Uncharted Territory, Season 2 Episode 10

December 5, 2019

Live from the White Eagle in Worcester, MA









I was bound and determined NOT to miss a moment of this week’s Uncharted Territory despite having an all-day work retreat in Nashville, Tennessee on the same day...and I’ll say that this surely solidifies my status as a Beyond Wrestling fan but it’s pretty easy for anyone to say they’d rather watch good wrestling than hang out and drink with people you work with and already spent the whole damn day with. With that stated, let’s get into this week’s offering!

Tonight’s commentary: Paul Crockett and Sidney Bakabella

We were treated to Wheeler Yuta on commentary for the Hirsch/Mack match as he (forcibly) made Bakabella go take a break. Despite how much I enjoy the guest commentary from regulars like Yuta and Josh Briggs it’s the weekly Crockett/Bakabella interaction that gives Uncharted Territory a great deal of its charm.

Spotlight Match: Mike Skyros vs. Dakota Orion

I unfortunately only got to hear this week’s Spotlight Match as I had my pods in during dinner and had to talk to people instead of eat and watch like my antisocial ass prefers to do. Thanks to Zack Zimmerman (Twitter: @dotnetzim ) for this result of what sounded like a fine match: “Dakota Orion pinned Mike Skyros with a 450 in the dark # UnchartedTerritory opener. Good showing from 2 young guys.”

Match 1: Brandon Thurston vs. Jay Freddie

Dude what the fuck? I’ve been waiting all season for this rubber match and when it happens I’m stuck in an Uber ride still listening to IWTV which keeps cutting out because for some reason my signal was spotty in the downtown district of a budding Southern metropolis. Thankfully Dennis has me covered on the review of the first match, which I bet I would have been upset with anyway since I heard about the finish before I saw it. Much obliged, Dennis!

“The Freddie/Thurston feud will go down as one of the greatest Uncharted Territory feuds of all time. The two have such great chemistry together that every match is just a treat to watch. But in professional wrestling, even the best of the best make mistakes. Unfortunately, tonight, Jay Freddie took a fall from the top turnbuckle, landing face first onto the floor. A very lively crowd became instantly quiet, and the situation seemed very dire. IWTV went to stock video footage and twitter exploded in well wishes and fear for Freddie.

Thankfully, about ten or so minutes after the incident, Beyond Wrestling owner, Drew Cordeiro, joined the announce table to give us an update on Freddie. He was up and alert and joking .. we then heard a huge crowd reaction of applause as Freddie got up and walked off on his own, with an embarrassed smile.”

Match 2: Anthony Greene (with Ava Everett) vs. CJ Cruz (Tournament for Tomorrow match)

Last week Josh Briggs announced this year’s Tournament for Tomorrow; it was exciting because this would mean we’d get to see the top talent in the New England indies have their own opportunity to shine. We didn’t know how unpredictable this tournament would be, though! I’ve been impressed by CJ Cruz before and was happy to see him in the first match for the tournament and up against someone as solid as AG. These two put on a damn good match that maintained a quick pace with plenty of near falls, and by the end of the match Cruz proved that regardless of the winner he had a place in Beyond Wrestling. Not only did he prove himself by bringing out his A-game, but Cruz even pulled out the upset win over Greene after a rollup pin and advanced in the tournament. We were all surprised, but as the match ended we see Josh Briggs disapprovingly staring at AG...not shocked, but definitely not happy.

Match 3: Leyla Hirsch vs. AC Mack

After accompanying Leyla to the ring, Wheeler Yuta is on commentary with Crockett for this match. I’m happy to see the Yuta/Leyla (Yeyla?) partnership continue and not just be a one-off deal. Leyla’s out to shut Mack’s big mouth and Mack is out to show the hell off, starting out by humiliating announcer Rich Palladino by making him hold both of Mack’s title belts high while the loudmouth from the South did his *own* introduction. Mack is a terrific heel, I’m loving how he’s making Uncharted Territory his own thing. Very Deppen-esque indeed. Leyla seemed very close to putting Mack in his place, though, because this was definitely not a one-sided situation seeing the obvious size advantage - Leyla’s strong as hell with legs that could snap a man in half. This was Mack’s night, however, and he got the pinfall win on Hirsch after she missed a moonsault, giving Mack the advantage to hit his finisher on the Legit badass. Just as it looked as if Mack was going for a post-match attack on Leyla, Yuta was quick to go from the commentary table to the ring to defend his partner, forcing Mack to retreat. This has officially become a feud! Later we find out via backstage interview that next week’s show will have a tag match with Yuta/Leyla teaming up to face AC Mack and Fred Yehi. Not only is the feud on, but it’s shaping up to be a mighty nice one.

Match 4: NDK vs Team Pazuzuhausen (Danhausen and Pinkie Sanchez)

NDK all fuckin’ day! It was easy to root for both teams in this tag match as it’s impossible to dislike Team Pazuzuhausen and everybody loves the hell out of NDK. The big question here was if NDK would continue their ongoing winning streak against Danhausen and El Presidente. I’m starting to wonder if there’s a potential crack in the foundation of team NDK, however, as we all know Nick Gage is only entertained when there’s pain and blood being inflicted on someone else (by him, of course), and Thomas Santell remains the exact opposite despite having a harder edge thanks to his association with Gage. This became evident when Gage went after Danhausen with what looked like a prison shank after Danhausen attempted to break up a Santell submission on Sanchez by hitting Santell with the dreaded jar of teeth. Santell and Gage exchanged heated words and for a moment it certainly seemed as if there was some dissention in the ranks. If there was trouble in the team, though, it didn’t manifest itself tonight as NDK went on to get another win after Gage and Santell hit a spike piledriver from the top rope on Sanchez and Gage got the pin and win for the team.

To add insult to Team Pazuzuhausen’s loss, Larry Legend immediately came out flaunting the stolen Pazuzuhausen kneepad followed by Chuck O’Neil, who came to the ring but Danhausen and Sanchez were ready to fight this time. Despite their efforts to give a well-deserved beatdown to O’Neil, Team Pazuzuhausen couldn’t take out the Cold Steel and we were once again subjected to see Larry Legend and Chuck O’Neil gloat over their domination. Later backstage when interviewed, Larry announced that Team Pazuzuhausen was dead and finished thanks to O’Neil...but I have a feeling a certain Dirty Daddy will be home very soon to put his house back in order!

Match 5: Masha Slamovitch vs. Aaron Rourke (Discovery Gauntlet)

Aaron Rourke is back again this week and glittered up and as saucy as ever! After his huge win last week over Gary Jay I wondered if it was a fluke win or if Rourke was the real deal. This match with Slamovitch (great to see her debut on Uncharted Territory after seeing Masha in other promotions recently) would be a big test for Rourke, and I would love to see a woman finally advance in the Gauntlet. The Russian Dynamite looked remarkable in this match against Rourke but it looks as if the glittery and self-proclaimed “Perfection Personified” is not at all here by chance, quirk, or accident. Rourke advances again after submitting Masha to a modified figure-four leglock (elevated into a nice figure-eight leglock), and his post-match comments were full of vitriol and bile towards the Uncharted Territory crowd who refuses to accept their returning Gauntlet winner despite Rourke demonstrating how effective he is in the ring on two occasions. He can talk all the shit he wants, though - anyone’s only as good as their last win and the Gauntlet only gets rougher from here!

Match 6: Josh Briggs vs. Alec Price (Tournament for Tomorrow match)

Now was the time for the established Beyond talent to shine! It seemed pretty clear that Briggs wanted this win in the tournament to advance and to make up for AG’s loss to CJ Cruz earlier in the evening, as it was a rough start to the tournament for the established Beyond talent. Alec Price makes his Uncharted Territory main-show debut here in the Tournament and it’s pretty easy to count this kid out here before the match even starts; Josh Briggs is the EVOLVE champion and has a frightening strength and size advantage over Price. You have to admire Price for his guts, however, and if he was intimidated by Briggs he didn’t waste time showing it at all. What we thought would be an easy victory for Briggs looked to be locked up...and then the shock of the night happened. If you were surprised to see CJ Cruz defeat Anthony Greene earlier in the evening, then maybe you were a little more surprised by what happened next. Or could we have predicted this whole thing after seeing Briggs so disappointed by Greene’s loss? Ava Everett is immediately out to the ring as Briggs was close to winning the match. She distracts the ref and the next thing we see is AG himself in the ring...and in the middle of the confusion he SUPERKICKS Josh Briggs in the face! These guys were supposed to be tried and true friends, what the absolute hell? Price takes the advantage, gets the win, and advances in the tournament. The rest of us are in absolute disarray over AG’s betrayal as Price celebrates his victory. What comes next for Greene and Briggs...and what’s going to happen to the Platinum Hunnies as a result of this? It’s tough to see this friendship break, but it’s highly intriguing to see where this will go from here!

Match 7: John Silver vs. Jake Atlas

Tonight’s main event would be a bittersweet one as this would be Jake Atlas’s final appearance on Uncharted Territory before moving on to Orlando and NXT. However, just as we have indy stars rising to the big money level we have indy stars coming up to take their rightful position at the head of the class. This latter situation is a nice spot for John Silver to be right now, as he’s demonstrated for weeks now that he is - without a doubt - main event material. This main event was also notable as it meant we’d see a future NXT debut facing off against an AEW competitor. Atlas must have wanted to go out with a bang because this match was an absolute banger. I’ve been excited to see each one of his last matches on the indie scene before Atlas goes to Orlando; after having watched Jake Atlas wrestle matches this past summer and watching his matches once we all found out he signed with NXT it’s fun to see how he’s stepped his game up accordingly. I surely hope Atlas gets to keep this same style of wrestling and skillset he’s honed on the indie scene without anything getting watered down for production in NXT. Silver, on the other hand, has not only stepped up his game but he’s taken a gigantic leap to the next level in just a matter of weeks. This is why Silver seemed the hungrier of the two in this match; Atlas did not slouch or half-step at all here but everything in his arsenal could not take out the Meatman on a mission. Silver takes the victory here over Atlas with a devastating punt to the temple after a 15-minute war, and with that we’ll see Atlas move on to Orlando with Beyond Wrestling’s blessing and support!

Post-Show Thoughts