(Note: I have read the comments and fully realize I write long articles. I will try to shorten them in the future.)
This Saturday, October 13th, there will be not one but two wrestling shows in Deer Park, New York. If you are in the area, I would strongly suggest attending them. The first is Beyond Wrestling, making it's NY debut. The second is Wrestling Superstars Uncensored, and this show will mark the first under it's new management - the same man that is in charge of Beyond, Drew Cordeiro. Due to health problems, the previous owner (Sean McCaffrey) had to sell WSU. Drew created and has been running Beyond since 2009, and he saw potential in WSU. He purchased the company believing he could lead it to bigger and better things. This Saturday he will get the chance to show old and new fans if he can deliver on that belief.
For those who are unfamiliar with Beyond Wrestling and/or Women Superstars Uncensored, let me give you a brief history. Beyond was originally created as a closed door event, meaning no fans were allowed in. It was wrestlers wrestling for other wrestlers. It was a place for them to grow and critique each other, developing the spirit of competition. A unique scenario, it stayed that way until July 2011 when Beyond held it's first show that was open to fans. It was a double header with another promotion, Inter-Species Wrestling, called "About Time." Since then all their shows (with the exception of "Tournament for Tomorrow") have been open. In fact, it was during a show they were running together with St. Louis Anarchy that the purchase of WSU was announced. This is also a promotion that is committed to a progressive vision - Mr. Cordeiro has stated in several recent interviews that he thinks that there should be one standard, and that should be based on good wrestling. He has talked about how people have different standards for men and women in wrestling and disagrees with that. Beyond frequently features inter-gender wrestling, with women such as Hailey Hatred, Veda Scott and Addy Starr wrestling their male counterparts. Say what you will about inter-gender wrestling but other promotions such as CHIKARA and Anarchy Championship Wrestling have shown that when booked right, it's like any other match.
Despite the lack of title belts to compete for, Beyond keeps track of wins and losses. In a sense, belts aren't needed as competition and pride (along with storylines) are what drives wrestlers to work there. Beyond runs mainly in the Northeast, recently debuting in Rhode Island in September. This Saturday will be their first time in New York, and the card for "All Aboard" is solid: Darius Carter vs. TJ Marconi in a Last Man Standing match; Dan Barry, Ken Scampi, Bill Carr & ?? vs. JT Dunn, Mark Shurman, Leon St. Giovanni & Max St. Giovanni (with Jon Harder & Vernon Somoza) in an Elimination Match (and the losing team must disband); Eric Corvis vs. Aaron Epic; Jaka vs. Matthew Justice; and Johnny Cockstrong vs. Dave Cole. "The Kentucky Gentleman" Chuck Taylor is also announced to be at the show but is unable to compete. Sugar Dunkerton was originally scheduled to face Pinkie Sanchez but Pinkie is unable to make the show. Drew has announced he will find a suitable replacement to face Sugar.
I will be honest: I don't know the back story to any of these matches. I've only been following Beyond since they purchased WSU, although I've been trying to learn their history. However, I do know the names of the wrestlers as I've seen them compete elsewhere. Look up some of their stuff on YouTube for examples. The names are the selling point, and if any of them interest you, check out the show or buy the DVD when it becomes available. Most of their promotion is done online through their Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts. Their YouTube is fifth behind TNA, WWE, New Japan Pro Wrestling and ROH in the amount of subscribers - impressive, given Beyond has no television program. The promotion and the wrestlers therein are very interactive online, which makes it fun and easy to keep up. It's definitely worth giving them a shot.
Women Superstars Uncensored, on the other hand, is an all female wrestling promotion that is known for pushing the boundaries. The promos are unfiltered, the matches frequently get out of hand and it's not uncommon to see someone get busted open. They have been around since 2007, running their own shows or running in conjunction with other promotions. A lot of familiar faces on television have worked for them in the past, such as Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Becky Bayless, Daffney, and Luna Vachon. No disqualification matches, ladder matches, cage matches - there's very little that has not been tried. In late 2011 WSU had the first female War Games match in wrestling history. In January of this year, it was announced that WSU and Canadian all-female promotion Femmes Fatales have entered a working agreement together, meaning they would share talent, promote each other and sell each others merchandise at their respective shows. This has already created several great matches with more to come in the future.
Their current champion is Jessicka Havok. The tag team champions are Sassy Stephanie and "The AK-47" Allysin Kay. The trio are known as the Midwest Militia and they are the dominant faction in WSU. These women fear nothing and no one, and have caused chaos in the company for the past year and a half. At the 5th Year Anniversary show this year, Havok beat the woman who had been WSU Champion for just shy of three years, Mercedes Martinez. On the same show, Steph and Kay beat The Soul Sisters, Jana and Luscious Latasha for the WSU Tag Team Championships (just after the Soul Sisters had won the titles on the same show; Kay and Steph challenged them immediately after they had won). Havok also used to hold the third title, the Spirit belt, but she lost that Marti Belle at the Uncensored Rumble V in June.
The card for the show "Full Steam Ahead" so far is as follows: Three way dance for the WSU Championship: Jessicka Havok (c) vs. Alicia vs. Lexxus; Mercedes Martinez vs. LuFisto in a Grudge Match; Marti Belle defends the Spirit title against Nikki Addams; Sassy Stephanie & Allysin Kay faces Annie Social & Kimber Lee in a non-title match; Leva Bates vs. the nCw Femmes Fatales Champion Kalamity (also non-title); Brittany Savage vs. Tina San Antonio; Jessie Brooks vs. Addy Starr; and an "Uncensored Opportunity" match, in which the winner gets a spot on the WSU roster, CHIKARA's Saturyne vs. Niya.
To my knowledge, this will be Saturyne's first appearance outside her home promotion of CHIKARA. She has impressed fans with her matches there, but this will be a test for her. She is up against Niya, who was part of WSU until losing a "Loser Leaves WSU" match against Jennifer Cruz at "Breaking Barriers II" in November 2011. Cruz and Niya had the worst win/loss records of anyone in WSU, hence the match that came about. However, once Saturyne announced she wanted to be part of the Uncensored Opportunity, Niya requested she be her opponent, believing she got an unfair deal. The new owner agreed to this. We will see if Niya has improved enough to earn back her spot, or if the Intergalactic Luchadora will earn entry into a new universe.
'Bonesaw' Jessie Brooks threw out an open challenge for anyone to face her at "Full Steam Ahead" and it was answered by Addy Starr. Starr is a Canadian who has been wrestling since 2006. She mostly wrestled in Canada for Pure Wrestling Association until 2009, when she made her US debut for Inter Species Wrestling. She wrestles men and women, and mostly faced men in ISW and Beyond Wrestling (debuting there in 2011). Starr is also the only woman to ever take part in a Lego Deathmatch, which she did for ISW in 2011. Her claim to have no fear of pain, and desire to prove herself in another promotion are what drove her to accept Brooks' challenge. Brooks is a powerhouse that was trained by Daizee Haze and Delirious in the Ring of Honor Academy. Whether her power can be enough to beat a woman who fears no pain remains to be seen.
Brittany Savage vs. Tina San Antonio is a match chosen by the fans. The two have recently ended feuds, with Sassy Stephanie and former partner Marti Belle respectively. Both are long time WSU veterans and should provide a good match. Elsewhere, Leva Bates faces current Femmes Fatales Champion, Kalamity but it isn't for the title. Indeed, Bates faced LuFisto as part of the WSU/FF working agreement at the Uncensored Rumble V. Despite putting on her best match to date, Leva took a loss, yet impressed enough officials to get a match against Kalamity. If she pulls out a win, she would certainly be in line for a FF title shot. Kalamity has been the FF champion for a full year now, beating the inaugural champion LuFisto on October 8th, 2011. Since then she has beaten several formidable opponents, such as Sara Del Rey and Mercedes Martinez. Her first match in WSU was defending her title against fellow Canadian, Sweet Cherrie, in a hard hitting bout that created new fans of her at the Rumble. Expect both Leva and Kalamity to pull out all the stops on Saturday.
Nikki Addams (formerly "The Black Rose" Nikki Styx) has stepped up to be the first challenger for Marti Belle's Spirit title after winning it in June at the Uncensored Rumble V. It took Marti three tries to win the Spirit belt from Jessicka Havok, but persistence (along with some help from Mercedes) paid off. Meanwhile, out of Addams' twelve matches with WSU, she has lost nine and won three (those three being defenses of her NYWC Starlet title) - not exactly a record that deserves a title shot. However, Belle and Addams have wrestled each other numerous times in NYWC, with Nikki getting the better of Marti except for in tag team matches. Can she pull out a win when the Spirit title is on the line?
For the first time in WSU, Mercedes Martinez meets LuFisto in a match that has built up across two promotions. Back at Femmes Fatales VIII in March, Martinez turned on Kalamity after being beaten by the champion. LuFisto made the save but wanted more revenge. She cost Martinez the WSU title in June at the Rumble by hiding in the coffin during Havok and Martinez's casket match; when Mercedes opened the coffin, LuFisto popped up and threw powder into her eyes, allowing Havok to hit her Air Raid Crash and throw Martinez in the coffin. The two were set to have a match at Femmes Fatales IX in July, but the match ended in a count out as the two brawled around ringside. They will meet again at FF in November inside a steel cage, but before that WSU wants them back. Despite no official stipulations, you can expect to see another wild, hard hitting match between the two.
The tag team champions, Allysin Kay and Sassy Stephanie face Annie Social and Kimber Lee in a non-title affair which has the latter team angry. They claim that they deserve a title shot and even went so far as to circulate a petition among WSU fans to gain support. It did not work. Given that they have only teamed up once in WSU (back in April) and lost that match, it's easy to make the case they aren't worthy of a title match just yet. If they can beat two thirds of the Midwest Militia, then that would give them more leverage for a shot in the future. Beating Kay and Steph will not be easy - the two are formidable on their own but as a tag team they have dominated the division in WSU. If they were somehow to be beaten, it would be a major upset.
The three way for the WSU Championship came about after controversy at the Rumble. The rules were if you hit the ground outside the ring under any circumstances (be it over the top rope or under the bottom rope), you were declared out. During the bout, Lexxus wound up on the floor and hid under the ring. Alicia was the last woman in the ring and declared the winner - until Lexxus came back in, dumped her over the top and was then declared the official winner. As a compromise, Lexxus and Alicia were both named as number one contenders, and the match was made for "Full Steam Ahead" to face Jessicka Havok in a three way for the title. Alicia is a long standing member of the WSU roster, and is even called "The Icon" of the promotion. Lexxus has been building her way up into the top ranks after holding the WSU Tag Team Championship with former partner Amber for almost a year. Amber left wrestling at the start of 2012, leaving Lexxus as the sole holder of the belts, which led to the Soul Sisters defeating her in March. This isn't the first shot she's had at the top prize: last year, she won the Rumble and took Mercedes to the limit in a 73 minute match. She fell short in the end and has been looking for another chance since then. The current champion, Havok, feuded with Martinez for most of the year until the Rumble ended things. This will be her first title defense against someone other than the former champion, and to have not one but two contenders is daunting. However, Jessicka hasn't become one of the most feared women in WSU for nothing. She is known for taking things to the limit, even breaking out her machete when necessary. Havok fears nothing and no one - it will take something extreme to put her down for the three count. Saturday we will find out if Lexxus or Alicia are capable of pushing the champion to the limit.
October 13th is the start of a new era for Women Superstars Uncensored. If you're a fan of Beyond Wrestling, attend and stay for the WSU show as well. There will be a bonus for those live in attendance: three WSU vs Beyond matches. Jaka will face Marti Belle; the Kings of Armory Sugar Dunkerton and Aaron Epic wrestle two thirds of the Midwest Militia Sassy Stephanie and Allsyin Kay; and Jessicka Havok takes on Beyond's number one ranked person Mark Angel. These matches take place after the Beyond show but before WSU starts, so this is a further incentive for fans to go. Drew Cordeiro has done his best to build up a solid card for the first show under his ownership, and no doubt the women themselves will go the extra mile to put on the best matches they can. (And, as the old adage goes, card is subject to change.) Ultimately, however, it is up to us fans to support them and not to abandon ship just because there is new management. WSU remains the place for raw, edgy female wrestling on the east coast. If you're in the Deer Park area, give it a chance. Support independent wrestling.
Purchase tickets for "All Aboard" and "Full Steam Ahead" here: Beyond and WSU Tickets
Pre-order "Full Steam Ahead" here: WSU Pre-Order
Follow WSU on Twitter: @WSUWrestling
Follow Beyond on Twitter: @BeyondWrestling
Facebook page for WSU: WSU Official Page
Facebook page for Beyond: Beyond Official Page
YouTube page for WSU: WSU YouTube Page
YouTube page for Beyond: Beyond YouTube Page
