd is hyped for this match. The crowd is treating this matchup to be special (and it is). Because of the issues between ROH and DGUSA, this match cannot happen in too many high profile places, with the exception probably being PWG.

Both guys try to lock in submissions early, but they get to the ropes easily enough. Davey used some kicks, but Gargano came back with a neckbreaker and a suicide dive. Gargano went for a rolling senton off the apron, but Davey kicked his legs out. Davey went on the apron and did the soccer kick to Gargano’s chest. Crowd approved of that. Back in the ring, Davey went for a Cloverleaf variation, but Gargano made the ropes. Davey hung him up in the ropes, but Gargano caught him with a slingshot spear. Gargano came back with chops and knocked Davey down with a discus lariat. They started trading kicks. Gargano hit a sweet superkick and locked in the Gargano Escape! BUT DAVEY GOT THE ANKLE LOCK! Gargano rolls out to stay alive. They end up on the top rope: SUPERPLEX BY DAVEY! FALCON ARROW-transitioned into the ankle lock! AND GARGANO TAPS!

It was only around 10 minutes (they both had to wrestle twice tonight), but they did a lot and had the crowd rocking by the end of the match. It’s a shame that ROH and DGUSA can’t get along because these two had instant chemistry and could main event any promotion that takes wrestling seriously. I hope to see this match again in Beyond (or PWG).
Match Rating: ***1/2

Davey and Gargano shook hands after the match. Gargano got a lot of cheers from his hometown crowd.

Tony Kozina (w/Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Nick Talent
Kozina has been all over independent wrestling forever. Talent has been a regular in Beyond for a while.

Kozina started driving his knees into Talent’s face early. Talent botched something early when running to the ropes, but they covered for it fine enough. Talent got in some forearms, but Kozina cut him off with a butterfly suplex. Kozina draped Talent up in the ropes. He hit one running splash in the ropes, but Talent avoided a second one and Kozina smashed his face in the cables. Talent got some offense in, but Kozina started going after Talent’s arms with various submissions. Kozina got the mount and started slapping the shit out of him. They started trading strikes until Kozina hit a running face wash. They had another miscommunication, and Kozina locked in another arm submission to get the win.

These two had no chemistry and seemed to be on completely different pages throughout most of the match. At least Kozina’s arm work led to the finish.
Match Rating: 3/4*

Talent doesn’t show Kozina respect after the match, and the match between their tag partners starts right away.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Mark Angel
Angel hit a series of dropkicks early, which kept O’Reilly off balance. O’Reilly came back with some kicks and a running knee to the stomach. O’Reilly locked in an abdominal stretch and grabbed the ropes for extra leverage. The ref finally caught him cheating and kicked his arm off the ropes. Angel got a nearfall on a rollup, but O’Reilly quickly cut him off with more strikes. Angel avoided a big kick and hit an exploder suplex for a nearfall. Angel hit another suplex for a nearfall. O’Reilly hit an enzugiri, and then did his rolling butterfly suplex spot. They traded some nearfalls on rollups. Both men ended up on their knees, trading strikes. They got to their feet and started trading more strikes. O’Reilly went for a La Magistral Cradle, but Angel reversed it mid-move to get the win out of nowhere.

This was a good match. Pretty much everything looked crisp, and both guys made sure everything they did had a purpose.
Match Rating: ***

AR Fox vs. RD Evans [No Disqualification]
R.D. Evans is obviously the Barrister from the Embassy in Ring of Honor, and he is also Archibald Peck from Chikara.

Fox went for his running moonsault dive, but Evans avoided it and Fox landed on his feet. Evans went for a suicide dive, but Fox kicked his face mid-move. Evans gave Fox an uranagi back breaker on the ring apron. Evans followed that up with a steel chair to the back. Evans gave Fox a backbreaker on a chair, but Fox quickly threw the same chair at Evans’s gut. Evans cut him off right away though with a suplex on the floor and by throwing him into the ring post. Back in the ring, Fox came back with a springboard dropkick and an Ace Crusher. Evans then tossed Fox on the top a turnbuckle (looked awesome), which resulted in “You’re an Asshole” chants from the crowd. Evans set up a table in the corner, and went to drive Fox into the table. Fox escaped and gave him a sick driver type move for a nearfall. Fox gave Evans an enzugiri to the floor and then hit a somersault plancha over the turnbuckle onto Evans. Always awesome. Fox has really developed a swagger to his personality, which has done wonders for his presence. Evans came back though and hit an arm-trap piledriver: 1…2…NO! Fox hit a series of top rope moves on Evans, but Davey Vega interfered to save Evans. Evans is the lawyer for Vega and the Submission Squad. With the rest of the wrestlers in the crowd, it seems weird that none of them would help Fox. Fox and Evans ended up on the apron (right next to where Vega moved to the table to), and Evans gave Fox an Emerald Flosion through a table on the floor: 1…2…3!

This was some good indy fun. Evans has been a great character everywhere he has gone, but he shows here that he can go in the ring in the more traditional sense too. As I said in the recap, Fox getting a little more cocky (w/o being too full of himself) really adds a lot to his act. He does incredibly athletic things, and then acts like he is not surprised when he succeeds (as the crowd loses their collective shit). The only thing that bothered me about this match was that no one tried to help Fox when Vega interfered.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Davey Richards vs. Jonny Mangue [Round Robin Challenge]
Mangue and Davey both defeated Gargano, so the winner of this match, wins the Round Robin.

Davey looks to be in a bad mood for some reason. They start out trading holds on the mat. Davey started kicking the shit out of Mangue’s chest, but Mangue came back with forearms. Davey cut him off though, and started to work over Mangue. Mangue came back with a series of headbutts and a dropkick for a nearfall. Mangue used more headbutts, but Davey was able to cut him off with more submission holds. Mangue escaped but ended up in the corner and ate some more kicks from Davey. Mangue came back with a neckbreaker and a rolling headbutt. Overhead Belly to Belly from Mangue got another nearfall, as the fans got behind Mangue. Mangue locked Davey with his triangle choke, but Davey escaped and got an ankle lock. Mangue escaped but ate a kick for his troubles. They started trading strikes in the middle of the ring. An alarm clock kick and lariat got a nearfall for Davey. Davey gave him a KO kick but Mangue kicked out! TRANSITIONED TO THE ANKLE LOCK! AND MANGUE TAPS! Davey wins the Round Robin Challenge, and he does so in convincing fashion.

This was another strong match on the show filled with strong matches. Davey may have won clean over a Beyond guy, but he made sure that Mangue looked strong in defeat. Mangue stepped up on this show and delivered two strong performances with two of the best wrestlers in America at the moment.
Match Rating: ***1/4

You can buy this show and other Beyond shows at Smart Mark Video for $15

or

You can buy this show and other Beyond shows (w/o disc art or cover art) at the Beyond store for $10

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to Twitter or at my email address: [email protected]. If you are a wrestling personality who would like to be interviewed by 411mania, you can also contact me in either of those ways.

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Be sure to check out some of my past 411 Interviews

Kevin Steen
Eddie Edwards
Mike Quackenbush
Johnny Gargano
Nigel McGuinness
Lance Hoyt/Vance Archer/Lance Archer
Gran Akuma

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For all of my interviews (like TJ Perkins , Steve Corino , Davey Richards , Jimmy Rave , Joey Ryan , Kyle O’Reilly , AR Fox , etc.) before 411mania, check out my Road to Mania Blog (where I still do stuff like Wrestlemania Build coverage, Wrestling DVD reviews, movie/TV reviews and more).

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.

The 411: A damn fine show here from Beyond. There is nothing here that will blow you away, but 10 of the 11 matches worked well, and all of those were around 3+ stars. The show is missing the unique atmosphere of most Beyond shows, but the mixture of live fans and wrestlers in the crowd still worked well. If you have never seen Beyond before, this is a good place to start.
 
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]  legend

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TJ Hawke

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