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6/3 BEYOND WRESTLING 'PROJECT DOLPHIN' IN WORCESTER, MA REPORT

Beyond Wrestling “Project Dolphin”

6/3/21 - Worcester, MA

Technically, the (very good) WWR+ show a couple of weeks ago in this same building was my first wrestling show back from quarantimes but this is my first live BEYOND show since Feb 2020. It hits a little different, y’know? So what’s happening TONIGHT? 

So what to talk about first? Dickinson is up against Brogan Finlay (yes - brother of David, son of Fit) who I last saw in a good showing at ACTION Wrestling. Deonna Purrazzo makes her return to Worcester to deal with Masha Slamovich (after she attacked Kimber Lee post match at Project Reality). Max Caster is returning for a rematch against SLADE but this time it’s submission rules...Wheeler Yuta and Lee

Moriarty had a near hour-long war over the IWTV title last month but tonight, Dave Cole, after winning a contender’s tournament in Tampa, makes his TRUE Beyond return after four years away from wrestling to challenge both men for this belt under Dogfight Rules. Consider my expectations, like this card, to be stacked. 

“Sexy Rich” Palladino is your announcer. Paul Crockett and definitely legit Hall of Fame Manager Sidney Bakabella are your commentary team for the IWTV stream. Kris Levin & Kevin Quinn are your referees. CUE “BRO HYMN”.

Match 1: “Weapon X” Matt Makowski vs “The Coastal Elite” Logan Easton Laroux 

The crowd won’t let Laroux get a word in. Laroux confidently invites Makowski into his guard. That was a MISTAKE. Matt runs through him and forces him to the rope at the peril of losing his arm. Makowski pummels Laroux with heavy kicks to the legs as the crowd jeers him further. Laroux resorts to a closed fist and works over Matt with stomps and a ddt to the ankle. Makowski fires up but Laroux chops the knee out from under him for two. Makowski stuns Laroux at the rope and slingshots from the bottom rope into a rear naked choke. Laroux escapes and slams at the knee further, keeping Weapon X on the defense. Logan with a shotgun dropkick off the top for a near fall. Laroux tries to target the knee again but Makowski fires up with knees to the body and sends his opponent on a few high angle rides, hitting a karate kid enziguri for two. Back and forth they go until Makowski catches him off the top and hits a Pazuzu bomb into a knee bar???? LaRoux tap immediately. 

Winner: Matt Makowski

Good opener. I loved how hatable Laroux can be in the ring while being a solid worker. Makowski had been doing a drop into an arm bar recently so I kinda loved the Pazuzu bomb into a knee bar finish here. Richard Holliday, Alexander James and IWTV champ Wheeler Yuta hit the ring and beat the HELLLL out of Makowski. 4-on-1, they wrap a chair on the ankle and look to break him. Lee Moriarty and Dave Cole out to make the save, they shake hands......for now. Most importantly...IWTV Champ Wheeler Yuta has a posse now? Uh oh. That could spell trouble for tonights’s main event. 

Match 2: “The Prize” Alec Price vs Willow Nightingale 

Price wastes NO TIME getting on Willow’s nerve through his entrance and introduction. She’s gonna keeeeeeeeeeeeeeel him....but first she has to suffer his disrespect at the bell. She gives it right back, pinching his cheeks and calling him a “little boy with no manners”. Big slam and a senton for two. Price absorbs a LOUD chest chop to set up a flying legdrop to the back of the head for two. Price unloading on Nightingale but she won’t stay down. Willow with a crucifix lock and pin attempt almost gets it. Price landing shots and stomps and they wind up in a slugfest in the center. Willow firing up, hitting a spinebuster and stacks the pin but Price won’t quit. Willow catches his punt kick into a rollup, Oklahoma Stampede! Price kicks out! Price with a tilt a whirl face buster for a CLOSE two. Willow is staggered but avoid a flying knee and unloads. Toss to the corner, cannonball....Price dodges the boot wash and hits the knee. Alec Price tries to hold ropes on a pin attempt but gets rolled up as the ref waves him off for the three count!

Winner: Willow Nightingale

Willow is fun to watch and I enjoyed seeing her give Price a taste of his own medicine back at him. Price was more work, less wild antics tonight but that didn’t stop his mouth. Good match. 
 

Match 3: “As Seen On TV” “Platinum” Max Caster vs SLADE (Submission Match)

Caster may be a TV megastar but this room loves the intense man from Rikers Island more. He has some bars to drop for the city of Worcester:
“Yo Yo Yo Yo 
Yo Yo YO Listen! 
I ain’t gonna freestyle
You didn’t pay me enough.”
XD

Max DOES KNOW you can submit to a beat down, right? SLADE with the beating on Caster, sends him out. Caster makes SLADE give chase and uses his speed to lock-up the shoulder. Caster continues to frustrate SLADE with disrespectful shots and holds until SLADE just slams him out of a hold and starts tossing the loudmouth around. SLADE sends him back out, chases him down and beats him up on the outside. Time for plunder. Time for a door. Max wants nothing to do with that and SLADE slams him to the wooden floor. SLADE sets up the door but Bryce Donovan appears from behind the curtain and shoves SLADE off the stage through the door. Caster is PRETTY CONFIDENT now as he batters SLADE back to the ring. Caster accidentally decks the post and SLADE is back in this fight. Bryce Donovan hits the ringside area but gets taken out. Max uses the distraction to wipes out SLADE’s knee on the apron. Caster with a figure-four off the corner post but SLADE won’t quit. Caster misses the Mic Drop, SLADE with belly to belly. Headbutt to the gut and a chokeslam to Caster. SLADE tries a dragon sleeper but Caster rolls through and hits a suplex to the corner. Caster with a sharpshooter.....SLADE struggles.....and powers Caaster off of him. Caster tries another figure-four but SLADE grabs a guillotine....Caster powers out but SLADE switches to a sleeper. Donovan tries to interfere, he gets him out. SLADE with an elbow to the back of Caster’s head and pulls him into a rear naked choke to get the tap out. Big cheer for SLADE getting this W. 

Winner: SLADE

Really, this being a submission match didn’t change the dynamic too much here. Max worked this like a submission match....SLADE worked a SLADE match and choked Max out in the end. I got the impression there could have been more f***ery involved but maybe the faceplant through the table put the brakes on some of that. 

Club Cam Zagami is out here during the Goodfellas entrance to invite them to be VIP’s in Club Cam. Their answer? Fuhgeddaboudit! As Verna drops Cam and makes the 3 count. Let’s get to the real match!

Match 4: Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers) vs The Goodfellas (Rex Muscarella & Mike Verna)

The 2021 Tournament For Tomorrow winners party their way to the ring as the Goodfellas look unamused. Muscarella looks even less amused when Watts calls him “a simp” and “Mr. Nightingale”. Rex with a giant back step “HEY I’M WALKING HEEEEEERE’ to Watts. The Man of Steel slams his partner onto both members of Milk Chocolate before hitting a delayed vertical suplex to Watts. Verna tries to stay on top but the double teaming antics of Milk Chocolate catch up with him. Milk Chocolate with a huge flurry of combination offense but the Man of Steel won’t stay down. Verna with a powerbomb to Summers to get distance, Rex gets the tag and blasts Watts with a pop up knuckle sammich. Package piledriver to Summers but he kicks out! Watts tries to powder the eyes of Rex but Muscarella just eats it. Chokeslam to the apron on Summers. Verna blasts Watts in the face. Gooodfelas with a suplex/moonsault combo to Summers but Watts pulls Quinn out. Goodfellas stack up Milk Chocolate. Watts powders Verna’s eyes. Summers ejects Rex from the ring and hits a double stomp to Verna’s back for the win.

Winners: Milk Chocolate

This was going pretty fun at first then something seemed like it went sideways mid match and the two teams never quite found their chemistry to the end. Goodfellas need to find that win after a pair of L’s. 

Match 5: Steve Maclin (FKA WWE’s Steve Cutler) vs Ted Goodz

Ted has had a pair of excellent matches in Beyond recently. Tonight he gets to show off against Maclin. Steve takes exception to the crowd cheering Goodz more than him and attacks during his introduction. Maclin with the aggressive beat down and powerslam. Goodz in the tree of woe and Maclin spears him out of it. Goodz catches a distracted Maclin with a knee and hits a flurry of elbows. Iconoclasm and cutter! Goodz gets the two! Maclin catches Goodz with a huge lariat and sitout tombstone for the emphatic pin and the crowd boooooooooooos. 

Winner: Steve Maclin

Goodz took Dickinson to the limit last month but got creamed here. Overall the crowd response was tepid for Maclin himself until Goodz showed up so they disliked him. Then he beat Goodz so then they hated him. Maclin is clearly frustrated by the crowd reaction and gets the mic. He name drops Hanson, Biff, and Gulak as telling him that Beyond is the place to be but he thinks his time was wasted by Ted Goodz (“THIS IS WHAT YOU GIVE ME?”) and he opens up an open challenge to anyone of any gender for a second match. TONY DEPPEN ANSWERS THE CALL!

Match 6: Steve Maclin vs Tony Deppen

DEPPEN IS WEARING THE ROH TV BELT ON IWTV TONIGHT! Deppen dodges an incoming Maclin, dive to the outside, missile dropkick back in. Deppen to the top but Maclin catches him back into the tree of woe and hits that spear again. Maclin beating up Deppen on the outside. Steve hits a leg larait and Deppen is down for two. Deppen tries to fire back but Maclin is powerful and elbows him off his feet. Maclin working the neck of Deppen but Tony is able to use his speed to frustrated Maclin and hit a diving knee to stun his much larger opponent. Maclin hits a double underhook backbreaker for two and transitions right into a boston crab. Deppen fights out and hits a springboard codebreaker, top rope double stomp and grabs a cross face chicken wing. Maclin drives Deppen into the buckles and hits a lariat for two. Deppen fires back but Maclin with a flurry of elbows downs Tony. Maclin going for that sitout tombstone, Deppen dodges several times and rolls up Maclin for the three count!

Winner: Steve Maclin

I mean, I want to make a joke about Maclin falling victim to classic 50/50 booking but I do wonder where he goes from here or even IF he is planned to come back for something. Dickinson made the most sense after he destroyed Goodz but Deppen beat him clean so maybe this was all it could be.

Match 7:  “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo vs Masha Slamovich 

Purrazzo backs Masha right into the corner. Masha shows she can hang with the Virtuosa and demands a test of strength....Deonna gets the hands, sweeps the leg and they work up and down through several pin attempts. Deonna blasts a kick to the side of the head but Masha back with a lariat and gets to shouting in Deonna’s face as she stomps her out. Big slam(ovich) and Masha drop a knee for two. Deonna fighting back but Masha grabs a cradle back suplex for two.  Masha loses her temper and posts herself. Deonna with the suplex out of the corner to a double down. Masha’s bleeding from the mouth after her encounter with the post as they trade chops to their feet. Purrazzo with a series of chops, high knee, Russian leg sweep into a deep arm bar. Masha powers out but eats a kick to the bloodied mouth. Masha slingshots and almost wins with an alligator clutch, Deonna is out but Masha grabs a leg lock. Deonna to the ropes and Masha is furious. Masha comes in but Deonna works her into a Fujiwara armbar.....she arches into it....Masha taps!

Winner: Deonna Purrazzo

Solid bout. Deonna has to weather the power and attitude of Masha to get the win here. Like last time, Masha attacks Deonna after the bell. She tries a piledriver but Willow Nightingale is out to break that up. She is sick of Masha pulling this these past few shows...and she wants her chance to catch this bad attitude. Willow lets Masha know she’s her opponent for WWR+ on 9/20. Yes please!

Match 8: “Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson vs Brogan Finlay

I liked Brogan at ACTION a lot but he’s got a tall test against the Dirty Daddy. Dickinson takes him right to the corner and gives a clean break. Chris tries to works a choke but Brogan drives him to the ropes. Finlay does NOT give a clean break, and with a disrespectful slap to the face (and a healthy “YOU F***ED UP” chant), Dickinson unloads on the kid. Dickinson working the leg early, Brogan chokes up Dickinson on the top rope and stomps out the hands. Finlay working over the chopping arms of Dickinson on the ropes, arguing with the ref. Dickinson gets his second wind and eats a bunch of lariats and punches that he walks through. Dickinson begging for that slugfest in the center but Brogan with a European uppercut for two. Dickinson catches him on the top and superplexes him to the mat. Finlay avoids the Death Valley driver but eats a back suplex for two. Dickinson is feeling confident as he stalks and chops. Brogan with a Finlay roll for two! Finlay comes running, Dickinson with the dragon screw. Daddy tries the figure four but Brogan with the rollup attempt. Dickinson with a big lariat and DVD....it’s ov—Brogan gets a shoulder up barely, I think? Dickinson is furious and DVD’s the ref and then covers Brogan for a audience-chanted three count....WAIT DOES THAT COUNT?

Winner: Since the crowd is not a referee, I’m gonna say “Brogan Finlay (by DQ)” even though Kris Levin wasn’t able to call for the bell. So maybe it’s a no contest? 

A fun stat: This was Brogan Finlay’s 8th match. Maybe he was in there with the Backbone of Beyond a little earlier in his career than some might expect but he gave a good showing for someone with his level of in-ring experience. I think there were a couple of points where I wanted to see more energy and fire from him, especially with the Dirty Daddy going into super sayan mode....but these are all instincts you grow into over time and I look forward to see how he develops as an in-ring talent over the next couple of years.  

Match 9: “The Afropunk” Trish Adora vs “The Dimepiece” Aaron Rourke

Rourke, unsurprisingly, doesn’t take Adora’s respectful handshake. She makes him pay by twisting up the hand he slapped her away with. Rourke tries to get his hands on her but Adora is throwing hands on the Dimepiece. Rourke takes control and stomps out those hands, and landing clubbing blows down on the Afropunk. She tries a rollup but Rourke kicks out to deliver more kicks and verbal abuse. Adora with a crucifix pin but Rourke hits a fallaway slam and preens to the boos of the crowd. Adora battles back with shots to the face. Rourke with a couple of thudding chest chops but Adora with a butterfly suplex to the buckles. Running hip attacks and a wheelbarrow powerbomb for two! She pulls him to the center and locks in the cattle mutilation but he rolls her up to escape. Strike battle in the center. Trading kicks and Adora hits a cross body. Rourke almost get trapped in a wrist lock but gets to the rope. He catches her with a kick on the rope and his a hangman’s X-Factor for a two. Rourke tries to flip out of the corner but Trish blasts him coming up with the Lariat Tubman and stacks the pin for three.

Winner: Trish Adora

“This is awesome” chants the crowd. Yeah it was. Rourke and. Adora notch another good showing on their match cards. Rourke still won’t take Adora’s respectful handshake. This was a really good slow burner of a match. Rourke is mad about the loss and throws a temper tantrum at the merch table which brings him from words to blows with Teddy Goodz. Their scuffle turns into a full-on pull apart brawl with Rourke storming off to the back once cooler heads prevailed. 

Main Event: Wheeler Yuta(c) vs Lee Moriarty vs Dave Cole (Dogfight for the IWTV Championship)

SO WHAT IS A DOGFIGHT? It’s a three person match, cycling through one-on-one matches where you have to get consecutive wins over BOTH of your opponents to win the overall match. The inactive wrestler stays at ringside but is FORBIDDEN from interfering. Sidney Bakabella say “This could go all night!”. I’ve never written this type of format before so....let’s see how this goes! Yuta is out with his new group of miscreants: Richard Holliday, Alexander James and Logan Easton Laroux but they head to the back.....for now. After being reminded that Lee’s name is still on his title, Yuta demands Cole be the first inactive participant because he wants TAIGASTYLE now. 

Round 1: Yuta vs Lee - Fast pin attempts out the gate. Lee smiling as he works Yuta to the ground. Yuta fighting back but Moriarty is in firm control of Yuta’s arm and wrist. Lee gets Yuta to the ground to tangle up the ankle and transition into a STF. Yuta fires back finally with a gutwrench slam and tries to wrench at the neck but Lee slips and works the wrist some more. Yuta tries a crucifix pin but Lee pops his hips repeatedly to damage the back. Lee with a high angle springboard arm drag and kick to the arm. Yuta sent to the outside and he pulls Dave Cole into the way of a diving Lee. Yuta brough back in and Lee stomps out the arm from the top and locks in a Fujiwara armbar. Cole hops onto the apron and clubs Lee from behind, allowing Yuta to get a bridging pin for the three.

Round 2: Yuta vs Cole - Cole clubbing and chopping at Yuta until he’s slammed. The crowd is in Yuta’s head with these “Dave Cole” chants. Yuta firing up with kicks, a german suplex....Yuta going for his hanging submission but Cole rolls him up for the pin! OMG!

Round 3: Cole vs Lee - Lee is in like fire with a double stomp to the face. Cole trying to speed up but Lee goes into overdrive, slamming Cole to the mat for two. Cole dodges and tries a double stomp. Lee dodges and hits a flatliner for the three.

Round 4: Lee vs Yuta - Yuta in hard and steps and stomps on Lee’s face. Big chops from the champ as Cole recovers at ringside. Yuta with a delay vertical suplex and works the arm and shoulder more. Lee jacks the jaw and hits a crossbody. Yuta catches another crossbody and wraps Lee in his hanging cloverleaf. Lee taps out to it again!

Round 5: Yuta vs Cole - Cole runs in and wrap Yuta up in a head and arm choke. Yuta gets the rope. Yuta to the top but ends up across Cole knee. Draped on the top rope, Cole with a hangman’s double stomp. Kick out! Yuta with an atomic drop and Cole gets dropped on his head for two. Yuta misses a senton HARD and Cole hits a sidewalk slam for the three.

Round 6: Cole vs Lee - Lee gets right in and chops the heck out of Cole on the top rope. He wants the superplex....Cole rakes the eyes! Lee comes running, Cole tries a tarantula but Lee with a gory stretch into a backslide pin.

Round 7: Lee vs Yuta - Yuta runs in and immediately germans Lee for the three count.

Round 8: Yuta vs Cole - Cole runs in with a roll up on Yuta for the three. 

Round 9: Cole vs Lee - Lee tries a roll up...kick out! Yakuza kick from Cole! Tiger driver! Kick out! Lee catches Cole running in with a spike ddt or the pin. 

Round 10: Lee vs Yuta - Yuta from the heavens. Drops an elbow from the top on Lee to get the pin. 

Round 11: Yuta vs Cole - Cole in fast and tries a tiger driver, Yuta dodges and wraps Cole in his hanging cloverleaf submission for the tap out. Yuta retains! BOOOOOOOO, says Worcester. 

Winner (And Stillllllllll): Wheeler Yuta.

This was a LOT of fun. This was 20 min and the final 5 falls happened in a frantic span of about 3 min. Lee and Yuta worked a truncated version of last month’s MOTY candidate in the opening minutes before the drama of this match type REAALLY took hold. I MIGHT like it more than a traditional 3-way, tbh? But please let’s also not work this one to death, other promotions. Of course, now Dave Cole’s got three pinfalls over the current IWTV champ....so that’s a thing. Yuta’s group hits the ring immediately after the match ends and stomps out Lee and Cole while the crowd boos them out of the building. Matt Makowski is out to help but he’s not enough! Chris Dickinson and Tony Deppen fly in to even the odds finally and Yuta’s boys turn tail and get out of there. A lot of these guys want a shot at what Wheeler Yuta has. Everyone leaves, letting Dave Cole soak up the energy of the Beyond crowd, who have surrounded the ring and pound the canvas for the Beyond Original. Dave Cole closes out the show on the mic, thanking everyone. “No matter where I am, just know that Dave Cole loves you”. <3

And that’s it for Project Dolphin! Beyond had the unenviable task of trying to follow up a legit MOTY in their last show with this card. So did tonight’s offering top that show? Honestly, no....but I don’t think that’s bad. I thought it was a SOLID card start to finish, though it had a couple of weird bumps along the way..I’m definitely still not sure what the OFFICIAL result of that Dickinson/Finlay match was. The crowd was invested through this and definitely helped bring the atmosphere up overall, especially with their reactions to debuting and returning talent. Overall, this was a good watchable wrestling show that I would easily take in again over other options presented. Adora/Rourke and Willow/Price (extra shout out to Willow for being an extra great talker tonight) were standouts for me though I’d definitely recommend taking a look at the main event for the emotional journey of a returning Dave Cole, alongside this interesting dogfight match type! You can check this show out on IWTV when it hits VOD soon (promo code: BEYOND)!

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