By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Beyond Wrestling “Boston Hardcore”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
August 2, 2025, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at Sonia at the Middle East
The venue is a small theater, and I’ve seen shows from here before. The attendance was maybe 150, but it does appear packed, and it was fairly well-lit.
* I wouldn’t describe most of these performers as “deathmatch wrestlers,” so we’ll see if this is really that ‘hardcore.’ I’m fairly familiar with everyone on this show.
1. Nixon Newell (f/k/a Tegan Nox) vs. Anthony Greene in an intergender hardcore match. Obviously, both are former WWE/NXT talents. Nixon’s hair is blue at the ends and a pink/purple color at her roots. AG easily shoved her to the mat, so she rolled to the floor and got some garbage can lids and they whacked each other with them. He hit a hard, loud chop at 2:00. She hit a doublestomp to the chest, and she got a nearfall. She got a crutch and struck him over the back. He stomped on her and kept her grounded. She hit a second-rope crossbody block at 7:30.
Nixon put a garbage can over his head and repeatedly hit it with a crutch. (The first blow was a bit light; I think she realized it because the next 2-3 made more of a hard sound.) Nixon went under the ring and got a sturdy door, and set that up in the corner. He went for a DVD, but she escaped, and she hit a powerslam for a nearfall at 9:30. Greene hit the DVD through the door in the corner! He swung a chair, but it ricocheted off the top rope into his head; she hit a faceplant for a nearfall. She put on a knee pad covered in thumbtacks, but he caught her with a kick and a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall at 12:00. He stood over her; she reached up and used a stapler on his groin. She hit a Shining Wizard with that loaded knee pad and got the pin.
Nixon Newell defeated Anthony Greene at 12:34 in a hardcore match.
2. Rex Lawless vs. Eye Black Jack Pasquale in a Bases Loaded match. I’ve seen Jack lose just once or twice; he’s been a well-protected rookie. Rex is so massive; a rare guy bigger than Jack. Plastic bats loaded with weapons were placed in the corners of the ring. This is a “bases loaded” match, which is like a WWE four-corners match… You have to drag an opponent to each corner, consecutively touching each base. Jack wore a Boston Red Sox jersey (cheap pop!). Jack immediately hit some punches and a big delayed vertical suplex. Jack got a plastic bat and hit Rex on the back with it. This bat had some LEGOs strapped to it, so those LEGOs were now on the mat.
Jack again got a bat and hit a low blow swing in the corner. (Of course, it really hit the turnbuckle, but Rex sold it well.) They fought on the ropes in the corner, and Pasquale powerbombed him across an open chair at 5:00. Rex hit a sit-out powerbomb, and they were both down. Jack hit a spear! Rex hit a package piledriver at 7:30, and he began touching each corner until he got the win. Decent hardcore action.
Rex Lawless defeated Eye Black Jack Pasquale at 7:55 in a Bases Loaded match.
* A table, with tablecloths, was set up in the ring! We have chairs and plates and even some type of ‘home sweet home’ sign.
3. Bear Bronson and Gabby Forza vs. Love, Doug and TJ Crawford in a “Netflix and Kill” match. They all stood around the table, and this had the look of a really bad local theatre production. I’ll try to keep an open mind, as all four are really good wrestlers. They finally all sat down and we had a bell. Gabby was given a porcelain gnome, and Doug was given a flower. Of course, they got angry at each other, so Bear and Gabby flipped over the table, and they brawled. Gabby slammed into Doug in the corner at 3:00.
TJ hit a fadeaway stunner on Bear. The cheap plates on that table were broken over heads. Bear powerbombed Doug at 6:00, then he traded forearm strikes with Crawford. TJ hit a double-underhook suplex. They hit stereo clotheslines and both went down. Gabby used the gnome across Doug’s back, then she put Doug on her back and spun him to the mat for a nearfall at 8:30. Doug set up for a dive, but TJ caught his head and hit a stunner.
Bear and TJ fought onto the stage (which is adjacent to the ring), and Bear tossed him back into the ring. Doug and TJ began arguing again! They had issues on Thursday! Gabby slammed Doug through a door! However, TJ rolled her up, put his feet on the ropes for added leverage, and got the tainted pin! Once they got up from the silly dinner table scene, this turned into a fun hardcore match.
TJ Crawford and Love, Doug defeated Bear Bronson and Gabby Forza at 11:33 in a “Netflix and Kill” match.
4. “The Butcher” Andy Williams vs. Shlak in a Chairway To Heaven match. Yes, this is AEW’s Butcher, who is from the Buffalo area. Shlak is a thick, heavily-tattooed deathmatch guy, and I’ve only seen him a few times because his style of wrestling just isn’t for me. Chairs were piled in each corner. They swung chairs and threw them at each other. Shlak hit one to the head at 1:30 that Andy barely got an arm up to partly block. Butcher hit a second-rope superplex onto a folded chair for a nearfall at 4:00.
Butcher hit a drop-toe-hold, sending Shlak’s face onto an open chair, then Butcher hit a running kick on that chair. Shlak hit an Exploder Suplex onto the open chair. Butcher got a backslide for a nearfall. Shlak hit a World’s Strongest Slam and a powerslam for a nearfall, then some headbutts. Butcher hit a chokeslam onto a folded chair, then a discus forearm strike for the pin. Decent brawl but I just see no value in hitting anyone in the head with a steel chair; it doesn’t make someone “tough” for taking one.
“The Butcher” Andy Williams defeated Shlak at 7:27 in a Chairway To Heaven match.
5. Jaden Newman and Jameson Shook vs. “Wrench and Resolve” Jake Gray and Erik Chacha for the IWTV Tag Team Titles. Again, Newman and Shook just won the tag titles in a shocker win over Fresh Air; I don’t think they’ve defended them too often since then. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if this were a squash to give the new champs an air of authenticity. Again, I’ve compared the red-headed Shook to a young Sami Zayn, and I’m a big fan. Chacha and Newman brawled on the floor, while Shook beat up Gray in the ring. Jameson picked up a toolbox, but all the wrenches fell on his head, and I’m not sure if that was the planned spot or not!
Shook used wire cutters on Gray. Gray had a bloody nose. Shook planted cooking skewers into the top of Jake’s head. Shook hit a fallaway slam at 5:00. The champs worked over Gray in their corner. Chacha got in and powerbombed Shook onto thumbtacks in the middle of the ring. Gray hit a top-rope Coffin Drop onto Shook. A crate filled with barbed wire was shoved into the ring. “Who the hell even came up with that?” a commentator asked. The champs hit a Doomsday Device clothesline, sending Gray crashing through the barbed-wire crate and got the pin. Not my speed.
Jaden Newman and Jameson Shook defeated Jake Gray and Erik Chacha to retain the IWTV Tag Team Titles at 9:12.
6. Mad Dog Connelly vs. Gabriel Skye in a dog collar match. I like Skye, but he’s out of his depth in a dog collar match against the wild man Connelly! They charged at each other. Connelly wrapped the chain around his fist, mounted Skye, and repeatedly punched him. They fell through the ropes to the floor. Connelly hit Skye over the head with a cinder block. “Is he alive?” a commentator asked. They got in the ring, and Skye now hit Connelly with the cinder block at 6:00. Connelly hit a piledriver onto the cinder block for a nearfall. Skye hit a DDT, and he wrapped the chain around Connelly’s face. Connelly got a fork and repeatedly stabbed Skye in the forehead with it. Conelly hung Skye along his back; Gabriel held on for a bit before either tapping out or passing out. That was pretty violent.
Mad Dog Connelly defeated Gabriel Sky at 11:18 in a dog collar match.
7. Drew Gulak vs. Krule in a U-Haul match. I have seen one of these before; it’s just putting someone in a U-Haul truck rather than an ambulance match. I haven’t seen Gulak in a few months. Gulak is bald and wore a white T-shirt, and is actually doing his best Moxley lookalike right now. Gulak dove onto Krule as he walked to the ring, we got a bell, and we’re underway! Gulak hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor at 2:30. Krule chokeslammed him onto the ring apron. In the ring, Krule ripped open Gulak’s T-shirt and repeatedly chopped the bare chest. They brawled back to the floor, and Krule started dragging Gulak toward the truck.
They went outside and fought on the roof of the U-Haul truck at 7:30! Krule bodyslammed him onto the roof! Gulak climbed down the front, sliding over the windshield. A motorcycle came by! “Look out!” a commentator shouted. Gulak reached up, as if asking for help, but the cyclist kept going! That was unintentionally rather funny. Gulak slammed Krule in front of the truck. Drew got in the truck and was trying to turn it on to run Krule over! He couldn’t get it started. Krule stood up in front of the truck, then he pulled Gulak out of the driver’s side window! This was a scene right out of a horror movie!
They both fought into the back of the truck. There were a few boxes in there. Gulak hit a DDT onto the floor of the truck at 11:00. Gulak tried to slam the door shut (sliding door from the top), but Krule blocked it. Krule slammed Drew stomach-first onto the metal floor of the truck. He climbed out, slammed the door shut, and won the match. Well, that was certainly a spectacle.
Krule defeated Gulak at 12:17 in a U-Haul match.
* Krule grabbed Gabby Forza and threw her into the ring! Bear Bronson jumped in the ring and stood nose-to-nose with Krule. They were fighting in a match later in the evening!
Final Thoughts: The main event was amusing; I found it often more funny than violent. I watched this show because I wanted to see Nixon Newell, whom I have only seen once since her dismissal from WWE. I watched because I like a lot of the wrestlers here, and I’m glad to see Butcher in action. But not only do I not like hardcore matches… I find that a full show of them, one after another, gets rather boring. So, this is a rare show I give a thumbs down to and don’t recommend.
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