PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

7/1 BEYOND WRESTLING 'MASTERCLASS' REPORT

Beyond Wrestling “Masterclass”

7/1/21 - Worcester, MA

Streaming Live on IWTV

After WWR+ a couple weeks ago, Willow Nightingale called her shot against reigning IWTV champion Wheeler Yuta. But Yuta has his new goon squad in tow tonight, all with matches on the card. Dutch makes his return to Beyond but I suspect his tag partner Dan Barry will be expecting a different version of his friend. Atticus Cogar and SLADE promise a wild throw down tonight (especially after SLADE massacred Matthew Justice in the finale of Signature Series earlier this year). The ringside chairs are gone. The room is packed. The Beyond crowd is back at the apron where they belong. As the room fills up, I realize this is indeed the Beyond Wrestling ambience I’ve missed. Rich Palladino is your ring announcer. Paul Crockett and (a man I own 2 action figures of) Sidney Bakabella are your commentary team tonight as we go live on IWTV. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to say this but…..We’re on the road to Americanrana!

Masha Slamovich & Jody Threat make their respective energetic entrances. Cam Zagami cuts off the start of the match to take notice of both these ladies as potential VIP’s in Club Cam. He says the winner of tonight’s match gets the invite. They look….overjoyed. 

Match 1: “The Wild Child” Jody Threat vs “The Russian Dynamite” Masha Slamovich

This crowd is cheering for Jody as much as they are booing the disrespectful Slamovich. Threat powers her into the corner and, at least for now, Masha is very aware of the rules of engagement and fair play here. Of course, Masha lands a cheap shot but Threat’s back with a powerful suplex. Threat with a kick from the apron and a lariat for two. Masha dodges and Jody winds up tangled into the ropes. Slamovich dragging her opponents around by the hair and landing a s tuff kick to the back for two. Masha with a big larait for another near fall. Masha starts working over Threat’s neck ands shoulders in the ropes. Big sitout slam and a confident pin but Jody Threat is still just that. Masha tries to choke her out but Threat reverses and strangles Slamovich. Threat gets distance and hits a spear out of the blue. Threat with a hot shot, double knees into the ropes and german suplex for two! Crowd willing Threat to rally and take out Masha. Trading reversals, Threat hits a pump handle slam. Masha ain’t done and stuns her on the rope. Half and Half back drop from Masha, kick out! Pile driver reversed. Masha with a spinning back kick and lands that piledriver for the three count

Winner: Masha Slamovich

Cam Zagami is right in to praise Masha and offer her a spot to…..WORK at Club Cam. Masha smiles and takes his glasses off….Cam smiles. Masha decks Cam and strangles him on the turnbuckles and flips him off. The crowd may have been behind Threat for this one….but they sure do HAAAAAAAATE Club Cam. This match had a lot of energy. Threat has improved so much over the last few years and Masha is in the middle of a breakout run on the indies. Enjoyed this a lot. 
 

Match 2: “The Prize” Alec Price vs “The Professional” Rhett Titus 

One half of the ROH tag champs makes his Beyond debut against an absolute wild child in Alec Price, who has the Beyond faithful at his back tonight. Titus offers the handshake….Price kicks it away and the crowd goes wild. Titus drags Price to the ground but he manages to scramble away from that grind. Price is hanging trouble hanging with Titus’ superior ground game, getting brought to the canvas over and over. Price eats a powerslam and takes a powder. “Who’s Gahbahge now???” Says Titus as he slingshots Price back into a bridging slam for two. Price dodges andd lands a pair of flying knees. Wheelbarrow slam out of the corner for two. Titus recovers and beats up Price post to post. Titus gets caught confident again and Price starts dropping knees. Titus won’t stay down. Trading pin attempt sequences until Titus just throws the kid across the ring. Titus gets the wrist and lands a series of lariats before hitting a crazy double underhook airplane spin slam for two. Price fails a rollup with a handful of tights. He reverses Titus into a facebuster for another close call. The crowd is evenly split between these two now. Price tries another flying knee but Titus sends him into a loosened turnbuckle. Price is hurt here and Titus targets that knee. He slams Price down on it before sinking in a deep single leg crab. Alec doesn’t give up though. He escapes a rollup attempts and rebounds and hits a PK that starches Titus for the three. 

Winner: Alec Price

This was fantastic. The Worcester crowd can be hostile to higher profile newcomers taking on their local favorites but Rhett Titus earned this room’s respect tonight. Alec Price just got the biggest win of his Beyond run here. Titus offers the handshake of respect again….Price fakes it out and heads to the back. 

Match 3: “The Dimepiece” Aaron Rourke vs Teddy Goodz

Rourke and Goodz are right in each other’s faces after their encounter last month. This turns right into a back and forth brawl, reversing the mount and dropping bombs on each other’s. Kicks and chops in the corner, Goodz hits a lariat and backdrop to take control and sends Rourke to the floor with an atomic drop. The New England veteran chops Rourke loudly around the apron. Aaron manages to slam Goodz to the apron and hit a running dropkick to regain the advantage. Rourke gets too absorbed with treating Goodz like a peasant and eats some physical rebuttal to that idea. Rourke starts tearing at Goodz’ face and stomps him down in the corner. Rourke wants Goodz to know this is HIS ring. Rourke with some WEEEEEEEEAK chops in the corner (so judged the crowd) and he opts to strangle Teddy on the buckles. Goodz with a slap to the face and send him flying back to earth with an iconoclasm. Goodz throwing running elbows to the head and a tries to finish him off with a backpack stunner. Rourke rakes the eyes and hits a backstabber for two. Goodz rallies and turns Rourke inside out. Goodz hits the backpack stunner off the corner and Rourke is down for the count. 

Winner: Teddy Goodz

Music immediately hits……Goodz looks confused. It’s “My Way”….OH NO IT’S MARK STERLING. Smart Mark is back in Worcester and Goodz looks happy to see his New England veteran friend….the crowd makes sure to remind him how much they hate him. Sterling is upset that Goodz has become a fan favorite….but he’s more upset that Goodz is presenting himself as a “toy expert” when Sterling has his own prestigious toy podcast. Of course, he runs down the crowd and Worcester and challenges Goodz to a match. Goodz reminds Sterling that he’s not a television star…he just carries bags for them. Goodz wants the match now. Sterling doesn’t. They’ll do it in August….oh wait, Sterling says the match isn’t against HIM. On August 5th, Teddy Goodz gets to fight one of Sterling’s clients. The crowd requests Jade Cargill. Good solid match, GREAT fun promo segment, even if “who is the REAL toy expert” is a pretty silly reason for a wrestling feud. I sure hope Sterling brings Alex Reynolds with him next time, I’ll start practicing my BOOOOOOOS. 

Match 4: Faith in Nothing (Ricky Shane Page & Vincent Nothing) vs Dan Barry & Dutch

So Dan Barry is in full Detective mode….Dutch is very much NOT. If you don’t follow ROH, he’s gone full swamp cult as a member of the Righteous. RSP makes his hero’s return to Beyond with his Faith in Nothing partner. Dan Barry and RSP kick this off but both are really just off put by Dutch’s general demeanor. Dan and RSP go through some methodical chain sequences and reversals on a wrist lock before working some fast pin sequences to a standstill and applause. Nothing tags in. Dutch stares impassively as Dan Barry asks for tag. Nothing drives Barry into the corner and forces the tag to Dutch. Dutch seems annoyed as Barry tries to work some of their old tag spots and proceeds to beat the tar out of Nothing. Barry tags in, convinces Dutch to go back to the corner and walks into a fireman’s carry neckbreaker and additional beatings at the hands of Faith in Nothing. RSP continues to beat on Barry and taunts Dutch, who continues to stare from the apron. Dan Barry gets space and makes the crawl to the corner. Dutch won’t make the tag and Vincent pulls Dan back into a leg lock. Dutch is unmoved by his friend’s pain as FiN continue the assault. Barry gets dragged to the top rope but is able to jump up and rana RSP from that perch. Dan Barry crawls to the rope again and Dutch finally gets the program and slowly puts his hand out to take the tag. Dutch unloading punishment and destroying both members of Faith in Nothing. Dan Barry with a moonsault to the outside and Dutch follows with a cannonball over the top. Team Tremendous is waking up. Barry with a lionsault for two. RSP clears Dutch and hit Barry with a magic killer style lungblower. Dutch breaks up the pin, double clothesline FiN. Boss man slam to Vincent but RSP with the blind tag and hangs out on the outside. Barry to the top and they hit their sliced bread doomsday device to Nothing….but RSP pops in with the choke breaker to Dan Barry for the three count while Dutch’s instincts don’t kick in and he watches his partner take the fall.

Winners: Faith in Nothing

This was great. This could have gone into more of a comedy angle but Dan Barry played it more like a handicap match. Lots of fun in the action here and the crowd popped hard when Dutch seemed like his old self briefly. I thought about the smart zombie in “Day of the Dead” a little here with how Dutch played his role tonight.  Faith in Nothing weren’t exactly HEELS in this match but they were definitely amused by Dutch leaving his partner out to dry. Post-match, Dutch helps Dan Barry up and gives him a slow hug….but doesn’t let go of his wrist….and blasts a huge clothesline and reaffirms his devotion to the Righteous with a ripcord boss man slam. Dan Barry is hurt and betrayed as he struggles to the curtain. 

Match 5: Brogan Finlay vs Alexander James

This never gets going…..Alexander James, Wheeler Yuta, Logan Easton Laroux and Richard Holliday ambush Brogan Finlay during his entrance and give a 4-on-1 beat down. They set up Brogan for what looks like a henious wheelbarrow guillotine legdrop. Chris Dickinson hits the ring and makes the save! Yuta’s crew isn’t up for a tangle with the Dirty Daddy in this condition. Dickinson may have been suspended after last month but he challenges James (the NEW GUY) on the spot to a match if he really wants to prove himself in Beyond. 

Match 5 (take 2): “Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson vs Alexander James

Dickinson swarms with slams and suplexes and sends James to the post before he gets distracted by Yuta’s crew. James starts to work over Dickinson’s head and neck.  DIckinson tries to fire back but James with a back elbow to the chest sends him back to the canvas. James working a heel hook and abdominal stretch on the dirty daddy. James comes from the top and whiffs the splash. Dickinson catches his second wind takes James off his feet with a flying spin kick. Deep STF. Laroux hits the apron, distracting Dickinson and allowing James to pick the leg back into that heel hook. James tries to pick him up but eats a dragon screw. Richard Holliday tries to interfere but Brogan Finlay cuts that off. Yuta tries to distracts from the other side but a miscommunication with James allows Dickinson to roll him up for the pin. 

Winner: Chris Dickinson

Solid match but did we need to throw Beyond’s lethal enforcer at Yuta’s new group so soon? They may have gotten more heat by finishing that beat down and getting the pin in a full squash. Anyways -> Tony Deppen is out immediately to help further even the odds as Yuta’s crew decides to swarm the ring again on Dickinson and Finlay. They huddle in the corner while the ROH TV Champ awaits his opponent but Deppen’s got this and he sends Dickinson and Finlay to the back.

Match 6: Tony Deppen vs “The Air Pod God” Richard Holliday

Holliday confidently uses the ropes to back off a very hyped up Deppen. Holliday then uses his strength and agility to keep Deppen grounded and frustrated. Deppen finally sweeps the feet and delivers a double stomp to the back of the head. Running knee drop to the neck and a kick sends Holliday to the floor. Deppen wants a dive but the air pod god drags him out and works his back over on the apron. Yuta’s boys share a high five, long enough for Deppen to dropkick Holliday off the apron and tope out to the center aisle. Holliday catches him running with a backdrop flapjack. Deppen wants a springboard but Holliday dropkicks him off of that perch….and he barely makes the count back in. Holliday stomps out Deppen’s hands and feet and hits a neckbreaker for two. Deppen sucks it up and delivers a flurry of chops, palmstrikes and kicks. Holliday weathers it and rag dolls Deppen with a corner clothesline. Holliday tearing at the face of Deppen, who chops his way out of danger. Springboard shotgun dropkick but only a two. Holliday with a pair of backbreakers and a popup slap. Big sitout powerbomb from Holliday. Kick out! Deppen with a superplex! Death Valley Driver! Double stomp off the top! Kick out! Deppen goes back to the top to finish the job. Holliday moves! Deppen tries a double knees but Holliday dodges. 2008 neckbreaker! Holiday has the cover but Deppen’s under the rope. Sequence of pin attempts and reversals. Deppen kicks the knees out of Holliday and slickly secures the legs for the three count. 

Winner: Tony Deppen

Deppen’s great. Holliday’s great. Liked this matchup a lot but this is now 2 losses in 2 matches for Yuta’s new stable. Are they thoroughbreds or just asses? Super entertaining fight. 

Match 7: “The Afropunk” Trish Adora vs “The Coastal Elite” Logan Easton Laroux

Now it’s Laroux’s turn to prove he can hold his own for Boss Yuta. Unfortunately, the Afropunk is across the ring from him tonight. Adora is understandly wary at Yuta’s goons, beaten but still at ringside and ready to cause mayhem. Trish send him packing to the outside and they have a little roundup to talk strateegery. Logan with a boot to Adora but that’s about all he gets as she arm drags him right out to the the floor again. Man, wrestlers love diving into the camera wires tonight, huh? Adora comes out to bring Logan back in but his friends distract and he crossbodies her through the ropes. Adora makes the count at nine but Logan is waiting with more punishment. Adora tries to work into an arm bar but Logan slams her to the buckle to break it up. Stomps and a kick to the face from Logan. Leg lariat for two. LOgan comes running and eats forearms. Trish with a cross body and corners splashes. Hip attack in the corner and wheelbarrows him out for the sitout powerbomb. Logan eats a boot to the face and runs into a sidewalk slam backbreaker. Kick out! Crowd is FIRMLY behind Trish Adora as she drags him down for the cattle mutilation. Alexander James pulls her leg to break the hold, Logan hits a superkick that flattens her. Cover? Kick out! Logan with a sleeper and Holliday pulls the ropes away. Adora gets space but James distracts the ref, allowing Yuta to hit a dropkick to the face of Trish and Logan gets the pin here.

Winner: Logan Easton Laroux. 

Finally, Yuta’s stupidcide squad figures it out and manages to get one over on an opponent! Trish has looked great in every encounter she’s had in Beyond but this really highlighted Laroux’s work and helped him stand out as the lone winner amongst Yuta’s underlings.  Yuta’s goons send a fallen Trish packing as Willow Nighingale makes her way down to the ring for her championship opportunity. This is a tall task for the babe with the power. 

Match 8: Willow Nightingale vs Wheeler Yuta(c) (for the IWTV Championship)

This is the 98th defense of the IWTV championship (and Yuta’s 2nd defense). The crowd WANTS a new champ tonight in Willow, who is undefeated in Beyond since she made her return from neck surgery in 2019. Willow is ready to put that work in but Yuta keep disengaging and taking a rest. Willow with a gutwrench slam and starts to work over the champs’ head and neck. Yuta is a technician and tries to sneak in those pins while Willow is taking him for a ride. Alexander James tries to coach Yuta but he opts to get into Willow’s face. The goon squad hits the ring and Ref Quinn finally ejects them from the building. Yuta tries to blindside a celebrating Nightingale but she’s ready for it. Yuta clubbed down and gets hit with a pair of running sentons for two. Yuta finally sweeps the leg and slingshots a stomp to the back of Willow’s head. Yuta stalks with stomps and strikes but she offers back some shots of her own. Yuta wraps up the legs and locks in a bridging STF. Willow breaks free but Yuta is all over her. Yuta fails a suplex and eats three amigos for a near fall. Yuta gets her off her feet again and hits a dropkick to the back for two. Yuta clubbing at Willow and choking her on the ropes. Willow fighting back, big lariats! Spinebuster for two! Yuta misses a dive! Willow hits the Oklahoma Stampede! The champ kicks out! WIillow caught coming off the ropes into a boston crab. “Please don’t tap!” Chants the crowd as Willow works her way free. Yuta with an Olympic slam but Willow has more power for him. Willow cartwheels out of a whip into a superkick.  Willow sent out, Yuta dives after her. Yuta rolls her back in and hits a top rope elbow. Kick out! Back and forth forearms get that good “Boo/Yay” stuff going. Willow rebounds and hits a pounce! Corner cannonball! Willow hits a top rope moonsault! Yuta kicks out! Fighting on the apron, Willow hits a DVD to the apron and Yuta crumbles to the floor. Willow gets him back in but Yuta slow rolls out the other way to get some extra time. Willlwo brings him back. Small package! He doesn’t get it. Defiant slap from the champ and an enraged Willow thez presses him and swarms with strikes. Willow tries to finish but Yuta hits a snap suplex to the buckles and picks her up into the Yu-Tap submission. He arches that hanging cloverleaf in deep and Willow has to tap.

Winner (And Still Champ): Wheeler Yuta

100% Match of the Night for me. I love Yuta in general but he has been on an absolute warpath of fantastic matches in Beyond since The Masked Wrestler. Willow was even more over than usual with the crowd tonight, who really wanted to see the Babe with the Power become the Babe with the Belt. Willow came to fight and gave Yuta almost more than he could handle. As soon as the match ends, Yuta’s chumps hit the ring to attack Willow but Matt Makowski arrives to run them off, saying he’s happy to tap them all out again if they’d like. Pretty Proper makes their way to the ring for the next match and they don’t seem to have many good things to say to Yuta’s group either. 

Match 9: “The Savage Gentleman” Viktor Benjamin (w/ Lady Frost) vs “Weapon X” Matt Makowski

A real handshake at the start of this manly encounter. They wrestle through the lock up until Makowski sends his opponent flying to the mat. Benjamin gets ahold of the wrist and tries to work that to a rear naked choke. Makowski gets out and lands knees in the clinch before starting to work on that arm bar. Some stiff MMA style stand up back and forth, trading strike sand checking kicks. Viktor with a backfist but Makowski cracks him and Benjamin crumbles. Makowski working at the legs and eats a solid upkick. Viktor with the corner spear and a running uppercut for two. Makowski with a flurry of strikes and picks the leg out of into a knee bar. Viktor’s in pain but makes the ropes. Trading standup offense again, Viktor with a flying kick and a high vertical slam for two. Makowski tries to reverse a slingshot but turns into a spear. “NOW THAT’S SAVAGE!” Makowski drops him off the taunt and a splash off the corner only keep the peanut butter king down for two. Makowski with big muscles and powerbombs Viktor for another two count. Makowski immediately wraps up the head of Viktor and puts him to sleep. 

Winner: Matt Makowski

I really enjoyed this MMA-style contest coming on the heels of Yuta & Willow’s indie classic. Makowski leaves the ring and as soon as he’s away, Yuta and his pile of dorks run in to beat up Viktor Benjamin and force Lady Frost to watch them put the hurt on her husband. Makowski? No where in sight. Anyone? Nah. No one is left to save anyone tonight. Viktor Benjamin gets wheelbarrowed by the goons and Yuta hits a guillotine legdrop to put the Savage Gentleman down. Lady Frost cries over his fallen body screaming “somebody help!” While the IWTV champ poses for the camera. I like big group finishers. This is a good one. 

Main Event: “Silver Teeth Satan” Atticus Cogar vs SLADE (No Disqualification)

No DQ main event? These two? I’m betting I’ll have to vacate these chairs. RIng the bell and Cogar with the shotgun dropkick…..SLADDE is right up and dumps him on his head. SLADE goes right for the hardware, for some chair and doors. Door set up in the corner, they wrestle over position and SLADE suplexes them both out of the ring, his head colliding with the apron on the way down. Trading chair shots on the floor, SLADE is a bloody mess as he rages and chokes Cogar with broken pieces of chair. Cogar sends him to the post and rams his bloodies face into a chair wedged in the buckles. Cogar gets out the green skewers and SLADE gets a mouthful of them. Cogar stabs up his back with the skewers and then gives the kind of Rikers Island his crown. OH GOD. Huge chair shot to the bloodies SLADE further but he’s REALLY MAD now. SLADE still has a skewer stuck and hanging from his back while he’s taking bumps. Cogar sets an upside down chair but SLADE catches and slams him through that. OW. SLADE grabs a kendo stick and offers it to Cogar. He wants more! SLADE eats kendo shots to the head before hitting a pair of enraged chokeslams almost through the mat. Cogar gets chokeslammed through a chair in the ring. This drags out to the floor. SLADE is sent into the chairs (not mine), raked by a cheese grater and eats an air raid crash through an upside down trash can. BRUTAL. Cogar gives SLADE another crown of skewer back in the ring but misses the headlock driver. A pissed off SLAD rips the skewers from his head and charges Cogar through a door and drags him to the mat and puts him to sleep with a rear naked choke. 

Winner: SLADE

SLADE is a bloody mess. This was exactly what I expected and wanted: chaos and violence. The crowd was behind both guys here (I was actually surprised at that since I’m more used to Cogar as a nuclear heat magnet) and they put on a sanguine showcase to close the night out. SLADE grabs the mic? “I’m unbreakable…..and I want WHEELER YUTA!”. SLADE exits out the fire door to wander the streets of Worcester, covered in blood. That will go well, I’m sure! Between Makowski, Viktor Benjamin and now SLADE? Wheeler Yuta has some problems in his future, regardless of his flying monkeys. 

And that’s it for”Masterclass”. So here’s my review in two words “HOLY S***”. This was the Beyond I’ve been missing: Not only a dance between the participants in the ring but an exchange and escalation of energies between those same wrestlers and a very energetic and amped up Worcester crowd. The whole show is worth your time but absolutely watch Yuta vs Willow and Price vs Titus from this one. Great stuff all around. 

Next on the books in Worcester is WWR+ which returns on Sunday July 18th. Beyond’s next outing is Thursday Aug 5th but, like I said at the top of this: Americanrana is coming….on Sunday Aug 22nd. A lot of stuff got set in motion tonight. Let’s go! 

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet