October 29, 2017 – Worcester, Massachusetts

Jonathan Gresham def. Flip Gordon {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Apocalypse Dudes. I’ve spent some time in Worcester lately and aside from the mural arts program, I don’t see much of an appeal. This was a fun midcard match, which I guess is how this title was often used. Both of these guys move in unique ways, but they didn’t move beyond spectacle into something more engaging. And that’s fine in the midcard. The finish was cool and saw Gresham bring Gordon to the floor in a Figure 4 Leglock and then beat the count back inside to win by count out at 11:27. ***¼ 

November 25, 2017 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jonathan Gresham def. Nick Gage {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From PWTV Wazzup. Oh dang, my boy Kevin Ford is on commentary. That could make a Gage match more palatable. Actually, Gage made the Gage match palatable. He performed really well here, selling powder in his eyes in an interesting way and working defense pretty much the entire match. He looked stiff (not in his offense but in his stature) as always, but he showed here that he understands what’s compelling about a standard wrestling match. A lot of this match was on the floor, and while some of that stuff was solid (like the finish), it did get boring. Gresham tried a couple of different things to get Gage counted out, and the one that worked was choking him out until the count got to nine and then running back inside for the win at 16:10. ***¼ 

December 28, 2017 – Annadale, Virginia

Jonathan Gresham def. Sonjay Dutt {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From NOVA Such Great Heights. This match didn’t work for me at all. We got Gresham working Dutt’s arm intermittently, which is fine, but the bits in between were a snooze. And it just dragged on forever. And then the match ended with Gresham putting on a Figure 4 Leglock for the win at 17:39. So that’s was totally disconnected from everything else. It almost seemed like something was wrong with Dutt the whole time. I’ve never been particularly interested in him, but I was surprised at how much I bristled against his performance here. So I asked Ford and it turns out he was injured and also he retired after this. Well, that explains it. Sucks to have to go out like that. **

December 31, 2017 – Worcester, Massachusetts

Jonathan Gresham def. Tracy Williams {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond’s Heavy Lies the Crown Pregame show. This was a weird match. While it got out of first gear right away and gave us some really interesting submission-based business, it stayed in second gear for a very long time, especially considering where the match ultimately wound up. Gresham spent a huge portion of the match working Williams’ leg. So when he slapped on a Figure 4 Leglock it was clear the match was coming to an end. But then they did something that falls apart given anything more than the most passing of thoughts. Williams got to the ropes, but Gresham tried to convince the referee that he physically couldn’t release the hold. Forty years of footage of this hold show that that’s utter nonsense. To make matters worse, the referee tried to break the hold, not by pulling Gresham’s legs apart but by lifting him by the shoulders. That just doesn’t make sense. The added leverage made Williams writhe in pain, and the fans started screaming that he’d tapped. So the referee, on the suggestion of the fans, called the match for Gresham at 23:15. That’s WCW/TNA/no-contest in a Hell in a Cell nonsense if you ask me. Frustrating, because for the first half of this match I thought it was going to turn into something really dope. ***

January 27, 2018 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jonathan Gresham def. Mike Quackensbush {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Spirit of ‘76. This was the opener, though they worked it like the match after intermission. This had a whole lot of mat wrestling and very little drama. There were almost no near-falls that anyone in the crowd bought. Between the quiet fans and the lack of commentary, it was hard to stay dialed into this for me. I did like the part where MJF snuck in to poke Quackenbush’s eyes. A few seconds after that, Gresham cut back and pinned Quackenbush at 14:16. **¾ 

January 28, 2018 – Worcester, Massachusetts

Jonathan Gresham def. Martin Stone {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From the PreGame Show for WWR FIve Year Plan. Like Beyond, WWR doesn’t have titles of its own. I guess Drew Cordiero just hates titles. This was structured similar to the last match, but Stone is much more entertaining than Quackenbush so this worked a lot better. Stone will actually play to the crowd and make dramatic comebacks. He also hits hard, which is a plus. The finish was a call back to the Gage match, seeing Gresham choke Stone out on the floor. Stone fought out of the hold, but he went for a chop and hit the post, and it was late enough in the count that Gresham was able to roll back in and win by count out at 17:51. ***

March 18, 2018 – East Greenwich, Rhode Island 

Tracy Williams def. Colt Cabana {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Hope. Oh I liked this quite a bit. Cabana broke out his spaghetti mat wrestling, the thing I think he’s best at that he does to the fullest only rarely. Williams, who needs to make sure he’s in attendance on leg day, did a really nice job transitioning from Cabana’s control on the mat to his striking takeover. I’m not sure that sentence makes any sense unless you’ve watched the match, but then I find wrestling reviews are more interesting as a way of thinking about what you’ve already watched than they are as a way of reading about what you haven’t watched and deciding whether or not to give it a chance. Anyway, Williams hit a piledriver for the win at 13:22. I could have used more of this. ***¼ 

April 5, 2018 – Kenner, Louisiana 

Tracy Williams def. Kimber Lee {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond/WWR Lit Up. This whole show was intergender matches, main evented by Timothy Thatcher and Toni Storm. The PTVI title once again gets midcard status. I liked this for very different reasons than the Cabana match. I like that Drew Cordeiro decided to put on what you’d have to consider an experimental show and during such a show, the champion was able to bulldoze over someone in the spirit of the theme of the night. Lee got in some token offense and the crowd responded to her well, but Williams was able to beat her relatively quickly with a crossface at 10:08. I hope the rest of the title history sees a mix of tough challenges and relative cakewalks for the champion. **¾ 

April 29, 2018 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Joey Janela def. Tracy Williams {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Welcome Home. That was a whole lot of match for a disqualification finish. They could have ditched the first five to 10 minutes easily. The second half of the match was quite good. Janela slammed Williams’ hand against a brick wall and then zeroed in on both arms for a while. Williams’ selling was good, drawing me into the match. As things were getting ready to wrap up, there was a moment so odd and awkward on the floor that the commentators were forced to criticize it. Then, David Starr ran in and hit Janela with a low blow, drawing the disqualification at 25:32. That was a real kick to my own balls after sitting through such a long match. ***

May 11, 2018 – Annandale, Virginia 

Tracy Williams def. Jonathan Gresham and Logan Easton LaRoux {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Triple Threat Match}
From NOVA Pro Threat of Joy. Kevin Ford on commentary! You love to hear it. I spent the first half of the match thinking that these guys were being too cute by half. The stuff they were doing was fun to watch, but more in a, “Huh, it’s neat that they thought of that three-way scenario,” than in a, “Wow, that dude really wants to win the title,” scenario. And just as the commentators were starting to say that a triple threat match doesn’t allow for much more intricate offense than what we’d seen so far, Gresham knocked LaRoux to the floor and worked over Williams’ leg. From there, they made this more engaging first by making Williams vulnerable and then by showing Williams anticipating both opponents’ offense going after his leg. I dig it. LaRoux hit Gresham with a superkick but then got caught by Williams and a piledriver to end the match at 13:53. ***½ 

May 27, 2018 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Tracy Williams def. Tessa Blanchard {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From WWR All Day. It’s not often you see a man wrestle in a women’s promotion, but I guess it was an opportunity for a woman to take a man’s title. Still, it’s a little odd given that WWR and Beyond were sister promotions that could just do a co-promoted show. Whatever, this is a stupid nitpick. I just watched a SHIMMER match from years back where referees were getting bumped from the slightest contact, so it was nice here to see the referee take a hit, turn around to make sure he was okay (just long enough for Blanchard to hit a low blow), and then get right back into the action. You don’t have to make the referees look like scarecrows in order to get your cheating over. Williams recovered enough to counter a dive to the crossface and then hit a piledriver for the win at 12:54. This was too short to amount to much, but what they packed in here I enjoyed a lot. ***¼ 

June 29, 2018 – Tyrone, Georgia 

Tracy Williams def. Arik Royal {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From ACTION For Kids. The commentators inadvertently make a hilarious comment about BEYOND wrestling crowds by saying that the amount of fans in the building on this night must be smaller than those that Williams had been defending in front of otherwise. That is certainly not the case. What is the case is that this was a very well-worked match. Royal, who had beaten Williams twice before, dominated him here with his strength. So Williams did what he could to neutralize that strength by picking away at the arm. That paid off in the end, as Williams was able to kick out of a pair of huge finishers from Royal and then counter a third one to an armbar for the win at 17:13. ***½ 

July 6, 2018 – Fairfax, Virginia 

Tracy Williams def. Arik Royal {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From NOVA Pro American Slang. Ya’ boy Ford explains on commentary that this is happening because of a ref bump in their previous match. If this was a match in 1978 in an NWA-affiliated promotion I’d buy that, but the bump was almost completely inconsequential by modern standards. It’s made to be an especially weak reason for Royal to get a rematch when, in the match, he hits the move that supposedly would have won him the title in ACTION and Williams has little trouble kicking out after it. That said, I’m a sucker for a rivalry so I’m not mad at it. But I do think Williams’ decision to basically no-sell that pivotal Pounce and come back fresh as a daisy for the remaining couple minutes of the match made this a poor follow-up to the ACTION bout. Williams pretty much dominated from that point, blocking all of Royal’s signature moves and hitting a piledriver for the win at 14:35. In a vacuum this might be rated slightly above average, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. **¾ 

July 29, 2018 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Tracy Williams def. Wheeler YUTA {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Americanrana. To the shock of no one, this was good. I found it to be a bit too fast-paced for the kind of counter wrestling style that they were going for, robbing it of some intensity. But that’s my only gripe. Everything they did was well executed and looked great. It just all happened to quickly. It went on fourth from the top, under a big multi-tag team match, Brian Cage vs. PCO, and the Starr vs. Janela blow off deathmatch. So they did the best with the slot they were given. Williams hit a Death Valley Driver and two piledrivers for the win at 13:17. ***½ 

August 26, 2018 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Tracy Williams def. Shotzi Blackheart {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From WWR Facelift. I liked that Williams was able to block a lot of Blackheart’s offense because of her lack of mass. I did not like their silly brawl on the floor and even sillier fight on top of the bar. I also didn’t like that it never felt like Blackheart was close to winning. I’m not saying that Williams should never have had easier defenses, I am saying that those easier defenses don’t make for interesting matches on their own. Williams hit a lariat and a piledriver for the win at 13:10. **¾ 

September 16, 2018 – East Greenwich, Rhode Island 

Tracy Williams def. Tom Lawlor {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Somebody’s Farewell, Probably. Jordynne Grace, the next contender for the title, was on commentary for this match. Hey, you know what’s fun? When two guys hit each other so hard that you can see the sweat fly off of them. That was pretty much this whole match. I’m a big fan. In addition to that, this match also saw Lawlor trying to abuse Williams injured shoulder, but in a respectful way because they’re buddies. They never tipped someone having the edge enough to win until Williams caught Lawlor with an avalanche piledriver at 14:01. ***¾ 

September 21, 2018 – Fairfax, Virginia 

Tracy Williams def. Jordynne Grace {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From NOVA Pro Project 4. I hope Grace earned this shot in NOVA specifically because on that last Beyond show she lost in the main event to Brian Cage. On commentary, Ford claims that Grace hadn’t been pinned or submitted in NOVA during the calendar year, which is good enough for me. Kevin Ku was watching from the crowd, and Ford pointed out that he’s the next challenger for the title. I love the continuity between title matches. This one was kind of weird. They were knocking it out of the park for a while, but then just as the cadence of the match was shifting, Grace appeared to injure her ankle and Williams abruptly got the win with a diving kneedrop at 10:13. Grace was helped to the back after the match. Grace was back in the ring the following week, ***

September 23, 2018 – Nashville, Tennessee 

Tracy Williams def. Kevin Ku {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From SUP Don’t Look in the Basement East. This was the most competitive match since Williams became champion, and the most convinced I’ve been that someone might beat Williams for the title. Given that I know Ku has never been IWTV champion, that’s saying something. Ku basically worked heel, but got so close to winning on so many occasions that the fans were rabidly behind him by the end. The commentators too, in a nice touch. Williams spent the match trying to lock in an octopus stretch, and when he finally got it he was able to transition it to a piledriver for the win at 16:07. ***¾ 

September 30, 2018 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Tracy Williams def. Travis Huckabee {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Please Come Back. I’m rather confident I’d never seen a Huckabee match before, but I liked this one quite a bit. There was nothing too flashy, but the way that Williams constantly moved in a way that suggested he was only flowing with the momentum of his movements and never against it was neat. I don’t know if I’m describing it well, so you’ll just have to watch the match to see what I mean. Huckabee was game to trade holds in a very interesting way with Williams. The finish was inspired too. Williams put on the Octopus Stretch, but Huckabee was ready to counter to a Stretch Muffler. Williams escaped and eventually put on the Octopus Stretch again. When Huckabee went for the same counter, Williams just calmly stood up and lifted Huckabee into a piledriver for the win at 15:24. Again, it wasn’t fast of exciting, but it drew me all the way in. ***½ 

October 6, 2018 – Berwick, Pennsylvania 

Tracy Williams def. Tony Deppen {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From TRUE Pursuit to the Top. Points to the commentary team for referencing the Michael Douglas banger Falling Down, as it related to Deppen losing his cool. This match didn’t do it for me. They did disparate things that I liked, but it didn’t come together. Most importantly, it never felt like either guy was building to a finish. At one point, Deppen hit a pair of insanely dangerous (looking) moves out of the corner, but they felt like they came out of nowhere. The same goes for Williams’ piledriver after a false armbar attempt, which got him the win at 17:53. **¾ 

December 14, 2018 – Chicago, Illinois 

Tracy Williams def. Kobe Durst {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Freelance Too Legit to Quit. I did not start this match in a charitable mood, mostly because I’ve felt medium about the Durst performances I’ve seen in BLP and C4. But Williams kept Durst’s frantic impulses in check and delivered a great match. Things petered out a little bit as they were heading toward the finish, which is unfortunate because the first half of this match had the kind of momentum that I assumed was building to something truly memorable. Alas, it was still pretty good. Williams caught Durst on the turnbuckle and hit an avalanche piledriver for the win at 17:06. ***½ 

December 16, 2018 – East Greenwich, Rhode Island 

Tracy Williams def. Hallowicked {Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship Match}
From Beyond Extreme Warfare Revenge. Drew Cordiero’s commentary over this match is so incendiary towards Hallowicked that it kind of blew my mind. He was playing a heel promoter gimmick at the end of an interpromotional angle (Beyond vs. Chikara), but he also reduced Hallowicked’s career using facts that are incredibly hard to argue. That’s wild stuff. This match was very tame and drawn out. There were no peaks to speak of for most of this thing. The Chikara roster came out near the end to cheer on Hallowicked, which hurt more than it helped because it exposed how quiet the actual crowd had been throughout. They finally picked up the pace for the final two minutes, Hallowicked escaped a crossface and almost hit a few of his finishers, but Williams hit him with the pulling piledriver and then sunk in a nasty crossface for the win at 22:08. **¾

January 11, 2019 – Alton, Illinois 

Orange Cassidy def. Eddie Kingston {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From SLA Gateway to Anarchy. By this point they’d rebranded the title, but hadn’t changed the title belt yet. I was pretty excited for this one, but it didn’t deliver. Cassidy did his usual shtick to start, but the crowd didn’t get behind him. In fact, they sat on their hands for most of this match. So I was bored to the jarring sounds of only the loud ring mat. Kingston sold an injured shoulder toward the end, but Cassidy didn’t do anything about that. Both guys hit a few big moves and then Cassidy got the Mouse Trap for the win at 12:46. That was disappointing. **

January 12, 2019 – Berwick, Pennsylvania 

Orange Cassidy def. Tommy Boy Floyd {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From TRUE Beginnings. The commentators are flabbergasted that Floyd would be granted a title match. This was more what I want out of this title reign. Not every defense, but sprinkled throughout. Floyd is essentially an American Kikutaro. He forces his opponents to dance and does “high risk” moves off of the bottom rope. It’s cute. He talks a bit too much, but he and Cassidy put together some fun shtick. I approve. Cassidy was frustrated at times, but eventually made easy work of Floyd with the Mouse Trap at 9:07. ***

January 13, 2019 – Syracuse, New York 

Orange Cassidy def. Puf {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From Wild Zero Love Will Tear Us Apart. This was another pure comedy match. It wasn’t as effective as the match from the night before, but there was some cute stuff here. Puf is fat, so everything revolved around that. If that’s your kind of funny then this is for you. I’m kind of medium on it. Cassidy hit a bodyslam for the win at 8:54. **¼ 

January 25, 2019 – Silver Spring, Maryland 

Orange Cassidy def. Bobby Shields {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From Flying V Fight or Flight. Shields had put out an open challenge for this match. Cassidy responded by coming out, holding his title belt, and asking Shields if he, “want(s) to?” I laughed. The match stayed at that level of entertainment. It was all comedy, but nothing egregious, plus it was short. Cassidy picked up the win with a shot of orange juice mist and the Mouse Trap at 8:05. I think Ford should be investigated, however, for his completely biased commentary toward Cassidy. ***

February 10, 2019 – Los Angeles, California 

Orange Cassidy def. Stokely Hathaway {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Street Fight}
From IWTV Grammys Street Fight. This was not a match, but I guess it counts as a title defense because Cassidy said, “Want to?” before they started fighting. It was a cinematic thing in a parking structure and abandoned office, playing more like a segment from Lucha Underground than a wrestling match. It had a quote from Iron Man and saw Hathaway and Cassidy lose their tempers when their cell phone and sunglasses, respectively, were discarded. Cassidy retained when Hathaway tapped out after getting dropped onto a bunch of office chairs with a DVD. The whole thing thing is less than eight minutes long, so if you’re into these two characters you might as well check it out. N/A

February 15, 2019 – Queens, New York 

Orange Cassidy def. Chris Dickinson {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From ICW Party and Bullshit. I think keeping Cassidy’s matches under ten minutes is the right move given his whole deal, and it’s making this review very easy to breeze through, but this reign goes on for longer than you’d expect given that it turned this belt into a comedy title. Here, they botched things by pretty much playing it straight. Once it became clear that this wouldn’t be a comedy match, but rather a match in which Cassidy would have to survive Dickinson’s powerful blitz, it made me wish they’d started the match straight away with Dickinson blowing through Cassidy’s antics. As it was, there was a minute of Cassidy’s shtick, then seven heatless minutes of Dickinson beating him up. It didn’t work as they didn’t set a good expectation for the audience about what the match would be. Cassidy blocked a Splash Mountain and got the Mouse Trap for the win at 8:28. **¼ 

February 23, 2019 – Deer Park, New York 

Orange Cassidy def. John Silver {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From NYWC Psycho Circus 17. This was similar to the last match, but structured way better. Silver isn’t the dominant force that Dickinson is, but he’s certainly beefier and more reliant on his strength than Cassidy. They played that up here without ever backing too far away from the comedy. I especially liked the finish, which saw Silver kick the orange juice bottle out of Cassidy’s hands, then slip on the orange juice. That left him open for Cassidy’s Mouse Trap at 10:03. Fun stuff, though the crowd didn’t care until the end. That made me wonder what this match would be like today, when Silver is more of a comedy act himself. The closest I’ll likely get for a while is their AEW PPV match from last year. ***¼ 

March 9, 2019 – Crown Point, Indiana 

Orange Cassidy def. Tom Lawlor {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From BLP Whoomp! There It Is! Freud with have a field day with this match, which was largely centered on Lawlor putting his thumb in Cassidy’s butt and then Cassidy making Lawlor put it in Lawlor’s own mouth. Wrestling is juvenile in general, but this lost me. It went on for awhile after that, with highlights including Cassidy putting on an anklelock and actually looking angry about it, and then Cassidy cutting back on a roll up after getting hit with a Styles Clash for the win at 14:09. This could have been half as long. *¾ 

March 17, 2019 – Syracuse, New York 

Orange Cassidy def. Anthony Greene, Dick Justice, Joey Ryan, and Puf {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Five Way Match}
From Wild Zero/Beyond Ceremony. There’s a terrible echo on the recording of this match, which wouldn’t be the biggest deal in the world but because it’s an indie comedy match there’s an abundance of talking in the ring happening. It’s impossible to discern. The story here wawa that Justice and Puf are super fat and Ryan has an indestructible (and possibly radioactive) penis. It’s not the most fun thing to watch in light of Ryan’s current reputation. Things get especially weird and stupid when Greene’s female valets come in the ring and, along with all the wrestlers and the referees, grab each other’s crotches for another Ryan spot. The guys grab the girls’ thighs instead of vaginas, which I guess is the better of the two options but makes me wonder why they bothered with the spot. Just don’t do the spot. Cassidy grabs Greene with the Mouse Trap a couple minutes later to end my misery at 9:05. The crowd liked this, but I did not and I think they are dumb now. ½*

March 21, 2019 – Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Orange Cassidy def. Darin Corbin {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship vs. F1RST Uptown VFW Championship Match}
From F1RST Uptown VFW 5.Corbin was one day away from holding his title for a year and he wasn’t scheduled to defend it on this show. But he came out to kvetch, which brought out Cassidy to challenge him for the sake of making him shut up. Watching a lot of Cassidy matches in a row makes you numb to the gimmick because of repetition, but he did something here that made me laugh out loud. Corbin chopped him and he collapsed to the mat and threatened to tap. That was cute, but what got me was that he then crawled to the ropes as if that would relieve the pain in his chest. Very funny. After a few more shenanigans, Cassidy countered a pin to a crucifix pin for the win at 9:51. Cassidy lost the F1RST title back to Corbin at their scheduled match in August. **¼ 

April 4, 2019 – Jersey City, New Jersey 

Orange Cassidy def. Jonathan Gresham {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship European Rules Match}
From IWTV Family Reunion. Cassidy gets flute accompaniment on his way to the ring. That’s neat for an indie show. The fans are rather sparse, so it’s easy to see Limitless Champion MJF watching from the stage. I suppose that’s one way to make the most out of a thin crowd. The commentator who isn’t Kevin Ford says some obvious and kind of dumb things about the stipulation. Luckily Ford was there to say less stupid things.After a bit of silliness, Cassidy gets a pockets roll up to win the first round in 4:11. The second five-minute round ends with no falls. Gresham gets a yellow card for attacking Cassidy between falls. They did a Cassidy-inspired version of the Johnny Saint style there. The third fall is the opposite. It was 37 seconds of armdrags and hurricanranas and then Cassidy getting the Mouse Trap for the win. After all the NXT UK Heritage Cup matches I’ve watched in the last year, a slightly comedic version of the same thing didn’t do a lot for me. **¼ 

April 5, 2019 – Jersey City, New Jersey 

Orange Cassidy def. Bryan Alvarez {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From BLP Adventures in Wrestling. There was some gimmick here about Alvarez being disheveled because someone had said he previously looked like a geek. Blah, Alvarez is so annoying. I wish I was reviewing the main event of this show, which is Gresham vs. Shigehiro Irie. But instead I was stuck reviewing this, a match I wanted to watch so little that it made me put a pause on this project for half a year. This had a lot of the usual comedy bits and nothing else. Alvarez basically had a match against Cassidy’s shades as much as he had a match against Cassidy. The pockets were heavily featured, as was the orange juice. In the end, David Starr’s entrance music played, distracting Alvarez long enough for Cassidy to roll him up for the win at 9:59. At least I think it was referring to Starr; I’m basing that assumption on the fact that he used We Belong Together in Over the Top. The commentators never say exactly who Alvarez was expecting and no one actually showed up. *½  

April 17, 2019 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Orange Cassidy def. Kylie Rae {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From BLP Uncharted Territory 3. Okay wow, this was terrific. It started with comedy, but not the same old comedy as in every Cassidy defense that preceded it because rather than play a frustrated heel, Rae was in on the joke and even enthusiastic about it. That portion of the match, which took up the first five minutes, culminated in Rae dominating a thumb war. From there, both competitors decided that the title was worth more to them than making the crowd laugh, so they worked increasingly aggressively through the rest of the match. That resulted in a rather wild, lucha-inspired contest. I’ve never seen Rae in a match as substantial as this; she really brought it. There was a moment late in the match when they were fighting over the orange juice bottle that I worried the finish would revert to comedy, but instead Rae let the bottle go and smacked Cassidy in the face with a superkick. The finish saw a roll up exchange (that looked absolutely exhausting) end with Cassidy getting the Mousetrap for the win at 19:14. This was my favorite IWTV title defense to this point.  ****  

May 8, 2019 – Worcester, Massachusetts 

Orange Cassidy def. Jordynne Grace {IWTV Independent Heavyweight Championship Match}
From BLP Uncharted Territory 6. This felt over-choreographed, which might have been why the crowd was very quiet for significant stretches during the match. Eleven minutes felt pretty long for what they had on offer here. The finishing bit was cute, but not worth the uninteresting lead up to it. Grace was hitting Cassidy with German suplexes. Cassidy somewhat mystifyingly put his hands in his pockets, allowing Grace to hit an even more devastating German suplex. But then, she couldn’t grab one of his arms to hit her pumphandle finisher. Cassidy grabbed her with the Mousetrap for the win at 11:15. This one fell flat. **

May 18, 2019 – Queens, New York 

Orange Cassidy def. Joey Janela {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From ICW What’s Beef? The joke here is that Janela is doing Cassidy’s gimmick too, calling himself Tangerine Cassidy. The ref gets involved in the comedy in this one, putting on sunglasses and setting up a duel between them. Ennio Morricone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly score plays. But then the duel was just pacing away from each other, turning, and doing nothing. I hate it. At least do something related to the Cassidy gimmick for the draw. Christ. You’d have to be crazy invested in Cassidy’s gimmick and completely unaware of movie history and American history to think this is fun. I was hopeful when Janela dropped the act after a few minutes. But then he’d randomly go back to it here and there. But why? Cassidy wasn’t affected by it psychologically, and it certainly didn’t do any damage to Cassidy physically. Watching this shortly after the Cassidy vs. Rae match made this even more annoying. They spit juice in each other’s faces, blinding each other. Janela accidentally rolls up the referee and Cassidy makes the count. Janela thinks he’s won, so Cassidy catches him with the Mousetrap for the win at 10:40. If you’re the biggest Cassidy fan, you’ll like this. If you find anything he does the least bit repetitive (it’s so unbelievably rote) then this won’t be for you. It wasn’t for me. *

July 13, 2019 – Silver Spring, Maryland 

Orange Cassidy def. Hallowicked {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From Flying V Fights Sweet Summer Heat. We’ve got Kevin Ford on commentary, which is great. But we’ve got a referee that doesn’t seem to understand the rules of a wrestling match, which is less great. In what could have been a cute and funny moment, Cassidy lays down (as he does) on the mat to relax, so Hallowicked tells the ref to count him out. Rather than starting to count to ten, the ref starts counting Cassidy’s unpinned shoulders to the mat. No. As much as Ford’s enthusiasm on commentary was fun, the match was mostly the same old same old Cassidy routine. Hallowicked can go, though. Cassidy won with the orange juice mist to the face and the Mousetrap at 14:08. Not sure how orange juice spit onto a mask is debilitating, but then it’s stupid to question logic in a Cassidy match. You’re either with it or you’re not. I’m over it, frankly. **¼

July 27, 2019 – Ridgefield Park, New Jersey 

Orange Cassidy def. Kikutaro {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship 2/3 Falls Match}
From ICW Respect the Game. Kikutaro suggests they do a perfect comedy match, but it was all a ruse so he could hit a cheap shot and yell PSYCH! He goes for a powerbomb but Cassidy falls on top and wins the first fall in a matter of seconds. That’s when Kikutaro suggests it be a best of three falls match. Cassidy almost wins two straight the same way but Kikutaro kicks out. They go on to have a comedy match that is different enough from Cassidy’s typical shtick thanks entirely to Kikutaro’s involvement. Cassidy couldn’t do most of his gags because they require his opponent to be the straight man. That ain’t Kiku. So it was pretty entertaining. Kikutaro takes a swig of the orange juice, but Cassidy Stunners it out of his mouth and then gets the Mousetrap for the win at 13:12. ***

July 28, 2019 – Mashantucket, Connecticut 

Orange Cassidy def. RD Evans {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From Beyond Americanrana. Evans put his career on the line. Cassidy screwed around with him for a few minutes, and then pinned him with the Mouse in under five minutes. Evans asked for another chance, calling Cassidy a coward. That didn’t phase the champ, so Evans insulted the Fast and Furious movies, so Cassidy got back in the ring. They restart the match, doing a bit where Evans breaks Cassidy’s glasses, only for Cassidy to pull glasses out of his own pocket and out of Evans’ belt sash thing like it’s a magic show. They do an eye-poke routing that gets referee Bryce Remsburg involved. Two minutes of actual wrestling end with Cassidy getting a small package for the win at 11:08. Evans calls it a career in a match that I probably would have enjoyed if it was the first Cassidy match I’d ever seen. ** 

August 24, 2019 – Manhattan, New York 

Orange Cassidy def. Shawn From Michaels {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Match}
From XSW Show of Honor: For Love or Money. I’m having a hard time understanding what XSW is. It looks like hipster nonsense, where the ring is a pair of gym mats next to each other surrounded by police tape in the place of ropes and traffic cones instead of turnbuckles. It’s on the stage of the People’s Improv Theater. The rest of the show was made up of comedy skits and pseudo matches. Michaels is a skinny ginger who looks like Max Perlich. Music plays during the match and the commentators can be heard on the house mic because this is really a comedy show. They start by painting on canvas. That’s not a metaphor, that’s how this match started. They do a lot of the typical Cassidy shtick, though without any real physical contact because Michaels isn’t a wrestler. There’s a Montreal Screwjob bit and then the match is restarted thanks to a character called Bret the Blickman Hart. He does a minute of standup, and then Cassidy catches Michaels with the Mouse for the win at 15:19. Damn, that was really long for what it was, and it was profoundly unfunny. N/A

On On September 21, 2019 in Summit, Illinois, Erick Stevens beat Cassidy to win the title. Check out my title change review for my thoughts on these matches.

September 21, 2019 – Summit, Illinois

Erick Stevens def. Jake Something, Tom Lawlor, and Gary Jay {IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship Four Way Match}
From BLP Turbo Graps 16. This was also a semifinal match in the Turbo Graps tournament, throughout which Stevens was defending the belt after winning it earlier in the night. This was mindless violence, but all of it was executed pretty well. Things looked like they were about to take off when Stevens and Lawlor started teaming up. But then Stevens turned on Lawlor and hit a lariat and a suplex into a backbreaker for the win at 6:48. Short title matches on indie shows are a bummer. **¼