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| Eddie Edwards with Biff Busick in a superplex Photo Credit: Eliot Wish |
What Happened in 2013: Beyond Wrestling came into 2013 like a lamb. Weather scrapped their plans for Tournament for Tomorrow 2, and they looked as if they weren't going to run live shows anymore. They scaled back, did a lot of seminars, wrestling school tapings, and secret shows. In typical Beyond style, however, the content they produced in the beginning of the year was pretty spiffy. Biff Busick and AR Fox anchored the pre-big slate schedule with an amazing match at the CZW school. Still, the outlook for Beyond looked as if it would take a backseat to Denver Colorado's (the man, not the place) newest acquisition, Women's Superstars Uncensored.
Then the summer came around, and Beyond started running shows. They started out with We Care a Lot, which was notable for the "name your price" ticket options and the beginning of the big Busick/Eddie "Eddie Edwards" Edwards feud. Then, the shit started getting real. Americanrana was their biggest splash on the scene, featuring imports of Kevin Steen, Masada, Edwards, Colt Cabana, and Johnny Gargano. Then they produced the Point of No Return, which brought back a lot of those big names and added Michael Elgin to the fray.
Then, perhaps their most successful show of 2013 was the aforementioned Tournament for Tomorrow, which was ruined by weather the previous year. Not only did the atmosphere cooperate, the company put together one of the most stacked three day weekends from top to bottom. While wrestlers like Elgin and Edwards came back, the unquestioned stars of the weekend were the wrestlers who went through the wringer in the tournament. Guys like Matthew Palmer, Green Ant, Kimber Lee, Jewells Malone, and especially JT Dunn stepped up and showed that no matter how many already-made stars Beyond brought in, the promotion would always be more about creating new stars and letting the younger and less established guys learn and garner experience.
That combination of experience and star-building may have made Beyond the premiere promotion in independent wrestling in the country. They've showed unmatched ambition in card building. They put their wrestlers in positions to succeed in front of receptive crowds. They've established Fete Music as a new go-to arena in indie wrestling, and lastly but certainly not least, they raised the game for the concession experience at a wrestling show. If you weren't following Beyond Wrestling this time last year, maybe you could have gotten away with it, but you now have no reason for them not to have your attention.
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| He may have been bloodied, but JT Dunn won TFT2 Photo Credit: Eliot Wish |
What's Going to Happen in 2014: Beyond was always full of potential, but the second half of their 2013 saw them start to realize the immense banks of it they had stored. Their course has been ambitiously charted, but where will they go from here? My guess is that they'll begin to build their own legacy and their own legion of stars. Busick, Chris Dickinson, Drew Gulak, and Aaron Epic have already become huge deals both within the Beyond narrative and on the indie scene at large. The next crop seems to be ready to come of age.
JT Dunn took the first step by winning the Tournament for Tomorrow. His next step will be taking on the dream matches against imported, already-built indie wrestlers in main-event level matches. He already started with a match against Michael Elgin, and he also got the final spot on the TFT main card over a sixty-minute iron man match. He's already well on his way. Who will follow him? One guess is Eric Corvis, who is being built up as an arrogant intellectual heel, only made over like a steam punk. HE's been milling about in Beyond since near the beginning, but he only feels like he's catching his groove now.
As for stories, Beyond ended 2013 with somewhat of a clean slate. Edwards left for WWE, Gulak and Dickinson seemed to have cooled it on their hostilities, and while Anthony Stone and Nicholas Kaye still have lingering hostilities, the heat of their beef seems to have cooled a bit. Where will the stories go? I feel like they'll have a renewed focus on tag teams when they start back up at Fete Music in February, but that's the only lean I really have right now. Then again, the beauty in Beyond is that they often will come out of nowhere with a match, a segment, or a character that both steals the scene but also makes total retroactive sense.
Five Wrestlers to Watch in 2014:Black Baron - Baron hit a bad break when an injury kept him out of Tournament for Tomorrow 2. He had to have been one of the favorites to make the finals. Much like Fox, Taka Suzuki, ACH, and Charade who came before him, Baron continues the fine line of high flyers within the company. When he recovers from injury, expect him to get plenty of opportunities, both in tags and singles matches.
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| Expect more tag action like this in '14 Photo Credit: Eliot Wish |
Shynron - The Dragon from the Spirit World burst onto the scene this year in both Chikara and Beyond. The former is in limbo, and he's actually hit the ground running in the latter, ending his year with an impressive, non-tournament match on day 1 of the Tournament for Tomorrow. He bears a striking resemblance to ACH in the ring, which is a good thing given how awesome I think the former is, and Beyond will definitely be a place where his talents will be nurtured and developed.
John Silver - New York City seems to be a hotbed for untapped indie talent, and Silver might be the best of that bunch. He has a dash of self-deprecating comedy and natural handle on how to move around the ring, two things that will give him a leg up.
EYFBO - Another New York-based entity, the team of Mike Draztik and the "Funky Monkey" Angel Ortiz look to be a part of a burgeoning tag scene within Beyond. They've already dipped their toes into the pool so to speak, and with other fun and talented teams to go against like Tremendous Investigations and Da Hoodz, I expect big things from the Ludus graduates in 2014.
Three Things I Want to See Happen in 2014:1. Run a show at the ECW Arena - Fete Music seems to be a great home for Beyond Wrestling, and honestly, I wouldn't blame the crew if they wanted to stay put for their big arena shows and let their travel dalliances be limited to seminars, workshops, and wrestling school tapings. However, part of me wants to see them take advantage of the reopening of the ECW Arena for wrestling. That part is borne of selfishness and maybe even a tinge of nostalgic short-sightedness, but I would love to see them take over the Arena and put on a legendary show in a legendary venue. If any company that currently runs shows is able to do so, Beyond Wrestling would be the one to fit that mantel.
2. Continue importing wrestlers from the South - Beyond is a company that will take any wrestler in hungry for a chance to prove him-or-herself no matter what region of the country they hail from, and that attitude manifested itself in their willingness to book wrestlers from below the Mason-Dixon Line on a regular basis. Aaron Epic, Charade, the Washington Bullets, and Black Baron all were regulars down South, and I want that pipeline to continue. I know they've put out feelers to Fred Yehi that didn't work out, but he's a guy that they should keep trying to bring up. Aside from him, wrestlers like Chip Day, the brothers Hamill from Empire Pro Wrestling, Shaun Tempers, Najassism, Amber O'Neal, Kory Chavis, Frankie Ciatso, Mike Cruz, Chasyn Rance, Bobby Moore, and Cyrus the Destroyer all would provide new and unique matchups for the various wrestlers brought in from New England, New York, Philadelphia, Ohio, St. Louis, and Canada who already compete under the Beyond banner.
3. A bear in the ring - C'mon Denver, MAKE IT HAPPEN.