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concrete1992

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I watched one DVD from Beyond Wrestling " When Satan Rules His World " . I must admit that I am kind of on the fence with Beyond. I like watch new talent work and develop , but the match quality was all over the map . If anyone has watched much Beyond , please give me your views on the promotion . I am interesting to see what others think about this group. Thanks .

 

I think Beyond is incredibly interesting promotion with cards that are all over the map for better or worse. Usually I can find a few matches that line up with my tastes and I can sink my teeth into on a given card but I also usually will get another few that I completely would not want to be bothered with. Take the card for today:

 

*Grudge Match*

Kimber Lee & Shynron vs. Chris Dickinson & Heidi Lovelace

 

*Please Don’t Die*

Paul London vs. AR Fox

 

*First Time At Fete*

World’s Cutest Tag Team (Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae) vs. Team TREMENDOUS (Dan Barry & Bill Carr)

 

*Fight For Honor*

Biff Busick vs. Donovan Dijak

 

*Open Challenge*

Death By Elbow (Chris Hero & JT Dunn) vs. The Best Tag Team In The World

 

*Reinforce The Ring*

Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. The Hooligans (Devin Cutter & Mason Cutter)

 

*Scientific Exhibition*

Colt Cabana vs. Johnny Cockstrong

 

*No Disqualification*

Nick Gage vs. Stockade

 

Bold seems right up my alley and italics is some stuff that doesn't look worth any time at all. And sometimes these ratios can swing every which way but the mentality of the cards typically stays this way. If nothing else they are very diverse.

 

Hero vs. Dreamer seems like one of the bigger wastes of Hero. And 3D and Bucks had the fun little match in Binghamton but also had the not so fun little match in Syracuse so I wouldn't get your hopes up for that. But what do I know?

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The three-way dance main event for AAW's world title is worth watching. Josh Alexander botched a couple things, but they were minor mishaps and there were other things he did well. Nice performance from Kingston as the defending champ selling the hell out of an injury. But the story here might be Samoa Joe, who looked worlds better here than he did in his NXT match with Owens. Kind of a return to form from him. Interesting stuff, and the look and presentation of the company is all quite legit, even compared to ROH and Evolve.

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I picked up the CZW streaming service the other day. The most recent show is the Tournament of Death (from two weeks ago) and that's not my thing. Although they don't seem to be as shitty as I remembered. Going back to shows from earlier this year and the roster is pretty solid guys with unique matches. Nick Gage vs Drew Gulak was pretty good and I had never seen Gulak in a wild brawl before.

 

Looking forward to going through the archive. Last year AJ Styles faced Drew Gulak in a main event, can't wait for that!

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I'm very tempted by the CZW streaming service, just want them to add a few more older events before I do. Something about 2001-2004 era CZW that I love, and the idea of an archive full of Cory Kastle or GQ matches makes me happier than it really should

 

I've talked to them about this, and supposedly the older events are in the work. And not just random events, but events released in chronological order starting from the beginning.

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CZW Best of the Best (4/11/2015)

 

The first round is all three way matches, but with elimination rules to make it less frustrating.

 

First Round:

Aaron Williams vs Caleb Konley vs Tommy End

 

This was a lot of fun, especially when it came down to End and Williams, who both impressed big time. Just great striking and bombs. It's like these guys know how to do NJPW better than a lot of NJPW guys do. I want to see more End and Williams, but I am glad I get to see more End at least since he advanced.

 

Tracy Williams vs Jonathan Gresham vs Trevor Lee

Williams came to the ring like a bad ass Pride FC guy. Gresham came in an octopus mask and arms. Finally Lee came to the ring to Taylor Swift. I was pumped and this match was great. I was impressed by all three guys. Gresham did work like a Muta octopus with quick movements and bending in weird directions. He even hit a tope into the first row. I really want a Williams-Lee match as these two were killing it. The match came down to Lee vs Gresham where Gresham won with an ink mist. I thought only squids did that? A really fun match that I loved.

 

Joe Gacy vs CJP (Yes CJ Parker from NXT) vs Joey Janela

Janela was the first to go and didn't leave much of an impression. I liked the look of Gacy, but he did a lot of shitty flip moves (would probably be real good if he cut it out), while Parker looked way better here than in NXT. There was an angle finish where David Starr (he was out earlier setting up an angle with Tim Donst) cost Gacy the match and Parker wins with a huge palm thrust. I can live with that.

 

Andrew Everett vs Buxx Belmar vs Mike Bailey

The final first round match. I love Bailey and I know Everett is good, but have never seen Belmar. Belmar's prematch promo was pure gold. He talked to the moon and a squirrel and he will be the best of the best. I swear I have seen Belmar in Smash, but I can't tell for sure. He's purely a character, but has some in ring talent. These match did the best job of doing a three way. Just really neat spots done to damage both guys at the same time. Belmar completely hung with these guys, but was beat by a 630 by Everett. Bailey immediately hits a shooting star double knee to pin Everett. Great finish. A really good match.

 

First round over and we have End vs Gresham (sounds awesome) and CJP vs Bailey (potential, maybe)

 

Devon Moore vs Connor Claxton (Scaffold Match)

Weirdly this wasn't a scaffold match. It was a decent bloody garbage match with a scaffold at ringside which was used as just a higher top rope to do dives off of. This goes on way too long, considering how short the first round was. I missed the finish due to making popcorn, but it seemed like an alright match... not my stuff. Although there seems to be an alright story of Claxton doing a trial death match series.

 

Tommy End vs Jonathan Gresham (Semi-Finals)

The grappling was pretty good at the beginning, but when it turned into a real match Gresham was not at the level he was in the shorter sprint in the first round. End was doing his best, but it just never clicked. Gresham won with a figure four. I guess Gresham is a local guy, so he goes to the finals, but.. I wasn't feeling this. Reading a review it looks like Tommy was legit injured, so this all makes sense now.

 

CJP vs Mike Bailey (Semi-Finals)

Bailey is a great opponent for CJP as he is smaller and sells like crazy. Strangely Parker stole the flexing pin and the triple power bombs from Jericho. Bailey is such a great undercard and he really made the match with his selling and working underneath. CJP hits this HUGE palm strike while Bailey is on the top rope which knocks Bailey out to the floor. What a great spot. CJP misses a moonsault and Bailey has a crazy comeback with a million kicks and amazing fire. Shooting star double knee to the back follows that for a win. A really really good match, I would recommend.

 

The crowd chants CJP afterwards and gives him a standing ovation. Never would had guessed that.

 

OI4K vs Danny Havoc & Lucky 13

This was looking shitty and all reviews are bad, so I skipped ahead to the finals.

 

Nick Gage is back and there is a super long angle about it. I kept skipping ahead and it kept going. Then there is a million promos by various guys and Gage. It's weird having a babyface that just got out of prison after 4 years.

 

Now a promo by Gresham. Holy shit get back to wrestling I want to watch the finals.

 

Jonathan Gresham vs Mike Bailey (Finals)

 

Finally here we go. Classic formula here with Gresham cheating like crazy and working the leg with Bailey getting in hope spots along the way to keep the crowd into it. It works even better here because Gresham already won once with a figure four, so when he hits it here you think it could work again. Bailey ran the ropes and held his leg and then did a flip and held his leg. Which was nice, but that was followed by a million kicks. He then held his leg again and it is clearly slowing him down. Bailey misses the shooting star double knee and lands right on his hurt knee and Gresham locks on another figure four. Crowd is really into this and it's telling a real good story. A slap exchange inside the figure four leads to Bailey reaching the ropes, but his leg his shot. Some sick huge moves back and forth and then Gresham hits the shooting star for 2! Bailey counters a superplex only for Gresham to shove the referee into the ropes to crotch Bailey. Another great hope spot. Superplex is countered again and Bailey hits the shooting star double knee into the back for the win! 3 3/4 and a really great display. Bailey may the second coming of Waltman and the best baby face in wrestling today since Zayn is injured.

 

Bailey was insane all night having two awesome matches.

 

One thing i appreciate here is that Gresham actually gets heel heat. He is actually booed, as was Parker earlier on. Heels in indie wrestling? That is really cool.

 

A real enjoyable show, but skip everything that isn't in the tournament itself

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A few things:

 

- Last nights Combat Zone show was holy shit bad. I reviewed it here. http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/07/12/combat-zone-wrestling-new-heights-2015-review/

 

- On the other hand Empire Wrestling Entertainment had a great show from what I hear in their Crazy From The Heat event from Rossville, Ga. I assume it will trickle out on their website as Dan Wilson was there doing live commentary. Was told by multiple people that they drew a good house, and more importantly several of the matches were said to be good to great, with a few really hot angles. Was told Kyle Matthews v. Rush was the match of the night which isn't surprising. Honestly that could win my Observer Feud of the Year Award. It's a real shame it's not available for people to see in full.

 

- The Scenic City Invitational first round is all set. The matches are:

 

Caprice Coleman v. Jason Collins

Mark Vandy v. Ace Rockwell

Kong Kong v. Tank

Jimmy Rave v. Anthony Henry

Corey Hollis v. Joey Lynch

Chip Day v. Gunner Miller

Moose v. KT Hamill

Gunner v. Chrisjen Hayme

 

On paper this looks like a really good tournament to me. It's almost the perfect combination of local guys, guys with bigger names, big guys, little guys, guys on the rise, established vets, et. I honestly have no clue who is going to win the thing, but the fact that it's being booked by someone who is not affiliated with the "home promotion" providing about half of the talent is interesting.

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I have good reason to believe the SCI will be available for viewing purposes after the fact.

 

As for Chip Day, I think the guy is a really great heel. His team with Corey Hollis was a favorite of mine a few years back, but I think he's underrated as a singles guy. Who sort of straddles the line between being a workratish dude and a guy who is more of a ring general which is rare. Stiff striker, GREAT at engaging the crowd, can work fast or slow, excellent facial expressions. He has a bit of an odd body type which is a shame, because I could see him getting signed if not for that.

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I picked up IWA East Coasts Masters of Pain 15 recently. Pretty much the shit show you would expect for current death match tournaments and the entire show had a run time of around an hour and a half. After the first two matches (both of which ended with flash roll ups) I am thinking I might be wasting my time. That's when Sid Fabulous walks into my life.. Shitty homemade yarder gear, creepy gigantic mouth , one arm smaller than the other . Sounds great right ? Then out walks Nick Gage for his "return to death match wrestling" . Dear Christ this is one of the worst beatings I have ever seen . This is what post prison Gage matches should look like, that being me genuinely concerned about his opponents safety. At one point I had to remind myself that if something really bad had happened I would have heard about it by now . I assume Gage isn't the smartest guy around but if I were a betting man id say one of the boys in the back told him that he couldn't beat the retard out of Mr. Fabulous. And to that Gage said "the fuck I can't,dont tell me what to do". This horrific beating is so bad im pretty damn sure it is why Gage didn't have a second round opponent. People should track this down .

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I am actually about to start up a project where these guys are going to be covered individually to one degree or another. That said, if you let me know who you need a quick hit on I will provide it. Not trying to be evasive, just working on ten things right now.

KONGO KONG!

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I am wrestling footage drifter. I have WAY too much shit to watch to ever come up with a neat orderly plan to watch all of it so sometimes I just let myself drift to something I read about. I blame Dylan for this too for talking about Gage so much on twitter.

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I am actually about to start up a project where these guys are going to be covered individually to one degree or another. That said, if you let me know who you need a quick hit on I will provide it. Not trying to be evasive, just working on ten things right now.

KONGO KONG!

 

 

Best big guy in wrestling. Best gimmick in wrestling. Amazing worker who is really smart about adapting to circumstance. Sometimes he knows he's there to be a monster who works BIG. Other times he tones that angle down a bit and works in some bigger spots because the opponent or setting calls for it. I think he's one of the best 30 workers on Earth.

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Hahah sorry about that, I did actually laugh out loud at that response though. I think we ended up saying the same thing(other than me recommending it) but I dicked around and tried to make it funny. That definitely is what is going on here and maybe I should have explained it better. This is not my cup of tea either but if the spectacle of a guy fresh out of prison wrestling a death match in a haunted barn is at all intriguing then I still recommend it . It truly was frightening .

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Who can tell me about Southern States Wrestling? Came across it after watching a Dirty White Boy match and seemed like a hoot of a little indie. They had an episode with a big southerner, Rex Atkins, vs. a Jessie Bieber gimmick that was shockingly good so wonder if there is anything else worth digging into.

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