wrestling / Video Reviews

Enter the Beyond: Treasure Hunt Tournament Review

March 17, 2019 | Posted by Jake Chambers
Beyond Wrestling Treasure Hunt Tournament

Wrestling fans have be spoiled by the barrage of tournaments over the past few years. Even the WWE, who once seemed to abandon the tournament format (and still doesn’t really like to do one night versions) has just been coming with the tournaments one after another.

And why do we love pro-wrestling tournaments exactly? It’s pretty easy to explain: a tournament imitates sport. While the arguments for pro-wrestling as a sport do seem to fade away as the old school generation passes on, fans are still subconsciously drawn to pro-wrestling not because of the “male soap opera” conceit but rather since it looks like an organized sport. I think we all want wins to actually matter, and not in the “it makes a better story” way, but in the “winner means you’re better” way that competitive sports definitively can establish. Yet only a tournament seems to really kill the fantasy booker in us all by distracting from the “he should win” mentality with the “oh wow, she just won” sense of score tallying.

Well, Beyond Wrestling is a company that has always embraced tournaments. As an indie company with an old school mentality at times, Beyond lacks the numerous title belts or “booking” drama makes their tournaments feel more authentically sport. And that was true with their latest event – The Treasure Hunt Tournament – an 8-person, one-night, single-elimination tournament where the winner would receive a medallion entitling them to a shot at the Independent Wrestling Championship at a time and place of their choosing.

The raw footage version of the show currently up at Beyond’s streaming home Independent Wrestling TV comes in at just a little over 2 hours, so it’s a brisk, tight watch that provides the variety in character and style that Beyond always offers while giving the narrative momentum you’d want from a great pro-wrestling tournament.

1st Round: Chris Dickinson vs. Willow Nightingale

The story here was the very perky Nightingale slowly evolving throughout the match from a clean, technical style wrestler into one who could go toe-to-toe with Beyond’s hardest hitting veteran. Dickinson seems game to play along at first, even though his reputation as a ruthless, equal opportunity head-hunter is simmering just below the surface. You can feel him waiting for any opening and drop Willow on her head, which happens a few minutes in with a deadly “half-and-half” suplex that folds her neck Kobashi-style.

At the point, you’re probably thinking this one is over, especially since this is part of a one-night tournament where traditionally some matches might be shorter to accommodate the workload for the winner. However, these conditions create the perfect opportunity for Willow to prove her mettle, as she kicks out of that scary suplex and starts battling Dickinson at his own game of high-stakes throws and strikes. Willow’s gutsy performance halos the rest of the match, despite her inevitable loss to a textbook, late-match ferocious combination by Dickinson.

1st Round: Wheeler Yuta vs. Jordynne Grace

With two of the more polished young Beyond stars here, this one was less of a fight for respect than the first match and more of a philosophical battle of style. Grace with the power and Yuta with the technical edge, the two teeter-totter evenly for control throughout. Neither ever really switches styles to try and shake up or challenge the other at their own game, instead just pushing the limit of their skills, confident that they have the superior wrestling. And on this night, power beats grace, even thought it’s Grace coming out with the win.

1st Round: Josh Briggs vs. Solo Darling

Briggs is a monster and Darling is a tiny kinetic fighter; always a good first round tournament trope. In these scenarios, the smaller fighter needs to key into a weakness and try to repeatedly chip away at their dominating opponent, which is what Darling gets the chance to do after withstanding the first salvo of heavy attacks. And it actually starts working, as Briggs slowed and the eye-test mismatch evened out, leading to a totally believable deep sharpshooter by Darling that looked to have Briggs ready to tap. However, in the end, Solo’s attempt to grow a tree through pavement was chopped down by the big Josh.

1st Round: David Starr vs. Kris Statlander

Another unique match up here, as Starr is currently in the midst of a long storyline as an arrogant, antagonistic headliner who the fans of Beyond love to hate, while Statlander is the new, beloved crowd-pleasing babyface. And the crowd on this night is thus dying for Statlander to get the upper hand, but Starr is so excellently talented that he foils their hopes constantly. As the tension builds, Starr hits a vicious series of moves, but is then distracted by his current rival, Chris Dickinson, who appears on a balcony above the ring and gives Statlander a window to capitalize and get a surprise win.

Semi-Finals: Chris Dickinson vs. Josh Briggs

Two important callbacks from first round matches played into the flow of this one. Firstly, there was the carry over of Briggs’ injured leg after the sniper job done on it by Solo Darling. The battle between these two from the bell was just big move after big move, with Briggs having to humble and sustain more damage to the leg. The second callback led directly to the finish, as David Starr, who Dickinson taunted in his match earlier leading to a loss, just walked right into the ring and attacked his rival. This caused Briggs to be disqualified and let Dickinson move on to the finals.

Semi-Finals: Jordynne Grace vs. Kris Statlander

After two tough first round matches, the athletic exhaustion is the key component of the narrative here. Both are making mistakes early, as they go for big moves prematurely or mistime attacks, and therefore the offence of both is coming mainly from improvised reversals rather than executing a game plan. Thus this becomes a waiting game of who is going to capitalize the best on the next big mistake by their opponent. The wild Statlander seems a little more comfortable ultimately in this frantic scenario and comes out victorious with another axe kick out of nowhere, as has come to be her signature finish.

Tournament Finals: Chris Dickinson vs. Kris Statlander

To hold back invaders to a kingdom, a gatekeeper must be the most seasoned warrior in the land. He may not be the one with the most riches or glory, but he is known as the hardest worker, toughest grinder, unwilling to compromise, and possessing the strongest connection to the land and its people. While a kingdom can be behind a great gate and house hundreds in a medieval village, it can also be the mat inside a wrestling ring that travels to familiar territory, but the goal of the gatekeeper is the same for both: stand guard and maintain your integrity. Chris Dickinson is Beyond Wrestling’s self-proclaimed gatekeeper, and they couldn’t have asked for a better representative to test those who can claim the favour of the territory.

An alien comes from another place and lives by different rules. A dimensional shift can levy advantages like Kryptonians to a yellow sun, so the gatekeepers at home need to muster up all their reserve savvy to battle an extraterrestrial. The alien will come from different angles, use innovations on offence hitherto thought impossible, and a weary gatekeeper must stand his ground and adapt. This way, if the fight is fair despite the challenges it represents, and the alien is victorious, we will all know she is friendly and fights by the same code.

Kris Statlander might not be an actual alien, I can’t say for sure. But this was her night to show that she has extraordinary talent, and Dickinson the gatekeeper acquiesced to her fairly won medallion. Beyond Wrestling is truly moving into Uncharted Territory.

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