Since 2012, Beyond Wrestling has been holding Tournament For Today (TFT), an annual tournament featuring some of the best talents on the indie scene. The formats have changed over the years – some years they’ve been intergender tournaments, last year was a women’s tournament (won by Jordynne Grace), and this year it features tag team wrestling. The two-night event will be broadcast live on Powerbomb.tv. The last time they held a TFT Tag Team Tournament was as part of TFT 4 in 2015, when Da Hit Squad (Dan Maff & Monsta Mack) defeat EYFBO (aka LAX, Ortiz & Santana), Kimber Lee & Shynron and The Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) in the Fatal Four Way Final. Here’s a rundown of the first round pairings for Night 1 of the TFT (which incidentally, will also stream LIVE and for FREE on Beyond’s YouTube Channel).
BREAKING: TFT Night 1 will stream live FOR FREE in its entirety at https://t.co/fDnMiyaedS on Saturday, November 24 starting at 7:30pm EST! https://t.co/VhGVKakzLF
— Beyond Wrestling (@beyondwrestling) November 13, 2018
TFT: NIGHT 1
Orange Cassidy vs. Stokely Hathaway
Orange Cassidy is one of the most fun wrestlers to watch – his lethargic persona creates some of the funniest moments in wrestling history. He’s fighting a man who is as hyper as Cassidy is chill, in one of the best mouthpieces in the industry, Stokely Hathaway. This won’t be going viral for its athletic displays, but it will still be a fun matchup.
TFT First Round: Hot Wheelz (“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams & Wheeler YUTA) vs. Sadkampf (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini)
Hot Wheelz, the tandem of Powerbomb.tv Independent Champion “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams & Wheeler YUTA have been teaming for just over a year in Beyond, but the duo has yet to win a televised match, losing to LAX at Beyond Spirit of 76, Joey Janela & Orange Cassidy at Beyond Welcome Home, and most recently, to David Starr & Brandon Williams at Beyond It’s Alive last month. The talent of these two is undeniable though and TFT could be their break moment. First, they’ll have to go through a new tandem on the circuit, Sadkampf, featuring emerging Southern star Kevin Ku alongside someone that “Hot Sauce” knows all too well – former Catch Point (in EVOLVE) stablemate Dominic Garrini. Sadkampf is coming in with momentum as well, as the recently crowned Pro Wrestling Freedom (PWF) Tag Team Champions out of Indiana.
TFT First Round: Mike Verna & Rex Lawless vs. Pretty Proper (Victor Benjamin & Lady Frost)
Rex Lawless & Mike Verna come into this matchup as the favourite – after all, they’re also the reigning CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas Champions as The Closers (under the guise of Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice respectively). Considering the event is taking place at the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory, one would have to give the champs the home field advantage as well. They face a new team on the circuit featuring Pennsylvania’s Pretty Proper, featuring Victor Benjamin and Lady Frost. But the upstart new tandem will be going in hungry with nothing to lose, and an upset over the CHIKARA tag team champs would go a long way.
F.I.S.T. (Travis Huckabee & Tony Deppen) vs. The Jollyville F**k-Its (Russ Myers & T-Money)
F.I.S.T. is another CHIKARA team entered into TFT, featuring the nefarious Travis Huckabee & Tony Deppen. Huckabee has only been wrestling in 2016, but the former referee for CHIKARA went from one of CHIKARA’s feel-good underdog stories to turning on his Rumblebees tag partner Solo Darling and becoming one of CHIKARA’s biggest villains. Along with Tony Deppen, they allied with Icarus in a new incarnation of F.I.S.T. and now two of the members look to conquer Beyond in TFT. They face a veteran team of the indies (with a name ironically very non-CHIKARA suitable) in the Jollyville F**k-Its. The team of Russ Myers & T-Money have been teaming since 2006, when they were known as The Thugs in Ohio’s Northern Wrestling Federation (NWF), before becoming the Jollyville F**k-Its in 2010. Since then, they’ve run amok in Beyond, Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) and Glory Pro amongst others, with tag team title reigns in AIW, PWF and currently with Illinois’ Proving Ground Pro.
TFT First Round: Massage Force (DG Graves & VSK) vs. Shook Crew (Max Caster & Bryce Donovan) w/ Bobby Orlando
Massage Force actually got their start in Beyond Wrestling in 2014, when both DG Graves and VSK paired together as Team Create-A-Pro (CAP) Wrestling in the Tag Team Battle Royal at Beyond Americana ’14. Since then, they’ve stayed together, capturing the CAP Tag Team titles, and continued to fight in Beyond as well as Blitzkrieg Pro, Limitless Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), AIW and WrestlePro. Speaking of CAP, The Shook Crew is another team from CAP, lead by 2x CAP Champion Max Caster. In the past year, he’s taken on youngster Bryce Donovan as his tag partner, and guided by Bobby Orlando are the current reigning CAP Tag Team Champions.
TFT First Round: American Strong (Jay Freddie & Rory Gulak) vs. Viking War Party (Jake Parnell & Alex Herzog)
A couple of indie veterans, American Strong were originally paired together in Beyond last year under the name American Gaijin. Jay Freddie is a 10-year veteran of the New York indie scene, starting out with Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW), where he’s a former 2CW Heavyweight Champion, as well as other East Coast promotions like Top Rope Promotions (TRP, where he’s a 2x TRP Champion), Limitless Wrestling, and Upstate Pro Wrestling (UPW). He’s even done several tours in Japan with WRESTLE-1. His partner, Rory Gulak, is the younger brother of WWE Superstar Drew Gulak, and like his brother, started out in CZW. Also a 10-year veteran, the technical tactician has been a long time fighter with Beyond as well as with CHIKARA. They face a team of two young emerging stars who are having success together as Viking War Party as well as building individual careers as well. “Warhorse” Jake Parnell started out in the Illinois scene in 2013 before heading through Beyond, IWA Mid South, Glory Pro, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and EVOLVE. He still works in Chicago with ZERO1 Pro Wrestling, where he’s the reigning and 2x ZERO1 World Junior Heavyweight Champion. His partner, Alex Herzog, is another Midwest indie star, who worked St. Louis Anarchy, IWA Mid South and others until he was paired with Parnell in 2013. Together they’ve held the ZERO1 Tag Team Championships and are two men to watch in 2019.
TFT First Round: Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. Aeroform (Louis Lyndon & Flip Kendrick)
Another two New York indie veterans, The Beaver Boys have been teaming together since 2012 when they started together as The Slophunters in New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC). Since then they’ve gone on to work in CZW, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), AIW and Beyond, emerging with PWG World Tag Team, CZW World Tag Team and NYWC Tag Team titles to show as their rewards. Individually, they’re both solid singles wrestlers in their own right. Alex Reynolds is a 2x NYWC Heavyweight Champion, while John Silver has become “Mr. Beyond”, and captured the NYWC Heavyweight title himself. But Aeroform has some history as well. Aeroform is lead by Midwest indie legend Louis Lyndon, a 13-year veteran who has been a huge part of the history of AIW since 2006. He’s a former AIW Intense Champion and also featured heavy in Chicago’s All American Wrestling (AAW) where he won AAW Heritage gold. But he’s reteaming with his former partner Flip Kendrick in Aeroform, a team that ran the Midwest indie scene from 2006 until 2015, winning tag team gold twice in AIW. Their last match was on a Ring of Honor tour show in 2015, against The Decade (Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer). It’s a case of the Midwest vs. The Big Apple, of two of the most underrated tag teams of the past decade. This will be a classic.
TFT First Round: Brian Milonas & Cam Zagami vs. #NONEWFRIENDS (Kevin Lee Davidson & Danny Adams)
Brian Milonas is a 17-year veteran of the East Coast indies, with a lengthy tenure as one of the top guys with Massachusetts’ Chaotic Wrestling (CW), where he’s a former 3x CW Heavyweight Champion, 2x CW New England Champion and 5x CW Tag Team Champion. Last year, he joined Ring of Honor, teaming with Beer City Bruiser in The Bouncers. But for TMT, he’s teaming with one of CW’s best prospects in 24-year old Cam Zagami. A former CW New England Champion and Tag Team Champion in his own right, Zagami also won the 2018 CHIKARA Young Lions Cup this summer. Zagami has become a regular with CHIKARA since then (as well as Northeastern Wrestling). #NoNewFriends are making their Beyond debut, but they’ve been toiling around the Midwest with IWA Mid South, Glory Pro and Black Label Pro for the past year now. They’ll be looking to expand into the East Coast scene with a big win of some home state boys.
TFT First Round: Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs. Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter)
Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) are Beyond originals, working with the company nearly since day one. Both individually and together they’ve had remarkable runs in companies like CHIKARA, EVOLVE, GCW, CZW and more. While in EVOLVE, they joined the Catch Point stable and became 2x EVOLVE Tag Team Champions. They just lost their belts to NXT’s Street Profits, so they may be coming into this tournament a little hot. They’re facing off against a legendary Midwest tag team featuring the Hooligans. The Cutter boys have been teaming since 2006 and had a lengthy run in IWA Mid South. They’ve also worked regularly with AAW, Full Impact Pro (FIP), Anarchy Championship Wrestling (ACW), Rockstar Pro, ZERO1 and NOVA Pro Wrestling. They’ve held multiple indie tag teams in their 12 years together, including 2x ZERO1 Tag Team titles, FIP Tag Team, PWF Tag Team, AAW Tag Team and more. They recently won their 16th tag team titles with Pennsylvania’s Vicious Outlaw Wrestling (VOW). This will be a hoss fight, pure and simple.
The tournament will finish on Night 2.
TFT: NIGHT 2
David Starr vs. Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy must be bringing a lot of orange juice, as he’s wrestling back to back nights! He’s talking on one of the top indie stars in the world today, David Starr. While Starr is a respectable star in the United States with his work with Beyond, AAW, PWG and others, he’s a massive star in Europe. He’s a regular with the likes of the UK’s PROGRESS Wrestling, Revolution Pro (RevPro) Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling and many more, as well as Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). He’s the RevPro Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion and 3x wXw Shotgun Champion. Earlier this year, he won the prestigious CZW Best of the Best tournament. So naturally, Cassidy will find a way to win.
Karen Q vs. Skylar
Karen Q is one of the fastest rising stars in women’s wrestling, making a national name for herself as part of Ring of Honor’s revamped Women of Honor division. She then took it to a new level when she was selected as one of the participants for this year’s WWE Mae Young Classic. She’s also appeared with SHIMMER, Women’s Wrestling Revolution (WWR) and RISE. She’s facing an emerging talent in Skylar, a 22-year old whose worked for Blitzkrieg Pro, Ring of Honor, Beyond and more – including as Blanche Babish in CHIKARA.
The OGz Open Challenge
Eddie Kingston and Homicide are coming into Beyond together as The OGz and they IMPACT Wrestling stars are throwing down an open challenge to anyone who wants to step up.
Colt Cabana vs. Jonathan Gresham
Jonathan Gresham is one of the indie scene’s most unheralded stars. He’s been gaining more national exposure with Ring of Honor the past year, and his match against Zack Sabre Jr. at ROH Final Battle in December should be a breakout moment for him. This will be a fun departure for Gresham, as he faces one of the greatest comedic wrestlers of this generation in Colt Cabana. It won’t be as aerial as some of Gresham’s matches, but it’ll still be a magical moment.
Josh Briggs vs. Nick Gage
GCW World Heavyweight Champion and American hardcore icon Nick Gage is going to be one beat up dude when he arrives for Beyond Wrestling’s TFT Night 2. This Friday he’s facing Jack Evans for his title at GCW Tha G-Code, on Saturday afternoon, he laces up with Team Beyond in an atomicos match at CHIKARA Cibernetico 7-Man Army, followed by a slugfest in Cleveland at AIW Hell On Earth 14 against LA Park on Saturday night. And this is only a week removed from facing Brody King for the GCW title an hour away from his controversial deathmatch against David Arquette. And he’s putting his body on the line for one more match that weekend, against Beyond’s resident beast, Josh Briggs. Briggs is on a four-match winning streak in Beyond, taking out Brody King, Ryan Galeone, Curt Stallion and Luchasaurus and he’ll be looking to take advantage of a beat up Nick Gage. But most times, junkyard dogs are more dangerous when they’re wounded.
EYFBO (LAX, Santan & Ortiz) vs. Dream Team (MJF & Thomas Sharp)
It wouldn’t be a tag team party in Beyond Wrestling without an appearance from Beyond legends EYFBO, better known these days as Santana & Ortiz and 3x IMPACT Tag Team Champions, LAX. As EYFBO, they’ve been fighting in Beyond since 2013, as well as winning the CZW World Tag Team and Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW, now GCW) Tag Team titles. Apart from the IMPACT titles, they also currently hold the WrestlePro Tag Team titles and are on their third reign as House of Glory (HOG) Tag Team Champions. They recently faced The Young Bucks on the Cruise of Jericho and are about to make their PROGRESS Wrestling debut in the UK. They face a team they’ve recently had some issues with, in Stokely Hathaway’s Dream Team. Back in June at Beyond Vitality, EYFBO reteamed with Doom Patrol in Team Pazuzu to defeat the full Dream Team of Hathaway with Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), Jonathan Gresham and Thomas Sharp (formerly Blaster McMassive in CHIKARA). This time, Dream Team is sending the duo of MJF and Sharp at EYFBO to reclaim the group’s honor.
