DVDs - VGames - Books RADICAN'S DVD REVIEW SERIES: Beyond Wrestling & St. Louis Anarchy "Double Trouble" 6/16 - Gargano-ACH
Oct 9, 2012 - 11:18:17 AM
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By Sean Radican, Torch columnist
RADICAN’S DVD REVIEW SERIES
BEYOND WRESTLING & ST. LOUIS ANARCY PRESENT “DOUBLE TROUBLE”
JUNE 16, 2012
CLEVELAND, OHIO
RESULTS & STAR RATINGS
(1) The Pitboss & Matthew Justice & Dany Only & Stryknyn beat Eric Corvis & Jonny Mangue & Chase Burnett & Zane Silver in an 8 Man Tag match. (**1/2)
(2) Pierre Abernathy & Evan Gelistico & Gary Jay beat Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin & Christian Rose in a Six Man Tag match. (*3/4)
(3) Remi Wilkins won the School of Roc Summit.
(4) Davey Vega & Eric Ryan beat Kentucky Buffet (Alex Castle & Matt Cage) and The Hooligans (Devin Cutter & Mason Cutter) in a Three-Way Tag match. (***1/4)
(5) Mark Angel beat Drew Gulak via DQ (***)
(6) Johnny Gargano vs. ACH went to an overtime draw (***1/2)
(7) K.J. Crush & Maserati Rick & Tony Banks beat Aaron Epic & Sugar Dunkerton & Pinkie Sanchez (**1/2)
(8) Dan Walsh beat Ricky Shane Page (*3/4)
(9) Johnny Cockstrong beat R.D. Evans (*)
Overall thoughts: (4.0) – This was my first time watching Beyond Wrestling and because this was a joint show with St. Louis Anarchy, I don’t think I got a true grasp at what the promotions is all about. I know the promotion started by putting on shows where the wrestlers were the audience and since that time, Beyond Wrestling has started to run live events with fans. This show featured a small crowd and the wrestlers were also watching most of the matches and interacting with the fans for most of the night, which brought a different vibe to the show.
The promotion is based on getting a single point added or subtracted from the record of each wrestler depending on whether or not they win or lose a match, which is an interesting concept that didn’t get a whole lot of play on this show due to all of the tag matches on the show.
The beginning of the show was hard to get through due to the average action and repetitive nature of the multi-man tag matches. I don’t enjoy ridiculous stipulations matches either and the School of Roc Summit saw six students square off in a six man elimination where the winning team had to face off to determine the winner. That was mind-numbing at best to watch.
The show hit a really nice stride beginning with the Davey Vega & Eric Ryan match against the Hooligans and Kentucky Buffet. I had seen Kentucky Buffet before in DGUSA, but I came away from the match wanting to see more of the Hooligans who have to be seen to be believed. They did some impressive high-flying for their size, but it was their rapid-fire tandem power moves that left my jaw on the floor.
Gulak vs. Angel featured some good back and forth action. Angel, who is also known as Mr. Touchdown in CHIKARA, was the point leader at the time this show was filmed. He played the heel role here and did a good job of frustrating Gulak throughout the match with his manager interfering from the outside. The finish saw Gulak accidentally knock down the ref and get DQ’d after Angel tapped to a Dragon Sleeper. The ref ended up awarding the decision to Angel, causing Gulak to go crazy after the match.
Johnny Gargano vs. ACH was the best match on the show. They had a really good match that intitially went to a time limit draw. They then went to an overtime period, but neither man could get the win. Some of the exchanges came off less smoothly than both guys intended, but most of the action was really good and ACH has a load of potential once he gets more experience under his belt.
The show went downhill from this point. They tried to do a fake retirement angle with Pinkie Sanchez that fell flat after Sanchez took the fall in a Six Man Tag match. Walsh-Page was just a garbage match with two guys taking big risks using weapons and chairs in front of a small crowd that wasn’t really into their high-risk style.
I had a real problem with the main event. It featured a wrestler by the name of Johnny Cockstrong taking on R.D. Evans. I really enjoy watching Evans work, but seeing him wrestle Cockstrong for over 20 minutes was awful. Cockstrong did a lot of comedy based around his crotch. The fans did crotch related chants throughout the match and it was a real turnoff. Ending the show on this note was not a good idea.
Overall, I can’t give this show a recommendation for purchase. I can say that I’m going to watch more Beyond Wrestling after attending the “Armory Amore” show a couple of weeks ago, which I enjoyed live. This show didn’t do much for me, as I didn’t see a lot of talent that grabbed my attention. The show did have solid production values. They had a decent looking entrance for wrestlers to come out to and utilized some picture-in-picture replays as well, but overall this show was a miss.
You can purchase this show as a DVD, VOD, or MP4 at SmartMarkVideo.com.
For more information on Beyond Wrestling visit LookMaNoFans.com
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