By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Beyond Wrestling “Perfection or Vanity”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
February 26, 2023 in Worcester, Massachusetts at White Eagle Ballroom
I admittedly tuned in because Zack Sabre Jr. was booked for the show; I have heard of this promotion but never seen it before. Alyssa Marino and Drew Cordeiro provided commentary. This is the White Eagle Ballroom, which is the same venue as a Prestige Wrestling show from Dec. 30, that I just watched. Attendance is perhaps 300, and fans are literally standing next to the ring and patting on it; I don’t like that at all.
1. Channing Thomas defeated Thomas Santell at 7:26. Thomas wore a green robe, and his whole persona makes me think of Ravishing Rick Rude. Santell might be in his late 40s or 50s; he has a good physique but an ‘old face.’ The commentary team says he’s been wrestling for 15+ years. The finish was the spot where Santell is doing a suplex, but a heel manager trips him and holds down his foot, as Channing landed on top and scores the tainted pin.
2. Bobby Orlando defeated Ichiban, Dezmond Cole, and Aaron Rourke in a four-way scramble at 7:03. Ichiban is a masked wrestler. Orlando is the goofball who brings a stuffed goat to ring. Cole is a Black man in colorful pants. Rourke is a white guy who looks like he was partying at the club. Orlando hit a nice dive to the floor on everyone. In the ring, Rourke hit a German Suplex for a believable nearfall. Orlando hit an Athena-like stunner from the second rope for the pin. Good action.
3. Shannon Levangie vs. Clara Carreras ends in a draw at 3:14. Shannon wore green. Clara wore yellow and purple and appears slightly shorter. At 2:00, “Pegasus” Megan Bayne walked to ringside, dressed like Wonder Woman on her island. She is much taller and has an Amazon presence. She chokeslammed one of them and the referee threw the match out. The crowd chanted, “Welcome back!” at Bayne.
4. Ray Jaz defeated Ricky Shane Page at 7:00. Page is the hefty brawler with a huge tattoo on his chest. Jaz is the guy who works out at the gym who admires his own body. RSP hit a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Page hit a top-rope frogsplash, but Jaz got his foot on the rope to avoid being covered. Jaz got a backslide for the pin.
* Page got on the mic and announced he has signed a contract with Major League Wrestling.
5. Allie Katch defeated Love, Doug in an intergender match at 7:59. Doug has a mullet and looks like a shorter Brian Pillman Jr. This is all comedy and storyline as Doug is smitten with Allie. He offered her a bouquet of roses; she kicked him in the face. He dropped to a knee and tried to woo her. This was all silly but in a charming sort of way. The finish came with her climbing on top of him and he just laid there and enjoyed her on top of him.
* Ellen Kay and Ted Goods appeared at ringside. Ellen yelled that she is engaged to Doug! They demanded a match right now, and if Ellen’s team wins, they have to get married! High stakes in an impromptu match!
6. Ellen Kay and Ted Goods defeated Allie Katch and Love, Doug at 3:50. Kay rolled up Katch, so they must get married! Doug was not pleased by this development.
7. Slade defeated Andy Brown at 4:14. Slade is bald and has a goatee and wrestles in jeans; I’ve said this before, but he looks a lot like Oney Lorcan, but has a more deranged look in his eyes. Brown also is bald but a bit heavier. Slade hit a T-Bone suplex. Slade applied a rear-naked choke and Brown passed out. Surprisingly short but fine for what it was.
8. “Above the Rest” Tristan Thai and Gabriel Sky defeated “The Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black at 12:06. I always write this, but Lyon reminds me of Evil Uno because they both wear masks and are decent high-flyers for their similar-sized weights. Until this point, the signal had been fine, but we suddenly had a lot of issues, until we wound up losing the feed entirely. We lost maybe five minutes of video, but we returned at the 10:00 mark and the match was still going. Above the Rest hit a team move to pin Midas. I can’t say much about the match because I saw less than half of it. Too bad because Thai and Sky looked good in what I saw.
9. Max Caster defeated CPA at 9:09. Caster scissored fans as he walked to ringside. He pulled out a mic in the ring. “Finally … the Platinum Playboy has come back … to the worst city in America,” Caster said, channeling The Rock. He said Worcester has more pollution than East Palestine, Ohio, and less culture than Orlando, Fla. The crowd taunted him with “go back to Orlando!” He said he doesn’t have to go back to Orlando because “I’m booked on the main show, not the Youtube show.” He described himself as “the best wrestler alive,” and the fans immediately chanted for Zack Sabre Jr. CPA wore his button-down shirt and tie, and Alyssa Marino talked about how busy he is with tax season upon us.
Caster dominated early and he jawed at the ref. He hit CPA with a chain. CPA took off one shirt, to reveal an identical one underneath. He hit a running powerbomb at 5:00, then a top-rope missile dropkick for a nearfall. CPA hit a flip dive from the ring apron to the floor. In the ring, CPA hit a top-rope elbow drop for a nearfall at 7:00; Alyssa Marino pointed out that was Caster’s finisher. CPA hit the “1099” modified 619.
Caster went to punch him with the chain again, but CPA blocked it, and the ref confiscated the chain. Caster immediately hit a low blow punt kick, and he applied a Figure Four Leglock, and CPA tapped out. An okay match; not bad but perhaps underwhelmingly.
* Willow Nightingale has an open challenge! She came out first to a massive pop.
10. Willow Nightingale defeated Dan Barry in an intergender match at 9:23. Barry, age 40, has wrestled in CZW and Evolve, and I recall he was in at least one Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show. He hit a springboard back elbow and a hard chest to her chest at 3:00, so she fired back with several blows. She slammed him on the ring apron. Dan hit a senton for a nearfall. Willow tied him up on the mat. They hit simultaneous clotheslines.
Barry hit a hard back elbow. She fired back with a German Suplex at 7:00, then a rolling cannonball in the corner for a nearfall. Barry hit an Air Raid Crash, then an awkward-looking Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Willow nailed a Pounce, then the Doctor Bomb/gutwrench powerbomb for the clean pin. A fun match. The crowd loudly cheered for her.
11. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated “Fancy” Ryan Clancy at 13:43. Clancy is of average height and weight with short, slicked-back black hair, and he has a lot of tape on his left shoulder. The commentary team stressed that Sabre’s NJPW TV title was not on the line. (Smart; no way Sabre loses, period, but he’s certainly not losing a title here.) This is his first Beyond Wrestling match since 2017. Sabre is maybe one or two inches taller. They traded quick mat reverals and ended in a standoff. Sabre immediately went to work on the left arm. Clancy tried to get a cross-armbreaker but Sabre quickly escaped.
Sabre started focused on the left arm, and he twisted the fingers at 5:30. Clancy applied a half-crab. He hit a backbreaker over his knee at 8:30. Sabre hit a Pele Kick on the left arm. Sabre applied a cross-armbreaker, but Clancy reached the ropes. They traded rollups and Clancy got a believable nearfall at 11:00. Sabre got up and hit some European Uppercuts and a rollup for a believable nearfall. Clancy hit a dropkick for a nearfall. Sabre went back to the cross-armbreaker, leaned back for pressure, and Clancy tapped out. Really good match.
* Brad Hollister ran out from the back and attacked Clancy on the floor. Hollister scampered to the back as Sabre approached him. Sabre and Clancy posed together. Sabre shouted to the fans, “Don’t worry, I’ll come back!” Ricky Shane Page joined commentary for the main event.
12. “Miracle Generation” Kylon King and Dustin Waller defeated “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini to win the Beyond Wrestling Tag Team Titles at 15:07. Miracle Generation are scrawny and young but show a lot of promise. They brawled before the bell. Garrini hit a chop that leveled Kylon, and ViF kept King in their corner. Waller (think a young Trent Beretta) made the hot tag and hit somem bodyslams. Garrini hit a top-rope kneedrop on Waller, and ViF was back in charge of the offense. Ku hit a Regal Plex at 8:30. King hit a double suplex. All four brawled in the ring. MG hit the “Chasing the Dragon” kick-and-brainbuster combo.
King hit a moonsault and Waller immediately hit a 450 Splash for a believable nearfall. Ku nailed a left-arm clothesline on Waller. Garrini hit a piledriver on King on the ring apron. Meanwhile in the ring, Waller hit a handspring-back-stunner on Ku for a believable nearfall. Garrini hit a Muscle Buster, and Ku immediately hit a top-rope doublestomp for a nearfall, but King broke it up. King hit a back suplex on Garrini. King hit a top-rope superplex, and Waller immediately hit a top-rope frogsplash for the pin. New champions!
* The Mane Event appeared at ringside but were chased off by Tristan Thai and Gabriel Sky. Thai and Sky reluctantly gave the titles to the new champs.
Final Thoughts: I tuned in for Sabre, but I’ll give best match to the main event. The new kids had a great match against Violence is Forever, and it was really entertaining. Sabre-Clancy earns second best, with the four-way earning third best.
This was a fun show. The crowd was engaged and into everything they saw. I’m sure some of the matches were purposely short because they were squeezing in 12 matches into a three-hour show, but I would have liked to have seen some go longer.
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